Holy Bible

A wise son maketh a glad father. Proverbs 10:1 A son's wisdom a father's joy W. Arnot, D.D. The first proverb is a characteristic specimen of its kind. It is in your power to make your father glad, and God expects you to do it. Here is one of the sweetest fruits of wisdom — a son's wisdom is his father's joy. A son who breaks his mother's heart — can this earth have any more irksome load to bear? Foolish son! it is not your mother only with whom you have to deal. God put it into her heart to love you, to watch over you night and day, to bear with all your waywardness, to labour for you to the wasting of her own life. All this is God's law in her being. Her Maker and yours knew that by putting these instincts into her nature for your good He was laying on her a heavy burden. But He is just. He intended that she should be repaid. His system provides compensation for outlay. There are two frailties — a frailty of infancy and a frailty of age. God has undertaken, in the constitution of His creatures, to provide for both. Where are His laws of compensation written? One on the fleshy table of the heart, the other on the table of the ten commandments. He who knows what is in man would not confide to instinct the care of an aged parent. For that He gave distinct command. There is the mother's title to her turn of cherishing. You dare not dispute her right, and you cannot withstand her Avenger. ( W. Arnot, D.D. ) Parental solicitude T. De Witt Talmage. This arises — I. FROM THE IMPERFECTION OF PARENTS ON THEIR OWN PARTS. We all want our children to avoid our faults. Children are very apt to be echoes of the parental life. II. FROM OUR CONSCIOUS INEFFICIENCY AND UNWISDOM OF DISCIPLINE. Out of twenty parents there may be one who understands how thoroughly and skilfully to discipline. We, nearly all of us, are on one side or on the other. The discipline is an entire failure in many houses because the father pulls one way and the mother pulls the other way. To strike the medium between severity and too great leniency is the anxiety of every intelligent parent. III. FROM THE EARLY DEVELOPMENT OF CHILDISH SINFULNESS. IV. BECAUSE OUR YOUNG PEOPLE ARE SURROUNDED BY SO MANY TEMPTATIONS. ( T. De Witt Talmage. ) The influence of the child's character upon the parent's Homilist. heart : — I. THE HOLY CHARACTER OF A CHILD GLADDENS THE HEART OF A PARENT. 1. He sees in it the best results of his training. 2. The best guarantee for his son's happiness. II. THE UNHOLY CHARACTER OF A CHILD SADDENS THE HEART OF A PARENT. Especially a mother. All her toils, anxieties, have been fruitless. A heavy cloud lies on her soul. ( Homilist. ) A foolish son is the heaviness of his mother The mother's sorrow C. Wadsworth. The word "heaviness" means, in this connection, sadness, sorrow, dejection of mind, a wounded spirit, a broken heart. "Foolishness" denotes, not merely an intellectual weakness, nor merely a religious want, but in general, any grand moral deficiency in the whole complex economy of character. I. THE YOUNG MAN NEGLECTFUL OF HIS INTELLECTUAL CULTURE. In all the infinite range of being, after you leave the irrational, until you reach the Divine, there is none whose "education is finished." Every young man ought to be giving diligent heed to his intellectual development and discipline. The word "foolishness" here is the antithesis, not of "learning," but of "wisdom" — two very different things. Learning, in its profoundness, is not possible to all young men. Education, i.e., eduction — a drawing forth, a development. Not a mind infused with erudition, but a mind led forth to think. As thinking is hard work, and most men are lazy, few willingly think. They prefer to buy thought. A true mother's first thought is her child's education. This, however, often errs sadly, in undue forcing, or in undue attention to merely light literature. II. THE INDOLENT YOUNG MAN. 1. The man who has no regular business. The young man of inherited wealth, or the poor young man who has neither energy nor ambition to rise. 2. The man who, having a business, does not attend to it.(1) In some cases this results from sheer indolence. The man has no bone or sinew in him, no instinct of effort, no adaptation for work. Among men of strong hands he is simply a mistake.(2) In other cases this results from a wrong choice of business. The man got into a sphere for which he had no adaptation either mental or physical. Men are everywhere out of place, maladjusted, and so they fail. And by this first failure some men are hopelessly discouraged.(3) In other cases this results from false theories of success. The man is a believer in good luck and grand chances. He trusts to fortune and waits for opportunity.(4) In other cases the failure results from divided application and energy. The man attempts too much. Ignoring the principle of a division of labour as the grand law of civilisation, he affects the practical barbarism of attempting to do everything. Every efficient thing God ever made does its own work always, and its own work only. Life is too short for the accomplishment of great tasks with divided energies. Be the reason of the failure what it may, the world is full of men who, with a business to do, never succeed in it. Life swarms with indolent and inefficient men. And all such sons are a heaviness to their mother. Mothers want their sons to be something and to do something. III. THE YOUNG MAN WHO SELECTS A WRONG BUSINESS OR PURSUES IT WITH A WRONG SPIRIT. The grand aim to-day is to get rich speedily. The practical theory is that all business is honourable in proportion to its revenues; but never was a theory more false. All honest business is equally honourable. The young man should engage in no work requiring the slightest violation of dictate of conscience. Evil work may have large revenues, but such success is simply infamous. The man who wins it thus is a disgrace to his generation. Woman's nature is alive with lofty and chivalrous sentiments. A son's spotless honour is his mother's glory. IV. THE YOUNG MAN WHO MAKES CHOICE OF UNPRINCIPLED, IMMORAL, IRRELIGIOUS COMPANIONS. Choose your companions as you would if they were to go in daily to your mother's fireside. Beware of the young man of fashion. Beware of the sceptical young man. There are those who think freely and speak freely of human nature and of religion — Freethinkers. Beware of the young man of practical immorality. He is a sharper in business, untruthful, a Sabbath-breaker, a profane swearer, a quarreller; his associations are with fast men; he has no reputation for purity. V. THE YOUNG MAN WHO HAS BECOME EVIL HIMSELF. It seems impossible that, coming from a happy Christian home, any young man should ever go so widely astray. But alas! the strange thing happens. We see it every day. What a fearful "heaviness" this brings to a mother's heart. Parental love becomes agony when a child turns to evil courses. To save you from this dire moral pestilence a parent would gladly lay down life. VI. THE YOUNG MAN WHO LIVES IN NEGLECT OF PERSONAL RELIGION. To Solomon "wisdom" in its last analysis is personal piety, and "foolishness " is practical irreligion. You may sneer at religion and think it noble and wise to call yourself infidel. Your mother does not. To her religion is a life and power. Surely an impenitent son is a "heaviness" to his mother. ( C. Wadsworth. ) The young man's T. Binney. progress: — In these verses you may make out a sort of successive parallel history of two human beings from the cradle to the grave. I. THESE TWO YOUNG MEN AT HOME. Children at home. Character begins to be developed very soon. Very little boys may sometimes indicate those tempers and dispositions which, upon the one side shall make the father's heart "glad," or on the other, fill the mother with "heaviness." II. THESE TWO YOUNG MEN GOING OUT (ver. 5). The great lesson from this verse is, the importance of taking time by the forelock, using advantages when we have them. It does not do to neglect advantages; seize upon them, use them, do everything in its season. Two things young men should not do: they should neither anticipate nor procrastinate. III. THESE TWO YOUNG MEN GETTING ON. They are now men in business for themselves, having their own responsibilities. Here is an infallible rule: "He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand; but the hand of the diligent maketh rich." Two kinds of slackness of hand: he may do the thing half-asleep, carelessly; he may not keep tight hold on the profits. The man who works with vigour and with thought, whose whole soul and mind and heart work, as well as his hand — he understands the price at which his profits are obtained. IV. THESE TWO YOUNG MEN IN RELATION TO SUCCESS. "Treasures of wickedness profit nothing, but righteousness delivereth from death." Two men may get rich — the one by wickedness, trickery, wrong; the other by industry, probity, diligence. "Righteousness" here probably signifies "benevolence," "beneficence." The property of the man who is selfish and covetous will do him no good. Riches may be the means of grace as well as anything else. The beneficent man looks at his wealth as a thing which is to be used for God. V. THESE TWO YOUNG MEN IN RELATION TO CHANGE. In the alteration of circumstance, in misfortune, what a difference there is between the fall of a man who has a thorough character and that of a man who has not. VI. THESE TWO YOUNG MEN IN RELATION TO THE END. "Blessings are upon the head of the just, but violence covereth the mouth of the wicked." The wicked here means the flagrantly wicked. When the just man grows old he is crowned with respect and love; but the wicked old man receives "violence." The same people, exasperated, unable to bear him any longer, "cover his mouth" and put him out of the way. There is no spectacle on earth so painful as that of a wicked old man. VII. NOW FOR THE EPITAPH. "The memory of the just is blessed, but the name of the wicked shall rot." The memory of just parents is better than a fortune to the children. The very name of the wicked shall become putrid and offensive. The two great principles which rightly tone the fortunes of the young man are, willingness to learn and uprightness of walking. Everything must be done "uprightly." ( T. Binney. ) Foolish sons T. L. Cuyler, D.D. I never can forget my interview with a widowed mother who sent for me to counsel with her over her only son, who for the first time had been brought home by a policeman and laid helpless in the hall. It was the adder's first sting in a mother's heart. I said, "This is the turning-point of your boy's life: harshness now will ruin him; love him now more than ever." Said she, "He is penitent this morning, and says it shall be the last time." It was not. Such first times are seldom last times. The burden grew heavier, till at last the mother's prayer moved the Hand to move the heart, and he was plucked as a brand from the burning and brought into the fold of Christ. And it is not only the drunken or debauched son that lies heavy on the mother's heart. Sin leads to other follies and breeds other griefs. When I see a young man who has superior advantages for culture wandering into low companionship, pitching his household tent over against Sodom, I say, "There is a foolish son who will be the heaviness of his mother." When I see beardless self-conceit talking about the scientific scepticism of the day, and pretending to Rationalism and doubts about God's Book and the Cross of Christ, and scoffing at what the Isaac Newtons and the Luthers and Wesleys and Chalmers bowed down before with overawed spirit — sneering at the faith once delivered to the saints — I predict a career that will be a heaviness to the mother. ( T. L. Cuyler, D.D. ) Treasures of wickedness profit nothing, but righteousness delivereth from death Proverbs 10:2 The profits of wickedness and of righteousness Thomas Dale, M.A. In nothing is our common proneness to self-deception more conspicuously manifested than in the erroneous estimate which we form respecting this world and the next. Of the one we think as though it could never have an end; of the other as though it could never have a beginning. I. THE TREASURES OF WICKEDNESS PROFIT NOTHING. "Treasures of wickedness" should mean wealth which has been acquired by dubious or unjustifiable methods, or which is applied to unhallowed or forbidden purposes. But it may be used to signify all wealth bearing no relation to the command and will of the Almighty; all wealth in the acquisition and expenditure of which religion has no influence. But take the present life only, and appearances are against the statement of this text. What will not riches do and obtain for men! Some things they will not. They cannot give health to the languid, ease to the tormented, nor life to the dead. Therefore, with all their fair appearances, they profit nothing. They bring with them no solid, substantial happiness; no joy upon which the soul can confidently repose itself; no strength to endure trials in adversity. If they could, we have still to keep in mind that man is destined for an eternal existence, and for him the hour is coming in which all must confess that riches are useless — nothing in the sight of immortal man, much less in the sight of an eternal God. II. WHAT IS MEANT BY RIGHTEOUSNESS, AND IN WHAT SENSE IT DELIVERETH FROM DEATH. The righteousness which delivereth from death is not our own righteousness properly so-called, but the righteousness of Christ. This righteousness, however, involves a righteousness of our own, which is, in its nature, a necessary fruit, and without which it cannot really exist. The righteousness adverted to by Solomon, in the case of the Jews, was first a ceremonial and then a meritorious righteousness. For us there is first an imputation of the perfect righteousness of Christ, and secondly, an actual righteousness of our own; the first being the cause of our justification, and the second its natural and necessary consequence. The righteous man is he who has accepted the salvation of Christ, is in the leading of the Holy Spirit, and has the testimony of his conscience that, in simplicity and godly sincerity, he daily labours to combine a holy life with a humble and contrite heart. Such a righteousness delivers, not from bodily death, but from all those evils that are represented by, and consummated in, death. To disappointment religion opposes hope; to suffering, patience; to the loss of earthly friends, the friendship of One who "sticketh closer than a brother." In the hour of calamity, disease, and death itself, righteousness is proved to be the only lasting, sustaining remedy. ( Thomas Dale, M.A. ) Treasures of wickedness R. Wardlaw. may mean either treasures wickedly got or treasures wickedly spent, or both. Such treasures profit nothing unto the bestowment of true happiness. ( R. Wardlaw. ) Wealth R. F. Horton, D.D. No moral system is complete which does not treat with clearness and force the subject of wealth. The material possessions of an individual or of a nation are, in a certain sense, the prerequisites of all moral life. The production of wealth, it not, strictly speaking, a moral question itself, presses closely upon all other moral questions. Wisdom will be called upon to direct the energies which produce wealth, and to determine the feelings with which we are to regard the wealth which is produced. Moral problems mightier still begin to emerge when the question of distribution presents itself. If production is in a sense the presupposition of all moral and spiritual life, no less certainly correct moral conceptions — may we not even say, true spiritual conditions? — are the indispensable means of determining distribution. In our own day this question of the distribution of wealth stands in the front rank of practical questions. Religious teachers must face it. Socialists are grappling with this question not altogether in a religious spirit. But all socialism is not revolutionary. In the teaching of the Book of Proverbs on this subject note — I. ITS FRANK AND FULL RECOGNITION THAT WEALTH HAS ITS ADVANTAGES AND POVERTY ITS DISADVANTAGES. There is no Quixotic attempt to overlook, as many moral and spiritual systems do, the perfectly obvious facts of life. The extravagance and exaggeration which led St. Francis to choose poverty as his bride find no more sanction in this ancient wisdom than in the sound teaching of our Lord and His apostles. As poverty is a legitimate subject of dread, there are urgent exhortations to diligence and thrift, quite in accordance with the excellent apostolic maxim, that if a man will not work he shall not eat; while there are forcible statements of the things which tend to poverty and of the courses which result in comfort and wealth. II. BUT, MAKING ALL ALLOWANCE FOR THE ADVANTAGES OF WEALTH, WE HAVE TO NOTICE SOME OF ITS SERIOUS DRAWBACKS. To begin with, it is always insecure. If wealth has been obtained in any other way than by honest labour it is useless, at any rate for the owner, and indeed worse than useless for him. There is wealth of another kind, wealth consisting in moral and spiritual qualities, compared with which wealth, as it is usually understood, is quite paltry and unsatisfying. A little wisdom, a little sound understanding, or a little wholesome knowledge, is more precious than wealth. III. POSITIVE COUNSELS ABOUT MONEY AND ITS ACQUISITION. We are cautioned against the fever of money-getting; we are counselled to exercise a generous liberality in the disposal of such things as are ours. Happy would that society be in which all men were aiming, not at riches, but merely at a modest competency, dreading the one extreme as much as the other. ( R. F. Horton, D.D. ) The worthlessness of a wicked man's wealth Homilist. I. THE WORTHLESSNESS OF A WICKED MAN'S WEALTH. It will "profit nothing." The wicked man gets treasures here, and often, indeed, the more wicked a man is the more he succeeds. The fool of the gospel became rich. But of what real profit is wealth to the wicked? It feeds and clothes him well as an animal. It may give him gorgeous surroundings. 1. It "profits him" nothing in the way of making him truly happy. It cannot harmonise those elements of his nature which sin has brought into conflict; it cannot remove the sense of fault from his conscience; it cannot fill him with a bright hope for the future. 2. It "profits him" nothing in the way of obtaining the true love of his fellow-men. Men take off their hats to the wealthy, but there is no genuine reverence and love where there is not the recognition of goodness. 3. It "profits him" nothing in the dying hour or in the future world. He leaves it all behind. Money was the curse of Judas. II. THE VALUE OF A RIGHTEOUS MAN'S CHARACTER. The righteous shall be delivered from death, from that which is the very essence in the evil of physical death — the sting of sin; and entirely from spiritual death. The soul of the righteous shall never famish. On the contrary, it shall increase in vigour for ever. There is no want to them that fear Him. ( Homilist. ) What money cannot do A millionaire who had been born a poor boy, and whose money had become his idol, was showing his house and grounds to a Quaker. The genial Friend praised them and said it was all wonderfully beautiful. "The almighty dollar has done it all," said the millionaire. "What cannot money do?" The Quaker looked sadly at him. He said, "Thy question reminds me of the people in the desert. They bowed clown to the golden calf and said it was that which brought them out of Egypt. As it turned out it hindered them and kept them out of the promised land. It would be an awful thing if thy gold kept thee out of heaven. You say, 'What cannot money do?' It cannot deliver thy soul." The Lord will not suffer the soul of the righteous to famish. Proverbs 10:3 The Lord and the righteous Skeletons of Sermons. I. GOD HAS BOUNTIFULLY PROVIDED EVEN FOR THE UNGODLY. Has He shown such concern for the wicked as to provide for them in the gospel "a feast of fat things full of marrow," and will He disregard the righteous? II. GOD IS PECULIARLY INTERESTED IN THE WELFARE OF THE RIGHTEOUS. The righteous are God's "peculiar treasure above all people." III. GOD HAS PLEDGED HIS WORD THAT THEY SHALL NEVER WANT ANYTHING THAT IS GOOD. Exceeding numerous, great and precious are the promises which God has given to His people. He may seem to leave His people in straits, but it shall be only for the more signal manifestation of His love and mercy towards them. 1. A word of reproof. Many do not make their profiting to appear as they ought. 2. A word of consolation. Some may put away from them this promise under the idea that they are not of the character to whom it belongs. ( Skeletons of Sermons. ) The famishing of the soul R. Wardlaw. It is of temporal supplies the wise man is here speaking. The "famishing of the soul" might be understood, with great truth, of the proper and peculiar life of the soul. But the connection demands a different interpretation. Soul is often used to signify the "person" and the "animal life." It may have reference to that weakness and fainting of spirit which is the result of the corporeal exhaustion produced by the extremity of want. ( R. Wardlaw. ) The hand of the diligent maketh rich. Proverbs 10:4 Diligent J. Parker, D.D. Our life is dependent on our industry. It is good for man that he should have to labour. Were God to do all, We should truly leave Him to do it, not caring to co-operate with the Divine Husbandman in the culture of the field of life. By the "diligent" we are to understand the nimble-handed — those who are active and agile, who will lose nothing for want of rising early and peering about in the darkness if they may but catch a glimpse even of an outline of things. The persons referred to in the text are those who take account of microscopic matters — they are particular about the smallest coins, about moments and minutes, about so-called secondary engagements and plans. The true business man lives in the midst of his business. We are not far from the sanctuary of God when we are listening to such proverbs as these. ( J. Parker, D.D. ) Idleness and industry D. Thomas, D.D. I. THE HAND OF THE ONE IS "DILIGENT," THE OTHER IS "SLACK." II. THE SOUL OF THE ONE SEIZES OPPORTUNITIES, THE OTHER NEGLECTS THEM. The industrious man makes opportunities. He does the work of the season. The other lets opportunities pass. He "sleepeth in harvest." III. THE DESTINY OF THE ONE IS PROSPERITY, THAT OF THE OTHER RUIN. The man in the gospel who employed his talents got the "Well done!" of his Master and the ruler-ship over many things. Laziness everywhere brings ruin. "Drowsiness clothes man in rags." ( D. Thomas, D.D. ) Diligent in business W. Arnot, D. D. This rule applies alike to the business of life and the concerns of the soul. The law holds good in common things. The earth brings forth thorns instead of grapes unless it be cultivated by the labour of man. A world bringing forth food spontaneously might have suited a sinless race, but it would be unsuitable for mankind as they now are. The fallen cannot be left idle with safety to themselves. The necessity of labour has become a blessing to man. The maxim has passed into a proverb, "If you do not wait on your business, your business will not wait on you." That diligence in necessary to progress in holiness is witnessed by all the Word of God and all the experience of His people. It would be a libel on the Divine economy to imagine that the tender plant of grace would thrive in a sluggard's garden. The work is difficult, the times are bad. He who would gain in godliness must put his soul into the business. But he who puts his soul into the business will grow rich. When all counts are closed he who is rich in faith is the richest man. ( W. Arnot, D. D. ) Slack hand B. E. Nicholls, M.A. Lazy hand. Sloth is the mother of poverty. Or the words may be rendered the hand of deceit. Without diligence honesty can scarcely be expected. Next unto virtue let children be trained up to industry, for both poverty and fraud are commonly the effect of sloth. ( B. E. Nicholls, M.A. ) Diligence and prosperity J. Everitt. A connection exists between the bounty of God and the duty of man. All things are of God, and our dependence upon Him is absolute and imperative. There is a perfect accordance between the established law of nature and the law of grace. The former of these combines a dependence upon God for daily subsistence with the necessity of effort to procure it. The latter tells us, and insists upon it, that while by grace we are saved through faith which is the gift of God, we are nevertheless to "work out our own salvation with fear and trembling." I. APPLY SENTIMENT OF TEXT TO THE ORDINARY AFFAIRS OF LIFE. With respect to temporal blessings. The purposes of God are never carried into effect without the use of those means by which they are intended to be accomplished. The application of these means is indispensable to the attainment of the end. If we neglect these, it will be worse than folly to hope for any blessing. What are the appointed means by which a beneficent providence supplies the temporal wants of man? 1. Diligence or industry. An unoccupied and idle man countervails all the laws both of his animal and intellectual frame and wages war upon every organ of his material structure. The law of industry is a benevolent law. If you would make a man miserable, let him have nothing to do. Idleness is the nursery of crime. 2. Economy. He who wastes what providence gives him may not complain of it being with-held or withdrawn. Nature and observation are constantly reading us this lesson. In all that God does there is nothing lost, nothing thrown away, nothing but what is designed for some useful purpose. Every natural substance that does not retain its original form passes into some other that is equally important in its way. There is no example of the entire destruction of anything in the universe. The Lord Jesus did not deem it mean to be frugal. Meanness is more justly chargeable to waste and prodigality. He that is regardless of little things will be very apt to be careless of those that are greater. 3. A sacred regard to the Lord's day. If a man would make the most of human life, to say nothing of the life to come, he must be a conscientious observer of this consecrated day. Other collateral means are, a sacred regard to truth, honesty in every transaction, rectitude and integrity of character. II. APPLY SENTIMENT OF THE TEXT TO THE INTERESTS OF THE SOUL. Many events may transpire which will frustrate the most diligent in their enterprise. Sickness, infirmity, calamity, treachery. But it is never so in the case of the soul. There is an opulence in the Divine benignity which satisfies the desire of every praying spirit. Note there is a certainty in the promise. Labour for the meat which endureth unto everlasting life shall be rewarded in the issue to the extent of our largest expectations. And at the last his joy will be full. He has gained the true riches and is rich indeed. ( J. Everitt. ) Advantages of virtuous industry G. J. Zollikofer. I. The industrious man ACCOMPLISHES VERY MANY THINGS WHICH ARE PROFITABLE TO HIMSELF AND OTHERS IN NUMBERLESS RESPECTS. How many of his own wants and those of others does he not thus relieve! How many sources of welfare does he not open to himself and others! II. If the industrious man executes many useful matters, HE EXECUTES THEM WITH FAR MORE EASE AND DEXTERITY THAN IF HE WERE NOT INDUSTRIOUS. He has no need of any long previous contest with himself. He understands, he loves the work; has a certain confidence in himself, and is more or less sure of success. III. The industrious man unfolds, exercises, PERFECTS HIS POWERS; NOT ONLY HIS MECHANICAL, BUT ALSO HIS NOBLER, HIS MENTAL POWERS. IV. The industrious man lives in the true, intimate, ENTIRE CONSCIOUSNESS OF HIMSELF, AND OF THAT WHICH HE IS AND DOES. He actually rejoices in his life, his faculties, his endowments, his time. V. The industrious man, who is so from principle and inclination, EXPERIENCES NEITHER LANGUOR NOR IRKSOMENESS. Never are his faculties, never is his time, a burden to him. VI. The industrious man has A FAR GREATER RELISH FOR EVERY INNOCENT PLEASURE, FOR EVERY RELAXATION, THAT HE ENJOYS. He alone properly knows the pleasure of rest. VII. The industrious man ALONE FULFILS THE DESIGN FOR WHICH HE IS PLACED ON EARTH, and may say so to himself, and may in the consciousness of it be contented and cheerful. ( G. J. Zollikofer. ) He that gathereth in summer is a wise son: but he that sleepeth in harvest is a son that causeth shame . Proverbs 10:5 Summer and harvest William Jay. I. GOD AFFORDS YOU OPPORTUNITIES FOR GOOD. He favours you with seasons which may be considered as your harvest. 1. You are blessed with a season of gospel grace. 2. You have a season of civil and religious liberty. 3. Some are living in a religious family, where they have the benefit of instruction, prayer, and example. 4. Some have seasons of disciplinary trouble. 5. Some have seasons of conviction. 6. All have the susceptible time of youth. II. THE NECESSITY OF DILIGENCE TO IMPROVE YOUR REAPING SEASON. 1. Consider how much you have to accomplish. 2. Consider the worth of the blessings that demand your attention. 3. Remember that your labour will not be in vain in the Lord. 4. Your season for action is limited and short. 5. Reflect upon the consequences of negligence.Having made no provision for futurity — for eternity — your ruin is unavoidable. A strict account will be required of all your talents and opportunities. ( William Jay. ) Using our opportunities J. Parker, D.D. Our efforts in life must be seasonable. There is a religious forethought. He who neglects to gather in summer neglects the bounties of the Lord as well as neglects his own future necessities. The man who sleeps in harvest is pronounced a fool, because he lets his opportunity slip. The historian writes concerning Hannibal that when he could have taken Rome he would not, and when he would he could not. We are to be men of opportunity — that is to say, we are to buy up the opportunity, to redeem the time. When God opens a gate He means that we should go through it, and pass into all the inheritance beyond. There was a king of Sicily who was called "The Lingerer," not because he stayed till opportunity came, but because he stayed till opportunity was lost. There is a time to wait and a time to act. Overlong waiting means loss of chance, for the king has passed by, and the gates are closed; but to wait patiently until everything is ripe for action is the very last expression of Christian culture. ( J. Parker, D.D. ) Summer, the Christian's gathering-time James Logan, M.A. I. THE PERSON SPOKEN OF. "A wise son." II. THE SEASON IN WHICH THE WISE SON EXERTS HIMSELF. "In summer." And why is the gospel dispensation represented by summer? 1. Winter is over and gone. His reign was tyrannical and cold. But now summer returns. So the gospel dispensation reveals to us the bright extended beams of the Sun of Righteousness. 2. In winter the face of nature is squalid and deformed. But summer comes; and, by a touch surpassing magic, beauties on beauties start into view. So the gospel dispensation mollifies the hard heart, removes the deformity of sin from the soul, adorns the temper and the conversation with all the beauties of holiness. 3. In winter the heavens distil no kindly influence; all is adverse to vegetation. But when summer returns the air breathes balm, the clouds drop fatness, and the earth is fertilised. So the gospel brings along with it refreshing clouds of spiritual influences. 4. In winter no flowers adorn the earth; their beautiful tints, their savoury smell and delicate forms sleep in the earth; but in summer these appear in rich profusion and of variegated colours. In like manner the gospel dispensation is attended with a rich profusion of gracious young converts, whose souls are endowed with knowledge, faith, and affection, and breathe forth a precious perfume, as the Holy Spirit breathes on them. 5. In winter we search the orchard and garden in vain for fruit. But when summer returns we mark with grateful pleasure the pleasant contrast, and gather the mellow fruits of various hues and flavours. In like manner the gospel dispensation is attended with a variety of fruits to the praise of God the Father. III. I would now direct your attention to THE EXERCISE IN WHICH THE WISE SON IS ENGAGED. "

Benson Commentary Proverbs 10:1 The proverbs of Solomon. A wise son maketh a glad father: but a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother. Proverbs 10:1 . The Proverbs of Solomon — Properly so called; for the foregoing chapters, although they had this title in the beginning of them, yet, in truth, were only a preparation to them, intended to stir up men’s minds to the greater attention to all the precepts of wisdom, whereof some here follow; see the argument prefixed to this chapter. A wise son — That is, prudent, and especially virtuous and godly, as this word commonly signifies in this book, and in many other parts of Scripture; maketh a glad father — And a glad mother too; for both parents are to be understood in both branches of the sentence, as is evident from the nature of the thing, which affects both of them, and from parallel places, as Proverbs 17:25 ; Proverbs 30:17 , although only one be expressed in each branch for the greater elegance. A foolish son is the heaviness of his mother — The occasion of her great sorrow, which is decently ascribed to the mothers rather than to the fathers, because their passions in general are more vehement, and they are more susceptible of grief and trouble. Although I cannot affirm, says Bishop Patrick, “that there is an order observed in all these proverbs, yet this first sentence seems not to have been casually, but designedly, set in the front of the rest; because nothing contributes so much, every way, to the happiness of mankind, as a religious care about the education of children, which parents are here admonished to attend to if they desire their children should not prove a grief and shame to them: and children are put in mind of the obedience they owe to their instructions, that they may be a joy to them.” Proverbs 10:2 Treasures of wickedness profit nothing: but righteousness delivereth from death. Proverbs 10:2 . Treasures of wickedness — Such as are got by any sort of unjust or wicked practices; or worldly riches in general, termed by our Lord, the mammon of unrighteousness, Luke 16:9 , because they are often used in an unrighteous manner, and made instruments of unrighteousness, and for other reasons there explained; profit nothing — Do the possessor no good at the time here intended, but, as is implied in the opposite member of the sentence, much hurt. They not only do not deliver him from death, but often expose him to it, either from men, who would take away his life that they may enjoy his wealth, or from God, who shortens his days, as a punishment of those luxuries and other sins into which his wealth led him: whence death becomes more terrible, as being attended with guilt and a dread of the second death. But righteousness — True holiness of heart and life; or he may mean justice and equity in the getting of riches, and a liberal and charitable use of them, which is often called righteousness in Scripture, and is indeed but an act of justice; (of which see on Proverbs 3:27 ;) delivereth from death — Frequently from temporal death, because men generally love and honour, and will assist such persons in cases of danger, and God often gives them the blessing of a long life; and always from eternal death, when such justice and charity proceed from true piety and a good conscience. Proverbs 10:3 The LORD will not suffer the soul of the righteous to famish: but he casteth away the substance of the wicked. Proverbs 10:3 . The Lord will not suffer the righteous to famish — Will preserve them from famine, according to his promises, Psalm 34:10 , (on which see the note,) and elsewhere; but he casteth away the substance — So ??? , the word here used, sometimes signifies; or, the wickedness, that is, the wealth gotten by wickedness, as it is rendered Psalm 52:7 ; of the wicked — Who by that means shall be exposed to want and famine. The instructions in these last two verses about getting, keeping, and using riches aright, very properly follow what was observed, Proverbs 10:1 , that a curse may not be entailed upon riches through a contrary conduct respecting them, and descend with them unto our children. Proverbs 10:4 He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand: but the hand of the diligent maketh rich. Proverbs 10:4 . He becometh poor — Probably by slow degrees; that dealeth with a slack hand — Who is negligent and slothful in his business. Hebrew, ? Š ???? , with a deceitful hand, so called, partly because it seems, or pretends to do something, when, in truth, it doth nothing; and partly because such persons usually endeavour to maintain themselves by deceit and wickedness, instead of doing it by honest labour and diligence. But the hand of the diligent maketh rich — Not by itself, nor necessarily, as is manifest from experience, and is observed Ecclesiastes 9:11 , but through God’s blessing, which is commonly given to the diligent and industrious. Proverbs 10:5 He that gathereth in summer is a wise son: but he that sleepeth in harvest is a son that causeth shame. Proverbs 10:5 . He that gathereth — The fruits of his field; in summer — In harvest, as it follows, which is a part of summer; is a wise son — Acts a prudent and proper part: he acts wisely for his parents, whom, if need be, he ought to maintain, and he gains reputation to himself, his family, and education. But he that sleepeth in harvest causeth shame — Both to himself for his folly, and for that poverty and misery caused by it, and to his parents, to whose neglect of his education such things are often and sometimes justly imputed. He that seeks and gains knowledge and wisdom in the days of his youth, or that watches for and improves the proper seasons of doing good to himself and others, gathers in summer, and will have the comfort and credit of it; but he that idles away the days of his youth, will bear the shame of it when he is old: and he that suffers fair occasions of getting and doing good to pass unheeded by, will afterward have cause bitterly to lament his negligence and folly. Proverbs 10:6 Blessings are upon the head of the just: but violence covereth the mouth of the wicked. Proverbs 10:6 . Blessings are upon the head of the just — All sorts of blessings are wished to them by men, and conferred upon them by God. But violence — Either, 1st, The fruit or punishment of their own violence: or, 2d, The violent, injurious, and mischievous practices of others against them, deserved by their own violence committed against others, and inflicted upon them by the righteous judgment of God; covereth the mouth of the wicked — That is, shall fall upon them. This phrase of covering the mouth, may be an allusion to the ancient custom of covering the faces of condemned malefactors. Proverbs 10:7 The memory of the just is blessed: but the name of the wicked shall rot. Proverbs 10:8 The wise in heart will receive commandments: but a prating fool shall fall. Proverbs 10:8 . The wise, &c., will receive commandments — Is ready to hear and obey the precepts of God and men. But a prating fool — One who is slow to hear, and swift to speak, who, instead of receiving good admonitions, cavils and disputes against them; Hebrew, ???? ?????? , a fool of lips, one who discovers the folly of his heart by his lips, and thereby exposes himself to the mischief here following; shall fall — Into mischief, or be punished. Proverbs 10:9 He that walketh uprightly walketh surely: but he that perverteth his ways shall be known. Proverbs 10:9 . He that walketh uprightly — Who is sincere, and just, and faithful in his dealings with God, and toward men; walketh surely — Hebrew, ???? ???? , shall walk securely, or confidently, as the word properly signifies; quietly resting upon God’s favour and gracious providence for his protection, being supported by the testimony of a good conscience, and therefore not caring who observes or knows his actions, which he endeavours to approve both to God and men. But he that perverteth his ways — That walks perversely, or in crooked and sinful paths; that acts hypocritically and deceitfully with God, or with men; shall be known — His wickedness shall be publicly discovered, and so he shall be exposed to all that shame and punishment which his sins deserve, and which he thought by his craft and subtlety to avoid. Proverbs 10:10 He that winketh with the eye causeth sorrow: but a prating fool shall fall. Proverbs 10:10 . He that winketh with his eye — That secretly and cunningly designs mischiefs against others: see on Proverbs 6:13 : causeth sorrow — To others, and afterward to himself; but — Or, and, as it is in the Hebrew; for vice is not here opposed to virtue, as it is in many other proverbs, but one vice is compared with another; a prating fool — Who is so far from such deceits, that he runs into the other extreme, and utters all his mind, as is said of the fool, Proverbs 29:11 , and thereby speaks many things offensive to others, and mischievous to himself. Proverbs 10:11 The mouth of a righteous man is a well of life: but violence covereth the mouth of the wicked. Proverbs 10:11 . The mouth of a righteous man is a well of life — Continually sending forth waters of life, or such words as are refreshing and useful, both to himself and others, both for the preserving of natural life, the promoting of spiritual, and ensuring of eternal life; but violence, &c. — See on Proverbs 10:6 . As the mouth of a good man speaketh those things which are good and beneficial to himself and others, so the mouth of a wicked man uttereth violence, or injury, or things injurious to others, which at last fall upon himself. Proverbs 10:12 Hatred stirreth up strifes: but love covereth all sins. Proverbs 10:12 . Hatred stirreth up strife — Upon every slight occasion, by filling men’s minds with suspicions and surmises, whereby they imagine faults where there are none, and aggravate every small offence; but love covereth all sins — Either doth not severely observe, or willingly forgives and forgets the injuries and offences of others, and so prevents contention and mischief. Proverbs 10:13 In the lips of him that hath understanding wisdom is found: but a rod is for the back of him that is void of understanding. Proverbs 10:13-14 . In the lips, &c., wisdom is found — His wisdom shows itself in his prudent speeches, by which he escapes that rod which fools meet with, and gains that reputation and advantage to himself which fools lose; but a rod is for the back of him — He may expect rebukes and punishments from God and men; that is void of understanding — That shows his folly by his foolish words. Wise men lay up — Namely, in their minds, to be brought forth upon fit occasions; knowledge — By which they may be enabled to speak both what and when it is seasonable; but the mouth of fools is near destruction — Fools are more forward to lay out than to lay up, and, for want of knowledge, speak much and foolishly, and thereby frequently bring destruction upon themselves. Proverbs 10:14 Wise men lay up knowledge: but the mouth of the foolish is near destruction. Proverbs 10:15 The rich man's wealth is his strong city: the destruction of the poor is their poverty. Proverbs 10:15 . The rich man’s wealth is his strong city — It often redeems him from dangers and calamities: or it is such in his own imagination, as it is explained Proverbs 18:11 . It makes him confident and secure. The destruction of the poor — The cause of their destruction; is their poverty — Which often renders them friendless, defenceless, and exposed to the injuries of the malicious and cruel. Or, as ???? may be rendered, it is their terror, or consternation. It deprives them of courage and confidence, sinks their spirits, and fills them with fear and despair. Thus it destroys their comforts; whereas they might live very comfortably, although they had but little to live on, if they would but be content, keep a good conscience, and live by faith in the providence and promises of God. Proverbs 10:16 The labour of the righteous tendeth to life: the fruit of the wicked to sin. Proverbs 10:16 . The labour of the righteous tendeth to life — The design of his labour is only this, that he may have wherewith to live honestly, without making use of any sinful shifts. Or rather, the fruit or effect of his labour and industry is the preservation of this life, and the obtaining of eternal life, to which an honest and conscientious diligence in a man’s calling greatly contributes. The fruit of the wicked — The fruit of all their labours and endeavours; to sin — Tendeth to sin, serves only for fuel to feed their pride, luxury, and worldly-mindedness, and by that means often causes, or, at least, hastens temporal death, and always, without repentance, issues in eternal death. Proverbs 10:17 He is in the way of life that keepeth instruction: but he that refuseth reproof erreth. Proverbs 10:17 . He is in the way of life — The way which leadeth to life and blessedness; that keepeth instruction — That observeth the wholesome counsels of God and good men: but he that refuseth reproof erreth — Namely, from the way of life, or into the ways of sin, and so of death. Hebrew, ???? , causeth to err, or seduceth, namely, himself: he knowingly and willingly exposes himself to temptation and wickedness, because he rejects that admonition which is a proper preservative from it. Proverbs 10:18 He that hideth hatred with lying lips, and he that uttereth a slander, is a fool. Proverbs 10:18 . He that hideth hatred with lying lips — With flattering words, and false pretences of friendship; and he that uttereth slander — That is, both of them, one no less than the other; is a fool — Because a sinner; and because the mischief of these things will fall upon himself. So he condemns two opposite vices, secret hatred and manifest slander. Proverbs 10:19 In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin: but he that refraineth his lips is wise. Proverbs 10:20 The tongue of the just is as choice silver: the heart of the wicked is little worth. Proverbs 10:20-21 . The tongue of the just is as choice silver — Of great worth and use, bringing credit to himself, and great benefit to others; the heart of the wicked is little worth — And consequently his tongue, which speaketh out of the abundance of the heart, Matthew 12:34 . The lips of the righteous feed many — By their wise and pious discourses, counsels, and comforts, which are so many evidences of their wisdom: but fools die for want of wisdom — They have not wisdom to preserve themselves, much less to feed others. Proverbs 10:21 The lips of the righteous feed many: but fools die for want of wisdom. Proverbs 10:22 The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it. Proverbs 10:22 . The blessing of the Lord maketh rich — Riches are not gotten merely by wisdom or diligence, but also, and especially, by God’s favour and blessing; and addeth no sorrow with it — Namely, with that blessing which gives riches, but adds content and comfort with them, which is a singular gift and blessing of God: whereas the riches which wicked men gain are attended with the divine curse, with many discontents, tormenting cares, and fears, with horrors of conscience, and with the just dread of being called to an account by God, and punished for the misemployment and abuse of them. Proverbs 10:23 It is as sport to a fool to do mischief: but a man of understanding hath wisdom. Proverbs 10:23 . It is as sport to a fool to do mischief — Or, as some render it, to work wickedness; yea, great and premeditated wickedness, as the word here used, ??? , properly signifies: he doth it with ease and delight, and without any shame, or remorse, or fear. But a man of understanding hath wisdom — Whereby he is kept from committing wickedness, and especially from sporting himself with it. But this last clause is rendered by many, And so is wisdom to a man of understanding: it is a sport or pleasure to him to practise wisdom or piety. Which translation makes the opposition between the two clauses more evident. Bishop Patrick thus paraphrases the verse: “A senseless sinner makes a jest of the most horrid impieties that can be committed by himself or others: but a man that weighs things wisely, considers that this is no laughing matter; and takes that pleasure in doing well which fools take in mischievous wickedness.” Proverbs 10:24 The fear of the wicked, it shall come upon him: but the desire of the righteous shall be granted. Proverbs 10:24-25 . The fear of the wicked — The evil which he feared, or hath cause to fear; it shall come upon him — Notwithstanding his cunning contrivances, and various efforts to prevent it. Indeed “wicked men frequently draw upon themselves what they feared, by the very means whereby they studied to avoid it; a remarkable example whereof, Bochart observes, we have in the builders of the tower of Babel: the very remedy of the evil they wished to avoid leading them directly to it.” And it may be added, a much more remarkable one we have in the Jews, who crucified Christ. For they put him to death lest the Romans should come and take away their place (their temple) and nation: see John 11:48-53 : and their putting him to death was the very thing which, in the just judgment of God, brought the Roman armies upon them to their utter destruction as a nation. But the desire of the righteous shall be granted — God will not only prevent the mischiefs which they fear, but will grant them the good things which they desire. As the whirlwind passeth — Which is suddenly gone, though with great noise and violence; so is the wicked no more — His power and felicity are lost in an instant; but the righteous is — Or hath, an everlasting, &c. — His hope and happiness are built upon a sure and immoveable foundation. Proverbs 10:25 As the whirlwind passeth, so is the wicked no more : but the righteous is an everlasting foundation. Proverbs 10:26 As vinegar to the teeth, and as smoke to the eyes, so is the sluggard to them that send him. Proverbs 10:26 . As vinegar to the teeth — Which, by its coldness and sharpness, it offends; and as smoke, &c., so is the sluggard — Unserviceable and vexatious. “A negligent, dilatory servant vexes those who send him, just as keen vinegar gives pain to the teeth, and bitter smoke torments the eyes.” — Schultens. Proverbs 10:27 The fear of the LORD prolongeth days: but the years of the wicked shall be shortened. Proverbs 10:27-28 . The fear of the Lord prolongeth days — For it gives those who are influenced by it a title to the promise of long life, as well as to other promises; it gladdens their hearts, which does good like a medicine, Proverbs 17:22 ; and it preserves them from those wicked practices which tend to the shortening of a man’s days. The hope of the righteous shall be gladness — Though at present it be mixed with doubts, and fears, and disappointments, yet at last it shall be accomplished and turned into enjoyment; but the expectation of the wicked, &c. — Shall be utterly frustrated, and so shall end in sorrow. Proverbs 10:28 The hope of the righteous shall be gladness: but the expectation of the wicked shall perish. Proverbs 10:29 The way of the LORD is strength to the upright: but destruction shall be to the workers of iniquity. Proverbs 10:29-30 . The way of the Lord — Either, 1st, The course of his providence in the government of the world: or rather, 2d, The way of God’s precepts, commonly meant by that expression in the Scriptures; is strength to the upright — Gives them strength, support, and protection. But destruction — Hebrew, ???? , terror, or consternation, and destruction consequent thereupon; shall be to the workers of iniquity — They shall not only not inherit the earth, though they lay up treasure in it; but they shall not so much as inhabit it, Proverbs 10:30 ; God’s judgments will root them out. The design of these two verses is to show that piety is the only true policy. Proverbs 10:30 The righteous shall never be removed: but the wicked shall not inhabit the earth. Proverbs 10:31 The mouth of the just bringeth forth wisdom: but the froward tongue shall be cut out. Proverbs 10:31-32 . The mouth of the just bringeth forth wisdom — It freely, abundantly, and constantly brings forth wise counsels, as the earth or a tree brings forth its proper fruit, as the word ???? , here used, properly signifies; but the froward tongue shall be cut off — Because it brings forth, not wisdom, but folly and wickedness. The lips of the righteous know — Namely, practically, so as to consider and speak; what is acceptable — To God and good men, or what is truly worthy of acceptation; for this is opposed to what is froward or wicked in the next clause. Knowledge is here ascribed to the lips, as it is to the hands, Psalm 78:72 , because they are conducted by knowledge and wisdom. Proverbs 10:32 The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable: but the mouth of the wicked speaketh frowardness. Benson Commentary on the Old and New Testaments Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.

Expositor's Bible Commentary Proverbs 10:1 The proverbs of Solomon. A wise son maketh a glad father: but a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother. CHAPTER 11 WEALTH "Treasures of wickedness profit nothing: but righteousness delivereth from death." Proverbs 10:2 "O’er weening statesmen have full long relied On fleets and armies and external wealth; But from within proceeds a Nation’s health." -Wordsworth NO moral system is complete which does not treat with clearness and force the subject of wealth. The material possessions of an individual or of a nation are in a certain sense the prerequisites of all moral life; for until the human being has food to eat he cannot be virtuous, he cannot even live; until he has clothing he cannot be civilized; and unless he has a moderate assurance of necessaries, and a certain margin of leisure secured from the toil of life, he cannot live well, and there can be no moral development in the full sense of that term. And so with a nation: it must have a sufficient command of the means of subsistence to maintain a considerable number of people who are not engaged in productive labor, before it can make much advance in the noblest qualities of national life, progress in the arts, extension of knowledge, and spiritual cultivation. The production of wealth, therefore, if not strictly speaking a moral question itself, presses closely upon all other moral questions. Wisdom must have something to say about it, because, without it, Wisdom, in a material world like ours, could not exist. Wisdom will be called upon to direct the energies which produce wealth, and to determine the feelings with which we are to regard the wealth which is produced. Moral problems weightier still begin to emerge when the question of Distribution presents itself. Moral considerations lie at the root of this question; and Political Economy, so far as it attempts to deal with it apart from moral considerations, must always be merely, a speculative, and not a practical or a fruitful science. If Production is in a sense the presupposition of all moral and spiritual life, no less certainly correct moral conceptions-may we not even say true spiritual conditions?-are the indispensable means of determining Distribution. For a society in which every individual is striving with all his strength or cunning to procure for himself the largest possible share of the common stock, in which therefore the material possessions gravitate into the hands of the strong and the unscrupulous, while the weak and the honorable are left destitute-such a society, if it ever came into existence, would be a demoralized society. Such a demoralization is always probable when the means of production have been rapidly and greatly improved, and when the fever of getting has overpowered the sense of righteousness and all the kindlier human feelings. Such a demoralization is to be averted by securing attention to the abiding moral principles which must govern men’s action in the matter of wealth, and by enforcing these principles with such vividness of illustration and such cogency of sanction that they shall be generally accepted and practiced. In our own day this question of the distribution of wealth stands in the front rank of practical questions. Religious teachers must face it, or else they must forfeit their claim to be the guides and instructors of their generation. Socialists are grappling with this question not altogether in a religious spirit: they have stepped into a gap which Christians have left empty; they have recognized a great spiritual issue when Christians have seen nothing but a material problem of pounds, shillings, and pence, of supply and demand, of labor and capital. Where Socialism adopts the program of Revolution, Wisdom cannot give in her adhesion; she knows too well that suffering, impatience, and despair are unsafe, although very pathetic, counselors: she knows too well that social upheaval does not produce social reconstruction, but a weary entail of fresh upheavals; she has learnt, too, that society is organic, and cannot, like Pelops in the myth, win rejuvenescence by being cut up and cast into the cauldron, but can advance only by a quiet and continuous growth, in which each stage comes naturally and harmoniously out of the stage which preceded. But all Socialism is not revolutionary. And Wisdom cannot withhold her sympathy and her aid where Socialism takes the form of stating, and expounding, and enforcing truer conceptions concerning the distribution of wealth. It is by vigorous and earnest grappling with the moral problem that the way of advance is prepared; every sound lesson therefore in the right way of regarding wealth, and in the use of wealth, is a step in the direction of that social renovation which all earnest men at present desire. The book of Proverbs presents some very clear and decisive teaching on this question, and it is our task now to view this teaching, scattered and disconnected though it be, as a whole. I. The first thing to be noted in the book is its frank and full recognition that Wealth has its advantages, and Poverty has its disadvantages. There is no quixotic attempt to overlook, as many moral and spiritual systems do, the perfectly obvious facts of life. The extravagance and exaggeration which led St. Francis to choose Poverty as his bride find no more sanction in this Ancient Wisdom than in the sound teaching of our Lord and His Apostles. The rich man’s wealth is his strong city, { Proverbs 10:15 , Proverbs 18:11 } we are told, and as a high wall in his own imagination, while the destruction of the poor is their poverty. The rich man can ransom himself from death if by chance he has fallen into difficulties, though this benefit is to Some extent counterbalanced by the reflection that the poor escape the threats of such dangers, as no bandit would care to attack a man with an empty purse and a threadbare cloak. { Proverbs 13:8 } The rich man gains many advantages through his power of making gifts; it brings him before great men, { Proverbs 18:16 } "it procures him universal friendship, such as it is, { Proverbs 19:6 , Proverbs 14:20 } it enables him to pacify the anger of an adversary, { Proverbs 21:14 } for indeed a gift is as a precious stone in the eyes of him that hath it, whithersoever it turneth it prospereth. Not only does wealth make many friends, "it also secures positions of influence and authority, over those who are poorer, enabling a man to sit in Parliament or to gain the governorship of a colony. { Proverbs 22:17 } It gives even the somewhat questionable advantage of being able to treat others with brusqueness and hauteur. On the other hand, the poor man has to use entreaties. { Proverbs 18:23 } His poverty separates him from his neighbors, and even incurs his neighbors’ hatred. { Proverbs 14:20 , Proverbs 19:4 } Nay, worse than this, his friends go far from him, his very brethren hate him, if he calls after them they quickly get out of his reach; while the necessity of borrowing from wealthier men keeps him in a position of continual bondage. { Proverbs 22:7 } Indeed, nothing can compensate for being without the necessaries of life: "Better is he that is lightly esteemed, and is his own servant, than he that honoreth himself, and lacketh bread." Since then Poverty is a legitimate subject of dread, there are urgent exhortations to diligence and thrift, quite in accordance with the excellent apostolic maxim that if a man will not work he shall not eat; while there are forcible statements of the things which tend to poverty, and of the courses which result in comfort and wealth. Thus it is pointed out how slack and listless labor leads to poverty, while industry leads to wealth. { Proverbs 10:4 } We are reminded that the obstinate refusal to be corrected is a fruitful source of poverty, { Proverbs 13:18 } while the humble and pious mind is rewarded with riches as well as with honor and life. { Proverbs 22:4 } In the house of the wise man are found treasures as well as all needful supplies. { Proverbs 21:20 } Drunkenness and gluttony lead to poverty, and drowsiness clothes a man with rags. { Proverbs 23:21 } And there is a beautiful injunction to engage in an agricultural life, which is the only perennial source of wealth, the only secure foundation of a people’s prosperity. As if we were back in patriarchal times, we are thus admonished in the later proverbs of Solomon:- { Proverbs 27:23-27 } "Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, And look well to thy herds; For riches are not forever; And doth the crown endure unto all generations? The hay is carried, and the tender grass showeth itself, And the herbs of the mountains are gathered in. The lambs are for thy clothing, And the goats are the price of the field: And there will be goat’s milk enough for thy food, for the food of thy household; And maintenance for thy maidens." II. But now, making all allowance for the advantages of wealth, we have to notice some of its serious drawbacks. To begin with, it is always insecure. If a man places any dependence upon it, it will fail him; only in his imagination is it a sure defense. { Proverbs 11:28 } "Wilt thou set thine eyes upon it? it is gone. For riches certainly make themselves wings, like an eagle that flieth toward heaven." { Proverbs 23:5 margin} But further if the wealth has been obtained in any other way than by honest labor it is useless, at any rate for the owner, and indeed worse than useless for him. As the text says, treasures of wickedness profit nothing. In the revenues of the wicked is trouble. Got in light and fallacious ways, the money dwindles; only when gathered by labor does it really increase. { Proverbs 13:11 } When it is obtained by falsehood-by the tricks and misrepresentations of trade, for example-it may be likened to a vapor driven to and fro-nay, rather to a mephitic vapor, a deadly exhalation, the snares of death. Worst of all is it to obtain wealth by oppression of the poor; one who does so shall as surely come to want as he who gives money to those who do not need it. { Proverbs 22:16 } In fact, our book contains the striking thought that ill-earned wealth is never gathered for the benefit of the possessor, but only for the benefit of the righteous, and must be useless until it gets into hands which will use it benevolently. { Proverbs 13:22 , Proverbs 28:8 } And while there are these serious drawbacks to material possessions, we are further called upon to notice that there is wealth of another kind, wealth consisting in moral or spiritual qualities, compared with which wealth, as it is usually understood, is quite paltry and unsatisfying. When the intrinsic defects of silver and gold have been frankly stated, this earthly treasure is set, as a whole, in comparison with another kind of treasure, and is observed to become pale and dim. Thus "riches profit not in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivereth from death." { Proverbs 11:4 } Indeed it is only the blessing of the Lord which brings riches without drawbacks. { Proverbs 10:22 } In the house of the righteous is much treasure. { Proverbs 15:6 } Better is a little with righteousness than great treasure without right. { Proverbs 16:8 } In the light of these moral considerations the relative positions of the rich and the poor are reversed; it is better to be an honest poor man than a perverse rich man; the little grain of integrity in the heart and life outweighs all the balance at the bank. A little wisdom, a little sound understanding, or a little wholesome knowledge is more precious than wealth. How much better is it to get wisdom than gold. Yea, to get understanding is rather to be chosen than silver. { Proverbs 16:16 } There may be gold and abundance of rubies, but the lips of knowledge are a precious jewel. { Proverbs 20:15 } Nay, there are some things apparently very filling which will so depreciate material wealth that if a choice is to be made it is well to let the wealth go and to purchase immunity from these trivial troubles. Better is a little with the fear of the Lord than great treasure and trouble therewith. Better is a dinner of herbs where love is than a stalled ox and hatred therewith. { Proverbs 15:16-17 } Better is a dry morsel and quietness therewith than a house full of feasting with strife. { Proverbs 17:1 } Yes, the good will and affectionate regard of our fellow-men are on the whole far more valuable than a large revenue. A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favor rather than silver and gold. Indeed, when the relations of the rich and the poor are brought up into God’s presence our whole conception of the matter is liable to change; we observe the rich and the poor meet together, and the Lord the maker of them all; { Proverbs 22:2 } we observe that any slur cast on the poor or any oppression of them is practically a reproach against the Maker, { Proverbs 14:31 , Proverbs 17:5 } whilst any act of pity or tenderness to the needy is in effect a service rendered to God; and more and more we get to feel that notwithstanding the rich man’s good opinion of himself he presents rather a sorry spectacle in the presence of the wise, even though the wise may be exceedingly poor. Taking into account therefore the intrinsic insecurity of wealth, and the terrible flaws in the title which may result from questionable ways of obtaining it, and estimating at a right value the other things which are not usually reckoned as wealth, -goodness, piety, wisdom, knowledge, and love, -we can quite understand that enlightened men might be too busy in life to make money, too occupied with grave purposes and engrossed with noble objects of pursuit to admit the perturbations of mammon into their souls. Making all allowance for the unquestionable advantages of being rich, and the serious inconveniences of being poor, we may yet see reasons for not greatly desiring wealth, nor greatly dreading poverty. III. But now we come to the positive counsels which our Teacher would give on the strength of these considerations about money and its acquisition. And first of all we are solemnly cautioned against the fever of money-getting, the passion to get rich, a passion which has the most demoralizing effect on its victims, and is indeed an indication of a more or less perverted character. The good man cannot be possessed by it, and if he could he would soon become bad. These grave warnings of Wisdom are specially needed at the present time in England and America, when the undisguised and the unrestrained pursuit of riches has become more and more recognized as the legitimate end of life, so that few people feel any shame in admitting that this is their aim; and the clear unimpassioned statements of the result, which always follows on the unhallowed passion, receive daily confirmation from the occasional revelations of our domestic, our commercial, and our criminal life. He that is greedy of gain, we are told, troubleth his own house. { Proverbs 15:27 } An inheritance may be gotten hastily at the beginning, but the end thereof shall not be blessed. { Proverbs 20:21 } A faithful man shall abound with blessings, but he that maketh haste to be rich (and consequently cannot by any possibility be faithful) shall not be unpunished. { Proverbs 28:20 } He that hath an evil eye hasteth after riches, and knoweth not that want shall come upon him. { Proverbs 28:22 } "Weary not thyself," therefore, it is said, "to be rich"; which, though it may be the dictate of thine own wisdom, { Proverbs 23:4 } is really unmixed folly, burdened with a load of calamity for the unfortunate seeker, for his house, and for all those who are in any way dependent upon him. Again, while we are cautioned not to aim constantly at the increase of our possessions, we are counseled to exercise a generous liberality in the disposal of such things as are ours. Curiously enough, niggardliness in giving is associated with slothfulness in labor, while it is implied that the wish to help others is a constant motive for due diligence in the business of life. "There is that coveteth greedily all the day long, but the righteous giveth and withholdeth not." { Proverbs 21:26 } The law of nature, -the law of life, -is to give out and not merely to receive, and in fulfilling that law we receive unexpected blessings: "There is that scattereth and increaseth yet more, and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, and it tendeth only to want. The liberal soul shall be made fat: and he that watereth shall be watered also himself." { Proverbs 11:24-25 } "He that giveth to the poor shall not lack; but he that hideth his eyes shall have many a curse." { Proverbs 28:27 } "He that hath pity on the poor lendeth unto the Lord, and his good deed will He pay him again." { Proverbs 19:17 } "He that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed; for he giveth of his bread to the poor." { Proverbs 22:9 } Such a wholesome shunning of the thirst for wealth, and such a generous spirit in aiding others, naturally suggest to the wise man a daily prayer, a request that he may avoid the dangerous extremes, and walk in the happy mean of worldly possessions: "Give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me; lest I be full and deny thee, and say, Who is the Lord? or lest I be poor and steal, and use profanely the name of my God." { Proverbs 30:8-9 } It is a request not easy to make with perfect sincerity; there are not many who, like Emerson’s grandfather, venture to pray that neither they nor their descendants may ever be rich; while there have been not a few who in a "show of wisdom in will-worship and humility and severity to the body" have sought for an unnecessary and an unwholesome poverty. But it is a wise request; it finds an echo in the prayer which our Lord taught His disciples, and constantly appears inwoven in the apostolic teaching. And if the individual is to desire such things for himself, he must naturally desire that such may be the lot of his fellow-creatures, and he must make it the aim of his efforts after social reform to indefinitely increase the number of those who occupy this happy middle position, and have neither riches nor poverty. And now we have followed the lines of teaching contained in this book on the subject of wealth, and it is impossible to miss the wisdom, the moderation, the inspiration of such counsels. We cannot fail to see that if these principles were recognized universally, and very generally practiced; if they were ingrained in the constitution of our children, so as to become the instinctive motives and guides of action; the serious social troubles which arise from the unsatisfactory distribution of wealth would rapidly disappear. Happy would that society be in which all men were aiming, not at riches, but merely at a modest competency, dreading the one extreme as much as the other; in which the production of wealth was constantly moderated and controlled by the conviction that wealth gotten by vanity is as the snares of death; in which all who had become the owners of wealth were ready to give and glad to distribute, counting a wise benevolence, which in giving to the needy really lends to the Lord, the best investment in the world. If these neglected principles are hitherto very faintly recognized, we must recollect that they have never been seriously preached. Although they were theoretically taught, and practically lived out, in the words and the life of Jesus Christ, they have never been fully incorporated into Christianity. The mediaeval Church fell into the perilous doctrines of the Ebionites, and glorified poverty in theory while in practice it became an engine of unparalleled rapacity. Protestantism has generally been too much occupied with the great principle of Justification by Faith to pay much attention to such a writing as the Epistle of St. James, which Luther described as "a letter of straw"; and thus, while we all believe that we are saved by faith in Christ Jesus, it seldom occurs to us that such a faith must include the most exact and literal obedience to His teachings. Christian men unblushingly serve Mammon, and yet hope that they are serving God too, because they believe on Him whom God sent-though He whom God sent expressly declared that the two services could not be combined. Christian men make it the effort of a lifetime to become rich, although Christ declared that it was easier for a camel to enter the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven; and when they hear that Christ required an intending follower to sell all that he had and give to the poor, they explain it away, and maintain that He does not require such a sacrifice from them, but simply asks them to believe in the Atonement. In this way Christians have made their religion incredible, and even ridiculous, to many of the most earnest spirits of our time. When Christ is made unto them Wisdom as well as Redemption, they will see that the principles of Wisdom which concern wealth are obligatory upon them, just because they profess to believe in Christ. The Expositor's Bible Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.