Proverbs Chapter 17
Proverbs
Chapter 17
1. Better a dry crust with peace and quiet than a house full of feasting [kjv: sacrifices], with strife. The allusion is to the Jewish ordinance of feasting at home on the remains of the sacrifices. A house full of feasting was therefore a house with ample provisions. Yet when the spirit of love does not rule, self predominates, and this becomes a source of much strife and confusion.
Ponder every thought that may disturb contentment. If you have fewer comforts than you used to have, or fewer comforts than other people have, or fewer comforts than you desire, do you not still have more than you deserve? If you had more of them, would you not be tempted to forget God and to live in a worldly way? Does not the memory of the earthly lot that your Savior chose turn every thought about being discontented into adoration and gratitude? Do not forget that there is great gain in contentment.
2. A wise servant will rule over a disgraceful son, and will share the inheritance as one of the brothers. Folly leads to shame, while wisdom leads to honor. The son, the heir of the family, may bring shame on his family by his behavior, instead of bringing glory to his family. A wise servant, although he has only temporary interest in the home, may be promoted to rule over a disgraceful son.
Great wisdom, much prayer, and constant watchfulness are needed to promote humility and Christian consistency. Honor from man calls for abasement before God.
3. The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but the Lord tests the heart. The refiner's crucible and furnace test his metals. But Jehovah claims for himself the prerogative of testing the heart. His eyes are a flame of fire (Revelation 1:14). Nothing deceives him; nothing escapes his probing search.
The gold must be put into the furnace. It is so mixed with dross that the workman's eye can scarcely detect the gold. But for the furnace, the dross would cling to the gold. The refiner's process burns it out, and the pure metal is left behind. No burnishing is of any avail. The gold cannot be used until it has been through the fire.
Is it not necessary for every child of God to be put into the furnace? We do not know ourselves until our deeds are tested by fire (1 Corinthians 3:13).
But it is the Lord who cleanses the metal. We cannot do this ourselves. No ordinary power can separate the base alloy. No milder remedy will accomplish this purpose. Only by this process is the hidden evil brought out into the open so it may be humbled, while any hidden good may be honored. Deep personal affliction, the knowledge of the plague of our own hearts, and the discovery of secret sins are all discovered in the searching heat of the furnace.
This purifying process is painful. The flesh trembles at the fire. But will we not commit ourselves with well-grounded confidence to God's wisdom, tenderness, and love? Is not any furnace that purges away our dross (Isaiah 1:25) and brings us to know ourselves, our God, and his dealings with us a mighty blessing? The best materials for praise are brought out of this consecrated furnace. When the fire has done its work on the metal, we look for the results. Worldly idols will be displaced, stubborn wills melted, and the heart completely given over to God. "As gold cast in the furnace receives its new luster and shines brighter when it comes out than it did before, so are God's saints more glorious after their great afflictions, and their graces even more resplendent" (Bishop Sanderson).
The refiner's process may be slow, but its results are assured. Nothing but dross will perish. The vilest earth will be turned into the finest gold. No refiner ever watched the furnace with such exactness and care. Many glittering particles may be swept away. But the pure residue, the solid particles, comparatively few in number, will be delivered to the mold. Every hour of trial is greater than gold and produces a richer Christian character. A suffering Savior is realized and endeared.
Here, then, in the furnace, child of God, see the seal of your election, the ground of your confidence, the joyful anticipation that your faith that has been through the furnace will be made into a crown "of pure gold and be found to praise and honor the Lord" (Leighton).
4. A wicked man listens to evil lips; a liar pays attention to a malicious tongue. Here is a dark but true picture of human nature. A wicked man is not content with his own evil desires. He has such an appetite for sin that he seeks outside stimulants to increase his activities. "There would not be so many open mouths if there were not so many willing ears to entertain them" (Bishop Hall). Remember that the listening ear shares the responsibility of the malicious tongue. Both are involved in the treason and are directly or indirectly acquainted with the plot. Oh, my God, fill my heart and tongue with your own gracious Spirit!
5. He who mocks the poor shows contempt for their Maker; whoever gloats over disaster will not go unpunished. The sin against our Maker by oppressing the poor was previously noted (14:31). The poor are in their condition not by chance but by providence. So to mock the poor is to show contempt for their Maker, on him who made them and made them to be poor. This proverb states that contempt for the poor is a sin of the deepest dye.
All kinds of mocking of the poor is evidently rebuked here. "Why should I," asks Bishop Reynolds, "for a little difference in this one particular of worldly wealth despise my poor brother? When so many and great things unite us, shall wealth only disunite us? One sun shines on both; one blood bought us both; one heaven will receive us both; only he has not so much of earth as I, and possibly much more of Christ. And why should I disdain him on earth, whom perhaps the Lord will advance above me in heaven?"
6. Children's children are a crown to the aged, and parents are the pride of their children. This proverb has its limits. What a crown of thorns to each other are ungodly and graceless parents. But in the ordinary course of life gracious children and parents reflect honor on each other. Such parents rejoice in the number and growth of their children. Such children are proud of their parents. "A good root makes the branches flourish, by virtue of the living sap that it sends up. And flourishing branches win praise to the root, for the pleasant fruit that they bring forth" (Clever).
7. Arrogant lips are unsuited to a fool—how much worse lying lips to a ruler! The lips are the organ of the heart. Christ refused to accept even a sound profession of faith from the lips of demons, in case it should cause someone to stumble (Mark 1:34).
How much worse lying lips to a ruler, to a minister and guardian of truth! Yet in a world where the self reigns supreme, such inconsistencies are all too prevalent. The pure teaching of our divine Master alone secures Christian consistency in heart, lip, and life. We must never forget that if arrogant lips do not even suit a fool, how much less should they adorn the Gospel of Christ.
8. A bribe is a charm to the one who gives it; wherever he turns, he succeeds. "A gift is so tempting that it can no more be refused than a lovely jewel. It has such power that it usually effects whatever a man desires" (Bishop Patrick). "What a description," adds Mr. Scott, "of the mercenary selfishness of mankind." Even ungodly consciences seem to have a correct understanding about this evil. The saying of Philip of Macedon is well-known, that "there was no fortress so strong, but it might be taken if an ass laden with gold was brought to the gate." The poet Horace finely illustrates this remark, saying that "not Philip, but Philip's gold" conquered Greece. "Gold and silver pervert many things, especially right motives. Money has a great power with those who are in power. A golden key will open any prison door and cast the watchman into a deep sleep. Gold will break open gates of iron as well as silence the orator's voice and blind the judge's eyes. It will bind the strong man's hands and blunt the edge of the sword. It makes war, and it makes peace. What almost can it not do with corrupt minds?" (Caryl). Such is the affinity between an eye full of evil desire and a glittering gift.
Is not God's child also often attacked by this temptation? Does the influence of a gift never affect consistent godliness? Do no friendships lure us onto a crooked path? So be resolute in a strength that is better than your own as you resist sin. The battle is not against violent temptation or open sin, but against subtle and apparently harmless deviations from the straight path.
9. He who covers over an offense promotes love, but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends. Here he who ... promotes love is a beautiful expression that we should constantly keep in mind. It shows a delight in the atmosphere of love, man's highest elevation in fellowship with God. It implies not the mere exercise of love, where it presents itself, but searching and making opportunity for it. But all too often it sits at the door of our lips instead of finding a home in our hearts. One step taken by our feet is better than a hundred words spoken by our tongue.
A forbearing spirit is a fine manifestation of this heavenly grace. Our motives are often misconstrued. We meet in a world of selfishness and cold reserve instead of glowing confidence. Prejudice builds a wall against Christian fellowship. Wounded pride seeks to return an unkindness with contempt. Resentment stirs up recrimination. Disappointment kindles morbid suspicion. But a disciplined tongue is a gracious mercy to the church.
10. A rebuke impresses a man of discernment more than a hundred lashes a fool. If we want to cover our offenses, we should not ignore a rebuke. A word is enough for the wise. But the discipline of lashes is necessary for a fool. Parents and teachers should especially study the character of children, that they may temper rebukes wisely. Many a fine spirit has been spoiled by unsuitable treatment.
Who will benefit from a rebuke? It is the person who has had his stony heart replaced by a heart of flesh (Ezekiel 36:26). A needle pierces deeper into flesh than a sword into stone. An attentive ear, a tender conscience, a soft heart, and a teachable spirit are the means through which a wise and loving father disciplines his children for his service, for his cross, and for his crown.
11-13. An evil man is bent only on rebellion; a merciless official will be sent against him. Better to meet a bear robbed of her cubs than a fool in his folly. If a man pays back evil for good, evil will never leave his house. Some dreadful pictures of man are set out here. The person who is bent on rebellion resists all of God's and man's authority. This is no light sin. The merciless official who is sent against him is one who will not be deflected from his task. This rebellion is not the only sin, but it reveals a stubborn will. It may be hidden under a peaceful and amiable cover. But it is not dead—it sleeps. As Burke has remarked, "Those who do not love religion, hate it."
Look at the folly of this evil man. The strength and accuracy of the illustration can hardly be bettered. He is like a bear robbed of her cubs. He is like a savage beast that has been provoked to extreme anger. Do we not know of homes where uncontrolled anger breaks out every day? Does the self-willed man remember that "nothing is said or done in a passion, but may be better said or done afterwards" (Matthew Henry)? Do we never see the Christian, whom his Master's discipline and example should have transformed to a lamb, still behave like a bear that has been robbed of her cubs? It is no excuse to say, "It is my way." Is not this the very cause of grief to a contrite soul, calling for deep humility and increasing watchfulness?
Look again at man in his ingratitude. God forbids us to pay back evil for evil, and much more evil for good. This ingratitude is by no means uncommon, although the conscience is rarely troubled by it. What else is it when the ungodly resent an attempt to promote their best interests?
14. Starting a quarrel is like breaching a dam; so drop the matter before a dispute breaks out. Both destructive elements, fire and water, illustrate the danger of starting a quarrel (26:21; Judges 9:19-20). To neither element can we say, "This far and no further!" We might as well try to tell a raging storm to stop. The dam may hold back a large body of water, but if you open its sluices, the waters may form a flood. In this way the starting of a quarrel has ended in thousands of murders, and even in the destruction of kingdoms.
It is no less destructive in ordinary life. One provocative word leads to another. Every retort widens the breach. Seldom, when we have heard the first word, have we heard the last word. An inundation of evil overwhelms peace, comfort, and conscience. Does not Christian grace teach us to keep resentment at bay and to bear provocation rather than break the bond of unity?
Truly it is a wise rule to stop evil at its inception. The riverbank is much more easily preserved than repaired. Once the breach is made, even if it is only to let out a drop of water, that is the beginning of evil, the results of which are incalculable.
In being alert to quarrels and disputes, it must be remembered that the time to stop is not when things are at their worst but at the beginning. We must mortify our own proud tempers and cultivate our Master's meek and self-denying spirit. The following remarks by Mr. Burke are well worth consideration: "The arms with which the ill dispositions of the world are to be combated are moderation, gentleness, a little indulgence of others, and a great distrust of ourselves; which are not qualities of a mean spirit, as some may possibly think. They are virtues of a great and noble kind, such as dignify our nature, as much as they contribute to our rest and fortune. For nothing can be so unworthy of a well-composed soul as to pass away life in bickerings and litigations, in snarling and scuffling with everyone about us."
15. Acquitting the guilty and condemning the innocent—the Lord detests them both. Judicial iniquity is a dreadful abuse of God's authority. The judge or magistrate is God's minister (Romans 13:4). We appeal to him for justice, for he represents God (Deuteronomy 25:1).
But let us place ourselves before the Judge of everyone. We are accused by Satan, by our own conscience, and by the righteous law of God. We are convicted of every charge, yet we are justified. Does God then justify the ungodly? Far from it! If he justifies the guilty, it is because of righteousness. Nowhere in the whole world does the moral perfection of the Ruler of the world shine so gloriously as at the cross of Calvary. The satisfaction of the holy law and the manifestation of righteous mercy harmonize with the justification of the condemned sinner. And this combined glory is the tune of the song of everlasting praise.
16. Of what use is money in the hand of a fool, since he has no desire to get wisdom? We often find reckless infatuation in temporal things. A young man will spend a large amount of money at a university where he should be gaining wisdom, but he idles away all his time. The thoughtless dissolute person should be warned by his own friends. He is losing important opportunities and amassing great debts. This is how a fool handles money.
But it is more moving to see the picture of this folly in religion. The town where Jesus was brought up and the cities in which he performed miracles despised his wisdom. Such a fool considers what is more precious than rubies to be as valueless as a pebble. To him what is sweeter than honey is as tasteless as the white of an egg. He lives for himself, as if there were no God in the world. His heart is given to the world, as if the world could take the place of God in his life.
17. A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. This beautiful picture of friendship has been drawn by moralists, sentimentalists, and poets. But the reality is only found where divine grace has transmuted natural selfishness into disinterested love. If virtue is the best basis of friendship, then this most heavenly virtue is the firmest ground of all.
We must look to our Lord for the best example in this matter. We see the Son of God taking on our nature so that he might be our friend and brother (Hebrews 2:14). The mystery of this friendship is beyond our imagination. His love is constant, even in death. "Here is a brother born for adversity. Trust him, oh, you trembling believers at all times and in all places. You will then possess the happy art of living beyond the reach of all disappointment" (Howell). "Though solitary and unsupported and oppressed by sorrows unknown and undivided, I am not without joyful expectations. There is one Friend who loves at all times: a Brother born for adversity; the help of the helpless; the hope of the hopeless; the strength of the weak; the riches of the poor; the peace of the disquieted; the companion of the desolate; the friend of the friendless. To him alone will I call, and he will raise me above my fears" (Hawkes).
The ancient Jews applied this proverb to Christ, adducing it as a testimony that the divine Messiah would by his incarnation become the Brother of man.
18. A man lacking in judgment strikes hands in pledge and puts up security for his neighbor. We may become popular through a thoughtless kindness. But the principle, closely examined, will be found to be another form of selfishness. There is no true benevolence in rash engagements that may involve our name and family in disgrace or ruin. It is true that if those hands that were nailed to the cross had not put up security for us, the accusations against us could never have been canceled (Colossians 2:14). But the eternal counsel is no pattern for our simple folly. Nor is infinite love combined with perfect wisdom a plea for our rash generosity.
19. He who loves a quarrel loves sin; he who builds a high gate invites destruction. We may all quarrel without loving it. But let us always look at it as a branch from the root of sin and the prolific source of sin. To love it is to love sin. Who will own up to such a charge? It comes from the root of pride.
He who builds a high gate invites destruction. The allusion to a high gate is to the gates of the splendid palaces of the East, which were generally elevated according to the vanity of their owner. The man who builds a high gate exalts himself above his neighbor and assumes a lifestyle beyond his rank. The sluggard sees his ruin in front of him and indolently waits for it, without making any effort to avert it. But the proud man invites destruction. He puts himself in the place where his honor will be swept away. Watch over me, oh, my God, to preserve me from the first stirring of my proud heart. Or if I give in to it through weakness, keep me from the prevalence of this presumptuous sin.
20. A man of perverse heart does not prosper; he whose tongue is deceitful falls into trouble. The history of God's ancient people is a picture of a perverse heart, with all its barren results. Whatever their patient God did, they were not satisfied (Psalm 78). And the best of us are too often gripped with the same perversity. Even when we seek to walk with God, how our perverse hearts struggle to walk with a will of their own. May the good Lord give us a mortified spirit, to restrain us from the guidance of our corrupt desires! Many erratic courses in the church can be traced to some unhelpful bias that was not disciplined by the divine Spirit and not molded by reverent faith. So should we not cry out and pray, "Not my will, O Lord. Let me have anything but my own way. Leave me not to my perverse heart"? As the perverse heart must be bridled, so the deceitful... tongue must be subdued.
21. To have a fool for a son brings grief; there is no joy for the father of a fool. The weeping parent not only finds no joy in the fondly cherished object of his expectation, but a cankering grief embitters all his joys and often brings him down with sorrow to the grave. Have not many afflicted parents felt the impassioned cry of Augustus, "Would that I had lived single or died childless"?
"None of you must think that you have sufficiently discharged your duty to those who are in your charge if you have instructed them, corrected them when they have done wrong, and rewarded them when they have done well, so long as your fervent prayers for them have been lacking. In vain will you wrestle with their stubbornness and other corruptions, even though you try with all your might, if it is only you who fight. You will only fight successfully when you do so in the strength of the Father of Spirits, as Jacob did. You must wrestle with him with your importunate prayers, and you must not give up until you have wrung a blessing from him, either for yourself or for them" (Bishop Sanderson).
Let the godly parent expect everything from prayer. In the deepest distress never let go of the covenant of grace. Let the determined faith of a praying mother encourage you to persevere (Matthew 15:22-28). God requires faith, but he never fails to honor it. He may delay in answering prayer, but every word, every sigh, is registered for acceptance in his best time.
22. A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. Our Lord made a cheerful heart by his message of divine forgiveness (Matthew 9:2-7), and this was doubtless a greater medicine to the paralyzed man than the healing of his limbs. If I am a pardoned sinner, an accepted child of God, what earthly trouble can defeat me?
A broken spirit in an evangelical sense is God's precious gift. It is stamped with his special honor. But here a crushed spirit describes a brooding spirit of despondency that always looks on the dark side of things. If this is linked to religion, it flows from a narrow and perverted view and a spurious humility centered on the self. It has the effect of drying up the bones. The whole body is influenced. "It contracts and weakens the animal spirits, preys on our strength, and eats away at the vigor of our constitution. The unhappy person droops like a flower in the scorching heat of summer" (Bishop Home). Our English proverb is, "Dry sorrow drinks the blood." This is a sorrow that cannot weep.
You must resist sinking into morbid depression. Gloom should not characterize Christians. Instead of the spirit drying up our bones, our spirits will be so high that we will need another body to contain them.
23. A wicked man accepts a bribe in secret to pervert the course of justice. We are again warned about how gifts can corrupt us (compare verse 8). No sin has a deeper stamp of wickedness. The temptation is a test of principle. According to his biographer, Sir M. Hale "had learned from Solomon that a gift perverts the ways of judgment."
Even a corrupt world is ashamed of this sin. The bribe is secret and concealed from the eye of man. But it does not escape God's scrutiny. God does not wink at any perversion of justice. One day he will "vindicate his omniscience from all the insults put upon it in the world by these foolish men, who were not ashamed to do those things in the face of God himself, in which they would not have wished the meanest of his creatures to detect them" (Lawson).
24. A discerning man keeps wisdom in view, but a fool's eyes wander to the ends of the earth. Let us trace our interest in wisdom from the beginning. It first enters the heart (2:10). There it stays with the person who has understanding (14:33) as his principle of conduct. Now in this proverb, wisdom is in view before his eyes, as his rule of faith and life. It is the center to which all his thoughts, motives, and pursuits tend. Everything is now in order. Every faculty, desire, and affection finds its proper place. "He who has understanding fixes his eyes on wisdom and is content with that object, whereas a fool's eyes are constantly wandering everywhere, and his thoughts settle on nothing that may avail to his good" (Bishop Hall). His eyes are on the ends of the earth, rolling and wandering from one object to another. His thoughts are scattered. He has no definite objective, no certain way of life. Talent, cultivation of mind, and improvement of opportunity are all frittered away. He cares about those things that are furthest from him and with which he has the least concern.
A writer vividly portrays this inconstancy in the following way: "Today he goes to the quay to be shipped for Rome. But before the tides come, his tide has turned. One party thinks him theirs, the adverse theirs; he is with both, with neither; not an hour with himself. Indifference is his ballast, and opinion his sail; he resolves not to resolve. He knows not what he holds. He opens his mind to receive ideas as one opens his palm to take a handful of water. He has lots of water, if only he could hold it. He is sure to die, but not certain which religion to die in. He demurs, like a lawyer, as if delay could remove some impediments. On controversial points he sides with the last opinion he has heard or read. The next opinion convinces him to change his mind, and a teaching stays with him so long as the teacher is in sight. He would prefer to take dross rather than gold. He does not want to test the metal in any furnace. He receives many judgments but retains none of them. He becomes fed up with manna after he had fed on it for two days. The best place for him to live would be his bedroom where he would trouble nothing but his pillow. He is full of business at church; a stranger at home; a skeptic abroad; an observer in the street; everywhere a fool" (Thomas Adams).
This diversion is a great friend to the enemy. Our enemy's great object is to turn the mind away from what is immediate to what is indefinite, from what is plain and important to what is unsearchable, from what is personal to what is irrelevant. Many trifles take the place of the one thing that is needful. And is not this waste of time often a temptation to the Christian also? We need to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, to look to Jesus, on whom all heaven, all the redeemed, delight to gaze forever.
25. A foolish son brings grief to his father and bitterness to the one who bore him. Surely the divine Spirit did not repeat this proverb (see verse 21) for no reason. Was it not to deepen our sense of parental responsibility and filial obligation? Can parents be unmoved to the prospect of this grief? Can children be hardened into the unnatural selfishness of piercing a parent's heart with such bitterness? The mother's anguish is here added to the father's grief.
We should link our children when they are very young to the church. We should train their first years under God's yoke. Then instead of bringing us grief, they will restore life to us (Ruth 4:15). Instead of causing us bitterness because they are rebels against God, the Lord will own them and seal them so that they will declare his righteousness and set forth his praise (Psalm 22:31).
26. It is not good to punish an innocent man, or to flog officials for their integrity. Often the wise man's meaning goes far beyond his words. To punish an innocent man is not only not good—it is detestable in God's sight (see verse 15). If rulers are a terror to good works, they are ministers of God in authority, but ministers of Satan in how they fulfill their office. Such injustice will not be able to abide the coming day of the Lord.
Our duty is to pray. And who knows what God, who always hears our prayers, will send. He may send a righteous administration to bless the land.
27-28. A man of knowledge uses words with restraint, and a man of understanding is even-tempered. Even a fool is thought wise if he keeps silent, and discerning if he holds his tongue. The wisdom of these proverbs will be acknowledged by those who know the sins of the tongue and the immense difficulty of restraining the unruly member. A man of knowledge uses words with restraint when the likely outcome of speaking would harm him rather than benefit him. The good treasure is far too valuable to be unprofitably spent. Dr. Good gives this translation of an Arabic poetic proverb:
Keep silence then; nor speak, but when besought;
Who listens long, grows tired of what is told:
With tones of silver though thy tongue be fraught,
Know this—that silence of itself is gold.
Our Lord, careful as he was to make use of every opportunity to teach, sometimes held his words back (Matthew 16:4).
This restraint is most important under provocation. Passion demands immediate judgment. A cool, well-tempered understanding asks further time for reflection. The prophet wisely refrained from giving even a message from God to a king in a moment of passion (2 Chronicles 25:16). "A little spark blows up one of sulfurous temper; and many coals, greater injuries, and reproaches are quenched and lose their force, being thrown at another of a cool spirit" (Leighton). Indeed, a fool may acquire a reputation for wisdom just by keeping his mouth shut instead of exposing his folly to everyone. "He cannot be known for a fool who says nothing. He is a fool not who has unwise thoughts but who utters them. Even concealed folly is wisdom" (Bishop Hall).