outlines and suggestive comments.
Verse 17. He who is brought to a spiritual discernment of the“truth”“breathes” it like his breath, instinctively and unconsciously. (SeeCritical Notes.) And he who does this not simply “covers shame” (verse 16), but causes others to, for headvertisesrighteousness—i.e., publishesit. This, therefore, is the meaning of the sentence: “He that breathes forth truth publishes righteousness”—i.e.,saving righteousness: and does it like uttering forth his breath. While the “deceived” (false) witness; literally,the witness of falsehood;a phrase which is ambiguous, because it might mean awitness to falsehood(see chap.vi. 9)—the “deceived witness”—i.e.,the man who sees or witnesses falsehood instead of truth, “publishes(understood)delusion”—i.e.,is a constant fountain of deceit to other men. This sense of the witness of falsehood is necessary to many proverbs (chap. xiv. 5), and saves a number from tautological or truistic interpretations.—Miller.
There is more here than lies upon the surface. It might seem enough for a faithful witness tospeak truth.But no—he mustshow forth righteousness;what isjust,as well as what istrue.The best intentioned purpose must not lead us to conceal what is necessary to bring the cause to a righteous issue.—Bridges.
The words read at first almost like a truism; but the thought which lies below the surface is that of the inseparable union between truth and justice. The end does not justify the means, and only he who breathes and utters truth makes the righteous cause clear.—Plumptre.
He thatspeaketh,ordinarily, in his common speech, that which is true, willshow righteousness—that is, will carry himself justly, and further righteousness with his testimony, when he shall be publicly called thereunto. There must be a training of the tongue to make it fit for equity and justice, as of the hands, and other parts of the body, to make them skilful in handling a weapon and bearing of arms. . . . No man is competent for any work that is public unless his former upright and honest conversation commend him unto it. The rule which our Saviour gives in another case will hold as firmly in this.“He that is faithful in that which is least, is faithful also in much”(Luke xvi. 10). For,first,the mouth of the man is the mouth of the man’s treasure. That which he speaketh he best loveth. That which is most in the lips hath greatest place in the heart. If, therefore, the truth be dear unto him, he will certainly show it forth when he shall stand forth before God and His substitute for that purpose, and so do a good service of love and piety; but if he have any fellowship with falsehood he will now take part with it, being void of the fear of God, and afraid to displease man.Secondly,no man exerciseth the truth at any time conscionably, but by the spirit of truth, and that directing men’s hearts at other times, in matters of less weight, will not fail them at their greatest need, when they are to perform a duty of so great importance; and so, on the other hand, Satan hath the disposing of their tongues that give themselves to lying. He is their father, he teachest them their trade, and tasketh them in their work, and they be wholly at his commandment, and who doubteth but he will command them to be on his side, and to take against the truth, so far as a knowledge of the truth shall make against his practices.—Dod.
Verse 18.Wit,when not chastened and controlled by an amiable disposition, often wounds deeply. Jibes, jests, irony, raillery, and sarcasm, fly about. No matter what the wounds, or where they be inflicted, if the wit be but shown. Ahappy hit,a clever, biting repartee, will not be suppressed for the sake of feelings, or even the character of a neighbour, or, as it may happen, a friend. The man of witmusthave his joke, cost what it may.The point may be piercing in the extreme; but if itglittersit is enough; to the heart it will go.—Wardlaw.
Abimelech and his fellow priests were killed with the tongue, as with a rapier; so was Naboth and his sons; so was our Saviour Christ Himself. An honest mind is ever more afflicted with words than blows. You shall find some, saith Erasmus, that if they be threatened with death can despise it; but to be belied they cannot brook, nor from revenge contain themselves. How was David enraged by Nabal’s railings! Moses, by the people’s murmurings! Jeremiah by the derisions of the rude rabble! (chap. xx. 7, 8.)—Trapp.
Among all the complaints which the godly, and God’s own Spirit make against the wicked in the Scriptures, they seldom complain of anything more than of their virulent and pestiferous mouths (Psa. lv. 21, lii. 2; Prov. xxv. 18; Rom. iii. 13).First,they cause swords to be drawn, and blood to be shed, and men to be slain, and much mischief to be wrought.Secondly,The sword, or any other weapon, can only hurt them that are present, and in places near to it; but the stroke of the tongue will light most dangerously upon them that are absent; no place or distance can help against it, and one man may do mischief to a great multitude.—Dod.
Verse 19. Liars need to have good memories. A lying tongue soon betrays itself. “No lie reaches old age,” says Sophocles.—Fausset.
The verse has been differently rendered. “The tongue of truth is ever steady: but the tongue of falsehood is so but for a moment” (Hodgson). There is unvarying consistency in the one case; for truth is always in harmony with itself; while there is shifting evasion, vacillation, contradiction, in the other.—Wardlaw.
Who will gainsay the martyr’s testimony—“Be of good comfort, Master Ridley, play the man! We shall this day light such a candle in England as I trust shallnever be put out.”—Bridges.
The Christian shall utter for ever just the things that he utters on earth.—Miller.
Verse 22. Not merely they thatspeaktruly, but they thatdealtruly. Deeds of true dealing must confirm words of fair speaking.—Fausset.
A lie is a thing absolutely and intrinsically evil; it is an act of injustice and a violation of our neighbour’s rights. The vileness of its nature is equalled by the malignity of its effects; it first brought sin into the world, and is since the cause of all those miseries and calamities that disturb it; it tends utterly to overthrow and dissolve society, which is the greatest temporal blessing and support of mankind; it has a strange and peculiar efficacy above all other sins to indispose the heart to religion. It is as dreadful in its punishments as it has been pernicious in its effects.—South.
Honestyis justtruth in conduct;andtruthishonesty in words.—Wardlaw.
Such as speak the truth in uprightness will not vary in their talk, but tell the same tale again, and be like to themselves in that which they shall say; whereas liars be in and out, affirming and denying, and speaking contradictions in the same manner. Only true men are constant in their words.First,their matter will help their memory, for that which is truth once will be truth ever.Secondly,the same Spirit that worketh a love and conscience of the truth, whereby men are made to be true, doth never cease to be the same, therefore, as it seasoneth the heart and guideth it at the first, so it will establish it, and direct the lips to the end. For sincerity and uprightness is of all things most durable, and least subject to alteration or change. And that St. Paul assigneth for a cause of his invariable constancy, that he minded not those things that he did mind according to the flesh, whereby there should be with him,yea, yea,andnay, nay(2 Cor. i. 17).—Dod.
Truth is always consistent with itself,and needs nothing to help it out; it is always near at hand, and sits upon our lips, and is ready to drop out before we are aware; whereas a lie is troublesome, and sets a man’s invention upon the rack, and one trick needs a good many more to make it good. It is like building upon a false foundation, which constantly needs props to shore it up, and proves at last more chargeable than to have raised a substantial building at first upon a true and solid foundation.—Tillotson.
Dare to be true, nothing can need a lie:A fault which needs it most grows two thereby.—Herbert.
God “desireth truth in the inward parts” (Psa. li. 6), and all His are “children that will not lie” (Isa. lxiii. 8); they will rather die than lie. As they “love in the truth” (2 John 1) so they “speak the truth in love” (Ephes. iv. 15), and are therefore dear to the Father in truth and love (2 John 3), especially since they “do truth” as well as speak it (1 John i. 6), and do not more desire to be truly good than they hate to seem to be so only.—Trapp.
God doth never hate anything that is not hateful, and that most needs be odious which He abhorreth, and especially when it is abomination. Ye may know by their companions among whom they are marshalled what account He maketh of them (see Rev. xxi. 8). . . . That truth which is acceptable to God consisteth both in speaking and doing. 1. His Spirit doth make every man that hath attained to the one to be able to do the other. That which St. John setteth down in a more general manner doth strongly confirm this particular point.“If any man sin not in word, he is a perfect man, and able to bridle all the body.”His meaning is that some be absolute without sin in word, and perfect, without infirmity in goodness; but that many be gracious without sinfulness, though they have their slips in speeches; and sincere, without wickedness, though they have their frailties in behaviour. 2. Both are infallible and essential fruits of regeneration, and the Apostle doth thereby persuade us thereby to declare ourselves to be of the number of the saints, and faithful, saying,“Cast off lying, and let him that stole steal no more”(Ephes. iv. 24, 28). 3. Both are required of them that would know and manifest themselves to be natural members of the Church in this world, and inheritors of salvation in the life to come. (See. Psa. xv. 1, 2.)—Dod.
main homiletics of verse20.
Joy from Peace.
I. There must be counsel if there is to be peace.There can be no peace either in a soul, a family, or a nation, where there is no counsel given and taken. There must be some centre of authority and rule whence counsel issues, if there is to be any order, and where there is no order there can be no peace. The peace of the text must be peace based uponrighteousness,indeed all that bears the name that is not built upon this foundation, is false and transitory. It is like that house built upon the sand, which, when the winds come, is swept away, although it may look like a solid structure on a summer day. It is “the work ofrighteousness,” that“shall be peace, and the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance for ever.”“The mountains shall bring peace . . . by righteousness” (Psalm lxxii. 3; Isa. xxxii. 17).
II. Where there is true peace by righteousness there will be joy.Joy is the overflow of peace. Peace is like a river flowing tranquilly between its banks, and joy is like the same river when there is such a volume of water that it overflows the banks. When there is “an abundance of peace” in a soul,or a family, or a nation, it must overflow into joy—it must take a more active form. (The subject of the first clause of this verse has been treated before. See onverse 3.)
outlines and suggestive comments.
That deceit is in the heart of him who deviseth evil appears to be a platitude, for the devising is directed against a neighbour. But, in the first place, it says that the evil which a man hatches against another always issues in a fraudulent malicious deception of the same; and, secondly, it says, when taken into connection with the second clause, that with the deception he always at the same time prepares for him sorrow. The contrast denotes not those who give counsel to contending parties to conclude peace, but such as devise peace—viz., in reference to the neighbour, for the word means not merely to impart counsel, but also mentally to devise, to resolve upon, to decree. Hitzig and Zöckler give topeacethe general idea of welfare, and interpretjoyas the inner joy of a good conscience. But as thedeceptionin the first clause is not self-deception, but the deception of another, so the joy is not that which men procure for others. Thoughts of peace for one’s neighbour are always of procuring joy for him, as thoughts of evil are thoughts of deceit; and thus of procuring sorrow for him.—Delitzsch.
Evil counsel most hurteth those that give it. By deceit is here meant a deceitful reward; or an issue of a matter deceiving a man’s expectation—Muffet.
They shall have peace for peace; peace of conscience for peace of country;pax pectorisforpax temporis.They shall be called and counted the children of peace; yea, the children of God.—Trapp.
First,no man can soundly seek to reconcile man to God, or one man to another, or give direction for his neighbour’s welfare, unless he himself be reconciled to God, and peaceable towards men, and have Christian love in his heart, and these graces are never separated from holy comfort and gladness. For the same sap that sendeth forth the one, doth in the like manner also yield the other, as the apostle testifieth (Gal. v. 22; Rom. xiv. 17).Secondly,if their counsel be embraced and followed, the good effect thereof, with God’s blessing, besides thanks and kindness which the parties holpen by their counsel, will yield to them; as David to Abigail, and Naaman to Elisha, etc.Thirdly,though their advice be rejected, yet, as Isaiah saith, their reward is with the Lord, and they shall be glorious in His eyes (Isa. xlix. 4, 5).—Dod.
Deceit is in the heart (or cometh back to the heart) of them that imagine evil (or practise mischief).I. The persons are described.They are evil-doers, but not every evil-doer, but the practiser, the trader, the artificer in evil, one wholly bent upon sin, not every bungler or beginner, but an expert workman, that can despatch more business of sin in one day than some other in a month or a year. Nor is every evil here aimed at, but evil against others—mischief.Many evil men are only greatest enemies to themselves, intent to serve and satisfy their own lusts; but these with whom we have now to do, always have evil in their hearts or hands, in their consultations and executions, whereby to hurt others. Again, this man in our text is subtle in evil; as he is a cunning workman and active in high designs of evil, so he carrieth his business as subtilely, for which the whole work carries in the original the name ofdeceit,pretending all fair weather, as still water is deepest and most dangerous, or like a waterman that looks one way and rows another.II. The condition of these persons.Their deceit returns to them that first hatched it; that is, brings unavoidable mischief on themselves. 1. There is no small unquietness in the heart, while it is plottingevil. 2. Whomsoever they deceive, they cannot deceive God, Who will make them deceivers of themselves (See Job v. 12, 13). 3. Whereas sin is a sure paymaster, and thewages death,the sin of these men must needs slay them and play the part both of anofficerto apprehend them, of agaolerto hold them, and of anexecutionerto bring them to shameful death.—Thos. Taylor, 1650.
main homiletics of verse21.
All Working for the Good of the Righteous.
The first clause cannot, of course, mean that nothing that appears evil—that no sorrow or loss happens to the just. Such an assertion would be contrary to other teachings of Scripture, as well as to experience and history. The righteousness of the first man who is called righteous (Luke xi. 51) led to his murder. If Joseph had been a less virtuous man, the iron of imprisonment would not have entered into his soul (Psa. cv. 18). If John the Baptist had been a time-serving godless man, he would not have had the bitter experience of the dungeon of Machaerus. To these men, and to all the noble army of martyrs, many of the things which happened were very evil in themselves. The Word of God likewise forewarns men that all who will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution, that through much tribulation they must enter into the kingdom of God (2 Tim. iii. 12; Acts xiv. 22). And every just man now living has had experience of evil befalling him in his health, his circumstances, or in some other form. But—
I. No evil shall really injure the godly man.It shall not hurt his better part, that which is the man himself—his spiritual nature, his moral character. The storms that cannot uproot a tree only make it take deeper root-hold, and so add to its strength. If it break some of the branches it makes it more fit to weather another tempest. So all the trials of the just man tend to strengthen his character by causing him to lay a firmer hold upon the things that are unseen and eternal.
“Affliction then is ours;We are the trees whom shaking fastens more,While blustering winds destroy the wanton bowers,And ruffle all their curious knots and store.”—Herbert.
The true interpretation of the text is found in the inspired declaration of Paul,“We know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose”(Rom. viii. 28). Many elements work together to produce a good harvest at the appointed time. Winter winds and snow, summer breezes, gentle rain and noontide heat, all have a part in the work. One of these agencies alone would not bring forth one golden ear, but the “working together” will cover the land with fields of grain ready for the sickle. Many and various materials and agencies must be brought together to build a seaworthy ship. Iron and wood, fire and water, men skilled in many different arts must work together to bring about the required result. And so with the just man. Manifold experiences, failure and success, joy and sorrow, make up his earthly life. Not sorrow alone, nor joy alone, would fit him for his eternal inheritance—would fit him to be presented “faultless before the presence” of his Lord (Jude 24). But it is the combination of both, that many things “working together,” that effect the desired good. And so no evil befals him, because all the evil shall work together with the good for his eternal well-being.
II. The wicked man shall likewise attain to a completion of character.“The wicked shall be filled with mischief” teaches (1) that wicked men are notso bad as theycanbe. Thorns and briars grow stronger year by year. Time is needed to transform the blade into the full ear. As the present season of probation is but the beginning of man’s life, we conclude that men can go on eternally progressing in the character which now belongs to them—that all their present habits of thought and feeling can become must stronger than they are at present. Therefore, a wicked man can grow worse than he is at present. (2) That wicked men are not as bad as theyshallbe. If a stone is set in motion down a hill it will keep on its course unless it is arrested by some opposing force. So, unless a godless man yields to a Divine influence, and so is brought to repentance, he shall “wax worse and worse” (2 Tim. iii. 13). No man can stand still in character; if he do not grow better, he must grow worse. And this “filling up” of the measure of wickedness is but the necessary reaction of his own actions. He is filled with hisownmischief. And the just man’s present actions go to strengthen and develop his spiritual nature, and to complete and perfect his character in goodness, so every act of the godless man is one more link of the chain of evil habit which binds him daily more tightly, and sinks him every day a little lower in the moral universe of God.
outlines and suggestive comments.
No “evil,” orcalamity;literally nothingworthlessorempty.The root meansnothingness, entire vacuity.The expression, too, is peculiar.“There shall not happen to the righteous any nothingness at all.”But as several of the nouns that mean evil, through a deep philosophy, trace to the same kind of root, “calamity,” oractual evil,is the proper translated sense. No event that turns out an actualcalamitycan ever happen to the saint. And if anyone points to their tremendous agonies it is well enough to go back to the root,nothingness.Nothingworthless;that is, nothing that proves not so useful as to be better than present joy. Nothing not actually precious. In the whole course of their lives each is “filled” with “their own proper lot.” The wicked, if he have joys, will find them sorrows; and the righteous, if he have sorrows, will find them, notnothings,but for his eternal joy.—Miller.
The word signifies evil as ethical wickedness, and although it may be used of any misfortune in general, it denotes especially such sorrow as the harvest and produce of sin (chap. xxii. 8; Job. iv. 8; Isa. lix. 4), or such as brings after it punishment (Hab. iii. 7; Jer. iv. 15). That it is also here thus meant the contrast makes evident.—Delitzsch.
First, for evil of sin. God will not lead him into temptation; but will cut off occasions, remove stumbling-blocks out of his way; devoratory evils, as Tertullian calls them, he shall be sure not to fall into “That evil one shall not touch him” (1 John v. 18) with a deadly touch; nibble he may at their heels, he cannot reach their heads, shake he may his chain at them, but shall not set his fangs in them, or so far thrust his sting into them as to infuse into them the venom of that sin unto death (1 John v. 17). Next, for evil of pain, though “many be the troubles of the righteous” (Ps. xxxiv. 19), and they “fall into manifold temptations” (Jas. i. 2), they go not in step by step into these waters of Marah, but “fall into” them, being, as it were, precipitated, plunged over head and ears, yet are bidden to be exceeding glad, as a merchant is to see his ship come laden in. Their afflictions are not penal, but probational; not mortal, but medicinal. “By this shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged, and this is all the fruit, the taking away of his sin” (Isa. xxvii. 9). Look how the scourging and beating of a garment with a stick drives out the moths and the dust; so doth affliction corruptions from the heart; and there is no hurt in that; no evil thereby happens to the just. . . . To treasureup sin is to treasure up wrath (Rom ii. 5). “Every bottle shall be filled with wine” (Jer. xiii. 12); the bottle of wickedness, when once filled with those bitter waters, will sink to the bottom; the ephah of wickedness, when top full shall be borne “into the land of Shinar, and set there upon her own base” (Zech. v. 8, 11). He that makes a match with mischief shall have his bellyfull of it (Hosea iv. 17; Prov. xiv. 14); he shall have an evil, “an evil, an only evil” (Ezek. vii. 5), that is, judgment without mercy, as St. James expounds it (chap. ii. 13).Non surgit hic afficitior,as the prophet Nahum hath it (chap. i. 9); affliction shall not rise up the second time. God will have but one blow at him; he shall totally and finally be cut down at once. The righteous are smitten in the branches; but the wicked at the root (Isa. xxvii. 8); those he corrects with a rod; but these with a grounded staff (Isa. xxx. 32); and yet the worst is behind too. For whatever a wicked man suffers in this world is but hell typical; it is but as the falling of leaves—the whole tree will one day fall on them. It is but as a drop of wrath forerunning the great storm; a crack forerunning the ruin of the whole building; it is but as paying the use-money for the whole debt, that must be paid at last.—Trapp.
The great principle of self-preservation implanted in our nature which puts us on our guard against the slightest inconvenience, and maketh us arm for the repelling of a single evil, fails to engage men in the pursuit of that which would powerfully protect us in the most difficult circumstances, and universally secure us against all manner of hazards. Piety alone is that armour of proof which renders those that wear it safe and invulnerable, and yet, as if the Christian were the only infidel, how few of us are so thoroughly convinced of this great truth as to pursue it with an eagerness proportionate to its value. The text assures us—That a religious life and conversation is the best security against all manner of evils.All evil to which we can be liable, may be reduced under three heads.I. Such as are inflicted immediately by God.Here it is necessary to distinguish between such afflictions as He vouchsafeth in mercy and those with which He visiteth in judgment. The best of men are not exempted from the former, they are not always so intent upon their duty, but that they stand in need of a remembrancer, or it pleaseth God to afflict them for the trial of their faith, for the exercise of their patience, and to wean them from the world. But these are but like the more difficult talks of a discreet and loving tutor; which recommend the pupils to a higher applause and a more excellent advantage, and are, therefore, so far from doing them any harm that they ought to be looked upon as most valuable blessings. Those inflictions therefore of God, which may be justly entitled to the name of evils, are such only as He visiteth in judgment, and from such nothing can more effectually secure us than a godly life and conversation.II. Such as are occasioned by ourselves.Many evils are the effect of sin and carelessness, and as it is the work and office of true piety to make us at the same time holy and considerate, it will evidently appear that none of these evilsshall happen to the just.III. Such as are brought upon us by the malice of men or devils.These are only tolerated by God’s connivance and permission. The devil, furious and malicious as he is, always drags his chain after him, by which he may be drawn back to his infernal dungeon, and therefore, unless He hath some such favourable ends, as I formerly instanced in His own inflictions, He will certainly keep His own out of their ravenous jaws. Shall we then neglect the only means by which we may be defended against such numerous calamities? To be just is no more than to follow after the thing that is good, and good is desirable in its own nature; we have such an inward tendency towards it that nothing which is ill can debauch our affections, but by taking upon itself the appearanceof being good. If, then, a seeming good doth so allure us, how ought we to be enamoured of the real substances.—Nicholas Brady.
The wicked are hurt, wounded, or grieved, by every occurrence, and nothing turns to their profit.—A. Clarke.
main homiletics of verse23.
The Concealment of Knowledge and the Proclamation of Foolishness.
I. The concealment of knowledge is always a mark of self-control.It proves that a man has himself “well in hand.” He is like a skilful workman whose tools are all arranged in order, so that he can select or reject them according to his need, or the need of others. Or he resembles a skilful rider who is thoroughly master of his steed, and can either arrest his course or urge him to put forth all his speed at any moment. If a man does not possess this power over himself he can never be a king among men, and even the possession of knowledge will not prove very serviceable either to himself or others. All the treasures of his mind ought to be under the lock and key of his will, and his will under that of his conscience, for,
II. Under some circumstances the concealment of knowledge is a mark of prudence.1.It is so when to proclaim it would feed personal vanity.To reveal our knowledge from no other motive than to let others know that we know is to sin against ourselves by ministering to our pride. In such a case to conceal our knowledge is a means of grace to a man’s own soul, and will carry with it the approbation of conscience. 2.It is also prudent to conceal knowledge when we know that it would not benefit others.It is not always seasonable to reveal even the most precious knowledge that we possess. Men are sometimes manifestly unprepared for its reception—unable to appreciate it. God concealed the gospel of salvation from the men of the early ages of the world because the “fulness of time” (Gal. iv. 4) had not come, by which we understand that the world then was not in a condition to profit by a revelation of it. Our Lord charged His disciples not to disclose what they had witnessed on the mount of transfiguration until “the Son of Man should be risen again from the dead” (Matt. xvii. 9). He exhorts them also not to “cast pearls before swine” (Matt. vii. 6). Hence we learn that concealment of knowledge is sometimes to be preferred to a revelation of it, and that a due regard must be had to the mental and moral condition of those to whom we would impart it. The revelation of scientific truth would only bewilder people of little education and small capacity, and the revelation of even moral truth would sometimes increase men’s guilt. It would only lead them to blaspheme the God of Truth and scoff at His messengers, and thus harden them instead of enlightening them. And even when this is not the case men cannot always receive all kinds of moral truth. A parent conceals from his son when he is a boy the knowledge of things which he will reveal to him when he is a man. A wise teacher does not at once disclose to his pupil all that he desires him to learn. Both bring prudence into exercise, and give “line upon line, here a little and there a little” (Isa. xxviii. 10), following the example of the Great Father and Teacher in His dealings with His ancient people, and that of the Incarnate Son when He said to His disciples,“I have many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now”(John xvi. 12). All who are possessors of knowledge should always remember to bring prudence into exercise in proclaiming it, whether it be Divine or human truth that they have to reveal.
III. The man who tells out all he knows without any regard to the fitness of time and circumstances proclaims only his foolishness.He is as much aproclaimer of his own folly as he who should sow seed on the high road instead of in ploughed ground. He may be very injurious to others. If a teacher of the young were to tell out all he knows about men and things to those under his care he might inflict on their spiritual nature a life-long injury. Indiscreet parents who utter all their mind and tell out all their experience in the hearing of their children not only “proclaim their foolishness,” but are a curse to their family. They are like an unskilful surgeon who takes the first instrument that comes to hand, regardless of its fitness for the needs of the patient. They are like men upon a fiery steed without power to guide him—they not only put themselves in jeopardy but endanger the well-being of others.
outlines and suggestive comments.
Not that he grudges to impart his knowledge to others, but he does not obtrude it or make a display of it, nor babble out all that he knows, in order that he may be counted wise. . . . The fool, trying to make a display of knowledge, only betrays foolishness. Fools, wise in their own esteem, babble out everything at random; notwisdom,which they have not, butfoolishness,which they have. Proclaiming foolishness is attributed to a fool’sheart,not to hismouth,for a fool’s heart is in his mouth. He has no sense within. On the contrary, “The mouth of the wise is in their heart” (Ecclus. xxi. 26).—Fausset.
The Apostleconcealed his knowledgefor fourteen years, and even then mentioned it reluctantly, to vindicate his own rightful claims of apostleship (2 Cor. xii. 1–6). Elihu, though “full of matter,” and longing to give vent, yetprudently concealed his knowledge,till his elders had opened his way (Job xxxii. 6, 18, 19). Circumstances may sometimesprudentlydictateconcealment.Abraham spared the feelings of his family, and cleared his own path, by hiding the dreadful message of his God (Gen. xxii. 1–7). Josephconcealedhis kindred for the discipline of his brethren (Gen. xlii. 7). Esther, from aprudentregard of consequences to herself (Esth. ii. 10). Nothing can justify speaking contrary to the truth. But we are not always obliged to tell the whole truth. Jeremiah answered all that he was bound to speak; not all that he might have spoken (Jer. xxxviii. 24). In all these cases “the wise man’s heart will discern both time and judgment” (Eccles. viii. 5; xv. 2). . . . The fool is dogmatical in dispute, when wiser men are cautious. He is teaching, when he ought to take the learner’s place; his self-confidence proclaiming his emptiness (1 Tim. vi. 3, 4).—Bridges.
True are the words of Paul, “knowledge puffeth up,” and the augmentation of it may only puff up the more. This produces a very anomalous and incongruous combination, a mind filled with solid information and a heart distended with the emptiness of vanity. And this generates thepedant,one of the most contemptible and disgusting of all creatures—the man who is ever showing off, ever aiming at effect, ever speaking as nobody else would speak, ever dwelling on his own theme in his own terms, and in every word and look and movement, courting notice ofself,as the only object of his own admiration, or worthy of admiration of others. What a fool even the man ofknowledgedoes at times make of himself! exemplifying the truth of the old quaint adage,“An ounce of mother wit is worth a pound of clergy.”Still it is true that, the more extensive the knowledge which a man acquires, he is, generally speaking, the more conscious of remaining ignorance, and consequently the less vain; that it is in the early stages of acquirement that self-sufficiency and conceit are most apparent. It is theemptythat are usually the most prone to vain glory.—Wardlaw.
“Prudent,” subtle,from a rootmeaningcrafty, cunning;opposed to“stupid,”literally,fat, crass.The saint has the highestcraft,and the lost are morefatin mind than even the beasts around them.—Miller.
Another aspect of the truth of chap. x. 14. The wise are not quick to utter even the wisdom that deserves utterance. He broods over it, tests it, lives by it.—Plumptre.
We deem them not the most thrifty husbands and wealthiest men that will lock up nothing in their coffers, nor keep anything close in their purses, but carry all their money in their hands and show it to every comer-by, and so do they that have no more matter within their hearts, than all the standers-by shall hear their lips deliver. It is a point of humility to be silent in modesty, and their words are so much more desirable, and better accepted as they are rare, and few, and seasonable. The ointment that is close kept in a box will yield a sweeter savour when it is poured out, than that which is continually open. A wine fresh from the vessel hath a better relish than that which was drawn long before there was any need of it.—Dod.
Think not silence the wisdom of fools, but, if rightly timed, the honour of wise men who have not the infirmity but the virtue of taciturnity; and speak not of the abundance, but the well-weighed thoughts of their hearts. Such silence may be eloquence, and speak thy worth above the power of words. Make such an one thy friend, in whom princes may be happy, and great counsels successful. Let him have the key of thy heart who hath the lock of his own, which no temptation can open; where thy secrets may lastingly lie, like the lamp in the urn of Olybius, alive and alight, but close and invisible.—Sir T. Browne.
main homiletics of verse24.
The Reward of Diligence.
I. What is here meant by diligence?It is not being always active, but active in the right direction—active in the right use of talents and opportunities. There is an activity that is worse than idleness, an activity that brings men into contempt and bondage instead of enabling them to rule themselves or others. Men may have great talent and keep it in constant exercise, and yet their diligent use of it may be destroying both themselves and others. A machine that is constructed to work in one direction may be very active in going in the opposite direction—this is worse than if it stood still, for it will certainly work injury to itself, and may do so to other things and to those that have to work it. A thief may be very diligent, but his diligent hand will not bring him to“bear rule.”It will probably, in the end, bring him into a most irksome servitude. There was once a Roman Emperor who was very active in catching flies; this was certainly not the diligence which would enable him to bear rule. If a man who is capable of a high and noble work spends his time in a childish and ignoble manner, he is not diligent although he may be very active. Diligence consists not in being very busy, but in being busy in what will build up our own moral nature and, as a necessity, bless our fellow-creatures. Moreover, diligence is not the right exercise of our talent or the wise use of our time at intervals, by fits and starts, but a constant and steady continuance of that exercise and activity.
II. The consequence of such diligence.He who is thus diligent will bear rule over the slothful man—over the man who wastes his time or his talent. 1.This is right.Even the slothful man must, in his conscience, feel that he deserves to be ruled by the diligent. The human conscience will not sanction such waste—such a destruction of character, and, while it is allowedto speak at all, will utter its testimony against it. And all impartial judges must concede that it is the just reward of diligence—that, when a man has rightly used that which the Great Ruler of the universe has committed to his trust, it is right that he should receive the reward.“Well done, thou good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things”(Matt. xxv. 21). 2.It is necessary.First,for the slothful man himself.When he is under the rule of a diligent man he is doing better with his life than if he were left to himself; he is compelled to act, whether he will or not, and he has the guidance of the wisdom of another when his slothfulness has prevented him from gaining any of his own. His slothfulness grows greater, and therefore his guilt is increased every day that he is his own master. His powers will become more and more incapable of being exercised the longer they are unused, and the only thing that can save him from being entirely buried in the grave of his own sloth is that he become a servant to a diligent man. Secondly,for humanity in general.A slothful man in power is a curse to society. If he is a husband and father, and will endanger their characters and industrious habits. Those who rule ought to be wise, and no slothful man can be a wise men.
outlines and suggestive comments.
“Diligent;”from a root meaningto cut.Hence the idea of somethingincisiveordecided.The primaryideaispromptnessordetermination. “Sloth;”primarilyremissnessor what isindecisive.In this world, diligence puts a man at the head. In the eternal world, it will have made the man a king, and made all hell, and of course, all “sloth, under tribute” to him.—Miller.
This was Joseph’s road tobearing rule(chap. xxii. 29). But if it does not raise in the world, it will command in its own sphere. The faithful steward is made ruler over his lord’s household (Matt. xxiv. 45–47). The active traderbears ruleover many cities (Ib.xxv. 21). Diligence, therefore, is not a moral virtue separate from religion, but rather a component part of it.—Bridges.
The slothful are like Issachar, who saw that the rest was good, and bowed down his shoulder to bear, and became a servant to tribute; by their laziness they expose themselves to want, and reduce themselves to a slaving dependence on those who, through the blessing of God on their own diligence, or on that of their fathers, are in better circumstances. Spiritual sloth weakens men, and exposes them to the spiritual sloth of their spiritual enemies. We must be strong, resolute, and active, if we would escape the tyranny of the rulers of the darkness of this world (Ephes. vi. 10–18).—Lawson.
The comparison is suggested by the contrast common in most ancient monarchies in the east, between the condition of a conquered race, compelled to pay heavy taxes in money or in kind (like the Canaanites in Israel, Josh. xvi. 10; Judges i. 30–33), and that of the freedom of their conquerors from such burdens. The proverb indicates that beyond all political divisions of this nature there lies an ethical law. The “slothful” descend inevitably to pauperism and servitude. The prominence of this compulsory labour under Solomon (1 Kings ix. 21), gives a special significance to the illustration.—Plumptre.
main homiletics of verse25.
Heaviness of Heart and Its Cure.
I. The causes of “heaviness of heart” are many and various.It may arise, 1.From great bodily pain.The human mind and the human body act andre-act upon each other. The mind or spirit may be made heavy by physical pain, as the body may be brought under the dominion of disease by mental suffering. It is only when a more powerful influence comes into operation that pain of body is prevented from exercising a depressing influence upon the spirit. In the case of Job we have an instance of severe bodily suffering, weighing down a spirit that had borne other most terrible calamities without being overcome (Job vii). In the case of Stephen, and many others, we see intense bodily suffering exercising no depressing influence upon the man, because he is lifted above it by supernatural interposition. When this special grace is not given pain of body will make the heart “to stoop”—that is, it will disqualify the man for duty by depriving him of hope and courage, and will leave him more or less passive in the hands of circumstances. 2.Heaviness of heart is often caused by bringing the future into the present.The man that has every day to carry a heavy burden upon his shoulders will find that an attempt to carry the load of two days at once will weigh down his body beyond all his power to rise and stand upright. The weight of the present is as much as he can carry, his heart must “stoop,” if he dwells upon the possible or certain trials of the future. The right way to bear burdens is to take the advice of One who Himself was a burden-bearer.“Take therefore no thought (no anxious care) for the morrow; for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.”There are many other burdens which make the heart to stoop, we will mention but one more. 3.A consciousness of unpardoned guilt.There is no burden so heavy to bear as this. Guilt makes the spirit feel as if the hand of God’s displeasure was sinking the soul lower and lower. The language of Scripture is very vivid in describing the feelings of man in such a case.“When I kept silence my bones waxed old, through my roaring all day long.” “Mine iniquities are gone over mine head; as a heavy burden, they are too heavy for me.” “Mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up,”etc. (Psa. xxxii. 3; xxxviii. 4; xl. 12).
II. The human heart can be uplifted by seasonable words.“A good word maketh it glad.” Such words sometimes take the form of a promise of help. A man bowed down by disease is made glad by the word of the physician, which assures him that his malady can be cured. The debtor who feels himself hopelessly involved is made glad by the promise of one who engages to meet his debts. The man who is bowed down under a sense of guilt is lifted out of his heaviness by the promises of a forgiving God. In all these cases the worth of the word depends upon the character of him who utters them. It is a “good word” if it is not only acheeringword, but areliableword—if the promise is uttered by one whom we know would not promise what he was unable to perform. It is this certainty which makes every promise of God sogoodawordto the soul. And when a man’s heaviness of heart arises from a source which is beyond the power of human help, there is no greater service that a friend can do him than to remind him of some “good word” of the Heavenly Father which is suitable to his case.
outlines and suggestive comments.
Not “heaviness,” but“anxiety.”This last is the fashion of most griefs. We are bound to conquer it. Thedeterminedman (see comments onverse 24) is just the character to do it. “Anxiety” discredits faith. “A good word,” and such words are plenty in this very book, shouldgladdenit, asthe expression is; or, as a freer translation,“cheer it away.”It is a sin for men to be dejected. It is a great folly, too; for it broods over half their lives. Our passage tells all this, and tells the mode to dissipate it. It was the mode of Christ when he quelled the foul fiend. The sword of the Spirit is the “word” of God (Ephes. vi. 17).—Miller.
There is nothing that claims our grief so much as sin, and yet there may be an excess of sorrow for sin, which exposes men to the devil and drives them into his arms.—Lawson.
A single good or favourable word will remove despondency; and that word, “Son, be of good cheer, thy sins are forgiven thee,” will instantly remove despair.—A. Clarke.
main homiletics of verse26.
The Guide and the Seducer.
Translating this verse, “The righteous guides his neighbour aright,” we remark:—
I. That the righteous man guides his neighbour both by his word and by his life.He guides him by wise counsel—by giving him “a word in season” (seeverse 25)—and he more especially guides him by his holy life. His character is a revealer of the way of life. The light which shines through a lantern reveals the path, not only to the man who carries it, but to him who beholds it if he should be disposed to follow in the same road. The righteous man is a light-bearer—he has moral light within him, which breaks forth in the acts of his daily life, and sets a good example to other men, and so, to some extent, his life, like that of his Master’s, is a “light of men.”
II. That he guides him aright because he shows him how to make the most of his life.Men are generally anxious to live long, and the righteous man shows his neighbour how to livelongby livingwell.A husbandman values his trees, not by the length of time they have stood in the ground, but by the amount of fruit they yield. There are trees which bring forth more fruit in one season than others do during the whole time they stand in the orchard. And the length of a man’s life is to be estimated not by the number of years he has been in the world, but in the use which he has made of them. Many men who leave the world comparatively young have lived longer, because to more purpose, than others who have not died until they were a hundred years old (On this subject see homiletics on chap.x. 17, page 164).
III. That the wicked man also exercises an influence upon his neighbour; but his influence leads to evil.He is aseducer—one who leads astray by false professions and promises. Like the good man, he emits a light, but it is the false light of theignis fatuus,which is the offspring of the stagnant swamp, and which will only lure him who follows it to destruction. One of the chief employments of the bad, and that which seems to afford them the greatest pleasure, is to carry other men to ruin. And even when the wicked man is not anactiveseducer, hisway,or his life, seduces his neighbour. The force of an evil example is very great, and men are insensibly influenced by it. Men of ungodliness diffuse around them an atmosphere of moral unhealthiness, which insensibly affects those around them, who are not godly, and strengthens them in all their downward tendencies. Such men are “as graves which appear not” (Luke xi. 44), and are centres of spiritual disease and death.
outlines and suggestive comments.
If then, the “righteous be more excellent than his neighbour,” how is it that men do not follow their way? Because “the way of the wicked, which is apparently moreexcellent,orabundantin temporal advantages, seducesthem”(Kimchi in Mercer),It “seduceth” with false hopes, doomed in the end to destruction.—Fausset.
The way of the godless leads them into error; the course of life to which they have given themselves up has such a power over them that they cannot set themselves free from it, and it leads the enslaved into destruction. The righteous, on the contrary, is free with respect to the way which he takes, and the place where he stays. His view (regard) is directed to his true advancement, and helooks after his pasture(seeCritical Notes),i.e.,examines and discovers where, for him, right pastures,i.e.,the advancement of his outer and inner life, is to be found.—Delitzsch.
Let him dwell by whomsoever, he is ever a better man than his neighbours; he is “a prince of God” among them, as Abraham was amongst the Hittites. Said Agesilaus, when he heard the King of Persia style himself the Great King—“I acknowledge none more excellent than myself, unless more righteous; none greater, unless better.” “Upon all the glory shall be a defence” (Isa. iv. 5)—that is, upon all the righteous, those only glorious, those “excellent of the earth” (Psa. xvi. 2), that are ”sealed to the day of redemption” (Ephes. iv. 30). Now, whatsoever is sealed with a seal, that is excellent in its own kind, as Isa. xxviii. 25. The poorest village is an ivory palace, saith Luther, if it have in it but a minister and a few good people. But the wicked will not be persuaded of the good man’s excellency, he cannot discern, nor will not be drawn to believe that there is any such gain in godliness, any such difference between the righteous and the wicked. He, therefore, goes another way to work.—Trapp.
I.In regard to their condition in this present life.They have all prerogatives and preferments. By parentage every one of them is God’s child. By dignity they are all kings. By inheritance they have title to heaven and earth; their food is heavenly manna, their clothing is Christ’s righteousness, their attendants are the holy angels.—II.In respect of their state that shall be in the life to come.They shall have perfect happiness, and be made like unto Jesus Christ, more excellent and puissant than the most glorious angels.—Dod.
The“wicked”man not only does not“guide”his neighbour, but does not guide himself, actually“leads”himself“astray.”Here is the same climax we have so often noticed (chap. xi. 14).—Miller.
main homiletics of verse27.
The Loss of the Slothful, and the Gain of the Diligent.
I. Even the slothful man may be sometimes roused to activity.He is here represented as having made an effort, he has “taken spoil in hunting.” There are probably few men who are not sometimes roused to exertion, who do not every now and then make a start towards an industrious life, but they lack perseverance, they do not let one act of industry follow upon another so as to form industrious habits. Therefore—
II. The slothful man loses by negligence what he has gained.“He roasteth not that which he took in hunting.” He is too lazy to finish his work. He naturalises the one action by neglecting to perform the other. The food that he has taken is wasted because he is too lazy to roast it, and therefore he might as well have remained idle altogether.
III. He may thus rob an industrious man.The game which he has taken and wasted might have fallen into better hands. Another man might have taken it and put it to good use. A man has no right thus to deprive another of what he is too lazy to put to a good use himself.
IV. A diligent habit of life is a fortune in itself.1.It is a possession of which a man cannot be robbed by any of the mischances of life.A habit is asecond nature, and if a man has once acquired the habit of a diligent improvement of his time and opportunities, he can no more lose it than he can his identity. It can be touched by no rise or fall of the market, nor affected by any commercial panic. If he is rich, he will be diligent, and if he becomes poor he will make the most of what still remains to him. 2.It is a source of continual satisfaction.God has made men for work, and a rightly constituted mind is never so happy as when all its powers are actively employed. It is a great source of consolation in times of sorrow to have acquired industrious, active habits, for they often help a man to forget, or to rise above his trials. 3.It makes a man, in one respect, an imitator of God.The Eternal Ruler of the universe is ever active; diligence is one of His attributes. It is the boast of the Hebrew prophet, concerning the everlasting God, that “He fainteth not, neither is weary” (Isaiah xl. 28). Christ declares that He and His Father are unceasing in their activities: “My father worketh hitherto, and I work” (John v. 17).
outlines and suggestive comments.
What a diligent man gains becomes, in his hands, precious by the use he makes of it. It is the means of further increase. And his substance becomes “precious” to others as well as to himself. It is industriously, profitably, benevolently used. Inthislies the true value of a man’s substance;—not in theacquisition,but in theuse.—Wardlaw.
By translatingremiyahthedeceitful,instead of theslothfulman, which appears to be the genuine meaning of the word, we may obtain a good sense, as the Vulgate has done. “The deceitful man shall not find gain, but the substance of a (just) man shall be the price of gold.” But our version, allowingremiyahto be translatedfraudulent,gives the best sense. “The fraudulent man roasteth not that which he took in hunting,” the justice of God snatching from him what he had acquired unrighteously. Coverdale translates“A dis-creatfull man schal fynde no vauntage: but he that is content with what he hath, is more worth than golde.”—A. Clarke.
The substance of a diligent man is great in value, whatsoever it be in quantity, as a small boxful of pearls is more worth than mountains of pebbles. The house of the righteous hath much treasure. He is without that care in getting, fear in keeping, grief in losing—those three fell vultures that feed continually on the heart of the rich worldling, and dis-sweeten all his comforts. Jabal, that dwelt in tents, and tended the herds, had Jubal to his brother, the father of music. Jabal and Jubal, diligence and complacence, good husbandry and well-contenting sufficiency, dwell usually together.—Trapp.
Is not this a graphical picture ofthe slothfulprofessor? He will take up religion under strong excitement. He begins a new course, and perhaps makes some advance in it. But, “having no root in himself,” his good frames and resolutions wither away (Matt. xiii. 20, 21). The continued exertion required, the violence that must be done to his deep-rooted habits, the difficulties in his new path, the invitations to present ease, all hang as a weight upon his efforts. . . . No present blessing can be enjoyed without grasping something beyond (Phil. iii. 12–14). Godliness without energy losesits full reward(2 John 8).—Bridges.
The impenitent, who wait for something to turn up, are the same type of lazy people as love hunting and fishing better than more regular labour. The wise man goes to the root and says, There are no such hunting gains in the spiritual world. He goes further. He seems to remind his reader that character is all that will be left for a man at the last. He seems to implythat man will bring home from his hunt nothing but “his laziness,” and would ask whether one can “roast” that like a quail or a duck. And though we start at such horrible absurdity, yet it brings out in keen light a very different possibility for diligence. Diligencecanbe roasted. It earns for us an eternal heaven, and yet, for all it gets, it is itself our richest dainty.“One cannot roast laziness as something he has taken in the chase; but a precious treasure of a man is a diligent one.”It is tantalizing to come so near other and important renderings. Many see very plausibly a meaning like this:“The slothful man roasteth not that which he took in hunting”(so far the English version), meaning that he is wasteful, and suffers what he has actually now to run to loss;“but the substance of a common man”(making the distinction as in verse 14)“is precious”(that is, made account of, and kept)“by a man of diligence.”A sinner throws away treasures; a saint values the very smallest. This would be a fine sense if the verse before meant that the“saint gains from his neighbour.”Per contra,though, there are difficulties.“The slothful man”(E.V.) in the Hebrew is the“sloth”or“laziness”itself. And the word is feminine, and must be the object rather than the subject of the verb. The meaning is, that sloth cannot be roasted and eaten, but diligence can.—Miller.
main homiletics of verse28.
The Way of Life.
I. There is a way of righteousness in the world.1.This fact is universally recognised.Men regard each other as moral and responsible beings. The doctrine of necessity will not do for every-day life. In all positions and conditions, man is met with the assumption that there is a “way of righteousness,” and his fellow-men deal with him accordingly. Man could not be held accountable for his actions if a right way of life did not exist, in which it was possible for him to walk. 2.This fact is confirmed by conscience.Bad actions are followed by remorse, and good deeds bring gladness to the soul. If there were no way of righteousness, how could this be the case? 3.It is revealed to us by God.The Bible sets forth two paths, in one of which man must walk, it foretells a day in which God will judge men, and will hold them guilty who have refused to walk in the way of righteousness after it has been made known to them. Where there is no way of righteousness there can be no transgression, and, consequently, no penalty.
II. The way of life implies—1.A beginning.All ways or paths have a starting-point, all methods or plans of life date from point of time. 2.An object in view.If men walk in a certain road it is presumed that they have some purpose in view. 3.An end or goal.So the way of righteousness. Its beginning is “repentance towards God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ;” the object at which it aims by “patient continuance in well-doing” is “glory, and honour, and immortality;” its end is “eternal life” (Acts xx. 21; Rom. ii. 7), for “in the pathway thereof is no death, or immortality” (On this subject see also homiletics on chap.iv. 18.)
outlines and suggestive comments.
From life being said to be in the way of righteousness, I should urge the lesson from the deeds of the hand have a reflex influence upon the state of the heart. There is life in spiritual-mindedness, and it serves to aliment this life to walk in the way of obedience.—Chalmers.
And life, in any sense, is a sweet mercy, a precious indulgence. Lifenatural is but a little spot of time between the two eternities, before and after, but it is of great consequence, and given us for this purpose, that glory may be begun in grace, and we have a further and further entrance into the kingdom of heaven here, as Peter saith (2 Peter i. 2). Christ hath unstinged the first death, and made of a postern to let out eternal life, a street-door to let in eternal life. Surely the bitterness of this death is past to the righteous; there is no gall in it; nay, there is honey in it, as once there was in the corpse of Samson’s dead lion. And for the second death there is no danger, for they shall pass from the jaws of death to the joys of heaven. Yet, though hell had closed her mouth upon a child of God, it would as little hold him as the whale could Jonah; it must, perforce, regurgitate such a morsel.—Trapp.
“Righteousness,”which is the very path of the righteous man, is itself eternal life. All men have a“way,”and this implies that all men have an“end.”The Psalmist had before announced (Psa. i. 6) that “the way of the ungodly shall perish;” that is, not only shall they not reach their end, but their very way shall die down and perish. They shall cease to take an interest in it. But this passage goes deeper. It says the path of righteousness is life itself, and then, contrasting them with the wicked, it says,“their way is a path,” i.e.,it leads somewhere; and then implies that all other ways are“a death.”These are striking truths. Immortality is apath.It travels the ages. It begins among believers. It is itself its destiny. Impenitence is“a death.”It travels no where. The very mind of the impenitent can announce no terminus for his way-worn tread.—Miller.
Note.—It will be seen from the foregoing remarks that Miller translates the latter clause of this verse,“The way is a path, not a death.”
homily on the entire chapter.
On the true wisdom of the children of God as it ought to appear (1) In thehome,under the forms of good discipline, diligence, and contentment (vers. 1–11); (2) In theState,or in the intercourse of citizens, under the forms of truthfulness, justice, and unfeigned benevolence (vers. 12–22); (3) In theChurch,or in thereligious life,as a progressive knowledge of God, a diligent devotion to prayer, and striving after eternal life (vers. 23–28).—Lange’s Commentary.
Critical Notes.—1. Instruction,or “correction.” The Hebrew is literally, “a wise sonishis father’s correction,”i.e.,is the product of his father’s correction; or “heareth” may be supplied to correspond to the verb in the second clause.2. Shall eat,in the second clause is, supplied by the English translation. Many commentaries render this clause “the delight of the ungodly is violence.” So Zöckler and Delitzsch. Mill translates the verse, “Out of the fair earnings of the mouth of a man a good man will get his foot; but the appetite of the faithless out of robbery.”4. Fat,i.e.,abundantly satisfied.5. Lying,rather “deceit.” Stuart renders it “a false report.” Zöckler translates the latter clause of this verse, “the ungodly acts basely and shamefully.” The translations of Stuart and Delitzsch are nearly the same. Miller reads the whole verse, “A deceiving business hates the righteous man, but also shames and disgraces the wicked.”6. Sinner,literally “sin,” hence Miller reads “wickedness subverts the sin-offering,” and Zöckler “wickedness plungeth into sin.”7. Maketh,or “showeth.”8.The latter clause of this is very obscure, butrebukeis generally translated “threatening,” and is understood to mean that no threatening can gain anything from the poor as they have nothing to lose. Stuart understands it that “notwithstanding the obvious advantage of wealth, yet the poor man will not listen to those who rebuke him for sloth and wastefulness which have made himpoor. The supposition on this ground is that the man is poor by his own fault.”9. Rejoiceth,“burns brightly.” The wordslightandlampare regarded by most modern commentators as synonymous.10.This may read “Only by pride cometh contention,” or “by pride cometh only (nothing but) contention.”11. Vanity,rather “fraud.”By labour,literally, “by the hand,” or “handful after handful.”12.Latter clause, “a desire accomplished is a tree of life.”13. Shall be destroyed,rather “is bound,” or “is in bonds to it.”Rewarded,“be at peace.”14. Law,rather “doctrine,” “instruction.”15. Good understanding,rather “discretion.”Hard,“stony,” “uncultivated.” This is the generally received rendering, but the word often signifies “perpetual.” Miller says “We find it in thirteen places, and in every one of them it means perpetual.” “Strongorperpetualis thy dwelling-place” (Num. xxiv. 21). “Mighty rivers” areperpetual,or perennial rivers (Psa. lxxiv. 17). “Mighty nation” (Jer. v. 15) corresponds with the next expression, “ancient nation,” and is to be rendered “perpetual” (or permanent). Umbreit translates it “a standing bog” or “marsh.”16. Dealing with knowledge,i.e.,acteth with foresight.Layeth open,rather “spreadeth abroad.” Delitzsch says, “There lies in the word something derisive; as the merchant unrolls and spreads out his wares in order to commend them, so the fool deals with his folly.”19.Literally “quickened desire,” “a desire that has come to be.” Zöckler and Miller say this cannot be designed to express “appeased desire,” but Delitzsch renders it “satisfied desire,” and Stuart agrees with him. The latter connects the second clause of the verse with the former, thus, “Yet it is an abomination for fools to depart from evil, therefore, they cannot be satisfied”; while Delitzsch understands it to mean, “Because satisfied desire is sweet to the fool and his desires are evil, therefore he will not depart from evil.”23.“Tillage,” rather “fallow ground” or “a new field,” land which requires hard labour.
main homiletics of verse1.
The Wise Son and the Scorner.
I. A condition implied.That the father who gives the instruction, or administers correction, is awise father.There are many fathers who are incapable of instructing their children in the right way, because they do not walk in it themselves. The “father” of these proverbs is always pre-supposed to be one who is himself morally wise—one whose life is a practical exposition of the good instruction which he gives. The father who can only instruct with hislip,but not with hislife,cannot expect to command respect and obedience. He is like a man who tries to save a vessel from sinking by bailing out the water in bucketfuls, while he leaves the great leak-hole unplugged. All that which isdoneis more than neutralised by what is leftundone.If a physician prescribes a certain medicine for a disease from which he is suffering himself, but for which he refuses to take the remedy, he will find that his patients will think, if they do not say, “Physician, heal thyself.” And children will not be slow to see if a father’s practice fails to endorse a father’s precept.
II. He who takes the advice of a morally wise father shows himself to be wise also.The greatest proof of wisdom is a willingness to learn from those who know more than we do. Other things being equal, a father must know more than a son, and the son who hears his instruction, and submits to his discipline, not only uses the means by which to become wise, but shows that he is already wise enough to use the right means to attain a desirable end. Christians are the sons of God, if they are wise sons they will hear the instructions of their Father. They show their wisdom in proportion as they submit cheerfully to His discipline as to that of the “Only wise God” (1 Tim. i. 17).
III. He who will not listen to parental rebuke is in the last degree a sinner.We understand the last clause of this verse to refer likewise to a father and son. Parental instruction and correction are God’s ordained and special methods of training a human soul. There are many reasons why a parent’s rebuke should be regarded, if that of strangers is not listened to (see Homiletics on chap.iv. 1–4, p. 53). He who disregardsthatmust be considered in as hopeless a case as he who scuttles the lifeboat sent to save him. When the word of a good father or mother is not obeyed it is practicallyscorned,and a scorner is the most hopeless of sinners.
outlines and suggestive comments.
The language of this verse is capable of two meanings: either that hearing instruction and not hearing reproof are the effect and the manifestation, respectively, of a wise or a scornful mind; this wise son showing himself to be so by “hearing his father’s instructions,” and the scorner showing himself to be so by “not hearing rebuke,” or (reversing cause and effect), that wisdom and scorning are the results, respectively, of hearing or not hearing instruction and rebuke. In other words—“The son that is instructed by his father turns out to be wise; he who receives no correction turns out a fool.”In the first of the two senses the abomination is chiefly tochildren—in the second, toparents.—Wardlaw.