P
R O V E R B S
CHAP. II.
Solomon,
having foretold the destruction of those who are obstinate in their impiety,
in this chapter applies himself to those who are willing to be taught; and, I.
He shows them that, if they would diligently use the means of knowledge and
grace, they should obtain of God the knowledge and grace which they seek, ver.
1-9. II. He shows them of what unspeakable advantage it would be to them. 1.
It would preserve them from the snares of evil men (ver. 10-15) and of evil
women, ver. 16-19. 2. It would direct them into, and keep them in, the way of
good men, ver. 20-22. So that in this chapter we are taught both how to get
wisdom and how to use it when we have it, that we may neither seek it, nor
receive it in vain.
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The
Search after Wisdom Encouraged.
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1 My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and
hide my commandments with thee; 2 So that thou incline thine ear
unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding; 3 Yea,
if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for
understanding; 4 If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for
her as for hid treasures; 5 Then shalt thou understand the
fear of the LORD,
and find the knowledge of God. 6 For the LORD
giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and
understanding. 7 He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous: he
is a buckler to them that walk uprightly. 8 He keepeth the
paths of judgment, and preserveth the way of his saints. 9 Then
shalt thou understand righteousness, and judgment, and equity; yea,
every good path.
Job had asked, long before this, Where shall wisdom be found? Whence cometh
wisdom? (Job xxviii. 12, 20) and he had given this general answer (v.
23), God knoweth the place of it; but Solomon here goes further, and
tells us both where we may find it and how we may get it. We are here told,
I. What means we must use that we may obtain wisdom.
1. We must closely attend to the word of God, for that is the word of wisdom, which
is able to make us wise unto salvation, v. 1, 2. (1.) We must be
convinced that the words of God are the fountain and standard of wisdom and
understanding, and that we need not desire to be wiser than they will make us.
We must incline our ear and apply our hearts to them, as to wisdom
or understanding itself. Many wise things may be found in human
compositions, but divine revelation, and true religion built upon it, are all
wisdom. (2.) We must, accordingly, receive the word of God with all readiness
of mind, and bid it welcome, even the commandments as well as the promises,
without murmuring or disputing. Speak, Lord, for thy servant hears.
(3.) We must hide them with us, as we do our treasures, which we are afraid of
being robbed of. We must not only receive, but retain, the word of God, and
lodge it in our hearts, that it may be always ready to us. (4.) We must
incline our ear to them; we must lay hold on all opportunities of hearing the
word of God, and listen to it with attention and seriousness, as those that
are afraid of letting it slip. (5.) We must apply our hearts to them, else
inclining the ear to them will stand us in no stead.
2. We must be much in prayer, v. 3. We must cry after knowledge,
as one that is ready to perish for hunger begs hard for bread. Faint desires
will not prevail; we must be importunate, as those that know the worth of
knowledge and our own want of it. We must cry, as new-born babes, after the
sincere milk of the word. 1 Pet. ii. 2. We must lift our voice for
understanding lift it up to heaven; thence these good and perfect gifts
must be expected, Jam. i. 17; Job xxxviii. 34. We must give our voice to
understanding (so the word is), speak for it, vote for it, submit the
tongue to the command of wisdom. We must consecrate our voice to it; having
applied our heart to it, we must employ our voice in seeking for it. Solomon
could write probatum est--a tried remedy, upon this method; he prayed
for wisdom and so obtained it.
3. We must be willing to take pains (v. 4); we must seek it as
silver, preferring it far before all the wealth of this world, and
labouring in search of it as those who dig in the mines, who undergo great
toil and run great hazards, with indefatigable industry and invincible
constancy and resolution, in pursuit of the ore; or as those who will be rich
rise up early, and sit up late, and turn every stone to get money and fill
their treasures. Thus diligent must we be in the use of the means of
knowledge, following on to know the Lord.
II. What success we may hope for in the use of these means. Our labour shall
not be in vain; for, 1. We shall know how to maintain our acquaintance and
communion with God: "Thou shalt understand the fear of the Lord (v.
5), that is, thou shalt know how to worship him aright, shalt be led into the
meaning and mystery of every ordinance, and be enabled to answer the end of
its institution." Thou shalt find the knowledge of God, which is
necessary to our fearing him aright. It concerns us to understand how much it
is our interest to know God, and to evidence it by agreeable affections
towards him and adorations of him. 2. We shall know how to conduct ourselves
aright towards all men (v. 9): "Thou shalt understand, by
the word of God, righteousness, and judgment, and equity, shalt learn
those principles of justice, and charity, and fair dealing, which shall guide
and govern thee in the whole course of thy conversation, shall make thee fit
for every relation, every business, and faithful to every trust. It shall give
thee not only a right notion of justice, but a disposition to practise it, and
to render to all their due; for those that do not do justly do not rightly
understand it." This will lead them in every good path, for the
scripture will make the man of God perfect. Note, Those have the best
knowledge who know their duty, Ps. cxi. 10.
III. What ground we have to hope for this success in our pursuits of wisdom;
we must take our encouragement herein from God only, v. 6-8.
1. God has wisdom to bestow, v. 6. The Lord not only is wise
himself, but he gives wisdom, and that is more than the wisest men in
the world can do, for it is God's prerogative to open the understanding. All
the wisdom that is in any creature is his gift, his free gift, and he gives it
liberally (Jam. i. 5), has given it to many, and is still giving it; to him
therefore let us apply for it.
2. He has blessed the world with a revelation of his will. Out of his
mouth, by the law and the prophets, by the written word and by his
ministers, both which are his mouth to the children of men, come knowledge
and understanding, such a discovery of truth and good as, if we admit and
receive the impressions of it, will make us truly knowing and intelligent. It
is both an engagement and encouragement to search after wisdom that we have
the scriptures to search, in which we may find it if we seek it diligently.
3. He has particularly provided that good men, who are sincerely disposed to
do his will, shall have that knowledge and that understanding
which are necessary for them, John vii. 17. Let them seek wisdom, and they
shall find it; let them ask, and it shall be given them, v. 7, 8.
Observe here, (1.) Who those are that are thus favoured. They are the
righteous, on whom the image of God is renewed, which consists in
righteousness, and those who walk uprightly, who are honest in their
dealings both with God and man and make conscience of doing their duty as far
as they know it. They are his saints, devoted to his honour, and set
apart for his service. (2.) What it is that is provided for them. [1.]
Instruction. The means of wisdom are given to all, but wisdom itself, sound
wisdom, is laid up for the righteous, laid up in Christ their head,
in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, and who is
made of God to us wisdom. The same that is the Spirit of revelation in the
word is a Spirit of wisdom in the souls of those that are sanctified, that
wisdom of the prudent which is to understand his way; and it is sound wisdom,
its foundations firm, its principles solid, and its products of lasting
advantage. [2.] Satisfaction. Some read it, He lays up substance for the
righteous, not only substantial knowledge, but substantial happiness and
comfort, Prov. viii. 21. Riches are things that are not, and those that have
them only fancy themselves happy; but what is laid up in the promises and in
heaven for the righteous will make them truly, thoroughly, and eternally
happy. [3.] Protection. Even those who walk uprightly may be brought
into danger for the trial of their faith, but God is, and will be, a
buckler to them, so that nothing that happens to them shall do them any
real hurt, or possess them with any terrific apprehensions; they are safe, and
they shall think themselves so. Fear not, Abraham; I am thy shield. It
is their way, the paths of judgment in which they walk, that the Lord knows,
and owns, and takes care of. [4.] Grace to persevere to the end. If we depend
upon God, and seek to him for wisdom, he will uphold us in our integrity, will
enable us to keep the paths of judgment, however we may be tempted to
turn aside out of them; for he preserves the way of his saints, that it
be not perverted, and so preserves them in it safe and blameless to his
heavenly kingdom. The assurances God has given us of his grace, if duly
improved, will excite and quicken our endeavours in doing our duty. Work
out your salvation, for God works in you.
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The
Benefits Conferred by Wisdom.
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10 When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and
knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul; 11 Discretion shall preserve
thee, understanding shall keep thee: 12 To deliver thee from the
way of the evil man, from the man that speaketh froward things;
13 Who leave the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness;
14 Who rejoice to do evil, and delight in the frowardness of the
wicked; 15 Whose ways are crooked, and they froward
in their paths: 16 To deliver thee from the strange woman, even
from the stranger which flattereth with her words; 17 Which
forsaketh the guide of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her
God. 18 For her house inclineth unto death, and her paths unto the
dead. 19 None that go unto her return again, neither take they
hold of the paths of life. 20 That thou mayest walk in the way of
good men, and keep the paths of the righteous. 21 For the
upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it.
22 But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors shall
be rooted out of it.
The scope of these verses is to show, 1. What great advantage true wisdom will
be of to us; it will keep us from the paths of sin, which lead to ruin, and
will therein do us a greater kindness than if it enriched us with all the
wealth of the world. 2. What good use we should make of the wisdom God gives
us; we must use it for our own guidance in the paths of virtue, and for the
arming of us against temptations of every kind. 3. By what rules we may try
ourselves whether we have this wisdom or no. This tree will be known by its
fruits; if we be truly wise, it will appear by our care to avoid all evil
company and evil practices.
This wisdom will be of use to us,
I. For our preservation from evil, from the evil of sin, and, consequently,
from the evil of trouble that attends it.
1. In general (v. 10, 11), "When wisdom has entire possession of
thee, it will keep thee." And when has it an entire possession of
us? (1.) When it has dominion over us. When it not only fills the head with
notions, but enters into the heart and has a commanding power and
influence upon that,--when it is upon the throne there, and gives law to the
affections and passions,--when it enters into the heart as the leaven
into the dough, to diffuse its relish there, and to change it into its own
image--then it is likely to do us good. (2.) When we have delight in it, when
knowledge becomes pleasant to the soul: "When thou beginnest to
relish it as the most agreeable entertainment, and art subject to its rules,
of choice, and with satisfaction,--when thou callest the practice of virtue,
not a slavery and a task, but liberty and pleasure, and a life
of serious godliness the most comfortable life a man can live in this
world,--then thou wilt find the benefit of it." Though its restraints
should be in some respects unpleasant to the body, yet even those must be
pleasant to the soul. When it has come to this, with us, discretion shall
preserve us and keep us. God keeps the way of his saints (v.
8), by giving them discretion to keep out of harm's way, to keep themselves
that the wicked one touch them not. Note, A principle of grace reigning in the
heart will be a powerful preservative both against corruptions within and
temptations without, Eccl. ix. 16, 18.
2. More particularly, wisdom will preserve us,
(1.) From men of corrupt principles, atheistical profane men, who make it
their business to debauch young men's judgments, and instil into their minds
prejudices against religion and arguments for vice: "It will deliver
thee from the way of the evil man (v. 12), and a blessed
deliverance it will be, as from the very jaws of death, from the way in
which he walks, and in which he would persuade thee to walk." The enemy
is spoken of as one (v. 12), an evil man, but afterwards as many
(v. 13); there is a club, a gang of them, that are in confederacy
against religion, and join hand in hand for the support of the devil's kingdom
and the interests of it. [1.] They have a spirit of contradiction to that
which is good: They speak froward things; they say all they can against
religion, both to show their own enmity to it and to dissuade others from it.
They are advocates for Satan; they plead for Baal, and pervert the right
ways of the Lord. How peevishly will profane wits argue for sin, and with
what frowardness will they carp at the word of God! Wisdom will keep us either
from conversing with such men or at least from being ensnared by them. [2.]
They are themselves apostates from that which is good, and such are commonly
the most malicious and dangerous enemies religion has, witness Julian (v.
13): They leave the paths of uprightness, which they were trained up in
and had set out in, shake off the influences of their education, and break off
the thread of their hopeful beginnings, to walk in the ways of darkness,
in those wicked ways which hate the light, in which men are led blindfold by
ignorance and error, and which lead men into utter darkness. The ways of sin
are ways of darkness, uncomfortable and unsafe; what fools are those that
leave the plain, pleasant, lightsome paths of uprightness, to walk in those
ways! Ps. lxxxii. 5; 1 John ii. 11. [3.] They take a pleasure in sin, both in
committing it themselves and in seeing others commit it (v. 14): They rejoice
in an opportunity to do evil, and in the accomplishment and success of
any wicked project. It is sport to fools to do mischief; nor is any sight more
grateful to them than to see the frowardness of the wicked, to see
those that are hopeful drawn into the ways of sin, and then to see them
hardened and confirmed in those ways. They are pleased if they can discern
that the devil's kingdom gets ground (see Rom. i. 32), such a height of
impiety have they arrived at. [4.] They are resolute in sin (v. 15):
Their ways are crooked, a great many windings and turnings to escape
the pursuit of their convictions and break the force of them; some sly excuse,
some subtle evasion or other, their deceitful hearts furnish them with, for
the strengthening of their hands in their wickedness; and in the crooked mazes
of that labyrinth they secure themselves from the arrests of God's word and
their own consciences; for they are froward in their paths, that is,
they are resolved to go on in them, whatever is said against it. Every wise
man will shun the company of such as these.
(2.) From women of corrupt practices. The former lead to spiritual
wickednesses, the lusts of the unsanctified mind; these lead to fleshly
lusts, which defile the body, that living temple, but withal war
against the soul. The adulteress is here called the strange woman,
because no man that has any wisdom or goodness in him will have any
acquaintance with her; she is to be shunned by every Israelite as if she were
a heathen, and a stranger to that sacred commonwealth. A strange woman indeed!
utterly estranged from all principles of reason, virtue, and honour. It is a
great mercy to be delivered from the allurements of the adulteress,
considering, [1.] How false she is. Who will have any dealings with those that
are made up of treachery? She is a strange woman; for, First, She is
false to him whom she entices. She speaks fair, tells him how much she admires
him above any man, and what a kindness she has for him; but she flatters
with her words; she has no true affection for him, nor any desire of his
welfare, any more than Delilah had of Samson's. All she designs is to pick his
pocket and gratify a base lust of her own. Secondly, She is false to
her husband, and violates the sacred obligation she lies under to him. He was the
guide of her youth; by marrying him she chose him to be so, and submitted
herself to his guidance, with a promise to attend him only, and forsake all
others. But she has forsaken him, and therefore it cannot be thought
that she should be faithful to any one else; and whoever entertains her is
partaker with her in her falsehood. Thirdly, She is false to God
himself: She forgets the covenant of her God, the marriage-covenant (v.
17), to which God is not only a witness, but a party, for, he having
instituted the ordinance, both sides vow to him to be true to each other. It
is not her husband only that she sins against, but her God, who will judge
whoremongers and adulterers because they despise the oath and break the
covenant, Ezek. xvii. 18; Mal. ii. 14. [2.] How fatal it will prove to those
that fall in league with her, v. 18, 19. Let the sufferings of others
be our warnings. Take heed of the sin of whoredom; for, First, The ruin
of those who are guilty of it is certain and unavoidable, if they do not
repent. It is a sin that has a direct tendency to the killing of the soul, the
extinguishing of all good affections and dispositions in it, and the exposing
of it to the wrath and curse of God and the sword of his justice. Those that
live in forbidden pleasures are dead while they live. Let discretion preserve
every man, not only from the evil woman, but from the evil house, for the house
inclines to death; it is in the road that leads directly to eternal death;
and her paths unto Rephaim, to the giants (so some read it), the
sinners of the old world, who, living in luxury and excess of riot, were cut
down out of time, and their foundation was overthrown with a flood. Our Lord
Jesus deters us from sinful pleasures with the consideration of everlasting
torments which follow them. Where the worm dies not, nor is the fire
quenched. See Matt. v. 28, 29. Secondly, Their repentance and
recovery are extremely hazardous: None, or next to none, that go
unto her, return again. It is very rare that any who are caught in this
snare of the devil recover themselves, so much is the heart hardened, and the
mind blinded, by the deceitfulness of this sin. Having once lost their hold
of the paths of life, they know not how to take hold of them again, but
are perfectly besotted and bewitched with those base lusts. Many learned
interpreters think that this caution against the strange woman, besides
the literal sense, is to be understood figuratively, as a caution, 1. Against
idolatry, which is spiritual whoredom. Wisdom will keep thee from all
familiarity with the worshippers of images, and all inclination to join with
them, which had for many ages been of such pernicious consequence to Israel
and proved so to Solomon himself. 2. Against the debauching of the
intellectual powers and faculties of the soul by the lusts and appetites of
the body. Wisdom will keep thee from being captivated by the carnal mind, and
from subjecting the spirit to the dominion of the flesh, that notorious
adulteress which forsakes its guide, violates the covenant of our
God, which inclines to death, and which, when it has got an
undisturbed dominion, makes the case of the soul desperate.
II. This wisdom will be of use to guide and direct us in that which is good (v.
20): That thou mayest walk in the way of good men. We must avoid the
way of the evil man, and the strange woman, in order that we may
walk in good ways; we must cease to do evil, in order that we may learn
to do well. Note, 1. There is a way which is peculiarly the way of good
men, the way in which good men, as such, and as far as they have really been
such, have always walked. 2. It will be our wisdom to walk in that way, to ask
for the good old way and walk therein, Jer. vi. 16; Heb. vi. 12; xii. 1. And
we must not only walk in that way awhile, but we must keep it, keep in it, and
never turn aside out of it: The paths of the righteous are the paths of
life, which all that are wise, having taken hold of, will keep their hold of.
"That thou mayest imitate those excellent persons, the patriarchs and
prophets (so bishop Patrick paraphrases it), and be preserved in the paths
of those righteous men who followed after them." We must not only
choose our way in general by the good examples of the saints, but must also
take directions from them in the choice of our particular paths; observe the
track, and go forth by the footsteps of the flock. Two reasons are here given
why we should thus choose:-- (1.) Because men's integrity will be their
establishment, v. 21. It will be the establishment, [1.] Of their
persons: The upright shall dwell in the land, peaceably and quietly, as
long as they live; and their uprightness will contribute to it, as it settles
their minds, guides their counsels, gains them the good-will of their
neighbours, and entitles them to God's special favour. [2.] Of their families:
The perfect, in their posterity, shall remain in it. They shall
dwell and remain for ever in the heavenly Canaan, of which the earthly one was
but a type. (2.) Because men's iniquity will be their destruction, v.
22. See what becomes of the wicked, who choose the way of the evil
man; they shall be cut off, not only from heaven hereafter and all
hopes of that, but from the earth now, on which they set their
affections, and in which they lay up their treasure. They think to take root
in it, but they and their families shall be rooted out of it, in
judgment to them, but in mercy to the earth. There is a day coming which shall
leave them neither root nor branch, Mal. iv. 1. Let that wisdom then enter
into our hearts, and be pleasant to our souls, which will keep us
out of a way that will end thus.
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