Chapter XIII (1)

CRITICAL NOTES.--+1. Instruction,+ or "correction." The Hebrew is literally, "a wise son _is_ his father's correction," _i.e.,_ is the product of his father's correction; or "heareth" may be supplied to correspond to the verb in the second clause. +2. Shall eat,+ in the second clause is, supplied by the English translation. Many commentaries render this clause "the delight of the ungodly is violence." So Zöckler and Delitzsch. Mill translates the verse, "Out of the fair earnings of the mouth of a man a good man will get his foot; but the appetite of the faithless out of robbery." +4. Fat,+ _i.e.,_ abundantly satisfied. +5. Lying,+ rather "deceit." Stuart renders it "a false report." Zöckler translates the latter clause of this verse, "the ungodly acts basely and shamefully." The translations of Stuart and Delitzsch are nearly the same. Miller reads the whole verse, "A deceiving business hates the righteous man, but also shames and disgraces the wicked." +6. Sinner,+ literally "sin," hence Miller reads "wickedness subverts the sin-offering," and Zöckler "wickedness plungeth into sin." +7. Maketh,+ or "showeth." +8.+ The latter clause of this is very obscure, but _rebuke_ is generally translated "threatening," and is understood to mean that no threatening can gain anything from the poor as they have nothing to lose. Stuart understands it that "notwithstanding the obvious advantage of wealth, yet the poor man will not listen to those who rebuke him for sloth and wastefulness which have made him poor. The supposition on this ground is that the man is poor by his own fault." +9. Rejoiceth,+ "burns brightly." The words _light_ and _lamp_ are regarded by most modern commentators as synonymous. +10.+ This may read "Only by pride cometh contention," or "by pride cometh only (nothing but) contention." +11. Vanity,+ rather "fraud." +By labour,+ literally, "by the hand," or "handful after handful." +12.+ Latter clause, "a desire accomplished is a tree of life." +13. Shall be destroyed,+ rather "is bound," or "is in bonds to it." +Rewarded,+ "be at peace." +14. Law,+ rather "doctrine," "instruction." +15. Good understanding,+ rather "discretion." +Hard,+ "stony," "uncultivated." This is the generally received rendering, but the word often signifies "perpetual." Miller says "We find it in thirteen places, and in every one of them it means perpetual." "_Strong_ or _perpetual_ is thy dwelling-place" (Num. xxiv. 21). "Mighty rivers" are _perpetual,_ or perennial rivers (Psa. lxxiv. 17). "Mighty nation" (Jer. v. 15) corresponds with the next expression, "ancient nation," and is to be rendered "perpetual" (or permanent). Umbreit translates it "a standing bog" or "marsh." +16. Dealing with knowledge,+ _i.e.,_ acteth with foresight. +Layeth open,+ rather "spreadeth abroad." Delitzsch says, "There lies in the word something derisive; as the merchant unrolls and spreads out his wares in order to commend them, so the fool deals with his folly." +19.+ Literally "quickened desire," "a desire that has come to be." Zöckler and Miller say this cannot be designed to express "appeased desire," but Delitzsch renders it "satisfied desire," and Stuart agrees with him. The latter connects the second clause of the verse with the former, thus, "Yet it is an abomination for fools to depart from evil, therefore, they cannot be satisfied"; while Delitzsch understands it to mean, "Because satisfied desire is sweet to the fool and his desires are evil, therefore he will not depart from evil." +23.+ "Tillage," rather "fallow ground" or "a new field," land which requires hard labour.

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 1.

THE WISE SON AND THE SCORNER.

+I. A condition implied.+ That the father who gives the instruction, or administers correction, is a _wise father._ There are many fathers who are incapable of instructing their children in the right way, because they do not walk in it themselves. The "father" of these proverbs is always pre-supposed to be one who is himself morally wise--one whose life is a practical exposition of the good instruction which he gives. The father who can only instruct with his _lip,_ but not with his _life,_ cannot expect to command respect and obedience. He is like a man who tries to save a vessel from sinking by bailing out the water in bucketfuls, while he leaves the great leak-hole unplugged. All that which is _done_ is more than neutralised by what is left _undone._ If a physician prescribes a certain medicine for a disease from which he is suffering himself, but for which he refuses to take the remedy, he will find that his patients will think, if they do not say, "Physician, heal thyself." And children will not be slow to see if a father's practice fails to endorse a father's precept.

+II. He who takes the advice of a morally wise father shows himself to be wise also.+ The greatest proof of wisdom is a willingness to learn from those who know more than we do. Other things being equal, a father must know more than a son, and the son who hears his instruction, and submits to his discipline, not only uses the means by which to become wise, but shows that he is already wise enough to use the right means to attain a desirable end. Christians are the sons of God, if they are wise sons they will hear the instructions of their Father. They show their wisdom in proportion as they submit cheerfully to His discipline as to that of the "Only wise God" (1 Tim. i. 17).

+III. He who will not listen to parental rebuke is in the last degree a sinner.+ We understand the last clause of this verse to refer likewise to a father and son. Parental instruction and correction are God's ordained and special methods of training a human soul. There are many reasons why a parent's rebuke should be regarded, if that of strangers is not listened to (see Homiletics on chap. iv. 1-4, p. 53). He who disregards _that_ must be considered in as hopeless a case as he who scuttles the lifeboat sent to save him. When the word of a good father or mother is not obeyed it is practically _scorned,_ and a scorner is the most hopeless of sinners.

_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._

The language of this verse is capable of two meanings: either that hearing instruction and not hearing reproof are the effect and the manifestation, respectively, of a wise or a scornful mind; this wise son showing himself to be so by "hearing his father's instructions," and the scorner showing himself to be so by "not hearing rebuke," or (reversing cause and effect), that wisdom and scorning are the results, respectively, of hearing or not hearing instruction and rebuke. In other words--_"The son that is instructed by his father turns out to be wise; he who receives no correction turns out a fool."_ In the first of the two senses the abomination is chiefly to _children_--in the second, to _parents._--_Wardlaw._

Piety is the fruit of training. If a man is a believer, it is a sign that he has had believing nurture; and if a scorner, it is a sign he has had _"no rebuke."_ This text reiterates the promise made to the training of a child. To treat it as in our English version is simply to evoke a truism, and might do very well, grammatically, if the verb were future, and not perfect. The idea embraces the solemn lesson, that Christians are not to be made without training.--_Miller._

Or heareth and jeereth; as Lot's sons-in-law, so Eli's sons, and afterwards Samuel's. Samuel succeeds Eli in his cross, as well as in his place, though not in his sin of indulgence. God will show that grace is by gift, and not by inheritance or education.--_Trapp._

There is in the conscience of the scorner a hidden discouragement, and privy despair, both of pardon of his sinfulness, and possibility to leave it: and that doth exasperate him against such as shall be dealing with it. Who is willing to have his wound laid open to his disgrace and torment, when he taketh it to be altogether incurable?--_Dod._

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSES_ 2 _and_ 3.

KEEPING THE MOUTH.

+The human tongue needs keeping, or guarding.+ 1. _Because there is a tendency in men to speak as soon as they think._ First thoughts are not always the fittest thoughts to be made public. It is always advisable to view them and review them in the light of our judgment before we give them utterance. Hence our tongue ought to be always "well in hand." 2. _Because when loosed it is a great power for evil as well as for good._ It may bring much good to a man's life. "A man shall eat good by the fruit of his mouth," when his mouth brings forth good fruit--when "out of the good treasure of his heart he bringeth forth that which is good." A tongue wisely used gives a man the respect and confidence of his fellow-men, yields him the satisfaction of having been a blessing to them (See Comments on chap. xii. 6 and 14). But a tongue which is uncontrolled is mischievous to others and to the man himself. "He that openeth wide his lips shall have destruction." As we saw in chapter x. 19, there is often a sin in _much speaking._ Such a tongue as that described in chapter ii. 12, or that in chapter xii. 18 (see Homiletics and Comments on those verses), destroy not only their victims but those to whom they belong. Such a tongue, the Apostle tells us, is "a fire, a world of iniquity: and is set on fire of hell" (Jas. iii. 6). 3. _Because it is the last stronghold which is brought under complete control to spiritual rule--the weak point in the spiritual man's armour where the adversary's arrow may enter._ This we know from inspired authority. _"If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body"_ (Jas. iii. 2). We have an example of its truth in the case of Moses. That man who was "meek above all men which were upon the face of the earth" (Num. xii. 3), forfeited his right of entrance into the earthly Canaan by an unguarded use of the tongue. The prayers of the Psalmist show us the importance which he attached to the keeping of this stronghold and the difficulty attending it, as well as that only sure means of safety, that of calling in Divine help. _"Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips"_ (Psalm cxli. 3). Every morally wise man will make the resolve of David, "I will keep my mouth with a bridle," not only "while the wicked is before me," but at all times and in all places. Life is lost and won both in its higher and lower senses by not keeping the mouth.

_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._

Verse 2. The "mouth of a man" in that _viva voce_ country, as formerly in our southern states, was the great instrument of a business man. He lived by giving orders. The mail conducts our business in our days. A _false lip_ stood for all sorts of bad activity (Eccles. x. 12). A good man will be satisfied to earn his living. The bad man, in some way or other, wants to steal it. But apace with this secular meaning is one that concerns the saints. The good man expects to fight for heaven; the lost man to get heaven by deceit (see rendering in Critical Notes). It is true the tendencies might seem reversed. The good man hails a work done for him, and expects a ransom without money and without price. The bad man would intersperse some struggles of his own. But, in fact, the Christian, though saved by grace, works the more for it; and, in fact, the sinner, rejecting grace and interposing his own works, is just the man expecting blessings without costs, and without any earnest toil. Not _"eat good"_ (English version) but "a good man will eat" (get his food). "The earnings of the mouth." No one can go into a great city now without noticing how much of men's money they make by their mouth. The gainful merchants are talking all day long. No man can buy salvation; but he reaches it by hard labour, and partly by earnest speech.--_Miller._

Although the spirit and practice of _retaliation_ are nowhere vindicated in Scripture, but everywhere explicitly and strongly condemned: yet a treatment corresponding to their own treatment towards others is what everyone may expect, even independently of what deserves the name of _retaliation._ In the nature of things it cannot be otherwise. It is not in _human_ nature, nor in _any_ nature, not even in the Divine itself, to love (with the love of complacence) that which is _unamiable._ An amiable disposition alone can secure _love;_ and it is greatly indicated by the _tongue._ The man who is charitable in his judgments, and disposed to speak well of others, will be himself the subject of charitable judgment, and of cordial commendation. Thus "he shall eat good by the fruit of his mouth."--_Wardlaw._

The mouth of a man doth _blossom_ when he speaketh fairly and promiseth well, but then it _beareth fruit_ when that is performed which is promised. And by this fruit it is, which though others eat, yet a man himself eateth good, as having his soul cheered and nourished by the comfort of it. But as for the soul of the perfidious and false dealers, who make a show to do a thing, and do quite the contrary, although they carry it slightly and without violence, yet violence shall seize upon them, either to compel them to a performance, or else to a just suffering for not performing, which will be bitter food.--_Jermin._

Verse 3. Speech, though our great activity, gives us more toil in holding it back than in actually employing it. So activity, which it typically represents, is harder to hold than to promote. Religion is an every-day battle. He that is not conscious of it, has no true religion.--_Miller._

"Keep thine heart" (chap. iv. 23). This guards the citadel. _Keep thy mouth._ This sets a watch at the gates. If they be well guarded the city is safe. Leave them unprotected--thus was Babylon taken.--_Bridges._

No wonder that the Holy Ghost here labours so much for the reformation of the tongue; for the Apostle also (Rom. iii. 13, etc.), when giving an anatomy of human depravity in the embers of the body, dwells more on the tongue than all the rest.--_Cartwright_, from _Fausset._

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 4.

THE DISAPPOINTMENT OF THE SLUGGARD'S DESIRES.

+I. The desires of the sluggard cannot be satisfied--+1. _Because they are contrary to the ordination of God._ The Divine ordination is, "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread" (Gen. iii. 19), in other words, that reward shall be the result of labour. If a man is to have that which he desires, he must frame his desire in harmony with the law of the universe, or he must be disappointed. If men desire to bring about any material result they take care to work in harmony with physical law. He would be looked upon as a madman who expected to achieve anything by setting at nought the law of _gravitation,_ for instance. It is quite as useless for men to desire to set aside God's moral laws. 2. _Because they are contrary to the practice of God._ God, as we saw in homiletics on chap. xii. 24, 27, is a great worker. He desired to save man, but He used means to accomplish His desires, even means which involved the highest self-sacrifice. Shall men expect to realise his wishes without effort, when God "spared not His own Son" (Rom. viii. 32) to bring about the salvation of the world, when Christ "endured the cross" to attain "the joy set before Him?" (Heb. xii. 2). 3. _Because they are unfair to his fellow-creatures._ He desires to consume, but not to contribute to the general good; he wants to have the reward of the diligent without his toil. It would be unjust to the industrious to give to him for _desiring_ what others gain by _working._ Therefore,

+II. He wearies himself far more by his laziness than he would do by honest labour.+ If a man is constantly desiring and never having his desires fulfilled, his life must become a weariness to him. Fulfilled desires become an incentive to renewed activity--he who has reaped one harvest as a result of his labour is quickened to new energy to sow for another crop. The sluggard knows not the enjoyment which comes to the man who has worked hard for the reward which he now enjoys; he knows not what it is to enjoy rest and recreation, because true diligence only can give them any true relish. (See also Homiletics on chap. vi. 6-11 and xii. 24.)

_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._

The sluggard in religion _desires_ to overcome his bad habits, to enjoy the happiness of God's people. So far, well. _Desires_ are a part of religion. There can be no attainment without them. Many have not even the desire, yet the sluggard hath nothing, because it is _desire_ without effort. "Hell," says an old writer, "is paved with such desires."--_Bridges._

Wishes and woulders are never good householders.--_Muffet._

Doddridge says most people perish by laziness. Laziness is the attribute of a man who desires an object, but will not work for it. The impenitent desires heaven--nay longs for it--yea, confidently expects it (just as many a sluggard expects wealth), but religion never "turns up," it never comes like game taken in the chase (chap. xii. 27), it is a solid product; we must stir up ourselves to take hold on God (Isa. lxiv. 7). With no exceptions, such as are on "change," it is the _"diligent soul"_ that _"shall be made fat"_ and the _yearning sluggard,_ at the very last, _"has nothing."_--_Miller._

The slothful man has one mighty objection against heaven, that he cannot make sure of it in a morning dream.--_Lawson._

Labour is the original law of man's nature. The _fatigue_ and _distress_ of labour, are, no doubt, the result of sin. Even in the garden of primeval innocence, it was by his "dressing" and "keeping" that everything was to thrive.--_Wardlaw._

The sluggard would and he would not, he would have the end, but would not use the means; he would "sit at Christ's right hand," but he would not "drink of His cup," or "be baptized with His baptism." Affection without endeavour is like Rachel, beautiful, but barren. . . . David, ravished with the meditation of the good man's blessedness, presently conceives this desire and pursues it; not "Oh that I had this happiness," but "Oh that I could use the means!" "Oh that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes" (Psa. cxix. 4, 5).--_Trapp._

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 5.

A LAWFUL HATRED.

+I. A righteous man hates lying.+ 1. _Because it is contrary to his ruling disposition._ His own righteous character has been created by believing the truth. His spiritual life is constantly renewed and sustained by believing the truth, and reducing his belief to practice. He is a child of the truth, and, therefore, apart from all the consequences of lying he instinctively abhors it. 2. _He hates it also because of its evil influence upon men._ Confidence in a lie ruined our first parents, and confidence in a law has ruined whole nations and mighty empires in the past. In proportion as men "believe a lie" (2 Thess. ii. 11) in the same proportion will be their ruin. The righteous man knows that the kingdom of God is a kingdom of truth (John xviii. 37), and as his great desire is to see that kingdom spread he must hate all that opposes it, and thus mars the happiness of the human race.

+II. Wicked men are untruthful men.+ As the righteous man's character is built by truth and upon truth, so that of an ungodly man is built upon falsehood. All such men are the children of him who was a liar from the beginning, and although they may not be _liars_ in the common acceptation of the word, there is a lack of truthfulness in the character of the most outwardly moral. In some shape or other he is a liar--he is a subject of him whose kingdom is built upon lying, and who could not retain under his influence a man who "hated lying" in every form and under every disguise. Such a man must come to shame. What would be the fate of a cripple if he were to challenge a man with sound limbs to run a race? Must he not be worsted in the end? Not more surely than will every subject of the kingdom whose foundation was laid in a lie. There is an Italian proverb which says, "A liar is sooner caught than a cripple." If "lying lips are an abomination to the Lord," he who owns the lips must be an abomination also (see Homiletics on chap. xii. 22).

_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._

Clear and round dealing is the honour of man's nature; and that mixture of falsehood is like alloy in coin of gold or silver, which may make the metal work the better but embaseth it. For these winding and crooked courses are the goings of the serpent, which goeth basely upon the belly, and not upon the feet. There is no vice that doth so cover a man with shame as to be found false and perfidious; and, therefore, Montaigne sayeth prettily, when he inquired the reason why the word of the lie should be such a disgrace and such an odious charge, "If it be well weighed, to say that a man lieth, is as much as to say that he is brave towards God, and a coward towards men. For a lie faces God and shrinks from man."--_Lord Bacon._

The natural man shuns lying and deceit on account of the outward shame and reproach; the pious abhors them with all his heart for God's sake.--_Starke, in Lange's Commentary._

The allegiance of the soul to truth is tested by small things, rather than by those which are more important. There is many a man who would lose his life rather than perjure himself in a court of justice, whose life is yet a tissue of small insincerities. We think that we are hating falsehood when we are only hating the consequences of falsehood. We resent hypocrisy and treachery, and calumny, not because they are untrue, but because they harm us. We hate the false calumny, but are half-pleased by the false praise. It is evidently not the element of untruth here that is displeasing, but the element of harmfulness. Now he is a man of integrity who hates untruth _as_ untruth; who resents the smooth and polished falsehood of society, which does no harm; who turns in indignation from the glittering whitened lie of sepulchral Pharisaism which injures no one. Integrity recoils from deception, which men would almost smile to hear called deception. To a moral pure mind the artifices in every department of life are painful. The stained wood which passes for a more firm and costly material in a building, and deceives the eye by passing for what it is not--marble. The painting which is intended to be taken for reality; the gilding which is meant to pass for gold; and the glass which is worn to look like jewels; for there is a moral feeling and a truthfulness in architecture, in painting, and in dress, as well as in the market-place and in the senate, and in the judgment hall. "These are trifles." Yes, these are trifles; but it is just these trifles which go to the formation of character. He that is habituated to deceptions and artificialities in trifles will try in vain to be true in matters of importance; for truth is a thing of habit rather than of will. . . . And it is a fearful question, and a difficult one, how all these things, the atmosphere of which we breathe in our daily life, may sap the very foundation of the power of becoming a servant of the truth.--_F. W. Robertson._

It is not said that a righteous man never lies. David lied more than once, and yet he could say with truth that he abhorred lying. Though he lied to Abimelech the priest, and to the king of the Philistines, yet his fixed hatred of sin was an evidence of piety, to which those can lay no claim who never spoke a lie in their lives, if their abstinence from this sin was caused by some other motive than hatred. . . . God and man agree in almost nothing but this, that a liar is detestable to both, and therefore he must, sooner or later, come to disgrace.--_Lawson._

The affections are of as great force in the service of God as the words and actions, and the heart hath no less place than the members of the body. It must be one and the principal agent in love, where they have calling; and it must deal alone with detestation of those abominations which they are discharged to intermeddle with. . . . Here we have instruction to inform our hearts against all manner of wickedness, that they may be the more incensed against it. The less we like sin the more righteous we are, and the better the Lord will love us. And the more agreement there is between sin and our souls, the less peace there is between our souls and God. All the hurts and miseries that have ever come upon us, or on Christ for our sakes, do give just occasion to fall out with sinfulness, that hath been the cause thereof.--_Dod._

Where grace reigns, sin is loathsome, where sin reigns the man is loathsome.--_Henry._

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 6.

OVERTHROW BY SIN.

For Homiletics on the first clause of this verse see on chap. xi. 3, 5, 6.

+I. The person overthrown--the sinner.+ 1. _To be a sinner implies the existence of a law._ Where there is no law there is no transgression. The sinner here spoken of is a transgressor against moral, Divine law. 2. _There may be sin against a law which is in existence but which is not known._ A man may not know of the existence of a law, and thus may sin ignorantly. 3. _But the sinner of the Bible is one who, if he does not possess a written revelation, does possess a "law written in his heart"--his conscience._ (See Rom. ii. 14, 15.) Though the guilt is incomparably greater when a man sins against both conscience and revelation, yet he who transgresses the law of the _first only_ is a sinner, and there must be overthrow in both cases, because moral transgression contains within itself the elements of destruction.

+II. His overthrow.+ 1. _For a man to be overthrown by breaking a law, that law must be good._ There have been laws that common integrity has compelled men to transgress, and men have been rewarded by the Great Lawgiver for the transgression. There are still laws in force in the world, the violation of which is a proof of moral courage. But the sinner here doomed to overthrow is a sinner against a law to which his own conscience bears witness that it is holy and just, and good (Rom. vii. 12). 2. _The breaking of this law must overthrow a man, even if no power were ever put forth against him._ Sin debases a man by the law of cause and effect. Nothing can prevent a man who throws himself over a precipice from finding the bottom of the chasm--nothing can keep a sinner from sinking lower and lower in the moral scale. The first man finds a bottom--comes to the end of his fall--he who sins keeps sinking lower and lower while he continues in sin. 3. _The law against which the sinner transgresses is backed by the highest authority, and by the greatest power of the universe._ It represents the greatest Being. Sin is not directed against an _abstraction,_ but against a _person._ He who has promulgated it is a living personality, and has all power to enforce its penalties. The Almighty God is against the sinner. Must he not then be overthrown? 4. _The sinner can be placed in such a position as will justify him from the guilt of his past transgressions, and will enable him to keep the law in the future._ The Lawgiver has Himself provided the way of escape. He Himself gives the power to obey. Hence he who sins against this law sins against mercy too, and doubles his condemnation, "is overthrown," not by God's law, but by his rejection of God's method of deliverance from the guilt and power of sin.

_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._

_Wickedness is ruin._ 1. It exhausts a man's _property,_ whether much or little. Sin is a very expensive thing; a person cannot commit it to any extent, but at a considerable loss, not of time only, but of substance. The passions are clamorous, exorbitant, and restless, till gratified, and this must be repeated. The case of the prodigal is in point, he wasted all his patrimony in riotous living. 2. It blasts his _reputation._ Sin can never be deemed honourable on correct principles; yet while sinners possess means of supporting themselves in their vices, they still keep up their name and rank in the world; not in the Church of God, or in the estimation of heaven. But when the means of supplying fuel to feed the fires of foul desire and towering ambition fail, then their outward splendours go out into darkness. (See Prov. x. 7; xxiv. 30.) 3. It destroys _health._ Intemperance undermines the best constitution; it is a violence done to the physical order of things; it renders a man old in constitution, while he is young in years. 4. It hastens the approach of _death._ Wicked men frequently do "not live out half their days" (Psa. lv. 23), "for when they shall say, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh as a thief in the night" (1 Thess. v. 3). Sometimes their passions hurry them forward to the commission of crimes which terminate in the most disgraceful exit. 5. It effects the damnation of the _soul._ A sinner "wrongeth his own soul" (Prov. viii. 36). He quenches the Spirit of grace, neglects the salvation of the gospel, till he goes to his own place. "The wicked shall be turned into hell" (Psa. ix. 17).--_Theta,_ from _Sketches of Sermons._

Righteousness keepeth the upright, so that, though belied or abused, he will not let go his integrity (Job xxvii. 5). David's "feet stood in an even place" (Psa. xxvi. 12). The spouse, though despoiled of her veil and wounded by the watch, yet keeps close to Christ (Cant. v). Not but that the best are sometimes disquieted in such cases; for not the evenest weights, but at their first putting into the balance, somewhat swap both parts thereof, not without some show of inequality, which yet, after some little motion, settle themselves in a meet poise and posture.--_Trapp._

As he walketh safely in the way who hath a faithful convoy with him, so he is most sure of a faithful convoy who is a strong convoy unto himself. Righteousness alone is a puissant army, and he cannot perish whom righteousness preserveth. But how can he escape who is beset in the way by his own villainy. The Hebrew is, that wickedness overthroweth _sin._ When a sinner is grown settled in sinning, he justly getteth the name of sin, and such an one it is that is here spoken of.--_Jermin._

_"Righteousness,"_ that good claim in law which merit gives some of the creatures. Our _righteousness_ comes to us as the merit of Christ. The condition of our being held righteous is faith and new obedience. Therefore, if one is obedient, or, as this verse expresses it, _"is upright"_ or "of integrity _in the way,"_ _"righteousness keeps guard over him."_ Once righteous, always righteous. Having the proof of our righteousness now, that righteousness, or good standing in the law, shall guard us for ever; while sin, becoming equally perpetual, does not only not guard us, but (another intensive second clause) rejects what guard we have; that is, as it is most evangelically expressed, _"subverts"_ or _"overturns"_ the sin-offering. This word, _sin-offering,_ instead of _allowing_ such an interpretation (see Critical Notes) _has_ it in all preceding books. _"Sin"_ is the rare rendering. Some of the most beautiful Scriptures, that are Messianic in their cast (Gen. iv. 7), are ruined by the translation _"sin."_ Leviticus never has the translation _"sin"_ even in the English version.--_Miller._

There is more bitterness following upon sin's ending than ever there was sweetness flowing from sin's acting. You that see nothing but well in its commission will suffer nothing but woe in its conclusion. You that sin for your profits will never profit by your sins.--_Dyer._

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSES_ 7 _and_ 8.

THE LAW OF COMPENSATION.

TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE: Be very careful with the word
"niggardly" because it can sound like a racial slur,
especially to those who do not know the word or who are not
paying attention. Consider substituting "miserly,"
"sparing," or "parsimonious."

+I. There may be pretensions to wealth where there is comparative poverty.+ Many men endeavour to make other people believe that they are richer than they are--indeed, it seems to be the common vice of modern society. It is to be deprecated for several reasons. 1. _It is an injury to the man himself._ It very often happens that his foolish artifices fail to blind others; he is like the ostrich who, when he places his head into the sand, thinks he has hidden himself entirely from observation; he only makes himself an object of ridicule to those who he thinks he has deceived. If, for a time, he that "hath nothing" succeeds in making people believe he is rich, the truth comes out in time, the bubble bursts, and the pretender comes to such shame as would never have been his portion if he had been content to pass for what he really was--a poor man. 2. _Such pretenders are a curse to others._ One such man makes many others. His costly furniture and brilliant entertainments, and all the adjuncts which are necessary to keep up the reputation of being a millionaire, lead his neighbours and associates to keep up appearances of the same kind, and so the mischief grows. Then such men rob honest men by leading them to trust them with their goods or money, and when the end comes many are brought to ruin. Examples of this truth are not far to seek, they are, alas, far too common in the present day. 3. _Such pretension is base hypocrisy._ A sin against which a righteous God levels His sternest threatenings (see on chap. xi. 9).

+II. He who is really wealthy and yet does not use his wealth to the glory of God "hath nothing."+ 1. _He is poor in relation to his fellow-creatures._ The greatest beggar cannot do less for the world than he does, and he is poor in the love and gratitude of those from whom he might win a rich reward by the exercise of benevolence. 2. _He is poor in spiritual riches._ A miserly, niggardly man must be poor "towards God" (Luke xii. 21)--must be destitute of all that God counts worth possessing. The rich Church of Laodicea was so "increased with goods" that she said, "I have need of nothing," but in the sight of the Son of God she was "poor" (Rev. iii. 17).

+III. In a spiritual sense this text is true.+ Possibly the rebuke to the Laodicean Church may refer to that satisfaction in spiritual things "which maketh itself rich yet hath nothing," because its possessor is destitute of any real knowledge of his own spiritual needs and, consequently, of his spiritual poverty.

+IV. There are men who are in every respect the opposite of those with whom we have been dealing.+ 1. _There is the miser who "maketh himself poor, yet hath great riches."_ It is difficult to know what motive can prompt a man to do this except covetousness--a fear that he will be expected to part with some of his wealth for the good of others. What, therefore, was said under the second head will apply to him. 2. _There are those who make no show of wealth, yet having enough to sustain their position in life are really rich._ The man who is content to be known for what he really is, and has enough to live honestly, is _rich,_ for riches and poverty are merely comparative terms, and the riches of one man would be poverty to another.

"For he that needs five thousand pounds to live,
Is full as poor as he that needs but five."

Therefore, "a man that maketh (or sheweth) himself poor" in this sense, has great riches. He has a sufficiency for all his wants, he retains his self-respect and the respect of his fellow-men. 3. _The really poor man is rich when he spends his little with regard to the glory of God._ Who of all those who cast their gifts into the treasury was so rich as the poor widow who cast in "all her living?" She was rich in the commendation of her Lord (Mark xii. 43), and all such as she will have the same recognition and will be rich in the gratitude and love of their fellow-creatures. Such an one shows that he is in possession of the "true riches" (Luke xvi. 11) which alone can preserve from moral bankruptcy. To them belongs the commendation "I know thy poverty, but thou art rich" (Rev. ii. 9). Such "poor of this world" are "rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom" (Jas. ii. 5). 4. _Those who are thus really, because spiritually, rich have always a sense of spiritual poverty._ They esteem themselves "less than the least of all saints" (Ephes. iii. 8), their watchword is "not as though I had already attained" (Phil. iii. 12), therefore, to them belongs the rich possession of the friendship of "the High and Lofty One, that inhabiteth eternity" (Isa. lvii. 15). Thus "making themselves poor," they "yet have great riches."

+V. There are advantages and disadvantages connected both with material wealth and with poverty.+ "The ransom of a man's life are his riches." This was more literally true in Solomon's days than in ours, and is more so now in Oriental countries than among the western nations. There, even now, a man's riches often excite the greed of some despotic ruler, or one of his irresponsible officials, and he is accused of some crime in order that his accuser may pocket a large ransom. In times of war, too, the rich are exposed to losses and vexations from their conquerors, which the poor escape. Wealth is the magnet which draws the plunderers upon them; although, at the same time, it enables them to ransom their lives. This is one of the penalties of riches. The spirit, although not the letter of the proverb, may be applied to modern European life. It is the hall of the nobleman what is exposed to the visits of the burglar. It is the great capitalist that loses when banks fail, and when there is a commercial panic. But none of these things touch a poor man. The despots pass him over, because he has no riches wherewith to ransom his life; in the time of war he is unmolested, as when Judea was invaded, "the captain of the guard left of the poor of the land to be vine-dressers and husbandmen" (2 Kings xxv. 12). No thief plans a midnight surprise upon his humble abode; he cannot lose his money, he has none to lose. Vultures are not attracted to a skeleton, they gather round a carcase covered with flesh. So it is with those who make it their business to live upon the wealth of others. They leave the poor man free. He hears not "rebuke" or "threatening," he is left undisturbed. "He that is down need fear no fall," says Bunyan. "He that hath empty pockets may whistle in the face of a highwayman," says Juvenal. Therefore it is man's wisdom, whether poor or rich, to be content with such things as he has (Heb. xiii. 5); to appear only what he really is, and to dedicate his earnings, or his savings, or his inheritance, to the glory of God; to follow George Herbert's advice--

"Be thrifty; but not covetous: therefore give
Thy need, thine honour, and thy friend his due.
Never was scraper brave man. Get to live;
Then live, and use it; else, it is not true
That thou hast gotten. Surely use alone
Makes money not a contemptible stone."

_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._

The teaching of chap. xi. 24 finds its echo here. There is a seeming wealth behind which there lies a deep spiritual poverty and wretchedness. There is a poverty which makes a man rich for the kingdom of God.--_Plumptre._

This is a world of making show, the substance of truth is gone out of it, and ever since man ceaseth to be what he should be, he striveth to seem to be what he is not. Every sin masking in its own vizard; the vainglorious and the covetous both seeking by their seeming to gain some real advantage to themselves.--_Jermin._

These opposite faults originate in the same cause, an excessive esteem of worldly riches. It is this that makes poor men pretend to have them, and rich men conceal them for the purpose of preserving them more safely. But although money is sometimes a defence, the want of it is sometimes a shadow under which poor men live unmolested by the plunderers.--_Lawson._

Surely it is just that riches should be the ransom of a man's life, for it is by them that a man's life is brought into danger.--_Jermin._

The seventh verse is terse beyond all expression. Such are all these proverbs. Making oneself rich may be itself the poverty, and making oneself poor may be itself the wealth; inasmuch as these acts may have been sins or graces of the soul, which enter by the providence of Heaven into the very condition of the spirit. The meaning is that outward circumstances are nothing in the question. A saint is poor or rich as is most useful for him. The treasure is himself. _"There is that maketh himself rich and is all nothing;"_ because himself, not the wealth, is the important matter. On the other hand, _"There is that maketh himself poor,"_ and not only "hath great riches," which is the imperfect translation of our Bibles, but "is a great treasure." He himself bereft of wealth, is all the greater for what God may have assigned. Solomon expounds more specially in the eighth verse: _Ransom,_ covering--_i.e.,_ the covering of his guilt. Poverty is a mere incident. A man's true opulence is his eternal redemption. He is not poor who is pinched by want; but he who has not listened to rebuke.--_Miller._

It is not poverty so much as pretence that harasses a ruined man--the struggle between a proud mind and an empty purse--the keeping up a hollow show, that must soon come to an end. Have the courage to appear poor, and you disarm poverty of its sharpest sting.

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 9.

THE ABIDING LIGHT.

+I. The analogy between the righteous and the wicked.+ Both have a light or lamp. The words here translated lamp and light are elsewhere used interchangeably, and are often used to signify _prosperity_ (1 Kings xv. 4; 2 Kings viii. 19) _of any and every kind._ Prosperity resembles a lamp in that _it is an attractive force._ A benighted traveller in the darkness is drawn towards a light wherever he sees it, although he does not know whether it is the light of a thief or of an honest man. Tempest-tossed mariners look anxiously for a light in their extremity, and hope for help from it whether it swings from the masthead of a pirate or from a vessel which carries the police of the seas. So prosperity in any man is an attractive force. A prosperous wicked man attracts to himself the needy and unfortunate. The unprincipled gather round him, hoping to share in some degree in the light and heat of his worldly success, and the good man who is poor is often compelled by need to do the same. The lamp of prosperity, like the net of the kingdom, "gathers of every kind" (Matt. xiii. 47), not because of what the prosperous man _is,_ but because of what he _has._ Many saints are dependent on sinners for their daily bread. Lazarus lay at the rich man's gate hoping to be fed with the crumbs which fell from his table. The prosperity of the righteous is equally attractive both to good men and bad for the same reason. The great mass of men in the world are toiling upon the sea of life for daily bread like tempest-tossed mariners, and wherever they see the light of prosperity they make for it, hoping for help in their need. And prosperity in the general acceptance of the world is as often given to the good as to the bad--to the wicked as to the righteous. Some commentators regard the _light_ or the _lamp_ as emblematic also of _posterity._ The words in 2 Kings viii. 19 may be translated "to give him always a light _in_ his children" (see Lange on 2 Chron. xxi. 7), and in this sense also the analogy holds good, seeing that both good and bad men become the heads of households, and have joy and honour in their children.

+II. The contrast between the righteous and the wicked.+ 1. _The righteous man will grow more and more prosperous._ Present and material prosperity is but an earnest and a shadow of that higher _light_ which shall _"rejoice"_ throughout eternity. For the contrast implies that his light shall _not_ "be put out." And this continuance has its root in his character. Although in this world character does not govern circumstances, there is a world in which it does. And, after all, a good man's light--or occasion of satisfaction--consists more in what he _is_ than in what he _has,_ and this shines "more and more unto the perfect day" (chap. iv. 18)--See Homiletics, page 58. 2. _The wicked man's prosperity will come to an end._ His candle _will_ be put out by the hand of death. It may burn well for a time and he may rejoice in its light, but even if it continue to shed its rays around him till the last hour of earthly life, death will put it out. All that has made him a prosperous man has belonged to the earth, and this can shed no light beyond the grave. It _may_ be put out by the hand of _retribution_ before death. Lamps kindled by unjust means may burn well for a time, and human retribution may never put out their light, because men may not know how they were lighted; but God's providence may put them out. (On this subject see next verse.) Or if Divine retribution reserves its extinguisher for another world, another avenger may "put out" the light. _Conscience_ may assert its right, and without actually taking from a man that in which he has promised himself satisfaction, may take the satisfaction from it, and thus as surely "put out" his "lamp."

_outlines and suggestive comments._

How glowing, then, is the light of the Church in the combined shining of all her members! Many of them have no remarkable individual splendour; yet, like the lesser stars forming the Milky Way, they present a bright path of holiness in the spiritual firmament. . . . But it is the _light_ of the righteous that rejoiceth. Sin, therefore, will bring the cloud. Do we hope to shine in the heavenly firmament? Then we must shine with present glory in the firmament of the Church. So delicate is the Divine principle, that every breath of this world dims its lustre.--_Bridges._

The comfort of the righteous is a heavenly _light,_ whose shining is _rejoicing,_ and which even in this life maketh the darkness of Egypt to be light in Goshen, maketh the night of troubles to be day; but at length it shall be such a sunshine of glory, as that it dazzleth the human understanding to conceive it now. On the other side, the best comfort which the wicked have is but a lamp or a candle which shineth in the night; for as the light of a candle is shut up within a narrow circle of space, so their comfort is shut up within a narrow compass of time, until at length the candle be put out, never again to be lighted. But what I say _at length,_ when Job saith the candle of the wicked is often put out. Upon which words St. Gregory saith, "Ofttimes the wicked thinks his child to be his candle, but when his child, too much beloved, is taken away, _'his candle is put out,'_ and so with present honour or wealth." He, therefore, that desireth not to rejoice in eternal things, cannot here always rejoice where he would be eternal.--_Jermin._

They may not always rejoice, but their light will. _"The lamp of the wicked"_ shines upon their own transitoriness. They never say that it will last. They know _"that it shall be put out."_ This is rather a dismal provision for being very cheerful. But _"the light of the righteous,"_ however much they look at it, _"rejoices."_ The more they try it, the more it burns. It does not shine upon its own lack of oil. And, though they are not self-luminous, yet their _"light"_ is, for it is the light of the Spirit, and it shines more and more through eternal ages.--_Miller._

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 10.

THE PARENT OF STRIFE.

+I. Unlawful contention is the offspring of pride.+ If she is not her _only_ child, she is her eldest-born. Scripture language more than hints that pride was the beginning of contention among the angels. Paul, speaking of the qualifications of a "bishop" or teacher, tells Timothy that such an one is in danger of "being lifted up with pride," and thus falling "into the condemnation of the devil" (1 Tim. iii. 6), thus seeming to indicate that pride was at the bottom of all the contention that is at present going on in the universe between light and darkness, between good and evil. From the pride of this fallen star has come contention in heaven, and earth, and hell.

He it was whose guile,
Stirred up with envy and revenge, deceived
The mother of mankind; what time his _pride_
Had cast him out from heaven, with all his host
Of rebel angels, by whose aid aspiring
To set himself in glory 'bove his peers,
He trusted to have equalled the Most High,
If he opposed, and with ambitious aim,
Against the throne and monarchy of God,
Raised impious war in heaven, and battle proud,
With vain attempt.

And in the history of man's dealings with man pride is the root of contention. _"Whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?"_ (Jas. iv. 1). And is not the lust of pride, or envy, which is her foster-sister, the great cause of all domestic, and social, and national contentions? Has it not been the cause of every unrighteous war from the days of Chedorlaomer to the present century? And pride breeds contention on a narrower battle-ground still. It often creates war in the human spirit. Pride brings contention between duty and inclination, and, although there is no bloodshed, the contest is often very sharp and painful. The fact that "by pride cometh contention" is so plain that it may be said to be written upon the scroll of time, like Ezekiel's roll, within and without. It is impossible that it should be otherwise. Pride is a thinking more of ourselves than we are--an over-estimation of our own worth. This must lead us to strive for supremacy over others who are our equals, or even our superiors. This must bring contention, for they will not willingly accord to us that to which we have no lawful claim. Therefore, while there is pride in the universe contention will never end. The fountain must be dried up before the streams cease to flow. When a human soul is emptied of pride there will be peace within. In proportion as it ceases to be a ruling force in the world contention will cease. Pride keeps the fallen principalities in contention with heaven, keeps the sinner in contention with his Saviour, and keeps man in contention with man.