"Say not thou, I will recompense evil; but wait on the Lord, and he shall save thee. Divers weights are an abomination unto the Lord; and a false balance is not good. Man's goings are of the Lord; how can a man then understand his own way? It is a snare to the man who devoureth that which is holy, and after vows to make inquiry. A wise king scattereth the wicked, and bringeth the wheel over them. The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord, searching all the inward parts of the belly. Mercy and truth preserve the king; and his throne is upholden by mercy. The glory of young men is their strength;' and the beauty of old men is the grey head. The blueness of a wound cleanseth away evil; so do stripes the inward part of the belly."
The first of these verses is one of those in which there has been imagined a difference,-and indeed one of the chief differences,-between the teaching of the Old Testament and that of the New. You will find very few persons who have not the idea in their minds that, under the ancient economy, the law of retaliation was allowed to be acted upon, to some extent, while, under the present, it is expressly repealed, in its principle and in its practice. It is only necessary to compare a few passages in the Old Testament and in the New, to show that this is an entire misapprehension. Look, for example, to Exo_23:4-5; Lev_19:18; Pro_17:13; Pro_24:29; and Rom_12:17-21. It is remarkable, that in this last passage the Apostle both quotes an Old Testament injunction, and enforces it by an Old Testament sentiment or divine assurance.*1 Surely this should be enough to satisfy us, that our Lord's language on this subject*2 was not the laying down of a new law, but only the right interpretation of the old, in opposition to the corrupt glosses of those false teachers among the Jews who perverted the law, as false teachers among professing Christians have perverted the gospel. You must be satisfied, from the passages cited, that "Thou shalt love thy neighbour and hate thine enemy," never was the law of Moses. And with regard to the "eye for an eye and the tooth for a tooth," it formed a part of the judicial or criminal law of the land, of which the administration was committed to the magistrate; but it had been perverted into a toleration of private and personal resentment and retaliation. This interpretation, or misinterpretation, our Lord disowns; and even the strong terms He employs in doing so are to be understood, I apprehend, as expressing no more than what had always been the spirit and proper sense of the divine precepts. The extent to which his words should be interpreted according to the letter, is a point into which it is impossible for us to enter. Their absolutely literal acceptation is, in my opinion, demonstrably inadmissible. It is enough, to show this, to attend to one only of the commands. The injunction "give to every man that asketh of thee" if taken absolutely without restriction, forbids the exercise of all discretion on your part, and leaves you entirely at the discretion of such as may choose to present their demand. Whatever it be, you must grant it,-even to the half or to the whole of your property. If you say, "That is making the thing ridiculous," I grant it;-but it is the literal interpretation, and no more: so that, in saying so, you say no more than that that interpretation is ridiculous: for whenever you introduce any qualification or restriction, you give up the principle of literality. You would bind yourselves, by its adoption, not only to incessant acts of indiscretion, but to many of injustice.
*1 For the former see Pro_25:21-22, and for the latter, Deu_32:35. rr
*2 Mat_5:32-45.
But I am forgetting the verse before us. It is very true that retaliation is natural-that, in the terms of the poet, "revenge is sweet." And there are philosophers who, because they find it a principle in our nature, vindicate it, and affirm it right. But "they do err, not knowing the Scriptures," and not admitting the character there given of our nature as fallen and depraved. It cannot prove a thing to be right that it is natural, when the nature to which it is natural is a corrupt nature. It is true that when one man wrongs another he deserves punishment. But there is divine wisdom in not leaving the right of punishment in the hands of the party injured. There is more than-danger, there is next to a certainty, of its being inflicted in excess-no man being an impartial judge in his own cause. Excess is, in its turn, injury done. And thus the way is laid open to unceasing retaliation and interminable hostilities.
We are very readily tempted to think, that if we take injuries without retaliation, it will only encourage our enemy himself, or others, to repeat the wrong, and to use us the worse. And it is not to be denied that malignity has, at times, taken this advantage of unresenting meekness. If, in our experience, it were in any case to turn out so, we should suffer in the very best company,-in company with our Lord and Master himself. But, generally speaking, it is otherwise. A peaceful spirit is the safest spirit, and the spirit which is most likely to meet with a peaceful return,-disarming hostility, and softening resentment. The terms before quoted show this.*1 They are founded on the very principle of this tendency. At all events, our sole inquiry in all cases ought simply to be, "What saith the Scripture?"-What is God’s will? That it is our duty to do, leaving the result with Him. Such is the spirit of the verse under review. And it is in harmony with other parts of the divine word.*2 All suffering is for "righteousness' sake," that is produced by our conscientious adherence to the rightly interpreted injunctions of divine authority.
*1 Rom_12:21. rr
*2 Psa_37:5-8; Psa_37:34; 1Pe_4:19; 1Pe_3:13-14.
We have had the subject of next verse frequently before us, and dwell not upon it: only let it be kept steadily in view, and exert its intended influence:-"Divers weights are an abomination unto the Lord; and a false balance is not good."
Verse Pro_20:24. "Man's goings are of the Lord; how can a man then understand his own way?" It is a truth, that God prescribes the path of duty; and a truth, connected with this, and arising out of it, that in order to our "understanding the way" in which we ought to go, we should consult God: consult Him in conscience, and in His word-the former being the natural intimation of His will,-the second the revealed; and consult Him also under the sought guidance of the Holy Spirit, as through the corruption of the heart, we are in danger of perverting the lessons both of nature and of revelation, and need the accompanying influences of that Spirit, to deliver us from all prejudice and prepossession, from every blinding and perverting passion and tendency.
But true as this is, it does not appear to be the truth intended here. The reference is, apparently, not to the moral will of God, but to his superintending providence. The idea in the former clause of the verse is, that in a man's course through life, every step is under divine control; everything ordered by a supreme will,-a will to which all things in existence, every power and influence in creation,-are entirely subordinate and subservient*-the will of the Infinite.
* Dan_4:35.
And hence the import of the question, "How can a man understand his own way'?" seems to be-how can he form and carry forward his plans, with any assurance of success, or of things turning out in accordance with his wishes and designs? He cannot. Shortsighted and ever dependent, he is incapable of laying out his route through life with any degree whatever of confidence, so numberless and diversified are the circumstances by the operation of which his course may be intercepted, and the necessity of a change imposed. Who has not experienced this? Before we have advanced a few steps in the direction and for the destination we have fixed for ourselves, something or other occurs that arrests us, and obliges us to desist entirely from our purpose, or to alter and modify it, however reluctantly, to something widely different! We discover that " our goings are of the Lord," and that we can' not "understand our own way." And if not our own, how much less His! O how often are we made to feel the truth of the words-" My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts!" Isa_55:8-9. The latter part of this assurance He will, in the end, make apparent, to the admiring astonishment of His believing people. Yet, brethren, with the full conviction of this in our judgments, O how very hard is it to bring our hearts to any thing like cheerful acquiescence in some of the divine appointments by which our will has been thwarted! If we can get even so far as to say, "Thy will be done!" it is still with the sigh of a heavily-burdened spirit, and with the tear lingering in our eye. We "walk in darkness and have no light." We wonder why the Lord thus hedges up our own way, and appoints us another of His,-not at all to our mind. And when there is this difference between our way and God’s, and a difficulty in seeing what is wrong in ours,-it is a strong trial of faith. But faith must have the victory. Wait but for a short while, and all will be plain. Had we the eyes of God, we should, in every case without exception, and without the hesitation of a moment, choose God’s way. The "ways" of the wicked are abomination to the Lord; yet they too are under control. They retain all their freedom, and all their guilt; but in ten thousand modes, their baffled plans are made to forward His. Their every word and act He can render subservient to His honour , and often turns their shame to glory, while they are turning His glory to shame.
Verse Pro_20:25. "It is a snare to the man who devoureth that which is holy, and after vows to make inquiry." Under the Mosaic dispensation, there were various articles which, by the prescriptions of the law, were consecrated to God, or holy.
Such were the tithes, the first-fruits, the firstlings of the herd and of the flock. There was thus always a temptation to selfishness to appropriate a part of these to its own use. There were, at the same time, things voluntarily devoted-set apart to Jehovah as free-will offerings. It is to these more especially, in all probability, that Solomon here refers. To "devour that which was holy" was to make a meal for themselves of that which they had vowed to God,-vowed as an offering for His worship:-and the phrase clearly, in the principle and spirit of it, applies to the appropriation to themselves, in any way, of aught whatever that had thus been consecrated.* What, then, is meant by "after vows malting inquiry?" Evidently, making inquiry how. a vow may be eluded;-how, with anything like a clear conscience, the fulfilment of it may be shunned, and the consecrated thing withdrawn from God, and appropriated to self. A man, for example, might make a vow when in trouble and straits. He might then devote something of his substance solemnly to God on condition of his recovery. He does recover. But with the cessation of his trouble, his religious impressions, which were the result only of temporary fear, cease too. He calls to mind his vow. He frets at himself for having made it; and he sets himself to find or to frame pretexts for not regarding it as obligatory,-for shaking himself free of it. That this is the kind of inquiry that is intended in the verse, is sufficiently evident from the parallelism of the one part of it with the other. It is clear, that the "snare" in the former part of the verse means the temptation, in order to "devouring that which is holy," to "make inquiry" after pretexts for getting rid of the vow by which it was made holy.
* Comp. Mal_3:8-10.
The words have frequently been most strangely and mischievously perverted. They have been made to mean, that, when a man had once vowed, whether the vow was right or wrong, or whatever might be his subsequent conscientious convictions concerning it, he must abide by it;-that in every case of vow, it was wrong even to think of "making inquiry" as to the rectitude of what had been vowed. For example, it used to be applied (happily, in the progress of free and enlightened thought, such application will not often be found now,) to what were termed ordination vows. By taking these, a man was understood as binding himself to maintain the same sentiments to the end of his life; and if he ever gave expression to any views inconsistent with those he had vowed solemnly to maintain and defend, he was charged with the sin of "after vows making inquiry!"-This, you will admit, was indeed "a snare,"-a snare to the conscience,-a snare to the soul. To take any such vow would be to bind one's self to one or other of two things, of which it is not easy to say, they are both so bad, which is the worse;-either, first, to the cessation of all further inquiry after truth on the point which has been the subject of the vow,-which is neither more nor less than asserting, on that point, the claim to infallibility; or secondly, to hypocrisy and simulation, by the continued profession of the same thing, whatever change might actually have taken place in one's opinions and belief. Such an understanding of the words is in opposition to the duty, incumbent on every man, of constant investigation, and of constant openness to conviction, freedom from prejudice, and readiness to relinquish error when shown to be error, and embrace truth when shown to be truth. Many a conscience has been snared, and snared long, in this way. It is well, when the snare is broken, and the conscience escapes. Vows are solemn promises or engagements, come under to God, generally accompanied with an oath or imprecation, formally expressed or tacitly understood, of some service to be performed, or some sacrifice to be offered, or some portion of worldly goods to be devoted to God, for religious purposes. Such vows it was duty to fulfil. "When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools; pay that which thou hast vowed," Ecc_5:4. The vow of a fool (like the sacrifice of the fool in the first verse) was a vow made without the heart-without intention and resolution to pay it. God "has no pleasure in such fools"-fools who think to impose upon Him by false promises, and insult Him with hypocritical mockery. What is vowed must be paid:-"Better is it that thou shouldst not vow, than that thou shouldst vow and not pay," (Ecc_5:5.) The reason of this is plain. The vow was not required: it was spontaneous: so that there was no sin in not making it; but there was sin in making and not paying it.
The phrase, then, "after vows to make inquiry," is condemnatory of two evils. It condemns vowing rashly, without due previous consideration or inquiry. To make inquiry after a vow is not to make inquiry before it. It is clear that the proper place for inquiry is before the taking of the vow. It should precede, not follow. A man should examine his ground; think what he is doing; act with due deliberation. It further condemns what has already been mentioned-inquiring, after the vow has been made, how it may be evaded; and that, not from any conviction of the evil of the thing vowed, but merely from a selfish unwillingness to fulfil it.-It is obvious, at the same time, that no vow, how solemnly soever taken, can ever render that morally right which is morally wrong;-can ever, that is, set aside the obligation of the divine law. That is an authority which must ever stand above the obligation of any vow. The first inquiry should have reference to this. If a man finds that he has vowed to do what the law of God forbids,-his guilt has lain in taking such a vow; but it never can be his duty to keep it. His promise to do wrong, can never cancel his previous obligation not to do it.
It is questionable, whether vows, properly so called, are consistent with the genius of the New Testament dispensation. At any rate, of such vows as were common under the Old, we have no recorded examples under the New. Resolutions to serve God we may, nay we must make; there is no getting on in the divine life and in the zealous promotion of the divine glory, without them. But the binding of the soul by particular bonds and oaths, whether verbal or written,-obligations superinduced upon those of the divine law,-have been "a snare" to many. Weak minds have often felt the obligation of their vow more stringent than that of the divine authority. We do, it is true, find Paul vowing; but his vow belonged not to the Christian dispensation, but to the Jewish, which had not finally " vanished away," and to which he continued for the time to conform. All the vows of celibacy, of pilgrimages, of pious gifts; all the vows supposed to be taken at baptism and the Lord's supper according to the superstitious notions attached by many to these ordinances; all vows of personal, and national, and ecclesiastical covenanting; and all vows at ministerial ordination, (and it may be worth the while of some of our total-abstainers to consider, whether vows of abstinence, when taken under any pledge or form of a religious character, may not also be included,) appear to be alike destitute of New Testament warrant. But still, we have here the great general lesson of Fidelity To God.
Verse Pro_20:26. "A wise king scattereth the wicked, and bringeth the wheel over them." There is here an allusion to the different modes of separating the grain from the husk or hull; by one or more of which the straw was at the same time cut.* The different methods were-the flail, the drag, the wain, the treading of oxen. It is to the third, that the allusion is here made. The wheel was armed with teeth.' by means of which the cutting of the straw was effected at the same time with the separation of the grain. The idea intended by the figure seems to be that of severity of punishment,-and the separation of the wicked from society. Not, by any means, that excessive and indiscriminate severity of punishment is the most effective system for the prevention and suppression of crime. A wise king, acting on the principles of human nature, and the lessons of experience, will rather adopt the system of a well-adjusted graduation in the scale of punishments; according to which they are, on the principle of comparative lenity, proportioned to the nature and aggravations of various crimes, and regularly executed,-in preference to that which professes to hold the terrors of death over many crimes, but without the intention of uniform execution. The former system has been found the most effectual; and it is evidently the most accordant with all right principle and right feeling. There has happily been, of late years, a great and salutary mitigation in the sanguinary character of the criminal law of our own country. The consequence of that sanguinary character naturally was, that from unwillingness to prosecute, the unwillingness of witnesses to give unfavourable evidence, the unwillingness of juries to find a verdict of guilty, and the unwillingness of judges to condemn, and of the prince to allow the law to take its course, multitudes never came to trial; and of those who were tried many escaped conviction; and of such as were sentenced to die not one in twenty came to execution. All this encouraged rather than repressed crime, by inspiring the hope of impunity, the expectations of most men being naturally sanguine and flattering in their own case.-The subject, however, is too extensive for general discussion.
* See Isa_28:28.
Let us only remember, that the duty of the king implies a corresponding duty on our part to give the government of the country all the countenance and support in our power in effecting the suppression of "wickedness," by all legal and constitutional means;-and still more, by all religious and moral means so to diffuse the influence of right principles as to lessen the task of government in the application of penal statutes;-to prevent the punishment of wickedness by preventing the practice of it.
Verse Pro_20:27. "The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord, searching all the inward parts of the belly."-When God at first "made man of the dust of the earth," what would his corporeal structure have been, how admirably soever framed together, in all its beautiful proportions and intricate complexity, had not the breath of life been breathed into it, and had it not been associated with the dominion of mind! When man "became a living soul," there was more imparted to him than mere animal life,-even a rational thinking Spirit, conscious of its own existence, and exerting powers which made its existence apparent to others. "The spirit of man," means his understanding, reason, conscience; and is here designated "the candle of the Lord "-the lamp of Jehovah. God has lighted it in the human breast. It is His gift. He it is who, in this respect, has made us to differ from the animals of the inferior creation that are placed under our subjection. He hath made us "wiser than the beasts of the field, and hath given us more understanding than the fowls of the air." Of this lamp the use is here said to be-to "search all the inward parts of the belly."
We have formerly had occasion to notice that "the belly " is used to signify the invisible interior of man, and thus comprehends his whole mental constitution. We are so accustomed to the use of other parts of the animal frame for particular departments of the operations of mind, that we use the language often with hardly a thought of what is material. Thus we speak of the heart, when we mean the affections; of the bowels, when we mean the emotions of compassion or tenderness; of the spleen, when we mean capricious ill-nature. It is on a similar principle that, in a more general way, the Hebrews used "the belly" for all within:-and "searching the inward parts of the belly" means simply searching the Whole inner man. It examines narrowly all our inward principles, desires, and affections,-the motives by which we are influenced, our reflections on the past, our purposes and resolutions for the future. In the original constitution of our nature-in its "first estate,"-in the purity in which it came from the Creator's forming hand, there was nothing to be discovered by all this "searching" but good. All was rectitude, loveliness, beauty, moral symmetry and perfection. Now alas! it is far otherwise. It is only when "the lamp" is not used, or used with unfaithful and superficial carelessness, that evil remains undetected. The more closely we carry the light into the hidden chambers of the heart, the greater will be the variety and amount we shall discover of what ought not to be there. It is an extraordinary conception which some persons have had of self-examination, when they have looked upon it with jealousy and dread, and been apprehensive of its exercise in themselves, and of urging it upon others, as only calculated to encourage self-righteousness. One cannot but suspect that they who think thus must themselves be the subjects of no small portion of the spirit of self-righteousness, when they fancy, that by too closely scrutinizing their hearts and lives, they would find only what was fitted to cherish it! Surely every converted man must be sensible, that the more faithfully he uses the "lamp of the Lord" in "searching his inward parts," the deeper will become his self-abasement. The more he will know of himself:-and if the more he knows of himself, the more he thinks of himself-that is, if his self-examination puff him up with selfrighteous pride, we may be sure the process has been conducted on a wrong principle. With every genuine child of God the exercise will only serve to-Paul, we should "exercise ourselves to have always a conscience void of offence toward God, and toward men."
"Lay him low, and keep him there."
It is too true, that the dictates of conscience, like the operations of all the other powers and faculties of the mind, have become perverted by sin. Its decisions are influenced by corrupt inclinations and passions. It is thus too often a bribed witness, giving false testimony; a corrupted judge, pronouncing partial and erroneous decisions and verdicts. Yet, in such cases, the decisions are frequently not those of conscience at all. There is many a time, at the very moment when they are given, a secret consciousness of their being wrong:-so that as regards the real dictates of the inward monitor there is probably a more general harmony among the various tribes and classes of mankind, than at first glance might appear.
It is of immense consequence, that we keep this "lamp " of reason and conscience duly trimmed, and burning clearly;-and that we be duly faithful in the use of it; for what is the worth of a light if it be not applied to use, for the ends it is designed to answer? We should be ever using it; carrying it into the most secret recesses of our souls, detecting and rectifying all that is wrong,-cleaning out every corner of defilement,-keeping all in due order. It is thus that, like Paul, we should "exercise ourselves to have always a conscience void of offence toward God, and toward men."
The ungodly follow the very opposite course. They do all in their power to dim the lamp. Trimming and supplying it with oil, is one of the last things they ever think of. If it will burn, they try to "put it under a bushel." They do not like to be disturbed by it. What says our Lord?-he who "knew what was in man?"-"Every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved." And this holds true with regard to every light,-with regard to "whatsoever doth make manifest" which is the apostle's definition of light. It is equally true of the light of conscience, and of the light of revelation.
Verse Pro_20:28. "Mercy and truth preserve the king; and his throne is upholden by mercy." This of course is to be understood as expressing what ought to be. It is the character of the good prince. Well had it been for the world, had the description been true of all rulers.-how different had been the character of the history of nations!-The union of mercy and truth is perfect in the government of God;-and in the mediatorial government of the Lord Jesus Christ.* The union of both is necessary. Mercy without truth, or faithful principle, would be undiscriminating lenity-a pernicious facility of disposition; and truth without mercy,-the stern and rigid exercise of justice untempered by clemency,-would be unlovely and repulsive, and as injurious in the one extreme as the former in the other. It has been said, "A God all mercy, is a God unjust." The same is, in its measure, true, of all inferior rulers. "A king all mercy, is a king unjust."
* Psa_85:10.
The verse before us may be compared with Pro_16:12. "It is an abomination to kings to commit wickedness: for the throne is established by righteousness." The sentiment of each is alike true. No throne can stand firmly that is not based alike on "righteousness" and "mercy." The mercy must be righteous mercy; the righteousness, merciful righteousness:-justice must be attempered by clemency; clemency must be restrained by justice. Every prince who desires to have the character of a Father of his people, must be merciful. What would a father be without mercy? But, at the same time, a father requires to be firm and impartial. Parental authority, that yields to every impulse of feeling, and is incapable of steadfast and determined discipline, is as injurious as the other. The throne of a tyrant may be maintained in temporary stability by the force of terror, by the dread of civil or military execution. He may surround his throne with the myrmidons of his power. He may prolong his reign by fear. But after all, his is power that hangs upon a breath. All tremble to give expression to the feeling which yet universally prevails-the feeling of discontent-of alienation-of rebellion:-but a word once uttered is responded to from every corner of the land; the spell is broken; every eye flashes the long-suppressed resentment; every lip quivers in giving vent to the pent-up murmurings; man, woman, and child, are on the alert; hands are joined; conspiracies are formed; weapons are brandished; the tyrant is hurled from his throne. O! how different when the throne has its foundation in the affections of its happy subjects! That is its best and surest establishment. When the prince is true to his word; redeeming his pledges; fulfilling his engagements; and "doing nothing by partiality;"-when, instead of regarding and treating with lightness and neglect the sufferings of his subjects, when evil times come over them, he discovers the spirit of sympathy, and does what lies in his power for their help; promoting such measures as have a tendency to relieve them, and to restore them to independence and comfort, to peace, and plenty.
Verse Pro_20:29. "The glory of young men is their strength; and the beauty of old men is the grey head." Each of the clauses of this verse requires to be taken with a qualification. On either side, "the glory may be turned into shame." The vigour of youth may be prostituted; it may be expended in oppression, intimidation, and violence, in vice and licentiousness, in cruelty, and crime. O! it is sad indeed when the energies of body and mind are thus perverted and abused, instead of being consecrated to God and to virtue! And, if possible, sadder is the melancholy spectacle still, of old age, with its crown of grey hairs, cleaving fast to the world, and spending the feeble remnants of its declining strength in the service of sinful pleasure.-Ah! then, there is neither glory in the vigour of youth, nor beauty in the hoary head. All depends on association. Young men may glory in their strength;-they may emulate each other in feats of physical power, and exult in the prize of successful competition:-but when moral and spiritual glory is wanting, of what worth is mere muscle-mere brute force? If that strength is given to vice, it becomes, not the youth’s honour, but his disgrace, in the eyes of all the truly wise. And old men may glory in their age. When they come to surpass by many years those who set out with them in the journey of life; when "by reason of" constitutional "strength," they have reached the "fourscore years," or gone considerably beyond even this ultimate limit,-they are apt to be vain of it; to repeat it often; to dwell upon it as their distinction: but here too, the glory is no glory, unless there be corresponding character,-unless there be growing meetness for that eternal world to the verge of which the old man has come. Instead of attractive beauty and loveliness, there are few things more affectingly and distressingly repulsive than dissolute and irreligious old age. We do naturally admire the comeliness, and the manly port, and the muscular energy, and the well-proportioned symmetry, of the youthful form; and we do naturally look with affectionate veneration on the whitening locks of reverend age. But our sentiments and feelings entirely change, and experience a painful revulsion, when we learn that the youth whose external appearance has charmed our eye, is unnatural to his parents and licentiously dissolute,-and that the old man whose grey hairs drew our reverential love has only ceased to be practically dissolute from the cessation of power-that his heart is as estranged as ever from all that is good, that the hoary head is not in the way of righteousness, and that he is dying as he lived, in infidel unsubmissiveness to God.
Let us see to it, my friends, that we consecrate to Him the peculiar glories of our frame in the successive periods of life;-that we inscribe "holiness unto the Lord" on the strength of youth, and on the experience and the influence of age. It is indeed lovely to see the full energies of youth early consecrated to God, and put forth in His service; that service faithfully maintained through a long life; and then that life, when venerable in the hoariness of years, closing with the words of the old and devout Simeon-" Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word: for mine eyes have seen thy salvation;"-while that Lord pronounces the approving welcome-"Well done, good and faithful servant!" and bestows the final and full reward. O my beloved young friends, seek ye, with your whole hearts, this glory of youth, this beauty and reverence of age.
Verse Pro_20:30. "The blueness of a wound cleanseth away evil; so do stripes the inward parts of the belly." It is not easy to attach a definite meaning to these words. Suppose, with some, the blueness of a wound to be a symptom of its healing-what comparison can there be between a mere symptom or indication of healing and the severity of chastisement or discipline? Suppose, with others, the blueness or lividness of the wound to be the effect or mark of its severity; then, properly speaking, there can hardly be a comparison between the effects, whatever they are conceived to be, of severe wounds and severe stripes, they are so nearly one and the same thing. I know not indeed how the original word came to be rendered "blueness." The one word as well as the other is given in lexicons as signifying, among other meanings, a wound. But "the wounds of a wound" would of course be inadmissible. The following translation has been given by one critic of eminence-"The bruises, or contusions, of a blow are a cleanser to the wicked man; and stripes cleanse the inward parts of the belly." But this is liable to the same objection with the last mentioned view; namely, that the two things in the comparison are too nearly the same:-for what difference is there between the contusions of a blow cleansing the wicked, and "stripes cleansing the inward parts of the belly?" The idea in either case is almost if not altogether identical. It is not often that I propose alterations on our own translation. I am far from approving of the freedom and frequency with which some alter renderings;-oftener for the worse than for the better.* In the present instance, however, I venture to suggest the following, as probably giving the true spirit of the comparison:-" Surely the compressions of a wound cleanse away evil; and so do stripes the inward parts of the belly." This is in harmony with the radical meaning of the term; being, etymologically, from the verb which denotes to join or couple together; and at the same time it yields an appropriate sense. The compressions of a wound are necessary for cleansing out of it the purulent and peccant humour, which would prevent its healing;-they are, at the same time, in many cases, exceedingly painful, and would only be endured or inflicted from necessity. And as they thus clean the wound, and promote its healing, so in a moral sense, does the severity of discipline affect with salutary and cleansing influence, the condition of the inner man. This is the very design of the rod,-the parental rod: "Polly is bound up in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him." And it is the gracious design of all God's corrections. He never uses the rod,-never inflicts any stroke of discipline,-not a single stripe,-save for the kind purpose of benefiting the soul,-of repressing evil and confirming and augmenting good. The design of all His afflictive visitations is "TO TAKE AWAY SIN."
* Stuart renders, "Wounding stripes are the remedy of the base, and stripes of the inner part of the body;" and explains-"The bad man's remedial applications are stripes over the whole person, so severe that they penetrate deep into the body." Here any thing like antithesis is gone, and the two clauses of the verse are counterparts of each other.
