Proverbs 3
Butler22. It was the more in point to speak of adulterers as soon perishing from the land of Canaan because by the Mosaic law their crime was punishable with death. (See Deut. 22 : 22-24.) Civil law may be less stern in our times, but the laws of life, engrafted into every human body, bring down a swift and terrible retribution upon this form of sin. Of all sinners on the earth it is most true of these that they do not live out half their days. H. C
1. My son, forget not my law; But let thine heart keep my commandments:
2. For length of days, and years of life, And peace, shall they add to thee.
3. Let not mercy [or, kindness] and truth forsake thee:
Bind them about thy neck;
Write them upon the table of thine heart:
4. So shalt thou find favour and good understanding
In the sight of God and man.
5. Trust in the LORD with all thine heart, And lean not upon thine own understanding:
6. In all thy ways acknowledge him, And he shall direct [or, make plain] thy paths.
7. Be not wise in thine own eyes; Fear the LORD, and depart from evil:
8. It shall be health to thy navel, And marrow [or, refreshing] to thy bones.
9. Honour the LORD with thy substance, And with the firstfruits of all thine increase:
10. So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, And thy fats shall overflow with new wine.
11. My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD;
Neither be weary of his reproof:
12. For whom the LORD loveth he reproveth; Even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.
13. Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, And the man that getteth understanding.
14. For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, And the gain thereof than fine gold.
15. She is more precious than rubies: And none of the things thou canst desire are to be compared unto her.
16. Length of days is in her right hand; In her left hand are riches and honour.
17. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, And all her paths are peace.
18. She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her: And happy is every one that retaineth her.
19. The LORD by wisdom founded the earth; By understanding he established the heavens.
20. By his knowledge the depths were broken up, And the skies drop down the dew.
21. My son, let not them depart from thine eyes; Keep sound wisdom and discretion;
22. So shall they be life unto thy soul And grace to thy neck.
23. Then shalt thou walk in thy way securely, And thy foot shall not stumble.
24. When thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid: Yea, thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be sweet.
25. Be not afraid of sudden fear, Neither of the desolation of the wicked, when it cometh:
26. For the LORD shall be thy confidence,
And shall keep thy foot from being taken.
27. Withhold not good from them to whom it is due,
When it is in the power of thine hand to do it.
28. Say not unto thy neighbour, Go, and come again,
And to-morrow I will give;
When thou hast it by thee.
29. Devise not evil against thy neighbour, Seeing he dwelleth securely by thee.
30. Strive not with a man without cause, If he have done thee no harm.
31. Envy thou not the man of violence,
And choose none of his ways.
32. For the perverse is an abomination to the LORD:
But his secret [or, friendship] is with the upright.
33. The curse of the LORD is in the house of the wicked;
But he blesseth the habitation of the righteous.
34. Surely he scorneth the scorners,
But he giveth grace unto the lowly.
35. The wise shall inherit glory;
But shame shall be the promotion of fools.
1-10. How the best results of living are to be secured. In five couplets of two verses each, each couplet consisting of a direction and a promise or reason, Solomon here details the best policy to attain success in this life. As if considering the matter simply with reference to this world, there is an implied contrast with the policy pursued by worldly men. The directions which he gives are summarily these: The observance of God’s commands, particularly the practice of kindness and faithful dealing with men; a self-forgetting trust in God and an answering thankful recognition of His every gift; a humble, filial fear of God that restrains from evil; a hearty consecration of earthly substance, with an habitual surrender of the first-fruits of all income, and a right reading and use of trials as parts of God’s training. And the promises or reasons for adhering to these directions are these: The possession and enjoyment of a long and peaceful life, of the favor of God and man, of Divine, unerring guidance in every plan and its execution, of personal and spiritual health and vigor, of abundant success in toil, and of a sense of Divine comfort, increased strength and refinement, from affliction.
Briefly consider each of these directions with its associated promise. Vs. 1 and 2 contain a general charge and a like promise. The address, “Son,” is the customary endearing appellation of Oriental teachers, similar in use and meaning to the modern “reader” or “hearer” of book or pulpit. How not to forget is plainly hinted in the heart-keeping or daily regard of God’s commandments. One who is always obeying needs no reminder of duty. The promise here is very broad, and presents a most inviting picture to every thoughtful, experienced person. It is of prolonged, peaceful life! It is well to note that the point of the sacred writers in recording such promises as these is not to set forth the hope of reward as a direct chief motive to goodness, but it is rather to show that the peace and pleasantness which the heart craves, and for which it is made, belong to and are found only in the ways of wisdom or obedience to God’s commands. In vs. 3 and 4 the direction refers to the practice of kindness and fidelity in human relations, and seems to include the commands of the second table, covering all neighbor-love. These heart traits, which distinguish good men from evil, are to be worn about the neck, not as an outward amulet or charm, but as a manifest joy of the wearer in their intrinsic worth and beauty. As great truths and principles of action, too, they are to be engraven upon the heart while the heart is impressible; that so they may control the will and the life permanently. And the result or fruit of this habitual neighbor-love is twofold, the favor, the helpful sympathy of God and man, and good success (rather than “good understanding”), or true prosperity.
A still more important direction follows in vs. 5 and 6. It is always central and chief among the Divine instructions, because upon it everything depends. Trust in the Lord with all thine heart! Solomon adds what is essential to give a full and clear impression of this positive charge: Trust not in thyself! He here implies the fact, which always needs emphasis, that there are only two objects of man’s trust and worship, God or himself. That trust in self is the sheerest folly and trust in God the merest dictate of sound judgment, is proven by this, that we are dependent, weak, ignorant, and are not gods, while He is the all-controlling, all-knowing, sovereign God. On Him we may lean at every step. In Him we may rest through every change of experience. But He wills that our trust be wholly in Him. He solicits an undivided heart, and will not share our love with another. The wholly trusting soul commits its minutest thought and plan of life to His guiding inspiration and controlling supervision, and every minutest result is safe.
sure, and satisfying. Self-conceit reverses and so destroys trust in God, and leads away from God into evil. Its proper counteracting force is a just and filial fear of God, and a giving up of evil ways. More specifically, self-conceit sets men, as it did Solomon, upon personal aggrandizement and indulgence, upon the practice of vices which sap the health of body and mind. And hence the meaning and fitness of the peculiar promise contained in v. 8. To the humbled returning prodigal lost health and vigor shall be restored to body and soul. “He who makes holiness happy in heaven, makes holiness healthful on earth.”
Another and plainer “command with promise” we have in vs. 9 and 10. God is honored by the consecration of our substance, as well as of ourselves. He asks of every one a first portion of all the increase or income which His bounty bestows. He asks it not because He needs it, but that our habitual giving may help to develop in us His own spirit of expansive benevolence. The methods by which we may thus honor Him, the principles and details of giving, we find in the New Testament Epistles. And surely the return here figuratively promised, yet in literal language, is as ample as its meaning is plain. Plenty shall be bestowed upon the liberal and cheerful giver. B.
1. Let the ground of all thy religious actions be obedience; examine not why it is commanded, but observe it because it is commanded. True obedience neither procrastinates nor questions. Quarles.—It is obeying God willingly that is accepted; the Lord hates that which is forced, it is rather a tax than an offering. Cain served God grudgingly; he brought his sacrifice, not his heart. If a willing mind be wanting, there wants that flower which should perfume our obedience and make it a sweet-smelling savor unto God. T. Watson.
2. A life led in religion and in holy exercises seemeth to conduce to long life. There are in this kind of life these things, leisure, admiration, and contemplation of heavenly things, joys not sensual, noble hopes, wholesome fears, sweet sorrows. Bacon.
3. The two elements of a morally perfect character. “Mercy,” shutting out all forms of selfishness and hate. “Truth,” shutting out all deliberate falsehood, all hypocrisy, conscious or unconscious. E. H. P.
4. In other words, “Thou shalt find favor and be truly prospered, God and man both bearing witness to thy well directed efforts.” M. S.
5. The great works of God which are before us declare His wisdom, goodness, and power; and the voice of nature in all her works speaks in the language of the wise king, “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not to thine own understanding.” Happy are they who listen to this still voice! they will act not only the safest but the most rational part. Bishop Sherlock.
Trust in the Lord. Faith is not the forced and passive adherence of a spirit vanquished by proofs; it is a power of the soul which does not content itself with receiving the truth, but seizes it, embraces it, identifies itself with it, and permits itself to be carried by it toward all the consequences which it indicates or commands. Direct knowledge does not call into requisition the living forces of the soul; it is a passive state, honored by no spontaneity. But in the act of faith (for it is an act and not a state) the soul is in some sort creative; if it does not create the truth, it draws it from itself, appropriates, realizes it. Under its influence an idea becomes a fact, a fact forever present. Thought, supported by a power of the soul, then manifests all its dignity in revealing its true independence; man multiplies his life, extends his universe, and attains the perfect stature of a thinking being. His dignity is derived from believing, not from knowing. Faith is invested with a character still more elevated, when it takes its point of departure from the word of a witness, whose soul ours has penetrated, and recognized its authority. Then, under a new name, that of confidence, it attaches itself to the noblest elements of our nature, sympathy, gratitude, and love; it is the condition of the social relations and constitutes their true beauty. Far from contradicting reason, it is the fact of a sublime reason. Vinet.
Lean not upon thine own understanding. If we are to make our ascent into the higher plane of true Christian experience, all the ties which bind us down or hold us to our feet must be effectually cut by our habitual self-renunciations. Our expectation must be rested on God, not on pillars of any kind below—pillars are not wanted under wings. H. B.
6. Acknowledge Him. The English word “acknowledge” represents only one of the many meanings which are to be found in the original word. As used in the passage before us it describes nothing less comprehensive than the whole action of man’s spiritual being when face to face with the Eternal God. To “know” God in truth is “to believe in Him, to fear Him, and to love Him with all the heart, with all the mind, with all the soul, and with all the strength; to worship Him, to give Him thanks, to put our whole trust in Him, to call upon Him, to honor His holy Name and His Word, and to serve Him truly. . . . In the sphere of intellect no less than in that of active life acknowledge God and be humble. Such humility as we learn upon our knees is the best foundation of all solid knowledge. The acknowledgment of God, the Highest Truth, the First of facts, leads us to love and to seek fact and truth everywhere, and to reap the intellectual reward of doing so. Liddon.
In all thy ways. The chief agents in our history are God and ourselves. From no portion of the story of life can we exclude God, His purpose, and thought, and will are in each part and in the whole. Every step that we take works out some part of the plan of life which He has laid down for us; so that God is in our history, in a certain sense, far more than we ourselves are in it. S. Martin.—Religion is a thing between man and his Maker; not between man and himself, not between man and society, not between man and the State. All our relations and duties to these, and theirs to us, come under the law of morality; and though morality, with its practical relations and duties, receives inspiration and guidance from the doctrines and ordinances of religion, yet when we rise to religion itself, entering her invisible and heavenly tabernacle, we pass out of all merely moral connections and are in the presence of God. There are two parties, and only two. The business of religion, therefore, is to bring offerings to Him, and, in answer to our prayers, to take blessings from Him. It sets open the channel of communion, where there is this incessant spiritual passing and repassing between the Infinite Heart of Love which is open there, and these hearts of ours, weak and struggling, uneasy and hungry and sinning, here. By this spiritual interchange our whole life opens a path into heaven, and the blessed life of heaven opens down upon us. F. D. H.
We have leave to be particular in recommending our affairs to the conduct and care of the Divine Providence. Those that would have good speed must pray for it, this day, in this affair; thus we must in all our ways acknowledge God. H.—Most compensating is the habit of conducting our whole life with a reference to the leadings of Providence. Since it is not in man to direct his steps, let him seek the direction of God. And this direction is twofold; that of providential indications and that of revealed duty. We are not left without signs in the course of events concerning us which serve to show where our path lies. We must not mistake our own wishes and fears, our likes and dislikes, our worldly ease and interest for the leadings of Providence; but we may with justice examine every proposed step with reference to our character, talents, age, station, and circumstances. But still more important is it to regard the path of duty as the path of Providence. The revelation of God’s will in the Scriptures is our pillar of cloud and of fire. When we go where this directs, we cannot but go aright. If instead of so often asking what is agreeable, or tending to worldly happiness, we were constantly to ask what is duty, we should attain greater holiness, greater usefulness, and greater peace of mind. J. W. A.
Let not fortune, which hath no name in Scripture, have any in thy divinity. Let Providence, not chance, have the honor of thy acknowledgments. Mark well the paths and windings ways thereof, but be not too wise in the construction or sudden in the application. The hand of Providence writes often by abbreviatures, hieroglyphics, or short characters which are not to be made out but by a hint or key from that Spirit which indited them. Browne.—Then doth religion flourish in the soul when it knows how to naturalize spiritual things and to spiritualize natural things. We may judge of our spiritual state by the delightful and customary actions of our lives. J. Mason.
Our business is the study of sincerity and pure intention; and then, certainly, our blessed guide will not suffer us to lose our way for want of light; we have His promise that if in all our ways we acknowledge Him, He will direct our paths. L.—God’s providence will shape our paths, and God’s Spirit will direct us within, and God’s Word will counsel us. If we will wait and watch we shall not be left undirected. It is wonderful how much practical wisdom about the smallest perplexities of daily life comes to men who keep both their feet and their wishes still until Providence—or, as the world prefers to call it, “circumstances”—clears a path for them. No doubt in all our lives there come times when we seem to have been brought into a blind alley, and cannot see where we are to get out; but it is very rare indeed that we do not see one step in advance the duty which lies next us. And be sure of this, that if we are content to see but one step at a time, and take it, we shall find our way made plain. A. M.
Multitudes of disciples fall out of course for no less positive reason than that they actually steer themselves out of God’s operation. One goes into an employment the right of which he is not sufficiently sure of to have a good conscience in it. Another galls himself in a right employment, by the consciously wrong manner in which he carries it on. A third goes into company that consciously does him injury, yet still continues to go. A male disciple turns himself to the pursuit of honor, a female disciple to the worship of fashion; one to the shows of condition, the other to the more personal vanities of dress. Thousands again will let their lusts and appetites get above their affections, their bodies above their minds. Some are nursing their pride, and some their envy, driven of fierce winds by the gustiness of one, eaten out and barnacled by the water vermin of the other. These and such like are the small helms which all you keep turning who turn yourselves away. You ask why it is, half grievingly, that you fall away from God so often and lose the savor of His friendship so easily? But the very simple fact, if you could see it, is that you really steer yourselves away; allowing yourselves in modes of life that even turn you off from God as by your own act. H. B.
Christian principle is to be shown by the majority of men in a commonplace sphere, and it is exactly by showing it on commonplace occasions that we shall, under God’s blessing, brace ourselves for the heavier trials and more arduous responsibilities which He may see fit at any moment to lay upon any one of us. What a dignity does it give to our daily life to remember that by consistent, quiet maintenance of Christian principle on trivial occasions we may cherish and educate a faith and love which shall burn brightly in the hour of real trial. E. M. G.—He who is a Christian in little things is not a little Christian. He is the greatest Christian and the most useful. The baptism of these little outlying things shows that he is full of grace, for these are grace’s overflowings, and they are ever the overflowings of the full well that refresh the desert. The great centre must be fully occupied before the stream can reach that outer edge. Arnot.
Small affairs, like the smaller coin, are perpetually passing through our hands; in this currency the general business of our spiritual life is transacted. It much concerns us, therefore, to mark how the little duties are done and the petty annoyances borne by us. Singly, they appear almost nothing; multiplied, they yield the grand total of life. R. Lee.—God works not alone in our great affairs, but whatsoever happens to us proceeds from His appointment. It is by looking at His hand in the common events of life that we acquire the habit of depending upon Him, and of feeling that He is indeed always at our side. If we carry this doctrine into life, rest on its truth, and look for its evidence in the little troubles and difficulties, the little benefits and enjoyments of each day, we shall become convinced that God is ever busied with our guidance, and we shall find a comfort in this conviction that will be more than a match for the fruits of every other dependence. We shall learn to feel that He is ever about our path and about our bed, watching our every step and noting our every want, as one who has the full charge and care of us. H. H.
The intimate and affectionate relationship opened between the individual Christian and his heavenly Father finds its field of exercise in two principles—the doctrine of a particular Providence and that of the proper efficacy of prayer in relation to the ordinary events of life. It is easy to see in what manner a cordial belief of these principles tends to give vivacity and intensity to the religious affections; for it is thus that the very same world of cares, fears, hopes, which tends to obliterate the moral sentiments of other men, becomes to the affectionate Christian an efficacious discipline of faith and love. I. T.—Finally, the suggestions of this verse may be summarized in two leading truths, inseparably associated and each responsive to the other: 1. The way of duty and the sure means of highest attainment in character and of the best success in life are found in patient waiting on God, in seeking to know His will and in doing as we are taught that will alone. 2. In His gracious dealing—i.e., in His dealing with those who wait, and seek, and obey (for such only are subjects of His grace), God’s Spirit and providence always work together in shaping out the daily life; and in the shaping of events He always answers the prayer of the trustful, obedient soul in the best way and with the best results. B.
7,8. Conceit of one’s own wisdom shuts out all trust in God’s wisdom. Such self-flattery may be pleasing; it is none the less self-ruinous. It is plainly thought of here as opposed to the fear of the Lord and to departing from evil. Solomon would say, Do not be so self-conceited as to be reckless of God’s counsels and defiant toward His warnings. Shun these fearful evils. So shall wisdom be health to thy muscles (better than “navel”) and marrow to thy bones. Physical health doubtless comes from obeying the physical laws under which God has framed the human body. Perhaps the writer meant to suggest tacitly that wisdom insures health of soul as well as health of body. H. C.
9. This command embodies the principle and extent of all offerings. The high place and prominence assigned to this vital duty is indicated in the directions embodied in the worship of the patriarchs, in the details of the Mosaic ritual, in the words and acts of Christ, and the expressions of His inspired apostles. In all dispensations alike the setting apart a portion of the first and best of all increase to God’s use, for the support and extension of all means of spiritual and temporal good to men for Christ’s sake, is clearly inculcated as an imperative duty. It is set forth, too, as a part of worship, equally essential as prayer, meditation upon the Word and communion with the Spirit of God. Indeed, we find in the Bible more promises of personal return to him that gices to the Lord than to him that prays in the Spirit. B.
The moment religion begins to comprise our life, the moment our life begins to be religion, we begin to give. Imparting, bestowing, is the essence of Christianity. It is a necessity of our religious vitality. It supplies our own inward need. True, we do not give aid to the needy and comfort to the distressed for the purpose of cultivating holy graces within ourselves, or, if we do, we have poor success; our giving is the fruit of those graces. And yet, like other fruits, it carries the seed also, hidden in its heart. So our benevolence grows, and except it bear fruit it will not grow. It may be covered with blossoms and redolent with perfume; but the seed of increase is only in the yield of ripened fruit. Cable.
Honor the Lord. The principle which it is of most consequence to seize appears to be this, that a man’s benefactions to the Church and to the poor are really offerings of pious gratitude, devoted directly to God. It cannot be too strongly urged that such benefactions are only given rightly when the giver distinctly contemplates God Himself as the real though ultimate receiver of them; and this implies that the transaction is lifted out of the domain of secular conduct into that of religious worship. There is a real, and if real, then a most blessed sense, in which God claims for Himself what is given to charity and religion, so that it becomes a tribute consecrated to the service of the Most High. Christian men within Christ’s Church can recognize Jesus in His poor members whom they relieve. They surely know that God has a kingdom among us in which His servants work, and toward which our gold can lend some aid. Anon.—We are God’s stewards, and the gifts that come to us are His, not ours, and are to be used for Him as He would use them When we come to Christ’s feet in consecration, we lay all we have before Him. He accepts our gifts, and then, putting them back into our hands, He says, “Go now and use them in My name among the people.” J. R. M.—He tells me, as a steward for Him, to lay out the portion committed to me in the way in which it will do the most good, in which it will glorify Him most. All selfish considerations disappear at once. I am to act as God’s hand, paying out for Him, investing for Him, receiving for Him, and using for myself just what will best fit me to serve Him. Gillett.
Though men can give to God “only of what is His own,” yet He accepts it, less as the payment of a debt than as a free tribute of love to Him. For it is remarkable that every form of generous language is employed by Him. There is, then, a certainty that what is given to His cause will be, on the whole account, no loss. What men in a pure spirit render to God will come back to them here or meet them hereafter in a manner to testify that their Lord has not forgotten. J. F.—The only motive recognized in Christ’s service is that of willing surrender for His dear love’s sake. He counts nothing as given to Him which is not given joyfully. Mechanical service, in which there is no conscious presence of the one motive, robs many of us of the blessing. All Christian giving tends to become merely habitual, and to slip off the one foundation; and there is need for continual effort to link each act directly with the great motive. Habit takes the gloss and beauty off our acts. It does more. It changes their character, while it leaves their appearance unaffected. If all our so-called Christian offerings were put through the sieve how much would fall as pure grain on the floor of Christ’s barn? How can such glad willingness be secured and maintained? Only by looking continually to Jesus. If we keep ourselves in touch with His great love and unspeakable gift we shall joyfully give all to Him. A. M.
Giving from right motives, on Christian principle, is a factor of immense force in disciplining the soul into a spirit of Christ-like benevolence and self-denial and into habits of generous and holy living to the glory of God. Giving cheerfully, largely, habitually, gratefully, as unto the Lord, has served to work wonders in the hearts and lives of many of God’s people. It strikes at the roots of selfishness in the human heart and lays the foundation of a truly noble and Christ-like character. Sherwood.—In view of the ennobling character of the act of giving, in view of its refining influence upon the heart, in view of the peculiar happiness which it affords, in view of the divineness of the charity which prompts it, and in view of the eternal advantage thereby gained of treasure laid up in heaven, it is fully evident that it is more blessed to give than to receive. Anon.
The first-fruits of all thine increase.
With this agree all the specific directions of the Old Testament ritual concerning offerings. It is not a portion of our unusual or unexpected gains, nor even a part of the excess or surplus of our regular income after common and necessary expenditures are appropriated. This is not the rule of God, whatever may be the practice of men. B.—The Mosaic law required that every Hebrew should honor God with various sacrifices, tithes, and first-fruits (Ex. 22:29, 30, Deut. 26:2, and Mal. 3:10, etc.). Such dutiful and grateful recognition of His bounty insured His blessing. The spirit of those laws remains in force, and must so long as God is the great Giver of all earthly good, and we are only the receivers and almoners of His bounty. H. C.—The law of Israel shows us that we ought not to appear before the Lord “empty,” or to offer to Him of that “which costs us nothing.” The prime of our years, the flower of our strength, the best of our substance, the first-fruits of all our increase, should be dedicated and devoted to Him, who makes us all we are and gives us all we have. So shall the benedictions of heaven descend upon all things around us and upon ourselves in the use of them, Bishop Horne.
Do not put such a dry, shrivelled comment upon the word substance, as though it meant giving a trifle now and then to the poor. Remember, “the liberal deviseth liberal things, and by liberal things he shall stand,” or be established (Isa. 32:8). Do not dispense shadow when the Lord requires substance. If thy soul is liberal thou wilt devise liberal things. This text will not only remind you of liberally dispensing of your substance to the poor and needy, but also of honoring your Lord by the faith of your heart, the love of your soul, placing your whole affections upon Him, and devoting your substance, your whole spirit, soul and body, to Him; you will not be content with notions without life, form without spirit, worship without the heart, religion without the soul, W. Mason.
Men are appointed to be God’s almoners. To expend upon ourselves the whole of our earthly possessions is sacrilege. We hold in our keeping God’s property. We are not at liberty to use it as we please. Nor is the amount which appertains to God determined by the caprice of human inclination. A definite portion is God’s, and becomes in the highest sense trust property. D. D.—Our responsibility is all the greater because we are left to assess ourselves. No compulsion is to be applied, either by God or man, in order that the whole weight of the choice may be on our own shoulders. We are left to do in this matter as our hearts prompt, but we have to answer for their prompting. We stand alone with Christ, and He asks, “How much owest thou?” The blessedness of giving is too Divine a joy for Him to keep it all to Himself, and He gives to us that we may “have somewhat to offer,” and may share with Him in that deep blessedness of which He spoke when He said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” But that is only shared by those who give after His pattern, not with the hand, but with the heart, and who give the heart in all their gifts. A. M.
Another sophism is that Christians are somehow fulfilling the obligation of almsgiving when they are only paying the costs of their parochial establishments. The idea appears to be that all our expenditures for religion are to be reckoned on the credit side of heaven’s account with us. Heaven be merciful to that impiousness! Every dollar that you yield for the appointments, conveniences, adornments of your parish church, which is your own household, or the maintenance of its services, is just as much a matter of interested outlay for a full equivalent as any other provision you make for the life of yourself and your children. . . . Few “popular fallacies” have done more mischief than the maxim that “charity begins at home.” Avaricious people quote it, not intending that charity shall begin anywhere. Honesty, kindness, economy, thrift, and some other virtues start, no doubt, in the home circle. Charity very rarely begins there, because, till we pass beyond that bound, the realm of voluntary and self-sacrificing bounty is not reached. Up to that point we have been at best only “providing for our own,” doing what if we leave undone, an apostle says, we are worse than infidels. Almighty justice and Almighty love can give us no receipts for our parochial decencies. God needs none of them; we need them, and He is gracious enough to lend us the ability to produce them. But if you were liberal enough to give half your goods for them, or faithless enough to provide none of them, so making yourself and your household heathen, your obligation to offer in other ways of your substance to Him to whom the silver and the gold belong would stand just as it stood before, and stands everywhere. F. D. H.
Business should be chosen and prosecuted reverently and in Christian consecration; for it is the life-work. If chosen and prosecuted only for gain, it is chosen and prosecuted in covetousness, and not in Christian love. And yet the common opinion is that business is to be chosen and prosecuted only to make money. Even good men think that Christian benevolence is to be exercised only in the giving of their gains, not in the prosecution of their business. Yet every legitimate business is in its very prosecution a service to humanity, and ought to be chosen and prosecuted in Christian love for the purpose of rendering the service, not in covetousness for the purpose of gain. Legitimate business is in its prosecution a service, because it is productive and supplies human wants. Over all the world men are industriously serving each other, producing what meets human wants. Thus viewed, the creation and circulation of products through the world, beneficent as the circulation of air and water, rises to the sublime. The circulation of the products of all countries, passing in white-sailed ships over the ocean, millions of wealth always in motion from mart to mart, a circulation so noiseless that the products of the other hemisphere flow daily through the streets unnoticed as the wind, and so equable and complete that you have only to step across the street and the product of any country is stored ready for your hand, and the table is daily spread with the products of every quarter of the globe—this circulation, all-pervading as the flow of blood in the body, binds all nations in the unity of a common interest and life. Thus political economy coincides with the Gospel in teaching that we are members one of another, and if one member suffers all the members suffer with it. It coincides with Christian ethics in the law that business should be prosecuted as a service to others, and not merely to get gain for self. An inference is that the only legitimate business for a Christian man is one which by its very prosecution renders service to society. S. Harris.
A great amount of Christian philosophy was summed up in the words of Frederick Marquand, who was an open-handed friend of every good work: “A Christian should never be troubled because he is asked to give. If he cannot give he may well be sorry; but if he does not wish to give he ought to be more than sorry—he should be alarmed. Lack of money is by no means so sad as is the lack of a disposition to contribute of what one has. A man often shuts the door in the face of his best friend when he shuts off an appeal to his benevolence.”
Barns shall be filled. Commenting on this promise, one says quaintly: “God governs barns.” And not barns only, but cargoes and ventures, stocks and all other representatives of value.
11,12. Concerning chastening. These verses appropriately follow promises of blessing. The trustful and obedient, with whatever of prosperity, will encounter adversity. Sickness and pain, disappointment and sorrow, saddening change and bereavement, belong to every human experience. Nay, they are essential to the best training and completest development of the god-like spirit. And these are of God, used by Him, and always in the highest interest of His children. They are the familiar instruments by which He chastens, but only when needful. Do not disregard or make light of them, then, is the first part of the injunction here. Do not refuse to consider their meaning; do not receive them indifferently or stolidly. But honor God by rightly interpreting them, by submissively accepting their purpose. Nor yet, it is added, faint or be impatient under them. Give not way to a disheartened, doubting, or complaining spirit. But still honoring God, patiently wait and trustingly “endure as seeing Him who is invisible.” The reason of this counsel follows, and how sufficient! For whom the Lord loveth, He reproveth! The fuller reason we may read in Heb. 12: 10. And the whole Bible is full of the theme, as men everywhere need its full, clear treatment. B.
12. As a father merely qualifies the manner of the chastisement. In other words, “If promised prosperity should be interrupted, and suffering come, remember still that when God chastens the obedient it is not from want of love for them, but only with a design to try and to purify them. Remember, moreover, that, such being the case, He will chastise in measure and in mercy, even as an affectionate father does.” M. S.—So chastening is a mark of God’s love and also a seal of sonship, for He “scourgeth every son that He receiveth.” The true father chastens. Mark, it is not punishment that God inflicts, but chastening. It is not anger or hatred that makes Him at times severe, denying the child’s requests. It is love that leads Him to chasten. J. R. M.
“Chastisement” is not a pleasant word, as it is ordinarily connected in our minds with the idea of displeasure and severity on the part of him who employs it, and with suffering and recoil on the part of him who is its subject. Yet “chastisement” is, in its root idea, “correction” as a means of improvement. It is akin to instruction and guidance and training. It represents the work of the father, the teacher, the trainer, the guide. In primitive thought the “rod” is a symbol of authority, and its use is synonymous with punishment; but, with improved conceptions of parental authority and government, the use of the rod is recognized as for the loving guidance and control in the correct way of the one under training. It makes all the difference in the world whether we look at our providential afflictions as chastisements, or at the loving Father who is proving His love by these chastisements. If we look at the chastening, it seemeth to be “not joyous, but grievous.” If we look at God as our loving Father, we can be sure that whatever He sends to us is the best thing possible for us; and therefore His chastenings are to be welcomed as a fresh proof of His affection… Proved by the supreme test of friendship, an unfailing regard to the fullest and noblest development of the object of affection, how faithful and true is our Divine Friend! The varied events of our life He designs to subserve this common end—that they all be stepping-stones of progress; and, seeing the outcome of His gracious plan concerning us, He spares no discipline, no pain or grief, that must be used to rouse the soul and urge it forward. Let us not doubt the loving purpose of this Friend of friends, nor weary of His training, nor neglect to notice the tokens of His presence by the way. Along the straitened path we tread, no other than our Lord Himself is leading us, to bring us to higher ground beyond, where we shall see more clearly and know more surely, and through the sacrifice and struggle of the past shall apprehend and share His peace. H. C. T.
As life continues we learn that our greatest helpers are our antagonists, that the things we have to overcome do us the most good. Carlyle says: “Evil once manfully fronted ceases to be evil. There is a generous battle hope in place of dead, passive misery. The evil itself has become a kind of good.” The highest forms of civilization are not found where men lie lazily in tropic sunshine, and smell the flowers and suck the fruits of a perfumed and perpetual summer. The rocks of New England are richer in noble character than the sugar plantations and tobacco fields of Cuba. The storm-girdled isle of Great Britain is a better home for the soul than the luxurious plains of Hindostan. It is the lions in our way that teach us courage, the great mountains give endurance; the rough roads, fortitude; the thorns and briars, patience; and the gates of brass, which we cannot pass through, may teach us humility and submission. The hard lot which we bemoan has been to earth’s noblest souls the school-ground of a victorious opportunity. Failures have become stepping-stones to triumph, doubts have been transformed into clearer and stronger faith, wrong wrestled with has wedded the heart to eternal righteousness. J. H. Barrows.
So God has us all the while in schooling under His providence, reducing our foolishness, and wearing out or worrying down our dictations. There is a grand tiring-out principle in this rule of Providence, by which we are all the while being schooled into God’s order. And in this manner the old Christian gets at last to have a wonderful wisdom in his experience without even knowing it, because it is hid in his more chastened tempers, and never thinks of being a rational knowledge at all. Pressing on thus close upon his last limit, wrought in by Christ’s Word and Spirit and providence, his secret mind, if not perfectly conformed to God, gets to be so very nearly conformed that when he drops into the river to cross over, and mounts the rampart on the other shore, his last shred of discord dies out in him, and he is everlastingly free. Now that he sees Christ in clear vision as He is, he is thoroughly and completely like Him. Bushnell.
13-18. The incomparable preciousness of attained wisdom, in its gains and gifts, in its life paths and pleasures. The very truths already stated in vs. 1-12 are here substantially restated from another standpoint. In those verses the worth of wisdom was practically indicated in its high requirements and rich returns. Here its value is directly rated by comparison with worldly gains, treasures, and delights. Introducing and closing the statements about wisdom is a declaration that the man who findeth and retaineth her (vs. 13, 18) is happy. The simple implication of these words is that heavenly good, like earthly, needs to be sought for; that it requires appropriate effort in the use of means to be both found and retained. This ought to be a daily thought, a constant stimulus to prayer and praise, to meditation and Christ-like service. The same thought of the habitual use of means is also suggested in the comparison of gains (v. 14). Gain in merchandise comes from its active use in appropriate methods. So is it with the heavenly good; the increase is from the use. Pearls are probably meant by the word translated “rubies” (v. 15). They were accounted chief among all precious things, as Christ inti mates in the “pearl of great price.” Not only is a godlike heart the most precious or costly of single objects, but all other desirable things together are incomparably inferior in worth. For godlikeness inwrought in the heart, or piety, dispenses blessings unmatched and pure in either hand abundantly (v. 16). And in vs. 17 and 18 we have the culmination of her gifts in a beautiful garden picture, taking us back to the primal paradise, with its peaceful paths amid perennial blooms, and its tree of life designed to give health and immortality. Such, these words sublimely intimate, such is wisdom’s promise, such, in some appreciable measure, is the effect of genuine godliness in the life that now is. So that were there no other life, the ways of wisdom or the life of piety described and estimated in these eighteen verses bring vastly, incomparably larger returns than the paths of folly, pursued even with all possible advantages of gift and opportunity, as Solomon pursued them.
Hence we learn that piety, godliness or, as a better word, god-likeness, is profitable for both lives we live. Seek first, foremost, says Christ, the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added. Thus He only confirms what He here said by Solomon. But when riches, honor, and the long-nursed body fail and decay, this heavenly treasure of the Spirit abides for a new, a higher and changeless enshrinement. And this god likeness of heart whosoever will may have for the fervent, truthful asking! B.
14. If you could summon all the merchant princes of the earth, and ask them seriously what they consider the most important matter in the world, they would admit that the merchandise of religion is of more importance than the merchandise of silver. All men recognize it theoretically, but the wares of religion, so to speak, are immaterial, and cannot be seen or handled, and so they come to be considered unreal. These are all spiritual things and far removed from earthly rewards, but at the same time salvation has its value; even to the carnal judgment that value is greater than that of silver or gold. Hallock.
16-18. Wisdom now stands before us in angelic female form, her hands loaded with the blessings she has to bestow. The picture is exquisitely beautiful. Long life in one hand; in the other riches and honor; her ways all pleasantness and her paths peace—this being the word under which the Orientals group all blessings. Trees are symbols of perpetuity. A “tree of life” is therefore a perennial fountain of good, deemed worthy to represent even the joys of the heavenly paradise. This passage, descriptive of the blessedness of wisdom, has been greatly admired for its richness and beauty. But the picture is not overdrawn. The wisdom that begins in the fear and love of God, and then gratefully accepts the guiding hand of the All-wise Father, is a fountain of perpetual blessedness. H. C.
16. Religion is as favorable for long life as for happiness. She promotes long life by destroying those evils, the tendency of which is to limit the duration of human existence. The direct effect of true religion is to increase the period of human life. “Length of days is in her right hand.” N. M’Michael.—Piety inspires that moderation in all things which is equally favorable to the faculties of the body and the mind; it tempers the passions of youth when most in need of restraint by subjecting the body to the mind, the appetites to the control of reason, and reason itself to the control of God. It guards us alike from the extremes of irritation and sorrow, on the one hand, or of intoxicating pleasure on the other; teaching us to “rejoice as if we rejoiced not, and to weep as if we wept not, because the fashion of this world passeth away.” To the attainment of moderate wealth piety is favorable, inasmuch as it promotes habits of regularity and industry, inspires a proper desire to excel in our calling, and recommends us by a character of integrity. A moderate zeal for the acquirement of property, with a view to useful or necessary ends, is not condemned, either by the voice of reason or by the Word of God. Wisdom is portrayed as “having in her left hand riches” as well as honor. R. Hall.—In her hand she hath rich treasures—joy to impart to them that trust her. “All the things thou canst desire” are not to be compared with what she has to bestow—“length of days,” honor, a peaceful heart, friends perhaps; at any rate, a life which, be it long or short, be it dark or bright with the world’s light, be it rich or poor, be it a failure or a success in the eyes of men, has its life within it, has its joy and peace in heaven with God; and leads on, through sorrow and discipline, through merciful trials and victorious strife to a perfect immortality wherein he shall live serene, wise with the wisdom and righteous with the righteousness of the Holy and All-wise Jehovah, who hath trusted in the Lord, and cast himself upon the mercy of Christ! A. M.
17. It adds somewhat to the vividness of the imagery to remember that the two words “ways” and “paths” describe the two kinds of roads, the “highway” and the “byway.” In both these he who was guided by Wisdom would walk securely. E. H. P.—Wisdom’s way is a high way. It is always reaching up out of littlenesses; it ranges at loftier levels, it has the world at its feet. Wisdom’s way always has one fixed mark. For that it steers. It throws lesser things aside as it goes, and it goes straight and earnest to a goal, and that goal is the glory of God. Wisdom’s way is a way of usefulness. It always puts usefulness first—before pleasure, before profit. To go in wisdom’s way is to go in sweet fellowship. They who walk there walk hand in hand. It is full of sympathies, it is a road which lies in the communion of all saints, and all love all in wisdom’s way. Above all, Christ is there. They walk with Jesus, they lean on Jesus, they are satisfied with Jesus, and they shall travel on and reign with Jesus in that city where they go. J. V.
Christian disciples live primarily for duty, and pleasure comes as a certain consequence. And there is in it what may be called a principal of accumulation; it does not vanish in the enjoyment, but, while passing as a sentiment, remains as a reflection and grows into a store of complacent consciousness which the mind retains as a possession left by what has been possessed. To have had such pleasure is pleasure, and is so still the more, the more of it is past. Whereas mere delights of sensation when past are wholly gone, leaving nothing to go into a calm, habitual sense of being happy. J. F.—To live for any worldly or merely selfish joy is, indeed, unworthy of the dignity of a true man; but to live for that highest happiness which God has inseparably connected with loving service to Him is to live so as to glorify God and thus to forever enjoy Him. To make the joy which there is in duty and in love an end of our desire and striving does not involve a selfish spirit when this joy is not sought for its own sake alone, but because duty is sought and joy belongs to the very essence of duty-doing. Duty is from its very nature a joyous thing. Shall we then live and labor for the rewards of joy and happiness? Yes, in the sense of living and laboring for duty, for holiness, for purity and truth. That is living for happiness and joy in the best sense, and for the only true happiness and joy that there can be for any soul in all the world. Live for the happiness which is inherent in the very essence of duty. Live for the joy that is in self-sacrifice, even as Jesus, for the joy of the self-sacrifice and love that was set before Him, endured the cross. Live for the rewards of righteousness, the pleasures forevermore at God’s right hand. To live for anything lower will never bring true happiness; not though we laugh and sing on every step of our journey through life; for there is no really deep and abiding joy except in righteousness, in service, and in love. G. B. Stevens.
It is a common impression with persons who hear but do not accept the calls of Christ and His salvation, that they are required to be somewhat less in order to be Christian. They hear it declared that in becoming little children, humble, meek, poor in spirit; in ceasing from our will and reason, and in giving up ourselves, our eagerness, revenge, and passion—thus, and thus only, can we be accepted; but, instead of taking all these as so many figures antagonistic to our pride, our ambition, and the determined self-pleasing of our sin, they take them absolutely as requiring a real surrender and loss of our proper manhood itself. Exactly contrary to this, the Gospel requires them to be more than they are—greater, higher, nobler, stronger—all which they were made to be in the power of their endless life. H. B.
19. Hitherto wisdom has been thought of in relation to men. Now the question comes, What is she in relation to God? and the answer is, that the creative act implies a Divine wisdom, through which the Divine will acts. We have, as it were, the germ of the thought developed in ch. 8, the first link in the chain which connects this “wisdom” with the Divine Word, the Logos of John’s Gospel. What is here attributed to her is, in Psalm 33:6, ascribed to “the Word of Jehovah,” to “the breath or Spirit of His mouth.” So John asserts of the Word, “by Him”—i.e., through Him, all things came into being (John 1:3). E. H. P.
21-35. The monitor now resumes his hortatory address to his pupil, to persuade him to cleave to the pursuit of wisdom. It will keep him in safety; he may lie down in security and sleep sweetly, for no fear of destruction will disturb him, since Jehovah is his Keeper (vs. 21-26). The next five verses are prohibitions. One must not withhold any feasible good from his neighbor; he must not put off a favor to him which he can now do; he must not slander him; he must not causelessly contend with him; he must not be emulous of him (vs. 27-31). All this must not be done, for Jehovah hates the perverse, while He is the Friend of the righteous; His curse is on the house of the wicked, while the habitation of the just is blessed (vs. 32, 33). Inasmuch as He mocks scorners, and shows favor to the righteous, the wise shall inherit glory, but shame shall take away fools (vs. 34, 35).
26. Sentiment: “Jehovah will impart to the strong confidence, and keep thee from concealed dangers.” For similar declarations, see Psalm 78:7; Job 8:14; 31:24. M. S.—Duties are ours, events are God’s. This removes an infinite burden from the shoulders of a miserable, tempted, dying creature! On this consideration only can he securely lay down his head and close his eyes. R. Cecil.
27,28. It behooves him to come down to its practical applications and show us how true wisdom will make us live in the midst of a world of want and of suffering—a world in which every human being, however lowly or uncomely, is yet a man and a brother. First in order he says: The good you have it in your power to bestow upon one in need thereof, you must not withhold. The fact that another needs it and that you can give it makes it due from yourself to him. When your neighbor’s pinching want drives him to your door, say not to him, “Go, and come again,” as if your hard heart and close hand would fain stave off a painful call in hope it would never return. When thou hast it by thee, let thy heart give with the promptness of love. This is true wisdom. Man should live not to swell his own pile, but to bless his fellows; not to amass for himself, but to impart to others. God fills the world around us with want that we may never lack the opportunity of putting forth a kind hand to some needy one. The special point to be noticed here is the underlying assumption that help is due to the weak from the strong. This is the doctrine of practical wisdom. That life of wisdom which flows along with such inimitable peace and blessedness as we have seen in this chapter has a practical working side to it; and here are some of its manifestations. H. C.
The All-wise has given us a complete and perfect code in a single sentence, “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” This code was promulgated in the wilderness nearly fifteen centuries before the coming of Christ (Lev. 19:18). It is the code then not for the Christian Church merely, but for the human race. If we are to love all our neighbors as we love ourselves, of course we must study their relative claims, we must distribute our charities wisely and justly. We cannot be to everybody all that we are to ourselves. The law is to be interpreted in the light of reason and common sense. Its evident meaning is that we are to regard all whom we can reach as having special claims upon us for sympathy so far as we can know their wants, and for help so far as we can relieve their wants. We are not, ever or in anything, to live wholly for ourselves. We are to recognize always and everywhere the brotherhood of humanity. We are to remember that we are placed in this world to do good. We are to regard all the talents and wealth that God bestows upon us as a trust. We have a right to use what we need for our own support and culture, but all beyond that belongs not to us, but to our Lord; and we are to do good as we have opportunity. The excellence of this law is seen in its simplicity. It is easily applied to all the varying conditions. We meet a stranger in trouble of any kind. Shall we help him? “As thyself,” cries the Divine Lawgiver. We know what we would do for ourselves if we were in his place and could do it. We know what we would want somebody else to do for us in similar circumstances. Well, then, there is the measure, always ready. It is just what our Lord said at another time, “Whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, do ye unto them.” This is the law and the prophets as well as the Gospel. This is the spirit that will revolutionize the world. Interior.
Acts of mercy toward those who are daily meeting us in the unromantic paths of ordinary intercourse fall properly under the head of ministries to the Lord. A true Christian will endeavor to enliven every particular of service to fellow-creatures with this consecrating intention. Whether at home or abroad, the great majority of mankind must expect their usefulness—in other words, their work for Christ—to consist in a series of familiar and oft-recurring acts, each apparently inconsiderable by itself. J. W. A.—Do not let us wait for great and signal opportunities of showing that we can prefer the good of others to our own. Such occur very seldom; while small occasions occur every day in the family, in our daily intercourse with the world; and, moreover, the great occasions are not nearly so good a test of our sincerity as the small. Great acts of self-sacrifice attract observation, are talked about, often bring honor, credit to the doer. A thousand mixed motives may impel us to these; but the smaller acts, in which we yield our will to the will of others, postpone our convenience, our pleasure, our ease, to theirs, these, unobserved by the world, often unobserved even by the person on whose behalf they are done—these are a far truer test. Trench.
Our God is too great to need great deeds. If we do our duty just where He has placed us to work for Him, it will make no difference whether we labor in an obscure corner of the vineyard, where no great harvest will repay our labor, or whether our works are seen and known of all men. The little things “that most leave undone or despised” are great enough to glorify God if we do them for Him. . . . It is the every-day life that builds up our Christian character. If we overcome the daily annoyances we grow strong and heroic, and it soon becomes, if not a pleasant, at least a cheerful task to do, bear, and suffer. The service of Christ is one that grows lighter and more pleasant as the years go by. It is this that exerts a lasting influence over the world. It is this that tests the value of religion, and proves to others that it is pure gold, and not a mere profession. Hallock.
No one of us lives or can live to himself. Our life transpires in every direction, abuts upon unnumbered other lives, imparts its effluence without our will or consciousness, is felt near and afar. And the littles in that life immeasurably exceed in number and in influence its important moments—its crises of distinct volition and deliberate action. Moreover, these littles are the most genuine portions of our life. They bear the impress, diffuse the aroma of our actual characters. It is in these that what we are is most felt, most penetrating, most potent for good or for evil. Our action is often not in entire harmony with our characters—is largely affected by our surroundings, so that we transcend or fall short of our proper measure. It is in look, and word, and seemingly trivial act, in the even tenor of our daily lives, in the constant outflow of example and influence that we are the most true to our own natures, and that, if we are what we ought to be, we accomplish our mission from on high, and make the world the happier and the better for our living in it. Peabody.
Contribute your quota to the welfare of a disordered world — you that can contribute money; you that can contribute friendly offices and kind attentions; and you that have neither wealth nor labor to spend, contribute kind looks, kind feelings, and kind words. Hamilton.—Every good act is charity. Your smiling in your brother’s face is charity; exhortation of your fellow-men to virtuous deeds is equal to almsgiving; your putting a wanderer on the right road is charity; your removing stones and thorns and other obstructions from the road is charity. Mahomet.—It is one of the glories of love that it prompts the great heroisms of the world; but it is almost a greater glory that it is able to nerve for their tasks those plodding lives whose days are all so commonplace, and to inspire to faithfulness in the things that are least. There are but few who have the opportunities or gifts for great achievements. Most of us need an inspiration for the common cares and duties that come to us almost the same on every day more than for any grand achievements. Our lives are made up of commonplaces. “If,” says Robertson, “you compute the sum of happiness in any given day, you will find that it was composed of small attentions and kind looks.” We want a principle that will touch and bless these details of our every-day lives. The moral heroism of the martyrs would probably be worth less to most of my readers in their conditions than the kindly, sunny atmosphere which love can breathe around our commonest tasks and joys and troubles. Stevens.
He who carries about a face that says, “Can I serve you?” who maintains an aspect of sincere sympathy with everybody’s pleasures and sorrows, triumphs or failures; who listens to the tedious tale that unloads some breaking heart; who shakes hands as if he meant, and who really does mean, “God bless you!” who gives without hope or wish for any return; who sees no alien behind ignorance or crime, color or race, but always a fellow-creature, and limits his charity by no sect and no condition; who loses no chance of rendering a small but needed kindness, and counts no day happy in which he has not blessed some fellow-creature with an unexpected and unclaimed service; who quenches wrath by his meekness and banishes irritation by his self-control; who takes the unpopular side when it is the just one; who defends the absent or protects the weak; who calls things by their proper names at the cost of his own reputation, when virtue and vice, right and wrong are universally confounded; who is brave among social crowds and political poltroons—he is surely making himself the servant of humanity, and a chief among God’s children and Christ’s followers. Anon.
Paul tells us that we are not only to build up ourselves, but to build up one another. Henry says: “None so strong but they may be edified; none so weak but they may edify; and while we edify others we benefit ourselves.” We are to look every man not on his own things, but also on the things of others. Hence the great apostle tells the Romans to follow after the things wherewith one may edify another—i.e., help to build his house for him. This is the beautiful idea of co-operation presented by the apostle. Every one of us is to do something for all who are within our sphere. Every one of us needs something for our own upbuilding from all our neighbors, and just so far as we try to do good will we get good. Just so far as we are unselfish will we find illustrated in our experience, as fact, the fable of the Oriental builder. He left his grand house unfinished, though winter was near, to assist his poorer neighbors in completing their cottages. He slept sweetly after a day of toil, and dreamed that angels were working on his walls. In the morning, lo! it was even as he had dreamed. His own house was finished by unseen builders because, like his Divine Lord, he pleased not himself, but went about doing good. Interior.
32. God gives broad, simple truths in His Holy Word, as clearly as human language can express them; and when these are received He leads the believer on to a further and higher knowledge. Thus there arises a personal, familiar intercourse, a spiritual intimacy, an individual knowledge of experience between the soul and God. Not little is the dignity, nor poor the communion, nor scant the privilege contained in this promise, “His secret is with the righteous.” E. Garbett.
33. The family is the ordinance of God, and its underlying idea is religious. It is, indeed, a training-school for the community and the State, but only as preparatory to fitness for a place in that great family above of which the family here is a type, and for which it should be a preparation. It is the first form of human society, the foundation and source of all other forms, and as that is such will they be. It was because the family is thus the fountain-head of society, and must determine its character, that our Saviour insisted so strongly upon its sacredness. It is upon the purity, the sacredness, and the well ordering of families that the permanence of our institutions must depend. M. H.—A happy home is the richest of human possessions. The home circle includes all that is most precious in life. An invisible bond, uniting the members of a household in mutual love and sympathy, is the strongest tie on earth. A prosperous commonwealth is a cluster of happy homes, as homogeneous as the cells of honeycomb. Religion, as well as culture, begins at home. Religion is not a holiday habit, cut in the prevailing mode, for exhibition on Sunday in the family pew. It is a serviceable, homespun investiture for daily use. Home ties are indissoluble where its true spirit prevails. Van Santvoord.—There is always a spirit of the house, or law of the family, of one kind or another, blessing or cursing, forming character day by day for salvation or perdition. The law of the house works itself into the circulations and fibres of every growing branch. The youngest child in the circle is watching your face, committing your tones and motions to memory, taking your most unconscious language for a lesson, and laying up the careless revelations of your frivolity or your piety for future imitation. If he sees that all your familiar arrangements are made to redound to your selfish enjoyment, why should he not turn out a self-seeker? If, on the other hand, he beholds in your daily example some noble evidence of a devotion to God and fidelity to right which shape all your transactions into an offering of religion, then, unless some very cruel seduction besets him from abroad, he is a candidate for a Christian maturity. F. D. H.
34. Giveth grace unto the lowly. Use all means for growth in grace. The body grows stronger by exercise. Trading of money makes men grow rich; the more we trade our faith in the promises, the richer in faith we grow. If ye would be growing Christians, be humble Christians. ‘Tis observed in some countries (as in France) the best and largest grapes which they make their wine of grow on the lower sort of vines; the humble saints grow most in grace. God giveth grace to the humble. T. Watson.—Mercies make a humble soul glad, but not proud. A humble soul is lowest when his mercies are highest; he is least when he is greatest; he is most poor when he is most rich. T. Brooks.
“Have every day lower thoughts of yourselves,” wrote one who made heart culture a life-work; “higher thoughts of your Christ, kinder thoughts of your brethren, and more hopeful thoughts of all around you.” The person who cultivates such habits of thought as are here enjoined will have a heart so free from guile and so full of joy that he will seem to himself to dwell in the very border land of heaven. On the other hand, the person who is proud of his own possessions and achievements, who refuses to glorify and follow after Christ, who is suspicious of those whom he ought to love, and has no faith in the honor and aspirations of mankind, is certain sooner or later to have heaviness and sorrow for his portion. His pride will have a fall, and the despair of his heart will be like unto that which torments devils. Interior.
Thus wrote Norman McLeod: “God knows me better than I know myself. He knows my gifts and powers, my failings and my weaknesses, what I can do and not do. So I desire to be led and not to lead; to follow Him; and I am quite sure that He has thus enabled me to do a great deal more in ways which seem to me almost a waste in life in advancing His king-
dom, than I could have in any other way. How kind, how good, how compassionate art Thou, O God! O my Father, keep me humble! Help me to have respect toward my fellow-men, to recognize their several gifts as from Thee. Deliver me from the diabolical sins of
malice, envy, or jealousy, and give me hearty joy in my brother’s good, in his work, in his gifts and talents; and may I be truly glad in his superiority to myself, if God be glorified. Root out all weak vanity, all devilish pride, all that is abhorrent to the mind of Christ.”