Vers. 17-19.-Wanton petulance. I. MEDDLING IN OTHERS' QUARRELS. (Ver. 17.) By a very homely image the folly of this is marked. To interfere iu disputes which do not concern one is to get hurt one's self. No doubt the proverb admits of a very selfish application. We may excuse indifference to right on such a plea. But a true instinct of Christian justice and love will find a middle course. We should! be sure of our call to act before we meddle in others' affairs. It is rare that it co.n be our duty to volunteer the office of judge. Benevolent neutrality is generally our most helpful attitude. II. MAKING SPORT OF MISCHIEF. (Vers.18, 19.) There is an ape-like line of mischief in human nature that needs to be watched. Amusing in trifling matters, it may, if encouraged, fly at high game. He that purposely deceives bis neighbour under colour of a jest is no less prejudicial to him than a lunatic that doth wrong out of frenzy o.nd distraction (Bishop Hall). The habit of teasing should be corrected in children. What seems comparatively harmless in itself at first may reo.dily become a habit and harden into a vice. It is in the little delicacies of daily life, no less than in the greatest matters, that we are called to practise the golden rule. We must consider the effect, as well as the intention, of our actions; for, as in the old fable, what is sport to us may be grievous hurt to another.-J. Vers. 20-28.-Spite, cunning, and deceie. I. TrrE TAr,E-nEARER AND MISCHmF- MAKER. (Vers. 20-22.) 1. His inflammatory character. (Vers. 20, 21.) He keeps alive quarrels which, but for his vice, would die down for want of fuel. It is e:isy to fire the imagination with tales of evil, not so easy to quench the flames thus ki11d\ed. If the character is odious, let us beware of countenancing it by opening our oars to 510 THE PROVERBS. [cu. XXVI. 1-21:1,
scandal. Personal _gossip has in our day becon:ie an offence in the public pres~. But were there no receivers, there would be no thrnves. If we cannot stop the scandal- monger's mouth, we can stop our own ears; and "let him see in our face that ho has no room in our heart." 2. The pain he causes. (Ver. 22.) Slander is deadly-it "outvenoms all the worms of Nile." "A whispered wol'd may stab a gentle heart." "\Vhat weap?n c~n be nearer to noth~°:g than. the sting_ of a wasp? yet what a painful wound may 1t give! The scarce-v1s1ble pomt how 1t envenoms and rankles and swells up the flesh ! The tenderness of the part adds much to the grief." If God has given us a sting, or tum for satire, may we use it for its proper work-to cover evil with contempt, and folly with ridicule, and not at the devilish-inst.igation of envy.and spite. Let us dread and discourage the character of the amusing social slanderer. II. THE BAD HEART. (Vers. 23-25.) 1. It may be varnished over, but is still tl1e bad hea:rt. It is like the common sherd covered with impure silver, the common wood with veneer. The burning lips seem here to mean glowing professions of friend- ship, like the kiss of Judas. 2. Duplicity is the sign of the bad heart. The dissembler smiles, and murders while he smiles. The fair-face hides what the false heart doth know. "Neither mo.n nor o.ngel cn.n discern Hypocrisy, the only evil that. we.lks Invisible, except to God alone. Oft, though wisdom wakes, enepioion sleeps'. At wisdom's gate, and to simplicity Resigns her charge, while goodness thinks no ill Where no ill seems." ;,. The need ef prud~nce and reserve. "Trust not him ·that seems to be a saint." In<leed, it is an error to place perfect trust in anything human or finite. But the special warning here is a!!;ainst suffering flattery to blind us to the.real character of one who he.s once been revealed in his true colours. III. THE ExrosuBE OF WICKEDNESS. (Vers. 26, 27.) Vain is the attempt of men to conceal for a.ny length of time their real character. What they say and what they do not say, do and do not do, reveals them sooner or later. And the revelation brings its retribution. The intriguer falls into his own pit, is crushed beneath the stone. he set in motion. Curses come home to roost; the biter is bitten; and the villain suffers from the recoil of his own weapon. This appears also to be the sense of ver. 28. '!'hough a lie bas no legs, it has wiogs, and may fly far and wide, but it "hates its own master" (according to one rendering), and flies back to perch on his shoulder and betray him to his ruin.-J.
Vers. 1, 6, 9.-Honourin_q the unworthy. There are different ways in which we may honour men, whether the wise or the unwise. We may (1) put them in positions of rank and dignity, in wbich men bow (or fall) before them (eh. xxv. 26); or (2) entrust to them offices of importance and responsibility (ver. 6); or (3) allow them to under- take tLe work of public instruction (vers. 7, 9). It is only the wise and good that we should honour in these ways. Unfortunately, in the confusion and perversity which sin has wroucrht in the world, it often happens that it is not tlie wise man but the fool who is chose~ for the post or the task. How foolish it is to honour the unworthy is seen if we consider- . I. lTs PAI:sFUL INCONGRUITY. "As snow in summer, and as rain in harvest, so honour is not seemly for a fool." 'l'o hear a fool attempting lamely to discourse wisdom is suggestive of the motion of a man whose "legs aru not equal." For the post of honour to be occupied by one who has disgraced himself by guilty foolishness, or who has necrlected his opportunities, and is empty-minded and incapable, this is something which is manifestly unfitting; it offends our sense of the appropriate and the becoming. Shamelessness and honour, stupidity and responsibility, have no sort of agreement; they are miserably and painfully ill-mated. II. lTs POSITIVE REVERSAL OF THE TllUE ORDER OF TIIINGB, Tho fool ought to bo positively dishonoured. He need not be actually despised. There is too much of capacity, of indefinitely great possibility in every human spirit to make it right for us to despise our brethren. We arc to " honour all men" hecauso they are men, because Cil, XXVI. 1-28,] THE PROVERBS. 511