Put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite. Proverbs 23:1-3 Moderation R. Wardlaw, D.D. This virtue the people of God ought to practise in everything. They should exercise self-government in the desire, the use, the enjoyment, and the regret of all that pertains to the present world. Here is commended laying restraint on the animal appetites. 1. There are few things, if any, more disgusting and degrading than the studied and anxious indulgence of these appetites. It is particularly loathsome when the man appears to catch with extraordinary avidity the occurrence of a feast, and to be resolved on making the most of his opportunity. 2. There are on such occasions temptations to over-indulgence and excess. And then our self-jealousy and watchfulness should be proportioned to two things — the strength of propensity and the amount of temptation. Eat as if a knife were at thy throat. Eat in the recollection and impression of thine imminent danger. Or the expression may mean, "Otherwise thou wilt put a knife to thy throat if thine appetite have the dominion." 3. A man's conduct on such occasions is marked, especially if he be a religious professor. He may in this way bring reproach upon religion, which ever ought, and which, when genuine and duly felt, will impose a restraint on such indulgences. 4. We should also be on our guard against the ostentation of abstinence and plainness — the affectation of extraordinary abstemiousness. 5. There should be special vigilance if there be reason to suspect any snare, any intended temptation for answering a selfish or malicious purpose. Worldly men sometimes do, very wickedly, lay snares for the godly. ( R. Wardlaw, D.D. ) Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom. Proverbs 23:4 Mammon W. H. Hill, M.A. All the precepts of Scripture have their origin in the benevolence of God. Man labours to be rich because he is voluntarily ignorant or forgetful of the requirements of his nature. I. LABOURING TO BE RICH IMPLIES THE CONSECRATION OF OUR POWERS TO THAT ONE OBJECT IN PARTICULAR. But this is not the end for which we are endowed with an intellectual faculty and all the susceptibilities of a moral nature. The accumulation of riches as an end is no more worthy the noble powers of man than building a pyramid of sand. Infinitely beneath the dignity and Divine origin of man is the labouring to be rich. II. WHATEVER TENDS TO WIDEN THE DISTANCE BETWEEN GOD AND MAN MUST BE REGARDED AS AN AGGRAVATION OF OUR FALLEN AND RUINED CONDITION. We are so constituted that we cannot be engrossed with the successful pursuit of two objects at once. You cannot be labouring to be rich, and to be wise unto salvation at the same time. By our own wilful act to alienate the heart from God must be the most inconceivable of all misfortunes, since the highest object of man's existence is to hold communion with God. For this his nature was originally framed, and in this alone will his nature ever find contentment or repose. III. THE RUINOUS EFFECTS THAT THE PASSION UNDER NOTICE OCCASIONS IN ALL THE MORAL POWERS OF ITS VICTIM. People imagine that riches confer greatness. A man is honoured according to the abundance of his capital. The tendency of this is to inflate the mammon-worshipper with personal vanity. But the greatness which is the exclusive offspring of opulence is a hollow, spurious, and mere visionary greatness. Unsanctified riches tend to render their possessor vain, proud, impatient of restraint, forgetful of the sources of true greatness, and insensible to the wants or respect that is due to others. And the pursuit of riches always ends in disappointment. "Godliness with contentment is great gain." The true riches, like an overflowing stream, irrigate the heart, and make it bear fruit for eternity, but avarice of gold rushes like a torrent of scorching lava — it may excite the wonder and attract the common attention of mankind, but it leaves behind its devastating march a solitude, and barrenness, and ruin, and death. ( W. H. Hill, M.A. ) For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he. Proverbs 23:7 The importance of a man's thoughts 1. A man is as his thoughts. 2. A man has control over his thoughts. 3. God helps him in the exercise of that control.We are that really, both to God and to man, which we are inwardly. ( Matthew Henry . ) Thoughts Robert Tuck, B.A. I. THE INFINITE IMPORTANCE OF MEN'S THOUGHTS. This text, in counselling for a particular case, and bidding us test the sincerity of one who invites us, asserts a principle of wide application. You do not know a man until you know his thoughts. God knows him perfectly, because He knows his thoughts. 1. You cannot know a man merely by listening to his words or watching his actions. There is always more, and often better, in men than comes into expression. 2. The revelations of close and trustful friendships are revelations of the thoughts. 3. The claims of God reach beyond right action, and demand right thought. The law of God searches the secret intents of the heart. 4. The redemption that is provided includes in its scheme the sanctification of the very thought. 5. All sin is represented as springing up out of, and finding expression for, lust in the sphere of thought. Show, by appeal to Christian experience, the difficulty found in the restraining of thought. In the unrestrainedness of thought often comes to us the feeling and the mastery of sin. II. THE AMOUNT OF CONTROL MAN HAS OVER HIS THOUGHTS. If he had no control over them his moral responsibility would be gone. We cannot help the evil thoughts coming to us. We have control — 1. Over the material of our thoughts. The materials are the sum of past impressions. Thinking is the combining, comparing, and rearranging of the actual contents of the mind. We can direct ourselves away from the evil and towards the good. We can fill our minds with good suggestions and associations. Illustrate from going into scenes suggestive of vice; reading questionable or immoral books, etc. 2. Over the processes of thought. There may be the nourishing of the evil. There may be the swaying of the mind through the power of the renewed will, and with the help of the indwelling Spirit. Apply to wandering thoughts in the house of God. Do we make the mastery of such evil the subject of real effort? III. THE HELP GOD RENDERS MAN IN THE EXERCISE OF SUCH CONTROL. An attempt to regulate thoughts will bring the conviction of human helplessness. When a man has mastered conduct he cannot say that he has mastered himself. When he thinks he has mastered "thoughts" he will surely find that he needs to cry unto God, saying, "Try me and know my thoughts... and lead me in the way everlasting." ( Robert Tuck, B.A. ) The thoughts of the heart the best evidence of a man's spiritual state Nathanael Walter. The knowledge of ourselves is one of the most noble and excellent attainments in human life. He that knows himself stands fair for immortal felicity. Doctrine: The thoughts of men's hearts do evidence what their spiritual state is. These do ordinarily give the best and surest measure of the frame of men's minds. What thoughts, then, evidence the spiritual state of men? Not occasional thoughts. Not such as arise from strong convictions, that come on us suddenly. Not such as arise from apparent Divine desertions. Despairing thoughts are no sure evidence of the condition of souls. Not such as arise from violent temptations. Not such as arise from men's particular calling and manner of life. Not such as arise from attendance upon, and the performance of, religious duties. The religious discourse of others may produce pious thoughts in an unregenerate person. A man may read God's Word and be yet far from the kingdom. So he may attend the preaching of the Word, and even pray, without having more than surface thoughts. Answering the question affirmatively, mention may be made of voluntary thoughts, such as the mind is apt for and inclines towards. Four qualifications must attend them if they are to be a complete rule and a perfect standard of trial. They must be natural, numerous, satisfactory, and operative. Let us each see to it that our thoughts be such as evidence us to be holy persons. Practise frequent, serious, and close examination. ( Nathanael Walter. ) The heart-state S. S. Mitchell, D.D. The body is not the man. Our bodies die. Neither are a man's words himself. Words are often used to conceal, to misrepresent, to counterfeit. Neither is it possible, universally, to discern the essence of character in action. What good man is there who has not again and again failed to do himself justice in his life? Often, on the other hand, actions are much more beautiful than the thoughts of the heart. The essence of human character is found in the heart. It is the disposition, it is the heart-state, which is the true man. This test of human character is a just one, for our life is a progress, is in the direction of the realisation of this heart-state. Action is but heart-expression. The heart-thought, or purpose, is the true man. Not only is human progress towards the realisation of this heart-state, but the separation of the man from this full expression and realisation of his inner desire is not a matter of his own choice or creation, and therefore cannot enter as an element into his character. The field open, covered by the human choice, is only this, present desire. It often happens that a man is to a certain extent kept under the power of religious truth who is in heart utterly disloyal to the Divine law. When the life differs from the heart the latter, not the former, must be regarded as the true man. Sooner or later the full coincidence between the external and internal is inevitable; the full expression of the heart is sure to come. 1. Tendency is everything in the moral world. 2. Explain the different destinies of the Christian and un-Christian life. 3. Abstain from all judgment of your fellow-men. 4. Encourage those who are true and good at heart. ( S. S. Mitchell, D.D. ) Thought the index of character J. Clifford, D.D. I. This is the Hebrew way of telling us in a casual word about feasting THAT A MAN'S INMOST THINKING IS THE TRUE INDEX TO HIS CHARACTER. Talk is superficial. The lip gives a smiling welcome whilst a lofty disdain is in the heart. Mellifluous speech often comes from a malign spirit, whilst "groanings that cannot be uttered" are signs of a yearning supremely Divine. To the perfect ear of God, who catches the faintest quiver of hypocrisy in our devotion, and the lightest tone of insincerity in our song, our "words" justify or condemn us; but to our dull and insensitive organs they are unreliable signs, and our conclusions from them require to be corrected and qualified by the study of other data. We are, therefore, driven back upon the Hebrew teaching that a man is built up from within; that as he does his inward work — all his inward work — so he is in character, being, and power. He must be a whole man in his thinking in order to be to all intents and in all respects a man; for manly thinking, according to our ancient Scriptures, lies at the basis of manhood. II. Christianity accepts and endorses this inward and broad basis of manhood, and employs its fact and revelation, impulse and inspiration, TO SECURE A THOROUGH REGENERATION OF MAN'S INMOST LIFE. It seeks to re-create him as a thinker, refuses to look on the mere "scholar" as the full man, and works on the Hebrew idea, lately re-announced by Emerson, that the true notion of manhood is "man thinking; not man the victim of society and a mere thinker, or still worse, the parrot of other men's thinking" — but man, thinking "in his heart," with all his inward forces, conscience and will, fancy and emotion, hope and experience — thinking in the whole of him, and with the whole of him, and for the whole of him and his race, and so making speech the clear, full, and indivisible echo of his thought, and deed the visible garment of his inward life. God means us to be men, and He evokes the forces of an inward life by compelling us to wield the sword with our full strength against the enemy. For as a man battles for truth in his heart, so is he. Cowardly thinking makes a weak and poor life. Christ creates inward courage, heroic daring for reality and right, and renews the manliness of the world. III. THIS IS A THINKING AGE. The sluggard intellect has received an unparalleled awakening, and thinking of nearly all kinds is proceeding with astonishing celerity and productiveness. The manliest thinking is done with the heart, i . e ., with the whole of the inner forces of the life. IV. Modern thinking, ignoring the Biblical rule, is SMITTEN WITH THE BLIGHT OF COWARDICE, falls a victim to unreality, and lacks, notwithstanding its pride, Lutheran courage, holy daring, and self-devotion. Young men, do not be misled by the syren of a false peace. Truth is a prize to be won by strenuous battle with the shows and pretences of error, and the shock of downright attack with the foes of faith ought only to whet desire, quicken appetite, and concentrate your forces so that you may become masker of the situation. Give to your thinking the courage of the heart, the force of a resolute energy, the patience of an inflexible will, and as sure as you are true to your whole self God will be found of you in Christ Jesus, and become the sunshine of your life and the joy of your heart. V. Another form of this mistake is that WE EXPECT TOO MUCH TO BE DONE BY MERE THINKING. Science thinks everything out, and we want to make all life scientific, and so we take out of it our personal trusts, and the subtle ministry of the reflex action of deeds on our thoughts. Convert thought-out truth into loyalty to Jesus Christ, and obedience to His laws. Courageous deed, following intrepid thinking, made the Reformation. VI. NO THINKING IS MANLY WHICH FAILS TO TAKE ADEQUATE ACCOUNT OF THE FORCE OF INTENSE MORAL ENTHUSIASMS. It is provable that only in the white heat of a glowing passion for an ethical goal have we the clearest vision of eternal fact. VII. Again, THE THINKING THAT IS OF THE BRAIN ONLY AND NOT OF THE HEART IS IN SERIOUS DANGER OF PASSING OVER THE "UNSEEN" ORDER AND TREATING IT AS THOUGH IT DID NOT EXIST. It ignores the invisible forces which somehow or other, and from somewhere or other, undeniably find, move, and educate men. VIII. But, above all things, DO NOT LET US BE ALARMED AT ANY OF THE MISTAKES AND MISCHIEFS THAT CAUSE DISOBEDIENCE TO THE CHRISTIAN LAW OF MANLY THINKING. We need have no misgiving about the future. Man is essentially a thinker and a unit, and he must think towards unity, and truth, and perfection. Be his mistakes numberless, he cannot stop. He is made for God. "God is his refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble"; therefore, after every temporary eclipse, the Sun of Righteousness will break forth and reveal again the way to the Father. ( J. Clifford, D.D. ) Thought Theodore L. Cuyler, D.D. The capacity of thinking is a most wonderful thing. Here lies man's supremacy ever all the visible world about him. All great undertakings, the glorious enterprises of men for men's salvation, were once only thoughts. The character of a man's thoughts determines the character of his life. His actions are inspired from within. Every product of the soul, whether it be an action or a purpose, is first a germ. Sin lies in the soul in germs — in germs as well as in actions. The moral success of life consists in killing evil thoughts in the germ. There are few purer and richer pleasures in this world than the enjoyment of sweet thoughts, happy thoughts, holy thoughts. The heart determines our everlasting destiny. A heart without holiness never shall see the Lord. Christ is the only purifier of the heart. ( Theodore L. Cuyler, D.D. ) Their Redeemer is mighty. Proverbs 23:10, 11 Social injustice D. Thomas, D.D. I. SOCIAL INJUSTICE INDICATED. "Remove not the old landmarks." What are the landmarks? The rights of man as man. 1. Every man has a right to personal freedom. 2. To the produce of his own labour. 3. To freedom in religion. II. SOCIAL INJUSTICE PERPETRATED ON THE HELPLESS. "Enter not into the fields of the fatherless." Orphans have their rights. There are villains in society who perpetrate outrages on orphans. 1. This is cowardly. 2. This is cruel. 3. This is common. III. SOCIAL INJUSTICE JUDICIALLY REGARDED BY GOD. "Their Redeemer is mighty." Redeemer here means "next of kin." The mighty God is the protector of the helpless. ( D. Thomas, D.D. ) The fatherless These are taken under God's special protection; with Him they not only find mercy shown to them, but justice done for them. He is their Redeemer, their God, their near kinsman, that will take their part, and stand up for them with jealousy, as taking Himself affront in the injuries done to them. He is mighty — almighty; His omnipotence is engaged and employed for their protection, and their proudest and most powerful oppressors will not only find themselves an unequal match for this, but will find that it is at their peril to contend with it. Every man must be careful not to injure the fatherless in anything, or to invade their rights. Being fatherless, they have none to redress their wrongs, and, being in their childhood, they do not so much as apprehend the wrong that is done them. Sense of honour, and much more the fear of God, would restrain men from offering any injury to children, especially fatherless children. ( Matthew Henry . ) Apply thine heart unto instruction, and thine ears to the words of knowledge. Proverbs 23:12 Spiritual knowledge Homilist. I. Because of its own WORTH. A knowledge of the creation, its elements, laws, objects, extent, is valuable, but a knowledge of the Creator is infinitely more valuable. "This is life eternal, to know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent." II. Because man is PRONE TO OVERLOOK THE IMPORTANCE of this knowledge. It is sad, that that which man requires most he cares least for, that the most priceless treasure is least valued. III. Because to ATTAIN IT THERE MUST BE PERSONAL APPLICATION. "Apply thine heart unto instruction." It is a knowledge that cannot be imparted irrespective of the use of man's own faculties. He must apply persistently, earnestly, devoutly. ( Homilist. ) The heart and the ears C. Bridges, M.A. Observe the connection between the application of the heart and the ears. The heart open to sound advice or moral precept is yet shut to Christ and His doctrine. It is closed up in unbelief, prejudice, indifference, and the love of pleasure. A listless heart, therefore, produces a careless ear. But when the heart is graciously opened, softened, and enlightened, the attention of the ear is instantly fixed. This, indeed, is the Lord's creative work; yet wrought by a God of order in the use of His own means. Awakened desire brings to prayer. Prayer brings the blessing. And precious then is every word of knowledge. ( C. Bridges, M.A. ) My son, if thine heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice, even mine. Proverbs 23:15 The happy parent W. Jay. I. THE ATTAINMENT REQUIRED. A pious youth is said to be wise in heart. 1. To show us that religion is wisdom. 2. That this wisdom is not notional, but consists principally in dispositions and actions. Religion has to do "with the heart"; and a knowledge that does not reach the heart, and govern the heart, is nothing. II. THE CONSEQUENCE ANTICIPATED. Pious children afford their parents pleasure on three principles. 1. A principle of benevolence. 2. Of piety. God is particularly pleased and glorified by the sacrifices of early religion. 3. Of self-interest. Distinguish between self-interest and selfishness. The piety of children affords parents evidence of the answer of their prayers and the success of their endeavours, and so delights them. It becomes a means of their usefulness. By such children parents hope to serve their generation. It ensures to parents a proper return of duty. And it will free them from a thousand bitter anxieties, such as are caused by children's removal from home; taking any important step in life; or being bereaved of their dearest relations.Conclusion: 1. Address those who, instead of a joy to their parents, are only a grief. 2. Address parents. Have you conscientiously discharged your duty towards your children? If you have, and nevertheless find your "house not so with God "as you desire, yield not to despair. Never cease to pray and to admonish. Some shower of rain may cause the seed, which has long been buried under the dryness of the soil, to strike root and spring up. ( W. Jay. ) Religion, true wisdom J. Burns, D.D. I. WHY RELIGION MAY BE DESCRIBED AS TRUE WISDOM. 1. As it involves the possession and right application of knowledge. 2. As it gives the first attention to the most momentous concerns. 3. As it adopts the most likely means for securing these great ends. 4. As it secures the greatest amount of good both for the present and the future. II. THE IMPORTANCE OF THIS TO YOUNG PEOPLE. 1. Because of their necessary inexperience. 2. Because of the countless perils which surround them. 3. Because the future circumstances of life depend much upon the course adopted in youth. III. THE CERTAIN MEANS OF ITS ATTTAINMENT. 1. There must be a deep conviction of its need and value. 2. There must be the hearty and simple application of faith, for its realisation. 3. Let this resolution, and application of devout earnestness and faith, be adopted now.In conclusion, present the subject to your serious attention — (1) By the evils of neglecting religion; and — (2) The moral loveliness and excellency connected with devout and serious piety. ( J. Burns, D.D. ) Parental wishes George Lawson, D.D. Persons may form a judgment of their own dispositions from their wishes about their children. Worldly men make it their great work to provide those things for their children which they account their own best things. Saints desire above all things that the hearts of their children may be richly furnished with wisdom, and that their lips may speak right things; for the heart is the throne of Wisdom, and by the lips she discovers her possession of that throne. ( George Lawson, D.D. ) Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long . Proverbs 23:17 Envy of sinners forbidden, and the fear of God enjoined B. Scott, M.A. I. SOME OF THE REASONS WHY MEN VERY FREQUENTLY ARE INDUCED TO ENVY SINNERS. 1. They perhaps see them possessed of wealth, in the enjoyment of many outward comforts, and encircled with the means of gratification; and these are things after which human nature hankers. The idea of happiness is commonly connected with the possession of them. But, surely, to envy these fleeting possessions little becomes a wise man. Surely his lot is not to be desired who lives here under the Divine displeasure, and who must very shortly endure the righteous judgment of a justly offended God. 2. But we find men sometimes disposed to envy sinners on account of the apparent freedom from care and anxiety in which they live. But that gay unconcern about eternal things which is attributed to them we ought to commiserate rather than envy. 3. But whatever circumstances in the condition of the sinner men may admire, unbelief is the source from which all envy of his lot must proceed. II. THE NATURE AND EFFECTS OF THE FEAR OF THE LORD. 1. It is not a fear of Him as an irresistible and implacable enemy; but it is a fear grounded on a just perception of the excellency of the Divine character, connected with love to Him, and with an expectation of the largest blessings from His hand. 2. But what are the effects which the fear of God will produce?(1) In the first place, it will lead to repentance for sin, accompanied by an earnest desire of reconciliation to God, and of the restoration of His favour.(2) But again, the fear of God is the only principle which can lead a man to an universal and unreserved obedience to His commands. ( B. Scott, M.A. ) The cure for envy The cure for envy lies in living under a constant sense of the Divine presence, worshipping God and communing with Him all the day long, however long the day may seem. True religion lifts the soul into a higher region, where the judgment becomes more clear, and the desires are more elevated. The more of heaven there is in our lives, the less of earth we shall covet. The fear of God casts out the envy of men. The death-blow of envy is a calm consideration of the future. The wealth and glory of the ungodly are a vain show. This pompous appearance flashes out for an hour, and then is extinguished. What is the prosperous sinner the better for his prosperity when judgment overtakes him? As for the godly man, his end is peace and blessedness, and none can rob him of his joy; wherefore, let him forego envy, and be filled with sweet content. ( C. H. Spurgeon . ) The nature and advantages of the fear of the Lord John Rodgers, D.D. Scarcely anything has a more immediate influence upon our duty or comfort than the due government of our passions. Hence the wise and virtuous, in all ages, have employed themselves in forming rules for their regulation. But it is found more easy to prescribe, than to reduce these rules to practice. The religion of Jesus provides the assistance requisite to enable us to comply with rules. I. WHAT IS IT TO BE IN THE FEAR OF THE LORD ALL THE DAY LONG? Fear is a passion of the human mind, and stands opposed to hope. It always has for its object some evil, real or supposed. Here its object is the evil and danger of sinning against God, and the just displeasure of God, in consequence of offending Him. To fear these is to fear the Lord in the best sense of the phrase. We should live under the habitual influence of this holy temper, and carry it with us into all the duties of the religious and social life. II. WHY SHOULD WE STUDY TO BE IN THE FEAR OF THE LORD ALL THE DAY LONG? 1. It is an excellent guard against the commission of sin. The man cannot knowingly and deliberately sin against God who has a suitable sense of His being, perfections, character and government. 2. It really assists us in the right performance of duty. It greatly tends to invigorate the graces of the Spirit in the soul, and to call them forth into lively exercise. 3. It excites us to the important duty of watchfulness, and greatly assists us therein. 4. God recommends this duty to our study and practice, by His Divine authority. Then if you would be in the fear of the Lord —(1) Study to acquire more and more of the knowledge of God: the knowledge of His perfections, character, and government; especially as they are manifested in and through His Son Jesus Christ.(2) Be much frequent in meditating upon the Divine perfections.(3) Be much in the great duties of prayer and watchfulness. ( John Rodgers, D.D. ) Of the duty of fearing God R. Fiddes, D.D. The fear of the Lord is sometimes the whole duty of man; sometimes the devotional duties of religion. I. THE TRUE NOTION OF FEARING GOD. 1. It must be such a fear as includes in it a high degree of love. Then we shall make a difficulty of nothing He commands. Then our service of Him will be rendered more acceptable. 2. It includes it in a generous hope and confidence. Hope is the spring of industry. II. THE INFLUENCE THIS FEAR HAS TO SUPPRESS IN US ALL ENVIOUS AND DISQUIETING THOUGHTS. By a holy fear we secure to ourselves an interest in His special providence and protection and grace here, and in the promises of glory and eternal life hereafter. III. PROPER MOTIVES AND ARGUMENTS TO ENFORCE THIS DUTY OF FEARING GOD. 1. From the consideration of His infinite power and majesty. 2. From His intimate knowledge of all our thoughts, words, and actions, and of the secret springs of them. 3. The consideration of God's justice. He hath appointed a day wherein He will judge the world in righteousness. This is an irresistible argument to excite us to the practice of piety. ( R. Fiddes, D.D. ) The principle by which each person is to be perpetually governed W. Jay. Many mistake by viewing religion as separate from common life, and as hardly to be made to accord with it. I. THE PRINCIPLE WHICH IS TO ACTUATE US. "The fear of the Lord." The fear attends the whole of religion. 1. As a quality, to temper the whole; to bind doctrine and knowledge; to keep confidence from growing up into rank presumption, and liberty from degenerating into licentiousness. 2. As a quickener, to excite and to enliven the whole. II. THE EXTENSIVENESS OF ITS INFLUENCE. To be in the fear shows the frequency of its exercise, and of its invariable constancy. See the attributes of this fear as regards — 1. Devotions, regular and ejaculatory. 2. The business of the day. 3. The trials of the day. 4. Its relaxation, recreation, and refreshment. 5. The company of the day. 6. The opportunities and occasions of the day. III. THE ADVANTAGE OF ITS HABITUALNESS. 1. It will render religion more easy and pleasant. 2. It will render your religion more obvious and certain. It furnishes the best evidences of its reality. Then be concerned to exercise diligence. (1) All the day long you are in danger. (2) God is all day long doing you good. (3) All the day long you are observed, even by your fellow-creatures, much more than you are aware of. (4) You are accountable all the day long. ( W. Jay. ) The wicked not to be envied W. S. Plumer, D.D. I. WHAT IS IT IN SINNERS THAT WE ARE APT TO ENVY? 1. Many sinners have much money. Riches are not necessary to any man. Still, human nature is so weak and so corrupt that but few men can look at the wealthy without envying them. 2. Sometimes the wicked seem to have a great deal of pleasure. Take their word for it, and no people are so happy. Those who have not health, or money, or time thus to live at ease, are very apt to envy these lovers of pleasure. 3. Some sinners seem to get many of the honours of life. They seek the honour that cometh from man, and they have their reward. Silly people stand off and admire and envy. 4. Some envy the wicked for their apparent freedom from restraint. The law of God does not bind them any further than suits themselves. To a carnal mind this looks like a fine way of getting through the world, and the foolish envy these lawless ones. 5. Sometimes sinners seem to be, and for a long time are, free from afflictions, which so much distress the righteous. II. THERE IS NO GOOD GROUND FOB PREFERRING THE STATE OF SINNERS. There is really no Divine blessing permanently resting on the wicked, as there is on the righteous. There is also a sad amount of alloy mixed up with all that sinners have. The passions of sinners are at war with each other and with mankind. The devices of the wicked will ruin them. The wicked are not without smitings of conscience. All nature is armed against the wicked. Instead of envying sinners, pity them and pray for them. Let the righteous show that they are pleased with the choice which they have made. ( W. S. Plumer, D.D. ) Divine providence T. Knaggs, M.A. The text is a persuasive to contentment and satisfaction with Divine providence, which permits wicked men to flourish for awhile, enforced with this reason, that there is a reward laid up for all such as trust in God and meekly submit to His will. 1. Let the times be never so perilous and dangerous, yet God's providence ought not to be questioned by us, whatever its unequal distributions be. Answering the objection that, if God's providence governs all the issues and events of things, virtue should never go unrewarded, plead that there is no man but has grievously sinned against the Lord. Therefore they can have no cause to question His justice in their suffering. Besides this, it may be urged that affliction is a proof of God's tender love and kindness; that the prosperity of the wicked often turns to their hurt and disadvantage; and that the day of judgment will set all things right. 2. Show how we are to demean ourselves under the actual oppressions of prosperous wickedness. The best course for a man to take is to hold himself to God, to trust in Him, and order himself according to His will. 3. We must not go out of the road of duty, and do as the wicked do, because we see them prosper. 4. The flourishing condition of the wicked is but short-lived, and therefore not to be envied. 5. There is an assured reward, if ye have patience awhile, and meekly submit to the will of God in His providential administrations. Then seek to live so that God may bless you with the continuance of His blessings. ( T. Knaggs, M.A. ) Al

Benson Commentary Proverbs 23:1 When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before thee: Proverbs 23:1-3 . When thou sittest to eat with a ruler — When thou art invited to the table of a great man; consider diligently what is before thee — What things, what plenty and variety of meats and drinks, by which thou mayest easily be tempted to excess in partaking of them, and so mayest be induced to speak or act in an unbecoming manner. And put a knife to thy throat, &c. — Restrain and govern thine appetite, so as to avoid all excess, as with a sword hanging over thy head, or as if a man stood with a knife at thy throat ready to take thy life, if thou didst transgress. Schultens, however, with some others, reads this verse, For thou wilt put a knife to thy throat, if thou art given to appetite; that is, “If thou dost not curb thy appetite, it will expose thee to certain danger, as if a knife were at thy throat.” And be not desirous of his dainties — Especially be on thy guard when exquisite delicacies are set before thee; for they are deceitful meat — Agreeable to the taste, and promising pleasure, but, if eaten to excess, loading the stomach, injuring the health, defiling the conscience, and depriving a man of peace with God, and peace of mind. “There are two evils,” says Dr. Dodd, from Patrick, Melancthon, and others, “to be avoided at the tables of the great: the one is, too much talking; the other, too much eating: the wise man exhorts his disciple to avoid both the one and the other, by the phrase, Put a knife to thy throat; repress your appetite and your inclination to talk. Wine, company, and the gayety which attends entertainments, often invite men to be too free in the use of meat and drink; and it is by these that kings frequently prove the fidelity and the secrecy of their confidants.” Proverbs 23:2 And put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite. Proverbs 23:3 Be not desirous of his dainties: for they are deceitful meat. Proverbs 23:4 Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom. Proverbs 23:4-5 . Labour not — Hebrew, ?? ???? , Do not weary thyself, namely, with immoderate cares and labours, as many covetous men do; to be rich — To raise an estate, and make thy property abundantly more than it is. Solomon does not forbid all labour, nor a provident care, which he commends in other places; but only represents how vain and foolish it is to be over solicitous, and to carry our cares and labours to such excess as to injure, if not our health of body, yet our peace and serenity of mind, and to endanger or even preclude our everlasting salvation. Cease from thine own wisdom — From that carnal wisdom which is natural to man in his corrupt estate, and which persuades men to believe that it is their interest to use all possible means to get riches, and that the happiness of their lives consists in the abundance of their possessions, directly contrary to the assertion of our blessed Lord, Luke 12:15 . Wilt thou set thine eyes — Wilt thou look with earnestness and eager desire; Hebrew, Wilt thou cause thine eyes to fly; upon that which is not — Which has no solid and settled existence; which is thine to have, but not to hold; which is always upon the wing, and ofttimes gone in the twinkling of an eye. For riches certainly make themselves wings — The wings on which they fly away are of their own making: like the wings of a fowl, they grow out of themselves. They have in themselves the principles of their own corruption, their own moth and rust. They are wasting in their own nature, and like a handful of sand, which, when griped, slips through the fingers. “The covetous man,” says Henry, “sits hatching and brooding over his wealth till it be fledged, as the chickens under the hen, and then it is gone. Or, as if a man should be enamoured with a flight of wild fowl that light in his field, and call them his own, because they are upon his ground; whereas, if he happen to come near them, they take wing immediately, and are gone to another man’s field.” They fly away as an eagle — Swiftly, strongly, and irrecoverably. We quickly lose the sight and the possession of them. Their flying away from us is elegantly opposed to our eyes being set, or flying upon them, in the beginning of the verse. Proverbs 23:5 Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven. Proverbs 23:6 Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainty meats: Proverbs 23:6-8 . Eat not thou the bread of him that hath an evil eye — Of an envious or covetous man, who secretly grudges thee the meat which is set before thee. For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he — Thou must not judge of him by his words, for in them he professes kindness, (as it follows,) but by the constant temper of his mind, which he hath fully discovered to all that know him by the course of his life. Eat and drink, saith he, but his heart is not with thee — He hath no sincere love to thee, but inwardly grudges thee that which he outwardly offers thee. The morsel, &c ., shall thou vomit up again — When thou perceivest his churlish disposition and conduct, his meat will be loathsome to thee, and thou wilt wish that thou hadst never eaten it; and lose thy sweet words — Thy pleasant discourse, wherewith thou didst adorn his table, and design both to delight and profit him, is lost, and of no effect to him, and thou wilt be ready to repent of it. Proverbs 23:7 For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee. Proverbs 23:8 The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up, and lose thy sweet words. Proverbs 23:9 Speak not in the ears of a fool: for he will despise the wisdom of thy words. Proverbs 23:9 . Speak not in the ears of a fool — Cast not away good counsels upon obstinate and incorrigible sinners: see Matthew 7:6 . For he will despise the wisdom of thy words — He will scornfully reject thy wise and good admonitions. Proverbs 23:10 Remove not the old landmark; and enter not into the fields of the fatherless: Proverbs 23:10-11 . Enter not into the fields of the fatherless — Either to take away their goods, or rather, to possess their lands, as this phrase is used, 2 Samuel 5:6 . For their Redeemer is mighty — Hebrew, ???? , their near kinsman, to whom it belongs to avenge their wrongs, and to recover and maintain their rights: see on Leviticus 25:25 ; Numbers 35:12 ; Job 19:25 . God is pleased to call himself the kinsman of the fatherless, to show how much he concerns himself for the relief of oppressed and helpless persons. Proverbs 23:11 For their redeemer is mighty; he shall plead their cause with thee. Proverbs 23:12 Apply thine heart unto instruction, and thine ears to the words of knowledge. Proverbs 23:13 Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die. Proverbs 23:14 Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell. Proverbs 23:15 My son, if thine heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice, even mine. Proverbs 23:16 Yea, my reins shall rejoice, when thy lips speak right things. Proverbs 23:17 Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the LORD all the day long. Proverbs 23:17-18 . Let not thy heart envy sinners — Let not the consideration of their present impunity and prosperity excite thee either to envy them, or to approve and imitate their evil courses; but be thou in the fear of the Lord — Reverence the presence of the Divine Majesty, and dread his power and justice, and those judgments which he hath prepared for sinners, and thou wilt see no cause to envy, but rather to pity them; all the day long — Not only when thou art in trouble, but in all times and conditions. For surely there is an end — An expected and happy end for such as fear God; or, a reward, as the word ????? , here used, is rendered, Proverbs 24:20 . And thine expectation shall not be cut off — Thou shalt certainly enjoy that good which thou expectest, as the wicked shall lose that happiness which they enjoy. Proverbs 23:18 For surely there is an end; and thine expectation shall not be cut off. Proverbs 23:19 Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thine heart in the way. Proverbs 23:19-21 . Hear and be wise — Rest not in hearing, but see that thou grow wiser and better by it. And guide thy heart in the way — Order the whole course of thine affections and actions in God’s way, often termed the way, as has been observed before. Be not among wine-bibbers — Avoid their conversation and company, lest thou be either infected or injured by them. The drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty — Which is the common effect of revelling, feasting, and riotous living. Drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags — They are wont to be attended also with immoderate sleeping, laziness, and neglect of all business, which as certainly will reduce men to extreme beggary as gluttony or drunkenness does. Proverbs 23:20 Be not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh: Proverbs 23:21 For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags. Proverbs 23:22 Hearken unto thy father that begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old. Proverbs 23:22-25 . Hearken unto thy father that begat thee — And who, therefore, desires and seeks thy good in all his counsels; and despise not thy mother when she is old — When the infirmity of age is added to that of her sex, which is apt to produce contempt. Buy the truth — Purchase a true and saving knowledge of God, and his will concerning thy salvation, upon any terms; spare no pains nor cost to obtain it; and sell it not — Do not forget it, nor forsake it for any worldly advantages, as unthinking backsliders frequently do; also wisdom and understanding — Whereby thou mayest be enabled to love and practice the truths known and received. The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice — “For there is no greater joy a parent can have than to see his son take virtuous ways; which, as it is the only wisdom, so it gives both parents and children the highest pleasure and satisfaction.” Thy father and thy mother shall be glad — “Let not thy father and mother then want this singular pleasure; but, by thy well-doing, fill the heart of her that bare thee with joy and triumph; who, for all the pains and care she hath had in thy birth, and about thy education, desires no other requital but only this.” — Bishop Patrick. Thus Solomon twice urges the same consideration, as a powerful argument to prevail with all children, that are not void of natural affection, to labour to be wise and good, that so they may rejoice the hearts of their parents, to whom they are under such high and indelible obligations. Proverbs 23:23 Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding. Proverbs 23:24 The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice: and he that begetteth a wise child shall have joy of him. Proverbs 23:25 Thy father and thy mother shall be glad, and she that bare thee shall rejoice. Proverbs 23:26 My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways. Proverbs 23:26 . My son, give me thy heart — Receive my counsels with thy whole heart; for the heart being esteemed by the ancients the seat of the affections, Solomon may, accordingly, be properly understood as calling upon his disciples to embrace his doctrine and injunctions with the warmest affection, and to reduce them to practice without any reluctance or delay; and let thine eyes observe my ways — Let thy mind seriously and practically consider the ways which I prescribe to thee. Or, rather, God is here speaking by Solomon, and saying to every true child of his, Son, daughter, give me thy heart. Certainly the heart is that which God especially requires, and calls for from every one of us; whatever we give, if we do not give him our hearts, it will not be accepted: he must be the chief object of our love. Our thoughts must dwell upon him; and on him, as our chief good and highest end, our most fervent affections must be placed. We must not think to divide our hearts between him and the world: he will have the whole heart, or no part of it. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart. Proverbs 23:27 For a whore is a deep ditch; and a strange woman is a narrow pit. Proverbs 23:27-28 . For a whore is a deep ditch — In which a man is in evident danger of perdition, and out of which it is exceeding difficult to escape. See the note on Proverbs 22:14 . She lieth in wait, &c. — Watching all opportunities of insnaring young men to their destruction; and increaseth the transgressors among men — She is the cause of innumerable sins against God, and against the souls and bodies of those whom she insnares, and by her arts and wicked example involves many persons in the guilt of her sins. She is of no other use in the world, which already is too bad, but to make it worse, by increasing the number of lewd, faithless, and incorrigible sinners. Proverbs 23:28 She also lieth in wait as for a prey, and increaseth the transgressors among men. Proverbs 23:29 Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes? Proverbs 23:29-30 . Who hath wo? — From the sin of lewdness, he proceeds to that of drunkenness, which frequently accompanies it. As if he had said, If thou intendest to avoid such filthy practices, avoid intemperance; the lamentable effects of which are so many, that it is a hard matter to enumerate them. For who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? — If thou considerest who they are that run themselves into all manner of mischief; that are never out of danger, but are engaged in perpetual quarrels, disturbing the neighbourhood where they live by their noise, tumult, and fighting; who hath babbling? — The sin of much and impertinent talking, or clamour and confusion, usual among drunkards; who hath wounds without cause? — Wounds received, not in the defence of his country, but for frivolous causes, and on slight occasions; who hath redness of eyes — Which men, inflamed with wine, are very apt to have. They that tarry long at the wine, &c. — Thou wilt find they are such as are so in love with wine, that they neither willingly stir from it, nor content themselves with the ordinary sort, but make a diligent search for the richest and most generous kinds; they that go to seek mixed wine — Wine mixed with divers ingredients, to make it strong and delicious. Hebrew, ????? , mixture, mixed drinks of several sorts suited to their palates. Proverbs 23:30 They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine. Proverbs 23:31 Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright. Proverbs 23:31-32 . Look not thou upon the wine — Earnestly, so as to inflame thine appetite toward it; in which sense men are forbidden to look upon a woman, Job 31:1 ; Matthew 5:28 . When it is red — Which was the colour of the best wines in that country, which therefore are called blood, Genesis 49:11 ; Deuteronomy 32:14 ; and such were used by them in the passover. Red wine, it appears, is still more esteemed in the East than white. And, according to Olearius, in his account of his travels, it is customary with the Armenian Christians, in Persia, to put Brazil wood or saffron into their wine, to give it a higher colour, when it is not so red as they wish, as they make no account of white wine. At the last it biteth like a serpent, &c. — It hurts the body in many respects, impairs the vigour of the mind, wastes the estate, stains the character, wounds the conscience, and, without repentance, destroys the soul. “Remember,” says Bishop Patrick, in his paraphrase here, “that the pleasure will be attended at last with intolerable pains; when it works like so much poison in thy veins, and casts thee into diseases as hard to cure as the biting of a serpent, or the stinging of a basilisk;” for so the word ????? , here rendered adder, properly signifies. Proverbs 23:32 At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder. Proverbs 23:33 Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things. Proverbs 23:33-34 . Thine eyes shall behold strange women — With evil intent: lustful, nay, adulterous desires will be excited in thee, which thou wilt neither have inclination nor power to restrain and govern; and thy heart shall utter perverse things — Will discover its wickedness by unseemly and perverse, perhaps, even by filthy, scurrilous, and blasphemous speeches. Thou shalt be as he that lieth down — To sleep; in the midst of the sea — That is, in a ship in the midst of the sea; as he that lieth upon the top of the mast — The worst part of a ship to lie down upon, because of its perpetual tossings, and the hazard of him that sleeps upon it. “Thou wilt grow so perfectly senseless, that not only thy most important business will be neglected, but thou wilt un-thinkingly run thyself into the extremest hazards, without any apprehension of danger: being no more able to direct thy course, than a pilot who sleeps when a ship is tossed in the midst of the sea; or to take notice of the peril thou art in, than he that falls asleep on the top of a mast, where he was set to keep the watch.” Proverbs 23:34 Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast. Proverbs 23:35 They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not sick; they have beaten me, and I felt it not: when shall I awake? I will seek it yet again. Proverbs 23:35 . They have stricken me, shalt thou say, &c. — “And to complete thy misery, shouldst thou be not only mocked and abused, but beaten also, thou thyself wilt confess afterward, that it made no impression on thee: nay, shouldst thou be most lamentably bruised, thou wilt neither know who did it, nor at all regard it; but, as if no harm had befallen thee, no sooner wilt thou open thine eyes, but thou wilt stupidly seek an occasion to be drunk and beaten again.” — Bishop Patrick. Benson Commentary on the Old and New Testaments Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.

Expositor's Bible Commentary Proverbs 23:1 When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before thee: 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. The truth which underlies these apparently harsh injunctions is this: Love inflicts punishments, nor are any punishments so severe as those which Love inflicts; and only the punishments which Love inflicts are able to reform and to save the character of the delinquent. We all of us know that weak and sentimental nature-too common among modern parents-which shrinks from inflicting pain under all. circumstances. Seizing on the ill-understood doctrine that Love is the sovereign power in life and in education, it pleads in the name of Love that the offender may be spared, that he may escape the due penalty of his fault. That is not a love like God’s love: and if you are careful to observe, it has not the remedial or saving effect which the love of God has. "He that declines to punish his child hates him; he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes." In the poor child’s heart so much foolishness is bound up, so much willfulness and temper, so much vanity and pride, so much sensuality and selfishness, so much unwholesome craving for amusement, it is so natural to the child to make pleasure the be-all and the end-all of life, that, if all this foolishness is to be driven away, there must be much sharp discipline and painful correction. The Divine method of punishment seems to be to let men eat of the fruit of their doings until they loathe it. They rebelliously call out for meat in the wilderness, and it turns into a satiety, a bitterness, and a plague, while it is between their teeth. Is it possible that parents too, under the guidance of the Spirit, may chasten their children in the same way, bringing home to the willful the painful effects of willfulness, to the vain the ridiculous effects of vanity, to the selfish the disastrous issue of selfishness, to the sensual the ruin and the misery of sensuality? Might not the most effectual punishment for every fault be an enforced quiet in which the culprit is confronted with the inevitable outcome of the sin? Does not even the hardest heart begin to melt, does not the dullest conscience begin to grow sensitive, when the sure results of evil are aptly portrayed before the mind? What pride would have courage to grow if it had a glimpse of the hard, dry, loveless, unloved, heart which is its inevitable fruit? What young man would venture to take the first downward steps in impurity if he had ever formed a conception of the devastation of brain and heart and life which must ensue? The rod cannot open the eyes; it can but set the cunning intellect to work to find a way of enjoying the sin and escaping the rod. But the opening of the eyes-at which all true punishment must aim-reveals a rod which is bound up with the sin, sure as the sin itself. It is the parents’ solemn task - and many an inward sorrow must it cost-to bring, home to his child’s heart these truths of experience which the child cannot at present know. Wise penalties and "reproof give wisdom, but a child left to himself causeth shame to his mother." { Proverbs 29:15 } There is a voice, the voice of Divine Wisdom, which speaks continually to every, parent, to every teacher of youth: "Incline thine ear," it says, "and hear the words of the wise, and apply thy heart unto my knowledge"-without attention and application this heavenly wisdom cannot be known. "For it is a pleasant thing," so the voice continues, "if thou keep these words within thee if they be established together upon thy lips. That thy trust may be in the Lord,"-without whom the best-meant efforts will fail, -" I have made them known to thee this day, even to thee. Have not I written to thee excellent things of counsels and knowledge, to make thee know the certainty of the words of truth, that thou mayest carry back words of truth to them," those helpless and ignorant children whose needs "send thee" to me for instruction? { Proverbs 23:17-21 } The failures are numerous, disastrous, heartbreaking, but they are unnecessary. Your children are holy; they belong to the Saviour in whom you yourselves believe. Grasp that truth; go to Him in sublime faith. "Lord, it is not with Thee to save a part, to choose this one and save that. Thou wilt glorify Thyself in every one." (The Education of a Christian Home) Surrender yourself to Him that He may use you to exhibit His Divine graces and saving love to the children. Live with Him daily, that the glory of the communion may not pass away from your face, or appear only by fits and starts-and so train up your child according to his way; and when he is old he will not depart from it. The Expositor's Bible Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.