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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1710)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>P R O V E R B S</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. I.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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Those who read David's psalms, especially those towards the latter end,
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would be tempted to think that religion is all rapture and consists in
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nothing but the ecstasies and transports of devotion; and doubtless
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there is a time for them, and if there be a heaven upon earth it is in
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them: but, while we are on earth, we cannot be wholly taken up with
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them; we have a life to live in the flesh, must have a conversation in
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the world, and into that we must now be taught to carry our religion,
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which is a rational thing, and very serviceable to the government of
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human life, and tends as much to make us discreet as to make us devout,
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to make the face shine before men, in a prudent, honest, useful
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conversation, as to make the heart burn towards God in holy and pious
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affections. In this chapter we have,
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I. The title of the book, showing the general scope and design of it,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+1:1-6">ver. 1-6</A>.
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II. The first principle of it recommended to our serious consideration,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+1:7-9">ver. 7-9</A>.
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III. A necessary caution against bad company,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+1:10-19">ver. 10-19</A>.
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IV. A faithful and lively representation of wisdom's reasonings with
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the children of men, and the certain ruin of those who turn a deaf ear
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to those reasonings,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+1:20-33">
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ver. 20-33</A>.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Pr1_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Pr1_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Pr1_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Pr1_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Pr1_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Pr1_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Design of the Proverbs.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1> <! -- Date --> </FONT></TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel;
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2 To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of
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understanding;
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3 To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment,
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and equity;
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4 To give subtilty to the simple, to the young man knowledge
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and discretion.
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5 A wise <I>man</I> will hear, and will increase learning; and a man
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of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels:
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6 To understand a proverb, and the interpretation; the words of
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the wise, and their dark sayings.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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We have here an introduction to this book, which some think was
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prefixed by the collector and publisher, as Ezra; but it is rather
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supposed to have been penned by Solomon himself, who, in the beginning
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of his book, proposes his end in writing it, that he might keep to his
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business, and closely pursue that end. We are here told,</P>
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<P>
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I. Who wrote these wise sayings,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+1:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>.
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They are <I>the proverbs of Solomon.</I>
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1. His name signifies <I>peaceable,</I> and the character both of his
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spirit and of his reign answered to it; both were peaceable. David,
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whose life was full of troubles, wrote a book of devotion; for <I>is
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any afflicted? let him pray.</I> Solomon, who lived quietly, wrote a
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book of instruction; for when the <I>churches had rest they were
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edified.</I> In times of peace we should learn ourselves, and teach
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others, that which in troublous times both they and we must practise.
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2. He was <I>the son of David;</I> it was his honour to stand related
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to that good man, and he reckoned it so with good reason, for he fared
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the better for it,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+11:12">1 Kings xi. 12</A>.
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He had been blessed with a good education, and many a good prayer had
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been put up for him
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+72:1">Ps. lxxii. 1</A>),
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the effect of both which appeared in his wisdom and usefulness. The
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<I>generation of the upright</I> are sometimes thus blessed, that they
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are made blessings, eminent blessings, in their day. Christ is often
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called <I>the Son of David,</I> and Solomon was a type of him in this,
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as in other things, that he <I>opened his mouth in parables</I> or
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<I>proverbs.</I>
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3. He was <I>king of Israel</I>--a king, and yet it was no
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disparagement to him to be an instructor of the ignorant, and a teacher
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of babes--king of Israel, that people among whom God was known and his
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name was great; among them he learned wisdom, and to them he
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communicated it. All the earth sought to Solomon <I>to hear his
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wisdom,</I> which excelled all men's
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+4:30,10:24">1 Kings iv. 30; x. 24</A>);
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it was an honour to Israel that their king was such a dictator, such an
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oracle. Solomon was famous for apophthegms; every word he said had
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weight in it, and something that was surprising and edifying. His
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servants who attended him, and heard his wisdom, had, among them,
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collected 3000 proverbs of his which they wrote in their day-books; but
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these were of his own writing, and do not amount to nearly a thousand.
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In these he was divinely inspired. Some think that out of those other
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proverbs of his, which were not so inspired, the apocryphal books of
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<I>Ecclesiasticus</I> and the <I>Wisdom of Solomon</I> were compiled,
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in which are many excellent sayings, and of great use; but, take
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altogether, they are far short of this book. The Roman emperors had
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each of them his symbol or motto, as many now have with their coat of
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arms. But Solomon had many weighty sayings, not as theirs, borrowed
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from others, but all the product of that extraordinary wisdom which God
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had endued him with.</P>
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<P>
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II. For what end they were written
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+1:2-4"><I>v.</I> 2-4</A>),
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not to gain a reputation to the author, or strengthen his interest
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among his subjects, but for the use and benefit of all that in every
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age and place will govern themselves by these dictates and study them
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closely. This book will help us,
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1. To form right notions of things, and to possess our minds with clear
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and distinct ideas of them, that we may <I>know wisdom and
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instruction,</I> that wisdom which is got by instruction, by divine
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revelation, may know both how to speak and act wisely ourselves and to
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give instruction to others.
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2. To distinguish between truth and falsehood, good and evil--<I>to
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perceive the words of understanding,</I> to apprehend them, to judge of
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them, to guard against mistakes, and to accommodate what we are taught
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to ourselves and our own use, that we may <I>discern things that
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differ</I> and not be imposed upon, and may <I>approve things that are
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excellent</I> and not lose the benefit of them, as the apostle prays,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Php+1:10">Phil. i. 10</A>.
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3. To order our conversation aright in every things,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+1:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>.
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This book will give, that we may <I>receive, the instruction of
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wisdom,</I> that knowledge which will guide our practice in <I>justice,
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judgment, and equity</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+1:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>),
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which will dispose us to render to all their due, to God the things
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that are God's, in all the exercises of religion, and to all men what
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is due to them, according to the obligations which by relation, office,
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contract, or upon any other account, we lie under to them. Note, Those
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are truly wise, and none but those, who are universally conscientious;
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and the design of the scripture is to teach us that wisdom,
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<I>justice</I> in the duties of the first table, <I>judgment</I> in
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those of the second table, <I>and equity</I> (that is sincerity) in
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both; so some distinguish them.</P>
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<P>
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III. For whose use they were written,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+1:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>.
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They are of use to all, but are designed especially,
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1. For <I>the simple, to give subtlety to</I> them. The instructions
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here given are plain and easy, and level to the meanest capacity,
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<I>the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein;</I> and
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those are likely to receive benefit by them who are sensible of their
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own ignorance and their need to be taught, and are therefore desirous
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to receive instruction; and those who receive these instructions in
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their light and power, though they be simple, will hereby be made
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subtle, graciously crafty to know the sin they should avoid and the
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duty they should do, and to escape the tempter's wiles. He that is
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<I>harmless as</I> the <I>dove</I> by observing Solomon's rules may
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become <I>wise as</I> the <I>serpent;</I> and he that has been sinfully
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foolish when he begins to govern himself by the word of God becomes
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graciously wise.
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2. For young people, to give them <I>knowledge and discretion.</I>
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Youth is the learning age, catches at instructions, receives
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impressions, and retains what is then received; it is therefore of
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great consequence that the mind be then seasoned well, nor can it
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receive a better tincture than from Solomon's proverbs. Youth is rash,
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and heady, and inconsiderate; <I>man is born like the wild ass's
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colt,</I> and therefore needs to be broken by the restraints and
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managed by the rules we find here. And, if young people will but take
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heed to their ways according to Solomon's proverbs, they will soon gain
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the knowledge and discretion of the ancients. Solomon had an eye to
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posterity in writing this book, hoping by it to season the minds of the
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rising generation with the generous principles of wisdom and
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virtue.</P>
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<P>
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IV. What good use may be made of them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+1:5,6"><I>v.</I> 5, 6</A>.
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Those who are young and simple may by them be made wise, and are not
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excluded from Solomon's school, as they were from Plato's. But is it
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only for such? No; here is not only milk for babes, but strong meat for
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strong men. This book will not only make the foolish and bad wise and
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good, but the wise and good wiser and better; and though the simple and
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the young man may perhaps slight those instructions, and not be the
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better for them, yet the <I>wise man will hear.</I> Wisdom will be
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justified by her own children, though not by the children sitting in
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the market-place. Note, Even wise men must hear, and not think
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themselves too wise to learn. <I>A wise man</I> is sensible of his own
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defects (<I>Plurima ignoro, sed ignorantiam meam non ignoro</I>--<I>I
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am ignorant of many things, but not of my own ignorance</I>), and
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therefore is still pressing forward, that he may <I>increase</I> in
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<I>learning,</I> may know more and know it better, more clearly and
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distinctly, and may know better how to make use of it. As long as we
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live we should strive to increase in all useful learning. It was a
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saying of one of the greatest of the rabbin, <I>Qui non auget
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scientiam, amittit de ea--If our stock of knowledge by not increasing,
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it is wasting;</I> and those that would increase in learning must study
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the scriptures; these <I>perfect the man of God.</I> A wise man, by
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increasing in learning, is not only profitable to himself, but to
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others also,
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1. As a counsellor. <I>A man of understanding</I> in these precepts of
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wisdom, by comparing them with one another and with his own
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observations, <I>shall</I> by degrees <I>attain unto wise counsels;</I>
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he stands fair for preferment, and will be consulted as an oracle, and
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entrusted with the management of public affairs; he shall come to
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<I>sit at the helm,</I> so the word signifies. Note, Industry is the
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way to honour; and those whom God has blessed with wisdom must study to
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do good with it, according as their sphere is. It is more dignity
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indeed to be counsellor to the prince, but it is more charity to be
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counsellor to the poor, as Job was with his wisdom.
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+29:15">Job xxix. 15</A>,
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<I>I was eyes to the blind.</I>
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2. As an interpreter
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+1:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>)
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--<I>to understand a proverb.</I> Solomon was himself famous for
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expounding riddles and resolving hard questions, which was of old the
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celebrated entertainment of the eastern princes, witness the solutions
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he gave to the enquiries with which the queen of Sheba thought to
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puzzle him. Now here he undertakes to furnish his readers with that
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talent, as far as would be serviceable to the best purposes. "They
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shall <I>understand a proverb,</I> even <I>the interpretation,</I>
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without which the proverb is a nut uncracked; when they hear a wise
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saying, though it be figurative, they shall take the sense of it, and
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know how to make use of it." <I>The words of the wise</I> are sometimes
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<I>dark sayings.</I> In St. Paul's epistles there is that which is
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<I>hard to be understood;</I> but to those who, being well-versed in
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the scriptures, know how to <I>compare spiritual things with
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spiritual,</I> they will be easy and safe; so that, if you ask them,
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<I>Have you understood all these things?</I> they may answer, <I>Yea,
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Lord.</I> Note, It is a credit to religion when men of honesty are men
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of sense; all good people therefore should aim to be intelligent, and
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<I>run to and fro,</I> take pains in the use of means, that their
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<I>knowledge may be increased.</I></P>
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<A NAME="Pr1_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Pr1_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Pr1_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Parental Admonitions.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1> <! -- Date --> </FONT></TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>7 The fear of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> <I>is</I> the beginning of knowledge: <I>but</I>
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fools despise wisdom and instruction.
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8 My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not
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the law of thy mother:
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9 For they <I>shall be</I> an ornament of grace unto thy head, and
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chains about thy neck.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Solomon, having undertaken to <I>teach a young man knowledge and
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discretion,</I> here lays down two general rules to be observed in
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order thereunto, and those are, to fear God and honour his parents,
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which two fundamental laws of morality Pythagoras begins his golden
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verses with, but the former of them in a wretchedly corrupted state.
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<I>Primum, deos immortales cole, parentesque honora--First worship the
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immortal gods, and honour your parents.</I> To make young people such
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as they should be,</P>
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<P>
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I. Let them have regard to God as their supreme.</P>
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<P>
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1. He lays down this truth, that <I>the fear of the Lord is the
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beginning of knowledge</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+1:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>);
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it is <I>the principal part of knowledge</I> (so the margin); it is the
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head of knowledge; that is,
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(1.) Of all things that are to be known this is most evident, that
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<I>God is to be feared,</I> to be reverenced, served, and worshipped;
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this is so the beginning of knowledge that those know nothing who do
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not know this.
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(2.) In order to the attaining of all useful knowledge this is most
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necessary, that we fear God; we are not qualified to profit by the
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instructions that are given us unless our minds be possessed with a
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holy reverence of God, and every thought within us be brought into
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obedience to him. <I>If any man will do his will, he shall know of his
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doctrine,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+7:17">John vii. 17</A>.
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(3.) As all our knowledge must take rise from the fear of God, so it
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must tend to it as its perfection and centre. Those know enough who
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know how to fear God, who are careful in every thing to please him and
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fearful of offending him in any thing; this is the Alpha and Omega of
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|
knowledge.</P>
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<P>
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2. To confirm this truth, that an eye to God must both direct and
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quicken all our pursuits of knowledge, he <I>observes, Fools</I>
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(atheists, who have no regard to God) <I>despise wisdom and
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instruction;</I> having no dread at all of God's wrath, nor any desire
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|
of his favour, they will not give you thanks for telling them what they
|
|
may do to escape his wrath and obtain his favour. Those who say to the
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Almighty, <I>Depart from us,</I> who are so far from fearing him that
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they set him at defiance, can excite no surprise if they desire not the
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|
knowledge of his ways, but despise that instruction. Note, Those are
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fools who do not fear God and value the scriptures; and though they may
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pretend to be admirers of wit they are really strangers and enemies to
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|
wisdom.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. Let them have regard to their parents as their superiors
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+1:8,9"><I>v.</I> 8, 9</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>My son, hear the instruction of thy father.</I> He means, not only
|
|
that he would have his own children to be observant of him, and of what
|
|
he said to them, nor only that he would have his pupils, and those who
|
|
came to him to be taught, to look upon him as their father and attend
|
|
to his precepts with the disposition of children, but that he would
|
|
have all children to be dutiful and respectful to their parents, and to
|
|
conform to the virtuous and religious education which they give them,
|
|
according to the law of the fifth commandment.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. He takes it for granted that parents will, with all the wisdom they
|
|
have, instruct their children, and, with all the authority they have,
|
|
give law to them for their good. They are reasonable creatures, and
|
|
therefore we must not give them law without instruction; we must draw
|
|
them with the cords of a man, and when we tell them what they must do
|
|
we must tell them why. But they are corrupt and wilful, and therefore
|
|
with the instruction there is need of a law. Abraham will not only
|
|
catechize, but command, his household. Both the father and the mother
|
|
must do all they can for the good education of their children, and all
|
|
little enough.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. He charges children both to receive and to retain the good lessons
|
|
and laws their parents give them.
|
|
|
|
(1.) To receive them with readiness: "<I>Hear the instruction of thy
|
|
father;</I> hear it and heed it; hear it and bid it welcome, and be
|
|
thankful for it, and subscribe to it."
|
|
|
|
(2.) To retain them with resolution: "<I>Forsake not their law;</I>
|
|
think not that when thou art grown up, and no longer under tutors and
|
|
governors, thou mayest live at large; no, <I>the law of thy mother</I>
|
|
was according to the law of thy God, and therefore it must never be
|
|
forsaken; thou wast trained up in the way in which thou shouldst go,
|
|
and therefore, when thou art old, thou must not depart from it." Some
|
|
observe that whereas the Gentile ethics, and the laws of the Persians
|
|
and Romans, provided only that children should pay respect to their
|
|
father, the divine law secures the honour of the mother also.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. He recommends this as that which is very graceful and will put an
|
|
honour upon us: "The instructions and laws of thy parents, carefully
|
|
observed and lived up to, <I>shall be an ornament of grace unto thy
|
|
head</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+1:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>),
|
|
|
|
such an ornament as is, in the sight of God, of great price, and shall
|
|
make thee look as great as those that wear gold <I>chains about their
|
|
necks.</I>" Let divine truths and commands be to us a coronet, or a
|
|
collar of SS, which are badges of first-rate honours; let us value
|
|
them, and be ambitious of them, and then they shall be so to us. Those
|
|
are truly valuable, and shall be valued, who value themselves more by
|
|
their virtue and piety than by their worldly wealth and dignity.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Pr1_10"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Pr1_11"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Pr1_12"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Pr1_13"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Pr1_14"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Pr1_15"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Pr1_16"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Pr1_17"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Pr1_18"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Pr1_19"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Parental Admonitions.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1> <! -- Date --> </FONT></TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>10 My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.
|
|
11 If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us
|
|
lurk privily for the innocent without cause:
|
|
12 Let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and whole, as
|
|
those that go down into the pit:
|
|
13 We shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our
|
|
houses with spoil:
|
|
14 Cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse:
|
|
15 My son, walk not thou in the way with them; refrain thy foot
|
|
from their path:
|
|
16 For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood.
|
|
17 Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird.
|
|
18 And they lay wait for their <I>own</I> blood; they lurk privily
|
|
for their <I>own</I> lives.
|
|
19 So <I>are</I> the ways of every one that is greedy of gain;
|
|
<I>which</I> taketh away the life of the owners thereof.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Here Solomon gives another general rule to young people, in order to
|
|
their finding out, and keeping in, the paths of wisdom, and that is to
|
|
take heed of the snare of bad company. David's psalms begin with this
|
|
caution, and so do Solomon's proverbs; for nothing is more destructive,
|
|
both to a lively devotion and to a regular conversation
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+1:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>My son,</I> whom I love, and have a tender concern for, <I>if
|
|
sinners entice thee, consent thou not.</I>" This is good advice for
|
|
parents to give their children when they send them abroad into the
|
|
world; it is the same that St. Peter gave to his new converts,
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+2:40">Acts ii. 40</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>Save yourselves from this untoward generation.</I> Observe,
|
|
|
|
1. How industrious wicked people are to seduce others into the paths of
|
|
the destroyer: they will entice. Sinners love company in sin; the
|
|
angels that fell were tempters almost as soon as they were sinners.
|
|
They do not threaten or argue, but entice with flattery and fair
|
|
speech; with a bait they draw the unwary young man to the hook. But
|
|
they mistake if they think that by bringing others to partake with them
|
|
in their guilt, and to be bound, as it were, in the bond with them,
|
|
they shall have the less to pay themselves; for they will have so much
|
|
the more to answer for.
|
|
|
|
2. How cautious young people should be that they be not seduced by
|
|
them: "<I>Consent thou not;</I> and then, though they entice thee, they
|
|
cannot force thee. Do not say as they say, nor do as they do or would
|
|
have thee to do; have no fellowship with them." To enforce this
|
|
caution,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. He represents the fallacious reasonings which sinners use in their
|
|
enticements, and the arts of wheedling which they have for the
|
|
beguiling of unstable souls. He specifies highwaymen, who do what they
|
|
can to draw others into their gang,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+1:11-14"><I>v.</I> 11-14</A>.
|
|
|
|
See here what they would have the young man to do: "<I>Come with us</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+1:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>);
|
|
|
|
let us have thy company." At first they pretend to ask no more; but the
|
|
courtship rises higher
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+1:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>Cast in thy lot among us;</I> come in partner with us, join thy
|
|
force to ours, and let us resolve to live and die together: thou shalt
|
|
fare as we fare; and <I>let us all have one purse,</I> that what we get
|
|
together we may spend merrily together," for that is it they aim at.
|
|
Two unreasonable insatiable lusts they propose to themselves the
|
|
gratification of, and therewith entice their pray into the snare:--
|
|
|
|
1. Their cruelty. They thirst after blood, and hate those that are
|
|
innocent and never gave them any provocation, because by their honesty
|
|
and industry they shame and condemn them: "<I>Let us</I> therefore
|
|
<I>lay wait for</I> their <I>blood,</I> and <I>lurk privily</I> for
|
|
them; they are conscious to themselves of no crime and consequently
|
|
apprehensive of no danger, but travel unarmed; therefore we shall make
|
|
the more easy prey of them. And, O how sweet it will be to <I>swallow
|
|
them up alive!</I>"
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+1:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>.
|
|
|
|
These bloody men would do this as greedily as the hungry lion devours
|
|
the lamb. If it be objected, "The remains of the murdered will betray
|
|
the murderers;" they answer, "No danger of that; we will swallow them
|
|
whole as those that are buried." Who could imagine that human nature
|
|
should degenerate so far that it should ever be a pleasure to one man
|
|
to destroy another!
|
|
|
|
2. Their covetousness. They hope to get a good booty by it
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+1:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>):
|
|
|
|
"We shall <I>find all precious substance</I> by following this trade.
|
|
What though we venture our necks by it? we shall <I>fill our houses
|
|
with spoil.</I>" See here,
|
|
|
|
(1.) The idea they have of worldly wealth. They call it <I>precious
|
|
substance;</I> whereas it is neither substance nor precious; it is a
|
|
shadow; it is vanity, especially that which is got by robbery,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+62:10">Ps. lxii. 10</A>.
|
|
|
|
It is as that which is not, which will give a man no solid
|
|
satisfaction. It is cheap, it is common, yet, in their account, it is
|
|
precious, and therefore they will hazard their lives, and perhaps their
|
|
souls, in pursuit of it. It is the ruining mistake of thousands that
|
|
they over-value the wealth of this world and look on it as <I>precious
|
|
substance.</I>
|
|
|
|
(2.) The abundance of it which they promise themselves: We shall
|
|
<I>fill our houses with it.</I> Those who trade with sin promise
|
|
themselves mighty bargains, and that it will turn to a vast account
|
|
(All this will I give thee, says the tempter); but they only <I>dream
|
|
that they eat;</I> the housefuls dwindle into scarcely a handful, like
|
|
the grass on the house-tops.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. He shows the perniciousness of these ways, as a reason why we
|
|
should dread them
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+1:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>My son, walk not thou in the way with them;</I> do not associate
|
|
with them; get, and keep, as far off from them as thou canst;
|
|
<I>refrain thy foot from their path;</I> do not take example by them,
|
|
not do as they do." Such is the corruption of our nature that our foot
|
|
is very prone to step into the path of sin, so that we must use
|
|
necessary violence upon ourselves to refrain our foot from it, and
|
|
check ourselves if at any time we take the least step towards it.
|
|
Consider,
|
|
|
|
1. How pernicious their way is in its own nature
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+1:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Their feet run to evil,</I> to that which is displeasing to God and
|
|
hurtful to mankind, for they <I>make haste to shed blood.</I> Note, The
|
|
way of sin is down-hill; men not only cannot stop themselves, but, the
|
|
longer they continue in it, the faster they run, and make haste in it,
|
|
as if they were afraid they should not do mischief enough and were
|
|
resolved to lose no time. They said they would proceed leisurely (Let
|
|
us <I>lay wait for blood,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+1:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>),
|
|
|
|
but thou wilt find they are all in haste, so much has Satan <I>filled
|
|
their hearts.</I>
|
|
|
|
2. How pernicious the consequences of it will be. They are plainly
|
|
told that this wicked way will certainly end in their own destruction,
|
|
and yet they persist in it. Herein,
|
|
|
|
(1.) They are like the silly bird, that sees the net spread to take
|
|
her, and yet it is in vain; she is decoyed into it by the bait, and
|
|
will not take the warning which her own eyes gave her,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+1:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>.
|
|
|
|
But we think ourselves <I>of more value than many sparrows,</I> and
|
|
therefore should have more wit, and act with more caution. God has
|
|
<I>made us wiser than the fowls of heaven</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+35:11">Job xxxv. 11</A>),
|
|
|
|
and shall we then be as stupid as they?
|
|
|
|
(2.) They are worse than the birds, and have not the sense which we
|
|
sometimes perceive them to have; for the fowler knows it is in vain to
|
|
lay his snare <I>in the sight of the bird,</I> and therefore he has
|
|
arts to conceal it. But the sinner sees ruin at the end of his way; the
|
|
murderer, the thief, see the jail and the gallows before them, nay,
|
|
they may see hell before them; their watchmen tell them they shall
|
|
surely die, but it is to no purpose; they rush into sin, and rush on in
|
|
it, like the horse into the battle. For really the stone they roll will
|
|
turn upon themselves,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+1:18,19"><I>v.</I> 18, 19</A>.
|
|
|
|
They lay wait, and lurk privily, for the blood and lives of others, but
|
|
it will prove, contrary to their intention, to be for <I>their own
|
|
blood, their own lives;</I> they will come, at length, to a shameful
|
|
end; and, if they escape the sword of the magistrate, yet there is a
|
|
divine Nemesis that pursues them. <I>Vengeance suffers</I> them <I>not
|
|
to live.</I> Their greediness of gain hurries them upon those practices
|
|
which will not suffer them to live out half their days, but will cut
|
|
off the number of their months in the midst. They have little reason to
|
|
be proud of their property in that which <I>takes away the life of the
|
|
owners</I> and then passes to other masters; and what is a man
|
|
profited, though he gain the world, if he lose his life? For then he
|
|
can enjoy the world no longer; much less if he lose his soul, and that
|
|
be drowned in destruction and perdition, as multitudes are by the love
|
|
of money.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Now, though Solomon specifies only the temptation to rob on the
|
|
highway, yet he intends hereby to warn us against all other evils which
|
|
sinners entice men to. Such are the ways of the drunkards and unclean;
|
|
they are indulging themselves in those pleasures which tend to their
|
|
ruin both here and for ever; and therefore consent not to them.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Pr1_20"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Pr1_21"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Pr1_22"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Pr1_23"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Pr1_24"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Pr1_25"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Pr1_26"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Pr1_27"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Pr1_28"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Pr1_29"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Pr1_30"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Pr1_31"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Pr1_32"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Pr1_33"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec4"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Wisdom's Exhortations; Doom of Obdurate Sinners.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1> <! -- Date --> </FONT></TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>20 Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the
|
|
streets:
|
|
21 She crieth in the chief place of concourse, in the openings
|
|
of the gates: in the city she uttereth her words, <I>saying,</I>
|
|
22 How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the
|
|
scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?
|
|
23 Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit
|
|
unto you, I will make known my words unto you.
|
|
24 Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out
|
|
my hand, and no man regarded;
|
|
25 But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of
|
|
my reproof:
|
|
26 I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your
|
|
fear cometh;
|
|
27 When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction
|
|
cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you.
|
|
28 Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they
|
|
shall seek me early, but they shall not find me:
|
|
29 For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear
|
|
of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>:
|
|
30 They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof.
|
|
31 Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and
|
|
be filled with their own devices.
|
|
32 For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the
|
|
prosperity of fools shall destroy them.
|
|
33 But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall
|
|
be quiet from fear of evil.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Solomon, having shown how dangerous it is to hearken to the temptations
|
|
of Satan, here shows how dangerous it is not to hearken to the calls of
|
|
God, which we shall for ever rue the neglect of. Observe,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. By whom God calls to us--by <I>wisdom.</I> It is <I>wisdom</I> that
|
|
<I>crieth without.</I> The word is plural--<I>wisdoms,</I> for, as there
|
|
is infinite wisdom in God, so there is the <I>manifold wisdom of
|
|
God,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eph+3:10">Eph. iii. 10</A>.
|
|
|
|
God speaks to the children of men by all the kinds of wisdom, and, as
|
|
in every will, so in every word, of God there is a counsel.
|
|
|
|
1. Human understanding is wisdom, the light and law of nature, the
|
|
powers and faculties of reason, and the office of conscience,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+38:36">Job xxxviii. 36</A>.
|
|
|
|
By these God speaks to the children of men, and reasons with them.
|
|
<I>The spirit of a man is the candle of the Lord;</I> and, wherever men
|
|
go, they may hear a voice behind them, saying, <I>This is the way;</I>
|
|
and the voice of conscience is the voice of God, and not always a still
|
|
small voice, but sometimes it cries.
|
|
|
|
2. Civil government is wisdom; it is God's ordinance; magistrates are
|
|
his vicegerents. God by David had <I>said to the fools, Deal not
|
|
foolishly,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+75:4">Ps. lxxv. 4</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>In the opening of the gates,</I> and in the <I>places of
|
|
concourse,</I> where courts were kept, the judges, the wisdom of the
|
|
nation, called to wicked people, in God's name, to repent and reform.
|
|
|
|
3. Divine revelation is wisdom; all its dictates, all its laws, are
|
|
wise as wisdom itself. God does, by the written word, by the law of
|
|
Moses, which sets before us the blessing and the curse, by the priests'
|
|
lips which keep knowledge, by his servants the prophets, and all the
|
|
ministers of this word, declare his mind to sinners, and give them
|
|
warning as plainly as that which is proclaimed in the streets or courts
|
|
of judicature by the criers. God, in his word, not only opens the case,
|
|
but argues it with the children of men. <I>Come, now, and let us reason
|
|
together,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+1:18">Isa. i. 18</A>.
|
|
|
|
4. Christ himself is Wisdom, is Wisdoms, for <I>in him are hidden all
|
|
the treasures of wisdom and knowledge,</I> and he is the centre of all
|
|
divine revelation, not only the <I>essential Wisdom,</I> but the
|
|
<I>eternal Word,</I> by whom God speaks to us and to whom he has
|
|
<I>committed all judgment;</I> he it is therefore who here both pleads
|
|
with sinners and passes sentence on them. He calls himself
|
|
<I>Wisdom,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+7:35">Luke vii. 35</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. How he calls to us, and in what manner.
|
|
|
|
1. Very publicly, that whosoever hath ears to hear may hear, since all
|
|
are welcome to take the benefit of what is said and all are concerned
|
|
to heed it. The rules of wisdom are published <I>without in the
|
|
streets,</I> not in the schools only, or in the palaces of princes, but
|
|
<I>in the chief places of concourse,</I> among the common people that
|
|
pass and repass <I>in the opening of the gates</I> and <I>in the
|
|
city.</I> It is comfortable casting the net of the gospel where there
|
|
is a multitude of fish, in hopes that then some will be enclosed. This
|
|
was fulfilled in our Lord Jesus, who taught openly in the temple, in
|
|
crowds of people, and <I>in secret said nothing</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+18:20">John xviii. 20</A>),
|
|
|
|
and charged his ministers to <I>proclaim</I> his gospel <I>on the
|
|
housetop,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+10:27">Matt. x. 27</A>.
|
|
|
|
God says
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+45:19">Isa. xlv. 19</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>I have not spoken in secret.</I> There is <I>no speech or language
|
|
where</I> Wisdom's <I>voice is not heard.</I> Truth seeks not corners,
|
|
nor is virtue ashamed of itself.
|
|
|
|
2. Very pathetically; she <I>cries,</I> and again she <I>cries,</I> as
|
|
one in earnest. <I>Jesus stood and cried.</I> She <I>utters her
|
|
voice,</I> she <I>utters her words</I> with all possible clearness and
|
|
affection. God is desirous to be heard and heeded.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. What the call of God and Christ is.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. He reproves sinners for their folly and their obstinately persisting
|
|
in it,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+1:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>.
|
|
|
|
Observe,
|
|
|
|
(1.) Who they are that Wisdom here reproves and expostulates with. In
|
|
general, they are such as are <I>simple,</I> and therefore might justly
|
|
be despised, such as <I>love simplicity,</I> and therefore might justly
|
|
be despaired of; but we must use the means even with those that we have
|
|
but little hopes of, because we know not what divine grace may do.
|
|
Three sorts of persons are here called to:--
|
|
|
|
[1.] <I>Simple ones that love simplicity.</I> Sin is simplicity, and
|
|
sinners are simple ones; they do foolishly, very foolishly; and the
|
|
condition of those is very bad who love simplicity, are fond of their
|
|
simple notions of good and evil, their simple prejudices against the
|
|
ways of God, and are in their element when they are doing a simple
|
|
thing, sporting themselves in their own deceivings and flattering
|
|
themselves in their wickedness.
|
|
|
|
[2.] <I>Scorners that delight in scorning</I>--proud people that take a
|
|
pleasure in hectoring all about them, jovial people that banter all
|
|
mankind, and make a jest of every thing that comes in their way. But
|
|
scoffers at religion are especially meant, the worst of sinners, that
|
|
scorn to submit to the truths and laws of Christ, and to the reproofs
|
|
and admonitions of his word, and take a pride in running down every
|
|
thing that is sacred and serious.
|
|
|
|
[3.] <I>Fools</I> that <I>hate knowledge.</I> None but fools hate
|
|
knowledge. Those only are enemies to religion that do not understand it
|
|
aright. And those are the worst of fools that hate to be instructed
|
|
and reformed, and have a rooted antipathy to serious godliness.
|
|
|
|
(2.) How the reproof is expressed: "<I>How long will you</I> do so?"
|
|
This implies that the God of heaven desires the conversion and
|
|
reformation of sinners and not their ruin, that he is much displeased
|
|
with their obstinacy and dilatoriness, that he waits to be gracious,
|
|
and is willing to reason the case with them.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. He invites them to repent and become wise,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+1:23"><I>v.</I> 23</A>.
|
|
|
|
And here,
|
|
|
|
(1.) The precept is plain: <I>Turn you at my reproof.</I> We do not
|
|
make a right use of the reproofs that are given us for that which is
|
|
evil if we do not turn from it to that which is good; for for this end
|
|
the reproof was given. Turn, that is, return to your right mind, turn
|
|
to God, turn to your duty, turn and live.
|
|
|
|
(2.) The promises are very encouraging. Those that love simplicity
|
|
find themselves under a moral impotency to change their own mind and
|
|
way; they cannot turn by any power of their own. To this God answers,
|
|
"<I>Behold, I will pour out my Spirit unto you;</I> set yourselves to
|
|
do what you can, and the grace of God shall set in with you, and work
|
|
in you both to will and to do that good which, without that grace, you
|
|
could not do." Help thyself, and God will help thee; <I>stretch forth
|
|
thy</I> withered <I>hand,</I> and Christ will strengthen and heal it.
|
|
|
|
[1.] The author of this grace is the Spirit, and that is promised: <I>I
|
|
will pour out my Spirit unto you,</I> as oil, as water; you shall have
|
|
the Spirit in abundance, <I>rivers of living water,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+7:38">John vii. 38</A>.
|
|
|
|
Our heavenly Father <I>will give the Holy Spirit to those that ask
|
|
him.</I>
|
|
|
|
[2.] The means of this grace is the word, which, if we take it aright,
|
|
will turn us; it is therefore promised, "<I>I will make known my words
|
|
unto you,</I> not only speak them to you, but make them known, give you
|
|
to understand them." Note, Special grace is necessary to a sincere
|
|
conversion. But that grace shall never be denied to any that honestly
|
|
seek it and submit to it.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. He reads the doom of those that continue obstinate against all these
|
|
means and methods of grace. It is large and very terrible,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+1:24-32"><I>v.</I> 24-32</A>.
|
|
|
|
Wisdom, having called sinners to return, pauses awhile, to see what
|
|
effect the call has, <I>hearkens and hears; but they speak not
|
|
aright</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+8:6">Jer. viii. 6</A>),
|
|
|
|
and therefore she goes on to tell them what will be in the end
|
|
hereof.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(1.) The crime is recited and it is highly provoking. See what it is
|
|
for which judgment will be given against impenitent sinners in the
|
|
great day, and you will say they deserve it, and the Lord is righteous
|
|
in it. It is, in short, rejecting Christ and the offers of his grace,
|
|
and refusing to submit to the terms of his gospel, which would have
|
|
saved them both from the curse of the <I>law of God</I> and from the
|
|
dominion of the <I>law of sin.</I>
|
|
|
|
[1.] Christ called to them, to warn them of their danger; he
|
|
<I>stretched out his hand</I> to offer them mercy, nay, to help them
|
|
out of their miserable condition, <I>stretched out his hand</I> for
|
|
them to <I>take hold of,</I> but they <I>refused</I> and <I>no man
|
|
regarded;</I> some were careless and never heeded it, nor took notice
|
|
of what was said to them; others were wilful, and, though they could
|
|
not avoid hearing the will of Christ, yet they gave him a flat denial,
|
|
they refused,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+1:24"><I>v.</I> 24</A>.
|
|
|
|
They were in love with their folly, and would not be made wise. They
|
|
were obstinate to all the methods that were taken to reclaim them. God
|
|
<I>stretched out his hand</I> in mercies bestowed upon them, and, when
|
|
those would not work upon them, in corrections, but all were in vain;
|
|
they regarded the operations of his hand no more than the declarations
|
|
of his mouth.
|
|
|
|
[2.] Christ reproved and counselled them, not only reproved them for
|
|
what they did amiss, but counselled them to do better (those are
|
|
<I>reproofs of instruction</I> and evidences of love and good-will),
|
|
but they <I>set at nought all his counsel</I> as not worth heeding, and
|
|
<I>would none of his reproof,</I> as if it were below them to be
|
|
reproved by him and as if they had never done any thing that deserved
|
|
reproof,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+1:25"><I>v.</I> 25</A>.
|
|
|
|
This is repeated
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+1:30"><I>v.</I> 30</A>):
|
|
|
|
"They <I>would none of my counsel,</I> but rejected it with disdain;
|
|
they called reproofs reproaches, and took them as an insult
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+6:10">Jer. vi. 10</A>);
|
|
|
|
nay, <I>they despised all my reproof,</I> as if it were all a jest, and
|
|
not worth taking notice of." Note, Those are marked for ruin that are
|
|
deaf to reproof and good counsel.
|
|
|
|
[3.] They were exhorted to submit to the government of right reason and
|
|
religion, but they rebelled against both. <I>First,</I> Reason should
|
|
not rule them, for <I>they hated knowledge</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+1:29"><I>v.</I> 29</A>),
|
|
|
|
hated the light of divine truth because it discovered to them the evil
|
|
of their deeds,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+3:20">John iii. 20</A>.
|
|
|
|
They hated to be told that which they could not bear to know.
|
|
<I>Secondly,</I> Religion could not rule them, for they <I>did not
|
|
choose the fear of the Lord,</I> but chose to walk in the way of
|
|
<I>their heart and in the sight of their eyes.</I> They were pressed to
|
|
<I>set God always before them,</I> but they chose rather to cast him
|
|
and his fear <I>behind their backs.</I> Note, Those who do not
|
|
<I>choose the fear of the Lord</I> show that they <I>have no
|
|
knowledge.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(2.) The sentence is pronounced, and it is certainly ruining. Those
|
|
that will not submit to God's government will certainly perish under
|
|
his wrath and curse, and the gospel itself will not relieve them. They
|
|
would not take the benefit of God's mercy when it was offered them, and
|
|
therefore justly fall as victims to his justice,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+29:1"><I>ch.</I> xxix. 1</A>.
|
|
|
|
The threatenings here will have their full accomplishment in the
|
|
judgment of the great day and the eternal misery of the impenitent, of
|
|
which yet there are some earnests in present judgments.
|
|
|
|
[1.] Now sinners are in prosperity and secure; they live at ease, and
|
|
set sorrow at defiance. But, <I>First,</I> Their <I>calamity will
|
|
come</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+1:26"><I>v.</I> 26</A>);
|
|
|
|
sickness will come, and those diseases which they shall apprehend to be
|
|
the very arrests and harbingers of death; other troubles will come, in
|
|
mind, in estate, which will convince them of their folly in setting God
|
|
at a distance. <I>Secondly,</I> Their calamity will put them into a
|
|
great fright. Fear seizes them, and they apprehend that bad will be
|
|
worse. When public judgments are abroad the <I>sinners in Zion are
|
|
afraid, fearfulness surprises the hypocrites.</I> Death is the <I>king
|
|
of terrors</I> to them
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+15:21,18:11">Job xv. 21, &c.; xviii. 11</A>,
|
|
|
|
&c.); this fear will be their continual torment. <I>Thirdly,</I>
|
|
According to their fright will it be to them. Their <I>fear shall
|
|
come</I> (the thing they were afraid of shall befal them); it shall
|
|
<I>come as desolation,</I> as a mighty deluge bearing down all before
|
|
it; it shall be their <I>destruction,</I> their total and final
|
|
destruction; and it shall come <I>as a whirlwind,</I> which suddenly
|
|
and forcibly drives away all the chaff. Note, Those that will not admit
|
|
the fear of God lay themselves open to all other fears, and their fears
|
|
will not prove causeless. <I>Fourthly,</I> Their fright will then be
|
|
turned into despair: <I>Distress and anguish shall come upon them,</I>
|
|
for, having fallen into the pit they were afraid of, they shall see no
|
|
way to escape,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+1:27"><I>v.</I> 27</A>.
|
|
|
|
Saul cries out
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+1:9">2 Sam. i. 9</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>Anguish has come upon me;</I> and in hell there is <I>weeping, and
|
|
wailing, and gnashing of teeth</I> for anguish, <I>tribulation and
|
|
anguish to the soul</I> of the sinner, the fruit of the <I>indignation
|
|
and wrath of the righteous God,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+2:8,9">Rom. ii. 8, 9</A>.
|
|
|
|
[2.] Now God pities their folly, but he will then <I>laugh at their
|
|
calamity</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+1:26"><I>v.</I> 26</A>):
|
|
|
|
"I also will laugh at your distress, even as you laughed at my
|
|
counsel." Those that ridicule religion will thereby but make themselves
|
|
ridiculous before all the world. The righteous will <I>laugh at
|
|
them</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+52:6">Ps. lii. 6</A>),
|
|
|
|
for God himself will. It intimates that they shall be for ever shut out
|
|
of God's compassions; they have so long sinned against mercy that they
|
|
have now quite sinned it away. <I>His eye shall not spare, neither
|
|
will he have pity.</I> Nay, his justice being glorified in their ruin,
|
|
he will be pleased with it, though now he would rather they should
|
|
<I>turn and live. Ah! I will ease me of my adversaries.</I>
|
|
|
|
[3.] Now God is ready to hear their prayers and to meet them with
|
|
mercy, if they would but seek to him for it; but then the door will be
|
|
shut, and they shall cry in vain
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+1:28"><I>v.</I> 28</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>Then shall they call upon me</I> when it is too late, <I>Lord,
|
|
Lord, open to us.</I> They would then gladly be beholden to that mercy
|
|
which now they reject and make light of; but <I>I will not answer,</I>
|
|
because, when I called, they would not answer;" all the answer then
|
|
will be, <I>Depart from me, I know you not.</I> This has been the case
|
|
of some even in this life, as of Saul, whom God answered not by
|
|
<I>Urim</I> or <I>prophets;</I> but, ordinarily, while there is life
|
|
there is room for prayer and hope of speeding, and therefore this must
|
|
refer to the inexorable justice of the last judgment. Then those that
|
|
slighted God will <I>seek him early</I> (that is, earnestly), but in
|
|
vain; <I>they shall not find him,</I> because they sought him not when
|
|
he might be found,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+55:6">Isa. lv. 6</A>.
|
|
|
|
The rich man in hell begged, but was denied.
|
|
|
|
[4.] Now they are eager upon their own way, and fond of their own
|
|
devices; but then they will have enough of them
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+1:31"><I>v.</I> 31</A>),
|
|
|
|
according to the proverb, <I>Let men drink as they brew;</I> they shall
|
|
<I>eat the fruit of their own way;</I> their wages shall be according
|
|
to their work, and, as was their choice, <I>so shall their doom be,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ga+6:7,8">Gal. vi. 7, 8</A>.
|
|
|
|
Note, <I>First,</I> There is a natural tendency in sin to destruction,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jam+1:15">Jam. i. 15</A>.
|
|
|
|
Sinners are certainly miserable if they do but <I>eat the fruit of
|
|
their own way. Secondly,</I> Those that perish must thank themselves,
|
|
and can lay no blame upon any other. It is <I>their own device;</I> let
|
|
them make their boast of it. God <I>chooses their delusions,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+66:4">Isa. lxvi. 4</A>.
|
|
|
|
[5.] Now they value themselves upon their worldly prosperity; but then
|
|
that shall help to aggravate their ruin,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+1:32"><I>v.</I> 32</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>First,</I> They are now proud that they can turn away from God and
|
|
get clear of the restraints of religion; but that very thing shall slay
|
|
them, the remembrance of it shall cut them to the heart.
|
|
<I>Secondly,</I> They are now proud of their own security and
|
|
sensuality; but <I>the ease of the simple</I> (so the margin reads it)
|
|
<I>shall slay them;</I> the more secure they are the more certain and
|
|
the more dreadful will their destruction be, <I>and the prosperity of
|
|
fools shall</I> help to <I>destroy them,</I> by puffing them up with
|
|
pride, gluing their hearts to the world, furnishing them with fuel for
|
|
their lusts, and hardening their hearts in their evil ways.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
4. He concludes with an assurance of safety and happiness to all those
|
|
that submit to the instructions of wisdom
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+1:33">
|
|
<I>v.</I> 33</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>Whoso hearkeneth unto me,</I> and will be ruled by me, he shall,"
|
|
|
|
(1.) "Be safe; he <I>shall dwell</I> under the special protection of
|
|
Heaven, so that nothing shall do him any real hurt."
|
|
|
|
(2.) "He shall be easy, and have no disquieting apprehensions of
|
|
danger; he shall not only be safe from evil, but <I>quiet from the fear
|
|
of</I> it." <I>Though the earth be removed, yet shall not they
|
|
fear.</I> Would we be safe from evil, and quiet from the fear of it?
|
|
Let religion always rule us and the word of God be our counsellor. That
|
|
is the way to <I>dwell safely</I> in this world, and to <I>be quiet
|
|
from the fear of evil</I> in the other world.</P>
|
|
|
|
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