Proverbs 24

Notes

Ver. 1. Never envy the prosperity of wicked men, nor desire any intimacy or connection with them. 2. For they contrive and labour to ruin others that themselves may become rich and great; and by lies, calumnies, and the like, they labour to undo them: but such conduct will at last bring destruction upon their own head. 3-6. True godliness, attended with prudence and diligence, is the proper method to procure estates, raise families, get wealth, strength, or victory. 7. Solid knowledge, and serious and sensible discourse, are above the reach of foolish inconsiderate persons; nor can they judge or advise to any purpose in public concerns. 8. The more art and contrivance there is in doing evil, the more malignity is there in it: and the doer ought to be held as ignominious and detestable. 9. The inclination to and contrivance of evil is sin; but he that makes a sport of sin, and contemns reproofs for it, ought to be abhorred by every person. 10. To give up all for lost, and be discouraged from duty, in the time of distress, is a great evidence of weakness in knowledge, wisdom, courage, and grace. 11, 12. If, pretending that thou didst not know their case or how to relieve them, thou neglectest to exert thyself for the deliverance of persons who, by hatred, envy, or false accusations, are in danger of losing their life, remember that God, who knows all the secrets of thy heart, who preserves thy soul in life, and observes all the motions of it, will severely punish thee, and give thee up to similar distress. 13, 14. As the most delightful satisfaction and nourishment are found in eating of honey, especially that pure part of it which drops from the comb, so shall solid and spiritual wisdom and knowledge be pleasant and profitable to thy soul, issuing? in abundant present and eternal happiness, answerable to and even far exceeding thy most enlarged expectations. 15, 16. To attempt by craft or violence to ruin the righteous, even under their affliction, is as vain as it is malicious: for though they may frequently fall into sin, when they repent the Lord again raises them up: but wicked men, refusing to repent of sin, are plunged into irretrievable ruin. 17, 18. Never rejoice, no, not in heart, when any private enemy of thine falls into sin or trouble, lest the Lord be thereby provoked to deliver him, and plunge thee into the miserable condition from which he is recovered. 19, 20. Never envy the prosperity of wicked men, nor be enticed to follow their impieties on account of it; for whatever may be their appearance, they can have no real happiness here, nor anything but eternal misery hereafter: and often their blaze of outward prosperity is quickly extinguished, and either they or their seed reduced to wretchedness even in this life. 21, 22. Always reverence, worship, and obey God as thy own God in Christ; and be humbly obedient to magistrates, as his deputies on earth. Never have anything to do with those who appear fond of novelties, either in religion or in civil government; for unexpected and inconceivably dreadful calamities shall unavoidably and violently seize upon such, and upon their associates. 23. If thou wouldest be and appear wise, abhor it as a thing extremely sinful and ruinous, to regard persons in judgment on account of anything else but the merits of their cause. 24. Whoever, contrary to evidence, pronounces a wicked man innocent, or a bad cause to be good, exposes himself to the curses and detestation of men, and the fearful judgment of God. 25. But they who labour earnestly to check vice by the just punishment of evil-doers, shall have satisfaction in their own mind, and shall be remarkably blessed of God, and prayed for and commended by men. 26. Every person will highly honour and dearly love him who speaks the plain, naked, edifying, and seasonable truth, whether as a judge, a witness, or private person. 27. Never undertake or begin any weighty affair without deliberate thought and sufficient preparation. 28. Never rashly or groundlessly affirm or insinuate anything to the hurt of thy neighbour's character: and never entice any one to believe or say ill of him. 29. Never, either in heart, word, or deed, revenge the injuries done to thee. 30-34. And from the misery and want which others have brought upon themselves, by their negligence, sloth, or misspending of time, learn earnestly to avoid these things, as ruinous to thy outward estate, as well as to the spiritual and eternal happiness of thy soul.

Ver. 14. The knowledge of wisdom—the knowledge of Christ, 'the power of God, and the wisdom of God,' revealed to Old Testament saints in prophecies and types, not so clearly to the Jewish, but yet as certainly, as to the Christian church. C.

Ver. 16. A just man falleth seven times, &c. He falleth six times into trouble, sorrow, disappointments, and various calamities in worldly labours and affairs, arising sometimes from his own mistake or oversights, sometimes from others; a seventh time into religious afflictions (for such is the ordinary import of the seventh, as derived from the Sabbath), and these fallings may include mental anguish for himself, his friends, yea, his enemies, or the church—or they may include persecutions for the sake of truth and righteousness. Still he shall rise again, being helped of God, who will graciously perfect strength in his creature's weakness. C.

Ver. 26. Either he that giveth a right answer to a judge, whereby truth and justice are settled; or a right answer to an inquirer, whereby knowledge is extended; or a right answer to a caviller and false accuser, whereby iniquity is exposed, and innocence and right protected. C.

Ver. 30-32. I went by the field of the slothful . . . and received instruction. 'There is no darkness, nor shadow of death, where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves,' Job 34. 22. Do as they may, they are detected even by the eye of man. Thorns, nettles, and broken walls whisper the story of their owner's indolence, and point out the invisible spectre, poverty, as he advances in the guise of a hungry traveller, and discover the gleaming of those resistless arms with which he will soon destroy. his thoughtless and self-devoted victim. C.