The Practical Philosopher:
a daily monitor for the Business Men of England
Expository and Homiletical
Commentary on Proverbs
by
David Thomas, D.D.
London: R.D. Dickinson, 1873
The Homilist Library, vol. 5
Contents
Proverbs 1:1 Solomon's Life, Its Spiritual Significance 9
Proverbs 1:1-6 A Great Teacher and a Genuine Student 12
Proverbs 1:7-9 Piety 15
Proverbs 1:10-16 The Young Man 18
Proverbs 1:17-19 Moral Traps 20
Proverbs 1:20-23 The Voice of Wisdom to the World 22
Proverbs 1:24-33 God and the Sinner in Time and Eternity 25
Proverbs 2:1-5 Spiritual Excellence 27
Proverbs 2:6-9 Good Men and Their God 30
Proverbs 2:10-22 Wickedness and Wisdom: the Bane and
the Antidote 32
Proverbs 3:1,2 The Philosophy of Health and
Happiness 35
Proverbs 3:3,4 Mercy and Truth 37
Proverbs 3:5-7 God-trusting and Self-trusting 40
Proverbs 3:9,10 The Highest Giving, the Condition of
the Highest Getting 43
Proverbs 3:11,12 Affliction 44
Proverbs 3:13-18 The Blessedness of Wisdom 46
Proverbs 3:19,20 Wisdom, the Source and Sovereign of
Worlds 48
Proverbs 3:21-26 Fidelity to Principle 49
Proverbs 3:27-29 Beneficence 51
Proverbs 3:30,31 Strife and Oppression 53
Proverbs 3:32-35 Moral Contrasts 54
Proverbs 4:1-4 A Religious Home 56
Proverbs 4:5-9 The Summum Bonum 58
Proverbs 4:10-17 The Moral Paths of Men 61
Proverbs 4:18 The March of the Good 63
Proverbs 4:19 The Darkness of Sin 65
Proverbs 4:20-23 Self-improvement and Self-control 67
Proverbs 4:24-27 Laws of Life 69
Proverbs 5:1-20 The Strange Woman and the True Wife 71
Proverbs 5:21-23 Man as Known of God and Punished by
Sin 73
Proverbs 6:1-5 Social Suretyships 75
Contents
Proverbs 6:6-8 Little Preachers and Great Sermons 78
Proverbs 6:9-15 The Lazy Man and the Wicked Man 81
Proverbs 6:16-19 Seven Abominations 84
Proverbs 6:20-351 Counsels to Young Men in Relation to
7:1-17 Bad Women 88
Proverbs 8:1-14 The Voice of Divine Wisdom 90
Proverbs 8:15-21 The Authority of Divine Wisdom 92
Proverbs 8:23-31 The Autobiography of Wisdom 95
Proverbs 8:32-36 The Claims of Divine Wisdom 97
Proverbs 9:1-6 The Educational Temple: or
Christianity, a School 99
Proverbs 9:7-9 Reproof 102
Proverbs 9:10-12 Character 104
Proverbs 9:13-18 The Ministry of Temptation 105
Proverbs 10:1 The Influence of the Child's Character
Upon the Parent's Heart 107
Proverbs 10:2,3 Cash and Character 109
Proverbs 10:4,5 Idleness and Industry 111
Proverbs 10:6,7 Opposite Characters and Destinies 113
Proverbs 10:8-10 Man in a Threefold Aspect 114
Proverbs 10:11 Speech 117
Proverbs 10:12 The Great Mischief-maker and the
Great Peace-maker 118
Proverbs 10:13-18 Contrasts 120
Proverbs 10:19 The Sin of Loquaciousness 123
Proverbs 10:20, The Speech of the Righteous and the
21, 31, 32 Wicked Compared 125
Proverbs 10:22-28 Moral Phases of Life 127
Proverbs 10:29 Might and Misery 131
Proverbs 11:2 The Advent and Evil of Pride 132
Proverbs 11:7 The Terrible in Human History 134
Proberbs 11:8 Trouble in its Relation to the Righteous
and the Wicked 135
Proverbs 11:9 Hypocrisy and Knowledge 137
Proverbs 11:10,11 The Public Conscience in Relation to
Moral Character 139
Proverbs 11:12,13 Types of Character in Social Life 140
Proverbs 11:14 Wisdom, the Want of States 142
Proverbs 11:17 The Generous and Ungenerous 145
Proverbs 11:18-20 The Evil and the Good 146
Proverbs 11:22 Adornment 148
Proverbs 11:24,25 The Generous and the Avaricious 150
Proverbs 11:27,28 Seeking and Trusting 152
Proverbs 11:29 Family Life 154
Contents
Proverbs 11:30,31 The Life of the Good 156
Proverbs 12:1-3 The Righteous and the Wicked 157
Proverbs 12:4 The Queen of the Household 159
Proverbs 12:5-8 The Righteous and the Wicked 160
Proverbs 12:9 Domestic Modesty and Display 161
Proverbs 12:10 The Treatment of Animals 163
Proverbs 12:11 Manly Industry and Parasitical
Indolence 164
Proverbs 12:12,13 The Crafty and the Honest 166
Proverbs 12:14 Retributions of the Lip and Life 167
Proverbs 12:15 The Opinionated and the Docile 169
Proverbs 12:16-23 Speech 170
Proverbs 12:24 Diligence and Dignity. Slothfulness and
Servility 173
Proverbs 12:25 The Saddening and the Succoring 174
Proverbs 12:26,28 The True Pathway of Souls 176
Proverbs 12:27 Labor as Enhancing the Relative Value
of a Man's Possessions 177
Proverbs 13:1 The Teachable and the Unteachable
Son 179
Proverbs 13:2,3 Man Speaking 181
Proverbs 13:4 Soul Craving 182
Proverbs 13:5,6 Moral Truthfulness 183
Proverbs 13:7,8 Poverty and Wealth 184
Proverbs 13:9 The Light of Souls 187
Proverbs 13:10 Pride 188
Proverbs 13:11 Worldly Wealth 190
Proverbs 13:12 Hope Deferred 191
Proverbs 13:13 The Word 193
Proverbs 13:14 The Law of the Good 194
Proverbs 13:15a A Sound Intellect 195
Proverbs 13:15b The Way of Transgressors 197
Proverbs 13:16 The Wise and the Foolish 198
Proverbs 13:17 Human Missions and Their Discharge 200
Proverbs 13:18 The Incorrigible and the Docile 201
Proverbs 13:19 Soul Pleasure and Soul Pain 203
Proverbs 13:20 The Grand Fellowship and Assimilation
in Life's Path 205
Proverbs 13:21 Nemesis: Destiny Following Character 207
Proverbs 13:22,23 Material Wealth 208
Proverbs 13:24 Parental Discipline 210
Proverbs 13:25 The Satisfaction of the Body Determined
by the Condition of the Soul 212
Proverbs 14:1 Housewifery 214
Contents
Proverbs 14:2 Human Conduct 215
Proverbs 14:3 Speech, a Rod 216
Proverbs 14:4 The Clean Crib, or Indolence 218
Proverbs 14:5,6 Veracity and Wisdom 219
Proverbs 14:7-9 The Society to be Shunned 221
Proverbs 14:10 The Heart's Hidden Depth 223
Proverbs 14:11 The Soul's Home 225
Proverbs 14:12 The Seeming Right Often Ruinous 227
Proverbs 14:13 Sinful Mirth 229
Proverbs 14:14 The Misery of the Apostate, and the
Happiness of the Good 231
Proverbs 14:15-18 The Credulous and the Cautious 232
Proverbs 14:19 The Majesty of Goodness 234
Proverbs 14:20-22 A Group of Social Principles 236
Proverbs 14:23,24 Labor, Talk, Wealth 238
Proverbs 14:25 The True Witness 240
Proverbs 14:26,27 Godliness, Safety and Life 241
Proverbs 14:28 The Population of an Empire 243
Proverbs 14:29 Temper 244
Proverbs 14:30 Heart and Health 246
Proverbs 14:31 Godliness and Humanity 248
Proverbs 14:32 Death Depending on Character 250
Proverbs 14:33 Reticence and Loquacity 252
Proverbs 14:34, 35 The Political and Social Importance of
Morality 254
Proverbs 15:1,2 Words 256
Proverbs 15:3 God's Inspection of the World 258
Proverbs 15:4,7 Speech 260
Proverbs 15:5,6 Diverse Families 262
Proverbs 15:8-11 The Man-ward Feeling and the Infinite
Intelligence of God 264
Proverbs 15:12 The Scorner 266
Proverbs 15:13-15 Human Hearts 268
Proverbs 15:16,17 The Dinner of Herbs and the Stalled Ox 270
Proverbs 15:18 Social Discord 273
Proverbs 15:19 Indolence and Righteousness 274
Proverbs 15:21, 22 Contrasts 276
Proverbs 15:23 Useful Speech 277
Proverbs 15:24 The Way of the Wise 279
Proverbs 15:25,26 The Procedure and Propensity of God 281
Proverbs 15:27 The Evils of Covetousness and the
Blessedness of Generosity 282
Proverbs 15:28, 29 The Righteous and the Wicked 284
Proverbs 15:30 The Highest Knowledge 286
Contents
Proverbs 15:31, 32 Reproof 288
Proverbs 15:33 Godly Fear and Genuine Humility 290
Proverbs 16:1 Man Proposes, God Disposes 292
Proverbs 16:2 The Self-complacency of Sinners and
the Omniscience of God 294
Proverbs 16:3 The Establishment of Thoughts 296
Proverbs 16:4 Universal Existence 298
Proverbs 16:5,6 Evil 300
Proverbs 16:7 Pleasing God 302
Proverbs 16:8 The Good Man and His Worldly
Circumstances 303
Proverbs 16:9 The Plan of Man, and the Plan of God
in Human Life 305
Proverbs 16:10-15 Model Monarchs 308
Proverbs 16:16 Moral and Material Wealth 312
Proverbs 16:17 The Way of the Upright 314
Proverbs 16:18, 19 Pride and Humility 316
Proverbs 16:20, 21 The Conditions of a Happy Life 318
Proverbs 16:22 The Two Interpreters 320
Proverbs 16:23, 24 Ideal Eloquence 322
Proverbs 16:26 Labor 324
Proverbs 16:27-30 Mischievous Men 326
Proverbs 16:31 The Glory of the Aged Piety 328
Proverbs 16:32 The Conqueror of Self, the Greatest
Conqueror 331
Proverbs 16:33 Life, a Lottery and a Plan 333
Proverbs 17:1,2 Family Scenes 335
Proverbs 17:3 Divine Discipline 337
Proverbs 17:4 Conversational Likings of Bad Men 339
Proverbs 17:5 The Unfortunate Poor 341
Proverbs 17:6 Posterity and Its Ancestors 343
Proverbs 17:7 Speech Incongruous and False 345
Proverbs 17:8 The Power of Patronage 347
Proverbs 17:9 The Right Concealment and the Wrong
Revealment of Offences 349
Proverbs 17:10 Moral and Corporeal Chastisement 351
Proverbs 17:11-13 The Genius and Punishment of Evil 353
Proverbs 17:14 Strife 355
Proverbs 17:15 Perverse Treatment of the Characters
of Men 357
Proverbs 17:16 Capacity Without Will 359
Proverbs 17:17; Degrees and Duties of True Friendship 361
18:24
Proverbs 17:21,25 The Fool: Negatively and Positively 365
Contents
Proverbs 17:22 Bodily Health Dependent on Mental
Moods 369
Proverbs 17:23 Bribery 371
Proverbs 17:24 A Double Picture 373
Proverbs 17:26 Persecution and Treason 375
Proverbs 17:27, 28 Frugality in Speech 377
Proverbs 18:1,2 A Student's Spirit 379
Proverbs 18:3 Wickedness Contemptible and
Contemptuous 382
Proverbs 18:4 The Words of Inspired Wisdom 383
Proverbs 18:5 Three Bad Things 386
Proverbs 18:6-8 The Speech of a Splenetic Fool 388
Proverbs 18:9 Miserable Twinship 390
Proverbs 18:10-12 The Soul's Tower 392
Proverbs 18:13 Impetuous Flippancy 394
Proverbs 18:14 The Unbearable Wound 396
Proverbs 18:15, 16 The Attainment of Knowledge and the
Power of Kindness 398
Proverbs 18:17-19 Social Disputes 401
Proverbs 18:20, 21 The Influence of the Tongue 404
Proverbs 18:22 A Happy Marriage 405
Proverbs 18:23;
Poverty, Riches and Social Selfishness 408
Proverbs 19:4, 6, 7
Proverbs 19:1 The Better Man 410
Proverbs 19:2,3 The Soul Without Knowledge 412
Proverbs 19:5,9 Falsehood 414
Proverbs 19:11, Anger Controlled and Uncontrolled 416
12,19
Proverbs 19:13, 14 A Cursed Home and a Blessed Home 418
Proverbs 19:8,16 Goodness and Happiness 420
Proverbs 19:17 The Deserving Poor 422
Proverbs 19:18, 20 Parental Discipline and Filial
Improvement 424
Proverbs 19:21 The Mind of Man and the Mind of God 426
Proverbs 19:22 Kindness 429
Proverbs 19:23 The Fruits of Personal Religion 431
Proverbs 19:24 Laziness 432
Proverbs 19:25 Man Chastising the Wrong 433
Proverbs 19:26-27 Filial Depravity and Parental Warning 436
Proverbs 19:28, 29 The Character and Doom of the Wicked 438
Proverbs 20:1 An Intemperate Use of Strong Drink 439
Proverbs 20:2 The Terrific in Human Government 440
Proverbs 20:3 Unlawful Strife 441
Proverbs 20:4 Indolence 443
Contents
Proverbs 22:1 Reputation and Riches 528
Proverbs 22:2, 3 Contrasts in Conditions and Characters 531
Proverbs 22:4, 5 Life, Prosperous and Perilous 533
Proverbs 22:6 Child-training 536
Proverbs 22:7 The Social Rule of Wealth 539
Proverbs 22:8 Human Life 541
Proverbs 22:9 Genuine Philanthropy 543
Proverbs 22:10 The Scorner 545
Proverbs 22:11,12 The Good Man 547
Proverbs 22:13 The Excuses of Laziness 549
Proverbs 22:14 The Influence of a Depraved Woman 551
Proverbs 22:15 A Terrible Evil and a Severe Cure 553
Proverbs 22:16 The Evils of Avarice 555
Proverbs 22:17-21 Spiritual Verities 557
Proverbs 22:22, 23 The Oppression of the Poor 561
Proverbs 22:24-28 Interdicted Conduct 563
Proverbs 23:1-3 The Epicure; or Gastric Temptation 566
Proverbs 23:4, 5 Riches Not to be Labored for as an End 568
Proverbs 23:6-8 A Spurious Hospitality 570
Proverbs 23:9 The Incorrigible Sinner 573
Proverbs 23:10, 11 Social Injustice 574
Proverbs 23:12 Spiritual Knowledge 576
Proverbs 23:13, 14 Parental Discipline 578
Proverbs 23:15-23 An Appeal of Parental Piety 580
Proverbs 23:26 Man's Heart 582
Proverbs 23:29-35 The Drunkard's Effigy Hung Up as a
Beacon 584
Proverbs 24:1, 2 The Villany and Absurdity of Sin 589
Proverbs 24:3-7 Enlightened Piety 591
Proverbs 24:8,9 Aspects of Depravity 594
Proverbs 24:10 The Day of Adversity 596
Proverbs 24:11, 12 The Neglect of Social Benevolence 597
Proverbs 24:13, 14 Spiritual Science 599
Proverbs 24:15, 16 The Hostility of the Wicked Towards
the Good 602
Proverbs 24:17, 18 Revenge 604
Proverbs 24:19, 20 An Example of the Folly of Envy 606
Proverbs 24:21, 22 Human Government 608
Proverbs 24:23-26 Social Conduct 610
Proverbs 24:27 Human Labor 612
Proverbs 24:28, 29 Types of Corrupt Testimony 615
Proverbs 24:30-34 Idleness 617
Proverbs 25:1 Solomon's Three Thousand Proverbs 619
Proverbs 25:2-5 Kinghood 622
Contents
Proverbs 25:6,7 A Corrupt Ambition 625
Proverbs 25:8-10 The Worst and Best Way of Treating
Social Dissensions 628
Proverbs 25:11 The Excellency of Fitly-spoken Words 630
Proverbs 25:12 The Beauty of a Reprovable Disposition 633
Proverbs 25:13 The Value of a Good Messenger to His
Employers 635
Proverbs 25:14 Swaggering Generosity 637
Proverbs 25:15, 1 The Manifestation and Mightiness of
21, 22 Moral Power 638
Proverbs 25:16 The World's Honey 641
Proverbs 25:17-20 Bad Neighbors 643
Proverbs 25:23 Righteous Anger 647
Proverbs 25:25 Good News from a Far Country 651
Proverbs 25:26 Religious Apostasy 653
Proverbs 25:27 Natural Desires Running too Far 655
Proverbs 25:28 The Lack of Self-mastery 657
Proverbs 26:1,8 Honor Paid to Bad Men is Unseemly
and Pernicious 658
Proverbs 26:2 Human Anathemas 661
Proverbs 26:3-11 Aspects of a Fool 664
Proverbs 26:12, 16 Vanity, One of the Greatest
Obstructions to Soul-Improvement 668
Proverbs 26:17-22 Mischievous Citizens 670
Proverbs 26:23-28 Clandestine Hatred 672
Proverbs 27:1 Man and Tomorrow, a Fact and a
Failing 675
Proverbs 27:2 Self-praise 677
Proverbs 27:3-6 Social Wrath and Social Friendliness 679
Proverbs 27:7 An Appetite for Good Things Essential
for Their Enjoyment 682
Proverbs 27:8 The Evil of a Roaming Disposition 684
Proverbs 27:9-11 A Genuine Friendship and a Happy
Fathership 688
Proverbs 27:12, 14 Imprudence and Flattery 691
Proverbs 27:17 The Soul, Its Bluntness and Its
Whetstone 693
Proverbs 27:18 Man Honored in Service 696
Proverbs 27:19 The Uniformity and Reciprocity of
Souls 698
Proverbs 27:20 The Insatiability of Man's Inquiring
Faculty 700
Proverbs 27:21 Popularity, the Most Trying Test of
Character 702
Contents
Proverbs 27:22 The Moral Obstinacy of Sin 704
Proverbs 27:23-27 A Picture of Life, Rural and General 707
Proverbs 28:1 Conscience 709
Proverbs 28:2-5 A Threefold Glimpse of Life 711
Proverbs 28:7-9 Life in the Home, the Market and the
Sanctuary 715
Proverbs 28:10 Opposite Characters and Opposite
Destinies 717
Proverbs 28:11 Vanity in the Rich and Penetration in
the Poor 720
Proverbs 28:12, Secular Prosperity 722
28; 29:2
Proverbs 28:13 Man's Treatment of His Own Sins 725
Proverbs 28:14 Reverence and Recklessness 727
Proverbs 28:15-17 Types of Kings 729
Proverbs 28:20-23 Avarice 731
Proverbs 28:24 Robbery of Parents 734
Proverbs 28:25, 26 Self-sufficiency and Godly Confidence 736
Proverbs 29:1 Restorative Discipline 739
Proverbs 29:3, Parental Life 741
15,17
Proverbs 29:4, Human Rulership 745
12, 14
Proverbs 29:5 Flattery, a Net 748
Proverbs 29:6 The Snare and the Song 750
Proverbs 29:7 The Treatment of the Poor, a Test of
Character 752
Proverbs 29:8, 9,
The Genius of Evil 755
10, 11, 20, 22, 23
Proverbs 29:16 The Fall of Evil 758
Proverbs 29:18 Divine Revelation 761
Proverbs 29:19, 21 Types of Servants 763
Proverbs 29:24 Commercial Partnerships 765
Proverbs 29:25-27 Social Life 768
Proverbs 30:1-9 Agur, as a Philosopher, a Bibleist and a
Suppliant 771
Proverbs 30:10 The False Accuser 775
Proverbs 30:11-14 Many Races in One 778
Proverbs 30:24-28 Practical Lessons from Insect Life 782
Proverbs 31:1-9 The Counsels of a Noble Mother to Her
Son 784
Proverbs 31:10-31 A Noble Woman's Picture of True
Womanhood 788
Index 799
Homiletical Commentary
on Book of Proverbs
Proverbs 1:1
Solomon's Life, Its Spiritual Significance
“The Proverbs of Solomon the son of David, King of Israel.”
MAN'S life is a book, by which the Great Father
educates the human race. By man He teaches man.
As in the smallest dew-drop glistening on the blade we may
see the measureless ocean, in man He the Eternal is mani-
fest. Some men give a fairer and fuller revelation of Him
than others; they have a higher type of being, and a nobler
character. Jesus of Nazareth was “God manifest in the flesh.”
Solomon, although a depraved man, revealed not a little
of the Divine. A really great man he was not, for no man
can be really great who is not good—and he was not that.
True, he had an intellect of the highest order, an intellect
whose thoughts are the seeds of libraries; an experience,
too, that measured life in its varied phases. The Eternal
teaches the ages through him. What are the lessons his life
teaches? In it we read
THE CO-EXISTENCE OF GOOD AND EVIL IN THE SAME
HUMAN SOUL.—In early life we are told that Solomon
“loved the Lord and walked in all the statutes of David
his father.” He appreciated wisdom as the chief good;
9
10 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. I
he reared the magnificent temple at Jerusalem, and con-
secrated it by his devotions. He spake “three thousand
proverbs,” containing the germs of universal truth and
virtue. All this shews that in his great heart there were
the seeds of many virtues and the spirit of noble deeds.
But sad to say, vice as well as virtue had a place and a
power within him. He displayed revenge; encouraged, at
times, idolatry; and revelled in a voluptuousness and a
carnality unsurpassed. Good and evil are, in different
measures, found in the best of men on earth. In the spirits
of heaven there is good, and good only; in hell, evil, and
evil alone; in those of earth, they co-exist in different
degrees. “The web,” says Shakspeare, “of our life is of
mingled yarn, good and bad together.” The recognition
of this fact is important in estimating the characters of
our fellow men. A man is not to be pronounced utterly
bad because he has fallen into wrong, nor completely good
because he has performed some virtuous deed. In his life
we read.
THE FORCE OF THE DEGENERATIVE PRINCIPLE IN
HUMAN NATURE.— There was much in this man's soul to
raise him, and keep him high up in the realm of virtue.
His father, although not a good man, on his death-bed
addressed him thus, “I go the way of all the earth, be
thou strong therefore, and show thyself a man, and keep
the charge of the Lord, thy God, to walk in His ways
and keep His statutes.” The sacred impressions he
received in childhood, and the noble truths which, his
proverbs show, dwelt in his mind,—all indicate that there
was a strong force within him, to make and keep him right.
Albeit, there was at the same time in his heart a principle
stronger than all, stronger than early impressions, and
his own clear convictions of right ; a principle that
often overcame all the good, and dragged him down into
the abysses of depravity. “Let him that thinketh he
standeth, take heed lest he fall.” In his life we read
THE UTTER INSUFFICIENCY OF ALL EARTHLY
GOOD TO SATISFY THE MIND.—What has the earth to
give that this man possessed not in rich abundance?
Chap. I] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 11
Wealth? His riches were enormous: “the kings of
Tarshish and the isles, the kings of Sheba” offered to
him their gifts. Power? He sat on a throne of ivory
and gold; he was the idol of his age; princes came
from afar to witness his glory and to render him homage.
Beauty? Whatever was lovely in nature and exquisite in
art were at his command. “Vineyards, orchards, gardens,
fruitful trees, artistic streams, men singers and women
singers, and musical instruments of all sorts.” Knowledge?
“God gave him wisdom and understanding; largeness of
heart even as the sand which is on the sea-shore.” He was
a sage, a poet, and a naturalist. “He spake three thou-
sand proverbs, and his songs were one thousand and five.”
With all this was he happy? He pronounces all “Vanity
and vexation of spirit.” “Great riches have sold more
men than ever they have bought out,” says Lord Bacon.
The fact is, the world has nothing wherewith to satisfy that
soul within us, which will outlive the stars and yet be
young, comprehend the universe and yet be empty without
a God. In his life we read
THE SUPERIORITY OF TRUE THOUGHTS TO ALL THE
OTHER PRODUCTIONS OF MAN.—Solomon was an active
man; few men worked harder than he, few accomplished
more material work: but what are all his buildings, his
fleets, his ornaments, his gardens, his artistic devices,
compared to his proverbs? His thoughts have lived, and
worked, and spread for three thousand years. They are
working now, and will continue to work as generations
come and go, and as kingdoms rise and break like bubbles
on the stream. What Lord Bacon says of fame is true
of all earthly things, “It is like a river that beareth up
things light, and drowneth things weighty and solid.”
True thoughts live and give life. They are the seeds of
coming literatures, philosophies, characters, institutions.
Such are the lessons which Solomon's history. teaches.
The real life of every man is in his love. “Show
me,” says Fichte, “what thou truly lovest, show me
what thou seekest and strivest for with thy whole
heart, when thou hopest to attain to true enjoyment, and thou
hast hereby shown me thy life. What thou lovest us that thou
livest. This very love is thy life: the root, the seat, the central
point of thy being.”
12 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. I
Proverbs 1:1-6
A Great Teacher and a Genuine Student
“The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel; To know
wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding; To receive
the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment and equity; To give subtilty
to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion. A wise man will
hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto
wise counsels: To understand a proverb, and the interpretation; the words of
the wise, and their dark sayings.”
THESE six verses give us two subjects for study.
A GREAT TEACHER.—Solomon the son of David, king
of Israel, was not only a passive but an active teacher—a
voluntary as well as an involuntary one. All men teach
by their lives whether they will or not; they are “living
epistles known and read of all men.” We all become objects
of human observations, subjects of human thought and
enquiry, though we ourselves may be utterly unconscious
of the fact. Solomon taught by his life, but he also
taught by conscious determination. These verses bring
under our notice the form and design of his lessons.
What is the form? He spoke in “Proverbs.” A proverb
is the wisdom of ages crystallized into a sentence: a gold
coin in the currency of thought. Earl Russell defines a
proverb as “the wisdom of many and the wit of one.”
The proverbs of Solomon being inspired, are the rays of
eternal ideas mirrored in the diamonds of human genius.
“Jewels five words long,
That on the stretch'd forefinger of all time
Sparkle for ever.”—Tennyson
No style of instruction is more ancient than the proverbial.
and thou hast hereby shown me thy life.
Chap. I] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 13
The most ancient nations have their aphorisms, and not a
few of them sparkle with a “beam divine.” We have
become so wordy, our books so numerous, and our intellects
so speculative, that we have ceased to make proverbs.
What should be wrapped in one round sentence we spread
out into volumes in these days. Instead of “apples of gold
in pictures of silver” we have grains of gold in heavy
waggons, and these often painted in gaudy hues. What
is the design? Soul-culture. “To know wisdom and
instruction, to perceive the words of understanding.” There
is much for man to know. Much in outward nature—the
essence, laws, uses, of the material system to which he
belongs. Much in his own nature, his mental, physical,
and moral constitution; much in the relations which he
sustains to the universe and his Maker, and much in the
obligations springing there from. Man instinctively craves
for knowledge, and greatly does he need it. He needs
intellectual enlightenment and discipline: the soul with-
out knowledge is not good. These proverbs were in-
tended to enlighten the human reason, to conduct the
human intellect through phenomena into the universe of
reality, and make it acquainted with “the reason of things.”
But the design of the proverbs is more than mental culture,
it is moral. It is instruction in “judgment and equity.”
They contain rules of life, nay, principles of action. They
teach duty not only in every department of life and social
grade, but in every separate movement of the individual
man. “If the world”, says a modern writer, “were governed
by this single book, it would be a new earth wherein
dwelleth righteousness.” The suggestive character of
these proverbs is admirably adapted to the great work of
spiritual culture; it is not systematic but sententious. It
agrees with Locke's idea of education. “The business of
education,” says this great philosopher, “is not to perfect
a learner in all or any of the sciences, but to give his mind
that freedom, that disposition, and those habits that may
enable him to obtain any part of knowledge he shall apply
himself to or stand in need of, in the future course of his
life.” In these verses we have.
14 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. I
A GENUINE STUDENT.—Who is the true learner? He
is described as a “wise man.” A wise man is he who
chooses the highest end and the best means to attain it.
There are many very intelligent men who are unwise.
Some set before them a low and unworthy end, some a
good end but employ ill-adapted means. A genuine
student, however ignorant, is a man who aims at wisdom,
and gives his mind to those things that make for it. He
is a man who pursues resolutely, and in a right way, the
highest end of his being. He is described as an attentive
man. “A wise man will hear.” The mental ears of some
are so heavy that they hear not the voice of wisdom, and
the ears of others are so full of the rush and din of worldly
concerns, that even truth in thunder rolls over their heads
unheard. A genuine student “opens his ear,” bows his
head, and listens attentively and earnestly, anxious to
catch every word. He is described also as an improving
man. It is said of him that he “will increase learning”
and “attain unto wise counsels.” By listening he gains;
the words he catches he forms into sentences, and the
sentences extend into chapters. The more the genuine
student knows the more he feels his ignorance, and the
more he craves for light. Our knowledge is “but to
know how little can be known.” He is described as an
interpreting man. He “understands a proverb and the
interpretation : the words of the wise and their dark
sayings.” “Dark sayings,” says Wardlaw, “mean pro-
perly enigmas or riddles. These were used of old as one
of the methods of conveying instruction. It was conceived
that by giving exercise to the understanding in finding
out the solution of the enigma, it was calculated to deepen
on the mind the impression of the lesson which was wrapt
up in it. This was not done for mere amusement, but for
imparting serious instruction; although to the young there
might, in some instances, be the blending of an intellectual
entertainment, with the conveyance of useful information
of salutary counsel.” These enigmatical maxims of wis-
dom were sometimes rendered the more attractive by
being thrown into the form of verse, and even being set
Chap. I] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 15
to music. A poetic taste and a musical ear were thus made
subservient to the communication and impression of truth.
The great thoughts of great men are luminous in them-
selves, but dark to the thoughtless because their eyes are
closed. Let us remember the words of John Milton, that
“the end of learning is to know God, and out of that
knowledge to love Him, and to imitate Him, as we may
the nearest, by possessing our souls of true virtue.”
Proverbs 1:7-9
Piety
“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise
wisdom and instruction. My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and for-
sake not the law of thy mother: For they shall be an ornament of grace unto
thy head, and chains about thy neck.”
FROM this short passage the following great truths may
be learned.
Piety IS REVERENCE FOR GOD.—“The fear of the
Lord.” What fear? Not slavish fear, or foreboding
apprehension. There is no virtue in this;—it means a
loving reverence, which implies a recognition of the
divinely good and great. For who can reverence the
mean, the unkind, or the unvirtuous? An impression of
greatness and goodness lies at the foundation of holy
veneration, and into it there enter the sentiments of
gratitude, love, and worship. Piety is love, venerating
the majestic and adoring the good. It has nothing in
it of the fear that hath torment. On the contrary, it is
full of that love that “casteth out fear” and fills the
soul with the ecstasies of hope.
Piety Is THE GERM OF INTELLIGENCE. It is the
“beginning of knowledge.” What knowledge? Not merely
intellectual. Many an impious man knows the circle of the
16 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. I
sciences. The devil is intelligent. But though he
grasp the universe with his intellect, penetrate its essence,
and interpret its laws, he is ignorant. Spiritual knowledge
—the knowledge of self, the universe, Christ, and God,—is
the true knowledge. This grows out of piety — grows
out of reverent love. “The secret of the Lord is with
them that fear Him.” He knows nothing rightly who
knows not God experimentally. “In the rules of earthly
wisdom,” says Lord Bacon, “it is not possible for nature
to attain any mediocrity of perfection, before she be humbled
by knowing herself and her own ignorance.” God is love,
and he that loveth not, knoweth not God. Know-
ledge of Him is the root of that great tree of science,
under whose branches all holy spirits live, and on whose
immortal fruit they feast and flourish.
Piety IS DESPISED BY FOLLY.—“Fools despise wis-
dom and instruction.” Who are the fools in Solomon's
sense? Not the brainless madmen or the illiterate dolts.
But the morally perverse, the men whose sympathies
are all earthly, carnal, devilish, the men who practically
ignore the greatest facts in the universe, trifle with
the serious, and barter away the joys of eternity for the
puerilities of time. All unregenerate men are such fools,
and they despise wisdom and instruction. They look
on the pious not only with the eye of indifference, but
with the eye of scorn. They do this because they are
fools, and they are fools for doing it. To despise piety
is to despise that moral salt which prevents society from
sinking into putrefaction, those sunbeams that lighten
their path, warm their atmosphere, and fill their world
with life and beauty. “It is,” says Archer Butler,
“among the most potent of the energies of sin, that it
leads astray by blinding, and blinds by leading astray;
that the soul of man, like the strong champion of Israel,
must have its ‘eyes put out,’ when it would be bound
with fetters of brass, and condemned to grind in the
prison house.’” *
Piety INVOLVES FILIAL OBEDIENCE.—“My son,
*Judges xvi. 21.
Chap. I] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 17
hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law
of thy mother.” Family life is a divine institution; obe-
dience to its laws is a part of piety. “Filial love,” says
Dr. Arnot, “stands near and leans on godliness. It is next
to reverence for God. That first and highest command-
ment is like the earth's allegiance to the sun by general
law; and filial obedience is like day and night, summer
and winter, budding spring and ripening harvest, on the
earth's surface. There could be none of these sweet
changes and beneficent operations of nature on our
globe if it were broken away from the sun. So when a
people burst the first and greatest bond—when a people
cast off the fear of God, the family relations, with all
their beauty and benefit, disappear. We may read this
lesson in the fortune of France. When the nation threw
off the first commandment, the second went after it.
When they repudiated the fear of God, they could not
retain conjugal fidelity and filial love. Hence the wreck
and ruin of all the relations between man and man. As
well might they try to make a new world as to manage
this one wanting the first and second, the primary and
subordinate moral laws of its nature.”
This filial obedience is a moral adornment. “They
shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head and chains
about thy neck.” “You may read at times,” says one,
“on festive days, in the high places of the earth, of the
elegance and splendour of royal and courtly attire, and
your imagination may be dazzled by the profusion of
diamonds, and pearls, and brilliants, and tasteful deco-
rations and gaudy finery; indicating the anxiety felt
and the pains expended to adorn this painted piece of
living clay.'" What is the worth of all this decoration?
Virtue is the only true ornament of a, moral intelligence,—
a jewel this, which set in the centre of the immortal spirit,
will flash on through every turn of life,
“When gems, and ornaments, and crowns,
Shall moulder into dust”"
18 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. I
Proverbs 1:10-16
The Young Man
“My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not. If they say, Come with
us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause:
Let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and whole, as those that go down
into the pit: We shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with
spoil: Cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse: My son, walk not
thou in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their path: For their feet run
to evil, and make haste to shed blood.”
THE LIFE OF THE YOUNG MAN IS AMONGST SINNERS.—
This is implied in the passage, and this is a fact. Sinners
encompass us, as servants, masters, clients, customers,
and sometimes as parents, brothers, sisters. We must go
out of the world to go from them. The text teaches us the
following things concerning sin:—It is cruel. They “lay
wait for blood.” They say let us “swallow them up alive
as the grave.” Sin extinguishes social love and kindles
malignity instead. It carries with it the venom of the
devil. It teaches that sin is cunning. They are said
to “lay wait,” to “lurk privily.” Sinners are essentially
hypocrites. They dare not show their true characters to
their fellow men. Were they to do so, instead of enjoying
social fellowship and patronage, they would be shunned as
monsters. Hence they always work under mask and love
the dark. They put on the robes of virtue. They kiss
and stab at the same time. It teaches that sin is greedy.
“We shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our
houses with spoil.” Avarice is the spring that sets and
keeps them in motion. “Precious substance” is what
they are after. For this they have an insatiable craving.
“0 cursed hunger of pernicious gold!
What bands of faith can impious lucre hold!”
This is the world into which the young are born, brought
up and educated. What a morally perilous position!
How great the caution required!
Chap. I] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 19
THE DANGER OF THE YOUNG MAN IS ENTICEMENT.-
“My son, if sinners entice thee.” This they are sure to do.
Sin always begets an instinct to propagate itself. No
sooner did angels fall, than they became tempters. Eve
sins, and entices her husband. Sin is a whirlpool, sucking
all into itself. Sinners draw the young into evil, not by
violence or hard words, but by simulated love and quiet
persuasion. They say, “Come with us.” Come with us;
we have your interest at heart. We wish you happiness.
Come, share our pleasures, our transports, and our gains.
Cast in thy lot among us, let us all have one purse."
This is the danger. It is fabled of the Syrens, that from
the watch tower of their lovely island, they charmed the
passing ships to their shore by their music. But the
sailors when they landed on their sunny beach, transported
by a melody adapted to each heart, were destroyed by
their enchanters, and their bones left unburied in the
sand. Thus sinners act upon the young. It is by the
music of fascinating manners, kind words, and fair promises,
that they charm the young away from the straight
voyage of life to their shores, in order to effect their
ruin.
THE ATTITUDE OF THE YOUNG SHOULD BE RESIST-
ANCE.-“Consent thou not.” Learn to say “No”—No,
with the emphasis of thy whole soul. Thou canst resist.
Heaven has endowed thee with power to resist all outward
appeals. Thou oughtest to resist. To consent is to insult
thy Maker and contract guilt. Thou must resist. Thy
well-being, now and evermore, depends upon resisting.
“Refrain thy foot from their path.” Do not parly
with them. Do not take the first downward step, for
the hill is steep, and every step adds a strong momen-
tum. One sin leads to another, and thus on. Why
resist? “Their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed
blood.” The path may be smooth and flowery, but it is
evil and ruinous.
“The devil,” says an old writer, “doth not know the
hearts of men, but he may feel their pulse, know their temper,
and so accordingly can apply himself. As the husband-
20 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. I
man knows what seed is proper to sow in such soil, so
Satan finding out the temper, knows what temptation is
proper to sow in such a heart. That way the tide of a
man's constitution runs, that way the wind of temptation
blows. Satan tempts the ambitious man with a crown,
the sanguine man with beauty, the covetous man with a
wedge of gold. He provides savoury meat, such as the
sinner loves."
Proverbs 1:17-19
Moral Traps
“Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird. And they lay
wait for their own blood; they lurk privily for their own lives. So are the ways
of every one that is greedy of gain; which taketh away the life of the owners
thereof.”
SIN LAYS TRAPS FOR SOULS.—“The net is spread.”
Sin has woven a net and laid it along the path of
life. This net is wrought of diverse materials, such as
sensuality, avarice, ambition. How cleverly the skilful
fowler constructs and lays his net. It is placed where the
innocent bird is likely to come in the garden or the granary,
for the grain or the grub, and where when it comes it will
be enthralled even in its first step. It is thus with the
moral fowler,—the great tempter of souls and all whom he
employs. Enticements are traps. There is the trap of
self-indulgence, and carnal gratification. There is the trap
of worldly amusements laid in theatres, taverns, and the
orgies of revelry and debauch. There is the trap of avarice
laid in scenes of unrighteous traffic and reckless specula-
tion. There is the trap of ambition spread out and con-
cealed in all the paths to social influence and political
Chap. I] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 21
power. Traps abound. They are adjusted for men of
every mental type, of every period in life, in every social
grade. They are laid for children in the play-ground, for
merchants in the exchange, for statesmen in the senate, for
all classes—from the pauper to the prince. All ages—
from the child to the octogenarian.
THESE TRAPS MUST BE EXPOSED.—“In vain the net
is spread in the sight of any bird.” The fowler conceals his
net. If he laid it in the sight of the bird, instinct would
strike the warning and his object would be missed. Sin
works insidiously. It takes advantage of men's circum-
stances, ignorance, and inexperience. It steals into the
soul through a word in song, or a note in music, through a
glance of the eye, or a touch of the hand. It does not enter
the soul by violently destroying its fortress, but by crawling
over the walls, and creeping into its recesses. The work
of the true philanthropist is to expose the traps and to
thunder warning in the ears of the birds as they come
swooping down. Young men, remember that sin is insidious,
and lays its traps stealthily, in scenes where beauty
smiles and syrens chant.
“Our dangers and delights are near allies;
From the same stem the rose and prickle rise.”
THESE TRAPS BRING RUIN TO THEIR AUTHORS.—
“They lay wait for their own blood, they lurk privily for
their own lives.” “They lay wait.” Who? Not the bird;
but the fowler, not the intended victim but the foul deceiver.
Whilst the tempters “lurked” privily “for the blood” of
others, they “lay wait” for their own blood. Retribution
overtakes them. If they escape violence themselves, the
Nemesis pursues them. Thus it was with Ahab and his
guilty partner, they plotted the destruction of others, but
they worked out their own ruin; thus it was with Haman, who
sought to murder Mordecai, but hung himself, and thus with
Judas too. Sinners the world over, in all their plans
and purposes, are “digging a pit for themselves.” “So with
the ways of every one who is greedy of gain”—it is the
inexorable law of retribution.
22 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. I
Their schemes may seem to prosper here, but justice
tracks their steps and their ruin is inevitable.
“There is no strange handwriting on the wall,
Thro' all the midnight hum no threatening call,
Nor on the marble floor the stealthy fall
Of fatal footsteps. All is safe. Thou fool,
The avenging deities are shod with wool!”
W. ALLEN BUTLER
Proverbs 1:20-23
The Voice of Wisdom to the World
“Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets; She crieth
in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates: in the city she
uttereth her words, saying, How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity?
and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge? Turn you
at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known
my words unto you.”
DIVINE wisdom was an abstraction in the days of Solomon.
It is an incarnation in our times. In his days it was per-
sonified in language. In ours it is personified in flesh.
It is the same thing however clad; the infinite intelligence
of love and truth. It is the “mind of God.” This wisdom
is here represented as speaking to the world.
The voice of wisdom to the world is EARNEST.—“Wis-
dom crieth.” The communications of heaven to humanity
are not the utterances of mere intellect. They are the
expressions of the heart. The Bible is an earnest book,
Christ is an earnest messenger. The eternal Father is in
earnest with His human children. “As I live saith the
Lord God I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked.”
“In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood
and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me
and drink.” God's communications to men show the earnest-
ness of His heart. Look at their nature. How fervid
Chap. I] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 23
forceful, vehement. Mark their variety. They come in
poetry, prose, prophecy, precept, promise, threat, expostu-
lation, admonition. Note their continuance. They do not
cease, they keep on from age to age. Wisdom is ever
crying through nature, through the Bible, through the
history of past ages, through conscience, and through
reason. Earnestness is all heartedness. God's heart is in
His communications to men.
The voice of wisdom to the world is PUBLIC.—“She
uttereth her voice in the streets; she crieth in the chief
places of concourse, in the openings of the gates.” “The
accumulation,” says Kitto, “of phrases implying pub-
licity—the streets, the chief place of concourse, the open-
ings of the gates, the city—probably refer to the custom
in the East, particularly among the Arabians, for people to
hold discussions and conversations on religion and morals
in the open air, and especially in the more public parts of
the town, to which the inhabitants resort for the sake of
society. It is not unusual indeed for a man respected for
his eloquence, learning, or reputed sanctity, to collect in
such places a. congregation which listens with attention
and interest to the address he delivers. Thus such wisdom
as they possess may be said to “cry in the streets;” and
as the people read very little, if at all, a very large part of
the information and mental cultivation which they possess
is derived from the discussions, conversations, recitations,
and lectures on various subjects, which they hear in the
streets and public places.” Where is the voice of heavenly
wisdom not heard? The whole earth is vocal with it. It
echoes in every man's soul. “There is no speech nor
language where her voice is not heard.” There are three
classes here specified to whom it addresses itself. The
“simple.” “Ye simple ones”—those most unsophisticated
and free from the taint of sin, the millions of the rising
race as well as those in more advanced life who have re-
tained in some measure the innocency of childhood.
“Scorners” —men who are so hardened in sin that they resist
impressions and sneer at sacred persons and things. To
impious scoffers and profane jesters, who are numerous in
24 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. I
all ages and are morally the most degraded of men, this
Wisdom speaks. “Fools”—men who hate knowledge. The
simple are weak, the scorner disdainful, the fool malignant
—he hates knowledge. How great the mercy of God in
condescending to speak to such.
But the earnest and public address of wisdom to
these classes is pre-eminently practical. It is in the
language of expostulation. “How long ye simple ones?”
How long? Do you know how brief your life is and
how urgent the work of spiritual reformation? How long
ye simple ones will ye love simplicity? And the scorners
delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?” It is
the language of invitation. “Turn you at my reproof.”
Turn away from worldliness and wickedness and come
to holiness and truth. Turn, you can do it, you must
do it, you are bound to do it. “Let the wicked forsake his
ways and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him
return unto the Lord, and. He will have mercy upon him,
and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.” It is the
language of encouragement. “I will pour out my Spirit
upon you.” “I will make known my words unto you.”
“I offer,” says Bishop Hall, “to you both my word out-
wardly to your ears, and a plentiful measure of my Spirit
to make that word effectual to you.”
Such is the voice of Wisdom. “He that hath ears to
hear let him hear.” Hear that your souls may live—hear
at once. Delay is sinful and perilous. Remember the
words of John Foster—“How dangerous to defer those
momentous reformations which conscience is solemnly
preaching to the heart! If they are neglected, the diffi-
culty and indisposition are increasing every month. The
mind is receding degree after degree, from the warm and
the hopeful zone; till at last it will enter the Arctic circle,
and become fixed in relentless and eternal ice.”
Chap. I] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 25
Proverbs 1:24-33
God and the Sinner in Time and Eternity
“Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and
no man regarded; But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of
my reproof: I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear
cometh; when your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a
whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you. Then shall they call
upon me, but will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find
me: For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD:
They would One of my counsel: they despised all my reproof. Therefore shall
they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with the fruit of their own
devices. For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity
of fools shall destroy them. But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely,
and shall be quiet from fear of evil.”
GOD AND THE SINNER IN TIME.—Two things are obser-
vable here, First, God's conduct to sinners in time. What
does he do? He “calls” them—calls them by teachings of
nature, the admonitions of reason and the appeals of His
word—calls them away from sin to holiness, from misery
to joy, from Satan to Himself. He stretches out His hand.
“I have stretched out my hand.” What for? To rescue
from danger, to bestow benedictions, to command attention,
to welcome a return. He counsels them. “Ye have set at
nought my counsels." Counsels that would shed light
upon duty and destiny, solve moral problems, and make the
path of human life straight and sunny for ever. He reproves
them. “And would none of my reproof.” His reproofs, whilst
they are honest, are also loving and tender. This is the
attitude of the Eternal towards every human sinner here. He
is calling,, outstretching His hand, addressing counsels, and
administering reproofs. But, mark on the other hand,
Secondly, the conduct of sinners towards God in time. How do
sinners treat the Almighty here? They refuse His call. “I
have called and ye refused.” They disregard His attitude. “I
have stretched out my hand and no man regarded.” They
condemn is counsel and reproof. “Ye have set at nought
26 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. I
all my counsel, and would none of my reproof.” What a
spectacle to angels is this! God's treatment of the sinner
and the sinner's treatment of Him. Wonder, oh heaven!
and be astonished, oh earth!
GOD AND THE SINNER IN ETERNITY.—Here observe,
First, His conduct towards the sinner in eternity. When
sinners pass impenitently into the realms of retribution,
how does the Eternal treat them there? He laughs at them. “I
will laugh at your calamity.” Strong metaphor conveying a
most terrific idea! What a laugh is this! It is the laugh
of mockery and contempt. “I will mock when your fear
cometh.” A father laughing at his child in trial and
anguish! For the suffering child to see his parent looking
on without a tear of compassion or a sigh of sympathy, with
a heartless indifference, would give poignancy to his
pains, but to see him smile and to hear him laugh in his
writhing agonies, how unspeakably distressing! To be
laughed at by God! Can you have a more terrible picture
of misery? A thousand times sooner let the Eternal flash His
lightnings, hurl His thunders, and rain His fires on me, than
laugh at my calamities. He disregards their prayers. Fear
is on them as a .desolation! Destruction has come down upon
them as a whirlwind. Distress and anguish has seized them,
and they pray, and God says, “I will not answer.” He
looks on and laughs. What a contrast between His
conduct in time, and His conduct in eternity! Observe,
Secondly, the impenitent sinner's conduct towards God
in eternity . He whom sinners ignored and disregarded
in time, is earnestly prayed to now. “They shall seek
me early but shall not find me.” They would not
listen to my warnings and invitations, and I will not
listen to their prayers. They seek God but cannot find
Him. Why has all this misery come upon them? Here is
the explanation:— “They hated knowledge and did not
choose the fear of the Lord. They would none of my counsel;
they despised all my reproof. Therefore shall they eat of the
fruit of their own way and be filled with their own devices.”
They said to the Almighty when here, “Depart from us.”
He says to them there, “Depart from me.” Here is
Chap. II.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 27
retribution. All their misery is but the eating of the fruit
of their own ways. They reap what they had sown. As
fruit answers to seed, as echoes to sound, their calamities in
eternity answer to their conduct in time. “Be not deceived,
God is not mocked. Whatsoever a man soweth that shall
he also reap.”
Notwithstanding all this, mercy still speaks in the close
of the passage. “Whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell
safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil.” Practical
attention to God's word will secure safety now and for ever.
“The name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous
flee thereto and are safe.” “Seek the Lord while he may
be found; and call upon him while he is near.”
Proverbs 2:1-5
Spiritual Excellence
"My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with
thee; So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to
understanding; Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and iffiest up thy voice for
understanding; If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid
treasures; Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the know-
ledge of God.”
WE have here
Spiritual excellence DESCRIBED.—It is described as
“the fear of the Lord," and as “the knowledge of God.”
The twofold description conveys the idea that godli-
ness has to do both with the intellect and the heart.
It is knowledge and fear. It is such a knowledge of God
as generates the true emotion towards Him. In true
spiritual excellence there is a blending of reverent love
and theologic light. Such a blending that both become
one, the love is light and the light is love. In this, our
perfection and well being consist. This is not the means to
28 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. II.
heaven, it is heaven—heaven in all times, circumstances,
and worlds. Its influence is beautifully and truthfully
described by Sir Humphrey Davy. “Religion, whether
natural or revealed, has always the same beneficial in-
fluence on the mind. In youth, in health, and prosperity
it awakens feelings of gratitude, and sublime love, and
purifies at the same time that which it exalts; but it is in
misfortune, in sickness, in age, that its effects are more
truly and beneficially felt: when submission in faith and
humble trust in the Divine Will, when duties become plea-
sures, undecaying sources of consolation; then it creates
powers which were believed to be extinct, and gives a
freshness to the mind which was supposed to have passed
away for ever, but which is now renovated as an immortal
hope. Its influence outlives all earthly enjoyments, and
becomes stronger as the organs decay, and the frame dis-
solves; it appears as that evening star of light in the horizon
of life, which we are sure is to become, in another season,
a morning star, and it throws its radiance through the
gloom and shadow of death.”
Here we have
Spiritual excellence ATTAINED.—How is this in-
valuable state of being to be reached? The text in-
dicates the method. By the reception of Divine truth.
“If thou wilt receive my words.” The receptive faculty
must be employed. God's truth must be taken into the
soul. It is the glory of our nature that we can take into
us ideas from the Eternal Intellect, and this we must do if
we would reach the grand ideal of being. His thoughts alone
can break the darkness of our spirits and warm them into
heavenly life. By the retention of Divine truth. “Hide my
commandments.” What we receive from the Divine Mind
we must hold fast. We must keep the seed in the soil,
nurse and watch it, that it may germinate and grow. There
is a danger of losing it. The winds of temptation and the
fowls of evil will tear away the grains unless we watch. By
the search after Divine truth. “Apply thine heart to
understanding.” “Incline thine ear unto wisdom.” The
ear must be turned away from the sounds of earthly
Chap. II.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 29
pleasure, the din of worldliness, and the voices of human
speculation, and must listen attentively to communications
from the spiritual and eternal.
The search must be earnest. “If thou cravest after
knowledge, and liftest up thy voice after understanding.”
Truth never comes where it is not wanted, where its neces-
sity is not felt. It only gives its bread to the hungry, and
its waters to those who feel the burning thirst. As hungry
children cry out for food, souls must cry to the Eternal
Father for light. The search must be persevering. “If
thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid
treasures.” How indefatigable are men in their search for
silver and gold. They excavate the mountains, they plough
the seas, they go from market to market and from shore to
shore, in earnest quest for gold. But spiritual excellence is
infinitely more precious than all worldly treasures. “It
cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir, with the precious
onyx or the sapphire. The gold and the crystal cannot
equal it, and the exchange of it shall not be for jewels of
fine gold. No mention shall be made of corals, or of pearls:
for the price of wisdom is above rubies. The topaz of
Ethiopia shall not equal it, neither shall it be valued with
pure gold.” By so much as spiritual excellence is more
valuable than all worldly treasures, should be our ardent,
unwearied diligence in quest of it. “The following relic,”
says Mr. Bridges, “of our renowned Elizabeth will be
read both with interest and profit. It was written on a
blank leaf of a black letter edition of St. Paul's Epistles,
which she used during her lonely imprisonment at Wood-
stock. The volume itself, curiously embroidered by her
own hand, is preserved in the Bodleian:- ‘August. I walk
many times into the pleasant fields of the Holy Scriptures,
where I pluck up the goodlisome herbs of sentences by
pruning, eat them by reading, chew them by musing, and
lay them up at length in the high seat of memorie, that in
gathering them together, and so having tasted their sweet-
ness, I may the less perceive the bitterness of this miserable
life.’”
30 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. II.
Proverbs 2:6-9
Good Men and Their God
“For the LORD giveth wisdom; out of his mouth cometh knowledge and
understanding. He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous: he is a buckler
to them that walk uprightly. He keepeth the paths of judgment, and preserveth
the way of his saints. Then shalt thou understand righteousness, and judgment,
and equity; yea, every good path.”
THESE words bring under our attention the greatest
beings on earth, good men ; and the greatest being in the
universe, the Great God. Notice:-
THE CHARACTER OF GOOD MEN.-The description
given of them here is full, varied, and very significant.
They are spoken of as the “righteous.” The whole duty
of man may be included in this word, or in its equiva-
lent, a shorter word still—just. The moral code of the
universe may be reduced to two words, “Be just.” Be just
to yourself, respect your own nature, train your own
faculties, guard your own rights, realize your own ideals.
This is virtue! Be just to others: “Whatsoever ye would
that men should do unto you do ye even so to them.”
This is morality. Be just to God: The Best Being
love the most, the Truest Being trust the most, the
Greatest Being reverence, adore and serve the most.
This is religion! Virtue, morality, and religion constitute a
righteous man. They are spoken of as “walking uprightly.”
Goodness in all moral creatures is not stationary, but pro-
gressive. It is an everlasting walk into new fields of beauty,
new scenes of enjoyment, new spheres of service. “The
path of the just is a shining light which shineth more and
more unto the perfect day.” They are spoken of as “saints.”
They are consecrated to God's service, set apart to His use,
they are the living and imperishable temples of the Holy
Ghost. Such is the sketch given here of good men, and stand
they not in sublime contrast with the canting hypocrites,
Chap. II.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 31
worldly grubs, fawning sycophants, wretched snobs, which
abound in modern society and from which all honest hearts
recoil? “The greatest man,” says Seneca, “is he who chooses
right with the most invincible resolution, who resists the
sorest temptation from within and without, who bears the
heaviest burdens cheerfully, who is calmest in storms, and
most fearless under menaces and frowns, whose reliance on
truth, on -Virtue, and on God is most unfaltering.” Kind
Heaven, multiply the number of these good men!
Observe
THE GOD OF GOOD MEN.—He is here set forth in
His relation to creation generally. “For the Lord giveth
wisdom, out of His mouth cometh knowledge and under-
standing.” He is the great original, central, exhautless
Fountain of intelligence. He is “the Father of lights;”
the light of instinct, the light of reason, the light of genius,
the light of conscience, all stream from Him as from the
sun. Wherever there is a ray of truth, a beam of intelli-
gence, a gleam of virtue, there is God, and in them He
should be recognized and worshipped.
“God,” says old Ouarles, “is a light that is never darkened,
an unwearied life that cannot die, a fountain always flowing,
a garden of life, a seminary of wisdom, a radical beginning
of all goodness.”
“Give me unveil'd the source of good to see!
Give me Thy light, and fix mine eyes on Thee!”—Boethius
He is here set forth in His relation to the good in particular.
He makes special provisions for them. He provides for
their instruction. “He layeth up sound Wisdom.” We
need not ask the question, Where are “the treasures of
sound wisdom” laid up for us? The Son of Man, the
Redeemer of the world is the “Wisdom of God.” He
protects them from their enemies. “He is a buckler to
them that walk uprightly.” Our path is fraught with
danger and beset with temptations, foes lurk about us on
all hands, and we need a defence. He is our “buckler.”
Significant expression this; it does not say that he holds
the buckler, or has a buckler for us, but He is the buckler.
32 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. II.
He Himself is the shield, and our enemies must strike
through Him to injure us. He superintends their career.
“He keepeth the paths of judgment, and preserveth the
way of His saints.” He vouchsafes their ultimate per-
fection. “Then shalt thou understand righteousness, and
judgment, and equity, yea every good path.”
Such is the God of the good! May this God be our God!
May He be our guide even unto death!
“Thou Uncreate, Unseen, and Undefined
Source of all life, and Fountain of the mind,
Pervading Spirit! whom no eye can trace:
Felt through all time, and working in all space,
Imagination cannot paint that spot,
Around, above, beneath, where Thou art not!"
R. MONTGOMERY
Proverbs 2:10-22
Wickedness and Wisdom;
the Bane and the Antidote
“When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto
thy soul; Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee: To
deliver thee from the way of the evil man, from the man that speaketh froward
things; Who leave the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness,
Who rejoice to do evil, and delight in the frowardness of the wicked; Whose
ways are crooked, and they froward in their paths: To deliver thee from the
strange woman, even from the stranger which flattereth with her words: Which
forsaketh the guide of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God. For
her house inclineth unto death, and her paths unto the dead. None that go unto
her return again, neither take they hold of the paths of life. That thou mayest
walk in the way of good men, and keep the paths of the righteous. For the
upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it. But the wicked
thall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it.”
Two things of a very opposite character are brought before
us in these verses—wickedness and wisdom, and these two
Chap. II.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 33
things are at work in all literatures, institutions, enter-
prises, souls, the world over.
WICKEDNESS.—We have here a terrible description of
wicked persons. Observe their character. Their speech is
corrupt. “The man that speaketh froward things.” Justin
said, “By examining the tongue of a patient, physicians
find out the diseases of the body and philosophers those of
the mind.” The wicked use their tongues to express the
erroneous, the blasphemous, and perverse. They set their
“mouth against the Heavens,” and sometimes we hear them
say to all moral constraints, “Let us break their bands
asunder and cast away their cords from us." Their habit
is corrupt. “They leave the paths of righteousness to walk
in the ways of darkness.” Wicked men “love darkness
rather than light, because their deeds are evil." Their path
is not only dark but crooked. “Whose ways are crooked.”
The way of goodness is straight, even, and uniform; but
that of sin is labyrinthian and rough, as well as dark.
Their heart is corrupt. They “rejoice to do evil and delight
in the frowardness of the wicked.” They not only speak
the wrong thing, do the wrong thing, pursue the wrong
course, but they rejoice in the wrong. Their pleasure is in
sin, in debauchery, intemperance, carousings. They revel
in wickedness. Their influence is corrupt. This is illustrated
in the description of the “strange woman” here introduced,
who “flattereth with her lips, forsaketh the guide of her
youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God.” A des-
cription this of the prostitute, not only most touching
and humiliating, but true to modern fact. A more horrid
sight this side of Hell cannot be seen than a fallen woman,
a woman giving her nature up to carnality and wrong.
She is ruined and she ruins. Solomon lifts up his warning
against such a character, and well he might, for he was led
away from God and truth by her seductive wiles. Observe
their peril. “Her house inclineth unto death, and her paths
unto the dead. None that go unto her return again, neither
take they hold of the paths of life.” The spell of lust
palsies the grasp of her victims. Ah! how many a poor,
infatuated, deluded youth has been led on step by step the
34 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. II.
downward road to the chambers of death; led by soft and
silken bonds, amidst syren music to adamantine chains
and penal fire! Everything dies under the influence of
wickedness,—self-respect, spiritual sensibility, mental
freedom, the freshness, the vigour, and the beauty of life.
Observe their doom. “The wicked shall be cut off from the
earth and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it.” They
are rooted out from the esteem of the good, from the sphere
of improvement, from the realm of mercy, and the domain
of hope.
Eschew sin, my friend! The soul with sin in it is within
the central attractions of Hell, and all its motions accelerate
its movements thither. If it is in thee, crush it at once; it
is easier to crush a spark than a conflagration, to break the
egg of the cockatrice than to kill the serpent.
WISDOM.—This is represented here both as the pre-
ventative and the antidote to wickedness. Wickedness is
terribly powerful, but wisdom is mightier. Its mightiness,
however, in man depends upon its right reception. “When
wisdom entereth into the heart.” Wisdom outside of us is
a grand thing for thought and speculation, but it must come
into us to be of any real and permanent service. It will not
do to flow from the tongue or float in the brain, or to come
to us as a strange visitant, to be tolerated or entertained for
a short time; but as a friend, of all friends the dearest to
the heart. It must come in as a “thing that is pleasant
to thy soul.” Then it does three things in relation
to wickedness. It guards the innocent. “Discretion shall
preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee.” The way to
keep out evil is to fill the soul with goodness. If Divine
wisdom takes full possession of thy heart, when evil comes,
it will “find nothing” in thee. It delivers the fallen. “De-
liver thee from the way of evil men,” from the “strange
woman.” If thou hast fallen into evil, if thou art within
its sphere of magic infatuation, let wisdom enter thy heart
and thou shalt be delivered. It shall break the spell of the
enchanter, it shall unlock the door of thy caged soul, and let
thee out into the air of sunny truth. Heavenly wisdom in
the soul is the only soul-redemptive force. It guides the
Chap. III.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 35
redeemed. “That thou mayest walk in the ways of good
men and keep the paths of the righteous.” It guides our
feet in the way of peace. It is a lamp to our path. Like the
star to the mariner, if this wisdom shine within us it will
guide us safely over the voyage of life. How shall we get
into the heart this wisdom, that guards the innocent, deli-
vers the fallen, and guides the redeemed? “If any man
lack wisdom let him ask of God, who giveth to all men
liberally and upbraideth not”
“Who are the wise?
They who have govern'd with a self-control,
Each wild and baneful passion of the soul-
Curb'd the strong impulse of all fierce desires,
But kept alive affection's purer fires.
They who have pass'd the labyrinth of life,
Without one hour of weakness or of strife:
Prepared each change of fortune to endure,
Humble though rich, and dignified though poor.
Skill'd in the latent movements of the heart-
Learn'd in the lore which nature can impart;
Teaching that sweet philosophy aloud,
Which sees the silver lining' of the cloud;
Looking for good in all beneath the skies:
These are the truly wise.”—PRINCE.
Proverbs 3:1-2
The Philosophy of Health and Happiness
"My son, forget not my law, but let thine heart keep my commandments.
For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee."
DIVINE revelation is a law. It is not a mere creed, but a
code. It is not given for mere study, speculation, and
belief, but for obedience. It has all the attributes of a law,
—publicity, authority, practicability. The text teaches two
great truths.
36 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. III.
OBEDIENCE TO MORAL LAW IS A CONDITION OF
PHYSICAL HEALTH.—Mark at the outset what the obedience
is. It is the obedience of the heart. “Let thine heart keep
my commandments.” The Bible legislates for mind, for
thoughts, affections, impulses, and aims. Its command-
ment is so broad that it takes the whole soul in, penetrates
to its deepest and most hidden springs of action. Obedience
is not a thing of tongue, or hand, or foot, it is a thing of
the heart. Perfect external conformity to the mere letter of
the law, were it possible, would be rebellion if the heart
was not in it. We are taught here that this spiritual
obedience is a condition of physical health. It secures
“length of days and long life.” The connection between
obedience and physical health is clear from the three fol-
lowing facts:—(I) That physical health requires obedience
to the divine laws of our being. (2) That obedience to these
divine laws involves a study of them. (3) That the heartiest
sympathy with the Divine author is essential to their suc-
cessful study. These propositions are so evident that they
require neither illustrations nor proof. Add to this the fact
that sobriety, temperance, chastity, industry, contentment,
regularity, amiability, control of the temper, and the
passions, which are involved in true obedience, are all
conducive to corporeal health and vigour. Some people
seem to regard ill-health as a mark of gentility. They are
afraid to acknowledge themselves as vigorous and robust,
lest they should be considered vulgar. They consider it
more respectable to acknowledge feebleness than strength.
Others seem to regard ill-health as a virtue—something to
be pleased with and commended for. But in truth ill-health
often means coarseness and crime. It grows out of the
infraction of divine laws. Health of the body depends upon
health of soul, and health of soul depends upon obe-
dience to the moral laws of God. Bodily vigour depends
upon moral virtue. “Godliness is profitable unto all things,
having the promise of the life that now is and of that
which is to come.” There is a care for health which des-
troys it. “People,” says Sterne, “who are always taking
care of their health are like misers who are hoarding a
Chap. III.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 37
treasure which they have never spirit enough to enjoy.”
But there is a care that promotes it—it is a care for moral
purity and a divine elevation of soul in thought and aim.
OBEDIENCE TO MORAL LAW IS A CONDITION OF
SPIRITUAL HAPPINESS.—“And peace shall be added to
thee.” Peace requires two things. (1) The inward
harmony of our powers. The soul is often like a battle-
field, on which there is a violent conflict of forces. The
suggestions of reason and the dictates of conscience battle
against the armies of carnal lusts and selfish impulses.
It is like a sea, into whose depths there rush contending
currents, heaving it to its centre. (2) The sense of divine
favour. The feeling that the Lord is against us gives the.
throbs of perpetual restlessness to our souls. Now spiritual
obedience puts an end to this state of things, crushes in-
ward enemies, hushes inward storms, and gives a blessed
consciousness of divine approval.
“Peace is the end of all things—tearless peace;
Who by the immovable basis of God's throne
Takes her perpetual stand; and, of herself
Prophetic, lengthens age by age her sceptre;
The world shall yet be subjugate to love,
The final form religion must assume,
Led like a lion, rid with wreathed reins,
In some enchanted island, by a child.”—FESTUS
Proverbs 3:3-4
Mercy and Truth
“Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write
them upon the tables of thine heart: So shalt thou find favour and good under-
standing in the sight of God and man.”
Two of the greatest moral realities of the universe are
mentioned in these verses. They are the greatest themes
38 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. III.
in all true books, the chief elements in all great lives, the
noblest attributes of the Godhead, the primal substances of
the Gospel. “Grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.” These
two direct man's nature as a being possessing intellect and
heart, each of which has its respective cravings and claims.
We must have “truth” in us;—all our faculties must truth-
fully move in harmony with eternal realities. We must
have “mercy” in us. All our powers must move by it as their
impulse and sovereign. Man's duty in relation to “mercy
and truth” is here set forth by two strong metaphors, the
metaphors of binding and writing.
Man has to BIND “mercy” and “truth” to him.—“Bind
them continually upon thy heart and tie them upon thy
neck.” The allusion here is probably to the phylacteries
with which the Jews were commanded by Moses to bind
the law around their foreheads. But here the command is
to bind mercy and truth, not upon the hand or the head,
but upon the heart; and they were to be kept there, not for
a time, but “continually;” to be taken off neither day or
night. They are to be carried with us as mementoes of our
obligations to heaven, and as safeguards to protect us from
the wrong and the ruinous. They are so vital to us that
we must not part with them. Take mercy and truth from
the soul and you take the verdure from the fields, and leave
them in barrenness ; you take the light from the heavens and
leave them in sackcloth. Part with everything; property,
friends, reputation, life itself, sooner than part with them.
Without them the soul is lost—lost to virtue, nobility, use-
fulness and heaven.
Man has to WRITE “mercy and truth” within him.—
There are two Bibles—one consists of truth written on
paper, the other of truth written on the soul. Whilst both
are valuable, the latter is for many reasons the most pre-
cious. (1) Because it is the most real. In the paper Bible
we have only “mercy and truth” in symbol, but in the loving
heart they themselves are there. The figures on your bank
book, representing the amount which stands to your credit
at the bank, are not real money but the sign; your property
is not in your book, but in the bank; so “mercy and truth”
Chap. III.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 39
are not in the letter-press, but they are in the heart. (2)
Because it is the most legible. The paper Bible con-
tains many things hard to be understood. The most
enlightened interpreter fails to reach its meaning, but
what is written on the heart, is written in the language
that universal man can read, the savage as well as the
sage, the child as well as the octogenarian. (3) Because it
is the most capacious. The heart is a volume whose pages
defy finite arithmetic, whose folios none but God can
number. How voluminous the contents of every heart
now! But what through the ages! Every impression we
receive is a fresh sentence. (4) Because it is the most
endurable. Paper, parchment, marble, or even brass, on
which men have written, time has destroyed; but the heart
is immortal, and the sentences written on it eternity cannot
obliterate.
Man has to ENJOY “mercy and truth” within him.—
If mercy and truth are in the soul, not as mere ideas or
as temporary impulses, but as living, regnant, and abiding
forces, God's favour will be enjoyed, success will attend our
ways, and we shall advance in holy freedom and force.
Christ (who brought “grace and truth” into the world), as
he grew increased in favour both with God and man, and
it will be the same with all those who embody those
transcendent elements in their lives.
Conclusion.—The whole implies that “mercy and truth”
are outside of men in their unregenerate state. They are
in the heart of God, they are in the universe, they are in
the Bible as symbols, but they are not inherent in human
nature. Men must have them. Embrace them, brother;
bind them indissolubly upon thy moral being, and write
them indelibly on thy heart!
40 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. III.
Proverbs 3:5-7
God-trusting and Self-trusting
“Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own
understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.”
GOD-TRUSTING.—“Trust in the Lord.” Man is a
trusting creature: he is always leaning on some object.
So deep is his consciousness of dependence, that he dares
not stand alone. This trusting instinct, like all the other
instincts of his nature, has been sadly perverted by a wrong
direction. Everywhere man is leaning on the unworthy, the
unreliable, and the unenduring; hence his constant disap-
pointments and confusion. Observe here the object of true
trustfulness. “The Lord,”-the Ali-merciful, the All-wise,
and All-powerful;—the Unchanging amidst all changes,
the All-loving amidst all malignities, the All-enduring
amidst all dissolutions, the One and only One; not it
nor them, but HIM. Observe the manner of true trust-
fulness. It must be entire; “With all thy heart.” It must
be an unquestioned, undivided confidence. He is to be
trusted lovingly: not as a matter of expedience or dry duty,
but as a matter of supreme affection. It must be always.
“In all thy ways acknowledge Him.” Man's ways are
many. All men have different ways. These are determined
by organization, idiosyncracies, and other constitutional
adventitious circumstances. There is the way of the sen-
sualist, the sceptic, the savage, the sage, the worldling, the
saint. Each man has often different ways: he does not
continue through life in the same path, he changes it
through the force of age, conviction, and experience.
But in whatever way he walks, at any time he should
trustfully acknowledge Him; acknowledge not merely
his existence, personality, power, but His absolute authority
over him; His claim to be his grand subject of thought,
Chap. III.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 41
object of affection, supreme aim of life. Observe the advan-
tage of true trustfulness. What is it? Guidance in the
right—“He will direct thy paths.” He guides those who
will trust in Him. His guidance secures safety amidst
all perils, and happiness amidst all sorrows. He
will make the path clear and secure, as we walk on and
upward, for ever. Another advantage is departure from
evil. “Fear the Lord and depart from evil.” Fear is in-
cluded in God-trusting, and where this is there is a
departure from evil. The soul in which there is this
blessed trust breaks away from all evil, and struggles its
way into holiness and love. There is yet another advan-
tage specified,—strength in all. “It shall be health to thy
navel and marrow to thy bones.” True trustfulness excludes
all those anxious cares, and crushes all those appetites and
passions of the soul, which are ever the seeds of physical
discomfort and disease. It gives that evenness of temper,
that regularity to the impulses, that tranquil cheerfulness
to the heart, which are pre-eminently conducive to corpo-
real health and force. It is a libel on religion to represent
it as in any way inimical to true physical vigour and
animal enjoyment. Trust in God is as cheering as the light
of heaven, and as healthful as the mountain breeze.
“Thy God hath said 'tis good for thee
To walk by faith and not by sight.
Take it on trust a little while,
Soon shalt thou read the mystery right,
In the bright sunshine of His smile.”—KEBLE
SELF-TRUSTING.—“Lean not on thine own under-
standing.” There is a right self-reliance. In relation to
our fellow men we are bound to trust our own energies,
convictions, and conscience. We have no right to trust to
other men's powers and efforts to help us either physically
or mentally. Heaven has endowed us all with faculties by
which to help ourselves, if they are rightly worked. The
man who is not self-reliant in this sense sinks his manhood
in the parasite. But that self-trusting, to which Solomon
refers, implies an exaggerated conceit of our own powers.
Hence he says, “be not wise in your own eyes.” Don't
42 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. III.
put too high an estimate on your own understanding.
Thank God for your intellect. Respect it, train it, feed it
with the choicest fruits on the tree of science, but don't lean
on it as an infallible guide. At its best here, its eyes are
very dim, its ears heavy, and its limbs feeble. The sages
of all times, who have trusted to it, have gone down in
darkness, bequeathing to us such literary productions as
show how far they wandered from the light. The light of
our own reason is far too feeble to guide us safely through
the moral labyrinths of life. “Be not wise, therefore, in
thine own eyes.” Self-conceit is at once offensive and per-
nicious; it involves self-ignorance. No man, who knows
himself, can be vain. The hierarchs of heaven veil their
faces. What is the knowledge of the most enlightened
compared with what is to be known? What is a spark to
the central fires of the universe? What compared with
what he ought to have known? How much more the wisest
on the earth might have known if they had properly employed
their powers? A man “wise in his own eyes,” is self-
benighted. He is like a pauper maniac, who fancies himself
a king. “Many,” says Seneca, “might have attained
wisdom, had they not thought they had really attained it.”
Self-conceit not only involves self-ignorance, but obstructs
mental improvement. “Seest thou a man wise in his own
conceit, there is more hope of a fool than of him.” True
knowledge requires effort. It neither springs up involun-
tarily, nor comes to us independently of our own endeavours,
or even by efforts, feeble, irresolute, and desultory. It
requires an invincibility of purpose, a concentration of
faculties. Who will put forth such efforts to gain it, but
those who have the profoundest sense of its necessity?
There must be a craving, amounting almost to an agony, in
order to overcome the inertia and grapple with the diffi-
culty. A man who is “wise in his own eyes,” feels no
such necessity as this: he is self-sufficient, and imagines
that he knows everything. Self-conceit destroys social
influence. A vain man disgusts rather than pleases, repels
rather than draws, he is generally despised, seldom
respected. Intelligence, generosity, truthfulness, humility,
Chap. III.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 43
these are the elements that win social esteem, and gain
social command. But these are seeds that can never grow
in a self-trusting, self-conceited man.
"They whose wit
Values itself so highly, that to that
All matters else seem weak, can hardly love,
Or take a shape or feeling of affection,
Being so self-endear'd."—SHAKESPEARE
Proverbs 3:9-10
The Highest Giving,
the Condition of the Highest Getting
“Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine
increase: So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out
with new wine.”
THE HIGHEST GIVING.
“HONOUR the Lord with thy substance.” The two great
functions of men are to gather and to give, to appropriate
and to distribute. These two functions bring all his powers
into play and fully develope his nature. But man is to
gather in order to give, to get in order to impart. “It is
more blessed to give than to receive.” What is the highest
giving? (1) Giving to the Best Being. Who is He? “The
Lord.” The distinguishing glory of a moral intelligence
is the power of giving to God, and his highest honour is to
have his gift accepted of Him. (2) Giving the best things to
the Best Being. “Thy substance.” “The firstfruits of all
thine increase.” “God will not have the dregs that are
squeezed out by pressure poured into His treasury. He
depends, not like earthly rulers, on the magnitude of His
tributes. He loveth a cheerful giver. He can do with-
out our wealth, but He does not bless without our willing
service.” Giving to God does not merely mean giving
contributions to His cause, but the giving of our all,
ourselves. The surrender of self is essential to give
44 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. III.
virtue and acceptance to all other contributions. Until
we give ourselves, all other oblations however costly, are
impious pretences and solemn mockeries. Self-sacrifice
alone can give worth and acceptability to all other presen-
tations.
THE HIGHEST GETTING
By giving thus you get back,—What? The choicest and
fullest divine blessings. “So shall thy barns be filled with
plenty.” This is a figurative expression for the highest
good in the highest degree; and good of all kinds—
temporal, intellectual, social, spiritual. Surrendering to God
is godliness, and godliness is the condition of all true gain.
He who yields his all to the Eternal, attends to the condition
of all true prosperity—industry, temperance, economy, fore-
sight. “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His right-
eousness, and all other things shall be added unto you.”
He who yields his all to God, insures the special favour of
Heaven. The Divine blessing rests upon the labour of the
truly good. “God is not unrighteous to forget your work
and labour of love which ye have showed towards His
name.” Seneca has well said, “He that does good to
another man, does also good to himself; not only in the
consequence but in the very act of doing it; for the con-
science of well doing is an ample reward.” “Good,”
says Milton, “the more communicated, more abundant
grows.”
Proverbs 3:11-12
Affliction
“My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of his
correction: For whom the LORD loveth, he correcteth; even as a father the son
in whom he delighteth.”
“AFFLICTIONS” are to be accepted as MEANS OF SPIRITUAL
DISCIPLINE.—“The chastening of the Lord.”—“His cor-
Chap. III.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 45
rection.” Human sufferings in this world must be regarded,
not as casualties, or events that come on us by capricious
chance or iron necessity. They are from “the Lord.” The
Lord is in all. “The Lord gave,” not chance nor necessity,
the Lord “hath taken away.” Nor as mere penalties. It may
be true that sin is the source of all suffering. But suffering
here, in the cases of individuals, is not according to the mea-
sure, or kind of sin. It is reformative, not destructive. “The
chastening of the Lord.” Affliction does the good man service
in many ways. It detaches him from the race and makes
him feel his own solemn loneliness. It impresses him
with the worthlessness of materialism, and with the awful
solemnity of the spiritual world. It brings the idea
of death, retribution, eternity, powerfully near to the
heart.
Afflictions are to be accepted as TOKENS OF PARENTAL
LOVE.—“Whom the Lord loveth he correcteth.” The anguish
is not caused by the lash of a tyrant, or the infliction of an
inexorable judge, but by the love of a father. (I) The character
of God as a benevolent Being attests this. It is a monstrous
profanity to believe that He, the infinitely loving One, can
have any pleasure in our suffering. He is Love. (2) The ex-
perience of the good attests this. What said David? “Before
I was afflicted. I went astray.”* Paul: “I take pleasure in
infirmities.” And this is the testimony of the good in all
ages. (3) The word of God attests this. “Happy is the man
whom God correcteth.” “As many as I love I rebuke.”
“And He shall sit as a refiner.” Affliction is like the
winter frost, it kills the pernicious insects which the sun of
health has engendered. It acts like the stormy wind upon
the tree, it strengthens the fibres and deepens the roots of
our virtue. It is like the thunderstorm in nature, it purifies
the unhealthy atmosphere that has gathered around the
heart. It is the bitter potion which the skilful physician
administers to his patient. “As threshing separates the
corn from the chaff,” says Burton, “so does affliction purify
virtue.” “Virtue,” says Lord Bacon, “is like precious
* Psalm cxix. 67. II. Cor. xii. 8 to 10. Job. v. 17.
Rev. iii. 19. Mal. iii. 3.
46 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. III.
odours, most fragrant when they are incensed and crushed;
for prosperity doth best discover vice, but adversity doth
best discover virtue.”
Proverbs 3:13-18
The Blessedness of Wisdom
“Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth under-
standing. For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver,
and the gain thereof than fine gold. She is more precious than rubies: and all
the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her. Length of days is
in her right hand; and in her left hand riches and honour. Her ways are ways
of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to them that
lay hold upon her: and happy is every one that retaineth her.”
THESE words catalogue the blessings that accrue to a godly
life. This godliness or wisdom
ENDOWS WITH THE BEST WEALTH.—It is here repre-
sented as better than “silver,” “fine gold,” “precious
rubies,” and all things that can be desired. What are
the greatest temporal possessions in comparison with
moral goodness! Can the former be really enjoyed without
the latter Can a corrupt soul be happy with the world?
The former have a very transitory existence compared
with the latter. The material is transitory in itself, and
is ever rapidly passing from the grasp of its possessor.
But “he that doeth the word of God abideth for ever.”
The former are not essential to blessedness; the latter is.
A godly soul can be happy in a pauper's home. The Lord
is its portion. “What things were gain to me,” says Paul,
“those I counted loss.” The former are really a curse with-
out the latter. The more a man has of the world, if he has
not virtue in his heart, the more he has to blacken his
future and damn his soul. This Wisdom
ENSURES PERMANENT GOOD.—“Length of days is
in her right hand." By length of days here Solomon
does not mean mere longevity on earth, although wisdom
Chap. III.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 47
conduces to this, but evidently permanent distinctions. The
moral riches and honour connected with wisdom are unlike
the earthly, they are enduring, and also permanent enjoy-
ments. “Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her
paths are peace.” Her ways are the ways of chastity,
justice, truthfulness, holy affections, benevolent activities,
and communings with the Great God, and from these, plea-
sures must inevitably spring. Religion is happiness. It has
a “rest for the soul.” It has a “fulness of joy.” It has
sublime delights even in temporal affliction. This Wisdom
RESTORES TO ALL FORFEITED PRIVILEGES.—“She
is a tree of life, to them that lay hold upon her, and
happy is every one that retaineth her.” Adam by
sin forfeited the privileges of the “Tree of Life.” Would
he ever have suffered or died had he continued in
connection with its living virtues? Nay, would he not
have grown in power and honour for ever? True godli-
ness is a tree of life, a tree of life in the soul. Like
the Apocalyptic tree, it is in the midst of the street
of the New Jerusalem, on either side of the river, yielding
twelve manner of fruits, and the leaves of it are for healing
the nations. This tree of life was Central. “In the
midst.” Godliness is in the centre of man's nature. This
Tree of life was Well-rooted. “It was either side of the river.”
A religious soul is a soul rooted by the stream of Divine love
and truth. This tree of life was Fruitful. “Twelve manner of
fruits.” It affords every variety of pleasure, meets every taste
and want. This tree of life was Restorative. “Leaves of the
tree for the healing of the nations.” Godliness restores
waning faculties, renews decaying powers. Here then is the
true riches, the true honour, and the true peace of men.
“0 rich in gold! Beggars in heart and soul!
Poor as the empty void! Why, I, even I,
Sitting in this bare chamber with my thoughts,
Are richer than ye are, despite your bales,
Your streets of warehouses, your mighty mills,
Each looming like a world, faint heard in space,
Your ships unwilling fires, that day and night
Writhe in your service seven years, then die
Without one taste of peace.”—ALEXANDER SMITH
48 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. III.
Proverbs 3:19-20
Wisdom, the Source and Sovereign of Worlds
“The LORD by wisdom hath founded the earth; by understanding hath he
established the heavens. By his knowledge the depths are broken up, and the
clouds drop down the dew.”
THESE words give us two ideas concerning the universe.
THAT IT IS ORGANIZED BY WISDOM.—“The Lord
by wisdom hath founded the earth.” This stands opposed
to two absurd cosmological theories. It stands opposed to
the eternity of the universe. The universe is not eternal
either in its elements or its combinations. There was a
period, far back in the abysses of eternity, when there was
nothing, when the absolute One lived alone. It stands
opposed to the contingent origin of the universe. It sprang
from no fortuitous concourse of atoms. “By Wisdom hath
He founded the earth; by understanding hath he established
the heavens.” He has hollowed out the oceans, and
arranged the systems of clouds. The scientific student of
nature sees design and exquisite adaptations in every part
of nature. “By His knowledge the depths are broken up,
and the clouds drop down the dew.” “We are raised by
science,” says Lord Brougham, “to an understanding of
the infinite wisdom and goodness, which the Creator has
displayed in all His works. Not a step can we take in any
direction without perceiving the most extraordinary traces
of design, and the skill everywhere conspicuous is calcu-
lated in so vast a proportion of instances to promote the
happiness of living creatures, and especially of ourselves,
that we feel no hesitation in concluding, that if we knew
the whole scheme of Providence, every part would appear
in harmony with a plan of absolute benevolence. Inde-
pendently, however, of this most consoling inference, the
delight is inexpressible, of being able to follow the mar-
vellous works of the Great Author of nature, and to trace
the unbounded power and exquisite skill, which are
Chap. III.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 49
exhibited by the most minute as well as the mightiest
parts of His system.”
THAT IT IS ORGANIZED BY THE WISDOM OF ONE
BEING. “The Lord.” It is not arranged on a plan which
is the outcome of many intelligences. One intellect drafted
the whole. Every part of the stupendous engine, even to
the smallest pin, was sketched by Him Who has no coun-
sellor, and Whom none can instruct. The unity of the
universe shows this. There is the unity of style, operation
and purpose. The Word of God declares this. “In the
beginning God created.” “Thou, Lord, in the beginning
hast laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are
the works of Thine hands.” The Bible cosmogony alone
agrees with the deductions of true science, the intuitions of
the soul, and the claims of religion. He is the
“Mighty cause
Of causes mighty! Cause uncaused!
Sole root of nature!” —DR. YOUNG.
Proverbs 3:21-26
Fidelity to Priniciple
“My son, let not them depart from thine eyes; keep sound wisdom and
discretion: So shall they be life unto thy soul, and grace to thy neck. Then shalt
thou walk in thy way safely, and thy foot shall not stumble. When thou liest
down, thou shalt not be afraid: yea, thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be
sweet. Be not afraid of sudden fear, neither of the desolation of the wicked,
when it cometh. For the LORD shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot
from being taken.”
FIDELITY to principle is the idea involved in these
words. “My son, let not them depart from aline eyes."
What?—The principles of truth. The advantages con-
nected with fidelity to principle are here sketched, and
they are—
LIFE.—“Life unto thy soul." The principles of
50 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. III.
heavenly wisdom originate spiritual life. They are soul-
quickening. The words of wisdom are “spirit and life.” They
are to the soul what the sunbeam and the dew are to the
fields. Where they are not, there is darkness and dearth.
They nurture spiritual life. They are the bread and
water of life. The soul apart from them is dead, dead
to all high interests, spiritual services, and enjoyments.
Another advantage connected with fidelity to principle is—
ORNAMENT.—“Grace to thy neck.” These principles
clothe the life with the beauty of holiness. They give a
refinement, and a gracefulness to character. This “Grace”
or ornament is valuable for many reasons. It is becoming to
all. Some ornaments are only becoming to certain classes or
certain positions. It is within the reach of every man. There
are ornaments that can only be obtained by a few: jewels
and diamonds are beyond the reach of the poor. It is
admired by the highest intelligences, by great men, angels,
God Himself. There are ornaments that are prized by
some but despised by others. It is imperishable in its
nature. All other beauties decay, all other brilliancies grow
dim, wisdom " is a crown that fadeth not away.” There
is also connected with fidelity to principle—
SAFETY.—“Shalt walk in thy way safely, thy foot
shall not stumble.” The twenty-sixth verse assigns the
reason for the safety. God is the guide and the guardian
of the faithful. Elsewhere we are told that “The steps of
a good man are ordered by the Lord.” “He that dwelleth
in the secret place of the most High, shall abide under
the shadow of the Almighty.” “The Eternal God is thy
refuge.” What a blessing to be safe on a path of tremen-
dous precipices, and beset with foes, on a sea rolling
tumultuously over quicksands and rocks! There is yet
another blessing associated with fidelity to principle-
COURAGE.—“Thou shalt not be afraid.” It is one
thing to be safe and another thing to feel secure. A feeling
of safety may well make us courageous. A man whose
soul is in vital alliance with the principles of everlasting
truth need not " be afraid of sudden fear, nor of the desola-
tion of the wicked when it cometh.” “None of these things
Chap. III.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 51
move me,” said Paul. Hold fast then the principles of
sound wisdom, let them not depart from thee, let them be
thy pillar to guide thee in the desert, thy pole-star on the
sea. It is, to use the language of Carlyle, “an everlasting
lode-star, that beams the brighter in the heavens, the
darker here on earth grows the night around.”
Proverbs 3:27-29
Beneficence
“Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power
of thine hand to do it. Say not unto thy neighbour, Go, and come again, and
to-morrow I will give; when thou hast it by thee. Devise not evil against thy
neighbour, seeing he dwelleth securely by thee.”
THESE verses teach:
THAT HUMAN BENEFICENCE HAS IT CLAIMANTS.—
“Them to whom it is due.” To whom do we owe kindness?
To all who need it. We are commanded " to do good unto
all men.” What you have is given in trust. It is not yours,
you are but the trustees. The Benevolent God gave it to
you to use benevolently. It sprang from love, and should
be used by love. It is given for distribution. God gives
light to the sun that it may throw light on all the depend-
ing planets, water to the clouds that they may pour it on
the barren hills, and property to man that he may use
it for the good of his race. “Men,” said Cicero,
“resemble the gods in nothing so much as in doing good to
their fellow creatures.” These verses teach:
THAT HUMAN BENEFICENCE IS ONLY LIMITED BY INCA-
PACITY.—“When it is in the power of thy hand to do it.”
Our power is the measure of our obligation. No man has
a right to keep back that which he can spare when his
neighbour needs it. This, in the estimation of heaven, is
52 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. III.
dishonesty. Property is given, not to hoard, but to circu-
late for the common good. The withholder is a moral
felon. Again, the verses teach:
THAT HUMAN BENEFICENCE SHOULD EVER BE PROMPT
IN ITS SERVICES.-“Say not to thy neighbour, go and come
again, and to-morrow I will give.” The apostle James en-
joins the same duty. “If a brother or sister be naked and
destitute of daily food, and one of you say unto them,
depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled: notwithstanding
ye give them not those things which are needful to the
body: what doth it profit?" Why be prompt? Because
the postponement of any duly is a sin in itself. It is a tacit
rebellion against heaven. Because the neglect of a benevolent
impulse is injurious to self. A genuine impulse of gene-
rosity is the stirring of what is Divine within us:—the
uplifting force of the soul. Our well-being depends upon
strengthening it by exercise. Woe to the soul that crushes
it! It is a germ of Paradise. Because the claimant may
seriously suffer by a delay of your help. The delay may
facilitate the evil, and hasten his ruin. Furthermore, these
verses teach:
THAT HUMAN BENEFICENCE EXCLUDES ALL UNKIND-
NESS OF HEART.-“Devise not evil against thy neighbour.”
True “charity thinketh no evil.” A selfish heart is an evil
deviser. This is seen in the tricks of trade, as well as the
stratagems of war. “Benevolence,” says Kant, the great
German philosopher, “is a duty. He who frequently prac-
tises it, and sees his benevolent intentions realized, at
length comes really to love him to whom he has done good.
When, therefore, it is said, ‘Thou shalt love thy neighbour
as thyself,’ it is not meant thou shalt love him first, and do
good to him in consequence of that love, but thou shalt do
good to thy neighbour, and thus, thy beneficence will
engender in thee that love of mankind which is the fulness
and consummation of the inclination to do good.”
Chap. III.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 53
Proverbs 3:30-31
Strife and Oppression
“Strive not with a man without cause, if he have done thee no harm. Envy
thou not the oppressor, and choose none of his ways.”
THIS proverb directs our attention to two great evils:
STRIFE.—Look at strife in two aspects.
As a principle inherent in the soul. There is a battling
instinct in every human mind. Man is made to antagonize.
This principle is in itself neither a virtue nor a vice. But
it is a great blessing, since we have so much to oppose us
here. It is intended to put us into antagonism not to
existence, but to the evils of life, such as disease, poverty,
injustice; not to God, but to His enemies, and the
enemies of the order and happiness of the universe.
Look at strife again,—As a principle liable to perversion.
The prohibition of the proverb implies that men are prone
to strive against those who have done them “no harm.”
The striving with men without a cause is that terrible per-
version of this principle, and this is the root of all domestic
broils, social convulsions, ecclesiastical contentions, and
national wars. How contrary this strife is to all the teach-
ings of Holy Writ. “How all the minor cruelties of man
are summed in war, conclusive of all crimes.”—Festus.
The other evil which the Proverb directs our attention
to is:
OPPRESSION.—“The oppressor” is one who imposes
unjust burdens; who crushes others to raise himself. He is
always unjust, generally heartless, often cruel. He is, alas!
no rarity. He is a common character; he belongs to all
spheres of life, secular and sacred. There is the political
oppressor, who crushes nations by unjust imposts. There is
the social oppressor in the master and the mistress who crush
their servants by overwork. There is the ecclesiastical op-
54 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. III.
pressor, who seeks a lordship over consciences. The pro-
verb virtually says two things about the oppressor. His
character is not to be envied. “Envy not the oppressor.”
Why? Because envy in itself is an evil. Emulation is one
thing, envy another. The former is not necessarily selfish,
malign, or soul-torturing; the latter is, and therefore essen-
tially bad. It is greedy, heartless, and heart-distressing.
Because there is nothing in the oppressor to be desired. There
are some objects of envy that have in them something good.
Not so the oppressor; he is bad from branch to root. His
conduct is not to be followed. “Choose none of his ways.” His
ways are all bad. He has many ways, private and public,
domestic, political, and religious, but they are all crooked by
injustice, all noxious with the sin of selfishness, and tending
to damnation. Stand aloof! “Fret not thyself because of
evil-doers; neither be thou envious against the workers of
iniquity.” A modern poet has struck off the hideous
character of oppressors in a few words-
“The good old rule
Sufficeth them, the simple plan,
That they should take who have the power,
And they should keep who can.”—WORDSWORTH.
Proverbs 3:32-35
Moral Contrasts
“For the froward is abomination to the LORD: but his secret is with the
righteous. The curse of the LORD is in the house of the wicked: but he blesseth
the habitation of the just. Surely he scorneth the scorners: but he giveth grace
unto the lowly. The wise shall inherit glory; but shame shall be the promotion
of fools.”
THESE verses give us a twofold contrast
A CONTRAST IN MORAL CHARACTER.— The “fro-
ward” and the “righteous,”—the “wicked” and the
“just,”—the “scorner” and the “lowly,”—the “wise”
Chap. III.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 55
and the “foolish.” The “forward” is the perverse, refrac-
tory, rebellious; the “righteous” is the upright, obedient,
and loyal. The differences between the good and bad are
at least threefold. A difference in the grand purpose of being.
The purpose of a wicked man is personal pleasure, worldly
gain; that of the good is usefulness and Divine approval.
A difference in the grand impulse of being. The governing
Motive of the wicked man is selfishness; self is the centre
and circumference of all his activities. That of the
righteous is love. He lives not to himself. “The love of
Grist constraineth him.” A Christ-like benevolence is
the spring and sovereign of all his activities. Here is also:
A CONTRAST IN RELATION TO GOD.—The contrast
is here set forth very saliently and strongly. The one is
repugnant to the Eternal, the other is in His confidence. The
“forward” is an “abomination,”—an object of loathsome-
ness. To the Infinitely Holy One sin is an “abominable
thing;” it is repugnant to His whole nature. But on the
other hand the righteous is in His confidence. “His secret
is with the righteous.” This is ever so. They “dwell in
the secret place of the Most High.” “Shall I hide from
Abram the thing that I do?” “The secret of the Lord is
with them that fear Him; and He will shew them His
covenant.” “All things that I have heard of my Father I
have made known unto you.” The one is under the curse of
the Lord, the other under His blessing. “The curse of the
Lord is on the house of the wicked, but He blesseth the
habitation of the just.” The house of Belshazzar is an
illustration of the one, Daniel v. 6; that of Obededom of
the other. (2 Sam. vi. II; I Kings, xxi.) The one is repulsed
with scorn, the other is visited with grace. “Surely he
scorneth the scorners: but he giveth grace unto the lowly.”
He disdains the one with abhorrence, He looks on the
other with the smiles of grace. The one is raised to glory,
other is degraded to shame. “The wise shall inherit
glory, but shame shall be the promotion of fools.”
“Glory,” a word embracing the eternal heaven, which the
righteous shall not only enter into, but inherit; but “shame,”
and everlasting contempt, is the doom of the wicked,
56 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. IV.
“Shame their promotion!” What an expression! Their
fame will be infamous, their grandeur a disgrace, their
pageantry a contempt. “Many that sleep in the dust shall
awake, some to everlasting life, and some to everlasting
contempt.” The great question of questions for every man
is, What is his moral character? The contrast between the
true and the false, the right and the wrong, is so striking,
that there is not any difficulty in determining to which we
belong. As is our character so are we before God and His
universe, and so will our destiny be in the great here-
after; Paradise grows out of it, and from it hell flames and
thunders.
Proverbs 4:1-4
A Religious Home
“Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend to know under-
standing. For I give you good doctrine, forsake ye not my law. For I was my
father's son, tender and only beloved in the sight of my mother. He taught me
also, and said unto me, Let thine heart retain my words: keep my commandments,
and live.”
THE words present three things concerning a religious
home:
THE LOVE OF A RELIGIOUS HOME.—“I was my father's
son, tender and only beloved in the sight of my mother.”
In a religious home there are two kinds of love for
the offspring. The natural love. There is an instinctive
affection which mankind, like all animals, have for their
young—a mere gregarious affection. Though there is no
virtue in this, it is a great boon. It is a stream from the
heart of the Great Father of the universe, mirroring Him-
self, and making glad His progeny. The spiritual love.
An affection this, which has respect to the spiritual being,
relations and interests of the children. The former kind
Chap. IV.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 57
of love is in most homes: this is confined to the religious,
and the religious only. Spiritually we can only love the
morally good. A mutual recognition of excellence is the
sacred bond of an imperishable friendship.
THE TRAINING OF A RELIGIOUS HOME.—“He taught
me also, and said unto me, let thine heart retain my words.”
David taught his son Solomon. “And thou, Solomon, my
son, know thou the God of thy father and serve him with a
perfect heart.” The words imply: That the parent's teaching
was worth retaining. “Let thine heart retain my words.” It
is a great thing to give words worth retaining. There are
words, alas! that enter the minds of children that should
be expelled the moment of their entrance. They are germs
of moral hemlock. That the parent's teaching was practical.
“Keep my commandments.” The highest authority on
earth is the authority of a godly parent. His words are
laws, and these laws are to be obeyed. It is only as moral
teaching is reduced to practice that it promotes the high
interest of true manhood. It is only as ideas are embodied
in acts that they enrich the moral blood and strengthen the
fibre and the limb. That the parent's teaching was quicken-
ing “And live.” True religious teaching is quickening to
all the powers of the soul—intellectual and moral. There is
la teaching that is deadening; there are “Finishing Schools,”
schools that quench the natural thirst for knowledge, emas-
culate the faculties, and inflate the soul with the noxious
gas of vanity. True teaching quickens. “My words” they
are “spirit, and they are life.”
THE INFLUENCE OF A RELIGIOUS HOME.—The man
who gives this counsel as a father, was the child of a re-
ligious home, thus described: “Hear, ye children, the
instruction of a father, and attend to know understanding.
For I give you good doctrine, forsake ye not my law. For
I was my father's son, tender and only beloved in the sight
of my mother.” Here is a religious home reproduced.
The child becomes a father, the subject becomes a sovereign,
and the influence is thus repeated and transmitted. “Train
up a child in the way he should go” when he is young,
“and when he is old he will not depart from it.” The
58 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. IV.
home is the most potent institution in the world. Parental
roofs are more influential institutions than cathedrals. “The
old arm-chair,” where parents sat, is mightier to me than
any pulpits ever have been or ever will be. There are two
reasons for this. The susceptibility of childhood. Ideas fall
on us in the first stages of moral consciousness, with an
inspiration, a glow, and a charm, which are wanting in all
after periods. The force of parental affection. The power
of a parent over the character of his child in the first stages
is almost absolute, approaching that of the potter over
the clay. Parents are instrumental authors, not only of the
physical organization of their children, but also of their
spiritual character.
“The fond attachment to the well-known place,
Whence first we started into life's long race,
Retains its hold with such unfailing sway,
We feel it e'en in age, and at our latest day.”—COWPER.
Religious homes are the great want of the race. What
boots the multiplication of churches and chapels, unless
you multiply these?
Proverbs 4:5-9
The Summum Bonum
“Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the
words of my mouth. Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her, and
she shall keep thee. Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom;
and with all thy getting get understanding. Exalt her, and she shall promote
thee; she shall bring thee to honour, when thou dost embrace her. She shall
give to thine head an ornament of grace: a crown of glory shall she deliver to
thee.”
WE agree with a modern author in regarding the “chief
Good” as that which unites the following qualities :—“It
must be intellectual, or adapted to the higher and nobler
Chap. IV.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 59
part of our nature; attainable by all, of whatever sex, age,
or mental conformation; unimpaired by distribution; in-
dependent of the circumstances of time or place; incap-
able of participation to excess; composed essentially of
the same elements as the good to be enjoyed in a future
state.” All these qualities are found in that which is called
“wisdom” in this passage.
HERE IS THE SUMMUM BONUM DESCRIBED
It is called “Wisdom.” This wisdom is the “principal
thing.” In what does it consist? In the possession of the
highest knowledge. What is the highest knowledge? The
knowledge of the highest natures, the highest relationship,
the highest duties, the highest interests, the highest Being—
GOD. Much of what is called science is but the knowledge of
small things—dust and grain. In the application of the
highest knowledge. The highest knowledge may be pos-
sessed—fallen angels, perhaps, have it—and yet have no
wisdom. They are fools. Wisdom consists in turning the
whole to a right practical account. A life-conformity to
spiritual truths, to eternal realities; not temporary pheno-
mena, is true wisdom. He who makes the word of eternal
truth flesh, is the wise man and he has reached the chief
good.
HERE IS THE SUMMUM BONUM SOUGHT
Man is here exhorted to search after it. How is it to be
sought? It does not grow up in us instinctively; nor does
it come by miracle. It must be sought. But how? Atten-
tively. “Neither decline from the words of my mouth.”
No prejudice must seal the soul. The ear must be ever
open to the voices of wisdom, whencesoever they come.
Constantly. “Forsake her not.” Never turn aside from
her, or thou wilt lose her charm. Peter's momentary dis-
tance from incarnate Wisdom led to his fall. Forsake her
not; let there be no fickleness, but constancy. Lovingly.
“Love her.” Thou wilt never take a step after her if thou
hast no love : thou wilt shun her if thou hast hate. Love
is the essential inspiration in every successful search.
Supremely. “Exalt her.” She must be felt to be the chief
60 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. IV.
good, the “one thing needful.” He who seeks her as a sub-
ordinate good will never find her. She is the queen in the
realms of pursuits, and will be found by none who do not
recognise her royalty and seek her out as such.
HERE IS THE SUMMUM BONUM ENJOYED
When possessed, she will be three things to thee. A
guardian. “She shall keep thee.” Keep thee from the
carnal, the selfish, and the depraved. Wisdom is the soul's
true Palladium. A patron. “She shall promote thee.”
She will raise thee in the estimation of thine own con-
science—in the judgment of the universe, and in the eye of
God. A rewarder. “She shall give to thy head an orna-
ment of grace; a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee.”
The crown she gives is made not of fading laurels, or of
any mouldering gem or metal—a tawdry adornment for a
head of clay. But a crown coruscating with the moral
perfections of God Himself. “When the chief Shepherd
shall appear ye shall receive a crown of glory, that fadeth
not away.”
Brothers, here is the summum bonum—look at it, until it
spreads out such a thing of glory in your horizon, as to
throw everything else into insignificance and shade. “It
is a view of delight,” said Lucretius, as quoted by Lord
Bacon, “to stand or walk upon the shoreside and to see the
ships tossed with tempest upon the sea; or, to be in a
fortified tower, and to see two battles join upon a plain;
but it is pleasure incomparable for the mind of the man to
be settled, landed, and fortified in the certainty of truth, and
from thence to descry and behold the errors, perturbations,
labours, and wanderings up and down of other men.”
Chap. IV.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 61
Proverbs 4:10-17
The Moral Paths of Men
“Hear, 0 my son, and receive my sayings; and the years of thy life shall be
any. I have taught thee in the way of wisdom; I have led thee in right paths.
When thou goest, thy steps shall not be straitened; and when thou runnest thou
halt not stumble. Take fast hold of instruction; let her not go: keep her, for
he is thy life. Enter not into the path of the wicked and go not into the way
if evil men. Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away. For they
leep not, except they have done mischief; and their sleep is taken away, unless
hey cause some to fall. For they eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the
ne of violence.”
MORALLY, then, there are two paths of life—paths which
he Heavenly Teacher represents as the broad and the
arrow way. These two are indicated in the text.
THE PATH OF WISDOM.—It is here taught that this
path of wisdom is known only by teaching. The teaching is
by precept. “I have taught thee." Men do not get
spiritual wisdom either by the intuitions or deductions of
their own nature. It comes to them in its first lessons
by teaching. By example. “I have led thee in right
paths.” This implies that he was in the path himself. He
who tries to teach religion by precept, without example, is
like the man who would walk on one leg without crutches.
However strong the limb may be, he could not make much
progress. Precept and example are the two legs of a true
teacher. The majority of teachers, alas! are moral
cripples.
This path of wisdom is fraught with true blessings. There
is longevity. “The years of thy life shall be many.” Godli-
ness conduces to physical health, and thus to long life.
But true longevity does not consist in the number of years,
but in the number of great thoughts, lofty purposes, and
noble deeds. Many men of twenty have lived a longer
life than those of seventy. There is freedom. “Thy steps
shall not be straitened.” On the great highway of life
62 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. IV.
the only free traveller is he who is spiritually wise. Others
are so burdened and fettered that there is no spring of liberty
in their steps. There is safety. “When thou runnest thou
shalt not stumble.” Speed is often attended with danger,
but the celerity of a good man is free from peril. “He will
give His angels charge concerning thee. They shall bear
thee in their hand, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.”
“The lion and the young lion shalt thou trample under
foot.”
This path of wisdom requires the most vigorous steadfastness.
“Take fast hold of instruction, let her not go, keep her, for
she is thy life.” Hold the lessons of wisdom with a firm and
unrelexable tenacity; grasp them as the drowning man the
rope that is thrown out for his rescue. There is a danger of
losing this path, many have done so. “He exhorted them
all that, with purpose of heart, they would cleave unto the
Lord.” “Firmness,” says Burns, “both in sufferance and
exertion, is a character which I would wish to possess. I
have always despised the whining yelp of complaint, and
the cowardly, feeble resolve.”
THE PATH OF WICKEDNESS. “Enter not into the
path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men.”
Wickedness has a path. It is a very broad and crooked path.
Solomon saw it in his day, and here raises an earnest warn-
ing against it. He urges its avoidance. He intimates
that—
The avoidance of this path is a matter of great urgency. It
is crowded with “evil men” bent on mischief. They live
for mischief. “Their sleep is taken away unless they cause
some to fall.” They have an infernal pleasure in doing
wrong. They live by mischief. “They eat the bread of
wickedness, and drink the wine of violence.” What they
have got to support them, they have got by dishonesty and
violence. Wicked men live by falsehood, fraud, and op-
pression. He intimates that—
The avoidance of the path requires strenuous effort. “Avoid
it; pass not by it; turn from it and pass away.” It is a very
contiguous path. It is so near that every man is on the
margin of it, and may step into it unawares. It intersects
Chap. IV.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 63
every walk of life. It crosses all our lines of activity. It
is a very attractive path. The crowds are there, and there
is great attraction in a crowd. The stream of sensual
enjoyment rolls by it, and the flowers of worldly beauty
bloom on either side. It is overhung with clusters of earthly
gratifications. The Syrens chant their enticing strains at
every opening. It is a very perilous path. Good reason,
therefore, had Solomon for the strong language of our text
—“Avoid it, pass not by it.” The prowling beasts of Hell
lurk along the line and a fathomless abyss of ruin is at its
end. Avoid this path. “Blessed is the man that walketh
not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of
sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.” The moral
of the whole is expressed in the words of Christ— “Strive
to enter in at the strait gate, for broad is the path that
leadeth to destruction and many there be that go in
thereat.” There is a tremendous whirlpool in the path of
sin; he that comes within the circle of its eddying waters
is likely to be sucked down into the central gulf of irre-
mediable ruin.
Proverbs 4:18
The March of the Good
“The path of the just is as the shining light that shineth more and more
unto the perfect day.”
The march of the good is A BRIGHT march.
It is “as the shining light.” Light is the emblem of
intelligence, purity, and blessedness. The march of the good
is like the march of the sun—glorious. How glorious is the
sun as it rises in the morning, tinging the distant hills with
beauty, at noon flooding the earth with splendour, in
evening fringing the clouds with rich purple, crimson, and
64 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. IV.
gold. Commanding.—The sun is the ruler of the day; at
his appearance the world awakes from its slumbers, the
winds and waves obey him, as he moves all nature moves.
Useful.—The sun enlightens the system and maintains
harmony throughout every part. He renews the earth,
quickens the seeds into life, covers the landscape with
beauty, ripens the harvest for man and beast. Independent.
—Troops of black clouds may roll over the earth, but they
touch not the sun, furious storms may shake the globe, but
the sun is beyond their reach. He is always behind the
darkest clouds, and looks calmly down upon the ocean in
fury and the earth in a tempest. Certain. —The sun is never
out of time, he is ever in his place at the-right hour. In all
this he is the emblem of the good man—glorious, com-
manding, useful, independent, and certain.
The march of the good is A PROGRESSIVE march
“Shineth more and more.” It has a dawn and a meridian.
Godliness is progressive. We are “to follow on to know
the Lord.” We are “to go from strength to strength.”
We are to see “greater things than these.” We are to be
“changed into the same image from glory to glory.” We
are “to press toward the mark, for the prize of the high
calling of God in Jesus Christ.” The capacity of the soul
for indefinite development, its eternal craving for something
better, the increase both of its desire and power for further
advancement as it progresses, as well as the assurances of
God's Word, demonstrate that we are made for progress.
“More and more.” This is the soul's watchword—Excelsior!
is its cry.
The march of the good is A GLORIOUS march
“Unto the perfect day.” Perfect day. What a day is
that! They shall shine as the sun in the Kingdom of God.
Perfect day—not one cloud of error in the sky; not one
ungenial blast in the atmosphere. Perfect—knowledge
free from error; love free from impurity; purpose free from
selfishness; experience free from pain. The good man's
progress excels even the glory of the sun. The sun does
not increase in size or splendour; he is not greater in bulk
Chap. IV.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 65
or brighter in lustre now than when he shone on Adam;
but growth, everlasting growth, is our destiny. Onward
through circling ages without end, is the career which kind
Heaven has decreed for sainted souls. They feel
Their orbit immensity,
Their work, to make it radiant,
With the reflected beams of God.
Proverbs 4:19
The Darkness of Sin
“The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they
stumble.”
SIN is a dark path.
THE PROOF.—It yields no true happiness. There is a
ark, chilling shadow resting upon the heart of the traveller.
If there be any light in the sky, it is the light of a
meteor flashing for a moment, and leaving the darkness more
intense. Ignorance, pollution, and sorrow mantle it in
gloom. It leads to an end the reverse of expectation. “They
know not at what they stumble.” Difficulties meet them
they never anticipated. They always expect something
brighter further on, instead of which the scene grows darker
and darker, until “outer darkness” is reached. Many
bright orbs has the Great Father of spirits set in the
firmament of the human soul—such as innocence, faith,
trust, hope, love. These in young life shine with more or
less brightness for a time; but as men sin they become
dimmer and darker. One by one they are quenched, until,
when all are lost, the soul's firmament becomes as black as
sackcloth.
THE CAUSE.—Why is this road so dark? Darkness
rises from one of three causes. Either the want of light;
66 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. IV.
or the want of the organ of sight; or the want of the right
employment of the organ. In either of these cases, a man
is in the dark. But which is the cause of the darkness of the
sinner's path? Not the want of light. There is the light
of nature, of reason, and the Bible. Not the want of the
organ of vision. There is intellect and conscience. But
the want of the right use of the faculty. He shuts his eyes.
Like the man in noontide splendour, with strong eyes,
who wraps himself in gloom, by closing his eyelids: so the
sinner makes dark his own path. He loves darkness.
THE CONSEQUENCE.- “They know not at what they
stumble." They do stumble. This is a fact implied. “They
grope for the wall like the blind.” “If a man walk in the
night, he stumbleth.” Heaven has put obstructions in the
sinner's path. Conscience, the examples of holy men, Christ,
and the Spirit. These are put to obstruct his progress, to
prevent him hurrying on to ruin. He stumbles over them
and goes down. These obstructions become great inconveniences.
The greatest blessings are stumbling blocks to them. The
very things which should make their path delightful, prove
their constant inconvenience, and ultimate ruin. Even Christ
is a “stumbling block” and a “rock of offence” to them.
They crush themselves into ruin, by stumbling against Him
Who came to make their path the path of life. “All sin
and wickedness in man's spirit,” says an old author, “hath
the central force and energy of hell in it, and is perpetually
pressing down towards it as towards its own place. Christ's
burden, which is nothing else but true godliness, is a winged
thing and travels, bears itself upwards upon its own wings,
soaring aloft towards God; so the devilish nature is
always within the central attractions of hell, and its own
weight instigates and accelerates its motion thither.”
Chap. IV.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 67
Proverbs 4:20-23
Self-improvement and Self-control
“My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings, Let them
not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. For they
are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.”
SELF-IMPROVEMENT.—“The words of wisdom” are the
vehicles of those Divine principles, the reception and
embodiment of which by man are essential to his well-
being. notice two things—
The method of gaining them. There must be the attentive
ear. “Incline thine ear unto my sayings.” What worth
are the voices of Divine wisdom if we are inattentive; if
the ear is given to other sounds? On a deaf man, or the
man whose ear is taken up with something else, the
grandest oratorio makes no impression and has no charm.
There must be the steadfast look. “Let them not depart
from thine eyes.” Let the eye of the soul be fixed stead-
fastly upon them. The principles of wisdom must always
loom as the grand realities on the horizon of the soul.
There must be the enshrining heart. “Keep them in the
midst of thine heart.” It is not enough to have them as
sounds in the memory, or as propositions floating in the
intellect, or even as passing impressions on the surface of
the heart: they must be taken down into the depths of our
moral nature. They are germs that will only grow in the
deepest soil. Put them there and they will break out into
a Paradise. Observe:
The blessedness of having them. “They are life to those
that find them.” They are the soul-quickening elements.
“The incorruptible seed which liveth and abideth for
ever.” They are “health to all their flesh.” Life without
health is scarcely worth having. These principles not
only give life to the soul, but supply the nutriment, and
stimulate the activities that ensure health—health of all
68 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. IV.
kinds: intellectual, moral, and physical. Indeed, the
health of each part is essential to the health of the whole
man. Disease in the body reaches the mind, and the
diseases of the mind affect the body.
SELF-CONTROL.- “Keep thy heart with all dili-
gence, for out of it are the issues of life.” Man somehow
or other has lost self-control. He is the creature, the
instrument, the victim of capricious thoughts, lawless
impulses, and passing events. He has no royalty, though
millions call him king, who is not the monarch of him-
self. The text directs us to this, and we. notice (1) The
nature of true self-control. “Keep thy heart.” In the
corporeal economy the heart is the fountain of life, it pours
the blood through all the parts of the body, the most dis-
tant and the most minute. What the physical heart is to
the body, the moral heart, that is the supreme affection, is
to the whole spiritual nature. It is the source of its life,
the root, fountain, spring of its being. What is it to
keep the heart? To hold it to the right object of supreme
love. Unless the chief love be centred in the chief good
there is no regal settledness of soul. To hold it to the
right purposes of life. What are the grand aims of life? In
one word, a devout appropriation of the blessings of being,
and a right distribution of the same. Man is made to get
and to give, and to get in order to give; and to do both
evermore in the spirit of true worship.
(2) The method of true self-control. “With all diligence.”
Or, as it might be expressed, “Keep it with all keepings.”
“Keep it from getting evil, as a garden is kept; keep it
from doing evil, as the sea is kept from reclaimed Nether-
lands.” There must be the greatest assiduity. Because
there is a great danger of its being turned away. There
are so many attractive forces, so many seductive influences.
Because the turning it away would be a sad catastrophe. If
the heart as a fountain is not kept pure, all the streams of
life will be poisoned; if the heart as a garden is not kept
cultivated, the whole sphere of life will be overrun with
thorns, weeds, and vermin.
(3) The argument for true self-control. “Out of it are the
Chap. IV.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 69
issues of life.” Everything depends upon the state of his
heart. “As a man thinketh in his heart so is he.” We are,
in the kale of being, and in the eye of God, according to
the state of the heart. “Out of the heart,” said Christ,
“proceed evil thoughts, murders, and adulteries.” How
needful for us to pray, “Create within us clean hearts, 0
God, and: renew within us a right spirit.” “He,” says
Milton, “who reigns within himself, and rules passions,
desires, and fears, is more than a king.”
Proverbs 4:24-27
Laws of Life
“Put
away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee.
Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee. Pon-
der the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established. Turn not to the
right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil.”
HERE are laws for the government of self. Here is a law
for the tongue, a law for the eye, a law for the mind, a law
for the life.
Here is a demand for PURE LANGUAGE.—“Put away
from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from
thee.” Speech is one of the grand peculiarities that dis-
tinguish man. It is a priceless gift. It is the vehicle
through Which one man can pour his soul into the heart of
not only one but many. The organ by which he can
influence the ages. How sadly perverted it has become!
Language too often is the channel of damnable errors,
blasphernous impieties, and moral filth. “Our speech
should be seasoned with salt that it might administer grace
unto the bearers.” A pure heart is essential to pure speech.
Speech is but one of the streams that well out from the
fountains of the soul. Would that this stream were always
clear, reflecting evermore the rays of love, holiness, and
truth!
70 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. IV.
Here is a demand for a STRAIGHTFORWARD PURPOSE.
—“Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look
straight before thee.” Have no side glances, no by-ends;
but have a grand purpose on which the eye of the soul
shall be always fixed. Straightforwardness stands opposed
to all sly cunning, all vacillation, all ambiguity: all double
meanings and aims. Have a purpose in life, clear, well-
defined and righteous, and keep it ever before you as the
“mark of the prize.” Do not look back or turn aside: let
the eyes of your soul be ever on it. When the eye is single
the whole body is full of light. Straightforwardness is one
of the brightest jewels in the crown of virtue, whilst slyness
and duplicity are the brands of infamy. He who pursues
a good object openly, faithfully, and constantly, will every
day command increasing respect from his fellow-men, and
find the divine forces within him beating stronger and more
harmonious.
Here is a demand for HABITUAL THOUGHTFULNESS.
—“Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be
established.” Man was made not only to think but to be
thoughtful. Thoughtfulness should be the habitude of his
nature. He should walk the path of life thoughtfully, not
by impulse. His steps should have nothing of the caprice
of mere instinct. Man is a vessel on a wondrous voyage.
Whilst emotion is his propelling force, thought is the helms-
man that must hold the rudder. He should walk life's
path thoughtfully, not by prejudice. He should not be
guided by traditional dogmas or unholy preconceptions.
Thought must be his pillar in the wilderness. He should
go on thoughtfully, not by custom. He should not move
mechanically, but as a free intelligence; move not from the
forces without but within, not from others but from himself.
Here is a demand for UNSWERVING RECTITUDE.-
“Turn not to the right hand nor to the left. Remove thy
foot from evil.” Duty is a straight path. The way of sin
is serpentine in its shape as well as in its spirit. Virtue is
a straight line running right up to God. Any turn there-
fore would be wrong, and riskful. Take care; there are by-
paths tempting in every direction. “Turn not to the right
Chap. V.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 71
hand nor to the left.” Take no step without thought, and
let your thought be on the will of the Great “Taskmaster.”
How comprehensive the legislation of heaven! It seeks
to control the tongue, the eye, the thought, the foot, the
entire man. Its laws reach the motions of every organ,
every faculty, and every impulse. He who obeys those
laws of life, lives and he only lives. Socrates has well said
that " the end of life is to be like unto God: and the soul
following God will be like unto him: he being the begin-
ning, middle, and end of all things.”
Proverbs 5:1-20
The Strange Woman and the True Wife
“My
son, attend unto my wisdom, and bow thine ear to my understanding:
That thou mayest regard discretion, and that thy lips may keep knowledge. For
the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother
than oil: But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword. Her
feet go downs to death; her steps take hold on hell. Lest thou shouldest ponder
the path of life, her ways are moveable, that thou canst not know them. Hear
me now therefore, 0 ye children, and depart not from the words of my mouth.
Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house: Lest
thou give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel: Lest strangers
be filled with thy wealth; and thy labours be in the house of a stranger; And
thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed, And say, How
have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof; and have not obeyed
the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me!
was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly. Drink
waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well. Let
thy fountains be dispersed abroad, and rivers of waters in the streets. Let them
be only thine own, and not strangers with thee. Let thy fountain be blessed: and
rejoice with the wife of thy youth. Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant
roe; let here, breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with
her love. And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and
embrace the bosom of a stranger”
HERE is a graphic description of an unchaste woman. A
description given by a man of genius, culture, and who, to
his disgrace, knew the subject from a sad experience.
“King Solomon loved many strange women.” And he
72 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. V.
has left us these words: “I find more bitter than death the
woman whose heart is snares and nets.” The unchaste
woman he calls “strange,” and truly strange it is that one
whom heaven has endowed with such refined sensibilities
and lofty powers should prostitute her noble nature to the
reign of sensualism.
A WARNING IN RELATION TO A WOMAN.-A “strange
Woman” is a woman whom in these times we should call
a prostitute. The warning is given by a description of her
conduct. Her speech is fascinating—“her lips drop as an
honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil.” Honied
words have a charm for inexperienced souls. Her manners
are accommodating, “her ways are moveable.” Proteus-
like, she puts on many shapes. She adapts herself to the
occasion. The warning is given by a description of her
end. It is “bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged
sword,” “Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold
on hell.” Strong figures of misery are these; but not too
strong. The horrid memories, the self-remorse, the ruined
health and reputation, the blasted hopes—what misery are
these! The warning is given by a description of her victims.
They “mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are
consumed.” Those whom she enthrals are robbed of their
honour, their wealth, and become the victims of terrible
remorse.
A RECOMMENDATION IN RELATION TO A WOMAN.-
“Drink water out of thine own cistern, and running waters
out of thine own well.” The reference in these verses is
evidently to marriage, which is “honourable in all.” Choose
one chaste pure-minded woman as thy companion through
life: be true to her, find thy happiness in her society, and
in hers alone. “Drink waters out of thine own cistern.”
“Rejoice with the wife of thy youth.” Cherish her with
gentleness and purity, as “the loving hind and pleasant
roe.” “Whatsoever interrupts the strictest harmony in this
delicate relationship, opens the door to imminent tempta-
tion. Tender, well-regulated domestic affection is the best
defence against the vagrant desires of unlawful passions.”
“Marriage,” says Jeremy Taylor, “has in it less of beauty,
Chap. V.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 73
but more of safety than the single life: it hath not more
ease, but less danger: it is more merry and more sad: it is
fuller of sorrows and fuller of joys: it lies under more
burdens, but is supported by all the strengths of love and
charity : and those burdens are delightful. Marriage is
the mother of the world, and preserves kingdoms, and fills
cities and churches, and heaven itself. Celibacy, like the
fly in the heart of an apple, dwells in perpetual sweetness,
but sits alone and is confined and dies in singularity : but
marriage, like the useful bee, builds a house, and gathers
sweetness from every flower, and labours and unites into
societies and republics, and sends out colonies, and feeds
the world with delicacies, and obeys their kings and keeps
order, and exercises many virtues, and promotes the
interest of mankind, and is that state of good to which God
hath designed the present constitution of the world.”
Proverbs 5:21-23
Man as Known of God and Punished by Sin
“For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, and he pondereth
all his goitigs. His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be
holden with the cords of his sins. He shall die without instruction; and in the
greatness of his folly he shall go astray.”
MAX AS KNOWN OF GOD.—God knows man thoroughly;
—knows what he has been, what he is, and what he will be
in the great hereafter. This fact, for an incontrovertible
fact it is, should be practically realised; and, if practically
realised, it will have a fourfold effect upon the soul. It will
stimulate to great spiritual activity. When the eye of an
intelligence falls right on us, the glance stirs the soul.
What soul could sleep, if it felt the eye of God ever resting
on it? It will restrain from the commission of sin. Did we feel
His eye ever on us, should we ever yield to temptation?
“Thou, God seest me,” is a powerful preventive. It will
excite the desire for pardon. God has seen all the errors and
74 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. V.
sins of the past, and they are great in number and
enormity. Since He sees them, they must either be
punished or absolved. It will brace the soul in the per-
formance of duty. Moses endured as “seeing Him who is
invisible.” He knows our trials and our difficulties.
Therefore let us be magnanimous under trial and brave in
danger.
“What can 'scape the eye
Of God, all-seeing, or deceive His heart,
Omniscient?”
MAN AS PUNISHED BY SIN.—“His own iniquities shall
take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the
cords of his sin.”
As virtue is its own reward, sin is its own punishment.
The words suggest that sin does three things in punishing
the sinner. It will seize him as its victim: “Iniquities will
take the wicked himself.” How? It will arrest him in his
career. In the midst of his revelries, as in the case of Bel-
shazzar and Herod, it will bring him to a stop. It will detach
him from his comrades. It will bring him home to himself, and
overwhelm him with the sense of his own responsibilities
and guilt. Sin must seize the sinner sooner or later, grasp
him with the hand of iron. It will bind him as its prisoner.
“He shall be holden with the cords of his sins.” What are
the cords? There are the “cords” of causation. Man's ex-
perience to-day grows out of the experience of yesterday,
and becomes the source of his experience, to-morrow; and
thus for ever he is linked indissolubly to the past. Thus,
Job said, “Thou makest me to possess the sins of my
youth.” Out of past sins spring a weakened intellect, a
shattered constitution, an accusing conscience. There are
the “cords” of habit. Every sin contributes to the weaving
of the cord that shall one day bind the soul as fast as hell.
“Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his
spots?” What are the chains of darkness that enthral
damned spirits, but habits of sin? There are the “cords” of
despair. When despair, black and portentous, settles
around the heart, all power of free action is gone, and the
man is a slave. It will exclude him from knowledge. “He
Chap. VI.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 75
shall die without instruction.” Sin closes the eyes and
seals the ears of souls, and thus shuts out the light and the
voice of truth. Men under the influence of sin love dark-
ness rather than light. It banishes him as an exile. “In
the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.” He shall
wander away like a prodigal, and never find his home
again. Sin banishes the soul from virtue, heaven, God;
and reduces it to a homeless, friendless orphan in the
universe. “The seeds of our own punishment,” says Hesiod,
“are sown at the same time we commit sin.” Sins tend to
hell. “Little sins,” says Hopkins, “are the natural stream
of a man's life, that do of themselves tend hellwards, and
are of themselves enough to carry the soul down silently
and calmly to destruction; but when greater and grosser
sins join with them, they make a violent tide that hurries
the soul away with a more swift and rampant motion down
to hell, than little sins would or could do of themselves.”
Proverbs 6:1-5
Social Suretyships
“My son, if thou be surety for thy friend, if thou hast stricken thy hand
with a stranger, thou art snared with the words of thy mouth, thou art taken with
the words of thy mouth. Do this now, my son, and deliver thyself, when thou art
come into the hand of thy friend; go, humble thyself, and make sure thy friend.
Give not sleep to thine eyes, nor slumber to thine eyelids. Deliver thyself as a
roe from the hand of the hunter, and as a bird from the hand of the fowler.”
THE instructions of the Bible are profitable for the life that
now is, as well as for the life that is to come. Its principles
of domestic, social, and political economy, are far more
wise, as well as righteous, than can be found in human
book or college. The “Book of Proverbs “ is a far better
guide for a young man in business than Adam Smith or the
Times newspaper. Solomon here speaks of suretiships as
an evil.
76 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. VI.
As AN EVIL TO BE DEPLORED.—“My son, if thou be
surety.” As if he said, it is a sad thing if thou hast.
Although suretiship is not always an evil, there are
always two things necessary to render it justifiable. The
case should be deserving. The person whose responsibility
you take upon yourself should be one in every way de-
serving your confidence and help. You should be fully
competent to discharge the obligation. You should feel that
the claims of your family and others upon you would fully
justify you to give up the amount to which you are pledged,
if required. Where these two things are not, all suretiships
are wrong. The most deserving men will seldom ask for
suretiships, and the most competent men will seldom
undertake the responsibility. Therefore it is often an evil.
It constantly presses the surety with anxiety, if he is an
honest man, and often brings ruin on himself and on his
family, when the person for whom he stands fails in his
duty. Solomon represents suretiship
As AN EVIL VERY EASILY CONTRACTED.—Merely
“striking the hand” and uttering “the words.” One
word, the word “yes,” will do it, written or uttered in the
presence of a witness. This little word has ensnared and
ruined many an honest man. Plausibility will soon extract
it from a pliant and generous nature. How easy it
is for a man to ruin himself in every way, secularly as
well as spiritually; one wrong step often takes into a path
that is downward and dark, and gives an impetus never to
be overcome. Solomon represents suretiship
As AN EVIL TO BE STRENUOUSLY REMOVED.—“Do
this now, my son, and deliver thyself, when thou art come
into the hand of thy friend.” Do it promptly. The bond
may take force to-morrow. Try by every honest means to
get the bond back at once. “Give not sleep to thine eyes, nor
slumber to thine eyelids” till it be done. Do it beseechingly.
“Humble thyself.” It is no use to carry a high hand; thou
art in his power. Bow before him and entreat him to give
it up. Do it effectively. "Deliver thyself as a roe from the
hand of the hunter, and as a bird from the hand of the
fowler." Thou art encaged in iron law, break loose
Chap. VI.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 77
honourably somehow and be free. An evil in social trans-
actions kindred to this, is what is known in the business
world as accommodation. I mean speculation without capital,
extensive risks on a baseless credit. This system is false,
treacherous, hollow, ruinous. The remarks of Helps on
men of business are worthy of note here:—“Rare almost
as great poets—rarer, perhaps, than veritable saints and
martyrs, are consummate men of business. A man to be
excellent in this way must not only be variously gifted, but
his gifts should be nicely proportioned to one another. He
must have in a high degree that virtue which men
have always found the least pleasant of virtues —pru-
dence. His prudence, however, will not be merely of a
cautious and quiescent order, but that which being ever
actively engaged, is more fitly called discretion than pru-
ence. Such a man must have an almost ignominious love
of details, blended with a high power of imagination,
enabling him to look along extended lines of possible
action and put these details in their right places. He
requires a great knowledge of character, with that exquisite
tact which, feels unerringly the right moment when to act.
A discreet rapidity must pervade all the movements of his
thought and action. He must be singularly free from
vanity, and is generally found to be an enthusiast who has
the art to Conceal his enthusiasm.”
78 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. VI.
Proverbs 6:6-8
Little Preachers and Great Sermons
“Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise: which
having no guide, overseer, or ruler, provideth her meat in the summer, and
gathereth her food in the harvest.”
THE Eternal Father has favoured His human offspring
with a two-fold revelation of Himself—the Bible and
Nature. Looking at men in their relation to this two-fold
revelation, they divide themselves into three distinct
classes:—Those who study neither; those who study one and
disparage the other; and those who reverentially study the teach-
ings of both. The allusion in the text, and which is only
one of many, plainly shows us that the Bible encourages
the study of nature.
The Bible refers us to nature in order to attest its first prin-
ciples. That God is all wise, all-powerful, all-good; that man
has a soul and is under moral obligation, are things which
the Bible assumes, takes for granted, does not attempt to
prove. The man who wants proof it refers to nature's
volume.
The Bible refers us to nature for illustrations of its great
truths. The sower, the harvest field, trees, rivers, vine-
yards and vales, meads and mountains, skies and seas, it
employs as emblems,
The Bible refers us to nature in order to reprove the sins it
denounces. To reprove us for our ingratitude, it refers us
to the ox and the ass. “The ox knoweth its owner and
the ass its master's crib.” To reprove us for our want
of confidence in the paternal providence of God, it points
us to the lilies of the field and the fowls of the air; and to
Chap. VI.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 79
reprove, us for our spiritual indolence, it directs us to the
ants. " Go to the ant, thou sluggard.”
Now, the sluggard to whom I am going to address myself
is the spiritual sluggard. Not the man who is neglecting
his worldly business—the secularly indolent man—but the
man who is neglecting the culture of his own spiritual nature
and the salvation of his own soul. These little ants will
teach yOu four great truths. They teach you:
THAT THE FEEBLENESS OF YOUR POWER IS NO
JUST REASON FOR YOUR INDOLENCE.—These little creatures
are small, they are feeble—you could crush a thousand
beneath your foot; yet see how they work. Naturalists have
shown their ingenuity as architects, their industry as miners
and builders; they have divided them into mason-ants, and
carpenter-ants, and mining-ants, and carving-ants, and
have shown that whilst their ingenuity in these departments
of action is remarkable, their industry would put the most
indefatigable of human labourers to the blush. If this tiny
insect can do so much, do not you, with your bony limbs,
strong sinews, robust frame, the engine of a deathless
intellect, memory, imagination, conscience, soul, plead your
feebleness as an excuse for your indolence. Remember
three things—that all power, however feeble, is given for work;
that you are not required to do more than you have power to ac-
complish, and that all power increases by use. The man who
attempts to do something gets power by the attempt.
There was once a man with an arm withered—a mere dried
stick: bat Christ commanded him to stretch it forth ; he
might have said, “I cannot;” but he resolved to do it, and
with the resolution came the power. This is a symbol of
the universal truth, that you can get power by effort. The
man who has one talent can make five by it, and the man
of five Can make ten. Power increases by use. The
naturally strong men, who say they cannot work, live
and die pigmies. The naturally weak men, who say try,
often attain Herculean force. They teach you:
That the ACTIVITY OF OTHERS IS NO JUST EXCUSE
FOR YOUR INDOLENCE.—Go to the ant-world, penetrate its
little mines, its chambers, store-houses, garrets, workshops
80 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. VI.
—for it has all these—and you will see millions of inhabi-
tants, but not one idler: all are in action. One does not
depend upon the other, and expect another to do his work.
The teeming population is busy. This is a lesson to the
indolent soul. The Christian world is busy, and there are
thousands working: some preaching, some praying, some
teaching, some writing; but not one can do thy work. Can
any one believe for thee? repent for thee? think for thee?
love for thee? worship for thee? Can any one die for thee
or be damned for thee? Like the ant-hill, the Christian
world is a scene of action, but not one of the million actors
can do thy work. They teach you-
That the WANT OF A HELPER IS NO JUST EXCUSE FOR
YOUR INDOLENCE.—“Go to the ant”-hill, see them work:
each is thrown upon his own resources and powers. “They
have no guide, overseer, or ruler.” Each works according
to his own little nature. Self-reliantly each labours on,
not waiting for the instruction or guidance of another. Do
you say, I have no minister, no books, no Christian friend,
and therefore cannot work? You cannot say this; but if
you could, that would be no excuse; you have an intellect
that can think, you have a heart that can love, you have a
conscience that can guide. You have suggestive nature,
you have this wonderful Bible, you have God! You are
without excuse. Do not wait and ask for overseers or
guides, or rulers, or priests, or bishops; if they come, and
can help you, be thankful. Trust your own instincts, like
the ant; act out your own powers, use the light you have,
and look to God for help. While you are looking for
greater advantages, your time is passing. Your season for
making provision for the future is shortening. Cold, black,
bleak winter is approaching. They teach you—
That the PROVIDENCE OF GOD IS NO JUST REASON
FOR YOUR INDOLENCE.—Go to the ant-hill and see these
tiny creatures laying up for the future. The ant “provi-
deth for meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in
the harvest.” There is a Divine providence over these
little insects. There is no creature, however small, that
comes not within the pale of God's providing agency. But
Chap. VI.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 81
He provides for His creatures by the use of their own
powers. He does not do for any creature what He has given
that creature power to do for himself. He carries provisions
to plants, and flowers, and trees, because they cannot go
in search of their food. But the creatures to whom He has
given locomotive power, must seek their food. Let me here
remind you, that like these little creatures, you have a future;
that like these little creatures you have to prepare for the
future, and then, that like these little creatures you have a
specific time to make preparation. Do not talk of Providence,
as an excuse for your indolence. Say not, God is good,
and He will provide. He has provided for you richly, but
He only grants the provision on condition of the right
employment of your powers. There is an inheritance for
the good, but only on the condition of their working.
There is a heaven of knowledge, but only for the student;
there is a harvest of blessedness, but only to the diligent
husbandman; there are scenes of triumph, but only to the
victorious warrior. In conclusion, let me remind you that
your harvest-time of your life will soon be over. The sun
is fading now; the ripened ungathered fruits are falling to
the ground; autumn is gradually tinging the scene; nature
looks more sterile and sombre every day; the air is getting
chilly; the winter is coming,—freezing, furious, black
winter is coming. " How long wilt thou sleep, 0 slug-
gard?”
Proverbs 6:9-15
The Lazy Man and the Wicked Man
"How long wilt thou sleep, 0 sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thy
sleep? Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep:
so shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man.
A naughty person, a wicked man, walketh with a froward mouth. He winketh
with his eyes, he speaketh with his feet, he teacheth with his fingers: frowardness
82 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. VI.
is in his heart, he deviseth mischief continually; he soweth discord. Therefore
shall his calamity come suddenly; suddenly shall he be broken without remedy.”
THE LAZY MAN.—In the three preceding verses, Solo-
mon directs attention to the ant. Job, as well as Solomon,
directs men to the beast of the field for wisdom “Ask
now the beasts and they shall teach thee.” So does
Christ—“Be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.”
Lazy people abound. There is scarcely a greater evil in
society than laziness. What is laziness? Not inactivity;
for a man may be incapable of action. But it is inactivity
arising from an indisposition to work. Plenty of power,
but lacking desire. A lazy man is a drag upon the wheel
of social progress. He consumes the products of other
men's labours, and produces nothing himself. His life is
one great theft. The text presents two things concerning
this laziness. It is procrastinating. “Yet a little sleep, a
little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep.” Man,
from the constitution of his nature, has not the power to
abandon altogether the idea of labour. Conscience presses
him to labour, and work at every turn urges its claims.
The lazy man is too cowardly to say I will never work, I
will sleep for ever, and he procrastinates He promises to
labour. By this, he does two things, he quiets his conscience;
and cheats society. Thus, the song of his life is—“To-morrow,
and to-morrow, and to-morrow.”
“Shun delays, they breed remorse,
Take thy time while time is lent thee;
Creeping snails have weakest force,
Fly their fault lest thou repent thee;
Good is best when sooner wrought,
Ling'ring labours come to nought.”—SOUTHWELL
The text shows that indolence is also ruinous. “So shall
thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as
an armed man.” Laziness brings ruin. Intellectual laziness
brings intellectual ruin ; commercial, brings commercial
ruin; spiritual, spiritual ruin. This is a law. Solomon
Chap. VI.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 83
suggests that the ruin comes—first, gradually, “as one that
travelleth.” It does not gallop; it does not rush on you at
once. Like all other natural laws, it proceeds gradually.
Secondly, Irresistibly, “As an armed man.” Ruin comes
travelling slowly on. The lazy man does not see his grim
visage for days, perhaps years. At last, however, he shows
himself, and stands by his side gaunt, ghastly, and fully
armed. He clutches him, and all is over. “Idleness,”
says Hunter, “travels very slowly, and poverty soon over-
takes her.” “It you ask me which is the real hereditary
sin of human nature, do you imagine I shall answer pride
or luxury, or ambition, or egotism? No; I shall say
indolence. Who conquers, indolence will conquer all the
rest. Indeed, all good principles must stagnate without
mental activity.”
THE WICKED MAN.-“A naughty person, a wicked
man, walketh with a froward mouth.” Idleness is generally
connected with wickedness as parent and child. One
author says that a state of idleness is a state of damnable
sin. Another, that it is the most “corrupting fly that can
blow on the human mind.” Men learn to do ill by doing
that which is next to it—nothing. Here is the portrait of
the wicked man. He is perverse in speech. “Walketh with
a froward mouth.” In his speech he has no regard for
truth or propriety. False, irreverent, impure, and auda-
cious. He is artful in conduct. “Winketh with his eyes,
speaketh with his feet, teacheth with his fingers.” He
expresses his base spirit in crafty, clandestine, and cunning
methods. He is anything but straightforward and trans-
parent. He is mischievous in purpose. “He deviseth
mischief continually; he soweth discord.” Malevolence is
his inspiration. He rejoiceth in evil. Here is the doom
of the wicked man. “Therefore shall his calamity come
suddenly.” His doom is certain—“shall.” The moral
laws of the universe and the word of God guarantee his
punishment. His doom is sudden. “Suddenly shall he be
broken.” The suddenness does not arise from the want of
warning, but the neglect of it. “Because sentence against
an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart
84 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. VI.
of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.” Come
it must, and when it comes, it will astound the victim with
surprise. His doom is irremediable. “Without remedy.”
When it is fixed, there is no revocation, no alteration.
“As the tree falleth, so it must lie.”
Beware of indolence; it is a sin in itself; for we are
made for action: without it our nature can neither be unfolded
nor satisfied, and God and His universe require our service.
It is a sin the most prolific: it hatches every form of
wickedness. Society swarms with its damning progeny.
Bishop Hall has well said that “idleness is the devil's
cushion, on which he taketh free ease, and is fitly disposed
for all evil motions. The standing water stinketh: the
current keeps clear and cleanly.”
Proverbs 6:16-19
Seven Abominations
“These six things doth the Lord hate; yea, seven are an abomination unto
him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, An
heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief,
A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.”
HERE is a catalogue of evils specially odious to the Holy
One, as well as injurious to His creation. Here is—
HAUGHTY BEARING.—“A proud look.” Pride is fre-
quently represented in the Bible as an offence to the Holy
God. “He resisteth the proud.” “Him that hath a high
look and a proud heart will not I suffer.” “Thou wilt
bring down the high looks.” Haughtiness is an abomi-
nation, because it implies self-ignorance, unkindness, and
irreverence. How true is the language of old Quarles con-
cerning pride. “As thou desirest the love of God and
man, beware of pride. It is a tumour in the mind that
Chap. VI.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 85
breaks and poisons all thy actions: it is a worm in thy
treasure, which eats and ruins thy estate; it loves no man
—is beloved of no man ; it disparages virtue in another by
detraction; it disrewards goodness in itself by vain-glory:
the friend of the flatterer, the mother of envy, the nurse of
fury, the sin of devils, and the devil of mankind: it
hates superiors, it scorns inferiors, it owns no equals;—in
short, till thou hate it, God hates thee.” Here is—
VERBAL FALSEHOOD.-“A lying tongue.” This is
a sore evil; David prays against it. “Deliver my soul, 0
Lord, from lying lips.” Falsehood always implies a corrupt
heart. A pure one supplies no motive for it. Vanity,
avarice, ambition, cowardice, are the parents and patrons
of all lies. Falsehood always has a bad social tendency. It
disappoints expectations, shakes confidence, loosens the
very foundations of social order. “Whatsoever,” says
Steele, “convenience may be thought to be in falsehood
and dissimulation, it is soon over; but the inconvenience of
it is perpetual, because it brings a man under an everlasting
jealousy and suspicion, so that he is not believed when he
speaks truth, nor trusted when perhaps he means honestly.
When a man hath once forfeited the reputation of his
integrity he is set fast, and nothing will then serve his
turn, neither truth nor falsehood." Here is—
HEARTLESS CRUELTY.-“Hands that shed innocent
blood." Cruelty implies an utter lack of sympathy with
God's creatures. This makes way for the malign that revels
in torture. And it implies also an utter lack of sympathy
with God's mind. “God is love.” He desires the happiness
of His creatures. He made them for enjoyment. He who
inflicts pain is out of sympathy both with the universe and
with his Maker. Cruelty even to dumb animals, which
abounds, is an atrocious sin, and must be ineffably offensive
to the All-loving Creator. “Wherever it is found, it is a
certain mark of ignorance and meanness: an intrinsic mark,
which all the external advantages of wealth, splendour, and
nobility cannot obliterate. It will consist neither with
true learning nor true civility, and religion disclaims and
detests it, as an insult upon the majesty and goodness of
86 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. VI.
God, Who having made the instincts of brute beasts to the
improvement of the mind, as well as to the convenience of
the body, hath furnished with a motive to mercy and com-
passion toward them very strong and powerful, but too
refined to have any influence on the illiterate or irreligious.”
Here is-
VICIOUS SCHEMING. “A heart that deviseth wicked
imaginations.”—The Divine eye penetrates the heart. He
sees all that passes there, not only the deep plots of evil,
the elaborate schemes of thought, and the deliberate pur-
poses, but ideas and emotions in the most incipient and
fugitive forms. He judges the man as He sees him there.
Adulteries, robberies, idolatries, murders, He sees perpe-
trated in the deep and silent districts of the soul. There
are some hearts so bad that they are ever inventing evil
things. It was said of the antediluvian man that every
imagination and thought of his heart was only evil con-
tinually. How sad that the heart, which should ever be
the nursery of the genial, the generous, and the gracious,
should be devising “wicked imaginations!” What a reve-
lation there will be on the last day, when the hidden things
of the heart shall be exposed. Here is—
MISCHIEVOUS EAGERNESS.-“Feet that be swift in
running to mischief.” They not only do mischief; but they
do it eagerly, with ready vigilance; they have a greed for
it. They seize every opportunity. Their pleasure is in
mischief. Evil is earnest; its great leader is never at rest,
he moves to and fro on the earth; like a roaring lion, he
goes about “seeking whom he may devour;” and just in
proportion to the power that evil has over a man is his
eagerness. What is more swift than revenge, jealousy, or
any of the malign passions? These don't walk, they run,
they fly on the wings of lightning. “Their feet are swift
to shed blood.” Here is-
SOCIAL SLANDER.-“A false witness that speaketh
lies.” The slanderer is amongst the greatest of social
curses. He robs his fellow-creature of his highest treasure
—his own reputation and the loving confidence of his friends.
“The slanderer does harm to three persons at once: to
Chap. VI.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 87
him of whom he says the ill, to him to whom he says it,
and most of all to himself in saying it.” It is an accursed
thing this slander. It works oftentimes by other means
than words: by a look or a shrug of the shoulders it levels
its poisoned arrows; it has broken many a virtuous heart
and stained many a virtuous reputation. It has nodded
away many a good name, and winked into existence a host
of suspicions, that have gathered round and crushed the
most chaste and virtuous of our kind. It often works in the
dark, and generally under the mask of truthfulness and
love.
"He that shall rail against his absent friends,
Or hears them scandalized, and not defends,
Sports with their fame, and speaks whate'er he can,
And only to be thought a witty man,
Tells tales, and brings his friends in disesteem:
That man's a knave—be sure beware of him.”—HORACE
Here is—
DISTURBING STRIFE.— “And he that soweth discord
among brethren.” He who by tale-bearing, ill-natured
stories, and wicked inventions, produces the disruptions of
friendship, is abhorrent to God, Who desires His creatures
to live in love and unity. “Ye lovers of strife,” says
Bishop Jewel, “by whose name shall I call you? I would
I might call you brethren: but alas, this heart of yours is
not brotherly. I would I might call you Christians: but
alas, you are no Christians. I know not by what name I
shall call you: for if you were brethren, you would love as
brethren; if you were Christians, you would agree as
Christians.” This subject serves to show three things.
(I) The moral hideousness of the world. These “seven” evils
everywhere abound. They are rife and rampant the
world over. (2) The immaculate purity of God. He hates
those things; they are all abominations to Him; eternally
repugnant to His Holy nature. (3) The true mission of the
godly. What is that? To endeavour to rid the world of
the evils offensive to Heaven.
88 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. VII.
Proverbs 6:20-7:17
Counsels to Young Men
in Relation to Bad Women
“My son, keep thy father's commandment, and forsake not the law of thy
mother: Bind them continually upon thine heart, and tie them about thy neck.
When thou goest, it shall lead thee ; when thou sleepest, it shall keep thee; and
when thou awakest, it shall talk with thee. For the commandment is a lamp;
and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life; To keep
thee from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman.”
"My son, keep my words, and lay up my commandments with thee. Keep
my commandments, and live; and my law as the apple of thine eye. Bind them
upon thy fingers, write them upon the table of thine heart. Say unto wisdom,
Thou art my sister; and call understanding thy kinswoman: That they may
keep thee from the strange woman, from the stranger which flattereth with her
words.”
THESE are some of the counsels which Solomon addresses
to the young man, to guide him in his conduct towards the
bad woman whom he so graphically describes in the last
part of the 6th and the whole of the 7th chapter. He
seems to have had no name strong enough to express his
disgust of her, no names bad enough by which to designate
her. He calls her a “strange woman,” an “evil woman,” a
“harlot,” &c., &c. Avoiding all the particular references,
we come to the safe-guards of young men. We put these
two passages together, because, in spirit, and almost
in language, they are identical. They lead us to consider
the proper treatment and blessed use of sacred counsels.
The proper TREATMENT of these protective counsels.—
They are to be applied. The application of the sacred
counsels should be close. “Bind them continually upon
thine heart, and tie them about thy neck.” “Bind them
upon thy fingers; write them upon the table of thine
heart.” This strong figurative language means that they
should be brought home to the inner being and experience.
They are not merely to be in the brain, or on the lip, but
bound up with the very vitalities of existence. They
Chap. VII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 89
should become strong and ever operative instincts in our
moral life. The application should be constant. “Bind
them continually.” They are not for mere occasional use.
They are not to be used merely for certain things, but
for all, and for ever. It will not do to lay them aside
at any moment; for wherever thou goest, at every cor-
ner of the street, seductive influences will meet thee.
The application should be loving. They must be regarded
“as the apple of the eye,” as the tenderest relation.
“Thou art my sister and kinswoman.” What we do not
love soon forsakes us. Love is the retaining faculty of the
soul. Prize these as you prize the pupil of your eye, as
you prize the dear sister whom love has entwined round
your heart. Young man, this is how these counsels must
be treated, if they are to be your safeguards. Treat them
thus, and you will become invulnerable.
The BLESSED USE of these protective counsels.—
They guide. “When thou goest, they shall lead thee.”
They are a lamp to the feet, throwing its radiance before
thy steps. This lamp will always burn in advance of thee
They guard. “When thou sleepest, they will keep thee.”
They will keep thee from all temptations, shield thee from
the honeyed shafts of “the strange woman.” Sacred
counsels are the only effective police in the empire of evil.
They commune. “They will talk to thee.” They are full
of meaning; they are echoes of the Divine mind. They
will talk with thee about spiritual relations, about duty
and destiny. Blessed companions these! Their converse
enlightens, cheers, and ennobles. They animate. “Keep
my commandments, and live.” They are the life-giving
power to the soul. The description of the young man's
temptress and her beguiling and fascinating methods is so
life-like and minute that it needs neither explanation nor
comment. We shall pass the verses by, and leave them to
speak for themselves, as they do most truthfully, sadly,
and warningly. To the “youths” and the “young men
void of understanding” we earnestly commend the right
treatment of these Divine counsels. Listen not to the
voice of the temptress: turn a deaf ear to her, and
90 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. VIII.
pass on. “Many strong men have been slain by her : her
house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of
death.”
Proverbs 8:1-14
The Voice of Divine Wisdom
“Doth not wisdom cry? and understanding put forth her voice? She
standeth in the top of high places, by the way in the places of the paths. She
crieth at the gates, at the entry of the city, at the coming in at the doors. Unto
you, 0 men, I call; and my voice is to the sons of man. 0 ye simple, under-
stand wisdom: and ye fools, be ye of an understanding heart. Hear; for I will
speak of excellent things; and the opening of my lips shall be right things. For
my mouth shall speak truth; and wickedness is an abomination to my lips. All
the words of my mouth are in righteousness; there is nothing froward or perverse
in them. They are all plain to him that understandeth, and right to them that
find knowledge. Receive my instruction, and not silver; and knowledge rather
than choice gold. For wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may
be desired are not to be compared to it. I wisdom dwell with prudence, and
find out knowledge of witty inventions. The fear of the LORD is to hate evil:
pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.
Counsel is mine, and sound wisdom: I am understanding; I have strength.”
DIVINE wisdom here personifies herself, and she has a right
to do so for two reasons. She is the highest attribute of
person. Wisdom is not the property of things, but of per-
sons, and the highest property of persons—the property of
the spiritual nature. Wisdom is not mere intelligence; it
is a compound of intelligence and goodness; it is the
“genius of goodness.” Wisdom rightly personifies her-
self, also, because she has received highest expression in the
Highest Person. She is seen everywhere in the material
universe, but her sublimest revelation is in the Person of
the Son of God. He is the Logos.
These verses bring under our notice the voice of Divine
wisdom,
IT IS A VOICE STRIVING FOR THE EAR OF ALL.—“Doth
not Wisdom cry?” She is earnest. There is a vehemence
Chap. VIII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 91
in her tone. Christ gave it a wondrous emphasis. “In
the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and
cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me and
drink.” Observe: She cries in the most commanding scenes
of life. “In the top of high places.” Her voice was heard
on Sinai; on the Mount of Beatitudes, and on the brow
of Calvary. Observe: she cries in the ordinary thorough-
fares of life. “In the way of the places of the paths." In
the days of Christ the voice rung by the wayside, on the sea-
shore, in the street. So now. It may be heard at every
turn in life. Again: She cries in the most crowded districts
of life. “She crieth at the gates, at the coming in at the
doors.” In the great cities where men meet together to
transact their business. There she is, at the gates and at the
doors. As they go in and out of their banks and exchanges,
there she is. The voice of Divine wisdom is everywhere.
In every event of Providence, in every object of nature, in
every dictate of conscience, in every lesson of experience—
above all, in every word of Christ.
IT IS A VOICE WORTHY OF THE EAR OF ALL.—Wisdom
here utters a commendation of herself; she spreads out
her own merits as a reason why her voice should be heard.
Why listen? Because her communications are perfect. “I
speak of excellent things.” They are perfect in an intel-
lectual and a moral sense. The communications are true
to the eternal laws of reason and right. Her communica-
tions are intelligible; “they are all plain to him that under-
standeth.” They are in their nature so congruous with
the human soul, and conveyed in such simple language,
“that a wayfaring man, though a fool, need not err
therein.” They are axiomatic to the unsophisticated heart.
Her communications are precious. “Receive my instruction
and not silver, and knowledge rather than choice gold.”
He who experimentally possesses a Divine truth is in-
finitely richer than he who is the owner of kingdoms.
Her communications are exhaustless. “I wisdom dwell
with Prudence, and find out knowledge.” The idea is, I
have vast resources. In Christ, Who is The Wisdom of
God, " are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”
92 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. VIII.
Her communications are rectifying. “The fear of the Lord
is to hate evil.” It religionizes and spiritualizes the soul.
Wherever the words of wisdom are really received, a revo-
lution is effected within. Her communications are original.
“Counsel is mine, and sound wisdom; I am under-
standing.” What Divine wisdom gives is undeniably
unborrowed. “Who hath directed the Spirit of the Lord,
or being His counsellor hath taught Him.” This wisdom
is ever in the world. Her voice is everywhere; it rings
through the ages. It is high above all the tumults of the
nations. The voices of generations are hushed in grave-
yards and in seas, but this voice sounds on; it cannot be
silenced.
“The works of men inherit, as is just,
Their Author's frailty, and return to dust;
But Truth Divine for ever stands secure,
Its head is guarded as its base is sure.
Fix'd in the rolling flood of endless years,
The pillar of th' eternal plain appears,
The railing storm and dashing wave defies,
Built by that Architect who built the skies.”—COWPER.
Proverbs 8:15-21
The Authority of Divine Wisdom
“By me kings reign, and princes decree justice. By me princes rule, and
nobles, even all the judges of the earth. I love them that love me; and those
that seek me early shall find me. Riches and honour are with me; yea, durable
riches and righteousness. My fruit is better than gold, yea, than fine gold; and
my revenue than choice silver. I lead in the way of righteousness, in the midst
of the paths of judgment: That I may cause those that love me to inherit sub-
stance; and I will fill their treasures.”
WISDOM here speaks of herself as the Queen of the world,
possessing the tenderest interest in the good of mankind,
and having the choicest gifts to bestow. The words in-
dicate three things concerning Wisdom in the exercise
of her authority.
Chap. VIII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 93
Wisdom, in the exercise of her authority, DETERMINES
THE DESTINY OF RULERS.—“By me kings reign.” It
inspires all the good actions of kings. Every measure of
their government, every righteous enactment, and every
truly loyal act, derives the inspiration from the Wisdom
that presides over the universe. All good in earthly rulers
proceedeth from it, as sunbeams proceed from the sun.
Whatever is wholesome in their laws, Wisdom suggested
and inspired. It controls all the bad actions of kings.
Whilst it originates the good, it guides and directs the
evil. It changes the times and seasons, removeth and
setteth up kings. It turns the tyrannies and follies of
wicked monarchs to its own account, so directs them as to
work out its own grand purposes.
“There is a divinity that shapes our ends,
Rough hew them as we may.”
Wisdom is at the head of the universe, “the hearts of
kings are in her hands.”
Wisdom, in the exercise of her authority, HAS A
SPECIAL REGARD FOR THE GOOD.—“I love them that love
me, and those that seek me early shall find me.” Divine
Wisdom has heart as well as intellect; it glows with sym-
pathies, as well as radiates with counsels. It has love in
it: love is its genius, its root, its essence. The highest
Wisdom is love. Love is the profoundest seer, the greatest
contriver, the most beautiful artist. The universe is the
offspring of love. We are taught here, that this Wisdom
loves its lovers. “I love them that love me.” Whoever
loves Divine Wisdom, loves it especially as seen in Christ:
these are loved of it. “He that hath My commandments
and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me.” This Wisdom,
built, furnished, and sustains the universe for her friends.
We are here taught, that this Wisdom is accessible to its
early seekers. “Those that seek Me early shall find Me.”
Early life is the time to seek wisdom. Our moral metal is
fluid in youth, and we can be run into any mould; in age
it becomes hard as the granite or the steel. It must be
sought to be obtained, and the sooner in life the better.
94 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. VIII.
Wisdom, in the exercise of her authority, HAS THE
DISTRIBUTION OF THE CHOICEST GIFTS.-“Riches and
honour are with Me. Yea, durable riches and righteous-
ness. My fruit is better than gold.” There is a com-
parison here between spiritual and material wealth, and
the former is declared the better, and so it is: the one
enriches the man himself, the other does not. It is all
external to him. Worldly riches are all outside our man-
hood. The one is substantial, the other is not. It is called
here, “substance.” Material wealth is a mere fugitive
form. The one is permanent, the other is not. Material
wealth passes away. Poetry depicts fortunes with
wings. Those wings are always ready to expand
and take flight. Let us seek this true and enduring
wealth. “Wherefore do ye spend money for that which
is not bread, and your labour for that which satisfieth not?
Hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is
good.” “Lay not up for yourself treasures on earth, where
moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break
through and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures
in heaven.” “I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in
the fire, that thou mayest be rich, ; and white raiment,
that thou mayest be clothed.” Moral goodness is the true
wealth, vital, satisfying, enduring; that which so identifies
itself with the soul that it will be as imperishable as its
own immortality. “When King Demetrius had sacked and
razed the city of Megra to the very foundation, he
demanded of Stilpo, the philosopher, what losses he had
sustained. ‘None at all,’ said Stilpo, ‘for war can make
no spoil of virtue.' And 'tis said of Bias, that his motto
was omnia mea mecum porto, I carry all my goods with me,
viz., his goodness.”
Chap. VIII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 95
Proverbs 8:23-31
The Autobiography of Wisdom
“I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the world was.
When there were no depths, I was brought forth; when there were no fountains
abounding with water. Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was
I brought forth: While as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the
highest part of the dust of the world. When he prepared the heavens, I was
there: when he set a compass upon the face of the depth: when he established
the clouds above: when he strengthened the fountains of the deep: When he
gave to the sea his decree, that the waters should not pass his commandment:
when he appointed the foundations of the earth: Then I was by him, as one
brought up with him: and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him;
Rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth; and my delights were with the sons
of men.”
HERE we must speak of Wisdom as a person, and that
person is none other than He who is called the “Wisdom
of God.” These verses may be well regarded as His
autobiographic sketch. He alone can write His own his-
tory, for His existence and experience date back to periods
anterior to the creation. He speaks of Himself here in
four aspects:
AS HAVING EXISTED BEFORE ALL TIME.—“The Lord
possessed me in the beginning of His way, before His
works of old. I was set up from everlasting, from the
beginning; or ever the earth was.” How old is the uni-
verse? No arithmetic can compute its ages. When was
the beginning? When did the first creature start into life?
The question baffles all our endeavours for solution. How-
ever distant that period might be, Christ was before it:
“Before His works of old” “When there were no depths
I was brought forth. When there were no fountains
abounding with water.” When there was no being but God,
Christ was. “In the beginning was the Word, and the
Word was God.” “He is the Alpha and the Omega, the
first and the last.” The builder is older than his building,
the artist than his productions, the author than his books.
Christ is older than the universe. He speaks of Himself
here:
96 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. VIII.
As HAVING BEEN PRESENT AT THE CREATION.-
“When he prepared the heavens I was there. When he
set a compass upon the face of the deep,” &c., &c. The
universe had an origin. It is not eternal. There was a
point in the far distant past, when it was nowhere but in
the mind of God as an idea. There was a beginning. It
originated with one Being. It neither rose by chance, nor
by the agency of a plurality of creators. He “prepared
the heavens.” He “set a compass upon the face of the
deep.” “He established the clouds above. He strengthened
the fountains of the deep. He gave to the sea His decree.”
He, no one else, no one with Him. Christ witnessed the
process. “I was there,” I was the only spectator. I saw
the birth of chaos. And out of it I saw this beautiful world
with its circling heavens, floating clouds, and rolling oceans,
mountains and valleys, with all the countless tribes of life,
arise. He who witnessed the origin of the universe can
alone give its genesis, and He does it here. He speaks of
Himself here:
As HAVING BEEN IN ETERNAL ASSOCIATION WITH
THE CREATOR.-“Then I was by Him, as one brought up
with Him. I was daily His delight, rejoicing always before
Him.” “The same was in the beginning with God.” In that
mysterious fellowship He was at once the object and sub-
ject of Infinite love. The Father loved Him. “I was daily
His delight." The Infinite heart rested in complacency on
Him. “He was in the bosom of the Father.” He loved the
Father, “rejoicing always before Him.” The Infinite
attachment was mutual. We cannot explain that affection,
for we understand not the relationship. We accept the
statement with wonder and with worship. He speaks of
Himself here:
As HAVING FELT BEFORE ALL WORLDS A DEEP
INTEREST IN MAN.-“Rejoicing in the habitable parts of
his earth. My delights were with the sons of men.” To
Him the universe was as real before it took an actual form
as ever. He saw the human race on this globe with all its
generations, crimes, sorrows, sufferings, before it was
created. Men were as real to Him before the first man was
Chap. VIII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 97
created, as they were when He mingled with them in the
streets of Jerusalem, or on the shores of Galilee. Redemp-
tion is no after-thought in the Divine procedure. The
world was built as its theatre, and Christ was fore-.
ordained before its foundation. Its redemption was con-
templated by Him in eternity, and was then a source of
joy. “My delights were with the sons of men.” He came
as no reluctant messenger. “The Word,” the Infinite
Reason, the Eternal Mind of the universe, “was made flesh,
and dwelt among us.”
Proverbs 8:32-36
The Claims of Divine Wisdom
“Now therefore hearken unto me, 0 ye children: for blessed are they that
keep my ways. Hear instruction, and be wise, and refuse it not. Blessed is the
man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my
doors. For whoso findeth me findeth life, and shall obtain favour of the LORD.
But he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul: all they that hate me
love death.”
THE claims of Wisdom as here presented are-.
VERY SIMPLE.—What are they? Diligently study its
counsels. “Hearken unto me.” “Hear instruction.” It
is expressed further as “watching daily at my gates;
waiting at the posts of my doors.” The idea is, render a
diligent attention to my counsels. Men are made for con-
templation, and this is necessary to bring out their faculties
into full play, and to give them health and vigour. The
words of Wisdom are the greatest subjects for human con-
templation: they explain the rationale of existence, reveal
the Infinite, and point out the path to a happy and ever
progressive destiny. The study of these words, therefore,
is not only proper, but urgent and necessary. Constantly
obey its precepts. “Blessed are they that keep thy ways.”
The teachings of Divine Wisdom are not merely specula-
tive, but regulative. They are maxims to rule the life.
Too often have they been made subjects for mere theory
98 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. VIII.
and debate, but they are in reality laws: they are not
so much for creeds as for codes. They come with authority
from the Great King, and they have a binding force. The
claims of wisdom as here presented are—
VERY IMPORTANT.—Obedience to them is happiness.
“Blessed is the man that heareth me; watching daily at
my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors.” Human
happiness consists in a loyal obedience to the Divine
counsels. Happiness is not in thought but in deeds. It is
action that alone can ring the chimes of Heaven in the
heart. “Blessed are they that hear the word of God and
keep it.” To neglect them is ruin. “He that sinneth
against me wrongeth his own soul.” “All that hate me
love death.” Sin is a self-injury. This is a fact, and this
fact shows, First: That God's laws are essentially con-
nected with the constitution of man. It is the characteristic
of all His laws that they are written on the constitution
of the subject. The atom, the flower, the beast, the man,
the angel, all have their laws deep in their own nature.
All sin is unnatural, and an evasion of its penalties
is impossible. The sinner must flee from himself before
he can flee from the misery which his sin entails.
Secondly: That God's counsels are the expressions
of benevolence. We wrong our souls by not keeping
them. The voice of His prohibitions is, “do thyself no
harm,” and the voice of all His injunctions is, “rejoice
evermore.” All His laws are but His love speaking
to man in the imperative mood. Thirdly: That God's
counsels should be studiously obeyed. The sinner
“wrongeth his own soul.” Sin is folly, and the greatest
sinner, whatever his talents and attainments may be, is
the greatest fool. In every sin he quaffs that cup of poison,
which shall produce anguish but never kill. In sinning,
“We rave, we wrestle with Great Nature's plan,
We thwart the Deity: and ’tis decreed,
Who thwart His will shall contradict their own.”
Chap. IX.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 99
Proverbs 9:1-6
The Educational Temple:
or Christianity, a School
“Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars: She
hath killed her beasts; she hath mingled her wine; she hath also furnished her
table. She hath sent- forth her maidens: she crieth upon the highest places of
the city, Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither: as for him that wanteth under-
standing, she saith to him, Come, eat of my bread, and drink of the wine which
I have mingled. Forsake the foolish, and live; and go in the way of under-
standing.”
THE highest end the Great Father of spirit can have in
His dealings with his intelligent and moral offspring is
their education, the full and perfect development of all their
powers in harmony with themselves and His everlasting
will. For this purpose He has provided man with two
schools—Nature and Christianity. The former is a mag-
nificent one. All the true sciences of the world are but a
few of its lessons which intelligent pupils have learnt
in the school of nature. The latter—Christianity-
is reared to meet man's spiritual condition as a fallen
creature. In nature God is revealed as the Creator, in
Christianity as the Redeemer. Christianity does not super-
sede nature; on the contrary, it trains man properly to
study and appreciate it. We regard the passage as a highly
poetic representation of the school which Wisdom has
reared for man in Christianity, and it leads us to notice—
THE FIRMNESS OF ITS STRUCTURE.—“She hath hewn
out seven pillars” A “pillar” is the emblem of strength,
and “seven” of perfection. In what does the firmness of
the Christian school consist? In its truth. Its lessons are
true to human instincts, to human experience, to human
reason: true, also, to a man's deep-felt moral wants
as a sinner. The firmness of a school consists in the
truthfulness of its doctrines. Time, which will mar the
beauty of the architecture of a school, and crumble its
structure to dust, though built of marble or granite, can
never touch its truth with the breath of decay. The famed
100 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. IX.
schools of Egypt and Greece are no more. They were
ornaments and attractions in their day. Upon them
Socrates and Plato, Aristotle and Pythagoras shed the
lustre of their genius. Kings and heroes were their pupils.
But they are gone. They did not deal in lessons true to
man. Their metaphysical dreams and pompous hypo-
theses passed away as the intellect of the world advanced.
But the school which Wisdom “hath builded” by the hand
of the Galilean some eighteen centuries ago is as firm as
ever.
THE ADAPTATION OF ITS PROVISIONS.-“She hath
killed her beasts, she hath mingled her wine, she hath also
furnished her table.” The adaptation of the provision is
seen in their nature. The things specified here were the
staple commodities of life among the Easterns. The idea
suggested is, that Christian truths sustain a relation to
the soul analogous to the relations that the necessaries
of physical life do to the body. As the body could not
live without the right appropriation of food, no more
can the soul without the right appropriation of Christian
truth. Christ taught this frequently. He is the Bread of
Life, that came down from Heaven. The adapta-
tion of the provisions is seen in their variety. There
is a variety in the provisions mentioned here; “beasts,”
“wine,” “bread.” Physiologists say that man's body not
only requires food, but a variety of food—animal and
vegetable. Why else such a rich variety of these pro-
ductions in nature? and why else such an appetite for
variety? Be this as it may, the Christian school presents
this diversity. There is truth here suited to every faculty
and sentiment of our nature—intellectual truth, religious
truth, moral truth, redemptive truth—truth for the past,
truth for the future. The soul can no more be fed
upon one doctrine than the body upon one element.
Some regard a few dogmas only as food for the soul,
but when once pardoned by God's grace, and renewed by
His Spirit, it wants universal truth to feed on. His smallest
flower that grows in your garden cannot feed upon any
one element. Does it not require sun and air, soil
Chap. IX.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 101
and shower, and all the various gases of the world to
lend their aid. And can the soul feed upon a few dogmas?
No; nor need it: Christianity has provided a boundless
variety.
THE INVITATION OF ITS MESSENGERS.—"She hath
sent forth her maidens; she crieth upon the highest places
of the city, Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither." The
invitation is earnest: "She crieth." It is not a cold, half-
hearted, formal invitation. The great Teacher, on the
great day of the feast, stood and cried. His messengers
are commanded to go into the highways and hedges, and
"compel." "The Spirit and the bride say, Come." The
invitation is universal. "Whoso." There is no re-
striction—the banquet is spread for all. There are
places and provision at the banquet for the sage as
well as the rustic—for the old and the young. Pro-
visions are suited to every class of mind. Truths here
are sublime enough for the greatest philosopher, and
simple enough for the untutored child. Plato had in-
scribed on the door of his school, " Let none but geome-
tricians enter here;" but on the portals of the Christian
school is written, "Whoso is simple let him turn in
hither."
THE BLESSEDNESS OF ITS AIM.—What is the great
design of this school? It is to give life. "Forsake the foolish
and live." There are some schools that kill—kill the love
of enquiry—kill the moral sensibility. But this is a life-
giving school. Its lessons are most quickening. What su
adapted to revive the downcast energies of the soul as
the doctrines of Christianity? Its teachers are most quick-
ening. A dull teacher, without genius and inspiration,
will make his pupil dull, even though he deal in the most
inspiring truths. But prophets and apostles are full of
genius and life: They are full of the Great Spirit that
quickeneth all things.
Let us learn from this the relation which we should
sustain to this Divine Temple of Education. We should
all be teachers. Few in the Temple are so ignorant as
not to be able to impart something of which others are
102 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs Chap. IX.]
ignorant. We should all be inviters—go into the street as
messengers of Wisdom, crying upon the highest place in
the city, "Whoso is simple let him come in hither."
Proverbs 9:7-9
Reproof
"He that reproveth a scorner getteth to himself shame: and he that
rebuketh a wicked man getteth himself a blot. Reprove not a scorner, lest he
hate thee: rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee. Give instruction to a wise
man, and he will be yet wiser: teach a just man, and he will increase in
learning."
"HERE," says Lord Bacon, "caution is given how we
tender reprehension to arrogant and scornful natures,
whose manner is to esteem it for contumely, and accord-
ingly to return it." All men, even the wisest and the best,
at times may require reproof, but the administration of it
is generally very difficult. "The most difficult province in
friendship is letting a man see his faults and errors, which
should, if possible, be so contrived that he may perceive
our advice is given him, not so much to please ourselves as
for his own advantage. The reproaches, therefore, of a
friend should always be strictly just, and not too frequent."
The verses lead us to consider reproof in two aspects.
As INJURIOUSLY ADMINISTERED.—"He that reproveth
a scorner getteth to himself shame, and he that rebuketh
a wicked man getteth himself a blot." The "scorner" is a
man distinguished by self-ignorance, audacity, callousness,
vanity, and irreverence. His grand aim is by little sallies
of wit and ridicule, to raise the laugh against his superiors.
He belongs to the lowest type of moral character, he occu-
pies the lowest grade of depravity, he lives next door to
hell. The "wicked man" is of the same class. Probably
Chap. IX.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 103
Solomon intends by both expressions to point to those who
are in the lowest grade of sin, hardened and incorrigible.
To reprove these is injurious. It does them no service,
whilst it brings pain to yourself. It will give you "shame
and a blot." The man who resents reproof is like the
fabled lady who, because the looking-glass reflected the
wrinkles of her face, dashed it to the ground. The
Heavenly Teacher has taught us the same lesson. "Give
not that which is holy unto dogs. There are men beyond
the reach of elevating influences, and it is worse than
waste of labour to endeavour improving them. It is said
of Pericles, that as he was sitting in a meeting before
others one day, a foul-mouthed fellow railled upon him all
the day long; at night, when it was dark and the Meeting
broke up the fellow followed him and railled at him, even
to his doors, and he took no notice of him; but when he
came home he said to him, "It is dark, I pray let my man
light you home." These wicked scorners are incorrigible,
the ministry of discipline has done with them and retribu-
tion has laid its hand on their heart. Their day of grace
is over, their day of judgment has commenced. The verses
lead us to consider reproof—
As USEFULLY ADMINISTERED.—"Rebuke a wise man
and he will love thee." By rebuking a wise man you en-
list his affection. "He will love thee." Every true man
will feel more grateful for honest reproofs than for un-
merited commendation. The false man loves flattery, the
true welcomes honest rebukes. "Let the righteous smite
me; it shall be a kindness." By instructing a wise man
you render him a benefit. "Give instruction to a wise man,
and he will yet be wiser." He will take the suggestion, he
will correct the error pointed out. Wise men are not so per-
fect as not at times to require correction, and we must not
connive at their faults because of their reputation for
wisdom. They are not beyond improvement. "None,"
says Matthew Henry, "must think themselves too wise to
learn, nor so good that they need not be better, and
therefore need not be taught. We must still press
forward and follow on to know till we come to the
104 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs Chap. IX.]
perfect man. 'Give to a wise man,' give him advice,
give him comfort, give him reproof, and he will yet be wiser;
give him occasion to show his wisdom and he will show it,
and the acts of wisdom will strengthen the habit." Some
one has said that "reproof is like fuller's earth, it not only
removes spots from our character, but rubs off when it is
dry."
Proverbs 9:10-12
Character
"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of
the holy is understanding. For by me thy days shall be multiplied, and the years
of thy life shall be increased. If thou be wise, thou shalt be wise for thyself: but
if thou scornest, thou alone shalt bear it."
NOTHING is so important to man as character. It is the
only thing that he can call his own: the only property that
will go with him into the other world, and the only thing
that will determine his condition through all ages of the
future. Here we have-
THE FOUNDATION AND BLESSEDNESS OF A GOOD
CHARACTER.—The foundation. What is it? "The fear of
the Lord." Not slavish dread, but loving reverence. "The
knowledge of the holy is understanding." Solomon links
the knowledge of the holy things, or, as some suppose,
holy ones, with the "fear of the Lord;" and, in truth, they
may be considered as identical, for an experimental know-
ledge of "the holy" is essentially related to the "fear of the
Lord," which is the beginning of wisdom and the germ of all
spiritual goodness. All true sagacity takes its rise here.
The two things may be expressed by intelligent piety, and this
is the foundation of a true character. The character that is
organised on this principle is good; all others are corrupt.
The blessedness. "For by me thy days shall be multiplied and
the years of thy life shall be increased." Piety, as we have
Chap. IX.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 105
stated more than once elsewhere, is conducive to long
life. What is it to live? Not merely to exist. A
man may exist here seventy years and not really live
a day. Life means a full and happy discharge of all
the functions of our being, a full development of all our
powers. To live is to realise the grand ideal of character
as embodied in the life of Jesus. "For me to live," says
Paul, "is Christ." Here we have—
II. THE SOLEMN PERSONALITY OF CHARACTER,
WHETHER GOOD OR BAD.—"If thou be wise, thou shalt
be wise for thyself; but if thou scornest thou alone shalt
bear it." Character is a personal thing. It concerns the
man himself and him only. It is true that a good character
by influence may be of service to others, but it is of no
benefit whatever to the Almighty. "Can a man be profitable
unto God as he that is wise may be profitable unto himself?"
It is also true that a bad character may by influence be in-
jurious to others. "Thy wickedness may hurt a man." But
it concerns the man himself infinitely more than any one
else. The good man is blessed in his own deed, and the evil
man is cursed in all his work. "Be not deceived; God is
not mocked: whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also
reap." "Every man," says Sir J. Stevens, "has in himself
a continent of undiscovered character. Happy is he who.
acts the Columbus to his own soul."
Proverbs 9:13-18
The Ministry of Temptation
"A foolish woman is clamorous: she is simple and knoweth nothing. For
she sitteth at the door of her house, on a seat in the high places of the city, To
call passengers who go right on their ways: Whoso is simple, let him turn in
hither: and as for him that wanteth understanding, she saith to him, Stolen
waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant. But he knoweth not that
the dead are there: and that her guests are in the depths of hell."
THE "foolish woman" here stands opposed to wisdom in
the first verses of the chapter. The former is an emblem
106 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs Chap. IX.]
of the power of wickedness in the world, prosecuting its
work of temptation.
The other represents the power of goodness inviting the
world to holiness and peace. Every man moves between
these rival invitations in every step of life. The text
presents to us the ministry of temptation in three
aspects:
AS CONDUCTED BY DEPRAVED WOMAN.—"A foolish
woman " is here the emblem of wickedness in the world.
It is a sad thing to find woman a tempter, but from the first
great mother of us all down to the present day, she has
often been found sustaining this character. The devil has
made her one of his most efficient organs. The tempting
woman is here described:—She is ignorant. "She is simple
and knoweth nothing." She is blind to spiritual realities
and claims. She may be clever, acquainted with the ways
of the world, and crafty; still the great spiritual world is con-
cealed from her. She is in the kingdom of darkness:—She
is clamorous, full of noise and exciting talk, bearing down
all objections to her entreaties:—She is audacious. "She
sitteth at the door of her house on a seat in the high places
of the city." Modesty, which is the glory of her sex, has
left her. She is bold and brazen:—She is persuasive.
"Whosoever is simple let him turn in hither." "Stolen
waters are sweet." This is her argument. She admits
that her pleasures are wrong, and on that account the more
delectable. She is a portrait of all whom the devil
employs as his emissaries of evil. Mark her features,
and take warning. The ministry of temptation is here
presented.
AS DIRECTED TO THE INEXPERIENCED.—To whom
does she especially direct her enticements? Not to the
mature saint, stalwart in virtue. She calls "passengers"
who go right on their ways. "Whoso is simple let him
turn in hither." All men are "passengers." All are going
"right on their ways." Step by step each moves on.
Moves on constantly by day and night, asleep or awake;
moves on irresistibly; no one can pause a moment on his
journey to eternity. Temptation is busy in the path of each.
Chap. X.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 107
Appeals are made on all hands to the ruling passions of
our nature, avarice, ambition, and lusts. Beware! The
ministry of Temptation is here presented.
AS TENDING TO A MISERABLE END.—"He knoweth
not that the dead are there, and that her guests are in the
depths of hell." This ministry of temptation is very success-
ful, as conducted by depraved woman. This woman ob-
tained "guests." More, alas! accept the invitation of folly
than wisdom, wickedness than virtue. "Broad is the road
that leadeth to destruction, and many there be that go in
thereat." Her guests were ruined. "They were dead, and
they were in the depths of hell." Lust bringeth forth
sin; "sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death." "To
be carnally minded is death." "The stolen waters," how-
ever sweet, are poisonous. Her guests were ruined, con-
trary to their intention. "He knoweth not." Every man
who accepted her invitation entered her chamber for plea-
sure; this was his purpose. But he met with ruin.
Brother, the devil has a ministry here as well as Christ.
Which ministry exerts the most influence on thee? Re-
member that-
"It is one thing to be tempted,
Another thing to fall."—SHAKESPEARE
Proverbs 10:1
The Influence of the Child's Character
Upon the Parent's Heart
"A wise son maketh a glad father: but a foolish son is the heaviness of his
mother."
WHAT does Solomon mean by "a wise son ?" A son of
precocious intellect, who grows at once into a great scholar,
or one who proves himself to have such business aptitudes as
to rise to fortune and power at a bound? Many would call
such a son wise. He evidently means a godly son, for in a
108 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs Chap. X.]
previous verse he states, "the fear of the Lord is the
beginning of wisdom." Observe:
THE HOLY character of a child GLADDENS the
heart of the parent.—"A wise son maketh a glad
father." The father, however, must himself be a godly
man before a godly son could gladden his heart. A worldly
father is generally disposed to regard a religious son with
mortification and disappointment, and deem him weak-
minded and fanatic. But what on earth can be more
delightful to the heart of a pious father, than the conduct
of an intelligent, pure-minded, generous, brave, godly son?
It is the brightest earthly sunbeam that can fall upon his
soul. It delights him for at least two reasons. Because
he sees in such conduct the best results of his training. He
has the happy assurance that his arduous efforts and self-
sacrifices have not been fruitless, that he has not laboured
In vain. He looks at his son's life as a rich reward.
Because he sees in such conduct the best guarantee for his
son's happiness. He feels the goodness he discovers in
him, has the promise of the life that now is and of that which
is to come. Thus he is glad. Is not this a worthy end for
every son to aim at? He whose life gladdens not the heart
of a pious father is an offence to God, and will prove a
curse to himself and to society. Observe:
The UNHOLY character of a child SADDENS the heart
of the parent.—"A foolish son is the heaviness of his
mother." "Here is distinguished," says Lord Bacon, "that
fathers have most comfort of the good proof of their sons:
but the mothers have most discomfort of their ill proof;
because women have little discerning of virtue but of
fortune." It wounds her, because she discovers that all
her toils, labours, anxieties, have been fruitless, and that
one who is dear to her heart is moving towards infamy and
ruin; his conduct is a "heaviness " to her heart. It rests
as a leaden cloud upon her spirit. What a wretched life is
this! The life that bruises the bosom that nursed and
nurtured it, that tortures the heart whose love has made a
thousand sacrifices on its account ; it is a life that must be
execrated by universal conscience, and by Heaven. Of all
Chap. X.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 109
men, no man is in a more hopeless condition than he who
has lost his love for his mother, and clouds her life with
sadness. All great men have always been distinguished
by love for their mother. How touching was Cowper's
address to his mother:
"My mother, when I heard that thou wast dead,
Say, wast thou conscious of the tears I shed?
Hover'd thy spirit o'er thy sorrowing son—
Wretch even then, life's journey just begun?
Perhaps thou gav'st me, though unseen, a kiss;
Perhaps a tear, if souls can weep in bliss.
I heard the bell toll'd on thy burial day,
I saw the hearse that bore thee slow away,
And turning from my nursery window drew
A long, long sigh, and wept a last adieu."
Proverbs 10:2-3
Cash and Character
"Treasures of wickedness profit nothing; but righteousness delivereth from
death. The LORD will not suffer the soul of the righteous to famish: but he
casteth away the substance of the wicked."
HEAVEN'S estimate of human possessions differs widely
from those of conventional society. In the judgment of the
world money is of all things most to be prized, and moral
character a thing of inferior importance. The text expresses
an opposite estimate. Note:
The WORTHLESSNESS of a wicked man's WEALTH.—
It will "profit nothing." The wicked man gets treasures
here, and often, indeed, the more wicked he is the more he
succeeds. His avarice is stronger, and his conscience is
less scrupulous. The "fool" in the Gospel became rich. But
of what real profit is wealth to the wicked? True, it feeds
and clothes him well as an animal, and gives him gorgeous
surroundings. But what "profit" is all this to a man
whose character is bad? It "profits" him "nothing "
110 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs Chap. X.]
in the way of making him happy. It cannot harmonize
those elements of his nature which sin has brought into
conflict; it cannot remove the sense of fault from his con-
science; it cannot fill him with a bright hope for the future.
It "profits" him "nothing" in the way of obtaining the true
love of his contemporaries. Men bow in servility to the
wealthy, but there is no genuine reverence and love, where
there is not the recognition of goodness. It "profits" him
"nothing" in the dying hour or in the future world. It cannot
prepare him for death, or be of any service in the dread future.
He leaves it all behind. "Naked came ye into the world
and naked must ye return." Riches "profit nothing " in
the day of wrath. "Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be
required of thee." In truth, instead of profit it is a loss, a
curse. Was it not so with Judas? When his conscience
was touched with a sense of guilt, "he brought again the
thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying,
I have sinned in that I have betrayed innocent blood." The
fires of his guilt made the coins so red hot that he could
not hold them any longer in his hands. He himself
"casteth away his substance:" it is thrown away as rub-
bish. Note:
The VALUE of a RIGHTEOUS man's CHARACTER.—
"But righteousness delivereth from death. The Lord will
not suffer the soul of the righteous to famish." They shall
be delivered from death. Not from physical dissolution,
for we must all die, there is no discharge in that warfare.
But from that which is the very essence in the evil of phy-
sical death, the sting of sin. And also from spiritual death,
which is separation from God, the root of life. "The soul of
the righteous shall never famish." On the contrary, it shall
increase in vigour for ever. There is no want to them that
fear him. "The young lions do lack and suffer hunger,
but they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing."
"I have been young and now am old, yet have not I seen the
righteous forsaken nor his seed begging bread." And Paul
says, "I have all, and abound; I am full." Let us accept
Heaven's estimate of human possessions, take rectitude of
character as infinitely more valuable than all the wealth of
Chap. X.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 111
wicked men. The latter enables a man to enjoy, and inherit
the whole world; whether he has any legal hold upon it or
not. In a pauper's but he can say, all things are mine,
whether Paul or Cephas, life or death, things present or
things to come. I am Christ's and Christ is mine.
"Seas roll to waft me,
Suns to light me rise;
My footstool earth, my canopy the skies."
Proverbs 10:4-5
Idleness and Industry
"He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand: but the hand of the
diligent maketh rich. He that gathereth in summer is a wise son; but he that
sleepeth in harvest is a son that causeth shame."
HERE we have industry contrasted with slothfulness and
sin. What is industry? "It does not consist," says one,
"merely in action, for that is incessant in all persons. Our
mind being like a ship in the sea, if not steered to some
good purpose by reason, gets tossed by the waves of fancy,
or driven by the winds of temptation some whither: but
the direction of our mind to some good end without roving,
or thinking in a straight and steady course, and drawing
after it our active powers in execution thereof, doth consti-
tute industry." There are three points of contrast—
The hand of the one is DILIGENT the other is SLACK.—
The hand of the industrious is active, prompt, skilful, and
persevering; and often very brown and bony through
labour. The hand of idleness is "slack," loose, unskilled,
and inapt. It hangs by the side as if it were made for
nothing but to be carried about. Activity braces the
muscles, and strings up the limbs for work. Indolence
slackens the limbs, aye, and slackens the whole frame.
Physical debility and half the disease of the body spring
from indolence.
112 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs Chap. X.]
The soul of the one SEIZES OPPORTUNITIES, the other
NEGLECTS them.—The one "gathereth in summer," the
other "sleepeth in harvest." The industrious man not only
watches for opportunities, but makes them. He does the
work of the season; leaves not for to-morrow what
should be done to-day. But he does "more." By skilful
diligence, he makes the tide of circumstances flow favourably
for him, and the winds breathe propitiously. He is the crea-
tor rather than the creature of circumstances, their master
rather than their serf. The other, on the contrary, lets the
opportunities pass; he "sleepeth in harvest." When he
should be busy reaping the ripened fields, binding up the
sheaves, and garnering the crops as provision for coming
months, he "sleepeth," and allows the precious grain to
fall into the earth and rot amongst the weeds. Instead of
seizing opportunities, still less creating them, he leaves
them to pass away unimproved. The tide which flowed up
strong enough to bear him to prosperity, he has allowed
to ebb away, and leave him a starving pauper on the
shore.
The destiny of the one is PROSPERITY; that of the
other RUIN.—Two things are said of the diligent. That his
hand "maketh rich." In another place it says, "maketh
fat," and in another place, "The hand of the diligent
shall bear rule," shall conduct authority. The man in
the gospel, who employed his talents, got the "well-
done " of his Master, and the rulership over many things.
But on the other hand, the destiny of the idle is poverty
and shame. "He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack
hand," and he also "causeth shame." Laziness, as we
have elsewhere said, brings ruin. "Drowsiness," as Solo-
mon has it, "clothes a man in rags."
Chap. X.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 113
Proverbs 10:6-7
Opposite Characters and Destinies
"Blessings are upon the head of the just: but violence covereth the mouth
of the wicked. The memory of the just is blessed: but the name of the wicked
shall rot."
HERE we have two opposite characters—the wicked, and
the just. These terms we have frequently explained, and
they represent the two great moral classes of mankind—
the good and evil. From these opposite characters there
spring opposite destinies.
The good are blessed in their EXISTENCE, the wicked
are not.—"Blessings are upon the head of the just." He
is blest by true men, his character is admired, and his use-
fulness appreciated. Heaven smiles on him, what he has
he enjoys with a thankful heart, he is filled with the "peace
of God, which passeth all understanding." He is blessed in
himself, and he blesses all others. But what of the wicked?
"Violence covereth the mouth of the wicked." Of this clause
a different rendering has by some been proposed. That
of our received version, however, seems preferable, and we
accept it. It yields a natural contrast to the first. Some
conceive that there is an allusion to the practice of cover-
ing the face of the condemned. According to this view,
the import will be that the violence of the wicked will
bring him to condemnation. More probably, however,
"covering the mouth" means making ashamed, putting
to silence. His detected and exposed iniquity, rapa-
city, and selfishness, shall be like a muzzle upon his mouth,
shutting it in silent confusion. He is struck speechless.
He has nothing to say in the way of defending or ex-
tenuating his crimes.
The good are blessed in their MEMORY, the wicked
are not.—"The memory of the just is blessed, but the
name of the wicked shall rot." Most men desire post-
humous fame. The text implies this, otherwise why appeal
114 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs Chap. X.]
to it? No man wishes to be forgotten. All would have
their name survive their death. Nor do any desire to be
remembered with unkindness. All would have their names
mentioned with pleasure and gratitude. In one's more
thoughtful mood there is something overwhelmingly
crushing in the idea of being forgotten in the world in
which we have lived and toiled. The just alone can secure
posthumous fame. "The memory of the just is blessed,
but the name of the wicked shall rot." The human mind
is so constituted that it can only willingly remember the
pleasant. It turns away from the disagreeable. The
crimes and character of the wicked are themes for thought
distasteful to the soul, hence their very names are
allowed "to rot." They are putrid and noxious, and men
would bury them in the grave of forgetfulness. The
memory of the "just" shall be blessed with long continuance.
Their contemporaries will continue while they live to
speak of them with gratitude and esteem, raise monuments
to perpetuate their memory, and thus hand down their
names to the men of coming times. The memory of
the "just" shall be blessed with holy influence. The
remembrance of their virtues will be an ever multi-
plying seed. Though dead, like Abel, they will con-
tinue to speak.
Proverbs 10:8-10
Man in a Threefold Aspect
"The wise in heart will receive commandments: but a prating fool shall
fall. He that walketh uprightly walketh surely: but he that perverteth his ways
shall be known. He that winketh with the eye causeth sorrow: but a prating
fool shall fall."
Here is man in SAFETY.—The man who is secure is
described as doing two things—receiving law and practising
it. "The wise in heart will receive commandments."
Chap. X.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 115
He adopts them intelligently, being convinced of their Divine
authority, and implicitly believing them to be holy, just, and
good. There are men ever ready to give commandments,
to modify commandments, to repeal commandments; but
the true man receives them loyally and lovingly as the
expressions of the Divine Will. He receives with "meek-
ness the engrafted word" of law. The secure man not
only receives law but practises it. He "walketh uprightly."
What he has received rules and regulates his life, he re-
duces the Divine precepts to practice. Such a man is safe.
"He that walketh uprightly walketh safely."
The path of duty is the path of safety. Why? Because omni-
potence guards the traveller. He who moves on the path of
duty, though surrounded by enemies, has the Almighty as
his Companion and Guard. "The Lord God is a sun and
shield." The good have always this assurance, and un-
dauntedly have they pursued their course, even unto death.
He is safe, however perilous the path may sometimes
appear. Moses, at the Red Sea, felt it perilous, but onwards
he went and was secure. Joshua, at the Jordan, felt it
perilous; he proceeded, and the waters made him a safe
passage. David confronted Goliath and was delivered out
of his hand. Daniel in the lion's den came forth unharmed.
The just are safe. "Their defence shall be in the munitions
of rocks." "Mark the perfect man and behold the upright,
for the end of that man is peace."
Here is a man in PERIL.—"A prating fool shall fall."
Literally a "lip fool." The self-conceited are generally
superficial, and the more superficial as a rule the more
talkative: the smaller and lighter the thoughts the bigger
and more plentiful the words. Light matter floats to the
surface and appears to all, the solid and precious lies at
the bottom; the foam is on the face of the waters, the pearl
is below. Sir Walter Raleigh has well said:—"Talking
much is a sign of vanity; for he that is lavish in words is
a niggard in deed." Such a man is in danger; his words
are so reckless and rash that he exposes himself to indi-
vidual resentment. They create stumbling blocks to his
feet, and he falls. He falls into contempt, confusion, and
116 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs Chap. X.]
suffering, through his vapouring, reckless, and blasphemous
talk. The "prating fool" is one of the most popular
characters in this age. He gains the platform in every pub-
lic agitation. Societies hire him to "stump" the country.
He lives to prate and prates to live. In the course of time
he falls. The public begin to read him, find him a sham,
and he falls. "A prating fool shall fall." As a rule the
more true in heart and affluent in thought a man is, the
more reticent and retired. Plato has well said, "As empty
vessels make the loudest sound, so they that have the least
wit are the greatest babblers."
Here is a man in MISCHIEF.—"He that winketh
with the eye causeth sorrow." Deceivers are winkers,
professing kindness to their neighbours, by a wink of the
eye they give a hint to their accomplices to cheat or rob.
Sly and artful men are referred to. A man who does
his work by looks or words, hints and inuendoes, rather
than by words like the "prating fool," such a man
"causeth sorrow." He destroys social confidence, he
slackens and snaps the bond of friendship, he sows the
seeds of jealousies, and evokes the querulous tones of dis-
sensions. The artful character is the most mischievous in
society. He works his diabolic designs by a "wink."
Blackens reputations, creates quarrels, breaks hearts by a
"wink." "In dealing with cunning persons," says Lord
Bacon, "we must ever consider their ends to interpret
their speeches; and it is good to say little to them, and
that which they least look for. In all negotiations of
difficulty, a man may not look to sow and reap at once,
but must prepare business, and so ripen it by degrees."
Chap. X.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 117
Proverbs 10:11
Speech
"The mouth of a righteous man is a well of life; but violence covereth the
mouth of the wicked."
SPEECH is one of the most distinguishing faculties of man
—a faculty this that gives immense influence either for
good or evil. "The chief purpose for which it is given,"
says Bishop Butler, "is plainly that we might communicate
our thoughts to each other in order to carry on the affairs
of the world for business, and for our improvement in
knowledge and learning." Solomon and the Bible say
much about this faculty. Here we have,
The speech of the GOOD.—"The mouth of a righteous
man is a well of life." The speech of a righteous man is
here compared to a "well of life." It is like a "well" in
many respects. It is natural. A well springs from the
heart of nature. It is sin that gives to speech its affecta-
tions and artificialities. A thoroughly good man speaks
out with a free and natural flow like the well, the thoughts
that are in his breast. Natural speech is always eloquent.
It is clean. The well, unlike the pool, is ever pure. It is
clear as crystal. You can see the pebbles at the bottom.
There is nothing impure in the speech of a truly "righteous
man." No corrupt communication proceedeth out of his
mouth. His speech is clean. Of all the dirty things in
this world, the most loathsome is dirty speech. A clean soul
is essential to clean speech. It is refreshing. What is
more refreshing to the thirsty traveller than a sip from the
well? What is more refreshing to a soul than good, pure,
vigorous, godly talk? It is life-giving. The well gives
life. It skirts all around it with verdure, and the streams
it sends forth touch into life the banks along their course.
The words of truth and holiness are the means by which
God gives life to the souls of men. Such is the speech of
118 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs Chap. X.]
the good; nothing so valuable on earth as this. "The
tongue of the just is as choice silver; and the lips of the
righteous feed many." Here is,
The speech of the WICKED.—"Violence covereth
the mouth of the wicked." "From the mouth of the
righteous," says Wardlaw, "there proceed the words
of comfort, truth, and joy; under the tongue of the
wicked there lie concealed cursing and bitterness, wrath
and clamour, and evil speaking. There is something
more fearful in the idea of the mouth covering violence
than in that of uttering it. If the mouth is kept close;
it is only covering, till a convenient season, the vio-
lence that is within—intimating that the wicked is well
aware when it is best for his nefarious purposes to keep
silence as well as when to speak out. Even when he com-
presses his lips, and says nothing, there is no good there."
His mouth is not a well, it is a stagnant pool, covered up
with noxious weeds, thorns, and thistles, and filled with
moral filth. What goes from it is poison.
Tupper's description of speech is worth quoting here:
"Speech is the golden harvest that followeth the flowering of thought,
Yet oftentimes runneth it to the husk and the gains be withered and scanty.
Speech is reason's brother, and a kingly prerogative of man
That likeneth him to his maker, who spake and it was done.
Spirit may mingle with spirit, but sense requireth a symbol,
And speech is the body of a thought, without which it were not seen."
Proverbs 10:12
The Great Mischief-maker
and the Great Peace-maker
"Hatred stirreth up strifes: but love covereth all sins."
A BETTER division for this proverb it is impossible to get
than the one put forth by an old expositor:—"The great
mischief-maker, and the great peace-maker."
Here we have the GREAT MISCHIEF-MAKER—"Hatred."
Chap. X.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 119
"Hatred stirreth up literally as one lifteth up a spear that
had been at rest." Hatred disturbs the existing quiet by
railings: it stirs up dormant quarrels, oftentimes by mere
suspicions and trifles. "Strifes " of all kinds, domestic,
social, religious, and political, are great evils in them-
selves, and in their influence. The history of them is
the history of crime, lamentation and woe. All the strifes
have one great promoter—that is, "hatred" and malice.
This fiend is ever busy in this work. It is the great dis-
turber of the moral universe; it sets man against himself,
against his Maker, against society, and the universe.
Plutarch's remarks on hatred are worthy the Christian's
study and regard. "A man," says he, "should not allow
himself to hate even his enemies: because, if you indulge
this passion, on some occasion it will rise of itself on
others: if you hate your enemies, you will contract such a
vicious habit of mind, as by degrees will break out upon
those who are your friends, or those who are indifferent to
you."
Here we have the GREAT PEACE-MAKER.—"Love
covereth all sins." "As hatred by quarrels exposes the
faults of others, so love 'covers' them: except in so far as
brotherly correction requires their exposure. The reference
is not to the covering of our sins before God, but the
covering of our fellow men's sins in respect of others.
Love condones, yea, takes no notice of a friend's errors.
The disagreements which 'hatred stirreth up,' love allays;
and the offences which are usually the causes of quarrel it
sees as though it saw them not, and excuses them. It
gives to men the forgiveness which it daily craves from
God. It condones past offences, covers present, and guards
against future ones. To abuse this precept into a warrant
for silencing all faithful reproofs of sin in others would be to
ascribe to charity the office of a procuress." Love is at
once a specific element and a specific agent. As an element,
its home is the heart of God—the God of peace. As an
agent, it is Christ—the Prince of peace. Love restores
order. It is in the moral system like the sap in the tree. It
strives to heal the broken branches. Love pardons offences.
120 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs Chap. X.]
Instead of parading and magnifying the fault that dis-
turbs, it seeks to blot it out. " It covereth a multitude of
sins."
"Love is the happy privilege of mind;
Love is the reason of all living things.
A Trinity there seems of principles,
Which represent and rule created life,
The love of self, our fellows, and our God."—FESTUS
Proverbs 10:13-18
Contrasts
"In the lips of him that hath understanding wisdom is found: but a rod is
for the back of him that is void of understanding. Wise men lay up knowledge:
but the mouth of the foolish is near destruction. The rich man's wealth is his
strong city: the destruction of the poor is their poverty. The labour of the
righteous tendeth to life: the fruit of the wicked to sin. He is in the way of life
that keepeth instruction: but he that refuseth reproof erreth. He that hideth
hatred with lying lips, and he that uttereth a slander, is a fool."
THERE is a three-fold contrast here in the character and
condition of men: an intellectual, social, and moral con-
trast. Here is
AN INTELLECTUAL contrast. Here is a man that
"hath understanding," and a man that is " void of under-
standing." The difference existing between men in rela-
tion to the amount of knowledge is of vast variety.
Between the most enlightened mind and the most ignorant,
there is almost as great a gulf as between the most
sagacious animal and the most uncultured savage. The
disparity arises from a difference in mental constitution.
Some have a far higher mental order of faculties than
others. And also from a difference in educational oppor-
tunities. Whilst some have had the advantages of the
great universities of Europe, and others of humbler schools
Chap. X.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 121
down to the lowest "dame establishment," the great
majority of the human race have been left to the unaided
light of nature. Hence it is no wonder that, if there are
those who have understanding, there are those who are
"void" of it. Solomon states two things here concerning
the intelligent man. First: He communicates wisdom. "In
the lips of him that hath understanding wisdom is found."
When he speaks men are enlightened, their minds are set
to think, and their spirits are refreshed. Secondly: He
accumulates wisdom. "Wise men lay up knowledge." It
is a characteristic of knowledge in the mind, that with its
increase there is an increase both in the mind's desire for
larger intelligence, and in its capacity for it. The more a
man knows the more he craves for intelligence, and the more
ample his capacities for an augmented stock become. It
is anything but this with the ignorant man—the man
"void of understanding." Solomon says two things of
him, that there is a "rod for his back," and that his
"mouth is near destruction." He is the subject of coer-
cion; he has not intelligence enough to be swayed by
argument. His language is so mischievous, he babbles
and blabs so recklessly, meddles so much with other
men's concerns, that he brings ruin on himself; his mouth
is always "near destruction." Here is:
A SOCIAL contrast.—"The rich man's wealth is his
strong city; the destruction of the poor is their poverty."
The social differences amongst men are as great as their
mental. We have princes and paupers, millionaires and
mendicants. Solomon here indicates that the rich man's
confidence of protection is in his "strong city:" its bul-
warks of massive granite and gates of ponderous iron ;
vigilant police and invincible soldiers, he imagines will
keep him safe. He is mistaken! for if he be safely guarded
from human invaders, there are other enemies .that he
cannot shut out: Disease, bereavements, death, cares,
anxieties, sorrows; these can scale the highest fortresses
and assail him. Alas! the tendency of wealth is to dispose
its possessor to trust to safety where no safety is. On the
other hand, "the destruction of the poor is their poverty;"
122 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs Chap. X.]
what awakens their foreboding and alarm is their destitu-
tion. Poverty often drives men to desperation, suicide,
and murder. Here is:
A MORAL contrast.—"The labour of the righteous
tendeth to life, the fruit of the wicked to sin." It is said
of the righteous that his labour "tends to life." According
to the constitution of things, righteous labour tends to life,
bodily, mental, and spiritual; the life of self and the life
of others. It is said that he "keepeth instruction." He
keepeth it to increase it, to use it to guide and strengthen
him in the path of duty. Because he does this he is in the
way of life." In contrast with this, look at the descrip-
tion of the wicked. "The fruit of the wicked is sin." Sin
is here put in contrast with life, and it is the true antithe-
sis. Sin is death, the death of the true, the divine, and
the happy. The "fruit of the wicked" is his conduct, his
conduct is sin, and sin is death. It is also said of him,
that he "refuseth reproof," and that in this he "erreth."
The man who refuses righteous reproofs is like the be-
wildered traveller who, rejecting all directions, pursues his
course until he tumbles over the precipice and is dashed to
pieces. He is further represented as one that "hideth
hatred with lying lips," and uttereth slander. Wicked-
ness hides hatred by lies, and slays reputations by slanders.
It is often honey on the lips and venom in the heart. It is
always associated more or less with a villany that hides
itself under flattering words, and works out its ends by
treachery and. lies. "Of all the vices," says an able author,
"to which human nature is subject, treachery is the most
infamous and detestable, being compounded of fraud,
cowardice, and revenge. The greatest wrong will not
justify it, as it destroys those principles of mutual con-
fidence and security by which only society can subsist.
The Romans, a brave, generous people, disdained to
practise it towards their declared enemies: Christianity
teaches us to forgive injuries: but to resent them under
the disguise of friendship and benevolence, argues a
degeneracy at which common humanity and justice may
blush.
Chap. X.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 123
Proverbs 10:19
The Sin of Loquaciousness
"In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin: but he that refraineth his
lips is wise."
"THERE is very great necessity indeed of getting a little
more silent than we are. It seems to me that the finest
nations in the world—England and America—are going
away into wind and tongue; but it will appear sufficiently
tragically by-and-by, long after I am away of it (the world).
Silence is the eternal duty of a man. 'Watch the tongue,'
is a very old precept, and a most true one." So said Car-
lyle, in his characteristic and remarkably enlightened and
vigorous address at Edinburgh, in the beginning of April,
1870. The most thinking men of all ages have felt a
similar conviction of the enormous evil of garrulousness.
Solomon evidently did so. The sage of Chelsea is in this,
as he is in many other things, one with the old royal sage
of Jerusalem, "In the multitude of words there wanteth not
sin."
LOQUACIOUSNESS IS A SIN AGAINST THE SPEAKER
HIMSELF.—"A man whose tongue is always wagging," as
Carlyle has it, is doing a serious injury to his own intellec-
tual and spiritual nature. Great volubility is a substitute
for thought. The man who has the love and faculty of great
speaking is naturally prone to mistake words for thoughts.
Hence it turns out as a rule that the most fluent utterers are
the most shallow thinkers. Who has not heard long ser-
mons and speeches, delivered oftentimes in graceful diction
and impressive tones and attitudes, all but destitute of any
idea worth carrying away? Great volubility is a quietus to
thought. The man who has the power of talking without
thinking, will soon cease to think. The mechanism of
thought will not work amid the rattling of the jaw. Thus
the man who is always speaking injures himself. "The
prating fool shall fall," says Solomon. True: he does fall.
124 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs Chap. X.]
His mental faculties fall into disuse under the constant
pressure of verbosities.
LOQUACIOUSNESS IS A SIN AGAINST THE HEARER.—The
men in the senate who in long debate spin out their yards
of talk, as well as the garrulous on platforms and in pulpits,
injure society in many ways. They waste the precious time
of the hearer. The hours the listener is bound to give to
those wordy discourses might be employed in other ways,
to high mental and spiritual advantage. The men who
occupy the time of assemblies with speech without thought
are the perpetrators of enormous theft. They steal away
men's precious time. They foster self-deception. The people
who listen to them often fancy that they have derived good
from their addresses, whereas, in most cases, they have not
derived one single idea of any practical worth in life.
They have been feeding, not on the bread of thought, but on
the gilded confectionery of words; aye, and often on nothing
but wind. Hence, as a fact patent to every thoughtful
observer in the religious world, the most ignorant as well
as often the largest congregations, are those who attend
the ministry of the garrulous preacher. They propagate
crude opinions instead of divine principles. As a rule, the
things their words convey are not truths which the speaker
has reached, as living convictions, by an earnest and in-
dependent search of divine revelation. They are opinions
that have come into him by education, and which he has
never digested, or the untested notions which start from his
brain in the excitement of the hour. Thus tares are sown
instead of wheat.
Beware, then, of garrulousness in yourself; and, for your
soul's sake, do not put yourself under its influence. "We
have two ears and but one tongue," says an old writer,
"that we may hear much and talk little." "Set a watch,
O God, before my mouth: keep the door of my lips."
Chap. X.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 125
Proverbs 10:20-21; 31-32
The Speech of the Righteous
and the Wicked Compared
"The tongue of the just is as choice silver: the heart of the wicked is little
worth. The lips of the righteous feed many: but fools die for want of wisdom."
"The mouth of the just bringeth forth wisdom: but the froward tongue
shall be cut out. The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable: but the
mouth of the wicked speaketh frowardness."
HERE again Solomon is on the question of speech. He
attaches great importance to the power of the tongue to
work good or ill. As a philosopher, he knew that the cha-
racter of a man's language depended upon the character of
his heart, that the speech of a corrupt man would always
be vile and pernicious, and that of the upright pure and
sanitive. There is in these verses a comparison between
the speech of the two characters.
The speech of the good man is VALUABLE; that of the
other is WORTHLESS.—"The tongue of the just is as choice
silver." Just before Solomon had said, that the mouth of
the righteous is "as a well of life," indicating that his lan-
guage was natural, clean, and life-giving. Here it is spoken
of as "choice silver." It is intrinsically valuable, it con-
tains truths of priceless worth, truths that reflect the Creator,
and bless His creation. But the speech of the evil man is
worthless. "The heart of the wicked is little worth." Why
does Solomon bring the heart and the tongue into compari-
son, rather than the tongue of each? Probably to express
the idea that speech is always the outcome and exponent of
the heart. Truly the speech of a corrupt man is "little worth."
He may be a man of distinguished genius, of high mental
culture, a brilliant author, and a commanding orator. Still
all his sentences are of "little worth." They stream from
a corrupt heart, and have in them more or less of the vile
and pernicious.
The speech of the good man is NOURISHING, that of
the other is KILLING.—"The lips of the righteous feed many,
126 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs Chap. X.]
but fools die for want of wisdom." How one soul can
nourish and invigorate another by the language of truth
and love! Thus Christ strengthened His disciples, and the
Apostles the churches they planted. A few suitable words
falling from the lips of a noble man have often braced the heart
of the hearer with a martyr's heroism. But what of the
words of the wicked man? Are they nourishing? Here is
the contrast—"fools die for want of wisdom." Their words,
beautiful as they may sound, are not grain, but chaff; how-
ever delicious to the palate, they are not aliment, but
poison. The spiritual destroyer of humanity makes cor-
rupt words his wings to bear him through the world; his
poisoned javelins to strike death into the heart of his victims.
The speech of the good man is WISE, that of the
other is FOOLISH.—"The mouth of the just bringeth forth
wisdom; but the froward tongue shall be cut out." The
words of him whose intellect is under the teaching of God,
and whose heart is in vital sympathy with Him, are wise
words: they tend to explain the facts of life, throw true
light on the path of duty, and supply stimulants to pursue
it without deviation or pause. The policies propounded by
the wicked may seem wise at first, but time always exposes
their folly, and brings its disciples to confusion and shame.
"The froward tongue shall be cut out." "Cut out," as a
corrupt tree which brings forth evil fruit is hewn down and
cast into the fire. Take the books written by corrupt men
for sceptical and sensational objects. Many of them are
philosophic in structure, elaborate in argument, mighty in
rhetoric, decked with learning, and sparkling with genius.
What are they? They are the "froward tongue," the per-
verse uttering of perverse men, and they shall be "cut out."
The cutting process, thank God, is going on.
The speech of the good man is ACCEPTABLE, that of
the other is PERVERSE.—"The lips of the righteous know
what is acceptable; but the mouth of the wicked speaketh
frowardness." The words of truth are always acceptable to
God. "We are unto God a sweet smelling savour," said
the Apostle. And acceptable are they also to all thought-
ful and candid men. Though they clash with prejudice,
Chap. X.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 127
and strike against strong inclinations, still, inasmuch as
they are true they "commend themselves to every man's
conscience." Not so the utterances of the wicked. There
is a "frowardness" that is distasteful to all consciences, and
repugnant to the heart of God and the good.
Jesus taught that the reformation of language must pro-
ceed from the reformation of the heart. "How can ye being
evil speak good things?" What are the elements of good
moral speech? Sincerity and Purity. By sincerity, I mean
the strict correspondence of the language with the senti-
ments of the heart; and by purity I mean, the strict corres-
pondence of those sentiments with the principles of ever-
lasting right. Sincerity without purity, were it possible,
would be of no moral worth. But sincerity of expression
without purity of sentiment seems to me all but socially
impossible. A corrupt man is both ashamed and afraid to
expose the real state of his heart to his fellow men. But let
the sentiments be pure, let the passion be chaste, let the
thoughts be generous, let the intentions be honourable, let
the principles be righteous, and then, instead of there being
any motive to insincerity of language, there will be all the
incentives to the utmost faithfulness of expression.
Proverbs 10:22-28
Moral Phases of Life
"The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with
it. It is as sport to a fool to do mischief: but a man of understanding hath
wisdom. The fear of the wicked it shall come upon him: but the desire of the
righteous shall be granted. As the whirlwind passeth, so is the wicked man no
more: but the righteous is an everlasting foundation. As vinegar to the teeth,
and as smoke to the eyes, so is the sluggard to them that send him. The fear of
the LORD prolongeth days: but the years of the wicked shall be shortened. The
hope of the righteous shall be gladness: but the expectation of the wicked shall
perish."
HUMAN life has its spiritual and moral as well as its
material and intellectual side. Actions are performed by
128 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs Chap. X.]
a man and events occur in his history which reveal his
moral nature and relations. There are five things in these
verses of great moral significance.
WEALTH MAKING HAPPY.—"The blessing of the
Lord it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with
it." Great temporal blessings are often, perhaps gene-
rally, the occasion of mental suffering. They awaken
in the mind harassing cares, painful anxieties, and
distressing suspicions. What distress wealth brought
upon Lot! and Ahab, though he wore a crown, was "sick
on his bed." Through discontent the young man in the
gospel was rich but not happy. But here we are reminded
that it need not be, that it never is so, if the blessing of the
Lord is connected with it. Wealth, when it is reached in
harmony with the will of God, and employed in the service
of benevolence and truth, has no sorrow, but tends to hap-
piness in many ways. It is held with a loose hand, and if
it departs there is no great regret; it is regarded as a trust,
to be used in the service of another rather than for our-
selves. A man who has got his wealth rightly, holds and
uses it rightly, will find that, instead of adding sorrow, it
conduces not a little to his happiness.
MISCHIEF DONE IN SPORT.—"It is as sport to a fool
to do mischief, but a man of understanding hath wisdom."
There is an innocent sport. Many natures, especially the
young, have in them much of the frolicsome and the
humorous. The sport of innocent childhood and youth,
and that of rich and generous-natured manhood, is not a
thing for censure. But the "sport" to which Solomon
here refers is "To do mischief." A "sport" which does
injury to the reputation, the property, the peace, the com-
forts of others. It is a sport that turns the serious into
ridicule, that makes merry in deeds of nefarious wicked-
ness. How much mischief is done in sport. There is a
malign as well as a generous sport! There is the hilari-
ousness of innocence and the hilariousness of crime. It is
only a fool that doth mischief by sport. A "man of
understanding hath wisdom,"—that is, he would not do it.
Mischief to him is too serious for sport. The exuberance
Chap. X.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 129
of his spirits and humour could never tempt him to wound
the feelings or damage the interests of his fellow men. It is
the fool that makes a mock of sin, to the wise man sin is
too grave a matter to laugh at. Here is:
JUSTICE DONE TO ALL.—"The fear of the wicked
it shall come upon him; but the desire of the righteous
shall be granted." The anticipation of the righteous and
the forebodings of the wicked shall both one day be
realised. There is at times in every guilty conscience a
fearful looking for of judgment; that judgment will
surely come, it will be a terrible fact in his history.
There is on the other hand in every godly soul a desire
for a higher spiritual good, for sublimer attainments in ex-
cellence; that desire shall meet with its realization. "The
desire of the righteous shall be granted." What are fore-
bodings in the wicked and what are hopes to the good,
shall before long become great conscious facts. It shall come
to the wicked very suddenly. "As the whirlwind passeth so
is the wicked no more." Mighty, rushing, resistless, it
comes and bears them away. But it establishes the
righteous. "The righteous is ('is' is not in the original)
an everlasting foundation." Perhaps there may be a
reference to the violence of the wicked being directed
against him, and his remaining under the protection
of the Divine power, unmoved, unharmed. The whirl-
wind assails the mountain; sweeps and eddies along
with tempestuous and tearing fury; leaves here and there
traces of its raging course; but the mountain stands
unshaken on its deeplaid and unmovable basis. Such
shall be the amount of the wicked man's power, such the
harmlessness of its results, against those who are under the
protection of Jehovah. It shall spend itself, and pass
away: and the righteous shall not be moved. If God
be for them, who can be against them? Here is:
INDOLENCE CAUSING VEXATION.—"As vinegar to the
teeth and smoke to the eyes, so is the sluggard to them
that sent him." Vinegar sets the teeth on edge, and smoke
gives pain to the eyes. Both irritate and annoy, so an
indolent messenger provokes his master. Who has not felt
130 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs Chap. X.]
this? You entrust a man on an important errand, you
despatch him, and you bid him hasten his steps
and return with speed, but he is an indolent man;
after he has left your sight he lags and crawls
slowly on, sometimes sitting down and sometimes
lounging at the side of the hedge: you get anxious, you
wonder what has become of him, you have misgivings as
to his safety, you fear that the mission with which you en-
trusted him has failed; every minute increases your anxiety
and heightens your irritation. Truly the lazy, yawning
loiterer is to you as "vinegar to the teeth," and as "smoke
to the eyes." Laziness is not only bad for the man him-
self, but is most vexatious to those who are unfortunate
enough to employ him in their service. Here is:
CHARACTER REVEALED IN ITS ISSUES.—The character
of the good is here represented, as in many other
places in this book, as prolonging life and yielding joy.
"The fear of the Lord prolongeth days. The hope of the
righteous shall be gladness." Here is the character of the
good lengthening the life and filling it with gladness. On
the contrary, the character of the wicked is represented as
abbreviating life and ending in ruin. "The years of the
wicked shall be shortened. The expectations of the wicked
shall perish."
How full is the Bible of human life, its follies and its
wisdoms, its vices and its virtues, its friendships and be-
reavements, its prosperities and adversities, its sorrows and
its joys. God has filled the Bible with humanity, in order
that it might interest men and improve them. The crimes
of ancient men are here used as beacons flashing their red
light, from the dangerous rocks and quicksands, and their
virtues as bright stars to guide us safely on our voyage.
Chap. X.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 131
Proverbs 10:29
Might and Misery
"The way of the LORD is strength to the upright: but destruction shall be
to the workers of iniquity."
NOTICE:
The way to STRENGTH.—The Lord has "a way" for man
to walk in. He has a way for Himself. He does not move
without foresight and plan. His course is mapped out.
He knew the end from the beginning. His way, though
righteous and benevolent, is nevertheless inscrutable to us.
His way is in the sea and his paths are in deep waters.
What seraph can trace His goings?
We cannot find thee out, Lord, for infinite thou art,
Thy wond'rous works and word reveal thee but in part;
The drops that swell the ocean, the sands that girt the shore,
To measure Thy duration, their numbers have no power.
He has a way for his creatures. He has mapped out a path
for all, according to their constitutions. He has given an
orbit to all the globes of matter, a sphere to all irrational
life; has described a course for angelic hierarchies, and
planned out a specific path for fallen men to tread in.
What is the way He has marked out for us? It is the way
of social justice and Divine worship. In other words, the way
that Christ pursued. Our course is to follow Him; the
great law binding on us is to be animated by His spirit,
controlled by His principles, and engrossed in His purposes.
The man who walks in this way gets strength. "The way
of the Lord is strength to the upright." It is the "upright"
who walks in this way. The man who has been made
erect in Christian principles and virtues shall get intel-
lectual strength:—in every step along this path he finds
truths to challenge and nurture thought, and mental
fruit clusters on all sides. Moral strength:—strength to
resist temptation, to bear trial, to discharge duty, to serve
man, to glorify God. "They that wait upon the Lord
shall renew their strength." The righteous shall hold on
132 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs Chap. XI.]
his way, and he that hath clean hands shall be stronger
and stronger." Notice again:
The way to RUIN.—"But destruction shall be to the
workers of iniquity." Destruction of what? Conscience,
memory, moral obligations, existence? I trow not. But
the destruction of hopes, loves, friendships, and all that
make existence worth having. The way to this terrible
condition is iniquity. The word is negative—the want of
equity. Men will be damned not merely for doing wrong,
but for not doing the right. The want of air, bread, water,
will destroy the body; the want of righteousness will ruin
the soul. "He that believeth not shall be damned."*
Proverbs 11:2
The Advent and Evil of Pride
"When pride cometh, then cometh shame: but with the lowly is wisdom."
NOTICE:
THE ADVENT OF PRIDE.—"When pride cometh."
What is pride? It is inordinate self-appreciation. It is
the putting of too high an estimate on self. This feeling
comes to a soul. It is not born in it. How does it come?
By associating only with inferiors. Constant intercourse
with those whose talents, beauty, accomplishments, wealth,
or position, are manifestly inferior to our own, is favourable
to its advent. By practically ignoring the true standards
of character. When we lose sight of the eternal law of
rectitude, and judge ourselves only by the imperfect stand-
ards around us, pride is likely to come.
"Pride (of all others the most dangerous fault)
Proceeds from want of sense, or want of thought.
The men who labour and digest things most,
Will be much apter to despond than boast."
By a practical disregard to the majesty of God. He who
* Verses 30 to 32 have been noticed in a previous reading.
Chap. XI.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 133
shuts Him out from his sphere of habitual thought and
experience will be accessible to pride. The conscious
presence of God humbles. "When I consider the heavens,
the work of Thy hands, the moon and stars that Thou hast
made. What is man that Thou art mindful of him?"
Notice:
THE EVIL OF PRIDE.—What is the evil? First: It
brings shame. "Then cometh shame." The man who
has formed such a false and exaggerated estimate of self
must be disappointed one day, and the disappointment
will fill him with "shame." The pride of Herod reduced
him to the worms. Man like water must find his level; he
must come to realities. How frequently and earnestly the
Heavenly Teacher inculcates humility. "When thou art
bidden, go and sit down in the lowest room." "Whosoever
exalteth himself shall be abased." It brings the shame of
folly. The soul blushes with a sense of its own foolish
estimate. And also the shame of guilt. Pride is a wrong
state of mind, and hence follows a blushing sense of guilt.
It was so in the case of our first parents; shame covered
them when they discovered the folly and guilt of their
pride. "Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty
spirit before a fall."
"Of all the causes which conspire to blind
Man's erring judgment, and misguide the mind,
What the weakest head with strongest bias rules,
Is pride, the never-failing vice of fools!
Whatever nature has in worth denied,
She gives in large recruits of needful pride;
For as in bodies, so in souls, we find
What wants in blood and spirits filled with wind:
Pride, where wit fails, steps in to our defence,
And fills up all the mighty void of sense.
If once right reason drives that cloud away,
Truth breaks upon us with resistless day.
Trust not yourself; but your defects to know,
Make use of every friend and every foe."—POPE
Secondly: It excludes wisdom. Wisdom cannot dwell
with pride; indeed, pride will not allow it to enter. The
proud man is so self-sufficient, has such a high estimate of
his own knowledge, that he feels no need of further light.
134 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs Chap. XI.]
He is so satisfied with the rushlights that his pride has
kindled within him, that he draws the curtains and shuts
out the sunbeams. But if wisdom could enter, it could
not live there, the atmosphere of pride would smother it.
Truly pride is a bad thing. "Pride," said old Thomas
Adams, "thrust proud Nebuchadnezzar out of men's society,
proud Saul out of his kingdom, proud Adam out of para-
dise, proud Haman out of the court, proud Lucifer out of
Heaven."
Proverbs 11:7
The Terrible in Human History
"When a wicked man dieth, his expectation shall perish: and the hope of
unjust men perisheth."
THERE are two terrible events here—
DEATH MEETING THE WICKED MAN.—"A wicked man
dieth." Death everywhere is a sad event—in the flower,
in the bird, in the beast, it is a saddening sight. Death in
the babe; death, even in a righteous man, is sad. But
death in connection with the wicked is of all sights the
saddest under these heavens. The wicked man dieth.
Then death does not wait for reformation in character.
Procrastination may adjourn duties, but not death. Death
will not wait an hour or a minute: when the appointed
hour has struck he is there. He has an appointed work to
do and a time for doing it, and nothing can delay his
course. "A wicked man dieth." Then the greatest enemies
of God and His universe are overcome. Wicked men rebel
against God, battle with everlasting right, but death is
stronger. Death comes and puts an end to all. His cold
touch freezes the heart, stills and silences them for ever.
* The subjects contained in verses 3 to 6 have been discussed in previous
Readings.
Chap. XI.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 135
It is well for the world that death does come to the wicked.
Were they to remain for ever, or for any very lengthened
period, our planet would become a Pandemonium. Terrible
as death may be to them, their death is a blessing to
humanity. The other terrible event here is:
HOPE LEAVING THE HUMAN SOUL.—"His expecta-
tion shall perish: and the hope of unjust men perisheth."
What is dearer to the soul than hope? It is dearer than
life itself, for life is a curse without it. The soul lives in
its hope and by its hope. "The miserable hath no medi-
cine but only hope," says Shakespeare. But when the
wicked man dieth, he loseth this hope. Hope says adieu
to him, plumes her pinions, and departs for ever. The
hope of liberty, improvement, honour , happiness, gone, for ever
gone. Every "star of hope" quenched, and the sky of
the soul black as midnight. "He dieth, and carrieth
nothing away; his glory shall not descend after him." "He
shall go to the generations of his fathers, and shall never
see light." How strong the language of despair, as ex-
pressed by Milton:
"So farewell hope, and with hope farewell fear,
Farewell remorse—all good to me is lost;
Evil be thou my good."
Proverbs 11:8
Trouble in Its Relation
to the Righteous and the Wicked
"The righteous is delivered out of trouble, and the wicked cometh in his
stead."
ALL men have their troubles. "Man is born to trouble, as
the sparks fly upwards." But while the good and the bad
have both trouble, their relation to it is strikingly different,
as indicated in this proverb.
The righteous are GOING OUT OF "TROUBLE."—"The
136 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs Chap. XI.]
righteous is delivered out of trouble." The righteous have
their troubles—troubles arising from physical infirmities,
mental difficulties, secular anxieties, moral imperfections,
social dishonesties, falsehoods, and bereavements. But
the glorious fact in their history is, they are being
"delivered out" of these troubles. They are emerging
out of darkness into light, out of discord into harmony.
Partially: They are being delivered out of trouble now.
There are many striking instances of deliverance on
record. Abraham, Noah, Moses, Mordecai, Daniel. Every
righteous man can refer to troubles from which he has
been delivered, enemies that he has overcome, difficulties
that he has surmounted, storms that he has left behind.
Completely. They will be delivered out of all trouble at death.
With the last breath all their sorrows depart as a vision of
the night. The whole of the mighty load is left on this
side of the Jordan. John, in vision, saw the righteous
who had "come out of great tribulation," clothed in white
robes, and exulting in bliss.
Take heart, ye righteous ones; yet a little while, and all
your storms will be hushed—all your clouds will melt into
azure.
The wicked are GOING INTO TROUBLE.—"And the
wicked cometh in his stead." They are in trouble now, but
they are going deeper into it every step they take. Their
heavens are growing darker, and the clouds more heavy:
they are forging thunder-bolts and nursing storms. The
trouble they are going into is unmitigated. They are
not mixed with blessings, which lighten their pressure
or relieve their gloom. The trouble they are going into is
unending. "The worm dieth not, and the fire is not
quenched."
Brother, mark the difference between the righteous and
the wicked. See the former moving on, with his troubles
receding like a cloud behind him, with sunshine breaking
on his horizon: see the wicked advance under a sky
growing more and more dark and thunderous.
Chap. XI.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 137
Proverbs 11:9
Hypocrisy and Knowledge
"An hypocrite with his mouth destroyeth his neighbor: but through know-
ledge shall the just be delivered."
THE hypocrite is one who feigns to be what he is not—one
whose life is a lie. Selfish, he wears the costume of
benevolence: false, he speaks the language of sincerity
and truth. "A hypocrite," says Bowes, "is like the
painting at one time exhibited in London, of a friar habited
in his canonicals. View the painting at a distance, and
you would think the friar to be in a praying attitude. His
hands are clasped together and held horizontally to his
breast, his eyes meekly demised like those of the publican
in the gospel; and the good man seems to be quite
absorbed in humble adoration and devout recollection.
But take a nearer survey, and the deception vanishes.
The book which seemed to be before him is discovered to
be a punch-bowl, into which the wretch is all the while, in
reality, only squeezing a lemon." How lively a repre-
sentation of a hypocrite! Observe:
Hypocrisy is DESTRUCTIVE.—"A hypocrite with his
mouth destroyeth his neighbours." By his deception
he has often destroyed the reputation, the peace, and the soul
of his neighbour. Hypocrites are ravenous wolves in
sheep's clothing. Under the pretence of loyalty, Haman
would have destroyed a whole nation. Hypocrisy implies
the pernicious. A consciousness of wrongness within is
the cause of all hypocrisy. The corrupt heart dares not
show itself as it is. Hence it puts on the garb of good-
ness. It is theatrical: it appears to be what it really is
not. It is a difficult character to keep up. It is a battle
against nature and reality. "If the devil ever laughs,"
says Colton, "it must be at hypocrites. They are the
greatest dupes he has. They serve him better than any
others, and receive no wages; nay, what is still more
138 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs Chap. XI.]
extraordinary, they submit to greater mortifications to go
to hell than the sincerest Christian to go to heaven. Hypo-
crisy employs the pernicious. Misrepresentations and
errors, the curse of the world, are its instruments. A false
man is a "moral murderer; his mouth the lethal weapon,
and his neighbour the victim." He is an assassin, striking
down reputations. Observe:
Knowledge is RESTORATIVE.—"But through knowledge
shall the just be delivered." Knowledge is here put
in antithesis with hypocrisy, and they are essentially
opposites. Real knowledge enables its possessor to
defeat the crafty and malicious designs of the deceiver.
A spiritually enlightened man can penetrate the mask of
the hypocrite and defeat his pretensions. Divine know-
ledge is the restorative power of the world. "This is
life eternal, to know Thee the only true God, and Jesus
Christ whom Thou hast sent." It scatters the clouds
of ignorance and error, and raises the soul to light,
freedom, purity, and blessedness. The knowledge, how-
ever, to deliver and redeem must be practical.
"Only add
Deeds to thy knowledge answerable: add faith,
Add virtue, patience, temperance: add love,
By name to some call'd charity, the soul
Of all the rest. Then wilt thou not be loath.
To leave this Paradise, but shalt possess
A paradise within thee happier far."—MILTON
Chap. XI.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 139
Proverbs 11:10-11
The Public Conscience
in Relation to Moral Character
"When it goeth well with the righteous, the city rejoiceth: and when the
wicked perish, there is shouting. By the blessing of the upright the city is
exalted but it is overthrown by the mouth of the wicked."
DOWN deep beneath the errors, follies, vanities of the
community, there is a conscience. A something that
concerns itself not with the truth or falsehood of propositions,
or the expediency or inexpediency of actions, but with
immutable right; it points evermore to the just, as the
needle to the pole.
The words lead us to notice—
The public conscience in relation to the RIGHTEOUS.—
"When it goeth well with the righteous the city rejoiceth."
Public conscience is gratified by the prosperity of the
righteous. The moral heart of the city exults when it sees
a truly good man prosper, even though his doctrines may
clash with its prejudices, and his conduct with its selfish
interests and gratifications. So did the people of old in
relation to Mordecai and Hezekiah. Public conscience
acknowledges the usefulness of the righteous. "By the
blessings of the upright the city is exalted." All history
shows the truth of this. "Righteousness exalteth a nation."
All that is great and good in our England to-day must be
ascribed to righteous principles. These principles, scattered
broad-cast by our ancestors, have taken root, grown, and
worked off the superstition, the barbarism, and the
tyranny of former times. Who is the true patriot
and real benefactor? Not the man of brilliant genius,
oratoric power, or skilful finance, but the righteous man.
140 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs Chap. XI.]
Righteous men are the salt of society, preventing it from
putrefaction: the pillars of the State, preventing kingdoms
crumbling into confusion. Notice also:
Public conscience in relation to the WICKED.—
"When the wicked perish there is shouting." It rejoices
in their ruin. There is shouting when they fall. When
the oppressor and tyrant fall, the public shout. "So let all
Thine enemies perish, O Lord, but let them that love Thee be
as the sun when he goeth forth in his might." When the
Pharaohs, the Nebuchadnezzars, the Herods, the Alex-
anders, the Neros fall, the people may well rejoice. It
proclaims their mischief. "The city is overthrown by the
mouth of the wicked." The "mouth of the wicked," the
channel of impieties, falsehoods, impurities, and innumerable
pernicious errors—has caused in all ages, and is still
causing, the overthrow of States.
Pope has well described the kind of statesman that blesses
nations:
"Stateman, yet friend to truth! of soul sincere,
In action faithful and in honour clear!
Who broke no promise, served no faithless end,
Who gain'd no title, and who lost no friend;
Ennobled by himself, by all approved,
Praised, wept, and honour'd by the race he loved."
Proverbs 11:12-13
Types of Character in Social Life
"He that is void of wisdom despiseth his neighbour: but a man of under-
standing holdeth his peace. A talebearer revealeth secrets: but he that is of a
faithful spirit concealeth the matter."
IN these verses there are four distinct types of character,
which Solomon observed in the social life of his age, and
they are to be found now in every social grade in every
country under heaven.
Chap. XI.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 141
THE INSOLENT.—"He that is void of wisdom despiseth
his neighbour." There are men destitute of all true re-
spect for their fellows. Always uncivil and rude. They
are insolent in their speech and their bearing, ever
saucy, and abusive. Such were those in the multi-
tude that surrounded the cross, who "wagged" their heads
at Infinite dignity. The remarks of Fielding on this
class are to the point. "As it is the nature of a kite to
devour little birds, so it is the nature of some minds to
insult and tyrannise over little people. This being the
means which they use to recompense themselves for their
extreme servility and condescension to their superiors ; for
nothing can be more reasonable than that slaves and
flatterers should exact the same taxes on all below them,
which they themselves pay to all above them." "Such a
man," says Solomon, "is void of understanding." He does
not know himself, he does not know the respect due from
him even to the humblest of his fellow creatures. Here is
The RESPECTFUL.—"A man of understanding holdeth
his peace." He is neither precipitant in the judgment he
forms of men, nor hasty in his language. He listens, re-
flects, weighs, and then speaks with deference; he is the true
gentleman of society, cautious, prudent, polite. He does not
blab out secrets entrusted to his confidence, nor break forth
into language of indignation, even under strong provocation.
He is master of his own temper, and rules his own
tongue. He acts ever under the impression of what is due
from man to man. He is uncringing to his superiors, and
courteous to those below him. "As the sword of the best
tempered metal is most flexible, so the truly generous are
most pliant and courteous in their behaviour to their in-
feriors." Here is
The TATTLER.—"The talebearer revealeth secrets."
A talebearer is one who will take in your secrets, and
hastens to his neighbour to pour them into his greedy ears.
He has an itching to know your concerns, and no sooner
do you impart them, than he itches for their communication.
There is, perhaps, a strong propensity in all to reveal
secrets, and this in proportion to the strength of the man's
142 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs Chap. XI.]
vanity. When a man breaks a secret he gratifies his
vanity in two ways. By revealing knowledge which the
hearer has not, and by showing at the same time how much
he is trusted. A more odious and mischievous character
is scarcely to be found than a talebearer. Sheridan spoke in
his day of a set of "malicious, prating, prudent gossips, both
male and female, who murder characters to kill time ; and
will rob a young fellow of his good name before he has
years to know the value of it." He is not always malicious
in spirit, but he is always dangerous. He is always dis-
turbing friendships, starting suspicions, and creating
animosities. Here is
The TRUSTWORTHY.—"But he that is of a faithful
spirit concealeth the matter." This man is the antithesis
to the talebearer. He is a dependable friend; he will listen
to your secrets as things too sacred for speech. You can
trust him with your life, he will never betray you.
Of course such a man will not receive a secret in con-
fidence which endangers the interests, rights, and lives of
others; the man who would offer such a secret to him he
would repel with indignation or hand over to the police.
But secrets that involve no injustice or injury to others, he
will hold as sacred as his life.
"His words are bonds, his oaths are oracles;
His love sincere, his thoughts immaculate:
His tears pure messengers sent from his heart:
His heart as far from fraud as heaven from earth."
SHAKESPEARE
Proverbs 11:14
Wisdom, the Want of States
"Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellers
there is safety."
"IT is obvious enough," says an able expositor, " that there
is something here to be understood. The 'counsel' that
Chap. XI.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 143
keeps the people from ruin must be wise and good: and
when given, it must be taken and followed. There may be
no lack of counsel, but it may be counsel that 'causeth to
err from the way of understanding,' and both ruler and
people would have been better without it. But the case
supposed, appears to be that of a self-willed, self-sufficient,
head-strong ruler, who glories in his power; who deter-
mines to wield the rod of that power in his own way, and
who plays the hasty, jealous, resolute, sensitive, and vin-
dictive tyrant; who disdains to call in counsel, or who does
it only for the pleasure of showing his superiority to it, by
setting it at nought. I conceive the phrase, 'where no
counsel is' to be intended to convey not a little of the
character of him, by whom it is declined or disregarded.
He is a character under whose rule 'the people fall.' We
have an example of such a character—foolish, high-minded,
insolent—in Solomon's own successor Rehoboam."
This verse implies three facts—
THE PEOPLE REQUIRE A GOVERNMENT.—Human
governments are not arbitrary institutions. They spring
from the instincts and necessities of society. A few men
in every age are made to rule. They are, as compared
with the multitude, royal in capacity, intelligence, aspira-
tion, power. The millions are made to obey. They are
uninventive, unaspiring, cringing, and servile. From such
a state of things government must flow. The tree of human
government is a Divine seed, which Heaven has implanted
in the social heart. The tree, it is true, is often hideous in
aspect and pernicious in fruit. This is the fault of the
air and the soil, not of the seed, its origin is Divine.
The verses, moreover, imply that:
The GOVERNMENT REQUIRED IS THAT OF INTELLI-
GENCE.—Not force, not passion, not caprice, not
despotism, but "counsel." The common will must be
swayed by reason. Men are not to be governed as brutes,
by force or violence, but by enlightened legislation. Rulers
should be men not only of incorruptible justice, but of the
most enlarged information and practical philosophy. It is
a sad thing to send men to the senate house as England now
144 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs Chap. XI.]
sends them. In our ignorance we are making legislators
of joint-stock jobbers, reckless speculators, uncultured
manufacturers, broken down journalists and brainless Lords.
Bancroft has well described the true statesman. "He is
inviolably constant to his principle of virtue and religious
prudence. His ends are noble, and the means he uses
innocent. He hath a single eye on the public good: and
if the ship of the state miscarry, he had rather perish in the
wreck than preserve himself upon the plank of an inglorious
subterfuge. His worth hath led him to the helm. The
rudder he uses is an honest and vigorous wisdom, the
star he looks to for direction is in Heaven, and the port he
aims at is the joint welfare of prince and people."
Again the verses imply that:
The NECESSARY INTELLIGENCE MUST BE REACHED BY
CONSULTATION.—"In the multitude of counsellors there
is safety." The wisest men must meet, compare opinions,
weigh suggestions, and thus, by the honest process of
inquiry, travel to a wise conclusion, in which they all agree.
If in the multitude of counsels, the safety of a state consists,
our country ought to be secure. What with our free dis-
cussions in club, in senate, in hall, and in journalism, we
truly have a multitude of counsellors. What we want is
more intelligence, independency, and virtue in the people,
so that they may be able to understand what a statesman
should be, and may send no one to Parliament as their
representative, who has not the noblest attributes of man.
"A pillar of state: deep on his front engraven,
Deliberation sat and public care,
And princely counsel in his face shone
Majestic." MILTON
*** The subjects of the 14th and 15th verses have already been discussed, and
will be in future Readings.
Chap. XI.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 145
Proverbs 11:17
The Generous and Ungenerous
"The merciful man doeth good to his own soul: but he that is cruel trou-
bleth his own flesh."
WE learn—
That a GENEROUS disposition is a BLESSING to its pos-
sessor.—"A merciful man doeth good to his own soul."
A merciful man doeth good to his intellectual faculties. It
is a psychological fact that the intellect can only see
clearly, move freely, and progress vigorously, as it is
surrounded by the atmosphere of disinterested affection.
Selfishness blinds, cripples, enervates the understanding.
It is only as the eye is single with disinterested love, that
the whole intellectual body can get full light. In truth the
mental faculties can only grow to strength and perfection
in the soil and sunshine of the benevolent affections. A
merciful man doeth good to his moral sentiments. Conscience
approves only of the actions that spring from love. And
our faith in the spiritual, the eternal, the Divine, can only
live and thrive under the influence of the generous. "The
good Samaritan," says Arnot, "who bathed the wounds
and provided for the wants of a plundered Jew, obtained a
greater profit on the transaction than the sufferer who was
saved by his benevolence."
"The quality of mercy is not strain'd,
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath; it is twice bless'd:
It blesses him that gives and him that takes.
'Tis mightiest in the mightiest: it becomes
The throned monarch better than his crown.
His sceptre shows the force of temporal power,
The attribute to awe and majesty.
Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings:
But mercy is above this sceptred sway,
It is enthroned in the hearts of kings,
It is an attribute of God Himself:
And earthly power doth them show likest God's,
When mercy season's justice. Therefore,
Though justice be thy plea, consider this,—
146 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs Chap. XI.]
That in the course of justice none of us
Should see salvation: we do pray for mercy;
And that same prayer doth teach us all to render
The deeds of mercy."
SHAKESPEARE
We learn from this proverb also:
That an UNGENEROUS disposition is A CURSE to its
possessor.—"He that is cruel troubleth his own flesh."
Unmercifulness of temper breeds envy, jealousy, malice,
remorse, fear, suspicion, pride, and all the fiends that
torment the soul. The selfish man is his own curse, he
creates his own devil, and hell. God has so constituted the
world that the man who injures another injures himself the
more. The malign blow he deals out has a rebound more
heavy and crushing to himself.
Proverbs 11:18-20
The Evil and the Good
"The wicked worketh a deceitful work: but to him that soweth righteousness
shall be a sure reward. They that are of a froward heart are abomination to the
LORD: but such as are upright in their way are his delight."
SOLOMON'S classification of men was generally moral. He
looked at them through the glass of eternal law, and they
separated before his eye into two great divisions, the good
and the evil. These he characterises by very varied
epithets. To the former he applies such terms as "wise,"
"upright," "righteous," "just;" and to the latter, "fools,"
"wicked," "hypocrites," "froward," "unjust." To him all
men were either good or bad in a moral sense.
His words before us exhibit these two classes in four
aspects.
As they appear in WORK.—They both work, and they
both reap the results of their work. "The wicked worketh
a deceitful work." The good "serveth righteousness."
The evil worketh "deceitfully." Evil deludes the indi-
Chap. XI.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 147
vidual himself. It makes his very life a fiction. He
walks in "a vain show:" he is filled with illusory
hopes. "Thou sayest that thou art rich and increased
in goods, needing nothing." Paul, speaking of evil,
says, "it deceived me, and by it slew me." The whole
mental fabric in which the soul of the evil man lives, how-
ever large in dimensions, magnificent in architecture, and
splendid in its furniture, is founded on the sand of fiction.
It deceives others. Evil makes man a deceiver. It
fabricates and propagates falsehood, it is like the great
father of lies, who by a deceit, tempted the mother of our
race. The serpent said unto the woman, "Ye shall not
surely die." On the other hand, the good works righteously.
"Soweth righteousness." Charged with righteous prin-
ciples, he sows them as seed in the social circle to which
he belongs. He sows them not merely by his lips, but by
his life: by his spirit as well as his speech.
The words before us present good and evil,
As they appear in RETRIBUTION.—All works, the
bad as well as the good, bring results to the worker.
These results are the retribution; they are God's return
for labour. The righteous reap life. "To him that soweth
righteousness shall be a sure reward." Righteousness
tendeth to life. Life of the highest kind—spiritual, and of
the highest degree—immortal blessedness.
The wicked reap death. "He that pursueth evil pur-
sueth it to his death." What is this death ? The death of
all usefulness, nobility, and enjoyment. "Be not deceived;
whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. He that
soweth to the flesh, shall of the flesh reap corruption. He
that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap ever-
lasting life." Again the words before us present good and
evil:—
As they appear before GOD.—"They that are of a
froward heart are abomination to the Lord; but such as are
upright in their way are his delight." God observes moral
distinctions. This is implied. "His eyes run to and fro,
beholding the evil and the good." God is affected by
moral distinctions. What he sees he feels. He looks at
148 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs Chap. XI.]
the evil with disgust, and at the good with delight. "The
righteous Lord loveth righteousness."
The words before us moreover present good and evil,
As they appear in COMBINATION.—Men, like sheep,
are gregarious. They live in flocks. In the text their
combination is supposed. "Though hand join in hand."
This combination is natural. The wicked in these verses
are supposed to be in danger, and nothing is more natural
than for men to crowd together in common peril. Fear as
well as love brings men together: the one drives, the other
draws. A divided family comes together under a common
calamity; a divided church under a common danger, and a
divided nation runs into compactness at the sight of a
foreign invader. But such combination is useless. "Though
hand join in hand, the wicked shall not go unpunished."
No combination of men, however great in number, vast in
wisdom, mighty in strength, affluent in resources, can
prevent punishment from befalling the wicked. It must
come. The moral constitution of the soul, the justice of
the universe, and the almightiness of God, render all
human efforts to avoid it futile. "Be sure your sin will
find you out."
Proverbs 11:22
Adornment
"As a jewel of gold in a swine's snout, so is a fair woman which is without
discretion."
BY a fair woman, Solomon probably means a woman of
personal attractions, either natural or artificial; and by
"discretion" he means virtue, or moral worth. His idea
therefore is, that the external attractions of a woman de-
void of mind-excellencies, are "as a jewel of gold in a
swine's snout."
Here is a very INCONGRUOUS conjunction in one
Chap. XI.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 149
person.—Here are external charms and moral deformity
united. Personal beauty, the beauty of form and face, is
not a thing to be despised, but to be admired. It is an
expression of the divine tastefulness and love. God created
beauty; it radiates in the heavens, it adorns the earth, it
sparkles in the seas, it overflows the universe.
Nor should we despise artistic ornament. But when
personal attractions, either natural or artificial, especially
the latter, are united to a corrupt character, the conjunction
is as incongruous as "jewels of gold in a swine's snout."
It is true this hideous incongruity is not generally seen,
for the lack of true spiritual insight. But there it is, and
if we saw things as they really are, as we shall one day
see them, as angels and God see them now, the incongruity
would be most manifest and distressing. Again:
Here is a very REVOLTING conjunction in one person.
—Incongruity is not always disgusting. It is sometimes
ridiculous, and is one of the chief forces in exciting and
gratifying the risibilities of our nature. But this incon-
gruity is disgusting when it is seen in the light of healthy
moral sentiments. As the jewel in the swine's snout makes
the swine appear more thoroughly the swine, so personal
ornaments associated with moral corruption make, by way
of contrast, the character appear more truly revolting. The
reason why this incongruity is not more abhorrent to us is,
that we do not see, as we ought to see, the putrescent cha-
racter. Our eye rests upon the personal attraction, and
peers not into the moral heart. We are taken up more
with the "jewel" on the body than with the "swine" in
the soul. Furthermore,
Here is a very COMMON conjunction in one person.—This
is a sadly common spectacle; one of the elements united
—namely, corrupt character—is all but universal; and the
other element, personal attraction, though in its natural
form limited, yet in its artificial form is extensive and
rapidly extending. The desire for personal decoration has
become a raging passion, and creates half the trade of the
world. Wickedness is promoted by personal ornament.
Those whom heaven has blessed with natural charms
150 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs Chap. XI.]
are exposed to far greater temptations than those who have
but little of the comely. Wickedness is fond of personal
attractions. It is perhaps the inspiring genius in all the
costumal fashions of the world. Vulgarity always likes
finery—sin is always fond of making a grand appearance.
Moral swine like jewels.
Reader, do not, in forming your fellowships, be carried
away with one side of life. Do not follow the "swine" for
the sake of the "jewel." If God has blessed you with the
grace of personal beauty, try to get the higher grace of
spiritual goodness. In proportion, I trow, to the beauty of
a person's mind and character, will be the disregard for
ornamental costumes, or spangling jewels. Old Fuller's
words are so true and quaint that they are worth quotation
here:
"He that is proud of the rustling of his silks, like a mad-
man, laughs at the rattling of his fetters. For, indeed,
clothes ought to be our remembrancers of our lost innocence;
besides, why should any brag of what is but borrowed?
Should the ostrich snatch off the gallant's feather, the beaver
his hat, the goat his gloves, the sheep his suit, the silk-
worm his stockings, and neat his shoes (to strip him no
farther than modesty will give leave), he would be left in a
cold condition."
"Dress," says Cowper, "drains our cellars dry, and keeps
our larder lean."
Proverbs 11:24-25
The Generous and the Avaricious
"There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth
more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty. The liberal soul shall be made fat:
and he that watereth shall be watered also himself."
THIS proverb is paradoxical in expression, but unquestion-
ably true in principle. The philosophy of the human mind,
and the experience of ages, attest its truth. There is a dis-
tribution that enricheth the soul of the distributor, and
Chap. XI.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 151
there is an acquisition that impoverishes. The words bring
under our notice the respective operations, the reactive in-
fluence, and the social estimate of the generous and avari-
cious in human nature.
THE RESPECTIVE OPERATION of both those principles.—
The one "scattereth." It is like the hand of the sower
scattering the seeds of kindness in all directions. What-
ever is suited to ameliorate the woes and to bless the
lives of men, whether it be ideas, wealth, influence, or effort,
it willingly gives. Like the sun, it lives and shines by dis-
tributing influences to bless. The other "withholdeth."
The avaricious disposition is a withholding power, keeping
back that which society claims and wants. What is the
hoarding of wealth but the keeping back of that which the
poverty and sufferings of humanity require. The with-
holding of the avaricious in England, explains much of that
pauperism and distress which, unless speedily checked and
overcome, will ruin our country. Avarice is an anomaly in
the universe; all else gives out what it receives, but as a
monster this clutches and retains. "Had covetous men, as
the fable goes of Briareus, each of them one hundred hands,
they would all of them be employed in grasping and gather-
ing, and hardly one of them in giving and laying out, but
all in receiving, and none of them in restoring. A thing in
itself so monstrous, that nothing in nature besides is like
it, except it be death and the grave, the only things we know
of which are always carrying off the spoils of the world,
and never making restitution. For otherwise all the parts
of the universe, as they borrow of one another, so they still
pay what they borrow, and that by so just and well balanced
an equality that their payments always keep pace with
their receipts." Again, in relation to the avaricious and
generous, the verses lead us to notice:
THE REACTIVE INFLUENCE of both.—Every effort has
a reaction. Action and reaction are the law of the uni-
verse, material and spiritual. The scattering "increaseth."
The liberal soul "gets fat." Not unfrequently does libe-
rality bring temporal wealth. There are many signal
instances of this in the history of generous men; it is inva-
152 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs Chap. XI.]
riably so in spiritual life. It always brings wealth of soul.
Every generous act enricheth our spiritual being. "Give,
and it shall be given unto you, good measure, pressed down,
running over, and shaken together." The withholding
"tendeth to poverty." Avarice not unfrequently leads to
temporal pauperism, always to moral. The man who re-
ceives all and gives nothing, sinks lower and lower into the
depths of spiritual destitution. The soul of the miser always
runs into a miserable grub. Strongly does Paul show the
truth of this—" He which soweth sparingly shall reap
also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap
also bountifully." Moreover, in relation to the avaricious
and the generous the verses teach:
THE SOCIAL ESTIMATE of both.—"He that withholdeth
corn, the people shall curse him; but blessing shall be
upon the head of him that selleth it." The people shall
curse the avaricious. Who knows the imprecations that
fall every day on the head of grasping greed? "The
cries of them which have reaped are entered into the
ears of the Lord of Sabaoth." The people shall bless the
generous. Hear Job's experience, "The blessing of him
that was ready to perish came upon me: and I caused the
widow's heart to sing for joy. Unto me men gave ear
and waited, and kept silence at my counsel. After my
words they spoke not again, and my speech dropped upon
them."
"The truly generous is the truly wise;
And he who loves not others lives unblest."
Proverbs 11:27-28
Seeking and Trusting
"He that diligently seeketh good procureth favour: but he that seeketh mis-
chief, it shall come unto him. He that trusteth in his riches shall fall: but the
righteous shall flourish as a branch."
HERE we have man in two attitudes, pursuing and resting.
He is in quest of something, "for man never is, but always
Chap. XI.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 153
to be blest:" and then he is trusting in something that he
has attained. Here we have:
MAN SEEKING.—All men pursue one of two opposite
moral objects—good or evil. The text speaks of both.
Some are in pursuit of good. "He that diligently seeketh
good." There are those who are industrious in the search
and service of goodness, and that both for themselves and
society. But some are in pursuit of evil. "He that seeketh
mischief." There are those who are as industrious in
doing evil, as others in doing good; they are always in
mischief.
The destiny of these, the text suggests, is widely different.
The one procureth favour:—favour with conscience, society,
and God, and The other disfavour. "It shall come unto him."
That is, mischief shall come unto him. He shall have what
he deserves. The disapprobation of his own conscience
—the denunciation of society—the frown of Heaven.
"Behold, he travaileth with iniquity, and hath conceived
mischief, and brought forth falsehood. He made a pit, and
digged it, and is fallen into the ditch which he made. His
mischief shall return upon his own head, and his violent
dealing shall come down upon his own pate." Here we have
MAN TRUSTING.—"He that trusteth in his riches shall
fall." This is a common tendency. Men are everywhere
trusting in their wealth for happiness and honour. Like
the fool in the Gospel, they say, "Soul, thou hast much
goods laid up for many years." Wealth as an object of
trust is not only spiritually unsatisfactory but necessarily
evanescent. Man's wealth cannot stay long with him, his
connection with it is very brief, and very uncertain, too;
they may part at any moment. He, therefore, who trusteth
to his wealth shall "fall." Whence? From all his hopes
and mundane pleasures. Whither? To disappointment
and despair. When? Whenever moral conviction seizes
the soul, whether before or after death. Why? Because
wealth was never a fit foundation for the soul to trust
on. "Lo, this is the man that made not God his
strength; but trusted in the abundance of his riches, and
strengthened himself in his wickedness." "The first
154 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs Chap. XI.]
of all English games," says Ruskin, "is making money.
That is an all-absorbing game: and we knock each other
down oftener in playing at that than at football, or any
other roughest sport; and it is absolutely without purpose.
No one who engages heartily in the game ever knows
why. Ask a great money-maker what he wants to do with
his money—he never knows. He doesn't make it to do
anything with it. He gets it only that he may get it.
'What will you make of what you have got?' you ask.
'Well, I'll get more,' he says. Just as at cricket you get
more runs. There is no use in the runs, but to get more
of them than other people is the game. So all that great
foul city of London there, rattling, growling, smoking,
stinking—a ghastly heap of fermented brickwork, pouring
out poison at every pore. You fancy it is a city of work.
Not a street of it. It is a great city at play, very nasty
play, and very hard play, but still play. It is only Lord's
Cricket Ground without the turf: a huge billiard table
without the cloth, and with pockets as deep as the bot-
tomless pit; but mainly a billiard table after all."
Proverbs 11:29
Family Life
"He that troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind: and the fool shall
be servant to the wise."
"HOME," says F. W. Robertson, "is the one place in all
this world where hearts are sure of each other. It is the
place of confidence. It is the place where we tear off that
mask of guarded and suspicious coldness, which the world
forces us to wear in self-defence, and where we pour out the
unreserved communications of full and confiding hearts.
It is the spot where expressions of tenderness gush out
without any sensation of awkwardness, and without any
Chap. XI.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 155
fear of ridicule." It is a Divine institution, the best of
human kingdoms, the type of heaven. The proverb implies
three things concerning family life:
That PEACE should be the grand aim of all its members.
—It is here implied that to trouble the house is
an evil. And so it is. Each member should studiously
endeavour to maintain an unbroken harmony in the family
sphere. Every look, expression, thought, word, calculated
to disturb should be carefully eschewed. Whatever storms
rage without, there should be serenity within the household
door.
It is implied—
That there are some members WHO BREAK the peace
of their domestic circle.—There are some who "trouble "
their own house. Who are they? The illnatured, impul-
sive, false, selfish. These are domestic troublers. He
who breeds feuds in families creates wars in man's earthly
heaven. The homes of England are the glory of our
country, the dearer, sweeter spots than all the rest.
"The stately homes of England,
How beautiful they stand,
Amidst their tall ancestral trees,
O'er all the pleasant land;
The free fair homes of England,
Long, long in but and hall,
May hearts of native proof be rear'd
To guard each hallow'd wall! "
MRS. HEMANS
But, alas! how often the peace of English homes is broken.
An intemperate husband, an irascible wife, a reckless son,
make scenes that should be the abode of harmony and love
those of discord and anger.
It is implied—
That those who break the peace of their domestic circle
are FOOLS.—"He that troubleth his own house shall inherit
the wind: and the fool shall be servant to the wise of
heart." Two things show their folly. They get no good
by it. "They inherit the wind." What if they gratify
for a moment their vanity, their selfishness, their
156 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs Chap. XI.]
pride, their passion by it? Their gratification is but
wind. There is nothing substantial or lasting in it. The
"wind" they "inherit," too, is a blasting typhoon.
They get degradation by it. "The fool shall be servant to
the wise of heart." The habitual disturber of the family
circle soon, by his folly, sinks into a base servitude. The
loving and the peaceful, by the wisdom of their conduct,
rule him with a dignified despotism, and this fills him
with the mortification of vassalage.
Proverbs 11:30-31
The Life of the Good
"The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is
wise. Behold, the righteous shall be recompensed in the earth: much more the
wicked and the sinner."
THESE verses suggest three things in relation to the life of
the good on earth:
THE INVOLUNTARY INFLUENCE of a good man's life.
—"The fruit of the righteous is a good man's life."
The "fruit" of a life is the involuntary and regular ex-
pression of what the man is in heart and soul. All actions
are not the fruit of life, inasmuch as man in the exercise
of his freedom, and indeed even by accident, performs
actions that, instead of fully expressing, misrepresent his
life. Hence says Christ, "By their fruit," not by their
action, "ye shall know them." The regular flow of a man's
general activity is the fruit, and this, in the case of a good
man, is a "tree of life." It is so for three reasons. It ex-
presses real life; communicates real life; nourishes real
life. Again the verses suggest:
THE HIGHEST PURPOSE of a good man's life —"He
that winneth souls is wise." This implies that souls are
lost, and so they are lost to truth, love, usefulness, and
God. It implies that souls may be saved, and so they may.
Chap. XII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 157
Christ came to save them. Millions have been restored. The
Gospel dispensation continues for the purpose. It implies,
moreover, that souls may be saved by man. This is a
glorious fact. Men have saved, and are still saving, their
fellow men. And then it is asserted that the man who
succeeds in saving souls is "wise." And so he is in the
sublimest sense. Once more the verses suggest:
THE INEVITABLE RETRIBUTION of a good man's life.
Behold the righteous shall be recompensed in the
earth." The recompense here is supposed to refer rather
to the suffering he experiences, in consequence of his
remaining imperfections, than to the blessings he enjoys as
a reward for the good that is in him. The sins of good
men are punished on this earth, and Solomon uses the
fact as an argument for the certainty of the greater suffer-
ings that must be endured by the wicked. "Much more the
wicked and the sinner." The argument is à fortiori: if God
visits the sins of His people here with chastisement, much
more will He visit the sins of the wicked. "For the time
is come that judgment must begin at the house of God:
and if it first begin at us, what shall be the end of them
that obey not the gospel of God? And if the righteous
scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner
appear?"
Proverbs 12:1-3
The Righteous and the Wicked
"Whoso loveth instruction loveth knowledge; but he that hateth reproof is
brutish. A good man obtaineth favour of the LORD: but a man of wicked de-
vices will he condemn. A man shall not be established by wickedness: but the
root of the righteous shall not be moved."
THE righteous and the wicked are here presented in three
aspects.
In relation to INTELLIGENCE.—The good loves intelli-
gence. "Whoso loveth instruction, loveth knowledge."
A truly good man is a truth seeker. The constant cry of
158 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs Chap. XII.]
his soul is for more light. "Where shall wisdom be found,
and where is the place of understanding?" The evil hates
intelligence. "He that hateth reproof is brutish." Re-
proof is a form of knowledge. It shows to a sinner,
in the light of great principles, either the imprudence or
immorality, or both, of his conduct. He hates this, and
is thus "brutish." He who does not desire to have his
faults exposed to him in the light of law and love is irra-
tional. "I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself
thus: Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a
bullock unaccustomed to the yoke."
The righteous and the wicked are here presented:
In relation to DIVINE TREATMENT.—The good secures
the favour of God. "A good man obtaineth favour of the
Lord." Heaven smiles upon the righteous. "Thou, Lord,
wilt bless the righteous; with favour wilt thou compass
him as with a shield." To obtain the favour of God is the
highest object of life. "Wherefore we labour, that, whether
present or absent, we may be accepted of Him." The evil
incurs his condemnation. "A man of wicked devices will
he condemn." The frown of eternal justice shadows the
path of the wicked. "He that believeth not is condemned
already."
The righteous and the wicked are here presented:
In relation to THEIR STANDING.—The evil have no sta-
bility. "A man shall not be established by wickedness."
How insecure are the wicked! They are in "slippery
places." They live in a house whose foundation is sand.
The good are firmly established. "The root of the righteous
shall not be moved." "God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in time of trouble." The righteous are
like the monarch of the forest, whose roots strike wide and
deep into the heart of the earth, and stands secure amidst
storms that wreck the fleets of nations and level cities in
the dust.
Chap. XII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 159
Proverbs 12:4
The Queen of the Household
"A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband."
FEW men understood more of woman than Solomon. He
knew her frailties and her virtues. His writings abound
with many sage remarks upon the female character. Here
he speaks of a "virtuous woman," and a virtuous woman
is a true woman, chaste, prudent, modest, loving, faithful,
patient in suffering, and brave in duty, keeping within the
orbit of her sex, and lighting it with all the graces of
womanhood. Such a woman, Solomon says, is "a crown
to her husband." This language implies two things.
That she exercises A CONTROL over him.—A "crown "
is the insignia of rule. A virtuous woman rules, not by
intention, or arrangement, or legislative command, but
by the power of her love, and the graces of her life.
Woman has more force in her looks than man has in his
laws, more force in her tears than man has in his argu-
ments. A virtuous woman is really queen of the world.
Beauty, tenderness, love, purity, are the imperial forces of
life, and these woman wields.
"She who ne'er answers till a husband cools,
Or, if she rules him, never shows she rules;
Charms by accepting, by submitting sways,
Yet has her humour most when she obeys."—BEN JONSON
The proverb moreover implies:
That she confers A DIGNITY upon him.—A "crown" is
a sign of dignity. She dignifies her husband, as well
as rules him. Her excellence justifies his choice. In her
character and deportment all see his wisdom, taste,
and judgment in making her his bride. Her management
enriches his exchequer. By her industry and economy the
produce of his labour is carefully guarded, and often in-
creased. Her influence exalts his character. Her gentle
spirit and manners smooth the roughness of his character,
refine his tastes, elevate his aims, and round the angles of
his daily life.
160 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs Chap. XII.]
Proverbs 12:5-8
The Righteous and the Wicked
"The thoughts of the righteous are right: but the counsels of the wicked
are deceit. The words of the wicked are to lie in wait for blood: but the mouth
of the upright shall deliver them. The wicked are overthrown, and are not: but
the house of the righteous shall stand. A man shall be commended according to
his wisdom: but he that is of a perverse heart shall be despised."
IN these verses Solomon gives us a further description of
the righteous and the wicked, and they are here presented
in their thoughts, speech, standing and reputation. They
are represented
In their THOUGHTS.—Thoughts are the most wonder-
ful things in connection with human life. They are the
factors of character, and the primal forces of history. By
thought man builds up his own world, and it is ever to him
the realest world. Now the thoughts of the righteous and
wicked are here brought into contrast. "The thoughts of
the righteous are right." The righteous man is a man
right in heart, and consequently right in all. The heart is
the spring of the intellect—the helmsman of the brain.
"As a man thinketh in his heart so is he." The thoughts
of the wicked are false. "The counsels of the wicked are
deceit." All the thoughts of a wicked man referring to
happiness, greatness, duty, life, God, are false. He lives
in a world of illusions. He walketh in a vain show. He
is a creature of fiction. Again the two characters are
represented
In their SPEECH.—Speech is the instrument by which
thought does its work in society. Words are its
incarnations, vehicles, and weapons. The words of the
wicked are mischievous. "They lie in wait for blood."
Malice is the inspiration of the wicked man, and he uses
words as swords to wound the heart and destroy the repu-
tation of others. "The wicked plotteth against the just."
The words of the righteous are beneficent. The mouth of
the upright shall deliver them." The good desires good,
and the words are not to injure but to bless, not to destroy
Chap. XII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 161
but to save. To save reputations from calumny, under-
standings from error, hearts from pollution, souls from
perdition. These characters are here given—
In their STANDING.—"The wicked are overthrown
and are not, but the house of the righteous shall stand."
The wicked are insecure. They are to be overthrown.
Their hopes, purposes, possessions, pleasures, are all
doomed. "I have seen the wicked in great power, spread-
ing himself like a green bay tree. Yet he passed away, and
lo, he was not."* These men build their houses on the sand,
they totter and must fall. The righteous are safe. "The
house of the righteous shall stand." They are established
on the Rock of Ages. "Him that overcometh will I make
a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more
out."T Moreover, these characters are here presented—
In their REPUTATION.—"A man shall be com-
mended according to his wisdom: but he that is of a
perverse heart shall be despised." The good commands
the respect of society. The consciences of the worst men
are bound to reverence the right. Pharaoh honoured
Joseph, Nebuchadnezzar Daniel. But the wicked man
awakes the contempt of society. "He that is of a perverse
heart shall be despised." Servility and hypocrisy may
bow the knee and uncover the head before him when in
affluence and power, albeit deep is the contempt for him
in the social heart.
Proverbs 12:9
Domestic Modesty and Display
"He that is despised, and bath a servant, is better than he that honoureth
himself, and lacketh bread."
VANITY, or love of display, is one of the most contemptible
and pernicious passions that can take possession of the
human mind. Its roots are in self-ignorance—its fruits are
* Psalm xxxvii. 35, 36. T Rev. iii. 12.
162 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs Chap. XII.]
affectation and falsehood. Vanity is a kind of mental
intoxication, in which the pauper fancies himself a prince,
and exhibits himself in aspects disgusting to all observers.
The proverb refers to this in families, and when it takes pos-
session of households it often destroys domestic comforts.
The words lead us to three remarks:
THAT THERE ARE DOMESTIC COMFORTS WITHOUT
DISPLAY.—"He that is despised and hath a servant." It
follows, then, that he who is "despised"—that makes him-
self of no reputation—maintains a humble deportment—
may have a "servant." What cares he for appearances?
His neighbours may "despise" him, because of his humble
bearing, still he has comforts in his family. Instead of
wasting the produce of his labour upon gilt and garniture,
he economically lays it out to promote the comforts of his
home. In many an unpretending cottage there is more
real domestic enjoyment than can be found in the most
imposing mansions.
The second remark suggested is this:
THERE IS DOMESTIC DISPLAY WITHOUT COMFORTS.—
"He that honoureth himself, and lacketh bread." There
are in this age of empty show increasing multitudes of
parents who sacrifice the right culture of their children,
and the substantial comforts of a home, for appearances.
They all but starve their domestics to feed their vanity.
They must be grand, though they lack bread. Their half-
starved frames must have gorgeous mantles. This love of
appearance, this desire for show, is, I trow, making sad
havoc with the homes of old England.
And the other remark is this:
THE CONDITION OF THE FORMER IS PREFERABLE TO
THAT OF THE LATTER.—It is "better," says the text, to
have comforts without show, than show without comforts.
"Better." It is more rational. How absurd to sacrifice
the comforts of life to outward show! Who cares for your
display? None who care for you; but only those who
would despise you were you stripped of your costume.
"Better." Why? It is more moral. It is immoral to
make outward grandeur the grand aim. Immoral, because
Chap. XII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 163
vanity, the inspiring motive, is a devilish passion. It is a
crime to study the wardrobe more than yourself. "Better."
Why? It is more satisfying. It is the nature of vanity
that it cannot be satisfied. No amount of jewellery or
tailoring can satisfy it.
"What so foolish as the chase of fame,
How vain the prize! how impotent our aim!
For what are men who grasp at praise sublime,
But bubbles on the rapid stream of time,
That rise and fall, that swell and are no more,
Born and forgot, ten thousand in an hour."
YOUNG
Proverbs 12:10
The Treatment of Animals
"A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast: but the tender mercies of
the wicked are cruel."
THE world of irrational animals is a wonderful world. Its
history, which is only begun to be written, is amongst the
marvels of modern literature. The Bible not only com-
mands us to study this world, and sends us to the beasts of
the field for instruction, but it also legislates for our conduct
in relation to it. The proverb suggests two remarks con-
cerning man's conduct towards the beasts of the field.
THAT KINDNESS TOWARDS THE LOWER ANIMALS IS
RIGHTEOUS.—"A righteous man regardeth the life of his
beast." Three facts will show why we should be kind to
them. They are the creatures of God. His breath kindled
their life, and His hand fashioned both the great and small.
Dare we abuse what He thought worth creating? They
are given for our use. He put all under the dominion of
man: some to serve him in one way, and some in another:
some to charm his eye with their beauty, others to delight
his ear with their music: some to supply him with food,
and others with clothing: some to save his own muscular
strength in doing his work, and others to bear him about.
They are endowed with sensibility and intelligence. They all
164 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs Chap. XII.]
have feeling, and some a good degree of sagacity, amounting
almost to reason itself. They not only feel our treatment,
but, peradventure, form judgments of the same. The other
remark suggested by the proverb is:
THAT CRUELTY TOWARDS THE LOWER ANIMALS IS
WICKED.—"The tender mercies of the wicked are cruel."
Cruelty is wickedness. Man sins against God as truly in
his conduct towards animals as in his conduct towards
members of his own race. There is a divine law*—"Thou
shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the corn."
"Send . . . now, and gather thy cattle, and all that
thou hast in the field; for upon every man and beast which
shall be found in the field, and shall not be brought home,
the hail shall come down upon them, and they shall die."T
Great is the difference between the heart of a righteous and
that of a wicked man in relation to animal life; the one is
kind even to his beast, whereas the kindest treatment of
the other is cruelty itself.
"I would not enter on my list of friends
(Though graced with polish'd manner and fine sense,
Yet wanting sensibility) the man
Who needlessly sets foot upon a worm.
An inadvertent step may crush the snail
That crawls at evening in the public path;
But he that has humanity, forewarn'd,
Will tread aside and let the reptile live."—COWPER
Proverbs 12:11
Manly Industry and Parasitical Indolence
"He that tilleth his land shall be satisfied with bread: but he that followeth
vain persons is void of understanding."
IT is implied that all men want "bread"—the means of
physical sustentation—and that this bread is to come
through human industry. The earth spontaneously yields
what irrational creatures require, because they are not
* Deut. xxv. 4. T Ex. ix. 19,
Chap. XII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 165
endowed with aptitudes for cultivation. Man is thus en-
dowed, and his Maker will not do for him that which He
has given him power to do for himself. Labour is not the
curse of the fall; it is a blessed condition of life. Man in
innocence had to cultivate Eden. The verse presents two
subjects of thought:
MANLY INDUSTRY.—Here is manly industry indicated.
An agricultural specimen of work is given. "He that
tilleth his land." Agriculture is the oldest, the divinest,
the healthiest, and the most necessary branch of human
industry. Here is manly industry rewarded. "Bread"
comes as the result. He is "satisfied with bread." All
experience shows that, as a rule, proper cultivation of the
soil is all that man requires to satisfy his wants. God sends
round the seasons, and when man does his work, those
seasons carry their respective blessings to the race. Skilled
industry is seldom in want.
"Thrift is a blessing
If men steal it not."
SHAKESPEARE
The other subject which the verse presents is:
PARASITICAL INDOLENCE.—This Solomon seems to put
as an antithesis to the former. "He that followeth vain
persons is void of understanding." The word "vain" may
perhaps be taken to represent persons in a little higher
grade of life, and who are, more or less, independent of
labour. First: There are those who hang on such persons for
their support. Instead of working with manly indepen-
dence, they are looking to the patronage of others. They
fawn, flatter, and wheedle for bread, instead of labouring.
These base-natured people are found in every social grade,
and they disgrace their race, and clog the wheels of pro-
gress. Secondly: The persons who thus hang on others for
their support are fools. "They are void of understanding."
Why? Because they neglect the fundamental condition of
manly development. Industry is essential to strength of
body, force of intellect, and growth of soul. "It is bad
policy," says our great dramatist, "when more is got by
begging than working." "Man should not eat of honey like
166 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs Chap. XII.]
a drone from others' labour." Why? Because they sacrifice
self-respect. The man who loses self-respect, loses the
very gold of his manhood, and such a loss must come to
him who lives the life of a parasite. Why? Because he
exposes himself to degrading annoyances. The parasite's
feeling will depend upon the looks, the words, and the
whims of his patron. He will be subject to exactions,
insults, and disappointments.
"But harden'd by affronts and still the same,
Lost to all sense of honour and of fame,
Thou yet cans't love to haunt the great man's board,
And think no supper good but with a Lord."—JUVENAL
Proverbs 12:12
The Crafty and the Honest
"The wicked desireth the net of evil men: but the root of the righteous
yieldeth fruit. The wicked is snared by the transgression of his lips: but the
just shall come out of trouble."
THESE words lead us to notice two opposite principles in
human character: craftiness and honesty.
CRAFTINESS.—"The wicked desireth the net of evil
men." The idea is that the wicked desire to be as apt in
all the stratagems by which advantage is obtained of
others, as the most cunning of evil men. Two remarks
are suggested here: Craft is an instinct of wickedness.
"The wicked desireth the net of evil men." Men of the
world charge Christians with hypocrisy. But no Christly
man is a hypocrite. The better a man is, the less
temptation he has to disguise himself, and the more in-
ducements to unveil his heart to all. Honesty needs
no covering: like the sun behind the clouds, it struggles
to break forth on the eyes of men. On the contrary, a
wicked man must be hypocritical, and that just in propor-
tion to his wickedness. Were his polluted heart and dis-
honest purposes fully to appear, society would recoil from
him as a demon. To maintain a home, therefore, in social
Chap. XII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 167
life, and to get on in his trade or profession, he must be as
artful as the old serpent himself. Craftiness is essential
to sin. Sin came into the world through craft. The devil
deceived our progenitors. Sin is ever cunning: wisdom
is alone true. Cunning is the low mimicry of wisdom;—
it is the fox, not the Socrates of the soul. Secondly:
Craftiness is no security against ruin. "The wicked is
ensnared by the transgression of his lips." Lies are the
language of craftiness. The crafty uses them as conceal-
ment and defence, but the eternal law of providence makes
them snares. One lie leads to another, and so on, until
they become so numerous, that the author involves himself
in contradictions, and he falls and founders like a wild
beast in a snare. The other principle which the words
bring under notice is:
HONESTY.—"The root of the righteous yieldeth fruit."
First: Honesty is strong in its own strength. It has a root.
It does not live by cunning and stratagems, but by its own
natural force and growth. Honesty has roots that will
stand all storms. Secondly: Honesty will extricate from
difficulties. "The just shall come out of trouble." The
just man may get into troubles, and often does, but by his
upright principles, under God, he shall come out of them.
"Honesty is the best policy." It may have difficulties, it
may involve temporary trouble, but it will ultimately work
out its deliverance.
"An honest soul is like a ship at sea,
That sleeps at anchor on the ocean's calm;
But when it rages, and the wind blows high,
She cuts her way with skill and majesty."
Proverbs 12:14
Retributions of the Lip and Life
"A man shall be satisfied with good by the fruit of his mouth: and the re-
compence of a man's hands shall be rendered unto him."
HERE are—
THE RETRIBUTIONS OF THE LIP.—"A man shall be
satisfied with good by the fruit of his mouth." The person
168 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs Chap. XII.]
here must of course be supposed to be a good man, for he
speaks "good." What must speech be to be good? Sincere.
It must accord exactly with what is in the mind; all other
speech is hollow and hypocritical. It must be truthful.
It must agree exactly with the facts or realities to which it
refers. Speech may be sincere, and yet not truthful. It
may, correspond with what is in the mind, but what is in
the mind may not correspond with facts. It must be
benevolent. It must be used for the purpose of usefulness,
not to injure, delude, or pain. Now the speech of such a
man will satisfy him with "good." "If any man offend
not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to
bridle the whole body."* How will such speech satisfy a
man? First: In its action upon his own mind. There is a
pleasure in the act of speaking a true thing, and there is a
higher pleasure in the reflection of having done so.
"Speech is the light, the morning of the mind;
It spreads the beauteous images abroad
Which else lie furled and shrouded in the soul."—DRYDEN
Secondly: In the effect he sees produced upon others. He
will see in the circle in which he moves, intelligence,
goodness, spring up around as he speaks. His speech
gives brightness and music to the atmosphere of his
listening audience.
Thirdly: In the conscious approbation of God. "They
that feared the Lord spake often one to another: and the
Lord hearkened, and heard it; and a book of remembrance
was written for them."T Here are also:
THE RETRIBUTIONS OF THE LIFE.—"And the recom-
pense of the man's hand shall be rendered unto him."
The "hand " here stands for the whole conduct of life.
It means that man should receive the rewards of his works.
And this is inevitable. First: From the law of causation.
We are to-day the result of our conduct yesterday, and the
cause of our conduct to-morrow; and thus ever must we
reap the work of our own hands. Secondly: From the law of
conscience. The past works of our hands are not lost. Me-
* James iii. 13. T Malachi iii. 16, 17.
Chap. XII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 169
mory gathers up the fragments of our life; and conscience
stings or smiles, according to their character. Thirdly:
From the law of righteousness. There is justice in the uni-
verse; and justice will ever punish the wicked and reward
the good. "Be not deceived: God is not mocked: what-
soever a man soweth, that shall he reap."
"Heaven is most just, and of our pleasant vices
Makes instruments to scourge us."
Proverbs 12:15
The Opinionated and the Docile
"The way of a fool is right in his own eyes: but he that hearkeneth unto
counsel is wise."
HERE are two distinct characters—
THE OPINIATED.—He is a "fool," and his way is
always "right in his own eyes." He has such a high
estimate of himself that he ignores the opinions of others,
and adopts his own notions as the infallible criterion and
rule. Such a man, Solomon says, is a "fool." Why? First:
Because he deprives himself of the advantages of other men's
intelligence. It is the law of Providence that men should
learn by the knowledge which others have reached by
observation, study, and experience. The past should be
regarded as the schoolmaster of the present. But the con-
ceited man shuts out all this light. He is too clever to
learn. He is so inflated with his own opinions, that he
cannot admit the ideas of other men. Secondly: Because he
exposes himself to the scorn of society. Self-conceit is the
most contemptible of attributes: all men despise it in
others. A vain man is a social offence. The other cha-
racter here is—
THE DOCILE.—"He that hearkeneth unto counsel is
wise." Why? Because he enriches his mental resources.
His ear is ever open to the voice of intelligence, which
drops priceless sentences of truth every hour. He consults
170 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs Chap. XII.]
books, men, and nature, and "he increaseth knowledge."
"Wise," why? Because he increases his power of influence.
Knowledge is power. The more intelligence a man has, the
wider and higher his dominion over others; and "the man
that hearkeneth unto the counsel of the wise" is constantly
adding to his stock of wisdom. "Wise," why? Because he
increases his securities of safety. "In the multitude of coun-
sellors there is safety." Young men, avoid, as you would
avoid a fiend, the spirit and manners of self-conceited men.
"There are a sort of men whose visages
Do cream and mantle, like a standing pond;
And do a wilful stillness entertain,
With purpose to be dressed in an opinion
Of wisdom, gravity, profound conceit;
As who should say, I am Sir Oracle,
And, when I ope my lips, let no dog bark!
. . . . . . . I do know of these,
That therefore only are reputed wise
For saying nothing."—SHAKESPEARE
Proverbs 12:16-23
Speech
"A fool's wrath is presently known: but a prudent man covereth shame. He
that speaketh truth sheweth forth righteousness: but a false witness deceit. There
that speaketh like the piercings of a sword: but the tongue of the wise is
health. The lip of truth shall be established for ever: but a lying tongue is but
for a moment. Deceit is in the heart of them that imagine evil: but to the
counsellors of peace is joy. There shall no evil happen to the just: but the
wicked shall be filled with mischief. Lying lips are abomination to the LORD;
but they that deal truly are his delight. A prudent man concealeth knowledge:
but the heart of fools proclaimeth foolishness."
SPEECH is again the subject of these verses. Thomas
Carlyle has said many strong and striking things about
speech and silence. But his finest utterance on the subject
will scarcely bear comparison in pith, point, and pro-
fundity with those of Solomon. In these verses he draws
a contrast between different kinds of speech. Here we
have—
Chap. XII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 171
THE RASH AND THE PRUDENT.—"The fool's wrath is
presently known." Anger fires the fool's soul; thoughts
are forged in flame, and he speaks them out at once. His
wrath is "presently known." "A fool uttereth all his
mind." Such rash speech as this is very foolish. Why?
Because anger is seldom worthy of speech, and rash speech
may do immense mischief. In contrast with this is the
prudent man, "who covereth shame." An angry passion
may blaze up in his nature, but he covereth it; he does
not speak it out; but rather quenches it by suppression.
Here we have—
THE TRUE AND THE FALSE.—"He that speaketh truth,
showeth forth righteousness." What is it to speak "truth"?
Not merely to speak our conceptions of it, for our con-
ceptions may be false. But to speak those conceptions of
truth that agree with the nature of things. Speaking
such conceptions is a manifestation of righteousness.
The words are radiations of right. "But a false witness
deceit." The man who speaks falsehood, instead of show-
ing forth righteousness, shows forth "deceit." He cheats
with his tongue.
Here we have—
THE WOUNDING AND THE HEALING.—"There is that
speaketh like the piercing of the sword." There is a
spiteful, malignant speech, that acts as a javelin, it "pierces"
—it is designed to wound—and it does wound. There are
those in society, whose "teeth are spears and arrows, and
whose tongues are sharp swords." David was frequently
wounded by such speech. "As with a sword in my bones
mine enemies reproach me." How many there are who
cannot speak a kind word: "the poison of asps is under
their lips." In contrast with this is the healing tongue.
"The tongue of the wise is health." There is a speech
that is calming, succouring, strengthening—a tonic to the
heart.
Here we have—
THE PERMANENT AND THE TRANSIENT.—"The lip of
truth shall be established for ever." Truth is an im-
perishable thing. He that speaks it drops that into the
172 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs Chap. XII.]
world which will outlive all human institutions, survive
Kingdoms and grow through the ages. It is the incor-
ruptible seed, "that liveth and abideth for ever." In con-
trast with this is the transient: a lying tongue "is but for a
moment." Falsehood cannot live long. The laws of the
universe are against it. It is a bubble that floats on the
stream, but breaks with one puff of air, and is lost in the
whelming current of destiny.
Here we have—
THE MISCHIEVOUS AND THE PACIFIC.—"Deceit is in
the heart of them that imagine evil, but to the counsellors
of peace is joy. There shall no evil happen to the just,
but the wicked shall be filled with mischief." There is a
speech that is mischievous: it comes from the heart of him
who is unrighteous, and who imagines evil. It disturbs
social order, generates strife; it creates wars. In contrast
with this is the pacific: "to the counsellors of peace is
joy." "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be
called the children of God."
Here we have—
THE CONDEMNED AND THE APPROVED.—The false are
condemned. "Lying lips are an abomination unto the
Lord." God is a God of truth, and falsehood is an abomi-
nation unto Him. On the other hand, they that deal truly
are "his delight." A man of truth is a man of God.
Honesty is truth in conduct, and truth is honesty in words.
"We should make conscience of truth," says an old author,
"not only in our words, but in all our actions; because those
that deal truly and sincerely in all their dealings are his
delight, and he is well pleased with them. We delight to
converse with and make use of those that are honest, and
that we may put a confidence in: such, therefore, let us be,
that we may recommend ourselves to the favour both of
God and man."
Here we have—
THE RECKLESS AND THE THOUGHTFUL.—"A prudent
man concealeth knowledge; but the heart of fools pro-
claimeth foolishness." The language does not mean that
a prudent man never speaks out his knowledge, but that
Chap. XII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 173
he is not hasty in speech. He reflects and deliberates;
whereas the fool speaks out everything at once that comes
into his mind; all the absurd and filthy things of his heart.
"The tongue of the wise useth knowledge aright, but the
mouth of fools poureth out foolishness."* We are told
that the prudent man should keep silence. "Let us be
silent," says Emerson, "that we may hear the whisper of
the gods."
Proverbs 12:24
Diligence and Dignity
Slothfulness and Servility
"The hand of the diligent shall bear rule: but the slothful shall be under
tribute."
EXPRESSIONS parallel to the text have already frequently
occurred, and will occur again as we proceed ; our notice,
therefore, shall be brief. Here is—
DILIGENCE AND DIGNITY.—"The hand of the diligent
shall bear rule." All men desire rule, and some kind of
rule every man may obtain. Social, civil, and, what is
higher still, mental and spiritual. Rule over men's
thoughts and hearts. Any of these dominions diligence
can achieve. Diligence in study may get a knowledge
that may sway an age. Diligence in business may obtain
wealth that shall govern commerce. Diligence in goodness
may achieve an excellence before which the soul of nations
shall kneel. The remarks of Confucius on this point are
good. "The expectations of life depend upon diligence;
and the mechanic that would perfect his work must first
sharpen his tools." Here is—
SLOTHFULNESS AND SERVILITY.—"But the slothful
shall be under tribute." An indolent man will never be-
come royal in anything. He will be the mere tool of
society, the mere servile attendant upon others. Men will
* Prov. xv. 2.
174 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs Chap. XII.]
use him, make him a rung in the ladder of their ascent.
The slothful man gets neither knowledge, wealth, nor
goodness. He never reaches an imperial altitude. He
shall be under tribute evermore. That which he hath is
ultimately taken from him; and into the outer darkness of
obscurity he falls. The words of an able writer are worthy
of quotation: "I would have every one lay to heart that a
state of idleness is a state of damnable sin. Idleness is
directly repugnant to the great ends of God, both in our
creation and redemption. As to our creation: can we
imagine that God, who created not anything but for some
excellent end, should create man for none, or for a silly
one? The spirit within us is an active and vivacious
principle. Our rational faculties capacitate and qualify us
for doing good: this is the proper work of reason, the
truest and most natural pleasure of a rational soul. Who
can think, now, that our wise Creator lighted this candle
within us that we might oppress and stifle it by negligence
and idleness? that He contrived and destined such a mind
to squander and fool away its talents in vanity and im-
pertinence?"
Proverbs 12:25
The Saddening and the Succoring
"Heaviness in the heart of man maketh it stoop: but a good word maketh
it glad."
HERE we have—
THE SADDENING IN LIFE.—"Heaviness in the heart of
man maketh it stoop." There is a soul-crushing sadness
here. Millions of hearts are "stooping" under the weight
of sorrow. There is personal affliction, that maketh the
"heart stoop." Sufferings of the body, mind, conscience,
estate. There is social affliction, that maketh "the heart
stoop." The unfaithfulness of friends, the malice of ene-
Chap. XII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 175
mies, the bereavements of death—what a load of sorrow
rests on human souls! Here we have—
THE SUCCOURING IN LIFE.—"A good word maketh it
glad." First: What are "good words"? "Good words"
must be true words. False words may be pleasant for a
time, but ultimately they will increase the suffering by
terminating in disappointment. Good words must be true,
true to reason, conscience, character, God. "Good words"
must be kind words—words originating in a loving heart,
and instinct with a loving spirit. "Good words" must be
suitable words, suitable to the particular state of the
sufferer—must be fitted exactly to his condition. Secondly:
Where are good words? Where is the good word to be
found that will make the stooping heart glad? The
gospel is that word. "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon
me, because the Lord hath appointed me to preach good
tidings to the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the broken-
hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening
of the prison to them that are bound, to proclaim the
acceptable year of the Lord, to comfort all that mourn."
Here is a word about Providence, to make the man whose
heart stoops under the weight of worldly cares "glad."
Here is a word about pardon, to make the man whose
heart stoops under the sense of guilt "glad." Here is a
word about the resurrection, to make the man whose heart
stoops under the weight of bereavement "glad." Oh!
here is a word to comfort us in all our tribulations, "that
we may be able to comfort them that are in any trouble,
by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of
God."*
* II. Cor. i. 4.
176 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs Chap. XII.]
Proverbs 12:26, 28
The True Pathway of Souls
"The righteous is more excellent than his neighbour: but the way of the
wicked seduceth them."
"In the way of righteousness is life; and in the pathway thereof there is
no death."
THE life of souls is a journey beginning at the first volun-
tary thought, and running on from stage to stage, through
interminable ages. Wonderful pilgrimage is the pilgrimage
of souls. What is its true pathway? This is the grand
question.
It is a SUPERIOR pathway.—The word "excellent"
here stands for abundance. The righteous is more abun-
dant than his neighbour. He is richer, seldom in material
wealth, but always in spiritual and moral. He has richer
themes for thought, nobler principles of action, sublimer
objects of hope, and diviner motives of conduct. He is
richer. He has an "inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled,
that fadeth not away." He has God Himself for his portion.
It is a SAFE pathway.—"The way of the wicked
seduceth him." This stands in contrast with the implied
way of the righteous. The way of the wicked is illusory;
he fancies it a beautiful, pleasant, safe way, whereas it
leads to ruin, it cheats him. "He feedeth on ashes; a
deceived heart hath turned him aside, that he cannot
deliver his soul, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right
hand?" But the way of the righteous, however hard and
rough, is safe; its end is everlasting life. The pilgrim
is well guarded in every step.
It is a RIGHTEOUS pathway.—"The way of righteous-
ness." What is the righteous way? The way that the
righteous God has marked out. Nothing can be more
axiomatic than this, that the path which the great Proprietor
and Creator of souls has marked out is the right one, and
Chap. XII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 177
the only right One. Why? Because it is the path in which
His character is the supreme attraction of souls. In it all the
affections of the traveller run after Him, as rivers to the
ocean. God is always the grand object before the eye,
filling the horion, and brightening all the scenes through
which he passes. Why? Because His will is the supreme
rule. Wherever His will directs is the path of righteous-
ness. His will is revealed in different forms of expression.
For example: "This is the will of God, that ye believe on
His Son." Again: "This is the will of God, even your
sanctification." The true pathway of souls is—
A BLESSED pathway.—"In the way of righteousness
is life; and in the pathway thereof is no death." In
this pathway is life. The highest mental, social, and
religious life. In this pathway is life only. There is no
death. No death of any kind, no decay of faculties, no
waning of hopes, no wreck of purposes, no loss of friend-
ships. Each traveller steps on in the buoyant energy of
immortal youth, through lovely Edens of unfading life.
Proverbs 12:27*
Labor as Enhancing
the Relative Value of a Man's Possessions
"The slothful man roasteth not that which he took in hunting: but the
substance of a diligent man is precious. "
THE original word, here translated, "slothful," is in several
other places rendered "deceitful." Slothfulness is almost
necessarily connected with deceit. The idle man is a
dreamer, he lives in false hopes. He makes promises that
prove fallacious, because he has not the industry to work
them out. Slothfulness stands almost always nearly akin
to falsehood. The text means one of three things. Either
* Verse 28 has already been discussed.
178 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs Chap. XII.]
that the slothful man is too lazy to "roast" and to prepare
for food what he happened to strike down without much
effort in the field, or, that what he "roasts" and prepares
for food he had no hand in procuring, and that he lives on
the production of other men's labours. He has "roast"
meat, but that which he roasts is not what he himself took
in hunting; or, what he caught in the field was so easily
caught, caught with such little effort, that he did not
value it enough to prepare it for food. He did not take it
up, carry it home, and prepare it for the table. The last, I
think, was the idea that Solomon had in his mind when he
wrote this proverb, "But the substance of a diligent man
is precious;" as if he had said, the slothful man does not
value sufficiently what he has, without labour, caught in the
field to prepare it for food; but what the industrious man
has, as the result of his work, is precious to him. The
general principle, therefore, contained in these words is
this:—That labour enhances the relative value of a man's
possessions. This principle is capable of extensive illustra-
tion; it applies to many things.
It applies to MATERIAL WEALTH.—Two men may possess
property of exactly the same amount, of precisely the same
intrinsic and marketable value, but whilst the one has
gained it by long years of industry, it has come to the
other by accident or fortune, or in some way entirely irre-
spective of his labour. Is the property equally appreciated
by these two men? Is there not an immense difference in
the value attached to it by its different proprietors? Yes;
the very same amount is a vastly different thing to the two
owners.
It applies to SOCIAL POSITION.—One man is born to
social influence; he becomes the centre of an influential
circle, and gets a position of extensive power, with no
effort but that which is involved in a small amount of
mental culture. He is a country squire; he is a member of
parliament; he is a peer of the realm; and all rather by
what is called fortune than by anxious and persevering
toil. The other man gets to such positions by long years
of arduous and indefatigable labour. Are these two posi-
Chap. XIII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 179
tions of the same value? To the eyes of the world they
are of the same worth, but to these men they are vastly
different things.
It applies to CIVIL LIBERTY.—Civil liberty is an invalu-
able possession. It is the grandest theme of political
philosophy; it is the ideal of patriotic poetry: it is the
goal in the race of nations. But what a different thing it
is to the men who have just won it by struggle, bloodshed,
and sacrifice, from what it is to those who, like us, the
modern men of England, have come into it as an inherit-
ance won by the struggles of our forefathers.
It applies to RELIGIOUS PRIVILEGES.—To have the right
to form our own religious convictions, and to express them
freely and fully, to worship our own God in our own way,
what a priceless boon is this! Yet do we value it as those
who gained it after long years of persecution and battle?
Thus it is that labour enhances the value of our posses-
sions:
"Weave, brothers, weave! Toil is ours;
But toil is the lot of man:
One gathers the fruits, one gathers the flowers,
One soweth the seed again.
There is not a creature, from England's king
To the peasant that delves the soil,
That knows half the pleasures the seasons bring,
If he have not his share of toil."—BARRY CORNWALL
Proverbs 13:1
The Teachable and the Unteachable Son
"A wise son heareth his father's instruction: but a scorner heareth not
rebuke."
THE TEACHABLE SON.—"A wise son heareth his father's
instruction." Solomon, of course, supposes that the father
is what a father ought to be. There are men sustaining the
paternal relationship who can scarcely be called fathers.
180 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs Chap. XIII.]
They have not the fatherly instincts, the fatherly love, the
fatherly wisdom, the fatherly royalty. A son would
scarcely be wise in listening to a father of this class.
When we are commanded to honour our father, and to
honour the king, it is always supposed that the father and
the king are honour-worthy, and realize, to some extent,
the ideal of the relationship. He who attends to the in-
struction of a father, Solomon says, is wise. He is wise,
because he attends to the Divine condition of human
improvement. The Creator has ordained that the rising
generation should get its wisdom from the teachings of its
parents. It is by generations learning of their predecessors,
that the race advances. Because he gratifies the heart of
his best earthly friend. The counsels of a true father are
always sincere, dictated by the truest love, and intended to
serve the interests of his children, and nothing is more
gratifying to his paternal nature than to see them rightly
attended to.
THE UNTEACHABLE SON.—"A scorner heareth not
rebuke." Scorn is derision, contempt, and may be directed
either to a person or a thing. It is not necessarily a wrong
state of mind; its moral character, good or otherwise,
depends upon the person or thing to which it is directed.
Some persons justly merit derision; some things merit
contempt. A son who scorns either the person or the
counsels of his father, is not in a state of mind to hear
rebuke—he is unteachable. The son who has got to scorn
the character and counsels of a worthy father, has reached
th'e last degree of depravity, and passed beyond the pale of
parental instruction:
"The sport of ridicule and of detraction
Turns every virtue to its bordering fault,
And never gives to Truth and Merit that
Which simpleness and true desert should purchase."
SHAKESPEARE
Chap. XIII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 181
Proverbs 13:2-3
Man Speaking
"A man shall cat good by the fruit of his mouth: but the soul of the trans-
gressors shall eat violence. He that keepeth his mouth keepeth his life: but he
that openeth wide his lips shall have destruction."
HERE we have several kinds of speech:
THE SELF-PROFITING AND SELF-RUINOUS IN SPEECH.—
We have here First: The self-profiting in speech. "A man
shall eat good by the fruit of his mouth." The speech of
a good man which is enlightened, truthful, pure, generous,
is of service to himself in many ways. By it he promotes
the development of his own spiritual being, he gratifies
his own moral nature, and produces in hearers results
which are delightful to his own observation; thus "he
eats good by the fruit of his mouth." Here we have,
Secondly: The self-ruinous in speech. "The soul of the
transgressors shall eat violence." The corrupt speech of
the ungodly is a violence to reason, conscience, social pro-
priety. The sinful tongue of the transgressor, of all
violent weapons, inflicts the most violent injuries on his
own nature. We have here also:—
THE SELF-CONTROLLED AND THE SELF-RECKLESS IN
SPEECH.—First: Controlled speech may be useful. "He
that keepeth his mouth, keepeth his life." The tongue is
a member that requires controlling. Passion and impulse
are constantly stimulating it to action. Hence the impor-
tance of its being properly "bridled;" held firmly by the
reins of reason. Secondly: Reckless speech may be dan-
gerous. "He that openeth wide his lips shall have destruc-
tion." Who can tell the evils that a lawless tongue has
done the world? One spark from it has often kindled con-
flagrations in families, churches, and nations. "If any
man among you seemeth to be religious, and bridleth not
his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion
is vain."* "Give not thy tongue," says Quarles, "too
* James iii. 8, 9.
182 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs Chap. XIII.]
great a liberty, lest it take thee prisoner. A word unspoken
is, like the sword in the scabbard, thine; if vented, thy
sword is in another's hand. If thou desire to be held wise,
be so wise as to hold thy tongue." "Set a watch, O Lord,
before my mouth; keep the door of my lips!"
Proverbs 13:4
Soul Craving
"The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing: but the soul of the
diligent shall be made fat."
These words suggest—
THAT SOUL CRAVING IS COMMON TO ALL.—Both the
soul of the sluggard and the diligent "desire." Souls
have a hunger as well as bodies, and the hunger of the
soul is a much more serious thing. You may see physical
hunger depicted in the wretched looks of those who crowd
the alleys of St. Giles', and you may see the hunger of
souls depicted on the faces of those that roll in their
chariots of opulence through Rotten-row. What is the
ennui that makes miserable the rich, but the unsatisfied
hunger of the soul? First: The hunger of the soul as well
as the hunger of the body implies the existence of food some-
where. It is natural to infer from the benevolence of the
Creator that wherever hunger exists in any creature there
is a provision for its gratification. Observation and science
show that it is so. The God of infinite bountyhood has,
in his spiritual kingdom, provided for all the cravings of
the human heart. Secondly: The unsatisfied hunger of the
soil as well as the body is painful and ruinous. Nothing is
more distressing and destroying than unappeased animal
hunger; it tortures the system and breaks it up. It is
more so in the case of souls. "My heart and my flesh
Chap. XIII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 183
crieth out for the living God." The unsatisfying of that
cry is hell.
SOUL CRAVING CAN BE ALLAYED ONLY BY LABOUR.—
"The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing, but
the soul of the diligent shall be made fat." Charity, acci-
dent, or fortune may allay the physical hunger of the man,
may make fat even the sluggard's body; but personal
labour, diligent effort, is essential to allay the hunger of
the soul. Men must labour before they can get the soul's
true bread. There must be the sowing, the culturing, the
reaping, and the threshing by the individual man, in order
to get hold of that bread which can make "fat" the soul.
Spiritually, I cannot live on the produce of other men, and
the law holds absolute that he "who does not work shall
not eat."
Proverbs 13:5-6
Moral Truthfulness
"A righteous man hateth lying: but a wicked man is loathsome, and cometh
to shame. Righteousness keepeth him that is upright in the way: but wickedness
overthroweth the sinner."
MORAL TRUTHFULNESS IS AN INSTINCT TO THE RIGHT-
EOUS.—"A righteous man hateth lying." A soul that has
been made right in relation to the laws of its own spiritual
being, to the universe, and to God, has an instinctive repug-
nance to falsehood. A right-hearted man cannot be false
in speech or life. "He hates lying." All tricks in business,
all shams in society, all pretences in religion, are to him
revolting. He stands for reality, will die rather than
desert or disguise fact.
"There is no terror, Cassius, in your threats;
For I am armed so strong in honesty
That they pass by me as the idle wind
Which I respect not."—SHAKESPEARE
184 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs Chap. XIII.]
The prayer of his soul is, "Remove from me the way of
lying: and grant me thy law graciously."*
MORAL TRUTHFULNESS IS A SAFEGUARD AGAINST EVIL.
—The evils specified in these two verses in connection with
the wicked must be regarded as kept off from the righteous
by his moral truthfulness. This, indeed, seems implied.
What are the evils here implied as connected with false-
hood First: Loathsomeness. "A wicked man is loathsome."
A liar is an unlovely and an unloveable object; he is detest-
able; he attracts none; he repels all. Secondly: Shame.
He "cometh to shame." A liar either in lip, or life, or
both, must come to shame. A rigorous destiny will strip
off his mask, and leave him exposed, a hideous hypocrite,
to the scorn of men and angels. Thirdly: Destruction.
"Wickedness overthroweth the sinner." Inevitable de-
struction is the doom of the false. They have built their
houses on the sand of fiction, and the storms of reality will
lay them in ruins.
From all these evils, moral truthfulness guards the
righteous. His truthfulness guards him against the loath-
some, the disgraceful, and the ruinous:
"An honest man's the noblest work of God."—POPE
Proverbs 13:7-8
Poverty and Wealth
"There is that maketh himself rich, yet hath nothing: there is that maketh
hirriself poor, yet hath great riches. The ransom of a man's life are his riches:
but the poor heareth not rebuke."
THE seventh verse bears a resemblance to the twenty-fourth
of the eleventh chapter.—"There is that scattereth and yet
increaseth, and there is that withholdeth more than is
meet, but it tendeth to poverty." But the meaning is not
* Psalm cxix. 29.
Chap. XIII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 185
identical. If we are to attach to the words rich and poor
a spiritual rather than a literal meaning, the seventh verse
would express an important fact, viz., that there is a
principle of action which aims at results the opposite of
what it attains. Selfishness aims at personal wealth and
greatness, but instead of making a man rich, it leaves
him with nothing: he works out his ruin by the principle
which urges him to work for his happiness. Whereas
the principle of benevolence works in the opposite way—
whilst it sinks a man's own personal interest so that he
becomes poor, he reaches the true riches. And this illus-
trates Christ's Words: "He that seeketh his life shall
lose it."
But I take the verses as presenting two subjects of
thought:
The MISREPRESENTATION of poverty and riches.—"There
is that maketh himself rich, and yet hath nothing; there
is that maketh himself poor, yet hath great riches." These
characters abound in modern society. There are poor men
who profess to be very wealthy, and they often do so not
merely from vanity but from greed also. In business they
hire large warehouses, embark in extensive speculations,
occupy mansions as their homes, and live in a magnificent
style in order to create a false credit. Paupers put on the
costume of princes, in order to swindle on a gigantic scale;
sometimes they succeed, and by a pretence of large capital
obtain the real one, and build up the real one—always
at the expense of others. But often, on the other hand,
the sparkling bubble bursts, the dazzling meteor sweeps
into midnight. These characters abound in modern Eng-
land, they crow our scenes of merchandise, they create
panics, they are a curse to the country. Then, also, we
have amongst us a different class, men who appear to be
very poor, but who are, nevertheless, very rich. These are,
if not so injurious, yet as contemptible as the others; they
are the wretched misers; men who are pinching themselves
and families, and clutching from others, in order to gratify
their wretched greed of pelf.
The POWER of poverty and riches.—"The ransom of a
186 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs Chap. XIII.]
man's life are his riches; but the poor man heareth not
rebuke." There is a kind of protection in both. "The
verse," says an able expositor, "has been understood in
different ways. The import of it has been given thus:—
'a rich man, when he fears any evil from his enemies, can
divert it by a sum of money; but the poor man, when he
is threatened, dares not stay, but runs away.' He does not
stand to defend or buy himself off, but the moment he hears
rebuke or threatening, aware that he has no resources, he
stops not to hear it out, but immediately makes good his
escape—takes himself off. I prefer another interpretation,
according to which the verse sets forth the comparative
benefits of poverty and riches. The rich are objects of
envy, exposed to false accusation, robbery, theft, and to the
risk of life. It is true that in their circumstances they
may, in seasons of public calamity, redeem their lives by a
ransom from their abundant store. But the poor are still
better off. They are not exposed to danger; they are not
envied; they are not looked at askance, with 'jealous leer
malign,' with the evil eye of covetousness; nor are they
molested with the harassing disquietudes arising from such
causes. Who thinks of envying, or persecuting, or de-
frauding, or taking the life of the man who has nothing?
Who ever thinks of robbing or murdering a beggar? He
is everywhere safe and free from molestation from whom
there is nothing to be had. Poverty, then, is not without
its advantages. They are, to be sure, of a negative kind,
and not likely to make men give the preference to poverty;
nor do I mention them because it should, or that it may.
All that is meant is, that such considerations should con-
tribute to reconcile the poor to their providential lot."
Mundane wealth and mundane poverty are alike tran-
sient; neither can deliver from death, neither can survive
it. The wealth essential to us all, is that of moral good-
ness; the poverty we should aspire to, is that of a lowly
heart. "Blessed are the poor in spirit."
Chap. XIII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 187
Proverbs 13:9
The Light of Souls
"The light of the righteous rejoiceth: but the lamp of the wicked shall be
put out."
"LIGHT," if not essential to life, is essential to its well-
being. Life without light, could it be, would be cold,
chaotic, wretched. There are different kinds of light even
in the material World—some feeble, flickering, transient;
others as the lights of heaven, strong, steady, permanent.
There are different moral lights—the lights of soul. The
text leads us to consider two:
THE JOYOUS light of soul.—"The light of the right-
eous rejoiceth." In what does the light of the soul consist?
There are at least three elements—faith, hope, love. The
first fills the soul with the light of ideas; the second with
the light of a bright future; the third, with the light of
happy affections. In all souls on earth these three exist.
There is a faith in all, a hope in all, a love in all. Extin-
guish these in any soul, and there is the blackness of
darkness for ever. The righteous have these as divine im-
partations, as beams from "the Father of lights," and in
their radiance they live, walk, and rejoice. They rejoice
in their faith. Their faith connects them with the Ever-
lasting Sun. They rejoice in their hope. Their hope
bears them into the regions of the blest. They rejoice in
their love. Their love fixes their enrapturing gaze on
Him in Whose presence there is fulness of joy.
THE TRANSIENT light of soul.—"The lamp of the
wicked shall be put out." It is implied that the light of
the righteous is permanent. And so it is. It is inex-
tinguishable. "It shines brighter and brighter, e'en unto
the perfect day." Not so the light of the wicked. Their
light, too, is in their faith, their hope, their love. But
their faith is in the false, and it must give way. The
temple of their hope is built on sand, and the storm of
188 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs Chap. XIII.]
destiny will destroy it. Their love is on corrupt things,
and all that is corrupt must be burnt by the all-consuming
fire of eternal justice. Thus the lamp of the wicked must
be put out. The light of the righteous is an inextinguish-
able sun—that of the wicked a mere flickering "lamp;"
the breath of destiny will put it out. "How oft is the
candle of the wicked put out." To live in a world without
a sun, were it possible, would be wretched existence ,such
a world as Byron describes:
"The bright sun was extinguished, and the stars
Did wander darkening in the eternal space,
Rayless and pathless; and the icy earth
Swung blind and blackening in the moonless air."
But to live without faith, hope, charity, is infinitely more
calamitous.
Proverbs 13:10
Pride
"Only by pride cometh contention: but with the well advised is wisdom."
PRIDE is an exaggerated estimate of our own superiority,
leading often to an insolent exultation. "There is no such
thing," says Fuller, "as proper pride, a reasonable and
judicious estimate of one's character has nothing to do
with it." From the text we learn—
THAT PRIDE GENERATES DISCORDS.—"Only by pride
cometh contention." "Pride," says Collier, "is so un-
sociable a vice, and does all things with so ill a grace, that
there is no closing with it. A proud man will be sure to
challenge more than belongs to him. You must expect
him stiff in conversation, fulsome in commending himself,
and bitter in his reproofs." And Colton says, "Pride either
finds a desert or makes one; submission cannot tame its
Chap. XIII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 189
ferocity, nor satisfy or fill its voracity, and it requires very
costly food—its keeper's happiness." Being in society
essentially exacting, insolent, heartless, detracting, it is ever
generating "contention." "No wise man," says Taylor,
"ever lost anything by cession; but he receives the hos-
tility of violent persons into his embraces like a stone into
a lap of wool: it rests and sets down softly and innocently.
But a stone ailing upon a stone makes a collision, and
extracts fire, and finds no rest; and just so are two proud
persons despised by each other; contemned by all; living
in perpetual assonances; always fighting against affronts,
jealous of every person, disturbed by every accident—a
perpetual storm within, and daily hissings from without."
THAT PRIDE REJECTS COUNSELS.—This is implied in
the last clause rather than expressed. "But with the well
advised is wisdom." The proud man is too great to take
the counsel of any. "Pride," says Gurnell, "takes for its
motto great I, and little you." Who can teach him? Truly
humility becomes us all. "A humble saint," says Seeker,
"looks most like a citizen of heaven. 'Whosoever will be
chief among you, let him be your servant.' He is the most
lovely professor who is the most lowly professor. As
incense smells the sweetest when it is beaten the smallest,
so saints look fairest when they lie lowest. Arrogance in
the soul resembles the spleen in the body, which grows most
while other parts are decaying. God will not suffer such
a weed to grow in His garden without taking some course
to root it up. A believer is like a vessel cast into the sea:
the more it fills the more it sinks."
"Pride (of all others, the most dangerous fault)
Proceeds from want of sense, or want of thought.
The men who labour and digest things most,
Will be much apter to despond than boast;
For if your author be profoundly good,
'Twill cost you dear before he's understood."—POPE
190 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs Chap. XIII.]
Proverbs 13:11
Worldly Wealth
"Wealth gotten by vanity shall be diminished: but he that gathereth by
labour shall increase."
THIS verse implies three things—
That worldly wealth Is A GOOD THING.—The
universal feeling of man shows this—all men strive after it.
The services it can render show this. Man's physical
comforts, intellectual opportunities, social resources, and
the progress of his religious institutions greatly depend
upon this. The Word of God shows this. "Money,"
says Solomon, "answers all things." The Bible does not
despise wealth. It legislates for its employment and
denounces its abuse. We infer—
That worldly wealth maybe obtained IN DIFFERENT WAYS.
—There are two ways referred to in the text. The way of
vanity. "Wealth gotten by vanity." The word "vanity"
may represent all those tricks of trade, reckless specula-
tions, and idle gambling, by which large fortunes are often
easily gained. Within our own circle of acquaintance, there
are not a few who have become millionaires by guilty hits.
Secondly: The way of labour. "He that gathereth by
labour." Honest, industrious, frugal labour, is the legiti-
mate way to wealth. Honest industry is God's road to
fortune. We infer—
That the decrease or increase of worldly wealth is
DETERMINED BY THE METHOD IN WHICH IT HAS BEEN
OBTAINED.—"The wealth gotten by vanity shall be dimi-
nished: but he that gathereth by labour shall increase."
Two facts in human nature will illustrate this principle.
First: What man does not highly value he is likely to squander.
Chap. XIII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 191
That which we hold cheaply we are not cautious in guard-
ing or tenacious in holding. Secondly: What comes to
him without labor he is not likely highly to appreciate. We
generally value a thing in proportion to the difficulty in
getting it. The man who has toiled hard for what he has
got, will take care of it; whereas he who has got it easily
by a hit or by trick, treats it with less caution, and is
more likely to squander it away. Thus the text announces
a law in human experience: "Wealth gotten by vanity
shall be diminished: but he that gathereth by labour shall
increase."
Brothers, whilst we would not have you to disparage
worldly wealth, we would not have you put it in its wrong
place. Use it as the instrument of action, not as the
representative of greatness or the source of happiness.
"To purchase heaven, has gold the power?
Can gold remove the mortal hour?
In life, can love be bought with gold?
Are Friendship's pleasures to be sold?
No; all that's worth a wish, a thought,
Fair Virtue gives, unbribed, unbought.
Cease, then, on trash thy hopes to bind;
Let nobler views engage thy mind."—JOHNSON
Proverbs 13:12
Hope Deferred
"Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a
tree of life."
HOPE is a complex state of mind—desire and expectation
are its constituents. We define it as an expectant desire.
It implies the existence of a future good, and a belief in
the possibility of obtaining it. The text leads us to make
three remarks concerning it.
THAT MAN'S OBJECT OF HOPE IS OFTEN LONG DELAYED.
—"Hope deferred." The future good which men hope for
192 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs Chap. XIII.]
they seldom get at once. Long years of struggle often
intervene. It looms a far distant thing before their vision.
There is kindness in this arrangement, although we may
sometimes fail to see it. First: It serves to stimulate effort.
It is the goal before the eye of the racer, keeping every
muscle on the stretch. Secondly: It serves to culture
patience. We have need of patience. If what we hope
for came at once, was not "deferred," not a tithe of our
manhood would be brought out.
THAT THE DELAY IS GENERALLY VERY TRYING.—"It
maketh the heart sick." It is trying to the strength, to the
temper, and to the religion of man. Still, those "sick"
men will not give up the hope. "Hope," says Diogenes,
"is the last thing that dies in man." Pandora's fabled
box contained all the miseries of mankind, and when her
husband took off its lid, all rushed away, but hope re-
mained at the bottom. Ay, hope sticks to the last. How-
ever sick at heart, we hold it still.
"The wretch condemned with life to part,
Still, still on hope relies;
And every pang that rends the heart
Bids expectation rise.
Hope, like the glimmering taper's light,
Adorns and cheers the way,
And still, the darker grows the night,
Emits a brighter ray."
THAT THE TRIAL OF THE DELAY IS FULLY COMPEN-
SATED IN ITS REALIZATION.—"When the desire cometh,
it is a tree of life." The longer and more anxiously you
wait and toil for a good, the higher the enjoyment when it
is grasped. Hence the delight of Simeon, who waited for
the consolation of Israel, when he clasped the infant Jesus
in his arms, and said, "Now lettest thou thy servant
depart in peace." A realized divine hope is, indeed, "a
tree of life," and especially so when realized in the pure
heavens of God. Hope in fruition is the Eden of the soul.
"Oh! how blest,
To look from this dark prison to that shrine,
To inhale one breath of Paradise divine;
And enter into that eternal rest
Which waits the sons of God."—BOWRING
Chap. XIII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 193
Proverbs 13:13
The Word
"Whoso despiseth the word shall be destroyed: but he that feareth the
commandment shall be rewarded."
THE world abounds with words. Oral ones load the air,
and written ones crowd our libraries. Some human words
are unspeakably more valuable than others. The word that
expresses the noblest heart, the strongest intellect, the
loftiest genius, the highest intelligence, is the best human
word on earth. A human word is at once the mind's
mirror, and the mind's weapon. In it the soul of the
speaker is seen, and by it the soul of the speaker wins its
bloodless victories over others. But there is one word on
earth incomparably and infinitely above all others. It is
emphatically the "Word"—the Word of God. The text
teaches us two things concerning this Word.
This word despised IS RUIN.—"Whoso despiseth the
word shall be destroyed." Who is the despiser of this
word The scorner, the rejector, the unbeliever, the neglector,
the trifler. Why is ruin involved in despising it? First:
Because he who despises, rejects the only instrument of soul-
salvation. The Gospel is the Word of salvation. "Unto
you is the Word of this salvation sent." It is the only
word that can save, the only balm for the diseased,
the only quickening power for the dead. Second:
Because he who despises it brings on his nature the condem-
nation of Heaven . Most tremendous guilt is contracted in
despising this word. "See that ye refuse not him that
speaketh, for if they escaped not," &c.*
This word reverenced IS BLESSEDNESS.— "He that
feareth the commandment shall be rewarded." The word
is a "commandment," it is an authoritative utterance, and
to fear it, in a Scriptural sense, is to have a proper prac-
tical regard for it. First: Such a man is "rewarded " in its
* Heb. xii. 25.
194 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs Chap. XIII.]
blessed influences upon his own soul. It enlightens, purifies,
cheers, ennobles. Second: Such a man is "rewarded" with
the approbation of Heaven. "Unto that man will I look,
who is of a broken heart, and contrite spirit, and trembleth
at my word." What a wonderful thing is the Word! Man's
character and destiny are determined by his conduct to-
wards it. How few in this age treat this Word as it ought
to be treated! In proportion to its aboundings men
seem to despise it. There was a time, in Edward I.'s reign,
when one volume cost £37, to gain which, a labouring man
would have to work fifteen long years.
Proverbs 13:14
The Law of the Good
"The law of the wise is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death."
THIS proverb teaches two things:—That—
THE GOOD ARE RULED BY "LAW."—"The law of the
wise." What is law? There are many definitions; many
most unphilosophic, some most conflicting. The clearest
and most general idea I have of it is—rule of motion.
In this sense all things are under law, for all things
are in motion. The material universe is in motion, and
there is the law that regulates it. The spiritual uni-
verse is in motion, and law presides over it. "Of law,"
says Hooker, "there can be no less acknowledged, than
hat her seat is the bosom of God, her voice the harmony
of the world. All things do her homage, the very least as
feeling her care, and the greatest as not exempted from
her power; both angels and men, and creatures of what
condition soever, though each in different sort and manner,
yet all with uniform consent, admiring her as the mother
of their peace and joy." But what is the law of the good
—that which rules them in all their activities? Supreme
love to the supremely good. It is not a written commandment,
Chap. XIII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 195
but an all-pervading, inspiring spirit, called in Scripture,
"the royal 1aw," the "law of liberty," the "law of the
Spirit."
This proverb teaches also that—
The "law" that rules the good is BENEFICENT.—
"The law of he wise is a fountain of life, to depart from
the snares of death." First: This law delivers from death.
The word "death" here must not be regarded as the separation
of body from soul, but as the separation of the soul from
God. This is the awfullest death, and supreme love to
God is a guarantee against this. Secondly: This law
secures an abundance of life. "The law of the wise is a
fountain of life;" a fountain gives an idea of activity, pleni-
tude, perennialness. The law of the good is happiness.
The happiness of the true soul is not something then and
yonder, but it is something in the law that controls him.
In the midst of his privations and dangers, John Howard,
England's illustrious philanthropist, wrote from Riga
these words, "I hope I have sources of enjoyment that
depend not in the particular spot I inhabit. A rightly
cultivated mind, under the power of religion, and the
exercise of beneficent dispositions, affords a ground of
satisfaction little affected by heres and theres."
"If solid happiness we prize,
Within our breast this jewel lies;
The world has nothing to bestow,—
From our own selves our joy must flow."
Proverbs 13:15a
A Sound Intellect
"Good understanding giveth favour."
OBSERVE here two things:
THE NATURE OF A SOUND INTELLECT.—What is a "good
understanding?" A good understanding must include
four things. First: Enlightenment. The soul "without
knowledge is not good." Some understandings are as
196 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs Chap. XIII.]
dark as midnight; others are illumined by false lights;
others are partially lighted by the true. A good under-
standing is that which is well informed, not merely in
general knowledge, but in the science of duty and of God.
Secondly: Impartiality. A good intellect forms its con-
clusions and pronounces its decisions according to the
merits of the question, regardless of the interest of self, or
the frowns or the favours of others. It holds the balance
of thought with a steady hand. Thirdly: Religiousness.
By this I mean that it must be inspired with a deep sense of
its allegiance to heaven. No intellect can be healthy and
vigorous that does not live and labour in the atmosphere
of devotion. Fourthly: Practicalness. It is strong and
bold enough to carry all its decisions into actual life. "A
good understanding have all they that do his command
ments." If these elements make up a sound intellect, it
follows that a good understanding is tantamount to prac-
tical godliness. Observe here, also,—
THE USEFULNESS OF A SOUND INTELLECT.—"Good
understanding giveth favour." The greatest benefactor is
he man of a "good understanding;" a man whose mind
is well enlightened; impartial, religious, and practical.
The thoughts of such are the seeds of the world's best
institutions, and most useful arts and inventions. Such a
man is the most useful in the family, in the neighbourhood,
in the market, in the press, in the senate, in the pulpit, and
everywhere. Such a man "giveth favour." His ideas
break the clouds of human ignorance, and quicken the
faculties of dormant souls. First: No favours so valuable
as a mental "favour." He who really helps the mind to
think with accuracy, freedom, and force, to love with
purity, and to hope with reason, helps the man in the
entirety of his being, and for ever. Secondly: No one can
confer a mental "favour" who has not a good understanding.
An ignorant man has no favour to bestow on souls.
"Ignorance is the curse of God;
Knowledge the wing with which we fly to heaven."—SHAKESPEARE
Let us, therefore, cultivate a sound intellect, enlightened,
* Psalm cxi. 10.
Chap. XIII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 197
impartial, religious, and practical, that we may give to our
race the highest favours. "I make not my head a grave,"
says Sir T. Browne, in his quaint way, "but a treasury of
knowledge; I intend no monopoly, but a community in
learning; I study not for my own sake only, but for theirs
that study not for themselves; I envy no man that knows
more than myself, but pity them that know less. I instruct
no man as a exercise of my knowledge, or with an intent
rather to nourish and keep it alive in mine own head, than
beget and propagate it in his; and, in the midst of all my
endeavours, there is but one thought that dejects me—that
my acquired parts must perish with myself, nor can be
legacied among my honoured friends."
Proverbs 13:15b
The Way of Transgressors
"But the way of transgressors is hard."
NOTICE the two facts here implied:
The transgressor has A "WAY."—How shall the way of
a transgressor be described? There are three general
features that characterize it. First: Practical atheism.
From the beginning to the end of the way the traveller
does not practically recongise the Supreme; He is not a
power in the thoughts of any pilgrims. None of
them like to retain Him in their thoughts. Secondly:
Practical materialism. The things that are seen and tem-
poral, are the great dominant and influential powers.
None of the travelers have ears to hear or eyes to see the
wonders of the spiritual universe. Thirdly: Practical
selfishness. To every walker on the "way" self is every-
thing; the centre and circumference of life. The interests
of others, the claims of God Himself, are all subordinate
to self-gratification and aggrandisement. Such is "the
way of trangressors." Truly a broad way it is, for the
vast majority of the world are marching on it.
198 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs Chap. XIII.]
The other fact here is that—
The way of the transgressor is "HARD." Though a
popular way, a way which millions go, it is anything but
easy. First: It is a "hard" way in the sense of difficulty.
Every step is a "kicking against the pricks." All expect
flowers on the path as they proceed, but the thorns thicken
and the cutting ruggedness increases. Voltaire said, "I
begin to fancy myself in the most deplorable condition,
environed by deepest darkness on every side. I wish I
had never been born." Colonel Gardiner, before his con-
version, envied the existence of a dog. The transgressor's
own conscience, the moral sense of society, the institutions of
nature, the whole current of the Divine government, are
against him. He has to struggle hard to make way.
Men reach hell with bleeding feet and exhausted natures.
Secondly: It is "hard" in the sense of results. The happiness
aimed at is never got. There is ever miserable dissatisfac-
tion, and moral agony. "The way of peace they know
not." They are like the troubled sea, its waters cast out
mire and dirt. "There is no peace, saith my God, for the
wicked." The "wages of sin is death."
"In the corrupted currents of this world
Offence's gilded hand may shove by justice;
And in worst times the wretched prize itself
Buys out the law. But 'tis not so above:
There is no shuffling: there the action lies
In its true nature; and we ourselves compelled,
E'en to the teeth and forehead of our faults,
To give in evidence."—SHAKESPEARE
Proverbs 13:16
The Wise and the Foolish
"Every prudent man dealeth with knowledge: but the fool layeth open his
folly."
OBSERVE the two opposite characters
THE WISE MAN.—"He dealeth with knowledge." This
implies—First: That he has knowledge. Knowledge is
Chap. XIII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 199
essential to a wise man. All true knowledge has its foun-
dation in God. It is a tree with many and varied branches,
as high and a broad as the universe, but God is the root
and the sap, he strength and the beauty of the whole.
There is no knowledge that includes Him not. It implies,
secondly: That a wise man treats his knowledge wisely. "He
dealeth with knowledge." Whilst knowledge is essential
to wisdom, it is not wisdom. A man may have a great deal
of knowledge and no wisdom. Wisdom consists in its
right application. The wise man so deals with his know-
ledge as to culture his own nature and promote the real
progress of his race. "Perfect freedom," says Plato, "hath
four parts—viz., wisdom, the principle of doing things
aright; justice, the principle of doing things equally in
public and private; fortitude, the principle of not flying
danger, but meeting it; and temperance, the principle of
subduing desires and living moderately." "Knowledge,"
says Dwight, is never of very serious use to man until it
has become part of his customary course of thinking. The
knowledge which barely passes through the mind resembles
that which is gained of a country by a traveller, who is
whirled through it in a stage; or by a bird flitting over it,
in his passage to another." Here is also—
THE FOOLISH MAN.—"A fool layeth open his folly."
Foolish men show their folly in at least two ways. First:
by talking about things of which they know little or nothing.
There are two notable facts in human nature. The more
ignorant a man is, the more garrulous. Empty-minded
persons are generally talkative. The law seems to be, the
less thought the more talk. The less one knows of a sub-
ject, the more copiously he can speak about it. The very
fluent preachers are those who have never thought suffi-
ciently on theological subjects to reach their difficulties.
The thinker, discerning difficulties in every turn, moves
cautiously, reverently, and even with hesitation. "The fool
layeth open his folly." Secondly, by attempting things which
they are incapable of achieving. The foolish man knows not
his aptitudes and inaptitudes. Hence he is seen every-
where, striving to be what he never can; to do that which
200 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs Chap. XIII.]
he never can accomplish. He attempts to build a tower
without counting the cost. " Thus he layeth open his
folly."
Proverbs 13:17
Human Missions and Their Discharge
"A wicked messenger falleth into mischief: but a faithful ambassador is
health."
EVERY man has a message in life; all have their mission.
There are messages from men. Few in civilized society
could be found who are not entrusted with some message,
some commission from their fellow-men. Some as ser-
vants, teachers, merchants, rulers. There are messages
from God. Every man is sent into the world with certain
duties to fulfil. These duties constitute his mission in life.
The proverb teaches—
THAT THERE IS A RIGHT AND A WRONG DISCHARGE OF
THIS MESSAGE.—There is a "wicked messenger" and a
faithful ambassador." The wrong and the right way
will be indicated by the question, what is the right dis-
charge of our mission? He only discharges the various
messages of life rightly who does it—First: Conscientiously.
He who acts without a conscience acts beneath his nature.
He who acts against his conscience acts against his nature.
He alone acts worthy of his nature who acts according to
the dictates of his conscience. A man should throw con-
science into every act. Every human deed should flash with
the supernal light of conscience. Secondly: Intelligently.
A man should understand the nature of the grounds of his
message. Without this, though he acts conscientiously, he
acts not rightly. Some of the greatest crimes ever wrought
on our earth have been perpetrated conscientiously. Paul
was conscientious in his ruthless persecutions. So perhaps
were some of the Jews in putting to death the Son of God.
Chap. XIII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 201
Thirdly: Religiously. All must be done with a supreme
regard to that God whose we are, and whom we are bound
to serve. No message, even that of the humblest servant,
is discharged rightly, if not discharged with a due regard
to the claims of the Great Master. "Whatsoever you do,
in deed or word, do all to the glory of God." The proverb
teaches—
THAT EVIL OR GOOD INEVITABLY RESULTS FROM THE
MANNER IN WHICH THE MESSAGES ARE TREATED.—"A
wicked messenger falleth into mischief, but a faithful am-
bassador is health." The message of a wicked messenger,
perhaps, may be a wrong message, a message of falsehood
and injustice; or it may be right, and he may deliver it
unfaithfully. In either case mischief comes. Mischief to
the man himself—mischief to society. He who speaks a
wrong thing, and he who speaks a right thing wrongly, is
equally a wicked messenger. The world abounds with such,
and they produce incalculable mischief. Mischief springs
from a wrong act as death from poison. On the other hand,
the "faithful ambassador is health"—health to himself, his
own conscience approves of it; and health to those whom
he represents, their wishes are gratified their interests are
served; and he is "health" to those to whom he is sent.
At last he will hear the Divine words of approbation ad-
dressed to him, "Well done, good and faithful servant,
enter into the joy of thy Lord."
Proverbs 13:18
The Incorrigible and the Docile
"Poverty and shame shall be to him that refuseth instruction: but he that
regardeth reproof shall be honoured."
Two subjects are here to be noted:
THE DOOM OF THE INCORRIGIBLE.—The incorrigible is
one who habitually "refuseth instruction." There are men,
202 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XIII
who, either from stolidity of nature, or the force of prejudice,
or the power of habit, are uninstructable. Their natures
are closed against new light, they move in a rut from which
no force can move them. To such, the text tells us,
“poverty and shame” shall come. These two things are
not necessarily associated. Poverty that springs from
necessity is a misfortune, not a crime, and therefore no
cause for shame. Poverty that springs from sacrifice in
the cause of duty and philanthropy, is a virtue rather than
a vice, and therefore has no connection with shame. A
poverty, however, brought on by incorrigibility of cha-
racter, is associated evermore with shame. It is a dis-
graceful poverty. That such shameful poverty springs
from such conduct, is manifest in the ordinary life of men.
We see it—First: In secular matters. The farmer, the
tradesman, the professional man who doggedly adhere to
their own notions, and will not receive the instrtuction which
modern science affords, are often so unable to compete with
those who are open to every new and improved theory and
method of action, that they come to a dead failure in their
undertakings, and meet with poverty and shame. We
see it—Secondly: In intellectual matters. Those who
neglect the culture of their minds from youth up, and will
not receive instruction, have such an impoverished mind
that it is associated with shame. How often are their cheeks
mantled with abashment, when they find themselves utterly
incapable to enter into the enlightened conversation of the
intelligent circles into which they are sometimes introduced.
We see it—Thirdly: In moral matters. He who neglects
the spiritual culture of his nature has a poverty of soul
distressing to contemplate. He is poor and wretched. He
feeds on husks. What worse doom can there be than
shameful destitution in secular, mental, and moral things?
Shame is the worst of the fuires:
“Shame urges on behind; unpitying shame,
The worst of furies, whose fell aspects frights
Each tender feeling from the human breast.”—THOMSON
The other subject to be noted is—
THE
DESTINY OF THE TEACHABLE.—“He that regardeth
Chap. XIII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 203
reproof shall be honoured. "Honour is a popular word,
but has many and often diverse meanings:
"Ask the proud peer what's honour? he displays
A purchased patent or the herald's blaze!
Or if the royal smile his hopes have blest,
Points to the glittering glory on his breast.
Yet if beneath no real virtue reign,
On the gay coat the star is but a stain;
For I could whisper in his lordship's ear,
Worth only beams true radiance on the star."—WHITEHEAD
The truly docile man, whose faculties are ever in search of
truth, and who makes Christ his great Rabbi, will assuredly
be honoured. His own soul will honour him. He will have
the approbation of his own conscience. Society will honour
him. So long as mind is mind, society must ever honour
those who are the recipients of the true and the divine.
God will honour him. He smiles on the genuine inquirer,
the real truth-seeker. He takes such under His guardian-
ship, and leads them on into higher and still higher fields
of thought. There is no honour but in goodness:
"Howe'er it be, it seems to me
'Tis only noble to be good;
Kind hearts are more than coronets,
And simple faith than Norman blood."—TENNYSON
Proverbs 13:19
Soul Pleasure and Soul Pain
"The desire accomplished is sweet to the soul: but it is abomination to fools
to depart from evil."
THESE words lead us to the contemplation of two subjects:
SOUL PLEASURE.—What is it? A "desire accomplished."
Desire is the spring power of our activities. Locke defines
it "as the uneasiness which a man feels within him on the
absence of anything whose present enjoyment carries the
delight with it." The desires of the soul, which are very
varied, are very significant of our destiny. "Our desires,"
says Goethe, "are the presentiments of the faculties which
204 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XIII
lie within us, the precursors of those things which we are
capable of performing. That which we would be and that
which we desire present themselves to our imagination,
about us and in the future. We prove our aspiration after
an object which we already secretly possess. It is thus that
an intense anticipation transforms a real possibility into an
imaginary reality. When such a tendency is decided in
us, at each stage of our development a portion of our
primitive desire accomplishes itself under favourable cir-
cumstances by direct means, and in unfavourable circum-
stances by some more circuitous route, from which, how-
ever, we never fail to reach the straight road again."
Indeed, pleasure consists in the gratification of desires.
The quality and permanency of the pleasure must ever
depend on the object of the desire. If the thing desired is
immoral, its attainment may be "sweet to the soul" for a
little while, but afterwards it will become bitter as worm-
wood and gall. The triumph of truth, the progress of
virtue, the diffusion of happiness, the honour of God, these
are objects of desire that will give a holy and everlasting
“sweetness" to the soul. God Himself should be the
grand object of desire. "As for me, I will behold Thy
face in righteousness. I shall be satisfied when I awake
with Thy likeness." "Desire," says John Howe, "is
love exercised upon a good which we behold at a distance
and are reaching at. Delight is love solacing itself in a
present good. They are as wings and arms of love; those
for pursuits, those for embraces. Or the former is love in
motion, the latter love in rest; and, as in bodily motion
and rest, that is in order to this and is perfected in it."
The other subject to be noted is—
SOUL PAIN.—"It is an abomination to fools to depart
from evil." Fools are always in connection with evil, men
are fools because they are in such an alliance. He who
allies himself to evil goes against his own reason and his
own immortal interests. There is soul pain in being con-
nected with evil. Man was never made to be in such an
association; he has yoked himself to that which is eternally
antagonistic to his moral intuitions. Conscience is always
Chap. XIII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 205
tormenting the sinner; his nature can never be reconciled
to an alliance with it. Notwithstanding this, strange to
say, there is soul pain in the dissolution of that connection.
There is a fierce conflict, a tremendous battle in the effort.
"It is abomination to fools to depart." Although the con-
nection is agony, he loathes the separation; so infatuated
is he that he hugs his enemy; and when he is driven by
moral conviction from it he craves at first a reunion. Like
the Jews in the wilderness who yearned for the flesh-pots
of Egypt, all exhortations addressed to him to leave evil,
cause him to wince and fret and spurn his faithful monitors.
Proverbs 13:20
The Grand Fellowship and
Assimilation in Life's Path
"He that walketh with wise men shall be wise."
OBSERVE two things:
THE GRAND FELLOWSHIP in life's path.—Though fools
crowd the path of life there are many "wise men" here
and there. Who are the wise men? Those who aim at the
highest end of existence. What is the highest end? Not
wealth, pleasure, or fame. These are mere bubbles viewed
in the light of the greatness of man's nature, and the vast-
ness of his relationships. The highest end of man, the
only worthy end, is eternal perfection of character, spiritual
assimilation to God's perfection. Who are the wise men?
Those who employ the best means to reach that end.
What are the best means to secure this eternal perfection
of being? Not external moralities, conventional religions,
ritualistic observances. These have been tried over and
over again and have failed. The Gospel is the power.
"Beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord we are
changed." Who are the wise men? Those who devote
the best time in the employment of those means. What
206 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XIII
is the best time? Not to-morrow: it is unwise to trust to-
morrow; it may never come. Now is that time. Who
will say that this is not wisdom? Who will say that he
has any claim to be regarded as a wise man whose life
includes not these three things? Whatever genius, erudi-
tion, skill he may have, if he neglect these things he is a
fool. The other thing to be observed is—
THE GLORIOUS ASSIMILATION in life's path.—"Shall be
wise." First: There is a transforming power in the ideas
of the truly wise. The ideas of wise and godly men are
the greatest spiritual forces of the world. The ideas of
other men, even in their highest aspect, are cold, dim, and
dead as the beams of the moon. The ideas of wise men
are like the rays of the sun, warm, bright, touching all
into life. In the Bible you have these ideas in their
mightiest forms. Patriarchs, prophets, apostles, and the
Great Son of Man Himself, were their organs. Thank
God there are "wise men" who speak with their tongues
and their pens, even now, and with these you may walk.
Secondly: there is a transforming power in the sympathies
of the truly wise. Sympathy is a mighty power. Even a
touch of it in the dropping tear, the faltering voice, the
quivering lip, will often move a soul to its centre. The
sympathies of the wise man are deep, spiritual, genuine,
Christ-like. They are morally electric. Thirdly: there is
a transforming power in the example of the truly wise. All
moral character is formed on the principle of imitation,
hence the moral likeness of the child to the parent, the
citizen to his nation. But we imitate only what we love
and admire; and the character of the wise man has in it
what alone can command the highest love and admiration
of the soul. It has moral beauty—the beauty of the Lord.
From this subject we learn that the choice of companions
is the most important step in life. We are social; we must
have companions; these must be either fools or wise,
sinners or saints. If we choose fools, we shall be fools;
wise, we shall be wise; and they that shall be wise shall
shine as the stars. We learn from this subject that godly
literature has an inestimable value. By godly literature I
Chap. XIII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 207
am far enough from meaning all the books that are called
religious. Many of the so-called religious books, on ac-
count of the feebleness of their conceptions, the sickliness
of their sentiments, the exclusiveness of their spirit, the
flippancy, the coarseness, the irreverence with which they
treat the most momentous subjects, are of all books the
most to be contemned and avoided. By godly books, I
mean books that treat of the great questions of duty and
destiny, not only with the highest ability, but with a spirit
of Divine reverence and devotion. We learn from this
subject, —that the Church institution is a most beneficial ap-
plointment. The true Church is an assemblage of "wise"
men. This is the ideal. Hence it is ordained as the organ
of heaven's transforming power: thither the world is to
resort to become wise and good. Would that the Insti-
tution called the Church were indeed a true Church. But
in many cases it is an assemblage of what?—not wise men,
but fools.
Proverbs 13:21
Nemesis: Destiny Following Character
"Evil pursueth sinners: but to the righteous good shall be repaid."
THAT retributory justice tracks our footsteps, is a doctrine
as old as the race. It grows out of the conscience, and
is confirmed by the experience of mankind. The Nemesis
of the heathen, which was a mysterious pursuer of character,
was only a personification of the doctrine. The subject of
the text is, Destiny follows character. Misery grows out
of sin, and happiness out of goodness.
THE LAW OF MORAL CAUSATION SHOWS THIS.—Man's
character is not the creation of a day or an hour, it is the
result of past actions. When no change has taken place,
like that of regeneration, the man's character to-day is the
result of the whole of his past life, and will be, without
208 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XIII
such a renovation, the cause of the whole of his future.
So that if the character is corrupt, misery must come, and
the reverse. "Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he
also reap. He that soweth to the flesh shall reap corrup-
tion. He that soweth to the spirit shall reap everlasting
life." Character draws destiny after it by an almighty
magnetism. It is a fruitful tree, it never ceases bearing,
every branch is clustered, but the fruit is either misery or
happiness, according to its own vital sap.
THE CONSTITUTION OF MORAL MIND SHOWS THIS.—
Moral mind has at least two faculties: One to recall the past.
Memory gathers up the fragments of our bygone years, so
that nothing is lost. Every event that has impressed us,
and every conscious act must be reproduced. The law of
memory compels us to re-live our past lives. The other to
feel the past. The past does not flit before us as shadows
on the wall, as images on the glass, making no impression
it falls on conscience, it stirs it into feeling. The soul is
compelled to shudder at a wicked past, whilst a virtuous
past fills it with a quiet and ineffable delight.
THE TEACHING OF HOLY WRIT SHOWS THIS.—The Bible
is full of the doctrine. It assures us that God will render
to each man according to his deeds.* Sinner, take care,
the avenger of blood is at your heels. You may not hear
the footfall, for the "avenging deities are shod with wool."
But they never pause, they never tire, they never mistake
their victim.
Proverbs 13:22-23
Material Wealth
"A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children's children: and the
wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just. Much food is in the tillage of the
poor: but there is that is destroyed for want of judgment."
MATERIAL wealth is a good thing. Those who have it not
desire it, and struggle earnestly after it. Those who have
* Joshua vii. 20 — 26; Matt. XXXV.; Rom. ii. 6 — 10.
Chap. XIII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 209
it clutch it as a precious treasure. No wise man will
underrate it. Although, like everything else, it is capable
of abuse, it has the power of rendering immense service to
the cause of truth and humanity. Sanctimonious hypo-
crites who have it not denounce it, but wise men value it
as a sacred trust. The verses before us lead us to consider
it in two aspects:
AS ENTAILED BY THE GOOD AND ALIENATED BY THE
EVIL.—Here we have it: Entailed by the good. "A good
man leaveth an inheritance to his children's children." It
is a characteristic of man that he feels an interest in
posterity. The good and evil alike feel concern for unborn
generations. This is an indication of the vastness of our
sympathies, and the greatness of our nature. It is here inti-
mated by Solomon that the good have some special security
by which their property shall descend to their "children's
children." A security better than that of legal "bequests."
And truly they have, and what is it? The probable goodness
of their "children's children." Goodness may, and ought
ever, to descend from sire to son. The strongest purpose
and the most earnest prayer of a good man is that it should
do so. His endeavour is to train up his children in the
way that they should go, to leave in their possession a
godly character—a sublimer inheritance this than king-
doms. Now, if his children's children inherit goodness, they
are sure to hand down their inheritance to posterity intact;
it will not be wasted by intemperance, reckless specula-
tion, or idle gambling. Goodness is the safest law of entail.
Here we have property: Alienated by the evil. "And
the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just." Wicked-
ness, from its very nature, cannot hold property through
many generations; the fortunes it inherits must crumble
away. My confidence in the righteous government of God
and in the ultimate triumphs of Christianity is such, that I
regard all the property that wickedness has accumulated,
is accumulating, and will accumulate, as "laid up for the
just." One day the property of the world will come into
the possession of the good. "Though the wicked heap up
silver as the dust, and prepare raiment as the clay, he may
210 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XIII
prepare it, but the just shall put it on, and the innocent
shall divide the silver."
The verses before us lead us to consider material wealth—
AS GAINED BY INDUSTRY, AND SQUANDERED BY IMPRU-
DENCE.—As gained by industry. "Much food is in the
tillage of the poor." Every acre of land is full of potential
wealth. Skilled industry can make more of one rood of
earth, than some men can make of acres. God has put man's
food not merely in the ground, but in the "tillage." This
is a beneficent arrangement. It is a spur to industry. It
is a help to the development of manly faculties. If the
man who gets not his food by "tillage" were allowed to
starve, it would be a blessing to the world. Here we have
wealth: As squandered by imprudence. "But there is that is
destroyed for want of judgment." It requires more sense,
perhaps, to retain and rightly use property, than to get it.
I have known pushing and unscrupulous dolts make for-
tunes and lose them:
"Riches, like insects, while concealed they lie,
Wait but for wings, and in their season fly.
To whom can riches give repute and trust,
Content or pleasure, but the good and just?
Judges and Senates have been bought for gold;
Esteem and love were never to be sold."—POPE
Proverbs 13:24
Parental Discipline
"He that spareth the rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth
him betimes."
THREE things are implied in this text—
A TENDENCY IN CHILDREN TO GO WRONG.—This ten-
dency is obvious to all. No sooner does the child begin
to act as a moral being than he, by his fretfulness, vanity,
greed, falseness, indicates the existence of the wrong in
Chap. XIII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 211
him. Whether this tendency is propagated by generation
or imparted by social influence, whether it is inbred or im-
breathed, is one of the vexed questions of polemic theology.
I am disposed to think that the social atmosphere in which
the infant is born, in which it receives its first impressions
and begins to unfold its faculties, is abundantly sufficient
to account for it. In the present domestic atmosphere of
the race there float the germs of evil, and who shall say
how soon they drop through the eye and ear into the infant
soul?
THE DUTY OF PARENTS TO DESTROY THIS TENDENCY.—
This is implied by the injunction, to chasten "betimes."
First: The wrong tendency is a great evil. It is the
springhead of a pestilential river. It is the germ of an
upas. It is an incipient fiend. Secondly: The sooner it
is destroyed the better. The better for the child, the
parent, society, the universe. The longer it continues the
deeper it strikes its roots, and the more difficult the eradi-
cation. It must be done "betimes." Thirdly: Its destruc-
tion is the work of a parent. This is the grand moral mis-
sion of a parent, for which God holds him responsible. He
cannot delegate it to nurse, teacher, or priest. It is his
work.
THE NECESSITY OF CHASTISEMENT FOR THIS PURPOSE.
—"He that spareth the rod hateth his son." The rod does
not necessarily mean the twig, the cane, or the whip; it is
used as the representative of that which inflicts pain. First:
The necessary chastisement involves the infliction of pain. It
may be corporeal pain. There are cases in which the child
may be so destitute of the sense of propriety and reason
that it could receive no other pain than physical. It may
be mental pain. The child may be punished by the restric-
tion of his liberty, the denial of his wishes, or the frown of
his parents; by the word of reproof, oftentimes in a way
far more painful than any corporeal infliction. What is
wanted in chastisement is pain. There must be pain. A
rod of some kind, either material or mental. And the
parent who does not inflict pain has not the true love for
his child. He "hateth his son." Secondly: The infliction
212 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XIII
of pain by love. The infliction of pain from caprice or angry
passions is no chastisement. Evil cannot be expelled by
evil. The devil cannot exorcise the devil. The child must
see that the pain inflicted gives more pain to the parent
than to him. The infliction of pain must be felt as the
"strange work" of the parent—a work foreign to his
nature. Children have been called rough diamonds.
Parents are to polish them, and they must be neither
struck unskilfully nor left uncut.
"The voice of parents is the voice of gods,
For to their children they are heaven's lieutenants;
Made fathers, not for common uses merely
Of procreation (beasts and birds would be
As noble then as we are), but to steer
The wanton freight of youth through storms and dangers,
Which with full sails they bear upon, and straighten
The mortal line of life they bend so often.
For these are we made fathers, and for these
May challenge duty on our children's part.
Obedience is the sacrifice of angels,
Whose form you carry."—SHAKESPEARE
Proverbs 13:25
The Satisfaction of the Body
Determined by the Condition of the Soul
"The righteous eateth to the satisfying of his soul: but the belly of the
wicked shall want."
BODILY satisfaction is an essential element in our happi-
ness so long as we are in this world. The text implies that
the satisfaction of the body depends upon the condition of
the soul, and this is a great truth, greatly neglected. Its
obviousness would come out by considering what bodily
satisfaction requires. We observe—
BODILY HEALTH.—No food can satisfy a diseased body,
a body whose organs and functions are out of order. But
Chap. XIII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 213
the condition of the soul has much to do with physical
health. "A sound heart is the light of the flesh."* The
anxieties, ill-tempers, recriminations, impure passions of a
wicked heart, will soon reduce the body to disease, feeble-
ness, and ruin. On the other hand, a true, virtuous, and
happy soul tends to physical health. "A merry heart
doeth good like medicine, maketh a cheerful countenance;
but a broken spirit drieth the bones." One thought can dis-
organize a healthy body and do much to restore a diseased
one.
BODILY SUPPLIES.—The supplies necessary to satisfy the
body should be—First: Of a right kind. A body restless
with hunger would scarcely be satisfied with confectionery.
Now, the condition of the soul has much to do with the kind
of food. The soul not only modifies our natural appetites
but creates artificial ones, and hence supplies provisions
for the body which are unnatural and unhealthy. The soul,
by its workings on the body's appetites, has brought to the
body's table compounds unsatisfying and deleterious too.
Secondly: A right amount. An insufficient amount, even
of right provisions, would leave the body unsatisfied. But
the question of sufficiency also depends greatly on the
soul. Indolence, extravagance, intemperance, bad manage-
ment, often so reduce men's material resources that they
are left utterly destitute of the necessary food. These
thoughts, we think, give an important meaning to the text,
"The righteous eateth to the satisfying of his soul: but
the belly of the wicked shall want." "Truly then godliness
is profitable, unto all things." A corrupt soul will ever-
more have a dissatisfied body.
* See Homilist, vol. iv., second series, p. 647.
214 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XIV
Proverbs 14:1
Housewifery
"Every wise woman buildeth her house: but the foolish plucketh it down
with her hands."
WOMAN, in these days of novel-scribbling and rhyming
sentimentalities, is so often paraded in literature that we
are loth to write the sacred word. Our own great dramatist
has said,—
“'Tis beauty that doth oft make women proud;
'Tis virtue that doth make them most admired;
'Tis modesty that makes them seem divine! "
The text leads us to consider housewifery; its great power
and necessary qualifications.
ITS GREAT POWER.—First: It can build up. "Every
wise woman buildeth her house." A good wife builds
her house materially. By her economy, industry, and wise
management, she increases its material resources. Words-
worth describes such a housewife:
"She was a woman of stirring life,
Whose heart was in her house. Two wheels she had
Of antique form: this large, for spinning wool:
That small, for flax; and if one wheel had rest,
It was because the other was at work."
A good wife builds up her house spiritually. A good
wife by her example, her spirit, her admonitions, her
reproofs, her prayers, builds up in her children a noble
character; she thus rears in her house a very temple of
industry, intelligence, and worship. Thus she becomes the
queen of a little empire, where beauty, love, virtue, and
reason reign. Housewifery, secondly, can pull down. "The
foolish plucketh it down with her hands." There are women
who bring their houses to ruin. By their miserable tempers
and degrading habits, they ruin their husbands, their
children, they make the home the haunt of fiends.
Chap. XIV.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 215
ITS NECESSARY QUALIFICATION.—What is the necessary
qualification for a good housewife?—"Wisdom." "Every
wise woman buildeth her house." Wisdom implies two
things. First: Using the right means. The means she
employs to build up her house are not inconsistent with the
chaste in love, the true in statement, the honest in effort.
Secondly: Using the right means for a right end. The
end not to pamper appetites, to feed vanity and pride,
but to elevate the household, bless society, and honour
God. The hope of England and of the world rests on
such housewifery. Kind Heaven promote it! In the East
humanity makes, through centuries, scarcely one inch of
true progress. In the West it moves onward with the
strides of a giant. Why this? In the former there is no
housewifery, in the latter there is.
Proverbs 14:2
Human Conduct
"He that walketh in his uprightness feareth the Lord: but he that is perverse
in his ways despiseth him."
MEN DIFFER WIDELY IN THEIR DAILY CONDUCT.—First:
Some men walk uprightly. Walking uprightly implies
moral strength. The man is not bent and crooked by the
infirmities of sin or the weight of depravity. He has the
thorough step of a man. Conscious rectitude. He does
not bow down his head, as if ashamed to look his neigh-
bour in the face. He is as open as the day and as fearless
as the sun. Secondly: Some walk perversely. "They are
perverse in their ways." They are crooked in their pur-
poses, policies, and performances. There is nothing true,
honest, noble, in their course, or in their bearing.
MEN REVEAL THEIR HEART TOWARDS GOD IN THEIR
DAILY WALK.—"He that walketh in his uprightness feareth
216 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XIV
the Lord; but he that is perverse in his ways despiseth
Him." First; Right conduct springs from a right feeling
towards God. The man that walketh uprightly "feareth
the Lord." There is no true morality without religion.
Piety is the first principle of all rectitude. Atheism can
have nothing binding in its code of laws—nothing virtuous
in its conduct. All good living must have respect to the
Supreme. Secondly: Wrong conduct springs from wrong
feeling towards God. "He that is perverse in his ways
despiseth Him." The wrong doer has no feeling of respect
for God. He ignores him as much as he can. Thus it is
that in the daily conduct of men you can see their state
towards the Great One. You may know how men feel
inwardly toward Him by observing how they deal out-
wardly with each other.
The generating in human hearts supreme love to God,
is the only effective way to promote true morality in men
—morality in the family, in the market, in the nation, in the
world.
Proverbs 14:3
Speech, a Rod
“In the mouth of the foolish is a rod of pride: but the lips of the wise shall
preserve them."
SPEECH is one of the distinguishing faculties of man. It
is here spoken of as a "rod," it is an instrument of the
soul. It is a communicating rod. "Its chief object," says
Bishop Butler, "is plainly that we may communicate our
thoughts to each other, in order to carry on the affairs of
the world, for business, and for learning." Through this
rod of speech souls flow and reflow into each other. It is
a conquering rod. By speech a man often achieves his
highest conquests,—conquests over the thoughts, passions,
Chap. XIV.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 217
purposes of mankind. The mystic Rod of Moses smote
the rock of Horeb, and caused it to send forth refreshing
streams; the rod of speech can smite the rock of souls,
and make it stream with influences to refresh the mental
desert. What wonders the rod of speech has done!
The text contains two things concerning it.
It may be SELF-INJURIOUS OR SELF-ADVANTAGEOUS.—
It is said, "the lips of the wise shall preserve them," and
the implied antithesis is, that those of the fool will injure
them. First: There is a speech that is self-injurious. The
hasty speech of evil passion, the unchaste speech of sensu-
ality, the lying speech of untruthfulness: all such speech
inflicts an injury upon the speaker. It blunts his moral
sensibility; it lowers his self-respect; it degrades his
social credit. The rod of speech is often an instrument of
spiritual suicide. Secondly: There is a speech that is
self-advantageous. "The lips of wise men shall preserve
them." A chaste, truthful, benevolent, judicious speech is
a guardian rod of souls. It preserves the character and
the reputation of the speaker.
Its RESULTS upon the speaker, whether self-injurious or
otherwise, DEPEND UPON HIS OWN CHARACTER.—First:
The speech of the foolish must be self-injurious. His speech
is a "rod of pride." It is a rod that grows out of pride.
By some, the word "rod" here is understood as a shoot,
or branch, as in the expression, "There shall come a rod
out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his
roots." Pride and foolishness are nearly related. A proud
man is a fool. He does not know himself, the universe, or
his God. Proud speech is the rod that grows out of a foolish
heart; but the rod which the foolish heart grows, it also
uses as its instrument, and its use must tend to self-
destruction. Pride works ruin. "Pride goeth before
destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall." Secondly:
The speech of the wise must be self-advantageous. The wise
man is a good man, and a good man's speech will tend to
his own spiritual development, and the promotion of his
spiritual powers. "Out of the abundance of the heart the
218 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XIV
mouth speaketh." "Keep the heart with diligence, for
out of it are the issues of life."
"The Lord shall cut off all flattering lips, and the tongue
that speaketh proud things; who have said, with our
tongue will we prevail; our lips are our own; who is lord
over us."*
Proverbs 14:4
The Clean Crib, or Indolence
"Where no oxen are, the crib is clean: but much increase is by the strength
of the ox."
OBSERVE two things here:
THE NEGATIVE gain of indolence.—The indolent man will
not go to the trouble of keeping oxen, and therefore he has
no crib to clean; work brings work. Industry creates busi-
ness. If a man will go to the trouble of keeping oxen, he
must look after them, "keep their cribs clean." Indolence
saves labour. First: This is true in secular matters. A
man who will not cultivate his land will save all the toil of
harvest. A man who is too lazy to embark in business
will be freed from much anxious toil and a thousand cares
connected with mercantile life. Secondly: This is true in
intellectual matters. A man who is too lazy to commence
work of self-culture, to strive after science, or to struggle
after scholarship, will of course avoid all that study which
is a weariness to the flesh." Thirdly: This is true of
spiritual matters. A man who will not take the trouble to
ascertain the condition of his soul by looking into the
glass of the Divine Word, will remain in that state of moral
indifference by which he will escape all that battling
against inward corruptions, striving after spiritual holi-
ness, which the true feel to be a strenuous and unremit-
ting conflict.
Thus a lazy man saves much work by not keeping oxen;
he has no crib to clean.
* Psalm xii. 3, 4.
Chap. XIV.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 219
OBSERVE again—
The POSITIVE loss of indolence.—"But much increase is
by the strength of the ox." The man who keeps the ox,
cleans out his crib, takes care of him and industriously
employs him in his fields, gets from him results that will
more than compensate all his toil. Industry is potential
wealth. In all true labour there is a profit. Observe—First:
What an indolent man loses in secular matters. He loses the
pleasure of gaining wealth. There is often more gratifica-
tion in the pursuit of riches than in their possession. He
loses the pleasure of rightly using wealth. The generous
heart alone can tell the exquisite delight connected with
the distribution of wealth for the relief of the distressed,
the promotion of knowledge, and the advancement of
human happiness. Observe—Secondly: What an indolent
man loses in intellectual matters. What glorious mental
results grow out of laborious study, well disciplined faculties,
varied treasures of knowledge, great social influence!
Mental riches, unlike material, are inalienable; they cannot
take to themselves wings and flee away. Observe—Thirdly:
What an indolent man loses in spiritual matters. How
great the joy of a spiritually-disciplined soul! It is "a joy
unspeakable, and full of glory." Here, then, is a choice
for men. Indolence or industry. Indolence will save work,
but lose its splendid results. Industry will have hard work,
but out of it comes "much increase," increase of the highest
good.
Proverbs 14:5-6
Veracity and Wisdom
"A faithful witness will not lie: but a false witness will utter lies. A
scorner seeketh wisdom, and findeth it not: but knowledge is easy unto him that
understandeth."
HERE we have the subject of VERACITY.—"A faithful wit-
ness will not lie." This is so much like a truism, that it
220 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XIV
scarcely calls for a remark. It means that a true man will
be true in his expressions: an untrue man will be false.
Two things, however, may be implied in it. First: That
veracity in witness-bearing is very important. Lies are
bad everywhere—in the family, in the market, in general
society; bad in themselves, and bad in their consequences.
But they are worse in the "court of law" than anywhere
else. Perjury is the worst form of lying. It frustrates
justice, and when the oath is added, it involves the blas-
phemy of taking God's name in vain. Secondly: That
veracity, in witness-bearing, can only be secured by a
truthful character. The true man will be true everywhere;
the false man false everywhere. The only way, therefore,
to put down lying in courts of justice, and everywhere
else, is the making of men true and right in heart. This
Christianity does, and nothing else does it. It dries
up the springs of falsehood in the human heart, such as
vanity, greed, fear, and inspires it with an invincible
attachment to reality and God it is its glory that it
can and does make men true. False men often assume
this, but they have no vital connection with it; their lives
are libels on its character. Christianity is essentially and
eternally antagonistic to shams of all kinds; its mission is
to bear witness to the truth.
Here we have the subject of WISDOM.—"A scorner
seeketh wisdom and findeth it not, but knowledge is easy
unto him that understandeth." Two things are implied in
this—First: That the attainment of wisdom is a very
desirable thing. Wisdom includes:
Acquisition of the highest knowledge.—The knowledge of
man, his nature, condition, relations, responsibilities; of God,
His being, character, laws, works. It includes also the right
application of this knowledge. Knowledge is only really
useful to us as we practically apply it. What are all the
arts that bless and adorn the civilized world, but the prac-
tical application of scientific knowledge. And what is the
sublime life of godliness, but true theology practically ap-
plied? This is wisdom. Secondly: The attainment of
wisdom depends upon the spirit of the seeker. "A scorner
Chap. XIV.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 221
seeketh wisdom and findeth it not." No character is more
despicable than the scorner. His spirit includes pride—he
sneers at truth, thus indicating intellectual pride. It includes
irreverence.—He scoffs at the Infinite. It includes heart-
lessness.—He is regardless of the feelings of others. Can
a man with such a spirit ever get wisdom? No. He has
not the eye to see the truth, even though it stands before
him incarnated in a glorious personality. Pilate, with this
scoffing spirit, saw it in this sublime form, and yet asked,
"What is truth?" The scoffer, even in seeking wisdom,
attains confounding fictions.
"Hear the just doom, the judgment of the skies:
He that hates truth shall be the dupe of lies;
And he who will be cheated to the last,
Delusions, strong as hell, shall bind him fast."
"But knowledge is easy unto him that understandeth."
That is, the man whose spirit is in contrast to that of the
scorner, is docile, attentive, humble. He sits at the Great
Teacher's feet and listens to His words. He feels, with
Cowper, that—
"Truths, on which depends our main concern,
That 'tis our shame and misery not to learn,
Shine by the side of every path we tread
With such a lustre, he that runs may read."
Proverbs 14:7-9
The Society to be Shunned
"Go from the presence of a foolish man, when thou perceivest not in him
the lips of knowledge. The wisdom of the prudent is to understand his way:
but the folly of fools is deceit. Fools make a mock at sin: but among the
righteous there is favour."
MAN is a social being; his natural affinities and relations
show that he is made to a great extent for others, and that
others are made for him. So far from reaching perfection
in isolation, his very existence would be intolerable in abso-
222 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XIV
lute solitude. The text holds up the society which we
should avoid—the society of the foolish. A "foolish" man
here stands for a "bad" man. The text suggests that the
society of such should be avoided for three reasons—
It is UNPROFITABLE.—"Go from the presence of a foolish
man, when thou perceivest not in him the lips of know-
ledge." What you want in society is knowledge—true
knowledge, knowledge that shall rightly guide, truly com-
fort, and religiously inspire the soul. But can such know-
ledge be got from a foolish man? No. Therefore, time
spent in his society is waste time, and you have no time to
lose. "Be ye the companions," says the Psalmist, "of
them that fear Him." From such choose your associates.
Let their society be the society you love. They say,
"Come with us and we will do you good." Comply with
the invitation, if you would imbibe their spirit, learnt their
wisdom, and participate in their happiness.
It is MISLEADING.—"The folly of fools is deceit." They
cheat themselves. They fancy they have the true ideas and
the true pleasures, but it is a miserable delusion. They
live in a world of fiction. Dreamers they are all. "A
depraved heart is deceitful above all things and desperately
wicked." They cheat others. They mislead and entangle
by the falsehood of their speech and the craftiness of their
policy. "New stratagems," says Lord Bacon, "must be
devised, the old failing and growing useless, and as soon
as ever a man hath got the name of a cunning, crafty
companion, he hath deprived himself utterly of the prin-
ciples instrumental for the management of his affairs which
is trust."
It is WICKED.—"Fools make a mock at sin." Sin, the
greatest insult to God, and the greatest curse to humanity,
they mock at. The spirit of mocking at sin is the most
impious, cruel, infatuating, and from those who possess it
we should flee as from the savage beasts of prey. There
breathes not on earth a more inhuman and iron-hearted
monster than he who makes a mock at sin. He sports
with the great curse of the universe, makes fun of hell
itself. "Go," then, "from the presence of a foolish man;"
Chap. XIV.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 223
seek the companionship of the wise, their society is profitabe,
they "have the lips of knowledge," their words are truthful.
"The wisdom of the prudent is to understand his way."
And where can he get understanding? Only in the society
of the good. "Among the righteous there is favour." With
them there is genuine love, faithful attachment, and holy
principle; they cleave to each other from a mutual recogni-
tion of goodness, and with mutual love as strong as death.
Avoid evil companions.—St. Augustine has well said,
"Bad company is like a nail driven into a post which, after
the first and second blow, may be drawn out with little
difficulty; but being once driven up to the head the pincers
cannot take hold to draw it out, but which can only be
clone by the destruction of the wood." "One rotten
apple," says Feltham, "will infect the store, the putrid
grape corrupts the whole sound cluster. If I have found
any good companions, I will cherish them as the choicest
of men, or as angels which are sent as guardians to me.
If I have any bad ones I will study to lose them, lest by
keeping them I lose myself in the end."
Proverbs 14:10
The Heart's Hidden Depth
"The heart knoweth his own bitterness: and a stranger doth not intermeddle
with his joy."
THOUGH men live in towns and cities, and in social
gatherings, each man is a world to himself. He is as
distinct, even from him who is in closest material or mental
contact with him, as one orb of heaven is from another.
Though governed by the common laws of his race, he has
an orbit of his own, an atmosphere of his own, and abysses of
life into which no eye but the eye of God can pierce.
The heart has hidden depths of SORROW.—"The heart
knoweth his own bitterness." There is bitterness in most
224 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XIV
hearts. There is the bitterness of disappointed love—the
soul recoiling with agony at the discovery that its affections
have been misplaced. There is the bitterness of social
bereavement—Rachel’s weeping for their children, and
Davids for their Absaloms. There is the bitterness of moral
remorse going forth in the cry, "O wretched man that I
am; who shall deliver me from this body of sin and
death?" All this is hidden where it is the most deep. The
profoundest sorrow in the human heart is hidden from
others, from three causes. First: The insulating tendency
of deep grief. Deep sorrow draws from society, and seeks
some Gethsemane of solitude, to pour out its anguish in
loneliness. A greater outrage we can scarcely commit
than to intrude on the notice of our fellow men in grief.
Secondly: The concealing instinct of deep grief. Men
parade little sorrows, but conceal great ones. "The man
of sorrows and acquainted with grief," mentioned His
distress to no one but the Infinite Father. Great sorrows
roll as the deep river underground. Thirdly: The incapacity
of one soul to sound the depths of another' s grief. There is
such a peculiarity in the constitution and circumstances of
each soul, that one can never fully understand another.
The deepest things in man are unknown even to himself,
and his fellow men have no eye to penetrate into that
abyss. Souls are strangers to each other; the acquaintance,
even of the most intimate, is superficial. Every man has
in him what he cannot speak out. The greater the soul the
deeper its sense of loneliness, and the more incapable of
communicating itself to others.
Observe here also that—
The heart has hidden depths of JOY.—"A stranger doth
not intermeddle with his joy." Though joy is less self-
concealing than sorrow, yet it has depths unknown to any
but its possessor and its God. The joy that rushed into
Abraham's heart when Isaac descended with him from the
altar of Moriah; the joy of the father when he pressed his
prodigal son to his bosom; the joy of the widow of Nain
when her only son raised himself from the bier, and
returned to gladden her lonely home; the joy of the heart-
Chap. XIV.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 225
broken woman when she heard Christ say, "Thy sins are
all forgiven thee"—such joys have depths that no outward
eye could penetrate or fathom. The joy of the true
Christian is indeed a joy "unspeakable, and full of glory."
This subject furnishes an argument. First: for candour
amongst men. We do not fully know each other, therefore
we ought to be generous and candid in our treatment.
"What man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit
of a man which is in him." Secondly: For piety towards God.
Though men know us not, He does. He knows what is in
man, and more, He has the deepest interest in our sorrows.
"In all their affliction He was afflicted, and the angel of
His presence saved them. In His love, and in His pity He
redeemed them, and He bare them, and carried them all
the days of old."*
Proverbs 14:11
The Soul's Home
"The house of the wicked shall be overthrown: but the tabernacle of the
upright shall flourish."
THE "house" and the "tabernacle" in the passage here,
must be taken in the most generic sense, as meaning more
than the mere tenement, whether of bricks, or stone,
or canvas, in which the man physically resides. The
words may mean all that externalism of a man's life in
which he feels the most interest, from which he derives the
most pleasure, and that is usually his home. The pleasing
surroundings of life constitute the real house or taber-
nacle in which the man lives. The Proverb teaches that—
In the case of the WICKED this home is doomed to ruin.—
"The house of the wicked shall be overthrown." Is
business the home of his soul? Does he, the thinking,
* Isaiah lxiii. 9.
226 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XIV
conscious man, dwell more in it than anywhere else? His
business will depart from him—his warehouses, stock-in-
trade, clerks, will all be overthrown. Is wealth the house
of his soul? Some men live in their gold; it is the
sphere in which all their faculties operate, the centre of all
their sympathies. This house "shall be overthrown."
"We brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we
can carry nothing out." Is society the home of his soul?
There are many who live in company, they are never at
home on their own hearths—the fellowship of others is
their home; this is always the case of the wicked, and this
house is doomed to be "overthrown." There are no
friendships for the ungodly in the future.
It is here further taught that:
In the case of the RIGHTEOUS this house is destined to
prosper.—"The tabernacle of the upright shall flourish."
Where is the home of the righteous? Where his heart is.
And where is that? First: In the cause of Divine bene-
volence. In the advance of truth, in the extension of
goodness, the progress of humanity, he feels the strongest
interest. His cause shall flourish. It must go on; heaven
and earth shall pass away sooner than it shall fail.
Secondly: In the society of the holy and the true. The
fellowship of the true disciple of Christ is the heaven of his
nature; and that shall flourish, it shall increase in
numbers, purity, goodness, and influence. "We then
having received a kingdom that cannot be moved, let
us have grace to worship in reverence and godly fear."
The upright shall flourish for ever,—what a prospect!
"For evermore!"—words easily uttered "but in com-
prehension," says Archer Butler, "vaster than human
thought can grasp; entering upon eternity, men shall rise
with faculties fitted for the scene. For evermore! for an
existence to which the age of the earth, of the starry
heavens, of the whole vast universe is less than a morn-
ing's dream; for a life, which, after the reiteration of
millions of centuries, shall begin the endless state with the
freshness of infancy, and all the eagerness that welcomes
enjoyments ever new."
Chap. XIV.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 227
Proverbs 14:12
The Seeming Right Often Ruinous
"There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are
the ways of death."
MANY of the ways which men pursue cannot even "seem
right." The way of the habitual blasphemer, sabbath-
breaker, debauchee, and such characters, can scarcely
appear right to any man. They are manifestly wrong.
What are the ways that often "seem right" to men and
that are ruinous? We may mention three.
The "way" of the CONVENTIONALLY MORAL "seems
right," but is nevertheless ruinous.—Civilised society has
its recognised rules of conduct. But these rules regard
only the external life of man. They take no cognisance of
thought, feeling, desire, and the unexpressed things of the
soul. Industry, sobriety, veracity, honesty, these are the
extent of its demands, and if these are conformed to, society
approves and applauds. Thousands consider these conven-
tional rules to be the standards of character, and pride
themselves in their conformity thereto. Because they are
diligent in their business, deceive no one, pay every man
his due, they consider their way right. Without disparag-
ing in the least this social morality, we are bound to say,
that what is conventionally moral may be essentially wrong.
It may spring from wrong motives, and be governed by
wrong reasons. The Scribes and Pharisees of old were
conventionally right. Albeit they were rotten to the core.
He who read their natures through and through, denounced
them as "whited sepulchres." The end of such a way is
"death." Death to all the elements of well-being.
The "way " of the FORMALISTICALLY RELIGIOUS "seems
right," but is nevertheless ruinous. Religion has its forms,
its places, and times of worship, its order of service, its
benevolent institutions. A correct and constant attention
to such forms is considered by thousands as religion it-
228 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XIV
self. Regularity in church, conformity to all the recognised
rites of worship, contributions according to the general
standard of the congregation, all this passes for religion,
but it is not religion. It is mechanism, nothing more.
The motions of machinery, not the actions of the heart.
There is no life in it, and it cannot lead to life, but to
"death." "The letter killeth." "God is a Spirit, and
they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in
truth."
"As the strength of sin," says Charnock, "lies in the
inward frame of the heart, so the strength of worship in
the inward complexion and temper of the soul. Shadows
are not to be offered instead of substances. God asks for
the heart in worship, and commands outward ceremonies
as subservient to inward worship, and goads and spears
into it. What is the oblation of our bodies without a
priestly act of the spirit in the presentation of it? To offer
a body with a sapless spirit, is a sacrilege of the same na-
ture with that of the Israelites, when they offered dead
beasts. One sound sacrifice is better than a thousand
rotten one."
The "way" of the SELFISHLY EVANGELICAL seems
right, but is nevertheless ruinous.—Evangelical religion,
in the sense of a participation of the spirit of Christ, is the
true religion of man. But the thing that is now called
evangelical, is, to a fearful extent, intensely selfish. Con-
ventional evangelicalism is the devil of selfishness in the
costume of piety and benevolence. Its appeals are all to
the hopes and fears of men. Its preaching makes men
feel, but their feelings are all concerned for their own in-
terest; makes men pray, but their prayer is a selfish en-
treaty for deliverance from misery, and for the attainment
of happiness. Fire and brimstone, not love to God, bring
men together into congregations and churches. We fear
that much that is called the evangelical religion of this
age stands in direct opposition to the teachings of Him
who said, "He that seeketh his life shall lose it," and also
to the teaching of Paul, who said, "Without charity I am
nothing." A selfish evangelicalism is the "way of death."
Chap. XIV.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 229
Men go to hell through churches. What, then, is the way
that is really right? Here it is: "I am the way." Follow-
ing Christ alone leads to life. "If any man have not the
Spirit of Christ he is none of His."
Right and wrong are independent of men's opinions,
what seems right to men is often wrong, and the reverse.
Nevertheless men are held responsible for their beliefs. A
wrong belief, however sincere, will lead to ruin.
Proverbs 14:13
Sinful Mirth
"Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful, and the end of that mirth is
heaviness."
THERE is an innocent mirth, a sunny, sparkling, cheerful-
ness, arising from a happy natural temperament. There
is a virtuous mirth. A mirth that has moral worth in it,
springing from holy states of heart. This mirth, all should
have. We are commanded "to rejoice evermore." There
is a sinful mirth, and of this the text speaks. Three things
are suggested concerning this.
IT IS BOISTEROUS IN EXPRESSION.—The "laughter" to
which Solomon here refers is of a certain kind. Laughter
in itself is not wrong.—"It is," says Steele, "that which
strikes upon the mind, and being too volatile and strong,
breaks out in the tremor of the voice." And this author
speaks of different kinds of laughers—the "dimplers," the
"smilers," the "grinners," and the "horse laughers." A
man's laugh is often the best index to his character. "How
much," says Carlyle, "lies in laughter—the cipher-key
wherewith we decipher the whole man! Some men wear
an everlasting barren simper; in the smile of others lies
the cold glitter, as of ice; the fewest are able to laugh
what can be called laughing, but only sniff, and titter, and
230 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XIV
sniggle from the throat outwards, or, at least, produce some
whiffling, husky cachinnation, as if they were laughing
through wool. Of none such come good. The man who
cannot laugh is not only fit for treasons, stratagems, and
spoils: but his own life is already a treason and a strata-
gem." The laughter of which Solomon speaks, however,
is not a natural laughter. It is a hypocritical laughter; it
is the laughter of a man who has little or no joy in him—a
man ill at ease. It is what Solomon calls elsewhere "the
laughter of the fool," and he said of it, "it is mad!" The
laughter of a corrupt heart. It is the roar of the maniac;
the laugh of the drunkard, who is about stepping over a
fearful precipice, is not more mad than the laughter of
him who goes through life with a heart in hostility to
God.
IT IS SAD IN SPIRIT.—"Even in laughter the heart is
sorrowful." The jovial merriment of the social board, the
joke, and the laugh, as the glass goes round, are but a veil
drawn to conceal a world of misery within. Beneath all,
the heart is sorrowful, with dark moral memories of the
past, with gloomy forebodings as to the future. Sinful
laughter is but misery mimicking happiness. Judge not
men by appearance. The most miserable may often show
the most merriment. A sorrowful heart lies under all that's
gay, and jovial, and sparkling in the circles of wickedness.
"Mirth at a funeral," says Dr. Young, "is scarce more in-
decent or unnatural than a perpetual flight of gaiety and
burst of exultation in a world like this, a world which ever
seems a paradise to fools, but is a hospital to the wise."
IT IS WRETCHED IN END.—"The end of that mirth is
heaviness." Sinful mirth will have an end. Its jestings
and carousings will not go on for ever. Disease, age,
decay, death, hush all laughter, and quench in deepest
gloom all the flashes of ungodly merriment. "The end is
heaviness." There is a terrible reaction. The glitter gives
way to gloom, the shout to shrieks. Is there any laughter
in the agonies of death? will there be any laughter
in hell?
Chap. XIV.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 231
Proverbs 14:14
The Misery of the Apostate,
and the Happiness of the Good
"The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways: and a good man
shall be satisfied from himself."
THERE are two important subjects here to be observed:
THE MISERY OF THE APOSTATE.—"The backslider in
heart shall be filled with his own ways." First: the des-
cription of the apostate. "He is a backslider in heart."
There is a sense in which all men are backsliders. Sin is
an apostacy. It is the turning away of the soul from virtue
and from God. The backslider here, however, refers to
one who, by God's grace, had been restored to moral good-
ness, but who had fallen away, "left his first love." Such
apostacy, or backsliding, is too general in the world; Judas,
Demas, Peter, David, are examples. The real backslider is
he that backslides in heart. There are many who seem not
to backslide in their conduct; their external life in relation
to the true thing continues the same as ever, but their heart
has changed. The backslider in the eye of God is the man
who apostatizes in heart. Secondly: The doom of the
apostate. "Filled with his own ways." Misery inevitably
follows his conduct. If he is restored he will suffer, he will
be "filled with his own ways." How deeply did David
feel this, and Peter too—how bitterly he wept. But should
he not be restored here, how much greater will be his
misery. He will be "filled with his own ways." This is
the punishment. The upas germ of sin ripened into a har-
vest. Combustible sin breaking into conflagration.
THE HAPPINESS OF THE GOOD.—"A good man shall be
satisfied from himself." Who is the good man? The man
who loves the supreme good supremely. Such a man "shall
be satisfied from himself." As the backslider's misery
springs out of himself, so the happiness of the good man
wells up in his own nature. The happiness of ungodly
men, such as it is, is not in themselves, it is something
232 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XIV
outside of them, their children, their business, their friend-
ships, their position, their property. Not so the happiness
of the good man, it is in himself, it is independent of cir-
cumstances. He carries it wherever he goes. It is a well
of water springing up into everlasting life. It is—
"What nothing earthly gives or can destroy,
The soul's calm sunshine and the heartfelt joy."—POPE
Proverbs 14:15-18
The Credulous and the Cautious
"The simple believeth every word: but the prudent man looketh well to his
going. A wise man feareth, and departeth from evil: but the fool rageth, and is
confident. He that is soon angry dealeth foolishly: and a man of wicked devices
is hated. The simple inherit folly: but the prudent are crowned with knowledge."
"SIMPLE" and "foolish" in these verses must be regarded
as convertible, and represent the same character. So also
the words "wise" and "prudent." We have, therefore,
two characters, the hastily credulous and the cautiously
believing.
THE HASTILY CREDULOUS.—"The simple believeth every
word." First: One of the strongest tendencies in man's
mental nature is his propensity to believe. It is one of the
most voracious appetites of the soul. The child opens its
mental mouth, hungering for tales from the nurse's lips,
and will eagerly swallow everything that is said. "As the
young birds," says a modern author, "instinctively open
their mouths for food, and their mothers not even once
since the creation of the world have thrown in chaff to
mock their hunger, so the trustfulness of children is the
opening of their mouth for truth. If we fling falsehood in,
and laugh at their disappointment, the Lord will require
it." Alas, this is done, and the child grows up to man-
hood disappointed, sceptical, and suspicious. (1) This pro-
Chap. XIV.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 233
pensity to believe implies a state of society that does not
exist. Were men born into heaven, were society free from
all error and deception, it would be not only a right, but a
beneficial thing to believe every word, to credit every utter-
ance, and to confide in every character. This is the state
of society for which man was created, but he has lost it.
He comes into a world of sham and falsehood. (2) This
propensity to believe explains the reign of priesthood.
Priestcraft feeds and fattens on the natural credulousness
of the soul. All the errors, superstitions, and absurdities
which have ever prevailed in connection with religion, may
be accounted for by the soul's hunger for things to believe.
Credulity ever has been and still is one of the curses of
the world. (3) This propensity to believe shows the easi-
ness of the condition on which God has made the salvation
of man to depend. "He that believeth shall be saved."
The act of faith is not only the easiest act for a man to
perform, but he has a strong tendency to its performance.
Hence there is no merit in the act, and Paul says, in
speaking of this condition, "that it is of faith that it may
be of grace."
Secondly: The thoughtless yielding to this tendency is an
immense loss. "The fool rageth and is confident." He
sees no danger, dreads no harm. He rushes recklessly
forward into mischief. He is passionate. He "rageth."
Counsels and warnings only irritate him. Advice, cautions,
and reproofs, fall on his soul as sparks on combustible
matter. They throw his whole nature into a raging flame
of passion. He is stubborn. He is "confident." What
does he care about your warnings? Nothing. He despises
you, he laughs at them. He is foolish. "He that is soon
angry dealeth foolishly," and he "inherits folly." In his
impetuous irritability he gives rash utterance to things
that bring back on him the utmost chagrin and confusion.
He is despised. "A man, of wicked devices is hated."
The man who has given way to his credulity becomes all
this. He is passionate, ignorant of the grounds of his
belief, he cannot brook contradiction, his opinions being
234 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XIV
prejudices, he is stubborn in holding them, and in all this
he is "foolish" and "hated."
THE CAUTIOUSLY BELIEVING. "The prudent man
looketh well to his going." True prudence is indicated by
two things—First: A dread of evil. "A wise man feareth."
True dread of evil is consistent with true courage. Few,
if any, displayed more heroism than Noah, yet, being
moved by fear, he prepared an ark." Evil, both physical
and moral, is a bad thing in the universe, and it is right to
dread it as we dread poisonous serpents and ravenous
beasts. True prudence is indicated by, Secondly: A
departure from evil. "He departeth from evil." Moral
evil is the heart of all evil, and this he forsakes. He
shuns it as an enemy to God and the universe. The
prudence is indicated by, Thirdly: Mental greatness. He
is "crowned with knowledge." Caution in believing is
necessary for three reasons. The strength of man's
tendency to believe, the prevalence of error in society, and
the damning influence of falsehood on the soul.
Proverbs 14:19
The Majesty of Goodness
“The evil bow before the good: and the wicked at the gates of the righteous."
THREE remarks are suggested by the social state indicated
in these words; the state in which the wicked are prostrate
in reverence and entreaty before the good.
It is a social state which SELDOM APPEARS TO BE.—The
wicked generally sit supreme in society, they have done so
through all past ages and are doing so now, and that to
a great extent even in what is called "Christian society."
The influence, the wealth, the rule of the world, appear
to be with the wicked. Evil seems still the "prince of the
Chap. XIV.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 235
power" of the social atmosphere. The good are for the
most part the destitute, despised, and oppressed. This
has always been to reflecting saints one of the greatest dif-
ficulties connected with the government of God. "Where-
fore doth the wicked prosper?"* "Wherefore are all they
happy that deal very treacherously?" "But as for me,
my feet were almost gone; my steps had well nigh
slipped. For I was envious of the foolish, when I saw
the prosperity of the wicked."†
It is a social state which ALWAYS OUGHT TO BE.—It ought
to be—First, As a matter of right. The good alone are
the truly dignified, the truly royal. Their lineage, their
inheritance, their characters, their friendships, their en-
gagements, are all regal. "They are kings and priests
unto God." There is more royalty in the hut of a godly
pauper than in all the palaces of unregenerate monarchs.
Secondly: As a matter of expediency. What is right is
always expedient. The wicked could not even live on
the earth without the good. Unmixed wickedness would
soon reduce our world to a Sodom and Gomorrah. The
good are "the salt of the earth." Governments never
stand long that are not fashioned by the principles of the
true. Evil, therefore, ought to "bow before the good."
It is a social state which INEVITABLY MUST BE.—First: con-
science necessitates it. Even the worst men now and here
are compelled by the laws of their moral nature to render
homage to the good. Chastity, truth, honesty, disin-
terestedness, moral heroism, where is there a conscience
that bows not to these? Secondly: retribution necessitates
it . When trials, and sufferings and dangers overtake the
wicked, do they not always go for refuge to the good?
They will cringe at their "gate," they will fawn at their
feet. "Give us of your oil, for our lamps are gone out."
How did the 260 souls bow before Paul, the prisoner,
amidst the dangers of the storm on the Adriatic Sea! He
became the moral commander of all on board as the perils
thickened around them.
* Jer. xii. 1-3. †Psalm lxxiii. 2, 3.
236 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XIV
Proverbs 14:20-22
A Group of Social Priniciples
"The poor is hated even of his own neighbour: but the rich hath many
friends. He that despiseth his neighbour sinneth: but he that hath mercy on
the poor, happy is he. Do they not err that devise evil? but mercy and truth
shall be to them that devise good."
THESE verses indicate certain principles which seem every-
where at work in the social system of our world. Here is—
INHUMANITY.—The poor is here spoken of as "hated,"
"despised," and injured by those that "devise evil."
There have always been men in society, and still are, who
hate and oppress the poor. There are many who have
professed great friendship to those in wealth, whom they
have despised when they have sunk into poverty. These
are what an old expositor calls "swallow friends, that
leave in winter." Why are the poor thus despised? First,
Because of selfishness. There is nothing to be got from
them—no money, no patronage, no fame. Their good
word goes not for much in the world. Their opinions are
neither quoted nor respected. Secondly: Because of pride.
Pride is a form of selfishness. It is not thought respectable
to notice the poor. A poor relation must be ignored. All
this is inhuman, and, therefore, sinful. "He that despiseth
his neighbour, sinneth." In such conduct there is sin
against the best feelings of our nature, against the ar-
rangements of God's providence, against Heaven's method
for developing benevolence amongst men. Here is—
SERVILITY.—"The rich hath many friends." There is a
keen satire in these words. There are base-natured people
in all Society, and their name is "legion," who court the
rich. Even in the "Christian world," as it is called, there are
men who will fawn on the man of purse, and flatter him
with adulations. Men, though swindlers in heart, are made
chairmen of their public meetings and presidents of their
societies. It is humiliating to see men, calling themselves
Chap. XIV.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 237
the ministers of Christ, cringing before the chair of the
wealthy, and cheering every utterance. All sect churches
teem with parasites. A more miserable spirit than this
know I not; unchristian, unmanly, most pernicious. Never
will Christianity be truly represented, until its disciples
shall practically regard intellectual and moral worth
united, as the only title to honour and position. "The
rich hath many friends." Professed friends, for if a man
has not the morally excellent and lovable in him, whatever
may be the amount of his wealth, the friends he gets will
only be the false and the fawning.
GENEROSITY.—"He that hath mercy upon the poor,
happy is he." There is mercy for the poor in Society. It
is seen in the numerous and varied benevolent institutions
that crowd Christendom. Those who have this mercy are
happy. First: In the approbation of their own consciences.
Mercy is an element of happiness. "It is twice blessed;
it blesses him that gives and him that takes," &c. They
are happy. Secondly: In the commendation of their God.
"Blessed is he that considereth the poor; the Lord will
deliver him in time of trouble."* "He hath dispersed, he
hath given to the poor, his righteousness endureth for
ever; his horn shall be exalted with honour."† Epicurus
well said "a beneficent person is like a fountain watering
the earth, and spreading fertility: it is therefore more
delightful and more honourable to give than to receive."
RETRIBUTION.—"Do not they err that devise evil, but
mercy and truth shall be to them that devise good?" Yes,
those that have devised evil against the poor will find,
sooner or later, that they have greatly erred. They will
find that the "measure that they meted out unto others
is meted back to them." On the contrary, "mercy and
truth shall be to them that devise good." The liberal
deviseth liberal things, and by liberal things shall he
stand. Read the fifteenth chapter of the Gospel of St.
Matthew, in order to see the retribution that the unmerciful
will meet with at last. Society is like the echoing hills.
It gives back to the speaker his words; groan for groan,
* Psalm xli. I. †Psalm cxii. 9.
238 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XIV
song for song. Wouldest thou have thy social scenes to
resound with music? Then speak ever in the melodious
strains of truth and love. "With what measure ye mete,
it shall be measured to you again."
Proverbs 14:23-24
Labor, Talk, Wealth
"In all Labour there is profit; but the talk of the lips tendeth only to penury.
The crown of the wise is their riches: but the foolishness of fools is folly."—
HERE we have—
PROFITABLE LABOUR.—"In all labour there is profit."
The word "all" here of course must be taken with limita-
tion, for ill-directed labour is not profitable. Labour is
profitable to our physical health. Exercise is one of the
fundamental conditions of corporeal health and strength.
Labour is profitable to our character. It conduces to force
of thought, energy of will, power of endurance, capacity of
application. Labour is profitable to our social comforts.
By honest, well-directed labour, man gets not only the
necessities, but the comforts, the luxuries, the elegances,
and the elevated positions of life. In all labour, then—
well directed labour—"there is profit." Every honest
effort has its reward. There is no true labour that is vain.
"It is only by labour," says Ruskin, "that thought can be
made healthy; and the two cannot be separated with im-
punity."
IMPOVERISHING TALK.—"The talk of the lips tendeth
only to penury." All talk does not tend to penury. There
is a talk that is profitable. The talk of the preacher, the
lecturer, the statesman, the barrister, more often tend to
affluence than to penury. The talk here is the talk of
useless gossip. The desire for talk in some people is
a ruling passion. Their tongues are in perpetual motion;
Chap. XIV.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 239
they are ever in search of listeners. Their highest pleasure
is in prosy, frothy, useless tattle. As a rule, in proportion
to the strength of this desire to talk, is the disinclination
to work, and hence penury comes. Sir Walter Raleigh
says, "He that is lavish in words is a niggard in deeds.
The shuttle, the needle, the spade, the brush, the chisel, all
are still but the tongue."
DIGNIFYING WEALTH.—"The crown of the wise is their
riches." The idea is that a wise man would so use his
wealth that it would become a crown to him. By using it
to promote his own mental and spiritual cultivation, and
to ameliorate the woes and augment the happiness of the
world, his wealth gives to him a diadem more lustrous far
than all the diamond crowns of kings. "But the foolish-
ness of fools is folly." This looked at antithetically means
that the wealth of a fool adds no dignity to his character.
Gotthold saw a bee flutter for a while around a pot of
honey and at last light upon it, intending to feast to its
heart's content. It, however, fell in, and, being besmeared
in every limb, miserably perished. On this he mused and
said, "It is the same with temporal prosperity and that
abundance of wealth, honour, and pleasure which are
sought for by the world as greedily as honey is by the bee.
A bee is a happy creature so long as it is assiduously occu-
pied in gathering honey from the flowers, and by slow
degrees accumulating a store of it. When, however, it
meets with a hoard like this it knows not what to do, and is
betrayed into ruin." Man! be thou like the bee abroad in
the meadows, drinking the nectar of flowers, sporting in
the sunshine and pouring some little music into the air,
rather than the bee with its wing crippled and its body sub-
merged even in honey!
240 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XIV
Proverbs 14:25
The True Witness
"A true witness delivereth souls: but a deceitful witness speaketh lies."
WE make three remarks on this sentence:
In judiciary matters the thing here asserted is NOT
ALWAYS TRUE.—The testimony of a true witness in a court of
justice, where the facts are criminatory must go not to the
deliverance but to the condemnation and ruin of the cri-
minal. Though he may be such a merciful man as to
desire intensely to save the prisoner, still because he is
"true," he must state the facts regardless of the results.
It is only when the facts are vindicatory the "true" witness
can deliver.
In the disposition of the mind the thing here asserted is
GENERALLY TRUE.—"It is probable," says an able expo-
sitor, "that the intended antithesis relates, not so much to
the actual fact of truth saving and falsehood condemning,
as to the dispositions and intentions of the faithful witness
on the one hand, and the lying witness on the other. The
faithful witness delights in giving testimony that will save
life, that will be salutary, beneficial to his fellow-creatures.
The lying witness will, in general, be found actuated by a
malevolent and wicked purpose, having pleasure in giving
testimony that will go to condemn the object of his
malice. The sentiment will thus be, that truth is most gene-
rally found in union with kindness of heart, and falsehood
with malevolence. And this is natural; the former being
both good, the latter both evil; falsehood is more naturally
akin to malice and truth to love."
In the evangelical ministry the thing here asserted is
Chap. XIV.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 241
INVARIABLY TRUE.—"A true witness" to Gospel facts "de-
livereth souls." The true work of a Gospel minister is that
of a witness. "Ye shall receive power after that the Holy
Ghost is come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto
me, both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria,
and unto the uttermost parts of the earth."* A true wit-
ness in the evangelical sense must be distinguished by
three things. He must be thoroughly conversant with the
facts. He must honestly propound the facts. He must live
in accordance with the facts. Such a witness "delivereth
souls." "Take heed unto thyself and unto the doctrine;
continue in them; for in doing this thou shalt save thyself
and them that hear thee."† Gospel facts are the great
redemptive forces in human history. Silently and con-
stantly as the laws of vegetation do they operate in the
moral soul of the world. Ever are they unloosening the
prison doors, breaking the fetters, and working out the
emancipation of human souls.
Proverbs 14:26-27
Godliness, Safety and Life
"In the fear of the Lord is strong confidence: and his children shall have a
place of refuge. The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, to depart from the
snares of death."
WE learn from these words—
That godliness is SAFETY.—"The fear of the Lord is
strong confidence." By "the fear of the Lord" is meant, as
we have frequently seen, no slavish emotion, nothing asso-
ciated with terror, suspicion, and forebodement. It is loyal
love and unbounded confidence, it exorcises all that is
servile and cowardly. It is the root of true liberty, it is
the sun of joy, it is the heart of heroism. The godly are
"his children" and they have "a place of refuge." "God
is their refuge and strength." They "will not fear though
the earth be removed." We make three remarks about
* Acts. i. 8. † I Tim. iv. i6.
242 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XIV
this "place of refuge." It is a provision against immense
dangers. The sinner is exposed to enormous evils, to
countless formidable foes. All the "principalities and
powers" of the dark worlds of rebellion are marshalled
against him. It admits of the greatest freedom of action.
A prison is a "place of refuge" as well as a fortress.
The inmate is well guarded by massive bars and granite
walls from all without, but he has no liberty. But here all
have ample scope for action. The sphere is as boundless
as infinitude. It is accessible at all times and for all persons.
Its gates are open day and night. It extends to men on
every zone of the globe. Yet foolish men will not enter.
They stand shivering without, while the overwhelming
storm is gathering. Ancient saints, confessors, and martyrs,
were in this "place of refuge," and they sang triumphantly
while the tempest raged at the height of its fury. Hear
the language of one of its inmates, "I am persuaded that
neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor
powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height,
nor depth, or any other creature, shall be able to separate us
from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."*
That godliness is LIFE.—"The fear of the Lord is a
fountain of life to depart from the snares of death." What
is said here of the fear of the Lord is said elsewhere.† Not
only life but a fountain of life,—abundant and perennial.
There is nothing circumscribed in the resources of a
genuinely religious soul. Its subjects of thought are as
vast as immensity, its objects of love are as boundless as
the perfections of Jehovah, its sphere of service and its
prospects of futurity are wider than the universe, immea-
surable as eternity. "The water that I shall give you shall
be as a well within you springing up to everlasting life."
In the life of the noble and the true—
"There's no night following on their daylight hours,
No fading time for amaranthine flowers:
No change, no death, no harp that lies unstrung,
No vacant place those hallow'd hills among."
R. MONTGOMERY
* Rom. viii. 38, 39. † Prov. xiii. 14.
Chap. XIV.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 243
Proverbs 14:28
The Population of an Empire
“In the multitude of the people is the king's honour: but in the want of
people is the destruction of the prince."
THE text teaches two things concerning the increase of
the population of an empire—
IT REFLECTS HONOUR ON THE GOVERNMENT.—Where
the population of a country thrives, three good things are
implied. First: Peace. Murders, insurrections, wars, and
violence in all its forms go to thin the population. Hence,
wherever it is found to multiply rapidly, the government is
more or less a reign of peace. Another good thing implied
when the population increases is,—Secondly: Sufficiency.
Scarcity of provisions, destitution, tend to starvation, and
often drive the people to emigrate to distant shores. A coun-
try where there is sufficiency of food for the people reflects
honour on the government. It shows scope for enterprise
and freedom in labour and trade. Another good thing implied
when the population increases is,—Thirdly: Salutariness.
Pestilence thins a population. Diseases spring from a
neglect and transgression of sanatorial laws. Where a
population grows, therefore, it shows that sanitary ordi-
nances are more or less respected and obeyed. Thus the
increase of a population in any country reflects honour on
the Ruler. "In the multitude of the people is the king's
honour." Another thing taught concerning the increase
of the population of an empire is,—
IT PRESERVES THE EXISTENCE OF THE GOVERNMENT.—"In
the want of people is the destruction of the prince." First:
The more people the more defence. The king whose subjects
are few and decreasing has but little protection. He is
exposed to invasions. Small states are powerless before
mighty empires. Secondly: The more people the more
revenue. Money, which is the sinew of war, is also the
244 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XIV
architect of noble institutions and the caterer to royal needs,
and tastes, and pageantries. Thus it is true, that "in the
multitude of people is the king's honour; but in the want
of people is the destruction of the prince." In the lan-
guage of another, "the prince who reigns over a nume-
rous, thriving, and contented people may be likened to the
proprietor of a vineyard, where all is rich, flourishing,
fruitful, productive, thus fully rewarding his expense,
time, and care, bringing him at once credit and profit.
Whereas the prince who sways his sceptre over a drained,
exhausted, and dispirited people, is like the proprietor
whose vineyard, for want of cultivation and judicious
management, becomes in its vines stunted and sapless, and
in its soil weedy, poor, and sterile—at once his disgrace
and its ruin."
Proverbs 14:29
Temper
"He that is slow to wrath is of great understanding: but he that is hasty of
spirit exalteth folly."
EVERY man has what is called Temper—a kind of inner
atmosphere in which he lives, breathes, and works. This
atmosphere has great varieties of temperature from zero to
blood heat, and great changes of weather too, severe and
stormy, cloudy and sunny. This temper, however, unlike
the outward atmosphere, is controllable by man. He can
regulate his temperatures and weathers. He can change
from the arctic to the torrid, from the tempestuous to the
serene and the reverse. The passage leads us to look at
temper in two aspects—
As CONTROLLED.—"He that is slow to wrath is of great
understanding." First: It requires the efforts of a great
understanding rightly to control temper. There are some
Chap. XIV.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 245
whose tempers are naturally choleric and stormy. They
are so combustible that the tiniest spark of offence will set
them in flames. Can such tempers be controlled? Some
are constantly pleading their natural dispositions as a pal-
liation of their imperfections and their crimes. It is vain
to do this. Our Creator has given us an understanding to
control our passions. As a rule, the force of intellect in
a man is always equal to his impulses. Where there are
mighty passions there is generally an understanding that
will match and master them. A sublimer sight one can
scarcely have than that of a man with powerful passions
majestically calm in irritating circumstances. Such a man
shows a "great understanding," an understanding that
bids the heaving billows within be calm, and they are at
peace. Secondly? It repays the efforts of a great under-
standing rightly to control temper. The highest victories
are the victories over temper. To raise our nature above
those vexatious feelings which the annoyances and con-
trarieties of life are calculated to excite, is the most remu-
nerative of labours. It gives a royalty to a man's being
before which meaner spirits bow. Moses at the Red Sea is
an example of disciplined temper, and Christ in the pre-
sence of His enemies was a sublime illustration of moral
self-command.* The passage leads us to look at temper—
As UNCONTROLLED.—"He that is hasty of spirit exalteth
folly." He exalts folly by giving passion the throne and
the sceptre, and placing the soul under her capricious and
violent dominion. What crimes are committed, what woes
created every day, by giving the reins to passion. Cowper
has very graphically described an ungoverned, fretful
temper,—
"Some fretful tempers wince at every touch:
You always do too little, or too much.
You speak with life, in hopes to entertain;
Your elevated voice goes through the brain.
You fall at once into a lower key:
That's worse!—the drone-pipe of an humble bee.
The southern sash admits too strong a light;
You rise and drop the curtain: now 'tis night.
* I Peter ii. 21-23.
246 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XIV
He shakes with cold: you stir the fire, and strive
To make a blaze;—that's roasting him alive.
Serve him with venison, and he chooses fish;
With sole—that's just the sort he would not wish.
He takes what he at first professed to loathe,
And in due time feeds heartily on both;
Yet, still o'erclouded with a constant frown,
He does not swallow, but he gulps it down.
Your hope to please him vain on every plan,
Himself should work that wonder, if he can!
Alas! his efforts double his distress:
He likes you little, and his own still less.
Thus, always teasing others, always teased,
His only pleasure is—to be displeased."
Proverbs 14:30
Heart and Health
“A sound heart is the life of the flesh: but envy the rottenness of the
bones."
"A SOUND heart" is a heart that gives its supreme affection
to the Supremely Good. All other hearts are, more or less,
rotten. Such a heart, the text informs us, is the condition
of physical health; it is the very "life of the flesh." True
science can demonstrate this fact in many ways. The fol-
lowing line of argument would conduct to the conclusion.
Physical health requires attention to certain laws; these
laws to be attended to must be understood;—the under-
standing of these laws requires study;—the proper study
of them is only insured by a supreme sympathy of heart
with the law-giver.
Every man's experience, as well as science, attests
this fact. The influence of the emotions of the heart
upon the state of the body, even the dullest recognises.
The passion of grief, disappointment, anger, jealousy, and
revenge, in proportion to their strength derange the bodily
system. On the other hand pleasurable emotions give
Chap. XIV.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 247
buoyancy and vigour to the body. "A merry heart doeth
good like a medicine, but a broken-hearted spirit drieth the
bones."
Quackery takes advantage of this fact, and often effects,
its cures by an endeavour to raise pleasurable emotions in
the heart. It is, of course, easy to show, that these
pleasurable emotions cannot exist in any elevated, true,
and lasting form, where the supreme affection is not
centred in God. From this undeniable fact the following
conclusions may be drawn:
THAT A MAN'S BODILY HEALTH, WHERE THE ORGANI-
ZATION IS NORMALLY GOOD, IS VERY MUCH IN HIS OWN
HANDS.—There are not a few in this artificial age, who, in
answer to enquiry after the state of their health, seem to
think that it is scarcely virtuous or respectable to say
that they are well. Robust health is not genteel or pious
with many in these days. Many of the complaints of these
people deserve more censure than pity. They spring from
certain unworthy and unvirtuous states of the heart.
Man is responsible for the condition of his heart, and in
Christianity gracious heaven has given us at once the
means and the motives to cultivate happy conditions of the
heart. "Keep thy heart with all diligence." We infer
from this fact again:
THAT CHRISTIANITY IS AN INDISPENSABLE AGENT IN
REMOVING MAN'S PHYSICAL DISEASES.—If a "sound
heart " be the "life of the flesh," and a "sound heart"
means a heart centering its affections upon God, then
Christianity is indispensable to this health. First:
Christianity is the only system that has generated in
depraved hearts this supreme affection. And, Secondly:
Christianity is the only system that ever can do so. We
infer from this fact further:
THAT MEDICAL SCIENCE WILL ALWAYS BE INEFFECTIVE
UNTIL IT PRACTICALLY CONCERNS ITSELF WITH THE
MORAL DISEASES AND CURES OF THE MIND.—With all
the parade of scientific progress in the medical realm,
mortality, it seems, is not lessened. The medical practi-
tioner should know (1) That it is unscientific to ignore the
248 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XIV
fact that moral evil is the source of all physical evil, and
(2) That it is unscientific to ignore the fact that there is no
agent to remove moral evil but Christianity. Furthermore
we infer from this fact:
THAT AS THE TRUE MORALITY OF THE WORLD AD-
VANCES, THE PHYSICAL HEALTH OF THE WORLD WILL
IMPROVE.—This seems an inevitable conclusion. Let all
the morally unwholesome passions of the world's heart be
exorcised, and let all its thoughts and emotions be such
only, as are the outgrowths of supreme sympathy with the
Supremely Good, and then physical health and hilarity will
everywhere prevail. Truly in those days the centenarian
will be considered a child in years. Whilst we rejoice in
sanatory science in its physical department, we feel assured
that its advance in its moral department is the most
essential. A drainage to carry away all the foul passions
of the heart is the desideratum. The man who is the most
successful in his efforts, through Christianity, to promote a
moral renovation of hearts, is the greatest philanthropist
and sucessful physician.
Proverbs 14:31
Godliness and Humanity
"He that oppresseth the poor reproacheth his Maker: but he that honoureth
him hath mercy on the poor."
GODLINESS and humanity, in other words piety and philan-
thropy, are essentially one. Wherever there is genuine
piety, there is philanthropy. Philanthropy is at once the
offspring, and the ritualism, of all true religion. "Pure
religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this,
to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction." *
The text teaches—
THAT INHUMANITY IS UNGODLINESS.—"He that oppres-
seth the poor reproacheth his Maker." There is a great
deal of inhumanity in the world, the poor have to endure
* James i. 27.
Chap. XIV.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 249
not a little "oppression." Superior force is exerted to
exact their labours for the most inadequate remuneration,
and thus to "grind their faces." He who does it "re-
proacheth his Maker." First: By disregarding that
identity of nature with which our Maker has endowed all
classes. There is no distinction of nature in rich and
poor. "God hath made of one flesh and blood all na-
tions." The same blood flows through all, the same attri-
butes belong to all; the same relations are sustained by
all; the same destiny awaits all. Secondly: By disregard-
ing those laws which our Maker has enjoined concerning the poor.
Everywhere we are exhorted to remember the poor, to
compassionate the poor, to help the poor. "And if thy
brother be waxen poor, and fallen into decay with thee,
then shalt thou relieve him; yea, though he be a stranger,
or a sojourner, that he may live with thee. Take thou no
usury of him, or increase, but fear thy God; that thy
brother may live with thee." "The poor shall never
cease out of the land; therefore I command thee, saying,
Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy
poor, and to thy needy, in thy land."† Inhumanity, then,
is ungodliness. "He that saith he is in the light, and
hateth his brother, is in darkness, even until now."‡
TRUE HUMANITY IS GODLINESS.—"But he that honoureth
him, hath mercy on the poor." Honoureth Him, How?
By loving Him supremely and serving Him loyally. "If
we love one another, God dwelleth in us." The way to
glorify God, to show our love for Him, is to serve our race.
There is, it is true, a fickle, sentimental, mercifulness for
the poor, which has no connection with godliness, but this
is not true humanity. True philanthropy is that which
sympathises with man, as the offspring of God, the victim
of moral evil, the child of immortality, and which conse-
crates itself in the Spirit of Christ to ameliorate his woes,
and redeem his soul, and this is godliness in its practical
development. "Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to
loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens,
and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every
* Lev. xxv, 35, 36. † Deut. xv. II. ‡I. John ii. 9.
250 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XIV
yoke? Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that
thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when
thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou
hide not thyself from thine own flesh."
A poet has thus described the spirit of true humanity:
"A sense of an earnest will
To help the lowly living,
And a terrible heart-thrill,
If you had no power of giving;
An arm of aid to the weak,
A friendly hand to the friendless:
Kind words, so short to speak,
But whose echo is endless:
The world is wide, these things are small;
They may be nothing, but they are all."
Proverbs 14:32
Death Depending on Character
"The wicked is driven away in his wickedness: but the righteous hath hope
in his death."
THE word death has different meanings to different men;
it is, in fact, a different event to different men. It is ever-
more to a man according to his character. The words
point us to death in relation to two opposite characters—
the wicked and the righteous. Observe—
Death in relation to the WICKED.—"The wicked is
driven away in his wickedness." Three things are im-
plied in these words concerning death. First: A very
solemn change. He is "driven away." Whence? From
all existing enjoyment, the beauties of nature, the circles of
friendship, the pleasures of life. From all secular engage-
ments, those of the farmer, lawyer, and statesman. From
all means of moral improvement: from churches, Bibles,
teachers. Whither? To the grave as to his body, to eternal
* Isaiah lviii. 6, 7.
Chap. XIV.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 251
retribution as to his soul. The death of the wicked implies—
Secondly: A great personal reluctance. He does not go
away; he is not drawn away: he is "driven away." All
the sympathies of his nature are centred in this life.
They are all twined round earthly objects as the ivy round
the old castle. They are all more deeply rooted in the
earth than the oak of centuries. He is in the world, and
the world is everything to him. The future world is
terribly repulsive to him. Not a ray of hope breaks
through its tremendous gloom: it is one dense mass of
starless thunder-cloud. This being the case, with what
tenacity he clings to life! He will not go, he cannot go;
he must be "driven." His death is not like the gentle fall of
the ripened fruit from its old branch in autumn, but like the
oak, uprooted, and dashed into the air by a mighty whirl-
wind. It is not like a vessel gliding to its chosen haven,
but like a barque driven by a furious wind to a shore it
shrinks from with horror. "Driven away!" The death
of the wicked implies—Thirdly: A terrible retention of
character. Is "driven away in his wickedness." He
carries his wickedness with him. This is the worst part of
the whole. He carries his vile thoughts, corrupt passions,
sinful purposes, depraved habits, and accumulated guilt
with him. He will leave everything else behind him but
this—this adheres to him. He can no more flee from it
than from himself. This wickedness will be the millstone
to press downward into deeper, darker depths for ever;
the poison that will rankle in the veins for ever, the fuel
that will feed the flames for ever. O sinner, lay down this
wickedness at the foot of the atoning and soul-renovating
Cross! Observe—
Death in relation to the RIGHTEOUS.—"The righteous
hath hope in his death." A man is not badly off under
any circumstances if he has hope in him. Hope in the
heart is a great magician; it changes all things to a man
by the wave of its wand. Outward clouds break into sun-
shine, outer thunder-storms sink into zephyrs, hope turns
prisons into palaces, darkness into light, and poverty into
wealth. Death is nothing to a man who has strong hope
252 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XIV
in Him. The strength of hope, however, depends always on
two things, (1) On the grandeur of its object—the smaller
the things hoped for, the weaker the hope, and the reverse.
Its power depends (2) On the strength of its foundation.
Hope for the grandest objects with weak reasons, will not be
a strong hope. The righteous man has these two conditions
of a strong hope. He has the grandest objects, the highest
liberty, the most enchanting beauties, the noblest services,
the sublimest friendships, the vision of God, the fellow-
ship of His blessed Son, and communion with the
illustrious of all mankind. For all this he has the strongest
ground—the unalterable promises of God, and the assur-
ances of his own heart. Give me this hope, and I shall
transform the "King of terrors" into an angel of mercy;
the dark, deep grave into a sunny pathway to a soul-tran-
sporting elysium.
Hast thou this hope, my brother? "The world," says
Archbishop Leighton, "dares say no more of its devices
than dam spiro spero (whilst I breathe I hope), but the
children of God can add by virtue of this living hope, dum
expiro spero (whilst I expire I hope)."
"The good mans hope is laid far, far beyond
The sway of tempests, or the furious sweep
Of mortal desolation."—H. K. WHITE
Proverbs 14:33
Reticence and Loquacity
"Wisdom resteth in the heart of him that hath understanding: but that
which is in the midst of fools is made known."
THE words suggest two things—
THAT RETICENCE IS OFTEN A MARK OF WISDOM.—We
say often, not always. It is sometimes a sign of stupidity.
There are those whose tongues are sluggish, because their
Chap. XIV.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 253
souls are dormant and benighted. It is sometimes a sigh
of sulkiness. There is a morose, unsocial nature, that tends
to silence. There is "a dumb devil." But reticence is a
sign of wisdom when "wisdom resteth"—or, as some read,
quietly "abideth in the heart." It is there biding its
opportunity; there for use, not for display. As a rule,
wise men are slow and cautious in speech. Two things
account for this. First: Humility. Great intelligence
tends to great humility, and humility is ever diffident. It
shrinks from parade. It courts the shady and the silent.
Pride, on the other hand, is garrulous. Its instinct is
display. Another thing that accounts for reticence in a
wise man is—Secondly: Conscientiousness. A truly wise
man is a conscientious man. Feeling the responsibility of
language, he weighs his words. He knows for every idle
word there is a judgment. The words suggest again—
THAT LOQUACITY IS EVER AN INDICATION OF FOLLY.—
"But that which is in the midst of fools is made known."
The emptier the mind, the more active the tongue. This
is exemplified in the prattle of children and the fluency of
unthoughtful preachers. Volubility is the offspring of
vacuity. It has been said that the editor of one of our
greatest daily journals will never trust a writer to write a
"Leader" on a subject which he has thoroughly compassed.
The reason is obvious. The article would lack that flip-
pancy, wordiness, and positivity which are attractive to the
common reader. Fools are vain and reckless; hence they
are loquacious.
Homer, in his Iliad, hath appointed unto dreams two
doors, the one a door of horn, which was the door of truth,
the other a door of ivory, which was the door of deceit, for
horn, as they say, may be looked through, but ivory, being
thick and dark, is not transparent. "These doors," it has
been said, "may very well be applied to the mouths of
men, which are as the indices and tables of the heart; for
to some it is a door of glass, which is soon broke open,
and easily giveth pass to a multitude of words, wherein
the folly of their hearts and minds is discerned; to others
it is a door of brass, firm and solid in keeping in their
253 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XIV
words with more care and circumspection, and showing
the firm solidity of their hearts and minds."
Proverbs 14:34-35
The Political and Social Importance of Morality
"Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people. The
king's favour is towards a wise servant: but his wrath is against him that causeth
shame."
THE text teaches—
The POLITICAL importance of morality.—"Righteous-
ness"—rectitude of character—"exalteth a nation:" but
"sin"—immorality—is "a reproach to any people." It is
here said, First: Rectitude "exalts" a nation. It exalts
it in many ways. In material wealth. Truth, honesty,
integrity, in a people are the best guarantees of
commercial advancement. Credit is the best capital in the
business of a nation as well as in the business of an
individual, and credit is built on righteous principles.
The more credit a nation has, the more business it can do;
and the more business, if rightly conducted, the more
will be the accumulation of wealth. It exalts it in
social enjoyments. According as the principles of veracity,
uprightness, and honour reign in society, will be the free-
ness, the heartiness, and the enjoyment of social intercourse.
It exalts it in moral power. The true majesty of a
kingdom lies in its moral virtues. The state whose heart
beats loyally to the eternal principles of rectitude gains an
influence upon the earth mightier than the mightiest
armies or battalions can impart. Secondly: Unrighteous-
ness degrades a nation. "Sin is a reproach to any people."
The prevalence of immorality amongst a people tends, in
the very nature of the case, to ignominy and ruin. Neither
Chap. XIV.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 255
commerce, nor arms, nor science, nor art, can long sustain
a morally corrupt people. Immutable Heaven has decreed
their destruction. "At what instant I shall speak con-
cerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up,
and to pull down, and to destroy it; if that nation, against
whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will
repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them. And at
what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and con-
cerning a kingdom, to build, and to plant it; if it do evil
in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent
of the good wherewith I said I would benefit them."
The text teaches—
The SOCIAL importance of morality.—"The king's favour
is towards a wise servant, but his wrath is against him
that causeth shame." The idea is, that the king, the man
worthy of the name, will treat his servants according to
their character. The king's servants either mean his
ministers of state, those who serve him in his regal
capacity, or those who attend upon him in his more
private and domestic relations. Rectitude in his service
will be pleasing to him, and honourable to him in either
case. All employers throughout society are the best served
by those whose characters are distinguished by unswerving
truth and incorruptible honesty. Few kings, however
fallen in character, have so far gone as to feel any real
respect for fawning sycophants and unprincipled time-
servers. He serves best and is honoured most, whether
he is engaged in the interest of a state, a business, or a
family, whose conduct in all things is controlled by
righteousness. This subject teaches, First: That men who
are ruled by righteousness are the men most to be valued in a
country. It is not the warrior, the merchant, or even the
man of science and art, that are the most valuable to a
state. It is the man of goodness. Goodness is to a
country what the breeze is to the atmosphere, preventing
stagnation and quickening the blood of the world.
Secondly: That the promotion of true morality is the best way
to promote the interests of a state. A healthy press, useful
* Jer. xviii. 7-10.
256 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XV.
schools, enlightened pulpits, to promote these is to give
peace, dignity, and stability to kingdoms.
"What constitutes a state?
Not high-raised battlement, or laboured mound,
Thick wall, or moated gate;
Not cities proud, with spires and turrets crown'd,
Nor bays and broad-armed ports,
Where, laughing at the storm, rich navies ride:
Nor starred and spangled courts,
Where low-browed baseness wafts perfume to pride.
No! Men—high-minded men."—SIR WILLIAM JONES
Proverbs 15:1-2
Words
"A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger. The
tongue of the wise useth knowledge aright: but the mouth of fools poureth out
foolishness."
FEW writers, ancient or modern, say so much about words
as Solomon, and no man of extensive observation and deep
thought can fail to be impressed with the importance of
words. "Words," says Richter, "are often everywhere as
the minute hands of the soul, more important than even the
hour hands of action." "Men suppose," says the father of
the inductive philosophy, "that their reason has command
over their words; still it happens that words in return
exercise authority and reason." The text leads us to con-
sider two things—
THE PACIFYING AND IRRITATING POWER OF WORDS.—
First: The pacifying power of words. "A soft answer
turneth away wrath." Several things are implied in this
short utterance. (1) The existence of anger against you.
You have an enemy. There is a man whose soul is fired
with indignation, speaking to you either by pen or tongue.
Whether that anger has been justly excited by you, it
matters not: there it is, in thunder and flame. (2) The
Chap. XV.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 257
importance of turning away this anger. It is a very unde-
sirable thing to have indignation burning in an immortal
breast toward you; it is not well to be hated and damned
by any one, not even by a child. (3) There is an effective
method of turning away wrath. What is that? A "soft
answer." A response free from excitement and resentment,
uttered in the low tone of magnanimous forbearance. At
first, in some cases, the display of such calmness towards
an enraged enemy may only intensify the passion. But
when reflection comes, as come it must, the "soft answer"
works as oil on the troubled waves. A "soft answer," like
a conducting-rod, can carry the lightning of an enemy into
the ground, and bury it in silence. Among many examples
of the pacifying power of soft words, the reply of Gideon
to the exasperated men of Ephraim may be given, and also
the conduct of Abigail to David.* Secondly: The irritat-
ing power of words. "Grievous words stir up anger."
There is a great tendency in the insulting and denunciatory
language of your enemy to induce you to use "grievous
words," but the use of such words will, instead of mending
the matter, increase the evil, and "stir up anger." They
only add fuel to the flame. There are men whose natures are
so unsocial and splenetic, that their words are always of
that "grievous" sort that "stir up anger." Wherever
they go, they scratch and irritate. The curs bark, and even
the calm mastiffs get excited.
THE RIGHT AND WRONG USE OF WORDS.—First: The
right use of words. "The tongue of the wise useth know-
ledge aright." A similar but not identical sentiment has
more than once come under our notice in our path through
this book.† Knowledge is good; it is well to have the
mind richly furnished with useful information, but this
good thing may be, and often is, wrongly used by words.
There is a right use of knowledge in speech. What is
that? It is to communicate it at right times, to proper
persons, in suitable places, and in a becoming spirit.
Secondly: The wrong use of words. "The mouth of fools
poureth out foolishness." "Out of the abundance of the
* I Sam. xxv. 32, 33. † See chaps. xii. 23; xiii. 16; xiv. 33.
258 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XV.
heart the mouth speaketh." The fool's heart is full of
folly, and folly flows from his lips. Foolish words are
either words without meaning, empty jargon, or words of
bad meaning, the vehicles of filth, insubordination, and
blasphemy. Bishop Home well remarks that, "Among
the sources of those innumerable calamities which from
age to age have overwhelmed mankind, may be reckoned
as one of the principal, the abuse of words."
Proverbs 15:3
God's Inspection of the World
"The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the
good."
THE language of the Bible is often very anthropomorphic.
It represents the Infinite Spirit as having the bodily parts
of men—hands, feet, head, back, heart, eyes, ears, and
tongue. It also sometimes represents Him as having the
mental passions of men—revenge, jealousy, indignation,
hope, disappointment, and regret. All this, of course, is an
accommodation to our limited faculties and modes of
thought. The text is an instance of this feature of Divine
revelation; it speaks of the "eyes of the Lord." The lan-
guage expresses that which undoubtedly belongs to God,
an infinite capacity of discernment. He knows at every mo-
ment everything, in every place. The Bible is full of this
doctrine."* The text suggests a few thoughts concerning
God's inspection of men.
The inspection is PERSONAL.—He does not inspect men
through the eyes of others, but through his own. We often
get our knowledge of men from the observation of others.
Earthly kings get their knowledge of their subjects thus;
but God gets His knowledge from Himself. When He
* Psalm cxxxix.; Proverbs v. 21.; Jer. xvi. 17; 2 Chron. xvi. 9.
Chap. XV.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 259
comes to judge the world, He will not, like earthly judges,
depend for information upon tire testimony of witnesses.
No one will be able to give Him any fresh information;
no eloquence will change the judgment that He has
formed. He knows all "of Himself."
His inspection is UNIVERSAL.—"The eyes of the Lord
are in every place." There is no place where they are not:
on ocean, on land, in society, and in solitude, in the
bustle of business, and in scenes of recreation; wherever
we are, His eyes are. We cannot go from those eyes, we
cannot escape their glance an instant. If we ascend to
heaven, they are there; if we plunge into hell, they are
there. They penetrate the lowest abysses; they peer into
the profoundest darkness.
"What can 'scape the eye
Of God, all-seeing, or deceive His heart
Omniscient?"—MILTON
The inspection is THOROUGH.—"Beholding the evil and
the good." There is nothing in the history of man that is
not either good or evil. There is no third, no neutral
quality. He knows all the good and all the evil in the
most incipient, as well as in the most developed stages.
"There is not a word on our tongue, but, O Lord, thou
knowest it altogether." This subject urges, First; Courage
for the good. Ye men of truth and virtue, who struggle here
against mighty odds, take courage under your trials and
afflictions. The great Master sees you. His eyes are
on you—take heart. The subject urges, Secondly: A
warning for the wicked. "Because sentence against an
evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the hearts of
the sons of men are fully set to do evil." Because of the
delay, conclude not, O sinner, that thy conduct has escaped
the notice of the just God. Judgment is coming. The
subject urges, Thirdly: Circumspection for all. Since God's
eyes are always on us, let us "walk circumspectly, not as
fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days
are evil."
"How dreadful," says Dr. J. Todd, "is the eye of God
on him who wants to sin! Do you know about Lafayette,
260 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XV.
that great man who was the friend of Washington? He
tells us that he was once shut up in a little room in a
gloomy prison for a great while. In the door of his little
cell was a very small hole cut. At this hole a soldier was
placed day and night to watch him. All he could see was
the soldier's eye, but that eye was always there. Day and
night, every moment when he looked up, he always saw
that eye. Oh, he says, it was dreadful! There was no
escape, no hiding; when he laid down, and when he rose
up, that eye was watching him. How dreadful will the
eye of God be on the sinner as it watches him in the eternal
world for ever!"
Proverbs 15:4, 7
Speech
"A wholesome tongue is a tree of life: but perverseness therein is a breach
in the spirit. . . The lips of the wise disperse knowledge: but the heart of the
foolish doeth not so."
IT would seem that Solomon could not say enough about
speech; it occurs to him again and again. As he thinks
of it, some new point strikes him, and he notes it down.
Let us notice what he here says about the speech of the
wise and the foolish:
The speech of the WISE.—First: It is a healing speech.
The "wholesome tongue," or, literally, as in the margin, a
"healing tongue," "is a tree of life." There are wounded
souls in society; souls wounded by insults, slanders,
bereavements, disappointments, losses, moral convictions.
There is a speech that is healing to those wounds, and
that speech is used by "the wise." There are societies,
too, that are wounded by divisions, animosities; the social
body bleeds. There is a speech which heals social
divisions, and "the wise" employ it. Secondly: It is a
living speech. It is "a tree of life." It is at once the
Chap. XV.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 261
product and producer of life. The speech of the wise is
not the vehicle of sapless platitudes, it is the offspring of
living conviction. It is a germ falling from the ever-
growing tree of living thought: it lives and produces life.
"Cast forth," says Carlyle, "thy act, thy word, into the
everlasting, ever-growing universe: it is a seed-grain that
cannot die, unnoticed to-day; it will be found flourishing
as a banyan grove—perhaps, alas! as a hemlock forest,
after a thousand years." But the word of the wise is not
as a hemlock seed; it is a seed that falls from that "tree of
life," which is to be the healing of the nations. Thirdly:
It is an enlightening speech. "The lips of the wise disperse
knowledge." The words of the wise are beams reflected
from the great Sun of Truth, and they break upon the
darkness with which error has clouded the world. Solomon
was himself an exemplification of this enlightening speech.
"He taught the people knowledge; yea, he gave good
heed, and sought out, and set in order many proverbs.
The preacher sought to find out acceptable words; and
that which was written was upright, even words of
truth."*
The speech of the FOOLISH.—First: The speech of the
foolish is a wounding speech. "Perverseness therein is a
breach in the spirit." The unkind slanders, irritating
words, of wicked men, have often made a "breach in the
spirit" of individuals, societies, and commonwealths. Many
a female servant in our England will show you by her
haggard and desponding looks what breaches have been
produced in her spirit by the querulous and ill-tempered
words of her mistress even in one short month. There
are annoying, nagging words used by masters, parents,
husbands, wives, that slowly kill people, and their authors
should be denounced as murderers. The poison of asps is
on their lips, and their words instil the venom into the
constitutions of their listeners. Secondly: The speech of
the foolish is an empty speech. "The heart of the foolish
doeth not so." "The heart" is here the antithesis to the
"lips." The meaning unquestionably is, that the foolish
* Eccles. xii. 9, 10.
262 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XV.
man does not disperse knowledge, but that the wise does.
The fool has no knowledge to disperse. He has never
sought after knowledge, therefore is ignorant; and, being
ignorant, his speech cannot enlighten.
Proverbs 15:5-6
Diverse Families
"A fool despiseth his father's instruction: but he that regardeth reproof is
prudent. In the house of the righteous is much treasure: but in the revenues
of the wicked is trouble."
THESE two verses are a domestic sketch. Two families
appear before us. In the one there is filial folly; in the
other, filial wisdom: in the one, enjoyable riches; in the
other, troublesome wealth.
THERE ARE FILIAL FOLLY AND FILIAL WISDOM.—Notice
—First: Filial folly. "A fool despiseth his father's in-
struction." Why is he a fool for doing it? A father's
instruction is the best kind of tuition. (1) It is authorita-
tive. A father has a right to instruct his child. The
Eternal Himself commands him to "train up a child in the
way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart
from it." (2) It is experimental. He seeks to give to his child
what he has learnt not merely from books or from other
men, but from his own long-tried and struggling life. (3)
It is loving. Who feels a deeper interest in his son than
he? His counsels are dictated by the deepest and divinest
affections of the human heart. What egregious folly it is,
therefore, for a son to despise such instruction! Despise—
not merely neglect, or reject, but to regard it with contempt.
A state of mind lost to everything that is true and noble
in sentiment. Notice, Secondly: Filial wisdom. "He
that regardeth reproof is prudent"—wise. It is wise
because it is one of the best means to avoid the evils of
Chap. XV.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 263
life. A father's instruction points out the slippery places
in the path of life, the rocks ahead on the trackless voyage.
It is the best means to attain the possible good. A
"father's instruction" will point to the direction where the
good things lie. That son is wise therefore who attends to
a father's admonitions.
THERE ARE ENJOYABLE RICHES AND TROUBLESOME
WEALTH.—First: There are enjoyable riches. "In the house
of the righteous is much treasure." Whatever is possessed
in the house of the righteous, whether children, friends,
books, money, is a treasure. "A little that a righteous
man hath is better than the riches of many wicked." The
righteous man enjoys what he has. His treasures have
been righteously won, are righteously held, and righteously
used, and in all he has righteous enjoyment. Secondly:
There is troublesome wealth. "In the revenues of the
wicked is trouble." The wealth of the wicked, instead of
yielding real happiness engenders anxieties, jealousies,
apprehensions, and greatly trouble the spirit. The wicked
man often in getting his riches has trouble. He has to go
against the dictates of his conscience, and to war with the
nobler instincts of his being. In keeping them, too, he has
trouble. He holds them with a nervous grasp, fearing lest
they should be snatched from his clutch. In leaving them
he has trouble. His wealth gives terror to his dying-bed.
"There is a sore evil which I have seen under the sun,
namely, riches kept for the owners thereof, to their hurt."
"Gold will make black white:
Wrong right: base noble: old young: coward valiant:
Plucks stout men's pillows from below their heads.
This yellow slave
Will knit and break religions; bless the accurst:
Make the hoar leprosy ador'd: place thieves,
And give them title, knee, and approbation
With senators on the bench.”—SHAKESPEARE
264 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XV.
Proverbs 15:8-11
The Man-ward Feeling and
the Infinite Intelligence of God
"The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD: but the prayer
of the upright is his delight. The way of the wicked is an abomination unto
the LORD: but He loveth him that followeth after righteousness. Correction is
grievous unto him that forsaketh the way: and he that hateth reproof shall die.
Hell and destruction are before the LORD: how much more, then, the hearts of
the children of men?"*
THE MAN-WARD FEELING of God.—The text speaks of
"abomination" and "delight" in God. He is not a being
of sheer intellect, One that sees all and feels nothing; in-
different alike to the good and the bad, to the happy and
the miserable. He has a heart. Within Him there is an
infinite ocean of the tenderest sensibilities. The text
teaches us that he has man-ward feelings—feelings that
have relation to sinful men on this little planet. This is
wonderful, wonderful that man should affect the heart of
the Infinite! Three things are here suggested concerning
this man-ward feeling, First: It is mingled. There is
"abomination" and "delight." His feelings in relation
to man partake of the agreeable and the disagreeable,
How the Infinite can feel anything like sadness we know
not, the idea transcends our loftiest thoughts; but the Bible
speaks of Him as being "grieved," "troubled," and as
"repenting." There is an undertone, an awful wail of
sadness in some of the utterances of the Bible. It is
taught that His man-ward feeling, Secondly: Has respect
to character. His abomination is toward the "wicked," and
his "delight" is toward the "upright." "The sacrifice
of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord." The wicked
make sacrifices sometimes from custom, sometimes from
fear, but their sacrifices, however costly in their nature, and
Scriptural in their mode and form of presentation, are
* The seventh verse has been discussed in a previous Reading.
Chap. XV.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 265
evermore an "abomination." Their sacrifice is an acted
lie, and is an offence against the Omniscient. On the con-
trary, the "prayer of the upright is His delight, and He
loveth him that followeth after righteousness." To Daniel
the angel said, "At the beginning of thy supplication the
commandment came forth, and I am come to show thee
that thou art greatly beloved." Of Cornelius it was said,
"Thy prayer and thy alms are come as a memorial before
the Lord."† So pleasing is the prayer of the good to the
Great Father, that "He seeketh such to worship him."
That the Infinite cannot look at the good and the bad with
the same feeling is clear from the testimony of universal
conscience, from the history of providential judgments, and
from the declarations of holy Scripture. It is taught that
God's man-ward feeling expresses itself in human experience.
"Correction is grievous unto him that forsaketh the way;
and he that hateth reproof shall die." There are wrapt in
these words three great principles—wrong must meet with
suffering,—the man that forsaketh the way must have
correction. Suffering must develop character, to the wicked
it is "grievous," and he hateth reproof. He murmurs,
rebels, and is full of resentment to God. On the contrary
it is implied that the righteous accept it in the proper spirit
of resignation and acquiescence. The third principle here
implied is that character must determine destiny, "he that
hateth reproof shall die." But the point to be here observed
is that all this experience in man in relation to the right and
the wrong, expresses God's feeling. There must be punish-
ment for sin. Punishment is God's abomination working in
violated law.
THE INFINITE INTELLIGENCE OF GOD.—"Hell and
destruction are before the Lord; how much more then the
hearts of the children of men?" Three things are implied
in this wonderful passage. First: That the human heart
has secret alysses within it. "The heart is deceitful above
all things, and desperately wicked who can know it." ‡
So profound are some of the secret things of the soul that
man does not know his own heart. Circumstances often
*Daniel v. 22. ‡Acts x. †Jer. xvii. 9.
66 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XV.
bring up to life and power things of which he was utterly
unconscious before. "Who can understand his errors?"
Secondly: That the secret abysses of the human heart are not so
great as hell and destruction. Hell is the Sheol in Hebrew,
and the Hades in Greek; and it signifies the unseen world,
the great universe of spirits. And perhaps special re-
ference is here had to that section which is under the
ban of inexorable justice, populated by fallen angels and
ruined men. What secret abysses there are in lost souls!
We read of the depths of Satan. What depths are those?
Thirdly: God thoroughly knows the abysses of hell and destruc-
tion, and therefore He must be thoroughly conversant with the
human heart. "How much more, then, the hearts of the
children of men!" "Hell is naked before him, and destruc-
tion hath no covering before him," saith Job. His eye
peers into the deepest depths of hell. How thoroughly,
then, does he understand man! "I the Lord search the
heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according
to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings."`
"Search me, 0 God, and prove my heart,
E'en to its inmost ground:
Try me, and read my thoughts, if aught
Of evil there be found.
Yea, Lord, instruct my willing feet
The paths of ill to flee,
And lead me on the eternal way—
The way to heaven and Thee."
Proverbs 15:12
The Scorner
"A scorner loveth not one that reproveth him: neither will he go unto the
wise.”
THE general definition of scorn is that disdainful feeling or
treatment which springs from a person's opinion of the
meanness of an object, and a consciousness or belief of his
* Jer. xvii. 10.
Chap. XV.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 267
own superiority or worth. It is not necessarily bad.
Scorn for the mean and immoral is a state of mind both
virtuous and praiseworthy, but scorn for the true and the
right, the noble and the divine, is a state of mind akin to that
of the worst spirit in hell itself. It is to such the text re-
fers. The scorner here is one who scoffs at religion and
God. As this character has frequently come under our
attention in passing through this book,* we shall very
briefly state three things that are here implied concerning
him.
He REQUIRES reproof.—Truly if the scorner requires not
reproof; who does? He should be reproved, First: for his
self-ignorance. He who arrogates to himself a superiority
to divine teaching, is utterly unacquainted with his own
limited faculties, moral relations, and spiritual needs. Of
all ignorance, self-ignorance is the most inexcusable,
criminal, and ruinous. He should be reproved, Secondly:
For his impious presumption. The scorner sets his mouth
against the heavens. He dares not only to adjudicate on
the doings of God, but to ridicule the utterances of infinite
wisdom. Surely such a man requires reproof.
He SHUNS reproof.—"He will not go unto the wise."
Why? Because the wise would reprove him. The very
instinct of a truly wise man leads to the moral castigation
of such characters as scorners. The wise man cannot
tolerate such iniquity. The scoffer knows it, and he shuns
the society of the good. He will not read books that will
deal seriously and honestly with his character. He will
not attend a ministry that will expose his character in the
broad light of eternal law; nor will he join the society
that will deal truthfully with its members. The scorner
"will not go unto the wise." Not he. He shrinks from
the light. He has a horror of having his own proud con-
ceit and haughty imaginations denounced and brought to
contempt.
He HATES reproof.—"The scorner loveth not one that
reproveth him." He deems the man his enemy who tells
him the truth; hence, he hates the honest Christian. Albeit,
* See Reading on chap. xiv, 5, 6.
268 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XV.
O scorner! the man who will "ring thee such a piece of
chiding," as will make thee feel the moral turpitude of thy
character, is thy friend. The man to whom thou canst say,
"Thou turn'st mine eyes into my very soul, and there I see
such black and grained spots, as will not leave their tint,"
thou shalt feel one day to be the truest friend thou hast
ever met.
Proverbs 15:13-15
Human Hearts
"A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance: but by sorrow of the heart
the spirit is broken. The heart of him that hath understanding seeketh know-
ledge: but the mouth of fools feedeth on foolishness. All the days of the afflicted
are evil: but he that is of a merry heart hath a continual feast."
THE Bible speaks much about human hearts and much to
human hearts. It is a book pre-eminently for the heart.
Why? Because the heart is the spring of man's activities,
and the fountain of his history. In the text there is a
reference to different kinds of hearts. Here is the "merry"
and the mournful heart, the understanding and the foolish
heart.
Here is THE MERRY AND THE MOURNFUL HEART.—
Notice. First: The merry heart. By the merry heart we
shall understand the Christly cheerful heart; not the light,
frivolous heart of the thoughtless and the gay. Christ-
liness evermore fills the whole soul with cheerfulness.
Two things are said in the text of this "merry heart."
(1) It is a radiance to the face. It maketh "a cheerful
countenance." A man's countenance is a mirror in which
you can see his soul. Emotions chisel their features
on the brow. Man has an instinct to recognise this
fact. We are physiognomists from childhood, judging
character always from the face. This fact is a great
Chap. XV.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 269
advantage in our social life. Did men show no soul in
their faces their presence would be as uninteresting as
statues. Human society, if it could exist, would be oppres-
sively monotonous. This fact suggests also the true method
of beautifying the face. Beauty of countenance consisteth
not in features, or complexion, so much as in expression.
A genial, frank, sunny look is that which fascinates and
pleases the beholder. History and observation show that
in proportion to the moral depravity of countries is the
physical ugliness of the population. Hence, make hearts
cheerful by promoting Christianity, and you will make the
presence of men and women mutually more attractive and
pleasing. Stephen's Christianity made his face beam like
that of an angel. Another thing said of this "merry heart"
is, (2) It is a feast to the soul. "A merry heart hath a
continual feast." The gratitude, the reliance, the hope, the
love of Christian cheerfulness, constitute the soul's best
banquet. The banquet continues amidst material pau-
perism. "Although the fig-tree shall not blossom, neither
shall fruit be in the vines, the labour of the olive shall fail,
and the fields shall yield no meat, the flock shall be cut off
from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls, yet
I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my sal-
vation."* It is a "continual feast." Notice. Secondly:
The mournful heart. Two things are here said of the
mournful heart. It breaks the spirit. "By sorrow of
heart the spirit is broken." There are hearts over which
there hangs a leaden cloud of gloom. All is discontent
and foreboding sadness. This breaks the spirit. It steals
away all vigour and elasticity from the soul. The faculty
—rallying force—is gone; and the machine falls to pieces.
The mournful heart also curses the whole life. "All the
days of the afflicted are evil." The "afflicted" here are
those whose sorrow of heart has broken their spirit.
Truly this gloom turns the whole of a man's life into a
night with scarcely a star to relieve the encircling dark-
ness.
Here is THE UNDERSTANDING AND THE FOOLISH HEART.
* Hab. iii. 17.
270 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XV.
First: The one “seeketh knowledge." "The heart of him that
hath understanding, seeketh knowledge." The man who
hath a true understanding, an unsophisticated, unbiassed
heart, seeketh knowledge, the highest knowledge, the
knowledge of God, which is the centre and soul of all
science. Such was the heart of Nicodemus, who came at
night to Jesus in quest of truth. Such was the heart of Mary,
who sat at the feet of the Great Teacher; such also that
of the Bereans, who searched the Scriptures for themselves.
Secondly: The other "feedeth on foolishness." Souls, like
bodies, have different tastes. Some souls have a taste—
not a natural, but an acquired one—for "foolishness." They
have a relish for things which in the sight of reason and
God are foolish, they seize them with voracity, and with a
zest ruminate on them afterwards.
Which of these hearts throbs in thee, my brother? Men
have different moral hearts. Hast thou the cheerful or the
mourning heart, the understanding or foolish? Remember
that as thy heart, so art thou—so art thou in thy character,
in the universe, and before God.
Proverbs 15:16-17
The Dinner of Herbs and the Stalled Ox
"Better is little with the fear of the LORD than great treasure and trouble
therewith. Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, than a stalled ox and hatred
therewith."
THESE words present to us three subjects of thought. The
secularly little with the spiritually good, the secularly
much with the spiritually bad, and the better conjunction
for man of the two.
THE SECULARLY "LITTLE" WITH THE SPIRITUALLY GOOD.
—Solomon gives a specimen here of the secularly little—
"A dinner of herbs." A meaner repast one could scarcely
have—the mere food that nature gives the unreasoning
Chap. XV.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 271
cattle that feed in the meadow. The spiritually good he
describes as "the fear of the Lord"—a loving reverence
for the Great One. This is religion, this is moral goodness.
The picture he brings before us, therefore, is that of a good
man in great poverty. This has ever been, and still is, a
common sight. Some of the truest and the holiest men
that ever trod this earth have had to feed on such humble
fare as "a dinner of herbs." Lazarus, who found his home
in Abraham's bosom, was a beggar. The Son of God had
nowhere to lay his head." This shows two things, First:
That poverty is not always a disgrace. It is sometimes so.
When it can be traced to indolence, extravagance, and in-
temperance, it is a disgrace. But where you find it in con-
nection with the "fear of the Lord," it has nothing dis-
reputable about it. The very rags of the good are far
more honourable than the purple of the wicked. This
shows, Secondly: That there are higher rewards for virtue
than material wealth. If riches were the Divine rewards for
goodness, men would always be wealthy in proportion to
their spiritual excellence. But it is not so. There are
higher rewards for virtue than money. Spiritual free-
dom, a commending conscience, uplifting hopes, inspiring
purposes, fellowship with the Divine, these are the rewards
of goodness. Another subject here presented is—
THE SECULARLY "MUCH" WITH THE SPIRITUALLY BAD.—
Here is a specimen of the secularly much. "A stalled ox,"
not a single joint. This brings up to us the picture of a
man with his family and friends sitting around the table
enjoying a splendid banquet, a well-fed, well-cooked, well-
served ox, with all his attendant luxuries before him, but
he has no spiritual goodness, he does not "fear the Lord."
He has no love in him; spiritually he is "in the gall of
bitterness, and in the bonds of iniquity." This is a social
scene as prevalent as the former. Wickedness and wealth
we see everywhere associated; and this has been felt in all
ages, by the thoughtful, as one of the most painful and
perplexing enigmas in the government of God. "I was
envious," said Asaph, "at the foolish when I saw the pros-
perity of the wicked."
272 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XV.
The other subject here presented is—
THE BETTER CONJUNCTION FOR MAN OF THE TWO.—
"Better is little with the fear of the Lord than great trea-
sure and trouble therewith." Mark, he does not say a
"dinner of herbs" is better than a feast off the "stalled
ox," this would be absurd, contrary to the common sense
and experience of mankind. Poverty is not better than
riches, but the reverse. Poverty is a serious disadvantage,
and wealth in itself is a great blessing. But what he says
is this: it is better to be poor with religion, than to be
rich without it. Take two men, one shall be an averagely
rich ungodly man, the other an averagely poor and pious
one. Solomon would say that the condition of the latter
is better than that of the former, and truly so for two rea-
sons. First: His condition would be a more enjoyable one.*
He would have a higher happiness. His happiness would
spring from within, that of the other from without. The
happiness of the one, therefore, would be sensational, the
other spiritual; the one selfish, the other generous; the one
decreasing, the other heightening. The ungodly rich have
their "portion in this life," and in this life only. Secondly:
His condition would be a more honourable one. The one
is honoured for what he has, the other for what he is. The
one is honoured less and less as people get morally en-
lightened, the other more and more. The one is honoured
only here by the depraved, the other is honoured yonder by
angels and by God.
My poor pious brother, let not thy poverty oppress thee:
riches and poverty are more in the hand than in the heart;
"a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of things which
he possesseth." The contented are ever wealthy, the ava-
ricious ever poor. By thy dinner of herbs may rest the
foot of that Jacob's ladder, by which thou canst hold com-
pany with the skies, and exchange visits with the celestial.
* See HOMILIST, second series, vol. ii. p. 591.
Chap. XV.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 273
Proverbs 15:18
Social Discord
"A wrathful man stirreth up strife: but he that is slow to anger appeaseth
strife."
THE text leads us to consider three things:
The EVIL of social discord.—It is implied that strife is an
evil, and so it is. First: In its essence. Ill feeling is a bad
thing. It is opposed to the great moral law of the creation
—the law of universal love.
"Be not angry with each other;
Man is made to love his brother."
So said the poet postman of Devonshire; and the utter-
ance is divinely true. Souls are made for love. Con-
science and the Bible show this. Ill feeling is everywhere
prohibited, and love everywhere inculcated in the New
Testament. "He that loveth not, knoweth not God, for
God is love." It is evil—Secondly: In its influence.
Strife in a family, in a church, or in a nation, is most bane-
ful in its influence. It obstructs progress, it entails
miseries, it dishonours truth. Strife is one of the worst
of social fiends. It is the spawn of hell.
The PROMOTION of social discord.—How is it promoted?
By the malicious. "A wrathful man stirreth up strife."
Men can only give to society what is in them. They sow
their own passions, and like begets like; the wrathful
man produces strife. There are men and women in society
who are, somehow or other, terribly charged with the
malign. "The poison of asps is under their lips." They
are social incendiaries. By their temper, their inuendoes,
their slanders, they kindle, feed, and fan the flame of social
strife. Discord is the music of their souls. "Hatred
stirreth up strife."
The APPEASERS of social discord.—"He that is slow to
* See Reading on chap. x. 12.
274 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XV.
anger appeaseth strife." "A soft answer turneth away
wrath."* "It is an easy matter," says Plutarch, "to
stop the fire that is kindled only in hair, wool, can-
dlewick, or a little chaff: but if it once have taken
hold of matter that hath solidity and thickness, it soon
inflames and consumes—advances the highest timber
of the roof, as Ǽschylus saith; so he that observes anger,
while it is in its beginning, and sees it by degrees smoking
and taking fire from some speech or chaff-like scurrility,
he need take no great pains to extinguish it; but often-
times puts an end to it only by silence or neglect. For
as he that adds no fuel to fire hath already as good as put
it out, so he that doth not feel anger at the first, nor blow
the fire in himself, hath prevented and destroyed it."
As certain as water quencheth fire, love will extinguish
strife.
"Peace hath her victories
No less renown'd than war."—MILTON
Proverbs 15:19
Indolence and Righteousness
"The way of the slothful man is as an hedge of thorns: but the way of the
righteous is made plain."
THERE is a very important principle involved in this
antithesis. It is this: that indolence is unrighteousness. A
principle this, which, though generally overlooked, is obvi-
ously true, and of great practical importance. A lazy man,
though legally he may pay every man his due, is notwith-
standing dishonest. He lives on the labours of other men:
his life is a life of larceny. The divine law is, that if a
man does not work, neither should he eat. The slothful
servant Christ calls "wicked." The text indicates the ten-
dency of the indolent and the righteous.
THE TENDENCY OF THE INDOLENT IS TO CREATE DIF-
* See Reading on chap. xv.
Chap. XV.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 275
FICULTIES.—"The way of the slothful man is an hedge of
thorns." Deep in the moral nature of man is the feeling
that he ought to work; and the slothful man endeavours
to appease this feeling by making excuses. Whatever
way is pointed out for him to walk in, intellectual, agricul-
tural, mercantile, mechanical, professional, is full of
difficulties. He sees thorns lie thickly everywhere
before him. First: In the commencement he sees "thorns."
Though his lazy limbs are reluctant, his imagination is
active in creating difficulties. It plants hedges of
thorns, and they lie formidable in his prospect. Secondly:
In the pursuit he sees "thorns." He has commenced,
but he cannot go on. New thorn-bushes appear, and he is
afraid of being scratched. "The sluggard will not plough
by reason of the cold." A terrible evil is this indolence,
and a very prevalent one, too. "Indolence”, says Baxter,
"is a constant sin, and but the devil's home for temptations
and for unprofitable distracting musings." Ask me to
characterize indolence, and I would say it is the drag-
chain on the wheel of progress; it is the highway to
pauperism. It is the incubator of nameless iniquities, it is
the devil's couch.
THE TENDENCY OF THE RIGHTEOUS IS TO OVERCOME
DIFFICULTIES.—"But the way of the righteous is made
plain." Honest industry plucks up the real "thorns " from
the road; it levels and paves as it proceeds. What has it
not accomplished? It has literally said to mountains.
"depart," and they have departed. And in removing
these difficulties strength is gotten; the difficulties of
labour are, in truth, the blessings of labour. "Difficulty,"
says Burke, "is a severe instructor, set over us by the
supreme ordinance of a parental Guardian and Legislator,
Who knows us better than we know ourselves, and He
loves us better too. He that wrestles with us strengthens
our nerves, and sharpens our skill. Our antagonist is our
helper. This amicable conflict with difficulty obliges us to
an intimate acquaintance with our object, and compels us
to consider it in all its relations. It will not do for us to be
superficial."
276 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XV.
Proverbs 15:21-22
Contrasts
"Folly is joy to him that is destitute of wisdom: but a man of understanding
walketh uprightly. Without counsel purposes are disappointed: but in the mul-
titude of counsellors they are established." *
THERE seems to be a threefold contrast in these words.
FRIVOLITY AND PROGRESS.—(1) Frivolity. "Folly is
joy to him that is destitute of wisdom." He does not
merely practise his absurdities, but he rejoices in them.
He finds his paradise, such as it is, in the nonsense, the
fooleries, the empty gaieties, the painted bubbles of life.
These are as the "sweet morsel under his tongue." In
realities, especially those of a moral kind, he has no
pleasure, no interest. (2) Progress. "A man of under-
standing walketh uprightly." It is implied that the
frivolous man, who is destitute of understanding, makes no
progress in righteousness. The man of true wisdom moves
in the path of life with a soul erect in virtuous sentiments
and godly aims. He turns his eyes away from beholding
vanity. He has no delight in foolery. He pursues his
course, abhorring that which is evil and cleaving to that
which is good.
THOUGHTLESSNESS AND DELIBERATION.—(1) Thought-
lessness. "Without counsel." There are those who, either
from indolence, stupidity, or pride, act without advice.
They will not consult either their own reason by reflection,
or the judgment of others, who know life better than them-
selves. They are "without counsel," therefore, without
any true light within them, without any true guide in the
intricate journeys of life. (2) Deliberation. There are
those who do not only take counsel, but who seek as much
counsel as they can get. They have a "multitude of coun-
sellors." They act not from impulse, nor do they depend
entirely upon their own judgment. They submit their
* Verse 2.0 has been discussed in a preceding reading.
Chap. XV.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 277
plans to the opinions of others, they invite counsel. They
move on through life with calm and religious thoughtful-
ness.
DISAPPOINTMENT AND REALIZATION.—(1) Disappoint-
ment. The man "without counsel" finds that his "purposes
are disappointed." His crude projects of rash and hasty
formation were wrecked as soon as they were launched on
the sea of practical life. The thoughtless and foolish man
is doomed to have all his purposes in relation to pleasure,
true success, and lasting dignity, broken. Few things are
more distressing to men than a broken purpose. The
wreck of purpose is a terrible catastrophe to a soul. The
shores of wicked men's lives are thickly strewn with the
wrecks of broken purposes and disappointed hopes. (2)
Realization. "In the multitude of counsellors they are
established." It is implied, of course, that the counsellors
are wise men, and that their counsels have been well
weighed and carried out. In this way men's purposes get
established. They find their realization. He who makes
God his Great Counsellor, in passing through life, will
have his purposes fully established. All the moral archi-
tecture which his devout thoughts have sketched within
him, and which charm his imagination, he will have one
day fully embodied in the New Jerusalem, with pearly gates
and streets of gold.
Proverbs 15:23
Useful Speech
"A man hath joy by the answer of his mouth: and a word spoken in due
season, how good is it!"
SOLOMON turns our attention again to speech, and his
words here suggest two remarks concerning useful
speech:
IT IS A JOY-GIVING SPEECH.—"A man hath joy by the
answer of his mouth." Useful speech—speech which en-
278 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XV.
lightens, comforts, strengthens souls—affords no small
amount of real pleasure to the speaker himself. Three
things guarantee him "joy" in such speaking. The testi-
mony of his own conscience. Having spoken what he be-
lieved to be the true, the generous, and the fitting, his con-
science cheers him with its smiles. The sounds of his
truthful words wake heavenly melodies within. The mani-
festation of the benefit. When he sees that the men to
whom he speaks are evidently being improved in know-
ledge, in energy, and in true nobility, he has an unspeak-
able joy. He sees his words ripening into fruit, and he
"hath joy." The gratitude of his hearers. The apprecia-
tion of his hearers is no small joy. Ask the honest minis-
ter of the Gospel if the acknowledgments which from time
to time he receives from his audience of the useful effects
of his ministry upon their hearts hath not joy in it? "What
is our hope, our crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye
in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming?"*
Another remark concerning useful speech is—
IT IS A SEASONABLY UTTERED SPEECH.—"A word
spoken in due season how good is it." The value of a
word, however good in itself, depends in a great measure
upon its seasonable utterance. There is a time for every-
thing. It should be in season as far as the speaker's own
soul is concerned. Our souls have their seasons, and words
that would be suitable in one of their moods would not
be so in another. Words of consolation addressed to
us are worthless if our souls are not in sadness; words
of reproof are offensive if our souls are not deeply im-
pressed with the sense of the wrong to be reproached.
Words in season are words suited to soul moods.
Secondly: It should be in season as far as the hearer's
soul is concerned. Different men have different moral
tempers, and words that are suitable to one would not
be adapted for another; and the same man has different
moods or tempers at different times, the words, there-
fore, that would suit him at one period would be ill adapted
at another. The argumentative, the persuasive, the
* I Thess. ii. 19.
Chap. XV.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 279
guiding, the reproving word, must have its appropriate
season to be good. The words of Manoah's wife of
Abigail to David, the words of Naaman's servant to his
master, the words of Paul to the Philippian gaoler, are
all examples of words spoken in due season.* May we all
have the tongue of the learned, that we may speak as words
to him that is weary. "Let thy conversation," says
Quarles, "with men be sober and sincere: let thy devotion
to God be dutiful and decent: let the one be hearty and
not haughty: let the other be humble and not homely:
so live with men as if God saw thee: so pray to God as if
men heard thee."
Proverbs 15:24
The Way of the Wise
"The way of life is above to the wise, that he may depart from hell beneath."
THE way of the wise is AN ELEVATING way.—"The way
of life is above to the wise." It is above. The word
"above" is to be taken, not in its local sense, for that
would indicate a mere relative position. What is above to
one creature locally is beneath to another. Nor is it to be
taken in a secular sense. Wise men may reach elevated
secular positions, but very often their wisdom has led them
down to pauperism and prisons. It is to be taken in a
spiritual sense. When Paul commands us to "set our
affections on things above," he means not on suns, or stars,
or thrones, but on the things of spiritual worth and
grandeur. The things above mean the Divine principles,
the spiritual services, the vital alliances, the immortal
honours, of the great and holy kingdom of God. The wise
man's way is "above" to these. He presses towards the
* Judges xviii. 23. I Sam. xxv. 32, 33.
2 Kings, v. 13, 14. Acts xvi. 28-31. Isaiah xlv. 40.
280 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XV.
mark of true greatness. "Excelsior" is his motto in a
spiritual sense. He knows no pause. His destiny is a
moral hill. The zone reached to-day is his starting-point
for to-morrow. On its high lands that bound his horizon
to-day, he will stand with wider and sunnier prospects
to-morrow. His way is "above." "It doth not appear
what we shall be, but we know that when He doth
appear, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He
is.”
The way of the wise is A SOUL-SECURING WAY.—
“Depart from hell beneath." There is a hell. Whether
Solomon here points to the scene of retributive misery, or
to Sheol, the grave, such a scene undoubtedly exists. Hell
is "beneath." It is beneath in a moral sense. Its ideas,
habits, fellowships, are all degrading. Every sin is a step
downward into intellectual darkness and moral debase-
ment. On the other hand, every step of the wise is a
departure from this hell. With it he leaves it further in
the rear. What myriads of moral leagues lie between the
saints in heaven and this hell "beneath"! And these
leagues are ever increasing. It is said that Christ shall
separate the good from the bad on the Last Day, as the
shepherd separateth his sheep; the one "shall go into
everlasting punishment, but the other to life eternal."
This separation is going on now. The good and the bad
are here parting company, going farther and farther from
each other continually; the good are rising higher and
higher on the right hand in the kingdom prepared for
them: while the evil are now on the left hand, and going
deeper and deeper "into everlasting punishment with the
devil and his angels."
Chap. XV.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 281
Proverbs 15:25-26
The Procedure and Propensity of God
"The LORD will destroy the house of the proud: but he will establish the
border of the widow. The thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to the
LORD: but the words of the pure are pleasant words."
"From the style of the antithesis between the proud"
and the "widow," we are naturally led to conceive a special
allusion to the haughty oppressor of the desolate and
unprotected—to the overbearing worldling, who insolently
abuses his power in lording it over his poor dependents."
THE PROCEDURE OF GOD.—The Eternal is ever at work.
He is never at rest. "He fainteth not, neither is weary."
He acts, not from caprice, but from a plan which His own
infinite intellect has mapped out for Him, stretching on from
eternity to eternity. He sees the end from the beginning.
His course is essentially benevolent, absolutely wise, and
therefore unalterable. How does that course affect men?
The text suggests—First: That it is ruinous to the proud.
"The Lord will destroy the house of the proud." It is a,
decree unalterable and resistless, that those who exalt them-
selves shall be abased. The soul that towers in its own
pride must inevitably come down sooner or later. The text
suggests,—Secondly: That it is salvation to the humble.
"He will establish the border of the widow." The word
"widow" here suggests that the proud, spoken of in the
first part of the verse, has special reference to the ruthless
oppressor. Jehovah has special regard for the widow and
the fatherless. He will exalt the widow. "He hath
showed strength with his arm, he hath' scattered the proud
in the imagination of their hearts. He hath taken down
the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low
degree."* Thus, as sure as God moves on through the
world, the proud will be brought down and the humble
exalted.
* Luke i, 51, 52.
282 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XV.
THE PROPENSITY OF GOD.—The Eternal has a heart.
He has sensibilities, and as we have elsewhere seen,
He has feelings in relation to man. First: He has a
loathing towards the thoughts of the wicked. "The thoughts
of the wicked are an abomination unto the Lord." Wicked
men have thoughts, and what thoughts are theirs?
They are hells in embryo. God knows their thoughts.
He peers into their deepest recesses. He understands
them all "afar off," and they are repugnant to His nature.
"They are an abomination." His holy nature recoils from
them with an ineffable disgust. Secondly: He has a
peasure in the words of the good. "The words of the pure
are pleasant words." Or, as the margin has it—"words of
pleasantness." Whether they are words of counsel, words
of reproof, words of prayer, they are all pleasant to the
Divine ear.
"They that feared the Lord snake often one to another;
and the Lord hearkened, and heard it, and a book of
remembrance was written before him, for them that feared
the Lord, and that thought upon his name." "And they
shall be mine, saith the Lord of Hosts, in that day when I
make up my jewels: and I will spare them, as a man
spareth his own son that serveth him."
Proverbs 15:27
The Evils of Covetousness
and the Blessedness of Generosity
"He that is greedy of gain troubleth his own house; but he that hateth gifts
shall live."
THE EVILS OF COVETOUSNESS.—"He that is greedy of
gain troubleth his own house." How does the covetous
man trouble "his own house"? In many ways. First:
* Mal. iii. 16, 17.
Chap. XV.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 283
Sometimes by niggardly provision for the wants of his house.
He frets at every outlay; he grudges every comfort. His
hand is ever open to grasp, never to give. Secondly:
Sometimes by his miserable temper he disturbs the peace
of the house. The temper and bearing of a covetous man
produce disgust in all with whom he associates. Then,
too, his irritability, anxiousness, and niggardly ways, false-
hoods, over-reachings, which are ever associated with
covetousness, pain all hearts within his circle. Thirdly:
Sometimes by his reckless speculations he brings ruin on his
house. His greed of gain urges him often into hazardous
enterprizes. These sometimes break down, and in their
crash ruin his family. Lot, Achan, Saul, Ahab, Geliazi,
are examples of men who have troubled their house by their
covetousness. "Woe to him that coveteth an evil
covetousness to his house, that he may set his nest on high,
that he may be delivered from the power of evil."* "As
the partridge sitteth on eggs and hatcheth them not, So he
that getteth riches and not by right, shall leave them in the
midst of his days, and at his end shall be a fool."† "Re-
frain from covetousness," says Plato, "and thy estate
shall prosper."
The BLESSEDNESS OF GENEROSITY.—"He that hateth
gifts shall live." It is implied that the man "greedy of
gain," in the first clause, is a man anxious for gifts of any
sort, even bribes. By the man who "hateth gifts," here
we are not to understand one regardless of his own interest,
but one who would reject any amount of wealth that came
not to him in an honest and honourable way, a man who has
a stronger disposition to give than to receive. Such a
generous man, we are told, "shall live." He "shall live"
in the approbation of his own conscience. Conscience
smiles upon the benevolent heart. He "shall live" in the
love and esteem of his neighbours. Men are made to
admire and applaud the generous. He "shall live" in the
approval of his God. The man who rejects all earthly
good, offered to him in an unrighteous way, and with a
self-denying benevolence, follows duty, shall "receive an
* Hab, ii. 9. † Jer. xvii.
284 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XV.
hundredfold recompense in this world, and in the world to
come everlasting life." "He is good," says a French
author, "that does good to others. If he suffers for the
good he does he has better still; and if he suffers from them
to whom he did good, he is arrived at that height of good-
ness that nothing but an increase of his suffering can add
to it, if it proves his death his virtue is at its summit—it is
heroism complete."
Proverbs 15:28-29
The Righteous and the Wicked
"The heart of the righteous studieth to answer: but the mouth of the wicked
poureth out evil things. The lord is far from the wicked: but He heareth the
prayer of the righteous."
THESE verses present to us the righteous and the wicked in
relation to their speech and in relation to their God.
In relation to their SPEECH.—The speech of the righteous
is properly studied. "The heart of the righteous studieth to
answer." All speech should be studied. The old proverb
is "think twice before you speak once." But all studied
speech is not good; some study their speech in order to
misrepresent their own hearts, to lead others into temp-
tation, to indoctrinate with wrong sentiments, such is not
the studied speech to which Solomon refers. "The heart of
the righteous" man "studieth to answer," in order that his
speech may agree with his own thoughts and feelings,
and in order that it may be of real service to his
auditors. He feels so impressed with the awful responsi-
bility connected with the power of words and the
momentous influence springing from it, that he duly
ponders his utterances. He is "swift to hear, but slow to
speak." In contrast with this it is taught that the speech
of the wicked is reckless utterance. "The mouth of the
wicked poureth out evil things." There is no conscience
Chap. XV.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 285
in it, it comes forth unfiltered by moral reflection. Hence
his mouth is the vehicle of evil. "An evil man, out of the
evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil,
for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh."
The unchaste, ill-natured, profane, frivolous, immoral, all
that is foul and false in the heart, roll out in torrents from
the mouth of the wicked. "How can ye, being evil, speak
god things?" Unless the fountain be purified the stream
will ever be tainted; unless the tree be made good, the
pernicious sap at the root will give a tinge to the foliage
and a taste to the fruit. Would that men duly pondered the
tremendous influence of their words. Science affirms that
every movement in the material creation propagates an in-
fluence to the remotest planet in the universe. Be this as
it may, it seems morally certain that every word spoken on
the ear will have an influence lasting as eternity. The
words we address to men are written not on parchment,
marble, or brass, which time can efface, but on the in-
destructible pages of the soul. Everything written on this
imperishable soul is imperishable. All the words that have
ever been addressed to you by men long since departed,
are written on the book of your memory, and will be
unsealed at the day of judgment, and spread out in the full
beams of eternal knowledge. The righteous and the
wicked are presented here—
In relation to their GOD.—It is here taught that God is
morally distant from the wicked. "The Lord is far from the
wicked." What meaneth this? Essentially He is alike
near to all; all live and move in Him; and from Him none
can flee any more than from themselves. But morally he
stands aloof from the ungodly, and they from Him. The
very existence of moral beings runs with their sympathies,
and the sympathies of God and the sinner flow in opposite
directions. Hence they are at the antipodes. There is a
mutual recoil. The Holy Creator says to the unholy
creature, "Depart ye cursed," and the unholy creature
says to Him, "Depart from me, I desire not a knowledge of
thy ways." So immeasurable is the chasm between them
* Luke vi. 45.
286 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XV.
that it can only be bridged by the mediation of the Great
Redeeming Man.
It is here taught that God is morally near to the righteous.
"He heareth the prayer of the righteous." He "is near to
them that call upon him in truth." "He is nigh to them
that be of a broken heart, and saveth them that be of a
contrite spirit." "Prayer," says Dr. McCosh, "is like a
man in a small boat laying hold of a large ship; and
who, if he does not move the large vessel, at least moves
the small vessel towards the large one; so, though prayer
could not directly move God towards the suppliant, it will
move the suppliant towards God, and bring the two
parties nearer to each other."
Proverbs 15:30
The Highest Knowledge
"The light of the eyes rejoiceth the heart; and a good report maketh the
bones fat."
KNOWLEDGE is that information which the mind receives,
either by its own studies and experience, or by the tes-
timony of others. It is of different degrees of value,
according to the order of subjects which it reveals to the
mind, and the strength of the testimony by which they are
commended. God is the highest subject of knowledge,
and evidences of His being amount to the strongest of all
demonstrations. Hence, the knowledge of Him is the
highest knowledge. All other knowledges to the soul are
but stars in its firmament; this is the Sun, all-revealing,
all-quickening, flooding the soul with life and beauty.
The text suggests two facts in relation to this knowledge.
It is CHEERING.—"The light of the eyes rejoiceth the
heart, and a good report maketh the bones fat." We take
the expression "good report" as expressing not merely a good
reputation or good tidings, but as expressing good know-
Chap. XV.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 287
ledge; the best knowledge is the knowledge of God.
Such knowledge has the same cheering influence upon the
soul, as light upon the natural heart. When light breaks
in upon the world after a season of thick clouds and
darkness, it sets all nature to music. "Truly, light is
sweet; and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold
the sun."* It is so when the soul sees God. Is not the
knowledge of parental Providence, of Divine forgiveness,
of a blessed future beyond the grave, cheering as light?
Truly, such knowledge "rejoiceth the heart."
Another fact suggested in relation to this know-
ledge is—
It is STRENGTHENING.—It "maketh the bones fat." "The
bones may be called the foundations of the corporeal struc-
ture, on which its strength and stability depend. The
cavities and cellular parts of the bones are filled with
the marrow; of which the fine oil, by one of the beautiful
processes of the animal physiology, pervades their sub-,
stance, and, incorporating with the earthly and siliceous
material, gives them their cohesive tenacity—a provision
without which they would be brittle and easily fractured.
"Making the bones fat" means, supplying them with
plenty of marrow, and thus strengthening the entire
system. Hence "marrow to the bones" is a Bible figure
for anything eminently gratifying and beneficial. The
idea is strongly brought out in the words: "And when ye
see this, your heart shall rejoice, and your bones shall
flourish like an herb: and the hand of the Lord shall be
known toward his servants, and his indignation toward
his enemies."†
What is the strength of the soul? First: Trust in God
is strength. The soul possessing firm trust in Him, is
mighty both in endurance and in action; and true know-
ledge gives this trust. Secondly: Love for the eternal is
strength. Love is soul power. Supreme affection for the
supremely good is unconquerable energy, and knowledge
gives this love. Thirdly: Hope for the future is strength.
The soul, full of hope, is invincible. And true knowledge
* Eccics. xi. 7. † Isaiah lxvi. 14.
288 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XV.
gives this hope. Thus a good report, good knowledge
concerning God, is to the soul as "marrow to the bones."
Proverbs 15:31-32
Reproof
"The ear that heareth the reproof of life abideth among the wise, He that
refuseth instruction despiseth his own soul."
"REPROOF" always implies blame either real or imaginary.
It is a charge of misconduct, accompanied with censure
from one person to another. By the "reproof of life" in
the text, we shall understand God's reproof to sinners.
His reproofs are characterised by at least three things
First: truthfulness. Men often address reproofs to others
that are undeserved, implying a fault which has no existence.
Ill-tempered people are proverbially fond of the work of
reproaching. They look at others through their own feel-
ings, and all are bad. Divine reproofs, however, are
always truthful. The blame which God charges on man is
a fact attested by man's own consciousness. Secondly:
necessity. Men often address their reproofs when they are
not needed. The fault is so trivial, that evil rather than
good comes to the individual by rebuke. Many persons
do incalculable injury to the character of their children, by
noticing and rebuking trivial irregularities, which are
almost natural to young life. God reproves men because
it is necessary that they should be convicted of sin. The
world can only be morally restored by convincing it of sin,
of righteousness, and of judgment. Thirdly: kindness.
Men's reproofs are often inspired by unkindness. Unkind
reproofs, even when true, are injurious. It is kindness that
gives us power for good.
"Ye have heard
The fiction of the north wind and the sun,
Chap. XV.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 289
Both working on a traveller, and contending
Which had most power to take his cloak from him,
Which, when the wind attempted, he roared out
Outrageous blasts at him, to force it off,
Then wrapt it closer on: when the calm sun
(The wind once leaving) charged him with still beams.
Quick and fervent, and therein was content,
Which made him cast off both his cloak and coat:
Like whom should men do?"
The text leads us to consider two things:
The ACCEPTANCE of God's reproof.—"The ear that
heareth the reproof of life abideth among the wise." How
is the reproof to be received? It must be accepted in
a right spirit, in the spirit expressed by David,
when he said, "Let the righteous smite me and it shall
be a kindness, let him reprove me, it shall be an excel-
lent oil; it shall not break my head." Two advantages
are indicated in the text for the proper acceptance of Divine
reproof. First: permanent social elevation. "He abideth
among the Wise." The "wise" are not only the enlightened,
but the holy and the good. The man who rightly attends
to the approving voice of God, gets a permanent place in
his circle. He is born into a kingdom of great spirits. He
“abideth with the wise "in his social intercourse, in his
book studies, and in his spiritual fellowships. Another
advantage of the proper acceptance of Divine reproof is,
Secondly: acquisition of true wisdom. "He getteth under-
standing." He learns to repel the evil, and to pursue the
good. He gets that wisdom which not only throws a light
upon his path, but vivifies, strengthens, and beatifies
his spirit.
But in the words we have also:
The REJECTION of God's reproof.—"He that refuseth
instruction, (or, as the margin has it, correction) despiseth
his own soul." The rejection of Divine reproof is, First:
sadly common. God is constantly reproving sinners by His
providence, gospel, and their own consciences. Yet
they silence His voice, they will not lay His words to heart.
The rejection of Divine reproof is Secondly: Self-ruinous.
“He despiseth his own soul." The rejection betrays the
290 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XV.
utmost disregard to the highest interests of being. What
a description Solomon gives elsewhere of the ruin that will
befall such. "And thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh
and thy body are consumed, and say, how I hated in-
struction, and my heart despised reproof; and have not
obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to
them that instructed me." Again, "When I called, ye re-
fused; I stretched out my hand, and no man regarded.
But ye have set at naught all my counsel, and would
none of my reproof; I also will laugh at your calamity, I
will mock when your fear cometh." Brothers, attend to the
reproofs from heaven. They are looking-glasses, in which
you can see the face of your spirit true to life. Because
they reveal the hideous blots of moral disease, you recoil
from them. But this is unwise, as they will point you at
the same time to means by which your youth may be
renewed like the eagle.
Proverbs 15:33
Godly Fear and Genuine Humility
"The fear of the LORD is the instruction of wisdom; and before honour is
humility."
HERE we have—
GODLY FEAR.—"The fear of the Lord, is the instruction
of wisdom." There is, as we have had occasion fre-
quently to remark, a slavish fear and a loving fear of the
Lord. The former is foreign to all virtue, and is an
element of moral misery; the latter is the reverse of this.
A loving fear may sound a contradiction, but it is not so.
"Perfect love," it is true, "casteth out" slavish fear, but it
generates at the same time a virtuous one. I have read of a
little boy who was tempted to pluck some cherries from a
tree which his father had forbidden him to touch. "You
need not be afraid," said his evil companion, "for if your
father should find out that you had taken them, he is too
Chap. XV.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 291
kind to hurt you." "Ah," said the brave little fellow,
"that is the very reason why I would not touch them; for,
though my father would not hurt me, yet I should hurt him
by my disobedience." This is godly fear, a fear of wounding
the dearest object of the heart. Concerning this fear, it is
here said, that it "is the instruction of wisdom." First:
It is the great subject of Wisdom's instruction. Everywhere
in nature, in the events of life, and in the Holy Book of
God, does heavenly Wisdom inculcate this godly fear.
Secondly: It is the great end of wisdom's instruction.
Heavenly wisdom, in all its communications, deals with
our souls, not merely to enlighten the intellect and refine
the tastes, but to fill us with loving reverence for the Great
Father. The conclusion of its whole mission is, "fear God
and keep his commandments." This is the burden of its
divine teaching.
Here we have—
GENUINE HUMILITY.—"Before honour is humility."
This is a, maxim of very wide application. First: It is
sometimes applicable to secular exaltation. As a rule,
the man who rises to affluence and power in the world
has had to humble himself. He has stooped to conquer.
He has condescended to drudgeries and concessions most
wounding to his pride. Secondly: This always applies
to intellectual exaltation. A most humbling sense of one's
ignorance, is the first step to intellectual eminence, and
almost the last. He who feels he knows nothing, is in
the surest field where intellectual laurels are won. Thirdly:
This invariably applies to moral exaltation. The very
first sentence the Saviour uttered when describing the
members of His kingdom was—"Blessed are the poor in
spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." "He that
humbleth himself shall be exalted." The cross is the
ladder to the crown.
“The bird that soars on highest wing
Builds on the ground her lowly nest;
And she that (loth most sweetly sing
Sings in the shade when all things rest.
In lark and nightingale we see
What honour hath humility."—J. MONTGOMERY
292 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XVI.
The truly humble spirit is, in society, to the proud and
haughty, what the valley is to the mountain: if less ob-
served, more sheltered and more blessed, valleys see the
stars more brightly than the mountains that often veil their
proud heads with clouds. The mountains filter the waters
on which the valleys live, and send down in soft music to
their ears the stormy thunders that beat with violence on
their lofty brow. The great Sun stoops to the valleys and
touches them with a warmth which it denies to the high
hills; and kind nature, which leaves the towering heights
amidst the cold desolations of death, endows the humble
vales with richest life, and robes them in the enchanting cos-
tume of sweetest flowers. "Blessed are the poor in Spirit."
Proverbs 16:1
Man Proposes, God Disposes
"The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from
the LORD."
TAKING these words as they stand before us, they give
the idea that all goodness in man is from God. First:
Goodness in the heart is from Him. "The preparations of
the heart in man." The margin reads "disposings." All
the right disposings of the heart towards the real, the
holy, and the Divine, are "from the Lord." How does He
dispose the heart to goodness? Not arbitrarily, not
miraculously, not in any way that interferes with the free
agency of man, or that supersedes in any case the neces-
sity of man's own actions. Still it is a mystery transcen-
ding our present intelligence. He has avenues to the
human heart of which we know nothing. He can instil
thoughts and impressions by methods of which we are
entirely ignorant. "The wind bloweth where it listeth, and
thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it
Chap. XVI.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 293
cometh and whither it goeth; so is every one that is born
of the Spirit." It is enough for us to know, That He is the
Author of all goodness in the soul, and that we are bound to
labour after it as if its attainment depended on our own
efforts. The words of the text teach—Secondly: That
goodness in language is from God. "And the answer of
the tongue." This follows from the other. The language
is but the expression of the heart. If the heart is right,
the language is right also. All good in man is from God,
"every good and perfect gift cometh down from above."
But whilst these words as they stand teach this truth,
they themselves are not true to the original. A literal
translation would be this: "To man the orderings of the
heart, but from Jehovah the answer of the tongue," and
the idea undoubtedly is, "man proposes, God disposes."
This is an UNDOUBTED fact.—A fact sustained by the
character of God. All the schemes, and plans formed
in the human heart must necessarily be under the control
of Him Who is all wise and all powerful. They cannot
exist without His knowledge, nor can they advance
without His permission. A fact sustained by the history
of men. Take for examples the purposes of Joseph's
brethren, of Pharaoh in relation to Moses; of the Jews
in relation to Christ. A fact sustained by our own ex-
perience, Who has not found the schemes and plans of
his own heart taking a direction which he never contem-
plated Truly, "man proposes, God disposes." "There's
a divinity that shapes our ends rough hew them how we
will."
"There is a Power
Unseen, that rules th' illimitable world,—
That guides its motions, from the brightest star
To the least dust of this sin-tainted world;
While man, who madly deems himself the lord
Of all, is nought but weakness and dependence.
This sacred truth, by sure experience taught,
Thou must have learnt, when wandering all alone:
Each bird, each insect, flitting through the sky,
Was more sufficient for itself than thou."—THOMSON
This is a MOMENTOUS fact.—It is very solemn in its
pearing on the enemies of God. Their most cherished
294 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XVI.
schemes, of whatever kind, sensual, avaricious, infidel, are
under the control of Him against whom they rebel. He
will work them for their confusion, and His own glory. It
is momentous. The fact is also important in its bearings
on the friends of God. To them it is all encouraging.
Whilst the schemes of the wicked can have no permanent
reign, theirs must prosper and continue. "Surely the wrath
of man shall praise Thee, the remainder of wrath shalt
thou restrain."* The Great Master of the universe has all
the worst fiends in creation in harness, links them to His
providential chariot, and makes them bear Him on trium-
phantly in the accomplishment of His Eternal plans.
Proverbs 16:2
The Self-complacency of Sinners
and the Omniscience of God
"All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the LORD weigheth
the spirits."
Here we have two things:
THE SELF-COMPLACENCY OF THE SINNER.—"All the ways
of a man are clean in his own eyes." Saul, of Tarsus, is a
striking example of this. He once rejoiced in virtues
which he never had. The Pharisee in the Temple, too, did
the same: he thanked God for excellencies of which he was
utterly destitute. Indeed the worst of men are prone to
think well of themselves. Why is this? (1) They view
themselves in the light of society. They judge themselves
by the character of others, and the best are imperfect. (2)
They are ignorant of the spirituality of God's law. The fact
that the Divine law penetrates into the profoundest recesses
of the soul, takes cognizance of its most hidden workings,
they utterly disregard; and (3) their consciences too are in a
state of dormancy. Their eyes not open to see the enormity
* Psalm lxxvi. 10.
Chap. XVI.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 295
of sin. Thus, like the Laodiceans, they say they are rich
and increased in goods, and need nothing, whereas they
"are wretched and miserable, and poor, and blind, and
naked."* "All the ways of man are clean in his own eyes."
His eyes are so dim and jaundiced, that he mistakes the
filth of his ways for cleanliness and beauty.
Here we have—
THE SEARCHING OMNISCIENCE OF GOD.—"The Lord
weigheth the spirits." "Ye are they," said Christ, "which
justify yourselves before men, but God knoweth your
hearts."† He sees the iniquity in those who regard them-
selves as blameless. "The Lord seeth not as man seeth,
for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord
looketh on the heart." "He weigheth the spirit." This
implies, First: The essence of the character is in the spirit.
The sin of an action is not in the outward performance, but
in the motive. The fox and the man may perform the same
act: both may carry off the property of another, but we
attach the idea of crime in the case of the latter and not of
the former. Why? Because man acts from motive, not
from blind instinct. He is a moral agent. The essence
of the act is in the motive. God sees all the crimes of the
world, and judges them as they appear in the hidden arena
of the heart. This urges, Secondly: The duty of self-
examination. "If Thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities,
O Lord, who shall stand?" "Search me, O God, and know
my heart: try me and know my thoughts, and see if there
be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way ever-
lasting."‡
"By all means use sometimes to be alone.
Salute thyself: see what thy soul doth wear:
Dare to look in thy chest, for 'tis thine own,
And tumble up and down what thou find'st there."
WORDSWORTH
* Rev. iii. 17. † Luke xvi, 15. ‡ Psalm cxxxix. 23, 24.
296 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XVI.
Proverbs 16:3
The Establishment of Thoughts
"Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established."
WHAT are the "thoughts" referred to in the text? The
thoughts of the soul are a large generation made up of
various families and innumerable individuals. Some are
worthless and some valuable. Some cannot be "established,"
they are airy speculations, day dreams, phantasmagoria
passing before us, yielding us amusement for the minute.
There are thoughts which ought not to be "established."
Such are selfish, malicious, impious thoughts. The per-
manent establishment of such thoughts would ruin the
universe. There are thoughts that should be "established."
These are virtuous thoughts, involving the grand purposes
of life, pious and benevolent thoughts, into which we throw
our hearts and which govern our activities. The verse
implies two things concerning such thoughts.
That their establishment is A MATTER OF VITAL MOMENT
TO MAN.—This is implied: it is the grand motive held forth
to induce us to commit our "works unto the Lord." The
non-establishment of a man's practical thoughts or pur-
poses involves at least two great evils. First: Disappoint-
ment. What a man purposes he desires, he struggles after,
it is the great hope of his soul. The failure of his purpose
is always felt to be one of the sorest of his calamities. The
disappointment in some cases breaks the heart. The man
who has all the purposes of his life broken is of all men the
most miserable. It involves, Secondly: Loss. A man's
purposes occupy his attention, his sympathies, his activities,
his time, and when they are frustrated all these are lost.
And are they not the most precious things? It may be said
of the ungodly man when he dies, in that "very day his
thoughts perish." All his purposes are left as wrecks on the
black and boisterous billows of retribution. It is therefore
Chap. XVI.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 297
of vast importance to man to have his thoughts established.
So established as to have all desires gratified, all hopes
realized, all activities rewarded. It is also taught con-
cerning such thoughts,—
That GODLY WORKS ARE ESSENTIAL to their establish-
ment.—"Commit thy works unto the Lord." Men always
work to carry out their purposes, but none of their works
can truly succeed that are not of a godly sort. What is
meant by "committing thy works unto the Lord?" It may
include two things. First: Submit them to his approval when
they are in embryo. A thought is work in germ, the pro-
toplasm of all history. We should lay our works before the
Lord when they exist in this thought state, and invoke Him
if they are Wrong to destroy them in their embryo, if they
are right to develop them to perfection. We should seek
His counsel before the first step is taken. It may include,
Secondly: The invocation of His blessing upon them when they
are accomplished. "Commit thy works unto the Lord."
“The Hebrew idiom gives peculiar emphasis to the pre-
cept—roll it over on Jehovah." "Whatsoever we do in
word or deed, we should do to the glory of God." It is
only as we attend to this precept, that we can get our
thoughts established, and thus actualize those purposes and
aspirations of the soul, in which we really live. Truly all
is vain in human labour unless God is in it. "Except the
Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it;
except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in
vain." Man's spiritual constitution is such that he cannot
be happy in any labour that springs not from the true
inspiration of God. Thus labour without God is vain:
Farmers, unless the Lord cultivate the field: merchants,
unless the Lord effect the transactions; authors, unless
the Lord write the book; statesmen, unless the Lord enact
the measure: preachers, unless the Lord make the sermons;
that is, unless He is the inspiration of all your efforts, your
labour is in vain. It will neither meet His approval nor
yield you true satisfaction.
* Psalm cxxvii. I.
298 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XVI.
Proverbs 16:4
Universal Existence
"The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the
day of evil."
THE verse teaches two things—
That all existence has ONE AUTHOR.—"The Lord hath
made all things for himself." This statement stands op-.
posed to three cosmological absurdities. (1) To the eternity
of the universe. Contingency is a law running through all
parts of creation: one thing is ever found depending upon
another. This contingency implies the incontingent and
absolute. (2) To the chance production of nature. That the
universe rose from a fortuitous concourse of atoms is in-
finitely more absurd than the supposition that "Paradise
Lost" rose out of a promiscuous throwing of the twenty-six
letters of our alphabet together. (3) To the plurality of
creators. There is one Being, who has made all. "The
Lord." That all existence has One Author is a fact which
agrees with all sound philosophy. All scientific induction
takes the mind up to one primal origin. It is a fact that is
taught in every part of the Holy Scriptures too. The
Bible is full of it. "In the beginning the Lord created the
heavens and the earth." "Of him, and through him, and
to him are all things." "The footprint," says Hugh
Miller, "of the savage traced in the sand is sufficient to
attest the presence of man to the atheist who will not
recognise God, whose hand is impressed upon the entire
universe."
"The heavens are a point from the pen of His perfection;
The world is a rosebud from the bower of His beauty
The sun is a spark from the light of His wisdom,
And the sky a bubble on the sea of His power.
Chap. XVI.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 299
His beauty is free from stain of sin,
Hidden in a veil of thick darkness.
He formed mirrors of the atoms of the world,
And He cast a reflection from His own face on every atom!
To thy clear-seeing eye whatsoever is fair,
When thou regardest it aright, is a reflection from His face."
SIR WILLIAM JONES
The verse teaches—
That all existence has ONE MASTER.—"The Lord hath
made all things for Himself." He is not only the author,
but the end of the universe. All stream from Him, all run
to Him. This is right, for there is no higher end; this is
joyous, for he is Love. He made the universe to gratify
His benevolence—His desire to impart His blessedness to
others. But the verse says that "even the wicked for the day
of evil," He has made for Himself. What does this import?
It does not mean, (1) That God ever made a wicked creature.
The supposition clashes with all our ideas of Him as
gathered from nature, and as welling from the intuitions of
our own spirits. Nor, (2) That He ever made a holy crea-
ture wicked. This is equally repugnant to our beliefs, and
derogatory to His character. Nor, (3) That He ever made
a creature to be miserable. All such suppositions are
repugnant to the teachings of nature, the doctrines of
inspiration, and the intuitions of the human soul. All it
means is, that He makes the wicked subserve His own
glory. Is not this evident? Were there no wickedness in
the world, there are certain attributes of God which would
never have come out to view, such as patience, compassion
and forgiving love: The black sky of moral evil. God
makes the background on which to exhibit in overwhelm-
ing majesty, certain perfections of His nature. "I will
get me honour on Pharaoh," said He of old. And this He
might say of every wicked spirit. "He maketh the wrath
of man to praise him, and restraineth the remainder of
wrath." How great is God! He is the Cause, the Means,
and the End of all things in the universe, but sin, and
even sin He subordinates to His own high ends. Let us
endeavour to reach after worthy ideas of God. "It were
better," says Lord Bacon, "to have no opinion of God at
300 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XVI.
all, than such an opinion as is unworthy of Him, for the
one is unbelief, and the other is contumely, and certainly
superstition is the reproach of the Deity."
Proverbs 16:5-6
Evil
"Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD: though
hand join in hand, he shall not be unpunished. By mercy and truth iniquity is
purged:
and by the fear of the LORD men depart from evil."
"PRIDE," says an old writer, "had her beginning among
the angels that fell, her continuance on earth, her end in
hell." The Bible says much against pride, and authors
have dealt largely with the hideous theme. It not un-
frequently stands in the Bible to represent sin in general,
and in some of its forms it is in truth the quintessence of
evil. Notice two things in these verses concerning evil in
general.
ITS ESSENTIAL ODIOUSNESS, AND NECESSARY PUNISH-
ABILITY.—Note its essential odiousness. "Every one that
is proud is an abomination to the Lord." "God resisteth
the proud." Pride in all its forms—pride of self-righteous-
ness—pride of wisdom, station, as well as the pride of re-
bellion, is abhorrent to Him. "God," says old Henry
Smith, "was wroth with the angels, and drove them
out of heaven. God was wroth with Adam, and thrust
him out of Paradise. God was wroth with Nebuchad-
nezzar, and turned him out of his palace. God was wroth
with Cain, and though he were the first man born of a
woman, yet God made him a vagabond upon his own
land. God was wroth with Saul, and though he was the
first king that ever was anointed, yet God made his own
hand his executioner." Note again its necessary punish-
ability. "Though hand join in hand, he shall not be
unpunished." Evil must be punished; the moral con-
Chap. XVI.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 301
stitution of the soul, the justice of the universe, the
Almightiness of God, render all human efforts to avoid it
futile. "Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker; let
the potsherd strive with the potsherd of the earth."
Though the heathen rage, he that sitteth in the heavens
shall laugh and have them in derision, and ultimately
vex them with His sore displeasure. "There is no wisdom,
no understanding, no counsel against the Lord." Notice
ITS DIVINE CORRECTIVES, AND THEIR MORAL OPERA-
TION.—Note: Its divine correctives. What are they?
"Mercy and truth." By them "iniquity is purged."
These are the two great Divine elements to destroy sin.
They came into the world in their perfect form by Christ.
Grace and truth came by Jesus Christ." They constitute
the Gospel. They are the fountain opened on this earth
for the washing away of sin and uncleanness. They are
the fire which Christ kindled in order to burn up the moral
corruptions of this planet. Note its moral operation. How
do they operate in the soul so as to remove sin? "By the
fear of the Lord men depart from evil." These two ele-
ments, mercy and truth, generate in the human heart that
supreme, loving reverence for God, which leads men to
"depart from evil." Wherever there is a true godly love
in the soul, there is a departure from wrong. Step by step
the man walks out of it, until at length he leaves it entirely
behind as Lot left Sodom. No man is safe until he gets
rid of every sin. Even one sin is the "dead fly in the oint-
ment." One leak in a vessel may cause it to sink, one
spark in a house may burn up a city, one sin may damn
the soul.
* Isaiah xlv. 9. † Chap. xxi. 30.
302 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XVI.
Proverbs 16:7
Pleasing God
"When a man's ways please the LORD, He maketh even His enemies to be
at peace with him."
THIS verse directs us to the greatest of all subjects, the
subject of pleasing Him who is the Author of the universe,
and Whose will decides the destiny of all. This subject is
here presented in two aspects.
AS A GLORIOUS POSSIBILITY FOR MAN.—"When a man's
ways please the Lord." Then there are ways in which a
man can please Him. How? Not by mere external ser-
vices. Some imagine that they can please God by good
psalmody, by fine prayers, by flattering addresses, by
monetary contributions, by gorgeous ritualism. But all
this is an abomination to Him, if the heart is not in love
with His character, and in sympathy with His will. "To
what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me?
saith the Lord: I am full of the burnt-offerings of rams,
and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of
bullocks, or of lambs, or of he-goats. When ye come to
appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to
tread my courts? Bring no more vain oblations; incense is
an abomination unto me; the new moons, and Sabbaths, and
calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity,
even the solemn meeting. Your new moons and your ap-
pointed feasts, my soul hateth; they are a trouble unto
me: I am weary to bear them. And when you spread
forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea,
when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands
are full of blood."* The way to please Him is by a loving
obedience to His will. The outward service must be the
effect and expression of supreme love. He who has this
love, and all may and should have it, can please his Maker.
As a child may please a man who is the master of empires,
* Isaiah i. 14-15.
Chap. XVI.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 303
so humble man may please the Infinite. To please Him
is the summum bonum of existence. By so doing we alone
can please ourselves. Man can never be pleased with him-
self till he feels that he has pleased his Maker. His moral
constitution renders it impossible. Nor can we please the
spiritual universe without pleasing Him. What spirit in
the creation can be pleased with us if our conduct pleaseth
not the Eternal Father? Paul felt this to be the grand end
of his existence." Wherefore we labour, that whether
present or absent, we may be accepted of him."* This
subject is here presented—
AS WINNING THE GOODWILL OF ENEMIES.—"When a
man's ways please the Lord, he maketh even his enemies
to be at peace with him." It is here implied that a good
man has enemies. "The world hated me," said Christ,
"before it hated you." The enmity between the seed of the
woman and the seed of the serpent is of long standing, in-
veterate, and ever operative. It is also implied that the
overcoming of their enmity is a desirable thing. It is not
well to have enmity in any heart towards us, and it is here
taught that pleasing the Lord is the surest way to over-
come it. Our reconciliation to God is the way to get our
enemies reconciled to us. If we please Him, they will not
be allowed to harm us, they will respect us with their con-
sciences and may be transformed by our spirit and example.
Brothers, let our grand object be to please God. Let us
speak and act, not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth
our hearts.
Proverbs 16:8
The Good Man and His Worldly Circumstances
"Better is a little with righteousness than great revenues without right."
THE verse suggests three facts:
GOOD MEN MAY HAVE BUT LITTLE OF THE WORLD.—
* 2 Cor. iv. 9.
304 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XVI.
"Better is a little." The great majority of good men in
all ages have been poor. This fact, which has been through
all time a perplexity to all saints, can be accounted for in
various ways. First: The acquisition of wealth is not the
grand purpose of a godly man's life. The men who give
their energies, their very being to the accumulation of pro-
perty, are those who of course become the largest inheritors
of earthly good. The godly man does not go in for this;
he has other and far higher aims, namely, the culture of
his soul, the extension of truth, the raising of humanity.
Secondly: The principles of a godly man's life preclude
him from obeying the conditions by which wealth is gene-
rally obtained. Reckless speculation, dishonourable tricks,
avaricious over-reachings, greed riding over conscience,
are often the most successful means of gaining large pos-
sessions. As the world stands, virtue in a man's soul is
a hindrance to fortune-making.
The verse suggests—
BAD MEN HAVE MUCH OF THE WORLD. – "Great
revenues." Asaph, in his day, observed this, and said,
"I was envious at the foolish when I saw the prosperity
of the wicked. For there are no bands in their death, but
their strength is firm. They are not in trouble as other
men: neither are they plagued like other men. Therefore
pride compasseth them about as a chain; violence covereth
them as a garment. Their eyes stand out with fatness,
they have more than their heart could wish."* The fool,
the wicked man, referred to by Christ, was so prosperous
that he knew not where to store his goods. Who now are
your millionaires? What in this age is the character of
the men who hold the great prizes of the world in their
grasp? Not such as a rule, I trow, that will bear the test
of God's holy law. They are not men who "do justice,
love mercy, and walk humbly with God."
The verse suggests—
GOOD MEN WITH THEIR LITTLE ARE BETTER OFF THAN
BAD MEN WITH THEIR MUCH.—"Better is a little with
righteousness, than great revenues without right. "First:
* Psalm lxxiii 3-7.
Chap. XVI.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 305
The condition of such a man is more enjoyable. His hap-
piness is spiritual, that of the other is sensational; his is
generous, that of the other is selfish; his is imperishable,
that of the other is transient. Secondly: The condition of
such a man is more honourable. He is honoured for what
he is not for what ho has. He is honoured in proportion to
people's intelligence, the other is honoured in proportion to
people's ignorance. He is honoured yonder by angels and
by God, the other is honoured only here by the depraved.*
The good man then may well be contented with his lot.
"The nature of true content," says an old writer, "is to fill
all the chinks of our desires, as the wax does the seal. Con-
tent is the poor man's riches, and desire is the rich man's
poverty. Riches and poverty are more in the heart than
in the hand; he is wealthy that is contented, he is poor
that wants it. O poor Ahab, that carest not for thine own
large possessions, because thou mayest not have another's.
O rich Naboth, that carest not for all the dominions of
Ahab, so thou mayest enjoy thine own."
Proverbs 16:9
The Plan of Man, and
the Plan of God in Human Life
"A man's heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps."
THERE are many passages parallel in meaning with this,
such as, "O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in
himself; it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps."
"The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and
he delighteth in his way."‡ "Man's goings are of the
Lord: how can a man then understand his own way?"§
Every man's life is ruled by two plans, the one formulated
by his own mind, the other by the mind of God. These
two plans are referred to in the verse-
* See Reading on chap. xv. 16, 17.
† Jer. x. 23. ‡. Psalm xxxvii. 23. § Prov. xx. 24.
306 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XVI.
MAN'S own plan.—"A man's heart deviseth his way."
Every man forms a programme of his daily life. He
"deviseth his way." He sets before him an object, he
adapts the means, and he arranges the time and effort for
attaining his purpose. When he moves rationally, he does
not move by blind impulse, nor does he even feel himself
the creature of grim fate. That man's history is self-ori-
ginated and self-arranged is manifested by three things.
First: Society holds every man responsible for his actions.
All the laws of society recognise his freedom of action,
recognise the fact that he is the sole author of his conduct.
Society does not treat him either as a brute or as a
machine, but as a free agent, as one whose "heart de-
viseth his way." Secondly: The Bible appeals to every man
as having a personal sovereignty. The Holy Word every-
where recognises him as having a power to abandon or
modify his old course of conduct and adopt another. All
its precepts, menaces, promises, encouragements imply
this. It everywhere appeals to his will. Thirdly: Every
man's consciousness attests his freedom of action. If the sin-
ner felt himself the mere creature of forces he could not
control, could he experience any remorse? If the saint
felt that the good deed he wrought was forced from him,
could he enjoy any self-commendation? Man feels that
his life is fashioned by his own plan, that he is the undis-
puted monarch of his own inner world. "It is a contra-
diction," says F. W. Robertson, "to let man be free, and
force him to do right. God has performed this marvel of
creating a being with free will, independent so to speak of
Himself—a real cause in His universe. To say that He
has created such a one is to say that he has given him the
power to fail. Without free will there could be no human
goodness. It is wise, therefore, and good in God to give
birth to free will. But once acknowledged free will in
man, and the origin of evil does not lie in God."
GOD'S own plan.—"The Lord directeth his steps." God
has a plan concerning every man's life. A plan which,
though it compasses and controls every activity, leaves the
man in undisturbed freedom. This is the great problem of
Chap. XVI.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 307
the world's history, man's freedom and God's control.
"Experience," says an able expositor," gives a demon-
strable stamp of evidence even in all the minutia of cir-
cumstances which form the parts and pieces of the Divine
plan. A matter of common business, the indulgence of
curiosity, the supply of necessary want, a journey from
home, all are connected with infinitely important results.
And often when our purpose seemed as clearly fixed, and
as sure of accomplishment as a journey to London, this
way of our own devising has been blocked up by unexpected
difficulties, and unexpected facilities have opened an oppo-
site way, with the ultimate acknowledgment, He led me
forth in the right way.' The Divine control of the
apostles' movements, apparently thwarting their present
usefulness, turned out rather to the furtherance of the
Gospel. Phillip was transferred from an important sphere
in Samaria, from preaching to thousands, into a desert.
But the Ethiopian eunuch was his noble convert, and
through him the Gospel was doubtless widely circulated.*
Paul was turned aside from a wide field of labour to a
more contracted ministry. A few women and a family
were his only church. Yet how did these small beginnings
issue in the planting of flourishing churches? After all,
however, we need much discipline to wean us from our
devices, that we may seek the Lord's direction in the first
place. The fruit of this discipline will be a dread of being
left to our own devices, as before we were eager to follow
them. So truly do we find our happiness and security in
yielding up our will to our Heavenly Guide! He knows
the whole way, every step of the way: The end from the
beginning.' And never shall we miss either the way or
the end, if we only resign ourselves with unreserved confi-
dence to his keeping and direction of our steps."
"Thou cam'st not to thy place by accident;
It is the very place God meant for thee.
And should'st thou there small scope for action see;
Do not for this give room for discontent,
Nor let the time thou owest to God be spent
In idle dreaming how thou mightest be,
* Acts viii. 37— 39.
309 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XVI.
In what concerns thy spiritual life, more free
From outward hindrance or impediment;
For presently this hindrance thou shalt find
That without which all goodness were a task
So slight, that virtue never could grow strong.
And would'st thou do one duty to His mind—
The Imposer's overburdened, thou slink ask
And own thy need of grace to help ere long."—FRENCH
Proverbs 16:10-15
Model Monarchs
"A divine sentence is in the lips of the king: his mouth transgresseth not
in judgment. A just weight and balance are the LORD'S: all the weights of the
bag are His work. It is an abomination to kings to commit wickedness: for the
throne is established by righteousness. Righteous lips are the delight of kings;
and they love him that speaketh right. The wrath of a king is as messengers of
death: but a wise man will pacify it. In the light of the king's countenance is
life; and his favour is as a cloud of the latter rain."
THE Bible often speaks of kings as of parents and other
relations, not as they are actually found in human life, but
as they ought to be—the ideals are sketched. Thus we are
commanded to honour our parents, which command im-
plies that our parents are honour-worthy. It would be an
offence to human nature, an offence to God and the uni-
verse, to honour some parents. Thus when we are com-
manded to honour kings, it implies that the kings have in
their character and procedure that which is adapted to call
forth the reverence of souls. All that is divine within and
without us calls upon us to loathe and contemn some of
the kings that figure on the page of human history. The
sketch which Paul gives of rulers in Rom. xiii. is not that -
of actual rulers, but of ideal ones. It is the "higher
powers," that are "ordained of God," and that are a
"terror not to the good works, but to the evil." It is
the ruler who is a "minister of God for good," that he
"commands every soul to be subject to."* Solomon in
*See HOMILIST, vol. i., second series, p. 14I.
Chap. XVI.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 309
this passage sketches such a King. Four particulars he
gives concerning him.
He SPEAKS the right.—"A divine sentence is in the lips
of the king; his mouth transgresseth not in judgment."
Every man is morally bound to be veracious in ex-
pressions. But the high office of a king increases the
obligation. "A divine sentence" includes two things.
First: Truth in expression. The sentence must express
the real meaning of the speaker, no more and no less. No
sentence can alone be regarded as "divine" that is not the
true exponent of the speaker's soul. It includes also,
Secondly: Truth in meaning. The meaning of the
speaker, his thought, feeling, purpose, must be in ac-
cordance with the eternal reality of things. A man may
be veracious and yet false, although his words may be true
to his own soul, his soul may be untrue to eternal facts.
No sentence can be considered a "divine sentence" that
does not include these two things. A true king, therefore,
is a Divine man; emphatically the "minister of God."
His sympathies must be in keeping with the eternal pur-
pose; his judgments ruled by the eternal law, and his pro-
nouncements in keeping with both, and thus his mouth
"transgresseth not in judgment."
"He JUDGES the right."— "A just weight and balance
are the Lord's; all the weights of the bag are his work."
This sentence is evidently intended to characterise the true
king. The passage means, First: That God demands social
rectitude. All impositions, double-dealings, over-reach-
ings, hard bargains struck with over-grasping shrewdness,
are enormities in the sight of Heaven, and condemned in
the Scriptures. Secondly: That a true king is a minister of
social rectitude. He sees that equity is done between man
and man. He enforces it, not merely by his laws, but by
his example too. His prerogative is to be so employed
that the golden rule is acted out in every department of
his kingdom. "Whatsoever ye would that men should do
unto you, do ye even so unto them."
He FEELS the right.—"It is an abomination to kings to
commit wickedness: for the throne is established by
310 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XVI.
righteousness." "Wickedness" in all its forms of falsehood,
fraud, oppression, greed, cruelty, is an abomination to the
heart of the true king, the God-made king. "The God of
Israel said, He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the
fear of God. And he shall be as the light of the morning
when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds, as the
tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining of
rain." Shakespeare's idea of a true king was somewhat of
this fashion—"The king-becoming graces," said he, "are
just, verity, temperance, stableness, bounty, perseverance,
mercy, lowliness, devotion, patience, courage, fortitude."
The verse suggests two things. First: That the loathing of
wickedness in a king is the pursuit of righteousness. Loath-
ing the wrong ever springs from loving the right. And
secondly: That the pursuit of righteousness in a king is the
stability of his throne. No throne can stand long where
righteousness is disregarded, where wickedness is practised
or countenanced. No bayonets, swords, armies, navies,
bulwarks, can long sustain a throne where virtue is ignored.
The nation from whose heart rectitude is gone, in whose soul
vice runs riot, has its throne built on moral gunpowder.
He VINDICATES the right.— How? First: By approving
the right in his subjects. "Righteous lips are the delights
of kings; and they love him that speaketh right." This
accords not with the actual character of kings, either as they
appear in the history of the past, or in their present con-
duct throughout Europe and the world. Actual kings have
generally approved of the flatteries and falsehoods of cour-
tiers, and sycophants, and parasites. The tones of adula-
tion are music to their ears; not so the true king. He
"loves him that speaketh right."
"He's a king,
A true, right king, that dare do aught save wrong;
Fears nothing mortal but to be unjust;
Who is not blown up with flattering puffs
Of spongy sycophants; who stands unmoved
Despite the jostling of opinion."
Until the world gets kings that will hate flatterers, let it learn
to honour and encourage those ministers of kings who have
Chap. XVI.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 311
the manly courage to tell their royal masters the truth.
"Clarendon, perhaps, was the finest example in modern
times of unbending rectitude, boldly reproving his flagitious
master, and beseeching him not to believe that he had a
prerogative to declare vice to be virtue.' Well had it been
for Charles had these righteous lips been his delight."
Honest lieges are the best lions to guard the throne.
Secondly: By avenging the wrong- on his subjects. "The
wrath of a king is as messengers of death; but a wise man
will pacify it." "The true king beareth not the sword in
vain, for he is the minister of God and a revenger to exe-
cute wrath upon him that doeth evil:"— "Upon him that
doeth evil." Mark! evil, not as judged by the public sen-
timent of a corrupt age, nor the edicts of despots, nor the
laws of unrighteous governments, but as judged by the
moral law of God. Such evil must be punished, and God
employs kings to punish it. "But a wise man will pacify
it." That is, a wise man will give such proofs of repen-
tance for the wrong, and will make such amends for it as
will pacify the wrath. The wrath of a true king is never
unappeasable. Thirdly: By encouraging the true in his
subjects. The light of the king's countenance is life; and
his favour is as a cloud of the latter rain." Life here
means happiness. As the vernal sun to the earth, so is
the influence of a true king to his people. The subject
teaches that honesty is the best policy in a nation.
Honesty is the best policy for a king to pursue to his
people, and honesty is the best policy for them to pursue
to him. "Constantius, the father of Constantine, tested
the character of his Christian servants, by the imperative
commands to offer sacrifices to his gods. Some sink under
the trial. Those who had really 'bought the truth ' would
sell it for no price. They were inflexible. He banished
the base compliants from his service. The true confessors
he entrusted with the care of his own person. These
men,' said he, I can trust. I value them more than all
my treasures.' This was sound judgment. For who are
so likely to be faithful to their king as those that have
proved themselves faithful to their God."
312 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XVI.
Proverbs 16:16
Moral and Material Wealth
"How much better is it to get wisdom than gold! and to get understanding
rather to be chosen than silver."
THERE are two things implied in this verse. First: That
material wealth is a good thing. "Gold and silver " are not
to be despised. They are good as the creatures of God.
All the silver and gold found locked up in the chests of
mountains He made. He created nothing in vain. They
are good as the means of usefulness. How much good can
be accomplished by material wealth. Good of all kinds:—
Intellectual, social, moral, religious good. It is implied,
Secondly: That the pursuit of material wealth is a legitimate
thing. The statement of Solomon "that it is better to get
wisdom than gold," indicates that it is not wrong to get
gold. It is undoubtedly right for men so to develop the
resources of nature as to improve their secular condition.
Honest industry in the pursuit of wealth is a great blessing
to a community. There is no need, however, to urge men
to this pursuit. The world gallops after gold. But what
the text asserts is this, that moral wealth—the wealth of
soul—is better both in its possession and in its pursuit
than material.
It is "better" in its POSSESSION.—First: It is better be-
cause it enriches the man himself. The wealth of Croesus
cannot add a fraction of value to the man. "The gold is
but the guinea stamp." Millionaires are often moral
paupers. But moral wealth—the wealth of holy loves,
great thoughts, divine aims, and immortal hopes—enrich
the man himself. Secondly: It is better, because it creates
higher enjoyments. Money has no necessary power to
make men happy. It may conduce to human pleasure,
but it often produces nothing but heart agony and con-
fusion. Not so with moral wealth. It is in itself a fountain
of joy springing up into everlasting life. "I glory in tri-
bulation," says Paul. Thirdly: It is better, because it
Chap. XVI.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 313
invests with higher dignities. Material wealth can create
the pageantries which the thoughtless populace, the puny-
headed mob, and the hollow-hearted parasite mayw or-
ship. But moral wealth alone can command the reverence
of true men. The true dignity of man is the dignity of
moral goodness. A noble heart is the soul of all true
royalty. Fourthly: It is better, because it is destined to a
longer endurance. All the pleasures and honours of
material wealth are of only short duration. "Naked came
we into the world, and naked shall we return. We brought
nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry
nothing out." But moral wealth produces pleasures and
honours everlasting. "Its inheritance is incorruptible
and its crown is eternal."
It is "better" in its PURSUIT.—It is better in the
getting. First: The pursuit is more ennobling. The
mere pursuit of material wealth, whilst it develops certain
faculties, cramps others, and deadens the moral sensibi-
lities. Often in the pursuit of riches we see souls that
might have expanded into seraphs running into grubs.
Not so with the pursuit of true spiritual wisdom. All the
faculties are brought into play, and the whore soul rises in
might and majesty. Secondly: The pursuit is more
heavenly. Amongst the millions in the hierarchies of
heaven not one soul can be found pursuing material good
as an end. But each presses on to higher intellectual and
spiritual attainments. Their "excelsior" is for a nearer
approach and a higher assimilation to the Infinite.
Thirdly: The pursuit is more successful. Thousands try
for material wealth and fail. The ditches along the road
of human enterprise are crowded with those who ran with
all their might in the race for wealth, but who fell into the
slough of pauperism and destitution. But you will not
find one who ever earnestly sought spiritual wealth who
failed. Every true effort involves positive attainment. In
every way, therefore, moral wealth is better than mate-
rial.*
* See HOMILIST, vol. iv., third series, p. 226.
314 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XVI.
Proverbs 16:17
The Way of the Upright
"The highway of the upright is to depart from evil: he that keepeth his
way preserveth his soul."
As in every civilized country there are private roads, and
high roads, ways that are occasionally used, and roads on
which the common traffic runs, so in every man's life there
are occasional and incidental lines of action, as well as one
regular, common every-day path—the "highway." The
man's occasional actions are his by-paths. His general
conduct, his average life, his "highway." Every man has
his own "highway," the road on which he is to be found
during the greater portion of his active life. The "high-
ways " of some are crooked, boggy, perilous. The verse
directs us to the "highway" of the upright. The man
whose heart is right in sympathy and in aim—the man
who has been justified (rectified) by faith—made right by
faith in Christ. Two things are here said of this man's
"highway."
It is a SIN-DESERTING way.—"The highway of the up-
right is to depart from evil." He departs from evil. Ob-
serve, First: That there is evil in the world. It is here in a
thousand forms—theoretical, emotional, practical, institu-
tional. It is a moral Babylon in which humanity lives.
Secondly: There is a way in which men can escape it. With-
out figure, and in Scriptural language, this way is "re-
pentance towards God, and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ."
The traveller has been in the evil that lies behind him,
like the old "cities of the plain," seething in corruption
and black with those combustible elements that will soon
take fire. But every step in this "highway" takes him
further and further from it, and as he moves on the fire
becomes dim in the distance. And though his old world
should be wrapt in conflagration, no spark shall fly far
enough to reach him. He departs from evil.
Chap. XVI.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 315
It is a SOUL-PRESERVING way.—"He that keepeth his
way preserveth his soul." Taking the word "soul" here
in its generally accepted sense, two remarks are implied.
First: That man has a soul. Most men theoretically
acknowledge, but at the same time practically deny this.
Thousands who are spiritualists in creed are materialists
in conduct. Men live after the flesh. Matter rules mind
everywhere. The world is busy in obeying the Satanic be-
hest, commanding "stones to be made bread." Out of the
earth it is endeavouring to get the staff of its being. Still
man has a soul; philosophy, universal consciousness, the
word of God demonstrate that we have an existence dis-
tinct from matter, that will survive all earthly dissolutions.
Philosophy, universal consciousness, and the Word of God
prove this. It is implied. Secondly: That the preservation
of his soul depends upon his conduct. A corrupted and a
popular evangelicalism preaches that a certain and senti-
mental belief is enough to save the soul. But reason and
the Bible alike show that upon conduct its growth and
destiny depend. It is true that a right conduct must have
the right beliefs, and that the right beliefs must be directed
to Christ. But the genuineness and worth of those beliefs
are alone demonstrated by holiness of life. "Show me
your faith by your works." "He that keepeth his way
preserveth his soul." Coleridge well says, "Good works
may exist without saving principles, and therefore cannot
contain in themselves principles of salvation; but saving
principles never did, never can exist without good works."
Brothers, enter this "highway," the "highway of the
upright," go on no other road. "The miners," says
Dr. Arnott, "in the gold fields of Australia, when they
have gathered a large quantity of the dust, make for the
city with the treasure. The mine is far in the interior;
the country is wild; the bush is infested by robbers. The
miners keep the road and the daylight. They march in
company, and close by the guard sent to protect them.
They do not stray from the path among the woods, for
they bear with them a treasure which they value, and they
are determined to run no risks." Do likewise, brother, for
316 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XVI.
your treasure is of greater value, your enemies of greater
power. Keep the way, lest you lose your soul.
Proverbs 16:18-19
Pride and Humility
"Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall. Better
it is to be of an humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the
proud."
AT different times in pursuing our way through this re-
markable book, we have had the subject of pride urged
on our attention, and so many different remarks have we
noted down concerning it, that we must now dismiss the
subject with a few words. The verse presents two opposite
subjects:
PRIDE AS THE PRECURSOR OF RUIN.—"Pride goeth before
destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall." Pride and
haughtiness are equivalents. What is here predicted of
pride, First: Agrees with its nature. It is according to the
instinct of pride to put its subject in an unnatural and
therefore in an unsafe position. A proud man is where he
ought not to be, and where he does not understand himself
to be. His foot is on quicksand instead of on granite rock.
He has been borne to his present elevation by the inflation
of his faculties, not by the Divine pinions of his nature.
Like a paper balloon he must collapse, come down, and
descend into the mud. What is here predicted of pride,
Secondly: Agrees with its history. All history shows that
destruction always follows in its march. It entered
Heaven, according to Milton. And what a destruction and
fall followed. "From Heaven the sinning angels fell."
It entered Eden, and inspired our first parents with the
wish to become as gods, and what a fall and destruction
followed. Examples abound in Sacred History:—Pharaoh,
Amaziah, Haman, Nebuchadnezzar, Herod, David, Uzziah,
Hezekiah, Peter, are signal and imperishable examples.
Chap. XVI.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 317
The records of their fall flame like red beacons on the
rocks of history. This verse presents to us—
HUMILITY AS THE PLEDGE OF GOOD.—"Better it is to be
of an humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil
with the proud." What are all the spoils of earth's haughty
conquerors to be compared with the blessedness of a
genuinely humble soul? "An humble spirit" is better than
all worldly good—better—more happy, more honourable,
more acceptable to God and man. In every respect, both for
this world and the next, humility is a blessing. "Humility,"
said Sir Benjamin Brodie, "leads to the highest distinction,
because it leads to self-improvement. Study your own
character; endeavour to learn and to supply your own
deficiencies; never assume to yourselves qualities which
you do not possess; combine all this with energy and
activity, and you cannot predicate of yourselves, nor can
others predicate of you, at what point you may arrive at
last." "Think not," says Sir Thomas Browne, "thy own
shadow longer than that of others, nor delight to take the
altitude of thyself."
True humility is essentially a Christian virtue. The old
Romans knew nothing of it, they had no word in their
language to represent it. What they meant by "humilitas"
was baseness and meanness of spirit; not that calm, moral
nobility of soul which we express by the word humility.
Gospel humility is moral greatness. As in the ripened
cornfields the heaviest ear bends the lowest to the breeze,
so amongst men the greatest souls are the most lowly, "The
lark," says a modern author, "which mounts so high in
singing her hymn of praise, descends afterward to the
lowest point, and settles on the ground. So a mind that
rises the most in aspirations towards God and heaven, sinks
proportionally in its own esteem, and rests on the plains of
humiliation and self-abasement. It is as though the ele-
ment of light to which it soars produced an obscuration of
inferior things by the very intensity of its brightness."
"True dignity abides with him alone
Who, in the silent hour of inward thought
Can still suspect and still revere himself
In lowliness of heart."—WORDSWORTH
318 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XVI.
Proverbs 16:20-21
The Conditions of a Happy Life
"He that handleth a matter wisely shall, find good: and whoso trusteth in
the LORD, happy is he. The wise in heart shall be called prudent: and the
sweetness of the lips increaseth learning."
THESE words lead us to consider two conditions of a happy
life. What are they?
SKILFUL MANAGEMENT.— "He that handleth a matter
wisely shall find good." Skilful management in every de-
partment of life is of the utmost importance. First: It is
so in intellectual matters. The man who desires to get a
well-informed and well-disciplined mind, must arrange
both the subjects and the seasons of study with skill.
The man of greatest intellect who leaves all his studies to
the chances of the hour, will never become distinguished
in intellectuals. Method is of primary moment in the
business of study. Great intellects become bankrupts for
the want of this. Secondly: It is so in mercantile engage-
ments. Men of large capital and with industry too often
find their way to Basinghall Street for the want of skil-
ful management. Whereas men whose stock-in-trade
amounted only to a few shillings, with the faculty for
"handling a matter" wisely, have risen to opulence and
power. Thirdly: It is so in spiritual culture. A wise
selection of the best readings, the most instructive pulpits,
and the most favourable seasons for devotion cannot be
dispensed with if great spiritual good is to be got. Prac-
tical philosophy is required we say in every department of
action in order to get good out of it. Dr. Tulloch has well
said, "Every profession implies system. There can be no
efficiency and no advance without it. The meanest trade
demands it, and would run to waste without something
of it. The perfection of the most complicated business is
the perfection of the system with which it is conducted.
It is this that brings its complications together and gives
Chap. XVI.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 319
a unity to all its energies. It is like a hidden sense per-
vading it, responsive at every point and fully meeting every
demand. The marvellous achievements of modern com-
merce, stretching its relations over distant seas and many
lands, and gathering the materials of every civilization
within its ample bosom, are, more than anything, the result
of an expanding and victorious system, which shrinks at
no obstacles and adapts itself to every emergency." The
words lead to consider—
A WELL-STAYED HEART.–– "Whoso trusteth in the Lord
happy is he." God is the stay of the heart. In Him, and
in Him only, can the heart centre its supreme sympathies,
and rest its unsuspicious confidence. He is to all the
faculties and affections of the soul what the sun is to the
planets, keeps them in order, inspires them with life, floods
them with brightness, and bathes them with beauty.
"Whoso trusteth in Him happy is he." First: He is
happy in himself. "Happy is he." He feels that his
love is approved by his conscience, reciprocated in
boundless measure, and employs all his faculties and
powers. Secondly: He is happy in his policy. "The wise
in heart shall be called prudent." The right love is the
best security for safe policy. Love is inventive genius, and
is the best lamp in life's journey. In no light can the in-
tellect see things so clearly and so truthfully as in the sun-
beam of love. Thirdly: He is happy in his speech. "And
the sweetness of the lips increaseth learning." Where the
heart is staid on God, not only will there be a wise judg-
ment, but a speech whose mellifluous eloquence will im-
prove society in all true learning. Truly then, "Blessed
is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the
Lord is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters,
and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not
die when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and
shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall
cease from yielding fruit."
320 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XVI.
Proverbs 16:22
The Two Interpreters
"Understanding is a wellspring of life unto him that bath it: but the in-
struction of fools is folly."
LIFE is a school: Nature, human history, and the Bible
furnish its lessons. These lessons have two great inter-
preters—wisdom and folly. These interpreters get opposite
meanings out of the same fact, and these meanings exert a
directly opposite influence upon the experience, character,
and destiny of human souls.
The BENEFICENT interpretation of life.—"Understanding
is a wellspring of life." Understanding here undoubtedly
means true knowledge, and especially true knowledge
concerning the highest truths. What are the highest
truths? Truths relating to God as manifested in Jesus
Christ. These truths touch all that is vital in man's
history, all that is grand in the universe, and glorious in
God. "This is life eternal, to know Thee, the only true God,
and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent." So speaks the only
absolutely perfect Teacher the world has ever had or ever
will have. This knowledge is a wellspring of life. "Two
things" says an eloquent writer, "are necessary to the
opening and the flow of wellsprings—deep rendings
beneath the earth's surface, and risings above it. There
must be deep veins and high mountains. The mountains
draw the drops from heaven, the rents receive, retain, and
give forth the supply. There must be corresponding
heights and depths in the life of a man. Either he is charged
as a well spring with wisdom from above, upwards to God
and downward to himself, the exercise of his soul must
alternately penetrate." This comes of spiritual under-
standing, which is indeed a "well spring." Ever flowing
and refreshing are the powers of the soul. "Whosoever
drinketh of the water that I give him shall never thirst,"
Chap. XVI.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 321
said Christ." "It shall be to him as a well of water
springing up to everlasting life." The happiness of a
worldly man, such as it is, is from without: it streams in
through his senses, yielding in its flow pleasurable but
transient sensations. That of a spiritually enlightened
man is from within: it is a fountain, not a pool, nor a
summer's stream. As the humblest spring of water in the
obscure vale has a connection with the boundless ocean
that lies behind the hills, perhaps a thousand leagues away,
so the joys of a good man flow into him from the Infinite,
and as water ever presses upwards to its level, so the hap-
piness of a lowly soul ever presses upward to a
participation in the unbounded blessedness of God.
The PERNICIOUS interpretation of life.—"The instruction
of fools is folly." In all ages fools have set themselves
up as interpreters. In a spiritual sense many of the most
illustrious sages of the olden time were fools, and not
a few of the savants, literati, and priests of our age and
land are fools also. They misinterpret the great fact of life,
they explain away the divine import and give it a false ap-
plication. Alas! folly has its philosophies, its sciences, and
its religions. Their instruction is ever "folly." "There
is nothing," says sensible and sententious Matthew Henry,
"that is good to be gotten by a fool. Even his instruction,
his acts, his solemn discourses, are but folly, like himself,
and tending to make others like him. When he does his
best it is but folly in comparison even with the common
talk of a wise man, who speaks better at table than a fool
in Moses's seat." Folly is pernicious: it brings ruin into
every department in which it plays a prominent part--
business, politics, or religion. "If the blind lead the blind
both shall fall into the ditch."
322 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XVI.
Proverbs 16:23-24
Ideal Eloquence
"The heart of the wise teacheth his mouth, and addeth learning to his lips,
Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones."
ELOQUENCE is a subject of importance. Much has been
written upon it, various definitions have been given of it.
Most public speakers aspire after it. It is one of the
choicest gifts of genius, and the most potent organ of social
influence. Some mistake it for elegance of language, and
labour after verbal embellishments, rhetoric periods, and
climaxes. Others, for fluency of speech, as if it consisted
in a nimble use of the tongue. Elsewhere we have in-
dicated our faith that it is rather a mystic feeling than
magnificent words, a natural gift than a human attainment,
a magnetic force than articulate sound. Eloquence is
often mighty on a blundering tongue, and in lips that
quiver too much to speak. These two verses lead us
to infer several things concerning true eloquence.
IT IS THE UTTERANCE OF THE TRUE HEART.—"The
heart of the wise teacheth his mouth." The moral heart
of man is the best teacher. It is the table on which are
engraven the laws of God, the eternal principles of virtue:
—man's book of life on which experience has written its
lessons. It is the mirror that reflects the infinite. The
highest wisdom is to be found, not in the reasoning, but in
the feeling regions of our soul. It is when the genuinely
patriotic heart "teaches the mouth" of the statesman, that
his speeches are really eloquent, and his voice bends
the senate to his will. It is when the genuinely justice-
loving heart "teaches the mouth" of the counsel, that his
address is really eloquent, and he carries the jury with
him, and makes the cause of his client triumphant; and it
is when the genuinely Christ-loving heart "teaches the
mouth" of the preacher, that his sermons become mighty
Chap. XVI.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 323
through God. Another fact here taught concerning true
eloquence is that:
IT IS THE MEANS OF USEFUL INSTRUCTION.––It "addeth
learning to his lips." True eloquence does more than
awaken mere emotion in the hearer. It instructs. Its
spirit is in such vital alliance with eternal reality that its
very sounds echo such truths as start the highest trains
of thought. Out of the heart are the issues of life, mental
as well as spiritual life. Who is the best religious teacher?
Not the mere theologian, however vast his learning,
scriptural his theory, or perfect his language, but the
Christ-loving man, however untutored his intellect and
ungrammatical his speech. He dispenses the best "learn-
ing;"learning which teaches men rightly to live and
triumphantly to die. Aye, the instincts of a true heart
furnish the lips with the best lessons of life. Concerning
true eloquence the verses further teach that:
IT IS A SOURCE OF SOUL REFRESHMENT.––"Pleasant
words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health
to the bones." Honey was prized by those of old times,
not only as a luxury to the palate, but on account of its
medicinal and salutary properties. To this there is an
allusion here. The words express the twofold idea,
pleasantness and benefit. Many things have the one
quality which have not the other. Many a poison is like
honey, sweet to the taste, but instead of being "health to
the bones," is charged with death. Words of true eloquence,
fall ever as drops of honey on the soul, not only delicious
to the taste but a tonic to the heart.
Brothers in the ministry, would you have the tongue of
the "learned"? Then you must have the heart of the
saint, the heart glowing with love to Christ and man.
Herein is the soul of eloquence. Who could stand before
us if our hearts were rightly and fully affected by Christ
and his cross? The force of Whitfield's sermons lay in his
heart. Dr. Franklin bears the following testimony to the
remarkable power of his eloquence. "I happened to attend
one of the sermons of Mr. Whitfield, in the course of which
I perceived he intended to finish with a collection, and I
324 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XVI.
silently resolved he should get nothing from me. I
had in my pocket a handful of copper money, three or
four silver dollars, and five pistoles in gold. As he pro-
ceeded I began to soften, and concluded to give the copper.
Another stroke of his oratory made me ashamed of that,
and determined me to give the silver; and he finished so
admirably, that I emptied my pocket wholly into the col-
lector's dish—gold and all. At this sermon there was also
one of our club, who being of my sentiments respecting
the building of Georgia, and suspecting a collection might
be intended, had, by precaution, emptied his pockets
before he came from home. Towards the conclusion of the
discourse, however, he felt a strong inclination to give, and
applied to a neighbour who stood near him, to lend him
some money for the purpose. The request was made to,
perhaps, the only man in the company who had the cold-
ness not to be affected by the preacher. His answer was,
"At any other time, friend Hodgkinson, I would lend to
thee freely, but not now, for thou seemest to be out of thy
right senses."
Proverbs 16:26
Labor
"He that laboureth laboureth for himself; for his mouth craveth it of him."*
STRANGE that human labour is so generally regarded as
an evil to be avoided, as the curse of sin and as a badge of
degradation. Though English society allows a man to
sign himself a "gentleman" who is free from labour, the
arrangements of nature regard him as a felon in the uni-
verse. As this subject has frequently come under our
attention, in previous chapters of this book, we shall con-
fine ourselves just to the two points referring to it in the
verse.
* The preceding verse is an utterance identical to that we have noticed on
Prov. xiv. 12
Chap. XVI.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 325
The PERSONALITY of labour.—"He that laboureth,
laboureth for himself." First: There is a sense in which
this must be. A man's labour must have ever an influence
on himself either for good or evil. Every act has a reflex
bearing. All the actions of men go to form their habits,
their character, and their character is in reality the world
they live in, and must live in for ever. "What a man
soweth that he also reaps." Whatever a man does for
others he really does for himself; simply because all his
efforts are seeds that he drops into his own soul—seeds that
must germinate and grow; and their fruits become
to him either a blessing or a curse. Thus men create
their own worlds, and people them either with angels or
devils. Secondly: There is a sense in which this should not
be. Men ought not to labour for themselves, as an end.
Men should not seek their own, they should not live to
themselves, but to him who "died for them and rose
again." The man who makes self the end of his labour
degrades his nature and damns his soul. "He that seeketh
his life shall lose it." Dr. Cheever gives a striking incident
of genuine disinterestedness. "Terantius, Captain to the
Emperor Adrian, presented a petition that the Christians
might have a temple to themselves in which to worship
God apart from the Arians. The emperor tore his petition
and threw it away, bidding him ask something for himself
and it should be granted. Terantius modestly gathered up
the fragments of his petition, and said, with true nobility
of mind, ‘If I cannot be heard in God's cause, I will never
ask anything for myself.'" Again the verse points to:––
The SPRING OF labour.—"For his mouth craveth it of
him." Hunger is the spring of human activity. "All the
labour of man is for his mouth, and yet the appetite is not
filled." First: Hunger is the spring of bodily labour.
The toiler in the field, the mariner on the sea, the
mechanic in his shop, the merchant in the market, in fact,
all men are moved by the same impulse. It is the main-
spring in the great machine of human activity, keeping
every wheel in motion. Appetite is not an evil to be
* Eccles vi. 7
326 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XVI.
mortified, it is a blessing to be valued. Secondly: Hunger
is the spring of intellectual labour. There is a hunger in
the soul for knowledge. "Where shall wisdom be found?
and where is the place of understanding?" This thirst for
knowledge has given us our philosophies, our sciences,
and all the arts that bless and adorn the civilized world.
Mental hunger is a blessing; it is the philosophic spirit.
Thirdly: Hunger is the spring of spiritual labour. Deep
in the soul there is a hunger for a better moral state:––
Peace of conscience and friendship with God. This hunger
stimulates men often, alas, to work with wrong methods.
Still it is a good. "Blessed are they that hunger and
thirst after righteousness." All hunger indicates health,
and implies a provision of suitable supplies. He that.
hungers for the right proves his moral healthfulness, and
may, through Christ, obtain an abundant supply.
Proverbs 16:27-30
Mischievous Men
"An ungodly man diggeth up evil: and in his lips there is as a burning
fire. A froward man soweth strife: and a whisperer separateth chief friends. A
violent man enticeth his neighbour, and leadeth him into the way that is not
good. He shutteth his eyes to devise froward things: moving his lips, he bringeth
evil to pass."
THESE verses represent a mischievous man, a man who
makes it the business of his life to injure society. He is
designated here by three terms, "ungodly"—in the
original, as in the margin, a man of Belial; "froward,"
––perverse and refractory; "violent,"—fierce, cruel, and
bloody. Such is a mischievous man. No uncommon
character, alas, this. Throughout all the social circles of
the world he is found. His delight is to snap the links
of friendship, to sow the seeds of strife in the fields of
affection. Quarrels are music to his soul. The verses
teach us three things concerning him.
He SEARCHES AFTER evil.—"An ungodly man diggeth
up evil." The old quarrel, suspicion, grievance, which had
Chap. XVI.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 327
been buried for years, he digs for, as a miner for his ore.
He belongs to the class described by the Psalmist, "They
search out iniquities, they accomplish a diligent search,
both the inward thought of every one of them, and the
heart is deep." Time buries the grievances of men. Years
entomb old quarrels. Ages as they roll over this earth
like billows bury the memory of its fiercest wars. This is
a merciful arrangement. The mischievous man is an explorer
of those tombs. He opens the graves of old disputes, he
brings their ghastly skeletons up, and endeavours to put
new life into them. He is a fiend that lives and prowls
among the tombs of old disputes. Another fact here taught
concerning the mischievous man is this:
He IS INSPIRED BY evil.—"In his lips there is as a
burning fire." The fires of jealousy, envy, and all other
malign emotions that glow in his heart, throw their burn-
ing sparks into his words, and kindle flames of discord.
"The tongue," says James, "is a fire, a world of iniquity,
it defileth the whole body, and it is set on fire of hell."
The tongue of the mischief maker burns what? Not false-
hoods, suspicions, jealousies, and other dissocializing ele-
ments, but all that mutual confidence, trustfulness, and
esteem that form the basis of true friendship. On these
his syllabic sparks fall as on tinder, and they set on fire
the whole course of society. Still further, another fact here
taught concerning the mischievous man is that:
He PROPAGATES evil.—He soweth strife, he "separateth
chief friends," he "enticeth his neighbour," he "bringeth
evil to pass." First: He produceth social strife by insinua-
tions. "A whisperer separateth chief friends." He whis-
pereth. The whisper is his mode of speech, and for his
purpose it is mightier than the loudest thunders of passion.
It gives the hearer to understand that there is something
so terrible behind, that words cannot, or ought not, to com-
municate. Ah me! what bright reputations have been
stained, what lovely friendships have been destroyed, what
pure hearts have been broken, by the whispering inuendo,
and the silent shrug of the shoulder. Secondly: He leads
astray by enticements. "A violent man enticeth his neigh-
328 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XVI.
bour, and leadeth him into the way that is not good." He
uses the winning and seductive in speech to carry out his
mischievous designs. Thus he turneth his neighbour into
the wrong course. Plausibility is the characteristic and
instrument of a mischievous man. Thirdly: He pursues
his designs by deliberation. "He shutteth his eyes to devise
froward things." A man shuts his eyes when he wishes
to think closely and undistractedly. The ungodly man
does it for the purpose of planning and maturing mischie-
vous devices. When he shuts his eyes, even in bed, while
others sleep, it is to meditate on schemes of evil, and then,
having digested his schemes inwardly, he employs his
"lips" in their artful accomplishment. Thus mind and
mouth are in concert for evil—the latter the agent and
servant of the former.
"He that shall rail against his absent friends,
Or hears them scandalized, and not defends,
Sports with their fame, and speaks whate'er he can,
And only to be thought a witty man,
Tells tales, and brings his friends in disesteem,
That man's a knave—be sure beware of him."—HORACE
Proverbs 16:31
The Glory of the Aged Piety
"The hoary head is a crown of glory, if it be found in the way of righteous-
ness."
SOME have dispensed with the little word "if," and read
the text thus, "The hoary head is a crown of glory, it shall
be found in the way of righteousness; but this takes away
the truth of the passage, for the "hoary head," apart from
righteousness, is not a "crown of glory." It is a degrada-
tion. The silver-locked sinner deserves shame and
everlasting contempt. Age cannot be honoured for its
own sake, the older the sinner the more contemptible the
character. "The sinner being an hundred years old shall
be accursed." But when age is found in the way of
righteousness, then it radiates with the moral diadem,
Chap. XVI.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 329
before which our inmost spirits bow in homage. Two
things are noteworthy in passing. Although they are not
implied in the verse, they are suggested by it. First:
That righteousness is conducive to old age. This is a fact
sustained both by philosophy and history. Physical
health depends upon obedience to the laws of our organiza-
tion. Genuine righteousness insures and includes this
obedience. Secondly: That piety is conducive to honour.
Righteousness is the only true respectability. Goodness
alone is true greatness. A crown on the head of ungod-
liness would be as "a jewel in a swine's snout." We
make three remarks concerning the glory of aged piety.
It is the glory of spiritual RIPENESS.—There is something
glorious in maturation. The seed ripened into an autum-
nal crop, the youth ripened into mature manhood, the
student ripened into the accomplished scholar, are all
objects of admiration. In an old saint there is a truly
glorious ripeness. There you have all the seeds of truth
and holiness, as sown by holy teachers, cultured by expe-
rience, fostered by the sunbeam and the showers of God,
tried and strengthened in their roots by the storms of
adversity, hanging in rich clusters on the boughs ready to
be gathered in. "Thou shalt come to thy grave in a full
age, like as a shock of corn cometh in in his season." †
Another remark concerning the glory of aged piety is
that:
It is the glory of spiritual COMMAND.— Even Egypt's
proud despot bowed before it. "And Joseph brought
in Jacob his father and set him before Pharaoh, and
Jacob blessed Pharaoh. And Pharaoh said unto Jacob,
How old art thou? And Jacob said unto Pharaoh,
the days of the years of my pilgrimage are a hundred
and thirty years; few and evil have the days of the years
of my life been, and have not attained unto the days of
the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pil-
grimage. And Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from
before Pharaoh."‡ Samuel was an old saint wnen he died.
"And Samuel died, and all the Israelites were gathered
* Isaiah lxv.2o. † Job v. 26. ‡Gen. xlvii. 7-10.
330 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XVI.
together and lamented him, and buried him in his house
at Ramah."* "Jehoiada waxed old and was full of days
when he died, a hundred and thirty years old was he when
he died. And they buried him in the city of David, among
the kings, because he had done good in Israel, both
towards God and towards his house."† No object on this
earth is more truly royal to me, than that man whose noble
brow time has whitened with snowy locks, whose intellect,
unwarped by prejudice, is still in quest if truth, whose
heart beats in sympathy with all that is true, philanthropic,
and divine; whose past is sunnied by the memory of use-
ful deeds, whose future is bright with the promises of
grace, and who sits in calm majesty, in "the old arm-
chair," on the margin of both worlds, waiting his ap-
pointed time. Where on this earth is there a king like him?
Concerning the glory of aged piety we have yet to
remark that:
It is the glory of the spiritual PROSPECTS.––Simeon, who
took the infant Jesus in his arms, and said––"Now lettest
thou thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen
thy salvation," is a glorious example of this. Though his
foot was on earth, heaven was in his eye, and flooding his
heart with joy. The outward man is decaying, but the
inner man is strong. The body of an aged saint is to
him what the chrysalis is to the insect, whose wings are
perfect enough to enable it to break forth into life, sip the
nectar if the flowers, sweep the fields of beauty, and bask
in the sunshine of day. We conclude with the utterance
of a modern author: "As ripe fruit is sweeter than green
fruit, so is age sweeter than youth, provided the youth
were grafted into Christ. As harvest-time is a brighter
time than seed-time, so is age brighter than youth; that is
if youth were a seed-time for good. As the completion of
a work is more glorious than the beginning, so is age
more glorious than youth; that is, if the foundation of the
work of God were laid in youth. As sailing into port is
happier than the voyage, so is age happier than youth; that is
when the voyage from youth is made with Christ at the helm."
* I Sam. xxv. I. † Chron. xxiv. 15, 16.
Chap. XVI.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 331
Proverbs 16:32
The Conqueror of Self, the Greatest Conqueror
"He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his
spirit than he that taketh a city."
THESE words imply—First: That man has a spirit. By
the spirit is to be understood his moral heart, with all its
impulses, affections, powers. Secondly: This spirit should
be ruled. There should be self-command, self-control.
An uncontrolled spirit is a curse to itself; and the universe.
Thirdly: That the ruling of this spirit is the greatest of
works. It is greater than taking a city.
It is the most NECESSARY of conquests.—It is necessary
to the freedom of man. A man with an uncontrolled tem-
per is the worst of slaves. He is the victim of a lawless
despot. It is necessary to the peace of man. An uncon-
trolled spirit is in eternal conflict with itself. He corn-
mitteth self-mutilation. Indeed he is like the man in the
Gospel, who "fell ofttimes into the fire and oft into the
water." It is necessary to the progress of man. A man
cannot really advance in intelligence and worth, unless he
is able to command his own intellect and powers. Men
can do without taking "a city," but they cannot without
ruling their own spirits.
This is the most RIGHTEOUS of conquests. —Taking cities,
physical wars of all descriptions, defensive as well as
aggressive, are, to say the least, undertakings of question-
able morality. I believe they are wrong, essentially and
eternally wrong. But to conquer self is a righteous cam-
paign. Man has a right to dethrone evil passions, to
crucify old lusts, to pull down corrupt prejudices. His
spirit is his own domain. It is the Canaan God has given
him to conquer and possess. He must drive out the
Canaanites before he can truly enjoy the land; and on
this battle he enters with a "Thus saith the Lord."
This is the most DIFFICULT of conquests.—Cities may be
332 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XVI.
taken by fraud or violence. The most cunning man with
reckless daring will make the most successful worldly
chieftain. A successful soldier must be a great sneak.
The difficulty in this conquest arises from the nature of the
enemy—subtle and strong. Paul, after wrestling with
this enemy, cries out in agony, "O wretched man that I
am, who shall deliver me from the bondage of this sin and
death?" This difficulty arises from the nature of the wea-
pons. No force can do it. Swords, bayonets, cannons,
are all useless here. They cannot reach the enemy within.
There must be meditation, prayer, self-denial, unflagging
perseverance. This difficulty arises from the unco-operative-
ness of the campaign. In taking cities and in all material
campaigns, men co-operate, not merely individually but
regimentally. The spirit of emulation, the love of ap-
plause, and the hope of glory urge them on, but in this
conquest of the spirit man must go by himself. He must
work in solitude and in shame. He must "tread the wine-
press alone."
It is the most BLESSED of conquests.—First: It wins the
highest trophy. What are towns, cities, fleets, armies,
continents, won by physical warfare, compared to a soul,
which is won by self-conquest? "What shall it profit a
man, if he gain the whole world and lose his soul?" All that
is material will vanish one day as a cloud, but the soul will
survive the wreck of all. Secondly: It awakens the highest
applause. The applause of worldly conquerors is the bois-
terous shout of a brainless crowd, but the approbation
which the self-conqueror gains is the approbation of his
own conscience, of the whole universe, and of his God.
"The command of one's self," says Drexelius, "is the
greatest empire a man can aspire unto, and consequently
to be subject to our passions, the most grievous slavery.
Neither is there any triumph more glorious than that of the
victory obtained of ourselves, where whilst the conflict is
so short, the reward shall ever last."
Chap. XVI.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 333
Proverbs 16:33
Life, a Lottery and a Plan
"The lot is cast into the lap: but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord."*
THE lot is anything, whether drawn or cast, for the purpose
of determining any matter in question. The instances of
its use mentioned in Scripture are considerably various:† in
finding out a guilty person when there was no direct and
satisfactory evidence; in dividing and appropriating land;
in the choice of an official functionary; in assigning de-
partments of duty; in deciding controversies. Some
translate "lap," "urn," into which the lots were cast.
The verse suggests two things—
That the HUMAN side of life is a LOTTERY.—Much con-
nected with our circumstances in this world, seems to be
as much the result of chance as the "casting of the lot."
We are struck with the apparent casualty when we look
at men's circumstances in connection with their choice.
None of us have any choice as to the condition, the place,
the time, in which we are to be born or brought up. We
are struck with the apparent casualty also when we look
at men's circumstances in connection with their merits.
How often we find feeble-minded men in eminent posi-
tions, and men of talent and genius in obscurity; some by
what is called a "hit," making fortunes and earning fame,
whilst honest industry plods on with little or no success;
vice in mansions, and virtue in the pauper's hut. Verily
"the race is not often to the swift, nor the battle to the
strong." It is not, however, all casualty. There is some
amount of certainty; and these two opposing elements in
life are highly disciplinary. The casual teaches us to exer-
cise dependence on God, and the certain stimulates us to
work our own faculties.
* See Readings on chap. xix. it., xvi.
† I Sam. xiv. 38–43, Jonah i. 7, Numbers xxvi. 52, Acts i. 26, I Chron. xxiv.
45, Prov. xxii. 18.
334 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XVI.
The verse suggests again—
That the DIVINE side of life is a PLAN.––"The whole
disposing thereof is of the Lord." All that appears chance
on the human side is settled law on the Divine. That
God controls and disposes of the most trivial contingencies
of life may be argued,—First: From His character. He is
all-present, all-seeing, almighty, all-wise, all-good. There
is nothing great or small to Him.—Secondly; From the
connection of the most trivial events with the vastest issues.
Providence is a machine. The most insignificant circum-
stance is an essential pin, screw, or wheel in the works of
the engine. Thirdly: From the history of the world. The
meeting of the Ishmaelites on their journey to Egypt at
the pit the very moment Joseph was cast into it seemed a
trifling casualty. But God disposed of it. Indeed, the
story of Joseph, as Dr. South remarks, "seems to be made
up of nothing else but chances and little contingencies, all
tending to mighty ends." Pharaoh's daughter comes to
the Nile just when the babe Moses was committed to the
ark on the banks of the rolling stream. But God disposed
that little incident, and brought wonderful results out of it.
A whale meets the vessel in which Jonah sails, at the
moment he is thrown into the sea. God disposed of that
incident. Examples of this are countless. Every man's
life supplies him with many such. The most trivial inci-
dents have often led in our history to the most important
issues. "Whatever will thou makest," says an old divine,
"God is sure to be the executor." An architect holds in
his hand the plan of a magnificent cathedral. He has
signed the contract to complete the edifice, and hundreds
of men are set to work—some at home and some abroad;
some to work in timber, some in stone, some on iron and
some on brass. Few, if any, know his plan; yet his plan
unconsciously rules them all, and all are co-operating to-
wards its ultimate realization. They are all free, yet con-
trolled by the master thought of another. It is so with
God and His moral creatures. His plan runs through all
their activities, and shapes their destiny, though they
Chap. XVII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 335
know it not, and feel no restraining or constraining force.
"The lot is cast into the lap; but the whole disposing
thereof is of the Lord."
Proverbs 17:1-2
Family Scenes
"Better is a dry morsel, and quietness therewith, than an house full of sacri-
fices with strife. A wise servant shall have rule over a son that causeth shame,
and shall have part of the inheritance among the brethren"
A PROVERB like that in the first verse, has already come
under our notice. "Better is a dinner of herbs where love
is, than a stalled ox and hatred therewith."* We may take
the two verses together because they alike point to
domestic life, and they give us three things which are often
found in households.
A DISCONTENTED TEMPER.—"Better is a dry morsel and
quietness therewith, than a house full of sacrifices with
strife." The word "sacrifices " refers to the practice of
feasting on the flesh of slain victims when they were not
holocaust to be entirely consumed on the altar.† The mar-
gin gives the true idea. "A house full of good cheer with
strife—plenty with discontent." The idea of Solomon is
that domestic poverty with content is better than plenty
with discontent. These things are often found in asso-
ciation. There is many a pauper home where the spirit of
contentment reigns supreme, and many a wealthy mansion,
where there is nothing but brawls and contention. And
who, that knows life, will not say, that the former is the
preferable condition? A contented mind is a continual
feast. "It produces," says Addison, "in some measure all
those effects which the alchemist usually ascribed to what
he calls the philosopher's stone, and if it does not bring
riches, it does the same thing by banishing the desire of
them." If it cannot remove the disquietudes arising from
* See Reading on chap. xv. 16, 17.
† Samuel ix. 12, 13, 20-24.
336 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XVII.
a man's mind, body, or fortune, it makes him easy under
them.
"Lord, who would live turmoil'd in court,
And may enjoy such quiet walks as these?
This small inheritance my father left me
Contented me, and's worth a monarchy.
I seek not to was great by others' waning,
Or gather wealth, I care not with what envy;
Sufficeth that I maintain my state,
And send the poor well pleased from my gate."
SHAKESPEARE
We have here—
A WORTHLESS SON.—"A son that causeth shame."
Who is the son that causeth shame? He, who with the
means of knowledge is destitute of information and culture;
he who degrades his position by indolence, intemperance,
and profligacy; he who for his own gratification and in-
dulgence, violates the rights and does outrage to the
feelings of those whom he is bound to love and obey. The
gross voluptuary, the empty sot, the jewelled dandy,
"causeth shame,"—shame to his parents, to his brothers,
his sisters. He is a disgrace to an intelligent and high-
minded family. Many such sons, alas, there are in English
homes, and they cause shame.
We have here—
A VALUABLE SERVANT.—"The wise servant shall rule
over a son that causeth shame, and shall have part of the
inheritance among the brethren." A well tried servant gets
moral influence in a house. He rules over a son. A ser-
vant, who for many years has industriously and honestly
administered to the comfort of a family, seldom fails to
gain power. In the olden times, as in the case of Abra-
ham, servants were born in a family, and when they con-
ducted themselves well, their influence became great. A
well tried servant sometimes shares the fortunes of the
house." Shall have part of the inheritance among the
brethren." Instances sometimes occur even in modern
times of such servants becoming the legatees of their
masters. Jacob by marrying Laban's daughter was por-
tioned with an inheritance.
Chap. XVII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 337
From the whole we may infer—
First: That the temper of a man's soul is more important
to him than his temporal condition. A cot with contentment
is a far better home than a castle with an ill-satisfied soul.
The quiet mind is better than a crown. Contentment is a
pearl of great price, and whoever procures it at the ex-
pense of ten thousand desires makes a wise and happy
purchase. Secondly: That the power of character is superior
to the power of station. A man may have the station of
being "the son" and heir of a wealthy house, and yet be
disgraced. Another may occupy a menial position, yet
by force of noble character, get a sovereignty in his circle.
"It is the man who adorns the station, not the station the
man."
Proverbs 17:3
Divine Discipline
"The fining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold: but the LORD trieth
the hearts."
A COMPARISON is here intended. "As the fining pot is
for silver, and the furnace for gold, so the Lord trieth the
hearts." There are two things to be noticed here:
THE VALUABLE AND WORTHLESS IN CONNECTION WITH
MAN.—The ore which the refiner puts into the crucible, or
furnace, has the precious metal in connection with ex
traneous and worthless matter, mere dross. First: In
man there is the valuable in essence in connection with the
comparatively worthless. The soul is man's essence, his self,
the offspring, the image, the servant of God, and how
valuable is this! The material organization in which that
soul lives is but "dust," and the secular conditions that
surround it are of little worth. The soul is the "gold," all
else dross. Secondly: In man's character there is the
valuable in principle in connection with the most worthless
338 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XVII.
There are some good things in all men, even the most
corrupt, some true idea, some generous impulses, some
virtuous feelings. But these are found combined with and
overlaid by selfishness, pride, carnality, and practical infi-
delity. With impure loves, false hopes, erroneous ideas,
and wicked purposes, man appears here as the ore in the
refiner's hand just before it has dropped into the furnace.
He is as gold combined with dross, the valuable with the
worthless. As in some lumps of ore there is more gold in
connection with less worthless matter than with others,
so with men. There are some with far less gold in con-
nection with less worthless matter than others, both con-
stitutionally and morally.
The other thing to be noticed here is—
THE PURIFYING PROCESS EMPLOYED BY GOD.—"The
Lord trieth the hearts." He tries not, as the refiner the ore,
to ascertain how much good metal there really is, for He
knows all that, but in order to separate it from the dross.
First: The purifying process is painful. It is by "fire."
The fire to purify must be raised to the utmost intensity.
"The fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is."*
Physical suffering, secular disappointments, social bereave-
ments, moral convictions, constitute that furnace in which
God tries man. "He knoweth," says Job, "the way I
take: when He hath tried me I shall come forth as gold."†
Secondly: The purifying process is constant. The dis-
pensation under which we live is disciplinary. "And He
shall sit as a refiner and as a purifier of silver, and He shall
purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver,
that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteous-
ness." A correspondent of the Wesleyan Methodist Magazine
relates that, "A lady, apprehending there was something
remarkable in the expressions of this text, determined to call
on a silversmith and make enquiries of him, without
naming her object. In answer to her enquiries the process
of silver refining was fully explained to her. 'But, sir,'
said she, 'do you sit while the work of refining is going
on?' 'O yes, madam,' replied the silversmith, 'I must sit
* I Cor. iii. 13. † Job xxiii. 10
Chap. XVII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 339
with my eyes steadily fixed on the furnace, for, if the time
necessary for refining be exceeded in the slightest degree,
the silver is sure to be injured.' At once, we are told, she
saw the beauty and comfort too of the expression. As she
was going, the silversmith called her back to mention the
further fact that he only knew when the process of purifying
was complete by seeing his own image reflected in the silver.
Beautiful figure!" When Christ sees His own image in
His people, His work of purifying is accomplished. Heaven
grant that the trial of "our faith being much more precious
than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire,
might be found unto praise and honour and glory, at the
appearing of Jesus Christ!"
Proverbs 17:4
Conversational Likings of Bad Men
"A wicked doer giveth heed to false lips: and a liar giveth ear to a naughty
tongue."
MEN'S characters may be known by the conversations they
most relish. The talk of the holy and the devout is always
most distasteful to those whose hearts are in sympathy only
with the vanities of the world—the pursuits of wealth, the
gratification of the senses. This verse enables us to see the
kind of conversation that bad men like.
They like FLATTERY.—"A wicked doer giveth heed to
false lips." The flatterer is a man of false lips. The more cor-
rupt men are, the more blindly credulous to everything that
makes them appear better than they are. The truth concern-
ing them would disturb perhaps their sleeping consciences,
and fill them with distressing feelings, and this they shun.
He who compliments them palliates their offences, gives
them credit for virtues they possess not, is their favourite
companion, and they ever "give heed" to his lips. The more
340 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XVII.
corrupt a circle, the more popular a flattering member.
The more corrupt a congregation, the more acceptable a
flattering preacher. "A wonderful and horrible thing is
committed in the land: the prophets prophesy falsely, and
the priests bear rule by that means; and my people would
have it so." The worse men are, the more anxious they are
to be thought good. Hence the ready heed they give to flat-
tering lips. One of the best things recorded of George III.
is, that one of his first acts after his ascension to the throne
was to issue an order prohibiting any of the clergy who
should be called to preach before him from paying him any
compliment in their discourses. His Majesty was led to
this form from the fulsome adulation which Dr. Thomas
Wilson, Prebendary of Westminster, thought proper to
deliver in the Chapel Royal, and for which, instead of
thanks, he received from his royal auditor a pointed repri-
mand, His Majesty observing, "that he came to chapel to
hear the praises of God, and not his own."
"A man I knew, who lived upon a smile,
And well it fed him; he look'd plump and fair,
While rankest venom foamed through every vein.
Living, he fawned on every fool alive;
And dying, cursed the friend on whom he lived."—YOUNG
What is the kind of conversation that bad men like?
The verse shows that—
They like CALUMNY.—"A liar giveth ear to a naughty
tongue." The "liar" is also the "wicked doer." The
"naughty tongue," while it speaks flatteries and falsehoods
of all kinds, speaks calumnies also, and the worse the man
is the more welcome to his depraved heart are the reports
of bad things concerning others. Calumny gratifies the
pride of evil men. It helps them to cherish the thought
that they are not worse than others, but perhaps better.
Calumny gratifies the malignity of evil men. The worse a
man is the more malevolence he has in him, and the more
gratified he is at hearing bad things concerning other men.
"If," said Bishop Hall, "I cannot stop other men's mouths
to reprove it, I will stop mine ears from hearing it, and let
him see in my face that he hath no more room in my
Chap. XVII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 341
heart." Bad men constitute the audience to which both
flattery and calumny address themselves. Convert this
audience into vital sympathy with truth and goodness, and
these lying spirits will quit the world.
Proverbs 17:5
The Unfortunate Poor
"Whoso mocketh the poor reproacheth his Maker: and he that is glad at
calamities shall not be unpunished."
A SIMILAR sentence to this we have had before:* "He that
oppresseth the poor reproacheth his Maker; but he that
honoureth im hath mercy on the poor." On this verse we
have already offered some remarks. There is a poverty
that is a crime. It arises from indolence, intemperance,
extravagance, stupidity, and other culpable causes. And
there is a poverty that is a calamity—a poverty that has
come on men irrespective of their choice and against their
honest and resolute efforts. These poor may be considered
as planted by God in the earth, and they serve most useful
purposes in the discipline of the world. These are the poor
referred to here, and two facts are stated—
That contempt for such is IMPIOUS.—"Whoso mocketh
the poor reproacheth his Maker." Mocking is more than
disrespect, more than neglect, it is disdain. This feeling
is impious. He who has it "reproacheth his Maker." This
mocking implies a disregard to God's ordinance. The
existence of the poor in the world is not a casualty, it is a
divine purpose. "The poor shall never cease out of the
land." Were there no poor, there would be no opportunity
for the development of social compassion and beneficence.
This mocking implies a disregard to the relationships that
He has established. The poor are our brethren, offsprings
of the same parent, partakers of the same nature, subject
to the same conditions of being. To feel disdain towards
them is to disregard relationships that our Maker has
* See Reading on Prov. xiv. 31.
342 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XVII.
established. This mocking implies a disregard to the
earthly condition of His Son and His disciples. Christ was
poor, "He had nowhere to lay His head." His dis-
ciples also were men devoid of wealth and power.
"Not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty,
not many noble are called." This mocking implies a
disregard to the Divine grounds of social respect. God's will
is that man's respect to man should not be ruled by phy-
sical condition, but by moral character. The good man,
though a pauper, should be honoured; the wicked man,
though a prince, should be despised. To pour contempt
on the current coin with the king's image upon it, is treason
against the sovereign. Man, however poor, has the stamp
of God's image on him, and to despise that image is a
contempt for the Divine majesty. Another fact referred to
here concerning the poor is—
That contempt for such is PUNISHABLE.—He that is
glad at the calamities of others indicates a fiendish
malignity. "Woe unto them that decree unrighteous
decrees to turn aside the needy from judgment, and to take
from the poor of my children. The Lord will plead their
cause, and spoil the souls of those that spoil them." In
the day of judgment He will take our conduct towards the
poor into account. "Inasmuch as ye did it unto the least
of these little ones ye did it unto me." Cruelty to the poor
is certain of punishment. "Go to now, ye rich men, weep
and howl, for your miseries that shall come upon you. Your
riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten.
Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall
be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were
fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.
Behold the hire of the labourers which have reaped down
your fields, which is of you keep back by fraud, crieth,
and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into
the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. Ye have lived in pleasure
on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your
hearts as in a day of slaughter!"
Chap. XVII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 343
Proverbs 17:6
Posterity and Its Ancestors
"Children's children are the crown of old men: and the glory of children
are their fathers."
WE have two things in this passage—
A POSTERITY that is the glory of its ANCESTRY.—"Chil-
dren's children are the crown of old men." Posterity is
not always a "crown" to its ancestors. There are children
not a few who disgrace the fair fame of their forefathers.
Though they wear their brilliant titles and hold their vast
estates, they re, to say the least, but miserable shadows
of illustrious progenitors. When "children's children" are
a "crown" an honour to their fathers, two things have
taken place. First: Their fathers have rightly ful-
filled their mission. The presumption is that they have,
by their example, instructions, and prayers, trained up
their children in the "nurture and admonition of the
Lord." Where this is not the case, and the children
have grown p in godly virtues, no credit of course is due
to the parents. On the contrary; the virtues of such
children are heir condemnation. However great the in-
fluence which parents have in the formation of the character
of their child en, that influence is not absolute. There is a
power in the child to counteract it, and by the grace of
Heaven man a child brought up in ignorance and depravity
has found its way into spiritual light and holiness. The
other thing that has taken place when children become a
"crown" to their ancestors is, Secondly: The children
have rightly used the privileges they have enjoyed. They have
copied parental example, and have applied parental admo-
nitions, and as they have grown in years, they have ad-
vanced in goodness. Let no parents hope that their pos-
terity will be an honour to them, if they have not maintained
a godly character themselves, and trained their children
in the way in which they should go. And let no children
344 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XVII.
imagine that they can honour their pious ancestors unless
they walk in the way of their commandments. Were not
Rehoboam and his son a disgrace to their fathers? What
a "crown of glory" encircles the brow of that old man
whose children's children gather round him, exemplifying
the virtues that he embodied in his life and inculcated in
his teaching! "Children by their conduct may either
weave a garland of honour for the brow of their parents, or
encircle their brows with a crown of thorns, and bring
clown their grey hairs with sorrow to the grave." What
an honour was young Timothy, who "from a child knew
the holy scriptures," to his grandmother Lois and his
mother Eunice! And what a stain upon his reputation—
a sword in his bones—a weight of oppressive sadness on
the spirit of old age, were the profligate sons of Eli, who
himself was to blame, for it is said, his sons "made them-
selves vile, and he restrained them not."
We have here—
An ANCESTRY that is the glory of its POSTERITY.—"And
the glory of children are their fathers." It is a great thing
to be born of parents healthy in body, strong in intellect,
and holy in character. How many come into life inherit-
ing a diseased constitution, an enfeebled brain, and pro-
clivities to the selfish, the mean, and the carnal. Worthy
children may well be proud of noble sires. Some fathers
disgrace their children's children, and attach infamy to
their posterity. Others by their virtues brighten the life
of their children's children with a halo of imperishable
glory. David, notwithstanding his imperfections, was the
glory of his children's children. He preserved to them
the throne of Judah for seventeen generations.
"My boast is not that I deduce my birth
From loins enthroned and rulers of the earth:
But higher far my proud pretentions rise:
The son of parents pass'd into the skies."—COWPER
In conclusion, the subject suggests two thoughts. First:
The physical succession of the race. Here we read of "fathers,"
"children," "children's children." "One generation cometh
and passeth away." One generation is buried in the dust
Chap. XVII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 345
of another, and future generations will be entombed in our
ashes; but though men depart, man remains. Generations
like wave rise and break on the eternal shore; but
humanity, like the ocean, rolls on in undiminished pleni-
tude and power. The world can do without us. Secondly:
The moral connection of the race. Men are either an honour
or a disgrace to members of their own species, especially
to their own lineage. "No man liveth unto himself."
Adam's sin has rolled its influence through the souls of all
ages, in all climes, and pulsates in the spirit of this
generation.
"'Tis poor, and not becoming perfect gentry,
To build their glories at their fathers' cost;
But at their own expense of blood or virtue
To raise them living monuments. Our birth
Is not our own act: honour upon trust
Our ill deeds forfeit: and the wealthy sums
Purchased by others' fame or sweat, will be
Our stain; for we inherit nothing truly
But what our actions make us worthy of."—CHAPMAN
Proverbs 17:7
Speech, Incongruous and False
"Excellent speech becometh not a fool: much less do lying lips a prince."
IN the first clause of this proverb we have INCONGRUOUS
speech.—speech which is inconsistent with the speaker's
sentiments, spirit, and character.—"Excellent speech" or,
as the martin has it "lips of excellency," "becometh not a
fool." Ho often do we hear corrupt men using excellent
speech. They do it to disguise their own character, and
to impose upon their fellow men. There is benevolent
speech from the lips of the selfish. This is frequently
heard. As a rule the more selfish a man is the more are
his words loaded with the generous and the disinterested.
346 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XVII.
There is tender speech from the lips of the hardened.
Obdurate natures can speak soft words of sympathy, and
weep feigned tears. There is spiritual speech from the lips
of the carnal. Men deeply sunk in the mercenary and the
sensual often use devout language; they always do so
when they join in the beautiful Liturgy of the Church.
All this is sadly incongruous. Such speech in the lips of a
fool is, to use the words of another proverb, like "jewels
in a swine's snout." Such speech is, of course, hypocritic:
it misrepresents both the spirit and character of the
speaker. It has no influence for good. However generous,
tender, and devout, it is hollow. "When," to use the
language of another, "a fool utters a curse, or a wicked
man good advice, he to whom it is given, thinks himself;
by the very circumstance of its coming from such a person,
at liberty to disregard it. The advice having no worth of
character to support and recommend it, goes for nothing
and falls lifeless and pithless to the ground. It well
becomes the public teachers of religion to lay these
thoughts to heart. More "excellent speech" cannot be
uttered than the doctrines and precepts, the counsels and
warnings of the Word of God. But if the character of him
who utters them is notoriously at variance with his in-
structions, the incongruity shocks, disgusts, and revolts
the hearer. It draws tears from the pious, and mockery
from the profane. The latter feel the admonitions from
others. Good they may be, but they are blunted by the
character of the speaker. They scoff and exchange the sly
wink with each other, or they are provoked at the thought
of their being schooled by such a man, and with the one
feeling or the other they leave the sanctuary whispering
or exclaiming with a careless shrug, 'physician, heal
thyself.'"
Here we have, in the second clause of this proverb—
FALSE SPEECH.–– "Much less do lying lips a prince."
Incongruous speech is of course always false, but false is
not always incongruous, it may be in keeping with the
character of the speaker who is known to be a false man.
The falsehood here is most flagrant, for the prince ought
Chap. XVII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 347
to be the guardian of truth and honesty in the community,
and as their guardian he should be their example. Louis
IX. of France said, "If truth be banished from all the rest
of the world, it ought to be found in the breast of princes."
It is a sad reflection upon Plato that he sanctioned false-
hoods in princes on the ground that they governed for the
public good. Lying men are bad, but lying princes are
worse, the shake public confidence, and by their example
they dispose the nation to falsehood.
"This, above all, to thine own self be true;
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man."—SHAKESPEARE
"A lie," says Carlyle, "should be trampled on and ex-
tinguished wherever found. I am for fumigating the
atmosphere when I suspect that falsehood, like pestilence,
breathes around me."
"Let falsehood be a stranger to thy lips.
Shame on the policy that first began
To tamper with the heart, to hide its thoughts!
And doubly shame on that unrighteous tongue
That sold its honesty, and told a lie!"—HAVARD
Proverbs 17:8
The Power of Patronage
"A gift is as a precious stone in the eyes of him that hath it: whithersoever
it turneth, it prospereth."
PATRONAGE is one of the mightiest forces in social life; it
is indeed "precious stone in the eyes" of men.
Patronage is power in the HANDS of the GIVER.—The
man "that hath it" to bestow, hath what is a "precious
stone" in he eyes of society. It would so operate on his
behalf in is neighbourhood or country that "whithersoever
he turneth he prospereth." Money is might, it "answereth
all things," gifts govern. First: There is a lawful use of
this power. The man who uses it to increase his own
348 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XVII.
influence for the good of society, to encourage the arts and
the sciences, to raise intellectual and moral merit to its
right social position, uses this "precious stone" in a praise-
worthy way. Patronage is a great talent, which, rightly
used, may render high service both to church and state.
In truth, a man by patronage may win a bloodless con-
quest over the malignant passions of personal antagonists.
Thus Jacob triumphed over Esau. "I will appease him
with a present that goeth before me, and afterwards I will
see his face." This "precious stone" rightly used, can
achieve sublimer triumphs than all the armies of Europe;
it can subdue the enmity of the soul. Secondly: There is
an unlawful use of this power. It is wrongly used when,
for selfish ends and personal aggrandisement, it bribes men
to act either without or against their consciences. Thus,
alas! it is often used both in ecclesiastical and political
matters. This "precious stone" held up on the hustings,
and sparkling in the eyes of the electors, has cleared the
path of many a worthless man for parliamentary honours.
Heathens felt the power of this. Philip of Macedon said
that there "was no fortress so strong but it might be taken
if an ass laden with gold was brought to the gate." "A
golden key," said an old author, "can open any prison
gate, and cast the watchman into a deep sleep. Gold will
break open gates, as well as silence the orator's voice and
blind the judge's eyes. It will bind the strong man's
hands, and blunt the edge of the sword. It makes war,
and it makes peace."
Patronage is power in the LIFE of the RECEIVER.––
"Whithersoever it turneth it prospereth." Some suppose
the reference is rather to the receiver of the gift than
to the bestower. First: It is a power which binds him
in gratitude to his patron. He who receives a gift from
generous impulses of another, if he has within him the true
heart of a man, comes under the reign of gratitude;
feels bound to serve the donor whenever he can con-
sistently with his own conscience and duties. Sometimes
indeed the force of gratitude will tempt a man even to do
the wrong in order to serve his patron. Secondly: It is a
Chap. XVII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 349
power which serves to increase his own social credit. He who
has received the "precious stone" from an honourable
minded patron as a recognition of personal excellence, and
as a reward of merit, will find the fact so operating on the
social mini around him, that "whithersoever he turneth
it prospereth." His compeers will think the more of him
on account of the favours he has received. Thus patronage,
this "precious stone," is as a power both to the bestower
and the recipient. Let us give and receive in a right
spirit; let us neither bribe nor be bribed by this "precious
stone."
"Judges and senates have been bought for gold:
Esteem and love were never to be sold."—POPE
Proverbs 17:9
The Right Concealment and
the Wrong Revealment of Offences
"He that overeth a transgression seeketh love: but he that repeateth a
matter separated very friends."
TWICE at least before the sentiments of this verse have
come in a somewhat different aspect under our notice.*
Here we have-
THE RIGHT CONCEALMENT of offences.—"He that
covereth a ransgression seeketh love." The writer is, of
course, speaking of a right covering of a transgression.
Our transgressions should not be hidden from God. We
should frankly confess our sins to Him, for he that covereth
his sins shall not prosper. Nor should our transgressions
be covered from our fellowmen against whom they have
been committed. We should "confess our faults one to
another." We should tell the man we have wronged of
the wrong we have done him. The right concealment, or
the concealment of him who "seeketh love," includes—
First: Hiding as much as possible the injuries we
* See Readings on chap. x. 12, xvi. 28.
350 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XVII.
have received from others. There is a disposition pre-
valent in most men to recall, exaggerate, and reveal the
injuries they have received. The mother of this is revenge,
and it tendeth to social discord, not to friendship. When
an injury has been inflicted on us, and the offender has
regrettingly confessed the same, it should be entombed--
should never rise from its grave or speak again. He that
doeth that "seeketh love," his conduct tends to the growth
of social love. Secondly: Hiding as much as possible
the offences we discover in others. A generous nature will
throw a mantle of charity over the imperfections, irregu-
larities, and offences of men. "Charity is not easily
provoked . . . beareth all things, believeth all things,
hopeth all things. It covereth a multitude of sins." Christ
never paraded the injuries he received from others, nor did
he ever, except when duty forced him, expose the crimes of
men about him. The man who treats the offences of his
fellow men with a generous, forbearing, and loving spirit,
seeketh love." Dr. South has well said, "It is a noble and
great thing to cover the blemishes and to excuse the
failings of a friend; to draw a curtain before his stains,
and to display his perfections; to bury his weaknesses in
silence, but to proclaim his virtues upon the house top."
Here we have also—
The WRONG REVEALMENT of offences.—"He that re-
peateth a matter separateth very friends." There are those
in society whose greatest pleasure it is to detail the story
of their own grievances and also of the mistakes and im-
moralities of their fellow-men. They, to use the language
we have elsewhere employed, "open the graves of old dis-
putes and crimes, bring up their ghastly skeletons, and
end eavour to put new life in them." Such men "separate
very friends." Discord is their music. From this subject
we infer, First: That social harmony is a good that all should
seek. It is the will of Heaven that men in neighbourhoods
and nations should live in the loving bonds of brotherhood
and peace. This will be the millennium state of the world.
The Gospel tends to this. "Peace is the proper result of
the Christian temper. It is the great kindness which our
Chap. XVII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 351
religion doth us, that it brings us to a settledness of mind,
and a consistency within ourselves." Secondly: That
social offences are opposed to social harmony. Every offence that
man commits against his brother or against his God is a
blow against social order, it irritates and disturbs. Thus the
very treatment of social offences has much to do with the
weal or woe of social order. The generous concealer of
social offences is a blessing, the ill-natured revealer is a
social curse. The one breathes a spirit of Divine serenity
through the world, the other wakes up tempests and forges
thunderbolts.
"I desire
To reconcile me to his friendly peace.
'Tis death to me to be at enmity:
I hate it, and desire all good men's love."—SHAKESPEARE.
Proverbs 17:10
Moral and Corporeal Chastisement
"A reproof entereth more into a wise man than an hundred stripes into a
fool."
THERE are two kinds of chastisement referred to in this
passage; oral—"reproof," that which has to do with
man's reason, conscience, heart; and corporeal—"stripes,"
that which deals with man's physical sensibilities. The
one afflicts the soul, the other the body. The proverb
suggests to remarks concerning these two kinds of chas-
tisement—
The one in its sphere is AS LEGITIMATE as the other.
—Solomon assumes that both are right in principle.
Notice, First: The sphere of the moral. It is for the
"wise." he "reproof" is for men open to reason and im-
pression— men whose natures are susceptible to moral
arguments and appeals. The sphere of the moral is the
sphere where intelligence and argument are appreciated.
Secondly: The sphere of the corporeal. It is for the "fool,"
—men who are either incapable of reasoning, brainless
352 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XVII.
louts, or who are stolidly indisposed to attend to any moral
appeal. "Stripes" for them. Now, these two kinds of
chastisement are exactly suited to their subjects. "Stripes,"
corporeal inflictions, to the wise, would be a flagrant injus-
tice, an egregious folly, and a serious injury. On the other
hand, "reproofs," moral appeals, would be utterly ineffec-
tive to all who either could not or would not reason or feel.
Of what service is an argument to an ox, or a whip to a
soul? Parents and tutors often make fearful mistakes
here, they use "stripes" where there are souls, and some-
times "reproofs" where there are only bodies. You may
as well endeavour to break stones with argument, or thaw
ice with love, as to correct some men by moral means.
Flagellation and nothing but flagellation for fools. The
proverb suggests that—
The one in its sphere is MORE THOROUGH than the other.
—"A reproof entereth more into a wise man than a hundred
stripes into a fool." First: The one is more painful than
the other. The one is spiritual, the other mere physical
pain. What is pain arising from a few lashes on the body,
compared with the pain arising in the soul from a conviction
of moral wrong? "A wounded spirit who can bear?"
What pain did reproof give David!* What agony did the
reproving look of Christ strike into Peter! Moral chas-
tisement pains the man himself, gives agony to the central
nerves of his being: whereas "stripes" give pains only to
the body, and the body is the man's not the man.
Secondly: The one is more corrective than the other. Cor-
poreal chastisement will never do the fool any moral good.
You cannot whip the moral devil out of men." Though
thou shouldest bray him in a mortar amongst wheat with
a pestle, yet will not his foolishness depart from him."†
But moral chastisement correct the wrongs of the soul.
The fires of moral conviction separate the gold from the
dross.
*Psalm li. † Chap. xxvii. 22.
Chap. XVII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 353
Proverbs 17:11-13
The Genius and Punishment of Evil
"An evil man seeketh only rebellion: therefore a cruel messenger shall be
sent against him. Let a bear robbed of her whelps meet a man, rather than a
fool in his folly. Whoso rewardeth evil for good, evil shall not depart from his
house."
NOTICE here—
The GENIUS of evil.—What is the spirit of evil? It is
here represented. First: As lawless. "An evil man
seeketh only rebellion." In all the different renderings
of this clause, the same general sentiment is brought out.
It expresses the wayward, refractory, and unruly spirit
of evil. Is instinct is always against law, order, and God;
it stands in antagonism to the Divine throughout the uni-
verse. It is here represented, Secondly: As furious.
"Let a bear robbed of her whelps meet a man rather
than a fool in his folly." A strong, terrible figure this
of the savage wrath that is in evil when excited. The
rage of the "bear robbed of her whelps" is but a faint
emblem. See it in Jacob's sons putting a whole city to
fire and he sword for the folly of one man.* See it in
Saul's massacre of innocent priests. See it in the furnace,
"seven-fold heated," of Nebuchadnezzar. See it in Herod
murdering the children in Rama. See it in Saul breath-
ing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of
the Lord. See it even in David binding himself by oath
to massacre a whole family. See it in the political tyran-
nies and he religious persecutions that have afflicted hu-
manity. See it in the barbaric cruelties inflicted on wife and
children recorded almost daily in the journals of England.
Aye, aye, the instinct of evil is ever furious. It is savage
as a "roaring lion." It is here represented, Thirdly: As un-
grateful. "Whoso rewardeth evil for good, evil shall not
depart fro his house." Sin is bad when it returns evil
*Gen. xxxiv. 25, I Sam. xxii. 18, Dan. iii. 19, Matt. ii. 18, Acts vii.,
I Sam. xxv. 33.
354 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XVII.
for evil; it is worse when it returns evil for good. It is a
heartless ingratitude combined with a malignant resent-
ment. The genius of evil is ingratitude. "He," says
Swift, "that calls a man ungrateful, sums up all the evil
that a man can be guilty of."
"I hate ingratitude more in a man
Than lying, vainness, babbling, drunkenness,
Or any taint of vice, whose strong corruption
Inhabits our frail blood."—SHAKESPEARE
Notice here also—
The PUNISHMENT of evil.—The punishment is stated
here in two forms. First: As the advent of a ruthless
officer. "Therefore a cruel messenger shall be sent
against him." Nemesis is ever wending his steps toward
the wicked, always as close to the sinner as his sha-
dow, as venemous as a serpent, and as cruel as a ravenous
beast of prey. The punishment is stated here—Secondly:
As a perm anent resident in the house. "Evil shall not
depart from his house." Wherever sin is, there will be the
avenger. "Be sure your sins will find you out." What a
wretched thing is evil! It is bad in essence, influence,
and issues. "Sin and hell," says an old author, "are so
turned and twisted up together, that if the power of sin be
once dissolved, the bonds of death and hell will also fall
asunder. Sin and hell are of the same kind, of the same
lineage and descent; as (on the other side) true holiness
or religion, and true happiness are but two several notions
of one thing, rather than distinct in themselves. Religion
delivers us from hell by instating us in a possession of true
life and bliss. Hell is rather a state than a place; and
heaven cannot be so truly defined by anything without us,
as by something that is within." What is hell? Thy
gangrened heart, stripped of its self-worn mask, and
spread at last bare, in its horrible anatomy, before thine
own excruciated gaze!
Chap. XVII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 355
Proverbs 17:14
Strife
"The beginning of strife is as when one letteth out water: therefore leave
off contention before it be meddled with."
CRABB makes a difference between discord and strife. He
says, "Discord evinces itself in various ways—by looks,
words, or actions; strife displays itself in words, or acts of
violence. Discord is fatal to the happiness of families;
strife is the greatest enemy to peace between neighbours;
discord arose between the goddesses on the apple being
thrown into one assembly. Homer commences his poem
with the strife that took place between Agamemnon and
Achilles."
The passage suggests three ideas concerning strife.
It is an evil OF TERRIFIC PROGRESS.—At first it is like the
dropping of water oozing through a mound that encloses
a sea. Every drop widens the channel until the drops be-
come a stream, and the stream a torrent. Thus strife
spreads. One angry word leads to another, one look of
revenge, one act of resentment, will kindle a fire that may
set a whole neighbourhood or a nation into conflagration.
A drop of strife soon becomes a river, and the river a
torrent.
"Contention, like a horse
Full of high feeding, madly bath broke loose,
And bears all before him."—SHAKESPEARE
Another idea suggested by the passage concerning
strife is—
It is an evil THAT SHOULD BE CHECKED.—"Therefore
leave off contention before it be meddled with." Every
lover of his race should suppress it. It is a desolating fury
—it makes sad havoc in families, creates divisions in those
whom nature has bound together; it produces unhappy con-
tentions in churches, and makes nations mad with the
spirit of bloody war. "Blessed is the peace-maker." A
356 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XVII.
true peace-maker should be inspired with the spirit of
peace, maintain the character of peace, use the argument
of peace. Thus he will check the spirit of strife. The dis-
position of a peace-maker is a blessed one: it implies self-
control, a generous sympathy with the conflicting parties,
a calm, moral, mediating power, equal to the subjugation
of antagonistic souls. The peace-maker has far higher
attributes than the warrior. A man has only to have the
low cunning of the fox, and the savage daring of the lion,
to become famous on the battle-field; but he must have
the philosophy of a sage, and the love of a saint, to act
effectively the "day's-man," put his hand on contending
parties, and of the "twain make one." Such shall be
called the "children of God." The peacemaker is like the
"God of peace," and filiation to that God consists in moral
assimilation to His character.
Another idea suggested by the passage concerning
strife is—
It is an evil WHICH CAN BE EASILY CHECKED AT THE
BEGINNING.—"The beginning of strife is as when one let-
teth out water." You may mend the embankment with
tolerable ease at the stage when it emits only a few oozing
drops; the mightiest and most furious beasts of prey you
can easily destroy at their birth; the most majestic and
resistless river you can stop at its spring head. So it is
with strife. In its incipient state you may easily crush it.
The first angry thought, the first malevolent desire, by
serious reflection, resolute will, devout prayer, these may
be overcome. Crush the upas in the germ, tread out the
conflagration in the spark. Let the only strife we know be
a strife against evil and in favour of good. May we strive
with others, to use a figure of Lord Bacon, "as the vine
with the olive, which of us shall bear the best fruit; but
not as the briar with the thistle, which is the most unpro-
fitable."
"A peace is of the nature of a conquest:
For there both parties nobly are subdued,
And neither party loser."-- SHAKESPEARE
Chap. XVII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 357
Proverbs 17:15
Perverse Treatment of the Characters of Men
"He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, even they
both are abomination to the Lord."
THE evil referred to in the proverb, namely, that of justify-
ing the wicked and condemning the just, is by no means
uncommon. On the contrary, it is-
PREVALENT IN SOCIETY.—The prevalency arises from
various causes. There is mental servility. The doings of a
wicked man, especially if he be wealthy and influential,
will always find, amongst the servile in society, numbers to
justify and defend. On the contrary, they will represent the
virtues of the just, if poor, as worthless and even reprehen-
sible. Sycophancy is ever justifying the wicked and con-
demning he just. Another cause is, self-interest. When
the wicked are customers or patrons, their crimes will be
readily extenuated; whilst the just who sustain no such
relationship become subjects of calumny and blame. Add
to this spiritual infirmity. The eye of the conscience is
either too dim to discern moral distinctions, or the heart is
too cowardly to avow them. Thus this perverse treatment
of character is prevalent. The world abounds with unjust
judges, and justice is everywhere perverted, even in temples
consecrat d to her name. The proverb states that this
evil is—
OFFENSIVE TO GOD.—"They both are abomination to
the Lord." It is repugnant to His character. "He is light
and in him there is no darkness at all." Sin is the
abominable thing which He hates. Men, therefore, who
not only are regardless of justice but perpetrate un-
righteousness, are to the last degree repugnant to His holy
nature. It is dangerous to His universe. To defend the
wrong and condemn the right is the way to spread anarchy
throughout the moral realm of God. Observe from this-
358 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XVII.
First: The sad state of human society. Here are not only
wicked men, but men justifying wickedness, and even con-
demning goodness. How obvious it is that we are morally
lost. "The crown is fallen from our head. Woe unto us
that we have sinned." Secondly: The value of Christi-
anity. This is Heaven's instrument, designed and adapted
to effect a true moral reformation in human society.
Brothers, let us stand up ever for the right. "The
right," as Archdeacon Hare has well said, "is might and,
ever was, and ever shall be so. Holiness is might, meek-
ness is might, patience is might, humility is might, self-
denial and self-sacrifice is might, faith is might, love is
might, every gift of the Spirit is might. The cross was
two pieces of dead wood, and a helpless unresisting man
was nailed to it; yet it was mightier than the world, and
triumphed, and will ever triumph over it. Heaven and
earth shall pass away, but no pure, holy deed, or word, or
thought. On the other hand, might, that which the chil-
dren of earth call so, the strong wind, the earthquake, the
fire, perishes through its own violence, self-exhausted, and
self-consumed; as our age of the world has been allowed
to witness in the most signal example. For many of us
remember, and they who do not have heard from their
fathers, how the mightiest man on earth, he who had girt
himself with all might, except that of right, burst like a
tempest-cloud, burnt himself out like a conflagration, and
only left the scars of his ravages to mark where he had
been. Who among you can look into an infant's face and
not see a power in it mightier than all the armies of Attila
or Napoleon?" "A man," says Carlyle, "is right and
invincible, virtuous, and on the road towards sure conquest,
precisely while he joins himself to the great deep law of
the world, in spite of all superficial laws, temporary ap-
pearances, profit and loss calculation—he is victorious
while he co-operates with that great central law—not
victorious otherwise."
Chap. XVII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 359
Proverbs 17:16
Capacity Without Will
"Wherefore is there a price in the hand of a fool to get wisdom, seeing he
hath no heart to it."
IN these words we have three things.—
A GREAT PRIVILEGE.—The privilege is this, "a price in
the hand" to get wisdom. The "price in the hand" may
be regarded as representing the possession of all the
necessary means for the attainment of knowledge. What
are the means? Leisure. Many men have not the "price,"
for lack of time. They are so absorbed in other engagements,
that they re unable to seize even one hour a day for
mental pursuits. What are the means? Books. The
man who as in his possession the works of one great
author has a "price in the hand" for wisdom. Thousands
are destitute of such productions as are necessary to stimu-
late the faculties, to guide the judgment, and to inform the
understanding. What are the means? Companions. En-
lightened and thoughtful society is amongst the best means
of knowledge." He that walketh with wise men shall be
wise." He that hath intelligent companions hath the
"price in the hand" for "wisdom." What are the means?
Travellings. To visit distant scenes, mingle with different
tribes and classes of men, and to come under the influence of
different laws, manners, customs, are all valuable means
of mental culture. All these may be said to form the
"price" of wisdom. The man who has these has the
purchase money in his hand. With it he may unlock the
gate of universal science, and revel in the sunny realm
of wisdom.
Here we have-
A UNIVERSAL PRINCIPLE.—The principle is this, the
man who as not the heart for knowledge,—the "price,"
though he as all the facilities—will never get it. Indeed
360 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XVII.
a man must have a heart for a thing before he seeks to
attain it. The man who would succeed in his business or
profession must have a heart for it, and the man also
who would succeed in the acquisition of knowledge,
and in the attainment of godliness, must have a "heart
for it." Without the heart there will not be that persistency
which is necessary. "He must agonize to enter in at
the strait gate" of intelligence and goodness. Men's
failures in all the varied avocations in life, generally arise
from the lack of heart. When a man puts his whole soul
to a thing he generally succeeds. To him all things be-
come possible.
Here we have—
A DIFFICULT PROBLEM.—The whole verse states the pro-
blem. "Wherefore is there a price in the hand of the fool
to get wisdom, seeing he hath no heart to it?" The ques-
tion is, why should a man who has no heart for knowledge,
be in possession of all necessary means? These two things
are often found together. Plenty of opportunities with a
soul indisposed. What thousands have access to univer-
sities, libraries, cultured society, foreign countries, who
have no heart for knowledge, and they remain fools amidst
all! Why should such fools have the means? This is
the difficult question that was asked. "Wherefore?"
Though I do not presume to reach the grand reason in the
mind of God, I can see enough to hush complaints. It is
far better to have the heart without the means, than the
means without the heart. All men may have the heart,
and all who have the heart have their mental eyes open,
their mental faculties in good health, and their mental
horizon enlarging and destined still to brighten and
expand. "The more we know," says Coleridge, "the
greater our thirst for knowledge. The water lily in the
midst of waters, opens its leaves and expands its petals at
the first pattering of showers, and rejoices in the rain
drops with a quicker sympathy than the parched shrub in
the sandy desert."
Chap. XVII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 361
Proverbs 17:17; 18:24
Degrees and Duties of True Friendship
"A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity."
"A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend
that sticketh closer than a brother."
ONE of the greatest needs of man is that of friendship.
Without friendship he would die in the first dawn of
infancy. He needs friendship to nurture his body, and
educate his mind. Friendship is his shield in danger, his
guide in perplexity, his strength in weakness, his succour
in sorrow. He needs the hand of friendship to receive
him into the world, and to help him out; and through all
the intervening: stages, from the cradle to the grave, he re-
quires its presence and its aid. What sun, and air, and
dew, are to the seed, friendship is to him, that which
quickens, nurtures, develops, and perfects his being. These
proverbs lead us to notice the degrees and duties of that
true friendship, which Aristotle describes as "composed of
one soul in two bodies."
THE DEGREES OF TRUE FRIENDSHIP.—Three degrees of
true friendship are suggested by these words. First: A
constant love. "A friend loveth at all times." Constancy
in love is an essential element in all genuine friendship.
There is a thing called friendship, very warm, very demon-
strative, but vary mutable; it changes with circumstances.
When its object is in prosperity, it keeps by his side, cheers
him with sunny looks and approving words, but when
adversity comas, it skulks away, and keeps out of sight.
Unlike this, genuine friendship comes to us in prosperous
days only by invitation, but hastens to our side unasked
when sorrow darkens our homestead. A modern writer
362 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XVII.
has well described the true friend: "Concerning the man
you call your friend—tell me, will he weep with you in the
hour of distress? Will he faithfully reprove you to your
face, for actions for which others are ridiculing or censuring
you behind your back? Will he dare to stand forth in
your defence, when detraction is secretly aiming its deadly
weapons at your reputation? Will he acknowledge you
with the same cordiality, and behave to you with the same
friendly attention, in the company of your superiors in rank
and fortune, as when the claims of pride and vanity do not
interfere with those of friendship? If misfortune and
losses should oblige you to retire into a walk of life in
which you cannot appear with the same distinction, or
entertain your friends with the same liberality as formerly,
will he still think himself happy in your society, and,
instead of gradually withdrawing himself from an un-
profitable connection, take pleasure in professing himself
your friend, and cheerfully assist you to support the bur-
den of your affliction? When sickness shall call you to
retire from the gay and busy scenes of the world, will he
follow you into your gloomy retreat, listen with attention to
your tale of symptoms,' and minister the balm of con-
solation to your fainting spirit? And lastly, when death
shall burst asunder every earthly tie, will he shed a tear
upon your grave, and lodge the dear remembrance of your
mutual love in his heart, as a treasure never to be re-
signed?" The man who will not do all this, may be your
companion, your flatterer, your seducer, but, depend upon
it, he is not your friend. False friends are like chaff, they
fly away before the first blast of adversity; the true are the
precious grain that lie at our feet.
The other degree of friendship suggested here is,
Secondly: A brotherly love. "A brother is born for
adversity." Some regard the expression as indicating the
writer's idea that a friend that "loveth at all times," is yet
to be born. He does not at present exist. Whatever
might be Solomon's exact idea, his words suggest the fact that
brotherly affection is of higher worth than ordinary genuine
friendship. Genuine affection may exist, and does exist where
Chap. XVII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 363
there is no blood relationship, but where the blood relation-
ship of brothers exists in connection with it, its value is
increased, it takes a higher type. True brotherliness gives a
wondrous tenderness, depth, and energy to friendship.
Kindred blood coursing through the veins, hearts centering
their affections upon the same parents, and spreading their
sympathies over the same relations and interests, a thousand
thoughts, impressions, hopes, and memories, which the
loving intercourse of early years have given them in com-
mon, cannot fail to impart a priceless worth to genuine
friendship. A true brother is indeed a man "born for
adversity." It is when the sky of adversity is darkest over
brethren an sisters, and its storms beat most furiously
upon them, hat he is most strong and constant in his love,
he is there like a bright angel, and will not depart until the
breaking of the darkness and the hushing of the tempest.
Thank God or all true brotherliness in the world.
Another degree of friendship suggested here is,
Thirdly: A super-brotherly love. "There is a friend that
sticketh closer than a brother." Here we have genuine
friendship in its highest degree. Constancy is its first
stage, brotherliness is the next, super-brotherliness is the
highest. But who is this "friend that sticketh closer than
a brother?" Jonathan stuck to David, but not closer than
a brother. We know One, and only One, Who answers to
this description. It is the Son of God. "He that loved
us and gave Himself for us." "He is not ashamed to call
us brethren." "He is touched with the feeling of our
infirmities." "He is afflicted in all our afflictions." What
a friend is He! How disinterested, self-sacrificing, tender,
constant, infinite, His love! He "sticketh closer than a
brother." A brother must leave us sooner or later. He
dies, or we die, and we part. We cannot go with him into
the "valley if the shadow of death," nor he descend with
us. We part. But Christ is ever with us. "Lo I am
always with you, even unto the end."
Here we have also:
THE DUTY OF TRUE FRIENDSHIP.––"A man that hath
friends must show himself friendly." What is our duty to
364 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XVII.
genuine friends? First: We must justify their friendship.
We must show by the purity of our love, the excellence of
our principles, the nobleness of our spirit, the loftiness of
our aims, that we are worthy of the affection and con-
fidence that are bestowed upon us. To be genuinely loved
we must be morally lovable, and to be morally lovable we
must be good. One mean unworthy act of mine is enough
to burn the golden thread that links my friend to me.
To shew yourselves friendly, you must show that in your
life which will justify the friendship you enjoy. Secondly:
We must honour their friendship. Men must see in our
character that which will give them a virtuous pride in
calling us friends, however obscure our lives, humble our
homes, or unfortunate our circumstances. Let us be great
in character, however obscure in position. Thirdly: We
must reciprocate their friendship. Their offices of love,
their acts of kindness, their expressions of tenderness we
must requite, if not with material gifts through poverty,
with strong gratitude and high devotion. He who does
not reciprocate love will soon lose it, he who receives all
and gives nothing in return will soon block up the
river of favours. "He that hath friends must show
himself friendly." Whether his friends be unrelated
to him by the ties of consanguinity, or related by the
bonds of brotherhood, or related by ties more close and
tender than those of a brother, "he must show himself
friendly," in order to retain the friendship. Heaven give
us this generous friendship! A star that breaks the
darkest clouds of earth and that will shine on for ever.
True friendship is immortal. "The friendship," says
Robert Hall, "of high and sanctified spirits loses nothing
by death but its alloy; failings disappear, and the virtues
of those whose faces we shall behold no more appear
greater and more sacred when beheld through the shades
of the sepulchre."
"Smitten friends
Are angels sent on errands full of love;
For us they languish, and for us they die."—DR. YOUNG
Chap. XVII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 365
Proverbs 17:21, 25
The Fool: Negatively and Positively
"He that begetteth a fool doeth it to his sorrow: and the father of a fool
hath no joy."*
"A foolish son is a grief to his father, and bitterness to her that bare him."
"THE joys of parents," says Lord Bacon, "are secret,
and so are their griefs and fears: they cannot utter the
one; they will not utter the other. Children sweeten
labours, but they make misfortunes more bitter; they
increase the cares of life, but they mitigate the remembrance
of death." A man must be a parent to know the heart
of a parent, and he must be cursed with worthless and
wicked children in order to know the crushing grief of
those who a . There are two ways in which the child
who is a "fool"—a fool not by natural incapacity, but by
moral depravity—gives sorrow to his parents.—Negatively.
He is not what a son should be. He neglects all that a
son should do. He does not reciprocate the love. What
love, self-sacrificing, tender, anxious, ever-toiling love, has
been lavished on him, but he returns it no more than a
stick or a stone. He does not acknowledge the kindness.
What kindness has been expended on him! Yet he knows
no gratitude, he manifests no thanksgiving. He recognizes
no authority. The parental word is disregarded, the paren-
tal will is disobeyed, the parental order is set at defiance.
All this is the conduct of a "fool," and in all this there is
sorrow to the heart of the father and the mother. The
other way in hick the child gives sorrow to his parents is
positively. A wicked son is active in his wickedness.
Sometimes the conduct of such children involves their
parents in secular ruin. The extravagance, the gambling,
the reckless speculations of children, have wrecked the
* The subject of the 18, 19, and 20 verses, viz., suretiship, strife, ambition,
frowardness of heart, and perverseness of speech, have already engaged our atten-
tion. See Readings on chap. vi. 1-5, xvii. 14, xvi. 18, vi. 12-15
366 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XVII.
fortunes of many a family, and brought desolation to many
a home. Sometimes the conduct of such children brings
disgrace upon their parents. By their violation of the
laws of chastity, social honour, commercial justice, they
have often degraded the character of their families. The
son who is a "fool" has often invested with infamy a
family name that has shone brightly for many an age.
Household life is so momentous to men individually and
socially, that it can never be too frequently examined and
too earnestly pondered. Hence it constantly appears in the
thoughts of Solomon; and is not unfrequently referred to
by other inspired men. It may be well therefore for us
to look a little closer into the subject. In these verses we
have three things in relation to it.
A REPREHENSIBLE DOMESTIC CHARACTER.––"A foolish
son." By a "foolish son" Solomon means not a son des-
titute of mental capacity—an idiot, but a graceless son,
one destitute of that virtue which is in reality the, true
reason of the soul. Immorality is moral madness. First:
A son is a fool who disregards his parents. There are
those, alas, in families who lose the filial element, and who
become indifferent alike to parental feelings and parental
claims. They wound parental love and despise parental
rule. Is this not foolish? What friends have they so sin-
cere in their love, so strong in their attachment? Secondly:
A son is a "fool" who neglects his study. The best inte-
rests of a young man consist in the filling of his mind
with useful knowledge, the culturing of his heart into pure
sympathies, the training of his powers to act virtuously,
forcefully, and happily. But he who neglects this, and gives
himself up to indolence, self-indulgence, and sensuality, is
a "fool." Thirdly: A son is a "fool" who neglects his
God. The life and destiny of all are in His hands. To
neglect Him, therefore, is the height of folly. But if this
disregard, this negative conduct, shows his folly, how much
more does this folly appear in the positive evils that grow
out of this negative behaviour? Indolence, intemperance,
sensuality, roguery, profanity, murder, and such like enor-
mities, flow out of disregard to parents, study, and God.
Chap. XVII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 367
Alas, how many families there are in England who have
such fools as members! The verses present to us—
A QUESTIONABLE DOMESTIC TRAINING. —When such
fools as there appear in families there is a presump-
tion that the training has been defective. For is it not
said, "Train up a child in the way he should go and
when he is old he will not depart from it?" I know what
may be pleaded against the certain efficacy of this disci-
pline. Organisation is pleaded. It is said that the con-
formation of some children is bad, that there is a sad lack
of the moral in their nature, and that the animal predo-
minates over the mental. Will is pleaded. It is said that
every child as freedom and independency of mind, and
that this prevents the possibility of invariable results.
Mind is not like dead matter on which we may produce
any impression we please; it is endowed with a resisting
and self-modifying force. Against these objections three
things are to be observed. First: The power of goodness
upon unsophisticated childhood. The Great Maker of our
being has established such a relation between the principles
of truth, justice, and moral excellence, that the mind in an
unsophisticated state not only can see them, but is bound
to admire and render them homage. Secondly: The force
of parental influence upon the child. The mind of the
child in its first stages is to the parent as clay in the hands
of the potter, it can be moulded almost into any shape and
turned to any service. Thirdly: The promise of God.
The Great Father has promised to render efficient a right
parental training. On the whole, then, there seems to me
no necessity or parents to have moral fools as children.
The verses present--
A SAD DOMESTIC EXPERIENCE.––"A foolish son is a
grief to his father, and a bitterness to her that bare him."
How true this is. To have a son a drunkard, a rogue,
a swindler, a murderer, must involve an amount of
parental agony, which is not easy to imagine. What
agony did Absalom give David! The fact that children
bring such misery to their parents suggests two great
facts. First: That our greatest trials often spring
368 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XVII.
from our greatest blessings. Every right-hearted parent
regards his or her child as one of the greatest bles-
sings that kind Heaven has bestowed. Yet this bles-
sing often becomes a curse. It is so in other things.
Secondly: Our greatest devils often spring from our-
selves. Who is a greater enemy to the peace and
prosperity of the father and the mother, than an undu-
tiful, an unprincipled, a heartless, and a reckless, son?
They have no greater fiend than he; he is their torment.
In many other ways men create their own devils. Men
form engagements, create enterprises, and enter into
arrangements in young life which produce devils to tor-
ment them to the end of their days.
This subject affords a homily to young parents that can-
not be too deeply pondered. There is a discipline which,
under God, may deliver them from the curse of a foolish
son. It is not passion, violence, rude authority; it is the
calm discipline of holy love. "It is a great mistake," says
Dr. Bushnell, "to suppose that what will make a child
stare, or tremble, impresses more authority. The violent
emphasis, the hard, stormy voice, the menacing air only
weakens authority; it commands a good thing as if it
were only a bad, and fit to be no way impressed save by
some stress of assumption. Let the command be always
quietly given, as if it had some right in itself and could
utter itself to the conscience by some emphasis of its own.
Is it not well understood that a bawling and violent team-
ster has no real government of his team? Is it not prac-
tically seen that a skilful commander of one of those huge
floating cities, moved by steam on our American waters,
manages and works every motion by the waving of a
hand, or by signs that pass in silence—issuing no order at
all, save in the gentlest undertone of voice? So when
there is, or is to be, a real order and law in the house, it
will come of no hard and boisterous, or fretful and terma-
gant way of commandment. Gentleness will speak the
word of firmness, and firmness will be clothed in the airs of
true gentleness."
Chap. XVII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 369
Proverbs 17:22
Bodily Health Dependent on Mental Moods
"A merry cart doeth good like a medicine; but a broken spirit drieth the
bones.”
So closely connected is the soul with the body, that
physical health is ever, to a great extent, dependent on
mental stags. A dark thought has power to work disease
and death into the corporeal frame. This is a fact—First:
Recognised by medical science. A wise physician avails
himself of this fact and is ever anxious not only to dispel
all sad thoughts from the mind of the patient, but to
awaken the most pleasurable ideas and emotions. This is a
fact, Secondly: Attested by general experience. Who
has not experienced the influence of his mental thoughts
and feeling on the state of his health ? How often has
every man n the course of his life felt a distressing
thought sickening and shattering his body. David felt it,
when he said, "When I kept silence, my bones waxed old
through my oaring all the day long. For day and night
thy hand w s heavy upon thee: my moisture is turned
into the drought of summer. Selah."* This is a fact,
Thirdly: Suggestive of practical lessons. Is it true that a
"broken spirit"—i.e., a spirit saddened and depressed,
"drieth the ones," reduces all healthy secretions, enfeebles
the energy and destroys the health? Is it true, on the
other hand, chat a cheerful spirit will act as a medicine to
restore an enfeebled body to health? If these things are
true, then w may infer three principles.
THE RESPONSIBILITY OF MAN FOR HIS PHYSICAL
HEALTH.† — There is certainly no virtue in having a weak
and sickly frame. Though it is often a calamity entailed
on us by our ancestors, or by circumstances over which we
have no control; it always implies sin somewhere, either
in ourselves or others. There is no virtue in it, and yet
* Psalm xxxii. 3, 4.
† See Readings on chap. xiv. 13-15.
370 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XVII.
numbers in society speak and act as if there were something
meritorious in having a delicate frame. Robust health
some, at least, seem to consider not respectable and gen-
teel, and hence they have perennial complaints; they
are always "poorly" and delicate. In many cases the
physical ailments of these people spring from unhealthy
and unvirtuous states of mind. Man is responsible for
his mental disposition, whether cheerful or gloomy, and
his disposition greatly determines his health. I infer again
from this fact:––
THE DUTY OF THE GUARDIANS OF CHILDHOOD AND
YOUTH.––If the parents and guardians of childhood and
youth would have their charge grow up with robust health,
and well developed frames, they should deal rightly with
their minds; they should labour to dispel all saddening
influences from the young heart, and fill it with the sun-
shine of cheerfulness and joy. There is much in some
families and schools to break the spirit of the young, and thus
dry their very bones. Modern medical science talks largely
of germs of disease that float in the atmosphere, but what
these germs are it cannot tell us, nor can it say how
they affect us. But in the atmosphere of an immoral soul
there are certain germs of physical disease that are very
discoverable—lust, anger, revenge, envy, jealousy, all these
impregnate the moral atmosphere of impious minds and
they are poison to the corporeal frame. They corrupt the
blood, they sap the constitution, they work out dissolu-
tion. I infer lastly from this fact:––
THE SANITARY INFLUENCE OF CHRISTIANITY.––The
design of Christianity is to fill the human heart with joy.
"These things have I spoken unto you that your joy may
be full." It is in every way adapted to accomplish this; it
never fails in effecting this wherever it is fully received.
No other system on earth has ever filled the human heart
with joy, no other system can do so. Hence Christianity,
by doing so, is the best physician to the body. He who
promotes Christianity is the wise philanthropist. To pro-
mote it is to promote the well-being of man, body as
well as soul. Some people are always trying to keep
Chap. XVII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 371
the body well, and entirely neglect the condition of the
soul. This is philosophically absurd. It is like trying to
cure a diseased tree by binding up the branches. "People,"
says Sterne, who are always taking care of their health,
are like misers, who are holding a treasure which they have
never spirit to enjoy."
Proverbs 17:23
Bribery
"A wicked man taketh a gift out of the bosom to pervert the ways of judg-
ment."
HAVING already noticed a sentiment somewhat similar to
these words, our remarks will be very brief.* The verse
suggests two remarks about bribery, an evil which Solomon
often deprecated, and which Jehovah Himself denounces.†
ITS AIM IS PERNICIOUS.—A bribe is given to "pervert
the ways of judgment." "A bribe," says Webster, " is a
price, reward, gift, or favour bestowed or promised, with a
view to pervert the judgment or corrupt the conduct of a
judge, witness or other person." Perversion is always its
aim; it is to induce men to do that which is either without
their convictions, or against their convictions. Absalom
bribed the people of Judaea in order to get to the throne.
The high-priests bribed Judas in order to effect the cruci-
fixion of Christ. Whilst bribery is the canker and disgrace
of constitutional governments, it is a crime in whatever
department of life, by whomsoever practised. He who
presents a bribe perpetrates a moral wrong. He sacrifices
truth and justice to his own personal interest, and he en-
deavours, by exciting the selfishness of others, to deaden
in them the sense of right, and muffle the voice of truth.
The receiver of the bribe is as bad. He accepts the greatest
insult that can be offered to him as a man, and consents to
barter away eternal principles for earthly pelf. Too often
have the legislators of England won their position by
* See Reading on chap. xvii. 8. †Isaiah i. 23, 24.
372 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XVII.
bribery. Another remark which the verse suggests con-
cerning bribery is that:—
ITS ACTION IS CLANDESTINE.––"A wicked man taketh
a gift out of the bosom." So bad is it, that even the
author of it is ashamed. He does it in secrecy. Sin is a
shameful thing, all consciences blush at it, its work is ever-
more in darkness. Secretly and insidiously it effects its
purposes. The subject teaches two things. First: The
power of money. "Money answereth all things," says
Solomon. Money can buy men, and it is doing so on an
extensive scale throughout the world. Men are every-
where being bought, not merely their limbs, but their in-
tellects and their souls.
Gold! It is the mightiest amongst the world's autocrats,
and the most popular amongst its divinities. No motive
in all the world's activities is more universal and resistless,
no argument in all its reasonings more cogent and conclu-
sive. "A man," says Addison, "who is furnished with
arguments from the mint will convince his antagonist
much sooner than one who draws them from reason and
philosophy. Gold is a wonderful clearer of the understand-
ing—it dissipates every doubt and scruple in an instant;
accommodates itself to the meanest capacities; silences the
loud and clamorous, and brings over the most obstinate
and inflexible. Philip of Macedon was a man of most
invincible reason this way. He refuted by it all the wisdom
of Athens—confounded their statesmen, struck their orators
dumb, and at length argued them out of their liberties."
The subject teaches, Secondly: The urgency of a moral
regeneration. What is wanted for commercial soundness,
social order, and good government is, that moral regene-
ration which endows the soul with an inflexible adherence
to honour, rectitude, and truth. This, also, is the work of
Christianity. Parliamentary, administrative, ecclesiastical
reformation, are merely things of parchment, but the refor-
mation of Christianity is the reformation of the soul. Let
nothing bribe us ever to the wrong. Heaven honours the
man who stands against bribes. "He that walketh right-
eously and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain
Chap. XVII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 373
of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of
bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and
shutteth his eyes from seeing evil, he shall dwell on high;
his place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks; bread
shall be given him, his waters shall be sure."*
Proverbs 17:24
A Double Picture
"Wisdom is before him that hath understanding: but the eyes of a fool are
in the ends of the earth."
HERE are two pictures widely dissimilar, one the picture
of a wise an, and the other of a fool. Let us glance at
them both.
They differ in FACE.—The one has a meaning, the other
an unmeaning face. One translator renders the words-
"In the countenance of a wise man wisdom appeareth, but
the fool's eyes roll to and fro." It is ever so. God has so
formed man that his face is the index to his soul—the
dial-plate of the mental clock. If the mind does not
modify the features, it alters the expression, and changes
the whole style of countenance. By the face is seen
whether the soul is cultured or uncultured, coarse or re-
fined, amiable or irascible, virtuous or vicious. A wise
man's face looks wisdom—calm, devout, reflective. The
fool's face looks folly. As the translucent lake reflects the
passing clouds and rolling lights of sky, so does the human
countenance mirror the soul. Man is instinctively a phy-
siognomist; even children read our hearts by our faces.
"The cheek is apter than the tongue to tell an errand."
SHAKESPEARE
They differ in MIND.—"Wisdom is before him that hath
understanding, but the eyes of a fool are in the ends of the
earth." The one has an occupied, the other a vacant mind
*Isaiah xxxiii. 15, 16.
374 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XVII.
The meaning of Solomon perhaps may be wisdom is be-
fore, that is, present, with the man that "hath understand-
ing." The principles of wisdom are in his mind, are ever
before his eye. Wisdom is "before" his mind in every
circumstance and condition. Its rule, the Word of God, is.
before him. Its principle, the love of God, is before him.
Thus he has an occupied mind. But the mind of the fool
is vacant. His "eyes are in the ends of the earth." He
has nothing before him, nothing true, or wise, or good.
He looks at emptiness. Alas! how vacant the mind of a
morally unwise man! It is a vessel without ballast, at the
mercy of the winds and waves. His thoughts are unsub-
stantial, his hopes are illusory, the sphere of his conscious
life a mirage. The difference in the soul between a morally
wise and a morally foolish man, is as great as that between
a well-rooted tree that defies the fiercest tempest, and the
chaff that is the sport of every wind. Heaven deliver us
from a morally empty mind—a mind without true prin-
ciples, manly aims, and genuine loves.
They differ in HEART.—The one has a settled the other
an unsettled heart. This is suggestively implied. The
morally wise man is fixed, wisdom is "before him," and
his heart is on it. He is rooted and grounded in the faith.
He is not used by circumstances, but he makes circum-
stances serve him. He has a purpose in life, and from
that purpose nothing will turn him. "This one thing I
do." But the fool is unsettled, his "eyes are in the ends
of the earth." His mind, like the evil spirit, walks to and
fro through the earth, seeking rest and finding none. An
old writer describes the character thus: "To-day he goes
to the quay to be shipped for Rome. But before the tide
come, his tide is turned. One party thinks him theirs; the
adverse theirs; he is with both, with neither, not an hour
with himself. Indifference is his ballast, and opinion his
sail; he resolves not to resolve. He knows not what he
doth hold. He opens his mind to receive notions, as one
opens his palm to take an handful of water. He hath very
much, if he could hold it. He is sure to die, but not a
religion to die in. He demurs, like a posed lawyer, as if
Chap. XVII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 375
delay could remove some impediments. In a controverted
point, he olds with the last reasoner he either heard or
read. The next diverts him, and his opinion dwells with
him perhaps so long as the teacher of it is in sight. He
will rather take dross for gold than try it in the furnace..
He receives many judgments, retains none. He loathes
manna after two days' feeding. His best dwelling
would be his confined chamber, where he would trouble
nothing b t his pillow. He is full of business at church;
a strange at home; a sceptic abroad; an observer in the
street; everywhere a fool."
Proverbs 17:26
Persecution and Treason
"Also to punish the just is not good, nor to strike princes for equity."
THERE are two kinds of "princes"—official and moral.
The former are often contemptible. They are mean-
natured, weak-facultied, low-spirited men, born into high
positions. They have nothing princely in the blood and.
bearing of their souls. The latter are real princes. They
are princely in their thoughts, sympathies, and aims. They
are high-souled men, God's nobles. Which of these does
Solomon refer to in the text? Perhaps to neither sepa-
rately, but to both in combination: the prince not only in
office, but in character too. The proverb directs us—
To A PUNISHMENT THAT IS PERSECUTION.— "Also to
punish the just is not good." He means more than this;
he means what he has expressed before, that it is not only
not good, but that it is "abomination to the Lord."* To
inflict punishment upon the unjust is often right and im-
perative. It is God's will that evil doers shall be punished
in a certain way and to a certain extent, but to inflict suf-
fering on he just is not legitimate punishment; it is per-
secution. There is a great deal in society that passes for
* See Reading on verse 15.
376 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XVII.
punishment, which is nothing but unjust persecution. First:
It is seen in domestic discipline. Children are often
punished not on account of moral wrong, but on account
of idiosyncracies and peculiarities which are not immoral.
Every pain inflicted on a child where there is not moral
wrong, is a persecution, not a just chastisement. Secondly:
It is seen in political governments. The government that
inflicts inconveniences and disabilities upon those who are
civilly just, persecutes. The enforcement of laws, the ex-
actions of imposts that chime not with the eternal prin-
ciples of right, are persecution. Thirdly: It is seen in
ecclesiastical arrangements. The ecclesiastics that inflict
sufferings on account of diversity of creed and conviction,
persecute. Ecclesiastics have been the great persecutors.
Of all men in history they have done most in punishing
the just. The proverb directs us—
To A REBELLION THAT IS TREASON.––"Nor to strike
princes for equity." The strike here does not mean
merely physical violence. There are other strokes be-
sides those of the hand—the strokes of the pen, the
tongue, the life. These are often more painful and terrible
than hand strokes. Now to strike—to oppose princes-
"for equity" is treason. There is a rebellion that is not
treason. To rise up and oppose princes and potentates
who have no equity, is a virtue, not a crime. Rebellion,
to be treason, must be striking against the equitable.
First: Opposition to good government is treason. He
who opposes a government conducted on the eternal prin-
ciples of justice and equity, is a traitor not only in the
sight of man, but in the sight of God. Secondly: Opposi-
tion to a true enterprise is treason. Schemes founded on
benevolence and justice, started and worked in order to
advance the right, should be loyally respected. There is
as much treason in striking against them, as in striking
against a righteous government. Thirdly: Opposition to
true men is treason. True men are men of God. They
are the shrines, the organs, the representatives, the ser-
vants of the Divine. To strike at them is treason; they
are God's true princes.
Chap. XVII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 377
Proverbs 17:27-28
Frugality in Speech
"He that hat knowledge spareth his words: and a man of understanding
is of an excellent spirit. Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise:
and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding."
How often the same ideas come up in the mind of the
most original and fertile thinkers! Few men had souls
more fecundant in thought than Solomon. Yet there are
certain ideas that are constantly appearing, and that, too,
often in the same verbal garb. The idea in this passage
we have often met with before, and we shall meet with
it again as w go on through the book. The verses sug-
gest two thoughts on frugality in the use of words.
IT IS FREQUENTLY SYMPTOMATIC OF SOMETHING GOOD.
—"He that hath knowledge, spareth his words, and a man
of understanding is of an excellent spirit." First: It
sometimes indicates an enlightened judgment. "He that
hath knowledge spareth his words." There is, of course,
sometimes a paucity of speech for the want of intelligence.
The tongue is silent because the mind is blank. There is
nothing to communicate. There is, of course, no virtue in
this verbal frugality. But there is a spareness of words
which is the result of intelligence. The man has such an
impression of the power of words for good or for evil, and
the responsibility connected with the faculty of language,
that he is conscientiously cautious. He is slow to speak
Secondly: I sometimes indicates a good spirit. "A
man of understanding is of an excellent spirit." The
margin reads instead of "excellent," cool spirit. And this
seems to me the idea intended. There are some whose
natures are so fiery, impetuous, and uncontrollable, that
they cannot restrain their words; they flow as a torrent.
The ebullition of the apostles who said, "Lord wilt thou
that we command fire to come down from heaven and con-
378 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XVII.
sume them even as Elias did?"* is an illustration of this.
But a man of a cool spirit exercises that self-control which
commands his tongue. A man powerfully provoked to the
use of bad words, standing silent, or speaking a few apt
sentences in the calm dignity of self-control, is one of the
finest sights in the whole field of human society. Christ
amidst the taunts of His judges was silent. "He answered
them never a word." There is, however, a taciturnity
which does not indicate a good spirit. It is the sullen and
the sulky. There are men who are possessed of this
"dumb devil." Another thing suggested of frugality of
speech is—
IT IS FREQUENTLY FAVOURABLE TO ONE'S REPUTATION.
—"Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted
wise: and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of
understanding." The fool is a fool whether he speaks or
not, but he may not only conceal his folly by his silence,
but may even get a reputation amongst a class for wisdom
by it. This fact, for fact it is, shows, First: Our liability
to be deceived in the character of men. We sometimes
judge a fool to be a wise man. We cannot read with
accuracy the human character. We often give credit to
men for what they have not, and deny to men the ex-
cellencies which they possess. We lack the insight into
motives necessary to qualify us to sit in judgment on
others. This shows, Secondly: That wise men are
generally sparing in their use of words. It is the little
fussy, shallow brook that rattles. The deep river rolls in
silence. Silence being a characteristic of wise men, the
fool may pass for a wise man so long as he can maintain it.
A modern author has said that "speech is silver, silence is
gold." This idea is older than Solomon. There is an old
Arabic proverb poetically expressed, that embodies it—
"Keep silence, then; nor speak but when besought:
Who listens long grows tired of what is told.
With tones of silver though thy tongue be fraught,
Know this,—that silence of itself is gold."
* Luke, ix. 54, 55.
Chap. XVIII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 379
Proverbs 18:1-2
A Student's Spirit
“Through desire a man, having separated himself; seeketh and intermeddleth
with all wisdom A fool hath no delight in understanding, but that his heart
may discover itself."
OF the first of these verses two views are given by critics
and commentators. They are opposites. The one makes
Solomon refer to a pursuit of knowledge and wisdom that
is right and commendable, the other regards him as speak-
ing of what is wrong and censurable. And of this second
view of the general meaning there are several varieties. By
one critic (Schultens), the intended character is thus
described—A self-conceited, hair-brained fool seeks to
satisfy his fancy, and intermingleth himself with all
things." A other (Schulz), draws it thus:—"He who has
separated himself agitates questions as his desire prompts,
and breaks his teeth on every hard point." A third (Park-
hurst), thus—"The recluse seeks his own pleasure or
inclination: he laughs at or derides everything solid or
wise." Any a fourth (Hodgson), differently from all these,
"He seeks occasions who desires to separate himself from
his friends." In the margin we have it thus: "He that
separateth limself, seeketh and intermeddleth with all
wisdom." Another gives it, like our translators, a general
form, without expressing either good or evil in the case:—
"A retired man pursueth the researches he delighteth in,
and hath pleasure in every branch of science."* We
accept the last interpretation, which agrees with our ver-
sion. In this view the verses may be regarded as ex-
pressing the idea that through desire for knowledge, a man
separates himself from society, that he may more success-
fully prosecute to his researches. In this sense the verses
may be used to illustrate the true student spirit.
It is an ISOLATING spirit.—"Through desire a man
having separated himself." A man who has a strong desire
* Wardlaw's posthumous work on Proverbs.
380 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XVIII.
for knowledge will feel it necessary to withdraw habitually
into solitude and silence. Society is so tumultuous in its
career—so absorbing in its concerns, that a successful
inquiry after knowledge in its midst would be all but im-
possible. Hence a strong desire for mental culture, and
the attainment of truth, necessitates isolation. The true
student has ever been, and must ever be, more or less
a recluse. It is in loneliness and quiet that he makes his
discoveries, and wins his intellectual trophies. In quest of
spiritual truth this is especially necessary. John the Baptist
lived in the desert until his "showing unto Israel." Paul
dwelt in the solitudes of Arabia, and even Christ felt it
necessary to send the multitude away, and go into a
solitary place. "All weighty things," says Richter, "are
done in solitude, that is, without society. The means
of improvement consist not in projects, or in any violent
designs, for these cool, and cool very soon, but in patiently
practising for whole long days, by which I make the thing
clear to my highest reason."
"Bear me, some god! oh, quickly bear me hence
To wholesome solitude, the nurse of sense;
Where Contemplation plumes her ruffled wings,
And the free soul looks down to pity kings."—POPE
The true student spirit is—
An INVESTIGATING spirit.—“He seeketh and inter-
meddleth with all wisdom." A true student is inspired
with the importance of all truth, is a free enquirer in
the highest sense. He knows the truth is ever varied,
and he intermeddles with all, searches into all. He
searches after wisdom to guide men in their material con-
cerns:—wisdom to guide in the affairs of governments,
markets, homes. He searches after wisdom to guide men
in their spiritual concerns. He searches into the way by
which the guilty is to be pardoned, the slave enfranchised,
the polluted cleansed, the sorrowful comforted, the lost
saved. He has not the true student spirit who gives
himself to one branch of truth, exaggerates the importance
of that, and ignores all else. The true student deals with
the whole Book, examines every verse and chapter, and
Chap. XVIII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 381
endeavours to ascertain the relations, the unity, and the
uses of the whole. He "intermeddleth with all wisdom."
The true student spirit is—
A WISE spirit.—It is set here in contrast with that of a
fool." A fool hath no delight in understanding; but that
his heart may discover itself." A fool hates knowledge, all
his desire is to pour out his own frivolity that "his heart
may discover itself." What a discovery is the discovery of
a fool's heart! It is a discovery of ignorance, carnality,
selfishness, and vanity. He is wise who seeks knowledge.
Knowledge gives us a new world. How different is the
world of a fool from that of a wise man. Knowledge gives
us new sources of pleasure. Pleasures of contemplation,
religion, social usefulness. Knowledge gives us new
faculties of action. It gives us eyes to see what otherwise
lay in darkness, ears to hear what before was silent. He
therefore who seeks knowledge in a right spirit and for a
right end, is a wise man. "Men," says Bacon, "have en-
tered into a desire of learning and knowledge sometimes
upon a natural curiosity and inquisitive appetite; some-
times to entertain their mind with variety and delight;
sometimes for ornament and reputation, and sometimes to
enable them to obtain the victory of wit and contradiction,
and sometimes for lucre and possession; but seldom sin-
cerely to give a true account of their gift of reason for the
benefit and use of man, as if there were sought in know-
ledge a couch whereupon to rest a searching and restless
spirit, or a terrace for a wandering and variable mind, to
walk up and down with a fair prospect, or a tower of state
for a proud mind to raise itself upon, or a fort on command-
ing ground for strife or contention, or a shop for profit or
sale, and not a rich store-house for the glory of the Creator
and the relief of man's estate."
382 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XVIII.
Proverbs 18:3
Wickedness, Contemptible and Contemptuous
"When the wicked cometh, then cometh also contempt, and with ignominy
reproach."
THE words suggest––
That wickedness is a CONTEMPTIBLE thing.––"When the
wicked cometh, then cometh also contempt." Wickedness
is contemptible in itself. Analyze it, and you will find all
its elements amongst the despicable in the moral domain.
It involves selfishness, and does not universal conscience
look down on this with ineffable disdain? It involves false–
hood, and who can respect lies? What a toad is amongst
animals, a liar is amongst men––a thing to be kicked out
of your path. It involves vanity, and a soul inflicted
with self-conceit is it not the scorn of every observer? It
involves sensuality, and does not universal conscience
recoil with loathing from the doings of the voluptuary
and the debauchee? All these are some if the many
elements of wickedness, and are they not amongst the
most contemptible of all things? Aye, verily, though its
countenance be painted into the most beautiful in feature and
expression, its forms robed in comely costume, its tongue
speak in tones of music, and artistic genius make it seem
beautiful, it is essentially a loathsome and contemptible
thing. It is revolting to all consciences and to God.
It is not only contemptible in itself, but is so in its
influence. "When the wicked cometh, then also cometh
contempt." It brings the men and things it touches into
contempt. When it cometh into political life, it bringeth
contempt in the nation. When it cometh into eccle–
siastical office, it bringeth contempt upon the Church.
When it cometh into friendly circles, it bringeth contempt
upon the members. Wickedness is a leprosy, it defiles all
it touches.
Chap. XVIII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 383
The words suggest—
That wickedness is a CONTEMPTUOUS thing.—"And with
ignominy reproach." It is haughty, supercilious, and
essentially contemptuous in spirit. Take its treatment of
Incarnate Goodness, as an example. How it insulted Him
at His trials by putting on Him the mock robes of royalty,
and calling him king ! How it insulted Him on the Cross!
"And they that passed by reviled him, wagging their
heads, and saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and
buildest it in three days, save thyself." The righteous
victim of this contempt often feels it deeply, and exclaims
—"Reproach hath broken my heart." How contemp-
tuously the wicked have treated the righteous! Their
language has always been that of reviling and reproach.
Stand aloof from the wicked. They can have no sym-
pathy with you. Their touch will only degrade you.
Heed not their contempt, manfully dare their scorns and
sneers! "Contempt," says Dr. South, "naturally im-
plies a man's esteeming of himself greater than the person
whom he contemns: he therefore that slights, that con-
temns an affront, is properly superior to it; and he con-
quers an injury who conquers his resentment of it.
Socrates, being kicked by an ass, did not think it revenge
proper for Socrates to kick the ass again."
Proverbs 18:4
The Words of Inspired Wisdom
"The words of a man's mouth are as deep waters, and the wellspring of
wisdom as a flowing brook."
THERE are some who regard the two clauses of this verse
as antithetic. The former indicating hidden depths of evil
in the wicked man. "The words of his mouth are as deep
waters." That is, he is so full of guile and deceit that you
cannot reach his meaning. The latter indicating the trans-
384 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XVIII.
parent communications of the wise and the good. "The
wellspring of wisdom as a flowing brook." The communi-
cations of the one are guileful,—the words conceal rather
than reveal. The words of the other are honest and lucid.
There are others who regard the two clauses as a
parallelism. The character of the former clause is to be
taken from the latter. The "words of a man's mouth,"
that is, according to the second clause, of a wise man's
mouth, "are as deep waters," and the "wellspring of wis-
dom as a flowing brook." We shall use the proverb thus
as a parallelism, to illustrate the words of inspired wisdom
which are "wise " in the highest sense.
They are FULL.—They are as "deep waters." The
world abounds with shallow words, mere empty sounds.
The words in the general conversation of society, and in
the popular literature of the day, are empty, shells without.
a kernel, mere husks without grain. But the words of in-
spired men are brimful—full of light and full of power.
The greatest thinkers have failed to exhaust their meaning.
What volumes of criticism, what libraries of sermons have
been published by the ablest scholars and thinkers of past
times! And yet who will say that any of the inspired
writers have had their meaning fully reached and compre-
hended? Each has a depth still unfathomed, points un-
approached. Every modern thinker discovers new significance.
The man of vigorous, independent, active intellect, after
having read all expositions on the Holy Volume, feels that
there is a field yet unexplored. In respect of fulness
there are no words like the words of inspired men. Every
paragraph has a continent of thought.
"There lie vast treasures unexplored,
And wonders yet untold."
Sir William Jones has said: "I have carefully and
regularly perused the Holy Scriptures, and am of opinion
that the volume, independently of its Divine origin, con-
tains more sublimity, purer morality, more important his-
tory, and finer strains of eloquence, than can be collected
from all other books, in whatever language they may have
been written."
Chap. XVIII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 385
They are FLOWING.—"A flowing brook." The words of
eternal truth are always in motion. They pulsate in thou-
sands of souls every hour, and onward is their tendency.
They flow from the eternal wellspring of truth, and flow
down through human channels. Divine wisdom speaks
through man, as well as through other organs. "Holy
men spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." We
have "the treasure in earthen vessels." "God who at
sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past
unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days
spoken unto us by his Son." The highest teacher was a
man, Christ, the Logos. The words of His mouth were
indeed as "deep waters." Since Heaven has thus made
man the organ of wisdom, it behoves him devoutly to
realise the honour God has conferred upon his nature, and
earnestly to aspire to the high honour of being a messen-
ger of the Eternal. It is for us to become at once its
students and revealers, its recipients and its reflectors.
They are FERTILISING.—They are here compared to
"waters," and to "a flowing brook." What water is to all
physical life, the words of heavenly wisdom are to souls.
They quicken and satisfy. It is a perennial brook. It has
streamed down the centuries, imparting life and beauty in
its somewhat meandering course. Wherever in the history
of humanity, past or present, spots of moral verdure and
loveliness appear, this brook has touched with its quicken-
streams. It is an accumulating "brook." As brooks in
nature swell into rivers by the confluence of contributary
streams, so the brook of Divine truth widens and deepens
by every contribution of holy thought. And never was it
so deep and broad as now. May it speed on, and soon
cover the earth as the waters cover over the channels of
the deep--
"Till, like a sea of glory,
It spreads from pole to pole."
386 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XVIII.
Proverbs 18:5
Three Bad Things
"It is not good to accept the person of the wicked, to overthrow the righteous
in judgment."
THE Scripture frequently deprecates "respect of persons."
Thus James says, "My brethren, have not the faith of our
Lord Jesus with respect to persons." All respect, however,
for persons is not wrong. To appreciate those who possess
force of intellect, great intelligence, high morality, more
than the mentally feeble, ignorant, and immoral, is not
only right, but obligatory. The proverb indicates three
great evils.
VOLUNTARY CONNECTION WITH WICKED MEN.—"It is
not good to accept the person of the wicked." There is a
connection in this world which we have with wicked men,
that is necessary and unavoidable. We cannot help it.
We have to live with them, and often by them, and as
godly men for them. But to choose a connection with
them is bad. To "accept" them matrimonially is bad.
Woe to the virgin that enters into conjugal relationship
with the wicked man. To "accept" them mercantilely is
bad. To accept them as partners in commercial enterprise
is wrong and often ruinous. To "accept" them politically
is bad. To accept them as our representatives in Parlia-
ment is a crime and a curse. To "accept" them ecclesias-
tically is bad. An ungodly priest, minister, or bishop is a
curse. On no ground are we justified in forming a volun-
tary connection with wicked men. However transcendent
their genius, great their intellectual attainments, vast their
wealth, or eminent their social position, because they are
wicked, they are to be shunned and reprobated. Wicked-
ness is untrustworthy, dissociating, and divinely cursed.
"It is not good," therefore, "to accept the person of the
wicked" "Come out from among them; be ye separate;
touch not the unholy thing." Another evil indicated is––
Chap. XVIII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 387
THE "OVERTHROW" OF GOOD MEN.–– "To overthrow
the righteous in judgment." The righteous are often in
this life overthrown. Sometimes in social life. In the
judgment of society they are frequently overthrown by
falsehood, calumny, and slander. Their bright reputations
are sometimes tarnished, and not seldom stained by slan-
derous tongues. They are overthrown sometimes in the
courts of justice. By false witnesses and deceptive special
pleadings they often lose their righteous cause. The best
of men are not unfrequently pronounced criminals and
deprived of their rights. The world's noblest men,
righteous patriots, holy reformers, godly martyrs, have
been "overthrown" in the "judgment." Another evil in-
dicated here is—
The "overthrow" of good men BY THE EMPLOY-
MENT OF THE WICKED.––"It is not good to accept the
person of the wicked to overthrow the righteous in judg-
ment." The wicked in all ages have been thus em-
ployed. The Sanhedrim in Judea, in the days of Christ
and the apostles, often used them thus. "Now the chief
priests and elders and all the council sought false witness
against Jesus to put Him to death, but found none; yea
though many false witnesses came yet found they none."
The Inquisition of Christendom employed such to "over-
throw the righteous in judgment." The moral of these re-
marks is: Shun the wicked and adhere to the righteous.
The cause of the good, though misrepresented, denounced,
temporarily overthrown, is holy, and smiled upon by
Heaven. Their apparent "overthrow" is only like the
sinking of the sun beneath the cloudy horizon, to rise with
refulgent brightness at a destined hour." The path of
the just is as the shining light; that shineth more and
more unto the perfect day."
388 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XVIII.
Proverbs 18:6-8
The Speech of a Splenetic Fool
"A fool's lips enter into contention, and his mouth calleth for strokes. A
fool's mouth is his destruction, and his lips are the snare of his soul. The words
of a talebearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the
belly."
How frequently Solomon speaks of the fool! and the fool
in his idea was not an intellectually demented man, but a
morally bad man; he was not a man destitute of reason,
but one who used his reason wrongly. In sooth, a fool
and a sinner; folly, and wickedness, were in his mind con-
vertible terms, representatives of the same character. And
so, in truth, they are. A sinner is a fool; he acts contrary
to the dictates of rationality; he barters away the joys of
eternity for the puerilities of an hour. But all fools and
sinners are not in every respect alike. They differ in tem-
perament, in modes of thinking, in habits of life, and in
degrees of moral turpitude. The fool referred to in the
passage is a splenetic fool; he is full of gall. The proverb
indicates that the speech of such a man—
IS QUERULOUS.—"A fool's lips enter into contention."
His ill-nature shows itself in his readiness to pick quarrels,
to create frays. He is easily offended. Sometimes a look,
a simple incidental act, he will interpret as an insult. His
temper is turpentine, which a spark will set ablaze. Alas!
how many men there are in society of this miserable tem-
per. They are full of the canine. They are seldom found
but with the curled lip, the grin and growl of the cur.
"The poison of asps is under their lips." "If," to use the
language of Johnson, "they had two ideas in their head
they would fall out with each other." Of such Shenstone's
remark is good, "I consider your very testy and quarrel-
some people in the same light as I do a loaded gun, which
may by accident go off and kill me."
Chap. XVIII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 389
The verses indicate that the speech of a splenetic man—
Is PROVOCATIONAL—"His mouth calleth for strokes."
He irritates the men he speaks to, and often prompts to
acts of violence. He brings on himself the strokes of
indignant words, and sometimes physical blows. Whilst
a "soft word turneth away wrath," the angry word of a
splenetic soul creates it. Domestic and social broils, liti-
gations, duellings, and battles, are the fruits of this miser-
able temper. "I commend his discretion and valour,"
says Fuller, "who walking in London streets met a gal-
lant, who cried to him a pretty distance beforehand—'I
will have the wall!' 'Yea,' answered he, 'and take
the house too, if you can but agree with the landlord.'"
The verses indicate that the speech of such a splenetic
man—
Is SELF-RUINOUS.––"A fool's mouth is his destruction,
and his lips are the snare of his soul." Such speech is self-
destructive. It destroys the man's own reputation. A queru-
lous man has no social respect or influence; he is shunned,
men recoil from him as something noisome and contempt-
ible. Such speech destroys the man's own social enjoyment.
He has no loving fellowships, no lasting friendships. A
free loving intercourse with men, which is one of the bless-
ings of life, is denied him. He finds few to listen to him,
fewer still to reciprocate his fiendish spirit. Such speech
destroys, moreover, his own peace of mind. An ill-tempered
man can have no inward satisfaction. Thus it is that his
mouth is his destruction, and his lips are the snare of his
soul." "There cannot," says Sir W. Temple, "live a
more unhappy creature than an ill-natured old man, who
is neither capable of receiving pleasures nor sensible of
doing them to others." The verses further indicate that
the speech of such a splenetic man—
Is SOCIALLY INJURIOUS.—"The words of a talebearer
are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts
of the belly." The talebearer as a rule is a man with a
splenetic temperament; he delights in mischief. The
words of such tempers are as deadly as the bite of a viper.
Splenetic fools are the mischief-makers in society. They
390 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XVIII.
bear tales which, like the envenomed fangs of a serpent,
infuse a deadly virus of suspicion and ill-feeling into hearts
once united in the ties of loving friendship. True men,
however, can dare the calumny of such splenetic bipeds.
"If I am
Traduced by ignorant tongues, which neither know
My faculties nor person, yet will be
The chronicles of my doing—let me say,
'Tis but the fate of place, and the rough brake
That virtue must go through."—SHAKESPEARE
Proverbs 18:9
Miserable Twinship
"He also that is slothful in his work is brother to him that is a great waster."
WE have so frequently had occasion to remark on slothful-
ness in passing through this book, that we shall confine our
explanatory observations here to the other evil, namely,
Wastefulness. Wastefulness may spring from one or two
causes, thriftlessness or extravagance. In the former case
there may be no desire to waste, on the contrary, a strong
wish to be economical, but for the lack of management and
tact resources run to waste. Thriftlessness in housekeeping
is a terrible curse. Woe to the husband who has a thrift-
less wife. He will have to labour hard in order to replenish
the resources that are ever running away through the
channel of domestic thriftlessness. Extravagance is
another cause of waste. The means entrusted to an ex-
travagant person are not duly valued, and are consequently
soon squandered away with recklessness. The spendthrift
who inherits a fortune, goes through it with a gallop. But
the proverb asserts an affinity between the slothful and the
waster, and surely they are akin.
They are "brothers" in their SELF-INDULGENT SPIRIT.
—Self-indulgence is the spring of each. The lazy
Chap. XVIII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 391
man will not work, will not use his limbs, or ply his
faculties. He will not give himself industriously to the
real duties of life, because he loves ease. His cry is "a
little more sleep, a little more slumber, a little more folding
of the hands to sleep." The waster, whether from thrift-
lessness or extravagance, is influenced by the same spirit—
self-indulgence. The sense of duty and concern for the
good of others are lost in the self-indulgent feeling. The
waster, whether he be the thriftless, or the reckless fool,
is a brother in spirit to the slothful idler.
They are "brothers" in their MORAL IMPROPRIETY.—Both
are morally wrong. Laziness is a sin; a sin against the
constitution of our own natures, the claims of society, the
arrangements of the universe, and the will of God. Man
is made to work, and work is the divine condition of his
well-being. Wastefulness is also a sin. What we have,
we have on trust; we are stewards, not owners; and it is
our duty to use all with conscientious discretion as the
Proprietor wills. The man in the Gospel who wasted his
goods, and the slothful servant who hid his Lord's talent,
were alike held sinful.
They are "brothers " in their RUINOUS TENDENCY.—
Slothfulness leads to ruin. To ruin of all sorts. To
physical, intellectual, commercial ruin. The lazy man is
like a tree diseased in its roots, he must rot. He who
through life hides the one talent in a napkin, must ulti-
mately be damned. Wastefulness is also ruinous. It
implies a lack of that sense of individual responsibility
apart from which there is no virtue. And ruin, if not in a
secular, yet in a spiritual sense, is inevitable.
Learn, hence, the importance of combining diligence with
economy, industry with careful management. The com-
bination of these is important in worldly matters. What
in domestic affairs boots industry if there is waste? How
many thriftless housewives keep the most industrious
husbands in constant poverty! The combination is im-
portant in spiritual matters too. We should not only be
diligent in getting knowledge and attaining to higher
experiences, but if we would be useful we must rightly
392 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XVIII.
manage our attainments. There is such a thing as waste
power and waste influence. There is a true policy required
for the management of our intellectual and moral re-
sources.
"Oh! waste thou not the smallest thing
Created by Divinity;
For grains of sand the mountains make,
And atomics infinity
Waste thou not the smallest time;
'Tis imbecile infirmity;
For well thou know'st, if aught thou know'st,
That seconds form eternity."—EDWARD KNIGHT
Proverbs 18:10-12
The Soul's Tower
"The name of the LORD is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it and
is safe. The rich man's wealth is his strong city, and as an high wall in his own
conceit. Before destruction the heart of man is haughty, and before honour is
humility."
THAT the soul of unregenerate men is in danger is a fact,
a fact attested by the Word of God, the religions of man-
kind, and the consciousness of the race. There are seasons
when men become terribly alive to this danger, and they
cry out with the Philippian jailor, "What shall I do to be
saved?" Under this feeling it looks out for a "Tower"—
a refuge. The verses direct us to two soul "towers"—the
one the true, the other the false.
The soul's TRUE Tower.—This tower is here described. It
is the "NAME of the Lord." This means not merely His
character, attributes, and titles, but Himself. Our name is
not ourselves. On the contrary, men's names are not only
often unmeaning, but frequently misrepresenting: they give
no idea as to what the men who wear them are. God's name
is Himself; and He is often spoken of as a tower for souls,
a "fortress," a "refuge," a "strong tower," a "high tower."
He is, indeed, the refuge of souls. Ever near, impregnable,
Chap. XVIII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 393
always accessible. The verses suggest that this soul Tower
must be sought. "The righteous "—those who have been
rightly enlightened and impressed "runneth into it."
They run to it in all their trials, temptations, and dangers,
as their only refuge. They look for protection nowhere but
in Him, not in churches, theologies, or priesthoods. "They
know His Name, and they put their trust in Him." They
run as a gallant vessel in a storm into a sheltering harbour,
or as an affrighted child into the arms of a loving mother.
The verse asserts that this soul's Tower is Safe. "And
is safe," in the margin reads, is set afloat. It is so high
up as to be beyond the reach of enemies. Storms that
shake the earth and lash the ocean with fury, never touch
the sun. In undisturbed majesty he travels on his way.
High above the sun is the soul's true "Tower." "If God
be for us, who can be against us?" "We have a strong
city, salvation for walls and bulwarks." Here is safety,
and nowhere else. There is no security out of Him. He
is the City of Refuge.
The verses direct us to—
The soul's FALSE Tower.—"The rich man's wealth is his
strong city." Wealth is one of the false towers referred to
here, and this in sooth is a very common tower. Every-
where souls are resting in it. On all hands we hear men
say, "Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years,
take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry." Men are every
where in quest of this tower. They are busily and earnestly
building up fortunes as a "tower" for their souls. The
verse suggests two thoughts concerning this Tower of wealth.
Its security is proudly estimated. It is a "high wall in his
own conceit." The owner fancies it very lofty, great, and
strong. Albeit its walls have no real strength. What
can wealth do for the imperishable existent within us in
the seasons of moral conviction, in the hour of death, in
the day of judgment? "Naked came we into the world,"
&c. Its security is utterly fictitious. "Before destruction
the heart of man is haughty, and before honour is humility."
We have had these proverbs before.* They are here used
* See Reading on chap. xvi. i8, xv. 33.
394 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XVIII.
to show the inevitable ruin of those who are proudly
trusting to their own resources, and the blessedness of
those who humbly trust in God. Alas! souls are trusting
to false towers—such as wealth, self-merit, wisdom, sacer-
dotal help; all such towers must crumble to dust. Death
will shatter them, and judgment will sweep them clean
away. "Say unto them who daub it with untempered
mortar that it shall fall: there shall be an overflowing
shower, and ye, O great hailstones, shall fall, and a stormy
wind shall rend it."
Proverbs 18:13
Impetuous Flippancy
"He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto
him."
THE subject of these words is impetuous flippancy, a great
social evil too common in most circles. Observe—
The evil SKETCHED.—"He that answereth a matter be-
fore he heareth it." How often this is done in ordinary
conversation. Are you making a communication? There
are people who are so impetuous and flippant that they will
interrupt you before you are half through your statement;
they will intrude some remark, they will commence some
reply. Are you reasoning out a proposition? They can't
hear you to the close; they begin the refutation before
they have known your argument. How often this is done
in polemic discussion. There are those who have answered
Renan, Colenso, the "Essays and Reviews," "Ecce
Homo!" and works which have recently appeared of a
kindred character, before they have half read the pages or
measured the argument. This impetuous flippancy, alas!
is not confined to the social circle, but appears on plat-
forms, in pulpits, and in the press. Sometimes it shows
Chap. XVIII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 395
its ugly head even in courts of justice—a "matter" is not
seldom answered there before it is heard. Observe—
The evil CHARACTERISED.––"It is a folly and a shame
unto him." And truly it is so if we consider some of the
causes from which it springs. First: Uncontrolledness.
The man who has acted worthily of his being, disciplined
his faculties, and brought his nature under self-control,
would not act thus. He would hear the matter to
its close though it clashed with his views, opposed his
interests, and roused his passions. Impetuous flip-
pancy implies inner lawlessness, indicates a mind un-
trained to self-control, a mind without an inner sove-
reignty. Another cause is, Secondly: Prejudice. The
mind is biassed on the other side, and the statements of the
speaker or writer are so distasteful that a reply is tendered
before the matter has been fully heard. Much of this im-
petuous flippancy springs from unfounded prepossessions.
Another cause is, Thirdly: Laziness. Sometimes it springs
from an indolent, sleepy, lethargic temperament, that can't
bear any exertion, and to spare effort will cut the matter
short. The listener hears a little, his attention flags, he
yawns, and to end the exertion he decides the question.
Another cause is, Fourthly: Vanity. The self-conceited
man has an eye to see the whole in a moment, all the
threads of the argument are before him after a few sentences.
It is needless for him to listen any more, therefore he in-
terrupts. And so anxious is he to make a display of his
great knowledge and power, that he begins his answer at
once. Now is not this uncontrolledness, prejudice, laziness,
and vanity, from which this evil springs a "shame and a
folly"?
Cultivate self-control, free the mind from all preposses-
sions, shake off all mental sloth, "be not wise in your own
conceit," and then you will listen fully to a matter before
you will make an answer. Let truth be supreme in your
estimation; be swift to hear and slow to speak.
396 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XVIII.
Proverbs 18:14
The Unbearable Wound
"The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity; but a wounded spirit who
can bear?"
THE text speaks of an unbearable wound. What is that?
Not mere physical sufferings—they can be borne—but
moral. The wound of remorse, self-contempt, self-loath-
ing, self-denunciation. It is the wound of a spirit feeling
not only that the universe is against it, and God against
it, but that its own conscience is against it. But why is
this wound unbearable?
Because the sufferer is DEPRIVED of the ORDINARY
MEANS of support.—What are the ordinary means which
sustain a man under suffering? There is a consciousness
of rectitude. When conscience stands by us, and says,
“Well done," what suffering can we not bear? But this
wounded spirit has conscience against it. There is a feel-
ing of inevitableness. If sufferings come upon a man, and
he believes, as the old Stoics did, that they come as a resist-
less necessity, he may console himself by feeling that no-
thing can be done, and absolute submission is prudence.
But in the case of this wounded spirit, the man feels that
he has brought the suffering on himself. There is un-
shaken confidence in God. When the sufferer feels confidence
in Him, he may exult. Job did. "He knoweth the way
that I take. When he hath tried me I shall come forth as
gold." Or with Paul, who said, "Our light affliction,
which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more ex-
ceeding and eternal weight of glory." But in the case of
the wounded spirit there is no confidence in God. All
interest in Him is gone, all trust lost, lost for ever. There
is hope in a brighter future. What power has hope to bear
man up under trials? It brings sunshine from the future to
break the clouds of the present. But the "wounded spirit"
has no hope; the star of hope is blotted from the firma-
ment, and all is midnight. There is friendly sympathy.
Chap. XVIII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 397
Human sympathy has a wonderful power to help man
under his sufferings. But a soul suffering under moral re-
morse cannot avail himself of this. In the first place, men
cannot sympathise with others on account of their sins;
and if they could, the suffering soul would get no comfort
therefrom. Another reason that makes this moral wound
unbearable is:
Because the sufferer is COMPELLED to use one of HIS
CHIEF FACULTIES TO ENHANCE HIS AGONY.—Thought is
one of the leading powers of the soul. By it man can
deaden his physical agonies and bear himself up above
other mental trials. Thought can take the prisoner from
the dungeon abroad into the open universe; the pauper
into the paradise of God; the martyr in agony into the
felicity of Heaven. But this faculty a guilty conscience
will ever employ for its own torment. Thoughts are
governed by different principles. Sometimes intellect con-
trols them, then they take the man into speculation; some-
times imagination, then they take him into poetry; some-
times avarice, then they take him into worldliness; some-
times sensuality, then they take him into a world of lusts.
But the "wounded spirit" makes the guilty conscience
the master of thought, and this takes the man into hell.
When it takes the rein of thought, it directs it to two terri-
ble subjects of contemplation: The crimes of the past and
the retributive judgment of the future. Well, then, might
Solomon say, "A wounded spirit who can bear?" Brother!
the conclusion of all this is, that you must either have a
hell, or seek at once a SPECIAL remedy. I say SPECIAL.
Ordinary means of support will not do, as we have seen. The
elements of hell are within. Within are the fuel of the
last fires, and the gathering clouds of the last outer dark-
ness. Do you exclaim,
"Which way shall I fly
Infinite wrath and infinite despair?
Which way shall I fly is hell, MYSELF am hell."
Where is the special remedy? "Behold the Lamb of
God Who taketh away the SINS of the world." Here is the
PHYSICIAN who alone can heal this wound.
398 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XVIII.
Proverbs 18:15-16
The Attainment of Knowledge
and the Power of Kindness
"The heart of the prudent getteth knowledge; and the ear of the wise
seeketh knowledge. A man's gift maketh room for him, and bringeth him before
great men."
THESE verses point to two of the most priceless things in
the spiritual world, knowledge and kindness, the light of
the intellect and the life of the soul. Christ is the Re-
vealer and the Minister of these two, in their most perfect
forms and measure. "Grace and truth came by Jesus
Christ." Notice,
THE ATTAINMENT OF KNOWLEDGE.—"The heart of the
prudent getteth knowledge." It is suggested that the
attainment of knowledge requires two things. First: A
heart for it. "The heart of the prudent." Heart here,
as in many other places, means the whole mind, and the
idea is that this mind in a certain state is necessary to the
getting of knowledge. There must be in every "heart,"
at least, (1) A consciousness of its need. The opiniated,
self-sufficient man, who is wise in his own conceit, will
never attain it. Though the sun of knowledge shine
around him its beams cannot enter his mind. All the
shutters of his mental house are so closed by self-suffi-
ciency that no rays can break in. A sense of ignorance
is the first step to the attainment of knowledge. A man
must feel the darkness before he struggles for the light.
(2) A craving for its possession. This grows out of the
sense of need. There must be a hungering and thirsting
for knowledge. The cry of the soul should be, "Where
shall wisdom be found?" Why does ignorance prevail so
extensively in this country and in this age? Not for the
lack of the means of knowledge, but for the want of heart
to receive it. "Wherefore is there a price in the hand of
Chap. XVIII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 399
a fool to get wisdom, seeing he hath no heart to it?" The
other thing necessary to the attainment of knowledge is,
Secondly: An effort for it. "The ear of the wise seeketh
knowledge." As the heart is here put for the soul, the ear
is put for its receptive faculties. The ear is one of the
greatest inlets to the mind. It not only listens eagerly to
all the voices of intelligence, but. more, it discriminates
between them. "The ear trieth the words." Effort is re-
quired. Mere desire, however strong, will not do. There
must be observation, comparison, generalisation. The
endeavour must be honest, strenuous, and persevering.
Wisdom does not come into the soul unless it is searched
for as a "hidden treasure." Whilst all this is true of
general knowledge, it is especially true of spiritual and
redemptive. The knowledge that maketh wise unto salva-
tion, men will never get unless they hunger for it and
struggle after it. Notice again,
THE POWER OF KINDNESS.—"A man's gift maketh room
for him and bringeth him before great men." A similar
utterance to this we have already noticed.* There are two
kinds of gifts, the gift of selfishness and the gift of kind-
ness. A man sometimes bestows a favour on another in
order to get back something of a higher value. This gift
is a bribe. Still it may answer that purpose, the giver
has "room" made for him by it, and he is brought "before
great men." "Great men"—conventional magnates, but
moral serfs. But the gift of kindness is the true gift and
the real power. It makes "room" for the giver in the
heart of the receiver, and it bringeth him before truly
great men." Great men recognize and honour the gene-
rous. We have many instances in the Bible of gifts thus
making room for the giver.* Eliezer's gifts made room for
him in Rebekah's family. Jacob's gifts made room for him
in his brother's heart. He sent his present to the gover-
nor of Egypt, to bring his sons with acceptance before a
great man. Ehud's gifts made room for his errand. Abi-
* See Reading on chap. xvii. 8.
* Gen. xxiv. 30-33 ; Gen. xxx. I–II; Gen. xliii. II; Judges iii. 17, 18;
I Sam. xxv. I8.
400 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XVIII.
gail's for the preservation of her house. First: Kindness
is the mightiest power. It is a power that will subdue the
wildest beasts, and has conquered the most savage and
hostile souls. In truth it is the only power to conquer
mind. Men who will dare the bayonet and the sword
have fallen prostrate before the power of kindness.
David's kindness made Saul the despot weep. Kindness
makes "room" for us in human hearts.
“When I went out to the gate through the city:
When I prepared my seat in the street!
The young men saw me, and hid themselves;
And the aged arose, and stood up.
The princes refrained talking,
And laid their hand on their mouth.
The nobles held their peace,
And their tongue cleaved to the roof of their mouth-
When the ear heard me, then it blessed me;
And when the eye saw me, it gave witness to me;
Because I delivered the poor that cried,
And the fatherless, and him that had none to help him.
The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me:
And I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy."
JOB
Secondly: Kindness is the divinest power. It is indeed
the power of God unto salvation. The Gospel is at once
its expression and the medium. Christ loved the world
and gave Himself for it, and His kindness is that which
maketh "room" for Him in all souls and lands.
"A little word in kindness spoken,
A motion or a tear,
Has often healed the heart that's broken,
And made a friend sincere.
Then deem it not an idle thing
A pleasant word to speak:
The face you wear, the thoughts you bring,
A heart may heal or break."—J. C. WHITTIER,
Chap. XVIII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 401
Proverbs 18:17-19
Social Disputes
"He that is first in his own cause seemeth just; but his neighbour cometh
and searcheth him. The lot causeth contentions to cease, and parteth between
the mighty. A brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city: and their
contentions are like the bars of a castle."
IDEAL society, or society as it ought to be, is an organic
unity, a body of which each individual is a member, with
a loving sympathy, as the life's blood circulating through
every part, and a common purpose like the head working
every muscle, faculty, and limb. But actually it is any-
thing but this. The whole is not only out of joint but dis-
membered, and each part is separate and oftentimes a hostile
existent. One section grates, jostles, battles against another.
It seems to have been so for ages. It was so in the days.
of Solomon, it is so now. The verses lead us to make three
remarks concerning these social disputes.
THEIR SETTLEMENT REQUIRES THE HEARING OF BOTH
DISPUTANTS.—"He that is first in his own cause seemeth
just; but his neighbour cometh and searcheth him."
Social disputes are a great evil. They are injurious to
the parties immediately concerned, and injurious in their
influence on others. It is therefore very desirable that
efforts should at all times be employed for their settlement,
and a third person may succeed in bringing this abort. He
who properly fulfils the duty of this third person as the
"Daysman" has the benediction of the "peacemaker." The
verses indicate what he must do in order to succeed. He
must give a hearing to both parties. The reason for this
is, that one may give a wrong impression of the real case.
The first "seemeth just," but the second gives a different
shape to the point. A fact may be dealt with falsely in a
variety of ways. By denial. There may be a positive contra-
diction of all the essential circumstances of the case. Or by
omission. The facts may be stated so partially as to give an
utterly wrong showing. What is told is true, but it is not
402 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XVIII.
the whole truth, and what is untold is capable of changing
the aspect of the told. Or by addition. Something is in-
troduced as connected with the affair, which has no bearing
upon it, but which gives it a false character. Or by group-
ing. Circumstances may be arranged in such an order,
the insignificant put in the place of the important and the
reverse, as to give an utterly wrong view. Copy a paint-
ing with the utmost precision so far as the number, size,
colour, attitude of the objects are concerned, but let the
figures have a different grouping, and your copy shall give
an impression very different from that of the original. It is
just so in the narration of facts. Thus he that cometh first
in "his own cause" may make his case appear just. Hence
the necessity of waiting to hear what his neighbour has to
say, and comparing the statements of both, sifting well in
order to arrive at the truth. Two historians dealing with
the same facts, and both writing conscientiously, give them
a widely different aspect. Another remark which the
verses suggest concerning the settlement of social dis-
putes is—
THAT THERE SHOULD BE A MUTUAL AGREEMENT TO
ABIDE BY A CERTAIN TEST TO TERMINATE THE DISPUTE.
—"The lot causeth contentions to cease." We have already
noticed the "lot."* It is here referred to as an ordinance
for settling disputes. The tribes had their territories
settled by "lot." Saul was chosen to his kingdom by "lot."
Mathias was numbered amongst the apostles by "lot."
Why should it not be used now in the settlements of
disputes when other means have failed? Many an inter-
national quarrel, ecclesiastical contention, and social
litigation may be easily settled by binding the opposing
parties to agree to such a test. It is true it may not always
secure justice in the particular case, but it would terminate
disputes which might involve families, communities,
nations, in misery and ruin. Another remark which the
verses suggest concerning the settlement of social disputes
is—
THAT THE BITTERNESS OF DISPUTES IS OFTEN AGGRA-
* See Reading on chap. xvi. 33.
Chap. XVIII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 403
VATED BY BLOOD RELATIONSHIP.—"A brother offended is
harder to be won than a strong city: and their contentions
are like the bars of a castle." The closer the relationship
in case of dispute the wider the breach, and the more
difficult the reconciliation. A really offended brother is
often harder to win back to friendship than the taking
of a "strong city," or the breaking of the "bars of a
castle." Take the cases of Cain and Abel, Joseph and his
brethren, Absalom and Abiram, Esau and Jacob. In all
these instances nothing less than death was plotted and
sought. Why is this? Why is a brother's anger so
implacable? Several reasons may be suggested. First:
Great love has been wounded. The more love you have
for a man the greater capability you have of indignation
towards him if he does the unrighteous and dishonourable
towards you. How strong the love of a real brother!
And of such we presume Solomon is here speaking.
The wrath of love is a terrible wrath—It is oil in flames.
Secondly: Great services have been ill-requited. What
attentions a true brother shows, how numerous, how
delicate, how self-sacrificing! If the object of all has
proved utterly unworthy of them, how intense his chagrin,
how poignant his distress! Thirdly: Great hopes are
frustrated. The "offended brother" anticipated a brother's
sympathy, counsel, friendship, through all the chequered
scenes of life. These hopes are shattered and the wreck is
vexatious beyond measure. Fourthly: Great reluctance
on the offender's side to acknowledge the fault and seek
reconciliation. Strange as it may seem, it is yet true,
a man would sooner offer an apology to any one than
to his relations, especially to brothers. Solomon knew
human life. What he speaks is true to man—the world
over.
What anarchy and distress sin brings into the social
world. When shall Christianity reconcile contending
parties, and hush the discords of the race?
404 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XVIII.
Proverbs 18:20-21
The Influence of the Tongue
"A man's belly shall be satisfied with the fruit of his mouth; and with the
increase of his lips shall he be filled. Death and life are in the power of the
tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof."
THE word "belly" is here used, to represent the inward
man. Thus it is used* elsewhere.—"The spirit of man is
the candle of the Lord; searching all the inward parts of
the belly," and again, "Out of his belly shall flow rivers of
living water." The words, therefore, may be rendered, "a
man's moral self shall be satisfied." And the two verses
may be taken to illustrate the influence of the tongue.
What is the "fruit of the mouth," and the "increase of the
lips," but the expression of the tongue? Notice—
THE INFLUENCE OF THE TONGUE UPON THE SPEAKER.
—Solomon says that a certain kind of speech which he calls
the "fruit of the mouth" is satisfying to the "belly"—the
inner man. What is this soul-satisfying speech? It must
have two characteristics. First: It must be conscientiously
truthful. Unless a man feels in his heart that the words
he has spoken to another are true to fact, true to reality, he
can have no moral satisfaction in his utterance. But a
communication which he in his conscience believes is true
will distil a satisfying influence upon his soul. Secondly:
It must be intentionally useful. If the intention is to
shake faith, to suggest the impure, to generate strife, to
lead astray, it will be far enough from yielding moral
satisfaction to the speaker. On the contrary, if he intended
it to be useful, though it did not prove so, though perhaps
it was not adapted to do good, it will refresh and gratify
his inner nature. The fact is, a man's conscience tells
him that he is responsible for his words as well as for his
works, and that the words that he feels to be right will
yield him satisfaction as well as the works which his con-
science approves.
* Chap.xx. 27.
Chap. XVIII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 405
Notice—
THE INFLUENCE OF THE TONGUE UPON SOCIETY.—
"Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and they
that love it shall eat the fruit thereof." This will apply—
First: To speech in ordinary conversation. Many a
tongue in ordinary intercourse produces death. By slander
it kills men's reputation; by obscenity it kills men's purity;
by scepticism it kills men's faith; by infidelity it kills
men's souls. On the other hand, the ordinary speeches of
many tend to life—intellectual, social, spiritual. God
alone knows the influence of words upon human souls.
Every sentence is a seed that will produce either night-
shade or corn. This will apply—Secondly: To speech in
courts of justice. The words of a perjured witness, and
those of a fallacious pleader may consign an innocent man
to the cell or scaffold: or, save the life of one that is guilty
and deserves to die. This will apply—Thirdly: To minis-
ters of the gospel. "For we are unto God a sweet savour
of Christ in them that are saved, and in them that perish:
to the one we are the savour of death unto death; and
to the other the savour of life unto life."
CONCLUSION.—"Let us," as St. Chrysostom says, "guard
this little member, the tongue, more than the pupil of the
eye, and the more cautious we should be because we are of
unclean lips." "Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth.
Keep the door of my lips!"
Proverbs 18:22
A Happy Marriage
"Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the
LORD."
AT the outset these words strike two thoughts on our at-
tention. First: That celibacy is not the best mode of
social life. Solomon means to say that it is a good thing
406 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XVIII.
to have a wife. Even in the state of innocence it was not
good for man to be alone. It is said that the Guardians of
the Holborn Union lately advertised for candidates to fill
the situation of engineer at the workhouse, a single man
was required, a wife not being allowed to reside on the
premises. Twenty-one candidates presented themselves,
but it was found that as to testimonials, character, work-
manship, and appearance, the best men were all married
men. The Guardians had, therefore, to elect a married
man. The other thought which these words strike on our
attention is—Secondly: That monogamy is the true mar-
riage. Solomon does not say, "he that findeth wives,"
but "he that findeth a wife." Though he himself had
many wives, he nowhere justifies a plurality. Christ de-
clares that for any woman to marry while she has a
husband alive, is adultery; and by parity of reasoning it
must be adultery for any man to marry while his wife is
alive. The constitution of nature, the baneful results of
polygamy, and the teachings of the Bible, clearly demon-
strate that marriage life consists of two, and only two.
Duality appears everywhere throughout the universe
as a law.
The proverb in its completeness teaches—
That a good wife IS A "GOOD THING."—Of a good
wife, of course, the writer must be supposed to speak, for
a bad wife is a bad thing. Manoah found a "good thing"
in his wife. The patriarch of Uz does not seem to have
found a "good thing " in his. In the Septuagint version,
the text reads "a good wife." What is a good wife? First:
A good woman. A woman of chaste loves, incorruptible
virtues, godly sympathies and aims. One who has in her
nature a power at once to command and reciprocate the
highest affections of a man. A good wife must be—
Secondly: A suitable companion. A good woman would
not be a good wife to all men. There must be a mutual
fitness, a fitness of temperament, taste, habits, culture,
associations. A full description of a good wife is given
in the last chapter of this book. Verily a good wife is a
good thing.
Chap. XVIII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 407
The proverb teaches:
That a good wife IS A DIVINE GIFT.—"Obtaineth favour
of the Lord." All good things are His gifts. "Every
good and perfect gift cometh down from above." But few
better gifts can a man have from God, in passing through
life, than a good wife. "A good wife," says an old and
eloquent writer, "is heaven's last, best gift to a man; his
angel of mercy; minister of graces innumerable; his gem
of many virtues; his casket of jewels. Her voice his
sweetest music; her smiles, his brightest day; her kiss the
guardian of innocence; her arms the pale of his safety, the
balm of his health, the balsam of his life; her industry his
surest wealth, her economy his safest steward; her lips his
faithful counsellors; her bosom the softest pillow of his
cares, and her prayers the ablest advocates of heaven's
blessing on his head. A married man falling into misfor-
tune is more apt to retrieve his situation in the world than
a single one, chiefly because his spirits are soothed and
retrieved by domestic endearments, and his self-respect
kept alive by finding that although all abroad be darkness
and humiliation, yet there is a little world of love at home
over which he is monarch."
Young men, be cautious in your choice of a companion
for life. "When Themistocles was to marry his daughter,
there were two suitors, the one rich and a fool, and the
other wise but not rich; and being asked which of the two
he had rather his daughter should have, he answered, I had
rather she should marry a man without money, than money
without a man. The best of marriage is in the man or
woman, not in the means or the money."
408 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XVIII.
Proverbs 18:23; 19:4, 6-7
Poverty, Riches and Social Selfishness
"The poor useth intreaties; but the rich answereth roughly."
"Wealth maketh many friends; but the poor is separated from his neigh-
bour."
"Many will intreat the favour of the prince: and every man is a friend to him
that giveth gifts. All the brethren of the poor do hate him: how much more do
his friends go far from him? he pursueth them with words, yet they are wanting
to him."
WE bring those passages together because they are related
by common sentiments. They present us with three sub-
jects of thought, the trials of poverty, the temptations of
wealth, and the selfishness of society.
THE TRIALS OF POVERTY.—The passages point to three
great trials to which the poor are at all times more or less
subjected. First: Degradation. "The poor useth en-
treaties." To beg of a fellow-man is a degradation ; it is
that from which our manhood revolts. Yet the poor, from
the necessity of their condition, are forced to this. They
have to mortify the natural independence of their spirit.
They are subjected to—Secondly: Insolence. "The rich
answereth roughly." Their sufferings from the pinch of
indigence and the humiliation of entreating assistance are
aggravated by the haughty heartlessness of those whose
aid they implore. They are subjected to—Thirdly: Deser-
tion. "The poor is separated from his neighbour." "All
the brethren of the poor do hate him." Who in this selfish
world will make friends with the poor, however superior in
intellect or excellent in character? The poor man is de-
serted, he must live in his own little hut alone, he is no
attraction to any one. A wealthy man will be followed
and fawned on by a host of professed friends, but let his
riches take wing and fly away, and all will desert him. As
the winter brooks filled from the opening springs and
showers dry up and vanish in the summer heat, so man's
friends desert him in the day of poverty and trial. When
Chap. XIX.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 409
the wealthy man with his large circle of friends becomes
poor, the poles of his magnet are reversed, and his old
friends feel the repulsion. Such is life, such it was in
Judea in the days of Solomon, and such it is now here in
our England. The verses present to us—
THE TEMPTATIONS OF WEALTH.—Here are presented all
the temptations of wealth—its influence. First: Upon the
mind of its possessor. It tends to promote haughtiness
and insolence. "The rich answereth roughly." The rich,
it should be observed, who are most liable to this abomi-
nable spirit, are those who have suddenly become wealthy.
The manufacturer, the merchant, the joint-stock speculator,
who have risen rapidly from comparative indigence to
opulence, are as a rule the most supercilious, haughty, and
insolent. They lack generally the intelligence, the culture,
and refinement necessary to control the pride which the
gratification of their greed engenders. The influence of
wealth is revealed—Secondly: Upon the mind of the
wealthy man's circle. "Wealth maketh many friends."
"Many will entreat the favour of the prince." Riches
tempt those who live around the possessor to cringe, fawn,
and flatter. They tend to the promotion of a base servility.
"Wealth maketh many friends."—"Friends!"—fawning
flatterers—base parasites—snivelling sycophants. The
verses present to us—
THE SELFISHNESS OF SOCIETY.—"Every man is a friend
to him that giveth gifts." "All the brethren of the poor
do hate him; how much more do his friends go far from
him? He pursueth them with words, yet they are wanting
to him." Here is a revelation of social selfishness!
Poor men, however good, deserted because they cannot
help us, rich men, however wicked, followed because they
have the power to do a service. Does not this spirit of
selfishness run through all society? Men are not honoured
because of what they are, but because of what they
have, not for their character but for their cash, not for their
mind but for their money. This selfishness is the curse, the
disgrace of our race: it is the essence of sin, the bond
of slavery, the fontal source of all our social misery.
410 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XIX.
Proverbs 19:1
The Better Man
"Better is the poor that walketh in his integrity, than he that is perverse in
his lips, and is a fool."*
THERE is another antithesis implied here that is not ex-
pressed. The introduction of the word "rich" will con-
vey, I think, the writer's idea. The verse might be ren-
dered thus, "Better is the poor that walketh in his integrity,
than the rich that is perverse in his lips and is a fool." The
sentiment is that a poor godly man is better than a wealthy
wicked man—a man that is "perverse in his lips" and is
a "fool." This may be illustrated by two remarks.
HE IS A "BETTER" MAN IN HIMSELF.—First: He is a
better character. A man's real worth is determined, not
by his circumstances, but by his character; not by his out-
ward condition but by his inner principles; not by his sur-
roundings, but by his soul." As a man thinketh in his
heart, so is he." So is he in respect to all real worth and
dignity in human nature. Contrast the principles of the
two. Contrast sensuality with spirituality, falsehood with
truth, integrity with dishonesty, practical godliness with
practical atheism. Contrast the worth of the two. What
is secular to spiritual wealth? The one is contingent, the
other is absolute; the one is vital, the other is alienable;
the one is an essential blessing, the other may be a bane.
The ungodly man leaves his wealth behind, the godly poor
carries it with him wherever he goes. Secondly: He has
better enjoyments. He has purer loves, higher hopes,
and loftier fellowships. His happiness is from within, it
springs up as a well of water into everlasting life. The
happiness of the ungodly rich, such as it is, is all derived
from the contingent, the fleeting and the perishing.
HE IS A "BETTER" MAN TO OTHERS.—He is a "better"
relation. He is a better husband, son, brother, master, ser-
* The preceding verse we have noticed in a former Reading.
Chap. XIX.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 411
vant. He is a "better" neighbour. More considerate, re-
spectful, tender, sympathetic. He is a "better" citizen,
He has a nobler loyalty, a higher patriotism, a deeper
philanthropy. The stability and progress of nations de-
pend upon the virtues which he cultivates, developes, and
promotes.
A word to thee, my poor pious friend. Do not repine at
thy condition. Banish for ever the idea that because thou
hast not wealth thou art dealt hardly with in this world.
There are many things, even apart from piety, far better
than riches. Health is "better." Wouldst thou not
sooner be a healthy man in a cottage than a diseased being
upon a throne? Each of the senses is "better." Wouldst
thou not sooner be a humble labourer, enjoying the full use
of all thy senses, than dwell in the greatest opulence, with-
out the power of hearing or of vision? Intellect is "better"
than wealth. Wouldst thou not rather have a mind capable
of grasping the universal, and sympathising with the beau-
tiful and good everywhere, than live in palaces and wander
on acres of thine own with enfeebled soul? If God has given
thee but one grain of good brain more than He has to thy
rich neighbour, is not that of more value to thee than all
the acres of the globe? Knowledge is "better." Wouldst
thou not rather have thy intellect richly stored with the facts
of universal history, the scenes of various countries, the
principles of Divine government, than own a continent,
with a weak and empty mind? Friendship is "better."
To possess the love of a true heart, the sympathy of a
noble soul, is better than to be a desolate millionaire.
Godliness is better than all. Do not therefore envy the
rich. Rise to that altitude of spirit that will enable thee
to mourn over the poverty of princes, and weep over the
degradation of kings.
412 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XIX.
Proverbs 19:2-3
The Soul Without Knowledge
"Also, that the soul be without knowledge, it is not good; and he that
hasteth with his feet sinneth. The foolishness of man perverteth his way: and
his heart fretteth against the LORD."
THE connection of the two clauses of the first verse above
has led critics to attach different senses to the word
"knowledge," and has given rise to various translations to
convey what each has conceived to be the sense. "It is not
good for the soul to be without caution, for he that hasteth
with his feet sinneth." "Quickness of action, without
prudence of spirit, is not good, for he that hasteth with
his feet sinneth." "Fervent zeal without prudence is not
good, for he that hasteth with his feet sinneth." "Ignorance
of one's self is not good, and he that is hasty of foot
sinneth." "These various renderings," says a modern ex-
positor, "express respectively correct sentiments and
truths of practical value." But there does not appear the
least necessity for any alteration of the received version.
These two verses present two facts to our notice in relation
to ignorance.
That ignorance is NOT GOOD for the soul.—"That the
soul be without knowledge it is not good." This will
appear if we consider—First: That an ignorant soul
is exceedingly confined. The sphere of the mind's
operations is the facts and circumstances with which it is
acquainted. It cannot range beyond what it knows. The
more limited its information, the narrower is the scene of
its activities. The man of enlarged scientific information
has a range over vast continents, whereas the ignorant
man is confined within the cell of his senses. Our souls
get scope by exploring the unknown. "Knowledge,"
says Shakespeare, is the wing on which we fly to
heaven." Secondly: That an ignorant soul is exceedingly
benighted. The contracted sphere in which he lives is
Chap. XIX.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 413
only lighted with the rushlight of a few crude thoughts
and traditional notions. So dark is the atmosphere of the
soul, that it knows not how or whither to move. Know-
ledge is light. The accession of every true idea is a plant-
ing of a new star in the mental heavens. The more know-
ledge the brighter will sparkle the sky of our being.
Thirdly: That an ignorant soul is exceedingly feeble.
Exercise and food are as essential to the power of the mind
as they are to the power of the body. Knowledge is at
at once the incentive to exercise and the aliment to
strengthen. Mind without knowledge is like a full-grown
body, which has never had any exercise or wholesome
food; there are all the limbs and organs complete, but there
is no walking and no work. "Ignorance," says Johnson,
"is mere privation, by which nothing can be produced; it
is a vacuity in which the soul sits motionless and torpid
for want of attraction. And, without knowing why, we al-
ways rejoice when we learn, and grieve when we forget."
Truly the soul without knowledge is not good. Of what
good are limbs without the power of exercise; what good
are eyes without light?
The other fact that the verses present to us is:
That ignorance is PERILOUS to the soul.—Ignorance is
more than a negative evil; it is a positive curse. The
verses teach that ignorance—First: Exposes to sinful
haste. "He that hasteth with his feet sinneth." Men
without knowledge are ever in danger of acting incautiously,
acting with a reckless haste. As a rule the more ignorant
a man is, the more hasty he is in the conclusions of his
judgment and the flash of his passions. The less informed
the mind is, the more rapid and reckless in its generalisa-
tion. The cause of science has suffered not a little from
this haste. Impulse, not intelligence, is the helmsman of
the ignorant soul. The verses teach that ignorance—
Secondly: Exposes to a perversity of conduct. "The
foolishness of man perverteth his way." What is foolish-
ness but ignorance? Ignorant men are terribly liable to
perversity of conduct in every relation of life, and especi-
ally in relation to the great God. The murderers of Christ
414 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XIX.
were ignorant. "They know not what they do," said
Christ. And Paul says, "had they known it they would
not have crucified the Lord of glory." The verses teach
that ignorance—Thirdly: Exposes to impiety of feeling.
"His heart fretteth against the Lord." Thus the ignorant
Israelites did in the wilderness. And ignorant men are
ever disposed to find fault with their Maker. "The way
of the Lord is not equal." This has ever been their charge.
Ignorance is always petulant and fretful. It is an awful
sin to fret against the Lord. "Woe unto him that striveth
with his maker! Let the potsherds strive with the pot-
sherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth
it, What makest thou? or thy work, He hath no hands!"
Get knowledge, my brother. A nation of ignorant souls
is not only a nation of worthless men, but a nation liable
to the commission of flagrant mistakes and crimes. Men
should get knowledge for the sake of becoming useful. "I
would advise all in general," says Lord Bacon, " that they
would take into serious consideration the true and genuine
ends of knowledge; that they seek it not either for plea-
sure, or contention, or contempt of others, or for profit, or
for fame, or for honour and promotion, or such like adulte-
rate or inferior ends, but for merit and emolument of life,
that they may regulate and perfect the same in charity."
Proverbs 19:5, 9
Falsehood
"A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he that speaketh lies shall not
escape." *
"A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he that speaketh lies shall
perish,"
THE world abounds in falsehood. Lies swarm in every
department of life. They are in the market, on the hus-
tings, in courts of justice, in the senate house, in the
* Verse 4 has been discussed in a previous Reading.
Chap. XIX.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 415
sanctuaries of religion; and they crowd the very pages of
modern literature. They infest the social atmosphere. Men
on all hands live in fiction and by fiction. Everywhere
they walk in a vain show. The general truth contained in
the passage before us is, that falsehood leads to ruin. "He
that speaketh lies shall perish. Falsehood is ruinous to
REPUTATION.—A good reputation is to every man a price-
less gem. But the "false witness," the liar, endangers
this. When his prevarications and falsities are discovered,
his reputation perishes. Give a man the brand of a per-
jurer, or a liar, and what a worthless wretch he appears
moving through society! It is ruinous to INFLUENCE.
—What influence has a known liar in society ? What
esteem can he awaken? What confidence can he inspire?
What credit can he gain? He is suspected, he is
despised! When Aristotle was asked what a man could
gain by telling a falsehood, he replied, " Never to be
credited when he speaks the truth." It is ruinous
to the SOUL.—The virtue and happiness of a moral
being depend upon the conformity of his language
and life to reality. The false man destroys the strength,
the freedom, the happiness of his soul; he lives in a house
built upon the sand; ruin is inevitable. "Falsehood,"
says Coleridge, "is fire in stubble. It likewise turns all
the light stuff around it into its own substance for a
moment—one crackling, blazing moment, and then dies.
And all its contents are scattered in the wind without
place or evidence of their existence, as viewless as the
wind which scatters them."
416 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XIX.
Proverbs 19:11-12; 19:19
Anger, Controlled and Uncontrolled
"The discretion of a men deferreth his anger; and it is his glory to pass
over a transgression. The king's wrath is as the roaring of a lion; but his favour
is as dew upon the grass." *
"A man of great wrath shall suffer punishment: for if thou deliver him, yet
thou must do it again."
ANGER is an affection inherent in our nature. It is
therefore not wrong in itself, it is wrong only when it
is directed to wrong objects, or to right objects in a
wrong degree of amount and duration. Anger in itself
is as holy a passion as love. Indeed, in its legitimate
form it is but a development of love:—love indignant with
that which is opposed to the cause of right and happiness.
Albeit like every affection of our nature, it is often sadly
perverted, it not unfrequently becomes malignant and
furious. The passage presents anger to us in two aspects,
controlled and uncontrolled.
CONTROLLED.—"The discretion of a man deferreth his
anger; and it is his glory to pass over a transgression."
The wise man is liable to this passion, and circumstances
in his life frequently occur to evoke it. It rushes up
within him, and its instinct is for revenge, but he forbears.
Instead of acting under its impulse, he waits until its fires
cool down. It is said of Julius Caesar, that when pro-
voked, he used to repeat the whole Roman alphabet before
he suffered himself to speak; and Plato once said to his
servant, "I would beat thee but I am angry." It is noble
to see a man holding a calm mastery over the billows
of his own passions, bidding them to go so far and no
farther. The man that cannot control his anger is like
a ship in a tumultuous sea with the devil for its pilot.
"It is his glory to pass over a transgression." This is
something more than postponing its avengement, it is
* Verses 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 have been discussed in other Readings.
Chap. XIX.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 417
checking it. It is blowing out its first sparks, it is
crushing it in its very germ. This is "glory." It is a
splendid conquest. He who governs himself is a true
king.
We have anger here-
UNCONTROLLED.—The verses suggest two remarks in
relation to uncontrolled anger. First: It is sometimes
terrible. " The king's wrath is as the roaring of a lion."
This is the most savage of beasts, and his roar the most
terrific of sounds. Shame on the king who gives vent to
ungovernable wrath. The office he holds binds him more
than others to control his own passions. He who cannot
govern himself has no right to attempt the governing of
others. He sits as an usurper upon the throne of a nation.
It is a lamentable fact that kings have shown less com-
mand over their evil tempers than have the ordinary run
of mankind. It is implied that their temper affects the
nation. Their anger terrifies the people like the "roar
of a lion," their favour is as refreshing and blessed as
the "dew upon the grass." Secondly: It is always self-
injurious. "A man of great wrath shall suffer punish-
ment; for if thou deliver him, yet thou must do it again."
Violent passions ever inflict their own punishment upon
their unhappy subjects. When a man allows himself to
be flooded with angry feelings he injures his own body.
They set the blood flowing too quickly for its narrow
channels; they tend to disorganize the whole physical
frame as the burning cheek, the throbbing temple, and the
quivering lip declare. But they injure the soul too in a
variety of ways. Well does Pope say, "To be angry is to
revenge others' faults upon ourselves." Anger is misery.
"Anger is like
A full hot horse, who, being allowed his way,
Self-mettle tires him."— SHAKESPEARE
There is an old proverb that anger is “like ashes, which
fly back in the face of him who throws them." Dr. Arnold,
when at Laleham, once lost all patience with a dull scholar,
when the pupil looked up in his face, and said, "Why do
418 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XIX.
you speak angrily, sir? Indeed I am doing the best
I can." Years after he used to tell the story to his children,
and say, "I never felt so ashamed of myself in my life.
That look and that speech I have never forgotten." When
the frenzy runs high, the "man of great wrath" gores
right and left, like a wild bull, all who are within his reach;
but, when it has subsided, he is tormented by a remorse
from which the brute is free.
Brothers, we are commanded to be angry and sin not,
and not to let the sun go down on our wrath. William the
Conqueror commanded the English, when the curfew bell
rang, to put out their fires and to extinguish their candles.
Let us not allow the Sun ever to pass from our horizon
with any sparks of anger in the breast.
Proverbs 19:13-14
A Cursed Home and a Blessed Home
"A foolish son is the calamity of his father: and the contentions of a wife
are a continual dropping. House and riches are the inheritance of fathers: and
a prudent wife is from the LORD."
"HOME," says the late illustrious Robertson, of Brighton,
"is the one place in all this world where hearts are sure of
each other. It is the place of confidence. It is the place
where we tear off that mask of guarded and suspicious
coldness which the world forces us to wear in self-defence,
and where we pour out the unreserved communications of
full and confiding hearts. It is the spot where expressions
of tenderness gush out without any sensation of awkward-
ness, and without any dread of ridicule." This is an ideal
home. Would that in all families it were realized! The
verses before us present to us—
A Home CURSED.—There are many things that curse a
home in this sinful world. Two things are mentioned here.
First: "A foolish son." We have had occasion more than
Chap. XIX.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 419
once to refer to the foolish son. Who is he? A son who
does not reciprocate his parents' love, does not acknowledge
his parents' kindness, does not recognize his parents' rule.
Such a son is "the calamity of his father." "Many," says
an old expositor, "are the miseries of a man's life, but
none like that which cometh from him who should be the
stay of his life." Secondly: A contentious wife. An ill-
tempered, irritable, and irritating wife is indeed a curse to
a home. It is as a "continual dropping." You are in a
house where the rain is constantly dropping from the roof
into every room, there is no corner where it does not come,
wherever you stand or sit irritating drops descend upon
your head, damaging your clothes and furniture too.
Your temper is irritated, and your goods are running to
ruin. Such is the figure in which Solomon sets forth the
baneful influence of a contentious wife. "A continual
dropping" is said to be one of the engines which the wit
of man contrived when it was put upon the stretch for the
means of torturing his fellows. The victim was so placed
that a drop of water continued to fall at regular intervals
on his naked head. With length of time, and no hope of
relief, the agony becomes excruciating, and either the
patient's reason or his life gives way. The contentious
wife breaks the heart of her husband as well as destroys
the comfort of her home.
These two things are undoubtedly a curse to a home.
"What shall be said," says a modern writer, "when the
two evils of this verse unite? There cannot be a case more
pitiable. Under the former alone a man may be sustained
and comforted by the cheering society and converse
of a fond wife, the sharer and the soother of his sorrows, as
he is of hers; and under the latter alone his misery may be
not a little mitigated by the prudence, the sympathy, and the
aid of a pious and affectionate son. But when the two come
together—how deplorable!—the husband and the father
alike wretched—neither relation alleviating, but each
aggravating the affliction of the other!" We have here—
A Home BLESSED.—First: Blest with wealth as an
inheritance. "Houses and riches are the inheritance of
420 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XIX.
fathers." The value of wealth in making a home comfort-
able, cheerful, and attractive will not be doubted. Wealth
is a blessing. When rightly used it adds greatly to our
power, our usefulness, and enjoyments. Secondly: Blest
with a prudent wife as a " gift from the Lord." "A
prudent wife" is elsewhere called a virtuous woman. She
is one who loves her husband and her children, is discreet,
chaste, a keeper at home, good, obedient to her own
husband. Such a woman is "from the Lord." Her
goodness is from the Lord, all her useful attributes are
His endowments, and His providence brought her into the
possession of her husband. It is His gift. Solomon
indicates a contrast between these two blessings. He
intimates that one is more directly "from the Lord" than
the other. "Houses and riches are the inheritance of
fathers." They are often transmitted from sire to son.
But a "prudent wife" is from the Lord. The blessing is
more directly and manifestly His bestowment. "The
history of Ruth beautifully illustrates the train of matri-
monial Providence. The Moabitess married, contrary to
all human probability, a man of Israel, that she might
be brought into Naomi's family, return with her to her
own land, and in course of filial duty be brought under the
eye, and drawn to the heart of Boaz, her appointed
husband."
Proverbs 19:8, 16
Goodness and Happiness
"He that getteth wisdom loveth his own soul: he that keepeth understanding
shall find good."
"He that keepeth the commandment keepeth his own soul: but he that
despiseth his ways shall die." *
SOLOMON, like other of the inspired writers, frequently
employs different words to represent the same thing. In
* The subject of this verse has been discussed in a former Reading.
Chap. XIX.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 421
the verses before us there are no less than three words to
represent one thing—religion. "Wisdom," "understand-
ing," "commandment." Religion is a subject of such
transcendent importance, and so many sided, that no one
term could possibly set it forth. The verses suggest two
remarks.
THAT SPIRITUAL GOODNESS IS THE GRAND OBJECT OF
LIFE.—In what does spiritual goodness consist? An
answer can be got from the verses. First: In getting the
true thing. "He that getteth wisdom." It is not a thing
which comes into the soul irrespective of our choice and
effort. It must be sought after with earnestness and per-
severance. "Getteth wisdom."—"With all thy getting
get understanding." Secondly: In retaining the true
thing. "He that keepeth understanding." There is a
possibility of losing it, after having gained it by immense
effort. Men have fallen, therefore it must be retained by
watchfulness and prayer. "Buy the truth and sell it not."
When you have got it hold it with all the tenacity of your
being. Thirdly: In acting out the true thing. "He that
keepeth the commandment." Religion is not a mere truth,
gained by study and retained by holy watchfulness in the
soul. It is truth translated into actions, embodied into
life. It is keeping the commandment. "If a man love
me he will keep my commandments." Such is the sketch
of goodness and religion as given in these verses. Else-
where it is represented in other forms, such as "honouring
Christ," "glorifying God," "repenting," and "believing."
Our point is that to become religious is the grand end of
our existence. Nothing higher than this can be aimed at.
It is higher than Heaven. What can be greater than to
become like God? Nothing lower should be aimed at. The
man who aims at something lower than this, something
less than to become religious and godlike, wastes his ener-
gies and misses the end of his being. Goodness is the
heaven of souls. There is no other Heaven. The verses
suggest—
THAT HAPPINESS IS THE OUTCOME OF SPIRITUAL GOOD-
NESS.—We are told here that he who gets, retains, and
422 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XIX.
practises this divine thing "loveth his own soul," "keepeth
his own soul," and that he who does it not "shall die."
"He who findeth me," says religion, "findeth life." And
again it says, "He who sinneth against me, sinneth
against his own life; whoso loveth me hateth death." How
is a man to get true happiness? Not by seeking it as an
end, but by becoming good—out of goodness will bloom
this Paradise. "This is life eternal, to know Thee, the only
true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent." True
blessedness is to be found in the true idea, the true affec-
tion, the true deed. Who is the man that really "loveth
his own soul"? Not the man that is struggling everlast-
ingly after his own happiness, whether in the world or in
religion. But the man who is striving after goodness, who
is following on to know the Lord, who is "forgetting those
things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those
things that are before, pressing toward the mark for the prize
of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus."
Proverbs 19:17
The Deserving Poor
"He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the LORD: and that which
he hath given will he pay him again."
WE are told that the poor shall never cease out of the land.
Paley defines a poor man, as he, of whatever rank, whose
expenses exceed his resources. It is very clear from this
that there may be poverty which has no claim to our com-
miseration and charity. For bad management, extrava-
gance, and indolence, which are crimes, originate a great
deal of a certain kind of indigence. There is, however, in
all neighbourhoods, and ever has been, a large amount of
deserving poverty—poverty that has come on by oppres-
sions, misfortunes, and afflictions. The verses lead us to
consider three things in relation to the deserving poor.
Chap. XIX.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 423
MAN'S DUTY towards the deserving poor.—"He that hath
pity on the poor." Two things are implied concerning this
pity.
First: It must be practical. The text speaks of it as
"lending to the Lord." It is pity, therefore, that gives,
in order to relieve distress. The pity that goes off in sen-
timental sighs, or proceeds no farther than words, saying,
"Depart in peace, be warmed, be filled," is not true pity—
the pity that God demands. It is a practical pity. "Is
not this the fast that I have chosen, to deal thy bread to
the hungry, that thou bring the poor that are cast out to
thy house, when thou seest the naked that thou cover him."
Secondly: It must be genuine. The words imply that the
pity is accepted of the Lord. He takes it as a loan, there-
fore it must be genuine. The service rendered is from
right principles. There is a large amount of charity
shown to the poor which is inspired by motives abhorrent
to Omniscient Purity. Some give because it is respectable;
some because it tends to a little fame; some in the hope of
a return in some form or other; some from the feeling of
self-righteousness, hoping thereby to secure the favour of
God. All this is spurious charity—charity that God will
not, cannot accept as a loan. The charity which is a loan
to the Lord must be a genuine, disinterested, and loving
gift to the poor. Again, this verse leads us to consider—
GOD'S INTEREST in the deserving poor.—So deep is His
interest in the poor that He regards a genuine gift to them
as a loan to Him. God's interest in the poor is shown in
three ways. First: In the obligation that is imposed on
the rich to help them. He denounces all neglect and
cruelty of the poor. Woe unto him that buildeth his
house by unrighteousness and his chamber by wrong, that
useth his neighbour's service without wages." Again,
"Whoso mocketh the poor reproacheth his Maker."
Again, "What mean ye that ye beat my people to
pieces and grind the faces of the poor?" Again, "Whoso
stoppeth his ears to the cry of the poor, he also shall cry
himself but shall not be heard." He inculcates practical
sympathy for the poor. Secondly: In the earthly condition
424 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XIX.
into which He sent His Son. Christ came of the poor. He
descended into "the lower parts of the earth." His parents
were poor. His associates were poor. He Himself was
poor. "He had nowhere to lay His head." Thirdly: In
the class from which He selected His servants. His greatest
prophets in olden times were ploughmen and shepherds. His
apostles were the fishermen and the tentmaker. He chose
the poor of this world to be His disciples and apostles.
Once more, this verse leads us to consider—
GOD'S ACKOWLEDGMENT OF SERVICE RENDERED TO THE
DESERVING POOR.—"And that which he hath given will
He pay him again." Every gift of genuine piety to the
poor is a loan to the Lord, and a loan that shall be paid.
It is often amply repaid in this world, and it will be
acknowledged in the day of judgment. "Inasmuch as ye
have done it unto the least of these my brethren, ye have
done it unto me."
Let us remember the poor. It is a sacred and religious
duty. "It is pure and undefiled religion." "God," says
Jeremy Taylor, "is pleased with no music below so much
as in the thanksgiving songs of relieved widows, of sup-
ported orphans, of rejoicing and comforted and thankful
persons. This part of our communication does the work
of God and our neighbours, and bears us to heaven in
streams made by the overflowing of our brother's comfort."
Proverbs 19:18, 20
Parental Discipline and Filial Improvement
"Chasten thy son while there is hope, and let not thy soul spare for his
crying."
"Hear counsel, and receive instruction, that thou mayest be wise in thy latter
end." *
THE subject of these words is parental discipline and filial
improvement.
* The 19th verse has been discussed in a former Reading.
Chap. XIX.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 425
PARENTAL DISCIPLINE.—The words teach, First: That
parental discipline should always be timely. "Chasten
thy son while there is hope." There is a period for disci-
pline in the experience of every child. Of all periods it is
the most important: it does not extend over many years;
it is the character-forming period—the period when there
are in the mind no set principles, no favourite notions, no
settled habits. The soil is fresh and without weeds; the
sapling is tender and can be turned to any shape; the
wax is soft and can receive any impression. That is the
time for discipline. Woe to the parent who neglects this
period; and great the calamity to his child. Secondly:
Parental discipline is sometimes painful. "Let not thy
soul spare for his crying." It is sometimes painful to the
child. The greatest pain is not that inflicted by corporeal
punishment: the material rod is not the most painful, nor
is it the most effective. It is the rod of truth, the rod of
displeased love, the rod that does not touch the flesh but
the heart. It is sometimes painful to the parent. No true
parent can in his discipline inflict so much pain upon his
child as he himself experiences. He who inflicts pain
upon his child from passion and revenge may experience
some gratification in his unmanly and infernal work; but
he who does it purely for the child's good is distressed to
the very soul: he stabs his own heart—his love bleeds.
Thirdly: Parental discipline should ever be firm. "Let
not thy soul spare for his crying." The child's tears may
distress you, his shrieks may go to your soul and unman
you—still be firm. The evil that you seek to crush must
be crushed, or your child will be damned. Calmly keep
your object in view. Desist only when the child cries, not
on account of the rod, but on account of the fault. There
is a parental indulgence that is the greatest curse to chil-
dren. Eli an example.
"The voice of parents is the voice of God,
For to their children they are heaven's lieutenants;
Made fathers, not for common uses merely,
But to steer
The wanton freight of youth through storms and dangers,
Which, with full sails they bear upon, and straighten
426 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XIX.
The mortal line of life they bend so often.
For these are we made fathers, and for these
May challenge duty on our children's part.
Obedience is the sacrifice of angels,
Whose form you carry."—SHAKESPEARE
FILIAL IMPROVEMENT.—Observe, First: The conditions
of improvement. "Hear counsel and receive instruction."
Truth speaks everywhere—in nature, in human history, in
the Scriptures of God. But men do not hear, they are
deaf. The first thing is to listen to her voice. "Receive
instruction." Take it into the understanding, the affections,
the life. Take it in as the very food of the soul; digest
it well, so that it become the very blood of life. Secondly:
The purpose of improvement. "That thou mayest be wise
in thy latter end." A wise man is one who thinks, feels,
and acts wisely in all things—a man that realizes the grand
idea of his being—a good man. Now, whilst goodness is
always important, its importance will be specially felt
in the "latter end"—the end that awaits us all; the end
that ends all our connections with this life; that ushers us
consciously into the spiritual, retributive and eternal. It is
a sad thing to live a fool; it is a sadder thing to die one.
Men who were counted wise by the world were fools in
their latter end. Voltaire said, "I will give you half of
what I am worth if you will give me six months' life."
Gibbon said, "All was dark and doubtful." Hobbs said,
"I am taking a leap in the dark."
Proverbs 19:21
The Mind of Man and the Mind of God
"There are many devices in a man's heart: nevertheless the counsel of the
LORD, that shall stand."
THESE words bring under our notice the mind of man and
the mind of God. Man has a mind, or rather man is mind.
Chap. XIX.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 427
He is spiritual, rational, free, moral, immortal. God is
mind. He is a spirit. Man's mind is the offspring of the
Divine, and there is a resemblance between them.
The verse implies—
That the mind of man has "MANY DEVICES," the mind
of God has but ONE COUNSEL.—"There are many devices
in a man's heart." Every man's soul teems with devices,
devices concerning pleasure, commerce, politics, religion.
These "devices" are often selfish, ambitious, malignant,
impious. As they are generated by different dispositions
of heart, they have no unity amongst themselves; they are
often in fierce battle, and fill the soul with confusion. But
the mind of God has one purpose, "the counsel of the
Lord." All God's thoughts are but phases of one eternal
purpose, that takes in the universe, and runs through the
ages.
The verse implies—
That the mind of man is SUBORDINATE, the mind of God
SUPREME.—This is implied here, and fully expressed in
many other places of the Bible. "A man's heart deviseth
the way, but the Lord directeth his steps." "O Lord, I
know that the way of man is not in himself; it is not
in man that walketh to direct his steps." First: This is
a fact well attested by history. The "devices" of
Joseph's brethren He subordinated to His own purpose.
The "devices" of Pharaoh to destroy all the babes of
Israel were, through the preservation of Moses, sub-
ordinated to the working out of God's purpose in
the emancipation of the Jews from Egyptian thraldom.
The "devices" of the Scribes and Pharisees, leading to
the crucifixion of the Son of God, were overruled for the
development of His "determinate counsel." The passing
of the fugitive law, which required every American citizen
to deliver up the fleeing African into the hands of his pur-
suers, and which was passed in order to strengthen the
dominion of slavery, led, under God, to the production of
such literature on the question, as snapped the chains of
four million human beings, and made them free citizens
of the world. Secondly: This is a fact that reveals the
428 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XIX.
greatness of God. I see the greatness of God in control-
ling the material universe, but I see more of His great-
ness in controlling the hostile elements of moral mind,
than in directing the elements of nature. "He maketh the
wrath of man to praise him." It has been said that the
104th Psalm is a hymn to God in material nature, and the
105th Psalm a hymn to Him in human history.
The verse implies—
That the mind of man is CHANGEABLE, the mind of God
is UNALTERABLE.—"The counsel of the Lord, that shall
stand." However numerous "devices" are, let them be
as the sands on the sea-shore, or the drops that make up
the ocean, however antagonistic to the Divine mind, how-
ever skilfully organized, and backed by all the battalions
of hell and earth, they will not shake God's "counsel."
They will no more affect His purpose than a whiff of
smoke can shake the stars. "There is no wisdom, nor
understanding, nor counsel against the Lord."
Learn the inevitable fall of all that is opposed to the will
of God. Whatever in systems and institutions, whatever
in commerce, politics, or religion; whatever in Church or
state is opposed to the "counsel of the Lord," must in-
evitably totter and fall. And learn the inevitable fulfilment
of all His promises.
Whatever He has purposed shall be accomplished. His
eternal counsel moves on, nothing can hinder it. All the
volcanoes, thunders, lightnings, tornadoes, united together
on this earth, and shaking it to its centre, cannot hinder
for one instant the sun in his majestic march, nor can all
the opposition of earth and hell united prevent the Eternal
accomplishing all the promises of His word.
"There is a power
Unseen, that rules the illimitable world;
That guides its motions, from the brightest star,
To the least dust of this sin-stained mould;
While man, who madly deems himself the lord
Of all, is nought but weakness and dependence.
This sacred trust, by sure experience taught,
Thou must have learnt when wandering all alone:
Each bird, each insect, flitting through the sky,
Was more sufficient for itself than thou."—THOMPSON
Chap. XIX.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 429
Proverbs 19:22
Kindness
"The desire of a man is his kindness: and a poor man is better than a liar."
IT is implied in these words—
That kindness is a GOOD THING.—Solomon means to say
that kindness even as a "desire" is a good thing. If there
were no words to express it, no means to gratify it, still as
a desire it is good. It is good in itself. Love is the
essence of virtue. It is what God approves, it is like
Himself. It is good in its influence upon the possessor.
The mind under the influence of love is free, cheerful,
sunny. It is good in its bearing upon society. The
society of a kind and loving soul is congenial and useful.
It is implied—
That this good thing may exist ONLY IN DESIRE.—"The
desire of a man is his kindness." The meaning is that kind-
ness must be measured by the amount of a man's desires to
do good, rather than by the amount of his ability. There
are cases when it can only exist as a "desire." There are
thousands who have kindness towards the suffering and
distressed, but who are entirely destitute of the means
to render help. Our Great Master appreciates kindness in
this form. "If there be a willing mind it is accepted
according to that a man hath, and not according to that
he hath not." David's desire to build the Temple was as
acceptable to God as if he had actually reared the
magnificent edifice.
It is implied—
That kindness as a desire WITHOUT MEANS, is "better"
than as WORDS with ABILITY.—"A poor man is better than
a liar." The poor man here must be regarded as the man
who has kindness in his heart, but is destitute of ability,
and "the liar" as the man who has plenty of ability, and
whose kindness is merely in generous talk. There are
430 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XIX.
many such. There are many who talk as if their hearts
were full of love. Their language would lead you to infer
that their love was strong enough to remove all misery
from the world if they had the means, but it is all talk.
Their kindness is a blossom that never turns into fruit.
These men are the hollowest shams, they are living lies.
Far better is the poor man who has kindness in his heart
than such a "liar." He is better in himself, better in the
eye of the good, better in the estimation of Heaven.
"It is a little thing,
To give a cup of water; and yet its draught
Of cool refreshment, drained by feverish lips,
May send a shock of pleasure to the soul
More exquisite by far than when nectarious juice
Renews the life of joy in happiest hour."—TALFOURD
Chap. XIX.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 431
Proverbs 19:23
The Fruits of Personal Religion
"The fear of the LORD tendeth to life: and he that hath it shall abide satis-
fied; he shall not be visited with evil."
THE expression, "he that hath it" is not in the
original; it has been supplied by our translators.
The words have been rendered thus, "The fear of the Lord
is life, and who hath it shall rest; he shall not be visited
with evil." We do not see that this rendering has any
idea more than what is in our version. The subject is the
fruits of personal religion. "The fear of the Lord," here,
as elsewhere, stands for religion. It is a loving, loyal,
reverence for God. And this has threefold fruit.
VITALITY.—It "tendeth to life." It is conducive to
bodily life. Intelligent religion leads its possessor to
attend to the laws of physical health and happiness. It is
conducive to intellectual life. Love to God stimulates the
intellect to study Him and His works. It is conducive to
spiritual life—the life of pure affections, high aims, and
virtuous deeds. Another fruit is—
SATISFACTION.—"Shall abide satisfied." It pacifies the
conscience. The sense of guilt, which gnaws and dis-
tresses the soul, it removes, and infuses in its place "joy
and peace in believing." It reconciles to providence. It
makes a man acquiesce in his lot, to say, "Not my will,
but Thine be done." It causes him to rejoice in hope
of the glory of God. Another fruit is—
SAFETY.—"He shall not be visited with evil." He may
have sufferings, but sufferings in this case will not be evils,
they will be blessings in disguise. "His light afflictions will
work out a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory."
They will not separate him from the love of God. In
432 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XIX.
all tribulations he will rejoice. He will not be visited
with any event that will damage his interests or endanger
his soul. “God is his refuge and strength.” A high,
secure, impregnable fortress this!
Proverbs 19:24
Laziness
“A slothful man hideth his hand in his bosom, and will not so much as
bring it to his mouth again.”
MOST critics substitute the word dish for bosom here. “A
slothful man hideth his hand in his dish.” This certainly
makes the description of the lazy man more graphic. His
repast is provided for him. It is spread before him, but he
is too lazy to take it; he drops his hand in the dish. He is
not only too lazy to earn his food by honest labour, and to
prepare it for his own use, but when it is there he is almost
too indolent to raise it to his mouth. He who is “slow at
meat is slow at work.” Indolence become more and more
strong as it is yielded to. Sloth in some natures is nursed
to a sovereignty. The less a man exerts himself, the more
indisposed he becomes to exertion, until at last the
slightest effort becomes a felt inconvenience. This lazi-
ness may be seen in different departments of life. IN
WORDLY CONCERNS.—There are men before whom Provi-
dence has brought the “dish,” containing all the conditions
of affluence and social prosperity, but the man is too lazy to
put his hand to it. He sits and yawns and says, —it is time
enough to begin. Laziness has brought many a man, who
might have been in affluence, to wretched pauperism. It
may be seen—IN INTELLECTUAL MATTERS.—The “dish”
of knowledge is laid before a lazy man; he has books,
leisure, money, everything in fact to enable him to enrich
his mind with knowledge, and train his faculties for dis-
tinguished work in the realm of science, but he is too lazy.
Chap. XIX.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 433
His mind becomes enfeebled and diseased for the want of
exercise. It may be seen—IN SPIRITUAL INTERESTS.—
Gospel provisions are laid before the lazy man. There are
the "unsearchable riches of Christ;" there is the "crown
of glory;" but he is too indolent to make any exertion to
participate in the heavenly blessings. "Go thy way for
this time," he says, "and when I have a convenient season
I will send for thee." Pollock has well described the in-
dolent soul:
"Sloth lay till mid-day, turning on his couch,
Like ponderous door upon its weary hinge;
And having rolled him out, with much ado,
And many a dismal sigh, and vain attempt,
He sauntered out accoutred carelessly,
With half-op'd, misty, unobservant eye,
Somniferous, that weighed the object down
On which its burden fed — an hour or two;
Then, with a groan, retired to rest again."
Proverbs 19:25
Man Chastising the Wrong
"Smite a scorner, and the simple will beware: and reprove one that hath
understanding, and he will understand knowledge."
THESE words imply certain truths that are worthy of
note.
Wrong may exist in very DIFFERENT CHARACTERS.—
There are three characters mentioned in the passage—
(1) "The scorner." The scorner is a character made up of
pride, irreverence, and cruelty. He mocks at sin; he scoffs
at religion. He looks with a haughty contempt upon
those opinions which agree not with his own. (2) "The
simple." The simple man is he who is more or less un-
sophisticated in mind, and untainted by crime. One
who is inexperienced, unsuspicious, confiding, and im-
pressible. (3) "One that understandeth knowledge." This
434 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XIX.
is a character whom Solomon represents in other places as
the just man, the wise man, the prudent man, expressions
which with him mean personal religion. These three cha-
racters, therefore, may comprise;—the man against reli-
gion, the man without religion, and the man with religion.
And it is implied here that there may be wrong in connec-
tion with all. The "scorner " is thoroughly wrong. The
simple is potentially wrong. He that "hath understand-
ing" is occasionally wrong, or he would not require "re-
proof."
It is implied—
That wrong in all characters SHOULD BE CHASTISED.—
"Smite a scorner and the simple will beware, and reprove
one that hath understanding and he will understand know-
ledge." It is not only the duty of rulers to punish crime,
but it is the duty of every honest man to inflict chastisement
upon wrong wherever it is seen. He can do so in many
ways, without violence, without breaking the public peace,
without the infringement of any human rights. The with-
drawal of patronage, separation from the offenders' society,
social ostracism, the administration of reproof, and the ex-
pression of displeasure, are amongst the means by which
an honest man, even in his private capacity, can chastise
the wrong. Every honest man not only can but should
punish wrong whenever he sees it. "Do not I hate them,
O God, that hate thee. Gather not my soul with sin-
ners."
It is implied—
That the kind of chastisement should be ACCORDING
TO CHARACTER. —"The scorner" is to be smitten. "Smite
a scorner." The man of "understanding" is to be re-
proved. Reproof to an inveterate scorner would be
useless. "Give not that which is holy unto the dogs,
neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample
them under their feet and turn again and rend you."
"He that reproveth a scorner," says Solomon, in another
place, "getteth unto himself shame." The scorner re-
quires the smiting of silent contempt, withering sar-
casm, slashing invective. It was by silent contempt
Chap. XIX.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 435
that the holy Jesus smote the scorning Pilate. But
whilst the scorner requires smiting and not reproof, the
man of understanding requires reproof and not smiting.
He has fallen into error, and what he requires is to have
the error pointed out—its moral enormity exposed. His
wrong is not the rule but the exception of his life. He
has fallen into it, he has been overcome of evil, and he
must be dealt with by justice tempered with kindness.
"Brethren, if a man be overtaken in fault, ye that are
spiritual restore him."
It is implied—
That the EFFECTS of the chastisement will vary accord-
ing to the character.—First: The chastisement inflicted
upon the scorner will be rather a benefit to others
than to himself. "Smite a scorner, and the simple
will beware." He is to be punished not merely for his own
sake, but as a warning to others—to put the simple and
unsophisticated on their guard. Severity towards the in-
corrigible may act as a warning to others. Secondly:
The chastisement inflicted on the man of understanding is
of service to himself. "Reprove one that hath under-
standing, and he shall understand knowledge." He takes
it in good part. He renounces the evil, he resolves to
improve. He says, "Let the righteous smite me, and it
shall be a kindness: and let him reprove, it shall be an
excellent oil which shall not break my head."
Brothers, wrong exists everywhere around us. Evil
fronts us in almost every man we meet. It is for us to set
ourselves in strong antagonism to it wherever it appears.
Let us feel that it is for us in our measure to do what
Christ came into the world to accomplish—to "condemn
sin in the flesh," to condemn it everywhere and at all times
"Reprove not in their wrath incensed men,
Good counsel comes clean out of season then;
But when his fury is appeased and past,
He will conceive his fault, and mend at last."
RANDOLPH
436 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XIX.
Proverbs 19:26-27
Filial Depravity and Parental Warning
"He that wasteth his father, and chaseth away his mother is a son that
causeth shame, and bringeth reproach. Cease, my son, to hear the instruction
that causeth to err from the words of knowledge."
AGAIN and again does Solomon refer to family life, and
touch on the vices and virtues of home. He knew that no
relationship was so vital to the race as that subsisting
between parents and children. These verses give us two
things:
FILIAL DEPRAVITY.—Here is a depraved son described.
First: As wasting his father. There are many ways in
which a reckless and wicked son "wasteth his father."
Sometimes he wasteth his property. Many a son, by his
expensive habits, gambling propensities, and reckless ex-
travagance, has reduced his father from opulence to
beggary, from a mansion to a pauper's hovel. Sometimes
he wasteth his health. The conduct of a depraved son has
shattered the health of many a father, and brought down
his grey hairs with sorrow to the grave. A depraved son
is described, Secondly: As repelling his mother. "He
chaseth away his mother." She appears before him, per-
haps with her bosom swollen with the tenderest sympathies
of love, her eyes suffused with tears, and in the agony of
affection expostulates with him, seeking to turn him from his
evil habits, but he repels her, he chaseth her away. The
depraved son is described, Thirdly: As disgracing his
family. "He causeth shame, and bringeth reproach."
Such is the constitution of society, that a whole family is
often disgraced by the atrocities of one of its members.
Such is the sketch here of filial depravity. Does such a
son exist? Is not this a visionary picture? Alas! such sons
have always been, and they abound even in Christian Eng-
land. The character was a reality in Solomon's time, it is
a reality now. We talk of monsters in nature, but a
Chap. XIX.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 437
greater moral monster know I not than a son like that
which is indicated here. He is without "natural affection,"
and the sorrows of his parents go before him as a terrible
cloud to break in thunder upon his conscience in eternity.
The verses gives us—
PARENTAL WARNING. —"Cease, my son, to hear the in-
struction that causeth to err from the words of knowledge."
First: Children are the subjects of instruction. All chil-
dren are learning animals. They have learning instincts
and capacities. Whether they go to school or not, they
learn. They learn in the streets and alleys. There is a
great public school which nature has established, and in
which, alas, the devil works to corrupt the morals of the
people. Secondly: Their instruction has a connection
with their conduct. This is implied. Our first ideas root
themselves in our being, and become the germs of future
conduct. A bad creed must lead to vicious conduct.
Hence the importance of sound doctrine. Thirdly: There
is an instruction that leads to wrong. "Instruction that
causeth to err from the words of knowledge." The instruc-
tion of the materialist, who teaches that there is no soul,
no future life, "causeth to err from the words of know-
ledge." The instruction of the fatalist, which teaches that
all things are so settled by an eternal necessity, as that
free agency and responsibility cannot possibly exist,
causeth to err from the words of knowledge." The in-
struction of the sacramentalist, which teaches that you are
to be saved by attending to rites and ceremonies, "causeth
to err from the words of knowledge." Such instructions
as these are rife in our country in these days. It is right,
therefore, for the father to say to the son, "Cease, my son,
to hear the instruction that causeth to err," believe not
every spirit, but "try the spirits whether they are of God,
because many false prophets are gone out into the
world."
438 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XIX.
Proverbs 19:28-29
The Character and Doom of the Wicked
"An ungodly witness scorneth judgment: and the mouth of the wicked
devoureth iniquity. Judgments are prepared for scorners, and stripes for the
backs of fools."
THE "ungodly witness" is in the margin called "wit-
nesses of Belial." "Sons of Belial" is a common appella-
tion for impious and wicked men. Observe—
The CHARACTER of wicked men.—They are described
here, First: As the witnesses of the devil. In their
words, conversation, manners, spirit, they represent that
which is ungodly. "They are witnesses of Belial." Their
whole life is one great lie, and they are of their father, who
was "a liar from the beginning." They are described—
Secondly: As scorners of judgment. They are fools that
make a mock of sin. They ridicule the most serious
things, they scoff at the solemnities of death and eternity.
The spirit of seriousness has forsaken them. They are
irreverent and profane. They are described—Thirdly:
As ravenous after iniquity. "The wicked devoureth
iniquity." Sin is the one tempting thing to them. It is
that one apple in the garden of life which makes their
mouths water. Their appetite for it is whetted to the
highest edge, and with voracity the "mouth of the wicked
devoureth iniquity." What a picture is this! Alas, that it
should be the life-like image of many. How many there
are whose life is a "witness" to the false, who scoff at the
serious; and whose strongest appetite is for that upon
which sacred heaven has put its interdict. Observe again—
The DOOM of the wicked.—"Judgments are prepared
for scorners, and stripes for the backs of fools." The
punishment is prepared. All the anguish is arranged.
The full cup is waiting. Judgment will not befal them as
an accident. It is arranged and ready. Who shall describe
the judgment? Who shall number the soul-lacerating
Chap. XX.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 439
stripes that wait the wicked in the penal settlements of
eternity? "Our sin," said Bishop Hall, "is our own, and
the wages of sin is death." He that doeth the work earns
the wages. So then the righteous God is cleared both of
our sin and our death. Only His justice pays us what our
evil deeds deserve. What a wretched thing is a wilful
sinner, and that will needs be guilty of his own death!
Proverbs 20:1
An Intemperate Use of Strong Drink
"Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived
hereby is not wise."
AT the outset we may observe that the proverb of itself is
sufficient to expose the absurdity of those who, with an
ignorant zeal endeavour to show that the wine of the Bible
is not intoxicating. Though of course it was not like the
brandied wine of this age, it was obviously alcoholic.
The intemperate use of strong drink is DECEITFUL.—
"Wine is a mocker." It deceives men in many ways.
Not only does it deceive the drunkard by beguiling and
befooling him, but it deceives others as to its advantage.
That it strengthens the system is a deception; chemistry
has shown that it contains no nourishment for the body.
That it enriches the national revenue is a deception. It is true
that the taxes on alcoholic drinks bring millions annually
into the national exchequer, but how much of the wealth of
the nation does it exhaust by the pauperism and crime which
it creates? Alcoholic drink is the great false prophet in Eng-
land. A prophet working busily in every district, under the
inspiration of hell. It may be said of many a civilized com-
munity, "they erred through wine, and through strong
drink are out of the way; the priest and the prophet have
erred through strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine,
440 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XIX.
they are out of the way through strong drink; they err in
vision, they stumble in judgment," The verse teaches—
The intemperate use of strong drink is ENRAGING.—
"Strong drink is raging." It excites the worst passions
of human nature. Hence the quarrels, brawls, and mur-
ders that spring from it. It often kindles in men the very
fires of hell. It fills our prisons with culprits, and supplies
our judges with the chief part of their work. The verses
teach—
The intemperate use of strong drink is FOOLISH.—
"Whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise." Nothing is
more foolish than to indulge in alcoholic drinks. It injures
the health, it enfeebles the intellect, it deadens the moral
sensibilities, it destroys reputation, it impoverishes the
exchequer, it disturbs friendship, it breeds quarrels, it
brings misery into the family, it is fraught with innumerable
curses. "Whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise."
"A drunken man is like a drowned man, a fool or madman: one draught above
heat makes him a fool; the second mads him, and the third drowns him."
SHAKESPEARE
"There is no sin," says a divine of 1662, "which doth
more deface God's image, than drunkenness, it disguiseth
a person, and doth even unman him. Drunkenness gives
him the throat of a fish, and the belly of a swine, and the
heart of an ass. Drunkenness is the shame of nature, the
extinguisher of reason, the shipwreck of chastity, and the
murderer of conscience."
Proverbs 20:2
The Terrific in Human Government
"The fear of a king is as the roaring of a lion: whoso provoketh him to
anger sinneth against his own soul."
I TAKE the king here as representing government,
whether democratic, aristocratic, monarchical, or the three
combined, as in the government of our country. The
Chap. XX.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 441
supreme judicial, and executive authority is the king.
The verse implies three things concerning human govern-
ments.
Human governments contain in them the TERRIFIC.—
"The fear of a king"—a government. Government implies
laws, and laws imply punitive sanctions. Behind all
governments there is the power to take away the property,
the comfort, the liberty, the rights, the existence of the
disobedient. Terrible power this, and it is held by all con-
stitutional governments. A true king is "a terror to evil
doers." The terrific in human government can be provoked
INTO ACTION.—"Whoso provoketh him to anger." Disobe-
dience and disloyalty bring out the terrible in human
governments. The dark dungeons, the clanking chains,
the penal inflictions, the scaffold and the gallows, are all
brought forth by disobedience. Transgression wakes the
thunder. The ruler "beareth not the sword in vain." He
that provokes it into action brings RUIN ON HIMSELF.—
He rouses the lion whose "roar " is overwhelming. It
roars for destruction. No one man can stand before it.
It will require an army to capture and overcome the roar-
ing lion of an offended government. The British Lion,
when excited, can strike terror through the world and
tear a nation into pieces. The man ruins himself, who
by his disobedience brings out this lion of retribution.
He "sinneth against his own soul."
Proverbs 20:3
Unlawful Strife
"It is an honour for a man to cease from strife: but every fool will be med-
dling."
THERE is a lawful strife. Strife against the false, the
selfish, the impure, the unrighteous, the ungodly, is lawful,
is incumbent. The conquest of wrong is essential to the
442 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XX.
dignity and blessedness of Heaven. "He that overcometh
and keepeth my words unto the end, to him will I give
power over the nations."
The verse leads us to notice—
The HONOUR OF CEASING FROM UNLAWFUL STRIFE.—
"It is an honour for a man to cease from strife." To be
honourable, the ceasing must, First: Be voluntary. If
a man ceases from strife because he is so baffled, dis-
abled, crushed, that he could not but desist, there is no
honour in it. He must withdraw voluntarily. Secondly:
It must be self-denying. If there are no insults to avenge,
no wrongs to resent, no rights to demand, what honour
would there be in desisting? The honour is in giving up
when on the right side. Thirdly: It must be forgiving.
If in ceasing there remains ought of rancour or revenge
in the breast there is no honour in it. Wherever strife is
voluntarily, self-denyingly, and forgivingly withdrawn
from, there is honour. The honour of self-conquest. The
man who has done so has conquered his own passions.
The honour of divine magnanimity. Such ceasing from
strife is God-like.
The verse also teaches—
The FOLLY OF CREATING SOCIAL STRIFE.—"Every fool
will be meddling." "Meddling" is the parent of strife.
An officious interference with the business of others, a
prying into their concerns create discords. All strifes,
domestic, social, ecclesiastic, and political, may be traced
to meddlesomeness. The meddling man is a "fool," be-
cause he gratifies his own idle curiosity at the expense of
his own well-being and the happiness of society. "Put
on, therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels
of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long-
suffering, forbearing one another and forgiving one another.
If any man have a quarrel against any, even as Christ for-
gave you, so also do ye. And above all these things put
on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. And let the
peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are
called in one body; and be ye thankful."
Chap. XX.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 443
Proverbs 20:4
Indolence
"The sluggard will not plow by reason of the cold: therefore shall he beg in
harvest, and have nothing."
No evil does Solomon more frequently describe and de-
nounce than indolence. We have already met with his
views several times on the subject, and we shall frequently
meet with them again as we proceed with this book.*
The words suggest two remarks concerning indolence:—
It PLEADS WRETCHED EXCUSES.—"The sluggard will
not plow by reason of the cold." What a futile reason is
this! Cold weather was the time for ploughing. In
summer heat it is too late to upturn the soil and prepare it
for the seed—nature's germinating power has then gone for
the year. Besides, no better means could be found to over-
come the cold than by ploughing. There is no better way
to counteract the chilly influence of the atmosphere, to send
a healthful glow through the whole body, than physical
exercise. No fire on the hearth could ever warm the hu-
man frame so effectually as the fire that bodily activity
kindles within. This is only a specimen of the miserable
excuses that indolence pleads. It has always some lion in
the way, some thorn in the hedge. Indolence, sterile in
goodness, is fertile in excuses. The indolent man will not
work, either because the work is too mean or too important,
the season too early or too late, the temperature too hot
or too cold.
It ENTAILS GREAT MISERY.—Beggary. "Therefore
shall he beg." What greater degradation for a man than
to become a mendicant? Indolence leads to pauperism.
Thomson wrote a poem on the "Castle of Indolence." He
locates the castle in a dreamy land, where every sense is
steeped in the most luxurious though enervating delights.
* See Readings on chap. x. 24; xii. II, 24, 27; xiii. 4, 23; xv, 19; xvi. 26;
xviii. 9; xix. 15, 24.
444 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XX.
The lord of the castle was a powerful enchanter, who, by
his arts, enticed thoughtless travellers within the gates,
that he might destroy their strength and ruin their hopes
by a ceaseless round of voluptuous pleasures.
Beggary in harvest. Beggary at the season when others
have plenty, and when he too ought to have plenty. Beg-
gary without success. "He shall beg in harvest, and have
nothing." Because none can pity laziness, his petitions
are rejected. There is a great harvest before us all.
Those who have been spiritually indolent, neglecting the
cultivation of their souls, will then be found begging, and
begging in vain. "They that were foolish took their
lamps, and took no oil with them: but the wise took oil in
their vessels with their lamps. While the bridegroom
tarried, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight
there was a cry made, Behold the bridegroom cometh, go
ye out to meet him. Then all those virgins arose, and
trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said unto the wise,
Give us of your oil, for our lamps are gone out. But the
wise answered, saying, not so; lest there be not enough
for us and you; but go ye rather to them that sell, and
buy for yourselves."
Proverbs 20:5
The Getting of Wisdom from the Wise
"Counsel in the heart of Man is like deep water; but a man of under-
standing will draw it out."
WE take the word "counsel" here to mean wisdom. The
distinction which Cowper draws between knowledge and
wisdom is philosophic and important:
"Knowledge and wisdom, far from being one,
Have ofttimes no connection. Knowledge dwells
In heads replete with thoughts of other men,
Wisdom in minds attentive to their own.
Chap. XX.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 445
Knowledge, a rude unprofitable mass,
The mere materials with which wisdom builds,
Till smoothed and square, and fitted into place,
Does but encumber what it seems t'enrich.
Knowledge is proud that he has learned so much,
Wisdom is humble that he knows no more."
From the proverb four remarks may be drawn.
WISDOM TO MAN IS A VERY VALUABLE THING.—It
is here represented as "water" which "a man of under-
standing" will strive to get at. We have had occasion
frequently to sketch the advantages of knowledge. With-
out repeating ourselves, we may here say, that knowledge
does two things for man. First: It improves the sphere
of his being. The sphere of man's mental existence, large
or small, bright or gloomy, sterile or fruitful, happy or
otherwise, depends entirely upon the kind and amount of
his intelligence. An ignorant soul has a wretchedly small
and cloudy circle to move in. There is as much difference
between the sphere of an intelligent man and that of an
ignorant one as there its between a dungeon and a palace.
Another thing which knowledge does for man is, Secondly:
It improves the powers of his being. It brightens the eyes
of the intellect, and gives to imagination pinions for a loftier
and happier flight; it gives to thought a wider reach and
a firmer grasp, and unseals in the soul new fountains of
delicious sentiment and thought.
SOME MEN ARE FAVOURED WITH MORE WISDOM THAN
OTHERS.—This is implied; Solomon supposes that in
some men it lies as "deep" as "water." So it does. The
difference in the amount of men's intelligence arises from
the difference in their capacities, proclivities, and oppor-
tunities for mental improvement. There are men of
genius, men of strong philosophic tendencies, men of
leisure, men with splendid libraries; such men are in a
position to get more knowledge than the millions who are
less favoured. Hence it comes to pass that in all circles
there are those with valuable intelligence, like "deep water"
within them; and these waters are ever deepening, for it
is a law that the more knowledge a man has the more flows
into him. "The more we know," says Coleridge, "the
446 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XX.
greater our thirst for knowledge. The water lily in the
midst of waters opens its leaves and expands its petals at
the first pattering of showers, and rejoices in the rain drops
with a quicker sympathy than the parched shrub in the
sandy desert."
THOSE WHO HAVE THE MOST WISDOM ARE GENERALLY
THE MOST RESERVED.—This is manifestly implied from
the expression "will draw it out." It will not run out
spontaneously; it has to be drawn out. Where knowledge
dwells in large quantities, it is not like water on the sur-
face, that you can get at easily; it is rather like water
that lies fathoms under the earth, clear, beautiful, and re-
freshing, got at only by the pump, or the windlass and
bucket. It has to be drawn out. It is, has always been,
and perhaps ever will be, that the most intelligent men are
the most modest and reserved. The superficial are
talkative; the profound are taciturn. The fluent in speech
is ever the shallow in thought. Great knowledge is always.
reticent.
In consequence of this reservedness of the most
wise, it REQUIRES SAGACITY IN OTHERS TO DRAW IT
FORTH.—"A man of understanding will draw it out."
Would you draw knowledge out of the wise man in your
circle? There is a way to do it. Not by flippant question-
ings, but by modest enquiries, propounded in a truth-loving
spirit. Would you draw knowledge out of your teacher?
You must so study the lessons that he gives you, as to bring
his mind into a constant flow to supply your cravings
after knowledge. Would you draw knowledge of the
highest kind from your minister? Then let him feel that
you have come to "enquire in the temple of the Lord."
Some pulpits are filled with thoughtless men, because
congregations will not think. Even Christ Himself felt
that He could not unfold what was in Him on account of
the ignorance and prejudice of His auditory.
Chap. XX.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 447
Proverbs 20:6-7
A Prevalent Vice and a Rare Virtue
"Most men will proclaim every one his own goodness: but a faithful man
who can find? The just man walketh in his integrity: his children are blessed
after him."
HERE is—
A PREVALENT VICE.—"Most men will proclaim every
one his own goodness." Here is that abominable thing
which we designate vanity, an ostentatious parading of
one's own imaginary merits. This evil meets you almost
everywhere, and it often exhibits itself indirectly, and under
the forms of feigned humility. It is seen in the religious
world, in the way in which certain men get their subscrip-
tions trumpeted in reports, and their charitable doings em-
blazoned in journals. It is seen in the political world. In
the House of Commons some of the men who are reputed
as great orators through the eternal parading of their own
doings, are making their names synonymes for vanity and
conceit. They proclaim their "own goodness." They are
the just men, the philanthropists, the true reformers, and
they would have the world believe that what England is,
she owes to them. First: This vice is an obstruction to
self-improvement. The man who prides himself on his
own cleverness, will never get knowledge—who exults in
his own virtue, will never advance in genuine goodness.
Vanity is in one sense the fruit of ignorance. It has been
said that it thrives most in subterranean places, never
reached by the air of heaven, and the light of the sun. It
is the cause as well. Vanity in the plenitude of self-suffi-
ciency sits down in its own chamber, draws its curtains,
shuts out the sun, and sees things only by the glimmerings
of its own little rushlight. Secondly: This vice is socially
offensive. Nothing is more distasteful in society than
vanity. "Wouldest thou not be thought a fool," says old
448 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XX.
Quarles, "in another's conceit, be not wise in thine own;
he that trusts to his own wisdom, proclaims his own folly:
he is truly wise, and shall appear so, that hath folly enough
to be thought not worldly wise, or wisdom enough to see
his own folly." Vanity is an unsuccessful agent; it never
gets what it seeks; it works for praise, but never fails to
create disgust. Thirdly: This vice is essentially opposed
to Christianity. What says Paul? "For I say through
the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you,
not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think;
but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every
man the measure of faith." What says Christ? "Let not
thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth." What was
the doom of the self-parading Pharisee in the temple?
How humble was Christ. "He made Himself of no
reputation, but took on Him the form of a servant."
Here is—
A RARE VIRTUE.—"But a faithful man who can find?"
What is faithfulness? The man who in the verse is
called faithful, is in the next represented as just, "walking
in his integrity." Each of the three terms represents
the same thing. To be faithful is to be practically
true to our own convictions. Never acting without or
against them. Practically true to our own professions.
Never breaking promises or swerving from engagements.
Now this is a rare virtue. The great mass of men are
time serving, mere devotees of expediency. A "faithful
man "is a man showing good fidelity in all things. Mark
what is said of this "faithful" and just man, who
"walketh in his integrity." "His children are blessed
after him." The destiny of children greatly depends upon
their parents. The sap in the roots shapes the branch,
and gives its character to the fruit. Whilst it is a terrible
calamity for children to be born of the ill-bred, the ill-
formed, the ill-fed, the prostitute, and the debauchee; it is
a blessed thing to be born of parents healthful in body and
noble in character. The children are blessed with their
health, with their spirit, with their habits. "Train up a
child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will
Chap. XX.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 449
not depart from it." It is said that Plato seeing a child
doing mischief in the street, went forth and corrected his
father for it.
Proverbs 20:8
The Picture of a Noble King
"A king that sitteth in the throne of judgment scattereth away all evil with
his eyes."
WE have before met with the subject of these words, under
other forms of expression,* and the remarks which we have
now to offer should be regarded in connection with
observations upon those cognate passages. This verse
gives us the picture of a noble king.
His OFFICIAL POSITION.—He "sitteth on the throne of
judgment." The word "judgment" may stand for justice
or rectitude. A true king is on his throne. He is there by
right. What gives a man right to become the king of
others? We mean the moral right. Not conquest, birth,
or suffrage, but fitness. That man in any community who
has the most brain, heart, intelligence, conscience, divinity,
is the one most entitled to kingship. He is a God-made
king. He is there for right. He is there to see justice
done. He does not rule for the interest of a class,
but for the good of all. His laws are equitable. Par-
tialities and predilections which govern plebeian souls have
no sway over him. "He is just, ruling in the fear of
God." "He is a terror to evil doers, and a praise to
them that do well."
"He's a king,
A true, right king, that dare do aught save wrong;
Fears nothing mortal but to be unjust:
Who is not blown up with the flattering puffs
Of spongy sycophants: who stands unmoved,
Despite the jostling of opinion."—MARSTON
* See Readings on chap. xvi. 14, 15; xix. 12; xx. 2.
450 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XX.
The verse gives us—
His MORAL INFLUENCE.—He "scattereth away all evil
with his eyes." A man with a true, royal character has a
nobler power than official kingship. Legislation, though
backed by the invincibility of arms, is in respect to true
power in an empire, not to be compared with a life em-
bodying divine principles, and animated with the divine
spirit. Before such a life evils melt away quietly, as mists
before the morning sun. He "scattereth away all evils
with his eyes." Before the glance of such a king the
corrupt would flee from his cabinet and the unchaste from
his court. What a king might do and ought to do is
to purify the morals and exalt the character of his people.
In this so-called Christian land there are people who justify
worldliness, pleasures, frivolities, and empty amusements
in royal life. Of all men in the kingdom the man who is
on the throne should be the most moral, the most Christian,
the most earnest and indefatigable in his endeavours
to expel the false and the filthy, the immoral and the
ungodly from the land. Hail the time when the throne of
our England shall be occupied by such kings, "when the
saints shall take it and possess it for ever." "A king,"
says Lord Bacon, "must have a special care of five things
if he would not have his crown to be but to him 'unhappy
felicity.' That pretended holiness be not in the Church, for
that is twofold iniquity; that useless equity sit not in the
chancery, for that is 'foolish pity;' that useless iniquity
keep not the exchequer, for that is cruel robbery; that
faithful rashness be not his general, for that will bring, but
too late, repentance; that faithless prudence be not his
secretary, for that is a snake between the green grass." I
will venture to add two more to the philosopher's list: That
self-indulgence and arrogance have no place in his heart,
and that his idea of nobility should be the moral grandeur
embodied in the life of Jesus.
Chap. XX.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 451
Proverbs 20:9
Moral Purity
"Who can say. I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin?"
OUR subject is moral purity, and the verse represents it in
two aspects.
As TRANSCENDENTLY IMPORTANT.—First: It is essential
to peace of conscience. Through the depravity of our lives
from the earliest date of moral consciousness our souls are
stained with corruption. The eye of conscience looking at
this broad, deep stain gives that anguish of spirit under which
we exclaim, "O wretched man, that I am." An unclean
heart must ever have an unquiet conscience. Secondly:
It is essential to the growth of soul. Moral uncleanness is
an atmosphere of mind that prevents germination and
growth. It obstructs the quickening sunbeam, the refresh-
ing dew, and the fertilising shower. Moral uncleanness
makes the inner heavens as brass. Thirdly: It is essential
to social love. Our happiness consists in loving and being
loved, but no one can really love the morally unclean.
The deepest things in human nature recoil with disgust
from the spiritually impure. Fourthly: It is essential to
fellowship with God. "Blessed are the pure in heart, for
they shall see God." "Without holiness no man shall see
God." Fifthly: It is essential to usefulness. "Holiness,"
says Dr. T. W. Jenkin, "is the only means by which holi-
ness can be diffused. It is like salt, its usefulness to others
must begin with itself. The man who fails to persuade
himself to be holy is sure to be unsuccessful with others.
It is the wise man that can impart wisdom to others, it is
the good man that can diffuse goodness, and it is only the
holy man that can diffuse holiness. Every man can bring
forth to others only out of the treasures deposited first in
his own heart. He who undertakes to restore mankind to
clear-sightedness, must be of clear and accurate vision
452 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XX.
himself, for he who has a beam in his own eye is not likely
to remove either beam or mote from the eye of the world.
The physician who is to restore health to others must not
himself be fretting with the leprosy." Sixthly: It is
essential to the realization of Christ's mission. He came
to open a fountain for the washing away of sin. He came
to put away sins by the sacrifice of Himself. He came to
purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good
works. His biographic influence taketh away all sin.
The verse represents moral purity—
As LAMENTABLY RARE.—"Who can say, I have made
my heart clean, I am pure from my sin?" This is God's
challenge. "Gird up thy loins like a man, for I will de-
mand of thee, and answer thou me. "Who?" Not the
ungodly, the worldling, the intemperate, the selfish, the
self-righteous, the hypocritical, none of these can say it.
Who? Not even the genuine Christian on earth. So im-
perfect are the best here, that the more pure they become,
the more they feel their pollution. One good man says,
"I abhor myself in dust and ashes." Another, "Woe is
me, I am a man with unclean lips." Another, "I am the
least of all saints, and the chief of sinners." Who? Only
holy angels and the perfected saints in Heaven can say it,
"We are without spots, or wrinkles, or any such thing."
Dr. Livingstone once asked a Bechuana what he under-
stood by the word "holiness" ? He answered, "When
copious showers have descended during the night and all
the earth, and leaves, and cattle are washed clean, and the
sun rising shows a drop of dew on every blade of grass,
and the air breathes fresh—that is holiness."
"Not all the pomp and pageantry of worlds
Reflect such glory on the Eye Supreme,
As the meek virtues of one holy man."—MONTGOMERY
Chap. XX.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 453
Proverbs 20:10, 23
The Market
"Divers weights and divers measures, both of them are alike abomination to
the LORD. …Divers weights are an abomination unto the LORD; and a
false balance is not good."
MAN is by his instincts and necessities a trader. He has
a bartering power. Visit the darkest regions of barbaric
life, and you will find the wild and savage natives driving
some species of trade. They may only exchange feathers,
shells, or some petty toys; still it is commerce. Our mis-
sionaries often introduce themselves to heathen scenes and
ingratiate themselves with heathen hearts by first appeal-
ing to this mercantile instinct.* Hence commerce is as old
and universal as man. In the original, as intimated in the
margin of our English Bible, the terms of the passage
before us are a "stone and a stone," or a weight and a
weight—an ephah and an ephah. The idea probably is
that there is one set of weights and measures to sell
with, another to buy with, one for the inspector, and
another for the buyer, one for the inexperienced and con-
fiding, and another for the shrewd and suspecting. The
verse lead us to consider the market in two aspects.
As THE SCENE OF DISHONEST TRICKS.—"Divers weights
and divers measures." In the days of Solomon, as now,
men in the market had different sets of weights and mea-
sures for different occasions, to gratify their greed. Chi-
canery was perhaps never more rife in the markets of the
world than now, and never played a more subtle, power-
ful, and disastrous part than in British emporiums. Men
are cheated in a thousand ways. False standards, adul-
terations, fallacious representations, are some of the
methods which dishonest men employ to impose upon their
customers and clients. There are swindling companies in
our midst legalized, working ruin amongst the least en-
* See Philosophy of Happiness, published by Dickenson, Farringdon Street.
454 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XX.
lightened and least suspicious of our countrymen. Our
commercial immorality has gained proportions hideous
and portentous. Our national credit is decaying, and
men are being swindled in so many ways that mul-
titudes are constantly seeking homes on other shores.
Heaven only knows what will be the end!
The verses lead us to consider the market—
As THE SCENE OF DIVINE INSPECTION.—"Divers weights
are an abomination unto the Lord and a false weight is not
good." The Omnipresent One is as truly in the market as
in any other part of His universe. His eye is everywhere,
and what He sees He feels. "Atoms," says Secker,
"which are invisible in the candle-light of reason are
all made to dance naked in the sunshine of Omniscience"
The wrong is an "abomination" to Him wherever it
exists. First: He prohibits dishonesty in trade. "Just
balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin shall
ye have: I am the Lord your God, which brought you out
of the land of Egypt."* Secondly: He enjoins social
justice. "Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that
men should do to you, do ye even so to them; for this is
the law and the prophets." Thirdly: He abhors dis-
honesty. "Thou shalt not have in thy bag divers weights,
a great and a small. Thou shalt not have in thine house
divers measures, a great and a small. But thou shalt have
a perfect and just weight, a perfect and just measure
shalt thou have; that thy days shall be lengthened in the
land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. For all that do
such things, and all that do unrighteously, are an abomi-
nation unto the Lord thy God." Dishonesty in trade brought
ruin upon Israel. Merchants and tradesmen, look well to
this. Not only never use, but don't have on your premises
false weights and measures; that which is the rule of justice
must be just. Honesty is the best policy. "I tell thee,"
says Thomas Carlyle, "there is nothing else but justice:
one strong thing I find here below—the just thing, the
true thing. My friend, if thou hadst all the artillery of
Woolwich marching at thy back in support of an unjust
*Lev. xix. 36; Matt. vii. 18; Deut. xxv. 13-16; Amos viii. 5.
Chap. XX.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 455
thing, and infinite bonfires visibly waiting ahead of thee
to blaze centuries to come for thy victory on behalf of it,
I would advise thee to call 'Halt!' to fling down thy
baton and say, 'In God's name, No!' What will thy
success amount to? If the thing be unjust thou hast not
succeeded though bonfires blaze from north to south, and
bells rang, and editors wrote leading articles, and the just
thing lay trampled out of sight to all mortal eyes, an
abolished and an annihilated thing."
Proverbs 20:12
The Hearing Ear and the Seeing Eye
"The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, the LORD hath made even both of
them." *
WHY does Solomon say this? Has not the Lord made
everything? Is He not the Creator of heaven and earth
and all things that are therein? "Who but the sensuous
and unphilosophic doubt this? Verily, the royal sage here
utters a common-place truism. From the obvious fact,
however, we draw two practical conclusions.
That God should be STUDIED IN these organs. "This
famous town of Man-soul," says Bunyan, "had five gates
in at which to come, out at which to go; and these were
made likewise answerable to the walls—to wit, impreg-
nable, and such as never could be opened nor forced but
by the will of those within. The names of the gates were
these—Ear-gate, Eye-gate, Mouth-gate, Nose-gate, and
Feel-gate." Of these five, the "hearing ear" and the
"seeing eye" would be popularly and perhaps accurately
considered the chief gateways to the soul. First: In
them Divine wisdom is manifest. Take the mechanism of
these organs. The human frame is "fearfully and
* The eleventh verse has been noticed in a previous Reading.
456 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XX.
wonderfully made;" but no parts in the frame are more
wonderful in their execution than these. "The eye," says
one, "by its admirable combination of coats and humours,
and lenses, produces on the retina, or expansion of nerve
at the back of the socket or bony cavity, in which it is so
securely lodged, a distinct picture of the minutest or
largest object; so that, on a space that is less than an inch
in diameter, a landscape of miles in extent, with all its
variety of scenery, is depicted with perfect exactness of
relative proportion in all its parts."
"The eye takes in at once the landscape of the world,
At a small inlet which a grain might close,
And half creates the wondrous world we see."—YOUNG
Nor is the ear less wonderful. It is a complicated
mechanism, lying wholly within the body, showing only
the wider outer porch through which the sound enters. It
conveys the sound through various chambers to the inner-
most extremities of those nerves which hear the messages,
to the brain. So delicate is this organ, that it catches the
softest whispers, and conveys them to the soul, and so
strong that it hears the roll of the loudest thunders in the
chamber of its mistress.
Volumes have been written on the mechanism of these
organs. Take the adaptation of these organs. How ex-
quisitely suited they are to the offices they have to fulfil.
"Conveying the impressions of the outer universe to the
spiritual dweller within, we can," says an eminent author,
"by attending to the laws of vision and sound, produce
something that, in structure and in mechanism or physical
effect, bears some analogy to them. But this is not sight;
this is not hearing. These imply perceptions. And to
perception there are requisite an auditory and an optic
nerve, that convey the sensation of sound and vision to
the brain; and a perceiving mind—an immaterial, spiritual,
thinking substance, essence, element—or what else shall
we call it? that thus perceives its perceptions of things
heard and things seen! Oh, this is the highest and
deepest wonder of all! The mechanical structure we can
Chap. XX.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 457
trace out and demonstrate. We can show how by the laws
of transmission and refraction, the picture is made on the
retina of the eye; and how, by the laws of sound, the
yielding, tremulous, undulating air affects the tympanum or
drum of the ear. But we can get no farther. How it is
that the mind receives its perceptions, how it is that it is
affected, what is the nature of nervous influence, or of
the process by which, through the medium of the nerves
and brain, thought is produced on the mind—of all this
we are profoundly ignorant." The celebrated Galen is
said to have been converted from atheism by an attentive
observation of the perfect structure of the eye. Secondly:
In them divine goodness is manifest. They give us the
outward world. Without these what would the glorious
heavens, the lovely landscape, and the melodies of the
world be to us? Nothing. They convey to us happiness
from the outward world. The Almighty might have pro-
vided the hideous and revolting for the eye, the disharmo-
nious and the discordant for the ear. But not so, there is
beauty, sublimity, and music. Thirdly: In them the
Divine intelligence is symbolised. "He that planteth the
ear, shall he not hear: he that formed the eye, shall he not
see?"
On these words we offer another remark, namely:
That God should be SERVED in these organs.—We
should use them for the purpose for which He gave them.
These organs are given to man for a higher purpose than
that for which they are given to brutes. Brutes have them,
and in some cases have them in higher perfection than we
have. But in brutes they fulfil their mission when they
convey sensation, and nothing more. The service for which
God intends us to use them is to convey into our under-
standings His ideas, into our hearts His spirit. With these
eyes we should read the volumes which He has written,
both in nature and in Holy writ—read them accurately,
devoutly, practically. With these ears we should hear
the discourses which He delivers in the voices of the
world, and in the ministry of His servants. Alas! men
don't use these organs in God's service. The great mul-
458 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XX.
titude "seeing, see not, and hearing, hear not, neither do
they understand." Two things at least, we should do with
them. First: Translate the sensations they convey to us
into Divine ideas. All outward forms and sounds are re-
dolent with the thoughts of God. For His great thoughts
our souls are made, and crave. Secondly: Apply the
Divine ideas to the formation of our characters. God's
ideas should become at once the spring and rule of all our
activities. Remember, that these organs are the gifts and
emblems of the Eternal Mind.
Proverbs 20:13
Early Rising
"Love not sleep, lest thou come to poverty; open thine eyes, and thou shalt
be satisfied with bread."
WE have so frequently met with the subject of indolence,
and made reflections upon it, that we need do nothing
more than record a few striking examples of the advantages
of early rising. Sleep in itself is a blessing; it is strength.
to the exhausted; it is medicine to the diseased; it is
solace to the sorrowing. But the love of sleep implies a
drowsiness of nature, which makes the very blessing a
curse. The man who over indulges in it, as a rule, does
"come to poverty." The natural tendency of indolence is
destitution; destitution temporal, intellectual, and spiritual
follows laziness. "Open thine eyes," then. Open them
at the dawn of morning, and watch profitable opportunities
for profitable labour. Our subject is the reward of early
rising. "Thou shalt be satisfied with bread." Most men
who have distinguished themselves in any department of
labour, have been early risers. "You rise late," says
Todd, "and, of course, commence your business at a late
hour, and everything goes wrong all day." Franklin says,
"that he who rises late may trot all day, and not have
overtaken his business at night." Dean Swift avers that
Chap. XX.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 459
he "never knew any man come to greatness and eminence
who lay in bed of a morning." "I would," says Lord
Chatham, "have inscribed on the curtains of your bed, and
the walls of your chamber, 'If you do not rise early, you
can make progress in nothing. If you do not set apart
your hours of reading, if you suffer yourself or any one
else to break in upon them, your days will slip through
your hands unprofitable and frivolous, and unenjoyed by
yourself.' The man who rises early, not only drinks in
the most invigorating influences of the day, but adds to
the length of his life." "The difference," says Doddridge,
"between rising at five and seven o'clock in the morning,
for the space of forty years, supposing a man to go to bed
at the same hour at night, is nearly equivalent to the addi-
tion of ten years to a man's life."
We subjoin here a few examples of those who acknow-
ledge the advantage of early rising:
John Milton says of himself, that he was at his studies
"in winter often ere the sound of any bell awoke men to
labour or devotion: in summer as oft with the bird that
first rouses, or not much tardier, to read good authors till
attention be weary or memory have its full fraught: then
with useful and generous labours preserving the body's
health and hardiness." Wesley repeatedly ascribes his
own health and prolonged life to the practice of rising at
four. When seventy-eight years old, he writes: "By the
blessing of God I am just the same as when I ended my
twenty-eighth year. This hath God wrought chiefly by
my constant exercise, rising early in the morning." "In
my youth," says Buffon, one of the most famous writers
and naturalists of the eighteenth century, "I was very fond
of sleep; it robbed me of a great deal of my time; but my
poor servant, Joseph, was of great service in enabling me
to overcome it. I promised to give Joseph a crown every
time that he would make me get up at six. Next morning
he did not fail to wake and torment me; but he only
received abuse. The next day he did the same with no
better success, and I was obliged to confess at noon that I
had lost my time. I told him that he did not know how
460 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XX.
to manage his business; he ought to think of my purpose,
and not mind my threats. The day following he employed
force; I begged him for indulgence, I bid him be gone, I
stormed, but Joseph persisted. I was, therefore, obliged
to comply, and he was rewarded every day for the abuse
which he suffered at the moment when I awoke by thanks,
accompanied by a crown, which he received about an hour
after. Yes, I am indebted to my poor servant for ten or a
dozen of the volumes of my works."
"Rise with the lark, and with the lark to bed:
The breath of night's destructive to the hue
Of ev'ry flower that blows. Go to the field,
And ask the humble daisy why it sleeps
Soon as the sun departs? Why close the eyes
Of blossoms infinite, long ere the moon
Her oriental veil puts off? Think why,
Nor let the sweetest blossom Nature boasts
Be thus exposed to night's unkindly damp.
Well may it droop, and all its freshness lose,
Compelled to taste the rank and poisonous steam
Of midnight theatre and morning ball.
Give to repose the solemn hour she claims,
And from the forehead of the morning steal
The sweet occasion. Oh, there is a charm
Which morning has, that gives the brow of age
A smack of earth, and makes the lip of youth
Shed perfume exquisite. Expect it not,
Ye who till noon upon a down-bed lie,
Indulging feverous sleep,"—HURDIS
Proverbs 20:14
Chicanery
"It is naught, it is naught, saith the buyer: but when he is gone his way
then he boasteth."
MR. BRIDGES says, "that Augustine mentions a some-
what ludicrous but significant story. A mountebank pub-
lishes in the full theatre that in the next entertainment he
would show to every man present what was in his heart.
Chap. XX.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 461
An immense concourse attended, and the man redeemed
his pledge to the vast assembly by a single sentence, 'Vili
vultis emere, et caro vendere,' 'You all wish to buy cheap,
and to sell dear,' a sentence generally applauded; every
one, even the most trifling (as Augustine observes) finding
the confirming witness in his own conscience." There is
no harm in buying in the cheapest market and selling in
the dearest. In fact, this is both wise and right in the
vendor. Some regard the word "buyer" here in the sense
of possessor, and thus the idea of the passage is changed,
and it is this—that a man attaches greater value to a thing
after he has lost it than before. When he has it in his
possession he does not think much of it, but when it is
gone, it appears to him of great value. This is a law of
human nature. Our Saviour recognises it, and uses it to
illustrate the value that the Great Father of Spirits sets
upon a lost soul, which He represents under the figures of
the lost piece of silver, the lost sheep, the lost son. But it
is more like Solomon to regard the text as meaning what
the "buyer" says.
We offer two remarks upon the passage.
That it reveals A COMMON commercial practice.—"It is
naught, it is naught, saith the buyer." What is here stated
concerning the "buyer" in Judaea, hundreds of years ago,
has always and everywhere been true in human mer-
chandize. The "buyer" depreciates the commodity in the
process of purchase. He says, "It is naught, it is naught."
He finds fault with the material, the texture, or the work-
manship of the article. He does this in order to get it at
a price below its worth. And when he succeeds, and it
comes legally in his possession, the value of the article is
not only properly estimated, but greatly exaggerated.
"He boasteth." Why? Because his vanity has been
gratified. He feels that he has done a clever thing. By
the skill of his depreciating argument he has conquered
the vendor and brought him down to his own mark. "He
boasteth." Why? Because his greed has been gratified.
He has procured property for a consideration beneath its
value, and he is thereby enriched.
462 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XX.
The other remark we offer on this passage is—
That it reveals AN IMMORAL commercial practice.—
First: There is falsehood. If the article is "naught," why
does the buyer want it at all, and why, when he gets it,
does he esteem it of high value? It is a lie, and "lying
lips are an abomination to the Lord." The commercial
atmosphere of England is so infested with lies, that with-
out a speedy moral fumigation, our mercantile credit, I
trow, will be ruined. Secondly: There is dishonesty. He
who gets from another property for a consideration beneath
its worth, is a thief. "The cheat," says old Thomas Fuller,
"spins like a spider out of his own entrails to entrap the
simple and unwary that light in his way, whom he devours
and feeds upon." It is a violation of the Divine rule,
"Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye
unto them."
O, ye Traders, who thus transact your business, there is
no room for boasting; your secular profits represent terrible
moral losses! Though ye are prosperous traders, ye are
gazetted in the universe as moral bankrupts.
Proverbs 20:15
Material Wealth and Intelligent Speech
"There is gold, and a multitude of rubies: but the lips of knowledge are a
precious jewel."
THERE is evidently a comparison here between material
wealth and enlightened speech. "Gold," and "rubies"
here represent worldly riches, and the "lips of knowledge,"
represent the speech "that ministereth grace unto the
hearers." We offer three remarks on the comparison in
the verse—
One is RARER than the other.—This seems to be implied,
for it is said, "There is gold and a multitude of rubies." In
the days of Solomon there seemed to be plenty of material
wealth, for we read that "the king made silver to be in
Chap. XX.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 463
Jerusalem as stones, and cedars made he to be as the syca-
More trees that are in the vale for abundance." And
wealth is pretty abundant here in England. But intelli-
gent speech is rare. Where wealth counts its thousands,
wisdom can only count its tens. "Where shall wisdom be
found, and where is the way of understanding?" One is
MORE INTRINSICALLY VALUABLE than the other.—There is
no more intrinsic worth in "gold" and "rubies" than in
brass and stones. They are valuable only on account of
their scarcity. But in wise words of truth and soberness
there is an intrinsic worth. They are the embodiments
and the vehicles of those treasures which enrich immortal
spirits, are appreciated by God, and are counted valu-
able by all holy minds in all times and worlds. They
are indeed "a precious jewel." Their lustre no time can
dim, their worth no change can deteriorate. One is MORE
SERVICEABLE than the other.—"Gold" and "rubies" can
only serve men temporally and for a short time. Wise
words will serve men for ever. What thousands have felt
the value of such words. "Such was the delight of hang-
ing upon the lips of the golden-mouthed Chrysostom, that
the common proverb was 'Rather let the sun not shine
than Chrysostom not preach.'" Such words convert, purify,
ennoble, and save men. "The "lips of knowledge" are
the organs through which God pours the highest blessings
of his grace.
Value spiritual wisdom as the great thing. "It cannot
be gotten for gold, neither shall silver be weighed for the
price thereof. It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir,
with the precious onyx, or the sapphire. The gold and the
crystal cannot equal it, and the exchange of it shall not be
for jewels of fine gold. No mention shall be made of coral,
or of pearls, for the price of wisdom is above rubies. The
topaz of Ethiopia shall not equal it, neither shall it be
valued with pure gold."
464 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XX.
Proverbs 20:16, 18, 21
Business Economics
"Take his garment that is surety for a stranger: and take a pledge of him
for a strange woman. Bread of deceit is sweet to a man; but afterwards his
mouth shall be filled with gravel. Every purpose is established by counsel: and
with good advice make war. …An inheritance may be gotten hastily at
the beginning: but the end thereof shall not be blessed."
THE book of Solomon deserves, and will repay, the study
of all young men who intend to embark, or have embarked,
in mercantile pursuits. It abounds with those maxims
which will stimulate diligence, insure integrity, and pro-
mote success. The author of the book was not only an
ethical philosopher, but a shrewd man of business. He
understood not only the moral laws that should rule men
in all their intercourse with each other, but also the neces-
sary conditions of real success in all business undertakings.
In the verses before us there are no less than four maxims
for business expressed with more or less clearness and
force. There is—
CAUTION IN CREDIT.—"Take his garment that is surety
for a stranger." The question of suretiship has engaged
our attention several times already.* The man here
sketched is recklessly imprudent and morally profligate.
He becomes "surety for a stranger," and is addicted to
vicious indulgences, for he is represented as in association
with a "strange woman." Such a man is not to be trusted
in business without the strongest security. "Take his
garment." Under the Jewish law the garment was the
very last thing which was to be taken in pledge, and could
not be retained beyond the passing day. † The advice of
Solomon amounts to this: Have nothing to do with such
men in business; don't give credit to the reckless and the
profligate; see that men are trustworthy in character and
* See Reading on Prov. vi. 1, 2; xi. 15; xvii. 18.
† Exodus xxii. 26, 27.
Chap. XX.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 465
in means before you trust them. Half the failures in busi-
ness probably arise from trusting corrupt and fraudulent
men. There is—
HONESTY IN DEALING.—"Bread of deceit is sweet to a
man; but afterwards his mouth shall be filled with gravel."
The fact implies, First: That property may be obtained by
fraud. How much worldly wealth is acquired every day
in the world by cozenage and deceit! Fraud is, perhaps,
the most active architect in the building up of fortunes.
Secondly: That property so obtained may for a time be
very pleasant. It "is sweet to a man." Public opinion
gives its owner credit for industry and skill, and knows
nothing, for a time, of his fraudulent measures. Con-
science, too, sleeps in the lap of luxury, and whatever can
minister pleasure to appetite, taste, vanity, or ambition,
stands at his side and awaits his bidding. He feels it "is
sweet." Thirdly: That the pleasure attending such pro-
perty must end in suffering. "Afterwards his mouth shall
be filled with gravel!" What more emphatic expression of
chagrin and bitter disappointment than the idea of a hungry
man putting in his mouth with an eager hand the bread
that should relieve his appetite, and finding it turn to sand
and gravelly stone? What examples have we here in this
country recorded in almost every day's journals, of fortunes
once sweet turning to gall, bread once sweet becoming
"gravel"! Convicted swindlers feel it so. It was so with
Achan and his wedge of gold; with Gehazi and his talents
of silver, with Judas and his thirty pieces,—with all
such the "bread" once "sweet" became "gravel." There
is—
DELIBERATION IN EMBARKING.—"Every purpose is
established by counsel, and with good advice make war."
"With good advice make war!" Then we think war would
seldom be made, if at all. "Good advice" must be advice
in harmony with Divine law, and those laws are dead
against wars:
"War is a game which, were their subjects wise,
Kings should not play at."
466 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XX.
The general idea of the passage is this:—Well consider
every undertaking before you embark in it. Two ques-
tions should be settled before you start on an enterprise.
First: Whether the enterprise in itself is lawful. Is it a
right thing? There are sinful enterprises. The manufac-
ture and sale of intoxicating drinks, the publication and
sale of immoral and worthless literature, and military life
in all its departments. Men who take true "counsel" will
never embark in such enterprises as these. Secondly:
Whether the means to be employed are good: that is,
whether they are in harmony with rectitude and adapted to
the end. Christ Himself urges this deliberation before em-
barking in our undertakings. "What king going to make
war against another king sitteth not down to count the
cost." There is—
TEMPERATENESS IN ACCUMULATING.—"An inheritance
may be gotten hastily at the beginning, but the end thereof
shall not be blessed." Solomon does not mean by this
that all the property that comes suddenly to a man is
necessarily unblessed. A poor man may by legacy or
lineage come into possession of a lordly "inheritance" in a
single day: in this he would be fortunate and not criminal,
and if he used it rightly it would be a blessing to him in
the end and for ever. Nor does he mean that a man
who through a signally wise and assiduously diligent ap-
plication of means to ends, and in all with strict honesty
and devout spirit, accumulates wealth speedily, is not
blessed in his possessions. He points, undoubtedly, to
the man who with a voracious greed for wealth, seizes
every opportunity to attain it, regardless of truth,
honour, and justice, and thus becomes rich in a short
time. Our country abounds with instances of men
who in this way bound from poverty to opulence in a
few days. But the end is not "blessed." Anything but
blessed. Discovery comes and clothes them with infamy;
conscience is roused and torments them. The curses
of the defrauded and the frowns of the Almighty are
over them.
Young men, ponder well these maxims, which all your
Chap. XX.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 467
business undertakings require. Caution in credit, honesty
in dealing, deliberation in embarking and temperateness
in accumulating.
Proverbs 20:19-20
The Idle Talebearer and the Wicked Son
"He that goeth about as a talebearer revealeth secrets: therefore meddle
not with him that flattereth with his lips. Whoso curseth his father or his
mother, his lamp shall be put out in obscure darkness,"
EACH of these verses presents a bad character—the mis-
chievous tattler and the unnatural child. Solomon has re-
ferred to them more than once before, and never does he
point to them without an indignant scorn.
Here is—
THE IDLE TALEBEARER.—"He that goeth about as a
talebearer revealeth secrets; therefore meddle not with
him that flattereth with his lips." A talebearer is one
who "officiously tells tales: one who impertinently com-
municates intelligence or anecdotes, and makes mischief
in society by his officiousness." We gather from Solomon's
description here, First: That he is insidious. He gets
hold of the "secrets" of men. By his soft words and bland
manners he ingratiates himself into the confidence of the
unsuspecting, and gets hold of things connected with
their experience which they would not on any account
make public. All men have some secrets—things which
they would not willingly allow to fall from their own lips,
still less from the lips of others; yet at times they are
tempted to entrust them to those in whom they have con-
fidence; the talebearer gets hold of them. Secondly: He
is treacherous. He "revealeth secrets." Sometimes he
may do it wantonly, for the mere love of gossip; some-
times from vanity, to show what confidence men repose in
him; sometimes maliciously, in order to disturb old friend-
ships, to create social broils. In any case, he is a traitor.
468 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XX.
He has betrayed those who trusted to him that which they
regarded as amongst the sacred things of their experience.
Thirdly: He is fawning. He "flattereth with his lips."
Those to whom he betrays the secrets, he flatters; he gives
them to understand that he will tell no one else, that were
it not for their intelligence and integrity, he could not
make to them such communications. He is a base fawning
parasite. Fourthly: He is dangerous. "Meddle not with
him." The man that will flatter you, vilify the absent,
betray the "secrets" of others, is to be shunned. Have
nothing to do with him. He goeth about from family to
family, from circle to circle, retailing his secrets, making
his comments, insidiously striking at reputations, creating
wounds, and leaving them to rankle in the hearts of men.
His mouth is a lethal weapon, with which he murders the
good names of men. "Meddle not with him." Dean
Swift has well described such tale-bearers:
"Nor do they trust their tongues alone,
But speak a language of their own:
Can read a nod, a shrug, a look,
Far better than a printed book;
Convey a libel in a frown,
And wink a reputation down;
Or by the tossing of a fan
Describe the lady and the man."
Here is—
THE WICKED SON.—"Whoso curseth his father or his
mother, his lamp shall be put out in obscure darkness."
First: Here is a horrible crime. To curse is to imprecate
evil on any one. How appalling the crime of cursing
father or mother, the instrumental authors of our being,
the tender preservers of our infancy and childhood, and
the loving guardians of our youth! Yet such monsters are
to be found. The law of Moses required that such children
should be put to death.* Secondly: Here is a terrible
doom. "His lamp shall be put out in obscure darkness."
The lamp is often used as a figure of prosperity. Such a
wicked child shall not prosper. The laws of the moral
* Exod. xx. 17; Lev. xx. 9; Jno. xiii. 9; Job xviii. 16.
Chap. XX.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 469
universe prevent his success. "His lamp shall be put
out." He shall be wrapped in the darkness of poverty,
disappointment, and remorse.
Proverbs 20:22
The Duty of Man Under a Sense of Injuries
"Say not thou, I will recompense evil; but wait on the Lord, and he shall
save thee." *
THE verse suggests two remarks at the outset. First:
That men in passing through this life are subject to inju-
ries from their fellow men. Through sin men, instead of
being the loving brothers of each other, are become to an
awful extent the deceivers, the plunderers, the oppressors,
and the devils. Hence men are everywhere found groan-
ing under the injuries they have received from their fellow-
men. Secondly: That men under a sense of injury crave
for the punishment of their enemies. There is a sense of
justice placed in every human soul injuries kindle this
sense of justice into a fiery passion, and this passion is
revenge, and this revenge cries for the destruction of the
enemy. "Revenge," says Bacon, "is wild justice." Yes,
it is justice maddened into fury. Few passions get such
power over men as revenge: it is often implacable.
"I'll have my bond: I will not hear thee speak:
I'll have my bond; and therefore speak no more.
I'll not be made a soft and dull-eyed fool,
To shake the head, relent, and sigh, and yield
To Christian intercessors."—SHAKESPEARE
Now the Bible legislates for man under a sense of inju-
ries. The verse requires him to do two things.
CEASE FROM THE WORK OF AVENGING HIMSELF. —
"Say not thou I will recompense evil." There is a great
* Verse 21 has been noticed on page 464.
470 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XX.
temptation under the injury to "say" so, a great tempta-
tion to grasp the iron rod of retribution and pursue the
offender even unto death, but this must not be done. There
are several good reasons for this. First: The injured
man is disqualified for the infliction of just punishment.
He is himself a criminal, living under the ban of eternal
justice, and his own sense of rectitude is perverted. He
has therefore neither the right nor the capacity to deal
out retribution to any one. Has a criminal a right to the
seat of the judge?
"Use every man after his deserts, and
Who shall 'scape whipping?"
Every man would, in this case, be engaged in whipping
his brother, and the world would become a pandemonium
reeking with blood. Secondly: The punishment he in-
flicts is an injury to himself. "Revenge is sweet," it is
said; but if there is gratification in it, it is only momen-
tary. When the final stroke has been given, the season of
reflection sets in, and conscience comes up and makes the
avenger its own victim. Thirdly: The Bible prohibits the
attempt. It is prohibited even in the Old Testament,
Exod. xxiii. 4, 5; Lev. xviii. 19; Prov. xviii. 13; xxiv. 29.
The New Testament abounds with interdicts. Matt. v. 36,
45; Rom. xii. 17, 21. The verse requires him to—
COMMIT THE AVENGEMENT TO GOD.—"Wait on the Lord
and he shall save thee." Is my enemy to be allowed to
perpetrate his enormities on me with impunity? No, he
will be punished; punished far more effectively than I can
do if I leave it in the hands of Him Who judgeth right-
eously. He is Omniscient. We know but imperfectly.
He is without passions. We are blinded by selfishness.
He is without partiality. We are prejudiced on our own
sides. "Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord."
He will avenge us of our enemies. By the dispensations
of His providence, by the compunctions of conscience, by
making the injuries we have received spiritually useful to
ourselves.
Hear the Divine word on the subject. "See that none
Chap. XX.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 471
render evil for evil unto any man; but ever follow that
which is good, both among yourselves and to all men."
"Recompense to no man evil for evil. …Dearly be-
loved, avenge not yourselves: but rather give place unto
wrath; for it is written, Vengeance is mine: I will repay,
saith the Lord. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome
evil with good." "Wherefore let them that suffer accord-
ing to the will of God, commit the keeping of their souls
to Him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator." "Com-
mit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in Him, and He shall
bring it to pass. …The Lord shall help them and
deliver them: He shall deliver them from the wicked and
save them, because they trust in Him."
Proverbs 20:24
A Providence Over Man
"Man's goings are of the LORD; how can a man then understand his own
way?" *
THE doctrine of these words pervades the Bible, is
frequently stated by Solomon, and accords with the reason
and experience of mankind. The words lead us to consider
providence—
AS A REALIZED FACT.—"Man's goings are of the
Lord." We are not left to chance, we are neither the
creatures of caprice, nor the absolute masters of our own
destiny. The life of every man may be divided into two
chapters. The first embracing all connected with his being,
which has taken place irrespective of his own will. How
much there is here. We had nothing to do with the
questions whether we should exist at all, or if we existed
what should be the peculiar attributes of our being, who
should be our parents, in what country we should be born,
* Verse 23 is noticed on page 453.
472 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XX.
in what period of the world's history our lot should be
cast, under what circumstances we should be nursed and
educated. All these things were absolutely ordered "of
the Lord." We had no voice whatever in the connexion.
with them, we were absolutely passive. The other chapter
in man's history embraces, Secondly: All that is connected
with his history as a voluntary agent. A period dawns
when we all begin to act as free workers. We choose and
reject, we adopt this course and eschew that, we create
some circumstances and subordinate others, and in all we
fancy and feel ourselves to be unrestrained and free. But
in all these "goings" of ours we are under the control "of
the Lord." The good in us He originates. Whatever we
do that is true, noble, and God-like, He inspires. The evil
in us He controls. He subordinates it to His own purposes,
and makes it subserve the interest of the universe. "Surely
the wrath of man shall praise Thee; the remainder of
wrath shalt thou restrain." The cases of Joseph, Jeremiah,
John the Baptist, and the Apostles illustrate this. The
crucifixion of Christ stands out above all other facts in
history as a demonstration of God's overruling power of
evil. "Modern history also abounds with examples. Luther
was violently carried off and confined in Wartburg Castle,
and there he translated the Scriptures, wrote upon the
Galatians, and preached every Sunday in the castle.
Bunyan was twelve years in Bedford jail, and wrote the
Pilgrim's Progress." Rutherford, in Aberdeen Castle,
wrote his beautiful "Letters." John Welsh, in Blackness
Castle, Madame Guion, in the Bastile, where she remained
fourteen years, and wrote some of her sweetest poetry—the
prisons of the inquisition, "the" day only can reveal their
silent sorrows and patient courage. The inscriptions on
the walls alone are glorious witnesses." The words lead us
to consider God's overruling providence.—
AS A DIFFICULT PROBLEM.—"How can a man then
understand his own way?" First: How can he under-
stand the freedom of his own way? If all the good in him
is divinely inspired, and all the evil overruled and sub-
ordinated, how can he be free? Must he not be in the
Chap. XX.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 473
hands of his Maker as clay in the hands of the potter?
A philosophic reconciliation of man's moral freedom with
God's comprehensive and unalterable plan is impossible.
All that we know is, that we are conscious that we are
free, that heaven holds us as responsible, and that our
deepest nature acquiesces. Secondly: How can he under-
stand the future contingencies of his own way? Whilst
there are certain things in his future that are pretty clear
to him, such as death and retribution, there are other things
that lie in impenetrable gloom. "We know not what a
day may bring forth." Our future may turn out the very
reverse of what we intend. It is often so. "The Babel
builders," says Bridges, "raised that proud tower to pre-
vent their dispersion; and it was the very means of their
dispersion." Pharaoh's "wise dealing" for the aggran-
disement of his kingdom, issued in its destruction. Ha-
man's project of his own glory was the first step of his own
ruin. Often, also, is the way, when not counter, far be-
yond our own ken. Little did Israel understand the reason
of their circuitous way to Canaan. Yet did it prove in the
end to be the "right way." As little did Ahasuerus under-
stand the profound reason why "on that night could not
the king sleep." A minute incident, seeming scarcely
worthy to be recorded, yet a necessary link in the chain of
the Lord's everlasting purposes to His Church. Little did
Philip understand his own way when he was moved from
the wide sphere of preaching the Gospel in Samaria, to go
into the desert, which ultimately proved a wider extension
of the Gospel. As little did the great apostle understand
that his "prosperous journey" to see his beloved flock at
Rome would be a narrow escape from shipwreck, and to
be conducted in chains. Little do we know what we pray
for. "By terrible things wilt thou answer us in righteous-
ness, O God of our salvation." We go out in the morning
not understanding our way, "not knowing what an hour
may bring forth." Some turn, connected with our happi-
ness or misery for life, meets us before night. Joseph, in
* Gen, xi. 4-9; Esther vi. 6-13; Esther vi. 1; Psalm lxv. 5; chap. xxvii 1;
John iv. 7.
474 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XX.
taking his walk to search for his brethren, never antici-
pated a more than twenty years' separation from his father *
And what ought those cross ways or dark ways to teach
us? Not constant, trembling anxiety, but daily depen-
dence. "I will bring the blind by a way that they know
not: I will lead them in paths that they have not known."
But shall they be left in dark perplexity?" I will make
darkness light before them, and crooked things straight.
These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them."
Often do I look back amazed at the strangeness of my
course, so different, so contrary to my way. But it is
enough for me that all is in Thine hands, that "my steps
are ordered of thee." I dare trust Thy wisdom, Thy good-
ness, Thy tenderness, Thy faithful care. Lead me, uphold
me, forsake me not. "Thou shalt guide me with Thy
counsel, and afterwards receive me to glory."
Proverbs 20:25
Selfishness in Religion
"It is a snare to the man who devoureth that which is holy, and after vows
to make enquiry."
THERE were under the Levitical dispensation certain things
prescribed by the law as consecrated to God, such as tithes,
first-fruits, firstlings of the herds and the flock. There
were also things that were voluntarily consecrated or
set apart as free-will offerings to Jehovah. It is to these,
perhaps, that Solomon here specially refers. The ex-
pression "to devour that which is holy," characterizes the
conduct of those who appropriate that to their own use
which had been either by themselves or others consecrated
to the service of God.
The subject leads us to consider selfishness in religion.
* Gen, xxxvii. 14; Isaiah xlii. 16; Psalm xxxvii. 23.
Chap. XX.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 475
Selfishness everywhere is bad, it is the tap root of our
wickedness, it is the stronghold of the devil, it is the chief
of all the "principalities and powers of darkness." But
when selfishness intrudes into the temple of religion it is
peculiarly hideous. It is then the serpent amongst seraphs,
the devil in the presence of Christ. Alas, it often does this.
Selfishness is frequently found as operative in sanctuaries
as in shops, in temples as in theatres. The verse indicates
its twofold working.
THE APPROPRIATING OF THE CONSECRATED TO PER-
SONAL USE.—The verse speaks of the man who "devoureth
that which is holy." This was the sin of Achan; he robbed
the treasury of the Lord. * In truth this was the sin of the
whole Jewish nation. "Will a man rob God? Yet ye
have robbed me. But ye say, wherein have we robbed.
thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse,
for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation." This is
done now in many ways. First: In the personal appro-
priatons of ecclesiastical endowments. Our forefathers,
whether wisely or not, devoted immense properties to
posterity for the promotion of divine ideas and divine
virtues in this country. The ecclesiastics who appropriate
thousands of this property to their own use, and by it live
in palaces, fare sumptuously every day, and roll amongst
their contemporaries in chariots of wealth and forms of
splendour,—what do they? Do not they "devour that
which is holy?" Are they not pampering their appetites
and feeding their vanity by that which is consecrated to
God? Secondly: In the assumption of sacred offices for
personal ends. Those who enter on the office of the
ministry, whether in or out of the Episcopal Church (and
it is to be feared the number is legion), in order to gratify
the greed for wealth, or ease, or social power, what do they
do but "devour that which is holy"? They are turning to
their own use an institution consecrated to the service of
humanity. Thirdly: In the adoption of the Christian pro-
fession from motives of personal interest. There was a
time when men made a secular sacrifice to unite with congre-
* Joshua vi. 19; vii. 1; Mal. iii. 8, 9.
476 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XX.
gations, and identify themselves with Christian Churches.
It is not so now. Those who join a church in order to get
clients, customers, or patrons, what do they do but "devour
that which is holy"? They use the Christian name, the
divinest and most sacred thing in the world, for selfish and
sordid ends.
The verse indicates the working of this selfishness in
religion by—
THE ENDEAVOURING TO AVOID THE FULFILMENT OF
RELIGIOUS VOWS.—"And after vows to make enquiry."
There are three things that must be remembered in con-
nection with this expression. First: The idea that it
is wrong to make religious vows is not here. A "vow"
means a solemn promise or engagement before God to
render some service or make some sacrifice. And such vows
are not only right, but binding and necessary. It is only
as the soul makes a firm resolve to accomplish true and
noble things that it can rise from its degradation and de-
pravity. Nothing great is done without solemn determina-
tion. Secondly: The idea that it is wrong to break
improper vows is not here. There are vows which never
should be made, such as the vows of celibacy, and the
vows of sponsors in episcopal baptisms, and the vows of
priests in their ordination to adhere for ever to the same
creed and polity. The man who solemnly vows to retain
the same beliefs for ever, forswears his own progress,
arrogates his own infallibility, and is a fool. The sooner
a wrong vow is broken the better. Thirdly: The idea that
it is wrong to think upon the vow after it is made is not
here. No amount of thinking, however deep and earnest
before it was made, precludes the propriety, obligation, or
necessity of thinking about it afterwards. If the reasons
for its formation are morally sound, the more they are
thought upon the stronger they will become. If not, the
more they are thought upon, the stronger will appear the
obligation for revocation. But the idea here is not to
think "after" a religious or generous vow is made, in order
to escape its fulfilment. Selfishness often puts the mind
to think afterwards in this direction and for this purpose.
Chap. XX.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 477
One man under high spiritual excitement, produced, it
may be, by a providence, a book, a conversation, or a ser-
mon, vows to consecrate so much of his property to the
cause of humanity and Christ. The excitement passes
away, the vow is felt by conscience to be binding, and sel-
fishness urges the mind to contemplate methods for a satis-
factory release. How often this is done! Another man
loses his health, is laid on the bed of languishing, and
death seems close at hand. He feels the touch of his icy
fingers upon his heart. He makes a vow to God, he utters
it in the presence of the minister and those about his bed,
that should he recover, his life and property shall be con-
secrated to holiness. He is restored to all the robustness
and buoyancy of former years. He remembers his vow;
its binding power is felt on his conscience, and selfishness
sets him to think upon such methods as shall free him from
its obligation, and enable him to live again according to
his likings. In such ways as these selfishness urges men
"after vows to make enquiry."
God deliver us from selfishness. How graphically one
of our poets paints a selfish man:
"He pours no cordial in the wounds of pain;
Unlocks no prison, and unclasps no chain.
His heart is like the rock where sun nor dew
Can rear one plant or flower of heavenly hue.
No thought of mercy there may have its birth,
For helpless misery or suffering worth.
The end of all his life is paltry pelf,
And all his thoughts are centred on—himself.
The wretch of both worlds; for so mean a sum,
First starved in this, then damned in that to come."
478 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XX.
Proverbs 20:26, 28
A Strong Government
"A wise king scattereth the wicked, and bringeth the wheel over them.
Mercy and truth preserve the king: and his throne is upholden by mercy."
THESE two verses indicate the elements of a strong human
government, and these are severity, truth, and mercy.
SEVERITY.—"A wise king scattereth the wicked, and
bringeth the wheel over them." The allusion is here to the
way of threshing in the East. One mode was by a wain,
which had wheels with iron teeth like a saw. The axle was
armed with serrated wheels throughout. It moved upon
three rollers armed with iron teeth, or wheels, to cut the
straw. The figure conveys two ideas. First: Separation.
The old agricultural wheel cut the straw and separated the
chaff from the wheat. The policy of a good government
must ever be not only to separate the wicked from the true
and virtuous citizen, but to separate the wicked from one
another, and thus prevent them from leaguing together for
spoliation and rebellion. The figure, Secondly: Conveys
the idea of disablement. "Bringeth a wheel over them."
This does not necessarily mean the destruction of their
lives (we question the right of human government to take
away life), but the crushing of the rebellious power, and
disabling criminals from working out their lawless and dan-
gerous aims. Now, it is to be observed, that it is against
the "wicked" that these severities are to be employed.
Not against the reformer of public abuses, or believer in im-
proper creeds, but the wicked, those whose hearts are not
only out of sympathy with the laws of God and man, but
who are in direct antagonism to all that is morally and
politically right. Another element of strong government
indicated in these words, is
TRUTH.—"Mercy and truth preserve the king." A good
government should be true. First: In its legislation. Its
Chap. XX.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 479
laws should be in harmony with eternal facts. They
should agree with the claims of God, and with the rights
of universal man. A government that is not true in its
laws is not sound, and cannot long stand. Secondly: In its
administration. It must be truthful in all the operations of
executive. There must be no respect of persons. Similar
transgressions must meet with similar penalties. Thus
there must be reality in all. The king must not be
pusillanimous, truculent, or changeable; he must be firm
as granite, inexorable as justice. Another element of
strong government is
MERCY.—"His throne is upholden by mercy." Mercy
should be the genius of all. Mercy should temper severity
and mellow law. The severity should be merciful, the
just should be merciful. The whole government should be
shaped and worked in order to prevent potential and re-
move existing misery. Where there is not this "mercy"
the government will not be strong. "The throne of a
tyrant," says one, "may be maintained in temporary
stability by the force of terror, by the dread of civil
or military executions. He may surround his throne by
myrmidons of his power; he may prolong his reign by
fear; but after all his is power that hangs upon a breath.
All tremble to give expression to the feeling which yet
universally prevails—the feeling of discontent, of alienation,
of rebellion. One sentence may be enough to wake
the thunders of a general rebellion. The utterance is
responded to from every corner of the land, the spell is
broken, every eye flashes the long suppressed resentment,
every lip quivers in giving vent to the pent-up murmurings,
man, woman, and child are all on the alert, hands are
joined, conspiracies are formed, weapons are brandished,
the tyrant is hurled from his throne."
480 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XX.
Proverbs 20:27
Conscience
"The spirit of man is the candle of the LORD, searching all the inward parts
of the belly."
BY the "spirit" here I understand not the intellectual
but the moral mind of man—the conscience. That which
Byron calls "the oracle of God," and Coleridge "the
pulse of reason;" but that which I regard as the very
heart of humanity, that without which we may be think-
ing animals, but not men. Conscience is not an attribute
of man—but the substratum, not a branch—but the root
from which all the branches of his being spring.* The
verse leads us to make two remarks about this conscience.
IT IS A DIVINE LIGHT IN MAN.—"The candle of the
Lord." Culverwell has written a masterly treatise on this
lamp within us. Conscience has been well called "God's
vicegerent in the soul." It is to God what the moon is to
the sun, reflecting his beams. Concerning this inner
light, two things should be noted. First: It is clouded.
Whilst it is in every man, it is in most men encircled with
such a dense atmosphere of carnality, selfishness and sin,
that its beams are scarcely seen. It is like the moon in an
eclipse. It is there in its own grand orbit, but the earth
has come between it and the great central orb. Secondly:
It is inextinguishable. Though sin has clouded it so that
it is all but hidden it cannot be extinguished. Hell's
hurricanes, through a thousand centuries, have failed to
extinguish one conscience. The lunar orb may be eclipsed,
but it remains intact, holds its own orbit, and retains
unaltered its relation to the eternal sun.
Another remark which the verse leads us to make con-
cerning conscience is—
It is a SELF-REVEALING LIGHT.—"Searching all the
* For remarks on conscience, see HOMILIST, vol. iii., second series, pp. 488
and 535. See also vol. ii., first series, p. 227.
Chap. XX.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 481
inward parts of the belly." The word "belly" here stands
for the inmost depths of the soul, and the idea is, that
conscience is a light that pours its beams into the central
abysses of our being. So it does. It reveals to us our
motives. Motives are the springs that set the whole of our
machinery at work, and conscience concerns itself with
these, sheds light upon the rightness and the wrongness
of motives. In this way. First: It reveals the respon-
sibility of actions. It is that power in us which shatters all
the arguments of the intellect against our accountability.
It holds us responsible for our likings and dislikes, for our
affinities and antipathies. Secondly: It reveals the moral
character of actions. Under its light man can have no
doubt as to what action is wrong. "When the Gentiles,
which have not the law, do by nature the things contained
in the law, these having not the law, are a law unto them-
selves, which show the work of the law written in their
hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their
thoughts the meanwhile accusing or else excusing one
another."
Let every man look well to his inner light. It is the
divinity within him. Though it cannot be quenched, it
may be so enrapt with the clouds of sin as to obscure its
light. To go on in life with a darkened conscience, is to
walk a road, of malignant foes and terrific precipices.
"Every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither
cometh to the light lest his deeds should be reproved."
Proverbs 20:29
The Glory of Godliness,
Both in Youth and Age
"The glory of young men is their strength: and the beauty of old men is
the grey head." *
NEITHER of these clauses can be accepted without a
qualification. There is no glory in the "strength" of a
* Verse 28 has been discussed on page 478.
482 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XX.
young man, muscular or mental, if that strength is wrongly
inspired and directed. Nor is there any "beauty" con-
nected with the "grey head" if the old man has spent
his years in debauchery and vice. Indeed, a dissolute old
man is one of the most unbeautiful and hideous objects on
which the eye can rest. Attach godliness to the strength
of the young and to the "grey head" of the old, and then
both clauses are full of truth.
GODLINESS IN YOUTH MAKES STRENGTH GLORIOUS.—
Strength is one of the choicest gifts of our being. Mus-
cular strength is a good thing, mental strength is a better
thing; moral strength—strength to brave the wrong and
do the right—is the best of all. But why is strength in
a godly youth a glorious thing? First: Because it is in-
spired by a glorious spirit,—the spirit of love, unselfish
and devout. Of all the objects in the universe, love is
the most loveable. It is the glory of God Himself. Take
from Him His love, and you will strip Him of His glory.
Secondly: Because it is directed to a glorious object. What
is the object to which it is directed? The destroying of the
dark empire of ignorance, sin, and misery, and the estab-
lishment of the empire of intelligence, virtue, and blessed-
ness. Truly the "glory" of such "young men is their
strength."
GODLINESS IN AGE MAKES THE GREY HEAD LOVELY.—
"The beauty of old men is their grey head." In a previous
chapter it is said, "The hoary head is a crown of
glory, if it be found in the way of righteousness." There
are three things in a truly godly old man which give
beauty to his grey head. First: Affluent experience. He
has travelled the winding path of life almost to its end,
and can tell many a useful and inspiring anecdote of defeats
and triumphs, of sorrows and joys, of hopes and disappoint-
ments, of gains and losses. The experience of a human
life, devoted to the true and the good, is of all the valuable
things on this earth the most valuable. It is one of God's best
bibles. Secondly: Mellowness of character. The fruitful
tree is beautiful in all seasons; beautiful in the buddings
* See Reading on page 328.
Chap. XX.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 483
and blossoms of early spring; beautiful in the opening
summer, with the unripened fruit clustering on its branches;
but never so beautiful as when autumn has given the bloom
of ripeness to the rich produce of its strength. How
glorious is a human character ripe for heaven! Thirdly:
Calm waiting. The work is done. Did man ever appear
more beautiful than "Paul the aged," when he exclaimed,
"I have fought the good fight, I have finished my course"?
Who does not see beauty in such a character? "Verily
thou shalt rise up before the hoary and the honourable old
men.
Youth and age may both be beautiful and glorious in
their own way and measure. Indeed, there must be a
something common to both to make them beautiful.
Cicero says, "As I approve of the youth that has some-
thing of the old man in him, so I am no less pleased with
an old man who has something of the youth." The godly
old man has much in him of the freshness of youth, and
the godly youth possesses not a little of the gravity of age.
Proverbs 20:30
God's Discipline of His Children
"The blueness of a wound cleanseth away evil: so do stripes the inward part
of the belly."
"IT is not easy," says Dr. Wardiaw, "to attach a definite
meaning to these words. Suppose with some the blueness
of a wound to be a symptom of its healing, what compari-
son can there be between a mere symptom or indication of
healing and the severity of chastisement or discipline?
Suppose with others the blueness or lividness of the wound to
be the effect or mark of its severity; then, properly speak-
ing, there can hardly be a comparison between the effects,
whatever they are conceived to be, of severe wounds and
severe stripes, they are so nearly one and the same thing.
484 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XX.
I know not indeed how the original word came to be ren-
dered 'blueness.' The one word as well as the other is
given in lexicons as signifying, among other meanings, 'a
wound.' But 'the wounds of a wound' would, of course, be
inadmissible. The following translation has been given
by one critic of eminence:—'The bruises or contusions of
a blow are a cleanser to the wicked man, and stripes
cleanse the inward parts of the belly.' But this is liable
to the same objection with the last-mentioned view,
namely, that the two things in the comparison are too
nearly the same, for what difference is there between the
contusions of a blow cleansing the wicked, and 'stripes
cleansing the inward parts of the belly'? The idea in
either case is almost, if not altogether, identical. The fol-
lowing translation has been suggested, Surely the com-
pression of a wound cleanseth away evil, and so do stripes
the inward part of the belly.' The radical meaning of the
word here translated blueness, means to unite, to join to-
gether. The pressing of the wound is often necessary, in
order to cleanse it of that purulent and peccant humour,
which prevents its healing."
The passage thus explained presents two thoughts con-
cerning God's discipline of His children.
It is sometimes SEVERE.—It is as the compression of the
wound. The squeezing of a wound in order to extract the
virus is sometimes agonizing, yet it must be done. How
painful often are God's dispensations with His people!
Sometimes He takes from them the most loved ones, hus-
band, wife, children, parents. Sometimes their property.
He brings them from opulence to poverty. Sometimes
their health. He sends diseases into their bodies to render
existence all but intolerable. How severely did He try
Abraham, and Job, Daniel, and Paul! There is so
much dross in the gold that it requires the furnace to
purify it. So many worthless branches wasting the life of
the tree, that it requires the pruning knife to lop them off.
"Whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth
every son whom He receiveth."
It is sometimes USEFUL.—"So do stripes the inward
Chap. XXI.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 485
parts of the belly." The idea is that as the compression of
the wound presses out the humour that prevents the heal-
ing, so providential discipline tends to the good of our in-
most soul. Trials are useful to spiritual character in many
ways. They lead to serious thoughtfulness; they weaken
our affections for earth; they deepen our sense of dependence
on God. "Though no chastening for the present seemeth to
be joyous, but grievous, nevertheless, afterward it yieldeth
the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are
exercised thereby." "Trials," says Frederick Robertson,
"bring man face to face with God—God and he touch;
and the flimsy veil of bright cloud that hung between him
and the sky is blown away; he feels that he is standing
outside the earth with nothing between him and the Eternal
Infinite. Oh! there is something in the sick-bed, and the.
aching heart, and the restlessness, and the languor of
shattered health, and the sorrow of affections withered, and
the stream of life poisoned at its fountain, and the cold
lonely feeling of utter rawness of heart which is felt when
God strikes home in earnest, that forces a man to feel what
is real and what is not."
Proverbs 21:1-3
God and the Human Race
"The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he
turneth it whithersoever he will. Every way of a man is right in his own eyes:
but the LORD pondereth the hearts. To do justice and judgment is more accept-
able to the LORD than sacrifice."
IN these verses we have God unfolded to us—
AS THE CONTROLLER OF HUMAN HEARTS.—"The king's
heart is in the hand of the Lord as the rivers of water: he
turneth it whithersoever he will." Some suppose there is
an allusion to a gardener directing the rills of water
through the different parts of his ground, and that the
comparison is between the ease with which the gardener
486 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXI.
does this, and the ease with which the Almighty controls
the purposes and volitions of the human soul. First: This
is an undoubted fact. A priori reasoning renders this
obvious. The God of infinite wisdom must have a purpose
to answer in relation to the existence and history of the
human race. He has a purpose not only in the rise and
fall of empires, but in all the events that happen in
the individual history of the obscure as well as the ill us-
trious. But unless He has a control over the workings
of the human heart and the volitions of the human soul,
how could this purpose be realized? If He controls not
the thoughts and the impulses of the human mind, He
has no control over the human race, and His purposes
have no guarantee for their fulfilment. But God says,
"My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure;"
and hence He must be the Master of the Human soul,
turning all its rills of thought and feeling at His pleasure.
History demonstrates the truth. Abimelech's heart was in
the hand of the Lord for good. Pharaoh's heart was
turned towards Joseph. The heart of the Babylonish
despot was turned toward Daniel and his captive brethren.
The hearts of the Jews in relation to Christ were under
Divine control. Secondly: This fact interferes not with
human responsibility. Though the Creator has an absolute
control over all the workings of our minds, yet we are
conscious that we are free in all our volitions and actions.
Though the reconciliation of these two facts transcends our
philosophy, they involve no absurdity. Suppose a man of
great insight into character, and great experience as to
how certain circumstances affect certain organizations,
predicted that if a certain person whom he thoroughly
understood was placed in certain conditions, a certain
course of conduct on his part would be the inevitable
result: that person, without knowing the prediction, falls
into those circumstances and pursues a course of conduct
identical with that foretold. Did the knowledge of the
prophet exercise any coercion at all upon the mind of this
individual? Certainly not. It is therefore not impossible
to conceive of Him Who knows all men's organizations,
Chap. XXI.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 487
and all the circumstances through which they are to pass,
carrying on His purposes and yet leaving them in perfect
possession of their freedom and accountability.
In these verses we have God unfolded to us—
As the JUDGE OF HUMAN CHARACTER.—"Every way of
a man is right in his own eyes: but the Lord pondereth
the hearts." There is in all probability a connection
between this verse and the preceding one. And its con-
nection suggests—First: That God judges men's characters
not according to their own estimate. Men generally are
so vain that they form a high opinion of themselves, but
this estimate may be the very reverse of God's. Secondly:
That God judges men's characters not according to the
result of their conduct. Though they may unwittingly
work out His plans, they do not approve themselves to
Him on that account. The cruel treatment which Joseph's
brethren inflicted on him subserved the Divine purpose;
still it was not less wicked on that account. The cruci-
fixion of Christ by the Jews was according to the Divine
plan; yet the deed was the most heinous of all crimes.
Thirdly: That God judges men's characters by the heart.
"The Lord pondereth the hearts." The essence of the cha-
racter is in the motive. "The Lord weigheth the spirits."
In these verses we have God unfolded to us—
As the APPROVER OF HUMAN GOODNESS.—"To do
justice and judgment is more acceptable to the Lord than
sacrifice." This sentiment is frequently expressed in the
Bible.* "Sacrifice," at best is only circumstantially good
—rectitude is essentially so. Sacrifice, at best, is only the
means and expression of good—rectitude is goodness
itself. God accepts the moral without the ceremonial, but
never the ceremonial without the moral. The universe can
do without the ceremonial, but not without the moral.
"Justice and judgment" are the everlasting foundations
of God's throne.
How great is God! He controls all hearts, and ap-
* 1 Sam. xv. 22; Isa. i. 11—15; lxvi. 3, 4; Jer. vii. 21-23; Hosea vi. 6;
Micah vi. 6-8; Matt. xxiii. 33.
488 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXI.
proves of all goodness. In all, and over all, He is THE
GOOD.
"Let all the air be lightnings, the dark blue
Of ever-stretching space substantial fire;
Still God is good, still tends o'er those He loves." - Festus
Proverbs 21:4
The Prosperity of the Wicked is Sin
"An high look, and a proud heart, and the plowing of the wicked, is sin."
THE word "plowing" in the margin is rendered "light."
"The light of the wicked." The marginal references, of
course, have precisely the same authority as those in the
text, and are not unfrequently more faithful to the original.
"The verse," it has been observed, "is remarkably laconic—
the loftiness of eyes—pride of heart—the light of the
wicked, sin." The meaning seems to be that in the pros-
perity of the wicked (for light is the symbol of prosperity)
there is sin. This is the subject. The words teach—
That the wicked are PROUD.—"An high look and a
proud heart." The first of these is but the expression of
the second, the "high look," or, as in margin, "haughti-
ness of eyes." Pride arises from ignorance. First: From
an ignorance of self. The man who knows himself even
as a creature, who knows how insignificant he is as com-
pared with the universe, will be humble; and much more
the man who knows himself as a sinner, and who under-
stands his moral wretchedness and dangers. Secondly:
From an ignorance of God. Who that has any conception
of the Infinite, could be proud in His presence? He who
has a glimpse of Him will fall down like Isaiah, and
exclaim, "Woe is me, I am a man of unclean lips." Pride
and wickedness go together, and both are an "abomina-
tion to the Lord." The words teach—
That the wicked SOMETIMES HAVE PROSPERITY.—"The
plowing—or rather the light—of the wicked." Light in
Chap. XXI.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 489
the Old Testament is the symbol of prosperity. The
wicked often prosper in the world. They amass fortunes,
and take the leading positions in social life. This is often
a perplexity to the good. "Wherefore do the wicked
prosper?" In all ages true souls have thus cried out: and
this also reveals the wonderful patience of God. How
great the forbearance of Him Who allows His enemies to
revel in palaces and sit on thrones! And this, moreover,
prophesies a future retribution. There must come a
reckoning day, a period for balancing all human accounts.
The words teach—
That the prosperity of the wicked IS WRONG.—"The plow-
ing of the wicked is sin." Indeed, everything a wicked man
does is sin, whether he ploughs, sows, or reaps, whether
he buys or sells, whether he prays or swears, every act is
sin. "Every thought in the imagination of his heart is
evil continually." As he that is born of God cannot sin,
so he that is wicked cannot but sin: he has no good inten-
tions, and he can do no good acts. "Holy intention," says
Bishop Taylor, "is to the actions of a man that which the
soul is to the body, or form to its matter, or the root to the
tree, or the sun to the world, or the fountain to the river,
or the base to a pillar. Without these the body is a dead
trunk, the matter is sluggish, the tree is a block, the world
is darkness, the river is quickly dry, the pillar rushes into
flatness and ruin, and the action is sinful, or unprofitable
and vain." As the sinner has not these good intentions
he is sinful in everything. "The evil spirit called sin,"
says Dr. Bushnell, "may be trained up to politeness, and
made to be genteel sin; it may be elegant, cultivated sin;
it may be very exclusive and fashionable sin; it may be
industrious, thrifty sin; it may be a great political
manager, a great commercial operator, a great inventor;
it may be learned, scientific, eloquent, highly-poetic sin!
Still it, is sin, and being that, has in fact thes ame radical
or fundamental quality that, in its ranker and less re-
strained conditions, produces all the most hideous and
revolting crimes of the world."
490 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXI.
Proverbs 21:5-7; 22:29
The Right and Wrong Road to Plenty
"The thoughts of the diligent tend only to plenteousness; but of every one
that is hasty only to want. The getting of treasures by a lying tongue is a vanity
tossed to and fro of them that seek death. The robbery of the wicked shall
destroy them; because they refuse to do judgment."
"Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings: he
shall not stand before mean men."
To have plenty of a good thing is felt by all to be desirable.
Money is a good thing: it increases not only man's means
of enjoyment, but man's power of usefulness. Knowledge
is a good thing; the mind without it is in a cell, narrow,
and dark. Great is the blessing of plenteous knowledge.
The "plenteousness" in the verses, however, refers to
worldly wealth, and points to the right and wrong way of
gaining it. Observe:
The RIGHT road.—"The thoughts of the diligent tend
only to plenteousness." Diligence stands opposed—
First: To laziness. Frequently have we had occasion to
notice Solomon's reprobation of idleness. Idleness has
been called Satan's seed-time—the mother of wanton chil-
dren—the rust and canker of the soul—the devil's cushion.
and pillow. Diligence is the opposite of this. It is
industrious activity. It stands opposed—Secondly: To
rashness: It is here put in contrast with hastiness. But of
every one that is hasty only to want." The hasty man has
no plan. When he works it is desultory and spasmodic.
The hasty man has no perseverance. To-day he is all
enthusiasm in his labour, both his hands are stretched out,
and with might and main he struggles for plenty; to-
morrow he is in a state of collapse. The "diligent" man in
opposition to this works by a plan, and works with perse-
verance. He begins in earnest, and goes on to the end in
earnest, conquering difficulties, and reaping rewards; thus
he gets rich. "Seest thou a man diligent in business? he
Chap. XXI.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 491
shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean
men." Observe:
The WRONG road.—First: Falsehood is a wrong road.
"The getting of treasures by a lying tongue is a vanity
tossed to and fro of them that seek death." It is often the
shortest road to wealth, and hence the most popular; it is
crowded with travellers. The commercial atmosphere is
infested with fallacies; shops swarm with lies. Falsehood
is a great fortune maker here in our England, and although
it is a short and popular road, it is ultimately a ruinous one.
It "is a vanity tossed to and fro of them that seek death."
What is "tossed to and fro"—the treasure or the falsehood
that obtained it? The latter, I think. A lie is a prolific
thing. One falsehood creates many, one cheat produces
another. There is a tossing to and fro. The time comes
when the swindle is discovered, and then there is ruin. The
men who gain wealth by falsehood are "seeking death."
Secondly: Dishonesty is a wrong road. "The robbery of
the wicked shall destroy them." Falsehood and fraud are
twins; lies and robbery go together. Dishonesty, like
falsehood, is a rapid, and, alas! a very common road to
wealth. But this also leads to ruin. "The robbery of the
wicked shall destroy him." It often does so here, when
the swindle is discovered and brought into the court of
justice: and it will inevitably do so at last when the Great
Judge shall call every man to an account. "Know ye not
that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God."
Unrighteous gain is a dear bargain. Money got by fraud
and dishonesty will one day ruin its possessor, as the thirty
pieces of silver did the foul betrayer of our Lord. Be
honest, not because "honesty is the best policy," for I
agree with Archbishop Whately, that he who acts on this
principle is not an honest man—but because honesty is
right.
"Dishonour waits on perfidy. A man
Should blush to think a falsehood: 'tis the crime
Of cowards."—JOHNSON
492 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXI.
Proverbs 21:8
The Unregenerate and the Regenerate
"The way of man is froward and strange: but as for the pure, his work is
right."
THE verse evidently expresses a contrast between the bad
man and the good man. Its first clause may be read—"The
way of the unregenerate man is froward and strange."
Paul, in writing to the Corinthians* says, "For ye are yet
carnal: for whereas there is among you envying and strife,
and divisions; are ye not carnal and walk as men?" By
walking as men," he means walking as unconverted men,
and by "the way of man," in this verse, we are to under-
stand the way of the unrenewed. Notice then:
The way of the UNREGENERATE.—First: The way of an
unconverted man is here called a "froward" way. The word
"froward" means refractory, rebellious; and what is sin but
frowardness?" Lo this only have I found, that God hath
made man upright: but they have sought out many inven-
tions." The state of the unrenewed heart is that of rebel-
lious insubordination. "Who is the Lord that I should
obey Him?" Secondly: The way of an unconverted man
is here called a "strange" way. It is "strange"—it is not
the original way. Man was made to walk in the path of virtue
and piety. It is "strange"—it is not the authorized way.
It is not the high road sanctioned by Divine authority, it
is a by-path which the foot of the transgressor has made.
It is "strange"—it is a perplexing way, it is labyrinthian,
misty, and perilous. Notice also:
The way of the REGENERATE.—"But as for the pure his
work is right." First: The regenerate are "pure." They
are cleansed by the washing of regeneration and the re-
newing of the Holy Ghost: their consciences "have been
purged from dead works to serve the living God."
Secondly: The regenerate work well. "His work is
*I Cor iii. 2.
Chap. XXI.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 493
right." The rectitude of "his work" is at once the effect
and evidence of his purity. A right work implies two
things: A right standard. What is the right standard?
Not the laws of man, not the customs of society, not the
example of the holiest creature, but the will of God. His
character is the foundation, and His Will the rule of virtue
in all worlds and for ever. A right work implies also a
right motive. He only does the right who obeys that will
from the right motive, and the right motive is supreme
love to God.
If we are regenerate, right is our watchword, right is our
goal. "It is common," says Burke, "for men to say that
such and such things are perfectly right, very desirable;
but, unfortunately, they are not practicable. Oh, no.
Those things which are not practicable are not desirable.
There is nothing really beneficial that does not lie within
the reach of an informed understanding and a well-directed
pursuit. There is nothing that God has judged good for
us that He has not given us the means to accomplish, both
in the natural and moral world. If we cry like children
for the moon, like children we mus cry on." A more com-
mon and disastrous sophistry know I not than that which
asserts a course of action to be right in itself but imprac-
ticable under existing circumstances. What is right is
evermore expedient, binding, and performable. Right
stands for ever as the thing to be done, the goal to be
aimed at.
"Powers depart,
Possessions vanish, and opinions change,
And passions hold a fluctuating seat;
But, by the storm of circumstances unshaken,
And subject neither to eclipse nor wane,
Duty exists: immutably survives
For our support, the measures and the forms,
Which an abstract intelligence supplies:
Whose kingdom is where time and space are not."
WORDSWORTH
494 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXI.
Proverbs 21:9, 19; 25:24
Matrimonial Misery
"It is better to dwell in the corner of the housetop, than with a brawling
woman in a wide house. …It is better to dwell in the wilderness, than
with a contentious and an angry woman."
"It is better to dwell in the corner of the housetop, than with a brawling
woman and in a wide house."
HERE is a wife the very opposite of that described by
old Ben Jonson:
"She who ne'er answers till a husband cools,
Or, if she rules him, never shows she rules;
Charms by accepting, by submitting sways,
Yet has her humour most when she obeys."
These verses lead us to consider—
THE TORTURING POWER OF A BRAWLING WIFE.—"It
is better to dwell in the corner of the housetop than with a
brawling woman in a wide house." Solomon states two
very uncomfortable positions as preferable to the company
of a "brawling woman." First: "The corner of a house-
top." The roofs of the houses in the East were flat, and
when solitude was courted the housetop was the resort.
To dwell, however, in a corner of the housetop alone,
exposed to the scorchings of a tropical sun, and the fury
of tropical storms, was by no means a desirable thing. Yet
far better would it be for a man to dwell in solitude amid the
fury of the elements, than to live among the snarls, yells,
groans, and curses of a fiendish virago. In the one case
his temper might remain calm and unruffled, in the other
it would be in a state of perpetual irritation. The other
uncomfortable position is—Secondly: "The wilderness."
This is a position more undesirable even than the "house-
Chap. XXI.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 495
top." The wilderness, away from communications of
society. Alone in dreariness and danger. "I had rather,"
says the wise son of Sirach, "dwell with a lion and
a dragon, than to keep house with a wicked woman."
"Every one," says Arnot, "has known some pair chained
together by human laws where the heart's union has either
never existed or been rent asunder. Two ships at sea are
bound to each other by strong short chains. As long
as the sea remains perfectly calm, all may be well with
both; though they do each other no good, they may not
inflict much evil. But the sea never rests long, and seldom
rests at all. Woe to these two ships when the waves begin
to roll. There are two conditions in which they might be
safe. If they were either brought more closely together,
or more widely separated, it might yet be well with them.
If they were from stem to stern rivetted into one, or if the
chain were broken, and the two left to follow independently
their several courses, there would be no further cause of
anxiety on their account. If they are so united that they
shall move as one body, they are safe; if they move far
apart they are safe. The worst possible position is to be
chained together, and yet have separate and independent
motion in the waves. They will rasp each other's sides off,
and tear open each other's heart, and go down together."
The verses lead us to consider—
THE DEMORALIZING POWER OF SIN.—"A brawling
woman." What a monstrosity! What an unnatural object!
The ideal of womanhood includes the tender, the gentle,
the graceful, the reticent, and retiring. A "brawling "
wife is still more unnatural. Pledged to bestow her
strongest affections, and to render loyal services to the
man of her choice, she should ever appear before him as
his ministering angel. To minister to his comforts, and to
stimulate him to the pure and the noble. Her calmness
should soothe his temper, when ruffled by the cares and
struggles of secular life; her tenderness should mollify the
heart, which the rough influences of the world tend to
petrify into granite. Shakespeare's description of a true
wife is not far from the Divine ideal:
496 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXI.
"Heaven witness
I have been to you a true and humble wife,
At all times to your will conformable:
Ever in fear to kindle your dislike;
Yea, subject to your countenance, glad or sorry,
As I saw it incline. When was the hour
I ever contradicted your desire,
Or made it not mine too? Or which of your friends
Have I not strove to love, although I knew
He were mine enemy? What friend of mine
That had to him derived your anger, did I
Continue in my liking? nay, gave notice
He was from thence discharged? Sir, call to mind
That I have been your wife, in this obedience,
Upwards of twenty years, and have been blest
With many children by you: if, in the course
And process of this time, you can report,
And prove it too, against mine honour aught,
My bond to wedlock, or my love and duty,
Against your sacred person, in God's name
Turn me away, and let the foul'st contempt
Shut door upon me, and so give me up
To the sharpest kind of justice."
What has effected this transfiguration; what has trans-
formed the calm angel into a brawler, the loving wife into
a fiend and virago? What? Sin. Sin dehumanizes
humanity. The verses lead us to consider—
THE CAUTION REQUIRED IN MATRIMONIAL ALLIANCES.—
If a wife has power to embitter a man's whole life, to ren-
der it almost intolerable, with what caution should he
enter the connubial relationship! And yet, strange to say,
men, aye and women too, are less cautious in choosing
their companions for life than they are in choosing objects of
most inferior description. People often bestow more care in
selecting a fabric for their garment than in selecting their
partner for life. Men often make more searching enquiries
into the qualities of a cow, a dog, or a horse, which they
intend to procure, than into the qualities of a woman whom
they purpose to make their companion. No wonder there
is so much matrimonial misery in the world when alliances
are formed either from blind impulse or mercenary con-
siderations. The man who without the exercise of his best
judgment enters this, of all relationships the most endear-
Chap. XXI.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 497
ing and Divine, either for lucre, or from lusts, justly
deserves the pitiless peltings of a termagant through
the whole of his life. And the same may be said of a
woman. There are "brawling" men as well as "brawling"
women; men who become the tormenting devils of those
they swore to succour and bless.
"It is not good that the man should be alone." So
saith the Almighty; so say the deepest instincts of our
nature; so saith human experience. Yet better a thousand
times be alone, better be on "the corner of a housetop,"
better in the howling "wilderness" amongst the prowling
beasts of prey, better anywhere than with a "brawling"
wife. Yet many wise and noble men have had to endure
this. When Socrates was asked, "Why he endured his
wife?" "By this means," he replied, "I have a school-
master at home, and an example how I should behave
myself abroad. For I shall be the more quiet with others,
being thus daily exercised and taught in the forbearing of
her."
Proverbs 21:10-12
The Wicked
"The soul of the wicked desireth evil: his neighbour findeth no favour in his
eyes. When the scorner is punished, the simple is made wise: and when the
wise is instructed, he receiveth knowledge. The righteous man wisely considereth
the house of the wicked: but God overthroweth the wicked for their wickedness."
HERE is another of the many descriptions of the wicked
that have in this book gone before, and have yet to follow.
Solomon is constantly hitting off sketches of the characters
of the two great moral classes of mankind. As new
phases of wickedness or goodness come under his eye, or
start from his imagination, he portrays them. Here we
have wicked men presented to us:
AS ANIMATED BY THE WORST OF DISPOSITIONS.—
498 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXI.
Two dispositions of mind are here indicated. First
Malignity. "The soul of the wicked desireth evil." The
"evil" here is injury to his neighbour. "His neighbour
findeth no favour in his eyes." He injures his neighbour
to gratify not merely his greed and ambition, but his
malice. He delights in suffering for its own sake. The
throes of anguish are music in the ear of the wicked.
"The poison of asps is under their lips: whose mouth is
full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed
blood." This is the very spirit of hell—this is Satanic sin.
Sin is malevolence. Secondly: Derision. "The scorner
is punished." We have frequently met with the "scorner"
before. The "scorner" is one destitute of all sense of
reverence, of every sentiment of humility. He is haughty,
profane, and heartless. "Fools make a mock at sin."
Wickedness scoffs at the sacred and the divine. Here we
have wicked men presented to us—
AS SUBJECT TO DIVINE PUNISHMENT.—"The scorner is
punished." "God overthroweth the wicked for their wick-
edness." The certainty that unrepentant wickedness will
be punished may be argued—First: From the principle of
moral causation. God has established such a connection
between character and condition that misery must ever
spring from sin, and blessedness from virtue. Our present
grows out of the past, hence our sins must find us out.
What we morally sowed yesterday, we reap in experience
to-day, and so on for ever. Secondly; From the opera-
tions of moral memory. Memory recalls sins, places them
before the eye of conscience, and sets the soul aflame.
Thirdly: From the declarations of Scripture. "The wicked
shall not go unpunished." "The wicked shall be turned
into hell, with all the nations that forget God." Fourthly:
From the history of mankind. Nations are an example.
The Antediluvians, the Sodomites, the Jews. Individuals
are an example. Moses, David, Judas. Here we have
wicked men presented to us—
AS STUDIED BY THE GOOD.—First: The influence of
their punishment when studied by the simple. "The`
simple is made wise." Elsewhere Solomon has said,
Chap. XXI.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 499
"Smite a scorner and the simple will beware." By the
"simple" is to be understood the inexperienced; those who
are comparatively innocent. When they see the wicked
punished, they are "made wise." They see what comes of
sin, and they learn to shun it. Secondly: The influence
of their punishment when studied by the wise. "And
when the wise is instructed he receiveth knowledge." The
"simple" become wise, and the wise increase in knowledge
by it. Even David learned wisdom by the punishment of
the wicked. "Thou puttest away all the wicked of the
earth like dross: therefore I love thy testimonies. My
flesh trembleth for fear of Thee, and I am afraid of Thy
judgments." Thirdly: The influence of their punishment
when studied by the righteous. "The righteous man
wisely considereth the house of the wicked; but God over-
throweth the wicked for their wickedness." Dr. Booth-
royd thus translates the verse: "The righteous man
teacheth or gives instruction to the house of the wicked,
to turn away the wicked from evil." An able expositor's
remarks on this rendering are as follows: "A forced and
unnatural supplement is thus avoided, and the difficulties,
in a simply critical view, are at least greatly lessened. In
the Vulgate Latin version the same turn is given to the
second part of the verse. The just man thinks maturely
concerning the house of the wicked, that he may draw
away the wicked from evil." Thus the wicked, in their
malignant and scoffing spirit, and the punishment that fol-
lows them, become useful to the simple, the wise, and the
righteous, as they are made subjects of serious and devout
reflection. Good men can get good out of the wicked, by
devout thought they can make the devil himself render
them service.
500 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXI.
Proverbs 21:13
The Cry of the Poor
"Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry himself, but
shall not be heard."
THE text leads us to consider social distress, social heart-
lessness, and social retribution.
SOCIAL DISTRESS.—"The cry of the poor." The poor
have ever existed, and we are told that "they shall never
cease out of the land." The poor may be divided into two
classes. First: The deserving. There is a poverty that
comes on men by circumstances over which they have no
control: infirm bodies, diseased faculties, social oppression,
untoward events. Such poverty deserves and demands
commiseration and help. Such poverty is often associated
not only with great intelligence, but with virtue and piety
of a high order. "I have read," says Sir Walter Scott,
"books enough, and observed and conversed with enough
of eminent and splendidly cultivated minds, too, in my
time; but I assure you I have heard higher sentiments
from the poor, uneducated men and women, when exerting
the spirit of severe yet gentle heroism under difficulties
and afflictions, or speaking their simple thought as to cir-
cumstances in the lots of friends and neighbours, than I
ever yet met with, except in the pages of the Bible."
Secondly: The undeserving. A large number of the poor
in all countries have brought poverty on themselves. From
laziness, extravagance, intemperance, have sprung their
indigence and their woes. Far be it from me to suggest
that all those who have got into penury and want by their
own conduct, have no claims upon our compassion. There
are many whose grief for their past conduct greatly in-
tensifies the wretchedness of their poverty. Many who
fruitlessly struggle to relieve themselves of their indigence
with the determination to adopt a new course of life in
Chap. XXI.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 501
the future. Such call for our pity and claim our helping
hand.
SOCIAL HEARTLESSNESS.—"Whoso stoppeth his ears."
There are those who stop their ears at "the cry of the
poor." At this moment pauperism in England (where it
should scarcely have any existence at all) has reached an
extent greater than in any past period of her history, and
it is increasing every week. "The cry of the poor" is
deeper and louder here than ever, and getting new volume
every day. There are two classes of men that should re-
gard this "cry." First: The wealthy. Material good is
limited, the material universe itself is finite. The more
one man has of this world's goods the less remains for
others. In this country there are tens of thousands who
have appropriated to their own use more than their own
moral share. Justice, to say nothing of mercy, demands
that they should distribute of their abundance to the relief
of the distressed. Secondly: The legislating. The re-
sources of the country are in a great measure in the hands
of our rulers. They can enrich them and impoverish them,
they can develop and direct them, and their grand object
should be so to manage imperial matters that there should
be no want and complaining within our borders. It is for
them, by the cultivation of waste lands, and the promotion
of emigration, to provide for the working classes fields of
remunerative labour. This, however, they have shamefully
neglected. Even the members of our present Government,
notwithstanding the wonderful philanthropic profession
which before they obtained power they rung into the ear
of the country, are doing nothing to check poverty. What
are those in the House of Commons, who for upwards of a
quarter of a century have been dealing in that tall philan-
thropic talk by which they have won their popularity and
power, doing to mitigate our growing pauperism? Our
statesmen talk of retrenchment, and what do they retrench?
Do they demonstrate to the nation the honesty of their
professions by voluntarily surrendering a portion of the
enormous incomes which they themselves derive from the
State? No. They discharge poor labourers from the
502 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXI.
dockyards, and humble clerks with large families, and
thereby only augment the poverty of the land. In the
name of Heaven, what is the good of a Government if it
cannot overcome pauperism?
SOCIAL RETRIBUTION.—The text tells us, "whoso stop-
peth his ear at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry
himself, but shall not be heard." Alas, there are many of
the rich and the ruling who stop their ears. Their ears
are opened to fawning flattery and panegyric adulations.
The cheers of platforms and the laudations of journals are
music to their souls. But the long, deep wail of the poor,
which not only comes up from all the alleys of the towns
and cities of England, but from thousands of the wretched
hovels in rural scenes, they cannot hear. For such, retri-
bution will come. "With what measure they mete it shall
be meted to them again." They shall one day cry, "but
shall not be heard." "He shall have judgment without
mercy that has showed no mercy." This retribution often
occurs in this life; it is certain to occur at last. "Inas-
much as ye have not done it to the least of these my
brethren, ye have not done it unto me." "Go to now, ye
rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come
upon you."
Heaven forbid that we should stop our ears at "the cry
of the poor." Let us commiserate them, let us help them
to the utmost of our ability. Howard's rule is this, a rule
which he embodied in his noble life, "That our superfluities
give way to, other men's convenience, that our con-
veniences give way to other men's necessaries, and that
even our necessaries sometimes give way to other men's
extremities." "Charity," says Chrysostom, "is the scope
of all God's commands."
Chap. XXI.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 503
Proverbs 21:14
Social Anger
"A gift in secret pacifieth anger: and a reward in the bosom strong wrath."
THE subject of these words is social anger. Next to the
evil of having anger burning as a flame in our own hearts,
is that of its existing in the hearts of others toward us. To
have a man within the circle of your social life crying out
in the language of Shakespeare—
“Oh, that the slave had forty thousand lives;
One is too poor, too weak for my revenge!
I would have him nine years a killing!"
is a terrible calamity. The verse exhibits anger in two
aspects.
As UNRIGHTEOUSLY PROVOKED. The anger spoken of
here is an anger that ought not to have been excited,
otherwise its pacification would not be referred to as proper
and desirable. There is a righteous excitation of anger in
the minds of our contemporaries. When we rouse indig-
nation because we deal out honest reproofs, expose corrupt
motives, and thwart immoral schemes, we are not charge-
able with any blame on account of the anger. Christ
Himself set the souls of the men about Him aflame with
indignation. But when by an unjust impugning of
motives, a slanderous expression, a false charge, or a dis-
honourable act, we awaken anger, we are justly blameable
for its existence, and we are bound to use every justifiable
means to put an end to it. We should not allow the fire
to burn on without efforts for its extinction.
As GENEROUSLY OVERCOME.—"A gift in secret pacifieth
anger: and a reward in the bosom strong wrath."
What kind of gift can put out the flame of anger? First:
It must be obviously disinterested. If I present the most
costly gift to my enemy in order to appease his wrath,
unless he sees convincingly that the gift is free from all
504 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXI.
selfishness and fear, and perfectly disinterested, he may
accept it and be silenced by it, but his anger will be unsub-
dued. Love alone can overcome anger. The waters to
quench the fires of revenge must be drawn from the foun-
tains of a loving heart. Secondly: It must be obviously
unostentatious. It must be "a gift in secret"—"a reward
in the bosom." A gift loses its moral value, its moral
power as an atonement, when it is offered in an ostentatious
spirit. It is an instinct of virtue to shrink from parade;
it wishes to make itself known by silent deeds, not by
trumpet sounds.
Do not let anger which you have unrighteously excited
burn on in human breasts without earnest effort for its
extinguishment, for verily anger is a terrible thing. "If
you look into this troubled sea of anger," says good old
Thomas Adams in his quaint way, "and desire to see the
image of a man, behold you find fiery eyes, a faltering
tongue, gnashing teeth, a heart boiling in brine, and dry-
ing up the moisture of the flesh till there be scarce any
part left of his right composition." "If thine enemy be
hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he be thirsty, give him
water to drink; for thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his
head, and the Lord shall reward thee."
Proverbs 21:15
Moral Contrasts
"It is joy to the just to do judgment:
but destruction shall be to the workers of iniquity."
HERE is a twofold contrast.
A contrast in CONDUCT.—First: Here is a doing of judg-
ment. "It is a joy to the just to do judgment." The
whole of man's duty may be comprehended in two words
—do justice. Do justice to yourself, respect your own
nature, train your own faculties, promote your own rights.
Chap. XXI.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 505
Do justice to society—"whatever ye would that men should
do unto you, do even so to them." Do justice to your
Maker—"render unto him the glory due unto His name."
Secondly: Here is a working of wrong. "Workers of
iniquity." This is the very opposite conduct to the former.
To work iniquity is to act in opposition to all the duties we
owe ourselves, society, and God. All men on earth are
found pursuing one of these two courses: all are doing the
just or the unjust. Here is—A contrast in DESTINY.—
Here is blessedness. "It is joy to the just to do judg-
ment." "Virtue is its own reward." As heat issues from
the fire, and light flows from the sun, joy springs from
righteous doings. The ways of rectitude are ways of
pleasantness and peace. Every true act of justice swells
the melody of the heart's true joy. "The work of right-
eousness shall be peace, and the effect of righteousness,
quietness and assurance for ever." Secondly: Here is ruin.
"Destruction shall be to the workers of iniquity." "De-
struction" of what? Not of existence, not of consciousness,
not of moral obligations, but of all that can make exist-
ence happy. The "workers of iniquity" are working their
own ruin. Destruction and misery are in their way, and
the ways of peace they have not known.
Proverbs 21:16
Hopeless Apostasy
"The man that wandereth out of the way of understanding shall remain in
the congregation of the dead."
APOSTASY is of two kinds, good and bad. The man who
renounces a false creed, or abandons a wrong course of
life, is a praiseworthy apostate. But he who renounces the
true and the right, is an apostate morally censurable. All
sinners in the universe are apostates in this sense, they
have forsaken the true and the good. All sin is an apos-
506 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXI.
tasy. There are two classes of criminal apostates in the
universe—those whose condition is hopeless, and those
who may yet be restored to the true and the good. Fallen
angels, and finally impenitent men, belong in all probabi-
lity to the former class; those who are redeemable by
Christianity belong to the latter.
The verse points us to the hopeless apostate.
HIS CONDUCT.—He "wandereth out of the way of under-
standing." First: All apostates were once in "the way of
understanding." "The way of understanding" is the
way of rectitude, religion, godliness. The Infinitely Holy
One never created a soul that He did not put in that way
at first. All the lowest fiends in the universe were once in
"the way of understanding." To suppose otherwise
would be to make God the author of sin. "Lo, this only
have I found, that God hath made man upright: but they
have sought out many inventions." Secondly: All apos-
tates are now wandering from that way. "All we like
sheep have gone astray." All sinners are prodigals that
have wandered from their Father's house—homeless, be-
nighted, hell-exposed wanderers. They are lost, and every
step makes their condition worse. Fallen spirits are stars
that have wandered from their orbit, to whom is reserved
"the blackness of darkness for ever."
HIS RUIN.—"Shall remain in the congregation of the
dead." The word here translated "dead" is elsewhere
rendered "giants." But it is also rendered "dead " in
many other passages. Parkhurst and most critics consider
intensity to be implied in the word, and would represent
the idea by the expression "mighty dead." The language
implies, First: Utter ruin. "Dead." The death of the
hopeless apostate is not annihilation, but something infi-
nitely worse; it means the wreck of all that can make
existence worth having. Secondly: Collective ruin. "The
congregation of the dead." There is a vast assemblage of
ruined souls somewhere in the universe. They are together,
yet they have no fellowship, for they lack mutual sympathy
and confidence. "Devil with devil damned." What a
"congregation!" Who can tell their number? Who can
Chap. XXI.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 507
fathom the depth of their anguish? Conscience their
preacher, and groans their psalmody. But on this earth is
not the vast assemblage of corrupt men, "a congregation
of the dead?" Thirdly: Interminable ruin. "Shall re-
main.” "Remain"—how long? Will there ever come
a period to the misery of their condition? I know not.
The following passages are terrible answers to the problem.
"For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the
knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice
for sins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and
fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries."
"For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the
world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour
Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and over-
come, the latter end is worse with them than the begin-
ning."
Proverbs 21:17
Self-indulgence, a Source of Poverty
"He that loveth pleasure shall be a poor man:
he that loveth wine and oil shall not be rich,"
SELF-INDULGENCE is prevalent amongst all classes.
There is a strong tendency in all to pamper appetite, and
to gratify the flesh. Wealth, where it is possessed, is em-
ployed for this purpose. It is used to bring the choicest
viands from every shore, and to procure those arts that
can please the senses, and charm the imagination. Where
it is not possessed, it is struggled after with the hope of its
ministering to self-gratification. Self-indulgence is not
human happiness; it is a delirium, not a delight. It is a
mere titillation of the dying nerves, not a Divine thrill of
our imperishable sensibilities and powers. Its music is
the notes of a maniac, not the strains of a seraph.
508 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXI.
The verse teaches that this self-indulgence tends to
poverty, but how?
It involves an EXTRAVAGANCE OF EXPENDITURE.—A
man that "loveth pleasure" and "wine and oil," who gives
himself up to self-indulgence, is generally tempted to
lavish expenditure of his means. Pleasure is an expensive
divinity. It demands the most costly sacrifices. The
largest fortunes must often be laid upon its altar. How
frequently in our journals do we read of historic families
ruined, and lordly estates bartered away, for the mere love
of pleasure! Profligate voluptuousness, with its expensive
viands, its luxurious refinements, its costly establishments,
and its foolish pastimes, makes light work with fortunes.
It involves a FOSTERING OF LAZINESS.—The self-indulgent
man becomes such a lover of ease, that effort of any kind
becomes distasteful and repulsive; the spirit of industry
forsakes him, and all his energies sleep in the lap of self-
indulgence. And indolence, as Solomon has often told us,
and as all history shows, tends to poverty. "He that
loveth pleasure, shall be a poor man; he that loveth wine
and oil shall not be rich." But whilst it is true that self-
indulgence leads to material poverty, it also leads to a
poverty of a far worse description. It leads to intellectual
poverty. The self-indulgent man, if he reads at all, reads
not those productions which inform the judgment, challenge
thought, and stimulate inquiry, but tales that are the foulest
froth of literature. If he thinks, he does not think upon
those great subjects which quicken, refine, and en-
noble the soul, but on such as constitute the gossip of
the hour. Consequently, his intellect is pauperized. It
leads to spiritual poverty. The man who would get his
soul strong in holy resolves and righteous principles, must
agonize to enter in at the "strait gate" of habitual reflec-
tion, holy labour, and earnest worship. This the self-
indulgent man will not do.
Chap. XXI.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 509
Proverbs 21:18
The Wicked, a Ransom for the Righteous
“The wicked shall be a ransom for the righteous,
and the transgressor for the upright."
THE sentiment expressed in these words is God's special
regard for the interest of His people. He uses even wicked
men as a "ransom" for them. The sentiment is expressed
elsewhere—"For I am the Lord, thy God, the Holy One of
Israel, thy Saviour: I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia
and Seba for thee. Since thou wast precious in my sight,
thou hast been honourable, and I have loved thee: there-
fore will I give men for thee, and people for thy life."*
"How was Egypt a ‘ransom’?" says an able expositor.
"Not in the strict and proper sense of the word; but when
Israel was to be delivered, and Egypt, the oppressor, stood
in the way, the deliverance was effected at the cost of
Egypt,—by plagues on her people and land, and the
destruction of her armies. Thus, in after times, was the
army of Sennacherib sacrificed for the deliverance of good
King Hezekiah and his people, when in the time of their
perplexity and peril, they cried unto the Lord. Thus
did the plots of the wicked Haman for the destruction of
Mordecai and the Jews come back upon himself. In the
end, "all the wicked" that have opposed "the righteous,"
and done what they could to frustrate their salvation, shall
become, for their sakes, the victims of the Divine dis-
pleasure." The wicked are a "ransom" for the righteous
in many ways. Their history is a warning to the righteous.
However secularly grand in life, their end is ever lamen-
table. "Like sheep they are laid in the grave." They act
as beacons to the good. "I have seen the wicked in great
power, and spreading himself like a green bay tree: yet
he passed away, and, lo, he was not; yea, I sought him,
but he could not be found."† Their antagonism is a test to
* Isaiah xliii. 3, 4. † Psalm xxxvii. 35.
510 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXI.
the righteous. Principles, to grow in purity and strength,
require testing. As trees require storms to strengthen
their roots, righteous souls require opposition to deepen
their hold on truth and God. Their productions are often
of service to the righteous. The discoveries they make, the
arts they invent, the enterprises they accomplish, are often
turned by the good to their own account. God makes the
wicked serve the good. Whatever the wicked in the midst
of their pride and pomp may think, they are mere sacrifices
for the good and the true. This is God's plan. Several
remarks rise out of this fact:
THE WICKED ARE NOT TO BE ENVIED.—What though
they have the wealth and power of the world, they are the
mere servants of the righteous; and what is worse, they
serve the righteous not only without a will, but against
their will. Serve them by their very opposition; serve
them as Joseph's brothers served him, as the Jewish
Sanhedrim in the Crucifixion of Christ served the highest
interests of humanity. Do not envy the wicked. THE
GOOD ARE NOT TO BE PITIED.—They may be poor, des-
pised, oppressed; what of that?" All things work
together for their good." Heartless despots and proud
aristocracies are but spokes in the wheels of that provi-
dential chariot which rolls the good triumphantly onward
to sublimer experiences. THE WORLD'S RULER IS NOT TO
BE MISTRUSTED.—He has promised, what the purity, the
justice, and the love of His character demand, that the
saints shall rule the earth one day, that the right with the
might shall prevail. Since He is such a Master of wicked
men and even devils, too, as to make them unwittingly
minister to the good of His people, shall we doubt Him?
Hell itself is an instrument by which He works out His
vast and beneficent designs. The arch-fiend, the head and
leader of all wicked principalities and powers, is not only
chained to His car, but made to bear it onward according
to His Eternal Will.
Chap. XXI.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 511
Proverbs 21:20
Wealth in Relation to Character
"There is treasure to be desired and oil in the dwelling of the wise:
but a foolish man spendeth it up"*
MEN make a great mistake when they suppose that things
which are good for some are equally good for others. It is
the character of the man that determines the value of
things to him. What would be a blessing to one man
would be a curse to another. Intellect, genius, wealth,
these are of no service to a man without pure love and
noble aims, but the reverse. What boots a musical
instrument in a man's house if neither he nor his household
have either the science or the soul of music? These
remarks are suggested by this verse, which implies that
wealth is desirable for the good, but undesirable for the
wicked.
It is DESIRABLE for the GOOD.—"There is treasure to
be desired and oil in the dwelling of the wise." Wealth "in
the dwelling of the wise" is a good thing, a thing to
be rejoiced in, not only by its possessor, but by his neigh-
bours and the world at large. First: He will get out of it
good for his own soul. To him it will not be a golden
chain fastening him to the material, but a pinion to
bear him into the sunny realms of spiritual freedom. It is
said that the Duke of Brunswick is confined in Paris by the
fear of losing his wealth, which consists of an extraordinary
collection of diamonds, valued at nearly half-a-million.
These diamonds keep him in chains. He does not sleep
away a single night. There he lies, in a house constructed
not so much for comfort as security. It is burglar-proof,
surrounded on every side by a high wall; the wall itself is
surrounded by a lofty iron railing defended by innumerable
sharp spear heads, which are so contrived that if any person
touches one of them, a chime of bells begins instantly to
*Verse 19 has been noticed in a previous Reading.
512 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXI.
ring an alarm. This iron railing cost him ₤ 2,821. He
keeps his diamonds in a wall; his bed is placed against it,
that no burglar may break into it without killing, or, at
least, waking him, and that he may amuse himself without
leaving his bed. The safe is lined with granite and with
iron; if it is opened by violence, a discharge of firearms,
which will, inevitably kill the burglar, takes place, and at
the same time a chime of bells in every room in the house
is set ringing. He has but one window in his bedroom,
the sash of the stoutest iron, and cannot be entered unless
one be master of the secret combination of the lock. A
case of a dozen six-barrelled revolvers, loaded and capped,
lies upon a table within reach of his bed. "A good
fortune," says Seneca,—and he spoke from experience, for
he is said to have been worth £3,000,000—"is a great
slavery." To the true, generous, and godly soul, however,
wealth has no such manacling power; on the contrary, it
becomes the means of widening the soul's sphere of action,
and stimulating its love of freedom. His gold is not a
prison to confine him, but a vessel to bear him abroad into
new climes. Secondly: He will use it for good to others.
He will employ it to ameliorate the material distresses of
men. With it he will feed the hungry, clothe the naked,
and heal the sick, With it he will promote the mental
advancement of men. He will rear schools, employ
teachers, and multiply agencies for advancing the mental
culture of the race. He will not neglect the spiritual
interests of mankind. He will build churches, multiply
copies of the scriptures, and promote the ministry of the
Holy Word. In a world like ours what good a rich man
may do with his wealth! Hence "treasure is to be desired,
and oil in the dwelling of the wise."
The verse implies that wealth—
Is UNDESIRABLE for the WICKED.—"But a foolish man
spendeth it up." "Foolish" is the synonym for wicked.
It is implied that the wicked often come into the possession
of wealth, for they cannot spend it unless they have it. As
a rule, perhaps, the wicked in the world possess a larger
amount of wealth than the good. They get it by fraud and
Chap. XXI.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 513
violence, and sometimes by fortune. Not unfrequently,
indeed, do they come in possession of the property once
held by the good. Perhaps Solomon here has a reference
to that. Elsewhere, at any rate, he alludes to it. "Yea,
I hated all my labour which I had taken under the sun:
because I should leave it unto the man that shall be after
me. And who knoweth whether he shall be a wise man
or a fool? Yet shall he have rule over my labour wherein I
have laboured, and wherein I have shown myself wise
under the sun. This is also vanity."* But however he
may come in possession of it, it is of no real service to him.
"He spendeth it up." This may mean either, First: That
he spendeth it upon himself. This he generally does. He
lays it out to pamper his appetites, and gratify his lusts.
He often spends it all upon himself, and thus buries his
soul in bloated animalism. This may mean, Secondly:
He squanders it away. How often do wicked men by their
extravagancies and gamblings dissipate large fortunes!
And sometimes by their very greed they do so. "As AEsop's
dog, who, having a piece of meat in his mouth, and espying
the shadow thereof in the water, thinking it had been
another piece of flesh, snatched at it, and, through his
greedy desire, lost that which he had before. Even so
rich men, who might peaceably and quietly enjoy the
goods they have, and taste with pleasure the fruits of
their labours, by their covetous humour deprive themselves
wholly thereof, and setting before their eyes a fraudulent
and deceitful hope of things that seem to be good, forget
for the most part those things that are good indeed."
Rejoice in the wealth of the good, covet not the wealth
of the wicked. "If a rich man," says Socrates, "is proud
of his wealth, he should not be praised until it is known
how he spends it."
“Young was I once, and poor; now rich, and old.
A harder case than mine was never told:
Blest with the power to use them, I had none;
Loaded with riches now, the power is gone."
ANTIPHILUS
* Eccles. xi. 18, 19.
514 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXI.
Proverbs 21:21
The True Pursuit of Mankind
"He that followeth after righteousness and mercy findeth life, righteousness,
and honour."
MAN is made for action; his health and his happiness de-
pend upon the development of his activities. Inaction is
ennui, is death. The development of his active powers re-
quires an object of pursuit set before him calculated to
stimulate his desires, and at the same time to command the
approval of his conscience. An object of pursuit sufficient
to excite and harmoniously develop all the activities of
human nature must be characterized at least by three
qualities. It must agree with the sense of right. Men will
not throw their full being into a work that clashes with that
imperishable sense of rectitude which Heaven has planted
in human nature. It must agree with the necessary con-
ditions of physical comfort. The object must be great
enough to allow a man full scope for that industry and
skill by which physical subsistence and secular comforts
are attained. It must be everlastingly interesting. The
object must keep up man's interest from day to day, year
to year, age to age, as long as he exists. If the interest
wanes, his energies will collapse. Where is such an object
of pursuit to be found? It is in the Bible, it is in the
verse.
GOODNESS IS THE OBJECT.—"He that followeth after
righteousness and mercy." These two words represent
universal excellence. " Righteousness" means giving one
his due, doing justice to all. There is a justice man owes
himself. He should properly train his own faculties, dis-
cipline his own affections, guard his own rights. There is
a justice which a man owes his fellow-creatures; and there
is a justice which he owes his God. He is bound to love
Him with all his heart, and to serve Him with all his
energy. "Mercy" is love. There may be love without
Chap. XXI.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 515
mercy, because it may exist without knowledge of suf-
fering; but there is no mercy without love—and "love is
the fulfilling of the law." "God is love," and without love
or charity, "we are nothing." Now this goodness con-
sisting in rectitude and love, is to be the grand object of
human pursuit. We are to follow after this, First:
Supremely. It is to be the greatest thing in our horizon;
it is to be the goal in the race of life. “I follow after,"
says Paul, "if that I may apprehend that for which also I
am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not
myself to have apprehended; but this one thing I do, for-
getting those things which are behind, and reaching forth
unto those which are before, I press toward the mark,
for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ
Jesus."* We are to follow after this, Secondly: Con-
stantly. It must be pursued, not occasionally, but always;
not on the Sundays, but on the week-days as well; not in
occasional seasons of worship, but in all departments of
business. It is to be the one thing. As the motherly life
runs through all the various departments of motherly
history, so this moral life must permeate and rule all our
daily activities.
HAPPINESS IS THE ATTENDANT.—"Findeth life, righteous-
ness and honour." "He findeth life." Life stands for
happiness frequently in the Bible. "Eternal life," in the
New Testament, means eternal blessedness. The unre-
generate has no true life; to have true life is to have true
happiness. He "findeth righteousness." The righteous
man will be righteously dealt with. The measure he has
meted to others will be measured to him again. He
"findeth honour." God has established such a connection
between excellence and conscience, that conscience must
reverence it wherever seen. Take the three words, "life,
righteousness, honour," as representing happiness, then you
have the idea that happiness comes as goodness is pur-
sued. It does not come because the man is seeking it,
but because he is seeking goodness as an end it flows in
upon him at every step. This is the true doctrine. Hap-
* Phil. iii. 12-14.
516 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXI.
piness never comes to man when he seeks it as an end.
The constitution of our nature shows this. Happiness,
whence comes it? It wells out of those activities which
spring from generous self-oblivious love. The experience
of man shows this. Who have been the truly happy men?
The unselfish and the loving. The word of God shows
this. "He that loseth his life shall find it." "The pure
in heart shall see God." The man is "blessed in his
deeds." Is not happiness the end of the universe? Yes.
Did not God intend us to be happy? Yes. But He has
ordained that our happiness shall grow out of our good-
ness. To be happy is to be good; to be good is to be like
Himself.
Proverbs 21:22
The March of the Good
"A wise man scaleth the city of the mighty,
and casteth down the strength thereof."
THE sentiment of this verse Solomon expresses more
than once in the book of Ecclesiastes.—“Wisdom strength-
ened the wise more than the mighty men which are in the
city." "Wisdom is better than strength." The superiority
of mental to muscular force is everywhere manifest. It is
seen in man's control in the world about him. By intel-
ligence he brings the wildest and strongest beasts of the
field into subjection to himself. It is seen in human go-
vernments: it is the few wise men of an age that control
the millions: the few civilised souls that lead a nation of
barbarians captive at their will. A few thinking men in
England control 150,000,000 of the human race in India.
"Wisdom is better than strength." The superiority of
mental over muscular force has often been seen in human
warfare. The proverb has had at times a literal fulfil-
ment. Look at ancient Babylon, with its insurmountable
walls and bulwarks; it seemed secure, and its monarch
Chap. XXI.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 517
could smile in proud defiance at the power of the mightiest
assailants. But: Cyrus had something besides military
forces. He had wisdom; and the turning of the course of
the Euphrates, and entering by its channel, accomplished
what force could not in any way effect. In an unexpected
moment, a moment of careless and fearless mirth and
revelry, while it was glorying in the impregnable security of
its lofty and massive muniments, "the strength of the con-
fidence" of Babylon was "cast down." The superiority
of mental over muscular force is seen every day in com-
merce. Who are the men who do the most business in the
world's great mart? Not the men whose muscular power is
always on the stretch, all hurry, bustle, and almost out of
breath; but those who, with superior mind, forecast,
arrange, direct. It is not in the shop where the greatest
bustle is that the most business is done. "Strength,
wanting judgment and policy to rule, overturneth itself."
(Horace) . The superiority of mental over muscular force
is seen in religion. Mere force, alas, has often been
employed by governments to secure religion, but it has
signally failed; coercion cannot travel to a man's soul.
It is the power of mind alone, in the form of argument,
suasion, example, that spreads truth. We shall now look
on the text as suggesting the march of the good. "A wise
man," in Solomon's meaning, is a good man, and the
words therefore may express, that a good man overcomes
difficulties.
A good man in his progress SURMOUNTS OBSTRUC-
TIONS.—"A wise man scaleth the city of the mighty."
The march of a good man may be compared to that of
an aggressive soldier; one who has to go forth to
subdue fresh enemies and win new conquests, one who,
like him in the Apocalyptic vision, has to go forth
conquering and to conquer." Everywhere, however,
he meets with difficulties—"the city of the mighty."
Political institutions, social customs, secular interests,
and religious prejudices. These rear their formidable
heads before him like the "city of the mighty." In
the strength of God he goes on. He "scaleth the city."
518 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXI.
"He casteth down imaginations, and everything that
exalteth itself." By his faith he overcomes difficulties; he
says to the mountain, "Depart," and his behest is obeyed.
Thus Paul marched on. A good man in his progress
CONFOUNDS OBSTRUCTIONS.—"He casteth down the
strength of the confidence thereof." He becomes more
than a conqueror. The Christian warrior destroys the
confidence of his opponents; he strikes into their souls
the arrows of his convictions, and in their terror, they
exclaim, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?" The
confidence of the wicked is based on falsehood, and as
truth advances it gives way; is based on ignorance, and
as intelligence advances it must yield; is based on sel-
fishness and injustice, and as benevolence and rectitude
advance it must totter to the fall. Let not force, though
organized by governments and backed by battalions,
depress the good man with alarm.
"What is strength, without a double share
Of wisdom? Vast, unwieldly, burthensome;
Proudly secure, yet liable to fall
By weakest subtleties: strength's not made to rule,
But to subserve where wisdom bears command."
MILTON
"My brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power
of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye
may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil."
Proverbs 21:23
The Government of the Tongue
"Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue keepeth his soul from troubles."
I HAVE somewhere read of a plain, ignorant man, who came
to a learned man and desired him to teach him some one
Psalm or other. He began to read to him Psalm xxxix.,
Dixi custodiam, &c., "I said, I will look to my ways that I
Chap. XXI.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 519
offend not with my tongue." Having passed this first verse
the poor man shut the book and took his leave, saying that he
would go and learn that point first. When he had absented
himself for the space of some months, he was demanded by
his teacher when he would go forward. He answered that
he had not learned his old lesson, and he gave the very
same answer to one that asked the like question forty-nine
years after. Such a hard thing is it to rule this unruly
member of the tongue, that it must be kept in with a bit
and a bridle, bolts and bars. Our subject is the govern-
ment of the tongue.
Such a government is NECESSARY. "Whoso keepeth
his mouth and his tongue, keepeth his soul from troubles."
What troubles come through an ungoverned tongue ?
First: Troubles on self. The troubles of moral remorse
have often been brought into the soul through un-
guarded language. When a word unkind, untruthful,
or unjust, has slipped from the lips thought begins its work,
and the conscience gets painfully excited, and the soul
thunders with self-denunciation. Such a word would be
recalled, but it cannot be. It has gone forth, and its march
will be as interminable as the march of the stars. The
troubles of social distress have often come upon a man
through unguarded language. Friends have been sacri-
ficed, enemies created, litigations commenced, and fines
and penalties enacted. Truly an ungovernable tongue is
like an unbridled steed or an unruddered vessel. It will
bear to ruin. Secondly: Troubles on others. An un-
governed tongue is like a river whose embankments have
given way, spreading disasters through a whole neighbour-
hood. Half the law suits and wars in the world have been
brought about through unguarded speech. In America,
the Indians strike a spark from flint and steel, and thus set
fire to dry grass, and the flames spread and spread until
they sweep like a roaring torrent over a territory as large
as England, and men and cattle have to flee for their lives.
An unguarded word can produce a social conflagration
greater far. "Behold how great a matter a little fire
kindleth," and the tongue is a fire.
520 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXI.
Such a government is PRACTICABLE.—This is implied in
the expression, "Whoso keepeth his mouth." St. James
makes it incumbent, by showing that it is essential to
religion. "If any among you seem to be religious, and
bridleth not his tongue, and deceiveth his own heart, this
man's religion is vain." The tongue is not an involuntary
organ, an organ that works irrespective of the will, like the
heart and lungs; it is always the servant of the mind, it
never moves without volition. Heaven has endowed us
with a natural sovereignty, equal not only to the govern-
ment of the tongue, but to all the lusts and passions that
set it in motion. A finer manifestation of moral majesty
you can scarcely have than in reticence under terribly excit-
ing circumstances; and such a reticence Christ displayed
when He stood before His insulting judges. Do not let
this steed ride without a bridle, do not let this vessel move
without a rudder. "Give not thy tongue," says old Quarles,
"too great a liberty, lest it take thee prisoner. A word
unspoken is like the sword in the scabbard, thine; if vented,
thy sword is in another's hand. If thou desirest to be held
wise, be so wise as to hold thy tongue."
Proverbs 21:24
The Infamous
"Proud and haughty scorner is his name, who dealeth in proud wrath."
THERE are two very abhorrent things in the text, an in-
famous name and infamous conduct.
An infamous NAME.—"Proud and haughty scorner is
his name." The first element in an infamous name is
pride, and this is an ignominious thing. What is pride?
Exaggerated self-esteem. The proud man is one who has
grossly overrated his own merits, and who lives and acts
in the absurd fiction. The next element in an infamous
Chap. XXI.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 521
name is haughtiness. Haughtiness is pride in its last
stage of moral absurdity. It is pride run into arrogance
and imperious contempt. The third element in an in-
famous name is scorn. Scorn is extreme haughtiness.
The "scorner" is a man that despises everything that does
not tally with his own notions, and recognize his own
imaginary superiority. A more odious character than a
"scorner" is not to be found in any of the ranks of
infamy. The man to whom this name applies must be
characterized, First: By untruthfulness. The proud man
lives in falsehood. He is inspired with ideas concern-
ing himself that are so outrageously untrue to fact, that
men laugh at him and despise him. Secondly: By inhu-
manity. To the "proud" and "haughty" self is so important
that the claims of others are ignored or outraged. The
haughty spirit will tread the interests of families, commu-
nities, and nations in the dust, in order to aggrandize self.
Thirdly: By irreligion. The "scorner" has no reverence
either for virtue, truth, or God. Such is the infamous
name that we have here, a name abhorrent to God and
man. There are certain names in law which, if you apply
to men, will render you liable to an action for libel; but
here are names worse than any of them, which civil law
does not touch. Tell me that a man is "proud" and
"haughty," and scorning, and you will tell me that he is
allied to the infernal, and that he is a child of the devil.
Pharaoh, Sennacherib, and Haman are amongst the
men that stand forth in history as the representatives of
this infamous name. Here is—
An Infamous CONDUCT.—"Dealeth in proud wrath."
This is the conduct of the man who deserves the in-
famous name. He is not only angry. Most men are
angry at times. And there is a righteous anger; but he
"dealeth" in wrath, "proud wrath." Insolent and
haughty indignation. He dealeth in it. His wrath does
not come up occasionally as a gust of wind and then
pass away, but he deals in it; it is his trade. Malignity
is his inspiration; it gratifies him to inflict suffering; the
groans of anguish are music to his ears. There have ever
522 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXI.
been monsters of this class. The Neros and the Julians of
history. Malice, it has been said, is the devil's picture.
Lust makes a man brutish, malice makes him devilish.
Malice is mental murder: you may kill a man and never
touch him.
Let us studiously, earnestly, and prayerfully eschew the
evils that make up the infamous character in the text.
Let us cultivate humility, that low, sweet root from which
all heavenly virtues shoot. "Humility," says Sir Thomas
More, "to superiors is duty; to equals courtesy; to
inferiors nobleness, and to all it's safety." It is safety,
because it always keeps the soul at anchor, however high
the seas or boisterous the winds.
Proverbs 21:25-26
Sloth
"The desire of the slothful killeth him; for his hands refuse to labour. He
coveteth greedily all the day long: but the righteous giveth and spareth not."
SOLOMON here strikes another blow at sloth. It is one of
his Apollyons. We have found him battling with it many
times before. Here he deals out to it another stroke as he
passes on. He seems to attach to it here several evils,
suicide, greed, and unrighteousness.
SUICIDE.—"The desire of the slothful killeth him." The
man who is too lazy to move his limbs or open his eyes is
not too lazy to have a "desire." Within the bosom of his
lazy carcase he hatches swarms of desires, he covets social
prestige, mental furniture, perhaps moral goodness; but
he is too indolent to make the necessary efforts to gain
them. "His hands refuse to labour." These desires kill
him. There are several things that tend to kill such a
man. First: Ennui. This is what Byron calls "that awful
yawn which sleep cannot abate." In all life there is not a
Chap. XXI.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 523
more crushing power than lassitude. It breeds those mor-
bid moods that explain half the diseases of the rich and
would-be gentry, "the lounging class." Secondly: Dis-
appointment. There is the desire for what is considered a
good, some little effort perhaps is made, but the effort is
insufficient, and it succeeds not, and then comes disap-
pointment, and disappointment kills. Thirdly: Envy.
The slothful sees others succeed, coming into possession,
and enjoying the very blessings he desired; this brings
with it that envy which Solomon says is the "rottenness
of the bones." The poet says,
"O envy, hide thy bosom; hide it deep!
A thousand snakes, with black envenomed mouths,
Nest there, and hiss and feed through all thy heart."
Fourthly: Poverty. How much of that pauperism which
slays its thousands in England every year is brought on
through slothfulness! Sloth fills our workhouses with
paupers, our prisons with criminals, our army with re-
cruits. Fifthly: Remorse. When the good desired is vir-
tuous in its character, its non-possession fills the slothful
with self-accusation and remorse, for he knows that he
might have had it had he worked. How true it is, then,
that "the desire of the slothful killeth him, for his hands
refuse to labour." Another evil is—
GREED.—"He coveteth greedily all the day long." He
sees others in the possession and enjoyment of what he
wants. He longs after the same but he will do nothing to
obtain it. "He sets his heart on all he sees, and pines away
in that "envy which is the rottenness of the bones." In
the Paris French translation the word stands thus —"All
the day long he does nothing but wish." How very ex-
pressive at once of the unconquerable indolence and the
fretful, envious, pining unhappiness of the sluggard! And
in his wishing he may at times, by the power of a sanguine
imagination, work himself into hope. And then, disap-
pointed, he only embitters the cup of his own mingling—
aggravates the misery which he is painfully conscious is
self-inflicted." The slothful are generally greedy, and
524 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXI.
covetousness lies at the root of all crime; it is against the
Decalogue of Jehovah, the Gospel of Jesus, and the moral
order of the universe. Paul classes it amongst the damna-
bilities of the moral world.
UNRIGHTEOUSNESS.—"But the righteous giveth and
spareth not." This implies that the slothful are neither
righteous nor generous. The "righteous" are industrious.
But the slothful are the reverse. An indolent man is living
the life of practical injustice; he consumes the product of
other men's labours, he takes from the common stock and
adds nothing to it. The idler, whether in the higher or
lower ranks of society, is a social felon, and should be
dealt with accordingly. Because he is slothful he has
neither the heart nor the power to give—not like the
righteous, "who giveth and spareth not." Diligence not
only brings power to give, but often the disposition to do
so. Avoid sloth, cultivate habits of industry; diligence is
at once the condition of getting and enjoying good. He
who knows not what it is to labour, knows not what it is
to enjoy. "Recreation is only valuable as it unbends us;
the idle know nothing of it." "It is only by labour," says
Ruskin, "that thought can be made healthy, and only by
thought that labour can be made happy, and the two can-
not be separated with impunity." Avoid sloth as you
would a fiend.
"See the issue of your sloth:—
Of sloth comes pleasure, of pleasure comes riot,
Of riot comes disease, of disease comes spending,
Of spending comes want, of want comes theft,
And of theft comes hanging."—BEN JONSON
Proverbs 21:27
Wickedness
"The
sacrifice of the wicked is abomination:
how much more, when he bringeth it with a wicked mind?"
THE first clause of the verse is a repetition of one already
noticed.* We shall therefore only offer two remarks on it.
* See Reading on chap. xv. 8.
Chap. XXI.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 525
That the BEST services of the wicked are always an
"abomination" to the Lord.—Sacrifices are the highest ser-
vices that men can render. They are always of two kinds
—offerings to God as an expression of love and homage,
and offerings to men, as expressions of goodwill and com-
passion. There are no higher services than these for man; it
is ever "more blessed to give than to receive." The highest
happiness of all intelligent creatures consists in giving—
giving to God and His creation. The "wicked" engage some-
times in this high service. They "sacrifice." They offer
prayers, they sing hymns, they subscribe to religious in-
stitutions, and sometimes give gifts to men; but these
services in them in all cases are an "abomination" to the
Lord. Why? Because the amount offered has not been
large enough, or because it has not been presented in those
forms which the laws of religion and benevolence prescribe
and sanction? No. But because the heart is wrong. God
abhors the sacrifice where the heart is not found. The
wicked man is one who keeps his heart from God, and if
he keeps his heart from Him, though he gave his all
beside, though he gave his body to be burned, his offerings
would be an "abomination."
The abomination of the best services of the wicked is
SOMETIMES INCREASED.— "How much more when he
bringeth it with a wicked mind." "The mind," says
Bridges, "under the dominant power of sin, is like a
pestilential atmosphere, which infests all within its sphere
of influence. Such was it when Balaam brought his sacri-
fice that he might curse Israel; Saul, in wayward dis-
obedience; the adulteress, as a lulling to her unwary prey;
the Pharisees, as a handle to their covetousness; Antino-
mian professors, for the indulgence of their lusts! What
an abomination must their service be before Him, Who is
‘of purer eyes than to behold evil, and cannot look on in-
iquity!'" "There are degrees in sin," says a modern
writer, "there are aggravating circumstances in the same
kinds of sin. There is wickedness in all hypocrisy—in all
religious dissimulation,—there being no one thing in which
'simplicity and godly sincerity' are more imperatively re-
526 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXI.
quired than the services of religion; but of all religious
dissimulation, that must be the most heinous in which an
act of worship is performed expressly to cover and facili-
tate the execution of an act of villany: when a worshipper
bows before the God of mercy and truth, with the assassin's
dagger under his garment, or confesses and prays ‘to the
righteous Lord who loveth righteousness,’ to preclude sus-
picion—to inspire confidence in his holy character, that he
may more easily succeed in pillaging the poor."
How much, in the churches of Christendom, which
passes for worship every Sunday, is an "abomination"?
How much? All that is not sincere.
"Oft, neath
The saintly veil, the votary of sin
May lurk unseen, and to that eye alone
Which penetrates the inmost heart, revealed."
BAILEY
Proverbs 21:28-29
Moral Qualities and Their Results
“A false witness shall perish: but the man that heareth speaketh constantly,
A wicked man hardeneth his face: but as for the upright, he directeth his way.”
IN these two verses we discover four moral qualities, and
an intimation of their issues—falsehood and ruin, veracity
and safety, wickedness and effrontery, righteousness and
self-control.
FALSEHOOD AND RUIN.—"A false witness shall perish,"
In the margin, for “false witness” we have a "witness of
lies." There are witnesses of lies in various departments
of life. In courts of justice. How many there are who, in
the witness-box, are constantly found giving in evidence
inventions of their own, stating what they know to have
no foundation in fact. In social circles. There are those
who are so accustomed to falsehood, that their conversation
is mythological. They coin falsehoods and put them into
Chap. XXI.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 527
circulation. In literary paths. How many things that
are recorded every day in the journalism as facts, are
utterly unfounded! There are scribblers that live by false-
hood. How much of the authorship of the present day
consists of fabrication! The most popular writers are the
greatest liars; the books that have the largest circulation
are fiction. In religious teaching. What errors stream
from the pulpits of Christendom; things are propounded
as Divine doctrine that contradict eternal fact, insult the
human intellect, and calumniate the Infinitely Good. But
"false witnesses" of all descriptions "shall perish," their
influence "shall perish," their peace of mind "shall
perish."
VERACITY AND SAFETY.—"But the man that heareth
speaketh constantly." "The man that heareth" stands
opposed to the "false witnesses." He does not speak
from his own deceitful imaginations, but from well authen-
ticated testimony. He is the man that "heareth." He
does not speak until he has well tested the matter. Tested
it by the laws of probability, and the laws of reason. He
is a truthful man. His veracity is scrupulous and religious.
What is the result of his conduct? He "speaketh con-
stantly." The meaning is, that he sustains his state-
ments; cross-question him, and you can elicit no inco-
herence, no contradiction. Moses Stuart thinks that the
meaning of the expression is—"That the sincere listener to
the Divine commands will ever be at liberty to speak and
find confidence put in what he says." The man of truth
stands constant to his position. Moral realities are immu-
table, and a true man is true to them.
WICKEDNESS AND EFFRONTERY.—"A wicked man
hardeneth his face." This man we have often described.
We have only to do here with the result of his conduct.
He "hardeneth his face." He has good cause to be
ashamed—blushes, blood-red, should suffuse his counte-
nance. But he gets impudent, granite-hearted, and
brazen-faced. Sometimes the wicked man, bent upon his
way, hardens his face against the most distinct warning
and intimations of the will of God.
528 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXII.
Nothing would hinder Balaam from his own "perverse
way." He even anticipated the conditional permission of
God, lest it should ultimately stand in his way. Ahab de-
terminately hardened his face against the clear prohibitions
of God. Jehoiakim, before his whole council, set Him at
defiance. His people ran with the bravery of madmen
"upon the thick bosses of his buckler." And does not sin
stand out before us with a brazen face?* The drunkard
reels at noon-day. The swearer pours out his wickedness
in the open crowd. The sensualist glories in his shame."†
UPRIGHTNESS AND SELF-CONTROL.—"As for the up-
right he directeth his way." The "upright man" stands
opposed to the wicked man, and he "directeth," or, as it is
in the margin, considereth, "his way." He does not har-
den his face, and go recklessly forward. But he considers
his way—takes heed to his steps. He endeavours to ascer-
tain what the path of duty is, and resolves that his feet
shall never swerve therefrom. He would rather be
innocent, and be thought guilty, than be guilty and
thought innocent.
Mark well the evils to avoid—falsehood, wickedness;
these lead to ruin and to reckless daring. Mark well the
excellencies to imitate—veracity and uprightness; in
these are safety and self-control. Heaven and hell are
both in the qualities of soul we cultivate. Blessed be this
state, damned be that!
"The mind is its own place,
And in itself can make a heaven or hell."
MILTON
Proverbs 22:1
Reputation and Riches
"A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches,
and loving favour rather than silver and gold."
THE verse must not be supposed to mean either of the
two following things: That mere renown is a good thing
* Isaiah iii. 9. † Phil. iii. 19.
Chap. XXII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 529
in itself. The love of fame is not the love of virtue, nor
has it any virtue in it. And when it becomes a passion,
as it often does, it is a heinous evil. It tramples on the
rights of humanity, and often sheds the blood of nations.
Even our great dramatist seems to have had this strong
love within him. “I am not covetous for gold; but if it
be a sin to covet honour, I am the most offending soul
alive.” Nor must the verse be supposed to mean—That
mere renown is a better thing to work for than wealth.
Of the two things, mere fame and mere wealth, the latter
is to be preferred as an object of pursuit. Wealth, uncer-
tain as it is, is more steadfast, and, transient as it is, is
more enduring, than mere fame. Even Byron, who sought
the latter, and found it too, pronounced it worthless.
"'Tis as a snowball, which derives assistance
From every flake, and yet rolls on the same,
Even till an iceberg it may chance to grow;
But, after all, 'tis nothing but cold snow."
The fact is, the verse does not point to mere fame at all,
but to a good reputation; for though the word "good " is
not in the original, it is evidently implied. What the
writer means to say is, that a good reputation is better
than wealth. The words suggest: —
THAT GREAT WEALTH IS GOOD.—"A good name is
rather to be chosen than great riches." He does not say
that to choose great riches is not good—the opposite is
implied. Great wealth is a blessing when rightly used.
Its value is more frequently denounced from envy than
from conviction. Wealth increases man's sources of
pleasure, and happiness is a good thing. The happy God
made his universe to be happy. Wealth increases man's
means of improvement. It puts at his service books,
leisure, halls of science, galleries of art, and other facilities
for true development. Wealth increases his power of use-
fulness. It enables him to mitigate poverty, to dispel
ignorance, ameliorate suffering, and advance all the
interests of man. With it he can rear asylums, hospitals,
schools, churches, and other institutions helpful to the
world. Don't despise wealth—get it if you can. In itself it
530 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXII.
is a good thing, and, rightly used, it is an immense blessing,
The words suggest—
THAT A GOOD REPUTATION IS BETTER. —"A good name
is rather to be chosen." Why? Because a good reputation
implies the possession of something more valuable than
secular wealth. That cannot be a valuable reputation which
is undeserved, and contrary to the facts of a man's moral life.
It is a fiction—an imposture. A good reputation implies a
good character—a character in harmony with the will of
God. Such a character is infinitely more valuable than
the wealth of millionaires—or the splendour of kingdoms.
It is intrinsic, imperishable wealth. Why? Because a good
reputation answers higher purposes than secular wealth.
It yields higher pleasure to the possessor. A man who
knows that he is universally respected, and feels that
he deserves the world-wide fame he has obtained, has
a pleasure that no worldly wealth can give him. General
credit for what we do not possess is rather painful than
pleasant; but credit for excellence of which we are con-
scious is indeed a pleasing thing. Next to the happiness
of being good is the happiness of being recognised as such.
The "loving favour" which goodness ensures, transcends
all the pleasures that "silver and gold " can possibly
procure. A bad man may have great riches, but a good man
only can have a truly "good name." Why? Because a good
reputation can render us more useful than secular riches.
The good man, who is universally respected because of his
goodness, has a free access to the souls of men. His
opinions have authority and force. "The loving favour"
which men have for him gives his thoughts and counsels a
ready entrance to our hearts. Secular wealth does not do this.
It often bolts the souls of men against its possessors. Why?
Because a good reputation is more inseparably connected
with its possessor than secular wealth. Secular wealth has
no vital connection with the man. The connection which
it has is extrinsic and fleeting. It must leave him sooner
or later. Such service as it renders is limited to earth. It
is worthless beyond the grave. But a good reputation—a
reputation founded on moral excellence of character—
Chap. XXII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 531
is inseparable from man. The memory of the just is
blessed. "The righteous shall be had in everlasting
remembrance."
Proverbs 22:2-3
Contrasts in Conditions and Characters
"The rich and poor meet together: the LORD is the maker of them all.
A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple
pass on, and are punished."
THESE verses present to us—
The GRAND AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE RICH AND THE
POOR.—First: They have a common meeting place. The
" rich and the poor" appear in society to walk at a great
distance from each other. In the circumstances of their
birth they seem to be very distant. The one is down in the
region of indigence, the other is up in the sphere of plenty.
In the circumstances of education they seem distant. The
poor are not allowed to mingle with the rich in schools.
In the circumstances of their daily avocation they are dis-
tant. The poor are down in the valleys of manual and
servile labour, often working as beasts of burden. The
rich are at their lucrative professions and recreative amuse-
ments. In the circumstances of their death they seem to be
distant. How different the external scenes of their death-
bed! How different, too, the grave in which they are
interred! The difference between them is marked, even in
the churchyard and cemeteries. In the circumstances
of their worship they seem to be distant. The poor must
sit in a free seat, whilst the man with the "gold ring" lounges
in his cushioned pew. Aye, aye, circumstantially the rich and
the poor are very distant from each other in this world.
But notwithstanding this they have a meeting place.—
"They meet together." Where do they meet? They meet
—in the cardinal necessities of their being. The essen-
tials of life and health—air, water, food, light—are com-
532 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXII.
mon to all. All meet at the common fountain of necessi-
ties. They meet in the common trials of human nature.
Sickness, disease, infirmities, decay, death—they all meet
here. The small and the great meet in the grave. They
descend the same region of darkness, loneliness, putrefac-
tion. They meet in the necessary conditions of intel-
lectual improvement:—observation, comparison, research,
reflection. There is no separate path—no royal road to
intellectual eminence. In the conditions too of spiritual
improvement they meet. "Repentance towards God, and
faith in our Lord Jesus Christ," are the necessary means to
spiritual culture. There is only one way of salvation.
They meet at the bar of their judge. The rich and the poor
must stand alike at last before the great tribunal of the
judge of quick and dead. Secondly: They have a com-
mon relationship. "The Lord is the maker of them all."
They have not the same fathers, mothers, sisters, teachers,
ministers, masters, but they have the same Creator. Before
this common relationship all circumstantial distinctions
vanish. The greatest monarch on earth in the presence of
the Creator is as insignificant as the meanest pauper. Be-
fore this common relationship all souls should blend in
worship. The poor and the rich are alike bound to love
Him supremely, to serve Him devotedly, to praise Him
enthusiastically, and for ever.
The verses present to us—
The ESSENTIAL DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE WISE AND
THE FOOLISH.—Observe here, First: The prevision and
providence of the wise. "A prudent man foreseeth the
evil and hideth himself." True wisdom is always asso-
ciated with forecast. It descries the future, foresees the
evil and the good. The wise man does not live in the
past, nor is he absorbed in the present, but he has re-
gard to the approaching. He provides for the secular evils
which he foresees, such as commercial panics, bankrupt-
cies, failing health, and for all he makes timely prepara-
tions. He provides for the moral evils which he foresees
—temptations, trials, death, judgment, and he "hideth
himself." He hastens to the true Refuge. Observe,
Chap. XXII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 533
Secondly: The recklessness and the ruin of the foolish.
—"The simple pass on and are punished." Whilst the
wise are like Noah, who, foreseeing the impending cala-
mity, prepared an ark and saved himself and house. The
foolish are like his contemporaries, pass heedlessly on,
and are punished.
All men spiritually are acting the character either of the
prudent or the simple. They are either foreseeing the
evils in the future and preparing to meet them, or else they
pass carelessly on to destruction. "Neglecting prepara-
tion for eternity," says one, "is like the traveller across
the desert, or through a hostile wilderness, who provides
nothing for his journey; like the ambassador to a far
country who forgets his message; like the invited guest
who puts not on the wedding garment; like the fool who
counselleth his soul to take its ease, while God's voice
called him to judgment."
Proverbs 22:4-5
Life, Prosperous and Perilous
"By humility and the fear of the LORD are riches, and honour, and life.
Thorns and snares are in the way of the froward: he that doth keep his soul shall
be far from them."
THESE two verses present to us human life in this world
in two phases, a prosperous and a perilous one. Here we
have one—
A PROSPEROUS phase.—"By humility and the fear of
the Lord are riches, and honour, and life."
First: Here are the elements of a prosperous life. What
are they? (1) Humility. What is humility? Not weakness.
There are those who are sometimes considered humble who
are too infertile in nature to grow ambition. They have
just power enough to crawl, they have no wings to fly.
Not servility. Those who are destitute of self-respect, who
534 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXII.
are mean and cringing in their instincts and habits, like
Uriah Heep in "David Copperfield," are not humble, but
mean and base. Not sanctimoniousness. There is much
mock humility both in the world and in the churches:
humble speeches throbbing with pride; humble dresses
covering hearts beating with vanity and ambition. The
poet says—
"There are some that use
Humility to serve their pride, and seem
Humble upon their way, to be prouder
At their wish'd journey's end."
The following anecdote was given by Robert Newton, the
celebrated Wesleyan preacher. He says, "An instance of
false humility was lately mentioned to me by the Deacon
of a Christian Church. One of the members was indulg-
ing freely in this strain; ‘What a poor, short-coming
creature I am!' This minister sighed and said, ‘Indeed
you have long given me painful reason to believe you.’
Whereupon the member, being taken at his word, replied
in a tone of anger, ‘Who told you anything about me? I
am as good as you. I will not come to hear you any
more; I will go somewhere else.’ And so he did." For
examples of true humility from Scripture see below.''*
Another element of a prosperous life here mentioned is—
(2) Reverence. "Fear of the Lord." In this fear there is
not a particle of servility or terror. It is the fear of love.
If there be aught of dread in it, it is the dread not of suffer-
ing but of wrong. It means godliness. The two things,
humility and the fear of the Lord, are indissolubly asso-
ciated.
Secondly: Here are the characteristics of a prosperous
life. What are they? Three are mentioned—"Riches,"
"honour," "life." The first, secular "riches," sometimes
*Abraham (Gen. xviii. 27); Jacob (Gen. xxxii. 10); Moses (Exod. iii. 2, iv. 10);
Joshua (Jos. vii. 6); Gideon (Judges vi. 15); David (1 Chron. xxix. 14); Heze-
kiah (2 Chron. xxxii. 26); Manasseh (2 Chron. xxxiii. 12); Josiah (2 Chron. xxxiv.
27); Job (Job xl. 4, xliii. 6); Isaiah (Isa. vi. 5); Jeremiah (Jer, i. 6); John the
Baptist (Matt. iii. 14); Centurion (Matt. viii. 8); Woman of Canaan (Matt. xv.
27); Elizabeth (Luke i. 43); Peter (Luke v. 8); Paul (Acts xx. 19).
Chap. XXII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 535
attend religion. "Godliness is profitable unto all things."
But such riches are of the lowest kind. The real riches,
the wealth of holy thoughts, lofty sentiments, high hopes,
are ever associated with genuine religion. "Honour" is
also mentioned. True spiritual excellence will always
command the honour and confidence of all consciences
both in this world and the world to come. It receives
the honour that cometh from above. Again, "life" is
mentioned. Not, of course, mere existence, but existence
in its highest and happiest developments. Existence in
connection with all that can make it valuable and blessed.
Such is human prosperity. Wealth, honour, and life, all
growing out of humility and the fear of the Lord. Here we
have another phase of life—
A PERILOUS phase.—"Thorns and snares are in the way
of the froward." Observe—
First: The perils of life described. "Thorns and snares."
There are lives vexed, fretted, wounded, lives of entangle-
ments, and risks, lives, in fact, in which men seem to be
walking every step on prickling thorns beneath which lie
hid serpents, precipices, and ravenous beasts of prey. Life
to some men is nothing but annoyances, pains, and per-
plexities.
Secondly: The perils of life incurred. Who are the
men exposed to them? The text answers the question.
"Thorns and snares are in the way of the froward." The
"froward" man stands in contrast to the man of humility
and the "fear of the Lord." He is the man of unbridled
will, stubborn, and headstrong. Self-willed stubbornness
has always led men into perplexities. Sarah, Jacob and
Balaam found the way of stubbornness full of "thorns and
snares," pains and perplexities. What a wretched destiny
is that of a sinner: his footway is distressing, his end is
ruinous.
Thirdly: The perils of life avoided. "He that doth keep
his soul shall be far from them." The word "them" may
refer either to the "froward" character or to the "thorns
and snares." Either sense gives the idea that the man
who keeps his soul, keeps it in humility in the "fear of the
536 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXII.
Lord," keeps it in holy fellowship and love, will avoid the
perils to which the wicked are exposed.
What a solemn yet glorious thing is life!
"'Tis not for man to trifle! Life is brief,
And sin is here.
Our age is but the falling of a leaf,
A dropping tear:
We have no time to sport away the hours;
All must be earnest in a world like ours.
"Not many lives, but only one have we—
One, only one!
How sacred should that one life ever be,
That narrow span!
Day after day filled up with blessed toil,
Hour after hour still bringing in new spoil."
DR. BONAR
Proverbs 22:6
Child-training
"Train up a child in the way he should go:
and when he is old he will not depart from it."
FOUR important subjects are implied in this verse.
THE SPECIAL TRAINABILITY OF CHILDHOOD. — "Train
up a child." What is training? Not mere teaching. A
child may be taught the art of reading and writing, and
the elements of general knowledge, and yet be untrained.
Instruction is one thing, education is another. There are
many well instructed, who are miserably educated, who are
in fact not educated at all. Training and education mean
the development of the intellectual and moral powers of
the soul, the bringing out into right and vigorous action
the germinant elements of the mind and heart. Now
childhood is the special period for this. If you will turn the
river into a new direction, do not wait until it approaches
the ocean, and the waters become a volume of resistless
force. Begin as near to the fountain head as possible. If
Chap. XXII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 537
you will train a tree, do not wait until its trunk has grown stiff
and bulky with years. Begin when it is in a sapling stage.
If you train a horse, you must begin with the colt. Youth
is the period for training. Indeed all life is trained in
youth, children are trained, either rightly or wrongly, the
process is ever going on. The soul is constantly running
into hideous crookedness and deformity or into stately
forms of strength. It is not a question with parents and
guardians whether those committed to their charge shall be
educated or not, educated they will be in some form or other.
Another subject implied in this verse is—
THE RIGHTEOUS PATH OF LIFE.—"In the way he should
go." Not in the way in which a child would go. That
would in all probability be in most cases a false and
wicked way, the way of error and ruin. Not the way in
which the world would have him go, the way of selfishness,
carnality, and pride. But in the way in which he "should
go." What is the way? The way of Christ. He is the
example. "Follow me" comprehends the totality of
man's moral obligation. To follow Him is to follow truth,
benevolence, happiness. This is the way, the only way.
Another subject implied in this verse is—
THE TERRIBLE FORCE OF HABIT.—"When he is old he
will not depart from it." If the way in which the child has
been trained is evil, when old he will not leave it. "Can
the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots?"
The statistics of conversions show that but few bad men
turn into the ways of rectitude and religion after forty
years of age. The tree is too stiff, and too gnarled to bend,
the river of influence has become too voluminous, too near
the ocean to be turned in another direction at that period
of life. But where the course has been right in youth, the
improbability of a change, we think, is greatly increased.
Conscience does not back the bad man in his habits, how-
ever strong they become. Conscience, this divine faculty,
is ever against him. But the good man in his habits is
always borne on by the whole might of his moral nature,
and a conversion from goodness in old age grows almost
into an impossibility.
538 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXII.
Another subject implied in this verse is—
THE SOLEMN ACCOUNTABILITY OF PARENTS.—The great
duty of training children devolves upon their parents. If
they have not the capacity and the time to give the neces-
sary amount of their personal attention to the work, they
should use their best judgment in the employment of sub-
stitutes. The parent, in consequence of the moral power
which he exerts upon the susceptible nature of his children,
becomes almost as much the author of their character as
he is the instrument of their existence. What, then? Is the
child mere passive entity, possessing no moral spontaneity,
no resisting force? Little, if any, in the first stages of
being. Must we in all cases of immorality and wickedness
in children ascribe culpable neglect, if nothing worse, to
parental conduct? We are bound to think so from such a
passage as this. The great philosopher Locke says,
“That of all the men we meet with, nine parts out of ten
are what they are, good or bad, useful or not, according to
their education.”
This subject presents—First: A lesson to the young.
Let youth avoid the wrong, and cultivate those habits which
are in accordance with morality and religion. Second : A
warning to the guardians of youth. Let parents, Sunday-
school teachers, public instructors, and statesmen, look well
to the rising generation. If parents would certainly know
that their little child would, in the course of seven or eight
years, fall into a deep river alone, would they wait until
that catastrophe occurred before they taught him to swim?
In the course of that period the infants now born will be
thrown into the great social river of depravity and corrup-
tion; and should they not, in the earliest stages, be taught
the moral art of keeping the current beneath them, and
making it bear them to scenes of safety and peace?
"Oh, for the coming of that glorious time,
When, prizing knowledge as her noblest wealth,
And best protection, this imperial realm,
While she exacts allegiance, shall admit
An obligation, on her part, to teach
Them who are born to serve her and obey;
Binding herself by statute, to secure
Chap. XXII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 539
For all the children whom her soil maintains,
The rudiments of letters, and inform
The mind with moral and religious truth,
Both understood and practised—so that none,
However destitute, be left to droop,
By timely culture unsustained, or run
Into wild disorder; or be forced
To drudge through a weary life without the help
Of intellectual implements and tools;
A savage horde among the civilized,
A servile band among the lordly free."
WORDSWORTH
Proverbs 22:7
The Social Rule of Wealth
"The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender."
WEALTH not only invests its possessor with the power to
gratify his appetites, tastes, and ambition, to cultivate his
intellect, and to furnish his mind with stores of choicest
knowledge, to ameliorate human woe, and to promote
general happiness; but invests him at the same time with
a regal influence. A wealthy man is the king of his depen-
dants. Indeed wealth rules commerce, and commerce
rules the parliaments of the world. In relation to this
subject we offer three remarks.
That this rule of wealth should ALWAYS be a GENEROUS
rule.—When we see a wealthy man loved, honoured, and
loyally served, because of the benefits that he has conferred
upon his fellows, his sovereignty is a matter for rejoicing.
Such was the sovereignty which Job, in the days of his pros-
perity, enjoyed. "The young men saw me and hid
themselves: and the aged arose and stood up. The
princes refrained talking and laid their hand on their
mouth. The nobles held their peace, and their tongues
cleaved to the roof of their mouth. When the ear heard
540 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXII.
me, then it blessed me, and when the eye saw me it gave
witness to me. Because I delivered the poor that cried,
and the fatherless, and them that had none to help him."
Again:—
This rule of wealth is FREQUENTLY TYRANNIC.—To how
many rich men of all ages do the thundering denunciations
of St. James apply, "Behold the hire of the labourers who
have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by
fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are
entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. Ye have
lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton: ye have
nourished your hearts as in a day of slaughter. Ye have
condemned and killed the just; and he did not resist you."
How often does the wealthy master exercise tyranny over
his servants, the wealthy landlord over his tenants, the
wealthy merchant over his customers, the wealthy nation
over poorer countries. The rule of wealth is oft tyrannic
Moreover—
This rule of wealth is EVER TEMPORARY.—There is an
empire which a man may establish here over his fellows
that might be permanent and ever extending; the empire
of superior thoughts, pure sympathies, divine aims and
deeds. By these men may become kings for ever under
God. But the reign of mere wealth is always uncertain,
and at most very brief. Riches lose their power the
moment their possessor dies. The rich man's crown falls
from his head, and his sceptre from his hand, with his last
breath.
From this subject we are reminded of the responsibility
of the rich. How great the power of wealth! In this
world it is a talent often more influential than intellect or
genius. Every man is responsible to God for all the good
his wealth is capable of accomplishing. We are reminded
also of the temptation of the poor. What is the temptation?
To become servile, cringing in spirit. Sycophancy is the
greatest curse of the people. It is a cancer in the heart of
England. The men that bow down to wealth are in the
majority everywhere, and they are parasites that devour the
moral nobleness of nations. We are further reminded of the
Chap. XXII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 541
wisdom of the diligent. The diligent man is a wise man.
Why? Because the more industrious he is, the more
independent he becomes of wealthy men. Though he may
bow at first, and thus become for a time a servant, he will
soon by assiduous labour pay back his loan, and stand
erect before his own master as an independent man.
"Thy spirit, independence, let me share,
Lord of the lion-heart and eagle eye;
Thy steps I follow with my bosom bare,
Nor heed the storm that howls along the sky."
SMOLLETT
Proverbs 22:8
Human Life
"He that soweth iniquity shall reap vanity:
and the rod of his anger shall fail."
THE words point out:
The INEVITABLE WORK of human life.—What is the
work? It is that of moral agriculture—sowing and reaping.
Every man in every act of life is doing this. Every
volition, whether it takes the form of a thought, a word, or
a muscular act is a seed. There is a germ of imperishable
life in it. No frost is cold enough, no fire is hot enough,
no weight is heavy enough to destroy this germ. It is
essentially incorruptible. What seeds men sow every day!
What bushels they deposit in the moral soil of their being!
But they reap as well as sow every day. What was sown
yesterday they reap to-day. "Men are living in the fruits
of their doings.” The law of causation is inviolate and
ever operative within us. Out of our moral yesterday has
grown our to-day, and thus on for ever. We are sowers
and reapers all of us. Observe again:
The RETRIBUTIVE LAW of human life.—What you sow
you will reap. First: What you sow in kind you shall reap.
"He that soweth iniquity shall reap vanity." Job says
542 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXII.
"They that plough iniquity and sow wickedness reap the
same."* Paul says, "Be not deceived; God is not mocked:
for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For
he that soweth to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corrup-
tion; but he that soweth to the spirit shall of the spirit
reap life everlasting."† The man whose actions are
carnal, selfish, profane, ungodly, will reap a terrible har-
vest of misery. It cannot be helped. God will not reverse
the law, "Whatsoever a man soweth that shall he reap.”
Secondly: What you sow in measure you shall reap. Not
a grain will be lost. Sometimes the seed which the
husbandman commits to the soil rots. The spring comes
round and it appears not above the ground—it is dead. But
not a grain in the harvest of life is lost. The more blessed
deeds sown, the more blessed life enjoyed, and the con-
verse. He will reap the richest harvest of blessedness
who is most active in deeds of love and godliness.
Observe again:
The TERRIBLE MISTAKE of human life.—What is the
mistake? Sowing iniquity. This is a general mistake.
The unregenerate millions in all lands are doing this.
This is a mistake which men are slow to learn. Though
conscience, the Bible, experience, and the Divine Spirit are
all co-working to convince men of this mistake, they
blunder on. This is a mistake whose ultimate consequences
will be terrific. "And the rod of his anger shall fail;" or
as in the margin, "With the rod of his anger he shall be
consumed." Perhaps this expression refers to the tyrannic
power exercised by wealthy men, as referred to in the pre-
ceding verse. The rod by which he oppressed and smote
the poor for his own selfish ends, that rod "shall fail."
Death shall wrest it from his hands. God shall break it in
pieces; and his tyranny and iniquity shall leave him
nothing but shame, remorse, and the fruits of his immoral
life. "Such," says Mr. Bridges, "was Sennacherib in
olden time, such was Napoleon in our own day. Never
had the world so extensive a sower of iniquity, never one
reaped a more abundant harvest of vanity. The rod of
* Job. vi, 1-8. †Gal. vi. 7, 8.
Chap. XXII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 543
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."
Proverbs 22:9
Genuine Philanthropy
"He that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed;
for he giveth of his bread to the poor."
SINCE philanthropy in England the last few years has
become a profession, its name is fast losing its divine sig-
nificance and it soul-captivating charms. There are
hirelings and charletans itinerating the land, and canting in
every town in the empire in its sacred name. They wrap
themselves in it robes, and use its sacred language, in
order to gratify more effectually their ambition and their
greed. The verse leads us to notice three things concern-
ing genuine philanthropy—
THE KINDLINESS OF ITS DISPOSITION.—“He that hath
a bountiful eye,” shall be blessed. "In the Hebrew,"
says an expositor, the expression is—"He that is good of
eye." The oppose to phrase—"an evil eye"—is frequent in
Scripture, and is used in various senses. It is applied, for
example, in a general way, to duplicity of principle, in
which sense it stands opposed to what our Lord calls
"having the eye single." It is applied also to a perverted
state of the affections towards any of these objects—sup-
posed, of course to be indicated by the looks. (Deut.
xxviii. 54, 56.) It is further used for envy (Matt. xx. 15;
Mark vii. 22); and further still for a principle closely
allied to envy—covetousness—eagerly looking at the object
desired, and grudging every expenditure of it. (Prov.
xxiii. 6; xxviii. 2; Deut. xv. 9.) This meaning is illus-
trated by the use of the corresponding expression, in the
544 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXII.
verse before us,—"a good eye." It means the eye of com-
passionate and generous tenderness,—that looks, with a
desire to relieve the wants and woes of others; and that,
at the same time, does not merely weep—shedding un-
availing tears—but, affecting the heart, opens the hand—
"for he giveth of his bread to the poor." As the heart
looks out through the eye, it appears in the eye. Man's
dispositions are reflected in his looks. What a blessed
thing to have a bountiful heart! A thousand times better
to have a bountiful heart with scanty provisions, than a
niggardly heart with boundless affluence. "The liberal
deviseth liberal things, and by liberal things he shall
stand." The verse leads us to notice—
THE BENEFICENCE OF ITS ACTIVITY.—"He giveth of his
bread to the poor." Genuine philanthropy is practical. It
does not live on mere sentiment or speech. It goes out in
useful deeds. The true philanthropist is ready to distri-
bute and willing to communicate. He gives not as a duty
but as a privilege.
"Give! as the morning that flows out of heaven!
Give! as the waves, when their channel is riven!
Give! as the free air and sunshine are given:
Lavishly, utterly carelessly give!
Not the waste drops of thy cup overflowing:
Not the faint sparks of thy hearth overglowing
Not a pale bud from the June rose's blowing:
Give as He gave thee Who gave thee to live;
Pour out thy love like the rush of a river
Wasting its waters for ever and ever
Through the burnt sands that reward not the giver,"
Household Words
The verse leads us to notice—
THE REWARD OF ITS SERVICE.—It "shall be blessed."
"Blessed is he that considereth the poor." He shall be
blessed with the commendation of his own conscience,
with the grateful affection of the poor, and with the appro-
bation of his God. "If thou draw out thy soul to the
hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul, then shall thy light
rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday; and
the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul
in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like
Chap. XXII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 545
a watered garden and like a spring of water whose waters
fail not." "Very I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have
done it unto one of the least of these my brethren ye have
done it unto me."
The language of Quarles on giving is worth recording.
"Proportion thy charity to the extent of thy estate, lest
God proportion thy estate to the weakness of thy charity:
let the lips of the poor be the trumpet of thy gift, lest in
seeking applause thou lose thy reward. Nothing is more
pleasing to God than an open hand and a close mouth."
Proverbs 22:10
The Scorner
"Cast out the scorner, and contention shall go out;
yea, strife and reproach shall cease."
THE scorner is character to which Solomon has frequently
called our attention in preceding chapters. Few charac-
ters in society are more despicable in spirit or pernicious
in influence. He is profane, contemptuous, insolent, flip-
pant, and splenetic. He deals in jeers and gibes, in sneers,
satire, and lampoon. Himself the most contemptuous to
others, the most contemptible in himself. He sneers at the
sacred, he mocks at the momentous. The verse presents
him—
As a social DISTURBER.—"Cast out the scorner and
contention shall go out." This implies that he is the breaker
of harmony, the creator of ill-feeling and confusion. And
so he is. He is a disturber in the family. The domestic
circle to which he belongs, or with which he has any con-
nection, he is sure to agitate with heartburnings and
jealousies. He is a disturber in the church. When
by hypocrisy he sometimes happens to gain admission
into a Christian community, he soon makes his pernicious
influence felt. His irony creates wounds, his jests shock
546 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXII.
the serious, his inuendos shake confidence and create sus-
picions. He is a disturber in the nation. If he takes up
with politics, aspires to popularity and has oratoric power,
he is a demagogue, a firebrand. His object will be to dis-
parage his superiors, to undermine authority, to set class
gainst class. He is, in fact, a disturber in all his social
relations. The verse represents him—
As a social PEST.—"Cast out the scorner." He should
be thrust from the circle in which he is found. Excom-
munication is his righteous doom. Sometimes the scorner
gains great influence as a politician, and temporising go-
vernments, instead of casting him out, take him into office
and bribe him by voting him a princely income. For a
time the miserable hireling is silenced and the country is
rid of his mischievous agitations. But the spirit is still
in him, only pampered into plethoric indolence. He should
be expelled, be cast out from all places of public trust,
from all confidential intercourse, and treated as a social
pest. Society should throw on him the eye of dignified
contempt. Whether he is the member of a family, a
church, or a cabinet, he should be cast out. Never place
confidence in the man of a scoffing spirit. He is a
canker worm in the social garden and he must be crushed.
He is a Jonah on the social bark, and the sea will "not
cease from its raging" until he is thrown overboard.
“But what," says Bridges; "if we should not be able to
cast him out? He may be a husband or a child. At least
give a protest. Show that you stand not on the same
ground. Turn away from his scorning. This will mortify
if not silence. Turn from him to your God. This will bring
peace. Dwell with him, sighing as David in Mesech.*
One greater than David teaches us by His example.
Honour your Divine Master by enduring as he did year
after year the contradiction of sinners.† And who
knoweth, but this meek and silent endurance with a loving,
bleeding heart, may have power to cast out the scorning,
and to mould the scorner into the lowliness of the cross?
Then would he be a more welcome member of the family
* Psalm cxx. 5-7. †Heb. xii. 3.
Chap. XXII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 547
or of the church. ‘Strife and reproach’ would cease in
both should the persecutor of the faith become a monu-
ment of grace, shining witness to the truth."
Proverbs 22:11-12
The Good Man
"He that loveth pureness of heart, for the grace of his lips the king shall be
his friend. The eyes of the LORD preserve knowledge, and he overthroweth the
words of the transgressor."
THIS passage leads us to consider the heart, the speech,
the influence, and the blessedness of a good man.
The HEART of the good man.—"He that loveth pure-
ness of heart." Not merely does he love the pure in lan-
guage, in manners and habits, in outward deportment, but
the pure in heart, pureness in the very fountains of moral
life and action. "Pureness of heart" in man's case im-
plies—First: A moral renewal. All men in an unregene-
rate state are defiled by sin. The very well-springs of
their life are polluted. "The heart is deceitful above all
things, and desperately wicked." It implies—Secondly:
An urgent necessity. Without pureness of heart there is
no true knowledge of God or fellowship with Him.
"Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God."
"Without holiness no man shall see the Lord." A good
man then is a man who loveth "pureness of heart," he
possesses and promotes it. For such a heart David
prayed, "Create within me a clean heart, O God, and
renew a right spirit within me."
The SPEECH of the good man.—"For the grace of his
lips the king shall be his friend." By "the grace of his
lips" we are to understand something more than gram-
matic accuracy, or elegant diction—something more than
logical correctness or strict veracity. It means speech that
is morally pure—pure in sentiment, and in aim. It is
548 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXII.
said of Christ that the people wondered at the gracious
words which proceeded out of His mouth. The man of a
pure heart will have lips of grace. "If the tree is made
good, the fruit will be good." "Out of the abundance of
the heart the mouth speaketh." His speech will be sea-
soned with salt, and he will minister grace unto his
hearers. Gracious speech is the antithesis of untruthful,
malicious, and unchaste language.
The INFLUENCE of the good man.—"The king shall be
his friend." Solomon here speaks probably of his own de-
termination. He meant to say that he would give his
friendship to such men. "This," says an able writer, "had
been his father's resolution" (Psa. li. 6, cxix. 63). This
character smoothed the way to royal favour for Joseph
(Gen. xli. 37-45), for Ezra (Ez. vii. 2 1-2 5), and Daniel
(Dan. vi. 1-3, 28). Nay, we find godly Obadiah in the
confidence of wicked Ahab (I Kings xviii. 3, 12; 2 Kings
xiii. 14). So powerful is the voice of conscience, even
when God and holiness are hated! Yet this choice of the
gracious lips is too often rather what ought to be, than
what is (chap. xvi. 12, 13). Well is it for the kingdom
when the sovereign's choice is according to this rule.
(Chap. xxviii. 2; xxv. 5). Such alone the great King
marks as His friends. Such He embraces with His fatherly
love. (Chap. xv. 9.) Such He welcomes into His heavenly
kingdom. (Psa. xv. I, 2; xxiv. 3, 4). "Blessed are the
pure in heart for they shall see God" (Matt. v. 8).
The BLESSEDNESS of a good man.—"The eyes of the
Lord preserve knowledge." Three different interpretations
have been given to this expression. First: That the Lord
vigilantly watches over His truth in the world. This is a
fact, although we are not disposed to accept it as an inter-
pretation of the passage. It is a glorious and elevating
truth—That the Great God has ever exercised a watchful
care over His cause in the world. Secondly: That what
the eyes of the Lord see He remembers for ever. The eyes
of the Lord preserve knowledge." He retains his know-
ledge. What we see often passes away from our memory.
We do not "preserve" it. We forget far more than we
Chap. XXII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 549
retain. Not so with the Lord. He observes everything,
and everything He observes remains with Him for ever.
But we are not disposed to accept this as the idea of the
passage. Thirdly: That the Lord exercises a protecting-
superintendence over those who possess His knowledge. That
it means, in fact, the same as the expression elsewhere,
"The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous." This we
accept as the true idea. It, therefore, expresses the
blessedness of a good man. He has an all-wise, an all-
constant, all-mighty Keeper. Whilst the Lord keeps the
good man, He "overthroweth the words of the trans-
gressor."
Let us mark well then the heart, the speech, the in-
fluence, and the blessedness of a good man. How pure in
sentiment, how excellent in speech, how salutary in in-
fluence, how guarded by Heaven! The eyes of the Lord
are ever upon him.
"Though in the paths of death I tread,
With gloomy horrors overspread,
My steadfast heart shall fear no ill,
For thou, O Lord, art with me still:
Thy friendly crook shall give me aid,
An guide me through the dreadful shade."
ADDISON
Proverbs 22:13
The Excuses of Laziness
The slothful man saith, There is a lion without, I shall be slain in the
streets."
To Solomon slothfulness was one of the greatest evils in
the character of man. How frequently does he depict it
with graphic force! How often does he denounce it with
fiery energy! "Idleness," says Colton, "is the great
Pacific ocean of life, and in that stagnant abyss, the most
salutary things produce no good, the most obnoxious no
550 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXII.
evil. Vice, indeed, abstractedly considered, may be, and
often is, engendered in idleness; but the moment it becomes
sufficiently vice, it must quit its cradle and cease to be
idle." Two of the evils connected with indolence are sug-
gested in the verse.
It creates FALSE excuses.—"There is a lion without."
The streets are very unlikely places for lions to resort to.
Their home is the secluded glens—in desolate forests and
untrodden deserts. If ever they are found in streets, it is
by rare accident. The excuse, therefore, which the slothful
man urges, is purely imaginary. The lion in the streets is
a fiction of his own lazy brain. The slothful man is ever
acting thus in the secular sphere. Is he a farmer, he
neglects the cultivation of his fields, because the weather
is too cold or too hot, too cloudy, too dry or too wet. Is
he a tradesman, he finds imaginary excuses in the condi-
tion of the market: commodities are too high or too low.
Is he an artizan, he finds difficulties in the place, the tools,
or the materials. The industrious farmer seldom finds in-
surmountable difficulties in the weather; the industrious
tradesman in the market, or the industrious artisan in
the work marked out for him to do. The difficulties are
purely imaginary—the dreams of idleness. The slothful
man also makes excuses in the spiritual sphere. When
the unregenerate man is urged to the renunciation of his
own principles and habits, and the adoption of new spirit
and methods, slothfulness urges him to make imaginary
excuses. Sometimes he pleads the decrees of God, some-
times the greatness of his sins, sometimes the inconvenience
of the season—too soon or too late. The slothful man
lives in falsehood. He says there is a "lion without, I
shall be slain in the streets," when the imperial beast is
leagues away prowling in the boundless forest. Another
evil connected with indolence is—
It creates UNMANLY excuses.—The very excuse he pleads,
though imaginary, if true would be a strong reason for im-
mediate action. "A lion in the streets! "Why, if he had
a spark of manhood in him, a bit of the stuff that makes
heroes, he should rouse every power. The lives of the
Chap. XXII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 551
helpless women and children in the town are in danger
when the ravenous beast treads the pavement, and hu-
manity urges action. Laziness and cowardice are vitally
associated. There is no heroism in the heart of indolence.
To true souls difficulties are a challenge, not a check to
action. They are made to be conquered. It is only as
they are conquered that man's faculties are developed and
his nature ennobled. "Difficulties," says a modern writer,
"are God's errands; and when we are sent upon them we
should esteem it a proof of God's confidence—as a com-
pliment from Him. The traveller who goes round the
world prepares himself to pass through all latitudes, and
to meet all changes. So a man must be prepared to take
life as it comes; to mount the hill when the hill swells,
and to go down the hill when the hill lowers; to walk the
plain when it stretches before him, and to ford the river
when it rolls over the plain." "I can do all things through
Christ, which strengtheneth me."
Proverbs 22:14
The Influence of a Depraved Woman
"The mouth of strange women is a deep pit:
he that is abhorred of the LORD shall fall therein."
SOLOMON here speaks from experience. Elsewhere he
says, "And I find more bitter than death the woman
whose heart is snares and nets, and her hands as bands.
Whoso pleaseth God shall escape from her, but the sinner
shall be taken by her." We have already had occasion
to refer more than once to this execrable character.* There
are two things in the text concerning the influence of a
depraved woman.
IT IS DANGEROUS.—"It is a deep pit." This pit is
artfully concealed. She does not leave its dark mouth
* See our Readings on chap. ii. 16-19; v. 3-12.
552 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXII.
yawning before the eye. In the garden of her fascinations
it is concealed in a nook, encircled with lovely shrubs and
sweetest flowers. The victim sees it not until his foot has
slipped and he falls. This pit is morally dark. He who
falls into it loses all moral light—the light of God's coun-
tenance, the light of pure love, the light of holy hope, the
light of approving conscience. He is enwrapt in the gloom
of sensuality and vice. This pit is terribly crowded. What
millions of young men fall into it every age and are
ruined. They fall into the pit and are lost to their age.
Young men, avoid this artfully concealed, morally dark,
terribly crowded pit. "Dark deeds," says Dr. Farrer,
"are done in secret; drag them into the light, and they
cannot stand it. A debased soul, brought into open day-
light and not rushing from it, is naturally purified; that
which was darkness in the dark becomes light in the
daylight. Therefore to see God's face is to be pure from
every shame. And it is to be elevated above all earthli-
ness. A Russian empress once built a palace of ice, and
her guests danced and banqueted within its glimmering
walls. But when the sun shone it vanished and melted
into cold and dripping mud. Even so it is with the aims
men toil for most. Death comes, and all they have longed
for looks no better than a palace of icicles, which shone
with opal colours under the moonbeams, but melts into
hideous ruin before the light of God. Therefore to see
God's face is to distinguish the real from the illusory, the
true from the false. And it is to be at peace. For as the
chaos became order and beauty under the wings of the
Spirit of God, and as the troubled waves of Galilee sank
into calm beneath the Saviour's feet, so there can be no
disquietude in His presence, where the wicked cease from
troubling, and the weary are at rest!"
IT IS DAMNING.—"He that is abhorred of the Lord
shall fall therein." "Her feet," says Solomon in another
place, "go down to death, her steps take hold on hell."
Those that give themselves up to her influence are
"abhorred of the Lord." "He is of purer eyes than to
behold iniquity." Solomon had fallen into this pit.
Chap. XXII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 553
And, oh! the agony of awakened conviction and felt
abandonment! To what do the fearful words amount?
To this, that in His righteous displeasure there is not a
heavier curse which 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. Oh! let the youth
hear that and tremble! There are few vices—if, indeed,
there be any—more sadly prevalent; and there are, few—
if, indeed there be any—more miserably destructive of soul,
body and estate. The abhorrence and the curse of God
are in the haunts, whether open or secret, of profligacy
and lewdness. Wish you to have proof of your being
abhorred of the Lord'? Court the company of the ‘strange
woman.’ If not, flee from the temptation, as you would
from the opening mouth of hell!"
"Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way, by
taking heed thereto according to thy word." Let the
Word of God, my young brother, be the "lamp to thy
feet." "By the words of my lips," says the Psalmist,
"have I kept thee from the paths of the destroyer." Cul-
tivate purity in every faculty of being, in every act of life.
Let the heart be clean and the life stainless. One hour's
pollution may stain a whole life. Life is made up of
littles. The pasture land of a thousand hills is but sepa-
rate blades of grass. The bloom that mantles the prairies
is but a combination of separate flowers.
Proverbs 22:15
A Terrible Evil and a Severe Cure
"Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child;
but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.”
HERE we have—
A TERRIBLE EVIL.—"Foolishness is bound in the heart."
554 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXII.
By foolishness is meant moral depravity, which, though
negative in a child, is positive in an adult. It is in its
various forms a liability, a tendency, and a habit of going
wrong. How is this depravity bound in the heart of a
child? Three facts are noteworthy concerning it—
First: It is deprivation of goodness in the first stage of life.
It exists in the heart of a child in a negative form, and
this is bad enough. The deprivation of the means of life
leads to death, the deprivation of good leads to evil. So
it turns out that as sure as the child grows up it develops
evil in its most positive forms. Where benevolence is not
rooted, selfishness grows, and from its roots spring all the
branches of evil that curse the universe. Observe—
Secondly: The abnormal condition of parents. A man's
physical constitution, temper and propensities, are un-
doubtedly modified by his moral character. The drunkard,
the glutton, the debauchee, changes, to a great extent, the
constitutional powers and tendencies of his being. What-
ever is constitutional he transmits to his offspring. The
tendency to drunkenness, gluttony, sensuality, is obviously
transmitted:—thus they are "bound in the heart of a child."
Observe—
Thirdly: The corrupt social influence under which the
child is trained. The human infant comes into a world
where the social atmosphere is full of the elements and
seeds of moral corruption. Thus it is that moral evil ex-
tends over the race, runs down from generation to genera-
tion, and is found bound up in the life of our earliest
childhood. Here we have for this terrible evil—
A SEVERE CURE.—"The rod of correction shall drive it far
from him." The rod does not necessarily mean corporeal
punishment. This is not the most painful rod, nor is it the
most effective for spiritual ends. The corrective rod must
be marked by two things:—First: The infliction of pain.
Pain in some way or other is the rod. It may be pain
arising from the restraint of liberty, the want of food, the
denial of pleasure, the disapprobation of love. The frown
of a loving father is often a severer lash than any material
rod. Or it may be pain arising from moral conviction.
Chap. XXII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 555
The child's conscience may be touched with a sense of the
sinfulness of his conduct. Or it may be pain arising from
the afflictive dispensations of Providence, such as bodily
afflictions and social bereavements. Pain in all cases is
the rod of discipline. Secondly: The infliction of pain
from a benevolent disposition. The infliction of pain,
whether corporeal or moral, from caprice or revenge, is not
corrective, but the reverse. It deepens and strengthens
the evil. The child must be chastened not for our plea-
sure, but for the child's profit. Injudicious chastisement,
ill timed, ill to tempered, ill adapted to the case, and ill pro-
portioned in measure, will effectively frustrate the ends of
spiritual correction. It is said of those who have reached
heaven, that "they came out of great tribulation, and have
washed their robes and made them white." Pain, then,
administered by love is the Divine rod to bring out de-
pravity from the heart. Pain is a strong breeze that bears
away the chaff from the grains of virtue: the gale that
urges the bark away from the shores of depravity and
vice: the chisel by which the Divine Sculptor cuts out
from the rough and shapeless stone an image of beauty
fit for the halls of Heaven.
Proverbs 22:16
The Evils of Avarice
"He that oppresseth the the poor to increase his riches,
and he that giveth to the rich, shall surely come to want."
DRYDEN has graphically described the aim of avarice:
"Had covetous men, as the fable goes of Briareus, each of
them one hundred hands, they would all of them be em-
ployed in grasping and gathering, and hardly one of them in
giving or laying out, but all in receiving, and none in
restoring: a thing in itself so monstrous, that nothing in
nature besides is like it, except it be death and the grave,
the only things I know which are always carrying off the
556 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXII.
spoils of the world, and never making restitution. For
otherwise, all the parts of the universe, as they borrow of
one another, so they still pay what they borrow, and that
by so just and well balanced an equality, that their pay-
ments always keep pace with their receipts." The verse
refers to three evils connected with avarice—
OPPRESSION.—"He that oppresseth the poor to increase
his riches." Everywhere do we see avarice working out its
designs, and building up its fortunes, by oppressing the
poor. The poor are used as beasts of burden. They have
to cross the seas, to delve in mines, to toil in fields, to work
in manufactories, to slave in shops and counting-houses, in
order to enrich the coffers of the avaricious. Avarice cares
nothing for the health, the liberty, the pleasure, the in-
tellectual and social advancement of the poor, so long as it
can get from their aching limbs and sweating sinews the
object of its greed. Avarice fattens on the miseries of
poverty. The interest of others, of the universe itself, are
nothing to the avaricious man in comparison with his own.
He would be ever receptive, never communicative. He
would receive all, give nothing, unless it be with the hope
of his contribution flowing back in some form or other
with interest to his coffers. He would monopolize uni-
versal goodness. The labourer may sweat out his strength,
the shopman wear away his health, the mariner hazard his
existence, the warrior dye continents in blood, and tread
empires in the dust, his selfish heart would exult in all if
the smallest benefit would accrue to him therefrom. Is
there a crime on the black scroll of human depravity that
may not be traced to this source? The mighty flood of
evil, that for six thousand years has been rolling its turbid
and foaming billows through the heart of groaning humanity
has its fountain down in the selfish soul. Selfishness
the head of all wicked "principalities and powers."
Another evil which the text refers to connected with
avarice is—
SYCOPHANCY.—"He that giveth to the rich." Avarice,
whilst tyrannic to the poor, is servile to the rich. The
wealth it gets it employs with a miserable crawling baseness,
Chap. XXII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 557
to win the favour and command the smiles of the wealthy
and the great. Tyranny and flunkeyism generally go
together. Both are the children of avarice. He that
proudly domineers over the poor will servilely bow his knee
to the rich. A fawning sycophancy is eating out not only
the true manhood of England, but of the civilized world.
Souls are everywhere bowing down before the glitter
of wealth and the pageantry of power. The other evil
connected with avarice to which the verse refers, is—
RUIN.—“Shall surely come to want." If not to secu-
lar want, a want far worse, the want of an approving
conscience, a manly soul, social love, the Divine appro-
bation. Avarice, like every other evil passion, leads to
moral pauperism. "Trust not," says Sir T. Browne, "to
the omnipotency of gold, and say not unto it, Thou art
my confidence. Kiss not thy hand to that terrestrial sun,
nor bore thy ear with its servitude. A slave unto mam-
mon makes no servant unto God. Covetousness cracks
the sinews of faith, numbs the apprehensions of anything
above sense, and, only affected with the certainty of things
present, makes a peradventure of things to come; lives but
unto one world, nor hopes, but fears, another; makes their
own death sweet unto others, bitter unto themselves;
brings formal sadness, scenical mourning, and no wet eyes
at the grave."
Proverbs 22:17-21
Spiritual Verities
"Bow down thine ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply thine heart
unto my knowledge. For it is a pleasant thing if thou keep them within thee;
they shall withal be fitted in thy lips. That thy trust may be in the LORD, I
have made known to thee this day, even to thee. Have not I written to thee
excellent things in counsels is and knowledge, that I might make thee know the
certainty of the words of truth; that thou mightest answer the words of truth to
them that send unto thee?”
THESE verses begin the third of the five sections into which
critics have divide the whole book.
558 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXII.
The first section comprises the first nine chapters, is
introductory and principally addressed to youth. The
second comprises the tenth chapter, up to the verses which
contain proverbs generally, though not always, detached.
The third comprises those verses to the end of the twenty-
fourth chapter, and is more connected and paragraphic in
its style. The fourth section includes the twenty-fifth and
all the chapters up to the twenty-ninth inclusive, this
section is like the first, proverbial and sententious. The
fifth section extends from the thirtieth chapter to the close,
the authorship of which is still unsettled in the region of
controversy.
The subject of these verses (which begin the third
section of the book) is spiritual verities, and these are here
called "excellent things." By spiritual verities we mean
truths relating directly to man's spiritual nature—its moral
condition, interests, and obligations. They are the greatest
realities in the universe, of greater moment to man than
the whole of the material creation. The passage leads us
to make two remarks concerning the personal knowledge
of these spiritual truths.
The experimental knowledge of them is a TRANS-
CENDENT BLESSING.—They are "excellent things" in
themselves—things that reveal a spiritual universe, a
glorious Redeemer, and an ever-blessed God. But the
verses teach that a knowledge of them is a transcendent
good. They teach First: That such a knowledge affords
pleasure. It is a "a pleasant thing." An experimental
acquaintance with spiritual truths has ever been felt de-
lectable; it is, to the spiritual tastes of man, sweeter than
"honey and the honeycomb;" it fills the soul with joy
unspeakable and full of glory. What said Paul? "I count
all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of
Christ Jesus my Lord." The verses teach, Secondly: That
such a knowledge enriches speech. "They shall withal be
fitted in thy lips." It will give thoughts worthy of the
lips, thoughts which the lips can speak with a natural
gracefulness and dignity. "The lips of the righteous feed
many." The words of a man enriched with heavenly
Chap. XXII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 559
wisdom are pearls that sparkle with the rays of God. The
verses teach, Thirdly: That such a knowledge inspires
trust in God. "That thy trust may be in the Lord." Man's
fall and misery consist in the trustlessness of his heart in
relation to his Maker. For the want of confidence in Him,
human souls, like Noah's dove, flutter over the surging
abysses of life, finding no rest for the soles of their feet.
This knowledge brings man back to God, and centres him
in the absolute. "Blessed is the man that trusteth in the
Lord." The verses teach, Fourthly: That such a know-
ledge establishes the faith of the soul. "Have I not written to
thee excellent thing sin counsels and knowledge, that I might
make thee know the certainty of the words of truth?" The
more a man knows of these spiritual verities, the more settled
and unwavering is his faith. He has the witness in himself
that God is true. He knows in whom he has believed. A
man to whom these spiritual verities are an experience is not
like a feather tossed by every wind of doctrine, but like a
tree, so rooted and grounded in faith as to stand firm
amidst the fiercest hurricanes that blow. Such a man's
faith stands not in the wisdom of man, but in the power of
God. The verses teach, Fifthly: That such a knowledge
qualifies for usefulness. "That thou mightest answer the
words of truth to them that send unto thee." Men in all
circles of life have questions put to them about the soul
and God, duty and destiny; but he only can satisfactorily
solve those mysteries who has an experimental knowledge
of spiritual verities Neither scholarship nor sageship can
do it. Genuine saintship alone can give the satisfactory
answer. The "fear of the Lord," that is wisdom. Another
remark suggested by the verses concerning these spiritual
verities is that
The experimental knowledge of them is ATTAINABLE.—
After indicating the transcendent blessings of this know-
ledge, the question comes with urgency, Is it attainable?
We look to the verses for information, and we find
that the method for attainment involves four things—
First: Communication. These spiritual verities come to
the soul in the "words of the wise." "Have not," says
560 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXII.
the writer of these verses, "I written to thee excellent
things in counsels and knowledge?" Men do not reach
this knowledge as they reach a knowledge of scientific
truth, by their own researches and reasoning. It is brought
to them in a communication—in a communication from
holy men who "spake as they were moved by the Holy
Ghost." The "excellent things," the subject of this know-
ledge, are contained in The Book. Secondly: Attention.
"Bow down thine ear and hear the words of the wise."
What boots the utterance of the inspired orator, if he is
not listened to? What boot the doctrines of the inspired
writer, if they are not studied? There is such a moral
deafness in the ear, and it is so dinned with worldly noises,
that unless there is a bowing down and earnest listening
the spiritual sounds will not be caught. Hence, listen.
"Hear, and your soul shall live." Thirdly: Application.
"Apply thine heart unto my knowledge." You may catch
the sound and even interpret its meaning, and yet not
attain to its experimental knowledge. There must be ap-
plication—application of the heart. All the sympathies of
the heart must be interested in it; it must be felt to be the
one thing. Fourthly: Retention. "It is a pleasant thing if
thou keep them within thee." These spiritual verities may
come in sounds to the ear, but the sound may die away—
may come in idea to the intellect, but the idea may vanish
from the memory, may come in an impression on the heart,
but the impression may evaporate as the morning dew
it must be retained in order that the transcendent blessings
may be enjoyed. "Keep them within thee." There are
many things to drive them from thee; hold them with all
the tenacity of thy being.
Get this knowledge, brother, whatever other science thou
neglectest, get this for thyself. "I have made known to
thee," says Solomon. The possession of it by others will
be of no avail to thee; thou must get it for thyself. Get
it now. "I have made known this day even to thee."
There is no time to lose.
Chap. XXII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 561
Proverbs 22:22-23
The Oppression of the Poor
"Rob not the poor, because he is poor: neither oppress the afflicted in the
gate: for the LORD will plead their cause, and spoil the soul of those that spoiled
them."
AFTER the solemn preface in the preceding verses,"
says an old author, "one would have expected
something new and surprising: but no, here is a plain and
common but very needful caution against the barbarous
and inhuman practice of oppressing poor people." Ob-
serve—
THE CRIME PROHIBITED.—It is the oppression of the
poor. This is a common crime. The poor have always
been oppressed. They do the hard and the trying work
of the world. In trade, they build our houses, con-
struct our vessel weave our fabrics, man our vessels over
the perils of the deep, and thus produce the wealth of the
country. The fortunes of our rich men are trees that have
been planted by the hand of the poor man and watered by
the sweat of his brow. From the fruit of that tree he is kept
off by the hand of haughtiness and violence. The single
grape that falls from its clustered branches to the ground
shall sooner be allowed to rot in the earth than be put
kindly into his hands. In agriculture, the poor man toils
as a beast of burden in the hot suns of summer and the
bleak winds of winter, in order to convert sterility into
fruitfulness. His labours give value to the estates of the
landlord, and cover the fields with golden crops in autumn;
yet out of all he can scarcely get the meanest shelter for
his head, the humblest wrappage for his clothing, and the
scantiest fare for is support. In war, he fights the battles
562 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXII.
of despots and nations, he falls with millions of his class
on the field of slaughter and blood; he builds thrones
and constructs crowns, yet he gets no honour or reward;
others wear the laurels and gain the prizes. Thus the
oppression of the poor man is, alas! a common crime.
his is a heinous crime. To "rob the poor because he is
poor" is a great enormity. To rob any man is wrong, to
oppress the richest brother is a crime, but to rob the poor
“because he is poor,” is of all oppressions the worst. Rich
men will not suffer themselves to be wronged, poor men
cannot help themselves; and , therefore justice requires
that we should be more careful to guard their rights. In
this crime there is the basest cowardice, and the most
heartless cruelty. Cowardice, because the victim is power-
less; cruelty, because the victim is already in distress.
Observe—
THE PUNISHMENT THREATENED.—"The Lord will plead
their cause, and spoil the soul of those that spoiled them."
No crime is more frequently denounced in the Bible as
abhorrent to the Eternal Father than that of oppressing
the poor "What mean ye that ye beat my people to
pieces, and grind the faces of the poor, saith the Lord God
of Hosts." (Isaiah iii. 15.) The accumulation of Divine
vengeance is heaped upon this sin. (Ps. cix. 6, 16.)
Ahab's judgment testified to the fearful spoiling of those
who spoil the poor. (1 Kings xxi. 18-24, comp. Isa. xxxiii.
Hab. ii. 8.) The captivity in Babylon was the scourge
for this wickedness. (Ezek. xxii. 29-31, comp. Jer. xxi.
12). And when the deeds of secrecy shall be brought to
light, how black will be the catalogue of sins of oppres-
sion! How tremendous the judgment of the oppressor!
(Mal. iii. 5). God is the counsel of the poor. He "will
plead their cause." In courts of human judicature there
are sometimes barristers generous enough to stand up
and gratuitously defend a poor and unprotected pri-
soner. This God does for all the poor. If they have no
friends amongst men, they have one Great Friend Who
will ever be true to them. God is the avenger of the
poor. He is not only the counsel, but the judge. "He
Chap. XXII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 563
will spoil the soul of those that spoiled them." "He that
robs the poor," said an old author, "will be found in the
end the murderer of himself."
Proverbs 22:24-28
Interdicted Conduct
"Make no friendship with an angry man; and with a furious man thou shalt
not go: Lest thou learn his ways, and get a snare to thy soul. Be not thou one
of them that strike hands, or of them that are sureties for debts. If thou hast
nothing to pay, why should he take away thy bed from under thee? Remove
not the ancient landmark, which thy fathers have set."
THESE verses point out:
An interdicted FRIENDSHIP.—"Make no friendship with
an angry man, and with a furious man thou shalt not go."
There are men of align natures. They are "angry" and
"furious." One the greatest perplexities to me con-
nected with the divine procedure is the constitutional
malignity of some men. Why the benevolent God should
send men into the world with natures temperamentally
unkind and malicious astounds me. That there are such
men must be obvious to all who have any extensive ac-
quaintance with their race. Men without honey, and full of
gall; waspish, whose delight is in stinging; canine, whose
language is a snarl. Friendship with such men must be
avoided. Indeed, real friendship there cannot be; but
there may be such an intimate association as to be very
pernicious. There are two reasons why this friendship is
interdicted. The bad temper of such may infect his
companion. "Lest thou learn his ways." Such are the
susceptibilities of our nature that we catch the temper of
those with whom we mostly associate, whether it be good
or bad. Ill-temper is as propagating as good, the seed of
hemlock will multiply as well as that of wheat. A malign
and furious-tempered man will, by his words and manners,
so irritate and chafe the soul of his companion that he be-
564 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXII.
comes ultimately infected with the same foul disease. The
other reason why this friendship with men of malign
nature is interdicted is, that the bad temper of such
may endanger his soul. To catch such a temper is moral
ruin. A disposition to anger and revenge is an in-
cipient devil within, a devil that will snare and ruin our
spiritual nature. These verses give us also—
An interdicted CONTRACT.—"Be not one of them that
strike hands, or of them that are sureties for debts."
Solomon has more than once before prohibited suretiships.*
"The language," says a distinguished theological writer,
"evidently implies not a universal prohibition of suretiship
as of a thing wrong in itself and under whatever circum-
stances, but an advice and admonition to special caution
and circumspection. There may be cases in which it is
more than justifiable—in which every claim of necessity
and mercy renders it an imperative duty. But still we are
not entitled for the sake of one to expose others to risk.
We are not entitled to overlook and disregard either the
risks and rights of other creditors or the interests of a de-
pendent family. The reason, too, assigned here for the
caution shows us that in our dealings with others a prudent
regard to our interests is a perfectly legitimate motive.
'If thou hast nothing to pay'—that is, if on the failure of
the party for whom you have become responsible you have
not enough to make good your suretiship—'why should
he take away thy bed from under thee?' This may seem
a very rare case, yet such creditors there have been, and
may still be, whose selfishness and resentment drive to
the extreme of harshness, and whose irritation perhaps is
exasperated by their seeing that but for the said suretiship
the party would have come to a stand and to a settlement
earlier, and with so much the less loss, to those whom he
has involved. We are commanded 'to love our neigh-
ours 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. And so many are the cases in which it is
* See Readings on chap. vi. x-5; xi. 15; xvii. 18.
Chap. XXII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 565
most difficult for us to get at the precise state and pros-
pects of the person—friend though he may be—who makes
the application, that there is hardly anything that calls for
greater care, or warrants, in the eyes of all sensible and
candid people a larger measure of reserve, and even, gene-
rally speaking, of more "steady refusal." These verses
give us again—
An interdicted ACTION.—"Remove not the ancient land-
mark, which thy fathers have set." There is probably a
reference here to the divisions of the land of Canaan.
When the Most High divided the nations their inheritance,
when He separated the sons of Adam, He set the bounds
of the people according to the number of the children
of Israel.* The verse suggests First: All men have
certain rights. They have personal, social, religious,
political rights. They have rights that are inalienable,
and rights that have been obtained—primary and secondary
rights. Secondly: There are standards set up by our
fathers by which the rights of man are to be determined.
They have been set up in the works of our best ethical
writers, in the works of our legal authorities, of which
Blackstone is the chief: and above all, in our Bible.
Thirdly: These standards are to be respected. They are
not to be removed. We must not go beyond the boun-
dary, and encroach upon the rights of others. We have
plenty of liberty in the sphere allotted to us. Some have
given these words an application too absolute and uni-
versal. The stereotyped Conservatives, both in politics
and religion, would have them to mean that we must bind
ourselves for ever to precedents, be eternally loyal to old
usages, and keep things as they have ever been. This is
absurd, and contrary to the tenour of the Bible and pro-
gressive instincts of the human soul.
* Deut. xxxii. 8.
566 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXIII.
Proverbs 23:1-3
The Epicure: or Gastric Temptation
"When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before
thee: and put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite. Be not
desirous of his dainties; for they are deceitful meat."
THE temptations to which men are exposed in passing
through this life are many and varied. They meet men
in every department of life; they touch them at every
susceptibility of their natures. There are the temptations
of the market, the temple, the chamber, the field, the
library, the table; to the last the verses refer. The great
tempter, perhaps, is never more active and successful
than at banquets; he gets at the brain, heart, and being
if man through his stomach. When he gets the gastric
faculty he gets the man. Hence, against no temptation.
does man require warnings more forcible and frequent, and
yet the pulpit is comparatively silent on the point. Where
it ought to thunder it is mute. The words leads us to
consider concerning this gastric temptation:—its elements
and resistance.
ITS ELEMENTS.—What constitutes the temptation to go
wrong at the table? The two things which are referred to
in the passage. First; A sumptuous banquet. "When
hou sittest to eat with a ruler." The scene suggested is
he table of a prince bespread with all the luxuries and
elicacies calculated to raise the appetite to its highest ex-
citement. Secondly: A keen appetite.—"If thou be a
an given to appetite." The expression "given to appe-
ite," means something more than being hungry, some-
thing more than a craving for mere natural food, it means
that craving for "dainties" which has been cultivated by
a regaling on delicacies. These two things constitute the
temptation; the one without the other would be powerless
to tempt. Let the table be covered with the choicest
delicacies, if there be no appetite there will be no tempta-
Chap. XXIII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 567
tion; and on the other hand, let the appetite be ever so
strong, if there be nothing on the table there will be no
temptation. The two things coming together, the
sumptuous fare and the strong appetite, create the tempta-
tion. These two elements of temptation civilization has
wonderfully strengthened, and continues to do so every
day. The brute has an appetite, and he takes from the
table of nature provisions in their simplest form, but man
employs his imagination both upon his food and his
appetite. He brings the fruits of nature into new com-
binations, and thus gives them new and exciting power
over his palate; and in this way he comes into possession
of artificial taste, and cravings. The other thing which
the words lead us to consider concerning this gastric
temptation is—
ITS RESISTANC —Here observe—the manner and reason
of resistance. First: The manner. "Put a knife to thy
throat." The idea is, resist with the most resolute deter-
mination. So powerful is the temptation which the table
exerts on some guests, that if there is to be resistance, it
must be with the utmost resolve. The whole force of
the soul must be exerted. Perhaps, Solomon means to
say it is better to cut your throat with the knife than to
use it for feeding on the stimulating viands. Better it
would be that the body should die than it should be so
pampered as to bury the soul in plethora. Observe—
Secondly: The reason. "Be not desirous of his dainties,
for they are deceitful meat." Those dainties prepared by
culinary science are generally deceitful; they promise
good, but bring evil both to body and soul. "When you
see a number of dishes," says an expositor, "of different
kinds, think with yourself—here are fevers, and agues, and
gouts in disguise. Here are snares and traps spread along
the table, to catch my soul and draw me into sin. Sense
gives a good report of this plenty; but reason and relit ion
tell me to take heed, for it is deceitful meat." "If I see,"
says Bishop Hall "a dish to please my appetite, I see a
serpent in that apple, and will please myself in a wilful
denial." The productions of culinary art and confectionery
568 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXIII.
skill I are injurious alike to the bodies and souls of men.
How much need have we to use the prayer of the Church
of England—"Grant unto us such abstinence, that our
flesh being subdued unto the Spirit, we may ever obey
the godly motions." Are not, it may be asked, all these
things given for our enjoyment? Are we not justified in
seeking pleasure in the fruits of the earth? Our reply is, that
our benevolent Creator has so arranged that the food we
require should give pleasure to the hungry man, that the ap-
propriation of the aliment into the system it requires, is
pleasant to the senses. But this does not justify us in
seeking pleasure in them. All bodily appetites should be
attended to for purposes of relief, not gratification. The
very moment we seek gratification in any organ or appetite
of the body, we degrade our nature and dishonour our
Creator. Our happiness is not in the body but in the
soul, not without but within, and ought never to be sought
for as an end, it comes only in self-consecration to duty
and to God. The men who make a "god of their belly"
are, for the most part, the most wretched in mind and con-
temptible in character. The epicure drags his soul in the
pool of materialism, and buries its wings in mud.
Proverbs 23:4-5
Riches Not to be Labored for as an End
"Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom. Wilt thou set
thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings;
they fly away as an eagle toward heaven."
THESE words are to be taken of course in a qualified sense,
the sense in which some of the words of our Saviour are
to be accepted. Christ says: "Labour not for the meat
that perisheth." Obviously He does not mean that we are
not to work for our livelihood; this would be contrary
alike to the injunctions of the Bible, the arrangements of
Chap. XXIII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 569
nature, and the necessities of mankind. He means that
we are not to labour solely or chiefly for our temporary
wants, but for good of a higher and more enduring kind:
"The bread of everlasting life." So the philosoher here
means, not that we are to be utterly regardless of worldly
wealth and make no efforts for its attainment, but that
such must not be our end. The man who despises riches
is either a hypocrite or a fool. Wealth is not only a power
to aggrandize self, but to bless the world. The annihila-
tion of pauperism, the education of humanity, and the
evangelization of the world are greatly dependent on
money. There are two reasons suggested, however, why
wealth should not be laboured for as an end.
To do so is to pursue YOUR OWN WISDOM.—This is im-
plied in the prohibition, "Cease from thine own wisdom."
A man's own wisdom, the wisdom he reaches by an intellect
under the government of a corrupt and selfish heart, is a
false and dangerous light. It leads right away from truth
and holiness an God; it is called a "fleshly" wisdom, it
is the child and servant of the senses; its science is fleshly;
its literature is fleshly; its art is fleshly; its religion is
fleshly; it lives in materialism. It is called foolish wisdom;
"the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God."
Foolish, indeed it prefers the shadow to the substance,
the form to the spirit, the transient to the imperishable,
the devilish to the Divine. Now it is this miserable wis-
dom that inspires man to labour for riches as an end. The
wisdom from above directs him to higher wealth, calls
upon him to lay up treasures in heaven, "where no moth
can corrupt and no thief break in and steal." Another rea-
son suggested why wealth should not be laboured for as
an end is that—
To do so is to pursue A VERY INFERIOR GOOD.—"Wilt
thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? For riches
certainly make themselves wings: they fly away as an
eagle toward heaven." The words here given concerning
riches suggest, First: Their unsubstantial character.
"Upon that which is not." Wealth at best is a most un-
substantial thing; it is a mere air bubble rising on the
570 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXIII.
stream of life, glittering for a moment, and then departs
for ever. Great fortunes are but bubbles: they vanish be-
fore a ripple on the stream, or a gust in the atmosphere.
The words suggest, Secondly: Their fleeting character.
“They make themselves wings: they fly away as an eagle
toward heaven." The fortunes of all men grow wings,
some grow them more quickly than others; with some,
fortunes are fledged in a night, and in the morning, like
an eagle, they are gone—they are vanished from the
horizon. How swiftly the wealth of Job fled away!* The
words suggest, Thirdly: Their unworthy character. They
are unworthy of human love. "Wilt thou set thine eyes
upon that which is not?" The "eyes" mean heart. Wilt
thou regard them with avidity and fond desire? If so,
what a fool to give the love of an immortal nature to that
which is so unsubstantial and fleeting. "We brought nothing
into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out."
"Riches, like insects, while conceal'd they lie,
Wait but for wings, and in their season fly.
To whom can riches give repute and trust,
Content or pleasure, but the good and just?
Judges and senates have been bought for gold:
Esteem and love were never to be sold."—POPE
Proverbs 23:6-8
A Spurious Hospitality
"Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his
dainty meats: for as he thinketh in his heart so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to
thee; but his heart is not with thee. The morsel which thou has eaten shalt
thou vomit up, and lose thy sweet words."
TRUE hospitality is a social virtue of no ordinary worth.
It gives a glow to the social atmosphere, but like all good
things it has its counterfeit. There is much spurious hos-
pitality. Much passes for it which in substance is as
foreign to it as brass to gold. The verses indicate that
this spurious hospitality—
* Job. i. 14-17.
Chap. XXIII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 771
IS SORDID.—"Eat thou not the bread of him that hath
an evil eye." The "evil eye" here means covetousness;
it is a symbol of the penurious, the stingy, the grudging.
Strange that lean-natured miserly souls should make feasts
at all, yet they do. Perhaps their banquets are as numerous
and magnificent as those whose generous natures are ever
aglow with social love. They do it, however, not for the
happiness of their guests, or the gratification of their own
natures, but for ulterior reasons lying in the region of
the mean and the selfish. Sometimes vanity is the acting
motive. To have around their board guests that will
flatter and fawn, yields their selfish natures pleasures of a
certain kind. Many stingy souls make feasts for men of
popularity and fame in order to gratify their own vanity.
Simon the Pharisee of old entertained Jesus of Nazareth
probably for this reason; he had no sympathy with Him, but
the star of the Galilean was rising, and he wished to partici-
pate in the renew. Sometimes greed is the acting motive.
These men make feasts for clients and customers. They
often do fine strokes of business at their dinner-table, in
the presence of steaming viands and sparkling glasses.
They make feasts for matrimonial ends: they invite to
their table those whose connubial connexion with their
own sons or daughters they regard as an object devoutly
to be wished. They make feasts for secretarial ends.
How many feasts are made both in the mercantile and
religious world in order to gain funds for companies and
societies, in which managers and secretaries have a vital
interest: men often make feasts to fill their own pockets
at the public expense.
The verses indicate that this spurious hospitality IS
HYPOCRITICAL.—"For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he:
Eat and drink, saith he to thee, but his heart is not with
thee." The eye belies the lips; as a host he says one
thing and looks another. His words are generous, whilst
every mouthful swallowed by the guest gives him a
twinge of fretful regret; all the while he thinks more of
his purse than of the pleasure of his guests. The kind,
sweet words which he uses at the banquet are succeeded
572 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXIII.
groans and curses in his heart when you retire. The
selfish host is a hypocrite at his table; his words belie his
heart. The verses indicate that this spurious hospitality—
Is ABHORRENT.—"The morsel which thou hast eaten
thou shalt vomit up, and lose thy sweet words." If thou
hast insight enough at the time to discern spirits, thou wilt
feel an inner disgust for thy host. The discrepancy
between the words and heart of the host will disgust thee,
the very "morsel which thou hast eaten" thou shalt be
ready to "vomit up." Or if at the time the discrepancy is
not discovered and felt, it will show itself on some future
occasion: he will remind thee of it by some hint or act.
He will give thee to understand that that dinner laid thee
under some obligation to him which thou shouldest
practically recognise. He made that dinner not for thy
sake but for the sake of himself, and unless he reaps the
anticipated profits out of thee, he will show his displeasure,
and this will make thee sick. "The morsel thou hast
eaten thou shalt vomit up." That dinner will always be a
disgust to thee; notwithstanding all the "sweet words"
that were spoken on the occasion, the words of flattery for
his fine dishes and wines, his magnificent style and princely
abundance, all such words will be lost words.
Avoid then such feasts. "Desire not thou his dainty
meats." Keep away from his table. Paul says: "I have
written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is
called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or
a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one
no not to eat."* The covetous man is here classed with the
fornicator, the drunkard, the idolater, the extortioner, the
railer. Don't sit at the table of a covetous man. Genuine
hospitality very soon makes itself manifest wherever it is.
"It breaks," says Washington Irving, "through the chills
of ceremony and selfishness, and thaws every heart into a
flow. There is an emanation from the heart in genuine
hospitality which cannot be described, but is immediately
felt, and puts the stranger at once at his ease."
* I Cor. v. 11.
Chap. XXIII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 773
Proverbs 23:9
The Incorrigible Sinner
"Speak
not in the ears of a fool:
for he will despise the wisdom of thy words."
WE often speak of retribution as if it always lay beyond
the grave, and the day of grace as extending through the
whole life of man; but such is not the fact. Retribution
begins with many men here, the day of grace terminates
with many men before the day of death. There are those
who reach an unconvertible state, their characters are
stereotyped and fixed as eternity. The things that belong
to their peace are hid from their eyes. They are incor-
rigible. Stitch is the character referred to in the text—
"Speak not in the ears of a fool: for he will despise
the wisdom of by words." Who are the incorrigible?
They are those who ARE not to be taught. "Speak not
in the ears of a fool." Here is a prohibition to teachers.
There are certain men they are not to address. Elsewhere
Solomon gives the same prohibition.* "Reprove not a
scorner lest he hate thee: rebuke a wise man and he
will love thee." Our Saviour gives the same in-
junction: “Give not that which is holy unto the dogs,
neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample
them under foot and turn again and rend you." (Matt.
vii. 6.) There are men whom God has given up teaching.
There was Saul: "The Lord answered him not with
dreams or visions, or prophets." He was left to himself,
and he went at night to Endor. There was Herod:
Christ declined speaking a word to Herod. (Luke xxiii. 9.)
There are men to whom a wise teacher should not direct
his counsels. Such men are not difficult to recognise;
there is a callousness, a profanity, a recklessness, and
a scorn which mark them as incorrigible reprobates.
Don't speak to them, pass them by with a dignified silence,
* See Reading on chap. ix. 8.
574 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXIII.
enter into no discussion with them on sacred themes. Who
are the incorrigible.
They are those who WILL not be taught. "He will despise
the wisdom of thy words." A man who despises wise
words has not the spirit for learning: the moral soil of his
nature is not that which can receive the seed of spiritual
wisdom. It is craggy granite, not seasoned loam. The
man has no docility; he is too proud and haughty to be
taught. He has no reverence; to him there is nothing
greater than himself. His spirit for receiving counsels of
wisdom is as foreign as that of the lion or the wolf.
"Beware of too sublime a sense
Of your own worth and consequence:
The man who dreams himself so great,
And his importance of such weight,
That all around, in all that's done,
Must move and act for him alone,
Will learn in school of tribulation
The folly of his expectation."—COWPER
Proverbs 23:10-11
Social Injustice
"Remove not the old landmark; and enter not into the fields of the father-
less: for their redeemer is mighty; he shall plead their cause with thee."
AN expression identical with the first clause of this text
has recently engaged our attention.* In these words we
have three things concerning social injustice.
Social injustice INDICATED.—"Remove not the old land-
mark." What are the landmarks? The rights of man as
man. For example, every man has a right to personal
freedom. He has an inalienable right to the free use of
his faculties and his limbs. By wrong-doing, of course,
he may forfeit this right to society, but naturally it belongs
* See Reading on chap. xxii. 24-28.
Chap. XXIII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 775
to him. Every man has a right to the produce of his own
labour. Whatever a man produces is his; his in a sense
in which it can belong to no other. It never would have
been had he not existed and laboured. His power over it,
if honestly produced, is absolute, so far as society is con-
cerned. Every man has a right to freedom in religion.
He has a full right to form his own religious convictions,
and freely to express them, so long as he does not invade
the rights of others. He has a right to worship his own
God in his Own way, and in his own time. These are some
of his rights. They are the "landmarks" marking the
field of his own prerogatives. None should touch those
landmarks. Woe to those who destroy them! In these
words, we have—
Social injustice PERPETRATED ON THE HELPLESS.—
"Enter not into the fields of the fatherless." How many
orphans there are in the world. Children left desolate,
unprotected, and unprovided for. These orphans have
their rights. Sad to say, there are villains in society
who perpetrate outrages on orphans. This is cowardly,
cruel, and common. The case of the "Oliver Twist" of
Charles Dickens, though, perhaps, a little exaggerated,
indicates the outrages to which helpless children are sub-
jected even in this England of ours. In these words we
have—
Social injustice perpetrated on the helpless, JUDICIALLY
REGARDED BY GOD. —"Their redeemer is mighty: he shall
plead their cause with thee." The word "redeemer" here
means "next-of-kin," one appointed by the law of Moses
to look after the concerns of his poor relations, and with
whom lay the avenging of their blood in cases of cruelty. It
was on this principle that Boaz called upon the next-of-kin
to come forward, and redeem the inheritance of Elemilech
at the hands of Naomi. The mighty God is the Protector
of the helpless. He will plead their cause, and He will
one day redress their wrongs, and punish their oppressors.
It is for the rulers of a kingdom to see that their subjects
are not oppressed, to see that the rights of none are out-
raged, and none either young or old are the victims of
576 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXIII.
tyranny, domestic, social, political, or ecclesiastic. It is
recorded of Cambyses, King of Persia, who was remark-
able for the severity of his government and his inexorable
regard to justice, that he had a particular favourite whom
he made a judge, and this judge reckoned himself so
secure in the credit he had with his master that, without
ceremony, causes were bought and sold in the courts of
judicature as openly as provisions in the market. But
when Cambyses was informed of these proceedings,
enraged to find his friendship so ungratefully abused, the
honour of his government prostituted, and the liberty and
property of his subjects sacrificed to the avarice of this
wretched minion, he ordered him to be seized and publicly
degraded, after which he commanded his skin to be
stripped over his ears, and the seat of government to be
covered with it as a warning to others. At the same time
to convince the world that this severity proceeded only
from the love of justice, he permitted the son to succeed his
father in the honours and office of prime minister.
Proverbs 23:12
Spiritual Knowledge
"Apply
thine heart unto instruction,
and thine ears to the words of knowledge."
FREQUENTLY have we met with this counsel before, under
varied forms of expression. It is undoubtedly "instruc-
tion" and "knowledge" of the highest kind that is here
indicated—the knowledge that makes man wise not only
for this life, but for the life to come. Why should Solomon
be so earnest on this question? In other words, why should
the attainment of spiritual knowledge be so strongly en-
forced upon man?
Because of its own WORTH.—A knowledge of the crea-
tion, its elements, laws, objects, extent, is valuable, but a
Chap. XXIII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 777
knowledge of the Creator is infinitely more so. The poor,
illiterate man who experimentally knows God, has a
sublimer knowledge than the most enlightened sage that
ever lived. "This is life eternal, to know Thee, the only
true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent." This
knowledge not only heals the diseases, cleanses the impu-
rities, removes the evils, crushes the enemies of the soul,
but lifts it into fellowship with the great God Himself.
Another reason why the attainment of this knowledge is
enforced is—
Because man is NOT IMPRESSED WITH ITS IMPORTANCE.
—He is, in his unregenerate state, more desirous of obtain-
ing any other knowledge than this; nay, he has a repug-
nance to this; he does not like to retain God in his
thoughts. Hence the need to him of precept upon pre-
cept and line upon line. It is sad that the knowledge
which man requires most, he cares least for, that the most
priceless treasure is least valued. How wise, as well as
gracious, was Christ, in instituting a Gospel ministry,
whose great work it is to urge man to search after this
knowledge preaching is no unnecessary service; it is
the most urgent work in the world. It cannot be dispensed
with. The other reason why the attainment of spiritual
knowledge is enforced is—
Because to ATTAIN IT THERE MUST BE PERSONAL AP-
PLICATION.—"Apply thine heart unto instruction." It is a
knowledge that cannot be imparted irrespective of the use of
man's own faculties. He must apply persistently, earnestly,
devoutly. He must "search the Scriptures," and by com-
paring spiritual things with spiritual, get at a right concep-
tion of the truth, and when he has got that conception he
must cherish its as a principle in his life, and embody it in
his conduct. Let the attainment of this knowledge be our
great aim in life, and let us struggle after it, for it can only
be reached by effort. Never let the present solicit us with
its easy indulgence to despair of that sweetest and noblest
hope. By aiming at it we shall at last attain. "I have
stood," say one, "in an Alpine valley, and still wrapped
in the cold and darkness far below, have seen the first sun-
578 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXIII.
beam smite with its fierce splendour the highest mountain
top, and thought it must be impossible by any to reach from
our dim low region that encrimsoned height, and yet the
sunrise leapt from peak to peak and flowed and broadened
in its golden streams down the mountain side, and I have
climbed on and on with long toil and under the full day-
light have mounted to that topmost crest of the eternal
snow heaved high into the regions of blue air. So is it
in the moral world." Whoever toils up-hillward, with his
eye upon the summit—
"Shall find the toppling crags of duty scaled
Are close upon the shining table lands
To which our God himself is moon and sun."
Proverbs 23:13-14
Parental Discipline
"Withhold not correction from the child; for if thou beatest him with the
rod, he shall not die. Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his
soul from hell."
IN these verses we have light thrown upon the question of
parental discipline; a question second to none in import-
ance; and from them we infer,
That parental discipline MAY SOMETIMES REQUIRE
CASTIGATION.—"Withhold not correction from the child;
for if thou beatest him with the rod he shall not die." The
castigation may be of different kinds. Corporeal infliction.
Where reason is undeveloped, the "rod" may be literally
applied. This would be the only way by which the parent
could make his disapprobation felt. Personal restriction.
The child may be denied that which he craves after, such
as liberty, gratification of appetite, or wish. This is often
more painful than physical suffering. Moral impression.
The parent may, by his admonitions and arguments, and
by the expression of his feelings, deeply wound the very
heart of his child. The moral rod, that makes the heart
Chap. XXIII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 779
feel, the conscience smart, is far severer than the material
one.
"You may remember," says French, "in one of AEsop's
fables, a school boy once stole a horn-book from one of his
school-fellows and brought it home to his mother, who neg-
lected chastising him, but rather encouraged him in the deed.
In course of time, the boy now grown into a man began
to steal things of greater value, till at length being caught
in the very act; he was bound and led to execution. Per-
ceiving his mother following among the crowd, wailing
and beating her breast, he begged the officers to be
allowed to speak one word in her ear; when she quickly
drew near and applied her ear to her son's mouth; he seized
the lobe of it tightly between his teeth and bit it off.
Upon this she cried out lustily, and the crowd joined her
in upbraiding he unnatural son, as if his former evil ways
had not been enough; but that his last act must be a deed
of impiety against his mother. 'But,' he replied; 'it is she
who is the cause of my ruin, for if when I stole my school-
fellow's horn-book and brought it to her, she had given me
a sound flogging, I should never have grown up so in
wickedness as to come to this untimely end.'" We infer
again—
That the END of parental discipline SHOULD BE THE
SPIRITUAL DELIVERANCE OF THE CHILD.—Why should the
parent inflict pain upon his offspring? Not to vent his
own passion, gratify his own anger, nor to make the child
more thoroughly the creature of his own selfishness.
Alas! how often parents inflict sufferings for such
miserable end as these. No, the end should be the
spiritual deliverance of the child. "Thou shalt beat him
with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell." In all,
the parent should strive to deliver his child from the hell
of sensuality, selfishness, spiritual wickedness and prac-
tical ignobility and impiety. "What if God should place
in your hand a diamond, and tell you to inscribe on it a
sentence which should be read at the last day, and shown
there as an index of your own thoughts and feelings?
What care, what caution, would you exercise in the selec-
580 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXIII.
tion. Now this is what God has done. He has placed be-
fore the immortal minds of your children, more imperish-
able than the diamond, on which you are about to inscribe
every day and every hour, by your instructions, by your
spirit, or by your example, something that will remain and
be exhibited for or against you at the judgment day."
Proverbs 23:15-23
An Appeal of Parental Piety
"My son, if thine heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice, even mine. Yea, my
reins shall rejoice, when thy lips speak right things. Let not thine heart envy
sinners; but be thou in the fear of the LORD all the day long. For surely there
is an end; and thine expectation shall not be cut off. Hear thou, my son, and
be wise, and guide thine heart in the way. Be not among winebibbers; among
riotous eaters of flesh: for the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty:
and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags. Hearken unto thy father that begat
thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old. Buy the truth, and sell it not;
also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding."
THESE words may be taken as expressing the appeal of
pious parents to their children. Notice—
The PURPOSE of the appeal. What is it? Wisdom. "My
son, if thine heart be wise." To be wise is to aim at the
highest end, to employ the best means to accomplish that
end, and to do so at the best time. The approbation of
God is the best aim; Christianity is the best means; now
is the best time. Another purpose is, that their children
may be truthful. "Thy lips speak right things." This
means something more than veracity, which is the speak-
ing of things true to the conceptions and feelings of the
speaker; it means truthfulness in life, it means that the
things spoken should be true in themselves, true to eternal
facts. A third purpose is, that their children may be
practically pious. "Be thou in the fear of the Lord all the
Chap. XXIII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 781
day long." That is, live the life of filial loyalty and prac-
tical reverence. The fear of reverential love. "All the
day long." Not occasionally, but habitually. The pur-
pose is further, that their children may be physically
temperate. "Be not among winebibbers, among riotous
eaters of flesh." Temperance consists, not only in the
avoidance of drunkenness, but in the avoidance of
gluttony as well. Physical intemperance is not only a sin
against the body, but against the soul also. Another pur-
pose is, that their children may be filially loving. "Hearken
unto thy father that begat thee, and despise not thy
mother when she is old." The man who has lost his love
for his parents, especially for his mother, has lost the last
germ of goodness; or rather lost that moral soil of nature
in which alone virtue and piety can take root and grow.
Still more, another purpose is, that their children may
acquire the truth. "Buy the truth, and sell it not."
An expression implying that truth is a precious thing;
that truth, to be obtained, must be purchased; that truth,
when once obtained, should never be parted with. Buy
it—give everything you have for it: sell it not, not even
for life itself. Notice—
The ARGUMENTS of the appeal.—Parents might enforce
many arguments to urge their children to follow their
counsel. A few only are suggested in these words. First:
Their own happiness. "My son, if thine heart be wise, my
heart shall rejoice, even mine; yea, my reins shall rejoice."
Is it nothing to make happy the instrumental authors of our
being, those who have loved us most tenderly, and served
us most self-denyingly? Secondly: The approaching end.
"Surely there is an end." An end to domestic relations—
an end to all means of improvement. Yes, there is an end,
and it is not far off. Thirdly: Freedom from poverty. "Be
not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh:
for the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty,
and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags." The implica-
tion is, that where these evils are avoided, and where virtue
is practised, there will be no poverty. " Godliness is pro-
fitable unto all things. It has the promise of the life that
582 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXIII.
now is and that which is to come." Never can we ponder
too profoundly and practically the fact that in genuine
religion, or, in other words, Christliness of life, complete
well-being is involved and assured. This gives sunshine
to the man; his spirit becomes genial, and his conduct glows
with a radiant life. Having a soul full of goodness, he sees
good in everything. Being harmonious within, he hears
music all round him. He beats out melody in every effort;
his "soul delights in fatness;" he is blessed in his deed.
Like a man marching to music, he treads the path of life
with a joyous step. As a Christ-regenerated man, he is
satisfied from himself. His happiness springs up from
within, as a well of water to everlasting life.
Proverbs 23:26
Man's Heart
"My son, give me thine heart."
“HEART” here, of course, does not mean the bunch of
muscles that beats the blood through the veins, nor does
it mean merely the emotional part of human nature, the
fountain of our affections and sympathies. It stands for
the rational nature in its entirety, all that distinguishes us
from the brutes. It is the "inner man"—the man of the
man. The verse leads us to make two remarks concern-
ing this heart
It is a property that man HAS TO DISPOSE OF.—This
is implied in the expression "Give me thine heart."
First: Man has nothing higher to dispose of. His heart is
given when he sets his strongest affections upon an object.
Wherever he centres his strongest love his heart is, and
where his heart is he is. Locally the object to whom he
has given his heart may be as far as the antipodes, aye, as
far as the heavens are from the earth. Albeit, the
man is there, though his body may be confined to some
Chap. XXIII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 783
small spot on earth. It is characteristic of the human
creature that he can live two lives at once—the animal
down amongst the vegetating, and the sensuous and
spiritual wherever the object of his love may be. When
therefore, he gives his heart, he gives more than if he gave
all his worldly possessions, than if he parted with a crown
or a kingdom. He gives himself. Secondly: Man is
compelled to dispose of it. He is forced, not by any outward
coercion, but by an inward pressure, by the cravings of
his nature. It is as necessary for the soul to love as it is
for the body to breathe. The deepest of all the deep
hungers of humanity is the hunger in the heart to love.
Sometimes so ravenous does man's animal appetite for
food become, that he will devour with a kind of relish the
most loathsotne things; and so voracious is the heart for
some object to love, that it will settle down upon the
lowest and most contemptible creatures rather than not
love at all. Thirdly: Man alone can dispose of it. No one
can take it from him by force. He is the only priest that
can present it. Had he no power over his affections he
would be at the mercy of circumstances. He would move
as a slave, not as a free man in the universe. He would
be an engine driven by force, not an agent, responsible to
moral law. Although the Everlasting One has a right to
his heart, requires it, and commands him to give it, He
will not wrest it from him. Another remark which the
verse leads is to make concerning the heart is, that—
It is a property URGENTLY CLAIMED.—There are many
who claim it. A thousand objects—wealth, fame, plea-
sure surround man, especially in his youthful stages—
asking him for his heart. Alas! without experience,
and without thought, he yields to the request and is
ruined. His heart has gone to the wrong object, and he
is a lost man. There is only one object in the universe to
whom it should be given—that is, the Supremely Good.
Why? He alone has a right to it. "All souls are
His." He called them into existence, and endowed them
with their fathomless susceptibilities and amazing powers
He who gives his heart to any one else is guilty of the
584 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXIII.
most atrocious injustice. Why? He alone can develop it.
So constituted is the human soul, that there is no possi-
bility of having all its powers quickened and unfolded
without supreme love to the Infinite. What the sunbeam
is to the earth, love to God is to the soul, that without
which all would be barren and beautiless for ever.
Still why He alone can satisfy it. "You might as soon,"
says an old writer, "fill a bag with wisdom and a chest
with virtue, or a circle with a triangle, as the heart of man
without God. A man may have enough of the world to
sink in, but he can never have enough to satisfy him." The
soul crieth out for the living God: nothing short of this
will satisfy it. It requires more than His works, attributes,
or provisions; it wants Himself.
How rational, how morally befitting, how sublimely
simple, is genuine religion! "My son, give me thine
heart." Sir Walter Raleigh, who was atrociously sacri-
ficed by the impious James I., and condemned to be be-
headed, on a false charge of treason, in reply to the execu-
tioner, who asked him which way he should lay his head, said,
"So the heart be right, it is no matter which way the head lies."
Proverbs 23:29-35*
The Drunkard's Effigy Hung Up as a Beacon
"Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath bab-
bling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes? They that
tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine. Look not thou upon the
wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself
aright. At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder. Thine eyes
shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things. Yea, thou
shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, or as he that lieth upon the
top of a mast. They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not sick; they
have beaten me, and I felt it not: when shall I awake? I will seek it yet again."
WE have already dealt with a passage treating the same
revolting subject as this.† All that we shall do here will
* The subject of the 27th and 28th verses we have frequently noticed.
† See Reading on chap. xx. 1.
Chap. XXIII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 785
be to present the rough outlines of the drunkard's picture,
and several things are here indicated.
HIS SENSUAL INDULGENCE.—He is one of those that
“tarry long at the wine, that go to seek mixed wine." It
is clear from this and other passages that the wines used in
Judea in ancient times were intoxicating, although, per-
haps, by no means to the extent of modern wines, which
are brandied and drugged. What are called foreign wines
in the English markets are, to a great extent we are told,
home manufactures. The drunkard is not one who sips
the juice of the grape as God gives it for his refreshment,
and then passes on to his work, but he is one who "tarries
long at the wine." He seeks pleasure out of it. He pur-
sues it as a source of enjoyment. He has mixed and
flavoured it, that it may become more exciting to his
brain, more delicious to his palate. What a picture of
thousands in this so-called Christian country, who periodi-
cally assemble every day in taverns, hotels, and clubs, in
order to "tarry long" at the intoxicating beverage!
Another thing indicated here concerning the drunkard
is—
HIS OFFENSIVE GARRULOUSNESS.—"Who hath conten-
tions? Who hath babbling?" When alcohol excites the
brain, that member of the body which James describes as
“setting on fire the whole course of nature," is allowed to
give full utterance to all the filthy, incoherent, ill-natured,
and ridiculous things that spring from the inebriate's
heart. In these babblings there may sometimes be some
genial and humourous expressions, but more often ill-
natured and irritating "contentions." What quarrels,
fightings, and murders have grown out of the drunkard's
babblings! They supply our police with labour, our judges
with occupation, our workhouses with paupers, our jails
with prisoners, our gallows with victims. Another thing
indicated here concerning the drunkard is—
HIS BLOODSHOT FACE.—"Who hath redness of eyes?"
The habits of the man come to be marked by their effects
upon his looks. The inflamed and turgid eye, and the
blotched, fiery, and disfigured countenance, indicate that
586 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXIII.
the deleterious poison has gone through his frame and has
incorporated with, tainted, and set on fire the entire mass
of circulating blood. His very looks become the index of
his character. His vacant stare shows that all the ideas
concerning the great laws and grand mission of human
life are crushed within, and that he is left branded with
infamy, to stumble on into a blank eternity. Another thing
indicated here concerning the drunkard is—
HIS WRETCHED CONDITION.—"Who hath woe? who hath
sorrow?" It seems implied that the drunkard gets into a
wretchedness for which no equal can be found. The very
means of the drunkard's pleasure "biteth like a serpent,
and stingeth like an adder?" Whose woe is greater
than his? He has the "woe" of ill-health. Drunkenness
poisons the blood, saps the constitution, and generates
the foulest diseases. He has the "woe" of secular
poverty. Drunkenness indisposes and unfits him for those
duties by which a subsistence for himself and family can
be obtained. The pauperism of England has its chief
fountain in drunkenness. He has the "woe" of social con-
tempt. Who can respect the drunkard? Not his neigh-
bours—not even his wife or children. They soon get to
loathe and shun him. He has the "woe" of moral re-
morse. In his sober moments if his conscience is not
seared, compunction creeps into him like a serpent, bites
and stings him into anguish. Truly a wretched creature is
the drunkard. Another thing indicated here concerning
the drunkard is—
HIS EASY TEMPTABILITY.—"Thine eyes shall behold
strange women." The idea suggested is that a man under
the influence of inebriating drinks is easily tempted.
is ripe for the crimes of adultery, falsehood, blasphemy,
and other enormities. His judgment is clouded, his
sense of propriety is gone; the passions are inflamed,
and the breath of temptation will bear him away into
sin. He stands, or rather reels, ready for any crime.
There is a fable of a man, no doubt familiar to many
—but though a fable it involves an important truth and
an important warning—of a man whom the devil is said
Chap. XXIII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 787
to have offered the alternative of a choice between three
sins, one or other of which, as the means of averting some
evil or obtaining some good, he was bound to commit.
The three sins were—murder, incest, and drunkenness. The
man made choice of the last, as, in his estimation, incom-
parably the least. This was the devil's device; for when
he was under the influence of it, he was easily beguiled
both the other two. It is needless to say how insen-
the drunkard becomes to all feelings of delicacy and
decorum; how he is ready to commit the most shameless
indecencies and glory in his shame; and how rapidly, in
such a state, he becomes the prey—the wretched and dis-
honourable prey—of every vile seducer. Another thing
indicated here concerning the drunkard is—
HIS RECKLESS STUPIDITY.—"Thou shalt be as he that
lieth down in the midst of the sea, or as he that lieth upon
the top of a mast." Exhausted by excitement, and
blinded by the fumes of his disordered stomach and in-
toxicated brain, he falls to sleep. He is unconscious of
the spot on which he lies down. It may be near a raging
fire or on the margin of a terrible precipice; it may be as
dangerous as if he had laid himself down in the midst of
the raging sea, or on the top of a mast tossed by the wild
winds of Heaven. He is utterly dead to all the surround-
ings of his terrible position. When his nature has over-
come the power of the poison within him, and the mist
rolls from his brain and his senses return, and he opens his
eyes, he is startled at the terribleness of his position,
and it appears to him as awful as if he had been in the
midst of the sea, or on the mast-head of a storm-tossed
bark. What a condition for a rational being to be in! and
yet it is the condition into which the drunkard sinks in his
rniserable debauch! When he has awoke he knows
nothing of what has occurred during the period of his in-
toxication. He knows not how he had come to that terri-
ble spot. He finds himself stricken, but he knows not by
whom—beaten, he knows not the hand. He has wounds
"without a cause "—that is, he knows not the cause.
Struggling into consciousness, yawning with an intoler-
588 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXIII.
able depression, he is unable to account for the injuries
that have been inflicted upon his person. Another thing
indicated here concerning the drunkard is—
HIS UNCONQUERABLE THIRST. —"When shall I awake?
I will seek it yet again." However bitter his reflections
upon his awaking, and his remorse, on his awaking his
burning thirst remains unquenched. He seeks relief in
that very cup which has thus far damned him. "As a dog
to his vomit he returns to his filth."
Young men, look at this terrible effigy! It is here raised
on the eternal Rock of Truth, to warn every mariner of his
dangers on the sea of life. "Look not thou upon the wine
when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it
moveth itself aright." Let not the hue or the sparkle
attract you. Avoid it as you would poison. At an
Episcopal meeting, a discussion on temperance brought
up the wine question. An influential clergyman rose and
made a vehement argument in favour of wine. When he
had resumed his seat, a layman said, "Mr. Moderator,
it is not my purpose in rising to answer the learned
arguments you have just listened to. My object is more
humble, and, I hope, more practical. I once knew a father,
in moderate circumstances, who was at much inconvenience
to educate a beloved son at college. Here this son became
dissipated, but, after he had graduated and returned to his
father, the influence acting upon a generous father, actually
reformed him. The father was overjoyed at the prospect
that his cherished hopes were still to be realized. Several
years passed, when, the young man having completed his
professional study, and being about to leave his father to
establish a business, was invited to dine with a neigh-
bouring clergyman distinguished for his hospitality and
social qualities. At this dinner wine was introduced and
offered to this young man, who refused, it was pressed
upon him and again refused. This was repeated, and the
young man was ridiculed. He was strong enough to over-
come appetite, but could not resist ridicule. He drank
and fell, and from that moment became a confirmed
drunkard, and long since has found a drunkard's grave.
Chap. XXIV.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 789
Mr. Moderator," continued the old man, with streaming
eyes, "I am that father, and it was at the table of the
clergyman who has just taken his seat, and my son I shall
never cease to mourn."
Proverbs 24:1-2
The Villany and Absurdity of Sin
"Be not thou envious against evil men, neither desire to be with them. For
their heart studieth destruction, and their lips talk of mischief."
THESE words lead us to make a remark on two points—
The VILLANY of sin.—Here is a description of sinners:—
"Their heart studieth destruction, and their lips talk of
mischief." Malignity is its very essence. All sinners
are of their father, the devil, whose inspiration is malice.
Their study is mischief. "Their heart studieth destruction."
Destruction of what? Evil that curses the world? No, of
chastity, truth, moral sensibility, spiritual goodness. Every
wicked man in his measure is an Apollyon; like his great
leader he goes about "seeking whom he may devour."
Their speech is mischief. "Their lips talk of mischief."
Their conversation tends to destroy social order, to create
social broils, and to set man against man, family against
family, nation against nation. Sin is a destroyer. This
is its instinct. This is its influence. Holy Scripture de-
scribes the genius and history of sinners. "Their throat is an
open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the
poison of asps is under their lips." It is said that when
Nicephorus Phocas had built a strong wall about his palace
for his own security, in the night-time he heard a voice
crying to him, "O Emperor! though thou build thy wall
as high as the clouds, yet if sin be within, it will overthrow
all." The other point which the words lead us to remark
is on:
THE ABSURDITY of sin.—"Be thou not envious against
590 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXIV.
evil men, neither desire to be with them." Two things are
here implied, showing the absurdity of sin. First: That sin
envies the most unenviable things. Envy is essentially a bad
passion. The poets imagine that Envy dwelt in a dark
cave, being pale and lean, looking a-squint, abounding
with gall, her teeth black, never rejoicing but in the mis-
fortune of others, ever unquiet, and continually tormenting
herself. But this feeling is garbed with absurdity when it
is directed to evil men. To envy evil men is to envy those
whose natures are charged with the elements of misery, over
whom the clouds of God's disfavour rest, and whom a
terrible retribution awaits. Secondly: That sin desires the
most undesirable things. "Neither desire to be with them."
To be in the fellowship of wicked men, to breathe their
foetid breath, to listen to their foul talk and bacchanalian
song, to join in their senseless revelries, is in every way a
most undesirable thing, and yet, alas! it is desired—
desired by the thousands of youth that are rising into
manhood. The pleasure of sin is ever cloying. "A philo-
sopher," says John Howe, "in an epistle which he writes
to a man from the court of Dionysius, where he was forcibly
detained, thus bemoans himself:—We are unhappy, O
Antisthenes, beyond measure! And how can we but be
unhappy, that are burdened by the tyrant every day with
sumptuous feasts, plentiful compotations, precious or-
naments, gorgeous apparel? And I knew as soon as I came
into this island and city how unhappy my life would be."
This is the nature and common condition of even the most
pleasing and sensible objects. They first tempt, then
please a little, then disappoint, and lastly vex. The eye that
beholds them blasts them quickly, rifles and deflowers their
glory, and views them with no more delight at first than
disdain afterwards. Creature enjoyments have a bottom:
are soon drained, and drawn dry. Hence there must be
frequent diversions, and their pleasures must be sought out
and chosen, not because they are better, but because they
are new.
Sin is a great deceiver, it is always theatrical; it puts on
dazzling costumes that attract and charm the uninitiated.
Chap. XXIV.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 791
We have read of a tree which, like the almond tree, robes
itself in blossoms before the foliage appears. Its flowers
are a gorgeous ruby, and their splendour attracts to it
in teeming crowds the winged insects of the air. The
busy bee in quest of nectar is attracted to it, settles down
for a moment, and amidst its encircled beauty drinks
its cup and falls dead to the root. Around that tree
we are told there lie the remains of myriads of insects
who have fallen victims to a fatal delusion. Is not sin like
that tree? In the great fields of human society how high
it lifts its head, how wide its branches, how brilliant its
blossoms! Human souls, fascinated by its external glory,
and by its promise of delicious nectar, hasten to it, crowd
around it, settle on it, sip its juicy flowers and fall dead.
Beware of sin. Flee from it as Lot was told to do from
Sodom, and thus escape for your life.
Proverbs 24:3-7
Enlightened Piety
"Through wisdom is an house builded; and by understanding it is established:
and by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all precious and pleasant
riches. A wise man is strong; yea, a man of knowledge increaseth strength. For
by wise counsel thou shalt make thy war: and in multitude of counsellors there is
safety. Wisdom is too high for a fool: he openeth not his mouth in the gate."
"WISDOM" here is to be regarded not only as representing
piety, but piety in association with intelligence and skill.
Goodness of a certain sort is sometimes found in con-
nexion with great ignorance and stupidity. It possesses
mind unenlightened by knowledge and unskilled by disci-
pline. On the other hand, there is often found a kind of
"wisdom" altogether detached from goodness and piety.
Examples abound in history, and also in living society, of
men of great intelligence, high culture, and ingenious ap-
592 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXIV.
titudes, who are destitute of any goodness of heart, in the
Bible sense. These two should be always wedded, "the
twain should be one." Where they are thus united, we
have what I have designated—enlightened piety. The text
suggests some of the advantages connected with this.
It is conducive to WEALTH.—"Through wisdom is an
house builded; and by understanding it is established:
and by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all
precious and pleasant riches." The three words, "Wisdom,"
"Understanding," and "Knowledge," seem, in the mean-
ing of Solomon, synonymous; they signify an enlightened
religion, and this is conducive to secular prosperity. An
ignorant piety often leads to destitution, an unsanc-
tified intelligence to ruin and misery. But when both are
combined there is the guarantee of secular advancement.
It involves all the conditions of worldly success, temperance,
economy, industry, aptness, and the favour of Heaven. The
Heavenly Teacher intimated this when he said, "Seek ye
first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all
these things shall be added unto you;" and Paul recog-
nised this when he said, "Godliness is profitable unto all
things, having the promise of the life which now is, and of
that which is to come." I have somewhere read of a
learned philosopher who objected to religion on the ground
that if he adopted it he should lose all he had in the
world. A Christian friend said no one ever lost anything
by serving Christ, and offered to give his bond to indemnify
the philosopher for all losses he should suffer on that
account. The bond was duly executed, and the philosopher
became a praying man. Just before his death, he sent for
his Christian friend, and gave him the paper, saying,
"Take this bond and tear it up. I release you from your
promise. Jesus has made up to me a hundred-fold for all
that I ever did or suffered on His account. There is no-
thing left for you to pay. Tell everybody how true it is
that there is great profit in serving Jesus." The verses
suggest another fact connected with enlightened piety,
that—
It is conducive to POWER.—"A wise man is strong; yea,
Chap. XXIV.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 793
a man of knowledge increaseth strength." First: Intelli-
gence apart from piety is power. A man who has great
information, and knows how to use it, possesses a power
superior to any physical force. "Knowledge is power."
This is a proposition that has been crystallised into a pro-
verb. It has passed the realm of debate, and lies sparkling
in the region of acknowledged certitudes. Secondly:
Piety apart from intelligence is a higher kind of power.
It is the power of patience, endurance, love, compassion,
courage; it is a power that will touch men's hearts, move
the very arm of Omnipotence, "take hold upon the strength
of God." Thirdly: Piety associated with intelligence is the
highest creature power. What power on earth is equal to
that possessed by the man of vast intelligence and conse-
crated affections, the man of sunny intellect and Heaven-
inspired sympathies and aims? This is a power that can
and does work wonders. Another fact suggested by
the verses in connection with this enlightened piety is,
that—
It is conducive to SAFETY.—"For by wise counsel thou
shalt make thy war; and in multitude of counsellors there
is safety." How in times of danger does it conduce to
safety?" The words suggest two ways. It takes counsel
of the wise. "By wise counsel thou shalt make thy
war." Nothing exposes a man to greater peril than such
an overweening conceit of his own opinions and such a
feeling of self-sufficiency as will prevent him from taking
counsel of the wise. Self-willed monarchs have ruined
kingdoms and brought destruction on themselves. The
men of enlightened godliness take counsel of the holiest
men and of the great God Himself. Another way suggested
by the words, in which it is conducive to safety is—It
has power at the gate. "Wisdom is too high for a fool; he
openeth not his mouth in the gate." The "gate" here
may refer to the place of public assembly or to the entrance
into the city. The man of enlightened piety will be power-
ful in either position. When he opens his mouth and
speaks in the assembly, men will listen to his words and
bow to his opinion. Or if he stands at the gate when
594 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXIV.
strangers are entering, opens his mouth when the enemy
is advancing, the moral majesty of his aspect and the force
of his utterances will drive the invader back more effectively
than the swords or bayonets of armies.
Proverbs 24:8-9
Aspects of Depravity
"He that deviseth to do evil shall be called a mischievous person. The
thought of foolishness is sin: and the scorner is an abomination to men."
THE man who has the Bible in his hand cannot say that
he lacks means of knowing what is good and evil; what
characters God will accept and what He will reject. In
this Book of books the evil and the good are exhibited in
such a variety and fulness of aspect as to render it impos-
sible for men to make a mistake on the momentous subject.
Depravity is presented to us in the verses—
AS MISCHIEVOUS IN PURPOSE.—"He that deviseth to do
evil shall be called a mischievous person." It is bad
enough to be inclined to evil; it is worse to yield to it, it is
worse still to devise it; to use that intellect which God has
given us in constructing schemes of wickedness. This is
the work of the devil himself. His gigantic intellect
has ever been thus employed, and continues thus en-
gaged. He is everlastingly constructing schemes of
wickedness, and we should not be "ignorant of his devices."
And to the same work he inspires all his followers.
Balaam was a mischievous person. (Numbers xxxi. 16.)
Abimelech earned the same reputation. (Judges ix.)
Jeroboam's mischief has stamped his name with a black
mark of reprobation—"who made Israel to sin." (1 Kings
xii. 22-33.) The heathens of the ancient world are repre-
Chap. XXIV.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 795
sented as "inventors of evil things." (Romans ix.) All
wicked men are desirous of mischief. They are every-
where hatching schemes of evil. Depravity is here pre-
sented—
AS SINFUL IN THOUGHT.—"The thought of foolishness
is sin." The idea is, that every evil thought is corrupt.
How can this be? How can such an intangible, subtle,
fugitive thing as thought be a sin? Sinful thoughts are of
two classes. First: Voluntary. These consist in a volun-
tary meditation on wrong subjects, such subjects as those
which tend to incite lust, avarice, revenge, and impiety,
and all wrong states of mind. They consist also in a
voluntary meditation on right subjects in a wrong way.
Those who take up the great facts of nature, Providence,
and the Bible, in order to throw discredit on the existence,
wisdom, and goodness of God; and those also who
study those facts for infidel, sectarian, or selfish ends,
are alike guilty of sinful thoughts. Sinful thoughts are,
Secondly: Involuntary. These come into us, not only
irrespective of our choice, but against our very wish. But
if so, how can we be responsible for them? Here is the
explanation:—they have grown up out of previous volun-
tary states of mind. And these states of mind constitute
the soil from which they have sprung. Involuntary states
of mind grow out of a course of previous voluntary ones.
Let us be careful of that from which bad thoughts spring.
"The cockatrice's egg," says John Howe, "if long enough
hatched becomes a serpent, and therefore ought to be
crushed in time." Depravity is here presented—
AS ABHORRENT IN CHARACTER.—"The scorner is an
abomination to men." Evil devices, sinful thoughts, and
a scorning spirit are all elements of depravity. The man
who "sits in the scorner's seat" has reached the nearest
seat to hell. Such a character, we have been assured
elsewhere, is an abomination to God, but here he is also an
abomination to men. Men may laugh at his sarcastic wit,
applaud his dexterous shafts of ridicule, but inwardly they
despise him. Such a man the human soul cannot trust,
cannot love, must recoil from with a profound disgust.
596 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXIV.
Depart from evil and pursue good, flee from sin and
escape to the mountain of purity and truth, the only safe
refuge and congenial home of soul. "Sin," says John
Bunyan:
“Is the living worm, the lasting fire;
Hell would soon lose its heat could sin expire."
Proverbs 24:10
The Day of Adversity
"If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small."
Two thoughts are here suggested:
THERE IS A "DAY OF ADVERSITY" FOR ALL.—Man
is born to trouble as sparks fly upward. He meets a "day
of adversity "in every part of his life. In his body, phy-
sical diseases; in his intellect, distracting problems; in
his conscience, moral convulsions. He meets a "day of
adversity" in every relation of his life. In his secular re-
lations, trials, and disappointments in his business; in his
social relations, abused confidence, false friendships, ago-
nising bereavements. He meets a "day of adversity" in
the end of his life. The day of death awaits all, and a
trying day it is! How cloudy, how tumultuous, how
frigid, how desolate! We have all the day of adversity.
"Men are but a sponge," says an old writer, "and but a
sponge filled with tears; and whether you lay your right
hand or left hand upon a full sponge it will weep."
Another thought here suggested is that—
The "day of adversity" is a TRIAL OF MORAL STRENGTH.
—It is by adversity that our moral strength is tried; thus
God tried Abraham, and he turned out to be strong in
moral faith; thus God tried Peter, and he turned out to be
weak, and fell. We want strength for the day of adversity:
that strength of faith in God which will make us resigned,
patient, invincible.
Brother, the day of adversity awaits thee. If thou hast
not strength to bear up, it will overwhelm thee. Prepare
Chap. XXIV.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 797
for it, repair to the source of strength, God; "He giveth
power to the faint; to him that hath no power He increaseth
strength." Thy "day of adversity" is not darker or more
tempestuous than better men than thou hast had. "Thou
thinkest," says an old author, "thou art more miserable
than the rest, other men are happy in respect of thee, their
miseries are but flea-bites to thine, thou alone art unhappy,
none so bad as thyself. Yet if, as Socrates said, all the
men in the world should come and bring their grievances
together, of body, mind, fortune, sores, ulcers, madness,
epilepsies, agues, and all those common calamities of beg-
gary, want, servitude, imprisonment, and lay them on a
heap to be equally divided, wouldst thou share alike and
take thy portion, or be as thou art? Without question thou
wouldst be what thou art." Let us cultivate moral strength,
in order to meet the day of adversity with serenity and
heroism.
"A scrip on my back and a staff in my hand,
I march on in haste through an enemy's land;
The road may be rough, but it cannot be long,
And I'll smooth it with hope, and cheer it with song."
H. F. LYTE
Proverbs 24:11-12
The Neglect of Social Benevolence
"If thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death, and those that
are ready to be slain; if thou sayest, Behold, we knew it not; doth not he that
pondereth the heart consider it? and he that keepeth thy soul, doth not he know it
and shall not he render to every man according to his works?"
THE subject of these words is the neglect of social benevo-
lence; and we notice—
The neglect DESCRIBED.—"If thou forbear to deliver
them that are drawn unto death, and those that are ready
to be slain." Two things are here implied. The existence
of men in distress. There are men "drawn to death;"
and "ready to be slain," now, as well as in the days of
Solomon; there are men around us who are being slain
598 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXIV.
not by the sword but by diseases, oppressions, poverty,
and disappointments. The other thing implied is the duty
towards men in distress. There should be an endeavour to
deliver them, grapple with their diseases, crush their op-
pressors, mitigate their poverty, stay their starvation.
Every man should try, in the midst of so much distress, to
act the part of a deliverer, a physician, a redeemer.
Another thing which these verses lead us to notice is—
The neglect EXCUSED. — "If thou sayest, Behold, we
knew it not." This is an excuse that is now often pleaded
for doing nothing. Men say, "We don't know that such
misery exists; we are not sure that the case is a deserving
one." Their ignorance in this matter is always voluntary,
and therefore criminal, they don't wish to know; they
shut their eyes to the fact; and when they are told that
men have died of want they say, "We knew it not." Such
ignorance is no justifiable excuse. The means of know-
ledge are abundant. Human misery stares us in the face
at every turn. The columns of every day's newspaper are
laden with intelligence on the subject, Such ignorance is
itself a sin. Every man is bound to know the state of
society in which he lives; if there is distress, he should
find it out. He should act like Job who said, "The cause
which I knew not, I searched out." The neglect of social
distress is bad, and the excuses for it only increase its tur-
pitude. The verses lead us to notice again—
The neglect PUNISHED.—"Doth not He that pondereth
the heart consider it? and He that keepeth thy soul doth
not He know it? and shall not He render to every man
according to his works?" There are three facts here which
the neglecter of social benevolence should solemnly ponder
well. God knows him. "both not He that pondereth the
heart consider it; doth not He know it?" Excuses may do
for man, but they will not do for Him; He sees their false-
hood ; He loathes their hypocrisy. God preserves him.
"He that keepeth thy soul." He knows that a lie is being
told. What impious hardihood to lie to Him in "Whose
hand thy breath is, and who knoweth all thy ways." God
will recompense him. "Shall not He render unto every
Chap. XXIV.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 799
man according to his works :" There is a day of judg-
ment coming, when thy hypocrisy shall be exposed, and
thy covetousness visited with the retributions of eternity.
On that day Christ will say to all neglecters of social be-
nevolence. "Inasmuch as ye have not done it unto the
least of these my brethren ye have not done it unto me."
"'Tis written with the pen of heavenly love
On every heart which skill divine has moulded,
A transcript from the statute book above,
Where angels read the Sovereign's will unfolded.
“It bids us seek the holes where famine lurks,
Clutching the hoarded crust with trembling fingers;
Where toil, in damp, unwholesome caverns works,
Or With strained eyeballs o'er the needle lingers.
"It bids us stand beside the dying bed
Of those about to quit the world for ever:
Smoothe the toss'd pillow, prop the aching head,
Cheer the heart broken, whom death hastes to sever.
"And those who copy thus Christ's life on earth,
Feeding the poor, and comforting the weeper,
Will all receive a meed of priceless worth,
When ripely gathered by the Heavenly Reaper."
Household Words
Proverbs 24:13-14
Spiritual Science
"My son, eat thou honey, because it is, good: and the honeycomb, which is
sweet to thy taste: so shall the knowledge of wisdom be unto thy soul: when
thou hast found it, then there shall be a reward, and thy expectation shall not he
cut off."
THE subject of these words is spiritual science—a subject
which we have had frequently to notice in our passage
through this wonderful book. There are many sciences, but
the science of God is the root science, that which gives life,
unity, and beauty to every branch of knowledge, it is the
central science, No man has a thorough knowledge of
anything, if he is ignorant of God. What is it to know
600 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXIV.
Him? It is something more than to know the works of
His hands, or the facts of His history. To know a man I
must be in possession of the man's spirit, I must be in-
fluenced by the same motives, susceptible of the same
impressions, inspired by the same aims. I may know all
about a man's external history, be well versed in every
part of his biography, and yet be ignorant of himself. It
is so with God. "For what man knoweth the things of a
mart, save the spirit of man which is in him? Even so the
things of God knoweth no man, but the spirit of God."
To now Him I must have His spirit, His disposition. I
must participate in that love which is the spring of all His
actions, the heart of His heart. "He that loveth not,
knoweth not God, for God is love." This is the knowledge
which is essential to our well-being. "This is life eternal,
to know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom
Thou hast sent." The verse suggests three remarks
concerning this spiritual science
It is WHOLESOME.-" My son, eat thou honey, because it is
good." Honey was one of the choice productions of Canaan.
It was used by its inhabitants as an article of diet, and
it was not only delicious to the palate, but strengthening
to the frame. When Jesus appeared to His disciples after
His resurrection, it is said that, "When they believed not
for joy, He said unto them, Have ye here any meat ? and
they gave Him a piece of broiled fish and an honeycomb."
Solomon says in effect: that what honey is to the body in
strengthening it, spiritual knowledge is to the mind—"it
is good." Knowledge of God is the aliment for man's
spiritual nature. Without it there is no moral strength ;
our faculties require God Himself to feed upon. The bread
of tihe soul is not any part or the whole of creation, but the
Eternal God Himself. Without Him the soul starves.
He, is the food of the intellect, the affections, the imagi-
nation, the conscience. The soul "crieth out for the living
God." The verses further suggest concerning spiritual
science that:
It is DELECTABLE.—"And the honeycomb, which is
sweet to the taste." God's goodness in nature appears in
Chap. XXIV.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 601
this as well as in all other things: that the provisions
essential to man's strength He has made palatable to the
taste. He might have made the fruits of the earth which
we require for our support bitter as gall, abhorrent to our
taste, but he has made all pleasant. Honey is not only
strengthening but sweet. The pleasures of spiritual know-
ledge are of the most exquisite kind. It delights every
faculty: — imagination, by opening up enchanting realms
of beauty; conscience, by bringing on its ears the trans-
porting music of God's approval; hope, by pointing it to
the ever-brightening future; taste, — what said David?
"How sweet are thy words unto my taste, yea, sweeter
also than honey and the honeycomb." But we learn from
the verses — that spiritual science is not only wholesome
and delectable, but also that
It is SATISFYING. — "When thou hast found it then
there shall be a reward, and thy expectation shall not
be cut off." What reward? Goodness is its own reward,
and the reward is equal to the highest "expectation."
It includes a "love that passeth all knowledge," a "peace
that passeth all understanding," "riches that are unsearch-
able," a "joy that is unspeakable and full of glory."
Let us search diligently for this knowledge. Remember
that the Gospel of Christ is the Canaan in which this
honey abounds, the high rocks in which it is found. This
is the knowledge to obtain. "He," says an old writer, "is
the best grammarian who has learned to speak the truth
from his heart: the best astronomer who has conversation
in Heaven: the best musician who has learned to sing the
praise of his God: the best arithmetician who so numbers
his days as to apply his heart to wisdom. He is knowing
in ethics who trains up his family in the Lord: he is the
best economist who is wise to salvation, prudent in giving
and taking good counsel: he is the best politician, and he
is a good linguist that speaks the language of Canaan."
You can never get too much of this knowledge. A man
may eat too much honey; good as it is, an intemperate use
of it will produce nausea and feebleness: not so with this
science of sciences, the science of God.
602 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXIV.
Proverbs 24:15-16
The Hostility
of the Wicked Towards the Good
"Lay not wait, O wicked man, against the dwelling of the righteous; spoil
not his resting place: for a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but
the wicked shall fall into mishchief."
THESE words lead us to make the following remarks
touching the enmity of the wicked towards the good.
The wicked WOULD ruin the good. — This seems to be
implied in the prohibition: "Lay not wait, O wicked man,
against the dwelling of the righteous; spoil not his resting
place." From the Fall to this hour there has been in the
mind of the wicked an aversion to the truly righteous.
"The seed of the serpent is at enmity with the seed of the
woman." In every chapter of human history this enmity
is revealed. There were times in this country when it
manifested itself by the infliction of the most infernal
tortures. Those days are gone, but with them the spirit
of hostility is not gone — it works still in sneers, inuen-
does, slanders, and other ways. It lays "wait against
the dwelling of the righteous," it seeks to "spoil their
resting-place." Would not those men who repudiate the
religion of Christ, and who constitute, alas! the great ma-
jority in this country, be delighted to have theatres and
scenes of amusement take the place of our churches and
chapels, and Shakespeare, Burns, and Dickens, take the
place of the grand old Bible?
The wicked CANNOT ruin the good. — "For a just man
falleth seven times, and riseth up again." Calamity
and not immorality is referred to here, and wicked men
may cause a just man to fall into difficulties and troubles.
Through their malignant endeavours they may darken his
reputation, mar the harmony of his social circle, thwart
his secular plans, and reduce him to bankruptcy, but,
notwithstanding this, he shall "rise again." There is
a marvellous buoyancy in goodness. If the just man
Chap. XXIV.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 603
who has fallen into calamity rises not to his former
secular position, he rises in spirit above his trials. His
religion, like a life-boat, bears him over the billows, he
braves the tempest, and outrides the storm. Besides this
elasticity which is in goodness itself, God's providential
hand will be outstretched to raise the fallen man. A just
man is near to the heart of God. "He that toucheth you
toucheth the apple of my eye." "I am Jesus whom thou
persecutest." "He shall deliver thee in six troubles, yea, in
seven shall no evil touch thee." "Many are the afflictions of
the righteous, but the Lord delivereth him out of them
all." He that is engaged, therefore, in endeavouring to
injure the good, is engaged in a fruitless work. The just
man is destined to rise — no sea of persecution is deep
enough to drown him; he will rise, and, like his master,
walk upon the billows.
The wicked ruin THEMSELVES IN THE ATTEMPT. —
"The wicked shall fall into mischief." "He hath also pre-
pared for him the instruments of death; he ordaineth his
arrows against the persecutors. Behold, he travaileth with
iniquity, and hath conceived mischief, and brought forth
falsehoods. He made a pit and digged it, and is fallen into
the ditch which he made. His mischief shall return upon
his own head, and his violent dealing shall come down
upon his own pate."* Those who seek to injure the good
often fall into mischief here and are ruined. History
abounds with examples of this fact. The ball which the
wicked have shot against the righteous rebounds on their
own head, and strikes them down: they are hanged on the
gallows which they have prepared for others, and at last
the mischief that they will fall into will be irretrievable and
tremendous. The path of the sinner is a path of self-
entrapment.
* Psalm vii. 13-16.
604 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXIV.
Proverbs 24:17-18
Revenge
"Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when
he stumbleth: lest the LORD see it, and it displease him, and he turn away his
wrath from him.''
REVENGE I may define as a perversion of the innate
sentiment of repugnance to wrong as wrong. Antagonism
to wrong is a primary instinct of our moral nature.
Revenge is this instinct, grown into a wild passion, and
directed against the person who committed the wrong,
rather than against the wrong itself. Johnson makes
a distinction between vengeance and revenge. Injuries, he
says are revenged; crimes are avenged. The former is an
act of passion, the latter of justice. Our definition may be
faulty, but we know the thing — know it from sad experience;
we have felt its fires ourselves; we have seen its flash, and
heard its thunders in others. It is a most implacable
passion, a passion that will burn up itself and turn to
ashes. It is a heat of vindictive rage that nothing can
allay but blood. "A passion that rains hot vengeance on
the offender's head."
The verses direct our attention to three things in
relation to revenge.
Its OBJECT. — "Thine enemy." Men are enemies to men.
This is a fact as saddening as it is unquestionable. That
children of the same Great Father, partakers of the same
nature, subject to the same administration, pilgrims to the
same eternity, should be at enmity with each other, implies
that some terrible change has taken place in the moral na-
ture of man. Humanity is not as it came from the hand of
the Great Father of mankind. Sin has made the brother
a foe. Now it is against the "enemy" that revenge is
directed. If man had no enemy, he would have no revenge;
its fire would never be kindled within him. In heaven no
such passion burns.
Chap. XXIV.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 605
Its GRATIFICATION. — "Let not thine heart be glad when
he stumbleth." The fall, the ruin of the enemy, is bliss to
the revenging soul. Hence revenge is the genius that in-
vents instruments of torture and implements of destruction
— the inspiring and presiding fiend in all battles. The
mangled frame of the enemy is to its eye a transporting
vision, and his shrieks of agony fall as music on its ear.
As a rule, the weaker the nature, the stronger the revenge.
A man is great only as he rises above it. David wept and
chastened his soul in his enemy's affliction. Job depre-
cated such a miserable passion. "If I rejoiced at the de-
struction of him that hated me, or lifted up myself when
evil found him, neither have I suffered my mouth to sin by
wishing a curse to his soul;"* and —
"Exalted Socrates, divinely brave,
Injur'd he fell, and dying he forgave.
Too noble for revenge, which still we find
The weakest frailty of a feeble mind." — DRYDEN
But if unmanly, still more un-Christian. "If thine
enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink;
for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his
head."
Its AVENGER. — "Lest the Lord see it, and it displease
Him, and He turn away his wrath from him." Man's
revenge is displeasing to God. It is opposed to the bene-
volence of His nature, and contrary to the teachings of His
Word. Man's revenge may cause God to interpose and
relieve its victim. "He turn away his wrath from him."
Coverdale renders the words thus: "Lest the Lord be
angry, and turn is wrath from him to thee." Thus it
was with the enemies of Samson. "Hath any wronged
thee?" says Quarles. "Be bravely revenged; slight it,
and the work is begun; forgive it, and it is finished. He
is below himself that is not above an injury."
"How hardly man this lesson learns,
To smile and bless the hand that spurns:
To see the blow, to feel the pain,
But render only love again.
* Psalm xxxv. 13, 14; Job xxxi. 29; Judges xvi. 25—30.
606 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXIV.
This spirit not to earth is given
One had it, but He came from Heaven.
Reviled, rejected, and betrayed,
No curse He breathed, no plaint he made;
But, when in death's deep pang He sighed,
Prayed for His murderers, and died."
EDMESTON
Proverbs 24:19-20
An Example of the Folly of Envy
"Fret not thyself because of evil men, neither be thou envious at the wicked;
for there shall be no reward to the evil man; the candle of the wicked shall be
put out."
ENVY has been defined as "mortification or discontent ex-
ited by the sight of another's superiority or success, accom-
anied with some degree of hatred or malignity. "It is a
passion bad in itself, as well as in its consequences. It
always involves three things: — First: Conscious inferiority.
Envy is always directed towards those possessions of
another of which we feel ourselves destitute. We never
envy those whom we feel in every respect inferior to our-
elves. Envy is therefore evermore a compliment to its
object. The envious man's language concerning the per-
son to whom it is directed, rightly interpreted, means this:
"You are superior to me." "We ought," says Pliny, "to
be guarded against every appearance of envy, as a passion
that always implies inferiority wherever it resides." It al-
ways involves, Secondly: Malice towards the object. It is,
perhaps, ever associated with some amount of unkind feel-
ngs towards the man who possesses the enviable thing.
It rejoices in the misfortunes and fall of the rival. It has
been called the daughter of pride, the author of murder.
It always involves, Thirdly: Pain. It "frets." The pros-
Chap. XXIV.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 607
perity of the rival is torturing to the envious man. Solo-
mon said that "envy is the rottenness of the bones;"
and Socrates has remarked that "an envious man waxeth
lean with the fatness of his neighbours;" and he calls
envy a "poison that consumeth the flesh, and drieth up
the marrow of the bones."
But the verses give us an example of the folly of envy:
it is directed against the wicked. "Fret not thyself
because of evil men, neither be thou envious at the
wicked." Solomon's language is addressed to the
righteous he has in his eye the good, and to them he
speaks. Now, this fiend crawls into the heart even of the
just, and good men have in some time and in some degree
been envious of the wicked, and the text suggests the folly
of such a feeling. Solomon means to say —
Don't be envious of the wicked; they will have no
HAPPINESS in the future; you will. — "There shall be no
reward to the evil man." All that the wicked have they
have for this life only. Their mansions, retinues, chariots,
estates, are only for this life, they go out of the world as
naked as they came, bearing only with them that corrupt
character from which their hell will flame. Why envy the
wicked these things which they hold only for a period so
brief and uncertain as this life is? To-day they have
them, to-morrow they leave them in the hands of others.
If you are righteous, — obscure, poor, afflicted, as you are,
there is a "reward" for you in the future. "Your light
afflictions, which are but for a moment, are working out
for you a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory."
Who is the better off? Surely the wicked demand your
pity not your envy. He means to say —
They will have no PROSPERITY in the future; you will. —
"The candle of the wicked shall be put out." The
"candle" is often used in the Bible to represent pros-
perity. All the success of the wicked departs when they
leave this world; the "candle" is out, and they sink into
the black and ever blackening abyss of an awful future. "I
give," said the infidel Hobbs, "my body to the dust, and
my soul to the Great Perhaps. I am going to take a leap
608 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXIV.
in the dark." But your "candle," the candle of the
righteous, will begin to burn with an inextinguishable and
ever-increasing luminousness, when you leave the world.
O ye godly men, who in temporal matters are sorely
tried, whose path is rugged and thorny, whose heavens
are cloudy, and whose atmosphere is bleak and boisterous,
envy not the lot of the prosperous wicked around you.
I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading
himself like a green bay tree. Yet he passed away, and,
lo, he was not: yea, I sought him, but he could not be
found."*
Proverbs 24:21-22
Human Government
"My son, fear thou the LORD and the king: and meddle not with them that
are given to change: for their calamity shall rise suddenly; and who knoweth the
ruin of them both."
THE Bible everywhere recognises the existence of human
governments. Indeed, it would be impossible for society
to exist without laws, and these laws must have their
makers and administrators. The verses may be taken as
indicating that which human kings and human subjects
should be, and from them we may learn.
THAT KINGS SHOULD BE GODLIKE. — Solomon here ex-
horts his son "to fear the Lord and the king." He
inculcates reverence towards both. The very fact that he
requires the same state of mind towards the king as he does
towards the Almighty justifies the inference that the king
whom he recognises is godlike. For the human soul can
reverence nothing that is not divine, both in character and
conduct. Falsehood, dishonesty, corruption, oppression —
it is not in the heart of man to reverence these. First: Kings
* Psalm xxxvii. 35, 36.
Chap. XXIV.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 609
should be Godlike in personal character. Why is the
Almighty to be reverenced? Because of His goodness, His
moral perfections; and should any being in the universe be
reverenced for any other reason? No. If a king is to be
honoured, he must be honour-worthy; if a king is to be
reverenced, he should be morally great. Secondly:
Kings should be Godlike in their kingly functions. They
should be impartial. God is no "respecter of persons."
Earthly rulers should hold an even balance, and deal out
justice to the small as well as to the great. They should
be generous. How patient, compassionate, tender, is the
great God! He is "slow to anger," and abundant in
mercy. There is no vengeance in Him. An angry and
revengeful king cannot be reverenced, and ought not to
be honoured, were it possible to do so. They should be
restorative. The great God's penal inflictions are not to
crush the sinner, but his sin. "All these things worketh
God oftentimes with man, to bring him back from the pit,
that he may be enlightened with the light of the living."
A human sovereign should act in the same way. Refor-
mation and restoration, not suffering and destruction, should
be his grand object in all his criminal laws and chastise-
ments. We infer farther from these words —
THAT SUBJECTS SHOULD BE CONSERVATIVE. — "Meddle
not with them that are given to change." The Apostle
speaks of those demagogues who, in his day, were found
"walking after the flesh, despising governments, pre-
sumptuous, self-willed, not afraid to speak evil of dignities."
Such men are found in all ages, and in all kingdoms —
meddling demagogues. They have a passion for change,
and for change they work, and generally with the view to
bring themselves into note and power. It is the duty of
every citizen to seek the correction of public abuses, the
repeal of unjust laws, and the displacement of incompetent
and unrighteous officials. But all this is in perfect harmony
with true conservatism, and is not against progress. True
conservatism is that which retains with a death-grasp the
right and repudiates with heart-earnestness the wrong.
But revolutionism is often obstructive. There are men that
610 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXIV.
are given to change, who have a feverish, restless passion
for it, and these men are a curse to any country. "For
their calamity shall rise suddenly; and who knoweth the
ruin of them both?" Korah and Absalom are examples
of this.
Proverbs 24:23-26
Social Conduct
"These things also belong to the wise. It is not good to have respect of
persons in judgment. He that saith unto the wicked, Thou art righteous; him
shall the people curse, nations shall abhor him: but to them that rebuke him
shall be delight, and a good blessing shall come upon them. Every man shall
kiss his lips that giveth a right answer."
MAN is a social being. He lives in society, by society,
and for it should live and labour. His fellow-men constitute
the subject of a large amount of his every day thoughts,
and the object of a large share of his activities. There are
three social acts in these verses — two are bad and the
other is good.
Here is PARTIALITY OF JUDGMENT, which is bad. — "It is
not good to have respect of persons in judgment." Men
are often called to arbitrate upon the conduct of their fellow
citizens, whose disputes are submitted to their decision.
Whatever may be the subject of dispute, political, social,
or ecclesiastical, they are bound by the laws of God to
impartiality in their inquiries and conclusions. The dis-
putants should be regarded not in any other respect but the
merits or demerits of their case. The question and not the
person, is to be respected in their judgments. The
"respect of persons" is bad in principle, is an outrage of
justice. It is bad also in influence. It tends to social
disorder, and ill-feeling. The principle of impartiality is
enjoined both in the Old and the New Testament. In the
Old we have such words as these, "Ye shall do no
unrighteousness in judgment; thou shalt not respect the
person of the poor, nor honour the person of the mighty;
but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbour."
Chap. XXIV.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 611
And in the New Testament we have these words, "My
brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the
Lord of glory, with respect of persons." Weighty words
are those of the great Hooker on this subject. "If they
employ their labour and travail about the public adminis-
tration of justice, follow it only as a trade, with unquench-
able thirst of gain, being not in heart persuaded that
justice is God's own work, and themselves His agents in
this business, the sentence of right, God's own verdict,
and themselves His priests to deliver it; formalities of
justice do but serve to smother right; and that which was
necessarily ordained for the common good is, through
shameful abuse, made the cause of common misery."
Here is FLATTERY OF THE WICKED, which is execrable. —
"He that saith unto the wicked, Thou art righteous, him
shall the people curse; nations shall abhor him." How
often wicked men are treated both in actions and speech,
as if they were righteous. If the wicked man be great in
wealth, exalted in social influence and political power,
there is a wondrous tendency in all the grades below to
flatter him as "righteous man." A small amount of
generosity in a secularly great man will transfigure him
before the eyes of men as a great philanthropist. A few
acts of formal piety will cause him to be regarded as an
illustrious saint. This flattery is an accursed thing. It is
abhorrent to the moral heart of humanity. The base
flatterer the people shall accurse, and the nations shall
abhor. Flattery in all its forms is an accursed thing. It
always implies insincerity. The sycophant does not mean
what he says. He is belying his own conscience. It
always implies vanity. The flatterer looks for a return
of his compliments with interest. "When flatterers
meet," says Defoe, "the devil goes to dinner." It always
implies servility. Sycophancy is the child of a base
nature. It is called a sneaking heart.
"No flattery, boy: an honest man can't live by it.
It is a little sneaking art, which knaves
Use to cajole and soften fools withal.
If thou hast flattery in thy nature, out with't,
Or send it to a court, for there 'twill thrive!" — OTWAY
612 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXIV.
Here is REPROOF OF THE WRONG, which is blessed. —
"But to them that rebuke him shall be delight, and a good
blessing shall come upon them. Every man shall kiss his
lips that giveth a right answer." It is truly a blessed
thing to reprove the wrong wherever found, in pauper or in
prince. There is a delight in such work. "To them that
rebuke him shall be delight." What is the delight?
The delight of an approving conscience. And what is
higher than this? There is Divine favour in such work.
"A good blessing shall come upon them." God will express
His favour to such a man in many ways. In temporal
prosperity, in social happiness, in spiritual enjoyments.
There is social approbation in such work. "Every man
shall kiss his lips that giveth a right answer." To kiss
the lips is to pay the homage of love and respect. The
man whose character is transparently truthful, honest, and
generous towards his fellow-man, in whatever position in
life he may be, will gain the homage and respect of every
person. "Every man shall kiss his lips" — will render him
homage. Our reproofs, however, whilst truthful, should
be kind. Feltham says, "To reprehend well is the most
necessary part of friendship. Who is there that does not
sometimes merit a check; and yet how few will endure
one."
Proverbs 24:27
Human Labor
"Prepare thy work without, and make it fit for thyself in the field; and after-
wards build thine house."
"A LARGE number," says a learned expositor, "of pro-
verbial sentiments and maxims of practical wisdom, are to
be found couched in terms taken from particular depart-
ments of life and business. Every one at all acquainted
with even the ordinary, but frequently very terse and pithy
proverbs of our own country, must be aware of this. It is
Chap. XXIV.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 613
so in the verse before us. The advice thus given to bring
the lands into good condition, and make the estate produc-
tive before we lavish large expenditure upon the mansion,
is clearly intended to convey a general lesson." The verse
suggests two thoughts in relation to human labour:
In all labour there should be FORETHOUGHT. — "Prepare
thy work without, and make it fit for thyself." Before you
build the house make preparation. Get the place, collect
the materials; see the way clear before you lay the first
stone for the superstructure. This forethought is most im-
portant. First: It is the best security against waste. How
much waste time, energy, and money often occurs in an
enterprise in consequence of not having well deliberated
the whole before the commencement. Every part of an
undertaking should be so well considered and weighed that
in the execution no difficulty occurs that is not foreseen;
no effort or expense demanded that had not been duly
estimated. The man who acts from forethought will do
thrice as much work, with less effort and anxiety, than a
man who takes up an enterprise without due consideration.
Secondly; It is the best security against failure. Nearly
all the enterprises that break down, and whose wrecks are
strewn in every department of human labour, owe their
ruin to want of forethought. Unforeseen difficulties rise
up one after another, until they baffle and confound the
worker. Hence the world's Great Teacher inculcates this
principle of forethought. "For which of you, intending
to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the
cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?"
In all labour the MOST IMPORTANT WORK SHOULD BE
DONE FIRST. — "Let those things," says an expositor,
"which are obviously most important and necessary be
done first, and the less urgent afterwards. Let not a man
begin business by building and expensively furnishing a fine
house. Let the land be first cultivated. Let your busi-
ness, whatever its nature, be faithfully and diligently
minded, and well-established, as far as human industry
can effect, or human foresight calculate. Be content, in
the meantime, with inferior accommodation. There is an
614 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXIV.
ambitious hasting to make little much, that is deeply re-
prehensible, because it is injurious to others as well as to
the speculator himself. A man should have property well
realised and secured, before he enters on schemes of ex-
pensive building. He must not with sanguine infatuation,
appropriate the very first proceeds of his trade to the erec-
ion of a palace to live in!" Our great dramatist has given
a splendid description in the following words, of the im-
portance of forethought in all our labour:
"When we mean to build,
We first survey the plot; then draw the model;
And when we see the figure of the house,
Then must we rate the cost of the erection;
Which, if we find outweighs ability,
What do we then, but draw anew the model,
In fewer offices; or, at least, desist
To build at all? Much more, in this great work,
(Which is almost to pluck a kingdom down,
And set another up,) should we survey
The plot of situation and the model;
Consent upon a sure foundation;
Question surveyors; know our own estate,
How able such a work to undergo,
To weigh against his opposite; or else
We fortify in paper and in figures,
Using the names of men instead of men;
Like one who draws a model of a house,
Beyond his power to build it; who, half through,
Gives o'er, and leaves his part-created cost
A naked subject to the weeping clouds,
And waste for churlish winter's tyranny."
The most important of all works, it is generally ad-
itted, is getting our spiritual natures in accord with the
plan of the universe and the will of God. This is religion,
or Christliness, which is a better word. "Seek first the
kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all other things
shall be added unto you."
Chap. XXIV.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 615
Proverbs 24:28-29
Types of Corrupt Testimony
"Be not a witness against thy neighbour without cause; and deceive not
with thy lips. Say not, I will do so to him as he hath done to me: I will render
to the man according to his work."
THESE words suppose that our neighbor — our fellow man
— may be placed in a position where our testimony con-
cerning him may be required: it might be in the social
circle, in the Court of Judicature, or in the Church
Assembly. The verses point to three kinds of wrong
testimony:
A CAUSELESS one. — "Be not a witness against thy
neighbour without cause." A man who gives his testi-
mony against his neighbour, when it is not required for
either of the three following objects, viz.: the good of
society, self-exculpation, or as a matter of public justice,
does it "without cause." And there is much of such
testimony in society, and what is it less or more than idle
scandal? There are those who, for no service, either to
themselves or others, are constantly testifying of the
defects and infirmities of their neighbours. Sheridan has
said that "there are a set of malicious, prating, prudent
gossips, male and female, who murder characters to kill
time; and will rob a young fellow of his good name before
he has years to know the value of it." This is a wrong
which the Bible reprobates. The verses point to another
kind of wrong testimony —
A FALSE one. — "And deceive not with thy lips." If it
is wrong to bear testimony to the defects of your neigh-
bour, when it is not really required to do so on moral
grounds, it must be still more wrong to bear testimony to
conduct of which you know your neighbour is not guilty:
and yet men do so. There is a great deal of "bearing
false witness against our neighbour" in society. Slander
is prevalent in all circles.
"Slander lives upon succession,
For ever housed when once it gets possession."
SHAKESPEARE
616 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXIV.
"It is," we are informed, "the custom in Africa for
hunters, when they have killed a poisonous snake, to cut
off its head and carefully bury it in the ground. A naked
foot stepping on one of these fangs would be fatally
wounded. The poison would spread in a very short time
all through the system. This venom lasts a long time,
and is as deadly after the snake is dead as before. The
Red Indians used to dip the points of their arrows in
this poison, so if they made the least wound their victim
would be sure to die. The snake's poison is in its teeth; but
there is something quite as dangerous and much more com-
mon in communities. There is a human snake with poison on
its tongue. Your chances of escape from a serpent are greater.
The worst snakes usually glide away in fear at the approach
of man, unless disturbed or attacked. But this creature,
whose poison lurks in its tongue, attacks without provoca-
tion, and follows up its victim with untiring perseverance.
We will tell you his name, so you will always be able to
shun him. He is called slanderer. He poisons worse than a
serpent. Often his venom strikes to the life of a whole family
or neighbourhood, destroying all peace and confidence."
"Slander," says Robinson, "is compared to poison." "The
tongue is an unruly member, full of deadly poison." The
deadliest poisons are those for which no test is known:
there are poisons so destructive that a single drop insinu-
ated into the veins produces death in three seconds, and
yet no chemical science can separate that virus from the
contaminated blood, and show the metallic particles of
poison glittering palpably, and say, "Behold it is there."
"The world with calumny abounds;
The whitest virtue slander wounds:
There are whose joy is, night and day,
To talk a character away:
Eager from rout to rout they haste,
To blast the generous and the chaste,
And hunting reputation down,
Proclaim their triumphs through the town." — POPE.
There is another wrong testimony—
A REVENGEFUL one. — "Say not I will do so to him as
he hath done to me: I will render to the man according
Chap. XXIV.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 617
to his work." Revenge is a passion strongly prohibited
and reprobated both in the Old and New Testament.
"Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord: I will repay."
"Speak not of vengeance;
'Tis the right of God."
Proverbs 24:30-34
Idleness
"I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of
understanding; and, lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered
the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down. Then I saw, and
considered it well: I looked upon it, and received instruction. Yet a little sleep,
a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: so shall thy poverty come
as one that travelleth; aid thy want as an armed man."
WE have here indolence portrayed by the hand of a
master; and, as it stands before us on the canvas, we see
that it is foolish, procrastinating, and ruinous.
IT IS FOOLISH. — Solomon characterises this indolent
man as one "void of understanding." Wherein do you
see this man's folly? In the flagrant neglect of his own
interests. Unlike the condition of millions who have not
one yard of green sod which they can call their own, this
man held a little estate in his possession. He had a
"field" and a "vineyard," and upon the cultivation of this
depended his bread. But he neglected it, and it was
"all grown over with thorns." Morally this vineyard
may signify our spiritual natures, with all their faculties
and potential powers, and which it is both our manifest
interest and bounden duty to cultivate. There is one
noticeable point of distinction between material and
spiritual cultivation. You may cultivate your field by
proxy, but you can only cultivate your soul yourself.
IT IS PROCRASTINATING. — Solomon observed that indo-
lence in this man led to constant procrastination. "I saw
and considered it well: I looked upon it, and received in-
618 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXIV.
struction. Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little fold-
ing of the hands to sleep." To the indolent man duty is
sways for the morrow. The idea of working is not given
up, but postponed from day to day; and the longer it is
postponed the more indisposed the mind grows for its per-
ormance. It is always "a little sleep," or looking to a
more convenient season."
"Be wise to-day: 'tis madness to defer:
Next day the fatal precedent will plead:
Thus on, till wisdom is pushed out of life.
Procrastination is the thief of time:
Year after year it steals, till all are fled,
And to the mercies of a moment leaves
The vast concerns of an eternal scene." — YOUNG
IT IS RUINOUS. — First: Consider the wretched condition
to which his estate was reduced. "Lo, it was all grown
over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof,
and the stone wall thereof was broken down." It might
have waved with golden grain, it might have been a scene
of loveliness and plenty; but instead of this, it is an un-
sightly wilderness, unprotected, open to the foot of every
intruder. It is a solemn fact that ruin comes, not by culti-
vation, but by neglect. Your garden will soon become a
wilderness if you neglect it. Heaven's kind arrangement
this, to stimulate labour. It is so with the soul. You
need not strive to ruin yourselves — do nothing and you
will be damned. Secondly: Consider the utter destitution
to which it must inevitably conduct. By this indolence,
"thy poverty shall come as one that travelleth, and thy
want as an armed man." Two things are suggested by
the words. That the ruin is gradual in its approach.
"Thy poverty shall come." It does not burst on you at
once, like a thunder-storm. The punishment of the indo-
lent farmer takes all the months from spring-time to har-
vest to approach him. Full and adequate retribution does
not come at once. "There is a treasuring up against the
day of wrath." It is coming now "as one that travelleth;"
it is on the road. Its footfalls vibrate on the ear of
universal reason. The other thing suggested by the words
Chap. XXV.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 619
is — That the ruin is terrible in its consummation. "Thy
want as an armed man." It will seize you as with the
grasp of an indignant warrior. From its iron clutch there
will be no deliverance. Indolence brings ruin.
Brother, thou hast a momentous work to do; thou hast
to cultivate the wilderness of thy nature; thou hast to re-
pair the moral fences of thy soul. In other words, thou
hast to rebuild the ruined temple of thy being. Thou hast
no time to lose; thou hast slept already too long. "Re-
solve and do" at once.
"Lay firmly every stone; long years may be,
And stormy winds may rend, ere all be done;
But lay the first — thou mayst not live to see
To-morrow's sun."
Proverbs 25:1
Solomon's Three Thousand Proverbs
"These are also proverbs of Solomon, which the men of Hezekiah king of
Judah copied out."
"AT this point commences the fourth division of this
Book, extending to the close of the twenty-ninth chapter.
In the first Book of Kings, fourth chapter and thirty-
second verse it is said of Solomon, in enumerating the par-
ticulars of his extraordinary wisdom, that 'he spoke three
thousand proverbs.' The full collection of these sen-
tentious maxims of wisdom had been kept, it would
appear, in the possession of the house of David, or of the
kings of Judah. The selection in the preceding part of
the Book had been made by Solomon himself. Those
which follow were added in the time of good king Heze-
kiah; by the direction, there is every reason to suppose,
of that exemplary prince, for the religious benefit of his
people. 'The men of Hezekiah' stands in the Septuagint
translation, 'the friends of Hezekiah' — meaning in all
620 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXV.
likelihood, Isaiah and other inspired men. Like the
Proverbs which precede, these must be regarded, by their
admission into the Jewish canon of Scripture, as having
the sanction, not only of the wisdom and experience of
Solomon but of Divine authority: and we owe them the
same reverential regard as we owe to other parts of God's
Word."
The verse suggests three subjects of thought —
The FERTILITY OF THE HUMAN MIND WHEN ENGAGED
IN THE SERVICE OF GOD. — "These are also Proverbs of
Solomon." Elsewhere we are told that the Proverbs of
Solomon were three thousand in number, besides one
thousand and five; and his various writings on cedars,
beasts, fowls, creeping things, and fishes.* Three thousand
Proverbs! not mere words — This means mental fertility.
Mere literature is easy; writing words in profusion does
not mean fruitfulness of soul. Indeed, as a rule, the most
fluent in language, the most infertile in thought. Three
thousand Proverbs! not mere ideas. A man may have
a boundless profusion of thoughts and yet a poor soul.
But Proverbs are axioms. They mean thought crys-
tallized. One true Proverb may embody the essence of
a thousand thoughts. Thoughts are foliage and blossom
Proverbs are clusters. Truly, wonderfully fertile is the
human soul, especially when engaged in Divine service.
It is not like the fruit tree. The more fruit the tree pro-
duces, the more it exhausts itself, and the less capable of
producing it becomes, until at last its fruitfulness is en-
tirely exhausted. Whereas the human mind, the more
it produces, the more its producing capacity increases.
Every new thought unlocks new treasures of mind.
Like the mystic rod of Moses, it smites a fresh Horeb in
the soul and opens fresh fountains of ideas.
The verse suggests—
The DEPARTMENTAL SYSTEM IN HEAVEN'S REMEDIAL
WORK. — "The men of Hezekiah king of Judah copied out"
the thoughts of Solomon. The proverbs which he struck
off from the anvil of his genius, they gathered up and
* I Kings iv. 32, 33.
Chap. XXV.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 621
enshrined them in literature. This they did three
hundred years afterwards. Some men think, and their
thoughts are not worth recording, either by themselves or
by others; the sooner they are forgotten by the universe
the better. Others think, and their thoughts are valuable,
but they cannot write; they have neither the aptitude nor
disposition for authorship, and the productions of their
mind are lost. Some men write, but cannot think; they will
scribble off yards of nothing in a few hours. These 'men
of Hezekiah,' however, whether they could think or not,
laid hold of the thoughts of the thinker, and embodied
them in imperishable language; and for this we thank
them. God employs both the originator and the copyist
— the thinker and the registrar. Would that all great and
holy thinkers had faithful scribes as Solomon had, and as
One greater than Solomon had. God gives to every man
that work which he is best able to accomplish. One man
labours and another enters into his work.
The verse suggests—
The CARE OF PROVIDENCE OVER THE DEVELOPMENTS OF
DIVINE TRUTH. — Who raised up these men three hundred
years after Solomon, to record his thoughts? God! He
superintends the universe of true thoughts as well as the
universe of matter. He links them to their centre, ap-
points their orbits, and makes them shine. His Providence
is seen in the production, preservation, collation, and publi-
cation of all the manuscripts of Divine thought. Man is
great because he can think divinely. "Man is a reed,"
says Pascal, "and the weakest reed in nature: but then
he is a thinking reed. There is no occasion that the whole
universe should arm itself for his destruction. A vapour,
a drop of water is sufficient to kill him. And yet should
the universe crush him man would still be more noble
than that by which he fell, because he would know his fate,
while the universe would be insensible of its victory."
Thus all our dignity consists in thought. It is hence
we are to raise ourselves, and not by the aid of space and
duration. Let us study the art of thinking well: this
is the foundation of ethics!
622 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXV.
"All thoughts that mould the age begin
Deep down within the primitive soul,
And from the many slowly upward win
To him who grasps the whole." — LOWELL
Proverbs 25:2-5
Kinghood
"It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to
search out a matter. The heaven for height, and the earth for depth, and the
heart of kings is unsearchable. Take away the dross from the silver, and there
shall come forth a vessel for the finer. Take away the wicked from before the
king, and his throne shall be established in righteousness."
THE chief work of a man's life will, as a rule, be the chief
subject of his thoughts. Solomon was a king, and the
kingly idea seemed to be one of the leading ideas in
the procession of his thoughts. He therefore frequently
regarded men in their relation to human kings, and even
the great Creator of the universe he was prone to look
upon in the character of a monarch. He, being a king in
fact, was tempted to look upon all objects, human and
Divine, from the standpoint of kinghood. The verses are
an illustration of this, and it presents to us —
THE DIVINE RULER OF ALL. — The Eternal is here
brought into comparison with human kings. "It is the
glory of God to conceal a thing, but the honour of kings
is to search out a matter." What does this mean? It
does not mean, of course, that it is His glory to conceal
from His creatures anything connected with His own
Being or workmanship. The secretive attribute in a human
creature we are ever more disposed to condemn than admire,
and such an attribute in God we could never associate with
"glory." In truth, any effort at concealment on His part
would be needless. Who amongst the loftiest intellects in
the universe could ever find Him out? He is, and ever
will be the Great Mystery, in which all finite thoughts are
lost. And it would be unjust as well as needless. He has
Chap. XXV.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 623
endowed His creatures with an imperishable and ever-
growing desire to know Him: "The heart and the flesh
cry out for the living God." Hence for Him to employ any
effort to hide himself, or to obscure His doings, would
be unjust to the creatures whom He has invested with
such craving. What then is meant by it? Does it mean
that His glory is His essential incomprehensibility? This
is a truth. He is eternally mysterious. We are told that
"His way is in the sea," — that "His path is in the great
waters, and His footsteps are not known" — that "He
dwells in the light which no man can approach unto"—
that "His ways are unsearchable, and His judgments
past finding out."
But this, we think, is not the idea that Solomon had.
We are bound to interpret his words by their connexion;
and when he says in the next clause, that it is "the
honour of kings to search out a matter," it seems very
clear that he meant this: that it was "the glory of God"
to be independent of all enquiry after knowledge. He
means that whilst it was the honour of kings to search for
knowledge, it is the glory of God that He does not require
to go in quest of it. He has no need to investigate; He
has nothing to discover; His knowledge is intuitive,
complete, universal, absolute; His omniscience is one
of His most glorious attributes. The verses present to
us in connection with this —
THE HUMAN RULERS OF MEN. — They suggest several
things in relation to human kings: That honest enquiry in
them is always an excellency. It is "the honour of kings to
search out a matter." It is not for them to assume the
attribute of omniscience, and to pretend to know things
without the prosecution of an honest search. They should
enquire in order to get at the eternal principles by
which their laws should be shaped, and their whole lives
controlled. They should seek the best means for im-
proving the physical, the intellectual, the social, and the
spiritual condition of their people. "To search out a
matter" pertaining to the interests of man, the cause
of truth, and the glory of God, is at once the duty and the
624 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXV.
dignity not only of kings but of people, not only of men
but of all intelligent creatures. Knowledge, in all beings
but God, is to be got by enquiry. Another thing sug-
gested in relation to human kings is — That secretiveness in
them is sometimes very impenetrable. "The heaven for height,
and the earth for depth, and the heart of kings is unsearch-
able." This language does not mean that a secretive
policy in kings is justifiable. There may be occasions
when rulers may be strongly tempted to spread a veil over
their policy so as to conceal it from their subjects; but we
are not sure that they are ever justified in doing so. Kings
should be always just, and justice need never fear the day.
We have no faith in court or cabinet secrecies. Nor does
this language mean that the kingly heart is something so
peculiarly mysterious that it cannot be comprehended.
Monarchs have always assumed a mysterious grandeur,
and ignorant people have ever been disposed to regard
them as objects high up, enshrouded in mystic glory. But
this is all nonsense. The king's heart is a common heart,
clouded with the common ignorances, and beating with
the common defects. What, then, does it mean? Solomon
undoubtedly refers to oriental despots, who were always
robed in mystery, and gave no account of their doings.
Like the Emperor of China in the present day: the despot
lives in mystery, the people stand in awe, and know not
what cloud may appear over them the next minute, and
break in thunder over their heads. The subjects of despots
may indeed sooner measure the "height of heaven" and
"the depth of earth," than penetrate the mysteries of their
masters. Another thing suggested in relation to human
kings is — That purity in them depends on the character of
their ministers. All kings, however despotic, have their
ministers — men to execute their behests. On these men
they are more or less dependent. These men, the
occupants of courts and the members of cabinets, have
often been in morals most corrupt and vile, and hence
Solomon says — "Take away the dross from the silver, and
there shall come forth a vessel for the finer." Take away
the wicked from before the king, and his throne shall
Chap. XXV.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 625
be established in righteousness. "Here is a comparison.
As, in order to the production of a beautiful vessel, such as
the refiner would approve and commend, the material of
which the vessel is to be made must be purged of its alloy,
so, in order to the general government of a prince being of
a nature to prove conducive to the benefit of his people and
the stability of his throne, the wicked must be removed
from his presence and from all intimacy with his life and
counsels." The moral characters of kings have ever been
more or less dependent upon the characters of their
ministers, and are becoming more and more so every
day throughout Christendom. Let England see that
the members of her Government be men of incorruptible
purity, unselfish patriotism, and genuine Christliness of
life.
Proverbs 25:6-7
A Corrupt Ambition
"Put not forth thyself in the presence of the king, and stand not in the place
of great men: for better it is that it be said unto thee, Come up hither; than
that thou shouldest be put lower in the presence of the prince whom thine eyes
have seen."
THE subject of these verses is corrupt ambition. Ambition
is a natural instinct of the soul; it is a desire for ad-
vancement in some distinguishing respect. The Great
One implanted it as an eternal stimulant to onwardness in
all that is true, virtuous, and Divine. "It is not in man,"
says Southey, "to rest in absolute contentment. He is
born to hopes and aspirations as the sparks fly upwards,
unless he has brutified his nature, and quenched the spirit
of his immortality which is his portion." But this instinct
of the soul, like all others, has been sadly perverted.
Instead of being directed to intellectual and moral excel-
lence, to social usefulness and spiritual culture, it has
been devoted to the means of personal aggrandisement and
despotic force. It has often urged men to outrage justice,
626 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXV.
violate domestic sanctities, trample on the rights and lives
of men, in order to gain their miserable distinction.
"Such ambition," says Sir Walter Scott, "breaks the ties
of blood, forgets the obligations of manhood." The verses
point to a corrupt ambition, and lead us to offer two
remarks upon it. —
It is OBTRUSIVELY FORWARD. — "Put not forth thyself" —
margin, set not out thy glory "in the presence of the king."
We see this obtrusive ambition working perhaps more
prevalently and more injuriously in the lower than in the
higher types of mind. The small-brained men are generally
the most obtrusively ambitious. Who are the men in
corporation towns who are ever pushing themselves for-
ward to municipal honours? Who are the men in religious
denominations that are ever struggling for the most
prominent positions? Who are the men in politics who
have the strongest aspirations, and make the most strenuous
efforts for Parliamentary work and Parliamentary honour?
As a rule, small-brained men. Thank God! there are
exceptions, and the exceptions are our social and political
salvation. But, as a rule, great men are not ambitious for
such distinctions. It is not the "olive tree," or the "fig
tree," or the "vine" in the human forest that will
struggle much for such prominent positions, but the
"bramble." This obtrusive ambition of small men is
a great evil. It puts them in positions whose duties they
are incapable of fulfilling with thorough efficiency. How
can the "bramble" control the "cedars," the minnows
manage the eagles? It also keeps back from office better
men. As a rule, the greater a man is, the more modest,
the less intrusive, and the more shrinking from respon-
sibility. This intrusive forwardness is a great curse to
England at the present moment. It is said that never
were there such a number of small-brained men in the
House of Commons as now, and small men are, as a rule,
the most garrulous, prominent, and persistent. "Stand
not in the place of great men," — either in Church or State
it is a great evil.
* See HOMILIST, third series, vol. viii., p. 187.
Chap. XXV.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 627
Another remark suggested by the verse concerning cor-
rupt ambition, is —
It is LIABLE TO HUMILIATION. — "It is better that it be
said unto thee, Come up hither, than that thou shouldest be
put lower in the presence of the prince whom thine eyes
have seen." The Divine Teacher has given the same com-
mand, "When thou art bidden of any man to a wedding,
sit not down in the highest room, lest a more honourable
man than thou be bidden of him; and he that bade thee
and him come and say to thee, 'Give this man a place,'
and thou begin with shame to take the lowest room. But
when thou art bidden go and sit down in the lowest room,
that when he that bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee,
'Friend, go up higher:' then thou shalt have worship in
the presence of them that sit at meat with thee." Even
here in this life such corrupt ambition is exposed to humi-
liation. Small men, who have pushed themselves into
prominent positions, are often humbled by the con-
temptuous criticisms of their contemporaries. In the
Apocrypha both the father and son are represented as
provided with wings; whilst the former was safe because
he only skimmed the ground; the son soared to mid-
heaven, fell and perished.
Cardinal Wolsey is an example of the end to which such
ambition leads. What does he say? "Cromwell, I charge
thee, fling away thy ambition. By that sin fell the angels.
How can man, then, the image of his Maker, hope to win
by it? Love thyself last: cherish those hearts that
hate thee: still in thy right hand carry gentle peace, to
silence envious tongues. Be just and fear not. Let all
the ends thou aimest at be thy country's, thy God's, and
truth's; then, if thou fallest, Oh, Cromwell, thou fallest a
blessed martyr. Serve the King. And pr'ythee, lead me
in. There, take an inventory of all I have, to the last
penny: 'tis the King's — my robe, and my integrity to
Heaven, is all I dare now call mine own. Oh, Cromwell,
Cromwell! had I but served my God with half the zeal I
served my king, He would not in mine age have left me
naked to mine enemies."
628 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXV.
Proverbs 25:8-10
The Worst and Best Way
of Treating Social Dissensions
"Go not forth hastily to strive, lest thou know not what to do in the end
thereof, when thy neighbour hath put thee to shame. Debate thy cause with thy
neighbour himself; and discover not a secret to another: lest he that heareth it
put thee to shame, and thine infamy turn not away."
THE social dissensions that are rife in our world are incon-
testable proofs that humanity has fallen from its normal con-
dition. There is society in Heaven, but no social differences
or strifes; but here there are constant contentions in families,
nations, churches. Man is ever offending his brother,
either intentionally or by accident, with malicious or bene-
volent designs. The words indicate the best and the worst
way of treating such dissensions.
The WORST way. — "Go not forth hastily to strive."
Precipitant strife is bad in itself. Calm, deliberate strife,
whether by tongue or fist is bad; it means antagonism to
the offender, is inspired with malice and craves for the in-
fliction of punishment. But hasty strife, for some reasons,
is worse. It indicates a petulant nature, an irascible tem-
perament, and is often destitute of any just cause. It may
start from mistake, malice, or misunderstanding. Men
should never be hasty in yielding to a passion. They
should make the passion, however strong and tumultuous
for the moment, the subject of thought, and by thought
should subdue, purify, and direct it. A man who acts in
a passion, acts not only beneath but against his higher
nature and his God. Precipitant strife exposes to shame.
"Lest thou know not what to do in the end thereof when
thy neighbour hath put thee to shame." Before the mind
of Solomon the following scene seems to have presented
itself. Something has come to the ears of A, concerning
B, which has roused his indignation, and under its in-
fluence he rushes forth to meet B, in order to wreak his
vengeance. He meets B, and he, conscious of his inno-
Chap. XXV.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 629
cence, stands calmly before him and smiles with a kindly
glow, wondering what all this blustering passion means.
He speaks a word and A feels that he is under a wrong
impression, that the fire within him has been kindled by
a miserable fiction; and he is ashamed of himself,
ashamed as his imaginary enemy laughs kindly at him.
Thy neighbour A "hath put thee B to shame!" The text
moreover indicates, —
The BEST way of settling disputes. — "Debate thy cause
with thy neighbour himself." The direction here seems to
imply the following things. That an interview is to be
obtained with the offender. "Debate thy cause with thy
neighbour himself." The man who has injured you should
himself be visited by you. You should not go to another
first, but directly to him. You have to do with him and
him only at first. That an interview is to be obtained in
order to talk the offence over. "Debate thy cause." What
for? Not to gratify anger, not to seek vengeance, not
to brawl, but to reason, to talk, to listen to an explana-
tion and the defence (if it admits of defence), to weigh the
whole, and respond according to the real merits of the
case. Another thing which the direction implies is that
the offence must be thus debated before the secret is divulged
to another. "Discover not a secret to another." Let the
man who first listens to the offence be the man who has
given it; drop it into no other ear. Strong may be the
temptation to deviate from this direction, but it is to be
resisted. The other thing which the direction implies is,
that should the secret be divulged to another, the pacific
objects of the interview might be nullified. "Lest he that
heareth it put thee to shame, and thine infamy turn not
away." Should the offender hear from another your state-
ment of the offence it will give him ground of offence,
widen the breach, and nullify the desired result. If you
trumpet the offence in the ear of others before you meet the
offender, you have done the offender a wrong, and ex-
posed yourself to a lasting disgrace. "Thine infamy turn
not away."
The direction which Solomon gives here of treating an
630 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXV.
offender, agrees with the direction Christ gave. "If thy
brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his
fault between thee and him alone; if he shall hear thee
thou hast gained a brother." Were these counsels acted on,
how soon all quarrels as they spring up would be hushed!
Beautiful words of Richter on this subject — "Nothing is
more moving to a man than the spectacle of reconciliation;
our weaknesses are thus indemnified, and are not too costly,
being the price we pay for the hour of forgiveness; and the
archangel who has never felt anger has reason to envy the
man who subdues it. When thou forgivest, the man who
has pierced thy heart stands to thee in the relation of the
sea-worm, that perforates the shell of the mussel, which
straightway closes the wound with a pearl."
Proverbs 25:11
The Excellency of Fitly-spoken Words
"A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver."
THE comparison here has undoubtedly an allusion to some
old domestic ornament. "The idea," says Stuart, "is that
of a garment of precious stuff, on which are 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."
Others think that the allusion is to a kind of table orna-
ment, constructed of a silver basket of delicate lattice-
work, containing gold in the form of apples. The basket
would, of course, be so constructed as to show off with ad-
vantage its precious treasure, the "apples of gold." The
ancient Easterns were men of taste and men of art; they
loved the beautiful, and had their ornaments: and some of
these were as artistically constructed as those of modern
times. The subject here undoubtedly is, — the excellency of
fitly spoken words. "A word fitly spoken is like apples of
Chap. XXV.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 631
gold in pictures of silver." But what is such a word? Fitly
spoken words must be distinguished as follows: —
THEY MUST EXHIBIT THE TRUTH TO THE BEST ADVAN-
TAGE. — They must be to the truth what the basket was to
the apples of gold, — an instrument for showing them off to
the best advantage. Truth is the apple of gold; it is
sound, complete, precious. A word that does not convey
the truth can never be "fitly spoken;" it ought never to
have been spoken, and when spoken it is an evil. Words
of frivolity, falsehood, obscenity, blasphemy, are not
"apples of gold," anything but that. A fit word is a
word that shows the golden truth in the most effective way.
There are words that hide the truth. They are so profuse
and luxuriant that they bury the priceless apple in their
wilderness. All grandiloquence is words unfitly spoken.
There are words that disgrace the truth. They are ill-
chosen, mean, suggestive of low and degrading associa-
tions. "A word fitly spoken" must be clear, natural,
strong, exhibiting the truth in the best conceivable light.
Again, words fitly spoken must be words —
ADAPTED TO THE MENTAL MOOD OF THE HEARER.—
Different men have different mental moods. Some are
naturally sombre, imaginative, and practical; others are
gay, poetic, and speculative. Words fitly spoken must be
adapted to each particular mood; the form in which truth
would suit one mood would be inapt to another. Again,
the same man has different moods at different times. Cir-
cumstances modify the condition of the soul; physical
suffering, social bereavement, moral conviction, create in
the mind new seasons. Hence "a word fitly spoken"
must be a word presenting truth adapted to the soul in its
existing mood. It must be a word in "due season," suited
to the various experiences, temperaments, and conditions
of each. The perfect teacher is gifted with the tongue of
the learned, and knows how to speak a word in season. A
fitly spoken word comes down upon the heart like rain
upon the new-mown grass. Again, words fitly spoken
should be words spoken —
IN THE RIGHT SPIRIT. — Words however fitted to exhibit
632 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXV.
a truth, if they are spoken from vanity, anger, ambition,
sectarianism, bigotry, cannot possibly be regarded as fitly
spoken. All words should breathe a kind spirit, the spirit
of Christ, and should be spoken for the benefit of the auditors,
to enlighten, console, encourage, strengthen. Words that
are uttered for sensual, avaricious or sect purposes, however
accurate in grammar and beautiful in rhetoric, are not
words that God would consider "fitly spoken." Lastly,
words fitly spoken must be —
NATURALLY FLOWING WORDS. — This perhaps is the
meaning of the marginal reading — "spoken upon his
wheels." They must not be forced or dragged words, but
words moving flowingly and swiftly on, like the chariot
wheels. The ambitious rhetorician manufactures the gar-
ments for his thoughts: they are always stiff and formal,
although they may appear beautiful to the artistic eye.
Men think in words, and the best words are those into
which the thoughts run at first. Such words roll upon the
wheels, carrying the apples of gold in the silver basket,
there is no rattle or effort.
"If feeling does not prompt, in vain you strive,
If from the soul the language does not come
By its own impulse, to impel the hearts
Of hearers with communicated power;
In vain you strive, in vain you study earnestly,
Toil on for ever, piece together fragments,
Cook up your broken scraps of sentences,
And blow with puffing breath, a struggling light,
Glimmering confusedly now, now cold in ashes —
Startle the school-boys with your metaphors,
And, if such food may suit your appetite,
Win to vain wonder of applauding children;
But never hope to stir the hearts of men,
And mould the souls of many into one,
By words which come not native from the heart."
GOETHE
Let us all endeavour to use the right words in the family,
in the market, in the school, in the debate, in the pulpit,
on the platform, and in the press. "Words," says old
Bunyan, "make truth to spangle and its rays to shine"
Chap. XXV.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 633
Proverbs 25:12
The Beauty of a Reprovable Disposition
"As an earring of gold, and an ornament of fine gold, so is a wise reprover
upon an obedient ear,"
IN this comparison," says an able expositor, "as in
the preceding verse, ornament and value are united.
And as the ornament selected is that of the ear, the com-
parison may be meant to convey the idea, that an ear
that listens obediently to instruction and reproof is more
valuably adorned than that which is ornamented with
the most costly jewels. When a reproof is both adminis-
tered in wisdom, and received in humility and in good
part, then there is a union of two equal varieties. 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 so seldom well-taken."
The subject is, the beauty of a reprovable disposition.
It is suggested by Solomon, that the ear opened to true
reproof is more beautifully ornamented than the ear hung
with the most costly jewels. Such a mind includes two
beautiful qualities.
HUMILITY. — Peter says, "whose adorning let it not be
the outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and wearing
of gold, or of putting on of apparel; but let it be the
hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corrup-
tible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit,
which is in the sight of God of great price." "Humility,"
says Porteus, "in the Gospel sense of the word, is a
virtue with which the ancients, and more particularly the
634 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXV.
Romans, were totally unacquainted. They had not even
a word in the language to describe it by. The only word
that seems to express it, humilitas, signifies baseness,
servility, and meanness of spirit — a thing very different
from true Christian humility; and indeed this was the
only idea they entertained of that virtue. Everything
that we call meek and humble, they considered as mean
and contemptible. A haughty, imperious, over-bearing
temper, a high opinion of their own virtue and wisdom,
a contempt of all other nations but their own, a quick
sense and a keen resentment, not only of injuries, but
even of the slightest affronts — this was the favourite and
predominant character among the Romans! And that
gentleness of disposition, that low estimation of our own
merits, that ready preference of others to ourselves, that
fearlessness of giving offence, that abasement of our-
selves in the sight of God, which we call humility, they
consider as the work of a lame, abject, and unmanly
mind." Genuine humility is indeed one of the most
beautiful ornaments of the soul. Jonathan Edwards
describes it as a "little white flower, such as we see in the
spring of the year — low and humble upon the ground, —
opening its bosom to receive the pleasant beams of the
sun's glory; rejoicing, as it were, in a calm rapture, dif-
fusing around a sweet fragrance, standing peacefully and
lovingly in the midst of other flowers round about; all,
in like manner, opening their bosoms to drink in the
light of the sun." Such a mind includes also —
IMPROVABILITY. — The mind that accepts honest and
loving reproofs is in an improvable condition. What in
nature is more beautiful than an improvable object? The
tree advancing from stage to stage towards fruitfulness
is beautiful, the child rising towards manhood is beau-
tiful, but the mind rising from ignorance to knowledge,
from bondage to freedom, from corruption to purity, from
the earthly and the devilish to the spiritual and the Divine,
is the most beautiful object under these Heavens. The
soul that will not receive reproofs cannot improve, but
must inevitably deteriorate.
Chap. XXV.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 635
The Gospel is a reprover, its first lesson is a reproof,
and it ceases not to reprove, until it has made the soul
perfect in Christ Jesus. Truly, where reproof is well-
timed, and well taken, a wise reproof to "an obedient ear
is an earring of gold, and an ornament of gold," set out to
the best advantage. Such was Eli's word to Samuel,
Abigail's and Nathan's to David; Isaiah's to Hezekiah.
The Apostle's reproof to the Corinthian Church worked
so efficiently, that in all things they approved themselves
clear in the matter. (1 Cor. v.1; 2 Cor. ii. 1—3; 2 Cor. vii.
ii.) There is no ornament like that of a humble and im-
provable spirit.
"It moulds the body to an easy grace,
And brightens every feature of the face.
It smoothes th' unpolished tongue with eloquence,
And adds persuasion to the finest sense."
STILLINGFLEET
Proverbs 25:13
The Value of a Good Messenger
to His Employers
"As the cold of snow in the time of harvest, so is a faithful messenger to them
that send him: for he refresheth the soul of his masters."
IT is not necessary to imagine that Solomon here indi-
cates the occurrence in Judea of snow in the times of
harvest. It is very improbable that a snow storm ever
happened in that country during that period. The an-
cients in the East did as we do, preserved the ice and snow
of winter, in order to cool their summer beverages. A cold
draught in a hot summer's day was there, as here, most
refreshing. What such a beverage was to the thirsty man
in the heat of a tropical summer, is a "faithful messenger" to
the soul of his master. Our subject is the value of a good
messenger to his employer.
His CHARACTER is refreshing to his master. — What
more pleasing to an employer than the development of
fidelity in his servants: — to see them faithful, not only to
66 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXV.
their engagements, but faithful to moral truth and to God?
The Eternal Master of us all, we are assured, is as pleased
with the fidelity of His servants. "For we are unto God a
sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in
them that perish: to the one we are the savour of death
unto death, and to the other the savour of life unto life."
At last He will reward His servants, not according either
to the kind or quantity of their service, but according to
their faithfulness. "Well done, good and faithful ser-
vant. Thou hast been faithful in a few things, I will make
thee ruler over many. Enter into the joy of thy Lord."
His INFLUENCE is refreshing to his master. — His service
will inspire his master with confidence in him. Instead
of being harassed with suspicions and anxieties as to
whether his commissions will be executed or not, free from
all such solicitude, he calmly relies upon his repre-
sentative. His service will awaken general respect for his
master. A "faithful messenger" can scarcely fail to
bring honour to his employer.
In truth a faithful man is a refreshing object to all
observant souls.
"His words are bonds, his oaths are oracles,
His love sincere, his thoughts immaculate,
His tears pure messengers sent from his heart,
His heart so far from fraud as heaven from earth."
SHAKESPEARE
Such men give to history its aroma, they are calm and
faithful in trials, and command the respect of their
greatest foes. The speech of Eleazer before the tyrant
Antiochus, as given by Josephus, breathes the spirit of all
faithful souls. "Old age," says the intrepid martyr, "has
not so impaired my mind, or enfeebled my body, but when
religion and duty call upon me, I feel a youthful and
a vigorous soul. Does this declaration awaken your
resentment? Prepare your instruments of torture, pro-
voke the flames of the furnace to a fiercer rage, nothing shall
induce me to save these silver locks by a violation of the
ordinances of my country and my God. Thou holy law!
from whom I derive my knowledge, I will never desert so
Chap. XXV.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 637
excellent a master. Thou prime virtue, temperance! I
will never abjure thee. August and sacred priesthood! I
will never disgrace thee. I will bear it to my ancestors as
pure and unsullied soul, as free from stain as I stand in
this place devoid of fear, amidst the parade of your
threatening engines and implements of martyrdom"
Proverbs 25:14
Swaggering Generosity
"Whoso boasteth himself of a false gift is like clouds and wind without rain."
THE verse points to a character by no means uncommon.
It is a man of prolific promise: he is so bland in aspect:
so liberal in speech, that one might think that he was
always hailing opportunities, in order to manifest in some
practical way his generosity. But into whatever circles
such a man enters he brings disappointment, he is "like
clouds without rain." His broad and generous talk
excites expectations, only to be blasted.
Such a man is found sometimes in the SOCIAL circle. —
Who has not had such a character introduced into the
circle of his acquaintance? He appeared so genial in
sentiment; so deep and broad in sympathy; his con-
versation so full of benevolent feeling and world-wide
philanthropy, that you fancied, at any rate, that for once a
friend had entered your sphere, who would be a blessing to
every member: that should misfortune happen to any, he
would be the first to render relief. But time rolled on and
misfortune came. You appealed to him. How did he
greet you? All his professions appeared only as "a cloud
without rain" on the parched sky: not one rain-drop of
help came from that source.
Such a man is found sometimes in the CHURCH circle.
He is admitted into fellowship with the professed dis-
ciples of Christ; he has made his confession, and it has
chimed with love for humanity and God. All the
638 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXV.
members felt that with his advent a wonderful blessing
had come: the poor would be relieved, the ignorant would
be educated, the tried and the afflicted would receive
sympathy and succour. The minister expected that he
had gained a true helper. But what was the result?
He soon found, alas, that it was all talk. When claims
were submitted to his benevolence, he appeared only
as "a cloud without rain," rolling ever under the hot
heavens of emergency.
Such a man is found sometimes in the CIVIC circle. — He
appears before you as a candidate for some civic office: he
wins your suffrage by great promises. If he is sent to the
vestry he will economise your parish expenditure; if to
the Corporation he will remove local nuisances and
wrongs; if to the Parliament he will retrench expenditure
and reform abuses. He goes, and what does he do?
He rolls about the heavens as "a cloud without rain."
Let all, especially young ministers, be warned against
such characters. Their tree is ever in blossom, but never
runs into fruit; they disappoint your hopes, and cheat you
at every turn. "Whoso boasteth himself of a false gift is
like clouds and wind without rain." A more contemptible
character know I not than the man of a mean and dastardly
selfish nature wearing the livery and speaking the language
of love, with one hand dropping a farthing into the "urn of
poverty," and with the other taking a shilling out.
Proverbs 25:15, 21, 22
The Manifestation
and Mightiness of Moral Power
"By long forbearing is a prince persuaded, and a soft tongue breaketh the
bone. . . . If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he be
thirsty, give him water to drink; for thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head,
and the LORD shall reward thee."
THERE are three kinds of power: material, mental, and
moral. The power to act on matter, the power to discover
Chap. XXV.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 639
and invent, the power to influence the conscience and
heart. The second is greater than the first, the last
greater than either or both. "Even in war," says
Napoleon, "moral power is to physical as three parts out
of four. Man possesses the three; he has muscular,
mental, and spiritual might." Nothing does a man aspire
to with greater intensity than power, nothing does he
appreciate more than power.
"Power, 'tis the favourite attribute of gods,
Who look with smiles on men
Who can aspire to copy them."
The verses direct our attention to the manifestation and
might of moral power.
The MANIFESTATION of moral power. — The words indi-
cate a threefold manifestation. Stillness. "By long for-
bearing is a prince persuaded." Forbearance implies
calm endurance — a patience like that which the Great
Heavenly Exemplar exhibited under insults and persecu-
tions, "Who, when He was reviled, reviled not again."
Great moral power often shows itself in this stillness in
the presence and under the attacks of enemies. It re-
quires more power to sit still before an enemy than to
strike him to the dust. God's moral strength is seen
sitting still "whilst the heathen rage, and the people
imagine a vain thing." Another manifestation of power
here is — Speech. "A soft tongue breaketh the bone." "A
soft tongue," — not a simpering tongue, not a silly tongue,
not a sycophantic tongue, but the "soft tongue" of tender
love and forbearing kindness. Such a tongue is might: it
"breaketh the bone." This somewhat paradoxical ex-
pression indicates the amazing force of kind words; they
break the bone, the ossified heart of the enemy. Another
manifestation of power here is — Service. "If thine enemy
be hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he be thirsty,
give him water to drink. For thou shalt heap coals of
fire upon his head." Here is something more than still-
ness or speech. It is returning "good for evil," according
to the teaching and example of Christ. "In the smelting
640 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXV.
of metals," says Arnot," whether on a large or a small
scale, it is necessary that the burning coals should be above
the ore as well as beneath it. The melting fuel and the
rude stones to be melted are mingled together and brought
into contact, particle by particle, throughout the mass.
It is thus that the resistance of the stubborn material is
overcome, and the precious separated from the vile."
There are but few hearts so obdurate as not to melt
under the fires of love that blaze over and under them.
These words direct our attention to —
The MIGHTINESS of moral power. — Moral power showing
itself in all this kindness, in patient endurance, tender
speech, and beneficent service, can achieve wonders. Its
victories here are represented by three expressions. Per-
suading. "By long forbearing is a prince persuaded."
This power can turn the mind of a mighty monarch,
backed by invincible armies. A prince's mind can be
brought down by the arrows of kindness. Thus David
brought down Saul, and bowed the heart of Israel as one
man. And thus Christ is subduing the heart of the world.
Another expression by which its mightiness is here repre-
sented is — Breaking. "A soft tongue breaketh the bone."
A bone is a hard substance; some men have very har-
dened natures; their hearts are like granite, all attempts
to subdue them by force are futile evermore. But loving
words can do it; they can mollify the roughest natures.
Gideon, with a kind word, pacified the Ephraimites, and
Abigail turned David's wrath away. God's word of kind-
ness is a hammer that breaks the rocky heart of man.
There is still another expression to represent the mighti-
ness of its power, and that is — Melting. "Thou shalt heap
coals of fire on his head." "The Americans have a tract
on this subject, entitled, 'The man who killed his neighbours.'
It contains, in the form of a narrative, many useful, prac-
tical suggestions on the art of overcoming evil with
good. It was with kindness — modest, thoughtful, generous,
persevering, unwearied kindness, — that the benevolent
countryman killed his churlish neighbour: and it was only
the old evil man that he kills, leaving the new man to lead
Chap. XXV.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 641
a very different life in the same village, after the dross has
been purged away."
How sublimely elevated is the moral legislation of the
Bible. Love for enemies found no place in the ethical
codes of heathen philosophers, poets, or priests. Jesus
brought it as a "new commandment" from the Supreme
authority of the universe. He inculcated it in His teaching,
He exemplified it in His life, He furnished the mightiest
demonstration of it in His death. Let this principle be
ours, not merely as an element in our written code, but as
a spirit in our life. There is in truth no other way of over-
coming our enemies. Our enemy will never disrobe him-
self of the cloak of anger with which he has tightly
wrapped himself around, by the north wind of intellectual
discussion, or physical force, however bitter, biting, and
boisterous. These will only cause him to bind it more
tightly about him. Bring the calm sunbeam of love upon
him, in all the strength of its heat, and speedily will he
unfasten it as an encumbrance and throw it away.
Proverbs 25:16
The World's Honey
"Hast thou found honey? eat so much as is sufficient for thee, lest thou be
filled therewith, and vomit it."
THESE words suggest three remarks:
The world HAS ITS HONEY. — Notwithstanding all that
mawkish pietists say against the world, it has, neverthe-
less, in it much felicity. It is not "a wretched land, that
yields us no supply." It has honey in it. A delicious
sweetness pervades it. It has a gastric honey. What
pleasures can be derived from a participation in the
precious fruits of the earth! The world spreads before
man a table of delicious viands. It has a gregarious honey.
How great the pleasure men have in mingling with their
kind merely as social animals; the pleasure of mates,
642 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXV.
parents, children. It has a secular honey. What pleasure
there is in the pursuit, the accumulation, and the use of
wealth! It has aesthetic honey. What pleasure is derived
from the beautiful in nature, art, and music. It has intel-
lectual honey — pleasures derived from an inquiry into, and
discovery of the Divine ideas that underlie all the forms
and ring through all the sounds of nature. The world
has its honey and we should be thankful for it. It might
have been filled with bitterness; its fruits might have
been all wormwood and gall. But it is not so. Its pro-
ductions are pleasant to the palate, its forms are beauti-
ful to the eye, its sounds are music to the ear, its odours
are delicious to the smell; its bodies often impart the
most thrilling delight to the touch, and its phenomena
are ever suggestive of inspiring truths to the soul. Thank
God for all this honey!
The world's honey MAY BE ABUSED. — "Eat so much
as is sufficient for thee, lest thou be filled therewith, and
vomit it." There are those who eat too much of the
honey. Some eat too much of the gastric honey, and
they become gourmands, epicures, voluptuaries. Some
eat too much of the gregarious honey, and they be-
come profligate debauchees and bloated animals. Some eat
too much of the secular honey, and become wretched
misers, haunted with a thousand suspicions. Some eat
too much of the aesthetic honey, and grow indifferent to
everything but what they consider the beautiful and har-
monious. Taste is everything to them. They seem to
have no life but in the presence of that which, in the
cant of their class, they call "High Art." Some eat too
much of the intellectual honey, and they have no life but
in that of observatories, laboratories, libraries, and cold
abstractions. All these eat too much of the honey.
The world's honey abused PRODUCES NAUSEA. — "Lest
thou be filled therewith and vomit it." Over-indulgence
in any worldly pleasure issues in a moral sickness and
disgust. There is what the French call the ennui that
comes out of it, "that awful yawn," says Byron, "which
sleep cannot abate."
Chap. XXV.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 643
The intemperate use of this honey often makes life an
intolerable burden.
"Give me to drink, Mandragora,
That I may sleep away this gap of time."
SHAKESPEARE
Well did Solomon know this from experience. — Eccl. ii.
Take care how you use the world. You may have too
much of a good thing. Use the world and not abuse it.
"Every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused,
if it be received with thanksgiving." There is a honey,
thank God! of which you cannot take too much, which
will never surfeit or sicken, — that is the honey of spiritual
enjoyment; the enjoyment of studying, imitating, wor-
shipping Him in Whose "presence there is fulness of joy,
and at Whose right hand there are pleasures for evermore."
Proverbs 25:17-20
Bad Neighbors
"Withdraw thy foot from thy neighbour's house; lest he be weary of thee,
and so hate thee. A man that beareth false witness against his neighbour is a
maul, and a sword, and a sharp arrow. Confidence in an unfaithful man in time
of trouble is like a broken tooth, and a foot out of joint. As he that taketh away
a garment in cold weather, and as vinegar upon nitre, so is he that singeth song
to an heavy heart."
MAN is a social being, and greatly does his prosperity
and happiness depend upon those with whom he is
brought into most frequent contact. The Bible every-
where recognises this fact, and supplies abundant
directions as to the manner in which we should treat our
neighbours. In these verses we have four kind of bad
neighbours indicated, — the intrusive, the slanderous, the
faithless, the injudicious. Notice —
The INTRUSIVE. — "Withdraw thy foot from thy neigh-
bour's house; lest he be weary of thee, and so hate thee."
644 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXV.
It is pleasant to be visited by a neighbour whose interest
in us is genuine. There are some whose visits can never
be too frequent; they carry sunshine with them. We hail
their knock at the door, we rejoice at their presence at the
table and on the hearth. But there are others who are
intrusive, the tread of their foot is heard too frequently in
the house. And with them indeed "familiarity breeds
contempt." Two evils are here suggested as likely to
accrue to those neighbours whose visits are intrusive.
They become tiresome. "Lest he be weary of thee." How
soon we become tired of the visits of those who carry
nothing fresh with them, whose nature is stale, whose
habits are stereotyped, whose thoughts are old drippings
from the common mind! The man of genius, whose mind
is a fountain of living water, and not the channel of a
muddy stream, will never make you weary. They become
disliked. "And so hate thee." This is almost a natural
consequence of irksomeness. If you lose interest in a
man you do not want to see him: his presence even once
after annoys you, and, repeated, fires your indignation.
An old writer, quaintly remarks: — "It is wisdom, as well
as good manners, not to be troublesome to our friends in
our visiting them, not to visit too often, or stay too long,
or contrive to come at meal-time, or make ourselves
busy in the affairs of their families: hereby we make our-
selves cheap, mean, and burdensome. Thy neighbour,
who is thus plagued and haunted with thy visits, will be
weary of thee, and hate thee, and that will be the destruc-
tion of friendship which should have been the improve-
ment of it. Post tres saepe dies piscis vilescit et hospes. —
After the third day fish and company become distasteful.
Nulli te facias nimis sodalem — Be not too intimate with any.
He that sponges upon his friend loses him." Livy
remarks, " that the perfection of good behaviour is for
a man to retain his dignity without intruding on the
liberty of another." Another bad neighbour here indicated
is —
The SLANDEROUS. — "A man that beareth false witness
against his neighbour is a maul, and a sword, and a sharp
Chap. XXV.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 645
arrow." The mischief of a false witness, which is so
strongly and universally condemned in the Scriptures, is
here represented by three weapons of death: — A "maul."
This old English word, which is now obsolete, signifies a
hammer or a club, an implement used in the rough and
bloody warfare of fighting men in old times. A "sword."
Another deadly implement, that by which millions of men
have been cut down in all ages. A "sharp arrow."
Another weapon of destruction. A slanderous neighbour
is as mischievous as any or all of these murderous weapons.
He knocks, he cuts, he pierces; he destroys you by his
tongue. Not your body, but your plans, your prosperity,
your reputation, your happiness. Slander, which one of
the poets has called, "the foulest whelp of sin," is gene-
rally directed against the best men. "The worthiest
people," says Swift, "are the most injured by it, as we
usually find that to be the best fruit which the birds have
been pecking at." "Slander is fruitful," says Sterne,
"in variety of expedients to satiate as well as disguise
itself. If these smooth weapons cut so sore, what shall
we say of open and unblushing scandal, subjected to no
caution, tied down to no restraints? If the one, like an
arrow shot in the dark, does, nevertheless, so much mis-
chief, this, like the pestilence which rages at noonday,
sweeps all before it, levelling without distinction the good
and the bad: a thousand fall beside it, and ten thousand
on its right hand: they fall so rent and torn in this tender
part of them, so unmercifully butchered, as sometimes
never to recover either the wounds or the anguish of heart
which they have occasioned." Another bad neighbour
here indicated is —
The FAITHLESS. — "Confidence in an unfaithful man, in
time of trouble, is like a broken tooth, and a foot out of
joint." Few sources of social misery are so prolific and
perennial as that springing from confidence in faithless
men. It is here suggested — That the unfaithful man fails
you. Like the "broken tooth" and the "foot out of joint,"
he fails to fulfil what is required of him. Just when you
want to eat, you find that the tooth is broken and useless;
646 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXV.
just when you rise to walk, you find that your foot is out
of joint. Just so with the faithless man. When you want
him he fails you; the hour when you expected him to
stand by you and help you he is wanting. All his old
promises of friendship prove to be lies, nothing less. It is
here suggested that the unfaithful man pains you. In the
use of the broken tooth and the disjointed foot, when you
try them, there is not only disappointment but torture.
Such is the mental distress which is caused by the failure
of confidence in the proportion to the degree in which you
had cherished it. Especially is this felt "in time of
trouble," when help is so particularly needed, and when a
kind of claim, independently of all professions and pro-
mises, is felt to exist, on sympathy and kindness. Then
the heart is sensitively alive to aught like neglect and dis-
appointment. To trust and be deceived is at any time a
bitter trial. To trust in "the time of trouble" and be de-
ceived, is the extreme of mental suffering. Few men can
be trusted to do all we expect, still less to do all we require.
Micah's Levite, and Mephibosheth's trust in Ziba, and
Paul's desertion when he said, "At my first answer no
man stood by me, but all men forsook me," are illustra-
tions. Another bad neighbour here indicated is —
The INJUDICIOUS. — "As he that taketh away a garment
in cold weather, and as vinegar upon nitre, so is he that
singeth songs to an heavy heart." When you are in trouble
there are neighbours whose attempt to comfort you is
as absurd and as ineffective as the taking away from a man
his garment in cold weather, and as giving to a thirsty
man vinegar upon nitre to drink. "Nitre," says an able
expositor, "does not mean the salt so called by us —
saltpetre, but rather an alkaline substance which was
called by the Romans nitrum, and which, in a particular
state of preparation, was used in Judea for soap. Vinegar,
or any other acid, poured on this substance, would, from
the want of chemical affinity between them, produce
effervescence; and this appears to be the similitude in-
tended — the want of affinity between the song of mirth and
the spirit of heaviness. It is incongruous, disquieting,
Chap. XXV.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 647
agitating." "Miserable comforters are ye all," says Job.
First: The injudicious comforter is one who presents
incongruous subjects. Sometimes he will talk on worldly
subjects, subjects of gain, fashion, and amusement, when
the distressed mind is sorely agitated with serious
thoughts. Sometimes he will discourse on common-place
subjects connected with Providence or doctrinal theology,
when the distressed soul requires, not talk, but genuine
sympathy and holy quiet. To talk on incongruous subjects
to a distressed mind is really as absurd as to strip a poor
man of his garment in the cold cutting winds of winter.
Secondly: The injudicious comforter is one who presents
proper subjects in an incongruous spirit. He talks of the
right things, but talks of them with a spirit unsympathetic,
sometimes undevout, canting, cold, and dogmatic. Such
a man's comfort is indeed "vinegar on nitre," conflicting,
irritating, and painful.
Let us cultivate the spirit of true neighbourliness. Let
us be non-intrusive, truthful, trustworthy, and judicious,
so that our visits may at all times be dispensations of
light, comfort, and peace.
Proverbs 25:23
Righteous Anger
"The north wind driveth away rain: so doth an angry countenance a back.
biting tongue."*
THE marginal reading, which is, "the north wind bringeth
forth rain: so doth a backbiting tongue an angry counte-
nance," gives quite the opposite sense. In Arabia the
north wind blew over a long tract of dry land, and, there-
fore, usually brought dry weather; but in Judea the north
wind, including all the winds between the north and north-
* Verses 21, 22, have been noticed in a previous Reading.
648 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXV.
west, blew from the Mediterranean Sea, and therefore
commonly brought rain. Accepting the marginal version,
the idea is, that as the north wind brings forth rain, a
backbiting tongue brings forth an angry countenance.
But our version, which we think equally faithful to the
original, gives an idea equally good and important; it is,
that an expression of displeasure in the listener will
silence the tongue of the backbiter. He who listens to
backbiters encourages them in their sin, and shares their
guilt. It is worthy of note that Homer speaks of the north
wind bringing fine weather; and this might have been the
observation of Solomon also. All men do not put the
same interpretation on meteorological phenomena.
The subject which the words serve to illustrate is
righteous anger. Anger is not essentially sinful; it is only
sinful when it is directed to wrong objects, and when it is
cherished. We are divinely ordered not to let "the sun
go down" on our wrath. We have somewhere read an
account of two Grecian bishops, who, having disagreed on
some subject of doctrine, parted in mutual anger; but the
eldest, in the course of the day, sent to the other a message
in these words, "Sol ad occasum," — the sun is about to go
down. The other no sooner heard it, but he reflected on the
words of the Apostle, "Let not the sun go down upon your
wrath," and so they were both friends again. We are
commanded to be "angry and sin not." Moses was angry;
Christ was angry; the Great God has anger. The anger
referred to here is a righteous anger; its object is legiti-
mate, its expression is natural, its influence is useful. We
say that —
Its OBJECT IS LEGITIMATE. — It is directed against "a
backbiting tongue." A backbiter is a clandestine traducer
of character. His speech goes to damage another's repu-
tation behind his back. He does it sometimes by telling
truth as well as falsehood; he states facts in the history of
the man of whom he speaks discreditable to his character;
facts which a manly charity should seek to bury in oblivion.
A man need not tell lies to be a backbiter; he can do it
by parading damaging facts, and such damaging facts may
Chap. XXV.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 649
be found in the chapters of every man's life. He does it
sometimes unmaliciously; he may have no real ill-feeling
in his heart towards the person of whom he speaks, no
desire to injure him; yet injure him he does. He may be
prompted by vanity; he may disparage another in order to
set himself off to better advantage. He may do it from
greed; his objects may be to rob the subject of his talk of
some share of his patronage and support. But whilst the
backbiter need not necessarily deal in falsehood, he
generally does; whilst he is not necessarily malicious, he
generally is. He is always a sneak; he stabs in the dark.
He is always a coward; he has not the manliness even to
hint to a man's face what he fluently and bravely utters
behind his back. He is always a despoiler, he robs
another of his reputation.
"Who steals my purse, steals trash; 'tis something, nothing;
'Twas mine, 'tis his, and has been slave to thousands;
But he that filches from me my good name,
Robs me of that which not enriches him,
And makes me poor indeed." — SHAKESPEARE
Here there is a fit object for anger. When such a
character appears before you, let the heavens of your soul
rumble in thunder, and flash in lightning.
As to this righteous anger, we may remark that its
EXPRESSION IS NATURAL. — "An angry countenance."
The countenance is a fuller, more faithful, and forceful
revealer of the soul than the tongue. There is often more
in a look than you could put into volumes. "The cheek
is apter than the tongue to tell an errand." "This man's
brow," says our dramatist, "like a tragic leaf, foretells the
nature of a tragic volume." An approving look flashes
sunshine oftentimes into the hearts of spectators, makes
the wife cheerful for the day, and the children sing for joy.
An admiring look has often won hearts which no words
could enlist. A courageous look in the leaders of cam-
paigns wakes the invincible in battalions. A reproving
look has broken hearts, as Christ's broke the heart of
Peter. An angry look, not a mere peevish, petulant look,
but a look of right down honest anger directed to a back-
650 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXV.
biter, would send him quailing in mute confusion from
your presence. We do not feel so deeply as we ought
God's goodness to us in the revealing power of the coun-
tenance. The countenance is the language that wins the
love and the confidence of our compeers, that is most
potent in reproving the wrong and encouraging the right.
Concerning this righteous anger we may remark further,
that its INFLUENCE IS USEFUL. — "The north wind
driveth away rain, so doth an angry countenance a back-
biting tongue." Perhaps, according to the observation of
Solomon, a strong north wind always drove away the rain,
scattered the clouds, and dried the earth, and, he says,
that just as such wind drove away the rain, an angry
countenance would drive away the backbiter. Is not this
true? Would a backbiter dare to stand, for a moment,
clandestinely traducing the character of another, if the
man he addressed would throw on him the scathing looks
of honest indignation? No, he would flee from his
presence as a whelp howling from the lash of his master.
He who listens to clandestine calumnies is as foul in guilt
as the vile slanderer himself. Augustine's biographer
mentions of him that these two lines were written in his
dining-room —
"Quisquis amat dictis absentum rodere vitam,
Hanc mensam veritam noverit esse sibi."
It is added, that he said to a bishop, indulging this
habit at his table, "Either I will blot out these verses on
the wall, or begone from my table." Bishop Burnet, in
his Essay on Queen Mary, mentions her effectual rebuke
of calumny: if any indulged in it in her presence, she
would ask, if they had read Archbishop Tillotson's Sermon
on Evil Speaking, or give them other pointed reproof.
"Calumny," says Leighton, "would soon starve and die of
itself, if nobody took it in and gave it lodging."
Chap. XXV.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 651
Proverbs 25:25
Good News from a Far Country
"As cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country."
THE condition of the recipient gives value to the blessing.
A river of cold water is not half so valuable to a man who
feels not its need, as one glassful to him who is parched
with thirst. The oriental travellers feel the value of cold
water, and Solomon's illustration would have with them a
force which it lacks with us. The subject is the grateful-
ness of good news from a foreign country; and we shall
apply it especially 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."
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 fascina-
tion for the soul. What charms have the reports of
Captain Cook, Moffatt, Livingstone, for all minds! Such
speakers are always heard with interest, and their writings,
detailing their observations and relations, are read with
avidity by all classes. Man has an appetite for the
romantic. 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 scenes connected with its history with a
special charm. The news would be as "cold waters to a
thirsty soul." If the country reported CONTAINED ANY
THAT ARE DEAR TO US. — New Zealand, Vancouver's
Island, Australia, America, and many other distant
countries are extremely interesting to many families in
this land, on account of the friends they have living in
* The 24th verse has been discussed in the Reading on Prov. xxi. 9.
652 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXV.
them. News from these scenes are received as "cold
waters to a thirsty soul." If the country reported is A
SCENE IN WHICH WE EXPECT TO LIVE OURSELVES. — With
what interest does the emigrant listen to everything that
has reference to that land whither he is about wending his
way, and which he is about adopting as his home!
Heaven, as a far country, pre-eminently meets all these
conditions of interest. There is the NOVEL. — "Eye hath
not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the
heart of man, the things which God hath prepared
for them that love him." Listen to Paul's account
of it. "I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years
ago, (whether in the body I cannot tell; or whether
out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an
one caught up to the third heaven. And I knew such a
man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot
tell: God knoweth;) how that he was caught up into
paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not
lawful for a man to utter." How unlike that country is to
ours! Here is a sphere for the play of the romantic. There
is the BENEFACTOR. — What benefits that far country
has conferred on us! From hence we have received the
Great Christ the Redeemer of the world, and also the
blessed Spirit of wisdom, purity, and peace. There are
our FRIENDS. — How many of those whom 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. — Yonder is our in-
heritance," an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled,
that fadeth not away." Let tidings from this far country,
be to us as "cold waters to a thirsty soul," grateful and
refreshing.
"O, Paradise! O, Paradise
Who doth not crave for rest?
Who would not seek the happy land,
Where they that love are blest.
Where loyal hearts and true
Stand ever in the light,
All rapture through and through
In God's most holy sight!" — F. W. FABER
Chap. XXV.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 653
Proverbs 25:26
Religious Apostasy
"A righteous man falling down before the wicked is as a troubled fountain,
and a corrupt spring."
THE possibility of a good man "falling from grace" was
one of the grand questions in the theological controversies
of past times. That a good man may relapse into de-
pravity is manifestly possible. To prove that either a
good man, or a good angel, is bound by the necessity of
his nature to continue in the course of holiness, is to prove
that he is no longer free and responsible, but a slave and a
machine. For a good man to relapse into depravity is not
only possible but very easy. The force of the remaining
depravity within him and the force of unholy influences
about him render it comparatively easy for the best men to
fall. Nor is it merely possible and easy, but it is histori-
cally proved. Good men in all ages have apostatised, —
David, Peter, Demas, and many others have fallen. In
truth it is everywhere Biblically implied. The exhorta-
tions to perseverance, and the warnings against apostacy
which run through the inspired Word imply the fearful
liability of righteous men to "fall down before the wicked."
The verse presents this apostacy in two aspects:
As a MORAL FALL. — "A righteous man falling down
before the wicked is as a troubled fountain and a corrupt
spring." Righteousness is true soul elevation. It is the
soul "risen with Christ," "setting its affection on things
above, sitting down in the heavenly places with Christ
Jesus." It is under the control of high principles. Sym-
pathy with truth, devotion to right, compassion for souls,
and supreme love for the supremely good, sway the
righteous man. It is also in the enjoyment of high
fellowship. It is in association with holy men, angels, and
God; its fellowship is indeed with the Father, and with
His Son Jesus Christ. The apostacy of such a soul may
well be considered a fall, and how great the fall! Who
shall tell the distance between truth and error, selfishness and
654 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXV.
love, the love of God and the love of the world? Many
men who trouble themselves with the question of the pos-
sibility of good men "falling from grace," need not be
anxious about themselves, — they cannot fall much lower
than they are: they are down in the depths of worldliness
and practical atheism. The verse presents this apostacy —
As a SOCIAL CURSE. — It is like a "troubled fountain and
corrupt spring." It is implied here that a good man's life
is as valuable as a fountain. In tropic lands, where rains
are only periodic and at distant intervals, fountains and
springs are of incalculable worth. How the parched
traveller yearns for the refreshing spring. But the value
of an Eastern fountain is but a faint image of the value of
a good man's character. Such a character is a fountain of
life, — clear, free, active, — sending forth streams to irrigate
the moral desert, and slake the moral thirst of parched
souls. It is implied here that a good man's apostacy is as
injurious as a spring corrupted. When a good man in a
neighbourhood falls into sin it is an event more disastrous
to the district than if poisons were thrown into all its
fountains of water. As a garden once well cultivated will
produce more noxious weeds than the untilled wilderness,
so the influence of an apostate's life is more pernicious
than that of the ordinary sinner. The good man who falls
into sin is like the gallant bark that goes down in the
mouth of the haven: it becomes more perilous to the sailor
than if it had sunk abroad in the open sea.
Beware of backsliding. "Let him that thinketh he
standeth take heed lest he fall." None sink so far into
hell as those that come nearest heaven. No plants, if they
rot, become more offensive and pernicious than those
which once appeared in richest foliage and choicest
flowers.
"The soul, once tainted with so foul a crime,
No more shall glow with friendship's hallow'd ardour.
Those holy beings, whose superior care
Guides erring mortals to the path of virtue,
Affrighted at impiety like thine,
Resign their charge to baseness and to ruin."
JOHNSON
Chap. XXV.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 655
Proverbs 25:27
Natural Desires Running too Far
"It is not good to eat much honey: so for men to search their own glory is
not glory."
MAN is a creature of manifold desires. He has animal,
social, intellectual, and moral desires; these desires impel
him to action; they are the springs that keep in motion
the machinery of his being. These desires may be divided
into two grand classes. Those that can never go too far,
and those that often do. There are desires in human nature
that can never get too strong, never do too much work,
never run too far. Such are the desires for knowledge,
holiness, assimilation to God. And there are those that
often run too far. Such are the desire for wealth, which often
runs into avarice; the desire for power which often runs
into tyranny; the desire for pleasure which often runs into
licentiousness and lust. Here we have running too far —
The desire for ANIMAL PLEASURE. — "It is not good to
eat much honey." Honey here stands for pleasure, as we
have seen in our remarks on the 16th verse of this chapter.
Life has its animal sweetness, — the God of nature intended
the five senses to convey pleasurable sensations. A desire
for pleasure is natural, but it may run too far; it often does
so, and when it does, Solomon says, in the text, it is not
good. It is not good for the body. The man who gives
himself up to animal gratifications undermines his health,
inbreathes the germs of physical disease and dissolution.
It is not good for the intellect. A pampered, plethoric
body dims the mental vision, enervates the intellect, clogs
the rational faculties. In animal voluptuousness the brain
runs into fat, and the intellect into a grub. The rise of the
animal is the fall of the mental. It is not good for the
soul. The pampering of the senses is the death of the
soul; it takes from conscience its sensibility, and from the
religious element its force; the moral man becomes "car-
656 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXV.
nally sold under sin." How true, then, what Solomon
says, "It is not good to eat much honey." Here we have
running too far —
The desire for HUMAN PRAISE. — "So for men to search
their own glory is not glory." The word "not," which is
here in italics, is not in the original; it has been supplied
by our translators. In doing so they have evidently ex-
pressed the idea intended. A desire for the praise of our
fellow-men is natural, innocent, and useful. He who is
utterly regardless of the judgment and feelings of others
concerning him is a character rather to be despised than
commended. It is natural for men to desire the commen-
dation of their circle. It is very true that the praise of
corrupt society is seldom of much worth, and often indeed
contemptible; for society is so lavish of its praise that it
will applaud in thunderous strains the villain, if he will
only appear in a little pomp and pageantry. Who has not
often seen what Shakespeare describes?
"Such a noise arose,
As the shrouds make at sea in a stiff tempest,
As loud, and to as many tunes; hats, cloaks,
Doublets, I think, flew up; and had their faces
Been loose this day, they had been lost."
There are men whose desire for human praise becomes a
passion; popularity is the god at whose shrine they are
always paying their devotions. We have abundant ex-
amples in our own age of authors, artists, preachers, and
statesmen doing so. In the days of Christ the Jews loved
the praise of men rather than the praise of God. The
grand distinction between a great man and a little man is
this that popularity follows the former, but attracts the
latter; the one walks calmly and majestically before it,
the other runs with breathless earnestness after it.
Be master of your desires. Let them be your servants,
not your sovereigns. Use them as the mariner uses the
winds and the waves, to bear you to the shores of the holy
and the blest.
Chap. XXV.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 657
Proverbs 25:28
The Lack of Self-mastery
"He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down
and without walls."
IN Proverbs, chapter xvi., verse 32, it is said, "He that is
slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth
his spirit than he that taketh a city." These words, which
point to the important work of self-conquest, we have
already examined, and our remarks should be read in con-
nection with the observation suggested by this proverb.*
The subject here is the lack of self-mastery. The soul that
has not obtained a command over itself is here compared to
"a city that is broken down and without walls," and the
figure suggests two thoughts concerning such a condi-
tion:
The condition is UNSIGHTLY. — How unsightly a city
appears after it has been besieged, sacked, and plundered
by a conquering army! The more architecturally beauti-
ful it had been, the more revolting now. We look at its
shattered condition in the light of the memory of its
former beauties, and we are shocked with the hideous
aspects which the violence of the invader has created. But
far more unsightly is the state of the soul that has no mas-
tery over itself. Genius besmeared in the mud of depravity,
conscience submerged beneath the foul waves of passion,
and intellect becoming the mere creature of sensuality and
worldliness, are the most unsightly objects on which an
angel's eye can rest. And yet, alas! such unsightly
scenes are common. Jerusalem, when Nehemiah wept:
amidst its ruins, looked most ghastly to his heart; but a
soul which has no mastery over its own lusts and passions
is an object far more ghastly to behold.
The condition is UNSAFE. — "The walls of the city are
broken down." It has no ramparts of defence. Its mani-
* See Readings, No. clxvii. p. 231.
658 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXVI.
fest insecurity invites the entrance and assaults of the in-
vader. It is so with the soul where there is no self-mastery.
It is open to every tempter. It "gives place to the devil."
A soul destitute of self-control is in a most perilous condi-
tion — a mere breath will hurl it from the orbit of order — a
mere spark of temptation will set it in flames.
Look well to the fortifications around thy soul, brother!
Hold the whole of thy nature in control. "He who reigns
within himself," says Milton, "and rules, desires and fears,
is more than a king."
"May I govern my passions with absolute sway,
And grow wiser and better as life wears away."
"In the little world within the breast," says Dr. Caird,
"there are stations of rank, dominion, authority, to which
we may aspire, or from which we may fall. There is an
inward slavery baser than any bodily servitude: there is
an inward rule and governance of a man's spirit, an object
of loftier ambition, far — than the possession of any earthly
crown or sceptre. For self-government is indeed the
noblest rule on earth. The highest sovereignty is that of
the man who can say, 'He hath made us kings unto God.'
The truest conquest is where the soul 'is bringing every
thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.' The
monarch of his own mind is the only real potentate."
Proverbs 26:1, 8
Honor Paid to Bad Men is
Unseemly and Pernicious
"As snow in summer, and as rain in harvest, so honour is not seemly for a
fool. . . . As he that bindeth a stone in a sling, so is he that giveth honour
to a fool."
THE respect which man pays his fellow is often grounded
on reasons immoral and absurd. Sometimes man is
respected on the ground of his personal appearance, some-
times on the ground of his mental abilities, sometimes on
the ground of his worldly possessions, sometimes on the
Chap. XXVI.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 659
ground of his lineage and social position; but respect for
men on any of these grounds alone is, to say the least, very
questionable in morality. The true and Divinely authorized
ground of respect for man is moral goodness. The man
who is morally good, however deficient in other things,
has a Divine claim to our honour. The man who has
not goodness, whatever else he may possess, calls for
our contempt rather than our respect. He alone is the
honourable man who possesses the nobility of goodness.
Notwithstanding this, so corrupt is society that men in
abundance are to be found who "honour fools," honour
wicked men — honour them, not because they are wicked,
for conscience will not allow them to do so, but because
they have power, wealth, or high social status. It is
against this that Solomon speaks in these verses.
Honour paid to bad men is UNSEEMLY. — It is "as snow
in summer and as rain in harvest," — unseasonable and in-
congruous. How unseemly nature would appear in August
with snow mantling our corn-fields, the air as chilly and
the heavens as lowering as in the middle of winter! Solo-
mon means to say it is just as unseemly to see a human
soul rendering respect to a man who is "a fool" — that is, a
man destitute of moral goodness. Souls are morally con-
stituted to reverence the good, and the good only; to
loathe and abhor the morally bad, wherever it is seen,
whether in connexion with lordly possessions, kingly power,
or, what is higher still, mental genius. So perverted are
men's moral tastes that they do not discover this incon-
gruity, otherwise flunkeyism, which is so terribly pre-
valent everywhere, would be felt to be as far out of
keeping with the moral constitution of things as "snow in
summer." Bad men, who have neither wit nor grace, are
often preferred by princes and hurrahed by peoples.
Honour paid to bad men is PERNICIOUS. — "Snow in
summer and rain in harvest" are in nature mischievous
elements. Their tendency is to rob the agriculturist of
the rewards of his labour, to disappoint the expectations
of all, and to bring on a famine in the land. Far more
mischievous is it when the people of a country sink so
660 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXVI.
morally low as to render honour to men who are destitute
of moral goodness. The perniciousness is also expressed
by another figure in the verses. "As he that bindeth a
stone in a sling, so is he that giveth honour to a fool."
The word translated "sling" means a heap of stones, and
the word "stone" a precious stone. Hence the margin
reads "as he that putteth a precious stone into a heap of
stones, so is he that giveth honour to a fool." The idea
evidently is, as a precious stone amongst rubbish, so is
honour given to a fool. To honour a fool is an act as
mischievous as the throwing of precious stones into a heap
of rubbish. Honour as rendered to fools is as diamonds
thrown into the dust hole, or pearls laid before swine.
Nothing is more pernicious to the commonwealth, nothing
more disastrous to true spiritual and manly progress,
than this tendency.
Expect not honour from men, whatever thy lineage,
talents, power, or possessions, unless thou art morally
wise.
"It is only noble to be good.
Kind hearts are more than coronets,
And simple faith than Norman blood."
TENNYSON
"Our own heart," says Coleridge, "and not other men's
opinion, forms our true honour." Nor degrade thy nature
to be rendering honour to men who are not morally
honourable. Do not for the sake of place, power, or fame,
render honour to fools. Do not cringe or crawl to flatter
and conciliate the worthless. "Wrap yourself," says a
foreign author, "in your own virtue, and seek a friend in
your daily bread. If you have grown grey with un-
blenched honour, bless God and die."
"Ye see yon birkie ca'd a lord,
Wha struts and stares and a' that;
Though hundreds worship at his word,
He's but a coof for a' that:
For a' that and a' that,
His riband star and a' that;
The man of independent mind,
He looks and laughs at a' that." — BURNS
Chap. XXVI.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 661
Proverbs 26:2
Human Anathemas
"As the bird by wandering, as the swallow by flying, so the curse causeless
shall not come."
ANOTHER, and perhaps a better, translation is this: —
"Unsteady as the sparrow, as the flight of the swallow, is
a causeless curse; it cometh not to pass." "There is a
difficulty here," says Dr. Wardlaw, "in settling the precise
point in the comparison. The ordinary interpretation ex-
plains it with reference to curses pronounced by men without
cause — imprecations, anathemas, that are unmerited — and
the meaning is understood to be — as the bird or sparrow,
by wandering, and as the swallow, or wood-pigeon, by
flying, shall not come — that is, shall not reach us or come
upon us in the way of injury, so is it with the causeless curse.
It will do no more harm than the bird that flies overhead,
than Goliath's curses on David. And it might be added
that, as these birds return to their own place, to the nests
from whence they came, so will such gratuitous maledictions
come back upon the persons by whom they are uttered.
Thus God turned the curses into a blessing which Balak,
the son of Zippor, hired Balaam to pronounce against
Israel. Thus the malicious and hard-hearted curses of
Shimei against David came not upon him, but fell upon
the head of their unprincipled author." The following
observations may be made upon these words:
MEN ARE FREQUENTLY THE VICTIMS OF HUMAN IM-
PRECATIONS. — Few men pass through the world without
creating enemies, either intentionally or otherwise. Even
the best of men have those who regard them with hostile
hearts. There have been those in all ages who "hate
without a cause." Men vent their hatred in various ways,
— sometimes by slander, sometimes by violence, and not
unfrequently by imprecations. They wreak their ven-
geance by profane appeals to heaven. They invoke the
662 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXVI.
Eternal to curse those whom they cannot reach. This is by
no means an uncommon way of gratifying human wrath.
Goliath cursed David, and David in his turn cursed his
enemies. There are but few men in any generation who
have not been cursed. The Prophets were cursed, — Christ
was cursed, — His Apostles were cursed. "Woe unto you
when all men speak well of you." Men will always damn
you if you run counter to their tastes, gratifications, interests,
and predilections. Another observation here is that:
Human imprecations are SOMETIMES UNDESERVED. —
The curse is "causeless." Sometimes the imprecations
of men are deserved. Those on whose heads David invoked
the judgments of God deserved the ill he sought. There
are two classes of causeless curses. Those that are hurled
at us because we have done the right thing. When you
are cursed for reproving evil, for proclaiming an unpopular
truth, or pursuing a righteous course which clashes with
men's prejudices or interests, the curse is "causeless." The
other class is those that are uttered without reason or
feeling. There are men who are so in the habit of using
profane language, that it almost flows from their lips
without malice or meaning. And there are those, also,
who are such fools that they regard profane language as
an indication of manly courage and even gentlemanly
bearing. There is neither reason nor feeling in their oaths.
To be cursed by men when the curse is undeserved is
more an honour than a disgrace. The greatest men in
history have been cursed, and some of them have died
under a copious shower of human imprecations. The
greatest souls have always lived under the ban of their
age. Another observation is that : —
Undeserved imprecations are ALWAYS harmless. — "The
curse causeless shall not come." Was David the worse for
Shimei's curse? or Jeremiah for the curse of his per-
secutors? "He that is cursed without a cause," says
Matthew Henry, "whether by furious imprecations or
solemn anathemas, the curse will do him no more harm
than the sparrow that flies over his head. It will fly away
like the sparrow or the wild swallow, which go nobody
Chap. XXVI.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 663
knows where, until they return to their proper place, as the
curse will at length return to him that uttered it."
"Cursing," says Shakespeare,
"Ne'er hurts him, nor profits you a jot.
Forbear it, therefore, — give your cause to heaven."
But if the curse be not "causeless," it will come. Jotham's
righteous curse came upon Abimelech, and the men of
Shechem. Elisha's curse fearfully came to the young
mockers of Bethel. "The curse abides on Jericho from
generation to generation." The following considerations
have been given as reasons why men should not swear: —
"It is mean. A man of high moral standing would almost
as soon steal a sheep as swear. It is vulgar; altogether
too low for a decent man. It is cowardly. Implying a fear
either of not being believed or obeyed. It is ungentlemanly.
A gentleman, according to Webster, is a gentle man,
well-bred, refined; such a man will no more swear than go
into the street and throw mud with a clod-hopper. It is
indecent. Offensive to delicacy, and extremely unfit for
human ears. It is foolish. Want of decency is the want of
sense. It is abusive. To the mind that conceives the oath,
to the tongue that utters it, and to the person at whom it is
aimed. It is venomous. Showing a man's heart to be a
nest of vipers, and every time he swears one of them sticks
on his head. It is contemptible. Forfeiting the respect of
the wise and good. It is wicked. Violating the Divine
law and provoking the displeasure of Him Who will not
hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain."
"Take not His name, who made thy mouth, in vain:
It gets thee nothing, and hath no excuse.
Lust and wine plead a pleasure; avarice gain;
But the cheap swearer, through his open sluice,
Lets his soul run for naught, as little fearing:
Were I an epicure, I could bate swearing.
When thou dost tell another's jest, therein
Omit the oaths, which true wit cannot need;
Pick out of tales the mirth, but not the sin.
He pares his apple that will cleanly feed."
GEORGE HERBERT
664 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXVI.
Proverbs 26:3-11
Aspects of a Fool
"A whip for the horse, a bridle for the ass, and a rod for the fool's back.
Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him. Answer
a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own conceit.* He that sendeth
a message by the hand of a fool cutteth off the feet, and drinketh damage. The
legs of the lame are not equal: so is a parable in the mouth of fools. As he that
bindeth a stone in a sling, so is he that giveth honour to a fool. As a thorn goeth
up into the hand of a drunkard, so is a parable in the mouth of fools. The great
God that formed all things both rewardeth the fool, and rewardeth trans-
gressors. As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly."
SIN is folly. It sacrifices the spiritual for the material, the
temporal for the eternal, the pure joys of immortality for
the gratification of an hour. In the judgment of Solomon
the sinner was a fool. The two terms with him were
convertible. Sin makes dolts; for if a man is naturally
stupid, it makes him more so. In these verses he gives us
various side views of a moral fool.
He appears here as a SERVANT. — "A whip for the horse,
a bridle for the ass, and a rod for the fool's back." This
proverb inverts our ideas. We should have said, "a
bridle for the horse," and "a whip for the ass." But the
Eastern asses have much of the fire of our blood horses,
while the horses are often heavy and dull. Therefore the
ass there requires the bridle, and the horse the whip. The
one to accelerate, the other to restrain and guide activity.
As the horse and the ass, in order to be used as the
servants of man, require the application of force, so does
the fool. "A rod for the fool's back." If a stubborn
sinner is to be made the servant of society, coercion must
be employed. Argument, persuasion, example, these
moral appliances will affect him but little. He must have
a rod, the bridle of law must restrain him — the whip of
menace must drive him on. It is thus that the Great
Master Himself often uses them. The still small voice of
* This verse is noticed in a previous Reading.
Chap. XXVI.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 665
love and reason reaches them but seldom. The rod of
poverty, affliction, bereavement, and sore trial, is em-
ployed. The Bible represents hardened sinners as more
inconsiderate than the brutes. "The ox knoweth his
owner, and the ass his master's crib; but Israel doth not
know, my people doth not consider." The incorrigible
fool can only be managed by the application of the rod.
By pain he is restrained, guided, and driven.
He appears here as a DEBATER. — "Answer not a fool
according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him.
Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his
own conceit." There is an apparent contradiction here,
but it is only apparent. The negative means, we are not
to debate with him in his style and spirit, and thus
become like him. We are not to descend to his level of
speech and temper. The positive means, that we are to
answer him as his folly deserves. It may be by silence as
well as speech. If by silence, we should be dignified and
significant. If by speech, whilst we must be always
truthful, it might be sarcastic, reproaching, and denun-
ciatory. The fool talks — he is often a great debater. He
is often fluent and dogmatic on subjects on which the wise
look with reverent silence. More than half the talk of the
world is the talk of fools, and the talk is sensual, profane,
cavilling, and morally pernicious.
He appears here as a MESSENGER. — "He that sendeth
message by the hand of a fool cutteth off the feet and
drinketh damage." The meaning of this is, "He who
would trust a fool with a message might as well cut off his
feet, for he will have vexation and may be damage."
"The fool," says Bridges, "is utterly unfit for service.
When a message is sent by his hands, he makes so many
mistakes, careless or wilful, that it is like bidding him go
when we have cut off his legs. Indeed we can only drink
damage from his commission. The employment of the
unbelieving spies spread damage of discontent and re-
bellion throughout the whole congregation. How careful
should we be to intrust important business to trustworthy
persons! Fools are either unqualified for their mission, or
666 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXVI.
they have their own interests to serve, at whatever cost to
their masters. Solomon himself 'drank damage,' by em-
ploying an 'industrious' servant, but a fool in wickedness,
who 'lifted up his hand against the king,' and spoiled his
son of ten parts of his kingdom. (1 Kings xi. 26-40.)
Benhadad drank damage by sending a message by the
hands of Hazael, who murdered his master when the way
was opened for his own selfish purposes. (2 Kings viii.
8-15.)" Much of the business of life is carried on by
messengers or agents. How much a mercantile firm
suffers by improper representatives! How much damage
have political States sustained by the employment of un-
worthy diplomatists! How much injury comes to England
every year, by sending to Parliament a message by the
"hand of fools!"
He appears here as a TEACHER. — "The legs of the lame
are not equal: so is a parable in the mouth of fools." It
is not very uncommon to find fools sustaining the office
and performing the functions of teachers. "They have a
parable in their mouth." There are men, with their natural
stupidity, augmented by a moral perversity, acting as
teachers in many of our schools and churches, as well as in
our literature. The verses suggest two things concerning
them as teachers — That they appear very ridiculous. "The
legs of the lame are not equal, so is a parable in the hands
of fools." The idea seems to be, as the cripple who de-
sires to appear nimble and agile, appears ridiculous in his
lame efforts to walk, so the fool appears ridiculous in his
efforts to teach. "As the legs of a fool," says an old
author, "are not equal, by reason of which he is unseemly,
so unseemly is it for a fool to pretend to speak apophthegms,
and give advice, and for a man to talk devoutly, whose
conversation is a constant contradiction to his talk, and
gives him the lie. His good words raise him up, but then
his bad life takes him down, and so his legs are not
equal." "A wise saying," says Bishop Patrick, "doth as
ill become a fool, as dancing doth a cripple: for as his
lameness never so much appears as when he would seem
nimble, so the other's folly is never so ridiculous as when
Chap. XXVI.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 667
he would seem wise. As, therefore, it is best for a lame
man to keep his seat, so it is best for a silly man to hold
his tongue." The other thing suggested by the text con-
cerning fools is that, as teachers, they are generally very
mischievous. "As a thorn goeth up into the hand of the
drunkard, so is a parable in the mouth of fools." The idea
is, that a fool handling the doctrines of wisdom is like a
drunken man handling thorns. The besotted inebriate,
not knowing what he is about, lays hold of the thorn and
perforates his own nerves. The wise sayings in the mouth
of a stupid man are self-condemnatory; holy sayings in
the mouth of a corrupt man are also self-criminating.
Such men condemn themselves in their teachings.
He appears here as a COMMISSIONER. — "The great God
that formed all things, both rewardeth the fool and re-
wardeth transgressors." The word "God" is not in the
original. The margin is the more faithful translation — "A
great man giveth all, and he hireth the fool, he hireth also
transgressors." Elzas gives a similar translation — "The
great man terrifieth every one, he hireth fools, he hireth
also transgressors." The idea seems to be, that when
worldly princes employ fools for the public service, it is a
source of great anxiety and trouble to all good citizens.
Alas! such men are often employed in public services;
and their arrogances, intolerances, and blunderings bring
grief to the country. "The lesson has application from the
throne downwards, through all the descriptions of subsidiary
trusts. Extensive proprietors, who employ overseers of their
tenants, or of those engaged in their manufactories, or
mines, or whatever else be the description of their property,
should see to the character of these overseers. Their power
may be abused, and multitudes of workmen suffer, when
the owner — the master — knows nothing of what is going
on. But he ought to know. Many complainings and
strikes, well or ill-founded, have their origin here."
He appears here as a REPROBATE. — "As a dog returneth
to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly." The emblem
here is disgusting, but the thing signified is infinitely more
so. Peter quotes this proverb. The wicked man often
668 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXVI.
sickens at his wickedness, and then returns to it again.
Thus Pharaoh returned from his momentary conviction,
Ahab from his pretended repentance, Herod from his par-
tial amendment. How often men, by a long continuance
in a course of sin, are abandoned to wickedness, or given
up by their own consciences and by God, to a destiny of
low, deepening depravity!
Mark well this hideous character and shun it. Consider
well that sin is folly. It blunts the sharpest intellect, and
makes the dullest more dull. Seek the wisdom "that is
from above, first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to
be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits without par-
tiality and without hypocrisy."
Proverbs 26:12, 16
Vanity, One of the Greatest Obstructions
to Soul-Improvement
"Seest thou a man wise in his own conceit? there is more hope of a fool
than of him. . .The sluggard is wiser in his own conceit than seven men
that can render a reason."
THESE words suggest —
That soul improvement is one of the GRANDEST OBJECTS
OF HUMAN HOPE. — It is a glorious fact that the human
soul is capable of improvement. Its potentialities are
unbounded. It has within it the germ of countless
harvests. It is a patent and a solemn fact that the soul
requires improvement: improvement in its intelligence and
spiritual attributes. As the soul improves, our power
to enjoy and serve God and His universe advances. The
words suggest — That soul-improvement is an ATTAINMENT
VERY DIFFICULT FOR A FOOL. — "There is more hope of a
fool than of him," — that is, the conceited man. A fool is
one, the dullness of whose faculties, and the grovelling
character of whose sympathies, and the deteriorating
Chap. XXVI.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 669
power of whose habits render soul-improvement well nigh
an impossibility. In the preceding verse it is said, "As a
dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly."
Perhaps in this verse Solomon refers to a fool who began to
feel himself to be a fool. In truth it is only such a fool
that has any chance of improvement. The words suggest —
that soul-improvement, however difficult for a fool, IS STILL
MORE DIFFICULT TO THE SELF-CONCEITED. — "Seest thou
a man who is wise in his own conceit? there is more hope
of a fool than of him." Many such men there are. Men so
full of self-satisfaction — so encased in self-sufficiency, so
elevated in their own esteem, that the voice of wisdom
cannot reach them. First: They cannot improve in
intelligence, because, instead of being conscious of their
ignorance, they exult in the affluence of their knowledge.
Pope says, "that every man has just as much vanity as he
wants understanding." The more vanity the less under-
standing. Vanity so fills the mental stomach with gas as
to destroy the desire for, and the capacity to receive the
food of true knowledge. Vanity blinds the eyes to truth. It
has been called the "mental mole," the "dense ophthalmia of
the vacant mind." They cannot improve in spiritual ex-
cellence, because, instead of being conscious of moral
defects, they are elated with their own virtues. The vain
man's language is — "I am rich, and increased in goods,
and I have need of nothing;" "I thank thee that I am not
as other men." One of the verses states that this self-
conceit is fed by laziness. "The sluggard is wiser in his
own conceit than seven men that can render a reason."
Indolence feeds intellectual vanity.
How then can a vain man spiritually improve? "If any
man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him
become a fool that he may be wise." "Wouldest thou not
be thought a fool in another's conceit," says quaint old
Quarles, "be not wise in thy own: he that trusts to his
own wisdom proclaims his own folly: he is truly wise, and
shall appear so, that hath folly enough to be thought not
worldly wise, or wisdom enough to see his own folly."
670 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXVI.
Proverbs 26:17-22
Mischievous Citizens
"He that passeth by, and meddleth with strife belonging not to him, is like
one that taketh a dog by the ears. As a mad man who casteth firebrands, arrows,
and death, so is the man that deceiveth his neighbour, and saith, Am not I in
sport? Where no wood is, there the fire goeth out: so where there is no tale-
bearer, the strife ceaseth. As coals are to burning coals, and wood to fire; so is
a contentious man to kindle strife. The words of a talebearer are as wounds,
and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly."*
THESE verses give us a few specimens of mischievous citi-
zens — men who disturb the commonwealth — grieve the
good, and distract the heart of society.
Here is the MEDDLER. — "He that passeth by, and
meddleth with strife belonging not to him is like one that
taketh a dog by the ears." Here is his conduct defined: he
"meddleth with strife" with which he has no business. He
is one of those busy-bodies whose over-officiousness is a
social nuisance. There is of course a proper interposition.
Where strife rages in families, churches, and nations, in-
terposition is not only justifiable but imperative. No man
is justified in standing by, when his fellow-men are con-
tending for their mutual injury, without endeavouring to
terminate the evil. All should act as mediators. "Blessed
is the peacemaker." This is, however, very different from
the intermeddling to which Solomon refers — acting the
partisan, siding with one of the angry disputants, and
thus mixing one's-self up with the quarrel. There are
many such meddlers in society. There are the ecclesias-
tical meddlers — the social meddlers — the political meddlers
— the literary meddlers. Here is his mischief indicated —
It "is like one that taketh a dog by the ears." He rouses
the dog's fury, and exposes himself to its savage bite. If
he should let it go, his danger perhaps would be increased;
the animal might turn upon him with greater fury. He
had better have left the dog alone. The man who becomes
* Verses 13, 14, 15, are repetitions of Chapter xxii. 13, xix. 24, and their
meaning has already been expounded.
Chap. XXVI.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 671
partisan in a quarrel that does not concern him, renders
himself liable to the anger of one, if not both, of the
contending parties.
Here is the LIAR. — "As a mad man who casteth fire-
brands, arrows, and death, so is the man that deceiveth
his neighbour, and saith, 'Am not I in sport? '" Mark
his conduct. He deceives his neighbour, and says it is
"sport." By his false representations he involves his
neighbour in some embarrassment, contention, or pain, and
then excuses himself by saying it is "in sport." A lie is
no less a lie because it is spoken in a spirit of frolic and
jest. Mark his mischievousness. He is represented as a
"mad man who casteth firebrands, arrows, and death."
Many practical jokes have proved most disastrous. They
have indeed been as firebrands, arrows, and death. Many
a practical jester does the maniac's mischief without the
maniac's excuse. "He that sins in jest must repent in
earnest, or his sin will be his ruin."
Here is the QUERULOUS. — "As coals are to burning
coals, and wood to fire, so is a contentious man to kindle
strife." Observe the work he accomplishes. He promotes
strife. He kindles and maintains fires of dissension.
Where there is peace he creates discord, and where there
is discord he heightens its rage. He is not at peace with
himself, and he looks with an envious eye at peace wher-
ever it exists. He desires the storms that beat his own
heart should rage around the hearts of others. He is a
social incendiary.
Here is the TALEBEARER. — "The words of a talebearer
are as wounds." Two things are here indicated concern-
ing the talebearer. He maintains strife. Thus he does
the work of the contentious man. Indeed, the conten-
tious man does his fiendish work by tales. The whispering
inuendo, the malicious hint, the slandering word, often
kindle the fire of strife in that circle where peace had
long reigned before. As the microscopic sting of a little
insect sometimes poisons the blood and inflames the body
of a strong man, the mere whisper of a talebearer will
kindle the fire of discord in a whole community. He in-
672 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXVI.
fects with poison. "The words of a talebearer are as
wounds, they go down to the innermost parts of the
belly." Soft and gentle as the words are, they drop as
poison, they sink into the centre of the system, and do
their work of destruction. They destroy the mental
peace of him to whom they are uttered, the reputation of
him of whom they are uttered and the social happiness of
both. The meddler, the liar, the querulous, and the tale-
bearer, are the mischievous citizens which Solomon here
depicts.
Proverbs 26:23-28
Clandestine Hatred
"Burning lips and a wicked heart are like a potsherd covered with silver
dross. He that hateth dissembleth with his lips, and layeth up deceit within him;
when he speaketh fair, believe him not: for there are seven abominations in his
heart. Whose hatred is covered by deceit, his wickedness shall be shewed before
the whole congregation. Whoso diggeth a pit shall fall therein: and he that
rolleth a stone, it will return upon him. A lying tongue hateth those that are
afflicted by it; and a flattering mouth worketh ruin."
THERE are two kinds of enemies in society, those who
are open and avowed, and those who are secret and
hypocritic. The former, who will let out their hatred in
unmeasured terms and undisguised actions, are neither
so numerous or dangerous as those who conceal their
ill-feeling under the mask of friendship. To these Solo-
mon refers in the verses. The subject is clandestine
hatred, and four thoughts are suggested concerning it : —
It is often greatly DISGUISED. — "Burning lips and a
wicked heart are like a potsherd covered with silver dross."
The "wicked heart" of enmity is covered over by the
"burning lips" — glowing language — of good feeling and
friendship. The allusion is here to the ancient art of
silvering earthenware, making clay appear to the eye as
silver. The tongue of the "just," we are told is as
"choice silver." Such, however, is not the tongue of the
man who is a clandestine enemy. His tongue is mere
Chap. XXVI.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 673
"silver dross." It is only silver in appearance. How
often do we find lips that burn with warm affection covering
hearts instinct with malice! Hatred has an instinct for
the dark, working under cover, and putting on disguises.
"He that hateth dissembleth with his lips, and layeth up
deceit within him." Cain talked to his brother in the
field, while murder was in his heart. Saul pretended to
honour David whilst he was plotting his ruin. As a rule,
the less good feeling a man has for us the more he will
flatter us, the more glowing his language of friendship.
He is a fawning parasite, lacquering with the "silver dross"
of friendly speech the base malignity of his own heart.
Another thought suggested concerning clandestine hatred
is:
It is EXCESSIVELY CORRUPT. — "When he speaketh fair,
believe him not: for there are seven abominations in his
heart." The number "seven" in Scripture denotes "ful-
ness" or "completeness." The idea is, that such a man's
heart is full of abominations. The man who can not only
cover over his hatred, hide it in his heart, but give it the
language of love for malignant purposes, must truly be a
man having "seven" — a fulness of — abominations within
him. He has within him the seeds of the traitor, the
assassin, and of all villany.
"Satan was the first
That practised falsehood under saintly show,
Deep malice to conceal, couch'd with revenge."
MILTON
Another thought suggested concerning clandestine hatred
is —
It is LIABLE TO EXPOSURE. — "Whose hatred is covered
by deceit, his wickedness shall be showed before the whole
congregation." Dissembling never answers in the end.
The Providence of God brings dark deeds to light. "The
voice of Abel's blood cried from the ground." "Some
men's sins are open beforehand, going before to judgment;
and some men they follow after." The hand of time often
strips off the mask, and exposes the flatterer to shame. His
"seven abominations" shall be proclaimed, if not privately,
674 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXVI.
at last yonder, on the great day of doom, when all shall
appear, men and angels as they really are, and when the
hypocrite shall receive his just recompense of everlasting
contempt." There is nothing hidden that shall not be re-
vealed. All sin will on "that day" be stripped of its mask,
and laid bare in all its putrescent hideousness to the open
eye of the universe. Another thought suggested con-
cerning clandestine hatred is —
It is SELF-RUINOUS. — "Whoso diggeth a pit shall fall
therein." Evil is a hard worker. It digs pits and rolls
stones. And what is worse, all its hard work is self-
ruinous. Into the pit which they have dug they shall tumble.
The stone which they have rolled upward shall come back
upon them, with terrible momentum, and shall crush them.
Those who plot mischief for others will be overwhelmed
with it themselves. Moab, in attempting to curse Israel,
fell himself under the curse of God. Haman's gallows for
Mordecai was his own "promotion of shame." The
enemies of Daniel were devoured in the ruin which they
plotted against him. Thus does God "take the wise in
his craftiness, the wicked in his wickedness." The
death of Christ, which was to be the means of warding
off national judgment, was the cause of the deprecated
scourge. The malice that meditates the evil is often the
cause of its own overthrow. The last thought suggested
concerning clandestine hatred is —
It is SOCIALLY PERNICIOUS. — "A lying tongue hateth
those that are afflicted by it; and a flattering mouth
worketh ruin." It injures by its slanders. "A lying
tongue hateth those that are afflicted by it." Slander is
at once the creature and servant of hatred. A man slanders
another because he hates him, and his hatred is intensified
on account of his slander. The law of ill-feeling seems to
be this — the more we injure a man, the more we dislike
him. In order to justify our injury, we create reasons to
justify our dislike. It injures by its flatteries. "The flat-
tering mouth worketh ruin." One of the first acts per-
formed by George III., after his accession to the throne,
was to issue an order prohibiting any of the clergy who
Chap. XXVII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 675
should be called to preach before him, from paying him
any compliment in their discourses. His Majesty was led
to this by the fulsome adulation which Dr. Thomas Wilson,
Prebendary of Westminster, thought proper to deliver in
the Chapel Royal; and for which, instead of thanks, he
received from his royal auditor a pointed reprimand, his
Majesty observing, "that he came to chapel to hear the
praises of God, and not his own." This act, whilst it
reflected credit on the king, reflected disgrace on the syco-
phancy of the clergy. Flattery is a social curse.
"A man I knew, who liv'd upon a smile,
And well it fed him: he look'd plump and fair,
While rankest venom foamed in every vein:
Living, he fawn'd on every fool alive;
And dying, cursed the friend on whom he lived."
YOUNG
Proverbs 27:1
Man and Tomorrow, a Fact and a Failing
"Boast not thyself of to-morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may
bring forth."
Here is a FACT. — What is the fact? "Thou knowest not
what a day may bring forth." A day does bring forth
wonderful things; diseases, disappointments, a world of
fresh existences and thousands of open graves. But who
knows the particular things in relation to us individually
that will come forth on the morrow? Will it bring sorrow
or joy, health or disease, hope or disappointment, life or
death? No one knows. "Ye know not what shall be on
the morrow." This ignorance of to-morrow is necessary to
the prosecution of our duties on earth. Could we draw aside
the veil of the future, and look at the things which are
coming to us, our energies would be so paralysed as to
incapacitate us for the ordinary avocations of life: mercy
has woven the veil of concealment. This ignorance of to-
676 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXVII.
morrow is our incentive to preparation for the future.
Christ used this argument, "Be ye therefore ready, for in
such an hour as ye think not the Son of Man cometh."
Prepare for the future by living well to-day.
"Lo, here hath been dawning another blue day:
Think, wilt thou let it slip useless away?
Out of eternity, this new day is born,
Into eternity at night will return.
"Behold it aforetime, no eye ever did;
So soon it for ever from all eyes is hid.
Here hath been dawning another blue day:
Think, wilt thou let it slip useless away?"
T. CARLYLE
Here is a FAULT. — "Boast not thyself of to-morrow."
This admonition implies a presuming on the future. This
is a fault, and it is universal. We are all, more or less,
guilty of it. All our purposes and plans reach into a future
which will never be ours. This fault is inexcusable.
Every day Providence delivers homilies to us on the un-
certainty of the future. In presuming on it, we go not only
against inspiration, but also against our own judgment.
This fault is hazardous. "Abner promised a kingdom,
but could not insure his life for an hour. Haman plumed
himself upon the prospect of the queen's banquet, but was
hanged like a dog before night. The fool's soul was
required of him on the very night of his worldly projects
for many years to come." "Serious affairs of to-morrow"
— was the laughing reply of Archias, warned of a con-
spiracy which hurried him into eternity the next hour.
The infidel Gibbon calculated upon fifteen years of life,
and died within a few months at a day's warning.
"Now is the accepted time." Do not calculate on the
morrow. To-morrow's sun may shine on your corpse: on
the corpse of many a man as strong as you its rays will
fall. "An artist solicited permission to paint a portrait of
the Queen. The favour was granted — and the favour was
great, for probably it would make the fortune of the man.
A place was fixed, and a time. At the fixed place and time
the Queen appeared, but the artist was not there — he was
not ready yet. When he did arrive, a message was corn-
Chap. XXVII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 667
municated to him that her Majesty had departed, and
would not return. Such is the tale: we have no means of
verifying its accuracy; but its moral is not dependent on
its truth. If it is not a history, let it serve as a parable;
such a disappointment might spring from such a cause.
Translate it from the temporal into the eternal: employ
the earthly type to print a heaven lesson." — Arnot.
Proverbs 27:2
Self-praise
"Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth; a stranger, and
not thine own lips."
THIS verse implies that all should possess a praiseworthy
character. Praise from others is here recognised by Solo-
mon as a proper thing, and this implies the commendable
in character. The praiseworthy qualities of character are
patent. They are honesty, sincerity, disinterestedness,
chastity, moral heroism. All should seek the possession of
these. All should struggle after whatever things are of
good report. The verse implies also that where the praise-
worthy exists it is right that praise should be rendered. The
man who cannot recognise excellence in another is morally
blind, whilst he who discovers it without commendation is
without the sentiments of honest manhood. Whilst
flattery is base, honest commendation is a sign of nobility.
The verse declares, moreover, that the praise rendered
should not be rendered to self. "Let another man praise
thee, and not thine own mouth." Occasions may occur
in every man's life when he is justified in using the word
of self-commendation. His motives may be impugned.
Slander and vilification may degrade him before his corn-
peers. All manner of evil things may be said about him
falsely. Under such circumstances it becomes him, nay it
is incumbent on him, to stand up and vindicate, and even
678 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXVII.
commend himself. The great Apostle of the Gentiles did
this — "For I suppose I was not a whit behind the very
chiefest apostles. But though I be rude in speech, yet not
in knowledge; but we have been thoroughly made manifest
among you in all things." But it is against self-praise
that. Solomon speaks, and why should it be spoken against?
For the two following reasons —
It generally implies the LACK OF TRUE, GENUINE EX-
CELLENCE. — The man who parades his own merits, who
sings his own praises, is generally self-ignorant; he has
not so measured his own faculties as to feel his weakness;
so gauged his own resources as to be impressed with his
own deficiencies; so searched into his own motives, as to
become conscious of his own spiritual unworthiness. Poor,
miserable, blind, and naked, yet he fancies himself rich,
increasing in goods, and having need of nothing. He
lacks that humility which is a leading attribute of all moral
worth, that charity which lies at the foundation of all
goodness, and which vaunteth not, and is not puffed up.
As a rule, the man who praises himself most is the most
unpraiseworthy. The other reason is that, —
It is always SOCIALLY OFFENSIVE. — "Praise," says an
old author, "is sweet music, but is never tunable in thine
own mouth; it is a comely garment, but its beauty, to be
seen, must be put on by another, not by thyself." Nothing
is more offensive to the ear of the listener than self-
laudatory language. The heart of an honest man burns
when sycophancy speaks to him in flattery, and it recoils
with disgust when the lip of vanity is speaking its own
praises in his ear. It is too prevalent in all circles. You
hear it at the domestic hearth, in the social gatherings,
from the platform, the hustings, and the senate house.
Alas, it speaks too often in our pulpits. The vanity of
preachers is becoming almost proverbial. Solomon did
right, then, in speaking a strong word against self-praise.
Even the great Apostle, who stood up in his own self-
defence, so strongly felt the impropriety of speaking of his
own merits, that he said, "I speak as a fool."
Do not be impatient for praise. Be praiseworthy, and
Chap. XXVII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 679
the praise that is worth having will come. Sallust said of
Cato that he "would rather be than seem to be a good
man." The better a man is, the more he deserves praise,
but the less he cares for it. A man honours himself
not by self-laudatory language, but by noble works, that
will shine as the light of day. He who, like the Pharisee
in the temple, sounds his own praise, shall step down from
his elevation into contempt and oblivion: but he who, in
solitude and obscurity, cultivates general excellency, shall
come forth to light and be rewarded openly.
Proverbs 27:3-6
Social Wrath and Social Friendliness
"A stone is heavy, and the sand weighty; but a fool's wrath is heavier than
them both. Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous; but who is able to stand
before envy ? Open rebuke is better than secret love. Faithful are the words of
a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful."
THESE verses contain two opposite elements in social life
— wrath and friendship.
Here is WRATH. — Here are two kinds of wrong wrath.
Wrath without reason. The wrath of a fool. "A stone is
heavy, and the sand weighty, but a fool's wrath is heavier
than them both." This wrath is weighty — weighty as a
"stone " or "sand." It is a sullen, stubborn thing. It
came into the fool's heart without reason; he broods over
it, and it grows heavier with days. No reason will modify
it. No argument will bear it away. It is there. He carries
it with him, like a bag of sand. Nay, it is heavier, Solomon
says, than either stone or sand. You may pulverise
the stone, you may scatter the sand, you may give both to
the winds to bear away, but a fool's anger continues.
This wrath is not only weighty but outrageous. "Wrath is
cruel, and anger is outrageous." Or, as the margin has it,
"overflowing." Being altogether without reason it runs
into passion; it fires the blood, and makes the man
savage, and furious as a beast of prey. This wrath is seen
680 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXVII.
on all battle-fields. The men who fight, for the most part
fight without any intelligible reason, and hence their wrath
heaves and dashes like the billows when lashed by the
hurricane. Here is another kind of wrong wrath, viz., —
Wrath with a bad reason. "Who is able to stand before
envy ?" Envy implies a reason. We do not envy another
without knowing something about him. Its reason is that
what another has we should, possess. Reason feeds this
passion of envy. Intellect becomes its nurse and minister.
The thought of its possessor acts rather as oil to make the
flames more furious, than as water to put them out. This
passion is one of the principalities in the malignant
passions of the soul. Like the apocalyptic star called
wormwood, it embitters all the waters into which it falls.
Socrates has well-defined this envy: "The greatest flood
has the soonest ebb; the sorest tempest the most sudden
calm; the hottest love the coolest end; and from the
deepest desire oftentimes ensues the deadliest hate. A
wise man had rather be envied for providence than pitied
for prodigality. Revenge barketh out at the stars, and
spite spurns at that she cannot reach. An envious man
waxeth lean with the fatness of his neighbours. Envy is
the daughter of pride, the author of murder and revenge,
the beginner of secret sedition, and the perpetual tor-
mentor of virtue. Envy is the filthy slime of the soul, a
venom, a poison, a quicksilver which consumeth the flesh,
and drieth up the marrow of the bones." "What," says
Wardlaw, "can stand before it? It was envy that mur-
dered Abel, and dyed the earth with the first blood of
innocence. It was envy that plotted against Joseph, con-
sulted to put him to death, sold him into bondage, dipped
his hated vest in blood, and presented it to the eyes of his
distracted parent — thus slaying at once the fraternal and
the filial affections in the bosom of its subjects. It was
envy that delivered up to condemnation and death the
Lord of glory, the prince of life, the pattern of benevolence
and purity, and every divine and human excellence. O!
if we cannot help being its objects, let us beware of being
its subjects." On the other hand, —
Chap. XXVII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 681
Here is FRIENDSHIP. — "Open rebuke is better than
secret love. Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the
kisses of an enemy are deceitful." Thank God, there are
the virtuous and beneficent in social life, as well as the
vile and disastrous! There is friendship as well as wrath.
But what passes for friendship is often spurious. In these
words we have the feigned and the faithful.
Here is the feigned. Here we have what is called secret
love — "the kisses of an enemy." It is suggested here that
feigned friendship will not utter rebukes even when re-
bukes are needed. It always seeks to please. The face
has always the bland smile, and the tongue the flattering
oil. It is fond of caressing. It deals in glowing grasps
and "kisses." But it is the mere semblance of the true
thing, and nothing more. The tree blossoms richly, and it
pleases you. When the time comes that you almost die
for fruit, there is nothing but the barren branch. We have
here the faithful. It speaks in "open rebuke." It in-
flicts "wounds." The faithful friend wounds, not for the
sake of wounding, but wounds as the good surgeon
wounds — as a means of health.
Rather let us be the objects of wrath than the subjects of
envy, the objects of feigned friendship than the subjects of
it. Of the two evils — wrath or feigned friendship — I think
I should prefer being the victim of the former rather than
the latter. Though the antagonism of the one would be
more positive and virulent than the other, yet both tend
to injury. The one brandishes its deadly implement over
men in the broad sun, with the frown of the demon on its
brow; the other conceals the javelin under its cloak, and,
with a kiss, stabs me in the dark. The one thunders out
my faults, the other exaggerates virtues which I never
had. Kind heaven, give me the faithful friend — a friend
who shall be truthful even though his words cut me to
the quick. "False friendship, like the ivy, decays and
ruins the walls it embraces; but true friendship gives new
life and animation to the object it supports."
682 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXVII.
Proverbs 27:7
An Appetite for Good Things
Essential for Their Enjoyment
"The full soul loatheth an honeycomb; but to the hungry soul every bitter
thing is sweet."
THE principle underlying this proverb is, that to appre-
ciate a thing you must first feel its want — that we must
have a craving for it before we can enjoy it. This prin-
ciple applies —
To CORPOREAL good. — It is the appetite that makes the
bodily food sweet and enjoyable. The dainty epicure sits
at the banquet table with the choicest viands spread before
him, and instead of a relish he has a nausea. The very
"honeycomb," symbol of the choicest dainty, his "soul
loatheth." His appetite, has, through gastric indulgences,
been so vitiated that the best provisions are unpleasant to
his palate. Delicious was the manna to the Israelites at
first. It was like "wafers mixed with honey;" but over-
indulgence in it caused them at last to say, "Our soul
loatheth this light bread. Who will give us flesh to eat?"
Whilst to the pampered epicure the choicest dainties are
unenjoyable, to the hungry wayfarer and toiling workman
"every bitter thing is sweet." Who of the two is the more
blest? The man who has the abundance of the enjoyable
without the power of enjoying, or he who has the scarcest
of the humblest fare, with the full relish of a "hungry
soul"? After all, as far as this material life is concerned,
better be a hungry pauper than a pampered epicure.
"Hunger is the best sauce." This principle applies —
To INTELLECTUAL good. — There appear before you two
men — the one the occupant of a mansion, the possessor of
a magnificent library. Every volume on his large and
crowded shelves is "an honeycomb" amidst the literary
productions of all ages; but he has no hunger for know-
ledge — not because his soul is full of intelligence, for the
Chap. XXVII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 683
more knowledge a man has, the more will he crave for
an increase, every accession of knowledge whetting the
appetite — but because the soul is full of worldliness, self-
conceit, nonsense. He has no appetite for any of these
books. Nay, the choicest productions of genius are the
most distasteful to him. To him the priceless library is
worse than worthless. There is another man, whose
books are few, whose time for reading and study is not
only exceedingly short, but very unseasonable; in the mid-
night hour, or in minutes seized after the bodily energies
have been well-nigh exhausted by labour, the commonest
tract containing truth, is seized with avidity, and
perused with relish. He picks up the very crumbs of
truth, and devours them with a ravenous appetite. Which
of the two men is the better off? I'd rather be the man of
one book, nay of no book at all but the book of my own
soul, — the book of nature — with an appetite for truth, than
the owner of the choicest library in the world, with no
desire for knowledge. This principle applies —
To SPIRITUAL good. — There is a man to whom Pro-
vidence has vouchsafed spiritual privileges, choice in
their character and abundant in amount. He lives in a
family whose members are intelligent and devoted fol-
lowers of the illustrious Nazarene, and where the sanctities
of religion are cheerfully and reverently regarded. The
church is near his dwelling, it throws its shadow on his
lawns. It has all the appliances for spiritual quickening
and growth. Its minister is a preacher of the highest type,
free from all dogmatism and exclusiveness, and permeated
with the sublime spirit of Him Who spake as never man
spake. In his neighbourhood and amongst his acquaint-
ances are devout men of every sect. But he has a "full
soul." He has no hungering or thirsting after righteous-
ness, no desire for the "sincere milk of the word," and
loatheth the whole. So distasteful is the whole to him,
that he is free in the use of terms to designate his abhor-
rence. All to him is cant, hypocrisy, superstition, fanaticism.
There is another man the opposite of this. His spiritual
provisions are of the fewest in number and the scantiest in
684 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXVII.
character. He lives in the tents of wickedness. Depravity
runs riot through the whole sphere of his daily activities.
Bibles, if not unattainable, are rare, churches are distant
and inaccessible, a preacher's voice never falls on his ear;
but he hungers after righteousness, and enjoys the dim-
mest rays of spiritual light. The low, occasional, distant
whisperings of truth, as they come to him through nature,
history, and conscience, are heard eagerly, and inter-
preted with devotion. Which of these two men is better
off — your Socrates in Athens, or your sceptical nobleman
here in England? The former, a thousand times. "He" —
the Great God — hath always "filled the hungry with good
things, and the rich he hath sent empty away."
Proverbs 27:8
The Evil of a Roaming Disposition
"As a bird that wandereth from her nest, so is a man that wandereth from
his place."
SELF-INJURY is here implied. The bird that wandereth
from her nest and never returns, injures herself thereby.
She sacrifices all the labour of building, risks her own safety,
and if it be in the period either of incubation, or when her
nestlings are unfledged, brings ruin on her progeny. So
with the man of a roving and unsettled disposition. He
exposeth himself to great disadvantages and perils. The
language will apply to a roving man in many aspects of
life. It will apply to him domestically. A man's home is
his "place." It is his earthly rest, the Canaan on whose
improvement he should bestow his best energies, and from
which he should derive his chief social enjoyments. He
who wanders from it and seeks his earthly pleasures else-
where, in clubs or taverns, brings injury both on himself
and others. How many wives sigh out a miserable exist-
ence and children grow up in ignorance and recklessness, in
Chap. XXVII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 685
consequence of the fathers who wander from their place.
The language will apply to man avocationally. The
"place" of a man in business is the occupation in which
he has been trained, and into which he has been brought
by the ruling circumstances of his life. Success in any
avocation depends upon a settled purpose and a systematic
procedure therein. The men who wander from their
business, who from a fickle and roving tendency are con-
stantly changing their occupations, generally involve
themselves and others in injury. The old adage that "a
rolling stone gathers no moss," receives illustrations every
day. Men who wander from their callings in life often find
their way into bankruptcy and ruin. The language will
also apply to man ecclesiastically. Every man, as a wor-
shipper, should find his way into some church. He should
have a religious house, where on stated occasions, he would
appear with his neighbours to worship the Common
Father. David desired "to dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of his life." The men who wander from their
place of worship most frequently do an injury to their own
nature. Such men abound in this age. There are those
who have been called religious vagrants. They are, either
from an idle curiosity, from hope of gain, or from a desire to
avoid contributing to the expenses of public worship,
never found in regular attendance at the same church.
The man who wanders from his home, his business, or his
church, is like the bird who "wandereth from her nest:"
he involves himself and others in the inconvenient and
pernicious. But the proverb receives a profounder and a
more universal application when regarded spiritually.
Man spiritually has wandered from his place in three
respects:
As an ENQUIRER after TRUTH. — Man is an intellectual
being, he is made to enquire after truth. As the body
hungers after food and has the power of appropriating, and
requires it as an indispensability, so the soul craves for truth,
has faculties for attaining it, and demands it as the one
thing needful, and Heaven has kindly spread the universe
around him as a field for his researches. What is his
686 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXVII.
"place" as an enquirer? In other words, in what state
of mind should he start forth on his investigations
Undoubtedly from a supreme sympathy with God:
faith in Him, and love for Him should be the starting
point of his enquiring mission. Men have gone out in search
of truth. They have interrogated nature, and they have
obtained what they consider explanations of the various
phenomena which have come under their notice. They
have systematised these explanations and called them
science. But what are these sciences? Are they in-
tellectually satisfactory? are they morally so? Do
they answer the profoundest questions of the human
soul? No. Why? They have not taken the idea and
love of God with them into the arcana of nature. He who
does not look at the universe through God can never see it
— never interpret philosophically its phenomena. Hence
our so-called philosophers have been in relation to their
work "as the bird that has wandered from her nest."
They have not started from the true theistic sentiment,
the resting place of intellect. How precious are the works
of those we deeply love! With what interest do we study
their productions! How interesting the universe would
appear to us if we supremely loved its Maker! In truth,
this love is the interpreting faculty. If we would under,
stand nature we must look at it through God, that is,
through our belief in Him, and love for Him. As enquirers,
then, how sadly men have wandered from their place.
Man has also wandered —
As a MEMBER OF THE RACE. — He is a social being, he
is not isolated, he is a member of a vast community of
kindred existencies, and with them he has to do. He
has to live with them, by them, and for them. How
should he treat them? What is his "place" in relation
to them? It is that of brotherhood. He should look
on all mankind as the offspring of a common father,
endowed with a common nature, burdened with com-
mon responsibilities, possessing common rights, destined
to a common eternity. This feeling of brotherhood
would not only inspire him to act out the golden rule,
Chap. XXVII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 687
"Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye
even so to them," but would inspire him to lay himself
out for men's good. But how has man in his conduct
to his race wandered from this point! He has treated
his fellow men as victims to gratify his own lust and greed,
as beasts of burden, and as fiendish foes. Alas, how He
has wandered from the true social idea of life! he has
also wandered from his place —
As a CREATURE OF WORSHIP. — Man is a religious
being. He is made to worship. Worship is a ne-
cessity of his nature; he must have a deity and a shrine.
What is his place in relation to his worshipping propen-
sities and engagements? A settled, loving, faith in one
God, the Maker of all. From this he should start in all his
religious activities. But how sadly has he wandered from
this true religious place of his soul! And in his wander-
ings, he has found his way into the chilly midnight of
atheism; into the cloud land of pantheistic revelries; and
into the loathsome, cruel, and superstitious domain of
polytheistic dreams. Ah, spiritually, indeed, men are like
the bird that has wandered from her nest! They have
left their normal place in relation to truth, society, and
God. Like the prodigal, they are in a far country; or like
the sheep, lost in the wilderness. The spiritual roamers
are in a worse condition than the bird. The wandering
bird may find another lodgement, build another nest in a
more sheltered and salubrious spot; but man has no
power to do this, he must return to his place or be lost for
ever. Like Noah's dove, he will find no rest until he
returns to his true ark — a settled loving faith in God.
"Let every man wherein he is called therein abide with
God."
"Return, O wanderer, to thy home,
Thy Father calls for thee;
No longer now an exile roam,
In sin and misery.
Return, return!"
688 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXVII.
Proverbs 27:9-11
A Genuine Friendship,
and a Happy Fathership
"Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart: so doth the sweetness of a man's
friend by hearty counsel. Thine own friend, and thy father's friend, forsake not;
neither go into thy brother's house in the day of thy calamity: for better is a
neighbour that is near than a brother far off. My son, be wise, and make my
heart glad, that I may answer him that reproacheth me."
Here is a GENUINE FRIENDSHIP. Solomon has already
said much about friendship, and we shall find further utter-
ances of his on the subject, before the end of the book is
reached. The definition of friendship given by Addison
is, perhaps, as good as can be presented. He says, "it is
a strong and habitual inclination in two persons to promote
the interest of each other." The passage suggests two or
three of the features of genuine friendship — Pleasantness.
— "Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart." A better
rendering of the verse, perhaps, would be this, although it
alters not the sense — "Oil and perfume gladden the heart:
so the sweetness of a man's friend by hearty counsel."
"Behold," says one who knew what true friendship was,
"how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell
together in unity! It is like the precious ointment upon
the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's
beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments." As
refreshing as the oil, and as fragrant as the most delicious
aromas to the senses, is true friendship to the soul. It
heals our wounds, it soothes our sorrows. How refresh-
ing was the friendship of Jethro to Moses, and of Jonathan
to David, when in the wood "he strengthened his hands
in God." "Every friend," says Richter, "is to the other
a sun and a sun-flower also; he attracts and follows." And
Sir Walter Scott expresses its beatific influence, in
words of poetic beauty and tenderness —
"When true friends meet in adverse hour,
'Tis like a sunbeam through a shower;
A watery ray an instant seen,
The darkly closing clouds between."
Chap. XXVII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 689
What makes it so refreshing and beautiful is, its hearti-
ness. "So doth the sweetness of a man's friend by hearty
counsel." It is not the words, but the heart that is thrown
into the words. Friendship is delicious and refreshing in
proportion to its depth and thoroughness. Hearty friend-
ship, to a man in sorrow, is like the angel that appeared
to Hagar in the wilderness. It points the soul to the
"well" of water for which it thirsts. Another feature of
genuine friendship is constancy. — "Thine own friend, and
thy father's friend, forsake not." Here is the sketch of a
friend, the forsaking of whom would be criminal indeed.
He is "thine own friend, and thy father's friend:" he has
not only served thee, but also thy father, who is infirm in
years, or, perhaps, sleeping beneath the clod. Both grati-
tude and filial loyalty should link thee with adamantine
chains to him. Friendship, like certain wines, becomes
valuable with years. The old family friend, with whom
are associated the touching memories of many loved ones
in the dust, his presence is more than sunshine to the soul,
his voice richer than any music. Of such a friend,
Solomon says, "Forsake him not." Do not neglect or
undervalue his counsels; ever appreciate his offices of love.
"Forsake him not," though you may rise in the world, and
he go down to obscurity and want; be his strength in his
declining life. Hold his hand in your warm grasp as it
grows cold in death. The other feature of genuine friend-
ship is considerateness. — "Neither go into thy brother's
house in the day of thy calamity." "This certainly," says
an excellent writer, "has the appearance of a very strange
advice. Whither in the day of our calamity should we go,
if not to the house of a brother? Where are we to expect a
kind reception, and the comfort we require, if not there?
But the proverb, like all others, must be understood gene-
rally, and applied in the circumstances and the sense
obviously and mainly designed. The meaning seems to
be, do not choose the day of thy calamity for making
thy visit, if thou hast not shown the same inclination to
court and cultivate intimacy before, in the day of thy suc-
cess and prosperity. This undoubtedly would look not
690 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXVII.
like the impulse of affection, but of felt necessity or con-
venience and self interest. 'Aye, aye,' your brother
will be naturally apt to say, I saw little of you before:
you are fain to come to me now, when you feel your need of
me, and fancy I may be of some service to you.' Or the
meaning may be, let not sympathy be forced and extorted.
In the day of thy calamity, if thy brother has the heart of
a brother, and really feels for thee, he will come to thee,
he will seek and find thee. If he does not, then do not
press yourself upon his notice, as if you would constrain
and oblige him to be kind. This may, and probably will,
have the effect of disgusting and alienating him, rather
than gaining his love. Love and sympathy must be un-
constrained, as well as unbought. When they are either
got by a bribe, or got by dint of urgent solicitation,
they are alike heartless, and worthless. The reason is,
for better is a neighbour that is near than a brother far
off. The antithetical phrases 'at hand' and 'far off'
have evident reference here not to locality, but to dispo-
sition. A friendly and kindly disposed neighbour, who
bears no relation to us save that of neighbourhood, is
greatly preferable to a brother, — to any near relative
whatever that is cold, distant, and alienated."
Here is a HAPPY FATHERSHIP. — "My son, be wise and
make my heart glad, that I may answer him that re-
proacheth me." "The joys of parents," says Lord Bacon,
"are secret, and so are their griefs and fears; they cannot
utter the one, they will not utter the other. Children
sweeten labour, but they make misfortunes more bitter:
they increase the cares of life, but they mitigate the re-
membrance of death." It is stated here that a truly
virtuous and noble son gladdens the heart of the parent
and truly he does. Such a son is an ample compensa-
tion for all his care and sacrifices; is an inspiring
object of his sympathies and love; is the stay and hope
of his old age. It is stated also that such a son will
prepare the parent to meet his enemies. "That I may
answer him that reproacheth me." All men are liable to
the reproaches of enemies. Those reproaches which are
Chap. XXVII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 691
ever painful become more so as years steal from the spirit
its buoyancy and from the body its vigour. What, in such
circumstances, is a better solace and support than the
presence of a noble son: one who, in the full vigour of
manhood and the consciousness of rectitude, can stand
up, refute, battle, and silence the parental foe? The
best defence of a father's character, when impugned, is
the character and conduct of wise and noble children.
Happy the parent who is thus blest:
"Thou art the only comfort of my age:
Like an old tree, I stand amongst the storms:
Thou art the only limb that I have left me,
My dear green branch! and how I prize thee, child,
Heaven only knows." — LEE.
Proverbs 27:12, 14
Imprudence and Flattery
"A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself; but the simple pass
on, and are punished…He that blesseth his friend with a loud voice,
rising early in the morning, it shall be counted a curse to him." *
HERE we have, —
IMPRUDENCE. — "A prudent man foreseeth the evil and
hideth himself, but the simple pass on and are punished."
"A prudent man foreseeth the evil and hideth himself."
We are so constituted that certain evils grow out of certain
conduct. He who does not deal rightly either with his
body, intellect, or soul, brings, by an eternal law of nature,
evils on himself. The prudent man has the necessary
forecast. He sees this, he sees the effects in the cause, he
sees the upas in the germ, and he so regulates his life as
to avoid the evils. But mark the imprudent man. — "The
simple pass on, and are punished." Blinded by lust, and
the creatures of impulse, the thoughtless and the im
* The 13th verse is the same as the 16th verse of the 20th chapter.
692 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXVII.
prudent move on utterly regardless of the law of causa-
tion that governs human experience. They ignore the
inevitable tendency of certain physical conduct to produce
physical suffering, intellectual conduct to produce mental
weakness and disease, spiritual conduct to produce soul
confusion and misery. Thus, in every step they take, start
up swarms of fiendish ills. Alas! how many imprudent
men there are: men without foresight and preparation.
Here is —
FLATTERY. — "He that blesseth his friend with a loud
voice, rising early in the morning, it shall be counted a
curse to him." Flattery is a species of conduct generally
most pleasing, always most pernicious. The flattery
referred to in the verse, is a loud vaunting; it is not some-
thing that comes out incidentally in eulogistic phrase, but
it intrudes itself on all occasions; it is busy and demon-
strative. How sadly prevalent is this ostentatious flattery:
not merely in the social circle, but at civic banquets, in
journalistic columns, in literary criticisms, in senatorial
debates, and even in ecclesiastical gatherings! Solomon
says this is a curse. It is a curse to its author. "It shall
be counted a curse to him." He who practises syco-
phancy inflicts an incalculable injury on his own spiritual
nature: he destroys his self-respect, he dishonours his
conscience, he degrades his nature. The spirit of inde-
pendency, the feeling of honest manhood, gives way to a
crawling, creeping instinct. It generally implies the
untruthful, the selfish, and the vain; in its nature it is a
lie, in its aim it is either pelf, position, or praise —
" 'Tis the death of virtue,
Who flatters is of all mankind the lowest,
Save him who courts the flattery."
More, it is a sneaking art used to cajole and soften
fools. It is a curse to its victim. Perhaps this is what
Solomon means when he says, "it shall be counted a
curse to him," i.e., the object of it. "Of all wild beasts,"
says Johnson, "preserve me from a flatterer." The follow-
ing remarks of Sir Walter Raleigh are to the point.
"Take care thou be not made a fool by flatterers, for even
Chap. XXVII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 693
the wisest men are abused by these. Know therefore
that flatterers are the worst kind of traitors, for they will
strengthen thy imperfections, encourage thee in all evils,
correct thee in nothing, but so shadow and paint all thy
vices and follies, as thou shalt never, by their will, discern
evil from good or vice from virtue; and because all men
are apt to flatter themselves, to entertain the addition of
other men's praises, is most perilous. Do not, therefore,
praise thyself, except thou wilt be counted a vain-glorious
fool; neither take delight in the praise of other men, except
thou deserve it; and receive it from such as are worthy
and honest, and withal warn thee of thy faults: for flat-
terers have never any virtue — they are ever base, creeping,
cowardly persons. A flatterer is said to be a beast that
biteth smiling. It is said by Isaiah in this manner, "My
people, they that praise thee, seduce thee, and disorder the
paths of thy feet:" and David desired God to cut out the
tongue of a flatterer. But it is hard to know them from
friends, they are so obsequious and full of protestations:
for a wolf resembleth a dog, so doth a flatterer a friend.
A flatterer is compared to an ape, who, because she can-
not defend the house like a dog, labour as an ox, or bear
burdens as a horse, doth therefore play tricks and provoke
laughter."
Proverbs 27:17 *
The Soul, Its Bluntness and Its Whetstone
"Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend."
HOW frequently does Solomon refer to the contentious
woman! In the two preceding verses, he points to her
again. "A continual dropping in a very rainy day and a
contentious woman are alike. Whosoever hideth her
hideth wind, and the ointment of his right hand which
* Verses 15 and 16 have been noticed in Readings on chaps. xix. 13, xxi. 9.
694 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXVII.
bewrayeth itself." Ah, the droppings of her spirit are
worse than rain-drops, that only wet the skin and chill
perhaps the blood; they fall on the heart, and they inflame
the brain. You cannot subdue it. "Whoso hideth her
hideth the wind." Who can hide the wind, or who, by
pressing the ointment in his hand, can conceal it? Its
very fragrance will betray its presence. The following is
a new, truthful, and poetic rendering of the verses:
"A continual dropping in a very rainy day
And a quarrelsome wife are alike:
He who would restrain her,
As well might restrain the wind,
Or conceal the oil which is upon his right hand."
But as we have noticed this subject before, we must con-
fine our remarks to the proverb before us, which includes
two things —
The soul's BLUNTNESS. — "Iron sharpeneth iron: so a
man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend." As all
our implements of steel, domestic, agricultural, artistic,
or military, become blunt by use, so the soul gets sadly
blunted in the wear and tear of this life. How often do
we find the edge taken from our souls, so that they
become almost unfit for service! Corporeal affliction some-
times blunts the soul. The nerves are shaken, the brain
has lost its vigour, and the intellect becomes obtuse; there
comes a film over its eyes. Worldly disappointment some-
times blunts the soul. Shattered plans, broken purposes,
blasted hopes, often so stun and benumb us that our
faculties lose their spring and activity. Social bereave-
ment sometimes blunts the soul. Our loved ones leave us
either by death, or, what is worse, by unfaithfulness; the
heart sinks in sadness, and the atmosphere of the soul
grows sunless and depressing. The soul is blunted; it
cannot cut its way through the path of duty. The pro-
verb includes —
The soul's WHETSTONE. — "Iron sharpeneth iron, so a
man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend." That is, as
iron is sharpened, "so a man sharpeneth the countenance
of his friend." Learn that — As you can only sharpen
Chap. XXVII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 695
iron by iron, you can only sharpen souls by souls. Neither
dead matter, however majestic in aspect or thunderous in
melody, nor irrational life, however graceful in form or
mighty in force, can sharpen a blunted soul. Mind alone
can quicken mind; it is in all cases the Spirit that
quickeneth. Although each mind is a unit, a distinct
personality, it can only be quickened and developed by the
action of other minds. Iron must sharpen iron, soul must
sharpen soul; the action of God's soul sharpens the soul
of the universe. The truly sharpening soul is the soul in-
spired by love. "The countenance of his friend." The coun-
tenance is the revealer of the soul: the quivering lip, the
sparkling eye, the beaming brow; through these the soul
speaks volumes of thought and emotion in a moment.
Who has not often felt the truth of this? Who, when his
own soul has been jaded, blunted, saddened, has not
sprung into agility and light at the beamings of a friendly
countenance? It is the Divine love in the spirit that
quickens. Love is the sharpening property of souls. The
strongest soul has found the exhilarating influence of a
friendly countenance. Paul says, "We were troubled on
every side; without were fightings, within were fears,
nevertheless God, that comforteth those who are cast
down, comforted us by the coming of Titus."
Friendly intercourse is the action of similar natures on
each other for mutual advantage. Few men have de-
scribed true friendship with more truthfulness and poetic
beauty than Dryden, in the following words:
"I had a friend that loved me.
I was his soul: he lived not but in me:
We were so closed within each other's breast,
The rivets were not found that joined us first,
That do not reach us yet: we were so mix'd,
As meeting streams; but to ourselves were lost:
We were one mass: we could not give or take
But from the same; for he was I. Then
Return, my better half, and give me all myself,
For thou art all.
If I have any joy when thou art absent,
I grudge it to myself: methinks I rob
Thee of thy part."
696 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXVII.
Proverbs 27:18
Man Honored in Service
"Whoso keepeth the fig tree shall eat the fruit thereof: so he that waiteth
on his master shall be honoured."
SERVICE is the order of the universe. Everything in the
material creation, both inorganic and organic, is made to
serve; no atom, element, blade, insect, is made for itself;
it has a work to perform, a service to render. It is so in
the spiritual domain. No mind is made for itself, — all
souls are made for service. Man is made to serve.
Wealth, social elevations, political power, instead of
raising him above the obligation of service add urgency
to the duty. No man is too low for service, no man too
high. He who is the greatest shall be the servant of all.
The proverb suggests two remarks —
Honour comes to man in FAITHFUL SERVICE. — "He that
waiteth on his master shall be honoured." "He that
waiteth" faithfully on a human master shall be honoured.
His master may be a humble householder, and his work that
of a menial drudge. Yet if his service is faithfully rendered,
honour will come to him in that little circle; it will come
in approving smiles, in commendatory words, if not in an
augmentation of stipend. Or his master may be a poli-
tical constituency, and his work may be to represent the
interest of a large number of his countrymen in Parlia-
ment. Yet if he is faithful to his promises at the hustings,
and honest in the discharge of his public duties, honour
will come to him, not only in the loud applause, but in the
renewal of the trust and confidence of the burgesses. Or
his master may be a whole kingdom; for kings are ser-
vants, and their duties are numerous, heavy, and continual.
Yet if they discharge them faithfully, the whole nation will
honour them with loyalty and love. "He that waiteth"
faithfully on the Divine Master shall be honoured. Indeed
such is the connexion between the service we have to
Chap. XXVII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 697
render to God and to man, that both must be served properly
in order for either to be served effectively. We cannot
serve the human master faithfully unless we serve the
Divine, and we are sure to serve the Divine if we serve the
human. "If any man serve me," says Christ, "him
will my Father honour." He will proclaim his honour
in the open ear of the universe. "Well done, good and
faithful servant."
Honour comes to a man NATURALLY in faithful service.
— "Whoso keepeth the fig tree shall eat the fruit thereof."
The idea is, that just as by the law of nature, the fig-tree
yields fruit to the man who properly cultivates it, so will
honour, both human and Divine, come to the man whose life
is a faithful service. The conscience of all men is bound
by its constitution to render honour to all faithful ser-
vants. And, with reverence be it spoken, the conscience
of God binds Him to do the same. True honour is not
something put upon a man, as a crown or a robe, some-
thing which he can live and breathe without, distinct from
his being. It is something that grows out of a noble life,
and cannot be taken from him. As the blossom grows out
of the tree, honour grows out of a genuine life: but unlike
the blossom of a tree which may wither, die, and leave the
tree unhurt, it is something inseparable. All the emperors
of the world are unable to dignify a man. Though they
confer on him all the titles at their disposal, they will not
make him a whit the more honourable. No man can be
carried up the hill of greatness; he must climb the slopes
inch by inch himself if he would reach the apex. Moral
crowns, the only crowns worth having, cannot be given,
they must be won.
698 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXVII.
Proverbs 27:19
The Uniformity and Reciprocity of Souls
"As in water face answereth to face, so the heart of man to man."
THE idea of these words is very obvious: the same face
with which you look into a crystal lake will look back
upon you by reflection; the exact form, features, and
expression will be mirrored to your view. Solomon may
mean to convey one of two truths by this proverb; either
uniformity, or reciprocity of soul. It may be regarded as
expressing both —
UNIFORMITY of soul. — There is as great an agreement
between the heart of one man and that of another as there
is between the face and the reflection in the water. What-
ever may be the superficial mental peculiarities of men,
and they are confessedly numerous, arising often from
climate and culture, there are broad underlying and un-
obliterable features in which they all agree. We may
specify a few as examples — There is the sentiment of
worship. In all human minds, the world over and the ages
through, there is found, with more or less distinctness and
force, the instinct of worship. This instinct has been
widely and lamentably perverted, it is true; it has created
false gods, and filled the world with superstition. But
there it is, demonstrating its existence and its power, as
well in the spurious as in the genuine. There is a sense of
obligation. This is nearly akin to the sentiment of worship
it grows out of it, or perhaps is a modification of it. It is
conscience; and what is conscience but the feeling of
duty? Has there ever been found a rational man who has
not had within him the feeling that he owed certain duties
to the Supreme Power that is over him? Conscience does
not give us the right standard of duty, that comes to man
from an outward revelation, but it does give the feeling.
Conscience is like a clock, in perpetual motion, but it always
Chap. XXVII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 699
strikes the wrong hour of duty, until the Divine Horo-
lographer puts it right. There is consciousness of wrong.
In all souls there seems to be a feeling that the character
is not what it ought to be, that the Great Master has been
offended, and that punishment must come sooner or later.
Hence the enormous sacrifices made throughout the world
in order to put men right with themselves and with God.
Most men have had at times the feeling of St. Paul when
he said, "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me
from the body of this death?" The cry of the world is,
"Wherewithal shall I come before the Lord? how shall I
bow before the Most High?" There is forbodement of
coming retribution. — "Traverse," says Hamilton, "the
earth, enter the gorgeous cities of idolatry, or accept
the hospitality of its wandering tribes; go where you
will, where worship is most fantastic, and superstition
most gross, and you will find in man a 'fearful looking
for of judgment.' The mythology of Nemesis may vary,
their Elysium and Tartarus may be differently depicted,
the Metempsychosis may be the passage of bliss and
woe, still the fact is only confirmed by the diversity of the
forms in which it is presented."
This uniformity of moral heart may be looked upon in
two aspects, as contributing an argument in favour of the
unity of the human race. This psychological argument,
we cannot but think, is more conclusive than either the
philological or the physiological:* and also as contributing
an argument in favour of the universal spread of the
Gospel. The Gospel appeals to those broad features of
the soul which are common to all. It reveals the true God
to the sentiment of worship, the Eternal Law to the sense
of obligation, the grand redemption to the consciousness
of wrong, the day of judgment to the forebodement of re-
tribution. The soul of humanity answers to the Gospel,
and consequently the Gospel must make way. The
proverb may be regarded as expressing —
RECIPROCITY of soul. — "As in water face answereth to
face, so the heart of man to man." It may mean this, that,
* See "Christ and other Masters." By Charles Hardwicke, M.A.
700 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXVII.
just as the water will give back to you the exact expression
which you gave to it, the frown or the smile, the hideous
or the pleasing, so human hearts will treat you as you treat
them. "With what measure you mete, it shall be meted
to you again." This is true, manifestly true, — kindness
begets kindness, anger anger, justice justice, fraud fraud,
the world through. As a rule, if you look kindly at a
man he will look kindly at you, if you are tender he will
be tender with you, if you thunder he will thunder at you.
As the rocks reverberate thunder, hearts echo hearts; they
give back what they receive. This fact exposes the absurdity
of attempting to subdue men by violence. "He that taketh
the sword shall perish by the sword." You may as well
endeavour to shiver the rocks by argument as to create
peace by war. This fact reveals the philosophy of
Christianity as a means of subduing the world to love.
Christianity is a system of tenderest compassion and of
mightiest love. "No cord or cable can draw so forcibly
or bind so fast as love can do with a single thread." "The
power of love," says Longfellow, "in all ages creates
angels."
Proverbs 27:20
The Insatiability of Man's Inquiring Faculty
"Hell and destruction are never full; so the eyes of man are never satisfied."
"HELL," or Sheol, here means the place of the dead —
the grave; and "destruction" the agent that strikes men
down, and conveys them to the grave. This hell, and this
destructive force "are never full." They have never done
their work, they are never satisfied; the grave, which
has received all the generations that have been, is
ravenously yawning still; and destruction, whose sword
has slain its millions, stands with outstretched arm ready
to strike down as many more. Now the proverb says that
Chap. XXVII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 701
as insatiable as "hell and destruction" are the eyes of
men—that is, their inquisitiveness. Man's desire for
knowledge is never satisfied, and never can be; every
accession of intelligence whets the appetite into a keener
edge, intensifies its cravings. "The eyes of man are
never satisfied." "Thou hast made us for Thyself," says
Augustine "and our hearts can have no rest until they
rest in Thee." This insatiability of man's inquiring faculty
suggests—
THE INFINITUDE OF TRUTH.—Wherever in any
creature there is a strong natural desire, we may conclude,
from the benevolence of the Creator Who planted the
desire, that there is an adequate provision somewhere. As
man has his ever craving desire for knowledge, we are
bound to infer the infinitude of truth. How much is to be
known! The known to the most intelligent creature in the
universe is as nothing to the knowable. Our greatest
sciences are but a few small blades in a boundless land-
scape, where grow not only the choicest flowers, but also
the most majestic forests. At best we can learn but the
alphabet if truth here: the great volumes fill the uni-
verse. This insatiability of man's inquiring faculty
suggests—
THE GREATNESS OF THE SOUL.—How great is man!
Nothing but the infinite can satisfy him : he may compre-
hend the universe, and yet be empty : he wants God
Himself, and never will he be satisfied until he wakes up
in His image.
"Were men to live coeval with the sun,
The patriarch pupil would be learning still,
And dying, leave his lesson half unlearnt."
DR. YOUNG
"It doth not yet appear what we shall be." This insa-
tiability of man's inquiring faculty suggests—
THE OFFICE OF THE TEACHER.—What is the office of the
true Teacher? To direct the soul to the satisfying supplies.
And where are they? Not on this earth. His work is to
stand upon the banks of the eternal river of truth, and
cry, "Ho! every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters,
702 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXVII.
and ye that have no money, come, buy wine and milk
without price."
"Should I this spacious earth possess,
And all the spreading skies,
They never could my thirst appease,
Or yield me full supplies.
"Without my God, with all this store,
I should be wretched still:
With thirst insatiate crave for more,
My empty mind to fill.
"But when my soul's of God possessed,
What can I wish for more?
Here let me ever fix my rest,
And give all wandering o'er!"
Proverbs 27:21
Popularity,
the Most Trying Test of Character
"As the fining pot for silver, and the furnace for gold; so is a man to his
Praise."
Men, in ancient times as well as in modern, submitted
precious metals, such as silver and gold, to the test of the fire.
Fire revealed their impurity, and made them appear in
their true character. What fire is to these metals, Solomon
says, popularity or applause is to man's character; it
tests him. "As the fining pot for silver and the furnace
for gold, so is a man to his praise."
Popularity reveals the VANITY OF THE PROUD MAN.—
He who by some brilliant faculty, or dexterous deed, or
propitious circumstance, has won the applause of the mul-
titude, and become for a time one of the popular idols of
the day, has his vanity conspicuously revealed. He is
puffed up. His soul is of that type which vaunteth itself. He
shows his vanity in his fashionable costume, in his strutting
gait, in his haughty looks, and in his great swelling words.
Chap. XXVII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 703
How did Absalom appear in the blaze of popularity? How
did Herod appear? Amidst the shouts of his flatterers he
assumed to be god. So it is ever: a sadder sight can
scarcely be witnessed than empty-minded men standing
on a pedestal, feeding on the hozannas of a brainless
crowd.
Popularity reveals the HUMILITY OF A TRUE MAN.—A
true man shrinks from popular applause and feels humbled
amidst its shouts. Dr. Payson, a careful self-observer,
mentions among his trials "well-meant but injudicious
commendation." "Every one here," he writes to his
mother, " whether friends or enemies, are conspiring to
ruin me. Satan and my own heart of course will lend a
hand, and if you join too, I fear all the cold water which
Christ can throw upon my pride will not prevent it from
breaking out in a destructive flame. As certainly as any-
body flatters a d caresses me, my Father has to scourge
me for it, and an unspeakable mercy it is that He conde-
scends to do it." Great men have always felt more or less
contempt for vulgar popularity. "The people," says Mil-
ton, " a miscellaneous rabble, extol things vulgar, not
worth praise: they praise and they admire they know not
what." And Shakespeare says:
"I love the people,
But do not like to stage me to their eyes;
Though it do well, I do not relish well
Their loud applause, and Aves vehement,
No do I think the man of safe discretion
That does affect it."
Popularity is indeed to character as the "fining pot
for silver and the furnace for gold." Few things in life
show us the stuff of which men are made more than this.
Little men court this fire, but cannot stand it. Corks float
to the surface and dance on the popular wave, where oak
rests quietly in the sands out of sight. "Small men,"
says Garibaldi, "always rush to the surface."
704 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXVII.
Proverbs 27:22
The Moral Obstincay of Sin
"Though thou shouldest bray a fool in a mortar among wheat
with a pestle, yet will not his foolishness depart from him."
"IN Japan and China," says a modern author, "rice is
beaten in a tub, with a pestle having a heavy head-piece
in order to increase its weight and force. The grain is
pounded with a view of clearing away those extraneous
matters which would render the rice unwholesome for
food. The workman exerts every sinew to the utmost in
wielding the pestle. In some cases it is moved by the
foot." Dr. Thomson, when near Sidon, observed many
people braying or pounding wheat with a pestle in a mor-
tar, and says:—"Every family has one of these large
stone mortars, and you may hear the sound of the braying
at all hours as you walk in the streets of the city." Refer-
ence is made to this in the verse. The process of driving
out the chaff and refuse from the grain is attended with
success: but with some men, however severe may be the
efforts you employ to drive out the folly that is in them,
your labour is in vain. There is no correction that will
cure them. Repeated reproofs accomplish nothing. Their
folly cleaves to them still. They are so incorrigibly bad
that, like Ahaz, they trespass yet more.
There are incorrigible sinners; men whose natural ob-
stinacy of disposition has been strengthened by habits of
depravity. The antediluvians were of this class; so was
Pharaoh, so was Ahaz, so was Ephraim, who was joined
to idols and who was given up; so were the Jews in the
time of Christ, who went forth with a mulish stubbornness
to fill up the measures of their iniquity. "There is some-
thing," says Johnson; "in obstinacy which differs from
Chap. XXVII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 705
every other passion. Whenever it fails, it never recovers,
but either breaks like iron, or crumbles sulkily away like a
fractured arch. Most other passions have their periods of
fatigue and rest, their sufferings and their cure, but ob-
stinacy has no resource, and the first wound is mortal."
"An obstinate man," says Pope, " does not hold opinions,
they hold him." "Stiff in opinion," says Dryden,
"always in the wrong." The fact that there are such sin-
ners is—
A WARNING TO ALL.—There is a danger of every sinner
passing into the incorrigible state. Whilst it is true that
some men have natural temperaments more obstinate than
others, the tendency of sin, in all cases, is to make men
stubborn an foolhardy. The power of sinful habits ren-
ders their natures so stiff and rigid that sooner would the
Ethiopian change his skin than they would change their
beliefs and plans. The figure in the proverb is not too
strong to express their incorrigibility. In the mortar they
brayed off the chaff from the wheat and got at the true
grain; but wickedness, in the heart of the incorrigible, is
not the husk it is the rams itself; it cannot be reached
without you ding it to pieces. The day of probation, it
is to be feared, terminates with many before the clay of
death. God says to them, "My spirit shall no longer
strive with you; you are joined to idols, I shall let you
alone." "Te things that belong to your peace are hid
from your eyes." The fact is—
A GUIDE TO TEACHERS. — On such characters it is use-
less to waste any time, they are the reprobate. "Speak
not in the ears of a fool, for he will despise the wisdom of
thy mouth." "Give not that which is holy to the dogs,
neither cast you your pearls before swine." The "dogs"
represent men of a sour, malignant, and snarlish spirit,
who, instead of listening to your counsels, will bark at you
with the rake of a virulent depravity. The "swine" re-
present men of the grossest materialism immersed in sen-
suality, whose hearts are made fat; they are moral swine.
All your arguments will fall on them as flakes of snow on
the flinty rock—they will make no impression. "Then Paul
706 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXVII.
and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that
he word of God should first have been spoken to you:
but, seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves
unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles."
hat do such passages as these mean but this, that
there are incorrigible sinners, and on them you are not
to waste your time and energy? Such characters are to
be found, undoubtedly, within the circle of every man's
observation. Who does not know of some character whom
he feels it would be foolish, if not perilous, to counsel
about religion There is not only a time for the good to
speak, but a class to speak to. Jesus Himself would not
speak to some, not even in answer to their appeals. Do
not use the "pestle" of your argument and rhetoric in
the " mortar " of your ministry; their wickedness is in-
grained, it is not husk, it is heart. On then-
"You may as well
Forbid the sea for to obey the moon,
As, by oath remove, or counsel shake
The fabric of his folly."—SHAKESPEARE
Chap. XXVII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 707
Proverbs 27:23-27
A Picture of Life, Rural and General
"Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, and look well to thy
herds. For riches are not for ever: and doth the crown endure to every genera-
tion? The hay appeareth, and the tender grass sheweth itself, and herbs of the
mountains are gathered. The lambs are for thy clothing, and the goats are the
price of the field And thou shalt have goats' milk enough for thy food, for the
food of thy household, and for the maintenance for thy maidens."
HERE a picture of RURAL life.—Here we read of
flocks and herds, of hay and tender grass, herbs of
the mountains, lambs and goats. It is a picture of life in
such a land as Palestine in the days of Solomon, where
pastures and, flocks constituted the wealth of the people,
and herding and husbandry their chief occupations. It
indicates—the beautiful variety in the scenery of rural life.
"The hay appeareth, and the tender grass sheweth itself,
and herbs of the mountains are gathered." How charming
is the green and glittering freshness of a dewy and summer
morning; when every blade of grass is decked with
diamonds, sparkling in the light of the rising sun: when
the mower lies his task, and the fragrance of the new-
mown hay cents the air; and the corn-fields wave in
promise of he coming autumn, and the hills are clothed
with their appropriate trees, and shrubs, and herbage!
How preferable such a scene to the dirty smoke and mani-
fold pollutions of the crowded city! Custom and habit, it
708 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXVII.
is true, and diverse association of ideas, both form and
change men's tastes. But surely nature is on the side of
the country:—" God made the country, and man made the
town." It indicates also the beautiful simplicity of the
provisions of rural life. All that men want here below is
food and raiment, and this the country gives in the simplest
and, at the same time, most efficient way. "Herbs from
the mountains, milk from the goats, and fleece from the
lambs." How different from the elaborate and artificial
provisions which are found in civic life ! Human ingenuity
is taxed to the utmost, in order to produce food that shall
afford the highest gratification to the gastric faculty, and
clothing which shall feed the vanity of the wearer, and
attract the admiration of the spectators. Rural life for me!
Beautiful in its scenery, simple in its provisions, and
innocent, and healthful in the occupation of its inhabitants.
Here is, moreover—
A picture of GENERAL life.—The sketch of nature here
suggests several things concerning the provisions for life
in general. They are manifold. Here are various vege-
table productions. "Hay" and "grass," and "herbs of
the mountains;" and here are various animal productions,
"goats" and "lambs." How manifold are God's pro-
visions for man in this world! They are equal to his need.
Man only wants food and raiment, and here are the sup-
plies, the clothing and the food. They are entrusted to his
keeping, "Be thou diligent in keeping thy flocks, and look
well to thy herds." Man is a steward, he has to use them
according to the directions of his Master. They are
transient. "For riches are not for ever: and doth the
crown endure to every generation?'' What we have we
can only inherit for a short time.
Whether in rural or civic life, let us appreciate, and
rightfully employ, the provisions which our merciful Maker
has prepared for our needs: let us be diligent in the
exercise of our stewardship, take care of our flocks, and
rightly cultivate our fields; and let us do all this religiously,
as in the presence and for the honour of our God. Though
many of us have been driven long ago from the scenes of
Chap. XXVIII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 709
rural life, their memory within us is yet green, and full of
delicious aroma. We can say with the poet—
"Not all the sights your boasted garden yields
Are half so lovely as my father's fields,
Where large increase has bless'd the fruitful plain,
And we, with joy, behold the swelling grain,
Whose heavy ears, towards the earth inclined,
Wave, nod, and tremble to the whisking wind."
But, though we have left the sunny fields and silent groves
of the country for the smoke and din of civic life, Mercy
has followed us with its provisions. Heaven help us
to use them with faithful diligence and reverential re-
sponsibility!
Proverbs 28:1
Conscience
"The wicked lee when no man pursueth: but the righteous are
bold as a lion."
MEN differ in their definitions of conscience, but agree in the
facts and functions of its existence: it is not an attribute of
the mind, but its moral substance: it is not a limb of
the soul, but the heart of the man: it is not the moral I. It is
that without which the human creature would cease to be a
man: it is what Coleridge calls "the pulse of reason."
"Conscience," says Trench, "is a solemn word, if there be
such in the world. Now there is not one of us whose Latin
will not bring him so far as to tell him that this word is from
con and scire. But what does that con intend? Conscience
is not merely that which I know, but that which I know with
some one else; for this prefix cannot, as I think, be esteemed
superfluous or taken to imply merely that which I know
with or to myself. That other knower whom the word im-
plies is God; His law making itself known and felt in the
heart; and the work of conscience is the bringing of each
of our acts and thoughts as a lesser to be tried and
710 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXVIII.
measured by this as a greater; the word growing out of
and declaring that awful duplicity of our moral being,
which arises from the presence of God in the soul—our
thoughts by the standard which that presence supplies,
and as the result of a comparison with it, accusing or
excusing one another." Notice—
THE TIMIDITY OF A GUILTY CONSCIENCE.—"The wicked
fleeth when no man pursueth." No man pursued Adam in
lovely Eden, yet he fled. "I heard thy voice in the garden,
and was afraid." No man pursued Cain when the world
was in the freshness and beauty of youth; yet he fled.
The murderer, whose reason well assures him that no man
can ever discover him as the author of the dreadful deed,
flees from the scene with the utmost rapidity: the rustling
of a leaf, the creaking of a branch, the chirping of a bird,
sound in his ear as the tread of the avenger. From what
does a man under a sense of guilt flee? Not from man:
"no man pursueth." From the visionary creation of his
own conscience. The pursuer is a mere phantom, still not
the less real, not the less near, not the less terrific on this
account. He cannot escape it; no rapid bounds over seas
or continents would separate him from it; it is not at his
heels, it is in his heart. He hears the visionary pursuer in
every sound; he feels his warm breath in the atmosphere
around him; he expects his avenging clutch every
instant.
"Suspicion always haunts the guilty mind."
"The thief cloth fear each bush an officer."
SHAKESPEARE
Whither can he flee from its presence? Ah, whither, in-
deed? Why does a man under a sense of guilt flee? This
is the profoundest question in the nature of man. Why
should sin awaken fear where no man is ? Between the
conscience and the Judge of the universe there is an elec-
tric bond, binding them indissolubly together. Every sin
acts upon that mystic wire, and sends the shock of judg-
ment into the guilty soul. Whither does a man under a
sennse of guilt flee? Sometimes to the Lamb of God; then
Chap. XXVIII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 711
all is safe and right. But oftener, alas, to carnal revelry
and debauch where all is wrong and peril. Notice—
The heroism of a righteous conscience.—"The
righteous are bold as a lion." A man whose conscience is
with him can dare the universe. "Though hosts shall en-
camp against me, yet will I not fear." There are many noble
instances of this in sacred history. How heroically Caleb
and Joshua stood against the rebellion of their country-
men; how bravely Elijah dared the wrath of Ahab; with
what undaunted courage did Nehemiah discharge his
perilous work! "Should such a man as I flee?" With
what an invincible defiance did the three Hebrew youths
oppose Nebuchadnezzar and enter the fiery furnace! The
boldness of the Apostles in their evangelic labours struck
astonishment into the men of their age: "They are bold
as a lion," the boldest of all animals. "This noble animal,"
says Paxton, is the most perfect model of boldness and
courage. He never flies from the hunters, nor is frightened
by their onset. If their numbers force him to yield, he re-
tires slowly, step by step, frequently turning upon his pur-
suers. He has been known to attack a whole caravan, and
when obliged to retire, he always retires fighting, and with
his face to the enemy." Rectitude is the heart of true
moral courage; where this is not, there may be brutal
daring, but o true heroism.
Proverbs 28:2-5
Threefold Glimpse of Life
"For the transgression of a land, many are the princes thereof: but by a
man of understanding and knowledge the state thereof shall be prolonged. A
poor man that oppresseth the poor is like a sweeping rain that leaveth no food.
They that forsake the law praise the wicked: but such as keep the law contend
with them. Evil men understand not judgment: but they that seek the LORD
understand all thirds."
HERE we have three sides of life.
We have a glimpse of POLITICAL life.—"For the trans-
712 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXVIII.
gression of a land many are the princes thereof." These
verses enable us to see—The influence of wickedness upon
the politics of a country. Transgression makes many
princes. Wickedness has ever split up kingdoms into
political factions, and created rival interests. It is said by
the greatest of all teachers that a "kingdom divided
against itself cannot stand," and the tendency of wicked-
ness is disruption. The higher the morality of a nation,
the more united the people in their loyalty and obedience
their ruling head. As knowledge and virtue extend
through the world, the smaller states and kingdoms will, by
moral influence, be absorbed in one kingdom, and thus on
until " the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdom
of our God and of His Christ." A wicked man can never
be a good citizen. What is bad in morality is injurious in
politics. The verses enable us to see—The influence of
moral excellence upon the politics of a country. "By a
man of understanding and knowledge, the state thereof
shall be prolonged." The good men in a kingdom
counteract the tendency to anarchy and disruption.
"Righteousness exalteth a nation." The guarantee of a
nation's progress and stability is to be found, not in the
invincibility of its armies, not in the vastness of its corn-
merce, not in the genius, the learning, or the wealth of its
citizens, but in the sound morality and true religious senti-
ment of the people. "It seems to me," says Carlyle, "a
great truth that human things cannot stand on selfishness,
mechanical utilities, economies, and law courts; that if
there be not a religious element in the relations of men,
such relations are miserable, and doomed to ruin." Here
we have—
A glimpse of SOCIAL life.—"A poor man that oppresseth
the poor is like a sweeping rain which leaveth no food."
Here is the oppression of the poor by the poor. The oppres-
sion of the poor by any class is a great evil. The existence
of an indigent class in society is not an accident ; it is a
Divine ordination; " the poor shall not cease out of the
land;" their existence is intended to awaken the compas-
sion, and afford scope for the practical benevolence of the
Chap. XXVIII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 713
classes above. Their oppression, therefore, is an outrage
on the Divine order of things, involves a cowardice the
most contemptible, and a cruelty the most revolting. But
when this oppression is enacted by the poor, its evil seems
to be intensified. It is not what might have been ex-
pected. One would naturally suppose that the poor would
ever be disposed to enter into the sorrows of the poor, and
give them a helping hand. But the poor to whom, per-
haps, Solomon refers, are those whom fortune has put into
power, and who are destitute of the means of supporting
the dignity of their position, and therefore have recourse
to most unrighteous exactions. A poor king has often
been found in the history of the world to lay heavy burdens
upon the shoulders of the poor. Or, perhaps, he means
the men who have risen from poverty into political authority.
It is a sad fact that such have frequently become the most
haughty, heartless, and oppressive towards the class from
which they have risen. "It is in a matter of power," says
Bishop Sanderson, "as it is in matter of learning. They
that have but a smattering of scholarship, you will ever
observe to b the forwardest to make ostentation of those
few ends they have; because they fear there would be little
notice taken of their learning if they should not now show
it when they can. It is even so in this case. Men of base
spirit and condition, when they have gotten the advantage
of a little power, conceive that the world would not know
what goodly men they are if they should not do some act
or other to show forth their power to the world; and then
their minds being too narrow to comprehend any generous
way whereby to do it, they cannot frame to do any other
way than by trampling upon those that are below them;
and that they do beyond all reason and without all
mercy." The oppression of such men is here represented
as a mighty deluge sweeping all before them; their rapa-
city is unbounded. Here is the praising of the wicked by
the wicked. "They that forsake the law praise the
wicked." The world loveth its own; the sinner coun-
tenances his bother in sin. There are many reasons why
the wicked praise the wicked. It gratifies their vanity.
714 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXVIII.
By praising those of the same character they virtually
praise themselves, and get the praised ones to flatter them
in return. It promotes their self-interest; thus they in-
gratiate themselves into the favour of men, and get their
patronage and support. Tertullus, the orator, whom
the Jews hired to criminate Paul, was a type of this
miserable class. "Seeing that by thee we enjoy great
quietness," said he, "and that very worthy deeds are done
to his nation by thy providence; we accept it always and
in 11 places, most noble Felix." What a wretched state
of society is this! the wicked praising the wicked—yet it is
common. Here in England, and in this late hour of the
World's history, we are deluged with this in every depart-
ment of life. Society has now, as ever, its slimy limpets,
its sucking parasites, and its fawning flatterers. Here is
the opposing of the wicked by the good.— "But such as keep
the law contend with them." This is one of the brightest
features in society. There have been men in all ages who
hate had the manly honesty to stand up against the
hollowness and the corruptions of their age. Noah, the
prophets, Christ and His apostles, and in later ages the
martyrs and confessors have done this. Here we have -
A glimpse of RELIGIOUS life.—"Evil men understand
not judgment: but they that seek the Lord understand all
things." Hence we learn that depravity blinds the moral
judgment. "Evil men understand not judgment." Men
under the influence of sin have their understanding darkened,
their judgment is blinded. Their intellect may see secular
truths and political expediencies, but great moral principles
are hidden from them. The atmosphere of depravity around
the heart is so dense that the stars of spiritual truth cannot
break through it. "Wickedness," says Bishop Taylor,
"corrupts a man's reasonings, gives him false principles,
and evil measuring of things." A man may as truly read
the letter of right without eyes, as appreciate its spirit
without goodness. Another thing taught here is—that
piety is a guarantee of knowledge. They that seek the
Lord understand all things. "This agrees with many
utterances of Scripture, such as the following:—"If any
Chap. XXVIII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 715
man will do his will he shall know of the doctrine, whether
it be of God or 'whether I speak of myself." "The meek
will He guide in judgment, and the meek will He teach
His way." "Ye have an unction from the Holy One, and
ye know all things. The anointing which ye have re-
ceived of him bideth in you, and you need not that any
man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you
of all things, and is truth and is no lie, and even as it hath
taught you, ye shall abide in him."
Proverbs 28:7-9
Life in the Home,
the Market and the Sanctuary
"Whoso keepeth the law is a wise son: but he that is a companion of riotous
men shameth his father. He that by usury and unjust gain increaseth his sub-
stance, he shall gather it for him that will pity the poor. He that turneth away
his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination." *
LIFE in the HOME.— "Whoso keepeth the law is a wise
son, but he that is a companion of riotous men shameth his
father," "The law,"—what law? Not, of course, the law
of the country, or of custom, but the moral law of God, the
law of eternal right. He that keepeth this law "is a wise
son." Obedience to Heaven is true wisdom, there is no
other wisdom. The family with such a son as this is a
blessed family, a happiness to the parents, a sunshine to
all. But here is another side of the family picture. "But
he that is a companion of riotous men shameth his father."
The margin has it— "He that feedeth gluttons." The idea
is, that the carousing, self-indulgent, extravagant spend-
thrift, "shameth" his father. He dishonoureth him.
How many such sons abound in England in this age!
The "young men of the period "are fast, intemperate, in-
* The subject of verse 6 is noticed in Reading on chap. xix. I.
716 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXVIII.
tolerable snobs. To a true parent nothing is more
grievous to the heart, nothing more crushing to the spirit,
than the senseless conduct of such miserable progeny. It
is a sad fact that many parents beget offspring that run
into swine or grow into devils. Here we have—
Life in the MARKET. —"He that by usury and unjust
gain increaseth his substance, he shall gather it for him
that will pity the poor."
Observe—wealth obtained by improper means. "By
usury," which may be regarded as standing for all over-
reaching and fraudulent efforts to get gain. Fraud is the
chief factor of fortunes. As a rule, the less conscience a
man has, other things being equal, the more cash he will
accumulate. There are "tricks of trade" which are the
ladders to commercial eminence.
Observe also, wealth rightly distributed by Providence.
"He; shall gather it for him that will pity the poor."
The idea is, that the wealth gotten by dishonesty will ulti-
mately fall into the hands of some one who will pity the
poor, and distribute it. The selfish man works for him-
self, land ignores the universe. Providence works for
humanity, and will one day distribute fortunes gained by
unrighteousness amongst the poor. The greatest fortune
ever built up by a mercenary man is only a castle of ice:
it may glisten beautifully to his eye, and stand for a while
on his own grounds, in a certain temperature of the at-
mosphere, but Providence in its majestic course, will
appear one day as the hot sun on his horizon, melt it with
his beams, and make it run into a thousand rivers, to bless
those who are living in the vales of indigence and want.
"I know that the Lord will maintain the cause of the
afflicted, and the right of the poor." Here we have—
Life in the SANCTUARY. —"He that turneth away his ear
from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomina-
tion." Three features are observable in this picture. Im-
morality.—You can scarcely describe an immoral man more
strikingly and correctly than as representing him turning
away his ear from the law—practically disregarding moral
law. One who acts from his own impulses, social influences
Chap. XXVIII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 717
and customs, but habitually neglects law, is an immoral
man. Another point in the character before us is immorality
praying. "Even his prayer." Many an immoral man is
devout after his fashion. There is often found in men, who
outrage every principle of morality, a certain sentiment of
devotion, so that they pray and sing. Rogues often bend
their knees at altars, attend prayer-meetings and join in
litanies. And moreover we have immorality praying in-
sulting the Almighty. "His prayer shall be abomina-
tion."
Israel of old presented a multitude of sacrifices as a
price for the neglect of practical morality, but God pro-
nounced them vain oblations, and their incense as abomi-
nation. "Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophecy of you,
saying—This people draweth nigh unto me with their
mouth, and honoureth me with their lips, but their heart
is far from me."
Let us attend to our families; endeavour to keep the
law, that they may be wise. Let us in the market be
honest and generous in our transactions, knowing that the
products of unrighteousness will be wrested from our
grasp. Let us, in our devotions at the altar, see that our
lives are in harmony with the law; for if we regard
iniquity in our heart, the Lord will not hear us.
Proverbs 28:10
Opposite Characters and Opposite Destinies
"Whoso causeth the righteous to go astray in an evil way, he shall fall him-
self into his own pit; but the upright shall have good things in possession."
HERE are—
Opposite CHARACTERS—The perverse and upright.
Notice the perverse. Who are the perverse? "Whoso
causeth the righteous to go astray in an evil way,"
Here is a sad possibility. What is the possibility?
718 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXVIII.
That the righteous should "go astray." This possi-
bility is implied in moral responsibility. Were it im-
possible for the righteous to go astray, they would be
mere machines, not moral agents; there would be no
virtue in their obedience, no guilt in their transgression.
When you say that a being is moral, you say that he is
free to stand or fall, free to pursue the course of life in
which he is placed, or to step into another. Moral beings
are not like planets, bound ever to roll in the orbits in
which they were first placed, and move with the same
speed and regularity; they can bound into another, and
move at what rate they please. This possibility is demon-
strated in facts. Righteous angels have fallen. "Angels
kept not their first estate." Righteous men have fallen.
Adam, Lot, David, Peter. This possibility is assumed in
the appeals of Scripture. All the warnings against
apostasy, all the encouragements to perseverance, imply
it. "Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest
he fall." Again here is an infernal attempt. The
attempt is to "cause the righteous to go astray."
Wicked men are constantly making the attempt in a
thousand different ways. By suggesting doubts as to
the existence of God, the immortality of the soul and
the truth of the Bible, and by insidious but potent appeals
to those elements of depravity, which linger to a greater
or less degree in the souls of even the best men to the end
of life. Society abounds with tempters, who ply their
seductive influences even upon the best. The children of
the devil are all like their father—tempters. Notice on the
other hand the upright. "The upright shall have good
things in his possession." The "upright" here stand in
contrast to those who tempt the righteous to go astray.
Who are the upright? The men of incorruptible truth,
inflexible rectitude; the men, in one word, who "do
justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with their God."
The men who stand erect in the consciousness of pure
motives, holy principles, and Divine approval. Job was
an upright man, one that feared God and eschewed evil.
Here are-
Chap. XXVIII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 719
Opposite DESTINIES.—The destiny of the one is self-
ruin. "Shall fall himself into his own pit." The retribu-
tion of the wicked is a "pit"—dark, cold, dismal,
bottomless. It is a pit that they dig for themselves.
Every sin is a deepening of this pit. What is the wicked
man about in this life? Sinking a pit for himself: a pit
into which he shall one day fall, never to be recovered. It is
not God or the evil that digs this pit, it is the man himself.
The destiny of the other is a blessed inheritance. "The
upright shall have good things in possession." What
good things are in store for the upright? "Eye hath not
seen, ear hath not heard, neither hath it entered into the
heart of man to conceive the things that God hath pre-
pared for them that love Him." Theodore Parker, heretic
though he be, has given a better idea of heaven than many
an orthodox divine. "The joys of heaven will begin as
soon as we attain the character of heaven, and do its
duties. That may begin to-day. It is everlasting life to
know God—to have His Spirit dwelling in you—yourself
at one with Him. Try that, and prove its worth. Justice,
usefulness, wisdom, religion, love, are the best things we
hope for in heaven. Try them on—they will fit you here
not less beseemingly. They are the best things of earth.
Think no outlay of goodness and piety too great. You
will find your ward. Begin here. As much goodness
and piety, so much heaven. Men will not pay you; God
will pay you now: pay you hereafter and for ever."
"Surely yon Heaven, where angels see God's face,
Is not so distant as we deem
From this low earth. 'Tis but a little space,
The arrow crossing of a slender stream.
'Tis but a veil, which winds might blow aside;
Yes, these are all that us of earth divide
Fro the bright dwelling of the glorified—
The and of which I dream."—HORATIUS BONAR.
720 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXVIII.
Proverbs 28:11
Vanity in the Rich
and Penetration in the Poor
"The rich man is wise is in his own conceit: but the poor that bath under-
standing searcheth him out."
THIS proverb leads to two remarks:
THAT WEALTH IS OFTEN ASSOCIATED WITH INTELLEC-
TUAL VANITY.—"The rich man is wise in his own con-
ceit." There are wealthy men who are not vain, not
wise in their own eyes; men who have employed their
leisure and their means to gain that amount of know-
ledge which humbles on account of their own ignorance.
Like Sir Isaac Newton, their intelligence leads them to see
that they are only like children picking up pebbles on the
sea-shore. Still, perhaps, this is the exception, and wealth
as a rule is associated with inflated notions of mental supe-
riority. Lord Bacon says, "It was prettily devised of
Aesop, that the fly sat upon the axletree of the chariot-
wheel, and said, 'What a dust do I raise!' So are there
some vain persons, that, whatsoever goeth alone, or
moveth upon greater means, if they have never so little
hand in it, they think it is they that carry it. They
stalk society in peacocks' feathers." Wealth has a ten-
dency to make the weak-minded and self-indulgent, opi-
nionated and oracular. What the Pharisee of old felt
in relation to morality they feel in relation to mind;
they thank God that they "are not as other men." They
imagine their mental tastes more refined, their thoughts
more elevated, their intelligence more clear and corn-
prehensive than those of other men. Hence they speak
with an air of authority, they feel themselves too big for
controversy, too great to enter the arena of debate. All
this is nourished by the flattery of their dependents, and
the sycophantic spirit of the social grades beneath them.
Chap. XXVIII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 721
Because of their wealth parasites accept their inanity as
power, their eccentricity as genius, their dictates as laws.
Our authors from the sixteenth century downward almost
to the present age, have, to the disgrace of our literature,
ministered to the vanity of rich men, by dedicating, in a
fawning spirit and in fulsome terms, their productions to
their acceptance and patronage. Their dedicatees, who
in many cases they must have known, were ignoramuses
and dolts, they addressed as men of great genius, erudi-
tion, and philosophic power. Thank God, English
authorship is getting more honest and independent in this
respect! The time will come when a millionaire or a
monarch if a fool, shall be called a fool.
"Oh, what a world of vile, ill-favoured faults
Look handsome in the rich to sordid minds."
SHAKESPEARE
The proverb leads us further to remark that:
POVERTY IS OFTEN ASSOCIATED WITH SPIRITUAL PENE-
TRATION.—"The poor that hath understanding searcheth
him out." Poverty has a strong temptation to flatter the
rich. Hunger often overcomes honesty, breaks down man-
hood, and crushes independency. But there are men
amongst the poor and ever have been, who stand man-
fully against this evil force—men to whom truth is greater
than trade, principle than property. Such are the poor re-
ferred to in the proverb. "But the poor that hath under-
standing searcheth him out"—they see ignorance under the
decorated brow and the splendid attire. Poverty often
whets the mental faculties, makes men keen observers and
shrewd critics of their fellow-men. Well would it be for
the rich who are inflated with vanity, if they realised the
fact that there are men in the grades beneath them, who
read them through and through. Sooner give me poverty
with this mental, penetration than wealth with intellectual
shallowness and pretence.
Ye rich men! your wealth, unless it leads to mental power,
sound intelligence, and true spiritual culture, is a curse to
you. "Charge them that are rich in this world that they
be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches but
722 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXVIII.
in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to
enjoy.
"They are but beggars that can count their wealth."
SHAKESPEARE
Ye poor men! thank God if you have the power to
search things out. As you look a little into things you up
will not be envious of the rich, and you will anticipate the
day when the righteous Governor of the world, shall
balance all human affairs.
Proverbs 28:12, 28; 29:2
Secular Prosperity
"When righteous men do rejoice, there is great glory: but when the wicked
rise, a man is hidden. . . . When the wicked rise, men hide themselves: but
when they perish, the righteous increase."
"When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the
in wicked beareth rule, the people mourn."
WE put these three verses together because they refer to
the same subject. Intervening verses either have been
or will be noticed as we proceed.
The word "rejoice" here evidently points to secular
advancement. It is implied in the verses that worldly
prosperity is open alike to the wicked and the righteous.
There are certain well-known conditions by which men
rise in life. Skill, industry, economy, these are amongst
the settled laws. He who attends to them as a rule
will rise, be he righteous or wicked. Indeed, the wicked
man sometimes works these means with greater success; he
adds cunning to skill, devotion to industry, parsimony to
economy, and moral recklessness to all: so that as a rule
he often rises more frequently, rapidly, and eminently in
the world than the righteous. Worldly prosperity is no
proof of piety, no test of moral character. The proverbs
teach—
Chap. XXVIII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 723
THAT THE PROSPERITY OF THE RIGHTEOUS IS A PUBLIC
BLESSING. — "When righteous men do rejoice there is great
glory." We have many examples of this in the Bible.
"There was," says one, "glorying among all the truly
good in Israel, when David assembled them to bring
up to its place the ark of the covenant. When Solomon
dedicated the temple; when Hezekiel restored the pass-
over; when Jehoshaphat dispersed the Levites through all
the cities to teach the law and the fear of the Lord; and
when young Josiah wept and humbled himself at the con-
tents of the long-neglected and hidden book of God's cove-
nant. So it was in the days of Mordecai, when deliverance
came through him to his people, and they had "light and
joy, and gladness and honour, and 'a good day.'" The
prosperity of a righteous man, whether it involves his ele-
vation to political power or to personal competence and af-
fluence, may be justly regarded as a public blessing. There
are good reasons why the people should "rejoice." Why?
Because the position has been fairly won. There has been
no over-reaching in the effort, no outrage of honesty, no
injustice done. Nay, whilst no injury has been inflicted upon
any in the process, benefits have been conferred on all
who have rendered their assistance, and indirectly on their
dependents and neighbours too. Why? Because the
position is rightly used. The righteous man uses his
power and his property not for his own aggrandisement
and indulgence, but for the common weal. He acts as a
steward under God, he holds himself as a trustee, not as a
proprietor, he employs his talents to promote human rights,
ameliorate human woes, educate human minds, redeem
human souls. Like the clouds that have drunk in the
ocean, he pours' forth his possessions in fertilising showers
upon the parched districts of society: his influence is as
rain upon the new mown grass. In the prosperity of such
a man let the people rejoice, and the nations be glad.
The verses teach.—
THAT THE PROSPERITY OF THE WICKED IS A PUBLIC
CALAMITY.—"When the wicked rise a man is hidden."
The Vulgate has it, "When the ungodly reign it is the ruin
724 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXVIII.
of men." But our version gives, I think, the truest sense.
The idea is that men have reason to fear, to shrink
Into obscurity. This is especially the case when a wicked
man rises to sovereign authority in a country. "There
was this 'hiding,'" says a modern expositor, "when,
in Saul's time, David was hunted to death; when in
Ahab's, Elijah—even the intrepid Elijah—fled for his life,
and when good Obadiah, at the risk of his own head, hid
fifty of the Lord's prophets in a cave, and fed them
with bread and water, and when Micaiah, 'faithful among
the faithless,' had to be sought and sent for, and for the
fidelity of his words was ordered to prison, while the
hundreds of the prophets of Baal were in favour and
triumphed. What hiding and fear there were when the
wicked Haman 'rose,' and what exultation when he fell
and the righteous came in his room." When a wicked
man gets to the throne it is an eclipse of the sun, the
people are all struck as under a portentous gloom. But
whatever is the prosperity, whether public or personal, it is
a calamity to see a wicked man prosper. The prosperity
of such a man increases the power of oppression; the more
money he has, the more power to be haughty, tyrannic,
and exacting. It always promotes monopoly; what he
has gathered from the common provisions of the world he
holds with a tenacious hand, and distributes not to others.
It, moreover, starts in the minds of the thoughtful per-
plexing questions concerning the righteousness of the
Divine Government; they stand heart-stricken and amazed,
and ask, "Wherefore do the wicked prosper?"
Good speed to the righteous in his career! In his
match in the path of industry he scatters blessings as he
goes, and in the possession of the prize he gives as the
Lord hath prospered him. Failure to the wicked! It is a
mercy when their commercial purposes are broken, when
their tricks are frustrated, when they tumble down to
bankruptcy and pauperism. It is not just to the universe
—not kind to the wicked man himself—to wish him com-
mercial prosperity—the more wealth he has the more he
damns himself and others.
Chap. XXVIII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 725
Proverbs 28:13
Man's Treatment of His Own Sins
"He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and for-
saketh them shall have mercy."
AT the outset this verse starts the following observations:—
First: All men have sins. Sin is a little word, but a
tremendous thing, It always implies law, the power of
understanding law, the capability of obeying or disobeying
law. "All men have sinned, and come short of the glory
of God." "There is not a just man on earth that doeth
good, and sinneth not." "If we say that we have no
sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us."
Our consciences testify that we have sins numerous,
aggravated, and hell-deserving. There is no arguing
against the fact. To argue against it is to argue against
universal consciousness. Secondly: All men have some-
thing to do with their sins. Sins are not amongst the
things that we may deal with or not. We must deal with
them. We can no more avoid it than we can avoid
breathing the air if we would live. All men deal with
their sins either foolishly or wisely, and the proverb points
to this twofold treatment. Notice—
The FOOLISH treatment of our sins.—"He that covereth
his sins." There are various ways of endeavouring to cover
sins. By denying them. A lie is a cover which men put
over their sins to conceal them from others. They sin and
deny the fact; they wrap up their crimes in falsehoods.
Thus Cain, Rachel, Joseph's brethren, Peter, Ananias
and Sapphira, endeavoured to hide their sin. By ex-
tenuating them. Men plead excuses. The influence of
others, the power of circumstances, the moral weakness of
the constitution. Extenuation is a common cover. By
forgetting them. They endeavour to sweep them from the
memory by revelry and mirth, by sensuality, worldliness,
and intemperance. But these and all other attempts to
726 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXVIII.
cover sin are not only futile but injurious. "He that
covereth his sins shall not prosper." He shall not prosper
in his attempt. Sins must reveal themselves sooner or
later. They will not only break through the fig-leaf cover-
ing, but rive the mountains and flame under the heavens.
They have a voice, which though men may not hear, like
Abel's blood, penetrates the heavens, and enters the ear
of God. "There is no darkness nor shadow of death,
where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves."
They shall not prosper in their own natures. "To hide a
sin with a lie," says Jeremy Taylor, "is like a crust of
leprosy over an ulcer." David tried to do it, and he says,
"When I kept silent my bones waxed old, through my
roarings all the day long." The soul whose sins are
covered up, hidden, unconfessed, can no more break forth
into life, power, and fruitfulness, than the husbandman's
seed can spring to life, and rise to perfection, under the
frosty sky of night. The proverb points to—
The WISE treatment of our sins.—" Whoso confesseth
and forsaketh them shall have mercy." Here is in the
wise treatment of sin confession—not a cold, formal confes-
sion, but a deep, penitential, humble, acknowledgment.
Then here is abandonment—"forsaketh." The wicked man
"forsakes his ways and the unrighteous man his thoughts."
There is an utter renunciation. When this is done, there
comes "mercy." Mercy breaks through the cloud, quicken-
ing the soul into new life. "I acknowledged my sin unto
Thee," said David, " and mine iniquity have I not hid."
"I said I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord,
and Thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin."
What shall we do with our sins? Deny, extenuate,
bury them? All our efforts to cover them in this way will
be futile; "murder will out." "To cover," says Dr. Arnot,
"the sin which lies on the conscience with a layer of
earnest efforts to do right will not take the sin away; the
underlying sin will assimilate all the dead works that may
be heaped upon it, and the result will be a greater mass of
sin." Confess and forsake. One leak may sink a ship,
one sin covered may damn the soul.
Chap. XXVIII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 727
Proverbs 28:14
Reverence and Recklessness
" Happy is the man that feareth alway: but he that hardeneth his heart
shall fall into mischief."
THE proverb teaches—
That REVERENCE IS HAPPINESS.—"Happy is the man
that feareth alway." This could not be true of fear in the
slavish sense of the word. Servile fear is an element of
misery; it "hath torment;" there is no happiness in terror.
The "fear" here is reverence; it is a loving awe. It im-
plies a supreme love for the Great Father blended with a
sense of His infinite greatness. It is a state of mind
foreign alike to the frivolous and the timid: it is serious
and brave. Whatever of fear there may be in this state of
mind, it is not the fear of receiving injury, it is the fear of
wounding and dishonouring the object of love. There is
happiness in this reverence; it implies the highest love,
and love is blessedness; it implies a settled trust, and trust
is magnanimous and heroic; it implies a well-balanced
soul—a soul where all the faculties are rightly poised, and
such a balance is harmony. The man with this reverence
is like David, "who set the Lord always before him;" and he
is no longer afraid of men or devils. He is a happy man
who has this reverence; happy, not in the sense of the
thoughtless, the gay, the voluptuous, who enjoy occasional
titillations, and passing flashes of sensational pleasure;
but happy as a true man alone can be happy. "The hap-
piness of life," says Richter, "consists, like the day, not
in single flashes of light, but in one continuous mild
serenity. The most beautiful period of the heart's exist-
ence is in the calm, equable light, even although it be only
moonshine or twilight. Now the mind alone can obtain
for us this heavenly cheerfulness and peace." The proverb
teaches—
That RECKLESSNESS IS RUIN.—"He that hardeneth his
728 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXVIII.
heart shall fall into mischief." There are men who harden
their hearts; they turn the heart of flesh into stone by re-
sisting moral impressions, and by living a life of indiffer-
ence, worldliness, and self-indulgence. So obdurate do
their hearts become, that the seeds of truth fall on them as
on stony ground—holy influences descend upon them as
showers on a flinty rock. Thus Pharoah's heart was har-
dened, and thus the hearts of the children of Israel became
hardened during their journey in the wilderness. Such
recklessness is ruin. "He that hardeneth his heart shall
fall into mischief." This is inevitable in the nature of
things. The reckless man is like the mariner who in the
tempest disregards the compass and the chart, neglects
the rudder, and is driven into the yawning abyss; or, like
the man who sleeps on the bosom of a volcanic hill when
the subterranean fires are heaving under him, and are
about to break into thunder and flame. "He that being
often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall be suddenly cut
off, and that without remedy."
"In the corrupted currents of this world,
Offence's gilded hand may shove by justice;
And oft 'tis seen the wicked prize itself
Buys out the law. But 'tis not so above:
There is no shuffling: there the action lies
In its true nature, and we ourselves compelled,
Even to the teeth and forehead of our faults,
To give an evidence. What then? What rests?
Try what repentance can what can it not?
Yet what can it, when one cannot repent?"
SHAKESPEARE
Chap. XXVIII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 729
Proverbs 28:15-17
Types of Kings
"As a roaring lion, and a ranging bear; so is a wicked ruler over the poor
people. The prince that wanteth understanding is also a great oppressor: but he
that hateth covetousness shall prolong his days. A man that doeth violence to
the blood of any person shall flee to the pit: let no man stay him."
CIVIL government is evidently a divine institution. Society
cannot exist without laws; these laws require to be ex-
pressed and enforced, and whoever does this is Ruler.
Again, whilst the millions have the instinct of obedience,
and lack the faculty to rule, there are always some in whom
there is the tendency and the power to govern. Hence
men always have had, and will ever have, rulers. In these
verses there are four distinct types of rulers.
Here is the HEARTLESS ruler.—"As a roaring lion and
a ranging bear, so is a wicked ruler over the poor people."
There have in all ages been men on thrones so intoxicated
with power, so rapacious in greed, so tyrannic in heart, as
to treat the people as savage beasts the harmless lamb,
mere victims to gratify their passions. They have regarded
the people as made for them—slaves to execute their will
—victims to gratify their lusts for pelf and power. The
people dreaded them as wild beasts, shrunk with terror
from them, as the herd on the mountain from the roar of
the lion and the bear. England at one time had rulers of
this class, but, thank God! they are gone. We look at
them in the cage of history now with defiance and
disgust.
Here is the FOOLISH ruler.—"The prince that wanteth
understanding is also a great oppressor." A king lacking
mental capacity is not a very uncommon character in hu-
man history. Feeble-minded men have often sat on thrones;
and the country where hereditary kingship is practically
recognised is ever more or less liable to this calamity.
730 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXVIII.
Weakness in a king is for some reasons as bad as wicked-
ness. Wickedness in a king puts the country on its guard,
but weakness destroys confidence, and inspires contempt.
A weak ruler has often been an "oppressor." Haughty
and heartless advisers have used him to gratify their own
selfish and ambitious ends. A weak policy has often out-
raged the liberties of men, and destroyed the peace of
kingdoms. "A prince that wanteth understanding" is a
man out of his place, an anomaly, and a curse. He is
like an infant at the rudder of a ship in a tempest.
"Let not the world see fear, and sad mistrust
Govern the motion of a kingly eye."—SHAKESPEARE
Here is the GENEROUS ruler.—"He that hateth covetous-
ness shall prolong his days." Here is a King of the true
kingly type, a man who rules not for his own selfish ends
but for the people's good. A man free from all sordid
motives, devoted to the public service, identifying himself
with the interests of his people, making their happiness
and honour his own. Such a man "shall prolong his days."
He establishes his throne in the affections of his people,
the love of his people is his impregnable fortress of
defence.
Here is the ABANDONED ruler.—"A man that doeth vio-
lence to the blood of any person shall flee to the pit: let
no man stay him." This verse may be taken in connec-
tion with the preceding, as presenting a further description
of 1 the same character there depicted. The cruelty of an
oppressive ruler frequently incurs blood-guiltiness. "Thus
it was with Ahab in the case of Naboth: thus has it been
in thousands of instances. Whatever be the high station
of him who acts the murderer's part, how independent
arid irresponsible soever he may imagine himself to be—
vengeance shall pursue him—his sin shall find him out.
Even his crown and sceptre shall not protect him from
righteous retribution. There is a higher than he—'the
righteous Lord who loveth righteousness.' Both on Ahab
and Jezebel came the blood of Naboth." Let such a
monster "flee to the pit" of ignominy, and "let no man
Chap. XXVIII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 731
stay him;" let the nations send him howling to the infamy
that befits him. Like glowworms that in the night seem
brilliant, but in the day contemptible grubs; weak, igno-
rant, and tyrannic kings appear glorious in the sight of
popular ignorance, but abhorrent as the day of mental
intelligence advances.
Let it be remembered that the character of kings de-
pends upon the people. Rulers for the time are always as
good as the nation can afford to have.
"It is the curse of kings to be attended
By slaves, that take their humours for a want."
SHAKESPEARE
Proverbs 28:20-23
Avarice
"A faithful man shall abound with blessings: but he that maketh haste to
be rich shall not be innocent. To have respect of persons is not good: for a
piece of bread that man will transgress. He that hasteth to be rich hath an evil
eye, and considered not that poverty shall come upon him. He that rebuketh a
man afterwards shall find more favour than he that flattereth with the tongue." *
AVARICE is the ruling subject of these verses. Of all the
base passions of human nature, there are none baser than
an insatiable eagerness for worldly gain. Nor can any
man work out more immoral and miserable results. It
has been called the "great sepulchre of all other passions."
Unlike other tombs, however, it is enlarged by repletion,
and strengthened by age. It is a pestiferous plant that
grows even 'n the most sterile natures. The verses
suggest the following facts concerning it.
IT STANDS IN OPPOSITION TO FAITHFULNESS.—"A faith-
ful man shall abound with blessings, but he that maketh
haste to be rich shall not be innocent " (margin, un-
* The truths contained in the two previous verses have been contemplated
preceding Readings.
732 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXVIII.
punished). The avaricious man is the man that "maketh
haste to be rich." He is intensely eager in pursuit of
wealth, and he is here put in opposition to the "faithful
man." It is suggested that a man may be rich and faith-
ful at the same time, but that he cannot "make haste" to
be rich and faithful together. He in whom a desire for
wealth is a ruling, raging passion, must be unfaithful-
unfaithful to his own conscience, unfaithful to the claims
of society, unfaithful to the principles of everlasting right,
unfaithful to the great God. In verse 22 it is stated: "He
that hasteth to be rich hath an evil eye." What is an
"evil eye"? An earthly, grudging, envious eye, an eye
fastened to the earth, never directed to Heaven—an eye
that sees no worth, beauty or grandeur, but in worldly
wealth. In sooth, this passion is essentially immoral.
"Covetousness is idolatry." It is the soul worshipping
the dust, not the Deity. The Bible ranks the covetous
man with those who are excluded from the Kingdom of
Heaven. Another fact taught concerning this avarice is
that:
IT RENDERS ITS POSSESSOR PARTIAL IN HIS JUDGMENT
OF HIS FELLOW MEN. —"To have respect of persons is not
good; for a piece of bread that man will transgress." The
avaricious man is so wretchedly sordid, so intensely sel-
fish, that he will allow his judgment of others to be
governed by "a piece of bread." The man who is his
patron, client, customer, any one who smooths his path to
fortune, he will extol in flattering words and kneel before
in crouching awe, corrupt and hollow though he be. On
the other hand, those around him who contribute not to
satisfy his miserable greed, are treated not only with in-
difference, but often with disrespect and haughty insolence.
It is sad to see on every hand how a "piece of bread"
regulates the conduct of many men towards their contem-
poraries. Statesmen flatter their country for a "piece of
bread," merchants their customers for a "piece of bread,"
and often, alas, preachers their congregations for a "piece
of bread." Another fact taught concerning this avarice is
that—
Chap. XXVIII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 733
IT GENERATES A BASE SYCOPHANCY OF SPIRIT.—"He
that rebuketh a man afterwards shall find more favour
than he that flattereth with the tongue." Duty sometimes
calls upon a man to rebuke. Truth has been outraged,
wrong has been done, obligations have been omitted by
our neighbour, and we are called upon to administer an
honest reproof. At the time the rebuke may not find
favour, it may be disagreeable, it may wound self-respect
and bring shame and remorse. Still it should be given,
and ultimately, Solomon assures us, that our ministry of
rebuke will find "more favour," than if our ministry had
been that of fawning flattery. "He," says Matthew
Henry, " that cries out against his surgeon for hurting
him when he is searching his wound, will yet pay him
well, and thank him too when he has cured it." Who is
he that "flattereth with the tongue"? It is the avaricious
man. "He that hasteth to be rich." Selfishness is the
root of flattery, and the inspiration of flunkeyism. The
more free a man is of avarice and selfishness, and the more
full of generosity and love, the more faithful, brave, heroic,
and independent will he be in his conduct to others.
Great souls cart never adulate or cringe. It is not until
the divinity is taken out of a man, that he becomes the
lap-dog to lick and fawn. Another fact taught concerning
this avarice is that—
IT ENDS IN RESULTS CONTRARY TO AIM. What is the
aim of avarice? Wealth and fame. But it often leads to
poverty and disgrace. He "considereth not that poverty
shall come upon him." Those who gain most of the world
must lose it sooner or later, and be stripped of all earthly
good. Lot hasted to be rich, but his wealth became his high
road to poverty; step by step he proceeds till he ends his days
a forlorn pauper, in the desolate cave of Zoar. The most
abject destitution awaits all avaricious souls. The world
leaves them at last, and they are robbed of everything but
their own wretched existence. "The covetous man," says
old Adams, "is like Tantalus, up to the chin in water, yet
thirsty." As the dogs, in Aesop's fable, lost the real flesh
for the shadow of it, so the covetous man casts away the
734 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXVIII.
true riches for the love of the shadowy. What is the aim?
Fame. But instead of that there comes contempt. "He
that rebuketh a man afterwards shall find more favour
than he that flattereth with the tongue." He flattered
men, hoping to please them, and to win their approbation,
but instead of that there comes at last disgust. The time
hastens with all, whose ears have been most charmed with
the voices of human flattery, when they will recoil with
disgust from the words and memory of their miserable
sycophants.
Take care of avarice, my friend! If it is in thee, crush
it forthwith, and that without mercy or delay. "A man's
life consisteth not in the abundance of the things of this
life."
"Some, o'er enamour'd of their bags, run mad,
Groan under gold, yet weep for want of bread."
YOUNG.
Proverbs 28:24
Robbery of Parents
"Whoso robbeth his father or his mother, and saith, It is no transgression;
the same is the companion of a destroyer."
"As Christ," says an old expositor, "shows the absurdity
and wickedness of those children who think it is no duty,
in some cases, to maintain their parents, so Solomon.
shows here the absurdity and wickedness of those who
think it is no sin to rob their parents, either by force or
secretly, by wheedling them or threatening them, or by
wasting what they have, and (which is no better than
robbing them), running into debt and leaving them to pay
it." Here is—
A GREAT sin.—Children robbing their parents. "Thou
shalt not steal," is one of the cardinal laws in the Divine
code, and to take without their knowledge or consent, the
Chap. XXVIII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 735
property of parents is not only as truly a theft as the
taking the property of any other, but a theft of a more
aggravated enormity. Whilst the property of a parent is
no more the property of a child than that of any other, it
should be regarded by him as far more sacred. "The
aggravation of sin," says Mr. Bridges, " is proportioned to
the obligation of duty. A murderer is a heinous trans-
gressor; how much more a parricide! To rob a stranger,
a friend, is evil, how much more a father and mother! The
filial obligation of cherishing care is broken. Ingratitude
is added to injustice." Here is—
An UNRECOGNISED sin.—"Whoso robbeth his father
and mother and saith it is no transgression." The general
impression of young people in relation to the appropriation
of their parents property is that it is "no transgression."
They imagine that they have a right to make free use of
whatever is in the house, and that what is their parents' is
theirs also. Why should such an impression as that
prevail? Amongst many reasons that may be suggested,
two very opposite ones may be stated. The lavish kind-
ness and over indulgence of parents. Parental love is
often so exuberant that it gives the impression to children
that they have not only a right to all in the house, but
that they gratify their parents by making use of it. The
devil has no mightier or more efficient organ than parental
love. By it he destroys in children the sense of moral
distinctions and claims. Meanness and niggardliness of
parents may be regarded as another reason. There are
parents so miserly in their dispositions and habits that
they deny to their children that which is necessary not only
to innocent gratification but to common comforts. They
are so rigorously economical that they deny to their chil-
dren the means and the opportunities for those recreations
which are almost essential to health and to an appreciation
of life. Hence children are tempted to get, by little acts
of deception and fraud, that which their parents in their
niggardliness deny; and they rob their parents, and feel
it is "no transgression." These two opposites, then—
lavish generosity and miserly meanness—go to give chil-
736 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXVIII.
dren the impression that there is "no transgression" in
robbing their father and their mother. Here is—
A RUINOUS sin.—"The same is the companion of a
destroyer." When a child once begins to cheat his
parents he starts on a downward path; one act of de-
ception and fraud leads to another. The spirit of cove-
tousness and self-gratification is increased; self-indulgence
is promoted, conscience is weakened, passions are strength-
ened, self-control has gone, and the youth becomes the
companion of the destroyer. The little pilferings that began
in the family lead to those swindlings and depredations
abroad in society which conduct to the prison and the
gallows.
Sons and daughters, let your filial love and reverence
be associated with a conscience that will lead you to
recognise and honour your parents' rights. Neither waste
nor steal a fraction of their property; regard it as sacred.
For what they give you be thankful, and for what they
hold back respect them; it will be no doubt for your
ultimate advantage.
Proverbs 28:25-26
Self-sufficiency and Godly Confidence
"He that is of a proud heart stirreth up strife: but he that putteth his trust
in the LORD shall be made fat. He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool: but
whoso walketh wisely, he shall be delivered."
HERE is—
SELF-SUFFICIENCY. —There is a twofold description of
this in the text, Pride—"A proud heart," and self-trust—
"he that trusteth in his own heart." Some read for
"proud heart" a "covetous soul." The original means
large in mind. There is a largeness of soul that is desir-
able and virtuous, involving great thoughts, vast intelli-
gence, and world-wide sympathies. But the largeness
here points to something very different, viz.,— a selfish
Chap. XXVIII.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 737
ambition. There are different kinds of pride; there is the
pride of self-esteem, the pride of property, and the pride of
ambition; the last is the "proud heart" here. What
Shakspeare describes as the "eagle-winged pride, sky-
aspiring and ambitious thoughts." The other description
of this sufficiency is self-trust. "Trusteth in his own
heart." There is a self-reliance that is good, that lies at
the foundation of all noble character and endeavours; but
Solomon does not mean this; he means that self-conceit,
which proudly disdains the counsels of others. It is
self-sufficiency; it is that by which the man is every-
thing to himself, and esteems all others scarcely worthy
of note. Two things are here indicated concerning
this self-sufficiency. It is mischievous. It "stirreth up
strife." Truly, as we have seen in a former reading, by
"pride cometh contention." Ambition, this proud-crested
fiend, this restless, raging thirst for power, this hellish
mother, breeding ever swarms of social devils. Who can
tell the strifes and wars which it has created?
"Towns turned to ashes, fanes involved in fire!
These deeds the guilt of rash ambition tell."
It is foolish also.—"He that trusteth to his own heart is
a fool." Truly so; what is there in the heart to trust? It
is "deceitful above all things and desperately wicked."
"The heart is the great impostor," says Bishop Hall. In
all of us it has been "a liar from the beginning " of our
conscious existence. Trust to the heart and you trust that
which is as false as the mirage in the desert, as changeful
as the vane which veers about with every wind. Peter, to
his cost, felt what a fool he had been in trusting to his
own heart, and so have thousands in every age." "Wouldest
thou," says an old writer, "not be thought a fool in another's
conceit, be not, wise in thine own. He that trusts to his
own wisdom proclaims his own folly; he is truly wise and
shall appear that hath folly enough to be thought not
worldly wise, or wisdom enough to see his own folly."
Here is—
GODLY CONIFIDENCE.—"He that putteth his trust in the
738 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXVIII.
Lord shall be made fat." Trust in Him, implies a know-
ledge of Him, an appreciation of His transcendent excel-
lencies, a consciousness of His willingness and ability to
sustain our being amidst all the changes and epochs of our
interminable future. Trusting in Him instead of inclining
to our own opinions stimulates to action. Two things
are here indicated concerning this trust. It leads to
prosperity. "Shall be made fat," which means shall enjoy
abundance. He who " trusts in the Lord " is the man
who is active in duty, and looks to the Lord for a blessing
upon his labours, leaves the result in His hands, and is
satisfied with His appointments. This man "shall be
made fat." He has comfort and peace and happiness in
all situations; an inward satisfaction, a heart feast, a pros-
perity of soul, to which the other is a stranger. It is indi-
cated also that this trust in God is characterised by wisdom
of conduct. "Whoso walketh wisely he shall be delivered."
The Eternal guides the man safely who trusts in Him.
"Though the mariner," says Archbishop Leighton, "sees
not the Pole star, yet the needle of the compass, which
points to it tells him which way he sails. Thus the heart
that is touched with the loadstone of Divine love, trem-
bling with godly fear, and yet still looking towards God by
fixed believing, interprets the fear by the love in the fear,
and tells the soul that its course is heavenward towards
the haven of eternal rest." "Blessed is the man who
trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. For he
shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth
out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat
cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be
careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from
yielding fruit." *
"Trust to that which aye remains the bliss of Heaven above,
Which time, nor fate, nor word, nor storm are able to remove;
Trust to that sure Celestial Rock that rests on glorious throne,
That hath been, is, and must be still, our anchor-hold alone."
KINWELMERSHE
* Jer. xvii. 7, 8.
Chap. XXIX.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 739
Proverbs 29:1
Restorative Discipline
"He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, than suddenly be
destroyed, and that without remedy."*
WHAT is the great end of human existence in this life?
To amass wealth? To acquire knowledge? To rise to
social distinctions—to gratify the appetites and indulge
the passions? No! A thousand times no. It is the
attainment of a holy moral character—a character that
shall gain the approval and qualify for the fellowship and
service of the Great Father of our souls. The great aim
of God with the human race here is to make it "mete for
the inheritance of the saints in light." Human life is a
moral school. The discipline is here presented in three
aspects.
As EXPERIENCED.—"He that being often reproved."
The case here is of a man who has been subject to disci-
pline; has been often reproved. Reproof implies that in
the human school of moral culture there is something to
be got rid of in the pupil. The training is something
more than education, the bringing out of dormant faculties,
the full development of what is in the soil. There is some-
thing to be removed—moral weeds, thorns, and thistles to
be extracted and thrown away. Hence reproof enters into
the discipline, and truly how many and constant are the
reproofs which the Great Father administers to His chil-
dren here. They come through Providence, in secular
adversities, personal afflictions and social bereavements.
They come through the Bible, in a thousand forms of ad-
monitions and counsels. They come through the ministry
of the good, through Christian friends, pious parents, and
faithful ministers. They come through the monitions and
accusations of conscience. Who is the man that has not
* The subject contained in the 27th and 28th verses of the foregoing chapter
have engaged meditations in preceding Readings.
740 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXIX.
been "often reproved?" The discipline is here pre-
sented—
As ABUSED.—"Hardeneth his neck." The allusion is to
the intractable, stubborn ox. Stephen, the martyr, ad-
dressed the Jewish people in these words: "Ye stiff-
necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always
resist the Holy Ghost; as your fathers did so do ye."*
In all ages men have grown hard under the disciplinary
ministries of Heaven. So great is the moral force that
man has in him, and so great the perversity of his heart,
that he uses the very means intended to soften and mellow
his nature for the purpose of hardening it into stone. By
Divine reproofs Pharaoh hardened his heart, and in the
same way the Jewish nation became morally stubborn and
incorrigible. The hardening process goes on with every
reproof resisted, with every impression that runs to waste.
God hardens hearts in every age, and especially the hearts
here in England, in the same way as He hardened Pharaoh's
heart on the banks of the Nile, even by His restorative
discipline. Men turn God's blessings into curses—convert
the elements of spiritual health, life, and growth into
deadly poison. Though we cannot alter the laws of the
universe or change the nature of things, we can alter their
bearings on us. Herein is our freedom. The discipline is
here presented—
As TERMINATING.—"Shall suddenly be destroyed, and
that without remedy." There is a limit to discipline—it
has so many influences, so many days and no more. When
its hour terminates with the man who abuses it, his retri-
butive destruction ensues. The destruction will be sudden.
"Shall suddenly be destroyed." Sudden—not because there
lacked warning, but because the warning was not believed.
eath always comes suddenly to a man unprepared. The
destruction will be irremediable. "Without remedy."
When the final blow is struck all will be over; the minis-
tries of discipline give way to the ministry of inexorable
destiny. The voice of mercy is lost in the thunders of jus-
tice—the star of hope is buried in the midnight of despair;
* Acts vii. st.
Chap. XXIX.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 741
the man feels himself lost, and in all the billows of regrets
and foreboding that roll over his wretched spirit there is
the echo of the words "without remedy." Let us hail the
disciplinary ministrations of Heaven, and rightly use them
when they come.
"In the still air music lies unheard:
In the rough marble beauty hides unseen.
To wake the music and the beauty needs
The master's touch, the sculptor's chisel keen.
Great Master! touch us with thy skilful Hand:
Let not the music that is in us die.
Great Sculptor! hew and polish us, nor let,
Hidden and lost, Thy form within us lie.
Spare not the stroke: do with us as Thou wilt:
Let there be naught unfinished, broken, marred:
Complete Thy purpose, that we may become
Thy perfect image, O our God and Lord!"
Proverbs 29:3, 15, 17
Parental Life
"Whoso loveth wisdom rejoiceth his father: but he that keepeth company
with harlots spendeth his substance. . . . The rod and reproof give wisdom:
but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame. . . . Correct thy
son, and he shall give thee rest; yea, he shall give delight unto thy soul." *
PARENTAL life is a life whose sympathies and solicitudes
parents alone can understand and appreciate: a man must
be a parent in order to interpret a parent. The three
verses at the head selected from different parts of this
chapter point to three things connected with parental life.
Parental DELIGHT.—" Whoso loveth wisdom rejoiceth
his father." "Correct thy son and he shall give thee rest;
yea, he shall give delight unto thy soul." Expressions
identical in import with these have already come under
* The second verse has been discussed in a previous Reading.
742 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXIX.
our notice.* Who is the son that "rejoiceth his father,"
gives him "rest" and "delight"? He is here described
as one that "loveth wisdom." He not only listens to the
lessons of wisdom and practises externally the principles
of wisdom, but he loves it. It not only fascinates and
charms him but draws him, for we evermore follow the
objects of our love. He pursues it as the river pursues the
ocean. What we love is the chief thought of our under-
standings, the chief theme of our talk, the chief centre of
our being, the chief fashioner of our character. He who
truly loves wisdom does not merely love an abstraction or
a theory, but a soul-commanding personality, he loves
Him Who is the "Wisdom of God." What a source of de-
light will the spirit and conduct of such a son be to his
parents! They will see in it the highest form of filial
obedience, that which springs from the Divinest motives,
that has its seat in the heart. They will see in it the
guarantee of future prosperity. He who thus "loveth
wisdom " will have his " steps ordered of the Lord," and
will pass through life, if not in affluence and wealth, with
contentment and honour. They will see in it the cer-
tainty of a happy destiny; for they know that "godliness
is profitable in all things, having the promise of the life
which now is, and of that which is to come."
Parental DISTRESS.—Here we have two things that
bring distress to parents. Corrupt society. "He that
keepeth company with harlots spendeth his substance."
The deadly influence of a harlot is well described by
Pollock:
"She weaves the winding-sheets of souls, and lays
Them in the urn of everlasting death."
This odious character is graphically described in the
seventh chapter of this book. He who gives himself up to
her influence "spendeth his substance." The licentious
profligacy of sons has brought many a father to beggary
and want. Harlots play sad havoc with families; they
draw sons to ruin and parents to an untimely grave. Un
* See chap. xxiii. 24, 25 ; xxviii. 7-19.
Chap. XXIX.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 743
restrained conduct. "A child left to himself bringeth his
mother to shame." Leave the most beautiful garden to
itself, and it will soon be overrun with noxious weeds and
thorns, leave the young mind to itself and it will run into
all that is morally filthy and foul. "Rousseau," says Mr.
Bridges, "inculcated this system to its fullest extent, that
no kind of habits ought to be impressed on children, that
you should leave them to the natural consequences of
their own actions, and that when reason comes to exert
itself in a matured state, all will be right. Upon which
the following beautiful apostrophe has been given-
'Emilius, how I tremble for thee, while I see thee exposed
to the care of thy too ingenious tutor. I see thee wilful to
thy parents, domineering in the nursery, surfeiting on
meats, inflaming thy body with noxious humours, thy
mind with unquiet passions, running headlong into
dangers which thou canst not foresee, and habits which
thou canst not eradicate, mischievous to others, but fatal
to thyself.'" This unrestrainedness in the conduct of
children, Solomon says, will bring the "mother to shame."
Why the mother? Because perhaps in the folly of her
maternal fondness and indulgence this unrestrainedness
in the child's conduct has come to pass, the strength of
her affections and the weakness of her judgment have
mingled for herself this bitter cup.
Parental DISCIPLINE.—"The rod and reproof give wis-
dom." "Correct thy son and he shall give thee rest."
Here is discipline. The "rod" does not necessarily mean
corporeal infliction, although in some cases that may not
only be warranted but required, but it stands for pain.
The pain of the soul is greater than the pain of the senses,
and pain can reach the soul in many ways without the
literal rod. The reproof, the parental frown, the denial of
gratifications, the restrictions of liberty, all these are moral
chastisements, and moral chastisement must be employed.
The words of quaint old Quarles are not only worthy of
record here, but seem to claim a place. "Be very vigilant
over thy child in the April of his understanding, lest the
frosts of May nip his blossoms; while he is a tender twig
742 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXIX.
straighten him, whilst he is a new vessel season him; such
as thou makest him such commonly shalt thou find him.
Let his first lesson be obedience, and his second shall be
what thou wilt. Give him education in good letters to the
utmost of thy ability, and his capacity. Season his youth
with the love of his Creator, and make the fear of his God
the beginning of his knowledge. If he have an active
spirit, rather rectify than curb it, but reckon idleness
among his chiefest faults. As his judgment ripens observe
his inclination, and tender him a calling that shall not
cross it. Forced marriages and callings seldom prosper.
Show him both the mow and the plough, and prepare him
as well for the danger of the skirmish, as possess him with
the honour of the prize." Let parents so train their chil-
dren that they may become their strength, succour, and
joy in their old age. All children should have the heart of
the poet towards their parents:
"I'll be thy crutch, my father! lean on me:
Weakness knits stubborn whilst it's bearing thee;
And hard shall fall the shock of fortune's frown,
To eke thy sorrows, ere it breaks me down.
My mother too: thy kindness shall be met,
And ere I'm able will I pay the debt:
For what thou'st done, and what gone through for me,
My last-earned sixpence will I break with thee;
And when my dwindled sum won't more divide,
Then take it all—to fate I'll leave the rest:
In helping thee I always feel a pride,
Nor think I'm happy till we both are blest."—CLARE
Chap. XXIX.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 745
Proverbs 29:4, 12, 14
Human Rulership
"The king by judgment establisheth the land: but he that receiveth gifts
overthroweth it. . . . If a ruler hearken to lies, all his servants are wicked.
. . .The king that faithfully judgeth the poor, his throne shall be established
for ever." *
DIVERSITIES in the tendencies and powers of men, the
necessities of society, and the word of God, establish the
fact that civil government is a Divine institution. But this
Divine thing, like many other Divine things, has been used
most un-divinely, the blessing has often been turned into
a curse, the angel transformed into a demon. The king,
for which God has built up a throne in human society, and
the king that man has put upon that throne, are often
as opposite as light and darkness, Heaven and hell.
Whilst "the powers that be"—institutions—are always
"ordained of God," the kings that be are often ordained of
the devil. Here we have human rulership—
RIGHTLY EXERCISED.—It is here implied that in the right
exercise of this rulership there is judgment. "The king by
judgment," that is, the king that rules by judgment. The
word must be taken here not merely in the sense of wisdom
but in the sense of equity. Wisdom, the power of selecting
the best end and employing the best measures, in a ruler, is
important, but rectitude is more so. Indeed, the latter is
necessary to the former, aye, and involves it: honesty is
evermore the best policy. What is morally wrong can
never be politically right. What is right is evermore
expedient, and what is really expedient is always essentially
right. "He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in
the fear of God." "A king," says Lord Bacon, "must
make religion the rule of Government, and not to balance the
scale; for he that casteth in religion only to make the
scales even, his own weight is contained in those characters,
* The subject of the thirteenth verse has been elsewhere discussed.
746 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXIX.
—Mene, mene, tekel, upharsin, he is found too light, his
kingdom shall be taken from him. Religion is rectitude.
It is here implied, that in the right exercise of this ruler-
ship there is mercy. "The king that faithfully judgeth the
poor." Whilst the Divine purpose of kings is to help and
elevate the poor, they have too frequently not only ignored
their existence, but cursed them with unrighteous exactions.
The King of kings has said, the "prince shall not take of
the people's inheritance by oppression." He says to
them, "Take away your exactions from my people."
"What mean ye, that ye beat my people to pieces, and
grind the faces of the poor?" Kings that are taken up with
the grandees of the kingdom and neglect the poor, are not
God's kings but the devil's. A true king will always be
kind. His justice will always be tempered with mercy.
In sooth these two things are one, where there is true
justice there will always be mercy. There is a conventional
justice, a parchment justice, a letter justice; that is not
justice, it is a fiction, a misnomer. Justice is a dictate of
the Divine heart, and this is the Fountain of love.
Justice, indeed, is but love guarding the universe from all
that will disturb its happiness and break its peace. It is
love speaking in the imperative mood. It is love weeding
God's garden of all that mars its beauty, taints its fra-
grance, or checks its growth.
Here we have human rulership—
SADLY PERVERTED. —"If a ruler hearken to lies." No
men in society have so many lies poured into their ears as
kings. The vanity, the greed, the servility, the fawning
sycophancy, of society, are always fabricating lies for the
ears of kings. Here in England, during the illness of the
Prince of Wales, what hosts of falsehoods have reached the
Royal ears. Through the leading journals our royal per-
sonages have been told that the hearts of "all England
were breaking during the period of our Prince's sufferings,
and that all the souls of the British nation, forgetful
of their own personal concerns, gathered about the Royal
bed at Sandringham." In sermons we have had the
same outrageous exaggerations over and over again
Chap. XXIX.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 747
during the last few months. How untrue the whole
has been to fact! Ask our merchants, our shopkeepers,
our mechanics, our labourers, where in their circle they
have seen this distress? Where have they witnessed one
breaking heart, or where, even a single tear? An honest
monarchical loyalty, genuine respect for the Queen of
England, good wishes for her children, and sworn allegi-
ance to the spirit and teachings of the Prince of the Kings
of the earth, as represented in His Sermon on the Mount,
and in all His discourses and deeds, urge us here to record
our humble protest against these "lies" that have thus
streamed from hollow pulpits and a venal press. It is our
relief to know that neither the Queen of England nor the
Prince of Wales will "hearken to lies;" otherwise they
would mistake their position, and might assume an
attitude that would lead to national anarchy and con-
fusion. In all ages the "lies" of a base people have been
the chief instruments in ruining kings and kingdoms.
All true kings will despise these "lies."
"Some are born kings,
Made up of three parts fire; so full of heaven,
It sparkles at their eyes: inferior souls
Know 'em as soon as seen, by sure instinct
To be their lords, and naturally worship
The secret God within them."—DRYDEN
Here we have human rulership—
NATIONALLY DEVELOPED.—The conduct of rulers in-
fluences the character and destiny of kingdoms. It is here
said of the true ruler, the man that rules by judgment and
mercy, that he "establishes the land," and that his
"throne shall be established for ever." On the other
hand, it is said that the king who "receiveth gifts, (or,
as in the margin, a man of oblations) overthroweth it."
He who will dispose of justice for some personal con-
sideration, will bring himself and his country to ruin.
"We will sell justice to none," says our Magna Charta,
implying that prior to the existence of this glorious
national standard justice had been sold. Aye, aye, kings
have sold justice, and there are strong temptations to
748 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXIX.
do so, but when they do so they endanger their kingdom.
"The want of uprightness in Saul shook the kingdom in
his grasp, and the covetousness of Jehoakim destroyed
its foundations, and buried him in its ruins." It is
also said here, that if the ruler hearken to lies, "all
his servants are wicked." The credulous ruler becomes
not only the victim but the implement and the cause
of wickedness. He takes in lies, acts upon them, and thus
promotes lies in his servants.
Conclusion: Let us pray that a true Rulership may
everywhere prevail over the nations of the earth. "Let it
please thee to bless rulers, that they may learn to fear the
Lord their God, that their heart be not lifted up above
their brethren, and that they turn not aside from the com-
mandment to the right hand or to the left." "Let judgment
run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty
stream."—Biblical Liturgy.
Proverbs 29:5
Flattery, a Net
"A man that flattereth his neighbour spreadeth a net for his feet."
FLATTERY is the subject of these words, and we have had
the subject before.* We have it here under the figure of a
net—
VARIOUSLY WROUGHT. —"Some praises," says Lord
Bacon, "proceed merely of flattery, and if he be an ordi-
nary flatterer, he will have certain common attributes which
may serve every man; if he be a cunning flatterer, he will
follow the arch flatterer, which is man's self, and wherein a
man thinketh best of himself, therein the flatterer will
uphold him most. But if he is an impudent flatterer look
wherein a man is conscious to himself that he is most de-
fective, and is most out of countenance in himself, that
will the flatterer entitle him to, perforce, conscience being
* See Reading on chap. xxvi. 23, 28.
Chap. XXIX.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 749
silenced." These nets of flattery are indeed woven of many
threads, and of various hues—some are as coarse as a rope,
others as fine as a gossamer web; some have their texture of
flax, others of silk; some have their hues glaring and coarse,
others subdued and delicate—all suited to the character of
the prey to be caught. All souls are not to be caught in
the same way. What is a vulnerable point in one heart,
is impenetrable granite in another. All, however, are more
or less susceptible of flattery of some kind or other.
"As unicorns may be betray'd with trees,
And bears with glasses, elephants with holes,
Lions with toils:—so men with flatterers."
SHAKESPEARE
Flattery is a net—
WIDELY SPREAD.—"The net of flattery" is spread in all
circles and in every path of life. There is more or less of
vanity in all natures, and vanity likes flattery; it flatters
in order to be flattered. "Flattery," says La Rochefou-
cauld, "is a bad sort of money to which our vanity gives
currency." "Beware of the flatterer," says Bunyan. Yes,
beware of him indeed. Flattery is a dangerous net that lies
near to every man's foot. It is a cup whose taste is gene-
rally delicious, but whose effects are always pernicious, and
often mortal. The feet of the strongest men have been
entangled in this net; they have fallen into it and been
ruined. When Alexander the Great had received from an
arrow a wound that would not heal, he said to his para-
sites, "You say that I am Jupiter's son, but this wound
proves me a feeble man." Undeserved praise is always
fatal in its effects on the vain-glorious dupe. More dangers
lurk in adulation than in abuse, since it is the saliva that
kills, and not the bite. Those who are voracious of vain
compliments, drink from a Circean cup, which first exhila-
rates to madness and then destroys.
"Oh! it is worse than mockery, to listen to the flatterer's tone:
To lend a ready ear to thoughts the cheeks must blush to own:
To hear the red lip whispered of, and the flowing curl and eye
Made constant theme of eulogy extravagant and high:
And the charm of person worshipped in an homage offered not
To the perfect charm of virtue and the majesty of thought."
J. C. WHITTIER
750 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXIX.
Proverbs 29:6
The Snare and the Song
"In the transgression of an evil man there is a snare: but the righteous cloth
sing and rejoice."
THE words remind us—
That there is a SNARE FOR THE WICKED.—"In the
transgression of an evil man there is a snare." An evil
man is a transgressor; it is in fact his transgression that
makes him evil. What is transgression? It is not a
mere condition of being, it is a positive act, it is a violation
of the right; it is not a mere omission, but a commission.
Sin is the transgression of the law. The Divine law is so
spiritual, penetrating, comprehensive, that it can be trans-
gressed without any overt act; transgressed by thought,
desire, volition. In every transgression there is a "snare."
A snare often to others. Every sin is not only an act but a
seed; it has in it a self-propagating instinct. No sooner
does a man sin than he gets the spirit of the tempter, and
with every sin the seductive animus gets strength. Angels
sinned and they became the tempters of men. Eve sinned
and she became the tempter of Adam. Thus sinners are
always ensnaring men. By their specious talk, their mock
pleasures, and their seductive arts, they draw the less wary
into a "snare." But he is not only a snare to others, but
to himself. "His foot is taken in his own net." Not only
does the trap which he had set for others often bring him
to ruin, as did the conduct of the Jews in relation to Christ,
but each sin of his is a new entanglement. It increases
the terribleness of his moral predicament, it curtails his
liberty, renders his freedom more impossible, and his em-
barrassments more confounding. He is like a man de-
scending a steep road covered with thick mud, and deep-
ening and stiffening as he descends. He cannot go back.
His attempt to extricate himself is by taking another step
onwards, and this only increases his difficulty; with every
Chap. XXIX.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 751
sin his feet get deeper and deeper into the "miry clay."
There is no liberty where there is sin. The best acts of
Parliament passed by a thousand Solons cannot make one
sinner free. Every sin tightens his chains, curtails the
precincts, and darkens the windows of his cell. Verily in
the "transgression of an evil man there is a snare."
That there is A SONG FOR THE RIGHTEOUS.—"The
righteous doth sing and rejoice." There is a song in the
soul of the good ever ready to break into music; it is the
song of gratitude, of liberty, of celestial hope, of holy
adoration. Paul and Silas are cast into prison, and the
jailor is charged to keep them safely. How do they feel?
"At midnight Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises
unto God." The righteous alone can truly rejoice. Joy is
a dove that can find rest nowhere, but in the heart of a
righteous man. "Light is sown for the righteous, and
gladness for the upright in heart." "Light seed is sown
in the vale of fogs, though often hidden seedlike for a
time under the dark clouds of sorrow, it is only taking
root in the chastened heart; soon it will appear and bring
forth the fragrant flower and mellow fruit, and bloom and
grow sweetly and usefully in the garden of God." Hap-
piness as an object of pursuit, is never, can never be
attained. It grows out of goodness. The righteous "sing
and rejoice" because they are righteous.
"To aim at thine own happiness is an end idolatrous and evil
In earth: yea, in heaven, if thou seek'st for thyself, seeking thou shalt not find.
Happiness is a roadside flower, growing on the highway of usefulness:
Plucked, it shall wither in thy hand; passed by, it is a fragrance to thy spirit.
Love not thine own soul; regard not thine own weal:
Trample the thyme beneath thy feet: be useful, and be happy."
M. F. TUPPER
752 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXIX.
Proverbs 29:7
The Treatment of the Poor,
a Test of Character
"The righteous considereth the cause of the poor: but the wicked regardeth
not to know it."
WHILST this verse has perhaps a special reference to the
duty of magistrates and judges in relation to the poor, it
has a far wider and profounder application. It teaches the
doctrine that our treatment of the poor is one test of
character: if we are righteous, we consider "the cause of
the poor:" if we are wicked, their cause is disregarded
by us.
The test is DIVINE.—Everywhere in the Bible the same
truth is taught. In the Old Testament we have such
passages as these, "Wash you, make you clean: put away
the evil of your doings from before mine eyes: cease to do
evil: learn to do well: seek judgment: relieve the op-
pressed: judge the fatherless: plead for the widow."*
"Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the
bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to
let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke ?
Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou
bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou
seest the naked that thou cover him: and that thou hide
not thyself from thine own flesh?"†. And in the New
Testament we have such statements as the following:—
"Pure religion, and undefiled before God, and the Father
is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction:
and to keep himself unspotted from the world."‡ " Whoso
bath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need,
and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how
dwelleth the love of God in him? My little children, let
as not love in word, neither in tongue: but in deed and in
* Isaiah i. 16, 17. † Isaiah lviii. 6, 7. ‡ I James i. 27.
Chap. XXIX.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 753
truth. And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and
shall assure our hearts before him."*
There is no mistaking, then, the fact, that this is a
Divine test. The great Judge does not determine our
character by the conformity of our belief to any standard
of faith, by the mode of our worship, or by the zeal, regu-
larity, and devotion, with which we work out our religious
opinions. No, but by our practical kindness to the poor.
Practical philanthropy is the Divine test of religion. This
is like the diamond, pure and white. "Other graces," we
are told, "shine like the precious stones of nature, each
with its own hue of brilliance: the diamond emitting all
colours in one beautiful and simple white. Love emits all
graces." To bear each other's burdens is to fulfil the law
of Christ.
The test is PRACTICAL.—It is a test within the reach of
every man. Had the test been a standard of theological
knowledge, or an ornate method of religious worship, it
would have lain out of the reach of many. But practical
kindness is always available; for the poor we have ever
with us. On all hands there are the naked to be clothed,
the hungry to be fed, the diseased to be cured, the ignorant
to be enlightened, the destitute to be relieved. Nor can
we say, we have not the means to help. Though we may
not have worldly goods to supply their need, we have
sympathy, we have kind words, we have influence. John
Howard, the illustrious philanthropist, wrote in the midst
of his perils and dangers in Riga, "I hope I have sources
Of enjoyment that depend not on the particular spot I
inhabit a rightly cultivated mind, under the power of
religion, and the exercise of beneficent dispositions,
affords a ground of satisfaction, little affected by heres and
theres."
The test is BLESSED.—Doing good to the poor not only
blesses the recipient, but the giver too. Listen to Job's
experience. "When the ear heard me, then it blessed:
and when he eye saw me, it gave witness to me: because
I delivered the poor that cried, and the fatherless, and him
* x John iii. 17, 18.
754 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXIX.
that had none to help him. The blessing of him that was
ready to perish came upon me: and I caused the widow's
heart to sing for joy. I put on righteousness, and it
clothed me: my judgment was as a robe and a diadem.
I was eyes to the blind, and feet was I to the lame. I was
a father to the poor: and the cause which I knew not I
searched out." "Tiberias II. was so liberal to the poor,
that his wife blamed him for it. Speaking to him once of
his wasting his treasures by this means, he told her, he
should never want money so long as, in obedience to
Christ's command, he supplied the necessities of the poor.
Shortly after this he found a great treasure, under a marble
table which had been taken up, and news was also brought
him of the death of a very rich man, who had left his whole
estate to him." Wilberforce says, "There is a special
blessing on being liberal to the poor, and on the family of
those who have been so: and I doubt my children will
fare better, even in this world, than if I had been saving
£20,000 or £30,000 of what has been given away."
The test is FINAL.—What is that which will separate the
righteous from the wicked on the last great day? The
separation will not be the result of caprice or arbitrary
power, but according to a special law in the Divine
government. What is that? Beneficence. Why are some
placed on the right hand? What is the reason the Great
Arbiter assigns? Hear it: "I was an hungered, and ye
gave me meat; I was naked, and ye clothed me." This is
the principle that determines our destiny. The man who
does not live here a life of godly benevolence can never,
in the nature of the case, be admitted into heaven. With-
out this there is no conformity to God. "God is love."
"He that loveth not, knoweth not God." Without this
there is not fitness for heaven. All in heaven is love.
Without this there is no possibility of happiness. Practical
benevolence is heaven, practical selfishness is perdition.
"Come, blessed of my heavenly Father, come
In the high heaven your kingdom is prepared:
Yours is the sceptre and the rich reward.
Haste, for the Saviour calls you to your home:
Chap. XXIX.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 755
For I was hungry, and ye brought me bread;
I thirsted, and your cooling draughts were mine:
O'er my cold limbs the needed vest ye spread;
A stranger was I, and ye took me in:
I pined in sickness, and ye brought relief:
In the deep dungeon, and ye soothed my grief:
For there my brethren, there, the lowly poor,
Ye sent not cold and empty from your door;
But ye relieved their wants, and heard their plea I
'Twas done for my sake, and 'tis done for me!"
Proverbs 29:8-11, 20, 22, 23
The Genius of Evil
"Scornful men bring a city into a snare: but wise men turn away wrath. If a
wise man contendeth with a foolish man, whether he rage or laugh, there is no rest. The bloodthirsty hate the upright: but the just seek his soul. A fool uttereth all
his mind: but a wise man keepeth it in till afterwards. . . . Seest thou a man
that is hasty in his words? there is more hope of a fool than of him. . . An
angry man stirreth up strife, and a furious man aboundeth in transgression.
A man's pride shall bring him low; but honour shall uphold the humble in
spirit."
WE have gathered these verses together from the chapter
because they represent one subject,—the genius of evil.
This subject indeed occupies a large portion of the whole
book, comes out in almost every page of the Bible, is re-
vealed in every chapter of the world's history, and flashes
from all points of social life the world over. Evil is here
and has been for sixty long centuries. There is no deny-
ing the fact of its existence. It is an ubiquitous presence.
It is an all-permeating force. It is a universal pulse
throbbing through the life-blood of the race.
It is ESSENTIALLY MALIGNANT.—It is here represented
as an element of contempt. "Scornful men." Scorn is not
only eternally antagonistic to all that is loving and
benign, but is a form and expression of the malific. Scorn
is fiendish, it has in it the venom of hell. It is here repre-
756 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXIX.
sented as bloodthirsty. "The bloodthirsty hate the up-
right." There is murder in evil. Its advent to this earth
was speedily marked by murder. Cain rose up against
Abel, his brother, and slew him. It is not only the parent
of all assassinations and wars, but of all religious persecu-
tions too. In truth, the better the men the more intent its
thirst for their blood; it "hates the upright." John in his
apocalyptic vision saw this evil in a human form, the form
of a woman. " I saw a woman drunken with the blood of
the saints and the blood of the martyrs of Jesus." It is here
represented as furious. "A furious man aboundeth in
transgression." Evil is not like the placid lake but like
the troubled sea, the sea whose waters are often lashed by
the tempest into the battlings of mountain billows. It is
not like the lamb or the dove, but like the ravenous wolf
or the bloodthirsty lion in search of prey. It is repre-
sented as proud. "A man's pride shall bring him low."
Pride is sometimes represented as the very spring and
heart of evil. "It is a vice," says the illustrious Hooker,
"which cleaveth so fast unto the hearts of men, that if we
were to strip ourselves of all faults one by one we should
undoubtedly find it the very last and hardest to put off."
Tupper has put the same idea into a poetical form:—
"Deep is the sea, and deep is hell; but pride mineth deeper.
It is coiled as a poisonous worm about the foundations of the soul.
If thou expose it in thy motives and track it in thy springs of thought,
Complacent in its own detection, it will seem indignant virtue.
Smoothly it will gratulate thy skill. O subtle anatomist of self!
And spurn its very being, while it nestleth the deeper in thy bosom."
Again—
It is ALWAYS UNREASONABLE.—It will not submit to the
force of argument. "If a wise man contendeth with a
foolish man, whether he rage or laugh, there is no rest."
"It would generally be far better not to meddle with such
a fool as is here described. We can only deal with him on
very disadvantageous terms, and with little prospect of
good.* If a wise man contend with the wise, he can make
himself understood, and there is some hope of bringing
* Chap. xvii. 12 ; xxvi, 4 ; Eccles. x. 13 ; Matt. vii. 6.
Chap. XXIX.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 757
the debate to a good issue. But to contend with a fool
there is no rest, no peace, no quiet. It will go on without
end. He will neither listen to reason nor yield to argu-
ment. So intractable is he, that he will either rage or
laugh: either vent upon us the fury of an ungoverned
temper, or laugh us to scorn." Its unreasonableness is
pointed out here by another fact: its speech is not con-
trolled by judgment. "A fool uttereth all his mind, but a
wise man keepeth it in till afterwards." "Seest thou a man
that is hasty in his words? there is more hope of a fool
than of him."* There is an outspokenness that is not
only justifiable but praiseworthy, the full, frank, utterance
of the mind, where the communication is vital to the
interests of others. But this is not like the reckless speech
of the man of ungoverned passion. He "uttereth all his
mind." All the filth of his heart, all the bitterness of his
temper, all the profanity of his spirit, rush out without dis-
cretion or control. An old expositor remarks that the
"words of a fool are at the very door of his mind, which
being always open they readily fly abroad." "A wise man
reflects before he speaks, a fool speaks and then reflects on
what he has uttered." Evil is against reason, it is eter-
nally opposed to all true philosophy and wisdom: it can
only live and work as reason is kept down. As reason
rises, widens, and grows, evil must decay and die.
Further—
It is INFLUENTIALLY PERNICIOUS.—It is injurious to
society. "Scornful men bring a city into a snare, but wise
men turn away wrath." In the margin it is rendered, they
"set a city on fire." Evil is socially destructive; it is a
deadly enemy not only to social order, peace, and pros-
perity, but to the existence of society. It is everlastingly
gnawing at the ties of sympathy and confidence that bind
man to man. It is a mighty anarch, eternally warring
against all harmony and light, seeking to reduce all to the
darkness and the confusion of chaos. Were it not for the
good men here, the world would soon rush into a pande-
* Similar expressions have engaged our attention in Readings on chap. xii. 23;
xiv. 23; xv. 2; xxvi. 12.
758 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXIX.
monium. "Wise men turn away wrath"—"the just seek
his soul." Every good man is a link in that golden chain
with which mercy belts the human world, and prevents the
explosive force of its sins from riving it to pieces. It is in-
jurious to self. "A man's pride shall bring him low; but
honour shall uphold the humble in spirit." "This pro-
verb," says Bishop Hall, " is like unto Shushan, in the
streets whereof honour is proclaimed to the humble Mor-
decai; in the palace whereof an engine of death is erected
for the proud Haman." "A man's pride shall bring him
low." On its gaudy flaunting pinions it had borne him
high up amongst the aerial castles of affluence and splen-
dour, but the time comes when judgment breaks the
wings, and down like a millstone he falls.
"He that is proud eats up himself. Pride is
His own glass, his own trumpet, his own chronicle,
And whatever praises itself but in
The deed, devours the deed in the praise."
SHAKESPEARE.
Proverbs 29:16
The Fall of Evil
"When the wicked are multiplied, transgression increaseth: but the righteous
shall see their fall." *
"THE former part of this verse," it has been said, "seems
like a truism. The multiplication of the wicked, and the
increase of transgression are next to one and the same
thing—the former being the increase of the agents of evil,
and the latter, of the evil done. They are different; but
they are inseparable: the one necessarily includes the
other. The meaning may be, that wicked men encourage
and embolden one another in iniquity, and that by this
means the corruption spreads. Or as, in the second verse
* Verse 15 has been elsewhere discussed.
Chap. XXIX.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 759
of the chapter, the same word here rendered 'are multi-
plied,' is translated 'are in authority,' the reference is in all
probability to the influence of wicked rulers in promoting
the increase of wickedness in the community, which requires
not either illustration or proof." The text points to the
fall of evil. Evil will not stand for ever, it is not a moral
rock in God's universe, it is a mere creature edifice built on
the shifting sand.
It will fall NOTWITHSTANDING ITS INCREASE.—" When
the wicked are multiplied, transgression increaseth."
Wicked men have been multiplying in this world since the
beginning: perhaps they are more numerous to-day than
ever in England, as well as in other and more benighted
lands. The more numerous they are, the more transgres-
sion there is in the world. The more numerous the coral
insects, the faster grows the island: and the more numerous
sinners become, the higher rises the hellish mountain of
transgression. But to whatever proportion evil may grow
in the world, however broad its base, and towering its
summit, it shall fall; its "mountains shall depart, and its
hills be removed." It will fall because it is opposed to the
constitution of things: there is nothing in God's universe
in which evil can take a lasting roothold. Its roots are
only like those of certain marine plants that spring up
from one floating wavelet, to be destroyed by the next: or
rather like the roots of those atmospheric plants, of which
I have somewhere read, that strike only into a wave of air
that rolls swiftly on—Heaven knows where. It is not a
river rolling from ocean to ocean, fed evermore by the
boundless, but a mere stagnant pool which has to be
exhaled by the sun. Evil has a thousand forms, it appears
not only in the thoughts, words, and deeds of individual
life, but in a thousand systems of thoughts, in innumerable
institutions and methods of action. But what are these?
They have no solid foothold in God's creation; they are
only bubbles that appear in the stream of destiny, just here
where it is al little agitated; they must break as it swells in
volume and approaches the great sea. Evil must fall, be-
cause it has it the seeds of destruction. Error and wrongs
760 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXIX.
in all their forms, carry with them the seeds of dissolution:
their bulk is but an unnatural growth, their beauty, but the
hectic flush of consumption. Night can only last till the
day comes: sin is night, and eternal day is to break on our
planet. It must fall, because the Gospel is undermining
its foundations. Christ came to destroy the works of the
devil. The little stone is put in motion, it shall smite and
shiver the huge colossus. It must fall, because Heaven
has decreed it. "The kingdoms of this world shall become
the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ, and He shall
reign for ever and ever." Before the fires of truth and love
which Christ kindled in this world, the heaven and earth
of evil shall pass away with a great noise, and there shall
appear a new heaven and a new earth wherein dwelleth
righteousness.
"One song employs all nations; and all cry:
'Worthy the Lamb, for He was slain for us!'
The dwellers in the vales and on the rocks
Shout to each other, and the mountain tops
From distant mountains catch the flying joy,
Till nation after nation, taught the strain,
Earth rolls the rapturous Hosanna round."
COWPER
It will fall AND THE RIGHTEOUS WILL WITNESS ITS END.
—"But the righteous shall see their fall." Noah saw the
destruction of the old world; Abraham, the conflagration
of Sodom and Gomorrah; Israel beheld the Egyptians sink
like lead into the sea. The righteous will survive the fall
of evil; their existence, therefore, will stretch far into the
ages of the future: for the end of evil is not yet, nay, it is
far distant. In the great moral warfare no weapons will
ever be invented, by which to slay the enemies in haste;
the march is slow; the strokes, however, rapid and power-
ful, are tardy in working out their deadly results. The
wounds are long before they issue in mortification. Sin
dies slowly: yet, however remote the period of its utter
destruction, the righteous will live to witness it. With
what joy will they listen to its death throes, with what rap-
ture will they witness the extinction of its final spark!
"Mine eyes shall see my desire on my enemies, and mine
Chap. XXIX.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 761
ears shall hear my desire of the wicked which rise up
against me." "This is, indeed," says Bridges, "the sup-
porting joy of faith; to realise the glory of this day, when
the righteous shall see the fall of the now triumphing
wicked, and one universal shout shall swell throughout the
earth—"Alleluia! Salvation and glory, and honour, and
power, unto the Lord our God, for true and righteous are
his judgments. Alleluia! . . . . for the Lord God om-
nipotent reigneth."
"The time shall come when every evil thing
From being and remembrance both shall die:
The world one solid temple of pure good."
FESTUS
Proverbs 29:18
Divine Revelation
"Where there is no vision, the people perish; but he that keepeth the law,
happy is he." *
WE take the word "vision" here to mean the redemptive
revelations of God. Such revelations exist. God has at
"sundry tithes and in divers manners " made redemptive
revelations of His mind to human souls. These communi-
cations were recorded by "holy men, who spake as they
were moved by the Holy Ghost." The records form the
book we call the Bible. Concerning this Book of books
Dryden has well said:
"Whence but from Heaven could men, unskilled in arts,
In several ages born, in several parts,
Weave such agreeing truths? or how or why
Should all conspire to cheat us with a lie?
Unasked their pains, ungrateful their advice:
Starving their gain, and martyrdom their price."
The text presents two facts concerning this redemptive revelation.
Its ABSENCE IS A GREAT CALAMITY.—"Where there's
no vision the people perish." The word "perish" has
* Verse 17 has been noticed in a previous Reading.
762 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXIX.
been variously rendered: some read "will apostatize,"
others "are made naked," others "are dispersed," others
"are become disorderly." All renderings agree in express-
ing the idea of calamity, and truly is it not a sad calamity
to be deprived of the Bible? What is the intellectual,
social, and spiritual condition of the millions of heathen-
dom? Are not the dark places of the earth full of the
habitations of cruelty? What was the condition of our
forefathers before the Bible reached our shores? Where
the Bible is not, where is the Father God? Where are
pure friendships, where are immortal hopes, where are
progressive sciences, where are beneficent institutions,
where are the streams of pure social loves, where are the
raptures of liberty and the sunbeams of unearthly joys?
Men in this life without this "vision"—the Bible—are like
voyagers on a boundless waste of waters without a star, a
pilot, or a compass to direct them, in a condition as miser-
able as the two hundred three score and sixteen souls who,
after being "driven up and down Adria" for fourteen sun-
less and tempestuous days, were wrecked with Paul on the
shores of Melita.
"Star of eternity! The only star
By which the bark of man can navigate
The sea of life, and gain the coast of bliss
Securely: only star which rose on time,
And, on its dark and troubled billows, still,
As generation, drifting swiftly by,
Succeeded generation, threw a ray
Of Heaven's own light, and, to the hills of God,
The eternal hills, pointed the sinner's eye."
POLLOCK
Another fact here concerning this revelation is--
ITS REGULATIVE EXPERIENCE IS A GREAT BLESSING.—
"He that keepeth the law happy is he." This "vision"
is not an abstraction or a speculative system, it is a "law."
It comes with Divine authority; it demands obedience; it
is not the mere subject for a creed, but the code for a life;
its aim is to regulate all the movements of the soul. It is
only those who are ruled by it that are made happy. Those
who have it and are not controlled by it, will as assuredly
Chap. XXIX.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 763
perish as those into whose possession it has never come.
It is not the hearers of the law who are just before God,
but the doers of the law. "If ye know these things happy
are ye if ye do them." "Whoso looketh into the perfect
law of liberty and continueth therein, he being not a forget-
ful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed
in his deed." Who is the happy man? Not the man who
has the "vision" and does not study it, nor the man who
studies it and never reduces it to practice; it is the man
who translates the "vision" into his life. "He that
keepeth the law happy is he." There is no heaven for
man but in obedience to God. "It is foolish to strike,"
says Seneca, " with what we cannot avoid: we are born
subjects, and to obey God is perfect liberty: he that does
this shall be free, safe, and quiet; all his actions shall
succeed to his wishes."
Proverbs 29:19, 21
Types of Servants
"A servant will not be corrected by words: for though he understand he will
not answer. . . He that delicately bringeth up his servant from a child
shall have him became his son at the length." *
WE mistake when we think of servants as a class of per-
sons confined to the lower grades of life. Most men are
servants; those who are masters in relation to some, are
servants in relation to others, and so on, from the humblest
cottager to the waiters in palaces and attendants at courts.
It is probable, however, that Solomon here refers to the
servants of the more menial order, those who serve not as
private secretaries, commercial clerks, or political ministers,
but as farm labourers and domestic attendants. Of these
there are two types in these verses.
The STUBBORN. —"A servant will not be corrected by
* Verse 20 has been noticed in a previous Reading.
764 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXIX.
words." The language does not mean that masters are
authorised to employ any other correcting instruments
than words: it lends no authority to the use of corporeal
violence or force. It means that correcting words for some
servants are utterly unavailing. "Though he understand.
he will not answer." There are servants of such stubborn
make and sulky mood, that the correcting words of their
employers make no more impression than rain-drops on
the granite rock. Some render the language thus—"a
servant will not be corrected by words; though he under-
stand, yet will he not obey." How are such servants to be
dealt with? By an immediate discharge from your em-
ployment? This would show a hastiness of temper which,
in itself, is bad; it might also be to your own disadvantage,
for there might be a possibility of making them useful.
And then, too, it would be too harsh and cruel treatment
towards a fellow-creature with whom you have been brought
into a somewhat close relationship. How then? By the
infliction of corporeal punishment? This would be morally
wrong: you are not to lay violent hands on any man. If
stubbornness is the only fault, there is a way to overcome
it ; it is by kindness, a strong, manly, dignified, unmis-
takeable kindness. As ice to the sunbeam, stubbornness
yields to kindness. Where this fails the servant is incor-
rigible, and discharge from your employment is the only
alternative. The advice of Quarles to masters is worthy
of notice. "If thou wouldest have a good servant, let the
servant find thee a good master. Be not angry with him
too long, lest he think thee malicious; nor too soon, lest
he conceive thee rash; nor too often, lest he count thee
humorous."
THE TRACTABLE.—"He that delicately bringeth up his
servant from a child, shall have him become his son at the
length." Elzas gives this rendering to these words, "He
who indulgeth his slave from his youth will find him in
the end behaving as his offspring." Some suppose
the idea to he this, "He who treats his slave with greater
tenderness than is suited to his condition, will find that he
will presume upon the kindness of his master, and conduct
Chap. XXIX.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 765
himself in a manner utterly unsuited to his station in life."
There is another side, however, to the kindness of the
master to his servant, that is, the making of the servant
feel towards him all the sympathy and interest of a
son. There are those servants so tractable in nature
as to be inspired with the love of children to their
masters when kindness has been shown. As a rule, those
in our employ serve us best who love us most; they
are not eye, but heart servants; they move not by the
letter of command, but by the spirit of duty. The kindest
master and mistress will generally have the best servants.
He who can make his servant feel towards him as a loving,
faithful, dutiful child, will reap the greatest comfort and
advantage from his service. Steele has said that, "it is
not only paying wages, and giving commands that con-
stitutes a master of a family, but prudence, equal behaviour,
with a readiness to protect and cherish them, is what
entitles a man to that character in their very hearts and
sentiments."
Proverbs 29:24
Commercial Partnerships
"Whoso is partner with a thief hateth his own soul: he heareth cursing, and
bewrayeth it not." *
A PARTNERSHIP life is becoming more and more common
and necessary in our commercial England. Great under
takings can only be carried out by companies. Modern
legislation has greatly encouraged these combinations, by
limiting the monetary liability of its members. Hence,
joint-stock companies are multitudinous and multiplying.
Such companies are often, perhaps, generally projected,
promoted, and managed, by selfish, needy, and unprincipled
speculators; and honest men are often tempted by the
* Verses 22 and 23 have been discussed in a previous Reading.
766 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXIX.
glowing promises of their lying programmes to become
their adherents, and they soon find themselves in the un-
fortunate position referred to in the text—"partners with
thieves." The text suggests as to this position:
That it is SOUL-RUINOUS.—"Whoso is partner with a
thief hateth his own soul." Whether he be a partner with
one thief or one hundred, he is doing an injury to his own
spiritual nature. Being a partner, he gives his sanction to
the fallacious statements, the dishonest principles, and the
dishonourable tricks of the Firm; he participates in the
results of legalized frauds and falsehoods. Hence he has
contracted a guilt which unless removed will damage his
soul for ever. "He may," says a modern expositor, "screen
his conscience under the pretext of his not doing the deed;
but such a screen is a mere cobweb; it will not stand
a breath. He may possibly be even worse. If he flatters
himself that he is getting the profit without the sin, when
he is coolly and deliberately allowing another to damn his
own soul—taking no concern about that, provided he get
something by it—he must indeed be under the power of a
strong delusion. The receiver and resetter is at least as
guilty as the thief. I say at least; for in one obvious
respect he is worse. His is a general trade, which gives
encouragement to many thieves, by holding out to them
the means of disposing of their stolen property, and
evading the law. He is, in fact, a partaker in the guilt of
all. One thief cannot set up and maintain a resetter, but
one resetter may keep at their nefarious trade many thieves.
Moreover, when the thief swears falsely, the partner is
tempted to allow the perjury to pass undetected, lest he
should expose himself as well as the thief; by which means
he covers the guilt of another doubly—in the theft and the
perjury. Nay, if he were summoned as a witness, he
is tempted to similar perjury himself, and so to bring
additional guilt more directly upon his own soul." On
this subject we could write pages from our own bitter
experience. Years ago we embarked in two companies,
not for mercenary or commercial ends, but in order to work
out our philanthropic aspirations—one, indeed, we not only
Chap. XXIX.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 767
originated ourselves, but obtained by our advocacy, nearly
10,000 adherents, and a nominal capital of £240,000. We
soon found ourselves in partnership with thieves. Numbers
joined it who not only had no sympathy with its lofty
purpose, but who were influenced by a rapacious greed.
As hungry vultures gather about a dead carcase, they
hastened to clutch the funds. Our efforts to extricate
ourselves from the ungodly partnership gave us years
of distracting agony, and led to the frustration of our
objects.* The other, which we joined from similar unmer-
cenary and benevolent motives, brought us in association
with the same wretched class of men, and terminated in a
serious loss to all the honest members, and a rich harvest
to the managing swindlers. Thank Heaven, we are free
from such associations; we have escaped like a bird from
the hand of the fowler. We record our experience here, in
order to warn young men who in this and in future times
may peruse these pages. My young brother, "have no
fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather
reprove them."
That it is SOCIALLY UNJUST.—"He heareth cursing and
bewrayeth it not." Dishonesty is committed by the mem-
bers of the Firm, he is called to give evidence on his oath
concerning his knowledge of the deed. His interests and
reputation are so involved in the company, and he is so so-
lemnly bound to secrecy, that he will perjure himself rather
than betray his swindling partners. When the solemn ad-
juration is pit to him in the court in the name of God to
declare the truth, he "bewrayeth it not." Thus he injures
society: he allows the swindling Firm to proceed plunder-
ing society, rifling the pockets and ruining the homes of
honest men.
Conclusion: Eschew bad company. It is said of Pytha-
goras that before he admitted any one into his school he
inquired who were his intimates, implying his belief that
those who chose bad companions would not be profited by
his instructions. But whilst bad companions in free, social
life, are an evil to be denounced and shunned, they are worse
in commercial life; worse when you are linked to them by
* See Homilist, vol. xxxix., p. 393.
768 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXIX.
selfishness sanctioned by law. Young men, believe me that
England teems with reckless speculators, hungry sharks
who are ever in quest of their prey. Most plausible men
for the most part they are: they fawn and guile you into
their meshes. "One rotten apple," says Feltham, "will
infect the store: the putrid grape corrupts the whole sound
cluster. If I have found any good companions I will
cherish them as the choicest of men, or as angels which
are sent as guardians to me. If I have any bad ones, I
will study to lose them, lest by keeping them I lose myself
in the end."
"Some love the glow of outward show:
Some love mere wealth, and try to win it:
The house to me may lowly be,
If I but like the people in it.
What's all the gold that glitters cold,
When linked to hard or haughty feeling?
Whate'er we're told, the nobler gold
Is truth of heart and manly dealing.
Then let them seek whose minds are weak
Mere fashion's smile, and try to win it:
The house to me may lowly be,
If I but like the people in it."
CHARLES SWAIN
"Avoid a villain as you would a brand;
Which, lighted, burns; extinguished, smuts the hand."
Oriental
Proverbs 29:25-27
Social Life
"The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD
shall be safe. Many seek the ruler's favour; but every man's judgment cometh
from the LORD. An unjust man is an abomination to the just; and he that is
upright in his way is an abomination to the wicked."
THESE verses lead us to consider two subjects belonging
to social life:—infirmities, and their moral antidotes; anti-
pathies and their true cause.
Chap. XXIX.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 769
SOCIAL INFIRMITIES AND THEIR MORAL ANTIDOTE.—
What are the infirmities referred to in this passage? There
are two. (1) Social timidity. "The fear of man bringeth
a snare." Account for it how you like, there is in the
human heart a "fear of man." It shows itself in many
ways, and is manifest in all departments of activity. It
seems to be the fear of servility rather than of alarm;
it implies an exaggerated opinion of man's great-
ness and power. This fear makes the author tremble
before his critic, the preacher before his congregation,
and the orator before his audience; it "bringeth a
snare." It often prevents men from honestly working
out their convictions. Whatever is unpopular, however
righteous and urgent, is kept in silence if not denied.
"It was the fear of man that tempted Abraham, and
after him his son Isaac, to similar and repeated pre-
varication and falsehood." It was the fear of man in
Aaron that made the molten calf even when the vision of
the burning mount should have impressed the fear of God.
It vas the fear of man that stained the page of David's
history with such deplorable instances of duplicity and
dissembling. It was the fear of man that led Peter to
deny Christ, and at a later period to dissemble so unwor-
thily as to draw down upon him the censure of his fellow
apostle. It was the fear of man that made the friends and
fellow servants of Paul, when he was brought to trial
before Nero, act with such dastardly unkindness as to give
hirn cause to say, "No man stood with me, all forsook
me." Secret, disciples are afraid publicly to acknowledge
their faith in Christ, because Christianity is unpopular in
their circle. This is the worst and most prevalent of
cowardices. Men who can stand calm in the battle-field
in the presence of the advancing host are too cowardly to
propound an unpopular doctrine, perform an unpopular
act, or espouse an unpopular cause. There is (2) Social
servility. "Many seek the ruler's favour." This state of
mind is nearly akin to the former; it branches from the same
root:—the desire for that honour which cometh from men.
There are those in society whose eyes are ever upturned
770 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXIX.
with a suppliant expression; to them a smile from their
superiors is a sunbeam. They are found in all social
grades, from the lowest to the highest. They are gene-
rally tyrants as well as sycophants. Whilst they fawn on
those above them, they treat with haughty insolence those
beneath. It is a crawling, cringing, miserable spirit this,
that takes possession of men; it is a canker in the heart
of a nation eating out its independency and manhood.
What is the antidote referred to in the passage? Trust
in the Lord. "Whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall
be safe." He who centres his trust in the supremely wise
and good, will soon rise superior to the smiles and frowns
of man. To those who look out upon society from the
stand-point of trust in God, the greatest magnates of the
world will appear only as grasshoppers. They know that
"Every man's judgment cometh from the Lord." There
is a Providence over all, without whose permission the
greatest men can do nothing. He who can say, "Surely
my judgment is with the Lord," will stand before his race
with undaunted heroism, and before his God with devotion.
Conscious dependence on the Almighty is the spirit of in-
dependence towards men. Here are—
SOCIAL ANTIPATHIES AND THEIR TRUE CAUSE.—"An
unjust man is an abomination to the just." There is a
mutual hatred between the good and the bad, old as the
devil, deep as hell, strong and universal as death. The
antagonisms between the righteous and the wicked though
mutual are not identical in reason. The one springs from
conscience, the other from passion; the one refers to the
character the other to the existence. The righteous hate
the character, not the persons of the wicked, whereas the
wicked hate not the character but the persons of the
righteous. It is a terrible thing to be an "abomination
to the just." It is to be in antagonism with the will of
God, and the cause of universal order and happiness. On
the contrary, it is a glorious and blessed thing to be an
abomination to the wicked, their hatred is but the hatred of
passion not conscience, for conscience is bound, in all
worlds and for ever, to reverence the right. So long as
Chap. XXX.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 771
wickedness exists this mutual antagonism must continue.
O come the time when the woman's conquering seed shall
bruise the serpent's head!
"Drums and battle cries
Go out in music of the morning star;
And soon we shall have thinkers in the place
Of fighters; each formidable as a man
To strike electric influence through a race,
Unstayed by city-wall and barbican."
ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING
Proverbs 30:1-9
Agur, as a Philosopher,
a Bibleist and a Suppliant
"The words of Agur the son of Jakeh, even the prophecy: the man spake
unto Ithiel, even unto Ithiel and Ucal, surely I am more brutish than any
man, and have not the understanding of a man. I neither learned wisdom,
nor have the knowledge of the holy. Who hath ascended up into heaven,
or descended? who hath gathered the wind in his fists? who hath bound
the waters in a garment? who hath established all the ends of the earth?
what is his name, and what is his son's name, if thou canst tell? Every
word of God is pure: he is a shield to them that put their trust in him.
Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a
liar. Two things have I required of thee; deny me them not before I die: re-
move far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me
with food convenient for me: lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the
LORD? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain."
THESE verses to the end of the book form a kind of supple-
ment to what are properly called the Proverbs of Solomon.
His proverbs, those selected by himself and those copied
by the men of God in the days of Hezekiah, closed with
the close of the 29th chapter. It may be that the men
who copied his, proverbs were Divinely inspired to publish
this appendix. Whoever Agur was, whether he was one
of the sons of the prophets or not, he was evidently a
"man of God," and endowed with the gift of prophecy.
772 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXX.
It is supposed that the others, Ithiel and Ucal, were
two of his scholars. The words lead us to look on him as
representing a devout philosopher, an intelligent Bibleist,
and an enlightened suppliant.
As a DEVOUT PHILOSOPHER.—As a devout sage he seems
to have been deeply conscious of two things:—First: Of
his ignorance. "Surely I am more brutish than any man,
and have not the understanding of a man. I neither
learned wisdom, nor have the knowledge of the holy."
This is not the language of some one else about him, but
the language of himself, and it indicates a profound sense
of his own ignorance. Perhaps his two disciples, Ithiel
and Ucal, were young men, and, like young students gene-
rally, were disposed to pride themselves on their mental
ability and attainments; and hence their teacher thus ex-
pressed himself strongly concerning his own intellectual
deficiency in order to check their vanity. "I neither
learned wisdom nor have the knowledge of the holy."
The word "holy" in the original is "holies," by which,
perhaps, he means the Divine reasons of things, the
eternal principles that underlie the universe. Thus he
shows his humility. Humility is at once the characteristic
and qualification of all true philosophy. The first lesson
for every man who would get knowledge to learn is, that
he knows nothing. This was the great Newton's experi-
ence. Secondly: He was conscious of universal mystery.
"Who hath ascended up into heaven or descended? who
hath gathered the wind in his fists? who hath bound the
water in a garment? who hath established all the ends of
the earth? What is his name, and what is his son's name,
if thou canst tell? "The spirit of these words is the same
as that contained in Job vii. 9, 12. Agur means to say,
there was no one amongst the sons of men able to pene-
trate into the reason of things, to reach and reveal the
eternal secrets of nature. He challenges his disciples to
bring forward the name of any man who has ever done so.
"What is his name, and what is his son's name?" Go
amongst the greatest philosophers, select one of the chief
of their number, and tell me how much he knows of the
Chap. XXX.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 773
universe. He means perhaps farther to intimate, that he
who could comprehend the works of God must be God
Himself.
So far this Agur reveals the spirit of a true philosopher.
No man is a genuine sage who has not this profound spirit
of humility. The words lead us to look on Agur–
As an INTELLIGENT BIBLEIST. —"Every word of God is
pure." "He is a shield unto them that put their trust in
Him." "Add thou not unto His words, lest He reprove
thee, and thou be found a liar." Here he turns from na-
ture to the Scriptures—the Word of God—that which we
call the Bible. He was more than a naturalist; he was a
Bibleist. Here we have his views of the Word of God.
First: He regarded it as holy. "Every word of God is
pure." The book that we call the Bible contains other
words besides the word of God, but all that it contains of
the word of God is pure, pure in its essence and in its in-
fluence. It commends itself to the universal conscience.
Secondly: He regarded it as trustworthy. "A shield unto
them that put their trust in Him." God's word is Himself
—Himself revealed, and it can be trusted, and he who
trusts it is in safe keeping. "Scepticism and infidelity,"
says a writer on this passage, "unsettle the mind." They
leave it without confidence and without security. The
mind under their influence is like a vessel that has drifted
from its moorings, and has been left to drive out to sea
without rudder and without anchor—unmanned, and at
the mercy of the winds and waves and currents, or, to
keep nearer to the allusion in the verse under comment, it
is like a soldier in the thick and peril of the battle without
a shield, in danger from every arrow that flies, and every
sword that is raised against him. They make their un-
happy subject the sport and victim of every delusive
theory and every temptation of Satan. Thirdly: He re-
garded it as sufficient. "Add thou not unto his words lest
he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar." It requires no
addition, nor will it suffer subtraction; it is like a vital
germ, you can neither attempt to add anything to it or
take anything from it, without injuring it. Christ Himself
774 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXX.
repeats these words of Agar: "I testify unto every man
that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book," &c.,
&c. (Revelation xxii. 18, 19.)
Such was Agur as a Bibleist. Would that we all prac-
tically estimated the Bible as he did! The words lead us
to look on Agur—
As an ENLIGHTENED SUPPLIANT. —"Two things have I
required of thee; deny me them not before I die; remove
far from me vanity and lies; give me neither poverty nor
riches; feed me with food convenient for me; lest I be full
and deny thee, and say who is the Lord? or lest I be poor
and steal, and take the name of my God in vain." Here
Agur turns both from nature and the Bible to God Him-
self, and prays; and what does he pray for? Two things.
First: Deliverance from moral evil—"Remove far from me
vanity and lies." An expression this that covers all
wrong; all wrong in theory and practice—in sentiment
and life. Sin is a delusion, an unreality, a huge false-
hood. David felt this, and said, "Who can understand
his error? Cleanse thou me from secret faults." He prays
Secondly: For a moderate amount of worldly goods.—"Give
me neither poverty nor riches." Why not poverty? Be-
cause of the sufferings and hardships it entails? No. Why
not riches? Because of the anxieties and responsibilities
connected with them? No. Here is the reason, "Lest I
be full and deny thee, and say—Who is the Lord? or lest
I be poor and steal, and take the name of my God in vain."
The words imply his conviction that dishonesty was a far
more terrible evil than poverty, that piety was infinitely
more valuable than gold. The man was fully alive to the
power of circumstances upon character, and devoutly de-
sired that his external circumstances should be such as to
conduce to spiritual excellence.
Here is a man worthy of our study and imitation. As
philosophic enquirers into the secrets of nature, let us
endeavour to get the humility which animated Agur; as
professed believers in the Bible, let us have the same
practical confidence in its purity, trustworthiness, and
sufficiency,
as Agur had; and as suppliants addressing our
Chap. XXX.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 775
petitions to heaven, let us seek to be placed amongst those
circumstances which will prove subservient to our spiritual
culture and growth in goodness. Thus did Agur.
Proverbs 30:10
The False Accuser
"Accuse not a servant unto his master, lest he curse thee, and thou be found
guilty."
THERE is a great tendency in a large number of persons to
find fault with others, and to make accusations; their eyes
are generally open and keen to detect imperfections in
their fellow-men, and their tongues are always ready to
proclaim them. This tendency in a man is powerful and
operative in proportion to the depravity of his own heart.
He who has the "beam" in his own eye is ever more
anxious to discover the "mote" that is in his brother's.
The greatest sinner is always the greatest censor. All
history shows this. How severe was the judgment which
David pronounced upon the man whose portrait Nathan
drew! How vigorous and hasty was the judgment which
the proud Pharisee in the temple passed upon the peni-
tent publican! How ready were the Scribes and
Pharisees ever to pronounce the severest judgment upon
the conduct of Christ and His disciples! The greatest
sinners adjudged to death the holiest Being that ever trod
this earth, even the blessed Son of God Himself. There
is no difficulty in accounting for this remarkable, but
patent fact. (1.) There is the self-blinding influence of
evil. The greater the sinner, the more ignorant he is of
himself and the more unconscious he becomes of the
"beam" that is in his own eye. He fancies himself
spiritually rich and increased in goods, and needing
776 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXX.
nothing. (2.) There is the self-hardening influence of evil.
The more a man sins, the less he cares for others. He
respects neither the claims of society nor of God. He has
no regard for the feelings or the reputation of others;
fault finding and slander become his most pleasing work.
(3.) There is the self-dissatisfying influence of evil. Sin
makes his spirit restless as the "troubled sea." It is ever
characteristic of a dissatisfied soul to envy the happiness
of others, and to seek its destruction. Let us remember
that censoriousness grows with sin, and every desire to
pass rash judgments upon others is an indication of some
great wrong in ourselves. "Charity hopeth all things."
The prince of criminals in the universe is the chief of all
accusers.
The verse under notice points to an accusation that
must be regarded as unjust, heartless, and self-injurious.
It is—
UNJUST. —"Accuse not (or, as it is in the margin, hurt
not with thy tongue) a servant unto his master." The
writer of course does not mean that accusation is not to be
made where there is real and righteous cause for it. He
who hears the character of an employer calumniated, sees
his property plundered, and his interests injured by his
servant, would be unjust not to make the accusation. Not
to give information to the master against such a servant
would be a dereliction of duty, and an encouragement to
immorality. There are two kinds of accusations that come
under this interdict. One is the officious with very small
reasons. Some little fault, some duty forgotten or mistake
committed, which good sense and charity would allow
to pass unnoticed, is from an officious spirit brought
under the notice of the master, and thus a fictitious
significance of culpability is given to it. There is a
meddlesome class in all circles, who are constantly doing
work of this kind, and they deserve the condemnation of
all honourable, righteous, and peace-loving men. The
other kind of accusation that comes under this interdict is,
what we might call vicious, with false reasons. The charge
is a fabrication presented from dishonest and malicious
Chap. XXX.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 777
motives. The accuser has some selfish end to gain, some
base passion to gratify; and he does not hesitate to inflict
injury upon "the servant." To both these accusers, the
officious and the vicious, these words of Agur are ad-
dressed, "Accuse not a servant unto his master." The
verse points to an accusation, that is—
HEARTLESS.—It is a "servant" that is accused "unto
his master." An unjust accusation brought against any-
one—brought against a rich man to his dependents, or an
employer to his employés, is morally reprehensible; but an
additional element of turpitude is added to it when the
accusation is brought against a servant to his master. It
must be borne in mind that the Jewish servants were ordi-
narily slaves. They were at the absolute disposal of their
masters, and were frequently the victims of cruelty. He
who, by a false accusation, sought to damage such, would
be guilty of a ruthless inhumanity. Albeit there are men
of this miserable type—men who are too cowardly to in-
flict a righteous chastisement upon the wrongs of the rich,
but who gratify their miserable malevolence by adding to
the sufferings of the indigent and oppressed. The verse
points to an accusation that is
SELF-INJURIOUS.—"Lest he curse thee, and thou be
found guilty." The vile slanderer, who unjustly destroys
the confidence of a master in his servant, and deprives the
latter of his reputation and his livelihood, will have his
reward. He will be cursed. Poor as his victim is, he has
the heart of a man, and he can hate and curse. He can
flash the lightnings of indignation and hurl the fulmina-
tions of revenge. It is no small evil to be hated by any man.
Could we see things as they are, we should feel that it is a
far more terrible thing to live amongst men burning with
indignation towards us, than to dwell upon the volcanic
mountain, whose fiery jaws are about opening to engulf
our habitation. But this is not the only evil. He will not
only be "cursed" by the servant, but be "found guilty."
Found guilty at the bar of his own conscience, and found
guilty at the tribunal of the Great Judge.
Let masters be cautious in listening to accusations
778 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXX.
brought against their servants. Remember the words of
our great dramatist:
"To urge an accusation is no proof,
Without more certain and more overt test
Than their slight habits and poor likelihoods,
And seemings passion-framed prefer in judgment."
Proverbs 30:11-14
Many Races in One
"There is a generation that curseth their father, and doth not bless their
mother. There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not
washed from their filthiness. There is a generation, O how lofty are their eyes !
and their eyelids are lifted up. There is a generation, whose teeth are as swords,
and their jaw teeth as knives, to devour the poor from off the earth, and the needy
from among men."
THAT there is but one human race is a fact well-established
and generally received; all men are of common origin,
nature, and responsibility. "God hath made of one blood
all nations of men to dwell on the face of the earth."
But the verses before us teach, that whilst the human race
is one physically, it is many in a moral respect. They
speak of four distinct generations, races or families. Paul
says, "All flesh is not the same flesh—there is one kind of
flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and
another of birds." And verily, in moral temperament and
characteristics there is as great a difference between men
of the same generation as there is between the beasts of
the forest, the finny tribes of ocean, and the fowls of
Heaven. Why Agur calls these various moral classes of
men "generations" I know not; unless it be that, like the
physical generations, they succeed and propagate each other.
These moral classes are found in every age; they come
down in regular succession. Man transmits to posterity
his moral character as well as his physical attributes.
Chap. XXX.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 779
Like produces like in the spiritual, as well as in the mate-
rial domain. The four moral generations here are the un-
natural, the self-deluded, the haughty, and the cruel.
The UNNATURAL. —"There is a generation that curseth
their father and doth not bless their mother." This is
an outrage on the natural instinct that teaches love
and obedience. Children who curse their father and bless
not their mother are human beings "without natural
affection," as Paul would say. This is a moral generation
which has been large in every age, and which, from the
number of "fast young men" and "girls of the period,"
is, I trow and fear, rapidly on the increase. The young
are always the most numerous and important class in
society. They come into the inheritance of all the good
of the past, and they have to determine all the destinies of
the future. To a genuine philanthropist, therefore, no
sight is more saddening than a generation that "curseth
their father and doth not bless their mother." It is the
most infamous, pernicious, and detestable race. "I am a
father," says Dr. Wardlaw, "but I trust I do not speak as
a father only, but as a son too, whose memory blesses the
departed objects of filial love, when I say that with nothing
that concerns me would I trust the youth or the man that
curseth his father and doth not bless his mother." There
is nothing that is good there; no principle on which to
depend. It is well that men have agreed to execrate
conduct so unnatural. Notice another moral generation
here, which is—
The SELF-DELUDED. —"There is a generation that are
pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their
filthiness." These are morally corrupt,—Whatever may
be the brilliancy of their genius, the greatness of their
talents, the vastness of their information, the orthodoxy
of their creed, the regularity of their devotions and the
refinement of their manners, their souls are not "washed
from their filthiness." And yet, notwithstanding this
fact, they are so deluded that "they are pure in their
own eyes." The moral filth within them they have covered
over, and on the covering they have painted the picture of
780 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXX.
an angel as the portrait of themselves, and on it they look
with the eye of admiration. The men of this generation
are like the fabled Narcissus, who, having resisted all the
charms of others, one day came to an open fountain of
silvery clearness. He stooped down to drink and saw his
own image, and thought it some beautiful water spirit
living in the fountain. He gazed and admired the eyes,
the neck, the hair, the lips. He fell in love with himself..
In vain he sought a kiss and an embrace. He talked to
the charmer, but received no response. He could not
break the fascination, and so he pined away and died.
These men judge themselves by conventional standards,
not by the principles of everlasting right; they are the
Pharisees of every age. They are found in every church;
and they are the vaunting leaders of little sects and have
their sycophantic bigots to cheer them on. They "thank
God they are not as other men." Notice yet another moral
generation, which is—
The HAUGHTY. —"There is a generation, O how lofty
are their eyes? And their eyelids are lifted up." Why
are they proud? What are the objects in which this
generation pride themselves? They are very various.
Some are proud of their personal beauty. How absurd is this,
since for neither form nor feature can they take any credit.
Some of their lineage. They think of their aristocratic
birth, and look with lofty scorn upon all who are plebeian
born ; a reason still more absurd is this than the former.
Some of their wealth. Purse-pride is perhaps the most com-
mon and at the same time the most contemptible of all
prides. Some pride themselves on their office. Such men
move about with the ludicrous air of those who are
clothed with a little brief authority. You find this from the
holders of high office down to some little mayor or
common councilman, from the Archbishop to the poor
half-starved curate. Some pride themselves on their
own learning. This is certainly more reasonable than
the pride of the others, since man deserves some credit
for labouring after knowledge. Some pride themselves
on their own goodness. They thank God they are
Chap. XXX.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 781
not as other men, and say, "Stand by thyself, come
not near me, for I am holier than thou." Indeed this is the
common language of this generation; they seem to say,
"Stand by thyself, for I am nobler, I am wiser, I am
richer, I am higher in office, and more religious than
thou." "A kite," says the fable, "having risen to a very
great height moved in the air as stately as a prince, and
looked down with much contempt on all below." "What
a superior being I am now!" said the kite; "who has
ever ascended so high as I have? What a poor, grovel-
ling set of beings are those beneath me! I despise
them." And then he shook his head in derision, and
then he wagged his tail; and again he steered along with
so much state as if the air were all his own, and as if
everything must make way before him, when suddenly the
string broke, and down fell the kite with greater haste
than he ascended, and was greatly hurt in the fall."
When Severus, Emperor of Rome, found his end ap-
proaching, he cried out, "I have been everything and
everything is nothing." Then ordering the urn to be
brought to him, in which his ashes were to be enclosed on
his body being burned, he said, "Little urn, thou shalt
contain one for whom the world was too little."
Notice the other generation here which is—
The CRUEL. —"There is a generation whose teeth are as
swords, and their jaw teeth as knives, to devour the poor
from off the earth and the needy from among men." The
class of men here are the heartless, ruthless, insatiable
oppressors, men utterly destitute of all tenderness of heart,
of all loving sympathy, with their fellow creatures.
History abounds with them; they teem in every page of
the history of wars, colonizations, slaveries, merchandize,
hard as iron, cold as death. Occasions sometimes occur
when this generation appears in all its strength and savage
heartlessness. It is said that at the time of the destruc-
tion of the man-of-war, "Prince George," by fire, off
Lisbon, by which 485 persons perished, some of the
fishermen and merchantmen, of whom there were many
around the burning ship, instead of rescuing their fellow
782 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXX.
creatures, busied themselves in picking up fowls, and what-
ever else floated to them from the wreck, except drowning
sailors. With this generation moral argument has
seldom any power.
"You may as well use question with the wolf,
Why he hath made the ewe bleat for the lamb;
You may as well forbid the mountain pines
To wag their high tops, and to make no noise
When they are fretted with the gusts of heaven.
You may as well do anything most hard,
As seek to soften that (than which, what's harder?)—
A cruel heart."
SHAKESPEARE
Proverbs 30:24-28
Practical Lessons from Insect Life
"There be four things which are but little upon the earth, but they are ex-
ceeding wise: the ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the
summer; the conies are but a feeble folk, yet they make their houses in the rocks;
the locusts have no king, yet go they forth all of them by bands; the spider
taketh hold with her hands, and is in kings' palaces." *
THERE are four classes of creatures here presented to our
study. The Ants. The history of these little creatures
is most interesting and remarkable. They show their
wisdom in their social habits and economical arrangements,
in their unwearied industry and prudent foresight. Cicero
believed that the ant was furnished not only with senses,
but also with mind, reason, and memory. The Conies.
Some consider this animal to be a well-known creature of
Mount Libanus, of the rabbit size and form. Its usual
home and refuge is in the holes and clefts of the rocks.
Some render the word here "mountain mice." There is no
way, however, of settling what animal is meant, with
exactness. All that is taught here is, that because they
are feeble and incapable of protecting themselves, they
* The subject of verse 17 has been discussed in previous Reading. Verses 15,
16, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, and 23 are omitted for obvious reasons.
Chap. XXX.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 783
seek their refuge in high rocks. The Locusts. These, it
is said, "have no king, yet go they forth all of them by
bands." Naturalists and travellers furnish astonishing
accounts of these creatures. They tell us how their count-
less myriads travel in such immense and compact legions
as to darken the air and desolate the most fertile plains.
It is not, however, to their number or their destructiveness
that these words refer, but to the order and simultaneous-
ness of their movements. They keep time and rank as if
they were under the direction of a consummate general.
Here is the Spider. This creature, it is here said, "taketh
hold with her hands, and is in kings' palaces." The
structure of this little creature is full of wonders, and the
ingenuity, delicacy, and adaptation of its workmanship is
marvellous. Its web is constructed with as much accuracy
as if it were acquainted with all the laws of architecture
and mathematics. What lessons are taught by these
various tribes of inferior life? In the "ant" we discover
foresight, industry, discretion; in the "coney," prudence
in the selection of safe and suitable dwellings; in the
"locust," we learn the benefit of order, union, and co-opera-
tion in the object of our efforts; and in the "spider" the
advantage of ingenuity and diligence in the arts of life.
It has been remarked by some that these four tribes of life
symbolize all that is requisite for the well-being of a home,
a state, or a kingdom. There is the supply of food which
the ants work for, suitable dwellings which the conies select,
united action which the locusts perform, and skilfulness
and perseverance represented by the spider. There are,
however, two great practical lessons that we may learn
from these little creatures.
That we SHOULD ACT OUT OUR NATURE.—These little
creatures differ widely in their constitution, yet they all
agree in this—they all act out their respective powers.
They war not against their instincts. A man ought to act
according to his whole nature, intellectual and spiritual.
When does man act naturally? When he subordinates the
body to intellect, the intellect to conscience, and conscience
to God. The unnaturalness of man is his condemnation,
784 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXXI.
confusion, and misery. Universal depravity is universal
unnaturalness. The mission of Christianity is to restore
men to the Divine naturalness of life and action.
That we should act out our nature FOR ITS HIGHEST
PERFECTION.—All these little creatures work for their well
being. The ant that provides in summer for winter, the
conies that find their palaces in the wild rocks, the locusts
that go forth in armies for the fruits of the earth, and the
spider that climbs its way into kings' palaces, all seek
their well-being. They work out their whole natures, not
for their ruin but safety, and not for their safety only, but
for their strength, development, and enjoyment. So it
should be with man. There are nourishment, security, and
dignity for man, but they can only be reached in connection
with his own persevering and well-directed activity;
activity and happiness are everywhere connected in the
universe.
"The chiefest action for a man of spirit
Is never to be out of action: we should think
The soul was never put into the body,
Which has so many rare and curious pieces
Of mathematical motion, to stand still."
WEBSTER
Proverbs 31:1-9
The Counsels of a Noble Mother to Her Son
"The words of king Lemuel, the prophecy that his mother taught him.
'What, my son? and what, the son of my womb? and what, the son of my vows?
Give not thy strength unto women, nor thy ways to that which destroyeth kings.
It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine; not for princes
strong drink: lest they drink and forget the law, and pervert the judgment of any
of the afflicted. Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine
unto those that be of heavy hearts. Let him drink, and forget his poverty, and
remember his misery no more. Open thy mouth for the dumb in the cause of all
such as are appointed unto destruction. Open thy mouth, judge righteously, and
plead the cause of the poor and needy." *
WHO was King Lemuel? Some say he was the elder
brother of Agur; others that it was a name given to
* We pass over verses 29 to 33 in the preceding chapter, because they contain
nothing of importance that has not been frequently noticed.
Chap. XXXI.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 785
Solomon himself; others that he was some neighbouring
prince whose mother was a pious Jewess; others that the
name was a figurative appellation of an ideal king, as it
denotes consecration to God. But the identity of this man
is lost in the mist of ages. Our belief is that he had an
historic existence, exercised regal authority, and through
the training of a noble mother, was inspired by the senti-
ments of true religion. The words before us and the whole
of this chapter contain "the prophecy that his mother
taught him." She was probably one of those Hebrew
females on whom the spirit of inspiration sometimes
descended, and her words here were so evidently the words
of an oracle, that they were admitted into the sacred
canon.
A motherly ministry is the tenderest, the strongest, and
the most influential of all the Divine ministries of the
world. But when that ministry is the expression of a
genuinely religious nature, and specially inspired by
Heaven, its character is still more elevated, and its influ-
ence still more beneficent and lasting. Such was the
ministry of the mother of Lemuel. Her counsel to her son
here involves—
An earnest INTERDICT.—With what earnestness does
she break forth! Her motherly heart seems all in a
flame. "What, my son? and what, the son of my womb?
and what, the son of my vows?" The thrice repeated ex-
clamation implies intensity of passion. What am I to
say to thee? How passionately do I love thee, how in-
tensely anxious am I that thou shouldest be a good man
and a noble king! My heart is too full to utter all the
precepts which I wish to inculcate! "The son of my
womb,"—part of my very self, my own flesh and blood.
"Son of my vows,"—granted to me as an answer to my
prayers, and consecrated by me at thy birth to Jehovah.
Now mark her earnest interdict. "Give not thy strength
unto women, nor thy ways to that which destroyeth
kings. It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to
drink wine; nor for princes strong drink: lest they drink
and forget the law." Her vehement inhibition is against
786 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXXI.
animal indulgence in its two great forms—debauchery and
intemperance; against inordinate gratification of the pas-
sions and the appetites. She thought perhaps of the
seraglio and the ruin it had entailed upon the kings of the
past, as well as upon the young men of her age, and she
thought of the banquet, remembered the numbers that
Bacchus had destroyed, and she uttered her prohibition
with her soul on fire. She knew and said that lust
"destroyeth kings," and so it does. It has shattered many
a crown, and ruined many a kingdom. Perhaps her
memory reverted to Elah Benhadad, Belshazzar, and the
princes, "that made him sick with bottles of wine." Well
might a mother thus lift up an earnest protest to her chil-
dren against animal indulgences! The reign of animalism
is a reign that manacles, enfeebles, and damns the soul.
Lust blunts the moral sense, pollutes the memory, defiles
the imagination, sends a withering influence through all
the faculties of man. Robert Burns knew its power, and
exclaimed—
"But oh! it hardens a' within,
And petrifies the feeling."
And thus the sightless bard of England has graphically
described its terrible power:
"But when lust,
By unchaste looks, loose gestures, and foul talk,
But most by lewd and lavish acts of sin,
Lets in defilement to the inward parts,
The soul grows clotted by contagion,
Embodies and imbrutes till she quite lose
The divine property of her first being."
Her counsel to her son involves also—
An earnest INJUNCTION.—Having earnestly prohibited
animal indulgence, she proceeds to a positive injunction
of moral virtues. She enjoins social compassion. "Give
strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine
unto those that be of heavy hearts. Let him drink and
forget his poverty, and remember his misery no more." Why
should she who had just spoken so strongly against her son
drinking wine here enjoin him to give it to others? Wine
Chap. XXXI.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 787
as a beverage indulged in is a curse, wine as a medicine is
a blessing; and it is as a medicine that she here recom-
mends her son to give it to others. Some imagine that in
the phrase "ready to perish" there is an allusion to the
practice of administering a potion of strong mixed wine
to criminals for the purpose of deadening their sensibility
to suffering. If she meant this, there was mercy in it.
But there are cases of general suffering and distress when
wine may be administered with salutary effect. The
Samaritan gave it to the wounded traveller, and Paul pre-
scribed it for the infirmities of his "beloved son in the
faith." "Give strong drink unto him that is ready to
perish; "not to the strong and robust in order to gratify
the palate and drown the reason, but to the men that are
"ready to perish,"—men in intense suffering and ready to
die. Give it to them in order to soothe, refresh, and re-
store them. In their case it may deaden the pain, quicken
the action of the heart, and lead to restoration. What she
inculcates here is compassion to the poor. Give to the
suffering what they require; if they need bread, give it;
if they want wine, as a restorer and cordial, give it. His
compassion was to be shown not only in this but in other
ways as required. "Open thy mouth for the dumb, in the
cause of all such as are appointed to destruction
and plead the cause of the poor and needy." Which
means, "Stand by the oppressed, those against whom
false accusations are made, and who are unable to protect
themselves; take their part." It is the duty and honour
of kings to espouse the cause of the distressed. Mercy is
one of the strongest pillars of a throne. She enjoins not
only compassion but justice. "Open thy mouth, judge
righteously." Deal justice to all, both rich and poor!
Here is a model mother! Would that mothers the world
over would imitate the example of this noble Jewess, warn,
with all the vehemence of maternal love, their sons against
all the "fleshly lusts that war against the soul," and incul-
cate those principles of compassion and justice, apart from
which kings have no dignity, and peoples neither progress
or peace! Napoleon being asked what is the great want
788 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXXI.
of the French nation, replied, "Mothers;" by which I pre-
sume he meant maternal parents doing the true work of
mothers, not allowing their offspring to run into animals
or to grow into fiends, but moulding them into angels, that
excel in strength, and become the ministers of God.
"The mother, in her office, holds the key
Of the soul: and she it is who stamps the coin
Of character, and makes the being, who would be a savage
But for her gentle cares, a Christian man."
Proverbs 31:10-31
A Noble Woman's Picture
of True Womanhood
"Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies. The
heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of
spoil. She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life. She seeketh
wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands. She is like the merchants'
ships; she bringeth her food from afar. She riseth also while it is yet night,
and giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens. She considereth
a field, and buyeth it: with the fruit of her hand she planteth a vineyard. She
girdeth her loins with strength, and strengtheneth her arms. She perceiveth that
her merchandise is good: her candle goeth not out by night. She layeth her
bands to the spindle, and her hands hold the distaff. She stretcheth out her hand
to the poor; yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy. She is not afraid of
the snow for her household: for all her household are clothed with scarlet. She
maketh herself coverings of tapestry; her clothing is silk and purple. Her
husband is known in the gates, when he sitteth among the elders of the land.
She maketh fine linen, and selleth it; and delivereth girdles unto the merchant.
Strength and honour are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come.
She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness.
She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idle-
ness. Her children arise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he
praiseth her. Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them
all. Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain; but a woman that feareth the LORD,
she shall be praised. Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works
praise her in the gates."
THIS is a poetic picture of true womanhood, presented by
a noble woman to her son. It is moulded after the prin-
Chap. XXXI.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 789
ciple exemplified in the 119th Psalm, a principle in which
each verse begins with one of the successive letters of the
Hebrew alphabet. Her son here remembers and repeats
the poetic descriptions, though perhaps the lips that uttered
them and the heart that beat them out were silent in
the grave. With the modesty of a true woman, and es-
pecially a woman of genius, she did not recite her poem to
a public assembly, but quietly breathed it into the soul of
her boy, and there it did its work. Her death, it may be,
quickened it in his memory, gave it new significance, and
forced him to publish it to the world. The death of a
mother is often one of the most life-creating events; it
opens in her children the graves of memory, and calls
forth her long forgotten words in striking forms and
tones.
Looking at the splendid picture of a true woman which
is here presented, we are struck with her conduct as a wife,
her management as a mistress, her blessedness as a mother,
her generosity as a neighbour, and her excellence as an
individual.
Mark her CONDUCT AS A WIFE—Here is inviolable
faithfulness. "The heart of her husband doth safely trust
in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil. She will do
him good and not evil all the days of her life." The
husband trusts her character. She is so chaste, so truthful,
so incorruptible, that he reposes in her his utmost confi-
dence, and such feelings as jealousy and suspicion in
relation to her never enter his breast. He trusts her
management too, for it is said, "so that he shall have no
need of spoil." Her management is so skilful, industrious,
and economic that he has no temptation to go out of his
way to do aught that is dishonest in order to increase his
resources. Many a husband has been prompted to deeds
of dishonesty through the indolence and extravagance of
the partner of his life. Here is practical affection. "She
will do him good and not evil all the days of her life."
She loves—but her love is not an animal sympathy, that
goes off in kisses and florid verbosities, but a deep and re-
sistless current running through her nature, bearing her
790 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXXI.
on in her daily duties. It is a love that "will do him
good and not evil." Not merely temporal good, but in-
tellectual and moral, stimulating his higher faculties and
ennobling his character. And this constantly, "All the
days of her life." There is a wifely love that is fitful,
capricious, passionate in its endearments to-day, to-
morrow cold, sulky, and sometimes splenetic; this is
not the love of a true wife, it is the love of a selfish
woman that seeks only her own gratification. Genuine
wifely love seeks the good of her husband, is constant as
nature. It is not a meteoric spark that comes and goes—
however brilliant, always worthless—but a sunbeam that
continues through all life the same. Here is elevating
influence. "Her husband is known in the gates, when he
sitteth among the elders of the land." She is a crown
to her husband. In consequence of what she has been
to him, and done for him as a wife, he has risen in worldly
wealth and social power. Her words have inspired him
with honourable ambitions, and her diligence and frugality
have contributed the means by which to reach his lofty
aims. Here is merit acknowledged. "Her husband also
praiseth her." There are men who are incapable of ap-
preciating the character or reciprocating the love of a
noble wife. Blessed is the man who has found a wife
approaching this ideal! May every reader of this sketch
be able to join the writer in his thankful acknowledgments
to Him who superintends all human affairs, for blessing his
life with one whose faithfulness has been inviolable, whose
affection pure and practical; and whose services through
"all the days of her life" have contributed to improve his
position, elevate his character, and widen his influence
for good.
Mark her MANAGEMENT AS A MISTRESS.—The first thing
to be noticed is her industry. "She seeketh wool and flax,
and worketh willingly with her hands. She layeth her
hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the distaff." Her
industry was cheerful. She does not merely work, but
works "willingly." Her industry was varied. She works
as a manufacturer. Her work is of a skilful kind. She
Chap. XXXI.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 791
learnt the art of spinning, she gets the "wool and the flax,"
spins and prepares them for personal and household pur-
poses. It was customary among the Jews to bring up all
the youth to useful and handicraft occupation. An excel-
lent custom this, but sadly neglected in these modern times.
This mother of a king here tells her royal son what a
woman should be: handicraft is not unworthy of Queens.
The picture here of this woman spinning the clothing for
herself and family reminds the writer of the days of his
boyhood. He well remembers on a lonely farm in Cambria,
his ever beloved and lamented mother preparing the wool,
"laying her hands to the spindle," taking "hold of the
distaff," and spinning garments for domestic use. Well
he recollects the pride with which his noble father put on
for the first time the coat, the yarn of which she had spun.
The pride was mutual. What coat would be so prized by
a true man as that which was woven by the hands of a
loving and industrious wife?
This form of female industry is superseded in this country
by larger and more complicated machinery, worked by
steam; but the duty is not abrogated. Diligence in useful
pursuits should be the grand lesson in all female education.
The most brilliant accomplishments by the side of useful
productions are simply contemptible in the eye of intelli-
gence. True ladyhood consists not in birth, in jewelled
fingers, in splendid attire or in brilliant accomplishments,
but in the diligent pursuit of those objects which contribute
to the weal of mankind. Alexander the Great is said to
have shown to the Persian princesses his garments made
by his mother. And Augustus, we are told, would wear
no clothes but such as were made by members of his
family. But this noble woman not only works as a manu-
facturer, but as a merchant too. She buys and sells. " She
is like the merchant ships; she bringeth her food from
afar? . . . She considereth a field and buyeth it. . . . She
maketh fine linen and selleth it, and delivereth girdles unto
the merchant." Why does she "bring her food from
afar"? Because, undoubtedly, she could not get it so good
and so cheap at home. " She buyeth a field," she under-
792 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXXI.
stands the value of things and buys them on the best
terms. But she toils as a farmer also. "With the fruit of
her hands she planteth a vineyard." The field she has
purchased she cultivates. Again, her industry was not
only cheerful and varied but earnest. " She riseth also
while it is yet night Her candle goeth not
out by night." She threw her heart into the work. The
woman who lies late in her bed sleeps away the spirit
of diligence, and hastens to the habits of the indolent
sloven or the canting invalid. All honour to the mistress
who is first from her bed, and, like a general, summons
her domestics to action. Her industry is useful. She
works for others. "She giveth meat to her household and
a portion to her maidens She is not afraid
of the snow for her household, for her household are
clothed with scarlet:" or as in the margin, "double gar-
ments." "She looketh well to the ways of her household."
She sees that all her domestics are well fed and well clad;
her aim is to see her husband, her children, and her
maidens comfortable and happy. Here then is a woman
that "eateth not the bread of idleness;" and all who eat
such bread eat bread they have no right to, and are dead
weights on the industry of the world.
Mark her BLESSEDNESS AS A MOTHER.—"Her children
arise up and call her blessed." In the spirit, the character
and the lives of her children she meets with an ample re-
ward for all her self-denying efforts to make them happy
and good. They mark her noble life, and in the first stages
of thoughtfulness they are impressed with the charms of
her disinterestedness and devotion, and as they grow up
under the advantages of her noble example and spiritual
instruction, they love her not only as the instrumental
author of their being, but as to them a ministering angel
from God. Noble mother! There she sits, weakened
by age, crowned with years, and beautiful to behold.
Her children grown up, gather around her with a venera-
tion the most sacred, and a love the most tender and
strong. Their lives are a grateful acknowledgment of
all her kindness, and in their spirit and conversation she
Chap. XXXI.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 793
reaps a rich harvest of delight. Her children "call her
blessed." Their hearts will not allow them to go into
detail, nor can they say less than "blessed mother." "Ye
wives—ye mothers!" says an able author, "what a lovely,
what an enviable scene is this! How earnestly should
each one of you strive to realise it in your own happy ex-
perience! Your children—affectionate, grateful, pious—
united in love to one another and to you—owning and
commending, with tears of sensibility and delight, their
loved mother as the guardian, all kind and fond and faith-
ful, of their infant years, blessing her, speaking well of
her, praying for her, praising her: growing up into a life
of credit to her early care, and requiting that care in every
kind of practical attention to the well-being of her declin-
ing, perhaps her widowed years!"
Mark her GENEROSITY AS A NEIGHBOUR.—"She
stretcheth out her hand to the poor; yea, she reacheth
forth her hand to the needy." Although she "looketh
well to the ways of her household," she works hard for the
comforts of all under her roof; her sympathies are not
confined to the domestic sphere. They overflow the boun-
dary of family life, they go forth into the neighbourhood.
What she does for the poor she does not in a half-hearted
way. "She stretcheth forth her hand to the poor; yea,
she reacheth forth her hand to the needy." This woman
had a right to give,—a right altogether irrespective of even
her husband's sanction. She herself had created property;
she had acted on the principle laid down by Paul, "Let
him labour, working with his hands that which is good,
that he may have to give to him that is needy." What we
produce is our own. This noble woman, through manu-
facturing, farming, and bartering, had created property
herself, and now she was giving it to them who were in
need, and she seems to have given it with her whole
heart. You cannot get some people to move their
"hands" at all in efforts to help the poor, while others
will only lift them a little way after all your arguments
and persuasions. But this woman "stretcheth forth
her hand,"—she went as far as her means would allow.
794 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXXI.
"The presence of the poor," says Dr. Arnot, " is, like the
necessity of labour, a blessing to mankind; it provides a
field for the exercise of affections which are necessary to
the perfection of human character. When material ac-
quisitions are great, and benevolent efforts small, the
moral health cannot be maintained; when much flows in,
and none is permitted to flow out, wealth becomes a
stagnant pool, endangering the life of those who reside
on its brim. The sluice which love opens to pour a
stream upon the needy sweetens all the store. The
matron who really does good to her own house will
also show kindness to the poor; and she who shows
kindness to the poor, thereby brings back a blessing on.
her own dwelling."
Mark her EXCELLENCE AS AN INDIVIDUAL. — "Many
daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them
all." This is a confession that no woman in the days of
Lemuel's mother realised her idea of womanhood; indeed,
she starts the poem with the expression of her belief of
the rarity of such a character. "Who can find a virtuous
woman?" Had Solomon started such a question, who
would have been surprised? His knowledge of women
was perhaps confined to his hundreds of princesses in his
seraglio, and all virtues had forsaken them. But it cer-
tainly does reflect sadly upon the female contemporaries
of this godly and inspired Jewess, when she puts the ques-
tion, "Who can find a virtuous woman?"
But let us look for a moment into the personal charac-
teristics of this model woman. She was vigorous in body.
"She girdeth her loins with strength, and strengtheneth
her arms." Such a state of body as this is not thought
genteel or even respectable for ladies in this age. A some-
what attenuated frame, impaired health, and sundry ail-
ments are popularly regarded as constituents of ladyhood.
But laziness, which is depravity, is the source of these attri-
butes of gentility. This woman lived on wholesome food,
worked her muscles, plied her limbs, breathed the moun-
tain air, and won firm tissue and vigorous health. "She
girdeth her loins with strength and strengtheneth her
Chap. XXXI.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 795
arms." Again, it appears that she was elegant in her dress.
"She maketh herself coverings of tapestry, her clothing
is silk and purple." What an index is to a book, dress is
to the wearer; it indicates the contents. The quality of
this woman's dress was good; it was of "tapestry,"
"silk and purple." She had a right to such raiment, it
was the product of her own hard earnings, and in all pro-
bability she made it with her own hands. Every woman
should earn her own attire, and not only know how to
make it, but do so, unless she is engaged in some higher
occupations. Much has been written in the present day
on woman's dress, and certainly it is a subject so startling
as to challenge criticism, and often to awaken disgust. A
woman's dress should always be modest, never arrest at-
tention, or suggest the unchaste. "Madam," says old John
Newton, "so dress and so conduct yourself that persons
who have been in your company shall not recollect what
you had on." A fashionably dressed lady once asked a
clergyman if there was any harm in wearing feathers and
ornaments. He answered, "If you have the ridiculous
vanity in your heart to wish to be thought pretty and fine,
you may as well hang out the sign." Dress should not
only be modest, but becoming—becoming to the stature,
gait, complexion, and station of the wearer. Neatness also
should characterize it; ugliness gains nothing, and beauty
loses much by the gaudy and the grand. The dress of our
modern lady, with her hanging sacks of hair cut from the
heads of paupers, convicts, raging maniacs, and the dead,
with bolsters of silk and satin piled up on her back, and
moving about limping and crooked with the "Grecian
Bend," is not only an outrage on decency, but on all
aesthetics. To me, I confess, the plain cotton costume of
the honest servant, the product of her own industry, and
the work of her own hands, is far more beautiful than the
mountains of silk, branches of streaming ribbons, and rows
of glittering jewellery that cover the would-be-fashionable
lady. Furthermore, she was dignified and cheerful in
bearing. "Strength and honour are her clothing: And she
shall rejoice in time to come." She stood erect in strength,
796 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. XXXI.
and her habits of diligence and honesty gave a dignity to
her bearing. Her neighbours would feel themselves, when
they looked at her, in the presence of true nobility. And
with all she was cheerful. "She shall rejoice in time to
come." The life she had lived and was living, was not
only a source of pleasure to her now, but would be so in
retrospection in years to come. Every day in a true life
plants new flowers in the Paradise of the past. The
memory of a noble past is one of the chief sources of
present delight. Moreover, she was prudent and kind in
speech. "She openeth her mouth in wisdom: And in her
tongue is the law of kindness." Her conversation con-
sisted not in simpering inanities, idle gossip, or unchaste
narrations, nor was it ever tinged with unkindness. As
there was no spleen in her nature, there was nothing
sardonic in her speech. She was too rich in love for
envies, too noble for jealousies, too confiding for suspi-
cions, too truthful for falsehood, too good for scandal.
And to crown the whole she was devout and honoured in
religion. "Favour is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a
woman that feareth the Lord she shall be praised." Re-
ligion was the spirit of her character, the germ from which
grew all the fruits of her noble life. Supreme love to God,
which is religion, is that which generates, animates, and
adorns all other virtues of character. This woman had it,
and hence the beauty of her moral stature and the useful-
ness of her life.
Conclusion.—Our subject furnishes another reason for
prizing the Bible. Where in any other book, ancient or
modern, can you find such a splendid ideal of womanhood,
an ideal that commends itself to our highest philosophy,
our conscience, and our hearts? Let us hold up this ideal
of womanhood, and in its presence we shall feel that the
modern ladyism of England, with its preposterous cos-
tumes, unnatural movements, and empty talk, is a thing
for loathing and contempt. Young men, take this ideal of
womanhood with you into society, hang it about your neck
as a glass through which to search out a companion to
share the sorrows and the joys, the triumphs and defeats,
Chap. XXXI.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 797
of your earthly life. Remember ever what a woman's
true mission is:—
"'Tis woman's to nourish affection's tree,
And its fruit domestic bliss shall be:
'Tis hers to cultivate with patient toil
Each heaven-born plant in the heart's deep soil;
And fruits and flowers her toil shall greet,
Richest flavours and odours on earth that meet.
"'Tis woman's to fashion the infant mind,
To kindle its thoughts, and its hopes unbind:
To guide its young mind in the earliest flight,
And lure it to worlds of unsullied light:
To teach him to sing, in his gladsome hours,
Of a Saviour's love, with an angel's powers.
"'Tis woman's to bind up the broken heart,
And soften the bleeding spirit's smart,
With the balm that in Gilead's garden grows,
With the stream that from Calvary's fountain flows;
And to light, in this world of pain and sin,
The lamp of love and joy again."
Please report any errors to Ted Hildebrandt at:
ted.hildebrandt@gordon.edu