The Pulpit Commentary — Proverbs — Section 521

keenly than not to feel at all ; better the weak conscience than no conscience at all, He who presumes upon the mercy of God will have to reckon with his justice.-J. Vers. 15, 16.-Tlie wicked ,-uler. I. THE snm,E. (Ver. 15.) He is like n fierco and devouring beast, .No pity softens his bosom; no justice regulates his conduct. Complaint provokes further exactions; resistance kindles him . into fury. He looks upon hi~ people, not as a flock to be tended, but to be preyed upon. He roars around them like the nightly bear about the fold. Such monsters have often appeared in history. II. THE SOURCE OF OPPRESSIO~. It lies in the ignorance of the oppressor's heart- ignorance of policy, of humanity, of Divine and eternal right. 'l'he great generalization, "They know not what they do," covers, indeed, all kinds of sin, but does not exempt from guilt. Men might know better; but, without the practice of what we know, our light itself becomes darkness. . III. THE GOOD RULER. (Ver. 16.) 'fhe trait that "he hates covetousness" may; he made general; for false or perverted desire is the real motive of all such wickedness. "Lust and desire to have" gold, territory, power, etc., is selfish and cruel; and turns every man governed by it into a being more or less resembling the non-moral brute. Politics can never be excluded from Christianity; and the immense effect for good or evil of the acts of those in power is a reason why a.II good Christians should take a close interest in politics, and not permit any rank or station to be exempt from criticism.-J. Vers. 17-22.-Judgments on transgressors. I. THE VIOLENT HAN, (Ver. 17.) His doom, here as elsewhere, is viewed as sudden; he hastes to Hades-lives not out half his days. The truth is general, reflecting the intuition of the moral order. .And in accordance with that order it is that pity will be turned away from him that shows no pity. This is no argument for capital punishment, but it is an argument for such a treatment of criminals as will best deter from crime. II. THE INSECURITY OF EVIL WAYS. (Ver. 18.) Integrity is a.)one safe; and in one or other of his crooked ways (suoh may be one meaning of the text) the sinner will ultimately fall. The dangerous feat is tried once too often. Our interest is attracted to "the dangerous edge of things," and we are ast\lnished that µien can stand upon it so often wit.bout falling. ·we do not see the result of the last and fatal attempt; or, seeing it, "e do not surmise the previous successful attempts to defy the law of things. Scripture is right; but we do not know enough of events absolutely to verify its truths. Ill. Pon:RTY AS A JUDGHENT. (Ver. 19.) Here, again, we have a general truth-- an abstract from the great broad field of lifo's facts. On the whole, there is no secret of abundance but industry; nor of poverty but idleness and indulgence in pleasure and amusement as a pursuit. Repose and ple!!,sure are the illusions from which the stern voice of God, speaking through daily experience, is ever rousiug us. Hardly any disease of body or of mind, any social eyil, is there which may uot be trncecl to self- indulgence and inertia. IV. HASTE TO DE r.rcH. (Ver. 20.) This temper is contrasted with tbnt of tb~ faithful man. There is a different scale of value in the two cases. The good man values things by the moral standard, the covetous man only by the standard of gold. The true way of looking at wealth is as an available means to o.11 ends of health, wisdom, benevolence. 'l'hese alone are rational ends; but they may be lost sight of in the passionate pursuit of the meaus. It was a thought deeply inpressed on the ancient world that over-eagerness for riches mnst involve dishonesty. "No ono quickly grows rich, being at the same timo a just man," says Menander. "For he who desires to become rich desires to become rich quickly. But what reverence for the laws? what fear or shame is there ever in the covetous man who hastes to be rich?" says Juvenal. 'l'o lessen our desires rather than to increase our means is the true wisdom of life-to study to give account of our little rather than to make our little more. V. RESPECT OF PERSONS IN JUDGMENT. (Vers. 21, 22.) 'l'be vice springs from some mean source-from fear, covetousness, or obsequiousness. Cato used to say of Cllllius the tribune, that he might be hired for a piece of bread to speak or hold his peace. 'l'o prefer interest to the truth, this is the fiery temptation in one form or other of us a!L .A.nd the keeping back of a part of the truth may be os injurious to others as tlrn utterance of direct falsehood. Any meanness harboured in the soul exposes to constant OH, XXVIII, 1-28.j THE PROVERBS. 54i