II. The passionate man. This is often the companion of self-conceit and is indeed a proof of it. If a man is unable to hold a restive horse well in hand, it proves that he has not taken lessons in horsemanship. If a man cannot steer a vessel in ordinary circumstances without running her upon the rocks, it shows that he has not learned the art of navigation. A man who cannot keep his anger from over-mastering him—who cannot keep a firm hold of the rudder of his own spirit—proclaims that he has not subjected himself to moral discipline, that he has disdained to learn the art of moral rulership. Such a man is a fool, because a man in passion is always despised by others, he often utters words which he would afterwards give much to recall, and generally ends by losing his own self-respect.
III. In contrast to this character stands the man who is in all respects the opposite—him whose character is sketched in the first clause of these verses, who “loveth instruction” (ver. 1) who acknowledges that “he is a stranger in the earth and needs Divine guidance” (Psa. cxix. 19), that “the way of man is not himself; it is not in man that walketh to direct his step” (Jer. x. 23.—See homiletics on chap. [x. 8], page 151). Such a man is willing to listen to the advice of any who are capable of giving it, and his prudence in this matter is generally accompanied by an ability to “cover shame”—to take a reproof or an insult in silence. He has learned to take George Herbert’s advice—
“Command thyself in chief. He life’s war knows
Whom all his passions follow as he goes.”
outlines and suggestive comments.
Verse 15. All through our lost nature the truth of this proverb is visible. A man may be on the road to hell, but think that he is fair for heaven. A man may build by rapine, but think that he is the pink of fair dealing. A man is not a judge about himself. A Christian, therefore, will feel this, and while the impenitent is hard as to his own right, the Christian will be humble, and will be glad, in reasonable ways, to leave his duties to be advised upon by others.—Miller.
We have one great “Counsellor” Messiah, who is made unto us “wisdom” (Isa. ix. 6; 1 Cor. i. 30). Let us “hearken unto” Him (chap. i. 33).—Fausset.
And such a fool is every natural man (Job xi. 12); wise enough, haply in his generation—so is the fox too—wise with such wisdom as, like the ostrich’s wings, makes him outrun others upon earth, but helps him never a whit towards heaven.—Trapp.
The worse any man is, or doth, the less he seeth his evil. They that commit the most sins have hope that they stand guilty of fewest; they that fall into greatest transgressions, imagine that their faults be the smallest; they that sink into the deepest dangers do dream of greatest safety; they that have longest continued in rebellion against God, of all others, for the most part are slowest to repentance. . . . St. Paul testifieth that when he was in the worst case, he knew nothing but that he had been in the best.—Dod.
Every man’s way is, and must be, in some degree, acceptable to himself, otherwise he would never have chosen it. But, nevertheless, whoever is wise, will be apt to suspect and be diffident of himself. Let men’s abilities be ever so great, and their knowledge ever so extensive, still they ought not, and without great danger and inconvenience cannot, trust wholly and entirely to themselves. For those abilities and that knowledge easily may be, and often are, rendered useless by the prejudices and prepossessions of men’s own minds. Nothing is more common than for men’s appetites and affections to bribe their judgments, and seduce them into erroneous ways of thinking and acting. They are often entangled and set fast, not through the want of light and knowledge, not through any defect of their heads, but through the deceitfulness of their hearts. In many cases where they could easily direct other men, they suffer themselves to be misled, and are driven into the snare by the strength of inclination, or by the force of habit. . . . This acquired darkness, this voluntary incapacity, as well as the wont of counsel thereby occasioned, nowhere appears more frequently, or more remarkably, than in the transaction of our spiritual concerns, and what relates to the discharge of our duty. “The way of Man,” says our royal author, “is right in his own eyes,” though the end “thereof be the ways of death.” When we have wandered out of the road, and almost lost ourselves in bye-paths, we can make ourselves believe that we have continued all the while in the highway to truth and happiness. . . . But, however lightly we may esteem the helps and directions of men, shall we not attend to the counsels of Our Heavenly Father, and the admonitions of the Most High? Can we have more regard to what is “right in our own eyes” than to what is right in His?—Balguy.
Verse 16. “Covereth,” with the mantle of patience and charity, instead of exasperating himself, and losing self-control by dwelling on the indignity of the word or deed, and the worthlessness of the injurer. He does not publish the act to the discredit of the other, but consults for the reputation of the other, lest he should add sin to the injury suffered.—Fausset.