xi. 7), for to its blessed influence we owe all the joy that fills

our hearts when we look abroad upon the beauties of the natural world. 3. _It ought to rejoice the heart of man on account of its symbolic suggestions._ God intends the light of nature to be a symbol to the children of men of blessed realities which can be appreciated only by the eye of the soul. Light is symbolic of the glory of the Divine nature (1 Tim. vi. 16), and of the perfect purity of the Divine character (1 John i. 5). The beneficent influence of sunlight is a symbol of the soul-warming and soul-gladdening influence of the Divine presence (Psalm lxxxiv. 11). And as the light of the sun rejoices the heart of the beholder, so does light and cheerfulness upon one man's face gladden the heart of him who looks upon it. Cheerfulness upon one man's countenance brings cheer to the heart of those with whom he comes in contact. Upon this subject we remark--1. _That there is a great difference between levity and cheerfulness._ Two men may be swimming in a river, and one may keep himself afloat by artificial appliances, and the other by his natural strength skilfully used. The beholders may not for a time observe any difference in the two; but should the first man, by any mishap, lose his floats, then the difference will be at once manifest. He will be in danger of going to the bottom while his companion will keep steadily on his way. The natural strength and long practice of the latter has made it second nature to keep on the surface of the water. There is just such a difference between gaiety which depends for its continuance upon good fortune and external excitement, and the cheerfulness that springs from a never-failing and internal source. In the first case, if the floating-tackle is cut away the poor man sinks into despondency and gloom, but in the second there is a buoyancy of heart which, if overwhelmed for a moment by some sudden wave of adversity, brings him again to the surface and re-awakens hope within him. The first is of earth, but, although natural temperament may do much towards the second, real and heartfelt cheerfulness can only be born of a consciousness of reconciliation with God and goodwill to men. It is not, however, a universal characteristic of good men and women. But--2. _It is a man's duty to cultivate this cheerfulness of heart. It is good for the man himself._ If sunlight gives strength to the body this sunlight of the soul is strengthening to the whole man. Cheerfulness gives courage to face the difficulties of life--that gladness of heart which springs from "doing justly, loving mercy, and walking with God" is a power which no man for his own sake can afford to throw away. _But it is also a duty which we owe to others._ In this sense "the light of the eyes rejoices the heart," the incoming of a cheerful man into a house where the inhabitants are depressed and sad is like the entrance of sunlight into a darkened room--it changes the entire aspect of things. The influence of such a man is like a shower upon the parched earth--everything seems to spring into new life after it. If it has so reviving and cheering an effect in a world where there is so much to sadden and to weaken men's energies, every man is bound to cultivate a habit of cheerfulness as a matter of duty. _It is part of the duty which men owe to God._ It is a manifestation of confidence in His righteous character and merciful purpose towards His creatures. It reveals contentment with the lot in life which He has assigned to us--a spirit of submission to His will. Therefore it is an apostolic command, _"Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, rejoice"_ (Phil. iv. 4). The second clause of the verse relates to another very fruitful source of gladness, viz., the reception of a _"good report,"_ or good news. 1. _A good report gives joy, or "maketh the bones fat" in proportion as such news was desired._ If the sick man, who has been awaiting the verdict of his physician, receives from him the assurance that he will recover his health, his heart is filled with joy at the tidings. He can testify that his "bones waxed old" while he was filled with fear and doubt as to his case, but the "good report" makes him renew his youth, and is the first step to renewal of health. The good news that the guilt of the soul can be removed fills the soul with joy in proportion as the misery of unforgiven sin has weighed upon the spirit. This was David's experience: _"When I kept silence"_ (while my sin was unconfessed) _"my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long." . . . "I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin."_ And the consciousness of forgiveness enabled him to sing of the blessedness of him _"whose transgression is forgiven and whose sin is covered"_ (Psa. xxxii. 1-5). 2. _The joy imparted by a "good report" of this nature is shadowed forth by the gladness which is imparted to men who have long sat in darkness, when they greet again the light of day._ What must be the joy of an arctic traveller, when, after months of night, he sees the first streak of returning sunlight? Who can describe the feelings of a prisoner who has been for years immured in a gloomy dungeon, when he again finds himself in the sunshine? Or who but those who have passed through the experience can conceive what the blind man feels who has never seen the light of day, when first his eyes are opened? So none but he who has been in darkness of soul on account of unpardoned sin, and has felt the joy of a sense of reconciliation with his God, can know how the "good report" that "Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners" "maketh the bones fat," in other words, gives him a sense of new life.

_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._

We may conceive this verse to show the comfort of life as it cometh from God, and from man. From God in the light of the eyes, and in seeing those good things which He bestowed upon us. From man in hearing the good report and testimony which he giveth of us. Or else we may take the first part of the verse more literally, to speak only of the joy of the heart, which by the light of the eye from the pleasant objects thereof, is conveyed to it, and so the good contentment of a man from a good report to be compared to it. Now well may these be compared together, for report is the eye whereby the world judgeth of a man, and it is also a useful eye whereby a man judgeth of himself. . . . Certainly it must be the care of the godly, not only to keep a good conscience, but to have a good report.--_Jermin._

It is riches enough to be well reputed and well spoken of. It pleased David well that "whatsoever he did pleased the people." It pleased John well that his friend "Demetrius had a good report of the truth" (3 John 12), and he "had no greater joy than to hear that his children walked in the truth."--_Trapp._

_The bones_ may be called the foundation of the corporeal structure, on which its strength and stability depend. The cavities and cellular parts of the bones are filled with the marrow, of which the fine oil, by one of the beautiful processes of the animal physiology, pervades their substance, and, incorporating with the earthy and silicious material, gives them their cohesive tenacity, a provision without which they would be brittle and easily fractured. "Making the bones fat," means supplying them with plenty of marrow, and thus strengthening the entire system. Hence "marrow to the bones" is a Bible figure for anything eminently gratifying and beneficial. The import, then, of the expression of the text is, that a good reputation contributes eminently to enjoyment, to comfort, health, active vigour, spirit, life, and happiness. By some, however, _"a good report"_ is understood of _good tidings,_ and they conceive "the light of the eyes" to refer to the happy glancing looks of the messenger of such good tidings.--_Wardlaw._

"The light of the eyes" means the look of a pleased friend. When He is the Almighty, how it "rejoices the heart." And when the rapture of another sense is secured by _"a good report"_ (_a good hearing,_ as it is in the original), the _good news_ being also from on high, it reaches the very penetration of our comfort.--_Miller._

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 31-33.

HOW TO GIVE AND TAKE REPROOF.

+I. Reproof is good when it is given with a good intention and when it is given wisely.+ Those who undertake to handle the amputating knife should be men who are intent upon the healing of the patient, and must also know where to cut and how much to cut, otherwise the operation may tend to death rather than to life. The reprover, if he would administer a "reproof of life," must be wise and kind. He must desire to do good to the man whom he reproves, he must know how to administer the reproof, and must leave off reproving as soon as the necessary wound has been inflicted; if he does not, he may injure the soul instead of destroying the sin.

+II. He who takes such reproof displays the highest wisdom and the truest humility.+ We admire the fortitude of a man who will bear without a murmur a painful operation for the sake of the good that will come to him afterwards. We praise him for the pluck and courage which he shows in enduring bravely, that which we know gives him intense pain of body. And we ought to give as much praise to him who will submit to reproof in a spirit of humility, for there is nothing which is more unpalatable or painful to a man's spirit. Nothing is a surer sign of true wisdom than such submission.

+III. He who will not submit to such reproof can never attain to true honour.+ There can be no honour where there is ignorance, and there can be no knowledge where there is an unwillingness to receive reproof. The greatest kings and statesmen, who are now enthroned by the honour and submission of millions of their fellow-creatures, had once to submit to the instruction of their nurses and tutors. There is no honour in holding a high position unless he who holds it knows how to fill it worthily; and such knowledge can only be acquired by stooping not only to instruction but to reproof, which is always a necessary element of instruction. (For fuller treatment on the subject of these verses, see Homiletics on chapters iii. 11, 12; xii. 1; xiii. 18; xv. 10. Pages 247, 323, 410, etc.)

_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._

Verse 31. There is a reproof not of life, but of death, when hatred seeketh disgrace or ruin by it, and when it is used, as St. Bernard speaketh, not to instruction in the spirit of meekness, but to destruction in the spirit of fury. When it is reproach, and not reproof, it amendeth not, but hardeneth the offender in his wickedness. But with the wise there is the reproof, not of death, but of life; that is, direction unto a virtuous life, and teaching true wisdom, which is the life of the soul. The words of the wise, saith the Preacher, are as nails fastened: for as nails are driven in, but it is not so much to make a hole as to fasten and strengthen; so the words of the wise in reproof do pierce, but it is not so much to wound, as to fasten their reproof, and to give strength unto it.--_Jermin._

Oh, it is a blessed thing to have others tell us of our faults, and as it were to pull us out of the fire with violence, as Jude speaks; rather to pull us out with violence, with sharp rebukes, than we should perish in our sins. If a man be to weed his ground, he sees need of the benefit of others; if a man be to demolish his house, he will be thankful to others for their help; so he that is to pull down his corruption, that old house, he should be thankful to others that will tell him, "This is rotten, and this is to blame;" who, if he be not thankful for seasonable reproof, he knows not what self-judging means. If any man be so uncivil when a man shows him a spot on his garment to grow choleric, will we not judge him to be an unreasonable man? And so when a man shall be told, "This will hinder your comfort another day;" if men were not spiritually besotted, would they swell and be angry against such a man?--_Sibbes._

Verse 32. Wilt thou destroy that for which Christ died? (1 Cor. viii. 11). What shall a man give in exchange for his soul? There is no great matter in the earth but man; nothing great in man but his soul, saith Faverinus. "Whose image and superscription is it" but God's? "Give," therefore, "to God the things that are God's," by delivering it up to discipline. . . . "Suffer," saith the great apostle, "the word of exhortation;" suffer them in God's name, sharp though they be, and set on with some more than ordinary earnestness. Better it is that the vine should bleed, than die. Certes, "When the Lord shall have done to you all the good that He hath spoken concerning you, and hath brought you to His kingdom, this shall be no grief unto you, nor offence of heart," as He said in a like case (1 Sam. xxv. 30, 31), that you have hearkened to instruction, and been bettered by reproof.--_Trapp._

There are two things that cause men to rage against reproof. 1. _Guilt of the sin objected._ Guilt makes men angry when they are searched, and, like horses that are galled, to kick if they are but touched. The mildest waters are troublesome to sore eyes. There is scarce a more probable sign that the crime objected is true than wrath and bitterness against the person that charges us with it. 2. _Love to sin makes men impatient under reproof._ When a person's sin is to him as "the apple of his eye," no wonder that he is offended at any that touch it.--_Swinnock._

Verse 33. Abigail was not made David's wife till she thought it honour enough to wash the feet of the meanest of David's servants (1 Sam. xxv. 40). Moses must be forty years a stranger in Midian before he becomes king in Jeshurun. . . . Luther observed that ever, for most part, before God set him upon any special service for the good of the Church he had some sore fit of sickness. Surely as the lower the ebb the hither the tide; so the lower any descend in humiliation the higher they shall ascend in exaltation; the lower this foundation of humility is laid the higher shall be the roof of honour be overlaid.--_Trapp._

Not only doth humility go before honour in the course of things, but is also before honour in the dignity and excellency of it. So that when humility hath brought a man to honour even then his greatest honour is humility.--_Jermin._

_"Reproof,"_ which has been twice used, and _"instruction,"_ or rather _discipline,_ which is now made to balance it in these last important texts, have a respect of painfulness: and Solomon, in this verse, tempers that pain, by showing what discipline really is:--_"The fear of Jehovah."_ _"Fear_ hath torment," says the apostle John (1 John iv. 18). That fear is not altogether the fear of our text, but is a part of it. I do not remember the fear of the Almighty as a title applied in heaven. _"The fear of Jehovah"_ has some particle of painfulness; and that painfulness makes it of the nature of _"discipline."_ The best discipline of the saints is the abiding fear of the Almighty. The proverb seems to imply that it will not last always; that it is painful; and that we shall not continue pained; that it is necessary for us to be under just that gentle sort of discipline that _fear_ can give while we are in this world. And that necessity he states, in that _"before glory is affliction."_ Not honour (as in the English version), so much as _weight,_ or _"glory."_ Not _humility,_ but primarily, _toil; ergo,_ more generally _"affliction."_ "We must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God" (Acts xiv. 22).--_Miller._

"I am not worthy," is the voice of the saints. They know God, and God knows them. Moses was the meekest man upon earth, and therefore God is said to know him by name (Exod. xxxiii. 17). "I am less than the least of all thy mercies," saith Jacob (Gen. xxxii. 10). Lo, he was honoured to be father of the twelve tribes, and heir of the blessing. "Who am I, O Lord?" says David. He was advanced from that lowly conceit to be king of Israel. "I am not worthy to loose the latchet of Christ's shoe," saith John Baptist (Matt. iii. 11). Lo, he was esteemed worthy to lay his hand on Christ's head. "I am not worthy that thou shouldst come under my roof," says the centurion, therefore Christ commended him. "I have not found so great faith; no, not in Israel" (Matt. viii. 8). "I am the least of the apostles," saith Paul; "not worthy to be called an apostle" (1 Cor. xv. 9). Therefore he is honoured with the title of _the_ apostle. "Behold the handmaid of the Lord," saith the holy virgin; therefore she was honoured to be the mother of the Lord, and to have all generations call her blessed. This _non sum dignus,_ the humble annihilation of themselves, hath gotten them the honour of saints. In spiritual graces let us study to be great, and not to know it, as the fixed stars are every one bigger than the earth, yet appear to us less than torches. Not to be high-minded in high deserts is the way to blessed preferment. Humility is not only a virtue itself, but a vessel to contain other virtues; like embers, which keep the fire alive that is hidden under it. It emptieth itself by a modest estimation of its own worth, that Christ may fill it. It wrestleth with God, like Jacob, and wins by yielding; the lower it stoops to the ground the more advantage it gets to obtain the blessing. All my pride, O Lord, is from the want of knowing Thee. The leper casts himself down, and Christ bids him arise. Humility is the gentleman-usher to glory. God that sends away the rich empty from His gates loves to "fill the hungry with good things" (Luke i. 53). The air passeth by the full vessel, and only filleth that is empty. This is the difference between the proud and beggars; both agree in not having, differ in craving. The proud are _paupares spiritus,_ the humble are _paupares spiritu._ "Blessed are," not the poor spirits, but "the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. v. 3). Such as felt their wants sought and besought God for supply. "Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain be brought low" (Luke iii. 5). The lowly mind shall be exalted, the high-towering ambitions shall be thrown down. How should God say to the merchant that glories in his wealth, to the usurer that admireth his moneys, to the gallant that wonders that his good clothes do not prefer him, "Arise!" Alas! they are up already; they were never down. A dwarf in a great throng, seeming low on his knees, was bidden by the prince to stand up; alas! he was before at his highest. God cannot be so mistaken as to encourage their standing up who never yet had the manners to cast themselves down. Says Augustine, "Descend, that ye may rise up to God; for you have fallen by rising up against God." He that is a mountebank must level himself even with the ground; if humbleness hath once thrown him down and brought him to his knees, he shall hear the patron and pattern of humbleness comforting him with a _surge_--"Arise. . . ." The guest that sets himself down at the lower end of the table shall hear the feast-maker kindly remove him, "Friend, sit up higher" (Luke xiv. 10). If Esther fall at Ahasuerus' feet, he will take her by the hand, and bid her arise. When Peter fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, "Depart from me; I am a sinful man, O, Lord" (Luke v. 8-10), he presently was raised up with, "Fear not, thou shalt catch men.". . . Who is heard to say with Paul, "I am the chief of sinners?" (1 Tim. i. 15) such a humble confession scarce heard of. But Christ had given him a _surge_ on his former humbling: "Arise and bear My name before Gentiles and kings," etc. Let us all thus cast ourselves down in humility, that the Lord may say to us in mercy, "Arise."--_Adams._

The more humble, the fitter to come to God, and He the more willing to come unto the soul and dwell in it. The highest heavens are the habitation of God's glory; and the humble heart hath the next honour, to be the habitation of His grace.--_Leighton._

The truly humble spirit is, in society, to the proud and haughty, what the valley is to the mountain: if less observed, more sheltered and more blessed, valleys see the stars more brightly than the mountains that often veil their proud heads with clouds. The mountains filter the waters upon which the valleys live, and send down in soft music to their ears the stormy thunders that beat with violence on their lofty brow. The great sun stoops to the valleys and touches them with a warmth which it denies to the high hills; and kind nature, which leaves the towering heights amidst the cold desolations of death, endows the humble vales with richest life, and robes them in the enchanting costume of sweetest flowers.--_Dr. David Thomas._

You must go to honour before humility. This is the law--the law of God. It cannot be changed. It has its analogies in the material creation. Every height has its corresponding depth. As far as the Andes pierce into the sky, so far do the valleys of the Pacific, at their base, go down into the heart of the earth. If the branches of a tree rise high in the air, its roots must penetrate to a corresponding depth in the ground; and the necessity is reciprocal. The higher the branches are, the deeper go the roots; and the deeper the roots are, the higher go the branches. This law pervades the moral administration as well as the higher works of God. The child Jesus is set for the fall and the rising again of many in Israel; but it is first the fall and then the rising; for "before honour is humility." Fall they must at the feet of the Crucified before they can rise and reign as the children of the Great King. . . . There are two mountains in the land of Israel, equal in height, and standing near each other, with a deep, narrow valley between. At an interesting point in the people's history, one of these mountains bore the curse, and the other received the blessing (Deut. xi. 26-29). If you had stood then on Ebal, where the curse was lying, you could not have escaped to Gerizim to enjoy the blessing without going down to the bottom of the intervening gorge. There was a way for the pilgrim from the curse to the blessing, if he were willing to pass through the valley of humiliation; but there was no flight through the air, so as to escape the going down. These things are an allegory. All men are at first in their own judgments on a lofty place, but the curse hangs over the mountains of their pride. . . . All the saved are also on a lofty height, but God dwells among them, and great is the peace of His children. All who have reached this mountain have been in the deep. They sowed in tears before they went forth rejoicing to bear home the sheaves.--_Arnot._

* * * * * *