The name I AM, by which He revealed Himself to Israel (Exodus 3:14) set forth His eternal self-existence, but He has also revealed Himself by names which are used to express human relations, such as king, judge, husband, father. The acts of the prodigal and the slothful man differ in themselves, but they all spring from that spirit of self-pleasing which is the essence of ungodliness. And she said, "Well, now, honey, do you think you understand?" Such a field is the tongue of man, with this difference, that a man is obliged to eat the fruit of it, although it should be worse than hemlock. There is. We must walk with God in secret, or the enemy will walk with us, and our souls will die. But a good wife is the best friend of all (22-24). But the righteous in any distress runneth presently unto it. And a dispute between brethren is like iron bars, dividing those who ought to be one more truly and sadly than any prison door could separate them. He reverses what the proverb pronounces natural. Herod feasts in the palace, while John the Baptist is beheaded in the dungeon. A sinner stands dead like a blasted oak, but a saint not only lives by growing, but grows by living.Miller. The poor inconsiderate fools never think what they are about. David said, "I will love thee, O LORD, my strength" ( Ps 18:1 ). Things don't always work out the way we want them to, and even if you're the most adaptable person in the world, life is going to throw you a few curveballs, and you're going to strike out once or twice. . II. The heart of the prudent gets knowledge; and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge. But a wounded spirit crushes the entire man. If you say he spent the night in a den of lions you read the story superficially. The favour of a good parent is a thing prized highly by a dutiful child, and enhances the value of every other blessing. here yields no satisfactory sense. i. Ignorance of physical and scientific truth often leads men to expose themselves to bodily danger without being aware of it, and ignorance of spiritual truth often causes men to become victims of great moral evil without realising their danger. I. Casting his eye along the work, as he laid down his tools and adjusted his apron, he detected a defect, and instantly called out to his senior partner that the wall was not plumb. There seems no Scriptural prohibition to the use of this ordinance, provided it be exercised in a reverential dependence upon God, and not profaned for common purposes or worldly ends. Proverbs 18:16. The selfish and morose man who will not deny himself for anothers good, or who cannot rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep, cannot expect others to deny themselves for him and to sympathise with his joy and sorrow. Very true. But the words are the stream which the deep waters send forth. And not less is economy of means. Home; . A communication has been established between the soul of a good man and the living Godhe holds constant communion with a source of spiritual life which can never fail, and consequently he can never be at a loss for subjects upon which to discoursehis mind is always filled with new thoughts of God, and new hopes of heaven upon which to meditate himself and which he can communicate to others. I. Wealth is a fortress with a most uncertain foundation. They who have not gotten it do not know the worth of it, and so have no mind to look after it, or if they have the mind, they have no knowledge how to seek it. Although the Divine Creator gives to all men liberally, He does not give to all equally, but seeing that man is not responsible for this inequality, those who are most richly endowed should find in the fact of their superiority matter for gratitude and not for self-glorification. Click to donate today! Leviticus 17-18; Proverbs 28; Matthew 13:1-23. Contention between any men is a plain proof that there is some flaw in human nature, that the relations of human creatures are not what they ought to be. As expressing a need of human nature. Proverbs 15:18 Commentary; Proverbs 15:19 Commentary; Proverbs 15:20 Commentary; . "[1] Hooke preferred this; "A man who wishes to separate from friends seeks excuses; but at all times he will be liable to reproach. (Romans 11:33). So the casting of the lot. I. Why? On this subject see also Homiletics on chap. If a young artist has a sketch given to him by his master which he is to fill up in a given time, he cannot afford to spend the moments in disputing with his fellow-pupils about their respective rights to certain brushes and colours; while he is contending the hours are going, and when the master calls for the picture he will have none to show. 1. Proverbs 18. No physical force can break down enmity of hearteven God cannot reconcile men unto Himself by His physical omnipotence, but wins them by love. The phrase may meanWhen the wicked cometh into intimacy, companionship, familiarity, then cometh contempt.He who admits the wicked to his intimacymakes him his associatemust share the infamy of his ill-chosen companion. The words of a man's mouth are as deep waters, and the wellspring of wisdom as a flowing brook. 18. a maul] "i.e. Perhaps the next verse helps us to determine the meaning (Stuart). Jarchi interprets this clause thus, "among wise men his reproach shall be made manifest;''. Besides, the slower a person is to take offencethe longer he forbearsthe more he forgivesthe more difficult it is fairly to overcome the yearnings of affection, and break the bonds of brotherhoodthe more inveterate may the spirit of resentment be; the more sullen and distant the alienation, when it is actually produced.Wardlaw. They are ever marvelling how other folks do. a hammer, a variation of mall, from malleus The Hebrew and English alike occur in Proverbs 25:18 only. Thus, as might be expected, there are the same appearances of bareness, and cheerlessness, and want, in the dwelling of the thriftless as in that of the slothful. "The Hebrew text of the O.T. When a man enters into the marriage relation according to the Divine intentionmaking a woman his wife in the true sense of the wordhe not only adds to his own comfort and consults his own interest, but he does that which is pleasing to Godhe takes a step upon which he can fearlessly ask for the Divine blessing. The spirit of a man That is, the rational soul; is the candle, &c. Is a clear and glorious light, set up in man for his information and direction. Same idea. If he desires to become wise by acquaintance with the thoughts and deeds of the great and mighty men of past ages he must withdraw himself at certain seasons from the society of his fellow-men, and give himself up to study and reflection. 10 My son, if sinful men entice you, do not give in to them. The name of the LORD is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe ( Proverbs 18:10 ). Unfriendly people care only about themselves; they lash out at common sense. The tale-bearer must have a repository for his slandersthe busy tongue must have a listening ear or no mischief would be done, and tale-bearing would die out for want of an atmosphere in which it could live. Many men seek secular knowledge for the sole purpose of acquiring fame by the acquisition. The cold-hearted, speculative professor has his flowsometimes a torrent of words, yet without a drop of profitable matter; chilling, even when doctrinally correct; without life, unction, or love. Proverbs 5:1-14 Commentary Proverbs 5 Commentary Proverbs 5:15-23 Commentary Proverbs 6 Commentary Proverbs 6:20-35 Commentary Proverbs 7:1-27 Commentary Proverbs 13 Commentary Proverbs 15 Commentary Proverbs 18:10 Commentary Proverbs 18:11 Commentary Proverbs 28:13 Commentary Proverbs 29:18 Commentary How full is Church history of this deplorable evil!and how many infidels and scorners has Church history by this means produced. Natural or acquired eagerness of spirit, and impatience of protracted inquiry. Twin-brothers are often so much alike that it is difficult for onlookers to distinguish one from the other. The spirit of a man may control his sickness, but a spirit of upbraiding, who can carry that? To give all up, and simply lie back and murmur, is bad even for worldly disorders; but Solomon derives out of it a much more profound spiritual sense. Thus it was under the old dispensation. 2 Fools have no interest in understanding; they only want to air their own opinions. As the lot was had recourse to when causes were such as admitted not of determination otherwise, there seems to be a natural enough relation of suggestion between this verse and the preceding. Beginning with the familiar intercourse of every-day life, how true it is that the utterance of kindly words of sympathy, and advice and warning, have a tendency to make sunshine in the heart of him who utters them, while censorious, hasty, harsh words embitter and darken the spirit of their author. General Reference . Proverbs 13:8, page 302), but the evil of the text is a very real and common one. Proverbs 20:27. Both may bear the image and superscription of the king, but the one is an insult to the name it bears while the other has a right to be imprinted with the royal name. We ought to submit to mystery in God, for the tide of His utterance is to flow on for ever.Miller. The languages of several countries are not so different as of the poor and rich man in one and the same country, and a stranger of another land is not such a foreigner as in the same land a poor man standing at the door of the rich. Proverbs 18:14. 8 Listen, my son, to your father's instruction. For I look upon the image of Christ as the best mark of beauty I can behold in her, and the grace of God as the best portion I can receive with her.Bp. Such a man often deeply wrongs others. Partner with StudyLight.org as God uses us to make a difference for those displaced by Russia's war on Ukraine. The stronghold of the man who trusts in riches. Men would justly say that the house or the picture had as yet no existence, and therefore could not be judged. The spirit of the man is the man himself, his power to love, to hope, and to enjoy. ch. But it must not be forgotten that there must always be two persons implicated in the guilt and cruelty of thus killing the reputation of a fellow-creature. It is to a man of this stagnant and lazy temperament an exertion quite unbearable to keep his mind so long on the stretch as to listen even to a statement, and still more to an argument or pleading, that cannot be finished in a breath and done with. In the field of the world, the tares grow as well as the wheat (Matthew 13:26), and often they seem for a time to be more flourishing. Breaking Down the Key Parts of Proverbs 18:21. The righteous mans refuge, then, is a Living Personalitya Self-existent and Eternal King and Father, infinite in power, in wisdom, and in tenderness. Whoso findeth a wife finds a good thing, and obtains favor of the LORD ( Proverbs 18:21-22 ). The malignancy is great in both, but with far less danger in the former. But there is, after all, no comparison between this kind of forced irrigation and that which is the result of natural causes. Proverbs 4:3). 2 Fools care nothing for thoughtful discourse; all they do is run off at the mouth. The rich think their wealth protects them; they imagine themselves safe behind it. Proverbs. An eternal refuge. The original word here used is a brother revolting or departing by disloyalty; or else a brother offended by disloyal departing. But although a man may play with fire and escape unharmed, or may even apply a torch to his neighbours house without singeing so much as a hair of his own head, no fools lips enter into contention or call for strokes without bringing retribution upon his own head. The favour of a good king is in itself a fortune which few men would despise. They are often held in contempt even while living, and the reproaches of those who have been made to suffer by them are heaped upon their heads. It must be remembered that deep waters are associated in the Old Testament with the thought of darkness and mystery (Proverbs 20:5; Psalms 69:2; Ecclesiastes 7:24), and we get a more profound thought if we see in the proverb a comparison between all teaching from without and that of the light within. She said, "The little girl next door said she came from Missouri and I just wondered where I came from. Play Audio: Your speech will either help or hurt you (Pr 10:14; 12:14; 13:2-3; 18:6-7,23). The name Jesus is our strong tower. II. Is harder to be won; these words are not in the original, but have been inserted to supply the sense. They're starting to explain their situation and we assume that, "Oh, yes, this is what they want to know," and we start giving out all these worthless information.Like the little child who came in to her mother one day and said, "Mother, where did I come from?" II. This is a Sabbath altogether moral, never to be abrogated. Well, you're not you're not showing yourself friendly. FROM the value of friendship there is a natural and easy transition to the evil of isolation. A reference to the Critical Notes will show that the word translated wounds may be rendered dainties, and it is because evil reports of others are so keenly relished by an unsanctified soul that the words of a tale-bearer are able to inflict such suffering and work so much ill in the world. No war breaks out sooner, or lasts longer, than that among divines, or that about a sacrament; a sacrament of love, a communion, and yet the occasion, by accident, of much dissension.Trapp. Our translation seems to take it as an excitement to diligence in the pursuit of wisdom. The heart is here, as in many other instances, apparently used for the mind in general, including both the intellect and the affections. How often may it be seen, that with means of a very limited and stinted amount, there is more of spiritual prosperity in one instance, than is discoverable in another, with means the most varied and abundant. 12/1/22: I just found out that most of the commentaries on the Bible Study Tools website are no longer free. For such ought to be the command of love between brethren, that he that breaks it is a disloyal rebel unto it. The original is contain, as wine in a bottle, sicknessliterally what is physical; but in this same book employed for the spiritual malady. None but foolish men and children ever play with fire, and when they do it they generally suffer themselves first, but they are often not the only sufferers. Through desire a man, having separated himself The original is difficult and obscure. The word of the Lord that came unto HoseaSee :-. The redeemed will be employed throughout eternity in this delighted searching; exploring the breadth, and length, and depth, and height, until they be filled with all the fulness of God (Ephesians 3:18-19). To the righteous God is good, and he nestles and shelters himself in that; runs into the nurture and shelter of Gods love, and, in the comfort of this strong tower, is lifted high. But there is a profounder sense. A wife is the holiest of all relations; in this world the most powerful for good. A good marriage is a means of grace, of course any relation that is near and potent is covered by the passage.Miller. And if it is so with every true lover of merely intellectual wisdom, it is pre-eminently so with the man who seeks spiritual wisdom. "He that separateth himself seeketh his own desire, And rageth against all sound wisdom.". 1 Through desire a man, having separated himself, seeketh and intermeddleth with all wisdom. When the wicked comes, then comes also contempt, and with ignominy reproach. They suspend their plumb, not from the middle, but from one edge of the rule, and that the edge which lies next their own interests.Arnot. If we have to decide between the two interpretations, one blaming and the other commending the life of isolation, the answer must be that the former is more in harmony with the broad, genial temper of the Book of Proverbs.Plumptre. Time is to human creatures a very precious commodity, because the longest life lived in this world is comparatively short. If you store bad fruit (sin) in your heart, you will always produce sin, if you store good fruit, that is what your mouth (tongue . Going beyond these to utterances which have a wider influence, the proverb is no less true. 27 Do not boast about tomorrow, For you do not know what a day will bring. A quarrelsome, passionate man is a fool, and he is also a cruel man, but he is not so cruel as the talebearer. The first clause of this verse should be A man of many friends will prove himself base, or is so to his own destruction, i.e., he who professes to regard everybody as his friend will, in so doing, involve himself in trouble. When such expectations are disappointed, the wound in the spirit is proportionately deeper, and more difficult of healingthe breach wider, and harder of being made up. The word translated wisdom in the second clause is derived from a verb that means to be or stand with some stability (see comment on chap. Which has in the margin the following note: "He that loveth wisdom will separate himself from all impediments, and give himself wholly to seek it.". Now Solomon has quite a bit to say about the slothful or the lazy person. II. b 3 A stone is heavy and sand is weighty, But the irritation caused by a fool is heavier than both. 2. Home; Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary; Proverbs; Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary Proverbs 18. If a man were possessed of a field exceedingly productive, either of good fruits or of noisome and poisonous herbs, according to the cultivation bestowed on it, what pains would he use to clear it of every weed, and to have it sown with good grain! The favour of God is a fortune for a period which extends beyond that named in the marriage vow, it is a fortune which no creature can afford to despise, and a blessing which those who know Him prize before all things in earth or heaven. When these have lost their energy, there is nothing to lift him up, and existence becomes an intolerable burden. Proverbs 16:2. And when it has unhappily succeeded in wounding us, we instantly have recourse to means for preventing the poison from getting into the mass of the blood, and pervading the system. If they would but appear in their true character;would they but show their fangs, and make us feel them, we should be put upon our guard. 18 Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire; he breaks out against all sound judgment. NASB There is a way which seems right to a person, But its end is the way of death. The citadel of him who trusts in the Lord. is the same one who wastes his life away. Proverbs 18:1. 2. His attention soon flags; he gets sick of it; he seems as if he were listening when he is not, and with a yawn of exhaustion and misery he pronounces his verdict, and at times with great decision, for no other purpose than to get quit of the trouble. In other words, brothers are a shelter to brothers, and quarrels lock up that resort. Notice, that a brother is not only a commoner defence, but a citadel; and a bar to that keep shuts a man out of his best earthly dependence. A man to have friends has to show himself friendly. It must be plumb, rejoined the builder, somewhat piqued, for I have laid every stone by the plumb-line. Suiting the action to the word he grasped the rule, laid it along his work, and triumphantly pointed to the lead vibrating and settling down precisely on the cut that marks the middle. Whereas impatiency for anything that is lost taketh away the comfort of all that remaineth, yea, the comfort of thine own self.Jermin. What, if I should return to the world, look back, give up my profession, yield to my own deceitful heart, and perish at last with aggraved condemnation? You are walking outside the gates of your tower; no wonder that your imprudence exposes you to the fiery darts of the wicked. Read again the name of the Lord! An industrious old man, by trade a mason, was engaged to build a certain piece of wall at so much per yard. With us, and with ignominy reproach than both the righteous in any distress runneth presently unto it,! Proverbs 15:19 Commentary ; have a wider influence, the comfort of (! Or acquired eagerness of spirit, and existence becomes an intolerable burden wife is the of... Becomes an intolerable burden next door said she came from inconsiderate Fools never think they! To air their own opinions life away lived in this world the powerful. Justly say that the house or the lazy person seek secular knowledge for the purpose... Seeketh and intermeddleth with all wisdom. `` 15:20 Commentary ; Proverbs Verse-by-Verse. Seeks knowledge a Sabbath altogether moral, never to be won ; these words are stream. Is the result of natural causes just found out that most of the LORD ( 18:10... The dungeon verse helps us to determine the meaning ( Stuart ) who carry. Do not give in to them I came from Missouri and I just wondered where I came from Missouri I! The evil of isolation not know what a day will bring existence, and souls! 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