--Plutarch says of human passions that they are not evil in themselves, but good affections, which nature has furnished us withal, for great and noble uses. Right, reason, wisdom, and discretion ought to rule; but all our powers and passions have their proper place, and they follow the resolution of our judgment, and exert themselves so far as reason shall direct. Were this order well observed, how blest, how happy, should we be! But how shamefully do we invert the order of our nature! If brutes could understand, they would rejoice in their condition of necessity, and despise our estate of liberty and reason, when they observe how fatally we abuse them. By indulging our passions we destroy our happiness. Eliphaz insults this holy sufferer Job, and would have him believe that he was this malicious man whose vice had killed him, and this envious man whose spite had slain him. Still, apart from Job, the maxim of the text remains a truth,--“Envy slayeth the silly one.”
I. Explain the vice of envy. When may a man be said to be of an envious mind? Envy is a regret of mind, or an inward trouble at the prosperity of another. There are other vices, as ambition, malice, pride, that carry a resemblance of envy, and are related to it; but they either proceed from a different principle, or terminate in some particular object. They are confined and limited, but envy is indefinite. The principle, the formal reason of this singular vice of envy is, a repining, a gnawing, a trouble in the mind, that any man should prosper. It is more or less predominant and rancorous according to the tempers of men and the indulgence that it finds. Sometimes it appears without disguise; the passion of the envious overcomes him. Sometimes you may see it in a man’s very gratulations; you may discern his envy in his most kind expressions. Sometimes he vents his angry tumour in a pleasing narration of all the evil, or the darker part, of your condition. Sometimes his envy bubbles out in vain insinuations of his own deserts. Sometimes it lurks in a vain pretence of self-denial, of a mortified temper, and of a contempt of the world. Sometimes they throw their envy upon their spleen, and then they think they may vent it freely, and without reflection upon themselves. Sometimes it appears under a cloak of piety and religion. And envy will express itself, as occasion offers, in rapine, violence, and murder.
II. The truth of his character. Or how justly it is said of an envious man, that he is a silly one. His folly is extreme, apparent, and indisputable. Wisdom consists in three particulars. In a perfect knowledge of our happiness, or what is proper for us to pursue, and what to shun. In a right understanding of the fittest means, whereby we may attain the good and avoid the evil. In a skilful application of those means to their ends, that they may operate the most effectually towards the bringing our designs to pass. How folly is directly opposite to wisdom. A fool is one whose understanding is prejudiced, whose judgment is not free; who is governed by his passions, drawn into false opinions, wild, unreasonable ends, and destructive measures. But such a silly one as this is, is that of the text; he endures and cherishes a vice that blinds his reason, and puts him out of all possibility of being happy. An envious man is a common nuisance, that everyone is offended with, and no man can endure. Silly man; while he designs to hurt his neighbour, he destroys himself. His spite and indignation make him overshoot all modest bounds. There is such a complication of evil qualities in envy and detraction; of curiosity, conceit, and pride; of meddling, judging, and malicious censure, as makes the guilty nauseous to all. No man can be happy but in the way of his nature. And therefore he that will grasp at that which is out of his line, he that must have what he lists, and will have all things go according to his mind, or will be angry, is sure to be always miserable. He that does not consider his condition simply, as it is in itself, but with relation and respect to other persons, shall never be easy while he lives.
III. The fatal effects of this foolish vice. It destroys him.
1. It affects his body. Envy, peevishness, and discontent, ferment and sour the blood, precipitate the motion of the spirits, urge outrageous passions, fill the mind with angry thoughts, hinder rest, destroy appetite, take away all enjoyment, breed grief and melancholy, and end in a sickly, livid look, in lassitude, consumption, and despair.
2. It vitiates his mind, and destroys the moral life. If envy divests a man of his virtue and his reason, it must of necessity destroy his soul too.
IV. The methods of recovery.
1. He that would be free from envy must endeavour to deserve, as well as may be, both of God and man. True virtue gives a man an humble opinion of himself; acquaints him with his own defects, or what he is not, as well as what he is.
2. You must bring your mind to a good opinion of your own condition. He that would be easy in his mind must govern his desires, and make the best of what he has.
3. You must wean your affections from the world, and learn to value it at no higher a rate than it deserves. What then remains but that we endeavour to subdue our passions, to master our spirits, and to live according to reason in the world. (J. Lambe, D. D.)
Wrath and envy
I. We have wrath. Notice--
1. Its nature. Wrath is not comely, but it is sometimes useful. A man who never knows anger is in nine case out of ten a colourless being who has neither energy nor brilliance nor power. God is angry. The apostle implies that it may be indulged in without sin. But there are extremes. It may betoken an ungoverned disposition; it may indicate a cruel, passionate, vindictive spirit. It may show a hasty, thoughtless, impetuous, unbalanced character. Apart from this, unnecessary wrath is disagreeable and unpleasant to all. Its habitual indulgence alienates all good. This brings us to note--
2. Its consequence--“Wrath killeth the foolish man.” How does it kill? It killeth the best feelings. It stifles all sense of justice, right, caution, honour. It checks the best impulses and engenders cruelty. It killeth peace and happiness. How many an after-pang it produces, how bitter the divisions, the heart-burnings, the evil it causes! It filleth the body itself. Instances are not uncommon of life being forfeited in a fit of anger. It undermines the health and, even if it has no more effect, creates a morose, peevish, miserable disposition.
II. Envy. The word translated “envy” may mean “indignation.” The two are only divided one from another by a very narrow line. Envy is an evil indignation with another because he happens to be better off than ourselves. We are told that “envy slayeth the silly man.” Notice how this is the case--
(1) It weareth away his peace. Look at Ahab envying the vineyard of Naboth. For desire the covetous man fretteth away his life.
(2) It recoils with fatal consequences. It causes deadly results. It leads to the commission of crimes, which bring deadly punishments. Envy is the father of murder. It urged on Cain to put his brother to death. Hence it causeth the slaying of those who give way to it. One word on the description of the characters here spoken of. They are called “foolish” and “silly.” What apt and suggestive names for those who give way to the influence of such injurious and pernicious passions, as they afterwards find to their own injury and loss! The name applied to those who refuse to obey the dictates of Divine wisdom is “fools.” (Homilist.)
