main homiletics of verses13, 14and18.
Domestic Sorrow and How to Avoid it.
I. Two fruitful sources of sorrow.There are many fountains whence flow waters which sadly embitter the lives of men, but there is none outside of personal character which can more entirely darken their days than either of those mentioned in the thirteenth verse. To be either the father of a foolish son or the husband of a contentious wife is sorrow indeed. The first clause of this proverb is nearly the same as that in chap.x. 1, for Homiletics on which see page 137. The contentious wife is here compared to a“continual dropping,”because although the discomfort would not be great if it were only occasional, its perpetual existence makes life wretched. A drop of water falling upon a man’s head is a very trifling matter, but one of the most dreaded tortures of the Spanish inquisition was that in which a man was placed in such a position that a single drop was constantly descending upon his head. Hour after hour, day after day, and night after night, the drops followed one another in regular and unbroken succession until the poor wretch first lost reason and then life. It is much harder to bear a burden which is never lifted from the shoulders than to carry one which is much heavier for a short time and for a very limited distance. So it is easier for a man to rise above trials which, although they may be almost overwhelming for a time, last but through a comparatively very short portion of his life. But the trial of a contentious wife is unceasing so long as the marriage bond continues, and it is this that makes it so greatly to be dreaded.
II. Means suggested whereby these sources of sorrow may be avoided.If so much depends upon our family relationships—if the character of the wife and child have so much to do with our weal and woe—it becomes a most momentous question how to act so as to secure a prudent wife in the first place, and then to avoid the calamity of a foolish son. It must be remembered that the first is purely a matter ofchoice.A man’s “house and riches” may be “the inheritance of fathers,” his social position may depend upon his parents, but his wife depends upon his own choice, and as “a prudent wife is from the Lord,” if he seeks the guidance of Him who is alone the infallible reader of character, instead of following the leading of his fancy or consulting his worldly interests, he may with confidence expect to avoid the curse and secure the blessing. The other relationship is not one of choice. Our children are sent to us by the hand of God, and we have no more voice in determining their dispositions and mental constitutions than we have the colour of their hair, or any other bodily characteristic. But of two things we are certain. 1.That they will need a training which will not always be pleasant to them.Where there is disease in the body a cure cannot often be effected without a resort to unpleasant—often to painful—measures. It is not pleasant to a surgeon to use the knife, but it is often indispensable to his patient’s recovery to health. And both experience and revelation testify to the fact that our children come into the world with a moral taint upon them—that they have a tendency to go the wrong way—that, in the words of the Psalmist (Ps. li. 5) they are “shapen in iniquity and conceived in sin.” If a parent desires to avoid the calamity of a foolish son he must early recognise the truth that his child will not become morally wise unless he“chasten”him, unless he subject him to a system of moral training, unless he make him feel that punishment must follow sin. This will be as painful sometimes to the parent as to the child; the crying of the son will hurt the father more than the rod will hurt the child, but the end to be attained by present suffering must be borne in mind, and must nerve the heart and head of him whose duty it is to administer chastisement. (On this subject see also Homiletics on chap.xii. 24, page 334.) 2.That there is reason to hope that children, if rightly trained, will be a joy and not a sorrow. There is hope.When a river has but just left its source among the hills, andthe current is feeble, its progress can be stopped with ease; but when it has flowed on for a few miles and there is depth of water enough to float a fleet, it is almost impossible to stop its onward course. So, when the power of evil in the human soul is in its infancy, it is a much more easy task to restrain it than when it has acquired strength by years of uncontrolled dominion. When the young oak is but a few inches above the ground, the hand of the woodman can bend the slender stem as he pleases; but when it has grown for half a century he is powerless to turn it from the direction which it has taken. So a child’s will is pliable to the wise training of the parent, and if the education of the moral nature be begun early, there is every reason to hope that it will acquire strength to overcome both sin within and without, and that a righteous manhood will in the future more than repay both him whose duty it is to chasten, and him upon whom the chastisement must fall.
outlines and suggestive comments.
Verses 13, 14. “A prudent wife” is not to be got by animprudent mode of choice. The gift must be sought “from the Lord.” But this does not mean that the Lord is supernaturally to point out the individual. Our own discretion must be put in exercise, along with prayer for the Divine superintendence and direction, so as to bring about a happy result. And then the precious gift should be owned, and the all-bountiful Giver praised for his goodness in bestowing it.—Wardlaw.
“Every good gift is from the Lord” (James i. 17) only, some in the ordinary course, others more directly from Him. Houses and riches, through His gifts, come by descent. They are the inheritance of fathers. The heir is known, and in the course of events he takes possession of his estate. But the prudent wife is wholly unconnected with the man. There has been no previous bond of relation. She is often brought from a distance. “The Lord brought her to the man” by His special Providence, and therefore as His special gift.—Bridges.
Verse 18. The great force of the rule is its timely application—while there is hope.For hopeless the case may be, if the remedy be delayed. The cure of the evil must be commenced in infancy. Not a moment is to be lost. “Betimes” (chap. xiii. 24; xxii. 15)—is the season when the good can be effected with the most ease, and the fewest strokes. The lesson of obedience should be learnt at the first dawn. One decided struggle and victoryin very early life,may, under God, do much towards settling the point at once and to the end. On the other hand,sharp chasteningmay fail later to accomplish, what a slight rebuke in the early course might have wrought.—Bridges.
You are here taught further, thatfirmnessmust be in union with affection in applying the rod. The words seem to express a harsh, yet it is an important and most salutary lesson:—“let not thy soul spare for his crying.”The words to not mean, that you should not feel, very far from that. It was the knowledge that feeling was unavoidable, and that the strength and tenderness of it was ever apt to tempt parents to relent and desist, and leave their end unaccomplished,—that made it necessary to warn against too ready a yielding to this natural inclination. The child may cry, and cry bitterly, previously to the correction; but, when you have reason to think the crying is for the rod rather than for the fault, and that, but for the threatened chastisement, the heart would probably have been unmoved, and the eyes dry;—then you must not allow yourselves to be so unmanned by his tears, as to suspend your purpose, and decline its infliction. If a child perceives this (and soon are children sharp enough to find it out) he has discovered the way to move you next time; and will have recourse to it accordingly.—Wardlaw.
On the subject of verse 15 see Homiletics on chap.vi. 9, 10, page 79.
main homiletics of verse16.
A Double Keeping.
I. A keeping of the Divine commandments.What is it to “keep the commandments?” Dr. Miller translates this verb toguardorwatch.Taken in this sense therefore the proverb implies that there is need—1.To lay up God’s law in our hearts.It is to be our constant aim toknowthe will of God—the words which He has spoken, the commands which He has given, are to be constantly kept in remembrance and made the principal subject of our thoughts. We are to tread in the footsteps of the man described in the first Psalm, whose“delight is in the law of the Lord”and who“meditates”upon it“day and night.”But the word as it is commonly understood implies—2.To translate God’s law into life.It is one thing toknowthe will of God, it is another thing todoit. Knowledge must come before obedience, but knowledge alone will not save the soul from death.
II. A keeping of the human soul.There is but one way to guard the human soul from the dangers to which it is exposed, and that is by complying with the demands of the God who can alone give spiritual life. He commands us to yield ourselves unreservedly to His guidance, to accept His method of being made right in relation to His law, to fight against the evil tendencies of our fallen nature, and to seek His help to overcome them. In doing this He has promised that we shall find that emancipation from the bondage of sin, that awakening of spiritual faculties, and that sense of His favour which alone is the life of the soul. We have before dwelt upon proverbs which embody truths similar to those contained in this verse. (See on chap.xi. 3, page 195; chap.x. 8, page 151; chap.xiii. 6,13,14, pages 299, 312, 313; chap.xvi. 17, page 479.)
outlines and suggestive comments.
Keepmeans to retain.Guardmeans to watch. The root of the present word meansto bristle,then towatch close,either from thebristlingof spears, or from asharp stave.There is a philosophy in these words, . . . viz., that conscience is vagrant. We have to watch. Like the mind itself, it is hard to hold it to the point.Attentionis our whole voluntary work. And, to a most amazing degree, the Scriptures are framed upon this idea. We are toremember now our Creator(Eccles. xii. 1). We are toremember the Sabbath day(Exod. xx. 8). We are to“observe to do,”etc. (this very wordguard.) See Deut. v. 1, 32,et passim. “Wherewithalshall a young man cleanse his way? Bytaking heed(this same wordguarding) thereto according to Thy Word” (Psa. cxix. 9).“Guards himself”(the same word). (SeeCritical Notes.) This is an iron link of sequence which no Anti-Calvinistic thought can shake. He who stands sentry over the “commandment” stands sentry overhimself;literally“his soul.”There is no helplessness in man other than thattardema,ordeep sleep(ver. 15) which“sloth”wilfully casts him into, and which a voluntary slothfulness perpetually increases and maintains. “The fault is not in our stars, but in ourselves, that we are aliens.” The proverb advances upon this in the second clause. What more voluntary than a man’s“way?”It has a voluntary goal, it has a daily journeying, and it includes all thatisvoluntary. Seize a man at any moment. All that he is upon is part of his life’s travel. Now, a Christian has but oneway.So far forth as he is a Christian, he has but one end, and one path for reaching it. There is a beautiful unitariness in his journeying. It is a habit of Scripture to turn attention to thescatteredlife of the lost. They have no oneend. “If thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light,” says the Saviour (Matt. vi. 23). Thou “hast scattered thy ways to the strangers,” says Jeremiah (iii. 13); this same expression. “Why gaddest thou about so much to change thy way” (Jer. ii. 36).Despiseth(English version) suits the lexicon and suits the sense, for certainly the lost man has less respect for his way and life than the pardoned believer; but “scattering” is equally legitimate and common; more strengthened by analogy, and more in keeping with the first clause, where the verbto guardstands more opposed to vagrant and distraught ideas.“Dies;”see Job v. 2. Corruption is seated in the soul, but not out of reach by any means. A man can increase it. What we do outside kills inwardly. A man’s counting-house might seem to have little to do with the state ofhis soul,but it is shaping it all the time. If hescattershis ways he is killing his soul, and what we are to remark is, that there is anipso actucondition of the effect (as in chap. xi. 19) which is expressed in the Hebrew. The vagrancy of a morning’s worldliness is that much more death, as punctually administered as any of the chemistries of nature. The form is participial. It is “inscattering,” or “asscattering,” his ways that“he dies.”—Miller.
main homiletics of verse17.
The Best Investment.
I. A God-like disposition.To “pity the poor” and to show that we do so by ministering to their necessities (for this is implied in the proverb) is to be like God. We have before seen how He identifies Himself with them, and how severe is the condemnation which He passes upon those who wrong them. (See Homiletics and Comments upon chap.xiv. 31, page 390, and upon chap.xvii. 5, page 504.) God is a Being of compassion—the Gospel of salvation is a testimony to the pitifulness of His nature. He has remembered man in his low estate and in his condition of spiritual poverty, and out of the “riches of His grace” (Ephes. i. 7) He has supplied his need. But he has not only an eye for the spiritual necessities of His creatures, but for those also which belong exclusively to their bodily nature. God manifest in flesh had compassion upon the multitude because “they had nothing to eat” (Matt. xv. 32), and the same pitiful heart is still moved with a like emotion when He looks into the haunts of poverty and sees men and women and little children without the necessaries of life, or toiling hard and long for a pittance that is only just enough to keep them from starvation. The man therefore who “has pity on the poor” manifests a disposition akin to that of his Father in heaven.
II. A most reliable debtor.God incarnate fed the hungry by miracle, but now that He has left the earth for a season He entrusts the duty to human hands. He does not now rain down bread from heaven to feed even his spiritual Israel, but He expects those of His children to whom He has given more than enough of this world’s good things to do it for Him, and looks upon the act as a loan to Himself. 1.That the investment will be a profitable one is certain, from the character of God.When men entrust others with their money, they have especial regard to the character of those whom they make their debtor. This forms the chief and most reliable security that a man can have that he will receive it again. God’s character is pre-eminently good—so good that His Word is more than the bond of the most trustworthy human creature, and none in heaven or earth or hell will ever be able to say that He has not paid them what was their due. 2.The wealth of God is a guarantee that He will repay with interest.A man who is generous by nature, and possessed of abundant means,will not only faithfully repay a loan but, if his debtor is a needy man, will feel a pleasure in adding to it a large interest, or will press him to accept some extra token of his esteem. God is a great and bountiful proprietor of all the resources of the universe, whether spiritual or material, and He loves to give abundantly. He has been always giving out of His fulness since there has been a creature upon whom to lavish His gifts, and He delights to see His children give, like Himself, generously and ungrudgingly. And, seeing he takes upon Himself to repay what is given to the poor, His generosity and His wealth are sureties that the interest for the loan will be very ample. His children may have to wait long for it, but the longer they wait the greater the accumulation of interest. They may receive a partial repayment in material good, but the great recompense will be at the“resurrection of the just”(Luke xiv. 14) on that day when the King shall say unto them,“Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was an hungered and ye gave me meat; I was thirsty and ye gave me drink; I was a stranger and ye took me in; naked and ye clothed me”(Matt. xxv. 34, 36).
outlines and suggestive comments.
When Alexander set forward upon his great exploits before he went from Macedonia, he divided among his captains and friends all that he had; for which, when one of his friends reproved him, saying that he was prodigal, for that he had reserved nothing for himself, the answer which Alexander gave was this: that he had reserved much unto himself, namely, hope of the monarchy of the world, which by the valour and help of those his captains and nobles he hoped to obtain. And thus, surely, he that giveth to the poor may seem to be prodigal, yet, in respect of the hope that he hath of profit, he is frugal-wise; neither is his hope such as Alexander’s was, which depended on the uncertainty of war, but such as is grounded upon the certainty of God’s Word.—Spencer.
The Lord will not only pay for the poor man, but requite him that gave alms, with usury, returning great gifts for small. Give, then, thine house, and receive heaven; give transitory goods, and receive a durable substance; give a cup of cold water and receive God’s kingdom. . . . If our rich friend should say unto us, lay out so much money for me, I will repay it, we would willingly and readily do it. Seeing, then, our best friend, yea, our king, the King of kings, biddeth us to give to the poor, promising that He will see us answered for that we give, shall we not bestow alms at His motion and for His sake?—Muffet.
The off-hand sense is no doubt correct, and, as a worldly maxim,oftenthe munificent are rewarded in this world. . . . But we are not to suppose the generous to suffer, and the saint might lose by being paid in money. The saint might need the chastisement of pecuniary distress. We are not to suppose, therefore, this sense to be the grand one. But the meaning is that obedience, if it be spiritual, is a positive thing; that it involves large and generous sacrifices; that it is to “visit the fatherless” (Jas. i. 27); and to feed the hungry (Matt. xxv. 35); and that, in the grandest sense, he that does these things“makes a borrower of Jehovah;”and that the transaction, under the grand head of guarding his own soul (ver. 16), will pay him better than any less positive and more mystic species of obedience. . . . It may be fancy, butcausing to borrowseems to be more expressive than (as an equivalent) tolend(E.V.). Wecan makeGod borrow of us at any time among the widows and the orphans (Matt. xxv. 40; Jer. xlix. 11).—Miller.
main homiletics of the paragraph.—Verses18–20.
Relative Duties.
We have before considered verse 18 in connection with verses 13 and 14. A reference to theCritical Noteswill, however, show that there is an interpretation of the last clause which was not treated there. Verses 19 and 20, regarded separately, embody thoughts and precepts which we have had before. (See Homiletics on chap.xiv. 17,29, pages 363, 386, and on chap.xii. 15, page 271.) But these verses, taken in conjunction with the other interpretation of the last clause of verse 18, may be regarded as giving valuable advice both to those who have to enforce discipline and administer chastisement, and to those who have to endure them.
I. Counsel for parents.The reasonableness and necessity of chastisement has been considered before, but the additional thought which the other rendering of verse 18 makes prominent is,that it must be administered from a sense of duty, and dictated by love.Parents are far too apt to punish their children, not because they have sinned againstGod,but because they have offendedthem,—and when this is the case, the anger manifested deprives the correction of its salutary effect. “When the rod is used,” says Wardlaw,—and the words may be applied to any form of parental chastisement,—“the end in view should be, purely and exclusively, thebenefit of the child;not the gratification of any resentful passion on the part of the parent. Should the latter be apparent to the child, the effect is lost, and worse than lost; for, instead of the sentiment of grief and melting tenderness, there will be engendered a feeling of sullen hostility, . . . if not, even, of angry scorn, towards him who has manifested selfish passion rather than parental love.” The parent must regard himself as God’s representative, and must act, not as for himself, but for the Divine Master and Father of both parent and child. If this is done, there will be none of that “provocation to wrath” or “discouragement” against which Paul puts Christians on their guard (Col. iii. 21; Ephes. vi. 4), and there will be good ground to hope that the chastisement will bring profit.
II. Counsel to children.The reasoning here is akin to that used by the Apostle in the twelfth of Hebrews. It is admitted by him (verses 11, 12), that “no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous;” nevertheless, those who have to endure it are exhorted to accept it with submission because of the preciousafter-yield—they are counselled to give themselves up to the Divine pruner and suffer Him to work His will upon them now, in consideration of the“peaceable fruits of righteousness”which will be the result in the days of harvest. So Solomon argues here. He does not deny that “counsel” and “instruction,” or ratherdiscipline,may often be unpalatable and irksome, but he holds up the wisdom that may be gained by them as an incentive to induce the young to “hear” and to “receive” them—he “reaches a hand through time,” and “fetches the far-off interest” of what at present seems grievous in order to give effect to his exhortations. The actions of men in the present are mainly determined by the amount of consideration they give to the future. There are men who live wholly in the present hour—who gratify the fancy or follow the passion of to-day without giving a thought of the needs of to-morrow, or the penalty that they may then have to pay for their folly. Others look ahead a little farther—they fashion the actions of to-day with a due regard to the interests of their whole futureearthlylife, but they bestow no thought upon the infinite“afterward”that is to succeed it. The proverb counsels both the young and the old to bring this long to-morrow into the plans of to-day, and to let the remembrance of it open the ear to the words of Divine wisdom by whomsoever they are spoken, and bend the will to receive the “chastening of the Lord,” whether it come in the form of parental discipline or in a sterner garb.
outlines and suggestive comments.
Verses 18, 19.“Being in great wrath, remit the punishment; but if thou let him escape, yet apply(or add)chastisement again.”(So Muffet renders verse 19.) When thou are in thy mood, or burnest with fiery anger and displeasure, let pass for that time the correcting of thy child, lest thou passest measure therein, or mayest chance to give him some deadly blow. Nevertheless, if for that time or for that fault thou let him go free, yet let him not always go uncorrected; but when thou art more calm, according as he offereth occasion, correct him again.—Muffet.
Do not venom discipline by naked animosity. This is the human aspect. But now for the fine model of Jehovah. “He does not afflict willingly” (Lam. iii. 33). He follows this maxim: “Discipline thy son, because there is now hope.” But Solomon wishes plainly to declare thatto kill him He does not lift up His soul.“He taketh no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, but that all should turn and live” (Ezek. xxxiii. 11). It is evidently these great timbers of thought that Solomon is eyeing at the bottom of his structure. He is settling them along in place. Secularly, they may have but little connection; spiritually, they are all morticed close.—Miller.
main homiletics of verse21.
Many Plans Working to One End.
This proverb suggests—
I. The ignorance and sinfulness of man, the infinite knowledge and goodness of God.Man is a creature of many devices; he is changeable in his purpose and plans because he is so ignorant concerning their issue. He cannot foretel with any certainty whether the event will be according to his desire, or, if it should be so, whether it will bring him satisfaction. Hence the purpose of to-day is not the purpose of next year—the plans of his youth are different from those of his riper years. But God is the same in His purposes yesterday, to-day, and for ever, because He can“declare the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done”(Isa. xlvi. 10). A man’s devices change in proportion as his feelings and desires vary; and these are changeable in proportion as he lacks perfection in his moral nature. But a Being of infinite goodness is not subject to these changing moods and desires: and His plans are like His character, always the same.
II. The attitude which men ought to take in relation to this truth.It is obvious that the counsel of God must stand, and that it deserves to stand before all the devices of men. If, therefore, men would have their devices stand they must learn to square them by the counsel of God. A child will have its own way when it has learned to conform its will to the will of its parent. And if a man would have his“heart’s desire,”he must so“delight in God”(Psa. xxxvii. 4) that what pleases God pleases him also. For other Homiletics on this subject see on chap.xvi. 1and9, pp. 451, 468.
outlines and suggestive comments.
The great collective whole of the “devices” of all hearts constitutes the grand complex scheme of the human race for their happiness. Respecting the object of every device, God has His design. There is in the world a want of coalescence between the designs of man and God—an estranged spiritof design on the part of man. God’s design is fixed and paramount.—J. Foster.
A man of the better sort.This is simply one of the names for man. We do not always translate itone of the better sort.But it is rarely chosen listlessly. Here it creates an emphasis. The most imposing“schemes”belong to the intelligent and great. The world is full of them. How foolish to build them up! Jehovah advises a whole new behaviour for His creatures. How mad to scheme away from it.—Miller.
main homiletics of verse22.
Poverty of Heart and Poverty of Circumstances.
If we read the first clause of this proverb as it stands in our translation it sets forth—
I. The true measure of a man’s benevolence.It is not to be measured by the amount of money that he expends upon his fellow-creatures, but upon his desire to benefit them. His desire to help them may be very strong, and yet his circumstances may be such that he has little more than sympathy to give. “The heart may be full,” says Wardlaw, “when the hand is empty.” And many deeds of charity that earn for men the title of benevolent are not really performed for motives of goodwill to others but from selfish and vainglorious ends. If we take the reading given in theCritical Notesit teaches rather the truth—
II. That small deeds of kindness are far preferable to large professions of it.Theliarof the second clause is evidently one who has it in his power largely to help others, and whose promises are in proportion to his power. But they are promises only. He does not hesitate by false words to raise hopes which he never intends to fulfil, and thus becomes like the deceitful mirage of the desert, which, after cheating the traveller with delusive hopes of water, disappears, and leaves him more despairing than before. On the other hand, the poor man is evidently one whose words never go beyond his deeds, and whose deeds, if not great, are up to his ability, and are so constantly performed and so evidently the outcome of real sympathy that they are like the little rill which follows the wayfarer all through his journey, and, which, although it can give but a little water at a time, is always at hand with that little.
outlines and suggestive comments.
But let it be observed and remembered—“the desires of a man are not his kindness,” when he has the ability to be practically kind, and confines himself to desires. No. In that case, there is the clearest of all evidence that the desire is not sincere; mere profession, without reality—“love in word”—which is only another phrase for no love at all. While, therefore, there are cases in which we cheerfully, according to a common phrase, “take the will for the deed,” knowing that there is a want of ability to do what the heart wishes; there are other cases in which we demand the deed as the only proof of the will—the gift as the only evidence of the charity.—Wardlaw.
The imperial standard of weights and measures has been sent by the King into the market place of human life, where men are busy cheating themselves and each other. Many of these merchantmen, guided by a false standard, have been all their days accustomed to call evil good and good evil. When the balance is set up byroyal authority, and the proclamation issued that all transactions must be tested thereby, swindlers are dismayed, and honest man are glad. Such is the word of truth when it touches the transactions of men. . . . There is a most refreshing simplicity in the language of Scripture upon these points. This word speaks with authority. It is not tainted with the usual adulation of riches. A dishonest man is called a liar, however high his position may be in the city. And the honest poor gets his patent of nobility from the Sovereign’s hand. The honest rich are fully as much interested in reform in this matter as the honest poor. Make this short proverb the keynote of our commercial system, and epidemic panics will disappear. . . . After each catastrophe people go about shaking their heads and wringing their hands, asking, What will become of us? What shall we do? We venture to propose an answer to the inquiry. From the Bible first engrave on your hearts, then translate in your lives, and last emblazon aloft on the pediment of your trade temple this short and simple legend:“A poor man is better than a liar.”
For Homiletics on the subject of verse 23 see on chapterx. 24,xiv. 26, andxviii. 10, pages 179 and 542. Verse 24 will be treated in chap.xxvi. 12–16. For the subject of verses 25 and 29 see chap.xvii. 10, page 509.
main homiletics of verses26–29.
Possibilities of Human Depravity.
I. The tenderest admonitions and the most solemn warnings sometimes fail to influence for good.Sometimes the most loving parental care seems utterly wasted upon an ungrateful child, and the more constant and tender the words of admonition the farther does he depart from the way in which he ought to go. There is many a man so in love with sin that he may be said to “devour iniquity” (verse 28); and when this fatal appetite has taken possession of the soul all appeals to his better nature, and even to his own self-love, are vain.
II. When men are so hardened there is no depth of iniquity to which they may not sink.He who scoffs at all threats of retribution, both in this life and in that which is to come, has broken through all barriers of restraint, and will be capable of outraging all the tender ties of human relationship, even to the extent of bringing his parents to disgrace and shame. The most hardened sinners in the universe of God are not found in heathen lands, or among the ignorant at home, but they are those who, having heard instruction, have “erred from the words of knowledge.” Each day that they resist the good influence brought to bear upon them they increase their moral insensibility, and their final condemnation (verse 29). Hence the admonition of verse 27. (SeeCritical Notes.)
outlines and suggestive comments.
Verse 26. This were an admirable text for young men entering upon life and still at the expense of their parents. It is a great enormity either to waste the property of their father while he is alive, or after they have succeeded to expel the widowed mother from the premises.—Chalmers.
Verse 27. It is so proper and natural for a son to hear instruction, that the hearing instruction maketh to be ason. . . . But if thou hear instruction, hear it not—not to be the better for it. Instruction speaketh to keep theefrom erring:do not thouhear it to err:instruction putteth into thee the words of knowledge; do not thou put them out by erring from them, by not following them. . . . Cease thus to hear, but hear still. For by hearing at length thine error may be corrected; whereas, if thou hear not, thou dost not only err, but deprivest thyself of the means that reduce thee from erring.—Jermin.
Critical Notes.—1. Strong drink.The Hebrew wordShekharincludes every strong drink besides wine. Delitzsch translates itmead.2. The fear of a king,i.e.,the dread which he inspires.Sinneth against his soul,or“forfeits his life,”so Delitzsch and Miller.3. To cease from strife.Rather, “to remain far from” it.4.Delitzsch translates this verse,“At the beginning of the harvest the sluggard ploweth not, and so when he cometh to reaping time there is nothing.”5. Counsel.Delitzsch translates this word“purpose,”and understands it to refer to a secret plan.6.Miller reads the first clause of this verse,“Much of the mere man one calls his goodness,” i.e.,“Much that is merely human.” He allows, however, that the usual rendering conveys a very striking meaning and agrees admirably with the second clause. The Hebrew word means literallyabundance of men.Delitzsch translates,“Almost everyone meeteth a man who is gracious unto him; but a man who standeth the test, who findeth such a one?”7.This verse should be,“He who in his innocence walks uprightly, blessed are his children,”etc.8. Judgment.Ratherjustice.Scatterethorwinnoweth.10. Divers weights.Literally,“a stone and a stone, an ephah and an ephah.”11.Touching the second clause of this verse, Miller says, “It is too terse for English, and we cannot translate it. Nor can we brook the English version.Doingsare in the same category withwork.How can one be the test of the other? The only room for a proposition is, obviously, for this:‘A child is known by his doings;and the question,Is he pure?is but the question,Is his workright?’ ”15.Here Miller reads,There is gold,etc., inthe lips of knowledge.16. A Strange woman.Rather,“a stranger.”17. A man.The Hebrew word here uses is the one which denotesa superior man.18.The first clause may be read,Establish thy purpose by counsel.19. “Him that flattereth.”Rather,him that openeth wide his lips, i.e.,the babbler.24. Man.The first word,Geber,denotinga superior or mighty man:the second,Adam,man in general, or an ordinary man.25.The first clause of this verse should be,“It is a snare to a man to cry out hastily ‘holy,’ i.e.,to vow without thought and consideration.”26. The wheel,i.e.,the wheel of the threshing instrument which blows away the chaff.30. The blueness of a wound.Cutting wounds (Delitzsch), Wounding stripes (Zöckler).Miller translates the“welts,” (i.e.,the tumid and purple confines of a wound)cleanse as though an evil,“that is, although painful and deformed, they have a clear office, viz., to purge away the sore.” Wardlaw suggests that the word, being etymologically derived from a verb denoting tojoin together,may be translatedcompressions,and says, “The compressions of a wound are necessary for cleansing out of it the prurient and peccant humour, which would prevent its healing; they are, at the same time, in many cases exceedingly painful, and would only be endured or inflicted from necessity. And as they thus clean the wound and promote its healing, so in amoralsense does the severity of discipline affect with salutary and cleansing influence the condition of the inner man.”
main homiletics of verse1.
Strong Drink.
Taking the two words here used to stand for all intoxicating drinks, we remark—
I. That they are most deceptive in their operation.It is most certain that there is no person who is now an abject slave to strong drink, who would not once have indignantly repelled the insinuation that he or she would ever be a drunkard. It is taken probably for a long time without any evil effects being apparent, and the temporary stimulus is mistaken for a permanent increase of strength,until one day the unhappy victim finds himself a subject of the most tyrannical habit that enslaves fallen humanity. And strong drink may truly be said to be a“mocker,”when we see how men appear to struggle to escape from its deadly fascination, and how fruitless their efforts often are.
II. That they are powerful ministers to human passions.Wherever strong drink enters, every evil tendency is increased tenfold; the angry man becomes a monster of cruelty, and he who was before a comparatively harmless member of society, or even a useful one, becomes hurtful and dangerous. The restraints that are all powerful to govern a man when sober are all as utterly useless when he is under the power of string drink, as silken cords would be to keep a wild beast within bounds.
III. It is utter folly to tamper with such a foe to human dignity and happiness.The deceptive influence of strong drink, and the miserable results of allowing it to gain the mastery over us, are all around men; none can now plead ignorance of its nature, or of its effects, for the world is full of homes ruined by it, and hearts which it has broken, and men whom it has changed into brutes. Experience sets her seal to Solomon’s declaration, and brands aswithout wisdomthose who play with such a deadly and treacherous enemy.
outlines and suggestive comments.
Solomon seldom singles out a specific vice; and when he does, it is often exemplary, or to be understood of any. He does single out drunkenness, however. Strikingly enough the Apostle does so (1 Cor. vi. 10).—Miller.
If the fruit of his own vine sometimes chastised the unwary Israelite with whips, the fiery product of our distilleries chastise the nation with scorpions. The little finger of strong drink in modern times is thicker than the loins of its father and representative in Solomon’s day. The deceits which our enemy practises are legion; and legion too are the unwary “who are deceived thereby.” I shall enumerate a few of its lying devices. 1. A great quantity of precious food is destroyed in this country that strong drink may be extracted from the rubbish. . . . On an average of ten years, the quantity of barley converted into malt in the United Kingdom has been nearly six millions of quarters annually. When you add to this the unmalted grain consumed in the distillation of spirits in Ireland, you have an aggregate sufficient to feed between four and five millions of people throughout the year. . . . What do we obtain in return? A large quantity of malt liquors and distilled spirits. And is the grain equivalent, or nearly equivalent to the loss? 2. The curative and strengthening powers of our strong drinks, which are so much vaunted, are in reality next to nothing. We speak of the ordinary use of these articles as beverages. . . . If they contribute at any time to the quantity of force exerted by man, it corresponds not to the corn that you give to your horse, but to the whipping. A master who has hired you for a day, and desires to make the most of his bargain, may possibly find it his interest to bring more out of your bones and sinews, by such a stimulus, but you certainly have no interest in lashing an additional effort out of yourself to-day, and lying in lethargy to-morrow. . . . Liebig has a pleasant notion about balancing on the point of a pen-knife, like a pinch of snuff, all the nourishment that the most capacious German swallows with his beer in a day. And it is chemistry he is giving us, not poetry or wit. . . . 3. Strong drink deceives the nation, by the vast amount of revenue that it pours into the public treasury. It is a true and wise economy to tax the articles heavily for behoof of the community, so far and as long as they are sold and used; but it is a false and foolish economy toencourage the consumption of the article, for the sake of the revenue it produces. Drink generates pauperism, and pauperism is costly. Drink generates crime, and crime is costly. . . . There is a huge living creature with as many limbs as a Hindoo idol, and these limbs intertwined with each other in equally admirable confusion. The creature having life must be fed, and being large, must have a good deal of food for its sustenance. One day, having got rather short allowance, it was rolling its heavy head among its many limbs, and found something warm and fleshy. Being hungry, it made an incision with its teeth, laid its lips to the spot, and sucked. Warm blood came freely; the creature sucked its fill, and gorged, lay down to sleep. Next day, it supplemented its short rations in the same way. Every day the creature drank from that opening, and as this rich draught made up about one third of its whole sustenance, the wonder grew, why it was becoming weaker under the process, day by day. Some one at last bethought him of turning over the animal’s intermingled limbs, and found that all this time it had been sucking its own blood! The discoverer proposed to bandage the spot, and not permit the continuance of the unnatural operation. The financiers cried out, “A third of the animal’s sustenance comes from that opening; if you stop it, he will die!” Behold the wise politicians who imagine that the body politic would die of inanition, if it were deprived of the revenue which it sucks from its own veins, in the shape of taxes on the consumption of intoxicating drinks!—Arnot.
The thoughts in verses 2 and 3 are the same as that in chap.xix. 12, see page 571, and chaps.xiv. 29andxvi. 32, pages 386 and 497. The thought in the fourth verse is identical with that in chap.x. 4, although the similitude is different, see page 142.
main homiletics of verse5.
Deep Sea Dredging.
I. Much that is good, or much that is bad, may lie hidden in a man’s heart without its existence being suspected by the majority of his acquaintance.The word here rendered “counsel” may be taken in a twofold sense. It may be used of knowledge, or of great mental ability, which is hidden either because its possessor is exceedingly modest or exceedingly reserved—either because he lacks the will or the power to make it known. Or it may refer to deeply-laid schemes or well-planned purposes which a man intends shall one day become facts, but which at present exist only in his own mind. And according to the nature of the counsel it may be compared to the wealth of beauty and riches which lie hidden in the depth of the ocean, unsuspected by the majority of those who sail above, or to the deadly torpedo which makes no ripple upon the surface of the water, and which its victims approach without dreaming of what is concealed beneath.
II. The difficulty of one man’s obtaining what another wishes to conceal will depend upon the comparative wisdom of both.For many ages the deep sea seemed to defy all the efforts of man to explore its depths and to find out its secrets, but now even the ocean has to own him master in this respect, and to submit to have its treasures brought to light. There has been, as it were, a struggle between the sea and the man of science as to which should possess the treasures of the deep, and the issue has depended upon the ability of the man in comparison with the depth of the ocean. So there is sometimes a struggle between men—the one desiring to conceal his knowledge or his plans within hisown breast, and the other desiring to discover them. The issue will depend upon the comparative mental power of the two men. If both be “men of understanding,” the resistance on the one side and the effort on the other will be continuous and long, and the “deep waters” may prove too deep for the bucket or the dredging net. But if the balance of wisdom is in favour of the seeker—if there is one spot where his line can reach—he will “draw out” the counsel and proclaim himself the master.
outlines and suggestive comments.
The whole emblem finely illustrates what is true of the “inward light” as held by the “Friends.” All men have light which, if they would follow, would lead them (granting that they persevere) into the light of the gospel (Rom. i. 20). What better name for this than counsel? Alas! it lies “deep.” No man will follow it but by the Spirit of God. . . . Nevertheless it is there! How solemn that fact at the judgment day! “The word is nigh” (Rom x. 8).“A man of discernment,”or“understanding,” i.e.,the Christian. . . . Only the illuminated man, getting his light from its great fountain, will be moved to go down into his“heart,”where the counsel lies waiting and, “draw” the “deep waters.”—Miller.
Every question is, as it were, a turn of the windlass.—Plumptre.
He is an expert fisher. . . . But man can butdraw them out;God seeth them in the heart, man can see no more than he draws out, but God seeth all; man draws and labours for the knowledge he getteth, but all things are naked and open unto God’s sight.—Jermin.
main homiletics of the paragraph.—Verses6–12.
An Universal Challenge, a General Rule, and a Rare Virtue.
I. A double challenge to all men.Who can say, I am pure from my sin? A faithful man, who can find? To the first of these questions the answer must be in the negative. 1.Godanswers “No” to it. The testimony of Scriptures is that in His sight“shall no man living be justified”(Psa. cxlii. 2): that“all have sinned”(Rom. iii. 23): that“if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us”(1 John i. 8). His ability to form a correct judgment rests upon Hisomniscience—He hath made the“hearing ear and the seeing eye”(verse 12), and shall He nothear and seeandknow the thoughts of man?(Psa. xciv. 9, 10). He is the ideal King whowinnowsthe actions of man. SeeMiller’s noteon ver. 8 (Matt. iii. 12). 2.Man’s experienceanswers “No” to it. “Even a child is known by its doings” (verse 11); the actions are like the hands of a clock, which tell to those who look upon them whether all the wheels within are in perfect working order. When we mark at all observantly the actions of even the best of men, we shall be most likely to detect here and there a flaw in their characters—some inconsistencies which tell of moral imperfection—but if not, man need only to lookwithinwith some degree of impartiality to be convinced that his“own heart condemns him”(1 John iii. 20). But to the second challenge we need not give an universal negative. Faithful men arerare,but theycan be found.Even Solomon could point to the “just man” who “walked in his integrity,” leaving a blessing behind him. His father David, although he was far from being free from sin, yea, although he sinned deeply and terribly, and yet was a man who could appeal to God to witness to hisintegrity(Psa. vii. 8)—to the general intent and purpose of his life being toward God and goodness—to his being in the main faithful to his convictions of the right andtrue. (On this subject see on chap.xi. 3, page 196.) And althoughfaithfulmen are still rare enough to needsearch,they are more common than they were in Solomon’s days. There are many men scattered throughout the world who put duty before worldly interests, and God’s glory before their own, and are thus earning for themselves thewell-doneof thefaithfulthough not theperfectservant (Matt. xxv. 21). For it is certain that if a man is faithful to himself—if he subjects his own moral condition to that scrutiny which must convince him of his own impurity before a heart-searching and Holy God, and accepts His method of being cleansed from guilt—he will be faithful both to God and man.
“To thine own self be true:And it must follow as the night the day;Thou canst not then be false to any man.”
II. A general rule.Another proposition here laid down is, that although absolutely pure men are not to be found, and although faithful men are rare, yet “most men will proclaim everyone his own goodness” (verse 6). There is a natural tendency in men to shrink from a very close inspection of their own motives, and desires, and feelings—they look anywhere rather than within, and consequently, very few have any conception of their own depravity. They have never measured even their actions, much less their thoughts, by the requirements of God’s law, and consequently, while He pronounces them“wretched, and miserable, and poor”they are saying,“I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing”(Rev. iii. 17, 18). Most men are thanking God that“they are not as other men are”when they ought to be smiting their breasts and saying,“God be merciful to me, a sinner”(Luke xviii. 13). It is this wide-spread self-deception concerning their real condition that renders men so indifferent to God’s method for restoring them, and thus keeps the world in its present state of soul-sickness and death.
For Homiletics on verse 10, see on chap.xi. 1.
outlines and suggestive comments.
This faithfulness, where it exists, develops itself in two branches; the one suppressing our neighbour’s vanity, and the other our own. The last mentioned is first in order of nature and in relative importance the chief. True faithfulness, like charity, begins at home. . . . Faithful reproof of another’s foibles is a virtue which some can exercise without an effort. They deal a hearty blow on the head of a luckless brother egotist who stands in the way of their own advancement, and then expect to be praised for faithfulness. But it is Jehu’s driving. The zeal which impels it is not pure.—Arnot.
The meaning is (seeCritical Notesfor Miller’s rendering) that a man is apt to call mere animal traits, like amiableness, or good nature, by the name ofgoodness;and the caution is, that seeking deep for piety (ver. 5), we should be careful to take up with no such stupid counterfeit. Much of the merefleshto borrow a New Testament expression, is kind and honest. There is much of the mere man’s native morality. We must take care not to take that for“goodness.”There is a certain truefidelitythat embraces everything. That is religion. It embraces God. It embraces spiritualfaithfulness.It may be easily counterfeited. It has been the snare of our race to take“what is of the mere man,”and confound it with it.—Miller.
A faithful man—as a parent—a reprover—an adviser—one “without guile”—who can find? (Mic. vii. 1, 2). Look close. View thyself in the glass of the Word (Psa. ci. 6). Does thy neighbour, or thy friend, find thee faithful to him? What does our daily intercourse witness? Is not theattempt to speak what is agreeable often made at the expense of truth? Are not professions of regard sometimes utterly inconsistent with our real feelings? In common life, where gross violations are restrained, a thousand petty offences are allowed, that break down the wall between sin and duty, and, judged by the Divine standard, are indeed guilty steps upon forbidden ground.—Bridges.
But the manner in which men make known what they account their goodness is very various. Some are open with it. They almost literally “proclaim” it upon the housetops. To every individual, and in every company, they speak of it—of what they are, of what they have said, of what they have done, of what they think, and of what they wish and intend to do. And O! if they had but the means what would they not accomplish!
Some there are who are quite as vain, and as ambitious of commendation and praise—who, knowing that everything of the nature of ostentation is exceedingly unpopular, and lets a man down, and tempts others to pluck his feathers from him—set about their object with greater art. They devise ways of getting their merits made known so as to avoid the flaw of ostentatious self-display. In company, they commend others for the qualities which they conceive themselves specially to possess, or for the doing of deeds which they themselves are sufficiently well known to have done; and they turn the conversation dexterously that way; or they find fault with others for the want of the good they are desirous to get praise for; or they lament over their own deficiencies and failures in the very points in which they conceive their excellence to lie—to give others the opportunity of contradicting them; or, if they have done anything they deem particularly generous and praise-worthy, they introduce some similar case, and bring in, in as apparently accidental and unintentional a way as possible, the situation of the person or the family that has been the object of their bounty.—Wardlaw.
Verse 7. Many are the several walks of men in this world—one walketh in his pleasure, as it were in the walks of a garden; another walketh in his profit, and he walketh as it were up and down the exchange; another walketh in troubles, and he walketh as it were in a wood; another walketh in his poverty, and he walketh as it were in a desert; another walketh in his beastly lusts of drunkenness and uncleanness, and he walks as it were in mire and dirt; the just man walketh in his integrity, and he walketh as it were in the holy temple.—Jermin.
Verse 8. We must be very careful, then, how we do our sifting. God’s is perfectly complete. . . . Hewinnowsus at a glance. It is important, therefore, that we have something more than “evil,” because “all” that He shallwinnowbodily away.—Miller.
Verse 9. Behold here the king sitting upon the throne of His judgment, whereof the former verse speaketh! Whocansay it, and so be untrue in saying it? Who shall say it, and be so impudent as to say it? For to make clean the heart is His work who hath made the heart, thou who hast made it unclean canst not make it clean.—Jermin.
This proverb is especially noteworthy because, in contrast with the style of conception which is elsewhere predominant in the Proverbs, according to which the imperfection of all human piety is but slightly emphasized, and he who is relatively pious is allowed to pass as righteous, it gives expression to the unsatisfying nature of all moral endeavours, as never conducting to the full extirpation of all sense of guilt, and a perfect feeling of peace with God;it accordingly suggests the need of a higher revelation in which the sense of guilt and of an ever-imperfect fulfilment of duty shall finally be overcome.—Elster, in Lange’s Commentary.
Verse 10. Originally, as in xi. 1, of dishonesty in actual trade, but hereperhaps as a companion to verse 9, with a wider application to all inequality of judgment, to all judging one man by rules which we do not apply to ourselves or to another.—Plumptre.
That whereby thou takest from others shall add unto the weight of thine own punishment; that whereby thou addest in measuring for thyself shall make God to take away from the measure of His mercy towards thee.—Jermin.
Verse 11. There is no tree that in growing doth not bend rather to the one side or the other; there is no river which, although it have many windings and turnings, yet in the course of it doth not rather turn one way than another; and so it is in the life of man, even from the childhood of man’s life. Do not judge, therefore, of any man by one work or two, so thou mayest wrong him and deceive thyself.—Jermin.
For Homiletics on verse 13 see on chap.vi. 10, 11, page 79.
main homiletics of verse14.
Bargaining.
This proverb refers—
I. To a world-wide manifestation of human selfishness.A custom that was prevalent in the days of Solomon, many centuries ago, and amid circumstances which differed widely from those by which we are surrounded, has held its place among men until the present day, and will doubtless continue to do so until the teachings and the spirit of Christianity rule the world. It prevails in modern England quite as extensively as it did in ancient Judea; and whether the buyer be a millionaire bargaining for an estate, or a costermonger for the worth of a shilling, he is often found knowingly, and therefore criminally, depreciating the value of the commodity. It is a trait of fallen humanity which “makes the whole world kin.”
II. To a pitiful ground of boasting.Although it does need some skill and experience to tell the real value of an article, it requires none to pronounce it good for nothing. Only a man with some knowledge and judgment can put a fair price upon it, but any fool can say, “It is naught, it is naught.” And if by knowingly depreciating the purchase the buyer robs the seller, he has but a very poor transaction to boast of. He has wronged another, it is true, but he has far more grievously wronged himself, for if his neighbour is the poorer by a few pence or pounds he is the poorer by so much injury done to his own conscience, and by so much loss of the confidence of his fellow men. He who makes a boast of such a matter must, indeed, have few grounds for boasting.
outlines and suggestive comments.
This victorious boasting is not like other boasting. For that delighteth to do it in the face of the conquered; but this, as justly ashamed of itself, is made when they are gone one from the other. But to make a moral application of the words, as it is in buying commodities, so it is in the getting of wisdom and godliness; while a man labours for the obtaining of it, the trouble of his pains maketh him not to think so well of it, but having made it his own, then he praiseth the worth and excellency of it.—Jermin.
For Homiletics on Verse 15 see on chap.iii. 14, 15;viii. 11;xii. 14;xviii. 20, 21; pages 39, 107, 275, and 555.
main homiletics of verse16.
Necessary Security.
I. An untrustworthy creditor.A man who under ordinary circumstances makes himself a surety for one who is a stranger to him, is chargeable with great folly, and the act may be a criminal one. He is very foolish if he pledges himself up to his ability of redeeming his pledge, and he is dishonest if he goes beyond it. The warning of the proverb is directed against entering into business relations with a man who has so slight a sense of his own responsibility as to become “surety for a stranger.” It may be regarded as a certainty that a man who will enter into such an engagement without reflection and caution is not to be depended on—does not measure his actions in this particular by a very high standard of morality. He may be a man of generous impulses and good intentions, but he lacks that substratum of high principle which makes a safe creditor.
II. An extreme security.The necessity of exacting security before credit, discloses the existence of immorality in the world. In a family where every brother is known to the other, and where the interests of each are the interests of all, there is no need to take a pledge for the performance of any promise, or the payment of any debt. But in the imperfect state of society in which we find ourselves, security before credit is necessary when we enter into business transactions with our fellow men, for the world is not yet ruled by the Divine precept,“Love thy neighbour as thyself”—(Matt. xix. 19). And the security may be regulated by the reliability of him whom we trust. Solomon here regards him who becomes surety for a stranger, as so unlikely to be faithful to his own liabilities, that those who trust him may exact from him even that pledge which was the last allowed in the Mosaic law, and which could not be retained beyond the day (Exodus xxii. 26, 27). The injunction is probably to be regarded rather as advice against trusting such a man at all. (On the subject of suretyship, see Comments on chap.vi. 1, page 76.)
outlines and suggestive comments.
The moral is that securityships are so unsafe that we may treat the man as one already ruined. But in the spiritual world it means (chap. vi.) that a man who holds fast sloth (chap. v. 13), holds fast a bond of eternal vengeance; that he renews it by his wilful act (xvii. 18); that it is a bond to a friend (chap. vi. 1), but that friend forcedex legeto collect it; that if now at this late day he holds it on, stand clear from him! He will certainly be lost.Take his garment,that is, use the last resort, as against the most hopeless bondsman.—Miller.
His garment is not so near unto him as thou art unto thyself; this is not more needful to keep him warm than it is to keep thee safe. And seeing that he, by his folly, hath made himself naked of understanding, it is not thou but himself that maketh him naked of his garment. Seeing he is content to give himself a pledge for a stranger, it is less than thou doest in taking his garment as a pledge of him.—Jermin.
main homiletics of verse17.
Bad Bread.
I. Some gratification is to be obtained from dishonest gain.Many a swindler gets not only bread by swindling, but many other things, which notonly minister to his senses, but gratify mental appetites not in themselves unlawful. And he finds pleasure in the fruit of his dishonesty—in, it may be, his well-furnished table, his luxurious mansion, his social position. It is not the highest and the purest pleasure, but there is a sweetness in it, or men would not grasp so eagerly the “bread of deceit.”
II. A time will come when it will not only cease to give pleasure, but will bring misery.The dishonest man will find that, after all, his gains are not bread for his higher nature—that his soul is still unsatisfied, and crying out for sustenance—and, more than this, that his conscience demands satisfaction for the wrong-doing of the past—and even if he is permitted to keep possession of his ill-gotten wealth, it is not only what chaff without the grain, or the husk without the kernel, is to the starving man, but as the very sand of the desert or the dust of the highway in the mouth, tormenting as well as unsatisfying.
outlines and suggestive comments.
“Everything gotten wrongfully is here implied.” Bitter was Achan’s sweet, deceitfully hid in the tent, which brought ruin upon himself and his family (Josh. vii. 21–24). Look at Gehazi. What profit had he from his talents of silver and changes of garments? Bitter indeed was the bread of deceit to him (2 Kings v. 20–27). Look even at Jacob, a true servant of God; and yet chastened heavily almost to the end of his days with the bitter fruits of deceit (Gen. xxvii.; xli. 36–38).—Bridges.
Men must not think to dine with the devil, and then to sup with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.—Trapp.
It is crusted without, as if it were bread; but within, contrary to bread, is not soft. The deceived, tasting it with the tongue of his hope and presuming confidence, findeth nothing which is not grateful unto him: the deceiver tasting it with the tongue of present profit findeth it most luscious unto him. But when the deceiver, having it in his mouth, pierceth it with the teeth of his trial, then so gravel breaketh the teeth so it breaketh his heart; and when the deceiver comes to feed upon it he findeth there is no juice of true profit.—Jermin.
main homiletics of verse18.
Thought Before Action.
I. The permanent success of an undertaking is generally in proportion to the thought bestowed upon it beforehand.It is an act of extreme folly to commit ourselves to any course, or to undertake any task without first weighing all the probable consequences, and providing against the most likely contingencies. Such a wise forethought by no means excludes entire dependence upon God, for while it is most true that“Man’s goings are of the Lord,”and“a man cannot understand his own way”(ver. 24), both common sense and the Word of God plainly teach that man must use the powers of forethought with which he has been endowed, or he must be content to see his purposes frustrated and his plans miscarry. If he desires his “purposes” to be “established,” in other words—what he does to have a lasting result in the direction desired—he must“sit down first”and“count the cost”(Luke xiv. 28, 31).