As expressing a need of human nature. 1. Proverbs 17:17-18, page 518.). And, like their Divine Master, they know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary (Isaiah 50:4), and thus that which flows from their lips is as refreshing and healthful to weary and struggling men and women on the highway of life as the living, cooling watercourse is to the dusty and thirsty traveller. But the way in which a man uses his lips and his tongue, as the organs of speech, may contribute not a little to his getting, or his failing to get, the meat that perisheth. I mean not that any of you should, in the slightest degree, try to work your way in life by words of flattery; but when a mans general conversation is such as to procure for him a character for discretion, courtesy, gratitude, straight forward integrity, and trustworthiness, this may surely contribute, eminently and directly, to the temporal sustenance and comfort of the man himself and his family: while an opposite style of intercourse may tend to penury and starvation. Indolenceindisposition to be troubled. Human friendships cost. More specifically speaking, He used it in the name of His own righteousness, to balance our guilt and to give weight and value to the price of His redemption. Run therefore to God by praying, not fainting. 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. Let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God (Isaiah 1:10). The wickedness of the sons of Eli made men abhor the offering of the Lord. And thus it is still. He has joy in being the originator of fresh and living thoughts, and in being able by clothing them in words to impart them to others. Wherefore St. Gregory saith, so must every preacher deal with his hearers as God dealeth with him; he must not preach to the simple as much as he knoweth because himself doth not know of heavenly mysteries as much as they are.Jermin. Meditation on Proverbs 18:13. There is a secular and a spiritual in every proverb. The necessity of the case seemed to warrant the deviation from the command. his good name. 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. (See Comments). And as the ear is one of the great inlets to instruction, it may here, with propriety, be considered as comprehending all the ways in which knowledge may be acquired.Wardlaw. He reverses what the proverb pronounces natural. a. I. And if they keep their power and influence throughout the term of their human probation, their names will be contemned by posterity, and in the day when everyone receives the things done in his body (2 Corinthians 5:10), they shall awake to shame and everlasting contempt (Daniel 12:2). I. They trusted in themselves, and in their own wisdom, despising others (Luke 18:9; Luke 16:15; Jude 1:19). So if a man is to be a wise man, if his mental and spiritual capabilities are to be developed as his Creator intended they should be, he must at times separate himselfa certain amount of solitude is indispensable. Herod feasts in the palace, while John the Baptist is beheaded in the dungeon. Grant that both are obscure. I. Slothfulness and prodigality have the same origin. The poor useth entreaties; but the rich answereth roughly ( Proverbs 18:23 ). Breaking Down the Key Parts of Proverbs 18:21. Rich in privileges, they are poor in the graces and enjoyments of the life of God in the soul. It shows an unwillingness to make the small (and sometimes large) sacrifices to get along with others. (JB) The man who holds aloof seeks every pretext to bare his teeth; he defies all sound judgment. The first man wounds, but he inflicts his injury in open daylight and in the front of his victim, but the second is like the treacherous footpad whose face is never seen and whose step is never heard, but who comes up behind his prey in the dark and leaves no trace behind but the mortal sword-thrust. Through desire a man, having separated himself The original is difficult and obscure. Proverbs 18:10-11. He currently serves now as the senior pastor of Calvary Chapel Santa Barbara. Read Joo 15:7 bible commentary from Treasury of Scripture Knowledge by Samuel Bagster FREE on BiblePortal.com If there is water beneath the surface of the earth it must force its way and find an outlet; it needs no hand of man to come to its aid; it penetrates the soil and forms a fertilising stream in obedience to natural law. When a settler in a forest rubs two dry sticks together the act seems a trifling one, but the friction in time develops the latent heat of the wood, and there is enough fire brought into activity to lay low many a mighty forest tree. How many do we find who will not change their sentiments about religion, or about persons and things, upon the clearest evidence, and give way to anger upon the least contradiction to their favourite notions, as if their dearest interests were attacked! The name of the Lord That is, the Lord, as he hath revealed himself in his works, and especially in his word, by his promises, and the declarations of his infinite perfections, and of his good-will to his people; is a strong tower Is sufficient for our protection in the greatest dangers. We shun it. 3 Doing wrong leads to disgrace, and scandalous behavior brings contempt. Many offences touch the body which extend not to the soul; but if the soul be grieved, the sympathising flesh suffers deeply with it. if there is the absence of all sober and considerate calculation, and, as a consequence, no due proportioning of outlay to income, but a reckless and wasteful expenditure, leaving an unlooked-for deficiencya woful amount minusat the years end? In this proverb he indirectly condemns himself and warns others by his own example. 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. We must separate ourselves from all those things which would divert us from or retard us in the pursuit, retire out of the noise of this world's vanities, and then seek and intermeddle with all the means and instructions of wisdom, be willing to take pains and try all the methods of improving ourselves, be acquainted with a variety of opinions, that we may prove all things and hold fast that which is good. A brother who is offended is harder to be won than a strong city ( Proverbs 18:19 ): So the idea is, don't offend your brother. 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. Some translators read a brother offended resisteth more than a strong city. Miller reads, When a brother is revolted away, it is from a city of strength., The state of things treated in this verse reveals most conclusively that man has fallen. The need of cross-examinationof another to come and search him. Questioning may not convict the first person of any mis-statement, but it may elicit other facts which give quite a different colouring to the whole. It is quite certain that, when Gods will is done on earth as it is in heaven, the miserable poverty which now surrounds us on every side will cease to exist. We think it treats of. The practical lesson is, that in personal and domestic interests, diligence and economy should go together, and that the one without the other never can avail for either obtaining or securing even the comforts of life. He who quarrels with our Surety snaps to the lock of a citadel; and then, alas, it shall be, just as the wild rush of embittered enemies should have roused him to enter in.Miller. We ought to be the more cautious in forming and pronouncing opinions, because we are so little disposed to admit conviction if we fall into mistakes, or to retract them upon conviction. That's where most of the quotes that appear on the "Verse of the Day" and "Previous Verses" pages of my website are taken from, so from now on, many of the "Source:" links that I provide on those pages will not contain the quoted text. But the words are the stream which the deep waters send forth. Before an enemy can attack those who have taken refuge in a fortress, they must carry the citadel itself. God exalts those who willingly take the lowest place (10-12).Strength of mind and spirit is more important in the battle of life than strength of body. Proverbs 18:1. For their parts, all that comes in finds its way off from them as fast as it comes, and many a time faster! Studylight has an interesting tool called "Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary" - This allows you to quickly see the comments from multiple resources without having to leave the page. 4 Many words rush along like rivers in flood, My old MS. Bible translates, Occasioun seeketh that wil go awei fro a freend: at al tyme he schal ben wariable. The good things of his lips are the natural outcome of the good treasure of his heart, for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh (Matthew 12:24-25). What doest thou here? Much is there to be inquired into and pondered. His mouth is in his own destruction, and his lips are the snare of his soul, for it is a law as old as the universe that with what measure ye meet it shall be measured to you again (Matthew 6:1-2). This thought is still clearer in the verse that follows:Death and life are in the power (literally the hand) of the tongue. There can be no doubt that mens conduct (for tongue is but the leading instrument of it) determines death or life, yet, in spite of the adventurous hazard, their love to it (or literally, just as they love this or that sort of tongue), they shall eat its fruit, and incur, of course, fearful responsibilities.Miller. Proverbs 18 1 An unfriendly man pursues selfish ends; he defies all sound judgment. Wins souls can also mean "takes lives or destroys lives," as presented in the Holman Christian Standard Bible ("but violence takes lives") and the Christian Standard Bible ("a cunning person takes lives"). Reference to the Critical Notes and to the Comments will show the widely different translations and expositions given to the first verse. The evidence of one person alone must not be too much depended on. Proverbs 18:4. II. For he who knows only his own side of the case is convicted of knowing little of that; his reasons may be good and no one may have been able to refute them, but if he is equally unable to refute the reasons on the opposite side, if he does not so much as know what they are, what rational ground has he for preferring either opinion?Jacox. II. He was David's rock, fortress, deliverer, God, strength, buckler, horn, and high tower ( Ps 18:2 ). That all sorrow of heart does not crush a man. But Samuel searched him, and laid open his rebellion. here yields no satisfactory sense. 1. In that there can be no partiality, and though itself cannot judge of right, yet He that guides it is the most righteous Judge of the world. Such a gift tends to the exaltation of the man who possesses it. And indeed, as they sound, they are commonly so pleasing, that they easily slip down into the heart, where they are readily entertained.Jermin. 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. The other he woundeth so, that though his blow be heard, seen, and felt, yet it is not perceived: in both they go down into the heart, as revealing the heart of the one, and as removing the heart of the other from him. Or the words may be translated, the words of a talebearer are as smoothing words: for he frameth his own words to as much softness, as those which he reporteth he maketh to be hard. Who can translate all its outgoings? The man who seeks contention will alway find others like-minded with himself who will be willing to do for him what he has done for others, and he who calls for strokes upon his fellow-creatures will receive them upon his own head with compound interest. We are repeatedly said to be saved by the name of God (Psalms 54:1; John 17:11-12). Proverbs 20:27. Oh, how hard it is when your spirit has been wounded. Or intense excitement of the mind renders them for a time at least oblivious of bodily sensations. Many of the ancient fortresses that are scattered over our land were once deemed impregnable refuges. That this is by no means the rule we have many proofs, but that the tendency is strong we know not only from observation but from the frequent warnings against it in the Word of God. Life is a wide thing; and might, at least, be acted through, before in the darker points we insist upon a judgment Folly, and therefore, mischief; shame, and therefore, ill desert. To the one he gives the wounds of his slandering, to the other the wounds of his flattering. Men have been, and still are, able to find among their fellows those who are worthy of the name of friend. And men are prone to go even beyond thisthe children of the same common Father often take delight in making their poor brethren feel their dependence on them, and instead of giving sympathy and help freely and after a brotherly fashion, they withhold the first entirely, and if they give the latter they do it coldly and even contemptuously. Unless he does this, the opinion that he forms to-day will be altered to-morrow, and his mind will never be firmly made up on any subject. and before honor is humility ( Proverbs 18:12 ). John MacArthur is the pastor-teacher of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, as well as an author, conference speaker, president of The Master's University and Seminary, and featured teacher with the Grace to You media ministry. 9 They are a garland to grace your head. Stuart understands this in the sense of to deserve., Proverbs 18:8. Adams. It must be free to stretch out its roots and shoots on every side, and to appropriate to itself those elements in the earth and in the atmosphere which will make it strong and vigorous. None but a foolish man seeks contention. God divided the land of Israel by lot, and if men had generally been content to permit Him to divide the earth among them in a similar manner, how much more rich and prosperous would they have been. ( Luke 18:9 ; Luke 16:15 ; Jude 1:19 ) stream which the deep waters send.. His flattering 9 they are poor in the name of the life of God in the,. 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