_Boast not thyself of to-morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth._ ON THE CONDUCT TO BE HELD WITH REGARD TO FUTURE EVENTS It is needless to prove the change and mutability of our present state, or the fact that the changes cannot be foreseen by us. Obvious as they are, it would be w... [ Continue Reading ]
_Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth._ SELF-BOASTING Self-boasting is always a source of weakness as well as a revelation of vanity. In vanity there is no substance; it is idle breath, it is foolish vapour. When a man is left to praise himself it is evident that he has lived an in... [ Continue Reading ]
_Sand weighty._ THE WEIGHT OF SAND By a fool this book means, not so much intellectual feebleness as moral and religious obliquity, which are the stupidest things that a man can be guilty of. The proverb-maker compares two heavy things, stones and sand, and says that they are feathers in compariso... [ Continue Reading ]
_Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous; but who is able to stand before envy?_ ANGER AND ENVY I. The evil principles indicated in the text are extensively and dangerously prevalent. To be irritated and out of temper is one of the common tendencies of our nature, manifested even in childhood. The... [ Continue Reading ]
_Open rebuke is better than secret love._ CHARITABLE REPROOF Self-love is so natural to us, that as it makes us apt to flatter ourselves on all occasions, so it inclines us to accept too easily of the flatteries of all others. Our unwillingness to know our own faults, or to be humbled under the sen... [ Continue Reading ]
_Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful._ GOD’S FRIENDSHIP AND SATAN’S ENMITY True friends are scarce. The old cynic who went about in broad daylight with a lighted lantern in search of “a man” would have had like difficulty in finding a true friend. True fri... [ Continue Reading ]
_The full soul loatheth an honeycomb._ SPIRITUAL APPETITE It is a great blessing when food and appetite meet together. Sometimes men have been so luxuriously fed that appetite has departed from them altogether. The rules which apply to bodily appetite equally hold true of the mind. We easily lose... [ Continue Reading ]
_As a bird that wandereth from her nest, so is a man that wandereth from his _place. THE INCONVENIENCE AND DANGER OF PERSONS BEING LONG ABSENT FROM HOME Nothing that affects our religious interests can, properly speaking, be called little. Everything that can influence the present temper and futur... [ Continue Reading ]
_Better is a neighbour that is near than a brother far off._ SOCIABILITY This proverb points out that when assistance is needed the near neighbour, though he may love less, is more useful than the brother who is far away. Society is absolutely necessary for human existence. Companionship forces us... [ Continue Reading ]
_A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself; but the simple pass on, and are punished._ EYES AND NO EYES The distinction is not between “goodness” and “wickedness,” but between strength and weakness, wisdom and folly. The “seeing” and the “acting” man victoriously compels circumstances t... [ Continue Reading ]
_He that blesseth his friend with a loud voice, rising early in the morning, it shall be counted a curse to him._ THE CURSE OF OSTENTATIOUS FLATTERY Flattery is a species of conduct generally most pleasing, always most pernicious. The flattery in the text is a loud vaunting. It intrudes itself on... [ Continue Reading ]
_Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend._ FRIENDSHIP Scripture instances of friendship are David and Jonathan; Ruth and Naomi; Paul and Timotheus; and our Lord and the Bethany sisters. In classical literature we see that friendship had a great part, both in the gove... [ Continue Reading ]
_So he that waiteth on his master shall be honoured._ THE WAY TO HONOUR If a man in Palestine carefully watched his fig-tree, and kept it in proper condition, he was sure to be abundantly rewarded in due season. So good servants obtain honour as the fruit of diligent service. I. The relation whic... [ Continue Reading ]
_As in water face answereth to face, so the heart of man to man._ MIRROR OF HUMAN NATURE As a man looking into the water (used anciently as a mirror) sees an exact transcript of his own countenance, so every heart has, by nature, precisely the same moral character with every other unsanctified hea... [ Continue Reading ]
_So is a man to his praise._ THE INFLUENCE OF APPLAUSE The various passions implanted in human nature are necessary to animate the soul in the service of God and our generation. The poet sung, “Love of fame, the universal passion.” The wise man beheld this principle in human nature; he saw the effe... [ Continue Reading ]
_Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, and look well to thy herds._ KINDNESS TO ANIMALS We live in an age when great regard is paid to the comfort and well-being of every class of the community, and when efforts are made to promote the general happiness. When so much is being done to a... [ Continue Reading ]