The Practical Philosopher:
a daily monitor for the Business Men of England
Expository and Homiletical
Commentary on Proverbs
by
David Thomas, D.D.
London: R.D. Dickinson, 1873
The Homilist Library, vol. 5
Contents
Proverbs 1:1 Solomon's Life, Its Spiritual Significance 9
Proverbs 1:1-6 A Great Teacher and a Genuine Student 12
Proverbs 1:7-9 Piety 15
Proverbs 1:10-16 The Young Man 18
Proverbs 1:17-19 Moral Traps 20
Proverbs 1:20-23 The Voice of Wisdom to the World 22
Proverbs 1:24-33 God and the Sinner in Time and Eternity 25
Proverbs 2:1-5 Spiritual Excellence 27
Proverbs 2:6-9 Good Men and Their God 30
Proverbs 2:10-22 Wickedness and Wisdom: the Bane and
the Antidote 32
Proverbs 3:1,2 The Philosophy of Health and
Happiness 35
Proverbs 3:3,4 Mercy and Truth 37
Proverbs 3:5-7 God-trusting and Self-trusting 40
Proverbs 3:9,10 The Highest Giving, the Condition of
the Highest Getting 43
Proverbs 3:11,12 Affliction 44
Proverbs 3:13-18 The Blessedness of Wisdom 46
Proverbs 3:19,20 Wisdom, the Source and Sovereign of
Worlds 48
Proverbs 3:21-26 Fidelity to Principle 49
Proverbs 3:27-29 Beneficence 51
Proverbs 3:30,31 Strife and Oppression 53
Proverbs 3:32-35 Moral Contrasts 54
Proverbs 4:1-4 A Religious Home 56
Proverbs 4:5-9 The Summum Bonum 58
Proverbs 4:10-17 The Moral Paths of Men 61
Proverbs 4:18 The March of the Good 63
Proverbs 4:19 The Darkness of Sin 65
Proverbs 4:20-23 Self-improvement and Self-control 67
Proverbs 4:24-27 Laws of Life 69
Proverbs 5:1-20 The Strange Woman and the True Wife 71
Proverbs 5:21-23 Man as Known of God and Punished by
Sin 73
Proverbs 6:1-5 Social Suretyships 75
Contents
Proverbs 6:6-8 Little Preachers and Great Sermons 78
Proverbs 6:9-15 The Lazy Man and the Wicked Man 81
Proverbs 6:16-19 Seven Abominations 84
Proverbs 6:20-351 Counsels to Young Men in Relation to
7:1-17 Bad Women 88
Proverbs 8:1-14 The Voice of Divine Wisdom 90
Proverbs 8:15-21 The Authority of Divine Wisdom 92
Proverbs 8:23-31 The Autobiography of Wisdom 95
Proverbs 8:32-36 The Claims of Divine Wisdom 97
Proverbs 9:1-6 The Educational Temple: or
Christianity, a School 99
Proverbs 9:7-9 Reproof 102
Proverbs 9:10-12 Character 104
Proverbs 9:13-18 The Ministry of Temptation 105
Proverbs 10:1 The Influence of the Child's Character
Upon the Parent's Heart 107
Proverbs 10:2,3 Cash and Character 109
Proverbs 10:4,5 Idleness and Industry 111
Proverbs 10:6,7 Opposite Characters and Destinies 113
Proverbs 10:8-10 Man in a Threefold Aspect 114
Proverbs 10:11 Speech 117
Proverbs 10:12 The Great Mischief-maker and the
Great Peace-maker 118
Proverbs 10:13-18 Contrasts 120
Proverbs 10:19 The Sin of Loquaciousness 123
Proverbs 10:20, The Speech of the Righteous and the
21, 31, 32 Wicked Compared 125
Proverbs 10:22-28 Moral Phases of Life 127
Proverbs 10:29 Might and Misery 131
Proverbs 11:2 The Advent and Evil of Pride 132
Proverbs 11:7 The Terrible in Human History 134
Proberbs 11:8 Trouble in its Relation to the Righteous
and the Wicked 135
Proverbs 11:9 Hypocrisy and Knowledge 137
Proverbs 11:10,11 The Public Conscience in Relation to
Moral Character 139
Proverbs 11:12,13 Types of Character in Social Life 140
Proverbs 11:14 Wisdom, the Want of States 142
Proverbs 11:17 The Generous and Ungenerous 145
Proverbs 11:18-20 The Evil and the Good 146
Proverbs 11:22 Adornment 148
Proverbs 11:24,25 The Generous and the Avaricious 150
Proverbs 11:27,28 Seeking and Trusting 152
Proverbs 11:29 Family Life 154
Contents
Proverbs 11:30,31 The Life of the Good 156
Proverbs 12:1-3 The Righteous and the Wicked 157
Proverbs 12:4 The Queen of the Household 159
Proverbs 12:5-8 The Righteous and the Wicked 160
Proverbs 12:9 Domestic Modesty and Display 161
Proverbs 12:10 The Treatment of Animals 163
Proverbs 12:11 Manly Industry and Parasitical
Indolence 164
Proverbs 12:12,13 The Crafty and the Honest 166
Proverbs 12:14 Retributions of the Lip and Life 167
Proverbs 12:15 The Opinionated and the Docile 169
Proverbs 12:16-23 Speech 170
Proverbs 12:24 Diligence and Dignity. Slothfulness and
Servility 173
Proverbs 12:25 The Saddening and the Succoring 174
Proverbs 12:26,28 The True Pathway of Souls 176
Proverbs 12:27 Labor as Enhancing the Relative Value
of a Man's Possessions 177
Proverbs 13:1 The Teachable and the Unteachable
Son 179
Proverbs 13:2,3 Man Speaking 181
Proverbs 13:4 Soul Craving 182
Proverbs 13:5,6 Moral Truthfulness 183
Proverbs 13:7,8 Poverty and Wealth 184
Proverbs 13:9 The Light of Souls 187
Proverbs 13:10 Pride 188
Proverbs 13:11 Worldly Wealth 190
Proverbs 13:12 Hope Deferred 191
Proverbs 13:13 The Word 193
Proverbs 13:14 The Law of the Good 194
Proverbs 13:15a A Sound Intellect 195
Proverbs 13:15b The Way of Transgressors 197
Proverbs 13:16 The Wise and the Foolish 198
Proverbs 13:17 Human Missions and Their Discharge 200
Proverbs 13:18 The Incorrigible and the Docile 201
Proverbs 13:19 Soul Pleasure and Soul Pain 203
Proverbs 13:20 The Grand Fellowship and Assimilation
in Life's Path 205
Proverbs 13:21 Nemesis: Destiny Following Character 207
Proverbs 13:22,23 Material Wealth 208
Proverbs 13:24 Parental Discipline 210
Proverbs 13:25 The Satisfaction of the Body Determined
by the Condition of the Soul 212
Proverbs 14:1 Housewifery 214
Contents
Proverbs 14:2 Human Conduct 215
Proverbs 14:3 Speech, a Rod 216
Proverbs 14:4 The Clean Crib, or Indolence 218
Proverbs 14:5,6 Veracity and Wisdom 219
Proverbs 14:7-9 The Society to be Shunned 221
Proverbs 14:10 The Heart's Hidden Depth 223
Proverbs 14:11 The Soul's Home 225
Proverbs 14:12 The Seeming Right Often Ruinous 227
Proverbs 14:13 Sinful Mirth 229
Proverbs 14:14 The Misery of the Apostate, and the
Happiness of the Good 231
Proverbs 14:15-18 The Credulous and the Cautious 232
Proverbs 14:19 The Majesty of Goodness 234
Proverbs 14:20-22 A Group of Social Principles 236
Proverbs 14:23,24 Labor, Talk, Wealth 238
Proverbs 14:25 The True Witness 240
Proverbs 14:26,27 Godliness, Safety and Life 241
Proverbs 14:28 The Population of an Empire 243
Proverbs 14:29 Temper 244
Proverbs 14:30 Heart and Health 246
Proverbs 14:31 Godliness and Humanity 248
Proverbs 14:32 Death Depending on Character 250
Proverbs 14:33 Reticence and Loquacity 252
Proverbs 14:34, 35 The Political and Social Importance of
Morality 254
Proverbs 15:1,2 Words 256
Proverbs 15:3 God's Inspection of the World 258
Proverbs 15:4,7 Speech 260
Proverbs 15:5,6 Diverse Families 262
Proverbs 15:8-11 The Man-ward Feeling and the Infinite
Intelligence of God 264
Proverbs 15:12 The Scorner 266
Proverbs 15:13-15 Human Hearts 268
Proverbs 15:16,17 The Dinner of Herbs and the Stalled Ox 270
Proverbs 15:18 Social Discord 273
Proverbs 15:19 Indolence and Righteousness 274
Proverbs 15:21, 22 Contrasts 276
Proverbs 15:23 Useful Speech 277
Proverbs 15:24 The Way of the Wise 279
Proverbs 15:25,26 The Procedure and Propensity of God 281
Proverbs 15:27 The Evils of Covetousness and the
Blessedness of Generosity 282
Proverbs 15:28, 29 The Righteous and the Wicked 284
Proverbs 15:30 The Highest Knowledge 286
Contents
Proverbs 15:31, 32 Reproof 288
Proverbs 15:33 Godly Fear and Genuine Humility 290
Proverbs 16:1 Man Proposes, God Disposes 292
Proverbs 16:2 The Self-complacency of Sinners and
the Omniscience of God 294
Proverbs 16:3 The Establishment of Thoughts 296
Proverbs 16:4 Universal Existence 298
Proverbs 16:5,6 Evil 300
Proverbs 16:7 Pleasing God 302
Proverbs 16:8 The Good Man and His Worldly
Circumstances 303
Proverbs 16:9 The Plan of Man, and the Plan of God
in Human Life 305
Proverbs 16:10-15 Model Monarchs 308
Proverbs 16:16 Moral and Material Wealth 312
Proverbs 16:17 The Way of the Upright 314
Proverbs 16:18, 19 Pride and Humility 316
Proverbs 16:20, 21 The Conditions of a Happy Life 318
Proverbs 16:22 The Two Interpreters 320
Proverbs 16:23, 24 Ideal Eloquence 322
Proverbs 16:26 Labor 324
Proverbs 16:27-30 Mischievous Men 326
Proverbs 16:31 The Glory of the Aged Piety 328
Proverbs 16:32 The Conqueror of Self, the Greatest
Conqueror 331
Proverbs 16:33 Life, a Lottery and a Plan 333
Proverbs 17:1,2 Family Scenes 335
Proverbs 17:3 Divine Discipline 337
Proverbs 17:4 Conversational Likings of Bad Men 339
Proverbs 17:5 The Unfortunate Poor 341
Proverbs 17:6 Posterity and Its Ancestors 343
Proverbs 17:7 Speech Incongruous and False 345
Proverbs 17:8 The Power of Patronage 347
Proverbs 17:9 The Right Concealment and the Wrong
Revealment of Offences 349
Proverbs 17:10 Moral and Corporeal Chastisement 351
Proverbs 17:11-13 The Genius and Punishment of Evil 353
Proverbs 17:14 Strife 355
Proverbs 17:15 Perverse Treatment of the Characters
of Men 357
Proverbs 17:16 Capacity Without Will 359
Proverbs 17:17; Degrees and Duties of True Friendship 361
18:24
Proverbs 17:21,25 The Fool: Negatively and Positively 365
Contents
Proverbs 17:22 Bodily Health Dependent on Mental
Moods 369
Proverbs 17:23 Bribery 371
Proverbs 17:24 A Double Picture 373
Proverbs 17:26 Persecution and Treason 375
Proverbs 17:27, 28 Frugality in Speech 377
Proverbs 18:1,2 A Student's Spirit 379
Proverbs 18:3 Wickedness Contemptible and
Contemptuous 382
Proverbs 18:4 The Words of Inspired Wisdom 383
Proverbs 18:5 Three Bad Things 386
Proverbs 18:6-8 The Speech of a Splenetic Fool 388
Proverbs 18:9 Miserable Twinship 390
Proverbs 18:10-12 The Soul's Tower 392
Proverbs 18:13 Impetuous Flippancy 394
Proverbs 18:14 The Unbearable Wound 396
Proverbs 18:15, 16 The Attainment of Knowledge and the
Power of Kindness 398
Proverbs 18:17-19 Social Disputes 401
Proverbs 18:20, 21 The Influence of the Tongue 404
Proverbs 18:22 A Happy Marriage 405
Proverbs 18:23;
Poverty, Riches and Social Selfishness 408
Proverbs 19:4, 6, 7
Proverbs 19:1 The Better Man 410
Proverbs 19:2,3 The Soul Without Knowledge 412
Proverbs 19:5,9 Falsehood 414
Proverbs 19:11, Anger Controlled and Uncontrolled 416
12,19
Proverbs 19:13, 14 A Cursed Home and a Blessed Home 418
Proverbs 19:8,16 Goodness and Happiness 420
Proverbs 19:17 The Deserving Poor 422
Proverbs 19:18, 20 Parental Discipline and Filial
Improvement 424
Proverbs 19:21 The Mind of Man and the Mind of God 426
Proverbs 19:22 Kindness 429
Proverbs 19:23 The Fruits of Personal Religion 431
Proverbs 19:24 Laziness 432
Proverbs 19:25 Man Chastising the Wrong 433
Proverbs 19:26-27 Filial Depravity and Parental Warning 436
Proverbs 19:28, 29 The Character and Doom of the Wicked 438
Proverbs 20:1 An Intemperate Use of Strong Drink 439
Proverbs 20:2 The Terrific in Human Government 440
Proverbs 20:3 Unlawful Strife 441
Proverbs 20:4 Indolence 443
Contents
Proverbs 22:1 Reputation and Riches 528
Proverbs 22:2, 3 Contrasts in Conditions and Characters 531
Proverbs 22:4, 5 Life, Prosperous and Perilous 533
Proverbs 22:6 Child-training 536
Proverbs 22:7 The Social Rule of Wealth 539
Proverbs 22:8 Human Life 541
Proverbs 22:9 Genuine Philanthropy 543
Proverbs 22:10 The Scorner 545
Proverbs 22:11,12 The Good Man 547
Proverbs 22:13 The Excuses of Laziness 549
Proverbs 22:14 The Influence of a Depraved Woman 551
Proverbs 22:15 A Terrible Evil and a Severe Cure 553
Proverbs 22:16 The Evils of Avarice 555
Proverbs 22:17-21 Spiritual Verities 557
Proverbs 22:22, 23 The Oppression of the Poor 561
Proverbs 22:24-28 Interdicted Conduct 563
Proverbs 23:1-3 The Epicure; or Gastric Temptation 566
Proverbs 23:4, 5 Riches Not to be Labored for as an End 568
Proverbs 23:6-8 A Spurious Hospitality 570
Proverbs 23:9 The Incorrigible Sinner 573
Proverbs 23:10, 11 Social Injustice 574
Proverbs 23:12 Spiritual Knowledge 576
Proverbs 23:13, 14 Parental Discipline 578
Proverbs 23:15-23 An Appeal of Parental Piety 580
Proverbs 23:26 Man's Heart 582
Proverbs 23:29-35 The Drunkard's Effigy Hung Up as a
Beacon 584
Proverbs 24:1, 2 The Villany and Absurdity of Sin 589
Proverbs 24:3-7 Enlightened Piety 591
Proverbs 24:8,9 Aspects of Depravity 594
Proverbs 24:10 The Day of Adversity 596
Proverbs 24:11, 12 The Neglect of Social Benevolence 597
Proverbs 24:13, 14 Spiritual Science 599
Proverbs 24:15, 16 The Hostility of the Wicked Towards
the Good 602
Proverbs 24:17, 18 Revenge 604
Proverbs 24:19, 20 An Example of the Folly of Envy 606
Proverbs 24:21, 22 Human Government 608
Proverbs 24:23-26 Social Conduct 610
Proverbs 24:27 Human Labor 612
Proverbs 24:28, 29 Types of Corrupt Testimony 615
Proverbs 24:30-34 Idleness 617
Proverbs 25:1 Solomon's Three Thousand Proverbs 619
Proverbs 25:2-5 Kinghood 622
Contents
Proverbs 25:6,7 A Corrupt Ambition 625
Proverbs 25:8-10 The Worst and Best Way of Treating
Social Dissensions 628
Proverbs 25:11 The Excellency of Fitly-spoken Words 630
Proverbs 25:12 The Beauty of a Reprovable Disposition 633
Proverbs 25:13 The Value of a Good Messenger to His
Employers 635
Proverbs 25:14 Swaggering Generosity 637
Proverbs 25:15, 1 The Manifestation and Mightiness of
21, 22 Moral Power 638
Proverbs 25:16 The World's Honey 641
Proverbs 25:17-20 Bad Neighbors 643
Proverbs 25:23 Righteous Anger 647
Proverbs 25:25 Good News from a Far Country 651
Proverbs 25:26 Religious Apostasy 653
Proverbs 25:27 Natural Desires Running too Far 655
Proverbs 25:28 The Lack of Self-mastery 657
Proverbs 26:1,8 Honor Paid to Bad Men is Unseemly
and Pernicious 658
Proverbs 26:2 Human Anathemas 661
Proverbs 26:3-11 Aspects of a Fool 664
Proverbs 26:12, 16 Vanity, One of the Greatest
Obstructions to Soul-Improvement 668
Proverbs 26:17-22 Mischievous Citizens 670
Proverbs 26:23-28 Clandestine Hatred 672
Proverbs 27:1 Man and Tomorrow, a Fact and a
Failing 675
Proverbs 27:2 Self-praise 677
Proverbs 27:3-6 Social Wrath and Social Friendliness 679
Proverbs 27:7 An Appetite for Good Things Essential
for Their Enjoyment 682
Proverbs 27:8 The Evil of a Roaming Disposition 684
Proverbs 27:9-11 A Genuine Friendship and a Happy
Fathership 688
Proverbs 27:12, 14 Imprudence and Flattery 691
Proverbs 27:17 The Soul, Its Bluntness and Its
Whetstone 693
Proverbs 27:18 Man Honored in Service 696
Proverbs 27:19 The Uniformity and Reciprocity of
Souls 698
Proverbs 27:20 The Insatiability of Man's Inquiring
Faculty 700
Proverbs 27:21 Popularity, the Most Trying Test of
Character 702
Contents
Proverbs 27:22 The Moral Obstinacy of Sin 704
Proverbs 27:23-27 A Picture of Life, Rural and General 707
Proverbs 28:1 Conscience 709
Proverbs 28:2-5 A Threefold Glimpse of Life 711
Proverbs 28:7-9 Life in the Home, the Market and the
Sanctuary 715
Proverbs 28:10 Opposite Characters and Opposite
Destinies 717
Proverbs 28:11 Vanity in the Rich and Penetration in
the Poor 720
Proverbs 28:12, Secular Prosperity 722
28; 29:2
Proverbs 28:13 Man's Treatment of His Own Sins 725
Proverbs 28:14 Reverence and Recklessness 727
Proverbs 28:15-17 Types of Kings 729
Proverbs 28:20-23 Avarice 731
Proverbs 28:24 Robbery of Parents 734
Proverbs 28:25, 26 Self-sufficiency and Godly Confidence 736
Proverbs 29:1 Restorative Discipline 739
Proverbs 29:3, Parental Life 741
15,17
Proverbs 29:4, Human Rulership 745
12, 14
Proverbs 29:5 Flattery, a Net 748
Proverbs 29:6 The Snare and the Song 750
Proverbs 29:7 The Treatment of the Poor, a Test of
Character 752
Proverbs 29:8, 9,
The Genius of Evil 755
10, 11, 20, 22, 23
Proverbs 29:16 The Fall of Evil 758
Proverbs 29:18 Divine Revelation 761
Proverbs 29:19, 21 Types of Servants 763
Proverbs 29:24 Commercial Partnerships 765
Proverbs 29:25-27 Social Life 768
Proverbs 30:1-9 Agur, as a Philosopher, a Bibleist and a
Suppliant 771
Proverbs 30:10 The False Accuser 775
Proverbs 30:11-14 Many Races in One 778
Proverbs 30:24-28 Practical Lessons from Insect Life 782
Proverbs 31:1-9 The Counsels of a Noble Mother to Her
Son 784
Proverbs 31:10-31 A Noble Woman's Picture of True
Womanhood 788
Index 799
Homiletical Commentary
on Book of Proverbs
Proverbs 1:1
Solomon's Life, Its Spiritual Significance
“The Proverbs of Solomon the son of David, King of Israel.”
MAN'S life is a book, by which the Great Father
educates the human race. By man He teaches man.
As in the smallest dew-drop glistening on the blade we may
see the measureless ocean, in man He the Eternal is mani-
fest. Some men give a fairer and fuller revelation of Him
than others; they have a higher type of being, and a nobler
character. Jesus of Nazareth was “God manifest in the flesh.”
Solomon, although a depraved man, revealed not a little
of the Divine. A really great man he was not, for no man
can be really great who is not good—and he was not that.
True, he had an intellect of the highest order, an intellect
whose thoughts are the seeds of libraries; an experience,
too, that measured life in its varied phases. The Eternal
teaches the ages through him. What are the lessons his life
teaches? In it we read
THE CO-EXISTENCE OF GOOD AND EVIL IN THE SAME
HUMAN SOUL.—In early life we are told that Solomon
“loved the Lord and walked in all the statutes of David
his father.” He appreciated wisdom as the chief good;
9
10 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. I
he reared the magnificent temple at Jerusalem, and con-
secrated it by his devotions. He spake “three thousand
proverbs,” containing the germs of universal truth and
virtue. All this shews that in his great heart there were
the seeds of many virtues and the spirit of noble deeds.
But sad to say, vice as well as virtue had a place and a
power within him. He displayed revenge; encouraged, at
times, idolatry; and revelled in a voluptuousness and a
carnality unsurpassed. Good and evil are, in different
measures, found in the best of men on earth. In the spirits
of heaven there is good, and good only; in hell, evil, and
evil alone; in those of earth, they co-exist in different
degrees. “The web,” says Shakspeare, “of our life is of
mingled yarn, good and bad together.” The recognition
of this fact is important in estimating the characters of
our fellow men. A man is not to be pronounced utterly
bad because he has fallen into wrong, nor completely good
because he has performed some virtuous deed. In his life
we read.
THE FORCE OF THE DEGENERATIVE PRINCIPLE IN
HUMAN NATURE.— There was much in this man's soul to
raise him, and keep him high up in the realm of virtue.
His father, although not a good man, on his death-bed
addressed him thus, “I go the way of all the earth, be
thou strong therefore, and show thyself a man, and keep
the charge of the Lord, thy God, to walk in His ways
and keep His statutes.” The sacred impressions he
received in childhood, and the noble truths which, his
proverbs show, dwelt in his mind,—all indicate that there
was a strong force within him, to make and keep him right.
Albeit, there was at the same time in his heart a principle
stronger than all, stronger than early impressions, and
his own clear convictions of right ; a principle that
often overcame all the good, and dragged him down into
the abysses of depravity. “Let him that thinketh he
standeth, take heed lest he fall.” In his life we read
THE UTTER INSUFFICIENCY OF ALL EARTHLY
GOOD TO SATISFY THE MIND.—What has the earth to
give that this man possessed not in rich abundance?
Chap. I] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 11
Wealth? His riches were enormous: “the kings of
Tarshish and the isles, the kings of Sheba” offered to
him their gifts. Power? He sat on a throne of ivory
and gold; he was the idol of his age; princes came
from afar to witness his glory and to render him homage.
Beauty? Whatever was lovely in nature and exquisite in
art were at his command. “Vineyards, orchards, gardens,
fruitful trees, artistic streams, men singers and women
singers, and musical instruments of all sorts.” Knowledge?
“God gave him wisdom and understanding; largeness of
heart even as the sand which is on the sea-shore.” He was
a sage, a poet, and a naturalist. “He spake three thou-
sand proverbs, and his songs were one thousand and five.”
With all this was he happy? He pronounces all “Vanity
and vexation of spirit.” “Great riches have sold more
men than ever they have bought out,” says Lord Bacon.
The fact is, the world has nothing wherewith to satisfy that
soul within us, which will outlive the stars and yet be
young, comprehend the universe and yet be empty without
a God. In his life we read
THE SUPERIORITY OF TRUE THOUGHTS TO ALL THE
OTHER PRODUCTIONS OF MAN.—Solomon was an active
man; few men worked harder than he, few accomplished
more material work: but what are all his buildings, his
fleets, his ornaments, his gardens, his artistic devices,
compared to his proverbs? His thoughts have lived, and
worked, and spread for three thousand years. They are
working now, and will continue to work as generations
come and go, and as kingdoms rise and break like bubbles
on the stream. What Lord Bacon says of fame is true
of all earthly things, “It is like a river that beareth up
things light, and drowneth things weighty and solid.”
True thoughts live and give life. They are the seeds of
coming literatures, philosophies, characters, institutions.
Such are the lessons which Solomon's history. teaches.
The real life of every man is in his love. “Show
me,” says Fichte, “what thou truly lovest, show me
what thou seekest and strivest for with thy whole
heart, when thou hopest to attain to true enjoyment, and thou
hast hereby shown me thy life. What thou lovest us that thou
livest. This very love is thy life: the root, the seat, the central
point of thy being.”
12 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. I
Proverbs 1:1-6
A Great Teacher and a Genuine Student
“The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel; To know
wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding; To receive
the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment and equity; To give subtilty
to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion. A wise man will
hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto
wise counsels: To understand a proverb, and the interpretation; the words of
the wise, and their dark sayings.”
THESE six verses give us two subjects for study.
A GREAT TEACHER.—Solomon the son of David, king
of Israel, was not only a passive but an active teacher—a
voluntary as well as an involuntary one. All men teach
by their lives whether they will or not; they are “living
epistles known and read of all men.” We all become objects
of human observations, subjects of human thought and
enquiry, though we ourselves may be utterly unconscious
of the fact. Solomon taught by his life, but he also
taught by conscious determination. These verses bring
under our notice the form and design of his lessons.
What is the form? He spoke in “Proverbs.” A proverb
is the wisdom of ages crystallized into a sentence: a gold
coin in the currency of thought. Earl Russell defines a
proverb as “the wisdom of many and the wit of one.”
The proverbs of Solomon being inspired, are the rays of
eternal ideas mirrored in the diamonds of human genius.
“Jewels five words long,
That on the stretch'd forefinger of all time
Sparkle for ever.”—Tennyson
No style of instruction is more ancient than the proverbial.
and thou hast hereby shown me thy life.
Chap. I] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 13
The most ancient nations have their aphorisms, and not a
few of them sparkle with a “beam divine.” We have
become so wordy, our books so numerous, and our intellects
so speculative, that we have ceased to make proverbs.
What should be wrapped in one round sentence we spread
out into volumes in these days. Instead of “apples of gold
in pictures of silver” we have grains of gold in heavy
waggons, and these often painted in gaudy hues. What
is the design? Soul-culture. “To know wisdom and
instruction, to perceive the words of understanding.” There
is much for man to know. Much in outward nature—the
essence, laws, uses, of the material system to which he
belongs. Much in his own nature, his mental, physical,
and moral constitution; much in the relations which he
sustains to the universe and his Maker, and much in the
obligations springing there from. Man instinctively craves
for knowledge, and greatly does he need it. He needs
intellectual enlightenment and discipline: the soul with-
out knowledge is not good. These proverbs were in-
tended to enlighten the human reason, to conduct the
human intellect through phenomena into the universe of
reality, and make it acquainted with “the reason of things.”
But the design of the proverbs is more than mental culture,
it is moral. It is instruction in “judgment and equity.”
They contain rules of life, nay, principles of action. They
teach duty not only in every department of life and social
grade, but in every separate movement of the individual
man. “If the world”, says a modern writer, “were governed
by this single book, it would be a new earth wherein
dwelleth righteousness.” The suggestive character of
these proverbs is admirably adapted to the great work of
spiritual culture; it is not systematic but sententious. It
agrees with Locke's idea of education. “The business of
education,” says this great philosopher, “is not to perfect
a learner in all or any of the sciences, but to give his mind
that freedom, that disposition, and those habits that may
enable him to obtain any part of knowledge he shall apply
himself to or stand in need of, in the future course of his
life.” In these verses we have.
14 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. I
A GENUINE STUDENT.—Who is the true learner? He
is described as a “wise man.” A wise man is he who
chooses the highest end and the best means to attain it.
There are many very intelligent men who are unwise.
Some set before them a low and unworthy end, some a
good end but employ ill-adapted means. A genuine
student, however ignorant, is a man who aims at wisdom,
and gives his mind to those things that make for it. He
is a man who pursues resolutely, and in a right way, the
highest end of his being. He is described as an attentive
man. “A wise man will hear.” The mental ears of some
are so heavy that they hear not the voice of wisdom, and
the ears of others are so full of the rush and din of worldly
concerns, that even truth in thunder rolls over their heads
unheard. A genuine student “opens his ear,” bows his
head, and listens attentively and earnestly, anxious to
catch every word. He is described also as an improving
man. It is said of him that he “will increase learning”
and “attain unto wise counsels.” By listening he gains;
the words he catches he forms into sentences, and the
sentences extend into chapters. The more the genuine
student knows the more he feels his ignorance, and the
more he craves for light. Our knowledge is “but to
know how little can be known.” He is described as an
interpreting man. He “understands a proverb and the
interpretation : the words of the wise and their dark
sayings.” “Dark sayings,” says Wardlaw, “mean pro-
perly enigmas or riddles. These were used of old as one
of the methods of conveying instruction. It was conceived
that by giving exercise to the understanding in finding
out the solution of the enigma, it was calculated to deepen
on the mind the impression of the lesson which was wrapt
up in it. This was not done for mere amusement, but for
imparting serious instruction; although to the young there
might, in some instances, be the blending of an intellectual
entertainment, with the conveyance of useful information
of salutary counsel.” These enigmatical maxims of wis-
dom were sometimes rendered the more attractive by
being thrown into the form of verse, and even being set
Chap. I] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 15
to music. A poetic taste and a musical ear were thus made
subservient to the communication and impression of truth.
The great thoughts of great men are luminous in them-
selves, but dark to the thoughtless because their eyes are
closed. Let us remember the words of John Milton, that
“the end of learning is to know God, and out of that
knowledge to love Him, and to imitate Him, as we may
the nearest, by possessing our souls of true virtue.”
Proverbs 1:7-9
Piety
“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise
wisdom and instruction. My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and for-
sake not the law of thy mother: For they shall be an ornament of grace unto
thy head, and chains about thy neck.”
FROM this short passage the following great truths may
be learned.
Piety IS REVERENCE FOR GOD.—“The fear of the
Lord.” What fear? Not slavish fear, or foreboding
apprehension. There is no virtue in this;—it means a
loving reverence, which implies a recognition of the
divinely good and great. For who can reverence the
mean, the unkind, or the unvirtuous? An impression of
greatness and goodness lies at the foundation of holy
veneration, and into it there enter the sentiments of
gratitude, love, and worship. Piety is love, venerating
the majestic and adoring the good. It has nothing in
it of the fear that hath torment. On the contrary, it is
full of that love that “casteth out fear” and fills the
soul with the ecstasies of hope.
Piety Is THE GERM OF INTELLIGENCE. It is the
“beginning of knowledge.” What knowledge? Not merely
intellectual. Many an impious man knows the circle of the
16 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. I
sciences. The devil is intelligent. But though he
grasp the universe with his intellect, penetrate its essence,
and interpret its laws, he is ignorant. Spiritual knowledge
—the knowledge of self, the universe, Christ, and God,—is
the true knowledge. This grows out of piety — grows
out of reverent love. “The secret of the Lord is with
them that fear Him.” He knows nothing rightly who
knows not God experimentally. “In the rules of earthly
wisdom,” says Lord Bacon, “it is not possible for nature
to attain any mediocrity of perfection, before she be humbled
by knowing herself and her own ignorance.” God is love,
and he that loveth not, knoweth not God. Know-
ledge of Him is the root of that great tree of science,
under whose branches all holy spirits live, and on whose
immortal fruit they feast and flourish.
Piety IS DESPISED BY FOLLY.—“Fools despise wis-
dom and instruction.” Who are the fools in Solomon's
sense? Not the brainless madmen or the illiterate dolts.
But the morally perverse, the men whose sympathies
are all earthly, carnal, devilish, the men who practically
ignore the greatest facts in the universe, trifle with
the serious, and barter away the joys of eternity for the
puerilities of time. All unregenerate men are such fools,
and they despise wisdom and instruction. They look
on the pious not only with the eye of indifference, but
with the eye of scorn. They do this because they are
fools, and they are fools for doing it. To despise piety
is to despise that moral salt which prevents society from
sinking into putrefaction, those sunbeams that lighten
their path, warm their atmosphere, and fill their world
with life and beauty. “It is,” says Archer Butler,
“among the most potent of the energies of sin, that it
leads astray by blinding, and blinds by leading astray;
that the soul of man, like the strong champion of Israel,
must have its ‘eyes put out,’ when it would be bound
with fetters of brass, and condemned to grind in the
prison house.’” *
Piety INVOLVES FILIAL OBEDIENCE.—“My son,
*Judges xvi. 21.
Chap. I] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 17
hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law
of thy mother.” Family life is a divine institution; obe-
dience to its laws is a part of piety. “Filial love,” says
Dr. Arnot, “stands near and leans on godliness. It is next
to reverence for God. That first and highest command-
ment is like the earth's allegiance to the sun by general
law; and filial obedience is like day and night, summer
and winter, budding spring and ripening harvest, on the
earth's surface. There could be none of these sweet
changes and beneficent operations of nature on our
globe if it were broken away from the sun. So when a
people burst the first and greatest bond—when a people
cast off the fear of God, the family relations, with all
their beauty and benefit, disappear. We may read this
lesson in the fortune of France. When the nation threw
off the first commandment, the second went after it.
When they repudiated the fear of God, they could not
retain conjugal fidelity and filial love. Hence the wreck
and ruin of all the relations between man and man. As
well might they try to make a new world as to manage
this one wanting the first and second, the primary and
subordinate moral laws of its nature.”
This filial obedience is a moral adornment. “They
shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head and chains
about thy neck.” “You may read at times,” says one,
“on festive days, in the high places of the earth, of the
elegance and splendour of royal and courtly attire, and
your imagination may be dazzled by the profusion of
diamonds, and pearls, and brilliants, and tasteful deco-
rations and gaudy finery; indicating the anxiety felt
and the pains expended to adorn this painted piece of
living clay.'" What is the worth of all this decoration?
Virtue is the only true ornament of a, moral intelligence,—
a jewel this, which set in the centre of the immortal spirit,
will flash on through every turn of life,
“When gems, and ornaments, and crowns,
Shall moulder into dust”"
18 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. I
Proverbs 1:10-16
The Young Man
“My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not. If they say, Come with
us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause:
Let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and whole, as those that go down
into the pit: We shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with
spoil: Cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse: My son, walk not
thou in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their path: For their feet run
to evil, and make haste to shed blood.”
THE LIFE OF THE YOUNG MAN IS AMONGST SINNERS.—
This is implied in the passage, and this is a fact. Sinners
encompass us, as servants, masters, clients, customers,
and sometimes as parents, brothers, sisters. We must go
out of the world to go from them. The text teaches us the
following things concerning sin:—It is cruel. They “lay
wait for blood.” They say let us “swallow them up alive
as the grave.” Sin extinguishes social love and kindles
malignity instead. It carries with it the venom of the
devil. It teaches that sin is cunning. They are said
to “lay wait,” to “lurk privily.” Sinners are essentially
hypocrites. They dare not show their true characters to
their fellow men. Were they to do so, instead of enjoying
social fellowship and patronage, they would be shunned as
monsters. Hence they always work under mask and love
the dark. They put on the robes of virtue. They kiss
and stab at the same time. It teaches that sin is greedy.
“We shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our
houses with spoil.” Avarice is the spring that sets and
keeps them in motion. “Precious substance” is what
they are after. For this they have an insatiable craving.
“0 cursed hunger of pernicious gold!
What bands of faith can impious lucre hold!”
This is the world into which the young are born, brought
up and educated. What a morally perilous position!
How great the caution required!
Chap. I] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 19
THE DANGER OF THE YOUNG MAN IS ENTICEMENT.-
“My son, if sinners entice thee.” This they are sure to do.
Sin always begets an instinct to propagate itself. No
sooner did angels fall, than they became tempters. Eve
sins, and entices her husband. Sin is a whirlpool, sucking
all into itself. Sinners draw the young into evil, not by
violence or hard words, but by simulated love and quiet
persuasion. They say, “Come with us.” Come with us;
we have your interest at heart. We wish you happiness.
Come, share our pleasures, our transports, and our gains.
Cast in thy lot among us, let us all have one purse."
This is the danger. It is fabled of the Syrens, that from
the watch tower of their lovely island, they charmed the
passing ships to their shore by their music. But the
sailors when they landed on their sunny beach, transported
by a melody adapted to each heart, were destroyed by
their enchanters, and their bones left unburied in the
sand. Thus sinners act upon the young. It is by the
music of fascinating manners, kind words, and fair promises,
that they charm the young away from the straight
voyage of life to their shores, in order to effect their
ruin.
THE ATTITUDE OF THE YOUNG SHOULD BE RESIST-
ANCE.-“Consent thou not.” Learn to say “No”—No,
with the emphasis of thy whole soul. Thou canst resist.
Heaven has endowed thee with power to resist all outward
appeals. Thou oughtest to resist. To consent is to insult
thy Maker and contract guilt. Thou must resist. Thy
well-being, now and evermore, depends upon resisting.
“Refrain thy foot from their path.” Do not parly
with them. Do not take the first downward step, for
the hill is steep, and every step adds a strong momen-
tum. One sin leads to another, and thus on. Why
resist? “Their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed
blood.” The path may be smooth and flowery, but it is
evil and ruinous.
“The devil,” says an old writer, “doth not know the
hearts of men, but he may feel their pulse, know their temper,
and so accordingly can apply himself. As the husband-
20 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. I
man knows what seed is proper to sow in such soil, so
Satan finding out the temper, knows what temptation is
proper to sow in such a heart. That way the tide of a
man's constitution runs, that way the wind of temptation
blows. Satan tempts the ambitious man with a crown,
the sanguine man with beauty, the covetous man with a
wedge of gold. He provides savoury meat, such as the
sinner loves."
Proverbs 1:17-19
Moral Traps
“Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird. And they lay
wait for their own blood; they lurk privily for their own lives. So are the ways
of every one that is greedy of gain; which taketh away the life of the owners
thereof.”
SIN LAYS TRAPS FOR SOULS.—“The net is spread.”
Sin has woven a net and laid it along the path of
life. This net is wrought of diverse materials, such as
sensuality, avarice, ambition. How cleverly the skilful
fowler constructs and lays his net. It is placed where the
innocent bird is likely to come in the garden or the granary,
for the grain or the grub, and where when it comes it will
be enthralled even in its first step. It is thus with the
moral fowler,—the great tempter of souls and all whom he
employs. Enticements are traps. There is the trap of
self-indulgence, and carnal gratification. There is the trap
of worldly amusements laid in theatres, taverns, and the
orgies of revelry and debauch. There is the trap of avarice
laid in scenes of unrighteous traffic and reckless specula-
tion. There is the trap of ambition spread out and con-
cealed in all the paths to social influence and political
Chap. I] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 21
power. Traps abound. They are adjusted for men of
every mental type, of every period in life, in every social
grade. They are laid for children in the play-ground, for
merchants in the exchange, for statesmen in the senate, for
all classes—from the pauper to the prince. All ages—
from the child to the octogenarian.
THESE TRAPS MUST BE EXPOSED.—“In vain the net
is spread in the sight of any bird.” The fowler conceals his
net. If he laid it in the sight of the bird, instinct would
strike the warning and his object would be missed. Sin
works insidiously. It takes advantage of men's circum-
stances, ignorance, and inexperience. It steals into the
soul through a word in song, or a note in music, through a
glance of the eye, or a touch of the hand. It does not enter
the soul by violently destroying its fortress, but by crawling
over the walls, and creeping into its recesses. The work
of the true philanthropist is to expose the traps and to
thunder warning in the ears of the birds as they come
swooping down. Young men, remember that sin is insidious,
and lays its traps stealthily, in scenes where beauty
smiles and syrens chant.
“Our dangers and delights are near allies;
From the same stem the rose and prickle rise.”
THESE TRAPS BRING RUIN TO THEIR AUTHORS.—
“They lay wait for their own blood, they lurk privily for
their own lives.” “They lay wait.” Who? Not the bird;
but the fowler, not the intended victim but the foul deceiver.
Whilst the tempters “lurked” privily “for the blood” of
others, they “lay wait” for their own blood. Retribution
overtakes them. If they escape violence themselves, the
Nemesis pursues them. Thus it was with Ahab and his
guilty partner, they plotted the destruction of others, but
they worked out their own ruin; thus it was with Haman, who
sought to murder Mordecai, but hung himself, and thus with
Judas too. Sinners the world over, in all their plans
and purposes, are “digging a pit for themselves.” “So with
the ways of every one who is greedy of gain”—it is the
inexorable law of retribution.
22 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. I
Their schemes may seem to prosper here, but justice
tracks their steps and their ruin is inevitable.
“There is no strange handwriting on the wall,
Thro' all the midnight hum no threatening call,
Nor on the marble floor the stealthy fall
Of fatal footsteps. All is safe. Thou fool,
The avenging deities are shod with wool!”
W. ALLEN BUTLER
Proverbs 1:20-23
The Voice of Wisdom to the World
“Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets; She crieth
in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates: in the city she
uttereth her words, saying, How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity?
and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge? Turn you
at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known
my words unto you.”
DIVINE wisdom was an abstraction in the days of Solomon.
It is an incarnation in our times. In his days it was per-
sonified in language. In ours it is personified in flesh.
It is the same thing however clad; the infinite intelligence
of love and truth. It is the “mind of God.” This wisdom
is here represented as speaking to the world.
The voice of wisdom to the world is EARNEST.—“Wis-
dom crieth.” The communications of heaven to humanity
are not the utterances of mere intellect. They are the
expressions of the heart. The Bible is an earnest book,
Christ is an earnest messenger. The eternal Father is in
earnest with His human children. “As I live saith the
Lord God I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked.”
“In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood
and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me
and drink.” God's communications to men show the earnest-
ness of His heart. Look at their nature. How fervid
Chap. I] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 23
forceful, vehement. Mark their variety. They come in
poetry, prose, prophecy, precept, promise, threat, expostu-
lation, admonition. Note their continuance. They do not
cease, they keep on from age to age. Wisdom is ever
crying through nature, through the Bible, through the
history of past ages, through conscience, and through
reason. Earnestness is all heartedness. God's heart is in
His communications to men.
The voice of wisdom to the world is PUBLIC.—“She
uttereth her voice in the streets; she crieth in the chief
places of concourse, in the openings of the gates.” “The
accumulation,” says Kitto, “of phrases implying pub-
licity—the streets, the chief place of concourse, the open-
ings of the gates, the city—probably refer to the custom
in the East, particularly among the Arabians, for people to
hold discussions and conversations on religion and morals
in the open air, and especially in the more public parts of
the town, to which the inhabitants resort for the sake of
society. It is not unusual indeed for a man respected for
his eloquence, learning, or reputed sanctity, to collect in
such places a. congregation which listens with attention
and interest to the address he delivers. Thus such wisdom
as they possess may be said to “cry in the streets;” and
as the people read very little, if at all, a very large part of
the information and mental cultivation which they possess
is derived from the discussions, conversations, recitations,
and lectures on various subjects, which they hear in the
streets and public places.” Where is the voice of heavenly
wisdom not heard? The whole earth is vocal with it. It
echoes in every man's soul. “There is no speech nor
language where her voice is not heard.” There are three
classes here specified to whom it addresses itself. The
“simple.” “Ye simple ones”—those most unsophisticated
and free from the taint of sin, the millions of the rising
race as well as those in more advanced life who have re-
tained in some measure the innocency of childhood.
“Scorners” —men who are so hardened in sin that they resist
impressions and sneer at sacred persons and things. To
impious scoffers and profane jesters, who are numerous in
24 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. I
all ages and are morally the most degraded of men, this
Wisdom speaks. “Fools”—men who hate knowledge. The
simple are weak, the scorner disdainful, the fool malignant
—he hates knowledge. How great the mercy of God in
condescending to speak to such.
But the earnest and public address of wisdom to
these classes is pre-eminently practical. It is in the
language of expostulation. “How long ye simple ones?”
How long? Do you know how brief your life is and
how urgent the work of spiritual reformation? How long
ye simple ones will ye love simplicity? And the scorners
delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?” It is
the language of invitation. “Turn you at my reproof.”
Turn away from worldliness and wickedness and come
to holiness and truth. Turn, you can do it, you must
do it, you are bound to do it. “Let the wicked forsake his
ways and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him
return unto the Lord, and. He will have mercy upon him,
and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.” It is the
language of encouragement. “I will pour out my Spirit
upon you.” “I will make known my words unto you.”
“I offer,” says Bishop Hall, “to you both my word out-
wardly to your ears, and a plentiful measure of my Spirit
to make that word effectual to you.”
Such is the voice of Wisdom. “He that hath ears to
hear let him hear.” Hear that your souls may live—hear
at once. Delay is sinful and perilous. Remember the
words of John Foster—“How dangerous to defer those
momentous reformations which conscience is solemnly
preaching to the heart! If they are neglected, the diffi-
culty and indisposition are increasing every month. The
mind is receding degree after degree, from the warm and
the hopeful zone; till at last it will enter the Arctic circle,
and become fixed in relentless and eternal ice.”
Chap. I] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 25
Proverbs 1:24-33
God and the Sinner in Time and Eternity
“Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and
no man regarded; But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of
my reproof: I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear
cometh; when your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a
whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you. Then shall they call
upon me, but will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find
me: For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD:
They would One of my counsel: they despised all my reproof. Therefore shall
they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with the fruit of their own
devices. For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity
of fools shall destroy them. But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely,
and shall be quiet from fear of evil.”
GOD AND THE SINNER IN TIME.—Two things are obser-
vable here, First, God's conduct to sinners in time. What
does he do? He “calls” them—calls them by teachings of
nature, the admonitions of reason and the appeals of His
word—calls them away from sin to holiness, from misery
to joy, from Satan to Himself. He stretches out His hand.
“I have stretched out my hand.” What for? To rescue
from danger, to bestow benedictions, to command attention,
to welcome a return. He counsels them. “Ye have set at
nought my counsels." Counsels that would shed light
upon duty and destiny, solve moral problems, and make the
path of human life straight and sunny for ever. He reproves
them. “And would none of my reproof.” His reproofs, whilst
they are honest, are also loving and tender. This is the
attitude of the Eternal towards every human sinner here. He
is calling,, outstretching His hand, addressing counsels, and
administering reproofs. But, mark on the other hand,
Secondly, the conduct of sinners towards God in time. How do
sinners treat the Almighty here? They refuse His call. “I
have called and ye refused.” They disregard His attitude. “I
have stretched out my hand and no man regarded.” They
condemn is counsel and reproof. “Ye have set at nought
26 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. I
all my counsel, and would none of my reproof.” What a
spectacle to angels is this! God's treatment of the sinner
and the sinner's treatment of Him. Wonder, oh heaven!
and be astonished, oh earth!
GOD AND THE SINNER IN ETERNITY.—Here observe,
First, His conduct towards the sinner in eternity. When
sinners pass impenitently into the realms of retribution,
how does the Eternal treat them there? He laughs at them. “I
will laugh at your calamity.” Strong metaphor conveying a
most terrific idea! What a laugh is this! It is the laugh
of mockery and contempt. “I will mock when your fear
cometh.” A father laughing at his child in trial and
anguish! For the suffering child to see his parent looking
on without a tear of compassion or a sigh of sympathy, with
a heartless indifference, would give poignancy to his
pains, but to see him smile and to hear him laugh in his
writhing agonies, how unspeakably distressing! To be
laughed at by God! Can you have a more terrible picture
of misery? A thousand times sooner let the Eternal flash His
lightnings, hurl His thunders, and rain His fires on me, than
laugh at my calamities. He disregards their prayers. Fear
is on them as a .desolation! Destruction has come down upon
them as a whirlwind. Distress and anguish has seized them,
and they pray, and God says, “I will not answer.” He
looks on and laughs. What a contrast between His
conduct in time, and His conduct in eternity! Observe,
Secondly, the impenitent sinner's conduct towards God
in eternity . He whom sinners ignored and disregarded
in time, is earnestly prayed to now. “They shall seek
me early but shall not find me.” They would not
listen to my warnings and invitations, and I will not
listen to their prayers. They seek God but cannot find
Him. Why has all this misery come upon them? Here is
the explanation:— “They hated knowledge and did not
choose the fear of the Lord. They would none of my counsel;
they despised all my reproof. Therefore shall they eat of the
fruit of their own way and be filled with their own devices.”
They said to the Almighty when here, “Depart from us.”
He says to them there, “Depart from me.” Here is
Chap. II.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 27
retribution. All their misery is but the eating of the fruit
of their own ways. They reap what they had sown. As
fruit answers to seed, as echoes to sound, their calamities in
eternity answer to their conduct in time. “Be not deceived,
God is not mocked. Whatsoever a man soweth that shall
he also reap.”
Notwithstanding all this, mercy still speaks in the close
of the passage. “Whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell
safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil.” Practical
attention to God's word will secure safety now and for ever.
“The name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous
flee thereto and are safe.” “Seek the Lord while he may
be found; and call upon him while he is near.”
Proverbs 2:1-5
Spiritual Excellence
"My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with
thee; So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to
understanding; Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and iffiest up thy voice for
understanding; If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid
treasures; Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the know-
ledge of God.”
WE have here
Spiritual excellence DESCRIBED.—It is described as
“the fear of the Lord," and as “the knowledge of God.”
The twofold description conveys the idea that godli-
ness has to do both with the intellect and the heart.
It is knowledge and fear. It is such a knowledge of God
as generates the true emotion towards Him. In true
spiritual excellence there is a blending of reverent love
and theologic light. Such a blending that both become
one, the love is light and the light is love. In this, our
perfection and well being consist. This is not the means to
28 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. II.
heaven, it is heaven—heaven in all times, circumstances,
and worlds. Its influence is beautifully and truthfully
described by Sir Humphrey Davy. “Religion, whether
natural or revealed, has always the same beneficial in-
fluence on the mind. In youth, in health, and prosperity
it awakens feelings of gratitude, and sublime love, and
purifies at the same time that which it exalts; but it is in
misfortune, in sickness, in age, that its effects are more
truly and beneficially felt: when submission in faith and
humble trust in the Divine Will, when duties become plea-
sures, undecaying sources of consolation; then it creates
powers which were believed to be extinct, and gives a
freshness to the mind which was supposed to have passed
away for ever, but which is now renovated as an immortal
hope. Its influence outlives all earthly enjoyments, and
becomes stronger as the organs decay, and the frame dis-
solves; it appears as that evening star of light in the horizon
of life, which we are sure is to become, in another season,
a morning star, and it throws its radiance through the
gloom and shadow of death.”
Here we have
Spiritual excellence ATTAINED.—How is this in-
valuable state of being to be reached? The text in-
dicates the method. By the reception of Divine truth.
“If thou wilt receive my words.” The receptive faculty
must be employed. God's truth must be taken into the
soul. It is the glory of our nature that we can take into
us ideas from the Eternal Intellect, and this we must do if
we would reach the grand ideal of being. His thoughts alone
can break the darkness of our spirits and warm them into
heavenly life. By the retention of Divine truth. “Hide my
commandments.” What we receive from the Divine Mind
we must hold fast. We must keep the seed in the soil,
nurse and watch it, that it may germinate and grow. There
is a danger of losing it. The winds of temptation and the
fowls of evil will tear away the grains unless we watch. By
the search after Divine truth. “Apply thine heart to
understanding.” “Incline thine ear unto wisdom.” The
ear must be turned away from the sounds of earthly
Chap. II.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 29
pleasure, the din of worldliness, and the voices of human
speculation, and must listen attentively to communications
from the spiritual and eternal.
The search must be earnest. “If thou cravest after
knowledge, and liftest up thy voice after understanding.”
Truth never comes where it is not wanted, where its neces-
sity is not felt. It only gives its bread to the hungry, and
its waters to those who feel the burning thirst. As hungry
children cry out for food, souls must cry to the Eternal
Father for light. The search must be persevering. “If
thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid
treasures.” How indefatigable are men in their search for
silver and gold. They excavate the mountains, they plough
the seas, they go from market to market and from shore to
shore, in earnest quest for gold. But spiritual excellence is
infinitely more precious than all worldly treasures. “It
cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir, with the precious
onyx or the sapphire. The gold and the crystal cannot
equal it, and the exchange of it shall not be for jewels of
fine gold. No mention shall be made of corals, or of pearls:
for the price of wisdom is above rubies. The topaz of
Ethiopia shall not equal it, neither shall it be valued with
pure gold.” By so much as spiritual excellence is more
valuable than all worldly treasures, should be our ardent,
unwearied diligence in quest of it. “The following relic,”
says Mr. Bridges, “of our renowned Elizabeth will be
read both with interest and profit. It was written on a
blank leaf of a black letter edition of St. Paul's Epistles,
which she used during her lonely imprisonment at Wood-
stock. The volume itself, curiously embroidered by her
own hand, is preserved in the Bodleian:- ‘August. I walk
many times into the pleasant fields of the Holy Scriptures,
where I pluck up the goodlisome herbs of sentences by
pruning, eat them by reading, chew them by musing, and
lay them up at length in the high seat of memorie, that in
gathering them together, and so having tasted their sweet-
ness, I may the less perceive the bitterness of this miserable
life.’”
30 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. II.
Proverbs 2:6-9
Good Men and Their God
“For the LORD giveth wisdom; out of his mouth cometh knowledge and
understanding. He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous: he is a buckler
to them that walk uprightly. He keepeth the paths of judgment, and preserveth
the way of his saints. Then shalt thou understand righteousness, and judgment,
and equity; yea, every good path.”
THESE words bring under our attention the greatest
beings on earth, good men ; and the greatest being in the
universe, the Great God. Notice:-
THE CHARACTER OF GOOD MEN.-The description
given of them here is full, varied, and very significant.
They are spoken of as the “righteous.” The whole duty
of man may be included in this word, or in its equiva-
lent, a shorter word still—just. The moral code of the
universe may be reduced to two words, “Be just.” Be just
to yourself, respect your own nature, train your own
faculties, guard your own rights, realize your own ideals.
This is virtue! Be just to others: “Whatsoever ye would
that men should do unto you do ye even so to them.”
This is morality. Be just to God: The Best Being
love the most, the Truest Being trust the most, the
Greatest Being reverence, adore and serve the most.
This is religion! Virtue, morality, and religion constitute a
righteous man. They are spoken of as “walking uprightly.”
Goodness in all moral creatures is not stationary, but pro-
gressive. It is an everlasting walk into new fields of beauty,
new scenes of enjoyment, new spheres of service. “The
path of the just is a shining light which shineth more and
more unto the perfect day.” They are spoken of as “saints.”
They are consecrated to God's service, set apart to His use,
they are the living and imperishable temples of the Holy
Ghost. Such is the sketch given here of good men, and stand
they not in sublime contrast with the canting hypocrites,
Chap. II.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 31
worldly grubs, fawning sycophants, wretched snobs, which
abound in modern society and from which all honest hearts
recoil? “The greatest man,” says Seneca, “is he who chooses
right with the most invincible resolution, who resists the
sorest temptation from within and without, who bears the
heaviest burdens cheerfully, who is calmest in storms, and
most fearless under menaces and frowns, whose reliance on
truth, on -Virtue, and on God is most unfaltering.” Kind
Heaven, multiply the number of these good men!
Observe
THE GOD OF GOOD MEN.—He is here set forth in
His relation to creation generally. “For the Lord giveth
wisdom, out of His mouth cometh knowledge and under-
standing.” He is the great original, central, exhautless
Fountain of intelligence. He is “the Father of lights;”
the light of instinct, the light of reason, the light of genius,
the light of conscience, all stream from Him as from the
sun. Wherever there is a ray of truth, a beam of intelli-
gence, a gleam of virtue, there is God, and in them He
should be recognized and worshipped.
“God,” says old Ouarles, “is a light that is never darkened,
an unwearied life that cannot die, a fountain always flowing,
a garden of life, a seminary of wisdom, a radical beginning
of all goodness.”
“Give me unveil'd the source of good to see!
Give me Thy light, and fix mine eyes on Thee!”—Boethius
He is here set forth in His relation to the good in particular.
He makes special provisions for them. He provides for
their instruction. “He layeth up sound Wisdom.” We
need not ask the question, Where are “the treasures of
sound wisdom” laid up for us? The Son of Man, the
Redeemer of the world is the “Wisdom of God.” He
protects them from their enemies. “He is a buckler to
them that walk uprightly.” Our path is fraught with
danger and beset with temptations, foes lurk about us on
all hands, and we need a defence. He is our “buckler.”
Significant expression this; it does not say that he holds
the buckler, or has a buckler for us, but He is the buckler.
32 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. II.
He Himself is the shield, and our enemies must strike
through Him to injure us. He superintends their career.
“He keepeth the paths of judgment, and preserveth the
way of His saints.” He vouchsafes their ultimate per-
fection. “Then shalt thou understand righteousness, and
judgment, and equity, yea every good path.”
Such is the God of the good! May this God be our God!
May He be our guide even unto death!
“Thou Uncreate, Unseen, and Undefined
Source of all life, and Fountain of the mind,
Pervading Spirit! whom no eye can trace:
Felt through all time, and working in all space,
Imagination cannot paint that spot,
Around, above, beneath, where Thou art not!"
R. MONTGOMERY
Proverbs 2:10-22
Wickedness and Wisdom;
the Bane and the Antidote
“When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto
thy soul; Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee: To
deliver thee from the way of the evil man, from the man that speaketh froward
things; Who leave the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness,
Who rejoice to do evil, and delight in the frowardness of the wicked; Whose
ways are crooked, and they froward in their paths: To deliver thee from the
strange woman, even from the stranger which flattereth with her words: Which
forsaketh the guide of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God. For
her house inclineth unto death, and her paths unto the dead. None that go unto
her return again, neither take they hold of the paths of life. That thou mayest
walk in the way of good men, and keep the paths of the righteous. For the
upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it. But the wicked
thall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it.”
Two things of a very opposite character are brought before
us in these verses—wickedness and wisdom, and these two
Chap. II.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 33
things are at work in all literatures, institutions, enter-
prises, souls, the world over.
WICKEDNESS.—We have here a terrible description of
wicked persons. Observe their character. Their speech is
corrupt. “The man that speaketh froward things.” Justin
said, “By examining the tongue of a patient, physicians
find out the diseases of the body and philosophers those of
the mind.” The wicked use their tongues to express the
erroneous, the blasphemous, and perverse. They set their
“mouth against the Heavens,” and sometimes we hear them
say to all moral constraints, “Let us break their bands
asunder and cast away their cords from us." Their habit
is corrupt. “They leave the paths of righteousness to walk
in the ways of darkness.” Wicked men “love darkness
rather than light, because their deeds are evil." Their path
is not only dark but crooked. “Whose ways are crooked.”
The way of goodness is straight, even, and uniform; but
that of sin is labyrinthian and rough, as well as dark.
Their heart is corrupt. They “rejoice to do evil and delight
in the frowardness of the wicked.” They not only speak
the wrong thing, do the wrong thing, pursue the wrong
course, but they rejoice in the wrong. Their pleasure is in
sin, in debauchery, intemperance, carousings. They revel
in wickedness. Their influence is corrupt. This is illustrated
in the description of the “strange woman” here introduced,
who “flattereth with her lips, forsaketh the guide of her
youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God.” A des-
cription this of the prostitute, not only most touching
and humiliating, but true to modern fact. A more horrid
sight this side of Hell cannot be seen than a fallen woman,
a woman giving her nature up to carnality and wrong.
She is ruined and she ruins. Solomon lifts up his warning
against such a character, and well he might, for he was led
away from God and truth by her seductive wiles. Observe
their peril. “Her house inclineth unto death, and her paths
unto the dead. None that go unto her return again, neither
take they hold of the paths of life.” The spell of lust
palsies the grasp of her victims. Ah! how many a poor,
infatuated, deluded youth has been led on step by step the
34 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. II.
downward road to the chambers of death; led by soft and
silken bonds, amidst syren music to adamantine chains
and penal fire! Everything dies under the influence of
wickedness,—self-respect, spiritual sensibility, mental
freedom, the freshness, the vigour, and the beauty of life.
Observe their doom. “The wicked shall be cut off from the
earth and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it.” They
are rooted out from the esteem of the good, from the sphere
of improvement, from the realm of mercy, and the domain
of hope.
Eschew sin, my friend! The soul with sin in it is within
the central attractions of Hell, and all its motions accelerate
its movements thither. If it is in thee, crush it at once; it
is easier to crush a spark than a conflagration, to break the
egg of the cockatrice than to kill the serpent.
WISDOM.—This is represented here both as the pre-
ventative and the antidote to wickedness. Wickedness is
terribly powerful, but wisdom is mightier. Its mightiness,
however, in man depends upon its right reception. “When
wisdom entereth into the heart.” Wisdom outside of us is
a grand thing for thought and speculation, but it must come
into us to be of any real and permanent service. It will not
do to flow from the tongue or float in the brain, or to come
to us as a strange visitant, to be tolerated or entertained for
a short time; but as a friend, of all friends the dearest to
the heart. It must come in as a “thing that is pleasant
to thy soul.” Then it does three things in relation
to wickedness. It guards the innocent. “Discretion shall
preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee.” The way to
keep out evil is to fill the soul with goodness. If Divine
wisdom takes full possession of thy heart, when evil comes,
it will “find nothing” in thee. It delivers the fallen. “De-
liver thee from the way of evil men,” from the “strange
woman.” If thou hast fallen into evil, if thou art within
its sphere of magic infatuation, let wisdom enter thy heart
and thou shalt be delivered. It shall break the spell of the
enchanter, it shall unlock the door of thy caged soul, and let
thee out into the air of sunny truth. Heavenly wisdom in
the soul is the only soul-redemptive force. It guides the
Chap. III.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 35
redeemed. “That thou mayest walk in the ways of good
men and keep the paths of the righteous.” It guides our
feet in the way of peace. It is a lamp to our path. Like the
star to the mariner, if this wisdom shine within us it will
guide us safely over the voyage of life. How shall we get
into the heart this wisdom, that guards the innocent, deli-
vers the fallen, and guides the redeemed? “If any man
lack wisdom let him ask of God, who giveth to all men
liberally and upbraideth not”
“Who are the wise?
They who have govern'd with a self-control,
Each wild and baneful passion of the soul-
Curb'd the strong impulse of all fierce desires,
But kept alive affection's purer fires.
They who have pass'd the labyrinth of life,
Without one hour of weakness or of strife:
Prepared each change of fortune to endure,
Humble though rich, and dignified though poor.
Skill'd in the latent movements of the heart-
Learn'd in the lore which nature can impart;
Teaching that sweet philosophy aloud,
Which sees the silver lining' of the cloud;
Looking for good in all beneath the skies:
These are the truly wise.”—PRINCE.
Proverbs 3:1-2
The Philosophy of Health and Happiness
"My son, forget not my law, but let thine heart keep my commandments.
For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee."
DIVINE revelation is a law. It is not a mere creed, but a
code. It is not given for mere study, speculation, and
belief, but for obedience. It has all the attributes of a law,
—publicity, authority, practicability. The text teaches two
great truths.
36 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. III.
OBEDIENCE TO MORAL LAW IS A CONDITION OF
PHYSICAL HEALTH.—Mark at the outset what the obedience
is. It is the obedience of the heart. “Let thine heart keep
my commandments.” The Bible legislates for mind, for
thoughts, affections, impulses, and aims. Its command-
ment is so broad that it takes the whole soul in, penetrates
to its deepest and most hidden springs of action. Obedience
is not a thing of tongue, or hand, or foot, it is a thing of
the heart. Perfect external conformity to the mere letter of
the law, were it possible, would be rebellion if the heart
was not in it. We are taught here that this spiritual
obedience is a condition of physical health. It secures
“length of days and long life.” The connection between
obedience and physical health is clear from the three fol-
lowing facts:—(I) That physical health requires obedience
to the divine laws of our being. (2) That obedience to these
divine laws involves a study of them. (3) That the heartiest
sympathy with the Divine author is essential to their suc-
cessful study. These propositions are so evident that they
require neither illustrations nor proof. Add to this the fact
that sobriety, temperance, chastity, industry, contentment,
regularity, amiability, control of the temper, and the
passions, which are involved in true obedience, are all
conducive to corporeal health and vigour. Some people
seem to regard ill-health as a mark of gentility. They are
afraid to acknowledge themselves as vigorous and robust,
lest they should be considered vulgar. They consider it
more respectable to acknowledge feebleness than strength.
Others seem to regard ill-health as a virtue—something to
be pleased with and commended for. But in truth ill-health
often means coarseness and crime. It grows out of the
infraction of divine laws. Health of the body depends upon
health of soul, and health of soul depends upon obe-
dience to the moral laws of God. Bodily vigour depends
upon moral virtue. “Godliness is profitable unto all things,
having the promise of the life that now is and of that
which is to come.” There is a care for health which des-
troys it. “People,” says Sterne, “who are always taking
care of their health are like misers who are hoarding a
Chap. III.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 37
treasure which they have never spirit enough to enjoy.”
But there is a care that promotes it—it is a care for moral
purity and a divine elevation of soul in thought and aim.
OBEDIENCE TO MORAL LAW IS A CONDITION OF
SPIRITUAL HAPPINESS.—“And peace shall be added to
thee.” Peace requires two things. (1) The inward
harmony of our powers. The soul is often like a battle-
field, on which there is a violent conflict of forces. The
suggestions of reason and the dictates of conscience battle
against the armies of carnal lusts and selfish impulses.
It is like a sea, into whose depths there rush contending
currents, heaving it to its centre. (2) The sense of divine
favour. The feeling that the Lord is against us gives the.
throbs of perpetual restlessness to our souls. Now spiritual
obedience puts an end to this state of things, crushes in-
ward enemies, hushes inward storms, and gives a blessed
consciousness of divine approval.
“Peace is the end of all things—tearless peace;
Who by the immovable basis of God's throne
Takes her perpetual stand; and, of herself
Prophetic, lengthens age by age her sceptre;
The world shall yet be subjugate to love,
The final form religion must assume,
Led like a lion, rid with wreathed reins,
In some enchanted island, by a child.”—FESTUS
Proverbs 3:3-4
Mercy and Truth
“Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write
them upon the tables of thine heart: So shalt thou find favour and good under-
standing in the sight of God and man.”
Two of the greatest moral realities of the universe are
mentioned in these verses. They are the greatest themes
38 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. III.
in all true books, the chief elements in all great lives, the
noblest attributes of the Godhead, the primal substances of
the Gospel. “Grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.” These
two direct man's nature as a being possessing intellect and
heart, each of which has its respective cravings and claims.
We must have “truth” in us;—all our faculties must truth-
fully move in harmony with eternal realities. We must
have “mercy” in us. All our powers must move by it as their
impulse and sovereign. Man's duty in relation to “mercy
and truth” is here set forth by two strong metaphors, the
metaphors of binding and writing.
Man has to BIND “mercy” and “truth” to him.—“Bind
them continually upon thy heart and tie them upon thy
neck.” The allusion here is probably to the phylacteries
with which the Jews were commanded by Moses to bind
the law around their foreheads. But here the command is
to bind mercy and truth, not upon the hand or the head,
but upon the heart; and they were to be kept there, not for
a time, but “continually;” to be taken off neither day or
night. They are to be carried with us as mementoes of our
obligations to heaven, and as safeguards to protect us from
the wrong and the ruinous. They are so vital to us that
we must not part with them. Take mercy and truth from
the soul and you take the verdure from the fields, and leave
them in barrenness ; you take the light from the heavens and
leave them in sackcloth. Part with everything; property,
friends, reputation, life itself, sooner than part with them.
Without them the soul is lost—lost to virtue, nobility, use-
fulness and heaven.
Man has to WRITE “mercy and truth” within him.—
There are two Bibles—one consists of truth written on
paper, the other of truth written on the soul. Whilst both
are valuable, the latter is for many reasons the most pre-
cious. (1) Because it is the most real. In the paper Bible
we have only “mercy and truth” in symbol, but in the loving
heart they themselves are there. The figures on your bank
book, representing the amount which stands to your credit
at the bank, are not real money but the sign; your property
is not in your book, but in the bank; so “mercy and truth”
Chap. III.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 39
are not in the letter-press, but they are in the heart. (2)
Because it is the most legible. The paper Bible con-
tains many things hard to be understood. The most
enlightened interpreter fails to reach its meaning, but
what is written on the heart, is written in the language
that universal man can read, the savage as well as the
sage, the child as well as the octogenarian. (3) Because it
is the most capacious. The heart is a volume whose pages
defy finite arithmetic, whose folios none but God can
number. How voluminous the contents of every heart
now! But what through the ages! Every impression we
receive is a fresh sentence. (4) Because it is the most
endurable. Paper, parchment, marble, or even brass, on
which men have written, time has destroyed; but the heart
is immortal, and the sentences written on it eternity cannot
obliterate.
Man has to ENJOY “mercy and truth” within him.—
If mercy and truth are in the soul, not as mere ideas or
as temporary impulses, but as living, regnant, and abiding
forces, God's favour will be enjoyed, success will attend our
ways, and we shall advance in holy freedom and force.
Christ (who brought “grace and truth” into the world), as
he grew increased in favour both with God and man, and
it will be the same with all those who embody those
transcendent elements in their lives.
Conclusion.—The whole implies that “mercy and truth”
are outside of men in their unregenerate state. They are
in the heart of God, they are in the universe, they are in
the Bible as symbols, but they are not inherent in human
nature. Men must have them. Embrace them, brother;
bind them indissolubly upon thy moral being, and write
them indelibly on thy heart!
40 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. III.
Proverbs 3:5-7
God-trusting and Self-trusting
“Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own
understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.”
GOD-TRUSTING.—“Trust in the Lord.” Man is a
trusting creature: he is always leaning on some object.
So deep is his consciousness of dependence, that he dares
not stand alone. This trusting instinct, like all the other
instincts of his nature, has been sadly perverted by a wrong
direction. Everywhere man is leaning on the unworthy, the
unreliable, and the unenduring; hence his constant disap-
pointments and confusion. Observe here the object of true
trustfulness. “The Lord,”-the Ali-merciful, the All-wise,
and All-powerful;—the Unchanging amidst all changes,
the All-loving amidst all malignities, the All-enduring
amidst all dissolutions, the One and only One; not it
nor them, but HIM. Observe the manner of true trust-
fulness. It must be entire; “With all thy heart.” It must
be an unquestioned, undivided confidence. He is to be
trusted lovingly: not as a matter of expedience or dry duty,
but as a matter of supreme affection. It must be always.
“In all thy ways acknowledge Him.” Man's ways are
many. All men have different ways. These are determined
by organization, idiosyncracies, and other constitutional
adventitious circumstances. There is the way of the sen-
sualist, the sceptic, the savage, the sage, the worldling, the
saint. Each man has often different ways: he does not
continue through life in the same path, he changes it
through the force of age, conviction, and experience.
But in whatever way he walks, at any time he should
trustfully acknowledge Him; acknowledge not merely
his existence, personality, power, but His absolute authority
over him; His claim to be his grand subject of thought,
Chap. III.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 41
object of affection, supreme aim of life. Observe the advan-
tage of true trustfulness. What is it? Guidance in the
right—“He will direct thy paths.” He guides those who
will trust in Him. His guidance secures safety amidst
all perils, and happiness amidst all sorrows. He
will make the path clear and secure, as we walk on and
upward, for ever. Another advantage is departure from
evil. “Fear the Lord and depart from evil.” Fear is in-
cluded in God-trusting, and where this is there is a
departure from evil. The soul in which there is this
blessed trust breaks away from all evil, and struggles its
way into holiness and love. There is yet another advan-
tage specified,—strength in all. “It shall be health to thy
navel and marrow to thy bones.” True trustfulness excludes
all those anxious cares, and crushes all those appetites and
passions of the soul, which are ever the seeds of physical
discomfort and disease. It gives that evenness of temper,
that regularity to the impulses, that tranquil cheerfulness
to the heart, which are pre-eminently conducive to corpo-
real health and force. It is a libel on religion to represent
it as in any way inimical to true physical vigour and
animal enjoyment. Trust in God is as cheering as the light
of heaven, and as healthful as the mountain breeze.
“Thy God hath said 'tis good for thee
To walk by faith and not by sight.
Take it on trust a little while,
Soon shalt thou read the mystery right,
In the bright sunshine of His smile.”—KEBLE
SELF-TRUSTING.—“Lean not on thine own under-
standing.” There is a right self-reliance. In relation to
our fellow men we are bound to trust our own energies,
convictions, and conscience. We have no right to trust to
other men's powers and efforts to help us either physically
or mentally. Heaven has endowed us all with faculties by
which to help ourselves, if they are rightly worked. The
man who is not self-reliant in this sense sinks his manhood
in the parasite. But that self-trusting, to which Solomon
refers, implies an exaggerated conceit of our own powers.
Hence he says, “be not wise in your own eyes.” Don't
42 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. III.
put too high an estimate on your own understanding.
Thank God for your intellect. Respect it, train it, feed it
with the choicest fruits on the tree of science, but don't lean
on it as an infallible guide. At its best here, its eyes are
very dim, its ears heavy, and its limbs feeble. The sages
of all times, who have trusted to it, have gone down in
darkness, bequeathing to us such literary productions as
show how far they wandered from the light. The light of
our own reason is far too feeble to guide us safely through
the moral labyrinths of life. “Be not wise, therefore, in
thine own eyes.” Self-conceit is at once offensive and per-
nicious; it involves self-ignorance. No man, who knows
himself, can be vain. The hierarchs of heaven veil their
faces. What is the knowledge of the most enlightened
compared with what is to be known? What is a spark to
the central fires of the universe? What compared with
what he ought to have known? How much more the wisest
on the earth might have known if they had properly employed
their powers? A man “wise in his own eyes,” is self-
benighted. He is like a pauper maniac, who fancies himself
a king. “Many,” says Seneca, “might have attained
wisdom, had they not thought they had really attained it.”
Self-conceit not only involves self-ignorance, but obstructs
mental improvement. “Seest thou a man wise in his own
conceit, there is more hope of a fool than of him.” True
knowledge requires effort. It neither springs up involun-
tarily, nor comes to us independently of our own endeavours,
or even by efforts, feeble, irresolute, and desultory. It
requires an invincibility of purpose, a concentration of
faculties. Who will put forth such efforts to gain it, but
those who have the profoundest sense of its necessity?
There must be a craving, amounting almost to an agony, in
order to overcome the inertia and grapple with the diffi-
culty. A man who is “wise in his own eyes,” feels no
such necessity as this: he is self-sufficient, and imagines
that he knows everything. Self-conceit destroys social
influence. A vain man disgusts rather than pleases, repels
rather than draws, he is generally despised, seldom
respected. Intelligence, generosity, truthfulness, humility,
Chap. III.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 43
these are the elements that win social esteem, and gain
social command. But these are seeds that can never grow
in a self-trusting, self-conceited man.
"They whose wit
Values itself so highly, that to that
All matters else seem weak, can hardly love,
Or take a shape or feeling of affection,
Being so self-endear'd."—SHAKESPEARE
Proverbs 3:9-10
The Highest Giving,
the Condition of the Highest Getting
“Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine
increase: So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out
with new wine.”
THE HIGHEST GIVING.
“HONOUR the Lord with thy substance.” The two great
functions of men are to gather and to give, to appropriate
and to distribute. These two functions bring all his powers
into play and fully develope his nature. But man is to
gather in order to give, to get in order to impart. “It is
more blessed to give than to receive.” What is the highest
giving? (1) Giving to the Best Being. Who is He? “The
Lord.” The distinguishing glory of a moral intelligence
is the power of giving to God, and his highest honour is to
have his gift accepted of Him. (2) Giving the best things to
the Best Being. “Thy substance.” “The firstfruits of all
thine increase.” “God will not have the dregs that are
squeezed out by pressure poured into His treasury. He
depends, not like earthly rulers, on the magnitude of His
tributes. He loveth a cheerful giver. He can do with-
out our wealth, but He does not bless without our willing
service.” Giving to God does not merely mean giving
contributions to His cause, but the giving of our all,
ourselves. The surrender of self is essential to give
44 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. III.
virtue and acceptance to all other contributions. Until
we give ourselves, all other oblations however costly, are
impious pretences and solemn mockeries. Self-sacrifice
alone can give worth and acceptability to all other presen-
tations.
THE HIGHEST GETTING
By giving thus you get back,—What? The choicest and
fullest divine blessings. “So shall thy barns be filled with
plenty.” This is a figurative expression for the highest
good in the highest degree; and good of all kinds—
temporal, intellectual, social, spiritual. Surrendering to God
is godliness, and godliness is the condition of all true gain.
He who yields his all to the Eternal, attends to the condition
of all true prosperity—industry, temperance, economy, fore-
sight. “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His right-
eousness, and all other things shall be added unto you.”
He who yields his all to God, insures the special favour of
Heaven. The Divine blessing rests upon the labour of the
truly good. “God is not unrighteous to forget your work
and labour of love which ye have showed towards His
name.” Seneca has well said, “He that does good to
another man, does also good to himself; not only in the
consequence but in the very act of doing it; for the con-
science of well doing is an ample reward.” “Good,”
says Milton, “the more communicated, more abundant
grows.”
Proverbs 3:11-12
Affliction
“My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of his
correction: For whom the LORD loveth, he correcteth; even as a father the son
in whom he delighteth.”
“AFFLICTIONS” are to be accepted as MEANS OF SPIRITUAL
DISCIPLINE.—“The chastening of the Lord.”—“His cor-
Chap. III.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 45
rection.” Human sufferings in this world must be regarded,
not as casualties, or events that come on us by capricious
chance or iron necessity. They are from “the Lord.” The
Lord is in all. “The Lord gave,” not chance nor necessity,
the Lord “hath taken away.” Nor as mere penalties. It may
be true that sin is the source of all suffering. But suffering
here, in the cases of individuals, is not according to the mea-
sure, or kind of sin. It is reformative, not destructive. “The
chastening of the Lord.” Affliction does the good man service
in many ways. It detaches him from the race and makes
him feel his own solemn loneliness. It impresses him
with the worthlessness of materialism, and with the awful
solemnity of the spiritual world. It brings the idea
of death, retribution, eternity, powerfully near to the
heart.
Afflictions are to be accepted as TOKENS OF PARENTAL
LOVE.—“Whom the Lord loveth he correcteth.” The anguish
is not caused by the lash of a tyrant, or the infliction of an
inexorable judge, but by the love of a father. (I) The character
of God as a benevolent Being attests this. It is a monstrous
profanity to believe that He, the infinitely loving One, can
have any pleasure in our suffering. He is Love. (2) The ex-
perience of the good attests this. What said David? “Before
I was afflicted. I went astray.”* Paul: “I take pleasure in
infirmities.” And this is the testimony of the good in all
ages. (3) The word of God attests this. “Happy is the man
whom God correcteth.” “As many as I love I rebuke.”
“And He shall sit as a refiner.” Affliction is like the
winter frost, it kills the pernicious insects which the sun of
health has engendered. It acts like the stormy wind upon
the tree, it strengthens the fibres and deepens the roots of
our virtue. It is like the thunderstorm in nature, it purifies
the unhealthy atmosphere that has gathered around the
heart. It is the bitter potion which the skilful physician
administers to his patient. “As threshing separates the
corn from the chaff,” says Burton, “so does affliction purify
virtue.” “Virtue,” says Lord Bacon, “is like precious
* Psalm cxix. 67. II. Cor. xii. 8 to 10. Job. v. 17.
Rev. iii. 19. Mal. iii. 3.
46 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. III.
odours, most fragrant when they are incensed and crushed;
for prosperity doth best discover vice, but adversity doth
best discover virtue.”
Proverbs 3:13-18
The Blessedness of Wisdom
“Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth under-
standing. For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver,
and the gain thereof than fine gold. She is more precious than rubies: and all
the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her. Length of days is
in her right hand; and in her left hand riches and honour. Her ways are ways
of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to them that
lay hold upon her: and happy is every one that retaineth her.”
THESE words catalogue the blessings that accrue to a godly
life. This godliness or wisdom
ENDOWS WITH THE BEST WEALTH.—It is here repre-
sented as better than “silver,” “fine gold,” “precious
rubies,” and all things that can be desired. What are
the greatest temporal possessions in comparison with
moral goodness! Can the former be really enjoyed without
the latter Can a corrupt soul be happy with the world?
The former have a very transitory existence compared
with the latter. The material is transitory in itself, and
is ever rapidly passing from the grasp of its possessor.
But “he that doeth the word of God abideth for ever.”
The former are not essential to blessedness; the latter is.
A godly soul can be happy in a pauper's home. The Lord
is its portion. “What things were gain to me,” says Paul,
“those I counted loss.” The former are really a curse with-
out the latter. The more a man has of the world, if he has
not virtue in his heart, the more he has to blacken his
future and damn his soul. This Wisdom
ENSURES PERMANENT GOOD.—“Length of days is
in her right hand." By length of days here Solomon
does not mean mere longevity on earth, although wisdom
Chap. III.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 47
conduces to this, but evidently permanent distinctions. The
moral riches and honour connected with wisdom are unlike
the earthly, they are enduring, and also permanent enjoy-
ments. “Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her
paths are peace.” Her ways are the ways of chastity,
justice, truthfulness, holy affections, benevolent activities,
and communings with the Great God, and from these, plea-
sures must inevitably spring. Religion is happiness. It has
a “rest for the soul.” It has a “fulness of joy.” It has
sublime delights even in temporal affliction. This Wisdom
RESTORES TO ALL FORFEITED PRIVILEGES.—“She
is a tree of life, to them that lay hold upon her, and
happy is every one that retaineth her.” Adam by
sin forfeited the privileges of the “Tree of Life.” Would
he ever have suffered or died had he continued in
connection with its living virtues? Nay, would he not
have grown in power and honour for ever? True godli-
ness is a tree of life, a tree of life in the soul. Like
the Apocalyptic tree, it is in the midst of the street
of the New Jerusalem, on either side of the river, yielding
twelve manner of fruits, and the leaves of it are for healing
the nations. This tree of life was Central. “In the
midst.” Godliness is in the centre of man's nature. This
Tree of life was Well-rooted. “It was either side of the river.”
A religious soul is a soul rooted by the stream of Divine love
and truth. This tree of life was Fruitful. “Twelve manner of
fruits.” It affords every variety of pleasure, meets every taste
and want. This tree of life was Restorative. “Leaves of the
tree for the healing of the nations.” Godliness restores
waning faculties, renews decaying powers. Here then is the
true riches, the true honour, and the true peace of men.
“0 rich in gold! Beggars in heart and soul!
Poor as the empty void! Why, I, even I,
Sitting in this bare chamber with my thoughts,
Are richer than ye are, despite your bales,
Your streets of warehouses, your mighty mills,
Each looming like a world, faint heard in space,
Your ships unwilling fires, that day and night
Writhe in your service seven years, then die
Without one taste of peace.”—ALEXANDER SMITH
48 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. III.
Proverbs 3:19-20
Wisdom, the Source and Sovereign of Worlds
“The LORD by wisdom hath founded the earth; by understanding hath he
established the heavens. By his knowledge the depths are broken up, and the
clouds drop down the dew.”
THESE words give us two ideas concerning the universe.
THAT IT IS ORGANIZED BY WISDOM.—“The Lord
by wisdom hath founded the earth.” This stands opposed
to two absurd cosmological theories. It stands opposed to
the eternity of the universe. The universe is not eternal
either in its elements or its combinations. There was a
period, far back in the abysses of eternity, when there was
nothing, when the absolute One lived alone. It stands
opposed to the contingent origin of the universe. It sprang
from no fortuitous concourse of atoms. “By Wisdom hath
He founded the earth; by understanding hath he established
the heavens.” He has hollowed out the oceans, and
arranged the systems of clouds. The scientific student of
nature sees design and exquisite adaptations in every part
of nature. “By His knowledge the depths are broken up,
and the clouds drop down the dew.” “We are raised by
science,” says Lord Brougham, “to an understanding of
the infinite wisdom and goodness, which the Creator has
displayed in all His works. Not a step can we take in any
direction without perceiving the most extraordinary traces
of design, and the skill everywhere conspicuous is calcu-
lated in so vast a proportion of instances to promote the
happiness of living creatures, and especially of ourselves,
that we feel no hesitation in concluding, that if we knew
the whole scheme of Providence, every part would appear
in harmony with a plan of absolute benevolence. Inde-
pendently, however, of this most consoling inference, the
delight is inexpressible, of being able to follow the mar-
vellous works of the Great Author of nature, and to trace
the unbounded power and exquisite skill, which are
Chap. III.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 49
exhibited by the most minute as well as the mightiest
parts of His system.”
THAT IT IS ORGANIZED BY THE WISDOM OF ONE
BEING. “The Lord.” It is not arranged on a plan which
is the outcome of many intelligences. One intellect drafted
the whole. Every part of the stupendous engine, even to
the smallest pin, was sketched by Him Who has no coun-
sellor, and Whom none can instruct. The unity of the
universe shows this. There is the unity of style, operation
and purpose. The Word of God declares this. “In the
beginning God created.” “Thou, Lord, in the beginning
hast laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are
the works of Thine hands.” The Bible cosmogony alone
agrees with the deductions of true science, the intuitions of
the soul, and the claims of religion. He is the
“Mighty cause
Of causes mighty! Cause uncaused!
Sole root of nature!” —DR. YOUNG.
Proverbs 3:21-26
Fidelity to Priniciple
“My son, let not them depart from thine eyes; keep sound wisdom and
discretion: So shall they be life unto thy soul, and grace to thy neck. Then shalt
thou walk in thy way safely, and thy foot shall not stumble. When thou liest
down, thou shalt not be afraid: yea, thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be
sweet. Be not afraid of sudden fear, neither of the desolation of the wicked,
when it cometh. For the LORD shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot
from being taken.”
FIDELITY to principle is the idea involved in these
words. “My son, let not them depart from aline eyes."
What?—The principles of truth. The advantages con-
nected with fidelity to principle are here sketched, and
they are—
LIFE.—“Life unto thy soul." The principles of
50 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. III.
heavenly wisdom originate spiritual life. They are soul-
quickening. The words of wisdom are “spirit and life.” They
are to the soul what the sunbeam and the dew are to the
fields. Where they are not, there is darkness and dearth.
They nurture spiritual life. They are the bread and
water of life. The soul apart from them is dead, dead
to all high interests, spiritual services, and enjoyments.
Another advantage connected with fidelity to principle is—
ORNAMENT.—“Grace to thy neck.” These principles
clothe the life with the beauty of holiness. They give a
refinement, and a gracefulness to character. This “Grace”
or ornament is valuable for many reasons. It is becoming to
all. Some ornaments are only becoming to certain classes or
certain positions. It is within the reach of every man. There
are ornaments that can only be obtained by a few: jewels
and diamonds are beyond the reach of the poor. It is
admired by the highest intelligences, by great men, angels,
God Himself. There are ornaments that are prized by
some but despised by others. It is imperishable in its
nature. All other beauties decay, all other brilliancies grow
dim, wisdom " is a crown that fadeth not away.” There
is also connected with fidelity to principle—
SAFETY.—“Shalt walk in thy way safely, thy foot
shall not stumble.” The twenty-sixth verse assigns the
reason for the safety. God is the guide and the guardian
of the faithful. Elsewhere we are told that “The steps of
a good man are ordered by the Lord.” “He that dwelleth
in the secret place of the most High, shall abide under
the shadow of the Almighty.” “The Eternal God is thy
refuge.” What a blessing to be safe on a path of tremen-
dous precipices, and beset with foes, on a sea rolling
tumultuously over quicksands and rocks! There is yet
another blessing associated with fidelity to principle-
COURAGE.—“Thou shalt not be afraid.” It is one
thing to be safe and another thing to feel secure. A feeling
of safety may well make us courageous. A man whose
soul is in vital alliance with the principles of everlasting
truth need not " be afraid of sudden fear, nor of the desola-
tion of the wicked when it cometh.” “None of these things
Chap. III.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 51
move me,” said Paul. Hold fast then the principles of
sound wisdom, let them not depart from thee, let them be
thy pillar to guide thee in the desert, thy pole-star on the
sea. It is, to use the language of Carlyle, “an everlasting
lode-star, that beams the brighter in the heavens, the
darker here on earth grows the night around.”
Proverbs 3:27-29
Beneficence
“Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power
of thine hand to do it. Say not unto thy neighbour, Go, and come again, and
to-morrow I will give; when thou hast it by thee. Devise not evil against thy
neighbour, seeing he dwelleth securely by thee.”
THESE verses teach:
THAT HUMAN BENEFICENCE HAS IT CLAIMANTS.—
“Them to whom it is due.” To whom do we owe kindness?
To all who need it. We are commanded " to do good unto
all men.” What you have is given in trust. It is not yours,
you are but the trustees. The Benevolent God gave it to
you to use benevolently. It sprang from love, and should
be used by love. It is given for distribution. God gives
light to the sun that it may throw light on all the depend-
ing planets, water to the clouds that they may pour it on
the barren hills, and property to man that he may use
it for the good of his race. “Men,” said Cicero,
“resemble the gods in nothing so much as in doing good to
their fellow creatures.” These verses teach:
THAT HUMAN BENEFICENCE IS ONLY LIMITED BY INCA-
PACITY.—“When it is in the power of thy hand to do it.”
Our power is the measure of our obligation. No man has
a right to keep back that which he can spare when his
neighbour needs it. This, in the estimation of heaven, is
52 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. III.
dishonesty. Property is given, not to hoard, but to circu-
late for the common good. The withholder is a moral
felon. Again, the verses teach:
THAT HUMAN BENEFICENCE SHOULD EVER BE PROMPT
IN ITS SERVICES.-“Say not to thy neighbour, go and come
again, and to-morrow I will give.” The apostle James en-
joins the same duty. “If a brother or sister be naked and
destitute of daily food, and one of you say unto them,
depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled: notwithstanding
ye give them not those things which are needful to the
body: what doth it profit?" Why be prompt? Because
the postponement of any duly is a sin in itself. It is a tacit
rebellion against heaven. Because the neglect of a benevolent
impulse is injurious to self. A genuine impulse of gene-
rosity is the stirring of what is Divine within us:—the
uplifting force of the soul. Our well-being depends upon
strengthening it by exercise. Woe to the soul that crushes
it! It is a germ of Paradise. Because the claimant may
seriously suffer by a delay of your help. The delay may
facilitate the evil, and hasten his ruin. Furthermore, these
verses teach:
THAT HUMAN BENEFICENCE EXCLUDES ALL UNKIND-
NESS OF HEART.-“Devise not evil against thy neighbour.”
True “charity thinketh no evil.” A selfish heart is an evil
deviser. This is seen in the tricks of trade, as well as the
stratagems of war. “Benevolence,” says Kant, the great
German philosopher, “is a duty. He who frequently prac-
tises it, and sees his benevolent intentions realized, at
length comes really to love him to whom he has done good.
When, therefore, it is said, ‘Thou shalt love thy neighbour
as thyself,’ it is not meant thou shalt love him first, and do
good to him in consequence of that love, but thou shalt do
good to thy neighbour, and thus, thy beneficence will
engender in thee that love of mankind which is the fulness
and consummation of the inclination to do good.”
Chap. III.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 53
Proverbs 3:30-31
Strife and Oppression
“Strive not with a man without cause, if he have done thee no harm. Envy
thou not the oppressor, and choose none of his ways.”
THIS proverb directs our attention to two great evils:
STRIFE.—Look at strife in two aspects.
As a principle inherent in the soul. There is a battling
instinct in every human mind. Man is made to antagonize.
This principle is in itself neither a virtue nor a vice. But
it is a great blessing, since we have so much to oppose us
here. It is intended to put us into antagonism not to
existence, but to the evils of life, such as disease, poverty,
injustice; not to God, but to His enemies, and the
enemies of the order and happiness of the universe.
Look at strife again,—As a principle liable to perversion.
The prohibition of the proverb implies that men are prone
to strive against those who have done them “no harm.”
The striving with men without a cause is that terrible per-
version of this principle, and this is the root of all domestic
broils, social convulsions, ecclesiastical contentions, and
national wars. How contrary this strife is to all the teach-
ings of Holy Writ. “How all the minor cruelties of man
are summed in war, conclusive of all crimes.”—Festus.
The other evil which the Proverb directs our attention
to is:
OPPRESSION.—“The oppressor” is one who imposes
unjust burdens; who crushes others to raise himself. He is
always unjust, generally heartless, often cruel. He is, alas!
no rarity. He is a common character; he belongs to all
spheres of life, secular and sacred. There is the political
oppressor, who crushes nations by unjust imposts. There is
the social oppressor in the master and the mistress who crush
their servants by overwork. There is the ecclesiastical op-
54 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. III.
pressor, who seeks a lordship over consciences. The pro-
verb virtually says two things about the oppressor. His
character is not to be envied. “Envy not the oppressor.”
Why? Because envy in itself is an evil. Emulation is one
thing, envy another. The former is not necessarily selfish,
malign, or soul-torturing; the latter is, and therefore essen-
tially bad. It is greedy, heartless, and heart-distressing.
Because there is nothing in the oppressor to be desired. There
are some objects of envy that have in them something good.
Not so the oppressor; he is bad from branch to root. His
conduct is not to be followed. “Choose none of his ways.” His
ways are all bad. He has many ways, private and public,
domestic, political, and religious, but they are all crooked by
injustice, all noxious with the sin of selfishness, and tending
to damnation. Stand aloof! “Fret not thyself because of
evil-doers; neither be thou envious against the workers of
iniquity.” A modern poet has struck off the hideous
character of oppressors in a few words-
“The good old rule
Sufficeth them, the simple plan,
That they should take who have the power,
And they should keep who can.”—WORDSWORTH.
Proverbs 3:32-35
Moral Contrasts
“For the froward is abomination to the LORD: but his secret is with the
righteous. The curse of the LORD is in the house of the wicked: but he blesseth
the habitation of the just. Surely he scorneth the scorners: but he giveth grace
unto the lowly. The wise shall inherit glory; but shame shall be the promotion
of fools.”
THESE verses give us a twofold contrast
A CONTRAST IN MORAL CHARACTER.— The “fro-
ward” and the “righteous,”—the “wicked” and the
“just,”—the “scorner” and the “lowly,”—the “wise”
Chap. III.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 55
and the “foolish.” The “forward” is the perverse, refrac-
tory, rebellious; the “righteous” is the upright, obedient,
and loyal. The differences between the good and bad are
at least threefold. A difference in the grand purpose of being.
The purpose of a wicked man is personal pleasure, worldly
gain; that of the good is usefulness and Divine approval.
A difference in the grand impulse of being. The governing
Motive of the wicked man is selfishness; self is the centre
and circumference of all his activities. That of the
righteous is love. He lives not to himself. “The love of
Grist constraineth him.” A Christ-like benevolence is
the spring and sovereign of all his activities. Here is also:
A CONTRAST IN RELATION TO GOD.—The contrast
is here set forth very saliently and strongly. The one is
repugnant to the Eternal, the other is in His confidence. The
“forward” is an “abomination,”—an object of loathsome-
ness. To the Infinitely Holy One sin is an “abominable
thing;” it is repugnant to His whole nature. But on the
other hand the righteous is in His confidence. “His secret
is with the righteous.” This is ever so. They “dwell in
the secret place of the Most High.” “Shall I hide from
Abram the thing that I do?” “The secret of the Lord is
with them that fear Him; and He will shew them His
covenant.” “All things that I have heard of my Father I
have made known unto you.” The one is under the curse of
the Lord, the other under His blessing. “The curse of the
Lord is on the house of the wicked, but He blesseth the
habitation of the just.” The house of Belshazzar is an
illustration of the one, Daniel v. 6; that of Obededom of
the other. (2 Sam. vi. II; I Kings, xxi.) The one is repulsed
with scorn, the other is visited with grace. “Surely he
scorneth the scorners: but he giveth grace unto the lowly.”
He disdains the one with abhorrence, He looks on the
other with the smiles of grace. The one is raised to glory,
other is degraded to shame. “The wise shall inherit
glory, but shame shall be the promotion of fools.”
“Glory,” a word embracing the eternal heaven, which the
righteous shall not only enter into, but inherit; but “shame,”
and everlasting contempt, is the doom of the wicked,
56 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. IV.
“Shame their promotion!” What an expression! Their
fame will be infamous, their grandeur a disgrace, their
pageantry a contempt. “Many that sleep in the dust shall
awake, some to everlasting life, and some to everlasting
contempt.” The great question of questions for every man
is, What is his moral character? The contrast between the
true and the false, the right and the wrong, is so striking,
that there is not any difficulty in determining to which we
belong. As is our character so are we before God and His
universe, and so will our destiny be in the great here-
after; Paradise grows out of it, and from it hell flames and
thunders.
Proverbs 4:1-4
A Religious Home
“Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend to know under-
standing. For I give you good doctrine, forsake ye not my law. For I was my
father's son, tender and only beloved in the sight of my mother. He taught me
also, and said unto me, Let thine heart retain my words: keep my commandments,
and live.”
THE words present three things concerning a religious
home:
THE LOVE OF A RELIGIOUS HOME.—“I was my father's
son, tender and only beloved in the sight of my mother.”
In a religious home there are two kinds of love for
the offspring. The natural love. There is an instinctive
affection which mankind, like all animals, have for their
young—a mere gregarious affection. Though there is no
virtue in this, it is a great boon. It is a stream from the
heart of the Great Father of the universe, mirroring Him-
self, and making glad His progeny. The spiritual love.
An affection this, which has respect to the spiritual being,
relations and interests of the children. The former kind
Chap. IV.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 57
of love is in most homes: this is confined to the religious,
and the religious only. Spiritually we can only love the
morally good. A mutual recognition of excellence is the
sacred bond of an imperishable friendship.
THE TRAINING OF A RELIGIOUS HOME.—“He taught
me also, and said unto me, let thine heart retain my words.”
David taught his son Solomon. “And thou, Solomon, my
son, know thou the God of thy father and serve him with a
perfect heart.” The words imply: That the parent's teaching
was worth retaining. “Let thine heart retain my words.” It
is a great thing to give words worth retaining. There are
words, alas! that enter the minds of children that should
be expelled the moment of their entrance. They are germs
of moral hemlock. That the parent's teaching was practical.
“Keep my commandments.” The highest authority on
earth is the authority of a godly parent. His words are
laws, and these laws are to be obeyed. It is only as moral
teaching is reduced to practice that it promotes the high
interest of true manhood. It is only as ideas are embodied
in acts that they enrich the moral blood and strengthen the
fibre and the limb. That the parent's teaching was quicken-
ing “And live.” True religious teaching is quickening to
all the powers of the soul—intellectual and moral. There is
la teaching that is deadening; there are “Finishing Schools,”
schools that quench the natural thirst for knowledge, emas-
culate the faculties, and inflate the soul with the noxious
gas of vanity. True teaching quickens. “My words” they
are “spirit, and they are life.”
THE INFLUENCE OF A RELIGIOUS HOME.—The man
who gives this counsel as a father, was the child of a re-
ligious home, thus described: “Hear, ye children, the
instruction of a father, and attend to know understanding.
For I give you good doctrine, forsake ye not my law. For
I was my father's son, tender and only beloved in the sight
of my mother.” Here is a religious home reproduced.
The child becomes a father, the subject becomes a sovereign,
and the influence is thus repeated and transmitted. “Train
up a child in the way he should go” when he is young,
“and when he is old he will not depart from it.” The
58 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. IV.
home is the most potent institution in the world. Parental
roofs are more influential institutions than cathedrals. “The
old arm-chair,” where parents sat, is mightier to me than
any pulpits ever have been or ever will be. There are two
reasons for this. The susceptibility of childhood. Ideas fall
on us in the first stages of moral consciousness, with an
inspiration, a glow, and a charm, which are wanting in all
after periods. The force of parental affection. The power
of a parent over the character of his child in the first stages
is almost absolute, approaching that of the potter over
the clay. Parents are instrumental authors, not only of the
physical organization of their children, but also of their
spiritual character.
“The fond attachment to the well-known place,
Whence first we started into life's long race,
Retains its hold with such unfailing sway,
We feel it e'en in age, and at our latest day.”—COWPER.
Religious homes are the great want of the race. What
boots the multiplication of churches and chapels, unless
you multiply these?
Proverbs 4:5-9
The Summum Bonum
“Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the
words of my mouth. Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her, and
she shall keep thee. Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom;
and with all thy getting get understanding. Exalt her, and she shall promote
thee; she shall bring thee to honour, when thou dost embrace her. She shall
give to thine head an ornament of grace: a crown of glory shall she deliver to
thee.”
WE agree with a modern author in regarding the “chief
Good” as that which unites the following qualities :—“It
must be intellectual, or adapted to the higher and nobler
Chap. IV.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 59
part of our nature; attainable by all, of whatever sex, age,
or mental conformation; unimpaired by distribution; in-
dependent of the circumstances of time or place; incap-
able of participation to excess; composed essentially of
the same elements as the good to be enjoyed in a future
state.” All these qualities are found in that which is called
“wisdom” in this passage.
HERE IS THE SUMMUM BONUM DESCRIBED
It is called “Wisdom.” This wisdom is the “principal
thing.” In what does it consist? In the possession of the
highest knowledge. What is the highest knowledge? The
knowledge of the highest natures, the highest relationship,
the highest duties, the highest interests, the highest Being—
GOD. Much of what is called science is but the knowledge of
small things—dust and grain. In the application of the
highest knowledge. The highest knowledge may be pos-
sessed—fallen angels, perhaps, have it—and yet have no
wisdom. They are fools. Wisdom consists in turning the
whole to a right practical account. A life-conformity to
spiritual truths, to eternal realities; not temporary pheno-
mena, is true wisdom. He who makes the word of eternal
truth flesh, is the wise man and he has reached the chief
good.
HERE IS THE SUMMUM BONUM SOUGHT
Man is here exhorted to search after it. How is it to be
sought? It does not grow up in us instinctively; nor does
it come by miracle. It must be sought. But how? Atten-
tively. “Neither decline from the words of my mouth.”
No prejudice must seal the soul. The ear must be ever
open to the voices of wisdom, whencesoever they come.
Constantly. “Forsake her not.” Never turn aside from
her, or thou wilt lose her charm. Peter's momentary dis-
tance from incarnate Wisdom led to his fall. Forsake her
not; let there be no fickleness, but constancy. Lovingly.
“Love her.” Thou wilt never take a step after her if thou
hast no love : thou wilt shun her if thou hast hate. Love
is the essential inspiration in every successful search.
Supremely. “Exalt her.” She must be felt to be the chief
60 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. IV.
good, the “one thing needful.” He who seeks her as a sub-
ordinate good will never find her. She is the queen in the
realms of pursuits, and will be found by none who do not
recognise her royalty and seek her out as such.
HERE IS THE SUMMUM BONUM ENJOYED
When possessed, she will be three things to thee. A
guardian. “She shall keep thee.” Keep thee from the
carnal, the selfish, and the depraved. Wisdom is the soul's
true Palladium. A patron. “She shall promote thee.”
She will raise thee in the estimation of thine own con-
science—in the judgment of the universe, and in the eye of
God. A rewarder. “She shall give to thy head an orna-
ment of grace; a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee.”
The crown she gives is made not of fading laurels, or of
any mouldering gem or metal—a tawdry adornment for a
head of clay. But a crown coruscating with the moral
perfections of God Himself. “When the chief Shepherd
shall appear ye shall receive a crown of glory, that fadeth
not away.”
Brothers, here is the summum bonum—look at it, until it
spreads out such a thing of glory in your horizon, as to
throw everything else into insignificance and shade. “It
is a view of delight,” said Lucretius, as quoted by Lord
Bacon, “to stand or walk upon the shoreside and to see the
ships tossed with tempest upon the sea; or, to be in a
fortified tower, and to see two battles join upon a plain;
but it is pleasure incomparable for the mind of the man to
be settled, landed, and fortified in the certainty of truth, and
from thence to descry and behold the errors, perturbations,
labours, and wanderings up and down of other men.”
Chap. IV.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 61
Proverbs 4:10-17
The Moral Paths of Men
“Hear, 0 my son, and receive my sayings; and the years of thy life shall be
any. I have taught thee in the way of wisdom; I have led thee in right paths.
When thou goest, thy steps shall not be straitened; and when thou runnest thou
halt not stumble. Take fast hold of instruction; let her not go: keep her, for
he is thy life. Enter not into the path of the wicked and go not into the way
if evil men. Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away. For they
leep not, except they have done mischief; and their sleep is taken away, unless
hey cause some to fall. For they eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the
ne of violence.”
MORALLY, then, there are two paths of life—paths which
he Heavenly Teacher represents as the broad and the
arrow way. These two are indicated in the text.
THE PATH OF WISDOM.—It is here taught that this
path of wisdom is known only by teaching. The teaching is
by precept. “I have taught thee." Men do not get
spiritual wisdom either by the intuitions or deductions of
their own nature. It comes to them in its first lessons
by teaching. By example. “I have led thee in right
paths.” This implies that he was in the path himself. He
who tries to teach religion by precept, without example, is
like the man who would walk on one leg without crutches.
However strong the limb may be, he could not make much
progress. Precept and example are the two legs of a true
teacher. The majority of teachers, alas! are moral
cripples.
This path of wisdom is fraught with true blessings. There
is longevity. “The years of thy life shall be many.” Godli-
ness conduces to physical health, and thus to long life.
But true longevity does not consist in the number of years,
but in the number of great thoughts, lofty purposes, and
noble deeds. Many men of twenty have lived a longer
life than those of seventy. There is freedom. “Thy steps
shall not be straitened.” On the great highway of life
62 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. IV.
the only free traveller is he who is spiritually wise. Others
are so burdened and fettered that there is no spring of liberty
in their steps. There is safety. “When thou runnest thou
shalt not stumble.” Speed is often attended with danger,
but the celerity of a good man is free from peril. “He will
give His angels charge concerning thee. They shall bear
thee in their hand, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.”
“The lion and the young lion shalt thou trample under
foot.”
This path of wisdom requires the most vigorous steadfastness.
“Take fast hold of instruction, let her not go, keep her, for
she is thy life.” Hold the lessons of wisdom with a firm and
unrelexable tenacity; grasp them as the drowning man the
rope that is thrown out for his rescue. There is a danger of
losing this path, many have done so. “He exhorted them
all that, with purpose of heart, they would cleave unto the
Lord.” “Firmness,” says Burns, “both in sufferance and
exertion, is a character which I would wish to possess. I
have always despised the whining yelp of complaint, and
the cowardly, feeble resolve.”
THE PATH OF WICKEDNESS. “Enter not into the
path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men.”
Wickedness has a path. It is a very broad and crooked path.
Solomon saw it in his day, and here raises an earnest warn-
ing against it. He urges its avoidance. He intimates
that—
The avoidance of this path is a matter of great urgency. It
is crowded with “evil men” bent on mischief. They live
for mischief. “Their sleep is taken away unless they cause
some to fall.” They have an infernal pleasure in doing
wrong. They live by mischief. “They eat the bread of
wickedness, and drink the wine of violence.” What they
have got to support them, they have got by dishonesty and
violence. Wicked men live by falsehood, fraud, and op-
pression. He intimates that—
The avoidance of the path requires strenuous effort. “Avoid
it; pass not by it; turn from it and pass away.” It is a very
contiguous path. It is so near that every man is on the
margin of it, and may step into it unawares. It intersects
Chap. IV.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 63
every walk of life. It crosses all our lines of activity. It
is a very attractive path. The crowds are there, and there
is great attraction in a crowd. The stream of sensual
enjoyment rolls by it, and the flowers of worldly beauty
bloom on either side. It is overhung with clusters of earthly
gratifications. The Syrens chant their enticing strains at
every opening. It is a very perilous path. Good reason,
therefore, had Solomon for the strong language of our text
—“Avoid it, pass not by it.” The prowling beasts of Hell
lurk along the line and a fathomless abyss of ruin is at its
end. Avoid this path. “Blessed is the man that walketh
not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of
sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.” The moral
of the whole is expressed in the words of Christ— “Strive
to enter in at the strait gate, for broad is the path that
leadeth to destruction and many there be that go in
thereat.” There is a tremendous whirlpool in the path of
sin; he that comes within the circle of its eddying waters
is likely to be sucked down into the central gulf of irre-
mediable ruin.
Proverbs 4:18
The March of the Good
“The path of the just is as the shining light that shineth more and more
unto the perfect day.”
The march of the good is A BRIGHT march.
It is “as the shining light.” Light is the emblem of
intelligence, purity, and blessedness. The march of the good
is like the march of the sun—glorious. How glorious is the
sun as it rises in the morning, tinging the distant hills with
beauty, at noon flooding the earth with splendour, in
evening fringing the clouds with rich purple, crimson, and
64 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. IV.
gold. Commanding.—The sun is the ruler of the day; at
his appearance the world awakes from its slumbers, the
winds and waves obey him, as he moves all nature moves.
Useful.—The sun enlightens the system and maintains
harmony throughout every part. He renews the earth,
quickens the seeds into life, covers the landscape with
beauty, ripens the harvest for man and beast. Independent.
—Troops of black clouds may roll over the earth, but they
touch not the sun, furious storms may shake the globe, but
the sun is beyond their reach. He is always behind the
darkest clouds, and looks calmly down upon the ocean in
fury and the earth in a tempest. Certain. —The sun is never
out of time, he is ever in his place at the-right hour. In all
this he is the emblem of the good man—glorious, com-
manding, useful, independent, and certain.
The march of the good is A PROGRESSIVE march
“Shineth more and more.” It has a dawn and a meridian.
Godliness is progressive. We are “to follow on to know
the Lord.” We are “to go from strength to strength.”
We are to see “greater things than these.” We are to be
“changed into the same image from glory to glory.” We
are “to press toward the mark, for the prize of the high
calling of God in Jesus Christ.” The capacity of the soul
for indefinite development, its eternal craving for something
better, the increase both of its desire and power for further
advancement as it progresses, as well as the assurances of
God's Word, demonstrate that we are made for progress.
“More and more.” This is the soul's watchword—Excelsior!
is its cry.
The march of the good is A GLORIOUS march
“Unto the perfect day.” Perfect day. What a day is
that! They shall shine as the sun in the Kingdom of God.
Perfect day—not one cloud of error in the sky; not one
ungenial blast in the atmosphere. Perfect—knowledge
free from error; love free from impurity; purpose free from
selfishness; experience free from pain. The good man's
progress excels even the glory of the sun. The sun does
not increase in size or splendour; he is not greater in bulk
Chap. IV.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 65
or brighter in lustre now than when he shone on Adam;
but growth, everlasting growth, is our destiny. Onward
through circling ages without end, is the career which kind
Heaven has decreed for sainted souls. They feel
Their orbit immensity,
Their work, to make it radiant,
With the reflected beams of God.
Proverbs 4:19
The Darkness of Sin
“The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they
stumble.”
SIN is a dark path.
THE PROOF.—It yields no true happiness. There is a
ark, chilling shadow resting upon the heart of the traveller.
If there be any light in the sky, it is the light of a
meteor flashing for a moment, and leaving the darkness more
intense. Ignorance, pollution, and sorrow mantle it in
gloom. It leads to an end the reverse of expectation. “They
know not at what they stumble.” Difficulties meet them
they never anticipated. They always expect something
brighter further on, instead of which the scene grows darker
and darker, until “outer darkness” is reached. Many
bright orbs has the Great Father of spirits set in the
firmament of the human soul—such as innocence, faith,
trust, hope, love. These in young life shine with more or
less brightness for a time; but as men sin they become
dimmer and darker. One by one they are quenched, until,
when all are lost, the soul's firmament becomes as black as
sackcloth.
THE CAUSE.—Why is this road so dark? Darkness
rises from one of three causes. Either the want of light;
66 Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs [Chap. IV.
or the want of the organ of sight; or the want of the right
employment of the organ. In either of these cases, a man
is in the dark. But which is the cause of the darkness of the
sinner's path? Not the want of light. There is the light
of nature, of reason, and the Bible. Not the want of the
organ of vision. There is intellect and conscience. But
the want of the right use of the faculty. He shuts his eyes.
Like the man in noontide splendour, with strong eyes,
who wraps himself in gloom, by closing his eyelids: so the
sinner makes dark his own path. He loves darkness.
THE CONSEQUENCE.- “They know not at what they
stumble." They do stumble. This is a fact implied. “They
grope for the wall like the blind.” “If a man walk in the
night, he stumbleth.” Heaven has put obstructions in the
sinner's path. Conscience, the examples of holy men, Christ,
and the Spirit. These are put to obstruct his progress, to
prevent him hurrying on to ruin. He stumbles over them
and goes down. These obstructions become great inconveniences.
The greatest blessings are stumbling blocks to them. The
very things which should make their path delightful, prove
their constant inconvenience, and ultimate ruin. Even Christ
is a “stumbling block” and a “rock of offence” to them.
They crush themselves into ruin, by stumbling against Him
Who came to make their path the path of life. “All sin
and wickedness in man's spirit,” says an old author, “hath
the central force and energy of hell in it, and is perpetually
pressing down towards it as towards its own place. Christ's
burden, which is nothing else but true godliness, is a winged
thing and travels, bears itself upwards upon its own wings,
soaring aloft towards God; so the devilish nature is
always within the central attractions of hell, and its own
weight instigates and accelerates its motion thither.”
Chap. IV.] Homiletical Commentary on Proverbs 67
Proverbs 4:20-23
Self-improvement and Self-control
“My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings, Let them
not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. For they
are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.”
SELF-IMPROVEMENT.—“The words of wisdom” are the
vehicles of those Divine principles, the reception and
embodiment of which by man are essential to his well-
being. notice two things—
The method of gaining them. There must be the attentive
ear. “Incline thine ear unto my sayings.” What worth
are the voices of Divine wisdom if we are inattentive; if
the ear is given to other sounds? On a deaf man, or the
man whose ear is taken up with something else, the
grandest oratorio makes no impression and has no charm.
There must be the steadfast look. “Let them not depart
from thine eyes.” Let the eye of the soul be fixed stead-
fastly upon them. The principles of wisdom must always
loom as the grand realities on the horizon of the soul.
There must be the enshrining heart. “Keep them in the
midst of thine heart.” It is not enough to have them as
sounds in the memory, or as propositions floating in the
intellect, or even as passing impressions on the surface of