American Standard Version Proverbs 13

Proverbs 13:1-25
EXPOSITION
Verse 13:1-15:19
Second section in this collection.
Pro_13:1
A wise son heareth his father’s instruction. The Authorized Version introduces the verb from the second member. The Hebrew is elliptical, “A wise son, his father’s discipline,” i.e. is the object or the result of his father’s education; he owes his wisdom to it. Septuagint, “A clever (πανοῦργος) son is obedient to his father.” But a scorner (Pro_1:22) heareth not rebuke; one who mocks at goodness and despises filial piety will not listen to reproof. Septuagint, “A disobedient son is in destruction.” Compare the case of Eli’s sons, and their fate (1Sa_2:25; 1Sa_4:17).
Pro_13:2
A man shall eat good by the fruit of his mouth (Pro_12:14; Pro_18:20). By his kindly speech and wise counsels he shall gain the good will of his neighbours and the blessing of God. Schultens observes that the word rendered “good” (tob) means what is pleasant to taste and smell, while that translated “violence” (chamas) signifies literally what is crude and unripe. The soul of the transgressors shall eat violence (Pro_1:31). The Authorized Version introduces the verb from the first clause unnecessarily. The meaning of this rendering is that sinners, especially the treacherous, bring on themselves retribution; the injuries which they devise against others recoil on their own heads (Pro_10:6). The Hebrew is, “The soul (i.e. the desire, or delight) of the perfidious (is) violence.” Such men have only one thing at heart, viz. to wrong their neighbour, and to increase their own property by any, even nefarious, precedings. Septuagint, “Of the fruits of righteousness the good man shall eat; but the lives of transgressors shall perish untimely.”
Pro_13:3
He that keepeth (guardeth) his mouth keepeth his life (Pro_18:21; Pro_21:23; comp. Psa_39:1; Jas_1:26). Thus the gnome—
Ἡ γλῶσσα πολλοὺς εἰς ὄλεθρον ἤγαγεν.
“The tongue hath many to destruction led.”
And Ecclesiasticus 28:25, “Weigh thy words in a balance, and make a door and bar for thy mouth. Beware thou slide not by it, lest thou fall before him that lieth in wait.” But he that openeth wide his lips shall have destruction (Pro_10:14). The Vulgate paraphrases, “He who is inconsiderate in speech shall experience evils;” Septuagint, “will terrify himself”—will occasion to himself many terrible alarms and inflictions. Hence the psalmist prays, “Set a watch, O Lord, before my month; keep the door of my lips.” So we have in the Danish, “A silent man’s words are not brought into court;” and in the Spanish, “Let not the tongue say what the head shall pay for;” while the Italians tell us, “The sheep that bleats is strangled by the wolf:” and “Silence was never written down” (Kelly). (See on Pro_18:6; Pro_20:19.)
Pro_13:4
(Comp. Pro_10:4.) The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing; literally, and nothing is there—he gains nothing (Pro_14:6; Pro_20:4). He has the wish, but not the will, and the empty wish without corresponding exertion is useless (Pro_21:25, etc.). Vulgate, “The indolent wishers, and wishes not;” he wishes for something, but he wishes not for the labour of getting it; he would like the result, but he hates the process by which the result is to be obtained. Septuagint, “In desires every idle man is occupied;” his mind is fixed wholly on aimless wishes, not on action. Shall be made fat (Pro_11:25); Septuagint, “The hands of the valiant are fully occupied (ἐν ἐπιμελείᾳ).”
Pro_13:5
Lying; Vulgate, verbum mendax; Septuagint, λόγον ἄδικον; literally, a word of falsehood. But debar, “word,” is used, like ῥῆμα in Hellenistic Greek, in a general sense for “thing,” i.e. the subject of speech. So here it is not only verbal lying that is meant, but every kind of deceit and guile. This naturally betrays itself by the speech, according to the proverb, “Show me a liar, and I will show you a thief.” A wicked man is loathsome, and cometh to shame. The clause is variously translated. Vulgate, confundit et confundetur, “causes shame to others and to himself.” Septuagint, “is put to shame, and shall not have licence of tongue (παῤῥησίαν).” The Revised Version margin, “causeth shame and bringeth reproach.” Delitzsch, “brings into bad odour (Gen_34:30) and causes shame.” Hitzig, “behaveth injuriously and shamefully.” The antithesis is best brought out by the rendering that marks the effect of the wicked man’s “lying;” “He brings disgrace upon others (who have trusted him or have been associated with him) and causes shame.”
Pro_13:6
Righteousness keepeth (guardeth) him that is upright in the way; literally, uprightness of way, abstract for concrete, as in the second member, sin for sinner. Those who are good and innocent in the walk of life are preserved from evil, moral and material. Wickedness overthroweth the sinner; literally, sin “Overthroweth,” makes to slip. Vulgate, supplantet. The LXX. inverts the clause, “Sin makes the impious worthless (φαύλους)” (see Pro_11:3, Pro_11:5, Pro_11:6). The verse is omitted in many Greek manuscripts.
Pro_13:7
There is that maketh himself rich, yet hath nothing. “Maketh” may mean “feigns.” There are some who pretend to be rich while really they are poor (as Pro_12:9), and there are some who make themselves, i.e. pretend to be poor (as misers) while they have much wealth. The Vulgate elucidates this meaning by rendering, quasi dives and quasi pauper; and the Hebrew verbs confirm its correctness. The proverb in both members teaches one not to trust to appearances. Septuagint, “There are who enrich themselves, having nothing; and there are who humble themselves amid much wealth.” It is obvious that such a version lends itself to a Christian interpretation. The first clause reminds one of the rich fool who laid up treasure for himself, and was not rich toward God (Luk_12:21; comp. Rev_3:17, Rev_3:18). The second clause teaches that wealth expended in God’s service makes a man rich in the treasury of heaven (Luk_12:21, Luk_12:33). One who thus uses the means entrusted to him could be spoken of like St. Paul, “as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things” (2Co_6:10).
Pro_13:8
The ransom of a man’s life are his riches. A rich man can save himself from many difficulties and dangers by the sacrifice of a portion of his wealth, e.g. when his money or his life is demanded by a robber; when men in authority make extortionate demands on pain of death; or when he has incurred extreme penalty by infringement of law (Exo_21:22, Exo_21:30). Spiritually discerned, the passage recalls Christ’s injunction, “Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness, that when it shall fail, they may receive you into the eternal tabernacles” (Luk_16:9). The poor heareth not rebuke; has not to listen to (Job_3:18) threats from the covetous or abuse from the envious. He has nothing to lose, and no one can gain anything by interfering with him. So the poor man is at peace. “A hundred men cannot rob one pauper.”
“Cantabit vacuus coram latrone viator.”
Pro_13:9
The light of the righteous rejoiceth; laetificat, Vulgate. But the verb is intransitive, and means “burn joyfully,” bright and clear, as the sun rejoices as a strong man to run a race (Psa_19:5). This light (or) is the grace and virtue which adorn the good man’s life, and which beam through all his actions with a cheerful, kindly radiance (comp. Pro_4:18, Pro_4:19). This is a true light, kindled in his heart by God, different from the lamp (ner) of the wicked, which is devised and lighted by themselves, and has no element of permanence, but soon shall be put out (Pro_24:20; comp. Pro_20:20; Job_18:5; Joh_1:8; Joh_5:35, where the distinction between “light” and “lamp” is maintained). The lamp of the wicked is the false show of wisdom or piety, which may glimmer and deceive for a time, but is ere long detected and brought to naught. There may be here an allusion to a common custom in the East. “No house, however poor,” says Dr. Geikie (’Holy Land,’ 1.117), “is left without a light burning in it all night; the housewife rising betimes to secure its continuance by replenishing the lamp with oil. If a lamp goes out, it is a fatal omen”. Septuagint, “The light of the righteous is everlasting; but the light of sinners is quenched.” Then is introduced a couplet not found in the Hebrew, of which the latter part is borrowed from Psa_37:21 or Psa_112:5, “Crafty souls go astray in sins; righteous men show mercy and pity.” The Vulgate inserts this paragraph after verse 13.
Pro_13:10
Only by pride cometh contention. Some render “surely” (raq) for only, as in Gen_20:11. Others rightly translate, “By pride cometh only, nothing but, contention.” Vulgate, “Between the proud disputes are always rife.” One who is haughty and overbearing, or who is too conceited to receive advice, is sure to quarrel with others. Septuagint, “An evil man with insult doeth evil.” With the well advised is wisdom; those who are not, like the proud, above taking advice and following it, are wise (Pro_11:2; Pro_12:15). As the Vulgate puts it, “They who do all things with counsel are directed by wisdom.” The LXX; reading differently, has, “They who know themselves are wise,” which implies that the wise know their own weakness and imperfection, and hearken humbly to good counsel
Pro_13:11
Wealth gotten by vanity shall be diminished; literally, wealth by a breath; i.e. wealth obtained without labour and exertion, or by illegitimate and dishonest means, is soon dissipated, is not blessed by God, and has no stability. Vulgate, “riches acquired hastily;” Septuagint, “substance gotten hastily with iniquity.” This makes the antithesis more marked, the contrast being between wealth gotten hastily and that acquired by diligent labour. Cito nata, cito pereunt, “Quickly won, quickly gone” (see on Pro_20:21; Pro_21:5). Says the Greek maxim—
Μὴ σπεῦδε πλουτεῖν μὴ ταχὺς πένης γένῃ
“Haste not for wealth, lest thou be quickly poor.”
He that gathereth by labour; literally,
with the hand, handful after handful. Vulgate, paulatim, “little by little,” by patient industry. Labor improbus omnia vincit. Septuagint, “He that gathereth for himself with piety shall be increased.” Then is added, “A good man is merciful and lendeth,” from Psa_37:26. The Septuagint here uses the term εὐσέβεια, which is received in St. Paul’s pastoral Epistles and St. Peter’s, taking the place of the earlier phrase, φόβος Κυρίου,
Pro_13:12
Hope deferred maketh the heart sick. Delay in the accomplishment of some much-desired good occasions sinking of the spirits, languor, and despondence. Many refer this sentence to the impatient longing for heaven which holy men feel, such as we may read in ’De Imitatione,’ 3.48, 49, and in the hymns, “For thee, O dear, dear country;” and “We’ve no abiding city,” etc. And St. Paul can exclaim (Rom_7:24), “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” (comp. Rom_8:23; Php_1:23). Septuagint, “Better is he who taketh in hand to aid with all his heart, than he who promises and raises hopes” (comp. Jas_2:15, Jas_2:16). When the desire cometh—when the object of the longing is obtained—it is a tree of life (Pro_11:30); there are then no longer languor and despondence, but strength and refreshment and vigorous action. Septuagint, “A good desire is a tree of life.”
Pro_13:13
Whoso despiseth the word shall be destroyed. “The word” is either the commandment of God (Deu_30:14), or warning and instruction. He who despises and neglects this word “brings on himself destruction.” Many good authorities take the latter verb in another sense, “is pledged by it;” as Revised Version in margin, “maketh himself a debtor thereto,” i.e. is still bound to fulfil his obligations to it; he cannot escape duty by ignoring or despising it, but is pledged to do it, and will suffer for its neglect. Hence Christ’s injunction to agree with our adversary quickly while we are in the way with him (Mat_5:25). Vulgate, “He who disparages (detrahit) anything binds himself for the future.” Septuagint, “He who despises a thing (πράγματος, τάγματυς, ’a command’) shall be despised by it.” Virtus se contemnentem contemnit. He that feareth the commandment shall be rewarded (Pro_11:31). The Vulgate rendering, “shall live in peace,” and that of the Septuagint, “shall be healthful,” are not so suitable. The “fearing the commandment” implies obedience to it; and reward is considered as fully pledged to obedience as punishment is to neglect. The Septuagint here adds a distich which Ewald regards as genuine, “Unto a crafty son there shall be nothing good; but to a wise servant all actions shall prosper, and his way shall be guided aright.” This is also found in the Vulgate of Pro_14:15. The Vulgate here inserts the paragraph found in the Septuagint at Pro_14:9 (q.v.), Animae dolosae errant in peccatis; justi autem misericordes sunt et miserantur.
Pro_13:14
The law (instruction) of the wise is a fountain of life (Pro_10:11), which has and imparts life (Ec Pro_21:13; Psa_36:9). The rules and teaching of wise men are a source of life to those who follow them, so that they depart from the snares of death (Pro_14:27). Obedience to good teaching saves from many dangers, material and spiritual, especially from the snare of the devil (2Ti_2:26). With “snares of death” we may compare Psa_18:5 and Horace’s (’Carm.,’ 3.24. 8)
“Non mortis laqueis expedies caput.”
Septuagint, “The fool shall perish by the snare.”
Pro_13:15
Good understanding giveth favour (Pro_3:4); makes one acceptable to God and man. We are told of Christ that “he increased in wisdom and in stature, and in favour with God and man” (Luk_2:52). As a good and wise man uses his gifts and graces properly, he wins higher favour from God, and kindles the love and respect of his fellow men. Alter this clause the Septuagint introduces that which occurs also in Pro_9:10, “It belongs to a good understanding (διανοίας) to know the Law.” The way of transgressors is hard; rough and rugged, leading to desolation, not to waters of comfort. Ec Pro_21:10, “The way of sinners is made plain with stones, but at the end thereof is the pit of hell.” Vulgate, “In the way of scorners is an abyss;” Septuagint, “The ways of scorners end in destruction.”
Pro_13:16
Every prudent man dealeth (worketh, acteth) with knowledge; i.e. with thought and deliberation, having previously well considered the bearings and issues of his plans. But a fool layeth open his folly; Revised Version, spreadeth out folly, as if exposing the wares of his shop (Pro_12:23; Pro_15:2). One works; the other talks.
Pro_13:17
A wicked messenger falleth into mischief; misfortune, calamity (Pro_17:20). A messenger who is false to his employer shall be detected and punished. The LXX; reading melek for malak, renders, “A rash king shall fall into evils.” Such a one adopts inconsiderate measures, makes war unadvisedly, etc. A faithful ambassador (literally, an ambassador of faithfulness, Pro_25:13) is health. One who faithfully performs his errand is a source of comfort and satisfaction both to his employer and to those to whom he is sent. Septuagint, “But a wise messenger shall deliver him”—the king.
Pro_13:18
Poverty and shame shall be to him that refuseth instruction; correction, discipline. Nowack takes the two nouns as predicates: “He that refuseth discipline is poverty and shame,” i.e. they are his lot. Such a one indulges his own lusts and passions, is headstrong in pursuing his own plans, and thus dissipates his fortune and acquires the contempt of all good men. Septuagint, “Discipline taketh away poverty and disgrace.” He that regardeth reproof shall be honoured. To listen to rebuke and to profit thereby is a proof of humility and self-knowledge, which wins respect from others. Lesetre refers to Theodosius’s submission to the sentence imposed upon him by St. Ambrose as a real honour and glory to him (comp. Pro_12:1; Pro_15:5, Pro_15:32).
Pro_13:19
The desire accomplished (comp. Pro_13:12). This is usually taken to mean the desire of what is good and honest, when it is fulfilled and realized, is a source of highest joy and comfort to the wise. Septuagint, “The desires of the pious are sweet to the soul.” But it is abomination to fools to depart from evil. The antithesis is not very obvious, but it may be: it is sweet to a good man to obtain his wish; but for a wicked man to leave, to abandon evil to which he clings so fondly, is a detestable alternative. Or the latter clause may mean that the wicked will not give up the evil which makes the satisfaction of their desire impossible. But it is best to take the first clause as a general statement, viz. the satisfaction of desire is pleasant to all men; then the latter member gives a special case and will signify, “For the sake of this pleasure bad men will not give up their evil wishes and plans; they will pursue what they have set their heart upon because they hate the idea of foregoing their evil designs.” Septuagint, “The deeds of sinners are far from knowledge,” i.e. from practical wisdom, prudence, and piety. The Vulgate introduces quite another thought, “Fools abhor those who flee from evil.” Compare the passage in Wis. 2, concerning the sinner’s hatred of the good.
Pro_13:20
He that walketh with wise men shall be wise; or, according to the Khetib, walk with wise men, and thou shall be wise. Ecc_6:1-12 :36, “If thou seest a man of understanding, get thee betimes unto him, and let thy foot wear the steps of his door.” So the Greek maxim—
Σοφοῖς ὁμιλῶν καὐτὸς ἐκβήσῃ σοφός.
“With wise conversing thou wilt wise become.”
and Eurip; ’ Rhesus,’ 206—
Σοφοῦ παρ ἀνδρὸς χρὴ σοφόν τι μανθάνειν
“A man that’s wise will thee true wisdom teach.”
A companion of fools shall be destroyed; literally, shall be broken, shall suffer moral ruin; Revised Version margin, “shall smart for it.” But the antithesis is not well brought out by this rendering: and as the word may bear the sense of “doing ill” as well as of “suffering ill,” the interpretation of the Vulgat. intimates the correct idea of the clause: “The friend of fools shall turn out the same;” “He who associates with fools shall do evil.” Septuagint, “He who roams about with fools shall be known.” “Tell me your companions, and I will tell you what you are.”
“Talis quis esse putatur qualis ei est sodalitas.”
A Dutch proverb says, “He that lives with cripples learns to limp;” and the Spanish, “He that goes with wolves learns to howl.” We have a homely English proverb, “He that lies down with dogs shall rise up with fleas;” so the Orientals say,” He that takes the raven for his guide shall light upon carrion.”
Pro_13:21
Evil pursueth sinners. Sinners suffer not only the natural consequences of crime in external evil, injury to body, estate, reputation, etc. (Psa_11:6), but also stings of conscience and remorse; even seeming prosperity is often a chastisement, and long impunity is only augmenting the coming retribution. As the shadow attends the substance, so guilt is attached to sin, and brings with it punishment. To the righteous good shall be repaid; or, he, Jehovah, shall repay good (comp. Pro_12:14); Revised Version, “The righteous shall be recompensed with good.” They shall have the answer of a good conscience, happiness here and hereafter. Septuagint, “Good shall take possession of (or, overtake) the righteous.”
Pro_13:22
A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children’s children. This would be especially notable where a system of temporal rewards and punishments was expected and generally experienced. The wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just. Property unjustly acquired, or wickedly used, is taken from those who have it, and ultimately finds its way into better hands. They cannot keep it, and consequently cannot leave it to their children.
“De male quaesitis non gaudet tertius haeres.”
“Ill-gotten wealth no third descendant holds.”
This has often been the fate of property obtained by the sacrilegious seizure of what was dedicated to God’s service. For the general view of the clause, comp.
Pro_28:8; Job_27:16, Job_27:17; Ecc_2:26; and the case of Jacob (Gen_31:9), and the Israelites (Exo_12:35, Exo_12:36), when “the righteous spoiled the ungodly” (Wis. 10:20).
Pro_13:23
Much food is in the tillage (tilled ground) of the poor (Pro_12:11). The word rendered “tillage” (nir) means ground worked for the first time, and therefore that on which much labour is bestowed. Hence the Vulgate rightly renders, novalibus. It occurs in Jer_4:3 and Hos_10:12, where our version has “fallow ground.” The poor, but righteous man, who industriously cultivates his little plot of ground, secures a good return, and is happy in eating the labour of his hands (Psa_128:2). Intend of “the poor,” the Vulgate has, “the fathers,” taking ראשים in this sense; so that the meaning would be that children who properly cultivate their paternal or hereditary fields obtain good crops. But the Authorized Version rendering is doubtless preferable. There is that is destroyed for want of judgment; rather, as the Revised Version, by reason of injustice. Rich men are often brought to ruin by their disregard of right and justice (mishpat). Some (poor men) are amply supplied by honest labour; others (rich) lose all by wrong dealing. Vulgate, “For others it (food) is gathered contrary to justice;” Septuagint, quite astray, The righteous shall pass many years in wealth; but the unrighteous shall suddenly perish”—which seems to be an explanation or amplification of verse 22.
Pro_13:24
He that spareth his rod hateth his son. Correction of children is a great point with our author (see Pro_19:18; Pro_22:15; Pro_23:13, etc.; Pro_29:15, Pro_29:17). So Ecclesiasticus 30:1, “He that loveth his son causeth him oft to feel the rod, that he may have joy of him in the end.” Dukes, “Gold must be beaten, and a boy needs blows” (’Rabbin. Blumenlese,’ 71). Chasteneth him betimes; literally, early in the morning (Pro_1:28; Pro_8:17), which may mean, in the morning of life, ere evil habits have time to grow, or directly after the offence. Or the expression may signify “diligently.” Vulgate, instanter; Septuagint, ἐπιμελῶς.
Pro_13:25
The righteous eateth to the satisfying of his soul (comp. Pro_10:3; Psa_34:10). The good man has always enough to satisfy his wants, because he is temperate, and his substance has the blessing of God. “The chief thing for life,” says Siracides (Ec Pro_29:21), “is water, and bread, and clothing, and a house to cover shame.” The belly of the wicked shall want. The wicked are punished by penury and desires never satisfied. These different results are providentially ordered.
HOMILETICS
Pro_13:1
A wise son.
The young man who considers himself to be exceptionally clever is tempted to idolize his own notions and despise parental correction. We are reminded that such conduct may be a grievous mistake and a proof of essential folly, and that true wisdom will follow a more humble course of filial duty. It is not merely obligatory on the son to submit to his father; it is for his own interest to follow paternal advice, and a mark of wisdom. Of course, this is taken as a general principle. A conscientious son may be cursed with a base-minded parent, whose directions it will be anything but wise to follow. By manly intelligence and with Christian liberty, general maxims can only be applied in view of suitable circumstances. We may take it that on the whole, when the relationship is normal, wisdom will prompt submission to paternal correction.
I. NO ONE CAN TRULY ESTIMATE HIS OWN CONDUCT. We cannot stand off from ourselves and view ourselves in perspective. We make the most egregious mistakes in judging ourselves, because we cannot see ourselves as others see us. The object is also the subject, and subjective feelings colour our objective perceptions of self. It is therefore a great security for a young man to have a guide apart from himself whom he can trust, as he can trust a father.
II. A FATHER CORRECTS IN LOVE. There are brutal parents, whose chastisement implies anything but sound correction. But the true father considers the highest interests of his son. If he expresses disapproval it is because he believes some material wrong has been done. His rebuke is for wholesome improvement.
III. A FATHER HAS LARGER EXPERIENCE THAN HIS SON. His age gives him the advantage of fuller knowledge and riper judgment. It mar also bring a certain stiffening of notions and aversion to innovation. But even then it may still be keen to detect real errors and right in warning against them.
IV. A FATHER HAS AUTHORITY OVER HIS SON. This was recognized longer in former times than in the present day, when many sons are over-anxious to emancipate themselves from parental control. Now, there is a certain wisdom in submitting to established authority. Rebellion can only be justified by extreme wrong. Where no plain cause for rebellion exists, it is wise as well as right to submit.
V. THE PARENTAL RELATION ON EARTH IS TYPICAL OF THE RELATION BETWEEN GOD AND HIS PEOPLE. All the arguments which point to the wisdom of a son’s submitting to correction from an earthly parent apply with immensely greater force to man’s position before God. God regards us with love; he knows everything; he has a right and power to direct and correct us. Whatever modern notions of domestic revolts may be entertained by any of us, it still remains clear that it is wise to bow before the correction of God, our great and good Father.
Pro_13:10
Pride and contention
I. THE REASONS WHY PRIDE PRODUCES CONTENTION.

1. It is self-assertive. The proud man claims a large and prominent place for himself. He will not endure a secondary position. He demands his fights not so much because he really wishes to enjoy them, as because they are his rights. He will not forego them even when he gains no advantage by the exercise of them. Now, this self-assertiveness threatens the supposed rights of others where the boundary line is as yet uncertain. It also provokes a similar spirit in a man’s neighbours.
2. It is exacting. Pride claims its dues. The proud lord will have every ounce of respect from his underlings. Even those who are met on equal terms are narrowly scrutinized to see if they withhold a shadow of the supposed rights from the jealousy of pride.
3. It is overbearing, It will not endure opposition; it is intolerant of differences of opinion; it would rather trespass on the rights of others than surrender any of its own claims. Thus it is perpetually challenging all who cross its path.
   II. THE REGIONS IN WHICH PRIDE PRODUCES CONTENTION,
4. Among nations. It was thought that war sprang from the pride and jealousy of monarchs, and that when the people gained power war would cease. But republics declare war. There is a dangerous form of national pride. It is possible for a whole people to be carried away by unreasoning elation, and to make inordinate claims for itself, or to be unduly sensitive to affront.
5. In society. Pride is here one of the chief dangers to the order and peace of cities. The poor would endure the sight of the prosperity of the rich if they were not goaded by the more irritating spectacle of insulting pride. The least that they can do who have more than their share of the good things of life is to hold them with quiet humility. To flaunt their superiority of good fortune in the face of their miserable fellow citizens, and to make it a ground for scorn and contempt, is to rouse the latent rage of men who are already chafing under what—whether rightly or wrongly—they regard as a grossly unjust social order.
6. In private life. Pride is the most direful source of family quarrels. It separates the best friends, and it sets up the most invincible barriers against a speedy reconciliation. When love would hold out the hand of forgiveness, pride hangs back in gloomy resentfulness.
   III. THE WAY TO PREVENT PRIDE FROM PRODUCING CONTENTION. There is but one way; pride must be humiliated and cast out. This monster sin is directly aimed at in the preaching of the gospel of the cross. It is found lurking in the breasts of men who are regarded as saints; but it is no part of their saintliness. It is still a sin in the sight of God. Christ cannot endure it, and one who would follow Christ must forsake it. There is no better way. of destroying it than by submission to the yoke of him who was “meek and lowly.”
   Pro_13:11
   Fraudulent gain
   I. THE DELUSIVE APPEARANCE OF FRAUDULENT GAIN. This looks very different from coarse, vulgar robbery. The sleek swindler owns no common brotherhood with the brutal burglar. Fraudulent gain is got in the way of business; it is not at all like the money directly stolen from a man’s pocket. The process is so very roundabout that it is difficult to trace the transition from fair dealing to cheating. The decorous thief would be horrified at hearing his true name. He knows his actions are not quite straightforward, but the crookedness of them is almost hidden from himself by neat contrivances. Now, all this makes the pursuit of fraudulent gain the more treacherous and dangerous. A man who follows such a course is lost before he owns himself to be dishonest.
   II. THE TEMPTATIONS TO MAKE FRAUDULENT GAIN. They spring from various sources.
7. Keen competition. It is so hard to make a living in the fierce contest of business life, when every rival is treated as an enemy, that any extra advantage is eagerly sought after.
8. Large promises. As the margin of profits shrink while the requirements of energy and alertness grow, any expedient that promises more speedy and remunerative returns is likely to present a fascinating appearance.
9. Compromising customs. Business is not always conducted on perfectly honest grounds, and the dishonesty that is prevalent claims to be sanctioned by usage. Moreover, if some departure from absolute fight is permitted, a greater degree of dishonesty is but another step in the same direction.
10. Hopes of secrecy. The man of business cannot afford to lose his good name, and therefore plain self interest holds him back from open theft. But the subtle pursuit of a more refined form of dishonesty appears to be possible without any less of character. Thus as the pressure of the opinion of society is eluded, the only conscience which some men recognize ceases to operate.
    III. THE RUINOUS RESULTS OF MAKING FRAUDULENT GAIN.
11. It is a great sin. The delusive appearance of the pursuit blinds people to its true character. But theft cannot be made honest by becoming refined. All the laws of righteousness bristle up in front of the man who pursues dishonesty, and threaten his ruin. Even though social and civil retribution be evaded, there is a higher court of justice than any of man’s jurisdiction, and before its awful bar the wealthy, respected thief must ultimately stand condemned.
12. It is likely to lead to earthly ruin. The man whose life is one huge lie lives in a frail shell, which may be broken at any moment to expose him to pitiless punishments. Then what has he to fall back upon? He who has laid up treasures in heaven can afford to lose his poor, earthly stores; but one who has sold his prospects of heaven for brief earthly profits loses all when the gains of this life are snatched from him. The way of peace and safety can never be any other than the way of right.
    Pro_13:12
    Hope deferred
    I. THE HOPE THAT IS DEFERRED. Most men who live to any purpose live by hope. It is scarcely possible to press forward with energy to a future that is wholly dark. The prospect of some future good is a present inspiration. Thus hope takes a large place in the heart of man. Note some of its forms.
13. The hope of youth. It is natural for youth to believe in the future, to treat its possibilities as certainties, and to colour its grey outline with the gorgeous hues of a fresh imagination.
14. The hope of this world. Pursuits of business or pleasure allure those who enter them with good promises.
15. The hope of heaven. They who have been disappointed in all earthly anticipations may cherish this glorious dream.
16. The hope that is unselfish. Hope need not be centred in personal pleasure. We may hope for a great cause, and hope to see some good effected, though by the sacrifice of ourselves.
17. The hope that is in God. A sorrowful soul may hope in God with no distinct visions of any possible future advantage, making God himself the Hope. “Christ our Hope.”
    II. HOW THE HOPE IS DEFERRED.
18. By disillusion. From the first the hope may be too sanguine. The mirage is mistaken for the oasis. Or perhaps distance is misjudged. We think that we are near to the future that still lies in the remote distance with leagues of desert between us and it. Experience must dispel such an illusion.
19. By direct disappointment. The well founded hope may be deferred by a change of circumstances, or failure of ability to accomplish it, unfaithfulness to a promise, etc. Thus in life the expected “good time coming” is continually receding as men approach it. Hope may be deferred by trying changes of circumstances, or by a man’s own mistakes and failures.
    III. WAY THE HEART IS MADE BITTER. To be lifted up and dropped down gives a shock which is not felt if we remain on the low ground. Disappointment is a source of keen pain in any case; but when it is repeated after vague anticipations and uncertainties, it is far more distressing. The hope deferred is not denied. We cannot banish it as a mistake. Such an act would be easier to bear; there would be first a great shock of disappointment, and then the dead hope would be buried out of sight, and the grief of the loss of it would grow lighter with time. But when the hope is deferred, it is continually present, yet as a disappointment. The mind is first on the rack of wondering expectation, and then there follows a sense of unutterable weariness—true heart-sickness. It is said that seasickness is produced by the sinking from beneath a person of the support on which he rests. The heart-sickness of a hope long deferred arises from a similar cause in the experience of souls.
    IV. HOW THIS BITTERNESS MAY BE CURED.
20. By the satisfaction of the hope. Long deferred, it may yet come. When we are most despairing the tide may turn. The heart-sick mother is startled with a sudden joy in the return of her long lost sailor lad when she is relinquishing the weary hope of ever seeing him again.
21. By the rising of a new hope. If this may not be found in earthly experience, and the very mention of it sounds like treason to the faithful soul, it may indeed appear in higher regions of life. In the bitterness of earthly disappointment Christ’s great hope may be received.
22. By trusting in God. “Oh rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him.” The earthly hope may be deferred, disappointed, shattered; yet some soul-satisfying answer will be given to the prayer of faith.
    Pro_13:17
    A faithful messenger
    In early times, when no public postal arrangements existed, and when reading and writing were not generally cultivated, communications were more often sent by verbal messages and personal messengers. Great mischief would then accrue through unfaithfulness on the part of one of these agents of business or friendship. But important as would be the social effects arising out of this condition of affairs, far more momentous consequences must flow from the action of messengers between God and man. They indeed need to be faithful.
    I. THE CHRISTIAN PREACHER IS A MESSENGER.
23. He carries a message. He has to declare the truth of God as he has received it. He is the custodian of a gospel. The prophet has to utter the word of inspiration, and the apostle to proclaim the kingdom of heaven, and Christ as its King. Something of the prophet and apostle must be found in every Christian preacher. He is to go forth with the message that God has given him.
24. He delivers his message in person. The message is not posted; it is carried personally, and delivered by the mouth of the messenger. It is not enough that God’s truth is recorded in the Bible, and that the Bible is circulated throughout the world. The living voice of the living man is needed. The missionary is God’s messenger—so also is every true preacher of the gospel.
    II. THE MESSENGER IS REQUIRED TO BE FAITHFUL.
25. He must deliver his message. The missionary must travel; the preacher at home must work among his people. Jonah was unfaithful in fleeing to Tarshish. Mere silence is unfaithfulness when one is entrusted with a message to deliver.
26. He must give it intact. He may neither add to it nor detract from it. Faithfulness in a Christian preacher means not shunning to declare the whole counsel of God, and not adding “vain philosophy” or “traditions of men” thereto. Of course, there is room for thought, reasoning, imagination, adaptation of the truth to the hearer, but not so as to modify the essential message.
27. He must disregard consequences. It may seem to him that the message is useless. Men may reject it; they may resent his offer of it; they may turn upon him and rend him. Yet it is just his duty to give the message that is entrusted to him.
    III. THE FIDELITY OF THE MESSAGE SECURES HEALTH OF SOUL. Elsewhere we read, “The tongue of the wise is health” (ch. 12:18).
28. It is an evidence of honesty and moral courage. The existence of messengers who are faithful even under the most trying circumstances proves that honour and right are regarded. It is for the health of a community at large that such virile qualities should be found among the leaders of thought.
29. It secures the presentation of truth to men. All lies and delusions are noxious poisons. Truth is food and medicine for the soul. A community that is fed on truth, though the truth be tough or bitter, is nourished with wholesome diet. That is indeed a healthy society in which all the citizens are led by honest teachers to unsophisticated truth.
30. It brings the most needful messages to the world. The Christian teacher is called upon to preach Christ—to show the need of Christ in the ruin of sin, the grace of Christ to save, and the right of Christ to rule. These are health-giving truths; they constitute the direct antidote to the deadly poison of sin. He who honestly proclaims them makes for the health of his fellow men.
    Pro_13:24
    Sparing the rod
    The primitive rigour of the Book of Proverbs is repudiated by modern manners. Not only in domestic training, but even in criminal law, people reject the old harsh methods, and endeavour to substitute milder means of correction. no doubt there was much that was more than rough, even brutal, in the discipline of our forefathers. The relation between father and child was too often lacking in sympathy through the undue exercise of parental authority, and society generally was hardened rather than purged by pitiless forms of punishment. But now the question is whether we are not erring towards the opposite extreme in showing more tenderness to the criminal than to his victim, and falling to let our children feel the need of some painful discipline. We idolize comfort, and we are in danger of thinking pain to be worse than sin. It may be well, therefore, to consider some of the disadvantages of neglecting the old-fashioned methods of chastisement.
    I. IT IS A MISTAKE TO SUPPOSE THE ROD TO BE CRUEL BECAUSE IT HURTS. This mistake is made quite as much by the hand that should hold the rod as by the back that should feel it. Pain may he most wholesome. The highest form of punishment is that in which the cure of the offender is aimed at. To think more of the sufferings of the offender than of his sin is to show a failure of conscience, a lack of appreciation of the really evil condition of the sinner. We should learn that it is worse to sin than to suffer.
    II. THERE ARE CERTAIN SPECIAL CONDITIONS UNDER WHICH PAINFUL CHASTISEMENT IS THE MOST WHOLESOME FORM OF CORRECTION.
31. In the offender. Some natures are redeemed by a process of punishment which will only crush others. A low and creel nature especially needs painful punishment.
32. In the offence. Sins of the morally degrading class are best punished with sharp pains. The treatment which may suit a more spiritual sin, and may well reveal the shame and evil of it, would not touch these coarser forms of wickedness.
    III.
    IT IS A SIGN OF WEAKNESS OR SELFISHNESS TO WITHHOLD NEEDFUL CHASTISEMENT.
33. Of weakness. The lawful authority may not have the energy to proceed to an extremity. So serious an action requires strength of purpose.
34. Of selfishness. It must be simply agonizing for a kind-hearted father to have to bring pain and disgrace on his son. But to hold back from the exercise of wholesome discipline on this account is really to give way to sinful self-indulgence. The true father will hurt himself in punishing his child. No doubt a certain self-indulgent softness is to be found in the present objection of society to punish criminals with due severity.
    IV. GOD’S CHASTISEMENT OF HIS CHILDREN IS FOR THEIR GOOD. He does not hate his sons; therefore, at times, he does not spare his rod (see Pro_3:12). There is neither weakness in the Almighty nor selfishness in the All-merciful. He must and will chastise sin for the correction of the sinner. We must suffer if we sin, though it is for us to choose whether we are to endure the punishment of the impenitent or the chastisement of the penitent.
    HOMILIES BY E. JOHNSON
    Pro_13:1
    General truths of health and salvation
    I. DOCILITY AS CONTRASTED WITH STUBBORNNESS. (Pro_13:1.) Let us carry this into the distinctly religious sphere. To he wise is to be a good listener. In the expressive phrase of the Bible, to “hearken to the voice of Jehovah,” to listen to the suggestions of the inward monitor, is the secret of a sober, well balanced habit of mind, and of every safe line of conduct. All that God teaches, by the voice of inspired teachers, by our own experience, by the inner revelations of the heart, is “a father’s instruction.” Above all, instruction by means of suffering is God’s fatherly way with souls. And we have the great example of Christ to guide us and to sweeten obedience, for he “learned” it by the things which he suffered. On the other hand, the scorner has cast aside all reverential awe in the presence of the Holy One. To refuse the faithful warnings of friends, to be no better for those lessons of experience which are written in personal suffering, is to disown one’s filial relation, and to estrange one’s self from God.
    II. TRUE LIFE ENJOYMENT AND ITS CONTROL. (Pro_13:2.)
35. Enjoyment represented under the figure of eating. As indeed eating is a most significant act, the foundation of life. the pledge of social communism.
36. The foundation of enjoyment is in one’s inward state and ones social relations. The more widely we can enter into the life of others, the richer our life joy. The unsocial life not only dries up the springs of joy, but is positively punished—in extreme cases by law, as in crimes of violence alluded to in the text, always by the alienation of sympathy.
    III. THE USE AND ABUSE OF SPEECH. (Pro_13:3; see on Pro_10:19, Pro_10:31; Pro_21:23.) How often this lesson recurs!
37. In the lower aspect it is a lesson of prudence. Reserve and caution make the safe man; loquacity and impulsiveness of speech the unsafe man.
38. In a higher point of view, the habit of silence, implying much meditation and self-communion, is good for the soul.
    “Sacred silence! thou that art offspring of the deeper heart,
    Frost of the mouth and thaw of the mind.”
    How easy, on the other hand, to injure our souls by talking much about religion or subjects that lie on the circumference of religion, and falling into the delusion that talk may be substituted for life!—J.
    Pro_13:4, Pro_13:7, Pro_13:8, Pro_13:11
    The value and use of property
    I. THE WORTH OF THIS WORLD’S GOODS IS ASSUMED. It is needless to show that property is a necessary institution of life under present conditions. All the strong things said in the gospel about riches do not dispute their value; it is in the relation of the spirit to them that evil arises. Their value as a means to the ends of the spirit is unquestioned, and everywhere assumed.
    II. THE VANITY OF RICHES WITHOUT CORRESPONDING ACTION. Wishes are a great force in our nature (compare Mozley’s sermon on the ’Power of Wishes’). Still, they have no practical effect unless they are transformed into will and into exertion of means to an end. It is the very characteristic of the fool that his mind evaporates in wishes; he is always desiring, but never at the pains to get anything. He is always idly expecting something to “turn up.” This is a sheer superstition, a sort of clinging to the magical belief that the course of nature can be altered for one’s private benefit. The lesson is, of course, equally applicable to higher things. “He would lain go to heaven if a morning dream would carry him there.” He wishes to be good, to die the death of the righteous, but, at the same time, to continue in a way of life that can lead neither to the one nor to the other. Hell is paved with good intentions.
    III. THE SECRET OF PROSPERITY IS DILIGENCE. Here desire is united with exertion, and it is an almost irresistible combination, as the careers of men who have risen constantly show. To conceive a good thing with such is to desire it; to desire it is to begin at once to work for it. This course must bring “rich satisfaction”—the satisfaction, by no means the least, of the pursuit, and the satisfaction in the end of entire or partial fruition. And so in moral and spiritual progress. We cannot overcome our weaknesses and sins by direct resistance, but we may react upon them by filling the mind with profitable matter of thought. The rich satisfaction depends in every case upon the same law; the personal energies must be aroused, and an object must be aimed at. Satisfaction is the complete joy of the mind in closing with and possessing a worthy and desirable object.
    IV. THE CONCEIT OF RICHES IS NOT REAL RICHES. (Pro_13:7; comp. Pro_12:9.) The saying may he directed against the foolish pride of birth and ostentation without anything real to back it up. It strikes a common vice of modern times—the aim to keep up appearances, and to pass for something greater in position than one really is. The contrasted example teaches the lesson of preferring the substance to the show, of being willing to appear much less than one is. And so in higher matters; take care to be what is sound and good in principle, and the seeming may be left for the most part to take care of itself. No appearances deceive God, and nothing that is real escapes him.
    V. THE PRACTICAL SERVICE OF RICHES. (Pro_13:8.) They may provide a ransom from captivity, from penal judgment, from the hand of robbers. Their power to procure deliverances from the evils of life is much wider in the present day. The poor man, on the contrary, “listens to no rebuke,” i.e. no threats can extort from him what he has not got. He is helpless for want of means. A lesson not often taught from the pulpit, and perhaps not needed for the majority—prudent regard to the possible advantages of money, stimulating to industry in the quest for it. Still, some do need the lesson. And the Bible has no affectation of a false contempt for the means of living. Business men should be encouraged in their pursuit of wealth, and guided in their application of it.
    VI. WEALTH ONLY PERMANENT WHEN WELL-GOTTEN. (Pro_13:11.) Perhaps the, translation to be preferred is, “Swindled wealth becomes small.” Hastily gotten generally means hastily spent. And dishonest gain burns the fingers. How often do we see a feverish passion for spending going hand in hand with unlawful or unhealthy getting! A healthy acquisition of wealth is gradual, and the result of steady industry. Rapid fortune making, or sudden “strokes of luck,” are certainly not to be envied in view of the good of the soul.
    LESSONS.
39. Wealth is a good in itself. When we speak of it as an evil, we are using a certain figure of speech; for the evil is in the false relation of the soul to this as to other earthly objects.
40. In the desires that relate to wealth, their proper control and direction, the moral discipline probably of the majority must ever lie.
41. Safety is to be found in the religious habit, which sees in earthly objects good only as they can be connected with that which is beyond themselves, and is Divine and eternal.—J.
    Pro_13:5
    Purity and impurity of sentiment
    I. AVERSION FROM ALL UNTRUTH A LEADING CHARACTER OF PURITY. This does not imply that the good man never falls into acts or words which are untrue to his nature. But as a child of God, there is in his spiritual or ideal nature a rooted antipathy to lies, and a deep sympathy with truth in all its forms. ’Tis only truthfulness which can impart fragrance, charm, delight, to character.
    II. THE CONTRARY DISPOSITION OF THE WICKED IS LOATHSOME AND SHAMEFUL. Antipathy to truth—and, alas! perversion may actually bring men to this—produces upon the pure moral taste an impression akin to that of nausea or deformity upon the physical sensibility. And we blush for it as a common odium and disgrace of human nature.—J.
    Pro_13:6
    The outward correspondence with the inward
    I. UPRIGHTNESS IS THE DESIGNATION OF BOTH AN INWARD AND AN OUTWARD STATE.
42. As a sensuous image, uprightness suggests strength, confidence, well grounded stability.
43. As a figure of the mind and character, it denotes moral principle, fixed purpose, based upon firm faith in God and his moral order.
44. Its consequence is a state of security amidst danger, freedom from evil.
    II. WICKEDNESS AND RUIN ARE INTERCHANGEABLE THOUGHTS.
45. The ruin begins in the inward decay of moral principle.
46. It is consummated in outward decay—of reputation, of possessions, of health, of life.—J.
    Pro_13:9
    Joy and gloom
    I. LIGHT IS THE SYMBOL OF JOY.
    II. HENCE THE CHEERFUL BURNING OF A LIGHT IS THE SYMBOL OF THE GOOD MAN’S HEART. He sits in the centre and enjoys clear day.
    III. GLOOM IS THE NATURAL EMBLEM OF SORROW.
    IV. THE PUTTING OUT OF A LAMP IN DARKNESS IS THE EMBLEM OF THE EXTINCTION OF JOY, OF HOPE—Of all that makes life worth having, and of life itself.—J.
    Pro_13:10
    Pride and teachableness
    I. PRIDE BEGETS CONTROVERSY, WHICH
    CAN SELDOM BE CARRIED ON LONG WITHOUT DEGENERATING INTO EGOTISM.
47. There is contention for contention’s sake, which is ever idle and baneful.
48. There is contention for truth’s sake. But in the latter lie many dangers to purity of temper. Whenever we become angry in controversy, as a great man said, we cease to contend for the truth, and begin to contend for ourselves.—J.
    Pro_13:12
    The sickness of disappointment and the joy of fruition
    I. HOPE DELAYED. Who has not known that sickness of the heart, that slow-consuming misery of which the text speaks? It is a sorrow of every age. Life itself is by some spent in this still lingering delay. The stern experience of the course of the world teaches us that the sentimental and romantic view of the future, so natural to youth, must give way to realities.
    II. HOPE DELAYED IS THE TRAIL OF FAITH. The duration of the trial rather than the intensity is painful. So with Abraham in reference to Isaac (Gen_15:2, Gen_15:3).
    III. THERE IS A LOVING PROVIDENTIAL MEANING AT THE HEART OF THESE TRIALS, They are essentially time trials; they have an end—the “end of the Lord.” So the boy named “Laughter” came to Abraham; so the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion, and the delivered Were like unto them that dream! So Simeon could sing his Nunc dimittis on the appearance of the long expected Saviour; and on his resurrection the disciples “believed not for joy, and wondered.”
    IV. A CERTAIN FRUITION IS PROMISED TO THE DESIRE OF THE RIGHTEOUS. “Yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry” (comp. Rom_8:23; 2Co_5:2-4).—J.
    Pro_13:13-17
    The value of the Divine Word
    I. REVERENCE AND IRREVERENCE FOR THE DIVINE WORD. The “Word” is any revelation man receives of God, whether through nature, oracles of the prophets, or in his immediate consciousness. The last, in the deepest sense, is the condition of all other revelations. Irreverence is shown either when men are deaf and indifferent to the Divine voice, or when they suffer it to be out-clamoured by other voices—of passion, policy, etc. The result is that he who thus sins is “pledged” or forfeited to the Divine Law, here personified or regarded as a superhuman power. Hence appears the truth from this figure, that in disobedience our freedom is lost. On the contrary, reverence and obedience receive a certain reward: “Glory, honour, and peace to every man that worketh good” (Rom_2:10).
    II. THE DOCTRINE OF THE WISE. (Pro_13:14.) The teaching that is founded on Divine revelation is a source of life, and a safeguard against the snares of death (comp. Pro_10:11).
    III. THERE MUST BE RECEPTIVITY TOWARDS THIS. DOCTRINE. The Word must be “mixed with faith in those that hear.” The favour of God is free in one sense, i.e. is no earned result of our conduct; but it is conditional in another, viz. it depends on our compliance with his will. The contrast to the life in the light of God’s favour, watered by vital nourishment from the springs of truth, is the “way of the faithless,” which is “barren,” dry, as in “a dry and thirsty land where no water is.”
    IV. PRUDENCE AND GOOD COUNSEL MUST BE ADDED TO REVERENCE. (Pro_13:16.) Thougtfulness is Deeded in studying the evidences, the substance, the applications of religion. And in the practical conduct of life how necessary! for more errors are committed for want of judgment and discrimination as to time, place, and circumstances, than for want of true and right purpose. The man destitute of tact pours folly abroad; temper, vanity, caprice, are exposed in all that he does and says.
    V. FAITHFUL AND UNFAITHFUL MINISTRY. (Pro_13:17.) The wicked messenger prepares misfortune both for his master and for himself; while the faithful servant will amend even his master’s mistakes. Applied to sacred things, every Christian should consider himself a messenger, an apostle in however humble a sphere, of God and his truth. And “it is required of stewards that they be found faithful.”—J.
    Pro_13:18-25
    The blessings of obedience and their counterpart
    I. THE BLESSINGS OF OBEDIENCE.
49. Honour. (Pro_13:18.) “’Tis a good brooch to wear in a man’s hat at all times,” says one of our old poets. Love is common to all the creatures, as life and death; honour belongs to men alone; and dishonour must be worse than death. The praise of others is the refiection of virtue, and a good name like flagrant ointment.
50. Satisfied desire. (Pro_13:19.) And what is sweeter than the attainment of worthy “ends and expectations”? And if we will but have faith, this satisfaction may be ours, by setting our hearts on internal blessings, the kingdom of God and his righteousness.
51. Improving companionship. (Pro_13:20.) Friendship with the wise makes daylight in the understanding out of darkness and confusion of thoughts. Our wits and understanding clarify and break up in communicating and discoursing with one another. “We toss our thoughts more easily, marshal them more soberly; see how they look when turned into words; we wax wiser than ourselves, and that more by an hour’s discourse than by a day’s meditation” (Lord Bacon).
52. Unfailing compensations. All things are double, one against another. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, on the one side; measure for measure, love for love, on the other. “Give, and it shall be given you;” “He that watereth shall be watered himself.” “What will you have?” saith God; “pray for it, and take it.” “if you serve an ungrateful master, serve him the more. Put God in your debt. Every stroke shall be repaid. The longer the payment is withholden, the better for you; for compound interest on. compound interest is the rate and usage of this exchequer.”
53. Hereditary good. (Pro_13:22.) We desire to prolong our blessings, in the view of fancy, beyond our lives; and the desire to leave behind a fortune, or a name and fame, is one of the most common and natural. The thought that all the good our life has produced wilt be still a germinant power with our descendants after we are gone, is one of the noblest and most inspiring.
54. Fruitful poverty. (Pro_13:23.) The image is that of the poor man’s field, which becomes rich in produce through the investment of his toil in it. The improvement of the ground is the most natural way of obtaining riches; it is our great mother’s blessing, the earth. The blessing of God visibly rests upon the behest labour of the poor.
55. Wise training of the young. (Pro_13:24.) The rod may stand as a figure for all correction, firm yet kindly discipline, and instruction. The wise father will seek to anticipate moral evil by subduing early the passionate temper. He will incessantly follow up his child with prayer, with discipline, with exhortations, that he may not later rue the absence of seasonable warnings.
56. Temperate enjoyment and sufficient supplies. (Pro_13:25.) The mind governed by religion and wisdom learns to reduce its wants to a small compass; and this is a great secret of content and of true riches. He who wants only what is necessary for the life and free action of the soul may rely with confidence on the infinite bounty of Providence.
    II. THE COUNTERPART.
57. Poverty and shame. (Pro_13:18.) The one an outward misery, patent to all; the other not so patent, but more acute; for contempt, as the Indian proverb says, pierces through the shell of the tortoise. So long ago as old Homer, we find the sentiment, “Shame greatly hurts or greatly helps mankind”. “Take one of the greatest and most approved courage, who makes nothing to look death and danger in the face,… in a base and a shameful action, and the eye of the discoverer, like that of the basilisk, shall strike him dead. So inexpressibly great sometimes are the killing horrors of this passion” (South, vol. 2. Pro_13:7.). The Bible designates this as a peculiar fruit of sin.
58. The unquenchable fire of lust. (Pro_13:19.) To this the correct rendering of the second member of the verse appears to point (Jas_1:14, Jas_1:15). ’Tis hard to give up the bosom sin, which still in better moments is hated—a loathsome tyranny, yet one which cannot be cast off.
59. Depraving companionship. (Pro_13:20.) Wicked companions invite to hell. “There are like to be short graces when the devil plays the host.”
60. Haunting troublers. (Pro_13:21.) Much romance has been woven about “haunted houses;” but what haunted house so gruesome as the bad man’s heart? His sin draws God’s wrath and punishments after it, even as the shadows follow his feet.
61. Forfeited wealth. (Pro_13:22.) Riches that come from the devil go back to him. Fraud, oppression, and unjust dealing are not really retentive; or wealth obtained by flattering, complying with others’ humours, and servility does not prosper. The Proverbs see the outrush of life with great clearness; they do not always explain the inner connection of cause and effect, which should be clear to us.
62. Self-destruction. (Verse 23.) Many a man is “carried away by his unrighteousness.” “In contrast with the contented, humble condition of the good man, the selfish and profligate ’lovers of themselves without a rival,’ are often unfortunate; and whereas they have all their time sacrificed to themselves, they become in the end themselves sacrifices to the inconstancy of fortune, whose wings they thought by their self-wisdom to have pinioned” (Lord Bacon).
63. Weak indulgence to children. (Verse 24.) A most injurious error. It tends to weaken the young minds and foster all the violent passions; just as the opposite extreme tends to debase and incite to deceit. E. Irving, in one of his works, hints that a great proportion of the inmates of lunatic asylums have been only and spoilt children.
64. Want. (Verse 25.) “Great wants,” it has been said, “proceed from great wealth; but they are undutiful children, for they sink wealth down to poverty.”—J.
    HOMILIES BY W. CLARKSON
    Pro_13:1, Pro_13:13, Pro_13:18
    The wisdom of docility, etc.: a sermon to the young
    We have the positive and negative, the happy and the sorrowful aspects of the subject brought into view.
    I. THE WISDOM OF DOCILITY. The excellency of docility is seen in its results:
65. In character. It is a “wise son” who heareth his father’s instruction.
    (1) Already he is wise. Apart from all that he will gain by his teachableness, readiness to receive instruction is in itself an admirable feature of character; it is so more particularly in the young. In them it is positively essential to spiritual beauty and worth; and it goes a long way to constitute such worth. It is an attribute of mind which is pleasing to God, and which commends itself greatly to the esteem of man.
    (2) It has the promise of wisdom further on. For he who is ready to learn, and more especially if he is willing to “regard reproof,” is on the high road to much attainment in knowledge, and also to heights of virtue and godliness. This habit of his will save him from many snares, and will enrich his soul with pure principles and houourable aspirations and right affections.
66. In circumstance. The docile son will “be rewarded,” will “be honored.” The path he treads is one which leads to competence, to comfort, to health, to honour, to “a green old age.” But there are three things which must be included in this readiness to learn. No one will be “wise,” and no one can expect to reap these desirable results, unless he
    (1) is docile in the home, receiving “his father’s (and his mother’s) instruction (Pro_13:1);
    (2) has respect to the “commandment,” the will of God as revealed in his Word (Pro_13:13);
    (3) is willing to be corrected when he has gone astray, unless he “regards reproof” (Pro_13:18). For all of us fall into some error, make some mistakes, go astray in some directions; and we all need the kind hand that will lead us back and replace us in the right road.
    II. THE FOLLY AND THE DOOM OF THE UNTEACHABLE. What should we think of the young captain who insisted on setting sail without any chart, trusting to his native cleverness to shun the shoals and rocks, and to make his way to port? We know what to judge concerning him, and what to prophesy concerning his vessel; we are sure that the one is a fool, and that the other will be a wreck. And what shall we think of youth when it resolves to sail forth on the great sea of life, disregarding the experiences of the wise, and trusting to its own sagacity? To take this course is:
67. To be unwise. Apart from all consequences which are in the future, it is the indication of a foolish spirit which is in itself deplorable. It shows a very ill-balanced judgment, a very exaggerated conception of one’s own ability, a lack of the modesty the presence of which is so great a recommendation, and the absence of which is so serious a drawback. It calls for and it calls forth the pity of the wise; it is well if it does not elicit their contempt.
68. To move in the direction of disaster. It is to be in the way which conducts
    (1) to the loss of much that is very valuable, to “poverty” of more kinds than one (Pro_13:18);
    (2) to shame (Pro_13:18), the forfeiture of good men’s regard, and a descent to a condition in which self-respect also is lost;
    (3) to ultimate destruction (Pro_13:13). He that feareth not God’s commandment, nor regards man’s warning, is a candidate for contempt, is a swift traveller on the road to ruin.—C.
    Pro_13:4
    (See homily on Pro_27:23.)—C.
    Pro_13:7
    Wrong views of ourselves, given and received
    One proverb may have many interpretations and many applications. This is such a one. It may well suggest to us two things.
    I. THE GUILT OF CONVEYING A FALSE VIEW OF OURSELVES; whether this be done by the merchant in his office, or by the charlatan on the platform, or by the quack in his surgery, or by the preacher in his pulpit, or by the “philanthropist” in the newspaper, or by the man or woman of embellishment in society, or by the artist on canvas, or by the author in his book, or whether done by the common miser or the conscienceless beggar. Here is the double iniquity of:
69. Falsehood, or, at any rate, falseness. The man is false to himself, and forgets what is due to himself; consequently, he does that which wrongs and injures himself.
70. Fraud; imposture. A man practises on his neighbours; he deceives them; in the worst cases he induces others to run most serious risks to their health or their fortune.
    II. THE MISFORTUNE OF FORMING A WRONG ESTIMATE OF OURSELVES.
71. This is sometimes an appropriate penalty. For if a man “makes himself” rich or poor in the eyes of others, it is extremely likely that he will before long imagine himself to be so. It is one of the well attested facts of human experience, that what men try to persuade their fellows to think, they come in time to believe themselves. And this holds good when the object as well e,s the subject is the man himself. Try to convince others that you are clever, learned, kind, pious, and before many months have been spent in the endeavour you will actually credit yourself with these qualities. And the result is an entirely mistaken view of yourself. This is a punitive consequence; for there is no moral condition from which we have such urgent need to pray and strive that we may be delivered. Is it not the last stage on the downward road?
72. It is a grave spiritual peril. Solemn, indeed, is the warning addressed by the risen Lord to the Church at Laodicea (Rev_3:14-19). But no warning can be too serious or too strong, whether addressed to the Church or the individual, when there is a false estimate of self, a supposition of wealth which is but imaginary, a false confidence which, if not awakened now, will be terribly aroused and shattered further on.
73. But a false estimate of ourselves may be, not a penalty, but rather a pity. When the heart thinks itself (makes itself) poor and destitute, while it is really “rich toward God,” it suffers as it need not suffer, and it lacks the strength for doing good which it need not lack. And this is not unfrequently the case. Men have been misinstructed concerning the kingdom of Christ; and long after they have been within it they have been supposing themselves to stand outside it. Wherefore let those who teach take care how they teach, and let all disciples “take heed how they hear,” that they may not think themselves wrong when they are right with God, rebels against the Divine Ruler when they are his accepted children.—C.
    Pro_13:12
    with Pro_13:9 (first part) and Pro_13:19 (first part)
    Hope and disappointment
    We learn that—
    I. HOPE IS PLANTED AS AN INSTINCT IN THE HUMAN HEART, “Thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother’s breasts,” says the psalmist (Psa_22:9). We start on our course with a precious store of hopefulness in our soul; and it takes much to kill or to exhaust it. It lasts most men through life, though the troublous experiences we pass through weaken it, if they do not wound it unto death.
    II. IT IS A SOURCE OF GREAT STRENGTH AND JOY TO US.
74. It is a source of strength to us. It leads us to entertain and to enter upon new ventures. It carries us on during many toils and through many difficulties. It sustains us to the end, when we are weary, and when we are opposed and baffled. “We are saved by hope.”
75. It is also a perennial source of joy. Rob life of its anticipations, and you deprive it of a very large proportion of its sweetness and satisfaction.
    III. SIN HAS INTRODUCED DISAPPOINTMENT. We must regard this as one part, and one very serious part, of the penalty of sin. Not, of course, that each case of disappointment is the consequence of some particular antecedent wrong doing; but that it forms a part of that whole burden and trial of life which is the mark and the penalty of human sin. There are lighter disappointments which may not count for much, though these put together would make up no small aggregate of evil. But there are heavier disappointments which constitute a very large and serious part of our life sorrow. “Hope deferred” does indeed make the heart sick. The long and weary waiting for the return of the absent; for the manifestation of love ungratefully, and perhaps cruelly, withheld; for the health and strength which no treatment will restore; for the opening which would prove a great opportunity; for the signs of reformation in a beloved relative or friend; for the relenting and reconciliation of one who has been long estranged;—this does fill the soul with an aching such as no other trouble brings. It is one of life’s very heaviest burdens. It is sometimes the burden and even the blight of a human life.
    IV. IT IS THE PART OF CHRISTIAN WISDOM TO AVERT IT. Not that it can be wholly averted—that is quite beyond our power. Not that there is any real blessing in the absence or the littleness of expectation. But that:
76. We should discourage and renounce the perilous and injurious habit of idle day dreams.
77. We should moderate our hopes according to our circumstances, and be contented only to look for that which, in the providence of God, we may reasonably and rightly expect to partake of.
    V. IT IS THE PART OF CHRISTIAN SUBMISSION TO ACCEPT IT. We must suffer when our hopes are unfulfilled; but we may find great relief in the though; that it is the will of God that we are submitting to. The feeling that it is our Divine Friend who is letting us pass through the dark shadow of disappointment, and that it is the holy Lord seeking our highest good who is sending us through the refining fires,—this will give balm to our wounded spirit; this will lighten the heavy load we bear.
    VI. GOD WILL GIVE HIS PEOPLE SOME GOOD MEASURE OF FULFILMENT. We shall prove by our experience in many ways and in many spheres—particularly in those of
    (1) our inner life and
    (2) our work for our Lord—that “the light of the righteous rejoiceth,” that “when desire cometh, it is a tree of life,” that “desire accomplished is sweet to the soul.” If we rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him, he will give us our heart’s desires (Psa_37:4, Psa_37:7).
    VII. THERE IS ONE SUPREME HOPE which may well sustain us in the darkest trials (
    1Pe_1:3, 1Pe_1:4).—C.
    Pro_13:20
    Friendship: a sermon to the young
    We have here a topic which comes very close home to us all, but especially to the young.
    I. GOD HAS GIVEN US GREAT POWER OVER ONE ANOTHER. There are two sources of power we exercise.
78. That of ideas. As we speak or write to one another, we impart ideas to the mind; and as thought lies beneath feeling, and feeling beneath character and conduct (see homily on Pro_12:5), it is clearly of the gravest consequence what ideas we do instil into the mind of another. These ideas include information or knowledge, the presentation of motive and inducement, new aspects in which things are regarded, new views and conceptions of life, etc.
79. That of influence. As we associate with one another, we influence one another by
    (1) the character which commands respect;
    (2) affectionateness of disposition;
    (3) charm of manner;
    (4) strength of will;
    (5) superiority in age or in social position;
    (6) facility and force of utterance.
    All these are elements of influence; they are sometimes united, and in combination they become a great moral force.
    II. CLOSENESS OF INTIMACY SHOWS THIS POWER AT ITS HEIGHT. When two “walk together because they are agreed;” when there is a close and intimate union of heart. with heart, of mind with mind,—there is an opening for the exertion of a power immeasurably great. Friendship has done more than anything else to enlarge or to warp the mind, to save or to betray the soul, to bless or to corrupt the life. The influence of a beloved friend or of a favourite author is wholly beyond calculation, and is almost beyond exaggeration. We give ourselves to one another; we impress our mind upon one another; we draw one another up or we drag one another down. Hence—
    III. IT IS OF SUPREME IMPORTANCE THAT WE CHOOSE OUR FRIENDS WELL. The friendships we form will either make or mar us. We shall certainly be conformed in spirit and in character to those whom we admit to the sanctuary of our soul; our lives will move with theirs toward the same goal; and we shall share their destiny for good or evil. How needful, then, that we bring to this choice our whole intelligence, our greatest care, that we do not let the accidents of locality or family connection or business association decide the intimacies of our life! There is no action on which our future more decisively depends than on this choice we make; let youth and young manhood (womanhood) look well to it. He that walketh with wise men will himself be wise, and he will reap all the fruits of wisdom; but the companion of fools, of those who fear not God and who honour not man, of the irreligious and the immoral, will be destroyed with a terrible, because a spiritual, destruction.
    IV. HOW WISE TO WALK THE PATH OF LIFE WITH A. DIVINE FRIEND!—with him who himself is “the Wisdom of God;” intimacy with whom will draw our spirit up toward all that is worthiest and noblest; whose presence will ensure guardianship from all serious evil, and enrichment with every true blessing, and will gladden with all pure and lasting joy.—C.
    Pro_13:21
    Penalty pursuing sin
    These are striking words, and they give us a graphic picture of penalty in pursuit of the guilt which is seeking and hoping to escape, but which is certain to be overtaken.
    I. SIN AND SUFFERING ARE INSEPARABLY ASSOCIATED IN THOUGHT, In our judgment and in our feeling they go together; they belong to one another. There is no need to go beyond this point; it is ultimate. If we sin, we deserve to suffer, and must expect to suffer. It is right that we should, and the hand that brings it about is a righteous hand.
80. THEY OFTEN SEEM TO BE DIVIDED IN FACT. As we observe human life, we see that the murderer sometimes escapes the reach of law, that the swindler sometimes flourishes upon the losses of his victims, that the tyrant sometimes reigns long over the nation he has defrauded of its freedom, that sometimes the man who lives in the practice of vice continues to enjoy health for many years, that the dishonest author may reap a considerable reputation and may long remain unexposed, etc. but in this case—
    III. PENALTY IS PURSUING SIN AND WILL OVERTAKE IT. “Evil pursueth sinners” Justice is on the track, and sooner or later will lay its hand upon its victim.
81. It will most likely do so here. Very frequently, indeed almost always, some penalty immediately overtakes guilt; if not in bodily loss or suffering, yet in spiritual injury. And if not at once, penalty soon follows crime, vice, wrong doing. Or if not soon, yet after many years, the “evil” comes and lays its stern hand upon the shoulder. The man may not, probably does not, see or even believe in its approach. Its step is silent, and it may be slow, but it is constant and certain. The “evil” may be physical, and very of, on it is so; or it may be mental, intellectual; or it may be circumstantial; or it may be in reputation; or it may be in character, and this last, though least seen and often least regarded, is in truth the saddest and the most serious of all, for it affects the man himself—he “loses his own soul.” Thus, “though leaden-footed,” penalty is “iron-handed.”
82. It will surely do so hereafter. (See Mat_25:31, Mat_25:32; 2Co_5:10, etc.) Yet not inconsistent with all this,—
    IV. THERE IS ONE MERCIFUL INTERCEPTION. If we truly repent of our sin, we shall be freely and abundantly forgiven.
83. God will change his condemnation into acceptance and parental favour, so that we shall walk thenceforward in the light of his countenance.
84. He will avert the heavier consequences of our sin by introducing into our heart and life all the remedial and restorative influences of righteousness. And there must be considered—
    V. THE CONVERSE BENEFICENT LAW AFFECTING THE RIGHTEOUS. “To the righteous good shall be repaid.”
85. All right acts are immediately followed by an inner and spiritual blessing; we must be something the better in soul forevery really right thing we do.
86. All right actions, done in a reverent and filial spirit, will bring God’s blessing down further on. He is “not unrighteous to forget our work of faith and our labour of love.” Such blessings come in many forms, and at various intervals; but they do come; they are following the upright, and they will overtake them and cream them.
87. The reward of integrity and faithfulness only comes in part below; God holds great things in reserve for us (Mat_25:21; 1Co_4:5).—C.
    Pro_13:24
    Parental correction
    Few proverbs “come home” to us like those which affect the daily government of our household. They make their appeal to the human heart, to universal experience.
    I. THE PARENTAL INSTINCT.
88. This is, to let the child have his way; to give him the gratification be desires, to find a present pleasure in his momentary happiness.
89. This is, to spare him suffering. No parent can hear his child cry without suffering himself (herself). Our instinct is to save our children from every trouble, small and great, from which we can exempt them. And it “goes against the grain” to inflict punishment, to cause pain, to deprive of some known enjoyment. But we dare not be blind to—
    II. THE LESSON OF EXPERIENCE. Universal experience proves that to act on mere parental instruct is nothing less than selfish cruelty. It is to act as if we positively hated our children. For it is the one sure way to spoil them for life, to ruin their character. The undisciplined child becomes the wayward boy, the dissipated young man, the wreck of manhood. He becomes self-centred, incapable of controlling his spirit, exacting in all his relations, disregardful of all law and of all claims. It is to withhold the one condition under which alone we can expect any one to attain to an admirable and honourable manhood. It is to deny to our own children the most essential element of education. Experience proves that he who spares the rod acts as if he positively hated his son.
    III. THE PRACTICE OF WISDOM. This is the well-moderated correction of love. This correction should be:
90. Carefully proportioned to the offence; the lighter ones, such as carelessness or inaptitude, being followed by the lighter rebuke, and the graver ones, such as falsehood or cruelty, being visited with severer measures.
91. Administered, not in the heat of temper, but in the calmness of conviction, and with the manifest sorrow of true affection.
92. As free as possible from physical violence. The “rod” need not be made of wood or iron. A look of reproach (Luk_22:61), a just rebuke or remonstrance, a wisely chosen exclusion from some appreciated privilege, may do much more good than any blows upon the body.
93. Strictly just, with a leaning to charitable construction. For one unjust infliction will do more harm than many just ones will do good.
94. Occasional and of brief duration. Nothing defeats its own purpose more certainly than perpetual fault- finding, or constantly repeated punishment, or penalty that is unrighteously severe. It behoves us always to remember that as our heavenly Father does not “deal with us after our sins” with rigorous penalties, and is not “strict to mark iniquity” with unfailing chastisement, so it becomes us, as parents, in the treatment of our children, to let pity and charity have a very large, modifying influence on our correction. He that loveth chastens “betimes;” he is not always chastening. He takes care to let his children know and feel that beneath and above and throughout his fatherly righteousness is his parental love.—C.

Proverbs 13:20
I. Of all the external circumstances which mould our life and character, our daily companionship may be said to be among the most potent, and the Bible utterances are very strong on this subject. Sometimes they dwell specially on the causes that draw men together, assuming that like chooses like, and that a man may in fact be known by his associates. But more frequently the texts warn us rather of the consequences of intimacy than of the causes of it. They warn or exhort about companionship because we become, as they assume, what our companions are; because men who live together in close contact and communion mould each other, as iron sharpeneth iron.
II. It is probable, indeed, that we should all direct our life, and choose our companionship, more carefully if we duly considered the long results of these things; if we remembered that in moral relations, as in other matters, it is not easy to start afresh when we please and unencumbered. Friendships are two-edged tools, which may open up for you the way to life or the way to death.
III. There is no more certain support to the weak or the young than the feeling of nearness to some friend whom they know to be strong and pure, earnest for what is right and a hater of evil. Our companionship with such an one is like living continually in a pure and healthy pasture, and as the nearest earthly resemblance to walking with God in Christ, as we hope in our perfection to walk with Him hereafter. These are the true servants of Christ, and they only have the promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.
J. Percival, Some Helps for School Life, p. 155.
References: Pro_13:20.—W. Arnot, Laws from Heaven, 1st series, p. 355; Outline Sermons to Children, p. 75.

Proverbs 13:21
The expectation of concealment, and therefore of impunity, encourages the great mass of men in the sins which they commit. But you may take the very case in which, of all others, it would seem as though sin had been committed with impunity—the case in which a sin is finally pardoned for the sake of the Redeemer—and prove with the greatest accuracy of demonstration that nothing can be more unfounded than the expecting to escape all consequences in escaping the first. There is a perfect possibility—to use the very lowest word—that the man who commits a sin and afterwards repents and is forgiven, may have to bear a burden, through all his after-days on earth, which is distinctly the entailment or consequence of that sin; and with so fatal a power may his transgressions act on every moment of his eternity, that he shall occupy for ever a lower station in the glorified Church than would have been his had the transgression not been wrought.
II. There is something very peculiar in the expression, “evil pursueth the sinner.” It is as though it hunted him with the greatest pertinacity, tracking him through the various scenes of life, and then, when perhaps he has all the appearance of having evaded his enemy, and seems, as it were, effectually concealed, the enemy darts upon him suddenly, exacting all its punishment. You cannot think of evil pursuing, and then finding out, a man without thinking of that man as apparently armed against detection: for there is something in the expression which indicates search on the part of the sin, and therefore concealment on the part of the sinner. So that it may be at a moment when there is no remembrance of what has been done, or at least no apprehension of being called to a reckoning, that the crime reappears in the form of vengeance, and proves with what unwearied hostility it has followed the offender.
III. We believe it to be equally true that sins wrought after conversion are not suffered to pass unpunished, however they may be pardoned through the propitiation of Christ. If God is to show displeasure at the iniquities of His own people as well as of His enemies, it must be shown in this life; and hence we suppose it is true that “those whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth,” not only because the chastisements prepare for glory, and, therefore, prove love, but also because chastisements are consequences of sin in those whom God loves, and must be experienced on this side of the grave.
H. Melvill, Penny Pulpit, No. 1792.
References: Pro_13:22-25.—R. Wardlaw, Lectures on Proverbs, vol. i., p. 355. Pro_13:24.—W. Arnot, Laws from Heaven, 1st series, p. 359.

Proverbs 13:1
Doctrine. Or he gives proof of his good education, (Calmet) and excites even his father to advance in piety. (Ven. Bede) — Septuagint, “is obedient to his father; but the disobedient son is in destruction.” (Haydock)

Proverbs 13:2
Mouth. In reward of his good speeches. (Calmet) — Septuagint, “of justice the good man eateth; but the souls of the lawless perish before the time,” chap. 12:13

Proverbs 13:3
Hath. Hebrew, “who openeth his lips inconsiderately, is lost, Jdg_11:35 (Haydock)

Proverbs 13:4
Willeth not. Hebrew, “hath not.” He only desires riches, or to be converted, and will not labour, chap. 21:25, and Sir_5:8

Proverbs 13:5
Confounded. The detractor is like swine, stirring up dirt. (St. Chrysostom, 32. ad Pop.) — The liar is not believed, even when he speaks the truth. (Aristotle)

Proverbs 13:6
Sinner. Symmachus, “draweth on sin.” Virtue is the best safeguard.

Proverbs 13:7
Riches. Such was St. Paul, 2Co_6:10 Some affect to be rich, while others are never satisfied. Semper avarus eget. Lazarus was very rich in God’s sight. [Luk_16:20]

Proverbs 13:8
Reprehension. Or is not able to defend himself, like the rich. (Calmet) — He is not exposed so much to great revolutions. (Bayn.)

Proverbs 13:9
Out. They are hated as well as their offspring. (Calmet)

Proverbs 13:10
Contentions. As none will yield. (Menochius) — Hebrew, “only by pride cometh contention.” (Protestants) — “Pride is the mother of all sects.” (St. Augustine)

Proverbs 13:11
Haste. Hebrew, “by vanity,” and injustice. Those who become rich on a sudden fall under suspicion, as a Roman objected to Sylla, who had inherited nothing. (Plut.[Plutarch?]) — By little. Hebrew, “he that gathereth by labour, (Septuagint, piety) shall increase.” (Protestants) (Haydock)

Proverbs 13:12
Hope. Septuagint, “(the just shews mercy and lends) better is he who begins heartily to assist, than he who promises and leads to hope. For a bad (Grabe substitutes good) desire is a tree of life.” — Soul. Protestants, “maketh the heart sick.” (Haydock) — The pain increases in proportion to our eager desire. Calvin maintains, that the souls of the blessed are not yet in heaven, but hope: and of course he would establish a sort of purgatory for them. (Haydock)

Proverbs 13:13
Come. To defend what he has asserted, or to pass for a liar. Hebrew, “shall be destroyed by it.” (Mont.[Montanus?]) (Haydock) — Those who despise God’s order shall perish. — Deceitful, &c. This is not in Hebrew, nor in some of the Latin editions. (Calmet) — Septuagint, “to the deceitful son nothing shall be good. But the ways of the wise servant shall prosper, and his paths shall be made straight,” chap. 14:15 (Haydock)

Proverbs 13:14
That. Septuagint, “but the fool is slain in the snare.” (Haydock)

Proverbs 13:15
Grace. God assists those who strive to be well instructed. (Calmet)

Proverbs 13:17
Of the. Hebrew, “a wicked ambassador.” A king generally chooses people like himself. (Menochius) — Septuagint have read melec. “A rash king shall,” &c.

Proverbs 13:18
To him. Hebrew, “destroy discipline,” so that the most wretched are often noted for immorality. Septuagint, “instruction takes away poverty,” as “the whole earth supports the man that has a trade,” Greek: technion, according to the Greek proverb. (Calmet)

Proverbs 13:19
That is. Septuagint, “of the pious, but the works of the impious are far from knowledge.” (Haydock)

Proverbs 13:20
Become. Septuagint, “be known.” A person’s disposition may be seen by the company which he frequents.

Proverbs 13:22
Heirs. This was more observable under the old law: yet we often seem the distress to which the unjust are exposed. De male quæsitis non gaudet tertius hæres. (Calmet)

Proverbs 13:23
Fathers. Heirs often lose their property by their misconduct. Hebrew and (Haydock) Chaldean read, “of the poor,” who till their land better than those who have too large farms. (Menochius) — Nature requires but little. (Calmet) — Septuagint, “the just shall spend many years in affluence: but the unjust are cut off at once.” (Haydock)

Proverbs 13:24
Betimes. God has always treated his friends in this manner, to preserve them from sin, or to increase their reward. (Calmet)

Proverbs 13:1
Pro_10:1; Pro_12:1; Pro_15:5; Pro_15:20

Proverbs 13:2
Pro_12:14

Proverbs 13:3
Pro_18:21; Pro_21:23; Pro_18:7, Jas_3:2

Proverbs 13:9
Pro_4:18; Pro_24:20, Mat_5:14-16

Proverbs 13:10
(1770) Arguments come many times by those who are not willing to be corrected, Pro_9:9

Proverbs 13:12
(1771) It takes great faith in the word of YHWH to stay focused and not get discouraged in this present wicked, end time, generation.

Proverbs 13:13
Num_15:31, Psa_19:7-11

Proverbs 13:14
Pro_10:11; Pro_14:27

Proverbs 13:20
1Co_15:33, 2Ch_10:8

Proverbs 13:22
Job_27:16-17, Ecc_2:26

Proverbs 13:24
(1772) Correction to a child is showing love teaching them discipline (Heb_12:5-8), but the parent that does not take the time to correct his child is not showing love, (Pro_19:18, Pro_22:15; Pro_23:13-14; Pro_29:15; Pro_29:7, Pro_3:12)

Proverbs 13:1

A Wise Son or a Scoffer

The contrast in this verse, indicated by the word “but”, is that of “a wise son” and “a scoffer”, a scoffing son. It can be understood as an introductory verse. We see this contrast reflected and applied in numerous everyday situations in the following verses.

A wise son will accept or embrace “his father’s discipline”. He listens to fatherly discipline, he keeps and values it, he respects it and acts accordingly. “[Accept his]” is not in the text, which is indicated by the square brackets. It can be inferred from the second line of verse that listening is meant. But it could also mean embrace or accept or respect or some other positive valuation. The phrase can even be rendered this way: “A wise son [is the fruit of] his father’s instruction” (Darby Translation in a footnote). Seen this way, he owes his wisdom to his good upbringing. Because he is wise, he has listened, and because he has listened, he is now wise.

The scoffer laughs at his father when the latter rebukes him. “Rebuke” is a stronger word than discipline. No matter how forcefully the father addresses the son, if the son is a scoffer, he does not listen. He shuts himself off from it; he does not want to learn from it. In doing so, he moves outside the sphere of fatherly love that is necessary for his spiritual and emotional development. He who does not listen to parental rebuke does not listen to God’s rebuke either. Both are meant for the son to go the way of blessing and to be a blessing.

A scoffer is at the highest level of foolishness. He has no respect for authority, he blasphemes religion, and, thinking he knows what is best, he rejects any teaching. The change to the stronger word “rebuke” in the second line of verse shows that he does not respond to any discipline.

He who possesses true wisdom acknowledges that someone more experienced can keep him from stumbling along the way he is going. It is a new, unfamiliar way for him, but not for the experienced father. He who is not wise and does not listen, who is a scoffer and despises discipline from an “experiencer”, will learn by bitter experience what would have been spared him had he listened.

Proverbs 13:2-3

The Fruit and Protection of the Mouth

By “the fruit of [his] mouth” (Pro_13:2 ) is meant the speaking of the righteous. Fruit here is the result of inner considerations, of deliberations in the heart. We can only have good fruit come from our mouth if there are good considerations in our heart (Luk_6:45 ). The desire that animates the heart of the treacherous is nothing but violence. There is a different source. “Good” and “violence” prove what is in the heart. The good is pleasant in taste and smell; violence is hurtful, harsh and hard.

The Christian who walks in fellowship with God will communicate God-fearing language with his mouth. However others may react to it, it will at least do his own soul good, invigorating and edifying it. For himself, the words he speaks are good food. The same is true for those to whom he speaks. They are refreshed by his words. The result in turn is that he receives blessing from those whom he has refreshed through his words.

The treacherous are the faithless, the untrustworthy. Their desire, their ‘appetite’, is not to give others something good to eat, but to commit violence. Their aim is not to help others, but to harm them through violence. This can be physical violence, but they can also use verbal violence and speak hurtful words. Hurtful chants at soccer games are an example of this.

Pro_13:3 connects to Pro_13:2 . The lips are fed by what comes from the heart, says Pro_13:2 . At the same time, the mouth must be guarded (Pro_13:3 ), for not everything that is good should always be said. It is also to be guarded against something bad coming out of the mouth after all. Even in the believer, sin still dwells. The mouth is represented here as a city or a house that must be guarded. We can also make the application to the use of ‘modern mouths’ like Facebook and twitter, which are quite often used to hurt. What misery this has already caused. Just think of the bullying via ‘social’ media among high school students.

To guard one’s mouth means to heed what comes out of one’s mouth, what one says, the words one speaks (cf. Psa_141:3 ). It is safest to keep one’s mouth shut. The lesson is that tight control over what one says prevents problems. The advice to ‘sleep on’ something before responding is valuable.

An old Arabic proverb says: Be careful not to cut your throat with your tongue. That does apply to “one who opens wide his lips”, that is, always blurting out everything at once. It refers to someone who without any self-control and without any thought always thinks he has to have his say. The contrast in the previous verse is the fruitful tongue versus the false tongue. Here the “unrestrained tongue” is contrasted with the “bridled tongue”. He who is careful with his tongue takes a safe route to preserve his life. His life is often endangered by speaking much and rashly, by blurting everything out. He who cannot restrain his tongue faces his ruin.

Proverbs 13:4

The Desire of the Sluggard Against Diligence

The sluggard desires prosperity and abundance and dreams of it. But his craving remains unfulfilled, empty, vain, because its fulfillment requires effort, which he does not wish to make. Diligent people respond to God’s purpose for their life and will experience its fulfillment. They seek first the kingdom of God and receive the other with it (Mat_6:33 ). The diligent do not lie around all day dreaming of all the things they would like to have, but work for the fulfillment of their dreams.

The diligent is made fat with what the sluggard desires in vain. The sluggard has the desire, but not the will. He desires the yield of diligence, without the diligence that yields something. He is envious of what others know and have, but he wants to be wise without (Bible) study and to be (spiritually) rich without making an effort. It is about craving without effort to get the coveted thing. He wants to be a Christian, but without the effort involved. The road to hell is paved with such desires.

Proverbs 13:5-6

Righteous or Wicked

Pro_13:5 is about the mind and actions of the righteous and the wicked. Pro_13:6 is about the results, the guarding righteousness and the subverting wickedness.

It does not say in Pro_13:5 that the righteous never lies. Nor is it about avoiding falsehood. Avoiding falsehood can also be done out of selfish motives, without hating falsehood. It is about hating it, abhorring it (Rom_12:9 ). This hatred is present in the righteous because he possesses the Divine nature.

Falsehood is expressed in speaking a false word. Every word spoken in falsehood is hateful to God and to the righteous. We cannot love the truth without hating falsehood. This is perfectly true with the Lord Jesus and will be so with everyone who lives close to Him.

The wicked lives in falsehood and acts disgustingly and shamefully. What he says and does stinks and is shameful. Putting someone in a bad light is done by speaking lying words about him. But because of this, he who does this comes into an evil smell himself. It is an odor that hangs around him. He who uses falsehood acts shamefully. The wicked makes himself hated and behaves shamefully by his falsehood.

“Righteousness” and “wickedness” are personified in Pro_13:6 . The righteous is characterized by righteousness. Such a person is “one whose way is blameless”, that is, pure motives determine his actions and walk. His righteousness protects him from evil attacks to make him sin. He is guarded by his righteousness from acting insincerely or deceitfully because he is clothed with “the breastplate of righteousness” (Eph_6:14 ). Righteousness is like a breastplate of armor that protects the heart from which flow “the springs of life” (Pro_4:23 ).

Opposed to righteousness is wickedness. This is what characterizes the sinner. He is without any protection from sin and goes a way of sin. Wickedness lacks any thought of God. He who is wicked does nothing but sin. The sinner’s way inevitably ends in subversion or destruction. He is plunged into it without anything or anyone preventing it. It is presented here as something he himself works.

Proverbs 13:7-8

The Rich Poor Man and the Poor Rich Man

People can pretend to be different than they are (Pro_13:7 ). That is hypocrisy or stage acting, living behind a mask. It is being someone you are not in reality. The instruction in this is to be honest, without posturing. This is possible only if both the rich and the poor see themselves in God’s light. James points out to both the poor and the rich what attitude each should have before God (Jas_1:9-10 ). Paul did not want anyone to think more highly of him than what was seen or heard of him (2Co_12:6 ).

Here it is about people pretending to be rich while they are poor and people pretending to be poor while they are rich. Pretending to be rich can be done to avoid losing face. For example, a person who has lost everything may want to hold up the status of wealth and, therefore, prestige among people, his neighbors or colleagues. He who pretends anything is living in falsehood.

He who “pretends to be poor, but has great wealth” may do so out of fear of being killed for stealing their wealth. It may also be out of fear of having to give something away, having to perform an act of mercy. He who pretends to be poor for this reason does so to evade his obligation to be good to the poor and open his hand wide to them (Deu_15:11 ). The motive then is avarice.

What applies to wealth can also be applied to power and prestige and also to spiritual gifts. The church at Laodicea pretended to be spiritually rich, but it possessed nothing (Rev_3:17 ; cf. Hos_12:9 ). Christ, Who stood outside, confronted them with this. You can also say that you are nothing and can do nothing, although you are rich in Christ, but have no desire to take responsibility. People who say something of themselves should not be believed without question. In phrases like ‘I am very good at this’, or ‘I really can’t do that’, it is about one’s own ‘self’. In both cases, the Lord as the Giver is denied.

Paul was poor but made many rich (2Co_6:10 ) both by preaching the gospel to unbelievers and by teaching the church (cf. Act_3:6 ). Above all, the Lord Jesus, Who was rich and became poor for our sake, made us rich through His poverty (2Co_8:9 ).

Pro_13:8 connects to Pro_13:7 . There are disadvantages to having wealth. A person who is rich can become the prey of a kidnapper. Then he must give all his wealth as a ransom to stay alive. A poor person does not face such danger. He is not even threatened, because there is nothing to be taken from him. He cannot be blackmailed and in this respect he lives without worry.

We see here that wealth creates difficulties for the rich, while a poor person does not suffer from them. Poverty has this advantage over wealth. The poor person can go to sleep peacefully, so to speak, without locking the door, because he has nothing that a burglar could be after.

Proverbs 13:9

A Rejoicing Light or a Lamp That Goes Out

The life of “righteous” radiate “light”. This “rejoices” them and also those around them. The good things in their life benefit others and give joy. What benefits the wicked have do not result in lasting joy, for in those benefits there is nothing of God, Who is light (cf. Job_18:5-6 Job_21:17 ). They have no light from God, the only Source of light. Therefore, their lamp, a symbol of the light of life, is extinguished (Pro_20:20 Pro_20:27 Pro_24:20 ).

Light and joy belong together (Est_8:16 ). The light of the righteous is the Word of God (Psa_119:105 ), which is a source of joy (Psa_119:24 Psa_119:77 Psa_119:92 Psa_119:143 Psa_119:174 ).

Light is an independent source of light, whereas a lamp derives light from something. The lamp can also be a picture of the Word of God (Psa_119:105 ), but here it is not. The lamp is artificial light, like the light of a candlestick in the past, or in our time also electric light. It represents the artificial light of man’s darkened mind without God. He who walks in that light, and the wicked do, ends up in complete darkness (cf. Mat_6:22-23 ).

Proverbs 13:10

Insolence or to Receive Counsel

Insolence – he arrogance of ‘I know everything’ – proves itself in glorying in one’s own wisdom and contemptuously rejecting advice. The result is strife. By the way, in a strife two carnal natures are involved. He who accepts counsel acknowledges the need for counsel and accepts those who give it to him. He shows wisdom, resulting in harmony rather than strife.

Strife is avoided by seeking good, Scriptural counsel from others who are spiritual, not from unspiritual people. It is especially important to seek counsel from God. The truly teachable is he who acknowledges that what he does not know is infinitely more than what he does know.

Strife, discord, arises from elevating oneself above others and not wanting to know about correction. That happened in Corinth. Paul came with counsel to correct that.

Proverbs 13:11

Easy Come, Easy Go

This verse is about here and now, about immediate owning and enjoying. It is a warning against wild speculation. It is the spirit of our time. Everything must be immediately available for enjoyment. Quick money, quick enjoyment. Therefore, many people participate in lotteries or speculations. If you win prizes, you can become wealthy overnight. It can also be about possession by theft. The happiness of that ebbs away in time. There is no lasting pleasure in earthly things. Here the proverb ‘easy come, easy go’ applies, meaning that what you have easily gained, you can easily lose again. A person who lives from ‘easy’ money is also not careful with it.

The patient worker who “gathers by labor” works for the future. His possession does not diminish, but increases. His satisfaction does not diminish, but increases. This is also and especially true spiritually.

God does not use lottery or gambling or theft to make someone rich. He wants us to work hard and honestly for our possessions. Ways that God can use to make someone rich without working for it are an inheritance and a donation.

Proverbs 13:12

Hope Deferred or Desire Fulfilled

What the “hope deferred” is not mentioned here. It is general. The idea is that the time during which one must cherish his hope is lengthening, that the fulfillment is being repeatedly postponed. One thinks that now fulfillment is almost coming, but it turns out not to be so. Each time there is disappointment or even disillusionment. Such hope makes the heart sick. One becomes despondent and languishes under it.

A “desire fulfilled” is something different from a particular hope with which a person is repeatedly deceived. Fulfilled desire speaks of a longing for something God has promised and which He also fulfills. Such a fulfilled desire “is a tree of life”. As a result, the heart is not made sick, but filled with fellowship with God which is eternal and fully satisfying.

The deepest desire of the righteous is the desire for the coming of Christ. When He comes, that desire is fulfilled. Simeon experienced His coming (Luk_2:25-30 ; Hag_2:7 ). All believers will experience His coming. They persistently look forward to it. Therefore, a deferred desire is quite different from expecting something with perseverance.

The disciples had a hurt or pained heart because their hope for the reign of the Messiah was postponed. The two disciples going to Emmaus had a hurt or sorrowful heart because of a disappointed hope. We are disappointed in our hope when we base our hope on our own desires and not on what God’s Word says.

Proverbs 13:13

Despise or Fear

The first line of verse is a warning against despising “the word”, which is the Word of God. Whoever despises the Word of God will not stand, but “will be in debt to it” (Heb_10:26-31 ). His whole house of life will be destroyed. King Saul is an example of this (1Sa_15:17-23 ). The second line of verse is a motivation to fear the Word as “the commandment”. Those who are obedient to the Word will be rewarded by God for it.

The opposites are “despise” and “fear”, and “be in debt to it” and “be rewarded”. They are about “the word” and “the commandment”, which is the Word of God and the commandment of God, and obedience to it or rejecting it. “The word” refers to teaching in general, while “the commandment” implies a command and points to powerful instruction.

Proverbs 13:14-16

Wisdom or Folly

From “the teaching of the wise” comes life for all who listen to it (Pro_13:14 ). This teaching “is a fountain of life” that quenches the thirst of the righteous for fellowship with God. Fellowship with God is true life. That is what all the teaching of the wise is directed to.

However, there are forces at work that seek to kill the righteous. Death is everything that is not in fellowship with God. The second line of verse gives the motive for the first line of verse. The teaching of the wise not only gives life, but also ensures that as long as we make our way on earth, we will “turn aside from the snares of death” and remain in fellowship with God. “The snares of death” suggests that death is a hunter or fowler lurking on its prey.

The world through which we must pass is described as a place teeming with snares of death. A snare is stretched to catch and kill. The means of getting someone into the snare is bait. Bait looks like something edible and tasty, but in reality it is a means of killing. The Word of God reveals the true nature of bait and serves as a guide to avoid snares and traps. Then we stay alive. Judas, the betrayer of the Lord Jesus, did not accept the teaching and fell into the snares of death.

As we go through the minefields of life on earth, the Word of God shows us how to avoid stepping on a landmine and being blown up. It gives us the hope of escape and a safe arrival.

“Good understanding” (Pro_13:15 ) is not only understanding the teaching of Pro_13:14 , but also applying it. That gives or works favor with God and people (Luk_2:52 ). Good understanding works good dealings with one’s fellow man, one’s neighbor, thereby gaining his favor. It is about the mind enlightened by the Spirit by which a person knows and does the will of God and he goes the way of wisdom. Those who follow God’s teachings experience the favor of men.

In contrast, “the way of the treacherous is hard”. It is not a difficult way, but an impassable way. The treacherous go that way and perish. They lack good sense and cannot be trusted. They dream of a way that goes over roses, but their way is paved with thorns. They are hard people you cannot trust and live with. They do not think life is hard, but they make it hard for others.

By “the way” are meant the doings and dealings. The idea is that while good understanding produces favor, the conduct of the treacherous does not produce any lasting results.

“Every prudent man” will study the facts and then decide (Pro_13:16 ). “Every” means “all”, without exception. He who is prudent will not take his feelings as the basis of action. He knows the dangers and pitfalls of circumstances. This makes him cautious. The fool proceeds very differently. He follows his hunches. The fool is reminiscent of a peddler displaying his wares. Just as a peddler displays his goods to recommend them, so the fool does with his follies.

Here we see the contrast between the thoughtfulness that characterizes the prudent and the fool’s recklessness who blurts out foolishness. The fool displays foolishness. He spreads it like a peacock does with its feathers.

“Knowledge” is more than just having information in one’s head. It is proficiency in the use of knowledge; it is understanding the art of applying acquired knowledge. In the context of the verse, it means that the prudent one knows how to hide something and succeeds in doing so, while the fool lacks this ability and spreads around him what is foolishness. Every prudent person first assures himself that he knows what he is doing or saying before he goes to work or says anything. If he does not, he displays folly.

Valuable knowledge is sometimes wasted by a lack of prudent action. If a person’s actions show that he has knowledge and understanding, he is prudent. It is demonstrated by the way he acts in the family, in society and in the church. We must deal with each one in a prudent manner. The Lord Jesus acted with perfect knowledge of things. Therefore, He always knew exactly what to say and not to say.

Proverbs 13:17

A Wicked Messenger or a Faithful Envoy

The contrast between the two lines of verse is “a wicked messenger” and “a faithful messenger” and “adversity” and “healing”. This is about the bringer of God’s message. A wicked messenger distorts God’s message, he brings false doctrine and gives false teaching. He causes confusion among the hearers and disrupts or sours relationships. The faithful messenger speaks of reconciliation with God and the neighbor. Paul and the apostles were trusted ambassadors for Christ (2Co_5:20 ). Their message means healing of broken relationships, first with God and then with others.

When we think of contemporary messengers, we can mention journalists, for example. Many of them deliver the news every day. We can read it in newspapers and on the Internet. Their messages are mostly wicked and evil in content. They are messengers of the devil, because they want readers to believe that what God calls sin in His Word is not sin.

Proverbs 13:18

To Neglect Discipline or Regard Reproof

This verse is about how to respond to “discipline” and “reproof”. Those who consider it beneath their dignity to accept discipline and neglect it will live in poverty and shame. These are two kinds of evil that afflict such a person. Poverty affects the body; shame affects the spirit. He who willingly and humbly observes and accepts reproof for his wrong attributes and conduct, listens to it and acts accordingly, will be honored.

We need discipline and reproof because sin is still within us. He who observes reproof does so because he is aware of its necessity. To his surprise, he is honored for it, too, by God.

Proverbs 13:19

Sweet or an Abomination

It “is sweet to the soul” to desire something and then see that desire realized. The soul here is the seat of desires, the place where something is desired, considered and enjoyed beforehand. This is about the desires of a wise person.

“Fools” do not want such desires at all. The thought of desiring something good and its realization does not attract them at all. The thought of “turning away from evil” is “an abomination” to them. What to God is an abomination to behold is to fools their lust and life. Despite the sweetness of the realization of good desires, fools will not turn their back on evil, for their concern is to experience the realization of their wicked desires.

A realized desire regarding good, the ultimate satisfaction, is incompatible with doing evil. It is impossible to be happy while living in sin. Only fools live in sin. Realized desires belong to the righteous and the wise. Only they will desire what is truly satisfying, and that is fellowship with God.

Proverbs 13:20

To Walk With the Wise or With the Fools

This verse advises that we connect with the wise and not with the fools. Walking or be in company with the wise, will make us wise, for that is what we learn from them in our dealings with them. The second line of verse emphasizes the power of companionship. He who is a companion of fools “will suffer harm”, meaning he ends up as a fool. Examine who influences you, in what company you are. The effect shows it: “be wise” or “suffer harm”.

What you deal with, you get infected with, so the saying goes. From what we do and what we say, it is clear who we spend the most time with. “Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals”” (1Co_15:33 ). To “walk with” means to be in the company of. The first thing the father warns his son about is bad company (Pro_1:10-11 ). This can be about people, but also about contacts through social media and consuming all kinds of movies and reading.

Who has not gained other friendships after conversion? There is no longer a common interest with worldly friends after conversion. It inevitably leads to distance. The new friends form the Christian character of wisdom. This must remain so, because the danger of falling back into old friendships is there when dealing with the Lord weakens. It is important to walk with Him as the Wisdom and also to walk with those who associate with Him and are therefore wise.

The advice is to walk with those of whom we know that God is with them (cf. Zec_8:23 ). The same goes for going to a church where people build each other up, where the members can all function according to their place in the body. The result then is that there will be spiritual growth toward independence. As a result, a person is later able to be a friend to others through whom they can become wise.

Proverbs 13:21-23

To Receive the Good or the Bad

In Pro_13:21 , “adversity” is seen as a person who “pursues sinners”, with the thought that adversity will also overtake them. “The righteous will be rewarded with prosperity” from people because of his righteousness.

Adversity is misfortune, disaster. Some people also speak of ‘bad luck’ in such cases. This indicates the exclusion of Divine control over things, as if someone is struck by impersonal ‘fate’. The opposite then is being ‘lucky’.

This verse is sometimes true in life, but always true in eternity. In the hereafter, the imbalances that may be there on earth are corrected. The rich man had received good during his life and Lazarus received evil. That is reversed after death. Abraham points this out to the rich man (Luk_16:25 ).

When someone dies, the inheritance does not go to the grandchildren, but to the children. Yet grandparents can also leave an inheritance for grandchildren (Pro_13:22 ). What then can grandchildren inherit? Inheritance does not necessarily have to be about money or material possessions. Someone has said that the worst thing you can do for your children is to leave a lot of money for them. What “the good man” can leave for his grandchildren is his fear of God and his good example (Psa_103:17 ).

How do our grandchildren remember us? They can “inherit”, that is, adopt the righteous principles that have defined our behavior and begin to live by them themselves. All the prayers we have done for them are a great inheritance we leave behind.

Divine justice determines the final destination of the wealth a person leaves behind. The wealth does not come into the hands of sinners, but into the hands of the righteous. What the sinner contemplates as his wealth, will pass after his death into the hands of the righteous who knows how to properly handle it (cf. Psa_49:10 ). This will be fulfilled in its fullness in the kingdom of peace, when all the wicked have been judged (Isa_61:6 ).

When “fallow ground” is cultivated, that is, the land is plowed, it gives “abundant food” to the poor (Pro_13:23 ). The poor need not go hungry because the earth provides enough for everyone. That would be the situation if the rich were righteous. But because of sin, the practice is that due to injustice, what hard labor has produced is swept away. The poor are oppressed and exploited. There is no lack of food, but there is lack of justice (Jas_2:6 Jas_5:4 ).

Proverbs 13:24

He Who Loves His Son, Disciplines Him

Not disciplining a child is not only a lack of parenting, but also a lack of love. The rod is one of the means of parenting, not the only means. Eli withheld his sons his rod and God had to judge them (1Sa_2:27-34 1Sa_3:11-14 1Sa_4:11 ). Slack parenting does a child no good, but harm. It is not true love, but goes against the best interests of the child. ‘His’ rod is the rod of the father for ‘his’ son. ‘Diligence’ indicates commitment by the father. He does not proceed laxly, but with deliberation and purpose. There is also zeal in it.

Withholding the rod here is called hating the child. It is claimed that the use of the rod is not evidence of love for the child. But in fact, it is often self-love rather than love for the child. Parents do not discipline the child because they do not discipline themselves. They are guided by their natural feelings and indulgence, by the desire to be liked and wanting to be popular. But it is better to inflict short pain than to suffer a lifetime of pain caused by children to whom the rod has been withheld.

Nor should there be an excess of discipline. A punishment must be consistent with the disobedience that deserves punishment. The child will otherwise become despondent or bitter, and that because of our actions (Eph_6:4 ; Col_3:21 ). Parenting is about the balance between giving the child space to grow and indicating the boundaries of that space.

Corporal punishment is increasingly outlawed in modern Western society. The growth of child abuse cases has caused this shift in public opinion. Clearly, there is a difference between beating and abuse. It is at this point that public opinion wanders. As is always the case with public opinion, the pendulum has swung from one extreme to the other.

However, the Bible does not speak of child abuse, but commands that a spanking should be given because it is an effective means of teaching a young child. An Egyptian proverb says: Children have their ears on their behinds; they listen when they are spanked. God wants us in childhood to learn to associate physical pain inflicted on us by our parents with evil, to train us to make the right moral choices as we grow up.

Proverbs 13:25

To Satisfy the Appetite or to Be in Need

God promises that “the righteous” does not lack, but can eat “enough to satisfy his appetite”. He rewards the righteous person’s righteousness by the satisfaction of his physical needs. This is a general statement based on what God promises in the law to those who walk according to His commandments (Lev_26:5 ;
Psa_37:25 ). This promise will be fulfilled in the kingdom of peace. It is not a guarantee that God will always supply all physical needs and the righteous will never go hungry or even feel hungry. Paul suffered hunger and want (Php_4:12 ).

It does not mean that the righteous can always eat his fill. It does mean that the righteous can always be perfectly satisfied with the promises of God. The Lord Jesus spoke of “food which perishes” and of “food which endures to eternal life” (Joh_6:27 ). Here we see the difference. Our first concern should not be the food which perishes, but the spiritual food He gives in Himself as the manna. The Lord Jesus had food to eat that His disciples did not know. That food was doing His Father’s will (Joh_4:34 ). That gives full satisfaction.

“The stomach of the wicked”, which is so often fat and round now, will no longer be filled. For them, after death there is endless “need”. Instead of being satisfied, they will be endlessly tormented by lack of everything that made up their life on earth. In life, the stomach was their god (Php_3:19 ). In eternal pain, the gnawing feeling of hunger, of unfulfilled desire, will torment them forever. Not even a drop of water will be given to them (Luk_16:24-25 ).

Proverbs 13:1
CRITICAL NOTES
Pro_13:1. Instruction, or “correction.” The Hebrew is literally, “a wise son is his father’s correction,” i.e., is the product of his father’s correction; or “heareth” may be supplied to correspond to the verb in the second clause.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro_13:1
THE WISE SON AND THE SCORNER
I. A condition implied. That the father who gives the instruction, or administers correction, is a wise father. There are many fathers who are incapable of instructing their children in the right way, because they do not walk in it themselves. The “father” of these proverbs is always pre-supposed to be one who is himself morally wise—one whose life is a practical exposition of the good instruction which he gives. The father who can only instruct with his lips, but not with his life, cannot expect to command respect and obedience. He is like a man who tries to save a vessel from sinking by baling out the water in bucketfuls, while he leaves the great leak-hole unplugged. All that which is done is more than neutralised by what is left undone. If a physician prescribes a certain medicine for a disease from which he is suffering himself, but for which he refuses to take the remedy, he will find that his patients will think, if they do not say, “Physician, heal thyself.” And children will not be slow to see if a father’s practice fails to endorse a father’s precept.
II. He who takes the advice of a morally wise father shows himself to be wise also. The greatest proof of wisdom is a willingness to learn of those who know more than we do. Other things being equal, a father must know more than a son, and the son who hears his instruction, and submits to his discipline, ot only uses the means by which to become wise, but shows that he is already wise enough to use the right means to attain a desirable end. Christians are the sons of God, if they are wise sons they will hear the instructions of their Father. They show their wisdom in proportion as they submit cheerfully to His discipline as to that of the “Only wise God” (1Ti_1:17).
III. He who will not listen to parental rebuke is in the last degree a sinner. We understand the last clause of this verse to refer likewise to a father and son. Parental instruction and correction are God’s ordained and special methods of training a human soul. There are many reasons why a parent’s rebuke should be regarded, if that of strangers is not listened to (see Homiletics on chap. Pro_4:1; Pro_4:4, p. 53). He who disregards that must be considered in as hopeless a case as he who scuttles the lifeboat sent to save him. When the word of a good father or mother is not obeyed it is practically scorned, and a scorner is the most hopeless of sinners.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
The language of this verse is capable of two meanings: either that hearing instruction and not hearing reproof are the effect and manifestation, respectively, of a wise or a scornful mind; this wise son showing himself to be so by “hearing his father’s instructions,” and the scorner showing himself to be so by “not hearing rebuke,” or (reversing cause and effect), that wisdom and scorning are the results, respectively, of hearing or not hearing instruction and rebuke. In other words—“The son that is instructed by his father turns out to be wise; he who receives no correction turns out a fool.” In the first of the two senses the admonition is chiefly to children—in the second, to parents.—Wardlaw.
Piety is the fruit of training. If a man is a believer, it is a sign he has had believing nurture; and if a scorner, it is a sign he has had “no rebuke.” This text reiterates the promise made to the training of a child. To treat it as in our English version is simply to evolve a truism, and might do very well, grammatically, if the verb were future, and not perfect. The idea embraces the solemn lesson, that Christians are not to be made without training.—Miller.
Or heareth and jeereth; as Lot’s sons-in-law, as Eli’s sons, and afterwards Samuel’s. Samuel succeeds Eli in his cross, as well as in his place, though not in his sin of indulgence. God will show that grace is by gift, and not by inheritance or education.—Trapp.
There is in the conscience of the scorner a hidden discouragement, and privy despair, both of pardon of his sinfulness, and possibility to leave it: and that doth exasperate him against such as shall be dealing with it. Who is willing to have his wound laid open to his disgrace and torment, when he taketh it to be altogether incurable?—Dod.

Proverbs 13:2-3
CRITICAL NOTES
Pro_13:2. Shall eat, in the second clause, is supplied by the English translation. Many commentators render this clause “the delight of the ungodly is violence.” So Zöckler and Delitzsch. Miller translates the verse, “Out of the fair earnings of the mouth of a man a good man will get his food; but the appetite of the faithless out of robbery.”
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro_13:2-3
KEEPING THE MOUTH
The human tongue needs keeping, or guarding. 1. Because there is a tendency in men to speak as soon as they think. First thoughts are not always the fittest thoughts to be made public. It is always advisable to view them and review them in the light of our judgment before we give them utterance. Hence our tongue ought to be always “well in hand.” 2. Because when loosed it is a great power for evil as well as for good. It may bring much good to a man’s life. “A man shall eat good by the fruit of his mouth,” when his mouth brings forth good fruit—when “out of the good treasure of his heart he bringeth forth that which is good.” A tongue wisely used gives a man the respect and confidence of his fellow-men, yields him the satisfaction of having been a blessing to them (See Comments on chap. Pro_12:6; Pro_12:14). But a tongue which is uncontrolled is mischievous to others and to the man himself. “He that openeth wide his lips shall have destruction.” As we saw in chapter Pro_10:19, there is often a sin in much speaking. Such a tongue as that described in chapter Pro_2:12, or that in chapter Pro_12:18 (see Homiletics and Comments on those verses), destroy not only their victims but those to whom they belong. Such a tongue, the Apostle tells us, is “a fire, a world of iniquity: and is set on fire of hell” (Jas_3:6). 3. Because it is the last stronghold which is brought under complete control to spiritual rule—the weak point in the spiritual man’s armour where the adversary’s arrow may enter. This we know from inspired authority. “If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body” (Jas_3:2). We have an example of its truth in the case of Moses. That man who was “meek above all men which were upon the face of the earth” (Num_12:3), forfeited his right of entrance into the earthly Canaan by an unguarded use of the tongue. The prayers of the Psalmist show us the importance which he attached to the keeping of this stronghold and the difficulty attending it, as well as the only sure means of safety, that of calling in Divine help. “Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips” (Psa_141:3). Every morally wise man will make the resolve of David, “I will keep my mouth with a bridle,” not only “while the wicked is before me,” but at all times and in all places. Life is lost and won both in its higher and lower senses by not keeping the mouth.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
Pro_13:2. The “mouth of a man” in that viva voce country, as formerly in our southern states, was the great instrument of a business man. He lived by giving orders. The mail conducts our business in our days. A false lip stood for all sorts of bad activity (Ecc_10:12). A good man will be satisfied to earn his living. The bad man, in some way or other, wants to steal it. But apace with this secular meaning is one that concerns the saints. The good man expects to fight for heaven; the lost man to get heaven by deceit (see rendering in CRITICAL NOTES). It is true the tendencies might seem reversed. The good man hails a work done for him, and expects a ransom without money and without price. The bad man would intersperse some struggles of his own. But, in fact, the Christian, though saved by grace, works the more for it; and, in fact, the sinner, rejecting grace and interposing his own works, is just the man expecting blessings without costs, and without any earnest toil. Not “eat good” (English version) but “a good man will eat” (get his food). “The earnings of the mouth.” No one can go into a great city now without noticing how much of men’s money they make by their mouth. The gainful merchants are talking all day long. No man can buy salvation; but he reaches it by hard labour, and partly by earnest speech.—Miller.
Although the spirit and practice of retaliation are nowhere vindicated in Scripture, but everywhere explicitly and strongly condemned: yet a treatment corresponding to their own treatment towards others is what everyone may expect, even independently of what deserves the name of retaliation. In the nature of things it cannot be otherwise. It is not in human nature, nor in any nature, not even in the Divine itself, to love (with the love of complacence) that which is unamiable. An amiable disposition alone can secure love; and it is greatly indicated by the tongue. The man who is charitable in his judgments, and disposed to speak well of others, will be himself the subject of charitable judgment, and of cordial commendation. Thus “he shall eat good by the fruit of his mouth.”—Wardlaw.
The mouth of a man doth blossom when he speaketh fairly and promiseth well, but then it beareth fruit when that is performed which is promised. And by this fruit it is, which though others eat, yet a man himself eateth good, as having his soul cheered and nourished by the comfort of it. But as for the soul of the perfidious and false dealers, who make a show to do a thing, and do quite the contrary, although they carry it slightly and without violence, yet violence shall seize upon them, either to compel them to a performance, or else to a just suffering for not performing, which will be bitter food.—
Jermin.
Pro_13:3. Speech, though our great activity, gives us more toil in holding it back than in actually employing it. So activity, which it typically represents, is harder to hold than to promote. Religion is an every-day battle. He that is not conscious of it, has no true religion.—Miller.
“Keep thine heart” (chap. Pro_4:23). This guards the citadel. Keep thy mouth. This sets a watch at the gates. If they be well guarded the city is safe. Leave them unprotected—thus was Babylon taken.—Bridges.
No wonder that the Holy Ghost here labours so much for the reformation of the tongue; for the Apostle also (Rom_3:13, etc.), when giving an anatomy of human depravity in the members of the body, dwells more on the tongue than all the rest.—Cartwright, from Fausset.

Proverbs 13:4
CRITICAL NOTES
Pro_13:4. Fat, i.e., abundantly satisfied.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro_13:4
THE DISAPPOINTMENT OF THE SLUGGARD’S DESIRES
I, The desires of the sluggard cannot be satisfied—1. Because they are contrary to the ordination of God. The Divine ordination is, “In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread” (Gen_3:19), in other words, that reward shall be the result of labour. If a man is to have that which he desires, he must frame his desires in harmony with the law of the universe, or he must be disappointed. If men desire to bring about any material result they take care to work in harmony with physical law. He would be looked upon as a madman who expected to achieve anything by setting at nought the law of gravitation, for instance. It is quite as useless for men to desire to set aside God’s moral laws. 2. Because they are contrary to the practice of God. God, as we saw in homiletics on chap. Pro_12:24; Pro_12:27, is a great worker. He desired to save man, but He used means to accomplish His desires, even means which involved the highest self-sacrifice. Shall man expect to realise his wishes without effort, when God “spared not His own Son” (Rom_8:32) to bring about the salvation of the world, when Christ “endured the cross” to attain “the joy set before Him?” (Heb_12:2). 3. Because they are unfair to his fellow-creatures. He desires to consume, but not to contribute to the general good; he wants to have the reward of the diligent without his toil. It would be unjust to the industrious to give to him for desiring what others gain by working. Therefore,
II. He wearies himself far more by his laziness than he would do by honest labour. If a man is constantly desiring and never having his desires fulfilled, his life must become a weariness to him. Fulfilled desires become an incentive to renewed activity—he who has reaped one harvest as a result of his labour is quickened to new energy to sow for another crop. The sluggard knows not the enjoyment which comes to the man who has worked hard for the reward which he now enjoys; he knows not what it is to enjoy rest and recreation, because true diligence only can give them any true relish. (See also Homiletics on chap. Pro_6:6-11 and Pro_12:24.)
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
The sluggard in religion desires to overcome his bad habits, to enjoy the happiness of God’s people. So far, well. Desires are a part of religion, There can be no attainment without them. Many have not even the desire, yet the sluggard hath nothing, because it is desire without effort. “Hell,” says an old writer, “is paved with such desires.”—Bridges.
Wishes and woulders are never good householders.—Muffet.
Doddridge says most people perish by laziness. Laziness is the attribute of a man who desires an object, but will not work for it. The impenitent desires heaven—nay longs for it—yea, confidently expects it (just as many a sluggard expects wealth), but religion never “turns up,” it never comes like game taken in the chase (chap. Pro_12:27), it is a solid product: we must stir up ourselves to take hold on God (Isa_64:7). With no exceptions, such as are on “change,” it is the “diligent soul” that “shall be made fat” and the yearning sluggard, at the very last, “has nothing.”—Miller.
The slothful man has one mighty objection against heaven, that he cannot make sure of it in a morning dream.—Lawson.
Labour is the original law of man’s nature. The fatigue and distress of labour, are, no doubt, the result of sin. Even in the garden of primeval innocence, it was by his “dressing” and “keeping” that everything was to thrive.—Wardlaw.
The sluggard would and he would not, he would have the end, but would not use the means; he would “sit at Christ’s right hand,” but he would not “drink of His cup,” or “be baptized with his baptism. Affection without endeavour is like Rachel, beautiful, but barren.… David, ravished with the meditation of the good man’s blessedness, presently conceives this desire and pursues it; not “Oh that I had this happiness,” but “Oh that I could use the means!” “Oh that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes” (Psa_119:4-5).—Trapp.

Proverbs 13:5
CRITICAL NOTES
Pro_13:5. Lying, rather “deceit.” Stuart renders it “a false report.” Zöckler translates the latter clause of this verse, “the ungodly acteth basely and shamefully.” The translations of Stuart and Delitzsch are nearly the same. Miller reads the whole verse, “A deceiving business hates the righteous man, but also shames and disgraces the wicked.”
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro_13:5
A LAWFUL HATRED
I. A righteous man hates lying. 1. Because it is contrary to his ruling disposition. His own righteous character has been created by believing the truth. His spiritual life is constantly renewed and sustained by believing the truth, and reducing his belief to practice. He is a child of the truth, and, therefore, apart from all the consequences of lying he instinctively abhors it. 2. He hates it also because of its evil influence upon men. Confidence in a lie ruined our first parents, and confidence in a lie has ruined whole nations and mighty empires in the past. In proportion as men “believe a lie” (2Th_2:11) in the same proportion will be their ruin. The righteous man knows that the kingdom of God is a kingdom of truth (Joh_18:37), and as his great desire is to see that kingdom spread he must hate all that opposes it, and thus mars the happiness of the human race.
II. Wicked men are untruthful men. As the righteous man’s character is built by truth and upon truth, so that of an ungodly man is built upon false hood. All such men are the children of him who was a liar from the beginning, and although they may not be liars in the common acceptation of the word, there is a lack of truthfulness in the character of the most outwardly moral. In some shape or other he is a liar—he is a subject of him whose kingdom is built upon lying, and who could not retain under his influence a man who “hated lying” in every form and under every disguise. Such a man must come to shame. What would be the fate of a cripple if he were to challenge a man with sound limbs to run a race? Must he not be worsted in the end? Not more surely than will every subject of the kingdom whose foundation was laid in a lie. There is an Italian proverb which says, “A liar is sooner caught than a cripple.” If “lying lips are an abomination to the Lord,” he who owns the lips must be an abomination also (see Homiletics on chap. Pro_12:22).
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
Clear and round dealing is the honour of man’s nature; and that mixture of falsehood is like alloy in coin of gold or silver, which may make the metal work the better but embaseth it. For these winding and crooked courses are the goings of the serpent, which goeth basely upon the belly, and not upon the feet. There is no vice that doth so cover a man with shame as to be found false and perfidious; and, therefore, Montaigne sayeth prettily, when he inquired the reason why the word of the lie should be such a disgrace and such an odious charge, “If it be well weighed, to say that a man lieth, is as much as to say that he is brave towards God, and a coward towards men. For a lie faces God and shrinks from man.”—Lord Bacon.
The natural man shuns lying and deceit on account of the outward shame and reproach; the pious abhors them with all his heart for God’s sake.—Starke, in Langes Commentary.
The allegiance of the soul to truth is tested by small things, rather than by those which are more important. There is many a man who would lose his life rather than perjnre himself in a court of justice, whose life is yet a tissue of small insincerities. We think that we are hating falsehood when we are only hating the consequences of falsehood. We resent hypocrisy and treachery, and calumny, not because they are untrue, but because they harm us. We hate the false calumny, but are half-pleased by the false praise. It is evidently not the element of untruth here that is displeasing, but the element of harmfulness. Now he is a man of integrity who hates untruth as untruth; who resents the smooth and polished falsehood of society, which does no harm; who turns in indignation from the glittering whitened lie of sepulchral Pharisaism which injures no one. Integrity recoils from deception, which men would almost smile to hear called deception. To a moral pure mind the artifices in every department of life are painful. The stained wood which passes for a more firm and costly material in a building, and deceives the eye by passing for what it is not—marble. The painting which is intended to be taken for reality; the gilding which is meant to pass for gold; and the glass which is worn to look like jewels; for there is a moral feeling and a truthfulness in architecture, in painting, and in dress, as well as in the market-place and in the senate, and in the judgment hall. “These are trifles.” Yes, these are trifles; but it is just these trifles which go to the formation of character. He that is habituated to deceptions and artificialities in trifles will try in vain to be true in matters of importance; for truth is a thing of habit rather than of will.… And it is a fearful question, and a difficult one, how all these things, the atmosphere of which we breathe in our daily life, may sap the very foundation of the power of becoming a servant of the truth.—
F. W. Robertson.
It is not said that a righteous man never lies. David lied more than once, and yet he could say with truth that he abhorred lying. Though he lied to Abimelech the priest, and to the king of the Philistines, yet his fixed hatred of sin was an evidence of piety, to which those can lay no claim who never spoke a lie in their lives, if their abstinence from this sin was caused by some other motive than hatred.… God and men agree in almost nothing but this, that a liar is detestable to both, and therefore he must, sooner or later, come to disgrace.—Lawson.
The affections are of as great force in the service of God as the words and actions, and the heart hath no less place than the members of the body. It must be one and the principal agent in love, where they have calling; and it must deal alone with detestation of those abominations which they are discharged to intermeddle with.… Here we have instruction to inform our hearts against all manner of wickedness, that they may be the more incensed against it. The less we like sin the more righteous we are, and the better the Lord will love us. And the more agreement there is between sin and our souls, the less peace there is between our souls and God. All the hurts and miseries that have ever come upon us, or on Christ for our sakes, do give us just occasion to fall out with sinfulness, that hath been the cause thereof.—Dod.
Where grace reigns, sin is loathsome, where sin reigns the man is loathsome. Henry.

Proverbs 13:6
CRITICAL NOTES
Pro_13:6. Sinner, literally “sin,” hence Miller reads “wickedness subverts the sin-offering,” and Zöckler “wickedness plungeth into sin.”
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro_13:6
OVERTHROW BY SIN
For Homiletics on the first clause of this verse see on chap. Pro_11:3; Pro_11:5-6.
I. The person overthrown—the sinner. 1. To be a sinner implies the existence of a law. Where there is no law there is no transgression. The sinner here spoken of is a transgressor against moral, Divine law. 2. There may be sin against a law which is in existence but which is not known. A man may not know of the existence of a law, and thus may sin ignorantly. 3. But the sinner of the Bible is one who, if he does not possess a written revelation, does possess a “law written in his heart”—his conscience. (See Rom_2:14-15.) Though the guilt is incomparably greater when a man sins against both conscience and revelation, yet he who transgresses the law of the first only is a sinner, and there must be overthrow in both cases, because moral transgression contains within itself the elements of destruction.
II. His overthrow. 1. For a man to be overthrown by breaking a law, that law must be good. There have been laws that common integrity has compelled men to transgress, and men have been rewarded by the Great Lawgiver for the transgression. There are still laws in force in the world, the violation of which is a proof of moral courage. But the sinner here doomed to overthrow is a sinner against a law to which his own conscience bears witness that it is holy and just, and good (Rom_7:12). 2. The breaking of this law must overthrow a man, even if no power were ever put forth against him. Sin debases a man by the law of cause and effect. Nothing can prevent a man who throws himself over a precipice from finding the bottom of the chasm—nothing can keep a sinner from sinking lower and lower in the moral scale. The first man finds a bottom—comes to the end of his fall—he who sins keeps sinking lower and lower while he continues in sin. 3. The law against which the sinner transgresses is backed by the highest authority, and by the greatest power of the universe. It represents the greatest Being. Sin is not directed against an abstraction, but against a person. He who has promulgated it is a living personality, and has all power to enforce its penalties. The Almighty God is against the sinner. Must he not then be overthrown? 4. The sinner can be placed in such a position as will justify him from the guilt of his past transgressions, and will enable him to keep the law in the future. The Lawgiver has Himself provided this way of escape. He Himself gives the power to obey. Hence he who sins against this law sins against mercy too, and doubles his condemnation, “is overthrown,” not by God’s law, but by his rejection of God’s method of deliverance from the guilt and power of sin.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
Wickedness is ruin. 1. It exhausts a man’s property, whether much or little. Sin is a very expensive thing; a person cannot commit it to any extent, but at a considerable loss, not of time only, but of substance. The passions are clamorous, exorbitant, and restless, till gratified, and this must be repeated. The case of the prodigal is in point, he wasted all his patrimony in riotous living. 2. It blasts his reputation. Sin can never be deemed honourable on correct principles; yet while sinners possess means of supporting themselves in their vices, they still keep up their name and rank in the world; not in the Church of God, or in the estimation of heaven. But when the means of supplying fuel to feed the fires of foul desire and towering ambition fail, then their outward splendours go out into darkness. (See Pro_10:7; Pro_24:30). 3. It destroys health. Intemperance undermines the best constitution; it is a violence done to the physical order of things; it renders a man old in constitution, while he is young in years. 4. It hastens the approach of death. Wicked men frequently do “not live out half their days” (Psa_55:23), “for when they shall say, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh as a thief in the night” (1Th_5:3). Sometimes their passions hurry them forward to the commission of crimes which terminate in the most disgraceful exit. 5. It effects the damnation of the soul. A sinner “wrongeth his own soul” (Pro_8:36). He quenches the Spirit of grace, neglects the salvation of the gospel, till he goes to his own place. “The wicked shall be turned into hell” (Psa_9:17).—Theta, from Sketches of Sermons.
Righteousness keepeth the upright, so that, though belied or abused, he will not let go his integrity (Job_27:5). David’s “feet stood in an even place” (Psa_26:12). The spouse, though despoiled of her veil and wounded by the watch, yet keeps close to Christ (Song of Solomon 5). Not but that the best are sometimes disquieted in such cases; for not the evenest weights, but at their first putting into the balance, somewhat sway both parts thereof, not without some show of inequality, which yet, after some little motion, settle themselves in a meet poise and posture.—Trapp.
As he walketh safely in the way who hath a faithful convoy with him, so he is most sure of a faithful convoy who is a strong convoy unto himself. Righteousness alone is a puissant army, and he cannot perish whom righteousness preserveth. But how can he escape who is beset in the way by his own villany. The Hebrew is, that wickedness overthroweth sin. When a sinner is grown settled in sinning, he justly getteth the name of sin, and such an one it is that it is here spoken of.—Jermin.
“Righteousness,” that good claim in law which merit gives some of the creatures. Our righteousness comes to us as the merit of Christ. The condition of our being held righteous is faith and new obedience. Therefore, if one is obedient, or, as this verse expresses it, “is upright” or “of integrity in the way,” “righteousness keeps guard over him.” Once righteous, always righteous. Having the proof of our righteousness now, that righteousness, or good standing in the law, shall guard us for ever; while sin, becoming equally perpetual, does not only not guard us, but (another intensive second clause) rejects what guard we have; that is, as it is most evangelically expressed, “subverts” or “overturns” the sin-offering. This word, sin-offering, instead of allowing such an interpretation (see CRITICAL NOTES) has it in all preceding books. “Sin” is the rare rendering. Some of the most beautiful Scriptures, that are Messianic in their cast (Gen_4:7), are ruined by the translation “sin.” Leviticus never has the translation “sin” even in the English version.—Miller.
There is more bitterness following upon sin’s ending than ever there was sweetness flowing from sin’s acting. You that see nothing but well in its commission will suffer nothing but woe in its conclusion. You that sin for your profits will never profit by your sins.—Dyer.

Proverbs 13:7-8
CRITICAL NOTES
Pro_13:7. Maketh, or “showeth.”
Pro_13:8. The latter clause of this is very obscure, but rebuke is generally translated “threatening,” and is understood to mean that no threatening can gain anything from the poor as they have nothing to lose. Stuart understands it that “notwithstanding the obvious advantage of wealth, yet the poor man will not listen to those who rebuke him for sloth and wastefulness which have made him poor. The supposition on this ground is that the man is poor by his own fault.”
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro_13:7-8
THE LAW OF COMPENSATION
I. There may be pretensions to wealth where there is comparative poverty. Many men endeavour to make other people believe that they are richer than they are—indeed, it seems to be the common vice of modern society. It is to be deprecated for several reasons. 1. It is an injury to the man himself. It very often happens that his foolish artifices fail to blind others; he is like the ostrich who, when he puts his head into the sand, thinks he has hidden himself entirely from observation; he only makes himself an object of ridicule to those whom he thinks he has deceived. If, for a time, he that “hath nothing” succeeds in making people believe he is rich, the truth comes out in time, the bubble bursts, and the pretender comes to such shame as would never have been his portion if he had been content to pass for what he really was—a poor man. 2. Such pretenders are a curse to others. One such man makes many others. His costly furniture and brilliant entertainments, and all the adjuncts which are necessary to keep up the reputation of being a millionaire, lead his neighbours and associates to keep up appearances of the same kind, and so the mischief grows. Then such men rob honest men by leading them to trust them with their goods or money, and when the end comes many are brought to ruin. Examples of this truth are not far to seek, they are, alas, far too common in the present day. 3.
Such pretension is base hypocrisy. A sin against which a righteous God levels His sternest threatenings (see on chap. Pro_11:9).
II. He who is really wealthy and yet does not use his wealth to the glory of God “hath nothing.” 1. He is poor in relation to his fellow-creatures. The greatest beggar cannot do less for the world than he does, and he is poor in the love and gratitude of those from whom he might win a rich reward by the exercise of benevolence. 2. He is poor in spiritual riches. A miserly, niggardly man must be poor “towards God” (Luk_12:21)—must be destitute of all that God counts worth possessing. The rich Church of Laodicea was so “increased with goods” that she said, “I have need of nothing,” but in the sight of the Son of God she was “poor” (Rev_3:17).
III. In a spiritual sense this text is true. Possibly the rebuke to the Laodician Church may refer to that satisfaction in spiritual things “which maketh itself rich yet hath nothing,” because its possessor is destitute of any real knowledge of his own spiritual needs and, consequently, of his spiritual poverty.
IV. There are men who are in every respect the opposite of those with whom we have been dealing. 1. There is the miser who “maketh himself poor, yet hath great riches.” It is difficult to know what motive can prompt a man to do this except covetousness—a fear that he will be expected to part with some of his wealth for the good of others. What, therefore, was said under the second head will apply to him. 2. There are those who make no show of wealth, yet having enough to sustain their position in life are really rich. The man who is content to be known for what he really is, and has enough to live honestly, is rich, for riches and poverty are merely comparative terms, and the riches of one man would be poverty to another.
“For he that needs five thousand pounds to live,
Is full as poor as he that needs but five.”
Therefore, “a man that maketh (or sheweth) himself poor” in this sense, has great riches. He has a sufficiency for all his wants, he retains his self-respect and the respect of his fellow-men. 3. The really poor man is rich when he spends his little with regard to the glory of God. Who of all those who cast their gifts into the treasury was so rich as the poor widow who cast in “all her living?” She was rich in the commendation of her Lord (Mar_12:43), and all such as she will have the same recognition and will be rich in the gratitude and love of their fellow-creatures. Such an one shows that he is in possession of the “true riches” (Luk_16:11) which alone can preserve from moral bankruptcy. To them belongs the commendation “I know thy poverty, but thou art rich” (Rev_2:9). Such “poor of this world” are “rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom” (Jas_2:5). 4. Those who are thus really, because spiritually, rich have always a sense of spiritual poverty. They esteem themselves “less than the least of all saints” (Eph_3:8), their watchword is “not as though I had already attained” (Php_3:12), therefore, to them belongs the rich possession of the friendship of “the High and Lofty One, that inhabiteth eternity” (Isa_57:15). Thus “making themselves poor,” they “yet have great riches.”
V. There are advantages and disadvantages connected both with material wealth and with poverty. “The ransom of a man’s life are his riches.” This was more literally true in Solomon’s days than in ours, and is more so now in Oriental countries than among the western nations. There, even now, a man’s riches often excite the greed of some despotic ruler, or one of his irresponsible officials, and he is accused of some crime in order that his accuser may pocket a large ransom. In times of war, too, the rich are exposed to losses and vexations from their conquerors, which the poor escape. Wealth is the magnet which draws the plunderers upon them; although, at the same time, it enables them to ransom their lives. This is one of the penalties of riches. The spirit, although not the letter of the proverb, may be applied to modern European life. It is the hall of the nobleman that is exposed to the visits of the burglar. It is the great capitalist that loses when banks fail, and when there is a commercial panic. But none of these things touch a poor man. The despots pass him over, because he has no riches wherewith to ransom his life; in the time of war he is unmolested, as when Judea was invaded, “the captain of the guard left of the poor of the land to be vine-dressers and husbandmen (2Ki_25:12). No thief plans a midnight surprise upon his humble abode; he cannot lose his money, he has none to lose. Vultures are not attracted to a skeleton, they gather round a carcase covered with flesh. So it is with those who make it their business to live upon the wealth of others. They leave the poor man free. He hears not “rebuke” or “threatening,” he is left undisturbed. “He that is down need fear no fall,” says Bunyan. “He that hath empty pockets may whistle in the face of a highwayman,” says Juvenal. Therefore it is man’s wisdom, whether poor or rich, to be content with such things as he has (Heb_13:5); to appear only what he really is, and to dedicate his earnings, or his savings, or his inheritance, to the glory of God; to follow George Herbert’s advice—
“Be thrifty; but not covetous: therefore give
Thy need, thine honour, and thy friend his due.
Never was scraper brave man. Get to live;
Then live, and use it; else, it is not true
That thou hast gotten. Surely use alone
Makes money not a contemptible stone.”
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
The teaching of chap. Pro_11:24 finds its echo here. There is a seeming wealth behind which there lies a deep spiritual poverty and wretchedness. There is a poverty which makes a man rich for the kingdom of God.—Plumptre.
This is a world of making show, the substance of truth is gone out of it, and ever since man ceased to be what he should be, he striveth to seem to be what he is not. Every sin masking in its own vizard: the vainglorious and the covetous both seeking by their seeming to gain some real advantage to themselves.—Jermin.
These opposite faults originate in the same cause, an excessive esteem of worldly riches. It is this that makes poor men pretend to have them, and rich men conceal them for the purpose of preserving them more safely. But although money is sometimes a defence, the want of it is sometimes a shadow under which poor men live unnoticed by the plunderers.—Lawson.
Surely it is just that riches should be the ransom of a man’s life, for it is by them that a man’s life is brought into danger.—Jermin.
The seventh verse is terse beyond all expression. Such are all these proverbs. Making oneself rich may be itself the poverty, and making oneself poor may be itself the wealth; inasmuch as these acts may have been sins or graces of the soul, which enter by the providence of Heaven into the very condition of the spirit. The meaning is that outward circumstances are nothing in the question. A saint is poor or rich as is most useful for him. The treasure is himself. “There is that maketh himself rich and is all nothing;” because himself, not the wealth, is the important matter. On the other hand, “There is that makes himself poor,” and not only “hath great riches,” which is the imperfect translation of our Bibles, but “is a great treasure.” He himself bereft of wealth, is all the greater for what God may have assigned. Solomon expounds more specially in the eighth verse: Ransom, covering—i.e., the covering of his guilt. Property is a mere incident. A man’s true opulence is his eternal redemption. He is not poor who is pinched by want; but he who has not listened to rebuke.—Miller.
It is not poverty so much as pretence that harasses a ruined man—the struggle between a proud mind and an empty purse—the keeping up a hollow show, that must soon come to an end. Have the courage to appear poor, and you disarm poverty of its sharpest sting.

Proverbs 13:9
CRITICAL NOTES
Pro_13:9. Rejoiceth, “burns brightly.” The words light and lamp are regarded by most modern commentators as synonymous.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro_13:9
THE ABIDING LIGHT
I. The analogy between the righteous and the wicked. Both have a light or lamp. The words here translated lamp and light are elsewhere used interchangeably, and are often used to signify prosperity (1Ki_15:4; 2Ki_8:19) of any and every kind. Prosperity resembles a lamp in that it is an attractive force. A benighted traveller in the darkness is drawn towards a light wherever he sees it, although he does not know whether it is the light of a thief or of an honest man. Tempest-tossed mariners look anxiously for a light in their extremity, and hope for help from it whether it swings from the masthead of a pirate or from a vessel which carries the police of the seas. So prosperity in any man is an attractive force. A prosperous wicked man attracts to himself the needy and unfortunate. The unprincipled gather round him, hoping to share in some degree in the light and heat of his worldly success, and the good man who is poor is often compelled by need to do the same. The lamp of prosperity, like the net of the kingdom, “gathers of every kind” (Mat_13:47), not because of what the prosperous man is, but because of what he has. Many saints are dependent on sinners for their daily bread. Lazarus lay at the rich man’s gate hoping to be fed with the crumbs which fell from his table. The prosperity of the righteous is equally attractive both to good men and bad for the same reason. The great mass of men in the world are toiling upon the sea of life for daily bread like tempest-tossed mariners, and wherever they see the light of prosperity they make for it, hoping for help in their need. And prosperity in the general acceptance of the word is as often given to the good as to the bad—to the wicked as to the righteous. Some commentators regard the light or the lamp as emblematic also of posterity. The words in 2Ki_8:19 may be translated “to give him always a light
in his children” (see Lange on 2Ch_21:7), and in this sense also the analogy holds good, seeing that both good and bad men become the heads of households, and have joy and honour in their children.
II. The contrast between the righteous and the wicked. 1. The righteous man will grow more and more prosperous. Present and material prosperity is but an earnest and a shadow of that higher light which shall “rejoice” throughout eternity. For the contrast implies that his light shall not “be put out.” And this continuance has its root in his character. Although in this world character does not govern circumstances, there is a world in which it does. And, after all, a good man’s light—or occasion of satisfaction—consists more in what he is than in what he has, and this shines “more and more unto the perfect day” (chap. Pro_4:18)—See Homiletics, page 58. 2. The wicked man’s prosperity will come to an end. His candle will be put out by the hand of death. It may burn well for a time and he may rejoice in its light, but even if it continue to shed its rays around him till the last hour of earthly life, death will put it out. All that has made him a prosperous man has belonged to the earth, and this can shed no light beyond the grave. It may be put out by the hand of retribution before death. Lamps kindled by unjust means may burn well for a time, and human retribution may never put out their light, because men may not know how they were lighted; but God’s providence may put them out. (On this subject see next verse.) Or if Divine retribution reserves its extinguisher for another world, another avenger may “put out” the light. Conscience may assert its right, and without actually taking from a man that in which he has promised himself satisfaction, may take the satisfaction from it, and thus as surely “put out” his “lamp.”
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
How glowing, then, is the light of the Church in the combined shining of all her members! Many of them have no remarkable individual splendour; yet, like the lesser stars forming the Milky Way, they present a bright path of holiness in the spiritual firmament.… But it is the light of the righteous that rejoiceth. Sin, therefore, will bring the cloud. Do we hope to shine in the heavenly firmament? Then we must shine with present glory in the firmament of the Church. So delicate is the Divine principle, that every breath of this world dims its lustre.—Bridges.
The comfort of the righteous is a heavenly light, whose shining is rejoicing, and which even in this life maketh the darkness of Egypt to be light in Goshen, maketh the night of troubles to be day; but at length it shall be such a sunshine of glory, as that it dazzleth the human understanding to conceive it now. On the other side, the best comfort which the wicked have is but a lamp or a candle which shineth in the night; for as the light of a candle is shut up within a narrow circle of space, so their comfort is shut up within a narrow compass of time, until at length the candle be put out, never again to be lighted. But what say I at length, when Job saith the candle of the wicked is often put out. Upon which words St. Gregory saith, “Ofttimes the wicked thinks his child to be his candle, but when his child, too much beloved, is taken away, “his candle is put out” and so with present honour or wealth. He, therefore, that desireth not to rejoice in eternal things, cannot here always rejoice where he would be eternal.—Jermin.
They may not always rejoice, but their light will. “The lamp of the wicked” shines upon their own transitoriness. They never say that it will last. They know “that it shall he put out.” This is rather a dismal provision for being very cheerful. But “the light of the righteous,” however much they look at it, “rejoices.” The more they try it, the more it burns. It does not shine upon its own lack of oil. And, though they are not self-luminous, yet their “light” is, for it is the light of the Spirit, and it shines more and more through eternal ages.—Miller.

Proverbs 13:10
CRITICAL NOTES
Pro_13:10. This may be read “Only by pride cometh contention,” or “by pride cometh only (nothing but) contention.”
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro_13:10
THE PARENT OF STRIFE
I. Unlawful contention is the offspring of pride. If she is not her only child, she is her eldest-born. Scripture language more than hints that pride was the beginning of contention among the angels. Paul, speaking of the qualifications of a “bishop” or teacher, tells Timothy that such an one is in danger of “being lifted up with pride,” and thus falling “into the condemnation of the devil” (1Ti_3:6), thus seeming to indicate that pride was at the bottom of all the contention that is at present going on in the universe between light and darkness, between good and evil. From the pride of this fallen star has come contention in heaven, and earth, and hell.
He it was whose guile,
Stirred up with envy and revenge, deceived
The mother of mankind; what time his pride
Had cast him out from heaven, with all his host
Of rebel angels, by whose aid aspiring
To set himself in glory ’bove his peers,
He trusted to have equalled the Most High,
If he opposed, and with ambitious aim,
Against the throne and monarchy of God,
Raised impious war in heaven, and battle proud,
With vain attempt.
And in the history of man’s dealings with man pride is the root of contention. “Whence come wars and fightings among you?” come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?” (Jas_4:1). And is not the lust of pride, or envy, which is her foster-sister, the great cause of all domestic, and social, and national contentions? Has it not been the cause of every unrighteous war from the days of Chedorlaomer to the present century? And pride breeds contention on a narrower battle-ground still. It often creates war in the human spirit. Pride brings contention between duty and inclination, and, although there is no bloodshed, the contest is often very sharp and painful. The fact that “by pride cometh contention” is so plain that it may be said to be written upon the scroll of time, like Ezekiel’s roll, within and without. It is impossible that it should be otherwise. Pride is a thinking more of ourselves than we are—an over-estimation of our own worth. This must lead us to strive for supremacy over others who are our equals, or even our superiors. This must bring contention, for they will not willingly accord to us that to which we have no lawful claim. Therefore, while there is pride in the universe contention will never end. The fountain must be dried up before the streams cease to flow. When a human soul is emptied of pride there will be peace within. In proportion as it ceases to be a ruling force in the world contention will cease. Pride keeps the fallen principalities in contention with heaven, keeps the sinner in contention with his Saviour, and keeps man in contention with man.
II. Thoso who are not ruled by pride are well advised. 1. Because of the consequences that obedience to the dictates of pride must bring to men themselves. There is in all men a wholesome fear of the consequences which flow from certain actions. If a child sees another burnt from playing with the fire, he will avoid doing that which he has seen to bring such pain and deformation to his brother. Self-love deters him from the act. Those who are well advised, because advised by the highest wisdom, know what the consequences of pride have been, and take cognisance of the deformation of character which it works in men around them. Therefore, the natural and spiritual instinct of wholesome self-love leads them to dread that which would bring such an additional scar to their already too much deformed character. The children of wisdom are well advised to be afraid of pride on account of its consequences to themselves. 2. Because of the misery it would bring to those nearly related to them. Isolation is not possible in this world. Every man, woman, and child is more or less nearly related to some others. The relation may be physical, intellectual, political, or moral—in some instances all are combined. A proud man, or woman, or child, makes those who belong to them miserable. A proud father makes his children miserable, a proud king involves his country in war, and brings misery upon his subjects. How many friends has pride severed. How many homes and countries has family or national pride blighted. Surely, then, those are well advised who shun it for the sake of those related to them. 3. Because of its consequences to humanity, The miseries of the human race are increased by pride, and the progress of the gospel is hindered by it. The man who does not scruple to pour oil upon a burning house, not only shows that he has no intention to help to extinguish the flames, but that he intends to widen their influence. Each drop that he pours upon the fire increases its intensity, and spreads the destruction. There are men who do not hesitate, by the indulgence of pride, to increase that war of passions which burns so fiercely and destructively in the world and desolates ten thousand hearts and homes. But the well advised, by the exercise of the grace of humility, endeavour to quench the conflagration which, first kindled by hell, has devastated the earth for so many generations.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
Pride, if there be no cause of contention given, will make it. Transcendo non obedio perturbo is the motto written upon pride’s triple crown.… Pride is a dividing distemper. Bladders blown up with wind spurt one from another, and will not close; but prick them, and you may pack a thousand of them in a little room.… It was a great trouble to Haman to lead Mordecai’s horse, which another man would not have thought so. The moving of a straw troubleth proud flesh; whereas, humility, if compelled to go one mile, will go two for a need; yea, as far as the shoes of the gospel of peace can carry it. “The wisdom from above is
peaceable.”—Trapp.
As to the great quarrel with God, which needs the ransom (Pro_13:8), and which is mended by the righteousness (Pro_13:6), how long would that last, if we abandoned pride?—Miller.

Proverbs 13:11
CRITICAL NOTES
Pro_13:11. Vanity, rather “fraud.” By labour, literally “by the hand.” or “handful after handful.”
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro_13:11
TWO WAYS OF GROWING RICH
I. Wealth can be gotten. Wealth may be acquired by those who have it not. The wealth of the sea is within the reach of the fisherman. If he put down his net, sooner or later he will probably be rewarded with some gain. There is wealth in the sea of human life. Although the experience of some may be “to toil all night and to take nothing,” yet the rule is that men who make an effort will succeed in bringing into their nets more or less of worldly gain. Some degree of skill and toil are needed to do this, but probably there was never a time when talent of any kind, or patient endeavour, was more certain to meet with a reward than in the present day. Aptitude for business will probably make a man a thriving tradesman if it does not make him a merchant prince. Intellectual power and artistic skill have a wide field in which to work, and are generally sure of liberal reward. Probably there never was an age when those who have nothing but the net of genius to spread upon the sea of life were so certain to land gold upon the shore.
II. But there are two ways of growing rich. There is the way of vanity. Some men come into a fortune by a single throw of the dice—by a fortunate speculation—a lucky hit. They may not be dishonest as men generally understand the word, although as a rule such transactions will not bear too much exposure to the sunlight, but it is not the best way to get money. Then there are others who for a lifetime have nibbled at the lawful gains of other men, and have thus become rich. And others have gotten their wealth by some one act of dishonesty, of which society is ignorant or is unable to punish. All these ways of making money are vain in comparison with that of patient, honest, daily toil. The reaper gathers in the golden grain in the sweat of his face, an armful at each stroke of the sickle; step by step, “hand by hand,” he makes himself master of the field and gathers the wheat into the garner. So patient daily toil is the Divinely-ordained way to grow rich. The daily practice of industrious habits and the exercise of patience, which are thus rendered necessary, are beneficial to a man’s moral nature.
III. The possession of wealth will be permanent or short-lived according to the way in which it has been acquired. l. Wealth gotten at a leap is generally “diminished” by the man who gained it. Such men are generally reckless in their expenditure, and squander a fortune in almost as short a time as they gained it. Such a sudden acquisition of wealth has been unfavourable to the formation of thrifty habits, and the man is not equal to his position. Many a gold-digger who has found in a day a nugget worth many thousands, has been a poor man again in a few months, and the experience of most men furnishes them with some similar illustration of the truth although not perhaps so striking. 2. Wealth gotten by dishonesty will be diminished by God. Time only is needed to make manifest the righteous judgment of God upon wealth gotten by such “vanity.” Like the prophet’s gourd, although it affords pleasant shelter to those who sit under it now, there is a worm at the root which will certainly bring it to nothing. Did we but know how some fortunes have been acquired, we should be less surprised at their possessors being suddenly reduced to beggary. It may be that those who are thus brought low are not the makers, but the possessors only, of wealth gotten by vanity, yet they have to pay the penalty. On the contrary, the man who has patiently and honestly gathered, little by little, a sufficiency, or even more, has gathered at the same time wisdom to use it, and has not forfeited the blessing of the Lord (chap. Pro_10:22).
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
“It is easier to make a fortune than to keep it.” So say the worldly. Specially forbidden is the keeping of the bread of heaven (Exo_16:19). It was to be gathered every morning. A man who keeps gathering on the hand is the man to stay rich. But the saint who hoards up the past, and lives upon the fortune that he had, is the Israelite who kept the manna, and who found that it “bred worms and stank.” Even happiness is not promoted by over-guard. “Things won are done; joy’s soul lies in the doing.” … Continuing to work not only keeps wealth, but “increases it,” most particularly spiritual wealth.—Miller.
The words admit of three renderings (1) That of the A.V. “Wealth gotten by vanity,” i.e., by a windfall, or sudden stroke of fortune, not by honest labour, is soon diminished; or (2) wealth is diminished by vanity, by empty and hollow ostentation; or (3) wealth is diminished quicker than a breath. Of these (1) is believed to be the best. In any case the general meaning seems to be that the mere possession of riches is as nothing; they come and go; but the power to gain by skill of hand is everything. By labour, “or by the hand,” has three possible meanings (1), as in the A.V.; (2) in proportion to his strength; (3) “in due measure.”—Plumptre.
Ill-gotten goods fly away without taking leave of the owner; leaving nothing but the print of talons to torment him (chap. Pro_23:5). “But he that gathereth by labour shall increase.” Howbeit, sometimes, it is otherwise. “Master, we have toiled all night, and taken nothing” (Luk_5:5).—Trapp.

Proverbs 13:12
CRITICAL NOTES
Pro_13:12. Latter clause, “a desire accomplished is a tree of life.”
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro_13:12
DEFERRED AND ACCOMPLISHED HOPE
I. Two things are necessary to constitute hope. 1. There is the desire for the real or supposed good. The man conceives there is in the distance that which he esteems a good, and he desires to possess it. No man desires what he deems is an evil. The fact that he desires it shows that he regards it as a good. 2. There is expectation. A man may desire a good thing without hoping for it because he may feel that it is impossible to have his desire fulfilled. He has no expectation of its accomplishment, consequently he has no hope. Hope includes some amount of expectation, some foundation for the hope. A man who knows that his disease is incurable may desire to recover his health, but as he has no reason to expect recovery he does not hope for it. Sometimes, also, hope is founded on the promise of some person who is presumed to be both able and willing to perform it.
II. The constant postponement of the attainment of the desired and expected good produces mental sickness. Sickness of body enfeebles its powers, so does sickness of soul. A man derives strength to work when he possesses hope of enjoying some good thing in the future. Hope is a kind of spiritual food, by feeding upon which a man renews his energy. But the constant postponement of its realisation renders the hope less and less strong, and has the same effect upon the mind as insufficient food has upon the body, it enfeebles its resolution and lessens its courage. If a hungry man finds each day that his portion of food grows less, he will soon be conscious of loss of flesh and strength, and if the process goes on for many months he will lose all power of action and probably his very life. The same thing takes place in a man’s spirit when hope is indefinitely “deferred.”
III. The accomplishment of the desire and expectation renews mental health and strength. “It is a tree of life.” The fruit of the tree of life in Paradise was designed to lengthen man’s life, to perpetuate his youth by constantly renewing his bodily vigour. It is said of the tree of life in the Paradise yet to come that “its leaves are for the healing of the nations” (Rev_22:2). So the realisation of hope renews the life of the spirit, quickens all its powers, perpetuates its youth. And if the hope has been so long deferred as to induce “heart sickness,” its “coming” brings healing with it. Bodily health is restored by the operation of something from without. It is not usually brought about by that which is within us, but by the coming to us of that which is without. A man desires something which he has not—something outside of himself—either a material or a spiritual good; and if he comes to possess it, it is to the soul what healing medicine is to the body. And as those who eat of the tree of life in the heavenly world are “children of the resurrection,” and sons of undying youth, so realised hope makes the spirit conscious of new life, because it brings joy, and when a man is filled with joy he feels young, however many years he has lived. And renewed youth brings renewed activity. It lifts up the hands which hang down, and restores the feeble knees, and gives a man a new start in the race of life. Applying the words to the revelation of the New Testament, to the “hope of the Gospel” (Col_1:23), we remark—1. That the Christian must be the subject of deferred hope. He must wait for the realisation of his desires and expectations. The “adoption of the body” (Rom_8:23) must be waited for. A glorified body would be out of place in an unglorified world. This hope must be deferred until his Lord’s expectations with regard to this world are fulfilled. The Son of God is waiting until the Father shall give the word that “time shall be no longer”—until the times of restitution of all things (Act_3:21). He is “at the right hand of God; from henceforth expecting till His enemies be made His footstool” (Heb_10:13). When that expectation is fulfilled, the desire of the Christian with regard to his resurrection body will be fulfilled also. He must also wait until after death for perfect victory over sin and its consequence, for the full revelation of what it is to be one of the sons of God. “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be.” “When this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, ‘Death is swallowed up in victory’ ” (
1Jn_3:2; 1Co_15:54). 2. That even the deferred hope of the Christian is a tree of life. It is an eater that yields meat. It bears fruit (1) It gives birth to patience, and there is no grace that the human spirit needs more. According to apostolic teaching it is needful to “let patience have her perfect work,” if the Christian is to be perfect and entire, wanting nothing (Jas_1:4). It is the evidence of a great mind to be able to wait. The Eternal is a “God of patience” (Rom_15:5). He can wait, because He is infinitely great. (2) It brings forth joy. Paul says, “We rejoice in hope of the glory of God” (Rom_5:2). (3) It sanctifies the soul. “Every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself (1Jn_3:3). (4) It gives sympathy with God in relation to unregenerate humanity. God defers the realisation of the Christian’s hope, because He is not willing that any should perish (2Pe_3:9). While we wait the Divine desire grows in us also, that “all should come to repentance.”
ILLUSTRATION
Perhaps in all history there is not a more salient instance of hoping against hope deferred than that of Columbus. Years and years were wasted in irksome solicitation; years spent, not indeed in the drowsy and monotonous attendance of ante-chambers, but, as his foremost biographer narrates, amid scenes of peril and adventure, from the pursuit of which he was several times summoned to attend royal conferences and anon dismissed abruptly. “Whenever the court had an interval of leisure and repose (from the exigencies of the Moorish war), there would again be manifested a disposition to consider his proposal, but the hurry and tempest would again return, and the question be again swept away.” … He came to look upon these indefinite postponements as a mere courtly mode of evading his importunity, and after the rebuff in the summer of 1490, he is said to have renounced all further confidence in vague promises, which had so often led to chagrin; and, giving up all hopes of countenance from the throne, he turned his back upon Seville, indignant at the thought of having been beguiled out of so many years of waning existence. But it is impossible not to admire the great constancy of purpose and loftiness of spirit displayed by Columbus ever since he had conceived the sublime idea of the discovery. When he applied again to the court after the surrender of Grenada, in 1492, more than eighteen years had elapsed since the announcement of the design, the greatest part of which had been consumed in applications to various sovereigns, poverty, neglect, ridicule, contumely, and the heart-sickness of hope deferred, all that hitherto had come of it. Five years later, when preparations were afoot for his third voyage, we read that, “so wearied and disheartened did he become by the impediments thrown in his way,” that he thought of abandoning his discoveries altogether.—Jacox.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
In his analysis of “the immediate emotions,” Dr. Thomas Brown adverts to that weariness of mind which one would so gladly exchange for weariness of body, and which he takes to be more difficult to bear with good humour than many profound griefs, because it involves the uneasiness of hope that is renewed every moment, to be every moment disappointed. He supposes a day’s journey along one continuous avenue, where the uniformity of similar trees at similar distances is of itself most wearisome; but what we should feel with far more fretfulness would be the constant disappointment of our expectation, that the last tree that we beheld in the distance would be the last that should rise upon us; when “tree after tree, as if in mockery of our very patience itself, would still continue to present the same dismal continuity of line.” Lord Bolingbroke, a professed expert in its power to weary and wear out, called suspense the only insupportable misfortune of life.—Jacox.
The rule, as expressed in the first clause, is universal, but in the second clause it is applied to a particular case.… The second member is a dividing word. The accomplishment of the desire is “a tree of life.” This belongs only to the hope of the holy. Many, after waiting long and expecting eagerly, discover, when at last they reach their object, that it is a withered branch and not a living tree. When a human heart has been set on perishable things, after the sickness of deferred expectation comes the sorer sickness of satiated possession. If the world be made the portion of the immortal Spirit, to want it is one sickness, to have it is another. The one is a hungry mouth empty, the other is a hungry mouth filled with chaff. The clog of disappointed possession is a more nauseous sickness than the aching of disappointed desire. There is no peace to the wicked. They are always either desiring or possessing; but to desire and to possess a perishable portion are only two different kinds of misery to men. They are like the troubled sea when it cannot rest. You stand on the shore, and gaze on the restless waters. A wave is hastening on, struggling and panting, and making with all its might for the shore. It seems as if all it wanted was to reach the land. It reaches the land, and disappears in a hiss of discontent. Gathering its strength at a distance, it tries again, and again, with the same result. It is never satisfied, it never rests. In the constitution of the world, under the government of the Most Holy, when a soul’s desire is set on unworthy objects, the accomplishment of the desire does not satisfy the soul. Arnot.
Aquinas noteth that hope in itself causeth joy, it is by accident that it causeth sorrow. Inasmuch as it is a present apprehension of good to come, it breedeth delight, but as it wanteth the presence of that good, it bringeth trouble. It is therefore the delay of hope that afflicteth. And indeed a lingering hope breedeth in the heart as it were a lingering consumption. It is a long child-bearing travail of a weak mind, for hope having conceived comfort is still in labour, until it be brought forth. So it is with the servants of God with respect to heaven. They having begun in hope their journey thitherward, it makes them even sick at heart to think how long it is until they can get there. Wherefore, St. Gregory saith, the punishments of the innocent are the desires of the righteous. For all having lost heaven by sin, even the just are punished with the deferred hope of recovering it.—Jermin.
Here is instruction—
I. To hope for nothing but that which is haveable, and may well be had, and whereof we are capable, and that doth belong unto us. For if protraction cause the heart to languish, what will frustration and disappointment? It is one of the threatenings against the wicked in Deuteronomy, that “their sons and their daughters shall be given unto another people, and their eyes should look for them until they fail, and there shall be no might in their hand” (Deu_28:32). Now what is meant by this is that their expectation deceived should turn them to as much woe as if their eyes had lost their sight. And that was because that they, incurring the curse by their sinful behaviour, did yet presume of a restitution to happiness as though nothing had appertained to them but blessings.
II. Not to limit God or prescribe to Him in what space He shall fulfil His promise. It was a heathenish speech of the King of Israel’s messenger, when he said, in blasphemous manner, that he neither would nor ought to attend on the Lord any longer (2Ki_6:33). But we need not draw admonitions against this from the infidelity of the wicked, but from the infirmities of the godly, as Abraham and Sarah had much ado to believe that a child should be gotten and conceived of their body after their natural vigour was consumed, and therefore, Hagar was brought in to help the matter.
III. Not to depend on man, nor to repose our hope in flesh and blood. For thereby we shall not only be delayed of our help too long, but defeated of it altogether. For it is a righteous thing with God, that they who will deify creatures with confidence, should be deceived by creatures with confusion. The poor Israelites found and felt this (Lam_4:17).
IV. Where we undertake to minister succour, not to grieve the hearts of them that are in affliction by lingering too long before we relieve them. God doth teach us to show beneficence timely and in due season (chap. Pro_3:28). This was one testimony of a good conscience that comforted Job in his extremities, that “he had not held the poor from their desire nor caused the eyes of the widow to fail (Job_31:16).—Dod.
Hope’s hours are full of eternity; and how many see we languishing at hope’s hospital, as he at the pool of Bethesda! Hope unfailable (Rom_5:5) is founded upon faith unfeigned. The desire will come to those who patiently wait on God; for waiting is but hope and trust lengthened. We are apt to antedate the promises and set God at a time as they (Jer_8:20) who looked for salvation in summer at furthest. We are short-breathed, short-spirited. But as God seldom comes at our time, so he never fails at His own, and then He is most sweet, because most seasonable.—Trapp.
The fourth verse has said that “the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing.” This verse declares that longing, accompanied by procrastination, enfeebles the heart; but that a bold plunging after the good, and attaining it, is a “tree of life.” This, dimly, is true in worldly affairs. A man who desires some worldly good and wavers, enfeebles his heart, but he who will dash boldly in strengthens it.… The least taste of arrived-at desire in the spiritual world, like the apples of Eden, breeds “life.” The soul will go on after that eternally. Miller.
If Jacob serve the churl Laban seven years longer, if he think he shall have Rachel at the end of it, it will be but as seven days. Thus it is that the hope of better days sweeteneth the present sadness of any outward condition. There is no grief so heavy, but if a man tie heaven at the end of it, it will become light, but put them together, and the one will be swallowed up in the other.—
Spencer.
The world dares say no more of its devices than Dum spiro spero (while I breathe, I hope); but the children of God can add by virtue of their living hope, Dum expiro spero (while I expire, I hope).—Leighton.
Hope is the hunger that makes our food acceptable; but hope deferred, like hunger prolonged, brings a kind of torture.… With the child of God “the patience of hope” issues in “the full assurance of hope.” What was it to Abraham, when, after long deferred hope, the answer came? Laughter. What was it when the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion, and they were like unto them that dream? What was it to old Simeon and the waiting remnant when “the desire of all nations” came? What to the disciples, when, at the manifestation of their risen Lord, their sickening hearts believed not for joy, and wondered?… But what will be the joy at the grand consummation of tope? (Rom_8:23-25).—Bridges.

Proverbs 13:13
CRITICAL NOTES
Pro_13:13. Shall be destroyed, rather “is bound,” or “is in bonds to it.” Rewarded, “be at peace.”
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro_13:13
BOUND BY LAW
The literal translation of the first clause of this verse is “Whoso despiseth the law is bound by it,” or “is in bonds to it” (see CRITICAL NOTES).
I. Divine law is a necessity of human nature. There must be a standard of right and wrong for moral and responsible creatures, and the law which is that standard ought to be appreciated in proportion to its perfection. Law in a family is a necessity for its right regulation, and in proportion as it approaches perfection it will meet the needs of its members. 1. The law of God is a necessity, in order to educate men’s moral sense. The human conscience sometimes lies buried under ignorance, or is passive in the hands of lawless desire, and it needs the law to arouse it to perform its proper functions, and thus prepare men for a Saviour. “Christ,” says Paul, “is the end of the law.” It arouses men to feel their need of His atonement. 2. It is needed as a basis of punishment and reward. There are some actions upon which men, by almost universal consent, pass judgment, and their judgment is embodied in their law, and thus forms a basis of conviction for the transgressor. And there are other actions which, by the same consent, are allowed to deserve reward, and that universal consent forms a kind of law. So the holy, just, and true law of God is needed as a standard by which men’s actions may be judged.
II. Whether men honour or despise the law they are bound by it. There is no place and there are no circumstances in this world in which men are not bound by physical law. Every man finds that if he would have health he must inhale pure air. No man can afford to despise this law, but whether he do so or not, it will hold him in bonds. He must obey it if he would have health, to disobey may be death. If a moving object is coming to meet us, if it has more force in it than we have, we shall be overthrown by it if we do not get out of its path. We may do as we please about meeting it, but we cannot be loosed from the law which governs it. These laws of our earthly life may not be universal laws, they are doubtless many of them confined to our present state of being, but the moral law of God is in force throughout the universe and there is no escape from it. What is good here is good everywhere, what is morally right now can never be wrong through all eternity. Whether men obey it or defy it, they will be for ever bound by it.
III. It is seen to be a good law by the results of keeping it. “He that feareth the commandment shall be rewarded,” or “shall be at peace.” Even when men violate physical law they do not pronounce it bad. But it is seen to be good by its effects on those who keep it. Men who obey the laws of health recommend those laws in their own persons. Those who acknowledge the binding nature of Divine law and fear it, recommend it to others as good. “Great peace have they that love Thy law and nothing shall offend them” (Psa_119:165). Self-love binds men to obey it. “Whoso breaketh” this “hedge, a serpent shall bite him” (Ecc_10:8). The whole Bible is an exposition of this text. (See Homiletics on Pro_13:6).
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
The slave fears the penalty; the child the commandment.—Bridges.
In many things we offend all, but we are not all despisers of the Word of God. Good men have reason to lament their manifold breaches of the commandment, and yet they have a sincere love and esteem for it.—Lawson.
Whatever comes with Divine authority is a Divine commandment. The Gospel is on this as well as other accounts called the “law of faith,” being the Divine prescription for the salvation of sinners.—Wardlaw.
This word has a private and personal, as well as a public application; but it is in the providential government of the nations that its truth has been most conspicuously displayed. The kingdoms of this world in these days prosper or pine in proportion as they honour or despise God’s Word.… Number the nations over one by one, and see where property is valuable and life secure; mark the places where you would like to invest your means and educate your family; you will shun some of the sunniest climes of earth, as if they lay under a polar night, because the light of truth has been taken from their sky. Traverse the world in search of merely human good, seeking but an earthly home, and your tent, like Abraham’s, will certainly be pitched at “the place of the altar.”—Arnot.
The more we despise the law, the more we are bound by it. “But he that fears.” This is a splendid picture of the Christian. He is not one that keeps the law, but “fears” it, i.e., tries to keep it, fears it with a godly fear, and as a climax, frequent in a second clause (see chap. Pro_14:11 and passim), he is not one who comes simply less under bonds, but is forgiven altogether.—Miller.
The word of Divine revelation is here, as it were, personified as a real superhuman power, whose service one cannot escape, and in default of this he comes into bondage to it, i.e., loses his liberty.—Lange’s Commentary.

Proverbs 13:14
CRITICAL NOTES
Pro_13:14. Law, rather “doctrine,” “instruction.”
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro_13:14
LIVING BY RULE
I. The wise man lives by rule or according to law. “The law of the wise.” Wherever there is any force or power there must be rule, or there will be destruction from the power and possibly destruction to the power. The power that sets in motion the locomotive must be governed by law, or it will destroy the driver and that to which it was intended to give motion. Under the guidance of law it will minister to man’s convenience, left to itself it will injure him and put an end to itself. Power is lodged within the hand of every human being which may be used to bless himself and others, but in order that it may do so it must act in accordance with some law, it must have some rule for its guidance. Nothing on the earth is so powerful for good or for evil as a human soul, because its power is exercised in the domain of spirit, but without rule it cannot exercise its power for the good of others, and will even destroy all its capabilities of working good to itself. Where men live without a rule of life there is power without law, and this must work evil and not good. It is the characteristic of a morally wise man that all his powers of mind and soul are under control, he has them well in hand.
II. Living by rule gives distinctness and definiteness to life, and thus augments its power. The chaff that is lifted from the sieve by the wind has no definite destination, it is entirely at the mercy of the breeze to carry it anywhere that it pleases. How different is the course of the eagle out in the storm wind! He moves by rule, either facing and cleaving the blast, or utilising its force to bring him to his destination. The vessel that has no hand to hold the rudder is bound for no special port. The sea will take her somewhere, either before or after she has gone to pieces; but it is very uncertain to which point of the compass she will be carried. How different is the steady ploughing of the waves by the ship whose head is under the rule of the helmsman. There is a definiteness in her path, which shows that she has one point to make, one port in view. Those who live without rule are “like the chaff which the wind driveth away.” The blasts of passion, the current of outside circumstances, carry them whithersoever they list. But the wise man lives under a law by which these winds are rendered powerless to drive him, and are made to carry him forward in the path which he is treading. The man without a rule is a vessel without a rudder, and is destined, finally, to be washed upon the shore of eternity a wreck. The very gait of the child of wisdom indicates that he is bound for a certain destination. By the way in which he guides his bark he shows that he has a port to make upon the sea of life. And this definiteness is always about him, whether he is in solitude or among the multitude. He lives by rule, in the private recesses of his soul (see on chap. Pro_12:5), and this enables him to rule his outward life. He finds that the rule which governs his private life is strong enough to keep him in public. The power of the multitude is not strong enough to overmaster the power that is resident in his single will, because that will is under a rule which gives it definiteness; and, therefore, increases its force of resistance. Elijah is a fine example of such a man. He was a man emphatically whose whole forceful nature was under Divine rule. Whether he was in the wilderness or upon Mount Carmel he was in subjection to the law of his God, and this made him a man whose life was possessed with one definite aim and purpose. Hence the mighty wave of opposition with which he was met had no more power to move him than the ocean has to move the solid rock. So with his great antitype, John the Baptist. He lived by rule as much when alone in the desert as he did when he was in the midst of the multitude; and, therefore, neither their applause or blame, nor Herod’s outburst of rage, had any power to change his pre-determined course. Hence the question of Him who declared the Baptiser to be the “greatest born of woman,” “What went ye out in the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind,” implying that he was no reed bending to every blast, but a storm-resisting cedar, which amid the uproar of the storm holds its own, and comes out of it more firmly rooted and grounded by the power of the elements which it has resisted. This is the inevitable consequence of living by rule. The unruled though mighty locomotive wastes and loses its power in destroying, that which is under the guidance of law preserves and increases it. A lawless man possesses a terrible capacity for destruction; but his power diminishes, even while he exercises it, while he who is under Divine rule grows stronger and stronger. Sin weakens a man, goodness increases his power.
III. Snares are laid to turn men’s power into a wrong channel—to bring their lives under the dominion of lawlessness. There are “snares of death” set to entrap men’s feet. The aim of every tempter, whether human or Satanic, is to lead men to abuse that power which God has put into our hands in giving us a will. This being the supreme force in a human soul, it is the great aim of the devil that it should not be “subject to the law of God.” His aim in Eden was to loose the bonds which had hitherto held it firm to the Divine command. The end of the temptation was, and has always been, concealed under a specious pretence of freedom, hence it is a snare. It is a snare of death, because, as we have seen, power without rule destroys itself and others. As soon as Eve had fallen into the snare of the devil, she began to know what it was to be under the dominion of sin—she was conscious of having lost her hold upon herself, and of having set in motion within her spirit a mighty power of evil. The great aim of Satan in his temptation of Christ was to get His will to exercise its power, if only for a moment, in antagonism to the will of His Father. If the devil could have prevailed upon the Saviour to have but created a loaf of bread to satisfy His hunger, he would have succeeded in getting Him to use His divine power in a manner which would not have been in accordance with the purpose or plan of God. The same aim is seen in each temptation under different forms, to endeavour to lead the Son of God to free Himself by His Divine power from the law of His Father. But the snare was avoided in each instance by close adherence to the words of the law. “It is written” is a sure preservative from the snares of death.”
IV. The rule by which the morally wise are governed is—First, Abundant. It is a fountain. A fountain is supplied from a living spring—a never-failing source—and it therefore yields an unfailing supply of water for men of all classes and conditions whenever they need it. The Divine rule which governs the child of wisdom originated in God. The fountain of Divine truth came from this holy and Infinite spring. Therefore it is an all-sufficient guide or rule of life for men in all ages, and under all circumstances. Secondly—Lifegiving. It is a “fountain of life.” By being the conserver and strengthener of his spiritual power, as we saw under the first head, and by being the means of his escape from the great soul-ensnarer. Allowed to flow through the garden of the soul, and exert there its due influence, it produces fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life (Rom_6:22). The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; the statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.… Moreover, by them is thy servant warned, and in keeping of them there is great reward (Psa_19:7-11). This was the testimony of one who had drunk long and deeply of the waters of this life-giving fountain.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
Of law there can be no less acknowledged than that her seat is in the bosom of God, her voice the harmony of the world. All things in heaven and earth do her homage; the very least, as feeling her care, and the greatest, as not exempt from her power, both angels and men, and creatures of what condition soever, though each in different sort and manner, yet all with uniform consent admiring her as the mother of peace and joy.—Hooker.
The holy instructions of a wise man are to be valued in this world. There is a living virtue in the word of truth, even when earthen pipes are the channel of its conveyance.—Lawson.
The figure leads to the idea of death as a fowler (Psa_91:3). If it is not here a mere formula for the dangers of death, then the proverb is designed to state that the life which springs from the doctrine of a wise man as from a fountain of health, for the disciple who will receive it, communicates to him knowledge and strength, to know where the snares of destruction lie, and to hasten with vigorous steps away when they threaten to entangle him.—Delitzsch.
If we take the law of the wise for the law of wise men as given by them, we may thus consider the words. He that goeth on according to the stream and course thereof, shall be sure at last to come to the fountain. The law of the wise is but a stream from the fountain of life, and he that keepeth to the stream shall be sure at last to meet with the fountain.—Jermin.
Sin is Satan’s snare to catch men to perdition. He that is in the power of it, and entangled therewith, is in great peril of perishing, being caught in a trap and held fast there, till either grace deliver him or death devour him. There is no safe treading but in the ways of God. Every step without it, through the length and breadth of the whole world, hath somewhat set in it to entangle us.—Dod.
Even in defect of literal prescript, the spirit of the law will supply practical rules for keeping the heart and life. Dr. Payson says, “By the help of three rules I soon settle all my doubts—viz., to do nothing of which the lawfulness is questionable; to do nothing which indisposes for prayer, or interrupts communion with God; to go into no company, business, or situation in which the presence and blessing of God cannot conscientiously be asked and expected.”—Bridges.
The “law of the wise” can be nothing but the Book of God.… It is essentially life-giving. Its design is not to publish and confirm the sentence of death, but to show how death may be escaped. The declaration of the sentence of death is only intended to show the necessity, and to impress the importance and value of the tidings of life. Life is the end of Divine revelation.—Wardlaw.

Proverbs 13:15
CRITICAL NOTES
Pro_13:15. Good understanding, rather “discretion.” Hard, “stony,” “uncultivated.” This is the generally received rendering, but the word often signifies “perpetual.” Miller says “We find it in thirteen places, and in every one of them it means perpetual. “Strong or perpetual is thy dwelling-place” (Num_24:21). “Mighty rivers” are perpetual, or perennial rivers (Psa_74:17). “Mighty nation” (Jer_5:15) corresponds with next expression “ancient nation,” and is to be rendered “perpetual” (or permanent). Umbreit translates it “a standing bog” or “marsh.”
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro_13:15
A BAD WAY AND A GOOD UNDERSTANDING
I. Favour is here spoken of as a thing to be desired. It is desirable to have the favour of any man if thereby we can do him any good. It was desirable that Joseph should have Pharaoh’s favour, as he was thereby enabled to gain his ear and help him in his perplexity. The favour which Daniel obtained from Nebuchadnezzar enabled him to be a great blessing to that monarch. A man who his regarded by his fellow creatures with favour possesses a powerful instrument which he may use to do them good. On this account the favour of men is to be desired. It is also desirable to have the favour of good men as thereby we may get good. Good men are the only living representatives of God in the world, and next to the blessedness of having the favour of the parent is the blessedness of having that of His children. Therefore the favour of men is to be desired both for their sakes and for our own.
II. The instrument of obtaining favour. “Good understanding” or “good intelligence.” Man’s highest and truest intelligence springs from moral relation and sympathy with God. All intellectual intelligence is derived from Him, and this intelligence alone will often gain for men a large share of human favour. There are many men of great mental intelligence, who do not acknowledge the existence of God, who have won high places in the esteem of men. But these words refer to those who have been enlightened by the teaching of the Divine spirit, and are in sympathy with God and with His moral laws. Such men are not less intelligent concerning other matters, but more so. Other things being equal, a godly man’s purely intellectual powers are quickened by his godliness. If an ungodly man becomes a true servant of God, all the powers of his mind are thereby strengthened. Observation confirms this, and it is impossible that it should be otherwise. If a man cannot come into communion with a wiser man, without gaining in intelligence, how can he come into communion with the Fountain of all wisdom without becoming a more intelligent man in every sense of the word? What a capable man of business Joseph was. When quite a youth, and without any previous training, he became controller of the household of an Egyptian nobleman; and when only thirty was not only the first lord of Egypt, but showed himself fully equal to all the exigencies of his position. Whence did his “good understanding” proceed? Was it not from his moral relationship with the God of his fathers? “Can we find such an one as this is?” said the heathen king,—“a man in whom the spirit of God is” (Gen_41:38). The possession of this “good understanding” in temporal and secular matters gives a man favour in the eyes of other men. The possession of spiritual intelligence gives him favour in the eyes of all the good. There is a relationship among all true members of the family of God, which is stronger and deeper than any merely human relationship. And this spiritual intelligence gives a man a moral power among all his fellow-men. They cannot withhold the testimony of their consciences, unless they are altogether hardened they must secretly, if not openly, give him their esteem and confidence. “Natural conscience,” says Trapp, “cannot but do homage to the image of God stamped upon the nature and works of the godly.”
III. The way of those who are destitute of this spiritual intelligence. All such men are “transgressors.” Their spiritual nature is dormant—they are without spiritual discernment. In scriptural phrase they are “blind” (Rev_3:17) and “dead” (Eph_2:1). Their way is hard, however we use the word. (See CRITICAL NOTES.) 1.
It is hard in the sense of being a well-trodden way. It has become hard by being much frequented—by being perpetually used. It has several elements of attraction. 1. Antiquity is on its side. It is an old way—it has been in use for ages. “No man,” says our Lord, “having drunk old wine, straightway desireth new” (Luk_5:39). Men are naturally conservative—naturally inclined to go as their fathers went. True it is that there is an older way—the way of the good (see Homiletics on chap. Pro_4:14-19, page 58), but still the way of the transgressor is very ancient. 2. Men’s natural inclination leads into that way. Men are led by their inclination, unless there is a stronger principle within them. We are born with a tendency to evil rather than to good—to walk after the devices of our own heart rather than according to the will of God. In most men “inclination is as strong as will,” and leads them to tread the “way of the transgressor.” 3. It is attractive because of the numbers who tread it. “Many there be which go in thereat” (Mat_7:13). Many men make that fact a city of refuge wherein to shelter themselves from the admonitions of conscience. “I only do as others do” is regarded by many men as an impregnable citadel wherein they can securely await the righteous judgments of God (See Homiletics on page 8, 2nd head). 2. It is hard and therefore desolate, unfruitful. The common highway that is trodden down by many feet is not the place in which to look for a golden harvest. The stony rock is not a soil whence flowers spring. Men do not expect to gather choice fruit on the desolate moorland. Neither can the way of the transgressor yield the flowers or the pleasant fruits of life. Thorns and nettles are there, but no golden harvest. The favour neither of God nor man is his portion. He can only reap as he has sown (See Homiletics on chap. Pro_11:18-20, page 223). 3. It is a hard way in the sense that it is a miserable way. Every act carries with it a present judgment. Every action has its reaction of pleasure or of pain. Every step, therefore, in the way of transgression has its accompanying reproach of conscience. Then the way of sin is a way of self-deception. What is more painful than to be the subject of constant deception? We have just dwelt upon the heart-sickness of hope deferred (Pro_13:12); the sinner is a constant victim of this malady. Nothing can be a more bitter experience than to stake our all upon a promise, and when the time comes for its fulfilment, to find that it was made only to be broken. Yet this is the experience of a transgressor of God’s law, not once or twice, but all through his life. It is his lot not only to deceive but to be deceived (2Ti_3:13). He is ever promising himself, and is ever being promised by the master whom he serves, satisfaction as the result of his deeds, but he is always finding that the performance falls as far short of the promise as it did when the devil led our first parents into sin, by the promise “ye shall be as gods,” and performed it by making them slaves to himself. This is another ingredient in the hardness of the way. He is a slave to him who has deceived him. Many a man is fully alive to the deceptive nature of sin—to its utter powerlessness to give him real pleasure—and yet he goes on it. Why is this? He is bound by a chain which he finds it well nigh impossible to break. Evil habits, as well as good ones, grow stronger by exercise. Slavery is hard under any master, excepting under Him whose service is perfect freedom. How bitter, then, is slavery to one who has deceived us. Yet this is not the hardest part of the hard way. None who are thus victims of the great deceiver—none whom he has made his bond slaves but feel that they are so by their own consent. Each evil thought unchecked, each evil thought indulged, has forged a link in the chain. Their condition has been likened, by an old writer, to that of a man who has been busily at work in carrying stick after stick to make a pile of wood, and then finds that he has only been heaping up materials for a fire upon which he is to be burned.
IV. But though the way of transgressors is hard, it is not too hard. Its very hardness is intended to lead them to leave it. Because the end will be worse than the way, it is the tenderest mercy to make the way hard. It only tells him that he has taken the wrong road. The pain that he suffers is only the voice of God, saying, “Do thyself no harm.” When a mountain pass becomes so blocked with fallen rocks that every step is a misery, does it not admonish the traveller to turn back before he makes a fatal slip? When in the regions of eternal snow a man feels intense pain from the biting cold, and encounters at every step the corpse of one who has been frozen to death by persistently disregarding the voice of nature, is it not suicide to continue? Can he say he received no admonition? Is not all pain a warning that some good law has been transgressed? Is it not a sentinel with a drawn sword to turn back the unwary from the precipice? Even so is the hardness of the way of the transgressor.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
For the most part the word translated “good understanding” corresponds with that which, in a deep ethical sense, we call fine culture, which shows men how to take the right side, and in all circumstances to take the right key, exercise a kindly, heart-winning influence, not merely to the benefit of its possessor, but such as removes a partition wall, and brings men closer to each other. The word translated “hard” denotes that which stretches itself far, and with reference to time, that which remains the same during the course of time. That which does not change in time, continuing the same, according to its nature, strong, firm, thus becomes the designation of the enduring and the solid, whose quality remains always the same. The fundamental idea of remaining like itself, continuing, passes over into the idea of the firm, the hard, and, at the same time, of the uncultivated and the uncultivatible. The way of transgressors, or of the treacherous, i.e., the manner in which they transact with men, is stiff, as hard as stone, repulsive; they follow selfish views, never placing themselves in sympathy with the condition of their neighbour; they are without the tenderness which is connected with fine culture; they remain destitute of feeling in things which, as we say, would soften a stone,—Delitzsch.
Many seek favour as the gift of others which it is in their own power to give themselves. For, get a good understanding, whereby to understand well what thou goest about, and how to go about it. It is true, as Tertullian speaketh, now and then it falls out, that in a great tempest wherein sea and heaven are confounded, the haven is attained by a happy error; and now and then, in darkness, the way of entrance and going out is found by a blind happiness. But this is a favour which has no holdfast—it is a good understanding that giveth favour.—Jermin.
Is not the way of transgressors pleasant in prospect, although it ends in death? No; sin barters away future safety but does not secure present peace in return. Things are not always what they seem. The pleasures of sin are not only limited in their duration, they are lies even while they last.… The race is torture and the goal perdition.… But the right way is not a soft and silky path for the foot of man to tread upon; and, if one thing happens to all in the journey of life, what advantage have the good? Much every way, and specifically thus: The hardness which disciples experience in following their Lora is righteousness rubbing on their remaining lusts, and so wasting their deformities away; whereas the hardness of a transgressor’s way is a carnal mind in its impotent enmity dashing itself against the bosses of the Almighty’s buckler.… As the pains of cure differ from the pains of killing, so differs the salutary straitness which presses the entrance at the gates of life, from the hardness which hurts transgressors as they flee from God.—Arnot.
Sin, as of its nature, sinks always lower under bond (Pro_13:13), and must, therefore, de jure, be “perpetual” (see Miller’s rendering, in CRITICAL NOTES). For, strange enough, the man without “good intelligence,” i.e., the best kind of knowledge, neglects to act on what knowledge he has. The worst man has knowledge enough to save him—that is (to expound an averment which is only in one sense true), God’s goodness is such that if a man would use the light he had, he would start from that point, and be helped into the kingdom.—Miller.
Different senses have been affixed to these words—1. “Good understanding showeth favour to others”—i.e., is mild and conciliatory, while the “way of transgressors is hard, unyielding, stern. 2. “Ingenuous manners procure favour; but rugged is the path of the artful”—i.e., exposing him to incessant difficulties, while open dealing makes a man’s way plain before him. 3. More probably the meaning in both parts of the verse terminates on the person’s self. Intelligent and sound judgment, by fitting a man to be a wise and useful counsellor, procures him favour. On the contrary, the “way of transgressors,” like “By-path Meadow” in the Pilgrim’s Progress, presents at its entrance all that is tempting to allure into it, but supplies no real enjoyment to the traveller in it at last.—Wardlaw.
Wicked men live under a hard taskmaster. “I was held before conversion,” said Augustine, “not with an iron chain, but with the obstinacy of my own will.” The philosophical infidel bears the same testimony. “I begin to fancy myself in a most deplorable condition, environed with the deepest darkness on every side” (Essays, I. 458). Voltaire, judging of course from his own heart, pronounces, “In man is more wretchedness than in all other animals put together. Man loves life, yet knows he must die.” “I wish,” continues this wretched witness for his master, “I had never been born.” The worldly infidel adds his seal to the record. Colonel Gardiner declared, that in his course of wickedness he had often envied the existence of a dog.—
Bridges.
The hardness of the transgressor’s way.
I. A truth to be confirmed. It is hard to themselves—to others, to their families, their friends, to society.
II. A dispensation to be approved. It illustrates the mingled justice and mercy of God, who has made the way to hell difficult. The hardness of the way of sin is often the means of stopping sinners in their course. The sufferings of the wicked operate as a check and preservative to the righteous.
III. A warning to be enforced. Take care how you take the first step. Be anxious, if you have entered the road, to retrace your step. Remember that the hardness of the way is nothing to the bitterness of the end—S. Thodey.

Proverbs 13:16
CRITICAL NOTES
Pro_13:16. Dealeth with knowledge, i.e. acteth with foresight. Layeth open, rather “spreadeth abroad.” Delitzsch Says, “There lies in the word something derisive; as the merchant unrolls and spreads out his wares in order to commend them, so the fool deals with his folly.”
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro_13:16
DEALING WITH KNOWLEDGE
For a definition of prudence see Homiletics on chap. Pro_8:12-13, page 109. Carrying out the thought that prudence is wisdom applied to practice, we remark,
I. That a prudent man deals, or acts with knowledge from a sense of responsibility. 1. In commercial life. No prudent man will engage in any business transaction without first making himself thoroughly acquainted with it in all its bearings. He will, if possible, look far into the future and weigh probabilities and calculate results, so as to secure himself from ultimate loss. He will not deal with the matter at all unless he understands it. This we conceive is “dealing with knowledge.” And it is the course pursued by every prudent man of business from a sense of responsibility. He feels that he has obligations to fulfil to others and a character to maintain, and therefore he thinks before he acts. A man who values his life at all will not deliberately walk over a precipice, and a prudent man will not go very near the edge, he will know what is the safe distance at which he may walk without even risking the possibility of a false step. 2. As a teacher or leader of others. A man who undertakes the guidance of his fellow-creatures in any way, is especially bound to “deal with knowledge.” If he is a teacher of youth, and is a prudent man, he will make it his business to know his pupils, to become acquainted with the best methods of imparting instruction and developing their mental and moral powers. He feels that they are in his hands very much as clay in the hands of the potter, and that it depends very much upon him whether they become vessels of honour or of dishonour, and this invests all his dealings with them with a deep sense of responsibility. So with the statesman, the Christian teacher, or any other man who finds himself entrusted with influence over his fellows. Prudence is almost as necessary as goodness and right intentions. A man may have abundance of wealth at his disposal whereby to accomplish some desired end. But if he does not know how to use it, he may as surely miss his aim as if he were poor. So a man may have much spiritual wealth and an earnest desire to use it for the good of others, but if he is not a prudent man—if he neglects to acquire a knowledge of the how, and the when, and the where to do it, he may not only fail to realise his desire, but may cause his good to be evil spoken of. And the principle applies to every good man, however limited his sphere or humble his position. It is the special trade of a good man to do good, but he may greatly injure his trade by neglecting to “deal with knowledge.” “What king,” says our Lord, “going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand!” (Luk_14:31). It is implied that this man has a sense of the importance of the undertaking upon which he is about to embark, that he duly estimates the possible loss or gain which may result from it. He may serve as an illustration of what is meant by a prudent man “dealing with knowledge” in any and every step in life, whether it be apparently great or small, weighty or trivial. For there are no little things in human life—the greatest issues often hang upon what men ignorantly call trifles.
II. A fool by rash and inconsiderate conduct “layeth open” or “publishes” his folly. It is implied by contrasting him with the prudent man who “deals with knowledge” that he deals without it, that he leaps before he looks and walks in the dark when he might avail himself of a light to guide him. Such conduct arises from a lack of the sense of responsibility. He does not consider what is involved in his failure, how much misery may thus be entailed on himself and others. Every man who does not weigh results proves himself thereby to be a fool.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
He that is wise will not be doing or dealing in anything unless he know what it is wherein he dealeth, and unless he deal so as he knoweth that he should. He knoweth that a man is known by his dealing. He knoweth that others look on his dealing, and therefore he looketh so to it as that they may know him to be wise by it. But a fool will be dealing, although by dealing he uncover his nakedness. The shame of his folly shall be spread abroad as wide as his dealings are heard of.—Jermin.
Observes circumstances, and deports himself with discretion; thrusts not himself into unnecessary dangers; carves not a piece of his heart but to those he is well assured of. See an instance of this prudence in Ezra, chap. Pro_8:22; in Nehemiah, chap. Pro_2:5. He calls it not the place of God’s worship—such an expression might have disgusted the heathen king—but the place of his father’s sepulchres. In Christ, when He was tried for His life; in Paul, who lived two years at Ephesus, and spake not much against the worship of their great goddess Diana (Act_23:6; Act_19:10).—Trapp.
Fools might be esteemed half-wise if they had sense enough to keep their folly to themselves.—Lawson.
Wide is the sphere for trading with this responsible talent. In the family economy (Jdg_13:8-12; chap. Pro_14:1; Pro_31:27). In the church; in a wise accommodation to circumstances (Gal_2:2); in the conviction of gainsayers (Tit_1:9); in forbearing with the prejudices of the weak (Act_15:22-29); in the exercise of Christian admonition (Rom_15:14).—Bridges.

Proverbs 13:17
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro_13:17
A SOCIAL LINK
I. An important link in human society—a messenger. This link may or may not be important in himself. He may belong to the highest or to the lowest stratum of human life. He may be a princely ambassador, or he may be a telegraph boy. The link which holds two bodies together may be of great intrinsic value. It may be of wrought gold, and much skill may have been expended on its workmanship; but what it is in itself is not of so much importance as what it is as a link. Its beauty and costliness will not avail much if it gives way when it is subject to strain, and thereby causes loss and vexation to its owner. The link that holds the cable to the anchor is not in itself worth much; but when it holds an ironclad off a rocky coast, there hangs upon it half a million of money, and the sorrow or joy of many human hearts for years to come. Untold loss or gain depend upon whether that ring of iron can bear the strain or not. So it is with a messenger. He may be a person of great intellectual powers, and of great social importance, or he may not have either. But he is always of value in his relative position. Like the link in a cable, he always holds in his keeping more than he is. He may be the bearer of the secrets of one who has hanging upon his will an army of many thousands, and a nation of as many millions may be interested in the message which he bears. Whether he be prince or peasant is of no importance in comparison with the fact that he bears a message.
II. The one all-important qualification in a messenger—faithfulness. No greater praise can be given to a man than to say that he is faithful, yet nothing less will make him worth anything in human life. All men’s hopes for time and eternity rest upon the faithfulness of God. This is the sheet-anchor of humanity that He is “a faithful Creator” (1Pe_4:19). That He is faithful that promised (Heb_10:10). It is for faithfulness, not for success, that He gives the “well done” (Mat_25:21), to His servants. In a messenger it is the one thing needful, and its importance is increased in proportion to what hangs upon his message. Life or death may depend upon it, and often not the fate of an individual merely, but the destiny of a nation. An unfaithful messenger “falleth into mischief himself.” He who betrays his trust injures himself. He goes down in the moral scale. He loses his reputation, and is not trusted again. If the link in the cable gives way, it is itself broken. But this is not all, nor the worst. He is the cause of mischief falling upon others. How true is this in social life. A message, coloured in its delivery, to gratify some selfish purpose, may divide men who would have been friends, if it had not been for the third person. And its omission, through carelessness, may bring about a like mischief. And it is also true in national relationships. The ambassador, who is entrusted to express a nation’s will, may be a fruitful source of mischief if he is negligent or unwary when war and peace hang in the balance. Millions of hearts may be made sad by an under or an over statement of facts. “But a faithful messenger is health,” or “healing.” He is health in himself. A faithful messenger, apart from his official or representative character, is an embodiment of moral health, and when he is entrusted to make peace where there has been war, he is “healing.” He may be only a counsellor of peace between individual men who have been at strife, or he may be the bearer of terms of peace between hostile nations. But, whether in the one case or the other, the faithful discharge of his duties will bring healing: for all real peace must be founded on a truthful statement of facts. This verse is especially true of an ambassador of Christ. He who is truly sent of God will be faithful in the delivery of his message, and will thus bring healing to many. He will “
not walk in craftiness, nor handle the Word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth commend himself to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.” And so he will be the means of bringing moral health (2Co_4:2; 1Co_6:11).
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
Every man is a “messenger,” and has an errand, and that is as a witness for God (chap. Pro_14:25). The word for “messenger” is the word for “angel.” How soon did the wicked angel fall, when he became of no use? and men, how long do they tolerate a false messenger? The soul sent out by the Almighty, if wicked, shall fall; but a soul that is “faithful” is needed, and will hold its place.—Miller.
A wicked messenger hath no sooner a business committed unto him than he falleth into mischief, by betraying the trust reposed in him, and therefore justly doth mischief fall on him. He that is a faithful ambassador is, indeed, the ambassador of truth itself. He, being sent, hath healing under his wings, whereby he giveth soundness and health unto his business, whereby he giveth soundness and health to those that employed him. The proverbial sense is, That the good or bad success of a business proceedeth much from the goodness or badness of him that is employed in it.—Jermin.
How much more then, wicked ministers, those “messengers of the churches” (2Co_8:23) that do the Lord’s work negligently (Jer_48:10), that corrupt His message (2Co_2:17). Who is blind but my servant, or deaf as my messenger? (Isa_42:19).—Trapp.
While the wicked messenger prepares misfortune for himself, as well as for his master, the faithful makes good even his Lord’s mistakes.—Von Gerlach.

Proverbs 13:18
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro_13:18
THE WAY TO HONOUR
I. Man needs instruction because his natural intuitions are not enough to meet the needs of human life. The instinct of the animal is enough to enable it to fulfil its destiny. Its limited powers find sufficient guidance in the use of the faculties which are born with it. But it is not so with man. If, as some philosophers suppose, a man comes into the world without any ideas, if he receives everything from the outside world, instruction is so much the more needed, but even if he does bring with him a small stock of knowledge, experience shows us that the amount is very small, and he needs instruction for body, soul, and spirit from the first day of his dawning intellect to the last of his probationary life.
II. Instruction is to be obtained. Somebody will teach him either directly or indirectly. He will learn much from observation and much from direct teaching. The word here, as in chap. Pro_12:1, includes the idea of correction. This forms an inevitable part of man’s instruction in matters relating both to his bodily and spiritual life. God has provided for man’s instruction in relation to his spiritual needs. It is within the reach of all men in a Christian nation (See Isa_55:1-3).
III. If he refuses what he needs, he will have what he does not desire. He will have poverty. This is a calamity when self-inflicted. Whatever is the outcome of sin must be a calamity. If a man refuses to submit to the correction and instruction of others in connection with matters relative to every-day life, he shuts himself up to his own ignorance and shuts out all possibility of advancing in any profession or calling. Therefore he must be poor in worldly wealth. And it is pre-eminently true of him who refuses the disciplinary instruction of God. Such a man must be poor in a spiritual sense throughout eternity. And this will bring shame. Shame is always the result of sin. There is no shame in being poor in material things when poverty is the outcome of righteousness, but there is shame in poverty which is the result of neglected opportunities. What is the root of this rejection of instruction? Is it not pride? (See Homiletics on chap. Pro_11:2, page 193; also on chap. Pro_12:1, page 246.)
IV. Reproof is instruction. This is implied here, and in many other passages in this book where the words are used interchangeably. A man who reproves us gives us information about ourselves. He lets us know how we appear in the eyes of others. This ought to be valued by us. We are too partial to see our own defects, therefore we ought to be glad when they are pointed out to us by another.
V. Taking reproof in a spirit of humility is the only road to honour. In the long run, men will give honour where honour is due. They will give their esteem, and respect, and confidence to men who, from moral or intellectual eminence, deserve it. And, as we have seen, this height can be reached only by those who are willing to be taught both by God and by man.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
Poverty is in itself a want; but no misery unless shame be joined with it. Shame is in itself a misery; but much greater if joined with poverty, which hath no means to shelter or cover it. Now both are to him that refuseth instruction. For, indeed, instruction is a glorious treasure, offered and opened to him who hath need of it; and, therefore, to refuse it, what can it be but poverty and shame? And, though it be the too common fault of those that are great, either in riches or honour, to despise reproof, yet the most honour, the truest riches, are to those that embrace it. St. Bernard, therefore, writing unto a great person, but deserving reproof, saith “Charity hath forced me to reproof thee, which grieveth with thee, although thou be not grieved, and which pitieth thee, although thou pitieth not thyself, and therefore it doth lament the more, because thou dost not lament, who art to be lamented; therefore doth it pity thee the more, because thou dost not pity thyself, who art in so pitiful a condition.—Jermin.

Proverbs 13:19
CRITICAL NOTES
Pro_13:19. Literally “quickened desire,” “a desire that has come to be.” Zöckler and Miller say this cannot be designed to express appeased desire,” but Delitzsch renders it “satisfied desire,” and Stuart agrees with him. The latter connects the second clause of the verse with the former, thus, “Yet it is an abomination for fools to depart from evil, therefore, they cannot be satisfied; while Delitzsch understands it to mean, “Because satisfied desire is sweet to the fool and his desires are evil, therefore he will not depart from evil.”
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro_13:19
In common with most commentators we regard the first clause of this verse as embodying the same thought as that expressed in the last clause of Pro_13:12. We will therefore consider the last clause only.
THE ABOMINATION OF THE FOOL
This verse pourtrays a man whose character is most unnatural.
Pro_13:1. He is unnatural because he belies his origin. What should we say if we saw the son of a king taking delight in the society and in the pastimes of the most degraded men? Or if we saw a man finding his enjoyment in herding with the beasts of the field? We should judge that they had lost all sense of their high origin. The sinner who is in love with evil gives the lie to the historic fact that God made man in His own image.
Pro_13:2. He is unnatural, because he burdens himself unnecessarily. In other matters men are not wont to carry heavier burdens than they are obliged. They do not generally desire an increase of their load. They are content with what is allotted to them. The burdens of life that must be borne are numerous and heavy enough for men to bear, yet this moral fool must weigh himself down with the evil that he need not bear—the evil consequences of evil deeds. He prefers to carry about with him the burden of his guilt, and all its accompanying evils. As we saw in Pro_13:15, his way is hard, yet he pursues it. In the face of God’s expressed desire (Isa_55:7), that he should be rid of his burden, and although it weighs him to the earth “it is an abomination to the fool to depart from evil.”
Pro_13:3. He is unnatural, because he is an unnecessary burden on the heart of humanity. He burdens the hearts of God’s children. They sigh over him, because he is bad, and refuses to be better. They are weighed down with a sense of his present sad condition, and the retribution that awaits him. He is a burden to those who are less wicked than he, because he prevents their being better, and he adds to the burden of those who are as bad as himself, becauses he increases their guilt by yielding to their temptations.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
The sentence that fulfilled desire does good to the soul appears commonplace; but it is comprehensive enough on the ground of Hebrews 11 to cheer even a dying person, and conceals the ethically significant truth that the blessedness of vision is measured by the degree and the longing of faith. But its application in its pairing with the last clause of the verse gives it quite another aspect. On this account, because the desire of the soul is pleasant in its fulfilment, fools abhor the renouncing of evil, for their desire is directed to that which is morally blameworthy, and the endeavour, which they closely and constantly adhere to, is to reach the attainment of this design.—Delitzsch.
A canon of interpretation in Proverbs is, In antithetical clauses an opposite member is often suppressed in one clause and has to be supplied from, the opposition of the other member in the corresponding clause (Gataker.) Thus, here, the desire of the wise or good being accomplished by their departing from evil is sweet to their soul, but as it is an abomination to fools to depart from evil, their desire being not accomplished is not sweet, nay, “it maketh the heart sick” (Pro_13:12). Cf. Psa_145:19 : “The Lord will fulfil the desire of them that fear Him.” As the wise desire the possession of the true good, and by departing from evil attain to it, so that it is “sweet to the soul,” so fools desire the possession of what is good and “sweet to the soul,” but shall have bitter and everlasting grief. Just as if there were two patients, both desiring health; the one avoiding forbidden foods, and using the prescribed drugs, would recover health, to his joy; the other, disliking the remedies, and indulging his appetite, would fail to recover and would die (
Gejer). The reason why fools abominate to depart from evil is because evil is sweet to them.—Fausset.
I give three interpretations of this verse. 1. Solomon has been thought to express the sentiment that the final attainment and enjoyment of a desired good abundantly compensates for all the self-denial and difficulty endured in waiting for it. This is a truth of practical importance, holding out as it does encouragement to perseverance. And it is a truth which holds with unfailing certainty, in regard to spiritual blessings. But the fool cannot be persuaded to deny himself the gratification of the passing moment, even for the sake of the best and highest blessings and hopes. 2. Some render, “It is sweet to the soul to enjoy what we love; therefore it is an abomination” etc. Here the reason or principle is assigned, from which it arises that fools will not depart from evil. Their enjoyment is in it. They feel that there are pleasures in sin. These pleasures they love. And, as these pleasures arise from sin, sin is what they like; sin is sweet, and they will indulge their present propensities, for the sake of the present pleasure they yield. 3. “Desire,” subdued, restrained, or overcome “is sweet to the soul; but it is an abomination,” etc. According to this translation the former clause expresses the inward satisfaction arising from the successful curbing and subjugation of any sinful desire—any evil propensity. This forms a fine and striking antithesis to the second clause. While the good man can hardly enjoy a greater satisfaction than is imparted by the exercise of self-control, and the overcoming of any powerful and imperative desire that has tempted and endangered his virtue; on the contrary, to the ungodly, the exercise of self-restraint is irksome, the denial of any sinful propensity is misery. They “draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart-rope.” The character is portrayed with great spirit in the tenth Psalm.—Wardlaw.
A desire that has sprung up is sweet to the Soul. (See rendering in CRITICAL NOTES.) A sinner can get on comparatively well when a pious “desire” has been once enkindled. What is said of the lips of the strange woman dropping honey (chap. Pro_5:3) is true also in this case. The soul is so near to the sinner that if there is anything sweet to it it is easy to follow it on. The soul once converted and conceiving its first desire will follow it afterward. And, therefore, the Psalmist begs us to “taste and see” (Psa_34:8), that we may have this first desire. But the unconverted man finds it loathsome to take the first step. His desires that have “come to be,” are of another nature. How can a man will when unwilling? “It is the first step which costs.”—Miller.

Proverbs 13:20
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro_13:20
COMPANIONSHIP, CONSTRUCTIVE OR DESTRUCTIVE
We have here:—
I. Habit, assimilation, and transformation. 1. Habit. A habit is formed by the constant repetition of an act. Walking is the constant repetition of an act. The child first gets courage to take a single step, that step leads to another, and by degrees he acquires the habit of walking. To walk with wise men is to have habitual intercourse with them, either through reading their written thoughts or by immediate contact with their living selves. As bodily walking is only acquired by practice, so it is in soul-walking—in mental and spiritual communion. It is at first difficult for the uninitiated to master the arguments of the wise and grasp the truths which they utter. But the power to do so comes by making the effort. If the wise men are morally wise, it may not be easy to apprehend Divine truth as they do with their keener spiritual perceptions. But constant intercourse and communion enables one to do so. The religious faculty—the conscience—is thus developed. 2. Assimilation. The law of assimilation is in operation within us and around us in the world of matter. The plant drinks in the moisture and chemical elements of the earth, and they are assimilated to itself and come forth in bud, and flower, and fruit. Man eats vegetable and animal food and it becomes flesh and bone. The man who walks with wiser men than himself imbibes their thoughts, and those thoughts become part of himself. As the health of the body depends upon the kind of food which it assimilates and its power of assimilation, so the health of the mind depends upon the character of the thoughts which it receives and its power of making them its own. 3. Transformation. It is implied that those here represented as walking are, when they begin their walk, comparatively ignorant. But a constant reception and assimilation of the wisdom of others, whether it be intellectual or moral wisdom, will in time transform the pupil into a teacher—the student into a master. The ignorant becomes in time a wise man. The strong animal life nourishes the weaker—the new born—life until the weak child becomes as strong as the parent. So in mind and soul life. Hence the constant repetition in this book of exhortations to receive instruction. The assimilating and transforming power of intercourse with the Fountain of all Wisdom by the reception of the Divine thoughts is thus set forth by Paul:—“But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord” (2Co_3:18).
II. That if our companionship is not a constructive influence, it will be destructive. It is implied that human beings will have companionship of some kind—that if a man does not “walk with wise men,” he will be “the companion of fools.” 1. Companionship is in early life the outcome of necessity. A child of foolish parents cannot help being “the companion of fools.” This is the sad portion of millions, and it is the destruction of millions in the sense that it is the cause of their missing the great end of life—to glorify and enjoy God. 2. But there is a companionship of choice. When a human being comes to years of maturity he chooses his companions. He cannot always choose his associates, for then “he must needs go out of the world.” And there is no necessity that those with whom duty compels him to associate should exert any evil influence upon his character. But “companion” evidently means him with whom he communes—a man whose society he chooses. And if this society is not morally good, a man begins to deteriorate from the first moment that he enters it. His choice of it is an indication of some moral flaw in his character, and is a strong presumption that he does not intend or desire to resist its destructive influence. If a sound apple is placed beside one that has begun to decay, nothing is needed to complete the work of destruction in both, but that they should remain in contact. An utter missing of all that makes life worth having—that which our Lord calls the “loss of the soul”—is the portion of every man who does not continually grow in moral wisdom. For there is no standing still. Neglect is ruin in most material things. The house that is not constantly repaired will be ruined by the constant action of the elements. A man is surrounded on all sides by adverse moral influences, and if he only neglects to grow he will die. And to grow he must “walk with the wise.”
ILLUSTRATION
The following statement was made to a Wesleyan minister by a young man under sentence of death: “I am the child of pious parents, who were connected with the Wesleyan body. At the age of 16, through their instrumentality, and under the preaching of the Gospel, I became the subject of religious impressions. These, in the course of time, were effaced; but I still continued to read the Bible and respect the Sabbath. One Lord’s Day I went to hear a celebrated minister deliver a discourse on ‘Prophecy.’ As I was returning I expressed to an acquaintance whom I met my admiration of the sermon. He replied that no doubt Mr.—was a superior orator, and it would afford him great pleasure to hear him discuss on any subject having a true claim upon the attention of a rational being; but that such was not the case with religion. A conversation followed, which led him to invite me to his house, to hear his reasons for disbelieving the Bible. There I met others, of a kindred spirit, and from that moment they were my principal, because my favourite, associates. I soon adopted all their opinions as my own, and used every effort in my power to diffuse our common views. I could at this moment almost say the bitterness of death is passed, if I were sure that no one had become an infidel through me. But I have too much reason to fear that many have. Before this time I had married a very respectable young woman, and had entered into business. I was, however, brought to ruin by my own folly and extravagance, and went to America. There, my principles not fully satisfying me, I read Watson’s Apology for the Bible, and similar works, and again avowed myself a believer in the Word of God. It was my bitter lot, however, soon to see that it is much more easy to renounce the principles of error than to cease from those evil practices of which they are the productive sources. It will not be wondered that, even after I had disavowed the creed of an infidel, I was confirmed in the habits of infidelity, and was still, on returning to my native land, ready to perpetrate any deed of darkness which the fury of passion might prompt, or the straits of poverty suggest. The act for which I may soon be suspended on the gallows is the final consummation of a wilful disbelief in the inspired record.” The minister continues, “I was often with him, and found him to possess an extensive acquaintance with the Scriptures, and a considerable knowledge of our religious poets. As the person at whom he fired, though severely wounded, was not killed, he seemed to the last to expect a reprieve. The governor of the gaol entered his cell half-an-hour before the time which had been fixed for his execution, saying, ‘I have a communication from the Secretary of State.’ A smile of hope played for a moment round his pallid face, but it seemed only as if to give the gloom of despair the opportunity of coming in deeper and more terrific shadows over his features, for the governor instantly added, ‘but there is nothing said respecting you—
you must therefore die.’ We were again alone, and pacing his cell he said, with deep emotion, ‘It is then a fact that I must suffer the extreme penalty of the law. In a few minutes I shall be in eternity, my wife will be a widow, and my children will be fatherless, bearing part of my reproach, notwithstanding they had no part in my guilt.’ On his way to the place of execution we passed through the turnkey’s room. Seeing a lad seated in a distant corner, he went to him, and said, ‘Look at me, and learn never to stand in the way of the ungodly, nor to sit in the seat of the scorner of truth.’ ”—Evangelist.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
The influence of society upon man is great, and was intended to be great. As the natural world is held together by the influence of matter upon matter by the law of gravitation, so the moral world is held together by the influence of mind upon mind. We are made to attract and to be attracted, to influence and to be influenced, to instruct and to be instructed. But this power of mind over mind is not a neutral power, it is necessarily great for evil or for good. Paul says that “Evil communications corrupt good manners.” There is nothing to be expected from evil companions but an increase of sin, and an increase of punishment. The best is a briar, the most upright is sharper than a thorn-hedge, which will rob us of our fleece, if they do not pierce our skin. Most likely they will do both.—S. Thodey.
The literal meaning of the word rahah, from which “companion” comes, is to feed; boon-companions, who feed together (chap. Pro_29:3). There is a play upon like Hebrew sounds, in “companion,” and “destroyed,” roheh and roang. The Greek Theognis says, “Thou shalt learn good from the good; but if thou wilt associate with the bad, thou shalt lose even the mind thou hast.” Seneca says, “The road is long by precept; it is short and effectual by example.” What one sees makes more impression than what one hears. As bad air injures the strongest health, so association with the bad injures the strongest mind.—Fausset.
What you learn from bad habits and from bad society you will never forget, and it will be a lasting pang to you. I tell you in all sincerity, not as in the excitement of speech, but as I would confess and have confessed before God, that I would give my right hand to-night if I could forget that which I have learned in evil society; if I could tear from my remembrance the scenes which I have witnessed, the transactions which have taken place before me.—J. B. Gough.
In the neighbourhood of Swansea, for miles round, no vegetation exists, owing to the smoke from the large copper-works there: even so, exposure to the influence of bad companions prevents man growing and flourishing in the divine life.—T. Jones.
It is not left to us to determine whether there shall be any influence; only, what that influence shall be. Joash, while he walked with his wise guardian, was wise. But when, after his guardian’s death, he became “a companion of fools,” he was “destroyed” (2 Chronicles 24) … The first warning to sinners just plucked out of the fire, was—“Save yourself from this untoward generation” (Act_2:40).—Bridges.
We shall never get the good “desire” (Pro_13:19) if we keep out among the wicked. In heathen lands all are “fools,” and therefore all do badly. In Christian lands piety is in circles and in families, and moves in lines. The mutual influences are immense. A noble way to be “wise” is to go boldly among the good, confess Christ, and ask their prayers and influence.—Miller.
It is better—safer, I am sure it is—to ride alone than to have a thief’s company; and such is a wicked man, who will rob thee of precious time, if he do thee no more mischief. The Nazarites, who might drink no wine, were also forbidden to eat grapes, of which wine is made. So we must not only avoid sin itself, but also the causes and occasions thereof, amongst which bad company (the lime-twigs of the devil) is the chiefest, especially to catch those natures which are most swayed by others.—Fuller.
Many scriptural illustrations press for notice. The family of Lot, suffering from the fearful contamination of Sodom; Rehoboam, following the counsel of his young companions in preference to that of the experienced counsellors of his father, and losing thereby five-sixths of his kingdom; Jehosaphat, associating with Ahab “helping the ungodly, and loving them that hated the Lord” (2 Chronicles 18; 2Ch_19:1-2), “wrath, therefore, coming upon him from Jehovah.—Wardlaw.
It is not talking with the wise, but walking with the wise that will make you wise. It is not your commending and praising of the wise, but your walking with the wise that will make you wise. It is not your taking a few turns with the wise that will make you wise, but your walking with the wise that will make you wise. There is no getting much good by them that are good but by making them your ordinary and constant companions. Ah, friends! you should do as Joseph in Egypt, of whom the Scripture saith—Psa_105:22—(according to the Hebrew phrase) that he tied the princes of Pharaoh’s court about his heart. If ever you would gain by the saints, you must bind them upon your souls. The Jews have a proverb that two dry sticks put to a green one will kindle it. The best way to be in a flame Godward, Christward, heavenward, and holinessward, is to be among the dry sticks, the kindle-coals, the saints, for as live coals kindle those that are dead, so lively Christians will heat and enliven those that are dead.—Brooks.
Character affected by intercourse. He that walks with religious men will become religious. Walking signifies a continued course of conduct. To walk with religious men is not to mingle with them occasionally, or to unite with them in performing some of the more public duties of religion. Ahithophel, who died as a fool dieth, walked with David to the house of God in company. It is not to live in a pious family, for a person may do this without making its members his associates. Nor does uniting with religious men in promoting some of the great objects which the Christian world is now pursuing, necessarily prove that we walk with them, for this may be done from a wrong motive. To walk with them is to choose them for our associates, our fellow travellers in the journey of life; and this implies an agreement with them in our views and objects of pursuit. Can two walk together, says the prophet, except they be agreed? In order that two persons may walk together they must be agreed, first, as to the place to which they will go, and secondly, they must agree in opinion as to the way that leads to that place. If they disagree on either point they will soon separate. Every religious man is travelling towards heaven, and all who would walk with them must make heaven the object of their pursuit. The only way to heaven is Jesus Christ, and all who walk with religious persons must at least assent to this truth although they may not immediately and cordially embrace it. He who perseveres in this course will become religious. 1. The simple fact that he chooses such associates proves that he as already the subject of religious impressions—that the Spirit of God is striving with him. 2. He will see and hear many things which powerfully tend to increase and perpetuate his serious impressions. He moves in a circle where God, the soul, and salvation are regarded as of supreme importance—where religion is presented to him—not as a cold abstraction, but living in the persons of its disciples. 3. No one will continue to walk with religious persons after his serious impressions are effaced, and it is presumed that no one who continued to be the subject of religious impressions for any length of time ever failed to become religious. It is true persons may be seriously affected, occasionally, and perhaps for years together, and at different seasons may associate much with religious characters without becoming religious; but such persons cannot be said to walk with good men in the sense of the text; for their religious impressions are often effaced for a considerable time, and long intervals of carelessness succeed, during which they, in a measure, forsake religious society.—Payson.
It is not for us to let our hearts have their own way in the selection of companions. On that choice depend interests too great to be safely left to chance. The issue to be decided is not what herd you shall graze with a few years before your spirit returns to the dust; but what moral element you shall move in during the few and evil days of your life, till your spirit returns to God who gave it. I like this companion; he fascinates me; I cannot want him; an enforced separation would be like tearing myself asunder. Well, if that companion’s heart be godless, and his steps already slipping backward and downward, why not tear yourself asunder? The act will be painful, no doubt, but “skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life.”—Arnot.
He that comes where sweet spices and ointments are stirring, doth carry away some of the sweet savour, though he think not of it; so holiness is such an elixir as by contraction (if there be any disposition of goodness in the same metal), it will render it of the property, Trapp.
All sorts of companions are market men, and they usually traffic together, when they meet together, whether they be good or bad, the wares being commonly precious or vile, according to the dispositions of the persons who utter them.—Dod.
It is not said, he that sitteth still with the wise, for both sitting still, neither doth the one teach nor the other learn. But he that when a wise man walketh in the ways of wisdom, walketh also with him by following his example and steps, he it is that shall be wise. To be with the wise, and not in their ways of wisdom, is to be out in their ways of wisdom, is to be out of the way for getting any good by them. Be therefore with them so as that their wisdom may be with thee.—
Jermin.
No person that is an enemy to God can be a friend to man. He that has already proved himself ungrateful to the Author of every blessing will not scruple, when it will serve his turn, to shake off a fellow-worm like himself. He may render you instrumental to his own purposes, but he will never benefit you.—Bishop Coleridge.

Proverbs 13:21
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro_13:21
PURSUIT AND REPAYMENT
I. Evil pursues sinners because sinners pursue evil. The huntsman who pursues the hare in the direction of a precipice is pursuing a course which, if continued, must be followed by evil. It is an evil thing for him to follow such a trifle at such a risk. There is evil before him in the form of the precipice, and evil will follow if he continues to pursue his present course. Should he try his strength against the law of gravitation by leaping over the precipice, he will find that that law will exact its penalty. There are but two things that will prevent evil from pursuing him, either he must desist from his present course or a great law of nature must be suspended. The first alternative rests with himself, the second does not. He will find that this “battle is to the strong,” and that “this race is to the swift,” even to the mighty law which holds together the material universe. So with sinners against the moral law. “Evil be to him who evil thinks” is a wish that is always fulfilled. It is a law in constant operation. The consequence of pursuing evil in the form of evil thinking is evil thinking, the consequence of evil feeling is evil feeling, the consequence of evil doing is evil doing, for it is the tendency of evil to repeat itself, and this in itself is a punishment. Peter speaks of sinners who “cannot cease from sin” (2Pe_2:14). They have sinned until they have bound themselves in fetters of sinful habit. Evil, in this sense, pursues them, and will pursue them so long as they pursue it. Then there is, of course, the positive retribution, which both in time and beyond time visits pursuers of evil. Of this we have several times treated.
II. Good men are repaid with good because their characters are righteous. The law of repayment runs through nature. He who sows seed is repaid by a harvest. All her forces—rain, sunlight, heat and cold—combine to give back to the husbandman that which he has entrusted to her care. And she repays of the same kind, wheat for the sowing of wheat, thistles for the planting of thistles. She also repays with liberal interest. One head of thistledown scattered over a field will reproduce a hundred heads in a few months. One grain of corn will produce an ear of thirty or forty grains. The law in the kingdom of nature is also the law of the kingdom of grace. Evil sown, as we have just seen under another metaphor, necessitates a reaping of evil. Good sown ensures a reaping of good. And grace is not behind nature in liberal repayment. He who sows handfuls shall reap armfuls. He that goes forth with the seed basket returns with sheaves (Psa_126:6). The one “corn of wheat bears much fruit” (Joh_12:24). This repayment begins in time, and extends beyond it. Righteousness as well as sin is its own present reward, and is the present first fruits. But the righteous man must wait for the “resurrection of the just” for the abundant harvest.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
“Evil” is rapacious in its gains. Each inch “evil” holds. It never lets back any advance. It is versatile to tempt, and ruins with many instruments, while the good, however, have just the opposite lot. They gain by every advance. Each act that is holy in their lives is rewarded by better acts and higher holiness on through their whole probation,—nay, eternally! The pit is bottomless. But evil never ceases to hound sinners and make them worse.—Miller.
The representation here is very striking. “Evil pursueth sinners.” It follows them every step. It keeps pace with the progress of time. Each moment it comes nearer. Silent and unperceived it tracks them through their whole course. Insensibly it gains upon them; and at last—it may be suddenly and when least expected—it seizes and destroys them.—Wardlaw.
Not the smallest good, even “a cup of cold water to a disciple” (Mat_10:42), or honour shown to his servants (Mat_10:41; 1Ki_17:16-23) shall “lose its reward” (Heb_6:10). And if a single act is thus remembered much more “a course, a fight held out to the end” (2Ti_4:7-8). How manifestly is this the constitution of grace; that when perfect obedience can claim no recompense (Luk_17:10), such unworthy, such defiled work should be so honoured with an infinite overwhelming acceptance.—Bridges.
To be out of the hands of evil is not to be free from it; for it still pursueth sinners, and it ceaseth not until it be gotten to the place where they are.… For, as St. Augustine saith, that God doth not forthwith avenge sinners is His patience, not His negligence. Wherefore it is to be feared lest by how much He stays the longer that we may repent, by so much He will punish us the more, if that we will not amend.—Jermin.
Caius—Agrippa having suffered imprisonment for wishing him emperor—when he came afterwards to the empire, the first thing he did was to prefer Agrippa, and give him a chain of gold as heavy as the chain of iron that was on him in prison. Those that lose anything for God He seals them a bill of exchange of a double return.—Trapp.

Proverbs 13:22
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro_13:22
AS INHERITANCE INCORRUPTIBLE
I. A good man has always spiritual inheritance to leave his children. He has always his own holy character and example. And this is often of great service to them in a material point of view. Men who have obtained fame in the world leave their children the inheritance of a famous name, which is often a fortune in itself. The son or daughter of a famous man can command positions of worldly advantage which are closed against the children of obscure parents. But while a famous father can leave his fame as an inheritance to his children he cannot ensure to them the possession of the genius by which he gained it. Talent is not hereditary, and it often happens that a very gifted father has very common-place children. But moral worth—a godly character—is an inheritance that not only makes a son respected in the world for his father’s sake, but is very likely to make him also a partaker of the same godliness. A good man’s character is not hereditary, but it is very apt to propagate other characters of the same kind. This inheritance of a good man is an incorruptible inheritance. No inheritance of lands or money are entirely out of reach of the changes and chances of human life, but the example, and the memory, and the blessings which have come from a godly parentage, make an inheritance which, like the heavenly one, “fadeth not away.” It is the best possible safeguard that a father can leave his children against the temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil. The remembrance of what belief in the Gospel did for a holy father has saved many a son from drifting on the quicksands of infidelity. There have been times in the history of many a child of godly parents, when such an anchor has been the only one which has held them from “making shipwreck of faith” (1Ti_1:19). The character of a good man is such an indisputable fact, and is so entirely unexplainable on any other ground than that of the existence of a supernatural and Divine power, that it constitutes an unanswerable argument for the truth of revelation. And so with every other form of evil that assails men. The inheritance which Christ has left to his disciples—to His spiritual children—is His character. This has produced and reproduced its own kind through all the ages since His sojourn upon earth. This has held them to the faith in the dark days of persecution. And when the infidel himself has come face to face with it, even he has been compelled to acknowledge the intrinsic worth of the children’s portion. This holy life, lived among sinful men, has been the “unsearchable riches” (Eph_3:8) of one Christian generation after another, for more than eighteen centuries, and it is by virtue of this inheritance that good men have been enabled to transmit to their posterity their own godly lives and examples.
II. A good man may have a material as well as a moral inheritance to bequeath. He may possess both character and substance. But the fact that a man is good is no guarantee that he will have any worldly wealth to leave behind him. If Lord Bacon’s assertion be correct, that “Prosperity is the blessing of the Old Testament, and adversity the blessing of the New,” he is quite as likely to die poor as rich. Still there is often a blessing of some amount of material riches given to honest labour, and probably there are far more godly men in proportion to their number, who acquire some inheritance to leave behind them, than there are godless men (See on Pro_13:11, etc.)
III. Good men sometimes inherit wealth which has been gathered by bad men. It is not a universal rule, but it may be oftener fulfilled than we are aware of. It may be inherited by generations of wicked men and at last come into the hands of a just one. That it should be so is seen to be a wise and good law of providence. 1. Because a good man will make a far better use of “the mammon of unrighteousness.” He will use it to minister to both the bodily and spiritual needs of his fellow-creatures as well as his own. 2. Because the laid-up wealth of the wicked has often been obtained by defrauding the good. God does not always cause it to be repaid to the identical persons who were thus defrauded, but He may often cause it to be restored to identical characters. This proverb must be taken to assert the straightforward motion of the wheels of providence, although by reason of their “great height” (Eze_1:18),—their vast circumference—they take a long time to go round.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
The usurer lightly begets blind children that cannot see to keep what their father left them. But when the father is gone to hell for gathering, the son often follows for scattering, But God is just.—
T. Adams.
That the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just appears to have been a prominent feature of the Old Dispensation (chap. Pro_28:8; Job_27:16-17), and it will be openly renewed in the latter-day glory of the Church (Isa_61:6).—Bridges.
This is the direct promise of heaven (Psa_103:17; Pro_22:6). That it ever fails, must be by palpable neglect. A man may be saved himself, and lose his children; but the Bible speaks of this as the parent’s fault (1Sa_3:13; Pro_13:24), and brands it as the great curse upon the earth (Mal_4:6). While the sinner not only cannot send down his wealth, but cannot himself possess it. It is a curse to him. It will be used for the saints (Mat_25:28).—Miller.
It is quite clear that in this and other passages an inheritance is regarded as a good, and that no blame is attached to “the good man” who leaves it to his children. The principle expressed in the latter clause is the same as that laid down by the apostle, “All things are yours,” and, among other things, “the world.” That may most truly be called mine, from which I derive the greatest possible benefit it can be made to yield. It would be strange, indeed, were I to wish anything else, or anything more.… The wicked man calls his wealth his own. But it is God’s. God is the friend of His children, and holds that property, like everything else, for their good; so that it is theirs by being His.—Wardlaw.
Personal goodness profiteth for posterity. God gives not to His servants some small annuity for life only, as great men used to do, but “keepeth mercy for thousands” of generations “of them that fear Him.” The opposite is not perpetually and universally true of every wicked person, … but, together with their lands, they bequeath their children their sins and punishments, which is far worse than that legacy of leprosy that Joab left his issue (2Sa_3:29).—Trapp.
An expression of trust like that in Ecc_2:26, that in the long run the anomalies of the world are rendered even.—Plumptre.

Proverbs 13:23
CRITICAL NOTES
Pro_13:23. “Tillage,” rather “fallow ground” or “a new field,” land which requires hard labour.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro_13:23
LAND AND ITS TILLERS
I. That untilled land (see CRITICAL NOTES) possesses a latent power to produce food. There are many things in nature in which there exists a latent power to minister to man’s needs; but his hand must be put forth to arouse the sleeping power. There is heat in coal to warm him, but he must kindle the coal before it will put it forth. So in the earth, there are stores of life-giving power wrapped up in its bosom, but the hand of man must till it before it will yield him food. And it will yield food to the poor man as well as to the rich; his hard toil will be rewarded by receiving bread for his labour.
II. That though much food is to be got out of the land by the poor man, yet more is to be got out of it by the rich. This is implied in the contrast, though it is not directly expressed.—(See Fausset’s Note in the Comments.) The poor man cannot spend so much upon his land as the rich man can. He can give little beside hard labour, while the man who possesses wealth can call in every appliance to increase the fruitfulness of the land. It is well known that the more liberally a land is farmed the more abundant will be the crop.
III. Yet want of judgment—i.e., a sense of justice, often leads a rich man to neglect to cultivate his land so as to increase its power of yielding food. All landowners are responsible to God for a right use of His earth. Holding in their hands, as they do, the power of making food abundant or scarce, they have much for which to give an account to Him whose stewards they are. When they turn into hunting-grounds and parks for their own exclusive use acres of land which, if cultivated, would yield much food, and thus lighten the burdens of their poorer fellow-creatures, they “destroy it for want of judgment,” or “justice.”
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
By the rule of interpretation by the contrast of opposites, and by supplying the wanting member in one clause from its opposite expressed in the other clause, the sense is, “But there is food (wealth) possessed by rich men that is destroyed for want of honesty in its acquisition and its employment.” The poor man’s (honest) labour forms the contrast to the rich man’s “want of justice” in his acquisitions. The newly tilled land of the poor forms the contrast to the rich man’s possessions held for some time.—Fausset.
What is the practical or extended application? If talents lie inactive, or if their activity is not wisely directed, a rich harvest is destroyed for want of judgment. The same ruin flows from a neglect of religious advantages. The harvest of grace withers into a famine. Slothful professor! rouse thyself to till the ground; else thou wilt starve for want of food. Then let thy roused energy be directed by a sound judgment; for want of which, the fruits of industry, temporal, intellectual, and spiritual, will run to waste.—Bridges.
There seems an interesting connection between the former verse and this. Talk of inheritances! says the poor man, with his scanty means and daily hard toil; we have no inheritance, either from our fathers, or for our children: all is homely with us, and likely to remain so. Well, says Solomon, the poor man is not without his consolations, even of a temporal nature, “much food is in the tillage of the poor.” The maxim is not to be confined to the one kind of labour specified, but extends equally to all the different modes in which the poor make their daily bread. The poor peasant, who cultivates his plot industriously and by “the sweat of his brow,” will, through the Divine blessing, procure thereby an ample supply of food for himself and his family, and industry and tidy economy will make the cottage fireside and table snug and comfortable, and its lowly tenants will enjoy plenty, though in a plain and homely form. On the other hand, how often in the case of those who obtain inheritances may the poor see the saying verified, “There is that is destroyed for want of judgment.” By prodigality, by bad management, they waste their fortunes. Their lands are extensive, but unproductive; or if productive, the product is mis-spent and squandered; it goes, no one can tell how. To such persons the homely comfort of the poor is a just object of envy; far more, in many cases, than the wealth of the rich is to the poor.—Wardlaw.
The proverbial sense is, that a little is made much by God’s blessing and pains, and that much is made little by wickedness and carelessness.—Jermin.

Proverbs 13:24
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro_13:24
THE CHILD AND THE ROD
I. Pain is a necessary instrument in human training. The rod is to be included in the means of education. Some natures need an experience of pain to quicken their mental capabilities. Sometimes children are like untilled land (see Pro_13:23), they have large capabilities lying dormant, which will not awaken unless they are subjected to severe discipline and punished for their shortcomings. And what is necessary in intellectual training is also necessary in moral training. Children must be made to feel that pain is the outcome of transgression, and evil habits must if possible be crushed while in the bud. They can be overcome then at the expense of far less suffering than when they have taken firmer hold, and the pain is as nothing compared with that which the habits themselves will inflict if they are allowed to go on through life and enthrall the soul entirely. A thorn which has but just entered the skin can be extracted with a very small amount of suffering, even by an unskilful hand; if left for a few days it may produce a festering wound; if not extracted at all, it may end in mortification. The fear of suffering is also a great preventive of sin. The Great Father of men uses it as an instrument to dissuade men from breaking His laws. He warns them, over and over again, of the suffering which they will bring upon themselves if they disobey His commands and their experience of the suffering that has followed sin in the past often leads them to avoid it in the future. And what is effectual in the training of men is effectual also with children. They will often avoid the repetition of an act which they know has brought them punishment before and will do so again. This fear of pain is not the highest motive for abstinence from wrong-doing, but in both the child and the man it may be the foundation of an upbuilding of character which shall by-and-by go on growing in goodness without this instrumentality.
II. That infliction of pain is compatible with the highest love, and is often a token of it. The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews tells us that God scourges His children whenever He sees that they need it. And yet they have become His children only by the exercise of His own Infinite love. But we know that He chastens not for His pleasure, but for our profit (Heb_12:10); that He has love and wisdom enough to see the “far-off interest of tears.” So it is the father or mother, who truly loves his or her child, who is willing to undergo the present suffering of inflicting pain in order to ensure a future blessing to their children. “You only have I known of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for your iniquities” (Amo_3:2). What is true of the Divine parent is true also of the human. It follows—
III. That the neglect of chastisement is a proof of the want of real love. “He that spareth his rod hateth his son.” What should we think of a father who would see his child bleed to death rather than bind up the wound, because in so doing he would inflict some present bodily pain upon the child, and some mental suffering upon himself? Or of the physician who would not use the knife to stop the progress of mortal disease because the patient shrinks from the incision, and he himself is averse to the sight of blood? We should say they were destroyers of life which had been entrusted to them to preserve. But what shall we say of a parent who is so fond of his child that he cannot inflict pain upon him now for deeds that, if repeated until they become habits, will ruin him for time and for eternity? Such sickly sentimentalism in a parent makes him unworthy of his name, and turns him who should have been his child’s highest earthly blessing into his direst curse. Many inmates of our gaols are there because they have been the victims of this so-called love; and when God sums up their misdeeds a large portion of the guilt will fall elsewhere than on the child cursed by such a parent.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
Fond parents think it love (that spares the rod), but Divine wisdom calls it hatred.—-John Howe.
The discipline of our children must commence with self-discipline. Nature teaches us to love them much. But we want a controlling principle to teach us to love them wisely. The indulgence of our children has its root in self-indulgence.—Bridges.
This phrase “betimes,” or “early in the morning,” admonisheth parents to procure the means of their children’s welfare before all other matters; and, as it were, as soon as they rise out of their beds. The Lord be merciful to us for the neglect of this duty; for if we have any worldly business to do we go first about that, and then teach and instruct our children at our leisure. O reckless carelessness about the chiefest matters! Oh that as we use to feed our children in the morning so we could once be brought to instruct them also betimes.—Muffet.
Justice must be observed in the correction of children. 1. That there is a fault committed. 2. That the fault so committed deserveth punishment. 3. That the punishment do not exceed the quality of the fault, which will otherwise seem to rage and revenge rather than to chastise for amendment.—Spencer.
To spare the rod in the first clause being opposed to chastening in the second, by the rod must be meant not only that particular instrument of punishment, but everything besides that may prove the means of our correction and amendment. And by chastisement is here intended every instrument of correction, every means of effecting what we intend by chastising, whether it be reproof, restraint of liberty, disappointment of our children’s wills, or corporal punishment. By loving and hating is not here meant the exerting actually those passions in the heart, for then the text would be untrue, but the acting agreeably to the reason, and not the blindness of those passions; the producing such effects as are in God’s account, and in wise men’s too, and in our own when freed from partial prejudices; the consequences and fruits of love and hatred acting regularly, such as are commonly esteemed the effects of those two causes, whether they indeed proceed from them or no. For if we are to reckon of love or hatred by the effects, then it is easy to discern when parents hate their children, namely, when, through neglect or fondness, they permit them to enter on a course of ruin, and so let them fall into such miseries as the utmost hatred of their inveterate enemies could neither wish nor make them greater, whatever love there may be at the bottom. A mother is as much a murderess who stifles her child in a bed of roses as she that does it with a pillow-bear (pillow-case). The end and mischief is as great, though the means and instrument be not the same.—Bishop Fleetwood.
He that spareth the rod from his son maketh him to be his rod, wherewith he whips himself, and wherewith God whips both of them. It is better thy son should feel thy rod than thou feel the sorrow of his wicked life. And do not hate him in not correcting of him, lest he hate thee by thy not correcting of him, and God shew His hatred against both by His wrath upon you.—Jermin.
The Koh-i-noor diamond, when it came into the Queen’s possession, was a mis-shapen lump. It was very desirable to get its corners cut off and all its sides reduced to symmetry; but no unskilful hand was permitted to touch it. Men of science were summoned to consider its nature and capabilities. They examined the form of its crystals and the consistency of its parts. They considered the direction of the grain, and the side on which it would bear a pressure. With their instructions, the jewel was placed in the hands of an experienced lapidary, and by long, patient, careful labour, its sides were ground down to the desired proportions. The gem was hard, and needed a heavy pressure; the gem was precious, and every precaution was taken which science and skill could suggest to get it polished into shape without cracking it in the process. The effort was successful. The hard diamond was rubbed down into forms of beauty, and yet sustained no damage by the greatness of the pressure to which it was subjected. “Jewels, bright jewels,” in the form of little children, are the heritage which God gives to every parent. They are unshapely and need to be polished; they are brittle, and so liable to be permanently injured by the pressure; but they are stones of peculiar preciousness, and if they were successfully polished they would shine as stars for ever and ever, giving off, from their undimning edge, more brilliantly than other creatures can, the glory which they get from the Sun of Righteousness. Those who possess these diamonds in the rough should neither stike them unskilfully nor let them be uncut … Prayer and pains must go together in this difficult work. Lay the whole case before our Father in heaven; this will take the hardness out of the correction, without diminishing its strength.—Arnot.
Correction is a kind of cure, saith the philosopher (Arist. Ethic. lib. ii.), the likeliest way to save the child’s soul; where, yet, saith Bernard, it is the care of the child that is charged upon the parent, not the cure, that is God’s work alone.—Trapp.
In order to form the minds of children, the first thing to be done is to conquer the will. To inform the understanding is a work of time, and must, with children, proceed by slow degrees, as they are able to bear it; but the subjecting of the will must be done at once, and the sooner the better; for, by neglecting timely correction, they will contract a stubbornness and obstinacy which are hardly ever conquered, and not without using such severity as would be as painful to me as to the child. I insist upon the conquering of the will betimes, because this is the only strong and rational foundation of a religious education, without which both precept and example will be ineffectual. But when this is thoroughly done, a child is capable of being governed by the wisdom and piety of its parents till its own understanding comes to maturity, and the principles of religion have taken root in the mind.—Mrs. S. Wesley.
It is his rod that must be used, the rod of a parent, not the rod of a servant.—Henry.

Proverbs 13:25
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro_13:25
WANT AND SATISFACTION
I. The limited truth of the assertion in relation both to the righteous and the wicked. Read in the light of personal experience, and in the light of history, it is found true, and is found not true in the case of the righteous. Elijah ate to satisfaction beside the brook Cherith, while many of his idolatrous countrymen suffered want. But Paul was often in hunger (2Co_11:27), while Nero lived in luxury. Christians have died from hunger, and others have had all their bodily wants supplied all their lives, and sometimes by most remarkable providential interpositions. Godliness is often profitable in this sense for the “life that now is” (1Ti_4:8), but not always, and wickedness often brings a man literally to the condition of the prodigal when he would “fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat;” but many a wicked man, like him of the parable (Luk_16:19), have “fared sumptuously every day” from their cradle to their grave. To take our text as absolutely true of material food would be to contradict the testimony of Scripture itself.
II. Its absolute truth in relation to both characters. 1. That wickedness gives a man no real satisfaction is a fact of experience. Men have testified over and over again that while they lived in sin they knew nothing of real heartsatisfaction and rest, and have borne witness to the words of St. Augustine, who spoke from experience when he said, “Thou hast made us for thyself, and the heart is restless till it finds rest in Thee.” A man who feeds upon unwholesome food is always in want, because that upon which he feeds is not suited to meet the demands of his physical frame, so is it with the soul of a godless man. 2. The history of the world testifies that it is so. The unrest of the ungodly is the explanation of much of the ambition, of many of the selfish schemes of some men, as well as of the voluntary asceticism, the self-imposed sufferings of others. The key to both is that they have spent “money for that which is not bread, and their labour for that which satisfieth not” (Isa_55:2). The teaching of Christ confirms it. Want was the condition of the prodigal; he wanted the bread which his father’s home and table alone could supply. “Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, ye have no life in you” (Joh_6:53). On this subject see Dr. Arnot’s remarks on Pro_13:12 in the comments on that verse. 3. That there is satisfaction in sainthood is declared by Christ, and testified to be true by all His followers. The bread upon which a renewed man feeds is the Divine word—the thoughts of God in the abstract, and the personal thought or word Jesus Christ. “As the living Father hath sent Me and I live by the Father, so he that eateth Me shall live by Me” (Joh_6:57). And life is but another word for satisfaction. “He that believeth on Me, as the Scripture hath said, out of His heart shall flow rivers of living water” (Joh_7:38). Millions of men and women in all circumstances, both poor and rich in worldly wealth, have set to their “seal that God is true” (Joh_3:33) when He invites men to “hearken diligently unto Him, and eat that which is good, and let their souls delight themselves in fatness” (Isa_55:2).
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
One of the confidences of the wicked is that he, at least, has his pleasure in this world. The inspired Solomon denies it. He himself has left us an experience (Ecclesiastes 1). The righteous man seeks righteousness and peace, and these things do satisfy him. He seeks them, not as the world does, under a mistake, but for what they really are. He seeks them more and more as he knows them better, and shall be seeking them and enjoying them through eternal ages. “
But the wicked,” even in his “belly,” wants. His delights, even of the more carnal sort, are not to be directly gazed at. If they are, they vanish. He cannot trust himself to theorise over any solid pleasures. So hollow are they that he would not live over again the history of the past, and so poor that he grows tired of enjoying them.—Miller.
Have he more or less, he hath that which satisfies him. Nature is content with little, grace with less. If Jacob may have but “bread to eat and raiment to put on” it sufficeth him; and this he dare be bold to promise himself. Beg his bread he hopes he shall not, but if he should, he can say with Luther (who made many a meal of a broiled herring), “Let us be content to fare hard here: have we not the bread that came down from heaven?”—Trapp.
To have to eat is the common mercy of God, who openeth His hand and feedeth all things living. To have enough to eat is a great mercy in itself, and greater than man’s nature, which hath never enough of sinning anyway deserveth; but to be satisfied with that which is enough is a peculiar property bestowed on the righteous. The belly of the wicked wanting enough to eat in some degree is punished for feeding too greedily on the husks of sin. Wanting all food is more hardly punished, and it may be for the hardness of their hearts in resisting all instruction; but that it shall want though it have enough, this is a severe punishment of wickedness, though thought to be the least. The wise man doth not speak of the want of the mouth of the wicked as showing that the mouth should have Sufficient, and yet the belly be punished with want in not being satisfied.—Jermin.
HOMILETIC TREATMENT OF THE CHAPTER AS A WHOLE
“The true Christian education of children.” (1) Its basis: God’s Word (Pro_13:1; Pro_13:13-14); (2) Its means: Love and strictness in inculcating God’s Word (Pro_13:1; Pro_13:18; Pro_13:24); (3) Its aim: Guidance of the youth to the promotion of his temporal and eternal welfare (Pro_13:2 sq. Pro_13:16 sq.)—Lange’s Commentary.

Proverbs 13:1
A wise son heareth his father’s instruction: but a scorner heareth not rebuke.
The heedless scorner
The first part of the sentence has been rendered, “is his father’s instruction”; i.e., a wise son embodies his father’s instruction. A wise man may point to his son and say, “This is the sum-total of my educational efforts.” The proverb is careful to define the quality of the son whose education embodies the purposes of his father. He is to be a “wise son”; one who can make the most of his opportunities, who understands the process through which he is passing. A scorner is profited by nothing; being a satirist himself, he turns everything into satire; he mocks the speaker of good things, he parodies the highest poetry, he resents the most delicate and spiritual approach. We should not be struck by the mere ability of satire; we should remember its moral disadvantages, for it debases and impoverishes whatever it touches that is meant for its good. We speak of the satire that takes the moral purpose out of every appeal, and turns to derision all the efforts that are directed towards the soul’s real education. Wisdom gathers everything; scorning gathers nothing. It is for each man to say that he will walk in the one spirit or in the other, but let him distinctly know what the consequences of each spirit must be. (J. Parker, D.D.)

The teachable and unteachable son
I. The teachable son. “A wise son heareth his father’s instruction.” Solomon, of course, supposes that the father is what a father ought to be. He who attends to the instruction of a father, Solomon says, is wise. He is wise—

1. Because he attends to the Divine condition of human improvement. The Creator has ordained that the rising generation should get its wisdom from the teachings of its parents. It is by generations learning of predecessors that the race advances.
2. Because he gratifies the heart of his best earthly friend.
   II. The unteachable son. “A scorner heareth not rebuke.” Some persons justly merit derision; some things merit contempt. A son who scorns either the person or the counsels of his father is not in a state of mind to hear rebuke—he is unteachable. (D. Thomas, D.D.)

Proverbs 13:2-3
A man shall eat good by the fruit of his mouth.
Natural retaliation
Although the spirit and practice of retaliation are nowhere vindicated in Scripture, but everywhere explicitly and strongly condemned, yet a treatment corresponding to their own conduct towards others is what every one may expect. In the nature of things it cannot be otherwise. It is not in human nature, nor in any nature, not even in the Divine itself, to love with the love of complacence that which is unamiable. An amiable disposition alone can secure love; and amiability of disposition is greatly indicated by the tongue. The man who is charitable in his judgments, and disposed to speak well of others, will be himself the subject of charitable judgment and of cordial commendation. All will love and honour and bless the man “in whose tongue is the law of kindness.” Thus he shall “eat good by the fruit of his mouth.” On the contrary, against the man who is a “transgressor” with his lips, making them the instruments of malice in the utterance of slander, and the fomenting of alienation and strife—against that man are unavoidably kindled all the feelings of indignation, all the angry passions, of which the result is violence—the violence of vindictive pride and sense of wrong. (R. Wardlaw.)

Man speaking
Here are several kinds of speech.
I. The self-profiting and self-ruinous in speech. The speech of a good man which is enlightened, truthful, pure, generous, is of service to himself in many ways. By it he promotes the development of his own spiritual being, he gratifies his own moral nature, and produces in hearers results which are delightful to his own observation. The corrupt speech of the ungodly is a violence to reason, conscience, social propriety. The sinful tongue of the transgressor inflicts the most violent injuries on his own nature.
II. The self-controlled and the self-reckless in speech.

1. Controlled speech may be useful. The tongue is a member that requires controlling. Passion and impulse are constantly stimulating it to action.
2. Reckless speech may be dangerous. One spark from a lawless tongue has often kindled conflagrations in families, churches, and nations. Quarles says, “Give not thy tongue too much liberty, lest it take thee prisoner.” (D. Thomas, D.D.)

A guard upon the lips
is a guard to the soul. He that keeps a strong bridle on his tongue, and a strong hand on that bridle, keeps his soul from a great deal, both of guilt and grief, and saves himself the trouble of many bitter reflections on himself, and reflections of others upon him. There is many a one ruined by an ungoverned tongue. He that loves to bawl and bluster and make a noise, will find it will be the destruction of his reputation, his interest, and his comfort. (Matthew Henry.)

Proverbs 13:4
The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing: but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat.
The nature and consequences of idleness and of industry
This text is true both in a temporal and spiritual sense.
I. The nature and effects of sloth. The slothful man wants to attain the end without the use of the proper means. He would be rich without labour, learned without study, and respected without doing anything to deserve respect. This desire of the slothful killeth him; for his hands refuse to labour. Such persons waste their days in forming idle schemes and vain wishes. The consequences are often very terrible. They become a plague and a burden to all who are connected with them. They frequently injure their best friends, prey upon the property of others, and bring disgrace and ruin upon their dearest earthly connections. Our land, all our lands, abound with such drones. Slothfulness also gives birth to envy, discontent, fraud, lying, and almost every other evil work. In whatever situation of life a slothful person is fixed, he will, from this disposition, fall into some destructive vice, and become miserable in himself and mischievous to others. A sluggard, whatever he may profess, cannot be a truly religious person, or possessed of those graces which form the character of a member of Christ and a child of God. The sluggard may desire the good things of religion, but as he will not use the means for attaining them, he “desires, and has nothing.” God will be found only of them who diligently seek Him. A slothful disposition is so pernicious in its nature and effects that wherever it reigns and has the dominion, it must debase a person’s character and pervert the end for which he was sent into the world.
II. The nature and effects of industry. Plenty and comfort are, in general, the consequences of diligence, both in our temporal and spiritual calling. Whatever may be a person’s rank or circumstances, the providence of God has given him something to do. The sober and industrious are the glory and strength of every nation. And the industrious disposition is a great preservative against vice. Those who are trained up to honest labour and habits of industry seldom fall into those criminal excesses to which the slothful are prone. The most salutary effects of diligence are seen in religion. The diligent use of all appointed means of grace is crowned with the Divine blessing. These are the persons who have always done the most good in the world, and whom God and men have delighted to honour. There may, of course, be exceptions to the general rule. Would you, then, provide things honest in the sight of all men, pursue your profession with success, maintain yourselves and your families, and become easy in your circumstances, you must be sober and industrious, diligent and laborious. And so you must be if you would enjoy the peace and blessing of God. Some may from this learn the true reason of their embarrassments. They have spent themselves in wishing, not in working. (W. Richardson.)

Idleness
Work is the grand, all-pervading feature in the government of the world. God works. The universe, considered as an inert mass, moves. Stagnation is the sign of death. How early in life the human being should begin regular employment is a question in which both the moralist and the political economist are interested. The burden, the obligation, the duty of one man differs from that of another. In one sense, the duty of labour is laid upon all. Idleness is to be avoided by all, irrespective of the pressure, or the absence of the pressure, of poverty or any personal needs. It is curious to notice that, in the estimation of many, no persons are thought to be engaged in labour save those who are engaged in some handicraft for their livelihood. But idleness, like labour, is a relative term. Idleness is a sin against the ordinance of God. Man has manifold needs, desires, possibilities. Were there no hunger, there would be no crops, no bread. Were there no need of shelter, there would be no huts, houses, palaces. Were there no sense of ignorance, there would be no desire to learn anything. Were there no religious feeling, there would be no temples, nor desire to know anything of what the apostle calls “the invisible things of God.” The refusal of work, whether demanded of us, or opened to us in the way of providential opportunity, this is idleness. By this refusal one places one’s self outside the life of the community. It is a sin—a sin of omission; the sin of neglect, and of lost opportunity. The life is barren, sterile, nothing. “Only an idler,” it may be said; “not as bad as if he gave way to stormy, passionate excesses.” And yet there will be in the brain of that idler an indistinguishable brood of vipers, all possible evil and corruption. God requires the use of our gifts and faculties for our development, and that we may do our share in the State, fill the position and, in a word, accomplish the purposes of our existence. The proofs of the sinfulness of idleness are to be found in its effects. It destroys our power of usefulness in the world. All real devotion to a cause implies work. We cannot set ourselves in opposition to God’s ordinances, and at the same time entertain any belief seriously that we shall succeed by circumventing Him. If any of you, who are in your years of work, when the duty of work is specially your duty, are refusing everything of the kind, and are bent upon trifles or mere amusement, it requires no large insight to perceive that your minds and characters are becoming weakened; the thews and sinews are soft; the gristle does not harden into bone. Let this state of things last, and it is certain that you will be left behind in the rear. Wholesome, not morbid, activity is what is needed for many whose hands hang idly, not through the fault of an idle disposition. Work will heal many a human woe when all else will seem to fail. (
Edwin Harwood, D.D.)

Christian diligence, with the blessings that attend it
The son of diligence, considered either as a man or a Christian, is in a fair way to obtain the good things he seeks. The slothful wretch shall be poor indeed.
I. What are the several things which are implied in true Diligence?

1. Diligence includes the employment of every part of our time in proper business. This is opposed to sauntering life away; to trifling, or doing what is to no purpose; and to mistiming the businesses which are to be done.
2. Diligence includes earliness—in opposition to delay. The early man shows that his heart is in his work. If we begin betimes the service of the day, we happily provide against hindrances, and we are not in danger of being thrown into a hurry by accidental avocations.
3. Diligence implies activity and vigour. Lazy wishes will neither perform work nor obtain a blessing. What poor work doth a Christian make who is cold, indifferent, slothful in the things which concern his soul and salvation!
4. Diligence implies watchfulness—in opposition to a drowsy, heedless temper, a thoughtless security of soul. We must be awake to seize all advantages for our work, as well as to guard against surprises and dangers.
5. Diligence implies a constancy in our work—in opposition to looking back, and perpetual avocation by diversions and pleasures.
6. Another thing implied in true diligence is, firmness and resolution in our labour—in opposition to all the difficulties which attend our work. If we are frighted at every shadow of difficulty, we shall never fulfil our service, nor perfect our design.
7. There is also implied perseverance—in opposition to fainting and weariness. It is the end that crowns all.
   II. The blessings which attend diligence in a course of virtue and goodness.
8. Diligence hath a natural tendency to success and to obtain the good things we seek.
9. Diligence hath the rich and special promises of a faithful God to encourage its hope.
10. Diligence and industry are a happy guard against snares and temptations of every kind. When the devil finds you idle, he hath a proper moment to assault you with some powerful temptation.
11. Diligence is always making a progress towards its designed end, but the slothful man is in great danger of going backward. The gardener who neglects his daily work will soon find the ground overrun with weeds.
12. The diligent Christian is a most useful person in the world. He does the most good himself, and becomes an excellent example to all that are round about him.
13. The diligent Christian finishes his work with peace, hope, and joy. He will review his conduct and his labours with an inward satisfaction and a sacred pleasure of soul. Let us dread the curse of the wicked and slothful servant. (Isaac Watts, D.D.)

Soul-craving
I. Soul-craving is common to all. Souls have a hunger as well as bodies, and the hunger of the soul is a much more serious thing. What is the ennui that makes miserable the rich but the unsatisfied hunger of the soul?

1. The hunger of the soul, as well as the hunger of the body, implies the existence of food somewhere.
2. The unsatisfied hunger of the soul as well as the body is painful and ruinous.
   II. Soul-craving can be allayed only by labour. (Homilist.)

Diligence
A friend of mine, says Mr. Gurney, one day inquired of the then Lord Chancellor, how he managed to get through so much business? “ Oh,” said his lordship,” I have three rules; the first is, I am a whole man to one thing at a time; the second is, I never lose a passing opportunity of doing anything that can be done; and the third is, I never entrust to other people what I ought to do myself.”

Proverbs 13:5
A righteous man hateth lying.
Moral truthfulness
I. An instinct to the righteous. “A righteous man hateth lying.” A soul that has been made right in relation to the laws of its own spiritual being to the universe and to God has an instinctive repugnance to falsehood. A right-hearted man cannot be false in speech or life. The prayer of his soul is, “Remove from me the way of lying: and grant me Thy law graciously” (Psa_119:29).
II. Moral truthfulness is a safeguard against evil. The evils specified in these two verses in connection with the wicked must be regarded as kept off from the righteous by his moral truthfulness. What are the evils here implied connected with falsehood?

1. Loathsomeness. “A wicked man is loathsome.” A liar is an unlovely and an unlovable object; he is detestable; he attracts none; he repels all.
2. Shame. He “cometh to shame.” A liar either in lip, or life, or both, must come to shame. A rigorous destiny will strip off his mask, and leave him exposed, a hideous hypocrite, to the scorn of men and angels.
3. Destruction. “Wickedness overthroweth the sinner.” Inevitable destruction is the doom of the false. They have built their houses on the sand of fiction, and the storms of reality will lay them in ruins. From all these evils, moral truthfulness guards the righteous. (D. Thomas, D.D.)

Lying hateful
There is no knowing the effects of a lie even in this world. Said a lady, “I told once for all the fashionable lie of having my servant announce at the door that I was not at home. At night my husband said, ‘ Mrs.
died to-day.’ It went through me like cold steel. She had made me promise that I would be at her bedside at the last hour, as she had something of great importance to disclose. ‘And,’ said my husband, ‘she died in great distress to see you, having sent three times, only to learn that you were not at home.’ How I loathed myself! No more lies for me!”

Proverbs 13:6
Wickedness overthroweth the sinner.
The effects of sin
There is a cause for every effect. Moral evil, as a cause, has produced the most awful, alarming, and extensive consequences.
I. Give the character of the sinner.

1. What is sin? The transgression of the law (1Jn_3:4). No law, no transgression. There is a law, which is grounded in the moral perfections of God.
2. Sin is a contempt of God’s authority. It is s forfeiture of His favour, and an exposure to His sore displeasure.
3. Sinners who refuse to submit to Christ—the Saviour from sin—sin against the gospel law of liberty and love.
   II. Wickedness is the sinner’s ruin.
4. It exhausts his property. Sin is a very expensive thing. The passions are clamorous, exorbitant, and reckless, till gratified.
5. It blasts his reputation. Sin can never be deemed honourable, on correct principles.
6. It destroys his health. Intemperance has a natural tendency to undermine the best constitution.
7. It hastens the approach of death.
8. It effects the damnation of the soul. Coming to sin beyond remedy, he goes to his own place.
   Improvement:
9. How awfully destructive is the love of sin.
10. It is the interest of every person to hate and shun sin.
11. A sinner, perishing in his sin, has no one to blame but himself.
12. From the whole subject we perceive the necessity, expedience, and advantage of securing true religion, by repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. (Sketches of Four Hundred Sermons.)

The consequences of sin
I. What is meant by the teem “sinner”? Bold, brazen sinners.

1. The profligate.
2. The sceptical.
3. The deliberately worldly-minded.
   II. What is meant by these sinners being overthrown? Wickedness works its own punishment.
4. It overthrows the sinner’s health.
5. It overthrows his character.
6. It overthrows his life.
   The sinner here is a wreck, floating about like a derelict log. His happiness is wrecked. His future prospects are destroyed. (Homilist.)

Proverbs 13:7
There is that maketh himself rich, yet hath nothing.
The poor rich and the rich poor
Two singularly-contrasted characters are set in opposition here. One, that of a man who lives like a millionaire and is a pauper; another, that of a man who lives like a pauper and is rich. Now, I do not suppose that the author of this proverb attached any kind of moral to it, in his own mind. It is simply a jotting of an observation drawn from a wide experience; and if he meant to teach any lesson by it, I suppose it was nothing more than that in regard to money, as to other things, we should avoid extremes, and should try to show what we are, and to be what we seem. This finds its highest application in regard to Christianity, and our relation to Jesus Christ.
I. Our universal poverty. However a man may estimate himself and conceit himself, there stand out two salient facts.

1. The fact of universal dependence. Whatever else may be dark and difficult about the co-existence of these two, the infinite God and the finite universe, this at least is sun-clear, that the creature depends absolutely for everything on that infinite Creator. People talk sometimes, and we are all too apt to think, as if God had made the world and left it. And we are all apt to think that, however we may owe the origination of our own personal existence to a Divine act, the act was done when we began to be, and the life was given as a gift that could be separated from the Bestower. If it were possible to cut a sunbeam in two, so that the further half of it should be separated from its vital union with the great central fire from which it rushed long, long ago, that further half would pale into darkness. And if you cut the connection between God and the creature, the creature shrivels into nothing. So at the very foundation of our being there lies absolute dependence. In like manner, all that we call faculties, capacities, and the like, are, in a far deeper sense than the conventional use of the word “gift” implies, bestowments from Him. As well, then, might the pitcher boast itself of the sparkling water that it only holds, as well might the earthen jar plume itself on the treasure that has been deposited in it, as we make ourselves rich because of the riches that we have received. “Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his strength. Let not the rich man glory in his riches; but he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.”
2. Then, turn to the second of the facts on which this universal poverty depends, and that is, the fact of universal sinfulness. Ah, there is one thing that is our own—“If any power we have, it is to will.” Conscience tells us, and we all know it, that we are the causes of our own actions, though from Him come the powers by which we do them. The electricity comes from the central power-station, but it depends on us what sort of wheels we make it drive, and what kind of work we set it to do. So, then, there are these two things, universal dependence and universal sinfulness, and on them is built the declaration of universal poverty. Duty is debt. What we ought is what we owe. We all owe an obedience which none of us has rendered. We are all paupers.
   II. The poor rich man. “There is that maketh himself rich, and yet hath nothing.” That describes accurately the type of man who ignores dependence, and is not conscious of sin, and so struts about in self-complacent satisfaction with himself, and knows nothing of his true condition. There is nothing more tragic than that a man, laden, as we each of us are, with burden of evil that we cannot get rid of, should yet conceit himself to possess merits, virtues, graces, that ought to secure for him the admiration of his fellows and the approbation of God. “The deceitfulness of sin” is one of its mightiest powers. You condemn in other people the very things you do yourself. Many of you have never ventured upon a careful examination and appraisement of your own moral and religious character. You durst not, for you are afraid that it would turn out badly. Then you have far too low a standard, and one of the main reasons why you have so low a standard is just because the sins that you do have dulled your consciences. Aye, and more than that. The making of yourself rich is the sure way to prevent yourself from ever being so. We see that in all other regions of life. If a student says to himself, “Oh! I know all that subject,” the chances are that he will not get it up any more. And in any department, when a man says, “Lo! I have attained,” then he ceases to advance. If you fancy yourselves to be quite well, though a mortal disease has gripped you, you will take no medicine, nor have recourse to any physician. If you think that you have enough good to show for man’s judgment and for God’s, and have not been convinced of your dependence and your sinfulness, then Jesus Christ will be very little to you. I believe that this generation needs few things more than it needs a deepened consciousness of the reality of sin and of the depth and damnable nature of it.
   III. The rich poor man. “There is that maketh himself poor, and yet”—or, as varied, the expression is, therefore hath great riches. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Consciousness of poverty is the only fitting attitude for any of us to take up in view of the fact of our dependence and the fact of our sinfulness. Then let me remind you that this wholesome recognition of facts about ourselves as they are is the sure way to possess the wealth. If you see your poverty, let self-distrust be the nadir, the lowest point, and let faith be the complementary high point, the zenith. The rebound from self-distrust to trust in Christ is that which makes the consciousness of poverty the condition of receiving wealth. And what wealth it is!—the wealth of a peaceful conscience, of a quiet heart, of lofty aims, of a pure mind, of strength according to our need, of an immortal hope, of a treasure in the heavens that faileth not. Do you estimate yourself as you are? Have you taken stock of yourself? Have you got away from the hallucination of possessing wealth? Have you taken the wealth which He freely gives to all who sue in forma pauperis? He does not ask you to bring anything but debts and sins, emptiness and weakness, and penitent faith. And then you will be of those blessed poor ones who are rich through faith, and heirs of the kingdom. (A. Maclaren, D.D.)

The policy that degrades and the policy that ennobles
This proverb denotes either a mean, social fact, or a grand moral contrast. Here is the man who makes himself out to be rich, either to gratify his vanity or to impose on and defraud others. And here is the man who makes himself out to be poor, that he may escape the reproach of neglecting his own kith and kin. Both are essentially and execrably hypocritical. In the first is the hypocrisy of vanity; in the second of greed. Both are dishonest and demoralising. A corrupt state of society alone suggests such expedients, and only a depraved man resorts to them. The Old and New Testaments distinguish between the outer and the inner man. We may make the outer either nurture or kill the inner man. The two conditions, poverty and wealth, betoken no moral difference; they do betoken great social difference. Spiritually the extremes of each may be utterly reversed. The rich may spiritually have nothing, and the poor have great riches. But poverty is not necessarily the concomitant of piety. (W. Wheeler.)

The danger of mistaking our spiritual state
I. There is that maketh himself rich, yet hath nothing.
I. Such are they who are unacquainted with their real character. “Among these may be reckoned all who are ignorant even of fundamental truths, or pervert them.

2. Such are they who, notwithstanding, entertain a high opinion of their spiritual condition. To beast of what we have not is the greatest folly; to glory of what we have is the most intolerable vanity.
3. Such are they who are indifferent to the means of obtaining relief, and the supply of their spiritual wants.
   II. There is that maketh himself poor, yet hath great riches.
4. Persons of this sort commonly complain much of themselves and their condition.
5. The temper and conduct of such persons serves to discover the mistaken judgment which they have formed of their spiritual condition. From whatever cause this error in opinion may proceed, there is always something in the temper and conduct of people of this sort that shows the high value which they put upon the true riches, and the humbling sense they entertain of their apprehended spiritual poverty. This distinguishes them from those who only pretend to the character of which I am speaking.
6. Notwithstanding they think themselves poor, they have great riches. The Lord, whose loving-kindness is better than life, is their God, the strength of their hearts, and their portion for ever. (W. McCulloch.)

The truly rich man
Amongst great numbers of men accounted rich, but few really are so. I take him to be the only rich man that lives upon what he has, owes nothing, and is contented. For there is no determinate sum of money, nor quantity of estate, that can denote a man rich; since no man is truly rich that has not so much as perfectly satiates his desire of having more. For the desire of more is want, and want is poverty. (J. Howe.)

Proverbs 13:9
The light of the righteous rejoiceth: but the lamp of the wicked shall be put out.
The light of the righteous and the lamp of the wicked
By this we are to understand that the light of the righteous burns joyously, is a very image of gladness and rapture: the sun rejoiceth as a giant to run his course; he is, so to say, conscious of his power and of his speed; travelling does not weary him; shining does not exhaust him: at the end he is as mighty as at the beginning. It will be observed that in the one case the word is “light” as applied to the righteous, and in the other the word is “lamp” as applied to the wicked. The path of the just is as a shining light, shining more and more unto the perfect day; the light of the righteous man is above, it is not of his own making, it never can be exhausted: the light in which the wicked man walks is a lamp of his own creation, he made it, he lighted it, he is above and greater than that light, and at any moment it may be extinguished; he walks in the fire and in the sparks which he himself has kindled; he is full of brilliant fancies, flashing and glaring eccentricities; he rejoices transiently in the rockets which he throws up into the air, but as they expire and fall back in dead ashes at his feet he sees how poor have been his resources, and how mean is the issue of a cleverness that is without moral basis and moral inspiration. God’s blessing is always attached to the true light. God himself is Light. Jesus Christ was the Light of the world, and Christians are to be lights of their day and generation, reflecting the glory of their Master. The wicked indeed have a kind of light; that should always be amply acknowledged: but it is a light of their own creation, and a light that is doomed to extinction—it shall be put out; a drop of rain shall fall upon it, and the little flicker shall expire, never to be rekindled. (J. Parker, D.D.)

The lights of souls
I. The joyous light of soul. “The light of the righteous rejoiceth.” In what does the light of the soul consist? There are at least three elements—faith, hope, love. The first fills the soul with the light of ideas; the second, with the light of a bright future; the third, with the light of happy affections. Extinguish these in any soul, and there is the blackness of darkness for ever. The righteous have these as Divine impartations, as beams from “the Father of lights,” and in their radiance they live, walk, and rejoice. They rejoice in their faith. Their faith connects them with the Everlasting Sun. They rejoice in their hope. Their hope bears them into the regions of the blest. They rejoice in their love. Their love fixes their enrapturing gaze on Him in whose presence there is fulness of joy.
II. The transient light of soul. “The lamp of the wicked shall be put out.” It is implied that the light of the righteous is permanent. It is inextinguishable. Not so the light of the wicked. Their light, too, is in their faith, their hope, their love. But their faith is in the false, and it must give way. The temple of their hope is built on sand, and the storm of destiny will destroy it. Their love is on corrupt things, and all that is corrupt must be burnt by the all-consuming fire of eternal justice. Thus the lamp of the wicked must be put out. (
Homilist.)

Proverbs 13:10
Only by pride cometh contention, but with the well-advised is wisdom.
Pride and humility
By a proud man we mean one who esteems himself better than others; by a humble man, one who esteems others better than himself. What are the evil effects of pride?

1. It cuts off a man from all the salutary effects of reproof, rebuke, criticism, and counsel, without which it is not possible for any of us to become wise.
2. By pride comes nothing but strife, and he loveth transgression that loveth strife. It is the pride of monarchs and nations that produces war. In the affairs of private life our pride, rather than our sense of right, usually creates, fosters, and embitters divisions, alienations, and quarrels. All the foolish extravagances of social competition are to be traced to the same source. From first to last the haughty spirit is a curse and a torment to every one, and not least to itself. It is like a cold and biting wind. It breaks the heart of the humble, it excites the passions of the wrathful, it corrupts the conduct of the weak.
3. Pride is hateful to God. The proud man, whether he knows it or not, comes into direct conflict with God; he is pitting himself against the Omnipotent. If God is to dwell in a human heart at all, it must be in one which has been emptied of all pride, one which has, as it were, thrown down all the barriers of self-importance, and laid itself open to the incoming Spirit. (R. F. Horton, D. D.)

Pride and contention
When pride and passion meet on both sides, it cannot but be that a fire will be kindled; when hard flints strike together, the sparks will fly about; but a soft, mild spirit is a great preserver of its own peace, kills the power of contests, as woolpacks, or such-like soft matter, most deaden the force of bullets. (T. Leighton.)

Proverbs 13:11
Wealth gotten by vanity shall be diminished: but he that gathereth by labour shall increase.
Right methods of obtaining wealth
The text implies three things.
I. That wealth in itself is a good thing.

1. All men strive for it, in obedience to the original command—to possess the earth and subdue it.
2. The services it can render are evidences of its value.
3. The Word of God approves it. Not money, but the “love” of it, is “a root of evil.”
   II. Wealth may be obtained in different ways. The two ways mentioned in the text.
4. The way of vanity, which may represent fraud, gambling, reckless speculation, etc.
5. The way of labour, in all which there is profit (Pro_14:23). See frequent commendations of diligence in the Scriptures.
   III. The increase or decrease of wealth is affected by the mode of its acqusition. “Gotten by vanity,” it diminishes; procured by labour, it “shall increase.” Two considerations as to the constitution of human nature help us to understand how this comes about.
6. What a man does not work for he seldom appreciates. Difficulty of attaining augments value. “Easy got, soon spent,” has passed into a proverb.
7. What one does not value he is apt to squander. Spendthrifts are those who value money slightly. (F. Wagstaff.)

Ill-gotten national wealth
What is true of private is no less true of public possessions. When such possessions are obtained, on the part of any country, by self-aggrandising and unprovoked aggression, extermination and conquest, what are such means but injustice, oppression, and murder, on an extended scale? Gathering possessions by a violation of the rights of others, of the principles of equity and honour and good faith, or, in one word, of the royal law, is turning a country’s glory into shame, and under the righteous and retributive administration of Heaven the extension of dominion is but an extension of danger. (R. Wardlaw.)

Wealth gotten by vanity
When the famous M. Blanc, who founded the Monte Carlo Casino, was proprietor of a gambling establishment at Homburg, it was his custom to bring down 300,000 francs every morning to meet the bank’s losses. When this sum was exhausted the bank was said to be “broke,” and the doors were closed for the day, and it is recorded that the unique feat of “breaking the bank” was accomplished three days in succession by the notorious South American Spaniard, Garcia. After this his luck began to turn, and six weeks later he was obliged to ask M. Blanc for a few louis with which to return to Paris. (Daily Mail.)

Proverbs 13:12
Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.
Hope deferred
Hope deferred maketh the heart sick, whether the person hoping, or the thing hoped for, be good or evil. The second member of the text is a dividing word. “Tree of life” belongs only to the hope of the holy. Many, after waiting long, and expecting eagerly, discover, when at last they reach their object, that it is a withered branch and not a living tree. There is no peace to the wicked. They are always either desiring or possessing; but to desire and to possess a perishable portion are only two different kinds of misery to men. If the desire is pure, the attainment of it is a tree of life; it is living, satisfying, enduring. It has a living root in the ground and satisfying fruit upon the branches. Where a hungering for righteousness secretly rises in a human heart the blessing is already sure, but it is not enjoyed yet. The hungerer “shall be filled,” but in the meantime his only experience is an uneasy sensation of want. In God’s good time that desire will be satisfied. That longing soul will taste and see that the Lord is gracious. (W. Arnot, D. D.)

Proverbs 13:13
Whoso despiseth the Word shall be destroyed.
Man’s destruction
The more literal rendering would be, “He that despiseth the Word shall bring ruin on himself.” This is a great law of the Biblical revelation—namely, that destruction is not a merely arbitrary act on the part of God, a mere penalty, but that it involves the idea of suicide or self-ruin. The law of reward and also the law of punishment are to be found within ourselves. (J. Parker, D.D.)

Proverbs 13:14
The law of the wise is a fountain of life.
The law of the good
I. The good are ruled by law—“The law of the wise.” What is law? The clearest and most general idea I have of it is—rule of motion. In this sense all things are under law, for all things are in motion. The material universe is in motion, and there is the law that regulates it. The spiritual universe is in motion, and law presides over it. “Of law,” says Hooker, “there can be no less acknowledged than that her seat is the bosom of God, her voice the harmony of the world. All things do her homage, the very least as feeling her care, and the greatest as not exempted from her power; both angels and men, and creatures of what condition soever, though each in different sort and manner, yet all with uniform consent, admiring her as the mother of their peace and joy.” But what is the law of the good—that which rules them in all their activities? Supreme love to the supremely good.
II. The law that rules the good is beneficent. “The law of the wise is a fountain of life to depart from the snares of death.”

1. This law delivers from death. The word death here must not be regarded as the separation of body from soul, but as the separation of the soul from God. This is the awfullest death, and supreme love to God is a guarantee against this.
2. This law secures an abundance of life. “The law of the wise is a fountain of life”; a fountain gives the idea of activity, plenitude, perennialness. The law of the good is happiness. The happiness of the true soul is not something then and yonder, but it is something in the law that controls him. In the midst of his privations and dangers John Howard, England’s illustrious philanthropist, wrote from Riga these words—“I hope I have sources of enjoyment that depend not on the particular spot I inhabit. A rightly cultivated mind, under the power of religion, and the exercise of beneficent dispositions, affords a ground of satisfaction little affected by ‘heres’ and ‘theres.’” (D. Thomas, D.D.)

Proverbs 13:15
Good understanding giveth favour.
A sound intellect
I. The nature of a sound intellect. A good understanding must include four things.

1. Enlightenment. The soul without knowledge is not good. A good understanding is that which is well informed, not merely in general knowledge, but in the science of duty and of God.
2. Impartiality. A good intellect should hold the balance of thought with a steady hand.
3. Religiousness. It must be inspired with a deep sense of its allegiance to heaven.
4. Practicalness. It should be strong and bold enough to carry all its decisions into actual life. “A good understanding have all they that do His commandments.” Thus it appears a good understanding is tantamount to practical godliness.
   II. The usefulness of a sound intellect. The greatest benefactor is the man of a good understanding. The thoughts of such men as these are the seeds of the world’s best institutions, and most useful arts and inventions. The man of good understanding is the most useful in the family, in the neighbourhood, in the market, in the press, in the senate, in the pulpit, everywhere.
5. No favours so valuable as mental favours. He who really helps the mind to think with accuracy, freedom, and force, to love with purity, and to hope with reason, helps the man in the entirety of his being.
6. No one can confer mental favours who has not a good understanding. An ignorant man has no favour to bestow on souls. “Ignorance is the curse of God; knowledge the wing with which we fly to heaven” (Shakespeare). Let us, therefore, cultivate a sound intellect. “I make not my head a grave,” says Sir T. Browne, in his quaint way, “but a treasury of knowledge; I intend no monopoly, but a community in learning; I study not for my own sake only, but for theirs that study not for themselves; I envy no man that knows more than myself, but pity them that know less. I instruct no man as an exercise of my knowledge, or with an intent rather to nourish and keep it alive in mine own head than beget and propagate it in his; and, in the midst of all my endeavours, there is but one thought that dejects me—that my acquired parts must perish with myself, nor can be legacied among my honoured friends.” (
   Homilist.)

But the way of transgressors is hard.—
The course, act, and punishment of sin
I. The course of sin.

1. A disposition to regard life as a matter of circumstances. Personal freedom is, however, never nullified, personal responsibility never suspended. The track and trend of a man’s life is largely within his own determination.
2. The text speaks of “a way,” i.e., a trodden path. It refers to a course that is chosen, and persisted in. It is the habit of the sinner’s life—a much-frequented track.
3. Sin indulged in soon becomes sin confirmed. How soon a track is made across the soft earth. The “dearest idol” was once a plaything, a diversion.
4. This is the sure and certain tendency of sin. “Wild oats” mean a harvest of thorns. It is a cruel thing that is done, when men speak lightly of what is wrong.
   II. The act of sin.
5. Sin is one: a great, awful unit. But sin is viewed under various aspects. Here the idea is that of one who deals treacherously, one who deceives, or deceives himself.
6. This is the quality of sin committed in Christian lands. Sin “against light and love.” This is sin which makes pity impossible, save with God, and with such as the Godlike.
   III. The punishment of sin. All sin is visited with punishment. The “pleasures of sin” are but “for a season.” The punishment comes. The present punishment of sin is here emphasised; if that is not enough to drive you from the way of the transgressor, what of the death-bed, of the judgment-seat, of the never-dying worm? Where, then, is salvation? Look at what is suggested by one and another.
7. Retirement; a life of seclusion and penitence.
8. A firm stand against the encroaching sin.
9. Altered associations. These are the proposals of policy, or human calculations. God’s proposal for salvation is an absolute and unconditional forsaking. (George Lester.)

The hardship of sin
But who believes this? None who set their opinion against the testimony of revelation.
I. What is to be understood by the way of transgressors? Transgressor is but another name for sinner. Transgression supposeth either something done that was forbidden or something omitted that was commanded.
II. The doctrine of the text respecting this way. It is not rendered harder than it ought to be, through undue severity in God.

1. The kindness of God renders it difficult either to shun or to resist the light.
2. It is sometimes necessary for the Divine Being to carry Himself with some severity against daring and obdurate sinners, for a warning to others.
3. Jehovah’s efforts to save render those who finally abuse His goodness singularly criminal. Improvements:
   (1) How much sinners are deceived in this “way of the transgressors”!
   (2) What madness will it be for any to continue in it!
   (3) It will be impossible for any to be saved who will not quit it.
   (4) What a mercy that we may yet do so!
   (5) While we are in the way with the Lord, let us humble ourselves before Him, let us return to Him, and sue for His salvation. (Sketches of Four Hundred Sermons.)

The way of transgressors hard
In regard to a large class of sins, retribution follows in the present life. Sin never pays. It means sorrow, distress, pain, whether that pain follows immediately or after a while. The point of the text is, that retribution follows now, in this present world. The earliest steps of vice seem pleasant; if it were not so, it would offer no temptation. To yield to lower appetites and passions is so easy, so natural, so inviting. But the wilful do not go far without being brought to a very different conclusion. “The way of transgressors” turns out to be rough and hard. I might endeavour to deter you from evil courses by telling you of the judgment to come; but what I wish to impress is that there is a day of reckoning even here. Look at the misery which intemperance brings; which licentiousness brings; which gambling brings; which fraudulent dealing brings. Then let this be the hour of your final, and ever-to-be-remembered decision for God and righteousness. (J. T. Davidson, D.D.)

Warning against transgressors’ ways
Four losses, caused by transgression, which help to make the way hard.

1. The loss of a good conscience.
2. The loss of character.
3. The loss of usefulness.
4. The loss of the soul.
   When we go into the way of transgressors, we do not know that we shall ever have an opportunity of repenting and believing in Jesus. And no matter what part of the transgressors’ ways we may have walked in, we shall find it a hard way, because it will be sure to bring the loss of heaven to us. (R. Newton, D. D.)

The hard way of sin
I. The way of the sinner is a hard way, because it is unprofitable—hard work and poor pay—the devil is a hard lord and a mean paymaster.
II. It is a hard way, because in the end it is usually a failure. Most men see only the present, and when summer is here one feels it must never end; but winter comes on at last.
III. It is a hard way, because opposed to all the stronger principles that prevail in life and destiny. The transgressor braves the mighty current of that eternal river which has swept on its bosom every being borne down to the shoreless sea of the judgment of God. Examples: Absalom, Judas, Pharaoh. No use fighting against God.
IV. It is a hard way, because it is an unhappy way. Conscience and all the better self rebel—opposed to all one’s highest associates and surroundings.
V. A hard way, because it ends in eternal ruin—no opportunity to repair the damage. A hard life here, and hereafter eternal ruin!
VI. The only easy way is the way of obedience—the life that now is and the life that is to come. Turn from your hard master and serve the Lord Jesus Christ, whose yoke is easy and whose burden is light. (C. G. Wright.)

The rough road
I. What do we mean by a transgressor? One who breaks a law or violates a command.
II. The painful path. The R.V. says, “But the way of the treacherous is rugged.” The way of wickedness is difficult and dangerous to travel as a rugged road. How true; young people may not think so; but old men will tell you the prophet knew what he was saying when he uttered the words, “They weary themselves to commit iniquity.” Chrysostom says, “Virtue is easier than vice.” Mr. H. W. Beecher used to tell of a man in America “who had the habit of stealing all his firewood. He would get up on cold nights and go and take it from his neighbours’ woodpiles. It was ascertained that he spent more time and worked harder to get his fuel than he would have been obliged to if he had earned it in an honest way, and at ordinary wages.” And this is a type of thousands of men who work a great deal harder to please the devil than they would have to work to please God. It is easier to be sober than intemperate, honest than dishonest, etc.
III. The way is hard; for it is frequently a path of sorrow and suffering. “As certain serpents before they strike their prey fix their eyes upon it and fascinate it, and then at last devour it, so does sin fascinate the foolish sons of Adam—they are charmed with it, and perish for it.” “Woe unto their souls, for they have rewarded evil to themselves.”
IV. The way is hard; for it is the way of bitter recollections. (J. E. Whydale.)

Personal responsibility
I. Man is constituted to avoid transgression. This is taught by—

1. Physical science.
2. Moral consciousness.
3. Common experience.
   II. Man is punished for each transgression.
4. Each sinful act increases sinful desire.
5. Each sinful act weakens spiritual strength. As the sinful desire weakens, the power of resistance diminishes. A reed that has been overcome by the rushing torrent finds it more difficult to stand erect before the next.
6. Each single act is living in the memory.
   III. Man is punished by an eternal law which condemns transgression.
7. This is a law additional to, but in harmony with, his constitution.
8. This is a law to be satisfied only by atonement. (The Congregational Pulpit.)

The way of transgressors is hard
A murderer’s last words are seldom very edifying, as it often happens that they are merely the expression of conviction that the speaker, in spite of his crimes, is going straight from the scaffold to heaven. The dying words of James Tracy, executed in Chicago, are, however, an exception to the rule. They deserve the careful attention of young people who think that it is a fine thing “to see life,” by which they generally mean vicious life. Tracy said, “I do not believe any man who has known a life of virtue can ever be contented with a life of vice. The farmer who has spent his life on his farm, never seeing more of the world than the road to market, or more of society than the village congregation, is happier than the ‘sporting man’ who gets his money easily but questionably, and sees society in its wildest dissipation. I hope that my fate may prove a warning to young men who are cheating themselves with the idea that there can be any peace, happiness, or prosperity in a crooked life.” Perhaps the readers of immoral novels and young people attracted by the pleasures of vice will heed the solemn statement of a man who was qualified to speak with authority, even though they despise the same warning given in the Bible.

Proverbs 13:16
Every prudent man dealeth with knowledge: but a fool layeth open his folly.
The wise and the foolish
I. The wise man. “He dealeth with knowledge.” This implies—

1. That he has knowledge. Knowledge is essential to a wise man. All true knowledge has its foundation in God. There is no knowledge that includes Him not. It implies—
2. That a wise man treats his knowledge wisely. “He dealeth with knowledge.” A man may have a great deal of knowledge, and no wisdom. Wisdom consists in the right application of knowledge. The wise man so deals with his knowledge as to culture his own nature and promote the real progress of his race. “Perfect freedom,” says Plato, “hath four parts—viz., wisdom, the principle of doing things aright; justice, the principle of doing things equally in public and private; fortitude, the principle of not flying danger, but meeting it; and temperance, the principle of subduing desires, and living moderately.”
   II. The foolish man. Foolish men show their folly in at least two ways.
3. By talking about things of which they know little or nothing. There are two notable facts in human nature. Empty-minded persons are generally talkative. The thinker, discerning difficulties in every turn, moves cautiously, reverently, and even with hesitation.
4. By attempting things which they are incapable of achieving. The foolish man knows not his aptitudes and inaptitudes. Hence he is seen everywhere, striving to be what he never can be; to do that which he never can accomplish. (D. Thomas, D.D.)

Proverbs 13:17
A wicked messenger falleth into mischief: but a faithful ambassador is health.
Ministers are ambassadors
I. Justify the comparison of the Ambassador and the minister of the gospel. Observe—

1. The high commission under which they act. The ambassador is invested with authority to perform business of the utmost importance to the well-being of both countries with which he is concerned. Is not this true of those servants of the Most High God who show to men the way of salvation? The office of the ministry is not of human, but of Divine origin.
2. Their required qualifications. An ambassador must be particularly instructed for his work; he must accurately know the mind and will of his employer, and the claims of the respective parties in reference to whom he treats. And a minister should be a man whose mind has been thoroughly enlightened by the truths of the gospel. He is set for the defence of the gospel, so he must show himself a scribe well instructed in the kingdom of heaven—one able rightly to divide the Word of truth.
3. The peculiar character of their transactions. The ambassador is often sent to arrange terms of peace. And in this sense, ministers are “ambassadors for Christ.”
4. The issue of their negotiations. “A faithful ambassador is health.” This refers to three things—the healing of those breaches and contentions which had previously broken forth and prevailed; the excellency of the benefits which accrue to the reconciled party; and the promotion to honour and prosperity of the successful ambassador. Each of these ideas is applicable to the higher exercises of the holy ambassadorship.
   II. Considerations to urge you to accede to the proposals we advance.
5. It is derived from the expensive preparation made by the offended party to effect the desired conciliation.
6. The second consideration is drawn from the imminent peril of rejecting the proposals which we advance.
7. Think of the countless advantages of conciliation.
8. Reflect on the transitoriness of the period during which these negotiators must fulfil all the important ends of their embassy. Happy, thrice happy, are they who have been brought into a state of reconciliation with God. (John Clayton.)

Proverbs 13:18
But he that regardeth reproof shall be honoured.
Accepting reproof
One of the weakest traits of any person is to be unwilling to accept honest criticism and correction. From the foolish child who will never listen to parental authority, on to the foolish man who will never listen to rebuke or reason, pride always goeth before a fall. Honest criticism is often a bitter dose to swallow, but most tonics are bitter, and we are the stronger for taking them down bravely. “If I am censured,” said that godly man, Bishop Griswold, “then let me correct, but never justify, my faults.” A minister with more zeal than discretion once called on the bishop and belaboured him with rather a harsh denunciation. Instead of showing the man out of the door, the bishop calmly replied, “My dear friend, I do not wonder that they who witness the inconsistencies in my daily conduct should think that I have no religion. I often fear this myself, and I feel very grateful to you for giving me this warning.” This reply was made in such unaffected meekness and sincerity that the visitor at once begged the bishop’s pardon, and always regarded him afterwards as one of the most Christlike Christians he had ever known. He is doubly the fool who not only flings himself into a pit, but resents the friendly hand that tries to help him out of it. (T. G. Cuyler.)

Proverbs 13:19
The desire accomplished is sweet to the soul.
Soul pleasure and soul pain
I. Soul pleasure. What is it?

1. An accomplished desire. Desire is the spring power of our activities. Locke defines it “as the uneasiness which a man feels within him on the absence of anything whose present enjoyment carries the delight with it.” The desires of the soul, which are very varied, are very significant of our destiny. “Our desires,” says Goethe, “are the presentiments of the faculties which lie within us, the precursors of those things which we are capable of performing. That which we would be and that which we desire present themselves to our imagination, about us and in the future. We prove our aspiration after an object which we already secretly possess. It is thus that an intense anticipation transforms a real possibility into an imaginary reality. When such a tendency is decided in us, at each stage of our development a portion of our primitive desire accomplishes itself under favourable circumstances by direct means, and in unfavourable circumstances by some more circuitous route, from which, however, we never fail to reach the straight road again.” Indeed, pleasure consists in the gratification of desires.
2. The quality and permanency of the pleasure must ever depend on the object of the desire. If the thing desired is immoral, its attainment will be “sweet to the soul” for a little while, but afterwards it will become bitter as wormwood and gall. The triumph of truth, the progress of virtue, the diffusion of happiness, the honour of God, these are objects of desire that should give a holy and everlasting sweetness to the soul. God Himself should be the grand object of desire. “As for me, I will behold Thy face in righteousness. I shall be satisfied when I awake with Thy likeness.”
   II. Soul pain. “It is an abomination to fools to depart from evil.”
3. There is soul pain in being connected with evil. Conscience is always tormenting the sinner; from its nature it can never be reconciled to an alliance with evil.
4. There is soul pain in the dissolution of that connection. There is a fierce conflict, a tremendous battle in the effort. (Homilist.)

Proverbs 13:20
He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.
Walking with wise men a means of attaining wisdom
I. What is it to walk with wise men? It is to choose persons of that character for our intimate friends, and voluntarily join in their company and conversation. Walking is the motion which one chooseth. Walking with a person denoteth a friendly communication and delightful society, taking him into our councils, intimating our difficulties to him, seeking his advice and depending on his aid. The mere involuntary presence with the vicious, or being unwillingly deprived of the society of the good, is not a trespass against the rule here recommended. It may be necessary for good men to converse familiarly with the wicked, yet this may be without a participation in their crimes. Our Saviour conversed with publicans and sinners: The present state of human affairs requireth that we associate with men of all characters. And, in nearer relations, scarce is there any so happy as to be free from the company of fools. On the other hand, it is not to be supposed that the mere advantage of any man’s providential situation will entitle him to the benefit of walking with wise men. The necessary thing is voluntarily to associate, and of choice enter into intimacies of friendship with the wise. Men of all capacities and conditions show a desire for conversation and society. Everybody wants company. Agreeableness of character and disposition directeth men’s choice of company. Walking with wise men imports the improvement of conversation for the purposes of wisdom. Our choice should be determined with regard to virtue.
II. The influence and efficacy of walking with wise men as a means of attaining wisdom. Company has a great share in forming the tempers and manners of men. The influence is explained by—

1. A desire to be agreeable to those we converse with. This is powerful in human nature. The desire of approbation is strong.
2. The force of example. Mankind is prone to imitation. To represent religion in precepts does not so powerfully move the affections as when we see it delineated in life. The rules of religious virtue are reduced to practice in men of like passions with us, who also were “compassed” about with infirmities. Though their example is but imperfect, yet it is very worthy of our imitation, and most sensibly reproaches our failures. The nearer the example is the greater force it has. We are specially influenced, not by the example of saints and martyrs, but by the less celebrated instances of piety and virtue in our own familiar acquaintance.
   Practical reflections:
3. Wise, that is, virtuous and good men, are a great blessing to the world, though they are frequently despised in it. Good lives are the most effectual preachers of righteousness, and continually solicit men to reform.
4. Bad men are not only useless to the greatest purposes of life, but mischievous in society.
5. We ought to be very careful in the choice of our friends and intimate companions. It is not every kind of familiarity among men that is worthy the sacred name of friendship. When founded on selfish, corrupt affections and passions, it is not only vicious, but humoursome, precarious, and inconstant, yielding no solid and abiding pleasure. (J. Abernethy, M.A.)

The influence of conversation, with the regulation thereof
Conversation has ever had a mighty influence on the conduct of human life. The regulation of it has, in all ages, demanded the utmost prudence and caution.
I. Men generally become such as the company they keep. All men are naturally lovers of themselves, and therefore the most effectual way of endearing and obliging one another is by mutual respects and compliances: no man can make his court more effectually to another than by falling in with him in opinion and practice, approving his judgment, and observing his inclinations: this is that which flatters our self-love, the predominant principle in our natures; this is that which renders society agreeable and friendship lasting. Ere we can be pleased ourselves, or please others, we must be mutually fashioned and moulded into an agreement and conformity of principles and morals, we must be acted and governed by the same affections and inclinations, and moved and led by the same desires and passions. Hence the proposition that men generally are such as their companions are. Two things in wise men never fail to work upon their friends and acquaintances.

1. Good discourse. What light, what strength, what pleasure does it minister! How it awakens the conscience and purifies the heart! “The lips of the wise disperse knowledge.” Such discourse “ministers grace unto the hearers.”
2. Good example. Virtue never appears so beautiful and lovely as in action. It is represented with much more life in the practice of a wise and good man than it can be in rules and precepts. The excellences and perfections of a friend are very strong incitements to emulation and very sensible reproofs of our remissness. A good life in a companion is certainly a mighty motive and encouragement for us. We see in him not only what we ought to do, but what we may do. Whatever is possible to him is possible to us.
   As to the influence of bad company, it is clear that sin is catching and infectious; ill principles and practices are soon propagated.
3. Sin is the cement of the friendships and intimacies of sinners.
4. Ill company naturally instils and propagates vicious principles, worldly maxims, sensual carnal improvements.
5. Ill company creates confidence in sin.
   II. Happiness is the fruit of wisdom, and misery of folly. Both reason and revelation and experience tell us that sin is fruitless and dishonourable. Righteousness fills the mind with peace and joy; sin tortures it with contradictions and unreasonable passions, with the guilt and the terrors of the Lord.
   III. Advice as to keeping company.
6. We must be very cautious what company we keep.
7. We must endeavour to make the best use of it.
8. We must be fully persuaded that the due government of ourselves in this point is a matter of the highest moment. (J. Lucas.)

The attainment of wisdom
I. What is meant by walking with the wise?

1. It means, to converse with the writings of the wise.
2. To choose wise persons for our companions and to lose no opportunity of receiving their advice and instruction. Providence may appoint a good man’s station amongst sinners, either for a trial of his integrity, or to give him opportunity to use his best endeavours to reclaim them. Civil communities, so absolutely necessary for mankind, are composed of good and bad in such a variety of degrees that there are few good without some bad qualities, and few bad without some good ones. Men are disposed to seek society and to form acquaintances, larger or lesser, for their worldly concerns and for their mutual satisfaction and entertainment. This general inclination, or instinct, operates freely and variously, and for the most part it induces men to seek those who are of a like character and disposition with themselves.
   II. The influence and efficacy which such conduct hath towards the attainment of wisdom. Conversation hath a considerable share in forming the tempers and manners of men. Their behaviour and their moral and religious dispositions depend much on the company they keep. The influence which the behaviour and discourse of others hath upon us may be ascribed to two causes.
3. A desire of being agreeable to those with whom we are familiar.
4. To the force of example. And the nearer the example is the more force it acquires. (John Jortin, D. D.)

Walking with wise men
I. The import of the character commended. “Wise man.”

1. Wisdom is that rectitude of mind which enables a man to judge what are the best ends, and what are the best means to obtain those ends. They are wise in the highest sense who possess a knowledge of God, and of spiritual truth.
2. Wisdom includes a reverent obedience to the Divine commands, and an earnest concern for personal salvation.
   II. The method of the association advised. That we walk with wise men; hold mental intercourse and fellowship with them. Two modes by which this association may be formed.
3. By studying their writings.
4. By cultivating their personal friendship.
   III. The value of the promise secured. “Shall be wise.” He shall rise, by association, to the attainment of the same character as that with which he has been connected. If we be rendered wise, we have—
5. The possession of dignity.
6. The capacity of usefulness.
7. The certainty of happiness. (James Parsons.)

Influence of good associates
This subject is illustrated by the Persian moralist Saadi: “A friend of mine put into my hands a piece of scented clay; I took it, and said to it, ‘Art thou musk or ambergris, for I am charmed with thy perfume?’ It answered, ‘I was a despicable piece of clay, but I was some time in the company of the rose; the sweet quality of my companion was communicated to me, otherwise I should only be a bit of clay, as I appear to be.’”
Character affected by intercourse
By “wisdom” is meant “religion.”
I. He that walks with religious men will become religious. The term “walk” signifies a continued course of conduct, or a manner of living, in which men persevere till it becomes habitual. The place to which every religious person is travelling is heaven. All who would walk with them must make heaven the object of their pursuit. The only way to heaven is Jesus Christ. All who walk with religious persons must agree in assenting to this truth.

1. The fact that a person chooses to associate with religious characters, in religious pursuits, proves that he is already the subject of serious impressions.
2. He who walks with religious persons, will see and hear many things which powerfully tend to increase and perpetuate those serious impressions.
3. One who walks with religious men must be the subject of serious impressions for many years successively. He who continues to walk with religious men to the end of his life will become religious.
   II. A companion of sinners shall be destroyed. That is, one who chooses for his associates persons who are regardless of religion.
4. Such an one is the subject of no religious impressions; he has few, if any, serious thoughts.
5. Such an one takes the most effectual way to prevent any serious impressions ever being made on his mind.
6. Such an one takes the most effectual way to banish those serious thoughts that do come.
7. Such an one gets confirmed in habits and feelings opposed to his ever becoming religious. (E. Payson, D.D.)

The power of association
Every one exerts an influence on some others, and in turn is acted on by them. It is vain to endeavour to escape, or destroy, this mutual influence. There is a strong tendency in human character to the assimilating itself to that of those with whom it is in contact. The text represents the acquisition of wisdom as a direct consequence of the associating, or walking with, the wise. The association must be both intimate and voluntary. There is in all of us the desire of being esteemed or approved. This desire of approval is nearly allied, if not identical with, that dislike of being singular which has so mighty an operation on all classes of mind. It is almost a necessary consequence on this, that we shall gradually, though perhaps imperceptibly, assimilate ourselves to the tastes and tendencies of our companions. Illustrate a man, not of vicious habits himself, thrown continually into association with the dissolute. Unless he has great moral courage, he will inevitably assimilate to the vicious. His virtuous principles get secretly undermined. We cannot argue, with equal probability, that if the case were that of a vicious man associated with virtuous the result would be a conformity of character. There is a tendency in our nature to the imitation of what is wrong, but not—at least not in the same degree—to the imitation of what is right. There is, however, a strong probability that, through association with virtuous men, the vicious will in a degree be shamed out of his viciousness. If you add the force of example to the desire of approval, the probability will be heightened. Known facts of experience bear out our text. Then walk with the wise that are dead—be specially careful what authors, what books you make your companions. And walk with the wise of the living, with the virtuous, with the righteous. Nay, walk with God. (H. Melvill, B.D.)

Ruinous company
Sin is catching, is infectious, is epidemic. Not appreciating the truth of my text, many a young man has been destroyed.

1. Shun the sceptic.
2. Shun the companionship of idlers.
3. Shun the perpetual pleasure-seeker. Rather than enter the companionship of such, accept the invitation to a better feast. The promises of God are the fruits. The harps of heaven are the music. Clusters from the vineyards of God have been pressed into the tankards. Her name is religion. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. (T. De Witt Talmage.)

The grand fellowship and assimilation in life’s path
I. The grand fellowship in life’s path. Though fools crowd the path of life, there are many “wise men” here and there. Who are the wise men?

1. The men who aim at the highest end of existence. What is the highest end? Not wealth, pleasure, fame, etc. The highest end of man, the only worthy end, is eternal perfection of character, spiritual assimilation to God’s perfection. Who are the wise men?
2. The men who employ the best means to reach that end. Who are the wise men?
3. The men who devote the best time in the employment of those means.
   II. The glorious assimilation in life’s path. “Shall be wise.”
4. There is a transforming power in the ideas of the truly wise. The ideas of “wise men” are like the rays of the sun—warm, bright, touching all into life. In the Bible you have these ideas in their mightiest form.
5. There is a transforming power in the sympathies of the truly wise. Sympathy is a mighty power. Even a touch of it in the dropping tear, the faltering voice, the quivering lip, will often move a soul to its centre. The sympathies of the wise man are deep, spiritual, genuine, Christlike. They are morally electric.
6. There is a transforming power in the example of the truly wise. All moral character is formed on the principle of imitation. But we imitate only what we love and admire; and the character of the wise man has in it what alone can command the highest love and admiration of the soul. It has moral beauty—the beauty of the Lord.
   From this subject we learn—
7. That the choice of companions is the most important step in life.
8. That godly literature has an inestimable value.
9. That the Church institution is a most beneficent appointment. (Homilist.)

Companionship of the young
The subject of companionship and its consequences is one of deep interest and constant application to all stages of life; but it concerns especially the young. There are few matters about which the young should be more careful, and there are few about which many of the young are more careless. Companionship is a human necessity. Man seeks for it by an instinct of his nature, as certainly and irrepressibly as whales go in schools, fish in shoals, cattle in herds, birds in flocks, and bees in hives. Companionship, in itself, is not an evil thing, but a good. But it may be sadly perverted, and thus become bad, and the source and spring of untold badness. Men can turn good to evil. The very best of God’s things may be perverted. And men, young and old, have perverted companionship. We are made or marred according to our choice of companions. In Solomon’s thought was only the companionship of living men. There is now also a companionship in books, and thus mind with mind. The character of book companionship resembles closely that of living men. In forming human companionships some seem scarcely to exercise any choice at all. They allow themselves to drift. As a rule such persons gravitate towards the bad. Many choose those who, at first meeting, make an agreeable impression on them. The only real basis of true love is the knowledge of personal qualities which command love. You should never make a companion of one you do not know. The text speaks of possible companionships under two classes—the wise and the foolish. By the “wise” is not meant the “learned “; nor the cute, the clever, the capable man of business. By the “wise” is meant the good, the man who places the spiritual above the material, God over and above self; the man who would rather be right than what is called successful. By “fools” is not meant the intellectually weak and silly; nor the merely thoughtless, the giddy, the frivolous. By “fools” is meant all who are morally and spiritually without God, and thus, openly or secretly, wicked. We are left free to choose our companions from among the wise and the fools But we are not without guidance. We have reason, and conscience, and the Word and Spirit of God. The results we reap from our companionships will correspond with the choice we make. The reaping mentioned here is the result of the principle of assimilation. The associate of the wise will be assimilated to them. The very choice of the spiritually right, and good is an evidence of wisdom at the start. In such fellowship a right and God-pleasing character is built up. The companion of the frivolous and the wicked soon learn their ways, and become conformed to their character. Surely moral contamination is more to be dreaded than physical, You must have a companion. Receive, I beseech you, the best of all—our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. (Alexander Davidson.)

The importance of avoiding bad and choosing good company
I. What may be meant by wise men and fools. Not learned men and illiterate men. A wise man is one who proposes to himself the most valuable ends, and pursues them by the best means. A fool is one who either has no worthy ends in view, or does not pursue them by proper means. The prudent is the wise man. The inconsiderate is the fool. The wise man is the true believer and holy soul; and the fool is the impenitent sinner, who rejects Christ and His salvation.
II. What is it to walk with wise men or fools?

1. It is to love and choose their company.
2. To seek and frequent their company.
3. To make them our intimate friends, and to fall in with them.
   III. The advantages or disadvantages of walking with wise men or fools. As to walking with wise men—
4. It is a great part of wisdom to choose such.
5. It is a means of growing wiser.
6. He who really is the companion of the wise will certainly himself be wise.
   As to walking with fools—
7. The companions of fools walk in the way which leads to destruction.
8. They are continually in the utmost danger of destruction.
9. If they continue they shall certainly be destroyed, with them, for ever and ever. (John Guyse, D. D.)

Wise companionship
Society is in itself so necessary to human life. Adam, in the state of innocence, could not be happy, though in paradise, without a companion. The chief scope of the text may be summed up in this observation: that every man’s present and future welfare doth very much depend upon the right choice and improvement of those friends or companions with whom he doth most familiarly converse. For the clearing of this observation, it may be made very evident from divers Scriptures. Upon this account it is that we have such frequent cautions and threats against conversing with bad company. This was the meaning of all those severe prohibitions in the ceremonial law against touching any unclean thing. It is observable, that he who touched a dead beast was unclean but till the evening (Lev_11:24), but he who touched a dead man was unclean for seven days (Num_19:11), signifying a bad man to be the most dangerous of all other creatures. The apostle styles wicked men to be such as are dead in trespasses and sins (Eph_2:1) even whilst they live (1Ti_5:6.) There are four things wherein most men place their welfare, some or all of which every rational man doth propose to himself in the choice of his friends. These are reputation, safety, comfort, profit.

1. For reputation or honour. Wicked men are fools in the phrase of the text; and what credit can a wise man expect by conversing with fools? On the other side, good men are the excellent of the earth. Such alone are truly noble and magnanimous. And therefore whoever would propose to himself honour and reputation in his society must make choice only of such companions.
2. For safety. The text tells us that a companion of fools shall be destroyed. If any one shall persuade himself that he can enjoy their company, and yet escape their contagion, he may as well think to suspend the natural operation of fire; whereas on the other side, every one fares the better for the company of those that are good. They are the lights of the world, the salt of the earth, the pillars of a nation, those that stand in the gap to prevent an inundation of judgment. Potiphar’s house was blessed for Joseph’s sake (Gen_39:5), and all the passengers in the ship were saved from drowning for St. Paul’s sake (Act_27:24).
3. For comfort. This is one of the principal ends of friendship, to ease and refresh a man amidst the anxieties of life; and there is nothing of greater efficacy to this purpose. But now this cannot be expected from any wicked person; whereas, on the other side, those that are wise in the phrase of the text are the most delightful company that are.
4. And lastly, for profit. There is nothing to be expected from such friends but the increase of our sins and of our punishments; whereas in conversing with those that are good there are these advantages—
   (1) Their example will by degrees insinuate into the mind, and obtain the force of precepts, exciting us to a holy emulation.
   (2) Their very presence will affect us with some kind of awe against evil.
   (3) Their conference, wholesome and savoury, administering grace to the hearers.
   (4) Their counsel, faithful, and wise, and hearty.
   (5) Their prayers powerful, ready. And it is not easily imaginable what an advantage that is, to have a praying friend or companion.
   There are three lessons I would briefly insist upon in the application of it.
5. That we would take notice of the great benefit to be obtained by the right improvement of society and mutual converse with one another.
6. That we of this place would be careful, both for ourselves and those committed to our charge, in the right choice of our friends and Company.
7. That we would labour for those proper qualifications and abilities which may render us acceptable and useful in our conversing with others. There are four conditions, amongst many others, that are more especially suitable to this purpose—
   (1) A readiness to communicate, according to the gifts we have received, so ministering the same one to another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
   (2) Humility. That is a sociable grace, lovely in itself, and acceptable to all.
   (3) Prudence, in distinguishing of men’s tempers, prejudices, infirmities; in discerning of the right seasons and advantages to do good amongst them.
   (4) Ingenuity and candour of disposition, in owning of our own weaknesses or faults, another’s gifts or pre-eminences. (John. Wilkins.)

The evils of bad company
“A man is known by the company that he keeps.” The proverb is illustrated by the experience of all ages.
I. Of necessary intercourse with the wicked.

1. In society and trade. Conversation is permitted in buying, selling, and following out ordinary commercial transactions.
2. We may have intercourse with others for their good. Christ Jesus conversed with sinners to gain them.
   II. Avoid unnecessary familiarity. Avoid the sins of the ungodly. If impelled by position, connection, or business to associate, beware of compliance in sin. The nearest tie cannot sanction participation in sin. Many reasons dissuade from undue familiarity. You cannot be familiar and escape contagion. The conversation of the wicked has more power to corrupt than the conversation of the good to ameliorate. These observations are peculiarly addressed to the young whose habits are, forming, whose character is moulding.
   III. Some classes of dangerous characters to be avoided by the young man.
3. Beware of the idle. Idleness exposes to all forms of temptation.
4. Beware of the selfish and covetous. There is grave danger that you be affected with this spirit, and your sole determination be by all means to get wealth. Covetousness is a deceitful sin. It leads to innumerable evils.
5. Beware of the loose and erroneous. Those who are neglecting religion. The Sabbath-breaker. Those naturally disposed to error.
6. Beware of those who frequent suspicious places. Choose for companions persons of moral worth, those who fear the Lord. (Samuel Spence.)

Companionship with the highest wisdom
It is as we contemplate the Divine perfections that our souls are lifted toward the same perfection. The man who moves in cultivated society acquires refined tastes—a high ideal. The eye is educated by the most perfect specimens of art; the ear is educated by the most graceful forms of speech; the manners are formed upon the most elegant models of deportment. Walking in the light, he becomes a child of the light. So with the believer. The coteries of human society may be closed to him. From its select circles he may be hopelessly excluded. But the highest culture of all is open to him in the society of God. He may walk in the supernal light, and form his character upon a Divine model. Communion in the spiritual sphere, as well as in the social, implies assimilation. We become like those we walk with. (J. Halsey.)

Godly society improving
When General Nicholson lay wounded on his death-bed before Delhi, he dictated this last message to his equally noble and gallant friend, Sir Herbert Edwardes: “Tell him I should have been a better man if I had continued to live with him, and our heavy public duties had not prevented my seeing more of him privately. I was always the better for a residence with him and his wife, however short. Give my love to them both!” (Christian Weekly.)

Society operates for good or ill
If we desire to be preserved from sin, let us avoid engaging company; many perseus would resist the force of natural inclination, but when that is excited by the example of others, they are easily vanquished. A pure stream passing through a sink will run thick and muddy. And the “evil communication” will leave some of its corrupting influence to pollute the purest morals. On the contrary, society with the saints is a happy advantage to make us like them. As waters that pass through medicinal minerals do not come out the same waters, but, being impregnated with their properties, they derive a healing tincture from them, so it is impossible to be much with the Lord’s people without imbibing something of their motives and principles, and a desire to be influenced by their spirit. No society can be to us a matter of indifference, but must operate for good or ill. The present world is a continual temptation. We are in a state of warfare; though not always in fight, yet always in the field, exposed to our spiritual enemies that war against our souls: and our vigilance and care should be accordingly. (G. H. Salter.)

Proverbs 13:21
Evil pursueth sinners:but to the righteous good shall be repaid.
The practice of wickedness generally attended with great evil
The practice of righteousness is men’s true interest, even in this present life. Wickedness is generally attended with great misery, even here as well as hereafter. Exceptions must, of course, be made in cases of persecution for truth and righteousness’ sake.

1. Consider mankind in general, under the notion of one universal community. Then the only thing which distinguishes men from wild beasts, with regard to any true happiness of life, is religion, or a sense of the just and right, and of the difference between moral good and evil. Reason, dissociated from moral obligation, only makes men more effectually destroy one another. Reason implying a sense of moral obligation is the secret of happiness in human life.
2. Take a less general view of mankind, in their more restrained political capacity, as formed into particular distinct nations and governments. In this view the only true and lasting happiness depends on the practice of righteousness and true virtue. In proportion as justice, and order, and truth, and fidelity prevail, the happiness of society is secured.
3. Consider men singly, every one in his mere private and personal capacity. Still the only possibility of lasting happiness is the practice of righteousness, charity, temperance, and universal virtue. Illustrate in relation to health; riches, honour, and reputation; inward peace and satisfaction in a man’s own mind. Here virtue triumphs absolutely without control, and has no competitor. (S. Clarke.)

Sin and its punishment
The pursuit is a successful pursuit. The evil not only follows the transgressor, but it lays hold of him at last, and wrings out its penalties. Much sin is committed in spite of the remonstrance of conscience, and with the secret acknowledgments, on the part of the perpetrator, that he is doing wrong, and exposing himself to punishment. These men must have some specific with which they quiet their apprehensions, and procure for themselves an ease in the doing of what they know to be wrong. Direct attention to one form of deceit—the expectation of concealment, and therefore of impunity. It is unquestionably thus in regard of those offences of which human laws take cognisance. And much sin is committed with the secret hope that God will not observe it, or that He will not be extreme to take vengeance. It is false to suppose that any sin will pass without recompense just because Christianity is a system which provides in full measure for its forgiveness. Our redemption through Christ does not at all exempt from the temporal penalties of sin. It so makes future happiness dependent on present holiness that every pardoned sin may be punished with the loss of something glorious in eternity. It is a mistaken objection to Christianity that the arrangements of the Christian system secure a certain class of men against the being pursued and overtaken in their sins, because it takes for granted that forgiven sin must go wholly unpunished. Evil “pursueth”; that is, hunts the sinner with the greatest pertinacity, tracking him through the various scenes of life, and then, when the man fancies he is safe, suddenly darting upon him, and exacting all the punishment. Illustrate by the vices and follies of youth-time, or by the mere idling away of the early years of life. No sin can ever be committed which is not, in one way or another, punished by God. This is true of sins committed after conversion, as well as before conversion. Then let no man depart and think that he may sin yet one more sin and not eventually be a sufferer. (Henry Melvill, B. D.)

Destiny following character
That retributory justice tracks our footsteps, is a doctrine as old as the race. It grows out of the conscience, and is confirmed by the experience of mankind. The Nemesis of the heathen, which was a mysterious pursuer of character, was only a personification of the doctrine. Misery grows out of sin, and happiness out of goodness.
I. The law of moral causation shows this. Man’s character is not the creation of a day or an hour, it is the result of past actions. When no change has taken place, like that of regeneration, the man’s character to-day is the result of the whole of his past life, and will be, without such a renovation, the cause of the whole of his future. Character is a fruitful tree, it never ceases bearing, every branch is clustered, but the fruit is either misery or happiness, according to its own vital essence.
II. The constitution of moral mind shows this. Moral mind has at least two faculties.

1. One to recall the past. The law of memory compels us to re-live our past lives.
2. One to feel the past. The past does not flit before us as shadows on the wall, as images on the glass, making no impression; it falls on conscience, it stirs it into feeling. The soul is compelled to shudder at a wicked past, whilst a virtuous past fills it with a quiet and ineffable delight.
   III. The teaching of holy writ shows this. The Bible assures us that God will render to every man according to his deeds (Jos_7:20-26; Rom_2:6-10). (D. Thomas, D. D.)

Proverbs 13:22
A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children’s children
The inheritance of a good man’s children
The happiness of men depends less on their external conditions than on their personal virtues.
“A good man is satisfied from himself.” The effects of a man’s habits are transmitted to his children, and even to their descendants. They derive from his character a sufficient and a permanent inheritance.
I. The instruction of a good man is an inheritance to his children. The habits which a young man acquires under his father’s eye are the foundations of his character. Even talents are subordinate to virtues, and good affections are of more importance in human life than the most splendid ornaments of an unprincipled mind. He who adds to good paternal character the principles of liberal knowledge and the views of a liberal mind sends his children into the world with those precious endowments without which the wealth of the rich serves only to render them more conspicuously contemptible or unhappy. Men of the same worth are not equally qualified for the duties of parental tuition, and their children have not the same advantages. But there is a minuteness and an affection in the paternal care of a good man which supplies the lack of many talents. His children venerate his intentions, even where his judgment has failed him.
II. The example of a good man is an inheritance to his children. The character of a father lies at the foundation of his influence, and the effect of his paternal solicitude depends on it. His habits are his most successful admonitions, and the examples of religion and probity which his children receive from the general tenor of his temper and conduct are his most permanent instructions. If he has convinced his children that he derives his motives and his consolations from the sincerity of his faith, and that he allows no competition to be in his mind betwixt the praise of men and the approbation of God, his example does more to determine their habits than his best instructions. There are certainly defects in all human characters which render our best examples to our children very imperfect. But even habitual errors in a good man are not vices, and defects and infirmities do not prevent the influence of substantial virtues.
III. The care and protection of providence are an inheritance to a good man’s children. A good man will use his best endeavour to qualify his children for the business and duties of life; but his chief dependence is on Providence. He commits his children to God. His paternal labours are sanctified by prayer. It is an ever-working law that God “shows mercy unto thousands of them that love Him,” and to their children after them. The testimony of ages shows that this law has its full effect, and warrants the confidence with which devout men commit their children to God. The influence of God on the circumstances which regulate our lot is real and perpetual, amidst all the irreligion and incredulity of the world. The plan of Providence is not so uniform as to render it certain that the children of good men will be always prosperous, Their own misconduct often determines their conditions; so may errors in their early education; so may the moral discipline which they require.
IV. The kindness of faithful men is an inheritance to a good man’s children. Their success in life must in part depend on the assistance and the friendship of other men, and the purposes of Providence in their favour are accomplished by means of those whom God raises up to assist, or to guide them. God selects the instruments of His purpose from all the variety of human characters. Kindness done to the child of a good man may become the means of transmitting virtue and prosperity through successive generations. Practical conclusions:

1. The indispensable obligation of every father to give to his children the inheritance of the faithful.
2. The children of good men ought anxiously to preserve the moral and religious advantages which they have received from their fathers.
3. Every conscientious man should feel a personal obligation to help in ensuring to the children of good men the inheritance bequeathed to them by their fathers. (Sir H. M. Wellwood.)

The advantage of having godly parents
What so interesting as children? Children are pledges of mutual and hallowed affection. Love to children is the source of numberless and unutterable hopes and fears, and pains and pleasures. It is the emblem of Divine compassion. “As a father pitieth his children.” If parents are affected by the condition of children, children are affected by the conduct of parents. We constantly see children, in ways innumerable, suffering for the vices of their ancestors. The fact is undeniable; and deism has to encounter the same difficulty with revelation. Religion is no more chargeable with it than the course of nature. On the other hand, goodness operates powerfully and beneficially in descent. In the text we have a godly father entailing blessings on his family.
I. The character in question is a good man. None are good perfectly; none are good naturally; some are saved, and God has begun a good work on them. This is the origin of the character; but what are the features of it?

1. In a good man we must have piety.
2. We must have sincerity.
3. We must have uniformity.
4. We must have benevolence and beneficence.
   II. Such a good man may be found in connected life. His religion will improve all those views and feelings that tend to make him social and useful. The Scripture knows nothing of any pre-eminence attaching to celibacy. Though the subject is spoken of in reference to the man, the woman is by no means excluded. To a family, a good mother, no less than a good father, is an invaluable blessing.
   III. Examine what the inheritance is which a good man leaves to his offspring.
5. It comprehends religious instructions.
6. Pious example.
7. It takes in believing prayers.
8. It consists of sanctified substance.
9. The death of a good man is another part of this inheritance.
10. God bears a regard to the descendants of His followers. (William Jay.)

The wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just.—
Material wealth
I. As entailed by the good and alienated by the evil. Here we have it—

1. Entailed by the good. “A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children’s children.” It is a characteristic in man that he feels an interest in posterity. This is an indication of the greatness of man’s nature. It is here intimated by Solomon that the good have some special security by which their property shall descend to their children’s children. And truly they have; and what is it? The probable goodness of their children’s children.
2. Alienated by the evil. Wickedness, from its very nature, cannot hold property through many generations: the fortunes it inherits must crumble away.
   II. As gained by industry and squandered by imprudence. Every acre of land is full of potential wealth. Skilled industry can make more of one rood of earth than some men can an acre. But it requires even more sense to retain and rightly use property than to get it. (Homilist.)

An inheritance that will wear
When the renowned Admiral Haddock was dying he begged to see his son, to whom he thus delivered himself—“Notwithstanding my rank in life and public services for so many years, I shall leave you only a small fortune; but, my dear boy, it is honestly got, and will wear well; there are no seamen’s wages or provisions in it, nor is there one single penny of dirty money.”

Proverbs 13:23
Much food is in the tillage of the poor: but there is that is destroyed for want of judgment.
The responsibility, cultivation, and harvest of small gifts
Palestine was a land of small peasant proprietors, and the institution of the Jubilee was intended to prevent the acquisition of large estates by any Israelite. The consequence, as intended, was a level of modest prosperity. It was “the tillage of the poor,” the careful, diligent husbandry of the man who had only a little patch of land to look after, that filled the storehouses of the Holy Land. Hence the proverb of our text arose. In all work it is true that the bulk of the harvested results are due, not to the large labours of the few, but to the minute, unnoticed toils of the many. Small service is true service, and the aggregate of such produces large crops. Spade husbandry gets most out of the ground. Much may be made of slender gifts, small resources, and limited opportunities if carefully calculated. This text is a message to ordinary, mediocre people, without much ability or influence.
I. It teaches the responsibility of small gifts. It is no mere accident that in our Lord’s great parable He represents the man with the one talent as the hider of his gift. There is a certain pleasure in the exercise of any kind of gift, be it of body or mind; but when we know that we are but very slightly gifted by Him, there is a temptation to say, “ Oh, it does not matter much whether I contribute my share to this, that, or the other work or no. I am but a poor man. My half-crown will make but a small difference in the total. I am possessed of very little leisure. The few minutes that I can spare for individual cultivation, or for benevolent work, will not matter at all. I am only an insignificant unit; nobody pays any attention to my opinion. It does not in the least signify whether I make my influence felt in regard of social, religious, or political questions, and the like. I can leave all that to the more influential men. It is a good deal easier for me to wrap up this talent—which, after all, is only a threepenny-bit, and not a talent,—and put it away and do nothing.” Yes, but then you forget that there is a great responsibility for the use of the smallest, as there is for the use of the largest, and that although it did not matter very much what you do to anybody but yourself, it matters all the world to you. But then, beside that, my text tells you that it does matter whether the poor man sets himself to make the most of his little patch of ground or not. “There is much food in the tillage of the poor.” The slenderly endowed are the immense majority. The great men and wise men and mighty men and wealthy men may be counted by units, but the men that are not very much of anything are to be counted by millions. And unless we can find some stringent law of responsibility that applies to them, the bulk of the human race will be under no obligation to do anything either for God or for their fellows, or for themselves. Let me remind you, too, how the same virtues and excellences can be practised in the administering of the smallest, as in that of the greatest gifts. “He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much.” If you do not utilise the capacity possessed you increase the crop of weeds from its uncultivated clods. We never palm off a greater deception on ourselves than when we try to hoodwink conscience by pleading narrow gifts as an excuse for boundless indolence, and to persuade ourselves that if we could do more we should be less inclined to do nothing. All service coming from the same motive and tending to the same end is the same with God.
II. But now, note again how there must be diligent cultivation of the small gifts. The inventor of this proverb had looked carefully and sympathetically at the way in which the little peasant proprietors worked; and he saw in that a pattern for all life. There will usually be little waste time, and few neglected opportunities of working in the case of the peasant whose subsistence, with that of his family, depends on the diligent and wise cropping of the little patch that does belong to him. And so if you and I have to take our place in the ranks of the two-talented men, the commonplace run of ordinary people, the more reason for us to enlarge our gifts by a sedulous diligence, by a keen look-out for all opportunities of service, and above all by a prayerful dependence upon Him from whom alone comes the power to toil, and who alone gives the increase. The less we are conscious of large gifts the more we should be bowed in dependence on Him from whom cometh every good and perfect gift, and the more earnestly should we use that slender possession which God may have given us. Industry applied to small natural capacity will do far more than larger power rusted away by sloth. Who are they who have done the most in this world for God and for men? The largely endowed men? “Not many wise, not many mighty, not many noble are called.” The coral insect is microscopic, but it will build up from the profoundest depth of the ocean a reef against which the whole Pacific may dash in vain. It is the small gifts that, after all, are the important ones. So let us cultivate them the more earnestly, the more humbly we think of our own capacity. “Play well thy part; there all the honour lies.” God, who has builded up some of the towering Alps out of mica flakes, builds up His Church out of infinitesimally small particles—slenderly endowed men touched by the consecration of His love.
III. Lastly, let me remind you of the harvest reaped from these slender gifts when sedulously tilled. Two great results of such conscientious cultivation and use of small resources and opportunities may be suggested as included in that abundant “food” of which the text speaks. The faithfully used faculty increases. To him that “hath shall be given.” “Oh, if I had a wider sphere how I would flame in it, and fill it.” Then twinkle your best in your little sphere, and that will bring a wider one some time or other. Fill your place; and if you, like Paul, have borne witness for the Master in little Jerusalem, He will not keep you there, but carry you to bear witness for Him in imperial Rome itself. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)

Proverbs 13:24
He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes.
The child wisely chastened
Under this apparent severity is to be found the spirit of true kindness. It would seem as if the last word in the text were an emphatic word. There is a good deal of chastening, but it is not timely; the will has grown strong, the passions have acquired tenacious hold upon the mind, the chastening comes too late in life. It is the easiest of all things to spare the rod; it enables family life to proceed with fluency; it avoids all controversy and all painful collision as between the elder and the younger. For a time this is beautiful, so much so that people commend the family as one characterised by great harmony and union; on the contrary, it ought to be reprobated. The child that is wisely chastened comes to love the very hand that used the rod. Children must be taught that all things are not theirs, that the world is a place for discipline, and that all life is valuable only in proportion as it has been refined and strengthened by patient endurance. Let no merely cruel man take encouragement from these words to use the rod without measure, and to use it merely for the sake of showing his animal strength. That is not the teaching of the passage. The chastening is to be with measure, is to be timely, is to have some proportion to the offence that is visited, and is to give more pain to the inflicter of the punishment than to its receiver. Great wisdom is required in the use of the rod. The rod has to be used upon every man sooner or later; we cannot escape chastisement: we must be made to feel that the world is not all ours, that there are rights and interests to be respected besides those which we ourselves claim: the sooner that lesson can be instilled into the mind the better; if it can be wrought into the heart and memory of childhood it will save innumerable anxieties and disappointments in all after-life. (J. Parker, D. D.)

The wise use of the rod
The rod is to be taken for correction or punishment in general, not specifically for corporal punishment.

1. The rod should be the last resource. The cases in which it is necessary to appeal to the rod are very rare.
2. When the rod is used, be quite sure that a fault has been committed. Children are sometimes severely chastened when they have committed no fault, and this produces a sense of injury and a loss of confidence, which cannot fail to exert evil influences.
3. Let there be a due proportion between the fault and the correction.
4. Never chastise in a passion.
5. Let chastisement be preceded by, or accompanied with, earnest efforts to convince the offender of his fault.
6. Accompany the correction with a system of encouragement. (R. Wardlaw.)

The use of the rod
Properly treated and fully expanded, this subject of “the stick” would cover all the races of man in all regions and all ages; indeed, it would hide every member of the human family. Attention could be drawn to the respect accorded in every chapter of the world’s history, sacred and profane, to the rabdos—to the fasces of the Roman lictors, which every schoolboy honours (often unconsciously) with an allusion when he says he will lick, or vows he won’t be licked—to the herald’s staff of Hermes, the caduceus of Mercury, the wand of AEsculapius, the rods of Moses, and the contending sorceress—to the mystic bundle of nine twigs, in honour of the nine muses, that Dr. Bushby loved to wield, and which many a simple English parent believes Solomon, in all his glory, recommended as an element in domestic jurisdiction—to the sacred wands of savage tribes, the staffs of our constables and sheriffs, the highly-polished gold sticks and black rods that hover about the ante-rooms of courts at St. James or Portsoken. The rule of thumb has been said to be the government of this world. And what is this thumb but a short stick, a sceptre emblematic of a sovereign authority which none dares to dispute? “The stick,” says the Egyptian proverb “came down from heaven.” (J. Cordy Jeaffreson.)

Proverbs 13:25
The righteous eateth to the satisfying of his soul.
The satisfaction of the body determined by the condition of the soul
Bodily satisfaction is an essential element in our happiness so long as we are in this world. The text implies that the satisfaction of the body depends upon the condition of the soul; and this is a great truth greatly neglected. Consider what bodily satisfaction requires.
I. Bodily health. No food can satisfy a diseased body, a body whose organs and functions are out of order. But the condition of the soul has much to do with physical health. The anxieties, ill-tempers, recriminations, impure passions of a wicked heart, will soon reduce the body to disease, feebleness, and ruin. On the other hand, a true, virtuous, and happy soul tends to physical health. “A merry heart doeth good like medicine.” One thought can disorganise a healthy body and do much to restore a diseased one.
II. Bodily supplies. The supplies necessary to satisfy the body should be—

1. Of a right kind. A body restless with hunger would scarcely be satisfied with confectionery. Now, the condition of the soul has much to do with the kind of food. The soul not only modifies our natural appetites, but creates artificial ones, and hence supplies provisions for the body which are unnatural and unhealthy. The soul, by its working on the body’s appetites, has brought to the body’s table compounds unsatisfying and deleterious.
2. A right amount. An insufficient amount, even of right provisions, would leave the body unsatisfied. But the question of sufficiency also depends greatly on the soul. Indolence, extravagance, intemperance, bad management, often so reduce men’s material resources that they are left utterly destitute of the necessary food. These thoughts, we think, give an important meaning to the text, “The righteous eateth to the satisfying of his soul: but the belly of the wicked shall want.” A corrupt soul will evermore have a dissatisfied body. (Homilist.).

Proverbs 13:2
Comp. with the first clause of this verse Pro_12:14.
the soul] i.e. the desire (Pro_6:30, and Pro_13:4 below), or appetite. His desire is to inflict violence on others; it shall be fed, or satisfied, by violence inflicted on him. This is more forcible and preserves the parallelism better than the desire of the treacherous is for violence, R.V. marg.

Proverbs 13:3
keepeth … keepeth] Rather, guardeth … keepeth, R.V., the Heb. words being different. For the sentiment comp. Pro_10:19.

Proverbs 13:5
is loathsome] lit. stinketh. Comp. Ecc_10:1; Exo_5:21, where the same Heb. word occurs.
In R.V. marg. an alternative rendering is suggested: causeth shame and bringeth reproach.

Proverbs 13:6
keepeth] Rather, guardeth, as in Pro_13:3 above.
him that is upright in the way] “Heb. uprightness of way,” R.V. marg.
the sinner] “Heb. sin,” R.V. marg.

Proverbs 13:7
maketh] This rendering, which is retained in R.V. text, has its highest illustration in Christ Himself (Php_2:5-11; 2Co_8:9), and accords with the constant teaching of the N.T. (Php_3:7-9; 2Co_6:10; Luk_12:21; Rev_3:17). Some however, with R.V. marg., would render feigneth himself, in both clauses, makes himself out to be what he is not.

Proverbs 13:8
heareth] i.e. heedeth. Comp. Pro_13:1.
rebuke] Rather threatening; ἀπειλήν, LXX.
If wealth has its advantage in enabling its possessor to purchase deliverance from danger and death (as, for example, by paying a ransom to robbers, or a fine or bribe in a court of justice), so has poverty in conferring immunity from the perils by which the rich are threatened: cantabit vacuus coram latrone viator.

Proverbs 13:9
light … lamp] The change of word is doubtless designed. So our Lord is φῶς, and John Baptist λύχνος (Joh_8:12; Joh_5:35).
shall be put out] Comp. Pro_20:20, Pro_24:20.
The LXX. add to this verse:
“Deceitful souls go astray in sins;
But the righteous are pitiful and merciful.”

Proverbs 13:10
Only by pride cometh] Rather, By pride cometh only, R.V. Pride is sure to rouse opposition and lead to contention; whereas wisdom belongs to those who accept advice and avoid disputes.

Proverbs 13:11
by vanity] i.e. by untrustworthy methods, such as speculation, gambling, high rate of interest with poor security (comp. Pro_21:6), in contrast to hard work, by labour (lit. with the hand). The word vanity in this sense of what is unreliable and transitory is a key-word of the Book of Ecclesiastes.
The LXX. and Vulg. render in haste, quick returns, ἐπισπουδαζομένη (with the addition μετὰ ἀνομίας), festinata.

Proverbs 13:12
a tree of life] See Pro_3:18, note.

Proverbs 13:13
the word] sc. of God, as in Pro_16:20. The commandment, in the parallel clause, seems to make this clear, though the reference is not necessarily to the Law of Moses. See Introd. Ch. 1., p. 13.
The R.V. appears to suggest another rendering, handleth a matter negligently, by referring to Pro_16:20, where “he that giveth heed unto the word” in R.V. text is “he that handleth a matter wisely,” in R.V. margin, as in A.V. text. With this agrees ὄς καταφρονεῖ πράγματος, LXX. (adding a second form, however, of the proverb).
shall be destroyed] Rather, bringeth destruction upon himself, R.V. text.
The rendering, is bound by it (maketh himself a debtor thereto, R.V. marg.), i.e. cannot escape either from liability or from punishment, has much to commend it.

Proverbs 13:15
transgressors] Rather, the treacherous, R.V.
hard] rugged, R.V., i.e. harsh and forbidding, like a desert or rocky place (Deu_21:4) in contrast to the “favour” which “good understanding” “giveth,” or “getteth.” The LXX. render, is in destruction.

Proverbs 13:16
dealeth] Rather, worketh. He works with knowledge, turning it to good account for beauty and profit, as a cunning artificer does with precious metals, Exo_31:4-5, where the Heb. word is the same. This, however, is probably intended by dealeth, A.V. Comp. our use of the words deal, dealer, in connection with trade or traffic.
layeth open] Rather, spreadeth, A.V. marg., or spreadeth out, R.V. text, exposes it. “When your money is all in copper you may afford to throw it about, but when it is all in gold you have to be cautious.” Horton.

Proverbs 13:17
falleth] Hitzig and others, by a slight change of vowels, read bringeth, sc. those who sent him, which contrasts better with the bringing of health, or well-being by the faithful messenger. Comp. Pro_25:13.
mischief] Rather, evil, R.V.
This proverb must be read in the light of the then common employment of messengers charged with verbal tidings or instructions. The message would in such case depend greatly for its colour and consequences upon the character of the messenger.

Proverbs 13:19
but] If with R.V. we retain but, we must understand desire in the first clause in a good sense, as in Pro_13:12 : q.d. in spite of the sweetness of good desires accomplished, fools will not forsake evil to attain to it. Balaam’s desire, “let me die the death of the righteous” (Num_23:10), would have been “sweet to his soul” in its accomplishment, but it was abomination to him to depart from “the wages of unrighteousness.” (2Pe_2:15.)
Some, however, would understand the first clause as assigning a reason for what is stated in the second: Because the desire accomplished, &c., therefore it is abomination to fools to depart from the evil on which their heart is set.

Proverbs 13:20
He that walketh] Or (with a change of Heb. vowel points), Walk with wise men and be wise.
destroyed] Lit. be broken. See Pro_11:15, where the same word is rendered shall smart for it. He who is the companion of fools in friendship shall become their companion in destruction. Comp. Pro_1:10; Pro_1:18.

Proverbs 13:23
for want of judgment] Rather, by reason of injustice, R.V. The contrast is between substance gained by honest toil and substance lost by injustice: a poor man by hard labour makes his newly cultivated field yield him much; but you may see a rich man brought to ruin by dishonest practices. Comp. Jas_5:1-6.

Proverbs 13:24
betimes] Or, diligently, R.V. marg. See Pro_1:28 note.

Proverbs 13:1-25
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 13:1-25
Proverbs 13 – The Value of Correction
Pro_13:1
A wise son heeds his father’s instruction,
But a scoffer does not listen to rebuke.
a. A wise son heeds his father’s instruction: The fact that Solomon delivered this proverb to his own son does not make it any less true. Children are wise to listen to instruction from their parents.
b. A scoffer does not listen to rebuke: The scoffer is fool enough to reject all guidance and therefore never learns.
i. Does not listen: “Or, Heareth and jeereth; – as Lot’s sons-in-law, as Eli’s sons, and afterwards Samuel’s.” (Trapp)
ii. Instruction…rebuke: “The change to a stronger word in the second line—(‘rebuke’)—shows that he does not respond to any level of discipline.” (Ross)
Pro_13:2
A man shall eat well by the fruit of his mouth,
But the soul of the unfaithful feeds on violence.
a. A man shall eat well by the fruit of his mouth: Wise and good speech brings blessings of many different kinds, including the blessing of prosperity.
b. The soul of the unfaithful feeds on violence: Those who are unfaithful to God and His wisdom may find themselves supported by or through violence.
i. Feeds on violence: “Shall have that violence and injury returned upon themselves, which they have offered to others in word or deed.” (Poole)
Pro_13:3
He who guards his mouth preserves his life,
But he who opens wide his lips shall have destruction.
a. He who guards his mouth preserves his life: Wise and good words can preserve life. This is true both in a moment of crisis and over a lifetime.
i. Guards his mouth: “As the guard keepeth the gates in a siege. God hath set a double guard of lips and teeth before this gate, and yet, unless he himself set the watch, and keep the door, all will be lost.” (Trapp)
ii. “The old Arab proverb is appropriate: ‘Take heed that your tongue does not cut your throat’.” (Ross)
b. He who opens wide his lips shall have destruction: To speak too much is usually to find trouble, leading to destruction. Wisdom will guard the mouth and the words it speaks.
i. “How often have the foolish, headstrong, and wicked, forfeited their lives by the treasonable or blasphemous words they have spoken! The government of the tongue is a rare but useful talent.” (Clarke)
ii. “It has often been remarked that God has, given us two EYES, that we may SEE much; two EARS, that we may HEAR much; but has given us but ONE tongue, and that fenced in with teeth, to indicate that though we hear and see much, we should speak but little.” (Clarke)
Pro_13:4
The soul of a lazy man desires, and has nothing;
But the soul of the diligent shall be made rich.
a. The soul of a lazy man desires: It isn’t that the lazy man or woman lacks desire; they wish for many things. Yet they have nothing because they cannot or will not apply themselves to the work required to take desires to reality.
i. “The sluggard craves the fruit of diligence without the diligence that gains it.” (Bridges)
ii. “Affection without endeavour is like Rachel – beautiful, but barren.” (Trapp)
b. The soul of the diligent shall be made rich: As in most places in Proverbs, soul here is used in the sense of “life,” without so much reference to the non-material aspect of one’s being. Yet, it is true that diligence in spiritual things leads to spiritual riches and blessing.
i. “We often hear many religious people expressing a desire to have more of the Divine life, and yet never get forward in it. How is this? The reason is, they desire, but do not stir themselves up to lay hold upon the Lord.” (Clarke)
Pro_13:5
A righteous man hates lying,
But a wicked man is loathsome and comes to shame.
a. A righteous man hates lying: The righteous man or woman doesn’t just love truth and avoid the lie; they actually hate lying. Being godly, they have some of the love of the truth and hatred of the lie that God Himself has.
b. A wicked man is loathsome: The implication is that wicked men and women love the lie, and this makes them loathsome and repulsive. This will surely bring them to shame.
i. Comes to shame: “Makes himself contemptible and hateful to all that know him; there being scarce any reproach which men more impatiently endure, and severely revenge, than that of being called or accounted a liar.” (Poole)
Pro_13:6
Righteousness guards him whose way is blameless,
But wickedness overthrows the sinner.
a. Righteousness guards him whose way is blameless: A blameless life – certainly not free of sin, but a life of general righteousness and integrity – is honored and blessed by God. It is both the righteousness of God Himself and the righteousnessof the blamelessthat guards them.
b. Wickedness overthrows the sinner: Even as the blameless man or woman’s own righteousness guards them, so the sin of the sinner overthrows them. Deeds can reflect destiny.
i. The sinner: “Hebrew, the man of sin, who giveth up himself to wicked courses.” (Poole)
Pro_13:7
There is one who makes himself rich, yet has nothing;
And one who makes himself poor, yet has great riches.
a. There is one who makes himself rich, yet has nothing: Material riches and wealth may be of little account for happiness in this world and especially in the world to come. One may work hard to make himself rich yet find at the end of it all that he has nothing. Solomon wrote about these principles in Ecclesiastes.
i. “Our own age abounds with men who have made themselves rich, and yet have nothing. They have amassed great wealth, and yet it has no purchasing power in the true things of life. It cannot insure health, it brings no happiness, it often destroys peace.” (Morgan)
b. And one who makes himself poor, yet has great riches: There are those who willingly make themselves poor on a material level, and do so out of generosity to others or out of fixed spiritual priorities. Such ones have great riches in this life and in the life to come.
i. Morgan saw the key to this proverb in its use of self in both the first and second lines. “To make self rich, is to destroy the capacity for life. To make self poor, by enriching others, is to live.”
ii. The greatest occasion of anyone making himself poor, yet gaining great riches through it was that of Jesus Christ. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich (2Co_8:9).
Pro_13:8
The ransom of a man’s life is his riches,
But the poor does not hear rebuke.
a. The ransom of a man’s life is his riches: A man’s life can be measured in many ways. One of those measurements – though by no means the best measurement – is his riches. In a time of crisis, a man’s riches may well ransom his life.
i. His riches: “They may help a man out at a dead lift, and get him a release out of captivity, or a lease of his life. ‘Slay us not,’ say they, [Jer_41:8] ‘for we have treasures in the field. So he forebore, and slew them not among their brethren.’” (Trapp)
ii. The ransom of a man’s life: “But what can a person give in exchange for his soul (Mat_16:26)? It is too precious to be redeemed with corruptible silver and gold (1Pe_1:18). When all the treasures of earth were insufficient for this ransom, the riches of heaven were poured out (1Pe_1:19; Heb_10:5-8).” (Bridges)
b. The poor does not hear rebuke: Most commentators take this in a positive sense, with the idea that the poor will never find himself in the same trouble as the rich man who must ransom his life with his riches.
i. Morgan explains the thought in the positive sense: “That is to say that if wealth has its advantages, so also has poverty. The rich man by his wealth may be able to conserve his life, but the poor man escapes the very dangers into which the rich are brought.”
ii. “Those who have riches have often much trouble with them; as they had much trouble to get them, so they have much trouble to keep them. In despotic countries, a rich man is often accused of some capital crime, and to save his life, though he may be quite innocent, is obliged to give up his riches; but the poor, in such countries, are put to no trouble.” (Clarke)
iii. If taken in a negative sense, then here Solomon considered those whose poverty comes from their moral failings. Certainly, not everyone who is poor is in that condition because of their unwillingness to hear rebuke, but some are. Their foolish rejection of wisdom leads them to poverty.
Pro_13:9
The light of the righteous rejoices,
But the lamp of the wicked will be put out.
a. The light of the righteous rejoices: Righteousness – godliness as expressed in real life – is associated with light and with rejoicing. There is something wrong with the person who claims to be righteous yet rarely has evidence of light and rejoicing.
b. The lamp of the wicked will be put out: The righteousare associated with light, but the wicked with darkness. The darkness conceived of here is one that is imposed by the judgment of a righteous God (will be put out).
i. “The proverb contrasts the enduring wealth of the righteous with the extinction of the wicked and implicitly their wealth.” (Waltke)
Pro_13:10
By pride comes nothing but strife,
But with the well-advised is wisdom.
a. By pride comes nothing but strife: Pride – excessive self-focus and self-regard – constantly generates strife. When people are focused on their own exaltation they will always attempt to advance themselves at the expense of others.
i. Nothing but strife: “Pride is a dividing distemper; gouty swollen legs keep at a distance; bladders blown up with wind spurt one from another, and will not close; but prick them, and you may pack a thousand of them in a little room.” (Trapp)
ii. “Perhaps there is not a quarrel among individuals in private life, nor a war among nations, that does not proceed from pride and ambition…. It was to destroy this spirit of pride, that Jesus was manifested in the extreme of humility and humiliation among men. The salvation of Christ is a deliverance from pride, and a being clothed with humility. As far as we are
humble, so far we are saved.” (Clarke)
b. With the well-advised is wisdom: Those who listen to and receive the counsel of others walk in wisdom.
Pro_13:11
Wealth gained by dishonesty will be diminished,
But he who gathers by labor will increase.
a. Wealth gained by dishonesty will be diminished: This may be because God’s blessing is not upon wealth gained by dishonesty, or because such wealth was not gained by the habits of life that earn and retain wealth.
i. “The metaphor of getting money from a vapor suggests what English speakers call ‘easy money,’ including tyranny, injustice, extortion, lies, and windfalls, at the expense of others.” (Waltke)
ii. “Wealth that is not the result of honest industry and hard labour is seldom permanent. All fortunes acquired by speculation, lucky hits, and ministering to the pride or luxury of others, etc., soon become dissipated. They are not gotten in the way of Providence, and have not God”s blessing, and therefore are not permanent.” (Clarke)
b. He who gathers by labor will increase: This happens with God’s blessing on honest labor and in the practice of habits that normally earn, retain, and increase wealth.
Pro_13:12
Hope deferred makes the heart sick,
But when the desire comes, it is a tree of life.
a. Hope deferred makes the heart sick: The strength of hope sustains the heart; when hope’s fulfillment is long delayed (deferred), it can make the heart sick.
i. “How many see we lie languishing at hope’s hospital, as he at the pool of Bethesda!” (Trapp)
ii. “Plaut elaborates that people can bear frustration only so long; they must have encouragement to continue (p. 153). Perhaps believers should make it part of their task to help others realize their hopes whenever possible.” (Ross)
b. When the desire comes, it is a tree of life: When hope’s desire finally is fulfilled it brings long-sustained life. This principle reminds us that though hope’s delayed fulfillment may even make the heart sick, it is worth it to endure the sense of sickness for the goodness of the fulfillment when it comes.
Pro_13:13
He who despises the word will be destroyed,
But he who fears the commandment will be rewarded.
a. He who despises the word will be destroyed: This principle may be fulfilled through the direct judgment of God upon those who commit the terrible sin of despising His word, or by the natural consequences of such folly.
b. He who fears the commandment will be rewarded: The one who not only understands and obeys but also properly respects and reverences God’s word (fears the commandment) will be rewarded both in this life and the life to come.
i. Word and commandment: “The use of these two terms has religious significance: they most often refer to Scripture. Kidner says that their use is a ‘reminder that revealed religion is presupposed in Proverbs.’” (Ross)
ii. Fears the commandment: “As Queen Elizabeth…who, when the Bible was presented to her as she rode triumphantly through London after her coronation, received the same with both her hands, and kissing it, laid it to her breast, saying that it had ever been her delight, and should be her rule of government.” (Trapp)
Pro_13:14
The law of the wise is a fountain of life,
To turn one away from the snares of death.
a. The law of the wise is a fountain of life: God’s word (the law of the wise) is a continual source of life for all who will receive it.
b. To turn one away from the snares of death: This is one way that God’s word brings life. Understanding and obeying God’s word will keep one away from many things that trap and destroy, both spiritual and material.
i. Snares of death: “Suggests that death is like a hunter.” (Ross)
ii. The snares of death: “There is only one fountain of life, but there are many snares of death (cf. 2Ti_2:24-26).” (Waltke)
Pro_13:15
Good understanding gains favor,
But the way of the unfaithful is hard.
a. Good understanding gains favor: This happens both from the blessing of God and simply from the way people relate and socialize with each other. Men and women of good understanding are more welcome among others because of the way they deal with people.
b. The way of the unfaithful is hard: Those who reject wisdom, and live lives unfaithful to God and man, will find life hard. They find many more obstacles and difficulties in their path and receive less help from others along the way.
i. This recalls a contemporary proverb, supposedly attributed to the actor John Wayne: Life is hard; it’s harder when you’re stupid.
ii. The way of the unfaithful is hard: “They dream of a flowery path, but they make for themselves a hard way…‘I was held before conversion,’ said Augustine, ‘not with an iron chain, but with the obstinacy of my own will.’” (Bridges)
iii. “Never was a truer saying; most sinners have more pain and difficulty to get their souls damned, than the righteous have, with all their cross-bearings, to get to the kingdom of heaven.” (Clarke)
Pro_13:16
Every prudent man acts with knowledge,
But a fool lays open his folly.
a. Every prudent man acts with knowledge: The wise and prudent man or woman not only has knowledge, but they act with it. Wisdom is more than in their mind, it is in their life.
b. A fool lays open his folly: The folly of the fool is plain for the world to see. It is open before God and man.
i. “Lacking this prudence, a fool exposes his folly. He pours out his wrath, vaunts his vanity, exposes his thoughtlessness, and exercises no judgment.” (Bridges)
Pro_13:17
A wicked messenger falls into trouble,
But a faithful ambassador brings health.
a. A wicked messenger falls into trouble: It could be often said that the wicked person falls into trouble, but this is even more so of the messenger, who has the responsibility to relay the message. This is a warning to those who are, or wish to be, messengers of God’s truth.
i. “The messenger is an example of a person charged with a serious responsibility. Those who are reliable are appropriately rewarded, but those who are not soon find themselves in serious trouble.” (Garrett)
ii. “‘The professional courier had to be courageous and bold and his training must have included the study of military strategy and tactics.’ They also enjoyed an extraordinary status that entitled them to privileged treatment: ‘Their names are amongst those of the very few names of officials which have come down to us in the literature.’ They were authorized to speak in the ‘I’ style of the client.” (Waltke)
b. A faithful ambassador brings health: An ambassador is a special kind of messenger, and those who are faithful in that duty bring goodness to others and to themselves. This is a blessing for those who are, or wish to be, ambassadors of God.
Pro_13:18
Poverty and shame will come to him who disdains correction,
But he who regards a rebuke will be honored.
a. Poverty and shame will come to him who disdains correction: We all make mistakes, but the man or woman who cannot be corrected will remain in their mistakes and never learn from them. This often leads to poverty and shame.
i. Waltke observed that Proverbs shows us that “There are many causes of poverty: laziness (Pro_10:4-5; Pro_12:24; Pro_13:4; Pro_15:19; Pro_19:15; Pro_20:4; Pro_20:13; Pro_21:25), love of pleasure and luxury (Pro_21:17; Pro_28:19), a propensity to talk instead of getting down to work (Pro_14:23), wickedness in general (Pro_13:25), and meanness (Pro_11:24). This proverb points to a more fundamental problem, namely, the refusal, like that of the horse and mule (Psa_32:9), to listen to the instructions that correct these flaws.”
ii. “Poverty due to moral failure brings disgrace, but poverty with virtue (Pro_17:1; Pro_19:1), such as from injustice (Pro_13:23), is not disgraceful.” (Waltke)
iii. “Proverbs takes a balanced position; it neither dehumanizes the poor on the grounds that they are to blame for all their troubles nor absolves the individual of personal responsibility.” (Garrett)
b. He who regards a rebuke will be honored: A rebuke never feels good, but when we properly regard it and learn from it, we will not repeat the same mistakes over and over. This leads to honor in this life and the life to come.
i. Regards a rebuke: “That considers it seriously, receiveth it kindly, and reformeth himself by it, shall be honoured, and enriched…Or if he do not always gain riches, he shall certainly have honour both from God and men.” (Poole)
Pro_13:19
A desire accomplished is sweet to the soul,
But it is an abomination to fools to depart from evil.
a. A desire accomplished is sweet to the soul: When our desires are fulfilled – especially when they are accomplished through hard work, discipline, and sacrifice – this is sweet to the soul and brings great life satisfaction.
b. It is an abomination to fools to depart from evil: The fool is so in love with his or her evil that they regard it as a terrible thing (an abomination) to depart from that evil. This shows that evil and folly are not surface problems; they are bound up deep within a person’s being.
i. “Men will not pay the price of departing from evil, and so fail of the sweetness of fulfilled desire.” (Morgan)
ii. “A person’s life depends on finding his drives and appetites satisfied. The frustrated fool goes from failure to failure, but the gratified righteous go from strength to strength.” (Waltke)
iii. “Holiness makes heaven; sin makes hell. So which place are the ungodly suited for? Hating holiness means that you are fit for hell.” (Bridges)
Pro_13:20
He who walks with wise men will be wise,
But the companion of fools will be destroyed.
a. He who walks with wise men will be wise: Good companions bring much good and wisdom to life. When we choose to associate ourselves with wise men and women, we will grow in wisdom.
b. The companion of fools will be destroyed: It is taken for granted that the companion of fools is a fool and will remain rooted in their folly. Their choice of companions proves their folly and shows their destiny: destruction.
i. Kidner quoted John Knox’s translation of the Latin Vulgate:
Fool he ends that fool befriends.
Pro_13:21
Evil pursues sinners,
But to the righteous, good shall be repaid.
a. Evil pursues sinners: By their very nature, sinners will pursue evil. Yet it is also true that evil pursues sinners. The power of evil and the evil one desire to keep sinners in their grasp.
b. To the righteous, good shall be repaid: The “reward” of sinners is for evil to chase after them. God’s righteous men and women have a much better destiny. Good shall be granted to them as they reap what they have sowed (Gal_6:7).
i. We remember the promise Jesus made: So Jesus answered and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My sake and the gospel’s, who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time —houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions —and in the age to come, eternal life.” (Mar_10:29-30)
ii. “God shall repay good. Now he is a liberal paymaster, and all his retributions are more than bountiful. Never did any yet do or suffer aught for God, that complained of a hard bargain. God will recompense your losses.” (Trapp)
iii. We also remember another of Jesus’ promises: Whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, assuredly, I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward. (Mat_10:42)
Pro_13:22
A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children,
But the wealth of the sinner is stored up for the righteous.
a. A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children: The blessing on the life of a good man is great enough that, upon his death, he has enough to give an inheritance not only to his children but to his grandchildren. This also shows the generosity of the good man.
i. More importantly, the good man passes an inheritance to his children and grandchildren greater than material wealth. He gives something money can’t buy: the gift of a good parent and grandparent, and the example of goodness and all that goodness entails.
ii. “He files many a prayer in heaven in their behalf, and his good example and advices are remembered and quoted from generation to generation.” (Clarke)
b. The wealth of the sinner is stored up for the righteous: The sinner may have wealth, and this may be a discouragement to the righteous. Yet confident in the judgments of God, the righteous know that all things are theirs and God can, if He wishes, transfer the wealth of the sinner to the righteous.
Pro_13:23
Much food is in the fallow ground of the poor,
And for lack of justice there is waste.
a. Much food is in the fallow ground of the poor: Most commentators understand this as a proverb in sympathy with the poor in both its first and second lines. In this thinking, the fallow ground of the poor exists because of the lack of justice mentioned in the second line.
i. “This is the declaration of an abiding truth that there is sustenance in the land, but men are excluded from it by injustice.” (Morgan) “According to this proverb, the lack of food for the hard-working poor is due to tyranny, not the environment.” (Waltke)
ii. Yet it is possible that the first line of this proverb rebukes those who are poor because of their lack of work or initiative. A wise man or woman might look at a piece of fallow ground and see much food that can be gained with hard work. Others may only see the hard work and disruption to a lazy life.
iii. Adam Clarke understood this as a rebuke of the lazy poor: “O, how much of the poverty of the poor arises from their own want of management! They have little or no economy, and no foresight. When they get any thing, they speedily spend it; and a feast and a famine make the chief varieties of their life.”
b. For lack of justice there is waste: The second line of this proverb speaks clearly of things that are wasted because justice does not prevail. When hard work is justly rewarded, and laziness is allowed its natural penalty there will be much less waste.
Pro_13:24
He who spares his rod hates his son,
But he who loves him disciplines him promptly.
a. He who spares his rod hates his son: The rod is a figure of correction (as previously in Pro_10:13), here including but not limited to the appropriate physical discipline of children. The one who refuses to discipline his child may feel they avoid it out of compassion for the child, but they are mistaken. The harm is potentially so great that it could be said that he hates his son.
i. Hates his son: “His fond affection is as pernicious to him as his or another man’s hatred could be.” (Poole)
ii. “It is as if one should be so tender over a child as not to suffer the wind to blow upon it, and therefore hold the hand before the mouth of it, but so hard as he strangles the child.” (Trapp)
b. He who loves him disciplines him promptly: Proper discipline for a child comes from both wisdom and love. Such correction will be done promptly, reinforcing the connection between the correction and error of the child.
i. “Eph_6:4 warns against undue severity; but the obligation remains. Proverbs itself exalts the place of tenderness, constructiveness and example, in this relationship: see, e.g., 4:3, 4, 11.” (Kidner)
ii. “The proverb is based on several assumptions. First, that the home is the basic social unit for transmitting values (cf. Exo_20:12). Second, that parents have absolute values, not merely valuations. Third, that folly is bound up in the heart of the child (Pro_22:15; cf. Gen_8:21). Fourth, ‘that it will take more than just words to dislodge it.’ (Waltke)
Pro_13:25
The righteous eats to the satisfying of his soul,
But the stomach of the wicked shall be in want.
a. The righteous eats to the satisfying of his soul: This principle was even more treasured in ancient times when only the relatively wealthy were able to eat as much as they pleased at a meal. God’s blessing on the righteous man or woman is often so great that they have material abundance that does them good.
i. It also speaks to having a soul that can be satisfied. “His desires are all moderate; he is contented with his circumstances, and is pleased with the lot which God is pleased to send.” (Clarke)
ii. “Although the word is used literally, in this gnomic proverb it can also be used metaphorically for the satisfying of the spiritual appetite.” (Waltke)
b. The stomach of the wicked shall be in want: This may be because of the judgment of God upon the wicked, but it is also true that the wicked and foolish life creates its own scarcity.
i. “Elijah was fed, first by ravens, afterwards by a widow, while the wicked country of Israel went hungry.” (Bridges)
ii. “The wicked, though he use all shifts and expedients to acquire earthly good, not sticking even at rapine and wrong, is frequently in real want, and always dissatisfied with his portion. A contented mind is a continual feast. At such feasts he eats not.” (Clarke)
iii. This principle was especially true according to the terms of the old covenant. “Abundance of food indicates a right relationship to the Lord and the community, but a lack of it signifies a failed relationship (cf. Pro_10:3; Deu_28:48; Deu_28:57; Jer_44:18; Eze_4:17).” (Waltke)

Proverbs 13:1-7
A wise son heareth his father’s instruction: but a scorner heareth not rebuke. A man shall eat good by the fruit of his mouth: but the soul of the transgressors shall eat violence. He that keepeth his mouth keepeth his life: but he that openeth wide his lips shall have destruction. The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing: but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat. A righteous man hateth lying: but a wicked man is loathsome, and cometh to shame. Righteousness keepeth him that is upright in the way: but wickedness overthroweth the sinner. There is that maketh himself rich, yet hath nothing: there is that maketh himself poor, yet hath great riches.
I pause at this last verse to ask the Reader if he hath marked the striking difference between the one here spoken of, as making himself rich, while poor; and the other, who having great riches, yet hath made himself poor. Every eye that reads what is here said, and looks into the world, may be struck with the application, when he seeth thousands like the church of the Laodiceans, fancying themselves rich, and increased with goods, and having need of nothing, while ignorant that they are wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked. Rev_3:17-18. In the spiritual sense of these words, (and it is in this sense that they are evidently spoken) what multiplied instances are every day occurring. But, Reader! passing for the moment the consideration of such characters by, you cannot need, I should hope, any help to enable you to discover one most eminently represented in the character of making himself poor, while possessing great riches: Must not every eye be directed instantly to the contemplation of the precious Jesus? Who but He hath ever so humbled himself, and manifested a lowliness of soul like him? Ye know, saith Paul to the Corinthian church, ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet, for your sakes, he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich. 2Co_8:9. And what another lovely account to the same effect is that passage of Paul, Php_2:5-11. But, Reader! do not pass over the verse, until that you have questioned your own heart, whether the conscious sense of Jesus’s unequalled humbleness, and his immense treasure, hath brought your soul in love with him? Hath he blessed you with such views of him, as to delight in him; such views as to desire him, and such views as to choose him for your portion?

Proverbs 13:8-12
The ransom of a man’s life are his riches: but the poor heareth not rebuke. The light of the righteous rejoiceth: but the lamp of the wicked shall be put out. Only by pride cometh contention: but with the well advised is wisdom. Wealth gotten by vanity shall be diminished: but he that gathereth by labour shall increase. Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.
Surely Christ is the hope of Israel, and if he who is the hope of Israel deferreth his visits to a sin-sick soul, that soul will languish? He is also the desire of all nations, and must be the desire of every truly, awakened heart, and when he cometh, he is indeed the tree of life in the paradise of God. Oh! what a verse of Christ and his fulness, suitableness, and blessedness is here? Jer_14:8; Hag_2:7; Rev_22:2.

Proverbs 13:13-20
Whoso despiseth the word shall be destroyed: but he that feareth the commandment shall be rewarded. The law of the wise is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death. Good understanding giveth favour: but the way of transgressors is hard. Every prudent man dealeth with knowledge: but a fool layeth open his folly. A wicked messenger falleth into mischief: but a faithful ambassador is health. Poverty and shame shall be to him that refuseth instruction: but he that regardeth reproof shall be honoured. The desire accomplished is sweet to the soul: but it is abomination to fools to depart from evil. He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.
Several blessed things are within these verses. The Wicked messenger, and the faithful ambassador: what a contrast for those who minister in the church of Christ to ponder over. The consideration of walking with the wise, and the awfulness of being the companion of fools, what volumes are contained in those short, but striking sentences for all to consider. Precious Jesus! Make all thy servants faithful! Keep thy saints from dangerous society. Be it my portion, Lord, to walk with thee!

Proverbs 13:21-25
Evil pursueth sinners: but to the righteous good shall be repayed. A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children’s children: and the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just. Much food is in the tillage of the poor: but there is that is destroyed for want of judgment. He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes. The righteous eateth to the satisfying of his soul: but the belly of the wicked shall want.
Lord, impress all thy ponderous truths upon my soul, and give me to search for thee in all thy word, as for hidden treasure.

Proverbs 13:25
REFLECTIONS
READER! amidst many sweet and blessed things which this chapter furnisheth for improvement in reflection, I feel my mind particularly led to contemplate yet more the grace of our Jesus, in his wonderful condescension as here expressed, in making himself poor, when possessed of all the riches of heaven and earth. There is somewhat in this view of Christ, extremely engaging; and when connected with that view, we consider the cause and design of it, surely it holdeth out one of the most delightful subjects the human mind is capable of contemplating.
Jesus, though Lord of all, made himself servant of all: and went on in a continued series of humiliation, until that he humbled himself unto the accursed death of the cross. So that it was grace in all his actions; grace in his first design, and grace in every purpose. And what an everlasting revenue of love, praise, and glory, must result from such acts of beneficence!
But, Reader! as an improvement from this view of Jesus, think what on opposition to this loveliness of Christ, must be the self-righteous; and if Christ be so truly amiable in this condescension, how truly unamiable must be the proud in his own self-importance! There is that maketh himself rich, and yet hath nothing. To be nothing is bad enough: and yet it is to be worse than nothing, when a man fancieth himself he is something, when in reality he is nothing. To be poor indeed in good works, and without holiness before God; and yet talking of our good works and holiness: to be blind to our own sin, and blind to Christ and his righteousness; and yet confident of our own worth; and fancying we have no great need of a Saviour: to be naked of all spiritual-cloathing to appear in before God; and yet taking to ourselves a covering, but not of God’s Spirit. – Reader! I pray you pause: can there be upon the face of the earth a more pitiable character? To have the spots of death upon us, and yet unconscious that we are sick. Oh! that souls in this state would hear, and attend to the blessed words of Christ. I counsel thee (saith Jesus) to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich: and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eye-salve, that thou mayest see. Precious Jesus! thou, who givest this counsel, give grace also to follow it!