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Proverbs
Chapter Seventeen
Proverbs 17
Commentary on Proverbs 17:1
(Read Proverbs 17:1)
These words recommend family love and peace, as needful
for the comfort of human life.
Commentary on Proverbs 17:2
(Read Proverbs 17:2)
The wise servant is more deserving, and more likely to
appear one of the family, than a profligate son.
Commentary on Proverbs 17:3
(Read Proverbs 17:3)
God tries the heart by affliction. He thus has often
shown the sin remaining in the heart of the believer.
Commentary on Proverbs 17:4
(Read Proverbs 17:4)
Flatterers, especially false teachers, are welcome to
those that live in sin.
Commentary on Proverbs 17:5
(Read Proverbs 17:5)
Those that laugh at poverty, treat God's providence and
precepts with contempt.
Commentary on Proverbs 17:6
(Read Proverbs 17:6)
It is an honour to children to have wise and godly
parents continued to them, even after they are grown up and settled in the
world.
Commentary on Proverbs 17:7
(Read Proverbs 17:7)
A fool, in Solomon's Proverbs, signifies a wicked man,
whom excellent speech does not become, because his conversation contradicts it.
Commentary on Proverbs 17:8
(Read Proverbs 17:8)
Those who set their hearts upon money, will do any thing
for it. What influence should the gifts of God have on our hearts!
Commentary on Proverbs 17:9
(Read Proverbs 17:9)
The way to preserve peace is to make the best of every
thing; not to notice what has been said or done against ourselves.
Commentary on Proverbs 17:10
(Read Proverbs 17:10)
A gentle reproof will enter, not only into the head, but
into the heart of a wise man.
Commentary on Proverbs 17:11
(Read Proverbs 17:11)
Satan, and the messengers of Satan, shall be let loose
upon an evil man.
Commentary on Proverbs 17:12
(Read Proverbs 17:12)
Let us watch over our own passions, and avoid the company
of furious men.
Commentary on Proverbs 17:13
(Read Proverbs 17:13)
To render evil for good is devilish. He that does so,
brings a curse upon his family.
Commentary on Proverbs 17:14
(Read Proverbs 17:14)
What danger there is in the beginning of strife! Resist
its earliest display; and leave it off, if it were possible, before you begin.
Commentary on Proverbs 17:15
(Read Proverbs 17:15)
It is an offence to God to acquit the guilty, or to
condemn those who are not guilty.
Commentary on Proverbs 17:16
(Read Proverbs 17:16)
Man's neglect of God's favour and his own interest is
very absurd.
Commentary on Proverbs 17:17
(Read Proverbs 17:17)
No change of outward circumstances should abate our
affection for our friends or relatives. But no friend, except Christ, deserves
unlimited confidence. In Him this text did receive, and still receives its most
glorious fulfilment.
Commentary on Proverbs 17:18
(Read Proverbs 17:18)
Let not any wrong their families. Yet Christ's becoming
Surety for men, was a glorious display of Divine wisdom; for he was able to
discharge the bond.
Commentary on Proverbs 17:19
(Read Proverbs 17:19)
If we would keep a clear conscience and a quiet mind, we
must shun all excitements to anger. And a man who affects a style of living
above his means, goes the way to ruin.
Commentary on Proverbs 17:20
(Read Proverbs 17:20)
There is nothing got by ill designs. And many have paid
dear for an unbridled tongue.
Commentary on Proverbs 17:21
(Read Proverbs 17:21)
This speaks very plainly what many wise and good men feel
very strongly, how grievous it is to have a foolish, wicked child.
Commentary on Proverbs 17:22
(Read Proverbs 17:22)
It is great mercy that God gives us leave to be cheerful,
and cause to be cheerful, if by his grace he gives us hearts to be cheerful.
Commentary on Proverbs 17:23
(Read Proverbs 17:23)
The wicked are ready to part with their money, though
loved, that they may not suffer for their crimes.
Commentary on Proverbs 17:24
(Read Proverbs 17:24)
The prudent man keeps the word of God continually in
view. But the foolish man cannot fix his thoughts, nor pursue any purpose with
steadiness.
Commentary on Proverbs 17:25
(Read Proverbs 17:25)
Wicked children despise the authority of their father,
and the tenderness of their mother.
Commentary on Proverbs 17:26
(Read Proverbs 17:26)
It is very wrong to find fault for doing what is duty.
Commentary on Proverbs 17:27,28
(Read Proverbs 17:27,28)
A man may show himself to be a wise man, by the good
temper of his mind, and by the good government of his tongue. He is careful
when he does speak, to speak to the purpose. God knows his heart, and the folly
that is bound there; therefore he cannot be deceived in his judgment as men may
be.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Proverbs》
Proverbs 17
Verse 4
[4] A wicked doer giveth heed to false lips; and a liar
giveth ear to a naughty tongue.
False lips — To false accusations and
calumnies, which give him occasion and encouragement to do mischief.
Verse 7
[7] Excellent speech becometh not a fool: much less do lying
lips a prince.
Excellent speech — Discourse of high and
excellent things.
Verse 8
[8] A gift is as a precious stone in the eyes of him that
hath it: whithersoever it turneth, it prospereth.
A precious stone — Pleasant and
acceptable; and withal dazzles his eyes.
Whithersoever — To whomsoever it is presented.
But this, as also many of her proverbs, are to be understood of most men, not
of all.
Verse 9
[9] He that covereth a transgression seeketh love; but he
that repeateth a matter separateth very friends.
Covereth — That conceals as far as he may, other mens faults.
Verse 11
[11] An evil man seeketh only rebellion: therefore a cruel
messenger shall be sent against him.
Rebellion — Against God.
Messenger — Or, a cruel angel, the angel of
death, the devil, or some bloody men employed by God to avenge his quarrel.
Verse 12
[12] Let a bear robbed of her whelps meet a man, rather than
a fool in his folly.
Folly — In the heat of his lust or passion.
Verse 14
[14] The beginning of strife is as when one letteth out
water: therefore leave off contention, before it be meddled with.
Letteth out — By cutting the bank of a river.
Leave off — Avoid the occasions, and prevent
the beginning of contention.
Verse 16
[16] Wherefore is there a price in the hand of a fool to get
wisdom, seeing he hath no heart to it?
A price — Opportunities and abilities of getting it.
No heart — Neither discretion to discern the worth of wisdom, nor
any sincere desire to get it.
Verse 17
[17] A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for
adversity.
Was born — Was sent into the world for this, that he might
comfort and relieve his brother in adversity.
Verse 18
[18] A man void of understanding striketh hands, and becometh
surety in the presence of his friend.
Friend — Debtor, for whom being his friend, he becomes surety.
Verse 20
[20] He that hath a froward heart findeth no good: and he
that hath a perverse tongue falleth into mischief.
No good — Shall not get that advantage which he expects.
Verse 22
[22] A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken
spirit drieth the bones.
Doth good — Even to the body; it contributes
much to bodily health and vigour.
Drieth — Wastes the marrow of the bones, and the moisture and
strength of the body.
Verse 24
[24] Wisdom is before him that hath understanding; but the
eyes of a fool are in the ends of the earth.
In the face — His wisdom appears even in his
looks.
The eyes — Minding most, those things which are remotest from
him, and least concern him.
Verse 26
[26] Also to punish the just is not good, nor to strike
princes for equity.
To strike — Nor to smite magistrates, either
with the hand or tongue, for the execution of justice.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on Proverbs》
17 Chapter 17
Verses 1-28
Verse 1
Better is a dry morsel, and quietness therewith, than an house
full of sacrifices with strife.
The maker and breaker of a family’s peace
Truth sweetens the relations of life; falsehood eats like rust
into their core. When they live in love, men meet each other softly and kindly,
as the eyelids meet. Envy casts grains of sand between the two, and under each.
Every movement then sends a shooting pain through all the body, and makes the
salt tears flow. So good are peace and love for human kind, that with them a
family will be happy, though they have nothing else in the world; and without
them miserable, although they have the whole world at their command. A dinner
of herbs and a stalled ox indicate the two extremes--humble poverty on the one
side and pampered luxury on the other. When love leaves the family circle, it
is no longer a piece of God’s own handiwork, and there is no security for
safety in any of its motions. Love is the element in which all its relations
are set, for softness and safety; and when it has evaporated, nothing remains
but that each member of the house should be occupied in mounting a miserable
guard over his own interests, and against the anticipated contact of the rest.
In that dislocated house, each dreads all, and all dread each. Some rich
families live in love, and doubly enjoy their abundance: some poor families
quarrel over their herbs. Riches cannot secure happiness, and poverty cannot
destroy it. Whether it be husband or wife, parent or child, master or servant,
the disturber of a house must answer to its almighty Protector for abusing His gifts, and
thwarting His gracious designs. (W. Arnot, D. D.)
Verse 3
The fining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold: but the
Lord trieth the hearts.
God’s fining pot and furnace
The text is a parabolical description of God’s almighty power and
wisdom, for the discovery and reformation of the closest, and subtlest, and
perfectest thing in the world, which is the heart of man.
I. The
proposition. First part of the verse. The metals mentioned are silver and gold.
The instruments are the fining pot and the furnace. Good men are like gold and
silver in sundry regards.
1. From the solidity and substantialness of their principles.
2. From the purity and sincerity of their conversation.
3. From the splendour of their example.
Their hearts are like gold and silver, but it is like gold and
silver in the ore, which has a great deal of dross mixed with it, and must be
separated from it by God’s instruments of purification. The “fining pot”
represents the Word of God, the “furnace” represents the rod of God, or
affliction. The furnace is not for the hurt of the gold, but for its advantage.
Labour to be bettered by every hand of God upon us, that so therein we may
close with His gracious ends.
II. The reddition.
“But the Lord trieth the hearts.” This adversative particle hath a threefold
emphasis in it.
1. An emphasis of proportion. Taking “but” for “so.” The Lord is no
less able or careful to try the hearts of the sons of men than the goldsmith is
his silver and gold. God tries the heart either in a way of discovery or of
purification. He tries them so as to discern them, and make known what they
are. This kind of trial has two seasons, this present time and the world to
come. He tries them to purge them, and remove their corruptions from them. This
He does out of love to themselves, that He may make them vessels of honour. In
reference to their works, that they may bring forth more fruit. For the sake of
others.
2. An emphasis of exception. As restraining the skill of the refiner
in this particular. He may be able to refine his metals, but he cannot try the
heart.
3. An emphasis of appropriation. “The Lord trieth the hearts,”
i.e., the Lord alone does it. This is His prerogative. None other can try
the heart thus authoritatively, and none can try it so effectually. (T.
Horton, D. D.)
Heart tests
The chemical analyst has different tests for different poisons. If
he suspect the presence of arsenic, he will use one thing to detect that; if he
is looking for antimony, he will take another to discover that; if he is trying
for strychnine, he will employ quite another to bring that to light. (W. M.
Taylor, D. D.)
Religious lessons from metallurgy
To get the dross out of us, this is the sovereign aim of our
training in this world. In education the main purpose is to free the mental
faculties of the dross of sloth and prejudice. In active life the great success
is in confirming the fibre of energy and character. In higher relations the
object of the Almighty is to burn out the dross of the spirit and make us noble
and pure. What is dross in human character? Suppose you are inclined to
avarice, the excessive love of money. If you think of your own character as
strengthened, made better, do you think of that quality of avarice as
untouched? Do you think of it as stronger than it is now? Or do you think of it
as weaker, as melted down in part, and poured off from your soul like scum? Now
consider profanity, levity, intemperance, lust, moral sluggishness, vanity,
haughtiness, insolence of words or manners, irreverence, rebellion in feeling
against Providence--translate these into natural language, into the language of
metals and the crucible, what are they?--valuable elements or foul ones, dross
or gold? But take the converse qualities--reverence, purity, zeal for good,
aspiration, generous use of money, the spirit of sacrifice, charity, devotion
to the will of God--how do you represent these in your imagination? You say at
once these are the precious elements of human nature and human life. These are
the pure silver and gold of the moral world. Now, God is seeking to bring out
these qualities into greater concentration and prominence by His moral
government. Left to ourselves, to the wandering, undirected impulses of our
constitution, mentally and morally, we should always be in the ore state. The
hardships of life, the tough conditions that surround the attainment of truth
and the training of character, are God’s reducing and refining processes. I do
not mean to maintain here that all the hard conditions of life can be explained
by this figure, or by any figure or theory of man’s device. But a world without
hardships to such beings as we are would be a far worse, a far more disastrous
world than the present. What would a ton of ore, taken out in one slab, be likely
to say if it could be conscious, when carried to the batteries of the mill, and
then washed for gold, and roasted to drive off sulphur, and pounded again, and
mixed with quicksilver, and heated once more to drive off the mercury, and
melted again into a mixed bar, and assayed, and still once more melted and
granulated into cold water, and then gnawed by nitric acid, to take up the
silver and leave the gold as sediment, and then precipitated from the acid as
pure silver powder, and washed, and packed into cakes by hydraulic presses to
squeeze the water out of it, and melted again in bars, and run through rollers,
and punched, and milled, and stamped--thus becoming fit to serve the daily
necessities of civilisation? Suppose it should be told, half-way in the
process, that all this was good for it, was part of a great plan, supremely
wise, for its permanent benefit I Would it not be likely to say, “Why did you
not leave me in my sluggish content in the darkness of the mine? I was happy
there. I had no dream there of a higher and better lot. I should have never
known these terrible buffets and scourgings and bitings and pressures if I had
been left there. Oh, for that gloom and calm again!” In its silver-bar state,
afterwards in its coin-state, will it say so? It can look back then on the
trials and pains, and see their meaning and read their bitter but splendid
benevolence. We see enough now to show that the best qualities of human nature
are brought out and tested by difficulty and suffering. To the choice characters
of the world God can say now, as the Spirit said through Isaiah, “I have
refined thee, but not with silver: I have chosen thee in the furnace of
affliction.” And if this world is designed not as the final state for the
enjoyment of God, but as the state in which we get the preparation of quality
within for the true knowledge and enjoyment of Him, we find the whole secret of
life--of its terrors and its hidden mercy--when we follow the ore from its cave
to its appearance as the clean silver and the flaming gold. Do not fail either
to receive the searching lesson as to judgment hidden in this analogy. The ore
is tested thoroughly at the final process of its history. The assayer, by
balance and fire, determines exactly what its quality is and its worth. And the
processes of God’s government are taking us to judgment. It is to be known and
seen one day just what we are. To the great judgment of truth you and I, and
all the millions living, are moving with every heart-beat, and nothing can save
us from its severity and its rewards. “The fining-pot is for silver, and the
furnace for gold; but the Lord trieth the hearts.”
1. If we pass now to consider sectarian divisions and strifes in the
Christian Church, we can gain some help in a right estimate of them and for a
wise charity, from analogies in the science of metallurgy. The great object of
the New Testament and of Christianity is to increase religious qualities
practically in the world, to add pure working forces to life, so that men will
be nobler and happier in themselves and in their relations to each other. God has
made different kinds of ores, and equally rich in different kinds. For some
kinds of mineral one process is admirable; for other kinds a very different
treatment is essential. And human nature is analogous. Evils are thrown off
from men, and good is practically brought out, by a variety of spiritual
methods; and that Church or system of training is the best for a soul which
fits its temperament and quickens its will. In some men the good is quickly and
easily appealed to and developed. A simple faith and administration will reach
and awaken it. Others have the sulphurets in the soul. They are obstinate.
Common batteries and cool washings do not do the work. They need heat, fire,
the treatment of the element of fear; that takes hold of them. Calvinism is the
process that reduces their stubborn self-will and makes them agents of good.
Give the proper temperaments to each Church: let the Episcopalians take those
that can be best reached by their methods, and the Methodists take their
natural material, and the Swedenborgians and the Quakers and the Calvinists
theirs, and the Unitarians theirs, and great good will be done. The world of
character will be richer. The work of the Spirit will be variously and properly
performed. “There are differences of administrations, but the same Lord.” In
science men appeal to the facts. If you put in a ton of ore and take out a
pound of gold, you may say that there ought to be two pounds, but you can’t say
that the process does not produce any gold. And if a system of Christian
administration produces honesty, integrity, principle, charity, interest in
worship, interest in good ideas and good government and liberty and order, quiet and
elevated homes, readiness to serve others and to hold gifts and treasures
partly in trust for others--are these qualities to be denied to be good because
the process which produces them is different from the ordinary customs? The
melter and assayer does not make coin; society does not allow him to put his
stamp on money and say, “All gold is spurious which is not poured from my
crucibles.” It is his office to produce gold. The Government coins and issues
it, and allows that great office to no private hands. So the business of
Churches is to produce purity, reverence integrity, charity, readiness to do
good in all forms. God rates and stamps the products, and His judgment is the
final and the only one as to the honesty or spuriousness of the products of the
sanctuaries. There is one other point upon which I wish to make our subject bear
in illustration.
2. There is a great discussion now about the Bible, especially the
Old Testament, and its religious value. Is it a verbally inspired, completely
accurate, and authoritative revelation? The Old Testament is a very wonderful
book, and its value in the religious and providential training of the world
cannot readily be stated. But it is not a continuous revelation. It does not
offer you concentrated spiritual truth in all its pages, the pure silver and
gold of the Spirit. The Old Testament is a great lode, or precious mineral
vein, upheaved and winding through the strata of a national history. There are
different kinds and qualities of ore in it, some easy, some difficult of
reduction to the pure standard of moral truth. The Old Testament, compared with
all other ancient national literatures, is a religious gold and silver vein
immensely, incalculably, divinely rich. That is its distinction in the world,
and will be its distinction for ever. And by the statement and authority of
Jesus Himself, we get its concentrated value in the laws of love to God and our
neighbour. If you understand little of commentaries and theological discussion
and council lore, and have these, you have what Jesus Christ called the
essentials. Knowledge of mining is good, but its practical value is in
furnishing the silver for human use. This spirit of love is the silver into
which the inspiration collected from the ore of the Bible is finally reduced.
If you do not possess this spirit, your Biblical learning is only intellectual
wisdom, your soundness of faith is only correct thinking; and though you may be
baptized every day in the name and forms of the most orthodox creed, you
advance not by a step towards the kingdom of heaven. (T. Starr King.)
Verse 4
A wicked doer giveth heed to false lips; and a liar giveth ear to
a naughty tongue.
The conversational likings of bad men
Men’s characters may be known by the conversations they most
relish. The text enables us to see the kind of conversation that bad men like.
I. They like
flattery. “A wicked doer giveth heed to false lips.” The flatterer is a man of
false lips. The more corrupt men are, the more blindly credulous to everything
that makes them appear better than they are. He who compliments them palliates
their offences, gives them credit for virtues they possess not, is their
favourite companion, and they ever “give heed” to his lips. One of the best
things recorded of George
III. is, that one of
his first acts after his ascension to the throne was to issue an order
prohibiting any of the clergy who should be called to preach before him from
paying him any compliment in their discourses. His Majesty was led to this from
the fulsome adulation which Dr. Thomas Wilson, Prebendary of Westminster,
thought proper to deliver in the Chapel Royal, and for which, instead of
thanks, he received from his royal auditor a pointed reprimand, his Majesty observing
that he came to chapel to hear the praise of God, not his own.
II. They like
calumny. The liar is also the “wicked doer.” The “naughty tongue,” whilst it
speaks flatteries and falsehoods of all kinds, speaks calumnies also. And the
worse the man is the more welcome to his depraved heart are the reports of bad
things concerning others.
1. Calumny gratifies the pride of evil men. It helps them to cherish the thought
that they are not worse than others, perhaps better.
2. Calumny gratifies the malignity of evil men. The worse a man is
the more malevolence he has in him; the more gratified he is at hearing bad
things concerning other men. “If,” said Bishop Hall, “I cannot stop other men’s
mouths from speaking ill, I will either open my mouth to reprove it or else I
will stop mine ears from hearing it, and let him see in my face that he hath no
room in my heart.” (D. Thomas, D. D.)
Verse 5
Verse 10
A reproof entereth more into a wise man than an hundred stripes
into a fool.
Moral and corporeal chastisement
I. The one in its
sphere is as legitimate as the other. Look at the sphere of each.
1. The sphere of the moral. It is for the wise. The “reproof” is for
men open to reason and impression--men whose natures are susceptible to moral
arguments and appeals.
2. The sphere of the corporeal. It is for “fools.” Of what service is
an argument to an ox, or a whip to a soul?
II. The one in its
sphere is more thorough than the other. “A reproof entereth more into a wise
man than an hundred stripes into a fool.”
1. The one is more painful than the other. What is pain arising from
a few lashes on the body compared to the pain arising in the soul from a
conviction of moral wrong? What pain did reproof give David! (Psalms 51:1-19.). What agony did the
reproving look of Christ give Peter!
2. The one is more corrective than the other. Corporeal chastisement
will never do the fool any moral good. You cannot whip the moral devil out of
men (Proverbs 27:22). But moral chastisements
correct the wrongs of the soul. The fires of moral conviction separate the gold from the dross.
(Homilist.)
Verse 12
Let a bear robbed of her whelps meet a man, rather than a fool in
his folly.
The cruelty of fools
The rage of wild beasts is short-lived, and their power is
circumscribed within narrow limits. Man has more cause to dread his brother
than all the beasts of the forest. Ambition, jealousy, and superstition are sad
sources of cruelty. We all abhor the deeds of cruelty which the “fool in his
folly” so frequently commits; but alas! we have not all an adequate estimate of
the guilt attaching to the man at the moment, and in the act of entering into
his folly. (W. Arnot, D. D.)
Verse 14
The beginning of strife is as when one letteth out water:
therefore leave off contention, before it be meddled with.
Strife and contention
Here contention seems to differ from strife, the former being more
general, the latter more particular. Strife is by implication wholly forbidden,
as being most mischievous; contention is regulated and ordered to be left off,
in due time, before it be meddled with. Contending by reason and argument is
frequently a duty recommended and practised by the best of men. But so soon as
the contending parties refuse to hear reason, and proceed with heat and
passion, then arises strife. Then every method made use of to carry a cause
tends to widen the breach and inflame the adversaries. If the matter of the
strife should only be unseasonable it may nevertheless prove mischievous and
fatal by drawing men off from attending to things of the greatest importance to
the public welfare, and by souring their temper, make union and concord
impracticable. For the manner alone in which strife is usually carried on
renders it impossible to be kept in due bounds. Even the end itself, for which
the strife was at first begun, is neglected or forgotten. The parties engaged
go on from skirmishes to battles, from the provoking of wrath to the drawing of
blood. Would you avoid strife, and the mischiefs which naturally follow from
it? Then leave off contention in due season: “before it be meddled with,”
i.e., before the contention be too much diffused or blended with passion;
or the parties proceed to open rupture and hostilities; or other persons mix
themselves in the quarrel. Compare “It is an honour for a man to cease from
strife; but every fool will be meddling.” The advice is so excellent and so necessary
that one cannot but wish means might be found to put it in practice. When men
of birth, education, and fortune are governed in all questions by the dictates
of reason and divest themselves of all prejudice and passion, they soon reduce
all their differences to an inconsiderable quantity, and settle in such a
manner as candour and equity can approve. Let every one, then, in his sphere
and station, endeavour to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace: to
quench every spark of discord or strife. To bring this happy work to effect
there is but one certain and never-failing method, which is this, to regulate
our whole conduct by the Word of God, from whence we are instructed to practise
every duty recommended by right, reason, and the best policy. (John
Newcombe, D. D.)
The beginning of strife
The history of the French port of St. Valery, where William I
embarked for the conquest of England in 1066, may well illustrate the truth
that the beginning of strife is as the letting out of water. The success of the
Norman enterprise did not prevent but occasioned the return of the tide of war
after an interval of two centuries. Then during the Hundred Years War it was
first burnt by the English, and then by Charles the Bad of Navarre. After that
it was destroyed by Louis XI to keep it out of our hands, and in later years it
was sacked by Leaguers, Royalists, and Spaniards, so that the historian of
Abbeville says that “history has failed to keep count of its disasters.” (J.
F. B. Tinling, B. A.)
Strife
Crabb makes a difference between discord and strife. He says,
“Discord evinces itself in various ways--by looks, words, or actions; strife
displays itself in words, or acts of violence. Discord is fatal to the
happiness of families; strife is the greatest enemy to peace between
neighbours; discord arose between the goddesses on the apple being thrown into
one assembly. Homer commences his poem with the strife that took place between
Agamemnon and Achilles.” The passages suggests three ideas concerning strife.
I. It is an evil
of terrific progress. This strife spreads. One angry word leads to another, one act of resentment,
will kindle a fire that may set a whole neighbourhood or a nation into
conflagration. A drop of strife soon becomes a river, and the river a torrent.
II. It is an evil
that should be checked. “Therefore leave off contention.” Every lover of his
race and his God should suppress it. It is a desolating thing, it makes sad
havoc in families, neighbourhoods, churches, nations.
1. Be inspired with the spirit of peace.
2. Maintain the character of peace.
3. Use the argument of peace. Thus he will check the spirit of
strife.
III. It is an evil
which can be easily checked at the beginning. You may mend the embankment with
tolerable ease at the stage when it emits only a few oozing drops. The
mightiest and most furious beasts of prey you can easily destroy at their
birth; the most majestic and resistless river you can stop at its spring head.
So it is with strife, in its incipient state you may easily crush it. Crush the
upas in the germ, tread out the conflagration in the spark. (D. Thomas, D.
D.)
Verse 15
He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just,
even they both are abomination to the Lord.
Our estimate of other men
We may regard such an estimate from three points of view: in its
effect on those thus estimated, on society in general, and on ourselves. Did we
ever question with ourselves, “On what is my estimate of others usually
founded”? If we did we should surely be dissatisfied with our present practice.
It would be unnatural and absurd to pretend that no influence should be exerted
over our estimate of men by the organs of public opinion; equally unreasonable
to decry them as perfectly unreliable in the matter. But there may be very much
untruthfulness, short of what is utter and absolute; very much which is utter
and absolute, and yet escapes detection. What is the duty of Christians with regard
to the blame and praise of others? Insist first on the general duty of
conscientiousness in forming all our estimates of other men. It should be our
aim as Christians, not obsequiously to follow public opinion, but to act
for ourselves and for God. There is a timidity, even amounting to cowardice,
among us in forming and expressing our opinion of other men. The body of
Christian men among us seems to have abjured the duty of conscientiousness; and
this abjuration is one of the most fearful symptoms of our times. The duty of
estimating others as in the sight of God is not by any means a light one, but a
most solemn one. Unholy and unprincipled life, wherever found, ought to be
protested against by the servants of God. There is a sad tendency among us to overlook
those faults which fall in with the practice of the day, which consist in the
neglect of unwelcome duties, or the committal of lightly-esteemed sins. The
second person who is said to be an abomination to the Lord is “he that
condemneth the just.” We are always more prone to condemn than to justify. It
is an abuse of our instinct of self-preservation to be ever ready with our
hostility to other men. The general propensity to depress others renders it
very easy, in any case, to condemn. Point out a few ways by which we may guard
ourselves against this tendency to condemn the just. The first caution is
this--look ever at the life which is palpable rather than at the motive or the
creed, which are usually mere matters of surmise. A second caution is, avoid
and refuse to use, and protest against the use of, all party names. Another
caution is this--form your opinions of others, not at the prompting of the
world, but as under the eye of God. For all our most secret judgments of men
and things we are accountable to Him. (H. Alford, B. D.)
Just estimates
It was a saying of Solon, the Athenian lawgiver, that a republic
walks upon two feet; one being just punishment for the unworthy, the other due
reward for the worthy. If it fail in either of these, it necessarily goes lame.
How if it fail in both?
Verse 16
Wherefore is there a price in the hand of fool to get wisdom,
seeing he hath no heart to it?
Opportunities of youth
The term “fool” is not used in the modern sense of a man without
reason; but rather in the sense of an unreasoning man. The term is applied much
as we apply the term “wicked man.” The figure in the text is one drawn from
commerce. It represents a man who has been given a sum which he is to invest.
He spends part of it in dissipation, part in unwise and unprofitable
commodities, and some part in shadows and cheats and pretences; and when he has
expended that sum he is a bankrupt. Wicked or foolish men have committed to
them a price or a capital, and what is the use if they have no heart to use it
right? What good does it do them if they do not employ it as they should? The
idea that men are sent into this world for a purpose, and that they are
equipped for the accomplishment of that purpose, is given in both the
Testaments. Men comprehensively have committed to them, in bodily organs, and
in their mental equipment, a power singularly complex, but wise and efficient,
and as compared
with the agencies of nature in its adaptations to the work of life, surpassing
the human frame itself. Natural laws are the great agencies of nature that are
being used or fructified by the volition of man. Each man stands at the centre
of a sphere of possibilities where he, through knowledge, may come to control
natural law and work in his limited sphere as God works in the infinite sphere.
Then there is the good name and fame which descends to many of us from our parents. There is a
presumption that stock and blood will tell, and that a good father will have
good children. It is invaluable to a young man beginning life to have the
kindly expectation, the generous sympathy and goodwill of those to whom he
comes. What a price is put into the hands of the young in our time in the
matter of education; if a man has a heart for knowledge, if he has an ambition
to acquire it, and if he is quick to discern, the eye, the ear, every sense
becomes the minister of education. Alas! that there should be so many who care
nothing for it! Closely connected with this is the capital of bodily health.
Good health is a wonderful help to morality, to nobility of character, and to
calmness and decision of judgment and action. Next is the capacity of industry.
I believe fervently in enterprise, but I also believe fervently in the good
old-fashioned notions about patient industry. Every person has that in him by
which he can win a moderate success in life by simply doing, day by day, the
right things, however humble a sphere he may be in. To many have also been given
the invaluable qualities of integrity, honour, and fidelity. These are very
valuable from a commercial point of view. A man who is honest, and truthful,
and full of integrity, when he has finally been proved, has everybody
engineering for him. Then look upon life as a very solemn thing. God has given
you one life, and has put capital into your hands, and sent you into this world
to buy immortality. Do not squander that price. Listen to the voice of wisdom.
(H. Ward Beecher.)
Means and abilities to get wisdom
We may define wisdom to be a right apprehension of those things
that are best for us, and a diligent pursuit of them by such means as are
agreeable to the laws of piety and virtue. Men have sometimes abilities and
opportunities to act wisely for themselves, but neglect them, and have no heart
to make their just advantages of them.
1. A man of good natural faculties and endowments of mind may be said to have the
price of wisdom in his hand, when he hath no heart to it.
2. This price may be understood of the schools of good education and
learning. Those who are brought up in such places often act the part of fools.
3. Riches are in many respects the price of wisdom, in that they
enable their owners to buy books, to hire teachers, and to be at leisure to spend
their time in the study of useful learning.
4. Men of great power and authority have the price of wisdom in their
hands.
5. We have a noble price put into our hands to get wisdom, in the
ordinances of religion and means of grace we enjoy. These advantages are the
portion of every Christian. But these opportunities are sadly often in the hands of those who have
no heart to make use of them. This appears--
We often condemn our own mismanagement of the talents which God
has given us, and look back with much regret upon those opportunities which
have slipped through our hands. But the power is often given without the will, so
that we suffer many opportunities to pass away and be lost without improving
them to any good purpose. (W. Reading, M. A.)
Verse 17
A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.
The unrivalled Friend
Few men enjoy from others the highest and truest form of
friendship. There is, however, a higher friendship among men of principle,
among men of virtue. Where godliness builds her house, true friendship finds a
rest. Take this text and refer it to the Lord Jesus Christ.
I. The endurance
of the love of Jesus Christ. He loved before time began. He loved you when time
began with you. Since that day this Friend has loved us at all times. Consider
the reality of Christ’s love at all times. His love has never been a thing of
mere words and pretensions. Consider the nature of the love of Christ, as
accounting for its endurance and reality. His love sprang from the purest
possible motives. Christ’s love was a wise love, not blind as ours often is. He
loved us knowing exactly what we were whom He loved. His love is associated
continually with an infinite degree of patience and pity. He is so constant in
His love, because He sees us as what we are to be. He is described as “born for
adversity,” the adversity of the fall, and of tribulation.
II. Refer the text
to the Christian. You have found Jesus Christ to be a true brother and a
blessed friend; now let the same be true of you. If Christ be such a friend to
us, what manner of people ought we to be towards Him? We should be friends that
love Christ at all times. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
A brother born for adversity
I. Adversity is
the common lot of brotherhood. It comes sooner or later to all of us. It is a
necessity of our nature. It is a wise appointment of God.
II. The ties of
brotherhood are formed for adversity. We are united in families for purposes of
mutual succour.
III. adversity tends
to sanctify the intercourse of the brotherhood. Some of the most valuable of
our lessons are taught us in our intercourse with one another.
IV. In adversity we
are led to know, in an especial manner, the presence of the elder brother with
the brotherhood. Jesus became a brother in adversity. His sufferings and
sorrows enabled Him to sympathise with us in all our struggles and troubles.
V. It is by
adversity that the whole brotherhood are gathered at last into our Father’s
house above. (Anon.)
Men’s friendship and Christ’s
Friendship is no fiction; all history bears record to its reality.
There are many relationships in this world dignified by the name of friendship
which really do not deserve it, as, for example, acquaintanceship, the freedom
to interchange visits of courtesy, and association in business. These pass for
friendship; but they are only its shadows. The perfect friendship is a very
exacting relation.
1. The first value of friendship is that it will give support in
weakness, understanding amid evil reports, consolation in sorrow, and help in
the bearing of burdens; and that is no friendship which breaks down under such
demands. Trouble is a splendid thing for any man if it only sifts his friends;
it saves him a deal of trouble in other ways. There is an admirable
compensation about our existence.
2. The second service of a friend is that he is one to whom all our
thoughts may be uttered, one to whom we may be absolutely sincere. Ordinarily,
a man is only honest when he is alone; let another man come in, and hypocrisy
begins. Our words are a kind of clothes to hide our real selves. But with a
friend we are absolutely open; we do all our thinking aloud, we stand erect
before him, and find in his mind a true picture of what we are. Such a friend
is a masterpiece of nature.
3. A third service is that it affords us the possession of one soul
to whom we may be tender without shame. See the tenderness between David and
Jonathan, and between Achilles and Patroclus. When one man becomes dear to
another they have both reached the goal of fortune. By a tender friendship the
Divine part in us finds exercise.
4. The fourth service which friendship renders is that it helps us to
know ourselves and to know God. When you enjoy friendship most it is in
contrast to solitude, and you seek solitude again, in order to know what you
have gained from your friend. You cannot reckon up a profit and loss account
while you are in his company; you have to retire to your own soul’s communion
in order to ascertain your gain and loss thereby. Thus you have a compensation
for intercourse with another soul by introspection of your own. Further, as the
power that keeps the atoms together in one body is of God, the tie between your
friend’s heart and your own is of God, and you cannot let your consciousness of
friendship deepen without deepening at the same time your consciousness of God.
(H. H. Snell.)
Friendship in adversity
Love, while it remains
essentially the same, appears tenfold more loving when its object has fallen
from prosperity into poverty; as a lamp burning in daylight shines much more
brightly in the darkness. Many will court you while you have much to give; when
you need to receive, the number of your friends will be diminished, but their
quality will be improved. Your misfortune, like a blast of wind upon the
thrashed corn, will drive the chaff away, but the wheat will remain where it
was. How very sweet sometimes is the human friendship that remains when sore
adversity has sifted it! (W. Arnot, D. D.)
Friendship
The more we understand the world the better we comprehend the
Bible. The Spirit that overshadowed its writers knew all the ins and outs of
human hearts, all the mysteries of human guilt and grief.
I. The ideal of
friendship. Every man cannot be a friend. Friendships cannot be willed, they
must be made. They grow; they want resemblances. Earthly friendships have often
some element of weakness in them. No man can know more of his brother without
knowing the worst as well as the best of him. Friendship with Christ alone
satisfies. Here is--
1. The test of friendship. “At all times.” True only of Christ.
2. The preciousness of friendship.
3. The future of friendship.
II. The ideal of
brotherhood. “A brother is born for adversity.”
1. This is a unique fact.
2. It is a designed fact.
3. It is an adapted fact.
To be a true brother, Christ must take account of the world as it
is, and what word is there more expressive of life than this, “adverse
things”--things that turn against us! (W. M. Statham.)
Constancy in friendship
That is not true friendship which is not constant; it will be so
if it be sincere and actuated by a good principle. Those that are fanciful and
selfish in their friendship will love no longer than their humour is pleased
and their interest served, and therefore their affections turn with the wind,
and change with the weather. Swallow-friends, that fly to you in summer, but
are gone in winter; such friends there is no loss of. But if the friendship be
prudent, generous, and cordial, if I love my friend because he is wise, and virtuous, and good, so
long as he continues so, though he fall into poverty and disgrace, still I
shall love him. (Matthew Henry.)
Verse 22
A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit
drieth the bones.
Mental and bodily influence
The connection between the mind and the body, though not to be explained, is so
striking as to force itself upon the notice of the least observant. There is
such a sympathy between the two that the one cannot suffer and the other be
unaffected. But the mind will often claim such independence of the body as the
body can never assert over the mind. When the torture is of the mind alone,
there will be comparatively little bodily capacity to bear up under the
pressure. Solomon says here that a “merry heart,” a cheerful mind, a spirit
contented and well at ease, will administer support and strength for endurance.
But Solomon treats also the case of a mind assailed and out of joint, and says
that, in this case, the body as well as the mind will be utterly prostrated.
I. The power which
the mind can exert in support of the body so long as itself is in good
condition. Where there is no aid drawn from the resources of religion, there
may be firmness the most unflinching in the endurance of pain. The records of
savage life prove the existence of a sustaining principle in man. There is a
power in man’s spirit to sustain his infirmity. The truth that men have no
power of renewing their nature must not be interpreted as implying that men
have no power of reforming their lives. The doctrine of human degeneracy,
preached in an unguarded and overwrought strain, makes men imagine that they
can do nothing unless they feel themselves acted on by a supernatural
machinery, and that, until they have experienced inward revelation, it is idle
to set about outward reformation. We would always hold that a great deal lies
in the unconverted man’s power. We can never believe, whilst there is the
spectacle on earth of mind wielding a thorough sovereignty over matter, a
sovereignty so perfect that the body is set before us as literally the vassal
of the spirit, we at all exaggerate his abilities when we urge him, as a
candidate for the prizes of eternity, to improve the life, and break away from
habits and associations of unrighteousness.
II. A man’s total
incapacity to bear a wounded spirit. We are not accustomed to admit up to the
full a matter of fact--the physical destructiveness, so to speak, of an
overwrought mind. The greatest wear and tear is from mental labour. Mental
disquietude tells on the health with corroding and devastating power. It is the
gracious appointment of God that a wound in the spirit begins to close so soon
as made; so that where there is the wish there is not the power of keeping it
long open. If it be true that the
endurance of grief cannot be referred to indwelling energy, but rather to that
soothing action of time which comes into play on the first moment of
affliction, then there is no witness from the experience of mankind against the
truth of the text. It cannot be assumed that a spirit is broken until stricken
by that Word of God which is “quick and powerful.” Conviction of sin is the
unbearable thing, and an awakened conscience an irresistible tormentor. A truly
broken spirit is that which is bruised by a sense of sin. It is impossible that
man should long sustain the anguish of conviction of sin. (H. Melvill, B. D.)
A cheerful spirit
I. The value of a
cheerful spirit.
1. It helps bodily health.
2. It is a clarifier and invigorator of the mind.
3. It lubricates the wearing machinery of business and daily care.
II. How attain this
spirit?
1. Look at your mercies with both eyes; your troubles with only one
eye.
2. Learn Paul’s secret: “In whatsoever state I am, therewith to be
content.”
3. Be useful. Light somebody’s torch, and your own will burn
brighter.
4. Make God your trustee. Believe in His care of your welfare. (Homiletic
Review.)
Bodily health depending on mental moods
So closely connected is the soul with the body, that physical
health is ever, to a great extent, dependent on mental states. A dark thought
has power to work disease and death into the corporeal frame. This is a fact--
1. Recognised by medical science. A wise physician avails himself of
this fact, and is ever anxious not only to dispel all sad thought from the mind
of the patient, but to awaken the most pleasurable thoughts and emotions. It is
a fact--
2. Attested by general experience.
I. The
responsibility of man for his physical health. Man is responsible for his
mental disposition, whether cheerful or gloomy, and his disposition greatly
determines his health.
II. The duty of the
guardians of childhood and youth.
III. The sanitary
influence of Christianity. The design of Christianity is to fill the human
heart with joy. “These things have I spoken unto you that your joy may be
full.” Christianity is the best physician to the body. He who promotes
Christinity is the wise philanthropist. Some people are always trying to keep
the body well, and neglect entirely the condition of the soul. (D. Thomas,
D. D.)
The effects of cheerfulness and of despondency
I. The meaning of
the verbs.
1. By “a merry heart” is meant a heart which has been taught by the
Spirit of God to seek its happiness in Divine and heavenly objects, which is
disposed to look at the
bright side of things under the influence of contentment and hope. Such a heart
has the best reason for cheerfulness. Faith keeps it from suspicion and
distrust, hope from despair, and charity from that envy which is a rottenness
of the bones. The
love of God shed abroad in the heart makes it form the most favourable idea of
every dispensation, and Christ dwelling there brightens all around by His
presence.
2. By the “broken spirit” is meant a heart crushed by affliction, and
which refuses to be comforted. Such is his spirit who, seeing his affairs
ruined by his own folly, or the knavery of others, or by misfortunes which he
could neither foresee nor prevent, sinks into utter despondence, and becomes
incapable of the least effort to better his circumstances. Such is his spirit
who, seeing the desire of his eyes taken away with a stroke, imagines he has
nought now to live for. Such also is the spirit of the man wounded by remorse,
or shattered by the influence of indulged melancholy, jealousies, suspicions,
and fears.
II. Illustrate this
view here given of the result of cheerfulness and depression.
1. Let us consider their influence on the body. The influence of a
suitable medicine on the body is wonderful. Disease is checked or alleviated by
it when first received; the continued use of it removes it entirely, and
strengthens the constitution to resist its further attacks. Such is the power
of holy joy over the health. On the other hand a broken spirit dries up the
bones, and the finest constitution sinks under its influence.
2. Consider their influence on prosperity and adversity. All the
comforts of prosperity are heightened by a cheerful spirit. So amiable does
prosperity appear when thus enjoyed, that every heart wishes its continuance;
but the broken spirit is a stranger to all the satisfactions as well as the
homage of gratitude. On such a heart all its delights are lavished in vain. The
cheerful heart can triumph in adversity. But how different is the case with the
broken spirit! Every temporal disaster is the supposed prelude to their ruin,
etc.
3. Consider the influence of cheerfulness and of depression on the
soul. Cheerfulness quickens all the powers of the soul in their exercise; the
imagination forms the most pleasing ideas of scenes and objects; memory calls
up the most joyous recollections; hope paints the future blissful as the
present; and the understanding, rejoicing in the truth, pursues its inquiries with
unwearied ardour. On the other hand, when the spirit is broken, the imagination
calls up only scenes of woe; memory brings nought to remembrance but what tends
to disquiet and torment us; despair clothes the heavens with blackness; and the
understanding doth nought but write bitter things, and form the most dreadful
conclusions against itself.
4. Consider the influence of cheerfulness and depression on the
duties and the pursuits of life. When the heart is cheerful the duties of a
man’s calling are a pleasure to him. How ingenious is the cheerful heart in
finding the means of enjoyment and in extending these! On the other hand, when
the spirit is broken the duties of a man’s profession are a burden him.
5. Consider their influence on the connections of life. The man of a
merry heart is the happiness of his family and friends. How different is the
case with the broken spirit! The indications of joy in his presence such a man
is apt to regard as an insult to his wretchedness.
Conclusion:
1. How strongly does the broken spirit claim our pity and our
prayers! It is impossible to conceive on this side the grave a condition more
dreary.
2. Let us carefully guard against the first symptoms of despondence in ourselves and in
others. Let us seek out those remedies which the gospel contains for raising
the bowed down.
3. Let me address those who are blessing themselves in a false mirth.
I know not whether the despairing mourner or the jovial sinner is the greatest
object of pity. The jovial sinner’s mirth is like the laughter of the maniac,
or like the singing of a patient
whose brain a fever hath disordered. The broken spirit may lead
to that godly sorrow which worketh repentance to salvation, but the audacious
mirth of the sinner is most likely to end in weeping, and wailing, and gnashing
of teeth. (H. Belfrage, D. D.)
Verse 24
Wisdom is before him that hath understanding; but the eyes of a
fool are in the ends of the earth.
The nearness of life’s interest and work
“Far fowls have fine feathers”--that is our modern rendering of
the Hebrew proverb. Both proverbs are directed against a common weakness of
human nature, our English proverb hitting it off with a good-natured smile, the
Hebrew proverb rebuking it with the bluntness of a moral censor. To make little
of what is at our door, and to magnify what is distant, is a familiar way in
which the weakness of human nature shows itself. It is a weakness to which most
of us must plead guilty, and it is a weakness which proves itself a formidable
enemy of spiritual life. There is no chance of our achieving anything great in
the spiritual life while we hug the delusion that greatness is to be found far
off in space or in time, and that its only congenial surroundings are far
different from those in which we find ourselves. The wise man knows where to
look for the interest and grandeur of life; he knows they are to be found near
at hand, even at his own door. Two directions in which this lesson is needed.
I. We may look for
the interest of life in the wrong place. It is difficult to see the spiritual
in what is commonplace, the great in what is near, the sacred in what is
ordinary. Men go to far-off lands seeking beauty which can be found almost at
their doors. The romance of life has often been sought far afield, while all
the time a nobler romance was to be found around the door. The wisest
delineators of human life have found its romance near home. One reason of the
popularity of George Eliot’s novels lies just here, that she has taken up the
lives of ordinary people, and shown, with fine sympathy, how rich in interest
is the common life of the common people. It is of supreme importance for the living
of a Christian life that we should have our interest kept fresh and rightly
directed. It is not only the flesh that wars against the spirit, but
listlessness; not only positive sins, but the deadening weight of the
conviction that we are set down in the midst of dull commonplace. Our
enthusiasm needs to be aroused, and the rousing of our enthusiasm must spring
from the conviction that there is something within our reach worth being
enthusiastic about. That conviction often fails us just because we commit the
folly which our proverb reproves. Immanuel Kant was never more than a few miles
from his native Konigsberg. He found in the human mind a field of study
exhaustless in its scope and interest. If the life of our town is dull it is
because our own souls are dull. The insipidity and commonplaceness of which we
complain belong to our own vision.
II. We may look for
the work of life in the wrong place. The one error is linked with the other.
From false views of life there spring erroneous conceptions of the work we may
accomplish. It is not circumstances that make a man spiritually great, but the
way in which he handles the circumstances. Spiritual greatness springs not from
without, but from within. It matters little what may be the rough material put
into our hands. The spiritual product we turn out depends upon the spirit in
which we work. Our work is not far off in the ends of the earth; it is close
beside us. These are no tame, prosaic days in which we live. They may be days
of trouble, and unrest, and upheaval, but the Spirit of God is moving as of old
upon the face of the waters. We need not sigh for the opportunity of playing
our part in the movements of other days. The movements of to-day are enough for
our faith, and energy, and devotion. (D. M. Ross, M. A.)
Contrast between a wise man and a fool
I. That the one
has a meaning, the other an unmeaning face. One translator renders the words
“In the countenance of a wise man wisdom appeareth, but the fool’s eyes roll to
and fro.” God has so formed man that his face is the index to his soul; it is
the dial-plate of the mental clock. A wise man’s face looks wisdom--calm,
devout, reflective. The fool’s face looks folly. As the translucent lake
reflects the passing clouds and rolling lights of sky, so does the human
countenance mirror the soul.
II. That the one
has an occupied the other a vacant mind. The meaning of Solomon perhaps may be
wisdom as before, that is, present, with the man that hath understanding. The
principles of wisdom are in his mind, are ever before his eye. Wisdom is “before”
his mind in every circumstance and condition. Its rule, the Word of God, is
before him. Its principle, the love of God, is before him. Thus he has an
occupied mind. But the mind of the fool is vacant. His “eyes are in the ends of
the earth.” He has nothing before him, nothing true, or wise, or good. He looks
at emptiness. Alas! how vacant the mind of a morally unwise man! It is a vessel
without ballast, at the mercy of the winds and waves. His thoughts are
unsubstantial, his hopes are illusory, the sphere of his conscious life a
mirage.
III. That the one
has a settled, the other an unsettled heart. The morally wise man is fixed,
wisdom is before him and his heart is on it. He is rooted and grounded in the
faith. He is not used by circumstances, but he makes circumstances serve him.
But the fool is unsettled, his “eyes are in the ends of the earth.” His mind,
like the evil spirit, walks to and fro through the earth, seeking rest and
finding none. (Homilist.)
Common follies
If the eyes are in the ends of the earth, they cannot be here,
where, probably, the work and duty lie. The man will stumble over obstacles
which he would see if his eyes were where they should be, and he wilt lose his
way. This is a common kind of folly, and appears under different aspects.
I. The folly of
discontent. A man’s eyes may be said to be in the ends of the earth if he
thinks his happiness lies in a different sphere from that which Providence has
allotted to him. The grumbling spirit is widespread, and is not confined to any
class of the community. Sometimes the round man is put into the square hole.
God does not invariably wish a man to stay for ever in the place where he has
been dropped. The mistake is when we so allow these feelings to work in us that
they make us disheartened where we are. Some time the tide of opportunity rises
to every man’s feet, and happy is he if he is ready to take it when his hour
comes. But if it does not come, what then? Why, then we must surely conclude
that God needs us where we are.
II. The folly of
the scorner. A person’s eyes are in the ends of the earth if the objects of his
admiration are all people he has never seen, and if he has nothing but contempt
for those among whom he lives. If the only causes that can awaken your
enthusiasm are causes belonging to past centuries, if all your heroes are men
who are dead, and you have no living heroes, your eyes are in the ends of the
earth. Some go to romance and poetry for the objects of their admiration. But
it is one thing to pity the poor in a book, and quite a different thing to pity
them in the flesh.
III. The folly of
the busybody. A person’s eyes are in the ends of the earth when he occupies his
eyes with the affairs of other people and neglects his own. The gossip; the
loud-mouthed politician; the satirist who lashes the iniquities of the times,
and who himself is the slave of the same vices. A wise man said that ours is an
age when every man wants to reform the world and no one is willing to reform
himself.
IV. The folly of
the procrastinator. A man’s eyes are in the ends of the earth if he is looking
forward to the proper use of future time and not making proper use of present
time. We all do it. How easy and pleasant is the duty which is going to be done
to-morrow! Some are committing this folly in regard to the most important of
all concerns--the concern of the soul and eternity. This is a threefold folly.
1. The future opportunity may never come.
2. If it does come, can you be sure that you will then be anxious about
eternity?
3. You can only have a mean and selfish conception of religion if you
defer it to some future time. You are going to spend your life on yourself,
going to give it to the devil, and at last going to creep to Christ and get Him
to take you into heaven and save you from the consequences of your sin. Can you
hold your face up to a conception of religion like that? Christ wants your
life--wants to make it year by year more and more useful and noble. (James
Stalker, D. D.)
Verse 26
Also to punish the just is not good, nor to strike princes for
equity.
Striking princes
The spirit of lawlessness, which sought a remedy for real or
imaginary ills by striking at princes, was not a strange thing in the times of
Solomon. The simple negative in Scripture is often stronger and more
significant than the first blush of the expression suggests. It is “not good”
to strike princes for equity means that it is absolutely bad. It is “not good”
morally, for it is a heinous crime; it is “not good” socially, for it fosters a
spirit of restlessness and insecurity; it is “not good” politically, for it
fails to establish the peace and prosperity of a nation; it is “not good”
spiritually, for in the eyes of the Eternal Judge it is an odious sin. Morally,
socially, politically, and spiritually it is a gigantic error, a colossal
folly, an abominable iniquity, to strike at princes. The expression is capable
of three interpretations.
1. It may mean a dogged defiance of their authority--a fixed
determination not to obey their laws.
2. It may mean an effort to supplant a prince, a secret or overt
attempt to alienate the affections and confidence of the subjects, and transfer
the same to another person; a concerted method for placing in the post of
honour a rival candidate for popular favour.
3. It may mean assassination, a cruel and cowardly attempt on the
life of the sovereign, an execrable conspiracy to hurry into the unseen world
the occupant of the national throne. This is a most diabolical and detestable
way of attempting to settle real or imaginary grievances; a sin which is
sternly condemned by God, and denounced by all right-thinking men. (J. Hiles
Hitchens, D. D.)
A discourse against rebellion
Treason and rebellion are such horrid and loathsome crimes that if
they should appear in their native visage and genuine deformity they could
never form a party nor allure men to divorce their allegiance. They always,
therefore, insinuate into the affections of the unwary or easily deceived
multitude under the specious pretences of piety and purity. Some render the second
clause of this verse “princes
striking for equity” instead of “striking princes for equity.” But this cannot
be the true sense in this place. It is against the natural order of the words.
The proverb has a double aspect; the one respects princes, forbidding them to
punish their righteous subjects; the other respects the people, forbidding them
to rebel against their princes for equity’s sake. Dealing with this second
part, consider--
I. The doom and
censure. “It is not good.” It speaks only dislike, but means detestation. It
implies that it is a crime most impious in itself, and most odious and
abominable to God.
II. The action
condemned. “To strike princes.”
1. We must not strike princes with the tongue, in their fame and
reputation.
2. We must not strike princes in their authority, nor the exercise of
it over us. This may be done by refusing to be subject to their laws, or by
deposing them from their dominion.
3. It is sacrilege to strike them in their persons, and to offer
violence to their liberty or life.
III. The cause,
motive, or provocation to this abominable action. That is equity. Either the
prince’s equity or the subject’s equity. To strike for either is here censured
as a heinous crime.
1. It may he understood of resisting and rebelling against them for
their own equity and the execution of that justice which is committed to them.
2. It may be understood of striking them for their subject’s equity.
That is, it is a great injustice to strike princes upon any pretences of equity
and justice in so doing. Never yet was there any insurrection against the
lawful magistrate but what was prefaced with glorious pretences, the honour of God,
the liberty of the subject, a due freedom for tender consciences, etc. These
are all excellent things, and we can never too much prosecute them while we do it in a
lawful and allowed manner. But a good purpose can never justify a wicked
action, and God abhors that our sins should be made the means of His glory. (E.
Hopkins, D. D.)
Verse 27-28
He that hath knowledge spareth his words.
Signs of a wise man
Two ways a man may show himself to be a wise man.
1. By the good temper, the sweetness and the sedateness of his mind.
“A man of understanding is of an excellent spirit,” i.e., a precious
spirit. He is one that looks well to his spirit, that it be as it should be,
and so keeps it in an even frame, easy to himself, and pleasant to others. A
gracious spirit is a precious spirit, and renders a man amiable and more
excellent than his neighbour. He is of a cool spirit (so some read it), not
heated with passion nor put into any tumult or disorder by the impetus of any
corrupt affection, but even and stayed. A cool head with a warm heart is an
admirable composition.
2. By the good government of his tongue. A wise man will be of few
words, as being afraid of speaking amiss; he that has knowledge, and aims to do
good with it, is careful, when he does speak, to speak to the purpose, and says
little, in order that he may take time to deliberate. He spares his words,
because they are better spared than ill-spent. This is generally taken for such
a sure indication of wisdom that a fool may gain the reputation of being a wise
man if he have but wit enough to hold his tongue, to hear, and see, and say
little. If a fool hold his peace, men of candour will think him wise, because nothing
appears to the contrary, and because it will be thought that he is making
observations on what others say and gaining experience, and is consulting with
himself what he shall say that he may speak pertinently. See how easy it is to
gain men’s good opinion and to impose upon them. But when a fool holds his
peace God knows his heart, and the folly that is bound up there; thoughts are
words to Him, and therefore He cannot be deceived in His judgment of men. (Matthew
Henry.)
The empire of silence
Looking round at the noisy inanity of the world, words with little
meaning, actions with little worth, one loves to reflect on the great empire of
silence. The noble silent men gathered here and there, each in his department,
silently thinking, silently working, whom no morning newspaper makes mention
of, they are the salt of the earth. A country that has none or few of these is
in a bad way. Like a forest which has no roots, which has all turned into
leaves and boughs, which must soon wither and be no forest. Woe to us if we had
nothing but what we can show or speak. Silence, the great empire of silence,
higher than the stars; deeper than the kingdoms of death! It alone is great;
all else is small. (Thomas Carlyle.)
Silence and thought
Bees will not work except in darkness; thought will not work
except in silence; neither will virtue work except in silence. Let not thy
right hand know what thy left hand doeth. (Thomas Carlyle.)
──《The Biblical Illustrator》