25-Pro_11:18-23
LECTURE XXV.
"The wicked worketh a deceitful work: but to him that soweth righteousness shall be a sure reward. As righteousness tendeth to life: so he that pursueth evil pursueth it to his own death. They that are of a froward heart are abomination to the Lord: but such as are upright in their way are his delight. Though hand join in hand, the wicked shall not be unpunished: but the seed of the righteous shall be delivered. As a jewel of gold in a swine’s snout, so is a fair woman which is without discretion. The desire of the righteous is only good: but the expectation of the wicked is wrath." The expression in the first of these verses, "a deceitful work" does not mean a work of deceit practised by the wicked upon others, but a work deceitful to himself. By some the phrase is rendered "an unprofitable work," which, in point of effect, is much the same; unprofitable meaning, obviously, the reverse of that which he himself anticipates: hence "deceitful." As to present happiness, his course proves so; for even amid wealth, should he acquire it, and the temporal honours and earthly benefits which wealth brings with it, he still feels the truth of His words who never uttered aught but what was in accordance with fact-"A man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth," Luke 12:15. And if he looks for anything else in the end than the final ruin of all to which he had trusted, he will find himself still more deceived,-his fondest hopes blasted for eternity! Although it was not all truth that was spoken by Job’s three friends, and though even of what was true the principle and motive were wrong; yet much of what was true they did speak; and their descriptions are at times very forcible and striking. Such is that of Bildad the Shuhite, "Can the rush grow up without mire? can the flag grow without water? Whilst it is yet in his greenness, and not cut down, it withereth before any other herb. So are the paths of all that forget God; and the hypocrite’s hope shall perish: whose hope shall be cut off, and whose trust shall be a spider’s web," Job 8:11-14. And the apostle Paul represents the connexion between wickedness and final destruction as of the same certainty with that between the seed and the harvest-"Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting," Galatians 6:7-8. The connexion is equally sure on both sides of the alternative. The reaping must be according to the sowing. He who, with the hand of faith, "sows righteousness"-sows the seeds of spiritual obedience-shall, as his "sure reward" reap life; while he who scatters in this world the seeds of earthly-mindedness and sin shall reap, as his "sure reward," in the world to come, a harvest of death. This is a law of the moral world as infallible in its operation as any law of the physical world. The same general thought is continued in verse Proverbs 11:19. "As righteousness tendeth to life: so he that pursueth evil pursueth it to his own death." The "sure reward" in the preceding verse is "life" in this: and as that reward is sure in the one case, the "deceitfulness of the wicked’s work" lies in its effecting "death" as its result, instead of "life." He who "pursueth evil" may overtake it, and may boast himself in the success of his pursuit. But the very evil that he overtakes shall slay him. It is as if a man were to pursue a serpent, captivated by the beauty of its appearance in its shifting and glistering hues, but ignorant of the venom of its sting or its fang, and, in the act of laying hold of it, were to receive the deadly wound. Death treads on the very heels of the man who "pursueth evil;" and when he overtakes the evil, Death overtakes him. And in the next verse we have the reason why "life" is attached to "righteousness," and "death" to "evil." It is, that God, from the holiness of Ids nature, infinitely loves the one, and infinitely hates the other. "They that are of a froward heart are abomination to the Lord: but such as are upright in their way are his delight." Many a time, and in various and striking ways, has God given testimony to the truth of this declaration, but nowhere and at no time was it so impressively displayed, as in the deeply awful scenes of Gethsemane and Calvary. On the cross it was written in blood-the blood of His own Son! And while God’s hatred of sin is infinite, his determination to punish it is immutable, and his power on the part of sinners irresistible, verse Proverbs 11:21. "Though hand join in hand, the wicked shall not be unpunished: but the seed of the righteous shall be delivered." The terms "though" and "join" are supplementary. The words stand literally-"Hand in hand the wicked shall not be unpunished." It is said that no fewer than sixteen interpretations have been given of the words; and, as not seldom happens, the most common seems to be by far the most natural. "Hand in hand" is the emblem of union; of united power; of pledged combination:-and the sentiment seems to be, as expressed in our authorised version, that sinners, combining their counsel and their power,-encouraging one another in evil,-braving the "terrors of the Lord,"-jointly laughing away their fears, and perpetrating evil with a high and determined hand, shall not be the more secure from the penal consequences of their sins. "There is no wisdom, nor understanding, nor counsel," no, nor might, whether personal or combined, "against the Lord." They may combine successfully against human authority and vigilance, and may successfully resist the power of an earthly government; but if God be against them, escape they cannot. To the counterpart of the sentiment in the previous verses an addition is made in the second clause of this. It is not said merely "the righteous," but "the seed of the righteous shall be delivered." This implies the divine favour and blessing to the righteous themselves in the first instance:-and then there is a regard to "the seed" for their sakes. Their offspring have many a time been regarded and kept from evil on their account. We see in the divine conduct, at times, the principle operating which David expressed when he said, "Is there yet any that is left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan’s sake?" 2 Samuel 9:1. Thus it was in the case of Noah. Thus it was in the case of Lot. Thus it was of old, and thus it is still, in the case of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, whose posterity, even in the midst of their continued unbelief and rebellion, are "beloved for the fathers’ sakes." The promise of the covenant to Abraham was-"I will be a God to thee, and to thy seed after thee in their generations;" in which promise, although it related to the spiritual seed, there was evidently a primary reference to the natural offspring, among whom, both in the outset and at the end, the spiritual children and their appropriate blessing were to be found. "Salvation was of tho Jews;" and it was "to the Jews first." And among the proofs that God "had not cast away his people," Paul says, "For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin." The promise of the covenant remains.* But "let not the seed of the righteous"-the children of the godly-deceive themselves. God may act kindly and mercifully towards them for their parents’ sakes:-they may, on their account, enjoy many blessings, and be dealt with in much patience and longsuffering. But let them not fancy they can be saved in virtue of any connexion whatever, even with the very best of men,-the holiest saints that ever lived. No, my young friends. If you do not make a right use yourselves of the privileges with which God is pleased to favour you-no such relation can give you safety in the end. Your advantages will only aggravate your guilt and your condemnation. Your godly parents shall have their place on the right hand of the Judge, while-O heart-rending thought!-heart rending to both parent and child!-severed from them, you shall find your station on the left, and be banished, not from them only, but from the God of light and love, the source of all the happiness in the universe, for ever. O join heart and hand with your parents in the love and service of God; and a double blessing will rest upon you for their sakes.
* Psalms 103:13-18, and Psalms 112:1-2. In the idiom of the Hebrew and of other Eastern languages, a comparison was sometimes expressed by the simple juxtaposition of the things intended to be compared. Thus it is in the next verse-"As a jewel of gold in a swine’s snout, so is a fair woman which is without discretion." The "as" and the "so ’is" are supplementary. The original stands thus:-"A jewel of gold in a swine’s snout-a fair woman who is without discretion."-I doubt not, you may find expositors by whom this simile will be traced out in not a few ingenious and some far-fetched points of resemblance. This, however, is more a display of ingenuity than of wisdom. Obviously the great general idea intended to be conveyed by it, is that of offensive and disgusting incongruity. Nose-jewels, sometimes very elegant and costly, were, as they are still, worn by females as a part of Eastern finery. They are mentioned among the ornaments of the vain and wanton daughters of Zion, for whose light and ungodly walk the judgments of God were denounced, in Jehovah’s name, by the prophet. Nothing can well be more expressive than the simile, when understood as the image of incongruity. "Discretion" must here be understood in its largest and best sense; not of mere worldly prudence,-though even in that or any other restricted sense, there would be truth in the comparison,-but of true feminine propriety, both of sentiment and feeling, and deportment, springing from and guided by a pious and well-ordered mind. A nose-jewel in a swine’s snout is ridiculously out of place, the subject of merriment and laughter. And is it not thus with beauty without discretion? The features may be admired; but the words and acts of imbecility, absurdity, and folly expose their possessor to the titter and the mirth mingled in some bosoms with pity, but in more with scorn, of the company,-and are many a time enjoyed afterwards as the topics of jest, and sarcasm, and scandal. But this is not all. The nose-jewel in the swine’s snout,-as it alters not the nature of the animal nor abates its propensities to filthiness, must be for ever raking amidst mud and garbage and all manner of pollution. And thus beauty without discretion-unguided by the firmness of principle or any correct and consistent sense of propriety-is ever liable to be degraded by the artful designs of flattery, to serve, by its own degradation, the basest and most unworthy purposes.
We cannot, if we are ourselves right-minded,-if we have even good sense, apart from piety,-admire such beauty. It hardly deserves the name. True loveliness consists not in the mere exquisite symmetry of features. It cannot exist without expression. To constitute true beauty, the countenance must be the index of the mind and the heart-of what is intellectual and what is amiable. The very finest and best-turned assortment of features can inspire no complacency, no admiration, if there looks out from them, or even looks in them, the expression of unlovely passions,-of pride, of impiety, of vanity, of cruelty, of revenge. The incongruous unseemliness of such expression in such features, makes us turn away with loathing, instead of hanging on the countenance with admiration and love. And the woman here described-the mindless, heartless, senseless beauty (if we may use terms so self-contradictory) becomes one of the most pitiable objects in nature, when the flower fades; when the bloom departs and the wrinkles appear; when the food of her vanity, and the source of her attraction, such as it was, is gone; when admiring fools cease to flatter, and to her own quenched eye and fretted spirit the mirror too faithfully reveals the cause. Whether the want of discretion be considered as meaning silliness, emptiness, an unfurnished mind,-in which case there are no inward resources of enjoyment when what was merely outward is gone; or whether it be understood of the absence and violation of propriety and feminine seemliness,-in which case there is the forfeiture of all esteem, and the substitution of unmingled contempt-unmingled unless with pity,-and the consequent absence of all that can impart solid satisfaction in the intercourse of others. In either case, there is not a more wretched being than a faded beauty; whose place, when thus unceremoniously thrown aside, others come forward to fill, awakening the spirit of heart-consuming envy-the "rottenness of the bones." O my female auditors, seek the beauties of the mind, and heart, and character; and especially those of true piety. These will never fade; but will increase in attraction to the end. These will ensure esteem, respectability, and comfort, when encroaching age has defaced the outward charms of youth. Such a character possesses within itself resources of enjoyment, and will command the interest of affectionate regard, whether in single or in wedded life. Above all remember-"favour is deceitful and beauty vain; but the woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised." The 23d verse (Proverbs 11:23) is capable of two meanings:-1. It may refer to the matter of the desires cherished, respectively, by the righteous and the wicked. "The desire of the righteous," for others, "is only good." They cherish the principle of benevolence. They delight in seeing all around them happy. This is part of the character of the good man, that he wishes well to all-evil to none, not even to his enemies. Nor is he satisfied with desiring good. He shows the sincerity of the desire in "doing good to all as he has opportunity." On the contrary, "the expectation of the wicked is wrath"-or, as those who take this view of the passage understand the word,-misfortune, disappointment. These are what he seeks, waits, longs for in regard to others, and enjoys when they come upon them.
2. It may refer to the issue of their respective desires and expectations. The desires of the one-of "the righteous," terminating in the possession of good, only good; and good infinitely surpassing all that those desires could take in or anticipate; while the expectation of the other, his vain and groundless expectation, issues in wrath-in the fearful effects of the anger of God, incomparably exceeding all that his apprehensions could forebode, and in spite of all his selfflattering hopes and fond delusions. We close with two reflections:-
1. True honour lies, not in condition, but in character. This is the maxim of wisdom. "Better is the poor that walketh in his integrity, than he that is perverse in his ways, though he be rich." One of our poets has expressed the same sentiment thus- "Honour and shame from no condition rise;
Act well your part-there all the honour lies." But O do not forget, that character must be estimated on Bible principles. All that, in the sight of God, is truly good, must have its basis in TRUE RELIGION.
2. Let sinners beware of the danger and the inevitable result of fighting against God! "He is wise in heart, and mighty in strength; who hath hardened himself against Him, and hath prospered!" What fearful odds-the creature against the Creator!-the sinner against his rightful Judge!-the arm of flesh against the arm of omnipotence! "Hand in hand, the wicked shall not be unpunished." Though they could league all creation with them in the conspiracy and rebellion, how powerless the combination!" He that sitteth in the heavens should laugh; the Lord should have them in derision. He should speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his hot displeasure." Companions in sin shall be companions in banishment and in suffering. "Forsake the foolish, then, and live." Choose another fellowship. Give your hand to God’s people, giving your heart to God himself. "Hand in hand" with them in God’s service here, you shall be one with them in the enjoyment of His love and blessing hereafter. This is the only fellowship that can end well. All the people of God, with one heart and one soul, concur in saying to you-"Come with us, and we will do you good; for the Lord hath spoken good concerning Israel."