Proverbs 3:13). And when it has unhappily succeeded in wounding us, we instantly have recourse to means for preventing the poison from getting into the mass of the blood, and pervading the system. If he would grow wise in the mysteries of the natural world he must oftentimes shut himself away from the haunts of men, and ponder the manifold phenomena which creation presents to him, and endeavour to unravel her secrets. Findeth implies the rarity of the thing obtained (Ecclesiastes 7:27-28), and the need of circumspection in the search. There is a bias in the heart, the fountain of impulse, and the resulting life-course turns deceitfully aside. ESV There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death. It is the overflow of heartfelt experience. Ver. Proverbs 18:21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof. Read the direction to trust in itWho is there among you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of his servant: that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? A man who is in the general sense of the term an ignorant manwho does not possess even the rudimentary knowledge of an ordinary schoolboyis liable to be imposed upon and deceived by those who know more. The acts of the prodigal and the slothful man differ in themselves, but they all spring from that spirit of self-pleasing which is the essence of ungodliness. He seeks according to his desire, and intermeddles with every business, pretends to pass a judgment upon every man's matter. Verse 7. In the field of the world, the tares grow as well as the wheat (Matthew 13:26), and often they seem for a time to be more flourishing. They entail ignominy and reproach upon all they have to do with. 3:33) or will their damnation (Ezek. 9 The one who is too lazy to look for work. The favour of God is a fortune for a period which extends beyond that named in the marriage vow, it is a fortune which no creature can afford to despise, and a blessing which those who know Him prize before all things in earth or heaven. It is not enough to be active, but he must see that his actions are wisely directed, that the means are adapted to the end in view. Very true. Takeagainthe child of Godfeeble, distressed, assaulted. The waters in a shallow and stagnant pond give little or no refreshment to the thirsty traveller; they may even be the means of imparting disease to those who drink of them, or who live near them. Verse 1. In the hurry of this worlds atmosphere how little can we apprehend it! Asaphs steps had well-nigh slipped when he saw the prosperity of the wickedthat violence covered them as a garment, and that they set their mouth against the heavens; and yet that their strength was firm, and they had more than heart could wish (Psalms 73:2-8). Let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God (Isaiah 1:10). Jarchi interprets this clause thus, "among wise men his reproach shall be made manifest;''. and against all sound judgment starts quarrels. His burden of conscience is relieved. The last clause of this verse may be divided into two smaller ones and placed in apposition, thus: a bubbling brook,a fountain of wisdom. Yea, they are not only carried unto it but into it, by placing their confidence in it, and making it their safety. Warning against consorting with sinners 1:8-19. It prevents waste of human life. Adams. An industrious old man, by trade a mason, was engaged to build a certain piece of wall at so much per yard. For those who know anything of the character of God, know that it was not a part of his original intention that men should be placed in such circumstances; and when they look abroad upon their fellow-creatures, they see that all the poverty of the poor can be traced to wrong-doing on the part of mento the sefishness of some, and to the indolence and vice of others. That it is thus a means to a most desirable end appears when we consider, I. God inflicts nothing on us but what the spirit of a man can sustain, but our greatest sufferings are owing to ourselves, and no more chargeable on the providence of God than our sins are. I. Proverbs 14:12. When God gives us a moment, He does not promise us another, as if to teach us highly to value and improve it, by the consideration, for aught we know, it may be the last. God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him Learn more about Desiring God Riches are no defence against a mans most powerful enemies. It is a universal tendency of fallen humanity to look exclusively on his own things and not on the things of others, and the wealth of the rich man enables him to indulge this tendency to its utmost. You faith tested - Jesus sees. 3 When wickedness arrives, shame's not far behind; contempt for life is contemptible. The one he woundeth so, that his blow is neither heard, seen, nor felt. Such a man seems to be pourtrayed in the second verse as the fool who hath no delight in understanding but that his heart may discover itself. (If he seeks knowledge at all, it is neither for its own sake nor for the purpose of fitting him for usefulness, but solely for the ends of self-displayWardlaw.) The tongue of the tempter can drag its victims down, body and soul, to hell, while the tongue which is touched with a living coal from off the altar of God can be the means of persuading men to be reconciled to their Heavenly Father, and so of making them partakers of eternal life. Contention between any men is a plain proof that there is some flaw in human nature, that the relations of human creatures are not what they ought to be. David said, "I will love thee, O LORD, my strength" ( Ps 18:1 ). It may seem a very insignificant deed to strike a flint and steel together so as to produce a single spark, but one spark may produce a terrible and destructive fire. 10 My son, if sinful men entice you, do not give in to them. Those who despise others will themselves be disgraced (18:1-3). And however their success may dazzle mens eyes and warp their judgment for a season, contempt is their portion at last. There is a path before each person that seems right, but it ends in death. 18 The simple have folly as an adornment, but the shrewd wear knowledge as a crown. Verses 1-2. 11 The rich, in their conceit, imagine that their wealth. She said, "Well, honey, you go outside and play for a little while and then come on in and Mother will tell you." Verse 4. Self-conceitthe affectation of extraordinary acuteness. The tongue in its mighty influence is a king having the power of life and death. For as that which being whole is most strongly united, being broken is farthest from being made whole; and as a stick of hard wax, being broken, may more easily be conjoined than a stick of hard wood, so are the divisions of brethren more hardly composed than the contentions of others.Jermin. In this pericope, the wise way (following the moral law in general, Proverbs 1:8-9) does not have the personal appeal, or the excitement and hope of power, that the second way does (Proverbs 1:10-19).Its only reward is goodness, as opposed to acceptance by one's peers. What doest thou here? Much is there to be inquired into and pondered. Others have been honored for their kind and wise . When God shall raise up our sins, like dust and smoke in the eyes of our souls when He either hides His countenance from us, or beholds us with an angry look; lo, then, if any sickness be like this sickness, any calamity like the fainting soul! Friends who dearly love each other and are one in spirit sometimes find nothing between them but a few barsthe iron grating of a dungeon may be all that keeps them apart. The spirit of a man will sustain his weakness; but a wounded spirit who can bear? This page provides a method to go directly to a commentary by a specific author. So is it with contention, or a dispute in words. Here the righteousthe man justified by the grace, and sanctified by the Spirit, of Godrunneth every day, every hour; realizing at once his fearful danger, and his perfect security.Bridges. There are several methods by which a city may be won. Solomon here sets forth. Snow gathers snow as we roll it on the ground. There is. than to o divide the spoil with the proud. It maketh room for him in the worldit opens up to him many opportunities of social advancement, and it bringeth him before great men,men who are either great in wealth and position or intellectually and morally great, or are great in both senses of the word. When the eleven Apostles were awaiting the seal of their commission, they felt that they had no time to waste in contending who should fill up the empty place in their bandthey knew that, although they were brethren in Christ, they might differ in their opinions in the matterand they therefore wisely determined to decide it by referring to the lot. He is morose and supercilious. The man of business or science is filled with his great object; and through desire he separates himself from all lets and hindrances, that he may intermeddle with its whole range. Such a state of things is often felt to be hard and is undoubtedly so, and unless a poor man is noble and self-respecting, it has a tendency to make him cringing and servileto dispose him to barter his conscience and his rights in order to satisfy his bodily needs. NIV There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death. Leviticus 20-21; Proverbs 30; Matthew 14:1-21. The practical lesson is, that in personal and domestic interests, diligence and economy should go together, and that the one without the other never can avail for either obtaining or securing even the comforts of life. Extremes thus meet. Diligence, let me remind you, is as necessary for the acquisition of spiritual as of temporal goodof the riches of Divine knowledge to the mind, as of the blessings of the Divine life to the heart. Each last strong speech comes out victorious. All spiritual communisms bless.Miller. (NEB) The spirit of the man is the man himself, his power to love, to hope, and to enjoy. Men who do not seek supernatural help sometimes do it. And men are prone to go even beyond thisthe children of the same common Father often take delight in making their poor brethren feel their dependence on them, and instead of giving sympathy and help freely and after a brotherly fashion, they withhold the first entirely, and if they give the latter they do it coldly and even contemptuously. O what an amount of scorn and reproach has been brought upon the sacred office of the ministry by the intrusion, under numberless pretexts, and from numberless causes, of wicked, worldly, ungodly men into its holy functions! We humans keep brainstorming options and plans, but God's purpose prevails. A man who does it proclaims that he values very lightly the reputation of those concerned, and is often a robber of what is more to a man than his purse, viz. It is upon them that are contentious, and will not obey the truth, (Romans 2:8)that truth being in all of them through the invisible things which are seen by the things that are made (Romans 1:20)that the apostle denounces tribulation and wrath, indignation and anguish. Not that men can save themselves, but that they would save themselves under Gods influences if they did not contend with Him; that it is rebellion that turns the scale (Psalms 68:6); that there is light enough in every man to draw him to saving light if he would only follow it; and that on this very account it is the great sorrow of the sinner that he has this spirit of upbraiding, which, in the spiritual world, no moral malady can carry.Miller. One of them happens to be their friend; and whether it be he or his adversary that makes the statement, partiality for him stirs their resentment at the injury done to him; the blood warms, and, passion thus striking in, they hastily interrupt the narrationwill hear no more of itand at once proceed to load the enemy of their friend with abuse and imprecation. They become uneasy, fretted, and fidgetty; and are ever anxious to catch at any occasion for cutting the matter short and being done with it. And if it is so with every true lover of merely intellectual wisdom, it is pre-eminently so with the man who seeks spiritual wisdom. In the two clauses of the verse, on the principle of parallelism, there appears to be an inversion of the same sentiment; for, properly speaking, the words uttered are not the deep waters, but the stream that issues from them; and, on the other hand, the wellspring of wisdom is not the flowing brook, but the deep and copious fountain or reservoir from which it issues. Every attempt at its removal still leaves some portion of it behind. Home; Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary; Proverbs; Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary Proverbs 18. I. Slothfulness and prodigality have the same origin. Who cannot rest till he good fellows find,He breaks up house, turns out of doors his mind.. The name of the LORD is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe ( Proverbs 18:10 ). So she sent the little girl out and she got into this psyche books on how to explain the facts of life to your child and all and boned them all up. Proverbs 11:2 and Proverbs 16:18. Till now he had no idea of his need of salvation. The favour of a good parent is a thing prized highly by a dutiful child, and enhances the value of every other blessing. A fool's mouth is his destruction, his lips are a snare of his soul. He currently serves now as the senior pastor of Calvary Chapel Santa Barbara. The poor man has to entreat; sort of beg. A man of narrow means has often to fight a hard battle to supply his bodily necessities, and is a stranger to those luxuries which make life, in this respect, so comfortable to a rich man. For he is commonly a fellow slothful in his work, being busy in his words, and he is indeed brother to him that is a great waster, spoiling his own estate by his slothfulness, and by the mischief which his talebearing falleth upon him; and spoiling him to whom he talketh by the ill mind which he putteth into him.Jermin. This is a Sabbath altogether moral, never to be abrogated. Proverbs 18:1 He who isolates himself pursues selfish desires; he rebels against all sound judgment. The hand can strike down the body of a single foe, or of two or three at once. The name I AM, by which He revealed Himself to Israel (Exodus 3:14) set forth His eternal self-existence, but He has also revealed Himself by names which are used to express human relations, such as king, judge, husband, father. i. Very mighty are the influence of words for good or for ill. Our first parents lost Eden by listening to the words of the tempter, and the speech of the wicked always diffuses an unwholesome moral atmosphere around it, if it does not eject a deadly poison into the soul. It is commonly supposed that ministers cannot repent, although they do not claim, like the Pope, the gift of infallibility; and there is too much reason for the supposition, provided it be not restricted to that order of men; for the same pride that makes one set of men stubborn in their wrong opinions is to be found in other men, although it is not perhaps so much strengthened by particular circumstances, nor so visible in their conduct, because they meet not with the same temptations to discover it. In that there can be no partiality, and though itself cannot judge of right, yet He that guides it is the most righteous Judge of the world. Solomon again and again reverts to the mighty influences for good and evil which flow from the use of the tonguethat little member upon which such great issues often depend. Many of those who fawned upon them and flattered them while they were prospering will be most ready to scorn and upbraid them, if the day of their retribution arrives before they quit this world. Those who trust in God know they are safe, but those who trust in their wealth only think they are safe. III. As expressing a need of human nature. ", Evidently the intent is, "He who separates himself [from other people]" does so because he wants his own way and does not want others to restrain him. Their words are smoother than oil; yet are they drawn swords;envenomed fangs, of which the virus gets into our system ere we are aware, works its mischievous and morally deadly effects, and becomes incapable of extraction. [Note: Waltke, The Book . THE EVIL OF ISOLATION. That is, the fool's lips enters into contention, and by his mouth, the strokes is really, is blows. That this is by no means the rule we have many proofs, but that the tendency is strong we know not only from observation but from the frequent warnings against it in the Word of God. The uncertainty of riches has been a subject upon which the sages and moralists of all ages have dweltthe millionaire of to-day may be a beggar to-morrow, and he who was last year surrounded by this high wall, which shut in so much that was agreeable to his senses and shut ont so many discomforts from his temporal life, may be standing to-day a forlorn, unsheltered creature, with only the ruins of his once imposing fortress around him. 3 When wickedness comes, contempt comes also, and with dishonor comes disgrace. Now Solomon has quite a bit to say about the slothful or the lazy person. There is, in the original word, an implication of softness, simplicity, undesignedness, which only gives the secret weapon with which the wound is inflicted the greater keenness.Wardlaw. 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