IT is truly a dreary world of grief, where man seeks pleasure and mirth, in lieu of a happiness which cannot be where the conscience is not purged after a divine sort, and the heart has not Christ before it, God's object as ours too.
“Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful, and the end of mirth [is] sadness.
The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways, and the good man from himself.
The simple believeth every word, but the prudent heedeth his going.
The wise one feareth and departeth from evil; but the foolish is overbearing and confident.
One soon angry dealeth foolishly, and a man of mischievous devices is hated.
The simple inherit folly; but the prudent are crowned with knowledge.
“The evil bow before the good, and the wicked at the gates of the righteous.
The poor is hated even of his own neighbor; but the rich have many lovers.
He that despiseth his neighbor sinneth; but he that is gracious to the afflicted [or, meek], happy [is] he.
Do they not err that devise evil? But mercy and truth [are] for those that devise good.
In all labor there is profit; but the talk of the lips [is] only to want.
The crown of the wise [is] their riches; the folly of the fools [is] folly.
A true witness delivereth souls; but deceit uttereth lies.
In the fear of Jehovah [is] strong confidence; and his children shall have a place of refuge.
The fear of Jehovah [is] a fountain of life, to turn away from the snares of death” (vers. 13-27).
“Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful, and the end of mirth [is] sadness.” So it is till man receives Christ. All otherwise is hollow; and the passing levity leaves its sting. “Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thy heart and in the sight of thine eyes; but know thou that for all these God will bring thee into judgment.”
Still darker is “the backslider in heart.” Terrible is the promise to him he “shall be filled with his own ways “; and all the more terrible, because he had outwardly known the lines in pleasant places, and the way of peace. On the other hand “the good man” by grace shall have his boast in what belongs to himself alone, and not what belongs to another. He shall be filled from himself. God has freely given him all he values most, the unseen and eternal in the promised One.
In such a world as this few greater follies can be than credulity. Believing God is the effectual safeguard. “The simple believeth every word; but the prudent heedeth his going.” We are exhorted to “prove all things,” but to hold fast the good (τὸ καλόν), the comely.
Next, it is for us to use “fear and depart from evil,” as a wise man does; to be “overbearing and confident” is arrant folly. “Honor all,” says not the least of the apostles; as a greater still loved to style himself, and in truth was, “a bondman of Jesus Christ.”
And what folly to be soon angry? Even a wise man “deals foolishly” who is easily provoked; but “a man of mischievous devices” makes himself odious when found out as he is.
“The simple” again “inherit folly.” This is what descends to man naturally. “The prudent” are lowly enough to receive and learn from the Highest; and theirs it is to be “crowned with knowledge.". “He giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to those that know understanding.”
Here we have not the simple or the foolish, but the evil and the wicked (ver. 19) and their failure even before a King shall reign in righteousness, and princes rule in judgment. God is never without a testimony in the evil day, if it be only here and there, now and then. Yet things are as yet far from what they ought, and are, to be.
What men sow they reap, and soon sometimes. Nor are the evil without conscience, so that they bow to the good, as the wicked court the favor and the help of a righteous man.
Poverty is dreaded more than sin; and hence the poor is hated even by his own neighbor, while the rich man has many who make up to him. Such is the covetousness of the heart, and the hollowness of the world.
To despise one's neighbor, what a sin in His sight who despises not any? Let us lay to heart what Christ was to needy men, women, and children. What an example to us! Who ever showed such kindness to the afflicted? May we have the happiness found in grace like His!
Yet proud heartlessness may go to greater evil in devising evil, but not escape His eyes who sees cunning mischief and every secret of the heart. How profound and fatal the error! For judgment slumbers not, any more than His mercy and truth fail for those that devise good unobtrusively:
For man as he is labor is as useful as idleness is worthless. Hence we are told here that in all labor is profit, while the talk of the lips tends to want.
The crown, not of the foolish, but of the wise, is their riches; for these turn their wealth to the account of unselfish goodness and the relief of human misery, and the furtherance of God's will and glory. They would be rich toward God. The folly of fools on the contrary is folly. God is in none of their thoughts, and all they express or do is folly all the more seen, if they have riches to attract a crowd of witnesses.
We pass through a world of evil and error. Hence the value of a true witness in delivering souls open otherwise to be mistaken and misrepresented by the false. But not many are willing to speak out at all cost. One there was who never failed, the Faithful and True Witness; and He the great Deliverer of souls. May we cleave to Him, and represent Him in this! But deceit, what can it utter but lies? It were sad to think that there could be no repentance for a deceiver; but it must be hard for a deceiver to gain credit for his self-judgment. Nevertheless if real, God would not fail to vindicate what His grace effects.
So we read next that in the fear of Jehovah is strong confidence. For this fear takes away all other fear, and becomes a tower of strength; and it avails for others who tremble at His word, especially His children. What place of refuge so sure and near?
But the fear of Jehovah is much more than a protection from enemies. It is a fountain of life, not a well that may fail when most needed, but a perennial spring of enjoyment to strengthen the heart, ever so timid and dejected without it, to turn away from the snares of death with which Satan overspreads the world, and which are dangerously nigh to every heart of man.