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Proverbs 16

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Proverbs 16:1-5

LECTURE XLI.

Proverbs 16:1-5 .

“The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the Lord. All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the Lord weigheth the spirits. Commit thy works unto the Lord, and thy thoughts shall be established. The Lord hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil. Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord: though hand join in hand, he shall not be unpunished.”

The sentiment expressed in the first of these verses, according to the received translation, is this:-That it belongs to God, to furnish the heart with all wisdom and grace, by which it is prepared to dictate to the tongue the utterance of whatever is truly good and profitable.

Critics are agreed that the terms in the original will hardly bear this sense. The words are, literally, “To man the orderings of the heart; but from Jehovah the answer of the tongue.” They have accordingly been rendered by one1-“Man indeed forms his designs; but from Jehovah is the answer of the tongue:” and by another2-" Man may prepare his thoughts; but the utterance of the tongue is from the Lord."

*1 Schulzius-“Homo quidem capit consilia, sed a Deo responsio linguae.”

*2 Hodgson.

The meaning appears to be, that whatever thoughts and purposes are in a man’s mind,-whatever sentiments it may be his intention to utter; if they are such as are likely to have any influence, or to produce effects of any consequence,-they are all under supreme control. We have an exemplification of the fact in the case of Balaam. The preparation of his mind and heart was his own. He left his country on the invitation of Balak, with a certain purpose; designing to utter what was in harmony with his “love of the wages of unrighteousness.” But “the Lord God turned the curse into a blessing.” He made the infatuated false prophet to feel his dependence; so that, bent as his heart was to utter one thing, his tongue was constrained to utter another.* Thus it often is-in ways for which the speakers and agents themselves cannot at the time account. One of these ways is, that, by imperative, unanticipated circumstances, men are brought to say the very contrary of what they intended. They have previously made up their minds. But either their memory fails them, in a manner they are at a loss to understand, and that which they had with pains prepared forsakes them in the time of need; or something different occurs suddenly to the mind just at the necessary juncture, which all their previous study had not suggested; or some incident-something it may be said or done by another, changes, in a moment, the current of their thoughts and the tenor of their words.

I have heard well-authenticated cases from ministers who were as far as possible from being canters or enthusiasts, of what they had prepared with much study unaccountably losing its hold of their minds, and another subject, they could not tell by what association, for they were sensible of none, so forcing itself upon their thoughts as to constrain them to speak upon it;-when subsequent results, in benefit to individuals who, in peculiar states of mind, were at the time among the number of their auditors, have shown the providential cause, and have rendered the occurrence a practical exemplification of the sentiment in the verse before us. In every case, there is complete divine control. A man may revolve in his mind or heart thoughts without number, but he cannot so much as lisp or whisper one of them without God:-" the answer of the tongue is from the Lord."

Verse Proverbs 16:2 . “All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes: but the Lord weigheth the spirits.”

The general truth stated in the former part of this verse has its source in another-the depravity of our nature. That depravity has an effect upon the conscience, perverting its dictates. We have this exemplified in the whole history of persecution. Our Lord, in warning his disciples of what they might anticipate, says, “They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service."*1 But did this false conviction absolve the actors from guilt? Far from it. The reason assigned in the very next verse shows this: " These things shall they do unto you, because they have not known the Father nor me."*2 The ignorance was thus without excuse, from which the conduct originated; could the conduct itself, then, be innocent? Look at a particular case-that of Saul of Tarsus. His own words accord with the words of Christ, respecting the dictates of conscience-” I verily thought with myself, that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth," Acts 26:9 . Did Paul mean to acquit himself of criminality when he said this? His whole manner of speaking of himself afterwards strikingly shows the contrary. Let one passage decide: “I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry; who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus,” 1 Timothy 1:12-14 . He here represents himself as having been “the chief of sinners” in the course he had before pursued; and the grace that had saved him as specially wonderful. He cannot mean, therefore, his having acted “ignorantly in unbelief” as an apology or palliation; seeing, otherwise than in unbelief he could not act, and seeing unbelief is ever represented as itself involving the most heinous guilt, on account of the principles of moral pravity to which it is invariably imputed. The probability is that the words “for I acted ignorantly in unbelief” are introduced parenthetically, rather as accounting for his conduct than apologizing for it.

*1 See John 16:1-2 . rr

*2 Compare this verse with John 15:21-25 .

Again: how very often does self-partiality prevent us from seeing the turpitude of particular actions or courses, which even to fellow-men-to neutral observers and judges-is flagrantly apparent! And further, whence comes it that men see themselves so very differently from the description given of them in the word of God? How come they to appear so right in their own eyes, when that word declares th em “all gone astray”-“desperately wicked”-“hopeless”-“lost?” Comes it not from their applying to themselves and to their ways false standards of estimate-false weights and measures: not the all-perfect, spiritual, heart-searching law of the Holy God,-the God of light and love-but the current opinions of the world, the theories of human philosophy, the general average of character around them, the laws and usages of human governments, or the second table of God’s law (and that very erroneously understood) to the exclusion of the first? Or comes it not from their looking to words and actions, without due regard to the principles and motives by which they are influenced and dictated?

This last deception may be considered as specially meant here, from the antithesis in the verse-“But the Lord weigheth the spirits.” His “weighing” signifies his perfectly ascertaining, by intuitive and unerring discernment, and exposing, to universal satisfaction, the good and the evil with the precise relative proportions of each. His “weighing the spirits” implies that here the moral good or the moral evil really lies. The mere action is, in itself, incapable of either, independently of what it indicates in the agent. When we speak of a moral action, we mean the action of a moral agent. A dog or a man may do the same action,-may carry off, for instance, for their own use respectively, what is the property of another. We never think of calling it a moral action in the dog; but we condemn the man for the commission of a crime against his neighbour, and a sin against his God. An action may even in its effects be beneficial, which, in regard to the doer of it, is inexcusably hail: it may be good in its results, but bad in its principle. It is the latter alone that constitutes its moral or immoral character. And oh! it is well for us to be constantly impressed with the solemn truth before us-that “the Lord weigheth the spirits.” It gives us a lesson in the duty of self-examination. We should weigh our own spirits. In the remembrance that our hearts are “deceitful above all things,” we should, in that duty, go carefully and faithfully to work; not satisfied with a mere surface-look; not regarding the word and the action merely, but jealously tracing each, as in the sight of God, to its secret source within; testing that source by the application of Bible criterions; desiring to detect not merely motives that are unmixedly evil, but every secret adulteration of motives that are in the main good-every alloy-every deteriorating ingredient; “keeping our hearts with all diligence;” and looking forward to that day, when the equal balances of heaven shall try-both in deed, and in principle and motive-" every man’s work of what sort it is." That will be the great day of the “weighing of the spirits.” What a day of strange revelations! when all hearts shall be laid open as they are in " the eyes of Him with whom we have to do!" How much that here appears genuine shall then be found “reprobate silver!” How much that by its superficial appearance deceived the eyes of men, shall be shown to have been but the gilding and lackering of corruption! How much that passed for virtue, but the counterfeit of vice! How much that seemed sterling, when “weighed in the balances” shall be " found wanting!" How many masks of imposing comeliness shall be torn from concealed deformity! Of how many “whited sepulchres” shall the “dead men’s bones and all uncleanness” be thrown out to view! Let us anticipate that day of coming disclosure, when the Lord the Judge shall “bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and make manifest the counsels of the hearts;” and let us faithfully “judge ourselves” that “we may not be judged.”

And for the same reason which should make us faithful and severe in judging ourselves, we should feel it incumbent upon us to be charitable and cautious in our judgments of others. We cannot “weigh the spirits.” Of actions and of words, in their nature and in their tendency, we are entitled to form our opinion, according to the principles and precepts of God’s law. But there is often a great deal more freedom used, than there ought to be, with the motives and intentions of those by whom the actions are done and the words are spoken. We are apt to talk with as much confidence of the motives of others as if we had the divine prerogative of “searching the heart.” Frequently, for instance, we conclude at once, from the actual result of what another has done, that such result was in his intention,-that the production of it was even the chief or only motive by which he was influenced. Whereas He who"weigheth the spirits" may know that the motive has been the very reverse; and that the actual result has arisen from an error in judgment, and may be grieving the well-intentioned agent even more than it does ourselves. Let us then while we search our own hearts to the very bottom, beware of usurping the divine right of pronouncing on the secrets of other hearts. To this, as to every thing else, the great law of Christian equity and charity clearly and fully applies-" Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them."

Verse Proverbs 16:3 . “Commit thy works unto the Lord, and thy thoughts shall be established.” The counsel here given implies the following things:-

  1. That all our purposes and all our doings should be according to God’s will. How is it possible for us to commit them to God otherwise? How can we look to God for a blessing on that which we know to be contrary to His mind, and displeasing in His sight? We ought not to form or to pursue any purpose, regarding which we are sensible that we cannot, without a consciousness of inconsistency and impiety, acknowledge God. We ought not, unless we can even do so with confidence. The maxim by which, as Christians, we should be regulated, is to be found in the words-“Whatsoever is not of faith”-whatsoever does not proceed, that is, from a full conviction of right-“is sin.”

  2. That none of our works can prosper without God. His providential blessing and superintendence are indispensable to success in any one of them. When His own counsels require it, God can bring to nothing the best, and crown with success the worst devised of human plans. This is a lesson of which the div ine wor d is full.*

  1. That it is, therefore, the obvious and imperative duty of intelligent creatures to own their dependence, and to seek, on all occasions, the divine countenance and blessing:-a counsel we have had more than once before us: one which pervades the Bible; and to which, despite of all the speciousness which a sophistical infidelity may give to its theories and speculations, natural conscience gives its sanction-harmonizing with the dictates of unsophisticated reason.

  2. That what is our duty is, at the same time, our interest. The act of committing all things into the hands of God to be regulated as He may see fit, preserves the spirit from corroding anxiety; from carefulness, and sleeplessness, and torturing apprehensions about the result. It “keeps the soul in peace.”*

  1. As before, a general truth is expressed,-namely, that God will graciously smile on the efforts, and accomplish the purposes and wishes of him who, in all that he does, piously and humbly acknowledges Him, and seeks His blessing. God will " establish his thoughts"-will second and prosper, and fulfil the purposes he forms, and the desires he cherishes, crowning his endeavours with success.

Verse Proverbs 16:4 . “The Lord hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil."-This verse has occasioned no small difficulty to interpreters; and without doubt it is difficult.

The former part of it, indeed, regarded as a general truth, is involved in no perplexity. The perplexity lies in the latter. We can be at no loss to admit the proposition, that both in creation and in providence, all things must ultimately prove for the glory of the Maker and Ruler of the universe. And this, in reality, appears to be the great truth conveyed;-a truth which it would be as unreasonable to question, as it would be impious. There is, there can be nothing which God makes, and nothing which God either does, or permits to be done, which will not ultimately, in one way or another, be rendered instrumental to the furtherance of His glory. It is a truth, that all God’s works praise him; and in the end, all God’s ways shall praise him. He will bring a revenue of honour and adoration to himself from the whole, and from every part. The words have been rendered, “God hath made every thing for his purpose-or for its purpose.” If we render them “for his purpose,” the sense will be much the same as in our own translation. If we render them “for its purpose,” the sense will be, (a very manifest truth) that every thing in nature is designed and adapted for some special purpose-to its appropriate end. And then there will be intended a comparison: that as God hath made everything for its purpose, so also has He made even “the wicked for the day of evil.” Still here lies the difficulty-the perplexing knot. “What is the sense, in which the Lord, who has “made everything for Himself,” is said to have made the wicked for the day of evil? There are two things which it cannot mean. The first is, that God ever made a wicked creature; that any rational creature ever came from His forming hand, imbued with the principles of evil. That God has made creatures who have subsequently fallen and become wicked, is a matter of fact. But God never either made a wicked creature, or made a creature wicked; never created a mind in a state of depravity; and never into a mind that was created pure, infused the principles of depravity. These things-as they are far from God, be far from all our conceptions of Him! The second is, that God ever made an intelligent creature for the purpose of rendering that creature miserable;-or, to use the common phrase, that God ever made any man, to damn him! The first end of God in creation is his own glory. It must be so, unless we can conceive anything to which that glory should give way as being of inferior consequence:-and the second is the gratification of his benevolence in the production of happiness. Why this benevolent God has permitted evil to enter into his creation, is an inquiry too high for us. The fact is certain; and we cannot hesitate in believing, that in the long-run, God will make this part of his providential scheme to produce the largest amount of both glory to his name and benefit to the universal frame of being. But that God’s end, in bringing any intelligent creature into existence, was that creature’s misery, it is blasphemy,-and to every mind that desires to cherish veneration and love towards the divine Being-it is agony to imagine.

Setting such ideas aside, I would remark, that much of the meaning of the whole clause depends on the sense we affix to “the day of evil.”

  1. It is generally understood, and I have myself been accustomed so to explain it, of the day of final visitation and suffering to the wicked themselves. Supposing this to be the meaning, the sentiment expressed will be, that Jehovah, having made and destined all things for Himself, will cause even wicked men, who for the time may seem to be exceptions to that truth, and to be counteracting the purpose of promoting his glory, to subserve that end at last, in “the day of evil”-by their righteous punishment-their final overthrow and destruction: and that there is the same fitness in His thus “reserving the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished,” as there is in any adaptation in nature or in providence. The words, in this view of them, have been finely rendered by Archbishop Tillotson-“God hath ordained everything to that which is fit to it; and the wicked He hath ordained for the day of evil: that is, the wisdom of God hath fitted one thing to another, punishment to sin, the evil day to the evil-doer.” And thus, we may add, God will provide for the honour of his name and government-“What,” says Paul, “if God, willing to shew wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much long-suffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: and that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory?” Romans 9:22-23 . Those, observe, who are “fitted to destruction” are not said to be so fitted by God, as it is said of the “vessels of mercy” that “he before prepared them to glory.” No. The ungodly fit themselves for destruction; and God forbears the immediate infliction of their punishment,-allowing them to take their course, and to work out their principles of evil, with mad infatuation, to the uttermost, that in that punishment when it is inflicted, He may the more surely and effectually make His righteousness apparent.

  2. But I am now inclined to doubt whether “the day of evil” has here this meaning at all. There is another, of which it is alike susceptible, and which, in the Scriptures, it frequently bears-namely, the day of punitive visitation, in the infliction of judicial vengeance, in the course of God’s providential administration. I question if the suffering of the wicked be intended, and am disposed to refer the phrase to the instrumental agency of the wicked. The expression, “The Lord hath made all things for himself,” will thus mean, that He employs all as instruments in effecting his purposes; and that thus He makes the wicked as a part of his agency; employing them, without at all interfering with their freedom and their responsibility, as the executioners of wrath, “when He cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity;"-thus rendering their very passions the means of accomplishing his designs; making “the wrath of man to praise him, and restraining the remainder of wrath.”

Verse Proverbs 16:5 . “Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord: though hand join in hand, he shall not be unpunished.” It is of vast importance that we bear in mind what is the “pride of heart that is abomination to the Lord.”

  1. There is a gentleness and condescending affability, that springs from mere natural disposition; and which may exist while pride, in the sight of God, is cherished and indulged in all its ungodly loftiness. While possessing such a disposition in the highest degree, a man may hate with his whole heart the humbling representations of the gospel, and the unconditional grace which it reveals. He may disdain the lowly, self-abasing language of the “broken and contrite heart,” as language not at all befitting his lips. He may assume the portly self-justifying attitude of the Pharisee, and cast the side-long look of scorn at the penitent publican. But a man of this stamp, whatever his fellow-men may think of him, is of “the proud in heart whom the Lord abhorreth.”

  2. There are some, again, who are full of the language of the deepest self-condemnation:-no terms are strong enough to express their sense of their own vileness and unworthiness. Yet they are of “the proud in heart,” after all. They are lowly in words but high in spirit. Pride dictates their very humiliation. They wish to be commended for their lowliness, and to be assured that they think worse of themselves than others do; that they are by no means the worthless wretches they make themselves; that they possess excellencies to which their humility makes them blind. Then, again, when thus flattered, they shake their heads and protest against it in terms of still stronger self-loathing; while all the time they are pleased with it, and only wish to draw out a little more of what falls so sweetly upon the ear of their vanity, and feasts their inward self-elation. They want a character for humility, while yet they are the very opposite of humble. They will show this at once, if you only agree with the ill they say of themselves; and come to close quarters with them as to actual * bona fide* faults. And not a few, moreover, who are all lowliness before God, are high and irritable, touchy and resentful in their intercourse with men.

I must then afresh urge on you the truth, that the first ingredient in true humility before God, is a heart-breaking conviction of sin, and exposure to wrath, with the deep feeling and the lowly confession of entire dependence on God’s mercy, and of owing all to the riches of His grace. Every other feature and modification of Christian humility must germinate from this. And from such a truly humble state of heart many are the descriptions of pride that keep sinners of mankind:-the pride of self-righteousness; the pride of wisdom; the pride of station; and what appears to be especially alluded to in the verse-the pride of rebellion-obstinate, daring rebellion, in which men combine and encourage one another:-” Though hand join in hand, he shall not be unpunished.” The proud of all sorts may encourage one another in such rebellion-in holding out against all terms of submission not in accordance with what they affect to think due to themselves! O the mad presumption! Due to themselves! What is it that is due to them? Is it not just what is due to all, as having " sinned, and come short of the glory of God?” Yes; and where shall their pride be, in the day when God riseth up? There shall be a vast assembly on the left hand of the Judge. Will they then unite against him? Will they then join hand in hand to resist the execution of His sentence? O the felt impotence-the trembling helplessness-of that multitude! Every heart shall quail before those eyes that, “as a flame of fire,” shall search their inmost souls;-before the purity and the power of Him whose mercy they have despised till it was too late to find it;-the purity and the power of Him whom they refused as their Saviour, but who, having exchanged the cross for the throne, shall then, as Judge, vindicate, in the destruction of his enemies, the righteousness of the divine government, and the insulted honour of the divine name. “O be no longer mockers, lest your bands be made strong.” “Humble yourselves.” Come to God as sinners, and as suppliants for mercy. He will “in no wise cast you out.” Come in pride-you perish. Come in your own name-you perish. But come with a broken and contrite heart, in the name of Jesus, and as sure as He is the true God and the God of truth, he will stretch forth his arms to welcome you!

Proverbs 16:6-15

LECTURE XLII.

Proverbs 16:6-15 .

“By mercy and truth iniquity is purged; and by the fear of the Lord men depart from evil. When a man’s ways please the Lord, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him. Better is a little with righteousness than great revenues without right. A man’s heart deviseth his way: but the Lord directeth his steps. A divine sentence is in the lips of the king; his mouth transgresseth not in judgment. A just weight and balance are the Lord’s; all the weights of the bag are his work. It is an abomination to kings to commit wickedness: for the throne is established by righteousness. Righteous lips are the delight of kings; and they love him that speaketh right. The wrath of the king is as messengers of death; but a wise man will pacify it. In the light of the king’s countenance is life; and his favour is as the cloud of the latter rain.”

Two things are necessary to be noticed in regard to the language of the first of these verses, in order to our arriving at the true interpretation of it, and the principle of harmony between it and other parts of Scripture:-

  1. The word here translated “purged,” is the same with that so rendered in other places, and is the word which strictly and properly signifies expiation or atonement: and-

  2. Mercy and truth, being here put generally, may mean mercy and truth either as exercised on the part of God or as practised by men.

Now, as we have already said, there is not a sentiment more directly in the face of the entire tenor of the word of God, than the sentiment, that the practice of “mercy and truth,” on the part of men, can operate as an atonement or expiation for the guilt of their sins. It is a very favourite sentiment; but one which no man can hold, and, with any consistency, profess to believe the Bible. I do not deny, that the abandonment of unrighteousness and oppression, and the adoption of the principles and the practice of truth, justice, and mercy, may be a means of averting temporal calamities-suspending the execution of them for a time, or even removing them altogether;-as when Daniel said to king Nebuchadnezzar, “Wherefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable unto thee, and break off thy sins by righteousness, and thy iniquities by shewing mercy to the poor; if it may be a lengthening of thy tranquillity,” Daniel 4:27 . And were it not for the use of the proper word for expiation, and the general unqualified form in which the statement in this verse is made, such an interpretation might have been admissible. We might have restricted the application of the words to the manner in which the God of mercy and truth-the God who himself “delighteth in mercy,” and who “requireth truth in the inward parts”-manifests his regard to the practice of these virtues by his creatures. There is a scriptural sense too, in which mercy and truth, and the kindred graces, impart confidence towards God:-but it is only as evidential of interest in the salvation by grace which the divine word reveals; it is neither as meritorious, nor as expiatory. It is obviously in this way that we are to interpret the language of James, “He shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment,” James 2:13 . The best commentary on “mercy rejoicing against judgment”-that is, imparting peace, security, and joy to the soul before God the Judge-is the Saviour’s own description of the solemn transactions of the judgment-day.* The works of mercy He describes, as done to “his brethren” for his sake, were done from love to him, and consequently from faith in him. They are thus graciously stamped with his approval, and, as evidence of those who did them being his, are interposed between them and condemnation. But in this there is nothing of expiation or atonement.

The purging away, or expiation of sin, is invariably, in the Scriptures, put upon a different ground. There is but One Expiation-typified by all the ancient sacrifices, and offered up, in the fulness of time, on Calvary. To suppose the faithfulness and kindness of one man to another to expiate guilt, is to set aside the entire scheme of the divine Saviour’s mediation.

I regard “mercy and truth” here as having reference to God,-to the exercise and manifestation of these perfections of his character, in the scheme of human redemption. This view is strongly supported by such passages as these. “Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.” “Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage; he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy. He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old.” “The law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.”*

I cannot but consider the entire verse, when the two parts of it are taken together, as briefly expressing what God has done for the salvation of man-for expiating his guilt and restoring him to favour; and the character, in principle and practice, which arises out of an interest by faith in this atonement and salvation. By “mercy and truth,” on the part of God, men’s sins are expiated and forgiven;-and, in consequence, “by the fear of the Lord,” springing from the faith that introduces to this forgiveness, “men depart from evil.” Thus, in the language of the Psalmist-“There is forgiveness with God, that he may be feared.” And when by the faith of the atonement sinners are brought to the fear of God, they “walk in newness of life.”

Then we have, in the next adage, one of the many happy effects which result to those who so walk:-“When a man’s ways please the Lord, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.”*

Not that a good man shall never have any enemies. The contrary, alas! we see and know; and the contrary the word of God, both by the views it gives us of human nature, and by many express declarations, teaches us to expect. Indeed, the very verse itself implies the contrary. Enemies are expressly supposed to exist. And it is of these enemies that it is here said, God “maketh them to be at peace with him.” The meaning evidently is, that often when the fears of God’s people are excited in regard to those enemies,-when they are trembling for the consequences of their hostility, thinking all over with them-the wrath is averted-the enemy’s power broken, or his feelings changed, and rendered, for the time at least, friendly. Thus it was in the case of Jacob with Esau; and, in different instances in that of Saul with David. And thus it was in the case of another Saul, in New Testament days, who, from “breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord,” and “being exceedingly mad against them,” became one of the warmest, and most devoted friends of Christ and his cause. God gave promise by Jeremiah to his ancient people-“Verily I will cause the enemy to entreat thee well in the time of evil and in the time of affliction,” Jeremiah 15:11 . The divine Saviour also makes a similar promise, by the Apostle John, to one of his churches, and thus, in like circumstances, to them all.* It has been briefly and tersely said-“The best way to have enemies reconciled to us, is for us to be reconciled to God.” When we are thus reconciled, even when enemies are permitted to rise up against us, and " such as breathe out cruelty," yet may we say with confidence, “If God be for us, who can be against us?"-and to our brethren so situated, “Who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good?”

There may be in the language more especial reference to those parts of the good man’s conduct which have raised up enemies against him, springing from his resolute adherence to what God commands and conscience approves, in spite of all remonstrance, threatening, persuasion, and even tears; and in the full knowledge of the painful result, that those whom he would fain number still amongst his friends must be rendered hostile, and assume the attitude of alienation and resentment. When a child of God acts thus decidedly, and makes himself enemies from “conscience toward God,” by following out the principle-“We must obey God rather than men;"-that God whom he obeys, and for whom he suffers, will stand by him. He will disappoint his fears, (how often has He done it!) and make the very admiration of his firm yet mild and dignified consistency to work, through conscience, on the hearts of his foes, and convert them into his friends-sometimes his warmest and most valuable friends: and not only into his friends, but through his instrumentality, and through the very consistency which at first provoked them, into friends of God.-All this has not unfrequently happened in regard to the godly man’s ungodly relatives. An instance of it occurred in my reading the other day. The Rev. Edwin Sidney, in his Memoir of the Rev. Rowland Hill, gives the following incident. “At the close of his life, he was walking on the terrace at Hawkstone” (the residence of one of his brothers) “when he remarked to a lady who was with him, and who had witnessed the affectionate attentions which were paid him by Sir John Hill and his family,-‘You have seen how I am now received here; but in my youth I have often paced this spot, bitterly weeping, while by most of the inhabitants of yonder house I was considered as a disgrace to my family. But,’ he added, whilst the tears ran down his cheeks-‘it was for the cause of God.’” And this instance is only one of thousands.-Even in cases where affection has not been won, the Lord has many a time, by providential incidents and by secret influences, direct or indirect, upon the mind, kept His servants in peace, preventing the wrath from breaking out-laying an unseen and unaccountable restraint upon it, and giving peace even in the midst of cherished and strong enmity. Daniel has been in peace, in the lions’ den. God has “shut the lions’ mouths, that they have not hurt him.” When He has sent forth his servants on his embassies, “as sheep among wolves,” the savage passions of their infuriated opponents have been restrained, and have even been, by divine grace, tamed into gentleness, so that the “wolf has dwelt with the lamb, and the leopard lain down with the kid.”

Yes, my friends; and, without going far astray from the spirit of the words, I may add, that there is one enemy-the most dreaded of all by guilty nature-whom God “makes to be at peace” with “those whose ways please Him;"-Death, “the last enemy-the king of terrors.” The believer fears him not. He hails him as a friend. To him the spectral form of the monarch of the grave brings no alarm. He comes “a messenger of peace, to call his soul to heaven.”

And “when a man’s ways please the Lord,” it matters not what may be his situation in life. “There is no respect of persons with God.” With the man who is “humble and of a contrite heart, and trembleth at his word,” He delights to “dwell,” whether in the palace or in the cottage;-and from the palace He retires, when it is the abode of sin, to take up his abode in the cottage “wherein dwelleth righteousness.”

Thus it follows-verse Proverbs 16:8 . “Better is a little with righteousness than great revenues without right.”

Taking the words in their general acceptation, without entering into the shades of difference between the term used for righteousness, and that for right-we may remark, that the “little with righteousness” is better than the “great revenues without right” in many respects.-1. They who have the “little with righteousness”-righteousness in the acquisition and righteousness in the use, have it with a good conscience; which they whose abundance is without right can never enjoy. -2. It produces less distraction and temptation to worldliness and forgetfulness of God,-the great curse of wealth; and exerts less of an absorbing influence on the affections and desires.-3. It is received as a blessing from a Father’s hand, and is enjoyed with a blessing from a Father’s heart; whereas “revenues without right” can neither be regarded as divinely bestowed nor as divinely blessed.-4. The “little with righteousness” meets the wants and the bounded desires of its possessor. Righteous before God, and cherishing towards God the spirit of confidence which He requires, he has “learned, in whatsoever state he is, therewith to be content”-which is the great secret of true enjoyment, and which all the revenues of earth without the grace of God must fail to impart.-5. He who has “little with righteousness,” uses the little better; whereas he who gets without principle cannot be expected to put much principle into his spending. And for the encouragement of the poorest it is written, in regard to the employment of earthly means, “It is accepted according to what a man hath, and not according to what he hath not."-6. He who has little has no fears disturbing him of change for the worse; and having his little with right,-and as one under the power of principles which God approves, the principles of true religion,-he has the prospect before him, beyond all the privations and trials of his present poor and pinching condition,-of something infinitely better and more lasting than all the revenues, with right or without it, that this world can ever furnish to its most devoted worshippers-the blessed prospect of “the inheritance of the saints in light;” where, having on earth “received his evil things,” he shall be eternally “filled with all the fulness of God!”

Verse Proverbs 16:9 . “A man’s heart,” that is his mind, his inward powers of reflection, anticipation, skill, prudence, “deviseth his way”-a term implying the application of all possible consideration, invention, and precaution-but “the Lord directeth his steps.” The words express and expose the folly and presumption, on man’s part, of self-confidence-of his thus assuring himself of success, as if he had the future under his eye and at his bidding; regardless of that hidden but everpresent, ever-busy superintending Power, that has all under complete command; that can at once arrest his progress in the very midst and at the very height of his boasting, and “turn to foolishness” all his devices. The sacred Oracles are full of the sentiment and of the most striking exemplifications of its truth.* And what is the sentiment of revelation cannot fail to command the concurrence of enlightened reason. It must be so. If there is a God at all it cannot be otherwise. It were the height of irrationality as well as impiety for a moment to question it-to imagine the contrary possible. How otherwise could God govern the world? Were not all human schemes under supreme and irresistible control,-what would become of the certainty of the divine? All must of necessity fulfil the plans of Infinite Wisdom in the administration of God’s universal government. God “will work, and who shall let it?”

Verse Proverbs 16:10 . “A divine sentence is in the lips of the king: his mouth transgresseth not in judgment.”

Solomon being himself a king, it is no matter of surprise that he should occasionally touch on the duties of royalty. His object here is to set forth what kings ought to be, and what good kings always are. Such is the character of human government, as ordained of God-a divine institute for the well-being of men.

The terms of this verse might be considered as having in them a truth specially applicable to the kings of Israel and Judah. They reigned under a theocracy. Jehovah himself had given laws to his chosen people. It was the duty of the kings to have these laws before them, and to govern in all things according to them. Anticipating the exercise of the kingly authority, God had expressly given command to this effect by Moses.* A sentence, therefore, which was according to this law, was, in the strictest sense, “a divine sentence.” It was of God’s express dictation. But the words may be understood of kings more generally.

“A divine sentence” may be understood either as to its character, or as to its authoritative effect. If taken in the former sense, it means a sentence according to perfect equity-in harmony with the character of Him of whom it is said-“He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth, and without iniquity; just and right is He.” If in the latter sense, the idea is, that as every judgment or “sentence” of God is decisive and effectual, so that the execution of it cannot be evaded or resisted, such, in measure, is the case with the sentences of kings among men: and in the general idea of a divine sentence may fairly be included both character and efficiency-both equity and power. When understood of equity, the latter part of the verse, according to the principle of Hebrew parallelisms, will be a kind of counterpart or echo to the former-“A divine sentence is in the lips of the king; his mouth transgresseth not in judgment.” When understood of power, the verse might be rendered-“A divine sentence is in the lips of the king: let not his mouth trangress in judgment:"-in proportion to the authoritative and efficacious nature of his sentence, ought he to see to it that the sentence be right:-he should weigh well his decision ere he pronounces it, seeing it involves consequences so certain, immediate, and important. And the principle of this lesson applies to all in situations of authority and influence, whether more private or more public. As does also the lesson of equity from the character of God, as a just God-” the righteous Lord who loveth righteousness.”

The principle is, in the spirit of it, repeated in next verse-“A just weight and balance are the Lord’s; all the weights of the bag are his work.”

The laws of Moses were adverted to in our comment on this subject on a former occasion. (Proverbs 11:1 .) They are most pointed and strict, and heavy the denunciations against the violators of them. The Jews are said to have kept their standard weights and measures in the sanctuary. The fact might arise from the particularity of the law; and might operate as a remembrancer of the righteousness of Him by whom the law was given and the weights and measures fixed. And it furnishes, at the same time, an interesting commentary on the words in this verse. They are " the Lord’s”-they are " his work.” All adulteration of them was a kind of sacrilege. It was not cheating men merely, but defrauding Jehovah, changing what He had fixed. The general idea is, that the weights and measures should be held sacred, like all else that belongs to God, so that encroachment upon them should be considered as profanation, which God himself would avenge. And, from the connexion in which the words are here introduced, they lead us to observe, that while kings are called upon to “do justly” themselves in their whole administration, and in every department of it, it is, at the same time, a most important part of their official duty to promote among their subjects, to the utmost extent of their power, the principles and the practice of equity between man and man. The prevalence, indeed, of mutual confidence is indispensable to the comfort and prosperity of society, nay to the very existence of a community that, to any extent, depends on trade and commerce. Destroy such confidence, and all the intercourse of business is at once annihilated-cut up by the very roots.

Verse Proverbs 6:12 . “It is an abomination to kings to commit wickedness: for the throne is established by righteousness.” This verse is susceptible of various interpretations, as-1. “For kings to commit wickedness is abomination; for the throne is established by righteousness.” This view presents a sentiment to which none can possibly refuse their assent; For any man to “commit wickedness” is an abomination-an abomination to God and to all holy creatures, and it is peculiarly so for those who hold stations of authority and influence. It is theirs to give the tone to public morals and manners. This invests them with a special responsibility.

  1. The verse may be read-“Let it be an abomination to kings to commit wickedness: for the throne is established by righteousness:” that is, kings ought to hold wickedness in abhorrence in their own conduct; and that, whether personal or official. A distinction is at times made between the man and his office; or between the man personally and the man officially;-which, if pushed far, may be very prejudicial. It goes to this-that a man may be a very good magistrate, though he is a very bad man; that private character has little or no connexion with the discharge of public functions. This is surely a pernicious mistake. The two should, as far as possible, be in union. The best security for upright and correct official conduct is uprightness of private character. There never can be full confidence in a government, of which the conductors, supreme and subordinate, are, in their private deportment, destitute of principle. Principle in the personal character will alone resist temptation to malversation in public office. We have no certain hold of a man otherwise.

  2. The third view is probably the right one-that “wickedness” in general “is an abomination to kings;” that is, ought to be, and in regard to every good king will be-“for the throne is established by righteousness.” That such is the true meaning is likely from the verse that follows, which presents an evident contrast to this. A virtuous, flourishing, comfortable, and happy population will scare away from the throne all apprehensions of seditious and revolutionary movements. Such a people will wish for no change; and against any enemy that would introduce change will defend with their heart’s blood the government under which they enjoy such prosperity. On the contrary, the extensive prevalence of opposite principles,-very often the result of misgovernment, will prevent prosperity, will produce poverty and discomfort, will cherish discontent, will foment insubordination, and excite wishes for change, and render the country a mass of combustible materials which requires but the striking of a spark to ensure a universal explosion. Then the throne is in incessant insecurity. It stands amongst gunpowder. It is surrounded with terrors. Its occupant can be in peace only from ignorance. Let it be laid down as a settled maxim, that the best security of “the throne” is in the virtue of its subjects; that the diffusion of knowledge and of religious and moral principle, is the best means of ensuring the loyal peaceable, happy submission of the people. Equal laws, equal rights, equal privileges, equal favour to all in their respective departments of occupation, a fair field for every one, and no partiality in either immunities or restrictions, in trade, in science, or in religion,-will do much to produce this desirable condition of things. And “the righteousness which exalteth the nation” will place its throne on a firm basis, and surround it with the truest glory.*

Verse Proverbs 16:13 . “Righteous lips are the delight of kings; and they love him that speaketh right.” Ah! would that this could be truly predicated as matter of universal fact! Well had it been, and well would it be, both for princes and for people! But history tells another tale; and we must again regard the words as the statement of what ought to be, rather than of what is,-of the character, not of all kings, but of the truly good king.-The flatteries, the wiles, the falsehoods, the treacherous smiles and selfish heartlessness of courtiership, have been proverbial from the beginning. It has been in every age a complaint, and one alas! too well founded, that princes do not hear truth,-that, from fear or from favour, it does not reach their ears. There have been, and there are, honourable exceptions; but a courtier has long been a term almost synonymous with a man versed in all the arts of simulation and chicane.-Of how many princes, in ancient or more modern times, has this been (though, perchance, a present gratification to them) the ultimate wretchedness and ruin! Falsehood and flattery are often for the time more palatable than faithfulness and truth. When the lying lips of the parasite pour into the open ear of royalty the false and delusive maxim that the people are made for the prince, not the prince for the people; when they place the ruler above the law, and pronounce the ruler’s pleasure the criterion of the ruler’s duty, and his will what should bind all, and be itself unbound:-when a profligate minister recommends measures according to what he knows to be the caprice of his royal master, or his unhappily obstinate prejudices, rather than according to what he knows just and liberal views of the public good to require;-the deceived prince becomes the dupe of treachery; and his throne may be tottering to its base when he is fancying it most secure. Happy is it for the prince who feels and acts as this verse describes; who desires honest and faithful counsel; who prefers unpalatable truth to palatable falsehood; who rejects with dignity and scorn the advisers whom he detects putting a bandage over his eyes, and who places those proportionally near to him and in the light of his favour, who assist him to see clearly things as they actually are, and suggest, with the fidelity of conscientious conviction, the measures that will make things as they ought to be!-The best commentary on the verse before us, as descriptive of the character of a good king, may be found in the resolutions of the father of Solomon-Psalms 101:1-8 .

Verses Proverbs 16:14-15 . “The wrath of the king is as messengers of death: but a wise man will pacify it. In the light of the king’s countenance is life; and his favour is as a cloud of the latter rain."-These verses contain a striking contrast between the effects of royal displeasure, and of royal favour. The sentiment of the former verse was strikingly true then of the capricious fury of Eastern despots; and in all arbitrary governments it is so still. Human nature remains the same; and hence the tendencies of absolute power remain the same. It has been truly said, that absolute power is safe in no hands but those of God. Many a time have those Eastern despots, whose will was law, and their frown death to their trembling vassals, when any one had done them a displeasure, given “the messengers of death” their secret and summary commission,-consigning the victim of their resentment, without trial and without warning, to the dungeon, and giving him his choice of the bowl or the bowstring.-On the contrary, “in the light of the king’s countenance is life; and his favour is as a cloud of the latter rain.” “Life” here, as in other places, means prosperity and joy-happy life. And “a cloud of the latter rain” may be regarded as the emblem at once of pleasure and of benefit. The shower which it pours down to water the earth is at once refreshing and fructifying. Thus to Haman the wrath of Ahasuerus was as “messengers of death,” while to Mordecai his favour was “as a cloud of the latter rain.” Thus to Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, the wrath of the incensed Nebuchadnezzar was the “messenger of death;” but when their God had preserved them in the sevenfold heated furnace, and turned the wrath of the king into astonishment and repentance, his favour returned to them like “the cloud of latter rain.” Thus to the enemies of Daniel was the wrath of Darius; and thus to Daniel himself was his favour.

The prudence of every “wise man” will seek to avert “the wrath” and to secure “the favour” of one who has so much in his power,-not, if he be a man of principle as well as prudence, in any way inconsistent with honour and integrity,-but by all means which do not compromise these; as by every becoming, though by no undignified and sycophantish, concession.*1 Of such wisdom-the wisdom of “the children of this world,” we have an example in the conduct of the men of Tyre and Sidon to the ambitious and vindictive Herod.*2 Theirs was carnal policy,-the unprincipled prudence of selfishness, escaping evil to itself by fulsome, impious, and as it proved, destructive adulation to the aspiring pride of another. Let us be thankful that we live in a land of liberty, where the law is above the royal will,-where, without the law, “the wrath of the king” is impotent; where, (and, though in some respects it may be questionable, yet is it a beautiful provision of the Constitution) though the supreme power has the privilege of remitting a sentence of death by showing mercy, there is no right of reversing at will a sentence of acquittal, and consigning to death when the law has awarded life. It is the characteristic prerogative of the ruler of a free country-of a law-controlled prince in opposition to a prince-controlled law.

*1 Comp. Ecclesiastes 10:4 . rr

*2 See Acts 12:20-24 .

Suffer a few closing reflections.-

  1. What was said, in the course of exposition, on the importance of deliberation in giving judgment, may be said in regard to the publication of opinions. No man should form his sentiments hastily; and far less should he hastily enunciate them; especially when he has reason to know that his opinion will go far with any considerable portion of the community. He should, in that case, be solicitous that every sentence to which he gives utterance on any subject should be a “divine sentence”-one in harmony with the mind of God. Men are at times tempted, by the very circumstance of their having got the public ear, to give forth their opinions more crudely, pluming themselves on their intuitive quickness, and trusting to their oracular authority. But conduct the very reverse should be the result of the confidence placed in their judgment; the greater should be the anxiety not to do harm by presuming on that confidence,-but to be all the surer of their ground.

  2. He is the truest patriot, the best friend of his country, who contributes most to the extension of the knowledge, the virtue, and the religion of the people. That man more effectually advances its true interests, its solid greatness, its prosperity, its happiness, and the safety and stability of its government, than he who augments its resources of wealth and power and territory, and means of hostile aggression. The best educated, and the most moral people; and above all, the people among whom there is the most extensive prevalence of the principles of true religion, will invariably be, as they are the best, the happiest people, and the throne of such a nation the most secure and well-established. The surest way to provide for the political and commercial prosperity of BRITAIN is to seek the advancement in her of knowledge, religion, and sound morality,-in the train of which all else that is good will securely follow. And this implies, that we use such influence as we have, in a legitimate form, to avert such measures as might tend to the deterioration of the country, directly or indirectly, in her most important interests,-by multiplying temptations to crime, and, through the abridgment of the resources for obtaining education to the rising generation, ensuring ignorance, with all its wretched results, as the future character of the community.

Finally, whatever, in the form of good, is true of the best princes on earth, is all true, without the slightest alloy or drawback, of the King of Zion. His abhorrence of evil is infinite. The authority and the certain efficacy of His word are absolute. Every sentence of His is truly “a divine sentence” worthy of being executed, and as sure as it is worthy. Fearful and fatal are the effects of His displeasure, and the excellence of His favour is above all price. O! if you would deprecate the anger, and desire the favour of a fellow-creature who had it even in his power to kill the body, or to ruin your interests for time; how can you think of living for another day, another hour, another moment, under the frown of God, and in a state of exposure to His wrath? Truly may it be said of this wrath, “a wise man will pacify it.” But there is no way which human wisdom could ever have devised to “pacify it.” It can be pacified towards you-not by any means of your own devising, but only by your acquiescing in that which God has devised. The Lord Jesus Christ is your peace. In Him Jehovah is well pleased. In Him he waits to be gracious. He has no pleasure in sending against you the messengers of death, but rather delights in waiting over your souls as a cloud of the latter rain, ready to discharge its shower of blessing!

Proverbs 16:16-26

LECTURE XLIII.

Proverbs 16:16-26 .

“How much better is it to get wisdom than gold? and to get understanding rather to be chosen than silver? The highway of the upright is to depart from evil: he that keepeth his way preserveth his soul. Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall. Better is it to be of an humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud. He that handleth a matter wisely shall find good; and whoso trusteth in the Lord, happy is he. The wise in heart shall be called prudent; and the sweetness of the lips increaseth learning. Understanding is a well-spring of life unto him that hath it: but the instruction of fools is folly. The heart of the wise teacheth his mouth, and addeth learning to his lips. Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones. There is a way that seemeth right unto a man; but the end thereof are the ways of death. He that laboureth, laboureth for himself; for his mouth craveth it of him.”

The first of these verses might be taken in connexion with what immediately precedes. In the fourteenth verse, one of the benefits of wisdom is mentioned; namely, it’s suggesting to its possessor the desirableness, and the most eligible means, of evading impending danger from the displeasure of those in authority: “The wrath of the king is as messengers of death: but a wise man will pacify it.” In this respect, then, “How much better is it to get wisdom than gold? and to get understanding rather to be chosen than silver?” What wisdom thus effects, riches cannot. Wealth, and its attendant influence, may even lead to the opposite result-exciting the prince’s jealousy; and where they are possessed without wisdom, they are the more likely to produce this evil. And if ordinary wisdom is, on such accounts, preferable to riches-O how strongly does the sentiment apply to true, heavenly, divine wisdom, as delivering from the wrath not of any mere earthly monarch, but of the “King of kings,” the Ruler of the universe!*

The same lesson, under another form, is conveyed by the next verse, “The highway of the upright is to depart from evil: he that keepeth his way preserveth his soul.”-“The highway” is the way which Jehovah, the God of heaven, has “cast up.” It is the way of the “upright”-the way of God’s people; and it is “to depart from evil.” As the man who has turned his back upon a place, taking the road that leads most directly from it, and anxiously pressing on in that road, to get as fast and as far from it as possible,-so is “the upright” man in regard to sin. He has turned his back upon it. He has, with decided step, taken God’s “highway” and will not be tempted into any of sin’s devious paths: for well he knows that he, and he only, “that keepeth his way”-the way of faith and obedience; the faith of God’s truth, and the obedience of God’s precepts, “preserveth his soul.”

Verse 18. “Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.”* Many are the exemplifications of this left on record in God’s word. It was when Nebuchadnezzar’s heart was lifted up with pride-when in a spirit of self-elation he said, “Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?” that he was visited with the most humiliating of heaven’s chastisements; until he was constrained to acknowledge Jehovah’s supremacy, and to publish the lesson-“Them that walk in pride He is able to abase.” It was when his son Belshazzar “humbled not himself, though he knew this, but lifted himself up against the Lord of heaven,” and “praised the gods of silver and gold,” and profaned the sacred vessels of Jehovah, bringing upon himself the charge-“The God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified”-that his doom was written on his palace-wall by the hand of mystery and dread; and that night the terrible doom fulfilled.-And in the experience of his people God has often checked and punished the obnoxious principle. David suffered for it when he numbered the people; and Hezekiah suffered for it when he made his ostentatious display to the ambassadors of Babylon.

Verse Proverbs 16:19 . “Better it is to be of an humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud.” In many respects “it is better.” The spirit of the humble is contented, unaspiring, cheerful, submissive; and happier by far is this spirit than that of “the proud:” who may indeed have the temporary advantage-may “divide the spoil”-may obtain and exult over the plunder of their fallen rivals-may revel in the attainment of their property and their honour: but, after all, their riches and their glory are no more than-

“——–meteors in the midnight sky,

That glitter for a while and die.”

They “flash, and fade.” The higher their elevation, the deeper their fall. The brighter their splendour, the gloomier the darkness by which it is succeeded!

The connexion is sufficiently natural between this verse and what follows. Pride renders him who is the subject of it hasty and rash. Impatient precipitation is one of its distinctive features. Humble-mindedness is necessary to steady, cautious, discreet action. Hence, “he that handleth a matter wisely shall find good.” The obvious sense is-that thorough understanding of business and prudent management of it, tend to ensure a prosperous issue. And if the business is another’s, the intelligent, cautious, successful conducting of it, will procure benefit by the favour it conciliates, and the character it establishes. One business well conducted brings a man another. This is the way to get forward in the world. And in proportion as the intrusted transaction is difficult and delicat e, w ill the “handling of it wisely” prove advantageous.-Still there is no amount of human understanding and discretion that can render success in any transaction certain. The result rests with God. Hence a very natural connexion of the latter clause of the verse with the former:-“And,” or but, “whoso trusteth in the Lord, happy is he.” Here is the true secret of happiness-the union, in all things, of prudence and diligence, with trust in God. Trust must be associated with effort. And when it pleases God, after all has been done within the limits of human power, to withhold the blessing, our happiness lies in the faith that all is well;-that God sees it to be so,-and that, had we the eye of God-the eye that “seeth the end from the beginning,” we should be fully satisfied of this; and discover that any change, such as would have conformed the result more to our anticipations and wishes, would have been “for the worse.” It is also a comfort and satisfaction, when we are disappointed, to feel that we have “done what we could.” Disappointment is thus resolved into the will of God; whose will, while sovereign, is ever determined by a wisdom incapable of error, a faithfulness incapable of failure, and a love incapable of any step really and ultimately injurious to its objects,-and thus the heart is at rest in the Lord.

Let it be further observed, that “handling a matter wisely’” does not mean handling it cunningly, with artifice and what the apostle calls “fleshly wisdom”-the policy of this world; but with a wisdom and prudence in harmony with the most rigid and straightforward integrity. Double-dealing may be misnamed wisdom; the arts of a tortuous cunning may be dignified with the designation of prudence; but when such wisdom, such prudence, has been employed, even the greatest amount of success can impart little that deserves the name of happiness. There can be none, where conscience interferes, and inserts its secret envenoming sting. And no man who is using the arts of a crooked policy can exercise trust in God. The two things are incompatible. Who can unite disobedience and confidence? What! act in opposition to the precepts of Him who “desireth truth in the inward parts,” and yet profess to trust in him for success! Look for God’s blessing on the violation of God’s will! That were infatuation indeed! How could David trust in God for the success of his plan against Uriah the Hittite-a plan to accomplish adultery by murder? There was art in it; but there was not wisdom. The art was the art of hell; and success left a barb rankling in the soul.

Verse Proverbs 16:21 . “The wise in heart shall be called prudent; and the sweetness of the lips increaseth learning.” Some translators invert the first part of the verse-“The prudent shall be called wise in heart.” There is no need for any such change. “The wise in heart” are those who, under the influence of sound principles, know how to “order their affairs with discretion.” Men of the most splendid powers and attainments are not always the most remarkable for practical good sense. Better, therefore, in many respects, is the man whose wisdom regulates his temper and affections, his words and actions, aright. That is far more important, for the production of personal and social happiness, than the most brilliant genius without it.-He “shall be called prudent,” means his having a character for it-his being looked up to, respected, consulted, confided in, chosen as an adviser. Such a man is more truly valuable and useful, than the man of mere learning, who has not discretion and common sense to guide the use of it. We see the effect of the manifestation of “wisdom of heart” in procuring reputation and inspiring confidence, in the case of Solomon in his first recorded act of judgment-1 Kings 3:28 .

It is, at the same time, of great moment, that along with the possession of wisdom and prudence, there be “the sweetness of the lips”-or honeyed lips-gentleness and persuasiveness of counsel-impressive eloquence of speech: which gives vast advantage in the application of wisdom for the benefit of others. It " increaseth learning”-effectually spreading it-rendering others wise as well as the possessor himself.

If the “wise in heart” be understood of the truly, spiritually, divinely wise, then the phrase “shall be called prudent” must be interpreted, according to a common Hebrew idiom, as meaning “is prudent”-deserves to be so called. The sentiment will thus be the oft-repeated one, that true religion is the only genuine prudence. And is it not so? we ask anew. Take as a standard the ordinary maxims of prudence among men. Is it the part of prudence to be considerate? to look forward? to anticipate, as far as possible, the contingencies of the future? to provide against evil? to make sure of lasting good? Then is true religion the very perfection of prudence. It secures the happiness of both worlds; the most substantial enjoyment in this, and eternal life in the next. These ordinary maxims of prudence would more than justify no small sacrifices in the present life-nay even the endurance of continued privation and suffering during the entire course of it,-were the result to be, insuring the blessedness of a never-ending existence. It is capable of more than demonstration-it is intuitively manifest-that if life were prolonged to an antediluvian continuance, it would be the part of wisdom cheerfully to submit to have Methuselah’s nine hundred and sixty-nine years filled up every moment with the most intense and varied of torments, were these to secure the happiness of eternity-of which nine hundred and sixty-nine times that period does not so much as form a part! It would, beyond all controversy, be a bargain of prudence. But, blessed be God! there is no call to any such purchase. “Godliness has promise of the life that now is, as well as of that which is to come.” The ways of true religion are even here “ways of pleasantness and peace.”

Verse Proverbs 16:22 . “Understanding is a well-spring of life unto him that hath it: but the instruction of fools is folly.” *1 “Understanding” must here be taken in its highest acceptation, as synonymous with spiritual illumination-the divinely imparted discernment of the truth and excellence of divine discoveries. For, although even the ordinary exercise of intellect, in the acquisition and use of general knowledge, is, without doubt, a source of real enjoyment, and may, in an inferior sense, be called a “well-spring of life”-one of the fountains from which the happiness of life is drawn; yet the expression, as it occurs in Scripture, means something more-even a spring from which life itself is obtained-a life-giving spring; and the life that is yielded is the happy life that lies in God’s favour. The spiritual understanding of divine truth is “a well-spring of life” to the person himself who possesses it,-and it is a fountain from which streams of life-giving influence flow forth to others. Let me refer you to two passages for illustration. Our Lord says-“This is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” *2 The words express two things,-first, that the thing known is the ground of eternal life; and secondly, that the knowledge of it is the principle of eternal life. He who, by the illumination of the Spirit, possesses this knowledge, has, in his mind and heart, the essential element of the life-the germ from which it springs-its “incorruptible seed.” Jesus further says,“Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life."*3 It matters little whether the water that Christ gives be interpreted of the water of divine instruction, or of the Holy Spirit’s influence; for the two are inseparable. It is the Spirit imparting divine knowledge,-or it is divine knowledge imparted by the Spirit,-that becomes, in him who enjoys it, this “well of water”-“the water of life.”

*1 Compare Proverbs 13:16 ; and Proverbs 14:27 . rr

*2 Gospel of Joh 17:3 . rr

*3 Gospel of Joh 4:13-14 .

And, as I have remarked, it sends forth streams for the benefit of others;-becomes not only a living but a life-giving fountain. Thus Jesus says of the Spirit-“He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.”* The instructions of the spiritually enlightened man are life-giving instructions.

“But the instruction of fools is folly.” These words are capable of two senses. 1. They may mean that the instruction imparted to fools is like themselves:-what can come out of a fool but folly? 2. They may mean that the instruction imparted to fools is labour lost,-the attempt to teach them, folly. From the antithesis in the verse, the former seems the more likely sense. What comes from the mouth must correspond with what is within:-and this is true, both as to temporal and as to spiritual things.

The next verse proceeds on the same general principle, and may serve for the further illustration of this-” The heart of the wise teacheth his mouth, and addeth learning to his lips.”

  1. That which the wise man utters is in itself good-instructive, edifying, “profitable to direct.” The streams bear analogy to the fountain.

  2. The wise man uses the understanding, the wisdom and knowledge, imparted to him, for the benefit of others. The wisdom that is in his heart passes to his lips. All that he knows, he seeks to turn to use, as “a good steward of the manifold grace of God.”

  3. His self-knowledge-his experience of his own heart-his incessant self-inspection-his intimate acquaintance with the secret tendencies and workings of his own mind, in the various scenes and circumstances of life-his knowledge both of “the old man” and of “the new man” in their respective principles and influences, as they exist and contend within himself-all qualify him for wisely and judiciously counselling others, according to their characters and situations:-for “as in water face answereth to face; so the heart of man to man.” There may be, there are, many varieties of peculiar character; but the great general features both of corruption and of grace are the same in all; and an intimate experimental acquaintance with them in their diversified and conflicting operations in the soul, is a most important qualification of a spiritual teacher and counsellor-rendering him at once discerning and humble; the discernment dictating the appropriate counsel, and the humility imparting to it its appropriate tone. Which leads me to notice-

  4. The truly wise man will, in his wisdom, accommodate the manner of his instructions and counsels to the varying characters and tempers of his fellow-men. A vast deal depends on this. The end is often lost, not for want of wisdom in the lesson itself, but for lack of discretion in the mode of imparting it.

A thorough knowledge of anatomy is necessary to a judicious and successful practice in the operations of surgery. Ere he venture to make his incision, the surgeon ought to understand all about the region where it is to be made,-what arteries, veins, glands, nerves, lie in the way of his instrument;-and should be fully aware of the peculiarities of the case under his treatment. In like manner an intimate acquaintance with the anatomy of the heart is necessary to discriminative and successful dealing with moral cases-to the suitable communication of instruction and advice. Without the surgical knowledge mentioned, a practitioner may inflict a worse evil than the one he means to cure. And so, through ignorance of moral anatomy, may the injudicious adviser,-who treats all cases alike, and makes no account of the peculiarities of character and situation with which he has to do.

Verse Proverbs 16:24 . “Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones."-Honey was prized by those of old time, not only as a luxury to the palate, but on account of its medicinal and salutary properties. To this there is an allusion here. The words express the twofold idea of pleasantness and of benefit. Many things have the one quality, which have not the other. Many a poison is like honey, sweet to the taste; but, instead of being “health to the bones,” is laden with death. So may it be in regard to their present effect and their ultimate influence, with words.

Harshness and severity never afford pleasure, and seldom yield profit. If they were, in any case, requisite to the latter, we should be under the necessity of giving it the preference, for profit must ever take precedence of mere pleasure. But it will usually be found that both are united. Pleasant words, however, must be distinguished from flattering words. The latter may at the time be palatable, but they can never be otherwise than injurious; for they are not words of truth.

“Pleasant words” may be understood of words of soothing sympathy and comfort in the season of trouble. These are indeed “sweet to the soul” of the disconsolate mourner; and they are strength to all the principles of rectitude within him. For in regard to consolation, as in regard to everything else, the pleasant words must be true words. If not, the consolation cannot be true consolation, and will prove bitterness in the latter end.

“Pleasant words” again may be understood of the gentle though firm language of needful and salutary reproof. Such reproof must be administered in faithfulness and love; as little in the terms of angry severity as affectionate fidelity will allow. “A soft tongue breaketh the bone.” Faithfulness may be maintained in perfect harmony with gentleness. He is in a mighty mistake, who fancies he cannot be faithful otherwise than by being high, and violent, and dictatorial. There are varieties of temper, no doubt, to be dealt with; but, in general, one word of manifestly sincere affection will go further towards our object-“the gaining of our brother,"-than a hundred of intemperate invective. If we have a bitter or otherwise disagreeable medicine to administer, we are desirous, in proportion to its own nauseousness, to convey it in a pleasant vehicle. Thus should we do with reproof. It is itself bitter-in some cases most unpalatable. Let it be administered in honey-the honey of “pleasant words.” It will thus be the better taken; and indeed in this case-in the case of moral distemper and moral influence-the sweetness of the accents will contribute to the efficacy of the medicine of reproof that is conveyed in them. The more distasteful we know any advice to be, while we know it at the same time to be salutary, the more reason is there for the words in which it is communicated to be “pleasant words."-In the case of the body, we must not sacrifice the health to the mere gratification of the palate; but, on the other hand, it would be untender and harsh, to make the potion on purpose bitter and nauseous, when the health does not at all require our doing so, but would be equally the better for it, if taken in a pleasant as if taken in an unpleasant vehicle,-in honey as in gall.

The same observation may be applied to all controversy.

If our object be to convince and to reclaim,-to disabuse the mind of error and to recommend truth,-we do what lies in our power to frustrate that object when we make use of irritating words,-words of contempt and of anger,-words of personality and violence. The maxim ought ever to be-“Soft words and hard arguments.” Soft words are not weak and tame words. In proportion to the importance and certainty of our position must our words be decided and strong. But they may be both, and yet words of love; both as to our subject, while they are gentle and pleasant to our adversary’s person. The two should ever be kept distinct. And the more important our subject, and the more solicitous we are to make a favourable impression in regard to our view of it, the more solicitous should we be to shun all that might prove repulsive and provoking.

For the illustration of the twenty-fifth verse the reader is referred to Proverbs 14:12 , where the same sentiment occurs.

Verse Proverbs 16:26 . “He that laboureth, laboureth for himself; for his mouth craveth it of him."-A rendering considerably different, and conveying quite a different sentiment, has by some critics been given of this verse; and the sense in which they understand it is supported by the authority of the Septuagint:-“The troublesome person troubleth himself; for his mouth turneth upon him.” The sentiment thus extracted from the words is one of which the truth is many a time realized; namely, that the evil which the troublesome man utters, and by which he vexes, disquiets, and injures others, shall ultimately return in damage to himself. It does so amongst men, by his becoming the object of universal suspicion, distrust, and resentment-hated and shunned; and in his misfortunes unpitied. And from God he receives his due recompense. He makes his evil dispositions his tormentors and punishers; causes his words to betray and injure himself; and in the end requites him according to his illdeserts.

While this is a truth, I am inclined to regard it as somewhat a forced and unnatural interpretation of the original words, and our own received translation as simpler and preferable: “He that laboureth, laboureth for himself; for his mouth craveth it of him”-or presseth on him-or urgeth it on him.*1 The sentiment is, that hunger is the incentive to labour. Man must have sustenance, and to obtain it he must work. He who will not work must starve. In “the sweat of his face” must man eat his bread. In civilized life, no doubt, there are many artificial wants. Various luxuries are desired, in addition to the means of subsistence and even the comforts of life. But the original, the primary and proper impulse to labour is, the necessity and the “craving” for food. This is first. Other things are superinduced upon it.*2

*1 “The appetite of him who toils, is toilsome to him, (i.e. makes him strenuously exert himself) for his mouth urgeth him on (i.e. for appetite is urgent)."-Stuart.

*2 Ecc 6:7 .

Let not the sentiment before us, however, be misinterpreted and abused, as if it savoured of selfishness, or was meant to give it any countenance. It does not mean that the labour of man ought to be, or even that it may lawfully be, solely for himself-for his own mouth alone. There are other and ulterior objects of labour. There is nothing selfish in the pervading spirit, or in any one precept, of the word of God. A noble and exalted motive to labour is laid down by the Apostle Paul-“Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth,” Ephesians 4:28 . There is thus infused into the toils even of the humblest sphere the principle and spirit of benevolence. A man must, in the first instance, labour for himself and for his family:-his own mouth and theirs “crave it of him.” But when he has a little-how little soever-to spare, he is to indulge the sympathies of his heart for others, who may be still worse off than himself. And let it not by any be forgotten,-especially in these times of hardship,-how distressing it is, when a man is disposed to labour, and, with all his anxiety and pains, cannot find work to do! Such industrious poor ought to be pitied and relieved; and everything done that can be done, to open for them permanent sources of employment and comfort, both by individuals and by the government of the country.

Alas! that the craving of the mouth for “the meat that perisheth” should be so universal, and should keep the whole world ever astir, while there is so little desire after “the meat which endureth unto everlasting life.” Alas, that there should be so little labouring for it-for “the bread that came down from heaven to give life unto the world!"-that the prayer of felt necessity and earnest desire should come from so few lips-“Lord, evermore give us that bread!” Why is it so? Simply because the wants of the body are felt, and not those of the soul; the necessity of providing for the present life, and not that of providing for the life to come. O that men were wise! that they would attend to the gracious and faithful admonition and counsel of the “Friend of sinners”-“Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you!” Mark well his solemn words-“I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.” Labouring implies some impression of the value of that for which we make the exertion. O the preciousness of life eternal!-and consequently of the means of obtaining it-the “living bread-the bread of life!” There is no labour that would be too much for this. But it is offered to sinners as God’s free gift, “without money and without price.” When a sinner, however, has believed the gospel,-has felt his destitution and his need,-and the value of the life which the gospel reveals, what toil, what self-denial, what sacrifices, will he not submit to, with cheerfulness, for its final and full attainment! *

In conclusion-1. If it be a truth that “happy is he who trusteth in the Lord,” then “lie not against the truth,” by professing to trust, and yet shewing none of the peace and joy which such trust should inspire. If you betray the same anxiety and carefulness, the same trepidation, the same fretful disquietude in disappointment, which are shown by the men of the world,-well may they ask, Where is your religion?-and throw the further question in your teeth, “What do ye more than others?” O manifest its happy tendency; doing your duty with active cheerfulness,-blessing God if you succeed, and bowing, and still blessing Him if you fail.

  1. Study to ascertain your respective talents,-and without “thinking of yourselves more highly than you ought to think, but thinking soberly,” use them for the glory of your Master, and for the benefit of your fellow-men. Knowledge of business and of the world; knowledge of divine truth and of the things of God;-wisdom and experience in the affairs of life, or in spiritual concerns;-the power of speech and persuasive address;-all descriptions of authority and influence,-whatever it be by the use of which you may be useful, employ it with this view;-whether it be in instructing the ignorant, in counselling the heedless, in establishing the unsettled, in comforting the cast down, in directing the perplexed, in pleading the cause of the injured, in warning and strengthening the tempted, in reclaiming the wandering, in cheering the pilgrims on their way to Zion.

  2. We have been speaking of the importance of accommodating instruction and counsel to character and situation: there is one character and one situation that is common to All-all differing, yet all alike. Sinner is the general character of mankind, without one exception; guilty and lost their universal condition. And for this common character and common condition, there is a common counsel-and there is but one:-“BELIEVE ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, AND THOU SHALT BE SAVED.”

Proverbs 16:27-33

LECTURE XLIV.

Proverbs 16:27-33 .

“An ungodly man diggeth up evil; and in his lips there is as a burning fire. A froward man soweth strife; and a whisperer separateth chief friends. A violent man enticeth his neighbour, and leadeth him into the way that is not good. He shutteth his eyes to devise froward things; moving his lips he bringeth evil to pass. The hoary head is a crown of glory, if it be found in the way of righteousness. He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city. The lot is cast into the lap; but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord.”

In the first of these verses, “an ungodly man” is, in the original, “A son of Belial;"-a frequent designation of the wicked-of those who “have no fear of God before their eyes.” In the expression “diggeth up evil” two ideas may be included:-

  1. Taking pains to devise it. We dig and search for treasure in a mine, or where we fancy it lies concealed: thus the wicked man, the “son of Belial,” does in regard to “evil.” It is his treasure-that on which he sets his heart; and for it, as for treasure, he “digs” and searches,-ay, often deep and long. His very happiness seems to depend on his reaching and finding it. He is specially laborious and persevering, when any one chances to have become the object of his pique or malice. Marvellous is the assiduity with which he then strains every nerve to produce mischief,-plodding and plotting for it,-mining and undermining,-exploring in every direction, often where no one could think of but himself,-and, with savage delight, exulting in the discovery of aught that can be made available for his diabolical purpose.

  2. Taking pains to revive it, after it has been buried and forgotten. He goes down into the very graves of old quarrels; brings them up afresh; puts new life into them; wakes up grudges that had long slept; and sets people by the ears again, who had abandoned their enmities, and had for years been living in reconciliation and peace.

As to “evil,” whether old or new, “the son of Belial” is like one in quest of some mine of coal or of precious metal. He examines his ground; and wherever he discovers any hopeful symptoms on the surface, he proceeds to drill, and bore, and excavate. The slightest probability of success will be enough for his encouragement to toil and harass himself night and day until he can make something of it. The persevering pains of such men would be incredible were they not sadly attested by fads:-“They search out iniquities; they accomplish a diligent search: both the inward thought of every one of them, and the heart, is deep.” *

The latter part of the verse corresponds well with the former-“And in his lips there is as a burning fire.” This is a contrast to the “pleasant words” of the 24th verse. The “burning fire” is the fire of pride, of passion, or of lust:-perhaps, from the immediate connexion, words such as serve for kindling the flames of contention and discord, whether in families, or in the circles of intimacy and friendship, to which his malignant influence finds access. The heart burns with envy and malice; and the words of the lips get their fire from within; both, in the strong terms of the Apostle James, being “set on fire of hell."-The three following verses continue the description of these “sons of Belial.”*

Verse Proverbs 16:28 . “A froward man soweth strife: and a whisperer separateth chief friends.” They try, wherever they can find any even the smallest room for them, to insert the seeds of animosity; and, with a devilish interest, they watch their secret germination and their gradual growth. They suit their practice to the particular case:-more open and direct in the means they use in one case; more covert and cunning in another.

“Whispering” is one of their favourite resources. This whispering is carried on with both parties,-while each is kept in careful ignorance of what is said of him to the other. Insinuations, intended to engender suspicion and jealousy, are thrown out to the one and to the other respecting his friend. Mutual coolness ensues, and neither can understand why; each wonders what can possibly be the cause. And thus the firmest, the longest, the warmest, and most confiding attachments-the sources of life’s sweetest joys-are broken up, perhaps for ever.

These sons of Belial are also tempters of others:-Verse Proverbs 16:29 . “A violent man enticeth his neighbour, and leadeth him into the way that is not good.”

A fearful employment-a fearful delight! Yet the employment would not be followed, were there not pleasure in it. The pleasure is fiendish-laying plans, and putting every vile art into practice, to seduce the virtuous-and especially virtuous and unsuspecting youth-from the way of rectitude! Not the young only entice one another; but men of gray hairs,-the veterans of infidelity and vice, may be found weaving their nets for the feet of virtue, and spreading them with all subtlety and care. There is not on earth a more perfect impersonation of Satanic malignity than such a hoary-headed seducer.

As “there is joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth,” so is there a malicious joy in hell when such tempters succeed in turning any from the right to the wrong, from the narrow to the broad, way. This is the joy of fiends; the other of angels: the one the joy of Satan; the other of Jesus and of God.

The character is completed in verse Proverbs 16:30 -” He shutteth his eyes to devise froward things: moving his lips he bringeth evil to pass.”

A man “shuts his eyes,” when he wishes to think closely and undistractedly. “The ungodly man” does it for the purpose of planning and maturing “mischievous devices.” When he “shuts his eyes” even in bed, while others sleep, it is to meditate on schemes of evil. And then, having digested his schemes inwardly, he employs his “lips” in their artful accomplishment. Thus mind and mouth are in concert for evil-the latter the agent and servant of the former.”*

The connexion of suggestion is abundantly manifest between the description in these verses and the verse which follows: “The hoary head is a crown of glory, if it be found in the way of righteousness.” The little word if is a supplement. The verse may be read without it. “The hoary head is a crown of glory; it shall be found in the way of righteousness.” Two things are implied:-the conduciveness of righteousness to the attainment of old age, and its conduciveness to the respectability and honour of old age. The former sentiment we have noticed, under other forms, before: it expresses rather a natural tendency than anything like an invariable fact.* The latter is the same with that expressed when the if is retained.

Respect and honour, as due to age, are enjoined by the Mosaic law: “Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honour the face of the old man, and fear thy God: I am Jehovah,” Leviticus 19:32 . As there is a respect due to office independently of character, so is there to old age-to gray hairs. But as, in the former case, our very veneration for the office makes us the more indignantly sensible of its desecration, by the intrusion and occupancy of characters whose incongruity with it is marked and notorious, so is it with our feelings as to age. The more we venerate “the hoary head,” the more are we shocked by its association with meanness and vileness of character,-with impiety and vice. A wicked old man-a man silvered with age-who has come to the “threescore years and ten,” or even the “fourscore years,” but on whom long and varied experience,-warnings and entreaties, blessings and corrections, kindness and severity, promises to allure and threatenings to alarm, the smiles of a gracious and the frowns of an angry God, the terrors of the law and the mercies of the gospel, have all been equally thrown away;-whose advancing years have only ripened him in profanity and sin,-who has become only more and more “wise to do evil,” “but to do good” continues to have “no knowledge,” and who, while “even to hoar hairs” providential goodness has spared him, has still “no fear of God before his eyes:"-shall I say of such a man he is a contemptible character? I might say it. with truth. “Shame and everlasting contempt” are before him as his portion. Yet scorn is too light a feeling for the case. He is a character on which we do not so much look with contempt, as with loathing and with pity. We shrink back from the hoary profligate with a shudder. Venerable in appearance, he is in reality odious. The aspect and the character are at variance. We are struck with admiration, when we only see what he looks:-we are disappointed and overwhelmed with horror, when we know what he is. There is no glory; nothing to admire. “The hoary head” becomes a crown of shame. In proportion to the grace and dignity, it may be, of the outward appearance, by which our eye is captivated and our favour bespoke, is the emotion of disgust, detestation, and grief, with which we hear the disclosures of the character. It is the most affecting sight on earth. We cannot smile; we can hardly scorn. We abhor, and we compassionate-abhor the character-compassionate the man.

On the contrary-“the crown of glory is found in the way of righteousness.” With what peculiar heartfelt delight do we regard the good old man, who during a long pilgrimage has “walked with God;” whom length of days has matured in wisdom and in all the lovely virtues of the Christian character; who by the exercise of all the kindred affections, and by the habitual practice of all that is “true, and just, and pure, and honest, and lovely, and of good report,” under the dominant influence of the spring of all-piety towards God,-has recommended himself to the reverence and love of a grateful and admiring community, at the same time that he has endeared himself to the entire circle of his family and kindred!-how we cling to him!-how we esteem and honour him! He has the complacent and affectionate veneration of all the good;-and in the consciences of an ungodly world he has a testimony they cannot set aside. They are constrained to approve and to admire; even while their hearts retain their unhappy disinclination to imitate,-their infatuated attachment to the world and to sin.

Look at old Jacob, the devout patriarch of “a hundred and seven and thirty years,” before the monarch of Egypt. Look at Abraham bowing himself to the children of Heth, while the hearts of all around him bowed in affectionate veneration to himself! Look at the aged Simeon, with the infant Redeemer in his arms; with earth under his feet and heaven in his eye; and with the glory of God, and the salvation of the world, Jew and Gentile, in his devout and benevolent heart! And look at others,-many, both men and women, in Old and New Testament times, to whom age has been honour,-” the hoary head, the crown of glory, being found in the way of righteousness.”

Ye aged pilgrims, mark this. Ye have been kept by the grace of God to advanced years in the faith and holiness of his people, beware of whatever would sully your “crown of glory.” See to it, that to the end you keep in “the way of righteousness.” It is when the life has been passed in that way, and a consistent character has throughout been maintained, that the glory of this crown is the greatest. But even to those who have spent a long lifetime without God, in the ways of sin and the world, we have the full warrant of God’s word for saying, It is not yet too late. “While the lamp holds on to burn,” the oldest as well as “the vilest sinner”-ay, though he be the oldest and the vilest in one-” may return.” It is not too late for you even now, to cover your hoar hairs with “the honour that cometh from God.” God will honour all, of whatever age-and the saints of God will honour them, and the angels of God will honour them, and rejoice over them too,-who turn unto Him, by Jesus Christ, as penitent and believing suppliants for mercy, confessing and forsaking their sins, and avowing and practising the determination “no longer to live the rest of their time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.”

And let the young mark this. You wish to live to old age; and you wish, in old age, to have respect and honour. Behold the way. O follow those aged pilgrims who are now wearing “the crown of glory.” They have found it in “the way of righteousness;” and that way you must pursue, if you would ever wear it. And the earlier you enter on it, and the more steadfastly and consistently you keep it, the more lovely and the more venerable will be your crown. Let all, in youth, in manhood, or in age, remember the words of Jesus-” If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour” John 12:26 . And then-even if men should “cast out your name as evil,” blessed are ye!-blessed now-blessed for ever! The “crown of glory” shall be yours, “that fadeth not away.”

“The mighty”-the conquering heroes and warriors of successive ages, have ever stood high in honour and fame amongst mankind. To such has been attached the appellative surname of the great. They have been celebrated in history and in song. Their names have become the watchwords of excitement to deeds of valorous achievement, and have been enrolled in the archives of a nation’s glory. But according to the wise man, speaking by the Spirit of God, the best of all conquests is the conquest of one’s self; and self-command the most truly excellent and desirable of all supremacy:-" He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city." (Proverbs 16:32 . *Compare Proverbs 14:28 ; Proverbs 15:18 )-In the first place, he accomplishes a more difficult task. To indulge passion is easy; because it is natural,-all being, according to the tendencies of fallen nature, prone to it. The poet expresses the sentiment and feeling of that nature, when he says, “But oh! revenge is sweet!” To follow, therefore, the bent and tendency of our nature, requires no struggle, and, being common to all, involves no distinction. But to keep the passions in check,-to bridle and to deny them; instead of letting loose our rage against an enemy, to subdue him by kindness,-" when he hungers to feed him, when he thirsts to give him drink;"-this is one of the severest efforts of virtuous or of gracious principle. The most contemptible fool on earth may send a challenge, and draw a trigger; and, indeed, his readiness to do so will be in proportion to his imbecility of mind,-the littleness of self-importance. It requires no great amount of brains to quarrel and fight. But to lay passion under restraint,-to keep down the risings of pride,-not to be “overcome of evil, but to overcome evil with good,"-demands a vigour of mind, and decision of character, far more difficult of acquisition than the thoughtless courage that can stand the fire of an adversary.-Then further, he does a greatly better and more useful thing. Universal self-government-universal command of temper,-would surely make an incomparably happier world, than universal pride, universal resentment, universal courage, and universal strength!

How widely different the maxims prevalent in the world and those sanctioned by the Word of God! According to the latter he is the truly great man,-not who destroys and lays waste cities, and desolates kingdoms, and wades through fields of bloody carnage to the utmost point of his ambitious aspiring; but who succeeds in subjugating his passions; who, by meekness and gentleness, diffuses peace and happiness around him; who “loves his enemies, does good to them that hate him, and prays for them who despitefully use him and persecute him,” thus imitating the universal Father, who “makes his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.” In reference to one of the warriors, or wholesale murderers and robbers of ancient days, who obtained the title of “The Great,” it has been truly and happily said, “To subdue one’s self is more than to conquer the world; for he who conquered the world could not subdue himself.”

Let us aim then at this mastery,-the mastery of the passions, the government of Self; and, in order to its attainment, keep in mind at once the need of divine grace, and the sufficiency of it for every one;-the need of it, that we may not fail through self-sufficiency, and the sufficiency of it, that we may not find an apology in the strength of our passions and the quickness and excitability of our natural temperament, for our failing to gain the ascendency. There are no passions so strong-no temperaments so excitable,-as to be beyond the power of divine grace to overcome; and that grace is promised, in unqualified terms,-and, therefore, in every case,-to the full extent in which it can be required, to all who ask it.-At the same time, let those of more phlegmatic temperament, and less violent passions than others, guard against two things,-mistaking in themselves the mere gentleness of constitutional temper for the operation of God’s Spirit; and being uncharitably severe on those whose temperament may be the opposite of their own, and, instead of having been restrained and subdued by early training, may have been only further cherished in its touchiness and fiery violence, by education and circumstances; and who may have actually overcome in themselves more than they have, although much remains to be subdued.

Verse Proverbs 16:33 . “The lot is cast into the lap; but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord.”

The lot is anything, whether drawn or cast, for the purpose of determining any matter in question. The instances of its use mentioned in Scripture are considerably various:-

  1. In finding out a guilty person when there was no direct and satisfactory evidence: (1 Samuel 14:38-42 ; Jonah 1:7 ).

  2. In dividing and apportioning land: (Numbers 26:52-56 .)

  3. In the choice of an official functionary: (Acts 1:26 .)

  4. In assigning departments of duty: (1 Chronicles 24:4-5 ; 1 Chronicles 25:8 .)

  5. In deciding controversies: (Proverbs 18:18 ; Psalms 22:18 . with John 19:23-24 .) There are no particular laws, either enjoining or prohibiting the use of the lot;-specifying any occasions on which it must or must not be employed. The direction to use it, however, on certain special occasions, gave it a divine sanction. At the same time, from the fact of God’s commanding a particular mode of proceeding in a particular case, it would be rather a presumptuous and hazardous thing for any one to take upon him to determine in what other cases recourse may be had to the same practice. Even such texts as the one before us, are capable of being interpreted without inferring a certain divine approval of the frequent or ordinary appeal to this mode of decision:-inasmuch as, whether the “casting of the lot into the lap” was of divine authority or not, it would be equally true that “the disposing thereof was of the Lord.” It is very plain, that when it was had recourse to by Jews or Christians, it involved an appeal to the omniscient God. And one general principle regarding the employment of it is sufficiently manifest,-namely, that it should never be introduced except in cases where reason and evidence are incompetent to decide. And we may, I think, safely go so far as to affirm, that in cases of importance and of extremity,-that is, where other means of arriving at a satisfactory conclusion or a harmonious agreement have failed,-there does not appear to be anything in the Scriptures by which such an appeal can be considered as interdicted. There does not appear to be anything in it at all repugnant to the general character, or to any of the principles or provisions of evangelical or New Testament worship. Still, if there is nothing interdictory of the use of it, there is nothing that makes it obligatory in any specified circumstances; and it is clear that, if used at all, it should be seriously and sparingly. It is very wrong, and the very reverse of truth, to speak of any matter whatever as being in this way referred to chance. There is no such thing. Chance is nothing-an absolute non-entity. It is a mere term for expressing our ignorance. Every turn of the dice in the box is regulated by certain physical laws; so that if we knew all the turns, we would infallibly tell what number would cast up. And so it is in every thing.-Besides, in no case is there a more thorough disavowal of chance than in the use of the lot. It is the strongest and most direct recognition that can be made of a particular providence,-of the constant and minute superintendence of an omniscient overruling Mind. While it assumes our own ignorance, it equally assumes divine knowledge.-” The whole disposing" or determining, “of it is of the Lord:"-or, as some understand it, “the entire judicial decision by it is of the Lord.” Whatever be the kind of lot employed, all is under His control, who has every law of nature, and every movement, whether of the hand or mind of man, under perfect and unceasing control. This is, or ought to be, the acknowledgment of the parties in every instance of recourse to this mode of settlement.

The section of the Christian community among whom the use of the lot is most frequently resorted to is-the Moravians or United Brethren; among whom, indeed, the use of it is held as one of their distinguishing principles. It is employed in the selection of their bishops, according to the example of the choice of an apostle in the room of Judas, in the beginning of the Acts of the Apostles;-as well as on various other occasions.

By many pious persons the condemnation of all games that pass under the designation of games of chance has been rested on this text and others of the same description. I cannot but think, injudiciously. It is pushing the application of the principle of such texts to an extreme; and placing the objection to such games on a ground which, with many, can never prove convincing or satisfactory. The objection should not, I humbly conceive, be rested solely or chiefly on the consideration of these games being chance games. I have already said that there is no such thing as chance; and, when no such thing as an appeal to providence is at all thought of by the mind of the player, there is no more of impiety in this case than in “others without number, where there is nothing bearing even the name of chance, yet in which providence is not thought of. And when it is alleged that the lot has been rendered sacred by the use of it on sacred occasions, the objection does not seem to have force in it; inasmuch as it would lead to our drinking no water, and to our relinquishing the use of bread and of wine, because they too are all made use of in sacred institutions. I cannot help thinking that the objection against such games is more satisfactorily derived from their evil tendencies when indulged in, than from any mere abstract principle such as the one just mentioned. They involve a temptation to waste precious time; they tend to unsettle and unduly excite the mind; they are fitted to engender a liking to gambling; they serve, in many cases, especially when stakes are introduced, to foment the worst passions. Yet even here discretion is required; for some of these evil tendencies attach equally to other pursuits which few think of sweeping within a verdict of universal and unqualified condemnation. We may safely say that, in the amusements of youth, the less of such games the better; and that in all cases they require to be under very judicious regulation and control.

In some instances, they have become, from particular associations, no matter how, marks of a worldly character. In such cases, Christians will feel it their imperative duty to shun them. They will be shunned too, in cases where the introduction of them would give offence-I do not say to weak minds, because they are by no means all weak minds that object to them-but to scrupulous minds, that cannot see things in the same light with ourselves. And in one case more they ought to be shunned-when from our at all, however moderately, practising them, others are likely to plead our example in excuse for themselves, in going a length far beyond what we should regard as legitimate. This is not seldom the use made by worldly men of the example of Christians; and it should render Christians specially careful of the example they set.

Allow me to illustrate and confirm this last remark by an instance. It is taken from the l ife of the celebrated commentator Thomas Scott. Before the happy change in his views of divine truth, he himself informs us, he was particularly fond of cards. And although afterwards he had lost all his relish for them and other things of a like nature, he adds:-

“I however occasionally joined in a game, from an idea that too great preciseness might prejudice my neighbours; and I was then of opinion that there was no harm in the practice, though it seemed a frivolous way of spending time. I felt it also a very awkward transition to remove the card table and introduce the Bible and family worship; though I never omitted this service at home, and commonly performed it on my visits. My fetters were, however, broken effectually and at once, in the following manner. Being on a visit to one of my parishioners, I walked out after dinner, as was my common practice, to visit some of my poor people, when one of them (the first person, so far as I know, to whom my ministry had been decidedly useful) said to me-

‘I have something which I wish to say to you; but I am afraid you may be offended.’

‘I answered that I could not promise, but I hoped I should not.’

She then said-‘You know A. B.; he has lately appeared attentive to religion; and has spoken to me concerning the sacrament:-but last night, he, with C. D. and some others, met to keep Christmas; and they played at cards, drank too much, and in the end quarrelled, and raised a sort of riot. And when I remonstrated with him on his conduct, as inconsistent with his professed attention to religion, his answer was-‘There is no harm in cards; Mr. Scott plays at cards.’ '

This smote me to the heart. I saw that if I played at cards, however soberly and quietly, the people would be encouraged by my example to go further. That very evening,’ he adds, ‘I related the whole matter to the company, and declared my fixed resolution, never to play at cards again. I expected that I should be harassed with solicitations; but I was never asked to play afterwards. Let me therefore from my own experience, as well as from the reason of the case, urge persons, from their first entrance upon a religious course, when asked to do any thing which they disapprove, fairly to state their disapprobation as a point of conscience. For not only is this most becoming those in whom there is no guile, but it is also by far the most prudent proceeding.”*

  • In the life of the same eminent commentator, another instance occurs of a similar kind:-“When I first attended seriously to religion, I used sometimes, when I had a journey to perform on the next day, to ride a stage in the evening, after the services of the Sabbath; and I trust my time on horseback was not spent unprofitably. But I soon found that this furnished an excuse to some of my parishioners, for employing a considerable part of the Lord’s day in journeys of business or convenience. I may scarcely add, that I immediately abandoned the practice, on the same ground on which I resolved never more to play at cards, even before I thought so unfavourably of them as I now do.”

Lay to heart, brethren, this counsel, and, in like circumstances, follow the example of this “man of God.” “Avoid all appearance of evil,” and give no advantage to the enemies of the truth. Act boldly and faithfully for Christ, whose you are, and whom you profess to serve, and you will have an ample reward in peace of mind, and the approving smile of your exalted Lord.

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