We next hear maxims of wisdom and probity; then of the value of instruction for oneself, and of discipline for the child; next of joy over the wise heart and lips; lastly of guarding against envy and cherishing the fear of Jehovah.
“Speak not in the ears of a fool, for he will despise the wisdom of thy words.
Remove not the ancient landmark, and enter not into the fields of the fatherless; for their redeemer [is] strong; he will plead their cause against thee.
Apply thy heart unto instruction, and thy ears to the words of knowledge.
Withhold not correction from the child: if thou beat him with the rod, he shall not die; thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from Sheol.
My son, if thy heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice, even mine; and my reins shall exult, when thy lips speak right things.
Let not thy heart envy sinners; but [be thou] in the fear of Jehovah all the day; for surely there is a [latter] end, and thy hope shall not be cut off” (9-18).
If grace has given us wisdom, inseparable from Christ who is God's wisdom no less than His power, who from God is made to us wisdom, it is vain and unseemly to speak its words in the ears of a foolish man. He needs to judge himself, instead of listening to words which his folly prevents him from understanding, and exposes him to the sin of despising. The Lord put the same mistake in a still more pungent form, when He told his disciples not to cast the holy thing to the dogs, nor to cast pearls before the swine.
Heartless dishonesty toward any and especially the fatherless draws out a far graver warning. It matters not whether it take the crafty shape of removing the ancient landmark, or the open boldness of entering into the fields of the fatherless. If they have no father, they need no lawyer any more than taking the law into their own hands. Their Kinsman, their Redeemer, is strong; He will plead their cause against the rogue, high or low.
Again, if instruction can be had, it needs application and the application of the heart, without which the head avails not. When right affection guides and governs, the ears profit by the words of knowledge, instead of knowledge puffing up.
Then comes the serious question of training, and not merely teaching the young; and the word is, “Withhold not correction from the child.” But if he needs chastening for moral delinquency, there must be self-restraint as well as holy resoluteness. He is not to be beaten with a scourge to his great pain or injury but “with the rod.” So beaten, “he shall not die,” but live the better. On the other hand the parent must not shirk pain to natural feeling: “thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell.” Let the father fear the end of laxity, and look for blessing on a godly beginning.
Hear the touching encouragement, if the child bow dutifully. “My son, if thy heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice, even mine; and my reins shall exult, when thy lips speak right things.” Thus the fruit of righteousness in peace is sown for those that make peace.
But let no saint's heart envy sinners: whatever their appearance, they are set in slippery places, and cast down to destruction as in a moment. To be in the fear of Jehovah all the day is the true, safe, and happy place. “For surely there is a latter end,” and the saint's “hope shall not be cut off.” “Cast not away therefore your confidence which hath great recompence of reward. For ye have need of endurance, that, having done the will of God, ye may receive the promise. For yet a very little while he that cometh will come and will not tarry.”