CHAPTER XI
.
CRITICAL NOTES.--+1. Just weight,+ literally, "a stone of completeness, a full stone." Stone was a very ancient material for weight; not rusting, it was not changeable. +2.+ Literally, "there hath come pride, there will come shame." Stuart reads, "Does pride come, then shame will come." +3. Guide,+ "lead" "as a shepherd his sheep, and therefore in the path of safety and peace" (_Stuart_). +Perverseness,+ "slipperiness," "falseness." +Destroy.+ An intensive word in the Hebrew, "to lay hold of them with violent force" (_Stuart_). +5. Direct,+ "make smooth or even." +6. Naughtiness,+ "cravings," "desires," "covetousness." +7. His+ and +men+ are not in the original, and the verse is variously rendered. Stuart reads, "When the wicked die, all the hopes perish; and when they are afflicted, their expectation of recovery or alleviation will be frustrated." Zöckler--"With the death of the wicked hope cometh to nought, and the unjust expectation has perished." Miller--"By the death of a wicked man hope is lost, and the expectation of sorrowing ones is lost already." +9.+ Zöckler here reads, "The hypocrite with his mouth destroyeth his neighbour, but by the knowledge of the righteous shall they (the neighbours) be delivered." +12. Void of wisdom,+ literally, "of heart." Zöckler inverts the phrase, "He that speaks contemptuously of his neighbour lacketh wisdom." +13.+ "He who goeth about as a slanderer." +14. Counsel,+ literally, "pilotage," "steersmanship." +15. Suretyship,+ literally "striking hands." See notes and Illustrations on chap. vi. 1. Stuart translates this verse, "An evil man showeth himself as evil when he giveth pledge to a stranger," _i.e.,_ by hastily pledging himself and then not redeeming his pledge. +16.+ Last clause "as strong men retain," or "grasp at riches." +17.+ Or, "He who doeth good to himself is a merciful man, but he who troubleth his own flesh is cruel." So Stuart and Miller, Zöckler and Delitzsch read as the Authorised Version. +18.+ "The wicked gaineth a deceptive result, but he that soweth righteousness a sure reward" (Zöckler). +21.+ The Hebrew here is simply +"hand to hand, the wicked,"+ etc. Zöckler and Delitzsch understand it as a formula of strong asservation derived from the custom of becoming surety by clasping hands, and hence equivalent to "assuredly," "verily," "I pledge it." Stuart says, "Different meanings have been assigned. 1. Hand against hand, _i.e.,_ the injurious man. 2. From one hand to another, _i.e.,_ from one generation to another. 3. Joining hands in way of assurance--"verily." All these are little better than guesses. The phrase is evidently proverbial and doubtless abridged. The most simple interpretation is that of Michael, "Hand joined to hand will not protect the guilty. Let the evil man struggle with all his might he will not escape." +23. Wrath,+ _i.e.,_ God's wrath (Zöckler). +25. Liberal soul,+ "the soul of blessing," _i.e.,_ "the soul that blesses others." +27. Procureth,+ rather "seeketh." +Favour,+ _i.e.,_ God's favour. So it is generally understood. But Delitzsch reads "He who striveth after good, seeketh that which is pleasing," _i.e.,_ that which pleaseth or doeth good to others. +28. Branch,+ rather, "a green leaf." +30.+ Or, "the wise man winneth" or "taketh" souls. +31.+ Miller transposes this verse and reads, "Behold the righteous on earth shall be recompensed," etc. +On earth+ may be placed either with "the righteous," or with "recompensed."
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 1.
JUST WEIGHT.
The judgment on a false weight is a two-fold revelation.
+I. It reveals the existence of a true standard.+ We only know what is false by knowing what is true. If a mason looks at a stone and declares that it is uneven, he declares at the same time that there is such a thing as an even stone, or that there is a possibility of making a stone perfectly level and square. He reveals his knowledge of what is even by passing judgment upon what is uneven. When a judge declares that a man has not fulfilled the requirements of the law, he thereby proclaims the existence of a law which ought to have been, and might have been obeyed. As Paul tells us, "Sin is not imputed where there is no law" (Rom. v. 13). And if a weight is condemned as false, the condemnation implies that there is a certain standard of weight which ought to have been reached. God, who here tells men that He abominates a false balance, declared by His condemnation of it that there is such a thing as a true weight: that there is that which He recognises as _justice_ between man and man. And much that men call "a full stone," a "fair day's wages," is not so regarded by God. It is not dealing truly with a man to give him the smallest possible amount for the work he does--to take advantage of his poverty or ignorance to beat him down to the lowest sum for which his need will induce him to give his labour, and thereby condemn him to all the evils of insufficient means. "Behold!" says Carlyle, "supply and demand is not the one law of Nature; cash payment is not the sole nexus of man with man,--how far from it! Deep, far deeper than supply and demand are laws, obligations sacred as man's life itself!" This is the law of the Divine kingdom: "All things whatsoever ye would that man should do to you, do ye even so to them" (Matt. vii. 12). Less than this is a "false balance," this is the "full stone," which is God's "_delight._"
+II. It reveals the character of God.+ If a man declares that certain
## actions are displeasing to him, the declaration reveals his
character: if the actions that he hates are wicked in themselves and hurtful to men, his hatred of them proclaims his own righteousness and benevolence. That God is a hater of false weights and measures in every sense and of every kind proclaims Him to be a God of mercy and truth, a Ruler who will Himself "not pervert judgment," who "will not lay upon man more than right," but who will "give everyone according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings" (Job xxxiv. 12, 13; Jer. xxxii. 19). And the text likewise proclaims God's notice of what men sometimes call little things. The farthing kept back from the child, and the ounce taken from the pound, are as much marked by Him as the short wages given to the man, the unjust sentence passed upon the prisoner. Dr. Guthrie says "God sees the water in the milk, and the sand in the sugar." There are no great and small transactions in a moral sense, one action contains the sin as much as another.
_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._
In this emphatic reproduction of the old rule of Deut. xxv. 13, 14, we may find, perhaps, a trace, as in chap. vi. 1, of the growing commerce of the Israelites, and the danger of dishonesty incidental to it. While the words have a wider range and include all unequal and unrighteous judgments, there can be no doubt that the literal meaning is the prominent one. The stress laid on the same sin in chaps. xvi. 11, xx. 10, bears witness to the desire of the teacher to educate the youth of Israel to a high standard of integrity, just as the protest of Hosea against it (ch. xii. 7) shows the zeal of the prophet in rebuking what was becoming more and more a besetting sin.--_Plumptre._
Hither may be referred corruptions in courts, and partialities in Church businesses. See that tremendous "charge" to do nothing by
## partiality or by "tilting the balance" (1 Tim. v. 21). Those that
have the "balances of deceit in their hand" (Hosea xii. 7) are called Canaanites, so the Hebrew hath it, that is, mere natural men (Ezek. xvi. 3), that have not goodness in them, no, not common honesty; they do not as they would be done by, which very heathens condemned.--_Trapp._
Surely he that weighs in a false balance is himself weighed by God in a balance of justice, and for the gain he gets he getteth to himself from the Lord His just abomination; not only His dislike or condemnation of it, but the _abomination_ because it is a theft cloaked with the colour of justice, even the exact justice of weighing. But a just balance is such a delight unto God as that He delighteth, as it were, to be a seller in that shop, and that He maketh others to delight to come and buy at it. Surely such a "perfect stone" (see Hebrew) is a perfect jewel, and a precious stone in the sight of God. But in a spiritual sense there is no such false balance as when man weigheth heavier than God, earth heavier than heaven, the pleasures of sin heavier than the crown of glory, a momentary contentment heavier than eternal blessedness. And justly are such false balances an abomination to the Lord. But that is a just weight whereby the light vanity of worldly things is rightly perceived, the levity of earthly greatness is truly discerned, the weightiness of God's promises is duly considered, the heaviness of God's threatenings is carefully apprehended. Such a weight is God's delight, doth overbalance all whatsoever the world delighteth in.--_Jermin._
That which is hurtful to our brother is hateful to God, and therefore can never be helpful to us. If He judge it unrighteous we shall find it unprofitable: if it be damnable in His sight, and therefore His soul doth hate it, it will at last be in our sense, and our souls shall rue it. Here is consolation to them that do constantly and conscionably addict themselves to the practice of equity. None hath truly learned this but such as have been apprentices to heaven, whom the Lord hath informed in the mysteries of that trade.--_Dod._
Weight and balance are judicial institutions of the Lord, and every weight is His work. But marriage compacts, also political confederacies, civil compacts, judgments, penalties, etc., are ordinances of Divine wisdom and justice, and are effectively superintended by God.--_Melanchthon._
This is repeated with varied language three times (xvi. 11; xx. 10, 23). The tendency of all commentators is to treat it as descriptive of _men._ It seems conspicuously to be asserted of the Almighty. Sentences like chap. x. 29 make the doctrine a very timely one, that God is in His very essence just; that He takes no liberties of an arbitrary nature; that He is the administrator, not at all of fate, for this is blind and unreasoning, but of eternal rectitude; that we need give ourselves no care of our government, for that He has no temptation to do us wrong, because "false balances" are an abomination to Jehovah. "_Delight_" is rather a strong version. It only means that the Almighty has the eternal _desire_ to be absolutely just. Omniscience, _omnipotence,_ and this _desire_ must make an immaculate administration. God will not, by a false balance, become an abomination to Himself.--_Miller._
Commerce is a providential appointment for our social intercourse and mutual helpfulness. It is grounded with men upon human faith, as with God upon Divine faith. Balance, weights, money are its necessary materials. Impositions, double dealings, the hard bargain struck with self-complacent shrewdness (chap. xx. 14)--this is the false balance forbidden alike of the law and of the Gospel (Matt. vii. 12; Phil. iv. 8).--_Bridges._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 2.
PRIDE AND HUMILITY.
+I. Pride comes to the human spirit.+ "When pride _cometh._" There are certain weeds that come at certain seasons of the year without being sent for or desired. They tarry not for the will of man, but appear in the most well-kept gardens and in the most carefully tilled field. The only will that the proprietor has in the matter is whether they shall be allowed to stay. If they stay, they will assuredly spread and increase in strength. Self-sown plants are the first to spring up in the ground, and will be the last to disappear. Nothing will kill them but uprooting and consuming the entire plant by fire. So pride will spring up in the human heart. The seeds are there, and the soul is congenial to their germination and growth. According to the highest authority on the subject, pride is its natural outgrowth. "For from within, out of the heart of man proceed evil thoughts . . . pride" etc. (Mark vii. 21, 22). The question for every man to settle when pride comes up in the blade, is whether it shall be allowed to go on to the full ear--whether the feeling shall be allowed to remain until it is manifested in action, or whether the fire of the Holy Ghost shall be called in to consume the very root. "Pride," says Adams, "is like the heart, the first thing that lives and the last thing that dies in us."
+II. When pride is permitted to remain, shame will follow.+ 1. _Because it tends to ingratitude._ If a man permits a wrong estimate of himself to grow up and strengthen within him, growing daily in a sense of his own importance and his own deserts, he will soon be ungrateful to men for their acts of goodwill, and to God for the position in which He has placed him in the world. Ingratitude is a high road to shame before God and before men, because it prevents men from taking advantage of present opportunities. 2. _Because it keeps men ignorant._ There is a shame arising from ignorance, when men have had no opportunities of acquiring knowledge. But pride leads men to refuse instruction when it is offered to them, and thus it leads to wilful ignorance, which, being _wilful,_ is doubly _shameful._ 3. _Because it makes men useless._ If a man has received many gifts from the Divine hand and yet lacks that spiritual-mindedness and humility which is the salt to season them and make them acceptable to the hearts and consciences of mankind, he will be to them like a fountain of beautiful and polished marble without any water, and will only vex the thirsty traveller by reflecting the rays of light from the basin which he hoped to find filled with water. He is a cloud without water, lovely to the eye, but not refreshing to the thirsty land. And men will turn from and despise _gifts_ without _graces,_ especially the grace of humility.
+III. Lowly men are wise men, and are in the way of becoming wiser.+ 1. _This we know from the Divine promise._ "I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit" (Isa. lvii. 15). From the nature of things, those who are alike in character will seek to dwell together. The good and the bad each go "to their own company" in this world, and must do so in every world. There is no pride in the Divine character: "He humbleth Himself to behold the things that are in heaven and in the earth" (Psa. cxiii. 6). Because He can rightly estimate everything and every person, pride cannot dwell with Him. Therefore He dwells with those who are like Himself, and the man with whom God dwells, and who is "taught of the Lord" (Isa. liv. 13), must be ever increasing in wisdom. 2. _This we know from experience._ The wisest men in the world, the men who are most able to teach others, are those who have been willing first to stoop to learn: those who have been willing to their own ignorance and need, and so have been willing to sit at the feet of those who knew more than they did. Wise men are always lowly in estimating their present acquirements, whether of intellect or character, and this keeps them in the way of ever becoming wiser.
_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._
Trite as the words now are, the appearance in many languages of the same maxim points to the delight with which men have in all ages welcomed this statement of a fact of general experience, in which they saw also a proof of a Divine government. A Rabbinic paraphrase of the latter clause is worth quoting: "Lowly souls become full of wisdom as the low place becomes full of water."--_Plumptre._
Where pride is in the saddle, shame is on the crupper. He is a "proud fool" saith our English proverb. But "God gives grace to the humble" (Jas. iv. 6); that is, as some sense it, good repute and report among men. Who am I? saith Moses; and yet who fitter than he to go to Pharaoh? He refused to be called Pharaoh's daughter's son; he was afterwards called to be Pharaoh's god. (Exod. vii. 1.)--_Trapp._
When Nebuchadnezzar was bragging of his Babel which he had built for his glory, he was banished from all habitation, not having so much as a cottage, and like a beast made to lie among the beasts of the field, with ignominy. When Haman thought to ride on horseback and to be baited on like a king, he was driven to lackey on foot, and to wait attendance like a page, and purposing to hang Mordecai on high to honour himself, he prepared a high gallows to be hanged on himself. When Herod thought himself good enough to take on him the state and honour of a god, the Lord declared him to be bad enough to be devoured of contemptible vermin. . . . Whereas the humble are always in the way of preferment, either to come to honour in a great place, or for honour to come to them in a mean place.--_Dod._
It is the prayer of David, _Let not the foot of pride come against me, or unto me:_ for pride and shame ride in one chariot, they come both together; he that entertaineth the one, must entertain the other. And howbeit pride set open her bravery, and shame awhile be masked, yet shame at length shall open itself, and pride shall not be seen. For how can shame choose but be joined with pride, which, says St. Ambrose, knows not how to stand, and when it is fallen, is ignorant how to rise. On the other side, although lowliness goes on foot, yet wisdom is her companion, which not only preserveth the lowly from shame, but highly advanceth them in the esteem of God and man. And indeed what greater wisdom is there than humility, which, says St. Ambrose again, by desiring nothing, obtaineth all that is despised by it.--_Jermin._
The folly and wickedness of pride--1. _Of station._ "Man will not long abide in honour, seeing he may be compared to the beast that perisheth" (Psa. xlix. 12). In the sight of God, the greatest and proudest of men are but dust and ashes. 2. _Of birth._ Even an ancient heathen could see its absurdity and say, "As to family and ancestors, and what we have not done ourselves, can scarcely be called ours." We certainly had no hand in producing these distinctions. 3. _Of riches._ They cannot give dignity of character, superiority of intellect, vigour of body, peace of conscience, or any one of those advantages which form the chief blessings of life. 4. _Of talent or learning._ A disease, an accident, may overset the mind, and turn all our light into utter darkness, and even should our abilities and learning continue with us till the end of our days here below, they must then vanish and be extinguished. It was the consciousness of their uncertain and transient endurance, as well as their imperfection, that made the wise Agur say, "Surely I am more brutish than any man, and have not the understanding of a man;" and which drew from Solomon the confession, "In much wisdom there is much grief; and he that increaseth knowledge, increaseth sorrow" (Eccles. i. 18). 4. _Of beauty._ "All flesh is grass, and the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field." 5. _Of spiritual pride._ Of all description of guilt this appears to be the most odious to God and unbecoming to man, and as such is denounced throughout the Scriptures. Everlasting shame is made the portion of every one "that exalteth himself."--_Warner._
Gabriel is the prince. He is solely from the Spirit. It is because God gave him the Spirit that he remained in grace; and it was because God took the Spirit that Satan fell into apostasy. _Pride,_ therefore, is a mad vanity. If "false balances" are an abomination to God, He would not be apt to let "pride" flourish. And yet pride does flourish in worldly things. The "shame" here must mean that spiritual contempt which looks to the whole eternity. It is only (1) out of contempt for him that God lets a man be proud; and it is only (2) contempt and shame that can follow upon the proud thought. Pride itself is an evidence of God's contempt. And being "humble" not only (1) invites "Wisdom," and makes her feel at home; not only (2) flows from Wisdom because she is at home, but (3) actually "_is_ Wisdom." It would not do to say, Has humility entered? There also enters Wisdom; for humility _is_ wisdom, and could not exist unless Wisdom had entered already.--_Miller._
Perhaps the reference in the words before us may especially be to the influence of pride in our intercourse with men. In this view of them they are verified in different ways. For example--the manifestation of pride,--of supercilious loftiness and self-sufficiency--strongly tempts others to spy out defects, and to bring down the haughty man from his imaginary elevation. Everyone takes a pleasure in plucking at him, and leaving the laurel-wreath which he has twined for his own brow as bare of leaves as possible; and thus to cover him with "shame." Another way in which it tends to "shame" is, that it leads him who is the subject of it to undertake, in the plenitude of his confident self-sufficiency, to fill stations for which he is incompetent; by which means he, ere long, exposes himself to the derision or the pity of his fellows. He shortly finds himself in the position of those described in our Lord's parable, who "choose for themselves the highest seats," but in the end, abashed and crest-fallen, "begin with shame to take the lowest rooms." That parable (Luke xiv. 7-11) is a graphic commentary on the words before us.--_Wardlaw._
Pride was the principle of the fall (Gen. iii. 5), and, therefore, the native principle of fallen man (Mark vii. 22). When pride had stripped us of our honour, then--not till then--_cometh shame_ (Gen. iii. 7, with ii. 25). This is the wise discipline of our God to scourge the one by the other. . . . What a splendour of wisdom shone in the lowly child "sitting at the doctors' feet, astonishing them at His understanding and His answers" (Luke ii. 47). And will not this Spirit be to us the path of Wisdom? For the Divine Teacher "reveals to the babes what He hides from the wise and prudent."--_Bridges._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 3.
THE INFALLIBLE GUIDE.
+I. The upright man is in danger.+ To say that a man needs a guide is to say that he is exposed to some kind of danger--that the path which he has to tread is one in which it is possible to sustain loss of some kind. A man does not need a guide when he is walking in a road where he knows every step of the way, where his path lies straight before him, beset with no danger. An upright man hath much to lose. He can lose much in losing _one_ thing, he can, indeed, lose _all_ in one thing, his all for time and eternity, viz., his _moral character._ If his uprightness of character sustains any loss, if any stain is permitted to fall upon _that,_ it will only regain its erectness and purity at the cost of much pain and time. What was gained with difficulty at first will be harder to regain. It is up-hill work to redeem a lost character, and if it is not redeemed, existence is cast away and the man is said to be _lost. And the very fact that a man is godly places him in danger._ The thief is never found measuring the height of the wall or testing the security of the locks of the house where poverty reigns. He does not haunt such a dwelling, and reckon up the opposition he would be likely to meet with _there._ Such a house has no attraction for him, and is safe from all danger so far as he is concerned, because there is no silver or gold there. But the house filled with plate and jewels is the one around which he paces with stealthy steps, and whose means of defence and unguarded doors or windows he takes note of. Such a house draws him towards it as the magnet draws the needle. So the godless man has little or no attraction for the enemy of souls. The very poverty of his moral nature renders him an unattractive object to the great thief of character. But an upright man he considers a foeman worthy of his steel, and the rich graces that dwell within the heart of such a one have a magnetic power for him who was "a murderer from the beginning" (John viii. 44), and for all his emissaries and agents, whether they be devils or men.
+II. The infallible guide for the godly or upright man: Integrity.+ What is integrity? Dr. Bushnell says: "As an integer is a whole, in distinction from a fraction, which is only a part, so a man of integrity is a man whose aim in the right is a whole aim, in distinction from one whose aim is divided, partial, or unstable. It does not mean that he has never been a sinner, or that he is not one now, but simply that the intent of his soul is to do and to be wholly right with God and man." Old Simeon was such a man. It is said of him that he was _just,_ that is, he was single in his purpose in relation to man, and that he was _devout,_ which expresses his _wholeness_ of his aim in relation to God. Paul was such a man. "What shall I do, Lord?"--"This one thing I do" was the key note of his life. (Acts xxii. 10; Phil. iii. 13.) 1. _This guide is one whose voice is not easily mistaken._ If a man sets his own interest before him as the guide of his life, he is very likely to be mistaken as to what his own interest really is even so far as regards the present life. We are so short-sighted as to be unable to foretell what may be the issue of any act of life in relation to our own personal and present well-being looked at from a material point of view. If we are more unselfish and adopt the famous principle of "the good of the greatest number," we involve ourselves in a still greater perplexity. This problem is one which can be solved by God alone. But every man whose conscience is not wholly depraved can determine as to the right and wrong of his actions, and thus possesses a clue to guide him step by step through every intricate path of life. Darkness of soul and circumstances may at times surround him, but here is a pole-star which will shine through the gloom. "In the darkest hour through which a human soul can pass," says Robertson, of Brighton, speaking of the doubts and perplexities to which the most sincere men are often the most liable, "whatever else is doubtful this is certain, that it is better to be generous than selfish, better to be chaste than licentious, better to be true than false, better to be brave than a coward. Blessed beyond all earthly blessedness is the man who, in the tempestuous darkness of the soul, had dared to hold fast to these venerable landmarks. Thrice blessed is he, who, when all is drear and cheerless within and without, has obstinately clung to moral good. Thrice blessed because his night shall pass into bright, clear day." Thus "the integrity of the upright shall guide them." This virtue is a guide as recognisable as sunlight. The eye of every man, in every nation, recognises the sun as the light which is the guide of his life; and integrity, honesty, and _complete dealing_ between man and man is recognisable by every man whose conscience is not wholly blinded by long-continued persistence in wickedness (see Luke xii. 57). 2. _It shall guide a man to happiness._ We have seen that happiness or self-interest cannot be the guide of life, either in relation to the one man or to the many. The happiness of one man, in this narrow and low sense of the word, may mean misery to another; but right-doing is the high road to the happiness of the individual, and the promoter of the happiness of all to whom he is related. Though happiness is not the aim of the upright man, yea, _because_ it is _not_ the aim of his life, he will be guided into it. The man who does right simply because it is right, and without hope of reward, will have a reward. Integrity must lead to the happiness of the upright man. The approbation of conscience is a large element of blessed happiness, and the certainty that right-doing can wrong none of his fellow-creatures, but may add much to their well-being, is another element in the reward. There is also happiness in the possession of a single aim, an undivided purpose in life. The concentration of all a man's powers to one point increases his power to accomplish the task to which he has set himself. He is like a man steering for the harbour, with his eye upon the compass and his hand upon the wheel; he is conscious of a power to carry out his purpose, and the certainty of success is in itself a reward. 3. _It must guide a man to heaven._ All the "rendering unto God the things that are God's"--loyal obedience to His conditions of salvation, and then, as a necessary result, rendering unto their fellow-men that which is their due.
ILLUSTRATION OF THE SECOND CLAUSE OF VERSE_ 3.
"The perverseness of transgressors shall destroy them." _A Grecian legend._--An old diver was wont to boast of his skill to bring up treasures from the sea. To test his power the people threw many a golden coin and silver cup into deep water, all of which he brought to the surface with triumph. But one day a disguised fiend threw a tinsel crown into a whirlpool, and challenged the confident diver to bring it up, promising him, if he succeeded, the power to wear it, and to transmit it to his children. Down he sprung after the bauble, but the Nereids of the sea, hearing the clangour of the crown when it fell upon their grottos, closed around him as he was grasping his prize and held him fast till he perished. The most daring may dare once too often; folly, though long successful, will plunge its victim into ruin at last.--_Biblical Treasury._
_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._
All obliquity and trick in the intercourse of men is a libel on Providence. Every recourse to falsehood is a direct distrust of God. Truth is both the shortest and the surest road in every difficulty. How much labour is lost by adopting tortuous paths? A great part of life's labour consists in following a crooked course, and then trying to make it appear a straight one. The crooked line is far more difficult at the first, and the defence of it afterwards doubles the labour.--_Arnot._
"I will walk in mine integrity," was David's staff, and in doing anything there is no such guide to do it well as the integrity of the heart. Knowledge is requisite, and is a good director: counsel may be needful, and is a good conductor; but the master pilot is the sincerity of the heart. If that be wanting the others will not be following, if that be present the others will not be wanting.--_Jermin._
Everyone that is truly godly hath a faithful guide and an upright counsellor in his own breast. A sound heart is the stern of the soul, and a good conscience is the pilot to govern it.--_Dod._
A man, to be led, must have a way; and, to have a way, he must have an end at which he is aiming. The end of the "upright" man is righteousness itself. If the great joy of heaven is uprightness, and the price of wisdom is above rubies, of course "integrity" is the best guide in the world, because of course righteousness is the best guide to righteousness; and, poor or rich, the righteous man is always advancing in his treasure. Righteousness is also the best guide to happiness, for no good thing shall be withholden from them that walk uprightly. Sin, on the other hand, by increasing itself, is itself its own seducer.--_Miller._
Sincerity is one eminent branch of the good man's character. Nathaniel was a man without guile. We accordingly find that, though prejudiced against Jesus of Nazareth, his sincerity appeared in the means which he employed to arrive at a knowledge of the truth, and he was led by it in the right way. Christ's enemies were men of perverse spirits. They crucified Him with a view to maintain their honour and preserve their nation; but by their perverse conduct both were destroyed.--_Lawson._
Every man who comes into a state of _right intent,_ will forthwith also be a Christian. Whoever is willing to be carried just where it will carry him, cost him what it may, in that man the spirit of all sin is broken, and his mind is in a state to lay hold of Christ and to be laid hold of by Him. . . . "For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward Him" (2 Chron. xvi. 9). God is on the lookout always for an honest man--him to help, and with him, and for him, to be strong. And if there be one, God will not miss him; for His desiring, all-searching eyes are running the world through always to find him.--_Bushnell._
I. The guidance of integrity is the _safest_ under which we can be placed. Perfect immunity from danger is not to be expected in this life. But let us inquire who the persons are that, in all the different lines of life, have gone through the world with most success, and we shall find that the men of probity and honour form by far the most considerable part of the list; that men of plain understanding, acting upon fair and direct views, have much oftener prospered than men of the deepest policy, who were devoid of principle. II. It is unquestionably the most _honourable._ Other qualities may add splendour to character; but if this essential requisite be wanting, all its lustre fades. He who rests upon an internal principle of virtue and honour, will act with a dignity and boldness of which they are incapable who are wholly guided by interest. He is above those timid, suspicious, and cautious restraints which fetter and embarrass their conduct. III. This plan of conduct is the most _comfortable._ Amidst the various and perplexing events of life, it is of singular advantage to be kept free from doubt as to the part most proper to be chosen. The man of principle is a stranger to those inward troubles which beset men who consult nothing but worldly interest. His time is not lost, nor his temper fretted, by long and anxious consultations. One light always shines upon him from above. One path always opens clear and distinct upon his view. He is also delivered from all inward upbraidings, from all alarms founded on the dread of discovery and disgrace. The man of virtue has _committed his way to the Lord._ He co-operates with the Divine purpose. The power which sways the universe is engaged on his side. By natural consequence, he has ground to expect that any seeming disappointments which he may now incur shall be over-ruled in the end to some salutary result. IV. He has always in view the prospect of _immortal rewards._ That surely is the wisest direction of conduct, which is most amply recompensed at last.--_Blair._
For Homiletics of verse 4 see