xxii. 15)--is the season when the good can be effected with the most
ease, and the fewest strokes. The lesson of obedience should be learnt at the first dawn. One decided struggle and victory _in very early life,_ may, under God, do much towards settling the point at once and to the end. On the other hand, _sharp chastening_ may fail later to accomplish, what a slight rebuke in the early course might have wrought.--_Bridges._
You are here taught further, that _firmness_ must be in union with affection in applying the rod. The words seem to express a harsh, yet it is an important and most salutary lesson:--_"let not thy soul spare for his crying."_ The words to not mean, that you should not feel, very far from that. It was the knowledge that feeling was unavoidable, and that the strength and tenderness of it was ever apt to tempt parents to relent and desist, and leave their end unaccomplished,--that made it necessary to warn against too ready a yielding to this natural inclination. The child may cry, and cry bitterly, previously to the correction; but, when you have reason to think the crying is for the rod rather than for the fault, and that, but for the threatened chastisement, the heart would probably have been unmoved, and the eyes dry;--then you must not allow yourselves to be so unmanned by his tears, as to suspend your purpose, and decline its infliction. If a child perceives this (and soon are children sharp enough to find it out) he has discovered the way to move you next time; and will have recourse to it accordingly.--_Wardlaw._
On the subject of verse 15 see Homiletics on chap. vi. 9, 10, page 79.
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 16.
A DOUBLE KEEPING.
+I. A keeping of the Divine commandments.+ What is it to "keep the commandments?" Dr. Miller translates this verb to _guard_ or _watch._ Taken in this sense therefore the proverb implies that there is need--1. _To lay up God's law in our hearts._ It is to be our constant aim to _know_ the will of God--the words which He has spoken, the commands which He has given, are to be constantly kept in remembrance and made the principal subject of our thoughts. We are to tread in the footsteps of the man described in the first Psalm, whose _"delight is in the law of the Lord"_ and who _"meditates"_ upon it _"day and night."_ But the word as it is commonly understood implies--2. _To translate God's law into life._ It is one thing to _know_ the will of God, it is another thing to _do_ it. Knowledge must come before obedience, but knowledge alone will not save the soul from death.
+II. A keeping of the human soul.+ There is but one way to guard the human soul from the dangers to which it is exposed, and that is by complying with the demands of the God who can alone give spiritual life. He commands us to yield ourselves unreservedly to His guidance, to accept His method of being made right in relation to His law, to fight against the evil tendencies of our fallen nature, and to seek His help to overcome them. In doing this He has promised that we shall find that emancipation from the bondage of sin, that awakening of spiritual faculties, and that sense of His favour which alone is the life of the soul. We have before dwelt upon proverbs which embody truths similar to those contained in this verse. (See on chap. xi. 3, page 195; chap. x. 8, page 151; chap. xiii. 6, 13, 14, pages 299, 312, 313; chap. xvi. 17, page 479.)
_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._
_Keep_ means to retain. _Guard_ means to watch. The root of the present word means _to bristle,_ then to _watch close,_ either from the _bristling_ of spears, or from a _sharp stave._ There is a philosophy in these words, . . . viz., that conscience is vagrant. We have to watch. Like the mind itself, it is hard to hold it to the point. _Attention_ is our whole voluntary work. And, to a most amazing degree, the Scriptures are framed upon this idea. We are to _remember now our Creator_ (Eccles. xii. 1). We are to _remember the Sabbath day_ (Exod. xx. 8). We are to _"observe to do,"_ etc. (this very word _guard._) See Deut. v. 1, 32, _et passim. "Wherewithal_ shall a young man cleanse his way? By _taking heed_ (this same word _guarding_) thereto according to Thy Word" (Psa. cxix. 9). _"Guards himself"_ (the same word). (See Critical Notes.) This is an iron link of sequence which no Anti-Calvinistic thought can shake. He who stands sentry over the "commandment" stands sentry over _himself;_ literally _"his soul."_ There is no helplessness in man other than that _tardema,_ or _deep sleep_ (ver. 15) which _"sloth"_ wilfully casts him into, and which a voluntary slothfulness perpetually increases and maintains. "The fault is not in our stars, but in ourselves, that we are aliens." The proverb advances upon this in the second clause. What more voluntary than a man's _"way?"_ It has a voluntary goal, it has a daily journeying, and it includes all that _is_ voluntary. Seize a man at any moment. All that he is upon is part of his life's travel. Now, a Christian has but one _way._ So far forth as he is a Christian, he has but one end, and one path for reaching it. There is a beautiful unitariness in his journeying. It is a habit of Scripture to turn attention to the _scattered_ life of the lost. They have no one end. "If thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light," says the Saviour (Matt. vi. 23). Thou "hast scattered thy ways to the strangers," says Jeremiah (iii. 13); this same expression. "Why gaddest thou about so much to change thy way" (Jer. ii. 36). _Despiseth_ (English version) suits the lexicon and suits the sense, for certainly the lost man has less respect for his way and life than the pardoned believer; but "scattering" is equally legitimate and common; more strengthened by analogy, and more in keeping with the first clause, where the verb _to guard_ stands more opposed to vagrant and distraught ideas. _"Dies;"_ see Job v. 2. Corruption is seated in the soul, but not out of reach by any means. A man can increase it. What we do outside kills inwardly. A man's counting-house might seem to have little to do with the state of _his soul,_ but it is shaping it all the time. If he _scatters_ his ways he is killing his soul, and what we are to remark is, that there is an _ipso actu_ condition of the effect (as in chap. xi. 19) which is expressed in the Hebrew. The vagrancy of a morning's worldliness is that much more death, as punctually administered as any of the chemistries of nature. The form is participial. It is "_in_ scattering," or "_as_ scattering," his ways that _"he dies."--Miller._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 17.
THE BEST INVESTMENT.
+I. A God-like disposition.+ To "pity the poor" and to show that we do so by ministering to their necessities (for this is implied in the proverb) is to be like God. We have before seen how He identifies Himself with them, and how severe is the condemnation which He passes upon those who wrong them. (See Homiletics and Comments upon chap. xiv. 31, page 390, and upon chap. xvii. 5, page 504.) God is a Being of compassion--the Gospel of salvation is a testimony to the pitifulness of His nature. He has remembered man in his low estate and in his condition of spiritual poverty, and out of the "riches of His grace" (Ephes. i. 7) He has supplied his need. But he has not only an eye for the spiritual necessities of His creatures, but for those also which belong exclusively to their bodily nature. God manifest in flesh had compassion upon the multitude because "they had nothing to eat" (Matt. xv. 32), and the same pitiful heart is still moved with a like emotion when He looks into the haunts of poverty and sees men and women and little children without the necessaries of life, or toiling hard and long for a pittance that is only just enough to keep them from starvation. The man therefore who "has pity on the poor" manifests a disposition akin to that of his Father in heaven.
+II. A most reliable debtor.+ God incarnate fed the hungry by miracle, but now that He has left the earth for a season He entrusts the duty to human hands. He does not now rain down bread from heaven to feed even his spiritual Israel, but He expects those of His children to whom He has given more than enough of this world's good things to do it for Him, and looks upon the act as a loan to Himself. 1. _That the investment will be a profitable one is certain, from the character of God._ When men entrust others with their money, they have especial regard to the character of those whom they make their debtor. This forms the chief and most reliable security that a man can have that he will receive it again. God's character is pre-eminently good--so good that His Word is more than the bond of the most trustworthy human creature, and none in heaven or earth or hell will ever be able to say that He has not paid them what was their due. 2. _The wealth of God is a guarantee that He will repay with interest._ A man who is generous by nature, and possessed of abundant means, will not only faithfully repay a loan but, if his debtor is a needy man, will feel a pleasure in adding to it a large interest, or will press him to accept some extra token of his esteem. God is a great and bountiful proprietor of all the resources of the universe, whether spiritual or material, and He loves to give abundantly. He has been always giving out of His fulness since there has been a creature upon whom to lavish His gifts, and He delights to see His children give, like Himself, generously and ungrudgingly. And, seeing he takes upon Himself to repay what is given to the poor, His generosity and His wealth are sureties that the interest for the loan will be very ample. His children may have to wait long for it, but the longer they wait the greater the accumulation of interest. They may receive a partial repayment in material good, but the great recompense will be at the _"resurrection of the just"_ (Luke xiv. 14) on that day when the King shall say unto them, _"Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was an hungered and ye gave me meat; I was thirsty and ye gave me drink; I was a stranger and ye took me in; naked and ye clothed me"_ (Matt. xxv. 34, 36).
_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._
When Alexander set forward upon his great exploits before he went from Macedonia, he divided among his captains and friends all that he had; for which, when one of his friends reproved him, saying that he was prodigal, for that he had reserved nothing for himself, the answer which Alexander gave was this: that he had reserved much unto himself, namely, hope of the monarchy of the world, which by the valour and help of those his captains and nobles he hoped to obtain. And thus, surely, he that giveth to the poor may seem to be prodigal, yet, in respect of the hope that he hath of profit, he is frugal-wise; neither is his hope such as Alexander's was, which depended on the uncertainty of war, but such as is grounded upon the certainty of God's Word.--_Spencer._
The Lord will not only pay for the poor man, but requite him that gave alms, with usury, returning great gifts for small. Give, then, thine house, and receive heaven; give transitory goods, and receive a durable substance; give a cup of cold water and receive God's kingdom. . . . If our rich friend should say unto us, lay out so much money for me, I will repay it, we would willingly and readily do it. Seeing, then, our best friend, yea, our king, the King of kings, biddeth us to give to the poor, promising that He will see us answered for that we give, shall we not bestow alms at His motion and for His sake?--_Muffet._
The off-hand sense is no doubt correct, and, as a worldly maxim, _often_ the munificent are rewarded in this world. . . . But we are not to suppose the generous to suffer, and the saint might lose by being paid in money. The saint might need the chastisement of pecuniary distress. We are not to suppose, therefore, this sense to be the grand one. But the meaning is that obedience, if it be spiritual, is a positive thing; that it involves large and generous sacrifices; that it is to "visit the fatherless" (Jas. i. 27); and to feed the hungry (Matt. xxv. 35); and that, in the grandest sense, he that does these things _"makes a borrower of Jehovah;"_ and that the transaction, under the grand head of guarding his own soul (ver. 16), will pay him better than any less positive and more mystic species of obedience. . . . It may be fancy, but _causing to borrow_ seems to be more expressive than (as an equivalent) to _lend_ (E.V.). We _can make_ God borrow of us at any time among the widows and the orphans (Matt. xxv. 40; Jer. xlix. 11).--_Miller._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 18-20.
RELATIVE DUTIES.
We have before considered verse 18 in connection with verses 13 and 14. A reference to the Critical Notes will, however, show that there is an interpretation of the last clause which was not treated there. Verses 19 and 20, regarded separately, embody thoughts and precepts which we have had before. (See Homiletics on chap. xiv. 17, 29, pages 363, 386, and on chap. xii. 15, page 271.) But these verses, taken in conjunction with the other interpretation of the last clause of verse 18, may be regarded as giving valuable advice both to those who have to enforce discipline and administer chastisement, and to those who have to endure them.
+I. Counsel for parents.+ The reasonableness and necessity of chastisement has been considered before, but the additional thought which the other rendering of verse 18 makes prominent is, _that it must be administered from a sense of duty, and dictated by love._ Parents are far too apt to punish their children, not because they have sinned against _God,_ but because they have offended _them,_--and when this is the case, the anger manifested deprives the correction of its salutary effect. "When the rod is used," says Wardlaw,--and the words may be applied to any form of parental chastisement,--"the end in view should be, purely and exclusively, the _benefit of the child;_ not the gratification of any resentful passion on the part of the parent. Should the latter be apparent to the child, the effect is lost, and worse than lost; for, instead of the sentiment of grief and melting tenderness, there will be engendered a feeling of sullen hostility, . . . if not, even, of angry scorn, towards him who has manifested selfish passion rather than parental love." The parent must regard himself as God's representative, and must act, not as for himself, but for the Divine Master and Father of both parent and child. If this is done, there will be none of that "provocation to wrath" or "discouragement" against which Paul puts Christians on their guard (Col. iii. 21; Ephes. vi. 4), and there will be good ground to hope that the chastisement will bring profit.
+II. Counsel to children.+ The reasoning here is akin to that used by the Apostle in the twelfth of Hebrews. It is admitted by him (verses 11, 12), that "no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous;" nevertheless, those who have to endure it are exhorted to accept it with submission because of the precious _after-yield_--they are counselled to give themselves up to the Divine pruner and suffer Him to work His will upon them now, in consideration of the _"peaceable fruits of righteousness"_ which will be the result in the days of harvest. So Solomon argues here. He does not deny that "counsel" and "instruction," or rather _discipline,_ may often be unpalatable and irksome, but he holds up the wisdom that may be gained by them as an incentive to induce the young to "hear" and to "receive" them--he "reaches a hand through time," and "fetches the far-off interest" of what at present seems grievous in order to give effect to his exhortations. The actions of men in the present are mainly determined by the amount of consideration they give to the future. There are men who live wholly in the present hour--who gratify the fancy or follow the passion of to-day without giving a thought of the needs of to-morrow, or the penalty that they may then have to pay for their folly. Others look ahead a little farther--they fashion the actions of to-day with a due regard to the interests of their whole future _earthly_ life, but they bestow no thought upon the infinite _"afterward"_ that is to succeed it. The proverb counsels both the young and the old to bring this long to-morrow into the plans of to-day, and to let the remembrance of it open the ear to the words of Divine wisdom by whomsoever they are spoken, and bend the will to receive the "chastening of the Lord," whether it come in the form of parental discipline or in a sterner garb.
_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._
Verses 18, 19. _"Being in great wrath, remit the punishment; but if thou let him escape, yet apply_ (or add) _chastisement again."_ (So Muffet renders verse 19.) When thou are in thy mood, or burnest with fiery anger and displeasure, let pass for that time the correcting of thy child, lest thou passest measure therein, or mayest chance to give him some deadly blow. Nevertheless, if for that time or for that fault thou let him go free, yet let him not always go uncorrected; but when thou art more calm, according as he offereth occasion, correct him again.--_Muffet._
Do not venom discipline by naked animosity. This is the human aspect. But now for the fine model of Jehovah. "He does not afflict willingly" (Lam. iii. 33). He follows this maxim: "Discipline thy son, because there is now hope." But Solomon wishes plainly to declare that _to kill him He does not lift up His soul._ "He taketh no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, but that all should turn and live" (Ezek. xxxiii. 11). It is evidently these great timbers of thought that Solomon is eyeing at the bottom of his structure. He is settling them along in place. Secularly, they may have but little connection; spiritually, they are all morticed close.--_Miller._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 21.
MANY PLANS WORKING TO ONE END.
This proverb suggests--
+I. The ignorance and sinfulness of man, the infinite knowledge and goodness of God.+ Man is a creature of many devices; he is changeable in his purpose and plans because he is so ignorant concerning their issue. He cannot foretel with any certainty whether the event will be according to his desire, or, if it should be so, whether it will bring him satisfaction. Hence the purpose of to-day is not the purpose of next year--the plans of his youth are different from those of his riper years. But God is the same in His purposes yesterday, to-day, and for ever, because He can _"declare the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done"_ (Isa. xlvi. 10). A man's devices change in proportion as his feelings and desires vary; and these are changeable in proportion as he lacks perfection in his moral nature. But a Being of infinite goodness is not subject to these changing moods and desires: and His plans are like His character, always the same.
+II. The attitude which men ought to take in relation to this truth.+ It is obvious that the counsel of God must stand, and that it deserves to stand before all the devices of men. If, therefore, men would have their devices stand they must learn to square them by the counsel of God. A child will have its own way when it has learned to conform its will to the will of its parent. And if a man would have his _"heart's desire,"_ he must so _"delight in God"_ (Psa. xxxvii. 4) that what pleases God pleases him also. For other Homiletics on this subject see on chap. xvi. 1 and 9, pp. 451, 468.
_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._
The great collective whole of the "devices" of all hearts constitutes the grand complex scheme of the human race for their happiness. Respecting the object of every device, God has His design. There is in the world a want of coalescence between the designs of man and God--an estranged spirit of design on the part of man. God's design is fixed and paramount.--_J. Foster._
_A man of the better sort._ This is simply one of the names for man. We do not always translate it _one of the better sort._ But it is rarely chosen listlessly. Here it creates an emphasis. The most imposing _"schemes"_ belong to the intelligent and great. The world is full of them. How foolish to build them up! Jehovah advises a whole new behaviour for His creatures. How mad to scheme away from it.--_Miller._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 22.
POVERTY OF HEART AND POVERTY OF CIRCUMSTANCES.
If we read the first clause of this proverb as it stands in our translation it sets forth--
+I. The true measure of a man's benevolence.+ It is not to be measured by the amount of money that he expends upon his fellow-creatures, but upon his desire to benefit them. His desire to help them may be very strong, and yet his circumstances may be such that he has little more than sympathy to give. "The heart may be full," says Wardlaw, "when the hand is empty." And many deeds of charity that earn for men the title of benevolent are not really performed for motives of goodwill to others but from selfish and vainglorious ends. If we take the reading given in the Critical Notes it teaches rather the truth--
+II. That small deeds of kindness are far preferable to large professions of it.+ The _liar_ of the second clause is evidently one who has it in his power largely to help others, and whose promises are in proportion to his power. But they are promises only. He does not hesitate by false words to raise hopes which he never intends to fulfil, and thus becomes like the deceitful mirage of the desert, which, after cheating the traveller with delusive hopes of water, disappears, and leaves him more despairing than before. On the other hand, the poor man is evidently one whose words never go beyond his deeds, and whose deeds, if not great, are up to his ability, and are so constantly performed and so evidently the outcome of real sympathy that they are like the little rill which follows the wayfarer all through his journey, and, which, although it can give but a little water at a time, is always at hand with that little.
_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._
But let it be observed and remembered--"the desires of a man are not his kindness," when he has the ability to be practically kind, and confines himself to desires. No. In that case, there is the clearest of all evidence that the desire is not sincere; mere profession, without reality--"love in word"--which is only another phrase for no love at all. While, therefore, there are cases in which we cheerfully, according to a common phrase, "take the will for the deed," knowing that there is a want of ability to do what the heart wishes; there are other cases in which we demand the deed as the only proof of the will--the gift as the only evidence of the charity.--_Wardlaw._
The imperial standard of weights and measures has been sent by the King into the market place of human life, where men are busy cheating themselves and each other. Many of these merchantmen, guided by a false standard, have been all their days accustomed to call evil good and good evil. When the balance is set up by royal authority, and the proclamation issued that all transactions must be tested thereby, swindlers are dismayed, and honest man are glad. Such is the word of truth when it touches the transactions of men. . . . There is a most refreshing simplicity in the language of Scripture upon these points. This word speaks with authority. It is not tainted with the usual adulation of riches. A dishonest man is called a liar, however high his position may be in the city. And the honest poor gets his patent of nobility from the Sovereign's hand. The honest rich are fully as much interested in reform in this matter as the honest poor. Make this short proverb the keynote of our commercial system, and epidemic panics will disappear. . . . After each catastrophe people go about shaking their heads and wringing their hands, asking, What will become of us? What shall we do? We venture to propose an answer to the inquiry. From the Bible first engrave on your hearts, then translate in your lives, and last emblazon aloft on the pediment of your trade temple this short and simple legend: _"A poor man is better than a liar."_
For Homiletics on the subject of verse 23 see on chapter x. 24, xiv. 26, and xviii. 10, pages 179 and 542. Verse 24 will be treated in chap. xxvi. 12-16. For the subject of verses 25 and 29 see chap. xvii. 10, page 509.
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSES_ 26-29.
POSSIBILITIES OF HUMAN DEPRAVITY.
+I. The tenderest admonitions and the most solemn warnings sometimes fail to influence for good.+ Sometimes the most loving parental care seems utterly wasted upon an ungrateful child, and the more constant and tender the words of admonition the farther does he depart from the way in which he ought to go. There is many a man so in love with sin that he may be said to "devour iniquity" (verse 28); and when this fatal appetite has taken possession of the soul all appeals to his better nature, and even to his own self-love, are vain.
+II. When men are so hardened there is no depth of iniquity to which they may not sink.+ He who scoffs at all threats of retribution, both in this life and in that which is to come, has broken through all barriers of restraint, and will be capable of outraging all the tender ties of human relationship, even to the extent of bringing his parents to disgrace and shame. The most hardened sinners in the universe of God are not found in heathen lands, or among the ignorant at home, but they are those who, having heard instruction, have "erred from the words of knowledge." Each day that they resist the good influence brought to bear upon them they increase their moral insensibility, and their final condemnation (verse 29). Hence the admonition of verse 27. (See Critical Notes.)
_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._
Verse 26. This were an admirable text for young men entering upon life and still at the expense of their parents. It is a great enormity either to waste the property of their father while he is alive, or after they have succeeded to expel the widowed mother from the premises.--_Chalmers._
Verse 27. It is so proper and natural for a son to hear instruction, that the hearing instruction maketh to be a son. . . . But if thou hear instruction, hear it not--not to be the better for it. Instruction speaketh to keep thee _from erring:_ do not thou _hear it to err:_ instruction putteth into thee the words of knowledge; do not thou put them out by erring from them, by not following them. . . . Cease thus to hear, but hear still. For by hearing at length thine error may be corrected; whereas, if thou hear not, thou dost not only err, but deprivest thyself of the means that reduce thee from erring.--_Jermin._
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