Chapter XXI (2)

+I. Human anger is an evil to be avoided.+ Even the anger of a righteous man exposes the object of it to danger. David had good reason to be angry with Nabal, but his anger, though it was the anger of a man just in the main, so nearly overmastered him for the time as to lead him to meditate a very bitter revenge. For even righteous indignation has a tendency to run into unrighteous action, as in the case of Esau and Jacob. The elder brother had just cause to be angry with the younger for his meanness and deceit, but lawful displeasure soon degenerated into an unlawful purpose, and Jacob had to flee for his life. If, then, even the anger of the righteous man is to feared because it may lead him to visit the offender with justice without mercy, much more is the anger of the unrighteous man likely to lead him to extreme measures, and the anger of either is an evil to be avoided when it can be done without sin.

+II. Gifts may appease human anger.+ This proverb does not, we think, refer to bribery but to lawful tokens of goodwill, and of a desire to be reconciled--to gifts by which we seek to make some atonement for a wrong done. Such were the presents which Jacob offered to Esau, and Abigail to David. A bribe is a gift offered to a third person who is to judge between the parties at strife, but the gift here is from the offender to the person offended.

_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._

A gift in itself is gracious, but if it be secretly given it is yet more acceptable; for privy bestowing taketh away the blush of open receiving. When as then a present shall even so closely be conveyed unto the receiver as that it shall covertly be put into his bosom, then it will be most welcome and even forcible.--_Muffet._

"Have gifts," says a judicious writer, "such a powerful influence to disarm resentment? Then let no man plead, in apology for the fury of his passions, that he is not able to conquer them. If money can conquer them, shall reason, and the fear of God, and the command of Christ, be too weak to bridle them? Surely the commandments of God our Saviour have too little authority with us, if they have less influence upon our spirits than gold and jewels have upon the spirits of almost all men."--_Wardlaw._

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 15.

THE JOY OF RIGHTEOUSNESS.

+I. The just man's own character and actions give him joy.+ It is a matter of experience with all the righteous beings in the universe that joy comes to them from uprightness of character. The blessedness and joy of God Himself comes from His supreme and absolute righteousness, and in proportion as His creatures are conscious of partaking of His rectitude of character they feel real joy. But this righteousness of character is made manifest in righteous deeds. We know that God is a righteous God by what He has done, and by what He has promised to do, and the character of righteous men is likewise manifested in their acts. From these deeds come joy to the doer. Whenever a good man is able to redress some injury, or to make right some moral wrong--to put into exercise the love of right which is always latent within him--he feels joy.

+II. The just man derives joy from the justice and righteousness of others.+ His great desire is to see the world freed from the rule of sin, with all its consequent miseries, and he hails every act of justice done as one more step towards that end. He sympathises with all those who struggle for right against might, whether with human or Satanic powers, and every victory gained by them gladdens his heart. As he is on the side of justice he has nothing to fear, but everything to gain, from the advance of justice in the world, and in the universe, and therefore he not only rejoices in the doings of other righteous men, but especially in the righteous acts of God. Knowing that every one of them tends to bring in the rule of everlasting righteousness, and knowing that this rule will be the best possible for both the just and the unjust, and having a glad consciousness that to him it can bring nothing but good, the just dealings of God are the constant theme of his glad meditations. With the Psalmist he can sing, _"Seven times a day do I praise Thee, because of Thy righteous judgments"_ (Psalm cxix. 164).

+III. The workers of iniquity have no such source of personal joy.+ The name given implies their character. It is iniquitous, unequal, crooked. Their path lies quite apart from the straight road of obedience to God and justice to men, and therefore none of the flowers and fruits which grow only in the one path can be gathered upon the other. But they not only miss the joy of the just, but are active agents in creating their own misery. Sin is a destructive power. Destruction is used in two senses. A thing is destroyed when the elements which compound it cease to be, but it is also destroyed when the form which made it precious and beautiful is lost. The palace is destroyed when the earthquake lays it level with the ground, although all the stones and timbers are still there. The garment is destroyed when the fire blackens and scorches it, although the warp and woof of the fabric is still in existence. So a man's destruction is, as we understand the Word of God, not the cessation of his existence, but the loss of all that makes existence of worth to himself and others.

+IV. The workers of iniquity cannot rejoice in the righteous dealings of others.+ The rectitude of the just man condemns them. It makes their ways look more crooked by the force of contrast, and it rebukes their consciences. It necessarily sometimes takes a more active form against them. The thief cannot joy in the law that condemns him to punishment, and is not likely to take pleasure in the character of the judge who passes sentence upon him. No godless man can rejoice in reflecting on the righteousness of God, for that righteousness fills him with terror in the present, and apprehensions concerning the future.

_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._

Not the saint's _"judgment;"_ that is "joy," of course: but all "judgment," even the judgment of the lost. Sad doctrine that! and to man's feeling a very shameful one. But to man's reason there may be a glimpse of light. The highest _"joy"_ is to be holiness; the highest holiness, the holiness of God. All judgment is built upon that. God's holiness, therefore, being the basis upon which He condemns the lost, is that _"judgment"_ which is part of the trait may be part of the _"joy"_ which springs to the glorified believer.--_Miller._

"It is joy to the just to do right; but vexation" (distress, trouble) "to the workers of iniquity." Such is Boothroyd's rendering; and it agrees with the French. The righteous find their happiness in the ways of God,--in doing the thing that is right. So far from true religion--practical godliness--being a source to them of irksome melancholy, it is their "joy." But to the wicked it is irksome. The principle of goodness or of godliness being absent from the heart, all conformity to precept is against the grain with them. They may do what is right from compulsion, from considerations of interest, or from the constraint of conscience and fear; but pleasure in it they have none--no "joy." And hence it is that amongst ungodly, worldly men, the impression and saying are so prevalent, that religion is melancholy. While the heart continues at enmity with God, all outward conformity to the will and worship of God can be nothing better than vexation,--harassing and fretting to the spirit and drawing forth the exclamation, What a weariness is it! The joy of religious and virtuous practice can only be felt where there is the inward power of religious and virtuous principle. It is a joy that can only be known by the experience of the new heart; and by the new heart it is felt to be the only joy worthy of the name. But the heart that is still a stranger to the love must be still a stranger to the joy; and the whole life of the good man must appear a life of bondage. The man who has no ear for music would regard the ecstasies of a Handel as ridiculous; but such ecstasies are not on that account the less real.--_Wardlaw._

Gravity is nowhere so seemly, as where it is the robe of the judgment seat; and though justice be done, yet if wantonly or lightly done, it is divested of the honour of it. Wherefore the _joy_ which the wise man here commendeth is not the _vanity,_ but the _alacrity_ of the mind. That detracteth from the worth of it even in the sight of men, this addeth to it in the sight of God. Now, that which breedeth this joy is the habit of it. He that doth judgment now and then is not righteous, though he do that which is righteous. It is the constant doer of judgment that is made righteous by it, and findeth joy in the doing of it.--_Jermin._

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 16.

LIKE TO LIKE.

+I. The way of understanding.+ What is this way? In other parts of this book it is called the "path of the just" (chap. iv. 18, see page 58), "a way of righteousness" (chap. xii. 28, page 291), and a "way of life" (chap xv. 24, page 430). It is a way of understanding, because it is the path or method of life which is followed by those who have well considered their way--who regard both their present and future welfare in the highest sense of the word. The way of righteousness is a way of understanding, because it leads to spiritual life and blessedness, both here and hereafter; therefore those who walk in it give a proof of their wisdom. If we count a man to have no understanding who persists in walking on a road which those who know tell him leads to a precipice over which he must fall, and if the truth of what they say is confirmed by his own knowledge, how much more shall we count those of no understanding who persist in following the path of moral ruin? And by contrast the way of present moral light and life which is ever leading on to more light and life is well named "the way of understanding."

+II. The doom of the wanderer from it.+ He becomes one of an assembly with whom it is most undesirable to be numbered--the congregation of the dead. The graveyard is a place in which living men never take up their abode. Those who are there are there because they can no longer remain in the dwellings of the living and healthy. They would pollute the homes of those who are in life, and must therefore be separated from them. There is a spiritual graveyard--a place to which those who are destitute of moral life must be banished, because they are unfit for any other dwelling. And there they must _remain,_ for it is the only place suited to their character and disposition. Judas, when he left this world, went to his _"own place"_ (Acts i. 25)--to the place to which he belonged, because it was the abode of those like-minded with himself. From the parable of the rich man and Lazarus we infer that those who become numbered with that congregation will remain there until the _great gulf fixed_ between them and the living is removed (Luke xvi. 26).

_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._

The original word here translated _remains,_ signifieth to rest and be quiet. It is rest that giveth understanding, and it is understanding that giveth rest. A disquieted mind doth not readily understand things, and it is the understanding of things that quieteth the mind. In the way, therefore, of understanding, here be many resting-places. He that is wearied with the cares of the world, when he understandeth that man is born to cares, resteth himself therein. He that is toiled in getting the things of this world, when he understandeth how little sufficeth nature, and that when he dieth all shall be taken from him, resteth himself there. He that tireth his brains to search out knowledge, when he understandeth that the greatest part of men's knowledge is the least of his ignorance, and that to know Jesus Christ is life everlasting, resteth himself there. But he that wandereth from the way of understanding meeteth with no rest in all the ways he goes--his thoughts are in no quietness, his heart hath no contentment, his mind no peace. It is the grave alone that is the bed of his rest; and when he cometh to the congregation of the dead, to the general assembly of all mankind, then he shall be quiet. Or else, to consider the verse as our translation hath it: everyone that understandeth his way is not in the way of understanding. The crafty politician understands his way well enough, and goes on readily in it; the covetous worldling understandeth his way well enough, and goes and gets apace in it; the cunning cheater understandeth his way well enough, and passeth through with it. But none of these are in the way of understanding: that is but one, and is the enlightening of the understanding by the Word and Grace of God. That is the way of understanding, because thereby we understand ourselves to be in the right way indeed. The man, therefore, that wandereth out of this way, when he hath wandered all his ways, shall end them at last in the congregation of the dead--that is the rendezvous to which all are gathered--and being once there, he shall _remain_ for ever amongst them. For when that change is come, they that have passed the way of understanding shall pass from death to life, but they that have gone out of the way shall only go from one death to another.--_Jermin._

Verse 17 has been treated with verses 5 and 7.

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 18.

THE RANSOM OF THE RIGHTEOUS.

This verse must be understood to express the same truth as that in Isaiah xliii. 3, in which Jehovah, speaking to the Hebrew people, says, _"I gave Egypt for thy ransom--Ethiopia and Seba for thee,"_ referring doubtless to the deliverance by the overthrow of the Egyptians and other nations. Here the Divine interposition is not on behalf of an elect nation, but on behalf of a special character; not for the deliverance of Israel according to the flesh, but of the true Israelite--the righteous and upright man wherever he is found, for _"in every nation he that feareth Him and worketh righteousness is accepted with Him"_ (Acts x. 35).

+I. When the wicked man stands in the way of the true advancement of the good he shall be removed out of the way.+ It is a law of the universe, and the end to which all God's government tends, that goodness shall finally have the ascendency over evil--that right shall triumph over wrong. Now, although we speak of goodness and of evil in the abstract, they have no abstract existence; they can only exist in connection with free personalities; with beings who have the choice of their actions. Hence, if evil is to be put down, it must be put down in the person of evil men or devils, and if good is to rule it must rule in the person of the good. Therefore, when the transgressor in any way opposes the real and true advancement of the righteous man he opposes the advance of righteousness, and he must be sacrificed. This is not always apparent to human eyes; things often seem to tend in quite the contrary direction; but this is because we do not know what is really most conducive to the coming of the kingdom of righteousness, nor how the overthrow of evil can be best accomplished.

+II. Every man must either be ransomed from sin or become a ransom for righteousness.+ The righteous and the upright on the earth have only become so by submission to the righteous will of God--by taking His yoke and choosing His service. This has delivered them from the power of evil--this has redeemed them from the slavery of sin. It was quite open to Pharaoh to fall in with God's will concerning Israel--to obey the demand which was made upon him. It was only after repeated refusal that he and his were made a ransom for God's people. It is in every case where God's will is made known, and it is only when men persist in transgression that they are made a ransom for the upright. But there is no neutral ground. Every man who is not upright is a transgressor, and as such will be subject to this law.

_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._

In the time of some strange visitation for sin, the notorious offender, who is guilty of heinous crimes, by his suffering and death shall free the innocent person from the stroke of God's vengeance, who should not be spared, but plagued, if the evildoer were winked at. Moreover, some one that hath, by breaking the Lord's covenant or precept, caused trouble to fall both on himself and many others, who in like manner have not sinned as he hath done, shall, suffering alone for the sin which he hath committed, deliver by his misery the rest that are in the same adversity, but not for the same cause. The executing of Saul's sons (2 Sam. xxi.), the stoning of Achan (Josh. vii. 20), and casting of Jonah into the sea (Jonah i. 12), may more plainly declare and more fully prove the truth of this matter. It may be here objected, if the Lord punish the righteous for the wicked man's offence, how is he then righteous? To answer hereunto briefly--First, though the Lord afflict the innocent with the sinners oftentimes, yet He doth not correct them for the faults of transgressors, but for their own faults, there being none so just but that he sinneth sometimes. Secondly, when the just, having authority to punish sin, wink at the known offences of the ungodly, by letting them go scot-free, they make their transgressions their own, so that in such cases no marvel if the Lord scourge the just with the unjust; for even the just do in such cases appertain to the family of the unjust.--_Muffet._

It is the hatred of the wicked against the righteous that bringeth them into captivity, but it is the favour of God towards them that He maketh those who have made them captives to be themselves the _redemption_ of them. Or else, if the condition of this world by God's permission and providence hath cast the righteous into thraldom, it is the sport of the wicked to insult over them; but it is the compassion of God towards them that He maketh those who make sport at them to be themselves the sacrifice of their deliverance. And, seeing misery, being man's master, requireth the right of command over him, according as many are the general calamities of mankind, God maketh the wicked to serve it, and the transgressor to pay bondage unto it instead of the righteous.--_Jermin._

The subjects of verses 19 and 20 have been already treated in this chapter. See on verses 5 and 7, and on verse 9.

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 21.

A NOBLE PURSUIT AND A RICH PRIZE.

+I. A noble pursuit.+ Following after righteousness and mercy. These words may be taken as referring both to a state of judicial righteousness before God and to mercy received from him, and also to the attainment of a righteous and merciful character. The teaching of the Scriptures is that the latter is the result of the former;--that all true righteousness and mercifulness among men flows from having obtained mercy from God, and having come into right relations with Him. If a pursuit of any kind is to be successful it must be conducted according to certain known laws, and must recognise certain indisputable facts. If a man sets out to seek a distant shore where he knows the land is fertile enough to afford him abundant means of living, he must regulate his pursuit of the land and of its riches in accordance with the laws which govern the natural world. During his voyage he must observe the laws of navigation--he must steer his vessel with a due regard to the winds and tides, or he will never reach the shore, and when he lands he must still seek to obtain what he desires by working in harmony with natural laws. If he ploughs in the autumn and expects to gather in the winter, or sows weeds and expects to reap corn, he will be utterly disappointed. God is willing to bless his endeavours if they are made in subjection to known and established conditions, but not otherwise. So in every pursuit, whether in the world of matter or of mind. _"If a man also strive for masteries,"_ says Paul, _"yet is he not crowned except he strive lawfully"_ (2 Tim. ii. 5), that is, unless he conform to the rules of the course. The _Grecian runner_ might reach the goal without having a regard to the conditions of the contest, but he would not even then receive the crown. But in the pursuit of many things--and especially in the following after a righteous and godly character--it is impossible to reach the desired end without observance of the conditions laid down by God Himself. There is one way only to become a truly righteous and merciful man, and that is by accepting the mercy of God and His method of justification, called in the New Testament _"the righteousness of God"_ (Rom. iii. 21, etc.). The history of the Church combines with the testimony of Scripture to confirm this truth. The Jewish nation, as a nation, refused to accept it, _"going about to establish their own righteousness they have not submitted unto the righteousness of God"_ (Rom. x. 3). Their history since has been a moral failure, and it is the history of all who have united with them in the rejection of the way of righteousness through the atonement of the Son of God. On the contrary, the acceptance of that righteousness and mercy has been the first step in the formation of the most righteous and merciful characters that have ever lighted up our world. The apostle who was the great expounder of the doctrine of imputed righteousness through the mercy of God could appeal to his spiritual children in such words as these: _"For our exhortation was not of deceit, nor of uncleanness, nor in guile; . . . neither at any time used we flattering words, as ye know, nor a cloke of covetousness . . . but we were gentle among you, even as a nurse cheriseth her children; so being affectionately desirous of you, we were willing to have imparted unto you, not the gospel of God only, but also our own souls, because ye were so dear unto us"_ (1 Thess. ii. 3-8). This was Paul's disposition and character after he became a partaker of Divine mercy and a justified man through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and all those who sincerely accept God's method of being made righteous bring forth the same kind of fruit in their life, although not always in such abundant measure.

+II. A rich reward.+ He who seeks mercy and righteousness from God by faith becomes, as we have seen, a righteous and merciful man. This in itself is moral life--a quickening of the spiritual capabilities--an awakening to spiritual realities and joys which were before unknown--an entrance into the possession of all that makes existence worth having. Such a man gets honour of a real and lasting nature--the goodwill of all the good in all worlds and the favour of God Himself. He follows after righteousness for its own sake--out of the pure love of holiness and purity, and not for any reward that it may bring either now or hereafter, and he finds as he follows it that many things are added unto it.

_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._

_"Follows after," chases eagerly._ How absorbed the chase of some poor partridge on the hills. Even let that be our picture. _"Righteousness and mercy, or kindness,"_ the two tables of the law; a genial picture of all holiness. Now let a man chase holiness with the absorbed forgetfulness of self that such game would imply, and all else will come in at the death. "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all things else will be added thereto" (Matt. vi. 33). _"Life,"_ all sorts of life. _"Righteousness,"_ but one sort of righteousness in place of that personal righteousness which (in the first clause) we are still called to chase. _"Glory,"_ all sorts of glory. The list is not an illogical one. "Life," all that is personally good and happy, "righteousness;" all that buys that and keeps a title to it, "glory," that which is above happiness, and is always to be counted higher--viz., the honour and excellency of absolute purity of being.--_Miller._

There is nothing which a man hath that is not going from him; there is nothing that a man seeketh that doth not seek to keep itself from him. It is therefore _following_ that bringeth a man both to finding and possessing. Both are spiritual things, not the things of this world, that are worthy either of a man's following, or finding, or possessing. They are _righteousness_ and _mercy_ that are worthy of our seeking, they are _life, righteousness,_ and _mercy_ that are worthy of our finding. . . . Gregory, comparing spiritual and temporal riches together, showeth their differences to be great, because spiritual riches do even then increase, when they that are laid out, earthly riches are either laid out and so consumed, or else are kept and are not profitable. And in the following after them there is also this difference, that he who followeth after the things of this world always findeth less than he looked for; but he that followeth after spiritual things shall be sure to find more than he did or could look for--_Jermin._

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 22.

A WISE MAN AND A MIGHTY CITY.

+I. The city of the mighty will not easily yield to conquerors.+ When a fortress encloses within its walls many strong arms and stout hearts, it will not be captured by child's play. The confidence that the defenders have, not only in the strength of their position but in their own individual power and prowess, will certainly prevent them from giving up without a struggle. Such a city must be "scaled" or captured either by stratagem or by a mightier force than that which defends it. There are various ways in which this may be done. When the height and thickness of the walls prevent their overthrow from without they may be assailed from beneath, and when brave men cannot be subdued by the sword they may be by hunger.

+II. In whatever way the city is taken wisdom is the mightiest force employed.+ Military strength--indeed physical force of any kind--is of little or no avail without wisdom to direct it. Under the guidance of a wise commander an undisciplined and almost powerless mob becomes a powerful army, and a very small amount of mere strength can be made very effective if it is wisely directed. Belshazzar had strong walls around his city, and a mighty army within it, but Cyrus possessed the wisdom which the Babylonians lacked, and therefore the "wise man" overthrew the confidence of the mighty.

+III. Wisdom is a power that is needed to take other strongholds besides those built of brick or stone.+ Any obstruction or difficulty which a man encounters in life may be a "city of the mighty" to overthrow which _wisdom_ will be an indispensable ally. _Poverty_ is such a city, and it cannot be scaled by activity and industry alone--the industrious effort must be guided by wisdom. _Ignorance_ may be compared to such a stronghold, and wisdom is needed to guide the pursuit after knowledge. _Sinful habits_ are walls around a man, and they are so defended and strengthened by invisible powers of evil that they cannot be cast down by strength of will alone--wisdom must be sought from above to turn the struggle into a victory. But we have not only to contend with personal evils but with relative ones, with the misery and sin around us if not within is, and here again nothing can be done without wisdom. Muscular force can do a little to put down their outward manifestations, but wisdom only can do anything towards lessening their real and terrible hold upon man. The _human soul,_ also, is a "city" which can be "scaled" only by "the wise man." In Eden the city of _Man-soul_ was taken by the subtlety and craft of the devil, and a wisdom more than human is needed to regain it. The undertaking is especially difficult, because there are inhabitants within the city who are averse to a change of masters--there are evil tendencies within which make men unwilling to leave the yoke of Satan for the service of God. Our Lord Jesus Christ has, however, scaled this city of the mighty; all the wisdom of God has been brought to bear upon the work of reconciling men to Himself, and the Cross has accomplished what physical force of Omnipotence itself could not have achieved.

What is strength without a double share
Of wisdom? Vast, unwieldy, burdensome;
Proudly secure, yet liable to fall
By weakest subtleties; strength's not made to rule,
But to subserve where wisdom bears command.--_Milton._

_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._

The Israelites never crushed the Philistines. The Jebusites long dwelt in Jerusalem's stronghold (Josh. xv. 63). The sinner (at conversion) in his feeblest state enters Canaan, and "scales the city of the mighty." But when his foot has touched that eternal tramping-ground, alas for him! there is still the _citadel!_ "A wise man," not only as being _a wise man,_ but in _becoming a wise man,_ has scaled the city of the mighty, and evermore afterwards, in becoming wiser, he is "casting down the strength of its place of confidence." . . . Not to print mistake upon his emblems, Solomon qualifies the last by those that immediately follow. Conversion is not a warfare. It is not the glow of camps or the shout of armed men, but a drowsy and forlorn awakening. Arrayed against it may be the _strength of the mighty,_ but it is a strength absurd and miserable, as against a droning and depressing inanition. "We wrestle not against flesh and blood," and when we come to understand the venture, the climb over the gates is not a bound of strength, but a torpid crawl out of mortal infirmity of feeling. Hence the patient prosing of the Preacher, as he next approaches us (in verse 23). Christian obedience is the way to triumph.--_Miller._

The art of war has already shewn the pre-eminence of wisdom above strength. Prudent tactics, or a wise application of courage, triumphs over mere personal prowess. Joshua's strategy in taking Ai was a proof of military wisdom. Solomon seems to have known of a wise man singly delivering his city from the power of a mighty king; a proof of wisdom quite tantamount to the strength of an aggressor scaling the walls, and thus casting down its confidence (Eccles ix. 13-18). Much more therefore will spiritual wisdom, the immediate gift of God, overcome difficulties as formidable as the scaling of the city of the mighty. A wise calculation of the cost is eminently serviceable in achieving most important triumphs (Luke xiv. 31, 32). For does not conscious weakness lead to a single dependence upon God? And what difficulties are too great for an Almighty arm? "By thee"--said a valiant soldier in the army of faith--"I have run through a troop; and by my God have I leaped over a wall." "Weapons of a spiritual, not a carnal," temper, "are mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds" (2 Cor. x. 4), impregnable to the power of man. All the promises are "to him that overcometh." Let the soldier go to the conflict "strong in the Lord," and "putting on his whole armour" (Eph. vi. 10). The triumph is sure. The heavenly city will be scaled. "The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force" (Matt. xi. 12).--_Bridges._

For Homiletics on verse 23 see on chap. xiii. 3, page 294.

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 24.

A NAME OF DEGREES.

+I. Many terms are needed to set forth the complete character of the wicked man.+ A complicated machine has many parts, each of which has a different action and performs a different work, and each of which has its distinctive name. But the whole make up one machine, the name of which includes all the parts. So it is with a wicked man. He is like a complicated and destructive piece of machinery--all that he does and is may be comprehended in the general term, godless, or wicked; but the various vices which go to make up his character have their distinctive name. In this proverb three degrees of wickedness seem to be set forth under different names, each one being an intensified form of the vice that has gone before. First there is _pride;_ the man overrates his own worth, and by so doing underrates the worth of others. From pride of heart comes _haughtiness of conduct_--he is overbearing and insolent in his bearing towards those whom he looks upon as his inferiors. Then he becomes a _scorner_--he despises all, whether good or bad, and so fills up the measure of wickedness. For when all feelings of respect and reverence for even human worth have died out of a man he cannot fall much lower.

+II. Such a man is a constant vendor of what is within him.+ He _dealeth_ in it; he cannot keep his pride and scorn to himself, it overflows in his contemptuous carriage, in his haughty look, in his angry words, and in his oppressive deeds. He may deny the fidelity of the portrait which Solomon here draws of him, but he whose dealings with his fellow-creatures are marked by these characteristics must submit to be called by the odious names here given.

_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._

In the course of different proverbs this teacher will be found to have explained all his own use of terms. Piety as _wisdom,_ and wickedness as _folly_--terms very characteristic of his books--he explains at the very first. _Scorner_ is his favourite name for the impenitent. We were giving reasons for this under the eleventh verse. . . . The demurest sinner, who seems thoroughly respectful to the truth, would not push along so into the very jaws of death if he were not arrogantly trusting to himself, and if he felt not scornfully free from the necessities of the Gospel.--_Miller._

It is the nature of pride to show itself as losing the contentment of those things upon which it is placed, unless by showing of them it show itself in them. And yet so odious a vice is pride, and so shameful, as that it would fain hide itself also. But there is nothing that doth so manifest and make known the pride of anyone as his wrath doth; wherefore as the name of a man telleth who he is, so he who dealeth in wrath telleth his name.--_Jermin._

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSES_ 25 _and_ 26.

THE SWORD OF THE SLUGGARD.

+I. A sluggard cannot help desiring the results of toil.+ It is natural and lawful for men to value bodily health and comfort, and all those blessings which are the ordinary fruits of industry--they are good things which God gives His creatures to enjoy, but they are not His only gifts nor His best gifts. But they are the main objects of the sluggard's desire, for an inordinate and exclusive love of them has made him a slothful man. If he had put his reputation and his duty before his love of ease--if he had listened to the voice of conscience rather than to the pleadings of self-indulgence, he would be a worker instead of a mere wisher. The text suggests that mere desire to possess is not a power strong enough to turn an indolent man into an industrious one, although it is strong enough to make him miserable and wicked. For--

+II. A sluggard is an unrighteous man.+ This is both implied and expressed in the proverb. He is placed in contrast with the righteous man as one of an opposite character, and he is declared to be an habitual breaker of the tenth commandment. Covetousness is a sin nearly allied to envy, and both are in themselves transgressions of the moral law, and often lead to more heinous crimes. Let no man, then, say that his refusal to take his part in the work of the world is a matter which concerns himself alone, for even if a man were not responsible for a negative existence, such a course is certain to lead to positive sin.

+III. He is a self-destroyer.+ This is a phase of sloth which has not been placed before us in former proverbs on the subject. The sluggard not only makes wretched the existence which it his great aim to pamper, but he shortens it. His covetous and unsatisfied state of mind is a canker-worm at the root of all that he does possess, and, deprived of the healthful influence of labour, he becomes an easy prey to disease and death. It is probable that nothing undermines the bodily constitution more surely than unsatisfied desire. Men who have been great workers, but who have not seen the desire of their hearts fulfilled, have often died in consequence. How much more likely will the slothful man be to die under such a disappointment! If the rust eats into the sword which is in constant use, how much more certainly will it destroy that which is never drawn from the scabbard!

+IV. The righteous man is a worker and a giver.+ He is in all respects the exact opposite of the sluggard. He works not so much because of the gain of labour as because he loves to work, and because it is wrong to be idle. This he shows by the use he makes of much that he gains--he gives with an unsparing hand. In both he is an imitator of the righteous God, who is the Greatest Worker and the Greatest Giver in the universe. The righteousness of God prompts Him to bountiful acts towards needy creatures, and the righteousness of His righteous servants prompts them to do like deeds, according to their ability. On this subject see also Homiletics on chap. xiii. 4, page 296.

_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._

The _desire kills him._ Why? Because he will not gratify it. The way to gratify it is to get it accomplished. . . . Say not, It is the refusal that kills and not the desire. That is not altogether the case. The spark that is too weak to grow puts itself out by its attempts. The desire that is too dull to act has treasured in it the last remainders of the heart, and in its languid throbs makes itself the instrument of its own growing dissolution.--_Miller._

In the Paris French translation the words stand thus--"All the day long he does nothing but wish." How very expressive at once of the unconquerable indolence and the fretful, envious, pining unhappiness of the sluggard! And in his wishing, he may at times, by the power of a sanguine imagination, work himself into hope; and then, disappointment only embitters the cup of his own mingling,--aggravates the misery, which he is painfully conscious is self-inflicted.--Further: he appears before us a stranger to all the positive and exquisite pleasures of charity and beneficence; but "the righteous _giveth and spareth not._" It is not said, you will observe--"the _diligent_ giveth and spareth not;" because there are not a few who are sufficiently exemplary in diligence, to whom the Bible would not give the designation of _"the righteous,"_ and who are far from being distinguished for benevolence. But the antithesis, as it stands here, implies these three things: _First,_ that _diligence_ is one of the features in the character of the _righteous_:--_Secondly,_ that the natural tendency, and ordinary result of this is, through the Divine blessing, abundance to spare:--_Thirdly,_ that another distinguishing feature of the character of the _righteous_ man, is _readiness to part_ with what his industry acquires--"giving, and _not sparing;_" that is, giving cheerfully, and giving liberally; not assenting merely to the truth of the maxim, as being the word of the Lord, but _feeling_ the truth of their own heart's experience--"It is more blessed to give than to receive."--_Wardlaw._

It is not said by Paul, "If any man _do_ not work, neither let him eat," for some would work and cannot get it, others would work and are not able, but "If any man _will_ not work," if any have work to do, and will not, let him not eat. In the same manner the wise man speaketh; he doth not say, his hands _do not_ labour, but his hands _refuse_ to labour. . . . But he sheweth that though a sluggard be idle himself, yet his desire be so hard a labourer, that it is a _daily_ labourer, and such a daily labourer painfully worketh _all the day long._ So that although he have no hands to work, his desire hath hands to beg and crave of him; which being not satisfied, is a just punishment of his careless sluggishness. But the righteous man, being as earnest in his labour as the other in his desire, getteth enough, not only to satisfy his own desire, but to supply the wants of others.--_Jermin._

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 27.

THE SACRIFICE OF THE WICKED.

+I. A Divine institution may become an abomination to the Divine Being.+ The right use of the gifts of God makes them blessings to men, but the abuse of them turns them into curses. So with the ordinances of worship, both under the Old Testament dispensation and in the New--that which is designed to bless men may by misuse add to their guilt before God, and that which, done in a right spirit, is most acceptable to Him, will, when joined to a sinful motive, be most abhorrent to His holy nature. The sacrifice of the Levitical dispensation was an ordinance of Divine appointment, but even those who lived before the days of the prophets were not left to suppose that the merely ceremonial act was of any value in the sight of God if a correspondent state of heart was wanting, The offering of Cain was unacceptable, because he lacked the faith of his brother Abel (Heb. xi. 4). Samuel taught the truth that _"to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams"_ (1 Sam. xv. 22), and the father of our preacher was deeply conscious that _"sacrifice and burnt offering"_ would not be acceptable to God unless they were the outcome of a _"broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart"_ (Psalm li. 16, 17). The doctrine that _"God is a spirit, and they who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth"_ (John iv. 24), is taught in the Old Testament as well as in the New. It is the teaching of this proverb.

+II. A Divine institution may be used by men to cloak their iniquity.+ The absence of a right motive is enough to turn the sacrifice into an abomination, as we have seen (see also on chapter xv. 9, page 408), but this comparatively negative wrong seems to lose some of its guilt beside the actual crime of the second clause of the verse, when men actually put on the outward semblance of religion, not from inadequate ideas of the requirements of God's law, or from the force of habit, or in a thoughtless spirit, but with the deliberate intention of deceiving their fellow-creatures. For it is inconceivable that any reasonable being can for a moment suppose that he can blind Him before whom all things must be _"naked and opened"_ (Heb. iv. 13). If he believes in a God he cannot think that He is a Being who can be imposed upon by such a miserable deception, and, this being granted, it is most astonishing that any creature can presume to offer so great an insult to his Creator. And yet we know that sacrifices have been and are even now being offered to God for no other purpose than to cloak sin.

_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._

This is a New Testament idea:--"Ye ask and receive not," saith the Apostle James, "because ye ask amiss." How? Why, precisely in the way that the proverb points out, because ye do it for an interested purpose; as the Apostle expresses it, "that ye may consume it upon your desires." The wicked man asks for heaven that he may consume it in keeping comfortable through a long eternity. The proverb in verse 17 postulates the opposite. _In merely loving happiness a man cannot create wealth._ The mass of hypocrites, therefore, are those eternal-happiness _hypocrites._. . . There may be other reasons, but that additional and fundamental among them all is this deepest one, that religious acts cannot be accepted if they are built upon nothing tenderer than _"a calculated purpose."_ (So Miller translates the last two words. See also Critical Notes.) "Ye seek Me," says our blessed Redeemer, "not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves and were filled" (John vi. 26).--_Miller._

For Homiletics of verse 28, see on chap. xii. 19, page 275. _"The man that heareth"_ is evidently the man who is teachable and open to conviction, and therefore qualified to bear witness of the truth.

_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._

The last clause of the proverb seems to fix and restrict the first. _A false witness_ often becomes so by the culpable habit of thoughtlessly repeating, without examination or certain knowledge. A man may thus do very serious injury to his neighbour's character or property. It proves a very loose conscience, and an utter want of that "charity which covers" instead of exposing faults. It is "rejoicing in iniquity" rather than "rejoicing in truth." This _false witness_ will certainly be punished by God; and even by man he will be confounded and silenced. No one for the future will regard or receive his testimony. _But the man that heareth_--the true witness who speaketh only what _he heareth,_ and is fully acquainted with--_he speaketh constantly_--to conviction. He holds to his testimony and never contradicts himself. He "speaks the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth." His word, even if it had been slighted at first, gains more and more credit and authority when _the false witness shall have perished_ (chap. xii. 19).--_Bridges._

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 29.

THE FACE AND THE WAY.

The last verb in the text is better translated--_establisheth,_ or _maketh firm._

+I. What is intended to reveal may be used to conceal.+ The human countenance is intended to express the feelings of the mind, and when a man is not afraid for another to read his thoughts and intentions, his face is to a great extent the index of his heart. But a bad man is unwilling that his neighbour should know what is passing within him--his thoughts and purposes will not bear the light--they are so selfish or impure that he is ashamed of them, or they are occupied with some malicious plan which must be concealed if it is to be successful. He therefore hardens his face--puts on an appearance of innocence and frankness as a cloak of the evil underneath. But this method of life is not an easy or a pleasant one--the contrast in the second clause seems to imply that such a man walks in an uneven or a miry road--it is hard to be always acting a part and to be obliged at all times to look what we do not feel, and there may come unguarded moments and unlooked-for surprises when the mask will fall and the truth come to light.

+II. The godly man has no need to practise hypocrisy.+ His thoughts and desires, and aims, are toward the true and the good--his heart is filled with goodwill towards his fellow-men, and he has, therefore, nothing to fear or to be ashamed of when his face reveals his inner self. This way of the upright is, in comparison with the way of the wicked, as a firm and level road--he who walks on it finds solid ground beneath his feet, and has no need to be ever on the look-out for bogs and pitfalls.

_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._

A hardened heart and a hardened face,--a face that has learned to brave accusation and to look innocent under conscious guilt, are the most undesirable of all attainments. The confusion of innocence, when evil is imputed, is far preferable. Better far to be innocent and thought guilty, than to be guilty and thought innocent. Better far to have the sentence of acquittal in our own bosoms, though condemned by men, than to succeed in getting acquittal from men, and carry within us the sentence of guilt. How painful soever the former, we can still look up to God, and forward to His tribunal, as that of unerring rectitude,--where He will "bring forth our righteousness as the light, and our judgment as the noon-day." O! there will be no "hardening of the face" then. Conscience will do its duty. The eyes which are as a flame of fire will search the inmost soul. Every eye will quail, and every countenance, even the most hardened, sink, before the look of Him that sitteth upon the throne. He will then at once "wipe off the reproach of his people," and "bring to light the hidden things of darkness." And then they who, under the influence of faith, and fear, and love, have "considered their way," shall lift up their faces without dread, and meet the smiles of their gracious Judge!--_Wardlaw._

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSES_ 30 _and_ 31.

COUNSEL AGAINST THE LORD.

+I. Only those plans succeed which harmonise with the will of God.+ This is of course true only in regard to the ultimate and final issue of men's plans and purposes. Sometimes, and indeed oftentimes, counsel against the Lord is very successful for a season, and for a very long season, but it is only for a season. 1. This is obvious if we consider _God's knowledge of the future._ It is inseparable from His Divine nature that He shall be able to _"declare the end from the beginning,"_ and therefore He says _"My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:" "yea, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it"_ (Isaiah xlvi. 10, 11). Imagine the general of a vast army being confronted with a handful of blind men, would there be any room to doubt who would have the victory? If a traveller whose eyesight is so dim that he can only see a step or two before he has to travel an unknown road, will he not do well to take the arm and avail himself of the guidance of a man whose sight is perfect? The plan or purpose of our life is the road we desire to walk upon, and as we _"know not what shall be on the morrow"_ (James v. 14) we can only hope to attain our desire if we enlist the All-seeing God on our side, and in order to do this our counsel must be in harmony with His. 2. _God's Almighty power,_ also, ensures the success of His counsel. _"The horse is prepared against the day of battle,"_ but what is the united force of a world compared with the might of Him _"who hath comprehended the dust in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance?"_ . . . The prophet answers the question, _"The nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of a balance"_ (Isaiah xl. 12, 15). The knowledge that our guide has of a dangerous path--the fact that he is acquainted with it from the beginning to the end--may not ensure our arrival at the desired goal. He and we may together be attacked by powerful foes, and power to protect is as needful as knowledge to guide. When we commit our way to God we have omnipotence as well as omniscience on our side.