Holy Bible

Better is a dry morsel, and quietness therewith, than an house full of sacrifices with strife. Proverbs 17:1 The maker and breaker of a family's peace W. Arnot, D. D. Truth sweetens the relations of life; falsehood eats like rust into their core. When they live in love, men meet each other softly and kindly, as the eyelids meet. Envy casts grains of sand between the two, and under each. Every movement then sends a shooting pain through all the body, and makes the salt tears flow. So good are peace and love for human kind, that with them a family will be happy, though they have nothing else in the world; and without them miserable, although they have the whole world at their command. A dinner of herbs and a stalled ox indicate the two extremes — humble poverty on the one side and pampered luxury on the other. When love leaves the family circle, it is no longer a piece of God's own handiwork, and there is no security for safety in any of its motions. Love is the element in which all its relations are set, for softness and safety; and when it has evaporated, nothing remains but that each member of the house should be occupied in mounting a miserable guard over his own interests, and against the anticipated contact of the rest. In that dislocated house, each dreads all, and all dread each. Some rich families live in love, and doubly enjoy their abundance: some poor families quarrel over their herbs. Riches cannot secure happiness, and poverty cannot destroy it. Whether it be husband or wife, parent or child, master or servant, the disturber of a house must answer to its almighty Protector for abusing His gifts, and thwarting His gracious designs. ( W. Arnot, D. D. ) The fining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold: but the Lord trieth the hearts. Proverbs 17:3 God's fining pot and furnace T. Horton, D. D. The text is a parabolical description of God's almighty power and wisdom, for the discovery and reformation of the closest, and subtlest, and perfectest thing in the world, which is the heart of man. I. THE PROPOSITION. First part of the verse. The metals mentioned are silver and gold. The instruments are the fining pot and the furnace. Good men are like gold and silver in sundry regards. 1. From the solidity and substantialness of their principles. 2. From the purity and sincerity of their conversation. 3. From the splendour of their example.Their hearts are like gold and silver, but it is like gold and silver in the ore, which has a great deal of dross mixed with it, and must be separated from it by God's instruments of purification. The "fining pot" represents the Word of God, the "furnace" represents the rod of God, or affliction. The furnace is not for the hurt of the gold, but for its advantage. Labour to be bettered by every hand of God upon us, that so therein we may close with His gracious ends. II. THE REDDITION. "But the Lord trieth the hearts." This adversative particle hath a threefold emphasis in it. 1. An emphasis of proportion. Taking "but" for "so." The Lord is no less able or careful to try the hearts of the sons of men than the goldsmith is his silver and gold. God tries the heart either in a way of discovery or of purification. He tries them so as to discern them, and make known what they are. This kind of trial has two seasons, this present time and the world to come. He tries them to purge them, and remove their corruptions from them. This He does out of love to themselves, that He may make them vessels of honour. In reference to their works, that they may bring forth more fruit. For the sake of others. 2. An emphasis of exception. As restraining the skill of the refiner in this particular. He may be able to refine his metals, but he cannot try the heart. 3. An emphasis of appropriation. "The Lord trieth the hearts," i.e. , the Lord alone does it. This is His prerogative. None other can try the heart thus authoritatively, and none can try it so effectually. ( T. Horton, D. D. ) Heart tests W. M. Taylor, D. D. The chemical analyst has different tests for different poisons. If he suspect the presence of arsenic, he will use one thing to detect that; if he is looking for antimony, he will take another to discover that; if he is trying for strychnine, he will employ quite another to bring that to light. ( W. M. Taylor, D. D. ) Religious lessons from metallurgy T. Starr King. To get the dross out of us, this is the sovereign aim of our training in this world. In education the main purpose is to free the mental faculties of the dross of sloth and prejudice. In active life the great success is in confirming the fibre of energy and character. In higher relations the object of the Almighty is to burn out the dross of the spirit and make us noble and pure. What is dross in human character? Suppose you are inclined to avarice, the excessive love of money. If you think of your own character as strengthened, made better, do you think of that quality of avarice as untouched? Do you think of it as stronger than it is now? Or do you think of it as weaker, as melted down in part, and poured off from your soul like scum? Now consider profanity, levity, intemperance, lust, moral sluggishness, vanity, haughtiness, insolence of words or manners, irreverence, rebellion in feeling against Providence — translate these into natural language, into the language of metals and the crucible, what are they? —valuable elements or foul ones, dross or gold? But take the converse qualities — reverence, purity, zeal for good, aspiration, generous use of money, the spirit of sacrifice, charity, devotion to the will of God — how do you represent these in your imagination? You say at once these are the precious elements of human nature and human life. These are the pure silver and gold of the moral world. Now, God is seeking to bring out these qualities into greater concentration and prominence by His moral government. Left to ourselves, to the wandering, undirected impulses of our constitution, mentally and morally, we should always be in the ore state. The hardships of life, the tough conditions that surround the attainment of truth and the training of character, are God's reducing and refining processes. I do not mean to maintain here that all the hard conditions of life can be explained by this figure, or by any figure or theory of man's device. But a world without hardships to such beings as we are would be a far worse, a far more disastrous world than the present. What would a ton of ore, taken out in one slab, be likely to say if it could be conscious, when carried to the batteries of the mill, and then washed for gold, and roasted to drive off sulphur, and pounded again, and mixed with quicksilver, and heated once more to drive off the mercury, and melted again into a mixed bar, and assayed, and still once more melted and granulated into cold water, and then gnawed by nitric acid, to take up the silver and leave the gold as sediment, and then precipitated from the acid as pure silver powder, and washed, and packed into cakes by hydraulic presses to squeeze the water out of it, and melted again in bars, and run through rollers, and punched, and milled, and stamped — thus becoming fit to serve the daily necessities of civilisation? Suppose it should be told, half-way in the process, that all this was good for it, was part of a great plan, supremely wise, for its permanent benefit I Would it not be likely to say, "Why did you not leave me in my sluggish content in the darkness of the mine? I was happy there. I had no dream there of a higher and better lot. I should have never known these terrible buffets and scourgings and bitings and pressures if I had been left there. Oh, for that gloom and calm again!" In its silver-bar state, afterwards in its coin-state, will it say so? It can look back then on the trials and pains, and see their meaning and read their bitter but splendid benevolence. We see enough now to show that the best qualities of human nature are brought out and tested by difficulty and suffering. To the choice characters of the world God can say now, as the Spirit said through Isaiah, "I have refined thee, but not with silver: I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction." And if this world is designed not as the final state for the enjoyment of God, but as the state in which we get the preparation of quality within for the true knowledge and enjoyment of Him, we find the whole secret of life — of its terrors and its hidden mercy — when we follow the ore from its cave to its appearance as the clean silver and the flaming gold. Do not fail either to receive the searching lesson as to judgment hidden in this analogy. The ore is tested thoroughly at the final process of its history. The assayer, by balance and fire, determines exactly what its quality is and its worth. And the processes of God's government are taking us to judgment. It is to be known and seen one day just what we are. To the great judgment of truth you and I, and all the millions living, are moving with every heart-beat, and nothing can save us from its severity and its rewards. "The fining-pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold; but the Lord trieth the hearts." 1. If we pass now to consider sectarian divisions and strifes in the Christian Church, we can gain some help in a right estimate of them and for a wise charity, from analogies in the science of metallurgy. The great object of the New Testament and of Christianity is to increase religious qualities practically in the world, to add pure working forces to life, so that men will be nobler and happier in themselves and in their relations to each other. God has made different kinds of ores, and equally rich in different kinds. For some kinds of mineral one process is admirable; for other kinds a very different treatment is essential. And human nature is analogous. Evils are thrown off from men, and good is practically brought out, by a variety of spiritual methods; and that Church or system of training is the best for a soul which fits its temperament and quickens its will. In some men the good is quickly and easily appealed to and developed. A simple faith and administration will reach and awaken it. Others have the sulphurets in the soul. They are obstinate. Common batteries and cool washings do not do the work. They need heat, fire, the treatment of the element of fear; that takes hold of them. Calvinism is the process that reduces their stubborn self-will and makes them agents of good. Give the proper temperaments to each Church: let the Episcopalians take those that can be best reached by their methods, and the Methodists take their natural material, and the Swedenborgians and the Quakers and the Calvinists theirs, and the Unitarians theirs, and great good will be done. The world of character will be richer. The work of the Spirit will be variously and properly performed. "There are differences of administrations, but the same Lord." In science men appeal to the facts. If you put in a ton of ore and take out a pound of gold, you may say that there ought to be two pounds, but you can't say that the process does not produce any gold. And if a system of Christian administration produces honesty, integrity, principle, charity, interest in worship, interest in good ideas and good government and liberty and order, quiet and elevated homes, readiness to serve others and to hold gifts and treasures partly in trust for others — are these qualities to be denied to be good because the process which produces them is different from the ordinary customs? The melter and assayer does not make coin; society does not allow him to put his stamp on money and say, "All gold is spurious which is not poured from my crucibles." It is his office to produce gold. The Government coins and issues it, and allows that great office to no private hands. So the business of Churches is to produce purity, reverence integrity, charity, readiness to do good in all forms. God rates and stamps the products, and His judgment is the final and the only one as to the honesty or spuriousness of the products of the sanctuaries. There is one other point upon which I wish to make our subject bear in illustration. 2. There is a great discussion now about the Bible, especially the Old Testament, and its religious value. Is it a verbally inspired, completely accurate, and authoritative revelation? The Old Testament is a very wonderful book, and its value in the religious and providential training of the world cannot readily be stated. But it is not a continuous revelation. It does not offer you concentrated spiritual truth in all its pages, the pure silver and gold of the Spirit. The Old Testament is a great lode, or precious mineral vein, upheaved and winding through the strata of a national history. There are different kinds and qualities of ore in it, some easy, some difficult of reduction to the pure standard of moral truth. The Old Testament, compared with all other ancient national literatures, is a religious gold and silver vein immensely, incalculably, divinely rich. That is its distinction in the world, and will be its distinction for ever. And by the statement and authority of Jesus Himself, we get its concentrated value in the laws of love to God and our neighbour. If you understand little of commentaries and theological discussion and council lore, and have these, you have what Jesus Christ called the essentials. Knowledge of mining is good, but its practical value is in furnishing the silver for human use. This spirit of love is the silver into which the inspiration collected from the ore of the Bible is finally reduced. If you do not possess this spirit, your Biblical learning is only intellectual wisdom, your soundness of faith is only correct thinking; and though you may be baptized every day in the name and forms of the most orthodox creed, you advance not by a step towards the kingdom of heaven. ( T. Starr King. ) A wicked doer giveth heed to false lips; and a liar giveth ear to a naughty tongue. Proverbs 17:4 The conversational likings of bad men D. Thomas, D. D. Men's characters may be known by the conversations they most relish. The text enables us to see the kind of conversation that bad men like. I. THEY LIKE FLATTERY. "A wicked doer giveth heed to false lips." The flatterer is a man of false lips. The more corrupt men are, the more blindly credulous to everything that makes them appear better than they are. He who compliments them palliates their offences, gives them credit for virtues they possess not, is their favourite companion, and they ever "give heed" to his lips. One of the best things recorded of George III. is, that one of his first acts after his ascension to the throne was to issue an order prohibiting any of the clergy who should be called to preach before him from paying him any compliment in their discourses. His Majesty was led to this from the fulsome adulation which Dr. Thomas Wilson, Prebendary of Westminster, thought proper to deliver in the Chapel Royal, and for which, instead of thanks, he received from his royal auditor a pointed reprimand, his Majesty observing that he came to chapel to hear the praise of God, not his own. II. THEY LIKE CALUMNY. The liar is also the "wicked doer." The "naughty tongue," whilst it speaks flatteries and falsehoods of all kinds, speaks calumnies also. And the worse the man is the more welcome to his depraved heart are the reports of bad things concerning others. 1. Calumny gratifies the pride of evil men. It helps them to cherish the thought that they are not worse than others, perhaps better. 2. Calumny gratifies the malignity of evil men. The worse a man is the more malevolence he has in him; the more gratified he is at hearing bad things concerning other men. "If," said Bishop Hall, "I cannot stop other men's mouths from speaking ill, I will either open my mouth to reprove it or else I will stop mine ears from hearing it, and let him see in my face that he hath no room in my heart." ( D. Thomas, D. D. ) A reproof entereth more into a wise man than an hundred stripes into a fool. Proverbs 17:10 Moral and corporeal chastisement Homilist. I. THE ONE IN ITS SPHERE IS AS LEGITIMATE AS THE OTHER. Look at the sphere of each. 1. The sphere of the moral. It is for the wise. The "reproof" is for men open to reason and impression — men whose natures are susceptible to moral arguments and appeals. 2. The sphere of the corporeal. It is for "fools." Of what service is an argument to an ox, or a whip to a soul? II. THE ONE IN ITS SPHERE IS MORE THOROUGH THAN THE OTHER. "A reproof entereth more into a wise man than an hundred stripes into a fool." 1. The one is more painful than the other. What is pain arising from a few lashes on the body compared to the pain arising in the soul from a conviction of moral wrong? What pain did reproof give David! ( Psalm 51 .). What agony did the reproving look of Christ give Peter! 2. The one is more corrective than the other. Corporeal chastisement will never do the fool any moral good. You cannot whip the moral devil out of men ( Proverbs 27:22 ). But moral chastisements correct the wrongs of the soul. The fires of moral conviction separate the gold from the dross. ( Homilist. ) Let a bear robbed of her whelps meet a man, rather than a fool in his folly. Proverbs 17:12 The cruelty of fools W. Arnot, D. D. The rage of wild beasts is short-lived, and their power is circumscribed within narrow limits. Man has more cause to dread his brother than all the beasts of the forest. Ambition, jealousy, and superstition are sad sources of cruelty. We all abhor the deeds of cruelty which the "fool in his folly" so frequently commits; but alas! we have not all an adequate estimate of the guilt attaching to the man at the moment, and in the act of entering into his folly. ( W. Arnot, D. D. ) The beginning of strife is as when one letteth out water: therefore leave off contention, before it be meddled with. Proverbs 17:14 Strife and contention John Newcombe, D. D. Here contention seems to differ from strife, the former being more general, the latter more particular. Strife is by implication wholly forbidden, as being most mischievous; contention is regulated and ordered to be left off, in due time, before it be meddled with. Contending by reason and argument is frequently a duty recommended and practised by the best of men. But so soon as the contending parties refuse to hear reason, and proceed with heat and passion, then arises strife. Then every method made use of to carry a cause tends to widen the breach and inflame the adversaries. If the matter of the strife should only be unseasonable it may nevertheless prove mischievous and fatal by drawing men off from attending to things of the greatest importance to the public welfare, and by souring their temper, make union and concord impracticable. For the manner alone in which strife is usually carried on renders it impossible to be kept in due bounds. Even the end itself, for which the strife was at first begun, is neglected or forgotten. The parties engaged go on from skirmishes to battles, from the provoking of wrath to the drawing of blood. Would you avoid strife, and the mischiefs which naturally follow from it? Then leave off contention in due season: "before it be meddled with," i.e. , before the contention be too much diffused or blended with passion; or the parties proceed to open rupture and hostilities; or other persons mix themselves in the quarrel. Compare "It is an honour for a man to cease from strife; but every fool will be meddling." The advice is so excellent and so necessary that one cannot but wish means might be found to put it in practice. When men of birth, education, and fortune are governed in all questions by the dictates of reason and divest themselves of all prejudice and passion, they soon reduce all their differences to an inconsiderable quantity, and settle in such a manner as candour and equity can approve. Let every one, then, in his sphere and station, endeavour to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace: to quench every spark of discord or strife. To bring this happy work to effect there is but one certain and never-failing method, which is this, to regulate our whole conduct by the Word of God, from whence we are instructed to practise every duty recommended by right, reason, and the best policy. ( John Newcombe, D. D. ) The beginning of strife J. F. B. Tinling, B. A. The history of the French port of St. Valery, where William I embarked for the conquest of England in 1066, may well illustrate the truth that the beginning of strife is as the letting out of water. The success of the Norman enterprise did not prevent but occasioned the return of the tide of war after an interval of two centuries. Then during the Hundred Years War it was first burnt by the English, and then by Charles the Bad of Navarre. After that it was destroyed by Louis XI to keep it out of our hands, and in later years it was sacked by Leaguers, Royalists, and Spaniards, so that the historian of Abbeville says that "history has failed to keep count of its disasters." ( J. F. B. Tinling, B. A. ) Strife D. Thomas, D. D. Crabb makes a difference between discord and strife. He says, "Discord evinces itself in various ways — by looks, words, or actions; strife displays itself in words, or acts of violence. Discord is fatal to the happiness of families; strife is the greatest enemy to peace between neighbours; discord arose between the goddesses on the apple being thrown into one assembly. Homer commences his poem with the strife that took place between Agamemnon and Achilles." The passages suggests three ideas concerning strife. I. IT IS AN EVIL OF TERRIFIC PROGRESS. This strife spreads. One angry word leads to another, one act of resentment, will kindle a fire that may set a whole neighbourhood or a nation into conflagration. A drop of strife soon becomes a river, and the river a torrent. II. IT IS AN EVIL THAT SHOULD BE CHECKED. "Therefore leave off contention." Every lover of his race and his God should suppress it. It is a desolating thing, it makes sad havoc in families, neighbourhoods, churches, nations. 1. Be inspired with the spirit of peace. 2. Maintain the character of peace. 3. Use the argument of peace. Thus he will check the spirit of strife. III. IT IS AN EVIL WHICH CAN BE EASILY CHECKED AT THE BEGINNING. YOU may mend the embankment with tolerable ease at the stage when it emits only a few oozing drops. The mightiest and most furious beasts of prey you can easily destroy at their birth; the most majestic and resistless river you can stop at its spring head. So it is with strife, in its incipient state you may easily crush it. Crush the upas in the germ, tread out the conflagration in the spark. ( D. Thomas, D. D. ) He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, even they both are abomination to the Lord. Proverbs 17:15 Our estimate of other men H. Alford, B. D. We may regard such an estimate from three points of view: in its effect on those thus estimated, on society in general, and on ourselves. Did we ever question with ourselves, "On what is my estimate of others usually founded"? If we did we should surely be dissatisfied with our present practice. It would be unnatural and absurd to pretend that no influence should be exerted over our estimate of men by the organs of public opinion; equally unreasonable to decry them as perfectly unreliable in the matter. But there may be very much untruthfulness, short of what is utter and absolute; very much which is utter and absolute, and yet escapes detection. What is the duty of Christians with regard to the blame and praise of others? Insist first on the general duty of conscientiousness in forming all our estimates of other men. It should be our aim as Christians, not obsequiously to follow public opinion, but to act for ourselves and for God. There is a timidity, even amounting to cowardice, among us in forming and expressing our opinion of other men. The body of Christian men among us seems to have abjured the duty of conscientiousness; and this abjuration is one of the most fearful symptoms of our times. The duty of estimating others as in the sight of God is not by any means a light one, but a most solemn one. Unholy and unprincipled life, wherever found, ought to be protested against by the servants of God. There is a sad tendency among us to overlook those faults which fall in with the practice of the day, which consist in the neglect of unwelcome duties, or the committal of lightly-esteemed sins. The second person who is said to be an abomination to the Lord is "he that condemneth the just." We are always more prone to condemn than to justify. It is an abuse of our instinct of self-preservation to be ever ready with our hostility to other men. The general propensity to depress others renders it very easy, in any case, to condemn. Point out a few ways by which we may guard ourselves against this tendency to condemn the just. The first caution is this — look ever at the life which is palpable rather than at the motive or the creed, which are usually mere matters of surmise. A second caution is, avoid and refuse to use, and protest against the use of, all party names. Another caution is this — form your opinions of others, not at the prompting of the world, but as under the eye of God. For all our most secret judgments of men and things we are accountable to Him. ( H. Alford, B. D. ) Just estimates It was a saying of Solon, the Athenian lawgiver, that a republic walks upon two feet; one being just punishment for the unworthy, the other due reward for the worthy. If it fail in either of these, it necessarily goes lame. How if it fail in both? Wherefore is there a price in the hand of fool to get wisdom, seeing he hath no heart to it? Proverbs 17:16 Opportunities of youth H. Ward Beecher. The term "fool" is not used in the modern sense of a man without reason; but rather in the sense of an unreasoning man. The term is applied much as we apply the term "wicked man." The figure in the text is one drawn from commerce. It represents a man who has been given a sum which he is to invest. He spends part of it in dissipation, part in unwise and unprofitable commodities, and some part in shadows and cheats and pretences; and when he has expended that sum he is a bankrupt. Wicked or foolish men have committed to them a price or a capital, and what is the use if they have no heart to use it right? What good does it do them if they do not employ it as they should? The idea that men are sent into this world for a purpose, and that they are equipped for the accomplishment of that purpose, is given in both the Testaments. Men comprehensively have committed to them, in bodily organs, and in their mental equipment, a power singularly complex, but wise and efficient, and as compared with the agencies of nature in its adaptations to the work of life, surpassing the human frame itself. Natural laws are the great agencies of nature that are being used or fructified by the volition of man. Each man stands at the centre of a sphere of possibilities where he, through knowledge, may come to control natural law and work in his limited sphere as God works in the infinite sphere. Then there is the good name and fame which descends to many of us from our parents. There is a presumption that stock and blood will tell, and that a good father will have good children. It is invaluable to a young man beginning life to have the kindly expectation, the generous sympathy and goodwill of those to whom he comes. What a price is put into the hands of the young in our time in the matter of education; if a man has a heart for knowledge, if he has an ambition to acquire it, and if he is quick to discern, the eye, the ear, every sense becomes the minister of education. Alas! that there should be so many who care nothing for it! Closely connected with this is the capital of bodily health. Good health is a wonderful help to morality, to nobility of character, and to calmness and decision of judgment and action. Next is the capacity of industry. I believe fervently in enterprise, but I also believe fervently in the good old-fashioned notions about patient industry. Every person has that in him by which he can win a moderate success in life by simply doing, day by day, the right things, however humble a sphere he may be in. To many have also been given the invaluable qualities of integrity, honour, and fidelity. These are very valuable from a commercial point of view. A man who is honest, and truthful, and full of integrity, when he has finally been proved, has everybody engineering for him. Then look upon life as a very solemn thing. God has given you one life, and has put capital into your hands, and sent you into this world to buy immortality. Do not squander that price. Listen to the voice of wisdom. ( H. Ward Beecher. ) Means and abilities to get wisdom W. Reading, M. A. We may define wisdom to be a right apprehension of those things that are best for us, and a diligent pursuit of them by such means as are agreeable to the laws of piety and virtue. Men have sometimes abilities and opportunities to act wisely for themselves, but neglect them, and have no heart to make their just advantages of them. 1. A man of good natural faculties and endowments of mind may be said to have the price of wisdom in his hand, when he hath no heart to it. 2. This price may be understood of the schools of good education and learning. Those who are brought up in such places often act the part of fools. 3. Riches are in many respects the price of wisdom, in that they enable their owners to buy books, to hire teachers, and to be at leisure to spend their time in the study of useful learning. 4. Men of great power and authority have the price of wisdom in their hands. 5. We have a noble price put into our hands to get wisdom, in the ordinances of religion and means of grace we enjoy. These advantages are the portion of every Christian. But these opportunities are sadly often in the hands of those who have no heart to make use of them. This appears — (1) From the want of zeal in attending public worship; and — (2) From the errors and vices of our common conversation.We often condemn our own mismanagement of the talents which God has given us, and look back with much regret upon those opportunities which have slipped through our hands. But the power is often given without the will, so that we suffer many opportunities to pass away and be lost without improving them to any good purpose. ( W. Reading, M. A. ) A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. Proverbs 17:17 The unrivalled Friend Few men enjoy from others the highest and truest form of friendship. There is, however, a higher friendship among men of principle, among men of virtue. Where godliness builds her house, true friendship finds a rest. Take this text and refer it to the Lord Jesus Christ. I. THE ENDURANCE OF THE LOVE OF JESUS CHRIST. He loved before time began. He loved you when time began with you. Since that day this Friend has loved us at all times. Consider the reality of Christ's love at all times. His love has never been a thing of mere words and pretensions. Consider the nature of the love of Christ, as accounting for its endurance and reality. His love sprang from the purest possible motives. Christ's love was a wise love, not blind as ours often is. He loved us knowing exactly what we were whom He loved. His love is associated continually with an infinite degree of patience and pity. He is so constant in His love, because He sees us as what we are to be. He is described as "born for adversity," the adversity of the fall, and of tribulation. II. REFER THE TEXT TO THE CHRISTIAN. You have found Jesus Christ to be a true brother and a blessed friend; now let the same be true of you. If Christ be such a friend to us, what manner of people ought we to be towards Him? We should be friends that love Christ at all times. ( C. H. Spurgeon . ) A brother born for adversity Anon. I. ADVERSITY IS THE COMMON LOT OF BROTHERHOOD. It comes sooner or later to all of us. It is a necessity of our nature. It is a wise appointment of God. II. THE TIES OF BROTHERHOOD ARE FORMED FOR ADVERSITY. We are united in families for purposes of mutual succour. III. ADVERSITY TENDS TO SANCTIFY THE INTERCOURSE OF THE BROTHERHOOD. Some of the most valuable of our lessons are taught us in our intercourse with one another. IV. IN ADVERSITY WE ARE LED TO KNOW, IN AN ESPECIAL MANNER, THE PRESENCE OF THE ELDER BROTHER WITH THE BROTHERHOOD. J

Benson Commentary Proverbs 17:1 Better is a dry morsel, and quietness therewith, than an house full of sacrifices with strife. Proverbs 17:1 . Better is a dry morsel — “Bread with pulse, or husks,” as Bochart and Houbigant interpret it; which was the food of meaner persons; and quietness therewith — Peace, love, and concord among the members of a family; than a house full of sacrifices — Of the remainder of sacrifices, of which they used to make feasts; concerning which see on Proverbs 7:14 : or, of slain beasts, as the same word, ????? , is used Genesis 31:54 , and elsewhere. Proverbs 17:2 A wise servant shall have rule over a son that causeth shame, and shall have part of the inheritance among the brethren. Proverbs 17:2 . A wise servant shall have rule, &c. — “Probity and prudence are so much better than mere riches and noble birth, that a wise and faithful servant sometimes arrives at the honour of being appointed the governor of a son, whose folly and wickedness make him a discredit to his family;” and shall have part of the inheritance among the brethren — “His merits, perhaps, are rewarded with a portion of the estate, which is to be distributed among them.” Proverbs 17:3 The fining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold: but the LORD trieth the hearts. Proverbs 17:4 A wicked doer giveth heed to false lips; and a liar giveth ear to a naughty tongue. Proverbs 17:4 . A wicked doer — A malicious and mischievous man, whose practice and delight it is to bring trouble upon others; giveth heed to false lips — Hebrew, ???? ??? , the lip of iniquity, to any wicked counsels or speeches; to false accusations and calumnies, which give him occasion and encouragement to do mischief. And a liar giveth ear to a naughty tongue — He who accustoms himself to speak what is false and wicked, delights in the like speeches of others. This proverb contains a comparison between an evil-doer and an evil-speaker, and shows their agreement in the same sinful practice of being eager to hear false and wicked speeches. Proverbs 17:5 Whoso mocketh the poor reproacheth his Maker: and he that is glad at calamities shall not be unpunished. Proverbs 17:5 . Whoso mocketh the poor — See on Proverbs 14:31 ; and he that is glad at calamities — At the miseries of other men; shall not be unpunished — The cup shall be put into his hands, Ezekiel 25:6-7 . Proverbs 17:6 Children's children are the crown of old men; and the glory of children are their fathers. Proverbs 17:6 . Children’s children are the crown of old men — It is an honour to parents, when they are old, to leave children, and children’s children growing up, that tread in the steps of their virtues, and are likely to maintain and advance the reputation of their families, and to serve their generation according to the will of God; and the glory of children are their fathers — Namely, fathers that are wise and godly. To have such parents is an honour to children, and to have them continued to them even after they are themselves grown up, and settled in the world. Those are unnatural children indeed who reckon their aged parents a burden to them, and think they live too long; whereas, if children be wise and good, it is their greatest honour, that thereby they are comforts to their parents in the unpleasant days of their old age. Proverbs 17:7 Excellent speech becometh not a fool: much less do lying lips a prince. Proverbs 17:7 . Excellent speech — Either, 1st, Discourse concerning difficult, high, and excellent things, far above his capacity: or, 2d, Lofty, eloquent speech, which fools often affect: or, 3d, Virtuous and godly discourse; becometh not a fool — Either one properly so called, or, as the word fool is most commonly used in this book, a wicked man, whose actions give the lie to his expressions. Proverbs 17:8 A gift is as a precious stone in the eyes of him that hath it: whithersoever it turneth, it prospereth. Proverbs 17:8 . A gift is as a precious stone, &c. — “A gift is so tempting that it can no more be refused than a lovely jewel can, by him to whom it is presented; and such is its power, that it commonly prevails over all men, despatches all business, carries all causes; and, in a word, effects whatsoever a man desires.” — Bishop Patrick. Proverbs 17:9 He that covereth a transgression seeketh love; but he that repeateth a matter separateth very friends. Proverbs 17:9 . He that covereth a transgression — That passes by and buries in oblivion a transgression that hath been committed against himself; or that concealeth, as far as he may, other men’s faults against their friends or neighbours; seeketh love — Takes the best course to preserve friendships and to make himself universally beloved; but he that repeateth a matter — Who rakes up that fault again, and objects it afresh when it was forgotten; or that publishes and spreads it abroad; separateth very friends — Breaks the strictest bonds of amity, and makes an irreconcileable separation. Proverbs 17:10 A reproof entereth more into a wise man than an hundred stripes into a fool. Proverbs 17:10 . A reproof entereth more into a wise man — Penetrates deeper into the mind of an ingenuous person, and produces a greater reformation in him, than a hundred stripes will do for the amendment of an obstinate fool. Proverbs 17:11 An evil man seeketh only rebellion: therefore a cruel messenger shall be sent against him. Proverbs 17:11 . An evil man seeketh only rebellion — Seeketh nothing but his own will; and being so refractory that he hath shaken off all reverence for God and his governors, he is wholly bent upon mischief, and cannot be reclaimed; therefore a cruel messenger shall be sent against him — Some dreadful judgment or other, as a messenger from God; angels, God’s messengers, shall be employed as ministers of justice against him, Psalm 78:49 . Satan, the angel of death, and the messengers of Satan, shall be let loose upon him. His prince shall send a sergeant to arrest him, and an executioner to cut him off. He that kicks against the pricks is waited for of the sword. Proverbs 17:12 Let a bear robbed of her whelps meet a man, rather than a fool in his folly. Proverbs 17:12 . Let a bear robbed of her whelps — When she is most cruel and fierce; meet a man, rather than a fool in his folly — That is, in the heat of his lust or passion, because the danger is greater, all things considered, and more unavoidable. A man may more easily stop, escape from, or guard against, an enraged bear than an outrageous man. It is observed by Bochart, ( de Animal Sacr., lib. 3. cap. 9,) that the female bear is more fierce than the male; that she is more fierce than ordinary when she has whelps; and that when she is robbed of them she is fiercest of all. Proverbs 17:13 Whoso rewardeth evil for good, evil shall not depart from his house. Proverbs 17:14 The beginning of strife is as when one letteth out water: therefore leave off contention, before it be meddled with. Proverbs 17:14 . The beginning of strife, &c. — “Those who begin a quarrel are like those who make a breach in a bank, and give an opening to the waters of a rapid river; which they can never be sure to stop before it produces the most fatal and calamitous events. This painting admirably represents the effects of lying and false reports, and supplies us with an excellent lesson to avoid the contagion, and prevent the beginnings of contentions:” see Calmet. Proverbs 17:15 He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, even they both are abomination to the LORD. Proverbs 17:15 . He that justifieth the wicked — That acquitteth him as innocent by a judicial sentence, or otherwise approveth or commendeth his evil practices; and he that condemneth the just — Or, contributes to his condemnation, defeats the end of government, which is to protect the good, and punish the bad; and therefore they both are abomination to the Lord — Who would have justice exactly administered, and so cannot but be highly displeased at those who endeavour to confound the nature of good and evil among men. Proverbs 17:16 Wherefore is there a price in the hand of a fool to get wisdom, seeing he hath no heart to it ? Proverbs 17:16 . Wherefore is there a price in the hand of a fool, &c. — The Hebrew is literally, Wherefore is this? A price in the hand of a fool to procure wisdom, and not a heart? The question implies, that the price is unworthily placed, and that it is to no purpose, or benefit of the possessor. All the ancient translators interpret the word ???? , here rendered price, of possessions, or riches, of which the same word is used Isaiah 55:1 , and elsewhere. It comprehends all opportunities and abilities of getting wisdom; seeing he hath no heart to it — Neither discretion to discern the worth of it, nor any sincere desire to get it. Observe, reader, this price, these abilities and opportunities to gain wisdom, are put into all our hands; we have rational souls, the means of grace, the aids of the Holy Spirit, liberty of access to God by prayer, time and opportunity, perhaps also we have good parents, relations, friends, ministers, books to assist us. A sufficient price, therefore, is put into our hands, wherewith to procure wisdom, a talent, or talents rather, of inestimable value; and surely we shall be inexcusable, and cannot escape condemnation and wrath, if we die without it. Proverbs 17:17 A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. Proverbs 17:17 . A friend loveth at all times — A sincere and hearty friend not only loves in prosperity, but also in adversity, when false friends forsake us; and a brother — Who is so, not only by name and blood, but by brotherly affection; is born for adversity — Was sent into the world for this among other ends, that he might comfort and relieve his brother in his adversity. Proverbs 17:18 A man void of understanding striketh hands, and becometh surety in the presence of his friend. Proverbs 17:18 . A man, &c., striketh hands — In token of his becoming surety; of which phrase, and the thing intended by it, see notes on Proverbs 6:1 ; Proverbs 11:15 . This proverb is fitly placed after that in Proverbs 17:17 , to intimate that although the laws of friendship oblige us to love and help our friends in trouble as far as we are able, yet they do not oblige us to become surety for them rashly, and above what we are able to pay, for by that means we should make ourselves unable to do good, either to them, or to others, or to ourselves. Proverbs 17:19 He loveth transgression that loveth strife: and he that exalteth his gate seeketh destruction. Proverbs 17:19 . He loveth transgression that loveth strife — Because contention is in itself a sin, and is commonly accompanied or followed with many sins, as detraction, malice, hatred, pride, &c. and he that exalteth his gate — Namely, the gate of his house, that maketh it, and consequently his house, lofty and magnificent beyond what becomes his quality, that he may overtop and outshine his neighbours; which being an effect and evidence of pride and haughtiness, is here mentioned for all other evidences thereof. So the sense is, he who carries himself loftily and scornfully; seeketh destruction — Seeks those things which will expose him to destruction, because he makes himself odious both to God and men. Proverbs 17:20 He that hath a froward heart findeth no good: and he that hath a perverse tongue falleth into mischief. Proverbs 17:21 He that begetteth a fool doeth it to his sorrow: and the father of a fool hath no joy. Proverbs 17:22 A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones. Proverbs 17:22 . A merry heart — Cheerfullness of mind, especially that which is solid, and ariseth from the testimony of a good conscience; doeth good like a medicine — Even to the body; it contributes very much to the restoration or preservation of bodily health and vigour, as physicians observe and experience shows; but a broken spirit — A spirit sad and dejected; drieth the bones — Wasteth the marrow of the bones, and the moisture and strength of the body. Proverbs 17:23 A wicked man taketh a gift out of the bosom to pervert the ways of judgment. Proverbs 17:23 . A wicked man — Whether judge or witness; taketh a gift out of the bosom — In secret, as this phrase is expounded Proverbs 21:14 , being privily conveyed from the bosom of the giver into his own bosom; to pervert the ways of judgment — To give or procure an unjust sentence. Bishop Patrick’s paraphrase of the verse is, “No man would willingly be known to be so wicked as to be bribed to do injustice, but there are too many that will suffer themselves to be secretly corrupted by presents, to give counsel or judgment contrary to the course of law and equity.” Proverbs 17:24 Wisdom is before him that hath understanding; but the eyes of a fool are in the ends of the earth. Proverbs 17:24 . Wisdom is before him — Hebrew, ?? ??? , in the face, or countenance, of him that hath understanding — His wisdom appears in his very countenance, or in his gestures, or looks, which are modest, composed, and grave. Or, rather, wisdom is before him, or in his eye, he never loses sight of it; it is the mark at which he constantly aims, and the rule by which he constantly walks, and by which he orders all his steps, continually minding his present duty and business. But the eyes of the fool are in the ends of the earth — He manifests his folly, as the man of understanding doth his wisdom, by his very appearance, by his light, unsteady, disorderly carriage and looks. And his mind is wavering and unsettled; he neither proposes a right and certain end to himself, nor is he constant in the use of fit means to attain it; he neglects his present business and true interest, and wanders hither and thither in the pursuit of earthly vanities, minding most those things which are most remote from him, and which least concern him. Proverbs 17:25 A foolish son is a grief to his father, and bitterness to her that bare him. Proverbs 17:25-26 . A foolish son, &c. — This was said before, Proverbs 15:20 , and elsewhere; but he here repeats it, as a point of great moment and constant use, and as a powerful motive to oblige both children to conduct themselves wisely and dutifully toward their parents, as they would not be thought to be unnatural and inhuman, and parents to educate their children prudently and religiously, at least for their own comfort, if not for the public good. Also to punish, &c. — The particle also, here, seems to have relation to the foregoing sentence, and to imply that, as it is a very evil thing for children to cause grief to their parents, so is it also to do what here follows. To punish the just is not good — For parents, princes, or rulers, (to whom alone this power belongs,) to punish innocent and good men, is highly evil and abominable; nor to strike princes for equity — Nor to smite magistrates, either with the hand or tongue, for the execution of justice, as condemned persons are apt to do. But some learned interpreters read this clause, Nor for princes to strike any man for equity, or for doing his duty, or what is just. The Hebrew will very well bear this reading, and it agrees better with the former clause than that which our translators have adopted. Besides that it belongs properly to princes, or magistrates, to punish or strike. Proverbs 17:26 Also to punish the just is not good, nor to strike princes for equity. Proverbs 17:27 He that hath knowledge spareth his words: and a man of understanding is of an excellent spirit. Proverbs 17:27-28 . He that hath knowledge spareth — Hebrew, ?????? , restraineth, his words — As at other times, so especially when he is under a provocation to anger or any other passion, in which case fools utter all their minds. And a man of understanding is of an excellent spirit — Which he shows, as in various other things, so by commanding his passions, and bridling himself from hasty and unadvised speeches. But this is according to the marginal reading of the Masora; but the reading of the Hebrew text is, ?? , cool, according to which, the sense of the clause is, a man of understanding is of a cool spirit, calm and moderate, not easily provoked, humble, as the Chaldee renders it, ?????????? , patient, or long- suffering, as the LXX. and Arabic interpreters render the words. Even a fool, when he holds his peace, is counted wise — Because he is sensible of his folly, and therefore forbears to speak lest he should discover it, which is one point of true wisdom. If a fool hold his peace, men of candour will think him wise, because nothing appears to the contrary, and because it will be thought he is making observations on what others say, and gaining experience, or consulting with himself what he should say, that he may speak pertinently. Thus, he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding — He gains the reputation of being a wise man, on the easy condition of restraining his tongue, or, of hearing, and seeing, and saying little. Proverbs 17:28 Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise: and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding. Benson Commentary on the Old and New Testaments Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.

Expositor's Bible Commentary Proverbs 17:1 Better is a dry morsel, and quietness therewith, than an house full of sacrifices with strife. CHAPTER 18 FRIENDSHIP "A friend loveth at all times, and as a brother is born for adversity."- Proverbs 17:17 {This rendering, based upon the margin of the R.V, yields a much better sense than the loosely connected, "And a brother is born for adversity."} ONE of the most striking contrasts between the ancient and the modern world is in the place which is given to friendship by moralists and religious teachers. In Aristotle’s famous treatise on ethics two books out of nine are devoted to the moral bearings of friendship, and these books form the climax of the work, and are the natural transition to the work on politics, or the science of the state. This central position given to the subject by the greatest and most systematic teacher of antiquity, compared with the very subordinate part which friendship plays in Christian ethics, is calculated to make us reflect and enquire. Is not the explanation probably this? Our Lord gave a great new commandment to His disciples, that they should love one another; and though Christian men have as yet but imperfectly understood what He meant, or carried out what they have understood, an ideal was created which far transcended that lower relationship of antiquity. Greek friendship was to be merged in Christian love. The meaning of such a change will appear if we remember two characteristics of mere friendship, on which Aristotle dwells. One is that it is necessarily based upon selfishness; springing from a wish to realize oneself in the life of another, fed by the benefit or pleasure derived from the mutual intercourse, it lies under the necessary limitation that we shall not wish for our friend a good which would remove him from us, or an improvement which would raise him too far above us. For the second point is that friendship can only exist between equals, and the best friendship is that between good men who stand upon the same level of virtue, Christian love, on the other hand, springs from a complete abnegation of self. It seeks nothing: it gives all. So far from laying stress upon the equality of conditions, it is never better pleased than when it can raise another to a position of excellence far surpassing its own, and instead of seeking its highest satisfaction in intercourse with its spiritual peers, -the good, the great, the saintly, -it attains its apotheosis when it is lowed to embrace the weak, the sinful, the fallen, and to lavish all its Divine resources upon those who may never be able to repay it even with gratitude. It is obvious, then, that friendship is on a lower plane than Christian love, and it marks a great advance in ideal ethics when the lesser star pales in presence of the greater; but it may be urged with truth that friendship still has its place in life, and deserves a more careful attention than it receives. In the individual, as in the race, friendship may be a prelude and a practice of the nobler and wider relation. And there is this further reason for trying to understand the nature of friendship, that it is more than once in the Bible used as a type and a figure of the relationship which may exist between the soul and its God. We will proceed then to examine some of the characteristics of friendship referred to in the book of Proverbs. Friends, according to the original sense of the Hebrew word, are those who delight in one another’s companionship; either they are useful to one another because each possesses gifts which the other has not, or they are agreeable to one another because they have certain tastes in common. Thus there may of course be a friendship in evil, in vice, in destructive practices; thieves may enter into a league to carry out their antisocial designs, and may be very true to one another; vicious men may find a bond of friendship in the common indulgence of their vices; and in this way friendship, so called, may be a means of ruining the friends. "There are friends for mutual shattering," just as "there is a lover that cleaves more than a brother." There may also be an interested comradeship which is entirely hypocritical; such a friendship is usually marked by a loud and ostentatious demonstration. "He that blesseth his friend with a loud voice, rising early in the morning, it shall be counted a curse for him." { Proverbs 27:14 } But, in the main, friendship implies a certain amount of goodness; for it is in itself a virtue. The suspicious, malignant nature of evil men speedily snaps the ties which bind them together for a time; and where honor exists among thieves it affords a strong presumption that the thieves are the product of a wrong social state, rather than of a naturally evil disposition. We may then practically, in thinking of friendship, confine our attention to that which exists between well-meaning people, and tends on the whole to bless, to strengthen, and to improve them. We may come to look at some of the uses and the delights of friendship. "As in water face answers to face, so in the heart man answers to man." { Proverbs 27:19 } In the heart of our friend we see our own character reflected just as gazing into a still pool we see the reflection of our own face. It is in the frank and sympathetic intercourse of friendship that we really get to know ourselves, and to realize what is in us. We unfold to one another, we discover our similarities and mark our differences. Points which remained unobserved in our own hearts are immediately detected and understood when we see them also in our friends; faculties which remained unused are brought into play to supplement the discovered defects in our friend’s nature. We hardly guess what a fund of happy humor is in us until we are encouraged to display it by observing how its flashes light up the face we love. Our capacities of sympathy and tenderness remain undeveloped until we wish eagerly to comfort our friend in a sudden sorrow. In a true friendship we find that we are living a life which is doubled in all its faculties of enjoyment and of service; we quite shudder to think what cold, apathetic, undeveloped creatures we should have been but for that genial touch which unfolded us, and warmed our hearts into genuine feeling while it brought our minds into active play. This intellectual value of friendship is brought out in the happy saying: "Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend." { Proverbs 27:17 } A friendless person has a lack-luster face; his talk has a dull edge; his emotions a poor and feeble flow. That delightful readiness of thought and expression which makes all the charm of social intercourse, the easy tact which rubs off the angles and smoothes all the relations of life the bright coruscations which seem like sunlight playing over summer seas, are usually the result of close and intimate communion with congenial friends. Reading may make a learned man, and without hard study few people can accomplish much permanent good in the world, but reading does not necessarily make a really social man, one who brings his fellow-creatures together in happy and helpful relationships; that beautiful faculty is only acquired by the fostering and stimulating influences of heart companionships. When we have real friends, though they be only a few, we diffuse a friendly feeling amongst others, wherever we go. Possibly also in the simile of the iron lies a reminder of the discipline which friendship gives to character, a discipline which is not always unaccompanied by pain. Friends "rub each other’s angles down," and sometimes the friction is a little distressing to both sides. The blades are sharpened, by a few imperceptible filings being ground off each of their edges. The use of friendship depends very largely on its frankness, just as its sweetness depends upon mutual consideration. When the frankness hurts we have to remind ourselves of the wholesome truth that the soft speaking is not always a token of love, and the hard sayings of our friend may be uttered at a great personal cost, for our good rather than his. "Faithful are the wounds of a friend: but the kisses of an enemy are profuse." { Proverbs 27:6 } If, however, friendship ripens through many years of kindly growth, or if a swift elective affinity forestalls at once the fruit of years, all the pain of mutual counsel and correction disappears, and may be changed, into a joy very sweet to the soul. "Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart: so doth the sweetness of a man’s friend that cometh of soul counsel." { Proverbs 27:9 } It is a very beautiful condition of things which is referred to in this proverb. Two people have one another, learnt thoroughly to understand and have become in a certain sense one. Each recognizes the service that the other renders, and welcomes the advice or even the rebuke which is made possible by their relationship. The interchange of affection is naturally sweet, but as Sweet, or even sometimes sweeter, is the delicate aroma which arises when one sees a fault in the other, and with a tenderness begotten of affection, and a humility which trembles to presume, speaks gently but frankly to his friend. Never do the eyes more eagerly respond to one another, never is the hand-clasp so firm and hearty, as after such a passage between true friends. But the decisive test and the most beautiful proof of real friendship will be found in the day of adversity. A friend is never known till needed. When calamity falls upon us, false friends make excuses and go; lip-friends relapse into silence; but we begin then for the first time to find out who is a friend indeed. Then it appears that the true friend is entirely unchanged by the changed aspect of affairs; it seems as if he had been born into a brotherhood with us for this express occasion. There is no wish to cry off; he seems even to press the brotherly tie in a way which we should not have presumed to expect, and thus he contrives to lighten the oppressive burden of obligation for the favor that he confers on us, by making it appear that he was bound to act as he does by a necessity of kinship. This seems to be the meaning of our text. Such a friend, if he be near at hand and in constant contact with us, is of more service than our own brother; { Proverbs 27:10 } and when through his timely aid or effectual comfort we have come out of the furnace, and our tears are dried, we say constantly to ourselves that we doubt whether our own brother would have clung to us so faithfully, would have borne with our querulous murmurs so patiently, or relieved our necessities so delicately and so liberally. { Proverbs 18:24 } If you have such a friend as this, your own or your father’s, take care to retain him; do not alienate him by negligence or a deficient consideration. Put yourself out of the way to show that you appreciate and value him; do not allow a false reserve or a foolish shyness to check your expression of gratitude. A friendship is a delicate growth; and even when it has become robust, it can easily be blighted. The results of years may be lost in a few days. And if a root of bitterness springs up, if a division occurs, it may be quite impossible by every effort in your power to heal the breach or to pluck up that obstinate root. "A brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city: and such contentions are like the bars of a castle." { Proverbs 18:19 } The closer the intimacy had been, the tenderer the friendship, so much the sterner will be these bars, so much more inexpugnable the castle. For it will be felt, if such protestations, such interchange of affection, such mutual delights, could have been deceptive, mere hypocrisies or delusions, what hope can there be that the same things broken and patched up again can be of any worth? A difference with a chance acquaintance is easily removed; further knowledge may improve our opinion of one another, and even if we separate we have no deep resentment. But a difference between true friends may quickly become irreparable. They feel that there is no more to know; they have seen the best and that has proved disappointing. The resentment springs from a sense of abused confidence and injured love. If you have real friends then, take pains to keep them. Watch carefully for the small beginnings of a rupture and hasten to heal it. Think no effort is wasted, and no apology or explanation is too humiliating, which may avert that great calamity, -the loss of a true soul-comrade; one whom you have learnt to honor with the name and dignity of friend. "The friends thou hast, and their adoption tried," says our wise poet, "Grapple them to thy soul with hooks of steel." Such a friendship as we have been considering, rare and beautiful as it is, forms a noble stepping-stone to the loftier relationship of Christian love. In tone and quality it is almost the same; it differs only in its range and in its motive. What one man feels to another in an ideal friendship, the Christian is called upon, according to his capacity and opportunity, to feel to man as man, to all his fellow-creatures. We cannot of course fulfill all the offices of friendship to everyone, and we are not as Christians required to abate one jot of our love to those who are our friends by affinity and by choice. But where the heart is truly Christian it will become more expansive, and it will be conscious of the powerful claims which weakness, misery, solitude, or even moral failings, make upon its friendship; it will shrink from the selfishness inherent in all affections which are merely selective and exclusive; it will earnestly desire to feel an affection which is inclusive and quite unselfish. Where is to be found the motive for such an enlarged spirit of friendship? Whence is to come the impulse to such a self-surrender? Surely such a motive and such an impulse are to be discovered only in that relation of friendship which God Himself deigns to sustain towards the human soul. Jehoshaphat in his prayer appeals to God on the ground that He had given the land to "Abraham His friend forever." { 2 Chronicles 20:7 } And we read of Moses that "the Lord spake unto him face to face. as a man speaketh unto his friend." { Exodus 33:11 } But in this position of one who is called the father of the faithful, and of one who was the leader of his people, we cannot but recognize a promise and a foreshadowing of a relation with God which was meant to become more general. The whole tendency of the Gospel is to put every believer in our Lord Jesus Christ on a spiritual level with the most favored and richly endowed of a former dispensation. And since the Incarnate Son lived on earth, and called the simple peasants of Galilee to be, not His servants, but His friends, if they did whatsoever He commanded them, { John 15:14 } we may without presumption-nay, we must if we would not grieve Him by unbelief-accept the mysteriously dignified position of God’s friends. The feeblest and the poorest, as well as the strongest and most gifted, believing in Jesus Christ, in proportion as he heartily accepts the authority and obeys the commandment of his Lord, is a friend of God. It is a very unequal friendship, as we must all feel. He has all the strength, all the wisdom, all the goodness, all the gifts; but the sense of inequality is removed, by His own gracious friendliness: He attaches such importance to a heartfelt love that He is willing to accept that as the fair equivalent of all that He does and gives to us; and He remedies the terrible inferiority of His friends by realizing His own life in them and merging their imperfection in His perfectness, their limitations in His infinity. Now, shall we venture to assume that you and God are friends; that the beautiful relation which we have examined, the delight in mutual companionship, the interchange of thought and feeling, the quick and quickening response of love and comprehension, exist between you and Him? Come and read some of these sayings again and apply them to Him. You may gaze into the heart of God, and as face answers to face in a quiet pool, you may find yourself in Him, -a larger self, a truer self, a holier self, than you could ever find in any human fellowship, or than you had ever dared to imagine. This familiar intercourse with God, which has its roots in a profound reverence and its fruits in an unutterable joy, is the new creation of a human soul. A man will be known by his friends, and most assuredly he will be known, if his Friend and most constant Companion is God. He will regard that status as his highest title and distinction, just as Lord Brooks was so proud of knowing Sir Philip Sidney, that he wished his epitaph to be "Here lies Sir Philip Sidney’s friend." Again, in this close fellowship with God, in His warnings and encouragements and chastisements, even in the "faithful wounds" that He inflicts, does not the heart perceive His sweetness as an ointment and perfume? Does not the quiet place where these passages of tender friendship between your soul and God occur become redolent with a precious fragrance, as of incense or of fresh flowers? And then the deep meaning which the friendship of God brings into our text, "A friend loveth at all times, and as a brother"-yes, our Divine Brother, the Lord Jesus Christ-"is born for adversity"; or into that other saying, "There is a lover that cleaves more than a brother"! Let us have no loud pharisaical ways in blessing our Friend { Proverbs 27:14 } but let no effort seem too exacting to retain unbroken this priceless blessing of the Divine Communion! Now, where the soul counts God its nearest and dearest Friend, -the Friend of whom nothing in life or death can rob it, -this effect follows by a beautiful necessity: the chief and all-inclusive friendship being secured, we are at leisure from ourselves to soothe and sympathize, we are able to extend our thoughts and our ministries of love to all around us, and to reflect in our relations with men that exquisite relation which God has deigned to establish with us. Our own private friendships then produce no exclusiveness, but rather they become the types of our feelings to others, and the ever-springing fountainhead of friendly thoughts and courteous deeds; while these private friendships and our wider relations alike are all brought up into the lofty and purifying friendship which we hold with our God and He with us. Proverbs 17:5 Whoso mocketh the poor reproacheth his Maker: and he that is glad at calamities shall not be unpunished. -34 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 and freely offered pardon in Christ Jesus