Chapter III (1)

CRITICAL NOTES.--+1. Keep.+ This word, says Miller primarily means to look _hard at_, and generally to _keep watch over_, as over a vineyard. +2. Length of days,+ properly "extension of days." +4. Good understanding,+ or "good success," "good reputation." Some read "good _intelligence_," _i.e._, thou shalt be esteemed before God and man as one of good understanding. +6. Acknowledge,+ "take notice of," "recognise" Him. +Direct,+ "make level" or "smooth." +8. Navel,+ "body" or "muscles." +Marrow,+ literally "refreshing," "moistening," in contrast to the condition described in Psa. xxxii. 3, 4. +11. Despise not,+ or "loathe not," "shrink not." The word, according to Miller, means "to melt." +Chastening,+ "discipline," "correction." +12.+ The latter clause of this verse should be read, "and holds him dear, or does him a favour, as a father does his son." +13. Gets,+ "draws out." +18. Lay hold,+ "grasp," from a Hebrew root _strong_. +Retaineth,+ "holds her fast." +20. Depths,+ &c., "were the floods divided" into rivers and streams for the blessing of man. +Dew,+ or "gentle rain," or else the clouds signify the lower regions of the atmosphere where the dew is formed. +21. Them,+ _i.e._ "sound wisdom and discretion;" +Sound wisdom,+ the same word as in chap ii. 7 (see notes there). Miller translates here as there, "_something stable_." +25. Desolation of the wicked.+ This is interpreted in two ways. 1. The desolation in which the wicked strive to overwhelm the good; or, 2. The destruction which will sweep away the wicked, leaving the godly unharmed. "A positive decision is probably not possible" (Lange's Commentary). Stuart, and most modern commentators, adopt the latter view. +26. Confidence.+ "Jehovah shall be as loins to thee" (Miller). +27. Withhold not, &c.,+ literally "hold not good back from its master," _i.e._, from him to whom it belongs. +31. Envy thou not, &c.,+ or "emulate not" (Vulg.) "_Do_ not anxiously covet" (Stuart). +32. Secret.+ His "secret compact," "familiar intimacy." +34.+ "If," or "Seeing that He scorneth the scorners," &c. +35. The promotion,+ &c., literally "shame lifts up," _i.e._, in order to sweep away and destroy them; so Lange translates. Miller reads, "fools are each piling shame." Stuart says on this verse, "Glory means here honour or an exalted station. Ziegler and Ewald render the next clause, 'Shame shall elevate fools,' spoken sarcastically. I prefer the meaning sanctioned by Ezek. xxi. 23; Is. lvii. 14, viz., to take off, to sweep away, as the dust which is elevated by the wind and is swept off, as may be seen in Isa. xvii. 13. Compare Isa. xxix. 5; Psa. xxxv. 5. At least, the image understood in this way is very vivid. It stands thus: 'Fools are elevated like the light dust, and then are _swept away_ in the same manner.'"

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 1-4.

BLESSINGS FROM THE REMEMBRANCE OF GOD'S COMMANDMENTS.

+I. The natural desire of a moral instructor.+ Every teacher desires that his pupil should remember his instructions, and unless that which has been given is remembered it is useless to carry him further on. Memory holds a very important place in the formation of moral character. "Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the Gospel which I preached unto you; . . . by which also ye are saved, if ye _keep in memory_ what I preached unto you" (1 Cor. xv. 1 and 2). Paul likewise exhorts his son Timothy by means of his memory (2 Tim i. 6). See also Hebrews x. 32; 2 Pet. i. 15, iii. 1, etc. Solomon knew that his son could only profit by his counsel so long as he remembered it.

+II. When the memory does not retain moral teaching, it is a moral rather than an intellectual fault.+ "Let thine _heart_ keep my commandments." We find it difficult to forget where we love. If a child loves his father, he is not likely to forget his words. Christ reminded his disciples that they did not "remember" because their _hearts_ were hardened (Mark viii. 17, 18).

+III. When the heart keeps the Divine Word, mercy and truth will not forsake the character.+ Where God's precepts find a place of abode, there will likewise be found a merciful disposition towards men, and a truthful and sincere piety before God. If a tree has its roots in the waters, we know that its greenness will not fail: "its leaf shall not wither." The freshness and beauty of the foliage is the necessary outcome of its roots dwelling in the stream. The mercifulness and the truthfulness of a man's character will be in proportion to his affection for, and consequent retention of, the words of God.

+IV. The blessings which will accompany a remembrance of the Divine teaching.+ 1. _Length of days._ We may infer from this that, as a rule, long life is to be desired. The longer distance a pure river runs through a country, the greater the amount of blessing which it diffuses on its way to the ocean. The longer a man of "mercy and truth" lives, the more he is enabled to bless his fellow-creatures. A long life gives a man time to attain great knowledge of God, and thus enables him to glorify Him upon the earth. A long life is also to be desired because the peculiar experience of earth belongs to the present life only. When that is ended we have reason to believe that we shall enter upon an entirely new experience; that which belonged to earth will have passed away with our earthly life. It has often been remarked that a godly manner of life is favourable to "length of days." Sin and anxious care tend to bring men to an early grave, while purity, and trust in a living and loving Father are promoters of bodily health. 2. _Divine and human favour._ The human ruler is favourable to those who make it their business to obey his commands. A wise and good father makes a difference in his treatment of those children who seek to please him and those who defy his authority. God is the Father, and consequently the rightful Ruler of men, and having made laws for the guidance of His children, it follows of necessity that those who seek to obey those laws must find favour with Him. He is in this sense a respecter of persons. He has respect to those who "have respect unto his commandments" (Psa. cxix. 6). Favour in the sight of man is also promised. The value of a man's favour depends upon a man's character. To find favour with some men would be to be known as an enemy of God (James iv. 4). It is written that Jesus increased "in favour with God and man" (Luke ii. 52). But we know that He found little favour with the rulers of the Jews. Therefore, these words must be taken to refer to the favour of those whose favour is worth having. 3. _Peace_ (Verse 2). Where the conscience and passions are at war there can be nothing but unrest, but when the conscience is reinforced by the Divine precepts, she rules, and the soul, as a consequence, enjoys peace. Peace must flow from the possession of Divine favour, and also from the consciousness of the good-will of good men.

_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._

Verse 1. Here we advance another step. Not only is it necessary to renounce and shun evil (i. 10) and to listen to the voice of Wisdom and go in quest of her (i. 20; ii. 1-4), but it is also requisite to hold her fast under trial and tribulation (ver. 11), and to practise her rules by love to God and man (verses 9, 27, 30).--_Wordsworth._

"My law." He who made us knows what is good for us. Submission to His will is the best condition for humanity. Our own will leads to sin and misery. The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul. . . . Silently to forget God's law is a much more common thing amongst us than blasphemously to reject it.--_Arnot._

Where love makes the impression, care locks it up. . . . Philo saith, "Thou forgettest God's law, because thou forgettest thyself." For didst thou remember thine own condition, how very nothing thou art, thou couldst not forget His law whose excellency exceedeth all things; and therefore to fasten His law in our hearts, God saith no more than that it is _my law_, as if the strength of that reason were sufficient to strike them into us not to be forgotten.--_Jermin._

We should be able to say to Wisdom as Cœnis did to her lady Antonia, "You need not, madame, bid me do your business, for I so remember your commands, as I need never be reminded of them."--_Trapp._

The mental faculties have a close relation and a mutual dependence upon each other. There are, without doubt, original diversities in the power of memory. But memory depends greatly on _attention_, and attention depends not less upon the interest which the mind feels on the subject. He who feels no interest will not attend, and he who does not attend will not remember.--_Wardlaw._

Verse 2. _Length of days_ is the promise to the righteous--whether for earth or for heaven as their Father deems fittest for them. In itself, the promise, as regards this life, has no charm. . . . But _peace added_ forms the sunshine of the toilsome way.--_Bridges._

The original is "length of days and years of lives." They are lives which religion promiseth, one on earth, another in heaven: here such a long life as short days can make up, but there days shall be years: there shall be but one day, lengthened into eternity.--_Jermin._

Where is the consistency of promising long life to wisdom? Where is the truth of such an assurance? But certain grammatical endings give us immediate signs of another interpretation. The verb "add" is masculine; the words "law" and "commandments" are feminine. On the contrary, all are masculines among the nouns of the next clause. Unless there should be reason to do violence by an ungrammatical exception, the nouns should be the subjects rather than the objects of the verb. We translate therefore, "For length of days, and years of life, and prosperity, shall make thee greater."--_Miller._

Such declarations are certainly not to be interpreted as a promise of long life in this world in every instance, as the result of obedience to God's commands. There are promises to Israel of their days being prolonged in the land which are greatly mistaken when interpreted of the life of individuals; and as pledging in every case its prolongation to all the good. Such passages relate to the continued possession of the land of promise by the people, if they, in their successive generations, continued to serve God.--_Wardlaw._

Simple duration of life in itself to Jewish mind, a great gift of God. "Years of _life_," _i.e._, of a life truly such, a life worth living, not the lingering struggle with pain and sickness (compare the use of "life" in Psalm xxx. 5, xliii. 8).--_Plumptre._

Verse 3. There was such a similitude of nature between the twins of love that at once they wept, and at once they smiled; they fell sick together, and they recovered jointly. Such are these twins of grace. In policy, mercy without truth is a sweet shower dropping upon barren sands, quite spilt, and no blessing following it; truth without mercy is extreme right and extreme injury. Consider them toward God and heaven. A faith of mere protestation without good works, such as truth without mercy, and all the integrity of the heathen, all the goodness that Socrates could teach, such is mercy without truth.--_Bishop Hacket._

The _neck_ is, in Solomon's writings, the organ and symbol of _obedience_. To bind God's law about the neck is not only to _do_ it, but to _rejoice_ in doing it; to put it on and exult in it as the fairest ornament.--_Wordsworth._

+I. The matter to be recorded+--mercy and truth. These two, meeting and kissing in the Mediator, constitute the revealed character of God Himself; and He desires to see, as it were, a miniature of His own likeness impressed upon His children. +II. The tablet for receiving it+--the human heart. The reference is obviously to the tables of stone. The tables were intended to be not a book only, but a type. An impress should be taken on our own hearts, that we may always have the will of God hidden within us.--_Arnot._

Let these graces be, as with God, in combination. The want of one buries the commendation of the other. "Such a one is merciful to the poor, but there is no truth in him." "Such a one is very just in his dealings, but he is as hard as a flint." Nor must these virtues be in occasional and temporary exercise. "Let them not _forsake_ thee."--_Bridges._

Intimating--I. Their forsaking us is more than our forsaking them. Our forsaking them may come of our weakness, but their forsaking us comes of our wilfulness and hardness of heart in not entertaining them. II. It sets out the easiness of the loss of them through our corruption. III. It sets forth our great need of them. IV. It intimates our great care and pains needful for the retaining of them. They are easily lost, but hardly kept. A hawk must be well tamed before he is let fly, else he will return no more. These graces must be as carefully kept as providently gotten, like riches. And they must both be kept together, else mercy may lie to do good, and truth may reveal without cause what may do hurt. Therefore join both as God does (Ps. lxxxv. 10).--_Francis Taylor._

Mercy and truth are dear sisters, blessed companions in God, sweet companions in man. Mercy loveth truth, truth loveth mercy, God loveth both; and if man love himself, he will do so likewise.--_Jermin._

These words correspond to the two tables of the law. Benevolence is at the bottom of the command, "Thou shalt love thy neighbour," and what is right is that great glory which we are to love in God.--_Miller._

Verse 4. In other words, "Thou shalt be favoured and truly prospered, God and man both bearing witness to thy well-directed efforts."--_Stuart._

He that shows mercy to men shall find mercy with God . . . and men love to be dealt truly and mercifully with themselves, even though they deal not so with others; especially they that get good by our merciful and just dealing will favour us.--_Francis Taylor._

This favour of God and man, _i.e._, not of all indiscriminately, but first and pre-eminently of the wise and devout, such as agree with God's judgment, is evidently in the view of the poet the highest and most precious of the multiform blessings of wisdom which he enumerates. What, however, is this favour of God and man but the being a true child of God, the belonging to the fellowship of God and His people, the co-citizenship in the kingdom of truth and blessedness? We stand here manifestly at the point at which the Old Testament doctrine of retributions predominantly earthly begin to be transformed into the supersensual or spiritual realistic doctrine of the New Testament (Matt. v. 10-12; xix. 28-30).--_Lange's Commentary._

The promise is all one with that of the Apostle Paul, when, speaking of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost, he saith, "that he which in these things serveth Christ, pleaseth God and is acceptable to men" (Rom. xiv. 18).

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 5 _and_ 6.

EXHORTATION TO CONFIDENCE IN GOD.

Man is so constituted that, in some respects, he must have objects outside of himself to lean upon. As a child, he leans upon a wisdom and strength which is superior to his own, and few men are so self-sufficient as entirely to lay aside this habit in after life. In many things we must, whether we will or not, depend upon the guidance and help of others. Every man, in common with the lower creatures, must of necessity lean upon a power greater than his own. "The eyes of all wait upon Thee" (Psa. cxlv. 15). But this is a leaning which needs no exhortation: it springs from necessity. The exhortation of the text implies that in some things men have to choose whether they will lean upon God or not.

+I. What is necessary in order to comply with the exhortation.+ 1. _A knowledge of God._ We cannot place entire trust in any person of whose character we have no knowledge; or, if we do so, we show our want of discretion. If a traveller across Central Africa were to give himself up to the guidance of the first native whom he met, he would probably find that his confidence had been misplaced. The youth who trusts in the first companion who offers his friendship is like a blind man placing his hand in that of any stranger who may offer him guidance. All lasting trust is based upon knowledge. "They that _know_ Thy name will put their trust in Thee" (Psa. ix. 10). The confidence of a wise man is born of knowledge of character. God can be known. His only-begotten Son hath declared Him (Luke x. 22; John i. 18, xvii. 3). 2. _Love to God._ The character must be known, and, being known, must be loved, if there is to be a lasting confidence. We shall not lean with much weight where we do not love. The trust of a Christian will be in proportion to his love to his Lord. The more intimate the knowledge, the deeper will be the love; the deeper the love, the more entire the trust. Our Lord Jesus Christ knew His Father (John xvii. 25) as no creature could know Him, and His love being based upon this profound knowledge, His trust was entire and His obedience perfect, even in His darkest hours. "But that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do." "_Arise let us go hence_" (John xiv. 31). We cannot do better than write after this copy.

+II. The necessary effect of such a confidence.+ We shall acknowledge God in all our ways. This must mean--1. _A practical recognition of His presence._ We may be in the presence of a superior, and know that we are in his presence, without acknowledging it by showing him the respect that is due to him. If this is the case, we virtually ignore his existence. A child whose behaviour is not deferential to his parent practically ignores him. Acknowledging God in all our ways implies a reverent attitude of soul towards Him. 2. _A belief in God's care for the individual life._ God makes himself known as the God of the individual man. The care of the individual is his self-imposed task. "I am the Lord God of _Abraham_, thy father, and the God of _Isaac_, . . . and behold I am with _thee_, and will keep _thee_ in all places whither thou goest" (Gen. xxviii. 13, 15). 3. _The reference of all our affairs to His guidance, and a submission of our will to His._ This will be easy and natural in proportion to our knowledge, and love, and conviction that God will not think any of our concerns beneath His notice. Our submission will be in the ratio of our confidence--our confidence in the ratio of our knowledge.

+III. The promise of direction guaranteed to compliance with the exhortation.+ 1. _Men have many ways in life._ Man's many ways spring from his many needs. He has a living to earn in the world. His hunger must be satisfied--his body must be clothed and fed. His social wants must be met--he must have companions, form relationships. His mind must have food as well as his body. The aspirations of his spirit form another way, and demand direction and enlightenment. But one way--the way of acknowledging God--is needful to make any and all the other ways profitable and pleasant. 2. _The certainty of right guidance from the foreknowledge and power of the guide._ An Alpine guide, who has traversed a road many times, knows from memory what is at the end of the journey. He sees the end while he is on the way. God's foreknowledge answers to our memory. He sees the end to which He is bringing us while we are on the way. And His power makes the accomplishment of His plans certain. He can speak of them as finished before the means are set in motion to bring them to pass. He said to Joshua: "Behold, I have given into thine hand Jericho" (Josh. vi. 2), before any steps had been taken to overthrow it. His guidance makes it certain that His designs will be accomplished, whatever becomes of our plans.

_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._

Verses 5 and 6. The heart, the seat of the affections, and also, in Hebrew psychology, the conscience, which is not a sure guide unless it is regulated by the Lord's will and Word.--_Wordsworth._

Once, indeed, man's understanding gave clear, unclouded light, as man's high prerogative--created in the image of God. But now--degraded by the fall, and darkened by the corruption of the heart--it must prove a false guide. Even in a renewed man--a prophet of God--it proved a mistaken counsellor (2 Sam. vii. 2, 5). Yet throw it not away; cultivate it; use it actively; but _lean_ not to it.--_Bridges._

"He shall Himself," _i.e._, by His own Spirit. There is an emphatic pronoun. When we walk, it is not we that walk, but God.--_Miller._

"Leaning to our own understanding" is, as far as it prevails, a kind of practical atheism. To form and prosecute our plans in this spirit of self-confidence, is to act as if there were _no_ God--as if the fool's _thought_, or the fool's _wish_, were true.--_Wardlaw._

+I. The duty enjoined.+ 1. _Entire._ 2. _Exclusive._ 3. _Uniform._ +II. The blessing promised--Direction.+ _Necessary_ on account of--1. Our fallibility. 2. The hazards of the way. 3. False guides. _Promised._ 1. By the pointings of Providence. 2. By the lessons of the Bible. 3. By the influences of the Holy Spirit.--_Outlines by Rev. G. Brooks._

The fundamental principle of all religion, consisting in an entire self-commitment to the grace and truth of God, with the abandonment of every attempt to attain blessedness by one's own strength or wisdom.--_Lange's Commentary._

The distant and unconfiding will come on occasion of State formalities to the sovereign; but the dear child will leap forward with everything. The Queen of England is the mother of a family. At one time her ministers of State came gravely into her presence to converse on the policy of nations; at another, her infant runs to her arms for protection, frightened at the buzzing of a fly. Will she love this last appeal because it is a little thing? We have had fathers of our flesh who delighted when we came to them with our minutest ailments. How much more should we bring all our ways to the Father of our spirits, and live by simple faith on Him.--_Arnot._

We may be led for the exercise of our faith into a way of disappointment, or even of _mistake_. But no step well prayed over will ever bring ultimate regret.--_Bridges._

Every enlightened believer trusts in a Divine power enlightening the understanding; he therefore follows the dictates of the understanding more religiously than any other man.--_M. Cheyne._

The moralist, in preaching this trust in God, anticipates the teaching that man is justified by faith.--_Plumptre._

See your confidence be not divided, part on God and part on man. Such a confidence may keep you from the lions (2 Kings xvii. 25) but it cannot keep you out of hell. A house built partly on firm ground, partly on sand, will fall. To trust in God is so to lean upon Him that if He fail thee thou sinkest.--_Francis Taylor._

He shall direct, as He carefully chose out the Israelites' way in the wilderness; not the shortest, but the safest way.--_Trapp._

1. That our reliance may be rational we should know what it is that God has promised, and what we may expect from Him; else we may be disappointed in all our hopes. 2. Reliance must be accompanied with obedience, with a purpose, and endeavour to do the things that are pleasing to God. 3. Reliance must also be connected with particular supplications to Him to bless us. 4. It must be accompanied with diligence and prudence in our worldly affairs. 5. It excludes immoderate cares, vain desires, fretful discontent. 6. Although reliance be so advantageous to us, even for the present, that it ought to be considered rather as a privilege than a duty, yet it is a noble virtue and a disposition of mind most agreeable to God. It is the greatest honour we can pay to Him. By it we show our belief in His wisdom, power, equity, and goodness.--_Jortin._

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 7-12.

THE WAY (1) TO HEALTH, (2) TO WEALTH, (3) TO ENDURANCE.

Three exhortations are here given, to each of which is attached a promise on reason to induce the young man to obey. +I. An exhortation to humility.+ (Verses 7 and 8.) Its peculiar appropriateness and importance will be seen if we consider--1. _The person to whom the exhortation is addressed._ "My son" (ver. 1). Lack of experience has a great tendency to breed self-conceit. As a rule, those who have lived the longest and have most acquaintance with men and things are the least disposed to be "wise in their own eyes." Ignorance is the mother of self-conceit. These words are addressed to a young man, because his youth would render him very liable to this fault. 2. _That self-conceit does not end with oneself but is dangerous to others._ The man who insists upon the correctness of his knowledge of a dangerous way, and will not listen to the experience of those who are better acquainted with it, is sure to find some who believe in him and follow his guidance. Thus he may not only lose his own life, but be the murderer of others. 3. _It shuts a man up to his ignorance._ The only way to become wise is to feel we are ignorant. As a lunatic must be shut up with others in a like condition while his madness is upon him, so a self-conceited man must be imprisoned with the fools of the universe while he remains in that condition. 4. _The Divine woes which are levelled against such an one._ All the woes pronounced by our Lord against the Scribes and Pharisees were against sins born of this sin. The charge against them was that they were wise in their own eyes. "For judgment am I come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind. And some of the Pharisees which were with him said, Are we blind also? Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, _We see;_ therefore your sin remaineth" (John ix. 39-41). "Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight" (Isa. v. 21). +II. The remedy against self-conceit.+ "Fear _the Lord,_" etc. When those who are wise in their own eyes begin to reverence those who are much wiser than they are, they will begin to depart from this evil which is the root of many evils. Esteem for those who deserve esteem will lessen their esteem for themselves. A knowledge of the character and wisdom of God will produce reverence. When a man renders to God the reverence which is due unto Him, and which is born of a right appreciation of what God is, the scales of self-conceit will fall from his own eyes. As the sun melts the hoar-frost from the windows and leaves a clear medium for the rays of the sun to enter the chamber, so the contact of God with the human soul will melt away the self-esteem which shut Him out. How entrenched was Saul of Tarsus in his own opinions before he met the Lord on the road to Damascus. How high an estimate he had of himself, but how great was the change which acquaintance with Christ wrought. When Job got an insight into God's greatness, he said, "I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes" (Job xlii. 6). Self-conceit cannot live where there are right views of God. +III. The promise here given to those who walk reverently before God.+ Certain it is that such a mode of life leads to bodily health. Those who walk in the fear of the Lord live lives of purity, of temperance, of freedom from the consuming passions and corroding cares of the ungodly. Other things being equal, or anything like equal, godliness has the promise of the life that now is in this respect as in others. But if we understand the words in this narrow sense only, they seem to express only a small part, and the inferior part, of the blessing that comes to a man from the "fear of the Lord." The bones here, as in Psalm xxxii. 3, xxxv. 10, are put for the whole man. And as the Psalmist, in the first-mentioned psalm, expresses his sad condition of soul as well as body when he says, "My moisture is turned to the drought of summer," so the "marrow," or "moisture," of the bones here expresses a vigour of the entire man. Sin breaks the bones of a man's spirit; the consciousness of the Divine favour which will flow from a reverential walk with God makes them "to rejoice" (Ps. li. 8).

Verses 9 and 10 contain--+I. An exhortation to a right use of temporal riches.+ 1. _Those who honour God with their gifts honour Him who has first honoured them with their stewardship._ The man who is entrusted with the property of others, has an honour put upon him by the trust. Potiphar put a great honour upon Joseph when he committed all that he had into his hand, and Joseph felt that it was so. This of itself should be a motive to a strict integrity and to devotion to the interests of One who has thus honoured us with confidence. All temporal, material blessings are given to men as stewards of God's property (Luke xvi. 1-12), and in this light they ought to regard themselves. 2. _If men honour God with their substance, they turn what would otherwise be a snare into a blessing._ The tendency of wealth is doubtless to make men god-forgetting, self-confident, selfish (Mark x. 23; Luke xii. 16; Jas. v. 1). But those who use it for the advancement of God's kingdom--for the alleviation of human suffering--make a _friend_ of this "mammon of unrighteousness" (Luke xvi. 9). 3. _God cannot be honoured with our substance unless we first give ourselves to Him._ The great desire of a true father in relation to his children is to secure their love. Having that, everything else that is theirs will be his. Without that, no offering, no service, can be acceptable. God must have the man before He will accept his wealth.

+II. The promise annexed to this exhortation.+ This cannot be the _motive_, but it is the _consequence_. Any man who gave his wealth because he believed it was a good investment in this sense, would not be honouring God with it. We must _give_, as we are commanded to _lend_, hoping for nothing again (Luke vi. 35). And, although the material rewards which are appended to a certain line of conduct under the old dispensation do not invariably follow it in the new and more spiritual one, there is probably no Old Testament promise of earthly reward which is, and ever has been, fulfilled with so few exceptions.

Verses 11 and 12. +I. An exhortation to patient endurance of affliction.+ 1. _From the constitution of our nature we can but dislike or loathe_ (_despise_, see "Critical Notes") _affliction itself._ There has never been one of the human kind who has welcomed affliction for its own sake; nay, more, there has never been one who has not shrunk from it, considered by itself. No man can do other than grieve for the death of his friend when he considers his own loss merely. No child of God can love pain or loss. The man who is under the knife of the surgeon must groan in the unnatural condition in which he is placed. Even Christ Himself, though He delighted to do the will of His Father (Psa. xl. 8), shrank from the bitter cup of suffering. If, then, pain--probably mental pain--was felt to be bitter by the Sinless Man, how much more will a sinful man find it hard to bear. 2. _The pain itself is that which renders us unable to see the connection between it and the benefit it is to work out._ While a man is suffering pain of body or mind, his feelings, more or less, overpower his reason. Although we know that it is to work good in the future, we fail often to realise the fact--feeling holds us down to the present.

+II. Four considerations to help us in times of affliction.+ 1. _Its individuality._ "_My_ son, despise not _thou_," which implies that God chastises men as individuals--that he distinguishes between them. There may be many sons and daughters in a human home; no two are exactly alike, therefore a wise discrimination must be exercised with regard to the chastisement or the discipline administered. So God discerns the needs of His children. No son or daughter need think that another cross would suit them better; they may be assured that the one they bear is the one that has been especially prepared for them and is therefore peculiarly adapted for them. 2. _Its end._ It is educational. It is correction, not destruction. Even if it is rebuke, or punishment for a particular sin, it is designed to eradicate that sin, and thus add to the character; and we are assured, on the highest authority, that tribulation worketh patience, experience, and hope--all of which graces go to form a higher type of man (Rom. v. 2, 3). 3. _Its signification._ It means son-ship, adoption. It means that God has taken us in hand; that He is Himself presiding over our education; that He loves us and desires our spiritual growth. 4. _Its Author._ "The Lord." We accept that from one who we know, which we would not from a stranger. If we can be sure that a man's motives are pure, we judge of his conduct accordingly. The consideration that affliction comes from the "righteous Father," the King who cannot wrong any of His subjects, ought to help us to take the rebuke with meekness,--to bear the pain, although we cannot now see the profit.

_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._

Verse 7. This warning against self-confidence is closely connected with the preceding verse. _The wise in his own eyes_ is he that _leans to his own understanding_. How striking is this connection between the fear of the Lord and the fear of sin (ch. xiv. 27; xvi. 6. Gen. xxxix. 9-10; Neh. v. 15).--_Bridges._

Get all the wisdom thou canst. That is the very burden of these Proverbs. But as thou gettest it if thou seemest wise, be sure that thou art weighed down with folly. Gabriel, who has never sinned, is foolish because he knows not the end from the beginning, and we are foolish from a further cause, that our wisdom has remains with it that are corrupt.--_Miller._

The greatest hindrance to all true wisdom is the thought that we have already attained it.--_Plumptre._

Fear God, and fear evil; fear God to go to Him, fear evil to depart from it. The wings of fear to carry thee to God are love and care, the wings of fear to carry thee from evil are shame and sorrow.--_Jermin._

Verse 8. The constant, steadfast, self-diffident operation of the religious principle is beneficial alike to _body_ and _soul_. It preserves the mind in tranquility and peace (Isa. xxvi. 3), and this is in a high degree conducive to the health and vigour of the bodily frame.--_Wardlaw._

Two sadnesses flow from not fearing Jehovah--worn muscles and dried bones (see "Critical Notes"). The two are perfectly distinct. One means "aching labour," the other, "horrible despondency." The fear of God delivers from both.--_Miller._

All God's laws come from one source and conspire for one end. They favour righteousness and frown on sin. The law set in nature runs parallel as far is it goes to the law written in the Word. Vice saps the health both of body and mind.--_Arnot._

Verse 9. Works of piety and charity are evidently included.--_Wardlaw._

Who art thou, that thou shouldest be able to honour Him, who is Himself of infinite honour? Who would not in this respect employ his substance in God's fear, seeing thereby thou dost honour Him, whom to serve is a high honour to the highest angels.--_Jermin._

To devote a portion of our substance directly to the worship of God, and the good of men, is a duty plainly enjoined in the Scriptures. It is not a thing that a man may do, or may not do, as he pleases. There is this difference, however, between it and the common relative duties of life. For the neglect of it no infliction comes from a human hand. God will not have the dregs that are squeezed out by pressure poured into His treasury. He loveth a cheerful giver. He can work without our wealth, but He does not work without our willing service.--_Arnot._

Verse 10. At first sight the motive may be regarded as a selfish one. But second thoughts give another view. _It is a trial of faith._ And it is a trial than which few are found more difficult. It is hard to persuade a man that giving away will make him rich. We look with new confidence to bank interest, or the still better interest of a vested loan, than to a return of profit from what is wholly given away.--_Wardlaw._

Men take care how to use their money to the best advantage by sea, by buying land or cattle, or by usury, an easy trade; thy best trade will be to maintain God's worship.--_Jermin._

The consecration of substance, as the seed-corn for the harvest, is as strange to the world as would be the casting of the seed in the earth to an untutored savage. Yet is the result secure in both cases: only with the difference, the temper of the earthly sower has no influence on the harvest; whereas the fruitfulness of the spiritual harvest mainly depends on the principles of the work. Most important is that we _honour the Lord_--not ourselves.--_Bridges._

Verse 11. Two things are forbidden here. 1. Do not make light of (despise) the Lord's chastening, as if thou couldst easily cast it off--in insensibility to it, not recognising the Lord's hand in it, and not humbling thyself under it. 2. Do not, on the contrary through pusillanimity, be weary, and impatient, and despondent under the burden.--_Cartwright._

Not to feel thy evils would be inhuman; not to bear them, unmanly.--_Seneca_

Fainting and wearying may take place in two ways. The heart may be overwhelmed by sudden trials, giving an effect so stunning and overpowering that the spirit sinks into a temporary stupefaction, and, as the Apostle has it, "we faint." Or it may become wearied out and exhausted by the long continuance of the same trial, or by a rapid succession of different strokes of the rod.--_Wardlaw._

Having stated the blessings of wisdom, it is logical to consider the apparent exceptions.--_Miller._

For if God did despise thee, He would not chasten thee, if He was weary of thee, He would not correct thee.--_Jermin._

Some think it a goodly thing to bear out a cross by head and shoulders, and wear it out as they may, never improving it. As a man that, coming out of a shower of rain, dries again, and all is as before.--_Trapp._

Prosperity and adversity, in their wise mixture and proportion, for our present condition. Each is equally fruitful and honouring the Lord; in prosperity, by a wise consecration of our substance; in adversity, by a humble and cheerful submission. . . . It is correction, this is for your humbling; it is only correction, this is your consolation. It is the declared test of our legitimacy (Heb. xii. 7, 8). His discipline is that of the family, not of the school, much less of the prison.--_Bridges._

Solomon here anticipates a covert objection, if all the favour in the sight of God and man, and the health which have been attributed to the fearers of the Lord (ver. 1-10) really be theirs, how is it that we see them so often sorely afflicted? The reason is, the Lord sends these afflictions, not for evil, but for good to His people.--_Fausset._

Consider the afflictions we meet with in the character which the text assigns to them, viz., as _corrections_. What reasons have we for viewing them in this light? 1. They are _of God_, and God takes no pleasure in the misery of His creatures. By some other demonstrations than the dark demonstrations of sorrow, we know the benevolence of God; and as afflictions are from Him, we have reason to deem them a part of the discipline of His love. 2. The rule or order of human afflictions indicates their corrective intent. All do not come under this principle, but many do. It is manifest that many miseries of life are the results of sin, and if we could see further, it is extremely probable that we should attribute many human miseries to human sin which we now attribute to the naked sovereignty of God. 3. There is every reason to believe that a state of innocence would have kept the world from all suffering. Evils that extend so far, or are of such a nature that our reformation could not shun them, are instructive monitors that sin strikes deep, and requires for its cure the hand that rules the world. 4. Our afflictions have many alleviations. If they were intended as mere punishments they would have been made more destructive.--_Dr. Spencer._

The first distinct utterance of a truth which has been so full of comfort to many thousands, the summing up of all controversies, like those of Job's friends (Job v. 17) or our Lord's disciples (John ix. 2) as to the mystery of suffering. It was the lesson which the book of Job had proclaimed as the issue of so many perplexities. Here it enters into the education of every Jewish child taught to acknowledge a Father in heaven chastening him even as he had been chastened by an earthly father. The Apostle writing to the Hebrews can find no stronger comfort.--_Plumptre._

Especially the well-beloved Son, who (ver. 12) was made "perfect through sufferings."--_Wordsworth._

God's strokes are better than Satan's kiss and love; God smites for life, Satan caresses for death.--_Egard._

The kingdom of God in this world is a kingdom of the cross; but all suffering tends evermore to the testing and confirmation of faith (1 Pet. i. 6-7).--_Lange._

God's chastenings and corrections are no signs of anger, but of love; they are the pains which our healing and cure demand. Those who lie under the cross are often more acceptable to God than those who taste and experience His dainties. He finds pleasure in our crosses and sufferings for this reason, because these are His remembrance and renewal of the sufferings of His Son. His honour is also involved in such a perpetuation of the cross in His members (Eph. iii. 13; Col. i. 24, etc.), and it is this that causes Him this peculiar joy.--_Berleburg Bible._

God loveth not thy correction, but thee He loveth.--_Jermin._

He that escapes affliction may well suspect his adoption.--_Trapp._

The same stroke may fall on two men, and be in the one case judgment, in the other love. "In vain have I smitten your children, they received no correction" (Jer. ii. 30). All were "smitten," but they only obtained paternal correction who, in the spirit of adoption, "received" it as such. You may prune branches lying withered on the ground, and also branches living in the vine. In the two cases, the operation and the instrument are precisely alike; but the operation on this branch has no result, and the operation on that branch produces fruitfulness, because of a difference in the place and condition of the branches operated upon.--_Arnot._

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 13-18.

WISDOM AND HER GIFTS.

+I. Wisdom is to be found.+ She does exist. Precious metals and choice stones are to be found. They have an existence, and they exist in regions which may be reached by the exercise of man's intelligence and labour. Those who find them have to dig for them, to seek for them, to give time, and strength, and wealth to the search. So Wisdom, although she is within reach of man must be diligently sought after, must be _drawn out_ (see "Critical Notes") by painstaking diligence. 1. Wisdom is to be found in, and drawn out from _affliction_. The bee is said to suck honey from bitter herbs as well as from sweet flowers. The context to these words is closely connected with them, and declare him to be truly blessed who becomes by affliction a wiser and a better man. It is within the reach of intelligent faith in God thus to extract the honey of wisdom from the sorrow which to "the world worketh death" (2 Cor. vii. 10). 2. Wisdom is to be found by _study of the Divine Word_. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God--they are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus (2 Tim. iii. 15-16). The record which God has given of His Son is a revelation of His highest wisdom. A crucified Christ is a manifestation of the wisdom of God, and by the study of Him as revealed in Holy Scripture, we may "draw out understanding" of how a man may be "just with God" (Job ix. 2), and how a justified man may become a perfect man. 3. Wisdom is to be found in the _practice of Divine precepts_. "If any man will _do_ His will, he shall know of the doctrine" (John vii. 17). He shall know the reality, the power, of the wisdom which cometh down from above by personal and blessed experience. Understanding in these matters is "drawn out" by doing. 4. Wisdom is found by _communion with God_. Those who talk much with men who are their superiors in goodness and intelligence, and live on friendly terms with them, must become wiser and better through the intercourse. The stronger soul will mould the weaker. The man who holds converse with the highest and best Intelligence, with the Fountain of Wisdom, must draw understanding out of this Living Spring. 5. Wisdom for special needs, the understanding how to act in emergencies, is drawn out from God by the _confession of our ignorance and the pleading of God's promises_. Solomon was himself an example of this. By special prayer, by obeying his own precept (verses 5-6), he obtained the gift of an understanding heart to judge the people (1 Kings iii. 5-12). +II. Wisdom is beyond comparison with anything outside herself.+ She is better than wealth because she gives blessings which wealth cannot buy. 1. She gives real _heart-satisfaction_. Money will bring much ease and luxury to the bodily life, but mere material comfort cannot gladden the inner man or keep away old age and sickness. But Wisdom gives a joy which has its home in the heart, and which increases with the increase of years. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, because they are ways of holiness. Love, and joy, and peace, and all the graces which are the fruit of the Spirit of God are the very elements which in perfection constitute the blessedness of God Himself. They are the fruits which His servants pluck from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God (Rev. ii. 7). To be holy is to be happy in the true, deep sense of the word. 2. She introduces to _better society_. Wealth will do much in this way. Gold is a passport to honour in the world generally, often to the Church in the world. But the holy character which is born of heavenly wisdom is the only possession which will open the doors of the "Church of the firstborn," which will admit to the society of God, His angels, and His redeemed ones. This is the true honour. 3. Her gifts are _for eternity_. No matter how precious or how great the joy, the honour of earth passeth away (1 Cor. vii. 31). The gifts of Wisdom are for ever. The length of an eternity of days is in her hand.

_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._

Verse 13. Never will this solid happiness be known without singleness of judgment and purpose. The inestimable blessing must have the throne. The waverer and half-seeker fall short. Determined perseverance wins the prize (Phil. iii. 12-14).--_Bridges._

If God loves a son, He corrects him; and then, "O the blessedness of the man!" It actually makes us wise. Let us not forget the doctrine that affliction--as, indeed, everything--always benefits the Christian.--_Miller._

The coherence between this verse and the one preceding it is not to be neglected. To persuade the more to patience under God's afflicting hand, he tells us, it is one way to get wisdom and happiness. What though thou suffer chastisement, and that be bitter to thee! if thou get wisdom by it, thou art happy.--_Francis Taylor._

Saving wisdom is to be "found" and "gotten." It is not required that we create it. We could not plan, we could not execute, a way of righteous redemption for sinners. . . . This is God's doing, and it is all done. All things are now ready. . . . But we are required to seek the salvation which has been provided and brought near. . . . Understanding is a thing to be gotten. It comes not in sparks from our own intellect in collision with other human minds. It is a light from heaven. Religion is not all and only an anxious, fearful seeking: it is a getting too, and a glad enjoying.--_Arnot._

It was man who, by losing wisdom, became unhappy; and it is man who, by finding wisdom, or rather being found by the wisdom of God, is made happy again. It was man whose understanding was deceived by the subtle serpent: and it is man who, by getting understanding, deceiveth the serpent of his prey.--_Jermin._

Verse 14. Here as in ii. 4, we have traces of the new commerce, the ships going to Ophir for gold, the sight of the bright treasures stimulating men's minds to a new eagerness.--_Plumptre._

Wisdom brings more profit than any worldly riches, because it brings better things than riches can. 1. It can quiet a man's mind, which no wealth can do. Rich men have many cares--many griefs; crowns are crowns of thorns: nothing but wisdom can poise the soul in all tempests. 2. It affords a ladder to climb to eternal things, like Jacob's ladder, that did reach from Bethel on earth, to Bethel (God's house) in Heaven.--_Francis Taylor._

One grain of grace is far beyond all the gold of Ophir, and one hour's enjoyment of God to be much preferred before all the King of Spain's annual entradas. "Let me be put to any pain, any loss, so I get my Jesus," said Ignatius. What is all the pomp and glory of the world but dung? (Phil. iii. 7, 8). "I esteem them no better" (surely) "that I may win Christ," said Paul, that great trader by land and sea. This gold we cannot buy too dear, whatever we pay for it. The wise merchant sells all to purchase it (Matt. xiii. 44, 46).--_Trapp._

The gain of fine gold weigheth very heavy in man's account; but the gain of fine wisdom is better, for that weigheth heavy in the balance of God's esteem. Tertullian, comforting the Christian martyrs, writes: "If you have lost some joys of this life, it is but a merchandise--to lose something to gain greater."--_Jermin._

Verse 16. As in the vision of Solomon at Gibeon, so here; Wisdom being chosen does not come alone, but brings with her the gifts which others who do not choose her choose in vain. The words are almost the echo of those in 1 Kings iii. 11-13.--_Plumptre._