main homiletics of verses10and11.
The Rights of Private Property.
I. In the community formed under Divine direction there was a possession of personal and private property.When the land of Canaan was first divided among the tribes, it was evident that each family had its respective allotment, the boundaries of which were clearly defined (See Duet. xix. 14, etc.) Each head of a family became, therefore, a possessor of property, to which no other person, not even the king in the days of the monarchy, had a right. (See 1 Kings xxi. 1–3.) The kingdom, therefore, formed under direct Divine supervision, was not governed on communistic principles; each man had his own inheritance, which became more or less valuable according to the industry and skill expended upon it. Social inequalities must have resulted from this arrangement, which were prevented from becoming too great by the arrangements connected with the year of jubilee, but which within certain limits were evidently not regarded by God as opposed to the welfare of His chosen people. We may infer, then, that the idea that it would be better for mankind if all things were possessed in common—if no man had anything which he could call his own—is not a Divine idea, and is a mistaken one.
II. Those who are too helpless to protect their own rights are especially under the protection of God.The depravity of human nature is seen in the almost universal tendency displayed by the strong to forget the claims of the weak; but when this tendency is carried to the length of wronging the widow and the fatherless, it seems as if a man had sunk to the lowest depths of moral degradation. Yet there were such specimens of fallen humanity in the commonwealth established and governed by God Himself, as there are in nominally Christian England. But, from the earliest days of Jewish history, God declared Himself to be the Guardian of the widow and the fatherless, and the field which was their inheritance might have been well calledGod’s Acre,from which all intruders were warned off by Divine command and threatening. This is a truth which it may be well for all those to lay to heart which hold property in trustfor such dependent ones, or who have any other responsibility in relation to them. It is surely a comforting thought for the fatherless themselves that the place of the earthly parent is taken by One whose power as much exceeds all human power as His love goes beyond all human love.
illustration.
The state of Palestine with regard to enclosures is very much the same now as it has always been. Though gardens and vineyards are surrounded by dry stone walls or hedges of prickly pear, the boundaries of arable fields are marked by nothing but a little trench, a small cairn, or a single erect stone placed at certain intervals. It is manifest that a dishonest person could easily fill the gutter with earth, or remove these stones a few feet without much risk of detection and thus enlarge his own field by a stealthy encroachment on his neighbour’s.—Dr. Jamieson.
outlines and suggestive comments.
The words in the first clause of the verse have been sometimes applied in a very different department—even to the danger and the criminality of intermeddling with old and long established articles of doctrine in religion, and principles and statutes of civil polity. . . . It is clear, however, that there can be no period of prescription for truth,—or rather for falsehood,—no length of time, that is, by which error that has passed for truth can become anything else than error. No time can transmute wrong into right. Changes, no doubt, should be made with caution. The longer anything has been received as a truth, the improbability of its being found an error becomes ever the greater. But if any dogma in any human system of Christian doctrine is proved, from a full and careful investigation of the Word of God, to have been set down and held as a truth by mistake,—it would be a most strange and mischievous attachment to antiquity for its own sake, that would resist its being expunged and the truth discovered substituted in its room. Never must we forget, that the most ancient landmarks of truth and duty are those which have been fixedhere—in the Bible—by the hands of prophets, apostles, and evangelists, under the immediate direction of the “Spirit of the Lord.” There are none so old as these. From the Bible human standards have been formed.Theirlandmarks profess to be in agreement, in the bounding lines of truth and error marked out by them, with those which are set down there. But when, on a careful survey, any of them are found to have been misplaced, and to bring any part of the region of error within the boundary of the territory of truth,—their removal becomes a duty of imperative obligation.—Wardlaw.
The word forredeemersignifies the man who was“next of kin,”thekinsmanon whom, by the law of Moses, it was incumbent as a matter of duty, and with whom too it was a matter of interest, to look after the concerns of his poor relations; with whom lay indeed the avenging of their blood, if in any case, their life should, in cruel selfishness, be taken away. It was on the principle of that statute that Boaz called upon the next of kin to come forward and redeem the inheritance of Elimelech at the hand of Naomi, and that, upon his hearing the conditions and declining, he did it himself. Now he who happened to be theredeeming kinsmanmight himself be poor, and powerless, and without either means or influence. But they should not, on that account, be unprotected and unbefriended. Jehovah Himself would take the place of their kinsman—would“plead their cause,”would maintain their rights, would redress their wrongs, would bring His power to bear against their oppressors.Hewould fulfill for them the part of their near relation: and he is“mighty.”Hear His words:—“Ye shall not afflict any widow, or fatherless child. If thou afflict them in any wise, I will surely hear their cry; and my wrath shall wax hot, and I will kill you with the sword; and your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless” (Exod. xxii. 22–24). These, you may think, are Old Testament threatenings, belonging to a judicial law that has passed away; or, more properly, they belong to the specialtheocracy,inasmuch as they do not prescribe any punishment to be inflicted by the hand of man, but announce what Jehovah himself would, by his own interposition, execute. Be it so. But think you that the character of God has changed? Such assurances and threatenings are not mere warnings of punishment; they areexpressions of character.—Wardlaw.
Adored be the unsearchable pity, grace, and condescension of Emmanuel! When He could not redeem us as God, He became our kinsman, that He might be our Redeemer! (Heb. ii. 14–16).—Bridges.
main homiletics of the paragraph.—Verses12–28.
Parental Duties and Parental Joys.
This paragraph contains no subject upon which Solomon has not dwelt before, but their repetition shows the great importance which he attached to them.
I. He repeats the truth that corporal punishment is a necessary and salutary element of parental training.(see Homiletics on chap.xiii. 24, page 234, and on chap.xix. 18, page 573.)
II. He shows by example that appeals are also to be made to the higher and better nature of the child.Although the rod is to have its place, it is not to be the only force employed—a child is a reasoning and loving creature, and that training will miserably fail which does not take this fact into account. And in proportion as the child grows in years will the rod become less needful and effectual, and wise warning and loving entreaty will take its place. He is here besought to “give his heart to wisdom” and to live “in the fear of Jehovah”—1.Because of the exceeding joy that he will bring to his parents.(See verses 15, 24, and 25.) This is a thought that cannot fail to have weight with any son or daughter of good parents who is capable of grateful emotion. The consideration of the tender love and the unwearying patience that have surrounded them from their birth, and of the power that now lies in their hand to requite that long ministry of tenderness and long suffering, ought to be a powerful motive to dissuade from the evil path and allure into the good way. And it has been and ever will be, for many a child of godly parents has been kept in the hour of temptation by the remembrance of his father or his mother, even when he has not thought upon his God. (See also Homiletics on chap.x. 1, page 137.) 2.Because of the temporal ruin of an opposite course.(See verses 21, 27, and 28.) All these subjects have been considered before. (See Homiletics on chap.xxi. 17, page 609, and on chap.vi. 6-11, page 79, and on chap.vi. 24, page 89.) 3.Because of the rewards and punishments of the life to come.(See verse 18.) This verse (seeCritical Notes) undoubtedly refers to the day of death and to the life beyond it, as do also chaps.xi. 7, andxiv. 32. (See Homiletics on pages 201 and 391.)
outlines and suggestive comments.
Verse 13. The command is framed upon a supposition that parents often fail on the side of tenderness; the word is given to nerve them for a difficult duty. There is no ambiguity in the precept; both the need of correction,and the tremendous issues that depend on it, are expressed with thrilling precision of language.—Arnot.
Verses 15, 16. Now the proverb personates the father, and, instead of a roundabout speech, utters the temper that should inspire the beating. There will be no good unless the father shows the son that it will be his highest joy, if the son learns wisdom. If thou be really“wise.”That is the caution of the first clause. If it be no sham thing, but an affair of the“heart;”then“my heart shall rejoice,”down in the same depths. And then, as men are great actors, and maylookvirtue as they whip a child, when they do not feel it much, Solomon protests that it must be real. Each part of this sentence must be meant. Not,—Thou must be a good citizen, or a clever worker, or a moral actor, or a good gratifying son; but the boy must see, (and he surely will see it, if it is felt), that the yearning is that he becomewise in heart, i.e.,a good earnest Christian, and then on the other hand, that down in the same depths, not with outward expressions of pleasure, but in your very heart—not in your made-up heart, which you keep to show to others, butin your very self—the proverb echoes your feeling,“My heart shall rejoice, even mine.”The reduplication intensifies the sense. And then, unwilling to shake loose from the thought, he pushes it further.“Yea my reins shall rejoice.”That deepest, firmest, lastingest receptacle of joy, the patientreinsshall rejoice or“exult”—the very highest feeling coming from the deepest depths.“When thy lips,”which are the best expounders of the heart,“speak right things.”The doctrine therefore is that a man will save his child if he disciplines him with these witnessed tokens of his manifest affection.—Miller.
Verse 17. This habitualfear of the Lordis nothing separate from common life. It gives to it a holy character. It makes all its minute details not only consistent with, but component parts of, godliness. Acts of kindliness are “done after a godly sort” (John iii. 5, 6). Instead of one duty thrusting out another, all are “done heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto man” (Eph. vi. 6, Col. iii. 23). Some professors confine their religion to extraordinary occasions. But Elijah seems to have been content to await his translation in his ordinary course of work (2 Kings ii. 1–12). An example that may teach us to lay the greater stress upon the daily and habitual, not the extraordinary service. Others are satisfied with a periodical religion; as if it were rather a rapture or an occasional impulse, than a habit. But if we are to engage in morning and evening devotions, we are also to “wait upon the Lordall the day” (Ps. xxv. 5). If we are to enjoy our Sabbath privileges, we are also to “abide in our weekly calling with God.” Thus the character of a servant of God is maintained—“devoted to His fear” (Ps. cxix. 38).—Bridges.
Verse 18.“Cut off,”as the worldling’s is. The worldling expects to becut off.He toils with a hope, and that so vivid that he becomes aglow (seeMiller’s rendering, in verse 17) in worldly earnestness of purpose; and yet,ab imo,he knows that it will becut off.. . . How can any intellect stand against such appeals? Work for something that will pay, for . . . there is something that shall never be“cut off.”—Miller.
Verse 19. The hinging pivot of this verse is the pronounthou.Friends may do ever so much, but in the end it must bethyself.There is an eternal“way.”It is a way not for the feet but for theheart.Thehearthas some day to rise up and enter it. Once in, it will never wander any more out.My son,take that critical step. A man has a certain amount of strength, a certain amount of susceptibility let us call it, in matters of conversion. . . . Now the father, in his more immediate entreaties to his child, is to remember this.—Miller.
Verse 20. A man grows old by the common use of his faculties; but if he pleases he can travel faster. He can make drafts upon his flesh with wine, and burn faster. . . . A man can seek death by the most moral impenitence. But he can also travel faster. He can do it by drunkenness. He can do it by trains of trespasses, of which common drunkenness may stand as chief.—Miller.
We are forbidden not only to be drunkards or gluttons, but to be found in the company of such persons; for bad company is the common temptation which the devil uses to draw men to these sins. Those who have been long inured to a temperate course of life must not think that they are at liberty to infringe this precept, and to mingle themselves with the sons of riot, because they are strong enough in their own eye to overcome all the temptations of sensuality. Christ charges His own disciples, who had been practised in every virtue under his own eye, and who had less temptations to this vice than any other men, to take heed to themselves that their hearts might not be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness.—Lawson.
Verse 23. Solomon bids us buy the truth, but does not tell us what it must cost, because we must get it though it be ever so dear. We must love it both shining and scorching. Every parcel of truth is precious as filings of gold; we must either live with it or die for it. . . . A man may lawfully sell his house, land, or jewels, but truth is a jewel that excels all prices, and must not be sold; it is our heritage: “Thy testimonies have I taken as an heritage for ever” (Psa. cxix. 111). It is a legacy that our forefathers have bought with their bloods, which should make us willing to lay down anything or lay out anything to purchase it.—Brooks.
A merchant buys for the very purpose of selling; and he will not buy unless he has a pretty good assurance that he will sellat a profit;that he cangetfor his article more than he hasgiven.The case here, then, is quite peculiar. It isall buying.The article is one which is to beboughtbut neversold.And why? For the best possible reason, thatit can neverbe sold at a profit, there is nothingtoo valuableto begivenfor it, there is nothingvaluable enoughto betakenfor it. . . . 1. The buyer tests his article. He uses means to ascertain itsgenuineness.. . . The cautious purchaser makes sure of his bargain, and all the surer, the higher the price. . . . Now, all that is presented to us astruthmust be thus tested. Inphysical sciencescientific men will not take upon trust what professes to be a new discovery without examining thoroughly the experiments by which it is said to have been ascertained. . . . Thus, too, does the metaphysician in regard to every new theory inmentalscience; and the moral philosopher in the department of ethics. . . . Now, we are as far as possible from wishing it to be otherwise in the department ofreligion.In proportion to the importance of the case,—to the height of the authority on which the claims to acceptance are rested,—the magnitude at once of the benefits promised, and of the risks incurred,—ought to be the solicitude and care with which the testing process is conducted. This then is the last department of all, in which what professes to be truth should be taken upon trust; in which inquiry should be careless, and faith easy. The obligation to examine is imperative and solemn; and marvellous, indeed, is the indisposition of men to enter on the investigation. Men who, with the utmost earnestness and perseverance, will test every alleged truth in science, in history, or in politics, cannot be persuaded to apply their powers to an inquiry more important, by infinite degrees, than any other that can engage the attention of the human mind! They either decline it altogether, or they set about it with a levity and a superficiality utterly at variance with what such a question demands, and from which no just appreciation or correct conclusion can be anticipated.2. It is not enough for the buyer to ascertain thegenuinenessof his article. He sets about estimating its real worth; its worthintrinsically,and its worthadventitiously;its worthin itself,and its worthto him.The two may be widely different. The diamond is of incomparably more intrinsic worth than the grain of barley; but the cock in the fable spurned away the former and picked up the latter. In the present case,—having once ascertained the Divine authority of the record,—there can be no hesitation about either theintrinsicor therelativevalue of what it makes known.All truthis precious; but its preciousness is, of course, endlessly varied in degree. Two things may be considered as combining to constitute its value. They are—itssubject,and itsutility.In natural science some truths present a union of both. The discoveries of astronomy for example, are, many of them, full of intrinsic interest from their vastness and sublimity, and the impressions they give of the transcendent majesty of God; while, in some of their practical bearings, they are of pre-eminent advantage to men. But in a peculiar sense may this be affirmed of the discoveries of Divine revelation. These discoveries present views of God’s moral government, in its great essential principles and in their practical application, such as have in them a weight of moral grandeur, and a consequent depth of absorbing interest surpassing all that nature can disclose. And, while they possess intrinsic preciousness above all other truths,—think of their value when estimated by the blessings which are unfolded in them, and to which the faith of them introduces the believer, in time and in eternity! The purchaser values the article he is about to purchase, by the amount of benefit the possession of it will bring him. In like manner must you estimate the value of “the truth” you are here counselled to buy. The value of it, in this view, is summed up by our Lord himself, when he says,“This is life eternal.”What then, the real worth to you, of any other compared with this? 3. The buyer, when he has estimated the value of his article,makes proportional sacrificesto obtain possession of it. Foolish estimates there may be; and these foolish estimates may be the occasion of foolish bargains; and these may be the grounds of regret and self-dissatisfaction. But supposing the certainty of all the benefits, for time and eternity, which in the Bible are promised and guaranteed in connection with“the truth,”O! what is there, in the whole compass of what this world can confer, that should not, without one moment’s hesitation, be sacrificed for its attainment? 4. In proportion to the buyer’s estimate of his article, and the cost at which he has obtained it, will be the jealousy with which he retains and guards it.“Sell it not.”Selling the truth, is not simply letting slip from the mind the remembrance of mere abstractions; it is to give up the profession and faith of it for the sake of the very things which we sacrificed for it. But“sell it not.”Sell it not for thepleasures of sin.Sell it not for theriches and honours of the world.O part not with the pearl of great price for the husks which the swine do eat. . . . Andbe prompt with your bargain.Those who are much set upon an article will not delay their purchase, lest perchance it should pass from their hands. Blessed be God there is no danger here, so far as others coming forward before you is concerned. . . . But if not now prompt and decided you may be thwarted in another way. Death may decide the matter for you.—Wardlaw.
Verse 26. A supplication is come, as it were, from God to man, that man would send God his heart; penned by Solomon under the name of wisdom (chap. ix. 1), and directed to her sons. . . . He which always gave, now craves; and he which craves always, now gives. Christ stands at the door like a poor man, and asks not bread, nor clothes, nor lodgings, which we should give to His members, but our heart—that is,even the continent of all, and governor of man’s house. . . . Should God be a suppliant unto thee and me, but that our unthankfulness condemns us, that for all the things which He hath given unto us, we never considered yet what we should give unto Him before He asketh. . . . Mark what God hath chosen for Himself: not that which any other should lose by, like the demands of them which care for none but themselves, but that which, being given to God, moves us to give every man his due. . . . Give God thy heart, that He may keep it; not a piece of thy heart, not a room in thy heart, but thy heart. The heart divided, dieth. God is not like the mother which would have the child divided, but like the natural mother which said, Rather than it should be divided, let her take it all. Let the devil have all, if He which gave it be not worthy of it. . . . As a man considers what he does when he gives, so God licenseth us to consider of that which we do for Him, whether He deserves it, whether we owe it, whether He can require it, lest it come against our will; thereforegiveMe, saith God, as though He would not strain upon us, or take it from us. . . . Is God so desirous of my heart? What good can my heart do to God? It is not worthy to come under His roof. I would I had a better gift to send unto my Lord; go, my heart, to thy Maker; the Bridegroom hath sent for thee, put on thy wedding garment, for the King Himself will marry thee. Who is not sorry now that he did not give his heart before? Is he not worthy to die that will take his heart from Him that made it, from Him that redeemed it, from Him which preserves it, from Him that will glorify it, and gives it to him that will infect it, torment it, condemn it? Will a servant reach the cup to a stranger when his master calls for it? Or will a man sell his coat if he have no more? What dost thou reserve for God, when thou hast given Satan thine heart? Christ hath promised to come and dwell with thee (Rev. iii. 20); where shall He stay, where shall He dine, if the chamber be taken up, and the heart let forth to another? Thou art but a tenant, and yet thou takest His house over His head, and placest in it whom thou wilt, as if thou wert landlord.—Henry Smith.
I. Man hasnothing higherto dispose of. His heart is given when he sets his strongest affections upon an object. Wherever he centres his strongest love his heart is, and wherever his heart isheis. . . . II. Manis compelledto dispose of it. He is forced, not by any outward coercion, but by an inward pressure. It is as necessary for the soul to love as it is to the body to breathe. The deepest of all the deep hungers of humanity is the hunger of the soul to love. Sometimes so ravenous does man’s animal appetite for food become, that he will devour with a kind of relish the most loathsome things; and so voracious is the heart for some object to love, that it will settle down upon the lowest and most contemptible creatures rather than not love at all. III. Manalone can disposeof it. No one can take it from him by force. He is the only priest who can present it.—Dr. David Thomas.
Verse 28. Uncleanness leads to faithlessness of manifold kinds; and it makes not only the husband unfaithful to the wife, but also the son to the parents, the scholar to the teacher and pastor, the servant to the master. The adulteress, inasmuch as she entices now one and now another into her net, increases the number of those who are faithless towards men. But are they not, above all, faithless towards God?—Delitzsch.
main homiletics of the paragraph.—Verses29–35.
The Drunkard’s Picture.
I. The drunkard is an entire inversion of man as God intended him to be.God made man’s mind to rule his body, but the drunkard’s bodily appetites rule his mind. God gave man an intellect to guide his actions; He intended the various limbs of his body to be the servants of his will, and to obey the dictates of his reason. But the drunkard not only gives up all his spiritual and intellectual power to his body, but all his other bodily powers to the rule of one sense—that of his palate. Men who are not awake to their spiritual and mental needs might be expected to have as much regard for their animal wants, and to be as careful to avoid bodily suffering as the brute creation. But it is not so with the drunkard—although nights and days of privation and suffering are often the fruits of an hour’s drinking, he voluntarily undergoes the former in order to enjoy the latter. Not only is conscience and reason and heart sacrificed to his mouth, but every other bodily sense is made to serve the one sense and every other part of the body to suffer, that one part may be gratified if but for a moment.
II. He is an entire inversion of what we might expect even a fallen man to be.Looking at man as he is when he lives for this world only, he is generally alive to his own immediate temporal interests and careful to avoid in the future what has brought him suffering in the past. But it is not so with the slave to drink. If only wife and children had to leave lives of misery and his own life was a constant round of even animal enjoyment, the drunkard’s career would not be such an unaccountable infatuation. Human selfishness would be sufficient to account for it. But who suffers like the drunkard himself? The wise man enumerates some of his miseries—woe, grief, contentions and wounds without cause, the stings of remorse, the disordered brain, and entire loss of consciousness and of power to defend one’s own life and property—this is the drunkard’s heritage. And in the intervals between his madness he knows it and drinks to the dregs the bitter cup of bodily and mental misery that must always follow the immoderate use of the wine cup. And yet his language is“I will seek it yet again.”The child that has been burnt dreads the fire, but the poor drunkard scarred from head to foot with the marks of the flames, seems with all his other losses to have lost also the natural instinct of self-preservation and the power of learning anything from the great teacher—experience.
III. A consideration of the strength and nature of the drunkard’s chain should lead all to shun that which enslaved him.When we consider what havoc intoxicating drink has wrought, it is marvellous that men do not turn from it with loathing; that they are not afraid to play with so deadly, and yet so treacherous an enemy to mankind. When the sailor knows that there is a treacherous whirlpool in the ocean, which has engulfed a thousand noble vessels, he is careful to give it a wide berth, to keep far beyond the outermost ring of the current. But the habit of men in general seems to be to try how near they can come to his moral and social gulf of death, without being drawn beneath the waters. The experiment is fraught with deadly peril, and is often a fatal one. Solomon’s advice is to ensure safety, by not even“looking upon the wine when it is red.”
outlines and suggestive comments.
There is mention made of a monk at Prague, who having heard at shrift the confessions of many drunkards, wondered at it, and for experiment would try his brain with this sin, and accordingly stole himself drunk. Now,after the vexation of three sick days, to all that confessed that sin he enjoined no other penance than this: “Go and be drunk again.” Surely his meaning was like that of Seneca, that drunkenness was a torment and affliction to itself.—Spencer.
Drunkenness is a special water at the devil’s banquet. This sin is a horrible self-theft. . . . Thieves cannot steal lands, unless they be Westminster Hall thieves, crafty contenders that eat out a true title with false evidence; but the drunkard robs himself of his lands. Now he dissolves an acre, and then an acre, into the pot, till he hath ground all his ground at the malt quern, and run all his patrimony through his throat. Thus he makes himself the living tomb of his forefathers—of his posterity. He needs not trouble his sick mind with a will, or distrust the fidelity of executors.—T. Adams.
Verse 29. The best that can come of drunkenness is repentance—that fairest daughter of so foul a mother—and that is not without its woe, and alas! its sorrow and redness of eyes with weeping for sin.—Trapp.
Verse 31. He that would avoid the commission of sin must avoid the occasion of sin. If we would not fall down the hill we must beware of coming near the brow of it. Keep thee far from an evil matter. When the wine laughs in thy face then shut thine eyes lest it steal into thine heart. A guest may easily be kept out of the house at first, but if once entertained it is hard to turn him out of doors. When the governor of a fort once comes to parley with the enemy that besiegeth him there is great fear that the place will be surrendered.—Swinnock.
Verse 33. One remarkable peculiarity of this chapter is the junction and alternation of these two kindred sins. There they stand, like two plants of death, each growing on its own independent root, and nourished by the same soil, but cleaving close to each other by congeniality of nature, and twisted round each other for mutual support. . . . The alliance, so generally formed and so firmly maintained between drunkenness and licentiousness, is a master-stroke of Satan’s policy. It is when men have looked upon this deceitful cup, and received into their blood the poison of its sting, that their eyes behold “strange women;” and when they have fallen into that “narrow pit,” they run back to hide their shame, at least from themselves, in the maddening draught.—Arnot.
Verse 34. The passage is interesting, as showing what Ps. civ. 25, 26, cvii. 23–30, also show, the increased familiarity of the Israelites with a sea life.—Plumptre.
It is very foul weather in which a drunkard saileth. For as St. Ambrose speaketh, the multitude of lusts in him do raise a great tempest, which toss his mind to and fro, sailing as it were in the narrow sea of his body, so that he cannot be pilot to himself. . . . But that which maketh the drunkard’s case worst of all is this: it is a shipwreck of the body only which in a tempest is feared, but he maketh shipwreck of his soul if repentance be not a plank of safety to him.—Jermin.
Critical Notes.—5. A man of knowledge,rather“a man of understanding,”increaseth strength,literally“maketh power strong.”Miller translates the entire verse thus:—“A strong man, if wise, is as a power indeed; and a man of knowledge makes strength really strong.”7. Wisdom is too high,etc. Delitzsch here reads,Wisdom seems to the fool to be an ornamental commodity,and thinks “the comparison lies in the rarity, costliness, and unattainableness of wisdom.” “The word,” says Miller, “occurs but three times in the Bible; once in Job xxviii. 18, translatedcoral;once in Ezekiel xxvii. 16, translatedcoraland agate; and once in this passage, where it ought to be translatedcoralagain.” Some, from this rendering, understand the verse to signify that a fool uses wisdom like a precious stone, only for ornament.8. Mischievous person,literallya master or lord of mischief.9. The thought,etc., rather, “thedeviceorundertaking.”10. If thou faint,etc., rather“If thou hast been straitened in the day of straitness, strait is thy strength.”11.Literally,“Deliver them who are dragged forthuntodeath, and them that totter to the slaughter, oh, rescue them.”12. He that pondereth,literally,the Weigher of hearts.He that keepeth,rather“watcheth.”14. There shall be a reward,rather,“there is a future,”as in chap. xxiii. 18.16. The wicked shall fall.Delitzsch reads,“the wicked are overthrown when calamity falls on them,” i.e.,they do not rise again and again as the just man does.20. Reward.The same word used in verse 14, and in chap. xxiii. 18. Its literal meaning is “a hereafter.” Zöckler translates itendin the first two instances, but in this case he readsfuture.Delitzsch and Miller render ithereafterorfuturein every verse.21. Given to change,literallyotherwise disposed,or, according to Miller,repeaters, turners back.22. The ruin of them both,etc. This phrase is variously rendered, and different meanings are also attached to the same rendering. Delitzsch follows the Syriac version, and reads,“the end of their years, who knoweth it?”But Zöckler adapts the reading of the Authorised Version, which is supported by the Vulgate, by Luther, Ewald, Elster, and others. Some understand the wordbothto refer to those who rebel against God, and those who rebel against the king (so Zöckler), while others apply it to God and the king, and theruinforetold as that proceeding from them. Here begins a short appendix to the third main division of the book of Proverbs, the first clause of verse 33 being its superscription, which is almost in the same words as that which introduces the division itself. (See chap. xxii. 17.) It extends only to the end of the chapter, and consists of maxims which have no apparent connection with each other.23. These things also belong to the wise.Rather“These(the proverbs which follow)are also from wise men.”The wordalsoconnects this introduction with that in chap. xxii. 17.25. To them that rebuke,etc. The wordhimis not in the original, and spoils the sense. If this rendering of the verb is accepted,iniquitymust be understood to be the subject of rebuke. Delitzsch however reads,“To them who rightly decide,”and Miller renders,“To them that set the thing right.”26. A right answer,i.e., afaithful, straightforwardanswer. “The word comes,” says Miller, “from a verb meaningto be in front.” “The mention of thelips,” Zöckler remarks, “is to be explained simply by the remembrance of thequestionto which the upright and truthful answer corresponds.”27. House.This word may mean here as it does in Exod. i. 21, Ruth iv. 11, 2 Sam. vii. 27, etc., the family—the household interests.
main homiletics of the paragraph.—Verses1–6.
House Building.
I. An undertaking founded upon wickedness lacks the first element of stability.A house built upon a sandy foundation, we all know, does not possess the first requisite of safety. It is useless to erect any building for fine weather purposes only—if it is not able to stand a storm all the labour expended upon it is lost. Those places are very few where the tempest does not come sometimes, and even if we could find so favoured a spot, a sandy foundation would not be a permanent one. The ordinary play of the elements and the changes of the seasons would be ever at work upon the loose and shifting soil, and in time the house must fall. So it is with any work undertaken with an evil purpose or from wicked motives. There are laws at work in God’s universe which will forbid such a building to remain long in existence. It is very easy work to lay the stones in the sand—much more easy than to hew out a place for them in the solid rock—and the apparently rapid success of evil men and evil deeds tempts many an unwise builder to work after their method. But the experience of the Psalmist is repeatedin every age and must be to the end of time:“I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay tree. Yet he passed away, and, lo, he was not; yea, I sought him, but he could not be found”(Psalm xxxvii. 35, 36).
II. True wisdom consists in patient continuance in well-doing.In this passage, as throughout the entire Book of Proverbs, wisdom is set up as the rival of evil, and sin is accounted as the height of folly. The wise man accounts everything foolishness which is against the moral law of the universe, and thegoodman in his estimation the onlywiseman. That this is a just and true estimate is apparent to all who look a little beneath the surface of things—to all who realise that it is one thing toseemand another thingto be.The mansion upon the sand-bankappearsto be a more desirable dwelling place than the cottage upon the rock, but time will prove which is the safer of the two. But permanence or safety are not the only recommendations to the home of wisdom. There is a satisfaction and a positive joy to be found in doing the right to which the evil-doer is a stranger. To be on the right side of the good is to be on the side of God and of conscience, to know from experience that all the moral powers of the soul grow stronger with use, and such experimental knowledge fills the chambers of the soul “with all precious and pleasant riches” (verse 4). These considerations ought to make it easy to obey Solomon’s precept: “Be not envious against evil men, neither desire to be with them.” The mariner on even a stormy sea would not envy the dweller in the lighthouse if he knew that the waves were rapidly undermining its foundation and rendering its speedy fall certain, and to envy a man a short-lived prosperity which must have a sad end is as contrary to the dictates of reason and self-love. A consideration of their “end” (Psalm lxxiii. 17) is a good preservative against such an envy, and has been tried by many men since the days of Asaph with the same success. But without bringing the future into the present, envy of the wicked may be effectually prevented if we can realise their present loss. The inhabitant of the dwelling filled with materials to satisfy his bodily and mental appetites and wants does not envy him whose house is destitute of such comforts. Yet that would be more reasonable than for him who has the opportunity of rearing for himself a well-furnished house of wisdom—of building a character which shall be in itself a source of satisfaction and joy to his better nature—to desire the empty and unsatisfying portion of evil doers.
For Homiletics on verse 6 considered by itself see on chap.xi. 14, page 214, and on chap.xx. 18, page 590.
outlines and suggestive comments.
Verse 1. Sin is like sound, and it finds the moral nature of fallen man, like the atmosphere, a good conducting medium. The word or deed of evil does not terminate where it is produced. It radiates all round; and beside the direct propagation from a centre by diverging lines, it further reduplicates itself by rebounding like an echo from every object upon which it falls. Human beings may well stand in awe when they consider the self-propagating power of sin, and the facilities which their own corruption affords it. Different persons are affected in different ways. One is shaken by the example of wickedness in its first out-go, another by its rebounding blow. One is carried away in the stream, another hurts himself by his violent efforts to resist it. Some imitate the sin. Others fret against the sinner. Both classes do evil and suffer injury. Whether you be impatiently “envious against evil men,” or weakly “desirous to be with them,” you have sustained damage by the contact.—Arnot.
To be envious against evil men is plainlyto confess ourselves to be worse than they are. For, as St. Gregory speaketh, we cannot envy except it be those who we think to be better than ourselves. Indeed, to envy against evil men is to make wickedness to be goodness, and to show no goodness to be in his heart that is so envious. . . . Whosoever thou be that envieth evil men, I cannot tell who should envy thee, except the devil, because thou strivest to be more wicked than he is. For they are only the godly that he is envious against.—Jermin.
Verse 4. The last virtue here spoken of is knowledge, whereby the inward rooms of the house are filled with all precious substance; unto the providing and treasuring up of food, of money, and all things necessary and comfortable, the knowledge of times, the prices of things, and of the means whereby commodities may be obtained, is requisite. . . . It is not to be marvelled at that many young married folk and householders in these days have nothing in their families but want of necessaries and bare walls, seeing they want both wisdom and understanding, and knowledge.—Muffett.
Riches imply (1) plenty of that which is precious and pleasant. (2) Propriety. They must be that which is their own; and hereunto economical prudence much conducteth. God bestoweth abundance on the wickedex largitate,only out of a general providence; but upon his people that are good husbandsex promisso,by virtue of this and the like promises.—Trapp.
Verse 5.A strong man.(See Miller’s rendering in theCritical Notes.) Acommonman, abetter sortof man, are the four words for man in the Bible. This is astrong man.It meansstrongin a worldly sense. That man,if wise, is a power indeed.. . . The meaning is that a“strong”man, if not“wise,”is not“strong”at all; that piety is itself strength; that the stronger a man without it, the weaker he is; that a strong man who is pious, not only becomes strong in that, but strong really by his worldly strength; because piety gives realness to every gift.—Miller.
I. Intelligenceapart frompiety is power. A man who has great intelligence, and knows how to use it, possesses a power superior to any physical force. . . . II. Pietyapart fromintelligence is ahigher kindof power. It is the patience of love, endurance, patience, compassion; it is a power which will touch men’s hearts, move the very arm of Omnipotence, “take hold upon the strength of God.” III. Pietyassociated withintelligence is thehighest creaturepower. What power on earth is equal to that possessed by the man of vast intelligence and consecrated affections, the man of sunny intellect and Heaven-inspired sympathies and aims?—Dr. David Thomas.
A wise man is not only strong in having wisdom, but in getting strength also. . . . For by wisdom knowing well the want and need of strength, he is careful and diligent to procure it; whereas many times strength, being presumptuous upon its own might, seeks not for wisdom to support it, and falls for want of having it.—Jermin.
main homiletics of verse7.
A False Estimate and a True One.
I. The fool’s estimate of wisdom.Solomon here gives the fool’s own reason for remaining in his folly, viz., that wisdom is difficult to acquire—that neither intellectual or spiritual knowledge can be gained without pains and self-denial. This is of course saying in effect that they are worthless, and this false estimate lies at the root of all ignorance, whether it be mental or moral. For if we canmake a man feel that a thing is good and will bring him good, he will not be unwilling to seek to possess it, and his search and his pursuit will be diligent, and eager, and continuous, in proportion to the good which he believes the possession will bring him. The idle schoolboy complains of the difficulty of his tasks, and of the severity of his teacher, because he does not rightly estimate the value of knowledge, and the moral fool finds fault with the methods of becoming spiritually wise, because he has no sense of the worth of such wisdom. But it must not be forgotten that the longer the fool makes the excuse of the text, the more true it becomes. The powers of the intellect, like those of the body, are less capable of use the longer they remain idle. If a healthy man is so indolent as to refuse to walk, his legs by long disuse may become unable to perform their office, and if the mental powers are left unexercised in youth, it is more difficult to use them to purpose in middle life. And it is so, too, with the spiritual perceptions and capabilities. Although it is never too late to acquire the highest wisdom, it certainly seems more out of the reach of the man who has neglected to seek it throughout a long life, than of him who gives to its pursuit the vigour and freshness of his youth.
II. The consequent estimate which wise men form of the fool.If men undervalue wisdom, they themselves are little valued, and their words and opinions have no weight with wise men. As it is a mark of folly generally to “open the mouth,” although nothing comes therefrom that is worth anything, the declaration that a fool “openeth not his mouth in the gate” must point, not to his own modesty or conscious inability to speak wisely, but to the estimation in which he is held by others.
outlines and suggestive comments.
In bodily things, the more weighty they are, the lower they fall; the lighter they are, the higher they go. Contrariwise is it in the things of the soul, and the more weighty they are, the higher they are; the lighter they are, the lower they lie. It is therefore the lightness of a fool’s brain that makes wisdom too high for him: the giddiness of his head is not able to look up unto the height of it. . . . Therefore St. Gregory saith, If thou wilt find wisdom, tread upon the waves of this world, and walk upon the waters of this life, as St. Peter did, and she will reach forth her right hand to thee, as she did to Peter.—Jermin.
Verses 8 and 9 treat of subjects which have occurred more than once before. See on chap.vi. 12-19, page 81.
main homiletics of verse10.
The Day of Adversity.
I. The inevitable in human experience.The day of adversity is an ordination of God, as a necessary element in man’s moral training. The human rulers of a well-ordered State make certain provisions for the education of the young, and these provisions necessarily include many things that are distasteful, and even painful, to the pupils. But if they were left to map out their own course, and to arrange for themselves the plan of their education, we well know that the result in the end would be unsatisfactory to everybody, and most of all to themselves when they were old enough to judge. Even so it is with mankind and the Ruler of the world. God has purposed that men shall be subject to such a course of instruction and discipline as shall at least give them anopportunity of becoming wiser and better, and the day of adversity is an indispensable element in such a training. It therefore does not come to us by chance, nor is it always to be regarded in the light of a penalty for special sin, but is a token of Divine interest in our real welfare—an expression of Divine desire for our moral growth. It is wise, then, for all to recognise the fact that adversity in some form or other, at some period or other, is an inevitable event in their human life.
II. The test of human character.No man knows his moral strength until he comes face to face with trial. The chain that holds the vessel to the quay is only as strong as the weakest link, and if that one gives way the vessel is loosed from her moorings as surely as if every link was broken. So human character is only as strong as its weakest point, and if a severe strain is brought to bear upon a man, he will break down there. In the day of adversity every virtue and excellence that we possess will be subjected to a severe test, and if only one of them is found unequal to the trial, the whole character suffers, and we are in danger of losing our hold upon God, and so drifting from the right course. A man may have a high opinion of his own physical strength, and fancy that he is well able to grapple with any foe who might attack him. But it is not till he is in the grip of his antagonist that he knows how much or how little he is able to do and to bear. If he finds himself on the ground, stunned and bleeding, he rises from the struggle with a lower estimate of his own muscular strength than he had before. And so it is with the inner man when the day of adversity over takes it—we think that our faith and moral courage are equal to any emergency, but we are sometimes stricken down to the dust and “faint” from the weight of a blow which we thought beforehand we could withstand, and for the rest of our lives have less confidence in our spiritual strength.
III. A strengthener of human character.Although men often “faint” in the day of adversity, or find their resources insufficient to meet their needs in the hour of trial, it is not necessarily the case, nor is it always so. Indeed, the intention of trial is not to take away our strength, but toincreaseit. If the day of adversity proves too much for our strength, the encounter may leave us morally weaker than we were before; but if we bear it courageously, and do not allow it to drive us to despair, or even to doubt, we come out of the ordeal stronger than when we entered into it. If a tree has too firm a hold upon the soil to be uprooted by the tempest, the shaking will but make it firmer still, and if our confidence and hope in God are not lessened by the blasts of adversity, they are rendered stronger and brighter, and more fitted to encounter the next storm. But fainting at the first blow of adversity leaves very little strength to meet the next trial, and this thought seems also to be in the proverb as it stands in the Hebrew.
outlines and suggestive comments.
If you were to hear some men’s experience you would think they grew as the white pine grows, with straight grain and easily split, for I notice that all that grow easy split easy. But there are some that grow as the mahogany grows, with veneering knots, with all the quirls and contortions of grain; that is the best timber of the forest which has the most knots. . . . There are many who are content to grow straight, like weeds on a dunghill; but there are many others who want to be stalwart and strong like the monarchs of the forest, and yet when God sends the winds of adversity to sing a lullaby in their branches, they do not like to grow in that way. They dread theculture that is really giving toughness to their soul and strength to its fibre.—Beecher.
The times of man’s distress, though it be a night of sorrow and trouble, which it bringeth to the soul, yet is it a day also, because it showeth truly to the soul what a man is.—Jermin.
main homiletics of verses11and12.
Positive Punishment for a Negative Crime.
I. The negative crime.The question “Am I my brother’s keeper?” is here answered with an emphatic affirmative, for whatever may be the special reference of the words it is plain that they condemn as criminal the non-interposition of the strong on behalf of the weak and distressed. This crime may be committed from various causes. Those who are guilty of it may be entirely indifferent to the sufferings of others. There are many men and women who, if they are at ease themselves, never concern themselves about the sufferings of others—it matters not to them who is hungry so as they are well fed, and what privations others may be enduring while their needs are supplied. But the crime is oftener chargeable to moral cowardice and unwillingness to practice self-denial. A man may be sufficiently concerned for the danger of a drowning brother to throw him a rope, but he may shrink from throwing himself into the water and risking a watery grave on his behalf. So he may pity the ignorant and the erring and feel sad when he thinks of their sorrows and their sins, and yet be unwilling to sacrifice his money or his leisure or his social position in endeavours to save them. But the proverb seems to deal especially with what seems at first sight to be a less blameworthy class of persons than either of these—with those who have never considered the claims which others have upon them—who are really ignorant how many hearts are breaking around them and how many are perishing for the want of a helping hand. But this ignorance is here regarded as criminal. “Evil is wrought for want of thought, as well as want of heart,” but it is as much evil in the one case as in the other, and the want of thought is a sin in itself. And so is the want of knowledge here. God will not admit the plea “I knew it not,” but holds him who utters it guilty for his ignorance as well as for his neglect.
II. The positive punishment.No truth is taught more plainly in the Bible, than that men will not escape retribution of some kind because they have simply abstained from doing ill. The possessor of the one talent did not put it to a bad use, or throw it away. He kept it carefully wrapped in a napkin. But the sentence passed upon him was not merely that he should be deprived of his privilege, or that reward should be withheld, but:—“Cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness”(Matt. xxv. 30). “The tree that was only barren was burned,” says an old writer. The justice of this will be seen the more we consider how much actualwrong-doingon the part of some is chargeable to thenot-doingof others. How much sin might be prevented if those who have it in their power sought to deliver others from bodily, or social, or moral death.
outlines and suggestive comments.
“He that keepeth thy soul, doth not He know it.”This favour of God may be here mentioned partly as a strong obligation upon Him to preserve him who was made after God’s image, and whom God hath commanded him to love and preserve; partly to an encouragement to the performance of his duty herein from the consideration of God’s special care and watchfulness over those who do their duty; and partly to intimate to them the danger ofneglect of this duty whereby they will forfeit God’s protection over themselves.—Poole.
The condition ofsinnersmay be regarded as here very aptly set forth. They are “drawn unto death”—seized,orapprehendedfor death, and “ready to be slain:”—and the death to which they are doomed,—O how unutterably fearful! But you may naturally meet me with an objection here. Intheircondition there isnoinjustice;nounrighteous and cruel oppression. The sentence of death under which they lie is adivinesentence—in perfect accordance with all the principles of equity:—the sword with which they are “ready to be slain” is the sword of Divine justice itself. They deserve to die the death. To attempt to prevent it would be to arrest the hand of God. Ought not divine, and therefore unimpeachable, justice too have its course? The objection—otherwise irresistible—God has Himself removed. Justice, infinite justice, had all its claims acknowledged and fulfilled on Calvary. On the ground of the sacrifice there offered, the atonement there made, the God of justice and mercy has called on sinners to accept pardon, in the name and for the sake of His Son. His call comes with authority. It is a command. It is in virtue of the satisfaction of justice in the atonement of Christ, thatwe ourselvesenjoyour owndeliverance from the death and destruction to which, in common with all, we were devoted. And the very same authority that commanded us to believe and be saved, enjoins on us to be agents in attempting the rescue of others. O! what should we not be ready to do, to sacrifice, to suffer for such an end!—to effect such a rescue!—Wardlaw.
While Samuel Romilly’s Bill to abolish the punishment of death for a theft amounting to the sum of five shillings passed the English House of Commons, it was thrown out by a majority in the House of Lords. Among those who voted against the Bill were one archbishop and five bishops. Our poet here in the Proverbs is of a different mind. Even the law of Sinai appoints the punishment of death only for man-stealing. . . . In expressions like the above a true Christian spirit rules the spirit which condemns all bloodthirstiness of justice, and calls forth to a crusade, not only against the inquisition, but against all unmerciful and cruel executions.—Delitzsch.
The Hebrew midwives, and Esther in after ages, thus delivered their ownpeople drawn unto death.ReubendeliveredJoseph from the pit. Job was thedelivererof the poor in the extremity. Jonathan saved his friend at imminent risk to himself. Obadiah hid the Lord’s prophets. Ahikam and Ebed-melech saved Jeremiah. Johanan attempted todeliverthe unsuspecting Gedaliah. Daniel preserved the wise men of Babylon. The Samaritan rescued his neighbour from death. Paul’s nephewdeliveredthe great Apostle by informing him of the murderous plot. The rule includes all oppression, which has more or less of the character of murder.—Bridges.
“Who is lord over us?” is the watchword of the life-long battle between an evil conscience and a righteous Judge. Here the commandment is exceeding broad. Like Divine omniscience, it compasses the transgressor before and behind. It checks his advance, and cuts off his retreat. Although a man should actually maintain in relation to every brother the neutrality he professes, it would avail him nothing. . . . What ails our brother, that he needs the compassion of a tender heart and the help of a strong hand? He is “drawn unto death,” and “ready to be slain.” This is the very crisis which at once needs help and admits it. If the danger were more distant, he might not be sensible of his need; if it were nearer, he might be beyond the hope of recovery. He is so low that help is necessary; yet not so low as would render help vain. He is “drawn unto death,” and therefore is an object of pity; but his life is yet in him, and therefore he is a subject of hope.—Arnot.
main homiletics of verses13and14.
Honey and Wisdom.
I. An analogy.1. Honey is found by man ready prepared for his use; no human skill is needed to make it fit for food—nothing that man can do can render it more palatable than it is as it flows from the comb. So the revealed wisdom of God as it is found in the Scriptures needs no intervention of man to make it suitable to human needs. 2. As honey is evidently designed by God to furnish a wholesome and pleasant food for the body, so has He designed that the revelation of His mind and will by His inspired messengers shall provide wholesome and congenial food for the soul of man. The great abundance of honey in Palestine led to its forming a more prominent part of daily food than in western countries, and its possessing these two qualities made it very fit for general and constant use, and was a perpetual testimony to the providence of God in relation to the needs and enjoyment of His creatures. So is the provision which God has made for the spiritual wants of the children of men. On this point we must take the testimony of those who have tasted this soul-food. We should not ask a man whether honey was pleasant to the taste if he had never eaten it, and those are not qualified to bear witness concerning the spiritual enjoyment and benefit to be derived from the “wisdom of God” who have not tested it. All those who have done so, whatever their condition in life, in whatever age they have lived, or whatever part of the world they have called their home, have agreed with David’s testimony that it is“more to be desired than gold, yea, than much find gold: sweeter than honey and the honey-comb”(Psa. xix. 10).
II. A contrast.1. Honey may be eaten unto it cloys the appetite and injures the eater, but not so with the Word of God. Those who eat the most of this spiritual food are the most spiritually healthy, and have the keenest appetite for it. 2. Although this God-given bodily food may do much to nourish and sustain a healthy man, it cannot cure a diseased body, or prevent the inroads of sickness and decay. But there is a soul-transforming power in the spiritual food of which it is here an emblem. Those who eat of it are by it healed of spiritual disease, and are continually and unceasingly growing in moral health and vigour. 3. The blessings flowing from eating the spiritual food are only fully realised in the life beyond the present. To this the wise man refers in the last clause. (For Homiletics on this thought, see on chaps.xi. 7,xiv. 32, pages 201 and 391.)
outlines and suggestive comments.
Verse 13. The wise man’s feast which he makes his son is but one dish. And what need of more when that is both good and pleasant? The glutton provideth many dishes, and costly to make them luscious, but they are notgood,not good for the health of the body. . . . On the other side, the physician provideth divers meats, and they aregood—good either for the preservation of heath or for the recovery of it, but they are not pleasant and grateful to the palate. That is the best feeding when those are joined together. . . . Or else if they are not joined together, notice that the wise man putteth good in the first place; as teaching thee rather to take that which is good though not pleasant, than that which is pleasant but not good.—Jermin.
Verse 14.When thou hast found it.That is, when thou hast so found it that thou canst feed upon it and convert it into nourishment, then thy pains of seeking shall be rewarded. And though it be a late reward, forwisdom is not quickly found, yet there shall be a reward, and that so full, that in nothing thine expectation shall be cut off. For though hardly yet it is well-gotten; and with pleasure will sweeten the pains, with good will satisfy the tarrying and recompense the delay. The Chaldee rendereth the middle part of the verse,“If thou hast found, the last will come better than the first.”As if this were a mark whereby to know whether we have found wisdom or not, because then the further we go on the more sweetness we shall find.—Jermin.
main homiletics of verses15and16.
A Social Ambush.
I. A common practice of the wicked man in relation to the good.When we think of an ambush of men lying in wait to spring upon their foes at a fitting opportunity, two hostile parties are at once brought before us, we feel that there must be deep enmity on one side at least, or men would not be at such pains to overthrow their fellow-men. And this is indeed the case in society as a whole. Men are divided into two great parties. On one side stand the lovers of righteousness, and on the other the lovers of sin; and the latter must ever be more or less actively opposed to the former. But their favourite and most common method of attack is that indicated in the text. Wrong-doers are naturally cowards, and in their endeavours to injure better men than themselves they shrink from open attack. They are fully conscious that they could not stand their ground in a fair fight in the open field, and so they try to fall upon their foe in a moment when he is off his guard and in a place where he least expects to meet them. In other words, evil men do not openly assail either the character or the position of a good man, but by lying words spoken in his absence they try to blacken the first, and by secret schemes to overthrow the second.
II. An utterly useless attempt of the wicked man in relation to the good.It is useless to try to kill a tree by lopping off the branches. Such a process may for a time deprive it of its beauty and stop its growth, but while the root has its hold upon the soil and can draw nourishment to itself from unseen sources beneath the surface it will live, and as soon as the axe has ceased to strike it will begin again to clothe itself in greenness and beauty. So it is with a righteous man. His enemies may succeed in bringing about his temporary overthrow and in depriving his outward life of much comfort, but the springs of his existence are fed from an invisible and unfailing source, and his well-being is not dependent upon external circumstances. And so even if the malice of the wicked is permitted to strip him of some things which made his life more apparently prosperous and secure, there is an inner life which they cannot touch, and which enables him in due time to recover from the wounds which they inflict either upon his character or his circumstances. For“This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord. No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn”(Isa. liv. 17).
outlines and suggestive comments.
Verse 15. Because it spites the wicked, that the godly dwell in safety, therefore they lay wait against their dwelling, by affliction and miseries seeking to throw it down, and . . . because the virtues of the godly condemn the vices of the wicked, therefore they lay wait and search into theirdwelling housesto espy out their faults, because the goodness of the righteous shameth the naughtiness of the wicked, therefore they seek to break in even into their bedchambers andplaces of rest,and there to discover their errors and infirmities. Solomon forbidding them to do it, showeth it to be their manner to do it.—Jermin.
Verse 16. Perhaps you will say, had I fallen only once, I would not be much afraid; but I have often fallen before the enemy, and one day I must perish. But hear what God says:—The righteous man falls not once or twice, but many times, and still he rises. Your experience of former deliverances should encourage your hopes of new deliverances, for the salvations of the Lord are never exhausted. In six troubles He will deliver, and in seven there shall no evil touch you.—Lawson.
God’s saints are bound to “rejoice when they fall into divers temptations.” What though theyfallinto them? not go in step by step, but be precipitated, plunged over head and ears. Say they fall not into one, but into many crosses—as they seldom come single—yet “be exceeding glad” says the apostle, as the merchant is to see his ships come laden in.—Trapp.
main homiletics of verses17and18.
The Fall of an Enemy.
Joy at the overthrow of an enemy is a feeling which is natural to an unspiritual man, but it is one which is here declared to be displeasing to God. Three reasons suggest themselves why this should be so.
I. Such an emotion is inconsistent with a man’s own well-being and happiness.The nature that can be indifferent to the calamities of another, even although that other has been an enemy in the past, is a nature destitute of all generosity and nobility. But the heart that can begladat such an event is altogether possessed with the spirit of the devil—the flames of exultation that burn upon such an altar have been set on fire of hell. And as God loves the creature whom He at first created in His own image, it displeases Him to see him give place to a feeling so unworthy of his origin, and at the same time so productive of misery to himself. For the so-called joy that arises from such a cause is not only very short-lived, but is like a fire that blazes and burns brightly for a time, and then leaves nothing but a heap of ashes behind. The exultation over the fall of an enemy soon dies out, and leaves the heart scorched and dried by the heat of the unworthy passion.
II. It is inconsistent with the spirit of brotherhood that God desires to exist among men.If there has been a break in the harmony of a family, and one member has been at enmity with another, the oneness of the parentage ought to be sufficient to erase all memory of past wrongs when the offender is overtaken by misfortune. Such would be the case where there was any real family affection. God desires all His creatures to recognise a universal brotherhood in virtue of their relation to Him, their common Father. He desires men to be ever ready to seek occasions to draw together in unity, and to avoid all that deepens an opposite feeling. If a man retains his enmity against his offending brother when that brother by reason of misfortune might be reconciled to him, he ignores entirely the law of brotherly love which God desires to rule in His human family.
III. It is inconsistent with a right recognition of our need of Divine mercy.However much our offending brother may have wronged us, the amount of the debt of his trespass against us will bear no comparison to the amount of our indebtedness to God. In sinning against us he has but wronged an erringhuman creature like himself, and one who has very possibly failed in his duty towards him. But when we sin against God, we sin against One whose character is altogether fitted to win us to obedience, and whose every action in relation to us has been dictated by perfect love. It is only when we fail to recognise this truth that an unforgiving spirit can possess our hearts, and it is only when such a spirit has full sway that any man can exult in the downfall of his enemy.