Chapter XII (1)

CRITICAL NOTES.--+1. Instructions,+ "discipline" or "disciplinary instruction." +2. Obtaineth,+ literally "draws out." +4. Virtuous,+ literally "strenuous," "capable" (used in Ruth iii. 11). +5. Thoughts,+ or "purposes." +Right,+ "judgment," "justice." +7.+ Wordsworth here reads, "When the wicked turn themselves," etc., _i.e._, on any reverse of their fortunes, however slight, they perish. +9.+ This verse is read in two ways. Zöckler reads, "Better is the lowly that serveth himself than he that boasteth and lacketh bread." Wordsworth agrees with this view. Delitzsch and Stuart render as the Authorised Version (see comments on the verse). +10. Regardeth,+ literally "knoweth." Delitzsch reads, "knoweth how his cattle feed." "Cruel is singular, denoting that each one of his mercies are cruel" (Fausset). +11. Vain persons,+ or "vanity," "emptiness." +12. Net.+ Delitzsch, Zöckler, and Miller translate this word "spoil" or "prey." The Hebrew word means also a "fortress." Maurer, therefore, translates it "defence," and understands it to mean that the evil combine for mutual protection. This agrees with Zöckler's rendering of the second clause, "the root of the righteous is made sure." +16. Presently,+ literally "in that very day," _i.e.,_ "at once." +Covereth shame,+ or "hides his offence." +17. Speaketh,+ literally "breathes." +18. Speaketh,+ literally "babbles." +Health,+ "healing." +19. A moment,+ literally "while I wink." +20.+ Delitzsch reads, "cause joy." +26. Is more excellent than his neighbour,+ rather "guides his neighbour." Delitszch reads, "looketh after his pastures." The Hebrew word signifies "abundance" (see Miller's remarks in the comments on the verse). +27.+ The word translated +roast+ does not occur in this sense elsewhere. In the Chaldee of Dan. iii. 27, it is used in this sense. It may be read "catcheth not his prey." The second clause should be, "a precious treasure is diligence," or "a diligent man." +28. No death,+ literally "no-death," _i.e.,_ "immortality."

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 1.

THE LOVE OF KNOWLEDGE AND THE PROOF OF IT.

True knowledge is to be loved--

+I. For what it can do for him who loves it.+ 1. _It refines a man._ Gold when it is in its natural condition is valuable because it is gold, but when it has been purged from its impurities by the refining process it is more to be valued and is more beautiful. So a man may be sterling gold without much knowledge, but when the dross of ignorance is removed, he is worth more and is more attractive. If this be true of knowledge in the general, it is pre-eminently true of the knowledge which comes from above. If any knowledge exercises a refining influence upon the human mind, much more does the highest knowledge--the knowledge of God. 2. _It will open up sources of enjoyment that would otherwise be hidden._ The blind are deprived of many enjoyments by lack of sight. There is an abundance of beauty all around them, but their want of vision makes it useless to them. Intellectual ignorance is intellectual blindness; the ignorant man is a stranger to a thousand pleasures which are enjoyed by a well-informed man. Especially ignorance of Divine things shuts a man out from the highest, the only lasting unalloyed source of joy. 3. _It makes a man less dependent on the outward and visible._ A man who has stored up knowledge will be good company for himself. He can find refreshment by meditating on what he has within him, and need not be ever seeking it in external things. The contemplation of Divine and eternal truths especially, will ever be "within him a well of water" (John iv. 14).

+II. For what it will do for others.+ If a man makes money only to dig a grave and bury it, he sins against himself and all whom he might bless by its use. So there are men who seem to have no other end in getting knowledge than to bury it. Such a man is an intellectual miser, and a sinner against human kind. There ought to be a love of giving, as well as a love of getting. For a man who possesses any kind of knowledge can bless others by its use. And this being true of all useful knowledge, how much more true is it of the knowledge which makes "wise unto salvation?" Christ insists that no Christian make himself a grave in which to bury this knowledge, but a medium to communicate it (Matt. v. 16). And the influence of knowledge which has been acquired is not limited to the short life of a man upon the earth. How much are we indebted to the knowledge gained by earnest seekers in every department of knowledge long before we were born? One earnest seeker may gain a knowledge that will be a light to men as long as the world lasts. Especially those who have been earnest seekers after Divine truth leave a legacy of blessing behind them, the influence of which will outlive the world. For all these reasons men ought to love knowledge.

+III. The proof of loving knowledge.+ He will seek instruction. This is the only way to knowledge. If a man loves the object of his pursuit, he will show his love by the use of means. 1. Seeking instruction is a confession of ignorance, and to be convinced that we are ignorant is the first step to becoming wise. Self-conceit is the fatal barrier to a man's gaining knowledge. 2. It involves self-denying labour. Little that is worth having can be obtained without labour. The gold-digger has to labour long and painfully before he finds the precious nuggets. If men would drink of a springing well of pure water they must dig deep down for it. The student must plod over dry details if he wishes to taste the sweets of learning. 3. It generally involves correction by the instructor. If a man sets out to dig for gold or to dig for water, he will most likely make mistakes while he is a novice. If he is really in earnest about his work he will receive "reproof," although it will not be altogether palatable. So with the scholar, he must suffer the reproof of the master. Doubtless the main reference here is to that knowledge which regenerates the character; and certainly the man who loves this highest knowledge will confess his ignorance, will not shrink from labouring to attain it, will accept that "reproof" which is an indispensable element in Divine instruction. If the man of God is to be "thoroughly furnished" or "perfected" he must accept "reproof" and "correction," as well as instruction (2 Tim. iii. 16, 17).

+IV. The character of the man who does not love reproof.+ He is "brutish." The great difference between a man and a brute is that the one can grow intellectually and morally and the other cannot. Many animals possess great sagacity, and to a certain extent that can be developed. They sometimes, too, possess admirable qualities, but they are not capable of _soul-enlargement._ But man is, and in order to attain it he must submit to the instruction and reproof of those who are wiser than himself. He must stoop before he can rise. If he will not do this, he will never attain to the high destiny for which he was created--ever to be rising higher and higher in the scale of being. His lower nature will rule his spirit, and he will be little better than the beast. He must submit to the correction and instruction of His God if he would not be classed with "the horse and the mule, which have no understanding" (Psa. xxxii. 8, 9). The man who will not take reproof will certainly have to submit to it, and this not only from those who are wiser than himself, but from his companions in ignorance. A terrible reproof will be administered by Divine Wisdom to those who refuse reproof (chap. i. 24-31). And he will not escape upbraidings from those who are involved in the same sentence. Ungodly men are the first to upbraid their companions in ungodliness when they are all involved in the same penalty.

_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._

Here is shewed that adversity is the best university, saith an interpreter. Corrections of instructions are the way of life. Men commonly beat and bruise their links before they light them, to make them burn the brighter. God first humbles whom He means to illuminate; as Gideon took thorns of the wilderness and briars and with them he taught the men of Succoth (Judges viii. 16). M. Ascham was a good schoolmaster to Queen Elizabeth, but affliction was a better, as one well observeth. He that hateth reproof, whether it be by the rebukes of men, or the rod of God, is fallen below the stirrup of reason, he is a brute in man's shape; nothing is more irrational than irreligion.--_Trapp._

The most we can attain to in this life is, not to know, but only to have a love of knowledge; we know in part, and a partial knowledge is not to know indeed. If we can love knowledge entirely, that is the entireness of knowledge in this life. Now as knowledge cometh from instruction, so the love of knowledge from the love of instruction. He that is servant to the one, will soon be a master to the other. A loving obedience in receiving doth even command love to keep what is received. . . . There is the reproof of an _enemy_ and there is the reproof of a _friend,_ the one seeketh reproach, the other amendment, but neither is to be hated, for howsoever reproof be used it is a profitable thing.--_Jermin._

Reproof is not pleasant to nature. We may learn its value from its results, but it will never be sweet to our taste. At the best it is a bitter morsel. The difference between a wise man and a fool is not that one likes it and the other loathes it; both dislike it, but the fool casts away the precious because it is unpalatable, and the wise man accepts the unpalatable because it is precious.--_Arnot._

The grand secret of life is to hear lessons, and not to teach them.--_Haliburton._

It is the property of all true knowledge, especially spiritual, to enlarge the soul by filling it; to enlarge it without swelling it; to make it more capable, and more earnest to know, the more it knows.--_Bishop Sprat._

Ignorance is the curse of God,
Knowledge the wing with which we fly to heaven.--_Shakespeare._

TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE: The name "Hottentot" originally
referred to particular African, tribal people. It may be
considered offensive. Dr. Miller does not use it as a
compliment in his remarks.

This is a great text. We may expect great texts where there is a look of commonplace. The thought raises itself two stories at least in the respect of doctrine. He that, instead of fretting at that mysterious Providence of God that we call _evil,_ enters into the deep experiences, and learns to value it as precious to his soul--that man loves light, or Gospel "knowledge." That is the first story. But, now, he who takes a much wider view, and looks at all the gains from evil to the universe--how impossible would be high forms of knowledge, how utterly unconceived by anyone not Infinite, without the foil of either observed or experienced misery--that man acquiesces in all the evils that are seen in the creation, _loving discipline because he loves knowledge,_ and acquiescing even in hell itself, because he suspects its absolute necessity in the providential system. Mourning over our griefs, which seems to be the work often of a refined and delicate nature, is here asserted to be "_brutish._" He is but a Hottentot in the ways of the Almighty who does not see that the crushing of his hopes has been one of the tenderest methods of his redemption.--_Miller._

He, and he only, that loves the means, loves the end. The means of knowledge are "instruction" in what is right, and "reproof" for what is wrong. He who is an enemy to either of these is an enemy to the end.--_A. Fuller._

Is there any man so like a beast as not to love knowledge? Solomon tells us, that those who hate reproof are brutish. Let us, therefore, examine ourselves by this mark. . . . He is surely not a rational creature who has swallowed poison, and will rather suffer it to take its course than admit the necessary relief of medicine, lest he should be obliged to confess his folly in exposing himself to the need of it.--_Lawson._

It was when Asaph recovered from that strange temptation, under the power of which he seemed to forget the eternity of man's being, and to confine his estimate to the present life, that he exclaimed, "So foolish was I, and ignorant; I was _as a beast_ before Thee" (Psa. lxxiii. 22). And the same comparison is repeatedly used respecting the ungodly. They sink themselves even below the level of the brutes, for _they_ fulfil the ends of _their_ being, under the impulse of their respective instincts and appetites; but the man who forgets his immortality and his God, does _not_ fulfil the end of _his._ There may also be comprehended in the expression, the absence of what every rational creature ought to have--_spiritual discernment and taste;_ the destitution of all right sentiment and feeling in reference to God and Divine things. This is the character of him whom Paul denominates the "natural" or animal "man," who receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him.--_Wardlaw._

The subject of Verse 2 has been treated in previous chapters. See Homiletics on chap. iii. 1-4; xi. 21, etc.

_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._

Verse 2. Or "hath what he will of God." Thus it is written of Luther, that by his prayers he could prevail with God at his pleasure. When gifts were offered him, he refused them with this brave speech, "I solemnly protested to God that I would not be put off with these low things." And on a time praying for the recovery of a godly useful man, among other passages, he let fall this transcendent rapture of a daring faith, "Let my will be done," and then falls off sweetly; "My will, Lord, because Thy will." Blessed is he that hath what he will and wills nothing but what he should. If an evil thought haunt his heart, it is the devise of the man, he is not the man of such devices.--_Trapp._

A man can no way be so happy as by being in God's favour. If any other thing were better than this, it would here be named; for His purpose is to promise and perform the best. Good men do set their wits to work to find the way whereby they may best please Him, and He doth set His wisdom to work to frame a recompense that may best pleasure them. It is precious--1. In regard of the rareness of it, it is a flower which groweth only in God's own garden. It is a privilege and freedom peculiar to the children of God. 2. In regard to the continuance of it, it is not worn out by time, it vanisheth not away, it is never taken from them upon whom it is bestowed. 3. In regard to those good effects wherewith it is always accompanied--defence from enemies, safety from danger, gladness of heart, the love and favour of God it doth minister to everyone that partakes of it.--_Dod._

Were the goodness of the godly such as it should be, it would from God's goodness even deserve praise, not stand in need of remitting favour, it would carry favour with it, it would not be put by seeking to obtain it. But in the best, so little it is, that he must even fetch it out from the Lord with many prayers, earnest suit, and at last it is the great mercy of God that he doth obtain it. But yet, such is the mercy of God toward the good, that however He dealeth with the good man he still obtaineth favour from Him. St. Augustine saith, "Thou receivedst benefit both from His coming and His going; He cometh to the increase of thy comfort, He goeth to the increase of thy care. He goeth away sometimes lest continual presence should make Him despised, and that absence should make Him more desired."--_Jermin._

A man of wicked devices may be artful enough to disguise his selfish plans under the mask of religion and benevolence, like the old Pharisees; but the eyes of the Judge of the world are like a flame of fire, they pierce into the secrets of every soul, and there is no dark design harboured which shall not be completely disclosed in the day of Christ.--_Lawson._

Let blind reason condemn God. (see on ver. 1.) He who has Gospel light will see Him as one out of whom he can draw favour. A man not only pure himself, but doing good to others, looks upon God as a fountain of blessing.--_Miller._

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 3.

A RIGHT DESIRE AND THE MEANS OF ITS ATTAINMENT.

+I. There has always been a desire in men for establishment--for fixedness.+ 1. _It is a good and God-given aspiration, and manifests itself in many ways._ Men rightly desire to have a settled home--a spot on earth to which they may attach themselves and from which they cannot be driven. This is a desire especially strong in the western and northern nations, and has been a powerful element in their development. Men desire a permanent and certain income, and the desire to obtain it is a great motive power to induce them to acquire knowledge of mechanical arts and professions. Men desire to earn a fixed reputation, and the desire acts as a moral power in the world. 2. _It is a desire very old in its manifestation._ Very early in the history of our race we have an instance of man's desire for fixedness of position on the earth, and for a permanent reputation. It was this that prompted the men of Shinar to say one to another, "Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the earth" (Gen. xi. 4). They desired to have a centre of unity in the world--a spot where they could settle down together and establish a name that would outlive them. The building of Babel is a parable of what has been going on ever since, and will go on until the end of time. The building is not of bricks and mortar, but the desire is the same.

+II. Men can only have this desire satisfied in one way.+ The man who purposed to build the tower of Babel used wrong means to fulfil a lawful desire. It was right to aspire towards reaching the fixedness of heaven, but that cannot be done with _bricks_ were they never so many or so well burnt. They did "make a name," but not the name they desired. And so it is with men now. They want to gain for themselves a permanent resting place and a lasting name, and they think to attain their desire by linking themselves with something belonging only to earth, they desire to reach the heavenly with the earthly. And if they could use all the clay upon the globe to make their bricks they would find their tower fall far short of reaching heaven. All life without God is a life of wickedness, and such a life cannot be an _establishment_ because it is contrary to Divine law. But this desire towards the immutable is intended by God to lead man to turn his face towards "those things which cannot be shaken" (Heb. xii. 27), that righteous character which fits a man for the "house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens" (2 Cor. v. 1), which can be obtained by union with Him who is immutable--"The same yesterday, to-day, and for ever" (Heb. xiii. 8). Men may build upon a foundation which shall not be removed, they may send their roots deep down into an eternal abiding place by falling in with the conditions laid down by Christ Himself in Matt. v. 24, 25.

_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._

_Established_ may have reference not to the stability of his _fortunes,_ but to that of his _mind_--to tranquil self-possession and firmness. Even if, in the providence of God, his substance should fail, he himself remains unshaken and entire in all his best blessings, and in all his hopes.--_Wardlaw._

A man, being wicked, how shall he expect anything, except that he shall be disturbed? While the saint, though "_shaken_" in leaf and bough, and storm-tossed, and, perhaps, broken in his branches, yet "_shall not be shaken_" in his "_root._"--_Miller._

Ahab strove to establish himself in despite of the threatened curse of God. He increased his family, trained them with care under the tutelage of his choicest nobility. And surely one, at least, out of seventy, might remain to inherit his throne. But this was the vain "striving" of the worm "with his Maker." One hour swept them all away (1 Kings xxi. 21, with 2 Kings x. 1-7). The device of Caiaphas, also _to establish his nation by wickedness,_ was the means of its overthrow (John xi. 49, 50, with Matt. xxi. 43, 44).--_Bridges._

A man shall not be established by wickedness, for he lays his foundation upon firework, and brimstone is scattered upon his housetop: if the fire of God from heaven but flash upon it, it will all be aflame immediately. He walks all day upon a mine of gunpowder; and hath God with His armies ready to run upon the thickest bosses of his buckler, and to hurl him to hell. How can this man be sure of anything? Cain built cities, but could not rest in them; Ahab begat seventy sons, but not one successor to the kingdom. Sin hath no settledness. But the righteous, though shaken with winds, are rooted as trees; like a ship at anchor, they wag up and down, yet remove not.--_Trapp._

We shall lose our labour in seeking any sinful helps. We shall but make quicksand our foundation, and mud our stonework, and stubble and reeds our strongest timber. It is time for us to pull down our own ruinous building, lest it should fall upon our heads. For though it be so slight, and as weak as a cobweb, to be a cover over us, yet it is very heavy, and as weighty as a mountain to press us under it.--_Dod._

Many are established in wickedness, and cannot be removed from it, but none shall ever be established by it.--_Jermin._

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 4.

A HUSBAND'S CROWN.

+I. A woman possessed of a quality which time will not destroy or impair.+ Virtue is not a mere negative good--it is not simply an absence of evil. A virtuous person is one who has _overcome_ evil--one who is prevented from being a worker of evil by being a worker of good. Virtue is a thing of growth--human nature has to struggle to acquire moral excellence--to attain that strength of goodness which we call virtue. It has its seat in the regenerated heart. The river that is always flowing with pure, living water, is not fed from a cistern, but from a living spring which is in communication with the parent of waters. So virtue is not a native of this fallen world--it is of celestial birth--it is derived from the source of all goodness and consequently partakes of the indestructibility of all eternal things. There is no annihilation of virtue. Stabbing cannot kill it. Burning cannot destroy it. It will break the bonds of calumny and rise from the dead. Virtue adorns either sex, but it is especially attractive in a woman. It is _her_ crown, and because she is so crowned, she crowns her husband.

+II. Man needs such a woman to complete, or crown his life.+ Even the first man in his sinless condition, with all the peculiar joys springing from his sinless nature, felt his existence incomplete until God gave him the woman as the filling up--the crown and finish of his life. But this woman was crowned herself with innocence and purity or she could not have crowned her husband. If man in his sinless condition needed a wife to complete his life, how much more does he need now a virtuous woman to be a helpmeet for him. 1. _He needs her because he needs help from virtue outside himself._ The most perfect of imperfect men must lean upon some human support, and they will consciously or unconsciously do so. A man who has a virtuous wife has ever about him an atmosphere which is strengthening to his own virtue. She will help him to preserve his integrity more effectually than any other person because she is so constantly about his path. She will give him that moral sympathy which is so helpful to men struggling to keep a good conscience in an evil world, which is like oil to the wheels of life, and makes what would otherwise be very difficult easy and pleasant. 2. _He needs an intellectual companion._ He must have a rational and intelligent spirit in his home if his life is to be what God intended it to be--one with whom he can converse and to whom he can impart his thoughts on things human and divine. He cannot be _crowned,_ in the full sense of the word, unless he has such a wife, and the word virtue may embrace intellectual vigour as well as moral excellence. (See Comments on the verse.) When a man has such a wife as we have described his life is completed or crowned. The word among the Hebrews was also symbolic of joy and gladness (Cant. vi. 11), and such a woman is of necessity a joy to her husband.

+III. The man who would be thus crowned must be wise in his choice of a wife.+ The most precious things are not generally to be obtained without some amount of seeking. Pebbles can be gathered upon any shore, but diamonds are only to be had for patient seeking. Pinchbeck ornaments are to be had for a trifle, but a golden diadem costs much money. There are plenty of women who may be won without much seeking, but a wife who is virtuous in the sense of the text is not to be met with every day or in every place. To find such an one he must ask counsel of Him who provided the first man with the woman who supplied his need in this respect. Though we have no record that Adam asked God for a helpmeet for him, yet we do not know that he did not. This we do know, that God's best gifts, as a rule, are only had for asking. And when we reflect upon the terrible blight that an ungodly, unsympathetic, incapable wife is to a man, causing him such shame as is "rottenness to his bones," we can fully see the need of seeking Divine guidance in forming a relationship which has so much to do with "making" or "marring" a man.

_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._

Here we have a king and a crown, a _holy woman_ the _crown;_ a _happy man,_ the _king._ I. _Inasmuch as a woman of grace is here called her husband's crown we learn that a good wife is the husband's best outward blessing, the worthiest mercy that a man may have in this world._ It follows: 1. That as he who would be introduced into the crown of any kingdom or monarchy must match himself into the king's race, so, he that would be sure to have a crown for his wife must take the same course, he must marry into the house of heaven, with some one to whom the King of Kings is a father, and who is by grace of the lineage and offspring of the Lord of Hosts. 2. The wife being the husband's crown must be much respected by her husband. Crowns are no contemptible things. The Apostle Peter is exact in commanding this (1 Pet. iii. 7). She is called the "glory of the man" (1 Cor. xi. 7) and his companion (Mal. ii. 14) his second-self (Ephes. v. 28, 29). If in these regards God hath made a woman an honour to a man, the Lord looks that man should give honour to a woman. 3. A wife being a crown, requireth maintenance as much as her husband's estate will afford. The crown must be maintained, it is for the honour and safety of the king, and for the content of the subjects that it have meet support. II. _If the wife be the crown, the husband is the king._ Therefore: 1. She must acknowledge him and obey him in all matrimonial loyalty and love. The proverb is, there is no service to compare with that of a king, but, certainly there is no king's service to this. Kings can give the greatest about them, but _rewards_ when they have done their best; but the husband gives the wife _himself_ for her obedience. 2. It is her duty to grace him. To be a woman, and to be a wife, is not enough to be a crown, a man may have both these and yet she that he hath may be a shame unto him. There go more than _two_ words to this bargain; to be a woman, a wife, and _gracious,_ and she that is so cannot fail of her glory.--_John Wing_ (1620).

Man, though made for the throne of the world, was found unfit for the final investiture until he got woman as a help. . . . When the relations of the sexes move in fittings of truth and love, the working of the complicated machinery of life is a wonder to an observing man and a glory to the Creator God. . . . We need not be surprised by the announcement of the horrid contrast. It is according to law; the best things abused become the worst. Woman is the very element of home. When that element is tainted, corruption spreads over all its breadth and sinks into its core.--_Arnot._

The word implies the virtue of earnestness, or strength of character, rather than of simple chastity.--_Plumptre._

The weakness of women is never a reproach unto them, but when it appeareth in not resisting sin. And therefore the original is _a woman of strength,_ such a woman as is by God's grace strong enough to withstand sin: a _manlike_ woman, the Syriac hath it, in spiritual courage. But contrariwise she, who is not ashamed of her sinful weakness in yielding unto sin maketh him ashamed for whom she was created, and as rottenness in his bones destroyeth his strength, making him weak through grief, as she is through folly, for such grief enters deeply, and it is the bones that it wasteth, when she is naught who was made of man's bone.--_Jermin._

Let man learn to be grateful to woman for this undoubted achievement for her sex, that it is she--she far more than he, and she, too often, in despite of him--who has kept Christendom from lapsing back into barbarism, kept mercy and truth from being utterly overborne by those two greedy monsters, money and war. Let him be grateful for this, that almost every great soul that has led forward, or lifted up the race, has been furnished for each noble deed, and inspired with each patriotic and holy inspiration, by the retiring fortitude of some Spartan--some Christian mother. Moses, the deliverer of his people, drawn out of the Nile by the king's daughter, some one has hinted, is only a symbol of the way that woman's better instincts outwit the tyrannical diplomacy of the man. Let him cheerfully remember, that though the sinewy sex achieves enterprises on public theatres, it is the nerve and sensibility of the other that arm the mind and inflame the soul in secret. Everywhere a man executes the performance, but woman trains the man.--_Anon._

The figure in the second clause is strong. We may consider it as conveying _two_ ideas! 1. The "bones" are the _strength_ of the frame. Upon them the whole is built. There is, therefore, in the idea of _caries,_ or rottenness in them, that of the _wasting_ of the vigour of body and mind, and the bringing of the man prematurely to his grave; and that, too, by means which cost him, ere this result is effected, exquisite suffering. 2. The "bones" are _unseen._ The poor man is pierced with inward and secret agony, which he cannot disclose; pines in unseen distress--distress of which the cause is hidden, while the _effects_ are sadly and rapidly visible.--_Wardlaw._

"Capable;" sometimes "virtuous," literally _strong._ "It is well observed by Michaelis (Supp. No. 17), that in the early stages of society, when the government and laws had little influence, fortitude was the first and most necessary virtue; and might therefore naturally give its name to the other virtues. Hence _virtus_ in Latin, and ɑρετη in Greek, which, according to their etymology, denote mainly strength and fortitude, came, at length, to signify virtue in general (Holder)." "_Crown,_" that is (1) _ornament,_ and (2) _source of power._ A virtuous woman is both to her husband. A spendthrift, drunken, or adulterous wife is so entrenched in our being, that our very bone, that is, our dearest interests (Psalm xxxv. 10; John xix. 36), are rotten, when these qualities begin their influence. A man, linked with such disorders, cannot complain of his inevitable reproof (ver. 1). Does he link himself with evil, he must partake of the storms that buffet it. Women, however, in all this book, seem to be types of qualities;--of Grace (xi. 16); of Wisdom (xiv. 1); of Folly (ix. 13). The "virtuous woman" has not stood before us in all her true light, till she stands as Wisdom; nor "One that causes shame," till we make her Impenitency. "The virtuous or capable woman" is our "_crown,_" for, with faith, all things are ours; and her great rival is our shame, for, with unbelief, there is "rottenness" in our very "bones." This disposition always to see a figure must not be set down as fanciful, till the Woman of Grace, of Folly, and of Wisdom, and other still more artificial cases (Rev. xii. 1), have been thoroughly considered.--_Miller._

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 5-8.

THOUGHTS AND WORDS AND THEIR RESULT.

+I. The thoughts of the righteous or godly man are right.+ 1. _Because he has the best material out of which to build his thoughts._ The kind of building which is reared will depend mainly upon the quarry from which the stones are hewn. The man of God gets the material of his thoughts from the revealed Word of God. He obeys the Divine command.--"This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night" (Josh. i. 8). 2. _Because his thinking is under the rule of law._ He does not allow his mind to dwell upon every suggestion that comes into it, he forbids certain things to enter there, or if they enter in an unguarded moment, he will not give them a dwelling place. He does not give unqualified assent to the boast that "thought is free." The righteous man does not aspire to be a "_free_-thinker," if he did he could not be a _good_ thinker. He rules his thoughts according to the legislation of Christ (Matt. v. 28; xv. 18), and endeavours to bring _every thought_ into obedience to Him (2 Cor. x. 5).

+II. The speech of the righteous.+ A man's words are never worse than his thoughts. In a good man they are the outcome of his thoughts. As the child is the undeveloped man, and the seed the undeveloped tree, so thought is the seed of speech. If the child's constitution is good and the seed is good, the man and the tree will be healthy and vigorous. If the thought is healthy and wise the speech will be so likewise, for "out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh" (Matt. xii. 34).

+III. The thoughts of the wicked.+ They are such as spring spontaneously from the human heart, which is, according to the estimate of One who knows, "deceitful above all things" (Jer. xvii. 9). In such a heart counsels or thoughts of deceit must be generated. His own life-work will be a deceit (chap. xi. 18), and he will deceive others. The verse evidently refers to thoughts which purpose harm to other people. When a man's thoughts are not in subjection to the law of God, they have a tendency to go from bad to worse. The ungodly man, either directly or indirectly, injures others as well as himself.

+IV. The words of the wicked.+ The ungodly are here represented, as in chap. xi. 21, as combining to injure the godly (see Homiletics on that verse). Their words are the outcome of their evil and malicious thoughts. Most ungodly men try to lessen the influence of the good by depreciating their character when they do not dare to attack their property and their lives. This lying in wait for blood may cover all schemes to bring about the downfall of the good. The two characters now stand before us. Let us look at what is in store for each. I. For the righteous. 1. _Deliverance from the machinations of the wicked._ This is effected by means of the godly man's own words. He is able to refute what his enemies bring against him. This proverb cannot of course be taken to assert that the righteous are always delivered from death at the hands of their persecutors. They are delivered as Christ was delivered from the counsels of deceit, and from the bloody plans of the Scribes and Pharisees. The words here used exactly describe their character, and the deliverance of the righteous is such a deliverance as our Lord wrought for Himself by the words of truth and wisdom with which He silenced them Take the instance of the tribute-money as recorded by Matthew (chap. xxii. 15). "Then went the Pharisees and took counsel how they might entangle Him in His talk. And they sent out unto Him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, Master, we know that Thou art true, and teachest the way of God in truth, neither carest Thou for any man; for thou regardest not the person of men. Tell us, therefore, What thinkest Thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Cæsar, or not? But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites? Show me the tribute money. And they brought Him a penny. And He saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? They say unto Him, Cæsar's. Then saith He unto them, Render therefore unto Cæsar the things which are Cæsar's, and unto God the things which are God's. When they had heard these words, they marvelled, and left him, and went their way." Two other instances of Christ's delivering Himself by His "mouth" are given in the same chapter. And many of His followers have in like manner defeated the plans of their enemies. 2. _The establishment of his family._ His thoughts and words bless his own house--they are the means of reproducing other characters whose thoughts and words are like his own. This of itself is a good reason why his house should stand. Each member of it thus becomes a centre of influence for good, and in this way the world is preserved from moral corruption and ruin. And it is a law of God's kingdom that the godliness of the head of a family or race should bring a blessing upon his posterity. God defended the people of Jerusalem in the days of Hezekiah for "His servant David's sake" (Isa. xxxvii. 35). He blessed Isaac for "my servant Abraham's sake" (Gen. xxvi. 24). And the same law is at work in New Testament times, "The promise is unto you and to your children" (Acts ii. 39). 3. _General commendation._ The wise and the righteous are synonymous in the book of Proverbs, the wisdom of the 8th verse is, doubtless, _moral_ wisdom. Paul calls his Corinthian converts, whom he had begotten by his holy thoughts and wise words, his "letters of commendation" (2 Cor. iii. 1-3). Every godly man has some such commendatory epistles in the living souls who his life and words have blessed. Men can but acknowledge that he is a blessing to his fellow-creatures while he lives, and after he has left the world he is praised by, and because of, those whom he "turned to righteousness" (Dan. xii. 3). II. But for the wicked there must be--1. _Overthrow._ They entered the lists against a power must stronger than their own, and must therefore come to ruin. The stubble of the field can contend for a time against the fire, but the latter grows stronger the longer it burns, and the stubble is less and less able to resist its power, until presently there is nothing left but a few ashes which are soon scattered by the winds, and the place that once knew them knows them no more, _"For behold the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven, and all the proud and all that do wickedly shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of Hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch"_ (Mal. iv. 1). 2. _General contempt._ The wicked or "perverse of heart" will not be able to respect himself, how then can he expect others to hold him in honour? And in the day of his overthrow the contempt or indifference with which both he and his fate will be regarded will not come from those who he has striven to injure, but from those who are like himself. Those who have already met with their overthrow will be those who will meet him with the taunt, _"Art thou also become weak as we? Art thou become like unto us?"_ (Isa. xiv. 10). And those whose time of judgment is yet in the future will not stoop to pity or succour him.

_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._

Verse 5. That thoughts are free, is his lesson, by which we are made slaves unto sin. For if the thoughts be corrupted, the affections will soon be polluted, and then the actions are easily perverted. If the flies of Egypt get into our eyes, the frogs of Egypt will soon get into our chambers, the caterpillars of Egypt will soon destroy our fruits, the actions of our lives. The counsels of the wicked are deceit--they deceive God of His honour, their neighbour of his right, themselves of their salvation.--_Jermin._

The stress lies upon the words, "thoughts" or "purposes," and "counsels." Habits of good and evil reach beyond the region of outward act to that of impulse and volition.--_Plumptre._

To the righteous are ascribed simple and clear thoughts, to the godless, prudently thought through schemes and measures, but on that very account not simple, because of their tendency.--_Delitzsch._

If good thoughts _look_ into a wicked heart, they _stay_ not there, as those that like not their lodging; the flashes of lightnings may be discerned into the darkest prisons. The light that shines into a holy heart is constant, like that of the sun, which keeps due times, and varies not the course for any of these sublunary occasions.--_Trapp._

At the first creation man was made to excel brute beasts more by the reason and gifts of the soul than by the fashion and shape of the body, so at the second, a Christian is made to excel sinful men more by the holiness and working of the soul than by those of the body.--_Dod._

The mere _thoughts_--the unpremeditated _resolves_ of a righteous man--are _right;_ the _deliberate counsels,_ the very _deliberations_ of the wicked, are _deceit._--_Burgon._

Many indeed are the deviations of the righteous. But there is an overcoming law within that, in despite of all opposition, fixes _his thoughts_ with delight on God and His law (Pas. cxxxix. 17, 18; Rom. vii. 15, 23), and gives to them a single bias for His service. Widely different are the thoughts of the wicked, ripening into _counsels_ fraught with _deceit._ Such were those of Joseph's brethren to deceive their father; of Jeroboam, under a feigned consideration of the people; of Daniel's enemies, under pretence of honouring the king; of Herod, under the profession of worshiping the infant Saviour.--_Bridges._

This verse has been rendered, _"The policy of the just is honesty; the wisdom of the wicked is cunning."_ The righteous man deals in rectitude, and from his actions you know his thoughts. It is not so with "the wicked." He thinks one way and acts another. His words and deeds are not the fair index of his thoughts.--_Wardlaw._

_"The plans of the righteous are a judgment."_ This word, which is very common in the Bible, means a judicial decision. The "judgment" of the wicked is a verdict of the Almighty consigning them to hell. The "judgment" of the righteous, by what Christ has wrought out, is a verdict of eternal reward. . . . The "plans of the righteous," however disastrous they may seem, "are a judgment." And, as the "judgment" of the righteous is in his favour, his plans, however bad, are shaped in him for his good. Whatsoever storms they may lead to, they are from a most prosperous verdict, and have been allowed to supervene, for his highest, and well-graduated good. Mark now the climax (as in ch. xiv. 11). It says, the _plans_ of the righteous, leading us to suppose they might be very wretched But it says "the _helmsmanship_ (counsels, see on chap. xi. 14) of the wicked," leaving us to suppose they are very shrewd. The keenest calculations of the wicked, where a cool eye is at the _helm,_ and where instead of marrying a foolish wife (ver. 4), he has built grandly for the world; still, as a _judgment,_ I mean by that, as the whole verdict in his case, his very _helmsmanships_ are a deceit. (1) His own wisdom cheats him in ordering his life; and (2) God Himself, as a part of His award, takes care that he be deceived as to his total well-being.--_Miller._

Verse 6. The law of parallelism leaves it open to us to refer the pronoun at the end of this verse to the righteous themselves, or to those, the unwary and innocent, for whom the words of the wicked lie in wait.--_Plumptre._

The fiercer ebullitions of humanity may, indeed, be softened down and restrained. But the principle remains the same. The fiery elements only lie in slumbering cover, and often break out, wasting the very face of society.--_Bridges._

_The words._ Speech is the great instrument of man. Talking is his trade. Wall Street and Lombard Street make their fortunes by the tongue. The "words of the wicked" are, therefore, their highest activities, and our proverb declares that these high acts are "a lying in wait for blood." We would not deny that this may include the blood of others; but in the light of the last verse the grand victim is themselves (chap. i. 18). Each order on change is for a man's last discomfiture.--_Miller._

Though nature hath denied man the weapons of his teeth, yet wickedness giveth to some such _words_ as are more bloody beasts. The false witness will frame his tale so cunningly as if he intended nothing but a clearing of the truth, whereas he seeketh nothing but the shedding of blood. The corrupt judge will couch his words so closely, as if he meant nothing but to have justice executed, whereas they are nothing but ambushments to surprise innocent blood. But there are words which issue from the mouth of the upright, as making a sally out of some adjoining fort, whereby the prey is rescued, the pillagers are defeated, the innocent are delivered, the upright as victorious is crowned with the diadem of his judgment as in Job it is called (ch. xxix. 14); and which St. Gregory saith is rightly called a diadem, because by the glory of an excellent work it leadeth to the crown of a glorious reward. Now such were the words of Job's mouth, who brake the jaws of the wicked and plucked the spoil out of his teeth, being eyes to the blind, feet to the lame, and a father to the poor.--_Jermin._

The prayers of God's people ascend up to God's presence for His help, and those mouths prevail mightily that seek for redress of wrong at His hands. Herod thought it would be too late for all the friends which Peter had to minister help to him when he had clapped him in prison. But he remembered not how swift the godly be to prayer and how soon a prayer can come to God.--_Dod._

Verse 7. The _persons_ of the wicked are _overthrown and are not,_ the _house_ of the righteous (the very roof that sheltered him) shall _stand._--_Burgon._

He that is strong may be overthrown and may rise again, he that riseth not to what he was may rise in part to something, he that riseth not at all, may lie where he has fallen; but in the overthrow of the wicked all hope is gone of anything, for they themselves are _nothing._ They _were not_ in goodness, they _are not_ by their wickedness. They are not to be recovered from their overthrow, because they are not changed to repentance by their overthrow. On the other side, not only the righteous shall stand, their family, their posterity shall stand, for God shall stand by them, and then no fear of falling can be unto them.--_Jermin._

When a change of the estate of the ungodly is made from prosperity unto adversity, their utter destruction is commonly wrought, for their house being built upon the sand, the tempests and the winds arise and quite overthrow it. The whole manner of the overthrow is described in Job xviii. 15.--_Muffet._

The righteous shall "have a place in the Lord's house," immovable here (Isa. lvi. 4, 5), and in eternity (Rev. iii. 12).--_Bridges._

Solomon had a signal exemplification of this in the case of _Saul_ and his father _David._ Possibly this instance might be in his eye at the time.--_Wardlaw._

Eventually there must be _overthrow,_ even if it be no overthrow but death. When the wicked do fall, there is positively _nothing of them left._ While in the deepest disasters of the righteous, nothing is not _left. "His house,"_ and by that is meant every possible real interest (1 Sam. ii. 35) shall stand for ever.--_Miller._

Verse 8. Sometimes, and very often, the wicked shall commend him, commonly the righteous, and always the Lord Himself, but most of all at the last day, before all men and angels. They that are not void of uprightness shall not be destitute of praise and honour. Though some be blind that they cannot discern their understanding and graces, yet others have their eyesight and behold them. Though some be dumb and will not speak of their virtues, yet others have their lips open to commend them.--_Dod._

And all wisdom consists in this, that a man rightly know and worship God. Apollonius, Archimedes, and Aristotle were wise in their generations, and so accounted, but by whom? Not by St. Paul, he hath another opinion of them (Rom. i. 22). Not by our Saviour (Matt. xi. 25).--_Trapp._

_According_--"in exact proportion;" such as the meaning of the Hebrew. A man is more applauded for good sense than perhaps anything else. _Wisdom_--"shrewdness;" that attribute that leads to success. Therefore it sometimes means success (2 Kings xviii. 7). Successful shrewdness is a very positive sort. Such is the shrewdness of the righteous man (ver. 7). _Perverse heart_--"crooked sense," literally _heart;_ though heart contains more of sense (νοʊς) than we ascribe to it. If a man whose mind works crookedly every time becomes an object of contempt, why ought not the wicked to become so, whose very helmsmanships are a deceit? (ver. 5).--_Miller._

How thrilling will be the _commendation of wisdom_ before the assembled universe! (Luke xii. 42-44). Who will not then acknowledge the _wise_ choice of an earthly cross with a heavenly crown?--_Bridges._