kindness), and the general exercise of practical gratitude. And the Lord will make him to experience His love, and will fulfil to him faithfully all His "precious promises."- Wardlaw. Solomon here is no lawgiver, but an evangelist, leading us unto Jesus Christ. For we can obtain no mercy but in Him only. For "the promises of God are yea and amen in Him."-Cope. Can any one see any flaw in "Mercy" and "Truth?" Mercy is pure benevolence; and truth is that other quality of the good, which is commanded in the first table of the law, and answers to a love of holiness. Is there anything right, outside of "Mercy and Truth?" Is there anything wrong that the vilest rebel can detect in either one of them? Must "they not err that devise evil," if for no other cause than that "Mercy and Truth" stand on the opposite side, and, through eternal ages, are busy in devising good?-Miller. Aristotle relateth of Socrates that he affirmed all virtues to be sciences, all sins to be ignorances. And Aquinas saith of it, that therein he judged in some sort rightly because the will never would incline to evil, unless it were with some ignorance and error of reason. The question, therefore, is not here asked of him that deviseth evil, for he thinketh himself to be right, he doth not think that to be evil which he doth, nor himself to err in doing of it. He attaineth to the end at which he aimeth, and that persuadeth him that he aimeth aright. But so to be in the right way, is quite to wander from the right way; and howsoever such an one may not err in his plans and plots, yet doubtless he erreth from the ways of life.-Jermin. Mercy and truth were the best that David could wish for his fast friend Ittai (2 Sam. xv. 20). These two attributes of God shall cause that good devices shall not miscarry. His mercy moves Him to promise, His truth binds Him to perform. "For Thy word's sake, and according to Thine own heart Thou hast done all these things (2 Sam. vii. 18-21). "According to Thine own heart," that is out of pure and unexcited love, Thou didst give Thy word and promise, and " for Thy word's sake," Thou hast performed it. -Trapp. MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE 23. THE PROFIT OF LABOUR. 1. The profit of social honour. It is both natural and right that a man should desire the respect and good-will of those around him. Nothing is more certain than that he who lives without working in some form or another, either for himself or for others, will not receive this reward. Those who are poor, and do nothing, sink into beggary and consequent dishonour; those who are rich, and have nothing to do-or rather, who do nothing-are not held in honour, either in life or after death. 'Pray, sir, of what disease did your brother die?" said the Marquis Spinola one day to Sir Horace Vere. He died, sir," was the answer, "of having nothing to do." "Alas!" said Spinola, "that is enough to kill any general of us all." Honour cannot come from idleness, but labour brings not only honour while living, but gives us a title to be regarded with respect after we have left the world. Of no man who has lived to any purpose can it ever be said that he died of having nothing to do. 2. The profit of bodily health. A body which does not labour, either with brain or hand, is an easy prey to disease. The brain if used becomes strengthened for further use. whole bodily frame is kept in health by wholesome work. 3. Profit to the moral nature. Labour calls for some form of self-sacrifice. It developes habits of painstaking and diligence which are helpful to a man's moral nature. It helps the spiritual part of the man by helping the bodily, inasmuch as a strong The and healthy body is the best instrument for a morally healthy soul. 4. The profit of material gain. In all free countries a man gets some wages for work. It may not be a fair remuneration, but there is some profit of this kind attached to it. There are, of course, exceptions to this proverb, as for instance, the labour of the man who devises evil in the former verse, or that of those whose poverty compels them to work, even to the injury of soul and body, for a miserable pittance which is not worthy the name of wages. Such, alas, is the lot of many even in our own country. The antithesis of this proverb, simply states that talk will not do instead of work. When men do nothing but talk, their talk is certain to be of that worthless kind condemned in chapter x. 19 (See Homiletics on page 168). OUTLINES and suggesTIVE COMMENTS. jungles are cleared away, fair seed-fields Industry need not wish; and he that lives upon hopes will die fasting. There are no gains without pains, then help hands, for I have no lands, or, if I have, they are smartly taxed. He that hath a trade hath an estate, and he that hath a calling hath an office of profit and honour; but then the trade must be worked at, and the calling followed, or neither the estate no" the office will enable us to pay our taxes. There is a perennial nobleness, and even sacredness in work. Where he never so benighted, forgetful of his high calling, there is always hope in a man that actually and earnestly works in idleness alone is there perpetual despair. Work, never so mammonish, mean, is in communication with nature the real desire to get work done will itself lead one more and more to truth, to nature's appointments and regulations, which are truth. The latest gospel in this world is, Know thy work and do it. "Know "Know thyself:" long enough has that poor self of thine tormented thee; thou wilt never get to "know" it, I believe! Think it not thy business, this of knowing thyself; thou art an unknow--Franklin. able individual; know what thou can'st work at; and work at it, like a Hercules! That will be thy better plan. It has been written, "an endless significance lies in work," a man perfects himself by working. Foul He that labours is tempted by one devil; he that is idle by a thousand. Italian Proverb. As in religion, it is not the man who speaks but the man who does that gives proof of his sincerity; so in earthly business, it is not the man who talks fluently, and lays down plausible schemes of business, but the man who labours and does all his work that has reason to expect the blessing of Providence. Those that wear their working instruments in their tongues are always the most useless, and sometimes the most hurtful members of society.Lawson. A busy tongue makes idle hands. If the mouth will be heard, the noisy loom must stop; and he who prefers the sound of his tongue to that of his shuttle, had need at the same time be a man who prefers talk to meat, hunger to fulness, starvation to plenty. Wardlaw. Rich beyond conception is the profit of spiritual labour (chap. x. 16). "The Son of Man gives to the labourer enduring meat. The violent take the kingdom of heaven by force. The labour of love God is not unrighteous to forget" (John vi. 27; Heb. vi. 10). But the talk of the lips gives husks, not bread. Where there are only shallow conceptions of the Gospel, and no experimental enjoyment of Christian establishment, it is "all running out in noise." Says Henry: "There is no instruction because there is no good treasure within' (Matt. xii. 35). "What manner of communications are these that ye have one another?" is a searching question (Luke xxiv. 17). Ministers, doctrines, the externals, circumstantials, disputations on religion-all may be the mere skirts and borders of the great subject, utterly remote from the heart and vitals. . . . A religious tongue without a godly heart tendeth only to penury-Bridges. to This is a difficult sentence. We have found it hard to vindicate its sense. The grammar is all obvious, and on that very account the reading is singularly fixed. But "all labour" is anything else than "profitable;" and the "talk of the lips" (chap. xxxi. 26) is one of the grandest ways of doing good among men. We understand it in a religious sense. All these proverbs might be worldly maxims, some of them actually in use; all of them with a show of wisdom; some of them utterly unsound; but all of them, when adopted by the Holy Ghost, and turned in the direction of the Gospel, true, in their religious aspect. So, now, in this peculiar instance, "all labour might seem to promise well among the thrifty, but sometimes ruins men, even in this world, and is sure to ruin them, if worldly, in the world to come. But now, as a religious maxim, it is without exception. All labour' of a pious kind is marked, and will be gloriously rewarded out of the books of the Almighty. "All labour" of the impenitent, for their soul's salvation, has "profit; " literally, something over. It brings them nearer. If continued long enough, it will bring them in; that is, if it be honest (Heb. xi. 6); while "the talk of the lips," or, possibly, "an affair of the lips," that is, mere intention, does "only" mischief. Mark the balance between "all" and "only." Seeking is "all" of it an advance. Intending is "only only" a retreat. One gains a step, the other loses one. Starting up actually to work, if honest, is an advance towards wealth; while intention, which is but an affair of the lips, tends only to make us poor indeed.-Miller. When God gave man this curse, in labour thou shalt eat, he gave labour this blessing, to increase and multiply. It is a plant that prospereth in any soil, it is a seed that taketh well in any ground. For the labourer's hire is never kept back by God. . . Talking is not truly labour, the labour is rather to hold one's peace. According as St. Ambrose speaketh "It is a harder thing to know how to be silent than how to speak. For I know many to speak, when they know not how to hold their peace." But it is a rare thing for any man to hold his peace, when to speak no way doth profit him. But no labour is so well spared as this, and sitting still is nowhere so commendable as in the lips.-Jermin. They that painfully and conscientiously employ themselves in any vocation, how base and contemptible soever it seem to be, are in the Lord's work, and Him they serve, as the apostle speaketh even of bondmen, and is it possible that His workmen shall work without wages or sufficient allowance? He reproveth those men which neglect to give to the hireling his recompense for his travail, or fail in due time to discharge it, and shall we think then that He will be careless of His own servants Himself? They have God's word for their security that they shall not be unprovided of so much as is expedient for them. If He say once that in all labour there is profit, they shall never have cause to contradict Him.-Dod. It is only by labour that thought can be made healthy, and only by thought that labour can be made happy; and the two cannot be separated with impunity.-Ruskin. MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE 24. WEALTH WITH AND WITHOUT WISDOM. I. Both a wise man and a fool may attain to wealth. The intellectually wise, and the man who lacks mental ability, may both possess great riches. There are many who have vast estates and no more wisdom to manage them than an infant, and there are those whose ability is equal to their wealth and position. So with moral wisdom. Abraham, the friend of God," was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold" (Gen. xiii. 2), Job, who had the Divine testimony to his "perfectness" and "uprightness," was "the greatest of all the men of the east" (Job i. 3). But many godless men like those mentioned in our Lord's parables (Luke xii. 16, 20; xvi. 19-24) have "much goods laid up for many years," and "are clothed in purple and fine linen, and fare sumptuously every day." God is no respecter of persons in the distribution of temporal good in the shape of riches, but if there is any leaning to one class of character more than to another, He would seem rather to favour the ungodly. Because such "have their portion in this life" (Psa. xvii. 14) and in this life only; because they have only this heaven upon earth; because they have no desire and conception of anything higher; it seems as if the Ruler of the universe often gives them the only good they are capable of appreciating. Some of the most miserable specimens of humanity that the world has ever seen have sat upon thrones, and a few of the greatest of God's human children have likewise wielded sceptres. So with the crown of wealth; it has been and is worn by men quite irrespective of moral character, but the preponderance seems to be in favour of the moral fool. Looked at in the light of eternity there is no injustice or even. mystery in this. II. But wealth is an adornment to the wise man only. If you dress an Ethiopian in pure white linen you will not change the colour of his skin. The man is what he was though his raiment is changed, and the whiteness of his garments makes his skin look all the blacker. If a tree is barren, the most costly and perfect artificial fruit placed among its leaves will not add to its beauty. It will only produce an incongruity which will be altogether distasteful to the spectator. Its barrenness is only made the more conspicuous. So no wealth can give any dignity to a mental and moral fool. Wealth will not hide the intellectual barrenness, nor cover the black stains upon the man's moral character. Nay, the wealth only brings them more prominently into view. However rich a fool is "the foolishness of fools is folly," and nothing else. But a man who is wise enough to know how to use wealth-especially if he is good enough to put it to the highest and best uses-even though he be neither intellectually great or highly polished, will make his riches a crown-will so use them as to merit and receive the respect and goodwill of his fellow creatures. Wealth looks best upon the head of one who possesses both intelligence and goodness, but whenever it is studded with the gems of a wise and sympathetic liberality it is a royal diadem-it makes its wearer a king. OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS. The Christian is rich in this world. We read in the 18th verse of the "prudent making a crown of knowledge. Aladdin was rich when he had nothing but his lamp. If a ray of faith puts creation in bondage to a saint, then not only is his "knowledge a crown," but "his crown is his wealth." What needs Aladdin further than his lamp? The sovereignty of saints, even in a forlorn world, makes a perfect opulence; while "the folly of fools," seeing that it could give place to this; seeing that he also could have the lamp; seeing that the crowned princes, the very best of them, were fools like him; and therefore, that it can only be because he is a fool that he does not throw off his folly; all this explains the closing clause, which is terse in its very quaintness; for, for the very reason that "the crown of the wise is their wealth, the foolishness of fools is folly."Miller. Though, as a fearful temptation (Matt. xiii. 22; xix. 23), no wise man would desire riches; yet as the gift of God (1 Kings iii. 13; Psa. cxii. 3)the gift, indeed, of His left hand (chap. iii. 16)-they may become His crown. What a crown they were to David and his wise son, as the materials for building the temple (1 Chron. xxix. 1-5; 2 Chron. v. 1); and to Job, as employed for the good of his fellowcreatures (Job xxix. 6-17). So that, though wisdom under all circumstances is a blessing, it is specially pronounced to be "good with an inheritance (Eccles. vii. 11, 12). It is necessary to distinguish between the thing itself and the abuse of it. Wealth is in fact a blessing, when honestly acquired and conscientiously employed. And when otherwise, the man is to be blamed, and not his treasure.-Bridges. What is the most gorgeous and daz zling earthly crown compared with a diadem of which the component parts are the blessings of the destitute relieved, the ignorant instructed, the vicious reclaimed, the afflicted comforted, the dying cheered with the hope of life, the perishing rescued from perdition and brought to God!Wardlaw. If good men are spoiled of their wealth, they need not lament, as if they had lost their crown. For riches are an ornament of grace to the head of wise men, even when they are lost. Job's patience in the loss of everything, did as much honour to him as his extraordinary beneficence whilst he was the richest man in the East. honour his memory still more, when he sewed sackcloth upon his skin, and defiled his horn in the dust, than at the time when judgment was his robe and his diadem.-Lawson. We As a horse is of no use without the bridle, so are riches without reason.— Cawdray. Not riches but wisdom gives a crown of glory (chap. iv. 9). "The prudent are crowned with knowledge," not with riches; therefore, the sense is, Wisdom (the opposite of folly), being the crown of the wise constitutes their true riches," and results in the heavenly riches; but the foolishness of fools is not riches to them, as the wise man's crown of wisdom is to him, but is, and continues folly, i.e., emptiness-neither an ornamental crown nor enriching wisdom.— Fausset. The seeming tautology of the second clause is really its point. "The foolishness of fools is . We expect something else, but the subject is also the predicate. the predicate. "The foolishness of fools is foolishness." That is the long and the short of it. Turn it as you will, it comes to that.-Plumptre. |