Chapter XIV (4)

+II. But wealth is an adornment to the wise man only.+ If you dress an Ethiopian in pure white linen you will not change the colour of his skin. The man is what he was though his raiment is changed, and the whiteness of his garments makes his skin look all the blacker. If a tree is barren, the most costly and perfect artificial fruit placed among its leaves will not add to its beauty. It will only produce an incongruity which will be altogether distasteful to the spectator. Its barrenness is only made the more conspicuous. So no wealth can give any dignity to a mental and moral fool. Wealth will not hide the intellectual barrenness, nor cover the black stains upon the man's moral character. Nay, the wealth only brings them more prominently into view. However rich a fool is "the foolishness of fools is folly," and nothing else. But a man who is wise enough to know how to use wealth--especially if he is good enough to put it to the highest and best uses--even though he be neither intellectually great or highly polished, will make his riches a crown--will so use them as to merit and receive the respect and goodwill of his fellow-creatures. Wealth looks best upon the head of one who possesses both intelligence and goodness, but whenever it is studded with the gems of a wise and sympathetic liberality it is a royal diadem--it makes its wearer a king.

_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._

The Christian is rich in this world. We read in the 18th verse of the "prudent making a crown of knowledge." Aladdin was rich when he had nothing but his lamp. If a ray of faith put creation in bondage to a saint, then not only is his "knowledge a crown," but "his crown is his wealth." What needs Aladdin further than his lamp? The sovereignty of saints, even in a forlorn world, makes a perfect opulence; while _"the folly of fools,"_ seeing that it could give place to this; seeing that he also could have the lamp; seeing that the crowned princes, the very best of them, were fools like him; and therefore, that it can only be _because he is a fool_ that he does not throw off his folly;--all this explains the closing clause, which is terse in its very quaintness; for, for the very reason that "the crown of the wise is their wealth, the foolishness of fools is folly."--_Miller._

Though, as a fearful temptation (Matt. xiii. 22; xix. 23), no _wise_ man would desire riches; yet as a gift of God (1 Kings iii. 13; Psa. cxii. 3)--the gift, indeed, of His left hand (chap. iii. 16)--they may become His _crown._ What a _crown_ they were to David and his wise son, as the materials for building the temple (1 Chron. xxix. 1-5; 2 Chron. v. 1); and to Job, as employed for the good of his fellow-creatures (Job xxix. 6-17). So that, though wisdom under all circumstances is a blessing, it is specially pronounced to be "good _with an inheritance_" (Eccles. vii. 11, 12). It is necessary to distinguish between the thing itself and the abuse of it. Wealth is in fact a blessing, when honestly acquired and conscientiously employed. And when otherwise, the man is to be blamed, and not his treasure.--_Bridges._

What is the most gorgeous and dazzling earthly crown compared with a diadem of which the component parts are the blessings of the destitute relieved, the ignorant instructed, the vicious reclaimed, the afflicted comforted, the dying cheered with the hope of life, the perishing rescued from perdition and brought to God!--_Wardlaw._

If good men are spoiled of their wealth, they need not lament, as if they had lost their crown. For riches are an ornament of grace to the head of wise men, even when they are lost. Job's patience in the loss of everything, did as much honour to him as his extraordinary beneficence whilst he was the richest man in the East. We honour his memory still more, when he sewed sackcloth upon his skin, and defiled his horn in the dust, than at the time when judgment was his robe and his diadem.--_Lawson._

As a horse is of no use without the bridle, so are riches without reason.--_Cawdray._

Not riches but wisdom gives a crown of glory (chap. iv. 9). "The prudent are crowned with _knowledge,_" not with riches; therefore, the sense is, "_Wisdom_ (the opposite of folly), being the crown of the wise constitutes their true riches," and results in the heavenly riches; but the foolishness of fools is not riches to them, as the wise man's crown of wisdom is to him, but is, and continues folly, _i.e.,_ emptiness--neither an ornamental crown nor enriching wisdom.--_Fausset._

The seeming tautology of the second clause is really its point. "The foolishness of fools is . . . ." We expect something else, but the subject is also the predicate. "The foolishness of fools is foolishness." That is the long and the short of it. Turn it as you will, it comes to that.--_Plumptre._

Wisdom in a poor man is but a petty lord. He may rule himself well, but he shall have little command or power over others. Riches make a wise man a king, and as they crown him with honour by being well used by him, so do they extend his dominion far and wide. Many are subject to the law of his discretion, and the force of his wise authority prevaileth many ways. Well, therefore, doth the crown of riches sit upon his head, whose wise head it is that makes them to be riches. But riches in a fool are his bauble, whereby he maketh himself and others sport. . . . The wise being crowned by them are kings over their riches. They command them to their pleasure and use them to their honour. Whereas it is the folly of fools that they are galley-slaves to their own wealth.--_Jermin._

Give riches to a fool and you put a sword into a madman's hand; the folly of such fools will soon be foolishness. Why, was it not foolishness before? Yes, but now, it is become egregious foolishness. To what end is a treasure, if a man have lost the key that leads to it.--_Trapp._

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 25.

DELIVERANCE BY TRUTH.

+I. What is implied in a witness bearer.+ A witness is supposed to give light. Those who have to decide upon a matter seek for the evidence of those who are personally acquainted with the facts. They are expected to testify as to what they have seen and heard, and by thus throwing light upon the subject to further the cause of truth and justice. A witness can only give light by speaking the truth. The words of a truth-teller are like rays of sunlight falling upon an object that was before indistinct, they make plain things which without their aid would be incomprehensible. On the other hand the testimony of a lying witness surrounds everything about which he bears witness with a mist and a darkness, and so foils the efforts of those who are desiring to get a right view of the subject.

+II. Life and death are often in the power of those who bear witness.+ The evidence of a truthful man delivers from death--or from worse than death--those who are innocent, whereas a false witness may deliver them up to punishment. The one is like a lighthouse which enables the sailor to bring his vessel safely into port, the other is like the false light of the wrecker, by means of which the ship is dashed to pieces on the rocks. The first witness for God in Eden who did not belong to the heavenly family was a "false witness who spoke lies." He testified to Eve that God was a hard master, that He had imposed upon her restrictions from a selfish motive, that the punishment which had been threatened would not follow disobedience to the Divine commands. Since this first false witness led our first parents on to death, many a human witness has, in like manner, given to the world false views of the Divine Father which have ended in like results. Both Satan and his servants murder character by bearing false witness. The Incarnate Son of God was pre-eminently "The True Witness" (Isa. lv. 4; Rev. i. 5). He came to deliver men by bearing witness of the true character of God from His own personal knowledge (John xvii. 25, 26). _"To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth," "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free"_ (John xvii. 37; viii. 32). "The truth which Christ taught was chiefly on these three points--God, man, immortality. . . . He exhibited _God as love,_ and so the fearful bondage of the mind to the necessity of fate was broken. . . . He taught the truth about the _human soul,_ that it is not in its right place, that it never is in its right place in the dark prison-house of sin, but that its home is freedom, and the breath of God's life. . . . He taught truth concerning _immortality,_ that this life is not all; that it is not only a miserable state of human infancy."--_(Robertson.)_ By such testimony this "true witness delivered souls"--_"proclaimed liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound"_ (Isa. lxi. 1). On this subject see also on chap. xii. 17, pages 274-276.

_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._

We noticed that what crowned the wise was _"truth"_ or _"knowledge"_ (verse 18). _Truth_ to become _knowledge_ must get into the heart. To do so it must be _"witnessed."_ We noticed under the second verse that a man staggered, that is, he did not _walk in levelness,_ because he did not see clearly. But, _per contra,_ if a man sees clearly he walks in _level ways;_ and then, according to our present proverb, he _"saves"_ unconsciously the souls of others. This is most clear when the view is negative. Let there be no _witness of truth,_ and where are the saved? No sinners are rescued in a dead nation. Every Christian is a centre of light. The Church is but a body of Christians. Where there is no Church, where are the penitents? The truth intended to be conveyed is, that he who sees the truth spreads it. While he who sees only _"lies,"_ which is an exact portrait of the unredeemed, serves in spite of himself as a delusion to his friends, and deceives them into unbelief just in proportion to his influence upon them. Woe be to the wife or child where the husband is a _"deceived witness"_ (verse 5). _"Witness"_--not in this case one who bears witness, but one who _witnesses,_ in the sense of _seeing.--Miller._

While true testimony may condemn, false testimony may acquit; while the former may destroy life, the latter may save it. It is probable, therefore, that the intended antithesis relates not so much to the _actual fact_ of truth saving and falsehood condemning, as to the _dispositions and intentions_ of the faithful witness on the one hand and the lying witness on the other. The faithful witness delights in giving testimony that may save life, that will be salutary and beneficial to his fellow-creatures. The lying witness will, in general, be found actuated by a malevolent and wicked purpose; having pleasure in giving testimony that will go to condemn the object of his malice. The sentiment will thus be--_that truth is most generally found in union with kindness of heart, and falsehood with malevolence._ And this is natural; the former being both good, the latter being both evil, falsehood being naturally more akin to malice, and truth to love.--_Wardlaw._

Here again there is something like tautology in the second clause. We expect "destroyeth life" as the antithesis to "delivereth souls." But in this case also there is an emphasis in the seeming absence of it. "A deceitful witness speaketh lies." What worse could be said of him? All destruction is implied in falsehood.--_Plumptre._

It is the honour of God to be a deliverer of souls, and that is the honour of a true witness. He delivers his own soul and another's: his own from the wrath of God, another's from the injustice of men: his own from wickedness, another's from injury. The deceitful man speaketh not one lie, but many. The lie of perjury to God, the lie of injustice to the judge, the lie of falsehood to the master. Not one but many lies, because one lie usually bringeth many others with it.--_Jermin._

The special work for which Christians are left in the world is to be witnesses (Acts i. 8). . . . Christ does not send his angels to proclaim His word or to wield His power. . . . The evidence by which the Spirit will convert the world is His truth, uttered from the Word, and echoed, still and small, from the meek and quiet life-course of converted men. . . . Two qualifications are required in a witness, _truth_ and _love_ (Ephes. iv. 15): these are needed, but these will do. . . . A witness, in contested cases, after giving evidence in chief, is subjected to cross-examination. A Christian's profession is, and is understood to be, his direct and positive testimony that he is bought with a price, and that he is bound to serve the Lord who bought him: but as soon as this testimony is emitted, the examination begins. If he be not a true witness, he will stumble there. Either or both of two persons, with very different views, may subject a witness to cross-examination--the judge or the adversary. It is chiefly done by the adversary, and in his interests. The Supreme himself puts professing disciples to the test before the court of the world; but when He so tries His children, the truth comes forth purer and brighter by the trial. He who goes about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour, tempts to destroy. He puts the witness to the question in order to break him down. . . . We speak of the evidences of religion, but, after all, Christians are the best evidence of Christianity. . . . Let no man who bears Christ's name lay the unction to his soul, that if he does no good he does no evil. One of the heaviest complaints made in the prophets against Jerusalem for her backsliding, is that she was a "comfort" to Samaria and Sodom (Ezek. xvi. 54); that those who had the name and place of God's people, so lived as to make the wicked feel at ease. . . . If Christians live as like the world as they can, the world will think itself safe in its sin; and those who should have been the deliverers, will become the destroyers of their neighbours.--_Arnot._

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 26.

A SURE REFUGE.

+I. What is found in the fear of the Lord?+ "Strong confidence." The confidence is in the Divine character, and is based upon a knowledge of it, in contrast to a false security which has its foundation in ignorance. There is a reverence of one being for another which is the outcome of ignorance, but this cannot generate that strong confidence which can be a sheet anchor to the human soul. The old Romans, in the early days of their history, had a reverence for their divinities, but it was a reverence of ignorance, it was a reverence for unrealities, and could never yield them that confidence which all men in all ages need to comfort them in trial and inspire them with hope in the mysteries of human life. There are men now who are quite ignorant of the Divine character and yet seem to possess great confidence that all will be well with them--that God, in fact, will not do what He has said He will do in relation to them. But this confidence is also false; it is based, not upon fear of the Lord, arising out of acquaintance with Him, but upon want of knowledge, and consequently upon disregard of His claims. But the strong confidence of our text is the fruit of a reverence which has its foundation in acquaintance with the holiness of the Divine Father, which is the outcome of a knowledge of His laws, of His threatenings, and of His promises. It is the confidence which a child reposes in a good parent, because it knows from experience--from an every-day contemplation of that parent's life--what good grounds it has to reverence and to trust him. This confidence is strong enough to inspire the soul with courage to face the difficulties of human life and to vanquish them. Confidence in a fellow-creature is often inspiration. A soldier's confidence in his general, a seaman's confidence in his captain, inspires to the performance of deeds of heroism. And confidence in the living God, in that King who can do no wrong, in that leader who can make no mistake, has been the inspiration of millions of men and women in all ages and under all circumstances. It has been found strong enough to enable them to be heroes through a long life of poverty, of ignominy, of sickness, and it has sustained all in the hour of death, and many in the death of martyrdom. By the strength born of this "strong confidence," they have _"subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire,"_ etc. (Hebrews xi. 33-38).

+II. This confidence gives men God for a refuge.+ 1. _He is a present refuge from conscious guilt._ This is a need which every man feels as soon as his conscience is awakened as surely as the man-slayer felt his want of a stronghold of defence from the avenger of blood. The God against whom man has sinned becomes, when His character is understood, the object of hope for pardon. The sinner can only "flee from God, by fleeing to God." 2. _He is a present refuge from all foes, whether spiritual or human._ "Who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good?" (1 Pet. iii. 13) is a question which can never be answered. It is impossible that the children of God can ever be without a resource in whatever peril of soul, body, or estate they find themselves, for--"If God be for us, who can be against us?" (Rom. viii. 31).

_ILLUSTRATION._

The Rev. J. W. Fletcher had a profligate nephew, who was dismissed from his post as an officer in the Sardinian army. One day, by presenting a pistol to his uncle, General de Gons, he extorted from him a draft for 500 crowns. With this he called on Mr. Fletcher, and, as he exhibited it with exultation, Mr. F. took it, folded it up and put it into his pocket, saying: "It strikes me, young man, that you have possessed yourself of this note by some indirect method; and in honesty I cannot return it but with my brother's knowledge and approbation." Instantly the pistol was at his breast, and he was told, as he valued his life, to return the draft. "My life," replied Mr. Fletcher, "is secure in the protection of the Almighty power who guards it." This led the nephew to remark that his uncle De Gons was more afraid of death. "Afraid of death!" rejoined Mr. Fletcher, "do you think I have been twenty-five years the minister of the Lord of life to be afraid of death now? No, sir, thanks be to God who giveth me the victory! It is for you to fear death who have every reason to fear it. You are a gamester and a cheat, yet call yourself a gentleman. . . . Look, there, sir, look there! See the broad eye of Heaven is fixed upon us. Tremble in the presence of your Maker, who can in a moment kill your body, and for ever punish your soul in hell." The youth was disarmed, and the interview ended in his uncle praying with him, and promising to give him a hundred crowns to relieve his immediate necessities.--_From "The Proverbs Illustrated."_

_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._

Fear is anything but a refuge in itself. But as faith was imputed to the patriarch for righteousness (Rom. iv. 22), so this need not cloud Christ's merit. Christ has so saved us that _fear_ becomes our hope. He who has experienced _"fear"_ has gone into a retreat; nothing can dislodge him from it. If the lost tremble, let them learn to _fear;_ for by _fear_ they become children of God, and as _children of God_ they have an eternal _refuge.--Miller._

Fear hath torment (1 John iv. 18; Acts xxiv. 25). It is the trembling of the slave (Rom. viii. 15); the dread of wrath, not of sin. There is no _confidence_ here. It is pure selfishness. It ends in self. There is no homage to God. But the true _fear of God_ is a holy, happy, reverential principle (see Psa. cxii. 1; xxxiii. 18; cxlvii. 11); not that which love "casts out" (1 John iv. 18), but which love brings in. We fear, because we love. We fear, yet we are not afraid (Psa. cxii. 1-7). The holiest and humblest is the most fixed and trusting heart. The fear of man produces faintness (Jonah i. 3; Gal. ii. 12). The _fear of the Lord_--such is the Christian paradox--emboldens. Its childlike spirit shuts out all terrors of conscience, all forebodings of eternity. Abraham sacrificed his son in the _fear of the Lord;_ yet fully _confident_ "that God was able to raise him up from the dead" (Gen. xxii. 12, with Heb. xi. 17-19).--_Bridges._

What confidence shall be strong, if this is not strong? He confides in that which is all infinite:--the truth, the love, the wisdom, the power of his covenant God! Whatever the love of God has induced Him graciously to promise, no power or combination of powers in existence can stay from being done.--_Wardlaw._

It does not mean that the fear of God is something on which one can rely, but that it has (xxii. 19; Jer. xvii. 7) an inheritance which is enduring, unwavering, and not disappointing in God, who is the object of fear; for it is not faith, nor anything else subjective, which is the rock that bears us, but this rock is the object that faith lays hold of (Cf. Isa. xxviii. 16).--_Delitzsch._

Gregory, writing upon those words in Job iv. 6, "Is not this thy fear, thy confidence?" etc., saith that although Eliphaz did wrongfully reprove Job, yet he doth rightly set down the order of the virtues, when he joineth fortitude to fear. For in the way of God we must begin with fear that we may come to fortitude. For as in the course of the world boldness breedeth courage, so in the way of God it breedeth weakness, and as in the course of the world fear begetteth weakness, so in the way of God it bringeth forth confidence.--_Jermin._

The fear which brings a sinner submissive and trustful to the sacrifice and righteousness of the Substitute is itself a confidence. . . . Those who went early to the sepulchre and looked into the empty grave where the Lord lay, departed from the place with "fear and great joy." A human soul made at first in God's image has great capacities still. In that large place fear and great joy can dwell together. . . . The filial fear of the children may be known by this, that it takes in beside itself a great joy, and the two brethren dwell together in unity. . . . "His children shall have a place of refuge." They "are kept by the power of God.". . . There are two keepings very diverse from each other, and yet alike in this, that both employ as their instruments strong walls and barred gates. Great harm accrues for confounding them, and therefore the distinction should be kept clear. Gates and bars may be closed around you for the purpose of keeping you in, or of keeping your enemy out. The one is a prison, the other a fortress. In construction and appearance the two edifices are in many respects similar. The walls are in both cases high and the bars strong. In both it is essential that the guards should be watchful and trusty. But they differ in this: the prison is constructed with a view to prevent escape from within, the fortress to defy assault from without. In their design and use they are exact contraries. The one makes sure the bondage, the other the liberty of its inmates. In both cases it is a _keep,_ and in both cases the _keep_ is strong--the one to keep the prisoner in, the other to keep the enemy out. The fear of the Lord to those who are within, and have tasted of His grace, is the strong confidence of a fortress to defend them from every foe; to those who look at it from without, it often seems a frowning prison that will close away the sunlight from all who go within its portals, and waste young life away in mouldy dungeons. Mistakes are common on this point, and mistakes are disastrous. . . . Though the refuge is provided, and the gate standing open, and the invitation free, poor wanderers stand shivering without because a suspicion clings to the guilty conscience, that the "strong tower" offered as a safe dwelling place will turn out to be a place of confinement from genial society and human joys.--_Arnot._

FOR HOMILETICS ON VERSE 27 SEE ON THE PRECEDING VERSE AND ON CHAPTER XIII. 14 PAGE 313.

_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._

Verses 26 and 27. The whole system of religion is expressed in the _fear of God._ A religion which makes this fear the principle of action implicitly condemns all self-confidence and presumptuous security, enjoins a constant state of vigilance and caution, a perpetual distrust of our own hearts, a full conviction of our natural weakness, and an earnest solicitude for Divine assistance. It keeps men always attentive to the motives and consequences of actions; always unsatisfied with present attainments; always wishing to advance and always afraid of falling away. The blessings it brings in its train are--1. _Security._ "Strong confidence." "Place of refuge." "Great is the confidence of a good conscience." "Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us, and He _will deliver_ us" (Dan. iii. 17). "None of these things move me" (Acts xx. 24). When they told Numa that the enemy was at the gates, he simply answered, "But I am sacrificing." When Antonius was threatened, he replied, "We have not so worshipped, neither have we so lived, that we should fear their conquering us" (_Trapp_). If such was the confidence of heathens, what should be that of Christians? God's children "know in whom they have believed" (2 Tim. i. 12). 2. _Consolation._ "A fountain of life." So called from the constancy of its supply. A confluence of the blessings, grace here and glory hereafter--present and future--upper and nether springs. David combines both when he says, "Thou shalt guide me with Thy counsel and afterward receive me to glory" (Psa. lxxiii. 24). He refers to the future when he says, "Oh, how great is Thy goodness, which Thou hast laid up for them that fear Thee, which Thou hast wrought for them that trust in Thee before the sons of men!" (Psa. xxxi. 19). Here he speaks not only of what God has _laid up,_ but of what He has _laid out_--not only of what he has in prospect, but of what he has in experience. 3. _Deliverance from dangerous temptations._ "To depart from the snares of death." "The way of this world is like the Vale of Siddim (Gen. xiv. 19), treacherous and slippery and full of snares" (_Trapp_). But he that fears the Lord has many safeguards. "The integrity of the upright shall guide them" (chap. xi. 3).--_S. Thodey._

Verse 27. "The law of the wise" is "the fear of the Lord," for of both the same things are predicted (chap xiii. 14).--_Fausset._

Not only does Christian confidence open a cover from the guilt, but it roots out the power of sin. For among the countless throngs of the redeemed, not one finds a cover from condemnation, who is not renovated into spiritual life.--_Bridges._

The fear of the Lord teacheth wisdom, and wisdom teacheth that an evil feared is much the sooner avoided, and that it is a great safety of life to fear death. Wherefore St. Cyprian saith, "Be ye fearful, that ye may be without fear; fear the Lord, that ye may not fear death." For the same fountain doth not send forth bitter waters and sweet; life and death do not issue from the same spring.--_Jermin._

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 28.

A KING'S TRUE GLORY.

+I. Human rulers are dependent upon their people for honour.+ 1. _The safety of the king's crown depends largely upon the number of his subjects._ This was certainly the case in the days of Solomon, and is so now to a large extent. Small kingdoms are very likely even in these days to be engulfed by more powerful states--by those who can bring into the field an overpowering number of warriors. Numbers hold the diadems on the heads of the rulers of the great nations of Europe. That Palestine was to some extent an exception to this rule was due to the especial providence of Jehovah--that it was ever overpowered by numbers was because its inhabitants forsook their covenant God. But the general rule holds good. 2. _The prosperity of their land depends upon its being well populated._ Other things being equal, a populous kingdom will do more business with other nations--will plant colonies and mix more with the inhabitants of other lands; and all these things extend a nation's influence and so make its ruler's position a more honourable one.

+II. It is therefore a matter of self-interest that a ruler should govern his people righteously.+ There is a lesson which the potentates of the earth have been slow to learn although the page of history abounds with so many examples of the peril of disregarding it. It would be the destruction of the head if it were to say to the other members of the body, by which it is maintained in life and health, "I have no need of thee." The existence of the one depends upon that of the other. And it is not less so with the body politic. The safety and honour of the king is bound up in the well-being of his subjects. Where the one is dependent upon the many, self-interest, as well as duty, point to his so ruling that his people may enjoy peace and prosperity and so multiply.

_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._

There is a natural tendency in the population of a country to increase. When, therefore, population diminishes, there must be some cause _counterworking nature._ The subjects of a country may be wasted in destructive and depopulating wars; they may be driven by oppression to quit their native land, and to seek a refuge in more distant regions; they may be starved and reduced by measures that are injurious and ruinous to trade--measures that keep up the price of bread and depress the wages of labour. . . . The existence of a thriving vigorous population is a mark of freedom, of wise and impartial legislation, of paternal care--and it is the palladium of all that is desirable in the results of human rule.--_Wardlaw._

A sentiment arrayed against feeble princes who nevertheless array themselves with disproportionate splendour; and this, as also verse 34, is designed to call attention to the principle, that it is not external and seeming advantages, but simply and solely the inward competence and moral excellence, whether of the head or of the members of a commonwealth, that are the conditions of its temporal welfare.--_Lange's Commentary._

How great, then, is _the honour_ of our heavenly _King in the countless multitudes of His people!_ How overwhelmingly glorious will it appear when the completed number shall stand before His throne (Rev. vii. 9, 10); each the medium of reflecting His glory (2 Thess. i. 10); each with a crown to cast at His feet (Rev. iv. 10, 11), and a song of everlasting joy to time to His praise (Rev. v. 9).--_Bridges._

All grades depend upon their inferiors. The poor have us in their power. To be kind to them is a dictate of common selfishness. Carried into a spiritual light, the truth becomes much wider. Half of heaven will be what we did for the poor. Solomon was familiar with this as a king; but he marks the sentence as one for all humanity. If a man wishes to be comfortable on earth, let him make his inferiors great. And, if he wishes to be rich in heaven, let him cultivate with assiduous zest the graces of the perishing.--_Miller._

The occurrence of this political precept in the midst of the maxims of personal morality is striking. Still more so is its protest against the false ideal of national greatness to which Eastern kings, for the most part, have bowed down.--_Plumptre._

The people are the king's best treasury; in their scarcity he cannot be rich. Worthy was the speech of that Goth, the king of Italy, who, speaking of his subjects, saith, "Our harvest is the rest of all."--_Jermin._

NOTE.--The population of England and Wales in 1700 was about 5,475,000. At the beginning of the present century it was between eight and nine millions; it now exceeds twenty millions.

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 29.

GREAT UNDERSTANDING.

+I. There are times and occasions when wrath is not only allowable, but right.+ A man who is incapable of being angry lacks an element of perfection. Anger against wrong-doing is possible without any feeling of vindictiveness or malice towards the wrong-doer. There is much in the Bible about the "wrath of God" (Rom. i. 18), although He is "love" (1 John iv. 8). A child does not honour a parent the less, but the more, because he knows that parent can be angry when there is just occasion. Neither could we reverence God if He was a Being who could not be displeased.

+II. But a man who is slow to wrath shows--+1. _That he understands himself._ Even the holy and all-perfect God is "slow to anger" (Neh. ix. 17). Although He could not misjudge any creature, and although He could never by any possibility allow His wrath to exceed the bounds of perfect justice and righteousness, He is not "soon angry." The man who understands his own frailty and short-sightedness will not allow anger to take possession of his spirit in a hurry, if he is to "be angry and sin not" (Ephes. iv. 26), he must only be angry after due reflection upon the cause of his anger. 2. _That he understands others._ Hasty and passionate anger never convinces the offender of his guilt, but awakens wrath in his breast also. But the displeasure which is the result of calm consideration may carry some weight with it. On this subject see also Homiletics on verse 17.

_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._

"He that is hasty of spirit _exalteth_ folly." He gives folly for the time being the throne and sceptre of his mind, and fulfils her preposterous and mischievous dictates. And when reason, for the time deposed, resumes her vacated seat, she finds no easy task before her to repair the evils which have been done in the brief but stormy reign of passion.--_Wardlaw._

+I.+ The passion of anger is like wind to the ship: so it is to the soul called to steer its course to Immanuel's land. 1. If there be a dead calm, and the winds blow not at all, or very weakly, the ship does not make way. And if men be so stupid, indolent, and unconcerned, that their spirits will not stir in them, whatever dishonour they see done to God, these are standing still in the way to heaven. And many there be, who are all fire in their own matters, but in those of God their hearts are dead as a stone. Such was the case of Eli: _"His sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not"_ (1 Sam. iii. 13). It was not so with Paul: for _"his spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry"_ (Acts xvii. 16). 2. If the wind is brisk enough, but yet is contrary, the ship will at best have much ado with it, and may be driven into a shore which the crew desired not to see. So if men's anger be in itself sinful, if their anger burn against what is good and just: such anger cannot fail of an unhappy event. 3. Though the wind be not contrary, yet if it be too impetuous and violent, it may dash the ship on rocks and split it. So though men's anger may have a just ground, yet if it prove excessive and boisterous, it may run men headlong into great mischiefs. Oft-times reason lets anger into the breast; but then anger turns out reason to the door, and carries on all precipitantly without reason or discretion: like one that brings in coal to his hearth, because of the cold, but unwarily lets it fall on tow, which sets the house on fire. +II.+ He that is slow to wrath. 1. _Is slow to take up anger in his own cause._ It is wisdom indeed to be very tender of God's honour, but more indifferent about our own personal interests, as Moses was. 2. _Manages it warily when it is taken up._ He finds himself on slippery ground, and is therefore slow in his motions. 3. _Is easy to lay it down_ (Ephes. iv. 26-27). He shuts it out when there is no more use for it. +III.+ The passionate man proclaims his folly--he proclaims himself--1. _A proud man,_ and the proud man is a fool in God's account and in the account of all who understand themselves. 2. _A weak man._ He is a slave to his passions. 3. _An unwatchful man,_ who has his enemies within him, without him, round about him, and yet cannot be brought to stand on his guard (Prov. iv. 23, 24).--_Boston._

Wise anger is like fire from the flint, there is a great ado to bring it out; and when it does come, it is out again immediately.--_Henry._

The intoxication of anger, like that of the grape, shows us to others, but hides us from ourselves.--_Southgate's "Many Thoughts on Many Things."_

The heaviest body is slowest in going, but his treading is the surest; in like manner, he that is slow to anger recompenses the dulness of his steps with the soundness of his proceeding; for he taketh leisure (as it were) to look of his ways. Tertullian says, "Where the injury is little, there is no need of patience; but where the injury is great, there is the help of patience more needful against it. If they be small wrongs, contemn them for their smallness; if great wrongs, by patience give way unto them in respect of their greatness." The original of _hasty,_ is _short-winded._ For as haste in going maketh the breath to be short, so the haste of the soul to anger maketh that to puff and blow on every small occasion; so that the soul is as it were climbing up a great hill, there to _exalt her folly,_ for all to behold it.--_Jermin._

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 30.

A SOUND HEART.

_The blessed effects of a contented spirit._ The "sound heart" being here placed in contrast to "envy," shows that it means a spirit that is content with its lot in life--that is not ever reaching after the unattainable--that is not jealous of others who are in more favourable circumstances. Such a quietness of spirit is--

+I. Favourable to bodily health.+ The mind of a passionate man wears out the bodily frame, and no passion that can possess the soul is more imperious and agitating, and consequently more injurious to health than envy. Jealousy is said to be as "cruel as the grave" (_Cant._ viii. 6), and it is cruel not only to the objects of it, but also to him who allows it a dwelling-place in his spirit. Its withering effects are felt even in the body, it is "rottenness of the bones" in this sense. But a contented spirit goes a long way to promote and to preserve bodily health. A quiet spirit is a stranger to all those restless feelings which give sleepless nights and anxious days to the envious man.

+II. It is indispensable to the attainment of a noble character.+ Calmness of spirit gives room for the development of all the graces and virtues which go to make up the "perfect man" (Ephes. iv. 13). Growth in nature demands some degree of quietness and calmness to develop itself. The mighty forest oak of a hundred years has attained its present noble dimensions by processes which have gone on for the most part in days and nights of stillness. So a character of moral strength and beauty can be formed only in the atmosphere of a calm and well-governed spirit.

_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._

_"Envy,"_ excitement of any kind; _perturbation;_ a wise saw, perhaps, of the old hygiene, but true spiritually. Religion rejoices in peace. Mad passion may be overruled; but so can our lusts be. As much as lieth in us, we should have peace. The soul is a temple (1 Cor. iii. 17), and "holiness becometh Thy house, O Lord, for ever" (Psa. xciii. 5).--_Miller._

The word _sound_ signifies healthful, free from _moral distempers_--the distempers of "the inner man," such as discontent, malice, and envy. Strictly speaking a _"sound heart"_--a heart entirely free from the evil passions that belong to fallen nature--is not to be found. But in Scripture a _sound_ heart, and even a _perfect_ heart, are phrases used to signify the real sincerity and predominant rule of right principles and actions. Envy, perhaps the most odious in itself, and the most corroding and torturing to the spirit, is here called "rottenness of the bones"--not a mere _surface sore,_ but a deep-seated disease; like _caries,_ or inflammation in the substance of the bone itself.--_Wardlaw._

+I. The nature of envy.+ It is a pain, or uneasiness, arising from an apprehension of the prosperity and good fortune of others; not because we suffer from their welfare, nor that our condition may be bettered by our uneasiness, but merely because their condition is bettered. There is a strong jealousy of pre-eminence and superiority implanted in our nature by Almighty God, for wise and noble purposes, to excite to the pursuit of laudable attainments, and the imitation of good and great actions. This principle is _emulation._ It is also an uneasiness occasioned by the good fortunes of others; but not because we repine at their prosperity; but because we ourselves have not attained the same good success. Its effect is to excite us to great designs, but when it meets with a corrupt disposition it degenerates into envy, the most malignant passion in human nature, the worst weed of the worst soil. So far from stirring up to imitation, envy labours to taint and depreciate what it does not so much as attempt to equal. +II. The cure for envy.+ 1. _That we endeavour to take a right estimate of things._ The laws of God are the eternal standards of good and evil; what they declare valuable, or enjoin as wise, are truly so, and what they disclaim as hurtful or worthless are, in fact, to be so regarded. 2. _That we try to make a right judgment of our own worth and abilities._ If we do this, we shall find that there are others in the world at least as wise and as good as we are, and perhaps we shall also find, that if merit were the standard of honour and affluence, we should not abound altogether as much as we do. 3. _Reflect seriously upon the vanity of all worldly advantage._ Shall we envy him _whose breath is in his nostrils?_ whose glory _fadeth as the flower of grass?--Delany._

Envy is called a passion, and passion means suffering. The patient who is ill of envy is a sinner and a sufferer too. He is an object of pity. It is a mysterious and terrible disease. The nerves of sensation within the man are attached by some unseen hand to his neighbours all around him, so that every step of advancement which they make tears the fibres which lie next his heart. The wretch enjoys a moment's relief when the mystic cord is temporarily slackened by his neighbour's fall; but his agony immediately begins again, for he anticipates another twitch as soon as the fallen is restored to prosperity. . . . The cure of envy, as wrought by the love of Christ, is not only a deliverance from pain, it is, even in the present world, an unspeakable gain. That man will speedily grow rich who gets and puts into his bag not only all his own winnings, but also all the winnings of his neighbours. . . . The Nile, contrary to the analogy of other great streams, flows more than a thousand miles without receiving the waters of a single tributary; the consequence is, that it grows no greater as it courses over that vast line. Other rivers are every now and then receiving converging streams from the right and left, and thereby their volume continually increases until it reaches the sea. The happiness of man is like the flow of water in a river. If you enjoy _nothing_ but what is your own, your tiny rivulet of contentment, so far from increasing, grows smaller by degrees, until it sinks unseen into the sand, and leaves you in a desert of despair; but when all the acquisitions of your neighbours go to swell its bulk, your enjoyment will flow like a river enriched by many affluents, growing ever greater as life approaches its close. It is some such river that makes glad the city of God.--_Arnot._

Socrates called envy the soul's saw; and wished that envious men had more eyes and ears than others, that they might have the more torment by beholding and hearing other men's happiness.--_Trapp._

Envy at last crawls forth from hell's dire throng,
Of all the direfull'st! Her black locks hung long,
Attired with curling serpents; her pale skin
Was almost dropped from her sharp bones within;
And at her breasts stuck vipers, which did prey
Upon her panting heart both night and day,
Sucking black blood from thence, which to repair,
Both day and night they left fresh poisons there.
Her garments were deep-stained in human gore,
And torn by her own hands, in which she bore
A knotted whip and bowl, which to the brim
Did with green gall and juice of wormwood swim;
With which, when she was drunk, she furious grew,
And lashed herself; thus from the accursed crew
Envy, the worst of fiends, herself presents,
Envy, good only when she herself torments.--_Cowley._

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 31.

THE OPPRESSED AND THEIR OPPRESSORS.

+I. Those who are the objects of oppression--+"The poor." They are made up of three classes. 1. _Those who have never known their supplies to be equal to their positive needs--who have not only always lived from hand to mouth, but whose hands have never been able to obtain a sufficient supply for the mouth._ Such poor ones have this advantage, they have never known better days--their life is like a river whose shallow waters have never overflowed its banks--whose channel has always been much deeper than the stream. There is no force of contrast to add to the present bitterness. 2. _Those who have been reduced from sufficiency to want._ To such poverty is a greater hardship than to those just mentioned. The light and comfort of the past makes the darkness and misery of the present harder to bear. If their own wrong-doing or mistakes have been the cause of their fall, the trial is all the heavier. 3. _There are those whom we call poor who, though not actually in want, have to toil hard and unceasingly for the necessaries of life, and who know nothing of the luxuries of wealth and ease._

+II. The oppression of any or all of these is an insult to God.+ To oppress the first is to oppress men for what they cannot help--for that for which they are as irresponsible as for the colour of their skin, and therefore it is to reproach Him who appointed them to their lot in life. To oppress the second is to insult God, by afflicting them beyond the affliction which He has permitted to fall upon them. Whether their present condition is retribution or chastisement, its measure has been appointed by the hand of the All-wise Ruler of men, and it is "reproaching" Him to add to it by oppression. If a child is being corrected by its parent, or a criminal is paying the penalty which the judge has awarded to him for his crimes, it is an impeachment of their judgment to add in any way to the punishment that has been decreed. Those who oppress the third class are guilty of a sin against those who have always been special objects of His favour, and who make up a large proportion of the members of His kingdom. (See Homiletics and Comments on verse 21.)

+III. Mercifulness to the poor reveals reverence for God.+ 1. _It shows that the man regulates his conduct by Divine laws._ God, as we have seen in considering the 21st verse, has been most explicit in the revelation of His will in this matter. 2. _He sees in every man some trace of his Divine Creator._

"Man is God's image; but a poor man is
Christ's stamp to boot."--_Herbert._

_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._

_"Oppression"_ means something more than the contempt and neglect dealt with in verse 21. He who acts such a part "reproacheth His Maker." For, _first,_ he acts as if the poor were of another species--an inferior order of beings; whereas they have all the attributes of the same manhood with him by whom they are condemned. _Second,_ he acts as if the circumstances in which the poor are placed were a warrant for him to imitate the Divine conduct and depress them still further, which is a reproach of God, as if He dealt with the poor in spirit of unkindness or partiality. . . . A man may have mercy on the poor who does _not "honour God."_ Humanity may, and often does, exist without godliness; but godliness cannot exist without humanity.--_Wardlaw._

We treat God with no respect (1) when _"the poor,"_ who are His children are not treated as such; (2) when the poor, who are his dependents, are left unhelped, so as to seem to bring Him into discredit, but (as is most intended, judging from the whole drift of this part of the chapter) (3) when the poor, who are His instruments, and are sent to exercise our virtues, are not treated as such, but our _"Maker"_ thwarted in the work of _making us better_ by these needy visitants. Life moves by such sort of influences.--_Miller._

God takes it for an honour, how should this prevail with us. How exceedingly shall such be honoured in that great panegyris at the last day, when the Judge shall say, "Come, ye blessed of My Father, I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat."--_Trapp._

He that reproacheth the poor reproacheth his own Maker, and showeth himself unworthy to have been made by Him; reproacheth the Maker of the poor, as if either He could not help him, or else as if He had made him to be oppressed by making him poor. But God, who suffereth thee to oppress the poor, will not suffer thee to be unpunished for it, and seeing thou sparest not to reproach Himself, will not spare to scourge thee. Tully saith, "Men in nothing come nearer God than in giving," and Gregory Nazianzen goes further, and tells us, "Thou mayest even by no labour be made God, do not, therefore neglect the opportunity of obtaining a Deity. Make thyself God to the miserable, by imitating the mercy of God."--_Jermin._

The ancient Church possessed in full the glorious truth, that of all the real compassion which flows through human channels, the fountain-head is on high. He who gets mercy shows it.--_Arnot._

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 32.

THE DEATH OF THE RIGHTEOUS AND THE WICKED.