American Standard Version Proverbs 27

Proverbs 27:1-27
EXPOSITION
Pro_27:1-6
These verses are grouped in pairs, each two being connected in subject.
Pro_27:1
Boast not thyself of tomorrow. He boasts himself (Pro_25:14) of tomorrow who counts upon it presumptuously, settles that he will do this or that, as if his life was in his own power, and he could make sure of time. This is blindness and arrogance. For thou knowest not what a day may bring forth. Our Lord gave a lesson on this matter in the parable of the rich fool (Luk_12:1-59.); and an analogous warning, based on our verse, is given by St. James (Jas_4:13, etc.). On this topic moralists and poets are always dilating. Very familiar are the words of Horace (’Carm.,’ 4.7, 17)—
“Quis scit, an adjiciant hodiernae crastina summae
Tempora di superi?”
Euripides, ’Alc.,’ 783—
Οὐκ ἔστι θνητῶν ὅστις ἐξεπίσταται
Τὴν αὔριον μέλλουσαν εἰ βιώσεται
Τὸ τῆστύχης γὰρ ἀφανὲς οἷ προβήσεται
Κἄστ οὐ διδακτόν οὐδ ἁλίσκεται τέχνη
“Every day in thy life,” says the Arab, “is a leaf in thy history.” Seneca wrote—
“Nemo tam divos habuit faventes
Crastinum ut possit sibi pelliceri,
Res deus nostras celeri citatas
Turbine versat.”
There is the adage, “Nescis quid serus vesper vehat.” The LXX. has, as at Jas_3:1-18 :28, “Thou knowest not what the next day (ἡ ἐπιοῦσα) shall bring forth.” (For the expression, ἡ ἐπιοῦσα, comp. Act_7:26; Act_16:11.)
Pro_27:2
Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth; Septuagint, “Let thy neighbour (ὁ πέλας) laud thee.” A stranger; גָכְרִי, properly, “an unknown person from an unknown country;” but, like זר in the former hemistich, used indifferently for “another” (see on Pro_2:16). “If I honour myself,” said our Lord (Joh_8:54), “my honour is nothing” And as St. Paul testifies (2Co_10:18), “Not he that commendeth himself is approved, but whom the Lord commendeth.”
Υπὲρ σαευτοῦ μὴ φράσῃς ἐγκώμια
said the Greek gnomist; and
Φίλων ἔπαινον μᾶλλον ἢ σαυτοῦ λέγε.
And a trite maxim runs, “In ore proprio laus sordet;” and an English one decides, “He who praises himself is a debtor to others.” Delitzsch quotes a German proverb (which loses the jingle in translation), “Eigen-lob stinkt, Freundes Lob hinkt, fremdes Lob klingt,” “Self-praise stinks, friends’ praise limps, strangers’ praise sounds.”
Pro_27:3
A stone is heavy, and the sand weighty; literally, heaviness of a stone, weight of the sand. The substantives are more forcible than the corresponding adjectives would be: the versions rather weaken the form of the expression by rendering, Grave est saxum, etc. The quality in the things mentioned is weight, heaviness, ponderosity; that is what we are bidden regard. A fool’s wrath is heavier than them both. The ill temper and anger of a headstrong fool, which he vents on those about him, are harder to endure than any material weight is to carry. Ecclesiasticus 22:15, “Sand and salt and a mass of iron are easier to bear than a man without understanding.” The previous verse asks, “What is heavier than lead? and what is the name thereof [i.e. of the heavier thing], but a fool?” Job speaks of his grief being heavier than the sand of the sea (Job_6:3).
Pro_27:4
Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous. Again substantives are used, as in Pro_27:3, “Cruelty of wrath, and overflowing of anger.” Figure to yourself the fierceness and cruelty of a sudden excitement of anger, or the bursting forth of passion which, like a flood, carries all before it; these may be violent for a time, yet they will subside when they have spent themselves. But who is able to stand before envy? or rather, jealousy. The reference is not so much to the general feeling of envy as to the outraged love in the relation of husband and wife (see Pro_6:34, and note there). So Pro_8:6, “Love is strong as death; jealousy is cruel as the grave: the flashes thereof are flashes of fire, a very vehement flame.” Such jealousy does not blaze forth in some sudden outbreak, and then die away; it lives and broods and feeds itself hourly with fresh aliment, and is ready to act at any moment, hesitating at no means to gratify itself, and sacrificing without mercy its victim. Septuagint, “Pitiless is wrath, and sharp is anger; but jealousy (ζῆλος) submits to nothing.”
Pro_27:5
Open rebuke is better than secret love. Love that is hidden and never discloses itself in acts of self-denial or generosity, especially that which from fear of offending does not rebuke a friend, nor speak the truth in love (Eph_4:15), when there is good reason for such openness—such disguised love is worse, more objectionable, less beneficial, than the plain speaking which bravely censures a fault, and dares to correct what is wrong by well-timed blame. To hold back blame, it has been said, is to hold back love. “I love not my friend,” wrote Seneca (’Ep.,’ 25), “if I do not offend him.” Plautus, ’Trinum.,’ 1.2, 57—
“Sed tu ex amicis certis mi es certissimus.
Si quid scis me fecisse inscite aut improbe,
Si id non me accusas, tu ipse objurgandus.”
Publ. Syr; ’Sent.,’ 16, “Amici vitia si feras, facis tua,” which Erasmus expounds by adding, “If you take no notice of your friend’s faults, they will be imputed to you.” Cicero (’De Amicit.,’ 24, 25) has some sensible remarks on this subject: “When a man’s ears are shut against the truth, so that he cannot hear the truth from a friend, the welfare of such a one is hopeless. Shrewd is the observation of Cato, that some are better served by bitter enemies than by friends who seem to be agreeable; for the former often speak the truth, the latter never … . As therefore both to give and receive advice is the characteristic of true friendship, and that the one should act with freedom, but not harshly, and that the other should accept remonstrance patiently and without resistance, so it should be considered that there is no deadlier bane to friendship than adulation, fawning, and flattery.”
Pro_27:6
Faithful are the wounds of friend. This and the next verse afford examples of the antithetic form of proverb, where the second line gives, as it were, the reverse side of the picture presented by the first. The wounds which a real friend inflicts by his just rebukes are directed by truth and discriminating affection (see Psa_141:5). But the kisses of an enemy are deceitful. So St. Jerome, Fraudulenta oscula odientis. But the verb here used (עתר) has the meaning, among others, “to be abundant or frequent;” hence it is better to take it in this sense here, as “plentiful, profuse.” An enemy is lavish with his Judas kisses to hide his perfidy and hatred. Septuagint, “More to be trusted are the wounds of a friend than the spontaneous (ἑκούσια) kisses of an enemy.” “Non omnis qui parcia,” wrote St. Augustine (’Ep.,’ 48, ’ad Vincent.’), “amicus est, neque omnis qui verberat, inimicus.”
Pro_27:7
The full soul loatheth an honeycomb. For “loathes” the Hebrew is literally “treads upon,” “tramples underfoot,” which is the expression of the greatest disgust and contempt; or it may mean that the well-fed man will not stoop to pick up the comb which may have dropped in his path from some tree or rock. But whichever way we take it, the same truth is told—Self-restraint increases enjoyment; over-iudulgence produces satiety, fatigue, and indolence. Horace, ’Sat.,’ 2.2, 38—
“Jejunus raro stomachus vulgaria temnit.”
But to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet. So the prodigal in the parable would fain fill himself with the husks which the swine did eat. So we say, “Hunger is the best sauce;” the Germans, “Hunger makes raw beans sweet;” and the Portuguese. “Brackish water is sweet in a dry land.”
Pro_27:8
As a bird that wandereth from her nest. Jerome’s avis transmigrans conveys to us a notion of a migratory bird taking its annual journey. But the idea here is of a bird which leaves its own nest either wantonly or from some external reason, and thereby exposes itself to d so comfort and danger (comp. Isa_16:2). So is a man that wandereth from his place; i.e. his own home (comp. Ecclesiasticus 29:21, etc; and 36:28 in Vet. Lat; “Quis credit ei qui non habet nidum, et deflectens ubicumque obscuraverit, quasi succinctus latro exsil ins de civitate in civitatem?”). The proverb indirectly inculcates love of one’s home and one’s native land. To be “a fugitive and a vagabond” (Gen_4:12) was a terrible punishment, as the Jews have learned by the experience of many centuries. Language and religion placed a barrier against residence in any country but their own (see Psa_84:1-12.); and though at the time when this book was probably written they knew little of foreign travel, yet they regarded sojourn in a strange land as an evil, and centred all their ideas of happiness and comfort in a home life surrounded by friends and countrymen. The word “wander” may have the notion of going into exile. Septuagint, “As when a bird flies down from its own nest, so is a man brought into bondage when he is banished (ἀποξενωθῇ) from his own place.” Some have reasoned from this expression that the idea of exile had become familiar to the writer, and hence that this portion of the Proverbs is of very late origin (Cheyne)—surely a very uncertain foundation for such a conclusion. The love of Orientals for their native soil is a passion which no sordid and miserable surroundings can extinguish, and a man would consider even a change of home an unmixed evil, though such change was not the result of exile. Our view of the fortunes of one who is always shitting his abode is expressed in the adage, “A rolling stone gathers no moss.”
Pro_27:9
Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart. (For the use of unguents in the honourable treatment of guests, see Pro_7:16, etc.; Pro_21:17.) Similarly, perfumes prepared from spices, roses, and aromatic plants were employed; rooms were fumigated, persons were sprinkled with rose water, and incense was applied to the face and beard, as we read (Dan_2:46) that Nebuchadnezzar ordered that to Daniel, in recognition of his wisdom, should be offered an oblation and sweet odours (see ’Dick of Bible,’ and Kitto, ’Cyclop.,’
voc. “Perfumes”). The heat of the climate, the insalubrious character of the houses, the profuse perspiration of the assembled guests, rendered this attention peculiarly acceptable (comp. So Dan_3:6). The LXX; probably with a tacit reference to Psa_104:15, renders, “The heart delighteth in ointments, and wines, and perfumes.” So doth the sweetness of a man’s friend by hearty counsel. This is rather clumsy; the Revised Version improves it by paraphrasing, that cometh from hearty counsel. The meaning is that as ointment, etc; gladden the heart, so do the sweet and loving words of one who speaks from the depths of his soul. The idea is primarily of a friend who gives wise counsel, speaking the truth in love, or shows his approval by discreet commendation. The LXX. has pointed differently, and translates, “But the soul is broken by calamities (καταῤῥήγνυται ὑπὸ (συμπτωμάτων);” Vulgate, “The soul is sweetened by the good counsels of a friend.”
Pro_27:10
Another proverb, a tristich, in praise of friendship. It seems to be a combination of two maxims. Thine own friend, and thy father’s friend, forsake not. A father’s friend is one who is connected with a family by hereditary and ancestral bonds; φίλον πατρῷον. Septuagint. Such a one is to be cherished and regarded with the utmost affection. Neither go into thy brother’s house in the day of thy calamity. The tried friend is more likely to help and sympathize with you than even your own brother, for a friend is born for adversity, and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother (Pro_17:17; Pro_18:24, where see notes). The mere blood relationship, which is the result of circumstances over which one has had no control, is inferior to the affectionate connection which arises from moral considerations and is the effect of deliberate choice. We must remember, too, that the practice of polygamy, with the separate establishments of the various wives, greatly weakened the tie of brotherhood. There was little love between David’s sons; and Jonathan was far dearer to David himself than any of his numerous brothers were. Better is a neighbour that is near than a brother far off. “Near” and “far off” may be taken as referring to feeling or to local position. In the former case the maxim says that a neighbour who is really attached to one by the bonds of affection is better than the closest relation who has no love or sympathy. In the latter view, the proverb enunciates the truth that a friend on the spot in time of calamity is more useful than a brother living at a distance; one is sure of help at once from the former, while application to the latter must occasion delay, and may not be successful. Commentators quote Hesiod, Ἔργ. καὶ Ἡμ; 341—
Τὸν δὲ μάλιστα καλεῖν ὅστις σέθεν ἐγγύθεναίει
Εἰ γάρ τοι καὶ χρῆμ ἐγκώμιον ἄλλο γένηται
Γείτονες ἄζωστοι ἔκιον ζώσαντο δὲ πηοί
Pro_27:11
My son, be wise, and make my heart glad. The exhortation of a father to his son, or of a teacher to his pupil. Such address is not found elsewhere in this latter portion of the book, though common in previous parts. Delitzsch translates, “become wise.” Σοφὸς γίνου, Septuagint. Such development of wisdom delights a father’s heart, as Pro_10:1; Pro_23:15, Pro_23:24. That I may answer him that reproacheth me (Psa_119:42; comp. Psa_127:5; Ecclesiasticus 30:2). If the pupil did not show wisdom and morality in his conduct, the teacher would incur blame for the apparent failure of his education; whereas the high tone of the disciple might be appealed to as a proof of the merit and efficacy of the tutor’s discipline. On the other hand, the evil doings of Hebrews often made the Name of God to be blasphemed among the Gentiles; just as nowadays the inconsistent lives of Christians are the greatest impediment to the success of missionary efforts in heathen countries. St. Jerome has, Ut possis exprobanti respondere sermonem. So Septuagint, “And remove from thyself reproachful words.” But the first person is in accordance with the Hebrew.
Pro_27:12
A repetition of Pro_22:3. The sentence is asyndeton.
Pro_27:13
A repetition of Pro_20:16. The LXX; which omits this passage in its proper place, here translates, “Take away his garment, for a scorner passed by, whoever lays waste another’s goods.”
Pro_27:14
He that blesseth his friend with a loud voice, rising early in the morning. What is meant is ostentatious salutation, which puts itself forward in order to stand well with a patron, and to be beforehand with other servile competitors for favour. Juvenal satirized such parasitical effusion (’Sat.’ 5.19)—
“Habet Trebius, propter quod rumpere somnum
Debeat et ligulas dimittere, sollicitus, ne
Tots salutaris jam turba peregerit orbem,
Sideribus dubiis, aut illo tempore, quo se
Frigida circumagunt pigri surraca Bootae.”
The “loud voice” intimates the importunate nature of such public trumpeting of gratitude, as the “rising early” denotes its inopportune and tactless insistency, which cannot wait for a convenient opportunity for its due expression. It shall be counted a curse to him. The receiver of this sordid adulation, and indeed all the bystanders, would just as soon be cursed by the parasite as blessed in this offensive manner, This clamorous outpouring of gratitude is not accepted as a return by the benefactor; he sees the mean motives by which it is dictated self-interest, hope of future benefits—and he holds it as cheap as he would the curses of such a person. The nuisance of such flattery is mentioned by Euripides, ’Orest.,’ 1161—
Παύσομαί σ αἰνῶν ἐπει_
Βάρος τι κὰν τῷ δ ἐστὶν αἰνεῖσθαι λίαν.
“Duo sunt genera prosecutorum,” says St. Augustine (’In Psalm.,’ 69), “sciliet vituperantium et adulantium; sed plus prosequitur lingua adulatoris, quam manus prosecutoris.” “Woe unto you,” said Christ (Luk_6:26), “when all men shall speak well of you.” “Do I seek to please men?” asked St. Paul (Gal_1:10); “for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.”
Pro_27:15-16
Pro_27:15 and Pro_27:16 form a tetrastich on the subject of the termagant wife.
Pro_27:15
The single line of the second clause of Pro_19:13 is here formed into a distich. A continual dropping in a very rainy day. “A day of violent rain,” סַגְרִיר (sagrir), which word occurs nowhere else in the Old Testament. And a contentious woman are alike. The word rendered “are alike” (נִשְׁתָּוָה) is usually taken to be the third perf. nithp. from שׁיה; but the best established reading, according to Hitzig, Delitzsch, and Nowack, is נִשְׁתָּוָה, which is regarded as a niph. with a transposition of consonants for נְשְׁוָתָה. Septuagint, “Drops of rain drive a man out of his house on a stormy day.” The ill-constructed roofs of Eastern houses were very subject to leakage, being flat and formed of porous material.
Pro_27:16
Whosoever hideth her hideth the wind. Whoever tries to restrain a shrewish woman, or to conceal her faults, might as well attempt to confine the wind or to check its violence. And the ointment of his right hand, which bewrayeth itself. He might as well try to hide the ointment which signifies its presence by its odour. But there is no “which” in the original, which runs literally, “his right hand calls oil,” or, “oil meets his right hand.” The former is supposed to mean that he is hurt in the struggle to coerce the vixen, and needs ointment to heal his wound; but the latter seems the correct rendering, and the meaning then is that, if he tries to hold or stop his wife, she escapes him like the oil which you try in vain to keep in your hand. An old adage says that there are three things which cannot be hidden, but always betray themselves, viz. a woman, the wind, and ointment. The LXX. has read the Hebrew differently, translating, “The northwind is harsh, but by name it is called lucky (ἐπιδέξιος);” i.e. because it clears the sky and introduces fine weather. The Syriac, Aquila, and Symmachus have adopted the same reading.
Pro_27:17
Iron sharpeneth iron. The proverb deals with the influence which men have upon one another. So a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend. So the Vulgate, Homo exacuit faciem amici sui. The action of the file is probably meant (1Sa_13:21); and the writer names iron as the sharpener rather than the whetstone, because he wishes to denote that one man is of the same nature as another, and that this identity is that which makes mutual action possible and advantageous. Some have taken the proverb in a bad sense, as if it meant that one angry word leads to another, one man’s passion excites another’s rage. Thus Aben Ezra. The Septuagint perhaps supports this notion by rendering, Ἀνὴρ δὲ παροξύνει πρόσωπον ἑταίρου. But the best commentators understand the maxim to say that intercourse with other men influences the manner, appearance, deportment, and character of a man, sharpens his wits, controls his conduct, and brightens his very face. Horace uses the same figure of speech, ’Ars Poet.,’ 304—
“Fungar vice cotis, acutum
Reddere quae ferrum valet, exsors ipsa secaudi.”
On the subject of mutual intercourse Euripides says, ’Androm.,’ 683—
Ἡ δ ὁμυλία
Πάντων βροτοῖσι γίγνεται διδάσκαλος
“Companionship
Is that which teaches mortals everything.”
Pro_27:18
Whoso keepeth the fig tree shall eat the fruit thereof. He who watches, tends, and cultivates the fig tree will in due time have the reward of his labour in eating its fruit. The abundance of the produce of this tree makes it a good figure of the reward of faithful service. Septuagint, “He that planteth a fig tree shall eat the fruits thereof” (2Ti_2:6). So he that waiteth on his maser shall be honoured. He who pays attention, has loving regard to his master, shall meet with honour as his reward at his master’s hands, and also from all who become acquainted with his merits. The gnome may well be applied to the case of those who do true and laudable service to their heavenly Master, and she shall one day hear from his lips the gracious word, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord” (
Mat_25:21).
Pro_27:19
As in water face answereth to face, so the heart of man to man; Vulgate, Quomodo in aquis resplendent vultus prospicientium, sic corda hominum manifesta sunt prudentibus. As in clear water the face of the gazer is reflected, so man finds in his fellow man the same feelings, sentiments, passions, which he has himself. He sees in others the likeness of himself; whatever he knows himself to be, he will see others presenting the same character. Self-knowledge, too, leads to insight into others’ minds; “for what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him?” (1Co_2:11). There is a solidarity in human nature which enables us to judge of others by ourselves. The difficulties in the construction and wording of the sentence do not affect the interpretation. They are, however, best met by rendering, with Delitzsch, “As it is with water, face corresponds to face, so also the heart of man to man.” Septuagint, “As faces are not like faces, so neither are the thoughts of men;” which is like the saying of Persius, ’Sat.,’ 5.52—
“Mille hominum species, et rerum discolor usus;
Velle suum cuique est, nec voto vivitur uno.”
Pro_27:20
Hell and destruction are never full. “Hell” is sheol, the under-world, Hades, the place of the departed; “destruction” is the great depth, the second death, personified (see on Pro_15:11, where the terms also occur). These “are never satisfied,” they are insatiable, all-devouring (comp. Pro_30:16; Isa_5:14; Hab_2:5). So the eyes of man are never satisfied. The verb is the same in both clauses, and ought to have been so translated. The eye is taken as the representative of concupiscence in general. What is true of “the lust of the eyes” (1Jn_2:16) is true of all the senses; the craving for their gratification grows as it is fed. Therefore the senses should be carefully guarded, lest they lead to excess and transgression. “Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity,” said the psalmist, “and quicken me in thy way” (Psa_119:37). The LXX. here introduces a paragraph not in the Hebrew or the Latin Versions: “He that fixes (στηρίζων) his eye [i.e. staring impudently] is an abomination to the Lord, and the uninstructed restrain not their tongue.”
Pro_27:21
Fining pot, etc. (see on Pro_17:3; comp. also Pro_25:4). So is a man to his praise. The Hebrew is literally, The crucible for silver, and the furnace for gold, and a man according, to his praise; i.e. as the processes of metallurgy test the precious metals, so a man’s public reputation shows what he is really worth, as is stated in Pro_12:8. As the crucible brings all impurities to the surface, so public opinion drags forth all that is bad in a man, and he who stands this test is generally esteemed. Certainly praise is a stimulus to exertion, an incentive to try to make one’s self worthy of the estimation in which one is held, especially if he purifies it from the dross and earthliness mixed with it, and takes to himself only what is genuine and just. But public opinion is very commonly false end is always a very unsafe criterion of moral excellence. Hence other interpretations have been proposed. Ewald renders, “and a man according to his boasting,” that is, according to that which he most praises in himself and others. So virtually Hitzig, Bottcher, Zockler, and others. In this view the gnome denotes that a man’s real character is best examined by the light cast upon it by his usual line of thought, what he most prides himself upon, what he admires most in other men. Plumptre, after Gesenius and Fleischer, has, “So let a man be to his praise,” i.e. to the mouth which praises him; let him test this commendation, to see what it is worth, before he accepts it as his due. The explanation first given seems on the whole most suitable, when we reflect that the highest morality is not always enunciated, and that secondary motives are widely recognized as factors in action and judgment. There are not wanting men in modern days who uphold the maxim, Vox populi, vox Dei. Septuagint, “The action of fire is a test for silver and gold, so a man is tested by the mouth of them that praise him.” No surer test of a man’s true character can be found than his behaviour under praise; many men arc spoiled by it. If a man comes forth from it without injury, not rendered vain, or blind to his defects, or disdainful of others, his disposition is good, and the commendation lavished upon him may be morally and spiritually beneficial. Vulgate, Sic probatur homo ore laudantis, “So is a man proved by the mouth of him that praises him.” The following passage from St. Gregory, commenting on this, is worth quoting, “Praise of one’s self tortures the just, but elates the wicked. But while it tortures, it purifies the just; and while it pleases the wicked, it proves them to be reprobate. For these revel in their own praise, because they seek not the glory of their Maker. But they who seek the glory of their Maker are tortured with their own praise, lest that which is spoken of without should not exist within them; lest, if that which is said really exists, it should be made void in the sight of God by these very honours; lest the praise of men should soften the firmness of their heart, and should lay it low in self-satisfaction; and lest that which ought to aid them to increase their exertions, should be even now the recompense of their labour. But when they see that their own praises tend to the glory of God, they even long for and welcome them. For it is written, “That they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven” (’Moral.,’ 26.62, Oxford transl.). The LXX. adds a verse which is not found in the Hebrew, but occurs in some manuscripts of the Latin Version, “The heart of the transgressor seeketh out evils, but an upright heart seeketh knowledge.”
Pro_27:22
Though thou shouldest bray a fool in a mortar among wheat with a pestle. “To bray” is to pound or beat small. “Wheat,” רִיפוֹת, riphoth (only in 2Sa_17:19), “bruised corn.” Vulgate, In pila quasi ptisanas (barley groats) feriente; Aquila and Theodotion, Ἐν μέσῳ ἐμπτισσομένων “In the midst of grains of corn being pounded.” The LXX; reading, differently, has, “Though thou scourge a fool, disgracing him (ἐν μεσῳ συνεδρίου) in the midst of the congregation.” Of course, the process of separating the husks from the corn by the use of pestle and mortar is much more delicate and careful than threshing in the usual clumsy way; hence is expressed the idea that the most elaborate pains are wasted on the incorrigible fool (see on Pro_1:20). His foolishness will not depart from him. An obstinate, self-willed, unprincipled man cannot be reformed by any means; his folly has become a second nature, and is not to be eliminated by any teaching, discipline, or severity. There is, too, a judicial blindness, when, after repeated warnings wilfully rejected and scorned, the sinner is left to himself, given over to a reprobate mind “Whoso teacheth a fool,” Siracides pronounces, “is as one that glueth a potsherd together, and as he that waketh one from a sound sleep” (Ecclesiasticus 22:7). Again, “The inner parts of a fool are like a broken vessel, and he will hold no knowledge as long as he liveth” (Ecclesiasticus 21:14). In Turkey, we are told, great criminals were beaten to pieces in huge mortars of iron, in which they usually pounded rice. “You cannot straighten a dog’s tail, try as you may,” says a Telugu maxim (Lane). There is a saying of Schiller’s which is quite proverbial, “Heaven and earth fight in vain against a dunce.” Horace, ’Epist.,’ 1.10, 24—
“Naturam expellas furca, tamen usque recurret.”
Juvenal, ’Sat.,’ 13.239—
“Tamen ad mores natura recurrit
Damnatos, fixa et mutari nescia.”
Pro_27:23-27
A mashal ode in praise of a pastoral and agricultural life. The moralist evidently desires to recall his countrymen from the luxury of cities and the temptations of money making to the simple ways of the patriarchs and the pleasures of country pursuits—which are the best foundation of enduring prosperity.
Pro_27:23
Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks. “State;” פנִים (panim); vultum, Vulgate; the face, look, appearance. The LXX. has ψυχάς, which may perhaps mean “the number”—a necessary precaution when the sheep wandered on the downs and mountains, and had to be collected in the evening and folded. These precepts are naturally applied to all rulers, and especially to Christian pastors who have the oversight of the flock of Christ (1Pe_5:2-4). Ecc_7:22, “Hast thou cattle? have an eye to them; and if they he for thy profit, keep them with thee.”
Pro_27:24
For riches are not forever; as Pro_23:5. Money and other kinds of wealth may be lost or wasted; it is therefore expedient to have the resources of agriculture, land and herds, to depend upon. Chosen (Pro_15:6), translated “riches,” is “strength,” “abundance,” “treasure laid up.” Delitzsch renders, “prosperity;” Septuagint, “A man has not strength and power forever;” Vulgate, Non habebis jugiter potestatem, i.e. “you will not always be able to tend your flocks; infirmity and old age will prevent you.” And doth the crown endure to every generation? The crown or diadem, נֵזֶר (nezer), is the symbol of royal authority, or of the highest dignity of the priesthood (Exo_29:6; Exo_39:30). These positions are not secure from generation to generation; much less stable, in fact, than the possession of farms and cattle. St. Jerome, Sed corona tribuetur in generationem et generationem, where corona is the headship of the family. Septuagint, “Neither doth he transmit it (his strength) from generation to generation.”
Pro_27:25
As Pro_27:23 commended the rearing of cattle, and Pro_27:24 supported the injunction by showing its comparative permanence, so this and the following verses discuss the material advantages of such occupation. The hay appeareth; rather, the grass passeth away, is cut and carried. This is the first stage in the agricultural operations described.
And the tender grass showeth itself; the aftermath appears. And the herbs of the mountain are gathered; the fodder from off the hills is cut and stored. All these verbs are best taken hypothetically, the following verses forming the apodosis. When all these operations are complete, then crone the results in plenty and comfort. Septuagint, “Have a care of the herbage (χλωρῶν) in the plain, and thou shalt cut grass, and gather thou the mountain hay.”
Pro_27:26
The Iambs are for thy clothing. Thy sheep will provide thee with clothing by their skin and wool, and by the money which thou wilt obtain by the sale of them. The goats are the price of the field; the sale of thy goats and their produce will pay for thy field if thou wish to buy it (see on Pro_30:31). Septuagint, “That thou mayest have sheep for clothing; honour thy land that thou mayest have lambs.”
Pro_27:27
Goats’ milk. Dr. Geikie (’Holy Land and Bible,’ 1.311) notes that in most parts of Palestine goats’ milk in every form—sour, sweet, thick, thin, warm, or cold—makes, with eggs and bread, the main food of the people. And maintenance for thy maidens; who milk the goats, etc; and tend the cattle, and do the household work. There is no mention of the use of animal flesh as food. It was only on great occasions, as high festivals, or the presence of an honoured guest, that kids, lambs, and calves were killed and eaten. This picture of rural peace and plenty points to a time of security and prosperity, free alike from internal commotion and external danger. The famous passage in Cicero, ’De Senect.,’ 15; on the pleasures and advantages of the agricultural life. will occur to all classical readers. So also Horace (’Epod.,’ 2), “Beatus ille qui procul negotiis,” etc. The LXX. makes short work of this verse, “My son, thou hast from me sayings mighty for thy life and for the life of thy servants.”
HOMILETICS
Pro_27:1
Boasting of the morrow
I. ITS FOLLY. No man is a prophet. At the best we can but calculate probabilities. The man who has never had a day’s illness may be suddenly laid low, struck down with paralysis, arrested by unsuspected heart disease, blood poisoned by a whiff of bad air from a drain, at death’s door from pneumonia caught in an unheeded draught. The business which looks fair and prosperous may suddenly collapse. The trusted bank may break. Our life is dependent upon so many unseen sources, and is affected by so many complicated circumstances, that no man can unravel the tendencies or predict the results. Astronomy is a simple science compared with sociology. The movements of the solar system are altogether more intelligible than those of the homeliest soul. We cannot predict our own conduct, Moreover, there are other minds to be considered. Above all, there is the inscrutable providence of God.
II. ITS DANGER. “Boasting of the morrow” leads to carelessness. The man who is confident without warrant is likely to be off his guard. Believing that all is safe, he does not fortify himself against a possible surprise of mischief. He is just in the condition most favourable for attack. The wily tempter is aware of this. Therefore the danger is all the greater because it is ignored. Thus Peter, weakened through over confidence, fell into sin, even though he had been warned against it.
III. ITS SIN. This is not merely a question of prudence and personal welfare. It touches our relations with God. He who boasts himself of the morrow acts either atheistically, denying the Divine control of life, or presumptuously, assuming without reason that God will aid his plans. Such conduct reveals a guilty pride. It is opposed to the humility of one who would bow low before the inscrutable providence of the Almighty.
IV. ITS PUNISHMENT. Such boasting is certain to be punished by failure. It would not be well to let it proceed to success, for such a result would only confirm and aggravate the evil habit. Partial and temporary victory may be attained, but ultimate triumph cannot be won in this way. God casts down and humbles the boaster, and in his shame he has an opportunity of learning wisdom.
V. ITS ANTIDOTE. This is not to be found in a cowardly shrinking from the future, nor is it to be had in a habit of despair, ever painting the days to come in the blackest hues, with the melancholy motto, “Blessed is he that expecteth little; for he shall not be disappointed.” The true antidote is to be discovered in a spirit of trust. God has indeed hung an impenetrable curtain between our vision and the land of the future. Even the very morrow dwells as yet in a land of darkness, and we vainly try to discern its features. But it is perfectly familiar to God, before whom all eternity is as a clear picture ever present. And God, who knows the future, controls it. Therefore we are safe when we trust; and, eschewing boastfulness, we can learn not to be anxious about the morrow, because we can trust our Father who holds the secrets of all the morrows in his hand.
Pro_27:2
Self-praise
I. SELF-PRAISE IS ILL FOUNDED. It may be true to fact, but we cannot be sure that it is.

1. Possibly it is insincere. So many motives of vanity and self-interest urge a person to pretend to be better than he is, that a certificate of merit given by himself on behalf of himself cannot be taken at a high value.
2. Probably it is delusive. Even when it is perfectly sincere it is likely to be perverted by unconscious misconceptions. It is very easy to be honestly mistaken as to one’s own worth. We are the worst conceivable judges of our own characters and deserts. Even when we can calmly and fairly estimate our powers we are likely to be very wrong in valuing our use of them.
   II. SELF-PRAISE SPRINGS FROM SELFISHNESS.
3. It reveals a self-regarding habit. If a man is given to expatiate on his own merits, he must be accustomed to turn his thoughts inwards; he must be familiar with the contemplation of himself. Now, this is not wholesome. The less a man thinks about himself the better for his own soul’s health.
4. It implies a desire of self-aggrandizement. There is usually a motive behind the habit of self-praise, and, though this may be nothing worse than childish vanity, it carries with it a desire for exciting the admiration of others; it aims at reaping a harvest of laudation. But possibly the end sought is more far reaching, and the pretentious person indicts his own testimonials with a deliberate intention of securing some tangible advantage thereby. The self-praise is then just an ugly, glaring blossom of selfishness.
   III. SELF-PRAISE PROVOKES JEALOUSY. It rarely secures the admiration that it seeks. On the contrary, it is generally received with suspicion; and even when it is honest and true, a large discount is taken off its claims.
5. Its defective authority is perceived. This is a point to which vanity is singularly blind. Yet all the weakness of the situation is apparent to every beholder; for it is universally recognized that a man is strongly tempted to make out a good case for himself, and that he is likely to be deceived into an inordinate estimate of his own value. Therefore self-praise is usually wasted.
6. It irritates the vanity of others. The tendency is for the hearer to imagine that the vain speaker desires to exalt himself at the expense of others. A comparison of merit seems to be challenged, and this at once rouses the jealousy of the audience. Thus self-praise does not win friends. What it may perhaps succeed in extracting in the form of admiration is paid for dearly by the dislike that it also creates.
   IV. SELF-PRAISE IS CONTRARY TO CHRISTIAN HUMILITY. It represent, a wholly alien spirit. Doubtless it is a common weakness of men who are truly Christian and kind hearted, for no man is perfect; but still it is a weakness, and it is foreign to the genius of the religion under which it finds a shelter. The often repeated rule of Christ is that “Whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased;” “The first shall be last.” The Due disciple is not to choose the upper seat in the synagogue. Humility, self-forgetfulness, the preference of others, are the Christian graces. Self-praise is useless before God.
   V. SELF-PRAISE ONLY AIMS AT WHAT CAN BE BETTER ATTAINED WITHOUT IT. “Let another man praise thee.” Self-praise silences the lips of admration from others. The truly humble man will not crave such admiration. But all men of right feeling must desire to stand well with their fellows. It is happy to feel that we have the respect and confidence of those whose opinion we value. Now, these encouragements are better secured by unpretentious merit, and humility in earnest, simple attempts to do right.
   Pro_27:6
   The wounds of a friend.
   The principle implied in this verse is apparent at a glance. It is better that one who loves and truly considers the interests of another should wound him for his good than that a superficial flatterer should refrain from doing so for the sake of pleasing and winning continuous favour. The only difficulties lie in the practical application of the principle.
   I. TRUE FRIENDSHIP WILL DARE TO WOUND. It is painful and difficult to do that which we know will grieve one who is greatly loved. Therefore if it is ready necessary it will put the love to the test.
7. True friendship considers the welfare of another. The chief thought is not on behalf of agreeable companionship, but as to what will really benefit one’s friend.
8. The welfare of another may require a painful treatment. There are so called “candid friends,” who secretly delight in saying unpleasant things. With such people there is no merit in giving pain, nor is it likely that much advantage will result from their rough conduct. But it may be possible to point out a friend’s mistakes, to warn him against temptation, to gravely deprecate his wrongful conduct, to make him feel his deterioration of character. Then, though the process must be keenly painful on both sides, love will attempt it.
   II. THE WOUNDS OF TRUE FRIENDSHIP
   SHOULD BE PATIENTLY RECEIVED.
9. The cost of thorn should be considered. If they do indeed come from a friend they show his genuine regard, his unselfish devotion. They also indicate how thorough is his confidence; for they show that he expects to be rightly understood, and that his painful action will not be resented. He risks a breach of the friendship for the sake of benefiting his friend. This is a generous action, and it should be generously accepted. But it needs magnanimity both to give and to take the wounds of friendship.
10. The value of them should be appreciated. The first impulse is to feel aggrieved, to resent the intrusion, to treat the well-meant rebuke as an insult, to justify, one’s self, perhaps even to overwhelm the friend who wounds with rage and revenge. This is as foolish as it is ungrateful. If we only knew it, we should confess that we have no better friends than those who dare to wound us. It is just from such friends that we can learn wisdom. Flattery kisses and slays; friendship wounds and saves.
    III. THE DIVINE FRIENDSHIP WOUNDS TO SAVE. The world flatters and promises only pleasant things to its slaves when it first enthralls them. God treats us in the opposite way, warning us of danger, rebuking our sins, even chastising us with heavy blows. But “whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth.”
11. God proves himself to be our Friend by wounding us. He might have left us alone to rot in our own wretched ruin. But in his great love he has interfered to save, though his advances are met with insult and anger. God loves enough to give pain.
12. It would be wise to receive God’s wounding as that of a Friend. It is for our good; then the best course is to take it accordingly, to endeavour to profit by it. Christ lays a cross on his disciples, and saves them by leading them to follow in his Via Dolorosa, and to be crucified with him (Gal_2:20).
    Pro_27:8
    A bird wandering from her nest
    Let us consider first in what respects a man may be said to be wandering from his place, and then how the evil of this condition may be illustrated by the metaphor of a bird wandering from its nest.
    I. HOW A MAN MAY WANDER FROM HIS PLACE.
13. He may leave the work he is suited for. There is no reason why a man should not endeavour to rise in the social scale. Christianity does not consecrate any system of caste. But there are works for which certain men have natural aptitude, or for which they have been trained, and other works for which they are not thus suited. Unhappily, our inclination does not always coincide with our capacity. To follow one’s likings outside the range of one’s powers is to wander from one’s place.
14. He may forsake his duty. Every man’s rightful place is at the post of duty. No danger, no difficulty, no disagreeableness, can justify any one in forsaking that place.
15. He may depart from God. Then indeed will he have wandered from his true place. For the home of the soul is with God. Absence from God is to be out of one’s place,
    (1) though in a very paradise of delights,
    (2) though among the most congenial companions,
    (3) though with an eminently attractive occupation.
16. He may renounce his human status.
    (1) In descending to that of an animal. Bestial lust and brutal cruelty are inhuman. He who plunges into such vile things necessarily wanders from himself as a man. He gives up the rank of a human being.
    (2) In degrading himself to diabolical living. This happens to one who chooses evil for its own sake, loving wickedness and pursuing it.
    II. HOW SUCH A MAN MUST SUFFER AS A BIRD THAT WANDERS FROM HER NEST.
17. He loses peace. The nest is typical of quiet and restfulness. To forsake it is to be at large in the noisy, tumultuous world. So one who is out of his place is cast adrift on a homeless waste. He sacrifices peace in pursuit of novelty.
18. He is removed from congenital companionship. The poor young bird leaves her fellows and flies into unknown regions, where she finds hers. If alone among strange creatures. A man who is out of his element will be equally alone and friendless. The very fact that he is in the wrong place implies that he cannot find true sympathy in his new sphere. Perhaps he has been foolishly aiming at entering some higher circle of life than one that he is fitted for. If so, he will only be supremely uncomfortable, perpetually regarded as an intruder or ridiculed as a blunderer. It is better to cultivate the affections of one’s own home circle and true old friends.
19. He is not able to fulfil his mission. It may be that a mother bird is here thought of. In wandering from her nest she forsakes her young. So he who leaves his rightful place neglects his obligations. He fails to do his duty to those naturally dependent on him. Charity begins at home.
20. He is exposed to danger. The poor wandering bird may be lost in the forest; she may starve for want of food; birds of prey may pounce upon her in the darkness. There is no safety off the path of duty. Even unsuitable spheres are dangerous, because a man does not know how to behave himself in them. Away from God there is danger of ruin without hope of escape.
    Pro_27:12
    Foresight of evil
    I. IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO FORSEE ALL FUTURE EVIL. God, in his great mercy, has drawn a thick veil over the face of futurity. We can reason of probabilities; in some cases we can almost predict certainties; but taking the whole round of life, and the full reach of futurity, we have to recognize the fact that the evil to come as well as the good are largely hidden from our view. It would not be possible for us to bear the sight if all dark experiences were crowded into one horrible picture and presented before our imagination at once. We can take one by one the evils that would crush us if we beheld them all together in a mighty, terrible phalanx. When the trouble comes the strength may be given to bear it, but not before.
    II. IT IS FOOLISH TO FRET OURSELVES WITH ANXIETIES ABOUT THE MORROW. This is the distinct teaching of Christ, based on various grounds.
21. We have enough to bear in the present. “Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.”
22. We cannot command the future. No man by being anxious can add one cubit to his stature or change the natural colour of his hair.
23. God is our Father. He feeds the wild birds and clothes the fields. Much more will he feed and clothe his own children.
24. We base higher considerations to absorb our allergies. “Seek first the kingdom of God. and his righteousness.”
    III. WE NEED TO MAKE A REASONABLE PROVISION FOR THE FUTURE. It may appear that the prudence of the Book of Proverbs is rebuked by teachings of Christ. No doubt our Lord does lift us into a higher atmosphere. But there is no contradiction between the two positions. Indeed, we are best able to banish needless care when we have made proper provision for the future. Thrift does not create anxiety. The man who has insured his house against fire does not dread the incendiary more than the man who has not provided himself against the contingency of a conflagration. He who is prepared for death need not fear death.
    IV. IT IS A MARK OF TRUE WISDOM TO GUARD AGAINST THE EVIL THAT MAY BE AVOIDED.
25. This obtains in secular pursuits. Ignorance is no excuse for not providing against a disaster when reasonable thoughtfulness would have foreseen it. The reckless general who burns the bridges behind him is guilty of the blood of his soldiers who are slaughtered after a great defeat.
26. This is most true in the spiritual world.
    (1) Here we may foresee danger. For God has revealed the fatal consequences of sin. No one who reflects can say that he has no reason to expect that his sin will be punished. The very nature of sin foreshadows its own dreadful doom.
    (2) Here we may provide against it. It is not an inevitable destiny. “God has opened up a way of escape.” It is wise to consider the danger of sin, in order to flee from it to safety in Christ (1Jn_2:1).
    Pro_27:17
    The advantages of society
    I. OBSERVE IN WHAT THE ADVANTAGES OF SOCIETY CONSIST. We have ancient authority for the idea that it is not good for man to be alone (Gen_2:18). Man is naturally a gregarious being. Though some people are more sociable than others, no one can be healthy in perpetual solitude. The isolation of the hermit engendered the wildest hallucinations of fanaticism together with the narrowest conception of the world. Prisoners of the Bastille, in solitary confinement, were reduced to a condition of semi-idiocy. Robinson Crusoe made the best of his situation, yet he could not live without the companionship of animal pets, and he was glad of the humble friendship of a poor savage.
27. Society quickens a man’s intelligence. Even Wordsworth was thought by some to have deteriorated mentally in his comparative seclusion at Rydal Mount, and yet there were other men of high mental power in his neighbourhood. Men’s thoughts are stimulated and sharpened by conversation.
28. Society rouses a man’s energy. Empty society of mere pleasure seekers only dissipates a man’s powers in frivolity. But the society of earnest men stimulates by sympathy, emulation, and encouragement.
29. Society broadens a man’s views. He is able to see how other men think and feel. They may not all have greater advantages than he possesses; but at least they are differently constituted and situated from himself. Thus he is lifted out of the narrowness of his own single vision. Such breadth gives strength when it is accompanied by an earnest love of truth and right.
    II. CONSIDER HOW THE ADVANTAGES OF SOCIETY MAY BE REALIZED.
30. They are dependent on a man’s residence. Horace’s old dispute between the town and the country mouse has never been settled. Cowper wrote, “God made the country, man made the town;” and no doubt there is to be seen a certain restfulness, a purity, and a quiet power in nature that those men miss who reside in the heart of a wilderness of houses, Nevertheless, there are compensations for the disagreeable pressure of population in great cities. The mind is quickened. Still, as evils also result from this manner of living, it is certainly important that those who are able to select their own residences should consider wholesome society to be as important as a pure water supply.
31. They can be found in sympathetic friendship. One good, true friend is more helpful than a score of mere acquaintances. It is in the close intercourse of genuine friendship that the best results of the mutual play of thought and feeling can be obtained. Hence the supreme importance of cultivating friendship with the wise and good.
32. They should be obtained in the Christian Church. Christ not only called disciples to himself, one by one; he founded the Church, and his apostles established local Churches wherever they could gather together a few converts. Christian companionship should be a help to Christian life and thought. There was a time when they who feared the Lord spake often one to another (Mal_3:16). Above this earthly friendship the Christian finds a mental and spiritual quickening in the friendship of Christ (Luk_24:32).
    HOMILIES BY E. JOHNSON
    Pro_27:1-6
    Beastliness, jealousy, and hypocrisy
    I. OVER CONFIDENCE REBUKED. (Pro_27:1.)
33. On the ground of our limited knowledge. The homely proverb says, “Do not count your chickens before they are hatched.” The future exists for us only in imagination. “Who knows,” asks Horace, “whether the gods above will add tomorrow’s time to the sum of today?” (’Od.,’ Pro_4:7. 17); and Seneca, “None hath gods so favourable as that he may promise himself tomorrow’s good.”
34. On the ground of the Divine reserve of the secrets of destiny. To boast is to lift ourselves in effect out of that finite sphere of thought and feeling in which we have been placed by the Divine ordination. So says Horace again, “Shun to inquire into the future and the morrow; and whatever day fortune shall afford thee, count it as gain” (’Od.,’ Pro_1:9, Pro_1:13). Common sense and religious humility unite to teach us to “live for the day.”
    II. SELF-PRAISE CENSURED. (Pro_27:2.) “Let another praise thee, and not thine own mouth.” “Self-praise stinks,” and “Not as thy mother says, but as the neighbours say,” are Arabic proverbs. Every individual has a certain value; the sense of this is the foundation of all self-respect and virtue. But to show an over-consciousness of this worth by self-praise is a social offence, because it is an exaction of that which ought to be a free tribute, and betrays a desire of self-exaltation above others not easily forgiven.
    III. THE PASSION OF THE FOOL INTOLERABLE. (Pro_27:3.) Whether it be envy, furious resentment of rebuke, or jealousy, it is a burden intolerable to the person himself and to those with whom he has to do. The pious may readily sin in their anger, how much more the ungodly!
    “Ira furor brevis est; animum rege; qui, nisi paret,
    Imperat; hunc froenis, hunc tu compesce catena.’
    (Horace, ’Ep.,’ 1.2, 62).
    It is like a weight of stone or sand, being without cause, measure, or end (Poole).
    IV. THE TERRIBLE FORCE OF JEALOUSY AND ENVY. (Pro_27:4.) It exceeds all ordinary outbursts of wrath in violence and destructiveness. Envy is the daughter of pride, the author of revenge and murder, the beginner of sedition, and the perpetual tormentor of nature (Socrates). It never loves to honour another but when it may be an honour to itself. “From envy … good Lord, deliver us!”
    V. FALSE LOVE AND FAITHFUL FRIENDSHIP CONTRASTED. (Pro_27:5, Pro_27:6.) False love refuses to tell a friend of his faults, from some egotistic and unworthy motive. “If you know that I have done anything foolishly or wickedly, and do not blame me for it, you yourself ought to be reproved” (Plaut.,’Trinum.,’ Pro_1:2, 57). “It is no good office,” says Jeremy Taylor, “to make my friend more vicious or more a fool; I will restrain his folly, but not nurse it.” “I think that man is my friend through whose advice I am enabled to wipe off the blemishes of my soul before the appearance of the awful Judge” (Gregory I). Christians should “speak the truth in love” (Eph_4:15). If the erring one does not learn it from the lips of love, he will have to learn it from a harsher source and in ruder tones (comp. Job_5:17, Job_5:18; Psa_141:5; Rev_3:19; Pro_28:23). There cannot be a more worthy improvement of friendship than in a fervent opposition to the sins of those we love (Bishop Hall).—J.
    Pro_27:7, Pro_27:8
    The blessing of contentment
    I. THE CONTENTED MIND. (Pro_27:7.) “Enough is as good as a feast;” “Hunger is the best sauce.” To know when we are well off is the cure for the canker of envy and discontent. Deprivation for a time teaches us the need of common blessings. The good of affliction is that it brings us nearer to God; and of poverty of spirit, that it is never without food.
    II. THE EVIL OF RESTLESSNESS. (Pro_27:8.) “The rolling stone gathers no moss.” Rarely does the wanderer better his condition. Unstable as water, he doth not excel. Those who seek satisfaction for the soul out of God are like those who wander into far country, like the prodigal. “O my wandering ways! Woe to the soul which presumed, if it departed from thee, that it should find anything better! I turned on every side, and all things were hard, and thou alone wast my Rest. Thou hast made us for thyself, O God, and our heart is restless till it finds rest in thee.”—J.
    Pro_27:9, Pro_27:10
    The praises of friendship
    I. ITS SWEETNESS. (Pro_27:9.) It is compared to fragrant unguent and incense (Psa_104:15; Psa_133:2). It is more delightful to listen to the counsel of a dear friend than sternly to rely on self. It is in human nature to love to see itself reflected in other objects; and the thoughts we approve, the opinions we form, we recognize gladly on another’s lips. Talking with a friend is better than thinking aloud.
    II. TIME-HONOURED FRIENDSHIP SHOULD ABOVE ALL BE HELD DEAR. (Pro_27:10.) The presumption is that your own and your father’s friend is one tried and approved, and may be depended upon.
    “The friends thou hast and their adoption tried,
    Grapple them to thy soul with hooks of steel.”
    III. FRIENDSHIP IS FOUNDED UPON SPIRITUAL SYMPATHY. And this ranks before the ties of blood. The thought meets us in the proverbs of the ancient world in general. In the touching story of the friendship of Orestes and Pylades, e.g; it has its application. “This is what people say, ’Acquire friends, not relations alone;’ since a man, when he is united by disposition, though not of kin, is better than a host of blood relations for another man to possess as his friend”. And Hesiod says, “If aid is wanted, neighbours come ungirt, but relations stay to trek up their robes.” Divine friendship is the highest illustration of this love.. Christ is above all the “Friend that sticketh closer than a brother.”—J.
    Pro_27:11-13
    The need of prudence
    I. PRUDENT CONDUCT REFLECTS CREDIT UPON ONE’S PARENTS. (Pro_27:11.) The graceless children of gracious parents are a special reproach, bringing dishonour even upon the Name of God (Gen_34:30; 1Sa_2:17). The world will generally lay the blame at the parents’ door. The Mosaic Law severely punished the sins of the priest’s daughter for the disgrace brought upon the holy office (Le Pro_21:9).
    II. THE NEED AND ADVANTAGE OF FORETHOUGHT. (Pro_27:12.) Prudence has been described as “the virtue of the senses.” It is the science of appearances. It is the outward action of the inward life. It is content to seek health of body by complying with physical conditions, and health of mind by complying with the laws of intellect. It is possible to give a base and cowardly interpretation of the duty of prudence; that “which makes the senses final is the divinity of sots and cowards, and is the subject of all comedy. The true prudence admits the knowledge of an outward and real world.” Thus true prudence is only that which foresees, detects, and guards against the ills which menace the life of the soul; for there is no profit in the prudence which seeks the world and risks the soul. Those are “simple” who, often with the utmost regard for their material interests, go on heedless of the moral perils which their habits incur.
    III. THE FOLLY OF THOUGHTLESS SURETYSHIP. (Pro_27:13.) This, as we have seen, is often dwelt on in this book. It refers to a different condition of society from our own. We may generalize the warning. Prudence includes a proper self-regard, a virtuous egotism, so to speak. When good-natured people complain that they have been deceived, taken in, and turn sourly against human nature, do they not reproach themselves for having hacked this primary virtue of prudence? The highest virtues can grow only out of the root of independence (see Pro_20:16).—J.
    Pro_27:14
    Insincerity in friendship
    The picture is that of one who indulges in the noisy ostentation of friendship, without having the reality of it at his heart.
    I. EXCESS IN PRAISE OR BLAME IS TO BE GUARDED AGAINST. Luther shrewdly observes, “He who loudly scolds, praises; and he who excessively praises, scolds. They are not believed because they exaggerate.” Too great praise is half blame. Language should be used with sobriety and temperance.
    II. INSINCERITY IS SUBJECT TO A CURSE. It is odious to God and to man. One of the constant moral trials of life is in the observance of the golden mean of conduct in social relations—to be agreeable without flattery, and sincere without rudeness. Here, as ever, we must walk in the bright light of our Saviour’s example, the All-loving, yet the All-faithtul.—J.
    Pro_27:15, Pro_27:16
    The quarrelsome wife
    She is compared to the continual dropping of a shower; and the attempt to restrain her is like seeking to fetter the wind or to grasp at oil.
    I. THE MONOTONY OF ILL TEMPER. It persists in one mood, and dyes all it touches with one colour, and that a dismal one.
    II. THE CORRODING EFFECT UPON OTHERS’ MINDS. Fine tempers cannot resist this perpetual wear and tear; the most buoyant spirits may be in time depressed by this dead weight.
    III. THE INFLEXIBILITY OF ILL TEMPER. Alas! it is one of those things we are tempted to say cannot be mended. Nothing indeed but that Divine grace which can turn the winter of the soul into summer is able to remedy this ill. In reliance upon this, the exhortation may be given, “Purge out the old leaven!”—J.
    Pro_27:17-22
    Wisdom for self and for others
    I. THE BENEFIT OF INTELLIGENT SOCIETY. (Pro_27:17, Pro_27:19.)
35. The collision of mind with mind elicits truth, strikes out flashes of new perception. A man may grow wiser by an hour’s discourse than by a day’s meditation. “Speech is like embroidered cloth opened and put abroad,” said the mistochs to the King of Persia. In the collision of minds the man brings his own thoughts to light, and whets his wits against a stone that cuts not (Bacon).
36. The reflection of mind in mind. (Pro_27:19.) For we are all “like in difference,” and never see so clearly what is in our own spirit as through the manifestation of another’s. As we have not eyes in the back of our head, so is introspection difficult—perhaps, strictly speaking, impossible. Self knowledge is the reflection of the features of oilier minds in our own.
    II. SPIRITUAL LAWS.
37. Diligent husbandry is rewarded. (Pro_27:18.) Whether we cultivate the tree, the master, the friend, our own soul, this law must ever hold good. Everything in this world of God’s goes by law, not by luck; and what we sow we reap. Trust men, and they will be true to you; treat them justly, and they will show themselves just, though they make an exception in your favour to all their rules of conduct.
38. The quenchless thirst of the spirit. (Pro_27:20.) Who can set a limit to the human desire to know, to do, to be? The real does not satisfy us; we are ever in quest of the ideal or perfect. Evil excesses and extravagances of vicious passion are the reverse of this undying impulse of an infinite nature. God is our true Good; our insatiable curiosities are only to be satisfied by the knowledge of himself.
39. The criterion of character. (Pro_27:21.) According to the scale of that which a man boasts of, is he judged. If he boasts of praise, worthy things, he is recognized as a virtuous and honest man; if he boasts of vain or evil things, he is abhorred. “Show me what a man likes, and I will show you what he is” (this according to what seems the true rendering of this proverb).
40. Folly in grain. (Pro_27:22.) In the East the husk is beaten from the corn by braying in a mortar. But from the fool the husk of folly will not depart. It is possible to despise the lessons of affliction, to harden one’s back against the rod. Mere punishment cannot of itself correct or convert the soul. The will, the conscious spiritual activity, must cooperate with God. A great man speaks of “that worst of afflictions—an affliction lost”—J.
    Pro_27:23-27
    The man diligent in his business
    I. ECONOMY AND FORESIGHT. (Pro_27:23-25.) He looks after the outgoings of his farm, well aware that there is in all things constant waste, that even the royal crown is a perishable thing. All knowledge is useful, and prudence applies through the whole scale of our being. Let the man, “if he have hands, handle; if eyes, measure and discriminate; let him accept and hive every fact of chemistry, natural history, and economy; the more he has, the less he is willing to spare any one. Time is always bringing the occasions that disclose their value. Some wisdom comes out of every natural and innocent action.” To preserve and hold together are as necessary as to gain in every kind of riches.
    II. THE FRUITS OF INDUSTRY. (Pro_27:26, Pro_27:27.) Joyous is the sight when man’s toil united with the forces of nature, has been blessed with the abundant harvests and the rich flocks. Let a man keep the laws of God, and his way will be strewn with satisfactions. To find out the secret of “working together with God” in all the departments of our life is one of the deepest secrets of satisfaction and blessedness.—J.
    HOMILIES BY W. CLARKSON
    Pro_27:1
    Man in presence of the future: our greatness and our littleness
    It is well to glance at—
    I. OUR GREATNESS IN REGARD TO THE FUTURE.
41. There need be no bound at all to our hope and aspiration in respect of the future. We are warranted in looking forward to an endless life beyond, to an actual and absolute eternity of blessedness and glory. Whosoever believeth in Jesus Christ has everlasting life.
42. We can and we should prepare for a very long time to come. The legislator should devise his measures, the religious leader or organizer should lay his plans, the architect should make his designs, and the builder provide his materials with a view to the next century as well as to the next decade.
43. We should have regard to the coming years as well as to the passing days; teaching our pupils so that they will not only pass the approaching examination, but be ready for the battle of life; offering and enforcing truths and principles which will not only tide men over tomorrow, but carry them victoriously through all the vicissitudes of their course, and solace and strengthen them in their declining days. But the lesson of the text is—
    II. OUR LITTLENESS IN REGARD TO THE FUTURE. We do not know what a day may bring forth.
44. How our purposes may be deranged, and all that we are proposing to do may have to be abandoned in favour of some more imperative duty (see Jas_4:13-15).
45. How our prospects may be affected; we may possibly rise from indigence to affluence, but we are much more likely to be suddenly and seriously reduced. Financial calamities are many, but “windfalls” are few.
46. How our circle of friendship may be narrowed, or how soon we may be called on to leave home and kindred.
47. How our hope of health or life may be extinguished. “Between the morning and the evening” (see Job_4:19-21, Revised Version) we may discover that we are afflicted with a disease which will complete its work in a few months at most, or we may be stricken down with a blow which will bring us face to face with death and eternity. With this uncertainty there are three lessons we should learn.
    (1) All unqualified and unreserved declarations are unbecoming. If there be no verbal qualification, there should be a mental reservation, a feeling below the surface that all our plans and movements are subject to the will of God.
    (2) We should do today’s work before its hours are over. Since we may not be able to do a stroke tomorrow, let us see that every day’s work is well and thoroughly done. We are not responsible for the future, but we are for the present. And not only is it of no use for us to be anxious to do much in the coming years, but it is foolish and unfaithful of us to be concerned about it. Our Master sets us our work, and he gives us our time. All that we should be solicitous about is the diligent and devoted discharge of our duty in his appointed time and way. If he takes the weapon out of our hand here, it will be because he has a better one to give us in a brighter and broader sphere.
    (3) We ought to be prepared for any and every event. We should have within us principles that will sustain or preserve us in any trouble or in any elevation that may be awaiting us. We should have our house in such order that, if death should come suddenly to our door, those whom we leave behind us will suffer the least possible affliction, and we ourselves shall Bass to the great inheritance beyond.—C.
    Pro_27:2, Pro_27:21
    The praise of man
    How far we should go in praising others, and in what spirit we should accept their praise, is a matter of no small importance in the conduct of life.
    I. THE DUTY OF PRAISING OTHERS. “Let another man praise thee” can hardly be said to be imperative so far as he is concerned. But it suggests the propriety of another man speaking in words of commendation. And the duty of praising those who have done well is a much-forgotten and neglected virtue. I. It is the correlative of blame, and if we blame freely (as we do), why should we not freely praise the scholar, the servant, the son or daughter, the workman, etc.?
48. With many hearts, perhaps with moat, a little praise would prove a far more powerful incentive than a large quantity of blame.
49. To praise for doing well is to follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ and of his apostles; it is to act as the most gracious and the most useful men and women have always acted.
50. It is to do to others as we would they should do to us. We thirst for a measure of approval when we have done our best, and what we crave from others we should give to others.
    II. THE WISDOM OF ABSTAINING FROM SELF-PRAISE. The injunction of Solomon appeals to our common sense. Yet is it by no means unrequired. Many men are guilty of the unseemliness and the folly of praising themselves—their ingenuity, their shrewdness, their persuasiveness, their generosity, etc. Probably if they knew how very little they commend themselves by so doing, how very soon they weary their audience, how often their language becomes positively nauseous, they would abstain. Self-vindication under a false charge is a duty and even a virtue; a very minute modicum of self-commendation may be occasionally allowable; anything beyond this is, at least, a mistake.
    III. THE NECESSITY OF TESTING PRAISE. “The ordinary interpretation makes the praise try the man, but the words … in the original make the man try the praise” (Wardlaw). What the fining pot is to silver, that a man should be to his praise—he should carefully and thoroughly test it. For praise is often offered some part of which should be rejected as dross. The simple minded and the unscrupulous will praise us beyond the bounds of our desert, and to drink too much of this intoxicating cup is dangerous and demoralizing to us.
    IV. THE PRACTICAL PROOF OF PRAISE. The duties and the difficulties that are before us will be the best possible proof of the sincerity and of the truthfulness of the praise we receive. We shall either be approved as the wise men we are said to be, or we shall be convicted of being less worthy than we are represented to be. Therefore let us be
    (1) judicious as well as generous in our praise of others, remembering that they will be thus tested; and let us
    (2) be contented with a modest measure of honour, realizing that we have to live up to the esteem in which we are held. But we may learn a valuable lesson from the common (if not the correct) interpretation, and consider—
    V. THE TEST WHICH PRAISE AFFORDS. We stand blame better than praise; though it is right to recollect that we cannot stand more than a certain measure of blame, and few people are more objectionable or more mischievous than the scold. But much praise is a great peril. It elates and exalts; it “puffs up.” It too often undermines that humility of spirit and dependence on God which are the very root of a strong and beautiful Christian character.
51. Discourage all excess in this direction; it is dangerous.
52. Care more for the approval of an instructed and well-trained conscience.
53. Care most for the commendation of Christ.—C.
    Pro_27:5, Pro_27:6, Pro_27:9, Pro_27:10, Pro_27:17, Pro_27:19
    Four services of friendship
    (And see homily on “Friendship,” Pro_13:20.) We have suggested in the nineteenth verse two conditions of friendship:
    (1) likeness of character; and
    (2) reciprocity in action.
    There can be no true friendship where one heart does not answer to another as the face reflected from a mirror answers to that which is before it. Men must be like minded in their principles and sympathies; and they must be sensitive enough to feel with one another and to give back the thoughts which are expressed by one or the other, if their intimacy is to be worthy of the sacred name of friendship. There are four services which this most precious gift of God secures for us.
    I. CORRECTION. (Pro_27:5, Pro_27:6.) “Open rebuke is better than hidden love”—better than the love which hides from a friend its disappointment or its dissatisfaction with him. The wounds of friendship are faithful. Many are they whose character is seriously defective, and whose usefulness suffers considerable abatement from want of discipline; they are not told of their faults, they are allowed to go on deepening their roots and multiplying their fruits, because no wise and faithful friend is near to say, “Pluck out and prune.” What no authority may dare to speak, love can say without fear and with excellent result.
    II. REFRESHMENT. (Pro_27:9.) We who are weary travellers along the path of life often need that which refreshes our spirit and turns languor into energy, gloom into gladness of heart. For that we look to friendship; it is as “ointment and perfume” to the senses. We may be jaded and worn, but the look, the grasp, the words, of our friend reanimate and renew us.
    III. CONSOLATIONS. (Pro_27:10.) We may do well to avoid the house of our kindred in the day of our calamity, especially if we have passed it by in the time of our prosperity; if our “brother” has been kept or has kept himself at a distance. But the “neighbour that is near,” the friend that has been “sticking closer than a brother” will not shut the door of his heart against us. He is the “brother who is born for adversity;” he will claim the right of friendship to open his heart, to pour forth his sympathy, to offer his succour, to befriend us in every way in which affection can solace and strength can sustain us.
    IV. INCITEMENT. (Pro_27:17.) It is the opportunity and the high privilege of friendship to urge to honourable achievement, to rekindle the lamp of holy aspiration when the light burns low; to sustain Christian devotedness when it is putting forth its strength, by every possible encouragement; to hold up the hands of that consecrated activity which is fearlessly speaking the truth and diligently building up the kingdom of Jesus Christ.—C.
    Pro_27:7
    Superabundance and scarcity
    We have here—
    I. A FAMILIAR FACT OF OUR PHYSICAL NATURE. Those who are well fed become very choice and dainty, while those who “lack bread” are thankful for the coarsest food. There are thousands of the sons and daughters of luxury whose appetite can hardly be tempted; for them cookery has to be developed into one of the fine arts, and nothing is palatable to their exquisite taste but delicacies. Living within five minutes’ walk of their residence, and sometimes smelling the odours that come from their kitchens, are poor, pinched, struggling men and women, who will devour with great delight the first soiled crust that is offered them. There are thousands in our great cities that weigh long and seriously the question what nice beverage they shall drink at their table; and there are to be found those who would gladly quench their thirst in the first foul water they can find. Indulgence makes all things tasteless, while want makes all things sweet to us.
    II. A CORRESPONDING TRUTH IN OUR MORAL NATURE.
54. Superabundance tends to selfishness and ingratitude. We are apt to imagine that we have a prescriptive right to that which is continued to us for any time; and as soon as it is withdrawn we murmur and rebel. There are no more thankless, no more querulous hearts to be found anywhere than in the homes of the affluent, than among those who can command all that their hearts desire. They find no pleasure in what they have, and they give God no thanks for it.
55. On the other hand, scarcity is very frequently associated with contentment and piety. When our resources are not so large and full that we do not stop to ask ourselves whence they come, when some solicitude or even anxiety leads us to look prayerfully to the great “Giver of all,” then we recognize the truth that everything we are and everything we have, the cup itself and all that it holds, all our powers and all our possessions, are of God, and our hearts fill with gratitude to our heavenly Father. And thus it is not exceptionally but representatively and commonly true that—
    “Some murmur when their sky is clear
    And wholly bright to view,
    If one small speck of dark appear
    In their great heaven of blue.
    And some with thankful love are filled.
    If but one streak of light,
    One ray of God’s good mercy, gild
    The darkness of their night.
    “In palaces are hearts that ask,
    In discontent and pride,
    Why life is such a dreary task,
    And all good things denied.
    And hearts, in poorest huts, admire
    How love has, in their aid—
    Love that not ever seems to tire—
    Such rich provision made.”
    (Trench.)
    III. ITS APPLICATION TO CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGE. Here we have:
56. The peril of abundance. We are tempted to become indifferent to that which we can employ and enjoy at any time, and consequently to neglect it.
57. The compensation of scarcity. That which is often out of reach, of which we can only occasionally avail ourselves, we appreciate at its true worth. Hence, while persecuted Christians have been willing to walk many miles to take part in the worship of God, or to give large sums of money for a few pages if Scripture, those who live in the full light of privilege are negligent of the sanctuary and the Word of God. This will apply to prayer, to praise, to Christian work, to Christian fellowship.—C.
    Pro_27:8
    (See homily on Pro_27:23-27.)—C.
    Pro_27:14
    (See homily on Pro_25:20.)—C.
    Pro_27:18
    This reward of faithful service
    This is a question which very intimately and importantly concerns us; for—
    I. SERVICE CONSTITUTES THE GREATER PART OF HUMAN LIFE. We have to consider how large a proportion of our race is formally and regularly engaged in service as the occupation of their life. When we have counted domestic servants, agricultural labourers, and all orders of “workmen;” and when we have included all those who, in the press, or the pulpit, or the legislature, are the avowed and actual servants of the public, we have referred to a very large portion indeed of the whole population. So that “he that waiteth on his master,” though he may (in the literal sense of the, phrase) he continued to a small section, yet actually stands for the majority of mankind. Indeed, we must be occupying a very strange position if we are not of those who are engaged in serving in some form or other.
    II. MANY THINGS DEMAND THAT SERVICE SHALL BE FAITHFUL.
58. God is requiring it of us. It is required by him that we who are stewards be found faithful (1Co_4:2; Col_3:22-25).
59. The best and noblest men, whose character and course we admire, were men “faithful in all their house” (see Heb_3:5).
60. We can only retain our self-respect by faithfulness. To do our work slowly or slovenly, in such wise that we should be ashamed to have it inspected by “the master”, in such a manner that it will not stand the test of time, is to undermine all respect for ourselves, is to sink sadly and pitifully, if nut fatally, in our own esteem.
61. Faithfulness has a large and a sure reward. Careful culture of the fig tree is sure to be rewarded with the eating of its fruit in due time. Faithful service is sure to bring its due recompense.
    (1) It brings honour. We respect the true and conscientious labourer in our own hearts, and we do not fail to honour him in the estimation of others. Loyal and valuable service commands no small esteem when it has had time to make an impression on the mind.
    (2) It brings personal attachment and even affection. Often between those who serve and those who are served there arises a true and deep affection which is very honourable to both, very beautiful in its character, and lasting as long as life.
    (3) Due material recompense. This may be delayed, but it comes in time.
    (4) Enlargement of capacity. Perhaps the best reward of faithful service is found here—in the enlargement of the faculty of service. Do, and you will do better; serve today, and you will serve more skilfully and efficiently tomorrow; put out your one talent in the lowly sphere, and you will soon have two talents (of faculty and aptitude) to put out in a higher one.
    “I will ask for no reward.
    Except to serve thee still”
    —and to serve thee better. But if it be said that, after all, human service is sometimes unappreciated and unacknowledged, that the labourer’s hire is withheld and not paid, that the “master” does not render the honour that is due to him who has “waited on” him long and served him well—as it may sometimes be truly said—then let us retire to the truth that—
    III. THERE IS ONE SERVICE IN WHICH THERE IS NO DISAPPOINTMENT. We are the servants of Christ. We delight to call him Master (
    Joh_13:13). We owe him everything, and we offer him the subjection of our will, the trust of our hearts, the service of our lives. He will not disappoint us. He will not forget our work of faith and our labour of love. The slightest service shall “in no wise lose its reward.” He will generously regard what we do for his humble disciples as something rendered to himself. Here we shall possess his loving favour, and there his bountiful recompense.—C.
    Pro_27:23-27
    (and Pro_27:8)
    A commendation of diligence
    It is likely enough that Solomon, oppressed with the burdens and vexations, with the difficulties and dangers, of the throne, looked longingly toward those pastoral scenes which he here describes. But, keen and shrewd man that he was, he must have known that contentment does not always find a home in the homestead, and that there may be as much disquietude of heart in the fields of the beautiful country as there is in the streets of the crowded city. We look for something more than an ordinary “pastoral” in these verses. We recognize in them a royal commendation of diligence.
    I. THERE IS NEED OF DILIGENCE IN EVERY SPHERE. “Be diligent to know the state of thy flocks, and look well to thy herds.” Pastoral prosperity demands the care and the labour of the shepherd or the herdsman, as well as do the transactions of princes and the affairs of state. It will be a poor season and a bad harvest if the farmer is dreaming all day long. It is true that kids and calves and lambs grow up “of themselves,” and that “the earth bringeth forth fruit of itself” (Mar_4:28); but it is also true that without watchful care on the shepherd’s part the flock will be sickly and small, and that without toil and skill on the part of the farmer the hay crop and the wheat crop will be quite disappointing. And so in everything. Whatever the sphere may be, diligence is the invariable condition of success. The man who will not take pains, who does not work and strive, who does not throw his strength and energy into his occupation, will soon find how great is his mistake.
    II. DILIGENCE MUST BE CONCENTRATED IF IT IS TO BE REMUNERATIVE. (Pro_27:8.) A man that is everywhere but at home, who is interested in everybody’s business but his own, who can tell his neighbours how to improve their estate while his own is neglected, who has a hand in a hundred activities, may be exceedingly busy and (in his way) diligent; but he is not a “man of business,” and he does not show the diligence which yields a good result. Let a man know “his place” and keep it; and, while selfishness and narrowness of spirit are bad and blameful enough, it is needful for him to give his strength to his own sphere, his forces to his own fields.
    III. A WISE DILIGENCE WILL BE WELL REWARDED.
62. It will procure domestic comfort (Pro_27:25-27).
63. It will lead to honour and reputation (Pro_22:29).
64. It will invest with power (Pro_12:24),
65. It will enrich with various kinds of human wealth (Pro_10:4; Pro_13:4; Pro_21:5).
    Patient industry is the source of all the good which beautifies and brightens, which adorns and enlarges, human life.
    IV. THERE IS A SERIOUS UNCERTAINTY AGAINST WHICH TO PROVIDE. (Pro_27:24.) You may be the son of a king, but the crown sometimes changes hands; dynasties are not immortal. You may have a large treasure at command, but the thief; who wears many guises and comes to us in many forms, may steal it away. Better depend on self-reliance than on such props as these; have the diligent hand at your side, and you will be able to defy the chances and the losses that come in the hour and in the way when we look not for them.
    V. THERE IS ONE SPHERE IN WHICH DILIGENCE IS OF INESTIMABLE VALUE—THE KEEPING OF OUR OWN HEART. With the most devout and the most sedulous care should we “keep” our spiritual nature, for from it flow the streams of life or death (see homily on Pro_4:23).—C.

Proverbs 27:17
I. The character of true friendship. It should be simple, manly, unreserved, not weak, or fond, or extravagant, nor yet exacting more than human nature can fairly give. It should be easy, too, and cheerful, careful of little things, having also a sort of dignity which is based on mutual respect. Perhaps the greatest element of friendship is faithfulness.
II. Like the other goods of life, friendship is commonly mixed and imperfect, and liable to be interrupted by changing circumstances or the tempers of men. The memory of a friendship is, like the memory of the dead, not lightly to be spoken of or aspersed.
III. Christian friendship is another aspect of the ideal, though in some respects different. For the spirit of a man’s life may be more or less consciously Christian. That which others regard as the service of man he may recognise to be the service of God; that which others do out of compassion for their fellow-creatures he may also do from the love of Christ. And so of friendship: that also may be more immediately based on religious motives, and may flow out of a religious principle. “They walked together in the house of God;” that is, if I may venture a paraphrase of the words, they served God together in doing good to His creatures. Human friendships constantly require to be purified and raised from earth to heaven.
IV. Some among us have known what it is to lose a friend. Death is a gracious teacher. The thought of a departed friend or child, instead of sinking us in sorrow, may be a guiding light to us, like the thought of Christ to His disciples, bringing many things to our remembrance of which we were ignorant; and if we have hope in God for ourselves, we have hope also for them. We believe that they rest in Him, and that no evil shall touch them.
B. Jowett, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxi., p. 218.

The particulars in which this similitude lies seem to be the following: (1) sameness of nature, iron with iron; (2) mutual action by the friction of the one piece of iron on the other piece of iron; (3) the result of this application of the two similar substances one to the other—the imparting of a finer polish and a sharper edge. To this is compared the effect of friendly social intercourse: “So a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.” Iron with iron; man with man. Iron with iron; man—in the intercourse, the exchange, and in the mutual friction and operation of mind upon mind—with man: and the result the improvement of both.
I. God made man a social being. This social principle is one of the great gifts of God, for which we ought to be deeply thankful, and which we ought to improve for the great and benevolent ends for which God imparted it. We are designed to live not as so many separate, isolated individuals, but as those who, bound together by the God who made us by the ties of a common nature, a common human intelligence, a common relation to the common Father of all; are to be interested in, and helpful to, one another in the service of God, and in promoting the well-being of one another, of society, and of the human race.
II. Scripture points out besides this common principle which should unite the human race one particular and individual friendship. The benevolence which is due to all may take, and must take, and so should take, in many cases, a particular direction, not lessening our benevolence by the confinement of it, but by giving it a more particular direction, affording opportunity for its being more fully exercised than it can be in the wider sphere.
III. The social, indeed, has its dangers; and these are carefully to be guarded against. Therefore let me add one word: the truly Christian social. God appointed the social for the purpose here stated: for sharpening, not for blunting and dissipating; for the improvement, not for the deterioration, of the mind; for edification, not for destruction.
IV. Let us see from this the importance of well-formed friendship. He whom we admit into our friendship we admit into the formation of our character.
J. Duncan, The Pulpit and Communion Table, p. 211.

These words express what one friend should be to another: a whetstone to give keenness to the edge of his energy. And this use of friendship, valuable under all circumstances and in all undertakings that belong to earth, does not lose its value in the service of Christ. In that service, more than in any other, the conviction of a true heart and thorough sympathy close at hand is the greatest help that any man can have. But it is undeniable that friendship is too often made the stepping-stone to the worst falls.
I. God has mercifully hedged round most sins with many barriers. (1) There is, first, the barrier which while it lasts is so very powerful, and when it has once been broken down can never be set up again: the barrier of ignorance. A friend teaching his friend the way to sin is the most shocking use of friendship that can be imagined; and yet it is not uncommon, not uncommon from mere thoughtlessness—the thoughtlessness of the soul that, having plunged into evil, thinks little of seeing another plunge after him. (2) The second barrier in the way to evil is shame. And if a friend takes away the first, how still more often does he help to take away the second. (3) A third barrier is the affection that we feel for parents, for home, for those natural friends whom God’s providence has given us. And this, too, a friend is better able than any one else to break through. A friend can supply us with another affection near at hand to take the place of that distant affection on which we are turning our backs.
II. It is sometimes, but not often, the duty of a true friend openly to find fault with his friend. And when that duty comes, a servant of Christ must not be so cowardly as to flinch from it. But the occasion is very rare. In most cases all that is wanted is to hold to the right, and you will do more towards holding your friend to the right than by all manner of exhortations. Friendship, and sympathy, and cheerful example might help us more than any teaching in the world to grow up soldiers and servants of Christ, and to fight His battle when we were grown up.
Bishop Temple, Rugby Sermons, 1st series, p. 139.
References: Pro_27:17.—W. Arnot, Laws from Heaven, 2nd series, p. 342. Pro_27:18.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xix., No. 1118, and My Sermon Notes: Genesis to Proverbs, p. 195. Pro_27:21-27.—R. Wardlaw, Lectures on Proverbs, vol. iii., p. 244. Pro_27:23.—Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. i., p. 242; Spurgeon, Evening by Evening, p. 355. Pro_27:24.—New Manual of Sunday-school Addresses, p. 230. Pro_28:1.—Parker, Pulpit Notes, p. 285; W. Arnot, Laws from Heaven, 2nd series, p. 348. Pro_28:1-13.—R. Wardlaw, Lectures on Proverbs, vol. iii., p. 255. Pro_28:13.—W. Arnot, Laws from Heaven, 2nd series, p. 353; Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. iv., p. 85; R. D. B. Rawnsley, Sermons in Country Churches, 3rd series, p. 270; New Manual of Sunday-school Addresses, p. 38.

Proverbs 27:2
Lips. All hate affectation and vanity, John 5:51

Proverbs 27:3
Both. He is insupportable to himself and to others, Sir_22:17

Proverbs 27:4
And who. Septuagint, “but envy (zeal) beareth nothing.” The more we yield to the envious, the more he is offended at our good behaviour.

Proverbs 27:5
Love. Which can be of no service to us, while reproof may cause us to amend.

Proverbs 27:6
Enemy. Joab slew Amasa, while he kissed him, 2Ki_20:9, and Mat_26:48 True friendship is not attentive to outward appearances.

Proverbs 27:8
Place, or vocation, like the prodigal son, Luke xv. The Israelites were much attached to their own country, where they might practise the true religion. (Calmet)

Proverbs 27:9
And. Septuagint add, “wine and incense….but accidents tear the soul.” (Haydock)

Proverbs 27:10
Affliction. He will be less compassionate than a tried friend. — Better, &c. This daily experience evinces. “Those who purchase land, should consider if there be plenty of water, and a neighbour.” (Pliny, [Natural History?] 18:5) — The Persians honour most those who live nearest to them. (Herodotus 1:134)

Proverbs 27:11
Thou. Hebrew, Complutensian, and Sixtus V, “I may,” &c. Septuagint, “and cast reproaches from thee.”

Proverbs 27:14
In the night. Or “early in the morning,” de nocte, as the Hebrew implies. — Curseth. His importunity will be equally displeasing. (Haydock) — Flattery is dangerous, (Calmet) and unworthy of a free man. (Cicero, de Amic.)

Proverbs 27:16
Hand. As it will flow away, such as woman is commonly incorrigible. (Calmet)

Proverbs 27:17
Sharpeneth. Or instructeth. Fungar vice cotis. (Horace, Art.)

Proverbs 27:18
Glorified. He who serves his master well shall be promoted.

Proverbs 27:19
Are. Hebrew, “to men.” Our hearts have all something similar. (Calmet) — Septuagint, “as faces are not like each other, so neither are the hearts of men.” They have all come peculiarity. (Haydock) — But this agrees not with the original.

Proverbs 27:20
Destruction. Hebrew abaddo, or abadon, chap. 15:11, and Rev_9:11 People die, and are plunged in hell daily. — Eyes. Avarice and ambition, Sir_14:9

Proverbs 27:21
Praiseth. If he be not puffed up, or if all agree in his praises, we may conclude that they are well founded. — The, &c., is not in Hebrew, Complutensian, St. Jerome, or Chaldean, and destroys the connection.

Proverbs 27:22
Mortar. Such were used by those who could not afford handmills. (Calmet)

Proverbs 27:23
Flocks. Joh_10:3, and Sir_7:24 This may be applied to pastors.

Proverbs 27:24
Generation. Thou wilt be cited as an example of prudence, if thou hast forseen the change of thy affairs, and provided for it. In the east it was not unusual to see a general of an army reduced to the meanest condition, and economy is necessary for all.

Proverbs 27:26
Field. If thou wishest to purchase, or to pay the workmen.

Proverbs 27:27
Milk. We cannot but admire such frugality. Septuagint are rather different; (Calmet) ver. 25., “Be careful of the grass of thy field….that thou mayst have lambs for thy clothing. Honour the field, that there may be lambs for thee. (27) Son, thou hast from me solid instructions for thy life, and for that of thy servants.” (Haydock)

Proverbs 27:1
Mat_6:31-33, Jas_4:13-16

Proverbs 27:2
Pro_25:27

Proverbs 27:6
(1803) A faithful friend may give constructive criticism, which mends will heal, as where the false flattery of a hated one is endless and unhelpful.

Proverbs 27:8
Pro_26:2

Proverbs 27:12
Pro_22:3

Proverbs 27:13
Pro_20:16

Proverbs 27:17
(1804) Good friends help to make each other spiritually stronger, 1Co_15:33.

Proverbs 27:20
Ecc_1:8; Ecc_6:7, Pro_15:11

Proverbs 27:27
(1805) Verses 23-27- If you care for your flock it will produce all your needs.

Proverbs 27:1-2

To Boast Wrongly

He who boasts “about tomorrow” (Pro_27:1 ) greatly overestimates himself. To “boast” about tomorrow means that a person believes he has the ability to shape the future to his liking. But no one knows “what a day may bring forth”, that is, what a day will bring. This applies both to what can happen today and to tomorrow’s day. The future is God’s territory. Man has no disposal over it. Recognizing this will humble us. It will lead us to submit all our future projects to Him, the sovereign God, Who directs all things.

Making plans is not wrong, as long as it is done in humility. Making plans as if we ourselves have full disposal of our fate and power over the future does not suit us (Jas_4:13-16 ). The Lord Jesus makes this clear in a parable of a rich fool who planned to live many more years, but died the next night because God required his soul (Luk_12:16-21 ).

The proverb contains other teaching. We can learn from this proverb that we need not worry about tomorrow (Mat_6:34 ). We do not know if worries will still be there tomorrow. And if they will still be there tomorrow, God is also there to assist us. Another application is that we should not postpone until tomorrow what we can do today. This is especially true when it is about the conversion of a person. Then the call is: “Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts” (Heb_3:15 ). If conversion is postponed until ‘tomorrow’, ‘tomorrow’ has become a day in the calendar of satan that can be prolonged indefinitely (Act_24:24-27 ).

Pro_27:2 connects to Pro_27:1 . Pro_27:1 says that a man should not glory in what he will do tomorrow, or in the future. Pro_27:2 says that a man should not boast (the same Hebrew word now translated “praise”) in himself, on what he has done today or yesterday (or in the past) or how he is. It is good to do things worthy of praise (Php_4:8 ), but it is not good to boast yourself of them. Praise is like a nice-fitting coat. You may wear it as long as another person puts it on you and not you yourself, otherwise it will not be comfortable for long.

If other people praise you, that is good. If you praise yourself, that is a form of pride. The Dutch proverb ‘self-boast stinks,’ reflects this well. It is a common proverb, which makes it clear that even worldly people generally do not appreciate someone who speaks highly of his own achievements.

We can be thankful for a result achieved by us and find our joy in it. God looked upon His work of creation and saw that it was very good (Gen_1:31 ). However, there is a difference between us and God. God finds all satisfaction in Himself; we find it only in Him. He gives us the ability to do a certain work. When we have done something, we should say that “we are unworthy slaves; we have done [only] that which we ought to have done” (Luk_17:10 ).

Appreciation comes from the Lord. He says to each one who has served Him faithfully, “Well done, good and faithful slave” (Mat_25:23 ). The boast about ourselves is never objective. When we boast of ourselves, we greatly overestimate ourselves. When the Lord assesses us, it is an absolutely objective assessment. In this sense, His assessment corresponds to that by “another” and “a stranger”. Hypocritical elements play no role. It is praise without any ulterior motive.

Proverbs 27:3-4

Burdens That Are Too Heavy to Bear

“Stone” and “sand” are heavy and weighty (Pro_27:3 ). Those who have to carry them feel that they weigh a lot and that the work is tiring and painful. A stone is a large, compact burden. Sand is made up of many small particles that together are a weighty burden. Something large can press down on us, making us feel like we are collapsing. There can also be countless small, daily irritations that make our life almost unbearable.

“But the provocation of a fool is heavier than both of them.” The provocation of a fool is unbearable. It remains as a stone and sand on the inner being of one who has to deal with a fool. The spiritual effort it takes to deal with a fool is far greater than tiring physical work. Job uses the same picture to use it to describe the heaviness of his suffering (Job_6:2-3 ).

In the sphere of emotion, feelings as fury and anger can become uncontrollable and devastating (Pro_27:4 ). A person can be so furious because of certain events that he comes to cruelty [the Darby Translation reads in Pro_27:4 : Fury is cruel, and anger is outrageous] (Gen_34:13-29 Gen_49:5-7 ) and that his is anger is excessive. These outbursts of wrath and anger are not to be condoned, much less the cruelties a person commits, but after the discharge there can be a certain calm.

But worse than these outbursts of wrath and anger is “jealousy”. Jealousy is more unbearable than wrath and anger. It continues to exist like a consuming fire. It devours around itself and also devours the one with whom it is present. An envious, jealous man is worse than a wrathful and angry man. Jealousy is never satisfied (Pro_6:32-35 ). No one can stand before it (cf. Jas_3:14 Jas_3:16 ). Abel fell prey to the jealousy of Cain and Joseph to that of his brothers.

Proverbs 27:5-6

Rebuke As an Expression of Love

“Open rebuke” is a frank, direct word of honest criticism or disapproval by a friend (Pro_27:5 ). This is “better… than love that is concealed”, or a love that is too timid, too afraid or not trusting enough to admit that rebuke is a part of true love. A love that does not manifest rebuke is morally worthless. It is even questionable whether such love is upright. In any case, love that shirks its responsibility is incomplete.

Paul once had to openly rebuke Peter (Gal_2:11 ). But this did not cause any harm to Peter. He speaks later in his second letter about “our beloved brother Paul” (2Pe_3:15 ). It is false love, and in reality hatred, if we do not rebuke one of our children or a brother or sister when necessary (Lev_19:17 ). Love “does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with truth” (1Co_13:6 ).

In other words, the proverb in Pro_27:6 says the same thing as Pro_27:5 . We all need someone who loves us enough to tell us the truth about ourselves. He tells us not only things we want to hear, but also things we need to hear. Sometimes that can be painful and cause wounds, but it will always be wounds without scars. By “wounds” is meant especially wounds of the soul.

We may have to point something out to someone because we see that something is in danger of going wrong. The person addressed must make a correction in his or her behavior. This is sometimes hard to swallow. It may even cause a moment of estrangement because it is perceived as an unwelcome comment. But once the initial emotions are overcome and some thought is given to what has been said, on reflection one will reap his or her benefits and even consider it a favor that it happened (Psa_141:5 ; cf. Rev_3:19 ).

For example, grandparents may well see things in their grandchildren that elude their children, the parents of their grandchildren. It takes wisdom to say that to the children in the right way and at the right time. True love points out the wrong and does not wait until it is too late.

Opposed to the expressions of true love are the false expressions of love of the enemy. The enemy is not scanty with his “kisses”. He gives them “excessive” [as deceitful also can be translated] to cover his true intentions in this way. They are deceptive, hypocritical expressions. The most heinous example is the deceitful kiss with which Judas betrayed His Master (Mar_14:43-45 ).

Proverbs 27:7

Satiation and Hunger Do Change the Taste

This verse contrasts “a sated man” and “a famished man”. The former tramples on or abhors honey, while to the latter “any bitter thing is sweet”. Too much of a good thing does not make the good bad, but corrupts the user. The more we have of something, the less we appreciate it.

For a hungry person, it is exactly the other way around. Hunger makes the bitter taste sweet or as the Dutch proverb goes ‘hunger makes raw beans sweet’, meaning that everything tastes good when one is hungry. Hunger is therefore also called ‘the best cook’.

When it comes to food and drink for our bodies, increasingly the first line of verse applies to the part of the world we live in (Europe). We are much less familiar with the second line of verse. Spiritually, both lines of verse apply. Christians can feel elevated above others because of the spiritual riches they know, while despising those who – in their eyes – know far less than they do (cf. 1Co_4:8 ). Nor do they accept anything from those “poor” believers when the latter present them with something from God’s Word, but ‘loathes’ it.

But those who hunger and thirst for God accept everything they can learn from God’s Word with great gratitude. That same hunger for God turns bitter trials into sweet experiences (Exo_15:23-25 ). Similarly, the bitterness of judgment becomes sweet when it is recognized as justified, for then faith sees its effects (Rev_10:8-10 ). Suffering gives a bitter taste, but the realization that after this comes blessing makes the bitter sweet (cf. Rev_10:9 ).

Proverbs 27:8

Do Not Wander From Your Home

The parallel compares “a bird that wanders from her nest” with “a man who wanders from his home”. Both cases involve giving up a place of safety and security. The reason for both cases of wandering is not given. The connection seems to indicate that it is about an irresponsible action that does not consider what valuable thing is being given up.

The word “wander” gives the impression that someone can no longer cope with the circumstances and wants to try their luck somewhere else. Dissatisfaction with current living conditions is often a motive for moving away from somewhere. The lesson is to encourage people to protect their home and be grateful for it, even when more adverse times come.

For those who are not satisfied with their circumstances, the grass is always greener next door. For economic reasons, Elimelech left Bethlehem for a while, as long as the economic malaise in Bethlehem lasted, to live as a stranger in Moab (
Rut_1:1-2 ). Things did not go well there (Rut_1:3-21 ). In the parable of the prodigal son, we see that the youngest son left his father’s house for selfish reasons. He went away from his father where he had it so good and things went badly for him (Luk_15:11-13 ). Even a believer can ‘wander from his nest’ as Demas did (2Ti_4:10 ). A wandering foot follows a wandering heart.

Proverbs 27:9-10

The Affection and Help of a Friend

“Oil and perfume” are pleasing to the body (Pro_27:9 ). If someone has used them for his body so that he looks beautiful and smells good, it has a rejoicing effect on the heart. Beauty aids do something to a person. A similar beneficial effect has “a man’s counsel“ that someone gives his friend because of the affection he has for him.

The “soul’s counsel”, as it also can be translated, that is the heartfelt counsel of a friend is pleasant if it is a friend who puts God first and enjoys the same fellowship with the Savior that you yourself enjoy. We see a wonderful example in the counsel Jonathan gave his friend David (1Sa_20:9-23 ). The Lord Jesus always gives heartfelt advice. In doing so, He gladdens the hearts of those whom He calls His friends. One of His Names is “Counselor” (Isa_9:5 ).

Connected to Pro_27:9 , in Pro_27:10 Solomon speaks of the value of a friend, specifically the value of a “family friend”. Solomon himself maintained a friendship with Hiram who was already his father David’s friend (1Kg_5:1-10 ). It is a friend who has proven his trustworthiness for a generation. He warns his son not to forsake that friend, not to abandon him, but to cherish that friendship as something special.

A family friend is always close, both in literal and spiritual distance. He knows the family. If one day the son has an accident and needs help, he does not have to go to a brother who lives far away or with whom there is no spiritual contact, but can ask the family friend for help. He lives nearby and has known the son since childhood.

True friendship does not change. A true friend is a neighbor to whom you can always turn. For true friends there is no barrier due to a generational difference. This is especially true of the Lord Jesus Who in all generations is the reliable Friend of everyone who knows Him.

Proverbs 27:11

A Wise Son Is an Answer to Reproach

A wise son first and foremost gladdens his father’s heart. An additional important effect is that he enables his father to defend himself against his critics. Parents who raise their children according to clear rules sometimes get criticized for doing it wrong. They oblige their children to follow certain rules. Also, they deny them certain freedoms that other young people do get or take. This is accompanied by the warning that their children will go out into the world later because they have found the yoke of their upbringing too oppressive.

But an upbringing from fellowship with the Lord, with wisdom from God and tender loving clear rules, will generally have a good effect in children. Children who are wise justify their parents. Children are not called upon to behave well so that the father can defend himself against attacks on his upbringing. That would be coercion and manipulation. Spiritual truths are not heritage. The wisdom a son reveals in his life is not inherited, but acquired.

Children who go their way in accordance with what they have learned from their parents are the best recommendation of the value of the upbringing given by the parents. It also applies to God as our Father. We gladden His heart when we are wise, which is only possible when we listen to His teaching through His Word. His teaching manifested in us silences opponents. We can also still apply this to all who teach God’s Word to fellow believers, for example, in Bible classes and Bible readings. We also see this with Paul in what he says to and about the believers in Thessalonica (1Th_2:19-20 ).

Proverbs 27:12

A Prudent Man Hides From Evil

The contrast is between “a prudent man” and “the naive” (Pro_22:3 ). The first is the mature person who has developed prudence. The second are the inexperienced and untrained youth who are easily deceived because they are headstrong. The test that clarifies who is a prudent man and who are the naive ones is their response to the evil of judgment that is coming.

To escape announced evil, we must see the evil, recognize the evil. This is what a prudent man does, while the naive may also see the evil, but may not recognize it and may even ignore it or believe that it will all be fine. The reaction reveals whether someone takes the coming evil seriously or does not care. Indeed, a prudent man seeks a place where he can protect himself from evil, while the naive will have to pay the penalty.

David escaped Saul several times because he foresaw what Saul wanted. He hid himself and therefore stayed out of Saul’s hands. Noah is also a prudent man. He hid himself in the ark, while all the naive did not let themselves be warned and went on with their lives and had to pay the penalty for that (cf. Jer_6:17 ).

Impending evil should not make us nervous and lead us to an over-hasty action, but to a calm consideration of what to do to escape it, for it will surely come. A prudent man will hide in the right place, in a place that truly offers protection from evil. He will not seek to protect himself from the evil of God’s judgment by hiding in a wrong place or in a wrong way, such as by clothing himself with the works of the law.

After Adam and Eve sinned, they covered themselves with homemade loin coverings of fig leaves, a picture of their own righteousness (Gen_3:7-8 ). But this covering or hiding did not work. They remained naked before God (Gen_3:10-11 ). God provided the proper covering, that of an animal skin, meaning that an animal had been killed in their place (Gen_3:21 ). This points to the only place of hiding from the judgment of God, and that is the sacrifice of Jesus Christ (Isa_32:2 ). He who accepts Him in faith is perfectly protected from evil. He who rejects that hiding and continues with his life will have to pay the penalty for his sins himself.

Proverbs 27:13

Obligations Have to Be Fulfilled

Connected to Pro_27:12 , becoming surety for a stranger (Pro_27:13 ) is a matter that is announced as an evil. A prudent man sees the evil which is concealed in becoming surety for a stranger. He hides himself from evil by not taking part in it and in that way, he is kept from the loss of the pledge.

He who as a naive becomes surety for a stranger, runs the risk of losing his garment. His garment is the only thing that is left for him. If he loses it, he loses everything so that he is delivered to the cold of the night. He can never get it back, for it has fallen into the hands of “an adulterous woman”.

An application is, that we will lose the warmth of the Christian fellowship if we assume obligation which we cannot fulfill. We can recommend someone for a certain job and say that we will assist if the person that we have recommended does not comply. When the person does not comply, then we are to keep our promise. We cannot do more than what we were actually assigned for, but we have to do something which was not our assignment. In that way we lose a lot of warmth, for fulfilling our duties because of our own fault is much different than doing something out of love.

The lesson is that when we allow ourselves to be misguided to entering into obligation, we have to bear the consequences of it when it turns out that this stranger is unreliable. People must be held responsible to their obligations, no matter how foolish it was to assume them.

Proverbs 27:14-16

Improper Behavior

True friendship does not express itself in an exaggerated, inappropriate manner (Pro_27:14 ). Anyone who nevertheless loudly wishes his friend all kinds of good things at an inappropriate time is not looking for his friend, but for himself. He wants to show how good his friend is, to boast of being friends with such a person. It is an exaggerated expression of praise for how good someone is.

The friend is clearly not keen on this. He doesn’t really need this kind of attention. His friend’s performance is a curse to him. Those around him constantly hear his name being called, associated with all sorts of fine, religious wishes. This evokes not respect, but annoyance. Whoever expresses himself in this way may want to give the impression of piety and friendship, but he is considered a curse. If someone is too highly praised, repugnance arises instead of admiration. The friend knows this and therefore is not at all pleased with such loud wishes of blessing.

It is fine to bless someone, that is, to wish him the good, but it must be done in the right way, the appropriate time and with the right motives. A good deed at the wrong time is reckoned a curse. It is better to speak to God early in the morning in silence and listen to Him by reading His Word than to spoil a friend’s day by such a beginning.

The comparison of “a contentious woman” with “a constant dripping” has already been before us (Pro_27:15 ; Pro_19:13 ). It is now added “on a day of steady rain”, that is a day when you do have to stay at home, because the weather does not allow you to leave the house. But even inside he is not safe from the rain, for it is leaking. He finds nowhere to take shelter.

The husband is constantly exposed to his wife’s contention, without a possibility of escaping it. Incessantly she argues. It constantly goes on with the steadiness of dripping water through a leak somewhere in the roof that you just can’t discover. There is rain outside and there is rain inside, so you get wet everywhere and cold to your bones.

It is uncontrollable and unmanageable like the wind (Pro_27:16 ). The wind is elusive and unpredictable; a gust of wind could come at any moment. You cannot grasp or hold oil either, even with your right hand, the hand of power. It slips right between your fingers. It outlines the hopelessness of the situation in which human resources cannot change the situation.

Proverbs 27:17-18

To Sharp and to Guard

Man is not created to be alone, but with others. He is a social being and needs others to allow him to be human. One aspect of being together is sharpening each other’s understanding and thoughts by talking to each other. “One man” here stands for the personality or character of the person (Pro_27:17 ). The comparison to sharpening iron with iron shows that it is about two equivalent materials. When two people talk to each other about a subject and also listen carefully to each other, it sharpens the understanding of both of them about that subject. It is a win-win situation.

It is about sharpening character and understanding. A character is largely shaped by contacts with others. Friends don’t always have to agree with each other, but by talking about something, both gain understanding. It sharpens them in their convictions while at the same time it removes the sharp edges.

That intercourse is formative is especially true in our dealings with our brothers and sisters with whom we share thoughts about God’s Word. Sharing what we have come to know of God’s truth sharpens the faith of all. It gives a sharper understanding of God’s thoughts, which also allows us to serve Him and each other with greater understanding.

In Pro_27:18 , it is about the care of working on our relationships so that there is not only better understanding and character (Pro_27:17 ), but following on from that, fruitfulness and service. It’s not about sharpening, but about caring and serving faithfully. The tending of a fig tree is a matter that requires attention. Sufficient and appropriate tending have the result that the tending person will eat its fruit. That is his reward.

The comparison is drawn to one who cares for his master. Those who do so faithfully will not worry about whether their efforts will be recognized and rewarded (cf. Pro_22:29 ). Paul was a zealous and faithful servant who cared for all the truths his Master had entrusted to him. He did not give up any of it. He knew that for this the Lord would honor him with a crown (2Ti_4:7-8 ). Thus the Lord will appropriately reward each one for the faithfulness with which he or she has served Him (1Sa_2:30 ; Mat_25:21 Mat_25:23 ; Joh_12:26 ).

Proverbs 27:19-20

The Heart and the Eyes of Man

Just as clear water is a mirror that fully reflects a face when you look into it, so “the heart of man” reflects his true nature (Pro_27:19 ; Mat_12:34 ). God’s Word, which is compared to water (Eph_5:26 ), is also compared to a mirror (Jas_1:23-24 ). It shows every person who looks into it his own heart. What is in his heart is what he is. When a man becomes aware of that, he will be startled by it and acknowledge his wickedness and beg God for mercy.

The same is true for the believer. By looking at the attitude of our heart, we come to true self-awareness. What is our heart set on? For example, when someone has retired, it often becomes clear where his priorities lie. Will he now devote all his time to traveling or fishing, for example, or will he see new opportunities to serve the Lord? We can often tell by the way a person spends his free time where his heart is, whether it is about his own pleasure and enjoyment or whether Christ is central.

After the heart of man (Pro_27:19 ), our attention is turned to “the eyes of man” (Pro_27:20 ). The eyes of man are as insatiable as “Sheol and Abaddon”, or grave and decay, are. The eye here represents man’s lust that is never satisfied (cf. Ecc_1:8 ). The apostle John speaks of “the lust of the eyes” (1Jn_2:16 ).

There is a tremendous amount of supply before our eyes. We no longer just see the things happening around us, but because of television and the Internet, there is a limitless supply of things we can look at. Much of this influences us in our desires. Advertising flyers, which come through the mailbox in a ceaseless stream, also do their best to attract our eyes and arouse desire for what is on offer. Eyes devour everything they see just as Sheol and Abaddon devour all men. The lust of the eyes always continues.

When it is about the lust for the things of this life, we must learn not to give in to it, but to be content with what we have (1Ti_6:8 ; Heb_13:5 ; Php_4:11 ). When it is about coveting spiritual things, believers may “see the King in His beauty” (Isa_33:17 ), by which they will be satisfied with His likeness (Psa_17:15 ).

Proverbs 27:21

A Good Name as a Test

Silver is melted in a crucible to test its purity. A furnace does the same with gold. The means of testing show whether there is something in the silver or gold that makes these precious metals impure. Solomon compares “the praise” or the “good name” a person has with silver and gold and also connects the submission of a test to that. Someone who is praised or has a good name must be tested to see if he is truly worthy of that praise or that name.

That test is fame. There is fame attached to a person’s praise or good name. His reaction to it reveals what he is really like. He can take the fame he receives as something he attributes to his own accomplishments, or he can be grateful to God for it, because he owes everything to Him. This is true when we are praised or have made name by what we have done, in whatever field.

Just as the crucible brings all impurity to the surface, so a praising public opinion brings out all the badness of a person. If it does not, he is worthy of his praise or good name. This will only be with one who realizes that he has nothing he did not receive, but that he owes everything to God (1Co_4:7 ).

Every person who calls himself a Christian, after the ‘good name’ of Christ, will be tested on his confession. God can use all kinds of means or circumstances to do this. When people praise us because of our being a Christian, that is a test. Do we take that credit or do we give God the credit?

Proverbs 27:22

The Fool Is and Will Remain a Fool

Foolishness cannot be removed by harsh discipline because foolishness is the nature of a fool. Even the most drastic discipline does not work a change in the fool. This is represented in the picture of grinding grain in a mortar with a pestle (a mortar is a cup with a pestle in which something can be pounded). However he would be pulverized, he is and remains foolish (cf. Jer_13:23 ).

Judgment alone does not change a man. Pharaoh was pounded again and again as it were with a pestle in a mortar by the plagues God sent upon him and his people and his land, but he did not change (Exodus 7-11). The grace of God must intervene if a man is truly to be delivered from his folly. Through repentance he receives a new nature and becomes a new creation.

Proverbs 27:23-27

The Work of Man and the Care of God

These verses are like a short poem about a man’s responsibility to provide income to give the family and those who belong to it what they need. These verses show the importance of working diligently. They also speak of the satisfaction that diligent work gives and of God’s providential care.

It is about being busy in the calling to which God has called us in daily life with the purpose of providing for the livelihood of all those entrusted to the worker (1Co_7:20 ). God wants man to work and to do so diligently. If he does not, he and all who belong to his house will go hungry. To help him, God provides resources that man needs and that He alone can give. This should make man realize that he depends on God in all his work.

We must know well what we are doing, what our work consists of, and how to do our work. Solomon tells his son that he must master his ‘trade’ well. He advises him to make sure he knows the condition of his flocks, his sheep, well (Pro_27:23 ). This can only be done by giving each sheep personal attention, looking after them and taking good care of them so that they all have everything they need in terms of food and protection. He can only put that into practice if he pays attention to his herds and sets his heart on it, his heart must go out to it. One must set his heart on his business, otherwise in no time he will have no business to set his heart on.

We can apply this verse to our family, to our children and our work. The same applies to the care in the church of God. Among other things, the church of God is compared to a flock (Act_20:28 ). God has given the care of it to elders. Peter was given the care of the lambs and sheep by the Lord Jesus (Joh_21:15-17 ; 1Pe_5:1-4 ).

“For” (Pro_27:24 ) indicates the reason for the exhortation of the previous verse. In the case of negligence and laziness, riches or prosperity will disappear. There is no guarantee that prosperity ( riches) and kingship (crown) are permanent, that you can continue to enjoy them. You cannot automatically count on it. To benefit from it permanently, it must be worked on permanently.

The believer has been given many spiritual riches and a royal position. These are eternal, but not transferable. Of these, too, the Lord expects us to work with them and serve others. In doing so, we must realize that the time to work for the Lord is limited. We can only work for Him now while we are on earth. To this end He also encourages us: “Do business [with this] until I come [back]” (Luk_19:13 ).

Pro_27:25 combines hard work by man with God’s work. God makes “the grass” grow, no man is involved (Mar_4:28 ). He does so according to His wise policy in stages. When this first grass has come up, man can mow it and take it off the field as hay. Then it has disappeared from the field. But God’s work continues, “the new grass is seen”. God always provides new growth (cf. Amo_7:1 ). Man does not have to sow for it. God gives it and man may mow it.

He has also caused “the herbs of the mountains” to grow and man may gather them in too. Mountains, among other things, are a picture of difficulties. Gathering in herbs on mountains requires extra effort. Mountains must be climbed, but then something of value is obtained. Extra money is made. Herbs make food palatable and are also sometimes used to manufacture medicine. Thus any extra effort in the Lord’s work is extra rewarded (
1Co_15:58 ).

The lambs provide wool (Pro_27:26 ). From that, clothing can be manufactured that the shepherd can use to keep himself warm (Job_31:20 ). His goats he can sell (cf. Eze_27:21 ). This gives him the opportunity to make new investments, such as buying a new field.

Besides clothing, he also has “goats’ milk enough for… food” (Pro_27:27 ). That food serves both for himself and for his household and the maidens. From his care for his affairs all those around him benefit. The same is true spiritually. One who is faithful in the things of the Lord is a blessing to others.

Proverbs 27:1
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro_27:1
DIVINE PROPERTY
I. A possession exclusively Divine. Both the distant and the immediate future belong to God alone; not only does He possess the exclusive control of what shall be in a hundred years to come, but to-morrow, and even the next hour and minute, are exclusively His. There is, doubtless, an existence beyond time where God’s creatures can look forward to the future with more certainty than can man in his present condition, but it does not belong to even the highest archangel to say what shall be in the far-off or even the near time to come. This is the prerogative of Him alone with whom all is one eternal present.
II. A possession to which men often lay claim. If we were to hear a man making definite plans as to how he would spend a fortune which it was only probable he would possess, we should wonder at his tone of certainty, and perhaps attribute it to weakness or presumption. But we all dispose of our days, and sometimes of our months and years, long before they are ours, and while our own past experience and that of others around us admonish us of the great uncertainties that surround our future, we are prone to lay our plans as if to-morrow and many years to come were ours. It is doubtless necessary and right to forecast to a certain extent—we must look forward to what will probably or may be on the morrow, or be guilty of another form of presumption. But we are not forbidden by the wise man to do this—all that the proverb warns us against is that boastful certainty in relation to the future which so ill becomes creatures so limited in their knowledge and so straitened in their resources—that definite laying of our plans which leaves God entirely outside of them, and that confident disposal of ourselves which forgets to say, “If the Lord will we shall live, and do this, or that” (Jas_4:15). It would be foolish for a raw recruit to pretend to map out the plan of his general’s campaign, or for an unlettered peasant to prophecy what line of policy would be adopted by the prime minister of the land; but he who boasts himself of to-morrow is more foolish, and is also wicked.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
The day is said to bring forth because time travaileth with the Lord’s decrees, and in their season bringeth them forth, even as a woman with child doth her little babes. Indeed, time properly worketh not, but, because God’s works are done in time, it is said to do those things which are done therein.—Muffett.
I. This ignorance of the morrow is necessary to the prosecution of our duties on earth. Could we draw aside the veil of the future and look at the things which are coming to us, our energies would be so paralysed as to incapacitate us for the ordinary avocations of life; mercy has woven the web of concealment. II. This ignorance of to-morrow is our incentive to the preparation for the future. Christ used this argument: “Be ye, therefore, ready, for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of Man cometh.”—Dr. David Thomas.
The same reason that should check our boasting of to-morrow may preserve us from desponding fears. It may be stormy weather to-day; but storms do not last all the year. We are filled and tormented with fears of some impending evil, but we often give ourselves real pain by the prospect of calamities that never were appointed to us by the providence of God.—Lawson.
How awfully has this boasting been put to shame! In the days of Noah “they married wives, and were given in marriage, until the very day when the flood came and destroyed them all.” Abner promised a kingdom, but could not ensure his life for an hour. Haman plumed himself upon the prospect of the queen’s banquet, but was hanged like a dog before night. The fool’s soul was required of him “on the very night” of his worldly projects “for many years” to come. “Serious affairs to-morrow,” was the laughing reply of Archias, warned of a conspiracy which hurried him into eternity the next hour. The infidel Gibbon calculated upon fifteen years of life, and died within a few months, at a day’s warning.—Bridges.
To count on to-morrow so as to neglect the duty of to-day is in many respects the greatest practical error among men. None have a wider range, and none are charged with more dreadful consequences. Whether the work in hand pertain to small matters or great—to the sowing of a field or the redemption of a soul—for every one who resolves deliberately not to do it, a hundred tread the same path, and suffer the same loss at last, who only postpone the work of to-day with the intention of performing it tomorrow. The proverb contains only the negative side of the precept, but it is made hollow for the very purpose of holding the positive promise in its bosom. The Old Testament sweeps away the wide-spread indurated error; the New Testament then deposits its saving truth upon the spot.… Solomon warns us to distrust the future, and Paul persuades us to accept the present hour. “Behold now is the accepted time; behold now is the day of salvation.” “To-morrow,” is the devil’s great ally, the very Goliath in whom he trusts for victory. “Now,” is the stripling whom God sends forth against him. A great significance lies in that little word. It marks the points on which life’s battle turns. That spot is the Hougomont of Waterloo. There the victory is lost or won.… An artist solicited permission to paint a portrait of the Queen. The favour was granted—and the favour was great, for probably it would make the fortune of the man. A place was fixed, and a time. At the fixed place and time the Queen appeared; but the artist was not there—he was not ready yet. When he did arrive, a message was communicated to him that her Majesty had departed, and would not return. Such is the tale. We have no means of verifying its history, but its moral is not dependent on its truth. If it is not a history, let it serve as a parable. Translate it from the temporal into the eternal. Employ the earthly type to print a heavenly lesson.—Arnot.

Proverbs 27:2
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro_27:2
SELF PRAISE
I. Merit will win the praise of others. The light of the sun makes its existence felt by every man who is possessed of vision, and there are but few men who do not acknowledge that it is a good and pleasant thing. The perfume of the flowers cannot be hidden while there are creatures endowed with the sense of smell, and their fragrance is so grateful and refreshing to us, that it is sure to win from us an acknowledgment of its existence and expressions of delight. And as men are endowed with senses which recognise light and fragrance and every form of physical beauty, so there is a moral sense in man which compels him to discern moral excellence or mental superiority. The conscience and the reason stand in the same relation to spiritual worth and intelligence as the sense of sight does to the sunlight, or that of smell to a pleasant odour. It is true that there are men who will refuse to acknowledge the presence of moral worth, but there are also some who will not acknowledge the existence of good in anything. But they know it is there notwithstanding. And although man as fallen may be more ready to praise that which appeals to his senses than that which commands the admiration of his better nature, there will always be found some in every community who will give to real worth its due proportion of praise.
II. Self-praise generally implies a lack of merit. A man of intellectual or moral worth loves knowledge or excellence of any kind for its own sake, and not for the height to which it may raise him in the estimation of his fellows. Although he is or ought to be grateful for the esteem of others, he does not make that the end of his existence; his satisfaction arises not from what people think of him, but from what he is in himself. And just in proportion as a man attains to mental or moral heights, so does he apprehend more truly how little after all he has and is, and so the higher he goes the less value he commonly sets upon his present attainments. It is therefore an inference most commonly drawn that he who praises himself is but little deserving the praise of others, and is not likely to get it. And this conclusion is generally a correct one.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
It must never be forgotten that all such passages imply the sincere and earnest cultivation of a real and divinely approved principle. The principle called for in this verse is that of true, self-diffident modesty. Considerations entirely different, and even opposite, may induce the suppression of self-praise:—even the very desire of praise from others. From this arises the danger of holding out—to the young especially—the motive or inducement of getting a character for modesty. This may produce artifice, affectation, simulation, hypocrisy. That which is wanted,—that which God approves and requires,—is honest simplicity, which neither, on the one hand, courts praise, nor, on the other, affects to disdain and undervalue it,—which neither blusters out its own commendation, nor whines and simpers, and depreciates, and makes light of what it is or of what it has done, merely for the purpose of making others say more. The affectation of despising the commendation of others is worse than the self-commendation that is reprehended. It is, in truth, the very same spirit showing itself under another aspect.—Wardlaw.
Praise is a comely garment, but though thyself do wear it, another must put it on, or it will never fit well about thee. Praise is sweet music, but it is never tuneable in thine own mouth, if it come from the mouth of another, it soundeth most tuneably in the ears of all that hear it. Praise is a rich treasure, but it never makes thee rich, unless another tell the sum.—Jermin.

Proverbs 27:3-4
CRITICAL NOTES
Pro_27:4. Delitzsch reads this verse “The madness of anger and the overflowing of wrath, and before jealousy who keeps his place?”
MAIN HOMILETICS OF
Pro_27:3-4
WRATH AND ENVY
I. A most unhappy combination. A fool and wrath. Wrath or displeasure is possible to every being capable of emotion. The power to love implies the power to hate, and he who can be pleased can also be displeased. The most tender mother can be angry, and righteously angry, with her child, and we read in Scripture of the “wrath of the Lamb” (Rev_6:16.) But there is an infinite distance between the wrath of the Holy God, and even between that of a good man or woman, and that of a moral fool. Divine displeasure is an emotion, and never a passion. God is never passive in the hands of His anger. And in proportion as men are like God they always have their displeasure under the control of their will. It is as amenable to their conscience and their reason as an obedient horse to his rider. But a fool is a man who is without power of self-government—who is himself governed first by one passion or desire and then by another—like a ship without a rudder, at the mercy of the winds and waves. When such an one is in the hands of his wrath, a most mischievous and destructive force is at work. For whether we consider its effects on the man himself, or upon the objects of his anger, we may truthfully brand it as burdensome, and cruel and outrageous. 1. It is a cruel burden to the subject of it. A more wretched creature can hardly be found in the universe than a man passive in the hands of his own anger; it is like a heavy weight crushing out of him all power to stand morally erect and self-possessed, and like a knotted scourge inflicting wounds not on the body but on the spirit. 2. The objects of it also find it a painful yoke. In proportion as the fool is in a position to exert his influence over others, in the same proportion is the amount of misery which he can create by his unbridled wrath. Perhaps its effects are nowhere so painfully felt as in the domestic circle. As a master the wrathful fool may make his servants miserable, but they may be able to quit his service and so get beyond his influence. But there is no escape for wife and children from the wrath of a morally foolish husband and father; for such there is a millstone ever about the neck, and tormenting goads always pricking the feet.
II. The most pitiless foe. Terrible as is the unbridled wrath of a fool, there is a passion more to be dreaded. The open battle-field in broad daylight is a place to be shunned, but an ambush at midnight is more certain death. Men fear to meet the lion upon the highroad, but the scorpion concealed among the grass is more dangerous. For some resistance can be offered to an open and avowed enemy, but no defence can be prepared against an unseen foe. And if wrath is like the angry lion, envy is like the deadly scorpion. The first gives some warning of his design, but the latter none. The man of unbridled passion often misses his aim by reason of his unsteady hand—the very excess of his wrath sometimes takes away his power to execute his intention. And he generally deals his blows at his enemy’s face—speaks out his hatred in his hearing, and publicly and openly tries to do him a mischief. But the envious man acts in a different manner. The natures that are most prone to envy have generally some power of self-control—they are more cold-blooded than passionate men. Though they are moral fools, they have generally enough intellectual wisdom to see the best method of bringing to pass their malicious purposes; and they consequently prefer an ambush to an open fight, and choose rather to stab a man in the back than to meet him face to face. In other words, they do not upbraid him openly and give him an opportunity to defend himself, but blacken his character by insinuations when he is absent. And as it is the nature of envy to brood over its grievances in secret, and that of unbridled wrath to manifest its displeasure immediately and openly, the first gathers strength by repression and the other loses it by the very force of its expression.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
As an earthquake ariseth from a tumultuous vapour shut up in the caverns and bowels of the earth, where it tosseth and tumbleth until it break out and overturn all that standeth in the way of it, so envy is a pestilent vapour which lieth in the heart of a man, where it boileth and fretteth until it find occasion to vent itself, and then it tumbleth and throweth down all that standeth in the malicious eye of it. Houses and trees stand firm against a tempest of lightning or a flood of rain, and men stand out against the cruelty of sudden wrath and rage of a man’s lasting anger, but what house or tree standeth against the force of an earthquake, and who is able to stand against the force of envy?—Jermin.
I do not ask for men passionless; this is hominem de homine tollere. Give them leave to be men, not madmen. Anger in the best sense is the gift of God, and it is no small art to express anger with premeditated terms, and on seasonable occasions. God placed anger among the affections engrafted in nature, gave it a seat, fitted it with instruments, ministered it matter whence it might proceed, provided humours whereby it is nourished. It is to the soul as a nerve to the body. The philosopher calls it the whetstone to fortitude, a spur intended to set forward virtue. But there is a vicious, impetuous, frantic anger, earnest for private and personal grudges; not like a medicine to clear the eye, but to put it out.… To cure this bedlam passion … let him take some herb of grace, an ounce of patience, as much of consideration how often he gives God cause to be angry with him, and no less of consideration how God hath a hand in Shimei’s railing—mix all these together with a faithful confidence that God will dispose all wrongs to thy good; hereof be made a pill to purge choler.… Anger is a frantic fit, but envy is a consumption.… Among all mischiefs it is furnished with one profitable quality—the owner of it takes most hurt.… It were well for him that he should dwell alone. It is a pity that he should come into heaven, for to see “one star excel another in glory” would put him again out of his wits.… His cure is hard.… Two simples may do him good if he could be won to take them—a scruple of content and a dram of charity.—T. Adams.
Well then might it be asked: Who is able to stand before envy? Even the perfect innocence of paradise fell before it. Satan lost his own happiness. Then he envied man, and ceased not to work his destruction. (See Wis_2:23-24). It shed the first human blood that ever stained the ground. (1Jn_3:12). It quenched the yearnings of natural affection, and brought bitter sorrow to the patriarch’s bosom. Even the premier of the greatest empire in the world was its temporary victim. Nay more—the Saviour in His most benevolent acts was sorely harassed, and ultimately sunk under its power. “His servants therefore must not expect to be above their Master.”—Bridges.

Proverbs 27:5-6
CRITICAL NOTES
Pro_27:5. Secret love. Zöckler and Hitzig understand this love to be that “which from false consideration dissembles, and does not tell his friend of his faults when it should do so.” Delitzsch thinks it refers to “love which is confined to the heart alone, like a fire which, when it burns secretly, neither lightens nor warms.”
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Pro_27:5-6; Pro_27:9-11; Pro_27:14
TESTS OF FRIENDSHIP
We group these verses together because they all treat of the same subject, viz., friendship in reality and friendship in profession only. The same subject occurred in the preceding chapter (see on Pro_27:23-27, and in chap. Pro_17:17-18, page 519.)
I. He does not love us truly who does not love us well enough to tell us of our faults. The true friend must desire to see the object of his affection as free from faults as it is possible for him to be; the truest and the purest love seeks by every means within its reach to bless the beloved one. And as we should not consider him a friend who would make no effort to free us from any bodily disease or physical deformity, we ought not to call him an enemy who will strive to rid us of moral and spiritual blemishes. For such an one gives proof that he cares more for our ultimate good than for our present smile—he shows that he is even willing to risk our displeasure in the hope of doing us real kindness. He who gives us kisses when he ought to give us reproof, or who holds back deserved rebuke from cowardice, is more cruel than if he withheld from us an indispensable medicine simply because it had a bitter taste. For if we will not take the unpleasant draught from the hand that we have clasped in friendship, we are not likely to find it more pleasant when administered by a stranger, much less by an enemy. And if a wound is to be probed it is surely better for the patient that it should be done by a skilful and tender hand than by one who has no sympathy with us and no acquaintance with our inner life. And as it is certain that those who do not love us will either rebuke us for our faults or despise us on account of them, the real friend is he who, by a loving faithfulness, strives to rid us of them. What would have become of David if Nathan had lacked the courage to say to him, “Thou art the man.”
II. Such a true friend is the most refreshing and invigorating influence that can bless our life. Setting aside the blessing and strength which come to man direct from his Father in heaven, there is no source whence he can derive so much help and comfort as from the hearty sympathy and sound advice of a real friend. They are like the anointing oil and perfume which refresh the weary Eastern traveller at the end of his day’s journey, removing the traces of toil and the sense of fatigue, and putting new life into every limb. Life is a dusty, toilsome highway for most men, and they sorely stand in need of some soothing and renewing influence as they pursue the journey. And this, Solomon assures us—and experience confirms his assurance—is to be found in hearty friendship.
III. The cultivation and retention of such friends should be one of the aims of life. Seeing that there is no other means by which we are so likely to get a true acquaintance with ourselves, and no other earthly influence which is so likely at once to elevate and console us, we ought to try and make real friends and be faithful to our friendships after they are formed. And especially we ought ever gratefully to remember the friends of our youth—those who gave us help and counsel when we most needed them, and to whose faithfulness and forbearance we probably owe far more than we can ever rightly estimate. There is a proneness in the youth as he rises into manhood, and is probably removed from early associations and lifted into a higher social sphere, to forget his earliest and truest friend, but the truly wise and honourable man will count fidelity to such a sacred duty.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
Pro_27:6. Many indeed profess their value for a true friend; and yet in the most valuable discharge of friendship, they “count him their enemy.” The apostle had some just apprehension on this account, though so wise and affectionate, and speaking from the mouth of God. (Gal_4:12-16). As if the rule of friendship was, that we should absolutely “please,” without reference to the Divine restriction—“for good to edification.” (Rom_15:2). Christian faithfulness is the only way of acting up to our profession. And much guilt lies upon the conscience in the neglect. But this open rebuke must not contravene the express rule of love—“telling the fault between thee and him alone.” Too often, instead of pouring it secretly into our brother’s ear, it is proclaimed through the wide medium of the world’s ear, and thus it passes through a multitude of channels before it reaches its one proper destination. The openness of the rebuke describes the free and unreserved sincerity of the heart, not necessarily the public exposure of the offender; save when the character of the offence, or the interests of others, may appear to demand it. (1Ti_5:20).—Bridges.
This is that false love which really injures its object; and which, on this account,—that is, from its injurious tendency, how little soever designed, gets in the Scriptures the designation of hatred: “Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him.” (Lev_19:17).—Wardlaw.
Pro_27:9. The best physic for man is man. For friendship is a kind of life to man, without which there is no comfort of a man’s life. Friendship is in men a kind of step to God, and by means of love man draweth near to God, when, as from being the friend of man, he is made the friend of God. But as among the Jews there was no oil that did so rejoice the heart as that wherewith the kings were anointed; no perfume that did so delight the soul as that which the priest offered; in like manner as there is no friend so sweet as God, so there is no counsel that doth so glad the soul, so cheer the heart, as that which He giveth in His word, whereby we are made even kings and priests unto him.—Jermin.
The heartiness of a friend’s counsel constitutes its excellence. It is not official, or merely intelligent. It is the counsel of his soul.—Bridges.
Pro_27:10. “Neither go into thy brother’s house in the day of thy calamity.” This has certainly the appearance of a very strange advice. Whither, in the day of our calamity, should we go, if not to the house of a brother? Where are we to expect a kind reception, and the comfort we require, if not there? But the proverb, like all others, must be understood generally, and applied in the circumstances and the sense obviously and mainly designed. The meaning seems to be either—1. Do not choose “the day of thy calamity” for making thy visit, if thou hast not shown the same inclination to court and cultivate intimacy before, in the day of thy success and prosperity. This unavoidably looks not like the impulse of affection, but of felt necessity, or convenience and self-interest: “Ay, ay,” your brother will be naturally apt to say, “I saw little of you before: you are fain to come to me now, when you feel your need of me, and fancy I may be of some service to you.” Or, 2. Let not sympathy be forced and extorted. “In the day of thy calamity,” if thy brother has the heart of a brother, and really feels for thee, he will come to thee; he will seek and find thee. If he does not, then do not press yourself upon his notice, as if you would constrain and oblige him to be kind. This may, and probably will, have the effect of disgusting and alienating him, rather than gaining his love. Love and sympathy must be unconstrained as well as unbought. When they are either got by a bribe, or got by dint of urgent solicitation, they are alike heartless, and alike worthless. The reason is—“For better is a neighbour that is near, than a brother far off. The antithetical phrases “at hand” and “far off,” have evident reference here, not to locality, but to disposition. A friendly and kindly-disposed neighbour, who bears no relation to us save that of neighbourhood, is greatly preferable to a brother—to any near relation whatever that is cold, distant, and alienated.—Wardlaw.
The proverbial sense is, that better is a lesser comfort which is ready at hand, than a greater solace which we must go to seek after.—Jermin.
Pro_27:14. It is an excellent description of a notorious flatterer, and a just denunciation of his due reward. First, he blesseth with a loud voice, as if he wanted breath and sides to set out the praises of his friend, and as if he would not only awaken him with the news of it but many others also with the loudness of it. Secondly, he doth it rising early, as if it were some main and principal business which he had to do, and wherein he would show himself more forward than any others. Thirdly, he doth it in the morning, as if he would bless his friend before he blessed God, or rather would make him his God by offering his sacrifice of praise unto him.—Jermin.

Proverbs 27:7
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro_27:7
WANT OF APPETITE
I. The value which men set upon things depends upon their condition and circumstances. When we look around upon our fellow-creatures, we can but remark the widely different estimates which different men place upon the same things, and also the different value which the same man attaches to the same object at different times. To begin as Solomon does, with our lower nature—there are hundreds of well-fed citizens in every community who look with indifference at the most tempting dainties that are set before them, and perhaps close to their mansions are to be found as many to whom one good meal would give the keenest physical enjoyment. And if a traveller were passing through England he would probably turn away with disdain from a dinner of bread and water; but if he were in some far-off desert land he would hail such plain fare with delight. If we apply the proverb to man’s intellectual nature, we find the same law in operation. Some men are surrounded with opportunities of mental culture and growth, and they despise and neglect them because they have no intellectual appetites, while others who are shut out from such advantages are longing eagerly for them. And it is no less true in spiritual things. The longings and aspirations of those whose spiritual appetites have been awakened are entirely unknown to those who have not felt their soul need, and the language which they use to express their desires is an unknown tongue to those who say, “I am rich and have need of nothing” (Rev_3:17). There was a time in the life of Saul of Tarsus, when the language of Paul the apostle would have been utterly unintelligible to him. It would have been hard to convince the young man who consented to the death of Stephen, that he would one day “count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus” (Php_3:8), but the different estimate which he set upon the Gospel of the Son of God depended entirely upon the difference in his own spiritual condition at those different periods in his life. Even the gift of a Saviour is lightly esteemed, when men are full of pride and worldliness; it is true in this sense as in others that “the full soul loatheth an honeycomb.”
II. A sense of need will not only teach men to value luxuries and comforts, but will make what was unpalatable welcome and acceptable. The young man who had lightly esteemed the good things on his father’s table, came not only to remember with a longing desire the bread that fed his father’s servants, but would “fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat” (Luk_15:16). And when a youth has known the misery of homelessness, the restraints of his father’s house, and the daily toil which once he felt to be so irksome, are light and easy in comparison. And so it is when a soul begins to hunger and thirst after righteousness. The conditions of reconciliation with God and the yoke of Christ, which before were so distasteful, are joyfully and eagerly accepted, and that which was bitter becomes sweet to the soul.

Proverbs 27:8-16
CRITICAL NOTES
Pro_27:8. Place, rather “home.”
Pro_27:9. This verse is obscurely rendered in the English version. Delitzsch translates “Oil and frankincense rejoice the heart, and the sweet discourse of a friend from counselling of soul.” Ewald, Elster, Luther, etc., render “The sweetness of the friend springeth from faithful counsel of soul.” Zöckler, “The sweetness of a friend is better than one’s own counsel.”
Pro_27:10. Neighbour that is near, etc. “The near neighbour is he who keeps himself near as one dispensing counsel and help to the distressed, just as the far-off brother is he who, on account of hit unloving disposition, keeps at a distance from the same” (Zöckler.) Most commentators substantially agree with this view of the text
Pro_27:14. As a curse, etc. It is no better than a curse, or it may be regarded as veiling an evil intention.
Pro_27:16. And the ointment of his right hand. Zöckler and Delitzsch translate “And his right hand graspeth, or meeteth oil,” that is, he cannot hold her. Other commentators, retaining the English translation, understand it to refer to the hopelessness of concealing her vexatious disposition.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro_27:8
A MAN AND HIS PLACE
I. It is good for every man to have a place in the world which he can call his home, and work which he feels especially belongs to him. A man should have some spot on earth which is dearer to him than all the world beside, and some calling or profession which he can recognise as his own. It is not by any means desirable that he should always be in that place, or that he should never employ his time in other work. The bird often leaves the nest and flies hither and thither for many hours, and men must and ought not to confine themselves always to one place and to the same employment. Change of scene and occupation is always desirable within certain limits, and is often a necessity with men. But however far the bird flies she returns to her nest, and however much men may be obliged or may choose to wander, they should always have one place to call home; and however many things may occupy their hours of leisure, they should have one kind of work which especially fills up their life.
II. It is not good hastily and often to quit one sphere of work and one mode of life for another. Every honest calling has some advantages connected with it, and almost every sphere in life has something to recommend it; and steady perseverance in one employment, and continuance in one position, is often far more conducive to our material prosperity, and more beneficial to our character and reputation, than constant changes, even although they promise more speedy promotion and a smoother path to some desired end. This much is certain, that change merely for the sake of change is foolish, and change without good and sufficient reason is not wise.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
By place, the Holy Ghost understandeth particular callings. Now God had taken care that none should molest a bird in her nest, there she was safe (Deu_22:6-7); but when she begins to wander then she is in danger, either to be shot by the fowler or caught in the snare, or made a prey to other ravenous birds. So a man that is diligent in his calling whilst he is employed therein, is in God’s precincts, and so under God’s protection; but when he wandereth abroad from his calling, going out of his bounds to sit and talk, he is a waif and a stray, and so falleth to the lord of the manor, “the god of this world.” Reader, thou mayest expect to be preserved whilst thou art a-working, but not when thou art wandering. Those soldiers who leave their place in a march and straggle to pilfer, are many times snapt and slain by their enemies, when they who keep their places are safe and secure.—Swinnock.
Change of place is thought of as an evil. The sense of security is lost and cannot be regained. The maxim, it may be noted, is characteristic of the earlier stages of Hebrew history, before exile and travel had made change of country a more familiar thing. We seem to hear an echo of the feeling which made the thought of being “a fugitive and a vagabond” (Gen_4:12-13) the most terrible of all punishments.—Plumptre.
In such a comparison as this, we cannot but suppose there is a reference to the purposes for which the nest is constructed. The allusion is doubtless to the period of incubation—to the hatching of the eggs, and the rearing of the young. If the bird “wanders from her nest” during that period, what is the consequence? Why, that the process is frustrated—the eggs lose their vital warmth; they become cold, addled, and unproductive. Absence, even for a very short time, will produce this effect; and produce it to such a degree, that no subsequent sitting, however constant and prolonged, can ever vivify again the extinct principle of vitality. And then, during the period of early training, when the young are dependent on the brooding breast and wing of the parent bird for their warmth, and on the active quickness of the parent bird, as their purveyor, for their sustenance,—desertion is death. If the mother then “wanders from her nest,” forsaking for any length of time her callow brood—they perish, the hapless victims of a mother’s neglect. They are starved of cold, or they are starved of hunger; or, it may be, their secret retreat is found out by some devouring foe. Such appears to be the apt allusion. Let us now consider to what cases it may with truth and profit be applied. 1. In the first place then, I apply it to a man’s HOME. Home may surely be regarded as most appropriately designated “his place.” It is there he ought to be; not merely enjoying comfort, but imparting it;—not the place of selfish ease and indulgence, but of dutiful and useful occupation. He has a charge there,—committed to him, not by the instincts of nature merely, but by the law of God. His family demand his first interest and his first attention. 2. I apply the proverb to the SITUATION IN LIFE which has been assigned to a man by Providence. As the brooding bird should be found upon her eggs, or with her young, so should every servant, in every department, be found in his own place, and at his own occupation. It should be the aim of every man to have it said of him with truth—Tell me where he ought to be, and I will tell you where he is. 3. I wish to apply the words to the SANCTUARY OF GOD. I think they may be so applied with perfect appropriateness. Every Christian must delight in God’s sanctuary. It is to him, as a worshipper of God, “his place;”—the place where, at stated times, he ought to be, and where he chooses, and desires, and loves to be. How frequently, how strongly, how beautifully, does the Psalmist express this feeling!—and on one occasion with an exquisitely touching allusion to those birds of the air, that built their nests in the vicinity of the temple; and which, when banished from Jerusalem, and kept at a distance from the sacred precincts, he represents himself as envying—coveting their proximity to the altars of Jehovah (Psa_84:3.)—Wardlaw.
The 9th, 10th, 11th, and 14th verses have been considered with the 6th and 7th. For Homiletics on the subject of Pro_27:12 see on chap. Pro_14:15, page 364. Pro_27:13; Pro_27:15-16 are almost a verbal repetition of chaps. Pro_20:16, and Pro_19:13. For Homiletics see pages 589 and 573.

Proverbs 27:9-11
CRITICAL NOTES
Pro_27:5. Secret love. Zöckler and Hitzig understand this love to be that “which from false consideration dissembles, and does not tell his friend of his faults when it should do so.” Delitzsch thinks it refers to “love which is confined to the heart alone, like a fire which, when it burns secretly, neither lightens nor warms.”
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Pro_27:5-6; Pro_27:9-11; Pro_27:14
TESTS OF FRIENDSHIP
We group these verses together because they all treat of the same subject, viz., friendship in reality and friendship in profession only. The same subject occurred in the preceding chapter (see on Pro_27:23-27, and in chap. Pro_17:17-18, page 519.)
I. He does not love us truly who does not love us well enough to tell us of our faults. The true friend must desire to see the object of his affection as free from faults as it is possible for him to be; the truest and the purest love seeks by every means within its reach to bless the beloved one. And as we should not consider him a friend who would make no effort to free us from any bodily disease or physical deformity, we ought not to call him an enemy who will strive to rid us of moral and spiritual blemishes. For such an one gives proof that he cares more for our ultimate good than for our present smile—he shows that he is even willing to risk our displeasure in the hope of doing us real kindness. He who gives us kisses when he ought to give us reproof, or who holds back deserved rebuke from cowardice, is more cruel than if he withheld from us an indispensable medicine simply because it had a bitter taste. For if we will not take the unpleasant draught from the hand that we have clasped in friendship, we are not likely to find it more pleasant when administered by a stranger, much less by an enemy. And if a wound is to be probed it is surely better for the patient that it should be done by a skilful and tender hand than by one who has no sympathy with us and no acquaintance with our inner life. And as it is certain that those who do not love us will either rebuke us for our faults or despise us on account of them, the real friend is he who, by a loving faithfulness, strives to rid us of them. What would have become of David if Nathan had lacked the courage to say to him, “Thou art the man.”
II. Such a true friend is the most refreshing and invigorating influence that can bless our life. Setting aside the blessing and strength which come to man direct from his Father in heaven, there is no source whence he can derive so much help and comfort as from the hearty sympathy and sound advice of a real friend. They are like the anointing oil and perfume which refresh the weary Eastern traveller at the end of his day’s journey, removing the traces of toil and the sense of fatigue, and putting new life into every limb. Life is a dusty, toilsome highway for most men, and they sorely stand in need of some soothing and renewing influence as they pursue the journey. And this, Solomon assures us—and experience confirms his assurance—is to be found in hearty friendship.
III. The cultivation and retention of such friends should be one of the aims of life. Seeing that there is no other means by which we are so likely to get a true acquaintance with ourselves, and no other earthly influence which is so likely at once to elevate and console us, we ought to try and make real friends and be faithful to our friendships after they are formed. And especially we ought ever gratefully to remember the friends of our youth—those who gave us help and counsel when we most needed them, and to whose faithfulness and forbearance we probably owe far more than we can ever rightly estimate. There is a proneness in the youth as he rises into manhood, and is probably removed from early associations and lifted into a higher social sphere, to forget his earliest and truest friend, but the truly wise and honourable man will count fidelity to such a sacred duty.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
Pro_27:6. Many indeed profess their value for a true friend; and yet in the most valuable discharge of friendship, they “count him their enemy.” The apostle had some just apprehension on this account, though so wise and affectionate, and speaking from the mouth of God. (Gal_4:12-16). As if the rule of friendship was, that we should absolutely “please,” without reference to the Divine restriction—“for good to edification.” (Rom_15:2). Christian faithfulness is the only way of acting up to our profession. And much guilt lies upon the conscience in the neglect. But this open rebuke must not contravene the express rule of love—“telling the fault between thee and him alone.” Too often, instead of pouring it secretly into our brother’s ear, it is proclaimed through the wide medium of the world’s ear, and thus it passes through a multitude of channels before it reaches its one proper destination. The openness of the rebuke describes the free and unreserved sincerity of the heart, not necessarily the public exposure of the offender; save when the character of the offence, or the interests of others, may appear to demand it. (1Ti_5:20).—Bridges.
This is that false love which really injures its object; and which, on this account,—that is, from its injurious tendency, how little soever designed, gets in the Scriptures the designation of hatred: “Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him.” (Lev_19:17).—Wardlaw.
Pro_27:9. The best physic for man is man. For friendship is a kind of life to man, without which there is no comfort of a man’s life. Friendship is in men a kind of step to God, and by means of love man draweth near to God, when, as from being the friend of man, he is made the friend of God. But as among the Jews there was no oil that did so rejoice the heart as that wherewith the kings were anointed; no perfume that did so delight the soul as that which the priest offered; in like manner as there is no friend so sweet as God, so there is no counsel that doth so glad the soul, so cheer the heart, as that which He giveth in His word, whereby we are made even kings and priests unto him.—Jermin.
The heartiness of a friend’s counsel constitutes its excellence. It is not official, or merely intelligent. It is the counsel of his soul.—Bridges.
Pro_27:10. “Neither go into thy brother’s house in the day of thy calamity.” This has certainly the appearance of a very strange advice. Whither, in the day of our calamity, should we go, if not to the house of a brother? Where are we to expect a kind reception, and the comfort we require, if not there? But the proverb, like all others, must be understood generally, and applied in the circumstances and the sense obviously and mainly designed. The meaning seems to be either—1. Do not choose “the day of thy calamity” for making thy visit, if thou hast not shown the same inclination to court and cultivate intimacy before, in the day of thy success and prosperity. This unavoidably looks not like the impulse of affection, but of felt necessity, or convenience and self-interest: “Ay, ay,” your brother will be naturally apt to say, “I saw little of you before: you are fain to come to me now, when you feel your need of me, and fancy I may be of some service to you.” Or, 2. Let not sympathy be forced and extorted. “In the day of thy calamity,” if thy brother has the heart of a brother, and really feels for thee, he will come to thee; he will seek and find thee. If he does not, then do not press yourself upon his notice, as if you would constrain and oblige him to be kind. This may, and probably will, have the effect of disgusting and alienating him, rather than gaining his love. Love and sympathy must be unconstrained as well as unbought. When they are either got by a bribe, or got by dint of urgent solicitation, they are alike heartless, and alike worthless. The reason is—“For better is a neighbour that is near, than a brother far off. The antithetical phrases “at hand” and “far off,” have evident reference here, not to locality, but to disposition. A friendly and kindly-disposed neighbour, who bears no relation to us save that of neighbourhood, is greatly preferable to a brother—to any near relation whatever that is cold, distant, and alienated.—Wardlaw.
The proverbial sense is, that better is a lesser comfort which is ready at hand, than a greater solace which we must go to seek after.—Jermin.
Pro_27:14. It is an excellent description of a notorious flatterer, and a just denunciation of his due reward. First, he blesseth with a loud voice, as if he wanted breath and sides to set out the praises of his friend, and as if he would not only awaken him with the news of it but many others also with the loudness of it. Secondly, he doth it rising early, as if it were some main and principal business which he had to do, and wherein he would show himself more forward than any others. Thirdly, he doth it in the morning, as if he would bless his friend before he blessed God, or rather would make him his God by offering his sacrifice of praise unto him.—Jermin.

Proverbs 27:14
CRITICAL NOTES
Pro_27:5. Secret love. Zöckler and Hitzig understand this love to be that “which from false consideration dissembles, and does not tell his friend of his faults when it should do so.” Delitzsch thinks it refers to “love which is confined to the heart alone, like a fire which, when it burns secretly, neither lightens nor warms.”
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Pro_27:5-6; Pro_27:9-11; Pro_27:14
TESTS OF FRIENDSHIP
We group these verses together because they all treat of the same subject, viz., friendship in reality and friendship in profession only. The same subject occurred in the preceding chapter (see on Pro_27:23-27, and in chap. Pro_17:17-18, page 519.)
I. He does not love us truly who does not love us well enough to tell us of our faults. The true friend must desire to see the object of his affection as free from faults as it is possible for him to be; the truest and the purest love seeks by every means within its reach to bless the beloved one. And as we should not consider him a friend who would make no effort to free us from any bodily disease or physical deformity, we ought not to call him an enemy who will strive to rid us of moral and spiritual blemishes. For such an one gives proof that he cares more for our ultimate good than for our present smile—he shows that he is even willing to risk our displeasure in the hope of doing us real kindness. He who gives us kisses when he ought to give us reproof, or who holds back deserved rebuke from cowardice, is more cruel than if he withheld from us an indispensable medicine simply because it had a bitter taste. For if we will not take the unpleasant draught from the hand that we have clasped in friendship, we are not likely to find it more pleasant when administered by a stranger, much less by an enemy. And if a wound is to be probed it is surely better for the patient that it should be done by a skilful and tender hand than by one who has no sympathy with us and no acquaintance with our inner life. And as it is certain that those who do not love us will either rebuke us for our faults or despise us on account of them, the real friend is he who, by a loving faithfulness, strives to rid us of them. What would have become of David if Nathan had lacked the courage to say to him, “Thou art the man.”
II. Such a true friend is the most refreshing and invigorating influence that can bless our life. Setting aside the blessing and strength which come to man direct from his Father in heaven, there is no source whence he can derive so much help and comfort as from the hearty sympathy and sound advice of a real friend. They are like the anointing oil and perfume which refresh the weary Eastern traveller at the end of his day’s journey, removing the traces of toil and the sense of fatigue, and putting new life into every limb. Life is a dusty, toilsome highway for most men, and they sorely stand in need of some soothing and renewing influence as they pursue the journey. And this, Solomon assures us—and experience confirms his assurance—is to be found in hearty friendship.
III. The cultivation and retention of such friends should be one of the aims of life. Seeing that there is no other means by which we are so likely to get a true acquaintance with ourselves, and no other earthly influence which is so likely at once to elevate and console us, we ought to try and make real friends and be faithful to our friendships after they are formed. And especially we ought ever gratefully to remember the friends of our youth—those who gave us help and counsel when we most needed them, and to whose faithfulness and forbearance we probably owe far more than we can ever rightly estimate. There is a proneness in the youth as he rises into manhood, and is probably removed from early associations and lifted into a higher social sphere, to forget his earliest and truest friend, but the truly wise and honourable man will count fidelity to such a sacred duty.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
Pro_27:6. Many indeed profess their value for a true friend; and yet in the most valuable discharge of friendship, they “count him their enemy.” The apostle had some just apprehension on this account, though so wise and affectionate, and speaking from the mouth of God. (Gal_4:12-16). As if the rule of friendship was, that we should absolutely “please,” without reference to the Divine restriction—“for good to edification.” (Rom_15:2). Christian faithfulness is the only way of acting up to our profession. And much guilt lies upon the conscience in the neglect. But this open rebuke must not contravene the express rule of love—“telling the fault between thee and him alone.” Too often, instead of pouring it secretly into our brother’s ear, it is proclaimed through the wide medium of the world’s ear, and thus it passes through a multitude of channels before it reaches its one proper destination. The
openness of the rebuke describes the free and unreserved sincerity of the heart, not necessarily the public exposure of the offender; save when the character of the offence, or the interests of others, may appear to demand it. (1Ti_5:20).—Bridges.
This is that false love which really injures its object; and which, on this account,—that is, from its injurious tendency, how little soever designed, gets in the Scriptures the designation of hatred: “Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him.” (Lev_19:17).—Wardlaw.
Pro_27:9. The best physic for man is man. For friendship is a kind of life to man, without which there is no comfort of a man’s life. Friendship is in men a kind of step to God, and by means of love man draweth near to God, when, as from being the friend of man, he is made the friend of God. But as among the Jews there was no oil that did so rejoice the heart as that wherewith the kings were anointed; no perfume that did so delight the soul as that which the priest offered; in like manner as there is no friend so sweet as God, so there is no counsel that doth so glad the soul, so cheer the heart, as that which He giveth in His word, whereby we are made even kings and priests unto him.—Jermin.
The heartiness of a friend’s counsel constitutes its excellence. It is not official, or merely intelligent. It is the counsel of his soul.—Bridges.
Pro_27:10. “Neither go into thy brother’s house in the day of thy calamity.” This has certainly the appearance of a very strange advice. Whither, in the day of our calamity, should we go, if not to the house of a brother? Where are we to expect a kind reception, and the comfort we require, if not there? But the proverb, like all others, must be understood generally, and applied in the circumstances and the sense obviously and mainly designed. The meaning seems to be either—1. Do not choose “the day of thy calamity” for making thy visit, if thou hast not shown the same inclination to court and cultivate intimacy before, in the day of thy success and prosperity. This unavoidably looks not like the impulse of affection, but of felt necessity, or convenience and self-interest: “Ay, ay,” your brother will be naturally apt to say, “I saw little of you before: you are fain to come to me now, when you feel your need of me, and fancy I may be of some service to you.” Or, 2. Let not sympathy be forced and extorted. “In the day of thy calamity,” if thy brother has the heart of a brother, and really feels for thee, he will come to thee; he will seek and find thee. If he does not, then do not press yourself upon his notice, as if you would constrain and oblige him to be kind. This may, and probably will, have the effect of disgusting and alienating him, rather than gaining his love. Love and sympathy must be unconstrained as well as unbought. When they are either got by a bribe, or got by dint of urgent solicitation, they are alike heartless, and alike worthless. The reason is—“For better is a neighbour that is near, than a brother far off. The antithetical phrases “at hand” and “far off,” have evident reference here, not to locality, but to disposition. A friendly and kindly-disposed neighbour, who bears no relation to us save that of neighbourhood, is greatly preferable to a brother—to any near relation whatever that is cold, distant, and alienated.—Wardlaw.
The proverbial sense is, that better is a lesser comfort which is ready at hand, than a greater solace which we must go to seek after.—Jermin.
Pro_27:14. It is an excellent description of a notorious flatterer, and a just denunciation of his due reward. First, he blesseth with a loud voice, as if he wanted breath and sides to set out the praises of his friend, and as if he would not only awaken him with the news of it but many others also with the loudness of it. Secondly, he doth it rising early, as if it were some main and principal business which he had to do, and wherein he would show himself more forward than any others. Thirdly, he doth it in the morning, as if he would bless his friend before he blessed God, or rather would make him his God by offering his sacrifice of praise unto him.—Jermin.

Proverbs 27:17
CRITICAL NOTES
Pro_27:17. Stuart and Noyes find here the idea of provocation. But most critics take the ordinary view. Miller translates “Iron is welded by iron; so, for a man, the tie is the face of a friend.”
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro_27:17
A SOCIAL WHETSTONE
I. This proverb may be applied to men’s general intercourse with each other. It is needful for a man to mingle with his fellow-creatures in order to have his faculties and capacities developed and fitted for action. Social intercourse is stimulating to the mind and refreshing to the spiritual nature, and is indeed indispensable to our happiness and usefulness. “A man by himself,” says Muffet, “is no man—he is dull, he is very blunt; but if his fellow come and quicken him by his presence, speech, and example, he is so whetted on by this means that he is much more skilful, comfortable, and better than when he was alone.” The human countenance, as the organ by which the soul of one man makes its presence felt by another, has a quickening influence even when no words are uttered, and this general friction of soul with soul preserves men from intellectual dulness and spiritual apathy.
II. It is especially applicable to intercourse with those whom we know and love. Above and beyond the general need of man to have constant intercourse with man, there are times and seasons when the face of a friend is especially helpful. The sword that has seen much hard service must come in contact with another steel instrument to restore its edge. The ploughshare that has pushed its way through hard and stony ground must be fitted for more work by friction with a whetstone, and the axe, after it has felled many trees, must be subjected to a similar process. So the intellectual and spiritual nature of man becomes at times in need of a stimulus from without which may fitly be compared with this sharpening of iron by iron. Hard mental toil, contact with uncongenial persons and things, disappointments, and even great spiritual emotions, have a tendency to exhaust our energies and depress our spirits, and render us for a time indisposed to exertion, and perhaps incapable of it. In such a condition a look of sympathy and encouragement from one who understands us is very serviceable indeed, and has power to arouse within us fresh hope, and therefore new life for renewed action.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
As you can only sharpen iron by iron, you can only sharpen souls by souls. Neither dead matter, however majestic in aspect or thunderous in melody, nor irrational life, however graceful in form or mighty in force, can sharpen a blunted soul. Mind alone can quicken mind; it is in all cases the spirit that quickeneth.—Dr. David Thomas.
Iron is welded by iron. (This is Miller’s rendering.) That is, we must bring a “face” of “iron” (not of tin, or brass, or wood, but, by the very necessities of its nature, of iron), and strictly a face of it, so that face may meet face (as of the water in the 19th verse), or they cannot run or mould themselves together. Fit a face of iron, red hot, to a face of iron, also hot, and force them hard upon each other, and thus you weld them. Bring a man face to face with his neighbour, and let them be warmed by a common taste, and, though one of them be God Himself, this will weld them.—Miller.
We owe some of the most valuable discoveries of science to this active reciprocity. Useful hints were thrown out, which have issued in the opening of large fields of hitherto unexplored knowledge. The commanding word in the field of battle puts a keen edge upon the iron. (2Sa_10:11-13). The mutual excitation for evil is a solemn warning against “evil communications.” But most refreshing is it, when, as in the dark ages of the Church, “they that feared the Lord spake often one to another.” Sharpening indeed must have been the intercourse at Emmaus, when “the hearts of the disciples burned within them.” The apostle was often so invigorated by the countenance of his friends, that he longed to be “somewhat filled with their company.” Upon this principle—“Two are better than one”—our Lord sent His first preachers to their work. And the first Divine ordination in the Christian Church was after this precedent. (Act_13:2-4.)—Bridges.
The countenance of a friend is a wonderful work of God. It is a work as great and good as a sun in the heavens; and verily, He who spread it out and bade it shine did not intend that it should be covered by a pall.… He intends that it should shine upon hearts that have grown dark and cold.… The human countenance—oh, thou possessor of the treasure, never prostitute that gift of God! If you could, and should pluck down these greater and lesser lights that shine in purity from heaven, and trail them through the mire, you would be ashamed as one who had put out the eyes and marred the beauty of creation. Equal shame and sin are his who takes this terrestrial sun—blithe, bright, sparkling countenance—and with it fascinates his fellow into the old serpent’s filthy folds.—Arnot.

Proverbs 27:18
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro_27:18
THE REWARD OF SERVICE
I. The reward of the servant of nature. The fig-tree may here be taken as typical of all that the earth produces for the sustenance of man. God has ordained that man shall be a co-worker with Himself in making the earth fruitful. If He gives the life to the herb or the tree, and sends the sun and the rain to quicken and nourish it, man must give his service too. It is his business to prepare the soil, to tend the God-given life, and to protect it as far as possible from all adverse influences. And this being done, some reward is certain. There will be cases of individual and occasional failure, but fruit for service is the rule in the kingdom of nature.
II. The reward of service rendered to man. Although the word servant is now obnoxious to many ears, we do well to remember the estimate which God puts upon faithful service and the important place which it holds in the world. He who served us unto death left this command on record, “Whosoever will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all” (Mar_10:44), and a little consideration will convince us that the whole of human society is knit together by service. In one sense, all true men and women, however high their position, are servants to others. The good monarch and the faithful statesman are servants to their nation as truly as men and women in more lowly stations are servants to individual masters. It is, however, doubtless to these latter that the wise man here refers, and faithful service rendered by them in their small sphere is as much esteemed by God as the service of the greater and more gifted. Those who serve “as to the Lord, and not unto men,” shall “of the Lord receive the reward of the inheritance,” says Paul (Col_3:22-24). Honour shall be awarded by God, not in proportion to the kind of service rendered, but in proportion to the spirit in which it is performed, and this fruit of faithful service will never fail. And, as a rule, esteem and gratitude from the earthly master will also be rendered.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
All sorts of inferiors, then, as both servants and subjects, must make this reckoning and account of their superiors and rulers, that they are unto them their peculiar charge, whereon they must attend, and the special hope of their honour and preferment. They must therefore think and say thus with themselves: Surely this is the fig-tree that I must watch and keep; this is that same olive-tree that I must look unto. I must not suffer this to be spoiled or destroyed. I must not suffer my ruler’s goods to be wasted, nor his name to be discredited, nor the gifts of God in him to decay; I must keep his favour, and I must seek his welfare, as much as in me lieth.—Muffet.

Proverbs 27:19
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro_27:19
A CORRECT LIKENESS
I. A mirror in which we may see the reflection of the hearts of others. All the knowledge that we have of our own personal appearance is gained by means of some reflecting surface. We can only look upon ourselves indirectly, and it is quite possible that every person who looks upon us has a juster conception of our appearance than we ourselves have. If there were no substances which could serve as mirrors, a man must always remain ignorant as to those peculiarities of feature which distinguish him from every other person on the face of the earth. But none are destitute of nature’s looking-glass—the stream or lake, or even a smaller quantity of water, will show a man what he is like as to his exterior. And by means of a medium we can gain much knowledge concerning the inner life of our human brothers and sisters. As we may gain a good idea of our own face by seeing its reflection in water, so we may form a fairly correct estimate of the feelings and hopes and desires of others by studying our own. After making allowance for many differences upon the surface dependent upon differences of temperament, and education, and circumstances, we shall be safe in concluding that in the depths of the human soul there are spots which form a common meeting-ground for all mankind.
II. A means by which we may gain the hearts of others. We cannot plead ignorance of the way to our brother’s heart. We must not conclude, because in outward expression he differs from us, we have therefore nothing in common, no clue to what is passing within his breast. If we call to mind how we felt in like circumstances, or try to imagine how we should feel if we were in his place, we shall hardly fail to form some idea of his feelings, and shall therefore be able so to regulate our behaviour towards him as in some measure to supply his soul needs.
(There are other interpretations of this verse, for which we refer to the Comments.)
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
Here is one of the foundations on which that rule is built of doing to others as we would be done by (Exo_23:9.) … One corrupt heart is like another, and so is one sanctified heart, for the former bears the same image of the earthy, the latter the same image of the heavenly.—Henry.
The proverb may be regarded as expressing reciprocity of soul. It may mean this: that just as the water will give back to you the exact expression which you gave to it—the frown or the smile, the hideous or the pleasing—so human hearts will treat you as you treat them. “With what measure you mete it shall be measured to you again.” This is true—manifestly true; kindness begets kindness, anger anger, justice justice, fraud fraud, the world through—Dr. David Thomas.
In the world we see our own hearts embowelled; and there we can learn what ourselves are at the cost of other men’s sins.—Bp. Hopkins.
As in the outline water trembles, and is uncertain, so also are hearts. The lesson is: Trust not!—Luther.
No man knoweth or showeth the spirit of a man, but the spirit of a man that is in him. The water, as a certain glass, somewhat dim indeed, but very true, representeth the countenance therein imprinted unto the countenance that beholdeth the same; even so the heart sheweth man to man; that is to say, the mind and the conscience of every man telleth him justly, though not perfectly, what he is, as whether he be good or evil, in God’s favour or out of the same; for the conscience will not lie, but accuse or excuse a man, being instead of a thousand witnesses.… As water that is troubled representeth the visage amiss, so a troubled or polluted mind may sometimes wrongly shew to a man the estate wherein he standeth. But if the soul be not wholly corrupt and the conscience seared as with a hot iron, it will declare to a man his condition rightly, though not peradventure fully in all respects.—Muffet.

Proverbs 27:20
CRITICAL NOTES
Pro_27:20. Hell and destruction, rather “the world of the dead.” Eyes. Some understand the reference to be to the insatiableness of human passion.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro_27:20
INSATIABILITY
I. A destructive force always in operation. Ever since the earth closed over the first dead body, it has been constantly opening to receive those whom death has made ready for the grave, and to-day this terrible and remorseless destroyer is as busy in our midst as ever. And we know that it will be so to the end of time; while the present dispensation lasts, men will never be able to say that death has ceased to claim the mortal part of man, or that the last grave has been dug in the vast graveyard of the world. This is a most melancholy stand-point from which to view man and his destiny. If all the human race lived to a good old age, and went down to their last earthly resting-place like a shock of corn fully ripe, death would still be a dark and dreary thing, looked at by itself, but it becomes much more appalling when it strikes men and women in the prime of life, and carries them off, often without warning, from the place where they seemed so much needed, and to which they were bound by so many ties.
II. A faculty of man always at work. The eye of man is simply an organ by which knowledge is conveyed to his mind. And his appetite for fresh mental food is not lessened by that which he has received in the past—on the contrary, it is quickened and whetted in proportion to the supply, for while an ignorant, man is often content in his ignorance, the man who has learned most is generally the most eager to learn more. And this passion in man for knowledge is not quenched by the certain consciousness he possesses that one day he must, that to-morrow he may, quit the scene of his investigations, and end his search after truth under his present conditions. Surely if men did not instinctively feel that this life is not the only one, their desire after constant intellectual growth would not be so ardent. If there was not that within them that told them that death would not end their opportunities of growing in knowledge, the contemplation of the shortness of life would paralyze the acquisitive faculty of men. But we take the strength and universality of this undying desire of man as an argument for his existence after death and the grave have taken possession of the material house in which he lived and laboured on the earth.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
The eye is the avenue of growth. That growth will be eternal.… It will take in more and more and raise or sink us through eternal ages.… The terms here used are used elsewhere for anything insatiate (chap. Pro_30:16). Solomon describes a great psychological law, that the mind by its very nature sees, and by all its seeings will grow, either in one way or the other.—Miller.
The eyes, by a very natural figure, are put for the desires. Upon that which is the object of our desire, we fix our eyes; and that with an intensity of settled eagerness proportioned to the degree of the desire (chap. Pro_23:5). The meaning, then, is not merely that the sense of sight never has enough of its own peculiar enjoyments, but that the desire that is by the eye expressed is never satisfied by any amount of present gratification. The desires of men are insatiable. They set their hearts on some particular object, and long for its attainment. They fix in their mind some point of advancement in the acquisition of the world,—some measure of wealth, or of power which they think, if once realised, would satisfy them to the full. They get what they want; but they still long as before. There is ever something unattained. Having gained the summit of one eminence, they see another above it; and as they mount, their views widen and their conceptions and wishes amplify, and still more is required to fill them.—Wardlaw.
The meaning of the second clause as indicated by this parallel cannot be doubtful. It relates to the really demoniacal insatiableness of human passion, especially “the lust of the eyes.” (Comp.
1Jn_2:16; Jas_3:6; and in particular Pro_30:16; Ecc_1:8.)—Zöckler.

Proverbs 27:21-22
CRITICAL NOTES
Pro_27:21. A man to his praise. Delitzsch understands the meaning to be that a man is valued according to the measure of public opinion. Ewald, Hitzig, and others, coincide with Zöckler’s rendering, “A man according to his glorying,” i.e., “One is judged according to the standard of that which he makes his boast.”
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro_27:21
A CRUCIBLE FOR CHARACTER
Although the second interpretation of this proverb given in the CRITICAL NOTES is very generally adopted, it will very well bear the other construction given below, which is indeed adopted by many expositors.
I. Praise received is a test of character. Many moralists think that it is more difficult to pass uninjured through “good report” than through “evil report.” Dr. Payson reckons “well meant but injudicious commendations” a source of temptation to him, and we do certainly often meet men possessing many good qualities whom popularity seems to have injured. But all men who have any striking intellectual gifts or moral excellencies will be subject to this refiner’s fire, and if they pass through it uninjured they will prove that they are made of very pure metal. As we remarked on page 725, merit will win praise, and therefore every deserving man will be more or less subject to this test, and his conduct and bearing under it will reveal the real character of his motives and the strength of his principles. In proportion as his actions have been disinterested and his aims pure and unselfish, in the same proportion will he be able to bear praise. If he is a truly humble man—if he has a right sense of his dependence on God and a consciousness of his own shortcomings—the praise of his fellow-creatures will only make him strive to be more deserving of it; but if there is any alloy of baser metal mixed with the gold and silver of his character, such an ordeal will be very likely to reveal it.
II. Praise given is a test of character. That upon which a man bestows praise reveals the standard by which he rules his life. Men praise that which they value, and there cannot therefore be a better revelation of their moral condition. A man who praises the action of another, irrespective of its moral character, shows that he attaches little value to goodness, while he who praises a bad action proclaims himself a lover of sin. On the other hand, commendation bestowed upon good deeds and godly men at least indicates a preference for what is good, which one may hope will be manifested not only in word but also in deed.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS

1. It may express what every man, with reference to the praise bestowed upon him, ought to do:—that is, he ought to do with it what the “fining-pot” does to the “silver,” and the “furnace to the gold.” He should try it well. There is a deal of dross frequently in it; and men are apt to be fonder of the dross, in some of its appearances, than of the sterling metal. The process of refining should in this case be very cautiously pursued: just as a chemist, if anxious for the correct result of an experiment with the crucible, will be the more careful in making it, in proportion as he is conscious of any leaning towards a particular theory,—lest this should bias his mind and put him off his guard. 2. “A man is to his praise what the fining pot is to silver, aud the furnace is to gold,” because a man’s conduct actually does put to the test the commendation bestowed upon him. That conduct is like “the fining-pot” and “the furnace” to it, in regard to the estimate formed of it by others. His behaviour detects whether it be or be not just and merited. Commendation naturally excites notice. All eyes are on the man who elicits applause, to ascertain if the applause be well-founded. In this way the commendation is put to the test; and the man himself is the tester;—proving or disproving the justice of the character given him.—Wardlaw.
   As praise is due to worth, so it is the tryer and refiner of worth. For as silver is melted in the fining pot, and gold in the furnace; so is the heart of man even melted with joy in the furnace of praise. And as those metals which have least solidity are soonest melted, so where there is least of the solidity of worth, there the heart is soonest melted with praise. And as in the furnace the light matter is blown away into smoke and vapour; so by praise a light heart is quickly blown up, and vainly transported and carried away with it. But as the silver and the gold are made the finer and the purer by the furnace, so true worth is ennobled and made the richer by just praise ascribed to it. For he that hath worth in him, the more he is praised the more will he endeavour to deserve it, and by praise seeing what is dross in himself, will by his care purge it out, and cast it away.—Jermin.
   The thought in Pro_27:22 is but a repetition of a thought which has often occurred before, as for instance in chaps. Pro_17:10 and Pro_19:29. See pages 509 and 510, also page 581.

Proverbs 27:23-27
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Pro_27:23-27
MODEL FARMING
These words were especially applicable to the Israelitish people in their early history, when every family lived upon its own domain and found all its simple wants supplied by the produce of the land and the cattle which fed upon it. This paragraph deals—
I. With the duties of such a life. Solomon has several times before given exhortations to diligence in labour, but here he seems rather to enforce the necessity of diligent and constant supervision on the part of the master and owner of the land. He is not addressing a hired servant, but one who is a landed proprietor and has flocks and herds of his own. If a man in so highly favoured a position desires to reap all its benefits he must diligently superintend all whom he employs and set them a good example of industry and perseverance. He must not be content to leave these things to hirelings, but must give such close attention to all that is going on in his domain as to be able intelligently to guide all the varied engagements which follow one another as one season succeeds the other. No man ought to consider this an unworthy employment of his mental powers, and he who does so would do well to remember that the cultivation of the soil was the employment which God gave to man when He first created him in His own image. As an incentive to industry in this direction the proverb contains a reminder of the uncertainty of riches—it is unwise of any man to be wholly dependent upon a fortune made in the past and to have no resource in case of its loss.
II. It sets forth the rewards attached to the performance of such duties. There is first the supply of the necessaries of life. Luxuries are not promised, but it is implied that simple food and clothing will not be wanting; and a sufficiency of these is all that is really needful to man’s comfort. But there is a pleasure in obtaining them in this way which is surely not found in any other calling. The cultivator of the ground escapes much of the monotony found in most other professions, and has pleasures and advantages to which dwellers in the city are strangers. If he is more exposed to the hardships of the winter, the joy of spring—“when the tender grass sheweth itself”—is surely enough to repay him for it, and then follow the varied occupations of summer, one affording relief to the other, until the year is crowned with the “joy of harvest.” Surely no mode of life is more favourable to bodily and spiritual health than the one here sketched by the Wise Man.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
Solomon tells us, in another place, that the instability and uncertainty of earthly things, after all our care, is a motive to draw off our hearts from them, and to fix our eyes upon nobler objects; but he tells us, in this place, that the perishing nature of earthly things is likewise a reason for bestowing a moderate and lawful share of our attention upon our temporal interests. Lawson.
Pro_27:25. The frail condition of fading worldly things is here well expressed, it appeareth only and is cut down. The tender grass sheweth itself, and it is but a shewing, for that being done, it is eaten up presently, being at once, as it were, both seen and devoured. The herbs of the mountain are gathered; their growing is not mentioned as being no sooner grown than gathered, and as being grown for the gathering only.… Wherefore as the careful husbandman looketh to the hay and grass and herbs, and takes them in their time, so is the good spiritual husbandman to consider the short time of worldly contentments, and in their time to use them, at no time to trust in them. As hay and grass and herbs are taken in their season, so it is the season in all things that is to be taken. And, therefore, when the season appeareth, let not thy negligence appear in omitting it; when occasion shows itself, show not thyself careless in apprehending of it; when the fruit of opportunity is to be gathered, climb the mountain speedily.—Jermin.
Pro_27:26-27. In these two verses the wise man dehorteth from wastefulness of apparel, and from excess in diet.… The proverbial sense is, that plainness of apparel keepeth a man’s estate warmest; and that a homespun thread in clothing is a strong and lasting thread in the web of a man’s worldly fortune, and that a sober and temperate feeding both in himself and family doth best feed the estate of any man, and that the flock of a man thriveth best when he is contented with the nourishment and sustenance that cometh from the flock.—Jermin.

Proverbs 27:1
Boast not thyself of to-morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.
On the conduct to be held with regard to future events
It is needless to prove the change and mutability of our present state, or the fact that the changes cannot be foreseen by us. Obvious as they are, it would be well if the thoughts of men dwelt on them more. But by a strange and prevailing deception, almost every one thinks his own case an exception from the general law; and that he may build plans with as much confidence on his present situation as if some assurance were given him that it were never to change. It has been so contrived by Providence that there should be no permanent stability to man’s condition on earth. The seeds of alteration are everywhere sown. And think on what small and inconsiderable causes changes depend. In the midst of all these contingencies plans and designs for the future are every day formed. And this is fit and proper. Rules and precautions may be indicated.
I. Boast not thyself of to-morrow, Never presume arrogantly on futurity. Beware of pride and vanity. In the day of prosperity rejoice with trembling.
II. Despair not of to-morrow. Adverse situations fill many with fears and alarms of what is to come. The day may bring forth some unforeseen relief, and therefore we should hope under distress. The doctrine which the changes of the world perpetually inculcate is that no state of external things should appear so important, or should so affect and agitate our spirits, as to deprive us of a calm, an equal, and a steady mind. Anxiety, when it seizes the heart, is a dangerous disease, productive both of much sin and much misery.
III. Delay not till to-morrow what is proper to be done to-day. Thou art not the lord of to-morrow. Procrastination has, throughout every age, been the ruin of mankind. Many of the misfortunes which befall men in their worldly concerns are a consequence of delay. To-morrow, being loaded with the concerns of to-day, in addition to its own, is clogged and embarrassed. Evils of the same kind, arising from the same cause, overtake men in their moral and spiritual interests.
IV. Be every day prepared for what to-morrow may bring forth. The best preparation for all the uncertainties of futurity consists in a well-ordered mind, a good conscience, and a cheerful submission to the will of heaven. If to-morrow bring you any unexpected good, prepare to receive it with gratitude, temperance, and modesty. If it shall bring forth evil, prepare to receive it with manly fortitude.
V. Build your hopes of happiness on somewhat more solid and lasting than what either to-day or to-morrow are likely to produce. He who rests wholly upon this world builds his house upon the sand. We are begotten again unto a “lively hope.” Here is the object to which a wise man will bend his chief attention, that, having acted his part on earth with fidelity and honour, he may be enabled, through the merits of his Saviour, to look for a place in the mansions of eternal and untroubled peace. This prospect is the great corrective of the present vanity of human life. (Hugh Blair, D.D.)

Boasting
Man’s nature inclines to boasting, to glorifying in something, and this ariseth from some apprehended excellency or advantage, and so is originated in the understanding power of man. There is a glorying and boasting which is good, especially a boasting in God. It is the apprehended personal interest in a thing which makes it become a subject of boasting. Nothing is truly the soul’s own but that which survives all changes, and is inseparable from it. There may be a lawful glorying in the works of God. Oftentimes men are found glorying in that which is their shame. The object of degenerate and vicious boasting is presented in this text. “Boast not thyself,” or of thyself. Self is the centre of man’s affections and motions. This is the great “Diana” that the heart worships. Men’s affections part themselves into three great heads of created things.

1. The goods or perfections of the mind.
2. The goods or advantages of the body.
3. The things that are without us, bona fortunae, riches and honour.
   There is also a strong inclination in man towards the time to come; he has an immortal appetite. If the soul of man were in the primitive integrity, this providence of the soul would reach to eternity, which is the only just measure of the endurance of any immortal spirit. But since man’s understanding is darkened, he can see nothing further than “to-morrow.” But confidence in to-morrow is folly, because of the instability of all outward things, and because of our ignorance of future events. Of all boastings the most irrational and groundless is that which arises from presumption of future things, which are so uncertain both in themselves and to us. Self is the great and ultimate object of man’s glorying. No man’s present possession satisfies him, without the addition of hope and expectation for the future. Our present revenue will not content the heart. Therefore the soul, as it were, anticipates and forestalls the morrow. But consider—
4. How independent all things are of us and of our choice.
5. The inconstancy of all material things. There is nothing certain but that all things are uncertain.
6. Our ignorance concerning coming changes. All things proclaim the folly and madness of that which the heart of man is set upon. “The counsel of the Lord,” that alone shall “stand.” (H. Binning.)

The necessity of a present repentance
It is not the doctrine of repentance men scruple to acknowledge, but the time for doing it. They say, “To-morrow will be time enough.” And they say this, again and again, through all the stages of life. Press on attention the absolute necessity of our present performance of this great work of repentance.
I. Show this by the dangerous uncertainties which all delaying men have to depend upon. There is no such thing hinted at in Scripture as future repentance. There is no ground for hoping that a late repentance will avail men who knowingly and wilfully defer that repentance which is the duty of the present.

1. What certainty can there be in that which depends upon so uncertain a foundation as the life of man? Who can ensure a hereafter to repent in?
2. As life is uncertain, so is the continuance of God’s grace uncertain also.
   II. How improper the times resolved on by such men to repent in will be for the work of their repentance. Such as the time of sickness, or of old age, or of death.
   III. Every excuse which men may make in favour of their delays must, if seriously considered, oblige them to hasten their repentance.
3. Excuse—their sins are so small; they can be easily cast off at pleasure.
4. Sins are so great; it is too difficult to repent.
5. Life is just now too full of other things. Consider that every moment consumes somewhat of the thread of life; and that of all business and employments none can possibly be more requisite than our making our peace with God. (William Bramston.)

To-morrow
Some are hindered by doubts, or blinded by definite unbelief; others are repelled from the gospel by prejudices of early education; others by worldly influences, others by the love of sin; and some by a coward fear of the possible consequences of decision. The chief hindrance, however, is the habit of procrastination. The fault is a common one even in worldly matters. There are things that must be done at once, and things which may be left. These latter have a very good chance of never being done at all. There are few who have not a lurking intention of thinking about religious matters sooner or later. Many are indisposed to prompt action, because they fear religion may interfere with their manner of life, their commercial prosperity, and their social enjoyments. By and by, when other matters are not so urgent, they may find a convenient season. This habit of procrastination grows upon us until it becomes a sort of second nature, and at last, even should we wish to act promptly, we seem almost to have lost the power. For one who doubts the Bible, there are a hundred who simply put off for the present. The Holy Ghost says, “To-day”; they still say, “To-morrow.” How can we best counteract this disposition towards procrastination? The nominally Christian world is pervaded by the radically false notion that religion has mainly to do with the future rather than with the present. This notion is encouraged by the use of the word “salvation.” Men do not see that they need to be saved now. True religion is a matter of present urgency. Religion is the one secret of true enjoyment in life. Another cause of procrastination is a false idea of the relative importance of things temporal and things spiritual. Religion is regarded as distinct from the practical purposes of life. This is an inverted estimate of the relative importance of things. Why should we say to-day rather than to-morrow? Because, of all our life, only to-day is really ours. Tomorrow belongs to God. Every to-morrow that God allots you, when it gets to you is a to-day. The to-morrow that we think will do so much for us never comes. To-day may ensure our best interests; to-morrow they may have passed from us, and be forfeited for ever. Moreover, we have a great work to do, and only a limited time to do it in. And we are living in a perishing world, and men and women are dying unprepared every day that passes. By religious decision, how much happiness we may confer upon others by our personal example and influence. In this world of changes and uncertainties, no man can be sure that he will have any to-morrow. Think, too, how you are treating your Lord when, from day to day, you still continue to say, “To-morrow.” To-day again He proffers the unspeakable gift. His time is now. Another to-morrow, and He may be constrained reluctantly to depart, wearied out at last by your heartless indifference. Oh, take shame to yourself that, hitherto, He has had nothing from you but “to-morrow.” (
W. H. Hay Aitken, M.A.)

The folly and danger of boasting of the morrow
No truth is more obvious than that of the instability of human life, and the uncertainty of all earthly things; and yet there is none which produces a less abiding impression on the mind, or a less practical effect on the conduct. It seems to be a truth so trite as to be beneath our notice. All our courses of action, all our habits of thought, imply that we have a longer continuance, and a firmer interest, in the things around us, than a full conviction of their vanity and their uncertainty appear to warrant. We are willing to allow, as a general rule, that all below is fleeting and uncertain, but in our own case we are anxious to find a fortunate exception. This, at least, lies in the bottom of our hearts, springing up indistinctly in our thoughts, and whispering peace and safety, where neither of them are discoverable by the eye of reason. A knowledge of the fate of others can never entirely remove this error, because it is deeply seated in the heart. By boasting of to-morrow is meant a confident expectation of its arrival, and an undoubting calculation of the enjoyments which it may be expected to bring along with it; such a fancied assurance of possessing it, as may lead us to defer what ought now to be done till that imaginary period. The greatest evil to which this leads is the postponement of a religious life to some future period of our existence, it is too common for man to look upon religion as something totally incompatible with the pursuits and enjoyments of the present world. He therefore relies upon the possibility that the morrow may be extended to him, and to that uncertain period he commits the serious task of shaking off the evil habits which he has contracted, and curbing the corrupt passions which he has hitherto indulged, and of cultivating the Christian graces. Too often in the short and anxious hour of our closing existence all the more serious work of life has to be done. Let it be our aim, then, to look upon religion, not as a task which we are commanded to perform, but as a privilege which we are invited to share. For most of the ills of life religion is an effectual remedy, and in all it is a cheering alleviation.

1. There are many miseries which the morrow is continually bringing forth, that are the direct consequence of our own imprudent conduct or our own vicious habits. They spring from a want of religion; and the possession of it would of course relieve them.
2. Suffering also belongs to us as the sons of mortality; such as pain, sickness, infirmity, age. Religion cannot altogether remove such woes, but it can very materially mitigate and relieve them. And, at least, it enables us to look rightly upon them.
3. There is a class of disappointments to which irreligious men are subject, but from which the true Christian is altogether free. The worldly man is entirely immersed in the things of this life, its pleasures and its cares. When the changeful morrow comes, and these are swept away, he is ruined. The happiness of the religious man is not dependent on such accidents as these. (R. Parkinson, B.D.)

To-morrow
I. The abuse of to-morrow. “Boast not”—

1. Because it is extremely foolish to boast at all, Boasting never makes a man any the greater in the esteem of others, nor does it improve the real estate either of his body or his soul. Morrows come from God; thou hast no right to glory in them.
2. Because to-morrow is one of the frailest things in creation, and therefore the least to be boasted of. Boast not of to-morrow—thou hast it not. Boast not of to-morrow—thou mayest never have it. Boast not of to-morrow—if thou hadst it, it would deceive thee. Boast not of to-morrow, for to-morrow thou mayest be where morrows will be dreadful things, to tremble at.
3. Because it is exceedingly hurtful to boast. It is hurtful now. Some men are led into extraordinary extravagance from their hopes of the future. It is hurtful to-morrow also. Because you will be disappointed with to-morrow if you boast about it before it comes. The over-confident not only entail great sorrow upon themselves but upon others also.
   II. The abuse of the spiritual to-morrow. Never boast of to-morrow with regard to your soul’s salvation. Those do who think it will be easier for them to repent to-morrow than it is to-day. Those do who suppose they shall have plenty of time to repent and return to God. Those do who boast in a way of resolves to do better.
   III. If to-morrows are not to be boasted of, are they good for nothing? Nay; we may look forward to them with confidence and joy, and we may seek in wise ways to provide for to-morrow. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

The folly and danger of delays in religion
I. Men are naturally inclined to boast of something.
II. Men are apt to delay religion as long as they can. They boast of to-morrow.
III. It is base and sinful to put off the concerns of religion till to-morrow.
IV. God alone knows what is to come. The Jews of Christ’s time were dreaming of future prosperity, but He foresaw their ruin and destruction as at hand. We, like them, lay plans for futurity, and invade the province of the Most High. We perhaps anticipate wealth, honour.
V. Great changes happen in a short time. “For thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.” Since the introduction of sin, the creature at its best estate is altogether vanity. (Christian Recorder.)

The danger of trusting to the future
I. In this passage it is very plainly insinuated that we are too apt to boast of to-morrow. The young hope to live to old age; the middle-aged, having passed the most critical stages of infancy and childhood, reckon, with too much security, on grey hairs; while the old look around them for examples, a few of which they can glean of extreme age, and hope they themselves shall add to the number of extraordinary cases of longevity. Boasting of to-morrow likewise appears in framing worldly schemes of future ease and aggrandisement. He who proposes it as his object to make up a sum at all hazards, that he may, by a certain time, execute a plan of a great mansion, suited to the fortune, and then to enjoy himself. See where the evil lies; not in thinking of to-morrow, in the way of making wise and prudent preparation, always taking along with us, “If the Lord will”; but the evil is that boasting of to-morrow which involves in sinful, at any rate in worldly and presumptuous plans, in reference to some future period, or that kind of reference to to-morrow which is a substitute for attention, immediate and serious, to our most important, even our eternal interests.
II. That it is foolish to boast of to-morrow, “We are young.” Granted; but the young droop oftentimes. The green leaf often is seen falling, nipped by frost, or shaken by the wind. The young and strong have been called hence by disease or accident, the majority were young. “But we have stood already many trials of our constitution, and many attacks, and are yet vigorous.” The last, however, will come, and the very next may be fatal. “But we are a long-lived race. Father and mother, yea grandfather, and many relatives, lived to a great age.” You forget the exceptions. “But we have somehow this persuasion, that we shall live long, and at any rate we will not indulge in gloomy presage of an early tomb.” This is very delusive—it is foolish—you can give no reason for it—you may soon find you were deceiving yourselves.
III. That there is much danger in indulging this disposition.

1. It fosters irreligion and atheism. Leaving out of calculation your own weak and dependent state, the uncertainty of time, and your ignorance of futurity, you form your plans without any reference to the Divine Disposer. You erect many high towering schemes, which savour at once of impiety and folly.
2. It is found to foster some of the worst passions of the human heart. The ambitious reason thus: A few steps more, and I shall rise to the very top of my profession, or of my rank in society, and that in the regular course of events, which supposes the removal of others by the stroke of mortality, as the means of elevation. The covetous man adds heap to heap, with desires more and more insatiable, forgetful of his latter end, and of that country to which he goes, where his wealth will be of no benefit. A due consideration of this might, by the Divine blessing, cut up by the roots this grovelling and idolatrous propensity, and give the soul a heavenward direction. A day may bring forth many most unexpected events, casting a dark cloud over the most flattering prospects. This present day improved may be the happy means of arresting the evil which the presumption of to-morrow tends so much to foster.
3. The boast of to-morrow is most prejudicial to spiritual and eternal concerns. It is the most successful of all Satan’s devices, and the easiest mode of compassing his designs. (W. Burns.)

Ignorance of the future
I. To what the words of the text will apply. On some things we can calculate with a degree of certainty. Apply text—

1. With regard to ourselves. And it will apply to both good and evil. The text seems to have in view evil.
2. To the dispensations of Providence.
3. This uncertainty regards our lives. Some are cut off in the midst of sin. Some in the midst of religious declensions.
   II. What reasons can be given for this ignorance of futurity. It never was designed that man should know the future. Even the angels in heaven have not this knowledge. Would such knowledge add to our happiness? or improve our religious character? This arrangement keeps us fully dependent on God. By this means He keeps the world in awe.
   III. Apply the fact to some useful purposes.
4. It should check vain curiosity.
5. It teaches us to hope for the best.
6. It is good to be prepared for the worst.
7. Learn the importance of real religion. (Charles Hyatt.)

Man’s ignorance of futurity
I. The sentiment contained in the text. No man will attempt to controvert the assertion it makes.

1. We are ignorant of the future as to our circumstances.
2. We cannot tell what a day may bring forth as to the state of our bodies and our minds.
3. We are ignorant of the future as to our families and connections.
4. We are totally ignorant of futurity, as to the continuance of our lives.
   II. Some lessons of practical instruction.
5. Learn the importance of a life of faith and dependence on God. Man was never designed to be independent.
6. Learn to cultivate a spirit of holy resignation to the Divine will.
7. Learn to cultivate a spirit of cautious moderation as to the things of this present life.
8. Learn to cultivate a spirit of humility. (R. Cameron.)

Ignorance of the future
Mr. D. L. Moody says: “To recall the following act I would give my right hand. On the night when the Court House bell of Chicago was sounding an alarm of fire, my sermon was upon ‘What shall I do with Jesus? ‘ And I said to the audience, ‘I want you to decide this question by next Sunday.’ What a mistake! That night I saw the glare of flames, and knew that Chicago was doomed. I never saw that audience again.”

Proverbs 27:2
Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth.
Self-boasting
Self-boasting is always a source of weakness as well as a revelation of vanity. In vanity there is no substance; it is idle breath, it is foolish vapour. When a man is left to praise himself it is evident that he has lived an inverted life, not a life full of blessedness and comfort in relation to other men. The sun does not praise himself, but under his splendour and warmth men look up and say how pleasing a thing it is for the eyes to behold the light. On the other hand, we must beware of a very common and perilous deceit. There is a sense in which every man ought to be able to praise himself; otherwise the applause of the public will be left by him to be a mockery and a lie. Our own heart should not condemn us. The psalmist was wont to glory in his integrity, and to point to it as his refuge in the time of misunderstanding. (J. Parker, D.D.)

Proverbs 27:3
Sand weighty.
The weight of sand
By a fool this book means, not so much intellectual feebleness as moral and religious obliquity, which are the stupidest things that a man can be guilty of. The proverb-maker compares two heavy things, stones and sand, and says that they are feathers in comparison with the lead-like weight of such a man’s wrath. I want to make a parable out of the text. What is lighter than a grain of sand? What is heavier than a bagful of it? The accumulation of light things is overwhelmingly ponderous. Is there anything in our lives like that?
I. This reminds us of the supreme importance of trifles. The small things make life, and if they are small, then it is. We are poor judges of what is great or small. We have a very vulgar estimate of noise, notoriety, and bigness. We think the quiet things are the small ones. The most trivial actions have a knack of leading on to large results, beyond what could have been expected. These trivial actions make character. Men are not made by crises. The crises reveal what we have made ourselves by the trifles. We shape ourselves by the way we do small things.
II. The overwhelming weight of small sins. The accumulated pressure upon a man of a multitude of perfectly trivial faults and transgressions makes up a tremendous aggregate that weighs upon him. The words “great” and “small” should not be applied in reference to things about which “right” and “wrong” are the proper words to employ. Acts make crimes, but motives make sins. To talk about magnitude, in regard to sins, is rather to introduce an irrelevant consideration. Small sins, by reason of their numerousness, have a terribly accumulative power; a tremendous capacity for reproduction. All our evil doings have a strange affinity with one another. To go wrong in one direction leads to a whole series of consequential transgressions of one sort or another. Every sin makes us more accessible to the assaults of every other. If we indulge in slight acts of transgression, be sure of this, that we shall pass from them to far greater ones. An overwhelming weight of guilt results from the accumulation of little sins.
III. Plain, practical issues of these thoughts.

1. The absolute necessity for all-round and ever-wakeful watchfulness of ourselves.
2. This thought may take down our easy and self-complacent estimate of ourselves.
3. Should we not turn ourselves with lowly hearts to Him who alone can deliver us from the habit and power of these accumulated faults, and who alone can lift the burden of guilt and responsibility from off our shoulders? (A. Maclaren, D.D.)

Proverbs 27:4
Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous; but who is able to stand before envy?
Anger and envy
I. The evil principles indicated in the text are extensively and dangerously prevalent. To be irritated and out of temper is one of the common tendencies of our nature, manifested even in childhood. The root is wrath, anger. This pernicious root grows differently in different natures, and with more or less vigour. This vicious principle is generally regarded too complacently, as though it were a necessary part of our nature. Wrath is dangerous. Its tendency is to increase. The spark will rise into a flame. The intensity of anger depends upon external circumstances, and also upon the condition of our health. The external exciting causes are continually changing. The foolish vice of irritating the temper of others is too common. Some like to torment the susceptible. Others are perpetually fault-finding and sneering. Envy is the condition of one who looks upon the happiness of another and longs to possess it. Envy generally seeks to conceal itself, and to work in secret and in darkness. Passion would strike down its victim in the public market-place, whilst envy would carefully weigh out and mix the poison for its victim to consume unconsciously in his food. This dangerous and deadly principle has extensive existence. Envy is the development of germs which are universally diffused. Then search into the very depths of your nature after the most minute germs of this evil.
II. Wherein Lies our safety against the growth and development of these principles? There may be lurking in our nature forces which need to be held in check by a stronger power than mere intellectual culture. Our higher civilisation too often only gilds crime, and throws its mantle over it. A formal profession of religion may cover the vilest lusts of humanity. There is a higher power. Christianity offers a Divine power by which the evil nature may be purified and every evil passion brought into subjection. Our safety, our only safety, lies in the renewal and sanctification of our nature by the Holy Ghost. Separated from the conscious presence of Christ, and destitute of His renewing grace and protecting providence, who can tell into what mischief we may fall! (Robert Ann.)

The sin of envy
The envious man is far blacker than the passionate man; for the outrageous behaviour of an angry person sounds an alarm to his neighbour to be on his guard, but the envious man conceals his malignity till he has a fit opportunity to strike a mortal blow without danger of missing his aim. The one is a dog, that barks before he bites, the other is an adder in the grass, that stings the traveller when he is dreading no hurt; for the malice of the envious man is generally unsuspected, because no occasion was given for it. It is the good and happiness of the envied object that excited his malignity, and he does not so much as pretend that he has received any provocation. (George Lawson, D.D.)

The nature and mischief of envy
The wise man compares envy with two very exorbitant commotions of man’s mind, wrath and anger. Worse than these, more unkind and uncharitable, more unjust, violent and mischievous, is envy. There is neither any goodness, nor yet any strength, that is a sufficient guard against it.

1. There is no man’s innocency, no man’s virtue, that can secure him from the direful strokes of envy. Sometimes a man’s goodness actually inflames the hearts of the envious. See case of Cain and Abel; of Esau; of the brethren of Joseph; of Saul, etc. The greatest instance of all is the envy of Scribes and Pharisees against our Saviour.
2. There is no man so great and powerful, or of so secure an estate or fortune, but the violence of envy hath been capable of overthrowing him. Illustrate case of Abner.
   I. A just description of envy. It is a displeasure or trouble arising in a man’s mind from the sight or knowledge of another man’s prosperity, and causing a man to hate such person, and try to ruin him. It commonly arises on the sight of the prosperity of inferiors or equals. Men envy that to others which they think themselves as well or better to deserve. They seldom envy things or persons that are much above them. Distinguish envy from emulation. Illustrate by these two qualities in Saul and Jonathan, on the occasion of David’s killing Goliath. Emulation is a great and noble virtue, envy a poor and sneaking vice. It is always hiding itself. No man will own himself to be envious. He disguises it under a mighty pretended zeal for the truth; or a great love for the public welfare; or a charitable concern for the credit of his neighbour. How few men are wholly free from this vice.
   II. The mischievous effects produced by envy. See these, that we may be more set against it; that we may avoid it ourselves; that we may beware of it in others; that we may use our utmost endeavours to quench this flame. Disturbances in the state, schism in the Church, and trouble in a neighbourhood, or in a private family, are generally traceable to envy. To what end is all this evil done by envious men? What do they get by it? Envy is its own punishment. No man can find a greater torment for an envious man than he inflicts upon himself. Even if it succeeds in pulling down a man, it very rarely gets into his place. How is it that God endures, and seems to leave alone, these mischief-making, envious men? They are agents in doing His disciplinary work in His people. It makes men self-watchful. The envious quickly light upon and show up faults that we might have passed over. The envious calumniate failings, not virtues. Remedies are—
3. A right apprehension of the things of this world.
4. A due submission to the will of God.
5. A true humility.
6. A Christian charity.
   This last plucks it up by the very roots; and plants in our hearts what is most contrary thereto. (Jonathan Blagrave, D.D.)

Proverbs 27:5-6
Open rebuke is better than secret love.
Charitable reproof
Self-love is so natural to us, that as it makes us apt to flatter ourselves on all occasions, so it inclines us to accept too easily of the flatteries of all others. Our unwillingness to know our own faults, or to be humbled under the sense of them, makes us uneasy when any venture on the most charitable, but often the most unacceptable, act of friendship, the telling us of our faults. But so long as we have faults it is very fit that we be made acquainted with them. And since we are too much blinded in our own favour, it is a great happiness to fall Into the hands of such friends as will not spare us. No man can perform this act of friendship without some force put upon himself. Few love to touch a tender part, or to grieve a person who is dear to them. Friends see faults while they are yet secret, before they break out into open observation; so by the kind severity of their rebukes, they save from the shame which the discoveries that envy will soon make may bring. Friendship that carries a man to rebuke another plainly and roundly is better than secret love, or silent, indulgent, blind love. Such reproofs may be as wounds, and give a very painful uneasiness; but even that will be medicinal. The first and necessary rule in managing our reproofs is, that no man should offer to reprove another, who is eminently and notoriously faulty himself. Another is, reprove in such a manner that it may appear we are their friends whom we reprove, and that we correct them for their own good. So much depends on the temper in which reproof is given. The most comprehensive rule is to order our reproofs with discretion and prudence. The things of which we find fault should be things of importance. Junior and inferior persons should not usually reprove their elders and superiors. And a wise and prudent time should be chosen. Take care that it is not a mere finding fault upon some general and popular notions. Illustrate such things as lewd conversation, swearing, etc. (Bp. Gilbert.)

False love
The contrast is not between “open reproof” and love that is not real, but only affected, and assuming the garb and manner of what is real, flatters and imposes upon its object. This could not, with propriety, be called “secret love.” It is professed love hiding enmity or indifference. “Secret love “ is love which is indeed real, but which fails to speak out faithfully when it ought—when the good of its object calls for such fidelity; which shrinks from doing so because it is unwilling to inflict present pain; which thus connives at existing evils—silently allowing them to pass when they are such as ought to be noticed and reprehended. This is a false love, which really injures its object. (R. Wardlaw, D.D.)

Proverbs 27:6
Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.
God’s friendship and Satan’s enmity
True friends are scarce. The old cynic who went about in broad daylight with a lighted lantern in search of “a man” would have had like difficulty in finding a true friend. True friendship often assumes a rough garb; enmity may clothe itself in the stolen dress of love. Men like flattery better than the rebuke of the faithful friend. The truth-speaker often inflicts pain.
I. God’s friendship ever brings sorrow with it. Out of the depths of His loving heart, God summonses the prodigal sinner to return. If he returns he must expect a weary journey. It is a toilsome path, that rugged one of repentance.
II. Satan’s enmity is often disguised by means of deceitful offers of joy. An enemy, he deals in pretences of love, and deceives with a kiss. When Satan tempted Christ, he came as it were with kisses—that is, with bribes. Is it not ever so? Sin wears the garb of friendship without its reality, and men are slaves to appearances. The truly wise man best shows his wisdom by detecting the embraces of an enemy, the false promise, the lying lips. (Homilist.)

Proverbs 27:7
The full soul loatheth an honeycomb.
Spiritual appetite
It is a great blessing when food and appetite meet together. Sometimes men have been so luxuriously fed that appetite has departed from them altogether. The rules which apply to bodily appetite equally hold true of the mind. We easily lose our taste for anything of which we have our fill. Men in the things of God have not always an appetite for the sweetest and most precious truth.
I. Jesus Christ is Himself sweeter than the honeycomb. This is clear if we consider who He is, and what He gives and does. Our Lord is the incarnation of Divine love. The love of God is sweet, and Jesus is that love made manifest. Jesus is in Himself the embodiment of boundless mercy to sinners as well as love to creatures. Jesus must be sweet, for He meets all our wants as sinners. He breathes into our hearts the sweetness of abounding peace. His very name is redolent of celestial hope to believers. Jesus is sweet to God Himself, and to the angels in heaven. It is His presence that makes heaven what it is.
II. There are those who loathe the sweetness of our Lord. Some loathe Him so as to trample on Him. Others are always murmuring at Him. Some are utterly indifferent to Him. The loathing manifests itself by little signs. It comes of a soul’s being full—of the world; of outward religiousness; or of pride.
III. There are some who do appreciate the sweetness of Christ. Pray for a good appetite for Christ, and when you have it, keep it. Do not waste a good appetite upon anything less sweet than the true honeycomb. When you have the appetite, indulge it. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

An appetite for good things essential for their enjoyment
To appreciate a thing you must first feel its want. This applies to—
I. Corporeal good. It is appetite that makes bodily food sweet and enjoyable. Delicious was the manna to the Israelites at first. Which of the two is the more blest, the man who has the abundance of the enjoyable without the power of enjoying or he who has the scarcest and humblest fare with the full relish of the hungry soul?
II. Intellectual good. A man may have an immense library, and no appetite for books. To him the priceless library is worse than worthless. I’d rather be the man of one book, nay, of no book at all but the book of my own soul—the book of nature—with an appetite for truth, than the owner of the choicest library of the world with no desire for knowledge.
III. Spiritual good. (D. Thomas, D.D.)

Proverbs 27:8
As a bird that wandereth from her nest, so is a man that wandereth from his place.

The inconvenience and danger of persons being long absent from home
Nothing that affects our religious interests can, properly speaking, be called little. Everything that can influence the present temper and future state of the soul is weighty and important This text is a caution against a rambling spirit in general. “A bird that wandereth from her nest” leaves her eggs unhatched, or starves her young ones, or exposes them to peril. The evil consequences of restless and prolonged wanderings from home are—

1. They who wander lose many relative comforts. A heathen philosopher observes that “wanderers about have many acquaintances, but few friends.”
2. The domestic affairs of wanderers greatly suffer. Their work either stands still, or goes on very indifferently.
3. Precious time is lost in wandering from home. Many whose lawful business leads them abroad stay much longer than is needful. They trifle at every place where they come, and must chat with every person who hath as little prudence as themselves.
4. Wanderers are exposed to many temptations which ought to be avoided.
5. This habit is a great hindrance to family religion. Apply these thoughts to ourselves, and inquire how far we are concerned in this admonition. It is important for young people to cultivate a habit of staying at home. It is peculiarly bad in servants to wander from their place. Relations should endeavour to make home agreeable to one another. It is especially bad to wander from the house of God. (J. Orton.)

Wandering birds
Some people are always restless; they must move about. They are like wandering birds. Such people do not know that the right place is always the best place for them. Whatever is our calling in life, let us not be in a hurry to leave it. Depend upon it, where God has placed us is the best for us after all. The right place for us all is where we can best serve Jesus, and where we can glorify Him. A bird that wanders from its nest is one that will get into danger and trouble. A bird that wanders from its nest will lose its nest. Three counsels—

1. Love your own nest, and stay in it.
2. Keep the nest clean, and make your home happy.
3. No nest is so good for you as your own, and therefore do not seek to change it. (J. J. Ellis.)

The wanderer
I. As the bird has its nest, so man has his place. And both are of Divine appointment. Behind the instinct of the bird and the social nature of man we must recognise the purpose of God. Man’s place is in—

1. The home. “God setteth the solitary in families.”
2. In society. “Let every soul be subject to the higher powers, for the powers that be are ordained of God.”
3. In the Church, its fellowship, worship, work.
   II. As the bird needs the nest, so the man needs the place.
   III. As the nest needs the bird, so the place needs the man.
   IV. “Wandering.”
   V. The consequences of wandering.
   VI. Appeal to wanderers. Come back! the place waits for you. Your own heart echoes its cry. (Homiletic Review.)

Unnaturalness
Sin reverses Divine arrangements. It is consequently the most unnatural thing in God’s universe. We speak of “natural depravity”; it is, properly speaking, un-natural depravity. Sin is earth’s exotic; the soul’s nightshade; it has “turned the world upside down,” and thrust man out of his proper place.
I. Man in his wrong place. Here called “a wanderer.” “Where art thou?” God asked Adam; intimating that he was not where he ought to have been. Sin had turned him out of his place. Some things concerning man’s original state—the place from which he had wandered.

1. It was a state of conscious Divine approval. Conscience was at rest.
2. A state of Divine illumination. The creature enjoyed the high privilege of companionship with his Creator. Sin has both stained the conscience and darkened the understanding.
3. A state of Divine sympathies. His supreme affections were centred in his Maker. Towards Him his emotions moved like bright constellations round the sun. The fatal mistake sin has introduced into the hearts of men is the vain attempt to meet the wants of the spiritual in the supplies of the material.
   II. Man in his right place. “Man is as his heart is.” The evils which have been enumerated arise from the moral derangement of the affections. The gospel comes to restore the forfeited “place” by restoring lost confidence. It does so by revealing God in such a way as to inspire confidence. The gospel is the revelation of Divine love putting away sin, and bringing the sinner near to Himself. The soul’s resting-place is faith and love. (G. Hunt Jackson.)

The wandering bird
Persons of the vagrant kind seldom, if ever, prosper.

1. In the common affairs of life Solomon was correct. The unrest of that man’s mind, and the instability of his conduct, who is constantly making a change of his position and purpose, augurs no success for any of his adventures. See cases of eagerness to leave the native country; changing occupation; changing situation and acquaintance. And it is certainly true in changing one’s religious service in the cause of God.
2. In spiritual things. There is a tendency in us all to be looking for evidences, signs, marks, experiences, graces, and coincidences of one kind or another. When a Christian wanders from his place—from the simplicity of his faith in Jesus—that moment he departs from his safe shelter in the solid rock. Many believers wander out of their place. A believer’s place is in the bosom of his Lord, or at the right hand of his Master, or sitting at His feet with Mary. Wandering habits imply a lack of watchfulness. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

The wandering bird
The teaching of the proverb may be, that a man who leaves his own home, his own proper sphere, situation, calling, is strange, awkward, lonely, exposed—he has got away from duty and into danger, and is forlorn as a lost bird that has got away from its nest and cannot find its way back. Our subject is that men, institutions, Churches, are most useful when faithful to their own particular calling, and when true to their own distinctive characteristics. There is some danger lest Christian Churches should wander from their place. Far be it from me to depreciate the importance of social questions and social work. But we are told that we are strong in the degree in which we take in hand social questions, and play the part of social reformers. But our work is supremely spiritual; our work is to the soul of man. To us, the main cause of the misery which is in this world is to be found in the spiritual condition of men, in their alienation from God. The Church of Christ is not to be a food-supply association, nor a banking company, nor a society for the reform of manners. Our work is to bring men to God. The monition of the text may be applied to individuals. There are few things more common than for men to forsake the sphere in which their own peculiar powers have ample scope for a sphere in which those powers are scarcely required at all. An infatuation sometimes leads men to seek positions to which they are not called, and for which they are manifestly unfit. Some of us are not allowed to remain in one place. We are compelled to be wanderers on the face of the earth. The determination to abide in one’s own lot, and to be true to one’s own gifts and aptitudes, is the secret of power. If a man will prove his own work, he shall have rejoicing in himself. Cultivate a vivid sense of personality and a solemn conviction of our own individual significance. You will not best serve your generation by becoming a washed-out reproduction of some stronger character. If a man honestly does the best with his own powers in his own place, he will not live in vain. We cannot escape from our personal limitations, but we may do good work, and minister much blessing notwithstanding. We also wander from our place when we neglect the things that are about us, and strain after strange and distant things, for satisfaction. The highest and best things are possible to us where we are. In our own place the highest culture of character is possible. Our place has no limitations for spiritual growth. We can be men in Christ Jesus where we are. So let there be no repining and no wandering. He orders our lot; let us stand in it. (James Lewis.)

Proverbs 27:10
Better is a neighbour that is near than a brother far off.
Sociability
This proverb points out that when assistance is needed the near neighbour, though he may love less, is more useful than the brother who is far away. Society is absolutely necessary for human existence. Companionship forces us to think and feel in common. A large-hearted sociability corrects irrational prejudices. As no two minds are exactly alike, so no two can see any subject from exactly the same standpoint. The greater number of minds we can bring to bear on any aspect of truth, the nearer shall we be to the aspect that is right. It may be objected that many think erroneously, and therefore companionship with them would lead us from, and not towards, the truth. It would if we adopted their opinions, but not if, by sifting and searching them, we grasped our own more firmly. The same holds true in the realm of Christian experience. Sociability is, then, a duty we all owe to society, one which we ought scrupulously to pay according to our means and our opportunities. About the nature of true sociability great mistakes are made. Amusement is not the first purpose of society. To be truly sociable we must be able to make society more Christian than it was; to infuse into it something more, however little, of the spirit of sympathy, truth, purity, and love than it had. But to do this we must have the spirit ourselves. We ought also to be able to make it more intellectual, by adding information, giving ideas, and stimulating to mental effort. Then we cannot always be in society. It is in solitude we gather those germs of thought that we are afterwards to scatter. The power we have of influencing society by our words is one whose value we cannot over-estimate, one that ought to be cultivated to the very highest pitch. The benefit derived from companionship must depend on the persons with whom we associate. Bad companions have led many to ruin. Sociability has a tendency to produce hypocrisy, and subsequent self-deception in certain characters. Conversation in society is, too often, neither true nor edifying. By insensible degrees the vapid talker becomes the idle gossip, and the gossip sinks into the envenomed slanderer. It is, then, in our power to influence society for good or ill. Sociability must be either a curse or a blessing as we use it. (J. McCann, D.D.)

Friendship
The Lord Jesus found strength and consolation in the love of human friends. That He should not only have pitied men, and loved them, but should have found here and there men and women whose presence and affection were a relief to Him, under the burden of His griefs; men and women who gave Him rest when He was weary, and joy when He was troubled; this may seem surprising to as. Christ Himself, the Son of the Eternal, had His human friends. He loved all men well enough to die for them, but there were some whom He loved more than others.

1. Some men are so happy as to inherit friends from their fathers. The love of our father’s friend is worth having. If he is a good man, there will be a certain power in him that will be a restraint to keep now in the good way your father would have approved. Your father’s experience of life survives in him to give you counsel. If he should ever be in trouble, pay your father’s debts in friendly attention to him.
2. “Thine own friend forsake not.” There are friends and friends. Most of our friends are acquaintances, and nothing more. Friendships of the perfect and ideal sort are necessarily rare. By friends we mean those for whom we have a strong affection, and who have a strong affection for us. A wise man said, “I want my friends to stand by me when I am wrong; other people will stand by me when I am right.” When you have friends of that sort, forsake them not. Keep them when you have them.
3. Friendships which fall far short of this ideal are also worth keeping. For the most part our friends must be people whose circumstances and education and history are very much like our own. There are people who drop a whole set of their “friends” whenever they get a considerable rise in their income. For the most part, close and real friendships must be formed early in life. When close friendships are formed after a man has passed middle life, it is usually with much younger persons.
4. Of the place and power of friendship in life, only those who have had and retained loyal and worthy friends, can have any real knowledge. Bacon says, “Friendship redoubleth joys and cutteth grief in halves.” Friendships assist to check and to subdue that selfish absorption in our own successes and in our own sorrows which poison the very springs of life and brings paralysis on all its nobler powers. Our confidence in their goodness and our delight in their affection save us from cynicism. We think the better of the human race because we think so well of them. When we do not absolutely accept the judgment of a friend, it clears our mind to discuss a difficult question with him. Our friends take the side of all that is best in us against whatever is mean and cowardly and dangerous; they serve the purpose of an external conscience. Our friends see us, not merely as we are, but as we might be.
5. The Christian will form his closest friendships with men who share his faith in Christ and his hope of immortality. Such friends will continue to be our friends in the realms that lie beyond death. (R. W. Dale, LL.D.)

Genuine friendship
I. Friendship is based of true love. Concord of sentiment, agreement of taste, unity of purpose, frequent companionship, are not enough. These may exist without the binding together of hearts. Love is the essential element of true friendship. “For my friend first, and then for myself,” is the spirit of true friendship. The idea of sacrifice is in friendship, and sacrifice is in the very nature of love.
II. Friendship is reciprocal in its growth and preservation. It cannot be a one-sided thing. Seneca said, “Love if you wish to be loved.” The atmosphere of suspicion or distrust is fatal to real friendship.
III. Genuine friendship strengthens in the time of trial. There is nothing like adversity to test life’s attachments. See some points of duty in true friendship. Do not encourage your friend to your secrets. If they are disclosed, see that you never betray them. There is a becoming reticence and dignity even in friendship. Do not think you can treat your friend anyhow because he is your friend. The dearest friendships cannot dispense with thoughtfulness, kindness, and politeness. Do not allow any trivial matter to interfere with your friendship. Do not forget to pray for, and seek, the spiritual welfare of your friend. As you believe in the power of prayer, pray for your friend. Cultivate close and endearing fellowship with the best Friend—the Friend of Sinners. (J. Hiles Hitchens, D.D.)

On friendship
Whatever relates to the behaviour of men in their social character is of great importance in religion. The duties which spring from that character form many branches of the great law of charity. True piety is not less friendly to men than zealous for the honour of God. Deal with the nature and duties of virtuous friendship, as closely connected with the true spirit of religion. Among mankind, friendships or connections are of different kinds. Some so-called friendships would better be called conspiracies. Some are but the connections of political parties. Private friendships flow from similarity of disposition, corresponding harmony of minds. Sincere and affectionate friendships form some of the greatest blessings of human life. The fundamental duties of true friendship are constancy and fidelity.

1. Do not expect perfection in any with whom you contract friendship. If we do, we shall be sure to meet with disappointments. Young people are apt to cherish romantic ideas, and to form impossible expectations. In the best persons, great and solid qualities counterbalance the common infirmities. To these qualities you should look in forming friendships; to good-sense and prudence; virtue, good-temper and steadiness of affection.
2. Do not be hurt by differences of opinion arising in intercourse with your friends. These are sure to occur. Perpetual uniformity of thought would become monotonous and insipid.
3. Cultivate openness of temper and manners. Nothing more certainly dissolves friendship than the jealousy which arises from darkness and concealment.
4. Cultivate gentle and obliging manners. It is a common error that familiar intimacy supersedes attention to the lesser duties of behaviour. Let no harshness, no appearance of neglect, no supercilious affectation of superiority, occur in the intercourse of friends. A tart reply, a proneness to rebuke, a captious and contradictious spirit, are often known to embitter domestic life and to set friends at variance.
5. Do not rashly listen to evil reports against your friends. Be slow of believing anything against the friend whom you have chosen. Suffer not the poison of jealousy easily to taint your mind and break your peace.
6. Do not desert your friend in danger or distress. When your friend is calumniated, then is the time openly and boldly to espouse his cause. The honourable zeal of friendship has, in every age, attracted the veneration of mankind. (Hugh Blair, D.D.)

Reasons for valuing true friendship

1. Because of the pleasure of it. There is a great deal of sweetness in consulting and conversing with a cordial friend. The sweetness of friendship lies not in hearty mirth, but in hearty counsel, faithful advice, sincerely given, and without flattery.
2. Because of the profit and advantage of it, especially in a day of calamity. Don’t expect relief from a kinsman for kinsman’s sake, but apply yourselves to your neighbours, who are at hand, and will be ready to help us at an exigence. (Matthew Henry.)

The friendship of God towards man, and man towards God
There is no friend like an old friend. It is the heat of a whole life that has melted together the hearts of those who have walked together the long walk of life as friends. It is possible for any who seek the Lord and His will to be reckoned among His friends. God is the Friend of man; and man is admitted to be the friend of God. What are the terms on which we should stand towards a friend? In hollow friendships two things are wanting, faith and love. But in the friendship we are permitted to cherish towards God these are the very corner-stones, an enlightened lively faith and a glowing active love. Are we enjoying the heavenly sunshine of this Divine fatherly friendship? If so, we shaft show it in our own faithful, affectionate life, as friends of God. Of all living agencies a friend is the most alive, the most alert. (Archdeacon Mildmay.)

Near and far off
The antithetical phrases, “at hand” and “far off,” have evident reference here, not to locality, but to disposition. A friendly and kindly-disposed neighbour, who bears no relation to us save that of neighbourhood, is greatly preferable to a brother—to any relation whatever—who is cold, distant, and alienated. Even natural affection requires to be exercised with discretion. When appealed to injudiciously, at improper times, in improper circumstances, and with improper frequency, it may be cooled, it may be lost, it may be turned to dislike. (R. Wardlaw, D.D.)

Proverbs 27:12
A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself; but the simple pass on, and are punished.
Eyes and no eyes
The distinction is not between “goodness” and “wickedness,” but between strength and weakness, wisdom and folly. The “seeing” and the “acting” man victoriously compels circumstances to further his own ends. The “blind” and the “drifting” man is conquered by the force of circumstances, and suffers penalty and loss. The proverb is applicable to every sphere of human life and effort, and becomes more and more rigidly and absolutely true the higher we ascend. In the lower spheres of action there may appear evils which the most prudent man cannot avoid; and the “simple” may sometimes escape disaster by a fortunate combination of circumstances. But these are exceptions. When we ascend to the sphere of moral and spiritual efforts, even the exceptions vanish, and the principle becomes absolute.

1. Man’s life and destiny are determined, not by an inexorable and eternal fate, but by his free manhood. Circumstances are the material out of which he has to weave the garment of his life, and it depends upon himself whether it shall be a garment for honour or dishonour.
2. The radical distinction between men lies in the possession of true vision. The true man sees the realities of things, gazes into the truer and eternal. The unspiritual man sees only the show and appearance of things. This true vision, being an essential characteristic of the spiritual man, is more than intellectual apprehension. It is a perception in which the whole being is exercised.
3. True vision determines true action. There is a sense in which a man may “see,” and yet follow his evil passions rather than his nobler knowledge. But in such cases there is something perilously defective in the vision. It has lacked depth and splendour, and divineness.
4. “Vision” and “action” determine destiny. “Drifting” is fatal; to “pass on” in the unresisted current of circumstances is “to suffer.” For lack of the “true vision” that creates true action empires have perished, and individuals are subject to the same law. Spiritual blindness is death. (John Thomas, M.A.)

The foresight of prudence
A good husband will repair his house while the weather is fair, not put it off till winter; a careful pilot will take advantage of wind and tide, and so put out to sea, not stay till a storm arise. The traveller will take his time in his journey, and mind his pace when the night comes on, lest darkness overtake him; the smith will strike while the iron is hot, lest it grow cool, and so he lose his labour; so we ought to make every day the day of our repentance; to make use of the present time, that when we come to die we may have nothing to do but to die, for there will be a time when there will be no place for repentance, when time will be no more; when the door will be shut, when there will be no entrance at all. (J. Spencer.)

Proverbs 27:14
He that blesseth his friend with a loud voice, rising early in the morning, it shall be counted a curse to him.
The curse of ostentatious flattery
Flattery is a species of conduct generally most pleasing, always most pernicious. The flattery in the text is a loud vaunting. It intrudes itself on all occasions; it is busy and demonstrative.
I. It is a curse to its author. He who practises sycophancy inflicts an incalculable injury on his own spiritual nature. The spirit of independence, the feeling of honest manhood, give way to a crawling, creeping instinct; it is a sneaking art used to cajole and soften fools.
II. It is a curse to its victim Perhaps this is what Solomon means when he says “it shall be counted a curse to him,” i.e., the object of it. “Of all wild beasts,” says Johnson, “preserve me from a flatterer.” (Homilist.)

Proverbs 27:17
Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.
Friendship
Scripture instances of friendship are David and Jonathan; Ruth and Naomi; Paul and Timotheus; and our Lord and the Bethany sisters. In classical literature we see that friendship had a great part, both in the government of states and the lives of individuals. It is an aspect of politics and of human nature, and of all virtue. Partly owing to the different character of domestic life, the tie of friendship seems to have exercised s greater influence amongst the Greeks and Romans than among ourselves; and although these attachments may sometimes have degenerated into evil, we cannot doubt that much that was noble in the old life was also pure. See cases of Achilles and Patroclus, and of Pylades and Orestes. The school of Socrates was as much a circle of friends as a band of disciples. Roman friendships are illustrated in Scipio and Loelius, and in Cicero and Atticus. Shakespeare gives several types of friendship. In youth, when life is opening before us, we easily form friendships. A young man, even if he be poor in worldly goods, may reasonably hope to be rich in friends. Like draws towards like, and youth rejoices in youth. We cannot make friendships exactly as we please. Friendships are not made, but grow out of similar tastes, out of mutual respect, from the discovery of some hitherto unsuspected vein of sympathy. They depend also on our own power of inspiring friendship in others. Yet neither is the choice of friends altogether independent of ourselves. A man may properly seek for friends. He gets good, or he gets harm, out of the companionship of those with whom he lives. Such as they are he will be in some degree.
I. The character of true friendship. It should be simple, manly, unreserved; not weak, or fond, or extravagant, nor yet exacting more than human nature can fairly give; nor intrusive into the secrets of another’s soul, or curious about his circumstances. The greatest element in friendship is faithfulness. Friends learn from one another; they form the characters of one another; they bear one another’s burdens; they make up for each other’s defects. The ancients spoke of three kinds of friendship—one for the sake of the useful, one for the sake of the pleasant, and a third for the sake of the good or noble. The first is a contradiction in terms. It is a partnership, not a friendship. Every one knows the delight of having a friend. Is there a friendship for the sake of the noble and the good? Mankind are dependent beings, and we cannot help seeing how much, when connected together, they may do for the elevation of one another’s character and for the improvement of mankind.
II. Changing friendships. Like the other goods of life, friendship is commonly mixed and imperfect, and liable to be interrupted by changing circumstances or the tempers of men. Few have the same friends in youth as in age. Some youthful friendships are too violent to last; they have in them some element of weakness or sentimentalism, and the feelings pass away. Or, at some critical time of life, a friend has failed to stand by us, and then our love to him grows cold. But there are duties we owe to an extinct friend. We should never speak against him, or make use of our knowledge about him. A passing word should not be suffered to interrupt the friendship of years. It is a curious observation, that the most sensitive natures are also the most liable to pain the feelings of others.
III. Christian friendship. The spirit of a man’s life may be more or less consciously Christian. Friendship may be based on religious motives, and may flow out of a religious principle. Human friendships constantly require to be purified and raised from earth to heaven. And yet they should not lose themselves in spiritual emotion or in unreal words. Better that friendship should have no element of religion than that it should degenerate into cant and insincerity. All of us may sometimes think of ourselves and our friends as living to God, and of human love as bearing the image of the Divine. There are some among us who have known what it is to lose a friend. Death is a gracious teacher. Who that has lost a friend would not wish to have done more for him now that he is taken away? The memory of them is still consecrated and elevating for our lives. (Professor Jowett.)

Friendship
This is what one friend should be to another; a whetstone, to give keenness to the edge of his energy. A friend can encourage his friend when duty is difficult, or wearisome, or painful; can comfort, can advise. But friendship is too often made the stepping-stone to the worst falls; and many a sinner has his friends to thank for his having fallen into sins which, left to himself, he would have shrunk from with horror. God has mercifully hedged round most sins with many barriers—the barrier of ignorance, of shame, and of affection. This latter, in a personal friend, may be especially helpful. A friend may aid us in both the right and the wrong. It is sometimes the duty of a true friend openly to find fault with a friend. But the occasion is very rare. In most cases all that is wanted is to hold to the right, and you will do more towards holding your friend to the right than by all manner of exhortations. Few things can give acuter pain to the soul in after-years than the memory of friends misled by our friendship. Friendship, and sympathy, and cheerful example ought to help us more than anything else to grow up soldiers and servants of Christ, and to fight His battle when we are grown up. Iron cannot sharpen iron more than we might sharpen each other. The very differences in our character might be such a help to us in making friendship valuable, because when one friend is much tempted the other is strong, and can uphold him, and yet, when another kind of temptation comes, will receive back as much support as he gave. (Frederick Temple, D.D.)

“A friend in need is a friend indeed”
Bacon says, “To be without friends is to find the world a wilderness.” It is only a mean man that can be contented alone. A trusty friend is one of earth’s greatest blessings. Alas, for the dire contagion of evil friendships! Washington said, “Be courteous to all, intimate with few, and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence.” Stick to your friend. He can never have any true friends who is often changing them. Bring your friend to a proper understanding of himself. Persuade him of his follies. Phocion said truly to Antipater, “I cannot be both your friend and flatterer.” True friendship cannot exist between bad men. True friendship is tested in the hour of adversity. Wait until you are in trouble, and many a professed friend will be shy of you and give you the dead cut. Many people expect too much from their friends. There is an old saying that “Friends, like fiddle-strings, must not be screwed too tight.” Friendships are often productive of mischief because they are not governed by wisdom and prudence. He is our best friend who is a friend to our soul. Give a wide berth to the sneering sceptic. Have for your bosom friends men who will “strengthen your hand in God,” who will foster your piety and make you wiser, better, and holier men. In Christ alone the proverb at the heading of this outline finds its fullest verification. (M. C. Peters.)

Friendly converse
This proverb is described by Edward Irving as forcibly expressing the effect of religious converse and communion by a beautiful figure, which also not inaptly represents the way in which the effect is produced. Iron sharpeneth iron by removing the rust which has been contracted from their lying apart; so intercourse between friend and friend rubs down the prejudices which they have contracted in their separate state. And as the iron, having removed the rust which entered into the good stuff of the blade, and hindered its employment for husbandry or war, straightway applies itself to the metallic substance, brings it to a polish and to an edge, shows its proper temper, and fits it for its proper use, so the intercourse of friends having removed the prejudices which were foreign to the nature and good conditions of each, proceeds, in the next place, to bring out the slumbering spirit which lay hid, to kindle each other into brightness, and prepare each other for action. (Francis Jacox.)

The sharpening influence of religious intercourse
We are all well acquainted with the every-day fact that “iron sharpeneth iron”; we have all seen steel used to sharpen a blade, to give it an edge, and make it fit to do its work. We are also well aware that the blade, when sharpened, may be used for a good purpose, or abused for a bad one. The axe may be used to fell the timber of the temple, or to break down all the carved work thereof. The steel or the whetstone to sharpen, fits the blade for doing good or doing evil, according to circumstances. The act of sharpening increases its power, whether for good or evil; and so is it with regard to a man’s friends—they stir him up, they excite him, but it is to good or to evil, according as they themselves are good or evil. We must take care who our friends are, lest we receive mischief; take care what kind of friends we are, lest we impart it. Those who countenance what is wrong are answerable for much of the evil their countenance leads to. For instance, all persons should take great care to what they are led by the countenance and encouragement of friends on occasions of public festivity or show. Many on such occasions have their countenances sharpened as they are not on other days. They are encouraged to say, to do, to boast, to indulge, as they never would do, and never do, when sitting at home in their own houses. It is a pleasing thought, however, that the man whose heart is right with God “sharpeneth” for good “the countenance of his friend. There is nothing more false upon true religion than to imagine that it stunts our minds, that its design is to withdraw them from the genial warmth of social life, where it may blossom—where, like a healthy plant, it may open and expand, and place them alone, to become proud and selfish. True religion, like every other good sentiment, requires society to bring it to perfection. Now, if there be something so valuable in the intercourse of true Christians, they should seek it in the spirit best calculated to profit by such communion. They should seek it in Christian friendship. They should constantly be on the look-out for those who are willing to drink deep with them at the fountain of Divine truth. But our expectations from this truth are not to be limited to the exercise of private friendship. We cannot all be bound together by such ties, desirable as they are; but then, again, all real Christians are real friends. They may never have spoken; they may want introduction one to another; distance of situation may keep them apart; circumstances may keep them unacquainted though near in point of neighbourhood; yet have they, being all partakers of the same Spirit, that which is calculated, under altered circumstances, to make and keep them friends. All Christians, I repeat, are friends; and, therefore, we may expect many circumstances, short of strict and intimate friendship, calculated to bring into play the principle upon which I have been dwelling. I shall mention two circumstances under which this may happen.

1. I would recommend all persons to seek this means of improvement in their families. With his family is every Christian bound to share, and by sharing to increase, his devout affections. There are innumerable degrees of life among the members of our Lord: there are all the stages from simple consecration to Him, in baptism and profession, to the fullest union. To be helpers of each other’s faith throughout these several stages—to become by mutual communication joint partakers of one common Spirit—is one of the most effectual means of spiritual growth. “He that watereth may hope to be watered also himself.”
2. But this is not all: he is in the way to have his own “countenance sharpened,” his own motives quickened, his own soul stirred up to watchfulness, love, zeal, diligence, and an endeavour at being consistent. If we know ourselves, we know that we want every kind of motive, every sort of help. Then let every Christian try the power of meeting each morning and evening to pray together with his family. But, if so, how much more should we thank God for those further helps which He affords to us in the public assemblies of the congregation. Here especially the fellowship of kindred minds is like to that above. If we came to His house expecting much, imploring much, desiring much, we should gain much. Our God would enrich us, and that partly through the channel of our “fellowship one with another.” (J. H. A. Walsh, M.A.)

Proverbs 27:18
So he that waiteth on his master shall be honoured.
The way to honour
If a man in Palestine carefully watched his fig-tree, and kept it in proper condition, he was sure to be abundantly rewarded in due season. So good servants obtain honour as the fruit of diligent service.
I. The relation which subsists between ourselves and our Lord—He is our Master. You are men, and naturally moved by all which moves other men, but still the master motive power with you who are Christians is the supremacy of Christ. He has a right to be our Master from the very dignity of His character. We yield Him service because of His love to us. And our position of servants is an irreversible one.
II. There is a conduct consistent with being servants of Jesus. A servant should—

1. Own himself to be his Master’s.
2. Have no time at his own disposal.
3. Be always about his Master’s business.
   As servants it is our duty to learn our Master’s will, and to do it when we know it. It is ours also to obey the Master willingly, and for love of His person. The waiting upon the Master is to be performed personally by the servant. It is ours, in waiting, to abide near to Christ.
   III. The reward which surely comes to faithful servants. He finds his honour in waiting upon his Master. Every faithful servant of Christ is honoured in his Master’s honour. He is honoured with his Master’s approval. He is honoured by having more given him to do. He is honoured in the eyes of his fellow-servants. But the chief honour of the faithful servant comes from the blessed Trinity. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

The reward of God’s servants
He who tends the fig-tree has figs for his pains, and he who waits on a good master has honour as his reward. Truly the Lord Jesus is the very best of masters, and it is an honour to be allowed to do the least act for His sake. To serve some lords is to watch over a crab-tree and eat the crabs as one’s wages; but to serve my Lord Jesus is to keep a fig-tree of the sweetest figs. His service is in itself delight; continuance in it is promotion; success in it is blessedness below; and the reward for it is glory above. Our greatest honours will be gathered in that season when the figs will be ripe, even in the next world. Angels who are now our servitors will bear us home when our day’s work is done. Heaven, where Jesus is, will be our honourable mansion, eternal bliss our honourable portion, and the Lord Himself our honourable companion. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

An honoured servant
Melancthon’s friends were astonished at his liberality, and wondered how, with his small means, he could afford to give so much in charity. It was principally owing to the good management of a faithful servant named John. The whole duty of providing for the family was entrusted to this domestic, whose care and prudence amply justified the confidence reposed in him. He avoided all needless expenditure, and watched with a jealous eye his master’s property. He was also the first instructor of the children during their infancy. John grew old in his master’s service, and expired in his house, regretted by all. During a service of thirty-four years how much usefulness was effected by honest John, and by his master, through his instrumentality! Melancthon invited the students of the university to attend the funeral of his faithful servant; delivered an oration over his grave; and composed a Latin epitaph for his tombstone.

Proverbs 27:19
As in water face answereth to face, so the heart of man to man.
Mirror of human nature
As a man looking into the water (used anciently as a mirror) sees an exact transcript of his own countenance, so every heart has, by nature, precisely the same moral character with every other unsanctified heart. Every child of Adam, till renewed by Divine grace, has, in view of Omnipotence and Omniscience, the same moral aspect. Notice some of the circumstances which have contributed to make men differ in their conduct who have by nature the same moral character. Grace has made a wide difference in men who were by nature alike. Difference in instinctive passions and affections makes men differ in their conduct. Some have not the talents for doing mischief that others have. Others have not the opportunities. One man may achieve less mischief than another because more restrained.

1. That all men have naturally the same moral character might be inferred from the similarity of origin, aspect, and general habits that belong to all ages and all nations of men.
2. We can hardly fix our eye on any individual or community of antiquity but we can find its exact resemblance in some individual or community with whose character we are familiar. Of this take as Scriptural examples the family of Adam and of Jacob; the characters of Balaam, and of Shimei, and of Joab, and of Jezebel.
3. There have prevailed in all ages and nations the same crimes, calling for the restraining influence of the same laws. Men have been at all times inclined to wrong their fellow-men of their property. The descriptions of depravity which applied to Israel, Babylon, Egypt, Syria, Sidon, and even Edom, apply with equal propriety to the men of this land.
4. Argue from the fact that the Bible has never become obsolete. It describes men of other periods, and the description suits the present generation. Remarks:
   (1) We see one source of those corruptions of doctrine with which the world is filled. Men have determined that human nature has grown better. Having settled this point, they infer that the same Bible will not suit the different ages and nations.
   (2) This subject justifies a kind of preaching as plain and pointed as anything found in the law of God, or in the communications of Christ and His apostles.
   (3) The subject furnishes ungodly men with the means of knowing their own characters.
   (4) We may argue, from this subject, that men must all pass the same second birth to fit them for the kingdom of God.
   (5) We see why there need be but one place of destiny in the coming world for all the unregenerate. The little shades of difference that now appear in the ungodly are too insignificant to mark them out for distinct worlds. (D. A. Clark.)

They who are our associates in this world will most probably be our associates in the next
Bishop Patrick explains this proverb thus: “A man may see himself, while he looks upon other men, as well as know other men, by considering his own inclinations.” Bishop Hall says: “He that looks into his friend’s heart sees there his own.” The most mysterious thing in God’s work is the heart of man. The Eden of the human heart has been transformed into a wilderness of vile passions. Some restrain themselves more than others, and therefore there are different degrees of depravity in the world; and perhaps, by looking around us, we may find what rank we properly belong to, and what chance we have of escaping the wrath of God.

1. Let us ask ourselves who are our intimate friends and associates?
2. Let us compare ourselves with the dying. (John Collinson.)

Proverbs 27:21
So is a man to his praise.
The influence of applause
The various passions implanted in human nature are necessary to animate the soul in the service of God and our generation. The poet sung, “Love of fame, the universal passion.” The wise man beheld this principle in human nature; he saw the effect of praise upon mankind. The text is a rule, grounded upon the observable effect of it upon man; a refined rule for trial of our true moral character or religious state. It is, literally, “A fining-pot for silver and a furnace for gold; and a man to the mouth of his praise.” The conduct of men, in regard to their praise, may be as sure a trial of their moral and religious character as the fining-pot is of silver and the furnace of gold. By praise we should understand, not the plaudit of individuals or of the multitude, spoken in a tone of sarcastic irony; nor that given by mistake, as when another’s conduct is innocently ascribed to us, with the praise of his commendable behaviour. By a man’s praise we understand real, unfeigned praise, bestowed for actions or conduct commendable in the sight of men, useful to the community. Such praise answers valuable purposes. To observe how a man is to his praise is a matter of serious importance to every soul of man. His praise refines one man, renders him thankful to God for a good name among men. Praise to a righteous soul renders it seriously inquisitive, whether its conduct really deserves praise—the praise not of men, but of God also. Praise renders the righteous respectful to those who bestow it; and they become more diligent to improve in well-doing. Praise to a righteous man is a fiery trial, where he needs humility and sober thoughts. Praise bestowed on the ungodly man renders him vain, self-confident, and self-conceited. He becomes haughty and insolent. Jealous of his honour, he is impatient to hear another praised. Persons of this character become careless—regardless of the praise of God. The reason of the different effects of praise is the different state in the inner man of the heart. The reason of the different effects of the fining-pot and furnace upon metals is the different nature and quality of the metals cast into them. The natural improvement of this subject is to determine our moral and religious character by the effect which the praise of men has upon us. (
John Devotion, M.A.)

Popularity the most trying test of character
Men, in ancient times as well as in modern, submit precious metals, such as silver and gold, to the test of the fire. Fire revealed their impurity, and made them appear in their true character. What fire is to these metals, Solomon says, popularity or applause is to man’s character—it tests him.
I. Popularity reveals the vanity of the proud man. How did Absolom appear in the blaze of popularity? (2Sa_25:22). How did Herod appear? Amidst the shouts of his flatterers he assumed to be a god.
II. Popularity reveals the humility of a true man. A true man shrinks from popular applause, and feels humbled amidst its shouts. Dr. Payson, a careful self-observer, mentions among his trials “well-meant but injudicious commendations.” “Every one here,” he writes to his mother, “whether friends or enemies, are conspiring to ruin me. Satan and my own heart, of course, will lend a hand, and if you join too, I fear all the cold water which Christ can throw upon my pride will not prevent it from breaking out in a destructive flame. As certainly as anybody flatters and caresses me, my Father has to scourge me for it, and an unspeakable mercy it is that He condescends to do it.” Popularity is indeed to character what the “fining-pot is for silver and the furnace for gold.” Few things in life show us the stuff of which men are made more than this. Little men court this fire, but cannot stand it. (Homilist.)

Proverbs 27:23
Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, and look well to thy herds.
Kindness to animals
We live in an age when great regard is paid to the comfort and well-being of every class of the community, and when efforts are made to promote the general happiness. When so much is being done to add to the happiness of the human family we should not be forgetful of the dumb animals, to which, for our comfort, we are so largely indebted. It is always a good sign of a man when he takes a kindly interest in the brutes. A man who can roughly treat a horse or a dog can never be one in whom his own family find much to love. The days are gone of cruel and disgusting sports, in which men found their pleasure in watching the sufferings of the lower creatures. But a good deal of pain is still caused through mere thoughtlessness. See Bible notices of animals.

1. The fact of their creation by God. They were brought upon the earth before man was, and have, by priority, a right to such comforts as it affords.
2. Their being named by Adam. This indicated his lordship over them, and the interest God would have him take in them.
3. When man had sinned, by the slaughter of innocent animals he was impressively taught, and continually reminded of, the only way of salvation.
4. In the time of the Flood the animals were carefully preserved.
5. In the Mosaic economy laws were enacted for the protection and well-being of the creatures. Many make the mistake of thinking that animals must be frightened into obedience. A kind and gentle treatment, as it is the most humane, is also the most successful. They are fond of being praised and encouraged: a kind word or affectionate stroke makes them wonderfully happy, and even the expression of countenance they learn to understand. Remember it is said of God, “With the merciful man Thou wilt show Thyself merciful.” His eye is upon us, and He will call us to account for every act of cruelty done to the creatures He has made. Strive, then, to be like Him in kindness and in gentleness. (J. Thain Davidson, D.D.).

Proverbs 27:1
a day] This is taken to mean the (coming) day, the morrow, both by LXX. (ἡ ἐπιοῦσα), and Vulg. (superventura dies), as well as by some modern commentators (comp. St Jas_4:13-14); but the absence of the article shews that the rendering of A.V., which is followed by R.V., is right.

Proverbs 27:3
Comp. Sir_22:15.

Proverbs 27:4
envy] Rather, jealousy. Comp. Pro_6:34.

Proverbs 27:5
secret] Better, with R.V., that is hidden; i.e. that does not manifest itself in rebuke, when it is needed.
Maurer quotes aptly from Seneca, Ep. 25, and Plautus Trinum. Acts 1. Sc. ii., 57; and also from Cicero, Lœl. 25:—“Ut igitur et monere et moneri proprium est veræ amicitiæ, et alteram libere facere, non aspere, alterum patienter accipere, non repugnanter; sic habendum est, nullam in amicitiis pestem esse majorem, quam adulationem, blanditiam, assentationem.”

Proverbs 27:6
deceitful] This rendering follows the fraudulenta of the Vulgate; whereas earnest (A.V. marg.) may be due to the ἑκούσια of the LXX. The alternative rendering of A.V. marg., frequent, or, as it is happily given in R.V., profuse, is to be preferred. He overdoes his part.

Proverbs 27:7
loatheth] Lit. treads under foot; calcabit, Vulg. The second clause of the verse has been compared with Horace’s
“Jejunus stomachus raro vulgaria temnit.”
Sat. ii. 2. 38.

Proverbs 27:8
“The true bird-life is the life of the woods, of the toilsomely-woven nest, of the mate and the brood and the fledglings.… True human life is the life of our fellows, of the diligent laborious housebuilding, of the home, of the young, of the rising nestlings which are to form the next link in the long chain of the generations.” Horton.

Proverbs 27:9
by] Lit. from i.e. proceeding from, or (as R.V.), that cometh of.

Proverbs 27:10
The aim of this proverb is not of course to depreciate natural affection, but to warn against pressing unduly the claims of kinship and blood relationship, on which, with the sanction of the Law of Moses, such store was set in the East. Do not think it necessary, says the writer, to seek out in thy time of trouble a kinsman, who may be far from thee in place and sympathy, when thou hast one near at hand, who though he be no kinsman is the tried friend of thyself and of thy father before thee. See Pro_17:17, Pro_18:24, and notes.
“Compare the following passage from Hesiod, Works and Days. 27:341:
Τὸν δὲ μάλιστα καλεῖν, ὄς τις σέθεν ἐγγύθι ναἰει·
Εἰ γάρ τοι καὶ χρῆμʼ ἐγχώριον ἄλλο γένηται,
Γείτονες ἄζωστοι ἔκιον, ζώσαντο δὲ πηοί.
‘Chiefly bid to thy feast the friend that dwelleth hard by thee; For should there chance to come a matter that toucheth the village, Neighbours will come in haste, while kinsmen leisurely gird them.’ ”
Dean Plumptre in Speaker’s Comm.

Proverbs 27:12
See Pro_22:3 and notes.

Proverbs 27:13
See Pro_20:16 and notes.

Proverbs 27:14
Ostentatious professions of regard, like the profuse kisses of an enemy (Pro_27:6), justly incur the suspicion of sinister design.

Proverbs 27:15
See Pro_19:13.

Proverbs 27:16
Whosoever hideth &c.] The verse is better rendered:
He that would restrain her restraineth the wind,
And his right hand meets with oil.
“She is as subtle as wind, as slippery as oil,” Rel. Tr. Soc. Comm.
The A.V. takes the second clause of the verse to mean, You might as well try to conceal ointment in your right hand, which would certainly betray its presence, either by its odour, or by trickling through your fingers. But the proverb is at once more forcible and more harmonious, when it speaks of restraining the wind and grasping the oil.

Proverbs 27:17
sharpeneth] This has been understood to mean exasperates. Comp. Mine enemy sharpeneth his eyes upon me, Job_16:9 (where, however, the Hebrew word is different). But, as it is a friend that is spoken of here, it is better to take the proverb in a good sense. See for illustrations, 1Ki_10:1; 1Ki_10:3; Act_28:15.
The effect, however, is mutual, not like that of the whetstone to which Horace compares the critic,
acutum
Reddere quæ ferrum valet, exsors ipsa secandi.
De Art. Poet. 304, 5.

Proverbs 27:18
See Gen_39:4; Gen_39:22; and for the highest reference of the proverb, St Mat_25:21; St Joh_12:26.

Proverbs 27:19
in water] This rendering of A.V., which is retained in R.V. text, gives a good and pregnant meaning: As truly as the face seen in the water resembles the face of which it is the reflection, so truly does the heart of one man correspond to that of another in all the essential features of our common nature.
There is, however, another rendering, supported by many competent authorities and adopted in R.V. marg., viz.:
As water sheweth face to face,
So the heart sheweth man to man.
The meaning then will be that the heart, like the water, is the medium by which we behold the image of our fellow man, the mirror in which we see his character. He is to us what our heart makes him. We judge of others by ourselves. A sordid nature or ruffled temper, like turbid or unsettled water, will give a broken and distorted image: it cannot conceive the idea of true generosity or genuine worth. On the other hand a pure heart will give to its possessor a true perception not only of man but of God Himself (St Mat_5:8).

Proverbs 27:20
Hell and destruction] See Pro_15:11, note.
full] Rather, satisfied, the Heb. word being the same as at the end of the verse. Comp. Ecc_1:8; Ecc_4:8.

Proverbs 27:21
to his praise] The meaning is brought out more clearly in R.V. text:
The fining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold,
And a man is tried by his praise:
i.e. by the manner in which he bears the praise bestowed upon him.
Two alternatives are given in R.V. marg.: that which he praiseth, or, that whereof he boasteth: i.e. you may test a man’s character by observing what it is that he praises in others, or that he is proud of in himself.
Another plausible rendering has found considerable favour: What the fining pot and the furnace are to the precious metals, that should a man be to the mouth which praises him; lit. to the mouth of his praise. He should purge away from what it utters, before he accepts it, the dross of flattery and exaggeration.
The first clause of this verse is identical with that of Pro_17:3.

Proverbs 27:22
wheat] Rather, bruised corn. In the only other place in which it occurs (2Sa_17:19) the word is rendered ground corn, A.V., and bruised corn, R.V. See note there in this Series.
Pro_27:23-27. The praises of agriculture, or of pastoral life.
It well repays the diligence bestowed upon it (Pro_27:23), and is more reliable in its nature than other kinds of wealth, and even than a kingly crown (Pro_27:24). No sooner is one crop carried than another begins to grow, and the harvest of the earth is sure (Pro_27:25). The flocks, ever increasing, supply clothing, and equal in value the land which supports them (Pro_27:26), while their produce will maintain in plenty their owner and his household (Pro_27:27).

Proverbs 27:25
hay] “Heb. grass,” R.V. marg.
appeareth] Rather, is carried.
of the mountains] Com p. Psa_147:8.

Proverbs 27:27
for the maintenance of] Rather, maintenance for, R.V.

Proverbs 27:1-27
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 27:1-27
Proverbs 27 – Planning for the Future, Receiving Honor
Pro_27:1
Do not boast about tomorrow,
For you do not know what a day may bring forth.
a. Do not boast about tomorrow: It is human nature to be overly confident in what future days hold. It is easy to boast about tomorrow, especially with our modern arrogance of continual progress.
b. For you do not know what a day may bring forth: We don’t know what tomorrow may hold, so we should have a humble attitude towards the future, as Jas_4:13-16 also speaks of.
i. “The verse is not ruling out wise planning for the future, only one’s overconfident sense of ability to control the future—and no one can presume on God’s future.” (Ross)
ii. “Little doth any man know what is in the womb of tomorrow, till God hath signified his will by the event. David in his prosperity said, that he should ‘never be moved’; but he soon after found a sore alteration: God confuted his confidence. [Psa_30:6-7].” (Trapp)
iii. Spurgeon considered what a blessing it was that we do not know what a day may bring forth. “To know the good might lead us to presumption, to know the evil might tempt us to despair. Happy for us is it that our eyes cannot penetrate the thick veil which God hangs between us and to- morrow, that we cannot see beyond the spot where we now are, and that, in a certain sense, we are utterly ignorant as to the details of the future. We may, indeed, be thankful for our ignorance.”
Pro_27:2
Let another man praise you, and not your own mouth;
A stranger, and not your own lips.
a. Let another praise you, and not your own mouth: We should stay away from self-promotion in its many forms. Modern technology gives us many more methods and opportunities to praise ourselves, but we should avoid such self-praise.
b. A stranger, and not your own lips: Honor means much more when it comes from an outside source, even a stranger than being the product of self-praise and self-promotion.
i. “A German proverb says: ‘ Eigen-Lob stinkt, Freundes Lob hinkt, Fremdes Lob klingt’—’self-praise stinks, friend’s praise limps, stranger’s praise rings.’” (Waltke)
Pro_27:3
A stone is heavy and sand is weighty,
But a fool’s wrath is heavier than both of them.
a. A stone is heavy and sand is weighty: Solomon appealed to self-evident truths. It is in the nature of a stone to be heavy and in the nature of sand to be weighty.
b. But a fool’s wrath is heavier than both of them: When a fool – someone who rejects God’s wisdom – expresses their anger and wrath, it is a weighty, dangerous thing. The wrath of any person may have great consequence; how much more a fool?
Pro_27:4
Wrath is cruel and anger a torrent,
But who is able to stand before jealousy?
a. Wrath is cruel and anger a torrent: In all its manifestations, anger is a dangerous and difficult to control expression – like a torrent.
i. “The metaphor depicts anger as a spiritual force that is destructive, irrational and violent.” (Waltke)
b. Who is able to stand before jealousy? Solomon pointed out that there is a power and destructive capability in jealousy that can even go beyond wrath and anger. It can make a bigger torrent of evil. It was envy that motivated the religious leaders to arrange the death of Jesus (Mat_27:18).
i. Jealousy: “Is a raging emotion that defies reason at times and takes the form of destructive violence, like a consuming fire.” (Ross)
ii. Kidner notes that jealousy in the Scriptures is usually used in a positive sense; it is jealousy for – God’s proper jealousy for our love. Yet passages like this also acknowledge that there is a dark side of jealousy, jealousy of and not for.
iii. Poole explained why jealousy is worse than wrath and anger: “Envy is worse than both of them, partly, because it is more unjust and unreasonable, as not caused by any provocation, as wrath and anger are, but only proceeding from a malignity of mind, whereby a man is grieved for another man’s happiness…and partly, because it is more secret and undiscernible, and therefore the mischievous effects of it are hardly avoidable; whereas wrath and anger discover themselves, and so forewarn and forearm a man against the danger.”
Pro_27:5
Open rebuke is better
Than love carefully concealed.
a. Open rebuke is better: Many are hesitant to rebuke others, especially others in God’s family. But there is a time and place where rebuke is not only good it is better than the alternative.
i. “Rebuke—kindly, considerately, and prayerfully administered—cements friendship rather than weakens it.” (Bridges)
ii. “We do not really like rebuke. We are inherently inclined to resent it. The fact that we really deserve it, or need it, does not make it pleasant…moreover, our dislike of rebuke leads us to think that those who love us serve us well when they are silent in the presence of our shortcomings.” (Morgan)
iii. “Yet it is a rough medicine, and none can desire it. But the genuine open-hearted friend may be intended, who tells you your faults freely but conceals them from all others.” (Clarke)
b. Than love carefully concealed: Love does little good when it is concealed. The honest love of an open rebuke can be much better than the carefully concealed love.
i. “Love that is hidden is not perfect love in either sense. The highest love must and does express itself. It does so in praise of the loved one…. Love that hides itself, professes not to see, perhaps does not see, and so remains silent, is love on a very low level.” (Morgan)
Pro_27:6
Faithful are the wounds of a friend,
But the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.
a. Faithful are the wounds of a friend: A mark of a true friend is that they will be willing to wound us with loving correction. The correction may not feel good – as genuine wounds – but it will be an expression of the love and faithfulness of a friend.
i. “The ‘wounds’ are a metaphor for the painful and plain words that must be spoken in a true friendship in order to heal the beloved and/or to restore a broken relationship.” (Waltke)
b. The kisses of an enemy are deceitful: This cautions us that not all kisses are the greetings of friends. They may come from an enemy and be deceitful.
i. “Such as were the kisses of Joab, Judas, Absalom, and Ahithophel are not to be fancied, but deprecated and detested.” (Trapp)
ii. “Who would not choose this faithful wound, however painful at the moment of infliction, rather than the multiple kisses of an enemy? The kiss of the apostate was a bitter ingredient in the Savior’s cup of suffering.” (Bridges)
Pro_27:7
A satisfied soul loathes the honeycomb,
But to a hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet.
a. A satisfied soul loathes the honeycomb: When our life is satisfied – either materially or physically – then we find it easy to hate and reject things that would otherwise be greatly desired, such as the honeycomb.
i. “Most agree that the proverb is capable of wider application than eating; it could apply to possessions, experiences, education, etc.” (Ross)
ii. Spiritually, this can be understood in a negative sense: “May not satiety be as great a curse as famine? Is it not fearfully written on many a professing Christian, he who is full loathes honey?” (Bridges)
ii. Spiritually, this can be understood in a positive sense: “The best way of combating worldliness is by satisfying the heart with something better. The full soul loatheth even the honeycomb. When the prodigal gets the fatted calf, he has no further hankering after the husks which the swine eat…. Fill your heart with God and His sacred truth, and the things of the world will lose their charm.” (Meyer)
b. To a hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet: When a life is truly hungry, they will eat almost everything and consider it sweet. This is true in the physical world, seen in those deprived of food for long periods. It is also seen in the spiritual world, when those who are awakened as truly hungry souls are ravenous for spiritual food.
i. Charles Spurgeon used this proverb as a basis to speak of the sweetness of Jesus and His work for us: “Sweet is liberty to the captive, and when the Son makes you free, you are free indeed; sweet is pardon to the condemned, and proclaims full forgiveness and salvation; sweet is health to the sick, and Jesus is the great physician of souls; sweet is light to those who are in darkness and to eyes that are dim, and Jesus is both sun to our darkness and eyes to our blindness.”
Pro_27:8
Like a bird that wanders from its nest
Is a man who wanders from his place.
a. Like a bird that wanders from its nest: With just a few words, Solomon painted a heart-touching picture of a bird away from its place of safety and security – the nest where it belongs.
i. This proverb made Charles Spurgeon think about those who seem to wander from church to church. “Too many in our London churches are a sort of flying camp, always flying from one place to another – a set of gipsy-Christians, who have no settled abode, and no local habitation.”
b. Is a man who wanders from his place: We have a place appointed by God, and we can be as out of place as a bird without a nest if we wander from it. We need to take care that we perceive our placenot as the one that culture or community may assign to us, but truly the place God has assigned us.
i. “Those who wander lack the security of their home and can no longer contribute to their community life.” (Ross)
ii. “An honest man’s heart is the place where his calling is: such a one, when he is abroad, is like a fish in the air, whereinto if it leap for recreation or necessity, yet it soon returns to its own element.” (Trapp)
Pro_27:9
Ointment and perfume delight the heart,
And the sweetness of a man’s friend gives delight by hearty counsel.
a. Ointment and perfume delight the heart: Solomon stated a self-evident truth. It is in the nature of an ointment or perfume to delight the heart through its pleasant smell.
b. The sweetness of a man’s friend gives delight by hearty counsel: Strong, hearty counsel from a friend is sweet and can bring
delight – just as it is natural for ointment and perfume to delight the heart. This proverb should make us ask, Is there someone in my life who can give hearty counsel? Can I give hearty counselto someone else?
i. “The gladdening oil and incense is a simile for the agreeable and delightful counsel of a friend that originates in his very being. Both the outward fragrances and the wholesome counsel produce a sense of wellbeing.” (Waltke)
Pro_27:10
Do not forsake your own friend or your father’s friend,
Nor go to your brother’s house in the day of your calamity;
Better is a neighbor nearby than a brother far away.
a. Do not forsake your own friend or your father’s friend: We should hold the bonds of friendship as dear and obligating, even beyond generations. Friends should not be forsaken.
i. “A well and long tried friend is invaluable. Him that has been a friend to thy family never forget, and never neglect.” (Clarke)
ii. “Solomon exemplified his own rule by cultivating friendly links with Hiram, the friend of his father (1Ki_5:1-10). The unprincipled contempt of this rule cost Solomon’s foolish son his kingdom (1Ki_12:6-19).” (Bridges)
iii. “Now, inasmuch as the Lord Jesus is ‘thine own friend, and thy father’s friend,’ the injunction of the text comes to thee with peculiar force: ‘Forsake him not.’ Canst thou forsake him?” (Spurgeon)
b. Nor go to your brother’s house in the day of your calamity: We should not assume that our birth brother is the best one to help in the day of calamity, especially if the brother is far away. Better is a lesser resource that is nearby than a better resource that is far away.
i. “The ‘brother’ in v. 10 is a close relative, one to whom people naturally turn in difficult times. Normally the close family identity of the Israelites would dictate that one go to a relative for help, and this verse is surprising for appearing to go against custom here.” (Garrett)
Pro_27:11
My son, be wise, and make my heart glad,
That I may answer him who reproaches me.
a. My son, be wise, and make my heart glad: Solomon gave a simple encouragement to his son to be wise and therefore bring gladness to his father.
b. That I may answer him who reproaches me: A foolish son is a cause of insult and reproach to the parents. In some way, the son who rejects wisdom makes the parents look bad.
i. “In other words, his son will either publicly disgrace the father or enable him to stand proudly before even his enemies.” (Garrett)
Pro_27:12
A prudent man foresees evil and hides himself;
The simple pass on and are punished.
a. A prudent man foresees evil: Wisdom will lead a man or woman to anticipate danger and to take action, such as to hide from the coming evil.
i. “This was delivered Pro_22:3, and is here repeated to enforce the foregoing exhortation, by representing the great advantage of wisdom.” (Poole)
b. The simple pass on and are punished: Those who are naïve and untrained in wisdom are blind to the potential danger around them. They will eventually bear the bad consequence of their blindness and be punished.
i. “The verse is a motivation for the naive to be trained; for life would be far less painful for them if they knew how to avoid life’s dangers.” (Ross)
ii. Pass on: “The simple rush blindfolded into hell. The ox has to be driven to destruction, but the sinner plunges into it in spite of every effort to restrain him.” (Bridges)
Pro_27:13
Take the garment of him who is surety for a stranger,
And hold it in pledge when he is surety for a seductress.
a. Take the garment of him who is surety for a stranger: If someone is a bad credit risk (foolish enough to be surety for a stranger), then we should hold a deposit as security against anything they owe to us (take the garment).
b. When he is surety for a seductress: The man is as immoral and foolish to be surety for a seductress, then we should especially regard them as a credit risk.
i. “Probably by her enticements and flatteries, she seduced some male to become indebted to her (see Proverbs 5, 7). The proverb instructs the disciple to have nothing to do with these fools.” (Waltke)
Pro_27:14
He who blesses his friend with a loud voice, rising early in the morning,
It will be counted a curse to him.
a. He who blesses his friend with a loud voice: The sense here is of an over-the-top greeting and blessing, meant to flatter and manipulate. It is loud and it starts early in the morning. Something is amiss in such excessive praise.
i. Blesses his friend with a loud voice: “That extols a man above measure, – as the false prophets did Ahab, and the people Herod, – that praiseth him to his face; which, when a court parasite did to Sigismund the emperor, he gave him a sound box on the ear.” (Trapp)
ii. “His unnatural voice and timing betrays him as a hypocrite and no good will come of it.” (Waltke)
iii. “Remember the Italian proverb elsewhere quoted: ‘He who praises you more than he was wont to do, has either deceived you, or is about to do it.’ Extravagant public professions are little to be regarded.” (Clarke)
b. It will be counted a curse to him: Normally a friendly greeting is a blessing. Yet if that blessing is flattery or meant to manipulate it can be counted a curse.
i. “There is nothing more calculated to arouse suspicion than profuse protestations of friendship.” (Morgan)
ii. “When a man exceeds all bounds of truth and decency, affecting pompous words and hyperbolical expressions, we cannot but suspect some sinister motive. Real friendship needs no such assurance.” (Bridges)
Pro_27:15-16
A continual dripping on a very rainy day
And a contentious woman are alike;
Whoever restrains her restrains the wind,
And grasps oil with his right hand.
a. A continual dripping on a very rainy day and a contentious woman are alike: The scene is in a house with a bad roof, where a rainy day means continual dripping. That dripping shows there is a problem, it brings damage, and it greatly annoys. That is the same effect as a contentious woman in the house.
i. “The man takes shelter under the roof of his home expecting to find protection from the storm. Instead, he finds his leaky roof provides him no shelter from the torrential downpour. Likewise, he married with the expectation of finding good, but the wife from whom he expected protection from the rudeness of the world, harshly attacks him at home.” (Waltke)
b. Whoever restrains her restrains the wind: To correct or reform a contentious woman can be a fool’s errand. She can be as difficult to restrain as the wind or as hard to get a hold of as oil in the hand. Instead of trying to change a contentious woman, a wise and godly husband loves her as Jesus Christ loves His church (Eph_5:25-31) and leaves the changing up to God.
i. “The husband would be dealing with a woman who was as unpredictable and uncontrollable as a gust of wind or a hand grasping oil.” (Ross)
ii. John Trapp saw in this a warning to men in how they chose their future spouse: “Let this be marked by those that venture upon shrews, if rich, fair, well descended, in hope to tame them and make them better.”
Pro_27:17
As iron sharpens iron,
So a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.
a. As iron sharpens iron: A piece of iron can sharpen another piece of iron, but it happens through striking, friction, and with sparks. We think of the iron of a blacksmith’s hammer working on a sword to make it sharp.
b. So a man sharpens the countenance of his friend: A man can be used to sharpen (improve and develop) his friend, but it may happen through a bit of friction and sparks. We shouldn’t be afraid of such and expect that true sharpening can happen without the occasional use of friction.
i. “The analogy infers that the friend persists and does not shy away from critical, constructive criticism.” (Waltke)
ii. “Gladly let us take up the bond of brotherhood. If a brother seems to walk alone, sharpen his iron by godly communication. Walk together in mutual concern for each other’s infirmities, trials, and temptations.” (Bridges)
iii. Countenance: “…almost equals ‘personality’ here. Like ‘soul’, it can stand for the man himself.” (Kidner)
Pro_27:18
Whoever keeps the fig tree will eat its fruit;
So he who waits on his master will be honored.
a. Whoever keeps the fig tree will eat its fruit: The worker is worthy of his reward. If a man keeps a fig tree, it is appropriate for him to eat its fruit. It is cruel and unfair to keep the fruit of a man’s labor from him.
i. “He mentions the fig tree, because they abounded in Canaan, and were more valued and regarded than other trees.” (Poole)
ii. “The fig tree needed closer attention than other plants; so the point would include the diligent tending of it.” (Ross)
b. So he who waits on his master will be honored: The appropriate fruit from properly serving one’s master is to be honored. It isn’t right to keep honor from the one who has faithfully waited on his master. God promised to reward those who wait upon Him. Do your work diligently and leave promotion and reward up to God.
i. In a sermon on this proverb Charles Spurgeon mentioned many ways that our Master may choose to honor His servants:

• We are honored in our Master’s honor.
• We are honored with our Master’s approval.
• We are honored by being given more to do.
• We are honored in the eyes of our fellow servants.
• We are honored by the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
  Pro_27:19
  As in water face reflects face,
  So a man’s heart reveals the man.
  a. As in water face reflects face: Smooth and clear water can give a wonderful reflection of a man or woman’s face.
  i. “The Hebrew is very cryptic: literally, ‘As the water the face to the face, so the man’s heart to the man.’” (Kidner)
  b. So a man’s heart reveals the man: The feelings and thoughts that come from our heart reveal us as the reflection in smooth water reveals the face. Who we are will eventually be evident to others as our words and actions reveal our heart.
  Pro_27:20
  Hell and Destruction are never full;
  So the eyes of man are never satisfied.
  a. Hell and Destruction are never full: The grave and the world beyond will receive humanity and never become full. They are used here as figures of something that can never be satisfied.
  i. “The grave devours all the bodies which are put into it, and is always ready to receive and devour more and more without end.” (Poole)
  b. So the eyes of man are never satisfied: Our longing to look upon things we desire will never be satisfied; it must be controlled and brought under God’s dominion. A man will never see enough alluring images of women or enough beautiful machines. The answer is having the need channeled and satisfied in God and what He provides.
  i. The eyes of man: “That is, their lusts, their carnal concupiscence. To seek to satisfy it is an endless piece of business.” (Trapp)
  ii. “The lust of the eye led Eve and Adam to transgress social boundaries in the first place. It is the bane of humanity, and this truism should drive the son to examine his own lusts.” (Waltke)
  iii. “As the grave can never be filled up with bodies, nor perdition with souls; so the restless desire, the lust of power, riches, and splendour, is never satisfied. Out of this ever unsatisfied desire spring all the changing fashions, the varied amusements, and the endless modes of getting money, prevalent in every age, and in every country.” (Clarke)
  Pro_27:21
  The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold,
  And a man is valued by what others say of him.
  a. The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold: There is an appropriate place for silver and gold to be refined. It doesn”t happen just anywhere, but in the refining pot.
  b. A man is valued by what others say of him: We often know a man’s value more by what others say of him than by what he thinks of himself. A man’s self-estimation can be unreliable.
  i. “There are three interpretations of this proverb. First, that you may know what a man is by the way he bears praise. Second, that you may know what a man is by the things he praises. Third, that a man who treats praise as the fining pot treats silver and gold purges it of unworthy substance.” (Morgan)
  ii. “Public praise formed a test for Saul and David (1Sa_18:7), David coming out the better for it.” (Ross)
  iii. “He who is praised is not only much approved, but much proved. The courting of the praise of our fellow creatures has to do with the world within. Praise is a sharper trial of the strength of principle than is reproach.” (Bridges)
  Pro_27:22
  Though you grind a fool in a mortar with a pestle along with crushed grain,
  Yet his foolishness will not depart from him.
  a. Though you grind a fool in a mortar with a pestle: Solomon used a striking and vivid image. Like crushed grain in a mortar and with a pestle, he pictured a fool being ground up.
  b. Yet his foolishness will not depart from him: Despite the rough treatment mentioned in the previous line, foolishness does not depart from the fool. One of the sad marks of the fool is that he will not learn.
  i. “Prisons were made into penitentiaries through the mistaken notion that confinement would bring repentance and effect a cure. Instead, many prisoners become hardened criminals. Divine grace that regenerates the fool is his only hope of being converted into a useful person.” (Waltke)
  Pro_27:23-27
  Be diligent to know the state of your flocks,
  And attend to your herds;
  For riches are not forever,
  Nor does a crown endure to all generations.
  When the hay is removed, and the tender grass shows itself,
  And the herbs of the mountains are gathered in,
  The lambs will provide your clothing,
  And the goats the price of a field;
  You shall have enough goats’ milk for your food,
  For the food of your household,
  And the nourishment of your maidservants.
  a. Be diligent to know the state of your flocks: Solomon wrote this with images from the world of agriculture (flocks…herds…. hay…grass…lambs…goats), but the principle applies in many other areas of life. We should work hard (be diligent) to know the state of whatever God has given us management over. If you don’t know the condition of something, you can’t effectively manage or lead it.
  i. Flocks and herds “are here put for all riches and possessions, because anciently they were the chief part of a man’s riches.” (Poole)
  ii. “This country scene is not designed to make farmers of everybody, but to show the proper interplay of man’s labour and God’s nurture, which a sophisticated society neglects at its peril.” (Kidner)
  iii. Attend to your herds: “Hebrew, Set thy heart to them – that is, be very inquisitive and solicitous of their welfare. Leave not all to servants, though never so faithful; but supervise and oversee business, as Boaz did.” (Trapp)
  b. For riches are not forever: We should give ourselves to diligent leadership and management because the future is uncertain. If we take good care of what God has given us now, it may provide for us in the future (the lambs will provide your clothing and so forth). If we don’t take care of what we have, it won’t be able to provide for us in an uncertain future.
  i. “People should preserve what income they have because it does not long endure…the poem shows the proper interplay between human labor and divine provision.” (Ross)
  ii. Goats the price of a field: “Wherewith thou mayest pay thy rent, and besides hire tillage, or it may be purchase land, and have money in thy purse to do thy needs with.” (Trapp)
  iii. Enough goats’ milk: “The milk is qualified by goat’s, because goat’s milk was by far the animal nutrient of choice in the ancient Near East. It is richer in protein and easier to digest than cow’s milk.” (Waltke)
  iv. “Verse 27 need not be taken to imply that goat’s milk will be the staple of everyone’s diet; after v. 26b the intent is rather that one can sell surplus milk or barter it for other kinds of food…you will have more than enough to meet all of your family’s needs.” (Garrett)

Proverbs 27:1
CONTENTS
The sacred writer in this chapter, is still prosecuting the proverbial method of instruction, and adopting various figures for conveying divine truths.
Pro_27:1 Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.
The man that looks into the situation of men and things respecting human instability, will discover the beauty of this divine precept. Jas_4:13. Christ hath given an important precept on this very ground. Mat_6:34.

Proverbs 27:2-10
Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth; a stranger, and not thine own lips. A stone is heavy, and the sand weighty; but a fool’s wrath is heavier than them both. Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous; but who is able to stand before envy? Open rebuke is better than secret love. Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful. The full soul loatheth an honeycomb; but to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet. As a bird that wandereth from her nest, so is a man that wandereth from his place. Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart: so doth the sweetness of a man’s friend by hearty counsel. Thine own friend, and thy father’s friend, forsake not; neither go into thy brother’s house in the day of thy calamity: for better is a neighbour that is near than a brother far off.
Amidst several beauties in those verses, I beg the Reader not to overlook that one of a man’s own friend, and our Father’s friend, and the neighbour that is near. For what friend like Christ, beloved of the Father? And who so near or dear among the neighbourhoods of life, as Jesus? Boaz said, in reference to this, There is a kinsman nearer than I. Rth_3:12. And so might every son and daughter of Adam say, when referring to the Lord Jesus Christ. For by marrying our nature and taking a portion of that nature into himself; He is bone of our bone, and flesh of our flesh. Eph_5:30.

Proverbs 27:11-27
My son, be wise, and make my heart glad, that I may answer him that reproacheth me. A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself; but the simple pass on, and are punished. Take his garment that is surety for a stranger, and take a pledge of him for a strange woman. He that blesseth his friend with a loud voice, rising early in the morning, it shall be counted a curse to him. A continual dropping in a very rainy day and a contentious woman are alike. Whosoever hideth her hideth the wind, and the ointment of his right hand, which bewrayeth itself. Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend. Whoso keepeth the fig tree shall eat the fruit thereof: so he that waiteth on his master shall be honoured. As in water face answereth to face, so the heart of man to man. Hell and destruction are never full; so the eyes of man are never satisfied. As the fining pot for silver, and the furnace for gold; so is a man to his praise. Though thou shouldest bray a fool in a mortar among wheat with a pestle, yet will not his foolishness depart from him. Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, and look well to thy herds. For riches are not forever: and doth the crown endure to every generation? The hay appeareth, and the tender grass sheweth itself, and herbs of the mountains are gathered. The lambs are for thy clothing, and the goats are the price of the field. And thou shalt have goats’ milk enough for thy food, for the food of thy household, and for the maintenance for thy maidens.
There are many charming things spoken of through these verses, and which, if explained upon gospel principles, have a gracious tendency. But it will be better for the Reader to have them opened to his understanding by the Holy Ghost, whose infallible teaching will secure from the possibility of error. Jesus hath said concerning him, that he shall guide into all truth: and it is he which shall take of the things of Jesus and shew unto his people. Joh_16:13-14.

Proverbs 27:27
REFLECTIONS
WHAT the wise man hath said in the close of this chapter, of the diligence of looking well to the state of the flock, and the care of the herds, may well be construed into the diligence every man ought to have to the care of the soul, and to know the state in which he stands before God. Tell me, (saith the church upon this momentous subject) tell me, 0 thou, whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest, Where thou makest thy flocks to rest at noon. For why should I be as one that turneth aside by the flocks of thy companions? We never can be too solicitous on points of this nature. Where Jesus feeds; what he feeds with; and how we are growing up in the nurture and sustenance of the spiritual life. Reader! is Jesus your Shepherd? Doth he, who sits in the midst of the throne, and feeds the church above, feed you in this wilderness state below? Is he the bread of God and the bread of life to your soul? Are the lambs for thy clothing, and the goats the price of the field. In other words, art thou clothed with the garment of salvation wrought out by the Lamb of God? And dost thou eat of the paschal Lamb, whose flesh is meat indeed, and whose blood is drink indeed? Oh! for grace to feed upon Christ! and to hear him say; Take, eat, this is my body, which is given for you! Eat, 0 friends, drink, yea, drink abundantly, 0 beloved!