xii. 28) (see Critical Notes) the expressive and distinctive word for
immortality, which breaks like a ray from the morning sun through the night of the _Sheol.--Delitzsch._
We are not able to form a right conception of what it is to be and to abide in wickedness. Because it is so near us, we do not know it. If it were a body standing before us, we could examine its proportions and describe its appearance; but because it is a spirit transfused through us, we remain ignorant of its character and power. . . . A ship is lying in a placid river when winter comes, and is gradually frozen in. The process was gentle, and almost imperceptible. There was no commotion and no crash. The ice crept round, and closed in upon the ship without any noisy note of warning. . . . Her own element closed and held her. . . The ship is not shaken. No creaking is heard--no strain is felt. She feels firm and easy. Even when the pines of the neighbouring forest are bending to the blast, she sits unmoved in her solid bed. That bed she has made for herself, and it therefore fits her. This is very like the wicked in his iniquity, and before he is driven away. . . . He stands steady in his element, and no ripple disturbs its surface. When the ice of the river goes away, the embedded ship goes with it. It is a dreadful departure. The water swells beneath; the ice holds by the crooked banks awhile; but, after a period of suspense, the flood prevails and the trembling, rending mass gives way. Reeling icebergs and foaming yellow waves tumble downwards in tumultuous heaps, and the ship is swept away like a feather on a flood. If we had a sense for perceiving spiritual things, the most heart-rending sight in the world would be a sinner set fast in his element, and the flood of wrath secretly swelling from beneath. . . . But he who has been begotten again to a living hope has it at the time when humanity needs it most. A friend in need is a friend indeed. Stars are a grateful mitigation of the darkness; but we do not want them by day. Hope, always lovely, is then sweetest when it beams from heaven through the gloom that gathers round the grave. . . . The ship has set sail, and kept on her course many days and nights, with no other incidents than those that are common to all. Suddenly land appears; but what the character of the coast may be the voyagers cannot discern through the tumult. The first effect of a new approach of land is a very great commotion on the water. It is one of the coral islands of the South Pacific, encircled by a ring of fearful breakers at some little distance from the shore. Forward the ship must go. The waves are higher and angrier than any they have seen in the open sea. Partly through them, partly over them, they are borne at a bound; strained, and giddy, and almost senseless, they find themselves within that sentinel ridge of crested waves that guard the shore, and the portion of sea that still lies before them is calm and clear like glass. It seems a lake of Paradise, and not an earthly thing at all. . . . Across the belt of sea the ship glides gently,--and gently soon touches that lovely shore. It is thus that I have seen a true pilgrim thrown into a great tumult when the shore of eternity suddenly appeared before him. A great fear tossed him for some days; but when that barrier was passed, he experienced a peace, deeper, stiller, sweeter than ever he knew before. A little space of life's voyage remained after the fear of death had sunk into a calm, and before the immortal felt the solid of eternal rest. On life's sea as yet was the spirit lying, but the shaking had passed; and when at last the spirit passed from a peaceful sea to a peaceful land, the change seemed slight.--_Arnot._
The text looks like the cloud between the Israelites and Egyptians; having a dark side toward the latter, and a bright side toward the former. It represents death, like Pharaoh's jailor, bringing the chief butler and the chief baker out of prison; the one to be restored to his office, the other to be led to execution. The wicked are driven from this world to the other--from the society of saints on earth into that of the lost in hell; out of time into eternity; out of their specious pretences to piety; away from all means of grace. . . . The following circumstances make the godly in their death happy and hopeful. 1. _They have a trusty good Friend before them in the other world._ Jesus Christ, their best friend, is Lord of the land to which death carries them. When Joseph sent for his father to come down to Egypt, and Jacob "saw the wagons Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob revived" (Gen. xlv. 27). He resolved to undertake the journey. I think when the Lord calls a godly man out of the world, He sends him such good tidings, and such a kind invitation to the other world, that his spirit must revive when he sees the wagon of death sent to carry him thither. 2. _They shall have a safe passage to another world._ They have the Lord of the land's safe conduct, His pass sealed with His own blood. . . . It is safe riding in Christ's chariot. 3. _They shall have a joyful entrance into the other world._ . . . Is the bird in worse case, when at liberty, than when confined in a cage? Death comes to the godly man, as Haman came to Mordecai, with the royal apparel and the horse.--_Boston._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 33.
THE HIDDEN MADE MANIFEST.
+I. The God-ordained place for moral wisdom--+"the heart." The Divinely ordained place for the sap of the vine is its _root._ 1. _It has its centre and spring there, that thence it may diffuse itself into every branch and leaf, and give life and health to the whole tree._ So the Divinely-ordained place for moral wisdom is the _heart_--the _affections_ of a man. If it has its seat there it will certainly influence all his thoughts, and words, and deeds. 2. _It is not only the most influential part of a man, but it is the most secure._ There, if anywhere, it is out of the reach of harm. If it is only in the _head_--the intellectual part of a man--temptation may rob him of it--false reasoning or adversity may shake it from its seat, but if it has hold of the heart, it will hold its own against every foe. 3. _It is the only place from which it can reach and bless other human hearts._ The sap of the tree must issue direct from its root if there is to be fruit that will sustain and give satisfaction to the eater. So a life will bring forth no fruit to feed others unless its religion is a religion of the heart. There is no way to the heart except from the heart, those who have only an intellectual hold upon moral wisdom cannot feed hungry souls. 4. _It is the only place whence one can issue glory to God._ The whole man, spirit and soul and body, must be under the guidance of moral wisdom if he is to render acceptable service to God. Nothing less will satisfy Him who "searches the heart of the children of men" (Jer. xvii. 10). If the heart is right, the external service will not be wanting. (See Homiletics and Comments on chap. iv. 23.)
+II. Where this wisdom of the heart is lacking, the life will betray it.+ In all natural life there is a law by which its hidden secrets are manifested in outward signs. The health of the root is seen in the health of the tree, the disease of the internal bodily organs manifests itself in the outward appearance. So it is with moral health and disease. However men may try to appear what they are not, the natural tendency of human nature often proves too strong for the artificial restraint that is put upon it, and sooner or later men reveal what they really are. "That which is in the midst of moral fools is made known," although time is needed for the folly fully to develop itself.
_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._
"Resteth" implies the tranquil and modest spirit of the wise, and the permanence of their keeping of wisdom; and especially that it is the fruit of the spirit from above descending and abiding on them (Numb. xi. 25, 26; Isa. xi. 2; 2 Kings ii. 15). Contrast Eccles. vii. 9. The wise does not draw forth his wisdom from its resting place within the heart at random, but in proper place and time, as the occasion may require. But fools cannot long disguise their folly (see chap. x. 14, xii. 23, xiii. 16). The Hebrew adage says, "A vessel full of coins will make no noise; but if there be only one coin in it, it will make a rattle." The more learned one is, the more modest he will be; the more unlearned, the more presumptuous and ostentatious.--_Fausset._
In the heart of the understanding wisdom remains silent and still, for the understanding feels himself personally happy in the possession, endeavours all the more to deepen it, and lets it operate within.--_Delitzsch._
There she keepeth residence and there she ruleth, and thither she bringeth her treasures and her comforts, and every good thing that is to be wished for. And therefore she calleth for it, as most meet for her to possess; and safest for every wise man to yield unto her. "My son, give me thine heart."
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 34.
NATIONAL SALVATION.
+I. Some standard of right and wrong is necessary to national existence.+ There are men who have affirmed that there is no such thing as virtue and vice--that they are only inventions of those who desire to rule their fellow-creatures, and that the world could do without them. But experience teaches the contrary. Every nation, if it is to have an existence, even if it rejects a Divine revelation, or is ignorant of it, must have some standard by which to judge human actions. Without the recognition of such a standard, even if it is only based upon the light of reason, not only would national prosperity be impossible, but national existence. Rome and Greece had such standards as well as Israel, although the first-mentioned nations had no revelation from heaven except that of the natural conscience, and if all the existing codes were abolished to-morrow men would find it necessary to form others in order to preserve their national, if not their individual existence.
+II. The prosperity and influence of a nation is in proportion to its national righteousness.+ This is not the case of the individual man. His present condition and circumstance, the measure of power that he possesses, or the amount of the influence he exerts, is no index of the amount of righteousness which he possesses. He may be a noble of the land, or he may have no social standing; he may fare sumptuously every day, or he may subsist on the crumbs that fall from the rich man's table, and neither from the one lot or the other can any conclusion be drawn as to what his moral standing is. There is another world in which the righteous _man_ will be exalted, and the unrighteous _man_ will reap the reward of unrighteousness; but national righteousness and unrighteousness receive their reward in this world. 1. _Righteous dealing in a nation promotes its commercial prosperity._ If the merchants of a nation are known to be honest in their transactions and truthful in their words, they will gain and hold a high place in the markets of the world. 2. _It secures it an influence among the governing powers of the world._ In proportion as its intercourse with other nations is marked, not by a lust for conquest or a desire to rule, no matter by what means--but by a recognition of the rights of all--in that proportion will it acquire a power far more real and far more lasting than that gained by its ability to outdo other nations in the number of its soldiers or the size of its navy.
+III. National reproach for sin will be in proportion to its possession of a high or low moral standard.+ "Sin is a reproach to _any_ people;" but it is the greatest reproach to those who possess the greatest light. The sin of Israel was a greater reproach to them than the sin of the Philistines was to them, because the one possessed the light of a Divine revelation, and the other did not. So in the present day, the nations who sin against the light of the revealed Word of God are far greater sinners than those upon whom the light has never shone. The principle to which the Divine Son gave utterance concerning the Jewish nation is the one by which He judges nations in the present day. _"If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin; but now they have no cloak for their sin"_ (John xv. 24).
_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._
As there is nothing in religion to counteract the design of a wise system of civil polity, so there is nothing in a wise system of civil government to counteract the design of the Christian religion. The exaltation of the nation is the end of civil polity. Righteousness is the end of religion, or rather is religion itself.--_Saurin._
It is the nature of sin (1) to lessen and diminish a people; (2) to sink and depress the spirit of a people; (3) to destroy the wealth of a people; (4) to deprive them of the blessings of freedom; (5) to provoke the displeasure of God and to draw down His judgments.--_Emmons, in "Lange's Commentary."_
Righteousness is both "the prop to make it subsist firm in itself and a crown to make it glorious in the eyes of others" _(Bp. Sanderson)._ Greece in her proud science, Rome in the zenith of her glory, both were sunk in the lowest depths of moral degradation (Rom. i. 23-32 was a picture of the heathen world in the best ages of refinement). Their greatness consisted only in the visions of poesy or the dream of philosophy. Contrast the influence of _righteousness,_ bringing out of the most debased barbarism a community impregnated with all the high principles that form a nation's well-being. Thus to Christianise is to regenerate, to elevate the community, the "exalt the nation," and that not with a sudden flash of shadowy splendour, but with a solid glory, fraught with every practical blessing. "Those princes and commonwealths who would keep their governments entire and uncorrupt, are, above all things, to have a care of religion and its ceremonies, and preserve them in due veneration. For in the whole world there is not a greater sign of imminent ruin than where God and His worship are despised." Such was the testimony of the profligate politician Machiavelli. . . . What an enemy an ungodly man is to his country! Loudly though he may talk of his patriotism, and even though God should make him an instrument to advance her temporal interest; yet he contributes, so far as in him lies, to her deepest _reproach.--Bridges._
Religion and virtue do naturally tend to the good order and more easy government of human society, because they have a good influence both upon magistrates and subjects. 1. _Upon magistrates._ Religion teaches them to rule over men in the fear of God, because though they be gods on earth, yet they are subjects of heaven, and accountable to Him who is higher than the highest in this world. Religion in a magistrate strengthens his authority because it procures veneration and gains a reputation to it. And in all affairs of the world so much reputation is so much power. 2. _Upon subjects._ First, it makes them obedient to government, and conformable to laws; and that not only out of fear of power, which is but a weak and loose principle of obedience, but out of conscience, which is a firm, and constant and lasting principle, and will hold a man fast when all other obligations will break. Secondly, it tends to make men peaceable with one another. For it endeavours to plant all those qualities and dispositions in men which tend to peace and unity, and to fill men with a spirit of universal love and goodwill. It endeavours likewise to secure every man's interest, by commanding the observation of that great rule of equity, "Whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, do ye even so to them."--_Tillotson._
We find the great general principle of Divine Providence, in regard to nations, thus laid down by Jehovah Himself to the prophet Jeremiah--"At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up and to pull down, and to destroy it; if that nation against whom I have pronounced turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil which I thought to do unto them. And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and plant it; if it do evil in My sight, that it obey not My voice, then I will repent of the good wherewith I said I would benefit them" (Jer. xviii. 7-10). This was a principle, not applicable to _Israel_ exclusively--for we find it expressly applied to the Amorites, the Canaanites, and the inhabitants of Sodom and of Nineveh. And the Old Testament bringing before us specimens of the Divine administration, the Spirit of God letting us so far into the secrets of its principles and laws, we have every reason to believe that in the government of God over the world, the same principle is still in operation, that _we_ may not be able to trace it--that, had we only an inspired record of what takes place now, we should see it clearly in all cases; and even without such a record there are cases in which it would be equal impiety and blindness not to discern and own it.--_Wardlaw._
_"Righteousness"_ means _saving righteousness,_ and _"Sin-offering"_ is literally _sin._ (See Critical Notes.) _"Righteousness"_ lifts to the very skies. _"The mercy of nations,"_ as the words literally are, is not wealth, or peace, or a good king, or broad lands of plenty, but an interest in Christ, "the sin-offering," and a home amongst the happy.--_Miller._
_"Peoples"_ is plural, whereas _"a nation"_ is singular, implying the paucity of the nations observing _righteousness._ The Hebrew word for reproach meaning also mercy, Gejer translates, "Mercy is an expiratory sacrifice for sin." Not that mercy puts away sin before God, but before men, who are by _mercy_ reconciled to those who had before been unmerciful to them.--_Fausset._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 35.
A WISE SERVANT.
In this verse we adopt Miller's translation as being the more probable meaning. See Critical Notes and also his Comment.
+I. The law of kindness is a law of power.+ Whether a man be the ruler of a nation or the ruler of a family, if he would acquire real power over those whom he rules, he must obey this law himself. Human nature is in a fallen condition, and it cannot be lifted into a state of obedience even to wise and good laws except they are enforced in a spirit of kindness. Kindness will bind men to loyal devotion with a far firmer chain than any force. There is, indeed, no principle in obedience to the latter; it rules only the bodily actions, and is powerless over the heart. Those who desire more than the service of half the man must issue their commands--must exercise their authority--in the spirit of mercy. The king, the master or the father, who is a despot, is only obeyed because he has power to punish. Consequently the obedience will only last as long as the power. This is a thought which parents especially should lay to heart.
+II. The law of kindness is a law of policy.+ He who rules to-day may one day be at the mercy of him whom he rules. Kings have often needed favour of their subject--the master has often been at the mercy of his servant; and what has happened before will happen again in the changes and chances of life, and those who have shown mercy will be the most likely at such times to receive it. "With what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again" (Matt. vii. 2) holds good in this case. Therefore, the "kindness of a king is a wise servant; but his wrath becomes one that bringeth shame." For remarks on the text as rendered in the Authorised Version, see below.
_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._
Solomon gets back to his king-craft. These maxims were familiar to him. It is rarely wise for "a king" to get in a passion with his people (see verses 29, 30). "If thou wilt be a servant unto this people" was said to the successor of this very man (1 Kings xii. 7); if thou wilt "answer them, and speak good words to them, then they will be thy servants for ever." But, more than king-craft, it is a rule for saints. The law of "kindness" should be on our lips. The power of gentleness is irresistible. If _"the mercy for nations is the sin-offering"_ (see last verse), then we are all sinners together, and modesty forbids that we should go among the lost with anything but tenderness. The English version is due to the presence of a preposition. "The king's favour is towards a wise servant." But that proposition becomes idiomatic in certain cases. I say, "I want such a thing _for_ a shelter." "The kingdom of a king is _for_ a wise servant," _i.e.,_ serves as one. There is no preposition before the words "brings shame;" but, on the contrary, the word _is_ is written out, and, as usual in that case, means _"becomes;"_ all of which state of facts is in favour of our new version.--_Miller._
These words state what _ought to be._ No one ought to be the king or the queen's servant who is not wise; and toward every such wise servant the royal favour should be specially extended. And who _is_ a _wise_ servant? Not a servant who flatters royal vanity; accommodates itself to royal foibles; indulges royal prejudices; chimes in with royal caprices; tolerates and connives at royal vices, whether personal or official. No; a wise servant must be a servant of conscientious principle, and of bland but unflinching fidelity. He is one who gives prudent and faithful counsel; who "speaks truth as he thinks it in his heart;" whose counsels are dictated by a right understanding of the times, and knowledge of what such times require, not by a wish to ingratiate the minister with the prince, and so to promote his own personal advantage, but by the principles of genuine patriotism as well as loyalty. . . . That servant "causeth shame" by whom that is encouraged from which reproach arises--who gives counsel to his prince which must prove either prejudicial or abortive; such as can hardly fail to render him unpopular with his subjects, and expose him, by their failure, to the derision of foreign states--a derision in which the kingdom as well as the throne, the people as well as the monarch, are involved.--_Wardlaw._
Thus it is with the great King. All of us are His _servants,_ bound to Him by the highest obligations; animated by the most glowing encouragements (1 Cor. vi. 19, 20; Matt. xxiv. 44-46, xxv. 21-23). All of us have our responsibilities, our talents, our work, our account. Towards the "faithful and _wise_ servant," who has traded with his talents, who has been diligent in his work, and who is ready for his account--_His favour_ will be infinitely condescending and honourable (John xii. 26). But _against him that causeth shame_--reflecting upon his Master, neglectful in his work, unprepared for his account--His _wrath_ will be tremendous and eternal.--_Bridges._
Surely well is favour bestowed, where it reflecteth unto the giver's honour: worthily is favour received, where wisdom's hands are the receivers of it.--_Jermin._
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