Thetaking of a cityis only the battle of a day. The other is the weary, unceasing conflict of a life. . . . But the magnifying of the conflict exalts the glory of the triumph. Gideon’srule over his spiritwas better than his victory over the Midianites (Judges viii. 1–3). David’s similar conquest wasbetterthan could have been the spoils of Nabal’s house (1 Sam. xxv. 33). Not less glorious was that decisive and conscious mastery over his spirit when he refused to drink the water of Bethlehem, obtained at the hazard of his bravest men; thus condemning the inordinate appetite that had desired the refreshment at so unreasonable a cost (2 Sam. xxiii. 17). . . . To rule one’s spirit is to subdue an enemy that has vanquished conquerors. . . . Meanwhile victory is declared, before the conquest begins. Let every day then be a day of triumph. The promises are topresentvictory (Rev. ii. 7, etc.). With such stirring, stimulating hopes, thou shall surely have rule if thou darest to have it.—Bridges.
It may be harder to keep from toppling over a precipice, than to lift, by sheer strength, our body over a wall. The reason is obvious. A feather might keep our balance, so we could lean and be safe; but the difficulty is where to get it. We have strength enough if we only had wherewithal it could be applied. The difficulty ofruling our spiritsis, that they areourselves.The difficulty of an inebriate in resisting a desire, is—that it is his desire. What can he resist it with? It might be far slighter, and yet, if there be nothing to oppose, like the slight weight that topples one upon the Alps, it is as sure to ruin him as a thousand tons.—Miller.
Such an one is more excellent than he that is strong of body; for he canbear reproaches, which are more intolerable burdens than any that are wont to be laid upon the backs of the strongest.—Muffet.
Therein stands the office of a king,His honour, virtue, merit, and chief praise,That for the public all this weight he bears;Yet he who reigns within himself, and rulesPassions, desires, and fears, is more a king;Which every wise and virtuous man attain;And who attains not, ill aspires to ruleCities of men, or headstrong multitudes,Subject himself to anarchy within,Or lawless passions in him which he serves.—Milton.
main homiletics of verse33.
The Lot and Its Disposer.
I. There is a special Providence of God in the midst of His universal government.In nature there is a manifestation of a universal Providence ruling over all God’s creatures. But the individual is not lost in the multitude—each bird of the air and every blade of grass in the field is under the special supervision of its Creator. And God is Ruler in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth, but He does not deal with either angels or men in the mass as human rulers must do, but knows, and cares for, and guides the destines of the individual man—the disposal of the lot of each one is from the Lord.
II. The special Providence of God works through human instrumentality.Reference is here doubtless made to the ancient custom of casting lots to ascertain the Divine Will. This was done at the division of the land of Canaan among the children of Israel, on the occasion of the election of their first king, and in choosing the apostle who took the place of Judas among the twelve. In all these cases it was recognised that there was no chance in the disposal of the lot—that the decision in each case was from the Lord Himself—but in each case human instrumentality was used by Him to make known His Will. This linking of human instrumentality with Divine sovereignty is found in all God’s dealings with men. He has promised that seedtime and harvest shall not cease while the earth continues, but he requires men to sow the grain to bring about the harvest. The “casting of the lot” is symbolic of the part that human effort takes in the government of the world—although God is above and behind it, He does not work without it.
outlines and suggestive comments.
One general principle regarding the employment of the“lot”is sufficiently manifest, that it should never be introduced except in cases where reason and evidence are incompetent to decide. And we may, I think, safely go so far as to affirm that in cases of importance and of extremity—that is, where other means of arriving at a satisfactory conclusion or a harmonious agreement have failed—there does not appear to be anything in Scripture by which such an appeal can be considered as interdicted. . . . Still, if there is nothing interdictory of the use of it, there is nothing that makes itobligatoryin any specified circumstances; and it is clear that, if used at all, it should be used seriously and sparingly. It is very wrong, and the reverse of truth, to speak of any matter whatever as being in this way referred tochance.Thereisno such thing. Chance is nothing—an absolute nonentity. It is a mere term for expressingour ignorance.Every turn of the dice in the box is regulated by certain physical laws, so that,if we knewall the turns, we could infallibly tell what number would cast up. Besides, in no case is there a more thorough disavowal of chance than inthe use ofthe lot.It is the strongest and most direct recognition that can be made of a particular providence—of the constant and minute superintendence of an omniscient, overruling mind.—Wardlaw.
Everything is a wheel of Providence. Who directed the Ishmaelites on their journey to Egypt at the very moment that Joseph was cast into the pit? Who guided Pharaoh’s daughter to the stream just when the ark, with its precious deposit, was committed to the waters? What gave Ahasuerus a sleepless night, that he might be amused with the records of his kingdom?—Bridges.
Critical Notes.—1. Sacrifices,literallykillings, i.e.,slain beasts, not necessarily animals killed for sacrifice.2. A son that causeth shame,rather, adegenerate son. (Delitzsch and Zöckler).4. A liar,literally,a lie, falsehood.7. Excellent speech,literally “a lip of excess or prominence, an assuming, imperious style of speech” (Zöckler).A prince,rather,a noble,a man of lofty disposition.8. A gift.Some expositors understand this in the sense of a bribe. Delitzsch translates the whole verse—“The gift of bribery appears a jewel to its receiver, whithersoever he turneth himself he acted prudently,”i.e.,“it determines and impels him to apply all his understanding, in order that he may reach the goal for which it shall be his reward.” Zöckler understands it to refer to the gift of seasonable liberality which secures for its giver supporters and friends.9. Repeateth a matter.Most expositors understand this repetition to refer to a revival of a past wrong, but Miller translates “He who falls back into an act,”i.e., transgresses again after forgiveness.11.Many commentators translate the first clause“Rebellion,”or“a rebel”seeketh only after evil,i.e.,brings retribution upon himself.12.Miller translates the latter clause “but not a fool his folly.” (Seehis comment.)14. Meddled with,rather“pours forth.”17. “Friendandbrotherare related the one as the climax of the other. The friend is developed into a brother by adversity.” (Lange’s Commentary.)20. A froward heart,rather,a false heart.22. A broken spirit.Miller renders“an upbraiding spirit,” i.e.,spirit which cavils at God’s providential dealings.23. A gift,i.e., a bribe,judgment,i.e., justice.24.Many explain this verse to mean that the wise find wisdom everywhere while the fool seeks it everywhere but in the right place. Delitzsch and others understand the proverb to mean that wisdom is the aim of the man of understanding while the fool has no definite aim in life.26. Also,rather,even.It emphasizes the verb immediately following, viz.,to punish, i.e.,to inflict a pecuniary fine. Zöckler renders the verse,“Also to punish the righteous is not good, to smile the noble contrary to justice,”and explains the meaning thus, “The fine as a comparatively light penalty which may easily at one time or another fall with a certain justice even on a just man, stands contrasted with the much severer punishment with stripes; and as these two verbal ideas are related, so are also the predicates ‘not good’ and ‘contrary to right’ (above desert, beyond all proportion to the justice and reasonable) in the relation of a climax.” Delitzsch reads,“Also to inflict punishment on the righteous is not good; this, the one overthrows his noble on account of his righteousness,” i.e.,it is not good when a ruler makes his power to punish to be felt by the innocent as well as by the guilty. Miller translates,‘Even deserved punishment to the righteous does not seem good, when designed to chasten the willing with a view to holiness,”and explains his translation of the word generally translatedprinces,orthe noble,by a reference to the Hebrew root from which it is derived and which may be renderedwillingorgenerous.27. Excellent,rather acoolspirit.
The homiletic teaching of verse 1 is the same as that of chap.xv. 17. (See pages 421, 422).
main homiletics of verse2.
The Foolish Son and the Wise Servant.
I. High social position is not necessarily the outcome of mental ability or moral worth.Many a man is born heir to a great estate, or even to a throne, who brings shame upon the name he bears and the place he occupies. He may be inferior in intellectual power to many of the dependents upon the house, or he may be worse in character than they are. Or if he is not so degraded in character, or in such limited ability as to be surpassed by the majority, theremay be one who serves him whose aim in life is far more lofty than his own, and who has far greater capabilities than he has.
II. A wise man will acquire influence, whatever position he fills.A servant who understands his duties, and conscientiously fulfils them, will win respect and confidence; and these will give him influence in his master’s house, and over all with who his business brings him into contact. There are many instances, both in the history of private families and in the history of courts, in which the judicious conduct of a subordinate person has averted evils which would otherwise have followed the crimes of a son of the house, and the father of such a son can but acknowledge such services, and reward them, if he is possessed of any gratitude. But whether he does so or not, it is an ordination of God’s providence, which we see in constant operation around us, thata wise man is a fool’s master.It is a law of nature that a stronger physical body shall govern the weaker, if no other power interferes, and it is a law in the universe of mind that the stronger mind shall rule the weak, and make it server his purpose in some way. This is the secret of many of the social changes which are always going on, in which some who were born to affluence come down to penury, and those who were born in obscurity take their places.
outlines and suggestive comments.
Eliezer will show the custom that suggests the type. He was awise servant.Abraham thought he would have to be his heir (Gen. xv. 2, 3). All commentators put“son”in apposition with himwho causes shame; i.e.,makes them the same person. But to be the same person they should be in the same form grammatically, and“son”is in the construct. Thecauser of shame,therefore, is the father. And this is more consistent, for a wise father could uphold ason,or could give the inheritance to otherbrethren.In the worldly sense there could be no difficulty. In the spiritual what noted instances!—in the Israelites, who, unlike Abraham, failed to command their households (Gen. xviii. 19), and who gave place to their bought servants, the hated Gentiles!—in Satan, who has given place to man (Psalm viii. 2)!—in modern men who have professed the faith, but have debauched their children till they see them hardening under their very eyes, and some far-off waif gets before them into the everlasting kingdom. Better, says the last proverb, the utmost poverty, with peace and love; better, says the proverb, the poorest hold upon the Church, if there be the humbler hold upon the service of the Most High.—Miller.
If wisdom make us free, then are we free indeed: as on the other side, he is altogether a servant that dealeth unwisely. But he that is wisdom’s freeman is not only a freeman but a master, not only a master but ason,not only a son but anheir, an heir among his brethren.So highly doth wisdom exalt. But thus it is with the Father of the world, it is not so with worldly fathers. Their foolish love doth honour their son, though his foolish life doth fill them with shame: their proud carriage despiteth their servant, though his wise carriage exalteth their estate. The son shall have all though he deserve nothing, the servant shall not have his wages though they be due unto him. But the wisdom of God bestoweth His love, the justice of God divideth His inheritance in another manner. Oftentimes, even in this life, he putteth the servant in the son’s place. . . . Be wise, then, though thou be a servant, and thou shalt be His son who is the Father of wisdom. Be not wicked, though the son of rich parents, and, if may be, heir to a great estate, for He, the Lord of all, can quickly make thee a poor servant for thy sins, who has made thyself a servant to thy sins.—Jermin.
main homiletics of verse3.
The Trier of Hearts.
We have here an analogy implied between men’s hearts and gold and silver.
I. Both have an intrinsic worth.Gold and silver have not only an artificial value, but they have qualities in themselves which render them of especial worth. So the heart of man—that spiritual and immortal part of him which constitutes him a man—is of priceless worth because of its infinite capacities of good and evil, its infinite capabilities of enjoyment and of suffering.
II. Both must be separated from worthless alloy if they are to attain their real value.Gold and silver are comparatively worthless until they are separated from every other mineral; they must be unalloyed with baser metal, or nearly so, before their intrinsic excellence and capabilities become apparent and they can be put to the uses for which they are so peculiarly fitted. So the human soul cannot rise to the high destiny to which it is appointed until there is a separation made between it and sinful habits, motives, and desires.
III. Both human souls and precious metals are subjected to a testing process.The gold and the silver ores are thrown into the crucible and placed over the fire, in order that it may be made manifest how much there is of real worth in them, and the human soul is subjected to trials of various kinds by the Great Searcher of hearts, in order that both the good and the evil that is therein may be seen, and the one separated from the other. The proverb seems rather to refer to thetesting,than to the purifying process.
outlines and suggestive comments.
Tryingis more than simplydiscerning.The Lord does not need totryin order to make any discovery for Himself. He “knoweth what is in man.” But He “tries,” in order to bring to light what may lie concealed from men, and especially from the individual himself. And this He does in order to the person’s conviction and benefit: and that He may be vindicated in His final judgments He “tries,” in different respects, both the wicked and the righteous. By the dispensations of His providence He often elicits the latent evils that are in the hearts of the ungodly and the worldly. He brings out their hidden abominations. He manifests the deceitfulness, the hypocrisy, the “desperate wickedness” of their “inward parts,” their rebellions and unsubdued dispositions. He exposed the simulation of dissemblers, and of those whose religion only seems to thrive when their profession of it brings no suffering, and demands no sacrifice. . . . In the same manner, too, does God try and bring out to view the inward graces and virtues of His children. And while disclosing He refines and purifies them, He detects and removes the alloy—the dross and tin of self and the world, separating the “vile” from the “precious,” and so rendering the precious the more excellent.—Wardlaw.
Silver is refined by getting the silver out from among the dross. Christians are refined by putting the silver in among the dross, and refining the dross away. Men in a natural state are not an ore of silver, but are dross, and they are nothing else. He who sits to purify them (Mal. iii. 3) does not disengage the gold, but supplies it as He goes along. In other respects the emblem is complete. (1) The“furnace”takes out the dross. So does“Jehovah.”(2) The“furnace”burns out the dross. So does“Jehovah,”with biting flames. (3) The“furnace”is a gradual worker. So is God.—Miller.
Man trieth many things, and many things in man are tried by man. Thesilverof a man’swordis tried by a wise care: thegoldof a man’sdeedsistried by the fruit of them: thesilverof a man’switis tried by dangers and distresses, thegoldof a man’sunderstandingis tried by weighty and important business; thegoldof a man’sstrengthis tried by hard and burdensome labour; the gold of hisknowledgeby hard and difficult questions; the silver of a man’sdiligenceis tried by the haste of affairs: the gold of a man’sfaithfulnessby trust reposed in him: the silver of a man’s estate is tried by a careful account, the gold of his virtues by troubles and temptations. Thus there is afining-pot for the silver, and a furnace for the gold:and the heart of man trieth other things, but thetrier of the heart is the Lord alone.The fine silver, the pure gold that lie in that, can be proved by nothing but by His touch. Whoever else taketh upon him to search the secrets of the heart, layeth open his own sin and folly. The heart itself cannot try itself; God is the goldsmith for it. Or else the original will bear well this sense, that God, by troubles, trieth the heart of man. Wherefore Tertullian saith, When we are burned in the heat of persecution then are we tried in the hold-fast of our faith. . . . And surely if Seneca could say, “I give thanks unto fortune because she would try how much I esteemed honesty, so great a thing ought not to stand me in a little,” then certainly the servants of God ought to thank God when He, by troubles, trieth how well they love Him.—Jermin.
main homiletics of verse4.
The Evil Speaker and the Listener.
I. That which men give heed to reveals their character.If a man will listen to another who he knows to be false—if he permits him to be continually pouring into his ear that which he knows to be untrue—he is a liar himself. He could not make himself a receiver of lies if he were not of a kindred spirit with the liar. We classify animals according to the food which they eat, and we can classify men when we know upon what mental and moral food they love to feed. He who gives heed to falsehood and lying lips is a false man himself.
II. Delight in wicked speech leads to wicked actions.Those who use ungodly language never stop there. There is but a step between wicked words and wicked deeds. Neither do those who begin by giving heed to men whose speech is prompted by him who is the father of lies (John viii. 44) stop with the mere listening. The listening, as we have seen, implies a certain degree of sympathy with the listener; this sympathy leads to imitation, and he who gives heed to false lips not only becomes himself a man of wicked speech but a “wicked doer.”
III. The liar and he who listens to him divide the responsibility of the sin between them.These two characters help to increase each other’s guilt by strengthening each other in their ungodliness. The liar is encouraged to go on in his lying by those who give heed to his lies; if there were none willing to listen to him he would soon cease to sin in this direction. So that the receiver of falsehood will have to share the punishment of him who propagates it. Then the liar increases the wickedness of the wicked doer by his false words, which help to make his heart yet more ungodly and his doings yet more wicked. Thus ungodly men exert a reciprocal influence upon each other for evil.
outlines and suggestive comments.
Wicked men have a great treasure of evil in their hearts, and yet have not enough to satisfy their own corrupt dispositions. They are like covetous men, in whom their large possessions only increase their lust of having, andtherefore they carry on a trade with other wicked men, who are able to add to their store of iniquity, by flattering and counselling them in sin.—Lawson.
“A liar”is of essential use to the evil-doer. He can suborn him. He can get him to bear witness in his favour—to perjure himself to get him off, when in danger of being convicted. Such characters, too, it may be noticed, are fond of the lies offalse teachers.They keep their ear greedily open to these. They are smoothed, and flattered, and encouraged by them in their evil courses. They cannot but like the doctrine that allays their fears; that palliates sin; that makes light of future punishment; that tells them of a God all mercy; that assures them of ultimate universal salvation. Thus it was of old; and thus it is still (Isa. xxx. 9–11).—Wardlaw.
A man most mischievous himself yields most mischievously to the mischief of other sinners.“A lie”is the most weakly credulous. This is often noticed among the earthly. The biter is often most bitten, the tyrant most tortured. The cunning is often most caught, and what is singularly the fact, the sceptic is often the most believing. It is not a complete proverb, thought, for earth, because it is not universal. It is spiritually, as with all these other texts, that the truth has no exception. The greatest harm-doer is Satan, and so the greatest harm is done to Satan. He is the father of lies, and has been the most lied to. He was more deceived in Eden than his victim, and on Calvary than the men who crucified our Lord. And all his followers take from the world equal mischief with that which they inflict upon it.—Miller.
main homiletics of verse5.
A Double Revelation.
I. Revealing crime.He who mocketh the poor reveals his own character.If we find one brother of a family mocking another brother, we feel that his conduct is a revelation of the state of his heart. We feel that such a man must be destitute of all right feeling—that he has no regard for their common parent—none of that tender feeling which ought to bind members of the same family. God has made of one blood all nations of the earth, and he who mocks the poor mocks one of the same great human family as himself, and thus shows that he lacks all true humanity and all right feeling towards the common Father of both.The displeasure with which God regards such a man reveals the Divine character.If the ruler of a country identifies himself with the most defenceless and friendless of his subjects—if he exacts the severest penalties for any wrong done to them—if, in short, he reckons an offence against them as committed against himself—he reveals that he is a man of true benevolence. The displeasure with which God regards not only them who oppress the poor, but also those who mock them—and a man does this when he gives empty words but no sympathy and help—reveals the tender compassion of His nature. On this subject see also Homiletics on chap.xiv. 31,page 389.
II. An aggravated crime.“He who is glad at calamities,”etc. It is a sin both against God and human nature to mock the poor—to treat men with indifference and contempt because they are in a lowly station—because they are compelled to labour much and labour hard for the supply of their daily wants: he who is guilty of such conduct reveals a nature that is entirely opposed to the nature of God, and lays himself open to retribution. But when a man is not only indifferent to the miseries of others, but can actually find in them an occasion of gladness, he is as near to Satan in character and disposition as a man out of hell can be. He is not only ungodlike, but is devilish. It is a prominent characteristic of the evil one that he finds a fiendish delight in the calamities of men, and a man cannot give a more convincing proof thathe is of his “father the devil” (John xiii. 44) than by imitating him in this particular crime.
III. A heavy retribution.We can form some estimate of the weight of punishment which must fall upon this last offender, by remembering how God regards the first. If He convicts him who mocks the poor of casting reproach upon his Maker, how much more will He visit him who “is glad at calamities.”
outlines and suggestive comments.
So Tyrus is threatened, because she was glad at Jerusalem’s calamities, saying, “I shall be replenished now she is laid waste” (Ezek. xxvi. 2). And Edom similarly (Obad. 12).—Fausset.
It is a sad thing when one “potsherd of the earth,” because it happens to have got from the hand of the potter a little gilding and superficial decoration, mocks at another “potsherd of the earth” which chances to be somewhat more homely in its outward appearance, or, perhaps, formed of a little coarser material than the other; both the work of the same hands, and both alike frail, brittle, and perishable.—Wardlaw.
Why should I, for a little difference in this one particular of worldly wealth, despise my poor brother? When so many and great things unites us, shall wealth disunite us? One sun shines on us both; one blood bought us both; one heaven will receive us both, only he hath not so much of earth as I, and possibly much more of heaven.—Bishop Reynolds.
To pour contempt upon the current coin with the king’s image on it, is treason against the sovereign. No less contempt is it of the Sacred Majesty, to despisethe poor,who have, no less than the rich, the king’s image upon them (Gen. ix. 6). This view marks the contempt of the poor as a sin of the deepest dye.—Bridges.
If God should appear in human shape, would we dare to insult him? Would not the fear of a just and dreadful vengeance deter us? And to mock the poor, amounts to the very same thing. God did actually appear in our nature, and He was then poor for our sakes; and those that despise the poor, despise them for a reason that reflects upon our Saviour Himself when He dwelt among us.—Lawson.
main homiletics of verse6.
Fathers and Children.
Two things are implied in this proverb:—First, that the fathers are good men. An aged man who is not a godly man cannot in any sense reflect any glory upon his descendants. Secondly, that the children are also godly and true, otherwise they are anything but a crown to their parents. The Wise Man is here speaking of those who are in both relations what God intended them to be. When such is the case—
I. The children bring honour to their parents.They testify that the parents have trained them in the way that they should go—that they have given them a good example as well as good advice, and every child is then like a separate mirror, reflecting the character of the godly parent by whose influence he has become what he now is. And the greater number of these mirrors there are, the more brilliant is the crown of honour which is worn by the godly ancestor whose virtues are thus reproduced in his children and in his children’s children, even long after he has left the world. Every tribute of respect that is paid to the children is another jewel placed in the crown of the godly ancestor.
II. The parents are the glory of their children.Men glory in beingdescended from ancestors who have been great warriors or who have left them a vast inheritance of material wealth, but an inheritance of goodness reflects as much more glory upon those who are its heirs as the glory of heaven exceeds that of earth. Goodness holds a very old patent of nobility, and when children can boast of a long line of God-fearing ancestors, they can boast of a dignity which is as old as God. To be the descendants of those who are now before the throne of God is a glory before which all earthly glory fades away.
main homiletics of verse7.
A Twofold Incongruity.
I. Truth from the mouth of a godless man.This is not an unknown case. A man of immoral practices may inculcate precepts of purity—a dishonest man may, for the purpose of cloaking his own character, be loud in his praises of integrity and uprightness. But the speech of such a man will fall powerless on his hearers, even if they do not know thoroughly the character of the speaker. There will be a lack of the true ring of sincerity about his words—being words only, and not convictions, they will be “as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal.” Suppose that a barrister, who was very ignorant of law and possessed of very limited mental capacities, having undertaken the defence of an important case, were to apply to one of his most learned and eloquent legal brethren to write his speech for him. When he got up to deliver that which was not the production of his own mind—that which he was not able thoroughly to appreciate himself—would not the listeners be struck with a sense of incongruity, would they not feel that, however good the arguments, however vivid the illustrations, however powerful the appeals, there was something lacking—that the speaker was a stripling wearing the armour of a giant? Something of this same feeling is experienced when an immoral man gives utterance to moral sentiments—he does not know the meaning of his own words, he lacks the experience necessary to give weight to what he says. He speaks what is in itself true, but he is not a true man himself, and consequently the utterance is like a “jewel of gold in a swine’s snout.”
II. Untruth from the mouth of a man of exalted station.A prince (i.e.,one who holds a high place among his fellow-men) is especially bound to be a man of truth and honour. It is here implied that he is to be an embodiment of truthfulness—that whether he owes his position to wealth, to birth, or to intellectual gifts—whatever else he lacks, he ought to be a truthful man; his words ought to be excellent, and they ought to be the reflection of excellence of character.
III. The second incongruity is more mischievous than the first.“Excellent speech becometh not a fool,much lessdo lying lips a prince.” If a moral fool is a man who holds no position in the world, what he says will not be of so much consequence, because his influence upon others is little. He will injure himself, and those immediately connected with him, but the harm done will not be so widely spread as if he were one of the great of the land. The first man, if he puts on a garb of morality, and adopts language which does not represent his true self, is a liar, but his lying does not injure others so much as it does himself. But a “lying prince” is an instrument of wide-spread evil. To lie in a cottage is a sin against God and man, but to lie in a palace is a greater sin, because the inmate of the palace holds in his hand an immense power for good and for evil. What he says and does is felt more or less indirectly throughout his dominion, and as his responsibility is so great, the guilt of using it wrongly is great also.
outlines and suggestive comments.
God likes not fair words from a foul mouth. Christ silenced the devil when he confessed Him to be the Son of the Most High God. The leper’s lips should be covered, according to the law.—Trapp.
Lying lips are no less unbecoming in the mouth of a prince, who ought to honour the dignity of his station by the dignity of his manner. A prince of our own is said to have frequently used this proverbial saying, “He that knows not how to dissemble knows not how to reign.” You may judge from the text before us whether he deserved to be called the Solomon of his age. It was certainly a nobler saying of one of the kings of France,—that if truth were banished from all the rest of the world it ought to be found in the breasts of princes. A man’s dignity obliges him to a behaviour worthy of it, and of him whose favour has conferred it. All Christians are advanced to spiritual honours of the most exalted kind. They are the children of God, and heirs of the eternal kingdom, and ought to resemble their heavenly Father, who is the God of truth. When a young prince desired a certain philosopher to give him a directory for his conduct, all his instructions were comprised in one sentence, “Remember that thou art a king’s son.” Let Christians remember who they are, and how they came to be what they are, and act in character.—Lawson.
Force not thyself above, degrade not thyself below thy condition.—Wardlaw.
main homiletics of verse8.
The Power of Gifts.
I. All men value gifts.Whether they be gifts which are of intrinsic value from their beauty or their rarity or whether they are of little worth in themselves, but are the expression of the love and gratitude of those who offer them, there is a certain pleasure in receiving them. A free-will offering is more acceptable to a right-minded man than that which is bestowed upon him as a matter of necessity. The fact that it is a gift invests it with a value beyond that which would otherwise be attached to it—makes it as a “precious stone” to the receiver. The good-will that prompts the gift turns a pebble into a diamond.
II. All the blessing of a gift does not rest with the receiver.—As a precious stone reflects rays of light in whichever way it is held, so generous-hearted liberality blesses him who gives as well as him who takes. The giver has the gratitude and love of the recipient and experiences the truth of the words of the Lord Jesus: “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts. xx. 35). (For the opposite meanings which different commentators attach to the word “gift,” seeCritical Notes.)
outlines and suggestive comments.
1. Those that have money in theirhandthink they can do anythingwithit. Rich men, whithersoever they turn this sparkling diamond, expect it should dazzle the eyes of all, and make them do just what they would have them do in hopes of it. 2. Those who have money in theireyewill do anythingforit. It has great influence upon them, and they will be sure to go the way it leads them.—Henry.
Viewed as referring to the person whoconfersthe gift, orhas it to bestow,—we may noticefirst,that the reference may be to the man whois knownto have something to bestowwhich allcovet.In this case, every one desires his favour, strives to oblige him, tries every means of insinuation into his good graces. A man who has any skill in manœuvering may, in this way, render what he has to confer a capital instrument for pushing forward his own prosperity; keeping all in expectation,—cherishing hope,—making his desired and coveted gift look first one way, then another, then a third; perhaps partially bestowing, and still reserving enough to hold expectants hanging on, so as to have them available for his own ends.Secondly:—On the part of those who have gifts to bestow, uses may be made of them that are honourable and prudent,—quite consistent, not with mere self-interest, but with right principle. They may be employed to avert threatened evil, and for the more sure attainment of desired good. Such was Jacob’s gift to his brother Esau; when, in setting it apart, he said, “I will appease him with the present that goeth before me, and afterward will I see his face.” Such was the gift of the same patriarch, at a later period, to “the man the lord of the country,” when he sent his sons the second time to Joseph in Egypt.—Wardlaw.
main homiletics of verse9.
How to Make Friends and How to Separate Them.
We have before noticed ways in which love covers sin or transgression. (See Homiletics of chapterx. 12, page 157.) This proverb sets forth—
I. That he who thus covers sin is a great benefactor of the human race.The great need of a fallen world is such a state of heart as will promote love among men. One of Christ’s last commands to his disciples was“Love one another as I have loved you”(John xvi. 12). And there is no more effectual way of promoting love than by freely forgiving an offence and at the same time endeavouring to turn the transgressor from the error of his way. A stream in winter may, by reason of the biting cold, be congealed into a rock-like solid mass, but when the summer sun shines upon it, it cannot long resist the influence, but melts and begins again to ripple and sparkle under its beams. So a sense of guilt and shame hardens the human heart, but a consciousness that the sin has been freely forgiven and forgotten melts it into contrition and love if it is not utterly dead to moral influences. This is the great power which binds sin-forgiven men and women to God—having been forgiven much they love much (Luke vii. 47–50).
II. A man of opposite character is a curse to his race.Friendship is the greatest boon of human existence, and he whose words or deeds tend to break any such tie does his fellow-men a great wrong. There is no more effectual way of doing it than by a constant repetition of the faults of others, either by reminding the offender himself of his shortcomings or by speaking of them to a third person. Solomon may refer to either of these habits—both are bad, and show a disposition entirely opposed to that of Him who, when he forgave His ancient people, promised that He would “remember their sin no more” (Jer. xxxi. 34).
outlines and suggestive comments.
Seeketh love!A beautiful expression, much to be kept in mind! It shows a delight in the atmosphere oflove—man’s highest elevation in communion with his God (1 John iv. 16). It implies not the mere exercise oflove,where it is presented, but the searching and making opportunity for it. But how seldom do we rise to the high standard of this primary grace, exalted as it is pre-eminently above “the best gifts” (1 Cor. xii. 31; xiii.); andillustrated and enforced by no less than the Divine example! (Eph. v. 1, 2). Yet too often it sits at the door of our lips, instead of finding a home in our hearts; forgetting that the exhortation is not, that we shouldtalkoflove,but that we should “walk in it;” not stepping over it, crossing it, walking by the side, but“in it,”as our highway and course. One step of our feet is better than a hundred words of the tongue.—Bridges.
All unnecessary repetitioneven ofrealfaults comes under the category ofscandal,and is sinful and mischievous. You may fancy you are within the limit of blameworthiness, when you are telling no more than what istrue:but, if you are telling even truthneedlessly,for no good and laudable end, you are chargeable with the offence.—Wardlaw.
Alas! how many things are there to be suffered, how many things to be forgotten, how many things, though seen, to be as it were unseen, that love may be preferred. He that covereth transgression warmeth affection, and he that seeketh the love of man shall be sure to find the love of God. The way to seek and find other things is by uncovering that which is hid; but the way to seek and find love is by covering the offence.—Jermin.
If one has been our enemy it has been for some trespass. The best way to abate the enmity is to cover up and smother over, and thus erase from memory our act against him. He that does this“seeks love.”“He who falls back into the wrong,”i.e.,iterates or doubles over his offence, drives away everything. (SeeCritical Notes.) . . . Spiritually, a man is not to complain of the alienation of his Maker, if he wilfully retain his sin. If God has given us a special way forcovering sin,and we postpone it, and go tumbling back into our acts, the strife is ours.—Miller.
There are two ways of making peace and reconciling differences: the one begins with amnesty, the other with a recital of injuries, combined with apologies and excuses. Now I remember that it was the opinion of a very wise man, and a great politician, that “he who negotiates a peace without recapitulating the grounds of difference rather deludes the minds of the parties, by representing the sweetness of concord, than reconciles them by equitable adjustment.” But Solomon, a wiser man than he, is of a contrary opinion, approving of amnesty, and forbidding a recapitulation of the past. For in it are these disadvantages: it is as the chafing of a sore; it creates the risk of a new quarrel (for the parties will never agree as to the proportions of injuries on either side); and lastly, it brings it to a matter of apologies: whereas either party would rather be thought to have forgiven an injury than to have accepted an excuse.—Lord Bacon.
main homiletics of verse10.
Correction Must be Adapted to the Character of the Offender.
I. Some men can be influenced by moral means.A man whose moral nature is developed can be brought to a sense of error by an appeal to his own sense of right and wrong. Although he has fallen into sin he does not love it, and the rebuke from without finds an echo in the monitor within his own breast. His susceptibility to reproof arises—1.From a deep sense of his obligations to God.He knows what God has done to put away sin and its effects from the universe, and gratitude to Him opens his ear and his heart to reproof. 2.From a sense of his own true interest.A man would be counted a fool if he were to be angry with the physician who desired to free him from the dominion of a bodily disease, and a morally wise man is too keenly alive to the worth of his own soul not to listen to a wise reproof.
II. But there are men who can only be aroused to a sense of wrong-doing by physical suffering.Such men, by a long course of crime or by a constant resistance of moral influences, have sunk almost to the level of the brute. They are like the horse and mule which have no understanding, whose mouth must be held with bit and bridle (Psalm xxxii. 9). Nothing can awaken their sleeping consciences but severe and startling judgments or bodily chastisement, and even these “stripes” may fail to bring them to a right state of mind. Let men, then, beware, lest being often reproved and hardening themselves against it (ch. xxix. 1), they become so callous to the words of God and good men, or to the visitations of Providence, as to be “past feeling” (Eph. iv. 19).
illustration.
It was a maxim of Bishop Griswold—“when censured or accused, tocorrect—not to justify my error.” A certain minister, with more zeal than discretion, once became impressed with the thought that the bishop was a mere formalist in religion, and that it was his duty to go and warn him of his danger. Accordingly he called upon the bishop, very solemnly made known his errand, and forthwith entered upon his reproof. The bishop listened in silence till his visitor had closed a severely denunciatory exhortation, and then in substance replied as follows:—“My dear friend, I do not wonder that they who witness the inconsistency of my conduct, and see how poorly I adorn the doctrine of God my Saviour, should think I have no religion. I often fear for myself that such is the case, and feel very grateful to you for giving me the warning.” The reply was made with such evidently unaffected humility, and with such deep sincerity, that if an audible voice from heaven had attested the genuineness of his Christian character it could not more effectually have silenced his kindly intending but mis-judging censor, or more completely disabused him of his false impressions.—Episcopal Record.
outlines and suggestive comments.
Fools have sometimes received correction and made a good use of it, but they were fools no longer, for the rod and reproof gave them wisdom; but it is a sign that folly is deeply ingrained when an hundred rods leave men as great fools as they found them.—Lawson.
A look from Christ brake Peter’s heart and dissolved it into tears. . . . But Jeroboam’s withered hand works nothing upon his heart.—Trapp.
The folly of simplicity is a softness of nature; the folly of sin is a hardness of heart; the folly of conceit is a stiffness of will, and little doth a rod enter into any of them. For though the first be soft, it is hard to work upon it, although it be with hard and many strokes of the stick. The woolliness of a sheep’s skin keeps back the force of the beating rod. . . . The rock in the wilderness first denied water to the Israelites, as, withstanding nature’s force and the first stroke of Moses, it resisted as opposing the infidelity of sin, to the second stroke it yielded as submitting to God’s power. But it is not the power of God’s rod that enters into a fool.—Jermin.
A needle pierces deeper into flesh than a sword into stone.—Bridges.
David is softened withThou art the man;but Pharaoh remains hardened under all the plagues of Egypt.—Henry.
Even amongst the children of God themselves there are great diversities of temper; some requiring harder dealing than others to bring them down, and to reclaim them from their follies, as is the case often with children in the same family. A word, or a look, will go with melting and heart-breaking power to the very soul of one, while the severest correction, and oft-repeated, will fail to bring down the stubborn and fractious spirit of another. O for more of the spirit of Job and less of the spirit of Jonah!—for more of that truly child-like disposition which gives way before every Divine admonition, which melts into penitence under the eye of an offended God, and looks up with a child’s submission at the slightest touch of His corrective rod!—Wardlaw.
main homiletics of the paragraph.—Verses11–13.
Phases of Evil.
I. The main characteristic of a sinner is that he is a rebel against the moral order of the universe.“He seeketh only rebellion.” The planets in their courses describe their orbits in obedience to the law of gravitation, and because they do so the order of the heavens is preserved. God is the sun of the moral universe, and before sin entered it all His creatures kept the path of obedience to His will, held to their allegiance by the love and confidence which they bore to their Lawgiver. But sin snapped the bond, and the word sinner stands for one who has broken away from the moral law of God; every sinner seeketh rebellion.
II. A sinner is a restless being.Heseeksrebellion. These words seem to depict the restless character of the ungodly man. When a soul has lost its centre of gravity—when the will of God is not the polestar of life—it drifts about in obedience first to one lawless passion and then another, following in the footsteps of the great leader of rebellion, the first sinner, who, by his own confession, is continually going to and fro in the earth, and walking up and down in it (Job i. 7).
III. A sinner is an injurious man.No man can set himself in antagonism to the law of God, which leads to the happiness of his creatures, without bringing misery upon others, and the more determined his rebellion the more cruel are the effects of his sin upon them. A bear is naturally a cruel beast, but then a bear is robbed of what her instinct leads her to guard most jealously she is an object to be dreaded and avoided. Yet a wicked man is more to be feared, for there are in him capabilities of mischief beyond those possessed by the furious brute. The anger of the beast might be diverted or appeased—even a bear robbed of her whelps would forget her anger if a carcase were thrown in her path upon which she might wreak her vengeance. But the wrath of an angry man is less easily appeased. The mischief which the furious bear can do is more limited. The superior skill of man can soon put a stop to the ravages of a wild beast, but the angry folly of a single fool has often destroyed many lives and broken many hearts.
IV. A sinner is an ungrateful thing.Many an ungodly man would deny this charge, but everyone who continues in a state of rebellion against God is continually rewarding evil for good. But the sin of the text doubtless refers to the ingratitude towards a fellow-man. This sin cannot be charged home upon every ungodly man—there are those who, though careless of rendering to God that which is His due, are content with rendering to their fellow-men evil for evil, and would not knowingly render evil for good. But while the heart is in a state of rebellion against its rightful sovereign, every evil tendency is continually growing stronger, and men by degrees descend to depths of evil from which they would once have recoiled with horror.
V. God will, sooner or later, call His rebellious subjects to account.Although men sometimes go on in open rebellion against God for many years, not one shall finally escape. A writ has been issued for the apprehension of each one, although the execution is in some cases deferred.“Every one of us shall give an account of himself to God”(Rom. xiv. 12), and the messenger that summons the ungodly man to the Divine tribunal will be “cruel” because looked at through the medium of a guilty conscience.
VI. The sinner brings evil upon his posterity.It is a truth which is illustrated by the experience of our daily life that no man stands alone in the world—that the sins of the fathers are, in some measure, visited upon the children—that “whoso regardeth evil for good,” not only brings evil upon himself but upon“his house.”
outlines and suggestive comments.
Verse 11. God sometimes employs terrible messengers to chastise His own people. When David numbered his subjects, 70,000 of them were destroyed in three days by a visible messenger of severity, under the direction of an invisible minister of providence. If God takes such vengeance of the rebellions of some whom He pardons, what will the end be of them that seek only rebellion!—Lawson.
God hath forces enough at hand to fetch in His rebels. . . . The stones in the walls of Aphek shall sooner turn executioners than a rebellious Aramite shall escape unrevenged.—Trapp.
Many things there are which an evil man proposeth to his seeking: sometimes pleasures, sometimes profit, sometimes honour, sometimes favour, but in truth it is only rebellion against God that is sought by him. For these things are not to be found in the ways of wickedness, and therefore it is only his deceived imagination that looketh for them there. But rebellion against God is found in all his ways.—Jermin.
There are men that are summoning a cruel messenger to be sent against themselves. . . . They are “only the rebellious.” A door of mercy! and a ransom fixed for sin! and only one class to fail! and they spontaneously rebels! These are the men that go in search of evil, and this is the meaning of the wise man.—Miller.
Verse 12. Witness Jacob’s sons putting a whole city to fire and sword for the folly of one man; Saul slaying a large company of innocent priests; Nebuchadnezzar heating the furnace sevenfold; Herod murdering the children in Ramah; “Saul breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord”—was not all this the rage of a beast, not the reason of a man? Humbling, indeed, is this picture of man, once “created in the image of God” (Gen. i. 27).—Bridges.
For the “fool,” what a meeting! when he has been robbed of every earthly chance! and is dead eternally! and the“folly,”that has robbed him, is shut up with him in everlasting misery!—Miller.
See Miller’s reading of the verse inCritical Notes.
Verse 13. To render good for evil is Divine, good for good is human, evil for evil is brutish, evil for good is devilish.—Trapp.
The most striking illustration of this sentence, is the history of the Jewish nation. Never was such ingratitude showed to any benefactor, as they showed to the Son of God, and never was the punishment of any people so dreadful, and of so long continuance. That scattered people proclaim to every nation under heaven how dangerous the sin of ingratitude is, especially when God our Saviour is the object of it.—Lawson.
main homiletics of verse14.
The Beginning of Strife.
I. This moral pestilence is of great antiquity.It began with the angels who “kept not their first estate” (Jude 6), and from that far-distant period until now the universe has never been free from discord—good and evil have striven against each other, and strife has also reigned between those who are on the side of evil. There was strife between the first two human brothers born into this world, and since the day when Cain slew Abel because his own works were evil and his brother’s righteous, this terrible enemy of human happiness has been slaying his victims wherever men were to be found.
II. Strife is a thing of growth.There is a moment when the fire whichwill presently destroy a town is only a tiny spark which the breath of a child could extinguish,—the leak which at last sinks the vessel and sends a hundred brave men to a watery grave was once no larger than a pin-hole—and the breach in the dam through which a torrent of water rushes, leaving desolation behind it, begins with an opening through which no more than a few drops of water can force their way. So it is with strife. It does not attain to its full dimensions in a moment. The hatred in the heart which is the root of strife may be at first but a passing feeling, but if it is not overcome at its first appearance it grows in strength from day to day. And its outward manifestation in strife may begin with but a few angry words—an apparently trifling disagreement. But those who have indulged in it will presently find themselves in the grip of a giant—overmastered, and carried headlong by passion to crimes of which they once thought it impossible they could ever be guilty.
III. If the miserable effects of strife are to be avoided, it must be attacked in its beginnings.Seeing how disastrous are the effects of the leak in the ship, and how much desolation is caused by the ravages of fire or the bursting forth of pent-up water through its banks, it behoves all who are in any way responsible in these matters to be watchful for the first indications of mischief, and to put a stop to it before it gets beyond their power. And if a man would avoid being a party to a quarrel, he must watch narrowly the first risings of anger in his heart and take care that he never utters thefirstangry word. If thefirstremains unspoken, asecondcan never pass his lips; but if in an unguarded moment the angry feeling finds an outlet in angry speech, the speaker himself cannot tell where and how the mischief will end. It may go from words of strife to deeds of strife, and both will entail more misery upon their author than upon him who is the subject of them. The self-interest of every man ought to prompt him to check the beginnings of strife in himself and in others; it is so great an enemy to our social well-being that we are all as much interested in putting a stop to its ravages as we are in arresting the progress of a pestilential disease. But the children of God are specially called to this work. They are bound to be imitators of their Father in this matter, and He is “the God of peace” (Rom. xv. 33). All the plans and purposes of God have for their aim “peace on earth” (Luke ii. 14), and His children ought to emulate His example. And they cannot do otherwise. They have been made partakers of the Divine nature (2 Peter i. 4), and the nature of God is eminently peace-loving. If, therefore, a man has been born of God he must delight in social peace and harmony—he must recoil from strife and discord. It ispeacemakersthat shall be called“the children of God”(Matt. v. 9), and“He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now”(1 John ii. 9).
outlines and suggestive comments.
Man is a sociable-living creature, and should converse with man in love and tranquility. Man should be a supporter of man; is he become an overthrower? O apostasy, not only from religion, but also from humanity! The greatest danger that befalls man comes from where it should least come, from man himself. Lions fight not with lions; serpents spend not their venom on serpents; but man is the main suborner of mischief to his own kind. . . . God hath hewn us all out of one rock, tempered all our bodies of one clay, and spirited our souls of one breath. Therefore, saith Augustine, since we proceed all out of one stock, let us all be of one mind. Beasts molest not their own kind, and birds of a feather fly lovingly together. Not only the blessed angels of heaven agree in mutual harmony, but even the very devils of hell are not divided, lest they ruin their kingdom. We have onegreater reason of love and unity observed than all the rest. For whereas God made not all angels of one angel, nor all beasts of the great behemoth, nor all fishes of the huge leviathan, nor all birds of the majestical eagle, yet He made all men of one man.—T. Adams.
We are but several streams issuing from one primitive source; one blood flows in all our veins; one nourishment repairs our decayed bodies; we are co-habitants of the same earth, and fellow-citizens of the same great commonwealth; and he that hates another detests his own most lively picture; he that harms another injures his own nature. . . . The heavenly angels, when they agree most highly to bless and to wish the greatest happiness to mankind, could not better express their sense than by saying, “Be on earth peace, and goodwill among men.”—Barrow.
It is easier to abstain from a contest than to withdraw from it.—Seneca.
Both the destructive elements—fire and water—illustrate the danger of the beginning of strife (chap. xxvi. 21). To neither element can we say, “Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further!” (Job xxxviii. 11). . . . Seldom when we have heard the first word, do we hear the last. An inundation of evil is poured in. . . . The bank is much more easily preserved than repaired. . . . For, as one strongly observed, “Man knows the beginning of sin, but who bounds the issues thereof?”—Bridges.
Quietness is like a pleasant pond full of sweet fish sporting themselves up and down in it, and multiplying continually to a great increase; so in a quiet life men’s affairs do prosper, and their estate is increased to plenty and abundance, so that they bathe themselves in the comfort of it. But let the sluice be taken up, the fishes are quickly gone, the waters stay not until they be gone also, and nothing but mud and mire is left; and even so let the gap of contention be opened, all comforts flee away, and usually the estates sink lower and lower until it be dried up to beggary and misery. Make up, then, all breaches as soon as they appear, or rather keep all sound by watchfulness, so that no breach may appear. And let not the serpent get in his head, for, because the scales of his body stand the other way, it is not easy to get it out again; because the mind of thine adversary is made averse from thee, it is not easy to end a strife begun.—Jermin.
main homiletics of verse15.
Inversion and Restitution.
I. A present inversion of moral order.There is an established law, by which things spiritual are governed as well as things material. According to this law, punishment ought to come to the unrighteous and the righteous should be justified; that is, they should be declared to be righteous and treated accordingly. This law must and will prevail in the upshot and issue of things, because the Great Lawgiver of the universe is perfectly just and holy; but it does not always govern the dealings of men with men. Injustice may be meted out to a man by his fellow-man fromignorance.A human judge may pass an unjust sentence upon a prisoner, or society may condemn a man undeservedly simply because they are ignorant of all the facts of the case. We are so little capable of weighing all the motives of our fellow-creatures, that we may unwittingly sometimes justify the wicked and condemn the just. But the proverb is evidently directed against those who do it because they are themselvesunrighteous—against those who are prompted by motives of self-interest or malice or by a simple hatred of good wherever it is found.
II. A future restitution of moral order.If a man has an ear for music, all discordant tones are displeasing to him; but when the law of harmony is entirely subverted, all his musical sensibilities are outraged. So when arighteous man becomes cognizant of some gross injustice his whole soul rises up in protest against it. What therefore must be the light in which the perfectly pure and just God regards such subversion of moral order? He can but regard it with repugnance. But the certainty of this fact makes another fact no less certain—viz., that there will come a period in the history of the universe when this inversion shall cease, when moral order shall be restored, and it shall be no longer possible for the wicked to be justified, or for the righteous to be condemned. Thus saith the Lord,“Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness. . . . Which justify the wicked for reward and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him. Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust; because they have cast away the law of the Lord of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel”(Isa. v. 20, 23, 24). When this sentence is completely carried out moral order and harmony will be restored to the universe.
outlines and suggestive comments.
This verse shows that the term justify (Hebrew,matzeddik) is forensic, topronounce justone, even though not just in himself: a keyword in the doctrinal Epistle to the Romans: the opposite of“condemn”orpronounce impious(mareshiang).—Fausset.
That“both”should be, to the expression“even”seems to point to as wonderful. They are both very plain propositions; and yet neither of them, in the mind of the sinner, is free from half-conscious surprise. That God “will by no means clear the guilty” (Exod. xxxiv. 7) and, therefore, that “without the shedding of blood is no remission” (Heb. ix. 22), when learned, is half the Gospel. To learn it easily, would imply that “then hath the offence of the Cross ceased” (Gal. v. 11). God will not condemn Himself in his “righteous” action, and He cannot“justify the wicked”without a mediator; and Solomon, without being able to clear all the difficulties, sets in this sentence as one of the great timbers of thought, which he looks to to defend the Gospel.—Miller.
He spareth the wolf and so hurteth the lambs; He toucheth the members of Christ and the very apples of the Lord’s eye.—Muffet.
But let us place ourselves before the “Judge of all” accused by Satan, our own conscience, and the righteous law of God; convicted of every charge; yet justified. Does God then in thus “justifying the ungodly” (Rom. iv. 5) contravene this rule? Far from it. If Hejustifies the wicked,it is on account of righteousness (Ib. iii. 25, 26). If Hecondemns the just,it is on the imputation of unrighteousness. Nowhere throughout the universe do the moral perfections of the Governor of the world shine so gloriously as at the cross of Calvary. The satisfaction of the holy law, and the manifestation of righteous mercy, harmonise with the justification of the condemned sinner. And this combined glory tunes the song of everlasting praise.—Bridges.
That condemning the just is a grievous crime, there is no doubt. But some will be startled at the wise man’s assertion, that justifying the wicked is a crime of the like nature and malignity. But we rebel against God by turning to the right hand, as well as by turning to the left, from that way in which we are commanded to walk. Justifying the wicked has an appearance of mercy in it, but there is cruelty to millions in unreasonable acts of mercy to individuals. It was not altogether without ground observed by a senator to the Emperor Cocceius Nerva, when his detestation of his predecessor’s cruelty seduced him into the extreme of clemency,—That it was bad to live in astate where every thing was forbidden, but worse to live in a state where every thing was allowed. Historians tell us, that the provinces of the empire suffered more oppression under the administration of this mild prince, than in the bloody reign of Domitian.—Lawson.
As in the administration of justice, in the world or in the Church, so in the official declaration of doctrine and of duty,faithfulnessis the first and most essential qualification. No “gift,” no bribe, no love of gain,—or, in the apostle’s words, “greed of filthy lucre,”—must ever be allowed to corrupt “the man of God,” and tempt him either to pervert or to keep back the truth—to “shun to declare” any part of “the counsel of God,” or to utter a single sentiment but what he believes to be a lesson of God’s Word, a Divinely authorised message. For a minister of Christ either to say what is false or to withhold what is true, from a wish to please those on whom he may feel himself dependent, is as unworthy of him as for a judge on the civil bench to pervert justice, and may be to others unspeakably more mischievous. The decisions of the latter can affect only what is temporary; the effects of the former’s unfaithful temporising may extend to eternity. The guilt of the former, therefore, may be greater than that of the latter, in the proportion of the value of thesoulto thebody,ofeternitytotime.There must be no bribery or corruption here. O to be able to say with Paul, “I am clear from the blood of all men.”—Wardlaw.
When Jacob, blessing the sons of Joseph, put his hands across, and laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim the younger, and his left hand on the head of Manasseh the elder, the thing displeased Joseph. But Jacob refused to have his hands removed. Now that which Jacob did in the blessing of his grandchildren, the same is the cursed doing of many who in the world are seated in the place of justice. For those whom God setteth on His right hand, they set on the left, those who God setteth on His left hand they set on the right. . . . And though God Himself call to them,Not so,yet they refuse to alter their sentence. . . . And though their hands in justifying go across, yet being joined together in wickedness they are both an abomination to the Lord.—Jermin.
He that saith to the wicked, thou are righteous(1) condemneth the law of God, for that condemneth the wicked; (2) doth as much as he may to bring sin into credit, that others also should practise it without fear or reproach; (3) hardeneth the heart and hurteth the soul of the offender, debarring him from corrections, which are God’s medicines for the curing of evils. He dealeth as a murderer under the name of a physician that encourageth his patient to eat the poison freely.—Dod.
main homiletics of verse16.
Neglected Opportunities.
I. One of the uses which ought to be made of wealth.Men ought to use it to “get wisdom.” it is obvious that a wealthy man has more opportunities of gaining knowledge than a poor man has, and an increase of knowledge ought to make a man wiser. A rich man’s wealth gives him access to the wisdom of the great minds of past ages, and it often obtains for him the companionship of the most learned men of his own generation. It enables him to gain a knowledge of the world on which he lives and of the men who people it; by travel he can stand face to face with all the glorious works of God in nature, and he can mingle with men of various races and see human nature in all its various phases. And these experiences ought to make him a wise man. Wealth is given to men for this purpose, among others, to make them intellectually and morally better—foralthough spiritual blessings cannot be purchased for money, yet where the grace of God is in the heart, the “price in the hand” will increase a man’s opportunities of growing in the knowledge of God and in the practice of godliness. Those who are“rich in this world”may and ought to lay“up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life”(1 Tim. i. 17–19). Their wealth ought not to be a hindrance but a help to high spiritual attainments. When we use bread rightly we get strength out of it; when we use water rightly we get refreshment out of it; when we use light rightly we get guidance out of it; and when the gift of wealth is rightly used, men get wisdom out of it.