The foolishness of man perverteth his way: and his heart fretteth against the Lord.
The folly and sin of men in perverting their own way, and then fretting against God
Men are apt to charge all the afflictions which befall them upon God, whereas they bring most of them upon themselves. God is no further accessory to them than as, in the nature of things, and in the course of His wise providence, He hath established a connection between folly and suffering, between sin and misery. Homer observes that “men lay those evils upon the gods which they have incurred through their own folly and perverseness.” “The foolishness of man” signifies his want of thought and reflection; his indiscretion and rashness. It “perverts his way,” leads him aside from the path of wisdom and prudence, safety and happiness; by this means he brings himself into trouble, is reduced to necessity, perplexed with difficulties, or oppressed with sorrow. Then he committeth this grand error after all the rest, that “his heart fretteth against the Lord.” He is vexed, not at himself, but at Providence. “Fretteth” expresses the commotion and uneasiness there is in a discontented, ungoverned mind.
I. The general principle on which men act in this case is right and just. When they fret against the Lord they suppose that there is a God, and that He observes and interests Himself in the affairs of His creatures; and that it is a considerable part of His providential government to try, exercise, and promote the virtues of His rational creatures by the discipline of affliction.
II. The conclusion they draw is generally wrong, and their charge upon the providence of God groundless and unjust.
1. It is often the case with regard to men’s health. Many complain that God denies them the health and spirits which He has given to others. But health very largely, and very directly, depends on men’s management of themselves, by indulgence, fretfulness, inactivity, too close application to business, etc.
2. With regard to their circumstances in life. We see men impoverished and reduced to straits and difficulties. They complain that God brings them into straits, and embarrasses their circumstances. But most persons are really in straits through their own negligence, carelessness, or extravagance. Many are ruined in this world by an indolent temper. Cardinal de Retz used to say that “misfortune was only another word for imprudence.”
3. With regard to their relations in life. How many unhappy marriages there are! But they are almost always the consequence of foolish and wilful choices. Many complain that their children are idle, disobedient, and undutiful. But this isgenerally the result of parental inefficiency in training or in example.
4. With regard to men’s minds and their religious concerns. Many who make a profession of religion are uneasy and fretful, without any external cause; but this is usually owing to their own negligence or self-willedness.
III. The folly and wickedness of such conduct. It is very absurd, for in most of these cases they have no one to blame but themselves. It likewise proceeds from ignorance of themselves. Fretfulness only tends to aggravate our afflictions and to hurt our minds. It may provoke God to bring upon us some heavier affliction. Application:
1. How much prudence, caution, and foresight are necessary for those who are setting out in life!
2. What a great and mischievous evil pride is!
3. Inquire to what your afflictions are owing.
4. Guard against the great sin of fretting against the Lord. (J. Orton.)
Man’s sorrows the result of his sins
I. Illustrate the proverb.
1. As regards health.
2. As regards worldly substance.
3. As regards the vexations of domestic life.
4. From the state of the mind.
5. From the world in which we reside.
II. Instructions derivable from the proverb.
1. It instructs us with regard to sin.
2. It shows the inefficacy of mere suffering to bring a man to a proper state of thinking and feeling.
3. The disposition of the mind under sanctified affliction.
4. The reality of a moral providence.
5. Learn to look to God for His grace and guidance. (W. Jay.)
The misfortunes of men chargeable on themselves
I. Consider the external condition of man. He is placed in a world where he has by no means the disposal of the events that happen. Calamities befall us, which are directly the Divine dealing. But a multitude of evils beset us which are due to our own negligences or imprudences. Men seek to ascribe their disappointments to any cause rather than to their own misconduct, and when they can devise no other cause they lay them to the charge of Providence. They are doubly unjust towards God. When we look abroad we see more proofs of the truth of this assertion. We see great societies of men torn in pieces by intestine dissensions, tumults, and civil commotions. But did man control his passions, and form his conduct according to the dictates of wisdom, humanity, and virtue, the earth would no longer be desolated by wars and cruelties.
II. Consider the internal state of man. So far as this inward disquietude arises from the stings of conscience and the horrors of guilt, there can be no doubt of its being self-created misery, which it is impossible to impute to Heaven. But how much poison man himself infuses into the most prosperous conditions by peevishness and restlessness, by impatience and low spirits, etc. Unattainable objects pursued, intemperate passions nourished, vicious pleasures and desires indulged, God and God’s holy laws forgotten--these are the great scourges of the world; the great causes of the life of man being so embroiled and unhappy.
1. Let us be taught to look upon sin as the source of all our miseries.
2. The reality of a Divine government exercised over the world.
3. The injustice of our charging Providence with a promiscuous and unequal distribution of its favours among the good and the bad.
4. The necessity of looking up to God for direction and aid in the conduct of life. Let us hold fast the persuasion of these fundamental truths--that, in all His dispensations, God is just and good; that the cause of all the troubles we suffer is in ourselves, not in Him; that virtue is the surest guide to a happy life; and that he who forsakes this guide enters upon the path of death. (H. Blair, D. D.)
Fretting against God a frequent sin
Men are oftener guilty of this sin than they imagine. Our hearts fret against the Lord by fretting at the ministers and instruments of His providence; and therefore, when the people murmured against Moses in the wilderness, he tells them that their murmuring was not against him and his brother Aaron, but against the Lord. Instead of fretting, it is our duty to accept of the punishment of our iniquity, and to bless God that matters are not so bad with us as we deserve. If our troubles come upon us without any particular reason from our own conduct, yet reflections upon God would be very unjust. Job’s troubles were extremely grievous, and as they came upon him without causein himself, he was made to acknowledge his great folly in reflecting upon God for his distresses. (G. Lawson, D. D.)
The untoward incidents of life must not be charged against God
Letus not charge God overhastily with the untoward incidents of life. In the main we are the manufacturers of our own life-material. If you give the weaver none but dark threads he can only fashion a sombre pattern. (J. Halsey.)
Life regarded as a wrong
George Eliot once said to a friend, with deep solemnity, that she regarded it as a wrong and misery that she had ever been born. (Oscar Browning.)
