"My son, let not them depart from thine eyes: keep sound wisdom and discretion: so shall they be life unto thy soul, and grace to thy neck. Then shalt thou walk in thy way safely, and thy foot shall not stumble. When thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid: yea, thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be sweet. Be not afraid of sudden fear, neither of the desolation of the wicked, when it cometh. For the Lord shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being taken. Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it. Say not unto thy neighbour, Go, and come again, and to morrow I will give; when thou hast it by thee. Devise not evil against thy neighbour, seeing he dwelleth securely by thee. Strive not with a man without cause, if he have done thee no harm. Envy thou not the oppressor, and choose none of his ways. For the froward is abomination to the Lord: but his secret is with the righteous. The curse of the Lord is in the house of the wicked: but he blesseth the habitation of the just. Surely he scorneth the scorners: but he giveth grace unto the lowly. The wise shall inherit glory; but shame shall be the promotion of fools."
"Sound wisdom," which in the first of these verses we are enjoined to "keep "-to retain in our hearts, and follow in our lives, is the wisdom taught by the word and Spirit of God. It has been already considered; as also the true benefit and honour which it secures; and to which allusion is again made in the words which follow-" They shall be life unto thy soul, and grace to thy neck." And as it is the part of "sound wisdom and discretion" to renounce confidence in self, and to trust in the Lord, the assurance follows-" Then shalt thou walk in thy way safely, and thy foot shall not stumble."
The following verses very beautifully describe the serenity of spirit, the undaunted fortitude, the equanimity, the tranquil satisfaction, which spring from this constant, steadfast reliance on the providence and promises of God; when accompanied by "the testimony of a good conscience"-a conscience unscarred by the remembrance of wilful sins, and that enjoys peace through the blood of atonement:-verses Pro_3:24-26. "When thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid: yea, thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be sweet. Be not," rather, thou shalt not be, "afraid of sudden fear, neither of the desolation of the wicked, when it cometh, For the Lord shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being taken."
We have the truth of these verses finely exemplified in the experience of the pious father of Solomon, in those times when he was encompassed with enemies, on the alert for his apprehension and his life-" I laid me down and slept; I awaked; for the Lord sustained me. I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people, that have set themselves against me round about," Psa_3:5-6. And in the form of assurance to others, founded upon his own experience, and amounting to a divine engagement, he says, "Jehovah is thy keeper: Jehovah is thy shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. Jehovah shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul. Jehovah shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore," Psa_121:5-8.*
* See Psa_46:1-3; Psa_91:1-5.
"The desolation of the wicked," (Pro_3:25), may be taken in one or other of two senses:-the desolation made by the violence of the wicked; or the fearful and desolating vengeance executed upon them, whether in temporal judgments, or in the infliction of their final sentence.
From the terms before used, respecting the final destruction of the wicked, it is most likely that to it the reference is in this verse.* Then the people of God shall be undismayed. When "the heavens being on fire are dissolved, and the elements melt with fervent heat," they shall smile over the ruins of a burning world; for in that last dread day, "the Lord shall be their confidence;" so that they shall say with triumph, "Lo! this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is Jehovah; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation," Isa_25:9.
* See Pro_1:27.
In the verses which follow, we have some of the practical maxims of sound wisdom:-verses Pro_3:27-28. "Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it. Say not unto thy neighbour, Go, and come again, and to-morrow I will give; when thou hast it by thee." This practical injunction may be applied-
1. To all lawful debts-for articles purchased, or for work performed:-2. It is strongly applied to the wages of labourers and servants; they being inferiors, and therefore in the greater danger of being treated in the manner described. Their case, accordingly, is carefully guarded.*1-3. To Government taxes, which ought to be regarded as debts due to the community; due by every member of it, for value received; namely, for the protection of person, and property, and liberty, and for all the benefits of good government. They should be paid with the same readiness and cheerfulness as other lawful debts.*2-4. To debts of charity and benevolence. For such debts there are. They cannot indeed be claimed; they cannot be made good in law. But they are due-due on the principle of the great rule or principle of right as laid down in this book-the "royal law," (Mat_7:12.) "Wherever the obligation of this law is felt, it will effectually prevent the conduct reprobated in these verses. The conduct, alas! is too common. It may arise from various sources; as-
*1 See Lev_19:13. Deu_24:14-15. Jam_5:3-4.
*2 See Rom_13:6-7.
1. From an avaricious reluctance to part with the money;-a reluctance which discovers itself even although it is known that the thing must be done, that the payment must be made. The avaricious man is so loath to part with the object of his idolatry, that even a day's delay pleases him. To-morrow is his day when he has to give; to-day, when he has to receive. In either case he has the pleasure of a day's longer possession, and a day's more interest. It may be little, but still it is something.-2. From indolent listlessness, careless, sluggish indifference. The man "has it by him;" but he is not in a mood to be troubled. He is occupied about something else, or he is not disposed to be occupied at all; and if the creditor be an inferior, very slight reasons or excuses will suffice. The man does not think either of the trouble, or the more serious inconvenience, to which he may be putting the claimant; while from mere inertness, mere indolent inconsiderate self-indulgence, he puts him off; and that, it may be, for successive times. This selfish thoughtlessness is very reprehensible.-3. From insolent superciliousness. This is often discovered towards inferiors, or towards persons against whom there exists a grudge. It arises from a pitiful and despicable desire to show superiority, and make its opposite be felt; to make it appear that the rule of payment to them is, not when they want, but when we choose! It is the vice of little minds-ungenerous, unjust, unchristian, unmanly.
It is a very common case in matters of charity. Great backwardness is frequently shown. There is an inward struggle between the dictates of avarice on the one side, and those of conscience or politeness on the other-"I dare say," exclaims your money-loving professor, "the case is a very deserving one; but really I have not thought of it, and have not time to think now; do please call again in a few days, when I shall have considered it a little." You do call: but in the midst of so many other matters, he really has quite forgotten the matter; he is sorry, truly sorry for it-but could not help it. And again you are put off; and all in the hope, the real but hypocritically dissembled hope, that you surely will not take the trouble of coming a third time. If, trusting to the sincerity of his assurances, you do venture the third call, ten to one but your importunate dunning affords a good apology for a passion, and a consequent fiat and hasty refusal-to which his mind had been made up from the beginning!
With regard to debts, which we are aware are to fall due at certain times, the precept clearly involves the duty of "having it by us" when those times come round. That it is not in our power at the time, may be a truth; but it forms no sufficient excuse, when we might have had it in our power had we been duly provident. Every debtor is bound to exert himself to the utmost, in every practicable way, to make provision for meeting the just demands of his creditors at the date of his engagements. This is what we ourselves expect when we are the creditors; and it is what we are bound to do when we are the debtors.
The next precept is one against the abuse of confidence:-verse Pro_3:29. "Devise not evil against thy neighbour, seeing he dwelleth securely by thee."
The conduct here condemned is one of the basest of possible crimes. He "dwelleth securely by thee," means he has full confidence in thee, depends on thee, is altogether unsuspicious of thee. How odious, then, the idea of imposing on that unsuspecting confidence. Specially odious must it be, if pains have been previously taken to inspire confidence, by the assumed appearances of friendship and goodwill, for the very purpose of leading into a snare-thus laying the train, studying and devising evil, betraying and disappointing the trust purposely inspired and cherished!
In such cases, some selfish end must of course be supposed in view. And the evil may be practised in a very great variety of ways. As for instance:-A man in business does what he can to obtain another's confidence; or, whether he acts with a view to this end or not, he knows he has that confidence; and he takes advantage of it to obtain large quantities of goods from him, when quite aware that his own affairs are precarious and his credit sinking, and that neither the goods nor the money for which he applies can retrieve them! This is treachery, and treachery of no ordinary turpitude.
Servants too may advance their selfish interests by practising upon the confidence of their masters or mistresses; and by a winning and artful address may insinuate themselves into that confidence, for the very purpose of abusing it. This has been done. It is signally base. On the other hand, there is not a more honourable or a more really valuable character than a trustworthy, faithful servant,-one who fully merits confidence, who never betrays or abuses it, but makes it in every way subservient to his or her employer's interest. Such a servant is a treasure; and such servants ought all Christians in that station of life to be.
Such, alas! is the depravity of human nature, that there are not wanting cases in which the most nefarious crimes have been perpetrated through the medium of unsuspecting confidence, previously and studiedly inspired. The wife of a man's bosom, or the child of his fond paternal love, has been seduced, and his heart wrung with incurable agony, and his family comfort, and happiness, and honour destroyed, by the unwitting confidence he has reposed in a seeming friend, to whom he has given up the fullness of an unsuspicious heart. And the assassin himself has plunged his dagger into the bosom which he had previously succeeded in divesting of all apprehension and even while the smile of security and unsurmising trust has played upon the lips, and sparkled in the eyes, of the betrayed and murdered friend! Far-O far from all who call themselves by the Christian name be everything of the nature of falsehood and treachery! It is, in all circumstances, wrong to "devise evil" against others; but to devise it under the cover of confidence, inspired by us and reposed in us, is infamous-is Satanic. It is the very sin by which "the devil beguiled Eve through his subtilty." The very first thing he did was to insinuate himself into her good graces-to gain her confidence-to inspire a feeling of security. And having brought her mind to this position, he tempted her to the deed by which a world was involved in misery and death. All, therefore, who act such a part as is here condemned, "are of their father the devil."
The same spirit that will avoid this evil, will avoid also the next:-verse Pro_3:30. "Strive not with a man without cause, if he have done thee no harm."
The spirit here condemned is not seldom discovered when any spite or jealous grudge, on whatever ground, is entertained towards one who is known to be a man of quietness and peace, averse to every thing like contention. There is a special pleasure in vexing and annoying such a person; forcing him into ill-humour and strife,-a most malignant pleasure!-compelling him, by dint of annoyance, to say and do things, which are then converted into charges and grounds of difference and quarrel! There are men of so strange a temper of mind, that they will not allow others to live in peace. Their delight is in teazing, vexing, and plaguing their neighbours. They seem to make a study of the art of strife. They have no rest, but when disturbing the rest of all about them. With such men of contention David had to do, when he said, "My soul hath long dwelt with him that hateth peace. I am for peace: but when I speak, they are for war," Psa_120:6-7.
Under this particular must be included a litigious spirit. You find men loud in their protestations against law-the folly and the evil of going to law, who yet, somehow, are ever belying their professions. They can't help it, they say, it is their neighbour's fault, not theirs; but they are seldom out of court-ever after some plea or other. They magnify to importance the merest trifles; and suppose, or make, and prosecute injuries, where none were ever either intended or committed.
The language before us does not mean that we may indulge a spirit of strife, even when there is cause-even when harm has been done. The man of God will ever be the opposite of a man of strife. He will rather take wrong, than foment discord; he will bear much rather than come to any rupture. Instead of making quarrels, he is ever anxious to compose and to heal them. This is the spirit inculcated by the Lord of Christians, and exemplified in his own character. He did not "strive nor cry." "When "he was reviled, he reviled not again; when he suffered he threatened not." And all his laws inculcate the spirit of amity and peace. *
* See Mat_5:39-41. Rom_12:18-21. 1Co_6:6-8.
The spirit of strife is allied to the spirit of oppression, or a proud and overbearing spirit. This comes next in order:-Pro_3:31. "Envy thou not the oppressor, and choose none of his ways."
"The oppressor" whether public or private, the man who "grinds the faces of the poor" by severity and extortion, may succeed, may prosper; may, by this means, amass a fortune, and rise to still higher honour. Suppose this the case. Still, he is not to be envied; not only because envy is in itself wrong, but because there is really nothing in his character and career to produce it. His prosperity is not to be envied even by the poorest and most suffering victim of his oppression. And while he is not to be envied, far less are his ways to be imitated, for the sake of obtaining the envied results-the same wealth, the same greatness, the same power; "Choose none of his ways." The reason is assigned in the next verse, "For the froward is abomination to the Lord: but his secret is with the righteous."
"The froward" is a general denomination, under which the oppressor is evidently here included. It means one who is self-willed; bent on the gratification of his own propensities, the indulgence of his own passions, in spite of the restraints imposed by either divine or human authority. Men of this description are "abomination to the Lord." This is a certain truth, and ought to be held as a firm and fixed conviction, all their success and prosperity notwithstanding. It may seem as if God smiled upon them; but temporal prosperity is a very fallacious measure of divine favour. So the psalmist Asaph was convinced, after being recovered from his temptation, arising from the observation of the troubles of God's people, in contrast with the abundance and the ease of the wicked. They were still wicked, and the more the objects of God's wrath that they were the enjoyers and the abusers of his goodness.*
* See Psa_73:18-20. So also Psa_37:1; Psa_37:7-9.
In contrast with these being an "abomination" to the Lord, it is added-"but his secret is with the righteous."
This, then, must be understood as an expression of special favour-of approbation, delight, and love.* It seems to mean, that the Lord will freely reveal to the righteous what he keeps from others-the truths and promises, the blessings and joys of His covenant of peace-secret to the soul that possesses them, intransferable, "passing all understanding," "unspeakable and full of glory." The secret of the Lord-"the secret of His covenant," had then perhaps a special reference to what was at a future time to be more fully and clearly revealed; that which, to use Paul's expression, "from the beginning of the world, was hid in God." Thus God did to Abraham his friend, imparting to him, and to some others, in special favour, clearer discoveries than to the generality of believers, of the coming glories of his salvation. Speaking, however, simply after the manner of men, those with whom our "secret" is, are clearly our most intimate and confidential friends. The expression, therefore, may be interpreted of the friendship of God. Our blessed Lord throws light upon it, when he says to his disciples, "Ye are my Mends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you," Joh_15:14-15. And this may be compared with the assurances of intimate fellowship expressed in the preceding chapter, verses Joh_2:21; Joh_2:23. "He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me; and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him."
* See Psa_25:14.
Instead of choosing the oppressor's ways, then, choose the ways of God's people-of those with whom "his secret" is; in whom He delights; whom He admits to his confidential intimacy, and blesses with the secret intimations of his love. Cast in thy lot with them.
The same idea is expanded in verse Pro_3:33. "The curse of the Lord is in the house of the wicked: but he blesseth the habitation of the just."
The expression is an affecting and fearful one. There may be in it an allusion to the terms in which the denunciation was delivered to the disobedient and rebellious in Israel, Deu_28:15-19. Upon the man who departs from God-from his truth and from his ways-" his wrath abideth." His curse rests on him in the house and by the way. It remains in his dwelling-place. It mingles with all his domestic enjoyments; and his family, following his footsteps, entail upon themselves his guilt and his punishment, become inheritors of this curse of Heaven. It is the melancholy portion of the households that " call not upon the name of the Lord;" in which no domestic altar is erected to God's worship, and no incense is offered of morning and evening devotion; where, instead of being trained in "the nurture and admonition of the Lord," the rising inmates are suffered to grow up with "no fear of God before their eyes." How delightful the opposite side of the alternative, "But he blesseth the habitation of the just!" This is exactly the reverse-as in Deu_28:2-6. The Lord loved of old, and loves still "the dwellings of Jacob." These are among the places where "Jehovah records his name," and where He fulfills the promise-"I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee." He is "the God of the families of Israel."-His blessing the habitations of his people, does not imply that affliction shall never be permitted to enter them. It may; it does. Death itself finds his victims there as well as elsewhere. But trials are not curses. Even when they come in heaviest accumulation, the blessing of the Lord is still there. It is not withdrawn. It is many a time bestowed more richly than before. He himself, with the hand of a Father, mingles the cup; and he infuses blessing into it:-
"'Tis mix'd with his unchanging love,
And not a drop of wrath is there."
And, through divine influence on instruction and example, in answer to believing prayer, the children of God's people succeed to the grace and the blessing of their parents. Grace, indeed, does not "run in the blood;" but it runs in the promise, and in the current of faithful parental tuition.*
* See Psa_103:13-18.
The same strain of sentiment continues in the following verse-"Surely he scorneth the scorners; but he giveth grace unto the lowly." "The scorners" are here set in contrast with "the lowly." They are, therefore, the proud; whom the Lord "knoweth afar off." They are those who, in the spirit of lofty self-consequence and arrogance, treat with scoffing disregard the truths and precepts of God; who will not submit themselves to God's humbling terms of reconciliation and favour; who disdain being, as all sinners must be, "debtors to grace;" who refuse to be taught, and to submit their minds to divine dictation, or their consciences to divine authority, or their lives to divine guidance and control.-"The lowly" are those who have learned their true character and situation as sinners, and have taken the position assigned to them and appropriately theirs, as suppliants for mercy. Their representative is before us, in the character and behaviour of the publican in the parable-who, in contrast with the high-minded Pharisee, the prototype of the scorners,-"stood afar off, and would not so much as lift up his eyes unto heaven, but smote on his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner." They are sensible of guilt, and willing debtors to mercy. They are sensible of weakness, and dependent on God for promised strength. They are sensible of ignorance, and look upward for divine bight, instruction and guidance. They are humble learners-"the meek," whom the Lord "guides in judgment, and to whom he teaches his way." They are gentle and forgiving to men, as they are abased and lowly before God.
Verse Pro_3:35. "The wise shall inherit glory; but shame shall be the promotion of fools."
"The wise" are the same description of persons as the "lowly." This is indicated by the words (Pro_11:2) "When pride cometh, then cometh shame: but with the lowly is wisdom." Nothing indeed is more foolish in a creature than pride; unless it be pride in a sinner: and it is only there that pride is to be found. The wise are those who "fear God;" and all who fear God must be "lowly." They shall "inherit glory." The glory meant can be no mere earthly honour-that which "cometh from man." It is the "glory of God"-the glory of which his people are heirs, which is the object of their steadfast and joyful hope (Rom_5:1-2.); and of which the saints under the old as well as those under the new dispensation were the blessed partakers. They "inherit glory." It is prepared for them from before the foundation of the world. Heirship presupposes sonship. They are God's redeemed and adopted children, and in this relation are heirs, (Rom_8:14-17.) "But shame shall be the promotion of fools." They shall find in the end the very opposite of all that they sought and anticipated. They looked for "promotion." On "the honour that cometh from man" they set their hearts. And "fools," in Solomon's sense of the term, may succeed in obtaining what they seek. But how great soever the amount of honour the forgetters of God acquire; how high soever their worldly exaltation, how splendid soever their establishments, how vast soever their authority and how eagerly soever courted their favour,-they are "fools" after all; fools in the estimate of all holy beings; fools in the estimate of Heaven. And the final result of all their worldly occupations and worldly attainments will be-" shame and everlasting contempt." This shall be their final "promotion;" and the remembrance, and the irretrievableness of their folly shall be their everlasting torment.
There are one or two closing reflections which the passage naturally suggests-
1. If it is wrong to delay fulfilling the just claims of men, how much more criminal must it be to put off the duty we owe to God. But many, alas! who are the very patterns of scrupulous punctuality in the discharge of their obligations to fellow-creatures, never pass a thought on the deep debt of obligation under which they lie to their Maker, Preserver, and Benefactor! They plume themselves on their honest and conscientious regularity in meeting every just demand upon them,-yet never give themselves the slightest concern about the undischarged, nay the unacknowledged obligations to Him, which every day and every hour brings with it. These obligations, indeed, are such as we never can repay; but both in words and in practice it becomes us devoutly to own and to express them.
2. Surely the maxims of the Bible, were they but followed out, are fitted in their operation to make a happy world! The grand end of the discoveries of the Bible is, Salvation. But it has a most important influence on the personal and the social happiness of mankind. Were its dictates obeyed-there would be no avarice, no injustice, no devising of evil, no envy, no strife, no oppression, no frowardness, no scorning, no pride, no evil passions; but the universal prevalence of "whatsoever things are true, just, pure, lovely, and of good report."
3. On both these grounds there rests on every Christian the weighty and solemn obligation to spread the knowledge of God's word-the knowledge of "the glorious gospel." O! if there be one thing more than another to which the injunction "Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thy hand to do it," is applicable with special force-it is the spiritual and eternal welfare of our fellow-men!
4. Again we say-" Blessed is the people whose God is the Lord!" A man "without God in the world" may amass its wealth, may rise to its honours, may revel in its pleasures, may have "more than heart can wish;" but the saying of the Lord to the Church in Smyrna may as to him be inverted-" I know thy riches-but thou art poor." The mud-walled cottage of the humble peasant, with the blessing of a Father in heaven resting upon it, surpasses infinitely in desirableness the most gorgeous palace of an ungodly prince. The pomp and vanity of the world is but a passing pageant-the gaudy glitter of a day ending in perpetual night!
