A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches. Proverbs 22:1 On good character, or general esteem of mankind Abp. Secker. While our Maker has left us greatly in the dark about unimportant and disputable matters, He has given plain directions concerning the performance of our duty. There is nothing more closely connected with virtue and happiness than reputation. Throughout the Word of God we are excited by examples, as well as by precepts, to aim diligently at obtaining a good report. I. THE WRONGNESS OF HAVING TOO LITTLE CONCERN ABOUT OUR REPUTATION. There are those who affect indifference to what a silly or malicious world may think or say of them. They say that avoiding censure is impossible. It is true that sometimes innocent and prudent persons may fall under very cruel imputations; but they rarely continue under them. Professing to despise the ill opinion of mankind creates a shrewd suspicion that we have deserved it. Innocent persons must distinguish themselves by a constant, though unaffected, attention to their reputation. A good name is what a bad person cannot secure. And therefore you who can should on no account fail of doing it. The judgment of others concerning us deserves respect. Preservation of mutual esteem makes persons amiable to each other. Persons who care not what they are thought are in a very likely way not to care what they do. Contempt of reputation is contrary to our worldly interests. An eminently fair character prepossesses everybody in favour of him who bears it, engages friendly treatment, begets trust and confidence, gives credit and weight. Such persons are always sought after and employed. The feeling of being esteemed is one of the joyfullest feelings in the heart of man. Another consideration is, that though offenders often return completely to their duty, it is but seldom and imperfectly that they ever regain their characters when once forfeited. II. THE WRONGNESS OF SHOWING AN OVER-REGARD TO OUR REPUTATION. Many think a fair appearance is all they want. Many think that if they are guilty of nothing which the world thinks enormous, they are quite as good as they need be. A worse case of immoderate regard to our reputation is when, to raise or preserve it, we transgress our duty. The esteem of the worthless is very ill-purchased at the price of becoming like them. The most fatal consequences daily proceed from persons being led by the folly of others rather than their own good sense and that of their discreeter and more experienced friends. Frequently prejudices of education, worldly interest, vehemence of temper, hurry men into wrong-doing. Often the sole inducement is, that if they should stop short their friends would look coldly upon them, and think meanly of them, and they cannot bear the reproach of not having been true to their side or party. In preferring the good opinion of others to their own conscience, persons who have been guilty of some folly or sin will be guilty of almost anything to cover it rather than expose themselves. Another bad way of aiming at reputation is, when we demolish that of others to raise our own, and build it on the ruins. They who are known to give such treatment generally meet, as they well deserve, with a double share of it. Candour towards all of whom we speak is the true art of obtaining it towards ourselves. Besides those who are led into any of these sins by an undue fondness for reputation, they also are blamable who allow it to give them too much uneasiness. A good name may be the subject of too much anxiety. Undue solicitude for fame is sure to bring us distress. It is injustice to demand of the world more regard than we have a right to. Persons who claim too much are frequently driven to unfair and even criminal methods of getting their claim allowed. There is not upon earth a more ensnaring temptation than that of too fond a self-complacency. ( Abp. Secker. ) The elements of the great and good are not Homiletic Review. 1. Great wealth, nor — 2. Splendid genius, nor — 3. Self-advertisement. I. MODESTY IS AN ELEMENT. II. TENACITY OF PURPOSE. III. MIGHTY RESERVE POWER. IV. MORALITY AND RELIGION. ( Homiletic Review. ) A good name should be guarded Howell's, Familiar Letters, 1634 Be wondrous wary of your first comportments; get a good name, and be very tender of it afterwards, for it is like the Venice-glass, quickly cracked, never to be mended, though patched it may be. To this purpose, take along with you this fable. It happened that Fire, Water, and Fame went to travel together; they consulted, that if they lost one another, how they might be retrieved, and meet again. Fire said, "Where you see smoke there you shall find me." Water said, "Where you see marsh and moorish, low ground there you shall find me." But Fame said, "Take heed how you lose me; for, if you do, you will run a great hazard never to meet me again: there's no retrieving of me." ( Howell's " Familiar Letters, 1634 .") The rich and poor meet together: the Lord is the maker of them all. Proverbs 22:2 The mixture of rich and poor J. Jortin, D.D. I. IN ALL CIVIL SOCIETIES THERE ARE RICH AND THERE ARE POOR PEOPLE. This is the unavoidable consequence of the constitution of things. It will appear so if we examine whence ariseth wealth and whence poverty. Riches arise from three causes. 1. The virtues and abilities of men. 2. From the vices of men. 3. From chance or good-fortune; from events towards which the rich man himself contributes little or nothing.To the same three causes poverty may also be ascribed. Not only nations are necessarily divided into rich and poor, but there must be also a perpetual fluctuation of property, by which the rich becomes poor, and the poor become rich, so that neither state is of a fixed and permanent nature. The poor will always be far more numerous than the rich. Whilst there is human liberty, whilst there are virtues and vices, whilst there are vicissitudes of fortune and revolutions of affairs, there must be in all times and places a mixture of high and low, rich and poor. Providence permits it, and in some sense may be said to appoint it, since it results from the nature and constitution of this world. II. THE MORAL REFLECTION MADE BY SOLOMON UPON THIS INEQUALITY. The Lord is the maker of them all. They have one common parent. In that respect they are equal. If so, there should be no great difference as to real happiness between them. Is there much disparity in point of happiness between the great and the small, the master and the servant, the gentleman and the labourer, the rich and the poor? Superficial observers of human nature and human life will judge without hesitation that the rich have every advantage on their side. But to have honour and authority, unless it be honestly acquired and decently supported, is to be raised to splendid infamy. Power wantonly exercised is the undesirable opportunity of doing mischief. Wealth used for vile purposes, or for no good purposes, can be no real blessing to the master or the hoarder of it. Independency rightly understood is sometimes a blessing, but it is sometimes a calamity. The poor are, or may be, more free from uneasiness than the rich. They have fewer desires, fewer false and artificial wants, more moderate expectations, etc., and these sorts of cares and commotions are no small abatements of human happiness. The poor have usually better health. The extremes either of plenty or of indigence usually occasion various distempers, and shorten the thread of human life. They therefore who are in a middle state between wealth and want should be thankful for their lot, and instead of envying those who ere above them, should consider how many are placed below them. If the whole property and revenue of a country were equally divided amongst the inhabitants, they would be reduced to a state approaching very nearly to poverty. If all the inhabitants of a Christian nation were to live up exactly to the precepts of our Lord and the exhortation of His apostles, excessive wealth and extreme indigence would hardly be found among them. There are three precepts or laws of Christianity which tend directly to remove these extremes; and they are the law of charity, the law of industry, and the law of temperance. ( J. Jortin, D.D. ) The ranks of rich and poor Bp. Butler. The constitution of things being such that the labour of one man, or the labour of several, is sufficient to procure more necessaries than he or they stand in need of, this immediately gave room for riches to arise in the world, and for men's acquiring them by honest means. Thus some would acquire greater plenty of necessaries than they had occasion for; and others, by contrary means, or by cross accidents, would be in want of them. A family with more than was wanted for necessaries would soon develop secondary wants, and inventions for the supply of them, the fruits of leisure and ease, came to employ much of men's time and leisure. Hence a new species of riches came into the world. By and by the superfluities of life took in a vastly larger compass of things than the necessaries of it. Then luxury made its inroad, and all the numerous train of evils its attendants, of which poverty is far from being the worst. If riches had continued to consist only in things necessary or luxurious, this must have embarrassed trade and commerce, and kept riches in the hands of a few. It was agreed to substitute something more lasting and portable, Which should pass everywhere in commerce for real natural riches. Money was to answer for all things. The improvement of trade and commerce has, very happily, enlarged the middle rank of people, who are, in good measure, free from the vices of the highest and the lowest part of mankind. The ranks of rich and poor being thus formed, they meet together — they continue to make up one society. Their mutual want unites them inseparably, but they meet upon a footing of great inequality. The superiority on the one hand, and the independence on the other, are in no sort accidental, but arise necessarily from a settled providential dispensation of things for their common good. This implies duties to each other. The lower rank of mankind go on for the most part in some tract of living, into which they got by direction and example; and to this their understanding and discourse, as well as labour, are greatly confined. Then what influence and power their superiors must have over them! The rich have the power of doing a great deal of good, but this power is given them by way of trust, in order to their keeping down that vice and misery with which the lower people would otherwise be quite overrun. The rich are charged by natural providence, as much as by revealed appointment, with the care of the poor. This is not a burden, but a privilege attached to riches. Observations on public charities: 1. What we have to bestow in charity being a trust, we must satisfy ourselves that we bestow it upon proper objects of charity. 2. Public charities are examples of great influence. 3. All public charities should be regarded as open to counsels of improvement. 4. Our laws and whole constitution, civil and ecclesiastical, go more upon supposition of an equality amongst mankind than the constitution and laws of other countries. 5. Let our charity towards men be exalted into piety towards God, from the serious consideration that we are all His creatures. ( Bp. Butler. ) The rich and poor meet together J. S. Spencer, D.D. In the distinction between the rich and the poor there is something not altogether pleasant to the human mind. We are apt to recoil from it. Frequently the dissatisfaction increases as we can discover no just rule for the unequal distribution of riches. The mind of the author of this proverb was led away from the distinctions between these two classes to notice agreements between these classes. 1. There is a substantial agreement between rich and poor in their origin and their situation as they enter the world. They are equally dependent, equally helpless, equally miserable. 2. In their training and preparation for after-life. 3. A value is set upon riches as a means of enjoyment or usefulness. With the rich and poor alike there is a desire for wealth which arises from the hope of making it useful to one's own. 4. But for cherished erroneous notions, the rich and the poor would act together with more efficiency and more good-will. Public good would be more promoted. 5. Between rich and poor there is a substantial agreement in all the organs of perception and enjoyment. The poor man's organisation throughout is as perfect as the rich man's. 6. In the intellectual faculties there is a strong resemblance. 7. And in the original passions of men. 8. They are alike in their natural and equal dependence upon one another. Neither class can dispense with the other and stand independent and alone. 9. There is a nearly equal distribution of the disappointments, vexations, and distresses of life. 10. There is perfect equality among men in their capabilities for religion. ( J. S. Spencer, D.D. ) The relative duties of the rich and poor F. A. Cox, D.D., LL.D. Nothing is made for itself, or made to terminate in its own being. I. THE FOUNDATION OF THE RELATIVE DUTIES OF THE RICH AND POOR. 1. They have one Creator, who is also the Father of all. 2. They are brought together into the same society or department of being. Society is a Divine constitution, and an important ingredient of happiness. In society mankind exists in different relations to each other. In respect to them the law of dependence, which pervades the whole universe, prevails. II. WHAT ARE THE RELATIVE AND RECIPROCAL DUTIES OF RICH AND POOR? 1. One duty of the rich is benevolent bestowment; to supply the need of the poor, to aid them in their necessities. 2. Another duty is that of employment. 3. The enactment of just laws. 4. The practical recognition of the great fact of an universal religious equality. The poor owe — (1) Gratitude to their benefactors. (2) Contentment with reasonable wages. (3) Regard to the interests of their employers. ( F. A. Cox, D.D., LL.D. ) Points of agreement in the state of the rich and the poor Robert Hall. I. IN THE PARTICIPATION OF A COMMON NATURE. Poor and rich have equally the power of ascertaining general principles; their moral sensibilities are the same; in devotion the two classes meet. They are alike in the primary passions of the human mind. The more we analyse actions, and trace them to their primary elements, the more we shall perceive the identity between the rich and the poor as to their intellectual, moral, accountable, and devotional capacities. II. IN THE PROCESS OF THE SAME SOCIAL ECONOMY. III. IN THE HOUSE OF GOD. In the presence of the great and good Being men should forget all their distinctions, and recollect their essential relation to Him who is equally the Father of all mankind. V. IN THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THEIR ENTRANCE INTO THIS WORLD, AND IN THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THEIR EXIT OUT OF IT. Learn — 1. That those who are rich should recollect that they are rich for the purpose of benefiting their generation. Let such persons consider seriously whether they are living to themselves or to God. 2. Not to repine if we are poor and yet partakers of true piety springing from the faith of the gospel. ( Robert Hall. ) The doctrine of human equality W. Walters. There are great points of resemblance between all men sufficient to constitute a true equality. 1. All possess an intellectual and immortal nature. Mind is a common possession. The immortality of the soul stamps all men with equal honour. 2. The fact of a common possession among all classes of the social and domestic affections establishes the doctrine of human equality. The same heart of love towards friends and kindred beats in the breast of the highest and lowest. 3. The doctrine of human equality is established by the universal distribution of vice and virtue. Everywhere you will find sin. That is a common heritage. So with virtue. You will find grand specimens of piety and goodness in the dwellings of the rich, the middle class, and the poor. 4. The doctrine of human equality is established by our common inheritance of infirmities, suffering, bereavements, sorrow, and death. The same physical weakness enfeebles rich and poor. They are subject to the same diseases. They experience the same mental anguish. Learn —(1) To see the mischief — the sin — of those who endeavour to sever, ill thought and sympathy, man from man. What is specially needed now is sympathy between the various classes of society.(2) That this doctrine of human equality supplies a basis for the adaptation of the gospel to our needs. ( W. Walters. ) Rich and poor T. M. Morris. 1. According to the very constitution of human nature, great social distinctions do and must exist. While we acquiesce in this fact as inevitable, it is important that we take a right view of it. 2. The rich and poor, with many outward differences, meet together in the possession of a common nature, which is greater than all the circumstances of life. 3. The rich and poor meet together in a large intermediate class. The blending of classes is not less remarkable than their separation. 4. The rich and poor meet together in the common enjoyment of all the greater blessings of life. The most valuable blessings of life are those which are scattered broadcast over the world, and which come to all alike, as does the bright shining of the sun. 5. The rich and poor meet together in all the more important and deeper experiences of life. The great events, which stir the deepest feelings of man's heart — birth, marriage, death — occur in every household. 6. The rich and poor meet together in that they are all alike, and without exception, sinners, involved in one common ruin, exposed to one common doom. This is one of the most unpalatable truths of the Bible. 7. The rich and poor meet together in this — they have presented unto them a common salvation. There is only one gospel for rich and poor. Social and national distinctions find no place in the gospel of Christ. If men are to be saved at all they can only be saved in one way, by the exercise of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, the one Saviour. ( T. M. Morris. ) Rich and poor J. H. Burn, B.D. I. VARIOUS WAYS IN WHICH RICH AND POOR CANNOT AVOID MEETING TOGETHER. 1. They belong to the same creation. They meet together, then, as brethren — "all one Man's sons," who will have His children live together in unity. 2. They are placed together by their common Maker in the same world, and in a state of necessary dependence on each other. 3. Although there is a wide separation between rich and poor in point of education, habits, and manners, yet these outward differences are as nothing in comparison with their common nature, to which they bear the same relation as the clothes to the body. View them in regard to their natural appetites, bodily and mental capacities, social and domestic affections; in all these things they meet together as equals, and we plainly see that one "Lord is the Maker of them all." 4. If now, dismissing worldly considerations, we contemplate them as they must appear to their Maker, we shall see the distance between them absolutely vanish, and nothing to prevent their meeting together on a footing of perfect equality. All souls are alike, and religion addresses itself to all alike. 5. Rich and poor, thus meeting together in the enjoyment of the same Christian privileges, should also meet together in the exhibition of a renewed heart and a gracious character, the fruits of a common faith. II. EXHORT BOTH RICH AND POOR TO A VOLUNTARY MEETING OF EACH OTHER; not only as being brought together by the appointment of Providence, but as seeking and making advances towards each other. 1. It is not enough that the rich should not oppress the poor; thanks to the equity of our laws, this is not to any serious extent in their power; nor that they should not despise the poor, which we hope is not in their inclination; but the rich must protect and assist and honour and sympathise with their poorer brethren. 2. But if it be the duty of the rich thus to meet the poor, it is no less incumbent on the poor to make advances towards the rich, and "meet them half-way." ( J. H. Burn, B.D. ) Social relations G. D. Hill, M.A. Rich and poor meet together in their relation and dependence on each other, as members of society and common heirs of Christ's salvation. They meet together in their duties. They meet together in their joint properties. They meet together in their dearest interests, both of this life and of that which is to come. The rich man may be reminded that the city cannot be inhabited without the artisans and smiths and labours. The poor man should be told that the capacity of his superiors is of another order from his own, and that the duty of different stations is different; each has his own opportunities, and his own responsibilities. Rich men are necessary to the well-being of the poor, and the poor are essential to the existence of wealth. The necessities of all ranks connect all. The wants of the rich convey comforts to the poor; the wants of the poor minister to the abundance of the rich. Such are the gracious dispensations of a kind Providence. Let us all be thankful for what we have, and not repine that we have no more. ( G. D. Hill, M.A. ) The poor and the rich R. S. Storrs, D.D. All through the Scriptures the point of view is God's, not man's. To understand any part of the Bible we must look at it from the Divine standpoint. This applies to the text. In that day the contrast between rich and poor was far greater than now. If man had spoken he would have said, "The rich and poor are divided; their interests are at war, and cannot be made to harmonise." The rich have manifest advantages. 1. They have opportunities for improvement which the poor have not. 2. They have means of influence which the poor have not. In other respects observe the essential sameness of these two classes. (1) The faculties of the mind in both rich and poor are essentially the same. (2) The same moral natures are in both. (3) They are alike responsible. (4) In the eye of God they meet together in their destiny. (5) They meet together in their sinfulness. (6) They are the same in their relation to the plan of salvation.Both are one at the centre. God equalises. The differences are slight. The differences are reciprocal and transient, while the points of agreement are permanent. Those who set the one class against the other are moving backward toward the feudal ages, whether they know it or not — a time when the poor was servant to the rich. The glory of our age is that the differences between the classes are being obliterated. They are meeting together. Our souls are being lifted to a comprehension of this exalted ideal of the Scriptures. ( R. S. Storrs, D.D. ) The equality of men H. Grove. I. CLEARLY STATE THE SUBJECT. II. SHOW THAT IT IS THE WILL OF GOD THAT THERE SHOULD BE DISTINCTIONS OF RICH AND POOR IN THE WORLD. 1. Evident from Scriptures. 2. It is not inconsistent with God's justice, and is an argument for His wisdom. III. APPLICATIONS. 1. The rich should always acknowlege God in all their enjoyments. 2. The poor should be contented. 3. Apart from riches and poverty, all men are equal — they have the same nature, the same care of Providence, the same Christian privileges, and the same judgment. ( H. Grove. ) Ultimate Divine impartiality R. Wardlaw, D.D. The idea of ultimate impartiality is what is chiefly suggested by the latter part of this verse, "the Lord is the Maker of them all." He is so by creation. They alike owe to Him their being, and owe to Him every moment the maintenance of that being — the rich man and the honourable, as well as the poorest and meanest on earth. Where is the monarch on the throne that, more than the lowest of his subjects, can draw a breath independently of God? He is so by providential allotment. The same Lord makes them what they are, and could at His pleasure reverse their conditions, making the rich the poor and the poor the rich. The Lord being the Maker of them all implies also the equal distance of them all, as alike His creatures, from their common Creator and Governor. The distance is the same. In both it is infinite. When God is the object of common comparison, the distance between the highest and the lowest of mankind measures not a hair's breadth; it is annihilated. All the distinctions of which men make so much sink into nothing before His infinite majesty. ( R. Wardlaw, D.D. ) The true corrective of social inequalities J. A. Alexander, D.D. The text does not mean that both rich and poor are mingled in society, that they oppose or encounter one another, but rather that they are alike, that with all their differences there is still something common to both. What is this common ground, the point of contact and agreement? Not an absolute identity or sameness of condition, but participation in a certain good common to both, and independent of external qualities. The true corrective of all social inequalities, so far as they are evil, must be furnished, not by human institutions and arrangements, but derived from a higher and independent source. Consider how and why the religion of the Bible is adapted to exert this influence. Men's schemes for the practical solution of this great problem are three. 1. The idea of obliterating social inequalities by a coercive distribution of all property. This method is condemned by its violent injustice, by the meanness of its aims, by the hypocrisy of its professions. 2. The idea of securing an equality of civil rights in spite of personal and social disadvantages. As a positive means of correcting the effects of providential inequalities, this is as worthless as the other. 3. The idea of remedying the evil by means of intellectual increase and knowledge and refinement of taste. The objection to this remedy is that when applied alone its influence is not necessarily or wholly good.(1) Christianity distinctly recognises the existence and necessity of some providential inequalities in the external situation of mankind.(2) Its remedy is the direct mitigation of the evils of society by the change wrought in the tempers and affections of the parties. And true religion attaches to the various degrees of wealth, refinement, knowledge, influence, and leisure their corresponding measures of responsibility. It makes each party, to some extent, content with his actual condition, aware of its peculiar obligations, and spontaneously disposed to discharge them.(3) By a process of moral elevation men are first taught to surmount their disadvantages, and then by one of intellectual elevation the classes are brought nearer together. Impress the necessity for popular religious education, not only as the means of personal improvement and salvation, but also as the grand corrective and perhaps the sovereign cure of the disorders which now prey upon society, and "eat as doth a canker." Religious education has a social and secular as well as an exclusively religious use. The true Secret of the "healing of the nations." ( J. A. Alexander, D.D. ) Relations of rich and poor Canon Harvey, M.A. The man in want murmurs that God has given him so little; the man in affluence forgets that God has given him so much. A want of sympathy arises between the different classes; they meet in jealousy, not in love. Differences ought to be viewed, not as specially hurtful to any, but as generally good for all. One man is not nearer God or farther from God than another. God is not only the maker of all men as men, He is the maker of all as rich and poor. He fixes their civil conditions. The unequal state is the appointment of His providence. Men meet together by nature as equal; in the eye of the world as unequal; in both cases for good. None is in prosperity or adversity without affecting others. What, then, are the duties which each owes the other, and which both owe to God? ( Canon Harvey, M.A. ) Seeing men as God sees them R. F. Horton, D.D. How the scales seems to fall away from one's eyes directly we are enabled to see things as God sees them! The sacred worth of humanity shines far brighter than any of its tinsel happiness. We learn to estimate ourselves aright, undisturbed, and unabashed by the false estimates which are current in the world. Our true distinction is that we are men, that we belong to a race which was made in the image of God, was dear to His heart, and is redeemed by His love. The equality we claim for men is not a levelling down — it is quite the reverse; it is raising them up to the higher level, which they have deserted and forgotten. It is giving men self-respect instead of self-esteem. ( R. F. Horton, D.D. ) The common humanity Chas. S. Robinson, D.D. I. RICH AND POOR MEET TOGETHER IN THEIR ORDINARY ALLOTMENTS OF LIFE. II. IN THE ORDINARY CHARACTERISTICS OF THEIR NATURE. 1. The body has the same number of bones and muscles, nerves and sinews, in any of which disease may fasten and pain may enter. 2. Nor is our exposure any the less in our minds. 3. Our sensibilities are the same. III. IN THEIR DESTINIES IN THE COMMON HEREAFTER. 1. We all meet at the grave. 2. We all meet at the judgment. 3. We all meet in eternity. IV. IN THEIR RIGHTS UNDER THE GOSPEL. 1. There is the same need in the fallen nature. 2. The same supply furnished in the inexhaustible mercy of a crucified Redeemer. 3. The same clear condition annexed to the call. 4. The same unalterable pledge annexed to the promise. 5. The same fulness of fruition held out in answer to every hope at the last.There is no property qualification whatsoever for citizenship in the kingdom of God. ( Chas. S. Robinson, D.D. ) The ordination of wealth and poverty God makes some rich that they may be charitable to the poor; and others poor that they may be serviceable to the rich; and they have need of one another. He makes some poor to exercise their patience, and contentment, and dependence on God; and others rich to exercise their thankfulness and benevolence. All stand upon the same level before God. ( Matthew Henry . ) Diverse social conditions A. Macdonald. No dispensation of Providence appears, at first sight, more advantageous to mankind than the diversity of conditions. The prince has need of his people, and the people have need of their prince; the politician has need of the soldiers, and the soldiers have need of the politician. This consciousness of the need which we have of our fellow-creatures is the strong tie which binds us to them. Yet, by the depravity of the human race, this useful order has been miserably abused. On one side the great have been dazzled by their own splendour, and hence have become haughty, disdainful, and oppressive. On the other, the low, forgetting the dignity which naturally cleaves to a reasonable soul, have become fawning and mean; have bowed down to imaginary divinities and crouched before phantoms of grandeur. Both parties have acquired their erroneous ideas from neglecting to consider themselves in a proper point of view. The nature of man consists of a spirit united to a body; and this description applies to the whole race. The soul of the poor man, as well as that of the rich, has the power of considering principles, of drawing consequences, of discerning truth from falsehood, of choosing good or evil, of seeking for the most glorious and useful attainments. His body, too, bears the same characters of skill and exquisite contrivance: it is harmonious in its parts, just in its motions, and proportioned in its powers. As their powers are the same, so too are their weaknesses. The soul of the rich, like that of the poor, is subject to the influence of the passions. Nor do their privileges differ more; for though a poor man cannot exercise the authority of the great, nor obtain the reputation of immortal heroes, yet he may aspire to honours infinitely greater. He has a right of raising himself to God by the ardour of his prayers; and he can assure himself, without danger or delusion, that the great God will regard and answer his prayers. Nothing shows so much the meanness of the great as the value which they set on exterior advantages, for thus they renounce their true and proper grandeur. The glory of man consists not in that he is rich, noble, a lord, or a king, but in that he is a man, a being formed after the image of God, and capable of the sublimest attainments. What are the views of God with regard to men? What end does He propose in placing us on this planet, thirty

Benson Commentary Proverbs 22:1 A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favour rather than silver and gold. Proverbs 22:1 . A good name — A good reputation among wise and good men; is rather to be chosen than great riches — That is, we should be more careful to pursue that course of life, and do those things, by which we may obtain and retain a good name, than that way and those things by which we may raise and increase a great estate. For great riches bring great cares with them, and expose men to danger, but add no real value to a man. A fool and a knave may have great riches, but a good name, which supposes a man to be wise and honest, redounds to the glory of God, and gives a man a greater opportunity of doing good. By great riches we may relieve men’s bodily wants; but, by a good name, we may recommend religion to them; and loving favour — Hebrew ?? ???? , good grace, or favour; that is, an interest in the esteem and affections of all about us, or hearty love and kindness from them; rather than silver and gold — Is a blessing much more to be prized than the possession of abundance of gold and silver. Proverbs 22:2 The rich and poor meet together: the LORD is the maker of them all. Proverbs 22:2 . The rich and the poor meet together — “The world doth not consist all of rich, nor all of poor; but they are mixed together, and have need one of another; and will agree well, and not clash one against another, if they both consider that there is one Lord, who is the Creator of both; and hath, by his providence, ordered their inequality for their mutual good.” Proverbs 22:3 A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished. Proverbs 22:3 . A prudent man foreseeth the evil, &c. — “He whose long experience and observation of things hath made him cautious and circumspect, foresees a calamity before it come, and withdraws himself from the danger into a place of safety; but an incautious and credulous person never foresees any danger, but goes on securely in his accustomed track, till it overtake him.” Thus Bishop Patrick. But in foreseeing temporal calamities, and discerning the methods by which we may escape them, as Mr. Scott justly observes, we can seldom proceed beyond probability, in either respect; but, in the concerns of the soul, faith foresees the evil coming upon sinners in the eternal state, and discerns Jesus Christ, as the refuge from this impending storm, and the penitent and believing soul flees to him, hides himself in him, and is safe, as Noah in the ark. But the careless and unbelieving go on, without concern, till they lift up their eyes in hell, being in torments. Proverbs 22:4 By humility and the fear of the LORD are riches, and honour, and life. Proverbs 22:4 . By humility — Hebrew, ??? ???? , because of humility; or, as some render the expression, the reward of humility, that reward which God has graciously promised, and will confer on humility, which is a grace of great price in his eyes, Isaiah 57:15 ; James 4:6 ; and the fear of the Lord — By which he distinguishes true and Christian humility from counterfeit and merely moral humility: for the former arises from a deep sense of God’s greatness, purity, and perfection, compared with our meanness, impurity, and manifold imperfections, whereas this latter is quite of another nature, and proceeds from other sources; are riches, and honour, and life — The comforts of this life, and the happiness of the next, both which are promised to godliness: see on Proverbs 15:33 . Proverbs 22:5 Thorns and snares are in the way of the froward: he that doth keep his soul shall be far from them. Proverbs 22:5 . Thorns and snares are in the way of the froward — The wicked, by their evil practices, expose themselves to many dangers, and occasions both of sin and mischief: he that keeps his soul — That takes heed to himself, and to his actions, and to the saving of his soul; shall be far from them — Will avoid the society of such froward persons; or rather, by that circumspection shall preserve himself from those thorns and snares to which the froward are exposed. Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6 . Train up — Hebrew, ???? , initiate, or instruct; a child in the way he should go — Or, according to his way, that is, in that course or manner of life which thou wouldest have him to choose and follow. Or, as some render the clause, in the beginning of his way, that is, in his tender years, as soon as he is capable of receiving instruction, the Hebrew ?? ?? ???? , signifying, literally, in the mouth of his way, and the mouth being often put for the beginning or entrance of a place or thing. And when he is old, he will not depart from it — Namely, not easily and ordinarily. The impressions made in his childish years will remain, unless some extraordinary cause occur to erase them. “Instruct a child,” says Bishop Patrick, “as soon as ever he is capable, and season his mind with the principles of virtue before he receive other impressions, and it is most likely they will grow up with him; so that when he is older he will not forsake them, but retain them as long as he lives.” Proverbs 22:7 The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender. Proverbs 22:8 He that soweth iniquity shall reap vanity: and the rod of his anger shall fail. Proverbs 22:8 . He that soweth iniquity — Or, unrighteousness; he, whose common practice it is to wrong or oppress others; shall reap vanity — Or trouble, or misery, as the word ??? commonly signifies, and as many here render it. The mischief which he hath done to others shall be returned to himself by God’s righteous sentence; and the rod of his anger shall fail — That power which he used with fury and cruelty shall be taken from him. Proverbs 22:9 He that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed; for he giveth of his bread to the poor. Proverbs 22:9 . He that hath a bountiful eye — Hebrew, a good eye. He who looks upon the wants and miseries of others with compassion and kindness: as an evil eye is put for one that beholds others with envy and unmercifulness; shall be blessed — Both by God and men. Proverbs 22:10 Cast out the scorner, and contention shall go out; yea, strife and reproach shall cease. Proverbs 22:10 . Cast out the scorner — Avoid all society and conversation with him who neither fears God nor reverences man, but scorns all admonitions, and minds only the pleasing of himself, and the gratifying of his own lusts, which is the chief cause of most contentions; and strife and reproach shall cease — The strife and reproach wherewith he is wont to load those that either oppose or admonish him. Proverbs 22:11 He that loveth pureness of heart, for the grace of his lips the king shall be his friend. Proverbs 22:11 . He that loveth pureness of heart — Who is plain-hearted or sincere, and abhors dissimulation; whose heart is so free from guile that he places his pleasure in the integrity of his mind, and the purity of his conscience; for the grace of his lips — For those gracious speeches which naturally and commonly flow from a pure heart, or whose discourse is gracious and sincere; the king shall be his friend — The greatest men will, or should, desire, and highly prize the acquaintance and advice of such persons, rather than of dissemblers and flatterers, with whom they are too generally surrounded. Proverbs 22:12 The eyes of the LORD preserve knowledge, and he overthroweth the words of the transgressor. Proverbs 22:12 . The eyes of the Lord preserve knowledge — God, by the watchful eye of his providence, maintains and defends men of knowledge, or wise and good men, such as the last verse spoke of, whose hearts are pure, and speeches gracious. Not only shall the king be their friend, as he said there, but God also, which he adds here. And he overthroweth the words of the transgressor — Their false and flattering speeches, whereby they designed and expected to gain the favour and friendship of great men, which are opposed to the sincere and gracious speeches of good men, implied in the first clause of this verse, and expressed in the foregoing verse. Proverbs 22:13 The slothful man saith, There is a lion without, I shall be slain in the streets. Proverbs 22:13 . The slothful man saith — Alleges as his excuse to them who upbraid him with idleness, or persuade him to diligence; There is a lion without — There are extreme dangers and invincible difficulties in my way; I shall be slain — By that lion, or some other way; in the streets — This is added to show the ridiculousness of his excuse; for lions abide in the woods, or fields, not in the streets of towns or cities. Proverbs 22:14 The mouth of strange women is a deep pit: he that is abhorred of the LORD shall fall therein. Proverbs 22:14 . The mouth of strange women — Their fair and flattering speeches, wherewith they entice men into sin, as is observed Proverbs 7:21 , into which it is easy to fall, but out of which it is hard, if not impossible, to be rescued. For it is a rare thing for any person, who has once entered into a course of lewdness: to recover himself from it, Proverbs 2:19 . He that is abhorred of the Lord — Namely, in a high and singular manner; who by his former impieties, and contempt of God and his grace, hath provoked God to leave him to his own heart’s lusts, and to punish one sin with another; shall fall therein — And, without a miracle of grace, shall perish everlastingly. Proverbs 22:15 Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him. Proverbs 22:15 . Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child — Is fixed and settled there, as being born with him, and rooted in his very nature; but the rod, &c., shall drive it far from him — The smart of punishment will make him weary of his sin, and watchful against it. “Ignorance, weakness, inclination to evil, corruption of heart,” says Calmet, “are maladies which accompany all men from their birth; education, instruction, correction,” to which we must add divine grace, earnestly asked of God, and received, “cure them, or diminish, very much, their ill effects.” Proverbs 22:16 He that oppresseth the poor to increase his riches, and he that giveth to the rich, shall surely come to want. Proverbs 22:16 . He that oppresseth the poor — That extorts what is not due to him from his poor tenants and neighbours, invades their rights, and takes advantage of their ignorance, or want of experience, or necessity, to increase his riches; and he that giveth to the rich — That vainly and prodigally casts away his estate on those who do not need it, or gives it to them with an evil design, as that they may assist him in oppressing the poor, or, at least, not hinder him in it; shall surely come to want — Of the necessaries of life. God will punish him with poverty for his double and heinous sin. This exposition is given on the ground of our translation. But the vulgar Latin, which Luther and some others follow, evidently gives a more exact and literal interpretation of the Hebrew text, thus: He that oppresseth the poor that he may increase his riches, gives to the rich only for poverty, or, to empoverish himself. According to this; says Bishop Patrick, the paraphrase should be, “Such is the just providence of Almighty God, that he who, to enlarge his own estate or power, oppresses the poor by violence or deceit, shall meet with the like extortion from others more powerful than himself; and thereby be reduced to as poor a condition as those whom he oppressed.” Proverbs 22:17 Bow down thine ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply thine heart unto my knowledge. Proverbs 22:17-18 . Bow down thine ear, &c. — From the beginning of the tenth chapter to this place, the instructions of wisdom are delivered in short sentences, and proverbs properly so called; which have seldom any connection one with another, or such as is not easily discerned: but here another form of speech begins and continues unto chap. 25.; and therefore it may not unfitly be called, The Second Part of the Book of Proverbs. In this part we have various exhortations and precepts, which are all delivered in the imperative mood, and comprehended each in two, three, or more verses connected together. In which alteration, it is probable, Solomon consulted the weakness of his reader, who, if he were weary of the preceding sententious way of instruction, might be relieved, refreshed, and awakened unto new attention by varying the form of writing. — Bishop Patrick. Hear the words of the wise — Of wise and holy men of God. And apply thy heart unto my knowledge — The knowledge of God, and of thy several duties which I am here delivering to thee. Thirst after it, and give thyself up to the diligent study of it. For it is a pleasant thing if thou keep them — Namely, the words of the wise; within thee — Hebrew, in thy belly, that is, in thy heart; if thou receive them in love, and retain them in thy memory, so as to have them ready for use upon all occasions. They shall be fitted in thy lips — Fitly expressed; or, shall be disposed, or ordered, as ???? signifies. The sense seems to be, When thou hast got them into thy heart, thou wilt be able and ready to discourse pertinently and profitably of them. Proverbs 22:18 For it is a pleasant thing if thou keep them within thee; they shall withal be fitted in thy lips. Proverbs 22:19 That thy trust may be in the LORD, I have made known to thee this day, even to thee. Proverbs 22:19-21 . That thy trust may be in the Lord — That, knowing God, and his word and promises, thou mayest cheerfully and confidently trust in him, which is the only way to thy safety and happiness. I have made known to thee this day — More fully than ever before; in this day of light and knowledge; in this thy day, the day of thy merciful visitation; excellent things — ???????? , princely things, or leading things, “words fit for a prince to speak,” says Bishop Patrick, “and the best men of the world to hear, and therefore truly excellent.” Many of the ancient versions, however, read three-fold things, in which they are followed by Schultens and Grotius: the Jews distinguishing philosophy into three branches, morality, physics, and divinity; and Solomon having written in all those branches, as appears from 1 Kings 4., although most of his writings are lost. But, as the Hebrew word above quoted always signifies great captains, generals, nobles, or the best sort of musical instruments, “I look upon this,” namely, that first given, says the bishop, “the most proper interpretation of it.” In counsels and knowledge — Counsels to direct thy practice, and knowledge to inform thy mind. That I may make thee know the certainty, &c. — That I may teach thee, not false, or vain, or uncertain things, like the teachers of the heathen nations; but the true and infallible oracles of God; that thou mightest answer the words of truth — That, being instructed by me, thou mayest be able to give true, solid, and satisfactory answers; to them that send unto thee — Namely, for thy advice in great and difficult matters. Or, to those that send thee, that is, that employ thee in any business of moment, whereof they expect an account from thee. Proverbs 22:20 Have not I written to thee excellent things in counsels and knowledge, Proverbs 22:21 That I might make thee know the certainty of the words of truth; that thou mightest answer the words of truth to them that send unto thee? Proverbs 22:22 Rob not the poor, because he is poor: neither oppress the afflicted in the gate: Proverbs 22:22-23 . Rob not the poor, &c. — Thus, after the preceding solemn preface, among the principal rules of life which he was about to lay down, he first commends this, not to be injurious to poor people; especially by oppressing them in a form of justice: as if he had said, Never abuse thy power to the spoiling of him who is in a mean condition; because he is poor — And unable to resist thee, or to revenge himself upon thee. Do not take advantage of his poverty. Or, this clause may be considered as an argument against robbing him; as if he had said, Because he is a fitter object for thy pity and charity, than for thy injustice and cruelty; it is base and inhuman to crush such a person. Neither oppress the afflicted in the gate — In the place of judgment, or under pretence of justice; and much less in other ways, where there is no colour of justice. For the Lord will plead their cause — Which he hath in a peculiar manner undertaken to do; and will spoil the soul of those that spoiled them — Will take away not only their goods, but their lives too. So fully will he recompense their wickedness to them. Proverbs 22:23 For the LORD will plead their cause, and spoil the soul of those that spoiled them. Proverbs 22:24 Make no friendship with an angry man; and with a furious man thou shalt not go: Proverbs 22:24-25 . Make no friendship with an angry man — “As there is nothing more necessary than a friend, so a principal point of wisdom consists in the choice of him; concerning which, observe this rule among others, not to enter into any familiarity with a man prone to anger;” and with a furious man thou shalt not go — Shalt not associate, or be intimate; lest thou learn his ways — Lest thou be infected by his example, or provoked by his wrath to return the like to him; and get a snare to thy soul — Some mischief, which is often the effect of unbridled rage; or an occasion of, or temptation to sin, being led either to imitate him, or to neglect performing that great and important duty of a friend, the giving faithful and seasonable admonition and reproof, which thou mayest be induced to omit because of his furious temper. Proverbs 22:25 Lest thou learn his ways, and get a snare to thy soul. Proverbs 22:26 Be not thou one of them that strike hands, or of them that are sureties for debts. Proverbs 22:26-27 . Be not of them that are sureties for debts — Namely, rashly or unnecessarily. Why should he take away thy bed, &c. — Why wilt thou put thyself into the hands of such a man, who will exact the debt from thee without compassion? For though God did not allow the practice of taking and keeping a poor person’s bed, or necessary clothing, (see Exodus 22:26-27 ,) yet covetous creditors would frequently do it. Proverbs 22:27 If thou hast nothing to pay, why should he take away thy bed from under thee? Proverbs 22:28 Remove not the ancient landmark, which thy fathers have set. Proverbs 22:28 . Remove not the ancient landmark — Whereby the lands of several possessors were distinguished and divided. Do not enrich thyself with the injury of other men: do not invade the rights of others. Proverbs 22:29 Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men . Proverbs 22:29 . Seest thou a man diligent in his business — Hebrew, ???? , expeditious, as the word properly signifies; one of quick despatch, vigorous and speedy in executing what hath been well and wisely contrived. He shall not stand before mean men — He is fit to be employed in the affairs of the greatest princes. Benson Commentary on the Old and New Testaments Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.

Expositor's Bible Commentary Proverbs 22:1 A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favour rather than silver and gold. CHANNEL 23 THE TREATMENT OF THE POOR "The rich and the needy meet together; The Lord is the maker of them all."- Proverbs 22:2 "He that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed, for he giveth of his bread to the poor."- Proverbs 22:9 "He that oppresseth the poor, it is for his increase; he that giveth to the rich it is for want."- Proverbs 22:16 "Rob not the poor because he is poor, neither oppress the humble in the gate; for the Lord will plead their cause and despoil of life those that despoil them."- Proverbs 22:22-23 IF we would understand and lay to heart the very striking lessons of this book on the treatment of the poor, it will he well for us to observe that there are four words in the Hebrew original which are rendered by our English words "poor" or "needy." These words we will try to discriminate and to use with more exactness in the present lecture, that we may not miss any of the teaching by the blur and obscurity of careless language. First, there is a word ( ld; ) for which we will reserve our English word "poor"; it signifies a person who is weak and uninfluential, but not necessarily destitute or even in want. The "poor" are those who form the vast majority of every society, and are sometimes described by the word "masses." Secondly, there is a word ( Vl; ) which may be rendered "needy." It covers those who are in actual want, people who through bereavement, or infirmity, or unavoidable calamity are unable to secure a sufficiency of the necessaries of life. Thirdly, there is a word which we may perhaps render by "humble," for though it more literally describes the afflicted and sad, it contains within it a hint of moral commendation which suggests a transition from the idea of simple weakness and helplessness to that of patient and humble dependence on God. Lastly, there is a word which we will render "destitute." If we keep these notions-"poor," "needy," "humble," "destitute"-distinct, and yet combined, to form one conception, we shall find that the proverbs before us refer to that large section of mankind who are in a worldly and material sense considered the least fortunate; those to whom it is a lifelong effort merely to live; those who have no margin of security on which to fall hack in case of disaster or sickness; those who are engaged in precarious employments or in casual labor; those who may keep their heads above water by diligence and unremitting exertions, but may at any time go under; those who owing to this constant pressure of the elementary needs have but little leisure to cultivate their faculties, and little opportunity to maintain their rights. We are to think of the large class of persons who in more primitive times are slaves, who in feudal times are serfs, who in modern times are called the proletariat; those in whose interest the laws of society have not hitherto been framed, because they have not until quite recently been admitted to any substantial share in the work of legislation; those who have always found it peculiarly difficult to secure justice, because justice is a costly commodity, and they have no means to spare since "the destruction of the poor is precisely their poverty." { Proverbs 10:15 } We are not to think of the idle and the vicious, who are so often classed with the poor, because they, like the poor, are without means, -we must rigorously exclude these, for they are not in the mind of the writer when he gives us these golden precepts. We must remember that it is part of our peculiar English system, the result of our boasted Poor Law, to discredit the very word poverty, by refusing to discriminate between the poor in the scriptural sense, who are honorable and even noble, and the pauper in the modern sense, who is almost always the scum of a corrupt social order, in four cases out of five a drunkard, and in the fifth case the product of someone else’s moral failings. It requires quite an effort for us to see and realize what the Scriptures mean by the poor. We have to slip away from all the wretched associations of the Poor House, the Poor Law, and the Guardians. We have to bring before our minds a class which in a wholesome state of society would be a small, numerable minority, but in our own unwholesome state of society are a large and well-nigh innumerable majority, -not only the destitute and the actually needy, but all the people who have no land on which to live, no house which they can call their own, no reserve fund, no possibility of a reserve fund, against the unavoidable calamities and chances of life, the people who are trodden down-who tread each other down-in the race of competition; all those, too, who, according to the godless dogma of the day, must go to the wall because they are weak, and must give up the idea of surviving because only the fittest must expect to survive. There rise up before our imagination the toiling millions of Europe-of England-worn, pale, despondent, apathetic, and resigned or bitter, desperate, and resentful; not destitute, though they include the destitute; not needy, though they include the needy; but poor, without strength except in combination, and often when combined without light or leading. I. Now the first thing we have to observe is that the poor, in the sense we have tried to define, are a special concern to the Lord. "Rob not the poor," says the text, "because he is poor, neither oppress the humble in the gate, for the Lord will plead their cause, and despoil of life those that despoil them." "Remove not the ancient landmark, and enter not into the fields of the fatherless; for their Redeemer is strong, He shall plead their cause against thee." { Proverbs 23:10-11 } "The Lord will establish the border of the widow." { Proverbs 15:25 } So intimate is the connection between the Lord and His poor creatures that "he that oppresseth the poor reproacheth his Maker, but he that hath mercy on the destitute honoreth." { Proverbs 14:31 } "Whoso mocketh the needy reproacheth his Maker, and he that is glad at calamity shall not be unpunished." { Proverbs 17:5 } On the other hand, "He that hath pity on the poor lendeth unto the Lord, and his good deed will He pay him again." { Proverbs 19:17 } Not, of course, that there is any favouritism with God, not that He has an interest in a man because of his means or lack of means; but just because of His large and comprehensive impartiality. "The needy man and the oppressor meet together; the Lord lighteneth the eyes of them both." { Proverbs 19:13 } "The rich and the needy meet together, the Lord is the Maker of them all." { Proverbs 22:2 } His special interest in the poor arises only from their special need, from the mute cry which goes up to Him, from the appeal to Him as their only friend, deliverer, and protector: just as His lesser interest in the rich arises from their self-satisfied independence of Him, from their infatuated trust in themselves, and from their conviction that already all things belong to them. We should make a mistake if we supposed that the Lord recognizes any class distinctions, or that He valued a man because he is poor, just as we value a man because he is rich. The truth rather is that He absolutely ignores the class distinctions, regarding the mingled mass of human beings, rich and poor, oppressor and oppressed, as on a plane of dead equality, and then distinguishing between them on a totally different principle, -on a moral, a spiritual principle; and, if there is any preference, it is on the ground of certain valuable moral effects which poverty sometimes produces that He takes the poor into his peculiar and tender care, honoring them with so close a friendship that service to them becomes service to Him. This is certainly good news to the masses. "You are undistinguished, and unobserved,"-the voice of wisdom seems to say, -"In this world, with its false distinctions and perverted ideals, you feel at a constant disadvantage. You dare hardly claim the rights of your manhood and your womanhood. This great personage, possessing half a city, drawing as much unearned money every day as you can earn ‘by unremitting toil in fifteen or twenty years, seems to overshadow and to dwarf you. And there are these multitudes of easy, comfortable, resplendent persons who live in large mansions and dress in costly garments, while you and your family live in a couple of precarious rooms at a weekly rental, and find it all you can do to get clean and decent clothes for your backs. These moneyed people are held in much estimation; you, so far as you know, are held in none. Their doings-births, marriages, deaths-create quite stir in the world; you slip into the world, through it, and out of it, without attracting any attention. But be assured things wear a different appearance from the standpoint of God. Realize how you and your fellow-men appear to Him, and you at once recover self-respect, and hold up your head in His presence as a man. That simple truth which the Ayrshire peasant sang you may take as God’s truth, as His revelation; it is the way in which He habitually thinks of you." How the scales seem to fall away from one’s eyes directly we are enabled to see men and things as God sees them! The sacred worth of humanity shines far brighter than any of its tinsel trappings. We learn to estimate ourselves aright, undisturbed and unabashed by the false estimates which are current in the world. Our true distinction is that we are men, that we belong to a race which was made in the image of God, was dear to His heart, and is redeemed by His love. The equality we claim for men is not a leveling down-it is quite the reverse; it is raising them up to the higher level which they have deserted and forgotten; it is teaching then to live as men, distinguished not by their accidental circumstances or possessions, but by their manhood itself. It is giving men self-respect instead of self-esteem, teaching them not to vaunt themselves as one against another, but to claim their high and honorable title, one and all, as the sons of God. II. But now it follows that, if the Lord Himself espouses the cause of the poor, and even identifies Himself with them, ill-treatment of them, injustice to them, or even a willful neglect of them and disregard of their interests, must be a sin and a very terrible sin. "He that despiseth his neighbor sinneth; but he that hath pity on the humble, happy is he." { Proverbs 14:21 } In the East to this day the proverb, "He that withholdeth corn, the people shall curse him; but blessing shall be upon the head of him that selleth it," has its full significance. But even in the West, where the name of Christ is borne by the nations, it is a common thing for one or two greedy and selfish capitalists to form a "corner"-as the commercial slang of the day denominates it-in some article of industry, i.e. , to secure all the raw material in the market, and to hold it until a famine price can be demanded. Meanwhile, the mills are idle, the looms are silent, the workpeople are unemployed, and their families suffer. Our moral sense is not yet sufficiently cultivated to condemn this hideous selfishness as severely as it deserves, and to regard the perpetrators of it as enemies of the human race. "The people curse" them, that is all. But as we have seen that the cause of the wage-earners is the cause of the Lord, we may rest quite confident that He to whom vengeance belongs enters every action of the kind in His inerasable accounts, and reserves the inevitable punishment for these "oppressors of the poor." There is another evil of modern industrial life which is alluded to in the Proverbs before us. No oppression of the poor is more terrible than that which is exercised by those who themselves are needy. The system which results from necessity of this kind is termed "sweating." The hungry contractor undertakes the job at the lowest possible price, and secures his profit by getting hungrier and weaker creatures than himself to do the work at a price lower than possible, literally at starvation wages. What force, then, to modern ears is there in the saying, "A needy man that oppresseth the Door is like a sweeping rain which leaveth no food!" The Divine oversight of these industrial abuses is not, as we sometimes suppose, pretermitted. Wisdom and Justice and Love hold the reins, and though the rapacity and cupidity of men seem to have a wide range, they are inevitably pulled up in the end, if not in this partial and transient life, yet in that long Eternity through which the Eternal will work out His purposes. As He Himself sides with the poor and pities them, and turns with indignation against their oppressors, it follows necessarily that he that augments his substance by usury and increase gathereth it for him that pities the poor. In fact, the merciful and pitiful nature has all the forces that rule the universe on its side, notwithstanding appearances to the contrary: "The merciful man doeth good to his own soul, but he that is cruel troubleth his own flesh." { Proverbs 11:17 } It is the strange paradox of all selfishness that the selfish man is really quite blind to his own true interests. He most conscientiously lives for himself, and seeks his own good, but the good he sought proves to be his evil, and of all his innumerable foes he finds at last that he himself is the worst. The selfish man is always coming to want, while the unselfish man whose whole thought has been for others is richly provided for. "He that giveth unto the needy shall not lack, but he that hideth his eyes shall have many a curse." { Proverbs 28:27 } "There is that scattereth and increaseth yet more, and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth only to want." { Proverbs 11:24 } "He that hideth his eyes shall have many a curse!" Yes, nothing is more striking than this truth, that not only positive oppression of the poor, but mere indifference to their state, mere neglect of their sufferings, involves us in sin. There are many who can honestly say that they have not deliberately wronged their fellow men, and will on that ground plead innocent; but that is not enough. We are as members one of another responsible in a degree for all the injustice and cruelty which are practiced in the society to which we belong. If we are drawing an income from invested money, we are responsible for the cruel exactions of excessive work, for the heartless disregard of life and limb, and for the constant under-payment of the workers which makes the dividends so princely. Nay, when we buy and use the cheap goods, which are cheap because they have been made at the cost of health and happiness and life to our brothers and our sisters, their blood is upon our heads, though we choose to forget it. For listen-"Whoso stoppeth ears at the cry of the poor," whoso tries to ignore that there is a labor question, and that the cry for increased or even regular wages, and for tolerable homes, and wholesome conditions of work, is a reality, and in form of unions, or strikes, or low wails of despair, is addressed to us all-"he shall cry and shall not be heard." { Proverbs 21:13 } Such is the inexorable law of God. And again: "Deliver those that are carried away unto death,"-those who are sacrificing the sweetness of life, the sap of the bones, the health of the marrow, to the ruthless exigencies of the industrial machine; "and those tottering to slaughter see thou hold back,"-not leaving them to " dree their own sad weird, " helpless and unregarded. "If thou say, Behold we knew not this man,"-how could we make ourselves acquainted with all the toiling masses of the city by whose labor we lived and were maintained in comfort?-"Doth not He that weigheth the hearts consider it; and He that keepeth thy soul, doth not He know it, and shall not He render to every man according to his work?" { Proverbs 24:11-12 } That is to say, if we plead, "When saw we Thee ahungered, or athirst, or sick and in prison, and came not to Thee?" Our Lord will say, "Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to Me." And we "shall go away" into everlasting punishment, while the righteous go into life eternal. III. For it follows, from the whole consideration of this subject, that those who make their life a ministry to the poor obtain a blessing, -yes, the only true and permanent blessing that life is capable of yielding. "He that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed; for he giveth of his bread to the poor." { Proverbs 22:9 } The very form of the saying is significant. Does it not imply: "It is obvious that to give our bread to the poor is a blessing to ourselves, so obvious that it needs only to be stated to be admitted, and therefore, as the bountiful eye, the philanthropic observation, the readiness to see suffering and to search out the sufferers, necessarily leads to this generous distribution, it must be a blessing to its possessor"? Indeed, this is a true test of righteousness, as the Lord teaches in the parable just quoted. It is "the righteous that takes knowledge of the cause of the poor, while the wicked understands not to know it." { Proverbs 29:7 } A religion which takes no knowledge of the masses is a false religion; a Church and a Ministry which "understand not to know" the condition of the people and the needs of the poor are not Christ’s Church and Christ’s Ministry, but flagrantly apostate; and nothing is plainer than this-that from such a Church and Ministry He will accept no orthodoxy of belief or valiant defense of the creed in lieu of obedience to all His plain and unmistakable commandments. If we look at governments, the test is practically the same. "The king that faithfully judgeth the poor, his throne shall be established forever." And it is because the Messianic King, alone of all sovereigns and governments, rightly and fully understands and maintains the cause of the poor, that He alone of sovereigns shall be established for ever, and of the increase of His government there shall be no end. And for the flagrant neglect of this vital question on the part of all governing persons and assemblies, that King will call to account those pompous and wordy magnates who have borne the sword in vain, considering all interests rather than those of the poor, whom they were specially appointed to judge; and of the needy, to whose succor they were peculiarly bound to run. And what holds in the state holds in the family. The virtuous woman, and head of the household-she whom God can approve and welcome into everlasting habitations-is emphatically not she who is always striving for social aggrandizement, always seeking for her children wealthy settlements and spurious honors; but is one who "spreadeth out her hand to the poor, yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy." { Proverbs 31:20 } Well may we try to take God’s view of this question, to understand what He means by the poor, and how He regards them, and how He expects us to treat them. For this, if it is not the secret and the center of all true religious life, is at least the infallible test of whether our religious life is true or not. By our treatment of His poor, the Son of Man, who is to judge the world, declares that we shall be judged. "By that we shall be condemned or by that we shall be acquitted." CHAPTER 24 EDUCATION: THE PARENT’S THOUGHT OF THE CHILD "Train up a child according to his way, and even when he is old he will not depart from it."- Proverbs 22:6 "Withhold not correction from the child; if thou beat him with the rod he shall not die. Thou shalt beat him with the rod and shalt deliver his soul from Sheol."- Proverbs 23:13-14 IN Lecture IV we examined two of the main principles which should be inculcated on children in a Christian home. In the present lecture we approach the question of education again. It is necessary for us to examine two features of parental training on which the book of Proverbs lays repeated stress. First, the need of method in bringing up the young; and second, the way of punishing their delinquencies. In the first we have an eternal principle, which applies and must apply as long as human nature endures, a principle which is even emphasized by the demands of our Christian faith. In the second we have a principle which is so modified and altered by the Christian spirit, that unless we make the largest allowance for the change, it may be, as it often has been, misleading and hurtful in a high degree. If we could trace out all the dark cruelties and injustice, the vindictiveness, the stupidity of parents, guardians, and teachers, who have sheltered themselves under the authority of the text, "Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of correction shall, drive it far from him," { Proverbs 22:15 } we might read with a new application our Savior’s stern censure of accepting the letter of Scripture in place of coming to Him and learning of Him who is meek and lowly of heart. { John 5:39 } But our first duty is to understand the wholesome and eternally valid teaching that is here given us about education. "Train up a child in the way he should go." We gain a good deal in vividness if we go back to the meaning of the word which is rendered "train." Derived from a noun which signifies the palate and the inner part of the mouth, its literal meaning is "to put into the mouth." The metaphor suggested is that of feeding an infant. Every parent recognizes the necessity of giving to the helpless children suitable nourishment. At first the mother feeds the babe at the breast. After the weaning she still feeds it with food carefully chosen and prepared. As the child grows older she changes the food, but she does not relax her care; and the father admits the responsibility of procuring the necessary diet for his little one, a responsibility which does not cease until the child is fully grown, fully formed, and fully able to provide for himself. Here is the suitable analogy for mental, moral, and spiritual teaching. The parents must feed their child with morsels suitable to his age, with the "milk of the word" at first, afterwards with strong meat. It all requires infinite care and forethought and wisdom, for there is a certain way of development, a certain ideal which the child must realize, and if the training be on the lines of that development, according to that "way," if it is to achieve that ideal, the teaching must all be accurately adapted to the age or stage of development, and to the particular character and disposition of the child. If the preliminary work of the parents is wisely done, if the influence exercised by them while their child is still entirely in their hands is exactly what it ought to be, there is no fear for the rest of life-"when he is old he will not depart from it." A great master of modern literature, who wandered through many ways of thought far from the opinions and faith of his parents, when in his old age he sat down to write the reminiscences of his life, discovered that the original bent given to his mind by his peasant parents had remained unexhausted to the end. Many beliefs currently held had faded and grown dim, much of the historical foundation of his religion had crumbled away, but there was a truth which he had learned from his mother’s lips and had seen exemplified in his father’s life, and it returned to him in its full force, and remained unsubmerged in the tides of doubt, unaffected by the breath of change, it even acquired a fresh hold upon him in the decline of his days: -The chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. It is a good illustration of the unrivalled power of the parents over a man’s life. "The Lord hath given the father honor over the children, and hath confirmed the authority of the mother over the sons," says Ecclesiasticus ( Sir 30:2 ). It is a rare opportunity which is given to parents. No sphere of influence which they may acquire can be like it; it may be wider, but it can never be so intense or so decisive. A father who abdicates the throne on which God has set him, who foregoes the honor which God has given him, or turns it into dishonor, must one day answer for his base renunciation before the Eternal Father. A mother who uses the authority over her sons which God has given her, merely to gratify her own vanity and selfishness, and to retain a love which she has ceased to deserve; or one who wantonly throws away the authority because its exercise makes large demands upon the spirit, has much to answer for at the Divine judgment-seat. Parental powers are so absolute, parental possibilities are so great, parental joys are so rare and wonderful, that they must of necessity be balanced by corresponding disadvantages in case of failure. "He that begetteth a fool doeth it to his sorrow, and the father of a fool hath no joy." { Proverbs 17:21 } "A foolish son is a grief to his father, and bitterness to her that bare him." { Proverbs 17:25 ; Proverbs 19:13 ; Proverbs 19:26 } It must therefore constantly press upon all wise parents, how are they to act, what methods are they to adopt, in order to rightly discharge their duties, and to win that precious reward of "a wise son?" { Proverbs 15:20 Cf. Proverbs 10:1 , Proverbs 27:22 , Proverbs 9:3 } "My son, if thy heart be wise, my heart shall be glad, even mine, yea, my reins shall rejoice when thy lips speak right things." "The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice, and he that begetteth a wise child shall have joy of him." { Proverbs 23:15-16 ; Proverbs 23:24 } The answer which is constantly suggested by the book of Proverbs, and especially by our text, is this:-A successful parent will be one who makes the training of the children a constant and religious study. It is the last subject in the world to be left to haphazard. From the first a clear aim must be kept in view. "Is my great object that this boy shall be a true, a noble, a God-fearing man, serving his day and generation in the way God shall appoint? Is this object purged of all meaner thought? Can I renounce the idea of worldly success for him, and be indifferent to wealth and reputation, to comfort and ease for him?" When this question is satisfactorily settled, then comes a second, How is the aim to be realized? Is not the parent at once driven to God with the cry, "Who is sufficient for these things?" A mistake may be so fatal, and it is so hard to clearly see, to rightly judge, to firmly act, that nothing can avail but the direct teaching, inspiration, and power of the Spirit of God. Happy are the father and the mother who have been forced in their helplessness to seek that Divine help from the very first! If we only knew it, all education is useless apart from the Spirit of God. "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." And liberty is just what is most needed. Mechanical schemes, cut-and-dried precepts, are quite insufficient. Moving in the liberty of the Spirit you have insight and adaptiveness; at once you perceive that each child is a separate study, and must be approached in a different way. One is sanguine and over-confident, and he must constantly be humbled; another is diffident and desponding, and must be encouraged with the bright word of sympathy, spoken at the right moment. "I see it all, my child; I know what a fight it is in which you are engaged." One is a born skeptic, and would know the reason why; he must be met with patient and comprehending arguments according to his mental powers. Another has no speculative instincts, and questions have to be raised, doubts suggested, in order to save him from drifting into the easygoing acceptance of everything which he is told. One seems naturally inclined to be religious, and must be carefully watched lest the sensitiveness should become morbid, and a dominant thought should lead to mania, melancholy, or a possible reaction. Another seems to have no religious instinct, and the opportunity must be sought for awaking the sense of need, rousing the conscience, opening the eyes to God. But again, in proportion as parents are led by the Spirit, and make their sacred charge a matter of constant and beseeching prayer, they will in their own person and conduct represent God to the children, and so supplement all the possible defects of the express training and discipline. If the command "Be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long" { Proverbs 23:17 } is to have any weight with the child, he must live with those who themselves are in the fear of the Lord all the day long. A man must live near to God if he is to make God real to his children. A mother must hold very real converse with her Lord if His reality is to become obvious to her little ones. "As a child," says one, "I always had a feeling that God and Jesus were such particular friends of mamma’s, and were honored more than words could tell." If such an impression is to be created, depend upon it God and Jesus must be particular friends of yours. No talk, however pious, can create that impression unless the hallowed friendship actually exists. Again, led by the Spirit, we are filled with Divine love; and no training of children can have any valuable or permanent effect which does not issue from, which is not guided by, and does not result in, love. For love is the Divine educator. It is this which accounts for the frequently observed anomaly that children who seem to have inferior home advantages and very inadequate education turn out better than others for whom no labor or expense or care seems to be grudged. If love is not there, all the efforts will fail. Love is the only atmosphere in which the spirits of little children can grow. Without it the wisest precepts only choke, and the best-prepared knowledge proves innutritious. It must be a large love, a wise love, an inclusive love, such as God alone can shed abroad in the heart. Love of that kind is very frequently found in "huts where poor men lie," and consequently the children issuing out of them have been better trained than those whose parents have handed them over to loveless tutors or underlings. And this may perhaps fitly lead us to consider the other point which is before us-the prominence which is, in the Proverbs, given to chastisement. "He that spareth his rod hateth his son, but he that loveth him, chasteneth him betimes." { Proverbs 13:24 } "Chasten thy son, seeing there is hope, and set not thy heart on his destruction." { Proverbs 19:18 } "Stripes that wound are a cleansing of evil, strokes of the recesses of the belly." { Proverbs 20:30 } "Withhold not correction from the child; when thou beatest him with a rod he shall not die. Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from Sheol." { Proverbs 23:13-14 } "The rod and reproof give wisdom, but a child left to himself causeth shame to his mother." { Proverbs 29:15 } "Correct thy son and he shall give thee rest, yea, he shall give delight unto thy soul." { Proverbs 29:17 } Corporal punishment seems to the Christian, and to the common sense of a society which is the product of the Christian spirit, degrading, brutalizing, and essentially futile! It can only have even a modicum of good effect where it is inflicted by a loving hand, and in a loving spirit, without a trace of temper or cruelty, and obviously costing more to inflict than to bear. But even with all these conditions granted it is a most unsatisfactory method of punishment; it arouses vindictive feelings and savage passions. A whipped boy is almost sure to bully the next creature weaker than himself that he encounters; and acting only as a deterrent, it never reaches the conscience, or creates a sense of revolt from the sin for the sin’s sake, which is the object of all wise, or at least of all paternal, punishment. We can only, therefore, set aside the precept to use the rod as one which was in harmony with darker and harder times before the Savior of the world had come to reveal the inner life and to teach us how we are to deal with those mysterious and wonderful beings, our fellow-creatures. But with this modification, and substituting "wise and merciful punishments" for "rod and stripes," these teachings remain of permanent validity. Our Heavenly Father chastens His children; by most gracious punishments He brings home to them the sense of sin, and leads them to repentance and amendment. And earthly parents, in proportion as they are led by the Spirit and filled with love, will correct their children, not for their own pleasure, but for their children’s good