EXPOSITION

 

                                         OF THE

 

             BOOK OF PROVERBS.

 

 

 

 

                                                BY THE LATE

 

            REV. GEORGE LAWSON, D. D.

               PROFESSOR OF DIVINITY TO THE ASSOCIATE SYNOD,

                                                     SELKIRK.

 

 

                                               IN TWO VOLUMES.

                                                          VOL. 2.

 

 

 

 

 

                       EDINBURGH:

 

                                                     PRINTED FOR

                            DAVID BROWN, NO. 6. ST ANDREW'S STREET,

                     W. OLIPIIANT, AND F. PILLANS, EDINBURGH; M. OGLE,

                            GLASGOW; OGLE, DUNCAN & CO. AND

                                                J. NISBET, LONDON.

                                                                1821.

CHAP. XIX]          BOOK OF PROVERBS                 457

 

 

                   Proverbs 19

 

            Ver. 1. Better is the poor that walketh in his integrity,

than he that is perverse in his lips, and is a fool.

            So depraved are the understandings of men, that the

rich are generally honoured for their wealth, although

their conversation shews them to be destitute of any

valuable quality; whilst the poor are despised, though

they are adorned with the beauties of religion. To

give an outward respect to the rich, according to the

innocent fashions of the place where we live, is not a

sin; for if providence make a distinction, we may do

it likewise, between the rich and the poor; but it is a

sign of great corruption in our minds, to value the rich

as if they were worthier men, and more deserving of

our esteem and affection than the poor, when grace

hath made a plain difference in favour of the poor, of a

kind infinitely more important than the outward gifts

of providence ever made. The bad effects of this un-

just preference are severely censured by James, in the

first half of the second chapter of his epistle.

            We ought undoubtedly to follow God, in the judg-

458                  EXPOSITION OF THE                  [CHAP. XIX.

 

ment which he gives of things and persons, as far as

that judgment is revealed; and we find that he sets no

value upon riches. He bestows them oftentimes on

those whom he abhors, and denies them to his favour-

ites. But the upright, however poor, are his delight.

He glories in Job as a perfect and upright man, and

he still bestows higher commendations on him, af-

ter he was stripped of all his substance, because he had

given additional proof of his stedfast integrity *.

            When Christ was on earth, he was a poor man that

walked in his integrity, and surely the lovers of Christ

will never value a man the less, because he is as Christ

also was in the world. In short, the upright man, how-

ever poor and mean, is not only a man of better dispo-

sitions and behaviour than the rich sinner, but he is

also incomparably happier and richer, and shall be rich

as long as God himself is rich.

            Be satisfied and thankful, ye that are taught by the

Spirit of God, to walk in your integrity. You are rich

in faith, and heirs of the kingdom; and in this world

you have and shall have every thing that infinite wis-

dom and love sees fit for you †.

            Here the poor may see a certain method of being

rich, or of obtaining what is far better than riches.

Labour not to be rich in gold and silver, but seek after

that which Christ calls the true riches, and which he

will dispense unto those that seek them in his appoint-

ed way‡.

            Let not the rich man glory in his wealth: if he is

perverse in his lips, he is poor and miserable, and blind,

and naked; and the esteem of men will not counter-

balance the abhorrence of God ||. Go to Christ under

deep impressions of your poverty, and buy of him

gold tried in the fire, and you shall be truly rich.

 

*Job 1,2         † l Cor 3:21,22          ‡ John 6:27, Matt. 6:33

|| Ps. 10:4

CHAP. XIX]          BOOK OF PROVERBS                 459

 

            Ver. 2. Also that the soul be without knowledge, it is

not good; and he that hasteth with his feet, sinneth.

            The want of that knowledge which we need for our

direction through life, is very pernicious; for we are

in a dangerous world, full of pits and snares; and the

man that has not eyes in his head, must fall, sooner or

later, into destruction. When the blind are led by the

blind, they cannot well avoid falling into the ditch.

But blind sinners are led by a quick-sighted and crafty

devil, who will certainly land them in perdition *.

            Although we have knowledge in our heads, it will

not profit us, unless we have it also in our hearts.

Knowledge, when it is not loved and reduced into prac-

tice, will serve only to bear testimony for God against

the abuser of light, and to heighten his condemnation.

A man of much knowledge, and a bad practice, carries

about him, like Uriah, that which will prove his own

death.

            To want knowledge, is not good: to have know-

ledge, and not to use it as the directory of our life, can-

not be one jot better; and he that hasteth with his feet,

and takes no heed to his way, sinneth.

            It is no sin, but a duty, to run in the way of God's

commandments; and it was an evidence of David's

wisdom, that he made haste, and delayed not to run out

of the paths of sin, when he considered whither they

would lead him; but to run on, without consideration,

whithersoever our fancy or our passions lead us, expo-

ses us to much sin and danger; and therefore we are

commanded to walk circumspectly, keeping our eye

upon the ground we tread, that it may not be slippery,

and observing the rule of duty, that we may not trans-

gress it. Even in those businesses that are lawful, we

will be drawn into sin, without circumspection; for the

devil has snares spread for us everywhere in this evil

 

*Eph. 2:3

460                  EXPOSITION OF THE                  [CHAP. XIX.

 

world, and he that makes haste to be rich, shall not be

innocent.

            Although we ought to run in the ways of the Lord,

and not faint, yet rashness in our religious course will be

attended with much sin. We must carry the lamp of

truth with us, otherwise, by running in the dark, we

will certainly stumble*.

            As rashness and inconsideration are sinful, so they

are the causes of a great deal of the sin that is in the

world. Men would not choose, or at least they would

not so resolutely keep the ways of iniquity, were it not

that they want knowledge and thought, as Isaiah clear-

ly shews in the case of idolaters †.

            Ver. 3. The foolishness of man perverteth his way, and

his heart fretteth against the Lord.

            Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempt-

ed by God:  God tempts no man, but every man is

tempted when he is seduced into evil by the blindness

of his own mind, and the perverseness of his own heart.

The world and the devil may indeed persuade us to

sin, but none of them can force us. When a man sins,

he does more mischief to himself than all the legions of

hell can do to him; and therefore, whenever our way

is perverted, we must chiefly blame ourselves. It would

be blasphemy to charge the most holy God with our

sins, and it is folly to transfer the fault unto our sedu-

cers; for if our enemy should persuade us to stab our-

selves to the heart, it is our own madness to comply.

            When our way is perverted, we soon feel the miser-

able consequences of our folly; for wretchedness, in

one form or other, follows sin, as the shadow follows

the body:  but we are so loath to blame ourselves for the

consequences of our own folly, that our hearts will ra-

ther fret against the Lord, as if he were the cause of

our ruin. Adam laid the blame of his fall upon the

woman, whom God gave to be with him, indirectly

 

*Chap. 4:12   † Isa. 44:19,20

CHAP. XIX]          BOOK OF PROVERBS                 461

 

transferring his own folly to his Maker; and it is na-

tural and common for men to follow the example of

their common parent. This corrupt disposition is not

entirely rooted out of the saints themselves. It was

David's fault that he did not cause the ark to be car-

ried in the proper manner from the house of Obed-

edom; and yet when God made a breach upon the peo-

ple on that account, David was displeased.

            Men are oftener guilty of this sin than they imagine.

Our hearts fret against the Lord, by fretting at the mi-

nisters and instruments of his providence; and there-

fore, when the people murmured against Moses in the

wilderness, he tells them that their murmuring was not

against him and his brother Aaron, but against the

Lord. David would not fret against Shimei, because

he looked upon him as an instrument employed by God

for his correction.

            Instead of fretting, it is our duty to accept of the

punishment of our iniquity, and to bless God that mat-

ters are not so bad with us as we deserve; for where-

fore should a living man complain, when the damned

have no just reason to do it?  If our troubles come up-

on us without any particular reason from our own con-

duct, yet reflections upon God would be very unjust.

Job's troubles were extremely grievous, and they came

upon him without cause in himself, as God testifies,

Job ii. yet he was made humbly to acknowledge his

great folly in reflecting upon God for his distresses, be-

fore his captivity was turned back.

            Ver. 4. Wealth maketh many friends, but the poor is

separated from his neighbour.

            God commands us to love our neighbours as our-

selves, whether rich or poor, and to shew a peculiar

tenderness to the poor on account of their destitute cir-

cumstances; but such is the depraved disposition of

462                  EXPOSITION OF THE                  [CHAP. XIX.

 

men, that the rich have many friends, but the poor man

is not known by him that lives at the next door.

            The rich have many temptations to high-mindedness,

and this is one of them: that they meet with a great

deal of respect, and every person professes friendship

to them, and they naturally think that they are pos-

sessed of many good qualities, which draw to them the

esteem of mankind; but they ought to consider, that

money answers all things, and is one of the chief attrac-

tives of esteem in the world. Let them throw away

their money, and those that once made their court to

them will leave them, as quickly as the eagles leave a

field of battle when the carcases are all devoured. Job

was the most respected man in the east, when he was

the richest; but when he was spoiled of his wealth,

he that had been as the tabret of the people, became

their byeword. Jerusalem, in her prosperity, was the

princess among the provinces, but in the day of her

calamity all her friends dealt treacherously with her,

and became her enemies. A very ordinary virtue in an

ordinary man, is a shining virtue in a man of fortune;

but if he should become poor, all the lustre of his great

qualities is entirely gone.

            When the poor man is separated from his neighbour,

let him remember and imitate the apostle of the Gen-

tiles, who was often reduced to poverty and hunger.

Paul laid very little stress on good report or had report,

for he knew that none of these things, nor any thing

else, could separate him from the love of Christ *.

            Ver. 5. A false witness shall not be unpunished, and

he that speaketh lies shall not escape.

            A false witness does one of the greatest injuries to

his neighbour, and one of the greatest possible disho-

nours to God. He breaks at once the two great com-

mandments, of loving God, and loving his brother, and

 

*See chap. 14:20

CHAP. XIX]          BOOK OF PROVERBS                 463

 

therefore deserves severe punishment*. But if he

escape punishment from the magistrate, he shall be

punished by God with the loss of credit, and other mi-

series, in this life, or at least, with an eternal punish-

ment hereafter; for those that bear false witness against

their neighbours are an abomination to the Lord, and

how is it possible for them to escape†?

            Liars are here classed with them that bear false wit-

ness, for they are so much alike, that the ninth com-

mandment, which directly forbids the bearing of false

witness, does also, by good interpretation, forbid what-

soever is prejudicial to truth; and those that can allow

themselves to tell lies in common conversation, will, in

all probability, bear false witness, and confirm it by an

appeal to heaven, when they have a sufficient tempta-

tion. Some liars may expect to be safe, because their

lies are not of a mischievous kind, but when they do

evil that good may come, they expose themselves to

just condemnation. All liars, says our great judge,

shall have their part in the infernal lake‡.

            Ver. 6. Many will entreat the favour of the prince,

and every man is a friend to him that giveth gifts.

            It is, no doubt, a right thing to honour princes, and to

seek their favour when we need it, if God is not neg-

lected, from whom every man's judgment comes. The

Lord is the king of kings, and it is a plain evidence that

we forget God, when we are less anxious about his fa-

vour, than men are about the favour of our fellow

worms.

            Princes need not pride themselves in the homage

that is paid to them, for their favour is sought by men,

not so much out of regard to their persons, as from a

regard to their power. Kindness and liberality have

a greater influence for gaining the hearts of men, than

dignity of station. There are many that seek the ruler's

 

*Deut. 19:16-21       †Chap. 6:10   ‡Rev. 21:8

464                  EXPOSITION OF THE                  [CHAP. XIX.

 

favour, but every man loves him that is generous. When

power and generosity meet in the same person, he be-

comes an object of universal esteem, like Marcus Anto-

ninus, who was lamented by every man when he was

dead, as if the glory of the Roman empire had died

with him.

            How inexcusable are we, if we do not love God with

all our hearts. His gifts to us are past number, and

all the gifts of men to us are the fruits of his bounty,

conveyed by the ministry of those whose hearts are dis-

posed by his providence to kindness.  "I have seen

thy face," said Jacob to Esau, "as the face of God."

His brother's favour he knew to be a fruit of the mercy

of him with whom he spoke and prevailed at Bethel.

            In our love to the rich and liberal, we exceed the

bounds of duty, if we reserve not a proper share of out

regard for the poor, who cannot give us any thing, but

have a title to receive from us. But the greatest part

of men are of a different mind from Christ Jesus, and

think it more blessed to receive than to give.

            Ver. 7. All the brethren of the poor do hate him, how

much more do his friends go far from him? he pur-

sueth them with words, yet they are wanting to him.

            The brethren of the poor hate him:  This is very

hard:  He might have expected that though all men

had forsaken him, yet his brethren would have shewed

compassion in the time of distress. A brother is born

for adversity, and he aught chiefly at such a season to

shew that he is a brother, and if he does not, he great-

ly aggravates the distress of such a near friend by his

unkindness*, and gives a fair pretence to those that

are not connected with the poor by such endearing ties,

to forsake them. We make ourselves guilty of other

men's sins, when we tempt them to sin by our exam-

ple, especially when our obligations to the opposite

duty are much stronger.

 

*Job 6:15

CHAP. XIX]          BOOK OF PROVERBS                 465

 

            This sin is very general, and almost universal among

men, although nature, as well as scripture, testifies against

it. The best of men have often complained in the time

of their afflictions, that they were forsaken and abhorred

by those whom they most loved, and those from whom

they had reason to expect the greatest kindness*.

            But how do they discover their hatred? by behaving

like aliens, and turning a deaf ear to their entreaties.

This is a sufficient evidence of hatred in the wise man's

view, and therefore we may justly conclude, that there

is more of this abominable sin in the world than those

that are chargeable with it will be willing to acknow-

ledge. The want of love is hatred, though in a lesser

degree than malice or spite, and therefore the apostle

John distinguishes the righteous from the wicked, by

this mark of loving or hating their brethren†. By

extending this observation into its native consequen-

ces, we might convict all wicked men of enmity against

God himself‡ for they do not love him, but despise

his laws, and have a reigning aversion to every mean of

fellowship with him.

            When poor men are real Christians, it is a double ini-

quity to despise them for their poverty, for they have

a double claim to our regard, and their Redeemer is a

severe avenger of their wrongs ||.

            To disregard the importunity of the poor when we

are able to help them, is a sign of a very hard heart, and

provokes God to disregard the prayers of such unmer-

ciful creatures, in the day of their own distress, and to

punish them without mercy §.

            When the poor are overlooked, let them remember

his text to their comfort. When God testifies against

this conduct of their friends, it is a clear evidence that

his ways are not as men's ways, nor his thoughts as

 

*Job 19, Ps. 31 & 88            † 1 John 2:10 etc.     ‡ Rom. 8:7

|| Job 19:28,29                       § James 2:13, Ezek. 16:50

466                  EXPOSITION OF THE                  [CHAP. XIX.

 

their thoughts. When Job's friends scorned him, his

eyes poured out tears unto God. Christ was left in his

distress by all his disciples, but he was not alone, for

the Father was with him. But it is an encouragement

to our faith, that he had, in the days of his flesh, so large

experience of the sorrows of poverty, for in that he him-

self hath suffered, being tempted, he is able also to suc-

cour them that are tempted *.

            Ver. 8. He that getteth wisdom loveth his own soul:

he that keepeth understanding shall find good.

            Spiritual wisdom is not natural to men, and the best

scholars, and greatest philosophers, live and die fools,

unless they get into their possession that wisdom which

cometh from above, and is taught in the holy Scrip-

tures.

            The way of getting this wisdom is to be sensible of

our need of it, to trust in him to whom all the treasures

of wisdom and knowledge belong, for the communica-

tion of it, and to be diligent in the use of the means

which he hath appointed, and will bless, for conveying

it to us.

            We must not only get, but keep this precious trea-

sure, retaining it in our hearts, shewing it forth in all

our behaviour, and refusing to part with it on any ac-

count†.

            Many think that those men who are so careful to seek

and retain wisdom, are great losers, buying it at too high

a price, and refusing to part with it at the risk of every

thing that is valuable in the eyes of men. But the Spi-

rit of God assures us in this place, that they are great

gainers, and never can be losers. They may hate their

wealth and ease, their friends and life, for the sake of

wisdom, but when they do so, they are lovers of their

souls, and millions of lives are not to be put in compe-

tition with an immortal soul. They may meet with

loss and disgrace, with persecution and death, but still

 

*Heb. 2:18     † Chap. 23:23

CHAP. XIX]          BOOK OF PROVERBS                 467

 

they find good, for they not only find those eternal ad-

vantages which infinitely outweigh every temporal

loss *, but even these losses themselves are good to

them that find wisdom, which, like the pretended phi-

losopher's stone, turns every thing into gold. That

is truly good to us, which does us good, and that does

us good which makes us good, or brings us nearer to

the possession of the chief good. The keeper of wis-

dom does not always find that which appears good to a

carnal eye, but he always finds that which appears good

in the eyes of God, and consequently in his own eyes.

Paul found much good in the things that appear the

most frightful objects in nature to the greatest part of

men.

            Ver. 9. A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he

that speaketh lies shall perish.

            These sins are very pernicious, and yet Solomon knew

and found them so common, that he publishes a double

warning against them, almost in the same breath, verse

5.

            Ver. 10. Delight is not seemly for a fool, much less

for servants to have rule over princes.

            Wisdom turns every thing to a man's advantage and

honour, but folly turns gain into loss, and makes a man

ridiculous and contemptible, when he is surrounded

with every thing that might make him happy, and pro-

cure him respect. Delight is a thing that all men wish

to enjoy, but when a fool is furnished with every mean

of pleasure, his folly is heightened into madness, and

he is found to be seventimes more a fool than he ap-

peared to be when he was in other circumstances. A

whip is proper for an ass, and a rod for the fool's back,

but delight and the means of procuring it are the same

thing to a fool, as a golden bridle to that lazy animal †.

 

*Rom. 8:13                † Chap. 14:24

468                  EXPOSITION OF THE                  [CHAP. XIX.

 

            It is still more unseemly for servants to have rule over

princes, for although servants have as good blood in

their veins as princes, and are born with the same ra-

tional powers, yet their education and habits of life,

make them quite unfit for the arts of government. And

pride, that universal vice, has never a greater opportu-

nity of gaining full dominion in a man, than when he

is unexpectedly raised from the lowest to the highest

stations. But this proverb, like many others, is true

only in general, and not in every particular instance;

for Joseph was very justly raised, from slavery and im-

prisonment, to reign over princes, and Solomon himself

assures us, that a wise and poor child is worthy of much

more respect than an old and foolish king.

            Besides the instruction contained in this sentence, to

those that have the disposal of high offices in their

hands, it teaches us all to value wisdom above pleasure,

and all the means of pleasure. Wisdom can make a  

man happy without them, and wisdom alone can make

them means of happiness to us, and enable us to use

them without abusing them into means of our own dis-

honour.

            It teaches us also to be pleased with our own condi-

tion. How ridiculous would an illiterate rustic appear,

were he to be placed in a pulpit, or a man of low birth

if he were seated on a throne! It is God's office to

choose our stations, and ours to discharge with cheerful-

ness the duties of them.

            When God raised Joseph, and Saul, and David, to

power, and when he called fishermen to be apostles,

this proverb could not be applied to them, because God

gave them a spirit suited to their offices, and in like

manner, when he raises the meanest of the sons of men

to spiritual honours, he bestows upon them a suitable

disposition of soul. Those that are made kings and

priests unto God and the father of Christ, have the spi-

CHAP. XIX]          BOOK OF PROVERBS                 469

 

rit of sons, working in them those heavenly tempers

which become those who are exalted so highly by the

grace of God.

            Ver. 11. The discretion of a man deferreth his anger,

and it is his glory to pass over a transgression.

            Are you affronted by any person? Now is the time

for knowing whether you are a wise man or a fool. If

you are a fool, you will follow that maxim of fools, that

a man behaves honourably when he will not suffer any

man to give him the least shadow of affront, without

forcing him to repent it, if possible, or at least shewing

that it is rather the want of power than will, that hin-

ders him from taking revenge. If you are wise, then

you will not suffer passion to domineer in your breasts,

but when you find it raising insurrections, will force it

to yield to the dominion of reason and religion; and be-

fore you display it in your words and behaviour, you

will consider calmly whether you have reason to be

angry, or so much reason as passion would make you

believe; and if you have reason, yet another question

still remains, Dost thou well to be angry? or dost

thou well to be angry to such a degree?

            A wise man will not only defer his anger, but pass

over offences. Joab could suppress his anger at Abner

for killing Asahel, but he was not a wise man, for his

resentment broke forth at a fit opportunity, and insti-

gated him to shed the blood of war in the time of peace.

David was a man of a very different spirit. He not

only restrained Abishai from killing Shimei, when he

was fleeing from Jerusalem, but he pardoned that of-

fender when he was returning in triumph to his palace.

It was not revenge, but the love of peace, and a desire

of the public welfare, that made David charge Solo-

mon, on his death-bed, to keep his eye on that danger-

ous traitor.

            It is our duty and wisdom to pass by, not only slight

470                  EXPOSITION OF THE                  [CHAP. XIX.

 

offences, but injuries of a deeper dye, such as may be

called transgressions; for we need sometimes the for-

giveness of such from men, and every day we are

obliged to supplicate the forgiveness of transgressions

from God, and we are bound to forgive men, even as

God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven us.

            It is the discretion of a man to be slow to anger and

ready to forgive; for as it is not the water that surrounds

a ship, but the water which soaks into it, that sinks it,

so it is not the injury done by another man that endan-

gers us so much as the impression it makes upon our-

selves. Our fretful and revengeful thoughts are the

torment of our hearts, and deprive us of the govern-

ment of our own souls, and it is a piece of folly, when

our neighbour does us an injury, to do a much greater

to ourselves, when we mean to be revenged on him.

            It is a greater glory for a man to govern himself, than

to take strong cities, and rule over mighty nations. It

is the wisdom and honour of sinning creatures, to be-

have to offenders as men that need pardon for them-

selves. It is the glory of Christians to learn meekness

and lowliness from Christ. It is the glory of pardoned

sinners to shew forth the virtues of him that called them,

to which they owe so much, not only in their praises

but in all their conversation.

            Ver. 12. The king's wrath is as the roaring of a lion,

but his favour is as dew upon the grass.

            We must be loyal to the king for wrath, if we will

not be loyal for conscience sake; for here the Bible re-

quires it, and represents the great danger of disobe-

dience, to affright those that will not be governed by a

sense of duty. As the lion among the beasts of the

forest, so is a king among men, and as the roaring

of the lion is terrible to the beasts, so is the displea-

sure of the king to those that offend him. But his

CHAP. XIX]          BOOK OF PROVERBS                 471

 

favour is pleasant and refreshing like the dew upon

the grass.

            We must not wantonly provoke the displeasure, and

forfeit the favour, of one that can do us so much good or

evil; yet if conscience interfere with the king's com-

mands, we must obey God rather than man, for what

is the roaring of a lion, or the rage of a tyrant, to the

torments of a mind enraged with a sense of guilt; or

what is the dew on the grass, or the smiles of a mo-

narch, to that peace of God which passeth all under-

standing, and made the martyrs happier in their dun-

geons, and at stakes, than their tyrants were upon their

thrones *.

            Ver. 13. A foolish son is the calamity of his father,

and the contentions of a wife are a continual dropping.

            When children behave ill, they are a great cross to

their parents, but a peevish and contentious wife is a

much greater cross, for children may be turned out of

doors when they cannot be reclaimed, but death only, in

ordinary cases, can separate those that are joined in

marriage. As the rain that drops through an old house

rots the timber, and will, in time, wear away the very

stones, so the everlasting reflections and complaints of

a peevish woman prey upon the vitals of a man, and

consume his heart with unceasing anguish.

            Women were made to assist and comfort their hus-

bands, and therefore they ought to behave with a meek

and quiet spirit, for it will never be of advantage to a

woman to cross the end of her creation. Those who

make such a near friend unhappy, must bring a double

share of unhappiness on themselves.

            But husbands must not impute peevishness to their

wives, without good ground. We are all the sons of

Adam, and all women are the daughters of Eve, and it

would be very unjust to call a woman contentious, for

 

*Daniel 3

472                  EXPOSITION OF THE                  [CHAP. XIX.

 

every instance of bad humour to which vexations may

provoke her.

            If a man has a froward wife, let him consider his own

behaviour. Few women have so little of the heart of

a woman, or a human creature, as to make those men

unhappy that treat them with discretion and tenderness,

or if women really deserve this character, gentle admo-

nitions, and kind usage are the best means of reclaim-

ing them.

            If a wife has so much of the spirit of a tiger, as still

to vex a good husband, his duty is to acknowledge God

in this providence, and to consider it as a just correc-

tion, or a necessary trial. This will dispose him to per-

form his duty to a wife that does not perform her duty

to him, and to become better by her means, if he can-

not make her better by all his endeavours and prayers.

When men that have good wives consider this text,

and the too frequent illustrations of it which the obser-

vation of the world gives us, it will teach them what

reason they have of thankfulness to God, for appointing

them a happier lot. It is not chance, nor our own dis-

cretion, but the providence of God that gives any of us

a prudent wife.

            Ver. 14. Houses and riches are the inheritance of fa-

thers, and a prudent wife is from the Lord.

            Houses and lands are given us by God, but he gives

them to us by means of our parents or progenitors, whose

industry acquired them. The providence of God shines

more remarkably in bestowing good wives on men, for

they cannot come by inheritance; and no man can guess

beforehand what wife shall fall to any man's lot.

            Prudence in a wife, includes not only skill in the ma-

nagement of domestic affairs, but likewise that good

sense that makes her an agreeable partner, and directs

her to that kind of behaviour which makes her husband

happy in this connexion. To these qualities, if piety

CHAP. XIX]          BOOK OF PROVERBS                 473

 

be added, it renders her a far greater blessing than any

possessions that parents can transmit.

            We are to thank God for every outward enjoyment,

but chiefly for those in which his favourable providence

appears most plainly. Houses and lands may tend, in a

great degree, to render life comfortable, but a virtuous

woman is an uncommon blessing, for her price is far

above rubies.

            He that findeth a wife has reason to thank God*.

He that findeth a good wife has many reasons to be

thankful. It was God that gave her prudence,

that brought him into acquaintance with her, that dis-

posed him to choose her for a wife, and determined her

mind to comply with his desires.

            When we receive a rich present from a friend, grati-

tude obliges us to use it according to his wishes. If a

wife is a rich present from God, her husband is bound

to shew her all that respect and kindness which God re-

quires. Whatever character a wife deserves, God com-

mands her husband to love her, but when a wife is pru-

dent, the husband would be inexcusable that did not

love her with the tenderest affection.

            If a man desires to have a wife, he must acknow-

ledge God by earnest supplications; for he alone knows

the hearts of men and women, and exercises a sove-

reign influence over their affections; but let him not

presume to affront God by pretending to seek a wife

from him, without seeking prudence in her, preferably

to houses or land; for God declares, that a prudent

wife is a far richer gift than those things which are so

much valued by the generality of men. When chil-

dren wish to enter into marriage, they cannot expect

the countenance of their parents, if they make a choice

directly opposite to the judgment of their parents; and

how can we expect that our heavenly Father should

 

*Chap. 18:22

474                  EXPOSITION OF THE                  [CHAP. XIX.

 

give us his countenance in pursuits opposite to his de-  

dared will?

            Ver. 15. Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep, and an

idle soul shall suffer hunger.

            A man would make himself universally despised, if

he kept his bed all the time that other people are at

work; and yet a slothful man might as well be in his

bed, for whilst he is awake, he is sleeping, and when

he is at work, he is idle. Slothfulness is to the body

like rust to iron; it is a consumption to all the powers

of the mind, and by its stealing influence and stupify-

ing nature, it casts a man into a sleep, not of an ordi-

nary kind, but a deep sleep like that of death. When

a man does nothing as it ought to be done, he is like

one buried alive, and may be numbered with the inha-

bitants of the land of silence and rest.

            Would you avoid hunger and poverty, things so much

dreaded by mankind? Then avoid idleness, which

brings these miseries upon men, and deprives them of

that pity which waits upon virtue in distress. Idle-

ness brings hunger, and along with it temptations to

fraud and theft, by which means it has led many to a

gibbet.

            Ver. 16. He that keepeth the commandment, keepeth

his own soul; but he that despiseth his ways, shall die.

            As the word of God is called the Scripture, (or the

writing,) as if there were no other writings in the world,

because there are none that can bear a comparison with

it, so the precepts of the Bible may be called the com-

mandment, because, although there are men that have

a right to command, yet the precepts of God lay an

obligation upon us, of force infinitely superior to any

thing else in the world. The authority of parents and

kings is derived from God, and we are bound to obey

them, because God requires it, and when their com-

CHAP. XIX]          BOOK OF PROVERBS                 475

 

mandments interfere with the will of God, we are bound

to obey God, and not man.

            The commandment of God is to be observed and

obeyed by us in all things, and through the whole

course of our lives. We must keep it, not only as the

apple of our eye, but as our life and soul.

            He that keeps the commandment keeps his own soul

from those sins that would bring death and ruin upon

him, and from the temptations of the adversary, that

watches our halting, and seizes every opportunity he

can find to do us a mischief. But how can a man keep

his own soul? Is not the Lord our keeper? Certain-

ly; but in converting and keeping men, he deals with

them as rational creatures. We greatly abuse the doc-

trine of free grace, if we imagine that it supersedes the

necessity and advantage of obedience. Although the

glory of salvation belongs entirely to Jesus, yet

he condescends to give to faithful ministers the ho-

nour of being workers under him*.  And although

the glory of the strength of Christians stands in him,

yet when he communicates the influences of his grace,

he makes themselves instrumental, under his agency,

in their own preservation from the snares of the des-

troyer. He that is born of God keepeth himself, and

the wicked one toucheth him not.

            Care and thought are absolutely necessary in those

that resolve to keep the commandment; for he that

despiseth his ways, shall die. The saint must not only

endeavour to understand and remember the rule of the

law, but likewise to observe his own way, that he may

direct his steps, and form his course of behaviour in an

agreeableness to it. The travellers that have their

faces towards the better country, must have their eyes

in their head, for there is no going to heaven by guess,

and those that live at random must die. This truth is

clearly taught by the apostle Paul in language suffi-

 

*1 Tim. 4:16

476                  EXPOSITION OF THE                  [CHAP. XIX.

 

cient to alarm the stoutest sinner, if any thing could

alarm him. "If ye live after the flesh, ye shall die,"

&c.*

            Ver. 17. He that hath pity upon the poor, lendeth unto

the Lord, and that which he hath given, will he repay him

again.

            Without the pity of the heart, the bounty of the hand

is unacceptable to the Searcher of hearts; and profess

sions of pity are mere hypocrisy, without the fruit of

bounty, if it is in the power of our hands to shew it†,

            How great is the mercy of the Lord to the poor!

He hath appointed them to be the receivers of a part

of his revenue, and what is given to them he accounts

to be lent to himself. This mercy is not confined to

the poor of his own people; although he interests

those especially in our bounty‡ yet he would not

have us to restrict the fruits of our compassion to them.

Our Lord dispensed his cures to the ungrateful, al-

though he knew what was in man, and God causes his

sun to rise, and his rain to descend, upon the evil and

the good, and requires us to give a portion to seven,

and also to eight, dispersing the fruits of our liberality,

as the husbandman scatters his grain, although he does

not certainly know whether shall prosper, either this

or that ||.

            “He that giveth to the poor, lendeth to the Lord.”

This is an argument for charity of wonderful force.

No Pagan moralist could ever produce a motive for

any social duty, equal to this. It is sufficient to open

the closest fist, and to enlarge the most selfish heart.

Does God shew so much regard to the poor, and shall

we be indifferent to their happiness? Can we lose any

thing by lending it to the Lord? Men refuse to give

when they do not expect to receive, and they expect

 

*Rom. 8:13    †John 3:17     ‡ Gal. 6:10     || Eccl. 11:4.6

CHAP. XIX]          BOOK OF PROVERBS                 477

 

no return from the poor. If the rich were desirous to

borrow from us, we would think our money safe in

their hands, and esteem their bonds as good as money

in our purses. But all the earth belongs unto the

Lord, and shall we not trust our money in his hands,

by giving to the poor? Here is his bond, and it must

be a good one, if the Scripture is the word of God.

The richest man in the world may, for ought we know,

be poor to-morrow, or he may prove unfaithful to his

word. But the Lord is the everlasting possessor of

heaven and earth, and he cannot lie, nor deceive any

one that trusts in him. Had we lived in the days of

Christ's humiliation, when he had the goodness to live

on the contributions of pious women, it is natural for

us to think that we would cheerfully have given to him

all our living, and thought ourselves greatly indebted

to him for accepting it. We have not now Jesus with

us, but the poor we have always with us; and when

we have them to receive the fruits of our bounty, it is

the same thing as if we had Christ himself.

            God will be sure to repay what is given, to the poor

at his command, with great increase. The greatest

usurer on earth cannot make so much of his money, as

the man that gives to the poor.  "Thou shalt be re-

compensed," says Christ, "at the resurrection of the

just." Is that a long time to wait for it? Then you

are assured, by the same faithful witness, that you shall

have an hundred fold, even in this life, for every thing

you part with on his account, Luke xiv. Matt. xix.

Men that may be safely trusted with our money, are

not always ready with their payments. A poor man

cannot have his money from them when he needs it,

but God repays what is given to the poor at the best

time; and if he does not return it in money, he pays

it in what is incomparably better*.

 

*Ps. 40:1, 2

478                  EXPOSITION OF THE                  [CHAP. XIX.

 

            Ver. 18. Chasten thy son whilst there is hope, and let

not thy soul spare for his crying.

            If you mean to do good to your children by correc-

tion, begin in due time. For if he be left to grow up

under the government of self-will, it is to be feared that

he will become like a horse or mule that were never

taught to obey the rider; and when these animals come

to a full age, without being forced to obey the rein,

you may sooner break their necks than break them to

obedience.

            But your heart melts, and your bowels yearn to hear

the cries of your poor child, and you cannot give him

another harsh word. Let him alone then, and leave

him to the government of his own passions, unless you

think that it would be still more grievous to have your

grey hairs brought with sorrow to the grave, and to

hear him curse you at the left hand of your Judge, for

suffering him to destroy himself, than to hear his groans

for a few moments.

            After all, parents ought neither to inflict unneces-

sary chastisement on their children, nor suffer their

angry passions to mingle themselves with the duty here

recommended. Those parents that make an angry use

of the rod, need a rod to their own backs. ("Chasten

thy son, so shall he be hopeful; but be not raised in

thy wrath to insult him.")

            An offending child must not be spared for his cry-

ing, and far less must he be spared for his anger. If

his wrath procures his deliverance, he will soon learn

the way of escaping all chastisement; and if thou de-

liverest him once, thou must deliver him again and

again, till he is past all hope of amendment. This

seems to be at least a part of the meaning of the next

verse.

            Ver. 19. A man of great wrath shall suffer punishment;

for if thou deliver him, yet thou must do it again.

            When Peter asked our Lord how often he should

CHAP. XIX]          BOOK OF PROVERBS                 479

 

forgive his offending brother, he received a very sur-

prizing answer: Not until seven times, but until se-

venty times seven. But will not this give great en-

couragement to men to offend their brethren, and to

give every indulgence to their angry passions? No,

for it does not imply that an outrageous person shall

escape from punishment. It was once said to a man

that was killing his adversary, let him alone, and he

will die of his own accord. So may it be said to a man

that thirsts for revenge upon his passionate antagonist,

let him alone, and he will take revenge upon himself.

Although you spare him at this time, he will soon expose

himself again to punishment, and it cannot be supposed

that he will always escape. You ought rather to pity him,

than rage like him, for he is his own irreconcileable

enemy, and will be sure to plunge himself into mis-

chief.

            Anger is said to be a short madness, but the passion-

ate man is always mad till he gains the victory over

the tyrants that domineer in his soul. He has sober

fits, but he so frequently relapses, that you cannot say

he ever possesses the use of reason. Any man that

wishes evil to him may deprive him of the use of his

understanding, by a single word, or even by a look.

Are your souls subject to those storms of passion?

Turn your anger upon itself. You are displeased with

other men, because you take them for enemies; but

your worst enemies are the passions of your own heart.

Do you not hate that monster, Vitellius, who said that

the carcase of a slain enemy was a pleasant sight, but

the carcase of a slain citizen more pleasant? Why then

don't you hate the violent tyrants of your own breast,

that would wreak their fury upon the names and bo-

dies of your neighbours, but discover it most of all in

tearing your own souls? You are every day torturing

yourselves, and exposing yourselves to a severe retalia-

480                  EXPOSITION OF THE                  [CHAP. XIX.

 

tion from those whom you insult, and to a more severe

vengeance still, from your Judge, who will call you to

account for every angry thought and every passionate

word.

            Ver. 20. Hear counsel, and receive instruction, that

thou mayest be wise in thy latter end.

            A friend that can give us good counsel is a precious

treasure, and nothing but folly and self-conceit can

keep us from valuing his good advice as more than

fine gold.

            If the counsels of our friends deserve respect, the

counsels of the word of God are infinitely more useful.

The testimonies of the Lord were David's counsellors

in all his difficulties, and they made him wiser than the

ancients.

            Every name of our Redeemer is dear to the true

Christian, and one of them is Wonderful Counsellor.

He gives us counsel by his word and Spirit. Our

ears and souls are his, and shall we not employ them

in hearing and treasuring up his counsels, that we may

direct all our actions by their light?

            Instruction is very much needed by us, for we are

naturally ignorant and foolish. When God gives us

instruction, either by his word and ordinances, or by

the rebukes of his providence, we must receive it with

submission and meekness. Instruction, either by words

or blows, would be welcome to us, if we had a due

sense of our own stupidity, and of the value of our souls.

But what will we gain by hearing counsel, and re-

ceiving instruction?  It will make us wise;  "for the

entrance of God's word giveth light, it giveth under-

standing unto the simple."  The rod and reproof give

wisdom, and wisdom is far more precious than gold

and rubies. Without counsel and instruction, we must

be fools for ever, and if we refuse wisdom, when it is

presented to us in those means of God's appointment,

CHAP. XIX]          BOOK OF PROVERBS                 481

 

our folly is desperate and stubborn, and admits of no

excuse.

            But we have used these means, you will say, and

have acquired but very little wisdom from them. But

a little wisdom is a very great attainment, and if you

think that you have got none at all, yet you must still

continue to use the means, and so you shall be wise

at your latter end. A man will spend several years in

learning a business that will enable him to live comfort-

ably through the remainder of life, and we have no rea-

son to grudge a whole lifetime employed in receiving

instruction, if it make us wise at our latter end.

            At our latter end it will be seen whether we have

been fools or wise men. If our days are spent in the

pursuit of perishing things, to the neglect of our eternal

interests, we shall be forced to leave these vanities to

which we sacrificed our souls, and at our end we

shall be fools. When the men that choose the world

for their portion come to the close of life, and their

former conduct presents itself to their eyes, how will

they curse and tear themselves in their rage, at their

own blindness and madness!  Even whilst they are

eager in the pursuit of vanity, and flattering themselves

with the delusive hopes of many days of pleasure before

them, they cannot forbear from wishing, like the co-

vetous soothsayer, that they may die the death of the

righteous, and that their last end may be like his.

            But mark the follower of wisdom, and behold him

that hearkens to the counsels of the Almighty. His

latter end is peace and happiness. Those who hated

his holiness, and despised his condition, are now obliged

to acknowledge that his life was spent in wisdom, and

that his last hour is blessed.

            Do you think that you have already gained enough

 

*Jer. 17

482                  EXPOSITION OF THE                  [CHAP. XIX.

 

of wisdom?  You are quite mistaken. You are yet a

child, and speak as a child, that thinks himself a scholar

if he can repeat the letters of the alphabet. A Chris-

tian must live and die learning*.

            Ver. 21. There are many devices in a man's heart;

nevertheless, the counsel of the Lord that shall stand.

            Men's hearts are perpetually filled with projects, and

they seldom consider whether these projects are agree-

able to the mind of God or not. But the counsel of the

Lord revealed in his word, shall stand good after all the

plans they can form. It is the way of happiness to hear

his counsel and receive his instruction; for the world

passeth away, and the lusts thereof, but he that loth

the will of God abideth for ever, and must prosper

whilst he acts by the direction of these unerring coun-

sellors, the testimonies of the Lord†.

            But the counsel of God is generally used in Scrip-

ture to signify the purpose of God concerning the

events that shall come to pass; and this counsel com-

prehends every thing that has come or shall come to pass

in the world, either by the immediate agency of God, or

by means of any creature; for the worst of men, and devils

themselves, are employed by the providence of God in

executing his decrees. Men and devils act in an agree-

ableness to their own wills as far as their power reaches,

but they are still under the absolute dominion of the

Lord; and whether they are able or not able to execute

their own devices, they are executing his decrees. How

strange is the wisdom of divine Providence!  Millions

of creatures know nothing of the true God, millions of

them are his constant enemies, and are incessantly em-

ployed in devising and executing those purposes which

have for their objects the gratification of selfish and cor-

rupt affections, that are filled with enmity against God,

 

*Phil. 3:14     † Verse 20. Ps. 1:4

CHAP. XIX]          BOOK OF PROVERBS                 483

 

and yet they all concur in fulfilling his secret will. His

counsels leave them to their own free will; and their

free will, however corrupt, is managed by his holy pro-

vidence to serve his own glorious designs, and where

it would lead men beyond the line of his decrees, he

powerfully and invisibly controuls it.

            It is vain for men to form any purpose, and to think

of carrying it into execution, without acknowledging

the providence of God. The Apostle James warns us

in strong language against this piece of practical

atheism*.

            When we meet with hardships from the cruelty of

men, let us consider this truth, and behave meekly and

humbly. They do nothing without the observation and

permission of God. Christ submitted quietly to those

sufferings which he underwent from the hands of bar-

barous men, because it was necessary that the Scrip-

tures should be fulfilled, and the determinations of

God's hand and counsel performed. What David did

pleased all the people, and shall not we be pleased with

what the King of Heaven does?

            Let the people of God rejoice. The counsels of God

concerning them are glorious in wisdom and grace, and

though hand join in hand, they shall not be unaccom-

plished. The counsels of their enemies are dangerous,

but no weapon formed against Zion shall prosper. All

the counsels of the wicked shall be executed or frus-

trated according to the good pleasure of God, whose

eyes run to and fro through the whole earth, to shew

himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is

perfect towards him †.

            Let sinners tremble, for their counsels and works are

in the hand of God. He may suffer them to prosper

for a time in mischief, and to bring some of their wick-

 

*James 4:13-17        † Mic. 4:10-13

484                  EXPOSITION OF THE                  [CHAP. XIX.

 

ed devices to pass, but their mischiefs shall rebound

upon themselves, and their nets shall entangle their own

feet. God may use them for a time to accomplish his

gracious though awful designs upon his people, but he

will in a short time call them to account, and punish

them for all the evils they have done, and for the

greater evils they have imagined *.

            Ver. 22. The desire of a man is his kindness, and a

poor man is better than a liar.

            A man's benevolence is not in proportion to the good

deeds he performs, but to the real desires he has to do

good, if it were in his power.

            A man may perform many acts of kindness, and yet

not perform all that he ought. When a rich man be-

stows a few of his superfluities, they may amount to a

considerable sum, and yet in the balance of the sanc-

tuary they will not equal in weight the little pittance

that a poor man gives, when he stretches himself to the

utmost of his ability, or even beyond it †. A rich man

may even give more than a man could reasonably desire

him to give, for the purposes of charity or public ser-

vice, and yet be entirely destitute of charity and public

spirit, seeking only the praise of men, whilst he pro-

fesses, like the old Pharisees, much better things.

            On the other side, a man may give only two mites,

or nothing at all, and yet possess a generous soul, like

that of Job, who never ate his morsel without sharing

it with the poor. As God only knows the heart, the

day of judgment will be the grand discoverer of the

real characters of men. In the meantime, we must not

love those only who bestow much kindness on us, nor

confine our esteem to those who signalise themselves

by their extensive liberalities; for the virtues, as well

as the vices of men, are often concealed under rags, and

 

*Ps. 21:11, Isa. 10:12          † 2 Cor. 6:3

CHAP. XIX]          BOOK OF PROVERBS                 485

 

pinched by poverty, so that they cannot display their

blossoms, or produce their proper fruits.

            The poor man that cannot give, and is obliged to re-

ceive, is a much better man than the liar who professes

kindness, and yet does nothing to verify his professions

by works. Good words are good things in their proper

place, and do well become the mouth of the Christian,

but good words instead of good deeds are mere hypo-

crisy; of so gross a kind, that even men often discern it,

and despise the pitiful wretch who endeavours to shel-

ter the baseness and selfishness of his spirit under empty

professions. Do you say to your poor brother, be thou

warmed and clothed, whilst thou givest him nothing to

shelter him from the pinching cold, or to fill his crav-

ing appetite, although thou art well able to do it? Thou

jolliest hypocrisy and lies to the want of charity, and a

poor man that lives upon the bounty of the parish is a

more respectable man than thou.

            Let us learn to value men by their hearts, as far as

they lie open to the judgment of candour and charity,

rather than their professions and appearances, which are

so frequently delusive. Thus shall we be enabled to

choose our friends, and to put a proper value on their

kindness; and by this means we shall be preserved

from that injustice so frequently condemned by the wise

man, of despising the poor, and paying an undue re-

spect to the rich.

            This proverb also teaches us to examine our own

hearts, that we may know how far we are under the in-

fluence of a kind and charitable spirit. God will not

accept of all the substance of our houses, instead of the

charity of the heart. At the same time, desires are not

real, nor are they genuine marks of goodness, if they

are not followed by suitable performances, when the

providence of God puts it in our power*.

 

*Philemon 6

486                  EXPOSITION OF THE                  [CHAP. XIX.

 

            Ver. 23. The fear of the Lord tendeth to life, and he

that hath it shall abide satisfied; he shall not be visited

with evil.

            Religion is the soul of happiness, it makes the pre-

sent life long and happy, as far as a long and happy

life is really for our advantage, and it is the beginning

of eternal life in the soul. He that is governed by the

fear of the Lord enjoys heart-felt satisfaction, and the

joys that spring from it are not like the short-lived joys

of the world, that die away into sadness and misery;

they last through life, they are vigorous in old age,

when the pleasures of sense have lost their relish, and

they triumph over death and all its terrors. Christians

are indeed exposed to heaviness through manifold temp-

tations, but the fear of the Lord, and the faith of Christ,  

has often produced joy unspeakable and full of glory

in such seasons; and the disquiets which the people of

God often feel, are owing for the most part, to the im-

perfections of their religious dispositions, and are bless-

ed by God as means of improving their grace, and in-

troducing sweeter joys into their souls. Christians have

unfailing grounds of satisfaction, for they have health

in their souls, they know that all their affairs are ma-

naged by a wise and gracious Providence, and they

have the sure promises of the life to come.  If God

himself can give satisfaction to the souls which he has

made, they have it, or shall have it in due time, for he

manages all things for their good, and his eternal ex-

cellencies are their portion.

            The saint of God is entirely delivered from the mi-

series of fallen state, as far as it can consist with

the plan of his recovery which divine wisdom has eon-

trived.  The calamities which he suffers are unstinged

to him through the Redeemer's cross, which, like the

tree that Moses cast into the waters of Marah, makes

bitter things sweet. He is not visited with any unne-

CHAP. XIX]          BOOK OF PROVERBS                 487

 

cessary evil, and those evils that visit him are made

good on the whole by the tendency which they have

to do him good, and make him good. Reproaches and

tribulations, sicknesses and deaths, are the common lot

of men, and they are very evil things to those who are

strangers to God, but they are good to them that love

God, for they are appointed and useful means to make

them partakers of God's holiness, and prepare them

for that blessed world where sins and sorrows are no

more*.

            Ver. 24. A slothful man hideth his hand in his bosom,

and will not so much as bring it to his mouth again †.

            Solomon was a mortal enemy to sloth, as every wise

man will be. He has often told us of the mischievous

effects of this vice, and here he holds up the sluggard

as an object of contempt and laughter, to make him

ashamed, if possible, of his laziness, and to awaken us

to diligence in the duties of our calling and religion.

            It is a mark, of a sluggard to make a great business

of a little affair, and to make much ado about nothing

at all. It is a business to the sluggard to take his

hand out of his bosom, and it is a grievous affair for

him to put it to his mouth to feed himself. Were it

not for shame, he would desire to be fed like an infant,

and he will at length be tempted to grudge that men.

cannot live like trees, on which their proper nourish-

ment falls down from the clouds.

            A man that employs his hands with diligence, is

able not only to support himself and his family, but to

give something likewise to him that needs‡; and he

finds less trouble in his work, and enjoys more content-

ment than a sluggard would do, if you should bring

every thing to him that is needful for his support, with-

 

*Chap. 4:26, 27, 3:7, 8, John 8:52

† The word bosom ought to have been dish.           ‡ Eph. 4:28

488                  EXPOSITION OF THE                  [CHAP. XIX.

 

out any labour of his own hands, because the things

that no man can do for him are oppressions to his slug-

gish soul. It is a greater burden to a sleepy man to

strip himself and go to bed, than for another man to

perform some laborious service.

            Awake, thou sluggard, out of thy deep sleep, unless

thou desirest to be miserable through life; for life itself

is an intolerable slavery when every piece of work is a

burden.

            Beware of spiritual sloth, which makes every duty

of religion a toil. God loves a cheerful servant, that

rejoices and works righteousness, but he will accept of

no drowsy and spiritless services, which are a dishonour

to him and to his ways. To the slothful Christian it

seems a burden to pray, and to believe in Christ, al-

though by these duties we only ask, and receive, and

eat our spiritual food. The lively Christian admires

the grace of God, which hath made these holy exercises

our duty; but the sluggard grudges that he cannot

have heaven in a morning dream.

            Ver. 25. Smite a scorner, and the simple will beware;

and reprove one that hath understanding, and he will un-

derstand knowledge.

            The wise man has already told us that it is needless

to reprove a scorner, because his pride will make re-

proofs useless to him. What, then, is to be done with

him? Shall he be suffered to proceed in his wicked

courses, and to corrupt others by his example?  No;

he ought to be smitten, at least when he lays himself

open to the vengeance of the laws; and although there

is little hope of reclaiming one that is so much harden-

ed in wickedness, yet his punishment will be useful to

other men, who will hear, find fear, and do no more so

wickedly. The simple and thoughtless will be made

to see how dangerous it is to follow the example of

one that has suffered unto imprisonment, or whipping,

CHAP. XIX]          BOOK OF PROVERBS                 489

 

or death, for his vices, and those who would not be

restrained from evil by the fear of God, and the

thoughts of an eternal world, will be checked by the

fear of men, and the terror of present punishment. It

is a necessary thing in a land to punish gross offences;

for without the execution of justice on the wicked,

iniquity would overflow all its banks, and men would

not live with safety among their fellow-creatures. We

have, therefore, reason to bless God for the institution

of magistracy and should concur in our stations to

assist in the execution of the just laws against vice.

            But a wise man needs not be smitten for his faults,

which are generally of a much less atrocious nature

than those of the scorner. He is not, however, to be

connived at, or left to his own wisdom, to inform him

of his miscarriages. Men are commonly too dim-sight-

ed to discern their own miscarriages in a proper light,

and reproofs are means appointed and blessed by God

for bringing wise men themselves to the exercise of a

lively sorrow and repentance.

            Are you afraid to reprove a wise man, lest he should

take it amiss? You need not fear this, if he is really

a wise man. He will love thee for reproving him, and

will understand knowledge. A fool is displeased when

he is supposed capable of falling into a fault; but a

wise man is meek and lowly, sensible of his imperfec-

tion and frailty, and when he goes out of the road of

duty, is glad and thankful to be set right.

            This proverb teaches us, how vain it is for men,

through the pride of character, to cavil at admonitions,

and endeavour to justify themselves in opposition to

plain fact. Instead of serving our character by this

behaviour, we greatly hurt it. When we receive re-

proof with gratitude, we shew ourselves wise men.

 

*Rom. 13

490                  EXPOSITION OF THE                  [CHAP. XIX.

 

When we are displeased with it, we shew that we are

fools, or at least that our wisdom is mingled with much

folly. To affect the character of perfect men, is a plain

evidence that we know not ourselves, and do not re-

member the present state of human nature.

            Ver. 26. He that wasteth his father, and chaseth away

his mother, is a son that causeth shame, and bringeth re-

proach.

            Some children are so graceless, as to think it no sin

to steal from their parents, and to take at their own

hands that portion of the goods which they think be-

longs to them. Others abuse the fondness of their pa-

rents, and ungratefully make use of it as a mean of

robbing them by their own consent. Both these kinds

of wicked children may be said to waste their parents.

There is another kind of children who have some re-

verence for their father, because their interest depends

on his will; but they have so little regard for their

mothers, that they chase them away from their houses,

by rendering their life uncomfortable, or by wasting

that portion of goods which pertains to them. Esau,

profane as he was, had some regard for his father, and

sought his blessing with many tears; but he valued

not his mother, and resolved to kill her dearest son, as

soon as her husband's head was laid in the dust. On

the other side, dutiful children will at all times endea-

vour to make their mothers happy, especially when

they are reduced to the affliction of a widowed condition.

            Those sons that behave so undutifully to their pa-

rents bring a reproach on themselves, which spreads to

the whole family. They are monsters of mankind, who

are entirely destitute of natural affection, and feel no

gratitude for the highest obligations which one human

person can receive from another. They barbarously

disappoint and counteract the most reasonable hopes

that can be formed by men, and prove the torment and

CHAP. XIX]          BOOK OF PROVERBS                 491

 

disgrace of those who had the best reason to expect

comfort at their hand. They violate the strongest

obligations to duty, and make themselves unworthy of

the least confidence from men. They greatly provoke

the author of their being, by their base conduct to-

wards the instruments of it. God hath placed in his

law the duties we owe to our parents next to those we

owe to himself, and will severely avenge the neglect of

them. How, then, can they escape punishment, who

do not only neglect, but scandalously counteract these

duties! If the injuries done to strangers, or inferiors,

expose men to the displeasure of the Most High, what

punishments hang over those that wound, in the ten-

derest part, the persons to whom under God they

owe themselves?

            Is God so careful to enforce the rights of parents

upon their children, how careful should parents be to

inculcate on their children their duty to God, the sense

of which, in the minds of their children, is their own

best security for that regard which is due to themselves.

            If God be the father of the human race, and of

Christians in particular, what fear is due to him? What

monsters of undutifulness are they that provoke him to

anger continually?

            Ver. 27. Cease, my son, to hear the instruction that

causeth to err from the words of knowledge.

            There are many deceivers in the world, who make it

their business to clothe error with the appearance of

truth, and to weaken the motives to holiness which are

set before us in the word of God. And the exhorta-

tion in this verse speaks to us as children, warning us

to beware of their artifices and insinuations.

            Error may be rendered very plausible, for the Devil

himself came to men with Scripture in his mouth*; and

 

*Matt. 4

492                  EXPOSITION OF THE                  [CHAP. XIX.

 

no wonder if his ministers can presume to plead both

Scripture and reason in behalf of their pernicious doc-

trines: but a quagmire is not the less dangerous, be-

cause it is covered with beautiful verdure, and has the

appearance of solid ground; nor is poison the less per-

nicious, because it is covered with honey. Error is

error after all that can be said for it, and all the shapes

which it can be made to assume.

            It is, no doubt, our duty to prove all things, and to

take nothing upon the mere testimony of men that

concerns our precious souls, and it is the property of

a sincere soul, like Nathaniel's, to be open to convic-  

tion, where there is danger of a mistake. But this does

not imply that we are to be ever learning, without

coming to the knowledge and assurance of the truth.

The truth may be known, because it is plainly reveal-

ed in the Bible; and when we have found that which

is good, we ought to hold it fast, that no man take our

crown—to contend earnestly for it against all opposi-

tion, and to shut our ears against those instructions

that would shake our regard to those things which are

most surely believed amongst us.

            It is dangerous for men to lend a ready ear to those

that would exalt the dignity of human nature, to the

dishonour of the righteousness and grace of Christ, or

loosen the obligations of men to obey every law of God,

because the corruption of our natures gives countenance

to every thing that favours pride or carelessness; so

that, when we think we are well fortified against the

delusions of seducing spirits and false teachers, and

rashly venture to hear what they can say for them-

selves, we are in great danger of being perverted, and

filling from our fancied stedfastness.

            The apostle John tells us, that it is a great and dan-

gerous sin, when a man comes to teach false doctrine,

to receive him into our houses, or to bid him God

CHAP. XIX]          BOOK OF PROVERBS                 493

 

speed; and Christ tells us, that his true sheep hear and

know his voice, and follow him, but will not follow a

stranger.

            Perhaps you have already given too much ear to the

teachers of corrupt doctrine. The exhortation is chief-

ly addressed to you, by him that knows your danger.

Cease to hear such instruction. The time past is suf-

ficient to have listened to it. Examine carefully how

far your judgment or practice have been perverted, by

comparing them with the Scriptures. Adjust your

profession and practice to that unerring standard. En-

deavour to know the present truth, and to be establish-

ed in it. Learn by the word of God, and prayer, to

distinguish between truth and error. Hear those teach-

ers that are of God, and preach sound doctrine; and

beware of itching ears, which would tempt you to

drink poison into your ears and hearts, instead of the

sincere milk of the word*.

            Ver. 28. An ungodly witness scorneth judgment, and

the mouth of the wicked devoureth iniquity.

            This is not the first nor second time that Solomon

has informed us about the wickedness of false witnes-

ses. It would be a great injustice to admit the tes-

timony of a profligate wretch, against the life or for-

tune of his neighbour; for he neither regards man, nor

fears God. He scorneth judgment, and has no rever-

ence for the most sacred and venerable objects. He

bids defiance to eternal justice, and swallows down the

most enormous iniquities as if they were sweet wine;

for his conscience is become hardened in iniquity, till a

trifle will be a sufficient temptation to him to swear

against innocent blood.

            It is greatly the interest of a nation to take order that

a sense of religion be preserved amongst the members

 

*1 John 4:1-6, Matt. 7:15, 2 John 9

494                  EXPOSITION OF THE                  [CHAP. XIX.

 

of it. When men generally lose their reverence for

an oath, the bonds of society are broken, honesty be-

comes a prey, and ruin advances with hasty steps.

            Let all men beware of those sins that are counted

little, for they are like little thieves that get in at the

window, and then open the door for bigger villains to

get in. When men learn to lie without scruple, be-

cause they hurt none but themselves, they will next

learn to bear false witness, when they are tempted by

love or fear, and from thence they will proceed to great-

er degrees of wickedness, till at length they will scarce

put the devil to the trouble of tempting them to any

sin, but drink iniquity like water. Every sin tends to

harden the conscience, and a conscience long hardened

in sin, will in time be seared as with a hot iron.

            However stupid the consciences of ungodly men are,

and whatever flatteries they use for deceiving them-  

selves, their iniquity will in the end be found hateful.

            Ver. 29. Judgments are prepared for scorners, and

stripes for the back of fools.

            Scorners, in the pride of their hearts, think them-

selves secure from the vengeance of the law, and are

sometimes so profane as to laugh at the threatenings of

the Almighty. But the day is coming when their

laughter shall be turned into heaviness. The God

whom they despise, is the judge of all the earth, and it

is his glory to exercise his high office in righteousness.

He takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but

if they will not turn and live, they must die, and their

blood shall be on their own head, and the Lord shall be

known by the judgment which he executeth. The

judgments that shall be inflicted on scorners, are already

prepared, and determined for them. It is the triumph

of lively Christians that they can look back to the days

of eternity, and rejoice in the contemplation of a king-  

dom prepared for them before the foundation of the

CHAP. XIX]          BOOK OF PROVERBS                 495

 

world. But sinners have great reason to tremble with

astonishment, when they reflect upon the immutable de-

crees of God, for an everlasting hell was designed in

them for every unrepenting transgressor *. As kings

have their officers of justice, and instruments of ven-

geance ready to terrify profligate subjects into obedi-

ence to the laws, so the Everlasting King has every

instrument of vengeance reserved among his treasures,

to terrify men from sin, or to destroy them if they go

on in their trespasses. Their punishment shall be dis-

graceful to the last degree, for stripes are prepared for

the backs of fools. They shall suffer ignominious

wounds as the basest of criminals, and their reproach

shall never be wiped away.

            Because sinners feel not the strokes of judgment, they

foolishly think that they shall for ever escape. But did

the old world of the ungodly escape, although they

were spared an hundred and twenty years? Christ

himself, the beloved Son of God, when he was bearing

iniquity not his own, was not spared. Justice and

judgment took hold of our blessed Surety, and he gave

his back to the smiters, and his cheeks to them that

plucked off the hair. If God spared not his own Son,

will he spare stubborn transgressors?

            Perhaps you imagine, sinners, that vengeance will

be long delayed, and that your sufferings are reserved

to another world. Perhaps it may, and for ought you

know, it may not be so. But, allowing that you should

enjoy all the prosperity that your hearts can wish till

you die, are you sure that you shall live another year,

or another day? Your life depends absolutely on him

whom you treat as an enemy; and when his much

abused patience is at an end, where, O where are you!

 

*Matt. 25:41

496                  EXPOSITION OF THE                  [CHAP. XX.

 

 

                     Proverbs 20

 

            Ver. 1. Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging, and

whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.

            WINE and strong drink are creatures of God, which

are very useful to men when they are seasonably and

moderately used, but by abusing them we sin against

the goodness and law of God, and against our own souls

and bodies.

            Wine deceives and mocks those that use it to excess,

and punishes those that abuse it as an instrument of

dishonour to him that gave it to men to cheer their

hearts. It promises refreshment, but it steals away

men's senses, till it makes them the objects of scorn to

the sober. It made the venerable patriarch Noah a

laughing-stock to his own son. It deprives men of

their reason, and gives the government of the mind to

the passions; and then those that were men of good

behaviour in their sober moments, become insolent and

outrageous. When the king of Israel was made drunk

with bottles of wine, he forgot his dignity, and stretch-

ed out his hand with scorners *.

            Wine has been the beginning of many quarrels that

have ended in wounds and blood; for it rouses the

passions, it turns suspicions into certainties in the eye

of the drunkard, and thus inflames resentments into ir-

reconcileable animosities. It gives full range to all the

hidden vices of the soul, and produces new vices of a

dangerous kind. It destroys the power of reason, and

infuses into the soul all the fury of a wild beast.

 

*Hos. 7:5

CHAP. XX]          BOOK OF PROVERBS                 497

 

            He that suffers himself to be deceived by it is not

wise, for he wastes his memory and understanding, as

well as his money; he wounds his conscience, he en-

slaves himself to a tyrant, and enters upon a course

which, when it becomes habitual, will render him use-

less and miserable upon earth, and exclude him from

the kingdom of heaven. When wine and strong drink

are greedily swallowed down, they swallow the drunk-

ard, and turn him into an unclean beast *.

            Wine had the honour of being used in the service of

God under the law, and is still used in it under the

gospel, and why should we use it in the service of Sa-

tan? It is not allowed by God but with moderation,

to the greatest men on the greatest occasions. Neither

birth days of kings, nor happy meetings of friends, nor

the transacting of the most important businesses, will

justify men in excess of wine †.

            We should remember, that the day of Christ is ap-

proaching, and take care that our hearts be not over-

charged with surfeiting and drunkenness; we must

remember from whom we receive the refreshments of

life, and endeavour to glorify him in the use of them.

We are called to the hope of drinking of the rivers of

God's pleasures, and shall we fill ourselves with wine,

wherein there is excess ‡?

            Ver. 2. The fear of a king is as the roaring of a lion;

whoso provoketh him to anger sinneth against his own

soul.

            Solomon had probably seen too much evidence of a

seditious disposition in that people over which he reign-

ed, and therefore warns them again and again of the

sin and danger of provoking kings to anger. Men

have such a degree of self-will and pride, that they can

scarcely be prevailed upon to submit to the necessary

 

*Isaiah 28:7, 8           † Hos. 7:5      ‡ 1 Cor. 10:31, Eph. 5:8, Ps. 36:8

498                  EXPOSITION OF THE                  [CHAP. XX.

 

restraints of their liberty. Liberty is a valuable thing,

but licentiousness is the ruin of nations.

            If the fear occasioned by the displeasure of a king is

so intolerable, what must it be to encounter the wrath

of Him whose voice is not only like the roaring of a

lion, but like the sound of many thunders. His voice

shakes the heaven and the earth, and neither men nor

devils shall be able to endure the terrors of it. To in

against Christ is to sin not only against our lives, but

against our immortal souls*.

            Ver. 3. It is an honour for a man to cease from strife,

but every fool will be meddling.

            It is an honour for a man to leave off strife before it

be meddled with, and to overlook these things that

might stir up anger†. But when a man is engaged in

contention, is it an honour for him to give it up? Will

not the world say that we have a bad cause, cr weak

arguments, or a mean spirit, if we have not the last

word?

            No matter what the world says, if the Spirit of God

says other things. It is here declared to be honour-

able for a man to give up a debate for the sake of peace

and quietness. By so doing we testify our humility

and meekness, our obedience to God, and our aversion

to sin. Christ did not strive, nor cry, nor cause his

voice to be heard in the street, and surely it is a man's

honour to imitate, as far as our weakness will allow,

the meekness and gentleness of Christ. It was wise in

Paul to make an acknowledgment of his error in speak.

ing disrespectfully of the high priest, although that par-

tial judge well deserved the sharpest reproof for his

partiality and tyranny; and it would have been wise

in Job's friends to have yielded to the force of his con-

vincing arguments, rather than, by endeavouring to

 

*Rev. 1:10-20           † Chap. 17:14, 19:11

CHAP. XX]          BOOK OF PROVERBS                 499

 

maintain their errors, to expose themselves to the dis-

pleasure of God, and to the just mortification of being

obliged to have recourse to the intercessions of that

good man whom they had so deeply injured.

            But every fool will be meddling; for a fool is so self.-

conceited, that he can bear no contradiction; so imper-

tinent, that he will have a hand in every other man's

business; so proud, that he cannot bear to be found in

the wrong; and so stubborn, that he will have the last

word, although his lips should prove his destruction.

Amaziah was fairly warned of the danger of meddling

with the king of Israel, but he would not hear reason,

nor cease from strife, till he was brought with his king-

dom to the verge of ruin. Zedekiah, the son of Che-

naanah, entered into contention with the good prophet

Micaiah, and had the insolence to strike that faithful

servant of the Lord, but was soon after compelled to

flee to an inner chamber to hide himself.

            This is one difference between wise men and fools:

The former are for peace, the latter are ordinarily keen

for battle *. This may be illustrated from the differ-,

ence between the behaviour of Nabal and David; Nabal

had a very bad tongue, for as Nabal was his name, so

folly was with him. He gave a very provoking answer

to a very civil message from. David, and thereby expos-

ed himself and his family to ruin; David had human

nature, and his passions were too fierce, but it was his

honour that he was easily pacified, and although he did

not leave off contention, as he should have done, before

it was meddled with, yet he left it off before it came to

a fatal extremity.

            Ver. 4. The sluggard will rot plow by reason of the

cold, therefore shall he beg in harvest, and have nothing.

            It is one plain evidence of sloth for a man to be dex-

 

*Ps. 120:7

500                  EXPOSITION OF THE                  [CHAP. XX.

 

trous in finding excuses to shift of necessary work. If

a small inconveniency be allowed as an apology for idle-

ness, excuses will never be wanting.

            The sluggard will not plow by reason of the cold,

and he will not sow because the ground is not in good

order, and he will not weed his field because of the

heat of summer, and he will not reap in harvest because

he cannot endure to bend his back, and is afraid of an

headache. But is there any other useful business that

can suit him, since husbandry is so disagreeable?  No,

one business would oblige him to a sedentary life, an-

other is attended with too much fatigue, a third is too

mean for a gentleman, a fourth requires a man to rise

early in the morning. He will sleep or lean on his

elbow, or he will divert himself with any kind of sport,

or he will talk till you are tired with him, or he will

play at cards, for although he abhors business, he loves

busy idleness. He will either do nothing, or what

is worse than nothing.

            But he that will not work must beg, and this is sure-

ly a mean employment for a man that is able to work;

but although he can conquer shame sufficiently to be.

take himself to it, his misery is, that nobody will give

him any thing, for why should drones eat the labour

of the bees? Even in harvest, when plenty smiles all

around, and when the hearts of men are enlarged with

joy, and bestow liberal quantities of food upon their

beasts, the wretched sluggard finds that every man's

bowels are shut against him. The industrious and

disabled poor have then a good time, for the law of

God requires the gleanings and leavings of the fields

to be allowed them; but the same law requires that

he who will not work should not eat.

            Spiritual sloth is discovered by this mark, and at-

tended with the like misery. The careless Christian

will not attend the house of God, by reason of the cold

of winter, or the heat of summer; he will not keep up

 

CHAP. XX]          BOOK OF PROVERBS                 501

 

the worship of God in his family because he is encum-

bered with worldly business; or if shame and love of

character oblige him to perform those services which

the eyes of men behold, there is so much attention of

spirit necessary for the duties of the closet, that he can-

not find in his heart to perform them at all, or to per-

form them to any good purpose. What will become of

such sluggards at the end of the world? Our Lord tells

us, they will beg and have nothing*.

            Ver. 5. Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water,

but a man of understanding will draw it out.

            The heart of man is a great deep, and there are

thoughts and devices in it as much past numbering as

the creeping things and fishes in the sea. God alone

searches the heart, and tries the reins of the children of

men. By one glance of his eye he pierces into the bot-

tom of our souls, and knows our thoughts infinitely

better than we ourselves.

            But although a man cannot go to the bottom of a

deep well, he may draw out some of its water for use

by means of a bucket, and although a man cannot pe-

netrate into the bottom of another man's heart, he may

find out some of his thoughts and contrivances, his

purposes and designs, or form such conjectures about

them as are necessary to regulate his own motions. A

man of understanding, without the gift of prophecy may

know many things that are useful to be known about

the counsels of those that are most desirous to conceal

them. David discovered, and represented before his

God the secret projects of his enemies against him,

when both the inward thought and the heart of every

one of them was deep; and Job saw clearly what his

friends aimed at by all their flaming discourses about

the misery of the wicked, before they named himself

as the object of that vengeance which they described.†

 

*Matt. 25:1-11          †Job 21:27,28

502                  EXPOSITION OF THE                  [CHAP. XX.

 

            A man of sagacity has a knowledge of human nature,

which assists him in finding out the contrivances and

designs of particular men. He can avail himself of

their gestures, their general course of behaviour, their

behaviour in particular instances, and on sudden emer-

gencies, their silence, their words, even when they are

disguising their thoughts, their connections and corn.

pany, their interests and humours, to form our judgment

of their thoughts and designs, and by this means he is

often enabled to guard himself and his good name from

the snares of the wicked. Wisdom is profitable, you

see, not only for the life to come, but likewise for the

present life; but hypocrisy and dissimulation profiteth

little. It is often detected by men, it is always known

to God; and the day is coming in which he will make

manifest the secrets of all hearts.

            Ver. 6. Most men will proclaim every one his own

goodness, but a faithful man who can find.

            It is very natural for men to have an high opinion

of themselves, and there are few men who have not a

better opinion of their own worth than any other man

has, but a man of consideration will discern the folly of

self conceit, and will be cautious of publishing his own

imagined virtues to the world.

            There are few who have the good sense to consider

these facts, and therefore it is very common in conver-

sation to hear men proclaiming their own praises either

directly, or by plain insinuations., If they are asham-

ed to talk of their own generosity and charity in an

avowed manner, they catch at the good opinion, and

applause of other men, by a variety of methods, some-

times commending virtue and goodness with a design

of shewing their own love to it, at other times running

down their neighbours, for the want of these virtues,

imagining that the depression of other men will be

their own exaltation. Sometimes they insist upon par-

ticular instances of goodness, which they think, from

 

CHAP. XX]          BOOK OF PROVERBS                 503

 

some known pieces of their behaviour, will be a mean of

leading persons to think of themselves, and on other

occasions, they will take occasion, from what others in

the company are saying, to hale into the conversation

some of their own good deeds, as if they had been led

to mention them without any previous design.

But a faithful man can rarely be found. A man is

not a proper witness in his own cause, for he is ready

to form, from the influence of self love, too good an opi-

nion of himself. If the love of our wives or children

covers their faults, and magnifies their virtues, self love

must have a still greater influence in bribing our judg-

ments, so that an honest man's testimony of his own

goodness can scarcely be taken. But among boasters,

you will scarcely find a man so honest as not to exceed,

in his own praise, the bounds of what he himself knows

to be fact.

The Scripture declares, that a truly good man is rarely

to be found, and yet if men's own word could be taken,

there is scarcely a bad man to be found. We have

therefore great need to be cautious in forming our judg-

ment of ourselves, lest we deceive our own souls, and

pass a sentence upon ourselves, opposite to that which

our great judge will pass upon us at the last day.

Nor must we be rash in trusting men, and choosing

friends. He is one among a thousand, who possesses

such kindness and integrity, as will entitle him to the

character of a faithful friend.

We learn, in the last place, from this proverb, to let

strangers praise us, rather than our own lips, except

when evident necessity obliges us ; for self praise will

make an hundred to conceive a bad opinion, sooner

than one wise man to entertain a good opinion of us.

Ver. 7. The just man walketh in his integrity, his

children are blessed after him.

The just man lives by the faith of the Son of God,

504                  EXPOSITION OF THE                  [CHAP. XX.

 

for, like his father Abraham, he believes in the Redeem-

er, and his faith is counted to him for righteousness;

but although he is pronounced by God a righteous

person, for the sake of a righteousness not wrought by

himself, yet he is not the less earnest in endeavouring

to be holy in all manner of conversation, for he knows

that those men deceive themselves who turn the grace

of God into lasciviousness, and that he who doth right-

teousness is righteous, even as God is righteous.

            The just man is a man of integrity, for he follows

after perfection, although he knows that he cannot

reach it and live, He does not think that a good and

kind behaviour towards men, will compensate for the

neglect of his duty to God, any more than a social be-

haviour will atone for disloyalty to his prince, and

therefore he makes it his daily practice to walk in all

good conscience before God, and to testify the utmost

gratitude to him that loved us and died for us. At the

same time, he feels the force of that saying of Scripture,

which is sufficient to strike an alarm into the most hard-

ened consciences of those that neglect morality whilst

they profess religion, “If a man say I love God, and

hateth his brother, he is a liar *. The integrity of the

just man, is not like the pretended integrity of the mo-

ralist, for it includes piety, justice, sobriety, and a

conscientious regard, to every precept of God, without

excluding those that appear to vain men to be of small

importance, or those that most directly oppose the pre-

vailing disposition of the mind.

            The just man walketh in his integrity, for his right-

eousness is not like the morning cloud, but like the

light of the sun, which shineth more and more unto

the perfect day. God tries him, the devil and the world,

and the flesh, solicit him to sin, but he will not turn

 

*1 John 4:20

CHAP. XX]          BOOK OF PROVERBS                 505

 

aside into the ways of iniquity, or if he should, he

will not continue to walk in them, but returns with

bitter regret to that good and straight way, which

leadeth unto life, and continues in that path till the end

of his life, for his heart is set upon it, and upon that

heavenly city to which it leads. As for such as turn

aside unto their crooked ways, it is plain from Scripture

that they never really knew the way of life*.

Blessed is the man that fears the Lord. He is bles-

sed in the day of prosperity, and in the day of adversity;

he is blessed in life and death; he is blessed after

death, for he rests in his bed, and enters into peace.

His soul is blessed in heaven, and he leaves blessings

to his children upon earth. If the children of Jehu,

who never took heed to walk in the law of the Lord,

were blessed with outward prosperity, to the fourth

generation, how much more may the truly godly ex-

pect a blessing to their seed? It is said of the wicked

man, that God layeth up iniquity for his children, he

rewardeth him, and he shall know it; and will the God

who delights in mercy, exercise less kindness to his

own people, than severity to the wicked? Far from it†.

Whilst the rich man rejoices that he has much trea-

sure laid up in his house, to be enjoyed by his family

after him, the godly man has much more reason to be-

lieve that God has a treasure of blessings laid up for

his children.

Are you children of the godly? know ye the God

of your fathers, and plead this promise at his throne of

mercy.‡

Ver. 8. A king that sitteth in the throne of judgment

scattereth away all evil with his eyes.

Kings have majesty in their countenances, and when

 

*1 John 2:19  †Exod. 20:5,6            ‡1 Chron. 28:9, 2 Chron. 6:42

 

506                  EXPOSITION OF THE                  [CHAP. XX.

 

they preserve their dignity of character, their eyes are

terrible to the breakers of the law. This awe of roy-

alty is impressed by God upon the minds of men, for

the peace and benefit of human society, and kings are

obliged to use that authority with which the Most High

has dignified them as his ministers, for the encourage-

ment of virtue and the suppression of vice. Kings in our

days don't sit on the throne of judgment in their own

persons, but by delegates, but both they and those who

are employed by them as judges, are bound to observe

this rule. Kings are accountable for the choice they

make of persons to be employed under them for the

administration of justice, and those that serve them

must account also to the King of all the earth.

            How tremendous is that Eternal King, whose eyes

are like a flame of fire, and how shall sinners be able to

stand before him, at whose presence the heaven and the

earth flee away, and no place is found for them! How

can men presume that the Judge of all the earth will

suffer sin to go unpunished, when he will not permit

his vicegerents on earth, to leave open wickedness to

go unpunished. But earthly kings can punish only

the outward enormities of men's lives. The universal

Judge brings every work into judgment, with every se-

cret thing. Earthly kings reach only the body, but

the King of heaven can destroy both soul and body in

hell fire.

            Ver. 9. Who can say, I have made my heart clean, I

am pure from my sin?

            It we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves,

for we were conceived and shapen in iniquity, and un-

less our hearts are made clean, we must remain for ever

abominable in the sight of the most holy God. The

depravity of the human race is not here expressly as-

serted, but it is taken for granted, as an incontest-

able truth.

CHAP. XX]          BOOK OF PROVERBS                 507

 

The call of God to sinners is, Wash ye, make you

clean: Cleanse your hands, ye sinners, purify your

hearts, ye double minded. But neither our righteous-

ness nor our strength lies in ourselves. Except Christ

wash us, we have no part in him, and remain under

the reigning power of sin. But even those that are

washed by his blood and spirit, cannot say that they

have made their hearts so clean, that they are entirely

pure from their sin. They are daily employed in cleans-

ing themselves from all pollutions, and yet the leprosy

of sin will cleave to their earthly tabernacles, till they

are pulled down by death.

If sin dwells in the best of us, our dependence must

be on the grace of the Redeemer, by whose blood our

sins are expiated, and by whose powerful agency we

crucify the flesh with its affections and lusts. Purity

of heart ought to be our constant study, for so far as our

hearts are cleansed, we are pure from our sin; and un-

der all the imperfections of our holiness, we have rea-

son to join thanksgiving with our sorrows, for although

no man on earth can lay claim to perfect purity, yet

every believer in Jesus has abundant encouragement

to hope that he shall be presented in due time, without

spot or blemish, before the throne of God.

Ver. 10. Divers weights and divers measures, both of

them are alike abomination to the Lord.

Once hath God spoken, yea twice have we heard this,

that unjust weights are detested by God*; and it is

plain that unfair measures come under the same con-

demnation. But here they are expressly mentioned, so

that no man can pretend to observe the letter of the

law, whilst he transgresses the spirit of it. If a man

keeps one measure or weight for selling, and another

for buying, or if he keeps one for selling to people

 

*Chap. 11:1, 16:11

508                  EXPOSITION OF THE                  [CHAP. XX.

 

that have too much skill to be cheated, and another for

selling to the ignorant and unwary, he exposes himself

to the hot anger and severe vengeance of God, who

hates all unrighteousness, especially that which lies in

perverting the means of justice *.

            If the perversion of the instruments of just trade is

detestable to God, how much does he abhor the per-

version of law and justice, and every kind of partiality

in those whom he entrusts with the adminstration of

government, in church or state. Injustice in merchants

is very bad, but unrighteousness in those that bear the

sword for God, or rule in the name of Christ, is a great

deal more dishonourable to God, and offensive to the

eyes of his glory.

            Ver. 11. Even a child is known by his doings, whether

his work be pure and whether it be right.

            Except ye be converted, says our Lord, and become

as little children, ye cannot enter into the kingdom of

God. Sincerity is one of those qualities wherein we

ought to resemble children, for they cannot disguise

their inclinations, but a little attention to their childish

talk and behaviour will enable a person to discover

their present dispositions, and to form a probable con-

jecture concerning their future behaviour.

One thing appears in the behaviour of children with

too much evidence, that they are the descendants of

Adam. The selfishness, vanity, and revengeful spi-

rit, that appears in all of them, are lineaments of the

image of the first transgressor. But there is a very great

difference among them in their temper, which may be

justly considered as an indication of a greater differ-

ence in the manner of their conduct, when they arrive

at manly years. Some are kind and obliging, and easily

managed, others are intractable, sullen, and spiteful;

 

*Micah 6

CHAP. XX]          BOOK OF PROVERBS                 509

 

and it is the duty of parents to improve and cherish

the good dispositions which they discover, and to

check every appearance of vice, before it is matured

by time into settled habits. Parents generally consider

the genius and inclinations of their children, to direct

them in the choice of a profession, but they ought to

be no less careful to consider their turn of mind in

their earliest years, to direct themselves in their religi-

ous education. Herein several parents discover their

partial fondness for their children, regarding with ap-

plause every appearance of goodness as a happy pre-

sage, but considering every instance of perverse beha-

viour as an instance of childish ignorance, which time

will reform of course; but Solomon tells us, that their

bad, as well as their good behaviour, when they shall

become men, may be conjectured from their childish

doings.

Children of a pleasant disposition may disappoint

the expectations that have been formed of them, but in

that case parents may generally thank themselves for

neglecting to avail themselves of their good dispositions,

to graft on them religious instructions, or for permit-

ting them to fall into the dangerous society of those

that not only live in sin, but, like Jeroboam, make Is-

rael to sin.

When bad dispositions appear in children, it is ne-

cessary for parents to use betimes those means which

God has appointed for reclaiming them. The rod and

reproof give wisdom; and when these, and the like

means, are neglected, or not accompanied with fervent

prayer, parents have great reason to reflect on them-

selves with shame, if their children prove thorns in their

eyes, when their vices have attained the vigour of riper

years, and confirmed custom.

There is an old proverb that says, a young saint

makes an old devil, but Solomon was not the author

of it.

510                  EXPOSITION OF THE                  [CHAP. XX.

 

            Ver. 12. The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, the

Lord hath made even both of them.

            And did he not make every other part of our bodies,

as well as the eye and the ear ? No doubt, but we ought

not to rest in general truths, when we contemplate the

wonderful works of God. It is highly proper for us,

to survey with attention the particulars of what the

Lord hath done for us, and we shall find abundant ma-

terials for gratitude and praise, in every member of our

body, in every faculty of our soul, and in every event

of our life,

            It is said that the famous physician Galen learned

the absurdity of atheism from the consideration of the

human eye. The structure of it clearly displays the

amazing wisdom of God, and his goodness shines with

no less brightness in the pleasures and advantages de-

rived from the ministry of this admirable organ. The

ear is that sense by which we enjoy the pleasures of so-

ciety and friendship, by which we learn the most inte-

resting and entertaining truths, and by which we re-

ceive the instructions of life.

            It is by the kind agency of our Maker that our eyes

see, and our ears hear, for in him we live and move.

When he pleases to withhold his influence, we see, and

do not perceive, like Hagar at Beer-lahai-roi. We hear

a voice, and know not what it says, like the companions

of Saul in his journey to Damascus.

            To use these instruments of sense as inlets to temp-

tation and sin, is as unnatural as for infants to rend

that breast which gives them suck. How shocking is

it to deserve the reproof that the prophet gave to Bel-

shazzar!  "The God in whose hand thy breath is, and

all thy ways, hast thou not glorified." We are God's

creatures. Our senses are his; our souls are his; all

our enjoyments are from his bounty, and our activity

depends upon his all-governing providence. Whether,

CHAP. XX]          BOOK OF PROVERBS                 511

 

therefore, we see, or hear, or think on those objects

which we are acquainted with, by means of our bodily

senses, or the exercise of our rational powers, let us

mind above every thing, the glory of God.

Ver. 13. Love not sleep, lest thou come to poverty,

open Mine eyes, and thou shalt be satisfied with bread.

Sleep, must, be taken, but not loved. Sleep, as well

as food, is necessary for refreshing our frail bodies, but

neither food nor sleep must be used for their own sakes,

nor must we be intemperate in either of them. Sleep

taken in a moderate degree, is the nurse of nature, it re-

cruits our animal powers, and prepares us for the la-

bours of life; but excess of sleep enervates the body,

and stupifies our souls, and is loved only by sluggards.

We have received time and talents from God, to be

used according to his direction, and to waste the one,

and bury the other, is a very great sin; and yet by

immoderate sleep, we do both in some degree, for all

the time that we sleep beyond what is needful for us,

our talents are unemployed, and the time of our life is

running on in vain, Long life is universally desired,

and death set at as great a distance as possible, but the

lover of sleep voluntarily gives up a considerable part of

his life, and during all the time that he wastes in needless

sleep, he might as well be in the state of death, for any

thing he does, or enjoys. I remember Dr. Doddridge gives

this reason for his being able to write so many books,

notwithstanding all the weighty employments that were

constantly lying on him, that he found a great differ-

ence between rising at five, and rising at eight in the

morning, the one making several years more in the

course of a life than the other.

Poverty and hunger, in the course of things, accord-

ing to the righteous appointment of providence, are the

ordinary consequences of too much sleep; plenty and sa-

tisfaction, the consequences of early rising. Open thine

512                  EXPOSITION OF THE                  [CHAP. XX.

 

eyes, rise and go to work, for he that gets out of bed,

and sits idle at the fire-side, is still sleeping, even when

he is awake. But he that rises to his employment, shall

have bread for himself and his family. It is not said, he

shall have every thing that an unbridled appetite might

crave, but he shall have, by the blessing of God, bread

to eat, and raiment to put on. These things would

have satisfied Jacob, although he was brought up in a

very rich family, and these things will generally satis-

fy a man diligent in his business, for his work makes

both sleep and food pleasant to him.

If persons that love their work, should prove unsuc-

cessful in business, or be disabled from working, they

will meet with pity and relief; whilst starving sluggards,

are hated and despised.

Ver. 14. It is naught, it is naught, saith the buyer,

but when he is gone his way, then he boasteth.

Solomon was a teacher to men of all ranks, for he

was acquainted with the life and manners of men in

every profession, and writes instructive proverbs for

merchants as well as kings. There is one piece of

fraud censured in this verse, which is very common

with the lower sort of dealers, and is scarcely reckoned

a piece of unrighteousness. It is the art of buyers to

get a good bargain, by depreciating the commodity

which they mean to purchase. The inspired moralist,

that he might come home to men's bosoms, gives us

their very words, "it is naught, it'is naught." What is

the ill of saying this? Why, if it be not true, it must

certainly be a lie, and no lie is of the truth, nor any ly-

ing habit consistent with the character of an honest

man. Men may, if they please, form to themselves rules

of morality from the general practice of the world, but

these are not the rules by which they must be judged

at the last day. If we were heathens, we could not be ex-

cused in using little tricks that come not within the corn-

CHAP. XX]          BOOK OF PROVERBS                 513

 

pass of the criminal law, but we are Christians, and our

bibles testify against them, and threaten punishment

to those that go beyond and defraud their brother. In-

deed, very little is to be made by such poor artifices

but guilt, for they are so common that almost every

man sees through them.

            The people that use these pitiful tricks in making a

bargain, don't think there is much evil in them, for

they boast of their art and good fortune. But men's

shutting their eyes will not alter the nature of things.

Ephraim became a merchant, the balances of deceit

were in his hand, he loved to oppress, and yet he would

not have it said, that any iniquity was to be found in

him that were sin; there was either no sin in his con-

duct, or if there was any, it was very venial*. Men

bless and applaud themselves in their dexterity to im-

pose upon their neighbours, but what says the spirit

of God about them?  "Woe to them that call evil good,

and good evil." Whilst they boast of the goodness of

the commodities which they formerly called naught,

they denounce this woe against themselves.

            The spirit of this proverb includes in it, a condem-

nation of the like methods that sellers use to get bad

commodities disposed of. When a man commends his

wares above their value, or gives a false account of the

price which they cost him, or of the price that he was

offered for them, or when he uses deceitful means to

conceal their bad properties, he is dealing unrighteous-

ly, and seeking the gain of extortion, by which he is

not so likely to fill his purse as to wound his character,

and bring the curse of God upon his substance.

            Ver. 15. There is gold, and a multitude of rubies, but

the lips of knowledge are a precious jewel.

It is a great deal easier to spread riches than wisdom

 

*Hos. 12

 

 514                 EXPOSITION OF THE                  [CHAP. XX.

 

through a nation. In the days of the wisest of kings,

silver was plenteous as the stones, but wisdom was still

a rare commodity*. Yet Solomon never ceased to in-

culcate the superior value of wisdom, but such is the

depravity of man's understanding, that the gifts of for-

tune are generally preferred to those of the mind, and

you will find many that learn the art of being rich, for

one that acquires the lips of knowledge.

The wisest and richest of kings, inspired by the Au-

thor of wisdom and riches, frequently reminds us, that

the lips directed by true knowledge, are a more pre-

cious jewel than any that can be found in the mines of

the east; and a deep impression of this truth would be

of very great advantage to our souls. When a man va-

lues gold and rubies above wisdom, he lies exposed to

a thousand temptations of a very dangerous kind, for

he is like a blind man that knows not whither he goes,

and will leap into a pit, if he imagines that money is at

the bottom of it, because he sees not how deep it is,

and how impossible it will be to get out. But he that

prefers the lips of knowledge to riches, has his eyes in

his head, and steadily observes the ways of religion and

happiness.

Did we really believe this truth we would not grudge

time, and expense, and labour, in obtaining wisdom for

our own benefit and the use of others, and would ac-

count a wise and faithful friend, one of the most pre-

cious treasures. The word of God would be valued as

it deserves, and the world would lose its tempting in-

fluence.

Ver. 16. Take his garment that is surety for a stran-

ger, and take a pledge of him for a strange woman.

We lately heard that the love of sleep will soon re-

duce a man to poverty and hunger. It is not, however,

 

*Eccl. 7:28

 

CHAP. XX]          BOOK OF PROVERBS                 515

 

the speediest method of becoming poor, for nothing will

so soon ruin a man's estate and credit, as rash surety-

sbip. If you see a man that engages in cautionry for

one that is a stranger to him, and especially for a strange

woman, trust him not if he should swear, and offer you

the surest bonds for payment; he will in a very short

time become a bankrupt, and therefore lend him no-

thing, and if you sell him any thing without ready mo-

ney, be sure to have a sufficient pledge. You may even

take his garment without any breach of charity, for the

law about restoring the garment taken by way of pledge,

was made for the benefit of the poor and unfortunate, and

not for those that are running to ruin by their own wil-

ful folly. If a man, by an excess of generosity, hurts

himself by engaging in suretyship for his friends, he

plays the fool, and yet he may be pitied; but how can

that man expect pity, who squanders away his substance

for the sake of people with whom he has no connexion,

or of bad women, with whom it is infamous to have any

dealings?

            Ver. 17. Bread of deceit is sweet to a man, but af-

terwards his mouth shall be filled with gravel.

            There is some kind of pleasure in sin, by which the

devil draws men into his snares, and keeps them entang-

led. There are indeed some sins in which we cannot

discover any pleasure, but those who practise them

appear to love the devil's service so well, that they will

do his work without any wages; such are profane swear-

ers, and the agents for infidelity; but sinners in general

must have some present enjoyment from their sins, to

compensate for the guilt and danger of them.

            A man would not do a piece of injustice without the

prospect of some gain and satisfaction from it, and

when he has gained what he expected, he feels some

pleasure from it, and applauds himself for his wit and

516             EXPOSITION OF THE                  [CHAP. XX.

 

success; for his present advantage drowns for a time the

thoughts of what shall come to pass hereafter.

But men should always remember, that the time now

present, was some years ago far distant, and yet is now

come, and our feelings of pain and anguish are as live-

ly as ever, and the time to come will one day be pre-

sent, and bring its sensations of happiness and misery

along with it. He is rather a brute than a rational

creature, who would rather be happy for a day, and mi-

serable for the rest of his life, than deny himself the

present pleasures which are sure to bring lasting misery

in their train. Such are the gains of dishonesty; they

are like pleasant bread in the mouth of the covetous

man, but his teeth are afterwards tormented with gra-

vel, and his belly is racked with pains more grievous

than those of the fiercest diseases that ever preyed on

the human constitution. Providence usually crosses and

disappoints unrighteous men, and makes them to vomit

up the riches which they have swallowed down, and

they produce a worm in the conscience, that gnaws

the soul with teeth more poisonous than those of the

viper.

Zophar uses every terrible image to illustrate the

miseries of the unjust man, and yet all are insufficient

to describe the terrors of that vengeance, which the

wrath of God inflicts on those who have the presump-

tion to think, that any advantage can be gained by sin-

ning against God, and wronging their fellow creatures.

Ver. 18. Every purpose is established by counsel, and

with good advice make war.

Wisdom lies, in the first place, in forming right pur-

poses, and secondly, in devising, and executing proper

plans for bringing these good purposes to pass. However

good our designs are, yet rashness and inconsideration

will be sure to render them abortive; and, besides our

own wisdom, it is necessary for us, in all matters of im-

CHAP. XX]          BOOK OF PROVERBS                 517

 

portance, to take the advice of the wise and upright.

If we have such a high opinion of our own wisdom,

that we think we have no need of counsel from other

men, we prove ourselves fools of the worst kind, for

there is more hope of any other kind of fools, than of

those that are wise in their own conceit. Do we re-

strain wisdom to ourselves? are we wiser than Solo-

mon, who had too much sense to think himself above

the need of a privy council of the wisest men in the

nation*?

            Above all things, war is to be made with good ad-

vice, for the want of which, many nations have been

brought to desolation. It is one of the greatest judg-

ments to a land, when the wise counsellors of it are re-

moved, or infatuated, or when the sovereigns of it are

so unwise as not to make use of their counsels. Re-

hoboam, foolish as he was, had the sense to make use

of his father's instruction in this point, although he had

neglected it a little before, in another affair of no less

consequence. By his neglect of it, he lost ten tribes,

but his observing it afterwards, was the mean of pre-

serving his authority in the other two.

            We have need of good advice in our spiritual warfare,

for our enemies are incomparably superior to us in

strength and skill. We may receive great benefit from

the counsels of some of our fellow soldiers, but the word

and Spirit of God are infinitely the best counsellors in this,

and in every other point. They only shall overcome, who

are strong in the Lord, and use those divine weapons

that God has prepared for our defence, and cry for God's

help against the enemy. These are the counsels given

us by the Spirit of God, and as our success entirely de-

pends upon his help, we must comply with his instruc-

tions.

 

*1 Kings 12

518                  EXPOSITION OF THE                  [CHAP. XX.

 

Ver. 19. He that goeth about as a tale-bearer revealeth

secrets, therefore meddle not with him that flattereth with

his lips.

Flatterers are generally tale-bearers. They sooth and

caress a man to fish his secrets out of him, and they tell

the secrets which they have got by these base means,

to the next companion they meet, and perhaps make

very considerable additions to them, for they take the

liberty to add conjectures of their own to what they

have heard. By spreading their stories, they sow the

seeds of contention among neighbours, and their words

are as wounds which go down into the innermost parts

of the belly.

Beware, then, of those flatterers, that cajole you with

good words, and fair speeches. Self love makes us flat-

terers of ourselves, and disposes us to be well pleased

with those that comply with all our humours, assent to

all our opinions, and approve of all our actions. But

those who speak us fair are not our friends, but for the

most part the most dangerous enemies we have. If

we give them our company, we are very likely to hear

stories about ourselves that will vex us; if we tell them

any of our secrets, we may be sure of having them

divulged, and represented to our disadvantage. When

they tell us stories about other people, we may judge

how they will behave to us, for when they were in the

company of these persons, they flattered them as much

as they now flatter us, and by their pretences of friend-

ship, they made a shift to pick up these tales with

which we are now entertained.

It is an excess of self love, that makes the company

of a flatterer tolerable. It is the want of loveto our neigh-

bours that makes us bear with tale bearers, but if we

will not discountenance them for the sake of our neigh-

bours, let us do it for our own, for they will mete out

CHAP. XX]          BOOK OF PROVERBS                 519

 

the same measure to us, that they have already meted

out to other men *.

            Ver. 20. Whoso curseth his father or his mother, his

lamp shall be put out in obscure darkness.

            For a man not to honour his father and his mother, is

a violation of one of the ten commandments in the letter

of it. A curse was pronounced from mount Ebal upon

him that setteth light by his father or his mother The

miserable condition of the Africans, and the negroes

in America, is a monument to this day of God's judge

ments upon a man, who lived 4000 years ago, for

discovering his father's shame. But is it possible

that any man can rise to such a pitch of impiety, as to

curse his father or his mother? It seems it is. But wo

to them who are chargeable with it. Had they lived

under the Mosaic law, they must have died without

mercy†. But if they live in our times, their sin is not

the less, and although they should escape punishment

from men, they shall not escape the vengeance of the

Father and King of the universe.

            When those crimes that deserve death are unpunish.

ed by men, the perpetrators of them are not always so

safe as they expect; God often permits them to fall in-

to other crimes, that bring them to the gallows, as we

may learn from the confessions and last speeches of

many malefactors who have lamented their disobedience

to their parents, as the first step to their ruin, or ac-

knowledged other crimes worthy of death, besides these

for which they suffer. But if those who treat the in-

struments of their being with insult and outrage, should

escape every visible testimony of vengeance in this life,

their lamp shall be extinguished in the blackness of

darkness. The punishment prepared for all impeni-

tent sinners, is described in Scripture by this gloomy

 

*Prov. 13:11              †Lev. 20:9

520                  EXPOSITION OF THE                  [CHAP. XX.

 

image; but surely there are regions of thicker darkness

than the rest in hell itself, for those who are guilty of

crimes that would shock the ordinary run of sinners.

Ver. 21. An inheritance may be gotten hastily at the

beginning, but the end thereof shall not be blessed.

We have been often told, that no profit can be made

by the wages of unrighteousness; but experience seems

to contradict this truth, for we have seen or heard of

several that have amassed great treasures by fraud

and extortion.

This does not, however, militate against any thing

which the inspired moralist has said, for he never

meant to deny that treasures may be obtained by wick-

edness. They that will be rich may get riches by

cheating and lying, by fraud and oppression, by grind-

ing the faces of the poor, and by toiling their poor ser-

vants till they groan under their hard bondage. These

and a thousand other ways of getting, and saving un-

justly, may put money in their pockets, but the fact is

that it is of no use to them, when they have got it.

Treasures of wickedness profit nothing, for a very

plain reason, because they are not attended with the

blessing of God, and it is only this blessing that pre-

serves riches and makes them a comfort to men. It is

far better to have nothing, than to have the riches of

kingdoms without the blessing of God, for those that

want it, will find every thing they have a curse.

But you will say, how do they succeed in getting an

estate without the blessing of God? wait a little, and

it will be seen that there is no blessing in what they

have got. If they have been heaping up mountains of

gold, they will be found only mountains of snow,

which the curse of God will soon melt. He shall not

be rich, neither shall his substance continue, neither

shall he prolong the perfection thereof upon the earth;

what he gets unjustly shall not only be blasted, but it

CHAP. XX]          BOOK OF PROVERBS                 521

 

shall blast every thing that he had got by fair means.

Ahab lost not only the garden of Naboth, but his life,

and kingdom, and family, by his wickedness.

            Beware of anxiety about wealth, for covetousness

disappoints itself. It leads men to poverty, by pushing

them on to unfair methods of gaining money. Stronger

arguments might be advanced, and will be found in

this book, against this sin, but this argument will have

a deeper impression upon the minds of some persons,

than any other. It is addressed to the only ear by

which the covetous man can hear, for he is deaf to

every thing but what concerns the mammon of un-

righteousness. If he believes any thing that God says,

he must see that he is taking a very foolish course,

when he endeavours to enrich himself by those very

means that are declared in Scripture to be the surest

methods of bringing poverty and ruin.

            Ver. 22. Say not thou, I will recompense evil, but wait

on the Lord, and he shall save thee.

            If private revenge were allowed, it would soon fill

the land with confusion and blood; for whilst men's

passions are kindled by the smart of a fresh injury,

they cloud the judgment, and hurry on those who are

under their power, to the most dangerous irregulari-

ties. By indulging them, we would be driven on to

make very disproportionable returns for the wrongs

done to us; we might wreck our vengeance on the

blameless, as David would have done, if Abigail had

not disarmed his fury; we might bring upon ourselves

the guilt of the bloodiest crimes, and make ourselves

miserable through all the remainder of our days. Most

wisely, therefore, and graciously we are forbidden to

avenge ourselves, or so much as to say that we will do

it. It is a bad thing to have any thought of revenge,

but if we say, or swear, that we will take satisfaction

at our own hand from him that has offended us, we are

522                  EXPOSITION OF THE                  [CHAP. XX.

 

entangled in a dangerous snare by the devil, who will

endeavour to persuade us that our honour is doubly

engaged by the provocation received, and by our

word to take revenge.

To say that we will recompense evil, is the same

thing with saying, that we will step into the throne of

God, and wrest his thunderbolts out of his hand, to

hurl them against all that we judge to be our enemies;

for vengeance is mine, saith the Lord, and I will re-

pay it.

But our corrupt hearts are dexterous in mustering

up objections against our duty, and the inspired writ-

ers are equally dexterous in answering them. If I suf-

fer the wrongs done to my credit and estate to pass

unrevenged, says one, I expose myself to every shaft

of malice, and may expect still greater injuries than

those I have already received. There is no fear of

that, says Solomon, wait on the Lord, and he shall

save thee. Art thou defrauded in thy interests? Wait

on the Lord who gives and takes away at his pleasure,

and he will make up, if he sees it good for thee, all

thy loss. Amaziah, king of Judah, was none of the

best of men, arid yet at the persuasion of a prophet of

the Lord, he could part with an army that cost him an

hundred talents, because the Lord could easily give

him much more than that. Art thou wronged in thy

credit? Trust in the Lord, and he shall bring forth

thy righteousness to the light, as you find he did in

the cases of Job, and David, and Mephibosheth. What-

ever injury you have felt, or fear, commit thyself to

God with a calm and forgiving spirit, and he will either

prevent your fears, or make a rich amends for the ma-

lice of your enemies; only you must give him his own

time for doing it, for he that believeth does not make

haste, but waits God's leisure, as it well becomes us to

do when it is God whom we trust.

CHAP. XX]          BOOK OF PROVERBS                 523

 

We must not wait on the Lord for destruction to our

enemies. David was blessed with divine inspiration,

and had directions for praying against some of his

spiteful enemies, but herein we are not to consider him

as a pattern for us. We have the noble example of our

Lord Jesus Christ, who rendered not railing for rail-

ing, but prayed for his persecutors, leaving us an ex-

ample that we should follow his steps. Wait on the

Lord, and whatever way he deals with thine enemies,

he shall save thee, and that is all thou canst reasonably

desire.

Will you will insist that it is better to secure your-

self against new injuries, by revenging the old? The

question is clearly this: Is your safety and protection

best lodged in God's hand or your own? By indul-

ging your revengeful spirit, you do yourself a greater

hurt than your greatest enemy can do you, for you

gratify his ill-nature, when you suffer it to make a deep

impression OM your spirit, without which it could do

you little or no hurt; but by committing your cause to

God, you turn his ill will to your great advantage,

making it an occasion for the exercise of the noblest

graces, which are attended with the sweetest fruits,

and with the rich blessing of God.

Ver. 23. Divers weights are an abomination to the

Lord, and a false balance is not good.

Injustice is a poisonous weed, that springs up very

plenteously in the heart of men, and it needs great

pains to pluck it up, and the inspired writer does not

grudge his pains for this purpose. When he might

have been dazzling us with new discoveries of surpris-

ing truths in every sentence, he repeats the same warn-

ings over and over, to reclaim men from every instance

of dishonesty. How inexcusable will the unjust trader

be, if he continues unreformed, after all that the Spirit

524                  EXPOSITION OF THE                  [CHAP. XX.

 

of God has inculcated so frequently for his conviction

and amendment*.

Ver. 21. Man's goings are of the Lord, how can a

man then understand his own way?

The steps of all men are ordered by the Lord. Bad

men are under the dominion of his providence, as well

as good men who rejoice in his sovereignty, and he has

a righteous hand in the most unrighteous actions of

men. They sit deliberating and contriving, but they

are under the eye of God, who laughs at their impious

imaginations, and without suspending the freedom of

their wills, determines them to concur in the execution

of his holy and immutable purposes. They know not,

when they are consulting, how they will determine;

and when they have determined, whether they shall be

steady in their purpose; and when they are fixed in

their minds, whether they shall be able to perform

what they intend; and if they perform it, whether it

shall answer their intention, or some purpose entirely

opposite to what they designed. But known unto God

are all the thoughts that come or shall come into the

minds of men, and how far their measures shall pros-

per, and what shall be the event and consequences of

them. All the affairs of particular persons, and all the

weighty businesses of states and kingdoms are in his

hand like the potter's clay, to be moulded into any

shape he pleases. And he will manage every thing

wisely for his own glory, justly towards men, and gra-

ciously towards his own people.

Go to now, ye that say we will do this or the other

thing, without any impression of God's sovereignty, or

dependence on his providence. It is presumption in you

to dream that your motions are under your own sove-

reign direction. Are you sure that you will be in the

 

*Verse 10

CHAP. XX]          BOOK OF PROVERBS                 525

 

same mind an hour hence, that you are in at present?

Alexander the Great went to Jerusalem with an inten-

tion to wreak the fury of his revenge upon the people

of God, and when he arrived, he shewed them greater

favour than he ever did to another conquered nation.

But if your resolutions should continue the same, do

you live and move in yourselves, that you can be sure

of the continuance of your life, and ability for doing

what you propose? The kings and princes of the

world sought to destroy our holy religion in its infancy,

but the emperors who ruled the world were driven

from their thrones, or chased out of the world, and of

the kingdom of our Redeemer there shall be no end;

for he that sits in heaven, saw from his dwelling place

all their foolish contrivances, and baffled all their efforts,

and said, "Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill

of Zion." If you should be able to accomplish your de-

signs, are you sure that they will have the effects you

propose. The rulers of the Jews crucified Christ to

gratify their spite, and to secure their place and nation

from the Romans, but Christ conquered every enemy

by his cross, and the Almighty executed the most tre-

mendous vengeance by the hands of the Romans on the

murderers of his beloved Son.

A conviction of this truth would make us to acknow-

ledge the Lord in all our ways, and to endeavour to

walk before him unto all pleasing. It would raise us

above those strong temptations which have all their

force from the fear of men's displeasure, or the hope of

their favour. It would make the believer in Christ

cheerful under every cross, whilst he could say, my

heavenly Father rules all, and mine enemies can do

nothing without his providence. It would raise us

above all earthly confidences, being persuaded that the

kindest and most powerful friends can do nothing for

us, but as God pleases to incline and enable them. This

526                  EXPOSITION OF THE                  [CHAP. XX.

 

truth has also a mighty influence to destroy our con-

fidence in our own strength and wisdom. The children

of Israel made great promises to God at mount Sinai,

but they soon broke them, for the Lord had not given

them eyes to see, nor ears to hear, nor hearts to under-

stand. Peter was very sincere in promising to cleave

to Christ, although all men should forsake him, but by

his self-confidence, provoked God to withhold the suc-

cours of his grace, and was left to behave, not like a

rock, but like the slender twig which bends before the

gentlest blast.

Ver, 25. It is a snare to the man who devoureth that

which is holy, and after vows to make inquiry.

Stealing and robbery are crimes so detestable and

pernicious to men, that they are every where severely

punished. But God is greater than men, and to rob

God is a greater and more dangerous crime than those

by which our fellow men are wronged in their sub-

stance. But will a man rob God? Can any man be so

bold as to try it, or so mighty as to accomplish it?

Malachi complains that this crime was very common

in his time, and there are too many instances of it, even

in these latter days. He that gives to the poor lends un-

to the Lord, and that which is appropriated to the ser-

vice of the Gospel and the support of the ministry, be-

longs unto God, and should be given to his servants

as the receivers of his revenues, and therefore, when

the poor are cheated of their dues, or those that labour

in the gospel are deprived of their hire, or any thing

alienated that was justly devoted to the service of God,

a robbery is attempted, and, in some sense, executed,

upon God himself, who cannot be pleased with so base

and ungrateful conduct towards him, from whom we re-

ceive every thing that we possess.

 

*Deut. 29

CHAP. XX]          BOOK OF PROVERBS                 527

 

The man who applies to his own use, and devours

that which is holy, is greatly mistaken if he thinks

himself a gainer. He is just in the same degree a

gainer by his dishonest conduct, as the silly bird, when

it snatches at the bait which the fowler has placed for

it to draw it into his snare. The people of Judah in

Haggai's time, were crossed and disappointed in all

the labours of their hands, because they bestowed their

money upon building houses to themselves, rather than

in building the temple of the Lord; and in Malachi's

time, the whole nation was cursed with a curse for rob-

bing God in tithes and in offerings.

It is no less a snare for a man, after vows, to make

inquiry, in order to evade the obligation of his solemn

engagements. Some men are much more forward in

making, than in paying vows. Their religion lies in

transient flows of affection, not in solid piety. When

their affections are roused by some remarkable provi-

dence, or allured by some pleasant; or roused by some

alarming sermon, they are ready with their promises-

to the Most High, like Israel in the wilderness, but when

their affections return to their usual temper, they env-

deavour to find out some shift, to free their consciences

from their obligations, which they voluntarily took up.

on themselves. Their conduct draws them into the

snares of the devil, who will suggest an hundred pre-

tences to excuse the breach of them. We must there-

fore be leisurely and considerate in making vows, and

speedy in performing them.

If we are Christians, we have engaged ourselves to

be the Lord's. Justice and truth and gratitude rev

quire us to pay our vows, and every transgression

against Christ, derives the great aggravation of treach-

cry from our sacred promises. If our promises to men

must be kept inviolate, bow much more our promise

to Goa. If it is sinful to make inquiry after vows.

528                  EXPOSITION OF THE                  [CHAP. XX.

 

who can express the guilt that arises out of downright

violations of them!

Ver. 26. A wise king scattereth the wicked, and bring-

eth the wheel over then.

Such a king was David* and his son Solomon, and

above all others the king that sits upon the throne of

David for ever, who breaks in pieces the wicked

like a potter's vessel.

The wicked in the nation are like the chaff among

the wheat, and in those ancient times, the husbandman

used to bring the wheel over the grain to separate from

it the chaff. In like manner, the king who does not

loll in his palace to indulge his pride and leisure, but

sits upon the throne of judgment, will treat the wick-

e-d of the nation, breaking and dispersing them, that

they may not prove a nuisance to society, an infectious

plague to the country, and provocations of the wrath

of God, against the whole nation.

Kings have but a limited power for this purpose, and

must confine their punishments within the bounds of

law. But the king of Zion, will thoroughly purge his

floor by the fan in his hand, and will scatter all the im-

penitent sinners in his dominions, like the chaff before

the wind.†

Ver. 27. The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord,

searching all the inward parts of the belly.

The Father of our spirits, has bestowed on us a glori-

ous distinction from the fowls of the air, and the beasts

of the field. Our bodies were framed by his powerful

agency, but our spirits were created by him within

us‡. In our animal bodies we have some resemblance

of the brutes, but our intellectual faculty raises us to

some degrees of likeness to the angels of God, for

 

*Ps. 101:1     †Matt. 3:11    ‡Zech. 12:1

CHAP. XX]          BOOK OF PROVERBS                 529

 

they are candles lighted within us, by him that breathed

into man's nostrils the breath of life, and made him a

living soul.

By the light of reason, especially when it is bright-

ened by divine revelation, we are enabled to survey

many of the wonderful works of God, and to discern

the evidences of his eternal power and Godhead. By

this candle we can take a view of the wonderful struc-

ture of our own bodies, which are fearfully and won-

derfully made. But the most necessary kind of know-

ledge which it gives us, next to the knowledge of God,

is that of our own spirits. Deep as the hearts of men

are, yet this candle of the Lord searches all the in-

ward parts of the belly.

A king that was perfectly acquainted with the con-

stitution, laws, and history of every country but his

own, would be only an intelligent fool; and the man is

equally void of true judgment, who is thoroughly vers-

ed in every art and science, in all histories, and every

branch of commerce and law, and yet is unacquainted

with his own heart, where his main business lies. Hea-

thens themselves were so deeply impressed with the

importance of self knowledge, that it was a general opi-

nion among some wise nations that the celebrated max-

im "Know thyself" came down from heaven.

Reason rightly employed, will make us acquainted

with the excellent nature and uses of our faculties, with

our personal dispositions and talents, with our defects

and constitutional faults, with our prejudices, and the

temptations by which we are most ready to be over-

come, with our state and frame in relation to God. The

mention of these different branches of self knowledge,

is enough to show the value and necessity of it. We

are commanded to keep our own hearts with all dili-

gence, and how can we keep them without some know-

ledge of their most important concerns?

530                  EXPOSITION OF THE                  [CHAP. XX.

 

But we do not know ourselves unto perfection; and

therefore we ought to search deeper and deeper into our

own hearts, to keep an eye upon the movements of our

own minds, and the frame of our hearts under prospe-

rous and adverse providences, and under injuries from

men, or whilst we are employed in the performance of

our duty to God, that we may improve in self-acquaint-

ance. Above all, we ought to compare our hearts with

the word of God, and to pray earnestly that God may

discover us to ourselves, and preserve us from those

self flatteries by which multitudes are deceived into

eternal ruin. It is God alone that searches and knows

infallibly the heart of man, and without the help of his

Spirit, the candle within us will mislead us like wild

fire, till we fall into the ditch of perdition.

Ver. 28. Mercy and truth preserve the king, and his

throne is upholden by mercy.

A king must scatter and crush the wicked, but he

will prove a tyrant unless he temper his severity with

clemency and goodness. Severity to criminals is exer-

cised by a wise king, from a principle of mercy to the

community at large, and he will spare where he can

spare without betraying his trust. Such behaviour

secures the affections of his subjects; and is attended

with the blessing of providence, by which thrones are

established. But unmerciful severity has often over-

turned the mighty from their seat. The Emperor Au-

relian was called an excellent physician to the state, ex-

cept in taking too much blood. His rigour drew upon

him the hatred and fear of some of his own servants,

who deprived him of his life after he had performed

many signal services to the empire.

Truth must be joined with mercy in the administra-

tion of a good prince. Dissimulation may serve a sin-

gle turn, but faithfulness and uprightness, in conjunc-

tion with clemency, are the sure and lasting pillars of

CHAP. XX]          BOOK OF PROVERBS                 531

 

the throne. If truth were banished from all the world

beside, said Lewis IX. of France, it should be found in

the breasts of kings.

How glorious is the Prince of the kings of the earth!

Mercy and truth go before his face, his throne is a

throne of grace, and faithfulness is the girdle of his

reins.

Ver. 29. The glory of young men is their strength, and

the beantyof old men is the grey head.

Equality of age and dispositions naturally produces

affection and friendship, but difference of age and ta-

lents tends too much to produce mutual alienation. To

remedy this, the wise man puts the old and the young

in mind that each of them have their different endow-

ments, which should endear them to one another.

Old men should not despise the young for their want

of experience and gravity, for God has honoured them

with vigour of body, which qualifies them for active

service to God and their generation. How could old

men defend their lives and properties, or how could

they subsist, if they were not assisted by the strength

of the young?

Far less should the young despise the old for their

infirmities, or for that fretfulness of temper which old

age too often produces. For God hath favoured them

with length of days, and crowned them with grey hairs,

the badge of their experience, and, it is to be hoped, of

their wisdom. If the hoary head is the beauty of old

men, it should draw respect from the young, who are

commanded by God to rise up before the hoary head,

and to honour the face of the old man.

It was a saying of Lewis XI. of France, when he was

old, that if he had possessed in his youth that wisdom

he had now acquired, or if he were still in possession

of the vigour of youth, he could conquer all the world.

It was better, it seems, for mankind that he did not pos-

532                  EXPOSITION OF THE                  [CHAP. XX.

 

sess both these qualities at once. God is wise and good

in distributing his gifts amongst men of all ranks and

ages, that none, by having every good quality, might be-

come an idol to himself and others, and none, by want-

ing every thing valuable, might become an object of

contempt.

Let young men beware of debasing their glory, by

abusing their strength to the service of sin. Let old

men endeavour to make their grey hairs venerable by

wisdom and piety, by cheerfulness, and the command

of their temper. Finally, let old men remember that

they were once young, and young men remember that

they would be glad to be one day old.

Ver. 30. The blueness of a wound cleansetli away evil,

so do stripes the inward parts of the belly.

We are naturally very averse to chastisement and

pain, and Solomon often represents a due regard to

chastisement as a sign of wisdom, and here he tells us

the great advantage of it to overcome our aversion. Cor-

rection and affliction for the present, seem to be not joy-

ous, but grievous; but there is a far worse evil from

which they are a means of reclaiming us. Sin is infi-

nitely worse than affliction, and affliction is really turn-

ed into a blessing to those that rightly improve it, fir

those wounds that leave a blue mark behind them

cleanse away evil, and stripes are instrumental, not on-

ly in reforming the life but in cleansing the heart.

Parents ought not, therefore, to spare the rod through

foolish pity; at the same time they ought to join in-

struction and prayer with it, for still it must be remem-

bered that the blessing of God alone can make it useful

for cleansing the inward parts of the belly. Children

ought to welcome the rod of chastisement, as a neces-

sary means for their spiritual advantage.

The chastisements inflicted by magistrates upon ma-

lefactors that deserve not death, may have the same

CHAP. XX]          BOOK OF PROVERBS                 533

 

happy effect, a:ad therefore mercy ought to mingle itself

with the punishments inflicted upon them. According

to the law, when a man deserved stripes he was not to re-

ceive more than forty, and the reason given was, "lest thy

brother should seem vile unto thee." He was to be con-

sidered as a brother that might be reclaimed, and was

not to be treated contemptuously, lest, by despair of re-

covering his character, he should be hardened in sin.

The like tenderness is to be used in the administration

of church discipline, that offending brethren may be

gained.

Corrections from God are gracious and merciful, even

when they are most severe, for his design in them is to

make us partakers of his holiness, and to purge away

sin. They are a tried medicine which God has often

blessed for curing that vanity and earthliness of mind,

that lukewarmness in prayer, that pride and thought-

lessness about eternal things, which are so common and

dangerous distempers among men. Many that once

groaned and cried out bitterly because of their afflic-

tions, are now praising God for them among the choirs

of angels, and many have seen great cause to be thank-

ful on their account, before they left the valley of tears.

Thou hast dealt well with thy servant, said the much

afflicted king when he reviewed the providences of God

towards him*.

 

*Ps. 119:65, 71

534                  EXPOSITION OF THE                  [CHAP. XXI.

 

 

Proverbs 21

 

Verse 1. The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord,

as the rivers of water : he turneth it whithersoever he will.

It is men's ordinary way to court the favour of

princes and great men, as if their happiness depended

on the smiles of kings, whilst they make little scruple

of forfeiting the favour of God, by bending their con-

sciences into a compliance with the humours of those

for whom they entertain such undue respect. The like

compliances are too often made, to avoid the displeasure

of those that have power to hurt or kill the body.

Solomon directs us not to forfeit the favour of princes,

or incur their displeasure, by any needless or wanton

instances of disrespect. At the same time, he instructs

us in the first, place, to seek the favour of God, which

is infinitely more necessary for us, than the friendship

of the greatest men, and to avoid every thing that may

displease him, if we should offend the mightiest tyrant

in the world; for the favour of God is all in all to us,

and his wrath is tremendous beyond all conception,

whilst kings are entirely dependent on the King of kings,

and have their hearts governed by him, in such a power-

ful, though invisible manner, that they must, whether

they design it or not, execute his unchangeable counsels,

The currents of water may be directed into any

channel that is cut out for them by the hands of men;

even the mighty river Euphrates had its course chang-

ed by Cyrus, at the siege of Babylon. The waters still

retained their nature and properties, and yet the power

of that great prince managed their natural tendency

to descend, in such a manner as to gain his purpose,

and to take that great city, whereof they were reckoned

CHAP. XXI.]        BOOK OF PROVERBS                 535

 

the sure defence. The like influence has God upon the

hearts of kings. He destroys not their natural facul-

ties, nor takes from them the freedom of their wills;

and, what is still more wonderful, he leaves them for the

most part under the power of those natural corruptions

which dispose them to exalt themselves above God, and

to oppose his will. Yet still he makes them the instru-

ments of his pleasure, and the ministers of his provi-

dence. Nebuchadnezzar thought himself almost a god*,

and laid waste the Lord's land, and burnt his temple,

and yet God calls him his servant, and used him to ac-

complish his work upon his people, as really as that