These verses counsel practical wisdom in postponing one's comforts to the providing things honest outwardly; forbid unkindness and deceit in testimony, and denounce paying off old scores of ill-feeling; as they portray graphically the issue of the slothful at the close.
“Prepare thy work without, and make it ready for thee in the field; and afterward build thy house.
Be not a witness against thy neighbor without cause, neither deceive with thy lips.
Say not, I will do so to him as he hath done to me; I will render to the man according to his work.
I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding; and, behold, it was all grown over with thorns: nettles had covered its face, and the stone wall thereof was broken down.
Then I beheld with set heart; I saw [and] received instruction:
A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep;
So shall thy poverty come, [as] a robber; and thy want as a man in armor” (vers. 27-34).
Consideration of others and personal honesty are entitled to have a place superior to providing personal or family comfort.
How often too the question of a neighbor comes up, and the danger of a prejudice! But the word is distinct: “be not a witness against thy neighbor without cause.” Things might not be as one would desire; but “deceive not with thy lips.” As the Lord put it, “All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them; for this is the law and the prophets.” He makes it positive duty, even if the neighbor failed on his side.
Still less should a righteous person venture on retribution. Who is he to assume God's place, and say, I will do to him as he hath done to me? How awful if He only rendered to us what we deserved!
The slothful man is an object of pity as well as censure. He might be estimable this way or that; but his field and his vineyard proclaim the fault and presage his ruin. Thorns and nettles hold the field where the good grain should wave; and the wall so broken down as to invite injurious man and beast. Is it not an objective lesson to him that beholds all with the least attention? Certainly it is no example but a serious warning. The outward discloses the inward. The heedless man lives to sleep his life away: “a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep.” He may be innocent of strong drink, or of sensual pleasure, or of wasteful company. His laziness ensures his ruin. “So shall thy poverty come as a robber and thy want as a man in armor.”
The true remedy is not industry for self, or activity in the world and the things of the world, but Christ the life eternal and sole propitiation for our sins to God's glory, the Lord of all, saints or sinners: the fullness of blessing and pattern of service.