Ralph Wardlaw Lectures on Proverbs - Proverbs 14:32 - 14:35

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Ralph Wardlaw Lectures on Proverbs - Proverbs 14:32 - 14:35


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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:



LECTURE XXXVI.



Pro_14:32-35.



"The wicked is driven away in his wickedness: but the righteous hath hope in his death. Wisdom resteth in the heart of him that hath understanding: but that which is in the midst of fools is made known. Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people. The king's favour is toward a wise servant: but his wrath is against him that causeth shame."



The first of these verses might be specially applied to the characters in the verse preceding-on the one hand, the unmerciful oppressor who has for a time succeeded in his schemes of rapacity and iron-hearted avarice, and the merciful man on the other, who, under the influence of the principles of faith and love, has honoured the Lord in the exercise of compassionate kindness.



We take the verse, however, in application to the righteous and the wicked generally. When it is said of the latter-"The wicked is driven away in his wickedness," the contrast in the close of the verse shows to what period the words refer. It is to the time of death. And the contrast, though briefly stated, is very striking. The two characters are brought, as it were, to the verge of eternity. Of one the whole heart, in all its affections and desires, has belonged to the present world. He has lived in the pleasures of sin, "without God," neglecting the salvation of his soul, and in utter destitution of any well-founded hope for futurity. His heart fails him. Conscience sets his sins in dread array before him. Imagination, stimulated by conscience, anticipates the terrors of a coming judgment-the vengeance of a holy God. Yet his heart is still carnal, hard, unyielding; his iniquities are unrepented; his evil lusts and habits remain in their full force. How he clings to life!-what a death grasp he keeps of this world! Unprepared for the world beyond, he shrinks back from it; he dares not look into it. O what would he give-what would he not give for a little longer lease of time! for but a year, a month, a week, a day! But go he must. It is anything but willingly. He goes by force. He is "driven away in his wickedness"-compelled to quit his hold of the world, and hurried into eternity.



"But the righteous hath hope in his death." He is not driven away. The world that is before him, and on which he is about to enter, has been anticipated by him. It is not strange to his mind. It is his country; it is his home. The present world he has not regarded as his world, the world to which he belongs. The next is properly his-the place of his future and eternal settlement. While here, he is a stranger and foreigner,-staying only for a short season, and journeying towards his destined abode. The world to which his hope looks forward has attractions far superior to that in which he now dwells. Not that he is insensible to tender and strong attachments drawing and binding him to the scene he is about to leave. He loves his friends; his wife and children are dear to his heart; and so are father and mother, brothers and sisters; and fellow-Christians,-one with him in the communion of saints; with whom he has "taken sweet counsel," "walking with them to the house of God in company:" and he feels at the thought of leaving them. But he has friends in heaven too-earthly friends who have gone thither before him-patriarchs, prophets, apostles, martyrs-all the saints of God from Abel to himself; and above all, his best, his divine friend. And there too are better, and higher, and purer blessings-the sinless perfection of those which he has tasted and learned to relish here below.-And then, with regard to all in whom he is interested on earth, he has a covenant God in whose hands he can leave them with firm and steadfast faith, the living faith of a dying hour, and sing-



"Ye fleeting charms of earth, farewell,

Your springs of joy are dry:

My soul now seeks another home,

A brighter world on high.



Farewell, ye friends, whose tender card

Has long engaged my love:

Your fond embrace I now exchange

For better friends above!



Cheerful I leave this rale of tears,

Where pains and sorrows grow;

Welcome the day that ends my toil,

And every scene of woe!"



Many now present can bear testimony to the fact that "the righteous hath hope in his death;" and amongst them some who have been recently called to mourn the departure of one of the oldest members of the Church-one dear to a large circle of affectionate relatives; a Christian of long standing, and approved character; and one whose sun, though it went down somewhat suddenly, yet set without a cloud.-" Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his!" Is this your wish, my hearers? Then you must live the life of the righteous, under the influence of the faith of the righteous.



Verse Pro_14:33. "Wisdom resteth in the heart of him that hath understanding: but that which is in the midst of fools is made known." The meaning is not, of course, that the man of "understanding" makes no use of his "wisdom" for the benefit of others,-keeping it all to himself-all locked up in his own mind; but that he uses it discreetly. He chooses his time and his company, unfolding his mental treasures at appropriate seasons, to appropriate persons, in appropriate circumstances. The fool has little, and that little he is anxious to show, ever seeking to be thought as wise as possible; and he exhausts perpetually, over and over again, his little stock of common-places, and of such extraordinaries as he has chanced to pick up and remember. The folly of the one is "made known" to all. The wisdom of the other "rests in the heart" of him who possesses it, discovered only by degrees, and by the few with whom he comes into intimate contact.*



* For farther illustration see Pro_12:23; Pro_13:16.



Ver. Pro_14:34. "Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people."



The sentiment may be applied to riders and to people. Righteousness in the rulers "exalteth a nation;" and the general prevalence of righteousness in the community "exalteth a nation." The true honour of a nation, like that of an individual, lies in character;-and even as to what is too often placed by the thoughtless first-even as to national wealth and temporal prosperity, and the extension of possessions and dependencies, it is character that tends most effectually to their attainment; and it is character, in a special manner, that alone secures their permanence. How often, in the history of nations, has character procured wealth and aggrandizement; and then the wealth and aggrandizement, by their seductive and corrupting influence, gradually, but with accelerating progress, destroyed character!-And again, as the final step, how often has the destruction of character proved the decline and fall of the empire even in its temporal and secular greatness, and hastened its complete extinction!



When there is, in any community, the prevalence of true religion, with its inseparable attendants and proportionals, the personal and social virtues, sobriety, justice, mutual integrity and honour, industry, and practical benevolence,-there are in that community the elements of national greatness,-of true, internal, independent happiness, as well as of advancing prosperity and elevation. The tendency of these to promote such results is manifest. They produce peace, union, stability, and concentration of energies; with personal and social, civil and religious liberty. They are, moreover, the means of bringing down the divine blessing on a country,-without which, what is there that can prosper? "Without which all will be failure, all blight and barrenness, all disappointment and discomfiture, all declension and penury, and slow or rapid consumption. The prevalence of impiety, with its accompanying vices, tends, in the very nature of things, to ruin,-to ruin both personal and national: and the tendency is aggravated by its withdrawing the protection and smile of the Almighty,-the "righteous Lord, who loveth righteousness."



We find the great general principle of divine providence, in regard to nations, thus laid down by Jehovah himself to the prophet Jeremiah-"At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it; if that nation against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them. And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it; if it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good wherewith I said I would benefit them," Jer_18:7-10. This was a principle, not applicable to Israel exclusively:-for we find it expressly applied to the Amorites, the Canaanites, and the inhabitants of Sodom and of Nineveh. And, the Old Testament bringing before us specimens of the divine administration,-the Spirit of God letting us so far into the secrets of its principles and laws,-we have every reason to believe that in the government of God over the world, the same principle is still in operation, though we may not be able to trace it,-that, had we only an inspired record of what takes place now, we should see it clearly in all cases; and, even without such a record, there are cases in which it would be equal impiety and blindness not to discern and own it.



Let us all be assured, then, that we do most efficiently promote the security and prosperity-the true glory and the true happiness of our country, in proportion as we contribute, in any way, to the advancement of the interests of religion amongst its inhabitants. Of the contrary, alas! there is a vast and growing amount in the British Isles; and it is aggravated by the greatness and abundance of our privileges,-of the light of divine knowledge and the varied means of piety and virtue. There are systems in operation, of which the tendency is to the deterioration of all that is good, and the introduction of all that is evil. By every legitimate means we should seek their counteraction. But by legitimate means, I am not to be understood as intending the interference of the strong arm of law,-the staying even of irreligion and immorality themselves by prohibitory statutes and penal enactments,-unless in cases where injury is done to person or property, or to the peace and safety of individuals, neighbourhoods, or the country at large. I mean, the personal and the combined activity of the friends of the truth, and of true religion, to diffuse right principles, and thus to counterwork the spread and influence of wrong ones. In proportion to the zeal and efforts of the abettors of error, let the adherents of truth bestir themselves. If the agents of the enemy of souls be busy, let the agents of the Redeemer of souls be busy too. Let all moral means, especially, be put diligently into operation for circulating the knowledge, impressing the importance, urging the obligation, and promoting the influence of principles in accordance with the word of God; in suppressing intemperance; in checking all descriptions of vicious indulgence; in diffusing education; in promoting, by Sabbath-schools, by Bible and Tract distribution, by visits of mercy to the poor, the knowledge and the leavening influence of religious truth; by town missions and country missions, circulating light and dissipating darkness; and, at the same time, it should be added, by such measures of private philanthropy, and by countenance and aid to such measures of legislative authority, as are fitted to augment the independence and comfort of the inferior classes of society, and thus to repress the spirit of discontent and turbulence, and to encourage that of satisfaction, quietness, and peaceful industry, and to engender a disposition of greater willingness to attend to those means which may be used for their higher and better interests.



And let it be our prayer, that the "righteousness which exalteth a nation" may ever be found in the administration of its government;-that its great men may be good men-men "fearing God and hating covetousness"-not actuated by selfish but by truly patriotic and disinterested principles:-of which, though there are honourable exceptions, we have always so much reason to lament that the amount to be found on any side of political partisanship, should be so sadly small!-Let it be our prayer, that "the throne may be established in righteousness,"-and that, from the throne downward, righteousness, in principle and practice, may pervade the nation. "While we bewail the amount of varied wickedness in our own land, let us not be unmindful of the good, nor unthankful for it. There is much. There is much of true religion. There are many renewed and praying souls; many who are the salt of the earth; many objects of divine love; many who imitate that love in active benevolence, and who benefit the community, both by example, activity, and prayer. By this salt is Britain preserved from universally pervading corruption. By this shield of prayer is Britain protected from divine vengeance. This is Britain's glory; this Britain's security.



There is a close connexion between this and the following verse, as nothing has a better tendency to diffuse righteousness in a community, and to maintain and perpetuate it, than the character of the reigning prince:-"The king's favour is toward a wise servant: but his wrath is against him that causeth shame."-These words state what ought to be. No one ought to be the king's or the queen's servant who is not wise; and toward every such wise servant the royal favour should be specially extended. And who is a wise servant? Not a servant who flatters royal vanity; accommodates itself to royal foibles; indulges royal prejudices; chimes in with royal caprices; tolerates and connives at royal vices, whether personal or official. No. A wise servant must be a servant of conscientious principle, and of bland but unflinching fidelity. He is one who gives prudent and faithful counsel; who "speaks truth as he thinks it in his heart;" whose counsels are dictated by a right understanding of the times and knowledge of what such times require,-not by a wish to ingratiate the minister with the prince, and so to promote his own personal advantage, but by the principles of genuine patriotism as well as loyalty. Such a public servant is a blessing to the throne, and through the throne to the country. Such a servant will, unquestionably, on the supposition of his being under its influence himself, do all that lies legitimately in his power to promote the interests of true religion; and he will avail himself, for this purpose, of the augmented influence which his high station gives him. This is quite a distinct thing from exerting official authority in religion. I have spoken of what may be legitimately in his power. But the exercise of such authority is not legitimate. The principles and laws of true religion are in the Bible; and in the Bible alone is their authority; and in the Bible alone are the gracious rewards and the penal sanctions, by which obedience to them is encouraged and the infraction of them restrained. Every interference of human authority in such matters is an interference with the exclusive prerogatives of the Most High. But influence may be more than legitimate: it may be incumbent. On every man, in every station, who knows the truths of religion and feels their power, it is incumbent. He will use it in every way that is in harmony with freedom of conscience, and with the independence and spiritual character of the kingdom of Christ.



The expression "causeth shame" corresponds perhaps to the word "reproach" in the verse preceding. That servant "causeth shame," by whom that is encouraged from which reproach arises; that is who encourages sin. Against a minister of this description the king's wrath ought to be directed: he should frown him from his presence.-That servant too "causeth shame," who, from whatever motive, gives counsels to his prince which, he has reason to believe, must prove either prejudicial or abortive;-such as can hardly fail to render him unpopular with his people, and expose him, by their failure, to the derision of foreign states-a derision in which the kingdom as well as the throne-the people as well-as the monarch, are involved.-That servant too "causeth shame" who is the enticer and tempter of his royal master to evil, to vicious and licentious indulgences, from which, ultimately, he finds himself involved in personal infamy, and in official disgrace and embarrassment. He then awakes, but too late, to a sense of his folly in allowing himself to be thus seduced and duped; and then his bitter reflections awaken his wrath against the unprincipled and faithless servant who has brought him to shame.



The example of the Court necessarily spreads downward to the very lowest, through all the intermediate grades of society. We find this strikingly exemplified in the recorded history of the kings of Israel and Judah. According to the character of the prince was, to a great extent, the character of the people. And indeed, we might select many hardly less striking exemplifications of the same thing from the history of our own country. So that, in every view, it is of eminent consequence, that the throne should be based on righteousness; and that those around it should be men of righteous principle-wise, faithful, upright, fearing God. Let Christians, then, comply with the apostolic admonition-" I exhort, therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; for kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; who will have all men to be saved and to come unto the knowledge of the truth," 1Ti_2:1-4.



If the character of the reigning monarch thus affects and moulds the character of his people, let the subjects of the King of Zion consider the character of their Prince. Let them set that character, in all its perfect beauty and glorious excellences, ever before them. The more closely they imitate it, the more complete will be their own personal honour and happiness; and the more complete too will be the honour and happiness of the collective spiritual community. When that community is finally assembled in the heavenly city, all shall be fully conformed in character to their King and Head, and the glory and blessedness of the community shall thus be perfected. O my brethren, let us show that our hope of likeness to Him then is no delusion, by a growing earnestness of desire to be like him now.