_Be not thou envious against evil men, neither desire to be with them._ EVIL MEN NOT TO BE ENVIED The first verse of this chapter is very naturally connected with the close of the chapter preceding. There is little room for “envy” of rich characters as the one there so graphically depicted, and of... [ Continue Reading ]
_Through wisdom is an house builded._ THE SPIRITUAL EDIFICE The subject is wisdom, with its enlargements of understanding and knowledge--terms probably used to denote the expansions of the master principle, and the ramifications into which it extends, as it sways and develops the faculties of the... [ Continue Reading ]
_A wise man is strong; yea, a man of knowledge increaseth strength _ WISDOM THE STRENGTH OF THE MIND The changes of life often have unhappy effects on the temper of our minds. A defence against these evils would be very desirable. Who would not possess a constant equanimity, an uniform peace and... [ Continue Reading ]
_The thought of foolishness is sin._ THE NATURE OF EVIL THOUGHTS I. What is meant by the “thought of foolishness”? Folly and sin signify the same thing in Scripture. We are not to understand thoughts of pure speculation as simple acts of the understanding; nor even a thought of sudden and transient... [ Continue Reading ]
_If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small _ THE CHRISTIAN FAILING IN BUSINESS There are such failures. Christianity does not secure its disciples against misfortune and calamity. It has need of trouble. While it could not help it always without a constant miracle, it does not... [ Continue Reading ]
_If thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death._ THE CLAIM OF OUR BROTHER’S NEED 1. It is supposed that there is an allusion here to what is understood to have been a custom among the Jews. When a man was being led to execution a sort of crier or herald went with the procession, publicl... [ Continue Reading ]
_So shall the knowledge of wisdom be unto thy soul._ SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE I. It is wholesome. “My son, eat thou honey, because it is good.” Honey was one of the choice productions of Canaan. It was used by its inhabitants as an article of diet; it was not only delicious to the palate, but strengthe... [ Continue Reading ]
_Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth._ REVENGE Johnson makes a distinction between vengeance and revenge. Injuries, he says, are revenged; crimes are avenged. The former is an act of passion, the latter of justice. I. The object of revenge. “Thine enemy.” Men are enemies to men. Humanity is not... [ Continue Reading ]
_My son, fear thou the Lord and the king._ DUTY TO GOD AND THE KING I. A double duty laid down. Or rather, a single duty, one included and comprehended in the other. Fear here is a comprehensive notion to contain in it all those duties which we owe to God principally, and to the king subordinately... [ Continue Reading ]
_These things also belong to the wise._ SOCIAL CONDUCT I. Here is partiality of judgment; that is bad. “It is no good to have respect of persons in judgment.” The principle of impartiality is enjoined both in the Old and the New Testament. In the Old, “Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment; t... [ Continue Reading ]
_To them that rebuke him shall be delight, and a good blessing shall come upon them._ THE DUTY OF REBUKING THE WICKED I. The duty and its obligation. By “rebuke” we may understand either that friendly office exercised by private persons towards their trespassing brethren, with a design and hope of... [ Continue Reading ]
_Prepare thy work without, and make it fit for thyself in the field; and afterwards build thine house._ PREPARATION; ITS NATURE, OBLIGATION, AND BLESSINGS God loves preparations. God gives little but to preparations. All His own great works He has done preparedly. Creation was not done without grea... [ Continue Reading ]
_Be not a witness against thy neighbour without cause._ THE NATURE AND EXTENT OF FALSE WITNESS There is nothing more dear and valuable to men than their reputation or good name. It is a mark of an abandoned spirit to have no regard to it. Men have always been very tender in preserving it in themsel... [ Continue Reading ]
_I went by the field of the slothful._ THE MORAL SLUGGARD Take these words as a pointed reproof of the negligent and immoral head of a family. The cause of prevailing irreligion is the deplorable negligence of masters and heads of families, in cultivating that field which is more immediately place... [ Continue Reading ]