Ralph Wardlaw Lectures on Proverbs - Proverbs 21:9 - 21:13

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Ralph Wardlaw Lectures on Proverbs - Proverbs 21:9 - 21:13


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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:



LECTURE LXV.



Pro_21:9-13.



"It is better to dwell in a comer of the house-top, than with a brawling woman in a wide house. The soul of the wicked desireth evil: his neighbour findeth no favour in his eyes. When the scorner is punished, the simple is made wise; and when the wise is instructed, he receiveth knowledge. The righteous man wisely considereth the house of the wicked: but God overthroweth the wicked for their wickedness. Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry himself, but shall not be heard."



God said, when he had created Adam-"It is not good that the man should be alone." In the first of these verses, Solomon affirms that there are cases in which it is good for the man to be alone. These are cases in which the gracious design of a kind and benevolent God is counteracted by the evil passions which, through sin, became the heritage of our fallen nature.



In eastern countries, as you are aware, the roofs of the houses were flat; and when solitude and quiet were specially courted,-as for meditation and prayer, for example,-the "house-top " was not seldom the resort. To "dwell," however, on the "house-top," and in "a corner of the house-top," could be no very comfortable residence, especially at particular seasons of variable weather. But the spirit of the verse is-anything rather than the evil complained of; any place, rather than within the range of fretfulness, contention, and clamour.



The wife that answers to the description before us, violates at once the precepts of God's law and the spirit of His gospel, is a plague, where she ought to be a pleasure; a curse, where she ought to be a blessing;-embittering the fountains of enjoyment, where she ought to sweeten the springs of Woe; converting into a scene of unceasing vexation and misery, what ought to be a concentration of the richest delights of earth; throwing venomous and hissing snakes into the circle of love and peace and concord, of fond hearts, and kind lips, and beaming eyes, and making her wretched husband long to find a speedy escape from that which ought to be the repose of his toils, the solace of his cares, the balm of his sorrows, the refreshment, the strength, and the joy of his heart! Such as know by experience the wretchedness described, will sympathise, through bitter fellow-feeling, with others who endure it; and they, on the contrary, who know the exquisite sweets of that domestic intercourse over which love presides, will pity from the bottom of their hearts the hapless victims of this most fearful scourge of social life.



But let us deal fairly. Solomon, I have formerly had occasion to remark, made a most unjust estimate of the female character. The experience from which, doubtless, he here speaks, was an experience greatly the result of his own folly and sin. His crowded seraglio was not' the place for either finding, cherishing, or enjoying the real excellencies of woman. I am fully persuaded, that both the average of general character, and of connubial affection and faithfulness, are greatly on the female side.-A vast deal has been said, and not a little sung, about the miseries of the matrimonial alliance. But of nine-tenths of it what is the origin? Is it not lightness and perverseness in the choice of a partner,-in the formation of the union? Is it not, in innumerable instances, the case, that the most intimate, sacred, indissoluble of all connexions is formed with a levity and infatuation, that have hardly a parallel in any other human negotiations! Do we not see men many a time bestowing far more consideration on the qualities of a horse or a cow before they will venture to purchase, than on the qualities of a woman before they will venture to marry?-the qualities of an inseparable companion for life? How, in such cases, is happiness to be looked for?-when men, ay and women too, act as if they not only said in jest but held in earnest, that the whole matter was no better than a lottery?-The man, moreover, who, regardless of the qualities of mind and heart, marries for mere personal appearance,-and still more and still worse, the man who looks only to the purse, and who thus prostitutes the finest and tenderest feelings of our nature, and vulgarizes the first and most endearing of all relations to a low, pitiful, sordid computation of pounds, shillings, and pence,-is not to be pitied, if in his fair or his wealthy spouse he find a termagant, and by bitter experience be taught the meaning and the truth of the verse before us; fleeing to the "house-top," and there sighing out his wishes that he could resign beauty and wealth and all, to be free of the scourge of the tongue!



Verse Pro_21:10. "The soul of the wicked desireth evil: his neighbour findeth no favour in his eyes." "Desireth evil!" What an amount of malignity do these words express! For the meaning does not seem to be that the wicked man desires the sin to which his corruption is prone. The latter clause of the verse leads us to interpret "evil" as meaning evil to his neighbour: the desire of which may spring from any of the various passions predominating in the bosom of " the wicked"-(all concentrated and summed up in selfishness)-avarice, ambition, lust, revenge. When any one of these predominates, or a combination of them sways the despotism of his heart,-"his neighbour findeth no favour in his eyes." Whenever "his neighbour" stands at all in the way of his own gratification,-of the acquisition of any object on which he has set his heart,-no consideration of his interest will be allowed for a moment to interpose an obstacle to its prosecution and attainment. Self is his idol; Selfishness his grand principle and impulse. He views "his neighbour" in no other light than as, on the one hand, the means of thwarting, or, on the other, the instrument of promoting his own ends. Can he gain any thing by him? he will flatter and cajole him, and do everything to win his favour, and secure his services. Does his "neighbour's" interest, reputation, personal and family comforts, connexions, or even life itself, stand in the way of the attainment of his wishes?-he is ready to sacrifice all to his idol. He will tempt and seduce him. He will defraud, rob, oppress, slander, or even kill him. A history of the operation of such passions as were before enumerated, given by the inspiration of Him who "knoweth what is in man," would form a most appalling commentary on this verse.



There are excellent commentators, however, who interpret the "desiring evil" of the love of sin in general; and who consider the love of sin as engendering the selfishness which sets at nought the claims of neighbour and friend. This may be the meaning; and, in effect, it comes to much the same thing.



Let us, my brethren, hate sin, and strive against the selfishness which the love of sin engenders, and which is one of the characteristics of "the wicked." There is, remember, an important distinction between disposition or inclination, and conscience. They are often at variance. It is by the former, not by the latter, that character is formed and distinguished. The most wicked of men may in his conscience disapprove what, following the bent of his inclination, he does. Even when he "works all uncleanness with greediness,"-even when he pursues the gratification of his avarice or his ambition at the expense of every principle of equity and benevolence, and regard to the interests of others, he may be very far from having conscience on his side. But the main difference between him and the good man is, that while he compels conscience to yield to inclination, the other brings inclination into conformity with conscience-" crucifying the flesh with its affections and lusts;" and, instead of selfishly setting aside the claims and rights and necessities of others for his own gratification, seeks his own pleasure in promoting the well-being of all around him. All his neighbours find favour in his eyes.



Verse Pro_21:11. ""When the scorner is punished, the simple is made wise; and when the wise is instructed, he receiveth knowledge." * The "scorner," as we have frequently had occasion to remark, is the man who laughs at all principle and restraint; who "makes a mock at sin," and sets at defiance all authority. As "the simple "-he who is inexperienced, inconsiderate, thoughtless,-when he "sees the prosperity" of such an one, is in danger of giving way to the rising emotions of envy, and,-stumbled by the mystery which his very simplicity makes him at a loss to explain,-of seeking to imitate;-so when such an one is punished,-when the scorner's high-minded contempt of God and goodness is thus visited and rebuked,-when the true and proper tendency of the course he follows is thus made manifest,-the simple is struck; consideration is forced upon him; he is led to look to the end of such courses; he " foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself;" he betakes himself to a wiser and a better way,-repenting and turning unto God; he is made wise, by learning to "fear God, and depart from evil."



* Comp. Pro_19:25.



In the latter part of the verse, what is the antecedent to the pronoun he? Is it "the wise?" It maybe; and the statement holds true. "The wise" improves under "instruction." "He receiveth knowledge." Instruction is not lost upon him. But I am inclined to regard "the simple" as the real antecedent; the meaning being, that from the "instruction of the wise," as well as from "the punishment of the scorner," "the simple" is enlightened and profited. The docility of "the wise "-the humble and earnest manner in which he is seen to receive the lessons of divine teaching,-tends, as does the view of the sad results of the scorner's hardihood, to impress the mind of "the simple " with a sense of the folly of his own inconsiderate thoughtlessness.



Let us learn the lesson of imitating in the latter case, and being on our guard in the other. If we see "the wise receiving knowledge," and see the effects of that knowledge in the propriety, consistency, and dignity of their conduct, in the influence, respect, and real substantial good of which it is productive;-and when, on the contrary, we see the unprincipled "scorner" reaping even here the bitter fruits of his madness, and look forward to the end, when these fruits will be reaped in their full amount of righteous infliction,-let us "stand in awe and sin not;" let us leave to himself "the seat of the scorner," "the way of the sinner," and "the counsel of the ungodly."



Verse Pro_21:12. "The righteous man wisely considereth the house of the wicked: but God overthroweth the wicked for their wickedness." The supplement in this verse is evidently a very violent one. It is not easy to conceive the writer omitting to express the words that are here inserted,-if he really intended them to be understood. I refer to the words "but God." I cannot imagine a more unlikely ellipsis. Some critics regard the verse as having undergone some little corruption in the original, and they venture to alter accordingly. But conjectural criticism is hazardous; and it must be a case of very hard necessity indeed that can justify having recourse to it. And at the same time the insertion of supplementary words requires hardly less caution and reserve. Observe, then:-First, the word rendered here "wisely considereth," is the same verb which, in the preceding verse, is translated "is instructed;" and to instruct, to give instruction, is its most common acceptation. Farther, the verb translated "overthroweth," means also "to turn aside"-generally in the sense of perverting, or turning from good, but not necessarily.



On such grounds, the verse has been translated by Dr. Boothroyd (and, although not in every point satisfied, I acquiesce in the rendering as the best,) "The righteous man teacheth, or gives instruction to, the house of the wicked, to turn away the wicked from evil." A forced and unnatural supplement is thus avoided; and the difficulties, in a simply critical view, are at least greatly lessened. In the Vulgate Latin version, the same turn is given to the second part of the verse;-" The just man thinks maturely concerning the house of the wicked, that he may draw away the wicked from evil."



And the practical sentiment thus brought out is one of the greatest importance. In the phrase "the house, or family of the wicked," the word wicked is in the singular number,-" the house of the wicked man:"-in the latter part of the verse, "that he may turn away the wicked from evil," wicked is plural, and may be considered as referring to the members of his household along with himself. The righteous man is deeply sensible that the family of the wicked are in danger of "perishing for lack of knowledge." Who is to instruct them! He looks upon such families with melting compassion; and his compassion, like that of God, and like that of Christ, is practical. He seeks opportunities of communicating instruction; and the nature of the instruction appears from the.nature of the design-"that he may turn away the wicked from evil."*



* Stuart renders the verse-"The Righteous One taketh cognizance of the house of the wicked; he will cast the wicked headlong into evil." Of the verb in the second clause he says-"A very strong word, to precipitate, to cast down headlong." Thus our translators have "Overthrow;" and such would certainly seem to be the usual sense of the term. Luther's rendering of the former part of the verse is much the same as that of the English version; the latter he renders, "but the wicked think only to do mischief"-on what authority it is hard to say.



Verse Pro_21:13. "Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry himself, but shall not be heard." In illustration of these striking and alarming words, observe-First: we may always expect, both in general society and in the church of God, "the rich and the poor to meet together." "The poor shall never cease out of the land," said God to Moses. "The poor ye have always with you," said Jesus to his disciples. The distinction has existed from the beginning hitherto. Wherever there has been property, it has been in various portions; and were there an equal partition of property to-day, there would be a difference to-morrow-a difference arising from diversity of character, as well as from the incessant influence of changing events. On the very day of equalization ten thousand incidents, over which men themselves could exert no control, even independently of the operation of avarice, and prodigality, and fancy, and whim, and caprice, would produce ten thousand changes.-There are varieties of poverty; for poverty is a relative and comparative term. And among the indigent and dependent poor there are also varieties:-the industrious and the indolent; the sober and the intemperate; the virtuous and the vicious; the deserving and the undeserving. Hence, secondly, nothing can be of greater consequence than marking this distinction, and regulating our charity accordingly. The verse cannot mean, that by an indiscriminate distribution of alms,' we should hold out an encouragement to laziness, or a bounty to thriftless and unprincipled profligacy-the beggary of the idle and the wicked. There is a "stopping of the ears" that is at times a virtue,-requiring an effort of self-denying principle, in opposition to the mere emotion and impulse of present pity. There are some who are worthless vagrants; there are others who are not really needy, but impostors on public benevolence. If we have the slightest ground to suspect either, it is but right to "stop the ear" till we know the case. Charity must be exercised judiciously. If it is not, we may greatly aggravate the evil it is our design to alleviate: and faithfulness to the stewardship with which God invests every man on whom he bestows the means of doing good, requires of him the use of discretion-the application of judgment, as well as the indulgence of feeling.-Thirdly, the sin here reproved is an unmerciful disposition; unfeeling hardness of heart; pitiless, avaricious, griping selfishness. Now, in many ways this selfishness may be exemplified. For instance, in the unreasonable beating down of the wages of the poor labourer and artisan; for true as it is that wages must be regulated by the state of supply and demand, yet there is, at times, to be seen a readiness to take advantage of circumstances beyond what they justly warrant, and, for the sake of a little extra profit, to grind the faces of the poor by screwing down the remuneration of their labour to the very starving point;-and, when they naturally and earnestly lift the voice of complaint and remonstrance, "stopping the ear at their cry." There is, again, the denial of protection to the poor, when it is pleaded for against oppression, and when we have it at all in our power to afford it. There is, still further, the selfish, ruthless disregard of the applications of the poor in their times of want and suffering,-the heartless refusal to hear them,-to be troubled with their representations and complainings,-some excuse being ever found or devised for declining to listen to or relieve them. This is a fearful violation of the great law of righteousness and love. Once more, there is a public "stopping of the ear at the cry of the poor," in times of prevailing destitution and distress, which, we cannot but feel, must awaken divine indignation against the Government and the country in which it prevails. It is the duty of every Government to deal equally with all classes of the community; and it becomes the duty of all the subjects of that Government to do what lies constitutionally in their power, to obtain the adoption of such measures as are fitted, without doing injustice to others, to provide most effectually, extensively, and permanently, for the wants of the unemployed and the destitute.



The saying of the verse is often verified amongst men. The avaricious and unmerciful, when they are themselves brought low and into straits, meet with little commiseration. As they meted, it is meted to them. If any thing is given them, it is with a grudge and stintedly. Heart and hand are closed against them; and the ear of generous kindness is turned away from their complainings. And in divine retribution, the saying is invariably and infallibly true. The poor were the objects of the special compassion and care of the merciful Saviour. His churches should resemble Him in this. It will fare ill with churches, as well as individuals, if they "stop their ear at the cry of the poor." It is one of the marks of a church's spiritual prosperity, and augurs the favour and blessing of their Lord, when the poor are kindly and liberally cared for.*



* See 2Co_9:6-11.