Vers. 11-15.-Similitudes of moral 'beauty and _goodness. I. TaE APT WORD. Compared to "golden apples in silver frames." Carved work adorning the ceilings of rooms is perhaps alluded to. The beauty of the ground sets off the worth of the object. Just so the good word is set off by tbe seasonableness of the moment of its utterance (1 Pet. iv. 11). The apt word is "a word upon wheels, not forced or dragged, but rolling smoothly along like cha.riot-wheels." Our Lord's discourses (e.g. on the bread and water of life) sprang na.turnlly out of the course of pa~sing con- versation (John iv.; Luke xiv.). So with Paul's fa.ruous discourse on Mars' Rill (Acts xvii.). II. \VIBE CENSURE IN TRE WILLING EAR 18 COMPARED TO A GOLDF.~ EARRING. (Ver. 12.) For ifall wisdom is precious as pure gold,and beautiful as ornaments in tbnt mnterial, to receive and wear with meekness in the memory and heart such counsels is better than nny other decoration. "The wisest princes need not thiuk it any diminution to their greatness or derogation to their sufficiency to rely upon counsel. God hiarnelf is not without, but hath made it one of the great names of bis blessed Son, • The Coun- sellor'" (Bacon). He who willingly gives heed to wise chastisement does a better service tu his ears than if he adorned them with the finest gold a.ud with genuine pearls. III. A FAITHFUL MESSENGER IS COMPARED TO COOLING SNOW. (Ver. 13.) In tbo heat of harve~t-labour a draught of melted snow from Lebanon is like a "winter in summer n (Xen., • Meru.,' ii. I. 30). A traveller says, "Snow so cold is brought down from Mount Lebanon that, mixed with wine, it renders ice itself cold." So refreshing is faithfulness in service. 'l'he true servant is not to be pa.id with gold. IV. illLE PRETENSIONS COMPARED TO CLOUDS AND WIND WITHOUT DAIN. (Ver. 14.) Promise without performance. Let men bo what they would seem to be. "·what bas he done? is the Divine question which searches men and transpierces every false repu- tation.... Pretension ma.y sit still, but cannot a.et. Pretension never feigned an act of real greatness. Preteill!ion never wrote an • Iliad,' nor drove back Xerxes, nor Chris- tianized the world, nor abolished slavery." V. THE POWEB OF PATIENCE. (Ver. 15.) Time and patience are persuasive ; a proverb compares them to an inaudible file. Here patience 1s vi~wed as a noiseless hammer, silently crushing resistance. "He who would break through a wall with his baud," 492 THE PROVERBS. [OH. XXV, 1-28
says an old commentator, "will hardly succeed I" But how do gentleness and mild- ness win their way! "I Paul beseech you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ " (2 Cor. x. 1).-J.
Vers. 16-20.-Excesses andet·rors. I. WARNING AGAINSTSATmTY, (Vers.16 17.) T~e stories of Sams?n and of Jonathan 1;llay be read i1;1 illustr~tio~ of the saying (judg. xiv. 8, 9; 1 Sflm. xiv. 26). Ver. 27 points the warning against mcurrina0 the pain of satiety. "Honey, too, bath satiety," says Pindar-
"A surfeit of the sweetest things, The deepest loathing to the stomach brings." 1. We should beware of a too frequent repetition of even innocent pleasures, "If a man will not allow himself leisure to be thirsty, he can never know the true pleasure of drinking." Self-indulgence far more than suffering unnerves the soul. It may well be asked-How can men bear the ills of life, if its very pleasures fatigue them? 2. A special application of the warning. Do not weary your friends. There should be a sacred reserve of a delicate mutual respect even in the most intimate relations of friendship. To invade a busy privacy, with a view to enjoy a. snatch of gossip or secure some paltry convenience, is an offence against the minor morals. Defect in manners is usually owing to want of delicacy of perception. Kindly utterance must rest on the conscientious observance of great Christian principles; let daily life be evan- gelized by their all-pervading power. Let us make our "foot precious" to our neiuh- bour by not intruding it too often in his home. Better that our visits should be like angels', few and far between, than frequent and wearisome as those of a beggar or a dun. II. THE TONGUE OF THE FALl!E WITNESS, (Ver. 18.) Compared to destructive weapons (comp. Ps. lii. 4; lvii. 4; Ix.iv. 4; cxx. 4). "The slanderer wounds three at once-himself, him he speaks of, and him that hears" (Leighton). Not only falsehood, but the perverse and distorted way of telling the truth, comes under this ban. "In the case of the witness against our Lord, the words were true, the evidence false; while they reported the words, they misrepresented the sense ; and thus swore a true false- hood.. and were truly foresworn (Matt. .x.xvi. 60)" (Bishop Hall). ill. MISPLACED CONFIDENCE. (Ver. 19.) Compared to a broken tooth and a disjointed foct. It is a too common experience, and suggests the counsel to select as confidants only good men. "Be continually with a godly man, whom thou knowest to keep the commandments of the Lord, whose mind is according to thy mind, and will sorrow with thee, if thou shalt miscarry; ... and above all, pray to the Most High, that he will direct thy way in truth" (Ecclus. xxx.vii. 12-15). Above all," let God be true, and every man a liar," IV. INAPT AND UNREASONABLE MIRTH, (Ver. 20.) It is like the mixture of acid with soda, by which the latter is destroyed; while the combination with oil, etc., pro- duces a useful compound. It is like laying aside a garment in cold weather. Dis- cordant behaviour, the words or the manner out of tune with the occasion, is the fault :pu:nted at. It springs from thoughtlessness and want of sympathy. '!'he Spirit of Cl,rist teaches us to cultivate imagination and sympathy with others, "Rejoice with illem ihat do rejoice, and weep with them that weep."-J,
Vers. 21, 22.-Love to our enemy. I. LOVE DELIGHTS IN ITS OPPOR'l'UNITY. (Ver. 21.) And to true Christiau love there is no opportunity sweeter than the distress of a foe, II. LoVE DELIGHTS IN SUPPLYING NEED, It is the opposite of egotism, which clamours for personal satisfaction, and closes the avenues of pity to the distressed. III. LovE IS VIOTOBIOUS OVER EVIL, (Ver. 22,) A wholesome pain is excited in t1e mind of the enemy. He begins to feel regret and remorse. The torch of a love divinely kindled dissolves the barrier of ice between soul and soul. Evil is overcome by good. IV. LovE rs BURE OF ITS BEWABD. Both present, in conscience; and eternal in the fruits and iu the award of God. Not a cup of cold water shall be forgotten.-J. OJI. XXV. 1-28.] THE PROVERBS. 4!l3