A Snare and a Song.
I. Sin deceives men. If a man digs a pit for the purpose of entrapping a victim, his great aim is to make the path over it as inviting as possible and entirely to hide from sight the snare which he has laid, for, as Solomon tells us elsewhere, “Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird” (chap. i. 17). So when the great deceiver of men tries to lead them into sin, he makes the way of transgression look very inviting, and persuades his victim that some great gain is to be gotten by the sin. He hides from view the pit of misery that lies at the end of every path of disobedience to God. He did not let Adam and Eve see beforehand the bitter consequences of breaking the Divine command or he would not have succeeded in accomplishing their downfall. And he does not let the young man whom he persuades to rob his master see the felon’s cell beyond, or his persuasions would be ineffectual. His great aim is to make men believe there is security where there is danger—a solid rock where there is a yawning pit—probable gain where there is certain loss. Seeing that sin is against the sinner’s own interests, and that there is in every man an instinct of self-preservation, we must conclude that if transgressors were not ensnared, Satan could take the captive no other way.
II. Righteousness gladdens men. God, who is the Fountain and Source of all the joy in the universe, made man for happiness. This is the portion which He intended all His creatures to possess, and which they forfeit by their own act and deed. Before sin entered our world, song was man’s natural employment—it was as natural for him to rejoice in God’s love as it was to breathe God’s air. And in proportion as sin is banished from the human soul, and the right relation between it and God is re-established, joy and gladness re-enter the heart. The indissoluble connection which is found everywhere between righteousness of life and peace of mind is a revelation of the character of the Being who sits upon the throne of the universe, and although the song of the righteous in this world is not an unbroken one, and they have sorrow as well as joy, they are hastening to a world where “God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more sorrow or crying, neither shall there be any more pain; for the former things are passed away” (Rev. xxi. 4).
outlines and suggestive comments.
Or, a cord, viz., to strangle his joy with—to check and choke all his comforts. In the midst of his mirth he hath many a secret gripe, and little knows the world where the shoe pinches him. Every fowl that hath a seemly feather hath not the sweetest flesh, nor doth every tree that bringeth a goodly leaf bear good fruit. Glass giveth a clearer sound than silver, and many things glitter besides gold. The wicked man's jollity may wet the mouth, but not warm the heart—smooth the brow, but not fill the breast. . . . But though Saul could not be merry without a fiddler, Ahab without Naboth’s vineyard, Haman without Mordecai’s courtesy, yet a righteous man can be merry without all these.—Trapp.
For Homiletics on verse 7 see on chap. [xiv. 31], page 389, and on chap. [xxiv. 11, 12], page 680.
main homiletics of verse 8.
The Citizen’s Enemy and the Citizen’s Friend.
I. A scornful man is a social calamity. A scorner is a man who has a great opinion of his own wisdom and ability, and a very low one of all who oppose him. From his self-constructed elevation he looks down upon those who refuse to obey him, and counts them his inferiors simply because they do so. This is a perilous course to pursue even when only individual interests are at stake, but when the scornful man holds the welfare of others in his hand, the disastrous effects of his conduct are more widely spread. When he is the only person who suffers from over-estimating himself and underrating the strength of his opponents the issue is hardly to be regretted, but Solomon here has in his mind a public man who brings ruin upon many besides himself by his proud disdain of their foes, and by his refusal to recognise a common danger. Goliath was such a man. As the representative and champion of the Philistines he over-estimated the value of his physical strength, and set too low an estimate upon the unseen power arrayed against him, and his scorn of his enemies brought a great calamity upon his nation. A scornful man brings the heaviest calamity upon a people when he scoffs at the power of God and persuades his followers to set at nought His demands and threatenings. This was the great crime of many of Solomon’s successors on the throne, and of the false prophets of Judah and Israel, and hence the sentence passed upon them and upon those who listened to them: “Wherefore hear the word of the Lord, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem. Because ye have said, we have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we in agreement: when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us; for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves: Therefore thus saith the Lord God . . . Judgement also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuges of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding places,” etc. (Isa. xxviii. 14–22).
II. A wise man is a social blessing. We have before seen (see on chap. [xiv. 15-18], page 364) that it is one of the characteristics of a wise man that he recognises the presence of moral danger in relation to himself, and the same may be said concerning danger of every kind, not only as regards himself, but others also. The recognition of danger is quite distinct from the fear of it; indeed those who are most quick to discern it have generally the most courage to meet it and the most wisdom to avert it. Scornful men generally have nothing but scorn wherewith to meet a foe, but the man who is truly wise can afford to acknowledge the strength of his enemies because he is fully prepared to meet them. If he seek to turn away the wrath of man by persuasion, he will be able to back his persuasion by wise reasoning, and if he strive to avert the wrath of God he will endeavour to bring those for whom he intercedes to such a state of mind as will render them fit to appreciate Divine pardon. But if he cannot do this his own character will give effect to his prayers, and as in the case of Moses and the children of Israel, God will spare many sinners for the sake of one righteous man.