Proverbs 30
WARDProverbs 30:1-6
LECTURE XCI.
“The words of Agur the son of Jakeh, even the prophecy: the man spake onto Ithiel, even unto Ithiel and Ucal, Surely I am more brutish than any man. and have not the understanding of a man. I neither learned wisdom, nor have the knowledge of the holy. Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended? who hath gathered the wind in his fists? who hath bound the waters in a garment? who hath established all the ends of the earth? what is his name, and what is his son’s name, if thou canst tell? Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.”
We have now finished what are properly the proverbs of Solomon; consisting, after the introductory part of the book,-of the proverbs selected by himself,-and those subsequently copied out from his larger collection by the men of God in the days of Hezekiah. What remains in the 30th and 31st chapters, may be regarded as a kind of appendix to the book; and in all probability was added by the same persons; no doubt under divine guidance.
The first verse may be considered as the title prefixed by them to this small portion of inspired truth, which they were thus directed to preserve from oblivion, and to insert in the canon of holy writ. It is a small portion, consisting of no more than this one chapter. And yet it is not smaller than the words of Obadiah in the Old Testament, or the Epistle of Jude in the New. The occasional sayings and the inspired prophecies of others besides Agur are recorded in the histories of the Bible, although not assigned, any more than his, a distinct and distinctly titled place in the Canon. The apostle Jude, in his epistle, short as it is, has redeemed from being forgotten and lost one of the earliest prophecies delivered in the history of our world,-the prophecy of “Enoch, the seventh from Adam.” Had the chapter before us been separated from the book of Proverbs, and placed alone, with the Title in the first verse prefixed to it, it would have borne resemblance in length to one of the small books referred to-“The Vision of Obadiah.”
Agur must have been well-known as a “man of God;"-even although it may be doubted, as by some it has been, whether he belonged to the number of those who were called the “sons of the prophets,"-and who were trained in the seminaries called the “schools of the prophets.” The doubt has been founded on what he says of himself in the third verse-“I neither learned wisdom, nor have the knowledge of the holy;” which has been interpreted as amounting to much the same thing with the words of Amos-“I am not a prophet, neither a prophet’s son.” How far this may be correct and conclusive, I will not pretend to say. We know nothing of Agur from Scripture history; and but little of him here.
His “words” are called a “prophecy.” It is, in the Hebrew, the term which, in some passages,* is translated “burden.” It occurs again in Proverbs 31:1 :-and both there and here it means a weighty and divinely dictated discourse or writing. This portion, then, of the sayings of Agur,-of what he delivered in the form of inspired instructions, has thus been, in divine providence, preserved, and, with the sanction of other inspired men, assigned a place in the sacred Canon.
- e.g. Isaiah 13:1 ; Isaiah 15:1 , and Habakkuk 1:1 .
Some of the ancient fathers had a fancy that by Agur was meant Solomon himself. But this could have no foundation but the place in which the words are inserted; which is but slender evidence. They probably got their place here, in consequence of the resemblance they bore to the contents in general of tho book to which they are appended.
“The man spake unto Ithiel, even unto Ithiel and Ucal.” Some translations have it-touching, or concerning, Ithiel and Ucal:-but it is much more likely that Ithiel and Ucal were two of Agur’s pupils.
Some have regarded the import of the names Ithiel and Ucal, of which the one signifies God with me, and the other the Mighty or the Mighty one,-not as names, but as expressing the nature of the prophecy or of its subject. But this seems a mere fancy,-both in itself, and in any attempt to make out the appropriateness of the terms as descriptive of the lessons contained in the chapter. Almost all Hebrew names were significant: and the common opinion, as in many other cases, we take to be the true one,-that Ithiel and Ucal, as already mentioned, were two of Agur’s disciples; to whom he addressed his instructions, very probably in answer to inquiries from them. Only make the supposition (not in itself surely an improbable one) that they had put to him some questions on topics of a mysterious nature,-topics surpassing the apprehension of the human intellect, and on which God had not been pleased to make any discoveries,-some of the “deep things of God,"-the “secret things which belong unto the Lord:"-make, I say, the supposition; and it imparts a propriety and emphasis to his words-those especially with which he commences, peculiarly striking: *-
- Stuart, supported by several other able critics, gives a widely different rendering of the first verse from that of cur English translation:-“The words of Agur, the son of her who was obeyed in Massa. Thus spake the man: I have toiled for God; I have toiled for God, and have ceased.” This rendering does not involve " the change or omission” of even “a single consonant” of the Hebrew text, but only an alteration of the Masoretic vowel points. If the reasons assigned for it may not be regarded as conclusive, they seem at least to establish a strong probability in its favour. Stuart’s long and elaborate note is worthy of perusal by those interested in such a critical question.
Verses Proverbs 30:2-3 . “Surely I am more brutish than any man, and have not the understanding of a man. I neither learned wisdom, nor have the knowledge of the holy."-This language, observe, is not the language of another about Agur; but his own words about himself: and we should be about as near the truth were we to regard him as a man destitute of ordinary understanding, and little if at all above the level of the brutes, because he speaks thus of himself, as if we were to regard the Apostle of the Gentiles as hardly having about him as much of the character of a child of God as to admit of his being looked upon as one, because he calls himself “less than the least of all saints.” In both cases we have the language of strong feeling-the feeling of deep personal abasement and conscious deficiency. And such language is never measured and precise; it is always very strong,-always in hyperbole. Imagine Agur bringing the powers of his mind to the trial, on some subject of mysterious depth or sublime and incomprehensible vastness; feeling his incompetency to fathom or to grasp it; sinking under the weight of the difficulty, and the consciousness of his ignorance and weakness, when his intellect was put to such a test;-his breaking out, in terms of extravagance in expressing the feeling with which he was burdened, is in perfect harmony with nature. As Asaph, when, recovering from his temptation, and made sensible of its extreme foolishness, exclaims-“I was as a beast before thee!"-so Agur, feeling the subjects under his consideration utterly above and beyond him, seems to himself as if he had no understanding at all: and indeed it is neither impossible nor improbable, that, in the humility of his spirit, he might think his ignorance and incompetency to be owing, in part, to his deficiency in spirituality of mind, and in becoming elevation of thought and of aspiration after God;-sensible as he must have been then, as we all are now, how much views of divine things are often obscured, and rising affections and earnest aspirings after The Great and The Good,-after the knowledge of God and of heavenly and eternal realities,-are kept down by the influence of the flesh and the world.
It is not unlikely that Ithiel and Ucal had shown a propensity to pry into the secrets of God,-to desire discoveries which God had not been pleased to make,-and to urge their desire with a vehemence and importunity, which, however natural, went beyond what was becoming. Their teacher sets them an example,-an example of the humbleness of mind which belongs to creatures of limited faculties, and dependence on God for the knowledge of what was beyond their own penetration. He expresses himself strongly, in order to impress their minds the more deeply. Arid the more they had been accustomed to look up to him as their superior, with admiration and confidence, the more would they be surprised and struck by the force of his expressions of almost selfannihilation, in regard to the subjects of their inquiries,-respecting which he might have seen them (as is too often the case with those whom experience has not yet shown the limits of their faculties, and the humility which the lesson inspires) too self-sufficient, and hard to satisfy with anything short of the wished-for information. Agur had become duly sensible how little it was that he possessed of wisdom and knowledge,-especially in what regarded the highest of all the fields of human investigation,-the being, the attributes, the counsels, the ways, of the Most High and the Most Holy.
In the third verse, “the Holy” is in the original a plural word-the Holies, or the Holy Ones. It is the same as in Proverbs 9:10 . The comparison of the two passages shows clearly that it is a designation of Deity:-and the plural nouns which are thus, in different ways and in different instances, used in regard to Jehovah, are justly regarded as having a reference in them to the personal distinction in the unity of the Godhead. And what if the nature of Deity, in this and in other respects, was one of the very subjects of the inquisitive speculation of these disciples of Agur?
It is as if he had said to them:-“You ascribe wisdom and knowledge to your instructor:-you look up to him for information, and for the solution of your difficulties, the unravelling of your perplexities, the clearing of your darkness. But you expect a great deal more from him than he is able to communicate. I have thought of your questions; I have exhausted the powers of my mind upon them; and, whatever may be the effect of the avowal upon you,-how much soever it may possibly let down your teacher in your eyes,-the avowal must be made of my ignorance and incompetency,-with a sense of which, deeper than ever, the consideration of them has overwhelmed me!” Then, to check their presumption,-to impress them with the reasonableness of being, on some subjects, satisfied in ignorance,-subjects manifestly beyond man’s unassisted powers, and beyond the boundary which divine revelation has prescribed for itself,-subjects which God has not explained, and of which, perhaps, no explanation that could be given would be intelligible to the mental capacities of man,-subjects relative to “the high and lofty One who inhabiteth eternity”-who “dwelleth in the light which no man can approach unto”-“whom no man hath seen or can see,"-and whose “ways are high above out of our sight”-he adds:-
Verse Proverbs 30:4 . “Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended? who hath gathered the wind in his fists? who hath bound the waters in a garment? who hath established all the ends of the earth? what is his name, and what is his son’s name, if thou canst tell?"-Of these striking words the general spirit appears to me to be the same with that of Job 11:7-9 ; Job 11:12 ; the subject of which is the incomprehensibility of God. We cannot scale the height, we cannot fathom the depth, we cannot reach the length, we cannot embrace the width, of the vast, the illimitable subject. Such is the lesson of these words now before us:-“Who hath ascended up into heaven?"-that is, to see the glories of the Invisible,-to learn the secrets of the world unknown,-to read the books of providence, and grace, and judgment? And who hath “descended?"-that is, to bring down and to communicate the discoveries He has made? No man has mounted to the third heavens, and explored their hidden wonders,-and received a commission to carry back the revelation of what he has seen and heard to the sons of men-the children of earth. If such a man there be, “What is his name, and what is his son’s name, if thou canst tell?’’-who and where is he?-and who and where are they that have the privilege and the honour of connexion with him? What is his name? Is he on earth? Or, if he himself has gone the way of all living, what is his son’s name? Point out the descendants of the man whom God has thus supremely distinguished. This is neither more nor less than a challenge to find and to name one, either now existing, or in all preceding ages, who has had an intuitive and perfect acquaintance with the mysteries of God’s being, and the secrets of God’s mind:-and it implies a strong admonition to humblemindedness,-to beware of presumption,-to be satisfied with the amount of divine communications. Something further than this, indeed, there is. The language clearly conveys the sentiment, that no one but a being who himself possesses the perfections, and exercises the powers, and performs the works of God, can be capable of comprehending God. This seems the intended import of the questions-“Who hath gathered the wind in his fists? who hath bound the waters in a garment? who hath established all the ends of the earth?” Find me out the man who has done, or who can do, these things; and I will show you the man who is competent to answer your questions,-to penetrate the depths of God, and to give you full satisfaction. One thing indeed might still be wanting. They might themselves require to have the same capacities and powers with the man who made the communications, in order to their being able to comprehend them. The plain import is-He who has done, and continues to do, these things, is God himself,-and by God himself alone can God be comprehended.
By some commentators these words have been understood as containing “a prophetic intimation of Him who came down from heaven to be our instructor and Saviour, and then ascended into heaven to be our advocate; who, as one with the Father, created and upholds all things; who was known in some measure to the ancient church as Jehovah, I AM, and the only-begotten Son of God; and from whom alone the knowledge of God can be obtained. The name of the great Creator, as manifested through his Son, appears to be inquired after; and who is that wise and happy man who has obtained this knowledge?”
While it ought ever to be interesting to the believer’s mind to find his Lord in every passage of the Bible that will justly bear to be interpreted of Him, yet, most assuredly, the true way to honour the divine Author of the Bible, as I have had more than once occasion to observe, is-to endeavour to discover, in all cases, the precise meaning of every portion of it,-to find what was the design of the Holy Spirit,-what the lesson which was intended by Him to be conveyed. This should, in every case, be our sole and earnest aim.
Now the view of this passage which has just been mentioned I cannot regard as at all the true one, for the following reasons:-
First, The form of question here implies the idea of difficulty or impossibility to tell either the name of him who hath “gathered the winds in his fists, or bound the waters in a garment, or established all the ends of the earth,"-or “the name of his son.” Now, considering the question as relating to the actual Creator and Governor of the physical universe and the elements and powers of nature, there could exist no difficulty to tell who did the things specified,-to tell the name of the almighty Maker and Superintendent of all things.
Secondly, The question, “What is his name, or what is his son’s name?” applies, you observe, to the same person of whom it is also asked, “Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended?” Now, if this be supposed to refer to Jesus, the future Immanuel, then what are we to make of the additional question, “What is his son’s name?” And the question, “Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended?” cannot apply (nor is it at all pretended that it does) to the Father. Then-
Thirdly, According to the terms of the exposition quoted, that there is a prophetic reference to Him who came down from heaven to be our Instructor and Saviour, and then ascended to heaven to be our Advocate-the questions in the passage ought to be inverted in their order, and should have stood-“Who hath descended from heaven, and ascended?” In the order in which they stand, they do not seem susceptible of any other sense than that which we have put upon them:-namely this, “Where is the man,-where are there any traces of his existence? where is his son, that we may find his genealogy?” “You make your inquiries at me, (as if Agur had said,) but have I gathered the wind in my fists? have I bound up the waters in a garment? have I established the ends of the earth? And before you can obtain satisfactory information, you must find the man who has done all this.”
While I say these things in regard to the immediate and proper sense of the passage, I am far from denying-I rejoice in believing-that what is said in it is, in the fullest amount of its meaning, true respecting Jesus of Nazareth-“God manifest in the flesh.” Yet even now, when we have obtained, and happily enjoy, the full and clear revelation of the mind and will of Jehovah;-in this gospel age, when “the darkness is past, and the true light shineth”-when, though “no man hath seen God at any time, the only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, hath declared him,"-when “God, who at sundry times, and in divers manners, spake unto the fathers by the prophets, hath spoken unto us by his Son:"-even now, are there no questions of perplexing difficulty to be asked?-is everything that was before mysterious respecting God and the ways of God, now plain and easily comprehensible? No, verily. Many are the inquiries which may yet be put, which the revelation of God has not answered:-and even of what revelation has made known, many are the explanations which may be desired and sought, which He has not seen meet to give. Still we stand in need of lessons of humility; lessons of selfdiffidence; lessons of gratitude for what has been made known to us, and of patient and submissive acquiescence in that measure of knowledge, without prying into what God has seen meet to withhold and to keep among the “secret things which belong to Himself.” It is ours to “receive with meekness” what God has taught us, and not to attempt making additions to His lessons,-“intruding into those things which we have not seen, vainly puffed up by our fleshly minds.” It is well, brethren, to have our minds fully disciplined to this. And this, accordingly, is the lesson pressed by Agur on each of his disciples, and through them upon us.
Verse Proverbs 30:5 . “Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.” “Every word of God is pure.” Yes: how can it be otherwise? If it be asked respecting man, “Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean?” so may it be asked respecting God, “What but what is pure can come from untainted purity?” The same character is everywhere given of God’s word.* It “is pure,” as being truth without any mixture of error. It “is pure,” as being perfectly free of all deceitful purpose-all its promises faithful. It “is pure,” as having in every part of it a holy influence. It “is pure” in its own nature, like the God whose word it is; and “pure” in all the effects which arise from it,-the characters which the faith of it produces being counterparts to itself,-God’s word making those who receive it like Himself.
There is, perhaps, in the expression here a more immediate reference to the unmingled truth of God’s word. This suits the connexion with what follows:-“He is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.” Scepticism and infidelity unsettle the mind. They leave it without confidence and without security. The mind under their influence is like a vessel that has drifted from its moorings, and has been left to drive out to sea, without rudder and without anchor,-unmanned, and at the mercy of the winds and waves and currents:-or, to keep nearer to the allusion in the verse under comment, it is like a soldier in the thick and peril of the battle without a shield, in danger from every arrow that flies, and every sword that is raised against him. They make their unhappy subject the sport and the victim of every delusive theory and every temptation of Satan. Hence such expressions as that of Paul to the Ephesians:-
“Over all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall bo able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.” God is the “shield” of all who trust in Him. And it is the trust,-it is the firm faith in God,-that imparts the feeling of security. So, what is here said of God himself is said of His truth or faithfulness:-“His truth shall be thy shield and buckler.” God could not be “a shield,” though His power be almighty, unless He were faithful. It is His faithfulness that renders Him the object of trust. And when this view of God’s faithfulness is such as to impart perfect trust-the spirit, calm and tranquil, feels as if it were under the protection of an all-covering shield.*
- The figure is frequent:-Genesis 15:1 : Psalms 89:11 ; Psalms 111:2 , &c.
The sixth verse ( Proverbs 30:6 ) contains a most solemn and important caution:-“Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.” “We take the word of God as we have received it. What Paul says of the books of the Old Testament, which formed the Jewish canon in his day, may be applied to the whole Bible-“All scripture is given by inspiration of God.” We have the surest ground for believing that the books of both Testaments have all on sufficient authority had their place assigned them in the sacred canon. The very circumstance of some of them having been disputed, only shows the jealousy with which the claims of each were scrutinized ere they were admitted. And to the word of God in general, as well as to the book of prophecy in which they immediately occur, may we truly apply the language-language expressing only more fully and pointedly still the lesson of this verse-“I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: and if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book,” Revelation 22:18-19 .
Of inspired men it was the sacred duty to deliver the word of the Lord exactly as it was communicated to them,-without addition, deduction, or alteration. The charge of God was-“The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the Lord,” Jeremiah 23:28 . The maxim of the true prophets under the old dispensation was-“As the Lord liveth, what the Lord saith unto me, that will I speak.” And what Micaiah and others exemplified faithfully under the old economy, Paul and his associates in the ministry exemplified under the new:-“For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ.” “Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not; but have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God,” 2 Corinthians 2:17 ; 2 Corinthians 4:1-2 .
Our duty, my brethren, is clear. It is to KEEP BY THE INSPIRED RECORD; to keep by it sacredly, implicitly, with a holy jealousy for its supreme, sole, and universal authority. As Protestants, we disown all human infallibility;-the authority of all traditions,-of all the dicta of the Fathers,-of all the decrees of councils, whether provincial or oecumenical. Our motto is-“THE BIBLE, AND THE BIBLE ALONE, IS THE RELIGION OF PROTESTANTS.” Let us see that we firmly cling to our motto, and that we consistently and uniformly act upon it. It is not merely when, like some enthusiasts, we pretend to receive, ourselves, communications from the Spirit of God of equal authority with his written word, or when we rely upon such communications as are received by others,-that we are chargeable with the guilt of “adding to his words.” There are other grounds on which this charge may be found to lie against us. We are thus guilty, when we make any part of the written word itself express a sentiment different from, or even beyond, that which God, by the Holy Spirit, intended it to convey. Our exclusive inquiry should be-What did the divine Author of the Bible mean by this sentence, by this section, or even by this expression? When we have ascertained and expounded the meaning, we may then take it up as a subject for more enlarged illustration and proof from other parts of Scripture; ever bearing in mind that while we are doing so, each portion of the word that is adduced for illustration or evidence be treated precisely on the same principle,-no one of them being ever used beyond its proper amount of meaning.
The same principle should make critics very cautious in applying the principle of conjectural emendation-altering words so as to express what they think must have been the sense of the writer. This is extremely hazardous. There is a strong temptation to introduce the application of the principle, when by the alteration the passage is made to speak a language that accords with their preconceived opinions. And commentators and paraphrasts should be on their guard, what phrases they use as synonymous with those of the writer on whom they are commenting,-and equally upon their guard in the use of supplements, for the making out and the clearer expression of the sense. Moreover, in every case in which it can be made clearly to appear, that any word, or phrase, or sentence, has been, under whatever circumstances, foisted into the text in after times, and that it formed no part of the original writing,-the same principle imperatively requires, that we do not employ that word, or phrase, or sentence, or paragraph, as possessing the authority of God;-and if it be of doubtful authenticity, the doubt must in justice be carried forward to the inference we draw, and the conclusion to which we are led by it. We ought to regard nothing as more fearful, and more anxiously to be shunned, than making the God of truth affirm what he did not mean to affirm, or deny what he did not mean to deny: and so, in effect, to put the seal of heaven to a forgery of our own. And on all points which are of a mysterious character, it becomes us to be very diffident and cautious:-where the simple fact is stated, and no explanation given, we must beware of attaching to our own explanations the authority of the word of God. By attempting to unfold the mode of the fact, where the fact alone is stated, we are in danger of “adding to God’s word,” and of being “found liars,” and exposed to His just reproof and punishment.
My brethren-if ever there was a time when a more than ordinary strictness of attention to the principle in this verse was demanded-it is the time in which we live. Let us see that we not only in words assert and maintain it, but in all our practice conscientiously and scrupulously exemplify it,-and press the example on the universal and undeviating imitation of our fellow-christians. Let Christians seek more, at the same time, of a deep and humble sense of their own ignorance, and of their natural perverseness; their inaptitude and slowness to learn the lessons of divine wisdom,-their proneness to spiritual pride,-to the independence of thinking for themselves, and of interpreting God’s lessons in a sense of their own,-to being dissatisfied with the measure of divine communications, and adding thereto presumptuously human speculations and inventions. Let us learn, in the humble and docile spirit of children, to sit at the feet of our gracious Instructor,-thankful for all that He gives us to know, and never allowing what we do know to be unsettled in our minds by what we do not know. Let us neither make the God of truth a liar by disbelieving aught that He testifies, nor expose ourselves to His reproof as liars by presuming to add to His words what He has not testified. The prayer which becomes us is that of the psalmist-“Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.”-“Shew me thy ways, O Lord; teach me thy paths. Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day.”
And let not any be startled at finding in the word of God statements which are above their apprehension. If there are mysteries in the works of God,-should we not expect to find them in His word?-if in nature, why not in revelation?-if in all that God has done, how much more in GOD HIMSELF?-There is not a single department of His works of which the investigation does not bring us to a stand,-to points beyond which we are unable to penetrate. Were everything in that part of the divine administration which His word unfolds perfectly level to every capacity, so as to suggest no questions of perplexity, and to give no occasion for the exclamation-“Such knowledge is too wonderful for me!"-there would be an incongruity between His word and His works. And when we are lost among the works of God, in every direction in which we can explore them, how specially unreasonable to suppose that in the divine nature itself there should be nothing transcending our comprehension;-that we should be competent to search out God, when we are unable to search out any one of His works!-that we should be able to comprehend the mode of His subsistence, when we are unable to understand our own,-unable to answer the question What is life?-unable to explain the connection between the soul and the body-their mutual influence upon each other, and the power which, on the formation of any volition, sets the energies of the physical frame to work for its accomplishment. Let all, then, be diffident and humble in regard to divine communications; and beware of that spirit of lofty and independent speculation which makes light of all that it is required to receive on dictation. Let the evidences of revelation, by all means, be studied and investigated; and when the Bible has had its claims to divine authority satisfactorily established, let the sole question be,-What saith the Scripture? The design of revelation is infinitely gracious-“to show unto men the way of salvation.” That is its own peculiar lesson. If that is missed, all is missed that is worth finding:-for what is all else besides, if it leaves you WITHOUT SALVATION?
Proverbs 30:7-12
LECTURE XCII.
“Two things have I required of thee; deny me them not before I die: remove far from me vanity and lies; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me: lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the Lord? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain. Accuse not a servant unto his master, lest he curse thee, and thou be found guilty. There is a generation that curseth their father, and doth not bless their mother. There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness.”
In the first of these verses there is no form of address; but there can be no doubt that we are to regard the words as a prayer to God:-to God as the God of providence-the supreme Disposer of all events,-that He would order everything, in sovereign wisdom, agreeably to the spirit and design of the suppliant’s prayer; and to God as the God of grace-that in whatever situation He might be pleased, in His providence, to place him, He would furnish him with all the supplies of divine influence required to keep him from evil.
When, with regard to the different petitions of the prayer, Agur says, “Deny me them not before I die,” his words are, obviously, not to be understood as meaning that he would be satisfied if, at any time before he closed his earthly life, the things he asks for were granted. The petitions are not of a description to admit of any such interpretation. He could never consider it enough that “vanity and lies should be removed from him” ere he died, though they should continue with him till the latest stage of his course; or that he should only learn contentment before he took his final leave of the world. The words properly signify-“until I die;” that is, grant me them from this time forward to the end of my life, till I shall “go the way of all the earth.”
His first petition is-“Remove far from me vanity and lies.” What may we regard as included under “vanity and lies?” First, all idolatry. This is often, in Scripture, alluded to under such designations as “vanity,” “falsehood,” “a thing of nought:” and I cannot doubt it was in Agur’s mind. In this view, what he asks is, that his heart might be “right with God, and steadfast in His covenant,"-that his affections and desires might be supremely and solely to God, and that Him only he might serve.-Secondly, all error in sentiment;-that he might be so enlightened from above, as to embrace no false views, but might clearly understand divine truth, as revealed in the divine word, and might under a becomingly deep impression of the authority and sacredness of that word, cleave to it in its simplicity and purity, with full purpose of heart, unto the end:-Thirdly, the folly and deceitfulness of sin;-that he might not be the foolish dupe of temptation to those indulgences in evil by which many, in the vanity and infatuation of their minds, cheated themselves of their best blessings, and forfeited the final and eternal inheritance; that he might not hearken to the lying promises of Satan, and, at the expense of such a forfeiture, follow “the pleasures of sin which are but for a season:"-Fourthly, the thinking, inventing, and uttering of falsehood;-that he might ever keep his heart, as under the eye of Him who “desireth truth in the inward parts;” and that he might ever “speak the truth as he thought it in his heart,” putting away all lying, deception, and folly from his lips, and practising all that was “true, and pure, and honest, and lovely, and of good report:"-and lastly, having, or expecting foolishly and selfdelusively, to find, his portion in this life,-that he might not be of those who were the victims of the world’s delusions, vainly pleasing themselves with that “fashion of the world which passeth away.”
And this naturally leads me to the threefold prayer which follows. The prayer, let it first be observed, is a very extraordinary one. In the first of its petitions, indeed,-“Give me not poverty”-who is there that will not join? What man of the world, if he thought he should be heard and answered, would not, with his whole heart, say-Give me not poverty?-the great object of the world’s deprecation and dread!-But ah! on what different grounds from Agur’s would the petition be presented!-for this must be specially remarked-that it is not on account of anything in the situations themselves, considered in a temporal respect, that this good man deprecates either the poverty on the one hand or the riches on the other. It is not on account of the difficulties, privations, and hardships of the one, nor is it on account of the cares, and risks, and anxious encumbrances of the other. It is solely on account of the temptations to sin-the hazard to the religious principle-involved in them. Here, the world cannot go along with him. But all the true children of God will. They will, like Agur, regard every situation and every want in life, as it bears upon and affects their highest and best interests-their relations to the unseen world and to eternity. Look then at the petitions as they lie before us, in this light. We take them in the order of the reasons assigned.
- “Give me not riches-lest I be full and deny thee, and say, Who is the Lord?” The gifts of God’s kind providence ought to draw the grateful hearts of those who receive them to himself as the Giver: and it is truly affecting to think that they should work on our hearts in the very opposite way to that which is reasonable and right, and in the best sense of the word, natural-in agreement with the true and eternal nature of things:-that the gifts should so often usurp the Giver’s place, the place in the affections and desires which should be occupied by Himself. This is one of the strong and melancholy indications of our depravity; that the more we enjoy of God’s goodness, the more prone are we to forget Him; the more we get, the more apt to forget. What should we think of such treatment of us? and yet such is our treatment of God. It has been in all ages the manifested character of our fallen race. It is under the influence of this sad tendency, that the man of wealth “denies God and says, Who is the Lord?” This is quite similar to the description of the same character by Asaph:-“They speak loftily: they set their mouth against the heavens, and their tongue walketh through the earth.”-“Who is the Lord?"-that is, that I should seek Him, or serve Him. Agur had seen this exemplified, and he was afraid of himself;-afraid lest he should imbibe the same spirit of lofty independence and high-mindedness,-as if he were superior to the obligations of religion, and could do well enough without God.
Such, then, is the danger of “being full,"-of the ample enjoyment and free use of the wealth of the world,-to engender and cherish the spirit that “denies God,"-that owns not His providence,-that disdains the restraints of His authority,-and that defies His threatenings, and spurns His grace; that says-“Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us."-Agur did not consider himself as superior to the influences by which the principles of others had been shaken and overcome, or to the dangers before which others had fallen. He knew human nature better; he knew his own heart better. “Blessed is the man that feareth always!”
- We have a petition, in the same spirit of self-jealousy, against poverty:-“Give me not poverty-lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain."-His apprehensions were the same in kind as before. He feared lest, when feeling the hardships of a state of penury, not to himself alone, but still more to his family, to those nearest and dearest to his heart, he should be tempted to fraud and theft,-that is, to any dishonest practices, for the supplying of his own and their wants,-to any thing inconsistent with the high principles of integrity and honour by which the people of God should be distinguished. And associated with this is the temptation to impiety-“and take the name of my God in vain.” This may mean, that he might be tempted, having committed the theft, to conceal it by false swearing-to perjure himself, and so try to coyer one sin by the commission of another; as it is not the first nor the thousandth time that lies have been told, and confirmed by spontaneous or exacted oaths, to prevent the detection of theft. Or it may refer, more generally, to the temptation to use “the name of God” in fretful and impious murmurings; in uttering hard things, in the spirit of angry discontent, against Him. This the poor are too often ready to do. Even the pious poor may, by great and long-continued privation and suffering, have their patience worn out,-become “envious at the foolish, when they see the prosperity of the wicked,"-be tempted to say, “How doth God know? and is there knowledge in the Most High?"-and thus step by step, to arrive at “cursing and bitterness,” and “taking the name of Jehovah in vain.” This process was what Agur feared, in regard to himself. He dreaded the evil influence of this extreme, as well as of the other.
It is not, perhaps, correct to say, that the desire which Agur expresses, was for a moderate competency of worldly good. That he was impressed strongly with the dangers of the extremes is clear; and with the conviction that in the intermediate position the temptations were fewest and least,-as without question they are. But, in the spirit of humble self-diffidence, he would have been afraid to fix any thing in his mind as that which he exclusively desired:-he would have shrunk from determining, had the determination been put in his power. He leaves all to the judgment and appointment of God himself.
- Such is clearly the spirit of the words, “Feed me with food convenient for me."-The phrase “convenient for me,” or “suitable to me” evidently signifies consistent with my truest interests-the interests of my spiritual state and my everlasting destiny. It would be a very low interpretation of the words, to suppose them to mean no more than what God knew on the whole would be most conducive to his temporal comfort and enjoyment. The interpretation, moreover, would not be at all in harmony with the reasons assigned for the preceding petitions. It would set this fourth request, in the spirit of it, wholly out of keeping with the others.
He says in effect, “Place me, my God, in the condition which Thou-knowing fully as Thou dost my character, and the tendencies of my nature-seest to be best for me-best for me, as regards my highest welfare-the welfare of my soul and my prospects for eternity-that I receive damage in nothing by the snares and temptations of this present evil world."-The lesson is one,-and few lessons can be more important,-of perfect, unreserved acquiescence in divine appointments; along with the supremely earnest desire that all may be directed and overruled in such a manner as most effectually to secure from injury, and to advance in growth, the principles of the spiritual life in our souls, and to ensure our final attainment of heavenly glory,-of the “unsearchable riches of Christ.” And where is the man deserving the name of Christian who would hesitate about choosing poverty in preference to riches,-the lowest abasement to the very highest elevation of worldly condition,-were he assured that the riches and the honours must be enjoyed at the expense of his soul’s good, at the risk, and more than risk, of his spiritual interests, and of his being despoiled of the “better and more enduring substance,"-the “treasure in the heavens which fadeth not?”
Verse Proverbs 30:10 . “Accuse not a servant unto his master, lest he curse thee, and thou be found guilty.”-“Accuse not”-literally, “Hurt not with thy tongue”-that “unruly member” by which so immense an amount of mischief, private and public, has ever been wrought.
No general counsel, or maxim of duty, is without exceptions. It is obvious that there are cases in which to accuse may be an important and imperative duty. When a master is known by us to be wronged, his property plundered by secret embezzlement, or other evils perpetrated affecting his interests or his reputation, without his privacy. In such cases, it becomes much more than allowable, it becomes incumbent,-a sacred duty, on the principle of the “royal law,” to give information. But-
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There are included in the prohibition slander, and false accusation.-Every thing of this kind is, in all cases, bad; but its turpitude is specially aggravated, when the subject of the slander is an inferior, and the charge against him to his superior, on whom he depends, and whose good opinion is of such essential consequence to him: and on this principle, if aggravated in the case of a servant, still more so is it in that of a slave,-the situation of such a one being sufficiently oppressed and wretched in itself. It is, then, “helping forward the affliction,” which humanity should ever seek to alleviate.
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It implies that we should not be forward and officious in accusing; eager to do it, needlessly; doing it,-when no good end is to be answered by it; or for trivial causes; or on grounds that are not clearly ascertained, but are uncertain and dubious. It should be remembered, how serious a matter it is to introduce an unfounded jealousy between a master and his servant,-serious especially to the latter, being a deep injury to the poor man’s reputation, interest, present happiness, and future prospects; his all, in every view, as regards this world, depending upon his character.
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The disposition which we ought rather to cherish, in this as in every case, is the disposition to excuse and to palliate, as far as truth will permit, rather than to criminate and blacken. A more unamiable feature there can hardly be in the character of any one, than a proneness to watch for and to report faults;-a malicious satisfaction in destroying a master’s confidence in a servant,-and in this way, it may be, avenging himself of the inferior for some neglect or impropriety in his conduct towards him. This is mean, pitiful, and vile.
The motive urged is, “Lest he curse thee, and thou be found guilty.” The spirit of this consideration is the same as in some other cases mentioned in the Mosaic law.* I understand the words in the verse before us in a similar sense to that expressed in these passages. The curse of the servant may not be itself in a right spirit, or in a justifiable form of words:-yet if there is substantial ground for it,-if wrong is done,-if the inferior, of whom Jehovah is the graciously pledged protector, is really and seriously injured,-if the accuser is thus “found guilty” in the sight of God, He will prove himself the friend of the oppressed, and will vindicate his cause, and avenge the wrong.
In the following verses Agur may he considered as warning his disciples,-and now warning us, against the characters described by him.
In Scripture, the word “generations” is repeatedly used to signify particular classes or descriptions of men; for two reasons, or points of analogy:-first, that as generation follows generation, so surely, in every generation, a succession of such characters is to be found;-and secondly, that they very often communicate the character to one another, and thus keep up their respective kinds,-are successive propagators of their species.
Beginning with the earliest earthly relation, we have brought before us first the generation of unnatural, ungrateful children-the “generation that curseth their father and doth not bless their mother.” Parents ought to be blessed of their children, not cursed. They should be the objects of sincere attachment, self-denying obedience, and kind attention. For their sakes life itself should be ready to be risked and sacrificed. Children, from a proud, self-willed, stubborn spirit, may dislike discipline, restraint, and rebuke:-they may thus long for freedom, as they think and call it,-long to be their own masters, and to have their own way:-they may spurn at the rod, and fret and revile and “curse” their parents. Or, from the spirit of covetousness, and eagerness to obtain possession of their substance, they may wish them dead, and secretly, in their hearts, if not with their lips, “curse” them for living so long, and wish them out of the way, and have no tears for them when they are gone, or only the tears of feigned and hypocritical sorrow. Alas! it is to be feared that such cases were not mere suppositions in the days of Solomon; and that neither are they in our own. If you imagine the cases beyond nature,-then let me remind my young friends, that there may be various degrees of the same description of evil. Young persons may belong to the generation in this verse, who, if they do not positively “curse” yet, negatively, “do not bless.” Under both forms of expression Solomon conveys the same generic description of character: and although, on the principle of parallelism, the two clauses of the verse may be regarded as much alike, yet even that does not require perfect sameness, but only similarity-admitting, and indeed generally exemplifying, some shade of difference. “Not blessing” is only thus an inferior measure of the same unnatural spirit that “curses.” It implies the destitution, in feeling and in conduct, of the affection and gratitude which the relation requires. Do any of you, my young hearers, belong to this description of character?-this “generation” of unnatural children?-May God forbid! It is a very infamous and detestable character. It is ominous of all else that is evil. I am a father. But I trust I do not speak as a father only, but as a son too, whose memory blesses the departed objects of filial love, when I say that with nothing that concerns me would I trust the youth or the man that “curses his father and blesses not his mother.” There is nothing that is good there; no principle on which to depend. It is well that men have agreed to execrate conduct so unnatural. I must remind you, however, that there are some feelings, of which the absence is deeply shocking, while their possession is hardly to be recognised as among the moral virtues, they have in them so much of mere instinct, and are common to men with the brutes. To constitute natural affection a virtue, it must be cultivated and exercised under the influence of a higher principle. Parents must be loved, obeyed, and blessed,-because such is the will of God. Parents stand next to God in the claim which His law makes on the love of the heart:-“Honour thy father and mother, that it may be well with thee:”-“Children, obey your parents in the Lord; for this is right.”
Verse Proverbs 30:12 . “There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness.” This is the generation-a very numerous one in every age-of self-deceivers. The “filthiness” here spoken of is the moral pollution of fallen and sinful humanity; of which the word of the holy God gives so sad and so true an account It is in the very nature of this depravity to be insensible to its own existence, or at least to its own degree. Sensibility to its true extent implies the operation of a new principle, the principle of a new spiritual nature. It is no matter of wonder, then, that depraved creatures should be found thinking well of themselves. There are some who have little consciousness of evil in them at all. And the reason is plain. They look at human laws and human theories pf morals, and the conventional but godless morality of the world, and the prevailing sentiments about good and evil, virtue and vice, among men like themselves, whose moral sentiments are deadened by sin like their own. They come not at once to the only true test-that spiritual law, holy, just, and good, which begins and ends with supreme love to God, as its first requirement, and its pervading and summary principle; from which alone any one act of right and acceptable obedience can proceed. No soul is “washed from its filthiness,” till it is delivered from the elementary principle of all moral pollution-enmity against God. There is no true moral cleansing that does not begin with this. There are two things the propensity to which has ever been strong, since man became a fallen creature:-One is, to separate morality from religion, and to imagine that there may be no religion, and yet good enough morality; whereas the divine summary of the moral law consists of two precepts, of which the first relates to God, and the second to men. And it would be just as reasonable to say that the first may be obeyed without the second as to say that the second may be obeyed without the first,-as reasonable to say that a man may be religious without being moral, as to say that a man may be moral without being religious. The two tables of the law are only the higher and the lower departments of one moral code; and the same principles that produce conformity to the one will produce conformity to the other. And where the first principle of all is wanting, there can be true conformity to none. This source of self-deception is most extensively and ruinously prevalent. The other to which I referred is-the externalizing of religion itself. The love and fear of God, springing from faith in Him as revealed to sinners in the Gospel, is the religion of the Bible. But the religion to which men have ever been prone is a religion of outward observance,-of rites and ceremonies, of bodily presence, and posture, and utterance, and act:-a system that lulls the conscience in security by deadening it to the demands of all that is spiritual and holy in the affections and desires of the heart, and all that is truly godly in the life. “What an exemplification of this propensity among the Jews, when they were persuading themselves that they were the chosen people and the favourites of Heaven, at the very time that they were “walking after their own lusts”-“having no fear of God before their eyes,"-breaking every command, and making “the name of God to be blasphemed among the Gentiles,”-“far from God, and far from righteousness.” There was a fearful forgetfulness of the apostolic maxim-“He is not a Jew, who is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: but he is a Jew, who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God,” Romans 2:28-29 . Nor was the propensity confined to the Jews:-it prevails still. It involves danger to all. It is deplorably manifesting itself in our own days. And many other sources are there of self-delusion-making men “pure in their own eyes, while they have not been washed from their filthiness.” They may think well of themselves, as saints and favourites of God, from high doctrinal profession, the antinomian “grace” which tempts the lofty talker and pretender “to continue in sin:"-dreams and visions, and impressions and special intimations of the safety of their state, while their character will not abide the Bible tests of true religion:-connexion with godly men, and especially with godly parents:-self righteous and fanciful experiences, of which the extent and variety are sadly great:-peculiar circumstances in the manner of their own supposed conversion, of which they make much and are ever prone to talk,-dwelling more on themselves than on Christ,-more on what separates them from others, than on what is common to them with all believers; while after all they are addicted to a variety of evils, which their fancied religions attainments hide from, or palliate to, their consciences, and keep their hearts in the enjoyment of a deceitful and ruinous self-complacency. O my brethren, while we pray sinners to bring themselves to the true standard of character, in order that they may see and feel their need of gospel grace; let us be faithful in bringing ourselves and our profession of that gospel to the true test of faith in Christ and filial relationship to God; “examining ourselves whether we be in the faith, proving our own selves;” lest we be found having a name to live while we are dead,-a form of godliness while we axe denying its power;-lest we be of those who are “pure in their own eyes, and yet have not been washed from their filthiness.”
Proverbs 30:13-20
LECTURE XCIII.
“There is a generation, O how lofty are their eyes! and their eyelids are lifted up. There is a generation whose teeth are as swords, and their jawteeth as knives, to devour the poor from off the earth, and the needy from among men. The horse-leech hath two daughters, crying, Give, give. There are three things that are never satisfied, yea, four things say not, It is enough: the grave; and the barren womb; the earth that is not filled with water; and the fire that saith not, It is enough. The eye that mocketh at his father, and despiseth to obey his mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young eagles shall eat it. There be three things which are too wonderful for me, yea, four which I know not: the way of an eagle in the air, the way of a serpent upon a rock, the way of a ship in the midst of the sea, and the way of a man with a maid. Such is the way of an adulterous woman; she eateth, and wipeth her mouth, and saith, I have done no wickedness.”
The first of these verses brings before us the haughty, selfconsequential, and supercilious-the “generation” of those who carry their heads high, and look disdainfully down on all around them. This class of men too has been found abundantly in all ages. The spirit described may originate from various causes. There is the pride of high birth-of aristocratic lineage,-that regards with lofty scorn all that is plebeian and vulgar.-There is the pride and vanity of riches, that measures its importance and exacts its homage according to the number of its acres or of its bank deposits; and of this species of the evil there is none that is either so contemptible, so ridiculous, or so provoking, as the pursepride of the weak-minded upstart who has risen suddenly to the self-consequence of a gold-and silver greatness.-There is what the poet has called “the insolence of office”-the lofty and sometimes sufficiently ludicrous airs of men who have got themselves “clothed with a little brief authority;"-and this description of the silliness of self-elation is to be found in the ecclesiastical department of honours, as well as the civil, and in them both from the highest to the lowest grade of dignity,-from the woolsack of the Lord Chancellor to the chair of the smallest municipal corporation; and from the throne of the Archbishop to the desk of an Independent church. There is also, I might mention, the overbearing arrogance of learning-real or pretended, profound or superficial; and the little but often very consequential vanity of various other descriptions of accomplishment. There is still another description of the character,-and in some respects the worst of all. It is exemplified in the sidelong glance of the self-vaunting Pharisee, when he said-“Or even as this publican!"-the haughtiness of self-righteous consequence, which holds its head erect, and lifts the eye of presumptuous boldness, before that God in whose presence archangels “veil their faces with their wings;"-and that to all fellow-men says, with the scowl of indignant disdain-“Stand by thyself, come not near to me; for I am holier than thou.” And indeed the spirit of the “Stand by thyself, come not near to me,"-may be regarded as, in every department, the spirit of the character before us. It says-“Stand by thyself,” for I am nobler;-“Stand by thyself,” for I am richer;-“Stand by thyself,” for I am wiser;-“Stand by thyself,” for I am more learned and accomplished;-“Stand by thyself,” for I am by office greater;-as well as “Stand by thyself, for I am holier than thou.”
All these and all other descriptions of pride are laid under severe condemnation and prohibition in the divine word. Its declarations are-“The lofty looks of men shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the Lord alone shall be exalted:”-“God resisteth the proud:”-“The proud he knoweth afar off:”-“Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven:”-“Thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones:”-“Before honour is humility:”-“Every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalteth.”
“Whenever any man comes aright to God,-that is, comes to him as a sinful and guilty creature,-feeling his own unworthiness, nothingness, and obnoxiousness to the divine displeasure,-abased in his own sight,-a suppliant for mercy,-all descriptions of pride will be brought down and crucified. They will no longer be indulged;-no longer vindicated under plausible excuses and palliative epithets. As a believing sinner, he will become, like his gracious Master, “meek and lowly in heart:"-his eyes no longer lofty, nor his eyelids lifted,-the heart being no longer haughty. “Put on, as the elect of God, humbleness of mind.”
Verse Proverbs 30:14 . “There is a generation whose teeth are as swords, and their jaw-teeth as knives, to devour the poor from off the earth, and the needy from among men."-Here we have another class,-the generation of hard-hearted, cruel, insatiable oppressors. The forcible figurative expressions here used to depict them need no analysis. To analyse would be to weaken. They are persons who, whether to gratify their avarice, or their profligate ambition, or their love of pleasure and dissipation and extravagance, make no account of the property, the liberty, the peace, the comfort, the enjoyments, the very lives of others,-and especially of the poor,-when they stand in the way of their own gratification. We dwell not on the character. It is too often to be found. All history, alas! is full of it; nor would it be difficult to multiply examples of it, on a larger and on a smaller scale, in our own days. The history of conquest, of colonization, of slavery and slave-trading,-and of some departments of business, in which griping and grasping avarice-that “love of money which is the root of all evil,"-might furnish many a sad tale in the way of illustration. The character is ever introduced in Scripture with the strongest expressions of divine detestation.*
- Proverbs 28:15-17 , &c.
Verses Proverbs 30:15-16 . “The horse-leech hath two daughters, crying, Give, give. There are three things that are never satisfied, yea, four things say not, It is enough: the grave; and the barren womb; the earth that is not filled with, water; and the fire that saith not, It is enough."-There is an evident connexion between these verses and what precedes,-especially with the character described in the fourteenth verse. There is a comparison intended, in illustration of that character;-or rather a series of comparisons. There could not be a more apt one than the first. The “horseleech” or blood-sucker,*1 gorges itself with blood, drawing it in with all possible eagerness, and never relaxing its hold,-still emptying itself, and still seeking more,-or filling itself even to bursting:-an appropriate image surely for the insatiable desires of the man of avarice, or of the profligate man of pleasure and extravagance. In the expression-“The horse-leech hath two daughters” there is by some thought to be an allusion to the two forks of the tongue by which it fastens itself to draw the blood. And different notions have been entertained as to what are meant by the “two daughters.” It has been said that daughter, in the same way as son, is used to signify that which bears some striking resemblance to the thing of which it is represented as the son or the daughter:-and cruelty or blood-thirstiness and covetousness have been conceived the dispositions here meant to be thus represented. I confess myself very doubtful as to these views; and am much inclined to leave out the supplementary word crying, and to consider the Give, Give, as what Solomon intends by the daughters of the horse-leech: “The horse-leech hath two daughters, Give, Give."*2 The daughters have one name and one character. They plead and cater for the mother. The plain meaning is that the “horse-leech” is never satisfied. Greed is its very offspring:-“Give, Give,” its two daughters. A more fit emblem, then, there could hardly be, for insatiable avarice, or the insatiable love of pleasure. What follows is also to be understood as being in the nature of comparison:-“There are three things that are never satisfied, yea, four things say not, It is enough: the grave; and the barren womb; the earth that is not filled with water; and the fire that saith not, It is enough.” The meaning is-that the desires of avarice and of ambition and pleasure are insatiable, as the grave, and the barren womb, the earth, and the fire. Taking the words in this connexion, they are full of point and appropriateness. To take them by themselves, out of connexion with what they are clearly designed to illustrate, is to render them tame, vapid, and unworthy of the position they hold among divine sayings. “The grave” is still, since sin entered into the world, ever, ever, ever, opening its mouth for new victims. The barren womb is still fretfully impatient for the blessing of children-“Give me children, else I die.” The earth “drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it,” and is incessantly needing and craving fresh moisture,-and after long drought can hardly be saturated. The fire is ever requiring new supplies of fuel, consuming and devouring all that is thrown into it. Such are the insatiable appetites of avarice, pleasure, and ambition.
*1 The meaning is disputed. Stuart renders vampire.
*2 Stuart takes the same view. His work had not appeared when these Lectures were prepared.
If you only suppose that, in this series of comparisons, Solomon has reference at once to the characters in the fourteenth verse and to those also in the twelfth and thirteenth-(the desire of notice, and admiration, and flattery, being as insatiable on the part of those who, in different ways, entertain the high conceit of themselves, however false and foolish, which is there described, as are the avaricious, the ambitious, and the sensual)-then, by taking the seventeenth verse in connexion with the eleventh, we shall have the series of comparisons complete. In the eleventh verse we have the generation of rebellious children-without natural affection: and in the seventeenth we have their sentence:-“The eye that mocketh at his father, and despiseth to obey his mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young eagles shall eat it.” Here too is a figure. It expresses the certain and fearful vengeance that shall fall upon despisers and mockers of parents. Think of it, my young friends. The eye that winks in mockery,-or that leers with disdain,-or that kindles in hatred and rage,-or that turns away with indifference or aversion,-that eye indicates states of heart which the Lord abhors, and which He will visit with punitive vengeance. Although the language is manifestly figurative, and the birds of prey that pick out the guilty eye are but emblems of the avenging displeasure of a sin-hating God, bringing punishment upon the guilty soul,-yet has it not unfrequently been verified to the letter. All who have marked the history of crime are well aware how many criminals who have come to the gallows, have acknowledged the commencement of their career of vice and villany to have been contempt of parents. And these, after public execution, have been thrown to the beasts and birds of prey; or they have been gibbeted in irons, till the mocking eye has been picked out by the ravens of the valley, or devoured by the young eagles, and the carrion fowls have eaten their flesh from their bones. Let the young take warning,-and beware of every rising emotion of disrespect, and of every word, or look, or act of contempt and insubordination:-“Honour thy father and mother, which is the first commandment with promise.”
The following verses must, in like manner, be understood in the way of comparison:-and so understood, they are full of force, and full of practical instruction-verses Proverbs 30:18-20 . “There be three things which are too wonderful for me, yea, four which I know not: the way of an eagle in the air, the way of a serpent upon a rock, the way of a ship in the midst of the sea, and the way of a man with a maid. Such is the way of an adulterous woman; she eateth, and wipeth her mouth, and saith, I have done no wickedness."-What is the comparison? It is that of the wiles of the infamous and practised seducer of female honour and virtue,-and of the arts of the intriguing and accomplished adulteress, both in laying wait for her prey, and in concealing her guilt-to “the way of an eagle in the air, the way of a serpent upon a rock, and the way of a ship in the midst of the sea:"-and a warning is thus conveyed with regard to both,-a practical and profitable warning. It is not the philosophical or scientific principle on which the eagle flies, by which she is borne up on the air, and by which all her motions are effected, that is here the subject of wonder, although wonderful it is, and like everything else in nature, fitted to fill the observant mind with devout admiration:-neither is it the peculiar structure, and the laws of muscular motion connected with it, by which the convolutions, and the side and forward movements of the serpent are accomplished and regulated:-nor is it the mechanical principle, applied and adjusted by the skill of man, by which the ship is upheld on the water, and is propelled, and “turned whithersoever the governor listeth.” It is not to these,-no, not at all-that Agur refers. His lesson is one, not in natural or in physical science or in human art,-but one in morals,-one relative to vice and to virtue,-to the dangers from the one, and the necessity of carefully guarding the other. The spirit of the comparison, in all the three cases, lies in the difficulty or the impossibility of tracing the path. The capricious windings, and circlings, and dartings and hoverings, and risings and fallings, of the eagle, no one can follow. The bird itself could not trace the same course again. The path of the serpent is intricately tortuous, bending, and twisting, and convoluting, and pushing itself in every possible direction;-so that there is no tracing of its foldings and doublings. The ship’s course is instantly lost: and it tacks and retacks, and stretches from point to point, to attain its destination. It is impossible to follow the very same track again.
And in addition to the impossibility of tracing the course, there is another thing in the comparison. There is, in each of the cases, an end in view, an object to be effected. The eagle adapts its various movements, so as at last to pounce upon its prey:-the serpent, tortuous as is his path, has his aim, and reaches it:-the ship, with the wind ahead, shifts and tacks about; but still with a certain point to be gained.
The comparison is of these three things to two others-to the manifold wiles of the artful and vile seducer:-and to the similar arts of the crafty adulteress in luring secretly her prey, and in hiding from detection her infamy.-Artful villains-wretches for whom no term of infamy is too strong-insinuate themselves into the affections of young women, by an endless diversity of schemes and stratagems,-of pretensions, and promises, and flatteries, and sophistical arguments, and protestations, and persuasions, such as cannot he all unravelled:-
“Studied, sly, ensnaring arts,”
varying according to characters and circumstances;-like the wheelings and circlings of the eagle in the air,-or the curvatures of “the crooked serpent” upon a rock,-or the tackings and doublings of a ship at sea. And, as in these cases there is no trace of the course left, so in the case which they illustrate, the great art is, to leave no trace by which the progress and consummation of guilt can afterwards be marked and substantiated.*
- Comp. Proverbs 5:6 .
So too the unfaithful-the adulterous wife, is full of artifice,-this being in her case even more necessary than in the other. And when she has secured her end,-there is artifice to conceal it-to impose upon her injured husband. She here appears before us, most graphically, assuming the air of perfect composure-of one completely at her ease;-her conscience, if not actually seared, brought under sufficient coercive control to cover all emotion. She sits down as usual to her meal, with her husband and family,-with full self-possession and indifference of manner,-just as if nothing had happened; “eating, and wiping her mouth, and saying, I have done no evil”-telling tales perhaps of the guilt of others, affecting to shudder at them, and comparing her own innocence with their shameful conduct.
I dwell not on these monstrous evils. Read the early chapters of this book, ye youthful and thoughtless especially, and weigh them well. You will find there an abundance of faithful and affectionate warning-warning drawn from both observation and woful experience, of the criminality and the ruinous consequences to body, soul, and estate,-for time and for eternity,-of the evils in question, evils against which faithfulness commands us to warn, and to warn with all possible earnestness,-while delicacy and propriety forbid enlargement.
I conclude by beseeching God’s spiritual children to cultivate the tempers and pursue the courses of conduct, that stand opposed to those of the “generations” described in this passage.-Ye who have parents,-and especially young professors-cherish and display the reverential and dutiful affection that ought ever to be maintained towards father and mother.-Cultivate all of you real inward purity of heart, from which there will spring a growing purity of life.-Cherish a lowly spirit:-“be clothed with humility,"-not humility on your knees before the throne merely, but humility which, when you rise from your knees, and mingle with your family and with the world, diffuses its lovely influence over your entire deportment.-Cultivate benevolent kindness, in affection of heart, in the words of the mouth, and in beneficent activity, towards all who come within the sphere of your influence;-“doing good to all, and especially to them who are of the household of faith:”-“putting on, as the elect of God, bowels of mercies.” “Take heed, and beware of covetousness:”-“lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven:"-and as to ambition, let “the honour that cometh from God,” rather than that which men bestow, be what you seek and long to secure. And beware of every unchaste thought, word, and action. Let, in short, your entire course of life, in all its departments,-in your closets with God,-in your homes with your families,-in your fields, your warehouses, and your workshops,-in all your private and your public intercourse,-be constantly under the regulating, the impelling, and the restraining influence of the fear and the love of God. Thus “work out your own salvation,” and “hold forth the word of life.”
Proverbs 30:21-33
LECTURE XCIV.
“For three things the earth is disquieted, and for four which it cannot bear: for a servant when he reigneth; and a fool when he is filled with meat; for an odious woman when she is married; and an handmaid that is heir to her mistress. There be four things which are little upon the earth, but they are exceeding wise: the ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer; the conies are but a feeble folk, yet make they their houses in the rocks; the locusts have no king, yet go they forth all of them by bands; the spider taketh hold with her hands, and is in kings’ palaces. There be three things which go well, yea, four are comely in going: a lion, which is strongest among beasts, and turneth not away for any; a grey-hound; an he-goat also; and a king, against whom there is no rising up. If thou hast done foolishly in lifting up thyself, or if thou hast thought evil, lay thine hand upon thy mouth. Surely the churning of milk bringeth forth butter, and the wringing of the nose bringeth forth blood; so the forcing of wrath bringeth forth strife.”
The particulars here enumerated have reference to both public and private life. They have many a time created, and are calculated from their nature to create, much disturbance and mischief in the different departments of human society. We shall first offer a few remarks on each, and then you will be able to judge of their extensive comprehensiveness.
- “For a servant when he reigneth."-History is not without examples-and especially the history of ancient eastern nations, of men of low extraction and of mean and ignoble spirit and character, who, by favouring circumstances, have either raised themselves, or for the purposes of others have been raised, to stations of authority and power. Such men are apt to become intoxicated by their sudden or their self-acquired elevation:-and the haughtiness of self-importance is nearly allied to, and naturally draws after it in its train, the spirit of imperiousness, cruelty, rapacity, and oppression,-of impatience of contradiction and control,-of fierceness and vindictiveness,-of incessant jealousy-a jealousy engendered by the very consciousness of their being out of place and the objects of envy and indignant pride on the part of others-as harbouring designs and framing plots against their crowns or against their lives:-and this jealousy, like other descriptions of it, is “cruel as the grave.”
Moreover, a slave, or menial, is not supposed to have the fitness and competency, in point of mental culture, habits of life, knowledge of mankind and of the science of government, or comprehensiveness and foresight in his views, for the exercise of rule. His elevation is a departure from the ordinary course of things in society, and is not to be expected to be productive of good;-not only on account of his own defective qualifications, but the inevitable risks, springing from such causes as those already adverted to, of conspiracies and seditions, of rebellions and civil wars,-so fearfully destructive of the peace and order, the prosperity and happiness, of every community.
There is in the words, as in most of the proverbs of the same form, a general principle applicable to the cases of all persons who are suddenly raised, and raised high it may be, above their level, to stations they are not competent to fill. Disquietude and vexation are the natural consequences. And those who, unhappily, are not sensible of their own deficiencies, and, from “thinking of themselves more highly than they ought to think,” aspire to situations which are above them, are the most likely, if they obtain the gratification of their ambition, to abuse the power which they get into their hands. “The earth is disquieted” by them; “it cannot bear them.”
- “For a fool when he is filled with meat."-We have many times had occasion to notice the character meant by Solomon under this designation of “fool;” and Agur is to be understood as using it in the same sense.
His being “filled with meat” may be understood literally as descriptive of the fool indulging to repletion in eating and drinking,-by which his spirit is elevated, by which the restraints of the fear of God and man are for the time removed. Then their unprincipled folly breaks forth in all its exuberance, without control, and carries them frequently beyond all the limits of possible sufferance. They give full and free scope to their insolent self-sufficiency, their impertinence, their scurrility and abuse, their disputatiousness, their profaneness, their obscenity, or their sheer and drivelling nonsense, in such a way as causes a large amount of present laceration and distress to the feelings of others:-and then, their words uttered, and their actions done, in these circumstances, frequently give rise to consequences extensively and permanently mischievous.
But being “filled with meat,” may be understood as the image of temporal prosperity. “When thou hast eaten and art full,” was, in the language of Moses to the Israelites, the expression for abundance of temporal good:-and a part of Asaph’s description of the prosperous man of the world-whom he denominates “the foolish” and “the wicked”-is, “Their eyes stand out with fatness; they have more than heart could wish.” And Paul, in describing his own spirit of contentment, says-“I know both how to be full and to be hungry,-both to abound and to suffer need.” In this view of the words, the character before us in them is that of the man who prospers in the world, but has neither sense nor principle to make a right use of his abundance;-whom it elates with purse-proud insolence, with all its quarrelsomeness and fiery jealousy, which exacts the punctilios of haughtiness, and which nothing but blood will appease;-or who squanders it in every way that is pernicious to society around him,-in all that is vile, and vicious, and mischievous,-drawing others in numbers, along with him, into the ways of profligacy, and debauchery, and crime. By such characters “the earth is disquieted; it cannot bear them.”
- “For an odious woman when she is married."-Here we come into domestic life-which may be called the nursery of human society-in which, to a great extent, the character of communities is formed. “An odious woman” is a woman of unamiable character,-whose temper is violent, contentious, and quarrelsome, or peevish, fretful, and unreasonable; or, still worse, who is addicted to shameful vices,-as of insobriety and incontinence. Such a woman is utterly unfit for the care and management of a family, in any one of its departments,-as a wife, as a mother, or as a mistress. When unhappily she finds one who, whether from ignorance or infatuation, unites himself with her, she produces a whole lifetime of disquietude, vexation, and wretchedness to husband, and family, and connexions, and friends. She makes her yoke-fellow rue the day that he made so luckless or so mad a choice,-having chosen one of “those cheats, who are doves in their virgin state, and vultures the week after they are married.”* By such characters-in domestic life, “the earth is disquieted; it cannot bear them.”
- Comp. Proverbs 19:13 ; Proverbs 21:9 ; Proverbs 21:19 , &c.
- “And an handmaid that is heir to her mistress."-This is evidently a case similar in nature to the first of the four-“a servant when he reigneth.” It is one of the same genus,-an inversion of the natural and proper order of society. It is the case of a maid-servant, who, by humouring, and pleasing, and flattering, and coaxing, has got about her mistress, ingratiated herself into her good-liking,-as Matthew Henry quaintly says, “got the length of her foot,"-and has thus induced her to put her into her will, as the heiress of her fortune-of all that she has. Such things had been, it would appear; and such things may be still. And from the tendencies before stated, a person of this description is all but sure to be selfish, insolent, and overbearing; either from the ascendency she has acquired, and her knowledge of what is before her, (especially to any whom she may have outwitted, and supplanted, and disappointed of their hopes)-or from the sudden possession of property, without strength of mind to bear the change, or prudence and discretion to improve it to any good purpose.
Another view, and a much worse one, has been taken of the case-as being that of a servant who has supplanted her mistress in the affections of her husband,-found ways and means to usurp her place there, gained an ascendency over him, and induced him to give her, tacitly or by express engagement, the prospect of succession,-or possibly even to divorce his wife upon false pretexts, or to make her so miserable as to force her to separation,-that he may live with the usurper of her rights, and give her all that he can of what should have gone to the other. This is indeed a case of fearful and intolerable distress. O! what an entire and wretched overthrow of all the blessings-in themselves, virtuously enjoyed, so exquisite and so precious,-of domestic life!-What bitterness, and alienation, and jealousy, and heart-break, and family ruin and desolation!-For such characters “the earth is disquieted; it cannot bear them.”
And now, just notice the comprehensiveness, in regard to the happiness of human life, of the four things thus enumerated. They begin, observe, at the throne, and come down to the domestic servant. They embrace four great sources of the social unhappiness of mankind. These are-incompetent rule, prosperous and besotted folly, conjugal alienation and strife with its domestic miseries, and the unnatural inversion of social order.
In the four verses which follow we have an assemblage of instances of what we may term the instructive wisdom of the inferior creation; which, in all its departments, is full of lessons to man, if man had but the wit to learn and the inclination to follow them.-Nature is the art of God. Instinct is the wisdom of God. Few things, if any, are more difficult than to draw the line, with any precision, between instinct and reason. A great deal (as might easily be shown, were this the time and place for the discussion,) of what is thoughtlessly ascribed to the former, bears all the marks and indications of the latter. We many a time call the very thing instinct in the brute which we call reason in man. The truth is, that man has his instincts, and that brutes have their reason. But the difference in degree is so immense as fully to justify the designations of rational and irrational. The great leading distinction in kind between man and beast lies in a sense of God and of moral responsibility, connected at the same time, with the attribute of immortality, of which both pertain to man, and neither to the beast. But, without entering into any metaphysical distinctions on the subject of reason and instinct, whether in man or in brute, it is enough to say that the cases here brought before us are cases, to a great extent at least, of pure instinct. We have-
- The ANTS. We cannot enter into the natural history of these little creatures, of which there are many varieties, and of which accounts the most extraordinary, yet well authenticated, are on record. The words before us limit our attention to one point-the same point Solomon had brought before us toward the beginning of this book, in his inculcation of providence and industry:-“The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer.”* Thus these little and feeble creatures supply the lack of strength by combination and perseverance,-all directed to an end, and yet that end, we have no reason to imagine, thought of at the time. By an instinctive propensity, common to them all, though more extraordinary in some tribes of them than in others,-and, there is every ground to believe, manifested and exercised by them all, from the creation of the world to the present hour; yet at times with an adaptation to peculiar circumstances, and a mutual communication and harmonious co-operation one with another, altogether confounding;-by this propensity, I say, they provide against the coming winter enough, and more than enough, for their own sustenance and that of their young; and make the provision without any knowledge on their part of the changes of the seasons, or of the astronomical causes of those changes. The instinct that guides them is one of the varieties of the “manifold wisdom” of Him who formed them; at once giving them their being, and adapting their natures to their modes of life.
- See Proverbs 6:6-8 .
- We have next the CONIES:-“The conies are but a feeble folk, yet make they their houses in the rocks.” It is the same animal that is mentioned, and with a similar distinctive property, in Psalms 104:18 . It has been with naturalists and Hebricians, a matter of question what the animal is that is meant by the original term. This is not a point of material consequence in regard to the lesson designed to be conveyed. The two qualities here mentioned are, feebleness and dwelling in tits rocks. It seems pretty generally agreed, that the animal meant is not what we term the coney.* It is, most probably, what was called the * daman Israel * or * Israel’s lamb* ; spoken of as a harmless creature, resembling in size and qualities the rabbit, and quite agreeing with the description before us,-being distinguished for its feebleness, which it supplies like the former, by its instinctive wisdom and sagacity; and by its making its nest or habitation in the clefts of the rocks,-to which it shows decided attachment, as well as by its being gregarious, and living in families or little companies. Their “houses” are very commodious residences, and secure refuges from their enemies and pursuers. Incapable of protecting themselves by any strength, or any powerful offensive weapon, with which many other animals are provided, nature teaches them to betake themselves for protection and safety to the rocks of the mountains. And what is nature but the God of nature?-and what this instinct but again God’s manifold wisdom?
- Conies do not appear to build among the rocks; and it is doubted whether they are indigenous to Palestine. Some render the word here used * mountain-mice* .
- We have the LOCUSTS:-“The locusts have no king, yet go they forth all of them by bands.” The accounts given by naturalists and travellers of the countless myriads of these insects, which go in such immense and compacted legions, as to darken the air and to desolate the richest and most fertile districts to a vast extent, in an incredibly short space of time, are very astonishing. They formed, as all of you are aware, one of the plagues of Egypt. It is not, however, to their destructive ravages that our attention is here called:-it is to the regularity and unanimity of their simultaneous movements. They keep time, and they keep rank,-they rise, they fly, they halt, they settle again for the purposes of devastation for their own support,-just as if they did every thing by direction, under the orders of a general, with one consent, and for the common good. I may direct you for a fine and highly poetical illustration of this in the book of the prophet Joel-only of course premising that under the figure of an invading army the prophet is describing the judicial visitation of God by the devastating swarms of the locust,-of whose approach the noise was sometimes heard at the distance of several miles,-“the sound of their wings being as the sound of chariots and horsemen rushing to battle.”*
- See Joe 2:2-11 ; Joe 2:25 . rr
- We have the Spider.-This insect, on different accounts, is not a favourite. But its structure is full of wonders:-and the assiduity, and persevering diligence of the little creature, and the ingenuity, the delicacy, and the appropriateness of its workmanship, together with its varied adaptation to places, and situations, and circumstances,-are all very interesting, and very curious and surprising. She “layeth hold with her hands” and the neatness, the fineness, and the despatch, with which she draws out her threads, the firmness with which she attaches them, and the symmetry and strength with which she intertwines and weaves them together; and then the patience with which she lies in wait for her prey, and the instant alertness with which she springs upon, seizes, and secures it, either devouring it, or fastening it for future use,-are all admirable.* Thus both gregarious and solitary creatures, according to their respective characters and modes of life, read to us lessons of practical wisdom. For assuredly, those here mentioned were introduced not merely as furnishing facts in natural history, but for the purposes of moral and prudential instruction.
- Stuart contends, perhaps correctly, that the word should be rendered Lizard; and it would, in some respects at least, be sufficiently appropriate if it is in Palestine as in India; where in every dwelling, from the palace to the hovel, the little house-lizard may be seen on the walls watching for and darting upon its prey.
The lesson taught us by the ants, as we have seen, is that of diligence, discretion, and foresight.-The lesson from the coney, or rather the Israel’s Lamb, is the duty of prudent regard to residence, and security for ourselves and families against discomfort and danger-against all enemies and invaders.-From the locust we learn the importance and benefit of order, and union, and co-operation, for the accomplishment of objects of common interest whether civil or sacred. From the spider we learn the advantage of skill, ingenuity, and industry in all the arts and occupations of fife. And by the expression which Agur adds-“and is in kings’ palaces,” we seem to be taught an additional lesson; this expression being apparently designed to associate in our minds the ideas of diligence and ingenuity with honour, distinction, advancement. There is no saying what men who, in station and appearance, are the most unpromising may, by dint of these virtues, attain to.*
- See Proverbs 22:29 .
We may even conceive views of still more enlarged comprehensiveness as being included in these verses. It has been remarked by some, that the four emblems express all that is requisite for the conservation and well-being of a STATE or KINGDOM. There is supply of food;-commodious and secure dwelling-places;-subordination, concord, and united exertion;-and the prevalence and encouragement of the ingenious and useful arts. These are things that governors and kings should look to. And we may apply the emblematic lessons to domestic life. Before a man can prudently marry, and have a family, he should have some suitable provision made, and something like a fair prospect of being able to support them. Next is to be found a suitable dwelling, adapted to his circumstances and convenience. Then, when settled, there must be harmony, union, co-operation, in all departments of the household. And lastly, there must be the diligent, constant, persevering application of his skill and labour to his worldly calling. And to these allow me to add, without charging me with being fanciful,-that, as these creatures derive their instincts from God, and act under his superintendence and direction, that God should be acknowledged by us in all our ways and in all our doings, and in all the comforts and enjoyments which are their results, as the blessed source of all we are, of all we have, of all we enjoy, and of all we hope for.
Another lesson still let us learn-namely, to estimate men not by external condition or greatness, but by their wisdom; making the “mind the standard of the man.” These creatures appear insignificant; but they are commended to our admiration by their sagacity and skill. So-“there is a spirit in man; and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth him understanding.” And when man, in the position which he holds in the scale of being, acts as consistently with the ends of his existence,-with his character and his destinies, as these creatures do with theirs,-then is there room for our highest admiration!-” The chief end of man is-to glorify God, and to enjoy him for ever!”
Verses Proverbs 30:29-31 . “There be three things which go well, yea, four are comely in going: a lion, which is strongest among beasts, and turneth not away for any; a grey-hound; an he-goat also; and a king, against whom there is no rising up.” Here too lessons of moral wisdom are meant to be conveyed. We are not for a moment to suppose that the intention of Agur is merely to invite us to admire the gait of the “lion,” the king of beasts, who marches on in the nobility of his might, in courageous consciousness of his power, altering not his pace, and fearless of whatever comes in his way:-or the grace and elegance of the “greyhound,” and the nimble fleetness of his course,*-or the portly dignity of the leader of the flock, that walks at their head, conducting and caring for them:-or the majesty of royal authority and honour, of a king maintaining his dignity, bearing his crowned head with the stateliness of office.
- The original word means contracted or girt in the loins. Some from this have thought the war-horse meant:-but the descriptive term applies well to the greyhound.
I am disposed to think that here, as in verses Proverbs 30:18-19 , we are to interpret the language on the principle of an intended comparison between the last of the four and the three preceding; that is-of a king to the lion, the greyhound, and the he-goat. In the peculiarities of the three animals, the characteristics of the king’s character are figured:-his courage and undaunted intrepidity by the lion;-his readiness for activity and speed in the pursuit of every legitimate object,-as well as fit elegance and gracefulness, by the greyhound;-and his becoming example set before his people, leading them in right ways, and caring for their safety, by the he-goat. And there are lessons for all; that all should maintain a deportment dignified, becoming, and exemplary,–such as will command respect, repress the forward petulance of self-sufficiency, and conceit,-subdue opposition, and induce imitation, and conciliate affection.
What he had said of the king probably suggests verse Proverbs 30:32 . “If thou hast done foolishly in lifting up thyself, or if thou hast thought evil. lay thine hand upon thy month.”* The meaning seems to be-when thou art made sensible of having done wrong by taking too much upon thee in the royal presence,-conducting thyself in any way with deficiency of due respect;-or, when thou art conscious of having “thought,"-intended and meditated evil;-then thy best and most becoming, and withal thy safest course, is immediate submission and silence; not eager self-vindication, not hasty and irritating words,-not recriminating and laying the blame on others; and seeking to palliate unduly thine own behaviour,-but to the full extent to which thy consciousness of wrong reaches, “confessing and forsaking.” This is in itself the dictate of propriety: and it is at the same time that of prudence. The reason follows:-verse Proverbs 30:33 . “Surely the churning of milk bringeth forth butter, and the wringing of the nose bringeth forth blood; so the forcing of wrath bringeth forth strife.” As these causes produce their respective effects,-effects which naturally follow, which every one expects,-so-” the forcing of wrath “-by obstinate self-vindication, or by arrogant and. reproachful language, as if one wore trying how far he might go in putting the royal forbearance and clemency to the test,-“bringeth forth strife,"-produces the most violent and implacable animosities and contentions;-and with a king “against whom there is no rising up,” what can be more infatuated?
- Comp. Ecclesiastes 8:3 .
To conclude, let us all seek, by fulfilling aright the duties becoming the spheres in which Providence has called us to move, to be a blessing in the circle of our influence, and not a curse. Let others, if they will, “glory in their shame,” in disquieting, troubling, harassing all about them; but let us cultivate and carry out into practice all those dispositions which are fitted to secure for us the affection, esteem, and blessing of our fellow creatures.
Let us further, in the exercise of sound wisdom, derive hints and lessons from nature around us. We may learn much that is practically useful and salutary from those animals in the inferior creation, which God has so wonderfully fitted for their respective situations and functions. O how many are there, who stand condemned by the example and the silent but emphatic admonitions of these creatures,-admonished for improvidence, and carelessness, and irregularity, and sloth!-for discontent and insubordination!-for trifling, impatience, and want of perseverance; for timidity and meanness in duty!-for deficiency in promptitude and alertness!-for neglect of those committed to their care and training!-and last of all, but not least-for failing to answer the end of their being! These all, according to their irrational natures, by fulfilling their respective functions, under the operation of the instincts of their different constitutions, show forth the glory of their Maker. But man, the rational creature, uses not his higher powers and endowments, as he ought, in voluntary and delighted subserviency to this highest and best of ends,-the true end of his existence and of all that he is, as an intelligent, moral, and immortal being. Earnestly would I urge on all with immediate and special reference to the King of kings-the lesson of these words-“If thou hast done foolishly in lifting up thyself, or if thou hast thought evil, lay thine hand upon thy mouth.” O! if there be duty, and if there be safety in the course recommended, as it respects a monarch of this world-after all, but a man whose “breath is in his nostrils,” with what unutterably greater force and conclusiveness, in application to Him! How infatuated in sinful creatures of the dust, to lift themselves up, in selfrighteous and rebellious pride, against the God of heaven! Surely submission here is at once duty, wisdom, safety. “Lay thine hand upon thy mouth.” Confess guilt, and bow to the sceptre of mercy. “Let the potsherds strive with the potsherds of the earth; but woe to the man that striveth with his Maker.” The admonition of Jesus is, in its fullest force of import, applicable to the case of the sinner with Ins God:-“Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison."-God is an adversary to you only as sinners persisting in your sins. He seeks your reconciliation. He offers you His friendship. He is revealed to you as “in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them.” And the entreaty of His gospel to every one of you is-“Be reconciled unto God:-for he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”