_Boast not thyself of to-morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may
bring forth._
ON THE CONDUCT TO BE HELD WITH REGARD TO FUTURE EVENTS
It is needless to prove the change and mutability of our present
state, or the fact that the changes cannot be foreseen by us. Obvious
as they are, it would be w... [ Continue Reading ]
_Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth._
SELF-BOASTING
Self-boasting is always a source of weakness as well as a revelation
of vanity. In vanity there is no substance; it is idle breath, it is
foolish vapour. When a man is left to praise himself it is evident
that he has lived an in... [ Continue Reading ]
_Sand weighty._
THE WEIGHT OF SAND
By a fool this book means, not so much intellectual feebleness as
moral and religious obliquity, which are the stupidest things that a
man can be guilty of. The proverb-maker compares two heavy things,
stones and sand, and says that they are feathers in compariso... [ Continue Reading ]
_Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous; but who is able to stand
before envy?_
ANGER AND ENVY
I. The evil principles indicated in the text are extensively and
dangerously prevalent. To be irritated and out of temper is one of the
common tendencies of our nature, manifested even in childhood. The... [ Continue Reading ]
_Open rebuke is better than secret love._
CHARITABLE REPROOF
Self-love is so natural to us, that as it makes us apt to flatter
ourselves on all occasions, so it inclines us to accept too easily of
the flatteries of all others. Our unwillingness to know our own
faults, or to be humbled under the sen... [ Continue Reading ]
_Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are
deceitful._
GOD’S FRIENDSHIP AND SATAN’S ENMITY
True friends are scarce. The old cynic who went about in broad
daylight with a lighted lantern in search of “a man” would have
had like difficulty in finding a true friend. True fri... [ Continue Reading ]
_The full soul loatheth an honeycomb._
SPIRITUAL APPETITE
It is a great blessing when food and appetite meet together. Sometimes
men have been so luxuriously fed that appetite has departed from them
altogether. The rules which apply to bodily appetite equally hold true
of the mind. We easily lose... [ Continue Reading ]
_As a bird that wandereth from her nest, so is a man that wandereth
from his _place.
THE INCONVENIENCE AND DANGER OF PERSONS BEING LONG ABSENT FROM HOME
Nothing that affects our religious interests can, properly speaking,
be called little. Everything that can influence the present temper and
futur... [ Continue Reading ]
_Better is a neighbour that is near than a brother far off._
SOCIABILITY
This proverb points out that when assistance is needed the near
neighbour, though he may love less, is more useful than the brother
who is far away. Society is absolutely necessary for human existence.
Companionship forces us... [ Continue Reading ]
_A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself; but the simple
pass on, and are punished._
EYES AND NO EYES
The distinction is not between “goodness” and “wickedness,”
but between strength and weakness, wisdom and folly. The “seeing”
and the “acting” man victoriously compels circumstances t... [ Continue Reading ]
_He that blesseth his friend with a loud voice, rising early in the
morning, it shall be counted a curse to him._
THE CURSE OF OSTENTATIOUS FLATTERY
Flattery is a species of conduct generally most pleasing, always most
pernicious. The flattery in the text is a loud vaunting. It intrudes
itself on... [ Continue Reading ]
_Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his
friend._
FRIENDSHIP
Scripture instances of friendship are David and Jonathan; Ruth and
Naomi; Paul and Timotheus; and our Lord and the Bethany sisters. In
classical literature we see that friendship had a great part, both in
the gove... [ Continue Reading ]
_So he that waiteth on his master shall be honoured._
THE WAY TO HONOUR
If a man in Palestine carefully watched his fig-tree, and kept it in
proper condition, he was sure to be abundantly rewarded in due season.
So good servants obtain honour as the fruit of diligent service.
I. The relation whic... [ Continue Reading ]
_As in water face answereth to face, so the heart of man to man._
MIRROR OF HUMAN NATURE
As a man looking into the water (used anciently as a mirror) sees an
exact transcript of his own countenance, so every heart has, by
nature, precisely the same moral character with every other
unsanctified hea... [ Continue Reading ]
_So is a man to his praise._
THE INFLUENCE OF APPLAUSE
The various passions implanted in human nature are necessary to
animate the soul in the service of God and our generation. The poet
sung, “Love of fame, the universal passion.” The wise man beheld
this principle in human nature; he saw the effe... [ Continue Reading ]
_Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, and look well to
thy herds._
KINDNESS TO ANIMALS
We live in an age when great regard is paid to the comfort and
well-being of every class of the community, and when efforts are made
to promote the general happiness. When so much is being done to a... [ Continue Reading ]