“I am not worthy,” is the voice of the saints. They know God, and God knows them. Moses was the meekest man upon earth, and therefore God is said to know him by name (Exod. xxxiii. 17). “I am less than the least of all thy mercies,” saith Jacob (Gen. xxxii. 10). Lo, he was honoured to be father of the twelve tribes, and heir of the blessing. “Who am I, O Lord?” says David. He was advanced from that lowly conceit to be king of Israel. “I am not worthy to loose the latchet of Christ’s shoe,” saith John Baptist (Matt. iii. 11). Lo, he was esteemed worthy to lay his hand on Christ’s head. “I am not worthy that thou shouldst come under my roof,” says the centurion, therefore Christ commended him. “I have not found so great faith; no, not in Israel” (Matt. viii. 8). “I am the least of the apostles,” saith Paul; “not worthy to be called an apostle” (1 Cor. xv. 9). Therefore he is honoured with the title of the apostle. “Behold the handmaid of the Lord,” saith the holy virgin; therefore she was honoured to be the mother of the Lord, and to have all generations call her blessed. This non sum dignus, the humble annihilation of themselves, hath gotten them the honour of saints. In spiritual graces let us study to be great, and not to know it, as the fixed stars are every one bigger than the earth, yet appear to us less than torches. Not to be high-minded in high deserts is the way to blessed preferment. Humility is not only a virtue itself, but a vessel to contain other virtues; like embers, which keep the fire alive that is hidden under it. It emptieth itself by a modest estimation of its own worth, that Christ may fill it. It wrestleth with God, like Jacob, and wins by yielding; the lower it stoops to the ground the more advantage it gets to obtain the blessing. All my pride, O Lord, is from the want of knowing Thee. The leper casts himself down, and Christ bids him arise. Humility is the gentleman-usher to glory. God that sends away the rich empty from His gates loves to “fill the hungry with good things” (Luke i. 53). The air passeth by the full vessel, and only filleth that is empty. This is the difference between the proud and beggars; both agree in not having, differ in craving. The proud are paupares spiritus, the humble are paupares spiritu. “Blessed are,” not the poor spirits, but “the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. v. 3). Such as felt their wants sought and besought God for supply. “Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain be brought low” (Luke iii. 5). The lowly mind shall be exalted, the high-towering ambitions shall be thrown down. How should God say to the merchant that glories in his wealth, to the usurer that admireth his moneys, to the gallant that wonders that his good clothes do not prefer him, “Arise!” Alas! they are up already; they were never down. A dwarf in a great throng, seeming low on his knees, was bidden by the prince to stand up; alas! he was before at his highest. God cannot be so mistaken as to encourage their standing up who never yet had the manners to cast themselves down. Says Augustine, “Descend, that ye may rise up to God; for you have fallen by rising up against God.” He that is a mountebank must level himself even with the ground; if humbleness hath once thrown him down and brought him to his knees, he shall hear the patron and pattern of humbleness comforting him with a surge—“Arise. . . .” The guest that sets himself down at the lower end of the table shall hear the feast-maker kindly remove him, “Friend, sit up higher” (Luke xiv. 10). If Esther fall at Ahasuerus’ feet, he will take her by the hand, and bid her arise. When Peter fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me; I am a sinful man, O, Lord” (Luke v. 8–10), he presently was raised up with, “Fear not, thou shalt catch men.”. . . Who is heard to say with Paul, “I am the chief of sinners?” (1 Tim. i. 15) such a humble confession scarce heard of. But Christ had given him a surge on his former humbling: “Arise and bear My name before Gentiles and kings,” etc. Let us all thus cast ourselves down in humility, that the Lord may say to us in mercy, “Arise.”—Adams.
The more humble, the fitter to come to God, and He the more willing to come unto the soul and dwell in it. The highest heavens are the habitation of God’s glory; and the humble heart hath the next honour, to be the habitation of His grace.—Leighton.
The truly humble spirit is, in society, to the proud and haughty, what the valley is to the mountain: if less observed, more sheltered and more blessed, valleys see the stars more brightly than the mountains that often veil their proud heads with clouds. The mountains filter the waters upon which the valleys live, and send down in soft music to their ears the stormy thunders that beat with violence on their lofty brow. The great sun stoops to the valleys and touches them with a warmth which it denies to the high hills; and kind nature, which leaves the towering heights amidst the cold desolations of death, endows the humble vales with richest life, and robes them in the enchanting costume of sweetest flowers.—Dr. David Thomas.
You must go to honour before humility. This is the law—the law of God. It cannot be changed. It has its analogies in the material creation. Every height has its corresponding depth. As far as the Andes pierce into the sky, so far do the valleys of the Pacific, at their base, go down into the heart of the earth. If the branches of a tree rise high in the air, its roots must penetrate to a corresponding depth in the ground; and the necessity is reciprocal. The higher the branches are, the deeper go the roots; and the deeper the roots are, the higher go the branches. This law pervades the moral administration as well as the higher works of God. The child Jesus is set for the fall and the rising again of many in Israel; but it is first the fall and then the rising; for “before honour is humility.” Fall they must at the feet of the Crucified before they can rise and reign as the children of the Great King. . . . There are two mountains in the land of Israel, equal in height, and standing near each other, with a deep, narrow valley between. At an interesting point in the people’s history, one of these mountains bore the curse, and the other received the blessing (Deut. xi. 26–29). If you had stood then on Ebal, where the curse was lying, you could not have escaped to Gerizim to enjoy the blessing without going down to the bottom of the intervening gorge. There was a way for the pilgrim from the curse to the blessing, if he were willing to pass through the valley of humiliation; but there was no flight through the air, so as to escape the going down. These things are an allegory. All men are at first in their own judgments on a lofty place, but the curse hangs over the mountains of their pride. . . . All the saved are also on a lofty height, but God dwells among them, and great is the peace of His children. All who have reached this mountain have been in the deep. They sowed in tears before they went forth rejoicing to bear home the sheaves.—Arnot.
CHAPTER XVI.
Critical Notes.—1. Nearly all commentators agree in reading this verse, “To man belong the preparations of the heart, but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord.” Preparations, lit. “arrangements,” “orderly disposings,” as those of an army in array, or as the loaves of the shewbread set in order. 2. Miller translates this verse very differently. See [comments] on the verse. 3. Commit, rather roll. Thoughts, or “plans.” 4. For Himself. Many read “for its own purpose, or end.” There is much in favour, however, of the reading of the Authorised text. 5. Though hand join in hand, literally “hand to hand,” as in chap. xi. 21. This phrase is variously understood. Stuart renders it “Should hand be added to hand,” i.e., although a haughty man should enjoy all his powers of resistance, “he shall not go unpunished.” Delitzsch and Zöckler render it “assuredly,” as in chap. xi. 21. See also the [comments] on the verse. 6. Purged. Heb., kaphar, “expiated,” or “covered.” 9. Deviseth. The form of the verb denotes anxious consideration. 10. A Divine sentence, literally “divination,” i.e., “an oracle,” or “a decision.” “His mouth transgresseth not.” Stuart and Delitzsch read, “In judgment his mouth should not prevaricate, or err.” 11. A just weight, literally, “the scale,” “the upright iron in scales which the weigher holds in his hand” (Fausset). Weights, literally “stones,” which were anciently used as weights. 13. “They love him,” etc., rather “he who speaketh right, or uprightly, is loved.” 18. “The Hebrews observe that this verse stands exactly in the centre of the whole book” (Fausset). 19. Lowly, or the “afflicted.” 20. Delitzsch and Zöckler translate the first clause “He that giveth heed to the Word findeth good.” Stuart and others, “He that is prudent respecting any matter.” Miller says, “Literally, wise about a word.” 21. Sweetness, or “grace.” Learning, or “instruction.” 22. Instruction, rather “discipline,” “correction.” 26. He that laboureth, laboureth for himself, etc. Zöckler translates “The spirit of the labourer laboureth for him, for his mouth urgeth him on.” Stuart—“The appetite of him who toils is toilsome to him (i.e., makes him exert himself) for his mouth urgeth him on.” Delitzsch—“The hunger of the labourer laboreth for him,” etc. Miller—“The labouring soul labours for it, for its mouth imposeth it upon him.” (See his [comment].) 28. A whisperer, i.e., “a backbiter.” 30. Moving, or compressing, indicating resolution, or biting, indicative of scorn and malice.
main homiletics of verse 1.
The Heart and the Tongue.
I. The human heart needs preparation. 1. It needs to be prepared for the reception of moral truth. When the earth was “without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep,” it was not in a condition to receive seed into its bosom. There was a need of preparation before it was fit to receive seed which would produce “herb after its kind.” Light must play upon its surface, heat and moisture must penetrate the soil. And man’s heart, in his present fallen condition, is like the earth before the “Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters, and God said, Let there be light: and there was light.” It needs some preparation before it can receive the truth of God so as to be benefited by it—before it is that “good ground” into which, when the “good seed” falls, it “brings forth fruit, some an hundred-fold, some sixty-fold, some thirty-fold” (Matt. xiii. 3–8). As the plough must break the clods before the seed can be sown with any hope of harvest, so the “fallow-ground” of the heart must be broken up—must undergo some preparation before it can be a profitable receiver of moral truth (Hosea i. 12). Our Lord, in the parable of the sower, teaches most distinctly the truth that the good which is derived from hearing Divine truth depends upon the state of heart of him who hears. 2. It needs to be prepared to yield moral truth. All the preparation of the earth is to the end—not that it should be a receiver, but a giver. The seed is sown not that it should remain in the soil but that the earth should “bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater” (Isa. lv. 10). So it is with the human soul. It takes in the thoughts of God, that it may translate them into holy words and deeds. The “preparation of the heart” is but a means to “the answer of the tongue.” Out of the “good treasure of the heart” good things are expected to issue (Matt. xii. 35). But unless there is preparation to receive there can be no giving out of anything that is worth the giving. The quality of the water that comes to the lip of the drinker depends upon the quality of the water that fills the well. As we have often before remarked, the “tree” must be first “good,” and then the “fruit will be good” (Matt. xii. 33). He whose heart is prepared by Divine influence to receive the Divine Word will not be at a loss for such an “answer of the tongue” as will bring glory to God, honour to himself, and blessings to others.