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Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
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Matthew Henry |
P R O V E R B S
CHAP. XXVII.
| Miscellaneous Maxims. | |
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1 Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a
day may bring forth.
Here is,
1. A good caution against presuming upon time to come: Boast not
thyself, no, not of to-morrow, much less of many days or
years to come. This does not forbid preparing for to-morrow, but
presuming upon to-morrow. We must not promise ourselves the continuance
of our lives and comforts till to-morrow, but speak of it with
submission to the will of God and as those who with good reason are
kept at uncertainty about it. We must not take thought for the
morrow
(Matt. vi. 34),
but we must cast our care concerning it upon God. See
We must not put off the great work of conversion, that one thing
needful, till to-morrow, as if we were sure of it, but to-day, while
it is called to-day, hear God’s voice.
2. A good consideration, upon which this caution is grounded: We
know not what a day may bring forth, what event may be in the
teeming womb, of time; it is a secret till it is born,
A little time may produce considerable changes, and such as we little
think of. We know not what the present day may bring
forth; the evening must commend it. Nescis quid serus vesper
vehat–Thou knowest not what the close of evening may bring with
it. God has wisely kept us in the dark concerning future events,
and reserved to himself the knowledge of them, as a flower of the
crown, that he may train us up in a dependence upon himself and a
continued readiness for every event,
2 Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth; a
stranger, and not thine own lips.
Note,
1. We must do that which is commendable, for which even strangers may
praise us. Our light must shine before men, and we must
do good works that may be seen, though we must not do them on purpose
that they may be seen. Let our own works be such as will praise us,
even in the gates,
Phil. iv. 8.
2. When we have done it we must not commend ourselves, for that is an
evidence of pride, folly, and self-love, and a great lessening to a
man’s reputation. Every one will be forward to run him down that cries
himself up. There may be a just occasion for us to vindicate ourselves,
but it does not become us to applaud ourselves. Proprio laus sordet
in ore–Self-praise defiles the mouth.
3 A stone is heavy, and the sand weighty; but a fool’s wrath
is heavier than them both.
4 Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous; but who is
able to stand before envy?
These two verses show the intolerable mischief,
1. Of ungoverned passion. The wrath of a fool, who when he is provoked
cares not what he says and does, is more grievous than a great stone or
a load of sand. It lies heavily upon himself. Those who have no
command of their passions do themselves even sink under the load of
them. The wrath of a fool lies heavily upon those he is enraged at, to
whom, in his fury, he will be in danger of doing some mischief. It is
therefore our wisdom not to give provocation to a fool, but, if he be
in a passion, to get out of his way.
2. Of rooted malice, which is as much worse than the former as coals of
juniper are worse than a fire of thorns. Wrath (it is true)
is cruel, and does many a barbarous thing, and anger is
outrageous; but a secret enmity at the person of another, an envy
at his prosperity, and a desire of revenge for some injury or affront,
are much more mischievous. One may avoid a sudden heat, as David
escaped Saul’s javelin, but when it grows, as Saul’s did, to a settled
envy, there is no standing before it; it will pursue; it will
overtake. He that grieves at the good of another will be still
contriving to do him hurt, and will keep his anger for ever.
5 Open rebuke is better than secret love.
6 Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an
enemy are deceitful.
Note,
1. It is good for us to be reproved, and told of our faults, by our
friends. If true love in the heart has but zeal and courage enough to
show itself in dealing plainly with our friends, and reproving them for
what they say and do amiss, this is really better, not only than
secret hatred (as
but than secret love, that love to our neighbours which does not
show itself in this good fruit, which compliments them in their sins,
to the prejudice of their souls. Faithful are the reproofs of a
friend, though for the present they are painful as wounds.
It is a sign that our friends are faithful indeed if, in love to our
souls, they will not suffer sin upon us, nor let us alone in it. The
physician’s care is to cure the patient’s disease, not to please his
palate.
2. It is dangerous to be caressed and flattered by an enemy,
whose kisses are deceitful We can take no pleasure in them
because we can put no confidence in them (Joab’s kiss and Judas’s were
deceitful), and therefore we have need to stand upon our guard, that we
be not deluded by them; they are to be deprecated. Some read it: The
Lord deliver us from an enemy’s kisses, from lying lips, and from a
deceitful tongue.
7 The full soul loatheth an honeycomb; but to the hungry soul
every bitter thing is sweet.
Solomon here, as often in this book, shows that the poor have in some
respects the advantage of the rich; for,
1. They have a better relish of their enjoyments than the rich have.
Hunger is the best sauce. Coarse fare, with a good appetite to it has
a sensible pleasantness in it, which those are strangers to whose
hearts are overcharged with surfeiting. Those that fare
sumptuously every day nauseate even delicate food, as the Israelites
did the quails; whereas those that have no more than their necessary
food, though it be such as the full soul would call
bitter, to them it is sweet; they eat it with pleasure,
digest it, and are refreshed by it.
2. They are more thankful for their enjoyments: The hungry will
bless God for bread and water, while those that are full think
the greatest dainties and varieties scarcely worth giving thanks for.
The virgin Mary seems to refer to this when she says
(Luke i. 53),
The hungry, who know how to value God’s blessings, are filled
with good things, but the rich, who despise them, are justly
sent empty away.
8 As a bird that wandereth from her nest, so is a man that
wandereth from his place.
Note,
1. There are many that do not know when they are well off, but are
uneasy with their present condition, and given to change. God, in his
providence, has appointed them a place fit for them and has made it
comfortable to them; but they affect unsettledness; they love to
wander; they are glad of a pretence to go abroad, and do not care for
staying long at a place; they needlessly absent themselves from their
own work and care, and meddle with that which belongs not to them.
2. Those that thus desert the post assigned to them are like a bird
that wanders from her nest. It is an instance of their folly; they
are like a silly bird; they are always wavering, like the wandering
bird that hops from bough to bough and rests nowhere. It is unsafe; the
bird that wanders is exposed; a man’s place is his castle; he that
quits it makes himself an easy prey to the fowler. When the bird
wanders from her nest the eggs and young ones there are neglected.
Those that love to be abroad leave their work at home undone. Let
every man therefore, in the calling wherein he is called, therein
abide, therein abide with God.
9 Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart: so doth the
sweetness of a man’s friend by hearty counsel.
10 Thine own friend, and thy father’s friend, forsake not;
neither go into thy brother’s house in the day of thy calamity:
for better is a neighbour that is near than a brother far
off.
Here is,
1. A charge given to be faithful and constant to our friends, our old
friends, to keep up an intimacy with them, and to be ready to do them
all the offices that lie in our power. It is good to have a friend, a
bosom-friend, whom we can be free with, and with whom we may
communicate counsels. It is not necessary that this friend should be a
relation, or any way akin to us, though it is happiest when, among
those who are so, we find one fit to make a friend of. Peter and Andrew
were brethren, so were James and John; yet Solomon frequently
distinguishes between a friend and a brother. But it is advisable to
choose a friend among our neighbours who live near us, that
acquaintance may be kept up and kindnesses the more frequently
interchanged. It is good also to have a special respect to those who
have been friends to our family: “Thy own friend, especially if
he have been thy father’s friend, forsake not; fail not both to
serve him and to use him, as there is occasion. He is a tried friend;
he knows thy affairs; he has a particular concern for thee; therefore
be advised by him.” It is a duty we owe to our parents, when they are
gone, to love their friends and consult with them. Solomon’s son undid
himself by forsaking the counsel of his father’s friends.
2. A good reason given why we should thus value true friendship and be
choice of it.
(1.) Because of the pleasure of it. There is a great deal of
sweetness in conversing and consulting with a cordial friend. It
is like ointment and perfume, which are very grateful to the
smell, and exhilarate the spirits. It rejoices the heart; the
burden of care is made lighter by unbosoming ourselves to our friend,
and it is a great satisfaction to us to have his sentiments concerning
our affairs. The sweetness of friendship lies not in hearty
mirth, and hearty laughter, but in hearty counsel, faithful
advice, sincerely given and without flattery, by counsel of the
soul (so the word is), counsel which reaches the case, and comes to
the heart, counsel about soul-concerns,
We should reckon that the most pleasant conversation which is about
spiritual things, and promotes the prosperity of the soul.
(2.) Because of the profit and advantage of it, especially in a day
of calamity. We are here advised not to go into a brother’s
house, not to expect relief from a kinsman merely for kindred-sake,
for the obligation of that commonly goes little further than calling
cousin and fails when it comes to the trial of a real kindness, but
rather to apply ourselves to our neighbours, who are at hand, and will
be ready to help us at an exigence. It is wisdom to oblige them by
being neighbourly, and we shall have the benefit of it in distress, by
finding them so to us,
11 My son, be wise, and make my heart glad, that I may answer
him that reproacheth me.
Children are here exhorted to be wise and good,
1. That they may be a comfort to their parents and may make their
hearts glad, even when the evil days come, and so recompense
them for their care,
2. That they may be a credit to them: “That I may answer him that
reproaches me with having been over-strict and severe in bringing
up my children, and having taken a wrong method with them in
restraining them from the liberties which other young people take.
My son, be wise, and then it will appear, in the effect, that I
went the wisest way to work with my children.” Those that have been
blessed with a religious education should in every thing conduct
themselves so as to be a credit to their education and to silence those
who say, A young saint, an old devil; and to prove the contrary,
A young saint, an old angel.
12 A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself;
but the simple pass on, and are punished.
This we had before,
Note,
1. Evil may be foreseen. Where there is temptation, it is easy to
foresee that if we thrust ourselves into it there will be sin, and as
easy to foresee that if we venture upon the evil of sin there will
follow the evil of punishment; and, commonly, God warns before he
wounds, having set watchmen over us,
Jer. vi. 17.
2. It will be well or ill with us according as we do or do not improve
the foresight we have of evil before us: The prudent man, foreseeing
the evil, forecasts accordingly, and hides himself, but the
simple is either so dull that he does not foresee it or so wilful
and slothful that he will take no care to avoid it, and so he passes
on securely and is punished. We do well for ourselves when
we provide for hereafter.
13 Take his garment that is surety for a stranger, and take a
pledge of him for a strange woman.
This also we had before,
1. It shows who those are that are hastening to poverty, those that
have so little consideration as to be bound for every body that will
ask them and those that are given to women. Such as these will take up
money as far as ever their credit will go, but they will certainly
cheat their creditors at last, nay, they are cheating them all along.
An honest man may be made a beggar, but he is not honest that makes
himself one.
2. It advises us to be so discreet in ordering our affairs as not to
lend money to those who are manifestly wasting their estates, unless
they give very good security for it. Foolish lending is injustice to
our families. He does not say, “Get another to be bound with him,” for
he that makes himself a common voucher will have those to be his
security who are as insolvent as himself; therefore take his
garment.
14 He that blesseth his friend with a loud voice, rising early
in the morning, it shall be counted a curse to him.
Note,
1. It is a great folly to be extravagant in praising even the best of
our friends and benefactors. It is our duty to give every one his due
praise, to applaud those who excel in knowledge, virtue, and
usefulness, and to acknowledge the kindnesses we have received with
thankfulness; but to do this with a loud voice, rising early in the
morning, to be always harping on this string, in all companies,
even to our friend’s face, or so as that he may be sure to hear it, to
do it studiously, as we do that which we rise early to, to magnify the
merits of our friend above measure and with hyperboles, is fulsome, and
nauseous, and savours of hypocrisy and design. Praising men for what
they have done is only to get more out of them; and every body
concludes the parasite hopes to be well paid for his panegyric or
epistle dedicatory. We must not give that praise to our friend which is
due to God only, as some think is intimated in rising early to
do it; for in the morning God is to be praised. We must not make
too much haste to praise men (so some understand it), not cry up
men too soon for their abilities and performances, but let them first
be proved; lest they be lifted up with pride, and laid to sleep in
idleness.
2. It is a greater folly to be fond of being ourselves extravagantly
praised. A wise man rather counts it a curse, and a reflection
upon him, not only designed to pick his pocket, but which may really
turn to his prejudice. Modest praises (as a great man observes) invite
such as are present to add to the commendation, but immodest immoderate
praises tempt them to detract rather, and to censure one that they hear
over-commended. And, besides, over-praising a man makes him the object
of envy; every man puts in for a share of reputation, and therefore
reckons himself injured if another monopolize it or have more given him
than his share. And the greatest danger of all is that it is a
temptation to pride; men are apt to think of themselves above what is
meet when others speak of them above what is meet. See how careful
blessed Paul was not to be over-valued,
15 A continual dropping in a very rainy day and a contentious
woman are alike.
16 Whosoever hideth her hideth the wind, and the ointment of
his right hand, which bewrayeth itself.
Here, as before, Solomon laments the case of him that has a peevish
passionate wife, that is continually chiding, and making herself and
all about her uneasy.
1. It is a grievance that there is no avoiding, for it is like a
continual dropping in a very rainy day. The contentions of a
neighbour may be like a sharp shower, troublesome for the time, yet,
while it lasts, one may take shelter; but the contentions of a
wife are like a constant soaking rain, for which there is no remedy
but patience See
2. It is a grievance that there is no concealing. A wise man would hide
it if he could, for the sake both of his own and his wife’s reputation,
but he cannot, any more than he can conceal the noise of the wind when
it blows or the smell of a strong perfume. Those that are froward and
brawling will proclaim their own shame, even when their friends, in
kindness to them, would cover it.
17 Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of
his friend.
This intimates both the pleasure and the advantage of conversation. One
man is nobody; nor will poring upon a book in a corner accomplish a man
as the reading and studying of men will. Wise and profitable discourse
sharpens men’s wits; and those that have ever so much knowledge may by
conference have something added to them. It sharpens men’s looks, and,
by cheering the spirits, puts a briskness and liveliness into the
countenance, and gives a man such an air as shows he is pleased himself
and makes him pleasing to those about him. Good men’s graces are
sharpened by converse with those that are good, and bad men’s lusts and
passions are sharpened by converse with those that are bad, as iron is
sharpened by its like, especially by the file. Men are filed, made
smooth, and bright, and fit for business (who were rough, and dull, and
inactive), by conversation. This is designed,
1. To recommend to us this expedient for sharpening ourselves, but with
a caution to take heed whom we choose to converse with, because the
influence upon us is so great either for the better or for the worse.
2. To direct us what we must have in our eye in conversation, namely to
improve both others and ourselves, not to pass away time or banter one
another, but to provoke one another to love and to good works
and so to make one another wiser and better.
18 Whoso keepeth the fig tree shall eat the fruit thereof: so
he that waiteth on his master shall be honoured.
This is designed to encourage diligence, faithfulness, and constancy,
even in mean employments. Though the calling be laborious and
despicable, yet those who keep to it will find there is something to be
got by it.
1. Let not a poor gardener, who keeps the fig-tree, be
discouraged; though it require constant care and attendance to nurse up
fig-trees, and, when they have grown to maturity, to keep them in good
order, and gather the figs in their season, yet he shall be paid for
his pains: He shall eat the fruit of it,
2. Nay, let not a poor servant think himself incapable of thriving and
being preferred; for if he be diligent in waiting on his master,
observant of him and obedient to him, if he keep his master (so
the word is), if he do all he can for the securing of his person and
reputation and take care that his estate be not wasted or damaged, such
a one shall be honoured, shall not only get a good word, but be
preferred and rewarded. God is a Master who has engaged to put an
honour on those that serve him faithfully,
19 As in water face answereth to face, so the heart of man to
man.
This shows us that there is a way,
1. Of knowing ourselves. As the water is a looking-glass in which we
may see our faces by reflection, so there are mirrors by which the
heart of a man is discovered to a man, that is, to
himself. Let a man examine his own conscience, his thoughts,
affections, and intentions. Let him behold his natural face in the
glass of the divine law
(Jam. i. 23),
and he may discern what kind of man he is and what is his true
character, which it will be of great use to every man rightly to know.
2. Of knowing one another by ourselves; for, as there is a similitude
between the face of a man and the reflection of it in the water, so
there is between one man’s heart and another’s for God has fashioned
men’s hearts alike; and in many cases we may judge of others by
ourselves, which is one of the foundations on which that rule is built
of doing to others as we would be done by,
Nihil est unum uni tam simile, tam par, quam omnes inter nosmet
ipsos sumus. Sui nemo ipse tam similis quam omnes sunt omnium–No one
thing is so like another as man is to man. No person is so like himself
as each person is to all besides. Cic. de Legib. lib.
1. One corrupt heart is like another, and so is one sanctified heart,
for the former bears the same image of the earthy, the latter the same
image of the heavenly.
20 Hell and destruction are never full; so the eyes of man are
never satisfied.
Two things are here said to be insatiable, and they are two things near
of kin–death and sin.
1. Death is insatiable. The first death, the second death, both are so.
The grave is not clogged with the multitude of dead bodies that are
daily thrown into it, but is still an open sepulchre, and cries,
Give, give. Hell also has enlarged itself, and still has room
for the damned spirits that are committed to that prison. Tophet is
deep and large,
Isa. xxx. 33.
2. Sin is insatiable: The eyes of man are never satisfied, nor
the appetites of the carnal mind towards profit or pleasure. The eye
is not satisfied with seeing, nor is he the loves silver
satisfied with silver. Men labour for that which surfeits, but
satisfies not; nay, it is dissatisfying; but satisfies not; nay, it is
dissatisfying; such a perpetual uneasiness have men justly been doomed
to ever since our first parents were not satisfied with all the trees
of Eden, but they must meddle with the forbidden tree. Those whose
eyes are ever toward the Lord in him are satisfied, and shall for ever
be so.
21 As the fining pot for silver, and the furnace for gold; so
is a man to his praise.
This gives us a touchstone by which we may try ourselves. Silver and
gold are tried by putting them into the furnace and fining-pot; so is
man tried by praising him. Let him be extolled and preferred, and then
he will show himself what he is.
1. If a man be made, by the applause that is given him, proud,
conceited, and scornful,–if he take the glory to himself which he
should transmit to God, as Herod did,–if, the more he is praised, the
more careless he is of what he says and does,–if he lie in bed till
noon because his name is up, thereby it will appear that he
is a vain foolish man, and a man who, though he be praised, has nothing
in him truly praise-worthy.
2. If, on the contrary, a man is made by his praise more thankful to
God, more respectful to his friends, more watchful against every thing
that may blemish his reputation, more diligent to improve himself, and
do good to others, that he may answer the expectations of his friends
from him, by this it will appear that he is a wise and good man. He has
a good temper of mind who knows how to pass by evil report and good
report, and is still the same,
22 Though thou shouldest bray a fool in a mortar among wheat
with a pestle, yet will not his foolishness depart from him.
Solomon had said
(ch. xxii. 15),
The foolishness which is bound in the heart of a child may be
driven out by the rod of correction, for then the mind is to be
moulded, the vicious habits not having taken root; but here he shows
that, if it be not done then, it will be next to impossible to do it
afterwards; if the disease be inveterate, there is a danger of its
being incurable. Can the Ethiopian change his skin? Observe,
1. Some are so bad that rough and severe methods must be used with
them, after gentle means have been tried in vain; they must be
brayed in a mortar. God will take this way with them by his
judgments; the magistrates must take this way with them by the rigour
of the law. Force must be used with those that will not be ruled by
reason, and love, and their own interest.
2. Some are so incorrigibly bad that even those rough and severe
methods do not answer the end, their foolishness will not depart
from them, so fully are their hearts set in them to do evil;
they are often under the rod and yet not humbled, in the furnace and
yet not refined, but, like Ahaz, trespass yet more
and what remains then but that they should be rejected as reprobate
silver?
| The Reward of Prudence. | |
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23 Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, and look
well to thy herds.
24 For riches are not for ever: and doth the crown endure
to every generation?
25 The hay appeareth, and the tender grass sheweth itself, and
herbs of the mountains are gathered.
26 The lambs are for thy clothing, and the goats are the
price of the field.
27 And thou shalt have goats’ milk enough for thy food, for
the food of thy household, and for the maintenance for thy
maidens.
Here is,
I. A command given us to be diligent in our callings. It is directed to
husbandmen and shepherds, and those that deal in cattle, but it is to
be extended to all other lawful callings; whatever our business is,
within doors or without, we must apply our minds to it. This command
intimates,
1. That we ought to have some business to do in this world and not to
live in idleness.
2. We ought rightly and fully to understand our business, and know what
we have to do, and not meddle with that which we do not understand.
3. We ought to have an eye to it ourselves, and not turn over all the
care of it to others. We should, with our own eyes, inspect the
state of our flocks, it is the master’s eye that makes them fat.
4. We must be discreet and considerate in the management of our
business, know the state of things, and look well to
them, that nothing may be lost, no opportunity let slip, but every
thing done in proper time and order, and so as to turn to the best
advantage.
5. We must be diligent and take pains; not only sit down and
contrive, but be up and doing: “Set thy heart to thy herds, as one in
care; lay thy hands, lay thy bones, to thy business.”
II. The reasons to enforce this command. Consider,
1. The uncertainty of worldly wealth
(v. 24):
Riches are not for ever.
(1.) Other riches are not so durable as these are: “Look well to thy
flocks and herds, thy estate in the country and the stock upon
that, for these are staple commodities, which, in a succession, will be
for ever, whereas riches in trade and merchandise will not be so; the
crown itself may perhaps not be so sure to thy family as thy
flocks and herds.”
(2.) Even these riches will go to decay if they be not well looked
after. If a man had an abbey (as we say), and were slothful and
wasteful, he might make an end of it. Even the crown and the revenues
of it, if care be not taken, will suffer damage, nor will it
continue to every generation without very good management.
Though David had the crown entailed on his family, yet he looked
well to his flocks,
1 Chron. xxvii. 29, 31.
2. The bounty and liberality of nature, or rather of the God of nature,
and his providence
(v. 25):
The hay appears. In taking care of the flocks and herds,
(1.) “There needs no great labour, no ploughing or sowing; the food for
them is the spontaneous product of the ground; thou hast nothing to do
but to turn them into it in the summer, when the grass shows
itself, and to gather the herbs of the mountains for them
against winter. God has done his part; thou art ungrateful to him, and
unjustly refusest to serve his providence, if thou dost not do thine.”
(2.) “There is an opportunity to be observed and improved, a time when
the hay appears; but, if thou let slip that time, thy flocks and
herds will fare the worse for it. As for ourselves, so for our cattle,
we ought, with the ant, to provide meat in summer.”
3. The profit of good husbandry in a family: “Keep thy sheep, and thy
sheep will help to keep thee; thou shalt have food for thy children and
servants, goats’ milk enough
(v. 27);
and enough is as good as a feast. Thou shalt have raiment
likewise: the lambs’ wool shall be for thy clothing. Thou shalt
have money to pay thy rent; the goats thou shalt have to sell shall be
the price of thy field;” nay, as some understand it, “Thou
shalt become a purchaser, and buy land to leave to thy children,”
(v. 26).
Note,
(1.) If we have food and raiment, and wherewithal to give every body
his own, we have enough, and ought to be not only content, but
thankful.
(2.) Masters of families must provide not only for themselves, but for
their families, and see that their servants have a fitting maintenance.
(3.) Plain food and plain clothing, if they be but competent, are all
we should aim at. “Reckon thyself well done to if thou be clothed with
home-spun cloth with the fleece of thy own lambs, and fed with goats’
milk; let that serve for thy food which serves for the food of thy
household and the maintenance of thy maidens. Be not desirous of
dainties, far-fetched and dear-bought.”
(4.) This should encourage us to be careful and industrious about our
business, that that will bring in a sufficient maintenance for our
families; we shall eat the labour of our hands.
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