P
R O V E R B S
CHAP. XIX.
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The
Disadvantages of Poverty.
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1 Better is the poor that walketh in his
integrity, than he that is perverse in his lips, and is a fool.
Here see, 1. What will be the credit and comfort of a poor man, and make him
more excellent than his neighbour, though his poverty may expose him to
contempt and may dispirit him. Let him be honest and walk in integrity,
let him keep a good conscience and make it appear that he does so, let him
always speak and act with sincerity when he is under the greatest temptations
to dissemble and break his word, and then let him value himself upon that, for
all wise and good men will value him. He is better, has a better character, is
in a better condition, is better beloved, and lives to better purpose, than
many a one that looks great and makes a figure. 2. What will be the shame of a
rich man, notwithstanding all his pomp. If he have a shallow head and an evil
tongue, if he is perverse in his lips and is a fool, if he is a wicked
man and gets what he has by fraud and oppression, he is a fool, and an
honest poor man is to be preferred far before him.
2 Also, that the soul be without
knowledge, it is not good; and he that hasteth with his feet
sinneth.
Two things are here declared to be of bad consequence:-- 1. Ignorance: To
be without the knowledge of the soul is not good, so some read it. Know we
not our own selves, our own hearts? A soul without knowledge is not good;
it is a great privilege that we have souls, but, if these souls have not
knowledge, what the better are we? If man has not understanding, he is as
the beasts, Ps. xlix. 20. An ignorant soul cannot be a good soul. That the
soul be without knowledge is not safe, nor pleasant; what good can the soul
do, of what is it good for, if it be without knowledge? 2. Rashness. He
that hastes with his feet (that does things inconsiderately and with
precipitation, and will not take time to ponder the path of his feet) sins;
he cannot but often miss the mark and take many a false step, which those
prevent that consider their ways. As good not know as not consider.
3 The foolishness of man perverteth his way:
and his heart fretteth against the LORD.
We have here two instances of men's folly:-- 1. That they bring themselves
into straits and troubles, and run themselves a-ground, and embarrass
themselves: The foolishness of man perverts his way. Men meet with
crosses and disappointments in their affairs, and things do not succeed as
they expected and wished, and it is owing to themselves and their own folly;
it is their own iniquity that corrects them. 2. That when they have done so
they lay the blame upon God, and their hearts fret against him, as if he had
done them wrong, whereas really they wrong themselves. In fretting, we are
enemies to our own peace, and become self-tormentors; in fretting against
the Lord we affront him, his justice, goodness, and sovereignty; and it is
very absurd to take occasion from the trouble which we pull upon our own heads
by our wilfulness, or neglect, to quarrel with him, when we ought to blame
ourselves, for it is our own doing. See Isa. l. 1.
4 Wealth maketh many friends; but the poor is
separated from his neighbour.
Here, 1. We may see how strong men's love of money is, that they will love any
man, how undeserving soever he be otherwise, if he has but a deal of money and
is free with it, so that they may hope to be the better for it. Wealth enables
a man to send many presents, make many entertainments, and do many good
offices, and so gains him many friends, who pretend to love him, for they
flatter him and make their court to him, but really love what he has, or
rather love themselves, hoping to get by him. 2. We may see how weak men's
love of one another is. He who, while he prospered, was beloved and respected,
if he fall into poverty is separated from his neighbour, is not owned
nor looked upon, not visited nor regarded, is bidden to keep his distance and
told he is troublesome. Even one that has been his neighbour and acquaintance
will turn his face from him and pass by on the other side. Because men's
consciences tell them they ought to relieve and succour such, they are willing
to have this excuse, that they did not see them.
5 A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he
that speaketh lies shall not escape.
Here we have, 1. The sins threatened--bearing false witness in judgment
and speaking lies in common conversation. Men could not arrive at such
a pitch of impiety as to bear false witness (where to the guilt of a lie is
added that of perjury and injury) if they had not advanced to it by allowing
themselves to speak untruths in jest and banter, or under pretence of doing
good. Thus men teach their tongues to speak lies, Jer. ix. 5. Those
that will take a liberty to tell lies in discourse are in a fair way to be
guilty of the greater wickedness of false-witness-bearing, whenever they are
tempted to it, though they seemed to detest it. Those that can swallow a false
word debauch their consciences, so that a false oath will not choke them. 2.
The threatening itself: They shall not go unpunished; they shall not
escape. This intimates that that which emboldens them in the sin is the
hope of impunity, it being a sin which commonly escapes punishment from men,
though the law is strict, Deut. xix. 18, 19. But it shall not escape
the righteous judgment of God, who is jealous, and will not suffer his name to
be profaned; we know where all liars will have their everlasting portion.
6 Many will intreat the favour of the prince:
and every man is a friend to him that giveth gifts. 7 All
the brethren of the poor do hate him: how much more do his friends go far from
him? he pursueth them with words, yet they are wanting to
him.
These two verses are a comment upon v. 4, and show, 1. How those that
are rich and great are courted and caressed, and have suitors and servants in
abundance. The prince that has power in his hand, and preferments at his
disposal, has his gate and his ante-chamber thronged with petitioners, that
are ready to adore him for what they can get. Many will entreat his favour,
and think themselves happy in it. Even great men are humble suppliants to the
prince. How earnest then should we be for the favour of God, which is far
beyond that of any earthly prince. But, it should seem, liberality will go
further than majesty itself to gain respect, for there are many that court the
prince, but every man is a friend to him that gives gifts; not only
those that have received, or do expect, gifts from him, will, as friends, be
ready to serve him, but others also will, as friends, give him their good
word. Prodigals, who are foolishly free of what they have, will have many
hangers-on who will cry them up as long as it lasts, but will leave them when
it is done. Those that are prudently generous make an interest by it which may
stand them in good stead; those that are accounted benefactors exercise an
authority which may give them an opportunity of doing good, Luke xxii. 25. 2.
How those that are poor and low are slighted and despised. Men may, if they
please, court the prince, and the princely, but they may not trample upon the
poor and look at them with disdain. Yet so it often is: All the brethren of
the poor do hate him; even his own relations are shy of him, because he is
needy and craving, and expects something from them, and because they look upon
him as a blemish to their family; and then no marvel if others of his friends,
that were nothing akin to him, go far from him, to get out of his way. He
pursues them with words, hoping to prevail with them by his importunity to
be kind to him, but all in vain; they have nothing for him. They pursue him
with words (so some understand it), to excuse themselves from giving him
any thing; they tell him that he is idle and impertinent, that he has brought
himself into poverty, and therefore ought not to be relieved; as Nabal said to
David's messengers: "There are many servants now a days that run away
from their masters; and how do I know but that David may be one of
them?" Let poor people therefore make God their friend, pursue him with
their prayers, and he will not be wanting to them.
8 He that getteth wisdom loveth his own soul:
he that keepeth understanding shall find good.
Those are here encouraged, 1. That take pains to get wisdom, to get
knowledge, and grace, and acquaintance with God; those that do so show that
they love their own souls, and will be found to have done themselves
the greatest kindness imaginable. No man ever hated his own flesh, but
loves that, yet many are wanting in love to their own souls, for only those
love their souls, and consequently love themselves, aright, that get
wisdom, true wisdom. 2. That take care to keep it when they have got it;
it is health, and wealth, and honour, and all, to the soul, and therefore he
that keeps understanding, as he shows that he loves his own soul,
so he shall certainly find good, all good. He that retains the good
lessons he has learnt, and orders his conversation according to them, shall
find the benefit and comfort of it in his own soul and shall be happy here and
for ever.
9 A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he
that speaketh lies shall perish.
Here is, 1. A repetition of what was said before (v. 5), for we have
need to be again and again warned of the danger of the sin of lying and
false-witness-bearing, since nothing is of more fatal consequence. 2. An
addition to it in one word; there it was said, He that speaks lies shall
not escape, and intimated that he shall be punished. Here it is said, His
punishment shall be such as will be his destruction: he shall perish;
the lies he forged against others will be his own ruin. It is a damning
destroying sin.
10 Delight is not seemly for a fool; much less
for a servant to have rule over princes.
Note, 1. Pleasure and liberty ill become a fool: Delight is not seemly for
such a one. A man that has not wisdom and grace has no right nor title to true
joy, and therefore it is unseemly. It ill becomes those that do not delight in
God to delight in any thing, nor how to manage themselves, and therefore they
do but expose themselves. It becomes ungracious fools to be afflicted, and
mourn, and weep, not to laugh and be merry; rebukes are more proper for them
than delights. Delight is seemly for a man of business, to refresh him when he
is fatigued, but not for a fool, that lives an idle life and abuses his
recreations. The prosperity of fools discovers their folly and destroys
them. 2. Power and honour ill become a man of a servile spirit. Nothing is
more unseemly than for a servant to have rule over princes; it is
absurd in itself, and very preposterous, for none are so insolent and
intolerable as a beggar on horseback, a servant when he reigns, ch.
xxx. 22. It is very unseemly for one that is a servant to sin and his lusts to
rule over and oppress those that are God's freemen and made kings and priests
to him.
11 The discretion of a man deferreth his anger;
and it is his glory to pass over a transgression.
A wise man will observe these two rules about his anger: 1. Not to be
over-hasty in his resentments: Discretion teaches us to defer our
anger, to defer the admission of it till we have thoroughly considered all
the merits of the provocation, seen them in a true light and weighed them in a
just balance; and then to defer the prosecution of it till there be no danger
of running into any indecencies. Plato said to his servant, "I would beat
thee, but that I am angry." Give it time, and it will cool. 2. Not to be
over-critical in his resentments. Whereas it is commonly looked upon as a
piece of ingenuity to apprehend an affront quickly, it is here made a man's glory
to pass over a transgression, to appear as if he did not see it (Ps.
xxxviii. 13), or, if he sees fit to take notice of it, yet to forgive it and
meditate no revenge.
12 The king's wrath is as the roaring of
a lion; but his favour is as dew upon the grass.
This is to the same purport with what we had ch. xvi. 14, 15, and the
design of it is, 1. To make kings wise and considerate in dispensing their
frowns and smiles. They are not like those of common persons; their frowns are
very terrible and their smiles very comfortable, and therefore it concerns
them to be very careful that they never frighten a good man from doing well
with their frowns, nor ever give countenance to a wicked man in doing ill with
their smiles, for then they abuse their influence, Rom. xiii. 3. 2. To make
subjects faithful and dutiful to their princes. Let them be restrained from
all disloyalty by the consideration of the dreadful consequence of having the
government against them; and let them be encouraged in all good services to
the public by the hopes of the favour of their prince. Christ is a King whose
wrath against his enemies will be as the roaring of a lion (Rev. x. 3)
and his favour to his own people as the refreshing dew, Ps. lxxii. 6.
13 A foolish son is the calamity of his
father: and the contentions of a wife are a continual dropping.
It is an instance of the vanity of the world that we are liable to the
greatest grief in those things wherein we promise ourselves the greatest
comfort. It is as it proves. What greater temporal comfort can a man have than
a good wife and good children? Yet, 1. A foolish son is a great
affliction, and may make a man wish a thousand times he had been written
childless. A son that will apply himself to no study or business, that will
take no advice, that lives a lewd, loose, rakish life, and spends what he has
extravagantly, games it away and wastes it in the excess of riot, or that is
proud, foppish, and conceited, such a one is the grief of his father,
because he is the disgrace, and is likely to be the ruin, of his family. He
hates all his labour, when he sees to whom he must leave the fruit of it. 2. A
cross peevish wife is as great an affliction: Her contentions are
continual; every day, and every hour in the day, she finds some occasion
to make herself and those about her uneasy. Those that are accustomed to chide
never want something or other to chide at; but it is a continual dropping,
that is, a continual vexation, as it is to have a house so much out of repair
that it rains in and a man cannot lie dry in it. That man has an uncomfortable
life, and has need of a great deal of wisdom and grace to enable him to bear
his affliction and do his duty, who has a sot for his son and a scold for his
wife.
14 House and riches are the inheritance
of fathers: and a prudent wife is from the LORD.
Note, 1. A discreet and virtuous wife is a choice gift of God's providence to
a man--a wife that is prudent, in opposition to one that is
contentious, v. 13. For, though a wife that is continually finding
fault may think it is her wit and wisdom to be so, it is really her folly; a
prudent wife is meek and quiet, and makes the best of every thing. If a
man has such a wife, let him not ascribe it to the wisdom of his own choice or
his own management (for the wisest have been deceived both in and by a woman),
but let him ascribe it to the goodness of God, who made him a help meet for
him, and perhaps by some hits and turns of providence that seemed casual
brought her to him. Every creature is what he makes it. Happy marriages, we
are sure, are made in heaven; Abraham's servant prayed in the belief of this,
Gen. xxiv. 12. 2. It is a more valuable gift than house and riches,
contributes more to the comfort and credit of a man's life and the welfare of
his family, is a greater token of God's favour, and about which the divine
providence is in a more especial manner conversant. A good estate may be the
inheritance of fathers, which, by the common direction of Providence,
comes in course to a man; but no man has a good wife by descent or entail.
Parents that are worldly, in disposing of their children, look no further than
to match them to house and riches, but, if withal it be to a prudent
wife, let God have the glory.
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Circumspection
and Charity.
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15 Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep; and
an idle soul shall suffer hunger.
See here the evil of a sluggish slothful disposition. 1. It stupefies men, and
makes them senseless, and mindless of their own affairs, as they were cast
into a deep sleep, dreaming much, but doing nothing. Slothful people doze
away their time, bury their talents, live a useless life, and are the
unprofitable burdens of the earth; for any service they do when they are awake
they might as well be always asleep. Even their souls are idle and lulled
asleep, their rational powers chilled and frozen. 2. It impoverishes men and
brings them to want. Those that will not labour cannot expect to eat, but must
suffer hunger: An idle soul, one that is idle in the affairs of his
soul, that takes no care or pains to work out his salvation, shall perish for
want of that which is necessary to the life and happiness of the soul.
16 He that keepeth the commandment keepeth his
own soul; but he that despiseth his ways shall die.
Here is, 1. The happiness of those that walk circumspectly. Those that make
conscience of keeping the commandment in every thing, that live by
rule, as becomes servants and patients, keep their own souls; they
secure their present peace and future bliss, and provide every way well for
themselves. If we keep God's word, God's word will keep us from every thing
really hurtful. 2. The misery of those that live at large and never mind what
they do: Those that despair their ways shall die, shall perish
eternally; they are in the high road to ruin. With respect to those that are
careless about the end of their ways, and never consider whither they are
going, and about the rule of their ways, that will walk in the way of their
hearts and after the course of the world (Eccl. xi. 9), that never consider
what they have done nor what they are concerned to do, but walk at all
adventures (Lev. xxvi. 21), right or wrong, it is all one to them--what
can come of this but the greatest mischief?
17 He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto
the LORD;
and that which he hath given will he pay him again.
Here is, I. The duty of charity described. It includes two things:-- 1.
Compassion, which is the inward principle of charity in the heart; it is to have
pity on the poor. Those that have not a penny for the poor, yet may have
pity for them, a charitable concern and sympathy; and, if a man give all
his goods to feed the poor and have not this charity in his heart, it
is nothing, 1 Cor. xiii. 3. We must draw out our souls to the hungry,
Isa. lviii. 10. 2. Bounty and liberality. We must not only pity the poor, but
give, according to their necessity and our ability, Jam. ii. 15, 16. That
which he has given. Margin, His deed. It is charity to do for the
poor, as well as to give; and thus, if they have their limbs and senses, they
may be charitable to one another.
II. The encouragement of charity. 1. A very kind construction shall be put
upon it. What is given to the poor, or done for them, God will place it to
account as lent to him, lent upon interest (so the word signifies); he
takes it kindly, as if it were done to himself, and he would have us take the
comfort of it and to be as well pleased as ever any usurer was when he had let
out a sum of money into good hands. 2. A very rich recompence shall be made
for it: He will pay him again, in temporal, spiritual, and eternal
blessings. Almsgiving is the surest and safest way of thriving.
18 Chasten thy son while there is hope, and let
not thy soul spare for his crying.
Parents are here cautioned against a foolish indulgence of their children that
are untoward and viciously inclined, and that discover such an ill temper of
mind as is not likely to be cured but by severity. 1. Do not say that it is
all in good time to correct them; no, as soon as ever there appears a corrupt
disposition in them check it immediately, before it gets head, and takes root,
and is hardened into a habit: Chasten thy son while there is hope, for
perhaps, if he be let alone awhile, he will be past hope, and a much greater
chastening will not do that which now a less would effect. It is easiest
plucking up weeds as soon as they spring up, and the bullock that is designed
for the yoke should be betimes accustomed to it. 2. Do not say that it is a
pity to correct them, and that, because they cry and beg to be forgiven, you
cannot find in your heart to do it. If the point can be gained without
correction, well and good; but if you find, as it often proves, that your
forgiving them once, upon a dissembled repentance and promise of amendment,
does but embolden them to offend again, especially if it be a thing that is in
itself sinful (as lying, swearing, ribaldry, stealing, or the like), in such a
case put on resolution, and let not thy soul spare for his crying. It
is better that he should cry under thy rod than under the sword of the
magistrate, or, which is more fearful, that of divine vengeance.
19 A man of great wrath shall suffer
punishment: for if thou deliver him, yet thou must do it again.
1. As we read this, it intimates, in short, that angry men never want woe.
Those that are of strong, or rather headstrong, passions, commonly bring
themselves and their families into trouble by vexatious suits and quarrels and
the provocations they give; they are still smarting, in one instance or other,
for their ungoverned heats; and, if their friends deliver them out of one
trouble, they will quickly involve themselves in another, and they must do
it again, all which troubles to themselves and others would be prevented
if they would mortify their passions and get the rule of their own spirits. 2.
It may as well be read, He that is of great wrath (meaning the child
that is to be corrected and is impatient of rebuke, cries and makes a noise,
even that wrath of his against the rod of correction) deserves to be
punished; for, if thou deliver him for the sake of that, thou wilt be
forced to punish him so much the more next time. A stomachful high-spirited
child must be subdued betimes, or it will be the worse for it.
20 Hear counsel, and receive instruction, that
thou mayest be wise in thy latter end.
Note, 1. It is well with those that are wise in their latter end, wise
for their latter end, for their future state, wise for another world, that are
found wise when their latter end comes, wise virgins, wise builders, wise
stewards, that are wise at length, and understand the things that belong to
their peace, before they be hidden from their eyes. A carnal worldling at
his end shall be a fool (Jer. xvii. 11), but godliness will prove wisdom
at last. 2. Those that would be wise in their latter end must hear
counsel and receive instruction, in their beginnings must be
willing to be taught and ruled, willing to be advised and reproved, when they
are young. Those that would be stored in winter must gather in summer.
21 There are many devices in a man's
heart; nevertheless the counsel of the LORD,
that shall stand.
Here we have, 1. Men projecting. They keep their designs to themselves, but
they cannot hide them from God; he knows the many devices that are in men's
hearts,--devices against his counsels (as those, Ps. ii. 1-3; Micah iv.
11),-- devices without his counsel (no regard had to his providence, as those
Jam. iv. 13, this and the other they will do, and not take God along with
them),--devices unlike God's counsels; men are wavering in their devices, and
often absurd and unjust, but God's counsels are wise and holy, steady and
uniform. 2. God overruling. Various men have various designs, according as
their inclination or interest leads them, but the counsel of the Lord, that
shall stand, whatever becomes of the devices of men. His counsel often
breaks men's measures and baffles their devices; but their devices cannot in
the least alter his counsel, not disturb the proceedings of it, nor put him
upon new counsels, Isa. xiv. 24; xlvi. 11. What a check does this give to
politic designing men, who think they can outwit all mankind, that there is a
God in heaven that laughs at them! Ps. ii. 4. What comfort does this speak to
all God's people, that all God's purposes, which we are sure are right and
good, shall be accomplished in due time!
22 The desire of a man is his kindness:
and a poor man is better than a liar.
Note, 1. The honour of doing good is what we may laudably be ambitious of. It
cannot but be the desire of man, if he have any spark of virtue in him,
to be kind; one would not covet an estate for any thing so much as thereby to
be put into a capacity of relieving the poor and obliging our friends. 2. It
is far better to have a heart to do good and want ability for it than have
ability for it and want a heart to it: The desire of a man to be kind,
and charitable, and generous, is his kindness, and shall be so
construed; both God and man will accept his good-will, according to what he
has, and will not expect more. A poor man, who wishes you well, but
can promise you nothing, because he has nothing to be kind with, is better
than a liar, than a rich man who makes you believe he will do mighty
things, but, when it comes to the setting to, will do nothing. The character
of the men of low degree, that they are vanity, from whom nothing is
expected, is better than that of men of high degree, that they are a lie,
they deceive those whose expectations they raised.
23 The fear of the LORD tendeth to life:
and he that hath it shall abide satisfied; he shall not be visited with
evil.
See what those that get by it that live in the fear of God, and always make
conscience of their duty to him. 1. Safety: They shall not be visited with
evil; they may be visited with sickness or other afflictions, but there
shall be no evil in them, nothing to hurt them, because nothing to separate
them from the love of God, or hurt to the soul. 2. Satisfaction: They shall
abide satisfied; they shall have those comforts which are satisfying, and
shall have a constant contentment and complacency in them. It is a
satisfaction which will abide, whereas all the satisfactions of sense are
transient and soon gone. Satur pernoctabit, non cubabit incoenatus--He
shall not go supperless to bed; he shall have that which will make him
easy and be an entertainment to him in his silent and solitary hours, Ps. xvi.
6, 7. 3. True and complete happiness. Serious godliness has a direct tendency to
life; to all good, to eternal life; it is the sure and ready way to it;
there is something in the nature of it fitting men for heaven and so leading
them to it.
24 A slothful man hideth his hand in his
bosom, and will not so much as bring it to his mouth again.
A sluggard is here exposed as a fool, for, 1. All his care is to save himself
from labour and cold. See his posture: He hides his hand in his bosom,
pretends he is lame and cannot work; his hands are cold, and he must warm them
in his bosom; and, when they are warm there, he must keep them so. He hugs
himself in his own ease and is resolved against labour and hardship. Let those
work that love it; for his part he thinks there is no such fine life as
sitting still and doing nothing. 2. He will not be at the pains to feed
himself, an elegant hyperbole; as we say, A man is so lazy that he would not
shake fire off him, so here, He cannot find in his heart to take his hand out
of his bosom, no, not to put meat into his own mouth. If the law be so that
those that will not labour must not eat, he will rather starve than stir. Thus
his sin is his punishment, and therefore is egregious folly.
25 Smite a scorner, and the simple will beware:
and reprove one that hath understanding, and he will understand
knowledge.
Note, 1. The punishment of scorners will be a means of good to others. When
men are so hardened in wickedness that they will not themselves be wrought
upon by the severe methods that are used to reclaim and reform them, yet such
methods must be used for the sake of others, that they may hear and fear,
Deut. xix. 20. If the scorner will not be recovered from his sin, the
disease being inveterate, yet the simple will beware of venturing upon
the sin which exposes men thus. If it cure not the infected, it may prevent
the spreading of the infection. 2. The reproof of wise men will be a means of
good to themselves. They need not be smitten; a word to the wise is enough. Do
but reprove one that has understanding and he will so far understand
himself and his own interest that he will understand knowledge by it,
and not miss it again through ignorance and inadvertency when once he has been
told of it; so kindly does he take reproof and so wisely improve it.
26 He that wasteth his father, and
chaseth away his mother, is a son that causeth shame, and
bringeth reproach.
Here is, 1. The sin of a prodigal son. Besides the wrong he does to himself,
he is injurious to his good parents, and basely ungrateful to those that were
instruments of his being and have taken so much care and pains about him,
which is a great aggravation of his sin and renders it exceedingly sinful in
the eyes of God and man: He wastes his father, wastes his estate which
he should have to support him in his old age, wastes his spirits, and breaks
his heart, and brings his gray head with sorrow to the grave. He chases
away his mother, alienates her affections from him, which cannot be done
without a great deal of regret and uneasiness to her; he makes her weary of
the house, with his rudeness and insolence, and glad to retire for a little
quietness; and, when he has spent all, he turns her out of doors. 2. The shame
of a prodigal son. It is a shame to himself that he should be so brutish and
unnatural. He makes himself odious to all mankind. It is a shame to his
parents and family, who are reflected upon, though, perhaps, without just
cause, for teaching him no better, or being in some way wanting to him.
27 Cease, my son, to hear the instruction that
causeth to err from the words of knowledge.
This is a good caution to those that have had a good education to take heed of
hearkening to those who, under pretence of instructing them, draw them off
from those good principles under the influence of which they were trained up.
Observe, 1. There is that which seems designed for instruction, but really
tends to the destruction of young men. The factors for vice will undertake to
teach them free thoughts and a fashionable conversation, how to palliate the
sins they have a mind to and stop the mouth of their own consciences, how to
get clear of the restraints of their education and to set up for wits and
beaux. This is the instruction which causes to err from the
forms of sound words, which should be held fast in faith and love. 2. It is
the wisdom of young men to turn a deaf ear to such instructions, as the adder
does to the charms that are designed to ensnare her. "Dread hearing such
talk as tends to instil loose principles into the mind; and, if thou art
linked in with such, break off from them; thou hast heard enough, or too much,
and therefore hear no more of the evil communication which corrupts good
manners."
28 An ungodly witness scorneth judgment: and
the mouth of the wicked devoureth iniquity.
Here is a description of the worst of sinners, whose hearts are fully set
in them to do evil. 1. They set that at defiance which would deter and
detain them from sin: An ungodly witness is one that bears false
witness against his neighbour, and will forswear himself to do another a
mischief, in which there is not only great injustice, but great impiety; this
is one of the worst of men. Or an ungodly witness is one that profanely
and atheistically witnesses against religion and godliness, whose instructions
seduce from the words of knowledge (v. 27); such a one scorns
judgment, laughs at the terrors of the Lord, mocks at that fear, Job xv.
26. Tell him of law and equity, that the scriptures and an oath are sacred
things, and not to be jested with, that there will come a reckoning day; he
laughs at it all, and scorns to heed it. 2. They are greedy, and glad of that
which gives them an opportunity to sin: The mouth of the wicked eagerly
devours iniquity, drinks it in like water, Job xv. 16.
29 Judgments are prepared for scorners, and
stripes for the back of fools.
Note, 1. Scorners are fools. Those that ridicule things sacred and serious do
but make themselves ridiculous. Their folly shall be manifest unto all men.
2. Those that scorn judgments cannot escape them, v. 28. The unbelief
of man shall not make God's threatenings of no effect; those that devour
iniquity swallow the hook with the bait. The civil magistrate has judgments
prepared for scorners, for otherwise he would bear the sword in vain;
but if he be remiss, and connive at sin, yet God's judgments slumber not; they
are prepared, Matt. xxv. 41.
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