Chapter X (2)

+III. Character determines the nature of our future fame+ (verse 7). 1. _The memory of the righteous is blessed, because what they did upon the earth is the means of bringing blessings upon others after they are gone._ Many a son has received kindness for the sake of the righteousness of his father. God blesses the children for the father's sake. "I will make him prince all the days of his life _for David my servant's sake,_ whom I chose, because he kept my commandments and my statutes" (1 Kings xi. 34). "Fear not," said God to Isaac, "for I am with thee, and will bless thee, and multiply thy seed for _my servant Abraham's sake_" (Gen. xxvi. 24). Cyrus was raised up to deliver Israel _for Jacob's sake_ (Isa. xlv. 4). Men can but bless the memory of those whose past godliness is the means of bringing blessings upon them in the present. 2. _The just man's memory is blessed because he leaves behind him reproductions of his own character._ All life will reproduce itself. After a tree has decayed and gone to dust, others will be in full life and vigour that were seedlings of the old tree. Intellectual life is reproductive. The man of mighty genius leaves disciples to carry out his ideas after he is gone. Good men are the parents of good children, or make other men good by their words and lives. "They that dwell under his shadow shall return," and "_they_ shall grow as the vine" (Hosea xiv. 7). The good must be held in blessed remembrance so long as there are those upon earth who are the reproductions of their character. 3. _The memory of some is blessed because they did deeds which never can be reproduced by others--which have left a fragrance behind them which can never be repeated._ The one act of Abraham, when he prepared to offer up Isaac at God's command, can never be repeated; but it is the one which, above all his other acts of faith, causes him to be held in everlasting remembrance. And so it has been with many of the leaders of the Church in all ages. They have performed acts of godly heroism which we cannot imitate, but of which we reap the reward, and for which we bless their memory. Especially is this true of Him who is pre-eminently the Holy One and the Just, whose glorious "name is blessed for ever" (Psa. lxxii. 19), because "He endured the cross and despised the shame." But the converse of all this is the lot of the wicked. We can but remember them when we are brought face to face with the evil they have left behind them; but we turn from the remembrance as we turn from some offensive putrid object, while the memory of the just is as a sweet savour. Contrast the feelings with which Christendom now regards the emperors of Rome and the fishermen of Galilee.

_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._

Verse 6. Not one, but many blessings are on the head of the righteous: the blessing of peace, the blessing of plenty, the blessing of health, and the blessing of grace, shall be upon them. The precious ointment of the Lord's favour and blessing shall be so poured upon their heads as that it shall not here stay, but run down to the rest of the members of their bodies, and enter into their very hearts.--_Muffet._

"_Blessings:_" not simply good things, but good things bestowed by another; not simply good things bestowed by another, but divinely bestowed as sacred _benedictions._ "_Blessings_" are for the righteous exclusively, that is, for no one else. "_For the head;_" not the mouth, not the hand; because often without either's agency. "_On his head;_" because unconsciously, and sometimes even when asleep.--_Miller._

Verse 7. The memory of the just is blessed (1) because of his winning friendship; (2) because of his unfeigned piety; (3) because of his steadfast patience; (4) because of his noble, public-minded activity.--_Ziegler, from Lange's Commentary._

And what signifies an empty name? It brings honour to God, and prolongs the influence of his good example who has left it. His good works not only follow him, but live behind him. As Jeroboam made Israel to sin after he was dead, so the good man helps to make others holy whilst he is lying in the grave. Should it so happen that his character is mistaken in the world, or should his name die out among men, it shall yet be had in everlasting remembrance before God; for never shall those names be erased from the Lamb's book of life, which were written in it from the foundation of the world.--_Lawson._

Not what he remembers, but what is remembered of him. He blesses after he is dead. So does the wicked, but, like most other growths in nature, by his decay. "_Name;_" that which is known of a man. The "name of God" is that which may be known of God. "The memory of the righteous," viz., of the Church of God, is that which propagates her, and causes her to hand down her strength. Our walk about Zion, our telling her towers, our marking her bulwarks, is for this grand aim, among the rest, that we may tell to the generation following (Psa. xlviii. 12, 13).--_Miller._

I. The memory of the just is blessed, self-evidently so, for the mind blesses it and reverts to it with complacency, mingled with solemnity,--returns to it with delight from the sight of the living evil in the world, sometimes even prefers this silent society to the living good. They show in a most evident and pleasing manner the gracious connection which God has constantly maintained with a sinful world. His uninterrupted connection with it by justice and sovereign power has been manifest in mighty evidence: but His saints have been the peculiar illustration of His grace, His mercy, acting on this world. II. It is so, when we consider them as practical illustrations, verifying examples of the excellence of genuine religion; that it is a noble thing in human nature, and makes, and alone makes, that nature noble;--that, whatever scoffers may say, or this vain world would pretend to disbelieve, here is what has made such men as nothing else, under heaven, could or can. III. Their memory is blessed while we regard them as diminishing to our view the repulsiveness and horror of death. Our Lord's dying was the fact that threw out the mightiest agency to this effect. But, in their measure, His faithful disciples have done the same. When we contemplate them as having prepared for it with a calm resolution--as having approached it--multitudes with a calm resignation and fortitude, and very many with an animated exultation;--as having passed it, and emerged in brightness beyond its gloom--they seem to shine back through the gloom, and make the shade less thick. IV. It is blessed, also, as combined with the whole progress of God upon the earth--with its living agency throughout every stage. He has never, and nowhere, had a visible cause in the world, without putting _men_ in trust with it. . . . Think of what men have been employed and empowered to do in the propagation of truth, in the incessant warfare against evil, in the exemplification of all the virtues by which he could be honoured.--_John Foster._

Verse 11. A Church is but a body of righteous men. What would the world do without the Church? The influences of a Church, and that a land is ruined without a Church, and that one generation hands on the worship of God to another, are all illustrations on a grand scale of how _the mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life._ A good man will constantly be doing good to others. But "wrong covers the mouth of the wicked," so that he can give no blessing; so keeps him from any possible usefulness, that he cannot utter good, or make his mouth, as the righteous can, "a fountain of life" to all about him.--_Miller._

In a hot summer's day I was sailing with a friend in a tiny boat on a miniature lake, enclosed like a cup within a circle of steep, bare Scottish hills. On the shoulders of the brown, sun-burnt mountain, and full in sight, was a well, with a crystal stream trickling over its lip, and making its way down towards the lake. Around the well's mouth, and along the course of the rivulet, a belt of green stood out in strong contrast with the iron surface of the rock all around. "What do you make of that?" said my friend, who had both an open eye to read the book of Nature and a heart all aglow with the lessons of love. We soon agreed as to what should be made of it. It did not need us to make it into anything. There it was, a legend clearly printed by the finger of God on the side of these silent hills, teaching the passer-by how needful a good man is, and how useful he may be in a desert world. . . . The Lord looks down, and men look up, expecting to see a fringe of living green around the lip of a Christian's life-course.--_Arnot._

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 8.

THE DOER AND THE TALKER.

+I. A definition of a wise man.+ He is one that "will receive commandments." The reception of commandments implies a commander, and a willingness to obey his laws. The wise man is willing to obey good laws even at the expense of some self-sacrifice, because he has a strong conviction of the benefits that will arise from submission. The laws which govern a well-ordered State will not be irksome to a right-minded citizen. He feels that submission to them will bring only comfort to him. The yoke will bring ease, and he proves that he is a wise man by accepting it. The commandments here are the commandments of Jehovah. He only is a truly wise man who is willing to submit his will to the Divine will, to take upon himself the yoke of Him whose "yoke is easy" (Matt. xi. 30), who is the Lawgiver who "makes free indeed" (John viii. 36). He obeys His commandments from the full conviction of the benefits and blessings which flow from keeping them. He knows that the obedience must come before the comfort, that Incarnate Wisdom has placed the commandment first, and then the reward "Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you" (John xv. 14). He can say, from past experience concerning the Divine commands, "In keeping of them there is great reward" (Psa. xix. 11), and the blessedness that he has tasted he knows to be but the earnest of what is to be in the future, and therefore he is willing to sacrifice present advantage and worldly ease to obedience to them. He is like the trader who has received a sample of a rich cargo from a distant land, and who is so convinced of the value of the whole from that which has come to hand, that he is willing to undergo any present privation in order to become its possessor. The Son of God likened such an one to "a wise man, which built his house upon a rock," for it is evident that to "receive" commandments is here equivalent to "doing" them (Matt. vii. 24).

+II. A distinguishing mark of a fool.+ He is a _prater._ He is one who is willing to talk, but not to act; willing to give out words, but not to receive instruction; and therefore he is one who can give out nothing by speech that is worth giving. Unless the earth receives good seed into its bosom, it cannot give out "seed to the sower and bread to the eater." Unless a man receives into his heart the good seed of the kingdom, he can never bring forth moral fruit (Matt. xiii. 23), and he can never do more than _prate_ about spiritual truths. There are many words but no meat. There is only one Being in the universe who can be a giver without first being a receiver, and that is God. Outside of Him, all must receive of His fulness if they would be anything more than mere _talkers_ on eternal realities. All such men are fools. "Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this world? Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?" (1 Cor. i. 20).

+III. The end of such a mere talker.+ He shall fall. 1. _In the estimation of those who he pretends to instruct._ No men are so prone to assume the office of instruction as men who are ignorant, but such men cannot long hold a place in the estimation of others. 2. _He shall fall into deeper folly._ Those who refuse to receive that Divine commandment which will make them truly wise, must sink lower and lower into sinful folly. The longer he refuses the offered wisdom, and refuses to put his neck under the yoke of God's commandments, the heavier will grow the chains of sinful habit, and the more firmly will they be riveted. 3. _He shall fall into righteous retribution._ This will be proportionate to the opportunities he has had of receiving wisdom. "And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shall be brought down to hell" (Matt. xi. 23).

_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._

A fool is in nothing sooner and better recognised than in his conversation.--_Geier._

It is striking how often Solomon dwells upon sins of the tongue; no member is so hard to control; none more surely indicates the man.--_Fausset._

The heart is the seat of true wisdom, and a teachable spirit is the best proof of its influence. For who that knows himself would not be thankful for further light. No sooner, therefore, do the commandments come down from heaven, than the well-instructed Christian _receives them_, like his father Abraham (Heb. xi. 8; Gen. xxii. 1-3), with undisputing simplicity; welcomes the voice of his heavenly teacher (1 Sam. iii. 10, Acts x. 33, Psa. xxvii. 8, cxliii. 10), and when he knows that "it is the Lord, girds himself" with all the ardour of the disciple to be found at His feet (John xxi. 2-7). But look at the professor of religion destitute of this _heart-seated wisdom._ We find him a man of creeds and doctrines, not of prayer; asking curious questions rather than listening to plain truths; wanting to know events rather than duties; occupied with other men's business to the neglect of his own (Luke xiii. 23, 24; 1 Tim. v. 13).--_Bridges._

It is one of the marks of true wisdom, and none of the least, that it is not self-sufficient and self-willed. This is the evident import of the former part of this verse. We might consider the disposition in reference both to _God_ and to _men_--to the Supreme Ruler and Lord of the conscience,--and to existing human authorities. The "wise in heart will receive" _God's_ "commandments." _This,_ true wisdom will do _implicitly._ It will never presume on dictating to God, or on altering and amending His prescriptions; but, proceeding on the self-evident principle that the dictates of Divine Wisdom must in all cases be perfect, will bow in instant acquiescence. With regard also to _earthly superiors,_ a humble submission to legitimate authority, both in the family and in the State, is the province of wisdom. There is a self-conceit that spurns at all such authority. It talks as if it would legislate for all nations. It would _give_ commandments rather than _receive_ them. It likes not being dictated to. It plumes itself on its skill in finding fault. There is no rule prescribed at which it does not carp, no proposal in which it does not see something not to its mind, no order in which it does not find something to which it cannot submit. This is folly, for, were this temper of mind prevalent, there would be an end to all subordination and control. The prating fool, or the _fool of lips,_ may be understood in two ways. First, the self-conceited are generally superficial. There is much talk and little substance: words without sense: plenty of tongue, but a lack of wit. Light matter floats on the surface, and appears to all; what is solid and precious lies at the bottom. The foam is on the face of the waters; the pearl is below. Or, secondly, the reference may be to the bluster of insubordination; the loud protestations and boasting of his independence on the part of a man who resists authority, and determines to be "a law to himself."--_Wardlaw._

The word "_commandments_" (E.V.), might often be translated "_laws_." One set of passages would just change words with another. The word translated "_commandments_" means primarily "_something fixed_." It answers to the New Testament "_law_" (Rom. viii. 3), and is adapted to the reasonings of the apostles. "_He of the wise heart_" means the truly wise. _He of the fool heart_ might seem good for the rest of the sentence. But a deep philosophy reminds the inspired man that men are not such fools as to believe in sin, as the pardoned Christian does in holiness. They know a great deal more than they either act or utter. A vast deal of the worldliness of men is a mere lip service, like that to the Almighty. And, knowing that the lost man is aware of his perdition, and has been told his folly, the proverb does not account him a fool in his deep sense, so much as superficially, and in the mad actings of his folly. In his _heart_ he knows he is deceived. In his _lips_ he is constantly deceiving himself. In his acts he keeps up a fictitious life.--_Miller._

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 9-10.

OPPOSITE CHARACTERS.

+I. He who walketh uprightly.+ 1. _Is a restorer of an ancient path._ The way of uprightness is much older than the human race, and was originally the only way known in the universe to intelligent and moral creatures. Uprightness is as old as God. Crooked walking is of the creature and but of yesterday compared with uprightness. He who walks uprightly is a restorer of the breach made in heaven, and re-establishes the old paths (Jer. vi. 16) of righteousness upon earth. The way of uprightness was the way in which man walked in Eden. In Eden also man lost his way by entering the by-path of transgression and thus ceased to walk with God. He shall "be called a repairer of the breach, a restorer of paths to dwell in" (Isa. lviii. 12). A man who reopened up some ancient and important highway to a great city would be regarded by the citizens as a benefactor; how much more ought he to be held in esteem whose life reveals this ancient highway of holiness, who by his uprightness becomes himself a way to others. 2. _He obeys an ancient command._ "When Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me and be thou _perfect_"--upright (Gen. xvii. 1). Often the great want of a partially-civilised country is a straight and level road, by which commerce can easily find its way to the central city, and a royal edict is sometimes issued that such a road should be made. The great want of the world in the day when this command was given to Abram was an example of uprightness in human life. The need of the world in this direction is still great, and the ancient command given to the patriarch is still in force. 3. _His walking is not limited to the present life._ He walks in the same way after death as before it. "He shall enter into peace: they shall rest in their beds, each one walking in his uprightness" (Isa. lvii. 2). Heaven has no better way of walking than the way of uprightness, and death will not make any change in the moral characteristics of the godly man, except to intensify and strengthen them. The death of the seed-corn will not be the means of giving birth to a different _kind_ of seed, but only of making an _increase_ of the same kind. Death is needful, not to change one thing for another, but to make much out of little. Death will bring heaven to the godly and upright, but it can give nothing to an upright man better than his uprightness, but this it can do, it can render him more entirely and completely upright. Hence the path of the upright is a path which death cannot end--a path which, begun to be trodden in time, will be continued in throughout eternity. The happiness of the human creatures who make up a family, or a larger community, will depend very much upon the uprightness of each member. Heaven's blessedness springs from the perfectly upright character of each citizen of that perfect city. 4. _His upright walk is sure, or safe, because it is preservative of character._ Uprightness is to character what salt is to food. He who walks uprightly can never become _less_ godly and righteous, but must of necessity become more and more so; hence the Psalmist's prayer, "Let integrity and uprightness _preserve_ me" (Psalm xxv. 21).

+II. The two phases of character are placed in contrast to that of the upright man.+ 1. _That of the man whose evil nature does not lie entirely upon the surface._ "He that perverteth his ways" and yet endeavours to cloak his perversion, to hide his wrong-doing. The "winking of the eye" mentioned in verse 10 indicates an effort after concealment. Those who "pervert" their ways pervert nature in order to attain their ends. The eye is intended by God to be a revelation of the soul, and where integrity and sincerity dwells, it is so. But he who walks crookedly or perversely makes an unnatural use of his eye, and by means of it endeavours to work ill to his neighbour. But all his efforts at concealment will at some time or other be ineffectual; the very means he uses to conceal his evil plans may be the means of awakening suspicion. And if he succeeds in blinding the eyes of his fellow men, "the Lord will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts" (1 Cor. iv. 5). The day of judgment will reveal the guilty secrets of many who have never yet--nor ever will be until that day--fully "_known._" 2. _That of him whose perversity is manifest to all._ The "prating fool" cannot conceal what he is. Upon him and upon his destiny, see Homiletics and Suggestive Comments on verse 8.

_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._

Verse 9. An _upright walk_ is Christian, not sinless, perfection (Job i. 8); "walking before God," not before men (Gen. xvii. 1). Impurity, indeed, defiles the holiest exercise. But if the will be rightly bent, the integrity will be maintained. "Show me an easier path," is Nature's cry. "Show me," cries the child of God, "a _sure_ path."--_Bridges._

To walk uprightly, or to walk in integrity, means to act according to one complete scheme: not as the fool does (verse 8), behaving one way and believing another. It means to aim for "something stable" (chap. ii. 7); and hence, of course, not to lay our plans so that we ourselves know they must ultimately fail. He walks surely or _securely, i.e.,_ must certainly succeed.--_Miller._

The dissembler walks in crooked paths. Like Judas, who put on a cloak of charity to hide his covetousness (John xii. 6), he conceals the selfish principles which regulate his behaviour under the appearances of purity, prudence, and other good qualities. But he cannot hold the mantle so tight about him as to conceal from the wise observer his inward baseness. It will occasionally be shuffled aside, it will at length drop off, and he shall be known for what he is, abhorred by all men, and punished with other hypocrites.--_Lawson._

TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE: While Dr. Wardlaw may think Proverbs an
exception, II Tim. iii. 16 tells us that "All scripture is given
by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for
reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness."

_Walking uprightly_ stands opposed to all duplicity, all tortuous policy, all the crooked arts of _manœuvering,_ for the purpose of promoting reputation, interest, comfort, or any other end whatsoever. He who walketh thus, _walketh surely._ He walks with a comfortable _feeling of security,_ a calm, unagitated serenity of mind. This springs from the confidence in that God whose will he makes his only rule. In the path of implicit obedience he feels that he can _trust._ And further, the way in which he walks is the _surest_ for the attainment of his ends. Proverbs are generally founded in observation and experience, and express their ascertained results. Hence, even though not inspired, they have generally truth in them. It has become proverbial that "honesty is the best policy." The meaning is, that acts of deceit very frequently frustrate the object of him by whom they are employed, and land him in evils greater than the one he meant, by the use of them, to shun.--_Wardlaw._

_First_--the heart of the upright man hath God's own eye to behold it, and His Spirit to testify the faithfulness of it, and so receiveth comfort from Him, as Job did, when in the confidence of his cause and conscience he saith, "O that some would hear me, behold my desire is that the Almighty would answer me" (Job xxxi. 35). _Secondly,_ the course of their actions is such as will endure light, and the more they are examined the better they will prove, and therefore they need not fear any might or malice, or cunning adversaries that shall seek their disgrace. And upon the assurance of this the prophet professeth his undaunted courage and magnanimity, with challenge also to his calumniant enemy, whosoever he were, "I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed. He is near that justifieth me," etc. (Isa. l. 7, 8). _Thirdly,_ their bodies and state are in God's custody, and He hath undertaken the defence and preservation of them, whereas the wicked are out of God's protection and perpetually go into peril. _Fourthly,_ their souls are prepared for death and for judgment, and therefore more desire to be dissolved than are afraid to hear of the nearness of their dissolution.--_Dod._

I. An upright walker is sure of easily finding his way: it requires no laborious dealing to find out what is _just_. II. He treads upon firm ground; upon solid, safe, and well-tried principles. . . . The practice built on such foundations must be very secure. III. He walks steadily. A good conscience steers by fixed stars, and aims at fixed marks. An upright man is always the same man, and goes the same way; the external state of things does not alter the moral reason of things with him, or change the law of God.--_Sydney Smith._

I. The way of uprightness is the _surest for despatch_, and the shortest cut towards the execution or attainment of any good purpose, securing a man from irksome expectations and tedious delays. II. It is _fair and pleasant_. He that walketh in it hath good weather and a clear sky about him; a hopeful confidence and a cheerful satisfaction do ever wait upon him. Being conscious to himself of an honest meaning, and a due course in prosecuting it, he feeleth no check or struggling of mind: no regret or sting of heart. III. He is secure of his _honour and credit_. He hath no fear of being detected, or care to smother his intents. IV. _He hath perfect security as to the final result of his affairs_, that he shall not be quite baffled in his expectations and desires. He shall prosper in the true notion of prosperity, explained by that Divine saying, "Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright, for the end of that man is peace."--_Barrow._

Verse 10. The connection of the clauses is--to speak feignedly and to speak rashly are both alike dangerous: to do the former hurts others, to do the latter hurts oneself. When we avoid _cunning_ and _feigned speaking,_ we are not to run into the opposite extremes of _prating folly._--_Fausset._

The one shuts his eye to conceal his subtlety, the other opens his mouth to declare his folly. The one winketh, but sayeth nothing; the other says too much, but thinketh not what he says. The one giveth sorrow to the deceived in his malicious bounty; the other taketh a fall from the superfluous bounty of his own words.--_Jermin._

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 12.

LOVE AND HATRED.

The lawfulness or unlawfulness of hatred and strife depends upon the subject or occasion of such feeling. God hates sin, and we know that this hatred is the fruit of one of His highest attributes. The Divine and Incarnate Son of God foretold that He had not "come to send peace on earth, but a sword" (Matt. x. 34), and therefore even He was an occasion of strife because He was a hater of sin. There is then a holy as well as a wicked hatred, a lawful as well as an unlawful strife. But the hatred of the text being placed in contrast with love is evidently the malicious hatred of a wicked man.

+I. The hatred of the wicked is+--1. _Insatiable._ It has been said that those who hate have first injured. This is doubtless true, but there must have been some amount of hatred to prompt the injury. But after the injury has been inflicted, the hatred is not diminished, but is generally increased. Herodias prevailed upon Herod to put John the Baptist into prison, but this did not lessen her malice. It was such a devouring flame as could be quenched by nothing but his blood. The pain which conscience inflicts upon him who has injured another is put to the account of the injured person, and goes to increase the bitterness of the anger against him. 2. _It is generally impartial._ Wicked men generally begin by hating good men, but they come in time to a habit of hating bad men too. The blind man will be as likely to strike his friend as his foe. Hatred is blind, and those who begin by hating those whom they consider their enemies, generally end by hating their so-called friends.

+II. The effect of hatred.+ It stirs up strife. This implies that the materials for strife are already in existence. There are no signs of mud upon the surface of a peaceful lake, but it only requires some disturbing element to be thrown in to show that it is lying at the bottom. The spirit of the most sanctified man has some evil tendencies within it, which may be stirred up by undeserved hatred. Only One who ever wore our human nature had with Him no germ of strife which might be stirred up by hatred. Only One could say that temptation found "nothing" in him (John xiv. 13). The elements which may be stirred up by strife have a lodging place in the most sanctified human spirit, and when strife is thus stirred up by hatred the whole soul or the whole society is influenced for evil. When the lake is stirred up from the bottom all the waters are more or less troubled, and when the elements of contention are at work even in a good man or in a Christian community the whole man or the entire community is ruffled and disturbed. In contrast with this hatred, which is not only sin in itself but, by stirring up strife, is an occasion of sin in others, is placed the love which "covereth" or does away with sin.

+I. Love covers sin by forgiving it.+ Malicious hatred, even when it is directed against sin, will but incite to more sin. But forgiveness of the sin may lead to its being forsaken, and the mere fact of being forgiven may give the sinner an impulse after a better life in the future, and thus enable him to efface the remembrance of the past. If a man is deeply in debt to another, and that other gives him a discharge of his debt, the very fact of his being legally free may give him such new energy to work as may enable to pay that which he owed. And a sense of being forgiven a moral debt will sometimes have this effect upon the soul. God's covering up of sin by forgiveness is the beginning of a new life to those who are willing to accept His pardon (Psa. xxxii. 1, 1 John i. 7).

+II. Love covers sin by forgetting it.+ It is in the nature of love not only to forgive an injury, but to forget that the injury has ever been done. And a consciousness that our sin is covered by being forgotten is very healing to the spirit. For a soul that has lived a sinful life is like a man that has passed through a campaign and received many wounds. He requires skilful treatment and gentle nursing; and when the wounds have been bound up, and have perhaps, begun to heal, care must be taken that no rough hand re-opens them, and causes them to bleed afresh. A work spoken which shows that the sinful past is still remembered by those who have professed to forgive, may re-open the wounds with a fatal effect. Love covers sin as God declares that He covers it. His promise is not only "I will forgive their iniquity," but, "I will _remember their sins no more_" (Jer. xxxi. 34).

+III. Love covers sin by making active efforts to recover the sinner.+ Love will not be content with forgiving when forgiveness is sought, but it will go out of its way to recover the erring. The godly man will walk in the footsteps of Him who came to _seek_ that which was lost. God did not wait until man returned to Him before He held out hope of forgiveness. As soon as Satan's hatred had led man into sin, He held out hope of return to holiness by the promise of Him who "should bruise the serpent's head" (Gen. iii. 15). And in the fulness of time, by the gift of His Son, He showed the depth of His love and His desire to cover the "sin of the world." And as in many human homes there are those who owe their present moral standing, the recovery of all that makes existence worth having, to the love that followed and sought them when they were outcasts, so those who people the heavenly home--that multitude which God alone can number--are the fruit of that Divine love which not only covered a multitude of sins by forgiving and forgetting the sin, but sought out the sinner in order to forgive him.

_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._

"Love covereth all sins," saith Solomon, covers them partly from the eyes of God, in praying for the offenders; partly from the eyes of the world, in throwing a cloak over our brother's nakedness; especially from its own eyes, by winking at many wrongs offered it.--_T. Adams._

Hatred disturbs the existing quiet by railings; stirs up dormant quarrels on mere suspicions and trifles, and by unfavourable constructions put upon everything, even upon acts of kindness. As hatred by quarrels exposes the faults of others, so "love covers" them, except in so far as brotherly correction requires their exposure. Love condones, yea, takes no notice of a friend's errors. The disagreements which hatred stirs up, love allays; and the offences which are usually the causes of quarrel, it sees as though it saw them not, and excuses them (1 Cor. xiii. 4-7). It gives to men the forgiveness which it daily craves from God.--_Fausset._

To abuse the precept in 1 Peter iv. 8 (where this text is quoted) into a warrant for silencing all faithful reproofs of sin in others, would be to ascribe to charity the office of a procuress.--_Cartwright._

_First,_ it makes us to cover and pardon the wrongs that others do us. _Secondly,_ a loving carriage maketh others pardon the wrongs that we do them. _Thirdly,_ it maketh God to pardon the offences which we commit against Him.--_Jermin._

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 13, 14.

LAYING UP TO GIVE OUT.

+I. The practice of the morally wise man.+ He "lays up knowledge" (verse 14). The present position of a man in social life is often the result of a "laying up" in the past. The man who has made it the business of his past life to lay up money is now a rich man. His present wealth arises from his past storing. An artificer or professional man who laid up knowledge in his youthful days is able to command a good position in his mature life. But there are differences between those who lay up riches, or mere intellectual wisdom, and him who stores moral wisdom--the only real and lasting wealth. _The man spoken of in the text lays up that which is truly his own now, and will be throughout eternity._ The riches of godly wisdom are not transferable either before or at the time of death. Material wealth may go at any time in our life, and must be left behind when we leave the world. And while we call it ours it is but lent us by God. He takes a wider range, and lays up for a life beyond time, and what he lays up now will make him what he will be in the ages beyond death. He is determined to be crowned rich towards God in the day when he shall be summoned to appear and give an account of his stewardship. Most men are layers up of riches and knowledge in a greater or less degree. The truly wise man banks for moral character, and intends to be considered rich in the city of God.

+II. It is because spiritual knowledge is laid up that "wisdom is found in the lips"+ (verse 13). The possession of wealth or of intellectual knowledge is no guarantee that wisdom will be found with it. A rich man may not know how to use his riches to the best advantage. He might know how to gather it, but may not know how to spend it for his own good. A man may gather much intellectual knowledge without being able to make it profitable, or a source of enjoyment either to himself or others. A man may be able to gather timber and stones together and yet not know how to build a house out of them after he has gathered them. A housewife may collect a store of wool and stuffs, but not be skilful enough to fashion the materials into garments for herself and her household. So knowledge, in its general sense, is not necessarily accompanied by wisdom; but _spiritual_ knowledge and _spiritual_ wisdom are never separated. The one is always joined to the other. When there is a laying up of the knowledge of God, there wisdom will be found. No man can truly know God and not have wisdom enough to reduce his knowledge to practice in the building up of a godly character. Where knowledge is in the heart there will be wisdom in the lips and life.

+III. This knowledge and wisdom will be used for the benefit of others.+ It will be found in the lips. The man who is "instructed unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old" (Matt. xiii. 52). He has a store from which he draws according to the need of those whom his words can benefit. His instructions are like the viands of the thrifty housewife, stored up in abundance against the time of need, and suited, both as to quantity and quality, to the wants of the needy soul (verse 21).

+IV. The influence and the fate of him who refuses to lay up knowledge.+ His mouth is a near destruction (see rendering in Critical Notes). The man who refuses to lay up the knowledge of some calling or profession is both a fool and a knave, because by such neglect he makes himself dependent when he might be independent, and because he eats the bread earned by industrious men. How much more foolish is he who will not lay up that by which he may acquire a character which would make him an equal with the angels of God. But his neglect injures others beside himself. He wrongs his fellow-men by withholding his influence from the side of that which is righteous, and consequently defrauds the world of that which it is the duty of every man to give it. But he does not stop here. (1) He adds the positive evil influence of sinful words. The Bible speaks often of the evil influence of sinful speech. It likens it to the poison of venomous reptiles (see Psalm lviii. 4; cxl. 3; Jas. iii. 8). But these creatures can only destroy the body, whereas the fool's mouth is often a destruction to both body and soul. (On this subject see homiletical remarks on chapter i. 10-19). (2) But he is a curse to his own existence as well as to that of others. That which is a destruction to them makes a rod for his own back (verse 13). Such a man's mouth utters falsehood and slander by which he creates enemies _without._ That which he speaks brings guilt upon his conscience, which becomes an instrument of chastisement _within._ And a guilty conscience creates imaginary enemies as well as keeps us in remembrance of real ones. An old writer says, "The guilty conscience conceives every thistle to be a tree, every tree a man, every man, a devil,--afraid of every man that it sees, nay, many times of those that it sees not. Not much unlike to one that was very deep in debt and had many creditors, who, as he walked London streets in the evening, a tenter-hook caught his cloak. 'At whose suit?' said he, conceiving some sergeant had arrested him. Thus the ill-conscienced man counts every creature he meets with a bailiff sent from God to punish him." Such a conscience is indeed a "rod for the fool's back" (chap. xxvi. 3).

_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._

Verse 13. Through the lips of the Christian other men get wisdom. If we will think of it, men get it in no other way. "Faith cometh by hearing" (Rom. x. 17). The Church hands itself down, by the blessing of heaven, from lip to lip. But then from the same lips comes a _rod._ The good man, not listened to, becomes a scourge. Christ Himself becomes an instrument of death.--_Miller._

Solomon and his son admirably illustrate this contrast. Such wisdom was found in his lips, but fruit of an understanding heart, that "all the world came to hear of it" (1 Kings iv. 31). Rehoboam was as _void,_ as his father was _full,_ of understanding. His folly prepared a rod for his back (1 Kings xii. 13-24). Learn then to seek for wisdom at the lips of the wise. The want of this wisdom, or rather the want of a heart to seek it, will surely bring us under _the rod._ In many a chastisement we shall feel its smart; for the loose education of our children (chap. xxix. 15); for carnal indulgence (2 Sam. xii. 9-11). And how different is this _rod_ from our Father's loving adoption (chap. iii. 11, 12); this, the mark of disgrace. Will not the children of God cry, "Turn away the reproach that I fear, for Thy judgments are good" (Psa. cxix. 39).--_Bridges._

The wise man carries the ornament of his wisdom in his _lips;_ the fool shall bear the disgrace of his folly on his back.--_Fausset._

He who trembleth not in hearing shall be broken to pieces in feeling.--_Bradford._

The dwelling of wisdom is in the heart, but there it is _hid;_ in the lips it is _found._ There it sitteth, like an ancient Israelite, at the gates of the city, marking what goes out, and weighs it before it passeth, that nothing issue forth which may disparage the honour or wrong the estate of the city. There shall _folly find it,_ as smart and heavy in the reproof of it as a rod is to the back, and which is fit for him whose tongue is void of understanding. For it is reason that his back should bear, whose tongue will not forbear.--_Jermin._

Verse 14. To "lay up" knowledge very obviously implies that value is set upon it. Men never think of seeking and accumulating what they regard as worthless; and in proportion as an object is prized will be the degree of eagerness with which it is pursued, and of jealous vigilance, with which it is "laid up" and guarded. Thus the _miser._ With what an eye of restlessness and eager covetousness does he look after the acquisition of his heart's desires! with what delight does he hug himself upon his success!--with what avidity does he add the increase to his treasures, carefully secreting them from all access but his own! With a care incomparably more dignified and useful how does the man of science mark and record every fact and observation, whether of his own discovery and suggestion or of those of others! How he exults in every new acquisition to _his_ stores! He lays all up in his mind, or, fearful of a treacherous memory, in surer modes of record and preservation. Hints that lead to nothing at the time may lead to much afterwards. Some one in another generation may carry out into practical application, or into the formation of valuable theories, the facts and conjectures that are now, in apparent isolation, "laid up" for such possible future use. The true philosopher, to use a colloquial phrase, "has all his eyes about him." He allows nothing to escape notice, and nothing, if he can help it, to pass into oblivion. But, alas! in this respect, as in others, "the children of this world are, in their generation, wiser than the children of light."--_Wardlaw._

Who would not heedfully foresee where his arrow shall hit, before he shoot it out of his bow; lest it should destroy any person or other creature through negligence? Who would not be very circumspect and wary in discharging a piece, lest he should do mischief by it? And yet, by these, a man may affright, and not hurt; and hurt, and not kill; and kill, and not die himself; but what arrow, what shot, what artillery, what murdering piece is to be compared to the mouth of a man that is not guided by a wise and watchful forethought? Great woe is worketh unto other men, but it surely bringeth death unto himself; every word that breaketh another man's skin doth certainly break the caul of his own heart; and he that doth aim at another to give him a wound, surely cannot miss himself to violate his own life.--_Dod._

The part of wisdom is to treasure up experience, and hold it ready for use in the time and place of need. Everything may be turned to account. In the process of accumulating this species of wealth, the wonders of the philosopher's stone may be more than realised. Even losses can be converted into gains. Every mistake or disappointment is a new lesson. Every fault you commit, and every glow of shame which suffuses your face because of it, may be changed into a most valuable piece of wisdom. Let nothing trickle out, and flow away useless. After one has bought wit at a heavy price, it is a double misfortune to throw it away. As a general rule, the dearer it is the more useful it will be.--_Arnot._

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 15, 16.

A FALSE AND A TRUE ESTIMATE OF LIFE.

+I. A false estimate of life in its relation to riches.+ It is a mistake to look on wealth as a "strong city" in which we can be secure from the evils of life. A commander, who knows that there is behind him a fortress into which he can retire in case of need, may be brought to ruin by forming an over-estimate of its security. He may underrate the ability of the enemy to follow him thither. Strongholds have been undermined, and those who had trusted in their strength have been destroyed by that very confidence; or pestilence has broken out on account of the number who have taken refuge in the fortress, and so that which they deemed their strength has been their weakness. These events have proved that the estimate taken of their safety was a wrong one--that even the refuge itself might be the cause of destruction. So with a "rich man's wealth." If he looks upon it as a resource under all emergencies--if he thinks it can purchase him immunity from all ills--he is a terrible self-deceiver. Wealth cannot drive back disease; nothing can keep death from storming his stronghold; and sometimes a single day brings together such an army of adverse circumstances that the strong city goes down before it, and is never rebuilt, or the very refuge itself is the cause of moral ruin. Therefore "Let not the rich man glory in his riches" (Jer. ix. 23).

+II. A false estimate of life in relation to poverty.+ It is a mistake also to look on poverty as a "destruction." If the rich man errs on the side of excessive confidence, the poor man errs on that of fearfulness. He should remember--1. _That the blessedness of life here does not consist in what a man has, but in what he is._ Wealth may be a curse to existence, and so may poverty, but a good conscience, a godly character, is a continual feast. And it is quite _as_ easy, perhaps more so, to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with God in poverty as in wealth. "A man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth" (Luke xii. 15). This is the declaration of Him who created man, and who, therefore, knows his needs. The poor are the objects of His special regard. "Hath not God chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which He hath promised to them that love Him?" (Jas. ii. 5). 2. _He should keep in mind the day of levelling and compensation._ "Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things, but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented" (Luke xvi. 25).