Chapter XIV (3)

+II. The marks of a wise man.+ 1. _He walks through life with caution._ To say that a man "looketh well to his going" is only saying that he acts like a rational and responsible creature. Even the animals, in obedience to the instinct of self-preservation, look to their goings, and avoid many dangers which beset them. The smaller birds, though apparently flying about without any care, have a quick eye for the hawk soaring above them, or for the cat crouching beneath. All creatures, whether brutes or men, instinctively look to their goings so far as regards their bodily life. The traveller on a dangerous road instinctively picks his way--does not set down his foot without looking to see where there is firm ground to tread upon. The man whose lot is cast in a city where a pestilence is raging naturally takes all possible precautions to avoid the infection. A mariner does his best to guide his vessel clear of rocks and quicksands. The prudent man extends this caution to every act of his life. As a merchant, he weighs probabilities before he embarks in any enterprise. He does not enter into speculations as men engage in a game of billiards. He considers the results of his actions in relation to others as well as to himself. Above all, he looks to his goings in relation to their morality; he frames his life, as we have before seen (chap. xiii. 14), according to the law of God within him in his conscience, and without him, in the revealed word. 2. _He walks thus cautiously because he recognises moral danger._ He _"fears."_ This makes all the difference in the lives of men. Some recognise the fact that they are in a world full of moral pit-falls and rocks which will be their ruin unless they take heed to their ways, and others do not. Some know the moral atmosphere is laden with moral pestilence, but others do not discern its impurity. The wise man "departs from evil" as he would involuntarily turn aside if he saw a deadly serpent lying in his path, or would parry a sword-thrust made at him by an adversary. His main business is, not to take care of his _life,_ but of his _character._

+III. The respective reward of the wise and foolish.+ The first are _crowned_ by an increase of knowledge, the second have an _inheritance;_ but it is only to be given over to their foolishness. The wise man's moral sense becomes more developed "by reason of use" it is more and more able "to discern good and evil" (Heb. v. 14). He is more and more removed from that simplicity which "believeth every word"--he can "try the spirits, whether they are of God" (1 John iv. 1), while the foolish man is more and more the dupe of his own credulity, or of his own self-conceit, and becomes more and more the slave of uncontrolled passion.

_ILLUSTRATION OF VERSE_ 17.

Socrates, meeting a gentleman of rank in the street, saluted him, but the gentleman took no notice of it. His friends, observing what passed, told the philosopher that they were so exasperated at the man's incivility that they had a good mind to resent it. But he calmly made answer, "If you meet any person in the road in a worse habit of body than yourself would you think you had reason to be enraged with him on that account. Pray, then, what greater reason can you have for being incensed at a man for a worse habit of mind than any of yourselves?"

_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._

Verse 15. He who applies himself to wisdom takes heed of his own ways, foreseeing dangers, preparing remedies, employing the assistance of the good, guarding himself against the wicked, cautious in entering on a work, not unprepared for a retreat, watchful to seize opportunities, strenuous to remove impediments, and attending to many other things which concern the government of his own actions and proceedings. But the other kind of wisdom is entirely made up of deceits and cunning tricks, laying up all its hope in the circumventing of others, and moulding them to its pleasure, which kind verse 8 denounces as being not only dishonest, but also foolish.--_Lord Bacon._

"The simple believeth every word," whether true or false, useful or injurious. Charity, indeed, "believeth all things" (1 Cor. xiii. 7), but not things that are palpably _untrue._ It is the _truth_ which it readily believes. It believes all that it can with a good conscience to the credit of another, but not anything more. Epicharmus says, "The sinews and limbs of faith are not rashly to believe" (Acts xvii. 11). "The prudent man looketh well to his going"--whether it tends to grace and salvation, or to sin and perdition; he "believeth not every word"--as, for instance, the flattering words of seducers, who commend to him false doctrine or licentious practice (Eph. v. 15).--_Fausset._

We may apply the verse in all its emphasis of meaning to _eternal concerns._ The simple hear different persons on the subject of religion, and take for granted that all they hear is right. They are easily bewildered by sophistical arguments; led away by appeals to feeling; swayed and mastered by false eloquence; seduced by flattery. They are the sport of all that is novel--"tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine." On the contrary, when interests so vast are at stake the prudent man will feel his way, taking nothing upon trust. He first bends his earnest thought to the question of the Divine authority of the Bible--a question next in importance to that of the being of God; and having ascertained its authority, to learn its lessons. Having the map he will examine for himself the way to heaven. Having a Divine directory, he will trust no human guide.--_Wardlaw._

History is full of examples of men who have lost their lives by means of their credulity, amongst whom were those great men, Abner and Amasa. . . . Some have been betrayed into the worst of sins, by believing groundless reports of others, as Saul in the case of David, and we might also add, David himself in the case of Mephibosheth. The nation of the Jews was threatened with desolation by the easy temper of Ahasuerus, who believed without examination the malicious suggestions of the wicked Haman. . . . The whole world was ruined by the simplicity of Eve, and the easy credit she gave the serpent.--_Lawson._

To _believe every word_ of God is _faith._ To _believe every word_ of man is _credulity._ Admit only the one standard; like the noble Bereans, who would not believe even an apostle's word, except it was confirmed by the written testimony (Acts xvii. 11).--_Bridges._

We are not willing to be blindfolded at our meat, nor to eat our supper without a light, especially in strange places, where we neither know well the fidelity of our host, nor what dishes are set before us, and shall we be more provident for the outward man, than for the inward? Shall we keep out of our bodies such food as is not wholesome and savoury, and receive into our souls such food as will poison us? . . . No wrong is thus done to any man. We used to tell silver and weigh gold, and yet we prejudge not them at whose hands we receive them.--_Dod._

Trust is a lovely thing, but it cannot stand unless it get truth to lean on. . . . It is a well-known characteristic of the little child to believe implicitly whatever you tell him. . . . It remains a feature of the child until it is worn off by hard experience of the world. . . . In this world a man is obliged to be suspicious. Man suffers more from man than from the elements of nature or the beasts of the field. A time is coming when this species of prudence will be no longer needed. When the people shall be all righteous, there will be no deception on one side, and no distrust on the other.--_Arnot._

A prudent man looks forward to the consequences of things, and particularly to the consequences of his own conduct. O, how much misery and mischief might be avoided or prevented by attending only to this single principle, for what are most of the calamities we see in the world owing to but this--that men will not look before them? To the want of this wise foresight Moses attributed all the rebellions and enormities of the Jewish people, and therefore breathed forth this ardent prayer on their behalf, "Oh, that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end" (Deut. xxxii. 29).--_Mason._

Verse 16. The "evil" from which the "wise man departeth" may mean either _suffering_ or _sin._ Both may with propriety be included, the one being the cause of the other.--_Wardlaw._

_Fear_ is sometimes thought to be an unmanly principle. But look at the terrible extent of _the evil_ dreaded. Without it is vanity and disappointment (Rom. vi. 21). Within it is the sting of guilt (1 Cor. xv. 56). Upward we see the frown of God (John iii. 36). Downward everlasting burnings (Mark ix. 44). . . . The _fool,_ however, never _fears_ till he falls. . . . Such a _fool_ was the _raging_ Assyrian, blindly _confident_ in his own might, till the God whom he despised turned him back to his destruction (2 Kings xix. 28-37).--_Bridges._

He (the good man) can never _trust in himself,_ though he is satisfied _from himself_ (verse 14). He knows that his sufficiency is of God; and the _fear_ that causes him to _depart from evil_ is a guardian to the _love_ he feels. Love renders him cautious; the other makes him feel confident. His _caution_ leads him _from sin,_ his _confidence_ leads him _to God._--_A. Clarke._

They which are in greatest safety are farthest from carnal security. The godly have not so many sins as the wicked, and yet they feel them more, and fear them more, and flee from them faster. And the wicked have not more valour than the godly nor so much freedom from punishment, and yet go beyond them in audacity and fleshly confidence. When David was dealt with by Nathan, he confessed his fault, he craved pardon, he set his heart to seek help from heaven against his sin; but when Ahab was spoken to by Macaiah, he persecuted the prophet, he proceeded in his purpose, he promised himself a safe return. Josiah, hearing the law of the Lord read by Shaphan, rent his clothes in grief and fear, but Jehoiakim hearing the words of God read by Baruch, in regard of the curses therein denounced, did tear the book and burn it in wrath and fury.--_Dod._

A wise man knows that the enemy is strong, and that his own defences are feeble. His policy therefore is, not to brave danger, but to keep out of harm's way. He seeks safety in flight. The fool's character is mainly made up of two features; he thinks little of danger and much of himself. He stumbles on both sides alike. That which is strong he despises, and that which is weak he trusts. The dangers that beset him are great, but he counts them as nothing; the strength that is in him is as nothing, but he counts it great. Thus he is on all hands out of his reckoning, and stumbles at every step.--_Arnot._

As a foolish fear is a betrayer of the strength of man, so a wise fear is the safety of him. Wherefore Cyprian saith, the Divine wisdom hath found out an excellent policy that by the help of fear we should be delivered. Great is the benefit of God's providence, that sometimes fear is made both a virtue and a victory. A wise man departeth from evil before he cometh to it, for then the parting, as most easily, so is most happily made.--_Jermin._

_Fear a religious principle._ The beginning of religion in the heart is a subject of curious inquiry and of great practical importance. There is no sufficient reason for supposing that it is in all men alike, we have no rule for saying that religion must either necessarily, or that it does usually proceed from the same cause. Different men are affected by different motives; and what sinks deep into the heart of one, makes little impression upon another. . . . Thus it is, that religion sometimes, not seldom indeed, has a _violent_ origin in the soul, and begins in terror: "A wise man _feareth_ and departeth from evil."--_Paley._

Verse 17. Some pettish spirits are like fine glasses, broken as soon as touched, and all on fire upon every slight and trifling occasion; when meek and grave spirits are like flints that do not send out a spark but after violent and great collision; _feeble_ minds have a _habit_ of wrath, and, like broken bones, are apt to roar with the least touch: it argues a very unsanctified spirit to be so soon moved. Let it be like the fire of thorns, quickly extinct.--_Salter._

As small letters hurt the sight, so do small matters him that is too much intent upon them; they vex and stir up anger, which begets an evil habit in him in reference to greater affairs.--_Plutarch._

A man who falls into a passion does indeed commit a folly, but yet is far preferable to the coldly and selfishly calculating villain.--_Von Gerlach._

"A man of wicked devices," one, who when offended, represses the indications of his anger, all the while meditating revenge, and waiting for the opportunity when he can wreak it. As "he that is soon angry dealeth foolishly" as regards himself, so he that wickedly deviseth revenge, while deferring the expression of his anger, bringeth on him the "hatred" of others. Thus there is danger on both sides, in hastiness, and in deferring anger through malice. The latter is the worst offence.--_Fausset._

The more hot-pulsed sinner may be lost; but the _deep-set_ fool excels him both in guilt and danger. Alas! for the well-complexioned, coolly-settled, morally-esteemed, and long-established hypocritical professor. It is not all thinking that this book applauds, but that which is discriminate, the watching of our feet.--_Miller._

Though religion alloweth to be angry, yet it forbiddeth to be _soon angry,_ because he that is soon angry is as soon dealing foolishly. The haste of his choler maketh him to outrun his understanding, and the smoke of his anger putteth out the light of his judgment.--_Jermin._

To be angry is to revenge the faults of others upon ourselves.--_Pope._

As fine gold doth suffer itself to be tried in the fire six or seven times, and yet the heat of the fire doth never change its nature or colour; or as good corn is first threshed with the flail, and then winnowed with the wind, and yet is neither broken with the one nor carried away with the other; even so we should suffer ourselves to be tried by injuries, and yet not by impatience, through anger, change our nature, nor yet our colour, nor be carried away with any inconvenience.--_Cawdray._

Verse 18. This proverb is especially instructive with respect to the deep inner connection that exists on the one hand between foolish notions, and a poor, unattractive, powerless earthly position, destitute of all influence,--and on the other hand between true wisdom and large ability in the department both of the material and the spiritual. Von Gerlach pointedly says, "There is a certain power of attraction, according as a man is wise or foolish; the possessions also which the one or the other attains are in accordance with his disposition."--_Lange's Commentary._

The child of Adam is born to folly (Job xi. 12). That is his _inheritance._ He received it from his first father (Gen. v. 3; Psa. li. 5). So long as he remains _simple,_ he confirms the title. Unlike an earthly _inheritance,_ he cannot relinquish it. He holds it in life, he still holds it firm in death, and reaps its bitter fruits throughout eternity.--_Bridges._

The prudent has not inherited much at this present date. He has not much of the world. He has not much of another. How shall we express his excellence? He has this poor thing that he calls piety. Where is its worth to him? Why, its worth to him is that it is a splendid _"crown." He makes a crown of knowledge._ That is, he takes his piety, which is a mean, weak beginning, and makes it the badge of a glorious sovereignty. The Christian is a king. And by this is meant, that, when he becomes pious, everything becomes subject to him (1 Cor. iii. 22).--_Miller._

The world says that none dies without an heir: Religion says that none dies without an inheritance. Everyone dying in this world is heir to himself in the next world.--_Jermin._

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 19.

A LEVELLING LAW.

+I. This law is now manifest to the inner life of the wicked.+ If a wicked man has any sense of right and wrong, he is conscious of the superiority of the good man. There is an inward bowing down of the evil to the good which is as real, although invisible, as any outward bending of the person of one man before another. Indeed it is far more real than much outward homage. There are many outward and visible bendings and bowings which are mere matters of form, which are only made to keep up appearances. But the involuntary bowing of the evil man's soul in the presence of the good man is a real act of homage, although there is in it an element of unwillingness. There is a compulsory consent, so to speak, of the man himself against himself. But this genuflexion of soul is no mere pretence.

+II. The good man is also conscious of it.+ He knows that it is so because in the constitution of the universe good is made to rule evil, because the head of the one kingdom--the kingdom of evil--is compelled to acknowledge the authority of the head of the kingdom of good. His own moral consciousness tells him that it must be so, and he has the declaration of God to confirm it. _"No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper, and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of Me, saith the Lord"_ (Isa. liv. 17).

+III. What has been occasionally manifested in the outward life, and what is always the inner experience, will one day be universally visible to all the universe.+ The revelation of God tells us that there will be a universally visible manifestation of the submission of the evil to the good. And our sense of justice demands that it should be so. A day will come when, at the name of Incarnate Goodness, "every knee shall bow" (Phil. ii. 10), and the servants will have a portion of like reverence. "The sons also of them that afflicted Thee shall come bending unto Thee; and all they that despised Thee shall bow themselves down at the soles of Thy feet" (Isa. lx. 14).--See also Rev. xx. 4. It is also revealed to us _when_ this visible manifestation shall take place. _"In the end of this world,"_ at the close of the present dispensation, _"the Son of Man shall send forth His angels, and they shall gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity. . . . Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father"_ (Matt. xiii. 40-43). "For this manifestation of the sons of God" they wait with "earnest expectation;" "creation groans" for it; Christ Himself awaits it at "the right hand of God" (Heb. x. 12, 13; Rom. viii. 19-22).

_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._

At one time or another, in one respect or other, the ungodly serve and crouch to the godly. Sometimes they that fear the Lord are lifted up to honour, and then the evil men bow themselves before them. Sometimes, again, the righteous wax rich through God's blessing on their labours, and then come the wicked to their gates for alms and relief. Not only the poor ones, but the great ones, who yet are wicked ones, seek and sue now and then with all submission to the godly for their counsel and help. And I cannot tell how, but such a majesty there is in the godly oftentimes, that most desperately wicked men reverence their faces, and are silent or courteous in their presence.--_Muffet._

There is not the general rule in the present dispensation. Righteous Lazarus _bowed at the rich man's gate_ (Luke xvi. 20). . . . But "the upright shall have dominion over the wicked in the morning" (Psa. xlix. 14; Mal. iv. 1-3). "The saints shall judge the world" (1 Cor. vi. 2).--_Bridges._

There have been instances in which this proverb was verified in a very remarkable manner. The Egyptians bowed down before Joseph, and Moses, and the Israelites. The proud king of Babylon almost worshipped the captive Daniel, and Elisha's favour was solicited by three kings, one or two of whom were bad men.--_Lawson._

The wicked serve the righteous; and whether they do it knowingly, they do it wholly, and through eternal ages.--_Miller._

In times of worldly prosperity, and while the wicked flourish, there is none more lifted up in pride and bravery of outward shows than they are; there is none, then, less esteemed, and more despised, than the good and righteous are. They shall give long attendance before the gates give way to them, and when they are entered a proud eye shall mightily overlook them, a scornful language shall throw them down at their feet. Wherefore Augustine calleth riches wings, by which men in pride fly not only above others, but themselves also. But if the time alter, and either some storm of common calamity beat upon them, or else the hand of God privately seize on them, then none are more dejected than the wicked, none then more esteemed than the righteous are by them. Then their ways are to the gates of the righteous, and much bowing there is to entreat their prayers unto God, and to obtain help and comfort from them. Then Dives, but fearing hell only, already sees Lazarus in heaven, and fain would come unto him.--_Jermin._

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSES_ 20 _and_ 21.

AN AGGRAVATED CRIME, A QUESTIONABLE VIRTUE, AND A PRESENT BLESSING.

+I. A fourfold sin.+ A man who despises or hates his neighbour sins--1. _In the simple exercise of the feeling._ Hatred, or even the act of despising another, is in itself a sin. Here we must distinguish between hatred of the _person_ and hatred of his _practices_--between despising _a man himself_ and despising his _actions._ God Himself hates and abhors evil character, but He makes a distinction between a man's character and the man. To hate or to despise any human creature is devilish. 2. _By hating or despising him for his poverty._ Poverty is a calamity often--always a burden and a cross. It is that for which a man should be pitied, and on account of which he should receive the sympathy of his fellow-men. Poverty is a burden heavy enough in itself, to add to it in any way is diabolical. 3. _Because he hates and despises his fellow-sufferer._ It is not a man beneath him, of whose trials he is ignorant, but his _neighbour,_ one with whom he is on a level. The proverb speaks of one poor man hating another. Cases are not uncommon in which men who have risen from poverty to wealth hate and despise the class from which they have risen even more than those do who were born to rank and wealth. And sometimes men who have risen are hated by those whom they have left behind in the race. But for a poor man to dislike and to despise another poor man for his poverty, is a most unnatural and aggravated crime. A common calamity generally makes men feel a kinship for each other. Those who partake of a common lot generally feel a common sympathy. The poor do not generally hate and despise the poor. The poor man who does commit this sin against his neighbour commits a double sin against himself, for he knows himself the trials of his poor brother, and, therefore, does not sin through ignorance or inconsiderateness. 4. _Against God._ God "putteth down one, and setteth up another" (Psalm lxxv. 7). It is His ordination that "the poor shall never cease out of the land" (Deut. xv. 11). They are His especial care (Psalm xii. 5, etc.), and He will count any addition to their burden as a wrong to Himself.

+II. A questionable virtue.+ "The rich hath many friends." Friendship with a rich man may spring from _social equality._ There is a natural tendency in men who are equals in anything to form friendships with each other. Men of the same moral standing do so, men of the same intellectual attainments are attracted to each other, and men who are equals in social rank and in wealth are, by the force of circumstances, often thrown into each other's society, and so a friendship which is real _may_ be formed. But it is a more questionable bond than that which unites men in the two first-mentioned cases. It may be only a counterfeit of the genuine article, and it is nothing more if wealth is the only bond. Friendships formed upon similarity of intellectual and moral wealth have a far firmer foundation, because they rest upon what is inseparable from the man himself, while friendship founded upon riches has for its foundation what may at any time take to itself wings and fly away. Or the friendship may be one of _social inequality._ A poor man may attach himself to a wealthy man. This, too, _may_ be genuine. The friendship _may_ be built upon something which both value more than wealth; but if the friendship of the rich with the rich is regarded with doubt, and requires adversity to test it, much more does the friendship of the poor for the rich. The proof of the genuineness of the metal is the fire, the proof of the seaworthiness of the vessel is the storm, and it is an universally recognised truth that the proof of friendship is power to come uninjured through the fire and storm of adverse circumstances.

+III. A present blessedness.+ "He that hath mercy on the poor, happy is he." 1. Happy because "it is more blessed to give than to receive" (Acts xx. 35), because gladness always comes to the heart when an effort has been made to lighten another's burden. 2. Happy in possessing the gratitude and confidence of his poor brother. 3. Happy because he wins the favour of God. (See on verse 31.)

_ILLUSTRATION OF VERSE_ 20.

The bees were haunting the flowering trees in crowds, humming among the branches, and gathering honey in the flowers. Said Gotthold, "Here is an image of temporal prosperity. So long as there is blossom on the trees, and honey in the blossom, the bees will frequent them in crowds, and fill the place with their music; but when the blossom is over, and the honey gone, they too will disappear." Temporal gain is the world's honey, and the allurement with which you may entice it whithersoever you will; but where the gain terminates, there likewise do the love and friendship of the world stop.

_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._

Verse 20. Alas! it is a mystery of knowledge to discern friends: "Wealth maketh many friends" (chap. xix. 4); they are friends to the wealth, not to the wealthy. They regard not _qualis sis,_ but _quantas,_ not how good thou art, but how great. They admire thee to thy face, but inwardly consider thee only a necessary evil, yea, a necessary devil. . . . Worldly friends are like hot water, that when cold weather comes, are soonest frozen. Like cuckoos all summer they will sing to thee, but they are gone in July at furthest; sure enough before the fall. They flatter a rich man, as we feed beasts, and then feed on him.--_T. Adams._

How former friendship between two persons may be transformed into its opposite on account of the impoverishment of one of them, is impressively illustrated by our Lord's parable of the neighbour who a friend asks for three loaves (Luke xi. 5-8).--_Lange's Commentary._

The same word in the original which signifieth a friend signifieth a neighbour also, because a neighbour should be a friend. But though a rich man has friends far and near, a poor man is hated even of his neighbour. He that best knoweth his wants and should most of all pity them, doth least regard him and use him worst. He that is nearest at hand to help him is farthest off from helping him. Wherefore the neighbourhood of men being so bad, God becometh his neighbour, and as it is in the Psalms (cix. 31). _"He standeth at the right hand of the poor man to save him."--Jermin._

Verse 21. The impenitent is the _poorest_ among men; and he who neglects him, and lets him go on in his iniquity, of course, is a cruel sinner. "They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that lead many to righteousness, as the stars for ever and ever." He who despises his neighbour "sins," literally "misses," "blunders." He wastes a splendid opportunity, not only for his neighbour, but for himself. The appeal is to _self,_ and is made more intense where, instead of _"despising"_ our neighbour, we actually "devise evil" against him (See next verse).--_Miller._

1. _There is a sin against the arrangements of God's providence._ 2. _Against the frequent and express commands of His Word_ (Deut. xv. 7-11; Luke xii. 33; xiv. 12-14). 3. _Against the manifestations of His distinguishing love._ God has not only avowed Himself jealous for the poor, but "to the poor the gospel is preached," and of those who become the subjects of God's grace, and heirs of glory, a large proportion belong to this class. 4. _In the contempt of God's threatened vengeance against all who neglect them, and of His promised special favour to all who treat them with kindness.--Wardlaw._

We show our contempt of the poor, not only by trampling upon them, but by overlooking them, or by withholding that help for which their distress loudly calls. The Levite and the priest that declined giving assistance to the wounded traveller on the way to Jericho, were notorious breakers of the law of love in the judgment of our Lord. The Samaritan was the only one that performed the duty of a neighbour.--_Lawson._

Through the gate of beneficence doth the charitable man enter into the city of peace. . . . God makes some rich, to help the poor; and suffers some poor to try the rich. The loaden would be glad of ease: now charity lighteneth the rich man of his superfluous and wieldy carriage. When the poor find mercy they will be tractable; when the rich find quiet, they should be charitable. Would you have your goods kept in peace? First, lock them up by your prayers, then open them again with your thankful use, and trust them in the hands of Christ by your charity.--_T. Adams._

He that hath mercy on the poor maketh the other's misery to be his own happiness, and as the other is comforted by it, so is he blessed by it. Blessed he is by the poor and his prayers for him, blessed he is by God and His favours upon him. Tabitha had reached out her hand to give unto the poor, and Peter reached out his hand in delivering her from death. She had bestowed clothing on the poor, and life is bestowed upon her. Wherefore the exhortation of Chrysostom is, "those things which God hath given us, let us give Him again, that so with advantage they may be again made ours."--_Jermin._

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 22.

A FATAL ERROR AND A CERTAIN GOOD.

+I. The mistake of devisers of evil.+ 1. _They err in relation to the success of their plans._ They think that their wicked devices will succeed, so they would not go to the labour and trouble of devising them. But they make a fatal mistake, because they ignore another plan, which embraces theirs. They forget that there may be a circle of action outside their circle, which may circumvent all their schemes. A man may look at the sea from the lower deck of a vessel and think he can see all that is to be seen. But his thinking so would only prove him to be a fool. The man at the masthead can see much further. A traveller on a plain may have an extensive view, but he who is on the mountaintop takes in all that he can see, and much besides. So it is with the man who devises evil. He can see a little way before him and around him, he thinks, therefore, that he can take in the whole situation at a glance, and can see what is needful for him to do and what can be accomplished to bring his plans to pass. But there is more beyond; God takes a higher position and has a wider outlook. He takes in not only all that the wicked man has seen, but much that he does not see. _"He taketh the wise in their own craftiness; and the counsel of the froward is carried headlong"_ (Job v. 13). The device of Haman was so well planned that it seemed to him certain of success. But Mordecai's God had a plan which embraced and out-flanked that of the murderer. The device of Joseph's brethren seemed to embrace all that was necessary to accomplish his ruin, but it was utilised by the righteous Ruler of the Universe to bring to pass his exaltation. The device of evil against the Divine Son of God is the most palpable instance that the universe has ever seen of the short-sighted error of wicked men. 2. _He errs because he will meet with retribution in his own person._ Human rulers are sometimes involved in much perplexity because, although they know that plots are being woven against their government, they are not only at a loss to find a plan by which to bring home the crime to the conspirators, but feel they have no force strong enough to punish them if they are convicted. But God is never at a loss either for means to defeat the purposes of those that devise evil, or to punish them for their devices. He is never driven, by want of power, to yield to those who oppose the good--who work iniquity. (See Homiletics on chap. xii. 12-14, page 268.)

+II. The reward of devisers of good.+ "Mercy and truth." 1. _Even a deviser of good needs mercy._ The very act of devising good sometimes brings a man to need mercy of his _fellow-man._ Daniel devised nothing but good to the king of Babylon, but his very uprightness made him an object of envy and brought him into a condition to need mercy. Or a deviser of good may err in judgment. The best intentioned man is liable to make mistakes. No human being, however benevolent his life, can claim to be exempt from moral infirmities which will sometimes mislead him. Every man therefore needs that his fellow creatures should mingle charity with their judgment of him and with their conduct towards him. And he always needs mercy from _God._ No saint of ancient or modern times has ever been beyond the need of God's mercy, although their very name implies that they are devisers of good. 2. _He equally needs truth._ He needs to be able to depend upon the _word_ of another, he needs a certainty of being justly dealt with. A man's success in business largely depends upon his being able to rest upon the fair dealing of others. He wants truth in others to meet his own truthfulness--as he strives to deal justly, and to love mercy, so he desires to be dealt with justly as well as mercifully. 3. _Both these needs shall be met. Sometimes_ by men, _always_ by God. Experience and history furnish us with many exceptions to the first. Those men of God who have been most eminent devisers of good have often met with anything but mercy and truth from those whom they have desired to benefit. Ignorance or envy has risen up against them, and so the missionary has been slain by the club of the savage abroad, and the reformer has been made the mark of slanderous tongues at home. But everyone has found the testimony of the inspired Word to be true in his own experience: _With the merciful Thou wilt show Thyself merciful. With an upright man Thou wilt show Thyself upright_ (Psa. xviii. 25).

_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._

If wicked men employ their thoughts to contrive mischief, and show so much diligence in the service of sin, although they have such a miserable reward, let God's people exercise the same diligence in the service of righteousness, by seeking out and seizing opportunities of doing good, and their labour shall not be in vain in the Lord.--_Lawson._

Scripture traces actions to principles. Wicked as it is to _do evil,_ it is far more hateful to _devise it_ (see verse 17). _Devising evil,_ therefore, if it comes not to the act, shows the purpose (chap. xxiv. 8).--_Bridges._

To him who lays himself out in planning and executing designs of benefit to others, there shall be _"mercy and truth."_ From his fellow-men he shall experience universal love and esteem. He shall find sympathy in his distresses and reverses, faithfulness in dealing (for if anything will secure a man from being cheated and defrauded, it will be a character for disinterested kindness), and the general exercise of practical gratitude. And the Lord will make him to experience His love, and will fulfil to him faithfully all His "precious promises."--_Wardlaw._

Solomon here is no lawgiver, but an evangelist, leading us unto Jesus Christ. For we can obtain no mercy but in Him only. For "the promises of God are yea and amen in Him."--_Cope._

Can any one see any flaw in _"Mercy"_ and _"Truth?"_ _Mercy_ is pure benevolence; and _truth_ is that other quality of the good, which is commanded in the first table of the law, and answers to a love of holiness. Is there anything right, outside of _"Mercy and Truth?"_ Is there anything wrong that the vilest rebel can detect in either one of them? Must "they not err that devise evil," if for no other cause than that _"Mercy and Truth"_ stand on the opposite side, and, through eternal ages, are busy in _devising good?--Miller._

Aristotle relateth of Socrates that he affirmed all virtues to be sciences, all sins to be ignorances. And Aquinas saith of it, that therein he judged in some sort rightly because the will never would incline to evil, unless it were with some ignorance and error of reason. The question, therefore, is not here asked of him that deviseth evil, for he thinketh himself to be right, he doth not think that to be evil which he doth, nor himself to err in doing of it. He attaineth to the end at which he aimeth, and that persuadeth him that he aimeth aright. But so to be in the right way, is quite to wander from the right way; and howsoever such an one may not err in his plans and plots, yet doubtless he erreth from the ways of life.--_Jermin._

Mercy and truth were the best that David could wish for his fast friend Ittai (2 Sam. xv. 20). These two attributes of God shall cause that good devices shall not miscarry. His mercy moves Him to promise, His truth binds Him to perform. "For Thy word's sake, and according to Thine own heart Thou hast done all these things" (2 Sam. vii. 18-21). "According to Thine own heart," that is out of pure and unexcited love, Thou didst give Thy Word and promise, and "for Thy Word's sake," Thou hast performed it.--_Trapp._

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 23.

THE PROFIT OF LABOUR.

1. _The profit of social honour._ It is both natural and right that a man should desire the respect and good-will of those around him. Nothing is more certain than that he who lives without working in some form or another, either for himself or for others, will not receive this reward. Those who are poor, and do nothing, sink into beggary and consequent dishonour; those who are rich, and have nothing to do--or rather, who do nothing--are not held in honour, either in life or after death. "Pray, sir, of what disease did your brother die?" said the Marquis Spinola one day to Sir Horace Vere. "He died, sir," was the answer, "of having nothing to do." "Alas!" said Spinola, "that is enough to kill any general of us all." Honour cannot come from idleness, but labour brings not only honour while living, but gives us a title to be regarded with respect after we have left the world. Of no man who has lived to any purpose can it ever be said that _he died of having nothing to do._ 2. _The profit of bodily health._ A body which does not labour, either with brain or hand, is an easy prey to disease. The brain if used becomes strengthened for further use. The whole bodily frame is kept in health by wholesome work. 3. _Profit to the moral nature._ Labour calls for some form of self-sacrifice. It develops habits of painstaking and diligence which are helpful to a man's moral nature. It helps the spiritual part of the man by helping the bodily, inasmuch as a strong and healthy body is the best instrument for a morally healthy soul. 4. _The profit of material gain._ In all free countries a man gets some wages for work. It may not be a fair remuneration, but there is some profit of this kind attached to it. There are, of course, exceptions to this proverb, as for instance, the labour of the man who devises evil in the former verse, or that of those whose poverty compels them to work, even to the injury of soul and body, for a miserable pittance which is not worthy the name of wages. Such, alas, is the lot of many even in our own country. The antithesis of this proverb, simply states that talk will not do instead of work. When men do nothing but talk, their talk is certain to be of that worthless kind condemned in chapter x. 19. (See Homiletics on page 168.)

_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._

Get leave to work
In this world--'tis the best you get at all;
For God, in cursing, gives us better gifts
Than man in benediction. God says "Sweat
For foreheads," men say "Crowns" and so we are crowned,
Ay, gashed by some tormenting circle of steel
Which snaps with a secret spring. Get work, get work;
Be sure 'tis better than what you work to get.

* * * * * *

Be sure, no earnest work
Of any honest creature, howbeit weak,
Imperfect, ill-adapted, fails so much,
It is not gathered as a grain of sand,
To enlarge the sum of human action used
For carrying out God's end.--_Mrs. Browning._

There is a perennial nobleness, and even sacredness in work. Were he never so benighted, forgetful of his high calling, there is always hope in a man that actually and earnestly works: in idleness alone is there perpetual despair. Work, never so mammonish, mean, _is_ in communication with nature: the real desire to get work done will itself lead one more and more to truth, to nature's appointments and regulations, which are truth. The latest gospel in this world is, Know thy work and do it. "Know thyself:" long enough has that poor self of thine tormented thee; thou wilt never get to "know" it, I believe! Think it not thy business, this of knowing thyself; thou art an unknowable individual; know what thou can'st work at, and work at it, like a Hercules! That will be thy better plan. It has been written, "an endless significance lies in work," a man perfects himself by working. Foul jungles are cleared away, fair seed-fields rise instead, and stately cities; and withal the man himself first ceases to be a jungle and foul unwholesome desert thereby. Consider how, even in the meanest sorts of labour, the whole soul of a man is composed into a kind of real harmony, the instant he sets himself to work! Doubt, Desire, Sorrow, Remorse, Indignation, Despair itself, all these like hell-dogs lie beleaguering the soul of the poor day-worker, as of every man: but he bends himself with free valour against his task, and all these are stilled, all these shrink murmuring far off into their caves. The man is now a man. The blessed glow of labour in him, is it not as purifying fire, wherein all poison is burnt up, and sour smoke itself thereby is made bright blessed flame?--_Carlyle._

Industry need not wish; and he that lives upon hopes will die fasting. There are no gains without pains, then help hands, for I have no lands, or, if I have, they are smartly taxed. He that hath a trade hath an estate, and he that hath a calling hath an office of profit and honour; but then the trade must be worked at, and the calling followed, or neither the estate nor the office will enable us to pay our taxes.--_Franklin._

He that labours is tempted by one devil; he that is idle by a thousand.--_Italian Proverb._

As in religion, it is not the man who speaks but the man who does that gives proof of his sincerity; so in earthly business, it is not the man who talks fluently, and lays down plausible schemes of business, but the man who labours and does all his work that has reason to expect the blessing of Providence. Those that wear their working instruments in their tongues are always the most useless, and sometimes the most hurtful members of society.--_Lawson._

A busy tongue makes idle hands. If the mouth _will_ be heard, the noisy loom must stop; and he who prefers the sound of his tongue to that of his shuttle, had need at the same time be a man who prefers talk to meat, hunger to fulness, starvation to plenty.--_Wardlaw._

Rich beyond conception is the profit of spiritual labour (chap. x. 16). "The Son of Man gives to the _labourer_ enduring meat. The violent take the kingdom of heaven by force. The _labour_ of love God is not unrighteous to forget" (John vi. 27; Heb. vi. 10). But _the talk of the lips_ gives husks, not bread. While there are only shallow conceptions of the Gospel, and no experimental enjoyment of Christian establishment, it is "all running out in noise." Says Henry: "There is no instruction because there is no 'good treasure within' (Matt. xii. 35)." "What manner of communications are these that ye have one to another?" is a searching question (Luke xxiv. 17). Ministers, doctrines, the externals, circumstantials, disputations on religion--all may be the mere skirts and borders of the great subject, utterly remote from the heart and vitals. . . . A religious tongue without a godly heart tendeth _only to penury.--Bridges._

This is a difficult sentence. We have found it hard to vindicate its sense. The grammar is all obvious, and on the very account the reading is singularly fixed. But _"all labour"_ is anything else than _"profitable;"_ and the _"talk of the lips"_ (chap. xxxi. 26) is one of the grandest ways of doing good among men. We understand it in a religious sense. All these proverbs might be worldly maxims, some of them actually in use; all of them with a show of wisdom; some of them utterly unsound; but all of them, when adopted by the Holy Ghost, and turned in the direction of the Gospel, true, in their religious aspect. So, now, in this particular instance, _"all labour"_ might seem to promise well among the thrifty, but sometimes ruins men, even in this world, and is sure to ruin them, if worldly, in the world to come. But now, as a religious maxim, it is without exception. _"All labour,"_ of a pious kind is marked, and will be gloriously rewarded out of the books of the Almighty. _"All labour"_ of the impenitent, for their soul's salvation, has _"profit;"_ literally, _something over._ It brings them nearer. If continued long enough, it will bring them in; that is, if it be honest (Heb. xi. 6); while _"the talk of the lips,"_ or, possibly, _"an affair of the lips,"_ that is, _mere intention,_ does _"only"_ mischief. Mark the balance between _"all"_ and _"only."_ Seeking is _"all"_ of it an advance. Intending is "only" a retreat. One gains a step, the other loses one. Starting up actually to work, if honest, is an advance towards wealth; while intention, which is but _an affair of the lips, tends only_ to make us poor indeed.--_Miller._

When God gave man this curse, in labour thou shalt eat, he gave labour this blessing, to increase and multiply. It is a plant that prospereth in any soil, it is a seed that taketh well in any ground. For the labourer's hire is never kept back by God. . . . Talking is not truly labour, and labour is rather to hold one's peace. According as St. Ambrose speaketh "It is a harder thing to know how to be silent than how to speak. For I know many to speak, when they know not to hold their peace." But it is a rare thing for any man to hold his peace, when to speak no way doth profit him. But no labour is so well spared as this, and sitting still is nowhere so commendable as in the lips.--_Jermin._

They that painfully and conscientiously employ themselves in any vocation, how base and contemptible soever it seems to be, are in the Lord's work, and Him they serve, as the apostle speaketh even of bondmen, and is it possible that His workmen shall work without wages or sufficient allowance? He reproveth those men which neglect to give to the hireling his recompense for his travail, or fail in due time to discharge it, and shall we think then that He will be careless of His own servants Himself? They have God's Word for their security that they shall not be unprovided of so much as is expedient for them. If He say once that in all labour there is profit, they shall never have cause to contradict Him.--_Dod._

It is only by labour that thought can be made healthy, and only by thought that labour can be made happy; and the two cannot be separated with impunity.--_Ruskin._

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 24.

WEALTH WITH AND WITHOUT WISDOM.

+I. Both a wise man and a fool may attain to wealth.+ The intellectually wise, and the man who lacks mental ability, may both possess great riches. There are many who have vast estates and no more wisdom to manage them than an infant, and there are those whose ability is equal to their wealth and position. So with moral wisdom. Abraham, the friend of God, "was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold" (Gen. xiii. 2). Job, who had the Divine testimony to his "perfectness" and "uprightness," was "the greatest of all the men of the east" (Job. i. 3). But many godless men like these mentioned in our Lord's parables (Luke xii. 16, 20; xvi. 19-24) have "much goods laid up for many years," and "are clothed in purple and fine linen, and fare sumptuously every day." God is no respecter of persons in the distribution of temporal good in the shape of riches, but if there is any leaning to one class of character more than to another, He would seem rather to favour the ungodly. Because such "have their portion in this life" (Psa. xvii. 14) and in this life _only;_ because they have only this heaven upon earth; because they have no desire and conception of anything higher; it seems as if the Ruler of the universe often gives them the only good they are capable of appreciating. Some of the most miserable specimens of humanity that the world has ever seen have sat upon thrones, and a few of the greatest of God's human children have likewise wielded sceptres. So with the crown of wealth; it has been and is worn by men quite irrespective of moral character, but the preponderance seems to be in favour of the moral fool. Looked at in the light of eternity there is no injustice or even mystery in this.