Chapter XVI (2)

+I. There is in the human heart and in human life that which is not conducive to human happiness, viz., iniquity.+ Iniquity is _inequality,_ or _injustice,_ and a sinner is an _unjust_ man. 1. _He is unjust to himself._ He is bound to render to himself what is due to his own nature--to care for his own real and highest interests--but this no ungodly man does. 2. _He practises iniquity towards his neighbour._ This follows from the first as a necessary consequence. Shakespeare thus admonishes us--

"To thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man."

But if a man is not true to himself, it follows as certainly that he will not be true to any other man--will not in its real and broad sense be a just man in his relations to others. 3. _He practises iniquity towards God._ He does not render to God that which is His just due, and this is indeed the foundation of his iniquity towards himself and his fellow-men.

+II. Human nature cannot find within itself a remedy for its own iniquity.+ The man who is smitten with fever cannot find a remedy for his disease in his own diseased body--he must look somewhere else for a cure. There are remedies powerful in curing his disease, but they must be administered from without, they are not resident within him. So there is a cure for human iniquity, and that cure is to be found in contact with mercy and truth, but neither of these is to be found in fallen human nature, or, if some traces exist among men, the mercy is not abundant enough, and the truth is not unalloyed enough to effect the cure.

+III. There is enough mercy and truth in God to do away with human iniquity.+ He has devised a plan by which His abundant mercy and His unsullied truth shall be brought into contact with sinful men in such a manner as to cure them of their sin. Mercy without truth could not meet the need, neither could truth without mercy. Mercy is needed to do away with the guilt of sin--to give remission for past transgressions, but it is equally needful that some standard of truth and righteousness should also be given, lest men "sin that grace may abound." Mercy frees the sinner from the penalty of sin, but truth is brought into contact with his soul to free him from the power of sin. Being _"made free from sin"_ men must _"become servants of God,"_ and _"have fruit unto holiness"_ (Rom. vi. 22). And to obtain this end there must be a reception into the human soul of Divine truth to transform it--to regenerate it. Hence when the _"Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us,"_ and men _"beheld His glory,"_ it was a glory _"full of grace and truth"_ (John i. 14). For Homiletics on the second clause of this verse, see on chap. xiv. 15 (page 364).

_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._

Loving and faithful conduct towards one's neighbour is not in and of itself named as the ground of the expiation of sin, but only so far forth as it is a sign and necessary expression of a really penitent and believing disposition of heart, and so is a correlative to the fear of God, which is made prominent in the second clause; just as in the expression of Jesus with reference to the sinning woman (Luke vii. 47), or as in Isa. lviii. 7; Dan. iv. 34, etc.--_Zöckler._

The _purging of iniquity_ seems here to direct us to expiation, and considering that Divine mercy and truth are frequently exhibited in connection with this invaluable blessing, the analogy of faith appears to link it here with these combined perfections which kiss in Christ the Mediator (Psa. lxxxv. 10), and with that covenant of grace in which they shine so brightly. Should this view be thought not to cohere with the general tenor of this book, which deals more with practical points and matters of common life than with the deeper articles of faith, it may be observed that, when some of its pages are so fully illuminated by evangelical sunshine (chap. viii. 9), we might naturally expect--besides this connected splendour--occasional rays of doctrinal light to rest upon this system of Christian morals. . . . God purges iniquity by sacrifice, not nullifying the sanctions of the law by a simple deed of _mercy,_ but combining the manifestations of His _truth_ by fulfilling these sanctions upon the Surety which _mercy_ provided (Isa. liii. 6, 2 Cor. v. 21). . . . So gloriously do these two attributes harmonise. We inquire not to which we owe the deepest obligation. _Mercy_ engages, _truth_ fulfils the engagements. _Mercy_ provides--_truth_ accepts--the ransom. Both sat together in the Eternal council. Both made their public entrance together into the world. Both, like the two pillars of the temple (1 Kings vii. 21), combine to support the Christian's confidence. . . . The exercise of forgiveness is to implant a conservative principle. _"By the fear of the Lord men depart from evil."_ The supposition of pardon for a sinner continuing impenitent would be to unite the two contraries of reconciliation and enmity.--_Bridges._

The Gospel in (1) _Justification_ and (2) _Sanctification_ is here as beautifully announced as by any of the apostles. Justification makes its appearance as a covering of iniquity by _mercy and truth. "Mercy and truth"_ is the sum of holiness. How does holiness, therefore, which is _"mercy and truth,"_ cover sin? Undoubtedly by the Gospel method. . . . But then there is to be a _turning from evil._ This is Sanctification. How is it to be accomplished? By ourselves, as the indispensable instrument. Mercy and truth win for us the Spirit; and then, under this outfit, we are to set out upon the journey. The man in the temple must lift forth his hand (Matt. xii. 10). But how are we to begin? This book tells us again and again. _"The fear of Jehovah"_ is the beginning of wisdom (chap. ix. 10). The _turning_ is by an access of fear. But how are we to continue? The _turning_ is to be kept up. It is more like a _departing._ Sin, being slow to wear out, the turning has to go on; and it becomes a journey; and we travel each day, just as we set out. . . . And the very last of the journey, like the very beginning, is by _"the fear of Jehovah."_ The actual _fear_ of Jehovah, tempered by love, is a thing of "discipline" (see on chap. xv. 33), which drives the Christian away from his iniquity.--_Miller._

To fear the Lord and to depart from evil, are phrases which the Scriptures use in very great latitude to express to us the sum of religion and the whole of our duty. 1. _It is very usual in Scripture to express the whole of religion by some eminent principle or part of it._ The great principles of religion are knowledge, faith, remembrance, love, and fear. And religion is called the "knowledge of the holy" (Prov. xxx. 3), and the "remembrance of God" (Eccles. xii. 1), and the love of God (Rom. viii. 28, etc.), and here and elsewhere the "fear of the Lord" (Mal. iii. 16, etc.). So likewise the sum of all religion is often expressed by some eminent part of it, as it is here expressed by departing from evil. It is described by seeking God (Heb. xi. 6) and by calling on His name (Acts ii. 21), etc., etc. 2. _The fitness of these two phrases to describe religion._ The fitness of the first will appear if we consider how great an influence the fear of God hath upon men to make them religious. Fear is a passion that is most deeply rooted in our natures, and flows immediately from that principle of self-preservation which God hath planted in every man. Everyone desires his own preservation and happiness, therefore everyone has a natural dread of anything that can destroy them. And the greatest danger is from the greatest power, and that is omnipotency. So that the fear of God is an inward acknowledgement of a holy and just being, who is armed with an almighty and irresistible power; God having hid in every man's conscience a secret awe and dread of His infinite power and eternal justice. Now fear, being so intimate to our nature, is the strongest bond of laws, and the great security of our duty. . . . For though we have lost in a great measure the gust and relish of true happiness, yet we still retain a quick sense of pain and misery. So that fear relies upon a natural love of ourselves, and is complicated with a necessary desire of our own preservation. And therefore religion usually makes its entrance into us by this passion; hence, perhaps, it is that Solomon more than once calls it the _"beginning of wisdom."_ As for the second phrase, the fitness of it will appear if we consider the necessary connection that there is between the negative and positive part of our duty. He that is careful to avoid all sin will sincerely endeavour to perform his duty. For the soul of man is an active principle, and will be employed one way or the other, it will be doing something; if a man abstain from evil he will do good. "Virtue begins in the forsaking of vice; and the first part of wisdom is not to be a fool." . . . The law of God, contained in the Ten Commandments, consists mostly of prohibitions which yet include obedience likewise to the positive precepts contained in those prohibitions.--_Tillotson._

No object can well be more dull and meaningless than the stained window of an ancient church, as long as you stand without and look upon a dark interior; but when you stand within the temple, and look through that window upon the light from heaven, the still, sweet, solemn forms that lie in it start into life and loveliness. The beauty was all conceived by the mind, and wrought by the hand of the ancient artist whose bones now lie mouldering in the surrounding churchyard; but the beauty lies hid until two requisites come together--a seeing eye within, and a shining light without. We often meet with a verse upon the page of the Old Testament Scriptures very like those ancient works of art. The beauty of holiness is in it--put into it by the Spirit from the first, and yet its meaning was not fully known until the Sun of Righteousness arose, and the Israel of God, no longer kept in the outer court, entered through the rent veil, and from the Holy of Holies, looked through the ancient record on an illuminated heaven. Many hidden beauties burst into view upon the pages of the Bible, when Faith's open eye looks through it on the face of Jesus. One of these texts is now before us. . . . The first clause tells how the guilt of sin is forgiven; the second, how the power of sin is subdued. Solomon unites the two constituent elements of the sinner's deliverance in the same order in which his father experienced them: "I have hoped for thy salvation, and done thy commandments" (Ps. cxix. 166). It is when iniquity is purged by free grace that men practically depart from evil. . . . Mercy and truth meet in the Mediator. In Christ the fire meets the water without drying it up: the water meets the fire without quenching it.--_Arnot._

By iniquity God and men are severed, and never can iniquity be pardoned until God and man meet again. To procure this meeting there must be a meeting of mercy and truth, of mercy in God and truth in man. And these do call the one for the other. The mercy of God being ready to forgive iniquity, calleth for truth in man to confess iniquity; the truth of man being ready to confess his iniquity calleth for the mercy of God to pardon his iniquity. Now these two readily concurring, God and man are rejoined, and by their reunion iniquity is purged. But then there must follow a departing from iniquity. . . . For iniquity, forgiven and not forsaken, doubleth the iniquity both in man's guilt and God's wrath. Wherefore, let the mercy of the Lord breed a fear in thee, and let the truth of thy repentance appear, as well in shunning iniquity as in forsaking of it.--_Jermin._

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 7.

PLEASING GOD.

+I. There are times when men's ways do not please the Lord.+ _The ways of the ungodly do not at any time please the Lord._ Because they have no sympathy with His laws, and are at variance with His character. _"God is not in all their thoughts"_ (Psalm x. 4), and it is impossible for God to be pleased with the ways of them who do not think Him worth thinking about. A man must forsake his own ways and come into God's ways before his ways can please the Lord. _The ways of a good man do not at all times please the Lord._ They sometimes stray from the royal road--the highway of righteousness--and get into bye-paths, and thus bring down upon themselves the displeasure of their God. David, though in the main a "man after God's own heart," more than once walked in paths that were displeasing to the Lord, and several incidents in his life teach us plainly that some ways of a godly man may be very contrary to the Divine mind.

+II. But God can be pleased by a man's ways.+ Those who strive to conform to our desires--who are in sympathy with our minds--naturally yield us pleasure. And a good man's desire is to conform his ways to the Will of God--he is in sympathy with the mind of God, and his life is the outcome of that sympathy. Therefore he can yield pleasure to the Eternal. If the Creator, in looking upon the inanimate works of His hands, pronounces them "good" (Gen. i. 31) when He sees them fulfilling the design of their creation, how much more good in His sight is it when a moral and responsible creature who has power to turn out of the path ordained for him seeks patiently to continue in well-doing notwithstanding all the temptations he has to encounter.

+III. The consequence upon men's minds of thus giving pleasure to the Divine mind.+ The way of pleasing the Lord promotes "favour and a good understanding in the sight of God and man" (chap. iii. 4). He whose aim is to please God will desire and strive to live at peace with men. And in cases where his godliness provokes the enmity of the ungodly, God, by His overruling Providence, often directly interferes on his behalf. He did so in the case of Jacob and Laban, in that of Joseph and his brethren, etc.

_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._

The doctrine of this verse, stands in apparent contradiction to 2 Tim. iii. 12. The truth seems to be that neither of the passages is to be taken _universally._ The peace possessed by those who please God does not extend so far as to exempt them from having enemies, and though all godly men must be persecuted, yet none are persecuted at all times. The passage from Timothy may, therefore, refer to the native enmity which true godliness is certain to excite, and the proverb to the Divine control over it.--_A. Fuller._

There would be more sunlight in the believer's life if he could leave the dull negative fear of judgment far behind as a motive of action, and bound forward into the glad positive, a hopeful effort to please God. . . . This is one of the two principles that stand together in the Word, and act together in the Divine administration. Its counterpart and complement is, "If any man would live godly in Christ Jesus, he must suffer persecution.". . . Both are best; neither could be wanted. If the principle that goodness exposes to persecution prevailed everywhere and always, the spirit would fail before Him and the souls that He has made. Again, if the principle that goodness conciliates the favour of the world prevailed everywhere and always, no discipline would be done, and the service of God would degenerate into mercenary self-interest. . . . A beautiful balance of opposites is employed to produce one grand result. . . . A Christian in the world is like a human body in the sea--there is a tendency to sink and a tendency to swim. A very small force in either direction will turn the scale. Our Father in heaven holds the elements of nature and the passions of men at His own disposal. His children need not fear, for He keeps the balance in His own hands.--_Arnot._

If it is manifest that God makes Himself known, bestowing blessings on a man, there lies in this a power of conviction which disarms his most bitter opponents, excepting only those who have in selfishness hardened themselves.--_Delitzsch._

Whatsoever a man's ways are, it is part of every man's intention to please howsoever; it is the object that maketh the difference. All men strive to please, but some to please themselves, some to please other men, and some few to please the Lord. . . . The last is--1. _A duty whereunto we stand bound by many obligations._ He is our Master, our Captain, our Father, our King. He is no honest servant that will not strive to please his master. And he is no generous soldier who will not strive to please his general. And that son hath neither grace nor good nature in him that will not strive to please his father, and he is no loyal subject that will not strive to please his lawful sovereign. And yet there may be a time when all those obligations may cease, for if it be their pleasure that we should do something that lawfully we may not, we must disobey, though we displease. But we can have no colour of plea for refusing to do the pleasure of our heavenly Lord and Master, in anything whatsoever; inasmuch as we are sure nothing will please Him but what is just and right. With what a forehead, then, can any of us challenge from Him either wages as servants, or stipends as soldiers, or provision as sons, or protection as subjects, if we be not careful in every respect to frame ourselves so as to please Him? 2. _It is our wisdom, too: in respect of the great benefits we shall reap thereby._ There is one great benefit expressed in the text, and the scope of those words is to instruct us, that the fairest and likeliest way to procure peace with men is to order our ways so as to please the Lord. . . . The favour of God and the favour of men are often joined together in the Scriptures as if the one were consequent of the other. See Luke ii. 52; Prov. iii. 3, 4; Rom. xiv. 18, etc. . . . But it may be objected that sundry times when a man's ways are right, and therefore pleasing to God, his enemies are nothing less, if not perhaps much more, enraged against him than formerly. . . . Sundry considerations may be of use to us in the difficulty, as, first, if God have not yet made our enemies to be at peace with us, yet it may be He will do it hereafter. Neither is it unlikely that we do not walk with an even foot, and by a straight line, but tread away in something or other which displeaseth God, and for which He suffereth their enmity to continue. . . . Or if He do not presently make our enemies to be at peace with us, yet if He teach us to profit by their enmity, in exercising our faith and patience, in quickening us unto prayer, etc., is it not in every way, and incomparably better? Will any wise man tax Him with a breach of promise, who, having promised a pound of silver, giveth a talent of gold? Or who can truly say that that man is not as good as his word who is apparently much better than his word?--_Bp. Sanderson._

It is our peace with God that maketh Him to make our enemies to be at peace with us, and it is our enmity against God's enemies that maketh God to be at peace with us. Now, the enemies of God are the sins of men, and if we be in a continual war with those, then do our ways please God. Then it is that He is ready to please us, when our ways please Him. Neither is He hard to please--a willingness, a desire to please, is accepted by Him. He looks not--He requireth not--that we should do exactly all that is contained in His commandments, but if we go about to please Him--if we put ourselves carefully in the way--then do our ways please Him. And then will He give us that glorious victory over our enemies which is above all others. For to subdue our enemies is but to make ourselves happy in their misery; but to make our enemies at peace with us is a victory for God's hand, and giveth man a double triumph, as well over the hatred as the power of our enemies.--_Jermin._

The subject of verse 8 is substantially the same as that of chap. xv. 6 and 17. See Homiletics on page 405, etc.

_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._

"Better," for the tranquility of conscience, for the present enjoyment of this life, and for the life to come. In chap. xv. 16, we are warned against gain without religion, in chap. xv. 17, against gain without _love to our neighbour:_ here, against gain without _right.--Fausset._

Abraham would not take to himself of the spoils of Sodom so much as the value of a shoe-latchet, that it might never be said in after times that the king of Sodom had made Abraham rich; so neither will any godly man that hath learned the art of contentation, suffer a penny of the gain of ungodliness to mingle with the rest of his estate, that the devil may not be able to upbraid him with it afterwards to his shame, as if he had contributed something towards the increasing thereof.--_Bishop Sanderson._

A _little_ that is in man's own is better than a _great deal_ that is another body's. Now that which a man hath with _righteousness_ is his own, for there can be no better title than that which righteousness maketh. But that which thou hast _without right_ cannot be thine, howsoever thou mayest account it, or others may call it. Possession may be a great point in human laws, but it is nothing in God's law; the want of right overthroweth whatsoever else may be said. Tis true, thou mayest have quiet possession on earth, but there be adversaries that do implead the unrighteousness at God's judgment bar, where they are sure last to be cast, and where themselves will give the verdict which the wise man here doth.--_Jermin._

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 9.

MAN PROPOSES, GOD DISPOSES.

+I. This is a fact of national and individual history.+ In both inspired and uninspired records we meet with abundant confirmations of this truth. There is no more striking illustration of it than in the life of Joseph. He leaves his father's house, as he supposes, for a few days, little dreaming that he is traversing a path by which he will never return. He only purposes to find his brethren, and "see if it is well with them, and bring his father word again." But God is then directing his steps into a far-off land--into slavery, to a prison, and through both to a throne. So the shepherd boy of Bethlehem sets out with the unambitious intention of carrying supplies to his brethren, and of seeing how the battle is likely to go, and becomes himself the central figure in the camp, and the hero of his nation. And David's predecessor goes in search of his father's asses, and finds a crown and a kingdom at the end of his journey. Cromwell, despairing of enjoying liberty in England, planned to make a home in America, and, it is said, actually went on board a vessel which was about to sail. But God, using as an instrument the man to whose throne he was to succeed, directed his steps in another direction, and being forbidden to quit the country, he becomes not only England's deliverer, but a great and powerful ruler, whose influence was felt throughout Europe. Clive went out to India as a clerk, because he had no prospects of getting a living at home, and lays the foundation of our Indian empire. And there is hardly a man living who, if he reflects upon his past life, cannot remember passages in his own history which confirm the truth of the text. He makes certain plans, and purposes to accomplish certain designs, and the result of his doings is quite different from his intentions, or leads him to a place, or a position, or into relationships which were entirely out of his calculation when he "devised his way."

+II. This is a law which must be in operation till the end of time.+ Unexpected events must be the outcome of man's plans and purpose, because he is finite and very short-sighted, and there is an Infinite and Omniscient Ruler of the universe, who comprehends in His plan of the universe all the plans of His creatures, and in His plan concerning every man all that man's devices and deeds. "God professes in His Word," says Dr. Bushnell, "to have purposes pre-arranged for all events; to govern by a plan which is from eternity even, and which, in some proper sense, comprehends everything. And what is this but another way of conceiving that God has a definite place and plan adjusted for every human being? And without such a plan, He could not even govern the world intelligently, or make a proper universe of the created system; for it becomes a universe only in the grant unity of reason which includes it, otherwise it were only a jumble of fortuities without counsel, end, or law." This being so, a man can rejoice in the truth that "The Lord directs his steps"--that the events of his life are not the outcome of chance, but are all under the control of a supremely wise and benevolent King and Father. Not that God's foreknowledge is the cause of man's actions, but that seeing He must know what shall come to pass, nothing takes Him by surprise, and therefore nothing finds Him unprepared to arrange all a man's affairs after the counsel of His Own Will. Nothing happens without His permission; no good thing comes to a man's life without His instigation and co-operation, and, if a man is willing to yield himself to His guidance, He will not only direct his steps, but direct them so as to further that man's true well-being--will make "all things work together for good" to him (Rom. viii. 28). The fact here declared will redound to a man's eternal gain or loss according to the attitude which he takes towards God. "There is then, I conclude, a definite and proper end, or issue, for ever man's existence; an end which to the heart of God is the good intended for him, or for which he was intended; that which he is privileged to become; called to become, ought to become; that which God will assist him to become, save by his own fault. Every human soul has a complete and perfect plan cherished for it in the heart of God--a Divine biography marked out which it enters into life to live. This life, rightly unfolded, will be a complete and beautiful whole, an experience led on by God and unfolded by His secret nurture, as the tree and the flowers, by the secret nurture of the world; a drama cast in the mould of a perfect art, with no part wanting; a Divine study for the man himself, and for others; a study that shall for ever unfold, in wondrous beauty, the love and faithfulness of God; great in its conception, great in the Divine skill by which it is shaped; above all, great in the momentous and glorious issues it prepares. What a thought is this for every human being to cherish! What dignity does it add to life! What support does it bring to the trials of life! What instigations does it add to send us onward in everything that constitutes our excellence! We live in the Divine thought. We fill a place in the great everlasting plan of God's intelligence. We never sink below His care--never drop out of His counsel. But there is, I must add, a single and very important qualification. Things all serve their uses, and never break out of their place. They have no power to do it. Not so with us. We are able, as free beings, to refuse the place and duties God appoints; which, if we do, then we sink into something lower and less worthy of us. That highest and best condition for which God designed us is no more possible. . . . And yet, as that was the best thing possible for us in the reach of God's original counsel, so there is a place designed for us now, which is the next best possible. God calls us now to the best thing left, and will do so till all good possibility is narrowed down and spent. And then, when He cannot use us any more for our own good, He will use us for the good of others--an example of the misery and horrible desperation to which any soul must come when all the good ends, and all the holy callings of God's friendly and fatherly purpose are exhausted. Or it may be now, that, remitting all other plans and purposes in our behalf, He will henceforth use us--wholly against our will--to be the demonstration of His justice and avenging power before the eyes of mankind, saying over us, as He did over Pharaoh in the day of His judgments, 'Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might show My power in thee, and that My name might be declared throughout all the earth.' Doubtless He had other and more general plans to serve in this bad man, if only he could have accepted such; but, knowing his certain rejection of these, God turned His mighty counsel in him wholly on the use to be made of him as a reprobate. How many Pharaohs in common life refuse every other use God will make of them, choosing only to figure, in their small way, as reprobates, and descending, in that manner, to a fate that painfully mimics his."--(_Bushnell._)

_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._

The thought of the first verse, coming to be repeated, this versatile sentence-maker calls it back with different scenery. _"The answer"_ or _"decree of a tongue"_ (ver. 1) is one pregnant act, _the "step" of a foot_ is another. Both may make a man or ruin him, for this world, or that which is to come. The critical thing, in either case, is controlled by the Almighty. . . . _"Heart,"_ more intellectual than the English _heart. "Devises"_ too intellectual for our emotional nature. It means _studies,_ or _deeply meditates._ The sinner really reflects upon his future wisdoms. Alas! they are too future! And when the future come, he _"plants," "sets firm his step,"_ quite differently from what he had decreed.--_Miller._

The doctrine of Providence is not like the doctrine of the Trinity--to be received by faith. Experience gives a demonstrable stamp of evidence--even in all the minutiæ of circumstances, which form the parts and pieces of the Divine plan.--_Bridges._

It _must_ be so. If there is a God at all it cannot be otherwise. It were the height of irrationality as well as impiety for a moment to question it--to imagine the contrary possible. How otherwise could God govern the world? Were not all human schemes under supreme and irresistible control, what could become of the certainty of the Divine?--_Wardlaw._

When it is said that a man's heart deviseth his way but the Lord directeth his steps, we must not think that the purpose of the creature is condemned as an impertinence. It is an essential element of the plan. Neither human purposes, the material on which God exercises His sovereign control, nor the control which He exercises on that material could be wanted. If there were no room for the devices of men's hearts, providence would disappear, and grim hate, the leaden creed that crushes Eastern nations in the dust, would come in its stead. If, on the other hand, these devices are left to fight against each other for their objects without being subjected all to the will of a Living One, faith flees from the earth and the reign of Atheism begins. The desires of human hearts, and the efforts of human hands, do go into the processes of providence, and constitute the material upon which the Almighty works. When God made men in His own image, a new era was inaugurated and a new work begun. Hitherto, in the government of this world, the Creator had no other elements to deal with than matter and the instincts of brutes; but the moment that man took his place on creation, a new and higher element was introduced into its government. The sphere was enlarged and the principle elevated. There was more room for the display of wisdom and power. The will of intelligent moral beings being left free, and yet as completely controlled as matter and laws, makes the Divine government much more glorious than the mere management of a material universe. For God's glory man was created, and that purpose will stand; a glory to God man will be, willing or unwilling, fallen or restored, throughout the course of time, and at its close. The doctrine of Scripture regarding Providence neither degrades man, nor inflates him. It does not make him a mere thing on the one hand, nor a god on the other. It neither takes from him the attributes of humanity, nor ascribes to him the attributes of Deity. It permits him freely to propose, but leaves the ultimate disposal in a mightier hand.--_Arnot._

The doctrine of the text--I. _Should correct immoderate care about the future events of our life._ What means this mighty bustle and stir--this restless perturbation of thought and care--as if all the issues of futurity rested wholly on thy conduct? Something depends upon thyself, and there is reason, therefore, for acting thy part with prudence and attention. But upon a hand unseen it depends, either to overturn thy projects, or to crown them with success, therefore thine attention should never run into immoderate care. II. _Should enforce moderation of mind in every state._ How little ground the real situation of the most prosperous man affords for the vain _elation_ of mind, for he is dependent every moment on the pleasure of a superior. III. _Places the vanity and folly of sinful plans in a very strong light._ The sinner has against him, first, the general uncertainty which belongs to all the designs of men. And he hath also engaged against himself one certain and formidable enemy. IV. _That an interest in God's favour is far more important than all the wisdom and ability of man._ In a world so full of uncertainty, let us take pains to secure to ourselves one resting place, one habitation that cannot be moved.--_Blair._

God having made man lord of the earth, He hath made him lord also of the ways of the earth. He is not tied to this way or that way, but as his heart deviseth, so he may go. And herein is the dignity of a man above a beast. For that way must a beast go which he is driven: but man, not driven by fate, or constellation, or any other necessity, as master of himself, chooseth his own courses wherein to walk. Notwithstanding, man is not without an overseer, a ruler, by whom his steps are directed. The wicked chooseth an evil way, but God directeth it to a good end. The good chooseth a good way, but it is by God brought to a good issue.--_Jermin._

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 10-15.

KINGS.

It is obvious that some of these proverbs as they stand in our Authorised Version, do not admit of universal application in relation to human monarchs. History and experience both contradict the assertion that a "Divine sentence" is always, or has been generally, in the lips of a human king, but if we understand the verse, as Miller does (see his comment) as an application of the truth set forth in the preceding verse and in verse 1, that God is behind and above all the decrees of earthly potentates, we can at once admit the fact and rejoice in it. Again, it cannot, alas! be said that as a rule, "righteous lips are the delight of kings," or that "in the light of the king's countenance is life." Many kings have been themselves incarnations of iniquity, and have bestowed all their favour upon men like themselves, and persecuted often to the death those who have dared to tell them the truth. If this proverb admitted of universal application, Ahab would not have sought to slay Elijah, Jeremiah would not have been imprisoned by Zedekiah, and Herod would not have put to death John the Baptist. And the favour of most of the men who have sat upon the thrones of the world would have had no life in it for some of their subjects. There has been a faithful few in all the ages of the world to whom the favour of their wicked rulers would have been very unlike "a cloud of the latter rain." But the truths taught here are:--

+I. That a king ought to be God's prophet and viceregent upon the earth.+ All painters have an ideal in their minds to which they desire to attain in their handiwork. They must place before them the highest model, if they would rise to anything like excellence. And Solomon, as a great theoretic moralist, is here setting before himself, and before all rulers, an ideal king. Kingship among men ought to be a type and symbol of Divine kingship. The loyal obedience which the majority of men have always been ready to yield to those who they have regarded as their appointed rulers, has its root deep down in the constitution of human nature--it is a prophecy of a need which is only fully met in the rule of the true and perfect King of men--that King whose right it is to reign, and who can do no wrong to any of His subjects. "That was not an inconsiderable moment," says Carlyle, "when wild armed men first raised their strongest aloft on the buckler-throne, and, with clanging armour and hearts said solemnly, Be thou our acknowledged strongest (well named King, _Kön-ning,_ Canning, or Man that was Able), what a symbol shone now for them--significant with the destinies of the world! A symbol of true guidance in return for loving obedience; properly, if he knew it, the prime want of man. A symbol which might be called sacred, for is there not, in reverence for what is better than we, an indestructible sacredness?" And when a king realises what idea he embodies, and strives to fulfil worthily the duties of his high calling, and in proportion as he does so, he is a representative of God to men. Then he will have a _Divine sentence_ in his mouth because he will be a truth-speaker. His lips will be a reflection of his character. Being a man of truth, he cannot do other than speak the truth. He will be able in a limited sense to use the words of His Divine Ideal, and say, _"To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness of the truth"_ (John xviii. 37). And as all truth and justice is from God (ver. 11), he who is a truth-speaker--he from whose lips come only just decisions, utters a "Divine sentence"--is a representative of Him whose "is a just weight and balance," whose "work are all the weights of the bag." To such an one it will be "an abomination to commit wickedness"--any kind of iniquity will be detested by him. He will not--he cannot--be a sinless man; the desires and intentions of every good man are always beyond his deeds--he can always say, "To will is present with me, but how to perform that which is good I find not" (Rom. vii. 18), but he will not commit sin because he loves it. Such a king will be a real benefactor to his nation by exalting the true and the good, and so blessing all. It is a blessing for all men--whether they be good or bad--when the best men in the nation are in the fore-front--when the righteous fill the highest positions in the State. And a true king will gladly avail himself of the services of men of "righteous lips," and so will be a source of blessing to all his people. The "latter rain" which refreshes the thirsty earth after a long season of drought lets its life-giving drops fall upon the parched leaves of the humblest weed as well as upon the stately oak. And the influence of a wise and godly monarch is beneficial to all classes of his subjects from the highest to the lowest. All such are types--dim foreshadowings--of that _"king who reigns in righteousness and who is as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as a shadow of a great rock in a weary land"_ (Isa. xxxii. 1, 2).

+II. That the stability of a throne is in proportion to the moral excellence of him who sits upon it.+ The power that men have over other men is lasting in proportion as it has its origin in character. The father's kingship over his children is immutable in proportion to his goodness. If his rule has its foundation only in his position, his children will not be slow to shake it off as they reach manhood; but if it is founded upon his godliness, they will be compelled to acknowledge it to the day of his death and even beyond it. His throne in his family is "established by righteousness," the consciences of his children consent to his right to reign among them and over them. The throne of the universe is established by righteousness. _"Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: the sceptre of Thy kingdom is a right sceptre. Thou lovest righteousness and hatest wickedness; therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows"_ (Psalm xlv. 6, 7). This King of Righteousness is now enthroned in the affections and consciences of myriads of His subjects, and He who rules men's _hearts_ has set his throne upon a firm foundation. And there will come a day when every creature will be compelled by his conscience to yield to _"Him that sitteth upon the throne,"_ the right to reign over them for ever (Rev. v. 13), because they will feel that all his ways are and ever have been _"just and true"_ (Rev. xv. 3). If we read the history of the past or look around us now, we find this truth abundantly illustrated. Thrones which have been backed up by mighty armies, and whose occupants have for a few short years been the arbiters of the destinies of millions, have been overturned in a few weeks. And we have but to look at the steps by which such men came to power to find a reason for their fall. None can doubt from the experience of past ages, and from the very constitution of men, that the thrones of the present are founded upon a rock or upon sand, in proportion as those who sit upon them take as their model the king who _"judges His people with righteousness and the poor with judgment"_ (Psalm lxxii. 2).

_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._

Verse 10. "A Divine sentence" may be understood either as to its _character,_ or as to its _authoritative effect._ If taken in the former sense, it means a sentence according to perfect _equity;_ if in the latter, the idea is, that as every judgment or "sentence" of God is _decisive and effectual,_ so that the execution of it cannot be evaded or resisted, such, in measure, is the case with the sentence of kings among men, and in the general idea of a Divine sentence may fairly be included both character and efficiency--both equity and power. When understood of _equity,_ the latter part of the verse, according to the principle of Hebrew parallelisms will be a kind of counterpart or echo to the former, and when understood of _power,_ the verse might be rendered--"A Divine sentence is in the lips of the king; _let not_ his mouth transgress in judgment." In proportion to the authoritative and efficacious nature of his sentence, ought he to see to it that the sentence be right. He should weigh well his decision ere he pronounces it, seeing it involves consequences so certain, immediate, and important. And the principle of this lesson applies to all in situations of authority and influence, whether more private or more public.--_Wardlaw._

The glaring fact of what Solomon avows in verse 9 can be seen in the instance of _"a king."_ The word of a king can ruin France, and change the whole system of the world. How, possibly, could God govern, unless He could a king? Eternal ages will not get over the edict of a prince, and the banded universe will feel its differences. Must not God control that word? Our passage answers that He does. He may be George III. of the low forehead; his speech is shaped omnisciently. He may be as treacherous as Charles; he does not betray by a hair the counsel of the Almighty. This is a grand thought. A poor princeling may be governed by a girl, and yet, though his utterance might move the globe, we need have no fear. There is _"a divination," i.e.,_ "an oracle," behind _"his lips."_ He says what God pleases. And though _"his mouth"_ may have the very treachery of the cup, it has no treachery--even to a grain--to the plans of the All Wise.--_Miller._

It cannot be denied but that there is a nearer reference between God and His immediate deputies, the kings of the earth, than any other persons. He that maketh them kings maketh Himself to be their counsel. But then they must make Him the president of their council.--_Jermin._

For Homiletics on verse 11, considered by itself, see on chap. xi. 1, page 190.

Verse 11. The proposition expresses an ownership in Jehovah as the first cause, for, like agriculture (Ecclus. vii. 15), God instituted weights and measures, as an indispensable ordinance and instrument in just business intercourse.--_Zöckler._

Weights and measures, as the invisible and spiritual means by which material possessions are estimated and determined for man, according to their value, are holy unto the Lord, a copy of His law in the outer world, taken up by Himself into His sanctuary; and, therefore, as His work, to be regarded as holy also by men.--_Von Gerlach._

The heathen poet Hesiod says, "God gave justice to men."--_Fausset._

He is not only just, but justice _belongs_ to Him. He is not only partly just, but _"His work"_ (and we see at a glance that God's _work_ is the total universe) is in its very self considered, "all the stones of the bag." _Stones,_ better weights than iron, because not altering by rust. _Bag,_ in which the stone weights were carried, in the peripatetic barter of the old tradespeople. No difficulty should be had in understand all of which the sentence is capable. God's _work_ is justice and justice is His _work._ The very ideas of equity spring out of the Eternal Mind. If all this were not so how could God govern the creation, for _"It is an abomination to kings to commit wickedness,"_ etc. (ver. 12).--_Miller._

The Jews are said to have kept their standard weights and measures _in the sanctuary._ The fact might arise from the particularity of the law, and might operate as a remembrancer of the righteousness of Him by whom the law was given, and the weights and measures fixed. . . . All adulteration of them was therefore a _sacrilege._ It was not cheating men merely, but defrauding Jehovah, changing what He had fixed. . . . And from the connection in which the words are here introduced they lead us to observe that while kings are called up to "do justly" themselves in their whole administration and in every department of it, it is, at the same time, a most important part of their official duty to promote among their subjects, to the utmost of their power, the principles and the practice of equity between man and man.--_Wardlaw._

Verse 12. This is true of earthly monarchies. _"A throne,"_ without some equity in it, could not last an instant. If it were unmitigatedly bad, it would be swept out of existence. A king must be just to his people, or else to his soldiers, who support him against his people. His strength is justice, somewhere. The strength of a bad throne is precisely that part of it that is just. But if this be true of a world's throne, where it has been seen that God governs as well as the king, how not of a Divine throne, that rests solely on its Maker? It is impossible to conceive of a universe without justice, or of anything so complicated being externally possible without every sort of harmony, and especially that sort which is highest and best. Hence many of the expressions in the eighth chapter (verses 22, 30, etc.), the personage being personified Wisdom, which is holiness or moral light, and which includes all the attributes of justice.--_Miller._

The greater men be, the more grievous their faults are when they fall into sin. For--1. The more bountiful God hath been to them, the more grateful they ought to be to Him, and as He hath increased their wages, so they ought to mend their work; large pay doth duly challenge large pains, and therefore, contrariwise, their great offences must needs deserve the greater punishment. 2. Their sins are very pernicious and pestilent, they bring evil into request, and men by their example will practise it for credit's sake. When Jeroboam is mentioned, he is usually described by this, that _he made Israel to sin._ 3. They draw down the plagues and judgments upon the places and people that are under them, as David did. And the strokes which the fearful sins of Manasseh, Jehoiakim, and others brought upon the city and inhabitants of Jerusalem were very lamentable in those days, and very memorable still in these times. . . . The goodness and justice of men in authority doth better uphold their estate than greatness and riches. "The throne is established by righteousness," for--(1) There, and nowhere else, is stability and assurance, where God is a refuge and defence; they stand all firm whom He protecteth, and down they must whom He neglecteth. And whom doth He prefer but the righteous? And what righteous man was ever forsaken? (2) Equal and upright administration of justice doth knit the hearts of a people to their governors, and the love of the subjects is a strong foot and a mighty munition for the safety of the ruler. (3) When the magistrate doth right to all and wrong to none, every good and indifferent man will reverence him, and stand in the greater awe of his laws, so that none but such are as desperately rebellious will dare to attempt anything against him.--_Dod._

Verse 13. There never was a kingdom so corrupt that its courts of justice were not used, in the main, against wickedness. There never was a Nero, or a Borgia, who, on the very account of his crimes, did not find crime sore, and a trouble to him, in those about him. It is one of the strangest miracles of Omnipotence that a universe can take in transgression and yet last. And, while God has made even the wicked "for his decree" (ver. 4), yet "a pleasure to kings are lips of righteousness, and he who speaks right is loved."--_Miller._