CHAPTER XX.
CRITICAL NOTES.--+1. Strong drink.+ The Hebrew word _Shekhar_ includes every strong drink besides wine. Delitzsch translates it _mead._ +2. The fear of a king,+ _i.e.,_ the dread which he inspires. +Sinneth against his soul,+ or _"forfeits his life,"_ so Delitzsch and Miller. +3. To cease from strife.+ Rather, "to remain far from" it. +4.+ Delitzsch translates this verse, _"At the beginning of the harvest the sluggard ploweth not, and so when he cometh to reaping time there is nothing."_ +5. Counsel.+ Delitzsch translates this word _"purpose,"_ and understands it to refer to a secret plan. +6.+ Miller reads the first clause of this verse, _"Much of the mere man one calls his goodness," i.e.,_ "Much that is merely human." He allows, however, that the usual rendering conveys a very striking meaning and agrees admirably with the second clause. The Hebrew word means literally _abundance of men._ Delitzsch translates, _"Almost everyone meeteth a man who is gracious unto him; but a man who standeth the test, who findeth such a one?"_ +7.+ This verse should be, _"He who in his innocence walks uprightly, blessed are his children,"_ etc. +8. Judgment.+ Rather _justice._ +Scattereth+ or _winnoweth._ +10. Divers weights.+ Literally, _"a stone and a stone, an ephah and an ephah."_ +11.+ Touching the second clause of this verse, Miller says, "It is too terse for English, and we cannot translate it. Nor can we brook the English version. _Doings_ are in the same category with _work._ How can one be the test of the other? The only room for a proposition is, obviously, for this: _'A child is known by his doings;_ and the question, _Is he pure?_ is but the question, _Is his work right?_'" +15.+ Here Miller reads, _There is gold,_ etc., in _the lips of knowledge._ +16. A Strange woman.+ Rather, _"a stranger."_ +17. A man.+ The Hebrew word here uses is the one which denotes _a superior man._ +18.+ The first clause may be read, _Establish thy purpose by counsel._ +19. "Him that flattereth."+ Rather, _him that openeth wide his lips, i.e.,_ the babbler. +24. Man.+ The first word, _Geber,_ denoting _a superior or mighty man:_ the second, _Adam, man in general, or an ordinary man._ +25.+ The first clause of this verse should be, _"It is a snare to a man to cry out hastily 'holy,' i.e.,_ to vow without thought and consideration." +26. The wheel,+ _i.e.,_ the wheel of the threshing instrument which blows away the chaff. +30. The blueness of a wound.+ _Cutting wounds (Delitzsch), Wounding stripes (Zöckler)._ Miller translates the _"welts," (i.e.,_ the tumid and purple confines of a wound) _cleanse as though an evil,_ "that is, although painful and deformed, they have a clear office, viz., to purge away the sore." Wardlaw suggests that the word, being etymologically derived from a verb denoting to _join together,_ may be translated _compressions,_ and says, "The compressions of a wound are necessary for cleansing out of it the prurient and peccant humour, which would prevent its healing; they are, at the same time, in many cases exceedingly painful, and would only be endured or inflicted from necessity. And as they thus clean the wound and promote its healing, so in a _moral_ sense does the severity of discipline affect with salutary and cleansing influence the condition of the inner man."
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 1.
STRONG DRINK.
Taking the two words here used to stand for all intoxicating drinks, we remark--
+I. That they are most deceptive in their operation.+ It is most certain that there is no person who is now an abject slave to strong drink, who would not once have indignantly repelled the insinuation that he or she would ever be a drunkard. It is taken probably for a long time without any evil effects being apparent, and the temporary stimulus is mistaken for a permanent increase of strength, until one day the unhappy victim finds himself a subject of the most tyrannical habit that enslaves fallen humanity. And strong drink may truly be said to be a _"mocker,"_ when we see how men appear to struggle to escape from its deadly fascination, and how fruitless their efforts often are.
+II. That they are powerful ministers to human passions.+ Wherever strong drink enters, every evil tendency is increased tenfold; the angry man becomes a monster of cruelty, and he who was before a comparatively harmless member of society, or even a useful one, becomes hurtful and dangerous. The restraints that are all powerful to govern a man when sober are all as utterly useless when he is under the power of string drink, as silken cords would be to keep a wild beast within bounds.
+III. It is utter folly to tamper with such a foe to human dignity and happiness.+ The deceptive influence of strong drink, and the miserable results of allowing it to gain the mastery over us, are all around men; none can now plead ignorance of its nature, or of its effects, for the world is full of homes ruined by it, and hearts which it has broken, and men whom it has changed into brutes. Experience sets her seal to Solomon's declaration, and brands as _without wisdom_ those who play with such a deadly and treacherous enemy.
_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._
Solomon seldom singles out a specific vice; and when he does, it is often exemplary, or to be understood of any. He does single out drunkenness, however. Strikingly enough the Apostle does so (1 Cor. vi. 10).--_Miller._
If the fruit of his own vine sometimes chastised the unwary Israelite with whips, the fiery product of our distilleries chastise the nation with scorpions. The little finger of strong drink in modern times is thicker than the loins of its father and representative in Solomon's day. The deceits which our enemy practises are legion; and legion too are the unwary "who are deceived thereby." I shall enumerate a few of its lying devices. 1. A great quantity of precious food is destroyed in this country that strong drink may be extracted from the rubbish. . . . On an average of ten years, the quantity of barley converted into malt in the United Kingdom has been nearly six millions of quarters annually. When you add to this the unmalted grain consumed in the distillation of spirits in Ireland, you have an aggregate sufficient to feed between four and five millions of people throughout the year. . . . What do we obtain in return? A large quantity of malt liquors and distilled spirits. And is the grain equivalent, or nearly equivalent to the loss? 2. The curative and strengthening powers of our strong drinks, which are so much vaunted, are in reality next to nothing. We speak of the ordinary use of these articles as beverages. . . . If they contribute at any time to the quantity of force exerted by man, it corresponds not to the corn that you give to your horse, but to the whipping. A master who has hired you for a day, and desires to make the most of his bargain, may possibly find it his interest to bring more out of your bones and sinews, by such a stimulus, but you certainly have no interest in lashing an additional effort out of yourself to-day, and lying in lethargy to-morrow. . . . Liebig has a pleasant notion about balancing on the point of a pen-knife, like a pinch of snuff, all the nourishment that the most capacious German swallows with his beer in a day. And it is chemistry he is giving us, not poetry or wit. . . . 3. Strong drink deceives the nation, by the vast amount of revenue that it pours into the public treasury. It is a true and wise economy to tax the articles heavily for behoof of the community, so far and as long as they are sold and used; but it is a false and foolish economy to encourage the consumption of the article, for the sake of the revenue it produces. Drink generates pauperism, and pauperism is costly. Drink generates crime, and crime is costly. . . . There is a huge living creature with as many limbs as a Hindoo idol, and these limbs intertwined with each other in equally admirable confusion. The creature having life must be fed, and being large, must have a good deal of food for its sustenance. One day, having got rather short allowance, it was rolling its heavy head among its many limbs, and found something warm and fleshy. Being hungry, it made an incision with its teeth, laid its lips to the spot, and sucked. Warm blood came freely; the creature sucked its fill, and gorged, lay down to sleep. Next day, it supplemented its short rations in the same way. Every day the creature drank from that opening, and as this rich draught made up about one third of its whole sustenance, the wonder grew, why it was becoming weaker under the process, day by day. Some one at last bethought him of turning over the animal's intermingled limbs, and found that all this time it had been sucking its own blood! The discoverer proposed to bandage the spot, and not permit the continuance of the unnatural operation. The financiers cried out, "A third of the animal's sustenance comes from that opening; if you stop it, he will die!" Behold the wise politicians who imagine that the body politic would die of inanition, if it were deprived of the revenue which it sucks from its own veins, in the shape of taxes on the consumption of intoxicating drinks!--_Arnot._
The thoughts in verses 2 and 3 are the same as that in chap. xix. 12, see page 571, and chaps. xiv. 29 and xvi. 32, pages 386 and 497. The thought in the fourth verse is identical with that in chap. x. 4, although the similitude is different, see page 142.
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 5.
DEEP SEA DREDGING.
+I. Much that is good, or much that is bad, may lie hidden in a man's heart without its existence being suspected by the majority of his acquaintance.+ The word here rendered "counsel" may be taken in a twofold sense. It may be used of knowledge, or of great mental ability, which is hidden either because its possessor is exceedingly modest or exceedingly reserved--either because he lacks the will or the power to make it known. Or it may refer to deeply-laid schemes or well-planned purposes which a man intends shall one day become facts, but which at present exist only in his own mind. And according to the nature of the counsel it may be compared to the wealth of beauty and riches which lie hidden in the depth of the ocean, unsuspected by the majority of those who sail above, or to the deadly torpedo which makes no ripple upon the surface of the water, and which its victims approach without dreaming of what is concealed beneath.
+II. The difficulty of one man's obtaining what another wishes to conceal will depend upon the comparative wisdom of both.+ For many ages the deep sea seemed to defy all the efforts of man to explore its depths and to find out its secrets, but now even the ocean has to own him master in this respect, and to submit to have its treasures brought to light. There has been, as it were, a struggle between the sea and the man of science as to which should possess the treasures of the deep, and the issue has depended upon the ability of the man in comparison with the depth of the ocean. So there is sometimes a struggle between men--the one desiring to conceal his knowledge or his plans within his own breast, and the other desiring to discover them. The issue will depend upon the comparative mental power of the two men. If both be "men of understanding," the resistance on the one side and the effort on the other will be continuous and long, and the "deep waters" may prove too deep for the bucket or the dredging net. But if the balance of wisdom is in favour of the seeker--if there is one spot where his line can reach--he will "draw out" the counsel and proclaim himself the master.
_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._
The whole emblem finely illustrates what is true of the "inward light" as held by the "Friends." All men have light which, if they would follow, would lead them (granting that they persevere) into the light of the gospel (Rom. i. 20). What better name for this than counsel? Alas! it lies "deep." No man will follow it but by the Spirit of God. . . . Nevertheless it is there! How solemn that fact at the judgment day! "The word is nigh" (Rom x. 8). _"A man of discernment,"_ or _"understanding," i.e.,_ the Christian. . . . Only the illuminated man, getting his light from its great fountain, will be moved to go down into his _"heart,"_ where the counsel lies waiting and, "draw" the "deep waters."--_Miller._
Every question is, as it were, a turn of the windlass.--_Plumptre._
He is an expert fisher. . . . But man can but _draw them out;_ God seeth them in the heart, man can see no more than he draws out, but God seeth all; man draws and labours for the knowledge he getteth, but all things are naked and open unto God's sight.--_Jermin._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 6-12.
AN UNIVERSAL CHALLENGE, A GENERAL RULE, AND A RARE VIRTUE.
+I. A double challenge to all men.+ Who can say, I am pure from my sin? A faithful man, who can find? To the first of these questions the answer must be in the negative. 1. _God_ answers "No" to it. The testimony of Scriptures is that in His sight _"shall no man living be justified"_ (Psa. cxlii. 2): that _"all have sinned"_ (Rom. iii. 23): that _"if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us"_ (1 John i. 8). His ability to form a correct judgment rests upon His _omniscience_--He hath made the _"hearing ear and the seeing eye"_ (verse 12), and shall He not _hear and see_ and _know the thoughts of man?_ (Psa. xciv. 9, 10). He is the ideal King who _winnows_ the actions of man. See Miller's note on ver. 8 (Matt. iii. 12). 2. _Man's experience_ answers "No" to it. "Even a child is known by its doings" (verse 11); the actions are like the hands of a clock, which tell to those who look upon them whether all the wheels within are in perfect working order. When we mark at all observantly the actions of even the best of men, we shall be most likely to detect here and there a flaw in their characters--some inconsistencies which tell of moral imperfection--but if not, man need only to look _within_ with some degree of impartiality to be convinced that his _"own heart condemns him"_ (1 John iii. 20). But to the second challenge we need not give an universal negative. Faithful men are _rare,_ but they _can be found._ Even Solomon could point to the "just man" who "walked in his integrity," leaving a blessing behind him. His father David, although he was far from being free from sin, yea, although he sinned deeply and terribly, and yet was a man who could appeal to God to witness to his _integrity_ (Psa.