There were many great feasts in the times of the apostles, and yet none of them are so much commended in the Scriptures as the meetings of believers, who did eat togetherwith gladness and singleness of heart,notwithstanding they had neither so much meat, nor so costly dishes, as divers others had. It is noted of Abraham that he entertained God and His angels to dinner. The Lord Himself would be his guest, since he would be so good a housekeeper; and yet the victuals which are mentioned are only butter and milk, the veal that had not time to cool between the killing and the dressing; notwithstanding his hospitality is preferred before the Persian king’s royal banquet, for the one purposed to show his greatness in pomp, and the other his goodness in love. The one dealt exceeding unkindly with his own wife and the other very courteously with them that seemed to him to be mere strangers. They that dress most meat are not always the kindest men, for our Saviour was full of liberality when He gave but barley-bread and fish to His disciples, and Nabal was but a churl, though he killed both sheep and oxen for his sheep-shearers.—Dod.
The subject of verse 18 has been treated inverse 1. (See Homiletics on page 400, also on chap.xiv. 29, page 386.)
outlines and suggestive comments.
In the pit, the blasphemy will rise and swell, as it is stirred up one man by his neighbour.Upbraidingsare contagious, even in this world. Ordinary quarrels are wonderfully quieted, if a man waits. ButDivine quarrels,if we stay to look at God, and observe His reasonings, are wonderfully held back, and by His grace signally prevented.—Miller.
Observe the principles ofhatred and love,contrasted in active exercise. Some persons make it their occupation to sit by the fire, to feed and fan the flame, lest it be extinguished. A useful and friendly employment, were it a fire to warm. But when it is an injurious, consuming, and destructive element, it would seem difficult to discover the motive of these incendiaries, did we not read, that “out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, wickedness, an evil eye, pride, foolishness” (Mark vii. 21, 22).—Bridges.
Surely it is awrathful manthat is the lawyer’s best client. He is altogether forscire faciam,I will make thee to know what thou hast done, what thou has said; which the lawyer does but turn into ascire facias,although at last himself pay dearest for the knowledge which is gotten. But he that is slow to anger, hath aQuietus estfor any suit before it is begun. His care is rather to buy his peace with loss, than to sell his rest for gain. He considereth it to be true which St. Ambrose teacheth him, that to be freed from the loss of strife is not a little gain.—Jermin.
main homiletics of verse19.
The Way of the Slothful and the Righteous.
I. The one thing common to these opposite characters—a “way.”The eagle and the snail both have a way of motion, although the one swiftly cleaves the air, and the other drags itself slowly along the ground. Unlike as they are in form and in habit, they are both impelled to some kind of motion. So withthe sluggard and the man who complies willingly with God’s ordinance of labour—they are both compelled to some exercise of their bodily and mental organs, but there is a great contrast in the way in which they exercise them as there is between the way of the snail and the eagle.
II. The contrast between the ways of these opposite characters.1.That of the sluggard is a way of self-prevention.He lessens his power by neglecting to use it. The man who has power to pull against a rapid at a certain point of the stream and will not use it, but allows his boat to drift on until he comes into a current against which he can make no headway, has thrown away his power, and is his own destroyer. The effort which he neglected to put forth at a time when it would have been effectual, is of no avail now that the time has passed. Every man in health of body and mind has physical, and mental, and moral powers which at a certain period in his life are equal to the overcoming of all ordinary obstacles to his moral and physical well-being. But if he neglects to use them the tide against him will grow stronger, because his power will decrease, and his neglect and inertness, whether in material or in spiritual things, will raise around him a hedge of thorns, which will require much extraordinary and painful effort to break through. A thorn-hedge in its beginnings may be easily stepped over, or it may be almost as easily uprooted; but if it is allowed to grow and strengthen itself for several years it makes an almost impassable barrier—at least, a barrier which cannot be overcome without a great and painful effort. So with the sluggard, temptations to indolence—to neglect of powers which God has given him to be used—might once have been easily overcome, and have been so completely conquered as to cease to be temptations. But yielded to until they have become habits, they form around him as impassable a barrier, or one which can be broken through only by as great and as painful exertion as a hedge of thorns. Often we hear him complaining of the difficulties in the way, and truly they are there, but they are mainly of his own creation, the hedge is about him, but it is of his own planting—the lion is there (chap. xxvi. 13), but the lion was placed there by the man who is afraid to face him. 2.The way of righteousness—of him who is willing to strive after his moral and physical well-being—is a way in which it is easier to walk the longer it is pursued.It is “made plain,” or it is a “paved way.”(a) God helps to smooth his way, because it is a Divinely ordained way.He who rules the world has ordained that many material gifts and all the most precious mental and moral gifts shall be the reward of those only who earnestly strive after them. The way of diligent continuance in well-doing is as old as God Himself, and it is the way in which He requires His creatures to walk. This being so, those who tread it may rely upon His help to exalt the valleys, to level the mountains, and to make the rough places plain which lie in their road.(b) The way is made plain by the man himself.The continued repetition of acts makes habit, and he who pushes boldly and fearlessly forward in the way of righteous exertion finds the hard becomes easier and the stony places smoother by the very constitution of his nature. He makes his way plain by his resolution to walk in it, he leaps the hedge while his slothful neighbour is counting the number of feet it is from the ground. It is well to look before we leap, but some look so long that they never take the leap, and the slothful man looks so long at the difficulties in his way that he never finds courage enough to grapple with them. But the very resolve to try brings strength for action, and the power grows by use until what is a hedge of thorns to an indolent man is a level road to his righteous neighbour. The word righteous here being placed in antithesis to slothful shows how great a sin it is to neglect to use the opportunities which God has given for men to ensure their real and highest interests (See also on chap.xiii. 4, page 296.)
outlines and suggestive comments.
God’s Word recognises the universal law of work. By frequent precept and cheering promises, it consecrates our daily labour. Mindful of the old Latin maxim,“Laborare est orare,”“toil is prayer,” the Christian learns from the record of God’s Will that honest, faithful, diligent, God-fearing, and God-honouring work is itself a worship acceptable to the great All-worker. Toil, hard toil, is duty. Even the heathen world confessed that the gods gave nothing to men without it had been earned by severe exertion. . . . God enjoins diligence upon us by precept and by example. About us, all things perform their allotment of work, and do it promptly and without a thought of delay. The winds sweep over the face of the earth, attent alone on the fulfilment of their appointed mission. Here they come on silent pinions, to bear away the rising exhalation of death from the lowlands or the pest-house; there they carpet the earth with the sere and yellow leaves of autumn, covering the earth with russet and gold. Now their task is the flushing of some sick one’s pale cheek, as they rustle through the spring blossoms, laden with sweet health. There they hinder and destroy the else invincible Armada, creeping forth on its purpose of spreading far and wide destruction and death. Thus, too, the never-resting sea. Lashing its worn and rugged shore, the incoming tides bear on their bosom the wealth of trade; or else, lifting the waves in its fury, it engulfs those who go down into the sea to do business in the deep waters. Thus, too, the hidden fires of earth, ever smouldering within, ever restless in their workings—now tossing the foam and spray of the geysers in their play, or now opening in wide fissures of molten death, to scorch the surface of the earth with the poisonous sulphur smoke, or bury for centuries in dust and ashes, and under the lava tide, the homes and haunts of the men of the past. Thus God teaches men by His own ceaseless workings through ten thousand ever busy forces. And revelation utters the same bidding to unremitting toil. . . . Diligent hands are speedily rendered expert. Long use gives practice and perfection, until that which was at first the toilsome labour of home becomes the easily attained result of a few moments’ application. And the diligent hand teaches and trains the wary and observant eye.—Life Lessons from the Book of Proverbs, by Dr. Perry, Bishop of Iowa.
The wise man mentions righteousness in this place rather than diligence, because the latter is included in the former, and is not sufficient without it to make a man’s way plain.—Lawson.
Observe God’s estimate of the slothful man. He contrasts with him not the diligent, but the righteous, marking him as a “wicked, because aslothful,servant” (Matt. xxv. 26). The difficulties are far more in the mind than in the path. For while the slothful man sits down by the hedge-side in despair,the way of the righteous(in itself not more easy)is made plain.He does not expect God to work for him in an indolent habit. But he finds that God helps those that help themselves. . . . Following His commands, feeding upon His promises, continuing in prayer, in waiting and watching for an answer to prayer,his way is raised upbefore him. He believes what is written, and acts upon it without delay. As soon as ever the light comes into his mind, at the very first dawn, this determines the direction of his steps, and the order of his proceedings. Thus his stumbling-blocks are removed (Numb. xiii. 30, xiv. 6–9; Isa. lvii. 14).—Bridges.
Grace has not only abrighter(ver. 15) but aneasiertime. We see the like in worldly matters. Nothing is more striking than the ease with which a prompt man works. His tackle is all right, so is his ground, it has been made smooth by his last year’s toil. His hands are not blistered. His lazy neighbour admires, and longs after hischance. Laziness begets labour. In the round year, the sluggard fevers himself more than the diligent; while, in the spiritual world, the proverb is more signal still. Just where theuprightstands there is a smooth path—and let it be observed the upright means thesmooth,thelevel.Just where the sinner stands is athorn hedge.Hecannotenter into life; so he imagines. And yet he is asluggard,for he will not do the plainest duties. The proverb is right, therefore, that it is the principle of sluggardism to create “a hedge of thorns;” and that it is far smoother to take hold of the faith by the right handle, and at once, than to be eternally kicking against the pricks of the Gospel.—Miller.
Because the latter part of the verse speaketh of the righteous, we may by the slothful understand the wicked; for it is slothfulness in not using the graces of God offered that maketh to be wicked. . . . God giveth the righteous pleasure, even in the troubles of serving Him. . . . In their conversation, by the lightsomeness and leap, as it were, of eternal hope and internal contemplation, they do pass over the impediments of temporal adversity.—Jermin.
The way of a slothful man is perplexed and letsome, so that he gets no ground, makes no riddance; he goes as if he were shackled when he is to go upon any good course, so many perils he casts and so many excuses he makes—this he wants, and that he wants, when in truth it is a heart only that he wants, being wofully hampered and enthralled in the invisible chains of the kingdom of darkness, and driven about by the devil at his pleasure. . . . Never any came to hell, saith one, but had some pretence for their coming hither.—Trapp.
Every good service is hard or easy, according as men’s wills are inclined unto it. He that hath his mind pressed and ready to the practice of any duty, either of piety, justice, or mercy, will observe all the inducements that may lead him to the same; and he that is averse and backward, will look to all the impediments that may discourage him from it. That Israel should root out the Canaanites, the unfaithful spies thought it no less impossible, than for grasshoppers to overcome giants; but Caleb and Joshua knew it to be no more unlikely than for armed soldiers to vanquish naked people, or for hungry persons to eat up meat.First,the one is fortified by the force oflove,which is irresistible andstrong as death,that nothing can withstand it: and the other being destitute of all love to any goodness, is likewise void of all power to proceed in, and go through with any work that is good.Secondly, faithshoweth to the one what help God will minister, and what reward He will render to all them that apply themselves to His service. And infidelity persuadeth the other that well-doing is needless and fruitless, or chargeable and troublesome.—Dod.
For Homiletics on verse 20, see on Chapterx. 1, page 137.
outlines and suggestive comments.
One particular in which children show themselveswiseor elsefoolishand so can gladden or elsesaddentheir parents is by giving or withholding due honour. “A foolishman.” No age or state exempts children from honouring their parents. Grown young men are sometimes apt to look with some contempt on their mothers, because of the weakness of the feminine mind.—Fausset.
As for him that despiseth his mother—and who doth not so that despiseth her careful admonition?—he is not a son, the spirit of God doth not here style him to be so: he is afoolish man.For how can he be otherwise, who knoweth his own mother so little as that he doth despise her?—Jermin.
main homiletics of verse21.
Opposite Tastes.
I. Joy is a revealer of human character.A stone cast into a lake will reveal the nature of its bed. If there is mud at the bottom this simple test will reveal its existence by bringing it to the surface. So objects presented to the mind show what is hidden in the heart. The emotions produced by certain scenes or events are tests of character. What a man rejoices in reveals what he is. Some objects brought before the human mind excite the most opposite feelings in different men. That which gives pleasure to the one gives pain to the other, and when a man rejoices in that which is the outcome of human depravity it is a certain sign that he is himself deeply depraved. Like a stone cast into the water, it brings the hidden mud to the surface. The same evil thought lodged in the minds of two men, one of whom is a moral fool, and the other a “man of understanding,” will bring joy to the countenance of the first, and indignation to that of the latter, and thus it becomes a revealer of the state of each man’s heart, and he to whom “folly is joy” is thus declared to be “destitute of wisdom” in the real and highest signification of the word.
II. The joy of the moral fool turns him out of the way, and keeps him out of the way.This is implied in the antithesis, which should be “a man of understanding goes straight forward.” He has found a source of joy in“whatsoever things are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, and of good report”(Phil. iv. 8), and this joy holds him in the path which leads to them. We are largely governed by that which holds our affections, and love to that which is morally right, draws us into the path of righteousness—leads us to pursue a steady and undeviating line of conduct in obedience to the law of holiness, as revealed by God. But the joy which the ungodly man feels in sinful pursuits and habits draws him out of this good and true way, and allures him into a path where he meets with objects that call forth this unholy pleasure. Being governed by passion instead of by principle, his walk in life is unsteady and uncertain—destitute of fixed purpose. (On this subject see Homiletics on chap.xiii. 14, page 313.) A vessel is held on her course by reason at the wheel, and wind in the sails. The wind impels her to go forward, but if the understanding at the compass did not hold the wind in subjection, there would be no safety for the vessel; nobody could say where she might be carried. Yet without the wind she could not be carried forward at all—the compass and the helm would be useless. So, although the “man of understanding” is a man of emotion—a man whose life is under the influence of that which gives him joy, he brings his emotions into subjection to the dictates of moral wisdom, and before he follows their leadings he makes sure that they are in harmony with that which is pure and holy. Then he may safely yield himself to their guidance, and be sure that they will impel himstraightforward.Such a man isconstrainedby the delights which godliness yields to him to press on to higher attainments (2 Cor. v. 14; Phil. iii. 12, 13), while the man to whom “folly is joy” allows the pleasures of the world and the flesh to hold him from the right path, even against his conscience and his better judgment. Such a man can give no more convincing proof that he is destitute of wisdom.
outlines and suggestive comments.
This book of instruction proves our profession. What think we offolly?Not only does the ungodly practise it, butit is joyto him. . . . That which has turned this fair world into a sepulchre; nay, that which hath kindled“everlasting burnings,”ishis joy.—Bridges.
Tastes differ wildly, and so, therefore, do enjoyments. Water is theelement of one creature, and air the element of another. The same material is to this poison and to that food. Each species differs in nature from all others, and nature will have her own way. Among men, viewed in their spiritual relations, there is a similar variety of tastes and pleasures. There is first the grand generic difference between the old man and the new. . . . Besides the first and chief distinction between the dead and the living, many subordinate varieties appear, shading imperceptibly away into each other, according as good or evil preponderates in the character. Two persons of opposite spiritual tastes may be detected for once in the same act of evil; but they do not walk abreast in the same life-course. . . . Two young men, of nearly equal age, are both the sons of God-fearing parents, were seen to enter a theatre at a late hour in a large city. They sat together, and looked and listened with equal attention. The one was enjoying the spectacle and the mirth; the other was silently enduring an unspeakable wretchedness. The name of God and the hopes of the godly were employed there to season the otherwise vapid mirth of the hollow-hearted crowd. One youth, through the Saviour’s sovereign grace, had, in a distant solitude, acquired other tastes. The profanity of the play rasped rudely against them. He felt as if the words of the actor and the answering laugh of the spectators were tearing his flesh. He breathed freely when, with the retiring crowd, he reached the street again. It was his first experience of a theatre, and his last. It is a precious thing to get from the Lord, as Paul got a new relish and a new estimate of things. This appetite for other joy, if exercised and kept keen, goes far to save you from defilement, even when suddenly and occasionally brought into contact with evil; as certain kinds of leaves refuse to be wet, and though plunged into water come out of it dry.—Arnot.
A man of understanding walketh uprightly,and he doth it with delight, as the opposition implies. Christ’s “burden” is no more “grievous” to him than the wing is to the bird. His sincerity supplies him with serenity; the joy of the Lord, as an oil of gladness, makes him lithe and nimble in ways of holiness.—Trapp.
The folly here meant is the folly of wickedness, and he that joys in that, may well be proclaimed a notorious fool. St. Ambrose saith, all vile dispositions are delighted with the follies of others: but how vile, then, is his disposition who is delighted with his own folly. And yet, how many are there so drunken with this folly that they reel and stagger, and hardly go a right step in all their lives. Now, what is this joy, but a sign of the habit of wickedness generated within them? But a man of understanding considereth his joy, and what it is that causeth it: in joying he considereth, what it is he doth, and how far he goeth, that so he may both walkuprightlyto joy, andwalk uprightlyin joy. This being his chiefest joy to walk uprightly in all his ways.—Jermin.
Not so much,“folly is joyful;”for that is only partially the case. We have already seen (ver. 13) how sin crimps the countenance. But“folly is joy;”that is, the life of a sinner is like a grazed ox, who strikes for the sweetest pasture. The text marks a vital difference:—“A man of discernment, or understanding, makes a direct track.”That is, as a thrifty housekeeper tumbles up her rooms, and makes things right, whether it be pleasant or not, so the Christian, for love of the Almighty, makes things straight, whether a joy or not. Note, then, the vital difference.Folly is joy.It does not arrive at it; but its quintessence is, that it thought it would. While the good, not stupidly either, but as “a man of discernment,” puts duty first, and takes joy as it comes; so answering the words of Christ:—“For whosoever will save his life, shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life, for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it”(Mark viii. 35).—Miller.
For Homiletics on Verse 22, see on Chap.xi. 14and Chap.xx. 18.
outlines and suggestive comments.
It is a note of Beda: There are three which in the law are read to be unhappy. He that knoweth and doth not teach, he that teacheth and doth not live accordingly, he that is ignorant and doth not ask counsel. Wherefore in matters of moment it is good not to purpose without counsel: for a purpose ill-settled is never likely to take good effect, and if counsel direct the purpose itself, it will much the better be able to accomplish it. For purposes without counsel are like an earthen vessel broken in the hands of the potter. Turned they are about with the wheel of imagination, but quickly broken in the hand of execution. Be not therefore without counsel, that thou go not without thy purpose; and if thou canst, get many counsellors, whereby thou art likely the sooner to get thine end. For many counsellors are like many hands joined together, and can reach far in attaining thy desire.—Jermin.
I. No mortal man can attain unto such depth of judgment and understanding, to be able sufficiently, of his own knowledge, to manage all his affairs: God will have every man stand in need of his brother’s direction: that is revealed to some which is hid from others; and many eyes may clearly apprehend that which no one could possibly have pierced into. II. Every man by nature is somewhat partial to his affection, and may easily be induced to add weight by colour of reason, to that end of the scale whereunto his desire more inclineth; whereas he that leaneth on neither side, may discern the stronger motives to be on the other side.—Dod.
Many eyes see more than one, and many souls think more than one: therefore never esteem thyself so wise that thou shouldest not seek others’ counsel.—Hasius.
main homiletics of verse23.
Joy from a Seasonable Word.
I. A good word yields the speaker a present joy.There is a present reaction of joy following every right deed which is its present and immediate reward. If a man gives his money to a right object from the highest motive he is silently repaid, even while he is in the act of giving, by the joy which he feels. So the man who having neither silver or gold gives help by words of advice or sympathy. Good words are sometimes more precious than gold to the sinning or the suffering, and for such gifts there is the reward which follows every effort to help and bless others. How much of the joy of Christ’s life on earth must have arisen from the enlightening and life-giving answers of His mouth, to those who sought to learn of Him.
II. It yields the speaker joy on reflection.There is nothing equal to the joy of performing a good deed, except the joy of reflecting upon it. This is a more lasting joy, and can be repeated again and again. Happy is he who, in looking back upon the “answers of his mouth,” can derive joy from the consciousness that he spoke the right word at the right time.
III. Such a word is an unending source of joy, because it is an unending influence for good.None can tell“how good it is”—none can say that its influence will ever cease. A stone thrown into the ocean is but the act of a moment; but wise men tell us that the influence of that act is felt long after the stone has found the bed of the ocean. The word spoken by the Highest Wisdom to Saul on his way to Damascus, how good was it for the man to whom it was addressed, and how good it has been, and will be for millions throughout the ages of eternity. None but God can estimate the power of the evil that was then averted from the Church of God, the depth of personal guilt from whichthe man addressed was delivered, or the amount of blessed influence that was then set in motion. And many a word of the disciple has been good in the same manner, although not in the same degree, as that word of the Master.
outlines and suggestive comments.
It must bea word spoken in season(chap. xxv. 11), though it be from feeble lips. For though “there are some happy seasons, when the most rugged natures are accessible”(Bishop Hopkins),yet many a good word is lost by beingspokenout of season. Obviously a moment of irritation is out of season. We must wait for the return of calmness and reason. Sometimes, indeed, the matter forces itself out after lengthened and apparently ineffectual waiting. It has been long brooded over within and must have its vent. But this explosion sweeps away every prospect of good, and leaves a revolting impression. Instead of a fertilising shower, it has gathered into a violent and destructive tempest. It is most important, that our whole deportment should bring conviction, that we yearn over the souls of those whom we are constrained to reprove. . . . Never commence with an attack; which, as an enemy’s position, naturally provokes resistance. Study a pointed application. A word spoken for every one, like a coat made for everyone, has no individual fitness.—Bridges.
The verb usually translated to“answer”means primarily to sing, or rather,to break out with the voice;rather,“to speak after a silence;”which, of course, would usually be in making “answer.” Hence the idiom, “answeredandsaid,” literally,broke silence,andsaid.Such an utterance would become very oracular in the more solemn decisions of life. A“decree,”as we have translated it, is a noun out of the above described verb. It means anuttered decision;such as an answer may be to a business speech; such as is alluded to on God’s part (chap. xvi. 4); and such as may be overmasteringly momentous in the business and results of life. Solomon sees in it a rare truth in respect to decision for immortality.“A word!”Why, it may win eternity! An offer presses!A wordrefuses!A wordsnatches possession for ever! Lo! the amazing difference! Body and soul hang upon“a word.” “Great counsel”(ver. 22) indeed, that is, that prompts a man to say, Yes! and “a word (spoken)in season” truly! if it be a confession of Christ! and if it take the offer of an eternal blessedness! Because there is no drawing back after that beginning (ver. 24).—Miller.
The words have probably a special reference to the debates in council implied in ver. 22. True as they are at all times, they also bring before us the special characteristic of the East, the delight in ready, improvised answers, solving difficulties, turning aside anger. Such an answer, to a people imaginative rather than logical, has much more weight than any elaborate argument. Compare the effect produced on the mind of the scribe who heard our Lord’s dispute with the Sadducees, when he saw that He had “answered well” (Mark xii. 28).—Plumptre.
main homiletics of verse24.
The Upward and the Downward Path.
I. The existence of a place of retribution stated as a fact.The wordSheōl,here and elsewhere translatedhell,signifies first the place of all departed spirits, whether they be saints or sinners. Those who dwell inSheōlare those who have quitted the relations and conditions of time and sense, and who dwell in a worldinvisible to human eye. But the connection of the word here makes it necessary to understand it as having reference to a place of retribution. That there is such a place beyond death is suggested by analogy, and affirmed by the Word of God. In every city and centre of human life we find a place of retribution inhabited by those whose characters are supposed to merit such a dwelling. All nations upon the earth find it necessary to have their prisons—to have places in which to confine those whose crimes call for their separation from their more virtuous fellow-creatures. The existence of such places is as much a fact as the existence of men upon the earth. Hence we might have inferred that there was such a place for like characters in the world which is beyond our vision, but which men, both good and bad, are continually quitting this world to inhabit. The existence of such an abode seems to be imperatively demanded, when we consider that some of the worst of the human race never find their way to a prison in this world, and it seems a merciful proceeding towards the offenders themselves that their course should be arrested in another life. The Book of God tells us that there is such a place—that the dwelling of the “devil and his angels” is the destination of those who quit this world in a state of unforsaken and unforgiven sin (Matt. xxv. 41).
II. There is a hell of character as well as a hell of place.That which renders a serpent an object of abhorrence is the poison in its sting. That which makes hell, either in devils or men, is enmity against God. This is the fuel that feeds the undying flame that cannot be quenched—this it is that constitutes the misery of the place of retribution. This mental hell has an existence in time as well as beyond it. Christ taught us that He considered such a disposition a mental Gehenna when He said,“Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation(condemnation)of hell?”(Matt. xxiii. 33).
III. There is the hell of confederation against God and goodness which is made up of individuals belonging both to the visible and the invisible worlds.Every kingdom has its place of central government, but its dominion may extend over many countries. The divisions made by mountains and seas do not make it any the less one kingdom. The centre of the kingdom which exists in the universe in opposition to the kingdom of God, has its seat of government in the unseen world, but it numbers among its subjects all who are at enmity with God, and His children, whether in time or beyond it. Although the place of central government“the gates of hell”(Matt. xvi. 18) is inSheōl,its influence is mighty upon the earth.
IV. That to escape from all these is the aim of the truly wise man.He desires to escape from retribution hereafter, and to be freed from the misery of being in opposition to God in the present life. He does this by obtaining a right relation to God and to His law. Our physical relationships have much to do with our physical well-being—to be in relation to those who are vicious or diseased is to be in a wrong relation so far as bodily health is concerned. Our social and political relations are most important to our comfort and well-being, and are more subject to our own will than are our physical relationships. We may be unwillingly related to an evil social or national law, but we may also stand in an antagonistic relation to a good law, and then the change of relationship is in our own hands. Every sinful man stands in a wrong relation to God’s holy and good law, and the aim of the wise man is to fall in with the conditions offered to him, by which he may come into right relationship to this law. These conditions are revealed to him in the Divine revelation—by accepting the atonement of Christ, he is delivered from the guilt of his transgressions and so escapes the hell of retribution; by the same act, followed by a life of communion with the ascended Saviour, he is freed from all that makes hell within him, and escapes all the snares laid by thetempterfor his spiritual ruin. This relationship with Him, who is the fountain of all moral and material life, places him ina new position in the universe—lifts him from the dominion of sin, which is death, into the kingdom of holiness which isa way of life,because it leads to and prepares for a state beyond death, which is everlasting life of body, soul, and spirit.
V. Such a change of relationship is the beginning of moral climbing.“The way of life is above,”rather, “leads upward.” The change of relationship is but the first step in a new life. The place of halting to-day becomes the place of departure on the morrow, and each day’s journey places him upon a higher level and in a purer atmosphere. The wise man’s first step is to depart from hell beneath, but his mere escape from retribution is not the whole of his aim—he is always in quest of an increase of love and joy and peace, of a deepening of all holy emotions and a strengthening of all holy habits. He“goes from strength to strength”(Psa. lxxxiv. 7); his watchword is“not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect”(Phil. iii. 7).
outlines and suggestive comments.
All men are travellers, either to heaven above, or hell beneath. The writers of Scripture know nothing of a middle place. . . . Our everlasting abode must be either in heaven or hell. Salvation from hell is the half of heaven. The threatenings of hell are a fence about the way to heaven, and whilst we are travelling in it they are of great use to make us serious and earnest in pursuing our course; for how is it possible that we can flee with too much speed from everlasting burnings, when our flight is directed, not like that of the manslayer, to a place of banishment, but to a world of happiness.—Lawson.
Theway of life is above—of heavenly origin—the fruit of eternal counsels—the display of the manifold wisdom of God. Fools rise not high enough to discern it, much less to devise and walk in it. Their highest elevation is grovelling. God does not allow them even the name of life (1 Tim. v. 6). Cleaving to the dust of the earth they sink into the hell beneath. But the wise are born fromabove;taught fromabove;therefore walkingabove,while they are living upon earth. A soaring life indeed! The soul mounts up, looks aloft, enters into the holiest, rises above herself, and finds her resting-place in the bosom of her God. A most transcendent life! to be “partaker of the Divine nature!” (2 Pet. i. 4). The life of God Himself (Ephes. iv. 18) in humble sublimity, ascending above things under the sun, above the sun himself.—Bridges.
Let “the words spoken in season” (see comments onverse 23) be “Lord, I believe, help Thou mine unbelief;” and let the word be genuine,i.e.,a turning fromSheōl(the figure of the pit—Psa. ix. 17), and the man’s joy is won. His path after that shall beupwardperpetually.—Miller.
A reference to heaven as the final limit of this upward movement of the life of the righteous is so far indirectly included as the antithesis to the “upward,” the “hell beneath” (hell downwards, hell to which one tends downward), suggests a hopeless abode in the dark kingdom of the dead as the final destination of the sinner’s course of life. Therefore, we have here again the idea of future existence and retribution (comp. xi. 7; xiv. 32).—Lange’s Commentary.
On the summit of one of those distant mountains—upon whose snowy tops, as they throw back the sunlight, we can look from our Eastern coast—there trickles forth a silvery spring. Near the source there is a slight obstruction in the way of the flow of the streamlet, and the waters are divided right and left. Part trickles down the mountain side towards a river, and thence are borne on to the limitless sea. Part goes the other side, and is lost, ere long, midst the thirsty sands, that are never satiated. Thus divergent are man’s two paths—the shiningand the dark one; thus dissimilar their course in life—their close at death. And these two paths are the only ones leading out into eternity. . . . And when we seek in spiritual union and communion with our Maker the noblest exercise of the soul’s faculties and powers, and there comes to the heartpeace,sure and certain, because depending upon the inviolable Word of God, andlovespringing from the outwellings of the Divine love, andhopereaching into the eternal world, and grasping there at blissful immortality and joy ineffable, and prepared of God—oh! then even the foregleamings of these things, reserved for us, or else already the heritage of the soul—light up a path so shining that earth’s glare and glitter fade, in comparison, wholly out of sight. For into eternity itself do these divergent paths lead. The soul, in choosing the one or the other here, is choosing for the life to come, as well as for the life that now is.—Bishop Perry.
The wise man goes a higher way than his neighbour, even in his common businesses, because they are done in faith and obedience. He hath his feet where other men’s heads are; and, like a heavenly eagle, delights himself in high-flying. Busied he may be in mean, low things, but not satisfied in them as adequate objects. A wise man may sport with children, but that is not his business. Wretched worldlings make it their work to gather wealth, as children do tumble a snow-ball; they are scattered abroad throughout all the land—as those poor Israelites were (Exod. v. 12)—to gather stubble, not without an utter neglect of their poor souls. But what, I wonder, will these men do when death shall come with a writ ofhabeas corpus,and the devil with a writ ofhabeas animam?. . . Oh, that they that have their hands elbow-deep in the earth, that are rooting and digging in it, as if they would that way dig themselves a new and nearer way to hell!—oh, that these greedy moles would be warned to flee from the wrath to come, to take heed of the hell beneath, and not sell their souls to the devil for a little pelf.—Trapp.
The difference between an earthly man and a heavenly man is this—that the way of an earthly man is under his feet, and the way of a heavenly man is over his head. A fool doth not conceive what this upper way can be, but to the wise man it is the plain way of life. He knoweth that it is by the fall of man that he walketh so low, and he considereth that unless he change his way, and, though against his nature, do make his way above, by having his conversation in heaven, even while his habitation is on the earth, his sin will be sure to thrust him lower still even to the pit of death. Take heed, therefore, of the ways of the earth, they are the way tohell.From whence to keep thee, be sure to keep aloft by fixing thine heart on Christ, who is the way of life, and now is set down in the highest places.—Jermin.
main homiletics of verse25.
Destruction and Establishment.
I. The character of those doomed to destruction.In looking at the trees of a vast forest, the eye of the beholder is drawn to some which, towering far above their fellows, form the most prominent features in the landscape. Yet these trees, although they look as if they would stand for ages, may be doomed to a much shorter standing than others which look more frail and are less attractive to the eye. The tree which is admired so much for its girth and breadth of foliage may contain within itself elements of destruction, and it may only need to be left to itself for a little while to come to the ground by its own weight. Every increase in its spreading foliage only renders its overthrow more certain,because the rottenness of the trunk is less able to bear the mass of branch and leaf. Or the woodman may not wait for the inevitable result—he may deem it necessary for the health of the surrounding trees that the axe should interpose and so prevent the fall. He may see that such a tree is absorbing nourishment to minister to its own decay, that trees around would utilise to sustain their healthy life. And so to prevent the soil from being impoverished by a mere cumberer of the ground, the sound of the axe and the crash of falling timber may resound through the forest. Such a tree is an emblem of the man described in our text. To him may be addressed the words spoken to the proud King of Babylon:“The tree that thou sawest, which grew and was strong, whose height reached unto the heaven, and the sight thereof to all the earth, whose leaves were fair and the fruit thereof much, and in it was meat for all, under which the beasts of the field dwelt and the fowls of the heaven had their habitation: it is thou that art grown and become strong, for thy greatness is grown and become strong, and reacheth unto heaven,”etc. (Dan. iv. 20–22). He has attained to a position of power and influence in the world, but, like Nebuchadnezzar, his greatness has only revealed a radical moral defect in his character. Like him he refuses to acknowledge that“the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men,”and that it is by His favour alone that he has attained to such a height of prosperity. He holds within him the elements of his own destruction, and time will bring about his fall without any special interposition of the Divine hand. Pride grows upon what it feeds, and such a man will presume more and more upon his fancied security, until he falls by the working out of the ordinary laws which govern the moral universe. But God does not always wait for this issue. To prevent his continuing to rob humanity of their rights, the Almighty Governor of men may anticipate the natural result by applying the axe of special judgment, and a“watcher and a holy one”from heaven may be heard saying,“Hew the tree down and destroy it”(Dan. iv. 23),“Cut it down, why cumbereth it the ground?”(Luke xiii. 7). All despots and tyrants must sooner or later succumb to the operation of natural social law; those whom they have wronged, goaded to desperation by their injustice, will rise up against them and overturn them. The King of all the earth often takes the work into His own hands, as he did in the case of Nebuchadnezzar.
II. Those who are special objects of Divine care.“He will establish the border (or landmark) of the widow.” The widow is a type of all the needy and the sorrowful of the human race. Deprived of her natural provider and protector, and her dearest earthly relative, she, more than any other, is at the mercy of the proud and selfish, and stands in need of a helper and consoler. God by the very goodness of His nature is drawn to take sides with such a one. He makes Himself known, again and again, as the “judge of widows” (Psalm lxviii. 5). The Bible contains many laws for their protection and reproaches against those who wrong them (Deut. xxiv. 17, 19, 20, 21; Isa. i. 23; Matt. xxiii. 14). One of the main features of the moral beauty in the Divine character is that He“delivereth the needy when he crieth, the poor also, and him that hath no helper”(Psa. lxxii. 12), and the widow is here a type of all such. The sorrow of her who is “a widow indeed” is very deep and overwhelming, and sorrow takes away physical and mental strength. The strong and mighty God charges Himself with the care of all such spirits weakened by sorrow, and warns all the world who would take advantage of their weakness that in so doing they enter the lists against Him.
III. Because of such dealing God’s kingdom will increase and strengthen.The champions of the weak, and the opposers of the tyrants, always gain the most influence in the end. Love is the strongest influence in the world, and those who can gain men’s hearts are the real and mighty kings. While they live they wield a mighty power, and their influence is felt sometimes even morepowerfully after they have left the world. Those who never saw them in the flesh, but who are enjoying the liberties which they gained for them, yield them a silent homage. And in the song which foretells the universal dominion of the All-Righteous King this is given as a reason why His kingdom shall grow and be established“He shall have dominion from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth. . . . The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents: the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts. Yea, all kings shall fall down before Him: all nations shall serve Him.ForHe shall deliver the needy when he crieth; the poor also, and him that hath no helper. He shall spare the poor and needy, and shall save the souls of the needy. He shall redeem their souls from deceit and violence: and precious shall their blood be in His sight”(Psa. lxxii. 8–14).
outlines and suggestive comments.
From this style of the antithesis we are naturally led to conceive a special allusion to the haughty oppressor of the desolate and unprotected—to the overbearing worldling, who insolently abuses his power in lording it over his poor dependents. . . . We may well tremble to think of promoting our own advantage in any way, or in any degree, at the expense of the widow or the fatherless. Woe to the man who does so! God will see it. What is so acquired cannot be enjoyed with either a quiet conscience or the smile of heaven. It is an accursed thing. It is the wedge of gold and the Babylonish garment, by which the blessing of righteousness and mercy is turned away.—Wardlaw.
“The house,” i.e.,every interest (chap. xiv. 1).“Destroy,”orpull down;because even worldly men have noticed the precariousness of pride.“The widow:”even worldly eyes have noticed that these are wards of the Almighty. But Solomon adopts each proverb spiritually. “The proud” is the man too well satisfied in his own mind (chap. xxi. 24) toutter the good word, and have joy(ver. 23); and the “widow” is the poor in heart, who is ready with the availinganswer,“Lord, I believe.”—Miller.
God abhors pride even in them whom He dearly loves, and shows His resentment of it by humbling providences, that remove man from his purpose, and hide pride from man. David was proud of the vast numbers of his subjects, but God soon showed him that great hosts save not a king, and that three days may greatly lessen the numbers of a people. Hezekiah’s heart was lifted up, but he was soon obliged to humble himself, being assured that the treasures which he had so ostentatiously showed to the Babylonish ambassadors should be carried with his posterity to their own land.—Lawson.
Did He not provide for sorrowing Naomi a staff in her faithful daughter, and ultimately establish her boarders in Israel? Did He not supply the pressing need of the minister’s widow (2 Kings iv. 1–7), and take up the Shunamite’s oppression, and again establish her border? (2 Kings viii. 1–6). And shall we forget how He teaches the returning penitent to plead the gracious manifestation, “In Thee the fatherless findest mercy?” (Psa. xiv. 2, 3).—Bridges.
The Lord will destroy the house of the proud.He will surely uproot him, unnest him, yea, though he hath set his nest among the stars, as he did proud Lucifer, who “kept not his first estate but left his habitation” (Jude 6), which, indeed, he could hold no longer. . . .But He will establish the border of the widow.Not the rest of her goods only, but the very utmost border of her small possession. She hath commonly no great matters to be proud of, nor any patrons to stick to her. She hath her name in Hebrew ofdumbness,because either she cannotspeak for herself, or, if she do speak, her tale cannot be heard (Luke xviii. 4).—Trapp.
A young body is too often thehouse of the proud,where strength being the pillars of it, beauty the trimming, vanity the roof, fond conceit imagineth itself to be married to a long life, never minding the mud walls whereof it consisteth. But God, who was the builder of it, seeing so ill an inmate as pride received into it, pulleth down His own work to destroy the devil’s work, and cutting the thread of life dissolveth the marriage knot, when expectation thought it to be strongest tied. On the other hand, where affliction hath humbled the heart of the widow, and may seem to have brought her to the border of her days, then doth God establish length of days, lifting up the light of His countenance upon her when lowliness of spirit hath virtuously cast her down.—Jermin.
main homiletics of verse26.
Wicked thoughts and Holy Words.
I. A present power of the wicked man—he thinks.The ideas and purposes which fill his mind concerning himself, his fellow-men, and God, are the result of a mental process just as the potter’s vessel is the result of a certain manipulating process. His thoughts are the result of the exercise of a God-given power, just as the potter’s vessel is the result of a power which has been given to him by God. From the same source comes the power to think and the power to turn the wheel. But although the power to think comes from God, it rests with the man as to what kind of thoughts shall be the outcome of that power. God holds him responsible for the use which he makes of the power given him. It would be useless for the potter to say that the vessel which leaves his hand took its form by chance—we hold him responsible for the shape which the clay assumes under his hands. And it is equally vain for a man to say that he has no power over his thoughts. God holds him guilty if he thinks thoughts of sin.
II. The thoughts of the wicked are abhorred by God.1.Because of the harm they do to his own soul.If the body is held bound under the sway of a deadly malady it becomes weak and unable to fulfil the end of its creation, and if it continues long under its influence it dies. So soul-disease and moral death are the result of the rule of evil thoughts to the man who thinks them. He becomes incapable of fulfilling the high spiritual destiny for which God called him into being. 2.Because of the misery they inflict upon others.All the evil words and deeds that have ever been done in the world were once thoughts. While they were only thoughts the harm they inflicted was confined to the thinker of them, but as soon as they became words or deeds the moral poison spread, and others become sufferers from them. God hates whatever will increase the misery of his creatures, and therefore the thoughts of the wicked—those fruitful germs of sin and suffering must be an abomination to Him. 3.Because they are utterly at variance with God’s thoughts and purposes.The thoughts of God toward the wicked themselves are opposed to the thoughts and purposes which they have concerning themselves. God’s thoughts towards them are“thoughts of peace and not of evil”(Jer. xxix. 11). He desires that“the wicked forsake his way”and“return unto Him.”He declares that His thoughts even concerning sinners are as much higher than their thoughts concerning themselves as“the heavens are higher than the earth”(Isa. lv. 7, 8). This is one ground of God’s quarrel with the thoughts of the wicked, that they cross His gracious plans for redeeming them. But—
III. The words of the pure are pleasing to God.Likeness of character draws men together—the pure delight in those who are pure, and the words of a pureman are pleasant to the ear of another man of purity. Pure men are like God in character, and He must find pleasure in those who reflect His own image, and who are one with Him in sympathy. Delighting in them, their words are pleasant unto Him. He delights in them when they take the form ofprayer(See Homiletics onverse 8, page 407). The “prayers of saints” are as sweet incense to Him (Rev. v. 8; viii. 3). They are well-pleasing when they take the form ofpraise.He has commanded men to render honour where honour is due (Rom. xiii. 7), and when it is rendered to Himself the most worthy to “receive honour and glory and blessing,” it is a most acceptable sacrifice (Lev. vii. 12, Heb. xiii. 15). The words of the pure are pleasant to God when they are spokento console and bless their fellow-creatures.(On this subject see Homiletics on chap.xii. 18, page 275.)
outlines and suggestive comments.
Pleasant words are pure.(SeeCritical Notes.) This is the Scripture ethics. If we desire to know whether“words are pure”(and,wordshere, for Eastern reasons, mean actions as well as words; nay, really mean the whole round of conduct; see Job xx. 12; Isa. x. 7), if we wish to know whether a man’s whole life is pure, all we have to ask is—Is itkind?It is theplans of mischiefthat are the abomination of Jehovah.—Miller.
How lightly do most men think of the responsibility of their thoughts! as if they were their own, and they might indulge them without restraint or evil. One substantial sin appals men, who quietly sleep under the mighty mass ofthinkingwithout God for months and years, without any apprehension of guilt. But thoughts are the seminal principles of sin.—Bridges.
“Words of pleasantness are pure”—the gracious words that seek to please, not wound, are to Him as a pure acceptable offering, the similitude being taken from the Jewish ritual, and the word “pure” used in a half ceremonial sense, as in Mal. i. 11.—Plumptre.
The words of the pure are pleasant words.Such as God books up, and makes hard shift to hear, as I may so say; for He “hearkens and hears” (Mal. iii. 16).—Trapp.
God seeth that Himself is not in all the thoughts of the wicked, and what can it be but abomination to God where God is not? It is God in all things that is pleasing to Himself, and it is the absence of God in anything that makes it to be abominable. But as for the thoughts of the pure, they are words of pleasantness, wherein they sing and make melody in their hearts to the Lord. In them they sweetly converse to themselves, by them they heavenly converse with God. Pleasant they are to themselves by the joy they have in them, pleasant they are to God by the delight He taketh in them. The wicked, though alone, and though doing nothing, yet are doing wickedly; for even then their thoughts are working, and working so naughtily as to be an abomination to the Lord. There is no need of company to draw them into villainy, they have always a rout of mischievous thoughts on hand to give them entertainment. And as great is the pleasure which themselves take in them, so great is the abomination which God hath of them.—Jermin.
main homiletics of verse27.
The Curse of Covetousness.
I. The definition of a covetous man.“He that isgreedyof gain.” He desires more than enough, and he desires it to the exclusion of the rights of others. Itis lawful and right to desire to possess some amount of substance in the world; he who was without such a desire would be hardly a man. It is good to ask for neither poverty nor riches, but for such an amount of the world’s wealth as will prevent us from being harassed with care, and at the same time keep us free from the temptations and anxieties which accompany great riches. But when a man is consumed with a desire for more than sufficient for his necessities, he is “greedy of gain,” and is in moral danger. If a vessel finds enough water in the river to carry her on her voyage, all bids fair to be safe and prosperous; but if the water is so high that it pours over her deck and gets into the hold, she is in great danger of sinking. So a moderate desire after worldly gain is an impetus to a man’s activity, and is a blessing both to himself and to the community; but an inordinate desire after riches is a dead weight upon his spiritual progress, and is often the cause of his going down in the moral scale. Desiring more than enough often leads to using unlawful means of satisfying the desire. The second clause of the verse seems to refer to the temptation of a judge to accept bribes. Men holding such an office, and possessed by this greed of gain, have been known, under its influence, to commit the enormous crime of knowingly acquitting the guilty and condemning the innocent; and in all positions and stations of life the sin of covetousness is a fruitful source of other crimes.“But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil”(1 Tim. vi. 9, 10).
II. The evil effect of covetousness is not confined to the covetous man himself.“He that is greedy of gain troubleth his own house.” Many men try to excuse their covetousness by the plea that they only desire to make ample provision for their family, but it is upon the family that the curse of greediness falls most heavily. If the head is diseased the members must suffer. A covetous man is a selfish man, and those who are most nearly related to a man who is eaten up with a desire to grow rich feel most keenly the blighting influence of the passion upon all the joys of family life. And a man who is thus greedy of gain brings trouble upon his house by involving them in the curse of his sin. Those whom he has wronged by this injustice hate his children for the father’s sin, and as we have before seen—“the wealth of the sinner”—of him who has grown rich by unfair dealing—is “laid up for the just” and his own children inherit only the misery of having had such a father. (See Homiletics on chap.xiii. 11–22, pages 307–332.)
III. The man of opposite character, “the hater of gifts,” shall live.1.He does live now.Life and death are in a man’s character. A leaf that has lost all its beauty and greenness isdeadalthough it still exists. The leaf is there—the shape and outline exist—but all that made it lovely is gone, because all vitality is gone. A flower may still have all its petals upon the stalk, but if all fragrance and colour are gone we know that life is gone. The life or the death of the leaf or flower are states or conditions of its existence, and not the simple adherence or separation of its particles. So it is with a man. His life or his death is not existence or non-existence, but the condition of his spiritual nature. If he is destitute of righteousness he isdead—if he is a man of true integrity—such a man as is described in chap.xi. 3(see on that verse) he isalive.God is the “living God” not simply because He has an eternal existence, but because He possesses moral life—in other words, because He is perfectly holy, just, and true. Now the man who “hates gifts”—who abhors every kind of unfair dealing—gives proof by his hatred that he is morally alive. 2.He shall live in the esteem of posterity.Nothing lasts like a good character. The memory of the just man is embalmed in the hearts of men long after his body is gone to dust. (See chap.x. 7.) 3.He shall live in the esteem of God.We are naturally disposed to regard with favour those who show us honour andendeavour to further our purposes and desires. The “just God” is a lover of those who strive to “do justly, to love mercy and walk humbly with Him” (Micah vi. 8), and such men shall live in the sunshine of His eternal favour (Psalm xxx. 5).
outlines and suggestive comments.
A man may be said to be covetous when he takes more pains for the getting of earth than for the getting of heaven. He will turn every stone, break his sleep, take any a weary step for the world; but will take no pains for Christ or heaven. The Gauls, after they had tasted the sweet wine of the Italian grape, inquired after the country, and never rested till they had arrived at it; so a covetous man, having had a relish of the world, pursues after it, and never leaves it till he hath got it; but he neglects the things of eternity. He could be content if salvation would drop into his mouth, as a ripe fig drops into the mouth of the eater (Nahum iii. 12). But he is loth to put himself to too much sweat or trouble to obtain Christ or salvation. Hehuntsfor the world, hewishethonly for heaven. . . . Covetousness is (1) asubtlesin, a sin that men do not so well discern in themselves. This sin can dress itself in the attire of virtue. It is called the “cloke of covetousness” (1 Thess. ii. 5). It is a sin that wears a cloke; it clokes itself under the name of frugality and good husbandry. It hath more pleas and excuses for itself than any other sin. (2) It is adangeroussin. It damps good affections, as the earth puts out the fire. The hedgehog in the fable came to the coney-burrows in stormy weather, and desired harbour, but when once he had gotten entertainment he set up his prickles, and did never cease till he had thrust the poor coneys out of their burrows; so covetousness, by fair pretences, wins itself into the heart; but as soon as you have let it in it will never leave till it hath thrust all religion out of your hearts. . . . Covetousness chains men to the earth, and makes them like the woman which Satan had bound together that she could not lift herself (Luke xiii. 11). You may as well bid an elephant fly in the air as a covetous man live by faith. We preach to men to give freely to Christ’s poor; but covetousness makes them to be like him in the Gospel who had a withered hand (Mark iii. 1). . . . Covetousness shuts men out of heaven (Ephes. v. 5). What should a covetous man do in heaven? . . . Like a bee that gets into a barrel of honey, and there drowns himself, like a ferryman that takes in so many passengers to increase his fare that he sinks his boat, so a covetous man takes in more gold to the increasing of his estate that he damns himself in perdition.—Watson.
It is not enough to abstain from evil, we must alsohateit.—Fausset.
Who is ignorant of the woeful success which Achan found in coveting unlawfully the gold and silver in Jericho? He hoped to get more than any man in Israel; but no man in Israel lost so much as he.—Dod.
He that maketh gain to be the gain that he looked for in all things, he may hope to fill his home with wealth, but he shall be sure to fill it with trouble. He that is given to gain, and hath made himself the prey as it were and gain of gain, he may have his hand open to take gifts, but with the same hand taketh in disquietness into his heart. . . . Now, because such are often crying—How shall I live? therefore the wise man telleth them he that hateth such things shall live.—Jermin.
main homiletics of verse28.
Studying to Answer.
I. Every righteous man is a student.The aim of study in any department of knowledge is, first to gain possession of certain facts, and then to make the knowledge of practical service in life. If a man intends to be a builder he must first be a student. He must first gain certain theoretical knowledge, and then make use of it. And so with every profession or calling—each requires thought before any work is entered upon. Every righteous man is a man with a profession—he is a professor of righteousness—he gains a knowledge of righteous precepts with the view of reducing them to righteous practice. A knowledge of what is right and true in the abstract will be of little use to himself or to any other man unless the knowledge influences his words and deeds. The proverb before us sets forth the righteous man as a student of his speech. His aim is to speak the “word in due season,” spoken of in verse 23, and to do this he must be a student of the human heart—1.He must study the workings of his own heart.This is a study peculiar to the righteous man. Many men study themselves and others as frameworks of bone and muscle, who never bestow a thought upon the soul, of which the body is but the raiment. Other men watch the operations of the mental powers and tabulate all the movements of the mind as they are brought to light by internal consciousness. But the godly man goes deeper. He ponders his thoughts and feelings in the light of moral truth and righteousness—he weighs his words in the balance in which he knows that God will weigh them. 2.He must study other men’s hearts.He desires that his words should not only be harmless but beneficial to others; he desires to answer wisely questions relating to God, and man, and immortality; he sets his speech in order before he opens his mouth upon any of these weighty matters, and he considers the circumstances and dispositions of those to whom he speaks that like one of old, his“doctrine may drop as the rain, his speech distil as the dew,”when he“publishes the name of the Lord”(Deut. xxxii. 2, 3). Before his thoughts become words he submits them to the revision of his conscience and his judgment, and asks himself if they are such as he can hope God will bless to the edification of others.
II. All men who do not thus study their thoughts and words are the authors of much mischief.They are those who have never made what they think a matter of conscience and consequently their words are the outcome of an unsanctified heart. As is the fountain, so must be the stream. For the words of such a man to be other than evil is an impossibility.“How can ye, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. A good man, out of the good treasure of the heart, bringeth forth good things; and an evil man, out of the evil treasure, bringeth forth evil things”(Matt. xii. 34, 35).
outlines and suggestive comments.
The tongue is the heart’s messenger. So often as it speaks before the heart dictates, the messenger runs without his errand. He that will not speak idly, must think what he speaks; he that will not speak falsely, must speak what he thinks.—Arnot.
What is before said (verse 2, and chap. xii. 23) of thewise and the foolish,is said here of therighteous and the wicked:and what is before said of the utterance ofwisdom and folly,is here said of the utterance ofgood and evil.We have repeatedly seen how Solomon identifies these in his statements. Wickedness is folly; goodness is wisdom.—Wardlaw.
“Mouth,”all agency. Religion isso much like politeness, that a polite man “winnows” (ver. 7) his acts till they look sometimes like religion; but watch men where the guise of kindness fails them, viz., their aim to be polite, and their“mouth pours out evils.”There is a recklessness of act that only a religious purity can essentially restrain.—Miller.
The wicked, speaking somuch,cannot but speak “evil things” (chap. x. 19). Not hisheart,as in the case of the righteous, but hismouthtakes the lead.—Fausset.
I. It is not easy at the first to apprehend the right, because error at the first ken standeth usually in men’s light, and hindereth them from seeing the truth, whereof they may better inform themselves by serious deliberation. II. When the mind hath time and liberty to ponder upon, and will to weight the point to be spoken unto, it findeth out good arguments for good causes, and digesteth the same in so apt a manner as may best persuade the hearts of the hearers. III. A meditating heart affecteth itself for that which it provideth for others to hear, and such men speak not only truly and pertinently, but faithfully also, and conscientiously: their souls having first feeling of that within, which after their mouths are to deliver out.—Dod.
Theanswer,which I conceive the heart of the righteous tostudy,is the answer of obedience unto God’s commandments—the answer of thankfulness for His favours and mercies received. For, as St. Gregory speaketh, to answer to God is to render to His precedent gifts the duties of our service. Now,this studyis the study of the whole life of a righteous man. Whatsoever he goes about, he knows that he must answer to God for it, and therefore he considereth before he doth it, that it be answerable unto God’s law.—Jermin.
main homiletics of verse29.