The Pulpit Commentary — Proverbs — Section 523

Vers. 1, 13, 25 (latter part).-The sourC6 of distw·bance and the secret of security. ·we barely need the pen of the wise man to assure us that- I. Sm MEANS DISTURBANCE TO OUR SOUL. 1. It is bad enough to be unfortunate j to suffer from privation or loss. 2. It is far worse to be guilty. We soon accommodate ourselves to our misfortunes; we readily adjust ourselves to our circumstances, even though these m~y be very narrow.. But sin strikes ~eep, and its wound lasts long. Among other pa!nful consequences 1t fill~ ~he soul w_1th a tormenting fear. (1) It d;·eads the pursuing penalty of God's ordaining. And 1t has reason to do so for" evil pursueth sinners" (see homily on eh. xiii. 21). In accordance with Divine L~w, suffer- ing, ~orr~w, sha~e? deat~, are foll~wing in the ~rack of iniquity, and, except there be merciful mterpos1t1on, will lay their hand upon 1t. (2) It dreads the pursuing penalty of man. llfore often than not sin is pursued by man, either by public law or by private resentment; and he who bas wronged his neighbour, either by fraud or force has reason to expect arrest and punishment. It is well that it should be so. We 'have come lately to understand that it is our wisdom to abandon the heavy sentence which was seldom inflicted for the lighter one which is far more freely dispensed. The great thing in administering justice is to connect penalty with sin as closely as possible in the mind of those who are tempted to violate the law. (3) It dreads penalty when there is no punishment at all. "The wicked flee when no man purs ueth." The murderer cannot, dare not, stay in the presence of the body he has slain. The thief turns aside from the officer who has no intention of apprehending him. He who has inflicted the greatest wrong that one man can do another shrinks from his neighbour's eye long before his sin bas been suspected. Sin fills the soul with a harassing, a tormenting, fear. The guilty heart imagines a hundred dangers before the band of judgment is outstretched to seize, or even its pursuing feet are on the path of appre- hension. We reckon badly indeed if we only count the actual and palpable inflictions of justice which evil pays; in that penalty must be included all the anxieties, the alarms, the quakings and shiverings of the soul, the abject and haunting terrors which agitate the soul before the chains a.re on the wrist or the prisoner is at the bar. 3. There are two alternatives open to guilt. (Ver. 13.) (1) It may try concealment; but this is a mistaken as well as a wrong course. It will "not prosper;" the time of con- cealment will be one of constant disquietude, and it will end in exposure and humilia- tion, for again and again it is seen that there is "nothing hidden which is not revealed." (2) It should adopt the course of confession and amendment; whoso does this "shall have mercy" of God, and will very likely indeed have mercy of man also. But even if not, the way of confession and of penalty is less hard and thorny than the path of sin and secrecy, of cowardice and terror. It is often true that while to bear punishment is tolerable, the miserable effort to escape it is absolutely intolerable. II. RIGHTEOUSNESS MEANS SECURITY AND SERENITY. "The righteous a.re bold as a. lion." 'I'o the upright there are two sources of rest and strength. 1. The consciousness of integrity. He that knows and feels his purity, bis innocency, has a fearless heart, and shows a brave front to the enemy. He does not fear that the shafts of falsehood will pierce bis strong armour of truth and equity. 2. Tlie favour of God. (Ver. 25.) He "puts his trust in the Lord;" he commits his cause to the Righteous One; he is assured that God is on his side, and he "does not fear what man can do unto him." "The Lord is his salvation; whom should he fear?" (see Ps. xxvii. 1-3; l:x:xxiv. 11, 12).-C. Vers. 4, 5.-The practice and effect of sin and righteousness. We have a. double 011ntrast here between the practice of the sinner and of the righteous man, and between the consequence of sin and of goodness upon the mind of the guilty and of the good. I. THE PRAOTICE OF SINFUL MEN. They "praise the wicked;" they "bless the covetous" (Ps. x. 3). 1. It is a fact that they do so. We bear the voice of ungodli- ness lifted up in favour of what is utterly wrong in the sight of God; it is expressed in the language of the lips a?d in every form ?f literature., There is hardly an ev~l thing perpetrated by men which does not :find its advocate Ill some quarter. 2. It 1s comprehensi'ble that they would do so. And this for two reasons. The wicked, as 1uch, have an interest in lowering the standard of public morals; the more they oa. xxvm. 1-28.J THE PROVERBS. 549