mh_parser/vol_split/20 - Proverbs/Chapter 9.xml

<div2 id="Prov.x" n="x" next="Prov.xi" prev="Prov.ix" progress="76.60%" title="Chapter IX">
<h2 id="Prov.x-p0.1">P R O V E R B S</h2>
<h3 id="Prov.x-p0.2">CHAP. IX.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Prov.x-p1">Christ and sin are rivals for the soul of man, and
here we are told how they both make their court to it, to have the
innermost and uppermost place in it. The design of this
representation is to set before us life and death, good and evil;
and there needs no more than a fair stating of the case to
determine us which of those to choose, and surrender our hearts to.
They are both brought in making entertainment for the soul, and
inviting it to accept of the entertainment; concerning both we are
told what the issue will be; and, the matter being thus laid before
us, let us consider, take advice, and speak our minds. And we are
therefore concerned to put a value upon our own souls, because we
see there is such striving for them. I. Christ, under the name of
Wisdom, invites us to accept of his entertainment, and so to enter
into acquaintance and communion with him, <scripRef id="Prov.x-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Prov.9.1-Prov.9.6" parsed="|Prov|9|1|9|6" passage="Pr 9:1-6">ver. 1-6</scripRef>. And having foretold the different
success of his invitation (<scripRef id="Prov.x-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Prov.9.7-Prov.9.9" parsed="|Prov|9|7|9|9" passage="Pr 9:7-9">ver.
7-9</scripRef>) he shows, in short, what he requires from us
(<scripRef id="Prov.x-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Prov.9.10" parsed="|Prov|9|10|0|0" passage="Pr 9:10">ver. 10</scripRef>) and what he
designs for us (<scripRef id="Prov.x-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Prov.9.11" parsed="|Prov|9|11|0|0" passage="Pr 9:11">ver. 11</scripRef>),
and then leaves it to our choice what we will do, <scripRef id="Prov.x-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Prov.9.12" parsed="|Prov|9|12|0|0" passage="Pr 9:12">ver. 12</scripRef>. II. Sin, under the character
of a foolish woman, courts us to accept of her entertainment, and
(<scripRef id="Prov.x-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Prov.9.13-Prov.9.16" parsed="|Prov|9|13|9|16" passage="Pr 9:13-16">ver. 13-16</scripRef>) pretends it
is very charming, <scripRef id="Prov.x-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Prov.9.17" parsed="|Prov|9|17|0|0" passage="Pr 9:17">ver. 17</scripRef>.
But Solomon tells us what the reckoning will be, <scripRef id="Prov.x-p1.8" osisRef="Bible:Prov.9.18" parsed="|Prov|9|18|0|0" passage="Pr 9:18">ver. 18</scripRef>. And now choose you, this day, whom
you will close with.</p>
<scripCom id="Prov.x-p1.9" osisRef="Bible:Prov.9" parsed="|Prov|9|0|0|0" passage="Pr 9" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Prov.x-p1.10" osisRef="Bible:Prov.9.1-Prov.9.12" parsed="|Prov|9|1|9|12" passage="Pr 9:1-12" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Prov.9.1-Prov.9.12">
<h4 id="Prov.x-p1.11">The Invitation of Wisdom.</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Prov.x-p2">1 Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath hewn
out her seven pillars:   2 She hath killed her beasts; she
hath mingled her wine; she hath also furnished her table.   3
She hath sent forth her maidens: she crieth upon the highest places
of the city,   4 Whoso <i>is</i> simple, let him turn in
hither: <i>as for</i> him that wanteth understanding, she saith to
him,   5 Come, eat of my bread, and drink of the wine
<i>which</i> I have mingled.   6 Forsake the foolish, and
live; and go in the way of understanding.   7 He that
reproveth a scorner getteth to himself shame: and he that rebuketh
a wicked <i>man getteth</i> himself a blot.   8 Reprove not a
scorner, lest he hate thee: rebuke a wise man, and he will love
thee.   9 Give <i>instruction</i> to a wise <i>man,</i> and he
will be yet wiser: teach a just <i>man,</i> and he will increase in
learning.   10 The fear of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Prov.x-p2.1">Lord</span> <i>is</i> the beginning of wisdom: and the
knowledge of the holy <i>is</i> understanding.   11 For by me
thy days shall be multiplied, and the years of thy life shall be
increased.   12 If thou be wise, thou shalt be wise for
thyself: but <i>if</i> thou scornest, thou alone shalt bear
<i>it.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Prov.x-p3">Wisdom is here introduced as a magnificent
and munificent queen, very great and very generous; that Word of
God is this Wisdom in which God makes known his goodwill towards
men; God the Word is this Wisdom, to whom the Father has committed
all judgment. He who, in the chapter before, showed his grandeur
and glory as the Creator of the world, here shows his grace and
goodness as the Redeemer of it. The word is plural, <i>Wisdoms;</i>
for in Christ are hid treasures of wisdom, and in his undertaking
appears the manifold wisdom of God in a mystery. Now observe
here,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Prov.x-p4">I. The rich provision which Wisdom has made
for the reception of all those that will be her disciples. This is
represented under the similitude of a sumptuous feast, whence it is
probable, our Saviour borrowed those parables in which he compared
the <i>kingdom of heaven</i> to a great supper, <scripRef id="Prov.x-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Matt.22.2 Bible:Luke.14.16" parsed="|Matt|22|2|0|0;|Luke|14|16|0|0" passage="Mt 22:2,Lu 14:16">Matt. xxii. 2; Luke xiv. 16</scripRef>. And so
it was prophesied of, <scripRef id="Prov.x-p4.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.25.6" parsed="|Isa|25|6|0|0" passage="Isa 25:6">Isa. xxv.
6</scripRef>. It is such a feast as Ahasuerus made to <i>show the
riches of his glorious kingdom.</i> The grace of the gospel is thus
set before us in the ordinance of the Lord's supper. To bid her
guests welcome, 1. Here is a stately palace provided, <scripRef id="Prov.x-p4.3" osisRef="Bible:Prov.9.1" parsed="|Prov|9|1|0|0" passage="Pr 9:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>. Wisdom, not finding a
house capacious enough for all her guests, has built one on
purpose, and, both to strengthen it and to beautify it, she has
<i>hewn out her seven pillars,</i> which make it to be very firm,
and look very great. Heaven is the house which Wisdom has built to
entertain all her guests that are called to the marriage-supper of
the Lamb; that is her Father's house, where there are many
mansions, and whither she has gone to prepare places for us. She
has hanged the earth upon nothing, there in it we have no
continuing city; but heaven is a city that has foundations, has
pillars. The church is Wisdom's house, to which she invites her
guests, supported by the power and promise of God, as by <i>seven
pillars.</i> Probably, Solomon refers to the temple which he
himself had lately built for the service of religion, and to which
he would persuade people to resort, both to worship God and to
receive the instructions of Wisdom. Some reckon the schools of the
prophets to be here intended. 2. Here is a splendid feast got ready
(<scripRef id="Prov.x-p4.4" osisRef="Bible:Prov.9.2" parsed="|Prov|9|2|0|0" passage="Pr 9:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>): <i>She has
killed her beasts; she has mingled her wine;</i> plenty of meat and
drink are provided, and all of the best. <i>She has killed her
sacrifice</i> (so the word is); it is a sumptuous, but a sacred
feast, a feast upon a sacrifice. Christ has offered up himself a
sacrifice for us, and it is <i>his flesh</i> that is <i>meat
indeed</i> and <i>his blood</i> that is <i>drink indeed.</i> The
Lord's supper is a feast of reconciliation and joy upon the
sacrifice of atonement. The wine is <i>mingled</i> with something
richer than itself, to give it a more than ordinary spirit and
flavour. <i>She has</i> completely <i>furnished her table</i> with
all the satisfactions that a soul can desire-righteousness and
grace, peace and joy, the assurances of God's love, the
consolations of the Spirit, and all the pledges and earnests of
eternal life. Observe, It is all Wisdom's own doing; <i>she</i> has
killed the beasts, <i>she</i> has mingled the wine, which denotes
both the love of Christ, who makes the provision (he does not leave
it to others, but takes the doing of it into his own hands), and
the excellency of the preparation. That must needs be exactly
fitted to answer the end which Wisdom herself has the fitting up
of.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Prov.x-p5">II. The gracious invitation she has given,
not to some particular friends, but to all in general, to come and
take part of these provisions. 1. She employs her servants to carry
the invitation round about in the country: <i>She has sent forth
her maidens,</i> <scripRef id="Prov.x-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Prov.9.3" parsed="|Prov|9|3|0|0" passage="Pr 9:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>.
The ministers of the gospel are commissioned and commanded to give
notice of the preparations which God has made, in the everlasting
covenant, for all those that are willing to come up to the terms of
it; and they, with maiden purity, not corrupting themselves or the
word of God, and with an exact observance of their orders, are to
call upon all they meet with, even in <i>the highways and
hedges,</i> to come and feast with Wisdom, for <i>all things are
now ready,</i> <scripRef id="Prov.x-p5.2" osisRef="Bible:Luke.14.23" parsed="|Luke|14|23|0|0" passage="Lu 14:23">Luke xiv.
23</scripRef>. 2. She herself <i>cries upon the highest places of
the city,</i> as one earnestly desirous of the welfare of the
children of men, and grieved to see them rejecting their own
mercies for lying vanities. Our Lord Jesus was himself the
publisher of his own gospel; when he had sent forth his disciples
he followed them to confirm what they said; nay, it <i>began to be
spoken by the Lord,</i> <scripRef id="Prov.x-p5.3" osisRef="Bible:Heb.2.3" parsed="|Heb|2|3|0|0" passage="Heb 2:3">Heb. ii.
3</scripRef>. He stood, and cried, <i>Come unto me.</i> We see who
invited; now let us observe,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Prov.x-p6">(1.) To whom the invitation is given:
<i>Whoso is simple</i> and <i>wants understanding,</i> <scripRef id="Prov.x-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Prov.9.4" parsed="|Prov|9|4|0|0" passage="Pr 9:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>. If we were to make an
entertainment, of all people we should not care for, much less
court, the company of such, but rather of philosophers and learned
men, that we might hear their wisdom, and whose table-talk would be
improving. "Have I need of madmen?" But Wisdom invites such,
because what she has to give is what they most need, and it is
their welfare that she consults, and aims at, in the preparation
and invitation. He that is simple is invited, that he may be made
wise, and he that <i>wants a heart</i> (so the word is) let him
come hither, and he shall have one. Her preparations are rather
physic than food, designed for the most valuable and desirable
cure, that of the mind. Whosoever he be, the invitation is general,
and excludes none that do not exclude themselves; though they be
ever so foolish, yet, [1.] They shall be welcome. [2.] They may be
helped; they shall neither be despised nor despaired of. Our
Saviour came, <i>not to call the righteous, but sinners,</i> not
the wise in their own eyes, who say they see (<scripRef id="Prov.x-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:John.9.41" parsed="|John|9|41|0|0" passage="Joh 9:41">John ix. 41</scripRef>), but the simple, those who are
sensible of their simplicity and ashamed of it, and him that is
willing to <i>become a fool, that he may be wise,</i> <scripRef id="Prov.x-p6.3" osisRef="Bible:1Cor.3.18" parsed="|1Cor|3|18|0|0" passage="1Co 3:18">1 Cor. iii. 18</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Prov.x-p7">(2.) What the invitation is. [1.] We are
invited to Wisdom's house: <i>Turn in hither.</i> I say <i>we</i>
are, for which of us is there that must not own the character of
the invited, that are <i>simple and want understanding?</i>
Wisdom's doors stand open to such, and she is desirous to have some
conversation with them, one word for their good, nor has she any
other design upon them. [2.] We are invited to her table (<scripRef id="Prov.x-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Prov.9.5" parsed="|Prov|9|5|0|0" passage="Pr 9:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>): <i>Come, eat of my
bread,</i> that is, taste of the true pleasures that are to be
found in the knowledge and fear of God. By faith acted on the
promises of the gospel, applying them to ourselves and taking the
comfort of them, we feed, we feast, upon the provisions Christ has
made for poor souls. What we eat and drink we make our own, we are
nourished and refreshed by it, and so are our souls by the word of
God; it has that in it which is <i>meat and drink</i> to those that
have understanding.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Prov.x-p8">(3.) What is required of those that may
have the benefit of this invitation, <scripRef id="Prov.x-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Prov.9.6" parsed="|Prov|9|6|0|0" passage="Pr 9:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>. [1.] They must break off from all
bad company: "<i>Forsake the foolish,</i> converse not with them,
conform not to their ways, have no fellowship with the works of
darkness, or with those that deal in such works." The first step
towards virtue is to shun vice, and therefore to shun the vicious.
<i>Depart from me, you evil-doers.</i> [2.] They must awake and
arise from the dead; they must live, not in pleasure (for those
that do so are dead while they live), but in the service of God;
for those only that do so live indeed, live to some purpose. "Live
not a mere animal-life, as brutes, but now, at length, live the
life of men. <i>Live</i> and you <i>shall live;</i> live
spiritually, and you shall live eternally," <scripRef id="Prov.x-p8.2" osisRef="Bible:Eph.5.14" parsed="|Eph|5|14|0|0" passage="Eph 5:14">Eph. v. 14</scripRef>. [3.] They must choose the paths
of Wisdom, and keep to them: "<i>Go in the way of
understanding;</i> govern thyself henceforward by the rules of
religion and right reason." It is not enough to forsake the
foolish, but we must join ourselves with those that walk in wisdom,
and walk in the same spirit and steps.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Prov.x-p9">III. The instructions which Wisdom gives to
the maidens she sends to invite, to the ministers and others, who
in their places are endeavouring to serve her interests and
designs. She tells them,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Prov.x-p10">1. What their work must be, not only to
tell in general what preparation is made for souls, and to give a
general offer of it, but they must address themselves to particular
persons, must tell them of their faults, <i>reprove, rebuke,</i>
<scripRef id="Prov.x-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:Prov.9.7-Prov.9.8" parsed="|Prov|9|7|9|8" passage="Pr 9:7,8"><i>v.</i> 7, 8</scripRef>. They must
instruct them how to amend—<i>teach,</i> <scripRef id="Prov.x-p10.2" osisRef="Bible:Prov.9.9" parsed="|Prov|9|9|0|0" passage="Pr 9:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>. The word of God is intended, and
therefore so is the ministry of that word, <i>for reproof, for
correction, and for instruction in righteousness.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Prov.x-p11">2. What different sorts of persons they
would meet with, and what course they must take with them, and what
success they might expect.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Prov.x-p12">(1.) They would meet with some
<i>scorners</i> and <i>wicked men</i> who would mock the messengers
of the Lord, and misuse them, would <i>laugh those to scorn</i>
that invite them to the feast of the Lord, as they did, <scripRef id="Prov.x-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.30.10" parsed="|2Chr|30|10|0|0" passage="2Ch 30:10">2 Chron. xxx. 10</scripRef>, would <i>treat
them spitefully,</i> <scripRef id="Prov.x-p12.2" osisRef="Bible:Matt.22.6" parsed="|Matt|22|6|0|0" passage="Mt 22:6">Matt. xxii.
6</scripRef>. And, though they are not forbidden to invite those
simple ones to Wisdom's house, yet they are advised not to pursue
the invitation by reproving and rebuking them. <i>Reprove not a
scorner; cast not these pearls before swine,</i> <scripRef id="Prov.x-p12.3" osisRef="Bible:Matt.7.6" parsed="|Matt|7|6|0|0" passage="Mt 7:6">Matt. vii. 6</scripRef>. Thus Christ said of the
Pharisees, <i>Let them alone,</i> <scripRef id="Prov.x-p12.4" osisRef="Bible:Matt.15.14" parsed="|Matt|15|14|0|0" passage="Mt 15:14">Matt. xv. 14</scripRef>. "Do not reprove them." [1.] "In
justice to them, for those have forfeited the favour of further
means who scorn the means they have had. Those that are thus
<i>filthy, let them be filthy still;</i> those that are <i>joined
to idols, let them alone; lo, we turn to the Gentiles.</i>" [2.]
"In prudence to yourselves; because, if you reprove them,"
<i>First,</i> "You lose your labour, and so <i>get to yourselves
shame</i> for the disappointment." <i>Secondly,</i> "You exasperate
them; do it ever so wisely and tenderly, if you do it faithfully,
they will hate you, they will load you with reproaches, and say all
the ill they can of you, and so you will get a blot; therefore you
had better not meddle with them, for your reproofs will be likely
to do more hurt than good."</p>
<p class="indent" id="Prov.x-p13">(2.) They would meet with others, who are
wise, and good, and just; thanks be to God, all are not scorners.
We meet with some who are so wise for themselves, to just to
themselves, as to be willing and glad to be taught; and when we
meet with such, [1.] If there be occasion, we must reprove them;
for wise men are not so perfectly wise but there is that in them
which needs a reproof; and we must not connive at any man's faults
because we have a veneration for his wisdom, nor must a <i>wise
man</i> think that his wisdom exempts him from reproof when he says
or does any thing foolishly; but the more wisdom a man has the more
desirous he should be to have his weaknesses shown him, because a
<i>little folly</i> is a great blemish to <i>him that is in
reputation for wisdom and honour.</i> [2.] With our reproofs we
must <i>give</i> them <i>instruction,</i> and must <i>teach</i>
them, <scripRef id="Prov.x-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Prov.9.9" parsed="|Prov|9|9|0|0" passage="Pr 9:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>. [3.] We
may expect that our doing so will be taken as a kindness, <scripRef id="Prov.x-p13.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.141.5" parsed="|Ps|141|5|0|0" passage="Ps 141:5">Ps. cxli. 5</scripRef>. A wise man will reckon
those his friends who deal faithfully with him: "Rebuke such a one,
and <i>he will love thee</i> for thy plain dealing, will thank
thee, and desire thee to do him the same good turn another time, if
there be occasion." It is as great an instance of wisdom to take a
reproof well as to give it well, [4.] Being taken well, it will do
good, and answer the intention. A <i>wise man</i> will be made
wiser by the reproofs and instructions that are given him; he
<i>will increase in learning,</i> will grow in knowledge, and so
grow in grace. None must think themselves too wise to learn, nor so
good that they need not be better and therefore need not be taught.
We must still press forward, and follow on to know till we come to
the perfect man. <i>Give to a wise man</i> (so it is in the
original), give him advice, give him reproof, give him comfort, and
<i>he will be yet wiser; give him occasion</i> (so the LXX.),
occasion to show his wisdom, and he will show it, and the acts of
wisdom will strengthen the habits.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Prov.x-p14">IV. The instructions she gives to those
that are invited, which her maidens must inculcate upon them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Prov.x-p15">1. Let them know wherein true wisdom
consists, and what will be their entertainment at Wisdom's table,
<scripRef id="Prov.x-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:Prov.9.10" parsed="|Prov|9|10|0|0" passage="Pr 9:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>. (1.) The heart
must be principled with <i>the fear of God;</i> that <i>is the
beginning of wisdom.</i> A reverence of God's majesty, and a dread
of his wrath, are that fear of him which is the beginning, the
first step towards true religion, whence all other instances of it
take rise. This fear may, at first, have torment, but love will, by
degrees, cast out the torment of it. (2.) The head must be filled
with the knowledge of the things of God. <i>The knowledge of holy
things</i> (the word is plural) <i>is understanding,</i> the things
pertaining to the service of God (those are called <i>holy
things</i>), that pertain to our own sanctification; reproof is
called <i>that which is holy,</i> <scripRef id="Prov.x-p15.2" osisRef="Bible:Matt.7.6" parsed="|Matt|7|6|0|0" passage="Mt 7:6">Matt.
vii. 6</scripRef>. Or the knowledge which holy men have, which was
taught by the holy prophets, of those things which <i>holy men
spoke as they were moved by the holy Ghost,</i> this <i>is
understanding;</i> it is the best and most useful understanding,
will stand us in most stead and turn to the best account.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Prov.x-p16">2. Let them know what will be advantages of
this wisdom (<scripRef id="Prov.x-p16.1" osisRef="Bible:Prov.9.11" parsed="|Prov|9|11|0|0" passage="Pr 9:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>):
"<i>By me thy days shall be multiplied.</i> It will contribute to
the health of thy body, and so <i>the years of thy life</i> on
earth <i>shall be increased,</i> while men's folly and intemperance
shorten their days. It will bring thee to heaven, and there thy
days shall be multiplied <i>in infinitum—to infinity,</i> and the
<i>years of thy life shall be increased without end.</i>" There is
no true wisdom but in the say of religion and no true life but in
the end of that way.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Prov.x-p17">3. Let them know what will be the
consequence of their choosing or refusing this fair offer,
<scripRef id="Prov.x-p17.1" osisRef="Bible:Prov.9.12" parsed="|Prov|9|12|0|0" passage="Pr 9:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>. Here is, (1.)
The happiness of those that embrace it: "<i>If thou be wise, thou
shalt be wise for thyself;</i> thou wilt be the gainer by it, not
Wisdom." A man cannot be profitable to God. It is to our own good
that we are thus courted. "Thou wilt not leave the gain to others"
(as we do our worldly wealth when we die, which is therefore called
<i>another man's,</i> <scripRef id="Prov.x-p17.2" osisRef="Bible:Luke.16.12" parsed="|Luke|16|12|0|0" passage="Lu 16:12">Luke xvi.
12</scripRef>), "but thou shalt carry it with thee into another
world." Those that are wise for their souls are wise for
themselves, for the soul is the man; nor do any consult their own
true interest but those that are truly religious. This recommends
us to God, and recovers us from that which is our folly and
degeneracy; it employs us in that which is most beneficial in this
world, and entitles us to that which is much more so in the world
to come. (2.) The shame and ruin of those that slight it: "<i>If
thou scornest</i> Wisdom's proffer, <i>thou alone shalt bar
it.</i>" [1.] "Thou shalt bear the blame of it." Those that are
good must thank God, but those that are wicked may thank
themselves; it is not owing to God (he is not the author of sin);
Satan can only tempt, he cannot force; and wicked companions are
but his instruments; so that all the fault must lie on the sinner
himself. [2.] "Thou shalt bear the loss of that which thou
scornest; it will be to thy own destruction; thy blood will be upon
thy own head, and the consideration of this will aggravate thy
condemnation. <i>Son, remember,</i> that thou hadst this fair offer
made thee, and thou wouldst not accept it; thou stoodest fair for
life, but didst choose death rather."</p>
</div><scripCom id="Prov.x-p17.3" osisRef="Bible:Prov.9.13-Prov.9.18" parsed="|Prov|9|13|9|18" passage="Pr 9:13-18" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Prov.9.13-Prov.9.18">
<h4 id="Prov.x-p17.4">The Invitation of Folly.</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Prov.x-p18">13 A foolish woman <i>is</i> clamorous: <i>she
is</i> simple, and knoweth nothing.   14 For she sitteth at
the door of her house, on a seat in the high places of the city,
  15 To call passengers who go right on their ways:   16
Whoso <i>is</i> simple, let him turn in hither: and <i>as for</i>
him that wanteth understanding, she saith to him,   17 Stolen
waters are sweet, and bread <i>eaten</i> in secret is pleasant.
  18 But he knoweth not that the dead <i>are</i> there; <i>and
that</i> her guests <i>are</i> in the depths of hell.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Prov.x-p19">We have heard what Christ has to say, to
engage our affections to God and godliness, and one would think the
whole world should go after him; but here we are told how
industrious the tempter is to seduce unwary souls into the paths of
sin, and with the most he gains his point, and Wisdom's courtship
is not effectual. Now observe,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Prov.x-p20">I. Who is the tempter—<i>a foolish
woman,</i> Folly herself, in opposition to Wisdom. Carnal sensual
pleasure I take to be especially meant by this <i>foolish woman</i>
(<scripRef id="Prov.x-p20.1" osisRef="Bible:Prov.9.13" parsed="|Prov|9|13|0|0" passage="Pr 9:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>); for that is
the great enemy to virtue and inlet to vice; that defiles and
debauches the mind, stupefies conscience, and puts out the sparks
of conviction, more than any thing else. This tempter is here
described to be, 1. Very ignorant: <i>She is simple and knows
nothing,</i> that is, she has no sufficient solid reason to offer;
where she gets dominion in a soul she works out all the knowledge
of holy things; they are lost and forgotten. <i>Whoredom, and wine,
and new wine, take away the heart;</i> they besot men, and make
fools of them. (2.) Very importunate. The less she has to offer
that is rational the more violent and pressing she is, and carries
the day often by dint of impudence. She <i>is clamorous</i> and
noisy (<scripRef id="Prov.x-p20.2" osisRef="Bible:Prov.9.13" parsed="|Prov|9|13|0|0" passage="Pr 9:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>),
continually haunting young people with her enticements. <i>She sits
at the door of her house</i> (<scripRef id="Prov.x-p20.3" osisRef="Bible:Prov.9.14" parsed="|Prov|9|14|0|0" passage="Pr 9:14"><i>v.</i>
14</scripRef>), watching for a prey; not as Abraham at his
tent-door, seeking an opportunity to do good. <i>She sits on a seat
(on a throne,</i> so the word signifies) <i>in the high places of
the city,</i> as if she had authority to give law, and we were all
<i>debtors to the flesh, to live after the flesh,</i> and as if she
had reputation, and were in honour, and thought worthy of <i>the
high places of the city;</i> and perhaps she gains upon many more
by pretending to be fashionable than by pretending to be agreeable.
"Do not all persons of rank and figure in the world" (says she)
"give themselves a greater liberty than the strict laws of virtue
allow; and why shouldst thou humble thyself so far as to be cramped
by them?" Thus the tempter affects to seem both kind and great.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Prov.x-p21">II. Who are the tempted—young people who
have been well educated; these she will triumph most in being the
ruin of. Observe, 1. What their real character is; they are
<i>passengers that go right on their ways</i> (<scripRef id="Prov.x-p21.1" osisRef="Bible:Prov.9.15" parsed="|Prov|9|15|0|0" passage="Pr 9:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>), that have been trained up in
the paths of religion and virtue and set out very hopefully and
well, that seemed determined and designed for good, and are not (as
that young man, <scripRef id="Prov.x-p21.2" osisRef="Bible:Prov.7.8" parsed="|Prov|7|8|0|0" passage="Pr 7:8"><i>ch.</i> vii.
8</scripRef>) <i>going the way to her house.</i> Such as these she
has a design upon, and lays snares for, and uses all her arts, all
her charms, to pervert them; if they <i>go right on,</i> and will
not look towards her, she will call after them, so urgent are these
temptations. (2.) How she represents them. She calls them
<i>simple</i> and <i>wanting understanding,</i> and therefore
courts them to her school, that they may be cured of the restraints
and formalities of their religion. This is the method of the stage
(which is too close an exposition of this paragraph), where the
sober young man, that has been virtuously educated, is the fool in
the play, and the plot is to make him <i>seven times more a child
of hell</i> than his profane companions, under colour of polishing
and refining him, and setting him up for a wit and a beau. What is
justly charged upon sin and impiety (<scripRef id="Prov.x-p21.3" osisRef="Bible:Prov.9.4" parsed="|Prov|9|4|0|0" passage="Pr 9:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>), that it is folly, is here very
unjustly retorted upon the ways of virtue; but the day will declare
who are the fools.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Prov.x-p22">III. What the temptation is (<scripRef id="Prov.x-p22.1" osisRef="Bible:Prov.9.17" parsed="|Prov|9|17|0|0" passage="Pr 9:17"><i>v.</i> 17</scripRef>): <i>Stolen waters are
sweet.</i> It is to water and bread, whereas Wisdom invites to the
beasts she has killed and the wine she has mingled; however, bread
and water are acceptable enough to those that are hungry and
thirsty; and this is pretended to be more <i>sweet</i> and
<i>pleasant</i> than common, for it is <i>stolen water and bread
eaten in secret,</i> with a fear of being discovered. The pleasures
of prohibited lusts are boasted of as more relishing than those of
prescribed love; and dishonest gain is preferred to that which is
justly gotten. Now this argues, not only a bold contempt, but an
impudent defiance, 1. Of God's law, in that the waters are the
sweeter for being stolen and come at by breaking through the hedge
of the divine command. <i>Nitimur in vetitum—We are prone to what
is forbidden.</i> This spirit of contradiction we have from our
first parents, who thought the forbidden tree of all others <i>a
tree to be desired.</i> 2. Of God's curse. The <i>bread is eaten in
secret,</i> for fear of discovery and punishment, and the sinner
takes a pride in having so far baffled his convictions, and
triumphed over them, that, notwithstanding that fear, he dares
commit the sin, and can make himself believe that, being eaten in
secret, it shall never be discovered or reckoned for. Sweetness and
pleasantness constitute the bait; but, by the tempter's own
showing, even that is so absurd, and has such allays, that it is a
wonder how it can have any influence upon men that pretend to
reason.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Prov.x-p23">IV. An effectual antidote against the
temptation, in a few words, <scripRef id="Prov.x-p23.1" osisRef="Bible:Prov.9.18" parsed="|Prov|9|18|0|0" passage="Pr 9:18"><i>v.</i>
18</scripRef>. He that so far wants understanding as to be drawn
aside by these enticements is led on, ignorantly, to his own
inevitable ruin: <i>He knows not,</i> will not believe, does not
consider, the tempter will not let him know, <i>that the dead are
there,</i> that those who live in pleasure are <i>dead while they
live, dead in trespasses and sins.</i> Terrors attend these
pleasures like the terrors of death itself. The giants are
there—<i>Rephaim.</i> It was this that ruined the sinners of the
old world, the giants that were <i>in the earth in those days. Her
guests,</i> that are treated with those <i>stolen waters,</i> are
not only in the highway to hell and at the brink of it, but they
are already <i>in the depths of hell,</i> under the power of sin,
led captive by Satan at his will, and ever and anon lashed by the
terrors of their own consciences, which are a hell upon earth. The
depths of Satan are <i>the depths of hell;</i> remorseless sin is
remediless ruin, it is the bottomless pit already. Thus does
Solomon show the hook; those that believe him will not meddle with
the bait.</p>
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