The Pulpit Commentary — Proverbs — Section 231

~trong condemn11tion of man, nnd (2) drnws forth the strong rebuke and penalty of God; (3) it indurates the soul of the sinner. It makes him shockingly insensitive to human suffering. It may go so far as to cause him to take a savage and a diabolical delight in inflicting and in witnessing it. 'l'hus it drags a man down to the very lowest levels. And what is true of cruelty, or of unkindness which very soon becomes cruelty, is true in other ways of other sins. All wrong-doing, falsehood, dishonesty, lascivious- ness, profanity, covetousness, intemperance, makes its mark and leaves its stain upon the soul of the evil-doer; and the further he goes and the deeper he continues in sin, the deeper is the mark and the darker and broader is the stain. II. 'J.'HE BLESSING WE MAY BRING UPON OURSELVES, ESPECIALLY BY KINDNESS. ''The merciful man doeth good to his own soul." Mercy may here stand for any form of kind- ness or of goodness of heart, It will include kindliness of manner, generosity of disposi- tion, practical helpfulness, pity for those who suffer or are sad, patience with the erring and the froward, magnanimity under ill treatment, considerateness toward the weak and the unprivileged. All these forms of" mercy" bring a blessing to the merciful heart. 'l'hey secure the appreciation and the affection of the best among men; they gain the approval and benediction of God. And they react with most valuable benignity on the heart itself. They contribute to: 1. .A tenderness of spirit, a responsiveness of heart, which allies us very closely to our Divine Lord. 2. An excellency and even nobility of action which makes us" the children of our Father in heaven" (Matt. v. 45). 3. A breadth of sympathy and largeness of view which make us ourselves truly wise and worthy in the sight of God.-C. Ver. 21.-Divine providence. "Reckonest thou this, 0 man, who doest such things, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God?" (Rom. ii. 3). No doubt men do indulge the thought that they will do wrong things with impunity; that, though others suffer, yet will they succeed in eluding justice; that they will have shrewdness enough to stop at the right point and to save themselves from the penalty of iniliscretion. Sin is deceitful, and it imposes on its victims with strong and fatal delusions. I. THE CERTAINTY THAT BIN WILL BUFFER. "Though hand join in hand, the wicked shall not be unpunished." 1. How impotent must mere numbers be against the decision and the action of the Almighty! '!'here is a certain sense of security that men have in being a part of a. large multitude. But it is a false senso. What do numbers avail against the action of the elements of nature, or against the outworking of the laws which determine the well-being and ill-being of the soul? 2. Confederacies of evil men are confessedly insecure. "Hand may join in hand; " the covetous, the dishonest, the violent, may combine; but in the heart of evil there are the seeds of unfaithfulness and treachery; and the alliance will break down in time. Sin carries in its folds the germ of its own undoing. 3. Against the continued success of sin many forces are combining. (1) All honest and true men have a direct and strong interest in deposing and dishonouring it. (2) It usually inflicts on some one man, or family, or city, an injury which calls forth an intense and invincible resentment. (3) It has within it the elements of physical and moral weakness, which are sure to be developed in time. (4) It is always open to the accusation of conscience and to Qonsequent exposure. (5) It must move and even hasten towards utter demoralization and the loss of all that is most worth keepiug. (G) It has against it the decree allll the overruling action of the Holy One (Ps. xxxiv. 16; and text). Sin never is abso- lutely unpunished, even when it imagines that it is; and it never remains unpunishecl, though it may seem to have excellent chances of escape. 'l'he judgment of God will overtake it in tirue. II. THE HOPE OF THE RIGHTEOUS. "The seed of the righteous shall be delivered." "The generati,m of the upright shall be blessed" (Ps. cxii. 2). Even if God allows a. man to go on long without the proof of his Divine favour, yet will hf'l not withhold his blessing. It will come upon the children, if not upon the upright man himself. And who is there that would not be more than willing thnt God should bless him through his offspring? To clothe them with honour, to satisfy them with substance, to deliver them in their time of trouble, to make them citizeas of the kingdom of Christ, to employ them as ambassadors of Christ,-is not this a. most ample and rich reward for all ou1 personal .fidelity? If Gad blesses us in our children, we aro blessed indeed.-C. 232 TlIE PROVERBS. Con. xr. 1-31.