"The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will. Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: but the Lord pondereth the hearts. To do justice and judgment is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice. An high look, and a proud heart, and the plowing of the wicked, is sin. The thoughts of the diligent tend only to plenteousness; but of every one that is hasty only to want. The getting of treasures by a lying tongue is a vanity tossed to and fro of them that seek death. The robbery of the wicked shall destroy them; because they refuse to do judgment. The way of man is froward and strange: but as for the pure, his work is right."
In the first of these verses some suppose there is an allusion to a gardener, directing the rills of water through the different parts of his grounds; and that a comparison is intended between the ease with which the gardener does this, and the ease and certainty with which God superintends human volitions and purposes, so as to make all subservient to the attainment of His own ends. But the comparison appears, in both its parts, to relate directly to God. The king's heart is represented as "in the hand"-that is, in the power, and under the control-of Jehovah, as completely as are "the rivers of water."* And so are all "hearts"-all the purposes and determinations of men. This, I repeat, is one of those truths to which we are, a priori, constrained to assent. "Whatever may be the difficulties with which, in some respects, the subject is environed, we perceive, with a kind of intuition, and admit without an instant's hesitation, that it must be so. The certainty of the divine counsels requires it. The regular administration of the government of the world requires it. Every view we can take of the divine glory requires it. Never can it be that the will of man should frustrate the will of God-the thoughts of the creature cross and interfere with those of the Creator. Human counsels may thwart human counsels; but it is the divine prerogative, amidst all the incessantly changing and conflicting volitions and actions of the millions of the world's population, to say-"My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure."
* Comp. Pro_16:1; Pro_16:9; Pro_20:24.
And while of this we affirm that it must be so, there is another thing of which, with equal confidence, we affirm the same,-namely, that men, in their volitions and actions, must be free, and, as free, must be accountable; the freedom being necessary to the accountableness. That men are invariably influenced by motives, no more affects the reality of their freedom, than God's having reasons for every step of His procedure affects His. Every man is conscious of willing and acting freely. Both the portions must be alike true, whether we be able clearly to explain the principle of harmony between them, or not. Yet the principle, to a certain extent, is sufficiently intelligible. A man of uncommon penetration,-supposing him to know the peculiarities of any character, the circumstances in which its possessor is placed, and the manner in which the circumstances are calculated to affect his characteristic peculiarities,-would be able to say, with a proportional degree of confidence, how he would act, what course he would pursue, when under the influence of the given circumstances. Yet his knowledge and penetration would not, in the remotest degree, affect the freedom of him whose conduct he predicted. We have only to imagine this acquaintance with circumstances, with characters, and with the influence of the one upon the other, extended to infinitude and infallibility, and we have some notion of the way in which, by the control of circumstances, God can control volitions; and that, without at all interfering with liberty and accountableness. This, however, is still, and can never cease to be, one of "the deep things of God." "The Lord reigneth," says the Psalmist, "let the earth rejoice!" We have cause for joy in the assurance here given ns, that those members of our race, who, from their eminence and power, exert the greatest amount of influence over the condition of the world, are, as completely as the meanest, under the superintendence and control of the Supreme; so that even "kings," be the extent of their dominion and the absoluteness of their power what it may, can never go beyond His permission. Let the conviction of this great truth, in all its comprehensiveness, preserve our minds from the agitating fears and apprehensions which might arise from the plans and avowed purposes of the monarchs of the earth,-as affecting the interests of our country, of the church, and of the world. All will be overruled for ends in harmony with divine wisdom and mercy. "HAVE FAITH IN GOD."
Verse Pro_21:2. "Every way of a man is right in his own eyes; but the Lord pondereth the hearts." There may be a connexion between this and the former verse. It is not by the actual results of human actions,-results which God, by his overruling providence, may be pleased to bring out of them,-but by their principles and motives in the doing of them, that the agents will be tried. This will be the test; and it will ever be a most satisfactory, though deeply mysterious exemplification of the truth, that it was by an act the most heinous in the entire annals of mankind, that the redemption of the world was effected. The design of the proverb is,-that men, remembering this, may be jealous of themselves, and not take the rectitude of their way too easily for granted,-but examine their hearts,-search their motives, as in God's sight and in prospect of that day when "He will bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing." A man’s WAY is right in the eye of God just in proportion as his HEART is right.
Verse Pro_21:3. "To do justice and judgment is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice." This is a most important sentiment, and one frequently to be found in the Old Testament. Look at a few examples:-1Sa_15:22; Isa_1:11-15; Isa_66:3-4; Jer_7:21-23; Hos_6:6; Mic_6:6-8. Such passages are in full harmony with the sentiment so distinctly sanctioned by the approbation of Christ, "There is one God, and to love Him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt-offerings and sacrifices," Mar_12:33. It would be an obvious misunderstanding and abuse of such expressions, were they to be interpreted as setting aside sacrifice under the former dispensation, or even making light of it, as a thing about which Jehovah was indifferent, and which He could allow to be neglected with impunity. The sacrifices were of divine institution. The cases were specified in which they were required to be offered; and all their varieties were prescribed. It was duty, therefore, scrupulously to adhere to divine injunction. The language is comparative. There was a danger among the Jewish people of being satisfied with a strict and punctilious performance of every part of the outward ceremonial of worship, and of making a kind of compromise in this way for the neglect of moral duties, or the practice of what was morally wrong. This propensity, which existed all along, evinced itself in its full strength in our blessed Lord's time; and He sets the principle of the thing in its obviously correct position, in reprimanding those by whom it was most culpably exemplified,-"Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint, and anise, and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone," Mat_23:23. "Judgment, mercy, and fidelity" were the "weightier matters of the law." They were, therefore, to be first regarded. If nothing could set them aside; nothing be a compensation for their omission. Might the others, then, be disregarded? By no means:-not even the smallest of them,-the tithing of garden herbs. Are Christ's words words of contempt and ridicule at their attending to matters of such indifference,-things that might be done or not done at their pleasure? No verily. These things, though not first, had yet their own place; and no one could be too rigidly scrupulous in attending to them, however minute, as parts of the divine will. The fault of those reproved lay, not in their doing these, but in their neglecting to do the more important and necessary:-"These ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone."
My brethren, the danger is not at an end. There might be a larger amount of it under an economy which was so characteristically one of external and typical rites; and less under a dispensation of which the leading character, contrasting it with the former, is its spirituality. But still there are outward observances in religion,-all the externalities of divine institutions and worship. Let us, then, be upon our guard. Let us not forget the primary necessity, if we would maintain a course well-pleasing to God, of the moral virtues, All that is said of their superiority in His sight to "sacrifice," is equally true of whatever is external. To the heart and the life He still looks:-and the professing Christian who trusts in his baptism,-in his punctual presence in the house of God,-in his regular attendance on the table of the Lord,-is as far wrong in principle, as the Jew was, who trusted in his burnt-offerings and sacrifices, his ceremonial cleansings, his tithes and fastings,-while the paramount obligations of practical godliness were neglected by the one and are neglected by the other. They are in the same condemnation. "Sacrifices" of old were instituted for special purposes. They were arbitrary, ceremonial, typical, temporary; but "justice and judgment" belonged to the eternal rule of right. They had their origin and prototype in the moral nature of God. They were immutable in their obligation, "the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever." "Sacrifices" were instituted for a single people; "justice and judgment" belong to mankind, and are alike obligatory on the whole race, in every nation under heaven. "Sacrifices" derived all their value from that which they prefigured, and from the worshipper's state of heart in presenting them,-from. what they signified in themselves and what they indicated in the offerer;-"justice and judgment" have, in their own nature, an intrinsic excellence, and, forming part of the image of God, are the objects of His direct complacency and delight. The law of "sacrifice" was set aside when the system to which it belonged, "decayed, waxed old, and vanished away;" but the law of "justice and judgment" is not by the gospel "made void but established." The very end of Christ's mediatorial work was to vindicate eternal righteousness-the righteousness of the divine character-in the extension of mercy to man; and at the same time to give glory and stability to that law which is "holy, and just, and good," and furnish new and mightily constraining motives of obedience to all its precepts.
There is One Sacrifice, my hearers, on which the God of the Bible teaches, invites, encourages, commands you to rest your hopes of pardon and acceptance with Him,-THE SACRIFICE OF CHRIST;-the all-atoning blood of the "Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." In this is your only security; and it is an equal security for All. God's first commandment to you, as sinners, is to renounce self, and to trust there,-in that One Offering from their reference to which all previous offerings derived their wisdom and their worth;-and then, your "doing justice and judgment" must be the proof of your interest in that one offering, and of your heart having been turned to God by the faith of it.*
* Rom_8:1.
Verse Pro_21:4. "An high look, and a proud heart, and the plowing of the wicked, is sin."-The first of these is the natural expression or indication of the second; the "high look," or, as on the margin and in the Hebrew, "haughtiness of eyes," the effect and expression of the "proud heart." With regard to these there is no difficulty. That pride, and all the expressions and indications of pride, are hateful to God, is a sentiment often repeated.* But how comes in "the plowing of the wicked" in this connexion?-I would answer, that even retaining the translation, it is not incapable of an appropriate sense. The ordinary occupations of the wicked are gone about and pursued with "a high look and a proud heart;" not with the lowly spirit of dependence and prayer, but with the spirit of independent self-sufficiency and prayerless haughtiness. The things done, how good and useful soever in themselves, may be vitiated by the spirit in which they are done. Right in themselves, they may be wrong in their principle. And this view of the case might be connected with the previous verse. "The wicked" may bring his "sacrifice;" but if he brings it with "a high look and a proud heart,"-nothing can be more unacceptable in the eyes of that God to whom he offers it. Thus both his religious and his ordinary acts are marred by his state of mind. There is "sin" in them all. The sentiment has an apt illustration in the case of Cain. He was "a tiller of the ground." He brought his offering to God: but it was not the offering of a sinner; it was not the type of atonement. The absence of this arose from his not being humbled before God as a sinner should be. And what he did bring, he brought with a "high look and a proud heart." Thus "the plowing" of this first "tiller of the ground" was "sin," and his offering too. So, on the same account, is that of every wicked man.
* See Pro_6:16-17, &c.
You will observe, however, that the rendering on the margin is-"the light of the wicked." Now the marginal renderings have precisely the same authority with those in the text: and they are, not unfrequently, much to be preferred. I am satisfied this is the case in the present instance. The word for a light or lamp, and the word for a plough and ploughing, are, in the original, like each other; but I am not aware of any instance in which the word, when it signifies ploughing, occurs in precisely the same form as here. Moreover, in the Septuagint Greek, the Latin Vulgate, and the Genevese French, * it is, in this occurrence, rendered as in our English margin; and the rendering has the sanction of most eminent critics and commentators. A light, or lamp, is often put as the symbol of prosperity. The verse is remarkably laconic-" Loftiness of eyes, pride of heart, the light of the wicked, sin." The meaning seems to be, that in the prosperity of the wicked,-his light, his joy,-" there is sin." There is sin in it, because there is self in it-no humble recognition of God. He has himself kindled his own " lamp 3" has himself supplied the oil to it; has himself trimmed it; has himself sheltered it; has himself kept it burning. All is self. He walks in its light, and exults in it, with "a high look and a proud heart." The higher he rises in prosperity, the more are " his eyelids lifted up." The clearer the light of his "lamp," ' the more self-sufficient is his vanity, and the more entirely forgetful is he of God. Thus there is "sin" pervading and characterizing all, and rendering all unacceptable in the sight of Him who PONDERETH THE HEART.
* Also in the German of Luther.
Verse Pro_21:5. "The thoughts of the diligent tend only to plenteousness; but of every one that is hasty only to want." How is the "hasty" man distinguished from the "diligent" man? Is not promptitude in action a necessary associate of diligence? The answer is, that the "hasty" man does not mean the prompt and ready man, but the rash and fickle man-the inconsiderate and changeable man,-the man who acts without forethought, and stops without afterthought. Observe, then-
1. Diligence, while it is opposed to laziness, is opposed also to rashness-to premature and inconsiderate haste. The diligent man first plans, and then acts. He proceeds thoughtfully and systematically. Diligence can effect little, unless accompanied with careful forethought; nothing worth while, and nothing permanent. The "hasty," who act without consideration, who engage in rash projects, who are eager and sanguine in catching at every new thing, and in anticipating great results from little exertion,-can never thrive. Their hastily-conceived and ill-matured projects, are only the preludes to successive failures, disappointments, and ruin. And then
2. Diligence means steady perseverance in execution. What avails any plan, how well and how maturely soever concerted, if it be not prosecuted with steadfast resolution? Neither "plenteousness," nor any truly good and valuable result, can reasonably be expected without this. The projects of the "hasty," who, while they begin in rashness, are easily disconcerted and prone to change, are never worked out to their perfection. But those of the attentive, plodding, persevering man, who begins in earnest, and goes on to the end in earnest, prepared for difficulties and impressed with the truth that nothing is to be attained without labour,-are the projects that promise to produce, and generally do produce, a favourable result.
Verse Pro_21:6. "The getting of treasures by a lying tongue is a vanity tossed to and fro of them that seek death." Diligence is a right road to "plenteousness:" here is a wrong-the "lying tongue;" on which rests the curse of God. And forget not what the " lying tongue " includes-that he is chargeable with the evil who pretends, in any way, to be what he is not, to have what he has not, not to have what he has, to have said what he has not said, or to have done what he has not done, or not to have said and done what he has said and done; who tries to gain an end by any word, or act, or look, or even by silence and concealment designed to convey a false impression-by any means whatever not in harmony with honest truth,-with "simplicity and godly sincerity." This, says Solomon, "is a vanity tossed to and fro of them that seek death." It is a "vanity;" inasmuch as it involves both folly and sin:-the folly being made evident in ultimate detection, exposure, shame, and loss,-loss of character, loss of confidence, and many a time loss of even what the falsehood had acquired. It is "tossed to and fro." Men learn it from one another. The man who has been imposed upon retaliates; he has no satisfaction until he has succeeded in duping him by whom he has himself been taken in,-in practising on him an equal or a better trick. It is practised with little thought,-with the vanity of a light and inconsiderate mind, and laughed at, in many instances, when it proves successful, instead of engendering remorse. Success produces a hundred imitators: and the cheats and the dupes are successively reversed,-the dupe becoming in his turn the cheat, and the cheat the dupe. And what is the final issue? They who follow such courses may try to make light of the evil; but they are "seeking death;"-acting as if bent on their own ruin-a ruin which shall inevitably come.*
* Stuart renders the verse-though "not confidently, for the passage is obscure"-"By a lying tongue is there a winning of treasures; a fleeting breath are they who seek death;" meaning-"they who use a lying tongue in order to acquire riches are such as seek their own death, for they shall be as a fleeting breath." This is certainly not so expressive as the rendering of our English version. Luther gives a still different rendering.
Verse Pro_21:7. "The robbery of the wicked shall destroy them; because they refuse to do judgment." This verse is obviously and closely connected, not in position merely but in sentiment, with the sixth. The sixth relates to the "getting of treasures" by deceit, this to "the getting of treasures" by violence. The one speaks of lies, the other of robbery.
"The robbery of the wicked shall destroy them." It does so, when detected by men, and brought under legal cognizance. They lose what they have got, and are punished besides. And then-" what shall they do when God riseth up?" The just Judge will convict and cast them out. They shall be "punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power." Why?-"because they refuse to do judgment." This is what in the third verse is represented as "acceptable to the Lord." But they "refuse." This supposes them commanded and warned. They are, both by the dictates of conscience, and by the authority of God's word,-and in many cases too, by His providence. They resist every admonition; and thus bring their blood upon their own heads.*
* See Pro_1:18-19; Pro_1:24-31.
Verse Pro_21:8. "The way of man is froward and strange: but as for the pure, his work is right." Between this verse and the two preceding there is an equally manifest connexion. The contrast appears somewhat singular-between "the way of man" and the "work of the pure" Yet the language is framed on the same principle with that of the apostle, when he says, "For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?" 1Co_3:3. The phrase "walk as men" is on the margin, "walk according to man." The reference, in both cases, is to the natural and generic character of man as distinguished from that of the regenerate. "The way of man" is the way which he is naturally disposed to choose and to follow. It is "strange "-the way of an alien, of one estranged from God, and from holiness. It is "froward "-the way of self-will and rebellious insubordination.
Who, then, are "the pure?" The answer is-those who have been "renewed in the spirit of their minds;" in whom the divine promise has been verified. "A new heart will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you." All real purity in man is the effect of the word and Spirit of God. It is by this he is " washed and sanctified." So it has been from the beginning; so it must be to the end.*
* Joh_3:3-10.
And what is the proof of inward purification?-"His work is right." Here is the test. Where there is purity in the fountain, there will be purity in the streams; and from the streams we judge of the fountain.-" His work is right." This relates to a standard. That standard is the character and the law of God. All is right there; and nothing is right in man that does not harmonize, in principle and act, with the revealed will of God. RECTITUDE IS CONFORMITY TO THAT WILL.
