_My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments._ USEFUL PRECEPTS AND INSPIRING MOTIVES I. To remember and keep in our hearts the things written in this book (Proverbs 3:1). Interest dictates to us the propriety of keeping God’s commandments. II. To live in the exercise of mer... [ Continue Reading ]
_Long life and peace shall they add to thee._ THE PHILOSOPHY OF HEALTH AND PEACE I. Obedience to moral law is a condition of physical health. Heart-obedience is required. The connection is clear from three facts. 1. That physical health requires obedience to the Divine laws of our being. 2. That... [ Continue Reading ]
_Let not mercy and truth forsake thee._ MERCY AND TRUTH As the wings of the cherubim touched one another in the midst of the house, so Mercy and Truth are such a pair as will either lodge together or leave together. There was such a similitude of nature between the Twins of Love, eros and anteros,... [ Continue Reading ]
_So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man._ THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE RELIGIOUS LIFE There was a moment in our existence when we committed our first sin; and there was a moment when we first lifted up our hearts in prayer and thanksgiving to our Father in heaven.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Trust in the Lord. .. lean not to thine own understanding._ REASON AND FAITH The question is, not whether we shall use reason, but what are its limits? Shall we accept only what we can understand and explain, and refuse all which does not quadrate with our reason? Is Faith, with her delicate ear,... [ Continue Reading ]
_In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths._ TRUST AND GUIDANCE We have here the sound counsel of a wide experience. I. As containing the most important precepts for life. God claims from you here-- 1. The supreme affection of your heart. 2. The complete homage of your inte... [ Continue Reading ]
_Be not wise in thine own eyes._ SELF-CONCEIT (see Isaiah 5:21):-- I. It involves self-ignorance. No one who knows himself could be conceited. Let the wisest man think of two things-- 1. His knowledge in comparison with what is to be known. 2. His knowledge in comparison with what he ought to h... [ Continue Reading ]
_Honour the Lord with thy substance._ THE HIGHEST GIVING, THE CONDITION OF THE HIGHEST GETTING I. The highest giving. 1. Giving to the Best Being. 2. Giving the best things to the Best Being. The surrender of self is essential to give virtue and acceptance to all other contributions (Romans 12:1... [ Continue Reading ]
_Despise not the chastening of the Lord._ CHASTISEMENTS DISCIPLINARY The text is a kind of condensation of practical wisdom for the direction of life. It has reference to those dealings of God with men which have a stern and severe aspect, which are in themselves painful and unwelcome, and under w... [ Continue Reading ]
_For whom the Lord loveth He correcteth, even as a father the son in whom he delighteth._ THE CHARACTERISTICS OF FATHERLY CHASTISEMENT The paternal relation is frequently ascribed to the Almighty, as that in which He stands to His people and servants. This reminds them that they are placed by Him... [ Continue Reading ]
_Happy is the man that findeth wisdom._ WISDOM I. The pleasures of wisdom. 1. Present happiness. 2. Lasting happiness. II. The preciousness of wisdom (Proverbs 3:14). Many figures are employed to set forth the preciousness of wisdom. III. The possession of wisdom. 1. Its reception (Proverbs 3... [ Continue Reading ]
_For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold._ THE HONOUR, PROFIT, AND PLEASURE OF RELIGION It is an unquestionable truth, that to walk in the paths which God has enjoined, is to secure to ourselves the most perfect felicity which our pre... [ Continue Reading ]
_She is more precious than rubies._ THE QUALITY OF VIRTUE The words wisdom, understanding, and knowledge partly translate the word “virtue.” I. The wonderful effects virtue produces on the mind. 1. The effects bear no proportion to our immediate sentiments concerning it. 2. Observe the complete... [ Continue Reading ]
_Length of days is in her right hand._ GODLINESS A HELP TO LONGEVITY So far from being true that good men, women, and children die sooner than others, the reverse is actually the case. As wickedness acts as a shortener of life, so does a regard for God’s wholesome laws help to lengthen it. It is a... [ Continue Reading ]
_Her ways are ways of pleasantness._ THE WALK OF FAITH A WAY OF PLEASANTNESS AND PEACE I. Why is it that all the ways of wisdom are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace? Because they are the appointment of an infinitely tender Father for His covenant children to walk in. The way toward... [ Continue Reading ]
_The Lord by wisdom hath founded the earth._ EARTHLY AND HEAVENLY WISDOM There is but one wisdom for God and man. Man’s true wisdom is a pattern of God’s wisdom. A man to prosper in the world must get the very same wisdom by which God made and rules the world. In the last hundred years science has... [ Continue Reading ]
_The clouds drop down the dew._ THE SEA NIGHT-MIST OF PALESTINE There is a very remarkable and regular provision of Nature, peculiar to Bible lands, which may be observed in a first sight of Palestine on any night in the hot season when a west wind is blowing. I allude to the sea night-mist of the... [ Continue Reading ]
_My son, let not them depart from thine eyes: keep sound wisdom and discretion._ FIDELITY TO PRINCIPLE The advantages connected with fidelity to the ethics of godliness are here sketched. I. Life. The principles of heavenly wisdom-- 1. Originate spiritual life. 2. Nurture spiritual life. II. O... [ Continue Reading ]
_Yea, thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be sweet._ THE PEACEFUL SLUMBERS OF THE RIGHTEOUS Slumber is the common privilege of thousands undistinguished by any great virtue. But slumber may be the ordinary effect of nature. While there is no physical ailment or deep sorrow to hinder it; it is... [ Continue Reading ]
_Be not afraid of sudden fear, neither of the desolation of the wicked, when it cometh._ For the Lord shall be thy confidence. CONFIDENT ATTITUDE OF GOD’S PEOPLE When God is abroad in judgments, He would not have His people alarmed. He has not come forth to harm, but to defend the righteous. I.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Withhold not good from them to whom it is due._ A PLEA FOR THE SHOP-MEN When the first man had fallen into sin labour was imposed upon him as a punishment. And yet there was mercy mingled with the judgment. That stern necessity which forced man to eat bread in the sweat of his brow became one of h... [ Continue Reading ]
_Say not unto thy neighbour, Go, and come again, and to-morrow I will give._ NEIGHBOURLINESS I. What is due to others? (Proverbs 3:27). There is a sense in which debt should be avoided, and a sense in which all men must be always over head and ears in it (Romans 13:8). Love is a debt that can never... [ Continue Reading ]
_Strive not with a man without a cause._ STRIFE I. As a principle inherent in the soul. There is a battling instinct in every human mind. Man is made to antagonise. The principle is intended to put us into antagonism-- 1. Not against existence, but against the evils of existence. 2. Not against... [ Continue Reading ]
_Envy thou not the oppressor._ THE OPPRESSOR He is a common character. There is the political oppressor, the social oppressor, the ecclesiastical oppressor. I. His character is not to be envied. 1. Because envy is in itself an evil. 2. Because there is nothing in the oppressor to be desired. I... [ Continue Reading ]
_The curse of the Lord is in the house of the wicked._ IN WHAT SENSE, AND IN WHAT CASES, A CURSE MAY STILL EXTEND TO CHRISTIANS I. Christians are most certainly exposed to the Divine curse, if guilty of the sins to which it appertains. There is no curse remaining for the believing and the penitent... [ Continue Reading ]
_Surely He scorneth the scorners._ WHY GOD SCORNS THE SCORNER I. The scorner as God sees him. God is described as spurning the scorner, but at the same time His love points out the right way to those who are anxious to overcome evil. The scorner whispers “cant” of all religious forms and expressio... [ Continue Reading ]
_The wise shall inherit glory._ SANCTIFIED INTELLECT I. Its character. Intelligence, mind, reason is that power by which the supremacy of man over the beasts of the earth is asserted. Whilst, other things being equal, the greatest minds have been Christian, the powers may be predicated of intellec... [ Continue Reading ]