"If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread lo eat; and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink: for thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head, and the Lord shall reward thee. The north wind driveth away rain; so doth an angry countenance a backbiting tongue. It is better to dwell in a corner of the housetop, than with a brawling woman, and in a wide house. As cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country. A righteous man falling down before the wicked is as a troubled fountain, and a corrupt spring. It is not good to eat much honey; so for men to search their own glory is not glory. He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls."
The "honour which cometh from men," and which men assert for themselves even at the sword's point, is very diverse from the "honour which cometh from God," and which He has enjoined on His children to covet. The one is the honour of pride,-the other of humility; the one the honour of allowing no injury to be unavenged,-the other of forgiving wrongs and covering the multitude of sins; the one the honour of the mere natural and conventional courage that exposes life for life, rather than allow the slightest or most imaginary affront to pass unavenged,-the other the moral courage that sets at nought the contempt of men rather than incur the displeasure of God.-In His eye, and in the eye of every holy being, a victory gained in the way prescribed by the opening verses of this passage, is incomparably more glorious than even the deepest humiliation of an adversary by an opposite course-by the wrath-breathing retaliations of pride. It is a double victory,-a victory over ourselves as well as over our enemy.*
* For further illustration, see Pro_24:17-18; Pro_24:29 (...).
In these remarks, I have taken for granted, what I believe to be the truth, that the words "for thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head" have reference, not to the fires of divine vengeance, but to the influence of kindly treatment melting down the enemy to conciliation, as fuel heaped on the ore fuses it from its hardness, and sends it forth in liquid streams, to take the features and impress of the mould.-A certain prince, on leading his generals and his army against an advancing host of invaders, declared his resolution not to leave a single enemy alive. He sent an embassy to treat with them. He made proposals such as subdued and attached them, and rendered them valuable allies. On astonishment being expressed that he should have thus failed in his determination and promise, his ready reply was-"I have not failed: I have kept my word. I engaged not to leave a living enemy; nor have I. They are enemies no longer-they are friends." He had "heaped coals of fire on their head."
Verse Pro_25:23. "The north wind driveth away rain; so doth an angry countenance a backbiting tongue."-You will observe that the marginal rendering just reverses the meaning:-"The north wind bringeth forth rain; so doth a backbiting tongue an angry countenance." Some critics insist on this being the true rendering. The latter words of the verse are certainly capable of either arrangement: and if the verb rendered "driveth away" would not bear that meaning, but required being translated as in the margin, then of course we should have to bow to the force of necessity. That rendering, however, is defended by other critics, as one of which the original word is susceptible. And I confess that if the word will bear it at all, it appears to me decidedly preferable. There is something tame, common-place, and of little practical consequence,-hardly worth forming the subject of a proverb,-in saying that as the north wind brings rain "a backbiting tongue" brings anger. But the verse, as it stands in our translation, inculcates a most important lesson-namely, the way to discourage and repress slander. "Backbiting" is a word which sufficiently conveys its own meaning. It is secretly traducing characters, by telling of them what is false, or even, for malicious purposes, by circulating clandestinely what is true. It is very generally accompanied with a hypocritical simulation of affection or admiration to the person's face, while he is vilified in his absence. Some show much of this spirit of detraction. They never seem easy when they hear any one specially commended. They are ever disposed to throw in some qualifying insinuation,-something or other on the per contra side, to reduce the praise. They even appear to lay hold with delight on every opportunity to depreciate excellence; and particularly if there happens to be any kind of rivalry between the person who is the subject of commendation and themselves. O they do enjoy the bringing down of a rival! They spare no pains for this. And they often effect much in this way without uttering a word. A look, a wink, a shrug, a humph-can be made to convey a vast deal of meaning; and if the meaning be not explicit, so much the better. It is enough if suspicion is raised;-if the impression is made that there is something that is not right,-something which, if the eulogist but knew all, would go far to qualify his commendations.
On the other side, how sad the tendency in human nature to lend a ready ear to such! When the artful and practised backbiter, well aware of this, has by degrees got a willing listener, he goes on step by step-one thing after another-undermining and destroying the fair fame of the object of his dislike. He takes great care not to say too much all at once: that might shock and repel. He feigns reluctance. He is exceedingly concerned to be under the necessity of saying so; but truth obliges him. His object is, only to put you on your guard; to prevent your being led to any false course by taking up the representations of others, who happen not to know what he knows. He thinks it right at any rate that you should be made aware of the true state of the case,-that you may feel and act accordingly.
All such vile "backbiting" should he met with "an angry countenance." It should be instantly frowned away; no willing ear being ever lent to the defamer. Were all to act thus, and to stop his mouth with an indignant and resolute rebuke, it would put down the evil, "as the north wind driveth away rain."
O let not this spirit and this practice be so much as named amongst believers. It is utterly adverse to the entire genius of the Gospel, and to the precepts and example of the Lord of Christians. The religion of Jesus is the religion of love,-love even to enemies; the religion too of open day-light, and singleness of heart;-the religion of that charity which "thinketh no evil, which rejoiceth not in iniquity, hut rejoiceth in the truth."*
* For the illustration of the following verse, the reader is referred to Pro_19:13; Pro_21:9; Pro_21:19, &c.
Verse Pro_25:25. "As cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country." A beautiful similitude! Its full import, no doubt, is best understood and felt in sultry climes. Yet even we can in some measure appreciate its propriety and force, if in the parching drought of summer we have ever slaked our thirst at the cooling spring, when oppressed by the heat and fatigue of a wearing-out journey. The very sight of such a spring is refreshment. It exhilarates the spirit, and gives new energy to the exhausted frame.
The simile is applicable to all "good news,"-especially to such as are more than ordinarily interesting to any of our natural and social affections; and in a peculiar manner, when the tidings are unexpected; more so still, when they come after long delay and corresponding anxiety,-when "hope deferred has made the heart sick;" when day after day,-week after week,-month after month, we have waited and longed, and sighed, and prayed, for favourable accounts, not of mere worldly property, but of lives, in which we feel as if our own were bound up. All! do we not then enter into the full soul of the comparison?
And how peculiarly applicable is it to that best news that ever greeted the ears of sinful men!-the news that came from the heaven of heavens to this our apostate world, and of which angels were the first messengers, when they cheered the timid and alarmed spirits of the shepherds of Bethlehem with the proclamation-"Fear not; for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people,"-and with that song of ravishing harmony, which, in the stillness of midnight, burst from ten thousand seraphic voices,-"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." How can it but be a delightful thing to us, to hear how these good tidings (which alas! to so many are vapid and uninteresting as a tale twice told) are now so extensively published in heathen lands,-lands of spiritual drought and dreariness,-"thirsty lands wherein is no water!"-to hear of the progress of truth-of its victories over error-of its converting, sanctifying, gladdening, civilizing, saving influence! How full of refreshing and cheering effect on our spirits are such tidings! They are, of all others, the richest and sweetest in pleasure to the Christian heart. The highest authority assures us, that "there is joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth." Even there, it seems, the truth of this verse is experienced. When the "good news" of the progress of the Redeemer's kingdom by the conversion of sinners, and the additions thus made to the number of its subjects, reach that "land that is afar off"-that "land of sacred liberty and endless rest,"-it is, to the blessed inhabitants, like a fresh draught from the "pure river of water of life." And the holy joy is shared by the pilgrims below. It reanimates and braces their spirits, in prosecuting their journey heavenward, amidst all the difficulties, temptations, and trials of the way. If we do experience the delight, let us seek in earnest, by increasing liberality and zeal, to procure it more and more for ourselves!-The good tidings are designed to prepare sinners for the glorious country whence the tidings come, and to put them ultimately in happy possession of it. O sinner, prize those tidings. Hear, and believe them, that your soul may live!-Hear, and circulate them, that others may come to the same life;-the spiritual life on earth, introductory to the eternal life in heaven!
Verse Pro_25:26. "A righteous man falling down before the wicked is as a troubled fountain and a corrupt spring." Possibly this verse may have been suggested by the preceding in the arrangement, or copying out of the proverbs. There we have the refreshing influence on the soul of "good news" represented by the refreshing influence on the body of a draught of pure and wholesome water. But suppose a thirsty man, in high and longing expectation, comes to a fountain or a spring, and finds the fountain a puddle from agitation, or the spring embittered and poisoned by some nauseous and noxious ingredient-the disappointment is grievous. Such is our dissatisfaction, when "the righteous falls down before the wielded."
The language has had different senses attached to it.-1. It has been understood of the righteous paying, whether from fear or from interest, undue homage to the wicked. There is miserable incongruity in this. It is a painful thing to witness; and it is injurious as well as painful-discovering an unworthy destitution of right principle, such as is fitted to produce very prejudicial effects on the minds of all, especially of the ungodly who witness the unseemly spectacle.-2. It has been understood of the righteous being subjected to the arbitrary and capricious power of the wicked-constrained to bend to his dictation and authority-deprived of his own will and freedom under the power of the unprincipled oppressor. This is the world turned upside down-the inversion of all that is right and seemly. The power should be with the righteous for the restraint of the wicked. The contrary is "like a troubled fountain and a corrupt spring." It fails to produce the salutary effect which power properly lodged is fitted to produce. The fountains and springs of justice being by this means polluted and poisoned, society, instead of receiving benefit, 'is injured accordingly.-But 3. The word in the original signifies to slip or stumble, so as to fall. And, as it bears this sense most naturally, I am inclined to understand the verse with those interpreters by whom it is explained of the righteous falling in a moral sense-falling into sin, in the presence of the wicked. This is, emphatically, "like a troubled fountain and a corrupt spring." It disappoints our pleasing expectations of clear, sweet, refreshing water. From the righteous we look for an example that shall recommend religion-that shall draw others to its pure, and wholesome, and life-giving springs. When the conduct of professors, in presence of the ungodly, is such as to have the opposite tendency;-when its waters are turbid, and foul, and bitter, and, instead of inducing others to come to the fountain, serve to disgust and repel them-how incongruous-and how distressing!-Alas! that the incongruity should be so often seen!
The "troubled fountain and the corrupt spring" must send forth polluted, tainted, deadly streams. And so it is here. O! how much evil flows from the sins of God's people! Look at the falls of David and Solomon themselves. From these "troubled fountains"-from these "corrupt springs"-streams of tainted and bitter waters have continued to flow from that day to this. The "man after God's own heart," and the " wisest of men," have been the byword of the ungodly and sceptical in every age. How should this put us, and keep us, on our guard!
Verse Pro_25:27. "It is not good to eat much honey; so for men to search their own glory is not glory." You will observe, that in the latter clause of this verse, the words "is not" are supplementary,-being printed in Italics. They are evidently indispensable to complete the designed antithesis. The supplement seems to proceed on an admitted idiom in the Hebrew composition, according to which the negative in the former part of a sentence is carried forward and understood in the latter.* Honey is good, in moderation; a surfeit of it is injurious. (See Pro_5:16.) In like manner, a regard to character and reputation,-a desire after a virtuous and honourable distinction,-is warrantable and right. It would be wrong for any man to be indifferent to what others think of him. It is not a matter connected with mere feeling. The usefulness of every man depends to a great degree upon the character he sustains. The only description of persons who may be considered as entitled to be regardless about character consists of those who have no character to lose.
* See for illustration Psa_9:18; Psa_75:5; Psa_38:1; Psa_44:18.-The idiom may be applied for the explanation of a passage otherwise involving a painful and revolting difficulty. It is in the charge of David, when dying, to his son and successor Solomon (1Ki_2:9). The not should he carried on to the last clause. And accordingly, the charge, so understood, corresponds precisely to the course which Solomon actually pursued. He allowed Shimei his life, under the limitation of his strictly confining himself within the city. To the condition Shimei assented. And it was not for his conduct to David, hut in consequence of his violating the stipulated terms on which his life had been granted, that he was afterwards put to death. This makes all consistent. The very terms of the change itself, connected with the previous reason or ground of it, requires this interpretation:-verse 1Ki_2:8.-(Author). Stuart disputes the application of the principle in this verse of Proverbs, and renders, "searching after one's own glory is burdensome," referring the original term in its second occurrence to the primary meaning of the Hebrew verb with which it is connected.
But there is an extreme; and to that extreme Solomon here refers. There is such a thing as vain glory. There is such a thing as a person's indulging an insatiable appetite for applause and honour. There is such a thing as "searching it out," looking ever after it, eager to get it, and touchily jealous of every omission to bestow it and every deficiency in its amount; exploring for it in every possible direction; listening with an ear on the alert to catch every breathing of adulation; fishing for praise; throwing out hints to draw it forth; eulogizing others, to tempt a return; saying things in disparagement of oneself, for the sake of having them contradicted,-things which, said by another, would stir the hottest of his blood.-The temper of mind may be put in exercise, in regard to greater and to smaller matters. It may assume the form of a proud ambition, or of a weak-minded vanity. But in either case it may with truth be said that "it is not glory."-A man's honour should rather come to him, than be eagerly solicited and searched for. It should not be made his object. If we follow the example of Jesus,* we shall seek God’s glory as our first and constant aim, not our own. And this is the way to true glory; for He says-"him that honoureth me I will honour."
* See Joh_7:18; Joh_8:50; Joh_5:41.
The closing verse (Pro_25:28) may be regarded as a kind of counterpart to the 32d verse of the sixteenth chapter (Pro_16:32). There we have the wise man's commendation of self-control; and here, under a very apt similitude, the evil effects of the want of it. "He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls." Such a city is in a state of complete insecurity and exposure,-open to the assault, and the sure prey, of every invader. And to what can the man be more fitly compared, who is destitute of self-government,-swayed by the uncontrolled mastery of his angry and resentful temper! It is in every one's power to take advantage of such a man; to get the better of him; to make him miserable. Any one knows how to provoke him. It is as easy as marching into a city whose defences are prostrate, whose walls are broken down. Thus any one who has a spite at the passionate man may satiate his malice to the full by touching the spring that is sure to throw him off his guard. He will then more surely expose himself, than his enemy, by all he had it in his power to say, could possibly do.
Further, Satan takes advantage of such a character. He is easy of access, and easy of capture. He can, with all facility, by touching his passions-by throwing a spark amidst the inflammable and fiery material within, lead him, or rather drive him, to sin,-making him the unconscious instrument of his evil purposes. By the indulgence of an angry spirit a man "gives place" to the devil. He opens to him the garrison of his heart. His spiritual state is in continual and imminent danger. His soul is exposed to every assault of every enemy and in hourly peril of being sacked and plundered of all that is dear to its feelings and its hopes:-"even like a city that is broken down, and without walls."
One thing more. The temper described here is adverse to all prayer-a kind of interdict on fellowship with God. How can that fellowship be regularly maintained by a spirit that is ever liable to such perturbing excitation? We are commanded to "lift up holy hands, without wrath and doubting." We are commanded, "when we stand praying, to 'forgive' if we have ought against any one." O how many barriers, then, must come between the man of pride and passion and "the throne of grace!" How often must the intercourse be interrupted!-how often must he be unable to bend the knee or to open the lip, in the presence of his God! And what a motive is this to seek divine aid to subdue the spirit of pride and anger, and to acquire that of calm and steady self-command!
