American Standard Version Proverbs 20

Proverbs 20:1-30
EXPOSITION
Pro_20:1
Wine is a mocker; or, scorner, the word (luts) being taken up from the last chapter. The liquor is, as it were, personified, as doing what men do under its influence. Thus inebriated persons scoff at what is holy, reject reproof, ridicule all that is serious. Septuagint, Ἀκόλαστον οἶνος, “Wine is an undisciplined thing;” Vulgate, Luxuriosa res, vinum. Strong drink is raging; a brawler, Revised Version. Shekar, σίκερα (Luk_1:15), is most frequently employed of any intoxicating drink not made from grapes, e.g. palm wine, mead, etc. The inordinate use of this renders men noisy and boisterous, no longer masters of themselves or restrained by the laws of morality or decency. Septuagint, Υβιστικὸν μέθη, “Drunkenness is insolent.” Theognis has some sensible lines on this matter—
Ος δ ἂν ὑπερβάλλῃ πόσιος μὲτρον οὐκέτι κεῖνος
Τῆς αὐτοῦ γλώσσης καρτερὸς οὐδὲ νόου
Μυθεῖται δ ἀπάλαμνα τὰ νήφοσι γίγνεται αἰσχρά
Αἰδεῖται δ ἕρδων οὐδὲν ὅταν μεθύη|
Τὸ πρὶν ἐὼν σώφρων τότε νήπιος
Whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise. No one who reels under the influence of, is overpowered by, wine is wise (Isa_28:7). Septuagint, “Every fool is involved in such.” Says a Latin adage—
“Ense cadunt multi, perimit sed crapula plures.”
“More are drowned in the wine cup than in the ocean,” say the Germans (comp. Pro_23:29, etc.; Eph_5:18).
Pro_20:2
The fear of a king is as the roaring of a lion (see Pro_19:12). The terror which a king causes when his anger is rising is like the roar of a lion, which betokens danger. Septuagint, “The threat of a king differeth not from the wrath of a lion.” Whoso provoketh him to anger sinneth against his own soul; imperils his life, which he has no right wilfully to jeopard. ,Septuagint, “He who enrageth him (ὁ παροξύνων αὐτόν).” The Complutensian and some Greek versions introduce the words, καὶ ἐπιμιγνύμενος, “and has intercourse with him;” i.e. he who having aroused a king’s resentment does not avoid his presence, exposes himself to certain death.
Pro_20:3
It is an honour to a man to cease from strife; or better, as Delitzsch and others, to remain far from strife. A prudent man will not only abstain from causing quarrel, but will hold himself aloof from all contention, and thus will have due care for his own honour and dignity. How different is this from the modern cede, which makes a man’s honour consist in his readiness to avenge fancied injury at the risk of his own or his neighbour’s life! Septuagint, “It is a glory to a man to hold himself aloof from revilings.” Every fool will be meddling (see on Pro_17:14; Pro_18:1). Delitzsch, “Whoever is a fool showeth his teeth,” finds pleasure in strife. Septuagint, “Every fool involves himself in such,” as in Pro_20:1.
Pro_20:4
The sluggard will not plough by reason of the cold; propter frigus, Vulgate. But חֹרֶף (choreph) denotes the time of gathering—the autumn; so we would translate, “At the time of harvest the sluggard ploughs not”—just when the ground is most easily and profitably worked. “The weakness of the coulter and other parts of the plough requires that advantage be taken, in all but the most friable soils, of the softening of the surface by the winter or spring rains; so that the peasant, if industrious, has to plough in the winter, though sluggards still shrink from its cold, and have to beg in the harvest” (Geikie, ’Holy Land and Bible,’ 2:491). Therefore shall he beg in harvest, and have nothing. So the Vulgate, Mendicabit ergo aestate, et non dabitur illi. But this does not accurately represent the meaning of the clause. If ever the prosperous are disposed to relieve the needy, it would be at the time when they have safely garnered their produce; an appeal to their charity at such a moment would not be made in vain. Rather the sentence signifies that the lazy man, having neglected to have his land ploughed at the proper time, “when he asks (for his fruits) at harvest time, there is nothing.” He puts off tilling his fields day after day, or never looks to see if his labourers do their duty, and so his land is not cultivated, and he has no crop to reap when autumn comes. “By the street of By-and-by one arrives at the house of Never” (Spanish proverb). Taking a different interpretation of the word choreph, the LXX. renders, “Being reproached, the sluggard is not ashamed, no more than he who borrows corn in harvest.”
Pro_20:5
Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water. The thoughts and purposes of a man are hidden in his breast like deep water (Pro_18:4) in the bosom of the earth, hard to fathom, hard to get. But a man of understanding will draw it out. One who is intelligent and understands human nature penetrates the secret, and, by judicious questions and remarks, draws out the hidden thought.
Pro_20:6
Most men will proclaim every one his own goodness; chesed, “kindness,” “mercy,” “liberality,” as in Pro_19:22. So Ewald and others, Hitzig and Kamphausen translate, “Many a man one names his dear friend;” Delitzsch and Nowack prefer, “Most men meet a man who is gracious to them;” i.e. it is common enough to meet a man who seems benevolent and well disposed. Vulgate, “Many men are called merciful;” Septuagint, “Man is a great thing, and a merciful man is a precious thing.” The renderings of most modern commentators imply the statement that love and mercy are common enough, at least in outward expression. The Authorized Version pronounces that men are ready enough to parade and boast of their liberality, like the hypocrites who were said proverbially to sound a trumpet when they performed their almsdeeds (Mat_6:2). Commenting on the Greek rendering of the clause given above, St. Chrysostom observes, “This is the true character of man to be merciful; yea, rather the character of God to show mercy …Those who answer not to this description, though they partake of mind, and are never so capable of knowledge, the Scripture refuses to acknowledge them as men, but calls them dogs, and horses, and serpents, and foxes, and wolves, and if there be any animals more contemptible”. The contrast between show, or promise, and performance is developed in the second clause. But a faithful man who can find? The faithfulness intended is fidelity to promises, the practical execution of the vaunted benevolence; this is rare indeed, so that a psalmist could cry, “I said in my haste, All men are liars” (Psa_116:11; comp. Rom_3:4). Lesetre refers to Massillon’s sermon, ’Sur la Gloire Humaine,’ where we read (the preacher, of course, rests on the Latin Version), “Ces hommes vertueux dont le monde se fait tant d’honneur, n’ont au fond souvent pour eux que l’erreur publique. Amis fideles, je le veux; mais c’est le gout, la vanite ou Pin teret, qui les lie; et dans leur amis, ils n’amient qu’ eux-memes En un mot, dit l’Ecriture, on les appelle misericordieux, ils ont toutes les vertus pour le public; mais n’etant pas fideles a Dieu, ils n’en ont pas une seule pour eux-memes.”
Pro_20:7
The just man walketh in his integrity. It is better to connect the two clauses together, and not to take the first as a separate sentence, thus: “He who as a just man walketh in his integrity”—Blessed are his children after him (comp. Pro_14:26). So the Septuagint and Vulgate. The man of pure life, who religiously performs his duty towards God and man, shall bring a blessing on his children who follow his good example, both during his life and after his death. The temporal promise is seen in Exo_20:6; Deu_4:40; Psa_112:2, etc. Some see here an instance of utilitarianism; but it cannot be supposed that the writer inculcates virtue for the sake of the worldly advantages connected with it; rather he speaks from experience, and from a faithful dependence on Providence, of the happy results of a holy life.
Pro_20:8
A royal and right noble maxim. A king that sitteth in the throne of judgment scattereth away all evil with his eyes. The king, sitting on the tribunal and executing his judiciary office, sees through all devices and pretences which cloak evil, and scatters them to the winds, as the chaff flies before the winnowing fan. Nothing unrighteous can abide in his presence (comp. Pro_20:26; Pro_16:10, etc.). See here an adumbration of the characteristic of the Messiah, the great King whose “eyes behold, whose eyelids try, the children of men” (Psa_11:4): who is “of purer eyes than to behold evil” (Hab_1:13); who “with righteousness shall judge the poor and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth; and with the breath of his lips shall slay the wicked” (Isa_11:4; comp. Mat_3:12). Septuagint, “When the righteous king shall sit upon his throne, nothing that is evil shall offer itself before his eyes.”
Pro_20:9
Who can say, I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin? The question implies the answer, “No one.” This is expressed in Job_14:4, “Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one.” At the dedication of the temple, Solomon enunciates this fact of man’s corruption, “There is no man that sinneth not” (1Ki_8:46). The prophet testifies, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and it is desperately sick: who can know it?” (Jer_17:9). And St. John warns, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1Jn_1:8). The heart is cleansed by self-examination and repentance; but it is so easy to deceive one’s self in this matter, sins may lurk undetected, motives may be overlooked, so that no one can rightly be self-righteous, or conceited, or proud of his spiritual state. The “my sin” at the end of the clause is rather possible than actual sin; and the expression means that no one can pride himself on being secure from yielding to temptation, however clean for a time his conscience may be. The verse, therefore, offers a stern corrective of two grievous spiritual errors—presumption and apathy.
Pro_20:10
Divers weights, and
divers measures; literally, stone and stone, ephah and ephah. The stones were used for weighing: dishonest traders kept them of different weights, and also measures of different capacities, substituting one for the other in order to defraud unwary customers. The Septuagint makes this plain by rendering, “A weight great and small, and measures double” (see on Pro_11:1 and Pro_16:11; and comp. Pro_16:23). The ephah was a dry measure, being one-tenth of the homer, and occupying the same position in solids as the bath did in liquids. It equalled about three pecks of our measure. Both of them are alike abomination to the Lord (Pro_17:15; comp. Le 19:36; Deu_25:13, etc.); Septuagint, “Are impure before the Lord, even both of them, and he who doeth them.” Pseudo-Bernard (’De Pass. Dom.,’ 17.), applying the passage mystically, teaches that a man may be said to keep a double measure, who, being conscious of his own evil character, endeavours to appear righteous to others; who, as he puts it, “Suo judicio terrae proximus est, et aliis cupit elevatus videri.” Others, connecting this verse in thought with the preceding, see in it a warning against judging a neighbour by a standard which we do not apply to ourselves. The Septuagint Version arranges the matter from Pro_20:10 onwards differently from the Hebrew, omitting Pro_20:14-19, and placing Pro_20:10-13 after Pro_20:22.
Pro_20:11
Even a child is known (maketh himself known) by his doings. (For “even” (gam), see on Pro_17:26.) A child is open, simple, and straightforward in his actions; he has not the reserves and concealments which men practise, so you see by his conduct what his real character and disposition are. Ewald takes מעלליו in the sense of “play,” “games;” but it seems never to have this meaning, and there is no need to change the usual signification. The habits of a life are learned in early age. The boy is father of the man. Delitzsch quotes the German proverbs, “What means to become a hook bends itself early,” and “What means to become a thorn sharpens itself early;” and the Aramaean, “That which will become a gourd shows itself in the bud:” Whether his work be pure (“clean,” as Pro_17:9 and Pro_16:2), and whether it be right. His conduct will show thus much, end will help one to prognosticate the future. Septuagint (according to the Vatican), “In his pursuits (ἐπιήδευμασιν) a young man will be fettered in company with a holy man, and his way will be straight,” which seems to mean that a good man will restrain the reckless doings of a giddy youth, and will lead him into better courses.
Pro_20:12
The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, the Lord hath made even both of them. This apothegm, which seems to be nothing but a trite truism, brings to notice many important consequences. First, there is the result noted in Psa_94:9, “He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? He that formed the eye, shall he not see?” Hence we learn the sleepless providence of God. So ’Pirke Aboth,’ “Know that which is above thee, an eye that seeth all, an ear that heareth all.” We learn also that all things are directed and overruled by God (comp. Pro_15:3; Pro_16:4). Then there is the thought that these powers of ours, being the gift of God, should be used piously and in God’s service. “Mine ears hast thou opened … Lo, I come … I delight to do thy will, O my God” (Psa_40:6, etc.). The eye should be blind, the ear deaf, to all that might defile or excite to evil (see Isa_33:15). But it is the Lord alone that enables the spiritual organs to receive the wondrous things of God’s Law; they must be educated by grace to enable them to perform their proper functions. “God hath given us eyes,” says St. Chrysostom, “not that we may look wantonly, but that, admiring his handiwork, we may worship the Creator. And that this is the use of our eyes is evident from the things which are seen. For the lustre of the sun and of the sky we see from an immeasurable distances, but a woman’s beauty one cannot discern so far off. Seest thou that for this end our eye was chiefly given? Again, he made the ear, that we should entertain not blasphemous words, but saving doctrines. Wherefore you see, when it receives anything dissonant, both our soul shudders and our very body also. And if we hear anything cruel or merciless, again our flesh creeps; but if anything decorous and kind, we even exult and rejoice.” “He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.” Septuagint, “The ear heareth and the eye sooth, and both are the works of the Lord.”
Pro_20:13
Love not sleep lest thou come to poverty (see Pro_6:9, etc.). The fate of the sluggard is handled again in Pro_23:21, as often before; e.g. Pro_12:11; Pro_19:15. The LXX; taking שֵׁנָה (shenah), “sleep,” as perhaps connected with the verb שְׁנָה (shanah), translate, “Love not to rail, that thou be not exalted (ἵνα μὴ ἐξαρωῇς),” i.e. probably, “Do not calumniate others in order to raise yourself;” others translate, “lest thou be cut off.” Open thine eyes, and thou shalt be satired with bread. These words seem to connect this clause with Pro_19:12. God gives the faculty, but man must make due use thereof. The gnomist urges, “Do not slumber at your post, or sit downwardly waiting; but be up and doing, be wakeful and diligent, and then you shall prosper.”
Pro_20:14
It is naught, it is naught, saith the buyer. The purchaser depreciates the goods which he wants, in order to lower the price demanded—a practice as common now as in old time. “I don’t want it, I don’t want it,” says the Spanish friar; “but drop it into my hood.” The Scotch say, “He that lacks (disparages) my mare would buy my mare” (Kelly). But when he is gone his way, then he boasteth. When he has completed his purchase and obtained the goods at his own price, he boasts how he has tricked the seller. The LXX. omits Pro_20:14-19.
Pro_20:15
There is gold, and a multitude of rubies. For peninim, which is rendered “rubies,” “pearls,” or “coral,” see on Pro_3:15. There is gold which is precious, and there is abundance of pearls which are still more valuable. But the lips of knowledge are a precious jewel, and worth more than all. We had the expression, “lips of knowledge,” in Pro_14:7; it means lips that utter wisdom. Keli, often translated “jewel” in the Authorized Version, also boars the meaning of “vessel,” “utensil.” So here the Vulgate, vas pretiosum; and the wise man’s lips are called a vessel because they contain and distribute the wisdom that is within. (On the excellence and value of wisdom, see Pro_3:14, etc; Pro_8:11, etc.) Connecting this with the preceding verse, we are led to the thought of buying, and the Lord’s parable of the merchant seeking goodly pearls, and bartering all his wealth to gain possession of a worthy jewel (Mat_13:45, etc.).
Pro_20:16
Take his garment that is surety for a stranger. The maxim is repeated in Pro_27:13; and warnings against suretyship are found in Pro_6:1, etc.; Pro_11:15; Pro_17:18; Pro_22:26, etc. The second portion of the clause is translated also, “For he is surety for another.” If a man is so weak and foolish as to become security for any one, and is unable to make good his engaged payment, let him lose his garment which the creditor would seize; his imprudence must bring its own punishment. And take a pledge of him for a strange woman. The Authorized Version probably adopts this rendering in conformity with Pro_27:13, where it occurs in the text, as hero in the margin (the Keri). But the Khetib has, “for strangers,” which seems to be the original reading; and the first words ought to be translated, “hold him in pledge;” i.e. seize his person for the sake of the strangers for whom he has stood security, so as not to suffer loss from them. The Law endeavoured to secure lending to needy brethren without interest (see Psa_15:5; Eze_18:8, Eze_18:13, etc.; Eze_22:12): but it allowed the creditor to secure himself by taking pledges of his debtor, while it regulated this system so as to obviate most of its severity and oppressiveness (see the restrictions in Exo_22:26, etc.; Deu_24:6, Deu_24:12, etc.). “Where the debtor possessed nothing which he could pledge, he gave the personal security of a friend. This was a very formal proceeding. The surety gave his hand both to the debtor and to the creditor before an assembly legally convened, he deposited a pledge, and, in accordance with this twofold promise, was regarded by the creditor in just the same light as the debtor himself, and treated accordingly. If the debtor, or in his place the surety, was unable to pay the debt when it fell due, he was entirely at the mercy of the creditor. The authorities troubled themselves but little about these relations, and the law, so far as it is preserved to us, gave no directions in the matter. We see, however, from many allusions and narratives, what harsh forms these relations actually took, especially in later times, when the ancient national brotherly love which the Law presupposed was more and more dying out. The creditor could not only forcibly appropriate all the movable, but also the fixed property, including the hereditary estate (this at least till its redemption in the year of jubilee), nay, he could even (if he could find nothing else of value) carry off as a prisoner the body of his debtor, or of his wife and child, to employ them in his service, though this could only he done for a definite period”.
Pro_20:17
Bread of deceit is sweet to a man; Revised Version, bread of falsehood; i.e. bread gained without labour, or by unrighteous means (comp. Pro_10:2). This is agreeable because it is easily won, and has the relish of forbidden fruit. “Wickedness is sweet in his mouth” (Job_20:12). But afterwards his mouth shall be filled with gravel. He will find in his “bread” no nourishment, but rather discomfort and positive injury (comp. Job_20:14). The expression, “to eat gravel,” is intimated in Lam_3:16, “He hath broken my teeth with gravel stones;” it implies grievous disappointment and unprofitableness. See here a warning against evil plesaures—
Φεῦγ ἡδονὴν φέρουσαν ὕστερον βλάβην
“Sperne voluptates: nocet empta dolore voluptas.”
Oort supposes that the gnome in the text is derived from a riddle, which asked, “What is sweet at first, but afterwards like sand in the mouth?”
Pro_20:18
Every purpose is established by counsel (comp. Pro_15:22, where see note). The Talmud says, “Even the most prudent of men needs friends’ counsels;” and none but the most conceited would deem himself superior to advice, or would fail to allow that, as the Vulgate puts it, cogitationes consillis roborantur. This is true in all relations of life, in great and small matters alike, in peace, and, as our moralist adds, in war. With good advice make war; Vulgate, Gubernaculis tractanda sunt bella; Revised Version, By wise guidance make thou war. The word here used is takebuloth, for which see note, Pro_1:5. It is a maritime metaphor, rightly retained by the Vulgate, and might be rendered “pilotings,” “steerings.” War is a necessary evil, but it must be undertaken prudently and with a due consideration of circumstances, means, etc. Our Lord illustrates the necessity of due circumspection in following him by the case of a threatened conflict between two contending kings (Luk_14:31, etc.). Grotius quotes the gnome—
Γνῶμαι πλέον κρατοῦσιν ἢ σθένος χερῶν.
“Titan strength of hands availeth counsel more.”
To which we may add—
Βουλῆς γὰρ ὀρθῆς οὐδὲν ἀσφαλέστερον.
“Good counsel is the safest thing of all.”
(Comp. Pro_24:6, where the hemistich is re-echoed.)
Pro_20:19
He that goeth about as a talebearer revealeth secrets. Almost the same proverb occurs in Pro_11:13, The gadding gossiper is sure to let out any secret entrusted to him; therefore, it is implied, be careful in what you say to him. Meddle not with him that flattereth with his lips; rather, that openeth wide his lips—that cannot keep his mouth shut, a babbler, as Pro_13:3 (where see note). The Vulgate erroneously makes one sentence of the verse, “With him who reveals secrets, and walketh deceitfully, and openeth wide his lips, have no dealings.” Talmud, “When I utter a word, it hath dominion over me; but when I utter it not, I have dominion over it.” Says the Persian poet, “The silent man hath his shoulders covered with the garment of security.” Xenocrates used to say that he sometimes was “sorry for having spoken, never for having kept silence” (Cahen).
Pro_20:20
This is an enforcement of the fifth commandment, by denouncing the punishment which the moral government of God shall exact from the unnatural child. The legal penalty may be seen (Exo_21:17; Le Exo_20:9); but this was probably seldom or never carried into execution. His lamp shall be put out in obscure (the blackest) darkness (comp. Pro_13:9). The expression is peculiar; it is literally, according to the Khetib, In the apple of the eye of darkness, as in Pro_7:9; i.e. in the very centre of darkness; he will find himself surrounded on all sides by midnight darkness, without escape, with no hope of Divine protection. “Lamp” is a metaphor applied to the bodily and the spiritual life, to happiness and prosperity, to a man’s fame and reputation, to a man’s posterity; and all these senses may be involved in the denunciation of the disobedient and stubborn child. He shall suffer in body and soul, in character, in fortune, in his children. His fate is the exact counterpart of the blessing promised in the Law. Septuagint, “The lamp of him that revileth father and mother shall be extinguished, and the pupils of his eyes shall behold darkness.” Talmud, “Whosoever abandons his parents means his body to become the prey of scorpions.” Cato, ’Dist.,’ 3.23—
“Dilige non aegra caros pietate parentes;
Nec matrem offendas, dum vis bonus esse parenti.”
One of the evil generations denounced by Agur (Pro_30:11) is that which curseth parents.
Pro_20:21
An inheritance may be gotten hastily at the beginning—or, which in the beginning, is obtained in haste—but the end thereof shall not be blessed; or, its end shall not be blessed. The Khetib gives מְבֹהֶלֶת, which (comp. Zec_11:8) may mean “detested,” but this gives no sense; it is better, with the Keri, to replace kheth with he, and read מְבֹהֶלֶת (meboheleth), “hastened,” “hastily acquired”. The maxim, taken in connection with the preceding verse, may apply to a bad son who thinks his parents live too long, and by violence robs them of their possessions; or to one who, like the prodigal in the parable, demands prematurely his portion of the paternal goods. But it may also be taken generally as denouncing the fate of those who make haste to be rich, being unscrupulous as to the means by which they gain wealth (see on Pro_23:11; Pro_28:20, Pro_28:22). A Greek gnome says roundly—
Οὐδεὶς ἐπλούτησεν ταχέως δίκαιος ὤν.
“No righteous man e’er grew rich suddenly.”
Pro_20:22
Say not thou, I will recompense evil (Pro_24:29). The jus talonis is the natural feeling of man, to do to others as they have done unto you, to requite evil with evil. But the moralist teaches a better lesson, urging men not to study revenge, and approaching nearer to Christ’s injunction, which gives the law of charity, “Whatsoever ye would (οπσα ἂν θέλητε) that men should do to you, do ye even so to them” (Mat_7:12). The Christian rule is expounded fully by St. Paul (Rom_12:14, Rom_12:17, etc). It was not unknown to the Jews; for we read in Tobit 4:15, “Do that to no man which thou hatest;” and Hillel enjoins, “Do not thou that to thy neighbour which thou hatest when it is done to thee.” Even the heathens had excogitated this great principle. There is a saying of Aristotle, preserved by Diogenes Laertius, “Act towards your friends as you would wish them to act towards you.” The Chinese have a proverb, “Water does not remain on the mountain, or vengeance in a great mind.” Wait on the Lord, and he shall save thee. The pious writer urges the injured person to commit his cause to the Lord, not in the hope of seeing vengeance taken on his enemy, but in the certainty that God will help him to bear the wrong and deliver him in his own good time and way. The Christian takes St. Peter’s view, “Who is he that will harm you if ye be followers of that which is good?” (1Pe_3:13), knowing that “all things work together for good to them that love God” (Rom_8:28; comp. Ecclesiasticus 2:2, 6). Septuagint, “Say not, I will avenge myself on my enemy, but wait on the Lord, that (ἵνα) he may help thee.” The last clause may be grammatically rendered thus, but it is more in accordance with the spirit st’ the proverb, as Delitzsch observes, to regard it as a promise. Vulgate, et liberabit te.
Pro_20:23
This is a repetition, with a slight variation, of Pro_20:10 and Pro_11:1 (where see notes). Is not good. A litotes, equivalent to “is very evil,” answering to “abomination” in the first member. Septuagint, “is not good before him” (comp. Pro_24:23).
Pro_20:24
Man’s goings are of the Lord. In the first clause the word for “man” is geber, which implies “a mighty man;” in the second clause the word is adam, “a human creature.” So the Septuagint has ἀνὴρ in one clause and θνητὸς in the other. The proverb says that the steps of a great and powerful man depend, as their final cause, upon the Lord; he conditions and controls results. Man has free will, and is responsible for his actions, but God foreknows them, and holds the thread that connects them together; he gives preventing grace; he gives efficient grace: and man blindly works out the designs of Omnipotence according as he obeys or resists. A similar maxim is found in Psa_37:23, “A man’s goings are established of the Lord,” but the meaning there is that it is God’s aid which enables a man to do certain actions. Here we have very much the same intimation that is found in Pro_2:6 and Pro_19:21; and see note on Pro_16:9. Hence arises the old prayer used formerly at prime, and inserted now (with some omissions) at the end of the Anglican Communion Service: “O almighty Lord, and everlasting God, vouchsafe, we beseech thee, to direct, sanctify, and govern, both our hearts and bodies, our thoughts, words, and actions, in the ways of thy laws, and in the works of thy commandments; that through thy most mighty protection we may be preserved both here and forever.” If man cannot see all sides, as God does, cannot comprehend the beginning, middle, and end in one.view, how then can a man (a weak mortal) understand his own ways. How can he find out of himself whither he should go, or what will be the issue of his doings (comp. Pro_16:25; Jer_10:23)? St. Gregory, “It is well said by Solomon [Ecc_9:1], ’There are righteous and wise men, and their works are in the hand of God; and yet no man knoweth whether he is deserving of love or of hatred; but all things are kept uncertain for the time to come.’ Hence it is said again by the same Solomon, ’What man will be able to understand his own way?’ And any one doing good or evil is doubtless known by the testimony of his own conscience. But it is said that their own way is not known to men, for this reason, because, even if a man understands that he is acting rightly, yet he knows not, under the strict inquiry, whither he is going” (’Moral.,’ 29.34).
Pro_20:25
It is a snare to the man who devoureth that which is holy. This verse, which is plainly a warning against rash vows, has received more than one interpretation. The Vulgate has, Ruina est homini devorare sanctos, which is explained to mean that it is destruction for a man to persecute the saints of God. But the word devorare is not certain, as the manuscripts vary between this and four other readings, viz. devotares, denotare, devovere, and devocare. The Authorized Version signifies that it is a sin to take for one’s own consumption things dedicated to God, as firstfruits, the priests’ portions, etc.: or a man’s snare, i.e. his covetousness (1Ti_6:9), leads him to commit sacrilege. So Wordsworth. But it is best, with Delitzsch, to take
יָלַע (yala) as the abbreviated future of לוּע or לָעַע, “to speak rashly;” and then kodesh, “holiness,” will be an exclamation, like korban (Mar_7:11). The clause will then run, “It is a snare to a man rashly to cry, Holiness!” equivalent to “It is holy!” i.e. to use the formula for consecrating something to holy purposes. Septuagint, “It is a snare to a man hastily to consecrate something of his own” (comp. Ecc_5:2, Ecc_5:4, etc.). And after vows to make inquiry; i.e. after he has made his vow, to begin to consider whether he can fulfil it or not. This is a snare to a man, strangles his conscience, and leads him into the grievous sins of perjury and sacrilege. Septuagint, “For after vowing ensueth repentance.”
Pro_20:26
A wise king scattereth the wicked (Pro_20:8). The verb is zarah, which means “to winnow, or sift.” The king separates the wicked and the good, as the winnowing fan or shovel divides the chaff from the wheat. The same metaphor is used of Christ (Mat_3:12), “Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire” (comp. Jer_15:7). Septuagint, “A winnower (λικμήτωρ) of the ungodly is a wise king.” And bringeth the wheel over them. The threshing wheel is meant (see Isa_28:27; Amo_1:3). This was a wooden frame with three or four rollers under it armed with iron teeth. It was drawn by two oxen, and, aided by the weight of the driver, who had his seat upon it, it crushed out the grain, and cut up the straw into fodder. Another machine much used in Palestine was made of two thick planks fastened together side by side, and having sharp stones fixed in rows on the lower surface. It is not implied that the king employed the corn drag as an instrument of punishment, which was sometimes so used in war, as possibly may be inferred from 2Sa_12:31; 1Ch_20:3; and Amo_1:3. The idea of threshing is carried on, and the notion is rather of separation than of punishment, though the latter is not wholly excluded. The wise ruler will not only distinguish between the godless and the good, but will show his discrimination by visiting the evil with condign puuishment. Septuagint, “He will bring the wheel upon them;” the Vulgate has curiously, Incurvat super eos fornicem, “He bends an arch over them,” which Latin commentators explain as a triumphal arch, meaning that the king conquers and subdues the wicked, and celebrates his victory over them. A patent anachronism which needs no comment!
Pro_20:27
The spirit of men is the candle (lamp) of the Lord. Neshamah, “spirit,” or “breath,” is the principle of life breathed into man by God himself (Gen_2:7), distinguishing man from brutes—the conscious human soul. We may consider it as equivalent to what we Christians call conscience, with its twofold character of receiving light and illumination from God, and sitting as judge and arbiter of actions. It is named “the Lord’s lamp,” because this moral sense is a direct gift of God, and enables a man to see his real condition. Our Lord (Mat_6:23) speaks of the light that is in man, and gives a solemn warning against the danger of letting it be darkened by neglect and sin; and St. Paul (1Co_2:11) argues, “Who among men knoweth the things of a man save the spirit of the man, which is in him?” As Elihu says (Job_32:8), “There is a spirit in man, and the breath of the Almighty giveth them understanding.” And Aristotle speaks of practical wisdom (φρόνησις) combined with virtue as “the eye of the soul (ὄμμα τῆς ψυχῆς).” Searching all the inward parts of the belly; i.e. the very depths of the soul, probing thoughts, desires, affections, will, and approving or reproving, according as they are in conformity with or opposition to God’s Law. We must remember that Eastern houses, before the introduction of glass, had very scanty openings to admit light, and lamps were necessary if for any purpose the interior had to be thoroughly illuminated. Hence the metaphor used above would strike an Oriental more forcibly than it strikes us. Septuagint, “The breath (πνοὴ, as Pro_11:13) of man is a light of the Lord, who searches the chambers of the belly.” St. Gregory (’Moral.,’ 12.64), “We ought to bear in mind that in holy Writ by the title of the ’belly,’ or the ’womb,’ the mind is used to be understood. For the light of grace, which comes from above, affords a ’breathway’ to man unto life, which same light is said to ’search all the inward parts of the belly,’ in that it penetrates all the secrets of the heart, that the things which were hidden in the soul touching itself it may bring back before the eyes thereof” (Oxford transl.).
Pro_20:28
Mercy and truth preserve the king. (For “mercy and truth,” see note on Pro_3:3.) The love and faithfulness which the king displays in dealing with his subjects elicits the like virtues in them, and these are the safeguard of his throne. His throne is upholden by mercy; or, love. So the king is well called the father of his people, and in modern times the epithet “gracious” is applied to the sovereign as being the fountain of mercy and condescension. Sallust, ’Jugurtha,’ 10, “Non exercitus neque thesauri praesidia regni sunt, verum amici, quos neque armis cogere neque auro parare queas; officio et fide pariuntur.” Septuagint, “Mercy (ἐλεημοσύνη) and truth are a guard to a king, and will surround his throne with righteousness.” “The subject’s love,” says our English maxim, “is the king’s lifeguard.”
Pro_20:29
The glory of young men is their strength. That which makes the ornament (tiphereth) of youth is unimpaired strength and vigour, which can only be attained by due exercise combined with self-control. The moralist (Ecc_11:9) bids the young man rejoice in his youth, and let his heart cheer him in those happy days, but at the same time remember that he is responsible for the use which he makes of his powers and faculties, for for all these things God will bring him to judgment. The Greek gives a needful warning—
Μέμνησο νέος ἂν ὡς γέρων ἔσῃ ποτέ
“In youth remember thou wilt soon be old.”
Septuagint, “Wisdom is an ornament to young men.” But koach is bodily, not mental, power. The beauty of old men is the grey head (Pro_16:31). That which gives an honorable look to old age is the hoary head, which suggests wisdom and experience (comp. Ecclesiasticus 25:3-6). On the other hand, the Greek gnomist warns—
Πολιὰ χρόνου μήνυσις οὐ φρονήσεως.
“Grey hairs not wisdom indicate, but age.”
Pro_20:30
The blueness of a wound cleanseth away evil. So the Vulgate, Livor vulneris absterget mala. Chaburoth means “stripes,” and the proverb says that deep-cutting stripes are the only effectual cure of evil; i.e. severe punishment is the best healing process in cases of moral delinquency (Pro_19:29). Painful remedies, incisions, cauteries, amputations, are often necessary in the successful treatment of bodily ailments; spiritual sickness needs sterner, more piercing, remedies. So do stripes the inward parts of the belly; or better, and strokes that reach, etc. The stings of conscience, warnings and reproofs which penetrate to the inmost recesses of the heart, chastisement which affects the whole spiritual being.—these are needful to the correction and purification of inveterate evil. Aben Ezra connects this verse with the preceding thus: as strength gives a glory to young men, and hoar hairs adorn an old man, so wounds and bruises, so to speak, ornament the sinner, mark him out, and at the same time heal and amend him. It may also be connected with verse 27. If a man will not use the lamp which God has given him for illumination and correction, he must expect severe chastisement and sternest discipline. Septuagint, “Bruises (ὑπώπια) and contusions befall bad men, and plagues that reach to the chambers of the belly.” St. Gregory, ’Moral.,’ 23.40, “By the blueness of a wound he implies the discipline of blows on the body. But blows in the secret parts of the belly are the wounds of the mind within, which are inflicted by compunction. For as the belly is distended when filled with food, so is the mind puffed up when swollen with wicked thoughts. The blueness, then, of a wound, and blows in the secret parts of the belly, cleanse away evil, because both outward discipline does away with faults, and compunction pierces the distended mind with the punishment of penance. But they differ from each other in this respect, that the wounds of blows give us pain, the sorrows of compunction have good savour. The one afflict and torture, the others restore when they afflict us. Through the one there is sorrow in affliction, through the other there is joy in grief” (Oxford transl.).
HOMILETICS
Pro_20:1
Wine the mocker
Intemperance was not so common a vice in biblical times as it has become more recently, nor did the light wines of the East exercise so deleterious an effect as the strong drink that is manufactured in Europe is seen to produce. Therefore all that is said in the Bible against the evil of drunkenness applies with much-increased force to the aggravated intemperance of England today.
I. WINE IS A MOCKER BECAUSE IT ALLURES THE WEAK. It makes great promises. Strong drink is pleasant to the palate. The effect of it on the nervous system is at first agreeably stimulating. In weakness and weariness it seems to give comfortable relief. The associations connected with it are made to be most attractive. It goes with genial companionship, and it appears to favour the flow of good fellowship. In sickness it promises renewed strength; it offers consolation in sorrow; at festive seasons it pretends to heighten the joy and to take its place as a cheering friend of man. Moreover, all these attractive traits am aggravated with the weak. The need of the stimulus is more keenly felt by such persons; the early effects of it are more readily and pleasantly recognized; there is less power of will and judgment to resist its alluring influence.
II. WINE IS A MOCKER BECAUSE IT DECEIVES THE UNWARY. The danger that lurks in the cup is not seen at first, and the sparkling wine looks as innocent as a divine nectar. The evil that it produces comes on by slow and insidious stages. No one thinks of becoming a drunkard on the first day of tasting intoxicating drink. Every victim of the terrible evil of intemperance was once an innocent child, and, whether he began in youth or in later years, every one who has gone to excess commenced with moderate and apparently harmless quantities. Happily, the majority of those who take a little are wise or strong enough not to abandon themselves to the tyranny of drinking habits. But the difficulty is to determine beforehand who will be able to stand and who will not have sufficient strength. Under these circumstances, it is a daring piece of presumption for any one to be quite sure that he will always be so wary as to keep out of the snare that has been fatal to many of his brethren who once stood in exactly the same tree and healthy position in which he is at present. It is far safer not to tempt our own natures, and to guard ourselves against the mockery of wine, by keeping from all use of the strong drink itself.
III. WINE IS A MOCKER BECAUSE IT BRINGS RUIN ON ITS VICTIMS. It has no pity. It hounds its dupes on to destruction, and then it laughs at their late. When once it holds a miserable wretch it will never willingly release him. Too late, he discovers that he is a slave, deceived by what promised to be his best friend, and flung into a dungeon from which, by his unaided powers, he can never effect an escape. There is a peculiar mockery in this fate. The victim is disgraced and degraded. His very human nature is wretched, insulted, almost destroyed. His social position is lost; his business scattered to the winds; his family life broker up and made unutterably wretched; his soul destroyed. This is the work of the wine that sparkles in the cup. We should allow no quarter to so vile a deceiver.
Pro_20:3
The honour of peace
The old world looked for glory in war; the Christian ideal—anticipated in Old Testament teaching—is to recognize honour in peace. It is better to keep peace than to be victorious in war, better to make peace than to win battles. Consider the grounds of this higher view of conflict and its issues.
I. THE HONOUR OF PEACE MAY BE SEEN IN SELF-SUPPRESSION. It is much more easy to give the reins to ill will and hasty passion. Men find it harder to fight their own temper than to do battle with alien foes. It is the same with nations when the spirit of war has maddened them. Heedless of consequences to themselves, and blind to the rights of their neighbours, they hurl themselves headlong into the horrors of battle. But if men could learn to curb their own strong feelings, they would really show more strength than by raging in unrestrained fury.
II. THE HONOUR OF PEACE MAY BE RECOGNIZED IN MAGNANIMITY. It may be that we are in the right, and our foes unquestionably in the wrong. Still, it is not essential that we should fight to the bitter end. We may forego our right. It may be a generous and noble thing to suffer wrong without resisting it. We cannot but see how much more harm is done in asserting just claims by force than would result from silent submission after a dignified protest. Often the more magnanimous conduct will result in the very end that would have been sought through violent measures. For it is possible to appeal to the generous instincts of opponents.
III. THE HONOUR OF PEACE MAY BE OBSERVED IN CHARITY. We should ever remember that even those who behave to us as enemies are still our brethren. We have their welfare to consider even while they may be plotting evil against us. Christ prayed for his persecutors (Luk_23:34). So did St. Stephen (Act_7:60). Indeed, our Lord died fur his enemies. He came to make an end of the fearful strife between man and God. But while he did so, he suffered from the fray. The Peacemaker was the victim of the passions of the rebellious. By suffering in meek dignity he made peace. If the mind that was in Christ is found in us, we shall be the earnest advocates of peace for the good of the very people who delight in war.
IV. THE HONOUR OF PEACE MAY BE RECOGNIZED IN HUMILITY. The special form in which the recommendation of peace is thrown is that of a cessation of strife. This implies a case in which there has been warfare; but one of the parties refrains from prosecuting the quarrel any further, although he has neither been worsted nor won the victory. This means a change of policy. Now, it is particularly difficult to effect such a change in the midst of a conflict. One’s motives are likely to be suspected, and what is done from love of peace is likely to be set down to cowardice. It needs humility thus to withdraw and sacrifice one’s pretensions. Having taken a certain position we are tempted to hold it at all hazards from sheer pride. This is especially true in the soul’s conflict with God. Here we are called upon to humble ourselves enough to confess ourselves entirely in the wrong. When the “fearful striving” has ceased there is honour in repentance and the new life of peace with God.
Pro_20:9
Universal sinfulness
We must distinguish between the idea of universal sinfulness and that of total depravity. We may hold that there is some gleam of goodness in a human heart without maintaining its immaculate purity. It is possible to believe that there are great varieties of character, many different degrees of sin, and yet to see that the highest saint has his faults.
I. NO ONE CAN CLEAR HIMSELF FROM THE CHARGE OF SINFULNESS. Who can say, “I have made my heart clean from all imputations of guilt”?

1. The best confess that they are sinful. Canonized by their admiring brethren, they cast themselves down in humility and shame before the holiness of God. No men have so deep a sense of the sinfulness of their own hearts as those who live most near to God.
2. The most skilful cannot excuse themselves. It is possible to formulate specious pleas that will deceive unwary men; but we have to do with the great Searcher of hearts, before whose piercing gaze all sophistries and pretences melt as the mists before the sun.
3. The deceitfulness of the heart blinds many to their own guilt. Men naturally desire to defend themselves; they are excellent advocates of themselves to themselves. The familiar sin is softened by habit. The conventional sin is condoned by custom.
4. False standards of holiness confuse men’s estimate of their own sinfulness. Some people seem to take a feeling of placidity as an assurance of inward perfection, as though not to be conscious of strife were to be assured of peace with God. But it is possible to slumber under the influence of spiritual narcotics. A keener conscience might rouse a new, unlooked for sense of sin and shame. It is thought that there is no shortcoming simply because the surrounding mists hide the far off goal. Or it may be that negative correctness is mistaken for a satisfactory condition, while many positive active duties are left undone. Perhaps the soul that thinks its aspiration after purity satisfied is wanting in charity, or in the very act of claiming sinlessness it may be puffed up with pride. The most dangerous delusion is that which denies the ownership of guilt because sin is supposed to be relegated to bodily infirmity, while the true self is spotless. This is a most deadly snare of the devil.
   II. NO ONE CAN CLEAR HIMSELF FROM THE SINS WHICH HE HAS COMMITTED. Who can say, “I have purged my own conscience, cleansed my own heart, cleared off my record of guilt?”
5. It is impossible to undo sins. Deeds are irrevocable. What has been committed is stereotyped in the awful book of the changeless past. What I have written, spoken, done—I have written, spoken, done.
6. It is impossible to compensate for past sins by future service. The future service is all owing; at our best we are “unprofitable servants”—there is no margin of profit—for “we have only done that which it was our duty to do.”
7. It is impossible to atone for our sins by any sacrifice. The hardest penance can be of no value with God. Its only use could be in self-discipline. For God is not pleased with the sufferings of his children. We can offer him nothing; for “the cattle on a thousand hills” are his.
8. It is impossible to change our own inner sinfulness by ourselves. We cannot create clean hearts in our own breasts. We cannot kill our own love of sin.
9. It is only possible for sin to be cleansed in the blood of Christ. “There is a fountain opened for all uncleanness” The admission of guilt, the repentance that turns from the old sin and seeks forgiveness, the renunciation of all claims but that of the grace of God in Christ,—these things open the door to the true way of making the heart clean, both in pardon and m purification.
   Pro_20:11
   A child and his doings
   I. A PICTURE OF CHILDHOOD. First, let this picture be regarded on its own account, Childhood is worthy of study.
10. A child has his character. Very early in life varieties of disposition may be seen in the several members of a young family. One is hot-tempered, another patient; one demonstrative, another reserved; one energetic, another inactive. Moral distinctions are painfully and glaringly apparent. As childhood advances these varieties of disposition merge in deeper differences of character. Though the character is supple and mobile, it is nevertheless real. There are good and bad children—children who are pure, true, honest, kind; and children who are marked with the reverse of these qualities.
11. A child is responsible for his deeds. Unless he is crushed by tyranny, within the scope of a reasonable child liberty he has room in which to play his small part on the stage of life. He must not be brought up with the notion that he is an irresponsible agent because he is young and weak. Conscience needs to be enlightened, trained, and strengthened in early days.
12. A child’s character is revealed in his deeds. The character may be slight and feeble; and the deeds may be simple and insignificant. Yet even in the nursery cause and effect are at work; fruits reveal the nature even of saplings. Even children cannot be judged by outward appearance. With them innocent looks may cover sinful thoughts. Children also may deceive themselves, or make false pretences, though we do not see the hardened hypocrisy of the world in the simpler deception of the nursery. Still, it is to the conduct of children that we must look for indications of their true characters.
    II. A LESSON FOR ALL AGES. If even a child is to be known by his doings, the inference is that much more may a man be known in a similar way.
13. Character ripens with years. If it begins to appear in childhood, it will be much more vigorous in manhood. There is something dolefully prophetic in the vices of infancy. Though often laughed at by foolish observers, these vices are the early sprouts of terrible evils that will increase with growing strength and enlarging opportunities. The more clearly we are able to detect differences of character even in childhood, the more certain is it that similar differences are aggravated in manhood.
14. Responsibility grows with opportunity. The deeds of children are to be regarded as characteristic—as either culpable or praiseworthy according to their moral tone. How much more must this be the case with grown men and women, who know more, have larger powers, and suffer from fewer restrictions! If the child who has continual restraint upon him, and who lives under perpetual tutelage, yet manifests characteristic conduct, the free man cannot escape from the responsibility of his doings.
15. Conduct is always a sure sign of character. It is so even with children who know little, and who are constantly hampered by superior authority. It must be so with double certainty in the case of adults. It is vain, indeed, for men and women to pretend that the index hand does not point truly. In the freedom of adult age there is no excuse to be urged against the inference that our deeds are the fruits of our character. Therefore, if the conduct is evil, the heart needs to be renewed.
    Pro_20:14
    The buyer
    I. THE CONDUCT OF THE BUYER CALLS FOR CONSIDERATION. It is usual to discuss questions of trade morality chiefly in regard to the conduct of the man who sells. Deception, adulteration, dishonest work, the grinding of employes, etc; are denounced by indignant onlookers. But the conduct of the customer is less severely handled. Yet there are many reasons why it should not be overlooked. All are not sellers, but everybody buys. Therefore when commercial morality is discussed in regard to buying, the subject does not only apply to traders, it concerns all people. Moreover, if men cheat and do wrong in their business when selling, though there is no fair excuse for their conduct, it may be urged that they are driven to extremes by the pressure of competition and by the difficulty of earning a livelihood. But when many people are making ordinary purchases they are not in the same position and under the same temptation. Traders, of course, are buyers in the way of business. But people of affluent circumstances are also buyers without any consideration of business exigencies, but solely for their own convenience. If such people do not behave honourably they are doubly guilty.
    II. THE BUYER IS SUBJECT TO MORAL OBLIGATIONS.
16. He owes justice to the seller. He has no right to squeeze the unfortunate trader’s profit by the pressure of undue influence, threatening to withdraw his custom or to injure the connection among his friends, taking advantage of the fact that the seller is in want of money, etc. It is his duty to pay a fair price, even though by the stress of circumstances he might force a sale at a lower rate.
17. He owes truth to the seller. He may misrepresent the absolute value of his purchase, perhaps knowing more of its true worth than the seller, but trying to deceive him. Thus the skilled connoisseur may take an unfair advantage of the ignorance of the trader from whom he buys some rare article of vertu. Or a person may pretend not to want what he secretly covets most eagerly. Such a device is false and unworthy of a Christian profession.
18. He owes humanity to the seller. It is a gross abuse of trade to make it a condition of warfare. A man is not necessarily one’s enemy because one does business with him. The unfortunate person who must needs sell at a great loss rather than not sell at all, is not the legitimate prey of the first greedy customer who is able to pounce upon him. The curse of trade is hard, cruel, brutal selfishness. Christianity teaches us to regard the man with whom one does business as a brother. The buyer should learn to treat the seller as he desires to he treated in turn, and so to fulfil the law of Christ. The same principle requires kindliness of manner.
    III. THE OBLIGATIONS OF THE BUYER ABE COMMONLY NEGLECTED. The causes of this negligence are manifold; e.g.:
19. Inconsiderateness. Often there is no intention of doing an injustice. The buyer simply forgets the rights of the seller. This inconsiderateness does harm in various ways. Careless customers give needless trouble to shop people. Some order for view more goods than they need to effect a purchase; some persist in shopping late in the evening, etc.
20. Selfishness. The chief cause of the evil is a sole regard for self. People who are reasonable and kind in their own homes will manifest the most tyrannical spirit, the most cynical selfishness, in their chopping. When the veneer of social habits is broken this ugly vice is more visible in the most polished society than among rougher people.
21. Sinfulness. The evil heart is seen here as elsewhere. For the buyer to force injustice and to cheat the seller is for him to reveal himself as a slave of sin as truly as if he broke out in wanton violence and open robbery.
    Pro_20:22
    Revenge and its antidote
    I. THE SIN AND FOLLY OF REVENGE. This passion appears to spring from a natural instinct; it pretends to justify itself as the fair return for some wrong, and it offers a compensation for the Wrong suffered in the triumph which it gains over the wrong doer. But it is both culpable and foolish.
22. It is culpable. Even if revenge were desirable, we have no right to wreak it on the head of the offender. We are not his judge and executioner. God says, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay.” We have no excuse for antedating the Divine vengeance in our impatience by taking the law of retribution into our own hands. If another has hurt us, that fact is no excuse whatever for our hurting him. Two wrongs do not make one right. The spirit of vengeance in man is a spirit of hatred, and therefore one for which there is no excuse. Much as an enemy may have injured us, he is still our fellow man to whom we owe charity and forgiveness.
23. It is foolish. At best it can offer but a gloomy compensation. Unless our nature delights in malignity, there can be no real satisfaction in seeing an enemy suffer. Though a natural passion may seem to be satisfied with a gleam of fierce joy in the moment of triumph, this must be succeeded by a dismal sense of the vanity of any such feelings. The after thought of revenge must be bitter. Moreover, the exercise of vengeance will not cure enmity, but only intensify it. Therefore it may just provoke a second and greater wrong than that which it is avenging. There is no prospect before it but increasing rancour, hatred; strife, misery.
    II. THE ANTIDOTE TO REVENGE. We are not to be left to suffer wrong without compensation or hope. We may find a prospect of something better than the bitter harvest of vengeance if we turn from sinful man to God. Then we shall see the true antidote.
24. It springs from faith. We have to be assured that God can and will help us. We can thus afford to ignore the wrong that has been done us, or, if that be impossible, we can learn to look above it and feel confident that. it’ God undertakes our cause, all will be well in the end. This faith will not desire the ruin of our enemy. It is not an entrusting of vengeance to God, though he must see justice done to the wrong doer. But it is a quiet confidence in God’s saving grace. It is better to be delivered from the trouble brought on us by the misconduct of others Than to remain in that trouble and see the guilty persons punished. We can afford to be magnanimous and forget the unkindness of man when we are enjoying the kindness of God.
25. It is realized through prayer, patience, and hope.
    (1) Prayer. We must wait on the Lord. Vengeance is lose in prayer. We shall cease to feel the boiling of rage against our foe when on our knees before God. There we cannot but remember how utterly we depend upon mercy.
    (2) Patience. Waiting on God generally implies sonic delay. We must wait for the answer. Deliverance does not come at once. Hasty revenge must be restrained by patience in prayer.
    (3) Hope. God will save at last, if not immediately. The prospect of this deliverance is a pleasing substitute for the hideous vision of revenge on an enemy.
    Pro_20:29
    Young men and old
    I. EVERY TIME OF LIFE HAS ITS OWN PECULIAR EXCELLENCE.
26. Every age of man has some excellence. Youth appears vain in the grave vision of age, and age looks gloomy to the bright eyes of youth. Yet both youth and age have their mead of praise. It is possible for a man to miss all excellence in life and to live in dishonour from youth to age. But that depends upon his own conduct, and he only will be to blame for spoiling every age of his life if he does thus live in dishonour. There are honourable and desirable conditions for life throughout its whole length.
27. The excellences of the various ages of man are different. The glory of a young man is not identical with the beauty of an old man. The common mistake is that in the narrowness of our personal experience we judge of other periods of life by the standards that only apply to those in which we are severally living. Hence either undue admiration or unreasonable disgust. It is cheering to know that a very different condition from that which floats before us as our ideal may be equally happy and honourable.
    II. THE PECULIAR EXCELLENCE OF YOUTH IS FOUND IN ITS ENERGY AND THE USE IT MAKES OF IT.
28. Energy is a characteristic of youth. Then the fresh unfaded powers are just opening out to their full activity. This is the time for service. The young men go to the wars. “It is well for a man to bear the yoke in his youth.” All kinds of fresh activities spring out of the fertile soil of youth. An indolence in youth is simply disgraceful.
29. Youthful energy is admirable.
    (1) Physical strength. This is a gift of God. It is a natural perfection of bodily life. It carries with it possibilities of manly work. “Muscular Christianity” may be as holy as feeble asceticism.
    (2) Mental strength. The intellectual feats of brain athletics indicate noble energies and arduous industry. The mind is from God, and its ripened powers render him glory.
    (3) Moral strength. Daniel was stronger than Samson. The chief glory of youthful strength is here—the power to resist temptation, to live a true life, to fight all lies and shameful thoughts and deeds, and stand up firmly for the right.
30. Youthful energy should be used in the service of Christ. Then its glory is radiant. A lower use of it dims its lustre. Degradation to purposes of sin turns its splendour into shame.
    III. THE SPECIAL EXCELLENCE OF AGE IS TO BE SEES IN ITS RIPENED EXPERIENCE.
31. Experience ripens with years. The suggestion of that fact may be seen in the picture of the grey head, the beauty of which chiefly resides in the thought of the harvest of years that it represents. Strength may be lost, but experience is gained. There is an exchange, and it is not for any to say on which side the real advantage lies.
32. The experience of years has a beauty of its own. We usually associate youth and beauty, and we think of beauty declining with advancing years. Painful signs of life’s stern battle break the fair charms of youth. But old age brings a new beauty. This is often seen even in the countenance, finely chiselled with delicate lines of thought and feeling into a rare grace and dignity. But the higher beauty is that of soul, the beauty of Simeon when he held the infant Saviour in his arms. The crowning beauty of age is in a perfected saintliness. To attain to this is to go beyond the glory el youth. Yet there must accompany it a certain melancholy at the thought of the lost energy of earlier years, until the old man can look forward to the renewed youth, the eternal energy of the life beyond,
    HOMILIES BY E. JOHNSON
    Pro_20:1-5
    Evils to be avoided
    I. SOME SPECIAL EVILS AND DANGERS.
33. Drunkenness. (Pro_20:1.) The spirit or demon of wine is spoken of as a personal agent. It leads to frivolity, scoffing, profane and senseless mirth. To be drunk with wine, as St. Paul points out (Eph_5:18), is the opposite of being “filled with the Spirit” (see F.W. Robertson’s sermon on this subject).
34. The wrath of kings. (Pro_20:2) In those times of absolute rule, the king represented the uncontrollable arbitration of life and death. As in the case of Adonijah, he who provoked the king’s wrath sinned against his own soul. What, then, must the wrath of the eternal Sovereign be (Psa_90:11)? To invoke the Divine judgment is a suicidal act.
35. Contentiousness. (Pro_20:3.) Quick-flaming anger is the mark of the shallow and foolish heart. The conquest of anger by Christian meekness is one of the chiefest of Christian graces, “Let it pass for a kind of sheepishness to be meek,” says Archbishop Leighton; “it is a likeness to him that was as a sheep before his shearers.”
36. Idleness. (Pro_20:4.) The idle man is unseasonable in his repose, and equally unseasonable in his expectation. To know our time, our opportunity in worldly matters, our day of grace in the affairs of the soul, all depends on this (Rom_12:11; Eph_5:15-17).
    II. THE SAFEGUARD OF PRUDENCE. (Pro_20:5.) The idea is that, though the project which a man has formed may be difficult to fathom, the prudent man will bring the secret to light. “There is nothing hidden that shall not be made known.”
37. Every department of life has its principles and laws.
38. These may be ascertained by observation and inquiry.
39. In some sense or other, all knowledge is power; and that is the best sort of knowledge which arms the mind with force against moral dangers, and places it in constant relation to good.—J.
    Pro_20:6-11
    The frailty of mankind
    I. THE RARITY OF TRUE FRIENDSHIP. (Pro_20:6.) Many are ready to promise, few willing to perform. Many eager to say, “Lord, Lord!” comparatively few to do the will of the Father in heaven. There is no want of good notions in the world; but, according to the Italian proverb, many are so good that they are good for nothing. The spirit may be willing, the flesh is weak. Inclination to good needs to be fortified by faith in God.
    II. THE JUST AND GOOD MAN. (Pro_20:7.) We cannot but feel that he is an ideal character. Poets and preachers have delighted to describe him, have surrounded him with a halo, depicted the safety and blessedness of his life. But how seldom does he appear on the actual scene! Our being is a struggle and a series of failures. The one thing needful is to have a lofty ideal before us, and never to despair of approaching a little nearer to it with every right effort.
    III. THE IMPARTIAL JUDGE. (Pro_20:8.) The earthly judge upon his seat reminds us of the mixed state of human nature—of the need of a process of sifting, trial, purification, ever going on. Judgment is an ever-present fact, a constant process. We are being tried, in a sense, every day, and “must all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.” Let us “labour that we may be accepted of him.”
    IV. THE CLEAN CONSCIENCE. (Pro_20:9.) This pointed question silences our boasting, and checks the disposition to excuse ourselves. By unwise comparison with others we may seem to stand well; but in the light of his own mere standard of right and duty, who is not self-condemned? “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1Jn_1:8, 1Jn_1:9).
    V. EQUITABLE CONDUCT. (Pro_20:10.) How common are the tricks and evasions of trade! And there is something more in this than mere desire for gain. The general experience of the world is so strong against dishonesty, as seen in common proverbs, as “bad policy,” that we must look to a deeper cause of its existence, viz. the perversity of man’s heart.
    VI. EARLY SYMPTOMS OF CHARACTER. (Pro_20:11) Tendencies of evil and (never let us omit to acknowledge) tendencies of good are seen very early in children. The Germans have a quaint proverb, “What a thorn will become may easily be guessed.” How much depends on Christian culture; for “as the twig is bent, so is the tree inclined.”—J.
    Pro_20:12-19
    Religion, industry, prudence, and honesty
    I. GOD THE SOURCE OF ALL GOOD.
40. Of all bodily good. The eye, the ear, with all their wondrous mechanism, with all their rich instrumentality of enjoyment, are from him.
41. Of all spiritual faculty and endowment, the analogues of the former, and “every good and perfect gift” (Jas_1:16). The new heart, the right mind, should, above all, be recognized as his gifts.
42. In domestic and in public life. Good counsels of Divine wisdom, and willing obedience of subjects to them, are the conditions of the weal of the state; and it may be that these are designed by the preacher under the figures of the eye and the ear.
    II. VIRTUES INDISPENSABLE TO HAPPINESS.
43. Laborlousness. (Pro_20:13) This is a command of God: “If any man will not work, neither let him eat;” for which the seeing eye and hearing ear are needed. Viewed in one light, of imagination, labour may appear as a curse; for it thwarts our natural indolence, our love of ease, and our sentimental views in general. But viewed in the light of actual experience, the law of labour is one of the divinest blessings of our life-constitution.
44. Honesty.
    (1) Craft and trickiness exposed. (Pro_20:14, Pro_20:17.) Here the cunning tricks of trade are struck; in particular the arts of disparagement, by which the buyer unjustly cheapens the goods he desires to invest in. The peculiar manner in which trade is still conducted in the East, the absence of fixed prices, readily admits of this species of unfairness. But the rebuke is general.
    (2) The deceptiveness of sinful pleasures. (Pro_20:17.) There is, no doubt, a certain pleasure in dishonesty, otherwise it would not be so commonly practised in the very teeth of self-interest. There is a peculiar delight in the exercise of skill which outwits others. But this is only while the conscience sleeps. When it awakes, unrest and trouble begin. The stolen gold burns in the pocket; the Dead Sea fruits turn to ashes on the lips.
45. Sense and prudence. (Pro_20:15, Pro_20:16, Pro_20:18.)
    (1) Sense is compared to the most precious things. What in the affairs of life is comparable to judgment? Yet compared only to be contrasted. As the common saying runs, “There is nothing so uncommon as common sense.” The taste for material objects of price may be termed universal and vulgar; that for spiritual qualities is select and refined
    (2) Good sense is shown caution and avoidance of undue responsibility. This has been before emphasized (Pro_6:1-5; Pro_11:15; Pro_17:18). We have enough to do to answer for ourselves.
    (3) Prudence in war. There are justifiable wars; but even these may be carried on with folly, reckless disregard of human life, etc. “The beginning, middle, and end, O Lord, turn to the best account!” was the prayer of a prudent and pious general.
46. Reserve with the tongue, or caution against flatterers. (Pro_20:19.) The verse may be taken in both these senses. In all thoughtless gossip about others there is something of the malicious and slanderous spirit; there is danger in it. As to the listener, rather let him listen to those who point out his faults than to those who flatter.—J.
    Pro_20:20-23
    Smitten sins
    I. HATRED TO PARENTS. (Pro_20:20.)
47. It is unnatural beyond most vices, like hating the hand that lifts food to the mouth.
48. It is disobedience to a primary Divine command.
49. It incurs the Divine curse and the darkest doom.
    II. THE VICE OF GRASPING. (Pro_20:21.) It springs from excessive, irregular, disordered desire, and generally from an ill-led life. We must wait upon God’s order; must distinguish the necessary from the superfluous and the luxurious, and seek no enterprises that lie out of our proper vocation; if we would arm ourselves against this unholy temptation, and avoid the curse which attends compliance with it. For ill-gotten wealth can never prosper.
    III. THE REVENGEFUL SPIRIT. (Pro_20:22.) It costs more to avenge injuries than to endure them. “He that studieth revenge keepeth his wounds open.” Let us recall the lessons of the sermon on the mount, and if there is any one who has aroused our dislike, pray for him (not in public, but in the privacy of the heart).
    IV. IN EQUITY, WHETHER IN COMMERCE OR IN GENERAL RELATIONS. (Pro_20:23; see Pro_20:10.) What is shameful when detected is no less hideous in the sight of Gun, though concealed from men.—J.
    Pro_20:24-30
    The truth of life in diverse aspects
    We may divide the matter as follows.
    I. DIVINE PROVIDENCE. (Pro_20:24.) It is needful, for human wisdom is shortsighted, and human direction inadequate. It is a gracious fact, and, if acknowledged, brings blessing to the trustful mind and heart. Each man has a life vocation. God appoints it, and will reveal the means for the attainment of it. We cannot enter the kingdom except through the guidance of Christ.
    II. HUMAN RESPONSIBILITY. (Pro_20:27.) There is a light within us, or conscience in the most comprehensive sense. By the help of reason we may judge other men; by that of conscience, ourselves. It is in another statement the power of reflection, the inner mirror of the soul.
    III. GENERAL RELATED TRUTHS.
50. The necessity of pondering well our wishes. (Pro_20:25.) We should think thrice before we act once. To act first and reflect afterwards is foolish and helpless; thus we reap the good of neither thought nor action.
51. The necessity of discrimination in rulers. (Pro_20:26.) The figure is borrowed from agriculture, from the process of sifting and threshing—the latter in a penal sense (2Sa_12:31; 1Ch_20:3; Amo_1:3). It is carried into the gospel. The Divine Judge’s “fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor.” We must submit to law or be crushed by its penal action.
52. The necessity of love and faithfulness in government. (Pro_20:28.) For human government, to be sound, stable, and. respected, must be a reflection of the Divine government. And the eternal features of the latter are love and faithfulness. Clemency and severity are but two sides of the one living and eternal love which rules men only for their salvation.
53. The beauty of piety in youth and age. (Pro_20:29.) Let the young man in Christ approve his strength by manful self-conquest, and the old man by riper wisdom and blameless conversation (1Jn_2:13, 1Jn_2:14).
54. The necessity of inward purification. (Pro_20:30.) And to this end the necessity of chastisement. In bodily disease we recognize the struggle of life against that which is inimical to it; and in the afflictions of the soul the struggle of the God-awakened soul against its evils. Luther says, “Evil is cured, not by words, but by blows; suffering is as necessary as eating and drinking.”—J.
    HOMILIES BY W. CLARKSON
    Pro_20:1
    Strong drink: four delusions
    That may be said to mock us which first professes to benefit us, and then proceeds to injure and even to destroy us. This is what is done by strong drink. First it cheers and brightens, puts a song into our mouth, makes life seem enviable; then it weakens, obfuscates, deadens, ruins. How many of the children of men has it deceived and betrayed! how many has it robbed of their virtue, their beauty, their strength, their resources, their peace, their reputation, their life, their hope! There are—
    I. FOUR DELUSIONS IN WHICH MEN INDULGE REGARDING IT.
55. That it is necessary to health. In ordinary conditions it has been proved to be wholly needless, if not positively injurious.
56. That it is reliable as a source of pleasure. It is a fact that the craving for intoxicants and anodynes continually increases, while the pleasure derived therefrom continually declines.
57. That it renders service in the time of heavy trial. Woe be unto him who tries to drown his sorrow in the intoxicating cup! He is giving up the true for the false, the elevating for the degrading, the life-bestowing for the death-dealing consolation.
58. That it is a feeble enemy that may be safely disregarded. Very many men and women come into the world with a constitution which makes any intoxicant a source of extreme peril to them; and many more find it to be a foe whose subtlety and strength require all their wisdom and power to master. An underestimate of the force of this temptation accounts for many a buried reputation, for many a lost spirit.
    II. THE CONCLUSION OF THE WISE.
59. To avoid the use of it altogether, if possible; and thus to be quite safe from its sting.
60. To use it, when necessary, with the most rigorous carefulness (Pro_31:6; 1Ti_5:23).
61. To discourage those social usages in which much danger lies.
62. To act on the principle of Christian generosity (Rom_14:21).—C.
    Pro_20:3
    (See homily on Pro_29:11.)—C.
    Pro_20:6, Pro_20:7
    The blessings of goodness
    Here are brought out again, in proverbial brevity, the blessings which belong to moral worth.
    I. THE DOUBTFUL VALUE OF SELF-PRAISE. “Most men will proclaim,” etc.
63. On the one hand, nothing is better than the approval of a man’s own conscience. “Populus me sibilat, at mihi plaudo,” says the Roman writer. Let a man have the commendation of his own conscience, and he can hear the hisses of the people with very little concern. It has been in this spirit that the very noblest things have been done by honourable and even heroic men.
64. On the other hand, there is a vast amount of self-congratulation amongst men which is nothing more or better than mere complacency. It is self-flattery, and that is not beautiful, but ugly; it is not true, but false. And such is the tendency in man to assure himself that he is right, even when he is thoroughly and lamentably wrong, that we have to wait and to inquire before we take men’s word about themselves. Between the heroic spirit of a Luther, or a Columbus, or a Galileo, and the miserable self-satisfaction of some petty tyrant gloating over his tyranny, there is the entire breadth of the moral world. It is well for us all to be able to do without the honour that cometh from man only; it is well for us also to recognize the truth that our own commendation, so far teem being the voice of God within us, may be nothing but the very unsightly crust of a dangerous and even deadly complacency.
    II. THE EXCELLENCY OF FAITHFULNESS. Solomon seemed to find fidelity a rare thing. “Who can find it?” he asked. With Christian truth sown in so many hearts, we do not feel the lack of it as he did. We thank God that in the home and the school, in the shop and the factory, in the pulpit and the press, in all spheres of honourable activity, we find instances of a solid and sound fidelity—men and women occupying their post and doing their work with a loyalty to those whom they serve, which is fair indeed in the sight both of heaven and of earth. There is abundance of unfaithfulness also, it has to be owned and lamented; and this is sometimes found where it is simply disgraceful—among those who wear the name of that Master and Exemplar who was “faithful in all his house.” It is required of us, who are all stewards, that we be found faithful (1Co_4:2); and we must not only expect to give account to our brother here, but to the Divine Judge hereafter.
    III. THE WORTH OF GUIDING PRINCIPLES. “A just man walketh in his integrity.” What fairer sight is there beneath the sun? A just or upright man, a man who is
    (1) yielding to God that which is due to his Creator and his Redeemer, viz. his heart and his life; who is
    (2) giving to his neighbours what is due to them; and who is
    (3) honouring himself as is his due;—this man is “walking” along the path of life in his integrity, every step directed by righteous principles and prompted by honourable impulses; his way is never crooked, but lies straight on; it is continuously upward, and moves to noble heights of virtue and wisdom and piety. Who would not be such as he is—a man God owns as his son, and the angels of God as their brother, and all his fellow men as their helper and their friend?
    IV. THE CROWN OF HUMAN BLESSEDNESS. “His children are blessed after him.” Then is a good man crowned with an honour and a joy which no diadem, nor rank, nor office, nor emolument, can confer, when his children are found “walking in the truth” of God, their affections centred in that Divine Friend who will lead them in the path of heavenly wisdom, their life governed by holy principles, themselves enriched and encircled by a holy and beautiful character, their influence felt on every hand for good—”a seed which the Lord hath blessed.”—C.
    Pro_20:9
    Purity of heart
    A subject that stretches back and looks onward as far as the limits of human history. But Jesus Christ has introduced into the world a power for purity which is peculiar to his gospel.
    I. THE UTTER UGLINESS OF IMPURITY. To the eye of holy men there is an unspeakable offensiveness in any form of impurity—selfishness, worldliness, covetousness, sensuality, whatever it may be. And how much more hideous and intolerable must it be in the eyes of the Holy One himself (Hab_1:13; Psa_5:5)! This is one explanation of choosing leprosy as a type and picture of sin, viz, its fearful loathsomeness in the sight of God.
    II. ITS EXCLUSION FROM THE PRESENCE AND KINGDOM OF GOD. (See Psa_50:16; Psa_66:18; Pro_15:29; Pro_28:9; Isa_1:10-17; Mat_5:8; Heb_12:14)
    III. THE ONE WAY OF RETURN. When the heart sees, and is ashamed of, its corruption, and returns in simple penitence to God, then there is mercy and admission. But sincere repentance is the only gateway by which impurity can find its way to the favour and the kingdom of God.
    IV. THE ESTABLISHMENT OF INWARD PURITY. When the heart, conscious of guilt, has sought and found mercy of God in Jesus Christ, and is “cleansed of its iniquity,” so that there is “a clean heart and a right spirit” before God, all is not yet done that has to be accomplished. What Christian man can say, “I have made my heart clean; I am pure from my sin”? “If we [who are in Christ Jesus] say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1Jn_1:8). “In many things we offend all” (Jas_3:2). We are washed, but we “need to wash our feet” (Joh_13:10). There yet lingers within the heart of the humble and the pure that which needs purification before they will be “holy as he [the Lord] is holy.” What are these cleansing forces which will best do this much needed and most desirable work? Are they not:
65. The avoidance of that which defiles; the deliberate turning away of the eyes of the soul (so far as duty to others will allow) from all that stains and soils?
66. Much fellowship with Jesus Christ the Holy One, and much intercourse with his true friends and followers?
67. The earnest, determined pursuit of that which is noblest in man, especially by the study of the worthiest lives?
68. Prayer lop the cleansing influences which come direct from the Holy Spirit of God (Psa_51:10; Psa_139:23, Psa_139:24; 2Th_2:17; Heb_13:20, Heb_13:21)?—C.
    Pro_20:10
    (See homily on Pro_16:11.)—C.
    Pro_20:11
    Childhood: a transparency, a prophecy, a study
    It is not apparent why Solomon says, “Even a child is known.” It is a familiar fact, at which we may glance, and which seems to be the main thought of the text.
    I. THE TRANSPARENCY OF CHILDHOOD. Some men are full of guile and of hypocrisy; they have acquired the power of concealing their real thought and feeling beneath their exterior, and you are never quite sure what they mean. You dare not trust them; for their words, or their demeanour, or their present action may entirely belie them. Not so the child. He means what he says. If he does not love you, he will not affect any liking for you. You will soon find from his behaviour what he thinks about men and things, about the studies in which he is occupied, about the service in which you want him to engage. And whether he is living a pure and faithful life, whether he is obedient and studious, or whether he is obstinate and idle, you will very soon discover if you try. It requires but very little penetration to read a child’s spirit, to know a child’s character. but the truth which is not so much on the surface respecting the knowledge we have of or from the child relates to—
    II. THE PROPHECY OF CHILDHOOD. “Even a child” will give some idea of the man into whom he will one day grow. “The child is father to the man.” In him are the germs of the nobility or the meanness, the courage or the cowardice, the generosity or the selfishness, the studiousness or the carelessness, the power or the weakness, that is to be witnessed later on. He that has eyes to see may read in the child before him the future—physical, mental, moral—that will be silently but certainly developed. Hence we may regard—
    III. CHILDHOOD AS A STUDY. If men have found an insect, or a flower, or a seed, or a strum well worth their study, how much more is the little child! For, on the one hand, ignorant assumption may spoil a life. To conclude hastily, and therefore falsely, respecting the temper, the tastes, the capacities, the inclinations, the responsibilities, the cull)ability or praiseworthiness of the child, and to act accordingly, may lead down into error and unbelief and despair the spirit that might, by other means, have been led into the light of truth and the love of God. And, on the other hand, a conscientious and just conclusion on these most important characteristics of childhood may make a life, may save unimaginable misery, may result in an early, instead of a late, unfolding of power and beauty, may make all the difference in the history of a human soul. And only the Father of spirits can tell what that difference is.—C.
    Pro_20:12
    God our Maker
    Truly we are “wonderfully made;” and “the hand that made us is Divine.” The human ear and eye are—
    I. INSTANCES OF DIVINE SKILL AND POWER. That we should be able, by means of this small apparatus included in “the ear,” to detect such a variety of notes, to distinguish sounds from one another so readily, through so many years, to perceive the faintest whisper in the trees, and to enjoy the roll of the reverberating thunder; that we should be able, by means of two small globes in our face, to see things as minute as a bad or a dewdrop and as mighty as a mountain or as the “great wide sea,” to detect that which is dangerous and to gaze with delight and even rapture on the beauties and glories of the world;—this is a very striking instance of the wonderful skill and power of our Creator.
    II. EVIDENCES OF DIVINE GOODNESS. For what sources of knowledge, of power, of pure gladness of heart, of mental and moral cultivation and growth, has not God given to us in sculpturing for us “the hearing ear,” in fashioning for us “the seeing eye “?
    III. SUGGESTIVE OF THE DIVINE KNOWLEDGE. “He that planted the ear, shall he Dot hear? he that formed the eye, shall he not see?” (Psa_94:9). The wonderful Worker who has supplied us, his finite and feeble creatures, with such power of hearing and of vision, with such sources of knowledge,—how great, how perfect, how boundless, must be his own Divine perception! How certainly must he hear the whisper we would fain make inaudible to him! how inevitably must he see the action we would gladly hide from his searching sight! How absolute must God’s knowledge be, both of our outward life and of the inner workings of our soul!
    IV. OPPORTUNITY FOR DIVINE SERVICE. For here are the means we want of learning of God, of knowing, that we may do, his holy will. Our eye not only conveys to us the sight of the beautiful, the richly stored, the glorious world that God has made for us, but it enables us to rend “the book he has written for our learning,” wherein we can find all that we need to know of his nature, his character, and his will. And our ear not only conveys to us the melodies of the outer world, but it places within the reach of our spirit the Divine truths which are uttered in our presence. These, as they come from the lips of parent, or teacher, or pastor, can “make us wise unto salvation,” can fill our hearts with holy purpose, with true and pure emotion, with abiding peace. And we may add that the speaking lips are also that which “the Lord hath made;” and what an opportunity these give us of uttering his truth, of helping his children, of furthering his cause and kingdom! Such excellent service can our bodily organs render to our immortal spirit; and so may they be impressed into the holier service of their Divine Author.—C.
    Pro_20:17
    (See homily on Pro_21:6-8.)—C.
    Pro_20:22
    (Pro_24:29)
    Resentment and forgiveness
    The Christian doctrine of forgiveness finds here a distinct anticipation; but that doctrine was not found in the highway, but rather in the byway of pre-Christian morals. It made no mark. It did not find its way into the thought and the feeling of the people.
    I. WE MUST EXPECT TO BE WRONGED, OR TO BELIEVE OURSELVES WRONGED, AS WE GO ON OUR WAY. So conflicting are our interests, so various our views, so many are the occasions when an event or a remark will wear an entirely different aspect according to the point of view from which it is regarded, that it is utterly unlikely, morally impossible, that we should not be often placed in a position in which we seem to he wronged. It may be some sentence spoken, or some action taken, or some purpose settled upon, slight or serious, incidental or malevolent, but we may take it that it is one part of the portion and burden of our life.
    II. BITTER RESENTMENT IS DISTINCTLY DISALLOWED. It is natural, it is human enough. As man has become under the reign of sin, it finds a place in his heart if not in his creed, everywhere. It seems to be right. It has one element that is right—the element of indignation. But this is only one part of the feeling, and by no means the chief part. A bitter animosity, engendered by the thought that something has been done against us, is the main ingredient. And this is positively disallowed. “Shy not, I will recompense evil;” “It hath been said,… hate thine enemy; but I say unto you, Love your enemies … do good to them that hate you; ….Avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath;” “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger … be put away from you, with all malice” (Mat_5:43, Mat_5:44; Rom_12:19; Eph_4:31).
    III. WE HAVE AN ADMIRABLE ALTERNATIVE. We can “wait on the Lord,” and he will “save us.” We can:
69. Go to God in prayer; take our wounded spirit to him; cast our burden upon him; seek and find a holy calm in communion with him.
70. Commit our cause unto him; be like unto our Leader, “who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously” (1Pe_2:23). We shall thus ask God to save us from ourselves, from indulging thoughts and feelings toward our neighbour winch shame rather than honour us, which separate us in spirit from our great Exemplar (1Pe_2:21); and to save us from those who would injure us, working for us, in his own way and time, our deliverance and recovery.
    IV. WE WIN THE TRUE VICTORY. To be avenged on our enemy is a victory of a certain kind; the moment of success is a moment of triumph, of exultation. But:
71. That is a victory which is greatly and sadly qualified. When we regard the matter disinterestedly and dispassionately, can we really envy such triumph? Should we like to have in our heart the feelings which are surging and swelling in the breast of the victor—feelings of bitter hatred, and of positive delight in a brother’s humiliation, or suffering, or loss?
72. The victory of forgiveness is pre-eminently Christian. It places us by the side of our gracious Lord himself (
    Luk_23:34), and of the best and worthiest of his disciples (Act_7:60; 2Ti_4:16).
73. It gives to us a distinct spiritual resemblance to our heavenly Father himself. (Mat_5:45.)—C.
    Pro_20:23
    (See homily on Pro_16:11.)—C.
    Pro_20:27
    The inward light
    Man may be said to be governed from above, from without, and also from within; by the power which is from heaven, by human society, and also by the forces which are resident in his own spiritual nature.
    I. OUR SPIRITUAL NATURE. God created man in his own image; i.e. he created him a spirit. God is a spirit; so also is man, his offspring, his human child. Our spiritual nature is endowed with the faculties of perception, of memory, of imagination, of reason. These include—some would say that to these there has to be added—the power which is usually called conscience, the exercise of our spiritual faculties directed to all questions of morality. This moral judgment, or conscience, of ours:
74. Distinguishes between right and wrong. Decides what is good and what evil, what is just and what unjust, what is pure and what impure, what is true and what false, what is kind and what cruel, it is an inward light; it is” the candle of the Lord,” etc.
75. Approves of the one and disapproves of the other.
76. Acts with such force that, on the one hand, there is a distinct satisfaction, and even joy; that, on the other hand, there is distinct dissatisfaction, and even pain, sometimes amounting to an intolerable agony. There is hardly any delight we can experience which is so worthy of ourselves as the children of God, as is that which fills our heart when we know that, regardless of our own interests and prospects, we have done the right thing; there is no wretchedness so unbearable as remorse, the stinging and smarting of soul when our conscience rebukes us for some sad transgression.
77. Is a profoundly penetrating power. It “searches all the inward parts” of the soul; it considers not only what is on the surface, but what is far beneath. It deals with thoughts, with feelings, with purposes and desires, with the motives which move us, and with the spirit that animates us.
    II. THE INJURY OUR NATURE SUFFERS FROM OUR SIN. He that sinneth against Divine wisdom, and therefore against the Divine One, does indeed “wrong his own soul.” Every wrong action tends to weaken the authority of conscience, and, after a while, it disturbs its judgment, so that its decision is not as true and straight as it was. This is the saddest aspect of the consequence of sin. When the inward light, the candle of the Lord, begins to grow dim, and ultimately becomes darkened, then the soul is confused and the path of life is lost. If our eye is evil, our whole body is full of darkness; if the light that is in us be darkness, how great must the darkness be (Mat_6:23)! When that which should be directing us into the truth and wisdom of heaven is misleading us, and is positively directing us to folly and wrong, we are far on the road to spiritual rain. We have to mourn the fact that this is no rare occurrence; that sin does so confuse and blind our souls that men do very frequently fall into the moral condition in which they “call evil good, and good evil.” The light that is in them is darkness.
    III. OUR RESTORATION THROUGH CHRIST OUR LORD. Jesus Christ offers himself to us as the Divine Physician; he says to us, “Wilt thou be made whole?” And he who so graciously and mightily healed the bodies heals also the souls of men. He does so by recalling our affection to God our Father, by setting our heart right. Then loving him, we love his Word, his truth; we study and we copy the life of our Lord. And as the heart is renewed and the life is changed, the judgment also is restored; we see all things in another light; we “see light in God’s light.” The candle of the Lord is rekindled, the lamp is trimmed; it gives a new light to all that are in the house—to all the faculties that are in the house of our nature. Let us yield ourselves to Christ our Lord, let us study his truth and his life, and our conscience will become more and more true in its decisions, and in its peaceful light we shall walk “all the day long,” truly happy in heart, enjoying the constant favour of “the Father of lights.”—C.
    Pro_20:28
    (See homily on Pro_16:12.)—C.
    Pro_20:29
    The glory of young manhood
    A weak young man is not a sight that we like to see. Between young manhood and weakness there is no natural agreement; the two things do not accord with one another. In young men we look for strength, and delight to see it there. Moreover, youth itself is proud of the strength of which it is conscious, and “glories” in it. We look at—
    I. THAT WHEREON WE CONGRATULATE IT. We look with satisfaction, and perhaps with pride, upon the young man who possesses:
78. Physical strength. Well-developed muscular power and skill, the attainment of the largest possible share of bodily vigour and capacity, this is one element of manliness, ands although it is not the highest, it is good in itself, and so far as it goes.
79. Intellectual power. The possession of knowledge, of mental vigour and grasp, of reasoning faculty, of business shrewdness and capacity, of imaginative power, of strength of will; but especially:
80. Moral and spiritual strength. Power to resist the evil forces which are around us; to put aside, without hesitation, the solicitations to unholy pleasure or unlawful gain; to decline the fellowship and friendship which might be pecuniarily or socially advantageous, but which would be morally and spiritually injurious; to move onward in the way of duty, unscathed by the darts and arrows of evil which are in the air; to undertake and to execute beneficent work; to range one’s self with the honourable and holy few against the unworthy multitude; to bear a brave witness on behalf of truth, purity, sobriety, righteousness, whatever the forces that are in league against it;—this is the noblest element of strength, and this is pre-eminently the glory of young manhood.
    II. ITS PECULIAR TEMPTATION. The temptation of the strong is to disregard and even to despise the weak, to look down with a proud sense of superiority on those who are less capable than themselves. This is both foolish and sinful. For comparative weakness is that from which the strong have themselves come up, and into which they will themselves go down. It is a question of time, or, if not of time, of privilege and bestowment (see infra), and a proud contempt is quite misplaced. The young should clearly understand that strength, when it is modest, is a beautiful thing, but when haughty and disdainful, is offensive in the sight both of God and man.
    III. ITS CLEAR OBLIGATION. The first thing that human strength should do is to recognize the source whence it came, and to let its recognition find expression in devout and reverent action. “Thy God hath commanded thy strength.” As, ultimately, all strength of every kind proceeds from God; and as he constantly sustains in power, and the strong as much as the weak are dependent on his fatherly kindness; and as the strong owe more to his goodness than the weak (inasmuch as they have received more at his hand);—the first thing they should ask themselves is—What can we render unto the Lord? And they will find that to devote their strength to the service of their Saviour and of their kind is to find a source of blessedness immeasurably higher, as well as far more lasting, than that which comes from the sense of power. It is not what we have, but what we give, that fills the soul with pure and abiding joy.—C.
    Pro_20:29
    (latter clause).—(See homily on Pro_16:31.)—C.

Proverbs 20:9
This is a Gospel question before the time of the Gospel. All the great conditions of the human mind you find as distinctly in the Old Testament as in the New; all the questions that sharpen themselves into fierce agonies are in the nature of man, and part of his constitution. The inquiry comes to each of us; if any man can answer the question in the affirmative let him do so.
I. The pure man ought to be lifted above fear; the clean soul ought to have a peculiar, a shadowless joy. Have you that gladness? Then why those nightmares of the soul, why those sudden fears, why those peculiar distresses, why those doubts and scepticisms and questionings, why a thousand indications of unrest and tumult? This ought to suggest that you have not completed the task which you suppose yourself to have accomplished in the heart.
II. There is a tremendous responsibility in returning an affirmative answer to the inquiry of the text. If a man were to say, “Yes, I have made my heart clean and am pure from my sin,” he would (1) contradict the whole testimony of Scripture; (2) supersede the work of Christ; (3) withdraw himself from all the cleansing, purifying agencies which constitute the redeeming ministry of the universe. There is no heaven along the line of self-hope; there is no pardon in the direction of self-trust.
Parker, Fountain, August 1st, 1878.
References: Pro_20:9.—H. Hayman, Rugby Sermons, p. 50. Pro_20:10-14.—R. Wardlaw, Lectures on Proverbs, vol. ii., p. 338.

Proverbs 20:11
I. The actions of children become, in process of time, their own doings. Children move before they act, and they live as mere animals before they act spiritually and morally. But in process of time the child acts. All its movements become conduct, the result of a determination to behave itself in a particular way. This is what is meant by “his doings.”
II. When the actions of children become their doings, the children are recognised as accountable. (1) God recognises the child as the author of its own actions; He sees the doings of the child spring from a motive and principle within. (2) The god of evil knows, by the doings of children, with whom and with what he has to do. (3) The angelic inhabitants of heaven recognise children in their ministrations. (4) Children are recognised as accountable by their fellow human beings.
III. From these facts we draw the following inferences:—(1) If a child be known by his doings, the evils of sin are not escaped by the childhood of the sinner. (2) If a child be known by his doings, he is, as a child, exerting influence for good or for evil. (3) If a child be known by his doings, all the differences of human character are not traceable to education. (4) If a child be known by his doings, the character of the future man is often indicated by the character of the present child. (5) If a child be known by his doings, God does not treat a generation of children en masse, but individually. (6) If a child be known by his doings, one test of character is universally applied by the Judge of all.
S. Martin, Rain Upon the Mown Grass, p. 460.
Reference: Pro_20:11.— New Manual of Sunday School Addresses, p. 115.

Proverbs 20:12
I. How the eye tells the brain of the picture which is drawn upon the back of the eye; how the brain calls up that picture when it likes—these are two mysteries beyond all man’s wisdom to explain. These are two proofs of the wisdom and the power of God which ought to sink deeper into our hearts than all signs and wonders; greater proofs of God’s power and wisdom than if yon fir-trees burst into flame of themselves, or yon ground opened and a fountain of water sprang out. The commonest things are as wonderful, more wonderful, than the uncommon; and yet people will hanker after the uncommon, as if they belonged to God more immediately than the commonest matters. That is not faith, to see God only in what is strange and rare; but this is faith, to see God in what is most common and simple; to know God’s greatness, not so much from disorder as from order; not so much from those strange sights in which God seems (but only seems) to break His laws, as from those common ones in which He fulfils His laws.
II. When a man sees that, there will arise within his soul a clear light, and an awful joy, and an abiding peace, and a sure hope, and a faith as of a little child. Then will that man crave no more for signs and wonders; but all his cry will be to the Lord of order, to make him orderly; to the Lord of law, to make him loyal; to the Lord in whom is nothing arbitrary, to take out of him all that is unreasonable and self-willed; and make him content, like his Master Christ before him, to do the will of his Father in heaven, who has sent him into this noble world.
C. Kingsley, Town and Country Sermons, p. 224.
References: Pro_20:12.—W. Arnot, Laws from Heaven, 2nd series, p. 175. Pro_20:14.—W. Baird, The Hallowing of our Common Life, p. 13; T. Binney, King’s Weighhouse Chapel Sermons, 1st series, p. 384; W. Arnot, Laws from Heaven, 2nd series, p. 187. Pro_20:15-21.—R. Wardlaw, Lectures on Proverbs, vol. ii., p. 350.

Proverbs 20:17
There are instances in which a very little practice in evil will make real wickedness seem to one harmless, to another necessary, to another almost satisfactory. This is what the wise prince meant by saying the bread of deceit was sweet. “Yes, it is,” says Solomon—and afterwards? How may we be certain of the afterwards of deceit? How may we be certain that it will infinitely outweigh the present sweetness?
I. All things that are done by God’s creatures are subject to God’s judgment. If God approves of a thing, the things that follow from it are sure to be good and happy things. If He condemns it they are sure to be good in one sense, but they are absolutely sure to be destructive of that which is causing evil, and they would not be good unless they were so destructive and baneful and withering to what is evil.
II. The deceiver is especially a person who, by his own act and deed, resolutely and on purpose appeals from this life to the next. He says, “I will not be judged here. I will not now bear the consequences of what I have done.” Who can aid him? How can his best lover and friend protect him? Is it wonderful that Solomon and St. John alike, in speaking of the deceiver, say that his time comes afterwards?
Archbishop Benson, Boy Life: Sundays in Wellington College, p. 132.
Reference: Pro_20:22-30.—R. Wardlaw, Lectures on Proverbs, vol. ii., p. 362.

Proverbs 20:27
God is the fire of this world, its vital principle, a warm pervading presence everywhere. Of this fire the spirit of man is the candle. What does that mean? If, because man is of a nature which corresponds to the nature of God, and just so far as man is obedient to God, the life of God which is spread throughout the universe gathers itself into utterance; and men, aye and all other beings, if such beings there are, capable of watching our humanity, see what God is in gazing at the man whom He has kindled—then, is not the figure plain? It is a wondrous thought, but it is clear enough. Here is the universe, full of the diffused fire of divinity. Men feel it in the air, as they feel an intense heat which has not broken into a blaze. Now in the midst of this solemn burdened world there stands up a man, pure, Godlike, and perfectly obedient to God. In an instant it is as if the heated room had found some sensitive inflammable point where it could kindle to a blaze. The fitfulness of the impression of divinity is steadied into permanence. The fire of the Lord has found the candle of the Lord, and burns clear and steady, guiding and cheering instead of bewildering and frightening us, just so soon as a man who is obedient to God has begun to catch and manifest His nature.
I. Man’s utterance of God is purely an utterance of quality. It can tell me nothing of the quantities which make up His perfect life. Whoever has in him the human quality, whoever really has the spirit of man, may be a candle of the Lord. A poor, meagre, starved, bruised life, if only it keeps the true human quality, and does not become inhuman; and if it is obedient to God in its blind, dull, half-conscious way; becomes a light. There is no life so meagre that the greatest and wisest of us can afford to despise it. We cannot know at all at what sudden moment it may flash forth with the life of God.
II. In this truth of ours we have certainly the key to another mystery which sometimes puzzles us. What shall we make of some man rich in attainments and in generous desires, well-educated, well-behaved, who has trained himself to be a light and help to other men, and who, now that his training is complete, stands in the midst of his fellow-men completely dark and helpless? Such men are unlighted candles; they are the spirit of man elaborated, cultivated, finished, to its very finest, but lacking the last touch of God.
III. There is a multitude of men whose lamps are certainly not dark, and yet who certainly are not the candles of the Lord. A nature richly furnished to the very brim, and yet profane, impure, worldly, and scattering scepticism of all good and truth about him wherever he may go. If it be possible for the human candle, instead of being lifted up to heaven and kindled at the pure being of Him who is eternally and absolutely good, to be plunged down into hell, and lighted at the yellow flames that burn out of the dreadful brimstone of the pit, then we can understand the sight of a man, who is rich in every brilliant human quality, cursing the world with the continual exhibition of the devilish instead of the godlike in his life.
IV. There is still another way in which the spirit of man may fail of its completest function as the candle of the Lord. The lamp may be lighted, and the fire at which it is lighted may be indeed the fire of God, and yet it may not be God alone who shines forth upon the world. Such men cannot get rid of themselves. They are mixed with the God they show. This is the secret of all pious bigotry, of all holy prejudice. It is the candle, putting its own colour into the flame which it has borrowed from the fire of God.
V. Jesus is the true spiritual man who is the candle of the Lord, the light that lighteth every man.
Phillips Brooks, The Candle of the Lord, p. 1.

Proverbs 20:29
I. The glory of young men is their physical strength. In the great battle against the kingdom of darkness we want, not only a consecrated soul, but a strong arm, stout lungs, and vigorous muscle.
II. The glory of young men is their intellectual strength. A man with any nobleness of character will take a legitimate pride in the possession of a sound reason, a calm judgment, a vigorous brain. The Gospel does not enslave the reason, it sets it free. God requires of you that you think for yourselves. “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.”
III. The glory of young men is their moral strength. It is a grand thing for a man to have a delicate moral sensitiveness, and a strong moral determination. By the former he will scent vice afar off”; and by the latter he will keep out of the way of the tempter, and resist to the death when he is tempted. The very badge of true manliness is self-control.
IV. The glory of young men is their spiritual strength. I speak now of the strength of religious faith. Only a believer can say, with David, “He strengthened me with strength in my soul.” Far, far below his true dignity must man remain, until he knows the God that made him.
J. Thain Davidson, Talks with Young Men, p. 3.
References: Pro_21:1-8.— R. Wardlaw, Lectures on Proverbs, vol. ii., p. 379. Pro_21:2.— Spurgeon, My Sermon Notes: Genesis to Proverbs, p. 178. Pro_21:9-13.— R. Wardlaw, Lectures on Proverbs, vol. ii., p. 390. Pro_21:10.— Expositor, 3rd series, vol. iv., p. 268. Pro_22:1.— W. Arnot, Laws from Heaven, 2nd series, p. 195. Pro_22:1-6. — R. Wardlaw, Lectures on Proverbs, vol. iii., p. 25.

Proverbs 20:1
A luxurious thing. Hebrew, “a scoffer.” Chaldean, “renders one a scoffer.” — Drunkenness. Hebrew ssocor, any strong drink, particularly palm-wine. Intemperance places the strongest obstacles in the way of wisdom. It causes a person to mock at all sacred things, and to be quarrelsome, chap. 23:29, and Eph_5:18

Proverbs 20:3
Reproaches. It is better not to commence a lawsuit, even when we are in the right, chap. 17:11 (Calmet) — Plena victoria est ad clamantem tacere. (Val. Max.)

Proverbs 20:5
Out. So David discovered the meaning of the Thecuite, 2Ki_14:18 A wise politician carefully examines everything in a foreign court.

Proverbs 20:6
Faithful. Few continue steady to their engagements or friends, whom they will assist to a certain point. In God these two virtues always go together, Psa_84:11 But they are rarely found in men. (Calmet)

Proverbs 20:8
Look. It is the duty of kings to administer justice.

Proverbs 20:9
Sin. Protestants, “my sin?” We know not when it is remitted. (Haydock) — Without a special revelation, no one can be secure, 1Jn_1:8, and Ecc_9:1 (Bayn.) (St. Augustine in Psalm cxlix.)

Proverbs 20:10
Measures. In commerce, (Calmet) as well as in judging. (St. Gregory in Ezechiel iv.)

Proverbs 20:11
Right. We may form some judgment of his future conduct, from the inclinations which he manifests in his infancy.        Naturam expellas furca, tamen ipsa recurret,
        Et mala perrumpet furtim fastidia victrix. (Horace)

Proverbs 20:12
Both. Consequently he will know all our actions, Psalm 93:9 We must refer all to him, as he gives us the means of learning. (Calmet)

Proverbs 20:13
Sleep. Septuagint, “back-biting, that thou mayst not be taken off.” (Haydock)

Proverbs 20:14
Buyer. This is the common practice; yet it is not without exceptions. St. Augustine (Trin. 13:3) observes, that the mountebank having promised to tell what every person had in his heart, many came to the theatre, when he told them that they all wished to by cheap, and to sell dear. They all applauded the remark. (Calmet) — Septuagint is here defective. (Haydock)

Proverbs 20:16
Strangers. For whom he has bound himself foolishly, chap. 6:1 All who have the care of others, must answer for them. (Calmet)

Proverbs 20:17
Lying. Deceit, and unlawful pleasures, chap. 9:17 But God mingles disgust with them, and will punish the guilty, at least hereafter. Worldly enjoyments seem sweet, but they are full of gravel, and hurtful.

Proverbs 20:18
Governments. Or prudence, else the best designs may prove abortive.

Proverbs 20:19
Lips. And speaketh much. These people are unworthy of our friendship.

Proverbs 20:20
Lamp. Prosperity, or children.

Proverbs 20:21
Blessing. It is morally impossible that they should have been acquired justly, chap. 13:11, and 21:5

Proverbs 20:22
Evil. And revenge myself. This belongs to the Lord, Deu_32:35 Man would be too favourable to himself, and would also pronounce his own condemnation, as he is also a sinner.

Proverbs 20:24
Way? Jer_10:23 Independently of God, who can do any good? (Calmet)

Proverbs 20:25
Ones. Hebrew, “the saint or holy thing.” (Haydock) — Chaldean, “to make a vow for the sanctuary, and afterwards repent;” having acted inconsiderately at first. To attack the persons or relics of the saints, or to plunder what is consecrated to pious uses, will bring on destruction; so also to make vows, and then seek to evade them, will not pass unpunished. (Calmet)

Proverbs 20:26
Wheel. Or triumphal arch, fornicem. (Ven. Bede; Jansenius) — He will make his enemies lie prostrate under his chariot-wheels, 2 Kings 12:31

Proverbs 20:27
Lamp. The breath of life, (Gen_2:7) and the light of man, 1Co_2:11

Proverbs 20:28
Clemency. Such a king need not fear rebellion. (Calmet)

Proverbs 20:29
Hairs, and experience. They have a greater contempt of death and pleasures. (St. Ambrose, Hex. 1:8)

Proverbs 20:30
Evils. The wicked shall derive benefit from correction. — Belly. They shall feel the remorse of conscience, as Chaldean seems to indicate. (Calmet) — A serious illness often causes people to repent. (Menochius)

Proverbs 20:1
Pro_23:29-32, Gen_9:21

Proverbs 20:2
Pro_19:12

Proverbs 20:4
Pro_6:6, Ecc_10:18

Proverbs 20:8
(1787) If this was said of an ancient king how much more for the covenant believer in Yahshua, including TV and Internet.

Proverbs 20:9
Psa_32:1-2

Proverbs 20:10
Deu_25:13-16

Proverbs 20:12
Exo_4:11, Joh_9:1-3

Proverbs 20:13
Pro_6:9-11; Pro_19:15

Proverbs 20:16
Exo_22:26-27

Proverbs 20:17
Pro_9:17

Proverbs 20:18
Pro_12:15; Pro_15:22, Luk_14:31

Proverbs 20:19
Pro_17:9; Pro_18:8, Pro_26:20-22

Proverbs 20:20
Pro_30:11; Pro_13:9; Pro_24:20

Proverbs 20:23
Pro_11:1, Deu_25:13-16

Proverbs 20:24
Pro_16:9

Proverbs 20:25
Ecc_5:4-5, Num_30:2

Proverbs 20:29
Pro_16:31, Lev_19:32

Proverbs 20:1

Be Careful With Wine and Strong Drink

“Wine” and “strong drink” are represented as acting persons, emphatically identifying these dangerous beverages with the person who abuses them. Their use is not forbidden by God’s Word, except in some cases (Deu_14:26 ; Lev_10:9 ). However, a strong warning does sound against excessive use, for it produces mockery (Isa_28:7 Isa_28:14 Isa_28:22 ) and causes unrest, which is often accompanied by violence. The consequences are disastrous. This can be seen in marriages and families and in traffic accidents, sometimes even resulting in death. Alcohol destroys more than you can imagine.

The excessive use of intoxicants excites the drinker to nonsensical talk and aggressive and combative behavior. It confuses the senses so that he has no self-control. A person who is drunk starts mocking what is sacred. He also crosses the boundaries of morality and decency. He staggers and swoons, brawls, utters debauched language and becomes buffoonish. He is intoxicated and no longer knows what he is doing (Gen_9:21-22 Gen_19:30-38 ). The counterpart of drunkenness with its associated debauchery is being filled with the Spirit (Eph_5:18 ).

The warning against alcohol abuse is meant to make it clear that he who is drunk cannot keep his course straight, thus proving that he is not wise. The (Dutch) saying ‘when the wine is in the man, wisdom is in the can’ also pithily expresses this. Those who are wise and want to stay wise will only take a little wine in certain cases (1Ti_5:23 ).

Proverbs 20:2-3

Fear of the King Keeps From Dispute

“The terror of a king” is likened to “the growling of a lion”, which implies the threat of judgment (Pro_20:2 ). It is a warning not to sin against him. Whoever does so brings his anger upon him. To sin against him is to sin against his own life.

The king is presented here in his impressive majesty that demands awe. Whoever does not take this into account is playing with his life. This applies to our attitude toward the Lord Jesus. He is our Savior, but He is also our impressive Lord. At His coming to earth to judge, He will roar like a lion (Amo_1:2 ).

Pro_20:3 connects to Pro_20:2 . Honorable and wise people will avoid conflict with other people. Certainly, they will avoid disagreement with the king and with God and not let it come to a confrontation (cf. Mat_5:25-26 ). The contrast is between “keeping away from strife” and getting involved in “quarrel” as soon as an opportunity for quarrel arises. The first description is the way of the wise, the way of honor and dignity. The second is the way, the manner, of a fool. Not every fool is a sluggard or a drunkard, but many fools do love to interfere with and stir up quarrel.

Proverbs 20:4

The Excuse of the Sluggard Not to Work

A farmer who is too lazy to plow and sow at the right time will not find a harvest. His excuse for not plowing is that it is winter. He has no desire to expose himself to the cold and wet winter weather. It is much more pleasant in his cozy warm and dry farmhouse. The sluggard will always find an excuse with which to camouflage his laziness. He does not consider himself a sluggard, but thinks that circumstances are against him.

This character is typical of all those who want yield, possession or money without putting effort into it. They want results without effort. The whole attitude of a sluggard makes it clear that he lives for the present, while the future does not interest him. The wise person works with an eye to the future (cf. Gal_6:9 ). He is constantly at work, in season and out of season (2Ti_4:2 ).

Because the sluggard has neglected to plow, he will have nothing during the harvest. He will then go begging from those who did labor and did reap. For this he is not ashamed. People who are lazy and therefore suffer from lack also think that others will take care of them. They have no vision of the future and no sense of shame. But those to whom the sluggard knocks know him and send him away empty-handed. This is in accordance with Paul’s word: “If anyone is not willing to work, then he is not to eat either” (2Th_3:10 ).

Proverbs 20:5-9

God Sees Through the Heart of Every Man

He who is wise can discern what is going on in the heart (Pro_20:5 ). This is true of his own heart as well as that of others. The counsel or purpose in the heart is compared to “deep waters”. The picture indicates that a person’s plan is difficult to fathom. It takes “understanding” to bring it to the surface, to “draw it out”. We can gain that understanding by fearing the LORD and listening to the Word of God (Heb_4:12-13 ). If we don’t know clearly what someone is up to, we can still find out through our dealings with God.

Christ is “a man of understanding”. To Him all the deliberations of every person’s heart are perfectly revealed. He can let us know if we live in fellowship with Him. On the day of judgment, He will bring out and demonstrate the plans and deliberations of every man’s heart (1Co_4:5 ). No one needs to tell Him what is in man, for He does know it (Joh_2:25 ).

Many people do not know the deceitfulness of their own heart. They proclaim their “own loyalty” (Pro_20:6 ). So did the Pharisees on the corners of the streets with their righteousness (Mat_6:2 Mat_23:5 ) and even before God (Luk_18:11-12 ). And they are not yet outdated. We can condemn the Pharisee who openly boasts of his good qualities, but what about ourselves? We can show humility with the intention of being honored for it. This is on the same level. We may not boast aloud, but we still like it when others see how dedicated we are.

Opposed to boasting about a certain goodness is “a trustworthy man”. Therein lies the fact that someone who boasts about himself is not trustworthy. Such a person promises all kinds of things with much boasting, but does not keep his promises. A trustworthy person is not full of himself, but of the other. He is focused on the other, he is there for the other. But where is such a person to be found? The question indicates that such a person is rare (cf. Pro_31:10 ; Psa_12:1 ).

The good Samaritan did not proclaim his lovingkindness, but showed it. He was trustworthy. It is not about what someone says he is, but what someone does.

“A righteous man” is one who lives in accordance with the law of God (Pro_20:7 ). His life flows from the “integrity” of his heart. That integrity is in his heart because he lives in fellowship with God. There is nothing deceitful in his actions. He who lives in this way is a blessing to those around him, and first and foremost to those with whom he lives in the closest relationship: his sons. They are called “blessed” because they grow up and are raised in this atmosphere of integrity. This is the most beautiful legacy parents can leave their children.

“A king” who speaks justice distinguishes between good and evil (Pro_20:8 ). The throne speaks of government in general; “the throne of justice” speaks of the exercise of justice. One cannot appeal against this justice. Here the emphasis is on separation from evil. Dispersing has the meaning of making pure. He will do this “with his eyes”, indicating perfect understanding. He is concerned with removing “all evil” from his kingdom (Psa_101:8 ).

No king or government has ever lived up to this ideal. The Lord Jesus will do what it says here. Thus, when He sits on the throne of His glory, He will “separate the nations from one another, like the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats” (Mat_25:31-32 ). He will then send the goats to eternal fire, while the sheep may inherit the kingdom (Mat_25:33-46 ). He has eyes that see and fathom all things (Psa_11:4 ).

No one can say he is pure in his thinking and doing (Pro_20:9 ). There are those who claim this, but they lie (1Jn_1:8 1Jn_1:10 ). With a rhetorical question, the wise affirm that no one is without sin (Ecc_7:20 ; Gen_6:5 ; 1Kg_8:46 ; Psa_143:2 ; Rom_3:9 ). A person can say that he has cleansed his heart only when he has confessed his sins through which he may know that they have been forgiven by God (1Jn_1:9 ). Cleansing does not lie in man himself, but outside of him, in God. God can forgive by virtue of the work of His Son on the cross.

The proverb has particular significance for practice. In our practice as believers, we must be aware that we are weak and that we do not always know our hearts through and through. Nor can we always fully fathom our motives. Paul was aware of this. He placed the judgment of his life in the hands of the Lord. He says: “For I am conscious of nothing against myself, yet I am not by this acquitted; but the one who examines me is the Lord” (1Co_4:4 ).

Proverbs 20:10

Do Not Measure With Two Measures

One of the things that make a person’s heart impure and are charged as sin is measuring with differing weights and measures. By using two different weights, a light one for selling and a heavy one for buying, the merchant seeks to enrich himself at the expense of the buyer and seller, respectively. The same applies to the use of two different measures of contents (Pro_20:23 ; Pro_11:1 ; Deu_25:13-16 ).

Emphatically, the wise man says that “both of them are abominable to the LORD”. God abhors dishonesty in business and will bring His judgment on it. Deceptive weighing stones and content measures are just two examples of fraud and deception. They result from man’s greed. God hates these dealings because He is perfectly just, honest and trustworthy and wants to see these qualities in the dealings of those who are named after His Name. Deceptive dealings go against His nature and against the nature of everyone who has His nature.

Proverbs 20:11

Deeds Show the Character

The behavior a person shows, even already at a young age, reveals his character (1Sa_3:18-21 ). It is like the tree that is known by its fruit (Mat_7:16 ). Behavior shows what is in a person. Parents can recognize certain traits in a child’s behavior. Therefore, they should pay close attention to how the child behaves and speaks. They can correct unpleasant character traits and encourage good character traits through education, discipline and their own example.

Proverbs 20:12

The Hearing Ear and the Seeing Eye

God provided the human body not only with ears and eyes, but also with the ability to make proper use of them. What shapes our life comes primarily from what our ears hear and our eyes see. It is one of the characteristics of God Himself that He hears and sees (Psa_94:9 ; Exo_4:11 ) in contrast to dead idols (Psa_115:4-7 ). The hearing ear and the seeing eye must be consecrated to Him.

Therefore, it is not merely about physical function, such as perceiving sound and light. More so, with the ear it is about the spiritual ability to obey what has been heard. This shows that what has been said has been listened to and understood. The eye involves the spiritual ability to discern between good and evil.

We have ears to hear God’s Word, what the Spirit says to the churches (Rev_2:7 ). We have eyes to see Jesus (Heb_12:2 ). We can pray to have enlightened eyes of the heart to see and enjoy our spiritual blessings (Eph_1:17-18 ).

Proverbs 20:13

Do Not Sleep, but Be Awake and Work

Sleep is a blessing. It is a gift from God that allows our body to rest after a day of work and regain its strength for the next day. However, the warning sounds not to love sleep. He who loves sleep is a sluggard, and laziness leads to poverty. Sleep is a great blessing, but it becomes a curse if we prefer sleep to work.

When sleep has done its beneficent work, the eyes must open to get to work. He who knows his responsibility and goes to work with diligence will be satiated with bread. He will have enough to eat.

Proverbs 20:14-17

Be Honest in Word and Walk

Here we hear a buyer complaining about how bad the sale is for him (Pro_20:14 ). Once he has negotiated and paid his low price through his dramatic performance, he leaves and then boasts about it. This doesn’t even have to mean that he tells others how clever he has been. He can just also just inwardly rejoice extraordinarily that he has been so smart and the seller so stupid. What matters is that he glories in his arrogance (Jas_4:16 ).

Bargain hunting is not evil and neither is haggling. This verse is a warning to an inexperienced seller not to be fooled by pathetic or intimidating buyers. Being handy in business is one thing, but making a deceptive performance in a negotiation to buy far below the value of the product is unacceptable to God and unworthy of a member of His people.

A person can be rich in earthly treasures (Pro_20:15 ). A lot of people in the world are. But the real wealth is that of having “lips of knowledge”. Such lips are “a precious thing”. It is rare to find someone who speaks with knowledge. Lips that speak knowledge are lips that teach knowledge, that speak well thought out words. Lips of knowledge a person gets through the long and hard work of education.

This involves the knowledge of Christ and of God’s standards for life. This knowledge is applied to all situations in life. As a result, one knows how to behave as a wise person in them. The result is that God is honored and one’s neighbor is blessed. What a tremendously precious thing such lips are in a world like ours.

In Pro_20:16 , the wise one urges the creditor toward one who has been foolish enough to become “surety for a stranger” to even take the surety’s garment. Becoming surety has been discussed before (Pro_6:1 Pro_11:15 Pro_17:18 ) and is always strongly discouraged, especially in the case of a stranger. It is a proverb that should discourage becoming surety for another.

It marks the stupidity of those who do so. Such a person must bear the consequences. He is literally stripped. His garment goes to strangers as pledge. Then he never sees it again. The warning is that you are in danger of losing everything to the creditor, who can pawn your things to strangers if you become surety.

Good things acquired dishonestly bring no satisfaction (Pro_20:17 ). There is such a thing as “enjoying the passing pleasure of sin” (Heb_11:25 ), but it is indeed only temporary. The aftertaste is very bitter. Not only is there a lack of taste and nourishment in what has been stolen, but the consequence is that nothing at all can be eaten with pleasure. Gravel ruins the teeth so that food can no longer be consumed with taste (Lam_3:16 ). Eating becomes difficult and hurts. God causes this result.

We see it in the eating the first “bread obtained by falsehood” eaten by man. We also see the consequences. Adam and Eve ate bread obtained by falsehood when they took the fruit from the tree of which God had told them not to eat (Gen_2:16-17 Gen_3:1-6 ). The fruit looked very attractive and no doubt the taste will have been exquisite. But what dramatic consequences resulted from eating that bread of falsehood. The truth of this proverb, which applies to everything acquired in a lying way, repeats itself daily. Satan is still out to tempt people to eat of the bread he offers, which is always bread obtained by falsehood (Pro_9:17 ).

Proverbs 20:18-19

To Deal With War and Slander

For a plan to have a chance of success, there must be consultation (Pro_20:18 ). Consult first and then act. This is especially true for consultation with God, but also with other people. Only after mature deliberation can war be made (2Sa_17:1-14 2Sa_18:6-15 ). First, strategy must be discussed and goals set. Above all, it must be considered whether there are enough men and equipment, otherwise a different plan must be made (Luk_14:31-32 ).

We can apply this to the struggle for survival in this life. We live spiritually in war zone. Satan is lord and master of the world. He has also already infiltrated large parts of Christendom. Therefore, we must determine our strategy on how to resist him. God’s Word provides us with the armor for this purpose (Eph_6:10-18 ).

War is open enmity; slander or gossip is enmity on the sly (Pro_20:19 ). Slander is an extremely deadly weapon. It is dangerous to associate with a slanderer or gossiper. If someone ‘entrusts’ you with another person’s secret, you may be sure he will pass on the secret you entrust to him to another in the same way. Therefore, do not get involved with someone who always wants to talk to you about others, but avoid such a person.

Just as the gossiper gossips with you about others, he also gossips with others about you. He will also always say that you are the only one to whom he confides his secret. The less contact you have with a gossiper, the better. The warning is that you should be very careful about whom you entrust your secrets to.

Proverbs 20:20-21

To Curse and Pluck Parents

He who curses one of his parents will die in utter darkness (Pro_20:20 ). For such a person “the black darkness has been reserved forever” (Jud_1:13 ). The law commands that father and mother must be honored (Exo_20:12 ; Deu_5:16 ; Eph_6:1-3 ). Failure to do so is already a serious violation of the law. What happens here goes even further. It is the opposite. Instead of honoring the parents, they are cursed.

Only severe judgment can be passed on that (Exo_21:17 ; Lev_20:9 ; Deu_27:16 ; Mat_15:4-6 ). The lamp, here the symbol of light and life, is extinguished in utter darkness. The curser not only dies, but ends up in utter darkness. All connection with life and light is severed. He himself ends up in that which he wished for his parents.

An inheritance is not given to someone until the testator has died (Pro_20:21 ). The issue here is an inheritance that is acquired too soon. This means that it was acquired illegitimately and unjustly, with greed being the driving force. There is no patience to wait for the time God determines, but there is anticipation. It fits the mentality that is omnipresent today: wanting to have something and wanting it NOW.

We find an example of this in the parable of the prodigal son. He had no patience to wait for his father’s death and asked him for the portion of the inheritance to which he was entitled (Luk_15:12 ). In doing so, he prematurely declared his father dead. He quickly lost his property and ended up with the pigs. It is also possible for someone to drive his parents out of their inheritance by making life impossible for them (Pro_19:26 ). He who wants to snatch an inheritance in an evil, unjust way will always find a means. But he “will not be blessed in the end”.

Proverbs 20:22-23

Do Not Repay Evil With Evil

We live in a world where we can expect harm will be done to us (Pro_20:22 ). Therefore, we are told how to respond. We should not take justice into our own hands, but leave repayment to God. This requires both patience and trust. Patience to wait for His time and trust that He will deliver.

The righteous should not take vengeance for evil, for only God has the right to justly retaliate for evil and is perfectly capable of doing so (Rom_12:19 ). God’s work here focuses on the positive side. He is seen here as Redeemer and not as Avenger, which He also is. It does not say that the righteous must wait until he will see God’s judgment on his enemies, but until he will be redeemed. That is a big difference in expectation.

Few lessons are more difficult to learn than that of entrusting all our affairs to the Lord’s hands, especially when we feel we have been wronged and mistreated. David is an example for us in this. Much injustice was done to him by Saul. Yet he always waited on the LORD for his redemption and did not anticipate God’s time for his kingship by taking revenge on Saul. Our great example is the Lord Jesus “Who did not revile in return while being reviled, while suffering, uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously” (1Pe_2:23 ).

Pro_20:23 repeats Pro_20:10 in slightly different words. It is quite possible that this is done in view of its connection with the preceding verse. We then have to do with a warning against revenge by tampering with weights out of revenge on the other person in order to get even and to disadvantage him.

Proverbs 20:24-25

The Limits of Man

God’s control over a man’s life is beyond human perception and comprehension (Pro_20:24 ). Since God ultimately controls everything that happens, no man can be completely sure what the way ahead of him looks like. It is important for a man to become aware of this (Jer_10:23 ; Psa_37:23 ).

Man can sometimes act as if he is lord and master of his life while forgetting that he is totally dependent on God’s support and guidance. Then it is good to remember this proverb. It also applies to the believer who goes his way with the Lord. He, too, often cannot understand how his way in a particular situation could have run the way it did. Sometimes he sees it later in his life (Gen_50:20 ). In any case, we will see it when we are with the Lord.

Making a thoughtless holy vow (Pro_20:25 ) is an example of forgetting what the wise man said in the previous verse. One who makes a holy vow thoughtlessly walks into a trap because he does not know whether he can keep the vow. If, after he has made the vow, he realizes that he cannot or will not fulfill what he has promised, it is too late (Ecc_5:5 ; Deu_23:22-23 ). It is better to wait to make the vow until one has carefully considered the consequences of the decision. Because Jephthah acted impulsively, he lightly made a vow that he never would have made had he known what it involved (Jdg_11:30-40 ).

The vow in question is to declare something holy, that is, to consecrate it to the LORD. An example of such a vow is the vow of young people not to marry because they want to remain sexually pure or to serve the Lord. It is a holy vow, but it may well prove to be a trap because they have not carefully considered what God’s Word says about its terms (1Co_7:37 ).

Proverbs 20:26-28

A Wise King Sees Through Man

A wise king purifies his kingdom from wicked people (Pro_20:26 ). He can identify the wicked and judge them justly. He scatters them so that they will not unite and cannot take any joint action against him. Also, as punishment, he drives the threshing wheel over them (Isa_28:27-28 ), as it were to thresh them like chaff.

Just as a king searches his country to rid it of wickedness, the LORD searches the heart of a man to search all its motives (Pro_20:27 ). God has provided each person with a spirit so that he can evaluate his actions and motives. He is the “God of the spirits of all flesh” (Num_16:22 ). He breathed spirit into man at his creation (Gen_2:7 ). As a result, man possesses moral, intellectual and spiritual abilities and is able to know and please God.

The spirit in man serves as a conscience, represented in the “lamp of the LORD”. Man knows what is right and wrong through his conscience (Rom_2:14-15 ). This is further elaborated in the second line of verse. The searching of the spirit, the lamp, enables man to know himself (1Co_2:11 ; cf. Job_32:8 ; Zec_12:1 ). When a person’s spiritual life is functioning properly – that is, it is surrendered to God – and controlled by His Word, there will be increasingly less self-deception or indifference toward righteousness.

“Loyalty and truth” are prominent characteristics of a king (Pro_20:28 ). A king who exhibits these characteristics in his government will be protected by them. The people will have no reason to rebel against him, but will gladly submit to his authority. His actions in kindness “upholds his throne”. This is quite different from the thrones of the world that are established on tyranny and oppression.

In their fullness, these characteristics are present in Christ. When He appears as King, they will become perfectly visible in His government.

Proverbs 20:29

Strength as Glory and Gray Hair as Honor

Both “young men” and “old men” have something beautiful. This observation reminds us that there are several honorable mentions in life. For young men it is “their strength” and for old men it is “their gray hair”. The grayness symbolizes all that is valuable in old age. We see dignity, wisdom, honor, experience.

The generations are not contrasted, as if there were a generation gap. Solomon does not put one above the other, but presents of each generation what is its ornament and glory. Thus they stand side by side, each with its own brilliance. Young men symbolize strength of body, vision, energy. Old men are characterized by dignity, wisdom, honor and experience gained over the years, which is symbolized in their gray hair. It is important that the two generations do not despise each other, but appreciate each other.

Both adornments can be seen successively in a person’s life. A young man adorned with strength will realize that he owes it to God and may use it to serve Him and not to shine through it himself. He will then grow into someone who is an elder whose gray hair is the glory.

These growth stages are also there in the spiritual life. In the family of God, besides babies in the faith, there is also mention of young men and fathers in the faith (1Jn_2:13-17 ). Of the young men in faith, their strength is also mentioned as a characteristic. John writes to them that they are “strong” and adds that this is because “the Word of God abides in you and you have overcome the evil one” (1Jn_2:14 ). They have used their adornment, their strength, well, not to impress themselves with it, but to grow spiritually. Such young men will become fathers in the faith.

Proverbs 20:30

The Purifying Work of Stripes and Strokes

This verse looks like an advertisement promoting a health remedy. That remedy is “physical punishment”. The ‘package insert’ also states that its application should not be done softly. Its application is important for mental health. Physical punishment has a spiritual benefit. Physical punishment makes the conscience aware of failure and leads to confession and repentance.

What Solomon recommends seems primitive, crude and old-fashioned, and is even criminalized today in a growing number of countries. But pain sends a signal. He who does not feel pain is in danger of losing his life. To not give physical punishment is to disable a mechanism that can save lives.

Painful experiences (injuries), besides leading to confession and repentance, result in inner cleansing. Peace comes in the heart. For this reason, we must recognize the value of pain.

Proverbs 20:1-4
CRITICAL NOTES
Pro_20:1. Strong drink. The Hebrew word Shekhar includes every strong drink besides wine. Delitzsch translates it mead.
Pro_20:2. The fear of a king, i.e., the dread which he inspires. Sinneth against his soul, or “forfeits his life,” so Delitzsch and Miller.
Pro_20:3. To cease from strife. Rather, “to remain far from” it.
Pro_20:4. Delitzsch translates this verse, “At the beginning of the harvest the sluggard ploweth not, and so when he cometh to reaping time there is nothing.”
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro_20:1
STRONG DRINK
Taking the two words here used to stand for all intoxicating drinks, we remark—
I. That they are most deceptive in their operation. It is most certain that there is no person who is now an abject slave to strong drink, who would not once have indignantly repelled the insinuation that he or she would ever be a drunkard. It is taken probably for a long time without any evil effects being apparent, and the temporary stimulus is mistaken for a permanent increase of strength, until one day the unhappy victim finds himself a subject of the most tyrannical habit that enslaves fallen humanity. And strong drink may truly be said to be a “mocker,” when we see how men appear to struggle to escape from its deadly fascination, and how fruitless their efforts often are.
II. That they are powerful ministers to human passions. Wherever strong drink enters, every evil tendency is increased tenfold; the angry man becomes a monster of cruelty, and he who was before a comparatively harmless member of society, or even a useful one, becomes hurtful and dangerous. The restraints that are all powerful to govern a man when sober are all as utterly useless when he is under the power of strong drink, as silken cords would be to keep a wild beast within bounds.
III. It is utter folly to tamper with such a foe to human dignity and happiness. The deceptive influence of strong drink, and the miserable results of allowing it to gain the mastery over us, are all around men; none can now plead ignorance of its nature, or of its effects, for the world is full of homes ruined by it, and hearts which it has broken, and men whom it has changed into brutes. Experience sets her seal to Solomon’s declaration, and brands as without wisdom those who play with such a deadly and treacherous enemy.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
Solomon seldom singles out a specific vice; and when he does, it is often exemplary, or to be understood of any. He does single out drunkenness, however. Strikingly enough the Apostle does so. (1Co_6:10).—Miller.
If the fruit of his own vine sometimes chastised the unwary Israelite with whips, the fiery product of our distilleries chastise the nation with scorpions. The little finger of strong drink in modern times is thicker than the loins of its father and representative in Solomon’s day. The deceits which our enemy practises are legion; and legion too are the unwary “who are deceived thereby.” I shall enumerate a few of its lying devices. 1. A great quantity of precious food is destroyed in this country that strong drink may be extracted from the rubbish.… On an average of ten years, the quantity of barley converted into malt in the United Kingdom has been nearly six millions of quarters annually. When you add to this the unmalted grain consumed in the distillation of spirits in Ireland, you have an aggregate sufficient to feed between four and five millions of people throughout the year.… What do we obtain in return? A large quantity of malt liquors and distilled spirits. And is the gain equivalent, or nearly equivalent to the loss? 2. The curative and strengthening properties of our strong drinks, which are so much vaunted, are in reality next to nothing. We speak of the ordinary use of these articles as beverages.… If they contribute at any time to the quantity of force exerted by man, it corresponds not to the corn that you give to your horse, but to the whipping. A master who has hired you only for a day, and desires to make the most of his bargain, may possibly find it his interest to bring more out of your bones and sinews, by such a stimulus, but you certainly have no interest in lashing an additional effort out of yourself to-day, and lying in lethargy to-morrow.… Liebig has a pleasant notion about balancing on the point of a pen-knife, like a pinch of snuff, all the nourishment that the most capacious German swallows with his beer in a day. And it is chemistry he is giving us, not poetry or wit.… 3. Strong drink deceives the nation, by the vast amount of revenue that it pours into the public treasury. It is a true and wise economy to tax the articles heavily for behoof of the community, so far and as long as they are sold and used; but it is a false and foolish economy to encourage the consumption of the article, for the sake of the revenue it produces. Drink generates pauperism, and pauperism is costly. Drink generates crime, and crime is costly.… There is a huge living creature with as many limbs as a Hindoo idol, and these limbs intertwined with each other in equally admirable confusion. The creature having life must be fed, and being large, must have a good deal of food for its sustenance. One day, having got rather short allowance, it was rolling its heavy head among its many limbs, and found something warm and fleshy. Being hungry, it made an incision with its teeth, laid its lips to the spot, and sucked. Warm blood came freely; the creature sucked its fill, and, gorged, lay down to sleep. Next day, it supplemented its short rations in the same way. Every day the creature drank from that opening, and as this rich draught made up about one third of its whole sustenance, the wonder grew, why it was becoming weaker under the process, day by day. Some one at last bethought him of turning over the animal’s intermingled limbs, and found that all this time it had been sucking its own blood! The discoverer proposed to bandage the spot, and not permit the continuance of the unnatural operation. The financiers cried out, “A third of the animal’s sustenance comes from that opening; if you stop it, he will die!” Behold the wise politicians who imagine that the body politic would die of inanition, if it were deprived of the revenue which it sucks from its own veins, in the shape of taxes on the consumption of intoxicating drinks!—Arnot.
The thoughts in Pro_20:2-3 are the same as that in chap. Pro_19:12, see page 571, and chaps. Pro_14:29 and Pro_16:32, pages 386 and 497. The thought in the fourth verse is identical with that in chap. Pro_10:4, although the similitude is different, see page 146.

Proverbs 20:5
CRITICAL NOTES
Pro_20:5. Counsel. Delitzsch translates this word “purpose,” and understands it to refer to a secret plan.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro_20:5
DEEP SEA DREDGING
I. Much that is good, or much that is bad, may lie hidden in a man’s heart without its existence being suspected by the majority of his acquaintance. The word here rendered counsel may be taken in a twofold sense. It may be used of knowledge, or of great mental ability, which is hidden either because its possessor is exceedingly modest or exceedingly reserved—either because he lacks the will or the power to make it known. Or it may refer to deeply-laid schemes or well-planned purposes which a man intends shall one day become facts, but which at present exist only in his own mind. And according to the nature of the counsel it may be compared to the wealth of beauty and riches which lie hidden in the depth of the ocean, unsuspected by the majority of those who sail above, or to the deadly torpedo which makes no ripple upon the surface of the water, and which its victims approach without dreaming of what is concealed beneath.
II. The difficulty of one man’s obtaining what another wishes to conceal will depend upon the comparative wisdom of both. For many ages the deep sea seemed to defy all the efforts of man to explore its depths and to find out its secrets, but now even the ocean has to own him master in this respect, and to submit to have its treasures brought to light. There has been, as it were, a struggle between the sea and the man of science as to which should possess the treasures of the deep, and the issue has depended upon the ability of the man in comparison with the depth of the ocean. So there is sometimes a struggle between men—the one desiring to conceal his knowledge or his plans within his own breast, and the other desiring to discover them. The issue will depend upon the comparative mental power of the two men. If both be “men of understanding,” the resistance on the one side and the effort on the other will be continuous and long, and the “deep waters” may prove too deep for the bucket or the dredging net. But if the balance of wisdom is in favour of the seeker—if there is one spot where his line can reach—he will “draw out” the counsel and proclaim himself the master.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
The whole emblem finely illustrates what is true of the “inward light” as held by the “Friends.” All men have light which, if they would follow, would lead them (granting that they persevere) into the light of the gospel (Rom_1:20). What better name for this than counsel? Alas! it lies “deep.” No man will follow it but by the Spirit of God … Nevertheless it is there! How solemn that fact at the judgment day! “The word is nigh” (Rom_10:8). “A man of discernment,” or “understanding,” i.e., the Christian … Only the illuminated man, getting his light from its great fountain, will be moved to go down into his “heart,” where the counsel lies waiting, and “draw” the “deep waters.”—Miller.
Every question is, as it were, a turn of the windlass.—Plumptre.
He is an expert fisher … But man can but draw them out; God seeth them in the heart, man can see no more than he draws out, but God seeth all; man draws and labours for the knowledge he getteth, but all things are naked and open unto God’s sight. Jermin.

Proverbs 20:6-13
CRITICAL NOTES
Pro_20:6. Miller reads the first clause of this verse, “Much of the mere man one calls his goodness,” i.e., “Much that is merely human.” He allows, however, that the usual rendering conveys a very striking meaning and agrees admirably with the second clause. The Hebrew word means literally abundance of men. Delitzsch translates, “Almost everyone meeteth a man who is gracious unto him; but a man who standeth the test, who findeth such a one?”
Pro_20:7. This verse should be, “He who in his innocence walks uprightly, blessed are his children,” etc.
Pro_20:8. Judgment. Rather justice. Scattereth or winnoweth.
Pro_20:10. Divers weights. Literally, “a stone and a stone, an ephah and an ephah.”
Pro_20:11. Touching the second clause of this verse, Miller says, “It is too terse for English, and we cannot translate it. Nor can we brook the English version. Doings are in the same category with work. How can one be the test of the other? The only room for a proposition is, obviously, for this: ‘A child is known by his doings; and the question, Is he pure? is but the question, Is his work right?’ ”
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Pro_20:6-12
AN UNIVERSAL CHALLENGE, A GENERAL RULE, AND A RARE VIRTUE
I. A double challenge to all men. Who can say, I am pure from my sin? A faithful man, who can find? To the first of these questions the answer must be in the negative. 1. God answers No to it. The testimony of Scriptures is that in His sight “shall no man living be justified” (Psa_143:2): that “all have sinned” (Rom_3:23): that “if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1Jn_1:8). His ability to form a correct judgment rests upon His omniscience—He hath made the “hearing ear and the seeing eye” (Pro_20:12), and shall He not hear and see and know the thoughts of man? (Psa_94:9-10). He is the ideal King who winnows the actions of men. See Miller’s note on Pro_20:8 (Mat_3:12). 2. Man’s experience answers No to it. “Even a child is known by its doings” (Pro_20:11); the actions are like the hands of a clock, which tell to those who look upon them whether all the wheels within are in perfect working order. When we mark at all observantly the actions of even the best of men, we shall be most likely to detect here and there a flaw in their characters—some inconsistencies which tell of moral imperfection—but if not, man needs only to look within with some degree of impartiality to be convinced that his “own heart condemns him” (1Jn_3:20). But to the second challenge we need not give an universal negative. Faithful men are rare, but they can be found. Even Solomon could point to the “just man” who “walked in his integrity,” leaving a blessing behind him. His father David, although he was far from being free from sin, yea, although he sinned deeply and terribly, was yet a man who could appeal to God to witness to his integrity (Psa_7:8)—to the general intent and purpose of his life being toward God and goodness—to his being in the main faithful to his convictions of the right and true. (On this subject see on chap. Pro_11:3, page 196). And although faithful men are still rare enough to need search, they are more common than they were in Solomon’s days. There are many men scattered throughout the world who put duty before worldly interests, and God’s glory before their own, and are thus earning for themselves the well-done of the faithful though not the perfect servant (Mat_25:21). For it is certain that if a man is faithful to himself—if he subjects his own moral condition to that scrutiny which must convince him of his own impurity before a heart-searching and Holy God, and accepts His method of being cleansed from guilt—he will be faithful both to God and man.
“To thine own self be true:
And it must follow as the night the day;
Thou canst not then be false to any man.”
II. A general rule. Another proposition here laid down is, that although absolutely pure men are not to be found, and although faithful men are rare, yet “most men will proclaim everyone his own goodness” (Pro_20:6). There is a natural tendency in men to shrink from a very close inspection of their own motives, and desires, and feelings—they look anywhere rather than within, and, consequently, very few have any conception of their own depravity. They have never measured even their actions, much less their thoughts, by the requirements of God’s law, and consequently, while He pronounces them “wretched, and miserable, and poor,” they are saying, “I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing” (Rev_3:17-18). Most men are thanking God that “they are not as other men are” when they ought to be smiting their breasts and saying, “God be merciful to me, a sinner” (Luk_18:13). It is this wide-spread self-deception concerning their real condition that renders men so indifferent to God’s method for restoring them, and thus keeps the world in its present state of soul-sickness and death.
For Homiletics on Pro_20:10, see on chap. 11, page 1.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
This faithfulness, where it exists, develops itself in two branches; the one suppressing our neighbour’s vanity, and the other our own. The last mentioned is first in order of nature and in relative importance the chief. True faithfulness, like charity, begins at home.… Faithful reproof of another’s foibles is a virtue which some can exercise without an effort. They deal a hearty blow on the head of a luckless brother egotist who stands in the way of their own advancement, and then expect to be praised for faithfulness. But it is Jehu’s driving. The zeal which impels it is not pure.—Arnot.
The meaning is (see CRITICAL NOTES for Miller’s rendering) that a man is apt to call mere animal traits, like amiableness, or good nature, by the name of goodness; and the caution is, that seeking deep for piety (Pro_20:5), we should be careful to take up with no such stupid counterfeit. Much of the mere flesh, to borrow a New Testament expression, is kind and honest. There is much of the mere man’s native morality. We must take care not to take that for “goodness.” There is a certain true fidelity that embraces everything. That is religion. It embraces God. It embraces spiritual faithfulness. It may be easily counterfeited. It has been the snare of our race to take “what is of the mere man,” and confound it with it.—Miller.
A faithful man—as a parent—a reprover—an adviser—one “without guile”—who can find? (Mic_7:1-2.) Look close. View thyself in the glass of the Word (Psa_101:6). Does thy neighbour, or thy friend, find thee faithful to him? What does our daily intercourse witness? Is not the attempt to speak what is agreeable often made at the expense of truth? Are not professions of regard sometimes utterly inconsistent with our real feelings? In common life, where gross violations are restrained, a thousand petty offences are allowed, that break down the wall between sin and duty, and, judged by the Divine standard, are indeed guilty steps upon forbidden ground.—Bridges.
But the manner in which men make known what they account their goodness is very various. Some are open with it. They almost literally “proclaim” it upon the housetops. To every individual, and in every company, they speak of it—of what they are, of what they have said, of what they have done, of what they think, and of what they wish and intend to do. And O! if they had but the means, what would they not accomplish!
Some there are who are quite as vain, and as ambitious of commendation and praise—who, knowing that everything of the nature of ostentation is exceedingly unpopular, and lets a man down, and tempts others to pluck his feathers from him—set about their object with greater art. They devise ways of getting their merits made known so as to avoid the flaw of ostentatious self-display. In company, they commend others for the qualities which they conceive themselves specially to possess, or for the doing of deeds which they themselves are sufficiently well known to have done; and they turn the conversation dexterously that way; or they find fault with others for the want of the good they are desirous to get praise for; or they lament over their own deficiencies and failures in the very points in which they conceive their excellence to lie—to give others the opportunity of contradicting them; or, if they have done anything they deem particularly generous and praiseworthy, they introduce some similar case, and bring in, in as apparently accidental and unintentional a way as possible, the situation of the person or the family that has been the object of their bounty.—Wardlaw.
Pro_20:7. Many are the several walks of men in this world—one walketh in his pleasure, as it were in the walks of a garden; another walketh in his profit, and he walketh as it were up and down the exchange; another walketh in troubles, and he walketh as it were in a wood; another walketh in his poverty, and he walketh as it were in a desert; another walketh in his beastly lusts of drunkenness and uncleanness, and he walks as it were in mire and dirt; the just man walketh in his integrity, and he walketh as it were in the holy temple.—Jermin.
Pro_20:8. We must be very careful, then, how we do our sifting. God’s is perfectly complete … He winnows us at a glance. It is important, therefore, that we have something more than “evil,” because “all” that He shall winnow bodily away.—Miller.
Pro_20:9. Behold here the king sitting upon the throne of His judgment, whereof the former verse speaketh! Who can say it, and say it truly? Who will say it, and so be untrue in saying it? Who shall say it, and be so impudent as to say it? For to make clean the heart is His work who hath made the heart, thou who hast made it unclean canst not make it clean.—Jermin.
This proverb is especially noteworthy because, in contrast with the style of conception which is elsewhere predominant in the Proverbs, according to which the imperfection of all human piety is but slightly emphasized, and he who is relatively pious is allowed to pass as righteous, it gives expression to the unsatisfying nature of all moral endeavours, as never conducting to the full extirpation of all sense of guilt, and a perfect feeling of peace with God:
it accordingly suggests the need of a higher revelation in which the sense of guilt and of an ever-imperfect fulfilment of duty shall finally be overcome.—Elster, in Lange’s Commentary.
Pro_20:10. Originally, as in Pro_11:1, of dishonesty in actual trade, but here perhaps as a companion to Pro_20:9, with a wider application to all inequality of judgment, to all judging one man by rules which we do not apply to ourselves or to another.—Plumptre.
That whereby thou takest from others shall add unto the weight of thine own punishment; that whereby thou addest in measuring for thyself shall make God to take away from the measure of His mercy towards thee.—Jermin.
Pro_20:11. There is no tree that in growing doth not bend rather to the one side or the other; there is no river which, although it have many windings and turnings, yet in the course of it doth not rather turn one way than another; and so it is in the life of man, even from the childhood of man’s life. Do not judge, therefore, of any man by one work or two, so thou mayest wrong him and deceive thyself.—Jermin.
For Homiletics on Pro_20:13 see on chap. Pro_6:10-11, page 79.

Proverbs 20:14-15
CRITICAL NOTES
Pro_20:15. Here Miller reads, There is gold, etc., in the lips of knowledge.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro_20:14
BARGAINING
This proverb refers—
I. To a world-wide manifestation of human selfishness. A custom that was prevalent in the days of Solomon, many centuries ago, and amid circumstances which differed widely from those by which we are surrounded, has held its place among men until the present day, and will doubtless continue to do so until the teachings and the spirit of Christianity rule the world. It prevails in modern England quite as extensively as it did in ancient Judea; and whether the buyer be a millionaire bargaining for an estate, or a costermonger for the worth of a shilling, he is often found knowingly, and therefore criminally, depreciating the value of the commodity. It is a trait of fallen humanity which “makes the whole world kin.”
II. A pitiful ground of boasting. Although it does need some skill and experience to tell the real value of an article, it requires none to pronounce it good for nothing. Only a man with some knowledge and judgment can put a fair price upon it, but any fool can say, “It is naught, it is naught.” And if by knowingly depreciating the purchase the buyer robs the seller, he has but a very poor transaction to boast of. He has wronged another, it is true, but he has far more grievously wronged himself, for if his neighbour is the poorer by a few pence or pounds, he is the poorer by so much injury done to his own conscience, and by so much loss of the confidence of his fellow men. He who makes a boast of such a matter must, indeed, have few grounds for boasting.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
This victorious boasting is not like other boasting. For that delighteth to do it in the face of the conquered; but this, as justly ashamed of itself, is made when they are gone one from the other. But to make a moral application of the words, as it is in buying commodities, so it is in the getting of wisdom and godliness; while a man labours for the obtaining of it, the trouble of his pains maketh him not to think so well of it, but having made it his own, then he praiseth the worth and excellency of it.—Jermin.
For Homiletics on Pro_20:15 see on chap. Pro_3:14-15; Pro_8:11; Pro_12:14; Pro_18:20-21; pages 39, 107, 275, and 555.

Proverbs 20:16
CRITICAL NOTES
Pro_20:16. A strange woman. Rather, “a stranger.”
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro_20:16
NECESSARY SECURITY
I. An untrustworthy creditor. A man who under ordinary circumstances makes himself a surety for one who is a stranger to him, is chargeable with great folly, and the act may be a criminal one. He is very foolish if he pledges himself up to his ability of redeeming his pledge, and he is dishonest if he goes beyond it. The warning of the proverb is directed against entering into business relations with a man who has so slight a sense of his own responsibility as to become “surety for a stranger.” It may be regarded as a certainty that a man who will enter into such an engagement without reflection and caution is not to be depended on—does not measure his actions in this particular by a very high standard of morality. He may be a man of generous impulses and good intentions, but he lacks that substratum of high principle which makes a safe creditor.
II. An extreme security. The necessity of exacting security before credit, discloses the existence of immorality in the world. In a family where every brother is known to the other, and where the interests of each are the interests of all, there is no need to take a pledge for the performance of any promise, or the payment of any debt. But in the imperfect state of society in which we find ourselves, security before credit is necessary when we enter into business transactions with our fellow men, for the world is not yet ruled by the Divine precept, “Love thy neighbour as thyself.”—(Mat_19:19). And the security may be regulated by the reliability of him whom we trust. Solomon here regards him who becomes surety for a stranger, as so unlikely to be faithful to his own liabilities, that those who trust him may exact from him even that pledge which was the last allowed in the Mosaic law, and which could not be retained beyond the day (Exo_22:26-27). The injunction is probably to be regarded rather as advice against trusting such a man at all. (On the subject of suretyship, see Comments on chap. Pro_6:1. page 76).
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
The moral is that securityships are so unsafe that we may treat the man as one already ruined. But in the spiritual world it means (chap. 6.) that a man who holds fast sloth (chap. Pro_5:13), holds fast a bond of eternal vengeance; that he renews it by his wilful act (Pro_17:18); that it is a bond to a friend (chap. Pro_6:1), but that friend forced ex lege to collect it; that if now at this late day he holds it on, stand clear from him! He will certainly be lost. Take his garment, that is, use the last resort, as against the most hopeless bondsman.—Miller.
His garment is not so near unto him as thou art unto thyself; that is not more needful to keep him warm than it is to keep thee safe. And seeing that he, by his folly, hath made himself naked of understanding, it is not thou but himself that maketh him naked of his garment. Seeing he is content to give himself a pledge for a stranger, it is less than thou doest in taking his garment as a pledge of him.—Jermin.

Proverbs 20:17
CRITICAL NOTES
Pro_20:17. A man. The Hebrew word here used is the one which denotes a superior man.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro_20:17
BAD BREAD
I. Some gratification is to be obtained from dishonest gain. Many a swindler gets not only bread by swindling, but many other things, which not only minister to his senses, but gratify mental appetites not in themselves unlawful. And he finds pleasure in the fruit of his dishonesty—in, it may be, his well-furnished table, his luxurious mansion, his social position. It is not the highest and the purest pleasure, but there is a sweetness in it, or men would not grasp so eagerly the “bread of deceit.”
II. A time will come when it will not only cease to give pleasure, but will bring misery. The dishonest man will find that, after all, his gains are not bread for his higher nature—that his soul is still unsatisfied, and crying out for sustenance—and, more than this, that his conscience demands satisfaction for the wrong-doing of the past—that even if he is permitted to keep possession of his ill-gotten wealth, it is not only what chaff without the grain, or the husk without the kernel, is to the starving man, but as the very sand of the desert or the dust of the highway in the mouth, tormenting as well as unsatisfying.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
“Everything gotten wrongfully is here implied.” Bitter was Achan’s sweet, deceitfully hid in the tent, which brought ruin upon himself and his family (Jos_7:21-24). Look at Gehazi. What profit had he from his talents of silver and changes of garments? Bitter indeed was the bread of deceit to him (2Ki_5:20-27). Look even at Jacob, a true servant of God; and yet chastened heavily almost to the end of his days with the bitter fruits of deceit (Genesis 27; Gen_42:36-38).—Bridges.
Men must not think to dine with the devil, and then to sup with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.—Trapp.
It is crusted without, as if it were bread; but within, contrary to bread, is not soft. The deceived, tasting it with the tongue of his hope and presuming confidence, findeth nothing which is not grateful unto him: the deceiver tasting it with the tongue of present profit findeth it most luscious unto him. But when the deceiver, having it in his mouth, pierceth it with the teeth of his trial, then as gravel breaketh the teeth so it breaketh his heart; and when the deceiver comes to feed upon it he findeth there is no juice of true profit.—Jermin.

Proverbs 20:18-19
CRITICAL NOTES
Pro_20:18. The first clause may be read, Establish thy purpose by counsel.
Pro_20:19. “Him that flattereth.” Rather, him that openeth wide his lips, i.e., the babbler.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro_20:18
THOUGHT BEFORE ACTION
I. The permanent success of an undertaking is generally in proportion to the thought bestowed upon it beforehand. It is an act of extreme folly to commit ourselves to any course, or to undertake any task without first weighing all the probable consequences, and providing against the most likely contingencies. Such a wise forethought by no means excludes entire dependence upon God, for while it is most true that “Man’s goings are of the Lord,” and “a man cannot understand his own way” (Pro_20:24), both common sense and the Word of God plainly teach that man must use the powers of forethought with which he has been endowed, or he must be content to see his purposes frustrated and his plans miscarry. If he desires his “purposes” to be “established,” in other words—what he does to have a lasting result in the direction desired—he must “
sit down first” and “count the cost” (Luk_14:28; Luk_14:31).
II. It is advisable to call in the wisdom of others to help us in our deliberations. Since one man is rarely, if ever, able to look at a matter from every point of view, his plans are most likely to be wisely laid, and his purposes most likely to succeed, if he looks at them with the eyes of other men as well as with his own. They may discern a weak spot where he saw nothing to fear, or a point of vantage which had escaped his notice entirely. Or they may see good reasons for dissuading him altogether from the undertaking, or may make him so much the stronger for the task by encouragement and counsel. It is not generally those who are most able to act alone who lightly esteem the advice of others—those men who are most successful in that to which they put their hand are not as a rule given to undervalue the wisdom of other people.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
The greatest trust between man and man is the trust of giving counsel.… Things will have their first or second agitation; if they be not tossed upon the waves of counsel, they will be tossed upon the waves of fortune, and be full of inconstancy, doing and undoing, like the reeling of a drunken man.—Lord Bacon.
Ponder Bishop Hall’s description of the spiritual war. “It admits of no intermission. It knows no night, no winter. It abides no peace, no truce. It calls us not into garrison, where we may have ease and respite, but into pitched fields continually. We see our enemies in the face always, and are always seen and assaulted; ever resisting, ever defending, receiving and returning blows. If either we be negligent or weary, we die. What other hope is there, while one fights and the other stands still? We can never have safety and peace but in victory. Then must our resistance be courageous and constant, when both yielding is death, and all treaties of peace mortal.” Does not this war bring the greatest need of deliberate counsel, carefully counting the cost (Luk_14:31-32); cleaving to our All-wise Counsellor (Isa_9:6) and Almighty Helper?—Bridges.
Among the Romans, though a man were never so strong, never so valiant, yet, if he wanted wisdom and counsel, he was said to be miles sine oculis, a soldier without his eyes.—Jermin.
See CRITICAL NOTES for the correct rendering of the second clause of Pro_20:19, and for Homiletics see on chap. Pro_10:19 and Pro_11:13, pages 168 and 211.

Proverbs 20:20-21
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro_20:20
AN UNNATURAL CHILD AND A NATURAL LAW
I. An unnatural child. The ungrateful son or daughter of good parents is an unnatural being. If experience did not contradict, we should say that even fallen human creatures must return love for love, and could not help feeling gratitude to those who have denied themselves for their good. And as there is no love so strong and so unselfish as that which a parent feels toward a child, it does seem almost impossible that any child can be unresponsive to it. But if to remain untouched by it is unnatural, how much more so is it to attain to the height of wickedness upon which the text passes judgment. We must suppose that the proverb refers to fathers and mothers who are, to some extent, what they ought to be—who do in some measure reflect upon their offspring the tenderness of the Great and Divine Father—and then we can conceive of no more unnatural being than he “who curseth his father or his mother.” Every natural instinct tends in the opposite direction.
II. A natural law. It does not need any special Divine interposition to blight and ruin such a man. The most powerful and blessed human influences are those which flow from the home-life, and from the emotions which ought to be kindled by the relationship of a child to its parent. But if these holiest influences are resisted and these emotions are stifled, moral darkness must overshadow the life, and it will continue to deepen while the hardness of heart continues. It is well known that even the remembrance of parental love after long years of insensibility to it is often the first step back into the light of righteousness and hope, and that many who have sunk very low in crime could trace their present condition to the unnatural sin of hardening their hearts against parental love.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
This cursing, according to our Lord’s standard, includes “setting light by father or mother;” wilful disobedience—a fearful, palpable mark of the last days. How God regards it, let his own curse on Mount Ebal (Deu_27:16), and his judgment of temporal death, testify. The present degradation of Africa is a witness, on the confirming page of history, of the frown upon an undutiful son (Gen_9:22-25)—his lamp put out in darkness.—Bridges.
It must needs be an obscure darkness that is fallen upon that soul, in whom the light of nature is so far extinguished as that he curseth them from whom he had the blessing of being. It must needs be a smoky breath that shall reproach him who was the breath of his nostrils. And what can he expect but that his lamp shall be put out in darkness.—Jermin.
For Homiletics of Pro_20:21, see on chap. Pro_13:11, page 306; also on chap. Pro_21:5-7, page 596.

Proverbs 20:22-23
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro_20:22
THE RECOMPENSER OF EVIL
I. The man who has been wronged is disqualified to punish the offender. A sense of pain and suffering is not helpful to a man’s judgment. He sees neither things nor persons in the light in which he would see them under happier conditions, and would not be likely to deal impartially with the offender. Hence, both the Bible and wise human governments—while freely allowing that he who injures another ought not to go unpunished—forbids men from undertaking the punishment themselves. Every human creature labours under another disqualification also. He is himself a law-breaker in a greater or less degree, and is not himself guiltless in thought and word, and perhaps in deed, of wrong towards his neighbour. The best of men cannot claim to be guiltless in this matter, and the majority are great offenders in one form or another. Therefore on this account also it is not meet for men to avenge their personal wrongs.
II. The most effectual way to rid one’s self of the desire for revenge. We do not understand this proverb to forbid the bringing of men who have wronged us to the bar of human justice, for this may be a duty which we owe to society. It would be criminal in most cases not to apprehend one who had robbed us if it lay in our power to do so, for by letting him go free we should be exposing other innocent men to danger. But there are many cases in which men are greatly wronged in ways which do not come within the cognisance of human law, and when no benefit to anyone would arise from their punishment by any human instrumentality. In such cases, the sure remedy for any vindictive feelings in our own breasts is to lay the matter before Him whose judgment must be impartial, and who will render to every man according to his works. Waiting upon the Lord, too, will remind us so forcibly of our own shortcomings and wrongdoings that we shall be more ready to forget those of our brother.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
It is to be observed that it is not said, Wait on the Lord and He will avenge thee, but, He will save thee. By this kind of speech, the Holy Ghost would warn every one that is injured, not to think of the revenge or hurt of his adversary, but of his own defence and salvation.—Muffet.
The question is clearly this: Is your safety and protection best lodged in God’s hand or your own? By indulging your revengeful spirit, you do yourself a greater hurt than your greatest enemy can do you, for you gratify his ill-nature, when you suffer it to make a deep impression on your spirit, without which it could do you little or no hurt; but by committing your cause to God, you turn his ill will to your great advantage, making it an occasion for the exercise of the noblest graces, which are attended with the sweetest fruits, and with the rich blessing of God.—Lawson.
While Moses is dumb, God speaks; deaf, God sees and stirs. Make God your chancellor, in case no law will relieve, and you shall do yourself no disservice. If compelled to go a mile, rather than revenge, go two, yea, as far as the gospel of peace will carry you, and God will bring you back “with everlasting joy (Isa_35:10). This is the way to be even with him that wrongs you, nay, to be above him.—Trapp.
So far should the desire of revenge be from man’s heart, so far the execution of revenge from man’s hand, that his tongue should not say it. Shall any say, I will revenge, when God says, revenge is mine. Neither let any say, I will revenge because I have been wronged. For, as Tertullian says, what difference is there between being the provoker and the provoked; but that he is first found in wickedness, and the other afterward? Do not therefore provoke God to anger, by seeking revenge in thy anger. Let God have his right.—Jermin.
For Homiletics on Pro_20:23, see on chap. Pro_11:1, page 190.

Proverbs 20:24
CRITICAL NOTES
Pro_20:24. Man. The first word, Geber, denoting a superior or mighty man: the second, Adam, man in general, or an ordinary man.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro_20:24
GOD OVER ALL
A reference to the CRITICAL NOTES will show that in this verse there is an argument from the greater to the less, for the first clause contains an affirmation of a truth, and the second an argument drawn therefrom.
I. The truth affirmed, viz.—That the actions of the most mighty men, and the purposes of the wisest, are directly and absolutely under the control of God. This is self-evident if we admit that God is an Eternal, Omniscient, and Almighty Being, who concerns Himself with the government of the world. Having existed throughout the Eternal past and possessing absolute knowledge of the Eternal future, and being the Author of every man’s being—determining the date of his entrance into the world and the period of his continuance in it, and during all that time “
encompassing his path and his lying down,” and even “understanding his thought afar off” (Psa_139:2-3)—how can even the mightiest of men boast of his independence of God and foretell what shall be the issue of his most sagacious counsels, or be confident that he shall be allowed to carry out even the most matured of his purposes. While he is perfectly conscious of his power to will and to do within certain limits, he must be also conscious that his ability to do both are dependent upon the will of Him in whom we all live and move and have our being.
II. The inference drawn. If God is thus above and behind the goings of the mighty of the earth, it is man’s wisdom to trust the mysteries of the present and the contingencies of the future in His hands. Every night throughout the year travellers from one part of our island to the other commit their bodily life unreservedly into the hands of one or two of their fellow-creatures. They are either impelled by inclination, or compelled by necessity, to undertake a certain journey, and to do this they must take their places in a railway train, and for a time surrender their power to take care of their own lives into the hands of others. Darkness is all around them as they travel on, and darkness is before them—they cannot discern the road by which they are travelling, or be absolutely certain that they will reach the place which they desire. Yet their confidence in the skill and fidelity of a few of their fellow-creatures is strong enough to make them generally at ease. Each human life resembles such a journey. The path from the cradle to the grave must be traversed, but insoluble mysteries lie all around, and the future is entirely hidden from view. There is but One who knoweth the way that we take, to whom both past, and present, and future are alike visible and comprehensible. His infinite wisdom and love ought to make us willing to leave Him to “direct our paths,” while a sense of our individual responsibility ought to keep us from presumptuous rashness on the one hand, and from indolent inertness on the other. The truth set forth in this proverb ought to be set beside that in Pro_20:18.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
As the first clause attributes to the Lord exclusively the ordering of great men’s goings, in order to attain success, so the second attributes to Him the prescient understanding of men’s course. God directs natural actions by His ordinary providence, spiritual actions by His special providence, which foreordains from eternity, awakens the sinner, removes obstacles, suggests that state of life wherein He sees that the man will not fall away, but attain to glory. However a man may understand his life with respect to its beginning and aim, yet he understands not the best means in doubtful cases, nor can he ensure the issue.—Fausset.
Little did Israel understand the reason of their circuitous way to Canaan. Yet did it prove in the end to be “the right way.” As little did Ahasuerus understand the profound reason why “on that night could not the king sleep;” a minute incident, seeming scarcely worthy to be recorded, yet a necessary link in the chain of the Lord’s everlasting purposes of grace to His Church (Est_6:1.) Little did Philip understand his own way when he was moved from the wide sphere of preaching the gospel in Samaria to go into the desert, which ultimately proved a wider extension of the gospel. As little did the great Apostle understand that his “prosperous journey” to see his beloved flock at Rome would be a narrow escape from shipwreck, and to be conducted a prisoner in chains. Little do we know what we pray for. “By terrible things wilt Thou answer us in righteousness, O God of our salvation” (Psa_65:5). We go out in the morning not understanding our way; “not knowing what an hour may bring forth” (chap. Pro_27:1). Some turn connected with our happiness or misery for life meets us before night (Joh_4:7). Joseph, in taking his walk to search for his brethren, never anticipated a more than twenty years’ separation from his father (Gen_37:14). And what ought those cross ways or dark ways to teach us? Not constant, trembling anxiety, but daily dependence. “I will bring the blind by a way that they know not: I will lead them in paths that they have not known.” But shall they be left in the dark perplexity? “I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them” (Isa_42:16).—Bridges.
The cross ways that thwart man’s goings are of God’s laying out, the short ways which some make are of His finding out, the long ways that some go about are of His leading.… He doth but tumble down the hill of his own audacious rashness that thinketh to climb up unto God’s way. What God hath revealed of Himself in moderating man’s ways is true wisdom to observe, and happy is he who maketh use of it. But as ignorance here is an idle carelessness, so knowledge there is a prying boldness.—Jermin.

Proverbs 20:25
CRITICAL NOTES
Pro_20:25. The first clause of this verse should be, “It is a snare to a man to cry out hastily ‘holy,’ i.e., to vow without thought and consideration.”
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro_20:25
For the correct rendering of this verse see CRITICAL NOTES
RELIGIOUS VOWS
I. A man is under no obligation to vow. While the Scriptures contain many references to vows, whereby certain persons consecrated themselves or their property to God and give laws concerning their fulfilment (Numbers 30), there is no command which requires men to enter into such a solemn engagement. The text refers solely to religious vows—to an act of special consecration to God, such as that of Jacob at Bethel when he dedicated the tenth of all his gains to the service of Jehovah (Gen_28:22), or that of Hannah when she promised that, if God would give her a man-child, she would give him unto the Lord all the days of his life (1Sa_1:11). It is obvious that such special acknowledgements of particular and exceptional blessings must be pleasing to God, but He lays upon men no obligation to render them, seeing that their value consists in their being spontaneous—the overflow of a grateful heart, or the result of a deep conviction of the claims of God, or of the need of Divine help in extraordinary circumstances.
II. A man is bound by the most solemn considerations not to vow thoughtlessly. As an intelligent and moral being he is bound to enter upon no course and to make no engagement without first inquiring whether the motive which prompts him at the outset is strong enough to carry him to the end. It is a snare and a sin to promise to a fellow-man and afterwards, in the words of the proverb, “to make inquiry,” i.e., to ask ourselves whether we are prepared to abide by our promise. The inquiry must even in such a case be made beforehand, or we must be branded with unfaithfulness to our plighted word. (These remarks of course do not apply to vows and promises which are in themselves sinful or unlawful. The proverb does not deal with such). If, then, a man is bound to consider well before he promises to man, how much more so before he vows to God! What must be the harm done to conscience and to character, and how great the insult offered to the Divine Majesty, when vows are made and obligations entered into, and afterwards he who thus bound himself finds that he is not morally prepared for the sacrifice. To such an one we might say, as Peter said to Ananias—“Whiles it remained, was it not thine own?… Thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God” (Act_5:4-5). “Better is it that thou shouldest not vow,” says the Preacher, “than that thou shouldest vow and not pay” (Ecc_5:5).
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
It is questionable whether vows, properly so called, are consistent with the genius of the New Testament dispensation. At any rate, of such vows as were common under the Old, we have no recorded examples under the New. Resolutions to serve God we may, nay we must make; there is no getting on in the Divine life and in the zealous promotion of the Divine glory, without them. But the binding of the soul by particular bonds and oaths, whether verbal or written—obligations superinduced upon those of the Divine law—have been “a snare” to many, Weak minds have often felt the obligation of their vow more stringent than that of the Divine authority.—Wardlaw.

Proverbs 20:26
CRITICAL NOTES
Pro_20:26. The wheel, i.e., the wheel of the threshing, instrument which blows away the chaff.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro_20:26; Pro_20:28
PILLARS OF GOVERNMENT
I. A human ruler will have rebellious subjects in his kingdom. This will be the case however wise the laws, and with whatever care and discrimination they are administered. In the most cultivated and carefully kept ground some weeds are always found among the flowers—some tares among the wheat; and since the King who can do no wrong numbers among his subjects those who are lawless and disobedient, the best and wisest of human rulers must expect to do the same.
II. It is the duty and wisdom of a human ruler to make a distinction between his good and bad subjects, and to punish the latter. Even if the wheel mentioned in the proverb be regarded as simply an instrument of separation, as the threshing instrument separates the chaff from the wheat, the idea of punishment is retained. In a well-governed kingdom the laws which govern it are such a separating power between the evil and the good, so far as external conduct is concerned, and it is indispensable for the stability of peace and order that they should be strictly enforced. It would be most unjust, as well as unwise—it would be tempting men to transgression—if the lawless citizens in a community were allowed to go unpunished; and it is contrary to our innate sense of justice that in any kingdom “the righteous should be as the wicked” (Gen_18:25)—that the thief should have all the privileges of an honest man, and the murderer the liberty of an innocent person. The punishment of transgressors not only defends the good man, but it may prevent the bad man from increasing his guilt by adding crime to crime. The king of Solomon’s proverbs is a typical word for all who are called upon to rule, whether in the family or the State, and the very word ruler, or governor, implies a discrimination between the evil and the good and a difference in their treatment.
III. The preservation of the throne depends more upon moral than upon physical power. We take the word throne in its widest sense as signifying any place or position which raises one man to be in any sense the ruler of another, from the throne of the father in his family and the master among his servants to that of the king amidst his subjects. In each and every one of these kingdoms, although external and physical coercion and punishment are sometimes indispensable, yet there is no permanent stability unless there is mercy and truth in the ruler, and unless it is manifest in his government. Many a throne has been erected on other foundations,—physical strength has established many kingdoms, and material wealth has set many men upon thrones. But if they have raised a superstructure its foundation has been in the sand, and when the rain and wind of adversity have descended upon it it has fallen, and great has been the fall of it. There must be some truth and mercy—some righteousness and justice, and withal some exercise of grace towards the wrongdoer—if the throne or the kingdom is to be upholden, and the wisdom of the ruler will be shown in his so mingling sternness with severity as to make both contribute to the one end. Truth must here be taken as synonymous with righteousness—as that observance of the just claims of every man which he has a right to expect and demand from those who rule him. This will include that punishment of the lawless which is the subject of Pro_20:26, but it is here implied that even punishment is to be tempered with mercy. Pity for the offender ought always to be mingled with indignation at the offence, and if any ruler desires to sit firmly upon his seat of justice he must consider not only the greatness of the crime but the strength of the temptation—not how severely he can punish the criminal but whether he can reform him. And this is rarely if ever done by the exercise of justice merely. The frost and cold are necessary to kill the weeds and vermin and to break up the soil, but there will never be flowers or fruit without summer rain and sunshine. And mercy is that “gentle rain from heaven” without which no sinful creature will ever bring forth fruits of righteousness.
ILLUSTRATION
The necessity of mingling mercy with justice is strikingly exemplified in the great success which attended the efforts of the late Captain Maconochie to benefit the convicts in our penal settlement in Norfolk Island. Having, in his capacity as Secretary to the Governor of Tasmania, seen most terrible and hardening effects from unmixed severity, he desired earnestly to try what could be done by combining mercy with discipline and punishment. For this purpose he was placed in command of Norfolk Island, and remained there four years, having under his care from 1500 to 2000 doubly-convicted prisoners, i.e., convicts who, after being transported from England to New South Wales, had been for other crimes again transported to Norfolk Island. Previous to his arrival they worked in chains, and it was considered dangerous for even armed officers to approach within three yards of them. It was considered unsafe to trust them with knives, and they therefore tore their food with their hands and teeth. They were accustomed to inflict dreadful injuries upon themselves in order to evade labour, and were described at the time as a demoniacal assemblage. But under more humane treatment the entire colony became changed, and one of his colleagues testifies that he and another superintendent “resided at one of the settlements in a cottage without lock and key, with simply a latch to the door, and close to the convict barracks, where over 2000 were lodged every night, also without locks.” “Not a single serious offence,” says he, “was ever committed in that time by any of those men, and the only bodyguard was another free superintendent and myself, together with a few trustworthy men selected from among themselves.” This gentleman (Mr. J. Simms, since Governor of Plymouth Prison) goes on to say, “I shall ever remember this year as the most remarkable of all my prison experience, because it.… was a fair result of what might be realised from any body of men generally, thus treated, not by force, iron force, but by moral means.” One remarkable example is given. At Sydney there had been a most desperate and unmanageable convict, named Anderson. He was flogged time after time for various offences, but to no good effect. He became more outrageous than ever. At last, the authorities, in despair, put him on a little island in Sydney Harbour, where he was kept chained to a rock, and in the hollow of which rock he slept. After some weeks the Governor went to see him, and urged him to submit to authority, but he refused. He was then sent for life to Port Macquarie Convict Station, where he was again and again flogged. He made his escape, and lived among the natives for some time, but, ultimately, being recaptured, he was sent to Norfolk Island for the crime of murder. Under Maconochie’s humane treatment he became a changed man, and when the Governor of New South Wales visited the settlement he particularly noticed Anderson, and inquired, “What smart fellow may that be?” (See Leisure Hour for October, 1878.)
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
All dynasties have been kind. If they are cruel now, it must be like the weight of a clock, running down. There was kindness. “Mercy and truth” must at some time or other have builded the “throne.”—Miller.
Godly Asa removed wickedness from the high place nearest his own throne and heart. Amaziah justly punished it with death. Nehemiah—that true reformer—rebuked it even in the family of the high priest. Our own Alfred appeared to maintain this standard as a witness for God in an age of darkness. But it is the King of kings alone that can make this separation complete. Often does He sift His Church by trial, for her greater purity and complete preservation (Amo_9:9). But what will it be, when He shall come “with His fan in His hand, and shall thoroughly purge His floor?” (Mat_3:12). What a scattering of chaff will there be! Not an atom will go into the garner. Not a grain of wheat will be cast away. O my soul! what wilt thou be found at this great sifting day! “Who may abide the day of His coming? And who shall stand when He appeareth?” (Mal_3:2).—Bridges.
There goes more to preserve a king than to preserve a kingdom; and though the preservation of a kingdom be a weighty matter, yet the preservation of a king is much more weighty—though much care and pains be required for the one, much more is required for the other. Half of that will serve for the one which is needful for the other. Mercy will support the throne, but mercy and truth must preserve the king.—Jermin.

Proverbs 20:27
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro_20:27
THE CANDLE OF THE LORD
We understand by the spirit of a man the self-conscious ego—that which takes cognizance of the inner life, and which reasons and passes judgment upon all a man’s perceptions, emotions, and volitions.
I. Man’s spirit is a candle, because it is not self-originating. When we speak of a candle, the idea of a borrowed light comes before us; with us there is but one source and fountain of material light, and that is the sun, which, although it is but a candle of the Lord placed in the midst of our solar system, so far transcends all our artificial lights in its glory and permanence, that in comparison with them it seems self-existent and eternal. As a matter of fact, we know that all the artificial light stored up for us in combustible materials around us had its origin in that great father of lights, the sun, and that these lesser lights require kindling before they give forth brightness. So with the spirit of man—it is not self-existent and eternal, nor did it kindle itself, it owes its existence to that God who is the intellectual and moral light of the universe, because He is the source of all knowledge and goodness. That same Divine Creator, who said “Let there be light and there was light,” who set the sun in the heavens to rule the day, made man in His own image by breathing into the human body that spiritual life which makes man a living soul, and distinguishes him from the animal creation around him. We can no more claim to be the author of our own spirits than the sun can claim to have called itself into existence.
II. Man’s spirit is a candle, because it is a revealing power. All light is revealing; it first makes evident its own existence and then reveals the existence of objects outside itself. When the sun comes forth above the eastern horizon like a bridegroom from his chamber, it reveals its own glory, and it makes manifest all things upon which its rays fall, and nothing is hidden from the light thereof. So in a less degree is it with every flame of light, and so is it with the mysterious spirit of man. It is self-revealing and self-evidencing, and in and by its light we become conscious of the existence of material forms and spiritual beings, and moral and physical influences outside ourselves.
III. Man’s spirit is a candle which is intended to prevent self-deception. Knowledge of any description is good and desirable, but there are two beings of whom it is moral death to remain in ignorance—ourself and God. The spirit of a man is the power by which he apprehends both, and this proverb deals exclusively with man’s power to know himself, and especially with his power to take cognizance of himself as a moral and responsible being. As the sun, when it darts forth its rays upon the earth, does not leave us in twilight, and in uncertainty as to what is around us, and as the candle brought into a dark chamber shows us, maybe, the dust and the cobwebs, as well as the costly drapery on the walls, so this God-kindled light searches into the innermost thoughts, and feelings, and motives, and shows to every man who does not wilfully turn away from the sight, both the good and the evil that is in him. True it is that, as a moral light, it does not shine so brightly as it did when man came forth from his Maker’s hand, and that he who “
hateth light” because it is a reprover of his sin (Joh_3:20) may to some extent obscure its brightness, yet every man possesses light enough within to show him his need of a light outside and above him—even of that “true Light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world” (Joh_1:9).
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
The candle which God has kindled in man has, as the nearest sphere of illumination which goes forth from it, the condition of the man himself—the spirit comprehends all that belongs to the nature of man in the unity of self-consciousness, but yet more, it makes it the object of reflection; it penetrates, searching it through, and seeks to take it up into its knowledge, and recognises the problem proposed to it, to rule it by its power. The proverb is thus to be ethically understood.—Delitzsch.
The essential connection between the life of God and the life of man is the great truth of the world, and that is the truth which Solomon sets forth in the striking words of my text. The picture which the words include is one of the most simple. A candle stands upon a table in a dark room, itself unlighted. Fire is brought into the room; a blazing bit of paper holds the fire, but it is blown and flutters, and any moment may go out; but the blaze touches the candle and the candle catches fire, and at once you have a steady flame which burns bright and pure and constant. The candle gives forth its manifestation to all the neighbourhood which is illuminated by it. The candle is glorified by the fire, and the two bear witness that they are made for one another by the way in which they fulfil each other’s life. That fulfilment comes by the way in which the inferior substance renders obedience to the superior. The wax acknowledges the subtle flame as its master and yields to its power, and so, like every faithful servant of a noble master, it gives itself most unreservedly up, and its own substance is clothed with a glory that does not belong to itself. The granite, if you try to burn it, gives no fire; it only opposes a sullen resistance, and as the heat increases splits and breaks but will not burn. But the candle obeys, and so in it the scattered fire finds a point of permanent and clear expression. “The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord,” says Solomon. God is the fire of this world. It is a vital principle, a warm pervading presence everywhere. What thing in outward nature can so picture to us the mysterious, subtle, quick, productive, and destructive principle; that which has always elevated men’s hearts and solemnized their voices when they have said the word God, as this strange thing, so heavenly, so unearthly, so terrible, and so gracious, so full of creativeness, and yet so quick and fierce to sweep whatever opposes it out of its path? The glory, the beauty, the marvel, the mystery of fire! Men have always felt the fitness of fire as being the closest of all the elements around the throne on which their conception of Deity is sitting. Man and all other beings, if such beings there are capable of watching our humanity, see what God is in gazing at the manhood God has kindled. The universe is full of the fire of divinity; men feel it in the air as they feel an intense heat which has not yet broken out into a blaze. There is meaning in a great deal of the unexplained, mysterious awfulness of life—the sense of God felt, unseen. The atmosphere is burdened with heat that does not burst out into fire, and in the midst of this solemn burning world there stands up a man, pure and Godlike. In an instant it is as if a heated room had found some sensitive inflammable point where it would kindle into a blaze, and prospects of God’s felt presence become clear and definite. The fitfulness of the impression of divinity is steadied into permanence. The mystery changes its character, and is a mystery of light and not of darkness. The fire of the Lord has found the candle of the Lord, and burns clear and steady, guiding and cheering instead of bewildering and frightening us, just as a man obedient to God has begun to catch and manifest His nature. I hope you will find this truth comes very close to your separate lives, but let me remind you first what essential dignity clothes the life of man in this world. Such philosophy as belongs to our time would deprecate the importance of man in the world, and rob him of his centralness. His position in such philosophies is this: that the world was not made for man. With us the old story that the Bible told, the book of Genesis with its garden of Eden, and its obedient beasts waiting until man should tell them what they should be called, stands firmly at the beginning of the world’s history. The great notion of the centralness of man in the Garden of Eden re-asserts itself in every cabin of the western forests, or the southern jungles, where a solitary settler and his wife begin as it were the human history anew. There once again the note of Genesis is struck, and man asserts his centralness, and the beasts hesitate in fear till he shall tame them to his service, or bid them depart. The earth under his feet holds its fertility at his command, and what he does upon the earth is echoed in the storms. This is the great impressive idea which over the simplest life of man is ever growing, and with which the philosophies that would make little of the sacredness and centralness of man must always have to fight. This is the impression which is taken up, and steadied, and made clear, and turned from a petty pride to a lofty dignity and a solemn responsibility, when there comes such a message as this of Solomon. He says that the true sacredness, and superiority, and centralness of man is in the likeness of his nature to God’s, and that capacity of spiritual obedience to Him, in virtue of which man may be the earthly declaration and manifestation of God to all the world. So long as that truth stands, the centralness of man is sure. “The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord.” This is the truth of which I wish to speak to you—the perpetual revelation of God by and through human life. I. You must ask yourself, first, what God is. See how at the very bottom of His existence, as you conceive of it, there lie these two thoughts—purpose and righteousness; how impossible it is to give God any personality, except as the embodiment of these two qualities, the intelligence that plans, and the righteousness that lives in duty. How could any knowledge of these qualities, of what they are, of what sort of being they will make, exist upon the earth, if there were not a human heart in which they could exist, and from which they could be shown? Only a person can truly utter a person; only from a character can character be echoed. You might write it over the skies that God was just, but it would be at best only a bit of knowledge—never a Gospel—never something which it would gladden the hearts of men to know. That comes only when a human life is capable of a justice like God’s justice, and is clothed with His justice in the eyes of men. I have just intimated one thing that we need to observe: man’s utterance of God is purely the utterance of a quality; it can tell me nothing of the quantities that make up His life. That God is just, and what it is to be just, I can learn from the just lives of the just men about me; but how just God is, to what unconceived perfection, to what unexplained developments that majestic quality of justice may extend in Him—of that I can form no judgment that is worth anything from the justice I see in my fellow-men. II. This seems to me to widen at once the range of the truth I am stating. If it be a quality of God, which man is capable of uttering, then it must be the simple quality of manhood that is necessary for the utterance, and not any specific quantity, not any assignable degree of human greatness. Whoever has the spirit of man may be the candle of the Lord. A larger measure of that spirit may make a brighter light; but there must be a light wherever any human being, in virtue of his essential humanness, by obedience becomes luminous with God. There are the men of manhood, spiritually the leaders of the race; how they stand out! how all men feel their power as they come into their presence, and feel that they are passing into the light of God! They are puzzled when they try to explain it. There is nothing more instructive and suggestive than the bewilderment men feel when they try to tell what inspiration is. He who goes into the presence of any powerful nature, feels sure in some way he is coming into the presence of God; but it would be melancholy if only the great men could give you this conviction. The world would be darker than it is if any human spirit, as soon as it became obedient, did not become the Lord’s candle. A poor, bruised life, if only it keeps that human quality, and does not become inhuman, but is obedient to God, in its blind way becomes a light. A mere child with his pure humanity, and with his turning of his life towards God from Whom he came—how often he may burn with some suggestion of divinity, and cast illumination upon problems and mysteries so difficult that he himself has never felt them! Little lamps burning everywhere. III. We have here the key to another mystery that often puzzles us. What shall we make of some men rich in attainments and well educated, who stand in the midst of their fellow-men dark and helpless?… Let us let the light of Solomon’s figure upon it. Simply this: they are unlighted candles; they are the spirit of man furnished to its very finest, but lacking the last touch of God; like silver lamps all chaste and wrought with wondrous skill, all filled with choicest oil, but all untouched by fire. IV. There are multitudes of men whose lamps are certainly not dark, and yet who certainly are not the candles of the Lord,—with a nature richly furnished, yet profane, impure, worldly.… Such a man is not another unlighted candle. He burns so bright and lurid that often the pure light grows dim within its glare. But if it be possible for the human candle, when the subtle components of a human nature are all mingled carefully in it; if it be possible that, instead of being lifted up to heaven, and kindled at the pure beam of Him who is eternally and absolutely good, it should be plunged down into hell, and lighted at the cruel flames that burn out of the dreadful brimstone pit, then we can understand the sight of a man who is rich in every energy of manhood cursing the world with the exhibition of the devilish instead of the Godlike in his life.… V. There is still one other way, more subtle and sometimes more dangerous than this, in which the spirit of man may fail of its functions as the candle of the Lord. The man may be lighted, and the fire at which he is lighted may be, indeed, the fire of God, and yet it may not be God alone he shows forth upon the earth. I can picture to myself a candle which should in some way mingle the peculiarity of its own substance with the light it sheds. So it is, I think, with the way in which a great many men manifest God. They have really kindled their lives at Him. It is His fire that burns in them. They are obedient, and so He can make them His points of exhibition, but they are always mixed with the God whom they show. They show themselves as well as Him; just as a mirror mingles its own reflection with the things that are reflected from it and gives them a curious convexity because it is itself convex. This is the secret of pious bigotry, of holy prejudices; it is the candle putting its own colour into the flame it has borrowed from the fire of God. The feeble man makes God seem feeble, the speculative man makes God look like a doubtful dream, the legal man makes God seem as hard and steel-like as law. VI. I have tried to depict some difficulties which beset the full exhibition in the world of the great truth of Solomon.… Man is selfish and disobedient, and will not let his light burn at all; man is wilful and passionate, and kindles his light with ungodly fire; man is narrow and bigoted, and makes the light to shine in his own peculiar colour; but all these are accident—distortions of the true idea of man. How can we know that?
Here is the perfect man, CHRIST!… I bring the man of my experience and the man of my imagination into the presence of Jesus, but they fall short of Him, and my human consciousness assures me they fall short of the best ideal of what it is to be a man. “I am come a light into the world,” said Jesus; “he that hath seen me hath seen the Father.” “In Him was light, and the life was the light of men.” So wrote the man who of all men knew Him best. I think I need only bid you look at Him and you will see what it is to which our feeble lights are struggling. There is the true spiritual man who is the candle of the Lord, “the Light that lighteth every man.” It is entirely a new idea of life, new to the standards of our ordinary living, which is there revealed. All ordinary appeals to men to be up and doing, and to make themselves shining lights, fade away and become insignificant before this higher message which comes in the words of Solomon in the life of Jesus. What does that higher message say to you and me? That your full relationship to God can only be realised by obedience to Him, when you will shine by His light; then you cannot be dark, for He shall kindle you; then you shall be as incapable of burning with false passion, as you shall be quick to answer the true; then the devil may hold his torch to you, as he held it to the heart of Jesus in the desert, and your heart shall be as uninflammable as His. As soon as God touches you, you shall burn with a light so truly your own that you shall reverence your own mysterious life, and yet be so truly His that pride shall be impossible. In certain lands, for the most holy ceremonies they prepare the candles with the most anxious care. The very bees that distil the wax are sacred. They range in gardens planted with sweet flowers for their use alone. The wax is gathered by consecrated hands, and the shaping of the candles is a holy task performed in holy places, with the singing of hymns, and in an atmosphere of prayer. All this is done because the candles, when they are made, are to burn in the most elevated ceremonies and on the most sacred days. With what care must the man be made whose spirit is to be the candle of the Almighty Lord! It is his spirit that the Lord is to kindle for Himself; therefore the spirit must be the precious part of him. The body must be valued only for the protection and education that the spirit may gain by it. The power by which his spirit shall become a candle is obedience; therefore obedience must be the struggle and desire of his life; obedience, not hard and forced, but ready, loving, and spontaneous; obedience in heart, the obedience of the child to the father, the obedience of the candle to the flame; the doing of duty not merely that the duty may be done, but that the soul in doing it may become capable of receiving and uttering God; the bearing of pain not merely because the pain must be borne, but that the bearing of it may make the soul able to burn with the Divine fire that found it in the furnace; the repentance of sin and the acceptance of forgiveness not merely that the soul may be saved from the fire of hell but that it may be touched with the fire of Heaven, and shine with the light of God as the stars, for ever.—Philips Brooks.
This “candle of the Lord” is a slight and diminutive light. A lamp is no such dazzling object. A candle has no such goodly light as that it should pride and glory in it; it is but a brief and compendious flame, shut up and imprisoned in a narrow compass. How far distant is it from the beauty of a star! how far from the brightness of a sun! This candle of the Lord, when it was first lighted up, before there was any thief in it, even then it had but a limited and restrained light. God said unto it: “Thus far shall thy light go; hither shalt thou shine and no further.” Adam, in his innocency, was not to crown himself with his own sparks. God never intended a creature should rest satisfied with his own candle-light, but that it should run to the fountain of light, and sun itself in the presence of God. What a poor happiness had it been for a man only to have enjoyed his own lamp.… The “candle of the Lord” is a light discovering present, not future things, for did you ever hear of such a lamp as would discover an object not yet born? Would you not smile at him that should light a candle to search for a futurity?… Let, then, this candle content itself with its proper object. It finds work enough, and difficulty enough, in the discovery of present things, and has not such a copious light as can search out the future.… The light of reason is a certain light. Lamplight, as it is not glorious, so it is not deceitful—though it be but limited, it will discover such things as are within its own sphere with a sufficient certainty. The letters of nature’s law are so fairly printed, they are so visible and capital, that you may read them by this candlelight.… Although there is not vigour enough in any created eye to pierce into the pith and marrow, the depth and secrecy of being … It is a directive light. The will looks upon that, as Leander in Musæus looked up to the tower for Hero’s candle, and calls it, as he doth there: “Lamp which to me, on my way through this life, is a brilliant director.” … The will doth but echo the understanding, and doth practically repeat the last syllable of the final decision; which makes the moralist well determine that “moral virtues cannot exist without intellectual powers.” … Other creatures, indeed, are shot more violently into their ends; but man hath the skill and faculty of directing himself, and is, as you may so imagine, a rational kind of arrow, that moves knowingly and voluntarily to the mark of its own accord.… It is an aspiring light. I mean no more by this than what that known saying of Augustine imports: “Thou hast made us, O Lord, for Thyself: our heart will be restless till it return to Thee.” The candle of the Lord—it came from Him and it would fain return to Him. For an intellectual lamp to aspire to be a sun is a lofty strain of that intolerable pride which was in Lucifer and Adam; but for it to desire the favour, and presence, and enjoyment of a beatifical sun, is but a just and noble desire of that end which God created it for.… If you look but upon a candle, what an aspiring and ambitious light it is!… It puts on the form of a pyramid, occasionally and accidentally by reason that the air extenuates it into that form: otherwise it would ascend upward in one greatness, in a rounder and completer manner. It is just thus in “the candle of the Lord;” reason would move more fully according to the sphere of its activity, it would flame up to heaven in a more vigorous and uniform way; but that it is much quenched by sin … therefore it is fain to aspire and climb as well as it can. The bottom and base of it borders upon the body, and is therefore more impure and feculent; but the apex and cuspis of it catches toward heaven.… Every spark of reason flies upward. This Divine flame fell down from heaven and halted with its fall—as the poets tell us of the limping of Vulcan—but it would fain ascend thither again by some steps and gradations of its own framing.—Culverwell.
For Homiletics on Pro_20:28, see Pro_20:26.

Proverbs 20:28
CRITICAL NOTES
Pro_20:26. The wheel, i.e., the wheel of the threshing, instrument which blows away the chaff.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro_20:26; Pro_20:28
PILLARS OF GOVERNMENT
I. A human ruler will have rebellious subjects in his kingdom. This will be the case however wise the laws, and with whatever care and discrimination they are administered. In the most cultivated and carefully kept ground some weeds are always found among the flowers—some tares among the wheat; and since the King who can do no wrong numbers among his subjects those who are lawless and disobedient, the best and wisest of human rulers must expect to do the same.
II. It is the duty and wisdom of a human ruler to make a distinction between his good and bad subjects, and to punish the latter. Even if the wheel mentioned in the proverb be regarded as simply an instrument of separation, as the threshing instrument separates the chaff from the wheat, the idea of punishment is retained. In a well-governed kingdom the laws which govern it are such a separating power between the evil and the good, so far as external conduct is concerned, and it is indispensable for the stability of peace and order that they should be strictly enforced. It would be most unjust, as well as unwise—it would be tempting men to transgression—if the lawless citizens in a community were allowed to go unpunished; and it is contrary to our innate sense of justice that in any kingdom “the righteous should be as the wicked” (Gen_18:25)—that the thief should have all the privileges of an honest man, and the murderer the liberty of an innocent person. The punishment of transgressors not only defends the good man, but it may prevent the bad man from increasing his guilt by adding crime to crime. The king of Solomon’s proverbs is a typical word for all who are called upon to rule, whether in the family or the State, and the very word ruler, or governor, implies a discrimination between the evil and the good and a difference in their treatment.
III. The preservation of the throne depends more upon moral than upon physical power. We take the word throne in its widest sense as signifying any place or position which raises one man to be in any sense the ruler of another, from the throne of the father in his family and the master among his servants to that of the king amidst his subjects. In each and every one of these kingdoms, although external and physical coercion and punishment are sometimes indispensable, yet there is no permanent stability unless there is mercy and truth in the ruler, and unless it is manifest in his government. Many a throne has been erected on other foundations,—physical strength has established many kingdoms, and material wealth has set many men upon thrones. But if they have raised a superstructure its foundation has been in the sand, and when the rain and wind of adversity have descended upon it it has fallen, and great has been the fall of it. There must be some truth and mercy—some righteousness and justice, and withal some exercise of grace towards the wrongdoer—if the throne or the kingdom is to be upholden, and the wisdom of the ruler will be shown in his so mingling sternness with severity as to make both contribute to the one end. Truth must here be taken as synonymous with righteousness—as that observance of the just claims of every man which he has a right to expect and demand from those who rule him. This will include that punishment of the lawless which is the subject of
Pro_20:26, but it is here implied that even punishment is to be tempered with mercy. Pity for the offender ought always to be mingled with indignation at the offence, and if any ruler desires to sit firmly upon his seat of justice he must consider not only the greatness of the crime but the strength of the temptation—not how severely he can punish the criminal but whether he can reform him. And this is rarely if ever done by the exercise of justice merely. The frost and cold are necessary to kill the weeds and vermin and to break up the soil, but there will never be flowers or fruit without summer rain and sunshine. And mercy is that “gentle rain from heaven” without which no sinful creature will ever bring forth fruits of righteousness.
ILLUSTRATION
The necessity of mingling mercy with justice is strikingly exemplified in the great success which attended the efforts of the late Captain Maconochie to benefit the convicts in our penal settlement in Norfolk Island. Having, in his capacity as Secretary to the Governor of Tasmania, seen most terrible and hardening effects from unmixed severity, he desired earnestly to try what could be done by combining mercy with discipline and punishment. For this purpose he was placed in command of Norfolk Island, and remained there four years, having under his care from 1500 to 2000 doubly-convicted prisoners, i.e., convicts who, after being transported from England to New South Wales, had been for other crimes again transported to Norfolk Island. Previous to his arrival they worked in chains, and it was considered dangerous for even armed officers to approach within three yards of them. It was considered unsafe to trust them with knives, and they therefore tore their food with their hands and teeth. They were accustomed to inflict dreadful injuries upon themselves in order to evade labour, and were described at the time as a demoniacal assemblage. But under more humane treatment the entire colony became changed, and one of his colleagues testifies that he and another superintendent “resided at one of the settlements in a cottage without lock and key, with simply a latch to the door, and close to the convict barracks, where over 2000 were lodged every night, also without locks.” “Not a single serious offence,” says he, “was ever committed in that time by any of those men, and the only bodyguard was another free superintendent and myself, together with a few trustworthy men selected from among themselves.” This gentleman (Mr. J. Simms, since Governor of Plymouth Prison) goes on to say, “I shall ever remember this year as the most remarkable of all my prison experience, because it.… was a fair result of what might be realised from any body of men generally, thus treated, not by force, iron force, but by moral means.” One remarkable example is given. At Sydney there had been a most desperate and unmanageable convict, named Anderson. He was flogged time after time for various offences, but to no good effect. He became more outrageous than ever. At last, the authorities, in despair, put him on a little island in Sydney Harbour, where he was kept chained to a rock, and in the hollow of which rock he slept. After some weeks the Governor went to see him, and urged him to submit to authority, but he refused. He was then sent for life to Port Macquarie Convict Station, where he was again and again flogged. He made his escape, and lived among the natives for some time, but, ultimately, being recaptured, he was sent to Norfolk Island for the crime of murder. Under Maconochie’s humane treatment he became a changed man, and when the Governor of New South Wales visited the settlement he particularly noticed Anderson, and inquired, “What smart fellow may that be?” (See Leisure Hour for October, 1878.)
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
All dynasties have been kind. If they are cruel now, it must be like the weight of a clock, running down. There was kindness. “Mercy and truth” must at some time or other have builded the “throne.”—Miller.
Godly Asa removed wickedness from the high place nearest his own throne and heart. Amaziah justly punished it with death. Nehemiah—that true reformer—rebuked it even in the family of the high priest. Our own Alfred appeared to maintain this standard as a witness for God in an age of darkness. But it is the King of kings alone that can make this separation complete. Often does He sift His Church by trial, for her greater purity and complete preservation (Amo_9:9). But what will it be, when He shall come “with His fan in His hand, and shall thoroughly purge His floor?” (Mat_3:12). What a scattering of chaff will there be! Not an atom will go into the garner. Not a grain of wheat will be cast away. O my soul! what wilt thou be found at this great sifting day! “Who may abide the day of His coming? And who shall stand when He appeareth?” (Mal_3:2).—Bridges.
There goes more to preserve a king than to preserve a kingdom; and though the preservation of a kingdom be a weighty matter, yet the preservation of a king is much more weighty—though much care and pains be required for the one, much more is required for the other. Half of that will serve for the one which is needful for the other. Mercy will support the throne, but mercy and truth must preserve the king.—Jermin.

Proverbs 20:29
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro_20:29
THE GLORY OF YOUTH AND AGE
I. Each period of life has a value and a glory of its own. There is a beauty in spring to which no other season of the year can approach. The vivid green of the opening leaves, and the meadows and hedge-banks carpeted with early flowers, give to spring a glory all its own. But the other seasons also have their peculiar charms. It is no less pleasant to look upon the landscape at midsummer, when the woods are in their full dress, and the valleys are covered over with corn, or in the autumn, when the harvest is being gathered in, and flowers have given place to fruit. If spring is the time of hope and promise, autumn is the season of realisation and fulfilment, and we are well content that the one should be lost in the other. So it is with the different periods of our human life—each has its special charm and its special advantages. We love to dwell upon the loveliness of childhood, but we should not like to see our sons and daughters remain children for ever, and it is pleasant to look upon and to experience the energy and hope of youth, but there are good things which cannot be ours until we reach to mature life, and even to grey hairs. We have before considered the glory of the hoary head (see on chap. Pro_16:31, page 493); we have only to consider—
II. The peculiar gift and glory of young men. It is, says Solomon, their “strength”—their power to do and to endure in a physical sense, what the aged cannot, by reason of the failure of their bodily powers. When men have passed middle life, they become more and more painfully conscious that if the “inward man is renewed day by day, the outward man is perishing” at the same rate (2Co_4:16), and although their experience is richer, and their wisdom greater, their physical ability and energy is not what it once was. Their ship is laden, it may be, with a far more precious cargo, but the tide is not so strong, and the breeze is not so powerful to waft it on its way as it was in the years that are gone. It is the glory of the young man that his strength is often more than enough for himself, he is able to bestow some upon the weak and needy. But the aged man is often painfully conscious that he has none to spare, that instead he is dependent upon the strength of others. The consideration of the special advantages of each season of human life ought to cheer the aged man and prevent him from regretting the days of youth, and at the same time it ought to make the young man respectful to the old, and willing to listen to their counsel, and so far as it is possible combine the wisdom of grey hairs with the vigour of youth. It also warns the young man against any abuse of his physical powers—against any unlawful indulgence of bodily appetites, and against the formation of unhealthy and indolent habits—which make so many of our youths prematurely old, bringing upon them the frosts of autumn, before they have brought forth its fruits.

Proverbs 20:30
CRITICAL NOTES
Pro_20:30. The blueness of a wound. Cutting wounds (Delitzsch), Wounding stripes (Zöckler). Miller translates the “welts” (i.e., the tumid and purple confines of a wound), cleanse as though an evil, “that is, although painful and deformed, they have a clear office, viz., to purge away the sore.” Wardlaw suggests that the word, being etymologically derived from a verb denoting to join together, may be translated compressions, and says, “The compressions of a wound are necessary for cleansing out of it the prurient and peccant humour, which would prevent its healing; they are, at the same time, in many cases exceedingly painful, and would only be endured or inflicted from necessity. And as they thus clean the wound and promote its healing, so in a moral sense does the severity of discipline affect with salutary and cleansing influence the condition of the inner man.”
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro_20:30
PAIN AS A PREVENTIVE OF PAIN
For the different renderings of this verse, see the CRITICAL NOTES. However we translate it the thoughts suggested are the same, viz:—
I. That pain in the present may prevent greater pain in the future. When the surgeon is called in to examine a wounded man, the examination of the wound may give him more pain than he would have suffered if he had been let alone; it may bring far more present suffering to extract the ball, or to insert the probe, than it would have done simply to bandage the wound. But the pain of to-day is to ensure days of healthful rest by and by; if the present suffering was not inflicted, months and years of pain in the future might be the result. The pain of mind or body inflicted upon a child of five or ten years old, is intended by its parent to prevent greater moral or physical pain when he is fifty or seventy. There is no human creature who can afford to do without the pruning-knife at some period of its life; and if the pruning is not administered, the penalty will be paid either in this world or the next. The wise and loving parent gives pain in youth to prevent pain to his child in manhood, and the All-wise and Loving Father, God, subjects His children to pain in the present life to prevent a deeper and more lasting pain in the life to come. He pricks the conscience by His word to bring men to repentance, and so to salvation from the “wrath to come,” and He sees even in His own children so much “evil” remaining that He is compelled to visit “
their transgressions with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes” (Psa_89:32), in order to “cleanse” their characters.
II. Pain of body may be beneficial to the human spirit. This is a subject to which our attention has been before directed. See on chap. Pro_13:24, page 334, and on chap. Pro_17:10, page 510.

Proverbs 20:1
Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.
The evil effects of drunkenness
I. It deadens every moral sensibility. And what is the evidence of the drunkard himself? On his own declaration, are the principles of virtue as vigorous in his heart now as before? Is he as sensible of delight in contemplating the morally sublime, as much shocked with the morally deformed, as much grieved and disgusted with the depraved and licentious?
II. It impairs every intellectual faculty.
III. It accelerates death.
IV. It entails misery on families.
V. It terminates in everlasting destruction (1Co_6:10). (The Weekly Christian Teacher.)

Strong drink deceptive
The characteristic of strong drink is deceitfulness,

1. A great quantity of precious food is destroyed that strong drink may be extracted from the rubbish.
2. The curative and strengthening properties of our strong drinks, which are so much vaunted, are in reality next to nothing.
3. Strong drink deceives the nation by the vast amount of revenue that it pours into the public treasury.
4. In as far as human friendship is, in any case, dependent on artificial stimulant for the degree of its fervency, it is a worthless counterfeit.
5. Its chief deception lies in the silent, stealthy advances which it makes upon the unsuspecting taster, followed, when the secret approaches have been carried to a certain point, by the sure spring and deathly grip of the raging lion. (W. Arnot, D. D.)

Mischief and folly of drunkenness
I. The mischief. To the sinner himself. It mocks him, makes a fool of him, promises him that satisfaction which it can never give him. In reflection upon it: it rages in his conscience. It is raging in the body, putting the humours into a ferment. Pretending to be a sociable thing, it renders men unfit for society, for it makes them abusive with their tongues and outrageous in their passions.
II. The folly. He that is deceived thereby, that suffers himself to be drawn into this sin, when he is so plainly warned of the consequences of it, is not wise: he shows that he has no right sense or consideration of things; and not only so, but he renders himself incapable of getting wisdom; for it is a sin that infatuates and besets men and takes away their heart. (Matthew Henry.)

Total abstinence
The following story is told of General Harrison, one of the candidates for the Presidency of the United States, in connection with a public dinner given him on one occasion: “At the close of the dinner one of the gentlemen drank his health. The General pledged his toast by drinking water. Another gentleman offered a toast, and said, ‘General, will you not favour me by taking s glass of wine?’ The General, in a very gentlemanly way, begged to be excused. He was again urged to join in a glass of wine. This was too much. He rose from his seat and said in the most dignified manner: ‘Gentlemen, I have twice refused to partake of the wine-cup. I hope that will be sufficient. Though you press the matter ever so much, not a drop shall pass my lips. I made a resolve when I started in life that I would avoid strong drink. That vow I have never broken. I am one of a class of seventeen young men who graduated together. The other sixteen members of my class now fill drunkards’ graves, and all from the pernicious habit of wine-drinking. I owe all my health, my happiness, and prosperity to that resolution. Would you urge me to break it now?’”
Better sink than drink
A clergyman complained to the late Sir Andrew Clark of feeling low and depressed, unable to face his work, and tempted to rely on stimulants. Sir Andrew saw that the position was a perilous one, and that it was a crisis in the man’s life. He dealt with the case, and forbade resort to stimulants, when the patient declared that he would be unequal to his work, and ready to sink. “Then,” said Sir Andrew, “sink like a man.”
Abstinence favourable to health
The working man’s capital is health, not wealth. It does not consist in landed property, but in sinew and muscle; and if he persist in the use of intoxicating liquors they will strike at the very root of his capital—a sound physical constitution. After this is lost he becomes unfit for the workshop, for no master will employ a man who wants capital. He has then to repair to the poorhouse or infirmary. (J. Hunter.)

Water the best drink
“The best of all drinks for the athlete,” says Dr. Richardson, “is pure water. The athletic lower animals—the racehorse, the hound, the lion, the leopard—thrive well on water, because their bodies, like our own, are water engines, as steam engines are, and that, too, almost as simply and purely.”

Proverbs 20:3
It is an honour for a man to cease from strife.
The law of honour
The rules of life by which men are ordinarily governed are the law of honour, the law of the land, and the law of God. It is the object of religious institutions and instruction to uphold the last of these as the supreme and universal rule. In doing this, it is sometimes necessary to bring the other two into a comparison with it, as standards of duty and right. There ought to be no opposition between the law of the land and the commandment of God, and no contradiction to either of them in the sentiment of honour. The word “honour,” in its original idea, signifies respect or praise. It is that tribute of good opinion, which attends a character thought to be commendable. It is the external expression of the respect which is conceived to be due. The man of true honour is the man of real desert—the man who has this sense of character because he is conscious that his integrity of purpose and uprightness of life give him a claim to the honour which is always rendered to such a character. His sense of honour is sense of desert, rather than desire of reputation. Proceeding from this origin, it will appear that the characteristic ideas comprised in the sentiment of honour are, self-respect and respect for others. Such a man, valuing himself on the dignity of his nature, which others have in common with himself, conducts himself toward them as he desires that others should do toward him, in the spirit of apostolic injunction, “Honour all men.” He thinks himself less disgraced by its omission on their part than on his own. He is rather ready to defer to others, agreeably to the other injunction, “In honour preferring one another.” He yields, in this spirit of mutual respect, something to his fellows beyond what he thinks it necessary to insist on receiving. It is thus a generous spirit: it always consults the feelings of others; desires their happiness; guards their reputation; shuns wrong toward any one as the first disgrace; strives for right as the chief honour. Taken in this sense, the sentiment in question is a suitable one for man, and seems to have been designed in the constitution as one of the guardians of his virtue. When thus enlisted on the side of right it becomes a high instinct, prompting to spontaneous rectitude, and causing an intuitive shrinking from whatever is unworthy and base. It contradicts no law of man, and is in harmony with the law of God. But, at the same time, from its intimate connection with what is personal in interest and feeling, it is greatly exposed to degenerate into a false and misguiding sentiment. And so it has, in fact, happened. Connecting itself with the notions of character which prevail by chance in the community, rather than with the rule of light and of God, it has erected a false standard of estimate, and kindled a light that leads astray. Thus honour comes to bear the same relation to virtue that politeness does to kindness; it is its representative; it keeps up the form and pretension when the principal is absent; and, for all the ordinary purposes of the superficial social system of the world, it is accounted quite as good as that which it stands for. This, then, is the first objectionable trait in the world’s law of honour as a rule of life; it is deceptive and superficial; it is a thing of appearance only, and not a reality. And from this the descent is natural and easy, down to the next ill quality. Setting the value which it does on appearance, it finds the object of right gained by seeming to be right; then the heinousness of wrong may be avoided by concealing the wrong. The man has learned to act, not with a view to doing right, but with a view to reputation—sometimes even for the appearance of having the reputation. Thus it appears that a man of worldly honour may be guilty of a certain degree of baseness and crime without inconsistency and without compunction, if he have but the skill to keep it from being known. It is not wonderful that it should soon follow from this that he may be guilty of certain sorts of baseness and crime openly, and yet not forfeit his reputation. And such is the fact. One may be a gambler to a certain extent, and actually ruin a friend and drive him to despair—yet no impeachment of his honour. He may be unprincipled in his expenditures, so that the poor whom he employs shall be unable to obtain of him their just dues; he may revel in luxury, while defrauding the mechanics and tradesmen on whose ingenuity and toil he lives—yet no impeachment of honour. He may be a known debauchee, trampling on the most sacred rights and affections of his own home; he may, by a process of deliberate, heartless cunning and fraud, bring down an humble beauty to hopeless disgrace and misery; he may be, on a very trivial offence, the murderer of his friend—yet not one nor all of these crimes, accompanied as they are with what is mean and base, takes from him his claim to be treated as a man of honour.

1. The spirit of worldly honour is thus evidently characterised by selfishness. Its fundamental idea is a reference to what the world will think of me; my reputation, my standing—how are they affected? What will secure them in the eyes of the world? Everything must give way to this paramount consideration. I must secure my own good name among those with whom I move, come what may. It is amazing what deeds are done in consequence!
2. It is equally distinguished for its jealousy. Selfishness is always jealous. It cannot have anything of sincere and generous confidence in others. The man whose rule of life is to refer everything to its bearing on its own reputation, to weigh all the words and looks of other men with a view to discover whether they sufficiently acknowledge his claims to consideration acquires thereby an unreasonable sensitiveness of feeling, nourishes an uneasy spirit of jealous suspicion, is annoyed by slight causes, and offended by trifling inadvertences.
3. Thus jealous and revengeful, it is not surprising that the system in question should be despotic also. Such tempers are always so. It rules with arbitrary, inexorable, uncompromising sway. It allows no wavering, no relenting, no appeal. The slave is not mere entirely deprived of his right over his own limbs and labour than the devotee of honour is deprived of a right to his own judgment in all things within her province. He is in the hands of the ministers of honour, and they allow him no retreat. He must go on by that rule which he has adopted. The terrors of disgrace and ruin await him if he draw back. And thus, willing or unwilling—like a victim to the sacrifice—he is led out and immolated on the altar at which he had been proud to worship. This is the consummation to which the system leads. The duel is its tribunal and its place of execution. Worthy close of the progress we have described! It is fit that what began in meanness should issue in blood. The pulpit, beneath which so many young men sit while forming the characters by which they are to influence their country and their fellow-men during many future years of active and public life, would be false to its momentous trust if, at such a moment as this, it failed to lift its warning cry; if it did not attempt to disabuse their minds of the delusive fascination with which the reckless spirit of worldly honour is too often invested. The halls of learning, where Philosophy teaches, and Science utters truth, and Christianity communicates the law of brotherhood and love, would be unworthy of their lofty place if they did not resound with the proclamation that all those great and deathless interests denounce and abhor the masked impostor that, under the name of honour, opens to the aspiring young the highway of sin and death. And therefore it is that I have sought to tear away its disguise and expose its deformity; therefore it is that I would bring forward in its place the true honour, founded in right—exercised in self-respect and respect for all—faithful to all trusts alike—fearing only God. Let the future men of our country hear, and make it theirs. (H. Ware, D. D.)

Proverbs 20:4
The sluggard will not plow by reason of the cold; therefore shall he beg in harvest, and have nothing.
The present and the future
The present is intimately related to the future; and the future will faithfully reflect the character. Here is a principle from the operation of which none can escape. Life stands in the same relation to eternity as the time of ploughing does to the harvest. If this life is spent in neglect of the soul, there will be eternal poverty.
I. Life’s ploughing-time, or the period of preparation.

1. Note, that life is the seed-time is universally recognised and taught. The armer knows the time for preparing the soil, and is himself responsible if he does not improve it.
2. The ploughing-time is short, not too long if it is all well spent; the seasons quickly succeed each other. How short is life—
   (1) Comparatively. Fifty, sixty, seventy years, what is it to look back upon?
   (2) Actually in numberless instances.
   (3) Possibly in your case how uncertain is the time of death!
3. Though short, it is long enough. Life is short; there is no time to lose, but to each is given space for repentance.
4. Unlike the farmer, who may miss one harvest but secure the next, our opportunity once lost never returns.
   II. The paltry reasons assigned as an excuse for neglect. “The sluggard will not plow by reason of the cold.” It is palpably unreal, the true reason is unconfessed; but it is found in the fact that the man is a sluggard—he loves not his work. (D. Thomas, D. D.)

The sluggard in harvest
This saying inculcates the lesson that men should diligently seize the opportunity whilst it is theirs. The sluggard is one of the pet aversions of the Book of Proverbs. The text contains principles which are true in the highest regions of human life. Religion recognise the same practical common-sense principles that daily business does.
I. The principles which are crystalised in this picturesque saying.

1. Present conduct determines future conditions. Life is a series of epochs, each of which has its destined work, and that being done, all is well; and that being left undone, all is ill. What a man does, and is, settles how he fares. The most trivial act has an influence on all that comes after, and may deflect a man’s whole course into altogether different paths. There come to each of us supreme moments in our lives. And if, in all the subordinate and insignificant moments we have not been getting ready for them, but have been nurturing dispositions and acquiring habits, the supreme moment passes us by, and we gain nothing from it. The mystic significance of the trivialities of life is that in them we largely make destiny, and that in them we wholly make character.
2. The easy road is generally the wrong road. There are always obstacles in the way to noble life. Self-denial and rigid self-control, in its two forms—of stopping your ears to the attractions of lower pleasures, and of cheerily encountering difficulties—is an indispensable condition of any life which shall at the last yield a harvest worth the gathering. Nothing worth doing is done but at the cost of difficulty and toil.
3. The season let slip is gone for ever. Opportunity is bald behind, and must be grasped by the forelock. Life is full of tragic might-have-beens.
   II. Flash the rays of these principles on one or two subjects.
4. In business, do not trust to any way of getting on by dodges, or speculation, or favour, or anything but downright hard work.
5. In your intellects. Make a conscience of making the best of your brains.
6. In the formation of character. Nothing will come to you noble, great, elevating, in that direction unless it is sought, and sought with toil. Don’t let yourselves be shaped by accident, by circumstance. You can build yourselves up into forms of beauty by the help of the grace of God.
7. Let these principles applied to religion teach us the wisdom and necessity of beginning the Christian life at the earliest moment. There is a solemn thought still to consider. This life, as a whole, is to the future life as the ploughing-time is to the harvest. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)

A beggar in harvest
No life is really secular. The sanctification of our labour for the bread that perisheth is one of the purposes of our holy religion. The principles set forth in this text in relation to earthly business have also their application to the spiritual life.

1. Human co-operation is necessary in the beginnings of the religious life. God does not save men as a rule by sudden movements of His Spirit upon their souls without their co-operation with Him. Spiritual ploughing consists of self-examination in the light of God’s Word, followed by self-condemnation, the confession and renunciation of sin, and the other exercises of repentance.
2. Human co-operation in the Divine life is necessary all the way from the beginnings of repentance up to the throne of glory.
3. The text teaches not only the necessity for diligence, but also for courage. The sluggard was afraid of the cold.
4. The ploughing must be done at the right season. Youth is the best time for spiritual ploughing. (G. A. Bennetts, B. A.)

The soul-sluggard
The words “sluggard” and “sluggish” are the same derivation. We speak of sluggish water, stagnant, covered with green, breeding disease and death. What a contrast to a fountain of clear, sparkling water, dancing in the sunlight, quickening everything it touches into life! The soul’s harvest is in eternity. Why does the sinner neglect preparation for this harvest? Let us look at a few of his reasons.

1. He says that his heart is “cold”; he has not the proper feeling. He forgets—
   (1) That duty is a debt. The taxpayer does not wait for feeling before he pays the assessment.
   (2) Work in the line of duty brings feeling, warmth. Friction begets heat. If you lack feeling, search for some unpleasant duty and discharge it.
2. The sinner urges, “The Church is ‘cold.’” He says, “No one speaks to me about my soul.” Does the traveller at the railway station wait till the train starts and the ticket-office closes because “no one speaks to him”? It is frivolous reasoning, that because Church members fail in their duty I have a right to fail in mine.
3. It is even urged by the impenitent that God is “cold”—indifferent to their salvation. They wait until He is ready—until He moves upon their hearts.
   Observe—
4. The reasons urged by the impenitent are but shallow pretexts to hide their disinclination. The man would not plough because he was a sluggard.
5. “Therefore,” says the text, “shall he beg.” The begging is the effect of a sufficient cause. Eternal death is not the result of an accident.
6. They that beg in harvest shall beg in vain, “and have nothing.” The prayer of Dives was not answered. (P. S. Davis.)

Good effects of honest and earnest toil
I. Plenty. We must not think that diligence is only manual; it is also mental. It implies thought, forethought, planning, arranging. The general rule is that they who work obtain the things needful for this life, at least in sufficiency.
II. Power. It is industry, rather than genius, which commends us to our fellow-men, and leads us to positions of influence and power.
III. Personal worth. It is diligence, the capacity of taking pains, that gives to a man his actual worth, making him compact and strong and serviceable. The greatest gifts are of little worth, unless there is this guarantee of the conscientious and intelligent employment of them. (
R. F. Horton, D. D.)

Duty sacrificed to convenience
There are two powers constantly pressing their claims on men: those of duty and convenience. These two generally come into collision here. The sacrificing of duty to convenience is an immense evil, because—
I. It involves a sacrifice of the cultivating season. Sluggard neglects the seed-time. It is so with men who postpone their day of religious decision. The whole of their earthly life is intended as a season for cultivation. But a very large portion of the cultivating season is already gone. The residue of their time is very short, and very uncertain.
II. Because it involves a disregard of existing facilities. The sluggard had everything else necessary to cultivate his land. He disregarded all, because it was rather cold. It is so with those who are putting off religion.
III. Because it involves the decay of individual qualification for the work. The qualification for any work consists in a resolute determination, and a sufficiency of executive energy. While the sluggard was waiting, these two things were decreasing.
IV. Because it involves the loss of great personal enjoyment. He would lose the joy arising from fresh accessions of manly power; from the consciousness of having done his duty; a freedom to engage in any other affair; prospect of reward.
V. Because it involves a certainty of ultimate ruin. Destitution. Degradation. Misery of these enhanced by their being—

1. Self-created.
2. Unpitied.
3. Irretrievable. Physical indolence brings physical ruin, moral indolence moral ruin. (Homilist).

Proverbs 20:5
Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water; but a man of understanding will draw it out.
The getting of wisdom from the wise:
I. Wisdom to man is a very valuable thing.

1. It improves the sphere of his being.
2. It improves the power of his being.
   II. Sane men are favoured with more wisdom than others. The difference in the amount of men’s intelligence arises from the difference in their capacities, proclivities, and opportunities for mental improvement.
   III. Those who have the most wisdom are generally the most reserved. Where knowledge dwells in large quantities, it is not like water on the surface that you can get at easily; it is rather like water that lies fathoms under earth—clear, beautiful, and refreshing—got at only by the pump, or the windlass and bucket. It has to be drawn out.
   IV. In consequence of this reservedness of the most wise, it requires sagacity in others to draw it forth. Even Christ Himself felt that He could not unfold what was in Him, on account of the ignorance and the prejudice of His auditory. (D. Thomas, D. D.)

Proverbs 20:6
Most men will proclaim every one his own goodness; but a faithful man, who can find?
On goodness and fidelity
I. What are we to understand by “goodness” and a “faithful man”?—Goodness often means the Whole of a virtuous or religious temper. In Scripture it is sometimes limited to good affections, and the proper expression of them in our conduct. Goodness here is kindness; and a “faithful man” is one sincere and steady in goodness, who really feels benevolent affections, and is uniform and constant in the practical exercise of them.

1. He is “faithful in goodness,” whose general conduct is kind and beneficent. He is affable and courteous in his ordinary conversation, and never without necessity deliberately says that which may hurt or offend. He does not withhold his bounty till it is wrung from him by importunity. His friendly offices reach men’s spiritual necessities.
2. He is “faithful in goodness” whose goodness flows from an inward, a sincere, and a religious principle. Goodness sufficiently diffusive in its objects and exercises can only be the fruit of the Spirit of God.
3. The man “faithful in goodness” is steady, constant, and persevering in doing good. Important services to others often require much of diligence, self-denial, and disinterestedness. He does good, expecting nothing again.
   II. What is suggested when it is said, “A faithful man, who can find”?
4. He reminds us that this is a character not to be found among unconverted sinners.
5. Faithfulness in goodness is uncommon.
6. Fidelity in goodness in a strict sense, and in full perfection, is not the character of the best saints on this side the grave.
   III. Solomon’s maxim, that “most men will proclaim every one his own goodness.” Men are prone to disguise their true characters under a deceitful mask, and profess sentiments and affections to which their hearts are utter strangers. There are some who, in proclaiming their own goodness, cannot be charged with gross hypocrisy. They are self-deluded. Let every one press after the fidelity in goodness, to which every false display of it is opposed. (John Erskine, D. D.)

Self-applause and self-consistency
I. The commonness of self-applause. See it in nations; in churches. Pursue the subject more personally.

1. The profane. These say they mean well; their hearts are good; they are liberal, etc.
2. The Pharisees. What attempts they make to recommend themselves to others!
3. The orthodox. Those who pride themselves on their orthodoxy.
4. The godly. These are often guilty in a measure.
   II. The rareness of self-consistency. A man faithful—
5. In his civil concerns.
6. In his friendly connections.
7. To his trusts.
8. To his convictions.
9. To his religious professions.
   Enough has been said—
   (1) To make Christians thankful that they are not under the law, but under grace.
   (2) To induce us to be diffident and humble.
   (3) And to seek after the influence of Divine grace. (W. Jay.)

Subtle self-praise
Some, quite as vain, and as ambitious of commendation and praise, knowing that everything of the nature of ostentation is exceedingly unpopular, set about their object with greater art. They devise ways of getting their merits made known so as to avoid the flaw of ostentatious self-display. In company they commend others for the qualities which they conceive themselves specially to possess, or for the doing of deeds which they themselves are sufficiently well known to have done; and they turn the conversation dexterously that way; or they find fault with others for the want of the good they are desirous to get praise for; or they lament over their own deficiencies and failures in the very points in which they conceive their excellence to lie—to give others the opportunity of contradicting them; or, if they have done anything they deem particularly generous and praiseworthy, they introduce some similar case, and bring in, as apparently incidental, the situation of the person or the family that has been the object of their bounty. Somehow, they contrive to get in themselves and their goodness. (R. Wardlaw, D. D.)

A prevalent vice and a rare virtue
I. A prevalent vice. “Most men will proclaim every one his own goodness.” Self-conceit—men parading their imaginary merits. It is seen in the religious world, in the way in which certain men get their subscriptions trumpeted in reports, and their charitable doings emblazoned in journals. It is seen in the political world.

1. This vice is an obstruction to self-improvement. The man who prides himself on his own cleverness will never get knowledge; who exults in his own virtue will never advance in genuine goodness. Vanity is in one sense the fruit of ignorance.
2. This vice is socially offensive. Nothing is more offensive in society than vanity.
3. This vice is essentially opposed to Christianity. What says Paul? “For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.” What says Christ? “Let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth.”
   II. A rare virtue. “But a faithful man, who can find?” What is faithfulness? The man who in this verse is called faithful is in the next represented as just, “walking in his integrity.” Each of the three terms represents the same thing.
4. Practically true to our own convictions. Never acting without or against them.
5. Practically true to our own professions. Never breaking promises, swerving from engagements. Now this is a rare virtue. (D. Thomas, D. D.)

Self-laudation
It magnifies and multiplies matters. Loud was the lie which that bell told, hanging in a clock-house at Westminster, and usually rung at the coronation and funeral of princes, having this inscription about it:—
“King Edward made me,
Thirty thousand and three,
Take me down and weigh me,
And more you shall find me.”
But when this bell was taken down at the doom’s-day of abbeys, this and two more were found not to weigh twenty thousand. Many tales of fame are found to shrink accordingly. (W. Fuller.)

Proverbs 20:7
His children are blessed after him.
The just man’s legacy

1. Anxiety about our family is natural, but we shall be wise if we turn it into care about our own character. If we walk before the Lord in integrity, we shall do more to bless our descendants than if we bequeathed them large estates. A father’s holy life is a rich legacy for his sons.
   (1). The upright man leaves his heirs his example, and this in itself will be a mine of true wealth. How many men may trace their success in life to the example of their parents!
   (2) He leaves them also his repute. Men think all the better of us as the sons of a man who could be trusted, the successors of a tradesman of excellent repute. Oh, that all young men were anxious to keep up the family name!
   (3) Above all, he leaves his children his prayers and the blessing of a prayer-hearing God, and these make an offspring to be favoured among the sons of men. God will save them even after we are dead. Oh, that they might be saved at once!
2. Our integrity may be God’s means of saving our sons and daughters. If they see the truth of our religion proved by our lives, it may be that they will believe in Jesus for themselves. Lord, fulfil this word to my household! (
   C. H. Spurgeon.)

Proverbs 20:9
Who can say, I have made my heart clean; I am pure from my sin?
Purity of heart
I. Who can say, i have made my heart clean? We read of some who have clean hands, which implies an abstinence from outward sins. A clean heart implies more than this; it relates to the inward temper and disposition, to the bias of the will, and the various operations of the affections, as being spiritual and acceptable in the sight of God.

1. Purity of heart is much to be desired.
2. It is the work of the Spirit alone to impart it.
3. There is so much self-righteous pride and vanity in man that many are apt to think they have made their hearts clean.
   II. Who can say, i am pure from my sin? To be pure from sin is similar to our being in a state of sinless perfection. This no one ever enjoyed in the present life, except Him only who “knew no sin.”
4. Who can say that they were never defiled with original sin, or that they are now free from that defilement?
5. Who can say that they are pure from inward sins, the evils of the heart?
6. Who can say that they are wholly free from practical evil in life and conversation?
7. Who can say they are free from every besetting sin, or that they are not defiled with any of those evils to which they are more especially exposed by constitutional habits, or by their occupation or immediate connections. As no one can say with truth that he is pure from his sin, what reason have the best of men to be abased before God! (B. Beddome, M. A.)

The duty of mortification
The trial and examination of our hearts and ways in reference to God is a duty which, though hard and difficult, is exceedingly useful and beneficial to us.
I. The duty of mortification. The cleansing of our hearts, to be pure from sin.

1. The nature of the action. Cleansing. A word implying some change and alteration that is to be made in us. That which is purged was formerly impure. God is pure; the saints are purged and purified. This shows us the nature of sin: it is a matter of uncleanness. Uncleanness is a debasing quality; a loathsome quality; a thing odious in itself and for itself. Cleansing shows the sovereign virtue of grace and repentance. It is of a purging virtue. It hath a power of cleansing us from the pollutions of sin. It is compared to clean water, which washes away filth. To a wind, which, passing, cleanseth. To a fire, that consumes dross and corruption.
2. The property of the agent. The text makes us agents in this great work. Sin is cleansed in our justification, when it is pardoned and forgiven. The act of forgiveness is God’s alone. Sin is cleansed by mortification, and regeneration, and conversion. The progress of these acts God works in us, and by us. His Spirit enables us to carry forward this work which He graciously begins, and to cleanse ourselves.
3. The circumstance of time. “I have cleansed.” Mortification is a work of long continuance; it requires progress and perseverance.
   II. The object that must be wrought upon. “The heart.” The whole man must be cleansed, but first and specially the heart. The heart is the fountain and original from whence all other uncleannesses do stream and flow. The heart is the lurking-hole, to which sin betakes itself. The heart is the proper seat and residence of sin.
   III. The measure or degree of mortification. “I am pure from my sin.” This is the high aim that a Christian must set to himself, to press forward to perfection. The text lays our sin at our own doors, and so it concerns us to rid ourselves of it. Sin is the offspring of our will. There is the sin of inbred and natural inclination; the sin to which our particular age disposes us: childhood is idle, youth wanton, age covetous; the sins of our calling and vocation: every calling has its special temptations.
   IV. The difficulty of mortification. This question, “Who?” is not meant for all sorts of sinners. It is not propounded to the profane man, to the grossly ignorant man, or to the negligent and careless man. The question reaches to the best sort of men, those that have made good progress in this work of cleansing and mortification, who, nevertheless, are condemned by their own consciences; who have still leaven to purge out; find some sins of surreption will steal in upon them. As to the question itself. It runs thus: “Who can say?” Not “Who doth say?” or “Who will say?” or “Who dare say?” We may safely resolve the question into a peremptory assertion, and conclude that no man is clear or free from sin. The earnest Christian can say, “Through grace I have broken the strength and dominion of sin.” (Bp. Brownrigg.)

Proverbs 20:10
Divers weights and divers measures; both of them are alike abomination to the Lord.
Caveat venditor
I. Dishonesty in trade is various in its forms. “Divers weights and divers measures . . . and a false balance.”
II. Dishonesty in trade is offensive to God.

1. Dishonesty is known to Him: His eye is on our business transactions, and no names or pretences, however plausible, can deceive Him.
2. Dishonesty is abhorred by Him. It is “an abomination unto the Lord.”
   III. Dishonesty in trade is great folly and sin. This seems to be the idea of the latter clause of Pro_20:23 : “A false balance is not good.” The man who is dishonest for gain sacrifices—
3. The greater for the less.
4. The spiritual for the material.
5. The eternal and permanent for the temporal and uncertain.
6. The Divine for the worldly. Dishonesty is arrant folly; the man who gains by fraud is a great loser.
   Conclusion:
7. Transact business by the rule laid down by our Lord (Mat_7:12).
8. Transact business as in the sight of God. (W. Jones.)

Short weights and measures
All pound weights do not draw 16 ounces. Every yard stick is not quite 36 inches long. There are multitudes of things short weight, and not a few short measure. If all men were weighed and measured, some of us would need to be placed under short sticks, or require a big “make weight” to bring us up to the right standard. Besides men, there are things not quite full measure. Many things sold and used in Manchester, you may depend upon it, would be “short measure,” especially when compared with the standards the excise officers are in the habit of carrying about with them. I have met many men that would weigh 14 stone, but if you try to weigh their common sense it would not reach 14 ounces. There are hundreds of men whose tailors may be able to tell you how much cloth it would take to cover them; their shoemakers could tell you that their feet measured 9, 10, or 11 inches in length; but if you tried to measure all their good deeds—deeds of kindness done at home—deeds of sympathy to those who are poor—acts of love and mercy such as angels delight to see, and God smiles upon—you could do it with a 35-inch stick. And the misfortune is that these people are always the tall talkers. Talking does little work. Talking, minus doing, is minus weight. But there are some men that weigh too much. When I was a lad I used to see butter sold that was called “long weight.” Well, what was that? Eighteen ounces to the pound. I have met men more than 18 ounces to the pound. If they are workmen they can do twice as much as others in the same time. If you talk to them about their wives—there are not such women in the world. Their children are perfect models; their horses are better than their neighbours; and if they go out to buy goods, they can always get more for their money than anybody else, often, indeed, 25s worth for their sovereign. But get a little nearer to them, and you will find the work they do needs doing over again; as to their children, they are unruly and impudent; whilst the bargains they make are no bargains at all. I want now to look more particularly at men “short weight.” (Belshazzar instanced.) Pride? Can a proud man be short weight? Look at him, how big he is! Ah! you can measure some people’s pride, and you will get 37 inches to the yard. It takes 24 yards of silk to cover the pride of some women—and it will take 24 months to pay for it. Belshazzar was not the only proud person the world has known. I am afraid that pride exists in these days as well as in those. (Charles Leach.)

Divers weights and divers measures
Trade tricksters are not called highly respectable in Scripture, whatever they are in society. Apologists for tricks in trade say that the real fault is in the consumer, who will have a cheap article. On which showing, the whole charge of adulteration, and of the wickedness of selling worsted and silk for silk, shoddy for broadcloth, and sloe-juice for vine-wine, is held to amount to nothing. Cicero’s rule holds good to-day, that everything should be disclosed, in order that a purchaser may be ignorant of nothing that the seller knows. But few people have leisure for investigating the real quality and quantity of their purchases. It is only necessary, remarks Mr. Emerson, to ask a few questions as to the progress of the articles of commerce from the fields where they grew to our houses, to become aware that we “eat and drink, and wear perjury and fraud in a hundred commodities.” Christian critics have been fain to admire in Mohammed the vigour and emphasis with which he inculcated a noble sincerity and fairness in dealing. “He who sells a defective thing, concealing its defect, will provoke the anger of God and the curses of the angels.” Every age has its recognised offenders of this sort, from Solomon’s days downwards. It was reserved, apparently, for our own age to merit in full the bad eminence of attaining such a pitch of refinement “in the art of the falsification of elementary substances,” that the very articles used to adulterate are themselves adulterated. (F. Jacox, B. A.)

Proverbs 20:11
Even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure, and whether it be right.
A child’s accountability
The Bible recovers lost truths, as well as lost souls. The recovery of lost truth is one means of restoring lost souls. It is like a guide in a wilderness, as food in famine, as light in darkness: it is the restoration of that which is useful and essential. The truth of this passage is a lost truth. That human beings are early accountable, and early assume a decided character, is evident to reflection and observation. Apart from the teaching of Scripture, it is a lost truth that a “child is known by his doings.” “Child” means a son or daughter under parental control.
I. The actions of children become, in process of time, their own doings. Children move before they act, and they live as mere animals before they act spiritually and morally. In process of time the child acts. All its movements become conduct, the result of a determination to behave itself in a particular way.

1. An act which we are justified in describing as right or wrong, and which we can lawfully call the act of an accountable individual, must be performed by a being endowed with the following capacities: He must be able to conceive the act before its performance, mentally to see the thing done before doing it. He must be capable of appreciating motives for and against the action. He must know good and evil. He must have the power of saying, “I will,” and “I will not.” The “doings” of an individual are those acts which he rationally and intentionally performs.
2. A child, in course of a few years, exhibits the capabilities of which we speak.
3. Then it is, whether it comes early or late, that the actions of a child are his “doings.” He now performs the functions of a rational creature.
   II. When the actions of children become their doings the children are recognised as accountable.
4. God recognises the child as the author of its own actions: He sees the doings of the child spring from a motive and principle within. He now holds the child guilty for its transgressions of His law. The child is now exposed to punishment; and to escape punishment, a dispensation of mercy to that individual child is necessary. God’s treatment of the child recognises the child’s doings.
5. The god of evil knows, by the doings of children, with whom and with what he has to do. He cannot, as God, search the heart, but he can observe the principles, tastes, and inclinations. He studies the child’s nature that he may know best how to injure it.
6. The angelic inhabitants of heaven recognise children in their ministrations. A child who is an heir of salvation is known to the angels—they minister to him, performing offices of kindness and services of charity, ordained by the God of love.
7. Children are recognised as accountable by their fellow human beings. Children are known to other children, and known to men.
   III. From these two facts draw certain inferences.
8. The evils of sin are not escaped by the childhood of the sinner. God does not hold him guiltless because he is a child. But the Supreme Lawgiver does not account the child a man. Sin brings darkness into a child’s mind, and disquiet into a child’s heart, and gloom over a child’s spirit. There are wages paid now, and paid in the spiritual condition of the early sinner, and those wages are death.
9. As a child, he is exerting influence for good or for evil. The measure of the influence is not so considerable as in the case of the adult, but there is influence.
10. All the differences of human character are not traceable to education. Some of these differences may be thus explained, but not all, and not the greatest. The earliest doings of a child do not make manifest his education, but himself.
11. The character of the future man is often indicated by the character of the present child. If the earliest actions of children be observed, they will indicate the character which the child so constituted will form.
12. God does not treat a generation of children en masse, but individually. There is a personality about every child.
13. If a child be known by his doings, one test of character is universally employed by the Judge of all. The decisions of the final judgment are according to that a man hath done, whether good or bad. The child and the man are under one Lawgiver. (E. Martin.)

Fruit
We must be good before we can do good. What fruits will be found on that tree which God’s Holy Spirit has made a living tree?

1. There will be love to God, which will make you try to please Him, and to care for everything which belongs to your heavenly Father, His book, His house, His day.
2. There will be obedience to parents. Obedience to our parents on earth leads up naturally and pleasantly to obedience to our Father which is in heaven.
3. There will be truthfulness. Two great causes of untruthfulness are cowardice and the habit of exaggeration. Do not use overstrained expressions. Speak in a natural, straightforward, simple way.
4. There will be conscientiousness. The conscientious person will do his best, as in God’s sight. He will do his work thoroughly. He will be trustworthy. You may depend upon him. No one can be a Christian unless he is conscientious in his work, and conscientious in all his dealings with others.
5. There will be two things found in you, modesty and temperance. Would you think a pert girl or a saucy boy at all like Christ? By “temperance” I mean self-control, self-restraint. Greediness, the desire to get all you can for yourself, is the opposite of it. Temperance teaches us where to stop—shows us how to keep ourselves within bounds. All these good things are fruits of the Spirit. (G. Calthrop, M. A.)

Children may be known
A young tree is known by its first fruits, a child by his childish things.

1. Children will discover themselves. One may soon see what their temper is, and which way their inclination leads them, according as their constitution is. Children have not learned the art of dissembling and concealing their bent as grown people have.
2. Parents should observe their children, that they may discover their disposition and genius, and both manage and dispose of them accordingly, drive the nail that will go, and draw out that which goes amiss. Wisdom is herein profitable to direct. (Matthew Henry.)

The child’s fortune told
We know persons by sight, or by name, or by description. They are best known by their actions.
I. What is meant by “doings” here?

1. The tempers a child indulges in. These tempers are fretful, or patient, or selfish, or generous.
2. The ill habits he forms. Idle, or industrious, or careless, or careful, or dilatory, or prompt.
3. The company he keeps. The choice of companions is a very important thing.
   II. What may be known of a child by his doings? You are making your fortunes now every day. The tempers you are indulging, the habits you are forming, and the company you are keeping are all helping to make them. How careful you should be to find out what is wrong in your tempers and habits, and pray to God to help you to correct it at once. (R. Newton, D. D.)

A child’s doings
This big world of ours is really made up of a multitude of little ones. Every living creature has a world of its own. Every child has. So he can be known by what he does.

1. We are not to be judged merely by our sayings. Many people would like to be judged that way.
2. We are not to be judged only by our appearance.
3. We can only be known by our doings. But who is it knows us thus? In this way our fellow-men know us. In this way, above all, God knows us. If we are to be doing always what we ought to do, we shall need a helper.
   (1) Because of our inclinations to do evil.
   (2) Because we have so many powerful enemies. Give the story of Telemachus and Mentor, and show that Jesus is our ever-present friend, helper, and guide. (R. Tuck, B. A.)

Christian childhood soon discovers itself
How do we know a Christian boy or girl? Why in the same way that you know a candle has been lighted—by its shining. Do you suppose that people do not know whether you love your mother or not? You need not say to them, “I am very fond of my mother”; they will find it out soon enough for themselves—by the way you speak of your mother; by the way you speak to your mother; by your obedience to her directions; by your thoughtfulness when you think you can help her; by your willingness to be in her company; by your grief when she is grieved, or in trouble or pain. Yes, in a hundred different ways people can discover your affection for your mother. So with your love and devotion to the Lord Jesus Christ. But though you need not announce to the world how good you are, the world will find out if you are good, will find out if you love Jesus Christ, when they see that you really—not in pretence, but really—like all that belongs to Him: His book, His house, His day. (G. Calthrop, M. A.)

Proverbs 20:12
The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, the Lord hath made even both of them.
Ears and no ears, eyes and no eyes

1. There are wise men in the world who will not admit that it was God who made the seeing eye, or the hearing ear, or anything else; who will rather assume that the ear and the eye made themselves by a gradual process of development. And you may not be able to withstand their arguments. The text may have an inexpressible value for you. If you can quote against the wise the words of a wiser, you are on firm ground. And the vast majority of the wisest and best men of every age concur with Solomon.
2. There is something in the text suitable for young children. When Solomon spoke of the hearing ear, he meant to remind us that some have ears which do not hear, and eyes that do not see. What we hear in any utterance depends on what we bring the power of hearing, just as what we see in any scene depends on what we bring the power of seeing. We are all apt to overlook that which is unknown to us. What we do not understand, or do not expect, excites no curiosity, touches no interest, rouses no attention; and hence it slips by unseen, unheard—just as the snapping of a slender twig might say nothing to us, and yet might tell a sportsman where the wild creature was which he was trying to shoot down. If God makes the hearing ear and the seeing eye, He expects us to make them too. He expects us to use and train these wonderful faculties. He rewards us in proportion as we meet, or disappoint, His expectation and our duty.
3. When the Bible speaks of deaf men who hear, and blind men who see, it almost always refers to men’s moral condition, to their attitude towards truth, righteousness, and God, as well as to the use they make of their mental faculties and capacities. It praises them for seeing and hearing as for an act of virtue and piety; it blames them for not seeing and hearing as for a sin. Knowledge without love is at once a poor and a perilous endowment. To be clever without being good, without even trying to be good, is only to deserve, and to secure, a severer condemnation. You have not even begun to be truly wise until you love and reverence God; until, from reverence and love for Him, you set yourselves to know and do that which is right, however hard it may be, and refuse to do that which is wrong, however easy and pleasant it may look. Men also prize goodness more than knowledge and cleverness, and value a kind heart more than even a full and well-trained mind. Be good, then, if you would be wise, if you would prove that you have an eye that sees and an ear to hear and obey. To be good no doubt is hard work. But that is the very reason why God asks you to trust in Him and to lean on Him. He is good, and He both can and will make you good, if you will let Him. (
   S. Cox, D. D.)

The hearing ear and the seeing eye
Why does Solomon say this?
I. That God should be studied in these organs.

1. In them Divine wisdom is manifest. Take—
   (1) The mechanism of these organs. “The eye, by its admirable combination of coats and humours, and lenses, produces on the retina, or expansion of nerve at the back of the socket or bony cavity in which it is so securely lodged, a distinct picture of the minutest or largest object; so that, on a space that is less than an inch in diameter, a landscape of miles in extent, with all its variety of scenery is depicted with perfect exactness of relative proportion in all its parts.” Nor is the ear less wonderful. It is a complicated mechanism lying wholly within the body, showing only the wider outer porch through which the sound enters. It conveys the sounds through various chambers to the innermost extremities of those nerves which bear the messages to the brain. So delicate is this organ, that it catches the softest whispers and conveys them to the soul, and so strong that it can bear the roll of the loudest thunders into the chamber of its mistress.
   (2) The adaptation of these organs. How exquisitely suited they are to the offices they have to fulfil! “Conveying the impressions of the outer universe to the spiritual dweller within, we can,” says an eminent author, “by attending to the laws of vision and sound, produce something that, in structure and in mechanism or physical effect, bears some analogy to them. But this is not sight; this is not hearing. These imply perception. Oh, this is the highest and deepest wonder of all! The mechanical structure we can trace out and demonstrate. We can show how by the laws of transmission and refraction, the picture is made on the retina of the eye; and how, by the laws of sound, the yielding, tremulous, undulating air affects the tympanum or drum of the ear. But we can get no farther. How it is that the mind receives its perceptions, how it is that it is affected, what is the nature of nervous influence, or of the process by which, through the medium of the nerves and the brain, thought is produced on the mind—of all this we are profoundly ignorant.
2. In them Divine goodness is manifest.
3. In them Divine intelligence is symbolised.
   II. That God should be served by these organs. The service for which God intends us to use them is to convey into our understandings His ideas, into our hearts His Spirit; translate the sensations they convey to us into Divine ideas; apply Divine ideas to the formation of our characters. God’s ideas should become at once the spring and rule of all our activities. (D. Thomas, D. D.)

The hearing ear and seeing eye
For all the faculties of a man’s body, as well as of his soul, he is entirely indebted to his great Creator. The forgetfulness of the Creator of our bodily faculties is always accompanied by a forgetfulness of our responsibility for the use of them. How far have we turned to the best account those organs of the body which are more immediately connected with the mind, with the immortal spirit, with the state and well-being of the soul? The eye and ear are inlets to the soul. Be anxious to use your faculties while they are mercifully continued. As God made and opened the natural ear for the perception of sound, so does He make and open the spiritual ear for the reception of Divine truth into the heart. The mental ear, as well as the bodily, is liable to be disordered. In a state of spiritual deafness every child of Adam was born. None of us, when we came into the world, had an ear for spiritual things. Every prayer we offer up to God for grace to bless and prosper His preached Word to our souls is an acknowledgment that the hearing ear, the willing and longing and profiting ear, is His own gracious gift. Does He open thine ear? Listen faithfully. Does He open thine eye? Drink in fully the stream of light from heaven’s eternal fountain. (J. Slade, M. A.)

Hearing and sight
Every one hears and sees all day long, so perpetually that we never think about our hearing and our sight, unless we find them fail us. And yet, how wonderful are hearing and sight. How we hear, how we see, no man knows, nor perhaps ever will know. Science can only tell us as yet what happens, what God does; but of how God does it, it can tell us little or nothing; and of why God does it, nothing at all. It is wonderful that our brains should hear through our ears, and see through our eyes; but it is more wonderful still, that they should be able to recollect what they have heard and seen. Most people think much of signs and wonders, but the commonest things are as wonderful, more wonderful, than the uncommon. It is not faith only to see God in what is strange and rare. This is faith, to see God in what is most common and simple; not so much from those strange sights in which God seems to break His laws, as from those common ones in which He fulfils His laws. It is difficult to believe that, because our souls and minds are disorderly; and therefore order does not look to us what it is, the likeness and glory of God. The greatness of God is manifest in that He has ordained laws which must work of themselves, and with which He need never interfere. The universe is continually going right, because God has given it a law which cannot be broken. (Charles Kingsley, M. A.)

Living faculties
The Lord is willing to be judged by His work. The sculptor can make an ear, the Lord makes the hearing ear. But man has lost his power to listen. The mischief is that he thinks he is listening, and is deceiving himself. Listening is the act of the soul. The Lord maketh the seeing eye. The artist has made a thousand eyes, but no seeing eye. God did not give such faculties without a purpose. The very quality and capacity of the faculty must have some suggestion. These faculties were given us for education, not for prostitution. Take care how you use the ear and the eye. Has anybody been the better for your hearing or your seeing? Where faculties are given in man or beast or bird, there is a corresponding opportunity for their exercise provided. There are internal, spiritual eyes. The non-use of faculties is a religious crime. As certainly as we have bodily faculties that have meanings, missions, and issues, as there is a balance and relationship between the bodily and the external, so we have what is called a “religious nature.” We “know the meaning of reason, we know the meaning of faith, we know the meaning of passionate and wordless yearning. What are you going to do with your religious nature? You can starve it. (J. Parker, D. D.)

Proverbs 20:14
It is naught, it is naught, saith the buyer: but when he is gone his way, then he boasteth.
Fraud exposed and condemned
The man who would be really religious, must be influenced by religion in every part of his conduct, and on all occasions, during the week, as well as on the Sabbath; in his intercourse with man, as well as in his approaches to God. To conduct worldly business in a perfectly fair and upright manner, in such a manner as God prescribes, is a most important and difficult part of true religion.
I. Some general rules which God has given for the direction of those who wish to know and do their duty.

1. The rule that requires us to love our neighbour as ourselves.
2. The rule which forbids us to covet any part of our neighbour’s possessions. The command is express and comprehensive. We are not forbidden to desire the property of another, on fair and equitable terms. It forbids every desire to increase our property at our neighbour’s expense.
3. We are commanded to observe in all our transactions the rules of justice, truth, and sincerity.
4. We are directed in all our transactions to remember that the eye of God is upon us.
   II. Apply these rules and show what they require, what they forbid, and when they are violated.
5. What do these rules require of us as subjects or members of civil society? There is an implied contract or agreement between a government and its subjects, by which the subjects engage to give a portion of their property in exchange for the blessings of protection, social order, and security.
6. The application of these rules to the common pecuniary transactions of life. They forbid every wish, and much more every attempt, to defraud or deceive our neighbour. And this on the part of both buyer and seller. We must put ourselves in the place of our neighbour, and do as we would be done by. We are always to act as we would do if our fellow-creatures could see our hearts.
7. Apply these rules to our past conduct, that we may ascertain how far we have observed, and in what instances we have disregarded them. God takes special cognisance of the wrongs which are done by artifice, fraud, and deceit, and which human laws cannot prevent or discover. Any who have violated these rules in their pecuniary transactions are required to repent, and to bring forth fruits meet for repentance. There is no repentance, and of course no forgiveness, without restitution. How can a man repent of iniquity who still retains the wages of iniquity? And these rules must regulate our future transactions if we mean to be the real subjects of Christ. They are the laws of His kingdom, which you have covenanted to obey. (E. Payson, D. D.)

Bargain-driving
The inconsiderate thirst for cheapness is one of the social curses of our age. Here is a concise description of a bargain-driver. Say anything to depreciate the article, and get it at a lower price than is asked; then boast of your success. This may be sharp, but if it is not always sin, it is constantly on the very margin of vice. In buying cheap we may avail ourselves only of lawful advantages, and may not compass unrighteous or unfair gains. To get what a man wants, and to give as little as possible for it, need not be sinful. Lying is a sin in trade just as much as in common conversation. The inconsiderate craving for cheapness has a bad effect on the mind. It makes it grasping and selfish, greedy of its own gain, but careless of others’ well-doing. It produces, if long indulged in, a spirit of low and unworthy cunning. Observe how the influence of this thirst for cheapness spreads. I have no words to express my contempt and abhorrence for the meanness which goes into a shop with the deliberate resolve to get the articles wanted for less than the price asked. Such questions are the very essence of religion. A religion that does not touch our every-day life, our money matters, our actions in and on society, is a religion that is on the surface merely. It is the undue severance of things secular from things sacred which makes so much of men’s religion unreal, and so much of their business unrighteous,
i.e., not carried out with a full sense of what is right from man to man. (J. E. Clarke, M. A.)

Chicanery
Mr. Bridges says “that Augustine mentions a somewhat ludicrous, but significant story. A mountebank published in the full theatre that in the next entertainment he would show to every man present what was in his heart. An immense concourse attended, and the man redeemed his pledge to the vast assembly by a single sentence: ‘Vili vultis emere, et caro vendere’ (’You all wish to buy cheap, and to sell dear’), a sentence generally applauded; every one, even the most trifling (as Augustine observes) finding the confirming witness in his own conscience.” There is no harm in buying in the cheapest market and selling in the dearest. In fact, this is both wise and right in the vendor. Some regard the word “buyer” here in the sense of possessor, and then the idea of the passage is changed, and it is this—that a man attaches greater value to a thing after he has lost it than before. This is a law of human nature. The lost piece of silver, the lost sheep, the lost son. But it is more like Solomon to regard the text as meaning what it says—the “buyer.” We offer two remarks upon the passage.
I. That it reveals a common commercial practice. The “buyer” depreciates the commodity in the process of purchase. He does this in order to get it at a price below its worth. And when he succeeds, and it comes legally into his possession, the value of the article is not only properly estimated, but greatly exaggerated. “He boasteth”—

1. Because his vanity has been gratified. He feels that he has done a clever thing. “He boasteth”—
2. Because his greed has been gratified.
   II. That it reveals an immoral commercial practice.
3. There is falsehood.
4. There is dishonesty. (D. Thomas, D. D.)

Honest buying
It was once proposed to the Duke of Wellington to purchase a farm in the neighbourhood of Strathfieldsaye, which lay near to his estate, and was therefore valuable. The Duke assented. When the purchase was completed, his steward congratulated him upon having made such a bargain, as the seller was in difficulties, and forced to part with it. “What do you mean by a bargain?” said the Duke. The other replied, “It was valued at £1,100, and we have got it for £800.” “In that ease,” said the Duke, “you will please to carry the extra £300 to the late owner, and never talk to me of cheap land again.” (Home Words.)

Proverbs 20:15
There is gold, and a multitude of rubies.
On the moral end of business
Let me define my meaning in the use of this phrase—“the moral end of business.” It is not the end for which property should be sought. It is not the moral purpose to be answered by the acquisition, but by the process of acquisition. And again, it is not the end of industry in general—that is a more comprehensive subject—but it is the end of business in particular, of barter, of commerce. “The end of business!” some one may say; “why, the end of business is to obtain property; the end of the process of acquisition is acquisition.” I hold that the ultimate end of all business is a moral end. I believe that business—I mean not labour, but barter, traffic—would never have existed if there had been no end but sustenance. The animal races obtain subsistence upon an easier and simpler plan; but for man there is a higher end, and that is moral. The broad grounds of this position I find in the obvious designs of Providence, and in the evident adaptation to this moral end of business itself.

1. There is, then, a design for which all things were made and ordained, going beyond the things themselves. To say that things were made, or that the arrangements and relations of things were ordained, for their own sake, is a proposition without meaning. The world, its structure, productions, laws, and events, have no good nor evil in them—none, but as they produce these results in the experience of living creatures. The end, then, of the inanimate creation is the welfare of the living, and, therefore, especially of the intelligent creation. But the welfare of human beings lies essentially in their moral culture. We are not appointed to pass through this life barely that we may live. We are not impelled, both by disposition and necessity, to buy and sell, barely that we may do it; nor to get gain, barely that we may get it. There is an end in business beyond supply. There is an object in the acquisition of wealth beyond success. There is a final cause of human traffic, and that is virtue. With this view of the moral end of business falls in the constant doctrine of all elevated philosophy and true religion. Life, say the expounders of every creed, is a probation. Now, if anything deserves to be considered as a part of that probation, it is business. Life, say the wise, is a school. But the end of a lesson is that something be learned; and the end of business is, that truth, rectitude, virtue, be learned. This is the ultimate design proposed by Heaven, and it is a design which every wise man, engaged in that calling, will propose to himself. It is no extravagance, therefore, but the simple assertion of a truth, to say to a man so engaged, and to say emphatically, “You have an end to gain beyond success, and that is the moral rectitude of your own mind.”
2. That business is so exquisitely adapted to accomplish that purpose, is another argument with me to prove that such, in the intention of its Ordainer, was its design. An honest man, a man who sincerely desires to attain to a lofty and unbending uprightness, could scarcely seek a discipline more perfectly fitted to that end than the discipline of trade. For what is trade? It is the constant adjustment of the claims of different parties, a man’s self being one of the parties. This competition of rights and interests might not invade the solitary study, or the separate tasks of the workshop, or the labours of the silent field, once a day; but it presses upon the merchant and trader continually. Do you say that it presses too hard? Then, I reply, must the sense of rectitude be made the stronger to meet the trial. Every plea of this nature is an argument for strenuous moral effort. A man must do more than to attain to punctilious honesty in his actions; he must train his whole soul, his judgment, his sentiments and affections, to uprightness, candour, and good-will. I have thus attempted to show that business has an ultimate, moral end—one going beyond the accumulation of property.
3. This may also be shown to be true, not only on the scale of our private affairs, but on the great theatre of history. Commerce has always been an instrument in the hands of Providence for accomplishing nobler ends than promoting the wealth of nations. It has been the grand civiliser of nations. With its earliest birth on the Mediterranean shore, freedom was born. Phoenicia, the merchants of whose cities, Tyre and Sidon, were accounted princes; the Hebrew commonwealth, which carried on a trade through those parts; the Grecian, Carthaginian, and Roman States, were not only the freest, but they were the only free states of antiquity. In the middle ages commerce broke down in Europe, the feudal system, raising up, in the Hanse Towns, throughout Germany, Sweden, and Norway, a body of men who were able to cope with barons and kings, and to wrest from them their free charters and rightful privileges. In England its influence is proverbial; the sheet-anchor, it has long been considered, of her unequalled prosperity and intelligence. Its moral influences are the only ones of which we stand in any doubt, and these, it need not be said, are of unequalled importance. The philanthropist, the Christian, are all bound to watch these influences with the closest attention, and to do all in their power to guard and elevate them. It is upon this point that I wish especially to insist; but there are one or two topics that may previously claim some attention.
   (1) If, then, business is a moral dispensation, and its highest end is moral, I shall venture to call in question the commonly supposed desirableness of escaping from it—the idea which prevails with so many of making a fortune in a few years, and afterwards of retiring to a state of leisure. If business really is a scene of worthy employment and of high moral action, I do not see why the moderate pursuit of it should not be laid down in the plan of entire active life; and why, upon this plan, a man should not determine to give only so much time each day to his avocations as would be compatible with such a plan; only so much time, in other words, as will be compatible with the daily enjoyment of life, with reading, society, domestic intercourse, and all the duties of philanthropy and devotion.
   (2) Another topic is the rage for speculation. I wish to speak of it now in a particular view—as interfering, that is to say, with the moral end of business. It is not looking to diligence and fidelity for a fair reward, but to change and chance for a fortunate turn. It is drawing away men’s minds from the healthful processes of sober industry and attention to business, and leading them to wait in feverish excitement as at the wheel of a lottery. To do business and get gain, honestly and conscientiously, is a good thing. It is useful discipline of the character. I look upon a man who has acquired wealth, in a laudable, conscientious, and generous pursuit of business, not only with a respect far beyond what I can feel for his wealth—for which indeed, abstractly, I can feel none at all—but with the distinct feeling that he has acquired something far more valuable than opulence. But for this discipline of the character, for the reasonableness and rectitude of mind which a regular business intercourse may form, speculation furnishes but a narrow field, if any at all; such speculation, I mean, as has lately created a popular frenzy in this country about the sudden acquisition of property. This insane passion for accumulation, ever ready, when circumstances favour, to seize upon the public mind, is that “love of money which is the root of all evil,” that “covetousness which is idolatry.” It springs from an undue, an idolatrous estimate of the value of property. Many are feeling that nothing—nothing will do for them or for their children but wealth; not a good character, not well-trained and well-exerted faculties, not virtue, not the hope of heaven—nothing but wealth. It is their god, and the god of their families. (
   O. Dewey, D. D.)

The lips of knowledge are a precious Jewel.
The use of the tongue
It is very difficult to control the noble faculty of speech, but it may be controlled. You may bridle it.
I. The power of speech is a great endowment. One of the essential distinctions between us and the mere animal. Expression is thus given to our power of thinking, which is another great endowment. The tongue is the heart’s interpreter. Used as it may and ought to be, its influence is luminous as the light and fragrant as the rose. But what mischief it may work!
II. We have great responsibility in the matter of our speaking. All our endowments involve an accountability proportionate to their magnitude and importance, and speech is no exception. The impression seems common that our words are of little importance, and that while actions must be accounted for, speaking is but a voice, and will not be recorded, or appear again to confront us. Every serious person must be sensible how heavily the burden of sins of speech presses on him.
III. God has afforded fulness of instruction in regard to our bearing of this responsibility. The instruction is, for the most part, general in its nature.

1. Truth. Departure from truth is specially condemned. Untruth includes exaggerated statements.
2. Sincerity. Heart and lips must never be at variance.
3. Purity. This excludes levity in speaking of holy things.
4. Love. This will induce to active good.
   IV. Speech is capable of control. How is it to be bridled?
5. By right thinking.
6. By watchfulness.
7. By correct habits.
8. By prayer.
   “He that seemeth to be religious and bridleth not his tongue, that man’s religion is vain.” (H. Wilkes, D. D.)

Proverbs 20:18
Every purpose is established by counsel.
Counsel
“Of all apostolic habits the most habitual,” writes arehbishop Benson, “was the usage of counsel. The upper chamber, the house, the home of Mary, Jerusalem, Antioch, the school of Ephesus, the Hired House at Rome, were so many conciliabula and scenes of high debate. How full is the Acts of the Apostles of mentions of ‘disputation,’ ‘conference,’ ‘reasoning,’ and of such expressions as these: ‘They came together to consider the matter,’ ‘It pleased the apostles and elders and the whole Church,’ ‘Being assembled together with one accord,’ and the like. How strong are the injunctions ‘to assemble themselves,’ ‘to come together in the assembly,’ ‘to be gathered together with one spirit’!”

1. It is a familiar experience that we can tune ourselves for any work of our own by placing ourselves in touch with some kindred work by a master hand. By this simple method we can in some measure “kindle when we will the fire which in the heart resides.” Our spirits drink in refreshment from those living founts of inspiration. What others have consummately done lends us at least the impulse to go and do likewise.
2. By withdrawing ourselves, if only for a brief space, from the absorbing interests, the keen controversies, of the present into the serener regions of the past, where principles and men and methods can be more impartially studied, by going “back to the Bible” in the modest but unflinching spirit, and with the enriched equipment of scientific research—our minds are tranquillised and balanced as well as quickened and enlightened for dealing with the urgent needs, the burning questions, the conflicting points of view and policies of the hour. So by God’s help may it be with us as we rapidly survey “the type and model” of Christian councils of every kind and degree, and thus look for guiding principles, practical indications, and spiritual tone to “the rock whence we are hewn.” (Bp. Jayne, D. D.)

Proverbs 20:19
Meddle not with him that flattereth with his lips.
On keeping away people we don’t want
Not all insects are welcome visitors to plants; there are unbidden guests who do harm. To their visits there are often obstacles. Stiff hairs, impassably slippery or viscid stems, moats in which the intruders drown, and other structural peculiarities, whose origin may have had no reference to insects, often justify themselves by saving the plant. Even more interesting, however, is the preservation of some acacias and other shrubs by a bodyguard of ants, which, innocent themselves, ward off the attacks of the deadly leaf-cutters. In some cases the bodyguard has become almost hereditarily accustomed to the plants, and the plants to them, for they are found in constant companionship, and the plants exhibit structures which look almost as if they had been made as shelters for the ants. On some of our European trees similar little homes or domatia constantly occur, and shelter small insects, which do no harm to the trees, but cleanse them from injurious fungi. (J. Arthur Thomson, M. A.)

Proverbs 20:21
An inheritance may be gotten hastily at the beginning; but the end thereof shall not be blessed.
Patience and permanence
Ours is an age of haste. Short cuts to learning, professional life without due preparation, fortunes before labour; all this foretells disaster and collapse. In behalf of an energy that is persistent, a labour that is patient, enterprises that count the cost I wish to speak. The truth of the text appears—
I. In the material world. Tremendous forces have operated through ages to bring the earth into its present condition. Geological, chemical, astronomical science tell of changes slow, silent, but persistent, and therefore permanent.
II. In the intellectual world. The human mind has a physical basis. As grew the material, so grows the mental world. A process here, a progress there. Ideas endure hardness in their battle for recognition. Doctrines are developed according to this law of progress. Scripture unfolds like herbage in the field. Intellectual power is secured by labour and persistent effort. Nature reveals her secrets, history discloses the past, revelation makes known her truth, only to the studious and devout.
III. In the spiritual world. Scripture has styled the Almighty “the God of all patience.” His works bear evidence of finish and completeness. Why does He deliberate, tarry, and hasten not? Let this God of patience interpret His own plans. With Him millenniums are as days. Sudden movements in grace, as in nature, are of the destructive kind. Gentle dews, not crashing storms, make good pasture. A lamb, not the lion, is final conqueror, and the servant who sows and waits, prays and persists, believes and does not make haste, squall have a sure reward. (Frank Rector, M. A.)

Proverbs 20:23
And a false balance is not good.
False balance applied to providences
We may apply a false balance to the providences which make up our life. What skill some people have in dealing only in dark things, black aspects, wintry phases, deprivations, bereavements, losses! They are eloquent when they tell you what they have parted with. Who can be equally eloquent in numbering mercies? Who ever gets beyond the outside of things, the mere rim, the palpable environment? Who gets into the soul, and who says, “I have reason, how can I be poor? I have health, how can I fail? I have home, how can I be desolate?” In balancing life take in all these reasons and thoughts and considerations, and so doing you will see that all the while God has been making you rich, or giving you the possibilitity and opportunity of acquiring and enjoying the true wealth. Who is there that keeps a right balance when he has to weigh the present and the future? The unsteady hand can never get an equipoise; the palsied fingers cannot hold the scales. The present is here, the future is yonder; and when did “here” fail to carry the war against “yonder”? We have even formed little foolish proverbs about this; we have gone so far as to tell the lie that “a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.” Whoever says that is guilty of a palpable sophism. He seems to be speaking truth, he forgets that everything depends on the bird that is in the bush, and all the possibilities and contingencies and promises which relate to the possibility and certainty of its capture if the right way be pursued. We are the victims of the present. It would seem impossible for some men to do justice to spirituality. Spiritual teaching goes for nothing. If you deal in clothing for the head you will get your money; there is a county court to support you—but if you give a man ideas, if you pray him into heaven, if you lift up his soul into a new selfhood, the county court would smile at you if you made application for assistance in any direction that you might think honest and equitable. And the very best of men play at that game. They cannot help it. (J. Parker, D. D.)

Proverbs 20:24
Man’s goings are of the Lord: how can a man then understand his own way?
Man’s goings
I. The text in its negative bearings.

1. Appeal to Scripture (Pro_16:9; Jer_10:23).
2. Appeal to history. Hazael (2Ki_8:11).
3. Appeal to your own experience.
   Is it not true that when you trust to your own strength you are apt to trifle with temptation?
   II. The text in its positive bearings. “Man’s goings are of the Lord.” His goings in the path of duty are. What is true of duty is true also of the conduct of life. From this gather encouragement, and nourish humility. Check all presumptuous schemes as to the future. (A. Nicholson, B. A.)

Proverbs 20:25
It is a snare to the man who devoureth that which is holy.
Selfishness in religion
There were under the Levitical dispensation certain things prescribed by the law as consecrated to God; such as tithes, first-fruits, firstlings of the herds and the flock. There were also things that were voluntarily consecrated as free-will offerings to Jehovah. It is to these, perhaps, that Solomon here specially refers. The expression, “to devour that which is holy,” characterises the conduct of those who appropriate that to their own use which had been either by themselves or others consecrated to the service of God. The subject leads us to consider selfishness in religion. Selfishness everywhere is bad, but when selfishness intrudes into the temple of religion, it is peculiarly hideous. It is then the serpent amongst seraphs.
I. The appropriating of the consecrated to personal use. The text speaks of the man who “devoureth that which is holy.” This was the sin of Achan: he robbed the treasury of the Lord (Jos_6:19; Jos_7:1). “Will a man rob God?” (Mal_3:8-9). This is done now in England.

1. In the personal appropriations of ecclesiastical endowments.
2. In the assumption of sacred offices for personal ends.
3. In the adoption of the Christian profession from motives of personal interest.
   II. The endeavouring to avoid the fulfilment of religious vows. “And after vows to make inquiry.” There are three ideas that must not be attached to this expression.
4. The idea that it is wrong to make religious vows is not here.
5. The idea that it is wrong to break improper vows is not here.
6. The idea that it is wrong to think upon the vow after it is made is not here. (D. Thomas, D. D.)

Proverbs 20:26
A wise king scattereth the wicked, and bringeth the wheel over them
Persecution and righteous penalty
A passage of this kind may easily be perverted by being used for the purpose of supporting a doctrine of persecution.
To bring the wheel over a man seems to be a figurative expression for the very direst cruelty. If a man is wicked, crush him with the wheel, tear him limb from limb, decapitate him, in some way show that there is a power that can terminate not only his enjoyment and his liberty, but his life. That, however is not the meaning of the text. Always distinguish between persecution and righteous penalty, between mere oppression and the assertion of that righteousness which is essential to the consolidation of society. When the stacks of corn were spread upon the threshing-floor, the grain was separated from the husk by a sort of sledge or cart which was driven over them. The process was for the purpose of separating the chaff from the wheat; the process therefore was purely beneficent: so with the wise king; he winnows out evil persons, he signalises them, he gives them all the definiteness of a separate position, and by bringing them into startling contrast with persons of sound and honest heart he seeks to put an end to their mischievous power. Indiscrimination is the ruin of goodness. Men are separated by different ways, not by imprisonment, not by merely personal penalty, not by stigma and brand of an offensive character; they are separated by contrariety of taste, aspiration, feeling, sympathy; in proportion as the good are earnest do they classify themselves, bringing themselves in sacred association with one another, and by sensitiveness of moral touch they feel the evil and avoid it; they know the evil person at a distance and are careful to put themselves out of his way and reach. What is represented as being done by the wise king is done by the cultivation of high principle and Christian honour. (J. Parker, D. D.)

Verse 27 The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord.
The nature and function of conscience
The spirit of man is the breath of the Creator. The breath kindled intelligence in the brain, and infused vitality into the heart. It did more than that. It made man a moral being, capable of virtue, and responsible for his actions. The vitalizing breath of the Lord kindled a light in man—here called “the candle of the Lord.” By that candle man sees his own inner nature, witnesses the process of his own mind, and observes the motions of his affections and will. Conscience has a place of pre-eminent importance in our nature.

1. Scientific men give one definition of conscience, while popular usage sanctions another materially different. In every-day usage the word is used to indicate the whole moral nature of man. When a man resists temptation he says, “My conscience will not let me do it.” Conscience includes three things: the perception of right or wrong; the judgment of a particular action as being right or wrong; the feeling of pleasure or remorse which follows right or wrong action. The Bible usage of the word is the same as our ordinary usage in every-day speech. In Scripture usage, conscience includes the perception, the judgment, and the feeling. Conscience is not an Old Testament term. And, singularly enough, the word was never used in the teaching of the Lord Jesus.
2. Paul’s most frequent word for the function of conscience is the figurative word “witness.” Conscience is a witness testifying in the soul. A witness is one who testifies, one who tells clearly what he knows of a matter. To what facts or truths does conscience bear testimony. It testifies to the existence of a fundamental distinction between right and wrong. It testifies that right ought to be done, and that wrong ought not to be done. It convicts a man when wrong has been done. Its witness becomes a check on man’s doings. (Jesse T. Whitley.)

The spiritual part of man
The text is an account of the soul, or spiritual part in man. The spirit of man is the lamp of Jehovah, i.e., its operations and manner of performing them are similar to those of a lamp, and it is supported in them by Jehovah spiritually, as a lamp is in nature physically. In a lamp are four things.

1. A vessel.
2. A substance capable of being illuminated.
3. Necessity for kindling it.
4. Constant recruits of oil to supply it and keep it burning. These particulars are as spiritually true in the soul of man.
   I. The soul has a vessel in which it is enclosed and contained. The body is the vessel of this lamp of Jehovah.
   II. The soul, though capable of receiving illumination from God, is in itself absolutely dark. When, by that grand and original sin at the fall, the light that was in us became darkness, how great was that darkness! By the fall this most glorious excellency and perfection of our nature, spiritual discernment by faith, was lost, and we became like the beasts.
   III. Christ was sent to kindle a light in the soul. “A light to lighten the Gentiles.” “The true light that lighteth (the lamp of) every one coming into the world.” When the light of Jehovah is lighted in the soul of man, and not overwhelmed by sensuality, it conquers and triumphs over the natural darkness that is in us. When the Divine light is the agent in the soul, the moment it meets with any darkness to impede and obstruct its operations it at once recoils, and by that means admonishes us of it; after which it never rests till it has either expelled it or conformed it to itself.
   IV. Spiritual oil is necessary to keep the light alive in our hearts. The Holy Spirit is the Divine oil that must feed and nourish our lamps. Inferences for our direction in faith and practice:
5. If the body is a vessel to contain the heavenly lamp, how few are seeking to “possess this vessel in sanctification and honour.”
6. If the soul be dark by nature, what becomes of that idol of the deists, the “light of nature”?
7. If Christ be the only person that can lighten our darkness, to Him let every man go.
8. Let us not make the fatal mistake of setting out to meet the Bridegroom, without taking oil in our vessels, with our lamps. (Bp. Horne.)

The nerve of religious sensation
Able to shine; constructed to shine; but not alight until it has been lighted—the candle of the Lord. Man’s spirit is part of us, and able to produce flame when it has been touched with flame. It is a special capacity we have for feeling, appreciating, and responding to Divine things. Sound affects the ear; light the eye; the spirit is the nerve of religious sensation. Man is a bundle of adaptations. The religious sense is the faculty which all men have, in varying degree, of appreciating religious and Divine things. We could not be holy without the instinct, but the instinct does not insure our being holy. There is in this no difference between the religious instinct and other of our instincts. The religious sense forms part of each man’s original outfit. It gives the teacher and preacher something with which to start. The facility with which children can be approached in religious matters shows that religion is a matter of instinct before it is a matter of education. This inborn religious sense is an easy argument for the existence of God. The possession of this religious instinct puts us upon the track of a very simple and practical duty. Whether we become holy or not will depend mostly upon how we treat that instinct, and upon whether we repress and smother it, or give it free chance of unfolding. It rests with us to take some sturdy measures to bring out this religious consciousness into greater force and fuller glow. (C. H. Parkhurst, D. D.)

The spirit of man
When God had completed the house of the soul, He furnished it most liberally with glorious lights. The intellect is one of the bright lights placed in the soul’s house to cheer and guide men in this life. The light of the human mind is invaluable. Man is scarcely a man without its illuminating flame. Then there is the guiding light of conscience. And there is the spiritual light which characterises all mankind, that leads humanity everywhere to worship God.
I. Man is a great being. It is said alone of man, “In the image of God created He him.” This singles out man as the greatest being on earth. Every earnest, intelligent, and devout man is in some degree conscious of an inherent greatness. Conscious personality is a unique power. In the moral realm every man is a sovereign who conceives plans and executes purposes of high significance and far-reaching consequences. Man’s conscious personality survives the shock of death. Man is the son of God. The sons of God are partakers of the Divine nature. This raises them to a plane that is at an infinite distance from the creatures next to them in the scale of existence. Really true greatness consists in likeness to God. A good man is one of the greatest works of God.
II. Man is Divinely illuminated.

1. The intellectual light of man is from God.
2. The light of conscience is from God. It is a pure, clear flame, that reveals to us the character of our thoughts and purposes before they become actions.
3. The spiritual light in man is from God. Savage and civilised, the world over, worship some god. The lamp that lights all men who come into the world, and leads them to worship, is doubtless of God’s kindling. In worship, the soul pays its filial homage to God.
   III. Man has been illuminated for a Divine purpose. God created all things for His own glory. Men of great intellectual powers are placed by God in the midst of the world’s moral darkness, that by their superior light they might scatter the mental night of their fellows. Great intellects possess a tremendous power for good or evil. “Man is like the candle lighted by the Spirit of God, radiating the glory of God’s nature, and itself glorified by the Divine fire. But some men are unlighted candles.” (D. Rhys Jenkins.)

The light of conscience
Victor Hugo says: “In every human heart there is a light kindled and, close by, a strong wind which seeks to extinguish it; this light is conscience, this wind is superstition. Conscience is the child of God; superstition, the child of the devil. Conscience loves and rejoices in the light; superstition hates the light of mind and spirit, because its deeds are evil.”

Proverbs 20:29
The glory of young men is their strength.
The glory of young men
Power, force, might, strength, are divers names for a thing which always has been, and always will be, admirable in human esteem. In all its forms it is a glorious thing. The man of indomitable will is always an object of reverence to his fellows. In every region of the humanities the man who can do the most, and with the least apparent expenditure of power, acquires a kind of moral chieftainship among his compeers in the same sphere. The text says that strength is the peculiar glory of young men. Other things will come by and by, but this is the thing that comes first. The glory of young men is not their wisdom. Young men are not generally very wise. They make a good many mistakes. The time for wisdom will come, whether the wisdom will come or not. The strength that is to be their glory is physical, bodily strength. A vast multitude of soul-ills come of a much lower kind of ill. Some men are born weak. And it is a very terrible thing, though a very merciful thing for the world. It is God’s law for preventing the perpetuation of moral evil. It is a provision that depraved lives of humanity shall die out if they do not, by conforming to the Divine laws, repair and improve themselves. There are some young men who are shorn of their glory, and have nobody to blame but themselves. What caricatures of humanity one sometimes passes in the street, in the form of young men! And there are old young men, enervated by folly and wickedness, doomed to drag out a weary existence for a few years, with no proper force for any of life’s duties and relations, and self-doomed. Keep, I beseech you, by all the means in your power, a strong, healthy body—vigorous, athletic, nervous, firm. But the text means more than this. Body is not yet manhood. There is moral power. One wants a deal of moral force, especially at life’s beginning, to live a true, and worthy, and noble life. Force is of two sorts: there is quiet force-inertia, and there is active force-motion. Both of these sorts of force go to make manhood. You must try to get moral solidity, gravity, weight, firmness, immovability, steadfastness. The elements of this force are conviction and decision. You must try to get active force, enthusiasm, energy, enterprise. Without this, nothing is done in any department of life. Seek the ability to go out of yourselves, to do and to dare for God. (G. W. Conder.)

The glory of young men
Men look with admiration and with awe upon great power, wherever it is seen. The visitor to Niagara cannot but be moved by the thought of the immeasurable power of that river as it dashes over the declivity. The man of power has always been the object of the veneration of his less talented fellow-men. He has but to move and straightway his movements are chronicled all over the civilised world. There is no sight in all the earth so impressive as is that of young manhood in its youthful power and vigour of faculty, eager for the struggle of life.
I. The strength of young manhood should be controlled. Power is productive of good only when its energies are guided in right channels and directed to right uses by intelligence and wisdom. When power becomes master and goes out from beneath the hand of wise control it is always destructive. The locomotive, Titan giant serving men meekly so long as they hold its movements obedient to their will, goes crashing into the train ahead, because the engineer has lost control of his iron steed; and the shrieks of the wounded and the moans of the dying tell us of the awful death-dealing ability of great power which has become a law to itself. The waters behind the dam at South Fork were harmless, except potentially, so long as they were controlled. They served only to further the peaceful industries of the mountain valley. But, breaking the bonds and acknowledging no ruler but anarchy, they spread desolation in their wake. Powerful though machinery and the forces of nature are, they are pigmies in comparison with a young man. He has done more than they all. What the world is to-day it has been made by young men. “Through all time, the greatest victories have been achieved, the wisest and most beneficent reforms instituted, the greatest Christian enterprises undertaken, and the most decided impetus given to the advance of the world by men who have “begun to be about thirty years of age.” Bichat, French physician and physiologist, had revolutionised the practice of medicine and died before he was thirty-one. John Wesley founded the Methodist Church before he was thirty-six. Luther was thirty-three when he nailed his theses to the door of Wittenberg Church. Wilbrrforce had compelled England to free all her slaves by the time he was thirty-two. At the same age Watt had invented the steam-engine. But on the other hand the destructive influence of the strength of young manhood, when that strength is not wisely controlled, is seen when we glance at the rosters of our jails and penal institutions and discover the fact that the inmates of those institutions are for the most part young men. History also reminds us that Alexander the Great had made his name odious, conqueror of the world though he was, by the time he was thirty-three, and Napoleon had come to ignominy by the time he was thirty-four.
II. But this strength of young manhood should also be conserved, One of the most difficult things to impress upon young men is the fact they will not always be overflowing, as they are in their teens and twenties, with strength and spirits. When God makes a man, He puts into him a certain amount of life-force. When that is consumed, there is no way in which it may be replaced. Ruskin overtaxed himself in his younger days, with the result that the lamp of his genius burned but dimly in later life. Walter Scott did the same, and suffered the same fate. Scientists tell us that there is no reason why a man should not live past the century mark in years, if he be well born and if he conserve his strength. It lies within the power of every well-born man so to use the strength which nature has given him that, as the psalmist says, “in old age he shall be fat and flourishing.”
III. This strength of young men should also be concentrated. “This one thing I do.” Success in life depends upon concentration of one’s energies upon one thing. Paul was a successful preacher because he was “determined to know nothing but Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” The sun casts a genial warmth over a large area, but if we wish to light a fire by it we must take the sun-glass and concentrate its rays upon one point.
IV. This power should also be consecrated. This is the capstone and the keystone of all that we have thus far pointed out. “Whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.” The subordination of every power and faculty to the law contained in the great commandment will in itself lead to the control, the conservation, and the concentration of power and faculty. (R. S. Young.)

The glory of young men
Man has a threefold nature—physical, mental, and spiritual; body, brain, and soul. Therefore there are three kinds of strength—physical, intellectual, spiritual. There is a close connection between health and virtue. “Before any vice can fasten on a man, his physical nature must be debilitated.” The conditions of health are—

1. We must learn the laws of our physical well-being.
2. We must act and live up to these laws. The laws of health are—pure air, suitable food, and sufficient exercise. You have a healthy craving for innocent recreation. Do not repress it. It is God-implanted, and therefore sacred, sacred as are any of the other Divine instincts within you. You have a many-sided nature, and every side must have a fair chance of development. Intellectual strength. The mind is the measure of the man; it is the empire or kingdom of the soul. The thinker is the acknowledged king of men. A trained mind, developed by reading and reflection, is worth striving for. Moral and spiritual strength. A clever man is greater than a merely strong man, but a good man is greater than either. Moral and spiritual gains are the most enduring. (David Watson.)

The glory of youth and the beauty of age
I. Godliness makes the strength of young men glorious.

1. Because that strength is governed by a glorious inspiration.
2. Because it is directed to glorious ends.
3. Because it endows him with a glorious steadfastness of principle, an unswerving attachment to the right.
4. Because of the glorious reward he will finally attain.
   II. Godliness makes the hoary heads of age beautiful.
5. Godly age is beautiful, because of its wealth of experience.
6. Because it is connected with maturity of Christian character.
7. Because of the connection with a holy peace and brightening hope.
   III. The beauty of the grey head is the natural and fitting result of the developed glory of youthful strength. Pious strength in the earlier half of life is the seed that ripens into the glad harvest of hopeful, resting readiness which should mark the end.
8. Youthful godliness is likely to secure the beauty of age, because godly principles and practices are best calculated to lengthen life.
9. Because the conduct of youth gives character to age. (Jackson Wray.)

The glory of young men

1. Ideals of manhood have differed with every age. Physical strength was the primary glory of the race. Samson among the Hebrews, Hector among the Trojans, Achilles among the Greeks, and Richard the Lion-hearted among the Crusaders, were as valuable as batteries or battalions now are. Until Christian civilisation changed it, the measure of the man was his muscle, and his passport to respect was his fighting weight. But we live in a different era. Gunpowder and dynamite have abolished physical differences and put all men on a common level. It is not brawn but brain which tell in this age. Christianity has subordinated the material to the mental. “There is nothing great in the world but man; there is nothing great in man but mind.”
2. But there are two kinds of mental strength—a lower and a higher order, the intellectual and the spiritual. There is something better than a clear, cold intellectuality. Man has a heart as well as a head, emotions as well as thoughts. Some of the most atrocious characters in history were men of giant intellect. The Duke of Alva was accomplished and scholarly. As mental strength is higher in rank than the physical, so moral strength is higher than the merely mental. The most valuable possession in this world for a young man is strength of character. With it poverty, obscurity, and ill-health are not misfortunes. Without it wealth, fame, and physical endurance are not blessings. But how little this is appreciated by youth.
3. Every boy longs to be a man. It is a legitimate ambition. But does he know manhood’s perils? The moral innocence of childhood grown into manhood is a thousandfold stronger than reformed manhood, built out of the fragments which were gathered up from the wreck and ruin of the former self.
4. The great arena for the development of moral strength is in conquering one’s self.
5. But how shall this hardest of victories be won—the victory of self? Remember Constantine’s vision. So with you. By the Cross of Christ thou shalt conquer. The testimony of the unrighteous to the worth of religion as a moral armour is an exceedingly valuable testimony. (J. C. Jackson, D. D.)

Muscular Christianity
I. Physical strength. We are prone to glorify and exalt the man of strong intellect at the expense of the muscular man. We are apt to despise physical strength, and look upon it as something very necessary in an ox or horse, but nothing for a Christian to be proud of. The development of physical strength lies very much with ourselves. Physical development is related to mental and moral culture as the foundation to the superstructure which rests upon it. The best students carry their physical and mental training along together. Nor should we lose sight of the influence of physical training upon the morals of the young. Muscular Christianity is the kind of religion that will live, and make itself felt in the world. Mawkish sentimentality is not religion. But if our strength is to be a glory to us it must be consecrated strength. There are those who value their strength, not for the amount of good they can accomplish with it, but for the amount of supposed pleasure or vice their strength enables them to indulge in. Such strength is no glory to young men.
II. Mental strength. No college can confer brains where nature has withheld them; and yet it is true that, as regards intellectual power, we are very much what we make ourselves. It is not those endowed naturally with great talents who rule in the political, social, and religious world. It is those of medium talents, men of activity, diligence, and earnestness, who go up to the top of the ladder—those who deposit their mental capital, such as it is, where it will give the highest interest. Hard work kills very few. The men who live longest are those who combine severe mental labour with proper physical exercise.
III. Moral strength. If a man lack moral strength, he is no giant, but a mere pigmy, in so far as usefulness in the world is concerned. Moral strength consists—

1. In the courage to do the right.
2. To feel our own weakness.
3. Another element in moral strength is a godly life.
   A consistent man is a tower of strength. He is a resistless power for good. The godly lives of humble, consistent Christians are the most powerful sermons. (Richmond Logan, M. A.)

The beauty of age
Spring has its charms, peculiar to itself, and so has summer, and so has autumn—each unlike the other, but the last by no means inferior to the others. There is a beauty peculiar to youth, and a beauty that belongs to manhood; is there not a beauty which belongs to age, unlike youth, unlike middle life, but something analogous to the glory of the autumnal foliage? Sometimes we see it. At other times, disease, overwork, trouble, sorrow, are a blight whose wasting has destroyed all beauty. But an old age, a late afternoon, that has escaped this, why should it not be like an autumn afternoon, bright and beautiful? Would it be an improvement to change the turning leaves into fresh green again? Would you rob us of the autumnal beauty, and take the later glory from the hillsides? It is most uncomely in man or woman, when old, to affect youthfulness—in dress and manner, and association, to go back to early life—to endeavour in this to be what one is not. The attempt is always a failure. This is a wheel that can never be turned backward. On the other hand, it is painful to see age anticipated, a premature age affected and taken on. Let the days linger, if they will. Let the leaves continue green, if they may. But there is a beauty, a bloom, a joyousness belonging to the maturity and ripeness of full age. Beauty is not unbecoming age. Bloom is not unbecoming age, neither is joyousness then unbecoming. But let it be itself such as befits age and belongs to it. Let it be the royal purple, running into the dun brown, unlike the verdure of the spring time—its own type of beauty—such as comes only when the sun runs low. In some localities, as the late autumn days are frosty and crisp, you may find by the wayside a flower, there opening its cluster of blossoms in full beauty, in the clear autumn air seeming to have caught the hue of the sky—a pure cerulean blue—the fringed gentian. Why does it blossom so late, with its heavenly hue, unless it be to remind us that there are flowers peculiar to the late autumn of life, and that they should be the evident reflection of heaven? Age may be beautiful with its own adornments. We dwell the longer on this because it is due to age, and because we would dissuade from that mistake, into which some fall, of anticipating and magnifying the sadder aspects of advanced life. As you grow old, be cheerful, if you may. Keep the affections of the heart fresh and warm. If your leaf must fall, forbid it not, while still it hangs, to redden and disport its beauty. If possible, let your sky be open as the sun goes down. (Alfred E. Ives.).

Proverbs 20:1
a mocker] Rather a scorner, Pro_1:22, note.
raging] Rather, a brawler, R.V. In each case the thing is personified in its victim. The drunkard in his cups becomes impious towards God and quarrelsome towards his neighbour.
is deceived] erreth, R.V., reeleth, R.V. marg.

Proverbs 20:2
is as] The terror inspired by a king is like that caused by the roaring of a lion in act to spring upon its prey. See 1Pe_5:8.
soul] i.e. life, as R.V. with “Heb. soul,” in the marg. Comp. Hab_2:10.

Proverbs 20:3
cease] For the same sense of the English word, refrain or stand aloof from, R.V., comp. Psa_37:8; Isa_1:16.
meddling] R.V.; Rather, quarrelling, R.V. See Pro_17:14, note.

Proverbs 20:4
cold] Rather, winter, A.V. marg. and R.V. See Gen_8:22, where the Heb. word here used is rendered “winter,” and another Heb. word is used for “cold.”
beg] This rendering, which is retained in R.V. text, gives a forcible picture of the destitution to which the slothful will be reduced: though he beg as a mendicant, men’s hearts, even when enlarged by the plenty of harvest, will have no pity on him. Some, however, take it to mean, when he seeketh in harvest (when others are reaping the fruit of their labour) there shall be nothing, R.V. marg.

Proverbs 20:5
will draw it out] as from a well, as the Queen of Sheba did, 1 Kings 10.

Proverbs 20:6
goodness] i.e. bounty, A.V. marg., or kindness, R.V. Fair promises are common, but faithful performance of them is rare. Comp. 2Co_8:11; 2Co_9:4.
The first clause of the verse is otherwise rendered: Many a man will meet one that is kind to him, R.V. marg., but, as the next clause adds, seldom one that he can trust.

Proverbs 20:7
walketh] Rather, that walketh, R.V.
ὄς ἀναστρέφεται ἄμωμος ἐν δικαιοσύνῃ, μακαρίους τοὺς παῖδας αὐτοῦ καταλείψει, LXX.

Proverbs 20:8
scattereth] or winnoweth, R.V. marg., as the same Heb. word is rendered (as suggested by the parallelism) in Pro_20:26.

Proverbs 20:9
Comp. Psa_19:12; Jer_2:22; Luk_18:9-14.

Proverbs 20:10
Divers weights] Lit. a stone and a stone, an ephah and an ephah; different weights or measures to buy and to sell with, or when there is risk of detection, and when fraud is safe. Comp. Deu_25:13-14, where the explanatory words, “a great and a small,” are added, as they are here by the LXX. (στάθμιον μέγα καὶ μικρόν); and see ch. Pro_11:1 (note), Pro_16:11.

Proverbs 20:11
is known] or, maketh himself known; betrays his true character, and gives presage of “his (life’s) work.” Comp. the familiar German proverb, “Was ein Dörnchen werden will spitzt sich bei Zeiten,” Lange.

Proverbs 20:12
The hearing ear] or, The ear heareth, and the eye seeth. Οὖς ἀκούει καὶ ὀφθαλμὸς ὁρᾷ, LXX.
The proverb is designed to be a seed of thought and to suggest many inferences, such as: How great must the Maker of such organs be (Psa_139:14; Wis_13:5); how exactly must their Maker take account of their use (Psa_94:9); how entirely dependent are we upon Him for their employment (Exo_4:11) or restoration (Isa_35:5), whether literally or spiritually.

Proverbs 20:13
Comp. Pro_6:9-11; Pro_19:15.

Proverbs 20:14
naught] i.e. an inferior article. Comp. 2Ki_2:19. By decrying it he gets it cheap, and then goes his way and boasts of his cleverness. Mr Bridges, in his Commentary on Proverbs, quotes here from Augustine the well-known story of him who having given out that he would disclose to every man the secret desire of his heart, exclaimed to the crowd who came together to hear it, Vili vultis emere, et caro vendere, “You all wish to buy cheap, and sell dear” (Aug. de Trin. lib. 13. c. 3).

Proverbs 20:15
rubies] The R.V. retains this word, but refers to Job_28:18, where it gives in the margin, or, red coral, or, pearls. See Pro_3:15, note.

Proverbs 20:16
Take his garment] The Law of Moses recognised and regulated distraint on clothing as security for the repayment of a loan or debt (Exo_22:26-27; Deu_24:10-13. Comp. Mat_5:40). The proverb represents vividly the certainty that the surety will smart for his folly. Treat him at once, it says to the creditor, as though he were the actual debtor; for there is no escape for him. Hold him in pledge (R.V.), as the parallel clause of the verse puts it, for his assuredly, and not the stranger’s, is the liability he has so foolishly incurred.
a strange woman] The Heb. text is strangers; though there is another reading, a strange woman, as in Pro_27:13, where the proverb recurs. The addition, that is surety, R.V., is not necessary to the sense. We may render, with Maurer, Hold him in pledge for (in place of) the strangers (for whom he has made himself liable).

Proverbs 20:17
Bread of deceit] or of falsehood, R.V., i.e. bread (or whatever else that word represents) gotten by dishonest and deceitful methods.
with gravel] Comp. Lam_3:16.

Proverbs 20:18
with good advice] or, by wise guidance, R.V., make war. Comp. Luk_14:31-32.

Proverbs 20:19
flattereth with] Rather, openeth wide, R.V.; dilatat labia sua, Vulg.; has his mouth always open as a tattling gossip. Comp. the prohibition of the Law, Lev_19:16, and St Paul’s rebuke of “tattlers” and “busybodies,” 1Ti_5:13.

Proverbs 20:20
obscure darkness] Better, the blackest darkness, R.V. Lit. the pupil (of the eye) of darkness (comp. “in the pupil of night,” Pro_7:9, and note): i.e. in the darkest part, as the pupil is of the eye, of darkness. There is a trace of this in the version here of the LXX., αἱ δὲ κόραι τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν αὐτοῦ ὄψονται σκότος. In our present Hebrew Bibles, however, the word is corrected in the text to be read into a word which is not found elsewhere, and the meaning of which is uncertain. Vulg. in mediis tenebris.

Proverbs 20:21
hastily] Comp. Pro_28:20; Pro_28:22.

Proverbs 20:22
Comp. Rom_12:17; Rom_12:19.

Proverbs 20:23
See Pro_20:10, note.

Proverbs 20:24
Comp. Pro_16:9; Jer_10:23.

Proverbs 20:25
who devoureth that which is holy] This rendering is retained in R.V. marg., as is also another, rashly to utter holy words. But it is better to render, rashly to say, It is holy (R.V. text), i.e. consecrated (comp. Corban, Mar_7:11). The sequence is thus preserved: and after vows (of consecration, thus rashly taken) to make enquiry (as to the wisdom or possibility of keeping them). παγὶς ἀνδρὶ ταχύ τι τῶν ἰδίων ἁγιάσαι, LXX.

Proverbs 20:26
scattereth] Rather, winnoweth. λικμήτωρ ἀσεβῶν βασιλεὺς σοφὸς, LXX.
the wheel] sc. of his threshing wain. Comp. Isa_28:27. He executes righteous judgement upon them, Psa_62:4; Rom_13:4.

Proverbs 20:27
spirit] Lit. breath (πνοή, LXX.). The word, in this unusual sense, may probably have been chosen to recall Gen_2:7 : the Lord God … breathed into his nostrils the breath (the same word as here) of life. “The breath of the higher life, above that which he has in common with the lower animals, coming to him direct from God, such a life, with all its powers of insight, consciousness, reflection, is as a lamp which God has lighted, throwing its rays into the darkest recesses of the heart,” Dean Plumptre in Speaker’s Comm.
candle] Rather, lamp, A.V. marg. and R.V.

Proverbs 20:30
the blueness of a wound] Lit. stripes of (such as to cause) a wound. Render, with R.V.,
Stripes that wound cleanse away evil:
And strokes reach the innermost parts of the belly.
The expression, the blueness of a wound, is taken probably from the livor vulneris of the Vulgate, and indicates a blow so severe as to leave a blue, livid wound or weal behind it.

Proverbs 20:1-30
The following commentary covers Chapters 10 through 31.
In chapter 10 begin the details which teach those who give ear how to avoid the snares into which the simple might fall, the path to be followed in many cases, and the consequences of men’s actions: in short, that which characterises wisdom in detail, what may be prudence for man, divine discretion for the children of God; and also, the result of God’s government, whatever appearances may be for awhile. It is well to observe, that there is no question of redemption or propitiation in this book; it proposes a walk according to the wisdom of God’s government.
In the final chapter we have the character of a king according to wisdom, and that of the woman in her own house-the king who does not allow himself that which, by darkening his moral discernment through the indulgence of his lusts, would make him unfit to govern. In the woman we see the persevering and devoted industry which fills the house with riches, brings honour to its inhabitants, and removes all the cares and anxieties produced by sloth. The typical application of these two specific characters is too evident to need explanation. The example of the woman is very useful, as to the spirit of the thing, to one who labours in the assembly.
Although in this book the wisdom produced by the fear of Jehovah is only applied to this world, it is on that very account of great use to the Christian, who, in view of his heavenly privileges, might, more or less, forget the continual government of God. It is very important for the Christian to remember the fear of the Lord, and the effect of God’s presence on the details of his conduct; and I repeat that which I said at the beginning, that it is great grace which deigns to apply divine wisdom to all the details of the life of man in the midst of the confusion brought in by sin. Occupied with heavenly things, the Christian is less in the way of discovering, by his own experience, the clue to the labyrinth of evil through which he is passing. God has considered this, and He has laid down this first principle, “wise unto that which is good, and simple concerning evil.” Thus the Christian may be ignorant of evil (if a worldling were so, he would fall into it), and yet avoid it through his knowledge of good. The wisdom of God gives him the latter; the government of God provides for all the rest. Now, in the Proverbs, we have these things in principle and in detail. I have not dwelt on the figurative character of the forms of evil. They are rather principles than figures. But the violent man of the last days is continually found in the Psalms; and Babylon is the full accomplishment of the woman who takes the simple in her snares and leads them down to death; just as Christ is the perfect wisdom of God which leads to life. But these two things which manifest evil proceed from the heart of man at all times since the fall: only we have seen that there is an active development of the wiles of the evil woman, who has her own house and her own arrangements. It is not simply the principle of corruption, but an organised system, as is that of sovereign wisdom.

Proverbs 20:1-30
Proverbs 20 – Wisdom, Weights, and Wickedness
Pro_20:1
Wine is a mocker,
Strong drink is a brawler,
And whoever is led astray by it is not wise.
a. Wine is a mocker, strong drink is a brawler: This is true in at least two senses. First, alcohol mocks and fights with those who abuse it in any sense. Second, alcohol leads one to be a mocker and a brawler. Many men and women have had their lives dominated by the mockery and brawling of alcohol.
i. “It mocks the drunkard, and makes a fool of him, promising him pleasure, but paying him with the stinging of an adder, and biting of a cockatrice, Pro_23:32.” (Trapp)
ii. A mocker: “It deceives by its fragrance, intoxicates by its strength, and renders the intoxicated ridiculous.” (Clarke)
iii. Trapp defined strong drink: “All kinds of drink that will alienate the understanding of a man and make him drunk, as ale, beer, cider.”
b. Whoever is led astray by it is not wise: Wisdom is displayed by the ability to not be led astray by alcohol. For many, this means not drinking alcohol at all (especially pastors and church leaders). For others, this will mean the decided, evident moderation in their use of alcohol.
i. Led astray: “So mighty is the spell that the overcome slave consents to be mocked again and again.” (Bridges)
ii. Is not wise: “For when the wine is in the wit is out. They have a practice of drinking the Outs, as they call it – all the wit out of the head, all the money out of the purse.” (Trapp)
iii. “Moreover, given the ease with which one may make a habit of this, it is wise to avoid alcohol entirely. In the Old Testament the use of alcohol was not prohibited; in fact, it was regularly used at festivals and celebrations. But intoxication was considered out of bounds for a member of the covenant community (see Pro_23:20-21; Pro_23:29-35; Pro_31:4-7).” (Ross)
iv. “These two aspects of wine, its use and its abuse, its benefits and its curse, its acceptance in God’s sight and its abhorrence, are interwoven into the fabric of the Old Testament so that it may gladden the heart of man (Psa_104:15) or cause his mind to error (Isa_28:7), it can be associated with merriment (Ecc_10:19) or with anger (Isa_5:11), it can be used to uncover the shame of Noah (Gen_9:21) or in the hands of Melchizedek to honor Abraham (Gen_14:18).” (Fitzsimmonds, cited in Waltke)
Pro_20:2
The wrath of a king is like the roaring of a lion;
Whoever provokes him to anger sins against his own life.
a. The wrath of a king is like the roaring of a lion: Using an image from a previous proverb (Pro_19:12), this proverb reminds us that those in power and leadership have potential for a great and fearful exercise of wrath.
b. Whoever provokes him to anger sins against his own life: Since in many ways the king held the power of life and death over his subjects, to provoke the king to anger was to endanger one’s own life. Knowing this principle should make us more reverent to the King of Kings, and happy that our King of Kings is rich in mercy and slow to anger (Psa_103:8; Psa_145:8).
Pro_20:3
It is honorable for a man to stop striving,
Since any fool can start a quarrel.
a. It is honorable for a man to stop striving: Many men feel that honor drives them to dispute and fight with others. This proverb reminds us that often times it is even more honorable for a man to stop striving.
i. “To stint it rather than to stir it; to be first in promoting peace and seeking reconciliation, as Abraham did in the controversy with Lot.” (Trapp)
b. Since any fool can start a quarrel: In many circumstances, it takes a man of honor to stop the fight, but any fool can start the quarrel and continue it.
i. “The wise are more concerned to bring peace than a desire to be right, but the fool cannot restrain himself and at the first opportunity explodes and shows his teeth.” (Waltke)
Pro_20:4
The lazy man will not plow because of winter;
He will beg during harvest and have nothing.
a. The lazy man will not plow because of winter: The lazy man always finds some excuse not to do his work. It is always too early or too late in the season to begin. It is always winter, and the ground is too hard for plowing. Any excuse will work when the heart is set on not working.
i. “Winter designates the Palestinian raining season from mid-October to April…. Since no sowing could have been done without plowing, the farmer waited for the first autumn rains to soften the ground. The sluggard, however, lacks the industry to plow from winter on, the only time that matters.” (Waltke)
ii. “The right time for planting was the rainy season (see Gen_8:22). It was cold, wet, and unpleasant. Perhaps such discomfort was his excuse.” (Ross)
iii. “Suppose it were not cold; do’ you know what he would say? ‘Oh, it is so hot! I cannot plough; the perspiration runs down my cheeks. You wouldn’t have me ploughing this hot weather, would you?’ Supposing it were neither hot nor cold, why, then he would say, I believe, that it rained; and if it didn’t rain, he would say the ground was too dry, for a bad excuse, he holds, is better than none; and therefore he will keep on making excuses to the end of the chapter; anything will he do rather than go and do the work he does not like – that is, ploughing.” (Spurgeon)
b. He will beg during harvest and have nothing: The lazy manwill work, after a fashion – he will do the work of begging. Having no reward from the work of his hands, he will even have to beg during harvest. Often his begging will go unrewarded (have nothing).
Pro_20:5
Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water,
But a man of understanding will draw it out.
a. Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water: Wisdom may lie deep within a man or woman, and not be immediately apparent. It may be a hidden reservoir, ready in the season of need.
i. “The metaphor is of a well whose waters are far beneath the surface of the ground so that one must use a bucket with a long rope to draw water to the surface. Thus a person’s real motives are ‘deep’ in that they are difficult to extract; one must be wary of the pretenses of others.” (Garrett)
b. A man of understanding will draw it out: Wisdom not only knows how to get and have wisdom; it also knows how to use it. The wise man – the man of understanding – knows how to draw wisdom out for practical and ready use.
i. Will draw it out: “By prudent questions and discourses, and a diligent observation of his words and actions.” (Poole)
ii. “Those who are wise can discern the motives of the heart.” (Ross)
Pro_20:6
Most men will proclaim each his own goodness,
But who can find a faithful man?
a. Most men will proclaim each his own goodness: It is true that most everyone feels they are good in their own eyes. Many are happy to proclaim it, wanting others to know all their supposed goodness.
b. Who can find a faithful man? True faithfulness in a man is different than self-advertised goodness. A faithful man doesn’t want or need to proclaim his owngoodness. The quiet satisfaction of faithfulness to God and man is enough.
i. “The paucity of pious persons makes them precious.” (Trapp)
ii. “Look at yourself in the mirror of God’s Word. Does your neighbor or your friend find that you are a faithful friend? Do you often speak what you know will be accepted rather than what is true? Never underrate the importance of moral integrity.” (Bridges)
Pro_20:7
The righteous man walks in his integrity;
His children are blessed after him.
a. The righteous man walks in his integrity: For a righteousman or woman, their upright living and integrity will be actually lived out. They will walk in their integrity.
b. His children are blessed after him: The greatest gift a parent can give to a child is for that parent to be a righteous, upright person who walks in his integrity. That one will create a home and atmosphere that will be a blessing to the child.
i. “It answers the temptation to ‘get on’ at all costs ‘for the children’s sake’.” (Kidner)
Pro_20:8
A king who sits on the throne of judgment
Scatters all evil with his eyes.
a. A king who sits on the throne of judgment: In the ancient world kings did not only govern, they were also the highest court and judge in their kingdom. A faithful king would carry out this responsibility and sit on his throne of judgment.
i. “That makes it his great care and business to execute judgment and justice among his people, especially if he do this in his own person, as was usual in ancient times, and sees things with his own eyes.” (Poole)
ii. “Righteousness at the top was necessary to undergird the whole judicial system.” (Waltke)
b. Scatters all evil with his eyes: The presence alone of a king in judgment over his realm is enough to scatter all evil. When a people know that evil will be punished by godly and just leadership, it makes evil scatter.
i. “Certainly the principle stands that a just government roots out the evils of society.” (Ross)
ii. “The practised eye of a true ruler sifts the chaff from the wheat; still surer is the Spirit of the Lord: Isa_11:3; 1Co_2:15.” (Kidner)
Pro_20:9
Who can say, “I have made my heart clean,
I am pure from my sin”?
a. Who can say: It is part of human nature to overestimate and boast over one’s self. Many can say what this proverb says, but none with real humility and integrity.
i. “No man living upon earth can say this truly and sincerely. Compare 1Ki_8:46; Job_14:4; Job_15:14; Ecc_7:20; 1Jn_1:8. I am pure from my sin; I am perfectly free from all guilt and filth of sin in my heart and life.” (Poole)
ii. “This is the eternal challenge which has but one answer. When a man recognizes this he begins to inquire for a Saviour.” (Morgan)
b. I have made my heart clean, I am pure from sin: If meant in any ultimate sense, this is the boast or the claim of a fool. Sometimes there are claims to a clean heart or purity from sin by godly men in the Bible, but those are only true in a relative sense, such as the comparison between one’s self and one’s enemies.
i. “Only vain people can boast that they have pure hearts. But the boast, far from showing their goodness, demonstrates their blindness. Man is so depraved that he cannot understand his own depravity.” (Bridges)
ii. “No man. But thousands can testify that the blood of Jesus Christ has cleansed them from all unrighteousness. And he is pure from his sin, who is justified freely through the redemption that is in Jesus.” (Clarke)
Pro_20:10
Diverse weights and diverse measures,
They are both alike, an abomination to the Lord.
a. Diverse weights and diverse measures: God wants business and trading to be done fairly and justly. To have diverse weights and measures means that you will cheat both the buyer and the seller. God wants our weights and measures to be proper and consistent.
b. They are both alike, an abomination to the Lord: God feels so strongly about deceptive business practices that He used the strong word abomination to describe them. God Himself has fair weights and measures; He expects humanity made in His image to have them also.
i. “Traders used the scanty weights and measures for selling and the large ones for buying. Significantly, all the proverbs that denounce false scales and measures explicitly link the Lord’s name in the abomination formula with them (Pro_11:1; Pro_20:10; Pro_20:23).” (Waltke)
Pro_20:11
Even a child is known by his deeds,
Whether what he does is pure and right.
a. Even a child is known by his deeds: Especially in the realm of religion and faith, it is easy for us to think of ourselves only by what we believe, instead of also by what we do. We are more than what we do, but even a child is known by his deeds. We shouldn’t deny that others see and understand us by the measure of our deeds.
i. “We may easily learn from the child what the man will be. In general, they give indications of those trades and callings for which they are adapted by nature. And, on the whole, we cannot go by a surer guide in preparing our children for future life, than by observing their early propensities. The future engineer is seen in the little handicraftsman of two years old.” (Clarke)
b. Whether what he does is pure and right: The outside world, our own community, and God in heaven look at our deeds to see if they are pure and right.
i. “Certainly no child who says, ‘I am well behaved’ will find his or her words taken at face value. People will evaluate the child by how he or she behaves. The implication is that appearances and words can be deceiving; behavior is a better criterion of judgment.” (Garrett)
Pro_20:12
The hearing ear and the seeing eye,
The Lord has made them both.
a. The hearing ear and the seeing eye: God has given men and women remarkable capacity to see and understand the world around them. Our ability to hear and see should be for us gateways to wisdom.
i. “Listening and observing are important qualities of a good disciple and the sage regularly calls upon him to use them to read and hear his teaching.” (Waltke)
b. The Lord has made them both: Since our hearing and our sight are gifts from God, we should determine to use them for His honor and glory. It also reminds us that we can hear and see because we are made in God’s image; the Lord has a hearing ear and a seeing eye.
i. “Since God made the eyes and ears, he is the infallible judge. No one can deceive him with appearances.” (Garrett)
Pro_20:13
Do not love sleep, lest you come to poverty;
Open your eyes, and you will be satisfied with bread.
a. Do not love sleep, lest you come to poverty: To love sleep and the laziness connected to it is to bring one’s self to poverty.
i. “Immoderate sleep, or sloth, or idleness. Take sleep because necessity requires it, not from any love to it.” (Poole)
ii. “The number of hours one sleeps per day is not the point here. Love of sleep refers to laziness, but one can be lazy although sleeping very little.” (Garrett)
b. Open your eyes, and you will be satisfied with bread: It takes some initiative and energy to open your eyes, to get out of bed and get to work. But the reward is worth it; you will avoid poverty and you will be satisfied with bread. In God’s economic system, hard work is rewarded.
Pro_20:14
“It is good for nothing,” cries the buyer;
But when he has gone his way, then he boasts.
a. It is good for nothing: This is what the buyer cries out. In the game and competition of bargaining, the buyer always wants to speak less of what he wants to buy, hoping to get a better price from the seller.
i. “This may simply reflect normal procedure in a world where haggling for prices was common, but it may also be a warning to the inexperienced on how things are done.” (Ross)
b. When he has gone his way, then he boasts: The bargaining words of the buyer are empty. They are only a strategy for negotiation. This proverb reminds us that what people say isn’t always what they believe, and people will speak falsehood for their own advantage.
i. “How apt are men to decry the goods they wish to purchase, in order that they may get them at a cheaper rate; and, when they have made their bargain and carried it off, boast to others at how much less than its value they have obtained it! Are such honest men?” (Clarke)
Pro_20:15
There is gold and a multitude of rubies,
But the lips of knowledge are a precious jewel.
a. There is gold and a multitude of rubies: Solomon presents the picture of a large pile of gold and precious stones. We think of this pile and are impressed at its value.
b. But the lips of knowledge are a precious jewel: Now Solomon presented another treasure, the precious jewel of wise words (lips of knowledge). We immediately see the value of the pile of gold and rubies, but we need to better appreciate the value of wise words.
Pro_20:16
Take the garment of one who is surety for a stranger,
And hold it as a pledge when it is for a seductress.
a. Take the garment of one who is surety for a stranger: Exo_22:26-27 says an Israelite could take someone’s outer garment as a deposit or a guarantee for a loan as long as they returned it each evening, so it could be used as a night covering or blanket. Solomon’s advice here is that if you loan to someone who has already foolishly agreed to be surety for a stranger, make sure you get the deposit or guarantee. If they were foolish enough to be surety for a stranger, they should be regarded as a credit risk.
i. “Take his garment means: ‘Don’t lend to him without security (Exo_22:26); he is a bad risk!’” (Kidner)
ii. “People should be held to their obligations. Two synonymous lines teach that a person who foolishly becomes responsible for another person’s debts should be made to keep his word. Taking the garment was the way of holding someone responsible to pay debts.” (Ross)
b. Hold it as a pledge when it is for a seductress: Most translations favor stranger or foreigner instead of seductress. The idea seems to focus on someone outside the covenant community. One should demand more security for a loan to someone outside one’s knowledge and reference.
i. “The parallelism suggests ‘strangers’ is the correct reading, although theories have been presented with regard to the idea of the wayward woman.” (Ross)
ii. “Rather, the proverb emphasizes the stupidity of risking one’s life to an unknown creditor by becoming security for stranger.” (Waltke)
Pro_20:17
Bread gained by deceit is sweet to a man,
But afterward his mouth will be filled with gravel.
a. Bread gained by deceit is sweet to a man: Sin and transgression have their attraction. There is something in the nature of rebellion that can make bread gained by deceit even sweeter. It satisfied our desire to rebel, our desire for adventure, and our love of forbidden thrills. We might imagine that the forbidden fruit of Eden was delicious.
i. “Such a bitter-sweet was Adam’s apple, Esau’s mess, the Israelites’ quails, Jonathan’s honey, the Amalekites’ cakes after the sack of Ziklag, [1Sa_30:16] Adonijah’s dainties, [1Ki_1:9] which ended in horror; ever after the meal is ended, comes the reckoning.” (Trapp)
b. Afterward his mouth will be filled with gravel: The sweetness of forbidden bread (or fruit) is short-lived. There is nothing sweet or pleasant about a mouth filled with gravel. If we really desire pleasure in a lasting, ultimate sense, then obedience is the pathway to it (Psa_16:11).
i. Filled with gravel: “It shall be bitter and pernicious at last, like gritty bread, which offends the teeth and stomach. It will certainly bring upon him the horrors of a guilty conscience, and the wrath and judgments of the Almighty God.” (Poole)
Pro_20:18
Plans are established by counsel;
By wise counsel wage war.
a. Plans are established by counsel: There is help and wisdom in realizing our own limitations and seeking counsel. This often leads to our plans being established in the sense of coming to fulfillment.
b. By wise counsel wage war: This shows that wise counsel is even more important when great matters are involved – life and death matters, such as war. By spiritual analogy, we wage the spiritual warfare we must fight as believers with the wise counsel of God’s word and other believers (Eph_6:10-18).
i. By wise counsel: “This is necessary in every common undertaking, and much more in a thing of such high importance as war is.” (Poole)
ii. By wise counsel wage war: “Perhaps there is not a precept in this whole book so little regarded as this. Most of the wars that are undertaken are wars of injustice, ambition, aggrandizement, and caprice, which can have had no previous good counsel.” (Clarke)
Pro_20:19
He who goes about as a talebearer reveals secrets;
Therefore do not associate with one who flatters with his lips.
a. He who goes about as a talebearer reveals secrets: The man or woman who is a talebearer or gossip loves to reveal things that should more properly be concealed. There are certainly some things that should be revealed (Eph_5:11), but many things should be concealed out of love (1Pe_4:8). Wisdom will know which approach is appropriate in each situation.
b. Therefore do not associate with one who flatters with his lips: The person who flatters with his lips will often speak against you as quickly as they speak for you. It is better to stay clear of such people (
do not associate).
i. “The idea of ‘opens his lips’ is that such a one is always ready to talk; and if he is willing to talk to you about others, he will be willing to talk to others about you.” (Ross)
Pro_20:20
Whoever curses his father or his mother,
His lamp will be put out in deep darkness.
a. Whoever curses his father or his mother: The Bible commands us to honor our father and mother (Exo_20:12). To curse one’s parents is to do the opposite of this command.
b. His lamp will be put out in deep darkness: God promised to bless those who keep the command to honor father and mother (Exo_20:12, Eph_6:2). There is a corresponding principle that those who disobey and curse their father or mother will face the judgment of God.
Pro_20:21
An inheritance gained hastily at the beginning
Will not be blessed at the end.
a. An inheritance gained hastily at the beginning: When we get too much too soon, it is often isn’t helpful for us. So, a large inheritance that comes hastily and towards the beginning of our life is a dangerous blessing.
i. “Gotten by speculation; by lucky hits; not in the fair progressive way of traffic, in which money has its natural increase. All such inheritances are short-lived; God”s blessing is not in them, because they are not the produce of industry; and they lead to idleness, pride, fraud, and knavery.” (Clarke)
ii. “The implication is that what is ‘quickly gained’ is either unlawful or unrighteous. The verb describes a hurried or hastened activity; perhaps a wayward son seizes the inheritance quickly (cf. Luk_15:12) or even drives out his parents (cf. Pro_19:26).” (Ross)
b. Will not be blessed at the end: This is often how it ends when someone gains too much, too soon, apart from their own work and initiative. When large amounts are freely received, it can work against blessing at the end.
i. “Easy money does not foster financial responsibility. The easily gained money is here not necessarily dishonestly gained, but even so, those who have amassed wealth slowly know better how to keep it.” (Garrett)
ii. “But this, as well as many other proverbs, are to be understood of the common course, although it admit of some exceptions. For sometimes merchants or others get great estates speedily by one happy voyage, or by some other prosperous event.” (Poole)
Pro_20:22
Do not say, “I will recompense evil”;
Wait for the Lord, and He will save you.
a. I will recompense evil: This is what the wise man or woman should not say. Wisdom and obedience to God teach us that vengeance belongs to the Lord (Rom_12:19).
i. “Vengeance belongs to God. Nobody else is fit to wield this. God is omniscient; our knowledge is at most partial. God’s judgment is perfect, while we are blinded by our prejudices and evil desires.” (Bridges)
b. Wait for the Lord, and He will save you: Wisdom teaches us to rely on God and trust in Him to recompense evil. This does not mean that wisdom is indifferent to evil and will never oppose it; it means that wisdom recognizes that there are many times – more than we think – when we should let go of any kind of recompense towards evil and wait for the Lord to save us.
Pro_20:23
Diverse weights are an abomination to the Lord,
And dishonest scales are not good.
a. Diverse weights are an abomination to the Lord: God is righteous in all His measurements. When He measures something in the physical or moral realm, His measurement is always true. God tells us to imitate Him in this aspect and to understand that He regards dishonest, diverse weights as an abomination.
i. “According to Pro_16:11 the Lord created the weighing apparatus, every deceitful practice touches him…. Life in the marketplace and religion are inseparable.” (Waltke)
b. Dishonest scales are not good: God cares that we do business honestly. The world often tells us that it doesn’t matter how we make our money, but God warns us that dishonest scales are not good.
Pro_20:24
A man’s steps are of the Lord;
How then can a man understand his own way?
a. A man’s steps are of the Lord: Men and women rightly make their plans, but God guides steps according to His own will and wisdom. He certainly doesn’t leave it all up the choices and plans of men and women.
b. How then can a man understand his own way? This proverb teaches us humility in regard to our life choices and path. We should not think or act as if it were all in our control or all according to our planned steps.
Pro_20:25
It is a snare for a man to devote rashly something as holy,
And afterward to reconsider his vows.
a. It is a snare for a man to devote rashly something as holy: This has in mind the practice of dedicating things to God for His use alone. When it comes to promises of dedication to God, we should avoid the snare of emotional, rash promises.
i. “To pronounce a thing sacred is to dedicate it. Here, then, is an impulsive man, pledging more than he seriously intends.” (Kidner)
ii. Solomon also dealt with this matter in Ecc_5:4-7. These passages show us that a commonly overlooked and unappreciated sin among God’s people is the sin of broken vows – promising things to God and failing to live up to the vow. Those who honor God:

• Will not be quick to make vows to God.
• Will be serious about fulfilling vows made.
• Will regard broken vows as sins to confessed and to be repented of.
  b. And afterward to reconsider his vows: When a promise to God is made foolishly, it forces us to reconsider our vows – something wisdom would have protected us from to begin with.
  i. “Leviticus 27 explains that Israelites could buy themselves out of rash vows—it was expensive.” (Ross)
  Pro_20:26
  A wise king sifts out the wicked,
  And brings the threshing wheel over them.
  a. A wise king sifts out the wicked: An earthly ruler understands how important it is to administer justice, and part of that is to carefully examine (sifts out) the wicked. If it is wise for an earthly ruler to do this, we can expect that God also does it, and does it perfectly.
  b. And brings the threshing wheel over them: A wise earthly ruler not only knows how to carefully examine the wicked, but then also to bring whatever punishment is appropriate, to use what is wise and necessary to separate the evil from the good (as a threshing wheel separates the chaff from the wheat grain).
  i. And brings: “He brings back (literally, ‘causes to return,’ see Pro_1:23) represents the wheel of the cart going over the heads of grain many times to thresh it thoroughly.” (Waltke)
  Pro_20:27
  The spirit of a man is the lamp of the Lord,
  Searching all the inner depths of his heart.
  a. The spirit of a man is the lamp of the Lord: There are mysteries and truths of the inner man (the spirit of a man) that only the lamp of the Lord can expose. In this respect, we can think of God’s word as a lamp and a light (Psa_119:105).
  i. Spirit: “The nesamah is that inner spiritual part of human life that was inbreathed at the Creation (Gen_2:7) and that constitutes humans as spiritual beings with moral, intellectual, and spiritual capacities.” (Ross)
  ii. “Within the mystery of the spirit-nature of every man there is light. It is the instrument of God. It illuminates life. It is that by which man is constantly kept face to face with truth. Let us make no mistake about it: the most evil men know that their works are evil.” (Morgan)
  b. Searching all the inner depths of his heart: Thelamp of the Lord – God’s word – can search the depths of a man’s heart like nothing else. This is because God’s word is living and active (Heb_4:12).
  i. “Conscience has aptly been called ‘God in man.’ God brings the searching light of his lamp into the darkness.” (Bridges)
  ii. “God has given to every man a mind, which he so enlightens by his own Spirit, that the man knows how to distinguish good from evil; and conscience, which springs from this, searches the inmost recesses of the soul.” (Clarke)
  Pro_20:28
  Mercy and truth preserve the king,
  And by lovingkindness he upholds his throne.
  a. Mercy and truth preserve the king: Any earthly king may be preserved by God’s mercy and truth shown to the king, and by the mercy and truth the king shows to others.
  i. “The principle of the proverb, which is the complement of verse 26, applies with equal force to lesser forms of authority.” (Kidner)
  i. “In the Davidic covenant (cf. 2Sa_7:11-16) God promised not to take his covenant love (hesed) from the king (cf. v. 15) but to make his house stable.” (Ross)
  b. By lovingkindness he upholds his throne: This is hesed, the great covenant love God shows to His people and they should show to others. Men often assume that thrones are upheld by armies and raw power, but God has a better way to establish and uphold a king and his kingdom.
  i. “When our queen, that stuck fast to her principles, was not more loved of her friends than feared of foes, being protected by God beyond expectation. Our King John thought to strengthen himself by gathering money, the sinews of war; but meanwhile he lost his people’s affections, those joints of peace, and came, after endless turmoils, to an unhappy end.” (Trapp)
  ii. “The proverb finds its final fulfillment in Jesus Christ (see Psa_72:1-2; Psa_72:4; Isa_16:4 b-5).” (Waltke)
  Pro_20:29
  The glory of young men is their strength,
  And the splendor of old men is their gray head.
  a. The glory of young men is their strength: God has so designed human development that young men excel in physical strength, and this is a glory to them. It is wise and suitable for young men to take on tasks that fit this glory.
  b. The splendor of old men is their gray head: What the old men lack in physical strength, they should make up for in wisdom that is appropriate for those who have a gray head.
  i. “A proverb to lift the reader above the unfruitful attitudes of envy, impatience and contempt which the old and the young may adopt towards each other. Each age has its appointed excellence, to be respected and enjoyed in its time.” (Kidner)
  ii. “Let youth and old age both beware of defacing their glory. Each takes the precedence in some things and gives way in others. Let them not, therefore, envy or despise each other’s prerogatives. The world, the state, and the church needs them both, the strength of youth for energy and the maturity of the old for wisdom.” (Bridges)
  Pro_20:30
  Blows that hurt cleanse away evil,
  As do stripes the inner depths of the heart.
  a. Blows that hurt cleanse away evil: Pain is a burden, but it can bring a benefit. If we allow the unpleasant fire of pain to refine and cleanse away evil, then our sorrow and pain were not wasted. Something was gained.
  i. “In context this is not parental discipline but beatings administered by the king’s officers as punishment for crime. Yahweh can peer directly into a person’s innermost being (v. 27), but the king can touch the criminal’s soul by harsh retribution.” (Garrett)
  ii. “Some must be beaten black and blue ere they will be better; neither is wit anything worth with them till they have paid well for it.” (Trapp)
  b. As do stripes the inner depths of the heart: Solomon probably used stripes here in a symbolic sense for the chastening that comes in life. If we receive such discipline with wisdom, it will purify us in the inner depths of the heart.
  i. “Physical punishment may prove spiritually valuable.” (Ross)
  ii. As do stripes: “The paradox of Isa_53:5 stands out sharply against this background: that with his stripes we are healed.” (Kidner)

Proverbs 20:1-6
Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise. The fear of a king is as the roaring of a lion: whoso provoketh him to anger sinneth against his own soul. It is an honour for a man to cease from strife: but every fool will be meddling. The sluggard will not plow by reason of the cold; therefore shall he begin harvest, and have nothing. Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water; but a man of understanding will draw it out. Most men will proclaim everyone his own goodness: but a faithful man who can find?
When the question is asked, where a faithful man is to be found, the answer is direct. There is a friend that loveth at all times, and a brother born for adversity. Pro_17:17. Precious Jesus! thou art indeed a friend, for thou hast shewn thyself most friendly.

Proverbs 20:7-9
The just man walketh in his integrity: his children are blessed after him. A king that sitteth in the throne of judgment scattereth away all evil with his eyes. Who can say, I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin?
Pause, Reader, over this solemn inquiry. Who can say this? No man. But every man ought to say, cleanse thou me, 0 Lord, from secret faults. Psa_19:12.

Proverbs 20:10-12
Divers weights, and divers measures, both of them are alike abomination to the LORD. Even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure, and whether it be right. The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, the LORD hath made even both of them.
What a sweet thought ariseth out of this account, that it is the Lord who hath given sight to the eyes, and hearing to the ears. And was not Jesus anointed by the Spirit to preach the gospel to the poor, to heal the broken in heart, and to give sight to the blind. Isa_61:1; Luk_4:18-19.

Proverbs 20:13-24
Love not sleep, lest thou come to poverty; open thine eyes, and thou shalt be satisfied with bread. It is naught, it is naught, saith the buyer: but when he is gone his way, then he boasteth. There is gold, and a multitude of rubies: but the lips of knowledge are a precious jewel. Take his garment that is surety for a stranger: and take a pledge of him for a strange woman. Bread of deceit is sweet to a man; but afterwards his mouth shall be filled with gravel. Every purpose is established by counsel: and with good advice make war. He that goeth about as a talebearer revealeth secrets: therefore meddle not with him that flattereth with his lips. Whoso curseth his father or his mother, his lamp shall be put out in obscure darkness. An inheritance may be gotten hastily at the beginning; but the end thereof shall not be blessed. Say not thou, I will recompense evil; but wait on the LORD, and he shall save thee. Divers weights are an abomination unto the LORD; and a false balance is not good. Man’s goings are of the LORD; how can a man then understand his own way?
Nothing can be more important to know, nor needful to have a right conception of, than that all our mercies, both in preparation work and in performing work, are of the Lord. It is not in man that walketh to direct his steps. Jer_10:23. And of all the blessed lessons that by grace we are taught, this is among them, that our inability is discovered, and the expediency of receiving strength from the Lord as clearly made known.

Proverbs 20:25-30
It is a snare to the man who devoureth that which is holy, and after vows to make enquiry. A wise king scattereth the wicked, and bringeth the wheel over them. The spirit of man is the candle of the LORD, searching all the inward parts of the belly. Mercy and truth preserve the king: and his throne is upholden by mercy. The glory of young men is their strength: and the beauty of old men is the gray head. The blueness of a wound cleanseth away evil: so do stripes the inward parts of the belly.
Under the various images here represented, the wise man aims to en force the infinite importance of the maxims he had been setting forth, and the happiness of those that follow them.

Proverbs 20:30
REFLECTIONS
I hope that the Reader is perpetually gathering sweet instructions from this part of the word of God; and in nothing more so, than in the discovery of his own incompetency to enter far into the apprehension of divine things. Among the improvements of grace this is eminent, to learn, the further we go, the more of our ignorance. If at any time we do not find the sweet savour in the reading of the scriptures as heretofore, the consciousness of past enjoyments ought to become the excitement to future expectations.
If we have known the name of Christ to have been precious the sweet savour of his name ought to leave a fragrancy now; like some rich perfume, which though the thing itself be taken away, the effects remain. And though we see Christ not, yet former experiences should quicken present desires. Man’s goings (Solomon saith in this chapter) are of the Lord. Am I waiting for some renewed visit from Christ? Am I longing for his return, expecting him, on the lookout for him? Is not this very frame the state in which Jesus prepares his people for the renewals of his love? Nay, is there not in this very desire and expectation of his coming even a present enjoyment in that desire and expectation? Surely all these worketh that one and the self same spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will. Blessed Lord! grant me a sweet savour of past enjoyments, in the absence of present communion; and when I have no immediate view of thy glory, and the sweet communications of thy love; still let my prayer, awakened by thy grace, be the prayer of the church; draw me and we will run after thee until thou shalt bring me into thy chambers.