main homiletics of verse29.
God’s Way Destruction and Salvation.
I. In common with all His intellectual and moral creatures, God has a way, or plan of action.A skilful artificer has awayby which he brings forth a certain result in a work of skill. His way is the out-come of his previous thought and purpose; he does not go about his work in uncertainty as to what he is going to do, or how he is going to do it. The architect proceeds to erect his building in accordance with a certain plan, in a certainwaybefore determined on. The public instructor haswaysof teaching which are the out-come of previous thought; he would otherwise work at random. Those who are leaders of others must think and teach within the limits of certain rules, in pursuance of some definite end, otherwise there could be no result from their teaching. God, the skilful Artificer and wise Architect of the material universe, the Great Instructor of men, is no exception to this rule. 1. He works innatureaccording to a definite and pre-ordained rule or law. All that we see around us reveals Divine forethought and intention, proclaims that the Creator works for a definite end, that He walks in a pre-arranged way. He has a way, or method, of producing day and night, summer and winter, of developing the seed-corn into the full ear, of watering the earthby clouds, and so fitting it for the habitation of men. 2. He has a way inProvidence,and though here it is far more difficult than even in nature to trace His working or unravel His purposes, we know that He works in accordance with a definite plan for the accomplishment of a certain purpose, and that there is nothing of chance in the mysteries of life. A child may look on while his father is putting together the works of a watch, he cannot judge of the adaptation of certain processes and actions, but he knows that his father has made many watches before, and he judges from whathas been,of whatis,and whatshall be.And so with God’s way of providence, we cannot trace the way of His operation, we cannot see the issue of His actions while He is at work. The workings are too complicated for us to trace the adaptation of the means to the end. But from past results we conclude what will be the issue of His present dealings, from whathas beenwe know whatshall be,viz., that all will be seen to be part of a great plan or way of action, and that the verdict of the universe at last will be, “just and true are Thy ways, Thou king of saints” (Rev. xv. 3). Clouds and darkness have been around God’s working in the past, but righteousness and justice have come out of the darkness, and so we know it ever shall be. 3. God has awayof grace. Here His way is a way of forgiveness through a Divine Atoner, and of sanctification through a Divine Spirit, meeting human need if that human need is felt and confessed. The need of a man who has broken God’s law must be felt and acknowledged before the way of forgiveness and restoration is brought into operation. This is the law by which men are loosed from the bonds of sin, “God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them” (2 Cor. v. 19). This is Jehovah’s “way of salvation.”
II. The opposite effects of the Divine way upon opposite characters.“The way of the Lord isstrengthto the upright, butdestructionto the workers of iniquity” (seeCritical Notes). All men who are not numbered with the “upright,” whose moral nature has not been lifted up by contact with the Divine, are “workers of iniquity.” Dr. David Thomas says of iniquity, “The word is negative—the want of equity. Men will be damned not merely for doing wrong, but for not doing the right” (see “The Practical Philosopher,” p. 132). We take the words therefore to signify the two great classes into which Christ divides the world, “He that believeth and he that believeth not” (John iii. 18), and consider the different effect upon these two opposite characters of—1.Jehovah’s way of nature.To the upright there comes strength from the contemplation of God as revealed in His material works. He feels that God is a necessity to account for what he sees around him. All created things speak to him of the wisdom, the power, and the goodness of their Maker and Upholder, and his faith is strengthened by this manifestation of “the way of the Lord.” He obeys the injunction of the prophet, “Lift up your eyes on high and behold, who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number; He callest them all by names, by the greatness of His might, for He is strong in power, not one faileth.” And thence he draws the prophet’s argument, “That the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary,” that “He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength,” and in thus “waiting upon the Lord” he “renews his strength,” he “runs and is not weary, he walks and does not faint” (Isa. xl. 26–31). But how different is the effect of the works of nature, when the God of nature is not acknowledged. They harden men in materialism, God’s own laws are used to bow Him out of His own universe, and their working becomes so many forces of destruction because they drive men further from their only hope and help. As Paul tells us, such men “hold(back)the truth in(or, by)unrighteousness, because that which may be known of God is manifest in(or, to)them; for God hath showed it to them. For the invisible things of Him fromthe creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His Eternal Power and Godhead.” But, “professing themselves wise, they became fools, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator” (see Rom. i. 18–32). This is destruction to any man. 2.Of Jehovah’s way of providence.Faith in a personal God, in a Divine Saviour, makes this “way” also “strength to the upright.” If a seaman has faith in his captain, this gives him strength for his duty even in the roughest weather. He feels that he is not altogether left to the mercy of the blind elements, but that there is a strong and wise will guiding the ship. So confidence in an All-wise Father, in a King who “can do no wrong,” is the stronghold of the upright amidst all the apparent contradictions and mysteries of life. He knows who is at the wheel of all human affairs, that
“When He folds the cloud about Him,Firm within it stands His throne;”
and the knowledge that “God is Light, and in Him is no darkness at all,” makes what would otherwise overwhelm him in Doubt, and consequently in weakness, a source of strength, a power of life. But where God is not known, this confidence is absent, and nothing but chance, or an arbitrary Judge, sits upon the throne of the Universe. The terrible perplexities of life are like the rings of the wheels in Ezekiel’s vision, “so high that they are dreadful,” and, as such a man does not discern above them the “man upon the throne” (Ezek. i. 18–20), they are to him only mighty and resistless engines of destruction. 3.Of Jehovah’s way of grace.The upright man has gained his strength to be upright from the way of Divine forgiveness. Even a child feels stronger when assured of his father’s restored favour, and the forgiveness of God sets a man upon his feet and gives him that “joy of the Lord” which is “strength” (Neh. viii. 10). Unforgiven sin breaks the bones of the soul. “When I kept silence, my bones waxed old,” but “I said I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord; and Thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin.” “Make me to hear joy and gladness: that the bones which Thou hast broken may rejoice. Hide Thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities” (Psa. xxxii. 3–5, li. 8, 9). And he gains strength to continue in the way of uprightness by communion with an unseen Saviour, by the indwelling power of the Holy Ghost. Christ is “the power of an endless life” to all who believe in Him (Heb. vii. 16). This is the “way” orlawof the kingdom of grace. “To as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name” (John i. 12). But to those who reject the way of grace, this “righteousness of God” (Rom. iii. 22), this “way of salvation,” becomes a power of destruction; that which was ordained to be a “savour of life” becomes a “savour of death.” Christ crucified is a stumbling-block and foolishness to such (1 Cor. i. 23). “Whosoever shall fall upon this stone shall be broken; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder” (Matt. xxi. 44). The way of Jehovah is in no instance thecauseof the destruction of the wicked but it must be theoccasion.The words and works of Christ were theoccasionbut not thecauseof the great national sin of the Jewish nation. “If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloak for their sin. If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father” (John xv. 22–24). The knife in the hand of the surgeon is an instrument to save life, but the patient may use it to kill himself if he be so minded. A candle may be used to give light and comfort to all in the house—this is its use with regard to honest men—but the same light may be the means of the discovery and punishment of a thief. The light and heat of the sun, falling upon a bed of flowers fills the air with fragrance and the spirit ofman with delight, but if it fall upon a noisome stagnant pool, or a dead body, it will hasten decomposition and spread the seeds of disease and death. It is not the nature of sunlight to destroy, but the objects upon which it falls turns the blessing into a curse. So with “the grace of God which bringeth salvation” (Titus ii. 11). “It is not true,” says Maclaren, “that every man that rejects Christ does in verityrejectHim, and not merelyneglectHim; that there is always an effort, that there is a struggle, feeble, perhaps, but real, which ends in the turning away. It is not that you stand there, and simply let Him go past. That were bad enough; but it is more than that. It is that you turn your back upon Him! It is not that His hand is laid on yours, and yours remains dead and cold, and does not open to clasp it; but it is that His hand being laid on yours, you clench yours the tighter, andwill nothave it. And so every man (I believe) that ever rejects Christ does these things thereby—wounds his own conscience, hardens his own heart, makes himself a worse man, just because he has had a glimpse, and his willingly, almost consciously, ‘loved darkness rather than light.’ The message of love can never come into a human soul, and pass away from it unreceived, without leaving that spirit worse, with all its lowest characteristics strengthened, and all its best ones depressed, by the fact of rejection. . . . If there were no judgment at all, the natural result of the simple rejection of the Gospel is that, bit by bit, all the lingering remains of nobleness that hover about the man, like scent about a broken vase, shall pass away; and that, step by step, through the simple process of saying, ‘I will not have Christ to rule over me,’ the whole being shall degenerate, until manhood becomes devilhood, and the soul is lost by its own want of faith” (See Sermons, Vol. I. p. 7). And so it is all with man, and in no degree with God, that “His way,” which He intends to be the fortress, the strength of every human soul, becomes a destruction to “the workers of iniquity.”
outlines and suggestive comments.
This promise implies help for our work, and not rest from our labour. We shall havestrengthfor the conflict. But “there is no discharge from the war.” There is supply for real, not for imaginary, wants; for present, not for future, need. The healthful energy of the man of God is also supposed. He is alive in the way; his heart is set in it. This makes it practicable. What before was drudgery is now meat and drink. Indeed, the more godly we are, the more godly we shall be. The habit of grace increases by exercise. One step helps on the next. Thus was the way of the Lord strength to the upright Nicodemus. His first step was feebleness and fear. Walking onwards, he waxed stronger; standing up in the ungodly council, and ultimately the bold confessor of his Saviour when his self-confident disciples slunk back (John iii. 2, vii. 50, xix. 39). . . . Thus “the righteous shall hold on their way, going from strength to strength,” strengthened in the Lord, and walking up and down in His name (Job xvii. 9; Psa. lxxxiv. 5–7; Zech. x. 12). . . . No such resources support the workers of iniquity. Captives instead of soldiers, they know no conflicts; they realize no need of strength.—Bridges.
The way of the earth doth weary them that walk in it, and doth take away their strength: butthe way of the Lord is strength to the upright,so that the more they goinit, the more able are they to goonin it. Or else because he walketh in the ways of God’s most gracious providence over him, and that must needs be a strength unto him. A strong staff, that is, to support him, a strong bulwark to defend him, a strong arm to fight for him.The angel, therefore, might well say to Gideon, “Thou mighty man of valour” when he had first said, “The Lord is with thee.” But as the way of the Lord is upright the way of His gracious providence over them, so He hath another way for theworkers of iniquity,and that is the way of judgment.—Jermin.
Sin is man’s destruction.1. Sin brings many evils upon man, from which, if he were virtuous, he would be totally free, such as a decayed body, a wounded conscience, a disconnected heart, vexation in the present, fear for the future. 2. Fear puts man out of condition to render tolerable those evils which he cannot avoid. He feels the burden of them in all their pressure because he is destitute of the supports of reliance and hope. He cannot perceive in his afflictions the hand of a father, but is forced to confess them the punishment of an offended sovereign. 3. Sin prevents man from the full enjoyment of the good which outweighs the evil in the world. The Christian finds pleasure in the works of creation, the methods of providence, in beneficence, in friendship, in domestic happiness. Sin deprives us of a taste for these pleasures by enervating the mind, by selfishness, by pride. 4. Sin incapacitates us for the state of pure and perfect happiness in the world to come.—Zollikofer.
Sometimes, by the way of the Lord, the observing of God’s law, sometimes the course of God’s providence is meant in Scripture, as here in this place. It is said to strengthen the upright, not only for that it fortifieth their hearts, but because it preserveth them by sundry means from destruction. The manner of the Lord’s desiring with the wicked is quite contrary; for the Lord plagueth them and crosseth them for their iniquities, and in their evil doing, even throughout the whole course of their life, which is unfortunate and full of many miseries.—Muffet.
The “way” Jehovah personally walks in (as, for example, His way of justice) “is a fortress.” To Gabriel, for instance, it is the arch that shelters him for ever; to the poor saint it is a sworn certainty of defence; but to the wicked it is an eternal vengeance. The way of mercy—that is, in the cross of Christ—is life unto life to the saint, and death unto death to the rebellious sinner. Elihu pictures this in the outward creation (Job xxxvi. 31); “For by them” (that is, by the same elements of Nature) “judgeth He the people; He giveth meat in abundance.” The same showers fertilise the earth, or tear to pieces with a deluge.—Miller.
main homiletics of verse30.
The Earth the Possession of the Righteous.
I. From their relation to God it is theirs now.The estate of an English nobleman is the portion of all his family to a certain extent. They all live upon it, and partake of its productions. But the eldest son has a special inheritance in it—it is the perpetual possession of the heir of the house, and it is therefore his in a sense in which it is not the property of his brothers and sisters. “The earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof” (Psa. xxiv. 1), and it is therefore the property of His children—of those who are His sons and heirs (Rom. viii. 17). All men enjoy to some extent the blessings of the earth, butit belongsonly to them whom Paul addresses when he says, “All things are yours, whether . . . the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come” (1 Cor. iii. 21, 22).
II. From their relation to God it shall be theirs in the future.The regenerated earth is to be the eternal abode of the righteous. The glorified body of the redeemed man will have enough of his present body to enable us to identify each other. Although we have not now the “body that shall be” (1 Cor. xv. 37), there will be such a relationship between the presentand the future as shall make them the same individual man. So, although the earth is to be “a new earth” (2 Pet. iii. 13), there will be that about it which will enable the regenerated man to recognise his old home. And if in the new earth there is to dwell “righteousness,” it is because it is to be the abode of righteous beings. On this subject see also Homiletics on chap.ii. 21, 22.
outlines and suggestive comments.
Verse 30. Love of home is an impulse and emotion natural to man; but to no people was fatherland so greatly delighted in, to none was exile and banishment from fatherland so dreadful a thought, as it was to the people of Israel. Expatriation is the worst of all evils with which the prophets threatened individuals and the people; and the history of Israel in their exile, which was a punishment of their national apostasy, confirms this proverb, and explains its form. . . . In general, the proverb means that the righteous fearlessly maintains the position he takes; while, on the contrary, all they who have no hold on God lose also their outward position. But often enough this saying is fulfilled in this, that they, in order that they may escape disgrace, become wanderers and fugitives, and are compelled to conceal themselves among strangers.—Delitzsch.
The desire of the righteous is not to stay upon earth, neither is that the reward which God hath appointed for them. They know a better place to go unto, and where better things that the earth can afford are provided for them. Hugo de Sancto Victore saith, therefore, making three sorts of men, “He is very delicate whose own country is delicious unto him; he is valiant to whom every country is his own; he is perfect to whom the world is a banishment. The first hath fastened his love upon the world, the second hath scattered his love in the world, the last hath extinguished his love from the world.” And this is therighteous manof whom it is here said that he shall never be removed, because he shall never be taken hence with an unwilling and reluctant mind. He having never set his affection upon the world, can never beremovedfrom it. When he goeth hence, he goeth cheerfully and gladly; it is not aremoveof him, but a pleasant passage to him.—Jermin.
Moved,notremoved, butshakenshall not be seriously disturbed.—Miller.
See also comments on chap.ii. 21, 22.
For Homiletics on Verse 31, see on Verses13, 14, and20, 21.
outlines and suggestive comments.
The figure here is of asproutorseedlingwhich has the capacity to grow for ever. “Wisdom” is such a tree. It grows from the mouth of the good man, and will grow for ever; that is, the good man will incessantly spread abroad wisdom. God, who is invisible, spreads abroad wisdom only through the creature. But the ungodly tongue, literally “the tongue of upturnings,” overturning everything, and being in this world the great instrument for leading others astray, will be put in a condition to be foiled of such an influence: as the inspired sentence expresses it, will be “cut out.”—Miller.
As a tree full of life and sap brings forth its fruit, so in Isaiah, lvii. 19, the cognate word is translated “the fruit of the lips.” The froward tongue is like a tree that brings forth evil and not good fruit. It “shall be cut down.” What is meant is, that the abuse of God’s gift of speech will lead ultimately to its forfeiture. There shall, at last, be the silence of shame and confusion.—Plumptre.
main homiletics of verse32.
Acceptable Words.
I. The righteous man knows what words are acceptable to God from a study of Divine laws.The courtier knows how to approach his king—in what words to address him—because he has made himself acquainted with the laws of the court. The righteous man is well acquainted with the laws of the kingdom of God, and, being so, he knows how to draw near to the Divine King—he sets his words in order before Him as the wood is laid in order upon the altar for the sacrifice. God has not left man in ignorance of what kind of words are acceptable to Him (Hosea xiv. 2; Mal. iii. 16; Matt. vi. 9; Ephes. v. 19, 20, etc).
II. He knows what words are acceptable to men from a study of their character.Man’s character is a prophecy of the kind of words that will be acceptable. The righteous man makes it his business, and regards it as his duty to frame his speech—so far as it is consistent with righteousness—in such a manner that those to whom he speaks will be won to listen to his words.
III. He speaks what are acceptable words from the habit of his heart.It is natural for a good tree to bear good fruit, and it is the nature of a righteous man to speak words of humility and faith to his God and of kindness to his fellow-men. As the tree is, so is the fruit. As the man’s heart is, so, with rare exceptions, are his words. (See onverse 20.)
outlines and suggestive comments.
Verse 32. The plain sense is, that the righteous speak those things whereby they have the favour both of God and man, and whereby they are in friendship and peace both with heaven and earth. But the mouth of the wicked careth not to offend either God or man, and seeketh not for love anywhere, being wholly pleased in perverseness. But many know what isacceptableto God and man, but their lips do not know it. So the liar knoweth truth to beacceptableto God and man, but their lipsdo not know it:the profane person knoweth prayer to be acceptable, but his lips do not know it: the ill governor knoweth the reproof of vice to be acceptable, but his lips do not know it: the brawler knoweth mildness of speech to be acceptable, but his lips do not know it. Yea, the lips also of many speak that which is acceptable, but their lips do not know it; their speaking of it being in such a manner as maketh that which pleaseth God and pleaseth man, and he speaks it in a pleasing manner. Or else asClemens Alexandrinusreadeth, the lips of the righteous know high things in speaking the high praises of the highest God, and in opening the truth of high things unto men.—Jermin.
How, what, when, to whom to speak, is a matter of great wisdom. Yet this consideration ofacceptablenessmust involve no sacrifice of principle. Let it be a considerate accommodation ofmodeto the diversities of tastes; a forbearance with lesser prejudices and constitutional infirmities; avoiding not all offences (which faithfulness to our Divine Master forbids), but allneedlessoffences, all uncalled-for occasions of design and irritation. “The meekness of wisdom” should be clearly manifested in Christian faithfulness (Jas. iii. 13). Thus Gideon melted the frowardness of the men of Ephraim (Judg. viii. 2, 3). Abigail restrained David’s hands from blood (1 Sam. xxv. 23, 33). Daniel stood fearless before the mighty monarch of Babylon (Dan. iv. 27). Their lips knew what was acceptable, and their God honoured them.—Bridges.
Homily on the entire Chapter.The pious and ungodly compared in respect—1. To their earthly good; 2. To their worth in the eyes of men; 3. Totheir outward demeanour in intercourse with others; 4. To their disposition of heart as this appears in their mien, their words, their acts; 5. To their diverse fruits, that which they produce in their moral influence upon others; 6. To their different fates as awarded to them at last in the retribution of eternity.—Lange’s Commentary.
Critical Notes.—1. Just weight,literally, “a stone of completeness, a full stone.” Stone was a very ancient material for weight; not rusting, it was not changeable.2.Literally, “there hath come pride, there will come shame.” Stuart reads, “Does pride come, then shame will come.”3. Guide,“lead” “as a shepherd his sheep, and therefore in the path of safety and peace” (Stuart).Perverseness,“slipperiness,” “falseness.”Destroy.An intensive word in the Hebrew, “to lay hold of them with violent force” (Stuart).5. Direct,“make smooth or even.”6. Naughtiness,“cravings,” “desires,” “covetousness.”7. Hisandmenare not in the original, and the verse is variously rendered. Stuart reads, “When the wicked die, all the hopes perish; and when they are afflicted, their expectation of recovery or alleviation will be frustrated.” Zöckler—“With the death of the wicked hope cometh to nought, and the unjust expectation has perished.” Miller—“By the death of a wicked man hope is lost, and the expectation of sorrowing ones is lost already.”9.Zöckler here reads, “The hypocrite with his mouth destroyeth his neighbour, but by the knowledge of the righteous shall they (the neighbours) be delivered.”12. Void of wisdom,literally, “of heart.” Zöckler inverts the phrase, “He that speaks contemptuously of his neighbour lacketh wisdom.”13.“He who goeth about as a slanderer.”14. Counsel,literally, “pilotage,” “steersmanship.”15. Suretyship,literally “striking hands.” See notes and Illustrations on chap.vi. 1. Stuart translates this verse, “An evil man showeth himself as evil when he giveth pledge to a stranger,”i.e.,by hastily pledging himself and then not redeeming his pledge.16.Last clause “as strong men retain,” or “grasp at riches.”17.Or, “He who doeth good to himself is a merciful man, but he who troubleth his own flesh is cruel.” So Stuart and Miller, Zöckler and Delitzsch read as the Authorised Version.18.“The wicked gaineth a deceptive result, but he that soweth righteousness a sure reward” (Zöckler).21.The Hebrew here is simply“hand to hand, the wicked,”etc. Zöckler and Delitzsch understand it as a formula of strong asservation derived from the custom of becoming surety by clasping hands, and hence equivalent to “assuredly,” “verily,” “I pledge it.” Stuart says, “Different meanings have been assigned. 1. Hand against hand,i.e.,the injurious man. 2. From one hand to another,i.e.,from one generation to another. 3. Joining hands in way of assurance—“verily.” All these are little better than guesses. The phrase is evidently proverbial and doubtless abridged. The most simple interpretation is that of Michael, “Hand joined to hand will not protect the guilty. Let the evil man struggle with all his might he will not escape.”23. Wrath,i.e.,God’s wrath (Zöckler).25. Liberal soul,“the soul of blessing,”i.e., “the soul that blesses others.”27. Procureth,rather “seeketh.”Favour,i.e.,God’s favour. So it is generally understood. But Delitzsch reads “He who striveth after good, seeketh that which is pleasing,”i.e.,that which pleaseth or doeth good to others.28. Branch,rather, “a green leaf.”30.Or, “the wise man winneth” or “taketh” souls.31.Miller transposes this verse and reads, “Behold the righteous on earth shall be recompensed,” etc.On earthmay be placed either with “the righteous,” or with “recompensed.”
main homiletics of verse1.
Just Weight.
The judgment on a false weight is a two-fold revelation.
I. It reveals the existence of a true standard.We only know what is false by knowing what is true. If a mason looks at a stone and declares that it is uneven, he declares at the same time that there is such a thing as an even stone, or that there is a possibility of making a stone perfectly level and square. He reveals his knowledge of what is even by passing judgment upon what isuneven. When a judge declares that a man has not fulfilled the requirements of the law, he thereby proclaims the existence of a law which ought to have been, and might have been obeyed. As Paul tells us, “Sin is not imputed where there is no law” (Rom. v. 13). And if a weight is condemned as false, the condemnation implies that there is a certain standard of weight which ought to have been reached. God, who here tells men that He abominates a false balance, declared by His condemnation of it that there is such a thing as a true weight: that there is that which He recognises asjusticebetween man and man. And much that men call “a full stone,” a “fair day’s wages,” is not so regarded by God. It is not dealing truly with a man to give him the smallest possible amount for the work he does—to take advantage of his poverty or ignorance to beat him down to the lowest sum for which his need will induce him to give his labour, and thereby condemn him to all the evils of insufficient means. “Behold!” says Carlyle, “supply and demand is not the one law of Nature; cash payment is not the sole nexus of man with man,—how far from it! Deep, far deeper than supply and demand are laws, obligations sacred as man’s life itself!” This is the law of the Divine kingdom: “All things whatsoever ye would that man should do to you, do ye even so to them” (Matt. vii. 12). Less than this is a “false balance,” this is the “full stone,” which is God’s “delight.”
II. It reveals the character of God.If a man declares that certain actions are displeasing to him, the declaration reveals his character: if the actions that he hates are wicked in themselves and hurtful to men, his hatred of them proclaims his own righteousness and benevolence. That God is a hater of false weights and measures in every sense and of every kind proclaims Him to be a God of mercy and truth, a Ruler who will Himself “not pervert judgment,” who “will not lay upon man more than right,” but who will “give everyone according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings” (Job xxxiv. 12, 13; Jer. xxxii. 19). And the text likewise proclaims God’s notice of what men sometimes call little things. The farthing kept back from the child, and the ounce taken from the pound, are as much marked by Him as the short wages given to the man, the unjust sentence passed upon the prisoner. Dr. Guthrie says “God sees the water in the milk, and the sand in the sugar.” There are no great and small transactions in a moral sense, one action contains the sin as much as another.
outlines and suggestive comments.
In this emphatic reproduction of the old rule of Deut. xxv. 13, 14, we may find, perhaps, a trace, as in chap. vi. 1, of the growing commerce of the Israelites, and the danger of dishonesty incidental to it. While the words have a wider range and include all unequal and unrighteous judgments, there can be no doubt that the literal meaning is the prominent one. The stress laid on the same sin in chaps. xvi. 11, xx. 10, bears witness to the desire of the teacher to educate the youth of Israel to a high standard of integrity, just as the protest of Hosea against it (ch. xii. 7) shows the zeal of the prophet in rebuking what was becoming more and more a besetting sin.—Plumptre.
Hither may be referred corruptions in courts, and partialities in Church businesses. See that tremendous “charge” to do nothing by partiality or by “tilting the balance” (1 Tim. v. 21). Those that have the “balances of deceit in their hand” (Hosea xii. 7) are called Canaanites, so the Hebrew hath it, that is, mere natural men (Ezek. xvi. 3), that have not goodness in them, no, not common honesty; they do not as they would be done by, which very heathens condemned.—Trapp.
Surely he that weighs in a falsebalance is himself weighed by God in a balance of justice, and for the gain he gets he getteth to himself from the Lord His just abomination; not only His dislike or condemnation of it, but theabominationbecause it is a theft cloaked with the colour of justice, even the exact justice of weighing. But a just balance is such a delight unto God as that He delighteth, as it were, to be a seller in that shop, and that He maketh others to delight to come and buy at it. Surely such a “perfect stone” (see Hebrew) is a perfect jewel, and a precious stone in the sight of God. But in a spiritual sense there is no such false balance as when man weigheth heavier than God, earth heavier than heaven, the pleasures of sin heavier than the crown of glory, a momentary contentment heavier than eternal blessedness. And justly are such false balances an abomination to the Lord. But that is a just weight whereby the light vanity of worldly things is rightly perceived, the levity of earthly greatness is truly discerned, the weightiness of God’s promises is duly considered, the heaviness of God’s threatenings is carefully apprehended. Such a weight is God’s delight, doth overbalance all whatsoever the world delighteth in.—Jermin.
That which is hurtful to our brother is hateful to God, and therefore can never be helpful to us. If He judge it unrighteous we shall find it unprofitable: if it be damnable in His sight, and therefore His soul doth hate it, it will at last be in our sense, and our souls shall rue it. Here is consolation to them that do constantly and conscionably addict themselves to the practice of equity. None hath truly learned this but such as have been apprentices to heaven, whom the Lord hath informed in the mysteries of that trade.—Dod.
Weight and balance are judicial institutions of the Lord, and every weight is His work. But marriage compacts, also political confederacies, civil compacts, judgments, penalties, etc., are ordinances of Divine wisdom and justice, and are effectively superintended by God.—Melanchthon.
This is repeated with varied language three times (xvi. 11; xx. 10, 23). The tendency of all commentators is to treat it as descriptive ofmen.It seems conspicuously to be asserted of the Almighty. Sentences like chap. x. 29 make the doctrine a very timely one, that God is in His very essence just; that He takes no liberties of an arbitrary nature; that He is the administrator, not at all of fate, for this is blind and unreasoning, but of eternal rectitude; that we need give ourselves no care of our government, for that He has no temptation to do us wrong, because “false balances” are an abomination to Jehovah. “Delight” is rather a strong version. It only means that the Almighty has the eternaldesireto be absolutely just. Omniscience,omnipotence,and thisdesiremust make an immaculate administration. God will not, by a false balance, become an abomination to Himself.—Miller.
Commerce is a providential appointment for our social intercourse and mutual helpfulness. It is grounded with men upon human faith, as with God upon Divine faith. Balance, weights, money are its necessary materials. Impositions, double dealings, the hard bargain struck with self-complacent shrewdness (chap. xx. 14)—this is the false balance forbidden alike of the law and of the Gospel (Matt. vii. 12; Phil. iv. 8).—Bridges.
main homiletics of verse2.
Pride and Humility.
I. Pride comes to the human spirit.“When pridecometh.” There are certain weeds that come at certain seasons of the year without being sent for or desired. They tarry not for the will of man, but appear in the most well-keptgardens and in the most carefully tilled field. The only will that the proprietor has in the matter is whether they shall be allowed to stay. If they stay, they will assuredly spread and increase in strength. Self-sown plants are the first to spring up in the ground, and will be the last to disappear. Nothing will kill them but uprooting and consuming the entire plant by fire. So pride will spring up in the human heart. The seeds are there, and the soul is congenial to their germination and growth. According to the highest authority on the subject, pride is its natural outgrowth. “For from within, out of the heart of man proceed evil thoughts . . . pride” etc. (Mark vii. 21, 22). The question for every man to settle when pride comes up in the blade, is whether it shall be allowed to go on to the full ear—whether the feeling shall be allowed to remain until it is manifested in action, or whether the fire of the Holy Ghost shall be called in to consume the very root. “Pride,” says Adams, “is like the heart, the first thing that lives and the last thing that dies in us.”
II. When pride is permitted to remain, shame will follow.1.Because it tends to ingratitude.If a man permits a wrong estimate of himself to grow up and strengthen within him, growing daily in a sense of his own importance and his own deserts, he will soon be ungrateful to men for their acts of goodwill, and to God for the position in which He has placed him in the world. Ingratitude is a high road to shame before God and before men, because it prevents men from taking advantage of present opportunities. 2.Because it keeps men ignorant.There is a shame arising from ignorance, when men have had no opportunities of acquiring knowledge. But pride leads men to refuse instruction when it is offered to them, and thus it leads to wilful ignorance, which, beingwilful,is doublyshameful.3.Because it makes men useless.If a man has received many gifts from the Divine hand and yet lacks that spiritual-mindedness and humility which is the salt to season them and make them acceptable to the hearts and consciences of mankind, he will be to them like a fountain of beautiful and polished marble without any water, and will only vex the thirsty traveller by reflecting the rays of light from the basin which he hoped to find filled with water. He is a cloud without water, lovely to the eye, but not refreshing to the thirsty land. And men will turn from and despisegiftswithoutgraces,especially the grace of humility.
III. Lowly men are wise men, and are in the way of becoming wiser.1.This we know from the Divine promise.“I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit” (Isa. lvii. 15). From the nature of things, those who are alike in character will seek to dwell together. The good and the bad each go “to their own company” in this world, and must do so in every world. There is no pride in the Divine character: “He humbleth Himself to behold the things that are in heaven and in the earth” (Psa. cxiii. 6). Because He can rightly estimate everything and every person, pride cannot dwell with Him. Therefore He dwells with those who are like Himself, and the man with whom God dwells, and who is “taught of the Lord” (Isa. liv. 13), must be ever increasing in wisdom. 2.This we know from experience.The wisest men in the world, the men who are most able to teach others, are those who have been willing first to stoop to learn: those who have been willing to their own ignorance and need, and so have been willing to sit at the feet of those who knew more than they did. Wise men are always lowly in estimating their present acquirements, whether of intellect or character, and this keeps them in the way of ever becoming wiser.
outlines and suggestive comments.
Trite as the words now are, the appearance in many languages of the same maxim points to the delight with which men have in all ages welcomed this statement of a fact of general experience, in which they saw also a proof of a Divine government. A Rabbinic paraphrase of the latter clause is worth quoting: “Lowly souls become full of wisdom as the low place becomes full of water.”—Plumptre.
Where pride is in the saddle, shame is on the crupper. He is a “proud fool” saith our English proverb. But “God gives grace to the humble” (Jas. iv. 6); that is, as some sense it, good repute and report among men. Who am I? saith Moses; and yet who fitter than he to go to Pharaoh? He refused to be called Pharaoh’s daughter’s son; he was afterwards called to be Pharaoh’s god. (Exod. vii. 1.)—Trapp.
When Nebuchadnezzar was bragging of his Babel which he had built for his glory, he was banished from all habitation, not having so much as a cottage, and like a beast made to lie among the beasts of the field, with ignominy. When Haman thought to ride on horseback and to be baited on like a king, he was driven to lackey on foot, and to wait attendance like a page, and purposing to hang Mordecai on high to honour himself, he prepared a high gallows to be hanged on himself. When Herod thought himself good enough to take on him the state and honour of a god, the Lord declared him to be bad enough to be devoured of contemptible vermin. . . . Whereas the humble are always in the way of preferment, either to come to honour in a great place, or for honour to come to them in a mean place.—Dod.
It is the prayer of David,Let not the foot of pride come against me, or unto me:for pride and shame ride in one chariot, they come both together; he that entertaineth the one, must entertain the other. And howbeit pride set open her bravery, and shame awhile be masked, yet shame at length shall open itself, and pride shall not be seen. For how can shame choose but be joined with pride, which, says St. Ambrose, knows not how to stand, and when it is fallen, is ignorant how to rise. On the other side, although lowliness goes on foot, yet wisdom is her companion, which not only preserveth the lowly from shame, but highly advanceth them in the esteem of God and man. And indeed what greater wisdom is there than humility, which, says St. Ambrose again, by desiring nothing, obtaineth all that is despised by it.—Jermin.
The folly and wickedness of pride—1.Of station.“Man will not long abide in honour, seeing he may be compared to the beast that perisheth” (Psa. xlix. 12). In the sight of God, the greatest and proudest of men are but dust and ashes. 2.Of birth.Even an ancient heathen could see its absurdity and say, “As to family and ancestors, and what we have not done ourselves, can scarcely be called ours.” We certainly had no hand in producing these distinctions. 3.Of riches.They cannot give dignity of character, superiority of intellect, vigour of body, peace of conscience, or any one of those advantages which form the chief blessings of life. 4.Of talent or learning.A disease, an accident, may overset the mind, and turn all our light into utter darkness, and even should our abilities and learning continue with us till the end of our days here below, they must then vanish and be extinguished. It was the consciousness of their uncertain and transient endurance, as well as their imperfection, that made the wise Agur say, “Surely I am more brutish than any man, and have not the understanding of a man;” and which drew from Solomon the confession, “In much wisdom there is much grief; and he that increaseth knowledge, increaseth sorrow” (Eccles. i. 18). 4.Of beauty.“All flesh is grass, and the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field.” 5.Of spiritual pride.Of all description ofguilt this appears to be the most odious to God and unbecoming to man, and as such is denounced throughout the Scriptures. Everlasting shame is made the portion of every one “that exalteth himself.”—Warner.
Gabriel is the prince. He is solely from the Spirit. It is because God gave him the Spirit that he remained in grace; and it was because God took the Spirit that Satan fell into apostasy.Pride,therefore, is a mad vanity. If “false balances” are an abomination to God, He would not be apt to let “pride” flourish. And yet pride does flourish in worldly things. The “shame” here must mean that spiritual contempt which looks to the whole eternity. It is only (1) out of contempt for him that God lets a man be proud; and it is only (2) contempt and shame that can follow upon the proud thought. Pride itself is an evidence of God’s contempt. And being “humble” not only (1) invites “Wisdom,” and makes her feel at home; not only (2) flows from Wisdom because she is at home, but (3) actually “isWisdom.” It would not do to say, Has humility entered? There also enters Wisdom; for humilityiswisdom, and could not exist unless Wisdom had entered already.—Miller.
Perhaps the reference in the words before us may especially be to the influence of pride in our intercourse with men. In this view of them they are verified in different ways. For example—the manifestation of pride,—of supercilious loftiness and self-sufficiency—strongly tempts others to spy out defects, and to bring down the haughty man from his imaginary elevation. Everyone takes a pleasure in plucking at him, and leaving the laurel-wreath which he has twined for his own brow as bare of leaves as possible; and thus to cover him with “shame.” Another way in which it tends to “shame” is, that it leads him who is the subject of it to undertake, in the plenitude of his confident self-sufficiency, to fill stations for which he is incompetent; by which means he, ere long, exposes himself to the derision or the pity of his fellows. He shortly finds himself in the position of those described in our Lord’s parable, who “choose for themselves the highest seats,” but in the end, abashed and crest-fallen, “begin with shame to take the lowest rooms.” That parable (Luke xiv. 7–11) is a graphic commentary on the words before us.—Wardlaw.
Pride was the principle of the fall (Gen. iii. 5), and, therefore, the native principle of fallen man (Mark vii. 22). When pride had stripped us of our honour, then—not till then—cometh shame(Gen. iii. 7, with ii. 25). This is the wise discipline of our God to scourge the one by the other. . . . What a splendour of wisdom shone in the lowly child “sitting at the doctors’ feet, astonishing them at His understanding and His answers” (Luke ii. 47). And will not this Spirit be to us the path of Wisdom? For the Divine Teacher “reveals to the babes what He hides from the wise and prudent.”—Bridges.
main homiletics of verse3.
The Infallible Guide.
I. The upright man is in danger.To say that a man needs a guide is to say that he is exposed to some kind of danger—that the path which he has to tread is one in which it is possible to sustain loss of some kind. A man does not need a guide when he is walking in a road where he knows every step of the way, where his path lies straight before him, beset with no danger. An upright man hath much to lose. He can lose much in losingonething, he can, indeed, loseallin one thing, his all for time and eternity, viz., hismoral character.Ifhis uprightness of character sustains any loss, if any stain is permitted to fall uponthat,it will only regain its erectness and purity at the cost of much pain and time. What was gained with difficulty at first will be harder to regain. It is up-hill work to redeem a lost character, and if it is not redeemed, existence is cast away and the man is said to belost. And the very fact that a man is godly places him in danger.The thief is never found measuring the height of the wall or testing the security of the locks of the house where poverty reigns. He does not haunt such a dwelling, and reckon up the opposition he would be likely to meet withthere.Such a house has no attraction for him, and is safe from all danger so far as he is concerned, because there is no silver or gold there. But the house filled with plate and jewels is the one around which he paces with stealthy steps, and whose means of defence and unguarded doors or windows he takes note of. Such a house draws him towards it as the magnet draws the needle. So the godless man has little or no attraction for the enemy of souls. The very poverty of his moral nature renders him an unattractive object to the great thief of character. But an upright man he considers a foeman worthy of his steel, and the rich graces that dwell within the heart of such a one have a magnetic power for him who was “a murderer from the beginning” (John viii. 44), and for all his emissaries and agents, whether they be devils or men.
II. The infallible guide for the godly or upright man: Integrity.What is integrity? Dr. Bushnell says: “As an integer is a whole, in distinction from a fraction, which is only a part, so a man of integrity is a man whose aim in the right is a whole aim, in distinction from one whose aim is divided, partial, or unstable. It does not mean that he has never been a sinner, or that he is not one now, but simply that the intent of his soul is to do and to be wholly right with God and man.” Old Simeon was such a man. It is said of him that he wasjust,that is, he was single in his purpose in relation to man, and that he wasdevout,which expresses hiswholenessof his aim in relation to God. Paul was such a man. “What shall I do, Lord?”—“This one thing I do” was the key note of his life. (Acts xxii. 10; Phil. iii. 13.) 1.This guide is one whose voice is not easily mistaken.If a man sets his own interest before him as the guide of his life, he is very likely to be mistaken as to what his own interest really is even so far as regards the present life. We are so short-sighted as to be unable to foretell what may be the issue of any act of life in relation to our own personal and present well-being looked at from a material point of view. If we are more unselfish and adopt the famous principle of “the good of the greatest number,” we involve ourselves in a still greater perplexity. This problem is one which can be solved by God alone. But every man whose conscience is not wholly depraved can determine as to the right and wrong of his actions, and thus possesses a clue to guide him step by step through every intricate path of life. Darkness of soul and circumstances may at times surround him, but here is a pole-star which will shine through the gloom. “In the darkest hour through which a human soul can pass,” says Robertson, of Brighton, speaking of the doubts and perplexities to which the most sincere men are often the most liable, “whatever else is doubtful this is certain, that it is better to be generous than selfish, better to be chaste than licentious, better to be true than false, better to be brave than a coward. Blessed beyond all earthly blessedness is the man who, in the tempestuous darkness of the soul, had dared to hold fast to these venerable landmarks. Thrice blessed is he, who, when all is drear and cheerless within and without, has obstinately clung to moral good. Thrice blessed because his night shall pass into bright, clear day.” Thus “the integrity of the upright shall guide them.” This virtue is a guide as recognisable as sunlight. The eye of every man, in every nation, recognises the sun as the light which is the guide of his life; and integrity, honesty, andcomplete dealingbetween man and man is recognisable by every man whose conscience is not wholly blinded by long-continued persistence in wickedness (see Luke xii. 57). 2.It shall guide a man to happiness.We have seen that happiness or self-interest cannot be the guide of life, either in relation to the one man or to the many. The happiness of one man, in this narrow and low sense of the word, may mean misery to another; but right-doing is the high road to the happiness of the individual, and the promoter of the happiness of all to whom he is related. Though happiness is not the aim of the upright man, yea,becauseit isnotthe aim of his life, he will be guided into it. The man who does right simply because it is right, and without hope of reward, will have a reward. Integrity must lead to the happiness of the upright man. The approbation of conscience is a large element of blessed happiness, and the certainty that right-doing can wrong none of his fellow-creatures, but may add much to their well-being, is another element in the reward. There is also happiness in the possession of a single aim, an undivided purpose in life. The concentration of all a man’s powers to one point increases his power to accomplish the task to which he has set himself. He is like a man steering for the harbour, with his eye upon the compass and his hand upon the wheel; he is conscious of a power to carry out his purpose, and the certainty of success is in itself a reward. 3.It must guide a man to heaven.All the “rendering unto God the things that are God’s”—loyal obedience to His conditions of salvation, and then, as a necessary result, rendering unto their fellow-men that which is their due.
illustration of the second clause of verse3.
“The perverseness of transgressors shall destroy them.”A Grecian legend.—An old diver was wont to boast of his skill to bring up treasures from the sea. To test his power the people threw many a golden coin and silver cup into deep water, all of which he brought to the surface with triumph. But one day a disguised fiend threw a tinsel crown into a whirlpool, and challenged the confident diver to bring it up, promising him, if he succeeded, the power to wear it, and to transmit it to his children. Down he sprung after the bauble, but the Nereids of the sea, hearing the clangour of the crown when it fell upon their grottos, closed around him as he was grasping his prize and held him fast till he perished. The most daring may dare once too often; folly, though long successful, will plunge its victim into ruin at last.—Biblical Treasury.
outlines and suggestive comments.
All obliquity and trick in the intercourse of men is a libel on Providence. Every recourse to falsehood is a direct distrust of God. Truth is both the shortest and the surest road in every difficulty. How much labour is lost by adopting tortuous paths? A great part of life’s labour consists in following a crooked course, and then trying to make it appear a straight one. The crooked line is far more difficult at the first, and the defence of it afterwards doubles the labour.—Arnot.
“I will walk in mine integrity,” was David’s staff, and in doing anything there is no such guide to do it well as the integrity of the heart. Knowledge is requisite, and is a good director: counsel may be needful, and is a good conductor; but the master pilot is the sincerity of the heart. If that be wanting the others will not be following, if that be present the others will not be wanting.—Jermin.
Everyone that is truly godly hath a faithful guide and an upright counsellor in his own breast. A sound heart is the stern of the soul, and a good conscience is the pilot to govern it.—Dod.
A man, to be led, must have a way; and, to have a way, he must have an end at which he is aiming. The endof the “upright” man is righteousness itself. If the great joy of heaven is uprightness, and the price of wisdom is above rubies, of course “integrity” is the best guide in the world, because of course righteousness is the best guide to righteousness; and, poor or rich, the righteous man is always advancing in his treasure. Righteousness is also the best guide to happiness, for no good thing shall be withholden from them that walk uprightly. Sin, on the other hand, by increasing itself, is itself its own seducer.—Miller.
Sincerity is one eminent branch of the good man’s character. Nathaniel was a man without guile. We accordingly find that, though prejudiced against Jesus of Nazareth, his sincerity appeared in the means which he employed to arrive at a knowledge of the truth, and he was led by it in the right way. Christ’s enemies were men of perverse spirits. They crucified Him with a view to maintain their honour and preserve their nation; but by their perverse conduct both were destroyed.—Lawson.
Every man who comes into a state ofright intent,will forthwith also be a Christian. Whoever is willing to be carried just where it will carry him, cost him what it may, in that man the spirit of all sin is broken, and his mind is in a state to lay hold of Christ and to be laid hold of by Him. . . . “For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward Him” (2 Chron. xvi. 9). God is on the lookout always for an honest man—him to help, and with him, and for him, to be strong. And if there be one, God will not miss him; for His desiring, all-searching eyes are running the world through always to find him.—Bushnell.
I. The guidance of integrity is thesafestunder which we can be placed. Perfect immunity from danger is not to be expected in this life. But let us inquire who the persons are that, in all the different lines of life, have gone through the world with most success, and we shall find that the men of probity and honour form by far the most considerable part of the list; that men of plain understanding, acting upon fair and direct views, have much oftener prospered than men of the deepest policy, who were devoid of principle. II. It is unquestionably the mosthonourable.Other qualities may add splendour to character; but if this essential requisite be wanting, all its lustre fades. He who rests upon an internal principle of virtue and honour, will act with a dignity and boldness of which they are incapable who are wholly guided by interest. He is above those timid, suspicious, and cautious restraints which fetter and embarrass their conduct. III. This plan of conduct is the mostcomfortable.Amidst the various and perplexing events of life, it is of singular advantage to be kept free from doubt as to the part most proper to be chosen. The man of principle is a stranger to those inward troubles which beset men who consult nothing but worldly interest. His time is not lost, nor his temper fretted, by long and anxious consultations. One light always shines upon him from above. One path always opens clear and distinct upon his view. He is also delivered from all inward upbraidings, from all alarms founded on the dread of discovery and disgrace. The man of virtue hascommitted his way to the Lord.He co-operates with the Divine purpose. The power which sways the universe is engaged on his side. By natural consequence, he has ground to expect that any seeming disappointments which he may now incur shall be over-ruled in the end to some salutary result. IV. He has always in view the prospect ofimmortal rewards.That surely is the wisest direction of conduct, which is most amply recompensed at last.—Blair.
For Homiletics of verse 4 see chapterx. 2. The thought of the first clause of verses 5 and 6 is the same as that treated inverse 3.
main homiletics of the latter clauses of verses5and6.
Made or Marred by Desires.
The word translated “naughtiness” should be rendered “lust” or “desires.” (SeeCritical Notes.)
I. Sin is compliance with desires that do not harmonise with moral righteousness.A traveller on a lonely and dangerous road may have two guides offered to him by the opposite promptings of his own mind. He may have a strong desire to explore a path which looks most pleasant and attractive but which he knows does not lead to his destination, and is beset with many perils although its aspect is inviting. On the other hand, his good sense tells him it is unwise to run the risk of injury by thus turning aside from the road that he knows leads to the goal which he desires to reach, although the path may be rough and toilsome. If he yields to his first desire and pursues the dangerous path until it is too late to retrace his steps, he may lose his life by a false step over a precipice and so be destroyed by his own desires. All men are under the dominion of desires, and if their desires after God and righteousness have the rule they will be guided by them into the ways of deliverance and safety, as we saw in considering verse 3. But if they yield themselves up to the guidance of desires which run counter to the law of God and right, as they are made known both by conscience and revelation, they sink lower and lower in the scale of moral being and become slaves when they might have been free men. “Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.” “Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness” (John vii. 34; Rom. vi. 16).
II. The sinner is the forger of his own fetters.If a man labours in his field, his garden, or his vineyard, in harmony with the known laws which God has ordained to be observed, he may reasonably expect a good crop—an abundant harvest. But if he sets at naught these laws—if he yields to desires of self-indulgence—or in any other way acts contrary to the conditions which are indispensable to success—he has no one to blame but himself if he find himself a beggar when he might have had plenty. The law of God’s moral universe is written in revelation, upon conscience, in the history of men, that “Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap,” that “The wages of sin is death” (Gal. vi. 7; Rom. vi. 23). If men are “taken,” are first enslaved by sin and then suffer the penalty of sinning, they have themselves digged the pit of their own destruction—have forged the chains by which they are bound.
outlines and suggestive comments.
Verse 4. How badly led those are who are not righteous, appears in this: that whilerighteousnessdoes everything for a man in journeying to his end,wealthdoes nothing for him. “Wealth,” which seems to be the great guide of the human family, not only cannotdeliver,but cannotprofitin the crisis of fate. While “righteousness,” all covered with stains, lets no day go to waste; lets no mile be utterly lost; lets no fear ever be realised; still grapples a man’s hand; and still guides a man’s tread, till he steps at last into the regions of safety.—Miller.
It were no bad comparison to liken mere rich men to camels and mules; for they often pursue their devious way, over hills and mountains, laden with India purple, with gems, aromas, and generous wines upon their backs, attended, too, by a long line of servants as a safeguard on their way.Soon, however, they come to their evening halting-place, and forthwith their precious burdens are taken from their backs; and they, now wearied, and stripped of their lading and their retinue of slaves, show nothing but livid marks of stripes. So, also, those who glitter in gold and purple raiment, when the evening of life comes rushing on them, have nought to show but marks and wounds of sin impressed upon them by the evil use of riches.—St. Augustine.
Riches will not even obtain “a drop of water to cool the tormented tongue” (Luke xvi. 19–24). In vain will “the rich men of the earth” seek a shelter “from the wrath of the Lamb” (Rev. vi. 15–17).—Bridges.
While the words are true in their highest sense of the greatdies iræof the future, they speak, in the first instance, as do the like words in Zeph. i. 15–18, ofany“day of the Lord,” any time of judgment, when men or nations receive the chastisement of their sins.—Plumptre.
“Wherefore should I die, being so rich?” said that wretched Cardinal, Henry Beaufort, Bishop of Winchester, in Henry VI.’s time. “Fie,” quoth he, “will not death be lured? Will money do nothing?”—Trapp.
If righteousness delivereth not from the day, yet it delivereth from the wrath of the day: if it deliver not from death, yet it delivereth from the death of the wicked.—Jermin.
Verse 5. “The righteousness of the man of integrity,” is perfect only in heaven, and how it “directs” or “levels” his way appears best by the perfect facility of walking in that bright abode. It will be no trouble there to travel forward. While more work will be done in heaven than here, yet there it is done so easily that it is called a “Rest.” The paths of this world are not only difficult, but deadly. “The wicked” will not only struggle, but “fall” in them; and the roughnesses at which he stumbles are not ever in the paths themselves, but really his “own wickedness.”—Miller.
Greedy desire(seeCritical Notes) will strongly tempt men to sin, and so they will be ensnared.—Stuart.
The first part of this text may be taken—I. As declaringa fact.A real Christian takes, for direction in his way, the rule of righteousness. The question that he continually puts to himself is—“What ought I to do?” This is the character of a believer in the abstract; and though none may lay claim to perfection, yet none can be justly called believers, unless their lives in the main answer to this description. II. As propounding apromise. It is nowhere promised that the righteous shall not come into trouble, but the strait road goesthroughthem. The other statement of the text may also be regarded—I. As anassertionproved by experience. The drunkard ruins his health and shortens his life by excesses. The spendthrift brings himself to beggary. The contentious man brings himself to mischief. They often dig a pit for others and fall into it themselves. II. As athreat.It does not always happen that men are visited for their sins in this life. Still it may be said to every ungodly man, “Be sure your sin will find you out.”—B. W. Dibdin.
Verse 6. Godliness hath many troubles, and as many helps against trouble. As Moses’ hand, it turns the serpent into a rod; and as the tree that Moses cast into the waters of Marah, it sweeteneth the bitter waters of affliction. Well may it be called the Divine nature, for as God doth bring light out of darkness, so doth grace.—Trapp.
There need no blocks to be laid in the way of the wicked, no enemies need to thrust him down, for his ownwickednessbeing his way, bythathe shall fall. . . . Wickedness is fastened, by the devil, like a cord about the wicked; by that he pulls them after him: by that he makes them fall, first into shame and misery here, and into hell when they are gone hence.—Jermin.
main homiletics of verse7.
The Death of the Wicked.
I. An inevitable event in relation to a wicked man.“When a wicked man dieth.” He must die. “It is appointed unto men,”—to the good and to the bad—“once to die” (Heb. ix. 27). 1. This inevitable event is most undesired by the wicked man. The certainty of any coming event will make it to be dreaded in proportion as it is felt that its advent must be followed by unpleasant consequences. The man who knows that on a certain day of reckoning he will be unable to meet his liabilities, and that the day will as surely arrive as the planets will hold on their way in the heavens, can only look forward to the future with the most gloomy apprehensions. That coming day is ever hanging over his present, and imparting a sting to every hour in which he allows his thoughts to dwell upon it. The certainty of death is a most painful subject of contemplation for a wicked man. Conscience tells him that he has no resources wherewith to meet the demands of that day—he knows that he is unfit to face that most ruthless of all creditors, and the knowledge that nothing can turn aside his footsteps is often a bitter drop in the cup of his present apparent prosperity and security. 2. The wicked man takes refuge from the thought of thecertaintyof theeventin theuncertaintyof thetimewhen it will take place. He indulges in “hopes,” and “expectations,” concerning the present life, because of the indefiniteness of its length. Although he knows that death must come one day, he hopes that it may be many years hence. The rich fool in our Lord’s parable knew that he must die some day—he admitted that certainty. But he made the uncertainty of the time an excuse for taking present ease. He refused to take into account the possibility that the summons had gone forth: “This night thy soul shall be required of thee.” 3. The certainty of the death of the wicked is a most painful subject of thought to good men. They look at the present condition of the ungodly, and, knowing the indispensable and intimate connection between present character and future happiness or misery, the certainty of the death of the wicked man is often a more saddening thought to them than to the man himself. The contemplation of such an event must give pain to the soul in harmony with God and goodness. 4. Yet, looked at with regard to his relation with others, the certainty of the death of the wicked is most desirable. If one portion of the body has become so diseased that the whole body is likely to suffer from it, a severance between the diseased part and the sound body must take place, however painful the operation may be. The loss of the part is indispensable to the salvation of the rest. There have been, and there are, men who are so morally diseased that their removal from the world is to be desired for the sake of others. It must be regarded as a blessing for the world that the death of the wicked is certain. The death of one wicked man is sometimes the means of bringing peace to many to whom his existence was a curse. There are men who do the best thing for the world when they leave it—their exit from it is the greatest benefit they have ever conferred upon it.
II. The wicked man is in his worst condition when he has the most need of being in his best.It is atdeaththat his expectation and hope perish. The time when we approach a crisis in our history is a time when we need to be most furnished with all the resources that will be demanded to meet it. It was more necessary that David should be filled with faith and courage when he went forth to meet Goliath than when he was keeping his sheep in his father’s fields. When a youthful candidate for academical honour comes to the day of his examination,he needs to concentrate all his past days of study into one focus. If on that day all his mental powers are not at their very best, he is likely to be overwhelmed with disappointment instead of to be crowned with honour. It is sad indeed to be dragged down by fear and despair at the moment when we need all the inspiration of confidence and hope to bear us up. The day of death is the great crisis to which all human life is tending—it is the day when a man needs every possible support to enable him to meet the solemn fact with which he stands face to face. Hope of a blessed immortality should then bear us up. We ought to be able to say, “I know in whom I have believed;” “I am now ready to be offered and the time of my departure is at hand” (2 Tim. iv. 6). But this is the hour when a wicked man’s hope takes wing and flies away. He is at his worst when he needs to be at his best.