Chapter 21:
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Introduction 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 Psalms Ecclesiastes
Proverbs 21
Complete Concise
Verse 1
Note, 1. Even the
hearts of men are in God's hand, and
not only their
goings, as he had said, ch. 20:24. God can change men's
minds, can, by a powerful insensible operation under their spirits, turn them
from that which they seemed most intent upon, and incline them to that which
they seemed most averse to, as the husbandman, by canals and gutters, turns the
water through his grounds as he pleases, which does not alter the nature of the
water, nor put any force upon it, any more than God's providence does upon the
native freedom of man's will, but directs the course of it to serve his own
purpose. 2. Even kings' hearts are so, notwithstanding their powers and
prerogatives, as much as the hearts of common persons. The
hearts of kings
are unsearchable to us, much more unmanageable by us; as they have their
arcana
imperii
state secrets, so that they have great prerogatives of
their crown; but the great God has them not only under his eye, but in his hand.
Kings are what he makes them. Those that are most absolute are under God's
government; he
puts things into their hearts, Rev. 17:17; Ezra 7:27.
Verse 2
Note, 1. We are all apt to be partial in judging of ourselves
and our own actions, and to think too favourably of our own character, as if
there was nothing amiss in it:
Every way of a man, even his by-way,
is
right in his own eyes. The proud heart is very ingenious in putting a fair
face upon a foul matter, and in making that appear right to itself which is far
from being so, to stop the mouth of conscience. 2. We are sure that the judgment
of God concerning us is according to truth. Whatever our judgment is concerning
ourselves,
the Lord ponders the heart. God looks at the heart, and judges
of men according to that, of their actions according to their principles and
intentions; and his judgment of that is as exact as ours is of that which we
ponder most, and more so; he weighs it in an unerring balance, ch. 16:2.
Verse 3
Here, 1. It is implied that many deceive themselves with a
conceit that, if they offer sacrifice, that will excuse them from doing justice,
and procure them a dispensation for their unrighteousness; and this makes their
way
seem right, v. 2.
We have fasted, Isa. 58:3.
I have
peace-offerings with me, Prov. 7:14. 2. It is plainly declared that living a
good life (doing justly and loving mercy) is more pleasing to God than the most
pompous and expensive instances of devotion. Sacrifices were of divine
institution, and were acceptable to God if they were offered in faith and with
repentance, otherwise not, Is. 1:11, etc. But even then moral duties were
preferred before them (1 Sa. 15:22), which intimates that their excellency was
not innate nor the obligation to them perpetual, Mic. 6:6- 8. Much of religion
lies in doing judgment and justice from a principle of duty to God, contempt of
the world, and love to our neighbour; and this is more pleasing to God than all
burnt-offerings and sacrifices, Mk. 12:33.
Verse 4
This may be taken as showing us, 1. The marks of a wicked man.
He that has a
high look and a proud heart, that carries himself
insolently and scornfully towards both God and man, and that is always ploughing
and plotting, designing and devising some mischief or other, is indeed a wicked
man.
The light of the wicked is sin. Sin is
the pride, the ambition,
the glory and joy, and
the business of wicked men. 2. The miseries of
wicked man. His raised expectations, his high designs, and most elaborate
contrivances and projects, are sin to him; he contracts guilt in them and so
prepares trouble for himself. The very business of all wicked men, as well as
their pleasure, is nothing but sin; so Bishop Patrick. They do all to serve
their lusts, and have no regard to the glory of God in it, and therefore
their
ploughing is sin, and no marvel when their sacrificing is so, ch. 15:8.
Verse 5
Here is, 1. The way to be rich. If we would live plentifully and
comfortably in the world, we must be diligent in our business, and not shrink
from the toil and trouble of it, but prosecute it closely, improving all
advantages and opportunities for it, and doing what we do with all our might;
yet we must not be hasty in it, nor hurry ourselves and others with it, but keep
doing fair and softly, which, we say, goes far in a day. With diligence there
must be contrivance. The
thoughts of the diligent are as necessary as the
hand of the diligent. Forecast is as good as work. Seest thou a man thus prudent
and diligent? He will have enough to live on. 2. The way to be poor. Those that
are hasty, that are rash and inconsiderate in their affairs, and will not take
time to think, that are greedy of gain, by right or wrong, and make haste to be
rich by unjust practices or unwise projects, are in the ready road to poverty.
Their thoughts and contrivances, by which they hope to raise themselves, will
ruin them.
Verse 6
This shows the folly of those that hope to enrich themselves by
dishonest practices, by oppressing and over-reaching those with whom they deal,
by false-witness-bearing, or by fraudulent contracts, of those that make no
scruples of lying when there is any thing to be got by it. They may perhaps heap
up treasures by these means, that which they make their treasure; but, 1. They
will not meet with the satisfaction they expect. It is a
vanity tossed to and
fro; it will be disappointment and vexation of spirit to them; they will not
have the comfort of it, nor can they put any confidence in it, but will be
perpetually uneasy. It will be
tossed to and fro by their own
consciences, and by the censures of men; let them expect to be in a constant
hurry. 2. They will meet with destruction they do not expect. While they are
seeking wealth by such unlawful practices they are really seeking death; they
lay themselves open to the envy and ill-will of men by the treasures they get,
and to the wrath and curse of God, by the lying tongue wherewith they get them,
which he will make to fall upon themselves and sink them to hell.
Verse 7
See here, 1. The nature of injustice. Getting money by lying (v.
6) is no better than downright robbery. Cheating is stealing; you might as well
pick a man's pocket as impose upon him by a lie in making a bargain, which he
had no fence against but by not believing you; and it will be no excuse from the
guilt of robbery to say that he might choose whether he would believe you, for
that is a debt we should owe to all men. 2. The cause of injustice. Men
refuse
to do judgment; they will not render to all their due, but withhold it, and
omissions make way for commissions; they come at length to robbery itself. Those
that refuse to do justice will choose to do wrong. 3. The effects of injustice;
it will return upon the sinner's own head. The robbery of the wicked will
terrify
them (so some); their consciences will be filled with horror and amazement,
will cut them, will
saw them asunder (so others); it will
destroy them
here and for ever, therefore he had said (v. 6),
They seek death.
Verse 8
This shows that as men are so is their way. 1. Evil men have
evil ways. If the man be
froward, his way also is
strange; and
this is the way of most men, such is the general corruption of mankind.
They
have all gone aside (Ps. 14:2, 3); all flesh have perverted their way. But
the froward man, the man of deceit, that acts by craft and trick in all he does,
his way is strange, contrary to all the rules of honour and honesty. It is
strange, for you know not where to find him nor when you have him; it is
strange, for it is alienated from all good and estranges men from God and his
favour. It is what he behold afar off, and so do all honest men. 2. Men that are
pure are proved to be such by their work, for it
is right, it is just and
regular; and they are accepted of God and approved of men. The way of mankind in
their apostasy is froward and strange; but as for the pure, those that by the
grace of God are recovered out of that state, of which there is here and there
one,
their work is right, as Noah's was in the old world, Gen. 7:1.
Verse 9
See here, 1. What a great affliction it is to a man to have a
brawling scolding woman for his wife, who upon every occasion, and often upon no
occasion, breaks out into a passion, and chides either him or those about her,
is fretful to herself and furious to her children and servants, and, in both,
vexatious to her husband. If a man has a wide house, spacious and pompous, this
will embitter the comfort of it to him
a house of society (so the word
is), in which a man may be sociable, and entertain his friends; this will make
both him and his house unsociable, and unfit for enjoyments of true friendship.
It makes a man ashamed of his choice and his management, and disturbs his
company. 2. What many a man is forced to do under such an affliction. He cannot
keep up his authority. He finds it to no purpose to contradict the most
unreasonable passion, for it is unruly and rages so much the more; and his
wisdom and grace will not suffer him to render railing for railing, nor his
conjugal affection to use any severity, and therefore he finds it his best way
to retire
into a corner of the house-top, and sit alone there, out of the
hearing of her clamour; and if he employ himself well there, as he may do, it is
the wisest course he can take. Better do so than quit the house, and go into bad
company, for diversion, as many, who, like Adam, make their wife's sin the
excuse of their own.
Verse 10
See here the character of a very wicked man. 1. The strong
inclination he has to do mischief. His very
soul desires evil, desires
that evil may be done and that he may have the pleasure, not only of seeing it,
but of having a hand in it. The root of wickedness lies in the soul; the desire
that men have to do evil, that is the lust which conceives and brings forth sin.
2. The strong aversion he has to do good:
His neighbour, his friend, his
nearest relation,
finds no favour in his eyes, cannot gain from him the
least kindness, though he be in the greatest need of it. And, when he is in the
pursuit of the evil his heart is so much upon, he will spare no man that stands
in his way; his next neighbour shall be used no better than a stranger, than an
enemy.
Verse 11
This we had before (ch. 19:25), and it shows that there are two
ways by which the simple may be made wise:-1. By the punishments that are
inflicted on those that are incorrigibly wicked. Let the law be executed upon a
scorner, and even he that is simple will be awakened and alarmed by it, and will
discern, more than he did, the evil of sin, and will take warning by it and take
heed. 2. By the instructions that are given to those that are wise and willing
to be taught:
When the wise is instructed by the preaching of the word
he
(not only the wise himself, but the simple that stands by)
receives
knowledge. It is no injustice at all to take a good lesson to ourselves
which was designed for another.
Verse 12
1. As we read this verse, it shows why good men, when they come
to understand things aright, will not envy the prosperity of evil-doers. When
they see
the house of the wicked, how full it is perhaps of all the good
things of this life, they are tempted to envy; but when they
wisely consider
it, when they look upon it with an eye of faith, when they see
God
overthrowing the wicked for their wickedness, that there is a curse upon
their habitation which will certainly be the ruin of it ere long, they see more
reason to despise them, or pity them, than to fear or envy them. 2. Some give
another sense of it:
The righteous man (the judge or magistrate, that is
entrusted with the execution of justice, and the preservation of public peace)
examines
the house of the wicked, searches it for arms or for stolen goods, makes a
diligent enquiry concerning his family and the characters of those about him,
that he may by his power
overthrow the wicked for their wickedness and
prevent their doing any further mischief, that he may fire the nests where the
birds of prey are harboured or the unclean birds.
Verse 13
Here we have the description and doom of an uncharitable man. 1.
His description: He
stops his ears at the cry of the poor, at the cry of
their wants and miseries (he resolves to take no cognizance of them), at the cry
of their requests and supplicationshe resolves he will not so much as give
them the hearing, turns them away from his door, and forbids them to come near
him, or, if he cannot avoid hearing them, he will not need them, nor be moved by
their complaints, no be prevailed with by their importunities; he
shuts up
the bowels of his compassion, and that is equivalent to the stopping of his
ears, Acts 7:57. 2. His doom. He shall himself be reduced to straits, which will
make him
cry, and then
he shall not be heard. Men will not hear
him, but reward him as he has rewarded others. God will not hear him; for he
that
showed no mercy shall have judgment without mercy (Jam. 2:13), and
he that on earth denied a crumb of bread in hell was denied a drop of water. God
will be deaf to the prayers of those who are deaf to the cries of the poor,
which, if they be not heard by us, will be heard against us, Ex. 22:23.
Verse 14
Here is, 1. The power that is commonly found to be in gifts.
Nothing is more violent than
anger. O the force of
strong wrath!
And yet a handsome present, prudently managed, will turn away some men's wrath
when it seemed implacable, and disarm the keenest and most passionate
resentments. Covetousness is commonly a master-sin and has the command of other
lusts.
Pecuniae obediunt omnia
Money commands all things. Thus
Jacob pacified Esau and Abigail David. 2. The policy that is commonly used in
giving and receiving bribes. It must be a
gift in secret and a reward in the
bosom, for he that takes it would not be thought to covet it, nor known to
receive it, nor would he willingly be beholden to him whom he has been offended
with; but, if it be done privately, all is well. No man should be too open in
giving any gift, nor boast of the presents he sends; but, if it be a bribe to
pervert justice, that is so scandalous that those who are fond of it are ashamed
of it.
Verse 15
Note, 1. It is a pleasure and satisfaction to good men both to
see justice administered by the government they live under, right taking place
and iniquity suppressed, and also to practise it themselves, according as their
sphere is. They no only do justice, but do it with pleasure, not only for fear
of shame, but for love of virtue. 2. It is a terror to wicked men to see the
laws put in execution against vice and profaneness. It is destruction to them;
as it is also a vexation to them to be forced, either for the support of their
credit or for fear of punishment,
to do judgment themselves. Or, if we
take it as we read it, the meaning is, There is true pleasure in the practice of
religion, but certain destruction at the end of all vicious courses.
Verse 16
Here is, 1. The sinner upon his ramble: He
wanders out of the
way of understanding, and when once he has left that good way he wanders
endlessly. The way of religion is
the way of understanding; those that
are not truly pious are not truly intelligent; those
that wander out of this
way break the hedge which God has set, and follow the conduct of the world
and the flesh; and they go astray like lost sheep. 2. The sinner at his rest, or
rather his ruin: He
shall remain (
quiescet
he shall rest,
but not
in pace
in peace)
in the congregation of the giants,
the sinners of the old world, that were swept away by the deluge; to that
destruction the damnation of sinners is compared, as sometimes to the
destruction of Sodom, when they are said to have their portion in fire and
brimstone. Or
in the congregation of the damned, that are under the power
of the second death. There is a vast congregation of damned sinners, bound in
bundles for the fire, and in that those shall remain, remain for ever, who are
shut out from the congregation of the righteous. He that forsakes the way to
heaven, if he return not to it, will certainly sink into the depths of hell.
Verse 17
Here is an argument against a voluptuous luxurious life, taken
from the ruin it brings upon men's temporal interests. Here is 1. The
description of an epicure:
He loves pleasure. God allows us to use the
delights of sense soberly and temperately,
wine to make glad the heart
and put vigour into the spirits, and
oil to make the face to shine and
beautify the countenance; but he that loves these, that sets his heart upon
them, covets them earnestly, is solicitous to have all the delights of sense
wound up to the height of pleasurableness, is impatient of every thing that
crosses him in his pleasures, relishes these as the best pleasures, and has his
mouth by them put out of taste for spiritual delights, he is an epicure, 2 Tim.
3:4. 2. The punishment of an epicure in this world:
He shall be a poor man;
for the lusts of sensuality are not maintained but at great expense, and there
are instances of those who want necessaries, and live upon alms, who once could
not live without dainties and varieties. Many a beau becomes a beggar.
Verse 18
This intimates, 1. What should be done by the justice of men:
The
wicked, that are the troublers of a land, ought to be punished, for the
preventing and turning away of those national judgments which otherwise will be
inflicted and in which even the righteous are many times involved. Thus when
Achan was stoned he was
a ransom for the camp of
righteous Israel;
and the seven sons of Saul, when they were hanged, were
a ransom for the
kingdom of
righteous David. 2. What is often done by the providence of
God:
The righteous is delivered out of trouble, and the wicked comes in his
stead, and so seems as if he were
a ransom for him, ch. 11:8. God
will rather leave many wicked people to be cut off than abandon his own people.
I
will give men for thee, Isa. 43:3, 4.
Verse 19
Note, 1. Unbridled passions embitter and spoil the comfort of
all relations. A peevish angry wife makes her husband's life uneasy, to whom
she should be a comfort and a meet help. Those cannot dwell in peace and
happiness that cannot dwell in peace and love. Even those that are one flesh, if
they be not withal one spirit, have no joy of their union. 2. It is better to
have no company than bad company. The wife of thy covenant is thy companion, and
yet, if she be peevish and provoking,
it is better to dwell in a solitary
wilderness, exposed to wind and weather, than in company with her. A man
may better enjoy God and himself in a wilderness than among quarrelsome
relations and neighbours. See v. 9.
Verse 20
Note, 1. Those that are wise will increase what they have and
live plentifully; their wisdom will teach them to proportion their expenses to
their income and to lay up for hereafter; so that
there is a treasure of
things
to be desired, and as much as needs be desired, a good stock of
all things convenient, laid up in season, and particularly of
oil, one of
the staple commodities of Canaan, Deu. 8:8. This is
in the habitation, or
cottage,
of the wise; and it is better to have an old-fashioned house,
and have it well furnished, than a fine modern one, with sorry housekeeping. God
blesses the endeavors of the wise and then their houses are replenished. 2.
Those that are foolish will misspend what they have upon their lusts, and so
bring the stock they have to nothing. Those manage wretchedly that are in haste
to spend what they had, but not in care which way to get more. Foolish children
spend what their wise parents have laid up.
One sinner destroys much good,
as the prodigal son.
Verse 21
See here, 1. What it is to make religion our business; it is to
follow
after righteousness and mercy, not to content ourselves with easy
performances, but to do our duty with the utmost care and pains, as those that
are pressing forward and in fear of coming short. We must both do justly and
love mercy, and must proceed and persevere therein; and, though we cannot attain
to perfection, yet it will be a comfort to us if we aim at it and follow after
it. 2. What will be the advantage of doing so: Those that do
follow after
righteousness shall
find righteousness; God will give them grace to
do good, and they shall have the pleasure and comfort of doing it; those that
make conscience of being just to others shall have the pleasure and comfort of
doing it; those that make conscience of being just to others shall be justly
dealt with by others and others shall be kind to them. The Jews
followed
after righteousness, and did not find it, because they sought amiss, Rom.
9:31. Otherwise,
Seek and you shall find, and with it shall find both
life
and honour, everlasting life and honour, the
crown of righteousness.
Verse 22
Note, 1. Those that have power are apt to promise themselves
great things from their power.
The city of the mighty thinks itself
impregnable, and therefore its strength is
the confidence thereof, what
it boasts of and trust in, bidding defiance to danger. 2. Those that have
wisdom, though they are so modest as not to promise much, often perform great
things, even against those that are so confident of their strength, by their
wisdom. Good conduct will go far even against great force; and a stratagem, well
managed, may effectually
scale the city of the mighty and cast down the
strength it had such a confidence in.
A wise man will gain upon the
affections of people and conquer them by strength of reason, which is a more
noble conquest than that obtained by strength of arms. Those that understand
their interest will willingly submit themselves to a wise and good man, and the
strongest walls shall not hold out against him.
Verse 23
Note, 1. It is our great concern to keep our souls from straits,
being entangled in snares and perplexities, and disquieted with troubles, that
we may preserve the possession and enjoyment of ourselves and that our souls may
be in frame for the service of God. 2. Those that would keep their souls must
keep a watch before the door of their lips, must
keep the mouth by
temperance, that no forbidden fruit go into it, no stolen waters, that nothing
be eaten or drunk to excess; they must
keep the tongue also, that no
forbidden word go out of the door of the lips, no corrupt communication. By a
constant watchfulness over our words we shall prevent abundance of mischiefs
which an ungoverned tongue runs men into. Keep thy heart, and that will keep thy
tongue from sin; keep thy tongue, and that will keep thy heart from trouble.
Verse 24
See here the mischief of pride and haughtiness. 1. It exposes
men to sin; it makes them passionate, and kindles in them the fire of
proud
wrath. They are continually dealing in it, as if it were their trade to be
angry, and they had nothing so much to do as to barter passions and exchange
bitter words. Most of the wrath that inflames the spirits and societies of men
is
proud wrath. Men cannot bear the least slight, nor in any thing to be
crossed or contradicted, but they are out of humour, nay, in a heat,
immediately. It likewise makes them scornful when they are angry, very abusive
with their tongues, insolent towards those above them and imperious towards all
about them.
Only by pride comes all this. 2. It exposes men to shame.
They get a bad name by it, and every one calls them
proud and haughty
scorners, and therefore nobody cares for having any thing to do with them.
If men would but consult their reputation a little and the credit of their
profession, which suffers with it, they would not indulge their pride and
passion as they do.
Verses 25-26
Here we have, 1. The miseries of the slothful, whose
hands
refuse to labour in an honest calling, by which they might get an honest
livelihood. They are as fit for labour as other men, and business offers itself,
to which they might lay their hands and apply their minds, but they will not;
herein they fondly think they do well for themselves, see ch. 26:16.
Soul,
take thy ease. But really they are enemies to themselves; for, besides that
their slothfulness starves them, depriving them of their necessary supports,
their desires at the same time stab them. Though their hands refuse to labour,
their hearts cease not to covet riches, and pleasures, and honours, which yet
cannot be obtained without labour. Their desires are impetuous and insatiable;
they
covet greedily all the day long, and cry,
Give, give; they
expect every body should do for them, though they will do nothing for
themselves, much less for any body else. Now these
desires kill them;
they are a perpetual vexation to them, fret them to death, and perhaps put them
upon such dangerous courses for the satisfying of their craving lusts as hasten
them to an untimely end. Many that must have money with which to make provision
for the flesh, and would not be at the pains to get it honestly, have turned
highwaymen, and that has killed them. Those that are slothful in the affairs of
their souls, and yet have desires towards that which would be the happiness of
their souls, those
desires kill them, will aggravate their condemnation
and be witnesses against them that were convinced of the worth of spiritual
blessings, but refused to be at the pains that were necessary to the obtaining
of them. 2. The honours of the honest and diligent. The righteous and
industrious have their desires satisfied, and enjoy not only that satisfaction,
but the further satisfaction of doing good to others. The slothful are always
craving and gaping to receive,
but the righteous are always full and
contriving to give; and
it is more blessed to give than to receive. They
give
and spare not, give liberally and upbraid not; they
give a portion to
seven and also to eight, and do not spare for fear of wanting.
Verse 27
Sacrifices were of divine institution; and when they were
offered in faith, and with repentance and reformation, God was greatly honoured
by them and well-pleased in them. But they were often not only unacceptable, but
an
abomination, to God, and he declared so, which was an indication both
that they were not required for their own sakes and that there were better
things, and for effectual, in reserve, when sacrifice and offering should be
done away. They were an
abomination, 1. When they were brought by wicked
men, who did not, according to the true intent and meaning of sacrificing,
repent of their sins, mortify their lusts, and amend their lives. Cain brought
his offering. Even wicked men may be found in the external performances of
religious worship. Many can freely give God their beasts, their lips, their
knees, who would not give him their hearts; the Pharisees gave alms. But when
the person is an
abomination, as every wicked man is to God, the
performance cannot but be so;
even when he brings it diligently; so some
read the latter part of the verse. Though their offerings are continually before
God (Ps. 50:8), yet they are an abomination to him. 2.
Much more when
they were brought with
wicked minds, when their sacrifices were made, not
only consistent with, but serviceable to, their wickedness, as Absalom's vow,
Jezebel's fast, and the Pharisees' long prayers. When men make a show of
devotion, that they may the more easily and effectually compass some covetous or
malicious design, when holiness is pretended, but some wickedness intended, then
especially the performance is an abomination, Isa. 66:5.
Verse 28
Here is, 1. The doom of
a false witness. He who, for
favour to one side or malice to the other, gives in a false evidence, or makes
an affidavit of that which he knows to be false, or at least does not know to be
true, if it be discovered, his reputation will be ruined. A man may tell a lie
perhaps in his haste; but he that gives a false testimony does it with
deliberation and solemnity, and it cannot but be a presumptuous sin, and a
forfeiture of man's credit. But, though he should not be discovered, he
himself shall be ruined; the vengeance he imprecated upon himself, when he took
the false oath, will come upon him. 2. The praise of him that is conscientious:
He
who hears (that is, obeys) the command of God, which is to
speak
every man truth with his neighbour, he who testifies nothing but what he has
heard and knows to be true,
speaks constantly (that is, consistently with
himself); he is always in the same story; he speaks
in finem
to the
end; people will give credit to him and hear him out; he speaks unto
victory; he carries the cause, which the
false witness shall lose; he
shall speak to eternity. What is true is true eternally.
The lip of truth is
established for ever.
Verse 29
Here is, 1. The presumption and impudence of a wicked man: He
hardens
his facebrazens it, that he may not blushsteels it, that he may not
tremble when he commits the greatest crimes; he bids defiance to the terrors of
the law and the checks of his own conscience, the reproofs of the word and the
rebukes of Providence; he will have his way and nothing shall hinder him, Isa.
57:17. 2. The caution and circumspection of a good man:
As for the upright,
he does not say, What
would I do? What have I a mind to? and that will I
have; but, What
should I do? What does God require of me? What is duty?
What is prudence? What is for edification? And so he does not force his way, but
direct his way by a safe and certain rule.
Verses 30-31
The designing busy part of mankind are directed, in all their
counsels and undertakings, to have their eye to God, and to believe, 1. That
there can be no success against God, and therefore they must never act in
opposition to him, in contempt of his commands, or in contradiction to his
counsels. Though they think they have
wisdom, and
understanding,
and
counsel, the best politics and politicians, on their side, yet, if it
be
against the Lord, it cannot prosper long; it shall not prevail at
last. He that sits in heaven laughs at men's projects against him and his
anointed, and will carry his point in spite of them, Ps. 2:1- 6. Those that
fight against God are preparing shame and ruin for themselves; whoever
make
war with the Lamb, he will certainly
overcome them, Rev. 17:14. 2.
That there can be no success without God, and therefore they must never act but
in dependence on him. Be the cause ever so good, and the patrons of it ever so
strong, and wise, and faithful, and the means of carrying it on, and gaining the
point, ever so probable, still they must acknowledge God and take him along with
them. Means indeed are to be used;
the horse must be
prepared against
the day of battle, and the foot too; they must be armed and disciplined. In
Solomon's time even Israel's kings used horses in war, though they were
forbidden to multiply them.
But, after all,
safety and salvation
are
of the Lord; he can save without armies, but armies cannot save without him;
and therefore he must be sought to and trusted in for success, and when success
is obtained he must have all the glory. When we are preparing for
the day of
battle our great concern must be to make God our friend and secure his
favour.
Chapter 21:
| Darby
| Geneva
| Gill
| Jamieson Faussett Brown
| Matthew Henry
| Matthew Henry Concise
| Wesley
| Index
| Bible Gateway |
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