"A man's belly shall be satisfied with the fruit of his mouth; and with the increase of his lips shall he be tilled. Death and life are in the power of the tongue; and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof. Whoso findeth a wile findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the Lord. The poor useth entreaties: but the rich answereth roughly. A man that bath friends must show himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother."
It is evident that in this passage "the fruit of the mouth" and "the increase of the lips" mean the same thing-namely, that which the mouth and the lips utter,-the nature of their customary communications. And the general sentiment conveyed by both clauses of the twentieth verse is, that the effects, or results, will correspond with the kind of "fruit" thus produced; or, in other words, with the general style and character of a man's conversation. It shall be so amongst men-in the intercourse of social life:-a man will be respected according to the wisdom, trusted according to the truth, beloved according to the sweetness and benevolence, of "the fruit of his mouth;" whereas foolish talk will procure contempt; the utterance of falsehood distrust; harsh, austere, and haughty words dislike and aversion.
There is a sense in which we may understand the language, even taking the former clause of the twentieth verse literally-"A man's belly shall be satisfied with the fruit of his mouth." You may smile and say, A man cannot live upon words! Very true. But the way in which a man uses his lips and his tongue, as the organs of speech, may contribute not a little to his getting, or his failing to get, "the meat that perisheth." I mean not that any of you should, in the slightest degree, try to work your way in life by words of flattery: but when a man's general conversation is such as to procure for him a character for discretion, courtesy, gratitude, straightforward integrity and trustworthiness,-this may surely contribute, eminently and directly, to the temporal sustenance and comfort of the man himself and his family: while an opposite style of intercourse may tend to penury and starvation. A man may, in various ways, make his "lips" the instrument of either want on the one hand, or plenty on the other.
It must have been observed, however, by careful readers of the Bible, that the belly sometimes stands for the inward parts-the mind, the conscience, the heart; just as the bowels do for the compassionate sympathies.*1 In this verse, then, the words may mean that a man's inward satisfaction or the contrary, shall arise from "the fruit of his mouth." His conscience shall have peace,-his heart true enjoyment. According to the excellence of a man's words-according as they tend to righteousness or unrighteousness, to good or evil, to the glory of God or his dishonour,-will be the inward satisfaction or the inward bitterness of spirit with which the man is "filled:"-with which he is filled now, and with which he shall be filled for ever.*2 In this highest sense, then, "death and life are in the power of the tongue." The dutiful, or the wayward and rebellious use of it may tell effectually on the "death" or the "life" of eternity.-The words, at the same time, are strikingly true as to the effects of the tongue upon others. One word of perjury or falsehood may consign an innocent man to "death," or obtain unmerited "life" to one who is guilty:-so too, in different circumstances, may one word of truth. One word of slander may go far to break a sensitive man's heart, and send him pining to the grave;-while one word of comfort and merited commendation may bring up and cheer into new life the sinking spirit of despondency. And so all the intermediate stages, between the full sweetness of life and the wormwood bitterness of death, are capable of being affected, to a large extent, by "the tongue."
*1 See, among various examples, Pro_20:27. The belly is evidently the whole inner man:-Joh_7:38. "Out of his belly" means simply from within.
*2 See Mat_12:33-37.
What has been applied to the testimony of a witness,-to the verdict of a jury,-to the sentence of a judge,-bears a still higher and stronger application to the preaching of error and of truth. Well may it be said here, that "death and life are in the power of the tongue." According as it gives utterance to the one or to the other, it may send souls to hell or to heaven,-sealing them in spiritual "death," or quickening them to spiritual "life." Oh! how solicitous should this consideration make public teachers to be sure that their lips utter nothing but the truth of God; what shall be "for edification and not for destruction,"-for "life," and not for "death!"
The latter clause of the twenty-first verse (Pro_18:21) is somewhat ambiguous:-"And they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof."-By one translator the words are rendered-"They who indulge it." If this be the kind of "love" that is meant, then the indulgence of the tongue is probably, we may almost say certainly, intended for its evil indulgence; its natural tendency, according to Solomon, being to evil, and requiring constant vigilance and restraint.-We may remark, however, that love operates in two ways-wisely and foolishly. Thus it is with parents. He who loves his children wisely, will restrain them; he who loves them foolishly, will indulge them. If we only take the love of the tongue in a similar way, we shall have again the two opposite descriptions of results. The wise love of the tongue will lay it ever under salutary restraint,-withholding it, by a firm coercion, from the utterance of what is evil, and would recoil in mischief on itself and its owner:-the foolish love of the tongue will give it unbridled license,-allowing it, like a spoiled child, to have all its own way: and according to the one course or the other, will the fruits be sweet or bitter,-lifegiving or deadly. (Jam_3:5-10.)
Verse Pro_18:22. "Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the Lord." Nothing can be more manifest than that this cannot be meant indiscriminately of all who may happen to sustain the relation. In the Septuagint we have it a good wife. The Vulgate has the same supplement, though the form of expression varies. So also in the Syriac.-Matthew Henry says "a bad wife does not deserve to be called by a name of so much honour." The wife meant is evidently such a one as answers to the design of the original institution of the marriage relation, and is a "helpmeet" for her husband.* It is such a wife as Solomon himself describes in the last chapter of this book,-where he gives her full-length portraiture. And he there represents the character as one that is far from being very easily found,-a precious jewel, and precious by its very rarity. Observe-
* Gen_2:18; Gen_2:21-24.
1. We may regard the words as associated in Solomon's mind with the wretched and ruinous tendency of that sin which is so strongly condemned, and against which the rising youth are so emphatically, so repeatedly, and so affectionately warned.* Of how many thousands and tens of thousands has that sin been the temptation and the destruction! Blessed, then-blessed of God-is he who escapes the snare; who gives his heart to one object of virtuous and fond attachment; whom such early affection and conjugal union are the means of saving from temptation, vice, and ruin; who "lives joyfully with the wife of his youth;" who "drinks water out of his own cistern, and springing water out of his own well;" who, contemning the maxims of a vain world, which would demand a style of starting in life beyond his means, resolves, with the prudent partner of his heart's choice, to set out happily together, in the spirit of contented moderation! Where there are the means at all of anything like comfortable subsistence, there is not a more desirable preservative from personal and diffusive vice, than early wedlock.
* Pro_5:7-13.
2. Solomon, you will observe, recognizes here the original law of marriage. He speaks of one wife, and only one. He had, in this point, grievously transgressed himself. Had Solomon "found a wife," instead of crowding a seraglio with hundreds, he would have experienced the truth of his own saying-he would have "found a good thing, and have obtained favour of the Lord." By acting otherwise, in "the days of his vanity," he was led fearfully astray; his "heart departed from the Lord;" and the Lord withdrew His favour from him, and raised up against him the agents of His avenging jealousy. It was, moreover, by the course which he pursued that he failed to find the "good thing" which he here commends,-a wife that could make him happy. Mark the record of his experience-"One man among a thousand have I found; but a woman among all those have I not found." Was it any wonder? No, verily. He took the worst way possible to find a virtuous, worthy, female character. What woman of reputation would choose to be found in such company?
I believe every departure from the original law, without exception, by whomsoever practised, was sinful; and in all cases, the fruits were bitter. Patriarchs, and judges, and kings broke the law; and good men and bad alike suffered for it. Jesus, in instituting the Christian law on this subject, only re-affirms what was the law from the beginning. And it is only when that law is attended to, and the union of two hearts maintained with the devotedness of conjugal fidelity, that the full meaning of the verse before us can ever be experienced.
3. Such being the law of God,-and the laws of European countries being in harmony with it,-few things are more wonderful than the reckless inconsideration with which the choice is often made of a partner for life. How little consideration is there, in multitudes of cases, of what is so essential to social happiness, congruity of principles, of tempers and dispositions, of objects of pursuit and sources of enjoyment! In how many instances is it the purse that is wedded, not the person!-in how many the person, merely as respects bodily appearance, not mental or moral character!-and in how many is it a rash and heedless risk, independently of all serious attention to character or grounds of promise for future concord and happiness; or, if there is anything that seems ominous of the contrary, a self-flattering assurance that it will be done away afterwards! Marriage was the institution of a kind and benevolent God. It was meant for the happiness of His creatures. When formed and maintained on right principles, it answers, in an eminent degree, its original intention. It is not the fault of the institute, nor of the God with whom it originated, that in any case it is not so formed; or that, when formed otherwise, it fails of yielding what it was meant to confer. I am fully persuaded that nineteen-twentieths of the failures complained of have their causes in the "unequal yokings" of the parties:-and for these, unless in cases of extraordinary previous simulation, who but the parties themselves are to blame?-And on this topic-
4. Let the duty be specially noticed, on the part of believers, that they marry "in the Lord." I might trace the history of the conjugal relation from the beginning, and show you how mischievous and fatal, in regard to the spiritual character of individuals and communities of God's professing people, has been the disregard of this restriction. I might show you, in a variety of particulars, both in regard to the parties themselves and to rising families, the reasonableness of the restriction. The law is expressly laid down in 1Co_7:39. The case, indeed, is of such a nature, that a law should not have been necessary. Christians might well have been expected to be, on such a subject, "a law unto themselves." It ought to be a proposition of selfevident truth, that to a believer, an unbelieving wife, or an unbelieving husband, can never be "a good thing;" and that for such a one to look for "favour of the Lord" in the very act of violating His will, is a very vain and a very presumptuous expectation. A wife may have all other qualifications a man can well desire; she may be wealthy, beautiful, wellconnected, accomplished, prudent, and even in natural temper amiable:-yet still, with all this, O what a want must be felt, when there is no coincidence of principle, of feeling, of desire, of pursuit, of prospect, on the most important and interesting of all subjects-no union of heart in spiritual affection, in prayer, in converse, in domestic education, and in the anticipations of hope! Such union ought to be regarded by all believers as primary and indispensable. At the same time, in itself it may not always bo enough. There may be agreement in religious principles, while yet, in not a few points, there may be a want of congruity too great to render happiness very likely.
The choice ought, in all cases, to be a matter of very serious deliberation; and, with Christians, of earnest prayer. If a "prudent wife is from the Lord," from the Lord should such a wife be sought. It is itself a favour from the Lord; and it brings His favour along with it. In every stage of such a union, it has the smile and the blessing of heaven. Few sights are more lovely, or more full of interest, than that of a youthful pair, setting out in life together,-united by the bond of virtuous, tender, and fervent love;-and their intercourse hallowed, sweetened, and beautified by the sacred influence of Christian piety; when the bond of grace is intertwined with that of nature, each adding its strength to the other. And then-what sight in the world more delightful, than that of a family, the result of such an union,-trained for God,-"brought up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord,"-early manifesting the happy influence of religious instruction; all mutually affectionate, all cheerful, their hearts beating in unison in the sympathy of one another's joys and sorrows; and all living in the pleasing though pensive hope, that though they must part on earth, they shall meet in heaven! This is indeed a sight on which the eye rests with beaming delight,-lovely as the very bowers of Eden,-grateful to the feelings as a garden of spices. And this too is "from the Lord,"-even the invaluable blessing-first in the list of all earthly joys,-the blessing of domestic happiness. (Ps. 128.) Nor must we stop here. We must look to the end as well as the beginning. Think of an aged pair, who have journeyed together through a long pilgrimage, sharing the joys and the sorrows of their common lot, and, by the sympathy of love, doubling the one and dividing the other,-"heirs together of the grace of life,"-bound together and mutually endeared by the faith of Christ and the hope of heaven! Their children have risen up, and call them blessed. And at the close of their long day of life, the shadows of the evening are gently lengthened out, and they sleep together in peace! How delightful to think of those who have been one in life, being one in death, and one for ever!-one even in that happy world, where they "neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven."-I would fain not reverse the picture;-but, as a further inducement to Christians to beware of all "unequal yoking with unbelievers," affectionate faithfulness obliges me to add-how sad, how agonizing the thought of an eternal separation-of parting for ever! What a pang of unutterable anguish must that be, with which a man follows to the grave, and deposits there, the remains of one respecting whom he has no good reason to believe that she was united to Christ! With what a knell of agony must the sound of the shovelled earth come upon his heart, that covers from his sight "the desire of his eyes," the companion of his life,-when the consolation of the "sure and certain hope" is a stranger to his bosom!-never again to meet, save only where the seal of eternity shall be put upon their separation!
Verse Pro_18:23. "The poor useth entreaties: but the rich answereth roughly."-This is one of those general sayings which express rather tendency and frequency than universality. There are many exceptions to both sides of the statement. The poor are sometimes insolent, and the rich gentle and kind. But, generally speaking, although pride belongs to our fallen nature, and is to be found in the poor as well as in the rich,-yet necessity is still stronger in its demands. The poor are fain to master their feelings of pride;-they must "use entreaties"-and persist in using them, even amidst many refusals. The tendency of riches again, and their too frequent effect, is, to engender in their possessors a fueling of superiority, a supercilious haughtiness, and a harshness of manner and of language to their inferiors. And I think it may be observed with truth, that the temptation to this is strongest, and the fact most frequently to be witnessed, in those who have risen, or are rising to affluence from comparative poverty. It is among that class that the greatest amount of that most pitiful of all principles is to be found: purse-pride. We have an instance at once of the humble, necessitous entreaty of the poor, and an instance of exception to the haughty roughness of the rich, in Ruth and in Boaz.*1 On the other hand, an example of purse-proud surliness is to be seen in the character of Nabal;*2 and we have the entreaty of felt dependence, and the harsh severity of lordly insolence, in the case of the oppressed Israelites and the merciless king of Egypt.*3-The rich are not here justified in treating with insolent roughness the entreaties of the poor. Far from it. The poor are entitled to sympathy and kindness, both in speech and in behaviour. It is enough that providence has visited them with privation, and the humiliation of dependence, without advantage being taken of their circumstances to crush the fallen, and add insult to suffering. There may be cases of poverty which require to be treated with firmness, and with steady refusal;-but not on account of the poverty, but of the character with which it is associated. There is a manner even of giving to the poor-of answering their entreaties by an alms,-which, to a mind of sensibility, (and the poor have their sensibilities as well as their betters in station) takes off half the value of the benefaction. The alms are given with a churlish rebuff; it is a "rough answer" after all. The very refusal of kindness-when circumstances necessitate it, may be far less offensive than the very alms of unfeeling and gratuitous rudeness.
*1 See Rth_2:7-13. rr
*2 1Sa_25:10-11. rr
*3 Exo_5:13-18.
In one sense, we are all poor-all dependent-having nothing that we can call our own. We must "use entreaties." God has made this our duty. And when we come before Him, in the true spirit of dependence, and plead as He prescribes,-we may rest assured, we shall never be "answered roughly" there. The Proprietor of the universe "has respect unto the lowly;"-he is the friend and patron of the poor. "The poor committeth himself unto thee; thou art the helper of the fatherless;" and no poor, dependent, suppliant does He ever "send empty away." He says to all, in the accents of inviting condescension and kindness-"Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it." "The same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him."-The rich should in this "imitate God." They are never so truly dignified, as when they treat those beneath them with kind and courteous affability, and make the poor, instead of cowering under their scowl, feel at ease in their presence; taking off the pain of dependence by the grace of generous benignity.
Verse Pro_18:24. "A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother."-Friends are persons who, from congruity of character, are mutually attached to each other in close and benevolent intimacy. In this verse, the man is supposed to have friends: and it contains a lesson how to retain them, and a motive to so doing.
1. The lesson is one of consistency. Towards those whom we call by the endearing designation of friends, friendly dispositions must be shown in a corresponding behaviour. If the "man who has friends" treats those whom he so calls with coldness, reserve, and distance; and still more, if he goes beyond this, and adds neglect and selfish injury; he has nothing to expect but the forfeiture of friendship on their part. He constitutes himself unworthy of its blessings. He may complain of his friends having forsaken him; whereas he has no right of complaint. The cause is in himself; the fault his own. He has put them away-driven them off by wrong, or allowed them to drop off by neglect. And if, having thus lost them by his own fault when he did not feel his need of them, he comes afterwards to experience such need and to be sensible of the want of them, who is to blame but himself? If those whom he has thus disfranchised from the obligations of friendship do they take compassion upon him,-feel the renewed yearnings of old attachment, and spontaneously offer their restored intimacy and kind services, they act nobly; but he has not to thank himself for it.-All friendships must, from their very nature, be, on both sides, voluntary; and founded not in circumstances or condition merely, but in character, in harmony of mind and heart, in reciprocal esteem and love. If a man, on rising in the world, makes those who before were his friends feel themselves inferiors and dependents, friendship is at an end. If they choose to resign the position of friends and to allow themselves to be regarded as pensioners, or as hangers-on upon his condescension,-they may. But if, with a becoming spirit of self-respect, they decline exchanging the equality of friendship for the position of obsequious debtors to a lofty condescension, the blame lies, not with them, but with him who has virtually discarded them. There are few things more wounding to the spirit than the failure of those who have called themselves our friends. We may bear long with their seeming neglect or inconsistent dealings,-finding excuses for them, and anxious to retain them. But there are limits to such good-natured forbearance; even to the charity which "believeth and hopeth all things." "The man who has friends" must, if he would keep them, "show himself friendly."-We have then-
2. A motive to the keeping of them: "and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother."-"The friend that sticketh closer than a brother," has with many become a favourite designation of the Saviour-the blessed Jesus; so that they use it, as if, in the Bible, it had really been meant of him. Now, it is true of him; no designation could be more appropriate. He is "the sinner's friend." He expressly calls his people friends; and he founds the designation on the intimacy of his communications with them.* And in this relation he is constant and consistent-"the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever"-"whom ho loves, loving unto the end,"-and in every step of his conduct towards them acting in uniform congruity with his character and the claims of the graciously assumed relation.
* Joh_15:13-15.
I need hardly say, however, that there is no such reference in the proverbial saying before us:-of which the obvious meaning is-that there have been friendships of which the bond has proved itself stronger and more tenacious than even that of natural affection. It has withstood the tuggings and wrenchings of severer trials of its strength and tenacity. Friends have remained fast in their friendship when brothers themselves have parted. This has especially been the case, when the friendship has been cemented by grace,-by the tie of a common faith common sensibilities, and a common hope in matters of religion,-compared with other relations when without this bond. Such was the friendship, formerly adverted to, between David and Jonathan. It was, on Jonathan's part, severely tried,-put to tests before which fraternal affection would, in many instances, have given way: but "Jonathan loved David even as his own soul;" and David, in his pathetic and touching lament over his friend "fallen in battle," exclaims-"I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan: very pleasant hast thou been unto me: thy love to me was wonderful, passing the love of women."
The preciousness of such friendships has ever been felt, and has been the theme of story and of song. Life has been made a sacrifice on the altar of faithful friendship. It is unspeakably valuable;-to have a heart on which you can repose, with confidence of tender interest, your most secret solicitudes and desires, and from which you receive a return of the same confiding love. What a support in trial!-what a stimulus in duty!-what a guide in difficulty!-what a solace in despondency!-what a zest and relish of every joy!
"Thy bounteous hand with worldly bliss
Hath made my cup run o'er;
And in a kind and faithful friend
Hath doubled all my store."
If such be the sacredness, the intimacy, the pleasure, and the permanence, of true friendship;-with what gratitude should we bless the name of our gracious Lord, for having assumed this relation to his people!-"calling them friends!" He afforded the highest evidence that the designation was not with him a name without a meaning:-He "gave his life for his friends." And what is his promise to them now?-the promise of faithful friendship-of a love which "many waters could not quench, nor the floods drown?" It is one which comprehends in it all that they can wish-all that they can need:-"I will never leave thee; I will never forsake thee!" To have an interest in His friendship, is to be honoured and blessed indeed!
Let the feeling of holy friendship be mutually cultivated among the followers of "the friend of sinners,"-friendship, "not in word and tongue only, but in deed and in truth,"-friendship practical and self-denying. He who "gave his life for his friends" teaches those friends to be ready to give their lives for each other:-"Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren."
O let all, if they would be truly and permanently happy, choose the friendship of Christ and of God, and cast in their lot with God's people. The right hand of divine friendship is held out to every one of you. The voice of the gospel-in the name of Him "in whom God reconciles the world unto himself" is-"Be ye reconciled unto God!"-and all God's people, with one heart and one soul, unite in saying to you-"Come with us, and we will do you good: for the Lord hath spoken good concerning Israel."
