If God should appear in human shape, would we dare to insult him? Would not the fear of a just and dreadful vengeance deter us? And to mock the poor, amounts to the very same thing. God did actually appear in our nature, and He was then poor for our sakes; and those that despise the poor, despise them for a reason that reflects upon our Saviour Himself when He dwelt among us.—Lawson.
main homiletics of verse 6.
Fathers and Children.
Two things are implied in this proverb:—First, that the fathers are good men. An aged man who is not a godly man cannot in any sense reflect any glory upon his descendants. Secondly, that the children are also godly and true, otherwise they are anything but a crown to their parents. The Wise Man is here speaking of those who are in both relations what God intended them to be. When such is the case—
I. The children bring honour to their parents. They testify that the parents have trained them in the way that they should go—that they have given them a good example as well as good advice, and every child is then like a separate mirror, reflecting the character of the godly parent by whose influence he has become what he now is. And the greater number of these mirrors there are, the more brilliant is the crown of honour which is worn by the godly ancestor whose virtues are thus reproduced in his children and in his children’s children, even long after he has left the world. Every tribute of respect that is paid to the children is another jewel placed in the crown of the godly ancestor.
II. The parents are the glory of their children. Men glory in being descended from ancestors who have been great warriors or who have left them a vast inheritance of material wealth, but an inheritance of goodness reflects as much more glory upon those who are its heirs as the glory of heaven exceeds that of earth. Goodness holds a very old patent of nobility, and when children can boast of a long line of God-fearing ancestors, they can boast of a dignity which is as old as God. To be the descendants of those who are now before the throne of God is a glory before which all earthly glory fades away.
main homiletics of verse 7.
A Twofold Incongruity.
I. Truth from the mouth of a godless man. This is not an unknown case. A man of immoral practices may inculcate precepts of purity—a dishonest man may, for the purpose of cloaking his own character, be loud in his praises of integrity and uprightness. But the speech of such a man will fall powerless on his hearers, even if they do not know thoroughly the character of the speaker. There will be a lack of the true ring of sincerity about his words—being words only, and not convictions, they will be “as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal.” Suppose that a barrister, who was very ignorant of law and possessed of very limited mental capacities, having undertaken the defence of an important case, were to apply to one of his most learned and eloquent legal brethren to write his speech for him. When he got up to deliver that which was not the production of his own mind—that which he was not able thoroughly to appreciate himself—would not the listeners be struck with a sense of incongruity, would they not feel that, however good the arguments, however vivid the illustrations, however powerful the appeals, there was something lacking—that the speaker was a stripling wearing the armour of a giant? Something of this same feeling is experienced when an immoral man gives utterance to moral sentiments—he does not know the meaning of his own words, he lacks the experience necessary to give weight to what he says. He speaks what is in itself true, but he is not a true man himself, and consequently the utterance is like a “jewel of gold in a swine’s snout.”
II. Untruth from the mouth of a man of exalted station. A prince (i.e., one who holds a high place among his fellow-men) is especially bound to be a man of truth and honour. It is here implied that he is to be an embodiment of truthfulness—that whether he owes his position to wealth, to birth, or to intellectual gifts—whatever else he lacks, he ought to be a truthful man; his words ought to be excellent, and they ought to be the reflection of excellence of character.