It is the glory of God to conceal a thing. Proverbs 25:2 The glory of God in concealing Robert Hall, M.A. If God were to conceal everything from our view, it would be impossible that any glory could result to Him from the sentiments and actions of His creatures. It is by a partial communication of Himself that He has, in the highest degree, consulted His honour and manifested His wisdom. A temperature of mingled light and obscurity, a combination of discovery and concealment, is calculated to produce the most suitable impressions of the Divine excellence on the minds of fallen creatures. I. THE DIVINE BEING IS ACCUSTOMED TO CONCEAL MUCH. Specify some instances. 1. In relation to His own nature, and the manner of His existence. His essence is altogether hidden from the most profound investigation, the most laborious research, the most subtle penetration, of His creatures. We ascribe to Him attributes and virtues; but how He exists, in an essential and eternal nature of His own, no man can know. His perfections are impressed on the works of nature, but in such a manner that we learn them only by inference. 2. In relation to the structure and constitution of His works. The scenes of nature lie open to our view. But the mysteries of nature, with regard to the essences of things, and indeed to a multitude of subtle operations, are kept in a kind of sacred reserve, and elude the utmost efforts of philosophy to surprise them in their concealments, and bring them to light. Those that have devoted themselves to an investigation of the laws of nature perceive that the meanest work of God is inexhaustible; contains secrets which the wisdom of man will never be able to penetrate. 3. In the dispensations of His providence. By which is meant that series of actions which the Divine Being is continually carrying on in the government of the world which He has made. There exists such a decided connection between well-doing and happiness on the one hand, and between wickedness and misery on the other, as sufficiently to show, even independently of revelation, that the Divine Being is the patron of rectitude and the enemy of vice. But the natural course of things is frequently interrupted and suspended by incidental causes; so that particular exceptions are continually occurring to the ordinary rule. God conceals the design for which many events are permitted to take place. And He is accustomed to throw much obscurity over the future. The most important events of human life, on which our happiness greatly depends, are, for the most part, concealed from our view. 4. In the economy of grace and redemption. The revelation contained in the Scriptures extends only to facts, not to the theory of those facts, or their original causes. The most important truths are communicated in a dogmatic, not a theoretic, manner. II. THE DIVINE BEING PROMOTES HIS GLORY, BY SUCH A TEMPERATURE OF LIGHT AND SHADE AS THAT WHICH DISTINGUISHES ALL HIS DISCOVERIES OF HIMSELF, AND HIS DISPENSATIONS TOWARDS HIS CREATURES. 1. The concealment of things tends to glorify Him, as it is, in part, the necessary consequence of His infinite superiority to all finite beings in wisdom and understanding. His purposes and designs cannot be adequately scanned by the wisdom of men. 2. It evinces His entire independence of the wisdom, counsel, or co-operation of any or all of His creatures. He may, with infinite safety and propriety, retire within Himself, into the secret recesses of His own essence. 3. Such a degree of obscurity as attends the partial manifestation of the Divine will, the progressive development of the Divine purposes, is eminently adapted to the state, exigency, and condition of men. The prophetic parts of Scripture are proverbially obscure. By not explaining His doings, God trains us to submission, and cultures humility and vigilance, while at the same time exciting to diligence and exertion. While there are many things which God conceals, and thereby advances His glory, He has made manifest all that it is essential for man to know. And among the things fully revealed is the placability of God, His readiness to receive the chief of sinners who repent of their sins and believe the gospel. ( Robert Hall, M.A. ) God glorified by mystery Thomas G. Selby. In our dealing with our fellow-men we resent reserve, secrecy, isolation, almost as sharply as though they were moral transgressions. We are attracted by frankness. The best hated men the world has had in it have always been men of silence. Mystery is one of the arts of crafty ambition, for the silly world is generally ready to accept silence for wisdom. Men cultivate the habit of concealment, so that they may pass themselves off for better than they really are. But reserve is not always ignoble. Strong, and noble, and unselfish qualities sometimes determine a man's silence. The welfare of an empire may sometimes turn upon the power a statesman has of keeping the counsel of a department. There are reservations in the knowledge that God has given us of His own nature, purpose, and government; but these reservations always rest upon motives that are pure, noble, and holy, and are identified with the highest glory of the Divine character. No mystery is meant to alienate us from God, but to attach us in closer bonds. It is needless to define the area of mystery, if indeed that were possible. It starts in God, and covers the last outlying atom of His dominion. 1. There are mysteries in the Divine nature and government that bear direct witness to the glory of God's person. The silence He maintains is a sign of His self-sufficiency. As a matter of privilege, God may permit us to enter into sympathy and co-operation with Himself and His work. But He does not need our help, and by the stern reserve in His revelations He asserts the separateness and the sufficiency of His own mighty power. If He employ us at all, it is for our good. His power is separate, sufficient, solitary. God conceals many things, to remind us of the gulf that separates the glory of His nature from the dimness of all finite natures. Man is destined to more exalted and intimate communion with his Maker than any other being in the universe, and yet there are limitations upon his privilege necessitated by the very supremacy of God. There are secrets we cannot enter, counsels we cannot share, age-long problems, the solution of which we are not permitted to see. God conceals many things, so that throughout the successive stages of our destiny He may bring into our contemplation of His nature and works elements of inexhaustible freshness. Reservations that are determined by motives of this type have an intimate relation to the glory of the Divine name. The revelations of the life to come will be gradual and progressive. If God's revelation were a revelation of exhaustive fulness, a revelation with no reserved questions in it, the very enchantment of God's nature would be gone. 2. God is glorified by mystery, because mystery has its place in the discipline and exaltation of human character. The veiled truth sometimes calls out a higher faith, a more chastened resignation, a more childlike obedience in God's people, than the truth that is unveiled. God conceals many things, so that He may be magnified through His people's trust in darkness and uncertainty. No genuine spirit of trust can spring up in ignorance. In God's dealings with us, profound silence and ringing oracle, the hidden and the revealed, the mystery and the defined truth, alway alternate with each other. It is "the glory of God to conceal a thing," because by the very shadows in which He hides it we are cast with a more pathetic dependence upon His sympathy and care, and come into truer and more childlike contact with His spirit. God conceals many things, so that He may protect us from needless pain and fear, and magnify His own gentleness. Many a thing must be hidden from a child, and the more sensitive he is, the stricter must be the concealment. God conceals some things from us to excite us to nobler and more strenuous endeavour in our search after the truth. There are truths that we shall come to know through our own thought and struggle, and deepening spirituality of life, temporary mysteries that it is best for us to know through conflict, experience, sustained contemplation. God hides many things from the world, so that He may have secrets with the custody of which He can honour His own chosen servants. And He conceals some things from us, so that He may impress us with the solemnities of the unknown. God never conceals what may be necessary to furnish His people for the work and service of life. Let the revelation inspire your faith, and let the mystery awaken your awe. ( Thomas G. Selby. ) The glory of God and the honour of kings H. J. Bevis. I. THE MEANING OF THE PASSAGE IS SUPPOSED TO BE THAT GOD CONCEALS MUCH, AND THAT IT IS HIS GLORY TO DO SO. There is a truth in this. We often try to find out God. God is the profoundest mystery in the universe, and yet all is mystery without Him. No creature knows God. There is much concealed in nature. It is not wonderful that there should be much in God's providential procedure that is concealed from us. God's ways are not our ways. If He has not given us light, it is better for us to be in darkness. II. THE GREAT PRINCIPLE CONTAINED IN THE TEXT. The text is a whole. One part must be taken with reference to the other. The wise man says it is the glory of God to do that which is not the glory of kings to do. Government is necessary to the very existence of society. There can be no government without law. It is the glory of all governments to frame wise and salutary laws for the well-being and true happiness of society, to guard these by sanctions, and by all the majesty of power. Governments do not originate that which is moral in law. They do not create the distinctions between right and wrong, good and evil. Magistrates are the representatives of law. They are to see that it is respected and maintained, and they are to punish law-breakers; if not, it is because offenders baffle pursuit, and hide themselves. If kings do not search out a matter, it is because they are indifferent to the conduct of their subjects, and care not whether they are virtuous or vicious; and then the hour of revolution is at hand; the kingdom will fall. The glory of God is the very opposite to the honour of kings. God is a law-giver. His will is the law of all morals. His being is the foundation of all law. And yet He has made provision for pardoning men. He hides, He conceals their sins. He does this by an atonement. It is the glory of God to save men by the death of Christ, because by saving them thus He may magnify His own law, and honour His own government. Governments have no gospel for criminals. God forgives sins. ( H. J. Bevis. ) Man's knowledge suited to his circumstances H. G. Salter. You know as much as is good for you, for it is with the mind as with the senses. A greater degree of hearing would incommode us; and a nicer degree of seeing would terrify us. If our eyes could see things microscopically, we should be afraid to move. Thus our knowledge is suited to our situation and circumstances. Were we informed more fully beforehand of the good things prepared for us by Providence, from that moment we should cease to enjoy the good we possess, become indifferent to present duties, and be filled with restless impatience. Or suppose the things foreknown were gloomy and adverse; what dismay and despondency would be the consequence of the discovery; and how many times should we suffer in imagination what we now only endure once in reality! Who would wish to draw back a veil which saves them from so many disquietudes? If some of you had formerly known the troubles through which you have since waded, you would have fainted under the prospect. But what we know not now we shall know hereafter. ( H. G. Salter. ) The concealed processes of Providence W. Arnot, D.D. Machinery boxed in goes round and accomplishes its work as well as if it were all exposed to view. At one extremity the raw material goes in, and at another the manufactured article comes out. This is all that the visitor sees. For once, and to instruct a stranger, the master may take the covering off, and lay bare the intricate accumulation of cylinders and wheels; but soon he shuts the door again. Thus has the Author of salvation in the case of some opened up in the processes of His providence, which are usually conducted in secret. ( W. Arnot, D.D. ) Take away the dross from the silver, and there shall come forth a vessel for the finer. Proverbs 25:4, 5 Purifying fires Homiletic Review. No text in Scripture brings out with equal distinctness the higher office of affliction, i . e .,, to develop in us preparation for a true usefulness. The object of furnace fires is not to melt the precious metal, or even to release the dross, but to make the metal ready for the purposes of manufacture. Not the silver ingot, however, but the silver vessel, is the object of the assayer. When God tries His children, it is not simply that they shall "come forth as gold," glorious as is purity of character, but that they may be both ready to be shaped for His purposes and capable of being used to fulfil His will. Paul seems to refer to this proverb in 2 Timothy 2:19-21 , the only other passage in which the same truth is taught by the same figure. ( Homiletic Review. ) Take away the wicked from before the king The removal of wicked men from influential positions This shows that the vigorous endeavour of a prince to suppress vice, and reform the manners of his people is the most effectual way to support his government. I. WHAT THE DUTY OF MAGISTRATES IS. To "take away the wicked"; to use their power for the terror of evil works and evil-workers, to banish those from the court who are vicious and profane, and to frighten them, and restrain them from spreading the infection of their wickedness among the people. Wicked people are the dross of a nation. II. THE ADVANTAGE OF DOING THIS DUTY. 1. It will be the bettering of their subjects. They shall be made like silver refined; fit to be made vessels of honour. 2. It will be the settling of the prince. "His throne shall be established in this righteousness," for God will bless his government, the people will be pliable to it, and so it will become durable. ( Matthew Henry . ) Go not forth hastily to strive . Proverbs 25:8-10 The worst and best ways of treating social dissensions Homilist. The social dissensions that are rife in our world are incontestable proofs that humanity has fallen from its normal condition. There is society in heaven, but no social differences or strifes. The text indicates the best and the worst way of treating such dissensions. I. THE WORST WAY. "Go not forth hastily to strive." 1. Precipitant strife is bad in itself. Men should never be hasty in yielding to a passion. They should make the passion, however strong and tumultuous for the moment, the subject of thought, and by thought should subdue, purify, and direct it. 2. Precipitant strife exposes to shame. "Lest thou know not what to do in the end thereof, when thy neighbour hath put thee to shame." II. THE BEST WAY. "Debate thy cause with thy neighbour himself," etc . The direction here seems to imply three things — 1. That an interview is to be obtained at once with the offender. "Debate thy cause with thy neighbour himself." 2. That an interview is to be obtained in order to talk the offence over. "Debate thy cause." 3. That the offence must be thus debated before the secret is divulged to another. "Discover not a secret to another." 4. That should the secret be divulged to another the pacific objects of the interview might be nullified. "Lest he that heareth it," etc . ( Homilist. ) A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver. Proverbs 25:11 The lessons of the orange-tree Samuel Cox, D.D. "Apples of gold" is a poetic name for the orange in more than one Eastern tongue. "Pictures of silver" may be a figure for the creamy-white blossoms of the orange-tree. No one who has seen orange-trees in full blossom and full bearing can have failed to notice how the beauty of the golden fruit is set off by its framework of white fragrant blossoms. "Fitly spoken" is in the margin "a word spoken in season" — a timely, opportune word. Delitzsch renders, "according to circumstances," by which is meant a good word adapted to time and audience and to all the conditions of the time. Most of us can remember some word spoken in the very nick of time and so happily adapted to our conditions at the moment that it largely influenced our whole subsequent career. But perhaps the meaning is a word which was the fittest, the most perfect and beautiful expression of the thought which had to be uttered. "A word spoken on its wheels." Every kind of thought has its appropriate expression in language. What the wise man bids us admire is those weighty and happy sentences which embody a noble thought in words of answering nobleness. 1. This is the first lesson of the orange-tree — that a happy, a fair and noble utterance of a wise thought gives it a new charm, a new and victorious energy. Distinction of style is almost as potent — if indeed it is not even more potent — on the life and fame of a book as depth or originality of thought. 2. All force becomes most forcible when it is smoothly and easily exerted. It is not effort, strain, violence which tell in action any more than in language, but gentleness, calmness, a gracious mastery and smiling ease. The wiser you are the less passionate, the less vehement, the less overbearing you will be. Great forces are calm and gentle because they are irresistible. Calmness, composure, gentleness are signs of strength. 3. Religion is most potent when it is clothed with grace. A genial and friendly godliness is like the ruddy fruit of the orange-tree encircled and set off by its wealth of white, odorous blooms. There was much that was admirable in the Puritan conception of religion; but though its heart was sound its face wore a frown. And in many of us religion still wears a sour and forbidding face. Some there are who still suspect beauty, culture, scholarship, mirth, and even devotion to God and man, if it take any form other than that which they approve and prefer. Such people do not render religion attractive. Let us learn the lesson of the orange-tree, and the greatest lesson of all — the lesson of charity. ( Samuel Cox, D.D. ) Apples of gold in pictures of silver Hugh Macmillan, D.D. The term translated "fitly" is a very curious one in the original Hebrew. It signifies "wheels," and the marginal reading is "a word spoken on his wheels," which means a word that rolled smoothly and pleasantly from the lips of the speaker to the ears of the hearer. In ancient times the carts had no wheels, and most things were carried on horseback. There were no roads, and the carts were put on long shafts, the two ends of which rested on the ground, and were dragged along by the horse with great difficulty, making deep ruts in the ground. The first wheels that were used in our country were very clumsy and rough. Modern wheels are light, and turn easily. The wise man says that each of your words should be like a vehicle on easy-going wheels, so smooth and courteous that it would produce no jar or shock to either speaker or hearer; not hurt by any harshness or roughness, or leave a painful rut behind in the memory. People in the East are remarkable for the grace and courtesy of their speech. They carry this sometimes too far, and are guilty of insincerity and exaggeration. We are apt to err in the other direction, and make our speech too rough and harsh, fancying that we cannot be true and sincere if we are polite. We are not so careful of our words as we ought to be. The text directs our thoughts to the surpassing excellence of gentle and kindly speech. Cultivated society is so pleasant to live in, because the people who move in it have learned to control their tempers, are polite and forbearing to each other, and do not say things that grate upon the feelings and leave a sting behind. But while good society gives an outward and artificial politeness, the religion of the meek and lowly Jesus gives true inward refinement and civility. It enables us to be truly considerate, bearing with the failings of some, overlooking the weaknesses of others, and having a good word to say of every one. It puts a wheel on every one of your words, so that it may glide smoothly. There are persons who grudge to say a word of praise to others, however deserving. Frankly praise what is worthy of praise, and your words will be sweet and pleasant to yourselves as well as to others. There is a temptation to be clever and say smart things, and to use words of sareasm or ridicule at the expense of those who are not so quick-witted as yourselves. Be very careful in finding fault with people, lest you should make the offender an enemy. In the text "apples" probably should be "oranges," and this fruit gives a more suggestive figure. The flowers and fruit may be found together on the orange-tree throughout the whole year. The leaves are evergreen and of a cheerful, glossy green, and the flowers of a brilliant white, with a most delicious scent. So is the exceeding comeliness of a wise and gentle employment of your words. A word fitly spoken can administer an all-round delight in the same way. We speak about the language of flowers and of flowery language. It would be well if there was more of this attractiveness in our speech. The old Athenian laws required that a newly-married couple, when they were alone, should first eat a quince together, in token, as this fruit was the symbol of good-will, that their conversation should be mutually pleasant. And so your religion requires, in all your intercourse with one another, that you should first eat the quince of good-will, and be careful in choosing smooth words that have no sharp edges to cut and wound, that roll easily and pleasantly on wheels without making any jars or ruts. Over against all apples of discord that cause alienation and strife and misfortune set the golden apples of gentle, kind, considerate words that will win all hearts around you and sweeten the air and smooth all the rough things of the world. ( Hugh Macmillan, D.D. ) The excellency of fitly-spoken words D. Thomas, D.D. The comparison here has undoubtedly an allusion to some old domestic ornament. "The idea," says Stuart, "is that of a garment of precious stuff, on which are embroidered golden apples among picture work of silver. Costly and precious was such a garment held to be: for besides the ornaments upon it, the material itself was of high value." Others think that the allusion is to a kind of table ornament, constructed of a silver basket of delicate lattice-work, containing gold in the form of apples. The basket would, of course, be so constructed as to show off with advantage its precious treasure, the apple of gold. The ancient Easterns were men of taste and men of art; they loved the beautiful, and they had their ornaments: and some of their ornaments were as exquisitely constructed as those of any scenes or times. I. Words fitly spoken must be words fitted TO EXHIBIT THE TRUTH TO THE BEST ADVANTAGE. They must be to the truth what the basket was to the apples of gold — an instrument for showing them off to the best advantage. There are words that hide the truth; they are so profuse and luxuriant that they bury the priceless flower in their wilderness. There are words that disgrace the truth; they are ill-chosen, mean, suggestive of low and degrading associations. II. Words fitly spoken must be words ADAPTED TO THE MENTAL MOOD OF THE HEARER. 1. Different men have different mental moods. Some are naturally sombre, imaginative, and practical; others are gay, poetic, and speculative. Words fitly spoken must be adapted to each particular mood: the form in which truth would suit one mood would be inapt to another. 2. The same man has different moods at different times. Circumstances modify the condition of the soul. Hence "a word fitly spoken" must be a word presenting truth adapted to the soul in its existing mood. It must be a word in due season. III. Words fitly spoken should be words SPOKEN IN THE RIGHT SPIRIT. IV. NATURALLY-FLOWING WORDS. "Spoken upon his wheels." Not forced or dragged words. Let us all endeavour to use the right words in the family, in the market, in the schools, in the debate, in the pulpit, on the platform, and in the press. ( D. Thomas, D.D. ) Apples of gold Albert J. Shorthouse. Things of rare worth and beauty are words "fitly spoken," words that fit the case and match the opportunity. The human voice can do what nothing else can. Of some men's words we are sure that they are "apples of gold." Such are the words of the prophets who come with messages of hope and warning. Among words of truth and beauty are — 1. Words of comfort. We have no distance to go to find a human life that needs a consoling word. On the next foot of land to yours stands a man who craves for comfort. There are times in life when the word of instruction would be an injury and the elaborated argument a great hurt, as neither would minister to the mind diseased; but simple, earnest, heartfelt words, born of sympathy, are veritable "apples of gold." 2. Words of counsel. These are not always welcome. Our independent spirit will not permit us to invite or accept them. Yet many a man traces the turning-point of his career to the time when he acted on some word of good counsel. The word of experience is often the word wanted. 3. Words of encouragement. The world will never know what it owes to those people who have encouraged others. To encourage a man is to help him to turn some of the possibilities within him into actual achievements. Let us give God thanks for all those winsome servants of His who walk their appointed ways across His world, speaking as they go the encouraging word. ( Albert J. Shorthouse. ) Words on wheels A wonderful deal of good often comes from what Solomon calls "a word fitly spoken." The Hebrew for "fitly spoken" here means "set on wheels." All our words are set on wheels. If they are good words, they are wheeling on for good. If they are evil words, they go wheeling on for evil. Remember this. A word fitly spoken From, Life of Dr. Jeter A certain Baptist merchant of Richmond became seriously embarrassed in his business. The report went out that he had failed, and caused much painful surprise. A few days after the suspension of his business Dr. Jeter, in passing down the aisle of the church one Sunday morning, met him. He grasped him by the hand with unwonted warmth, and said, " How are you, brother? I have heard fine news about you." Just about that time the sad brother was feeling that all the news concerning him was of the worst sort. With mingled surprise and curiosity he asked the doctor what he had heard. "Why, I heard that you had failed in business, and failed honestly. It is nothing to lose your money if you have been able to retain your integrity." The kind word went far to reconcile the brother to his misfortunes. He did "fail honestly," and not long after started again, and rose to high prosperity. ( From " Life of Dr. Jeter .") As the cold of snow in the time of harvest, so is a faithful messenger to them that send him. Proverbs 25:13 The value of a good messenger to his employers Homilist. It is not necessary to imagine that Solomon here indicates the occurrence in Judea of snow in the time of harvest. It is very improbable that a snowstorm ever happened in that country during that period. The ancients in the East did as we do, preserve the ice and snow of winter in order to cool our summer beverages. A cold draught on a hot summer's day was there, as here, most refreshing. What such a beverage was to the thirsty man in the heat of a tropical summer, is a faithful messenger to the soul of his master. Our subject is the value of a good messenger to his employer. I. HIS CHARACTER is refreshing to his master. What more pleasing to an employer than the development of fidelity in his servants? To see them faithful, not only to their engagements, but faithful to moral truth and to God. Even the Eternal Master of us all is pleased with the fidelity of His servants. II. HIS INFLUENCE is refreshing to his master. 1. His service will be likely to inspire his master with confidence in him. He calmly relies upon his representative. 2. His service will be likely to awaken general respect for his master. A "faithful messenger" can scareely fail to bring honour to his master. ( Homilist. ) By long forbearing is a prince persuaded, and a soft tongue breaketh the bone. Proverbs 25:15 The power of gentleness Bp. John Wilkins. In the government of our words, mildness, or meekness, is specially commendable. The right disposition includes meekness, gentleness, courteousness, kindness. These are the virtues of a soft tongue. The opposites are hardness, roughness, sharpness, bitterness, clamour, brawling. By the term "breaking" is meant persuading, pacifying, convincing, appeasing, prevailing with. A meek and gentle way of discourse is the most effectual means to overcome the fiercest passions and most obdurate, cruel dispositions. A calm and gentle way in vindicating ourselves is the most effectual means to work confusion in such as would calumniate and reproach us. This truth may be confirmed by two considerations. 1. The nature of these fierce passions and this obduracy or hardness of temper, which are increased by opposition, and consequently must be abated by gentleness and yielding. 2. From the nature of lenity and gentleness, whose property it is to insinuate itself into the hardest things. It is compared with oil. How does this doctrine consist with the imprecations of Scripture? Explain that some of them, though pronounced optatively, are to be understood declaratively, as descriptive of the true state and condition of such parties. Those who used these imprecations were inspired for a particular purpose. They spoke in their zeal for God. It may be right to wish evil to come to persons for the sake of its disciplinary mission. How does this doctrine consist with the severe imprecations of Scripture? Our Saviour called the Pharisees "vipers," Herod a "fox." The apostle calls some people "dogs." To this it may be said, those who have an extraordinary power of discerning may use such hard terms. And those in public stations may thus severely chide and reprehend. How does this doctrine consist with the duties of zeal and reproving, which sometimes must be done with severity? A man may sometimes sin in not being angry. True "meekness of wisdom" directs a, man how to order his zeal and rebukes. Learn — 1. That if soft words be of such a prevailing efficacy, soft and gentle actions must be so too. 2. The folly and sinfulness of hard speeches, whereby others may be provoked to anger and offence. 3. The lawfulness and fitness of giving men the reverence and honour due to their proper titles. 4. Bitter and provoking words are unmanly, as being against the rules of morality and very un-Christian, as being against the precepts of the gospel. ( Bp. John Wilkins. ) The manifestation and mightiness of moral power D. Thomas, D.D. There are three kinds of power — material, mental, and moral. I. THE MANIFESTATION of moral power. The words indicate a threefold manifestation. 1. Stillness. "By long forbearing is a prince persuaded." Forbearance implies calm endurance — a patience like that which the Great Heavenly Exemplar exhibited under insults and persecutions. 2. Speech. "A soft tongue breaketh the bone." "A soft tongue" not a simpering tongue, not a silly tongue, not a sycophantic tongue, but the "soft tongue" of tender love and forbearing kindness. Such a tongue is might: it "breaketh the bone." This somewhat paradoxical expression expresses the amazing power of kind words; they break the bone, the ossified heart of the enemy. Another manifestation of power here is — 3. Service. "If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink," etc . "In the smelting of metals," says Arnot, "whether on a large or small scale, it is necessary that the burning coals should be above the ore as well as beneath it. The melting fuel and the rude stones to be melted are mingled together and brought into contact, particle by particle, throughout the mass. It is thus that the resistance of the stub

Benson Commentary Proverbs 25:1 These are also proverbs of Solomon, which the men of Hezekiah king of Judah copied out. Proverbs 25:1 . These — Which are contained in this and the following chapters; are also the proverbs of Solomon — Lessons on piety and virtue, sententiously delivered by Solomon, and collected out of his works by some of the servants of that good king, Hezekiah; who, setting himself with all his heart to reform the people of Judah, among other things which he did for that purpose, and wherein God blessed his endeavours, ( 2 Chronicles 31:21 ,) caused these proverbs to be transcribed out of the ancient records, for their fuller instruction. Proverbs 25:2 It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter. Proverbs 25:2 . It is the glory of God to conceal a thing — It is agreeable to the nature of God, and highly conducing to his honour, as being a testimony of his infinite wisdom and knowledge, of his absolute power and sovereignty, and of his other incomprehensible perfections, to keep his counsels, and the reasons of his actions, in his own breast; which he does not need to impart to any other being for his advice and assistance; since he is self-sufficient, both for the contrivance and execution of whatsoever pleases him, and accountable to none for any of his matters; but the honour of kings, &c. — But kings must not affect to be like God in this respect: because they are but creatures, and therefore ignorant and insufficient, and accountable to a higher authority; to search out a matter — In the conduct of their great affairs they must not lean to their own understandings, nor be wedded to their own wills, but must communicate their counsels to others, that so they may search and find out the true and right way, and be ready to give a satisfactory account of the justice and reasonableness of all their administrations, as occasion shall require. Proverbs 25:3 The heaven for height, and the earth for depth, and the heart of kings is unsearchable. Proverbs 25:3 . The heaven for height, &c. — As no man upon earth can exactly discover the height of heaven, or the depth of earth, or discern what is contained in them; so, the heart of kings is unsearchable — Though wise kings will search out other men and things, yet their inward thoughts and purposes are hardly to be discovered, not only because every man’s heart lies out of the sight of others, but because it is the practice of kings industriously to conceal their intentions. Proverbs 25:4 Take away the dross from the silver, and there shall come forth a vessel for the finer. Proverbs 25:4-5 . Take away the dross from the silver, &c. — When the dross is separated from the silver, and not before, it becomes so pliable, that the finer may cast or work it into what form he pleases; thus, take away the wicked from before the king — Remove from his court and counsels those who, by their wicked advices and practices, provoke God’s displeasure against him, blast his reputation, and alienate the hearts of his subjects from him, and his throne shall be established in righteousness — By such impartial execution of justice, his kingdom will be settled in peace, and his government become as durable as it will be beneficial. Proverbs 25:5 Take away the wicked from before the king, and his throne shall be established in righteousness. Proverbs 25:6 Put not forth thyself in the presence of the king, and stand not in the place of great men : Proverbs 25:6-7 . Put not forth thyself in the presence of the king — Hebrew, ?? ????? , do not magnify, or glorify thyself, before the king; namely, by vaunting or vain-glorious speech, or behaviour; but, which is implied, conduct thyself in an humble and modest manner, which is most pleasing to kings, princes, and other superiors, and most becoming and safe for thee; and stand not in the place of great men — Do not affect frequent and familiar society with greater persons than thyself; much less intrude thyself into places where none but the great officers or nobles ought to come. For better is it — It is more for thy credit and comfort; that it be said unto thee — By some public officer, or by the king himself, Come up hither — To a higher place, to which, of thyself, thou didst not dare to presume to go; than that thou shouldest be put lower — Shouldest have a check given thee for thy forwardness; in the presence of the prince, &c. — Into whose presence thou hadst so boldly intruded thyself, and who, as before he observed thy impudence, so now he sees and suffers this public disgrace to be cast upon thee. Proverbs 25:7 For better it is that it be said unto thee, Come up hither; than that thou shouldest be put lower in the presence of the prince whom thine eyes have seen. Proverbs 25:8 Go not forth hastily to strive, lest thou know not what to do in the end thereof, when thy neighbour hath put thee to shame. Proverbs 25:8-10 . Go not forth hastily to strive — To contend with thy neighbour judicially or otherwise; especially take some time to consider both whether thy cause be good, and whether it be important, as also how to manage it, before thou bring an action at law against him; reflect on the certainty of the expense and the uncertainty of the success, and how much care and vexation it will occasion; lest thou know not what to do, &c. — Lest, in the conclusion, thou wish the matter had not been begun, when he puts thee to open shame, by showing thou hast sued him wrongfully, or for a trifle. Debate thy cause with thy neighbour — If thou hast any quarrel with him, first try to compose it by private discourse with him. And discover not a secret — Any secret; to another — Let no heat of contention provoke thee to divulge any of his secret counsels committed to thy trust, or to reproach him with any of his secret faults, as is usual in law- suits and other contentions. Or the words may be rendered, Discover not the secret; namely, the secret difference between thee and him; let it be ended secretly between you, and not be imparted to any other. Lest he that heareth it put thee to shame — Reproach thee for thy gross violation of the laws of prudence, justice, charity, and friendship therein; and thy infamy turn not away — And that disgrace, which thou didst design against another, fall and be fastened upon thyself. Proverbs 25:9 Debate thy cause with thy neighbour himself ; and discover not a secret to another: Proverbs 25:10 Lest he that heareth it put thee to shame, and thine infamy turn not away. Proverbs 25:11 A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver. Proverbs 25:11 . A word fitly spoken — As to the matter, and season, and other circumstances of it; is like apples of gold in pictures of silver — Which, it seems, were usual in those times, and were grateful to the eye for the beauty and variety both of the colours and figures, the golden apples appearing through the net-work of silver, or being engraven, or portrayed, upon tablets of silver. Some translate the clause, Golden apples in vessels of silver, and think that, by golden apples, citrons or oranges are meant, or some fruit of the like kind and colour, which, put into silver vessels, appear the more beautiful by the contrast of the whiteness of the silver with their golden colour. Bishop Lowth observes, that Solomon in this sentence gives us not only an apt description of the proverb or parable, but also an example of the thing described. He means, in these words, that weighty and hidden meanings are as much commended by a concise and well-turned speech, as apples, exquisite for their colour, appear more lovely and pleasing when they shine through the net-work of a silver basket exquisitely chased: see his twenty-fourth lecture. Proverbs 25:12 As an earring of gold, and an ornament of fine gold, so is a wise reprover upon an obedient ear. Proverbs 25:12 . As an ear-ring of gold, &c. — That is, highly acceptable, and a great ornament, and not an offence and dishonour, as fools think it; is a wise reprover — One who reproves an offender faithfully, and yet prudently, in the fittest manner and season; upon an obedient ear — To the man that hearkens to the reproof, and is instructed and reformed by it. Proverbs 25:13 As the cold of snow in the time of harvest, so is a faithful messenger to them that send him: for he refresheth the soul of his masters. Proverbs 25:13 . As the cold of snow, &c. — Solomon does not here intend a fall of snow in the time of harvest, which must have been incommoding instead of being pleasurable and refreshing, as the proverb supposes what he speaks of to be; but liquors cooled with snow or ice, which they usually were in summer or harvest in the East, and which rendered them extremely grateful; so is a faithful messenger — One that faithfully and diligently executes his commission, to the satisfaction of the persons that sent him; for he refreshes the soul of his masters — With a true account and speedy despatch of those important affairs which were committed to him. Proverbs 25:14 Whoso boasteth himself of a false gift is like clouds and wind without rain. Proverbs 25:14 . Whoso boasteth himself of a false gift — Falsely pretends that he hath given, or will give, a valuable gift; or who raises high expectations by promising much, and then deceives them by performing little or nothing; is like clouds and wind without rain — Is like empty clouds carried about with wind, and not affording that rain which by their appearance they promise. Proverbs 25:15 By long forbearing is a prince persuaded, and a soft tongue breaketh the bone. Proverbs 25:15 . By long forbearing is a prince persuaded — That is, by patient submission and expectation he is pacified, whereas his rage is increased by opposition. And a soft tongue breaketh the bone — A mild and humble answer softens a heart which is as hard as a bone or stone. He alludes to those oils which sink through the flesh to the very bone: see Psalm 109:18 . Proverbs 25:16 Hast thou found honey? eat so much as is sufficient for thee, lest thou be filled therewith, and vomit it. Proverbs 25:16 . Hast thou found honey? — Which, in those parts, was often found in woods or fields. By honey, he understands not only all delicious meats, but all present and worldly delights, which we are here taught to use with moderation: for as honey, moderately taken, strengthens the body and prolongs life, but, if taken to excess, disturbs the stomach, and turns the pleasure into pain; so it is with earthly satisfactions and pursuits. Moderately used they are refreshing and useful; immoderately, they produce disgust, or are accompanied with guilt and followed by trouble. Proverbs 25:17 Withdraw thy foot from thy neighbour's house; lest he be weary of thee, and so hate thee. Proverbs 25:17 . Withdraw thy foot from thy neighbour’s house — Visit him not too frequently nor unseasonably: do not, upon every light occasion, interrupt his weightier affairs, nor intrude upon him, and take up his time uninvited and unexpected. Lest he be weary of thee — Lest, having too much of thy company, it grow not only troublesome, but loathsome to him, and his love turn into hatred of thee. Proverbs 25:18 A man that beareth false witness against his neighbour is a maul, and a sword, and a sharp arrow. Proverbs 25:18 . A man that beareth false witness, &c., is a maul — Or, club, by which a man’s fame and character are beaten down to the ground. And a sword, and a sharp arrow — By his tongue he is as cruel and pernicious to his neighbour as any instrument of death: he destroys him, not only when he is near, as with a sword, but when he is afar off, as with a sharp arrow shot at him. Proverbs 25:19 Confidence in an unfaithful man in time of trouble is like a broken tooth, and a foot out of joint. Proverbs 25:19 . Confidence in an unfaithful man, &c. — “As a broken tooth, or leg out of joint, not only fails a man when he comes to use them, but likewise puts him into pain; so doth a faithless person serve them that depend upon him, when they have the greatest need of his help; and such also is the confidence that a faithless person himself places in riches, or craft, or great friends, &c, which some time or other will disappoint him to his great grief, when he expects the most from them.” — Bishop Patrick. Proverbs 25:20 As he that taketh away a garment in cold weather, and as vinegar upon nitre, so is he that singeth songs to an heavy heart. Proverbs 25:20 . As he that taketh away a garment in cold weather — When it is most necessary; and as vinegar upon nitre — Producing an effervescence through the contrariety of their qualities; so is he that singeth songs to a heavy heart — Such unseasonable mirth does not relieve, but increase a man’s grief, and makes his heart far more heavy and sorrowful than it was before. Proverbs 25:21 If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink: Proverbs 25:21-22 . If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread, &c. — By bread and water he intends all things necessary for his subsistence; for thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head — If he have the least spark of goodness in him, such conduct in thee toward him will work a change in his mind, and make him throw off all his enmities; thou shalt melt him into repentance, and inflame him with love and kindness to thee for so unexpected and undeserved a favour; or, as Dr. Doddridge paraphrases the words, Romans 12:20-21 , (where they are quoted by St. Paul verbatim from the translation of the LXX.,) “Thou wilt touch him so sensibly, that he will no more be able to stand against such conduct than to bear on his head burning coals; but will rather submit to seek thy friendship, and endeavour, by future kindnesses, to overbalance the injury.” Or, if it have not this effect, but he still hardens his heart against thee, he shall have so much the sorer punishment; these coals shall consume him. And the Lord shall reward thee — Thy charity to him shall be fully recompensed to thee, if not by him yet, by God, which will be far better. In other words, as is the plain meaning of the passage, “Be kind to your enemy, for that is the surest way to gain his love and God’s blessing.” That St. Paul understood it in this sense is manifest from the words which he immediately subjoins, after quoting it, Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good, in which he evidently explains what is meant by heaping coals of fire on an enemy’s head, namely, by acts of kindness, to soften his heart and dispose him to friendship; which is the natural effect of a generous unexpected goodness. The phrase seems to be taken from melting metals in a crucible; for when gold or silver is melted in that manner they not only put fire under and round all the sides, but also heap coals of fire upon the head of the crucible, and so melt the metal. In allusion to this, we are to heap acts of kindness and beneficence upon the head of an enemy, and so melt down his obstinacy, bring him to a better temper, and overcome his evil by our good: which is noble, glorious, reasonable, and truly Christian: see Schultens on this place. It is justly observed by Mr. Scott here; that as St. Paul’s quoting this passage is a strong testimony to the divine authority of the book from which it is taken, so it clearly evinces that the rule of duty in this case is the same in both testaments, however ancient scribes and Pharisees, and many modern writers, have overlooked it. “The law of love, perhaps, is not expounded more spiritually, in any single precept, either of Christ or his apostles, than in this exhortation. Seize the moment of distress to show kindness to him that hates thee.” Proverbs 25:22 For thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head, and the LORD shall reward thee. Proverbs 25:23 The north wind driveth away rain: so doth an angry countenance a backbiting tongue. Proverbs 25:23 . The north wind, &c. — “As the sharpness of the north wind scatters clouds, and drives away rain, so a severe countenance, full of indignation against him that traduces his neighbour, not only gives a check, but puts a stop to his slanderous tongue; which would not tell such lies if they were not greedily received.” So Bishop Patrick, who justly observes, however, that the verse will admit of a quite contrary sense; as, indeed, the reader may see by the margin, where he finds a translation of the words very different from that in the text, but more agreeable to the Hebrew original, and countenanced by most of the ancient interpreters. Thus the Chaldee renders the first clause, The north wind, ????? , concipit, conceives, or produces, rain: and the Seventy, ?????? ?????? ????????? ???? , the north wind raises clouds. Undoubtedly the north wind brings clouds and rain in some climates, and if, as some assert, it generally does so in Judea, as according to Aristotle it does in those parts of Africa which border on the Mediterranean sea, this interpretation ought certainly to be preferred. Either of them, however, shows the odious disposition and character of backbiters; and that they ought to be discountenanced and frowned upon by all that love their fellow-creatures, and wish peace to be promoted among men. Proverbs 25:24 It is better to dwell in the corner of the housetop, than with a brawling woman and in a wide house. Proverbs 25:25 As cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country. Proverbs 25:25 . As cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country — “Good and certain news, especially from a far country, (from whence it is hard to have any true intelligence,) is as grateful to him that longed to hear of his friends there, as cool water is to a thirsty traveller; especially when he meets with it in remote and uninhabited places, where he did not expect it.” — Bishop Patrick. Proverbs 25:26 A righteous man falling down before the wicked is as a troubled fountain, and a corrupt spring. Proverbs 25:26 . A righteous man falling down before the wicked, &c. — When a righteous man is either allured or terrified into any sinful practice by wicked men, or into any base and servile compliance with their habits and customs, he, who by his excellent example and counsels was like a fountain, or well of life, (as the mouth of the righteous is termed, Proverbs 10:11 ,) sending forth refreshing streams for the benefit of many, is now corrupted and rendered useless. Or, the meaning may be, When righteous men are oppressed by the wicked, the state of that commonwealth is as deplorable as if the public fountains, from which all the people fetched their water, were corrupted, and it is a sign that the fountains of justice are poisoned. Proverbs 25:27 It is not good to eat much honey: so for men to search their own glory is not glory. Proverbs 25:27 . It is not good to eat much honey — Namely, for the health of the body; so for men to search their own glory — Industriously to seek for honour and applause from men; is not glory — Is not only sinful, but shameful also, and a sign of a vain and mean spirit. Proverbs 25:28 He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls. Proverbs 25:28 . He that hath no rule over his own spirit — Over his passions, and especially his anger, which is signified by this word, Proverbs 16:32 ; Ecclesiastes 10:4 ; is like a city that is broken down and without walls — Exposes himself to manifold dangers and mischiefs. Benson Commentary on the Old and New Testaments Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.

Expositor's Bible Commentary Proverbs 25:1 These are also proverbs of Solomon, which the men of Hezekiah king of Judah copied out. CHAPTER 26 THE KING "It is the glory of God to conceal a thing, but the glory of kings is to search out a matter. The heaven for height and the earth for depth, and the heart of kings is unsearchable. Take away the dross from the silver, and there cometh forth a vessel for the finer; Take away the wicked from before the king, and his throne shall be established in righteousness. Put not thyself forward in the presence of the king, and stand not in the presence of great men: Far better is it that it be said unto thee, Come up hither, than that thou shouldest be put lower in the presence of the prince whom thine eyes have seen." Proverbs 25:2-7 IT will be remembered that in the book of Samuel there are two accounts of the monarchy and its origin lying side by side, -different, and to all appearances irreconcilable. One set of passages seem to imply that the king was appointed by God’s holy purpose to fulfill the objects of His government. But another set of passages seems to represent the outcry for a king as a rebellion against the sovereignty of the Lord, and the appointment of a king as a punishment for the people’s sin. It is in agreement with the first idea that provision is made in the Law for a monarchical government; but it is in agreement with the second idea that the actual kings prove to be for the most part incompetent and faithless rulers, "who do evil in the sight of the Lord," and that even the best of them fall into gross sins, or are at any rate guilty of grave errors. Thus David stumbled into a miry pit; Jehoshaphat experienced defeat in his alliance with Ahab; Josiah was slain at the battle of Megiddo; Uzziah was smitten with leprosy; and Hezekiah committed an imprudence which incidentally brought the great calamity upon his country. So it is all through. Now the only satisfactory explanation that this twofold aspect of the kingship seems to admit of is one which goes deep down into, the prophetic and inspired character of Israel and its history. The king in his ideal aspect is throughout a type and a foreshadowing of the Anointed One that was to come; and the actual failure of all the kings to realize the ideal, to govern wisely, to establish righteousness, or even to observe the moral law in their own persons, necessarily threw men’s thoughts forward to Him who should sit upon the throne of David, and carry out in ways not yet realized or even conceived the noble and exalted ideas which clustered round the theocratic throne. Many hasty critics have been swift to see and to censure the ignoble failures of the men who sat upon the thrones of Judah and Israel; some critics have developed with sufficient clearness the noble ideal which always underlay the monarchy even in the moments of its deepest decline. But comparatively few have seen the significance of this contrast between the ideal and the actual; and consequently only a few have perceived with what a prolonged and emphatic voice the whole story of the Kings spoke of Christ. The contrast just pointed out in the historic books appears with equal distinctness in this book of Wisdom; the proverbial sayings about the king exhibit the twofold thought; and the reconciliation is only found when we have realized the Kingship of Christ and can bring that idea to explain the ancient forecast. Thus the study of the things concerning the king is to the thoughtful reader of the Proverbs a study of the things concerning Christ. The ideal elements speak of Him; the actual shortcomings cry out for Him. First we will review what is said to the glory and honor of the king. He comes before us as the embodiment of righteousness. "It is an abomination to kings to commit wickedness, for the throne is established by righteousness. Righteous lips are the delight of kings, and they love him that speaketh right." { Proverbs 16:12-13 } "A king that sitteth on the throne of judgment winnoweth away all evil with his eyes. A wise king winnoweth the wicked and bringeth the threshing wheel over them." { Proverbs 20:8 ; Proverbs 20:26 } As he purges the wicked, so he encourages the righteous: "He that loveth pureness of heart hath grace on his lips, the king shall be his friend." { Proverbs 22:2 } There is a great severity in his government: "The wrath of a king is as messengers of death; and a wise man will pacify it." { Proverbs 16:14 } "The king’s wrath is as the roaring of a lion." { Proverbs 19:12 } On the other hand, his mercy is one with his severity: "His favour is as dew upon the grass." { Proverbs 19:12 } "In the light of the king’s countenance is life, and his favour is as a cloud of the latter rain." { Proverbs 16:15 } "Mercy and truth preserve the king, and his throne is upholden by mercy." { Proverbs 20:28 } The fact is that his government is a vice-royalty. He is the human instrument of the Divine Will. "The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord; as the watercourses"-which the farmer directs and leads over his fields according to his purpose-"he turneth it whithersoever he will." { Proverbs 21:1 } Thus the king expresses precisely the Lord’s favour towards a servant that dealeth wisely, and the Lord’s wrath against him that causeth shame. { Proverbs 14:35 } The king manifests the Lord’s spirit in dealing with the subject, judging the cause of the poor as the Lord does. "The king that judgeth faithfully the poor, his throne shall be established forever." { Proverbs 29:14 } He is, in a word, a manifestation-a revelation-of God Himself. "The glory of God is to conceal a thing," i.e. , to be unsearchable and unknowable, "and the glory of kings is to search a matter out; "the king, searching the deep things of God, and becoming the interpreter of the Divine will to men, is Himself in the place of God to us. "The heaven for height and the earth for depth, and the heart of kings there is no searching." Reflecting the righteousness, the mercy, the power of God, his throne is bathed in the celestial light. "Take away dross from the silver, and there cometh forth a vessel for the finer; take away evil from before the king, and his throne shall be fixed in justice." { Proverbs 25:2-5 } In the presence of such a sovereign the subject may well abase himself, even the greatest and wisest may count himself small. "Glorify not thyself before a king, and in the place of the great do not stand. For better is it that it be said to thee, Come up hither, than that thou shouldest be put lower in the presence of a prince whom thine eyes have seen." { Proverbs 25:6-7 } Rebellion against such a sovereign is the merest infatuation. "Against him there is no rising up." { Proverbs 30:31 } "The terror of the king is as the roaring of a lion, he that provoketh him to anger sinneth against his own life." { Proverbs 20:2 } "My son, fear thou the Lord and the king, and meddle not with them who are given to change; for their calamity shall rise suddenly; and who knoweth the destruction of them both." { Proverbs 24:21-22 } It is evident that in all this we have an ideal picture. No king that ever sat on an earthly throne, no David or Hezekiah, no Antoninus or Trajan, no Charlemagne or St. Louis, no Alfred or Edward the First, ever in the faintest degree approached the fulfillment of the ideal. The divinity which hedged them was of quite a different kind from this open vision of God, this human mediatorship, this absolute subjection to the Divine will. And when we leave the select class of great and good kings, and look at the ordinary type of the strong and capable ruler, Saul or Ahab, Alexander or Caesar, Constantine or Diocletian, Clovis or Rollo, William the Conqueror or Henry II, Louis XIV or Frederick the Great, the Czar Peter or Napoleon, we see at once that we have passed into a region of thought and action where the description of the Proverbs becomes unreal and visionary. There is but one way of explaining the language before us. It points to Christ. In Him alone is it or can it be realized. He is the only sovereign that has any union with God which is at all like identity. He is the only Ruler who blends with absolute infallibility severity and mercy. Of what other king could it be said that "purity of heart" secures His friendship? What other king has made it his first and supreme object to judge faithfully the poor? What other government but His has sought its security in that essential duty and its fulfillment? It is Christ alone whose favor descends on the heart like dew on the grass, or as a cloud of the latter rain. His is the only rule against which rebellion is more than a political crime, and becomes an actual sin. Of Him alone can it be said with any breadth of meaning or certainty of fulfillment, "Let no falsehood from the tongue be spoken to the King, and no falsehood shall go out of his mouth. A sword is the king’s tongue, and that not of flesh." It is only a king absolutely righteous and absolutely merciful that can ever bear down with effective force upon lies and liars. It is only He that would see in lying the prime sin, the incurable disease, the unpardonable treason. The King is Christ. Before He came there was in the line of His foreshadowing a typical Divine right of kings. But since His coming all such kingships have been anachronisms. The appeal which used to be made to the Old Testament to support that famous political dogma was indeed its surest refutation and condemnation. For all that is said there of the indefeasible prerogative, coupled as it is with an infallibility of judgment, a perfect moral goodness, and an irresistible power, applied and could apply only to Christ. Where absolute monarchy is not Christship it becomes, as so many familiar passages in the Old Testament show, a tyranny and an oppression, a cause of national corruption and decay. Now this leads us, in the second place, to notice how the actual failure and consequent mischief of the kingship are reflected in the proverbs, and especially those later proverbs which date from the decline and fall of the monarchy. We have only to glance over the books of Samuel and Kings to see what kind of men the occupants of the throne were; few of them show any marked ability, most of them by their folly and stupidity lead their people with hurried strides towards the threatened catastrophe. So far from acting as vice-regents of the Lord, it is their special characteristic that they are the authors of the prevailing religious apostasy. Even the more favorable exceptions, the kings who in the main did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, had not spiritual energy enough to purify the worship and restore the allegiance of their people to the Lord. Now it would be some insolent and witless tyrant who would desolate the country and drive his subjects into revolt. "A raging lion, a ravening bear, a wicked ruler over a poor people. O prince, that lackest understanding and art a great oppressor, he that hateth rapine shall prolong his days." { Proverbs 25:6-7 } Now it would be a headstrong prince who would scorn all counsel, and, refusing to be advised, would himself retire from the helm of the state. "Where no wise steering is, the people falleth; but in the multitude of counselors there is safety." Setting aside the maxim, "Every purpose is established by counsel, and by wise guidance make thou war," { Proverbs 20:18 } his purposes would be disappointed. { Proverbs 15:22 } Now the earth would be burdened and tremble with the portent of a servant as king, {See 1 Kings 16:7 } one who as a servant might be excellent, but once on the throne would reveal all the weaknesses and vices which are essentially servile. { Proverbs 30:22 } Now a liar would occupy the throne, and lying lips ill become a prince. { Proverbs 17:7 } And now, owing to the weakness and folly of the prince, the state would fall into pieces and be torn with wildly contending factions: "For the transgression of a land many are the princes thereof, but by a man of understanding and knowledge right will be prolonged." { Proverbs 28:2 } Under the rule of the wicked, population disappears. { Proverbs 28:12 } And while "in the multitude of people is the king’s glory, in the want of people is the destruction of the prince." { Proverbs 14:28 } Under the tyrant’s sway "the people sigh." { Proverbs 28:2 } Their persons are insecure, and their property is taken from them in the form of forced gifts or benevolences. { Proverbs 29:4 } And as the king, such are his servants; his readiness to hearken to falsehood renders them all wicked. The atmosphere of the court becomes corrupt: all truth, sincerity, purity disappear. The courtier is afraid to speak his mind, lest jealous listeners should report the words to the monarch’s suspicious ear. The very freedom of social life disappears, and the table of the king becomes a trap to the unwary. "When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently him that is before thee, and put a knife to thy throat if thou be a man given to appetite; be not desirous of his dainties, seeing they are deceitful meat." Here is the complete and absolute corruption of the Divine royalty. The description holds true age after age; suggested by the decline of the monarchy in Israel, it applies accurately to the Imperial government at Rome, and it might have been written to describe the character and the government of the Stuarts in England. Strong in what they supposed to be their Divine Right, they became liars and hearkened to falsehood; their servants became wicked; their government perished from its own inherent rottenness. The description holds too of the French monarchy from the time of Louis XIV to its fall. And it would seem, as indeed we may confidently believe: that the slow and imperceptible decay of the faith in the divine right of kings has been in God’s hands a long preparation for the reign of Him whose right it is to reign, Jesus Christ, the true King of men. But there is still one other characteristic cause of the perverted kingship, to which attention is drawn in Proverbs 31:2-8 : "Give not thy strength unto women, nor thy ways to that which destroyeth kings. It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine, nor for princes to say, Where is strong drink? Lest they drink and forget the law, and pervert the judgment of any that is afflicted." These fleshly vices are peculiarly common and peculiarly ruinous to kings, preventing them from pleading "the cause of such as are left desolate," and from "ministering judgment to the poor and needy." { Proverbs 31:8-9 } It is in realizing the private life of kings, and in observing how seldom they have practiced temperance, chastity, self-control, and how readily their contemporaries and even posterity have dispensed them from these primary obligations, that we plainly recognize the broad divergence between the facts of earthly monarchies and the description of the heavenly monarchy, and thus are prepared to recognize with gratitude and awe the sole sovereignty of Christ. The cry of the Florentines under the temporary excitement created by Savonarola’s preaching was, "Jesus is our King, only Jesus." That is the constant and ever-swelling cry of human hearts. The types and shadows fall away; through the forms the spirit becomes apparent. It is Christ that claims and wins and enchains our loyalty. We are His subjects, He is our absolute Lord; we have no king but Jesus. There is in every human heart a loyalty which seeks for a fitting object; if it finds no lawful king, it will attach itself to a pretender. What pathos there is in the sacrifices which men have made, and in the deeds which they have dared, for Pretenders who have had no claim upon their devotion or allegiance! "Show me my rightful sovereign," seems to be the implicit demand of us all. And the answer has been given, "Behold, your king cometh unto you," in the lowly person, but commanding majesty, of Jesus. Many have accepted this and have cried, "Blessed is the king that cometh in the name of the Lord." { Luke 19:38 } Shall we not bring our loyalty to Him, recognizing the One whom prophets and wise men foretold, and acknowledging in His sway the authority which all other governments, even the best of them, lack? Let no false shame or fear restrain our homage; let not the sneers of those over whom "other lords have dominion" keep our knees from bending, and our tongues from confessing, "The fear of man bringeth a snare; but whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe. Many seek the ruler’s favour,"-their whole thought is to stand well with the powers that be, and to secure the recognition of the Pretender who happens at any given moment to be directing the affairs of the world, -"but a man’s judgment cometh from the Lord," his rightful King, { Proverbs 29:25-26 } and to stand right with Him is all that need concern us. How well the King of men understood that because He came in humility, His birthplace a manger, His throne a fishing-boat or a wayside well, riding not in chariots of state, "but on an ass, and the foal of an ass"; because His appeal would be, not to the eye, but to the heart; not to the outward, but the inward; not to the temporal, but to the eternal, -men, with their perverted and misapplied loyalties, would reject Him and be ashamed to confess Him. False kingships have dazzled our eyes, and hidden from us the grandeur of a Sovereign who is among us as one that serveth. From the touch of His humiliation we shrink. But if the heart recognizes and owns its lawful Sovereign; if, captivated by His indescribable beauty and bowed before His indisputable authority, it seeks only in profound obeisance and absolute surrender, to worship and adore and serve, how royal is His treatment, how unstinted are His largesses. "Come up hither," He says, bringing the soul higher and higher, into fuller vision, into more buoyant life, into more effectual service. The evil ruler, we saw, made all his servants wicked. Christ, as King, makes all His servants holy, dwelling in them, and subduing their hearts to Himself in ever truer devotion; tie through them carries out His vast designs of love in those portions of His dominion where rebels still rise no against Him, and where poor deluded hearts still fretfully cry, "We will not have this Man to rule over us." "In the multitude of people is the king’s glory." May God hasten the time when all peoples and tongues shall bow down to and worship our King! Proverbs 25:21 If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink: CHAPTER 25 FORGIVING "Be not a witness against thy neighbor without cause, and deceive not with thy lips. Say not, I will do so to him as he hath done to me; I will render to the man according to his work,"- Proverbs 24:28-29 "Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thy heart be glad when he is overthrown, lest the Lord see it and it displease Him, and He turn away His wrath from him."- Proverbs 24:17-18 . "He that is glad at calamity shall not be unpunished."- Proverbs 17:5 "If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat, and if he be thirsty give him water to drink; for thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head, and the Lord shall reward thee."- Proverbs 25:21-22 THERE is no subject on which the teaching of the Proverbs more strikingly anticipates the morality of the New Testament than that of forgiveness to our enemies. Our Lord Jesus Christ could take some of these sayings and incorporate them unchanged into the law of His kingdom, for indeed it is not possible to surpass the power and beauty and truth of the command to feed those who have injured us if they are hungry, to give them drink when they are thirsty, and in this Divine way to kindle in them repentance for the injury which they have done. This is the high-water mark of moral excellence. No better state can be desired. When a human spirit is habitually in this tender and forgiving mood, it is already united with the Father of spirits, and lives. It is almost superfluous to point out that even the saints of the Old Testament fall very far short of the lofty standard which is here set before us. The Psalmist, for example, is thinking of coals of a quite different sort when he exclaims: "As for the head of those that compass me about, let the mischief of their own lips cover them. Let burning coals fall upon them; let them be cast into the fire; into deep pits that they rise not up again." { Psalm 140:9-10 } That is the old elemental hate of human nature, the passionate, indignant appeal to a righteous God against those who have been guilty of a wrong or an injury. Even Jeremiah, one of the latest, and certainly not the least holy, of the prophets, could cry out concerning his enemies: "Yet, Lord, Thou knowest all their counsel against me to slay me; forgive not their iniquity, neither blot out their sin from Thy sight; but let them be overthrown before Thee; deal Thou with them in the time of Thine anger." { Jeremiah 18:23 } Words painfully natural, words echoed by many. a persecuted man of God, but yet quite inconsistent with the teaching of the Savior in the Sermon on the Mount, the teaching already foreshadowed in this beautiful proverb. But it may not be superfluous to notice that the Proverbs themselves, even those which stand at the head of this chapter, do not all touch the high-water mark of Proverbs 25:21 . Thus, for example, the motive which is suggested in Proverbs 24:18 for not rejoicing in the fall of an enemy is none of the highest. The idea seems to be, if you see your enemy undergoing punishment, if calamity is falling upon him from the Lord, then do not indulge in any insolent exultation, lest the Lord should be offended with you, and, in order to chastise your malignity, should cease to plague and trouble him. In such a view of the question, God is still regarded as a Nemesis that will resent any unseemly rejoicing in the calamity of another; { Proverbs 17:5 b} in proportion therefore as you wish to see your enemy punished, you must abstain from that joy in his punishment which would lead to its diminution. From a precept of that kind there is a vast moral stride to the simple prohibition of retaliation, announced without any reason given or suggested in Proverbs 24:29 -"Say not, I will do so to him as he hath done to me, I will render to the man according to his work." And from this again there is an incalculable stride to the positive spirit of love, which, not content with simply abstaining from vindictiveness, actually turns the tables, and repays good for evil, looking with quiet assurance to the Lord, and the Lord alone, for recognition and reward. Our wonder is occasioned not because all the Proverbs do not reach the moral altitude of this one, but rather that this one should be so high. When an ideal is set up far in advance of the general practice and even of the general thoughts of the time, we can ascribe it only to the promptings of the Holy Spirit. It needs no proof that forgiveness is better than revenge. We all know that- "Revenge at first though sweet, Bitter ere long back on itself recoils." We all know that the immediate effect of forgiving our enemy is a sweet flow of tenderness in the soul, which surpasses in delight all the imagined joys of vindictiveness; and that the next effect is to soften and win the foe himself; the scornful look relents, the tears of passion give place to those of penitence, the moved heart is eager to make amends. We all know that nothing more powerfully affects our fellow-men than the exhibition of this placable temper. We all know that in forgiving we share God’s prerogative, and come into harmony with His Spirit. Yet here is the melancholy fact that notwithstanding this proverbial truth, taken up into the teaching of our Savior, and echoed in the writings of His Apostles, even in a Christian society, forgiveness is almost as rare as it was in the days of King Solomon. Men are not ashamed-even professing Christians are not ashamed-to say about their enemies, "I will do so to him as he has done to me, I will render to the man according to his work." We even have a lurking admiration for such retaliatory conduct, calling it spirited, and we still are inclined to contemn one who acts on the Christly principle as weak or visionary. Still the old bad delight in seeing evil fall on the head of our enemies glows in our hearts; still the act of vengeance is performed, the bitter retort is given, the abusive letter is written, with the old sense of unhallowed pride and triumph. How is this? Ah, the simple truth is that it is a small matter to get right principles recognized, the whole difficulty lies in getting them practiced. We need a power which can successfully contend against the storm of passion and self-will in those terrible moments when all the calm lights of reason are quenched by the blinding surf of passion, and all the gentle voices of goodness are drowned by its roaring waves. Sometimes we hear it said that the moral teaching of Christ is not original, but that all His precepts may be found in the words and writings of ancient sages, just as His teaching about forgiveness is anticipated by the proverb. Yes, but His claim does not rest upon His teaching, but upon the Divine and supernatural power which He has at His command to carry out His doctrines in the conduct of His disciples. This is the point which we must realize if this sweet and beautiful ideal is to be worked out in our lives. We have but touched the fringe of the question when we have conned His words, or shaped conceptions of what a life would be passed in conformity to them. The center of Christian doctrine is power, the power of Christ, the fountain of living waters opened in the heart, the grafting of the withering branches upon a living stock, the indwelling of Christ Himself, as the spring and principle of every holy action, and the effectual restraint on all our ungovernable passions. But before looking more closely at this, we ought to pay some attention to the constant motive which our Lord, even in His teaching, presents for the practice of a forgiving disposition. He always bases the duty of forgiveness on the need which we have of God’s forgiveness; He teaches us to pray, "Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us"; and in the moving story of the unmerciful servant, who demanded the full payment from his fellow-servant just when his lord had pitifully remitted his own debt, He tells us that forgiveness of our enemies is an indispensable condition of our being forgiven by God. "His lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due. So shall also My Heavenly Father do unto you, if ye forgive not everyone his brother from your hearts." { Matthew 18:35 } It is not therefore only, as it is sometimes stated, that we ought to be moved to pity by remembering what God has done for us. No, there is a much sterner thought in our Lord’s mind; it is that if we do not forgive we shall not and cannot be forgiven. The forgiving spirit manifested to our fellow-men is that without which it is vain for us to come near and to ask God for pardon. If we have come, and are just about to offer our prayer, and if we then remember that we have aught against a brother, we must go first and be reconciled to him, before our prayer can be so much as heard. Here is certainly a motive of a very powerful kind. Which of us would dare to cherish the bitter thought, or proceed with our plan of vengeance, if we remembered and realized that our vindictiveness would make our own pardon at the hands of God impossible? Which of the countless deeds of retaliation that stain with blood the pages of history would have been perpetrated, and which of the perpetrators would not have tremblingly relinquished all thought of reprisals, if they had seen that in those savage acts of vengeance they were not, as they supposed, executing lawful justice, but actually cutting off their own hope of pardon before the throne of God? If we avenge ourselves, if society is constantly torn by the quarrels and the mutual recriminations of hostile men whose one thought is to give as good as they have got, it can only be because we do not believe, or do not realize, this solemn teaching of the Lord. He seems a faint and doubtful voice compared with the loud tumult of passion within; His authority seems weak and ineffectual compared with the mighty domination of the evil disposition. Powerful, therefore, as the motive is to which He constantly appeals, if He had left us nothing but His teaching on the subject we should not be materially better off than they who listened with attention to the teaching of the wise authors of these ancient Proverbs. What more has He left us? It is His prerogative to give to those who believe in Him a changed heart. How much is meant by that, which only the changed heart can know! Outwardly we seem much alike; outwardly, there is little sign of an inward transformation; but far as the east is from the west is the unregenerate heart from the regenerate, the Christless heart from one which He has taken in His hands, and by His great redemption created anew. Now without stopping to follow the processes of faith by which this mighty change is effected, let us simply mark the characteristics of the change so far as it affects the matter in hand. The first and most radical result of the New Birth is that God takes the place which self has occupied. All the thoughts which have clustered about your own being now turn to His Being, as stray fragments of iron turn to the magnet. Consequently, all the emotions and passions which are stimulated by self-love give place to those which are stimulated by the love of God. It is as if the pipes of your aqueduct had been changed at the fountain head, disconnected from the malarious waters of the marsh, and connected with the pure and sparkling water of the hills. God’s ways of regarding men, God’s feelings towards men, His yearning over them, His pity for them, flow into the changed heart, and so preoccupy it that resentment, hatred, and malice are washed out like the sour dregs in a cup which is rinsed in a running stream. There is the man who did you the wrong-very cruel and unpardonable it was!-but, as all personal elements are quite out of the question, you regard him just as if you were not the injured being. You see him only as God sees him; you trace all the malignant workings of his mind; you know how the fire of his hate is a fire which burns the heart that entertains it. You see clearly how tormenting those revengeful passions are, how the poor soul mastered by them is diseased, how the very action in which it is triumphing now must become one day a source of bitter regret and implacable self-reproach; you soon begin to regard the ill deed as a shocking wound inflicted on the doer of it, and the wells of pity are opened. As if this enemy of yours had been quite innocent of all ill-will, and had been overtaken by some terrible calamity, your one instinctive thought is to help him and relieve him. Out of the fullness of your heart, without any sense of being magnanimous, or any thought of a further end, -simply for the pity of it, -you come to proffer him bread in his hunger and water in his thirst. Yes, it is in the atmosphere of pity that personal resentment dies away, and it is only by the power of the Son of Man that the heart can be filled with a pity large enough to pardon all the sins of our kind. It is this thought-though without any definite statement of the means by which it is produced-that finds expression in Whittier’s touching lines:- "My heart was heavy, for its trust had been Abused, its kindness answered with foul wrong; So turning gloomily from my fellow-men, One summer Sabbath day I strolled among The green mounds of the village burying-place; Where pondering how all human love and hate Find one sad level; and how, soon or late, Wronged and wrongdoer, each with meekened face! And cold hands folded over a still heart, Pass the green threshold of a common grave, Whither all footsteps tend, whence none depart, Awed for myself, and pitying my race, Our common sorrow, like a mighty wave, Swept all my pride away, and, trembling, I forgave." Yes, one who is touched by the spirit of the Son of Man finds too much to pity in the great sorrowing world, and in its fleeting and uncertain life, to cherish vengeful feelings. Himself redeemed by the untold love of His Father, by the undeserved