mh_parser/vol_split/20 - Proverbs/Chapter 30.xml

<div2 id="Prov.xxxi" n="xxxi" next="Prov.xxxii" prev="Prov.xxx" progress="87.50%" title="Chapter XXX">
<h2 id="Prov.xxxi-p0.1">P R O V E R B S</h2>
<h3 id="Prov.xxxi-p0.2">CHAP. XXX.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Prov.xxxi-p1">This and the following chapter are an appendix to
Solomon's proverbs; but they are both expressly called prophecies
in the <scripRef id="Prov.xxxi-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Prov.30.1 Bible:Prov.31.1" parsed="|Prov|30|1|0|0;|Prov|31|1|0|0" passage="Pr 30:1,31:1">first verses of
both</scripRef>, by which it appears that the penmen of them,
whoever they were, were divinely inspired. This chapter was penned
by one that bears the name of "Agur Ben Jakeh." What tribe he was
of, or when he lived, we are not told; what he wrote, being indited
by the Holy Ghost, is here kept upon record. We have here, I. His
confession of faith, <scripRef id="Prov.xxxi-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Prov.30.1-Prov.30.6" parsed="|Prov|30|1|30|6" passage="Pr 30:1-6">ver.
1-6</scripRef>. II. His prayer, <scripRef id="Prov.xxxi-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Prov.30.7-Prov.30.9" parsed="|Prov|30|7|30|9" passage="Pr 30:7-9">ver.
7-9</scripRef>. III. A caution against wronging servants, <scripRef id="Prov.xxxi-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Prov.30.10" parsed="|Prov|30|10|0|0" passage="Pr 30:10">ver. 10</scripRef>. IV. Four wicked generations,
<scripRef id="Prov.xxxi-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Prov.30.11-Prov.30.14" parsed="|Prov|30|11|30|14" passage="Pr 30:11-14">ver. 11-14</scripRef>. V. Four
things insatiable (<scripRef id="Prov.xxxi-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Prov.30.15-Prov.30.16" parsed="|Prov|30|15|30|16" passage="Pr 30:15,16">ver. 15,
16</scripRef>), to which is added fair warning to undutiful
children, <scripRef id="Prov.xxxi-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Prov.30.17" parsed="|Prov|30|17|0|0" passage="Pr 30:17">ver. 17</scripRef>. VI. Four
things unsearchable, <scripRef id="Prov.xxxi-p1.8" osisRef="Bible:Prov.30.18-Prov.30.20" parsed="|Prov|30|18|30|20" passage="Pr 30:18-20">ver.
18-20</scripRef>. VII. Four things intolerable, <scripRef id="Prov.xxxi-p1.9" osisRef="Bible:Prov.30.21-Prov.30.23" parsed="|Prov|30|21|30|23" passage="Pr 30:21-23">ver. 21-23</scripRef>. VIII. Four things little and
wise, <scripRef id="Prov.xxxi-p1.10" osisRef="Bible:Prov.30.24-Prov.30.28" parsed="|Prov|30|24|30|28" passage="Pr 30:24-28">ver. 24-28</scripRef>. IX.
Four things stately, <scripRef id="Prov.xxxi-p1.11" osisRef="Bible:Prov.30.29-Prov.30.33" parsed="|Prov|30|29|30|33" passage="Pr 30:29-33">ver. 29 to the
end</scripRef>.</p>
<scripCom id="Prov.xxxi-p1.12" osisRef="Bible:Prov.30" parsed="|Prov|30|0|0|0" passage="Pr 30" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Prov.xxxi-p1.13" osisRef="Bible:Prov.30.1-Prov.30.6" parsed="|Prov|30|1|30|6" passage="Pr 30:1-6" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Prov.30.1-Prov.30.6">
<h4 id="Prov.xxxi-p1.14">The Words of Agur.</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Prov.xxxi-p2">1 The words of Agur the son of Jakeh,
<i>even</i> the prophecy: the man spake unto Ithiel, even unto
Ithiel and Ucal,   2 Surely I <i>am</i> more brutish than
<i>any</i> man, and have not the understanding of a man.   3 I
neither learned wisdom, nor have the knowledge of the holy.  
4 Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended? who hath gathered
the wind in his fists? who hath bound the waters in a garment? who
hath established all the ends of the earth? what <i>is</i> his
name, and what <i>is</i> his son's name, if thou canst tell?  
5 Every word of God <i>is</i> pure: he <i>is</i> a shield unto them
that put their trust in him.   6 Add thou not unto his words,
lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Prov.xxxi-p3">Some make <i>Agur</i> to be not the name of
this author, but his character; he was a <i>collector</i> (so it
signifies), a gatherer, one that did not compose things himself,
but collected the wise sayings and observations of others, made
abstracts of the writings of others, which some think is the reason
why he says (<scripRef id="Prov.xxxi-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:Prov.30.3" parsed="|Prov|30|3|0|0" passage="Pr 30:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>),
"<i>I</i> have not <i>learned wisdom</i> myself, but have been a
scribe, or amanuensis, to other wise and learned men." Note, We
must not bury our talent, though it be but one, but, as we have
received the gift, so minister the same, if it be but to collect
what others have written. But we rather suppose it to be his name,
which, no doubt, was well known then, though not mentioned
elsewhere in scripture. <i>Ithiel and Ucal</i> are mentioned,
either, 1. As the names of his pupils, whom he instructed, or who
consulted him as an oracle, having a great opinion of his wisdom
and goodness. Probably they wrote from him what he dictated, as
Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah, and by their means it was
preserved, as they were ready to attest it to be his, for it was
spoken to them; they were two witnesses of it. Or, 2. As the
subject of his discourse. <i>Ithiel</i> signifies <i>God with
me,</i> the application of <i>Immanuel, God with us.</i> The word
calls him <i>God with us;</i> faith appropriates this, and calls
him "<i>God with me,</i> who loved me, and gave himself for me, and
into union and communion with whom I am admitted." <i>Ucal</i>
signifies <i>the Mighty One,</i> for it is upon one that is mighty
that help is laid for us. Many good interpreters therefore apply
this to the Messiah, for to him all the prophecies bear witness,
and why not this then? It is what Agur spoke concerning <i>Ithiel,
even</i> concerning <i>Ithiel</i> (that is the name on which the
stress is laid) <i>with us,</i> <scripRef id="Prov.xxxi-p3.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.7.14" parsed="|Isa|7|14|0|0" passage="Isa 7:14">Isa.
vii. 14</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Prov.xxxi-p4">Three things the prophet here aims
at:—</p>
<p class="indent" id="Prov.xxxi-p5">I. To abase himself. Before he makes
confession of his faith he makes confession of his folly and the
weakness and deficiency of reason, which make it so necessary that
we be guided and governed by faith. Before he speaks concerning the
Saviour he speaks of himself as needing a Saviour, and as nothing
without him; we must go out of ourselves before we go into Jesus
Christ. 1. He speaks of himself as wanting a righteousness, and
having done foolishly, very foolishly. When he reflects upon
himself he owns, <i>Surely I am more brutish than any man. Every
man has become brutish,</i> <scripRef id="Prov.xxxi-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.10.14" parsed="|Jer|10|14|0|0" passage="Jer 10:14">Jer. x.
14</scripRef>. But he that knows his own heart knows so much more
evil of himself than he does of any other that he cries out,
"<i>Surely</i> I cannot but think that <i>I am more brutish than
any man;</i> surely no man has such a corrupt deceitful heart as I
have. I have acted as one that has <i>not the understanding</i> of
Adam, as one that is wretchedly degenerated from the knowledge and
righteousness in which man was at first created; nay, I have not
the common sense and reason of a man, else I should not have done
as I have done." Agur, when he was applied to by others as wiser
than most, acknowledged himself more foolish than any. Whatever
high opinion others may have of us, it becomes us to have low
thoughts of ourselves. 2. He speaks of himself as wanting a
revelation to guide him in the ways of truth and wisdom. He owns
(<scripRef id="Prov.xxxi-p5.2" osisRef="Bible:Prov.30.3" parsed="|Prov|30|3|0|0" passage="Pr 30:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>) "<i>I neither
learned wisdom</i> by any power of my own (the depths of it cannot
be fathomed by my line and plummet) <i>nor know I the knowledge of
the holy</i> ones, the angels, our first parents in innocency, nor
of the holy things of God; I can get no insight into them, nor make
any judgment of them, further than God is pleased to make them
known to me." The natural man, the natural powers, perceive not,
nay, they <i>receive not, the things of the Spirit of God.</i> Some
suppose Agur to be asked, as Apollo's oracle was of old, <i>Who was
the wisest man?</i> The answer is, <i>He that is sensible of his
own ignorance,</i> especially in divine things. <i>Hoc tantum scio,
me nihil scire</i>—<i>All that I know is that I know
nothing.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Prov.xxxi-p6">II. To advance Jesus Christ, and the Father
in him (<scripRef id="Prov.xxxi-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Prov.30.4" parsed="|Prov|30|4|0|0" passage="Pr 30:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>): <i>Who
ascended up into heaven,</i> &amp;c. 1. Some understand this of God
and of his works, which are both incomparable and unsearchable. He
challenges all mankind to give an account of the heavens above, of
the winds, the waters, the earth: "Who can pretend to have
<i>ascended up to heaven,</i> to take a view of the orbs above, and
then to have descended, to give us a description of them? Who can
pretend to have had the command of the winds, to have grasped them
in his hand and managed them, as God does, or to have bound the
waves of the sea with a swaddling band, as God has done? Who has
<i>established the ends of the earth,</i> or can describe the
strength of its foundations or the extent of its limits? Tell me
what is <i>the man's name</i> who can undertake to vie with God or
to be of his cabinet-council, or, if he be dead, what is his name
to whom he has bequeathed this great secret." 2. Others refer it to
Christ, to Ithiel and Ucal, the Son of God, for it is the Son's
name, as well as the Father's, that is here enquired after, and a
challenge given to any to vie with him. We must now exalt Christ as
one revealed; they then magnified him as one concealed, as one they
had heard something of but had very dark and defective ideas of.
<i>We have heard the fame of him with our ears,</i> but cannot
describe him (<scripRef id="Prov.xxxi-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.28.22" parsed="|Job|28|22|0|0" passage="Job 28:22">Job xxviii.
22</scripRef>); certainly it is God that has <i>gathered the wind
in his fists</i> and <i>bound the waters as in a garment;</i> but
<i>what is his name?</i> It is, <i>I am that I am</i> (<scripRef id="Prov.xxxi-p6.3" osisRef="Bible:Exod.3.14" parsed="|Exod|3|14|0|0" passage="Ex 3:14">Exod. iii. 14</scripRef>), a name to be adored,
not to be understood. What is <i>his Son's name,</i> by whom he
does all these things? The Old-Testament saints expected the
Messiah to be the <i>Son of the Blessed,</i> and he is here spoken
of as a person distinct from the Father, but his name as yet
secret. Note, The great Redeemer, in the glories of his providence
and grace, can neither be paralleled nor found out to perfection.
(1.) The glories of the kingdom of his grace are unsearchable and
unparalleled; for who besides has <i>ascended into heaven and
descended?</i> Who besides is perfectly acquainted with both
worlds, and has himself a free correspondence with both, and is
therefore fit to settle a correspondence between them, as Mediator,
as Jacob's ladder? He was <i>in heaven</i> in the <i>Father's
bosom</i> (<scripRef id="Prov.xxxi-p6.4" osisRef="Bible:John.1.1 Bible:John.1.18" parsed="|John|1|1|0|0;|John|1|18|0|0" passage="Joh 1:1,18">John i. 1,
18</scripRef>); thence he descended to take our nature upon him;
and never was there such condescension. In that nature he again
ascended (<scripRef id="Prov.xxxi-p6.5" osisRef="Bible:Eph.4.9" parsed="|Eph|4|9|0|0" passage="Eph 4:9">Eph. iv. 9</scripRef>), to
receive the promised glories of his exalted state; and who besides
has done this? <scripRef id="Prov.xxxi-p6.6" osisRef="Bible:Rom.10.6" parsed="|Rom|10|6|0|0" passage="Ro 10:6">Rom. x. 6</scripRef>.
(2.) The glories of the kingdom of his providence are likewise
unsearchable and unparalleled. The same that reconciles heaven and
earth was the Creator of both and governs and disposes of all. His
government of the three lower elements of <i>air, water,</i> and
<i>earth,</i> is here particularized. [1.] The motions of the air
are of his directing. Satan pretends to be <i>the prince of the
power of the air,</i> but even there Christ has <i>all power;</i>
he <i>rebuked the winds</i> and they obeyed him. [2.] The bounds of
the water are of his appointing: He <i>binds the waters as in a
garment; hitherto they shall come, and no further,</i> <scripRef id="Prov.xxxi-p6.7" osisRef="Bible:Job.38.9-Job.38.11" parsed="|Job|38|9|38|11" passage="Job 38:9-11">Job xxxviii. 9-11</scripRef>. [3.] The
foundations of the earth are of his establishing. He founded it at
first; he upholds it still. If Christ had not interposed, the
foundations of the earth would have sunk under the load of the
curse upon the ground, for man's sin. Who and what is the mighty He
that does all this? We cannot <i>find out God,</i> nor the <i>Son
of God, unto perfection. Oh the depth of that knowledge!</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Prov.xxxi-p7">III. To assure us of the truth of the word
of God, and to recommend it to us, <scripRef id="Prov.xxxi-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Prov.30.5-Prov.30.6" parsed="|Prov|30|5|30|6" passage="Pr 30:5,6"><i>v.</i> 5, 6</scripRef>. Agur's pupils expect to be
instructed by him in the things of God. "Alas!" says he, "I cannot
undertake to instruct you; go to the word of God; see what he has
there revealed of himself, and of his mind and will; you need know
no more than what that will teach you, and that you may rely upon
as sure and sufficient. <i>Every word of God is pure;</i> there is
not the least mixture of falsehood and corruption in it." The words
of men are to be heard and read with jealousy and with allowance,
but there is not the least ground to suspect any deficiency in the
word of God; it is <i>as silver purified seven times</i> (<scripRef id="Prov.xxxi-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.12.6" parsed="|Ps|12|6|0|0" passage="Ps 12:6">Ps. xii. 6</scripRef>), without the least dross
or alloy. <i>Thy word is very pure,</i> <scripRef id="Prov.xxxi-p7.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.119.140" parsed="|Ps|119|140|0|0" passage="Ps 119:140">Ps. cxix. 140</scripRef>. 1. It is sure, and therefore
we must trust to it and venture our souls upon it. God in his word,
God in his promise, is <i>a shield,</i> a sure protection, to all
those that put themselves under his protection and <i>put their
trust in him.</i> The word of God, applied by faith, will make us
easy in the midst of the greatest dangers, <scripRef id="Prov.xxxi-p7.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.46.1-Ps.46.2" parsed="|Ps|46|1|46|2" passage="Ps 46:1,2">Ps. xlvi. 1, 2</scripRef>. 2. It is sufficient, and
therefore we must not add to it (<scripRef id="Prov.xxxi-p7.5" osisRef="Bible:Prov.30.6" parsed="|Prov|30|6|0|0" passage="Pr 30:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>): <i>Add thou not unto his
words,</i> because they are pure and perfect. This forbids the
advancing of any thing, not only in contradiction to the word of
God, but in competition with it; though it be under the plausible
pretence of explaining it, yet, if it pretend to be of equal
authority with it, it is <i>adding to his words,</i> which is not
only a reproach to them as insufficient, but opens a door to all
manner of errors and corruptions; for, that one absurdity being
granted, that the word of any man, or company of men, is to be
received with the same faith and veneration as the word of God, a
thousand follow. We must be content with what God has thought fit
to make known to us of his mind, and not covet to be <i>wise above
what is written;</i> for, (1.) God will resent it as a heinous
affront: "<i>He</i> will <i>reprove thee,</i> will reckon with thee
as a traitor against his crown and dignity, and lay thee under the
heavy doom of those that add to his words, or diminish from them,"
<scripRef id="Prov.xxxi-p7.6" osisRef="Bible:Deut.4.2 Bible:Deut.12.32" parsed="|Deut|4|2|0|0;|Deut|12|32|0|0" passage="De 4:2,12:32">Deut. iv. 2; xii. 32</scripRef>.
(2.) We shall run ourselves into endless mistakes: "Thou wilt be
found a liar, a corrupter of the word of truth, a broacher of
heresies, and guilty of the worst of forgeries, counterfeiting the
broad seal of heaven, and pretending a divine mission and
inspiration, when it is all a cheat. Men may be thus deceived, but
<i>God is not mocked.</i>"</p>
</div><scripCom id="Prov.xxxi-p7.7" osisRef="Bible:Prov.30.7-Prov.30.9" parsed="|Prov|30|7|30|9" passage="Pr 30:7-9" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Prov.30.7-Prov.30.9">
<h4 id="Prov.xxxi-p7.8">The Prayer of Agur.</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Prov.xxxi-p8">7 Two <i>things</i> have I required of thee;
deny me <i>them</i> not before I die:   8 Remove far from me
vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with
food convenient for me:   9 Lest I be full, and deny
<i>thee,</i> and say, Who <i>is</i> the <span class="smallcaps" id="Prov.xxxi-p8.1">Lord</span>? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the
name of my God <i>in vain.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Prov.xxxi-p9">After Agur's confession and creed, here
follows his litany, where we may observe,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Prov.xxxi-p10">I. The preface to his prayer: <i>Two things
have I required</i> (that is, <i>requested</i>) of thee, O God!
Before we go to pray it is good to consider what we need, and what
the things are which we have to ask of God.—What does our case
require? What do our hearts desire? What would we that God should
do for us?—that we may not have to seek for our petition and
request when we should be presenting it. He begs, <i>Deny me not
before I die.</i> In praying, we should think of dying, and pray
accordingly. "Lord, give me pardon, and peace, and grace, before I
die, <i>before I go hence and be no more;</i> for, if I be not
renewed and sanctified before I die, the work will not be done
after; if I do not prevail in prayer before I die, prayers
afterwards will not prevail, no, not <i>Lord, Lord.</i> There is
none of this wisdom or working in the grave. <i>Deny me not</i> thy
grace, for, if thou do, I die, I perish; if thou be silent to me,
<i>I am like those that go down to the pit,</i> <scripRef id="Prov.xxxi-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.28.1" parsed="|Ps|28|1|0|0" passage="Ps 28:1">Ps. xxviii. 1</scripRef>. <i>Deny me not before I
die;</i> as long as I continue in the land of the living, let me
continue under the conduct of thy grace and good providence."</p>
<p class="indent" id="Prov.xxxi-p11">II. The prayer itself. The <i>two
things</i> he requires are grace sufficient and food convenient. 1.
Grace sufficient for his soul: "<i>Remove from me vanity and
lies;</i> deliver me from sin, from all corrupt principles,
practices, and affections, from error and mistake, which are at the
bottom of all sin, from the love of the world and the things of it,
which are all <i>vanity and a lie.</i>" Some understand it as a
prayer for the pardon of sin, for, when God forgives sin, he
removes it, he takes it away. Or, rather, it is a prayer of the
same import with that, <i>Lead us not into temptation.</i> Nothing
is more mischievous to us than sin, and therefore there is nothing
which we should more earnestly pray against than that we may <i>do
no evil.</i> 2. Food convenient for his body. Having prayed for the
operations of divine grace, he here begs the favours of the divine
Providence, but such as may tend to the good and not to the
prejudice of the soul. (1.) He prays that of God's free gift he
might receive a competent portion of the good things of this life:
"<i>Feed me with the bread of my allowance,</i> such bread as thou
thinkest fit to allow me." As to all the gifts of the divine
Providence, we must refer ourselves to the divine wisdom. Or,
"<i>the bread that is fit for me,</i> as a man, a master of a
family, that which is agreeable to my rank and condition in the
world." For <i>as is the man so is his competency.</i> Our Saviour
seems to refer to this when he teaches us to pray, <i>Give us this
day our daily bread,</i> as this seems to refer to Jacob's vow, in
which he wished for no more than <i>bread to eat and raiment to put
on.</i> Food convenient for us is what we ought to be content with,
though we have not dainties, varieties, and superfluities—what is
for necessity, though we have not for delight and ornament; and it
is what we may in faith pray for and depend upon God for. (2.) He
prays that he may be kept from every condition of life that would
be a temptation to him. [1.] He prays against the extremes of
abundance and want: <i>Give me neither poverty nor riches.</i> He
does not hereby prescribe to God, nor pretend to teach him what
condition he shall allot to him, nor does he pray against poverty
or riches absolutely, as in themselves evil, for either of them, by
the grace of God, may be sanctified and be a means of good to us;
but, <i>First,</i> He hereby intends to express the value which
wise and good men have for a middle state of life, and, with
submission to the will of God, desires that that might be his
state, neither great honour nor great contempt. We must learn how
to manage both (as St. Paul, <scripRef id="Prov.xxxi-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Phil.4.12" parsed="|Phil|4|12|0|0" passage="Php 4:12">Phil. iv.
12</scripRef>), but rather wish to be always between both.
<i>Optimus pecuniæ modus qui nec in paupertatem cedit nec procul à
paupertate discedit—The best condition is that which neither
implies poverty nor yet recedes far from it.</i> Seneca.
<i>Secondly,</i> He hereby intimates a holy jealousy he had of
himself, that he could not keep his ground against the temptations
either of an afflicted or a prosperous condition. Others may
preserve their integrity in either, but he is afraid of both, and
therefore grace teaches him to pray against riches as much as
nature against poverty; but <i>the will of the Lord be done.</i>
[2.] He gives a pious reason for his prayer, <scripRef id="Prov.xxxi-p11.2" osisRef="Bible:Prov.30.9" parsed="|Prov|30|9|0|0" passage="Pr 30:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>. He does not say, "<i>Lest I be
rich,</i> and cumbered with care, and envied by my neighbours, and
eaten up with a multitude of servants, or, <i>lest I be poor</i>
and trampled on, and forced to work hard and fare hard;" but,
"<i>Lest I be rich</i> and sin, or <i>poor</i> and sin." Sin is
that which a good man is afraid of in every condition and under
every event; witness Nehemiah (<scripRef id="Prov.xxxi-p11.3" osisRef="Bible:Prov.6.13" parsed="|Prov|6|13|0|0" passage="Pr 6:13"><i>ch.</i> vi. 13</scripRef>), <i>that I should be
afraid, and do so, and sin. First,</i> He dreads the temptations of
a prosperous condition, and therefore even deprecates that: <i>Lest
I be full and deny thee</i> (as Jeshurun, who <i>waxed fat and
kicked,</i> and <i>forsook God who made him,</i> <scripRef id="Prov.xxxi-p11.4" osisRef="Bible:Deut.32.15" parsed="|Deut|32|15|0|0" passage="De 32:15">Deut. xxxii. 15</scripRef>), and say, as Pharaoh in his
pride, <i>Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice?</i>
Prosperity makes people proud and forgetful of God, as if they had
no need of him and were therefore under no obligation to him.
<i>What can the Almighty do for them?</i> <scripRef id="Prov.xxxi-p11.5" osisRef="Bible:Job.22.17" parsed="|Job|22|17|0|0" passage="Job 22:17">Job xxii. 17</scripRef>. And therefore they will do
nothing for him. Even good men are afraid of the worst sins, so
deceitful do they think their own hearts to be; and they know that
the greatest gains of the world will not balance the least guilt.
<i>Secondly,</i> He dreads the temptations of a poor condition, and
for that reason, and no other, deprecates that: <i>Lest I be poor
and steal.</i> Poverty is a strong temptation to dishonesty, and
such as many are overcome by, and they are ready to think it will
be their excuse; but it will not bear them out at God's bar any
more than at men's to say, "I stole because I was poor;" yet, if a
man <i>steal for the satisfying of his soul when he is hungry,</i>
it is a case of compassion (<scripRef id="Prov.xxxi-p11.6" osisRef="Bible:Prov.6.30" parsed="|Prov|6|30|0|0" passage="Pr 6:30"><i>ch.</i>
vi. 30</scripRef>) and what even those that have some principles of
honesty in them may be drawn to. But observe why Agur dreads this,
not because he should endanger himself by it, "Lest I steal, and be
hanged for it, whipped or put in the stocks, or sold for a
bondman," as among the Jews poor thieves were, who had not
wherewithal to make restitution; but lest he should dishonour God
by it: "<i>Lest I should steal, and take the name of my God in
vain,</i> that is, discredit my profession of religion by practices
disagreeable to it." Or, "Lest I steal, and, when I am charged with
it, forswear myself." He <i>therefore</i> dreads one sin, because
it would draw on another, for the way of sin is downhill. Observe,
He calls God <i>his God,</i> and <i>therefore</i> he is afraid of
doing any thing to offend him because of the relation he stands in
to him.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Prov.xxxi-p11.7" osisRef="Bible:Prov.30.10-Prov.30.14" parsed="|Prov|30|10|30|14" passage="Pr 30:10-14" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Prov.30.10-Prov.30.14">
<h4 id="Prov.xxxi-p11.8">Four Wicked Generations.</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Prov.xxxi-p12">10 Accuse not a servant unto his master, lest he
curse thee, and thou be found guilty.   11 <i>There is</i> a
generation <i>that</i> curseth their father, and doth not bless
their mother.   12 <i>There is</i> a generation <i>that
are</i> pure in their own eyes, and <i>yet</i> is not washed from
their filthiness.   13 <i>There is</i> a generation, O how
lofty are their eyes! and their eyelids are lifted up.   14
<i>There is</i> a generation, whose teeth <i>are as</i> swords, and
their jaw teeth <i>as</i> knives, to devour the poor from off the
earth, and the needy from <i>among</i> men.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Prov.xxxi-p13">Here is, I. A caution not to abuse other
people's servants any more than our own, nor to make mischief
between them and their masters, for it is an ill office, invidious,
and what will make a man odious, <scripRef id="Prov.xxxi-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Prov.30.10" parsed="|Prov|30|10|0|0" passage="Pr 30:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>. Consider, 1. It is an injury to
the servant, whose poor condition makes him an object of pity, and
therefore it is barbarous to add affliction to him that is
afflicted: <i>Hurt not a servant with thy tongue</i> (so the margin
reads it); for it argues a sordid disposition to smite any body
secretly with the scourge of the tongue, especially a servant, who
is not a match for us, and whom we should rather protect, if his
master be severe with him, than exasperate him more. 2. "It will
perhaps be an injury to thyself. If a servant be thus provoked,
perhaps he will curse thee, will accuse thee and bring thee into
trouble, or give thee an ill word and blemish thy reputation, or
appeal to God against thee, and imprecate <i>his</i> wrath upon
thee, who is the patron and protector of oppressed innocency."</p>
<p class="indent" id="Prov.xxxi-p14">II. An account, upon occasion of this
caution, of some wicked generations of men, that are justly
abominable to all that are virtuous and good. 1. Such as are
abusive to their parents, give them bad language and wish them ill,
call them bad names and actually injure them. <i>There is a
generation</i> of such; young men of that black character commonly
herd together, and irritate one another against their parents. A
<i>generation of vipers</i> those are who curse their natural
parents, or their magistrates, or their ministers, because they
cannot endure the yoke; and those are near of kin to them who,
though they have not yet arrived at such a pitch of wickedness as
to curse their parents, yet do not bless them, cannot give them a
good word, and will not pray for them. 2. Such as are conceited of
themselves, and, under a show and pretence of sanctity, hide from
others, and perhaps from themselves too, abundance of reigning
wickedness in secret (<scripRef id="Prov.xxxi-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Prov.30.12" parsed="|Prov|30|12|0|0" passage="Pr 30:12"><i>v.</i>
12</scripRef>); they are <i>pure in their own eyes,</i> as if they
were in all respects such as they should be. They have a very good
opinion of themselves and their own character, that they are not
only righteous, but <i>rich and increased with goods</i> (<scripRef id="Prov.xxxi-p14.2" osisRef="Bible:Rev.3.17" parsed="|Rev|3|17|0|0" passage="Re 3:17">Rev. iii. 17</scripRef>), and yet <i>are not
cleansed from their filthiness,</i> the filthiness of their hearts,
which they pretend to be the best part of them. They are, it may
be, swept and garnished, but they are not washed, nor sanctified;
as the Pharisees that within were <i>full of all uncleanness,</i>
<scripRef id="Prov.xxxi-p14.3" osisRef="Bible:Matt.23.25-Matt.23.26" parsed="|Matt|23|25|23|26" passage="Mt 23:25,26">Matt. xxiii. 25, 26</scripRef>. 3.
Such as are haughty and scornful to those about them, <scripRef id="Prov.xxxi-p14.4" osisRef="Bible:Prov.30.13" parsed="|Prov|30|13|0|0" passage="Pr 30:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>. He speaks of them with
amazement at their intolerable pride and insolence: "<i>Oh how
lofty are their eyes!</i> With what disdain do they look upon their
neighbours, as not worthy to be set with the dogs of their flock!
What a distance do they expect every body should keep; and, when
they look upon themselves, how do they strut and vaunt like the
peacock, thinking they make themselves illustrious when really they
make themselves ridiculous!" There is a generation of such, on whom
he that <i>resists the proud</i> will pour contempt. 4. Such as are
cruel to the poor and barbarous to all that lie at their mercy
(<scripRef id="Prov.xxxi-p14.5" osisRef="Bible:Prov.30.14" parsed="|Prov|30|14|0|0" passage="Pr 30:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>); their teeth
are iron and steel, <i>swords and knives,</i> instruments of
cruelty, with which they <i>devour the poor</i> with the greatest
pleasure imaginable, and as greedily as hungry men cut their meat
and eat it. God has so ordered it that the <i>poor we shall always
have with us,</i> that they shall <i>never cease out of the
land;</i> but there are those who, because they hate to relieve
them, would, if they could, abolish them <i>from the earth, from
among men,</i> especially God's poor. Some understand it of those
who wound and ruin others by slanders and false accusations, and
severe censures of their everlasting state; their tongues, and
their teeth too (which are likewise organs of speech), are <i>as
swords and knives,</i> <scripRef id="Prov.xxxi-p14.6" osisRef="Bible:Ps.57.4" parsed="|Ps|57|4|0|0" passage="Ps 57:4">Ps. lvii.
4</scripRef>.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Prov.xxxi-p14.7" osisRef="Bible:Prov.30.15-Prov.30.17" parsed="|Prov|30|15|30|17" passage="Pr 30:15-17" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Prov.30.15-Prov.30.17">
<h4 id="Prov.xxxi-p14.8">Four Things Unsearchable.</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Prov.xxxi-p15">15 The horseleach hath two daughters,
<i>crying,</i> Give, give. There are three <i>things that</i> are
never satisfied, <i>yea,</i> four <i>things</i> say not, <i>It
is</i> enough:   16 The grave; and the barren womb; the earth
<i>that</i> is not filled with water; and the fire <i>that</i>
saith not, <i>It is</i> enough.   17 The eye <i>that</i>
mocketh at <i>his</i> father, and despiseth to obey <i>his</i>
mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young
eagles shall eat it.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Prov.xxxi-p16">He had spoken before of those that devoured
the poor (<scripRef id="Prov.xxxi-p16.1" osisRef="Bible:Prov.30.14" parsed="|Prov|30|14|0|0" passage="Pr 30:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>),
and had spoken of them last, as the worst of all the four
generations there mentioned; now here he speaks of their
insatiableness in doing this. The temper that puts them upon it is
made up of cruelty and covetousness. Now those are <i>two
daughters</i> of the <i>horse-leech,</i> its genuine offspring,
that still cry, "<i>Give, give,</i> give more blood, give more
money;" for the bloody are still blood-thirsty; being drunk with
blood, they add thirst to their drunkenness, and will seek it yet
again. Those also that <i>love silver</i> shall never <i>be
satisfied with silver.</i> Thus, while from these two principles
they are devouring the poor, they are continually uneasy to
themselves, as David's enemies, <scripRef id="Prov.xxxi-p16.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.59.14-Ps.59.15" parsed="|Ps|59|14|59|15" passage="Ps 59:14,15">Ps.
lix. 14, 15</scripRef>. Now, for the further illustration of
this,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Prov.xxxi-p17">I. He specifies four other things which are
insatiable, to which those devourers are compared, which say not,
<i>It is enough,</i> or <i>It is wealth.</i> Those are never rich
that are always coveting. Now these four things that are always
craving are, 1. The grave, into which multitudes fall, and yet
still more will fall, and it swallows them all up, and returns
none, <i>Hell and destruction are never full,</i> <scripRef id="Prov.xxxi-p17.1" osisRef="Bible:Prov.27.20" parsed="|Prov|27|20|0|0" passage="Pr 27:20"><i>ch.</i> xxvii. 20</scripRef>. When it comes
to our turn we shall find the grave ready for us, <scripRef id="Prov.xxxi-p17.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.17.1" parsed="|Job|17|1|0|0" passage="Job 17:1">Job xvii. 1</scripRef>. 2. The <i>barren
womb,</i> which is impatient of its affliction in being barren, and
cries, as Rachel did, <i>Give me children.</i> 3. The <i>parched
ground</i> in time of drought (especially in those hot countries),
which still soaks in the rain that comes in abundance upon it and
in a little time wants more. 4. The <i>fire,</i> which, when it has
consumed abundance of fuel, yet still devours all the combustible
matter that is thrown into it. So insatiable are the corrupt
desires of sinners, and so little satisfaction have they even in
the gratification of them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Prov.xxxi-p18">II. He adds a terrible threatening to
disobedient children (<scripRef id="Prov.xxxi-p18.1" osisRef="Bible:Prov.30.17" parsed="|Prov|30|17|0|0" passage="Pr 30:17"><i>v.</i>
17</scripRef>), for warning to the first of those four wicked
generations, that curse their parents (<scripRef id="Prov.xxxi-p18.2" osisRef="Bible:Prov.30.11" parsed="|Prov|30|11|0|0" passage="Pr 30:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>), and shows here,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Prov.xxxi-p19">1. Who they are that belong to that
generation, not only those that curse their parents in heat and
passion, but, (1.) Those that <i>mock</i> at them, though it be but
with a scornful eye, looking with disdain upon them because of
their bodily infirmities, or looking sour or dogged at them when
they instruct or command, impatient at their checks and angry at
them. God takes notice with what eye children look upon their
parents, and will reckon for the leering look and the casts of the
evil eye as well as for the bad language given them. (2.) Those
that <i>despise to obey</i> them, that think it a thing below them
to be dutiful to their parents, especially to the <i>mother,</i>
they scorn to be controlled by her; and thus she that bore them in
sorrow in greater sorrow bears their manners.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Prov.xxxi-p20">2. What their doom will be. Those that
dishonour their parents shall be set up as monuments of God's
vengeance; they shall be hanged in chains, as it were, for the
birds of prey to pick out their eyes, those eyes with which they
looked so scornfully on their good parents. The dead bodies of
malefactors were not to hang all night, but before night the ravens
would have picked out their eyes. If men do not punish undutiful
children, God will, and will load those with the greatest infamy
that conduct themselves haughtily towards their parents. Many who
have come to an ignominious end have owned that the wicked courses
that brought them to it began in a contempt of their parents'
authority.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Prov.xxxi-p20.1" osisRef="Bible:Prov.30.18-Prov.30.23" parsed="|Prov|30|18|30|23" passage="Pr 30:18-23" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Prov.30.18-Prov.30.23">
<h4 id="Prov.xxxi-p20.2">Four Things Little and Wise.</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Prov.xxxi-p21">18 There be three <i>things which</i> are too
wonderful for me, yea, four which I know not:   19 The way of
an eagle in the air; the way of a serpent upon a rock; the way of a
ship in the midst of the sea; and the way of a man with a maid.
  20 Such <i>is</i> the way of an adulterous woman; she
eateth, and wipeth her mouth, and saith, I have done no wickedness.
  21 For three <i>things</i> the earth is disquieted, and for
four <i>which</i> it cannot bear:   22 For a servant when he
reigneth; and a fool when he is filled with meat;   23 For an
odious <i>woman</i> when she is married; and an handmaid that is
heir to her mistress.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Prov.xxxi-p22">Here is, I. An account of four things that
are unsearchable, <i>too wonderful</i> to be fully known. And
here,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Prov.xxxi-p23">1. The first three are natural things, and
are only designed as comparisons for the illustration of the last.
We cannot trace, (1.) <i>An eagle in the air.</i> Which way she has
flown cannot be discovered either by the footstep or by the scent,
as the way of a beast may upon ground; nor can we account for the
wonderful swiftness of her flight, how soon she has gone beyond our
ken. (2.) <i>A serpent upon a rock.</i> The way of a serpent in the
sand we may find by the track, but not of a serpent upon the hard
rock; nor can we describe how a serpent will, without feet, in a
little time creep to the top of a rock. (3.) <i>A ship in the midst
of the sea.</i> The leviathan indeed <i>makes a path to shine after
him, one would think the deep to be hoary</i> (<scripRef id="Prov.xxxi-p23.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.41.32" parsed="|Job|41|32|0|0" passage="Job 41:32">Job xli. 32</scripRef>), but a ship leaves no mark
behind it, and sometimes it is so tossed upon the waves that one
would wonder how it lives at sea and gains its point. The kingdom
of nature is full of wonders, marvellous things which the God of
nature does, <i>past finding out.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Prov.xxxi-p24">2. The fourth is a mystery of iniquity,
more unaccountable than any of these; it belongs to the depths of
Satan, that deceitfulness and that desperate wickedness of the
heart which none can know, <scripRef id="Prov.xxxi-p24.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.17.9" parsed="|Jer|17|9|0|0" passage="Jer 17:9">Jer. xvii.
9</scripRef>. It is twofold:—(1.) The cursed arts which a vile
adulterer has to debauch a maid, and to persuade her to yield to
his wicked and abominable lust. This is what a wanton poet wrote a
whole book of, long since, <i>De arte amandi—On the art of
love.</i> By what pretensions and protestations of love, and all
its powerful charms, promises of marriage, assurances of secresy
and reward, is many an unwary virgin brought to sell her virtue,
and honour, and peace, and soul, and all to a base traitor; for so
all sinful lust is in the kingdom of love. The more artfully the
temptation is managed the more watchful and resolute ought every
pure heart to be against it. (2.) The cursed arts which a vile
adulteress has to conceal her wickedness, especially from her
husband, from whom she treacherously departs; so close are her
intrigues with her lewd companions, and so craftily disguised, that
it is as impossible to discover her as to track an <i>eagle in the
air.</i> She eats the forbidden fruit, after the similitude of
Adam's transgression, and then <i>wipes her mouth,</i> that it may
not betray itself, and with a bold and impudent face says, <i>I
have done no wickedness.</i> [1.] To the world she denies the fact,
and is ready to swear it that she is as chaste and modest as any
woman, and never did the wickedness she is suspected of. Those are
the works of darkness which are industriously kept from coming to
the light. [2.] To her own conscience (if she have any left) she
denies the fault, and will not own that that <i>great
wickedness</i> is any wickedness at all, but an innocent
entertainment. See <scripRef id="Prov.xxxi-p24.2" osisRef="Bible:Hos.12.7-Hos.12.8" parsed="|Hos|12|7|12|8" passage="Ho 12:7,8">Hos. xii. 7,
8</scripRef>. Thus multitudes ruin their souls by calling evil good
and out-facing their convictions with a self-justification.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Prov.xxxi-p25">II. An account of four things that are
intolerable, that is, four sorts of persons that are very
troublesome to the places where they live and the relations and
companies they are in; the earth is <i>disquieted for them,</i> and
groans under them as a burden it cannot bear, and they are all much
alike:—1. <i>A servant</i> when he is advanced, and entrusted
with power, who is, of all others, most insolent and imperious;
witness Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, <scripRef id="Prov.xxxi-p25.1" osisRef="Bible:Neh.2.10" parsed="|Neh|2|10|0|0" passage="Ne 2:10">Neh. ii. 10</scripRef>. 2. <i>A fool,</i> a silly, rude,
boisterous, vicious man, who when he has grown rich, and is
partaking of the pleasures of the table, will disturb all the
company with his extravagant talk and the affronts he will put upon
those about him. 3. An ill-natured, cross-grained, <i>woman,</i>
when she gets a husband, one who, having made herself odious by her
pride and sourness, so that one would not have thought any body
would ever love her, yet, if at last she be married, that
honourable estate makes her more intolerably scornful and spiteful
than ever. It is a pity that that which should sweeten the
disposition should have a contrary effect. A gracious woman, when
she is married, will be yet more obliging. 4. An old maid-servant
that has prevailed with her mistress, by humouring her, and, as we
say, getting the length of her foot, to leave her what she has, or
is as dear to her as if she was to be her heir, such a one likewise
will be intolerably proud and malicious, and think all too little
that her mistress gives her, and herself wronged if any thing be
left from her. Let those therefore whom Providence has advanced to
honour from mean beginnings carefully watch against that sin which
will most easily beset them, pride and haughtiness, which will in
them, of all others, be most insufferable and inexcusable; and let
them humble themselves with the remembrance of the rock out of
which they were hewn.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Prov.xxxi-p25.2" osisRef="Bible:Prov.30.24-Prov.30.28" parsed="|Prov|30|24|30|28" passage="Pr 30:24-28" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Prov.30.24-Prov.30.28">
<h4 id="Prov.xxxi-p25.3">Four Things Little and Wise.</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Prov.xxxi-p26">24 There be four <i>things which are</i> little
upon the earth, but they <i>are</i> exceeding wise:   25 The
ants <i>are</i> a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in
the summer;   26 The conies <i>are but</i> a feeble folk, yet
make they their houses in the rocks;   27 The locusts have no
king, yet go they forth all of them by bands;   28 The spider
taketh hold with her hands, and is in kings' palaces.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Prov.xxxi-p27">I. Agur, having specified four things that
seem great and yet are really contemptible, here specifies four
things that are little and yet are very admirable, great in
miniature, in which, as bishop Patrick observes, he teaches us
several good lessons; as, 1. Not to admire bodily bulk, or beauty,
or strength, nor to value persons or think the better of them for
such advantages, but to judge of men by their wisdom and conduct,
their industry and application to business, which are characters
that deserve respect. 2. To admire the wisdom and power of the
Creator in the smallest and most despicable animals, in an ant as
much as in an elephant. 3. To blame ourselves who do not act so
much for our own true interest as the meanest creatures do for
theirs. 4. Not to despise the weak things of the world; there are
those that are <i>little upon the earth,</i> poor in the world and
of small account, and yet <i>are exceedingly wise,</i> wise for
their souls and another world, and those <i>are exceedingly wise,
wiser than their neighbours.</i> Margin, <i>They are wise, made
wise</i> by the special instinct of nature. All that are wise to
salvation are made wise by the grace of God.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Prov.xxxi-p28">II. Those he specifies are, 1. The
<i>ants,</i> minute animals and very weak, and yet they are very
industrious in gathering proper food, and have a strange sagacity
to do it in the summer, the proper time. This is so great a piece
of wisdom that we may learn of them to be wise for futurity,
<scripRef id="Prov.xxxi-p28.1" osisRef="Bible:Prov.6.6" parsed="|Prov|6|6|0|0" passage="Pr 6:6"><i>ch.</i> vi. 6</scripRef>. When the
ravening <i>lions lack, and suffer hunger,</i> the laborious ants
have plenty, and know no want. 2. The <i>conies,</i> or, as some
rather understand it, the Arabian mice, field mice, weak creatures,
and very timorous, yet they have so much wisdom as to <i>make their
houses in the rocks,</i> where they are well guarded, and their
feebleness makes them take shelter in those natural fastnesses and
fortifications. Sense of our own indigence and weakness should
drive us to him that is a <i>rock higher than we</i> for shelter
and support; there let us make our habitation. 3. The
<i>locusts;</i> they are little also, and <i>have no king,</i> as
the bees have, but <i>they go forth all of them by bands,</i> like
an army in battle-array; and, observing such good order among
themselves, it is not any inconvenience to them that they <i>have
no king.</i> They are called God's <i>great army</i> (<scripRef id="Prov.xxxi-p28.2" osisRef="Bible:Joel.2.25" parsed="|Joel|2|25|0|0" passage="Joe 2:25">Joel ii. 25</scripRef>); for, when he pleases,
he musters, he marshals them, and wages war by them, as he did upon
Egypt. <i>They go forth all of them gathered together</i> (so the
margin); sense of weakness should engage us to keep together, that
we may strengthen the hands of one another. 4. The <i>spider,</i>
an insect, but as great an instance of industry in our houses as
the ants are in the field. Spiders are very ingenious in weaving
their webs with a fineness and exactness such as no art can pretend
to come near: They <i>take hold with their hands,</i> and spin a
fine thread out of their own bowels, with a great deal of art; and
they are not only in poor men's cottages, but in <i>kings'
palaces,</i> notwithstanding all the care that is there taken to
destroy them. Providence wonderfully keeps up those kinds of
creatures, not only which men provide not for, but which every
man's hand is against and seeks the destruction of. Those that will
mind their business, and <i>take hold</i> of it <i>with their
hands,</i> shall be <i>in kings' palaces;</i> sooner or later, they
will get preferment, and may go on with it, notwithstanding the
difficulties and discouragements they meet with. If one well-spun
web be swept away, it is but making another.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Prov.xxxi-p28.3" osisRef="Bible:Prov.30.29-Prov.30.33" parsed="|Prov|30|29|30|33" passage="Pr 30:29-33" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Prov.30.29-Prov.30.33">
<h4 id="Prov.xxxi-p28.4">Four Things Majestic and
Stately.</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Prov.xxxi-p29">29 There be three <i>things</i> which go well,
yea, four are comely in going:   30 A lion <i>which is</i>
strongest among beasts, and turneth not away for any;   31 A
greyhound; an he goat also; and a king, against whom <i>there
is</i> no rising up.   32 If thou hast done foolishly in
lifting up thyself, or if thou hast thought evil, <i>lay</i> thine
hand upon thy mouth.   33 Surely the churning of milk bringeth
forth butter, and the wringing of the nose bringeth forth blood: so
the forcing of wrath bringeth forth strife.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Prov.xxxi-p30">Here is, I. An enumeration of four things
which are majestic and stately in their going, which look great:—
1. <i>A lion,</i> the king of beasts, because <i>strongest among
beasts.</i> Among beasts it is strength that gives the
pre-eminence, but it is a pity that it should do so among men,
whose <i>wisdom</i> is their honour, not their <i>strength</i> and
<i>force.</i> The lion <i>turns not away,</i> nor alters his pace,
for fear of any pursuers, since he knows he is too hard for them.
Herein <i>the righteous are bold as a lion,</i> that they <i>turn
not away</i> from their duty for fear of any difficulty they meet
with in it. 2. <i>A greyhound</i> that is girt in the loins and fit
for running; or (as the margin reads it) <i>a horse,</i> which
ought not to be omitted among the creatures that <i>are comely in
going,</i> for so he is, especially when he is dressed up in his
harness or trappings. 3. <i>A he-goat,</i> the comeliness of whose
going is when he goes first and leads the flock. It is the
comeliness of a Christian's going to go first in a good work and to
lead others in the right way. 4. <i>A king,</i> who, when he
appears in his majesty, is looked upon with reverence and awe, and
all agree that <i>there is no rising up against</i> him; none can
vie with him, none can contend with him, whoever does it, it is at
his peril. And, if <i>there is no rising up</i> against an earthly
prince, <i>woe to him</i> then <i>that strives with his Maker.</i>
It is intended that we should learn courage and fortitude in all
virtuous actions from the <i>lion</i> and <i>not to turn away for
any</i> difficulty we meet with; from the <i>greyhound</i> we may
learn quickness and despatch, from the <i>he-goat</i> the care of
our family and those under our charge, and from <i>a king</i> to
have our children in subjection with all gravity, and from them all
to <i>go well,</i> and to order the steps of our conversation so as
that we may not only be safe, but <i>comely, in going.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Prov.xxxi-p31">II. A caution to us to keep our temper at
all times and under all provocations, and to take heed of carrying
our resentments too far upon any occasion, especially when there is
<i>a king</i> in the case, <i>against whom there is no rising
up,</i> when it is a ruler, or one much our superior, that is
offended; nay, the rule is always the same.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Prov.xxxi-p32">1. We must bridle and suppress our own
passion, and take shame to ourselves, whenever we are justly
charged with a fault, and not insist upon our own innocency: If we
have <i>lifted up ourselves,</i> either in a proud conceit of
ourselves or a peevish opposition to those that are over us, if we
have transgressed the laws of our place and station, we have
therein <i>done foolishly.</i> Those that magnify themselves over
others or against others, that are haughty and insolent, do but
shame themselves and betray their own weakness. Nay, if we have but
<i>thought evil,</i> if we are conscious to ourselves that we have
harboured an ill design in our minds, or it has been suggested to
us, we must <i>lay our hand upon our mouth,</i> that is, (1.) We
must humble ourselves for what we have done amiss, and even lie in
the dust before God, in sorrow for it, as Job did, when he repented
of what he had said foolishly (<scripRef id="Prov.xxxi-p32.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.40.4" parsed="|Job|40|4|0|0" passage="Job 40:4"><i>ch.</i> xl. 4</scripRef>, <i>I will lay my hand upon
my mouth</i>), and as the convicted leper, who <i>put a covering
upon his upper lip.</i> If we have <i>done foolishly,</i> we must
not stand to it before men, but by silence own our guilt, which
will be the best way of appeasing those we have offended. 2. We
must keep the evil thought we have conceived in our minds from
breaking out in any evil speeches. Do not give the evil thought an
<i>imprimatur—a license;</i> allow it not to be published; but
<i>lay thy hand upon thy mouth;</i> use a holy violence with
thyself, if need be, and enjoin thyself silence; as Christ
<i>suffered not the evil spirits to speak.</i> It is bad to think
ill, but it is much worse to speak it, for that implies a consent
to the evil thought and a willingness to infect others with it.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Prov.xxxi-p33">2. We must not irritate the passions of
others. Some are so very provoking in their words and conduct that
they even <i>force wrath,</i> they make those about them angry
whether they will or no, and put those into a passion who are not
only not inclined to it, but resolved against it. Now this
<i>forcing of wrath brings forth strife,</i> and where that <i>is
there is confusion and every evil work.</i> As the violent
agitation of the cream fetches all the good out of the milk, and
the hard <i>wringing of the nose</i> will extort blood from it, so
this <i>forcing of wrath</i> wastes both the body and spirits of a
man, and robs him of all the good that is in him. Or, as it is in
<i>the churning of milk and the wringing of the nose, that</i> is
done by force which otherwise would not be done, so the spirit is
heated by degrees with strong passions; one angry word begets
another, and that a third; one passionate debate makes work for
another, and so it goes on till it ends at length in irreconcilable
feuds. Let nothing therefore be said or done with violence, but
every thing with softness and calmness.</p>
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