"Deceit is in the heart of them that imagine evil: but to the counsellors of peace is joy. There shall no evil happen to the just: but the wicked shall be tilted with mischief. Lying lips are abomination to the Lord: but they that deal truly are his delight. A prudent man concealeth knowledge: but the heart of fools proclaimeth foolishness. The hand of the diligent shall bear rule: but the slothful shall be under tribute. Heaviness in the heart of man maketh it stoop: but a good word maketh it glad. The righteous is more excellent than his neighbour: but the way of the wicked seduceth them. The slothful man roasteth not that which he took in hunting: but the substance of a diligent man is precious. In the way of righteousness is life; and in the pathway thereof there is no death."
What is the precise point of the designed antithesis in the first of these verses? I am disposed to think, that the word rendered "deceit," may be understood as including deceit practised on a man's self as well as on others; and that here it may have the sense of self-deceit. Eminent translators, accordingly, in exact conformity with this idea, have rendered the word, in its present connexion, disappointment; frustrated hope. Should this rendering be questioned,-the word being generally used for fraud, or mischievous dissimulation and double dealing,-the principle of interpretation is still sufficiently obvious. Those who "imagine evil" dare not avow their designs. Dissimulation and craft are productive of incessant apprehension and anxiety. They necessarily engender self-dissatisfaction and tremor; and that from the very dread of detection, frustration, and consequent evil to themselves, instead of to those against whom they were plotting.-While such is the unhappy condition of the man who "imagines"-that is, who devises evil; who seeks to foment discord; to sow the seeds of dissension, and to encourage their germination and growth till they bear all their bitter fruits-on the other hand, "To the counsellors of peace is joy."
God is "the God of peace." Christ is "the prince of peace." "The fruit of the Spirit is peace." In harmony with His own character and with the character and ends of the dispensation He was introducing, Jesus pronounces a blessing upon the "maker of peace."* When the angelic host ushered the new-born Saviour into the world, they proclaimed "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace!" All the exhortations of the divine word accord with this. Peace is the spirit of the Bible. Peace is the very element of the gospel. Peace is the bliss of heaven-" They shall enter into peace." The joy which the "counsellor of peace" possesses, springs from the inward satisfaction of having felt and acted in harmony with the will and the word of God, and with the best interests of men; and from complacency in the blessed results of his counsel and mediation. What a spirit that must be that has pleasure in the opposite! The very pleasure is misery. The very sweet is gall and wormwood.
* Mat_5:9.
Verse Pro_12:21. "There shall no evil happen to the just: but the wicked shall be filled with mischief."
This verse has been variously rendered. The rendering of the English version seems to have as fair a title to preference as any. The difference arises from the word for evil,-like that word itself-signifying either evil done, or evil suffered. Our translators have understood it in the latter sense; and we keep by it.
It will be evident that, in this understanding of the word, the sentiment in the first clause of the verse must be taken, like others, in a general sense. It is a fact in providence that many distresses come upon the righteous, and that, in the ordinary acceptation of terms, and according to the ordinary feelings of mankind, these are evils. They are, in themselves, "not joyous, but grievous." But viewed in their bearing on the higher department of human interests, the declaration may be considered as of exceptionless universality: the import being, in the terms of Matthew Henry-" The worst troubles shall be overruled for their good." In this sense it can be truly said of "the just"-"All things are theirs." "The world" is theirs. "Life and death" are theirs. "Things present and things to come," whether in themselves good or evil, are theirs, for "all things work together for their good."
On the contrary-" The wicked shall be filled with mischief"-mischief to himself. The expression is strong. But when considered as inclusive not merely of present evils but of final results, what expression can be too strong? What expression can go at all beyond the truth; nay, can ever reach it?*
* Comp. Pro_1:31.
Mark still again, in the next verse, the vileness of falsehood, the excellence of truth; and truth in act as well as in word. The two parts of the verse taken together suggest the remark:-"Lying lips are abomination to the Lord: but they that deal truly are his delight." Honesty is just truth in conduct; and truth is honesty in words.
Verse Pro_12:23. "A prudent man concealeth knowledge: but the heart of fools proclaimeth foolishness."
"The prudent man," the man of modest and diffident discretion-"concealeth knowledge." He is not forward and ostentatious in the display of it. When he does bring it to view, it is on suitable occasions, when it is really required; and in a suitable manner,-not with vain-glorious parade, but with blended self distrust, and a measure of confidence proportioned to the amount of certainty.
There are persons with whom the growth of knowledge is only the increase of food for vanity. Every new acquisition pampers their self-conceit; and, indeed, is sought after, in a great degree, with that view-to gratify self-esteem, and to fit for display. True are the words of Paul, "Knowledge puffeth up:" and the augmentation of it may only puff up the more. This produces a very anomalous and incongruous combination-a mind filled with solid information, and a heart distended with the emptiness of vanity. And this generates the pedant,-one of the most contemptible and disgusting of all characters-the man who is ever showing off; ever aiming at effect; ever speaking as nobody else would speak; ever dwelling on his own themes in his own terms; and in every word, and look, and movement, courting notice to self, as the only object of his own admiration, or worthy of the admiration of others. What a fool even the man of "knowledge" does at times make of himself!-exemplifying the truth of the old quaint adage, "An ounce of mother-wit is worth a pound of clergy."
Still it is true, that the more extensive the knowledge which a man acquires, he is, generally speaking, the more conscious of remaining ignorance, and consequently the less vain; that it is in the early stages of acquirement that selfsufficiency and conceit are most apparent. It is the empty that are usually the most prone to vain-glory: "The heart of fools proclaimeth foolishness." The heart desires and dictates the proclamation. The heart is the fountain from which the shallow, noisy, babbling stream of folly is ever welling out. It is the ready indulgence of the heart's intense propensity to talk that betrays the folly. The fool becomes thus the herald of his own emptiness. "Even a fool, if he hold his peace," Solomon says elsewhere, "may be counted wise." But then, alas! to hold his peace is just the difficulty! He will speak; and he cannot speak without making his folly apparent. What is in will be out; and what is in is foolishness. "A fool's voice is known by the multitude of words"-the words being out of all proportion to the sense. "Yea also, when he who is a fool walketh by the way, his wisdom faileth him, and he saith to every one that he is a fool."
There is a connexion, brethren, in which the former part of the verse ought to be very cautiously interpreted. I mean, in its relation to divine knowledge-or rather the knowledge of divine truth. Even in regard to the use of that knowledge, there is such a thing as "prudence." There is such a thing as introducing religion inappropriately, in places and at seasons, when its introduction is likely to do harm rather than good-such a thing as "casting our pearls before swine." And in many instances has the want of discretion,-the want of a due discrimination of the "time to keep silence" and "the time to speak,"-only produced derision on the part of the enemies of religion, and the blush of shame on the cheek of its friends. And yet the ill-timed mistake of the well-meaning but weak and indiscreet, ought not to be used as a cover and apology, as we fear it too frequently is, for "concealing knowledge"-for refraining from speaking, and for keeping our mind to ourselves, when a legitimate "prudence" does not at all impose silence; and when the real cause of the reserve, although it shelters itself under the protection of such texts as this, is no other than shame-a dastardly shame. O let us beware of this extreme. "A word spoken in season, how good is it!" Forget not that our Master has said-" Whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed when he cometh in the glory of the Father, with the holy angels," Mar_8:38.
In the following verse we have, in a fresh form, an oftrepeated maxim-" The hand of the diligent shall bear rule: but the slothful shall be under tribute."
Industry is the way to preferment; sloth to degradation. Sloth makes a man the subject, not the ruler; the tail, not the head; the vassal, not the master; the subjugated, not the conqueror; the bearer of the yoke, not the bearer of the sceptre. Would you rise?-be diligent; would you sink?-be idle. The maxim holds alike in the church and in the world.
Verse Pro_12:25. "Heaviness in the heart of man maketh it stoop: but a good word maketh it glad."
The figure here is a natural one, and is common in all languages. The "heaviness" may arise from different causes; from the pressure of severe afflictions, whether personal or relative; from apprehensive fears of threatening calamities; or from distress of conscience under the conviction of sin. Such causes "make the heart stoop." They weigh it to the dust. On the contrary, in these circumstances,-"a good word maketh it glad." A "good word" is a word of sympathy and kindness, of encouragement and consolation, spoken in the ear, in the spirit of friendship. Above all, "a good word" is a word from God. O! there is no word so good, so pregnant with consolation and strength, and peace and joy, as "the word that cometh forth from the Lord." Have not you felt this, my fellow-Christians? When the heaviness of sorrow has been weighing your spirits down, and you have been ready to sink into despondency, if a friend has whispered into your ear one of the sweet and faithful promises of your covenant God, has it not lightened the burden? Has it not lifted the crushing weight from your heavy-laden heart?-brought the smile of peace over your countenance, and the tear of joy to your eye?-What an important and interesting duty then does it become, to impart such "good words and comfortable words" to the downcast and heavy-hearted! It is a delightful designation of our God-" God who comforteth them that are cast down!" And this is one of the characters in which we should seek to resemble Him;-to "visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction;" and "to comfort them who are in any trouble with the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God."
For sinners convinced of sin, and oppressed with conscious guilt and fear-O how good the word of the truth of the gospel! It is the only word that can relieve and lighten it. Many an oppressed and agitated spirit has it set at rest. There are in this book of God, indeed, words that may well make the hearts of sinners "heavy"-words of solemn import-of fearful denunciation. O that we but saw them "stooping" under this "heaviness;" sensible of sin, feeling the hand of a righteous and holy God upon them; conscious of the justice of his condemning sentence and trembling in the apprehension of its execution! Then should we be sure of a ready entrance to the "good word" that tells of mercy for the chief of sinners through a divine Saviour;-the word that stilled the trembling spirits of the convicted murderers of "the Prince of life;" that sent the eunuch of Ethiopia on his way rejoicing; that filled with gladness the alarmed jailer at Philippi-giving a satisfactory answer to his question of agitation and dread-"What must I do to be saved?"-"the word of reconciliation "-" the faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners." O listen, listen to the "good word" that came from the lips of Him who spake as never man spake-" Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."* Surely, when he uttered these words, the prediction of the prophet was fulfilled, in which Messiah is introduced as saying-" The Lord God hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary!" Isa_50:4.
* Mat_11:28-30.
Verse Pro_12:26. "The righteous is more excellent than his neighbour: but the way of the wicked seduceth them."
The word rendered "excellent" is on the margin translated "abundant." And although it is a truth that in regard to character, in all its principles and their practical results, "the righteous is more excellent than his neighbour;" yet such a statement is almost a truism. Taking the word as referring to possessions and prospects, as meaning that the righteous excels his neighbour, or men in general around him, in his lot as to happiness and hope-blessings in enjoyment and blessings in anticipation-it then becomes a statement of very great importance. It presents an inducement to the godly to "hold fast their profession," and an inducement to others to join their society, and cast in their lot with them. "The righteous" may belong to the lowest grade in the community of this world; for "to the poor the gospel is preached." But even the poorest of the people of God has a lot that may well be envied by the wealthiest and the noblest of the sons of earth. When we view them as the possessors, in the promises of God, and in the experience of their own hearts, of "all spiritual blessings,"-rich in faith and rich by faith, and the heirs of an everlasting and celestial inheritance, of a crown and a kingdom above,-we feel the truth of the position.
The wicked themselves are convinced of it. But, as Solomon here adds-" the way of the wicked seduceth them." Their way is the way of sin-" the course of this world." By this their way they are beguiled. There is something tempting in it always before them, by which they are lured forward. The pleasures of sin-the fascinations of the world-its riches, its honours, its company, its amusements, its present gratifications, its promises for to-morrow-all work upon, and "seduce" them.*
* Comp. Pro_1:31-32.
Another graphic description follows of the effects of sloth:-verse Pro_12:27. "The slothful man roasteth not that which he took in hunting: but the substance of a diligent man is precious."
Even the sluggard, roused by particular circumstances, will at times make an effort; but having made it, he relapses into his habit of indolence, and the effort is rendered nugatory. He goes out a hunting; he catches prey; he brings it home. But he lets it lie, from sheer laziness, till it becomes useless. His labour is lost. "But the substance of a diligent man is precious." He turns his "substance" to good account. "What he gains becomes, in his hands, by the use he makes of it, "precious," as the means of further increase. And his substance becomes "precious" to others as well as to himself. It is industriously, profitably, benevolently used. In this lies the true value, the real "preciousness," of a man's substance;-not in the acquisition, but in the use.
"We have had the sentiment of the 28th verse (Pro_12:28) repeatedly before us:-" In the way of righteousness is life; and in the pathway thereof there is no death."-The words have no meaning, unless they be understood as implying, and having reference to, a future state. In one sense, you are all aware, there is death to the righteous as well as to the wicked. "Wise men die" as well as "the fool and the brutish person." But "the righteous" are in possession of spiritual life-a life which never dies-a life which the death that dissolves for a time the union of soul and body cannot injure, but only advances to perfection, setting the living and happy spirit at liberty in "the beauty of holiness," and meetness for the life of heaven.
And thus, in regard to them, even now all that is tormenting in the fear of death-of the first or of the second death-the second imparting its terrors to the first,-is taken away; so that "in the pathway of righteousness there is no death."
That "pathway," remember, begins at CALVARY; and your entrance on it must begin with faith in HIM who died there. You must start in it from the Cross. THERE ARE A THOUSAND PATHS TO HELL; ONE ONLY TO HEAVEN. "Enter ye in at the strait gate-strait is the gate and narrow the way that leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it."
In giving you such counsel we are, in the highest sense, "counsellors of peace." We are seeking your peace, present and future-your peace for time, and your peace for eternity; your peace with God, your peace with yourselves; peace of conscience, peace of heart, peace on earth, and peace in heaven! Let us have joy of you in the Lord! If any poor wanderer shall be prevailed upon by what has been said to flee from the paths of sin and ungodliness and the world, and to choose henceforth "the way of life"-"my heart shall rejoice, even mine." That joy shall be shared by all who have experienced the happiness and the hope of true religion,-and by the spirits of the just and the angels of light above:-for "there is joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth."
