CHAPTER XIII
. 14 PAGE 313.
_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._
Verses 26 and 27. The whole system of religion is expressed in the _fear of God._ A religion which makes this fear the principle of
## action implicitly condemns all self-confidence and presumptuous
security, enjoins a constant state of vigilance and caution, a perpetual distrust of our own hearts, a full conviction of our natural weakness, and an earnest solicitude for Divine assistance. It keeps men always attentive to the motives and consequences of
## actions; always unsatisfied with present attainments; always wishing
to advance and always afraid of falling away. The blessings it brings in its train are--1. _Security._ "Strong confidence." "Place of refuge." "Great is the confidence of a good conscience." "Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us, and He _will deliver_ us" (Dan. iii. 17). "None of these things move me" (Acts xx. 24). When they told Numa that the enemy was at the gates, he simply answered, "But I am sacrificing." When Antonius was threatened, he replied, "We have not so worshipped, neither have we so lived, that we should fear their conquering us" (_Trapp_). If such was the confidence of heathens, what should be that of Christians? God's children "know in whom they have believed" (2 Tim. i. 12). 2. _Consolation._ "A fountain of life." So called from the constancy of its supply. A confluence of the blessings, grace here and glory hereafter--present and future--upper and nether springs. David combines both when he says, "Thou shalt guide me with Thy counsel and afterward receive me to glory" (Psa. lxxiii. 24). He refers to the future when he says, "Oh, how great is Thy goodness, which Thou hast laid up for them that fear Thee, which Thou hast wrought for them that trust in Thee before the sons of men!" (Psa. xxxi. 19). Here he speaks not only of what God has _laid up,_ but of what He has _laid out_--not only of what he has in prospect, but of what he has in experience. 3. _Deliverance from dangerous temptations._ "To depart from the snares of death." "The way of this world is like the Vale of Siddim (Gen. xiv. 19), treacherous and slippery and full of snares" (_Trapp_). But he that fears the Lord has many safeguards. "The integrity of the upright shall guide them" (chap. xi. 3).--_S. Thodey._
Verse 27. "The law of the wise" is "the fear of the Lord," for of both the same things are predicted (chap xiii. 14).--_Fausset._
Not only does Christian confidence open a cover from the guilt, but it roots out the power of sin. For among the countless throngs of the redeemed, not one finds a cover from condemnation, who is not renovated into spiritual life.--_Bridges._
The fear of the Lord teacheth wisdom, and wisdom teacheth that an evil feared is much the sooner avoided, and that it is a great safety of life to fear death. Wherefore St. Cyprian saith, "Be ye fearful, that ye may be without fear; fear the Lord, that ye may not fear death." For the same fountain doth not send forth bitter waters and sweet; life and death do not issue from the same spring.--_Jermin._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 28.
A KING'S TRUE GLORY.
+I. Human rulers are dependent upon their people for honour.+ 1. _The safety of the king's crown depends largely upon the number of his subjects._ This was certainly the case in the days of Solomon, and is so now to a large extent. Small kingdoms are very likely even in these days to be engulfed by more powerful states--by those who can bring into the field an overpowering number of warriors. Numbers hold the diadems on the heads of the rulers of the great nations of Europe. That Palestine was to some extent an exception to this rule was due to the especial providence of Jehovah--that it was ever overpowered by numbers was because its inhabitants forsook their covenant God. But the general rule holds good. 2. _The prosperity of their land depends upon its being well populated._ Other things being equal, a populous kingdom will do more business with other nations--will plant colonies and mix more with the inhabitants of other lands; and all these things extend a nation's influence and so make its ruler's position a more honourable one.
+II. It is therefore a matter of self-interest that a ruler should govern his people righteously.+ There is a lesson which the potentates of the earth have been slow to learn although the page of history abounds with so many examples of the peril of disregarding it. It would be the destruction of the head if it were to say to the other members of the body, by which it is maintained in life and health, "I have no need of thee." The existence of the one depends upon that of the other. And it is not less so with the body politic. The safety and honour of the king is bound up in the well-being of his subjects. Where the one is dependent upon the many, self-interest, as well as duty, point to his so ruling that his people may enjoy peace and prosperity and so multiply.
_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._
There is a natural tendency in the population of a country to increase. When, therefore, population diminishes, there must be some cause _counterworking nature._ The subjects of a country may be wasted in destructive and depopulating wars; they may be driven by oppression to quit their native land, and to seek a refuge in more distant regions; they may be starved and reduced by measures that are injurious and ruinous to trade--measures that keep up the price of bread and depress the wages of labour. . . . The existence of a thriving vigorous population is a mark of freedom, of wise and impartial legislation, of paternal care--and it is the palladium of all that is desirable in the results of human rule.--_Wardlaw._
A sentiment arrayed against feeble princes who nevertheless array themselves with disproportionate splendour; and this, as also verse 34, is designed to call attention to the principle, that it is not external and seeming advantages, but simply and solely the inward competence and moral excellence, whether of the head or of the members of a commonwealth, that are the conditions of its temporal welfare.--_Lange's Commentary._
How great, then, is _the honour_ of our heavenly _King in the countless multitudes of His people!_ How overwhelmingly glorious will it appear when the completed number shall stand before His throne (Rev. vii. 9, 10); each the medium of reflecting His glory (2 Thess. i. 10); each with a crown to cast at His feet (Rev. iv. 10, 11), and a song of everlasting joy to time to His praise (Rev. v. 9).--_Bridges._
All grades depend upon their inferiors. The poor have us in their power. To be kind to them is a dictate of common selfishness. Carried into a spiritual light, the truth becomes much wider. Half of heaven will be what we did for the poor. Solomon was familiar with this as a king; but he marks the sentence as one for all humanity. If a man wishes to be comfortable on earth, let him make his inferiors great. And, if he wishes to be rich in heaven, let him cultivate with assiduous zest the graces of the perishing.--_Miller._
The occurrence of this political precept in the midst of the maxims of personal morality is striking. Still more so is its protest against the false ideal of national greatness to which Eastern kings, for the most part, have bowed down.--_Plumptre._
The people are the king's best treasury; in their scarcity he cannot be rich. Worthy was the speech of that Goth, the king of Italy, who, speaking of his subjects, saith, "Our harvest is the rest of all."--_Jermin._
NOTE.--The population of England and Wales in 1700 was about 5,475,000. At the beginning of the present century it was between eight and nine millions; it now exceeds twenty millions.
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 29.
GREAT UNDERSTANDING.
+I. There are times and occasions when wrath is not only allowable, but right.+ A man who is incapable of being angry lacks an element of perfection. Anger against wrong-doing is possible without any feeling of vindictiveness or malice towards the wrong-doer. There is much in the Bible about the "wrath of God" (Rom. i. 18), although He is "love" (1 John iv. 8). A child does not honour a parent the less, but the more, because he knows that parent can be angry when there is just occasion. Neither could we reverence God if He was a Being who could not be displeased.
+II. But a man who is slow to wrath shows--+1. _That he understands himself._ Even the holy and all-perfect God is "slow to anger" (Neh. ix. 17). Although He could not misjudge any creature, and although He could never by any possibility allow His wrath to exceed the bounds of perfect justice and righteousness, He is not "soon angry." The man who understands his own frailty and short-sightedness will not allow anger to take possession of his spirit in a hurry, if he is to "be angry and sin not" (Ephes. iv. 26), he must only be angry after due reflection upon the cause of his anger. 2. _That he understands others._ Hasty and passionate anger never convinces the offender of his guilt, but awakens wrath in his breast also. But the displeasure which is the result of calm consideration may carry some weight with it. On this subject see also Homiletics on verse 17.
_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._
"He that is hasty of spirit _exalteth_ folly." He gives folly for the time being the throne and sceptre of his mind, and fulfils her preposterous and mischievous dictates. And when reason, for the time deposed, resumes her vacated seat, she finds no easy task before her to repair the evils which have been done in the brief but stormy reign of passion.--_Wardlaw._
+I.+ The passion of anger is like wind to the ship: so it is to the soul called to steer its course to Immanuel's land. 1. If there be a dead calm, and the winds blow not at all, or very weakly, the ship does not make way. And if men be so stupid, indolent, and unconcerned, that their spirits will not stir in them, whatever dishonour they see done to God, these are standing still in the way to heaven. And many there be, who are all fire in their own matters, but in those of God their hearts are dead as a stone. Such was the case of Eli: _"His sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not"_ (1 Sam. iii. 13). It was not so with Paul: for _"his spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry"_ (Acts xvii. 16). 2. If the wind is brisk enough, but yet is contrary, the ship will at best have much ado with it, and may be driven into a shore which the crew desired not to see. So if men's anger be in itself sinful, if their anger burn against what is good and just: such anger cannot fail of an unhappy event. 3. Though the wind be not contrary, yet if it be too impetuous and violent, it may dash the ship on rocks and split it. So though men's anger may have a just ground, yet if it prove excessive and boisterous, it may run men headlong into great mischiefs. Oft-times reason lets anger into the breast; but then anger turns out reason to the door, and carries on all precipitantly without reason or discretion: like one that brings in coal to his hearth, because of the cold, but unwarily lets it fall on tow, which sets the house on fire. +II.+ He that is slow to wrath. 1. _Is slow to take up anger in his own cause._ It is wisdom indeed to be very tender of God's honour, but more indifferent about our own personal interests, as Moses was. 2. _Manages it warily when it is taken up._ He finds himself on slippery ground, and is therefore slow in his motions. 3. _Is easy to lay it down_ (Ephes. iv. 26-27). He shuts it out when there is no more use for it. +III.+ The passionate man proclaims his folly--he proclaims himself--1. _A proud man,_ and the proud man is a fool in God's account and in the account of all who understand themselves. 2. _A weak man._ He is a slave to his passions. 3. _An unwatchful man,_ who has his enemies within him, without him, round about him, and yet cannot be brought to stand on his guard (Prov. iv. 23, 24).--_Boston._
Wise anger is like fire from the flint, there is a great ado to bring it out; and when it does come, it is out again immediately.--_Henry._
The intoxication of anger, like that of the grape, shows us to others, but hides us from ourselves.--_Southgate's "Many Thoughts on Many Things."_
The heaviest body is slowest in going, but his treading is the surest; in like manner, he that is slow to anger recompenses the dulness of his steps with the soundness of his proceeding; for he taketh leisure (as it were) to look of his ways. Tertullian says, "Where the injury is little, there is no need of patience; but where the injury is great, there is the help of patience more needful against it. If they be small wrongs, contemn them for their smallness; if great wrongs, by patience give way unto them in respect of their greatness." The original of _hasty,_ is _short-winded._ For as haste in going maketh the breath to be short, so the haste of the soul to anger maketh that to puff and blow on every small occasion; so that the soul is as it were climbing up a great hill, there to _exalt her folly,_ for all to behold it.--_Jermin._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 30.
A SOUND HEART.
_The blessed effects of a contented spirit._ The "sound heart" being here placed in contrast to "envy," shows that it means a spirit that is content with its lot in life--that is not ever reaching after the unattainable--that is not jealous of others who are in more favourable circumstances. Such a quietness of spirit is--
+I. Favourable to bodily health.+ The mind of a passionate man wears out the bodily frame, and no passion that can possess the soul is more imperious and agitating, and consequently more injurious to health than envy. Jealousy is said to be as "cruel as the grave" (_Cant._ viii. 6), and it is cruel not only to the objects of it, but also to him who allows it a dwelling-place in his spirit. Its withering effects are felt even in the body, it is "rottenness of the bones" in this sense. But a contented spirit goes a long way to promote and to preserve bodily health. A quiet spirit is a stranger to all those restless feelings which give sleepless nights and anxious days to the envious man.
+II. It is indispensable to the attainment of a noble character.+ Calmness of spirit gives room for the development of all the graces and virtues which go to make up the "perfect man" (Ephes. iv. 13). Growth in nature demands some degree of quietness and calmness to develop itself. The mighty forest oak of a hundred years has attained its present noble dimensions by processes which have gone on for the most part in days and nights of stillness. So a character of moral strength and beauty can be formed only in the atmosphere of a calm and well-governed spirit.
_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._
_"Envy,"_ excitement of any kind; _perturbation;_ a wise saw, perhaps, of the old hygiene, but true spiritually. Religion rejoices in peace. Mad passion may be overruled; but so can our lusts be. As much as lieth in us, we should have peace. The soul is a temple (1 Cor. iii. 17), and "holiness becometh Thy house, O Lord, for ever" (Psa. xciii. 5).--_Miller._
The word _sound_ signifies healthful, free from _moral distempers_--the distempers of "the inner man," such as discontent, malice, and envy. Strictly speaking a _"sound heart"_--a heart entirely free from the evil passions that belong to fallen nature--is not to be found. But in Scripture a _sound_ heart, and even a _perfect_ heart, are phrases used to signify the real sincerity and predominant rule of right principles and actions. Envy, perhaps the most odious in itself, and the most corroding and torturing to the spirit, is here called "rottenness of the bones"--not a mere _surface sore,_ but a deep-seated disease; like _caries,_ or inflammation in the substance of the bone itself.--_Wardlaw._
+I. The nature of envy.+ It is a pain, or uneasiness, arising from an apprehension of the prosperity and good fortune of others; not because we suffer from their welfare, nor that our condition may be bettered by our uneasiness, but merely because their condition is bettered. There is a strong jealousy of pre-eminence and superiority implanted in our nature by Almighty God, for wise and noble purposes, to excite to the pursuit of laudable attainments, and the imitation of good and great actions. This principle is _emulation._ It is also an uneasiness occasioned by the good fortunes of others; but not because we repine at their prosperity; but because we ourselves have not attained the same good success. Its effect is to excite us to great designs, but when it meets with a corrupt disposition it degenerates into envy, the most malignant passion in human nature, the worst weed of the worst soil. So far from stirring up to imitation, envy labours to taint and depreciate what it does not so much as attempt to equal. +II. The cure for envy.+ 1. _That we endeavour to take a right estimate of things._ The laws of God are the eternal standards of good and evil; what they declare valuable, or enjoin as wise, are truly so, and what they disclaim as hurtful or worthless are, in fact, to be so regarded. 2. _That we try to make a right judgment of our own worth and abilities._ If we do this, we shall find that there are others in the world at least as wise and as good as we are, and perhaps we shall also find, that if merit were the standard of honour and affluence, we should not abound altogether as much as we do. 3. _Reflect seriously upon the vanity of all worldly advantage._ Shall we envy him _whose breath is in his nostrils?_ whose glory _fadeth as the flower of grass?--Delany._
Envy is called a passion, and passion means suffering. The patient who is ill of envy is a sinner and a sufferer too. He is an object of pity. It is a mysterious and terrible disease. The nerves of sensation within the man are attached by some unseen hand to his neighbours all around him, so that every step of advancement which they make tears the fibres which lie next his heart. The wretch enjoys a moment's relief when the mystic cord is temporarily slackened by his neighbour's fall; but his agony immediately begins again, for he anticipates another twitch as soon as the fallen is restored to prosperity. . . . The cure of envy, as wrought by the love of Christ, is not only a deliverance from pain, it is, even in the present world, an unspeakable gain. That man will speedily grow rich who gets and puts into his bag not only all his own winnings, but also all the winnings of his neighbours. . . . The Nile, contrary to the analogy of other great streams, flows more than a thousand miles without receiving the waters of a single tributary; the consequence is, that it grows no greater as it courses over that vast line. Other rivers are every now and then receiving converging streams from the right and left, and thereby their volume continually increases until it reaches the sea. The happiness of man is like the flow of water in a river. If you enjoy _nothing_ but what is your own, your tiny rivulet of contentment, so far from increasing, grows smaller by degrees, until it sinks unseen into the sand, and leaves you in a desert of despair; but when all the acquisitions of your neighbours go to swell its bulk, your enjoyment will flow like a river enriched by many affluents, growing ever greater as life approaches its close. It is some such river that makes glad the city of God.--_Arnot._
Socrates called envy the soul's saw; and wished that envious men had more eyes and ears than others, that they might have the more torment by beholding and hearing other men's happiness.--_Trapp._
Envy at last crawls forth from hell's dire throng, Of all the direfull'st! Her black locks hung long, Attired with curling serpents; her pale skin Was almost dropped from her sharp bones within; And at her breasts stuck vipers, which did prey Upon her panting heart both night and day, Sucking black blood from thence, which to repair, Both day and night they left fresh poisons there. Her garments were deep-stained in human gore, And torn by her own hands, in which she bore A knotted whip and bowl, which to the brim Did with green gall and juice of wormwood swim; With which, when she was drunk, she furious grew, And lashed herself; thus from the accursed crew Envy, the worst of fiends, herself presents, Envy, good only when she herself torments.--_Cowley._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 31.
THE OPPRESSED AND THEIR OPPRESSORS.
+I. Those who are the objects of oppression--+"The poor." They are made up of three classes. 1. _Those who have never known their supplies to be equal to their positive needs--who have not only always lived from hand to mouth, but whose hands have never been able to obtain a sufficient supply for the mouth._ Such poor ones have this advantage, they have never known better days--their life is like a river whose shallow waters have never overflowed its banks--whose channel has always been much deeper than the stream. There is no force of contrast to add to the present bitterness. 2. _Those who have been reduced from sufficiency to want._ To such poverty is a greater hardship than to those just mentioned. The light and comfort of the past makes the darkness and misery of the present harder to bear. If their own wrong-doing or mistakes have been the cause of their fall, the trial is all the heavier. 3. _There are those whom we call poor who, though not actually in want, have to toil hard and unceasingly for the necessaries of life, and who know nothing of the luxuries of wealth and ease._
+II. The oppression of any or all of these is an insult to God.+ To oppress the first is to oppress men for what they cannot help--for that for which they are as irresponsible as for the colour of their skin, and therefore it is to reproach Him who appointed them to their lot in life. To oppress the second is to insult God, by afflicting them beyond the affliction which He has permitted to fall upon them. Whether their present condition is retribution or chastisement, its measure has been appointed by the hand of the All-wise Ruler of men, and it is "reproaching" Him to add to it by oppression. If a child is being corrected by its parent, or a criminal is paying the penalty which the judge has awarded to him for his crimes, it is an impeachment of their judgment to add in any way to the punishment that has been decreed. Those who oppress the third class are guilty of a sin against those who have always been special objects of His favour, and who make up a large proportion of the members of His kingdom. (See Homiletics and Comments on verse 21.)
+III. Mercifulness to the poor reveals reverence for God.+ 1. _It shows that the man regulates his conduct by Divine laws._ God, as we have seen in considering the 21st verse, has been most explicit in the revelation of His will in this matter. 2. _He sees in every man some trace of his Divine Creator._
"Man is God's image; but a poor man is Christ's stamp to boot."--_Herbert._
_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._
_"Oppression"_ means something more than the contempt and neglect dealt with in verse 21. He who acts such a part "reproacheth His Maker." For, _first,_ he acts as if the poor were of another species--an inferior order of beings; whereas they have all the attributes of the same manhood with him by whom they are condemned. _Second,_ he acts as if the circumstances in which the poor are placed were a warrant for him to imitate the Divine conduct and depress them still further, which is a reproach of God, as if He dealt with the poor in spirit of unkindness or partiality. . . . A man may have mercy on the poor who does _not "honour God."_ Humanity may, and often does, exist without godliness; but godliness cannot exist without humanity.--_Wardlaw._
We treat God with no respect (1) when _"the poor,"_ who are His children are not treated as such; (2) when the poor, who are his dependents, are left unhelped, so as to seem to bring Him into discredit, but (as is most intended, judging from the whole drift of this part of the chapter) (3) when the poor, who are His instruments, and are sent to exercise our virtues, are not treated as such, but our _"Maker"_ thwarted in the work of _making us better_ by these needy visitants. Life moves by such sort of influences.--_Miller._
God takes it for an honour, how should this prevail with us. How exceedingly shall such be honoured in that great panegyris at the last day, when the Judge shall say, "Come, ye blessed of My Father, I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat."--_Trapp._
He that reproacheth the poor reproacheth his own Maker, and showeth himself unworthy to have been made by Him; reproacheth the Maker of the poor, as if either He could not help him, or else as if He had made him to be oppressed by making him poor. But God, who suffereth thee to oppress the poor, will not suffer thee to be unpunished for it, and seeing thou sparest not to reproach Himself, will not spare to scourge thee. Tully saith, "Men in nothing come nearer God than in giving," and Gregory Nazianzen goes further, and tells us, "Thou mayest even by no labour be made God, do not, therefore neglect the opportunity of obtaining a Deity. Make thyself God to the miserable, by imitating the mercy of God."--_Jermin._
The ancient Church possessed in full the glorious truth, that of all the real compassion which flows through human channels, the fountain-head is on high. He who gets mercy shows it.--_Arnot._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 32.
THE DEATH OF THE RIGHTEOUS AND THE WICKED.
+I. The wicked man dies unwillingly.+ He is "driven away." Our first parents,--conscious of the severance of a moral bond between them and God--knowing that they had fallen from their original position, in which they would have gone fearlessly and joyfully to any part of God's universe--ignorant of the unknown and dark future that lay before them--left their first home unwillingly. They had to be "driven out" of Eden (Gen. iii. 24). A man who is conscious of a moral distance between himself and God, seldom quits this world willingly. An _undefined_ dread, perhaps, but still a dread, of the unknown state beyond death possesses him, and he is made subject to the laws of death "unwillingly." As Adam had to be driven out of Eden, so he quits his present abode, not from choice, but from necessity. His unwillingness to go arises from his condition of heart--from his moral standing. He "is driven away _in his wickedness._" Adam's consciousness of guilt made him unwilling to quit his abode in Eden. The same consciousness makes men fear to die. "The sting of death is sin" (1 Cor. xv. 56). The man whose sins are unpardoned is conscious that he has much to fear in the unknown future. His spirit witnesses to the truth of the Divine Word, "After death, the judgment" (Heb. ix. 27).
+II. But to the righteous man the hour of death is a time of hope.+ He does not die in his sin. A separation has taken place between him and sin. He is conscious of having been delivered both from its guilt and its dominion. The severance that has already been accomplished has wrought a greater change than that which death can work. The change of _relationship to God_ and of _character_ which he has already experienced, has made a mere change of _place_ a matter of small moment in itself, and the change from this world to the heavenly city an occasion of hope and rejoicing. The angel of death is no officer of justice to bring him before his judge, but a messenger to guide him to his Father's house. The objects of this hope have been considered in Homiletics on chap. x. 24, 28; pages 176 and 181.
_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._
The righteous dies by his own consent. It is a glad surrender, not a forcible separation (Psa. xxxi. 5). The tabernacle is not rent, or torn away, but "put off" (2 Pet. i. 14).--_Bridges._
"The wicked is thrust lower by his evil" (see Critical Notes). _"Death,"_ that is, the worst form of _evil._ Observe the _crescendo. "Evil,"_ which is supposed to be a discipline, _"thrusts down the wicked;" death,_ the very grimmest of the list, becomes to the righteous a gracious refuge. _"Thrust lower,"_ this is an intensive expression. If trouble thrusts a man lower, how much more must joy and intoxicating wealth. The idea is--all hurts him. Even discipline hurts the lost.--_Miller._
Oh, the different departures of the reprobate and the Christian! The one knows he changeth for the better; the other mistrusts, for the worse; to the one death is a gulf of sorrow, to the other a port of liberty; he, because he is stripped for a scourging; this, because he lays aside his clothes, after his toil, to go to bed. . . . All our loathness to depart, and fears in departing, arise from our own unsettledness; we have not made sure to ourselves a dwelling in these glorious heavens; many mansions there be (John xiv. 2), we have not provided ourselves one.--_T. Adams._
A Christian should be a volunteer in death. Many of the martyrs were as willing to die as to dine; went to the fire as cheerful as to a feast, and courted its pale and ghastly countenance as if it had been a beautiful bride. . . . Cyprian said Amen to his own sentence of death. Bradford, being told by his keeper's wife that his chain was a-buying, and he was to die the next day, pulled off his hat and thanked God for it. . . . Ann Askew subscribed her confession in Newgate thus, "Written by me, Ann Askew, that neither wisheth for death nor feareth his might, and as merry as one that is bound towards heaven." Indeed it is said of a wicked man that his soul _is required of him,_ and that God _takes away his soul_ (Luke xii. 20; Job xxvii. 8); but of a godly man that he _giveth up the ghost,_ and he _cometh to his grave_ (Gen. xxv. 8; Job xiv. 10). . . . Socrates, and some of the wiser heathen, comforted themselves against the fear of death with this weak cordial, that it is common to men, the way of all the earth. Hence it was, when the Athenians condemned Socrates to die, he received the sentence with an undaunted spirit, and told them that they did nothing but what nature had before ordained for him. But the Christian hath a greater ground for a holy resolution, and a stronger cordial against the fears of death, even the hope of eternal life; and surely, if he that exceeds others in his cordials be excelled by them in courage, he disgraceth his physician. . . . It is no marvel that they who lived wickedly should die unwillingly, being "driven away in their wickedness," as a beast that is driven out of his den to the slaughter, or as a debtor driven by the officers out of his house, where he lay warm and surrounded by all sorts of comfort, to a nasty, loathsome prison.--_Swinnock._
It is storied of Godfrey, Duke of Bouillon, that when, in his expedition to the Holy Land, he came within view of Jerusalem, his army, seeing the high turrets, goodly buildings, and fair fronts, being even transported with the joyfulness of such a sight, gave a mighty shout that the earth was verily thought to ring with the noise thereof. Such is the rejoicing of a godly man in death, when he doth not see the turrets and towers of an earthly, but the spiritual building of a heavenly Jerusalem, and his soul ready to take possession of them. How doth he delight in his dissolution, when he sees grace changing into glory, hope into fruition, faith into vision, and love into perfect comprehension.--_Spencer's "Things New and Old."_
If this be true, it is a demonstration on the side of religion, and that upon three accounts. (1) Because the principles of religion, and the practice of them in a virtuous life, when they come to the last and utmost trial, do hold out. The belief of a God, the persuasion of our own immortality, and of the eternal recompense of another world--that _Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners_--is commonly more strong and vigorous in the minds of good men when they come to die; they have then a more clear apprehension and firm persuasion of the truth and reality of these things, than ever they had at any time of their lives, and find more peace and joy in the belief of them. . . . And the principles of infidelity and vice are more apt to shrink and give back at such a time. (2) The principles of religion minister comfort to us in the most needful and desirable time. If it be true of every day of our lives, _sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof,_ much more of the day of death. It is surely enough to have that one enemy to encounter, at which nature startles even when the sting is taken away. . . . If there were nothing beyond this life, it were worth while to provide for a quiet death. There is no man that calculates things wisely that would, for all the pleasures of sin, forfeit the peace and comfort of a righteous soul, going out of the world full of the hopes of a blessed immortality. (3) When men are commonly most serious and impartial, and their declarations are thought to be of the greatest weight, they give this testimony to religion and virtue, and against impiety and vice. Even Lucretius says, "Men's words then come from the bottom of their heart, the mask is taken off, and things then appear to them as indeed they are." In these circumstances men generally declaim most vehemently against their sins and vices, and declare on the side of piety and virtue. Surely this is a great testimony on the side of religion, because it is the testimony not only of its friends, but of those who have been its greatest enemies.--_Tillotson._
A clear testimony to a future state of rewards and punishments.--_Wordsworth._
Though there was no revelation of immortality and resurrection then, still the pious in death put their confidence in Jahve, the God of life and of salvation--for in Jahve there was for ancient Israel the beginning, middle, and end of the work of salvation--and believing that they were going home to Him, committing their spirit into His hands (Psa. xxxi. 6), they fell asleep, though without any explicit knowledge, yet not without the hope of eternal life. Job also knew that (xxvii. 8) between the death of those estranged from God and of those who feared God there was not only an external, but a deep essential distinction; and now the wise man opens up a glimpse into the eternity heavenwards (chap. xv. 24), and has formed (chap. 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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