"He that followeth after righteousness and mercy findeth life, righteousness, and honour. A wise man scaleth the city of the mighty, and casteth down the strength of the confidence thereof. Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue, keepeth his soul from troubles. Proud and haughty scorner is his name, who dealeth in proud wrath. The desire of the slothful killeth him; for his hands refuse to labour. He coveteth greedily all the day long: but the righteous giveth and spareth not. The sacrifice of the wicked is abomination: how much more, when he bringeth it with a wicked mind? A false witness shall perish; but the man that heareth speaketh constantly. A wicked man hardeneth his face: but as for the upright, he directeth his way. There is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the Lord. The horse is prepared against the day of battle: but safety is of the Lord."
"RIGHTEOUSNESS AND MERCY" are the two great divisions of moral duty between man and man. In the Bible, as might be expected, they stand associated with a third-Godliness; that which forms the principle of the duties which man owes to his Maker and moral Governor.*1 There is nothing to which men are more prone than to put these asunder; and while, to a certain extent, practising towards their fellow-men what justice and humanity require, to leave out of their estimate of their characters altogether the affections and the conduct that arise from, and are required by, that primary obligation, that takes precedence of, and indeed is inclusive of, all others,-the obligation of every intelligent creature to God. The overlooking of this is the most affecting proof of human depravity, and the most prolific cause of human delusion. But, apart from the union, in Scripture, of these three branches of character, it may be noticed, that the word "righteousness" is frequently taken in a more comprehensive sense,-as a term for human duty at large, as it is also a term for all the moral excellence of Deity.*2 And when we recollect that "righteousness" consists in giving every one his due, why should it not include the first of all dues, that which is due to God? If it is unrighteous to withhold that which is due, the ungodly man is, in the highest sense, the unrighteous man. He fails to pay the first and most imperative of his debts. If there can be no claim equal to God's, there can be no iniquity equal to the violation of it.-Benevolence is one of the primary elements of the divine character. And it is the law of the moral universe. Love is the fulfilling of that law. God has made love due from creature to creature, as well as from the creature to Himself. And he can neither imitate God, nor obey Him, who does not follow after "mercy" as well as "righteousness."
*1 Comp. Tit_2:11-12; Mic_6:8. rr
*2 See 1Jn_3:7; 1Jn_2:29.
He who "followeth after"-who habitually and perseveringly practises these virtues, "findeth life." He has a truly happy life. He has God's presence and blessing; and these are life,-life's true zest and joy.* He also " findeth righteousness." The man of high principle, who is noted for his strict uprightness, will generally meet with a return in kind. Few, comparatively, will attempt to cheat the thoroughly honest dealer. Knaves themselves will be awed into honesty by the knowledge of his character. And he "finds honour;"-when in any case "righteousness and mercy" are eminently united; when a man not only adheres strictly to the imperative demands of justice, but lays himself out for the benefit of others-at a cost of toil and trouble, and self-denial and sacrifice,-"honour" will be his due; and honour he will obtain. It will attend upon him while he lives, and it will be attached to his name when he is gone hence. There may be a hind of greatness arising from mere vastness of intellect and mightiness of power, working wonders in the earth, and affecting now and for ages to come, the destinies of nations. But where there has been no principle; where there has been neither "righteousness" nor "mercy," but the flagrant violation of both, the very page of history, which records the greatness, records with it the dishonour; associating with the magnitude of the events, and the magnitude of mental and physical resources by which they were brought about, the brand of moral reprobation. The only true, living, lasting "honour" is that which is gained by the operation of great moral principles, for all real greatness lies in moral worth. Even in life, the man of self-denying generosity will be so valued, and so honoured, that others will be ready to risk and sacrifice life itself for his preservation. "For a good man some would even dare to die."
* Comp. Php_4:8-9.
But higher and better blessings may be meant. These, indeed, are not, in God's word, associated, in the way of merit on the creature's part, or of reward on His, with the practice of "righteousness and mercy;"-but "life, righteousness, and honour" are ever connected with the character. *
* Rom_6:20-22; Psa_24:3-5; Rom_2:6-11.
Verse Pro_21:22. "A wise man scaleth the city of the mighty, and casteth down the strength of the confidence thereof." The proverb has had, at times, a literal fulfilment. Look at ancient Babylon. With its insurmountable walls and bulwarks, it seemed secure; and its monarch could smile in proud defiance at the power of the mightiest assailants. But Cyrus had something besides military force. He had wisdom; and the turning of the course of the Euphrates, and entering by its channel, accomplished what force could not in any way effect; and in an unexpected moment,-a moment of careless and fearless mirth and revelry, and glorying in the impregnable security of its lofty and massive muniments,-was "the strength of the confidence" of Babylon "cast down." The language refers, however, under a particular illustration, to the conquering of great difficulties in general-affirming that, for this end, wisdom is much more effectual than mere physical force. Force, without wisdom, very frequently, instead of gaining its objects, impedes and frustrates them. The "wise man " proceeds with cautious and considerate prudence,-with appropriate adjustment of means and methods to the circumstances and the characters with which he has to deal. And, in the case of the godly, the wisdom that consists in the fear of the Lord, will, in every season of perplexity and difficulty, look upward for divine direction, and guide itself by the light of the divine word.* It is thus that the good man encounters and overcomes spiritual opposition lying in the way of his course heavenward. In the strength of divinely promised aid, he "casts down the strength of the confidence" of his spiritual adversaries, and is made "more than conqueror."
* See Pro_3:5-6.
Verse Pro_21:23. "Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue, keepeth his soul from troubles." Here we have still another characteristic and another advantage of wisdom. It enables its possessor to "keep the mouth and the tongue"-to know the "time to be silent, and the time to speak," and in the time to speak, what to say. We have had repeated occasion to notice the incalculable amount and variety of mischief of which the tongue is the occasion; how its openly uttered or secretly whispered words may break hearts, may ruin characters, may sever friends, may bring individuals and families to beggary and disgrace, may spread alienation and discord through extensive circles of intimacy and affection, may "pierce through with many sorrows" spirits that were enjoying peace and love, may be even as barbed daggers that take away life; how too they recoil in mischief to ourselves; how a word of slander brought out in a moment of irritation or thoughtlessness, may cost a man the humiliation of submissive apology, or the annoyance and expense of litigation, and the reparation of heavy damages; how the recollection of a hasty expression, along with the effects which have arisen from it to those to whom at the time no harm was meant, may inflict severe and long-continued self-reproach, with all its accompaniments of mental disquietude and distress; how the foolish utterances of an unguarded hour may go far to shake the credit of years of discretion-the recollection of that hour of folly ever returning upon the mind of previous admirers, and, if not absolutely obliterating their former estimate of a man's sound sense and dignity, operating at least as a serious drawback on their respect for his character; how too it leads to inward deep remorse, arising from a consciousness of having spoken inconsistently with our Christian profession and principles, and the thought of having given an unfavourable impression of our religion, and failed of an opportunity of honouring God-a thought than which to a Christian heart there is none more galling, spirit-sinking, and severe:-associated as it is with proportionate diminution of interest in Christ, and of the validity of our confidence towards God.-It is indeed emphatically true that "whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue, keepeth his soul from troubles."
Verse Pro_21:24. "Proud and haughty scorner is his name, who dealeth in proud wrath." To "deal in proud wrath,"-on the margin, "in the wrath of pride,"-evidently means to act with the overbearing violence of a haughty spirit. All the conduct of such a man is insolently self-sufficient, and, when resisted, furious. The proud man is puffed up. He thinks all should at once yield to his will and wishes, and can bear with patience no opposition. This of course is a character that can never be liked. It stirs up the pride and passion of others. It becomes the object of universal indignation and disgust. Hence the man gets himself a name of reproach: he shall be called "proud and haughty scorner:" and in his name he finds his punishment: for true it is, that the proudest of men does not like being called proud; as the man who deals most in lies may like least to be called a liar. A "proud scorner" is one of the most unpopular and odious of characters. From him whom men thus designate, all will keep aloof. And in a world where all are necessarily so much dependent upon one another, in despite of a man's self-concentrated pride and contempt of his fellows, it is not every one that. can afford to adopt and live upon the maxim of the tyrant-"Let them hate me, so they but fear me!" Thus he who, by his unbearable temper, "sets himself alone in the earth," may be forced to feel the inconveniences of being without the good-will even of those whom he professes to scorn.
Verses Pro_21:25-26. "The desire of the slothful killeth him; for his hands refuse to labour. He coveteth greedily all the day long: but the righteous giveth, and spareth not." The word of God is characterised by its variety. Even on the same subject, how frequently soever introduced, there may generally be found some diversity in the position it occupies,-the light in which it is presented; some new phase in its source, its nature, or its results. The evil effects of sloth have been before us oftener than most points on which the wise man touches. Here it is again. We dwell only on the new aspect under which it appears. It is presented to us first, as a species of self-murder:-"The desire of the slothful killeth him:" and why?-"for his hands refuse to labour." He will not work, and he cannot want. He "desires" certain acquisitions and indulgences; but his hands refuse to second his wishes. He cannot bring them to the necessary exertion; and so his unsatisfied desire gnaws, torments, wastes, irritates, destroys him. There is nothing more irksome than the longing, yawning, fretting yearnings of the indolent wretch who will not help himself. They are miserable; and they are suicidal; they "kill him." Mere "desiring" that the ground were tilled will not till it. Mere wishing for money and food will not create either the one or the other. So that if he only "desires" life, but will do nothing to sustain it, he must die.* Another aspect of the same evil is that it engenders and maintains the spirit of a grasping grudging covetousness: "He coveteth greedily all the day long." He sees others in the possession and enjoyment of what he wants. He longs after the same, but he will do nothing to obtain it. He sets his heart on all he sees, and pines away in that "envy which is the rottenness of the bones." In the Paris French translation the words stand thus-"All the day long he does nothing but wish." How very expressive at once of the unconquerable indolence and the fretful, envious, pining unhappiness of the sluggard! And in his wishing, he may at times, by the power of a sanguine imagination, work himself into hope; and then, disappointment only embitters the cup of his own mingling,-aggravates the misery, which he is painfully conscious is self-inflicted.-Further: he appears before us a stranger to all the positive and exquisite pleasures of charity and beneficence; but "the righteous giveth and spareth not." It is not said, you will observe-"the diligent giveth and spareth not;" because there are not a few who are sufficiently exemplary in diligence, to whom the Bible would not give the designation of "the righteous,"-and who are far from being distinguished for benevolence. But the antithesis, as it stands here, implies these three things: First, that diligence is one of the features in the character of the righteous:-Secondly, that the natural tendency, and ordinary result of this is, through the divine blessing, abundance to spare:-Thirdly, that another distinguishing feature of the character of the righteous man, readiness to part with what his industry acquires-"giving, and not sparing;" that is, giving cheerfully, and giving liberally; not assenting merely to the truth of the maxim, as being the word of the Lord, but feeling the truth of it in their own heart's experience-"It is more blessed to give than to receive."
* Comp. Ecc_4:5.
Verse Pro_21:27. "The sacrifice of the wicked is abomination: how much more, when he bringeth it with a wicked mind?" The sentiment of the former part of the verse we have already illustrated,* showing by an appeal to many explicit passages in the Old Testament, that, unless the character of the worshipper was in correspondence with the worship offered by him, that worship, instead of being acceptable to the "Holy One of Israel," to the pure, truth-loving, and heart's searching God, was held by him in abhorrence, and indignantly rejected.
* Pro_15:8.
What, then, is the addition to this truth, in the latter part of this verse?-"How much more, when he bringeth it with a wicked mind?" The meaning seems to be-when not only is the worshipper's general character at variance with the religious service, but when the particular act of devotion itself is performed with an evil design-as a cloak or cover to some wicked purpose:-when a man comes before the God of truth for a purpose of falsehood,-a purpose suggested by the father of lies; concealing by a profession made to God some work of the devil. We have an instance in the history of Jezebel.*1 There was a fast-a religious service to Jehovah-proclaimed, with the express object of covering the perpetration of one of the most nefarious deeds of treachery and murder recorded in the Bible history. The case of Balaam is another. He ordered the building at successive places, of his seven altars, and offered his bullock and his ram on every altar. But all the while he was "loving the wages of unrighteousness;" and, for the sake of these wages, trying to bribe the Almighty into a permission to him to curse Israel. Look also at our Lord's representation of the character of the hypocritical Pharisees; in which He seems plainly to point at something more than general dissimulation-the studied covering of the very act of robbery-the robbery of the widow and the fatherless-by some accompanying act of extraordinary devotion.*2 There are degrees in sin. There are aggravating circumstances in the same kinds of sin. There is wickedness in all hypocrisy-in all religious dissimulation,-there being no one thing in which "simplicity and godly sincerity" are more imperatively required than the services of religion; but of all religious dissimulation that must be the most heinous, in which an act of worship is performed expressly to cover and facilitate the execution of an act of villany; when a worshipper bows before the God of mercy and truth, with the assassin's dagger under his garment; or confesses and prays to "the righteous Lord who loveth righteousness" to preclude suspicion,-to inspire confidence in his holy character, that he may the more-easily succeed in pillaging the poor!-Let all remember, that the same kind of guilt, though in various degrees, is contracted, when a man assumes, in the public worship of God, any airs of ultra devotion,-any sanctimonious ostentation and grimace, for the purpose of getting a character for religion, and so enabling him, under the cloak of such a reputation, to obtain credit and confidence, while he is, in his business, carrying forward a system of dishonourable and swindling speculation or embezzlement. O! of what is not human nature, under the dominance of unprincipled selfishness, capable!
*1 See 1Ki_21:9-10, &c. rr
*2 Mat_23:14; Luk_20:47.
Verse Pro_21:28. "A false witness shall perish; but the man that heareth speaketh constantly." Here too we have former truth, with some addition to it. "A false witness" is, on the margin, "a witness of lies." It probably means here a witness who gives in evidence inventions of his own, that he knows to have no foundation in fact. It stands in antithesis to-"the man that heareth." This some critics understand in a sense which the occasional use of the verb to hear certainly justifies,-" the man that obeyeth." But, in the present instance, this seems rather forced. "The man that heareth," or who hath heard, is the witness who has personal knowledge of the case-who has been present on the spot and has listened to what passed.
The former "shall perish:" he shall fail in his cause, entangling himself in the meshes of his own inventions,-falsehood being seldom in all points consistent,-and so bring ruin upon himself in this life, and be visited with perdition in the end. Not so in regard to the latter: "the man that heareth speaketh constantly." If we abide by this translation, the meaning is-that he who has heard persists uniformly in the same statements.* Truth is always consistent. No cross-questioning can elicit any incoherence. It needs nothing to help it out; nor is it ever in hesitation or at a loss. It is free, open, ready; delivering its testimony without apprehension, knowing that all is in harmony. But the original more properly signifies "unto victory." One French version has it-"shall speak so as to gain the cause;" another-"shall speak, and shall have the victory." This too is the sense given by the Latin Vulgate. The idea seems to be that the consistency of truth shall triumph over the artifice and chicanery of falsehood and deceit. The perjurer may for a time seem to have the better of the cause; but ultimately the witness of lies shall be exposed, and the witness of truth shall be triumphant.
* Stuart considers the meaning to be, "that the sincere listener to the divine commands will ever be at liberty to speak," and "find confidence put in what he says."
My brethren, we are all hastening to a tribunal where accuser, and witness, and judge, shall all be One. God is now the inspector of all our actions, and the hearer of all our words; and at the great day, He will not need that any should testify to him of man. There will be no need for calling witnesses, on whose testimony to found the verdicts of that day. "He that sitteth upon the throne" shall have a perfect intuitive knowledge of every individual of the countless myriads that shall then appear at His bar,-an unerringly distinct remembrance of every particular in the conduct and history of each, and of the motives by which, on every occasion, he was actuated. Conscience, however successfully bribed to a partial testimony now, will then respond to the truth of every charge. And when to those whom He places on his left hand, the Judge shall say, "Depart from me, ye cursed!" there will be no plea possible in arrest of the sentence. "These shall go away into everlasting punishment." And the same omniscient and unerring Judge shall "justify the righteous." Placing them on his right hand, he will welcome them to blessedness; and all their adversaries shall be ashamed; not a lip daring to open against them, or in impeachment of their sentence.*
* Rom_8:31; Rom_8:33-39.
Verse Pro_21:29. "A wicked man hardeneth his face: but as for the upright, he directeth his way."-The "wicked man" has good cause to be ashamed. His actions are such as give him plentiful reason to blush; but he blushes not. He "hardens his face." He assumes the air of impudent effrontery; braves the searching gaze of others; bids them the defiance of an unmoved countenance. He thus seeks to command an impression of his innocence. He has learned the lesson of concealing the secrets of conscience. His desire and his study are, to attain the power of sinning without blushing; and it is wonderful what an amount of this command of countenance some have reached. There is no discerning from their looks the slightest symptom of conscious guilt; while the innocent may blush crimson at the very thought of being so much as charged with the evil, and exposing themselves to suspicion that has no ground.-"Hardening the face," signifies also determined self-will, that is unmoved by expostulation, and proof against warning,-equally scornful of entreaty and of threatening-of love and of fear. Such was the character of God's ancient people, in their times of rebellion against Him.* It required divinely imparted courage and self-command to be able to face them.
* Jer_5:2-3; Jer_8:12; Eze_3:7-9.
Mark the other side of the antithesis:-"but the upright directeth," or, as on the margin, "considereth his way."-This may include two things:-1. His great desire and aim are, by a due consideration of his way, so to direct and order it, that he may have no cause for shame, and no need for command of countenance to conceal conscious guilt. While a blush may at times suffuse the cheek of conscious innocence at the very imputation of evil, it will soon pass away, and the naturalness of modest truth will inspire confidence in all who witness it. He would not "quench the blushes of ingenuous shame;" but he endeavours so to speak, and so to act, as that he shall have no reason to hide his head or cover his face,-far less to "harden" it. 2. The upright man is influenced by such a self-diffident consciousness of his liability to say and to do what is wrong, that when anything of the kind is imputed to him, or surmised against him, he humbly "considers his way." He is led to self-examination,-to ascertain whether, through want of due watchfulness, he may not have erred. So far from "hardening his face" like a man who had such conceit of himself as to imagine that he could not do aught amiss, and that his only feeling under any imputation should be that of indignant scorn,-he is rather induced, in humility of spirit, to the more sincere and fervent adoption of the psalmist's prayer:-"Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my thoughts: and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting," Psa_139:23-24.
O let the second of these characters be yours! A hardened heart and a hardened face,-a face that has learned to brave accusation and to look innocent under conscious guilt, are the most undesirable of all attainments. The confusion of innocence, when evil is imputed, is far preferable. Better far to be innocent and thought guilty, than to be guilty and thought innocent. Better far to have the sentence of acquittal in our own bosoms, though condemned by men, than to succeed in getting acquittal from men, and carry within us the sentence of guilt. How painful soever the former, we can still look up to God, and forward to His tribunal, as that of unerring rectitude,-where He will "bring forth our righteousness as the light, and our judgment as the noon-day." O! there will be no "hardening of the face" then. Conscience will do its duty. The eyes which are as a flame of fire will search the inmost soul. Every eye will quail, and every countenance, even the most hardened, sink, before the look of Him that sitteth upon the throne. He will then at once "wipe off the reproach of his people," and "bring to light the hidden things of darkness." And then they who, under the influence of faith, and fear, and love, have "considered their way," shall lift up their faces without dread, and meet the smiles of their gracious Judge!
We may, perhaps, consider the wise man as pointing out three modes of covering and effecting evil purposes:-in the twenty-seventh verse, the mask of religion; in the twenty-eighth, false testimony; in the twenty-ninth, the assumed boldness and look of innocence. But (verse Pro_21:30) "there is no wisdom, nor understanding, nor counsel, against the Lord." There may be against men. In one, or other, or all of these ways they may be deceived. There may, in many cases, be "wisdom and understanding and counsel," more than sufficient to impose upon and outwit them. But God knows all. His eye cannot be eluded; His designs cannot be thwarted; neither His promises nor His threatenings can be falsified, by any artifice, or policy, or might of the children of men,-no, nor of any created being.
And, as there is "no wisdom, understanding, or counsel" against the Lord, so neither is there power:-verse Pro_21:31. "The horse is prepared against the day of battle: but safety is of the Lord." Sometimes, in the history of His ancient people, the Lord adopted means in themselves utterly inadequate,-absolutely trivial and powerless,-and granted the most signal success, for the purpose of conveying and impressing the lesson, that even when the best-equipped and most powerful armaments were employed, it was on Him they were still to depend,-and neither previously to confide, nor subsequently to glory, in their own resources, and might, and skill. Thus it was in the case of the reduction of their vast army to the "three hundred," by whom the immense hosts of Midian were overthrown. And, in a similar manner, and at a most appropriate time, was the great lesson inculcated,-just when they were setting out on the conquest of the land of promise. By what means was the first city overthrown? By means which, but for the rumours that had come to their ears, the inhabitants might well have "laughed to scorn"-by successive processions round it, and the repeated blast of trumpets. This was manifestly designed to show them at the very outset to whom they were to owe the subjugation and possession of the land. It was an important and salutary lesson; and it is the very sentiment to which, in their hymns of acknowledgment and praise, the ancient church gave utterance.*
* Psa_44:1-8.
Let us, as we are taught to do, generalize the sentiment:-"Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain."*
* Psa_127:1.
"Fond mortals but themselves beguile,
When on themselves they rest:
Blind is their wisdom, weak their toil,
By thee, O Lord, mildest!"
Safe and happy is the man, and he alone, who "trusteth in Jehovah," for "in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength." And let me remind all, that the principle is applicable to means of safety from other and greater than temporal evils or created enemies. "Safety-salvation is of the Lord." He has made known His way of security from the wrath to come. Men may devise and follow schemes of their own: but none but His can be safe. "There is no wisdom, nor understanding, nor counsel," in this matter, "against the Lord." His counsel shall stand. Ah! sinners, what plans soever of your own you may embrace, you will find the truth of this in the end. Christ is the only refuge. "There is no salvation in any other." When Israel were penitent, they owned the worthless insufficiency of all the means of protection in which they had previously trusted, and cast themselves on the power and mercy of their own Jehovah.* Thus must it be with every penitent sinner. The very first thing he does is to renounce all his previous confidences, and betake himself to that one which Jehovah has provided and revealed.-And then, there is to the end a spiritual warfare, in which "safety is of the Lord." We cannot cope with our spiritual enemies but in His strength. We must be "strong in the Lord." We must be made conquerors "through him that loved us." "Through God we shall do valiantly: for he it is that shall tread down our enemies."
