HOl\IILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Vers, 1-5.-Evils to be avoided. I. SoME SPECIAL EVILS AND DANGERS. 1. Drunken- ness. (Ver. 1.) The spirit or demon of wine is spoken of as a personal agent. It leads to frivolity, scoffing, profane and senseless mirtb. To be drunk with wine, as St. Paul points out (Epb. v. 18), is the opposite of being "filled with the Spirit" (see F. W. Robel'tson's sermon ou this subject). 2. Tlie wrath of kings. (Ver. 2.) In those 396 THE PROVERBS. [ea. xx. 1-30.
times of absolut.e rule, the king repl'esented the uncontrollable arbitration of life and death. As in the case of Adonijah, he who provoked the king's wrath sinned against his own soul. ,vhat, then, must the wrath of the eternal Sovereign be (Pa, xc. 11)? To invoke the Divine jndgment is a s1ticidal act. 3. Contentiousness, (Ver, 8,) Quick-flaming anger is the mark of the shallow and foolish heal't, The conquest of anger by Cbristiau meekness is one of the chiefcst of Christian graces. "Let it pass for a kind of sheepishness to be meek," says Archbishop Leighton; "it is a likeness to him that was a.8 a sheep before his shearers." 4. Idleness. (Ver. 4.) The idle man is unseasonable in his repose, and equally unseasonable in his expectation. To know our time, our opportunity in worldly matters, our day of grace in the affairs of the soul, all depends on this (Rom. xii. 11; Eph. v. 15-17). II. 'l'HE SAFEGUARD OF PRUDENCE. (Ver. 5.) The idea is that, though the project which a man has formed may be difficult to fathom, the prudent man will bring the secret to light. "There is nothing hidden that shall not be made known." 1. Every department of life has its principles and Jaws. 2. 'l'hese may be ascertained by observa- tion and inquiry. 8. In some sense or other, all knowledge is power; and that is the best sort of knowledge which arms the mind with force against moral dangers, and places it in constant relation to good.--J.
Vers. 6-ll.-.71ie frriilty o.f mrmlcin<!,. I. Tm: RARITY OF TRUE FRIENDSHIP. (Ver. 6.) Many nre ready to promise, few willing to perform. Many eager to say, "Lord, Lord!" comparatively few to do the will of the Father in heaven. There is no want of good notions in the world; but, according to the Italian proverb, many are so good that they are good for nothing. The spirit may be willing, the flesh is weak. Inclination to good needs to be fortified by faith in God. II. THE JUST AND Goon MAN. (Ver. 7.) We cannot but feel that he is an ideal character. Poets and preachers have delighted to describe him, have surrounded him with a halo, depicted the safety and blessedness of his life. But how seldom does he appear on the actual scene! Our being is a struggle and a series of failures. The one thing needful is to have a lofty ideal before us, and never to despair of approaching a little nearer to it wHh every right effort. III. THE IMPARTIAL JUDGE. (Ver. 8.) The earthly judge upon his seat reminds us of the mixed state of human nature-of the need of a process of sifting, trial, purifica- tion, ever going on. Judgment is an ever-present fact, a constant process. We are being tried, in a sense, every day, and "must all· stand before the judgment-seat of Christ." Let ns "hbour that we may be accepted of him." IV. THE CLEAN coNSCIE~CE. (Ver. 9.) This pointed question silences our boasting, and checks the disposition to excuse ourselves. By unwise comparison with others we may seem to stand well; but in the light of his own mere standard of right and duty, who is not self-condemned? "If we say th·at we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us" (1 John i. 8, 9). V. EQUITABLE CONDUCT. (Ver. 10.) How common are the tricks and evasions of trade! And there is something more in this than mere desire for gain. The general experience of the world is so strong against dishonesty, as seen in common proverbs, as •• bad policy," that we must look to a deeper cause of its existence, viz. the perversity of man's heart. VI. EARLY SYMPTOMS OF CHARACTER. (Ver. 11.), Tendencies of evil and (never let us omit to acknowledge) tendencies of good are seen very early in children. The Germans have a quaint proverb, "What a thorn will become may easily be guessed." How much depends on Christian culture ; for "as the twig is bent, so is the tree inclined."-J. Vers. 12-19.-Religion, industry, prudence, and lio'll,esty. I. Gon THE SouRCE OF ALL GOOD. 1. Of all bodily good. The eye, the ear, with all th_eir wondrous mechanism, with all their rich instrumentality of enjoyment, are from him. 2. Of all spiritual faculty and endowment, the analogues of th~ former, and "every good and perfect gift" (Jae. i. 16). The new heart, the right mmd, should, above all, be recog- nized as his gifts. 3. In domestic and in public life. Good .c?unsels of Divine wisdom, and willing obedience of subjects to t,hem, are the conditions of the weal of ClR, XX, 1-30,] THE PROVERBS. 397