The Pulpit Commentary — Proverbs — Section 230

(ver. 4); on the other hand," The wicked shall fall by his own wickedness" (ver. 6), "'l'he wages of sin is death," and every departure from rectitude is a step towards the grave. But how melancholy a. thing is the death of the wicked I It means- I. A MELANCHOLY EXTINCTION. Not, indeed,oftheman himself, but of his work and oi his hope. When the wicked dies, everything, except, indeed, the ovil influences he has created and circulated, comes to a. dreary end. His expectation, his hope, perishes. He can take nothing that he has toiled for into that other world which he is entering. All his laborious exertion, his elaborate contrivances, his selfish scheme~, his painful humiliations, come to nothing; they are buried in the grave. He may have a powerful and well-stored mind, but he has cherished no desire, has entertained no ambition which reaches beyond the horizon of mortal life, and with the stopping of his heart- beat, every imagination of his spirit perishes ; there is an untimely and utter end of all his brightest hopes. A sad and dismal outlook for a. human spirit! How great and how blessed the contrast of a good man l His largest hopes are then on the point of being realized; his purest and brightest expectations a.re about to be fulfilled. This earth is, more or less, the scene of disappointment; but in the country whose bourne he is about to cross, he will find himself where "Trembling Hope shall realize Her full felicity." II. A PAINFUL RELIEF. "When the wicked perish, there is shouting." 1. It is bad enough when a. man's death is only felt by a. very few souls. With the many oppor- tunities we have of connecting ourselves honourably and attaching ourselves strongly to our fellows, we ought to be so much to our neighbours, that when we pass away there will be many to regn,t us a.nd to speak with a. kindly sorrow of our departure. Poor and fruitless must that life have been when this is not so. 2. It is seriously sad when a man's death excites no regret; when" the mourners" do not mourn; when the only thing that is real about the funereal scene is the drapery of woe. It is a pitiful thing when Christ's minister cannot pray for Divine comfort, because, though there are those who are bereaved, there is none that is afflicted. 3. It is a most melancholy thing when a man's death Ls felt to be a. positive relief; when, as he is borne to the grave, those who knew him cannot help being glad that one more root of mischief is plucked up, one more source of sorrow taken a.way. That a. man, created to be a light, a. refuge, a blessing, a brother, a deliverer, should be put a.way with a. feeling in every one's bea.rt of gladness that he will be seen no more, pnt out of sight with the senti- ment that the sooner he is forgotten the better,-this is sad indeed. What, then, is- IIL THE CONCLUSION OF THE WISE? It is this: "Let me die the cleath of the righteous." But the disappointing career of the author of these words (Numb. xxiii. 10; Josh. xiii. 22) should be a solemn warning and [a. powerful incentive to form the firm resolution to live the life of the righteous, lest, as in Balaam's case, death should overtake us when we are in the ranks of the enemy.-C. Ver. 17.-Honourable self-love; the effect of conduct on character. Our great temp- tation, and therefore our great peril, is to look a.t a.11 things in a selfish light ; to ask ourselves, concerning ea.eh event as it unfolds itself-How will it affect me, This is very far indeed from the spirit of Christ; his spirit is that of unselfishness, of generous regard for the welfare of others. To bear one another's burdens is to fulfil his law and to reproduce his life. Yet is there one respect in which we certainly·do well to con- sider ourselves. We do well to pay very particular attention to the effect of our con- duct on our own character, to ask ourselves-How are these actions of mine telling on my manhood? .Are they building up, or are they causing to crumble and decay? The consideration is twofold. I. THE INJURY WE MAY DO OURSELVES, ESPECIALLY BY UNKINDNESS. "He that is cruel troubleth his own flesh." Habitual cruelty does even more harm to itself than to its victim. That indeed is bad enough; for it is not only the present suffering which is inflicted by it; it is the diseased sensitiveness a.nd the abjectness of spirit; it is the loss of coura.ae and of confidence and of hopefulness that is left behind, which is the deepest and the darkest mark of cruelty on the object of it. But worse than even this is the moral injury which cruelty does to itself, It not only (1) calls down the on. xr. 1-31.) 'l'HE PROVERBS. 231