CHAPTER X.

We here enter upon the second main division of the Book of Proverbs, which is composed of a number of distinct propositions or maxims, having but little connection with each other and answering to the modern signification of the word proverb. Wordsworth here remarks that "the Proverbs of the present chapter are exemplifications in detail of the principles, practices, and results of the two ways of life displayed in the foregoing chapters which constitute the prologue."

CRITICAL NOTES.--+1. Heaviness,+ "grief." +3. The soul of the righteous,+ literally, "the spirit of the righteous." +But He casteth away, etc.+ Zöckler and Delitzsch have read, "but the craving of the wicked He disappointeth." Miller thus translates the whole verse: "Jehovah will not starve the righteous appetite, but the craving of the wicked He will thrust away." +4. Dealeth,+ rather, "worketh." +6.+ Zöckler and most commentators translate the second clause of this verse, "the mouth of the wicked hideth or covereth violence or iniquity." Stuart reads, "the mouth of the wicked concealeth injury." Miller adheres nearly to the Authorised Version, and understands it to mean that "wrong shuts up all chance of feast and comfort." It will be observed, that this latter reading renders the clause antithetical to the former part of the verse, which is not the case with the other renderings. +9. Be known,+ _i.e.,_ "be made known," or discovered. +11.+ For second clause, see on verse 6. +14. Lay up,+ literally, "conceal," _i.e.,_ "husband the knowledge and understanding which they possess for the right time and place, do not squander it in unreasonable talk or babbling" (_Zöckler_). +Near destruction,+ rather, _is a_ near destruction, _i.e.,_ "is a quickly destroying agency" (_Lange's Commentary_). +16. Labour,+ _i.e.,_ "the gain," "the reward of labour." +Fruit,+ "gain," antithetical to the subject of the first clause. +17.+ Not, +He is in the way,+ but "He _is_ the way." +Erreth,+ causeth others to err. +18.+ Not, +with lying lips,+ but "is of lying lips." "The meaning of this second clause does not stand in the relation of an antithesis to the preceding, but in that of a climax, adding a worse case to one not so bad. If one conceals his hatred within himself, he becomes a malignant flatterer; but if he gives expression to it in slander, abuse, and base detraction, then, as a genuine fool, he brings upon himself the greatest injury" (_Zöckler_). +22.+ Delitzsch and Zöckler read the second clause, "and labour addeth nothing thereto," _i.e.,_ "God's blessing is in itself all in all, and makes right without any effort." Stuart and Miller translate as the Authorised Version, and the former understands it to signify that "sorrow shall not necessarily increase by riches when it is Jehovah Himself who bestows them." +25.+ "_When_ the whirlwind passeth, the wicked is no more." +29.+ "Jehovah's way is a fortress to the upright, but _it is destruction_ to the workers of iniquity." +31. Cut out,+ "rooted out."

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 1.

PARENTAL GRIEF AND GLADNESS.

The generalisation of the first nine chapters here descends into particular applications. The chemist dilates upon the power and excellence of certain elements, and then illustrates what he has affirmed by showing their action in particular cases. Solomon has dwelt long upon the general blessings which will flow from listening to the counsels of Divine Wisdom, and he now shows some particular instances of it. He begins with its effect in the family. Consider--

+I. How the author here speaks from personal experience.+ 1. _In his relation to his father._ Men in positions of far less importance than that which David held are solicitous that their sons should possess such a character and such mental qualifications as will enable them to fulfil the duties which they will bequeath to them at their own departure from the world. The owner of a large estate, if he has a right sense of his own responsibilities, desires that his heir should be one who will exercise his stewardship wisely and generously. The head of a mercantile firm hopes that the son who is to succeed to his position will be prudent and far-seeing, and possess an aptitude for business. If a monarch is what he ought to be, and feels how very great is his power for good or evil, it will be a matter of the deepest anxiety to him that the son who is one day to sit upon the throne should be one who will discharge his weighty duties wisely and well. David was such a monarch, and we can well imagine how great was his solicitude that his well-beloved son Solomon should possess such gifts and graces as would enable him worthily to fulfil the high position he would one day be called to occupy. And, from what we know of Solomon's youth and early manhood, we have every reason to believe that he was such a son as gladdened his father's heart. In the wonderful seventy-second Psalm--which, although it has its entire fulfilment only in the "greater than Solomon," refers, doubtless, in the first instance, to the great king--we have a glimpse of David's desires and hopes concerning him. He begins with a prayer for him: "Give the king Thy judgments, O God, and Thy righteousness unto the king's son" (verse 1). And then he gives utterance to the hopes which he cherished concerning his prosperous and beneficent reign--hopes which, alas! would have been sadly dimmed could he have foreseen the cloud which overshadowed Solomon's later days, but which were founded in the evidences which he gave of youthful piety and devotion. Solomon knew that he had been the gladness of his father's heart, because he had been a "wise son," and therefore he spoke from experience when he uttered the first clause of this proverb. But he spoke no less from experience when he gave utterance to the opposite truth. Solomon was a father as well as a son, and he speaks 2. _In his relation to his son._ Rehoboam's youth and manhood--for he was a man long before his father's death--were not, we may fairly conclude, of such a character as to give his father much joy, but was such as to awaken the gravest fears concerning his conduct when he should become absolute master of the kingdom. We well know how these fears were justified by his conduct on his accession to the throne. The great crime of David's life had been committed before Solomon's birth, and had, therefore, had no bad influence upon him, but the sins of his own old age were a bad example to set before his son, and could not have been without their evil influence. From what we read of Rehoboam, we can but conclude that he had been a "foolish" son, and that Solomon's heart was heavy with sadness concerning him when he penned these words. These thoughts suggest a lesson which parents should deeply ponder, viz., _that whether parents shall have gladness or grief in their children depends not so much upon the excellence of their words as upon the godliness of their lives._ Solomon uttered thousands of moral precepts, but had he uttered as many more, they would not have had much effect upon Rehoboam. What his son needed more than wise sayings was the power of a godly life. This must ever accompany moral teaching: nay, it must go before it, for a child can receive impressions from a holy example before it is old enough to appreciate abstract teaching. A parent's wise _sayings_ will never do a child any good unless there are correspondent _doings_. A good example is the best education. Consider--

+II. How very much our joy and sorrow in this world depend upon our relationships.+ In proportion as the wise are related to the foolish or to the wise, will be their grief or their gladness. Distant relationships are not very effective in this way, but near relationships are powerful in proportion to their nearness. And the relation of parent to child is in some respects nearer than any other--nearer, perhaps, even than that of husband and wife. Our children are a part of ourselves, and what they are makes or mars our lives. How much does that little pronoun "my" carry with it! To hear that _any_ young man has disgraced his manhood and thrown away his opportunities is an occasion of sadness to us. This is increased if he is the son of anyone we have known and loved. But if good parents have to reflect that "my" son has become a reprobate, how bitter is their sorrow. But when the folly is not so great as this there may still be much "heaviness" in a parent's heart. "Wise" and "foolish" are relative terms. A good father's joy is proportionate to his son's goodness, for we understand wisdom and folly here to stand for the wisdom of goodness and the folly of sin, and a very little amount of wickedness will make a good mother's heart heavy. _Let children then learn from this text to reflect how much power to give joy or sorrow rests with them, and to act accordingly;_ and _let parents, considering how entirely their future happiness or misery will depend upon the character of their children, begin to train them, both by example and precept, from their tenderest years._ (On this subject see also Homiletics on chap. iv. 1-4.)

_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._

The future may be imperative. We prefer this view. "_Let_ a wise son make a glad father." If a man has a good son, let it be his one all-sufficient gratification. . . . Men toil for their children, and give themselves pain in their behalf to an extent absolutely heroic, considering how they abnegate self, but to an extent altogether disproportioned, as between their temporal and eternal warfare. This is one way we destroy our children. If their temporal inheritance is threatened, we are all on thorns; but if they are doing well or ill in piety, we give it but little notice. The verb, therefore, as an imperative, means most. "_Let_ a foolish son be the grief of his mother," that is, an unconverted son. He may be all smiles and amiableness, and the father's business may be doing well, but if he is a fool, spiritually, it should be his mother's grief. And then follow the reasons--(For) "treasures of wickedness profit nothing," etc.--_Miller._

Perhaps this first sentence may have been placed in the front to point to the value of a godly education in the personal, social, national influence, connected both with time and eternity.--_Bridges._

The father is specially said to be gladdened by a wise son as he is of a more severe nature, and not so likely to form a partial estimate, and therefore not so easily gladdened as the mother; so that it is the stronger praise of the wise son to say that not only the mother, but also the father, is gladdened by him. On the other hand, the mother is apt, through fondness, to ignore the errors of her son, and even to encourage them by indulgent connivance. The wise man admonishes here that she is laying up "heaviness" in store for herself.--_Fausset._

After the previous general description of Wisdom, Solomon begins with what is uppermost in his own mind, What would be the character of his successor? What would become of his throne, his wealth, his people, after himself? See his melancholy forebodings in Proverbs xvii. 2-21, 25; xix. 13; Eccles. ii. 18, etc. Solomon has one son, and he is Rehoboam. This thought lies underneath many of the sayings in the Proverbs.--_Wordsworth._

Every son should be an Abner, that is, his father's light, and every daughter an Abigail, her father's joy. Eve promised herself much in her Cain, and David did the like in his Absalom. But they were both deceived. Samuel succeeds Eli in his cross, though not in his sin. Virtue is not, as lands, inheritable. Let parents labour to mend by education what they have marred by propagation.--_Trapp._

Do you hear this, young man? It is in your power to make your father glad, and God expects you to do it. Here is an object for your ambition, here is an investment that will ensure an immediate return. Come now, make your choice. Whether you will try to please these fools who banter you here, or to gladden your father's heart that is yearning for you there? . . . These companions that come between you and him--what have they done for you, and what would they do for you to-morrow, if you were in distress? They have never lost a night's rest by watching at your sick bed, and never will. But your father what has he done, and yet will do? The command of God is that you gladden your father and not grieve him. Your conscience countersigns that command now. Obey.--_Arnot._

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 2.

THE COMPARATIVE VALUE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS AND RICHES.

+I. Wealth when lawfully gotten is profitless for many very important things.+ Death is mentioned in the text, it has no power over that in any form. 1. _Wealth will not deliver you from the daily dying, which is the lot of all men._ It has been said that as soon as we are born we begin to die, and we know that it is certain that as soon as men have attained their prime, their outward man perisheth day by day (2 Cor. iv. 16). The richest man cannot purchase exception from this law with all his wealth. 2. _Neither can wealth prevent the death which we call premature._ Man of vast fortunes are often brought down to an early grave; the seeds of disease within them hasten the operation of the law of death which has passed upon the whole human race. A galloping consumption cannot be held in check even with _golden_ reins. 3. _Treasures of wealth will not insure a man against sudden death._ The morning finds the rich man looking over his vast acres, or counting up his dividends, and saying "I have much good laid up for many years;" and before the sun sets another has entered into possession of all his riches. 4. _Lawfully-gotten wealth will not only not deliver from premature death, but may sometimes bring it on._ Wealth is very apt to produce very mistaken views in a man's mind. When he has amassed a large portion of this world's goods, and is in a condition of moral bankruptcy, he is very prone to imagine that he is secure in the enjoyment of all that he has acquired, and that nothing can come between his riches and himself. Then God may read him a lesson by saying, "Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee" (Luke xii. 20). Had the man in the parable been a poor man he would not have died so soon; his wealth not only could not deliver him from death, but it hastened his end. And many men walking in his footsteps have been brought to their graves in a similar manner and for a similar reason even when the wealth has been honestly gained. We have no reason to think that the rich fool amassed his riches dishonestly; his sin consisted, not in his _having_ riches, but in his _trusting_ in them.

+II. If treasure gotten by honest toil is profitless to deliver from death and other evils, how much less will the "treasures of wickedness," i.e., ill-gotten wealth, be profitable to work such a deliverance.+ The means used to obtain it were opposed to the law of righteousness, which does rule in the universe notwithstanding all the apparent exceptions, and it is as foolish for a man to expect to derive real profit from it as it would be for a man to expect to construct a pyramid which would stand upon its apex. The latter would not be more contrary to natural law than the former is to spiritual law. And treasures of wickedness are not simply _profitless,_ they bring the man who has them under the curse of the Righteous Ruler of the world. They not only bring no _profit_ but they bring great _loss._ No man can make an unlawful bargain or commit any other dishonest act to gain money without bringing a blight upon his spiritual nature, without entailing upon himself moral death. And if the acquirement of "the treasures of wickedness" must subject a man to this greatest calamity, how impossible is it that they can be profitable to deliver from any lesser evil.

+III. Righteousness, on the other hand--+1. _Has often delivered from bodily death._ All the extraordinary deliverances from death recorded in the Bible took place in connection with righteousness, thereby showing us that righteousness is stronger than death. Enoch did not see death because he was a righteous man. Noah and his family were exempted from the premature death which overtook the rest of the world for the same reason. All the resurrections from the dead were wrought either through the instrumentality of righteous men or by the immediate action of the righteous Son of God. 2. _Does deliver always from the curse of bodily death._ Death is the penalty of sin; it is therefore a curse. We read that "The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law" (1 Cor. xv. 56). But "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us" (Gal. iii. 13). We are justified by His righteousness if we appropriate it by faith (Rom. iii. 21-26), and thus obtain the "victory" over death "through our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Cor. xv. 57). Here a _relative_ righteousness delivers from the _condemnation_ of death. But this is the foundation of a _personal_ and _actual_ righteousness of character which delivers from _spiritual death now_, and will one day deliver the _body_ from the grave. "If Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him that raised up Christ from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you" (Rom. viii. 10, 11). Here Paul argues from the greater spiritual deliverance to the lesser bodily one, and shows how, in all senses, "righteousness delivers from death."

_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._

The proverb means the treasures of an unsaved man. . . . The highest opulence of the dead sinner is of no possible profit: but the righteousness of the saved sinner, even without any opulence at all, is a fortune; for, like the "charm of the lamp," it makes for him everlasting blessedness.--_Miller._

A man may seem to _profit_ by them, and to come up wonderfully for a time. But what was the profit of Naboth's vineyard to Ahab, when in his ivory palace he was withering under the curse of God? (1 Kings xxi. 4-24 with xxii. 39). What was the profit of the thirty pieces of silver to Judas? Instead of _delivering from death,_ their intolerable sting plunged him into death eternal (Matt. xxvii. 5).--_Bridges._

Righteousness delivereth from death, to wit, in the time of vengeance; for uprightness is that mark of election and life which the Lord, spying in any when He plagueth the wicked for their transgressions, spareth them, and preserveth them from destruction. Thus, although the righteousness of the just person deserveth nothing at God's hands, neither is any cause of man's preservation or salvation, yet it serveth as a sovereign treacle to preserve the evil-doer from that deadly plague, which is sent from the Lord to destroy the disobedient, and as a letter of passport to safe-conduct the faithful person in perilous times, and to protect him from all dangers.--_Muffet._

Observe--+I. The excellency of these comforts in themselves.+ They are _treasures_--that is, heaps of outward good things. The word includeth a _multitude,_ for one or two will not make a treasure; and a _multitude of precious things,_ for a heap of sand, or coals, or dust, is not a treasure: but of silver or gold, or some excellent earthly things. It is here in the plural, treasures, noting the greatest confluence of worldly comforts. +II. The impiety of the owners.+ They are treasures of wickedness. The purchaser got them by sinful practices. They were brought into his house slyly at some back door. He was both the receiver and the thief. Treasures of wickedness, because gotten by wicked ways, and employed to wicked ends. There is an English proverb which too many Englishmen have made good, "That which is got over the devil's back is usually spent under the devil's belly." When sin is the parent that begets riches it many times hath this recompense, that they are wholly at its service and command. +III. The vanity of those treasures:+ they profit nothing. They are unable to cheer the mind, to cure the diseases of the body, much less to heal the wounds of the soul, or to bribe the flames of hell. Alas! they are so far from profiting, that they are infinitely prejudicial. Such powder-masters are blown up with their own ware. These loads sink the bearer into the unquenchable lake. Aristotle tells us of the sea-mew, or sea-eagle, that she will often seize on her prey, though it be more than she can bear, and falleth down headlong with it into the deep, and so perisheth. This fowl is a fit emblem of the unrighteous person, for he graspeth those heavy possessions which press him down into the pit of perdition. "They that will be rich (that resolve on it, whether God will or no, and by any means, whether right or wrong), fall into temptations, and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition" (1 Tim. vi. 9). Men that scrape an estate together unjustly are frequently said in the Word of God to get it in haste, because such will not stay God's time, nor wait in His way till He send them wealth, but must have it presently, and care not though it be unrighteously. Fair and softly goes far. None thrive so well as those that stay God's leisure, and expect wealth in His way. . . . 1. _Be righteous in thy works or actions._ Deal with men as one that in all hath to do with God. If thou art a Christian, thou art a law to thyself; thou hast not only a law without thee (the Word of God), but a law within thee, and so darest not transgress. Thy double hedge may well prevent thy wandering. . . . Be righteous in buying. . . . Take heed lest thou layest out thy money to purchase endless misery. Some have bought places to bury their bodies in, but more have bought those commodities which have swallowed up their souls. Injustice in buying is a canker which will eat up and waste the most durable wares. In buying, do not work either upon the ignorance or the poverty of the seller. Be righteous in selling. Be careful, while thou sellest thy wares to men, that thou dost not sell thy soul to Satan. Be righteous in the _substance_ of what thou sellest, and that in regard of its quality and quantity. God can see the rottenness of thy stuffs, and heart too, under thy false glosses, and for all thy false lights. Be righteous in regard to the quantity. They wrong themselves most who wrong others of their right. The jealous God is very punctual in this particular (Lev. xix. 35, 36). 2. _Be righteous in thy words and expressions, as well as in thy works._ The Christian's tongue should be his heart's interpreter, and reveal its mind and meaning; and the Christian's hand should justify his tongue, by turning his words into deeds. The burgess of the New Jerusalem is known by this livery: "He walketh uprightly, worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart; he sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not" (Psa. xv. 2, 4). His speech is the natural and genuine offspring of his heart; there is a great resemblance between the child and the parent. There is a symmetry between his hand and his tongue; he is slow to promise, not hasty to enter into bonds, but being once engaged, he will be sure to perform.--_Swinnock._

Wickedness is in itself a treasure laid up against the day of wrath; and as that profiteth nothing, so neither do the treasures of wickedness. For as he that setteth himself to any employment, perhaps may lose one way and get another, but if, in the general upshot and confusion, he finds his estate to be bettered, then is his employment said to be profitable; so in the treasures of wickedness, there may be gain of wealth, honour, pleasure, and loss of credit, quiet, comfort, but in the conclusion the loss will be most grievous, and therefore profitable they cannot be.--_Jermin._

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 3, 4.

DIVINE AND HUMAN PROVIDENCE.

+I. A general rule. God supplies all the needs of His children+ (verse 3). We take the word soul here to mean what it often does in the Old Testament, viz., the _bodily life,_ and, therefore, understand the promise to be similar to that in Psalm xxxiii. 19, etc. God's special providential care is over the righteous. This we should have expected if this and like promises did not exist. The animal creation, as a rule, care and provide for their own offspring. There are men and women who have fallen so low as not to care for the well-being of those dependent on them, but wherever there is any virtue left in human beings it will certainly manifest itself in making some efforts to secure from want those who are nearly related to them and dependent upon them. God has laid it as a charge upon His creatures to care for the bodily wants of their children, and He has implanted within men and women an instinct which is generally strong enough to lead them to do it. It is an apostolic sentence--"If any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel" (1 Tim. v. 8). God has taught us that the righteous are bound to Him by a closer tie than we are bound to each other by flesh and blood relationships. "For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven," said Christ, "the same is my brother, and sister, and mother" (Matt. xii. 50). He was more nearly related to His disciples than to those of His brethren who did not believe on Him. They were Christ's "own" (John xiii. 1) in a sense in which other men were not, and He provided for their necessities because they held this special relation to Him. God has a general care for all that He has made. He cares for the life of the tiniest wild flower, and feeds it with light and moisture according to its need. "He giveth to the beast his food, and to the young ravens which cry" (Psalm cxlvii. 9). He maketh His sun to shine and His rain to fall upon the fields of the unjust, and is kind to the unthankful and the evil (Luke vi. 35). Then it follows from necessity that He, the _Righteous Father,_ will not suffer the souls of the "righteous" to famish. When ordinary means will not meet their need, He will employ special means to do so. There are many instances upon record in the history of God's Church in which, the supply not being obtainable within the ordinary working of His providence, He has gone into the region of the supernatural for sustenance for His children.

+II. Special exceptions to this rule.+ If we understand these words as referring to the bodily life, we must admit that there have been exceptions to it. Some of God's children have suffered from want, some have starved to death in dungeons _because_ they have been righteous. But these special exceptions have been for special ends. Solomon's father, when he was haunted by Saul, was doubtless often in want of food, but this severe discipline fitted him for the position he was afterwards to occupy as the King of Israel. Paul tells us that he was often "in hunger and thirst, in fastings, in cold and nakedness" (2 Cor. xi. 27), but he likewise tells us that he "gloried in tribulation," because it "worketh patience, and patience experience, and experience hope," etc. (Rom. v. 3, 4). Whenever there are partial or entire exceptions to this rule, we may rest assured that those who are the subjects of the exceptions have their material loss more than made up to them.

+III. Special relationship to God will not secure exception from want unless the necessary conditions are fulfilled.+ "He," whether saint or sinner, "becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand" (ver. 4). If a godly man is not diligent in business, he will come to want as certainly as an ungodly one. God's children are not exempt from the working of the natural and providential laws of the world in which they live. If they transgress any physical law, they must pay the penalty. The disregard of such law is a "tempting of the Lord their God" (Matt. iv. 5-7). And what is true of physical laws is true of providential laws. If a husbandman is ever so prayerful and trustful, he will not have a crop in harvest unless he works hard in the days of ploughing and sowing. And the most spiritually-minded tradesman will not earn a living unless he gives due attention to his business. "God's promises were never made to ferry our laziness" (_Beecher_). It is sheer presumption to expect God to give us our daily bread if we neglect to do all within our power to earn it. Even in Paradise nature would not yield her treasure without diligence on the part of man. Adam was to "till the ground," to "dress and keep" the Garden of Eden (Gen. ii. 5-15). And this dependence of success upon diligence is--1. Good for the man himself. He has bodily and mental powers which cannot be developed without constant exercise. 2. Good for others. A man who does not bring all his powers into play defrauds society of the benefit it might receive from his latent abilities.

+IV. When the conditions of growing rich are fulfilled by unrighteous men, the wealth attained by diligence shall be taken away by justice.+ Riches and poverty are comparative terms; it is certainly not true that every diligent man makes a fortune; probably Solomon means no more than that diligence always brings some amount of reward. However that may be, we must put the declaration "The hand of the diligent maketh rich" side by side with that in the preceding verse, "He casteth away the substance of the wicked." The professional thief exercises a diligence which is not surpassed by many honest men, if by any. He deals with no slack hand, and he generally succeeds in getting rich for a time. But if he is _diligent,_ the detective officer is _vigilant,_ and the substance he has gathered will one day be scattered by the hand of justice. And there are many unprofessional thieves in the world who gain their riches by means quite as unlawful as their professional brethren, although they sail under other colours. Substance thus obtained is as surely marked by God for scattering as that of the housebreaker or highwayman, although He sometimes delays long the apprehension of the culprit. Against all such the sentence has gone forth, "Yea, they shall not be planted; yea, they shall not be sown; yea, their stock shall not take root in the earth: and He shall also blow upon them and they shall wither, and the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble" (Isa. xl. 24). There are three reasons why wealth, which has been gathered by unrighteous diligence, should be scattered. 1. _Such unrighteous dealing is a sin against God._ It is a defiance of the eighth and tenth commandments, for all men who get rich unlawfully must both covet and steal. When God's "thou shalt not" is thus disregarded, we may be certain that He will vindicate His right to give laws to His creatures. 2. _It is a sin against man._ Such a man's diligence must have caused much misery to many of his fellow-creatures. Men cannot satisfy lawless desires without bringing unhappiness to others. 3. _Wealth unlawfully gained is sure to be made an instrument of oppression._ Wealth always gives some amount of power, and he who has trampled on the rights of others to get riches will be sure to use them for their oppression when he has obtained them. Verse 4 may be applied spiritually. If material good cannot be obtained without diligence, most assuredly spiritual blessings cannot (2 Pet. i. 5, 10, etc.). It is as necessary for the spiritual powers to be kept in constant exercise, if they are to be healthy and strong, as it is for the body or the mind. The needs of others as well as our own demand diligence in spiritual things. And whatever exceptions there may be in the rule in relation to material good, this higher wealth will always be in proportion to the diligent use of means.

_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._

Verse 3. Should the wicked by permitted to hold their substance all their days, Death, that terrible messenger, shall at last drag them from it; nor shall their glory descend after them to the grave, but that wickedness by which they acquired it shall lie down with them in the dust and torture their souls in hell.--_Lawson._

The substance of the wicked is "of the earth, earthy." It pertains not to the soul, and partakes not of its imperishable vitality. O the miserable but sadly common mistake of the rich man in the parable, when he addressed his _soul_ in terms of congratulation, as if, in the abundance of worldly good, it had got what would give it real and permanent satisfaction (Luke xii. 16-21). "_Casting it away_" is an act indicative of regarding it as _worthless._ The substance of this world is that on which the hearts of the sons of men are set. But "God will cast it away." He will not only bereave them of it--and that, it may be, suddenly--but what is there in all this substance that can avail as purchase money for the soul and for heaven? Had a man "the world" to offer, God would "cast it away." He would say, "Thy money perish with thee!" "Riches profit not in the day of wrath." The famished soul must then die, and die for ever.--_Wardlaw._

As the end of the former verse must chiefly be understood of spiritual death, because temporarily the righteous die as well as the wicked, so, with St. Jerome, I understand this of a spiritual famine. Now, as the course that is needful to preserve the body is so to nourish it that it may neither be glutted with fulness nor pined with emptiness, but in such sort to feed it that it may still have appetite for food, the same is the care which Almighty God taketh of the soul's health; for He so feedeth the righteous that He will not suffer them to famish, and yet He doth not so fill them as that they do not hunger and thirst after righteousness. The time of fulness is heaven, where, as there will be no danger of sickness to the soul, so no lack of plenty.--_Jermin._

It might be objected, If I strain not my conscience, I may starve for it. Fear not that, saith the wise man. Faith fears not famine. Necessaries thou shalt be sure of (Psalm xxxvii. 25, 26; xxxiv. 15); superfluities thou art not to stand upon (1 Tim. vi. 8).--_Trapp._

Verse 4. "The diligent" (Hebrew, _charutzim,_ from _charatz,_ to _cut short,_ or _settle_); those who are _decisive_ in all things, who economise their time and means--prompt in movement.--_Fausset._

Riches were first bestowed upon the world as they are still continued in it, by the blessing of God upon the industry of men, in the use of their understanding and strength.--_Bishop Butler._

The Lord's visits of favour were never given to loiterers. Moses and the shepherds of Bethlehem were keeping their flocks (Exod. iii. 1, 2; Luke ii. 8, 9). Gideon was at the threshing-floor (Judg. vi. 11). "Our idle days," as Bishop Hall observes, "are Satan's busy days." Active employment gives us a ready answer to his present temptation. "I am doing a great work, and I cannot come down" (Neh. vi. 3).--_Bridges._

Not only will God provide for the wise, but wisdom itself is a provision. "The hand of the diligent makes riches," even if it earn little; the meaning being that active work is itself a treasure; or, passing into the realm of piety, which is the one intended, he is a poor man who is a sluggard in his soul's work, and a rich man who is awake and active. Our treasure is within. "My meat is," said our Great Exemplar, "to do the will of Him that sent me." And on our dying bed our money will be of small account, but our work will be the splendid fortune that will follow the believer (Rev. xiv. 13).--_Miller._

_The advantages of virtuous industry._ 1. The industrious man performs and accomplishes many things which are profitable to himself and others in numberless respects. Let his station be never so humble, yet that which he does in it has influence more or less upon all other stations. If he completely fulfil his duty, every other can more completely fulfil his. Let the faculties, the endowments of a man be never so confined, yet by continued uninterrupted application he can perform much, often far more than he who with eminent powers of intellect is slothful or indolent. 2. He executes them with far more ease and dexterity than if he were not industrious. He has no need of any long previous contest with himself, of long previous consideration how he shall begin the work, or whether he shall begin it at all. But he attacks the business with alacrity and spirit and pursues it with good-will. 3. He unfolds, exercises, perfects his mental powers. And this he does alike in every vocation; because it is not of so much consequence to what we apply our intellectual faculties, as how we employ them. Whether we apply them to the government of a nation or to the learning and exercise of some useful trade makes no material difference. But to learn to think methodically and justly, to act as rational beings, with consideration and fixed principles, to do what we have to do deliberately, carefully, punctiliously, conscientiously, that is the main concern. Virtuous diligence is a continual exercise of the understanding, of reason, of reflection, of self-command. 4. The industrious man lives in the entire true intimate consciousness of himself. He rejoices in his life, his faculties, his endowments, his time. He can give an account of the use and application of them and can therefore look back upon the past with satisfaction and into the future without disquietude. 5. He experiences neither languor nor irksomeness. He who really loves work can never be wanting in means and opportunities for it. To him every occupation is agreeable, even though it procure him no visible profit. 6. He alone knows the pleasure of rest for he alone really wants it, he alone has deserved it, he alone can enjoy it without reproach. 7. The industrious man alone fulfils the design for which he is placed on earth, and can boldly give an account to God, to his fellow-creatures, and to himself how he has spent his life.--_Zollikofer._

This rule applies alike to the business of life and the concerns of the soul. Diligence is necessary to the laying-up of treasures, either within or beyond the reach of rust. . . . A world bringing forth fruit spontaneously might have suited a sinless race, but it would be unsuitable for mankind as they now are. If all men had plenty without labour, the world would not be fit for living in. In every country and under every kind of government, the unemployed are the most dangerous classes. Thus the necessity of labour has become a blessing to man. . . . It would be a libel upon the Divine economy to imagine that the tender plant of grace would thrive in a sluggard's garden. The work is difficult. The times are bad. He who would gain in godliness must put his soul into the business. But he who puts his soul into the business will grow rich. Labour laid out here is not lost. Those who strive lawfully will win a kingdom. When all counts are closed, he who is rich in faith is the richest man.--_Arnot._

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 5.

THE USE AND THE NEGLECT OF OPPORTUNITIES.

+I. Man has opportunities given to him which it is a mark of wisdom to embrace.+ 1. _He has the literal and temporal summer._ When the harvest is ripe the reaper must take down his sickle and toil at the ingathering of the grain if he would have bread to eat in the days of winter. The fisherman must spread his net in the season when the fish are abundant and watch his opportunity to catch the passing shoal. The merchant must take advantage of the flood-tide of commercial prosperity to make money so that he may not be brought to bankruptcy in times of depression. These things cannot be done at _any_ time, but the _opportune_ time must be laid hold of and improved. 2. _He has a mental summer._ Youth is the season usually given to man to develop his mental faculties and lay up stores of knowledge for use in after life. Those who embrace this season and industriously improve it, that "gather" in this "summer," are "wise sons," and reap an abundant reward in the time of manhood and old age. 3. _He has an opportunity given to lay the foundation of a godly character._ The season of youth is most favourable for this work. The youthful mind is more susceptible of moral impressions than those of a man who has grown to manhood without yielding to their influence. The young tree can be easily trained to grow in the desired direction, but it is impossible to bend the trunk when it has acquired any degree of strength. So it is comparatively easy to form habits of godly thought and action when we are young, although by the power of God's grace it is not impossible at any time. He who subjects his will to the Great Teacher in his early days will enjoy an abundant blessing in old age from this "gathering in summer."

+II. He who neglects thus to improve his opportunities is--+1. _Likened to a man who sleeps through the season of harvest._ He sets one blessing of God in opposition to the other. Toil and rest are both Divine ordinances, and both are good and blessed in their season. Sleep is felt to be an incalculable boon at the end of each day of toil. The rest of the Sabbath is a priceless gift of God, and is needed to renew both body and mind after the six days' labour. Longer seasons of rest are good and needful at certain periods of life, and it is a sin against God not to use the ordinary opportunities of rest which are given to all, or ought to be, or to refuse to make use of extraordinary opportunities when they are given to us by the providence of God. But this is quite a different thing from making life a time of indolence--from neglecting to do work either belonging to the body, mind, or spirit; which, if done at all, can only be done in the given opportunity, or cannot be done so well at any other time. 2. _Such a sleeping in harvest brings shame_--(1) _To the man himself._ He is accused by his own conscience. Conscience will recognise the authority of God's institutions, and the lazy man will be brought to feel that he is out of harmony with the Divine ordinations which govern the world. A time will come in his experience when he will feel the want of the material good, or of the knowledge, or of the favour of God, which he would have possessed if he had used his opportunities, and his poverty in one or all of these respects will make him ashamed when he compares himself with those who "gathered in summer." (2) _It brings shame upon others._ No man can suffer alone for his own sin. Those related to him suffer also in proportion to the nearness of their relationship and to the affection which they bear to him. The son who fritters away the season of youthful opportunity disgraces his parents. By-and-by he becomes a father, and his children partake of his shame. The whole subject reminds us that bare admission into the Divine family is not the end, but the beginning of a Divine life. There must be a "gathering" ever going on. "And _beside this_" (see verses 1-4), "giving all diligence, add to your faith, virtue; and to virtue, knowledge; and to knowledge, temperance; and to temperance, patience; and to patience, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, charity" (2 Peter i. 5-7).

_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._

Look at the _large harvest of opportunity in labouring for God._ The great and diversified machinery of religious societies, needing direction and energy; the mass of fellow sinners around us, claiming our sympathy and helpfulness. "While we have time, let us do good" (Gal. iv. 10). How high is the privilege of gathering with Christ _in such a harvest!_ (Matt. xii. 30). How great the _shame_ of doing nothing, where there is so much to be done! What a _harvest_ also is the present "accepted time" (2 Cor. vi. 2). Mark the abundance of the means of grace, the living verdure of the gospel. Can I bear the thought of that desponding cry of eternal remorse--"The _harvest_ is past, the _summer_ is ended, and I am not saved?" (Jer. viii. 20).--_Bridges._

The opportunity is in all matters carefully to be observed. He gathereth in summer who, redeeming the time, maketh his best advantage of the season; for the summer is that fit season wherein the fruits are got into the barn for the whole year following. He that thus in due season provideth for his body or soul, is worthily called a son of understanding, or a wise man; for he hath not only prudently foreseen what is best to be done, but wisely took the occasion offered unto his best advantages. On the contrary side, he sleepeth in harvest who fondly letteth slip the most convenient means or opportunity of doing or receiving good. Such a one is a son of confusion, that is to say, one that shall be ashamed or confounded, by reason of the want or misery whereunto he shall fall through his own folly.--_Muffett._

The use of the word "son" in both clauses implies that the work of the vine-dresser and the plough had been done by the father. All that the son is called to do is to enter into the labours of others, and reap where they have sown.--_Plumptre._

As the former verse commendeth labour and pains and therein diligence, so this commendeth the diligence of watchfulness, in taking opportunity and not omitting it. For there may be much labouring, but there will be little benefit, unless there be a gathering in summer. The taking of pains may show a mind to gather, but the unseasonableness of the pains will not show the wisdom of the mind.--_Jermin._

+I. God affords opportunities for good.+ In this view we may regard the _whole period of life._ 1. You are blessed with a season of Gospel grace while many are sitting in darkness and in the shadow of death, upon you _hath the light shined_. 2. You have a season of civil and religious liberty. What advantage do we possess above many of our ancestors who suffered for conscience sake! They laboured, and we have entered into their labours. 3. Who has not experienced a day of trouble? 4. Where is the person who does not know what we mean by a season of conviction? +II. I would enforce upon you the necessity of diligence to improve your reaping season.+ 1. Consider how much you have to accomplish. The salvation of the soul is a great--an arduous concern. Religion is a race, and you must run; it is a warfare, and you must fight. The blessings of the Gospel are free, but they are to be sought, and gained. 2. Consider the worth of the blessings which demand your attention. . . . Is it not desirable to be redeemed from the curse of the law; to be justified freely from every charge brought against us at the bar of God; to be delivered from the tyranny and rage of vicious appetites and passions? Great is the happiness of the good here; but who can describe the exalted glory and joy that await them hereafter? 3. Remember that your labour will not be in vain in the Lord. The husbandman has many uncertainties to contend with, but _probability_ stimulates _him_; how much more should actual _certainty_ encourage _you_. 4. Remember that your season for action is limited and short. Harvest does not last long. Your time is _uncertain_ as well as short. 5. Reflect upon the consequences of negligence. Is a man blamed for sleeping in harvest? Does every one reproach him as a fool? You act a part more absurd and fatal, who _neglect this great salvation._ Having made no provision for eternity, your ruin is unavoidable. It will also be insupportable.--_Jay._

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 6, 7, _and_ 11.

THE WAY TO PRESENT BLESSEDNESS AND FUTURE FAME.

We connect the first and last of these verses, because the latter clause in both is the same. +I. Opposite characters revealed by a great contrast in speech+ (verse 11). When a righteous man opens his mouth, it is as if the cover was removed from a pure, clear well of water. He has no evil intentions to conceal; his words are an index to his heart. By them men may read his thoughts with the same ease as they can see what is at the bottom of a clear spring of water. There is medicinal virtue in them--they _heal_ as well as _refresh_ the spirits of men. What a well of life have the words of Christ been for centuries to millions of the human race. But a wicked man cannot let all the thoughts of his heart be laid open to the light of day. His "mouth conceals injury" (see Critical Notes). He has plans which are not devised for the good of his fellow-creatures, and he must use his words not to reveal, but to hide what is in his mind. And if he lets his tongue loose, and permits his thoughts to flow out into words, they do not bless his hearers, but are like a poisonous stream, carrying moral death wherever they flow.

+II. Character yields a present blessing or a present curse.+ "Blessings _are_ upon the head of the righteous," etc. A man's present comfort within himself, and the inheritance of good-will he now receives from his fellow-men, as well as the favour of God, are all dependent upon what he is in his character. The kingdom of heaven is _now_ inherited by him. All the beatitudes uttered by our Lord speak of a present blessedness. "Blessed _are_ the poor in spirit," etc. The opposite truth is not expressed, but it is implied. Curses, not blessings, are the present inheritance of the man whose "mouth is covered by violence."

+III. Character determines the nature of our future fame+ (verse 7). 1. _The memory of the righteous is blessed, because what they did upon the earth is the means of bringing blessings upon others after they are gone._ Many a son has received kindness for the sake of the righteousness of his father. God blesses the children for the father's sake. "I will make him prince all the days of his life _for David my servant's sake,_ whom I chose, because he kept my commandments and my statutes" (1 Kings xi. 34). "Fear not," said God to Isaac, "for I am with thee, and will bless thee, and multiply thy seed for _my servant Abraham's sake_" (Gen. xxvi. 24). Cyrus was raised up to deliver Israel _for Jacob's sake_ (Isa. xlv. 4). Men can but bless the memory of those whose past godliness is the means of bringing blessings upon them in the present. 2. _The just man's memory is blessed because he leaves behind him reproductions of his own character._ All life will reproduce itself. After a tree has decayed and gone to dust, others will be in full life and vigour that were seedlings of the old tree. Intellectual life is reproductive. The man of mighty genius leaves disciples to carry out his ideas after he is gone. Good men are the parents of good children, or make other men good by their words and lives. "They that dwell under his shadow shall return," and "_they_ shall grow as the vine" (Hosea xiv. 7). The good must be held in blessed remembrance so long as there are those upon earth who are the reproductions of their character. 3. _The memory of some is blessed because they did deeds which never can be reproduced by others--which have left a fragrance behind them which can never be repeated._ The one act of Abraham, when he prepared to offer up Isaac at God's command, can never be repeated; but it is the one which, above all his other acts of faith, causes him to be held in everlasting remembrance. And so it has been with many of the leaders of the Church in all ages. They have performed acts of godly heroism which we cannot imitate, but of which we reap the reward, and for which we bless their memory. Especially is this true of Him who is pre-eminently the Holy One and the Just, whose glorious "name is blessed for ever" (Psa. lxxii. 19), because "He endured the cross and despised the shame." But the converse of all this is the lot of the wicked. We can but remember them when we are brought face to face with the evil they have left behind them; but we turn from the remembrance as we turn from some offensive putrid object, while the memory of the just is as a sweet savour. Contrast the feelings with which Christendom now regards the emperors of Rome and the fishermen of Galilee.

_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._

Verse 6. Not one, but many blessings are on the head of the righteous: the blessing of peace, the blessing of plenty, the blessing of health, and the blessing of grace, shall be upon them. The precious ointment of the Lord's favour and blessing shall be so poured upon their heads as that it shall not here stay, but run down to the rest of the members of their bodies, and enter into their very hearts.--_Muffet._

"_Blessings:_" not simply good things, but good things bestowed by another; not simply good things bestowed by another, but divinely bestowed as sacred _benedictions._ "_Blessings_" are for the righteous exclusively, that is, for no one else. "_For the head;_" not the mouth, not the hand; because often without either's agency. "_On his head;_" because unconsciously, and sometimes even when asleep.--_Miller._

Verse 7. The memory of the just is blessed (1) because of his winning friendship; (2) because of his unfeigned piety; (3) because of his steadfast patience; (4) because of his noble, public-minded activity.--_Ziegler, from Lange's Commentary._

And what signifies an empty name? It brings honour to God, and prolongs the influence of his good example who has left it. His good works not only follow him, but live behind him. As Jeroboam made Israel to sin after he was dead, so the good man helps to make others holy whilst he is lying in the grave. Should it so happen that his character is mistaken in the world, or should his name die out among men, it shall yet be had in everlasting remembrance before God; for never shall those names be erased from the Lamb's book of life, which were written in it from the foundation of the world.--_Lawson._

Not what he remembers, but what is remembered of him. He blesses after he is dead. So does the wicked, but, like most other growths in nature, by his decay. "_Name;_" that which is known of a man. The "name of God" is that which may be known of God. "The memory of the righteous," viz., of the Church of God, is that which propagates her, and causes her to hand down her strength. Our walk about Zion, our telling her towers, our marking her bulwarks, is for this grand aim, among the rest, that we may tell to the generation following (Psa. xlviii. 12, 13).--_Miller._

I. The memory of the just is blessed, self-evidently so, for the mind blesses it and reverts to it with complacency, mingled with solemnity,--returns to it with delight from the sight of the living evil in the world, sometimes even prefers this silent society to the living good. They show in a most evident and pleasing manner the gracious connection which God has constantly maintained with a sinful world. His uninterrupted connection with it by justice and sovereign power has been manifest in mighty evidence: but His saints have been the peculiar illustration of His grace, His mercy, acting on this world. II. It is so, when we consider them as practical illustrations, verifying examples of the excellence of genuine religion; that it is a noble thing in human nature, and makes, and alone makes, that nature noble;--that, whatever scoffers may say, or this vain world would pretend to disbelieve, here is what has made such men as nothing else, under heaven, could or can. III. Their memory is blessed while we regard them as diminishing to our view the repulsiveness and horror of death. Our Lord's dying was the fact that threw out the mightiest agency to this effect. But, in their measure, His faithful disciples have done the same. When we contemplate them as having prepared for it with a calm resolution--as having approached it--multitudes with a calm resignation and fortitude, and very many with an animated exultation;--as having passed it, and emerged in brightness beyond its gloom--they seem to shine back through the gloom, and make the shade less thick. IV. It is blessed, also, as combined with the whole progress of God upon the earth--with its living agency throughout every stage. He has never, and nowhere, had a visible cause in the world, without putting _men_ in trust with it. . . . Think of what men have been employed and empowered to do in the propagation of truth, in the incessant warfare against evil, in the exemplification of all the virtues by which he could be honoured.--_John Foster._

Verse 11. A Church is but a body of righteous men. What would the world do without the Church? The influences of a Church, and that a land is ruined without a Church, and that one generation hands on the worship of God to another, are all illustrations on a grand scale of how _the mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life._ A good man will constantly be doing good to others. But "wrong covers the mouth of the wicked," so that he can give no blessing; so keeps him from any possible usefulness, that he cannot utter good, or make his mouth, as the righteous can, "a fountain of life" to all about him.--_Miller._

In a hot summer's day I was sailing with a friend in a tiny boat on a miniature lake, enclosed like a cup within a circle of steep, bare Scottish hills. On the shoulders of the brown, sun-burnt mountain, and full in sight, was a well, with a crystal stream trickling over its lip, and making its way down towards the lake. Around the well's mouth, and along the course of the rivulet, a belt of green stood out in strong contrast with the iron surface of the rock all around. "What do you make of that?" said my friend, who had both an open eye to read the book of Nature and a heart all aglow with the lessons of love. We soon agreed as to what should be made of it. It did not need us to make it into anything. There it was, a legend clearly printed by the finger of God on the side of these silent hills, teaching the passer-by how needful a good man is, and how useful he may be in a desert world. . . . The Lord looks down, and men look up, expecting to see a fringe of living green around the lip of a Christian's life-course.--_Arnot._

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 8.

THE DOER AND THE TALKER.

+I. A definition of a wise man.+ He is one that "will receive commandments." The reception of commandments implies a commander, and a willingness to obey his laws. The wise man is willing to obey good laws even at the expense of some self-sacrifice, because he has a strong conviction of the benefits that will arise from submission. The laws which govern a well-ordered State will not be irksome to a right-minded citizen. He feels that submission to them will bring only comfort to him. The yoke will bring ease, and he proves that he is a wise man by accepting it. The commandments here are the commandments of Jehovah. He only is a truly wise man who is willing to submit his will to the Divine will, to take upon himself the yoke of Him whose "yoke is easy" (Matt. xi. 30), who is the Lawgiver who "makes free indeed" (John viii. 36). He obeys His commandments from the full conviction of the benefits and blessings which flow from keeping them. He knows that the obedience must come before the comfort, that Incarnate Wisdom has placed the commandment first, and then the reward "Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you" (John xv. 14). He can say, from past experience concerning the Divine commands, "In keeping of them there is great reward" (Psa.