Proverbs Chapter 28
Proverbs
Chapter 28
1. The wicked man flees though no one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion. We know that the wicked may appear bold in facing danger, so long as they drown reflection and stupefy conscience. But when conscience is roused, guilt is the parent of fear. Adam knew no fear until he become a guilty creature.
But if guilt brings fear, the removal of guilt gives confidence. The wicked man flees ... the righteous are as bold as a lion. Fearless as the king of the forest, the righteous dare to do anything but offend their God. "This noble animal is the most perfect model of boldness and courage. He never flees from the hunters, nor is frightened by their onset. If their number forces him to yield, he retires slowly, step by step, frequently turning on his pursuers. He has been known to attack a whole caravan, and when forced to retreat, he always retreats fighting, and with his face to his enemy" (Paxton).
When God intends us to do great things, he makes us feel that without him we can do nothing. Thus pride receives its deathblow, and God receives all the glory to himself. Bishop Hall has finely worked out this contrast. "The wicked is a coward and is afraid of everything; of God, because he is his enemy; of Satan, because he is his tormentor; of God's creatures, because they, joining with their Maker, fight against him; of himself, because he bears about with him his own accuser and executioner. The godly man contrarily is afraid of nothing; not of God, because he knows him to be his best friend and will not hurt him; not of Satan, because he cannot hurt him; not of afflictions, because he knows they come from a loving God and end in his good; not of the creatures, since the very stones in the field are in league with him; not of himself, since his conscience is at peace."
2. When a country is rebellious, it has many rulers, but a man of understanding and knowledge maintains order. Is God concerned about the falling of a sparrow? Surely, then, he is much more concerned about the control of kingdoms. If we realized more deeply our national dependence, we would see the clouds of anarchy and confusion working his wise, mysterious, and gracious purposes. Would that the nation had learned from her own records of bygone days the sound and practical lessons of repentance with all its blessed fruits.
But no less must we acknowledge the divine hand in a man of understanding and knowledge [who] maintains order. By a man of such high character Egypt was saved from famine. The long and prosperous reigns of the godly kings of Judah contrast strongly with the records of Israel after the revolt.
3. A poor man that oppresseth the poor is like a sweeping rain which leaveth no food [kjv]. Unrestrained power is often an engine of oppression, and never more so than when in the grasp of the poor. Put an unprincipled spendthrift in power, and he will be like a destructive flood.
It is a cheering contrast to remember Christ, who was once poor due to his voluntary abasement, but who is now raised to honor and glory. But he has compassion on his poor brethren and is not ashamed of them.
4. Those who forsake the law praise the wicked, but those who keep the law resist them. How potent is the influence of our Christian profession, acting on everyone around us for evil or for good. Those who love sin naturally take pleasure in doing it. The wicked may possess some praiseworthy qualities (Luke 16:8). But to praise them for their wickedness identifies us with them. "It is fearful to sin; more fearful to delight in sin; yet more to defend it" (Bishop Hall).
5. Evil men do not understand justice, but those who seek the Lord understand it fully. Ignorance and knowledge are here contrasted, and each is traced to its source. The apostle Paul drew the same contrast when he said that the person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit, but that the spiritual person makes judgments about everything. This unity found in the Old Testament and the New Testament is beautiful and instructive. "The two Testaments, like our two eyes, mutually enlighten us and assist each other" (Serle).
Evil men do not understand justice. They do not know the true standard of right and wrong, the true way to God, or the end of God's dealings with them. Their ignorance is deliberate. The most distinguished scholar is a fool in understanding about justice. Unless he is humbled in the consciousness of his ignorance and seeks light from above, he will perish in gross darkness. What a curse are learning and intellect without a humble heart!
Pride fastens on every faculty of man, and the source of light is despised. So there is no understanding because nobody seeks after God (Psalm 14:2-3; Romans 3:11). "Wickedness," Bishop Taylor justly observes, "corrupts a man's reasoning and gives him false principles and an evil measuring of things." "I regard it as a fundamental error in the study of divinity," remarks Professor Franke, "for anyone to persuade himself that he can study divinity properly without the Holy Spirit. As long as he remains in this error, all labor is lost on him." "A grain of true faith is more estimable than a mass of mere historical knowledge" (Professor Franke). "A man may as soon read the letter of Scripture without eyes as properly understand their mysteries without grace" (Bishop Beveridge). Those who seek the Lord, even though they are but babes in intellect and ignorant in worldly things, will understand justice... fully, in a way that an unspiritual person will never be able to.
Many things, dark to human reason, are simplified by humility. The harmony of the divine attributes staggers reason and can only be understood by humble faith. A reclaimed unbeliever, the French poet and philosopher De La Harpe, describes his own conflict: "In thinking about the justice of the deity, man is at first ready to doubt God's compassion. But the Gospel answers him by the voice of an apostle: 'God so loved the world that he spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all.' It is then that the penitent sinner apprehends this ineffable mystery. His proud and blind reason had rejected it. But his humble and contrite heart profoundly feels it. He believes because he loves; he is graceful because he sees all the goodness of the Creator proportioned to the miseries of the creature. Oh, my God, all your mysteries are mysteries of love, and therefore they are indeed divine."
6. Better a poor man whose walk is blameless than a rich man whose ways are perverse. This proverb is repeated (see 19:1) for its valuable instruction. One part of the comparison, implied before, is here expressed—than a rich man. Previously he was described as a fool whose lips are perverse. A deeper trait of character is given here: His ways are perverse. This is one of those paradoxes that sometimes make the feet even of God's children to stumble. A man may walk in a blameless way and yet be poor. An evil man may be perverse and yet be rich. And yet the poor man, with all his external disadvantages, is more honorable, more useful, and more happy than the rich man with all his earthly splendor. This point is illustrated in the following fine passage from Cicero:
"A contented mind is as good as an estate. Frugality is itself a revenue. To be satisfied with one's lot is to be really and infallibly rich. If landed possessions are most highly valued by shrewd judges of human affairs, as a property that is least liable to injury, how inestimably precious must be true virtue, which cannot be snatched from us by force or fraud, which cannot be damaged by shipwreck or by fire, which no tempests or political disturbances can change. They alone who are endowed with this treasure can be said to be truly rich. They alone possess what is fruitful and durable. What is allotted to them they deem sufficient. They covet nothing. They really want nothing. They require nothing. The wicked and the avaricious, on the contrary, so far from being rich, are in reality miserably poor, inasmuch as they have no certain treasure and are always impatient for some addition to their stores, never satisfied with their present possessions" (Paradox, vi. 3).
Outward superiority only affects our state before God as increasing proportionably our responsibilities. Many will wish that they had lived and died in obscure poverty rather than having been entrusted with riches, which only made them boldly sin with a high hand against God and their own souls.
7. He who keeps the law is a discerning son, but a companion of gluttons disgraces his father. Keep[ing] the law is the way of wisdom and honor. Invaluable is the training that leads young people, under the Lord's blessing, to this happy personal choice. Such are manifestly taught by God and are guided by his Spirit into true wisdom.
Young people, meet the enticements of your former companions with a decided protest: "Depart from me, you who do evil. As for me, I will keep God's commandments." Here is honor to your father, happiness to yourself, usefulness to the church, and preparation for heaven.
Parents, do we shrink from this overwhelming disgrace? Let us more diligently and more prayerfully cultivate that wise and holy training of our children that is God's appointed ordinance and that, however long or severely he may try our faith, he will not fail to honor in his time (22:6).
8. He who increases his wealth by exorbitant interest amasses it for another, who will be kind to the poor. What a deadly curse it is to be under the spell of covetousness! No laws can bind it. God had fenced in the rights of his poor people with solemn and plain obligations. And he will not allow their rights to be lightly regarded. A man labors for himself, but his harvest falls into better hands "through God's secret providence" (Diodati). Why should we seek to increase our wealth by exorbitant interest when we have our Father's promise that all things will be given to us (Matthew 6:33), when his divine power has given to us all things for life and godliness?
9. If anyone turns a deaf ear to the law, even his prayers are detestable. This does not mark the frailty, infirmity, or temptation that too often interrupts listening to the law. The case described here is the habitual and obstinate rejection of God that despises his ordinances and refuses the instruction of his ministry. Awful indeed is it that there should be such a rebel. If the subject turns a deaf ear to the law of his Sovereign, all his prayers that he may present in times of distress, his Lord will regard as detestable. Justly is the door closed against the presumptuous hypocrite. "Great reason there is that God will refuse to hear him who refuses to hear God" (Bishop Reynolds). And what if such a man's language now—"Depart from me"—should come from his mouth at the great day as the seal of his everlasting doom!
10. He who leads the upright along an evil path will fall into his own trap, but the blameless will receive a good inheritance. To delight in the enticing of sinners along an evil path is the very image and aspect of the tempter. But his chief delight, the main effort, is to make the upright go astray. What rejoicing there is when a standard-bearer faints.
The malice of Satan and his emissaries inadvertently demonstrates the faithfulness of the almighty Keeper. Even if they succeed for a while in leading the upright along an evil path, recovering mercy is in store for the upright. When an upright man is brought out of the snare in deep humiliation, he will receive a good inheritance. This good inheritance can never be fully written about or thought of. It is part of what the eye has not seen and the ear has not heard and the mind has not conceived (1 Corinthians 2:9).
11. A rich man may be wise in his own eyes, but a poor man who has discernment sees through him. To be truly wise and to be wise in [our] own eyes are often confused, though they are essentially opposite. Although riches do not always bring wisdom, the rich man often pretends to have it and ascribes his success to his own sagacity, though he may be manifestly simple and foolish. Yet the universe does not possess a more dignified character than the poor man who has discernment. Did not the incarnate Lord honor this station supremely by taking it on himself? To walk in his footsteps, in his spirit, is wisdom, honor, and happiness infinitely beyond what this poor world of vanity can afford.
12. When the righteous triumph, there is great elation; but when the wicked rise to power, men go into hiding. When the righteous are honored, there is great elation. The whole kingdom feels more or less the influence of this national blessing. Godliness is countenanced. People are allowed to practice their religion freely.
But when the wicked rise to power, how this elation is eclipsed. The people of God are removed into corners, are silenced, and go into hiding. The light of more than a hundred prophets, and even Elijah himself, was hidden for a while under the tyranny of Ahab. Yet it was hidden only from the eye of sense. Regarding those who wander about in sheepskins and goatskins, hiding in deserts and caves, what greater glory could we give than the divine inscription stamped on them: "The world was not worthy of them" (Hebrews 11:38)?
13. He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy. God and man each conceal sin—God in free unbounded grace, man in shame and hypocrisy. The proud sinner naturally wants to be thought better than he is. His sin he must conceal. Cicero sees confession of wickedness as disgraceful and dangerous. Thus heathen morality develops the pride of depraved nature.
Confession of sins to God is the first act of the penitent. But it should also be the daily habit of the saint. The further we advance, the deeper will be the tone of confession. The moment sin is seen to be sin, let it be laid on the Surety's head. Every moment of unconfessed sin adds to its burden and guilt. The thought of a nature estranged from God, a heart full of corruption, sins of youth and age, before and after conversion, sins against light and conviction, knowledge and love, the sins of our very confession, their defilement, coldness, and too often self-righteous tendency—all supply abundant material for abasing acknowledgment. See the greatness, not the smallness, of our sin. Never deem any sin so trifling as not to need the immediate attention of the blood of atonement. Genuine conviction gives no rest, until by the believing apprehension of this remedy the peace of God is firmly fixed in the conscience. As Bunyan so accurately pictured, not at the wicket-gate but at the sign of the cross did Christian find the grave of sin. Here it is lost, forgotten, never to be found.
14. Blessed is the man who always fears the Lord, but he who hardens his heart falls into trouble. This proverb continues on from the last one. After confession comes godly fear.
We may here profitably glance at some Christian paradoxes. How is happiness to be found in constant fear? Is fear to be the atmosphere of the spirit of a child of God? Godly fear preserves the sunshine and seals our special acceptance. We walk with our Father in holy watchfulness and peace. Faith without fear is self-confidence and self-delusion. "If there is truth in the Christian's assurance, sin itself cannot disappoint him, it is true. But it is no less true that if he does not fear sin, there is no truth in his assurance" (Leighton). Instead of being afraid to mix faith and fear, dread their separation.
The second paradox may be stated like this: Should a forgiven Christian have any sense of sin? A deep sensibility of sin is a special mercy. Consider carefully what sin is, what it may be; if the Lord restrain it not, it will end in apostasy. Dare we trifle with it? Do not forget, professing Christian, that we may only be strong in confidence in ourselves because we are sleeping in delusion or hardened in insensibility. From all the mischief of self-ignorance and hardness of heart, Good Lord, delive 15-16. A godly ruler is to a land the clear sunshine of an unclouded morning, the fruitfulness of the springing grass after the rain. But what a curse is a wicked man ruling. His arbitrary despotism takes the place of right. We might as well live among the savage wild beasts of the forest. The lion... roaring for the prey and the bear raging in hunger, terrors to their weaker race, are apt emblems of this tyrant over a helpless people. "No sentiment of pity softens his heart. No principle of justice regulates his conduct. Complaint only provokes further exactions. Resistance kindles his unfeeling heart into savage fury. Helpless and miserable indeed are the people whom divine anger has placed under his misrule" (Paxton).
Thus indeed injustice is allowed to reign on a wide scale. A whole nation is afflicted by the ruthless tyranny of one man. How much rulers need to seek good judgment, that they may rule as the fathers of their people. And what cause we have to bless God for our mild and happy government, preserved as we are from tyrannical despots who would not stop at any tyranny that might subserve their selfish purpose. Of Tyndale's celebrated work, "The Obedience of a Christian Man," Henry VIII declared, "This book is for me and for all kings to read." He probably only gave attention to those parts he could use to accredit his own selfish rapacity. Well would it have been had he pondered such important instruction as, "The king is but a servant to execute the law of God, and not to rule after his own imagination." Or, he is brought to the throne "to minister unto and to serve his brethren and must not think that his subjects were made to minister to his selfish desires."
17. A man tormented by the guilt of murder will be a fugitive till death; let no one support him. The first law against the murderer must not be forgotten. Like the law of the Sabbath, it was in force from the beginning. "It was enacted and published before him out of whose loins the whole world after the Flood was to be repeopled, to show that it was not meant for a national or temporary ordinance, but for a universal and perpetual law" (Bishop Sanderson). The reason given for the command confirms its universal obligation. To destroy the image of God must be high treason against God himself. Where blood defiles the land, only the murderer's blood can cleanse it. The death, therefore, of the murderer is an imperative obligation. Protests against all capital punishment is misnamed philanthropy. Shall man pretend to be more merciful than God? Pity is misplaced here. The murderer, therefore, of his brother is his own murderer. Let God's law take its course.
Yet we must not cast out his soul. Visiting the condemned cell is a special exercise of mercy. While we bow to the stern justice of the great Lawgiver, joyous indeed it is to bring to the sinner under the sentence of the law the free forgiveness of the Gospel; not as annulling his sin, but showing the over-abounding of grace beyond the abounding of sin (Romans 5:20).
18. He whose walk is blameless is kept safe, but he whose ways are perverse will suddenly fall. This contrast had been drawn a little earlier as well (verse 6). Indeed the proverb itself in substance has been given. The blameless walk will show itself in extreme carefulness—in all doubtful points keeping to the safer side; not venturing on a precipice when we can walk on even ground. This is indeed Christian perfection or maturity, walking before God. We do not need Jacob's vision in order to realize God's presence. Faith sees what is invisible.
19. He who works his land will have abundant food, but the one who chases fantasies will have his fill of poverty. This proverb has also been given before (12:11). Such memories and hearts as ours need line upon line in the enforcement of practical obligation (see Isaiah 28:13). If we are not to be lazy in business but fervent in spirit, in this world and in all its concerns, how much more we need to be like this in the momentous concerns of eternity!
20. A faithful man will be richly blessed, but one eager to get rich will not go unpunished. A study of the contrast shows the definite meaning of the terms. A faithful man is contrasted here not with the rich but, mark this carefully, with one eager to get rich. A man may be rich by the blessing of God. But he who is eager to get rich will be rich by his own covetousness.
It is hard not to be overcome with this great temptation. "Yet how does the Scripture combat the vice of covetousness? Not by asserting that gold is only earth, exhibiting itself under a particular modification, and therefore not worth seeking; but by telling us that covetousness is idolatry, that the love of money is the root of all evil, and that some have shipwrecked their lives in seeking this abomination" (Cowper). Even if no criminal means are resorted to, yet the immoderate desire, the perseverance in every track of Mammon, the laboring night and day for the grand object, and the delight and confidence in the acquisition all prove the idolatrous heart and will not go unpunished.
21. To show partiality is not good—yet a man will do wrong for a piece of bread. This proverb has been repeated more than once (see 18:5; 24:23). The act of partiality itself is not good. The principle is worse— sordid selfishness. Here is perhaps a man, not of slavish or naturally degraded mind, but, such is the debasing influence of evil desire, a man of weight and influence who abuses his power for his own ends.
Yet a man will do wrong for a piece of bread. Cato used to say of Coelius the Tribune that "he might be hired for a piece of bread to speak or to hold his peace." Are Christians wholly guiltless in this matter? Is not conduct sometimes ruled by the fear of man rather than by trust in God? Let the temptation be resisted at the first step, manfully, prayerfully, in the Lord's strength, and the victory is gained.
22. A stingy man is eager to get rich and is unaware that poverty awaits him. Here is another word of warning. Take heed and beware of covetousness. Abraham was rich without being eager to get rich. Remember that it is not the person who knows most, but the person who most loves the things of heaven who will be most deadened to the riches of earth. Inasmuch as you love the earth, so you lose heaven. Is it not your shame that if heaven is your possession, you should have so much interest there and yet so few thoughts, so little love? Keep down most carefully your anxiety to rise in the world. For in its highest glory there is nothing worthy of your heart here. Keep heaven next to your heart as your treasure, your love, your rest, your crown. You will be happy if you have the mind of the holy Paulinus, Bishop of Nola in the fifth century, who when he heard of the ruin of all his property by the plunder of the Goths looked up and prayed, "You know where my treasure has long been!"
23. He who rebukes a man will in the end gain more favor than he who has a flattering tongue. Too often the flatterer finds more favor than the reprover. "Few people have the wisdom to like reproofs that would do them good better than praises that do them harm" (Dr. South). And yet a candid man, notwithstanding the momentary struggle of wounded pride, will in the end appreciate the purity of the motive and the value of the discovery. "He who cries out against his surgeon for hurting him when he is searching his wound will yet pay him well, and thank him too, when he has cured it" (Henry).
The flatterer is viewed with disgust, the reprover, in the end, with acceptance. Alas, the example of godly Asa presents an exception to the rule (2 Chronicles 16:7-10). When Bernard Gilpin publicly rebuked church abuses before his diocesan bishop, instead of being displeased, the bishop treated him with marked favor. "Mr. Gilpin," said the bishop, "I acknowledge you are fitter to be bishop of Durham than I am to be the parson of your church." When the philosopher Plutarch asked Alexander the reason for his dismissal, "either," replied the monarch, "you have not marked my error, which is a proof of your ignorance, or you have held your peace, which is a proof of your unfaithfulness."
Let us study the spirit of our gracious Master, whose gentleness always poured balm into the wound that his faithful love had opened. A rebuke in this spirit is more like the support of a friend than the punishment of a rod.
24. He who robs his father or mother and says, "It's not wrong"— he is partner to him who destroys. The aggravation of sin is proportionate to the obligation of duty. A murderer is a heinous transgressor; how much more a parricide! To rob a stranger, a neighbor, a friend is evil; how much more a father or mother! The filial obligation of cherishing care is broken. Ingratitude is added to injustice. What length of wickedness will such a hardened sinner stop at!
Young people, as you value your soul, your conscience, your happiness, ponder the wide extent of filial obligation; the honor, deference, and consideration included in it; the clear stamp of God's authority on it; the mark of his reprobation in despising it; the certain seal of his blessing on its practical and self-denying acknowledgment.
25. A greedy man stirs up dissension, but he who trusts in the Lord will prosper. The contrast between the greedy man and the one who trusts in the Lord is very remarkable. It shows that pride is the root of unbelief. The man, having cast off God, expects nothing and fears nothing from him. He lives as if there is no God. His proud heart is large—not like the wise man's, in fullness of capacity, but in ambitious grasp and insatiable appetite. He is never content within his own bounds.
Christian, dread any occasions of stirring up dissension, the cancer of vital godliness. Keep near to your Lord. It was when the disciples were talking together by the way, instead of walking in close communion with their Master, that strife was stirred up (Mark 9:33-34).
26. He who trusts in himself is a fool, but he who walks in wisdom is kept safe. Contrast the sound and faithful confidence mentioned in the previous verse with man's natural trust. Our confidence determines our state (Matthew 7:24-27). To trust an impostor who has deceived us a hundred times or a traitor who has proved himself false to our most important interests is surely to deserve the name of fool. This name, therefore, the Scriptures, using great plainness of speech, give to the person who trusts in himself. Well does Bishop Hall call the fool "the great impostor." Has self-trust not been deceiving us from our first moment of consciousness? Truly the traitor finds his home in our own heart, prompting, in concert with our deadly enemy, the most elaborate efforts for self-destruction.
Truly, as good Bishop Wilson remarks, "there is no sin that a man ought not to fear or to think himself incapable of committing, since we have in our corrupt will the seeds of every sin." None of us can safely presume that his heart may not hurry him into abominations that he can now contemplate only with horror. The best of men, when left to themselves, are mournful spectacles of weakness and instability.
Blessed be our God, for our standing is not based on the uncertainty of man's best purpose. It rests on the faithful promise, the unchangeable will, the free grace, and the almighty power of God. It does not rest on ourselves, but on the Rock, on which the church is immovably built. We value, then, a deep knowledge of our indwelling weakness and corruption. Painful and humbling as it is, it establishes our faith. This study of the heart strengthens the principle of holy fear, which enables us to walk in wisdom and thus keeps us safe from the evils of a self-confident state.
27. He who gives to the poor will lack nothing, but he who closes his eyes to them receives many curses. "There is none who wants to be in need or desires to be poor. And therefore the worldly-minded, to save themselves from it, carefully gather together and enclose as much wealth as they can by any means possible; and they think that by such means they will lack nothing. And indeed in man's judgment, that is the best way a man can take. But the Holy Spirit teaches us another way, which is totally opposite to natural reason. 'He who gives to the poor will lack nothing.' This is against reason, which says that we must gather and hold fast to avoid poverty. She looks not to what God can and will do. She is blind in the works of the Lord, and chiefly in those in whom he works according to his free promise" (Cope).
However close we may hold our material possessions, who can give security against coming into desperate need? But this promise gives a security that no earthly abundance can afford. Covetousness indeed combines with reason to contradict the Word of God. Yet the promise is given by him who has full power to make it good, who has a thousand ways of repaying what is done or sacrificed at his command. The fruit is absolutely certain, "as the best preventive against poverty, putting money into the bank of heaven, which can never forfeit credit" (Lawson). The best securities on earth will not stop riches from taking wing and flying away. But when have the promises of heaven ever proved to be untrue?
We must not neglect to look at people in distress, and we certainly must not turn away from them. Ponder this well, so that prudence and discrimination do not check the glow of love and prove to be a cloak for selfishness and obscure the light of Christian benevolence and compassion, which should shine before men from God's true servants.
28. When the wicked rise to power, people go into hiding; but when the wicked perish, the righteous thrive. The substance of this proverb was given in verse 12. When the wicked rise to power is indeed a national judgment, greatly to be deprecated as the engine of cruel malice against the church of God. But what a tremendous weight of guilt and punishment is involved in fighting against God in this way (Acts 9:4)!
The power of the wicked even here, however, is but for a moment. When they perish, as they will, the righteous thrive. In the early ages of the Christian church, after the death of the persecuting Herod, the Word of God grew and multiplied. The cross is an enriching blessing to the church and to every individual member of it.