out of e. perverted consciousness, as the drunkard cannot live without the alcohol which h killing him. III. THE PATH OF THE RIGHTEOUS. (Ver. 18.) There is a change of figure; for the image of the path, the image of the advancing light of morning is substituted. 1. Light as an image of moral goodness. It is universal, suggests itself to and strikes the fancy of all. It associates with it the images of beauty, of joy, of expansion, of futurity, of infinity. 2. 'lhe growth of light from dawn to noon as an image of moral progress. This is true of knowledge and of practice. The good man travels out of dimmer perceptions and out of doubts, into clear convictions of reason. At first be realizes little; his will is weak and untrained. But keeping bis eyes upon the ideal of the good, true, and beautiful, he embodies more and more of it in conduct. As the sun rests not (to speak and think in the dialect of poetry) till it "stands" (see the Hebrew) in high noon, so the righteous is ever advancing towards the goal of a life in perfect unity with God. 3. The safety of the light is an image of the course of the righteous. Translated into distinctively Christian thought, this is following Christ (John xi. 9, 10). 4. The image serves to throw into contrast the course of the wicked. "Thick darkness" represents their mind and way. It is ignorant, full of peril, yet they a.re uncon- scious of it. Instead of growth and progress, their doom is sudden extinction (comp. eh. i. 27, sqq.; ii. 18, 22; iii. 35).-J. Vers. 20-22.-Self-preservation. The instinct of self-preservation is the very root of all our activity. "Every individual existence strives to remain what it is," and would defend its integrity from all attack. I. THE INSTINCT IS RECOGNIZED. As it must be by all genuine teachers. It is a fact, and cannot be properly ignored; a Divine fact, and ought not to be obscured. It includes (1) the desire to live, the sense of life's sweetness; (2) the desire for health and happiness. II. 'l'HE INSTINCT 1s DIREC'l'ED. It needs direction; for all instinct is in itself blind, and men, in seeking health and happiness, ignorantly and viciously purchase disease and death. III. THERE IS NO SECRET OF SELF-PRESERVATION BUT (IN THE MOST COMPREHENSIVE SENSE) GODLINESS, This teaches the renunciation of the immediate for the further and lasting good. A paradox is here involved, a seeming contra.diction containing a unity. 'l'o lose life is to gain it; to gain it, to lose it. For in true conduct there is ever a denial of the lower contained in the affirmation of the higher, and in evil conduct vice versa (compare on this section, eh. iii. 2, 8, 13, 16; iv. 13).-J.
Vers. 23-27.-The heart and its issues. I. LIFE CENTRED IN THE HEART. (Ver. 23.) Physically, we know this is so. It is a self-acting pump, a fountain of vital force. All the physical activities are derived from it. Spiritually, it is so. The connection of the heart with emotion is recognized in all languages. It is feeling in the widest sense that makes us what we are. II. THE HEART MUST BE, THEREFORE, THE PECULIAR OBJECT OF OUR SOLICITUDE, (Ver. 23.) The sentiments, to put it in another form, are the important elements in cha- racter. These lie so close to opinion, that we commonly say either" I feel" or" I think" in expressing our opinions. To instil right sentiments about the important points of behaviour, the relation of the sexes, business, honour, truth, loyalty, is the great work of moral education, and here lies its immense value as distinguished from the gymnastic of the intellect. III. THE EXTERNAL ORGANS MUST AT THE SAME TIME BE DISCIPLINED. (Vers. 24-27.) Education must not he one-sided. The heart supplies the organs and channels of activity; but these again react upon the heart. The impulses of feeling are in them- selves formless; it is the definite organs which give to them peculiar shape and deter- mination. Hence the organs themselves must be trained to receive true impressions and to give them back. 1. The mouth-the lips. They are to be corrected of every "crooked," false expression. What wonderful variety of expression is the mouth capable of-firmness, laxity, tenderness, scorn, love, irony, hate I In controlling the mouth we do something to control the heart. Its contents must be purified from false- hood, coarseness, foolish jeeth1g, malicious gossip, all of which tell upon the central 102 THE PROVERBS. [orr. iv. 1-:r,.
consciousness, and disturb and obscure it. 2. TM eyes. (Ver. 25.) 'l'hey aro to be trained to a direct and straightforward expression. The leer of lust, the oblique glance of cunning expressed on the faces of others, or the clear honest light beaming trom the eyes of the pure and open-hearted, not only mirror the heart, but remind how the _heart may be reached by th~ self-discipline of the eye. 3. The feet. (Ver, 26.) In hke manner, they are to be tramed t-0 a straightforward wnlk. Even in moments of relaxation 'tis well to have an object for a walk. The mind needs self-direction and discipline even in its pleasures; otherwise it becomes dissolute, and waywardly foils into evil through sheer laxity in the spring of will. (1) Action and reaction, between the inward and the outward world, expression and impression, constitute a great law of our spiritual activity. (2) Hence self-discipline and moral education should be founded on the recognition of it. We must work from ·the centre to the periphery, and back aaain 0 from every point of the periphery to the centre of life.--J.