33. The Scattered Proverbs of Scripture
The Scattered Proverbs of Scripture
Chapter 32 A proverb is a wise saying in which a few words are chosen instead of many, with a design to condense wisdom into a brief form both to aid memory and stimulate study. Hence proverbs are not only “wise sayings,” but “dark sayings”—parables, in which wisdom is disguised in a figurative or enigmatic form like a deep well, from which instruction is to be drawn, or a rich mine, from which it is to be dug. Only profound meditation will reveal what is hidden in these moral and spiritual maxims. This department of study is quite apart from that of professed collections and arrangements of such wise sayings like the “books of wisdom.” Dispersed throughout the whole Word of God are these occasional sententious utterances, brief maxims, part of whose beauty and value depends on the fact that a few well chosen words are used in which great truth is condensed. In many cases antithesis is designedly used, the opposing points of a contrasted statement serving, like the opposite sides of a forceps, to hold firmly and present boldly an ethical or spiritual truth. A great service would be done to Bible readers if some collection of these scattered axioms or maxims could be carefully arranged. We give a few examples, partly to stimulate such further study. There are not less than five hundred of these scattered axioms and proverbs, having singular brevity and beauty, variety and pertinency; some of them have so intimate a bearing on the immediate context as to be the text of which it is the discourse, as in Luke 12:15.
“Take heed and beware of covetousness; For a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth,”
Here, in the entire teaching that follows (Luke 12:16-59), there are only amplification and illustration of these three truths: first, the danger of covetousness; second, the dignity and value of life; and third, false estimates of riches and the true estimate of treasure.
“Keep thee far from a false matter” (Exodus 23:7). This is a representative injunction, the importance of which does not at first appear. The original words hint at a painted sham or gilded counterfeit. So understood, here is a warning for all time to come. It is a historical fact that the most subtle errors and evils, both in doctrine and practice, have been counterfeits and imitations of what is good, where, the closer the resemblance, the greater the risk. Satan’s age long business has been that of a counterfeiter: his worst snares are not found in systems openly antagonistic to God and truth, but in things half good and half evil, in half truths mixed with half lies, a skillful combination of what is attractive and what is repulsive, where all that is lawful or commendable is adulterated and corrupted by such mixture with its opposite. For example, false doctrine, corrupted worship, formal godliness, a Satanic synagogue, antichrist, lying wonders and miracles of falsehood, a false civilization or commonwealth, and the mystery of lawlessness. Whatever God gives to man as a blessing, Satan thus perverts into a curse, by devising something so like it as to deceive the unwary and if possible the very elect; and yet so unlike it as to be in fact antagonistic to it in spirit and in tendency. Compare Acts 20:30; James 2:26; 2 Timothy 3:5; Revelation 17; Matthew 24:4-5; 2 Thessalonians 2:9; Revelation 17:8; Revelation 20:1, with 1:4. In some cases in the original the contrast is marvelously conveyed, as in the following case, suggested in the apocalypse: hē nymphē kai to arnion;
hē pornē kai to thērion. This parallel and contrast cannot easily be conveyed in English.
“The bride and the lamb;” “the harlot and the beast.”
Thus, as far back as the giving of the Sinaitic Code of Law, God gave a brief caution, which has a vital bearing upon the whole future history of the race, warning men against the risk of being imposed upon by deceptive appearances and imitations of truth and goodness.
Sometimes such proverbs interpret the entire body of scriptural truth or serve to hint the whole secret of the contrasted experience of saints and sinners, as in our Lord’s maxim:
“He that saveth his life shall lose it; But he that loseth his life for My sake, the same shall save it.” This is the only such proverbial saying of our Lord which is substantially repeated in all four Gospel narratives (Matthew 10:39; Matthew 16:25; Mark 8:35; Luke 9:24; Luke 17:33; John 12:25); and manifestly because it embodies a fundamental law both of redemptive blessing and redemptive service. “Life” here stands for self interest and advantage: to save one’s self is ultimate self loss; and to sacrifice self is ultimate self gain. Life is the first of all the possessions that men value; because, without life, there can be nothing else possessed or enjoyed. Hence, life naturally stands for what men most value as the highest form of self interest. And our Lord here contrasts those who put self life with all self interest, foremost, with those who put God’s interest foremost and for that surrender and sacrifice all that is dearest to self. He declares that those who thus give God preference over self shall find ultimately that they have only advanced and promoted their own highest interest; while those who for the time now present put self before God and jealously guard their own advancement will ultimately find that they have lost even the advantage they seemed to secure. The universal bearing of such a proverbial precept as this, no words can convey. It interprets life, duty, sacrifice, service, reward; it shows self-denial to be not a final forfeiture but a temporary postponement. It links the temporal and the eternal and reveals their mutual relations, and it hints the essential law both of the worldly life and the saintly. The proverb takes the form of the paradox, purposely, that attention may be arrested by the contradiction in terms which covers perfect accord of sentiment.
Sometimes from a single book may be culled a whole body of brief and telling maxims. Of all the examples of this none surpass the Book of Daniel in the Old Testament and of Hebrews in the New, except those which, like the books of Psalms and Proverbs, naturally take the form of maxims, or are professedly collections and arrangements of wise sayings. In Daniel we meet with a series of maxims, especially suitable to young men, for example:
“He purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself” (Daniel 1:8).
“God revealeth the deep and secret things” (Daniel 2:22).
“Our God, whom we serve, is able to deliver us” (Daniel 3:17).
“Those that walk in pride He is able to abase” (Daniel 4:37).
“Thou art weighed in the balances and found wanting” (Daniel 5:27).
“An excellent spirit was in him” (Daniel 6:3).
“He believed in his God” (Daniel 6:23).
“I kept the matter in my heart” (Daniel 7:28).
“I had seen the vision, and sought for the meaning” (Daniel 8:15).
“I set my face unto the Lord God to seek by prayer” (Daniel 9:3).
“My comeliness was turned in me into corruption” (Daniel 10:8).
“The people that do know their God shall be strong and do exploits” (Daniel 11:32).
“They that be teachers shall shine as the brightness of the firmament;
“And they that turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever” (Daniel 12:3).
“Stand in thy lot” (Daniel 12:13).
In the Epistle to the Hebrews may be found between thirty and forty maxims, of which the following are examples:
Take heed (Hebrews 2:1; Hebrews 3:12)
Lay aside (Hebrews 12:1)
Lay hold (Hebrews 6:18)
Hold fast (Hebrews 3:6; Hebrews 3:14; Hebrews 4:14; Hebrews 10:23)
Consider Him (Hebrews 3:1; Hebrews 12:3)
Harden not your hearts (Hebrews 3:8; Hebrews 3:13; Hebrews 3:15; Hebrews 4:7)
Hear His voice (Hebrews 3:7; Hebrews 3:15; Hebrews 4:7)
Let us fear (Hebrews 4:1)
Labor to enter in (Hebrews 4:11)
Come boldly (Hebrews 4:16)
Draw nigh or near (Hebrews 7:19; Hebrews 10:22)
Look for Him (Hebrews 9:28)
Look unto Him (Hebrews 12:2)
Look diligently (Hebrews 12:15)
Show diligence
Refuse not (Hebrews 12:25)
Despise not (Hebrews 12:5)
Faint not (Hebrews 12:5)
Cast not away (Hebrews 10:35)
Go on to perfection (Hebrews 6:1)
Go forth unto Him
Whose faith follow (Hebrews 13:7)
etc.
There are many more such maxims in this one epistle.
Several examples have been already cited and dwelt upon in this and former sections; but we instance some twenty or more from each Testament, culled almost at random, which serve to show how rich the Word of God is in these scattered sayings of wisdom, meant to be maxims and axioms for our guidance. Found at various points in the inspired Scriptures, they strike the mind at once as marvelously comprehensive, and sometimes as exhaustive of ethical and spiritual truth.
Be ye holy, for I the Lord your God, am holy (Leviticus 19:2).
Be sure your sin will find you out (Numbers 32:23).
Be strong and of a good courage (Joshua 1:6).
The Lord recompense thy work (Ruth 2:12).
Thou, Thou only knowest the hearts (1 Kings 8:39).
Jeroboam sinned and made Israel to sin (1 Kings 15:30).
They feared Jehovah and served their own gods (2 Kings 17:33).
As the duty of every day required (Ezra 3:4)
The hand of our God is upon all them for good that seek Him (Ezra 8:22).
Arise; for this matter belongeth unto thee!
We also will be with thee:
Be of good courage and do it (Ezra 10:4).
The God of Heaven, He will prosper us
Therefore we, His servants will arise and build (Nehemiah 2:20).
“Every one, over against his house” (Nehemiah 3:28)
The builders, everyone had his sword girded by his side (Nehemiah 4:18).
The heathen perceived that this work was wrought of our God (Nehemiah 6:16).
Cease to do evil
Learn to do well (Isaiah 1:16-17).
The Lord alone shall be exalted;
And the idols He shall utterly abolish (Isaiah 2:17-18).
Return unto me and I will return unto you (Malachi 3:7).
Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse (Malachi 3:10).
They that feared the Lord spake often one to another
And the Lord hearkened and heard it (Malachi 3:16).
Abide in Me and I in you (John 15:4).
Whatsoever is not of faith is sin (Romans 14:23).
He that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit (1 Corinthians 6:17).
Not I but Christ (Galatians 2:20).
By love serve one another (Shaftesbury’s coat-of-arms) (Galatians 5:13).
Walk in the Spirit,
And ye shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh (Galatians 5:16).
Bear ye one another’s burdens (Galatians 6:2).
Every man shall bear his own burden (Galatians 6:5).
Whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap (Galatians 6:7).
Be filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18).
One thing I do (Php 3:13).
Our citizenship is in Heaven (Php 3:20).
Be careful for nothing (Php 4:6).
Ye are complete in Him (Colossians 2:10).
Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom (Colossians 3:16).
Serve and wait (1 Thessalonians 1:9-10).
Adorn the doctrine (Titus 2:10).
Be content with such things as ye have (Hebrews 13:5).
We have here no continuing city (Hebrews 13:14).
The body without the spirit is dead (James 2:26).
Hope to the end (1 Peter 1:13).
Keep yourselves in the love of God (Jude 1:21).
Hold fast till I come (Revelation 2:25).
A few of these scattered sayings should have a word of comment by the way:
“The Lord is with you while ye be with Him.” Already referred to as the unique maxim of Azariah, this is the explanation of a thousand successes and disappointments of life (2 Chronicles 15:2).
“The Lord is a God of knowledge;
By Him actions are weighed” (1 Samuel 2:3).
This probably suggested the awful metaphor “Tekel” in the writing on the wall (Daniel 5:27).
“Quit you like men, be strong” (1 Samuel 4:9; 1 Corinthians 16:13).
This is especially remarkable as a maxim, originating with Philistine enemies of Israel, and addressed to the warriors of their own army, but adopted by the apostle and addressed to fellow disciples.
“Every man did that which was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25). What a brief compendium of a state of anarchy!
“To obey is better than sacrifice” (1 Samuel 15:22).
Here is the great principle, illustrating such other utterances as Psalms 40:6-8; Psalms 51:16-17, which it may have suggested:
“The Lord seeth not as man seeth: For man looketh on the outward appearance; But the Lord looketh upon the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7). This remarkable saying might be written over the whole volume of Scripture, as the principle of all divine judgments.
“For we must needs die, And be as water spilt upon the ground, Which cannot be gathered up again.
Neither doth God respect any person.
Yet doth He devise means that His banished be not expelled from Him” (2 Samuel 14:14).
This short poetic outburst of the woman of Tekoah has almost the ring of inspiration. What a view of the human side of death, its wastefulness and hopelessness! What a sublime view of God’s impartiality and absolute rectitude! And what a marvelously condensed compendium of His redemptive scheme.
“We do not well: This day is a day of good tidings, And we hold our peace!
Come—that we may go and tell” (2 Kings 7:9).
Can there be found a more beautiful lesson on missions than this from the lepers of Samaria? And how close the analogy! A world-famine—abundance of supply—the guilt of selfish monopoly—the blessed privilege of going and telling the good news!
“So they read in the book of the law of God distinctly: And gave the sense; And caused them to understand the reading (Nehemiah 8:8).
We suggest this as a motto for a church Bible school.
“Our God turned the curse into a blessing” (Nehemiah 13:2).
“I will curse your blessings” (Malachi 2:2).
How obviously these two sayings are mutually counterparts, presenting the two aspects of God’s dealing, making the curse of foes and enemies a blessing to His own obedient friends and allies; but turning even outward blessing into a curse when received in unthankfulness and perverted by disobedience!