_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 ]