Next we have an alternating series of characteristics to strive against or to cherish, with only evils following, which call for our heed.
“He that soweth unrighteousness shall reap vanity; and the rod of his wrath shall have an end.
He that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed, for he giveth of his bread to the poor.
Cast out the scorner, and contention shall go out, and strife and ignominy shall cease.
He that loveth pureness of heart [with] grace of his lips, the king [shall be] his friend.
The eyes of Jehovah preserve knowledge, but he overthroweth the words of the treacherous.
The sluggard saith, A lion without, I shall be killed in the streets!
The mouth of strange women [is] a deep ditch; he with whom Jehovah is indignant shall fall therein” (vers. 8-14).
To begin here injustice is to end with mischief and disappointment; yet if this sours the temper and leads to wrath, its effect is neither great nor long. It is the O.T. analogue to Gal. 6:7, 8: “Be not deceived. God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall be also reap. Fur he that soweth to his own flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth unto the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life eternal.”
The bountiful eye, on the contrary, does not wait for the appeals of want, but looks out for it in this world of disorder and distress; and his hand and heart go with the good will of his eye; for he giveth of his bread to the poor. And such a one is and shall be blessed.
The scorner is not only ungodly and a sinner, but a source of mischief where he enters. Would you have contention to disappear, you must get rid of his presence, for it surely brings strife and shame along with it.
How different with the man who joins love of a pure heart to grace on his lips! He is a treasure, not only in private but for public complications. The king seeks such a one for his friend. It is the combination that is so rare.
Even in a world of deception, before the king shall reign in righteousness, when eyes are dim and ears dull, where the vile is called liberal and the churl bountiful, the eyes of Jehovah preserve knowledge, which otherwise would perish from the earth; and He overthrows the words of the treacherous, were they as high as Haman in the eyes of Ahasuerus.
Again, the sluggard who likes to lie abed says in his foolish fancy, A lion is without, I shall be killed in the streets! He is blind to the worst enemy that besets his chamber and enchains his soul.
But the mouth of strange women is yet more dangerous to the unwary, “a deep ditch” for such as yield to her snares. He who falls therein is apt to sink indeed to utter ruin, or, in the energetic phrase of this book, he is one against whom Jehovah hath indignation.