chapter x

. 19. (See Homiletics on page 168.)

_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._

Get leave to work In this world--'tis the best you get at all; For God, in cursing, gives us better gifts Than man in benediction. God says "Sweat For foreheads," men say "Crowns" and so we are crowned, Ay, gashed by some tormenting circle of steel Which snaps with a secret spring. Get work, get work; Be sure 'tis better than what you work to get.

* * * * * *

Be sure, no earnest work Of any honest creature, howbeit weak, Imperfect, ill-adapted, fails so much, It is not gathered as a grain of sand, To enlarge the sum of human action used For carrying out God's end.--_Mrs. Browning._

There is a perennial nobleness, and even sacredness in work. Were he never so benighted, forgetful of his high calling, there is always hope in a man that actually and earnestly works: in idleness alone is there perpetual despair. Work, never so mammonish, mean, _is_ in communication with nature: the real desire to get work done will itself lead one more and more to truth, to nature's appointments and regulations, which are truth. The latest gospel in this world is, Know thy work and do it. "Know thyself:" long enough has that poor self of thine tormented thee; thou wilt never get to "know" it, I believe! Think it not thy business, this of knowing thyself; thou art an unknowable individual; know what thou can'st work at, and work at it, like a Hercules! That will be thy better plan. It has been written, "an endless significance lies in work," a man perfects himself by working. Foul jungles are cleared away, fair seed-fields rise instead, and stately cities; and withal the man himself first ceases to be a jungle and foul unwholesome desert thereby. Consider how, even in the meanest sorts of labour, the whole soul of a man is composed into a kind of real harmony, the instant he sets himself to work! Doubt, Desire, Sorrow, Remorse, Indignation, Despair itself, all these like hell-dogs lie beleaguering the soul of the poor day-worker, as of every man: but he bends himself with free valour against his task, and all these are stilled, all these shrink murmuring far off into their caves. The man is now a man. The blessed glow of labour in him, is it not as purifying fire, wherein all poison is burnt up, and sour smoke itself thereby is made bright blessed flame?--_Carlyle._

Industry need not wish; and he that lives upon hopes will die fasting. There are no gains without pains, then help hands, for I have no lands, or, if I have, they are smartly taxed. He that hath a trade hath an estate, and he that hath a calling hath an office of profit and honour; but then the trade must be worked at, and the calling followed, or neither the estate nor the office will enable us to pay our taxes.--_Franklin._

He that labours is tempted by one devil; he that is idle by a thousand.--_Italian Proverb._

As in religion, it is not the man who speaks but the man who does that gives proof of his sincerity; so in earthly business, it is not the man who talks fluently, and lays down plausible schemes of business, but the man who labours and does all his work that has reason to expect the blessing of Providence. Those that wear their working instruments in their tongues are always the most useless, and sometimes the most hurtful members of society.--_Lawson._

A busy tongue makes idle hands. If the mouth _will_ be heard, the noisy loom must stop; and he who prefers the sound of his tongue to that of his shuttle, had need at the same time be a man who prefers talk to meat, hunger to fulness, starvation to plenty.--_Wardlaw._

Rich beyond conception is the profit of spiritual labour (chap. x. 16). "The Son of Man gives to the _labourer_ enduring meat. The violent take the kingdom of heaven by force. The _labour_ of love God is not unrighteous to forget" (John vi. 27; Heb. vi. 10). But _the talk of the lips_ gives husks, not bread. While there are only shallow conceptions of the Gospel, and no experimental enjoyment of Christian establishment, it is "all running out in noise." Says Henry: "There is no instruction because there is no 'good treasure within' (Matt. xii. 35)." "What manner of communications are these that ye have one to another?" is a searching question (Luke xxiv. 17). Ministers, doctrines, the externals, circumstantials, disputations on religion--all may be the mere skirts and borders of the great subject, utterly remote from the heart and vitals. . . . A religious tongue without a godly heart tendeth _only to penury.--Bridges._

This is a difficult sentence. We have found it hard to vindicate its sense. The grammar is all obvious, and on the very account the reading is singularly fixed. But _"all labour"_ is anything else than _"profitable;"_ and the _"talk of the lips"_ (chap. xxxi. 26) is one of the grandest ways of doing good among men. We understand it in a religious sense. All these proverbs might be worldly maxims, some of them actually in use; all of them with a show of wisdom; some of them utterly unsound; but all of them, when adopted by the Holy Ghost, and turned in the direction of the Gospel, true, in their religious aspect. So, now, in this particular instance, _"all labour"_ might seem to promise well among the thrifty, but sometimes ruins men, even in this world, and is sure to ruin them, if worldly, in the world to come. But now, as a religious maxim, it is without exception. _"All labour,"_ of a pious kind is marked, and will be gloriously rewarded out of the books of the Almighty. _"All labour"_ of the impenitent, for their soul's salvation, has _"profit;"_ literally, _something over._ It brings them nearer. If continued long enough, it will bring them in; that is, if it be honest (Heb. xi. 6); while _"the talk of the lips,"_ or, possibly, _"an affair of the lips,"_ that is, _mere intention,_ does _"only"_ mischief. Mark the balance between _"all"_ and _"only."_ Seeking is _"all"_ of it an advance. Intending is "only" a retreat. One gains a step, the other loses one. Starting up actually to work, if honest, is an advance towards wealth; while intention, which is but _an affair of the lips, tends only_ to make us poor indeed.--_Miller._

When God gave man this curse, in labour thou shalt eat, he gave labour this blessing, to increase and multiply. It is a plant that prospereth in any soil, it is a seed that taketh well in any ground. For the labourer's hire is never kept back by God. . . . Talking is not truly labour, and labour is rather to hold one's peace. According as St. Ambrose speaketh "It is a harder thing to know how to be silent than how to speak. For I know many to speak, when they know not to hold their peace." But it is a rare thing for any man to hold his peace, when to speak no way doth profit him. But no labour is so well spared as this, and sitting still is nowhere so commendable as in the lips.--_Jermin._

They that painfully and conscientiously employ themselves in any vocation, how base and contemptible soever it seems to be, are in the Lord's work, and Him they serve, as the apostle speaketh even of bondmen, and is it possible that His workmen shall work without wages or sufficient allowance? He reproveth those men which neglect to give to the hireling his recompense for his travail, or fail in due time to discharge it, and shall we think then that He will be careless of His own servants Himself? They have God's Word for their security that they shall not be unprovided of so much as is expedient for them. If He say once that in all labour there is profit, they shall never have cause to contradict Him.--_Dod._

It is only by labour that thought can be made healthy, and only by thought that labour can be made happy; and the two cannot be separated with impunity.--_Ruskin._

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 24.

WEALTH WITH AND WITHOUT WISDOM.

+I. Both a wise man and a fool may attain to wealth.+ The intellectually wise, and the man who lacks mental ability, may both possess great riches. There are many who have vast estates and no more wisdom to manage them than an infant, and there are those whose ability is equal to their wealth and position. So with moral wisdom. Abraham, the friend of God, "was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold" (Gen. xiii. 2). Job, who had the Divine testimony to his "perfectness" and "uprightness," was "the greatest of all the men of the east" (Job. i. 3). But many godless men like these mentioned in our Lord's parables (Luke xii. 16, 20; xvi. 19-24) have "much goods laid up for many years," and "are clothed in purple and fine linen, and fare sumptuously every day." God is no respecter of persons in the distribution of temporal good in the shape of riches, but if there is any leaning to one class of character more than to another, He would seem rather to favour the ungodly. Because such "have their portion in this life" (Psa. xvii. 14) and in this life _only;_ because they have only this heaven upon earth; because they have no desire and conception of anything higher; it seems as if the Ruler of the universe often gives them the only good they are capable of appreciating. Some of the most miserable specimens of humanity that the world has ever seen have sat upon thrones, and a few of the greatest of God's human children have likewise wielded sceptres. So with the crown of wealth; it has been and is worn by men quite irrespective of moral character, but the preponderance seems to be in favour of the moral fool. Looked at in the light of eternity there is no injustice or even mystery in this.

+II. But wealth is an adornment to the wise man only.+ If you dress an Ethiopian in pure white linen you will not change the colour of his skin. The man is what he was though his raiment is changed, and the whiteness of his garments makes his skin look all the blacker. If a tree is barren, the most costly and perfect artificial fruit placed among its leaves will not add to its beauty. It will only produce an incongruity which will be altogether distasteful to the spectator. Its barrenness is only made the more conspicuous. So no wealth can give any dignity to a mental and moral fool. Wealth will not hide the intellectual barrenness, nor cover the black stains upon the man's moral character. Nay, the wealth only brings them more prominently into view. However rich a fool is "the foolishness of fools is folly," and nothing else. But a man who is wise enough to know how to use wealth--especially if he is good enough to put it to the highest and best uses--even though he be neither intellectually great or highly polished, will make his riches a crown--will so use them as to merit and receive the respect and goodwill of his fellow-creatures. Wealth looks best upon the head of one who possesses both intelligence and goodness, but whenever it is studded with the gems of a wise and sympathetic liberality it is a royal diadem--it makes its wearer a king.

_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._

The Christian is rich in this world. We read in the 18th verse of the "prudent making a crown of knowledge." Aladdin was rich when he had nothing but his lamp. If a ray of faith put creation in bondage to a saint, then not only is his "knowledge a crown," but "his crown is his wealth." What needs Aladdin further than his lamp? The sovereignty of saints, even in a forlorn world, makes a perfect opulence; while _"the folly of fools,"_ seeing that it could give place to this; seeing that he also could have the lamp; seeing that the crowned princes, the very best of them, were fools like him; and therefore, that it can only be _because he is a fool_ that he does not throw off his folly;--all this explains the closing clause, which is terse in its very quaintness; for, for the very reason that "the crown of the wise is their wealth, the foolishness of fools is folly."--_Miller._

Though, as a fearful temptation (Matt. xiii. 22; xix. 23), no _wise_ man would desire riches; yet as a gift of God (1 Kings iii. 13; Psa. cxii. 3)--the gift, indeed, of His left hand (chap. iii. 16)--they may become His _crown._ What a _crown_ they were to David and his wise son, as the materials for building the temple (1 Chron. xxix. 1-5; 2 Chron. v. 1); and to Job, as employed for the good of his fellow-creatures (Job xxix. 6-17). So that, though wisdom under all circumstances is a blessing, it is specially pronounced to be "good _with an inheritance_" (Eccles. vii. 11, 12). It is necessary to distinguish between the thing itself and the abuse of it. Wealth is in fact a blessing, when honestly acquired and conscientiously employed. And when otherwise, the man is to be blamed, and not his treasure.--_Bridges._

What is the most gorgeous and dazzling earthly crown compared with a diadem of which the component parts are the blessings of the destitute relieved, the ignorant instructed, the vicious reclaimed, the afflicted comforted, the dying cheered with the hope of life, the perishing rescued from perdition and brought to God!--_Wardlaw._

If good men are spoiled of their wealth, they need not lament, as if they had lost their crown. For riches are an ornament of grace to the head of wise men, even when they are lost. Job's patience in the loss of everything, did as much honour to him as his extraordinary beneficence whilst he was the richest man in the East. We honour his memory still more, when he sewed sackcloth upon his skin, and defiled his horn in the dust, than at the time when judgment was his robe and his diadem.--_Lawson._

As a horse is of no use without the bridle, so are riches without reason.--_Cawdray._

Not riches but wisdom gives a crown of glory (chap. iv. 9). "The prudent are crowned with _knowledge,_" not with riches; therefore, the sense is, "_Wisdom_ (the opposite of folly), being the crown of the wise constitutes their true riches," and results in the heavenly riches; but the foolishness of fools is not riches to them, as the wise man's crown of wisdom is to him, but is, and continues folly, _i.e.,_ emptiness--neither an ornamental crown nor enriching wisdom.--_Fausset._

The seeming tautology of the second clause is really its point. "The foolishness of fools is . . . ." We expect something else, but the subject is also the predicate. "The foolishness of fools is foolishness." That is the long and the short of it. Turn it as you will, it comes to that.--_Plumptre._

Wisdom in a poor man is but a petty lord. He may rule himself well, but he shall have little command or power over others. Riches make a wise man a king, and as they crown him with honour by being well used by him, so do they extend his dominion far and wide. Many are subject to the law of his discretion, and the force of his wise authority prevaileth many ways. Well, therefore, doth the crown of riches sit upon his head, whose wise head it is that makes them to be riches. But riches in a fool are his bauble, whereby he maketh himself and others sport. . . . The wise being crowned by them are kings over their riches. They command them to their pleasure and use them to their honour. Whereas it is the folly of fools that they are galley-slaves to their own wealth.--_Jermin._

Give riches to a fool and you put a sword into a madman's hand; the folly of such fools will soon be foolishness. Why, was it not foolishness before? Yes, but now, it is become egregious foolishness. To what end is a treasure, if a man have lost the key that leads to it.--_Trapp._

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 25.

DELIVERANCE BY TRUTH.

+I. What is implied in a witness bearer.+ A witness is supposed to give light. Those who have to decide upon a matter seek for the evidence of those who are personally acquainted with the facts. They are expected to testify as to what they have seen and heard, and by thus throwing light upon the subject to further the cause of truth and justice. A witness can only give light by speaking the truth. The words of a truth-teller are like rays of sunlight falling upon an object that was before indistinct, they make plain things which without their aid would be incomprehensible. On the other hand the testimony of a lying witness surrounds everything about which he bears witness with a mist and a darkness, and so foils the efforts of those who are desiring to get a right view of the subject.

+II. Life and death are often in the power of those who bear witness.+ The evidence of a truthful man delivers from death--or from worse than death--those who are innocent, whereas a false witness may deliver them up to punishment. The one is like a lighthouse which enables the sailor to bring his vessel safely into port, the other is like the false light of the wrecker, by means of which the ship is dashed to pieces on the rocks. The first witness for God in Eden who did not belong to the heavenly family was a "false witness who spoke lies." He testified to Eve that God was a hard master, that He had imposed upon her restrictions from a selfish motive, that the punishment which had been threatened would not follow disobedience to the Divine commands. Since this first false witness led our first parents on to death, many a human witness has, in like manner, given to the world false views of the Divine Father which have ended in like results. Both Satan and his servants murder character by bearing false witness. The Incarnate Son of God was pre-eminently "The True Witness" (Isa. lv. 4; Rev. i. 5). He came to deliver men by bearing witness of the true character of God from His own personal knowledge (John xvii. 25, 26). _"To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth," "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free"_ (John xvii. 37; viii. 32). "The truth which Christ taught was chiefly on these three points--God, man, immortality. . . . He exhibited _God as love,_ and so the fearful bondage of the mind to the necessity of fate was broken. . . . He taught the truth about the _human soul,_ that it is not in its right place, that it never is in its right place in the dark prison-house of sin, but that its home is freedom, and the breath of God's life. . . . He taught truth concerning _immortality,_ that this life is not all; that it is not only a miserable state of human infancy."--_(Robertson.)_ By such testimony this "true witness delivered souls"--_"proclaimed liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound"_ (Isa. lxi. 1). On this subject see also on chap. xii. 17, pages 274-276.

_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._

We noticed that what crowned the wise was _"truth"_ or _"knowledge"_ (verse 18). _Truth_ to become _knowledge_ must get into the heart. To do so it must be _"witnessed."_ We noticed under the second verse that a man staggered, that is, he did not _walk in levelness,_ because he did not see clearly. But, _per contra,_ if a man sees clearly he walks in _level ways;_ and then, according to our present proverb, he _"saves"_ unconsciously the souls of others. This is most clear when the view is negative. Let there be no _witness of truth,_ and where are the saved? No sinners are rescued in a dead nation. Every Christian is a centre of light. The Church is but a body of Christians. Where there is no Church, where are the penitents? The truth intended to be conveyed is, that he who sees the truth spreads it. While he who sees only _"lies,"_ which is an exact portrait of the unredeemed, serves in spite of himself as a delusion to his friends, and deceives them into unbelief just in proportion to his influence upon them. Woe be to the wife or child where the husband is a _"deceived witness"_ (verse 5). _"Witness"_--not in this case one who bears witness, but one who _witnesses,_ in the sense of _seeing.--Miller._

While true testimony may condemn, false testimony may acquit; while the former may destroy life, the latter may save it. It is probable, therefore, that the intended antithesis relates not so much to the _actual fact_ of truth saving and falsehood condemning, as to the _dispositions and intentions_ of the faithful witness on the one hand and the lying witness on the other. The faithful witness delights in giving testimony that may save life, that will be salutary and beneficial to his fellow-creatures. The lying witness will, in general, be found actuated by a malevolent and wicked purpose; having pleasure in giving testimony that will go to condemn the object of his malice. The sentiment will thus be--_that truth is most generally found in union with kindness of heart, and falsehood with malevolence._ And this is natural; the former being both good, the latter being both evil, falsehood being naturally more akin to malice, and truth to love.--_Wardlaw._

Here again there is something like tautology in the second clause. We expect "destroyeth life" as the antithesis to "delivereth souls." But in this case also there is an emphasis in the seeming absence of it. "A deceitful witness speaketh lies." What worse could be said of him? All destruction is implied in falsehood.--_Plumptre._

It is the honour of God to be a deliverer of souls, and that is the honour of a true witness. He delivers his own soul and another's: his own from the wrath of God, another's from the injustice of men: his own from wickedness, another's from injury. The deceitful man speaketh not one lie, but many. The lie of perjury to God, the lie of injustice to the judge, the lie of falsehood to the master. Not one but many lies, because one lie usually bringeth many others with it.--_Jermin._

The special work for which Christians are left in the world is to be witnesses (Acts i. 8). . . . Christ does not send his angels to proclaim His word or to wield His power. . . . The evidence by which the Spirit will convert the world is His truth, uttered from the Word, and echoed, still and small, from the meek and quiet life-course of converted men. . . . Two qualifications are required in a witness, _truth_ and _love_ (Ephes. iv. 15): these are needed, but these will do. . . . A witness, in contested cases, after giving evidence in chief, is subjected to cross-examination. A Christian's profession is, and is understood to be, his direct and positive testimony that he is bought with a price, and that he is bound to serve the Lord who bought him: but as soon as this testimony is emitted, the examination begins. If he be not a true witness, he will stumble there. Either or both of two persons, with very different views, may subject a witness to cross-examination--the judge or the adversary. It is chiefly done by the adversary, and in his interests. The Supreme himself puts professing disciples to the test before the court of the world; but when He so tries His children, the truth comes forth purer and brighter by the trial. He who goes about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour, tempts to destroy. He puts the witness to the question in order to break him down. . . . We speak of the evidences of religion, but, after all, Christians are the best evidence of Christianity. . . . Let no man who bears Christ's name lay the unction to his soul, that if he does no good he does no evil. One of the heaviest complaints made in the prophets against Jerusalem for her backsliding, is that she was a "comfort" to Samaria and Sodom (Ezek. xvi. 54); that those who had the name and place of God's people, so lived as to make the wicked feel at ease. . . . If Christians live as like the world as they can, the world will think itself safe in its sin; and those who should have been the deliverers, will become the destroyers of their neighbours.--_Arnot._

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 26.

A SURE REFUGE.

+I. What is found in the fear of the Lord?+ "Strong confidence." The confidence is in the Divine character, and is based upon a knowledge of it, in contrast to a false security which has its foundation in ignorance. There is a reverence of one being for another which is the outcome of ignorance, but this cannot generate that strong confidence which can be a sheet anchor to the human soul. The old Romans, in the early days of their history, had a reverence for their divinities, but it was a reverence of ignorance, it was a reverence for unrealities, and could never yield them that confidence which all men in all ages need to comfort them in trial and inspire them with hope in the mysteries of human life. There are men now who are quite ignorant of the Divine character and yet seem to possess great confidence that all will be well with them--that God, in fact, will not do what He has said He will do in relation to them. But this confidence is also false; it is based, not upon fear of the Lord, arising out of acquaintance with Him, but upon want of knowledge, and consequently upon disregard of His claims. But the strong confidence of our text is the fruit of a reverence which has its foundation in acquaintance with the holiness of the Divine Father, which is the outcome of a knowledge of His laws, of His threatenings, and of His promises. It is the confidence which a child reposes in a good parent, because it knows from experience--from an every-day contemplation of that parent's life--what good grounds it has to reverence and to trust him. This confidence is strong enough to inspire the soul with courage to face the difficulties of human life and to vanquish them. Confidence in a fellow-creature is often inspiration. A soldier's confidence in his general, a seaman's confidence in his captain, inspires to the performance of deeds of heroism. And confidence in the living God, in that King who can do no wrong, in that leader who can make no mistake, has been the inspiration of millions of men and women in all ages and under all circumstances. It has been found strong enough to enable them to be heroes through a long life of poverty, of ignominy, of sickness, and it has sustained all in the hour of death, and many in the death of martyrdom. By the strength born of this "strong confidence," they have _"subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire,"_ etc. (Hebrews xi. 33-38).

+II. This confidence gives men God for a refuge.+ 1. _He is a present refuge from conscious guilt._ This is a need which every man feels as soon as his conscience is awakened as surely as the man-slayer felt his want of a stronghold of defence from the avenger of blood. The God against whom man has sinned becomes, when His character is understood, the object of hope for pardon. The sinner can only "flee from God, by fleeing to God." 2. _He is a present refuge from all foes, whether spiritual or human._ "Who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good?" (1 Pet. iii. 13) is a question which can never be answered. It is impossible that the children of God can ever be without a resource in whatever peril of soul, body, or estate they find themselves, for--"If God be for us, who can be against us?" (Rom. viii. 31).

_ILLUSTRATION._

The Rev. J. W. Fletcher had a profligate nephew, who was dismissed from his post as an officer in the Sardinian army. One day, by presenting a pistol to his uncle, General de Gons, he extorted from him a draft for 500 crowns. With this he called on Mr. Fletcher, and, as he exhibited it with exultation, Mr. F. took it, folded it up and put it into his pocket, saying: "It strikes me, young man, that you have possessed yourself of this note by some indirect method; and in honesty I cannot return it but with my brother's knowledge and approbation." Instantly the pistol was at his breast, and he was told, as he valued his life, to return the draft. "My life," replied Mr. Fletcher, "is secure in the protection of the Almighty power who guards it." This led the nephew to remark that his uncle De Gons was more afraid of death. "Afraid of death!" rejoined Mr. Fletcher, "do you think I have been twenty-five years the minister of the Lord of life to be afraid of death now? No, sir, thanks be to God who giveth me the victory! It is for you to fear death who have every reason to fear it. You are a gamester and a cheat, yet call yourself a gentleman. . . . Look, there, sir, look there! See the broad eye of Heaven is fixed upon us. Tremble in the presence of your Maker, who can in a moment kill your body, and for ever punish your soul in hell." The youth was disarmed, and the interview ended in his uncle praying with him, and promising to give him a hundred crowns to relieve his immediate necessities.--_From "The Proverbs Illustrated."_

_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._

Fear is anything but a refuge in itself. But as faith was imputed to the patriarch for righteousness (Rom. iv. 22), so this need not cloud Christ's merit. Christ has so saved us that _fear_ becomes our hope. He who has experienced _"fear"_ has gone into a retreat; nothing can dislodge him from it. If the lost tremble, let them learn to _fear;_ for by _fear_ they become children of God, and as _children of God_ they have an eternal _refuge.--Miller._

Fear hath torment (1 John iv. 18; Acts xxiv. 25). It is the trembling of the slave (Rom. viii. 15); the dread of wrath, not of sin. There is no _confidence_ here. It is pure selfishness. It ends in self. There is no homage to God. But the true _fear of God_ is a holy, happy, reverential principle (see Psa. cxii. 1; xxxiii. 18; cxlvii. 11); not that which love "casts out" (1 John iv. 18), but which love brings in. We fear, because we love. We fear, yet we are not afraid (Psa. cxii. 1-7). The holiest and humblest is the most fixed and trusting heart. The fear of man produces faintness (Jonah i. 3; Gal. ii. 12). The _fear of the Lord_--such is the Christian paradox--emboldens. Its childlike spirit shuts out all terrors of conscience, all forebodings of eternity. Abraham sacrificed his son in the _fear of the Lord;_ yet fully _confident_ "that God was able to raise him up from the dead" (Gen. xxii. 12, with Heb. xi. 17-19).--_Bridges._

What confidence shall be strong, if this is not strong? He confides in that which is all infinite:--the truth, the love, the wisdom, the power of his covenant God! Whatever the love of God has induced Him graciously to promise, no power or combination of powers in existence can stay from being done.--_Wardlaw._

It does not mean that the fear of God is something on which one can rely, but that it has (xxii. 19; Jer. xvii. 7) an inheritance which is enduring, unwavering, and not disappointing in God, who is the object of fear; for it is not faith, nor anything else subjective, which is the rock that bears us, but this rock is the object that faith lays hold of (Cf. Isa. xxviii. 16).--_Delitzsch._

Gregory, writing upon those words in Job iv. 6, "Is not this thy fear, thy confidence?" etc., saith that although Eliphaz did wrongfully reprove Job, yet he doth rightly set down the order of the virtues, when he joineth fortitude to fear. For in the way of God we must begin with fear that we may come to fortitude. For as in the course of the world boldness breedeth courage, so in the way of God it breedeth weakness, and as in the course of the world fear begetteth weakness, so in the way of God it bringeth forth confidence.--_Jermin._

The fear which brings a sinner submissive and trustful to the sacrifice and righteousness of the Substitute is itself a confidence. . . . Those who went early to the sepulchre and looked into the empty grave where the Lord lay, departed from the place with "fear and great joy." A human soul made at first in God's image has great capacities still. In that large place fear and great joy can dwell together. . . . The filial fear of the children may be known by this, that it takes in beside itself a great joy, and the two brethren dwell together in unity. . . . "His children shall have a place of refuge." They "are kept by the power of God.". . . There are two keepings very diverse from each other, and yet alike in this, that both employ as their instruments strong walls and barred gates. Great harm accrues for confounding them, and therefore the distinction should be kept clear. Gates and bars may be closed around you for the purpose of keeping you in, or of keeping your enemy out. The one is a prison, the other a fortress. In construction and appearance the two edifices are in many respects similar. The walls are in both cases high and the bars strong. In both it is essential that the guards should be watchful and trusty. But they differ in this: the prison is constructed with a view to prevent escape from within, the fortress to defy assault from without. In their design and use they are exact contraries. The one makes sure the bondage, the other the liberty of its inmates. In both cases it is a _keep,_ and in both cases the _keep_ is strong--the one to keep the prisoner in, the other to keep the enemy out. The fear of the Lord to those who are within, and have tasted of His grace, is the strong confidence of a fortress to defend them from every foe; to those who look at it from without, it often seems a frowning prison that will close away the sunlight from all who go within its portals, and waste young life away in mouldy dungeons. Mistakes are common on this point, and mistakes are disastrous. . . . Though the refuge is provided, and the gate standing open, and the invitation free, poor wanderers stand shivering without because a suspicion clings to the guilty conscience, that the "strong tower" offered as a safe dwelling place will turn out to be a place of confinement from genial society and human joys.--_Arnot._

FOR HOMILETICS ON VERSE 27 SEE ON THE PRECEDING VERSE AND ON