II. But he that trusts in riches will find them fail him.1.Because he is more than the object of his trust.Man is more than gold because it was made for him and not man for gold. God made it to be his servant, but when a man makes it the object of his supreme hope and confidence, he inverts the Divine order and becomes its slave. And man needs something more than himself to be the object of his trust. 2.Because there are comforts for existence that gold cannot buy.Faith in a living God, a good conscience, hope for thefuture, present peace and rest of soul cannot be purchased for all the gold of the Indies. Nebuchadnezzar could make an image of gold, but all his riches could not purchase the faith and godly courage of the three Hebrew youths. The rich man in hell needed comfort that all his earthly wealth could not have purchased. 3.Because the only Being who can supply man’s deepest needs cannot be bribed.Pardon of sin cannot be “gotten for gold neither shall silver be weighed for the price thereof.” A holy character “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.” (Job xxviii. 16, 17). The Holy Ghost—that “gift of God,” cannot be “purchased with money.” (Acts viii. 20). A golden key will not open the gate of heaven. Therefore“Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not high-minded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God”(1 Tim. vi. 17).
III. The righteous man shall not fall, but flourish as a branch, because as a branch in a tree he is in connection with life.Gold is a dead thing, but the God of the good man is a Living Person, a Being who can understand and supply all his soul’s need—a Being who is not only King of the present and the seen, but of the future and the unseen.“I am the vine, ye are the branches.” “Because I live, ye shall live also”(John xiv. 9, xv. 5). He shall not onlylive,butflourish—“his leaf shall not wither”—“he shall bring forth fruit in his season” (Psa. i. 3). The cause of thebranchbeing laden with fruitfulness and beauty is because of its connection with theroot. Trustis the link between the creature and the Creator, which makes the one a partaker of the fulness of the other.“Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. For he shall be like 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”(Jer. xvii. 7, 8).
outlines and suggestive comments.
I have read of one that, upon his dying bed, called for his bags, and laid a bag of gold to his heart, and then cried out, “Take it away, it will not do, it will not do!” There are things that earthly riches cannot do. They can never satisfy Divine justice, nor pacify Divine wrath, nor quiet a guilty conscience. And till these things are done, the man is undone.—Brooks.
As sheep that go in fat pastures come sooner to the slaughter-house than those which are kept upon the bare common: so, likewise, rich men, who are pampered with the wealth of this world, sooner forsake God, and therefore are sooner forsaken of God than others.—Cawdray.
He that trusts in riches may trust in that which may not disappoint him. That is, it may remain great, and may follow him to the grave. But while his riches are piling up, he himself is withering away. It is not the rich, but they thattrust in riches(Mark. x. 24). The truly important thing is the man himself; and while the unregeneratefalls,or decays, the righteous, even without money, prospers. He grows from within. That ishegrows, and not his money.—Miller.
Be not proud of riches, but afraid of them, lest they be as silver bars to cross the way to heaven. We must answer for our riches, but our riches cannot answer for us.—Mason.
Riches were never true to any that trusted in them. The rich churl that trusted and boasted that he had “much goods laid up in store” for many years, when, like a jay, he was preening himself in his boughs, came tumbling down with an arrow in his side.—Trapp.
Riches are of a falling nature, nowthey fall to a man, now they fall from him, not they fall to this man, now to that, now to another. There is no holdfast of them, and less holdfast by them. He, therefore, that trusteth in them shall fall, fall into their hands and power, who seek his hurt and mischief, because not trusting in God, he receiveth no succour from Him.—Jermin.
Good men have the Lord Jesus Christ for their root, and God, the Father to dress and keep them, therefore the drought of adversity shall not hurt them, nor the dews of wholesome prosperity fail them. They shall have safety for their bodies, graces for their souls, competency for their state, and all good furtherances for their everlasting glory.—Dod.
Money, thou bane of bliss, and source of woe,Whence com’st thou, that thou art so fresh and fine?I know thy parentage is base and low:Man found thee poor and dirty in a mine.
Surely thou didst so little little contributeTo this great kingdom, which thou now hast got,That he was fain, when thou wert destitute,To dig thee out of thy dark cave and grot.
Then forcing thee, by fire he made thee bright;Nay, thou hast got the face of man: for weHave with our stamp and seal transferred our right:Thou art the man, and man but dross to thee.
Man calleth thee his wealth, who made thee rich,And while he digs out thee, falls in the ditch.—Herbert.
main homiletics of verse29.
Foolish Home Rulers.
TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE: Be very careful with the word “niggardly” because it can sound like a racial slur, especially to those who do not know the word or who are not paying attention. Consider substituting “miserly,” “sparing,” or “parsimonious.”
I. There are many ways of troubling thine own house.Many sparks fly from one anvil, but one is sufficient to set a house on fire. Some home-destroyers emit many sparks, but one evil habit or temper is enough to consume all the peace of home-life. A man may trouble his house by—1.Selfishness.When a dry sponge is placed in a vessel of water, it will soak up every drop of water that it can hold, and very probably will leave the vessel empty. So the selfish head of a household will absorb all the comforts of the household—take to himself all the luxuries and enjoyments which ought to be distributed among all its members. 2.Hasty temper.A human father and husband that will complain at every trifle and blaze into a passion when nothing has been done or said worthy of notice, will be a great troubler of his house. He will not be heeded when there is real occasion for his displeasure. The perpetual rattle of a daily siege so dulls the ear of the soldier that he does not notice the roar of the cannon on the day of special battle. So the members of a household who are always being subjected to the rattle of an ungovernable tongue make no account of reproof when there is really an occasion for it. 3.A perpetual assertion of authority.There can be no joyful obedience in a family where its head is always insisting upon the fact that he is their master. Such a constant proclamation of the right to rule makes this a bondage which would otherwise be a glad service. 4.Prodigality or niggardliness.He who wastes that which belongs to his children is a robber, and so is he who from avaricious motives deprives them of those home comforts with which he is able to furnish them. These are but samples of the many ways in which a man may trouble his house—ways which are not altogether unknown in some homes whose head is a professor of godliness. Such a man is a far-reaching curse. The members of such a home scatter themselves abroad in the world carrying with them none of the blessed influences that they ought to have received from their home-life, and are very likely in their turn to become the troublers oftheirhouses. The gold receives its form and polish, its image and superscription at the mint. Homeis the mint where the value of the character for its entire future is often impressed upon it. The child generally bears the image and superscription of his parent.
II. Such a troubler is a fool.1.He can reap no possible advantage by it.To “inherit the wind” is to inherit cold cheer. A wintry wind is poor comfort for a man with little raiment on a cold night. Wind is an unsatisfying substitute for food to a hungry man. But a man in such a condition is an apt illustration of a man in the winter of life who has forfeited that love and honour which would have been the reward of a different course of conduct. 2.He shall go down in social position.The man who has ruled his household well must win the respect and confidence of those outside of it. It is an inevitable consequence that he will go upon the estimation of his associates while one of the opposite character will go down and so “be servant to the wise of heart.”
outlines and suggestive comments.
He that troubles his own house in any form of impenitence; he that takes the trouble to live without the gospel; he that chases wealth when he admits that it will breed him vengeance; he that goes through the self-denials of the world to accumulate worldly benefits which he knows are mischiefs to his soul, is absolutely “fool” enough to be the “servant” in all these trials, and that through eternal ages, of wiser and better creatures.—Miller.
He shall leave at last but the wind of his breath to deplore his folly and to beg help for his misery. St. Gregory taketh the latter part of the verse that a fool serveth the wise in heart even by ruling over him and oppressing him, for he advanceth him to a better state and condition of goodness.—Jermin.
He that would not undo himself, let him not undo his family and domestic affairs. It nearly concerneth a householder to know that his house is laden with his whole estate, that his people sail together with him in the same vessel, for his use.—Dod.
main homiletics of verse30.
The Winner of Souls.
I. Souls can be won to God and goodness.1.There is in every man a natural light to which to appeal.If a sick man has something in his constitution upon which the physician can fix as a basis of operation, there is hope of recovery. But where the constitution is utterly and entirely bad, the very effort of the physician is a proof of his lack of wisdom. Man is morally diseased, but he is not so depraved as to make his being won to God a hopeless attempt. There is in him a moral base of operation, he has a conscience which is more or less enlightened. Men are, according to the highest authority, “a law unto themselves,” “that which may be known of God is manifest in (or to) them.” (See Rom. i. 19, 20, ii. 14.) They would not be “without excuse,” as the Apostle there declares that they are, if they had no moral consciousness. 2.The very existence of the Bible proves that man is not hopelessly lost.Wise men do not waste words and efforts where they know that they would be thrown away. They do not set on foot plans to help those for whom they know there is no hope. A wise physician will not harass his patient and waste his own energies when he knows there is no possibility of cure. It is kinder to let him die in peace. God is too wise and too kind to send man a revelation which he knows would be useless to him. He would not tantalise him with hopes which could not be realised. 3.The history of Christ confirms this view.He claimedto come to this earth for the special purpose of seeking and saving men. He was pre-eminently a winner of souls. There can be but one explanation of the Incarnation. 4.The moral difference in men is another proof.For every effect there is a cause. That there is an immense difference in the character of men is admitted by all; and the difference is that some have been won from sin to God.
II. Souls can only be won.There are but two kinds of power in the universe—force and persuasion. The mother who desires her child to take a certain place may attain her end in two ways—she may take the child in her arms and carry it where she desires, or she may use moral suasion and induce the child to fall in with her wishes by the exercise of its own free will. The thing may be done either by strength of muscle or by the strength of love. Souls cannot be dealt with in the first way. The soul can only be wontoGod by the same kind of power as it was wonfromGod, viz., by that of persuasion. If the tempter had tried force he would have failed with our first parents. He knew human nature too well to attempt the use of such means. Force is of no avail to bring about afriendship,and the winning of a soul is bringing about afriendshipbetween man and God. Therefore the Apostle “beseeches” and “prays” men to be reconciled to God (2 Cor. v. 20). To be won to God is to be won toservice.Two kinds of service may be rendered to a human parent or ruler. There is a service of thebody onlywhich is prompted by fear, and there is the service of thewhole manwhich is the fruit of love. God must have the latter or none (Isa. i. 11, etc.,) hence the soul must be “drawn,” “constrained,” by the power of moral force. (See Hosea xxi. 4; John xii. 32; 2 Cor. v. 11, 14).
III. Souls are won by fruit.Human nature will not be influenced by words without actions. The actions which make up a holy life are here calledfruit. When two men are at variance and hatred is deeply rooted, he who would be a peace-maker mustbesomething as well assaysomething. Words alone will not kill enmity—there must be correspondent deeds. This constituted our Lord Jesus Christ the great Reconciler—that He brought forth the fruits of holiness and self-sacrifice, and so gave weight to His words of persuasion. So many souls have been won by Him because so much fruit was brought forth by Him. And all who would win souls must in their measure do likewise. In this sense they must obey His injunction and be made partakers of His promise: “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Matt. iv. 19).
IV. The fruit that wins souls must be a “tree of life” both to the winner and to those who are won.The vine-dresser has joy in rearing his fruit, and the eater has joy in partaking of its sweetness. When he who seeks to win souls brings one to taste the sweets of godliness for himself, there is joy for both. The righteous man is a “tree of righteousness,” hence he is himself a “tree of life.” Others partake of his fruit and live unto holiness, and become fruit-bearing trees in their turn. And in this sense “he that reapeth and he who soweth rejoice together,” and the precious harvest is a “tree of life”—an undying source of soul-satisfaction to both.
V. He who thus wins souls is a wise man.He saves men from a present and real misery. The end of all practical wisdom is to elevate the human race—to lift men out of misery and degradation—to solve the problems of every day social life. The man who wins a soul to God is a truly scientific man—he has reduced his moral science to practice in his own life, and then has brought it to bear upon the lives of others. He is a wise general who can turn the guns of the enemy against the foe. He who wins a soul can teach a man how to turn the forces that have been against him into powers and influences that shall work for him. He is a wise financier who can devise means by which a man can free himself from debt. The winner of souls can show his fellow-man how to be freed from moral debt. He is a wise physician who, by healing one man of a deadly pestilence, prevents the spread of disease. The man who turnsanother from the error of his ways, not only “saves a soul from death,” but hides a multitude of sins (Jas. v. 20) by, in some measure, lessening the increase of sin in the universe.
outlines and suggestive comments.
I. Christians are a blessing to the world.1.There is the influence of personal character, showing what religion is, viz., a living principle in the hearts of the faithful, which must spread its radiance.It may be said of a good man, as it was said of Christ, “He could not be hid” (Mark vii. 24). 2.There is a force of the great principles they advocate—Freedom, Education, etc.They raise, in this way, the standard of public opinion. 3.There are their habits of active beneficence.II. To win souls the highest wisdom is requisite.1.Consider the preciousness of the object—souls.Made in the image of God, and designed to reflect His glory. Of infinite value in the esteem of Him who came to redeem them. 2.How greatly they are endangered by sin, held captive by Satan, in bondage by the world, entrenched in long habits of evil.The soul, in its present depraved state, is not inclined to seek God, nor anxious to obtain deliverance. 3.The difficulty is increased by the shortness of the time and the limitation of the means at our command.The preacher has only the Sabbath; Satan and the world have all the week wherein to exert their influence. It is more or less so with all who endeavour to win souls.—S. Thodey.
He may begin as a “leaf” or “branch” (verse 28), but he ends as a “tree.” The tree of life made the partaker of it immortal. “The fruit of the righteous” is immortal life to many a poor sinner. The latter clause may read either: “The wise is a winner of souls,” or “The winner of souls is wise.” It doubtless should be read in both. The grand “tree of life” on earth is the man converted already. The man converted already will be a “tree of life.” Both doctrines are true, and, therefore, in so terse a passage, I see no resource but to understand the Hebrew as pregnant of both. It is of the very essence of wisdom to be benevolent, and it is the very height of benevolence to catch the souls of the impenitent. Moreover, no soul is caught but by the wise.—Miller.
What is dealt on is the power of wisdom, as we say, to win theheartsof men. He that is wise draws men to himself, just as the fruit of the righteous is to all around him a tree of life, bearing new fruits of healing evermore. It is to be noted, also, that the phrase here rendered “winneth souls,” is the same as that which is elsewhere translated by “taketh the life” (1 Kings xix. 4; Psa. xxxi. 13). The wise man is the true conqueror.—Plumptre.
To win souls is one special fruit of the tree of life. This is a noble fruit indeed, since our soul is more worth than a world, as He hath told us who only went to the price of it (Matt. xvi. 26).—Trapp.
In this verse we have set forth to us the excellency of a righteous man. I.He is more useful than others.He is not a barren tree, but a fruitful bough, as Joseph was. And he doth not bring forth fruit unto himself. As the tree of life would give life to them that would eat thereof, so those that will hearken to the counsel of the righteous shall partake with him of eternal life. II.He is more skilful than others.He wins souls—1. By Scripture demonstration. Thou canst never throw down the devil’s strongholds except by God’s own weapons. 2. By earnest supplications. As the prophet did pray life into the dead child, so thou shouldst strive in prayer for dead souls. 3. By kind obligation. Labour by kindness and courtesy to gain upon all thou dost converse with, that thou mayst get within him, that thou mayst be in a capacity to dogood to his soul. 4. By faithful reprehension. ’Tis quite contrary to Christian love to let sin lie upon thy brother (Lev. xix. 17). Show your love to souls by the faithful rebuking of sin, not as a token of your displeasure, but as an ordinance of God. 5. By convincing conversation. Live before all thou dost converse with in the convincing power of a holy life. 6. By careful observation of all those advantages that God puts into your hand. Take advantage of his affliction. Make use of thy near relation or of his dependence upon thee, or of thy interest in him. It may be he is concerned in thy goodwill to him, or hath some affection for thee. Make use of it for God.—Alleine.
main homiletics of verse31.
The Recompense of the Righteous and the Wicked.
I. The righteous man will receive a present chastisement for his sins—1.Because of his near relation to God.“You only have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities” (Amos iii. 2). Is this a strange principle of action? Is it not one which is, or ought to be, acted upon among men? If the son of a king commits a crime, is it not felt that his high position and his special privileges make him more deserving of punishment? Our Lord recognised this truth when He said “To whom men have committed much of him they will ask the more” (Luke xii. 48). Those who stand in special relation to God are expected to show it by a holy life, and when they fall into sin greater dishonour is brought upon the name of God than by many sins of the ungodly. Hence the necessity for their chastisement. 2.Because he will not be punished in the next world.The whole tenor of Bible teaching recognises this truth, and Paul asserts it: “We are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world” (1 Cor. xi. 32). 3.To overthrow that doctrine of devils—“Let us sin that grace may abound”(Rom. vi. 1, 15). Many false doctrines have gone abroad in the so-called church, but surely none is so manifestly from the devil as this which proclaims that the more a child of God sins the more God is glorified! Will the man whose wound has been closed and whose bleeding has been stanched by the surgeon, tear off the bandage and reopen the wound in order to afford the physician another opportunity of displaying his skill? May he not, by such an act, be guilty of suicide? May he not so incur the anger of his doctor as to make him refuse to re-dress the wound? If any man thinks that the abounding mercy of God is a licence for sin, let him read the history of David, and ask himself if it does not prove that he is wofully mistaken. David himself most certainly was, if he presumed upon his high standing with the God whose “gentleness had made him great” (Psa. xviii. 35) when he sinned the great sin which was the curse of all his after life. The God whom men fancy will be thus indulgent is not the God of the Bible—the God of Sinai—the God who visited the sin even of His servant Moses. “Let us sin that grace may abound” came from the forger of the oldest lie in human history. Mount Hor, Mount Nebo, and Mount Zion, each of which was the scene of a penalty inflicted on a distinguished saint of God for a particular and specified sin, bear witness to the truth that the “righteous will be recompensed on the earth.” And of these instances that of Moses is, perhaps the most striking. Here is the chastisement of the greatest man in the Old Testament dispensation—the specially elected leader and lawgiver of the chosen people. And though he had been and still was—yea,becausehe was the most honoured of Old Testament saints, he was shut out of the landto which he had been journeying for forty years for assuming a Divine prerogative—“die in the mount whither thou goest up, and be gathered to thy people, as Aaron thy brother died at Mount Hor, and was gathered to his people: because ye trespassed against me among the children of Israel at the waters of Maribah-Kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin; because ye sanctified me not in the midst of the children of Israel” (Deut. xxxii. 50, 51). Such a sentence testifies that God is a consuming fire to sin, in the righteous as well as in the wicked.
II. If God’s friends are chastised, His enemies must be.—For they not onlysinbut make light of sin, either by denying the fact or blaming their circumstances, their temperament, or their tempters, laying the blame anywhere except upon themselves, and this increases their guilt. If those who acknowledge and confess their sin must yet be chastised for it, how much more those who refuse to do either! The sin of the righteous is the exception of his life, but the entire life of the ungodly man is a course of opposition to the law of God. If, therefore, the isolated instances are visited, how much more such an accumulation of moral debt! The very justice of God demands that if He punish the saint He shall also punish the sinner. This is New Testament teaching as well as Old. “For the time is come that judgement 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?” (1 Pet. iv. 17).
outlines and suggestive comments.
But where is the righteous person thus scourged, judged, and recompensed? On the earth, even in this life, and in the world. The earth is not that seat which the Lord hath properly appointed for judgment or vengeance, neither is this life the day of the great assize; yet rather than sin shall be unpunished, yea, even in the elect, the Lord will keep a petty sessions in this life, and make the earth a house of correction.—Muffet.
The righteous are under thedisciplinethough not under thecurse,of the rod.—Bridges.
The best must look for stripes, if they will take liberty to sin against God. True it is that the Lord taketh not advantage of infirmities, He passeth by them, He smiteth not His children for them: but when they grow too bold, He will nurture and awe them with correction. In this sense He may be said to be no respecter of persons, that as He will not endure the sinfulness of the wicked, though they be never so great, so He will not allow of the sins of the godly, though they be never so good. First,God herein respecteth His own glory,who will have His people to know that He doth look for service at their hands. And the wicked see by this that His is neither remiss towards all nor partial towards any. Second,He respecteth the good.How wanton, how froward, how stubborn would children be, into what perils would they cast themselves should they be altogether exempted from the rod. They should never feel comfort of their parents’ favour unless they sometimes found the smart of their displeasure. . . . And the tribulation and afflictions of good men do not bring them behind the wicked, but show that the plagues and punishments of the wicked are yet behind.—Dod.
The righteous Lord shall pay His debts even to the righteous. Sin makes God a debtor.—Jermin.
Critical Notes.—1. Instructions,“discipline” or “disciplinary instruction.”2. Obtaineth,literally “draws out.”4. Virtuous,literally “strenuous,” “capable” (used in Ruth iii. 11).5. Thoughts,or “purposes.”Right,“judgment,” “justice.”7.Wordsworth here reads, “When the wicked turn themselves,” etc.,i.e., on any reverse of their fortunes, however slight, they perish.9.This verse is read in two ways. Zöckler reads, “Better is the lowly that serveth himself than he that boasteth and lacketh bread.” Wordsworth agrees with this view. Delitzsch and Stuart render as the Authorised Version (seecommentson the verse).10. Regardeth,literally “knoweth.” Delitzsch reads, “knoweth how his cattle feed.” “Cruel is singular, denoting that each one of his mercies are cruel” (Fausset).11. Vain persons,or “vanity,” “emptiness.”12. Net.Delitzsch, Zöckler, and Miller translate this word “spoil” or “prey.” The Hebrew word means also a “fortress.” Maurer, therefore, translates it “defence,” and understands it to mean that the evil combine for mutual protection. This agrees with Zöckler’s rendering of the second clause, “the root of the righteous is made sure.”16. Presently,literally “in that very day,”i.e.,“at once.”Covereth shame,or “hides his offence.”17. Speaketh,literally “breathes.”18. Speaketh,literally “babbles.”Health,“healing.”19. A moment,literally “while I wink.”20.Delitzsch reads, “cause joy.”26. Is more excellent than his neighbour,rather “guides his neighbour.” Delitszch reads, “looketh after his pastures.” The Hebrew word signifies “abundance” (seeMiller’s remarksin the comments on the verse).27.The word translatedroastdoes not occur in this sense elsewhere. In the Chaldee of Dan. iii. 27, it is used in this sense. It may be read “catcheth not his prey.” The second clause should be, “a precious treasure is diligence,” or “a diligent man.”28. No death,literally “no-death,”i.e.,“immortality.”
main homiletics of verse1.
The Love of Knowledge and the Proof of it.
True knowledge is to be loved—
I. For what it can do for him who loves it.1.It refines a man.Gold when it is in its natural condition is valuable because it is gold, but when it has been purged from its impurities by the refining process it is more to be valued and is more beautiful. So a man may be sterling gold without much knowledge, but when the dross of ignorance is removed, he is worth more and is more attractive. If this be true of knowledge in the general, it is pre-eminently true of the knowledge which comes from above. If any knowledge exercises a refining influence upon the human mind, much more does the highest knowledge—the knowledge of God. 2.It will open up sources of enjoyment that would otherwise be hidden.The blind are deprived of many enjoyments by lack of sight. There is an abundance of beauty all around them, but their want of vision makes it useless to them. Intellectual ignorance is intellectual blindness; the ignorant man is a stranger to a thousand pleasures which are enjoyed by a well-informed man. Especially ignorance of Divine things shuts a man out from the highest, the only lasting unalloyed source of joy. 3.It makes a man less dependent on the outward and visible.A man who has stored up knowledge will be good company for himself. He can find refreshment by meditating on what he has within him, and need not be ever seeking it in external things. The contemplation of Divine and eternal truths especially, will ever be “within him a well of water” (John iv. 14).
II. For what it will do for others.If a man makes money only to dig a grave and bury it, he sins against himself and all whom he might bless by its use. So there are men who seem to have no other end in getting knowledge than to bury it. Such a man is an intellectual miser, and a sinner against human kind. There ought to be a love of giving, as well as a love of getting. For a man who possesses any kind of knowledge can bless others by its use. And this being true of all useful knowledge, how much more true is it of theknowledge which makes “wise unto salvation?” Christ insists that no Christian make himself a grave in which to bury this knowledge, but a medium to communicate it (Matt. v. 16). And the influence of knowledge which has been acquired is not limited to the short life of a man upon the earth. How much are we indebted to the knowledge gained by earnest seekers in every department of knowledge long before we were born? One earnest seeker may gain a knowledge that will be a light to men as long as the world lasts. Especially those who have been earnest seekers after Divine truth leave a legacy of blessing behind them, the influence of which will outlive the world. For all these reasons men ought to love knowledge.
III. The proof of loving knowledge.He will seek instruction. This is the only way to knowledge. If a man loves the object of his pursuit, he will show his love by the use of means. 1. Seeking instruction is a confession of ignorance, and to be convinced that we are ignorant is the first step to becoming wise. Self-conceit is the fatal barrier to a man’s gaining knowledge. 2. It involves self-denying labour. Little that is worth having can be obtained without labour. The gold-digger has to labour long and painfully before he finds the precious nuggets. If men would drink of a springing well of pure water they must dig deep down for it. The student must plod over dry details if he wishes to taste the sweets of learning. 3. It generally involves correction by the instructor. If a man sets out to dig for gold or to dig for water, he will most likely make mistakes while he is a novice. If he is really in earnest about his work he will receive “reproof,” although it will not be altogether palatable. So with the scholar, he must suffer the reproof of the master. Doubtless the main reference here is to that knowledge which regenerates the character; and certainly the man who loves this highest knowledge will confess his ignorance, will not shrink from labouring to attain it, will accept that “reproof” which is an indispensable element in Divine instruction. If the man of God is to be “thoroughly furnished” or “perfected” he must accept “reproof” and “correction,” as well as instruction (2 Tim. iii. 16, 17).
IV. The character of the man who does not love reproof.He is “brutish.” The great difference between a man and a brute is that the one can grow intellectually and morally and the other cannot. Many animals possess great sagacity, and to a certain extent that can be developed. They sometimes, too, possess admirable qualities, but they are not capable ofsoul-enlargement.But man is, and in order to attain it he must submit to the instruction and reproof of those who are wiser than himself. He must stoop before he can rise. If he will not do this, he will never attain to the high destiny for which he was created—ever to be rising higher and higher in the scale of being. His lower nature will rule his spirit, and he will be little better than the beast. He must submit to the correction and instruction of His God if he would not be classed with “the horse and the mule, which have no understanding” (Psa. xxxii. 8, 9). The man who will not take reproof will certainly have to submit to it, and this not only from those who are wiser than himself, but from his companions in ignorance. A terrible reproof will be administered by Divine Wisdom to those who refuse reproof (chap. i. 24–31). And he will not escape upbraidings from those who are involved in the same sentence. Ungodly men are the first to upbraid their companions in ungodliness when they are all involved in the same penalty.
outlines and suggestive comments.
Here is shewed that adversity is the best university, saith an interpreter. Corrections of instructions are the way of life. Men commonly beat and bruise their links before they light them, to make them burn the brighter. God firsthumbles whom He means to illuminate; as Gideon took thorns of the wilderness and briars and with them he taught the men of Succoth (Judges viii. 16). M. Ascham was a good schoolmaster to Queen Elizabeth, but affliction was a better, as one well observeth. He that hateth reproof, whether it be by the rebukes of men, or the rod of God, is fallen below the stirrup of reason, he is a brute in man’s shape; nothing is more irrational than irreligion.—Trapp.
The most we can attain to in this life is, not to know, but only to have a love of knowledge; we know in part, and a partial knowledge is not to know indeed. If we can love knowledge entirely, that is the entireness of knowledge in this life. Now as knowledge cometh from instruction, so the love of knowledge from the love of instruction. He that is servant to the one, will soon be a master to the other. A loving obedience in receiving doth even command love to keep what is received. . . . There is the reproof of anenemyand there is the reproof of afriend,the one seeketh reproach, the other amendment, but neither is to be hated, for howsoever reproof be used it is a profitable thing.—Jermin.
Reproof is not pleasant to nature. We may learn its value from its results, but it will never be sweet to our taste. At the best it is a bitter morsel. The difference between a wise man and a fool is not that one likes it and the other loathes it; both dislike it, but the fool casts away the precious because it is unpalatable, and the wise man accepts the unpalatable because it is precious.—Arnot.
The grand secret of life is to hear lessons, and not to teach them.—Haliburton.
It is the property of all true knowledge, especially spiritual, to enlarge the soul by filling it; to enlarge it without swelling it; to make it more capable, and more earnest to know, the more it knows.—Bishop Sprat.
Ignorance is the curse of God,Knowledge the wing with which we fly to heaven.—Shakespeare.
TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE: The name “Hottentot” originally referred to particular African, tribal people. It may be considered offensive. Dr. Miller does not use it as a compliment in his remarks.
This is a great text. We may expect great texts where there is a look of commonplace. The thought raises itself two stories at least in the respect of doctrine. He that, instead of fretting at that mysterious Providence of God that we callevil,enters into the deep experiences, and learns to value it as precious to his soul—that man loves light, or Gospel “knowledge.” That is the first story. But, now, he who takes a much wider view, and looks at all the gains from evil to the universe—how impossible would be high forms of knowledge, how utterly unconceived by anyone not Infinite, without the foil of either observed or experienced misery—that man acquiesces in all the evils that are seen in the creation,loving discipline because he loves knowledge,and acquiescing even in hell itself, because he suspects its absolute necessity in the providential system. Mourning over our griefs, which seems to be the work often of a refined and delicate nature, is here asserted to be “brutish.” He is but a Hottentot in the ways of the Almighty who does not see that the crushing of his hopes has been one of the tenderest methods of his redemption.—Miller.
He, and he only, that loves the means, loves the end. The means of knowledge are “instruction” in what is right, and “reproof” for what is wrong. He who is an enemy to either of these is an enemy to the end.—A. Fuller.
Is there any man so like a beast as not to love knowledge? Solomon tells us, that those who hate reproof are brutish. Let us, therefore, examine ourselves by this mark. . . . He is surely not a rational creature who has swallowed poison, and will rather suffer it to take its course than admit the necessary relief of medicine, lest he should be obliged to confess his folly in exposing himself to the need of it.—Lawson.
It was when Asaph recovered from that strange temptation, under the power of which he seemed to forget the eternity of man’s being, and to confine his estimate to the present life,that he exclaimed, “So foolish was I, and ignorant; I wasas a beastbefore Thee” (Psa. lxxiii. 22). And the same comparison is repeatedly used respecting the ungodly. They sink themselves even below the level of the brutes, fortheyfulfil the ends oftheirbeing, under the impulse of their respective instincts and appetites; but the man who forgets his immortality and his God, doesnotfulfil the end ofhis.There may also be comprehended in the expression, the absence of what every rational creature ought to have—spiritual discernment and taste;the destitution of all right sentiment and feeling in reference to God and Divine things. This is the character of him whom Paul denominates the “natural” or animal “man,” who receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him.—Wardlaw.
The subject of Verse 2 has been treated in previous chapters. See Homiletics on chap.iii. 1–4;xi. 21, etc.
outlines and suggestive comments.
Verse 2. Or “hath what he will of God.” Thus it is written of Luther, that by his prayers he could prevail with God at his pleasure. When gifts were offered him, he refused them with this brave speech, “I solemnly protested to God that I would not be put off with these low things.” And on a time praying for the recovery of a godly useful man, among other passages, he let fall this transcendent rapture of a daring faith, “Let my will be done,” and then falls off sweetly; “My will, Lord, because Thy will.” Blessed is he that hath what he will and wills nothing but what he should. If an evil thought haunt his heart, it is the devise of the man, he is not the man of such devices.—Trapp.
A man can no way be so happy as by being in God’s favour. If any other thing were better than this, it would here be named; for His purpose is to promise and perform the best. Good men do set their wits to work to find the way whereby they may best please Him, and He doth set His wisdom to work to frame a recompense that may best pleasure them. It is precious—1. In regard of the rareness of it, it is a flower which groweth only in God’s own garden. It is a privilege and freedom peculiar to the children of God. 2. In regard to the continuance of it, it is not worn out by time, it vanisheth not away, it is never taken from them upon whom it is bestowed. 3. In regard to those good effects wherewith it is always accompanied—defence from enemies, safety from danger, gladness of heart, the love and favour of God it doth minister to everyone that partakes of it.—Dod.
Were the goodness of the godly such as it should be, it would from God’s goodness even deserve praise, not stand in need of remitting favour, it would carry favour with it, it would not be put by seeking to obtain it. But in the best, so little it is, that he must even fetch it out from the Lord with many prayers, earnest suit, and at last it is the great mercy of God that he doth obtain it. But yet, such is the mercy of God toward the good, that however He dealeth with the good man he still obtaineth favour from Him. St. Augustine saith, “Thou receivedst benefit both from His coming and His going; He cometh to the increase of thy comfort, He goeth to the increase of thy care. He goeth away sometimes lest continual presence should make Him despised, and that absence should make Him more desired.”—Jermin.
A man of wicked devices may be artful enough to disguise his selfish plans under the mask of religion and benevolence, like the old Pharisees; but the eyes of the Judge of the world are like a flame of fire, they pierce into the secrets of every soul, and there isno dark design harboured which shall not be completely disclosed in the day of Christ.—Lawson.
Let blind reason condemn God. (see onver. 1.) He who has Gospel light will see Him as one out of whom he can draw favour. A man not only pure himself, but doing good to others, looks upon God as a fountain of blessing.—Miller.
main homiletics of verse3.
A Right Desire and the Means of Its Attainment.
I. There has always been a desire in men for establishment—for fixedness.1.It is a good and God-given aspiration, and manifests itself in many ways.Men rightly desire to have a settled home—a spot on earth to which they may attach themselves and from which they cannot be driven. This is a desire especially strong in the western and northern nations, and has been a powerful element in their development. Men desire a permanent and certain income, and the desire to obtain it is a great motive power to induce them to acquire knowledge of mechanical arts and professions. Men desire to earn a fixed reputation, and the desire acts as a moral power in the world. 2.It is a desire very old in its manifestation.Very early in the history of our race we have an instance of man’s desire for fixedness of position on the earth, and for a permanent reputation. It was this that prompted the men of Shinar to say one to another, “Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the earth” (Gen. xi. 4). They desired to have a centre of unity in the world—a spot where they could settle down together and establish a name that would outlive them. The building of Babel is a parable of what has been going on ever since, and will go on until the end of time. The building is not of bricks and mortar, but the desire is the same.
II. Men can only have this desire satisfied in one way.The man who purposed to build the tower of Babel used wrong means to fulfil a lawful desire. It was right to aspire towards reaching the fixedness of heaven, but that cannot be done withbrickswere they never so many or so well burnt. They did “make a name,” but not the name they desired. And so it is with men now. They want to gain for themselves a permanent resting place and a lasting name, and they think to attain their desire by linking themselves with something belonging only to earth, they desire to reach the heavenly with the earthly. And if they could use all the clay upon the globe to make their bricks they would find their tower fall far short of reaching heaven. All life without God is a life of wickedness, and such a life cannot be anestablishmentbecause it is contrary to Divine law. But this desire towards the immutable is intended by God to lead man to turn his face towards “those things which cannot be shaken” (Heb. xii. 27), that righteous character which fits a man for the “house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens” (2 Cor. v. 1), which can be obtained by union with Him who is immutable—“The same yesterday, to-day, and for ever” (Heb. xiii. 8). Men may build upon a foundation which shall not be removed, they may send their roots deep down into an eternal abiding place by falling in with the conditions laid down by Christ Himself in Matt. v. 24, 25.
outlines and suggestive comments.
Establishedmay have reference not to the stability of hisfortunes,but to that of hismind—to tranquil self-possession and firmness. Even if, in the providence of God, his substance should fail, he himself remains unshakenand entire in all his best blessings, and in all his hopes.—Wardlaw.
A man, being wicked, how shall he expect anything, except that he shall be disturbed? While the saint, though “shaken” in leaf and bough, and storm-tossed, and, perhaps, broken in his branches, yet “shall not be shaken” in his “root.”—Miller.
Ahab strove to establish himself in despite of the threatened curse of God. He increased his family, trained them with care under the tutelage of his choicest nobility. And surely one, at least, out of seventy, might remain to inherit his throne. But this was the vain “striving” of the worm “with his Maker.” One hour swept them all away (1 Kings xxi. 21, with 2 Kings x. 1–7). The device of Caiaphas, alsoto establish his nation by wickedness,was the means of its overthrow (John xi. 49, 50, with Matt. xxi. 43, 44).—Bridges.
A man shall not be established by wickedness, for he lays his foundation upon firework, and brimstone is scattered upon his housetop: if the fire of God from heaven but flash upon it, it will all be aflame immediately. He walks all day upon a mine of gunpowder; and hath God with His armies ready to run upon the thickest bosses of his buckler, and to hurl him to hell. How can this man be sure of anything? Cain built cities, but could not rest in them; Ahab begat seventy sons, but not one successor to the kingdom. Sin hath no settledness. But the righteous, though shaken with winds, are rooted as trees; like a ship at anchor, they wag up and down, yet remove not.—Trapp.
We shall lose our labour in seeking any sinful helps. We shall but make quicksand our foundation, and mud our stonework, and stubble and reeds our strongest timber. It is time for us to pull down our own ruinous building, lest it should fall upon our heads. For though it be so slight, and as weak as a cobweb, to be a cover over us, yet it is very heavy, and as weighty as a mountain to press us under it.—Dod.
Many are established in wickedness, and cannot be removed from it, but none shall ever be established by it.—Jermin.
main homiletics of verse4.
A Husband’s Crown.
I. A woman possessed of a quality which time will not destroy or impair.Virtue is not a mere negative good—it is not simply an absence of evil. A virtuous person is one who hasovercomeevil—one who is prevented from being a worker of evil by being a worker of good. Virtue is a thing of growth—human nature has to struggle to acquire moral excellence—to attain that strength of goodness which we call virtue. It has its seat in the regenerated heart. The river that is always flowing with pure, living water, is not fed from a cistern, but from a living spring which is in communication with the parent of waters. So virtue is not a native of this fallen world—it is of celestial birth—it is derived from the source of all goodness and consequently partakes of the indestructibility of all eternal things. There is no annihilation of virtue. Stabbing cannot kill it. Burning cannot destroy it. It will break the bonds of calumny and rise from the dead. Virtue adorns either sex, but it is especially attractive in a woman. It ishercrown, and because she is so crowned, she crowns her husband.
II. Man needs such a woman to complete, or crown his life.Even the first man in his sinless condition, with all the peculiar joys springing from his sinless nature, felt his existence incomplete until God gave him the woman as the filling up—the crown and finish of his life. But this woman was crowned herself with innocence and purity or she could not have crowned her husband. If man inhis sinless condition needed a wife to complete his life, how much more does he need now a virtuous woman to be a helpmeet for him. 1.He needs her because he needs help from virtue outside himself.The most perfect of imperfect men must lean upon some human support, and they will consciously or unconsciously do so. A man who has a virtuous wife has ever about him an atmosphere which is strengthening to his own virtue. She will help him to preserve his integrity more effectually than any other person because she is so constantly about his path. She will give him that moral sympathy which is so helpful to men struggling to keep a good conscience in an evil world, which is like oil to the wheels of life, and makes what would otherwise be very difficult easy and pleasant. 2.He needs an intellectual companion.He must have a rational and intelligent spirit in his home if his life is to be what God intended it to be—one with whom he can converse and to whom he can impart his thoughts on things human and divine. He cannot becrowned,in the full sense of the word, unless he has such a wife, and the word virtue may embrace intellectual vigour as well as moral excellence. (SeeCommentson the verse.) When a man has such a wife as we have described his life is completed or crowned. The word among the Hebrews was also symbolic of joy and gladness (Cant. vi. 11), and such a woman is of necessity a joy to her husband.
III. The man who would be thus crowned must be wise in his choice of a wife.The most precious things are not generally to be obtained without some amount of seeking. Pebbles can be gathered upon any shore, but diamonds are only to be had for patient seeking. Pinchbeck ornaments are to be had for a trifle, but a golden diadem costs much money. There are plenty of women who may be won without much seeking, but a wife who is virtuous in the sense of the text is not to be met with every day or in every place. To find such an one he must ask counsel of Him who provided the first man with the woman who supplied his need in this respect. Though we have no record that Adam asked God for a helpmeet for him, yet we do not know that he did not. This we do know, that God’s best gifts, as a rule, are only had for asking. And when we reflect upon the terrible blight that an ungodly, unsympathetic, incapable wife is to a man, causing him such shame as is “rottenness to his bones,” we can fully see the need of seeking Divine guidance in forming a relationship which has so much to do with “making” or “marring” a man.
outlines and suggestive comments.
Here we have a king and a crown, aholy womanthecrown;ahappy man,theking.I.Inasmuch as a woman of grace is here called her husband’s crown we learn that a good wife is the husband’s best outward blessing, the worthiest mercy that a man may have in this world.It follows: 1. That as he who would be introduced into the crown of any kingdom or monarchy must match himself into the king’s race, so, he that would be sure to have a crown for his wife must take the same course, he must marry into the house of heaven, with some one to whom the King of Kings is a father, and who is by grace of the lineage and offspring of the Lord of Hosts. 2. The wife being the husband’s crown must be much respected by her husband. Crowns are no contemptible things. The Apostle Peter is exact in commanding this (1 Pet. iii. 7). She is called the “glory of the man” (1 Cor. xi. 7) and his companion (Mal. ii. 14) his second-self (Ephes. v. 28, 29). If in these regards God hath made a woman an honour to a man, the Lord looks that man should give honour to a woman. 3. A wife being a crown, requireth maintenance as much as her husband’s estate will afford. The crown must be maintained, it is for the honour and safety of the king, and for the content of the subjectsthat it have meet support. II.If the wife be the crown, the husband is the king.Therefore: 1. She must acknowledge him and obey him in all matrimonial loyalty and love. The proverb is, there is no service to compare with that of a king, but, certainly there is no king’s service to this. Kings can give the greatest about them, butrewardswhen they have done their best; but the husband gives the wifehimselffor her obedience. 2. It is her duty to grace him. To be a woman, and to be a wife, is not enough to be a crown, a man may have both these and yet she that he hath may be a shame unto him. There go more thantwowords to this bargain; to be a woman, a wife, andgracious,and she that is so cannot fail of her glory.—John Wing(1620).
Man, though made for the throne of the world, was found unfit for the final investiture until he got woman as a help. . . . When the relations of the sexes move in fittings of truth and love, the working of the complicated machinery of life is a wonder to an observing man and a glory to the Creator God. . . . We need not be surprised by the announcement of the horrid contrast. It is according to law; the best things abused become the worst. Woman is the very element of home. When that element is tainted, corruption spreads over all its breadth and sinks into its core.—Arnot.
The word implies the virtue of earnestness, or strength of character, rather than of simple chastity.—Plumptre.
The weakness of women is never a reproach unto them, but when it appeareth in not resisting sin. And therefore the original isa woman of strength,such a woman as is by God’s grace strong enough to withstand sin: amanlikewoman, the Syriac hath it, in spiritual courage. But contrariwise she, who is not ashamed of her sinful weakness in yielding unto sin maketh him ashamed for whom she was created, and as rottenness in his bones destroyeth his strength, making him weak through grief, as she is through folly, for such grief enters deeply, and it is the bones that it wasteth, when she is naught who was made of man’s bone.—Jermin.
Let man learn to be grateful to woman for this undoubted achievement for her sex, that it is she—she far more than he, and she, too often, in despite of him—who has kept Christendom from lapsing back into barbarism, kept mercy and truth from being utterly overborne by those two greedy monsters, money and war. Let him be grateful for this, that almost every great soul that has led forward, or lifted up the race, has been furnished for each noble deed, and inspired with each patriotic and holy inspiration, by the retiring fortitude of some Spartan—some Christian mother. Moses, the deliverer of his people, drawn out of the Nile by the king’s daughter, some one has hinted, is only a symbol of the way that woman’s better instincts outwit the tyrannical diplomacy of the man. Let him cheerfully remember, that though the sinewy sex achieves enterprises on public theatres, it is the nerve and sensibility of the other that arm the mind and inflame the soul in secret. Everywhere a man executes the performance, but woman trains the man.—Anon.
The figure in the second clause is strong. We may consider it as conveyingtwoideas! 1. The “bones” are thestrengthof the frame. Upon them the whole is built. There is, therefore, in the idea ofcaries,or rottenness in them, that of thewastingof the vigour of body and mind, and the bringing of the man prematurely to his grave; and that, too, by means which cost him, ere this result is effected, exquisite suffering. 2. The “bones” areunseen.The poor man is pierced with inward and secret agony, which he cannot disclose; pines in unseen distress—distress of which the cause is hidden, while theeffectsare sadly and rapidly visible.—Wardlaw.
“Capable;” sometimes “virtuous,” literallystrong.“It is well observed by Michaelis (Supp. No. 17), that inthe early stages of society, when the government and laws had little influence, fortitude was the first and most necessary virtue; and might therefore naturally give its name to the other virtues. Hencevirtusin Latin, andαρετηin Greek, which, according to their etymology, denote mainly strength and fortitude, came, at length, to signify virtue in general (Holder).” “Crown,” that is (1)ornament,and (2)source of power.A virtuous woman is both to her husband. A spendthrift, drunken, or adulterous wife is so entrenched in our being, that our very bone, that is, our dearest interests (Psalm xxxv. 10; John xix. 36), are rotten, when these qualities begin their influence. A man, linked with such disorders, cannot complain of his inevitable reproof (ver. 1). Does he link himself with evil, he must partake of the storms that buffet it. Women, however, in all this book, seem to be types of qualities;—of Grace (xi. 16); of Wisdom (xiv. 1); of Folly (ix. 13). The “virtuous woman” has not stood before us in all her true light, till she stands as Wisdom; nor “One that causes shame,” till we make her Impenitency. “The virtuous or capable woman” is our “crown,” for, with faith, all things are ours; and her great rival is our shame, for, with unbelief, there is “rottenness” in our very “bones.” This disposition always to see a figure must not be set down as fanciful, till the Woman of Grace, of Folly, and of Wisdom, and other still more artificial cases (Rev. xii. 1), have been thoroughly considered.—Miller.
main homiletics of the paragraph.—Verses5–8.
Thoughts and Words and Their Result.
I. The thoughts of the righteous or godly man are right.1.Because he has the best material out of which to build his thoughts.The kind of building which is reared will depend mainly upon the quarry from which the stones are hewn. The man of God gets the material of his thoughts from the revealed Word of God. He obeys the Divine command.—“This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night” (Josh. i. 8). 2.Because his thinking is under the rule of law.He does not allow his mind to dwell upon every suggestion that comes into it, he forbids certain things to enter there, or if they enter in an unguarded moment, he will not give them a dwelling place. He does not give unqualified assent to the boast that “thought is free.” The righteous man does not aspire to be a “free-thinker,” if he did he could not be agoodthinker. He rules his thoughts according to the legislation of Christ (Matt. v. 28; xv. 18), and endeavours to bringevery thoughtinto obedience to Him (2 Cor. x. 5).
II. The speech of the righteous.A man’s words are never worse than his thoughts. In a good man they are the outcome of his thoughts. As the child is the undeveloped man, and the seed the undeveloped tree, so thought is the seed of speech. If the child’s constitution is good and the seed is good, the man and the tree will be healthy and vigorous. If the thought is healthy and wise the speech will be so likewise, for “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh” (Matt. xii. 34).
III. The thoughts of the wicked.They are such as spring spontaneously from the human heart, which is, according to the estimate of One who knows, “deceitful above all things” (Jer. xvii. 9). In such a heart counsels or thoughts of deceit must be generated. His own life-work will be a deceit (chap. xi. 18), and he will deceive others. The verse evidently refers to thoughts which purpose harm to other people. When a man’s thoughts are not in subjection to the law of God, they have a tendency to go from bad to worse. The ungodly man, either directly or indirectly, injures others as well as himself.
IV. The words of the wicked.The ungodly are here represented, as in chap.xi. 21, as combining to injure the godly (see Homiletics on that verse). Their words are the outcome of their evil and malicious thoughts. Most ungodly men try to lessen the influence of the good by depreciating their character when they do not dare to attack their property and their lives. This lying in wait for blood may cover all schemes to bring about the downfall of the good. The two characters now stand before us. Let us look at what is in store for each. I. For the righteous. 1.Deliverance from the machinations of the wicked.This is effected by means of the godly man’s own words. He is able to refute what his enemies bring against him. This proverb cannot of course be taken to assert that the righteous are always delivered from death at the hands of their persecutors. They are delivered as Christ was delivered from the counsels of deceit, and from the bloody plans of the Scribes and Pharisees. The words here used exactly describe their character, and the deliverance of the righteous is such a deliverance as our Lord wrought for Himself by the words of truth and wisdom with which He silenced them Take the instance of the tribute-money as recorded by Matthew (chap. xxii. 15). “Then went the Pharisees and took counsel how they might entangle Him in His talk. And they sent out unto Him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, Master, we know that Thou art true, and teachest the way of God in truth, neither carest Thou for any man; for thou regardest not the person of men. Tell us, therefore, What thinkest Thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Cæsar, or not? But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites? Show me the tribute money. And they brought Him a penny. And He saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? They say unto Him, Cæsar’s. Then saith He unto them, Render therefore unto Cæsar the things which are Cæsar’s, and unto God the things which are God’s. When they had heard these words, they marvelled, and left him, and went their way.” Two other instances of Christ’s delivering Himself by His “mouth” are given in the same chapter. And many of His followers have in like manner defeated the plans of their enemies. 2.The establishment of his family.His thoughts and words bless his own house—they are the means of reproducing other characters whose thoughts and words are like his own. This of itself is a good reason why his house should stand. Each member of it thus becomes a centre of influence for good, and in this way the world is preserved from moral corruption and ruin. And it is a law of God’s kingdom that the godliness of the head of a family or race should bring a blessing upon his posterity. God defended the people of Jerusalem in the days of Hezekiah for “His servant David’s sake” (Isa. xxxvii. 35). He blessed Isaac for “my servant Abraham’s sake” (Gen. xxvi. 24). And the same law is at work in New Testament times, “The promise is unto you and to your children” (Acts ii. 39). 3.General commendation.The wise and the righteous are synonymous in the book of Proverbs, the wisdom of the 8th verse is, doubtless,moralwisdom. Paul calls his Corinthian converts, whom he had begotten by his holy thoughts and wise words, his “letters of commendation” (2 Cor. iii. 1–3). Every godly man has some such commendatory epistles in the living souls who his life and words have blessed. Men can but acknowledge that he is a blessing to his fellow-creatures while he lives, and after he has left the world he is praised by, and because of, those whom he “turned to righteousness” (Dan. xii. 3). II. But for the wicked there must be—1.Overthrow.They entered the lists against a power must stronger than their own, and must therefore come to ruin. The stubble of the field can contend for a time against the fire, but the latter grows stronger the longer it burns, and the stubble is less and less able to resist its power, until presently there is nothing left but a few ashes which are soon scattered by the winds, and the place that onceknew them knows them no more,“For behold the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven, and all the proud and all that do wickedly shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of Hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch”(Mal. iv. 1). 2.General contempt.The wicked or “perverse of heart” will not be able to respect himself, how then can he expect others to hold him in honour? And in the day of his overthrow the contempt or indifference with which both he and his fate will be regarded will not come from those who he has striven to injure, but from those who are like himself. Those who have already met with their overthrow will be those who will meet him with the taunt,“Art thou also become weak as we? Art thou become like unto us?”(Isa. xiv. 10). And those whose time of judgment is yet in the future will not stoop to pity or succour him.
outlines and suggestive comments.
Verse 5. That thoughts are free, is his lesson, by which we are made slaves unto sin. For if the thoughts be corrupted, the affections will soon be polluted, and then the actions are easily perverted. If the flies of Egypt get into our eyes, the frogs of Egypt will soon get into our chambers, the caterpillars of Egypt will soon destroy our fruits, the actions of our lives. The counsels of the wicked are deceit—they deceive God of His honour, their neighbour of his right, themselves of their salvation.—Jermin.
The stress lies upon the words, “thoughts” or “purposes,” and “counsels.” Habits of good and evil reach beyond the region of outward act to that of impulse and volition.—Plumptre.
To the righteous are ascribed simple and clear thoughts, to the godless, prudently thought through schemes and measures, but on that very account not simple, because of their tendency.—Delitzsch.
If good thoughtslookinto a wicked heart, theystaynot there, as those that like not their lodging; the flashes of lightnings may be discerned into the darkest prisons. The light that shines into a holy heart is constant, like that of the sun, which keeps due times, and varies not the course for any of these sublunary occasions.—Trapp.
At the first creation man was made to excel brute beasts more by the reason and gifts of the soul than by the fashion and shape of the body, so at the second, a Christian is made to excel sinful men more by the holiness and working of the soul than by those of the body.—Dod.
The merethoughts—the unpremeditatedresolvesof a righteous man—areright;thedeliberate counsels,the verydeliberationsof the wicked, aredeceit.—Burgon.
Many indeed are the deviations of the righteous. But there is an overcoming law within that, in despite of all opposition, fixeshis thoughtswith delight on God and His law (Pas. cxxxix. 17, 18; Rom. vii. 15, 23), and gives to them a single bias for His service. Widely different are the thoughts of the wicked, ripening intocounselsfraught withdeceit.Such were those of Joseph’s brethren to deceive their father; of Jeroboam, under a feigned consideration of the people; of Daniel’s enemies, under pretence of honouring the king; of Herod, under the profession of worshiping the infant Saviour.—Bridges.
This verse has been rendered,“The policy of the just is honesty; the wisdom of the wicked is cunning.”The righteous man deals in rectitude, and from his actions you know his thoughts. It is not so with “the wicked.” He thinks one way and acts another. His words and deeds are not the fair index of his thoughts.—Wardlaw.
“The plans of the righteous are a judgment.”This word, which is verycommon in the Bible, means a judicial decision. The “judgment” of the wicked is a verdict of the Almighty consigning them to hell. The “judgment” of the righteous, by what Christ has wrought out, is a verdict of eternal reward. . . . The “plans of the righteous,” however disastrous they may seem, “are a judgment.” And, as the “judgment” of the righteous is in his favour, his plans, however bad, are shaped in him for his good. Whatsoever storms they may lead to, they are from a most prosperous verdict, and have been allowed to supervene, for his highest, and well-graduated good. Mark now the climax (as in ch. xiv. 11). It says, theplansof the righteous, leading us to suppose they might be very wretched But it says “thehelmsmanship(counsels, see on chap.xi. 14) of the wicked,” leaving us to suppose they are very shrewd. The keenest calculations of the wicked, where a cool eye is at thehelm,and where instead of marrying a foolish wife (ver. 4), he has built grandly for the world; still, as ajudgment,I mean by that, as the whole verdict in his case, his veryhelmsmanshipsare a deceit. (1) His own wisdom cheats him in ordering his life; and (2) God Himself, as a part of His award, takes care that he be deceived as to his total well-being.—Miller.