There is a certain oddity and grotesqueness in these words as they stand. It disappears as soon as we perceive that we have here an instance of Hebrew parallelism. (Compare chap. i. 18.) “Sin” is a noun, not a verb, and is a synonym for iniquity; to sin men yoke themselves as it were with “cords of vanity” or as with “a cart-rope.” “Cords of vanity” are such as have no substance in them, that will not stand any real strain; “a cart-rope” will stand an immense strain. Where, then, is the propriety of describing that by which the sinner binds himself to his sin by such opposite terms? In this, that in the first clause these bands are regarded from the point of view of a sound judgment, in the second from the point of view of the sinner’s experience. Subjected to a real examination they are seen to be of no strength at all, and yet they suffice to bind the sinner to his sin as thoroughly as if they were strong as “a cart-rope.”
What are these “cords of vanity”? They are false ideas—of God, of truth, of duty. This is plain from verse 19, which is an explanation of this one. There we have an illustrative case. Certain men are represented as bound to their iniquity by the false idea that God will not fulfil His threatenings against iniquity.
Our text furnishes the solution of a mystery which often perplexes us in daily life. We see men cleaving to ruinous iniquities, and cleaving to them in spite of the remonstrances and entreaties of their friends and of God’s servants. We who have felt “the powers of the world to come” wonder that men do not repent and believe, and so escape from “the wrath to come.” Here is the explanation: they are bound to their ungodly practices as it were with a cart-rope; and yet they are just enslaved by what, when rightly tested, are only cords of vanity. They are like a horse tied to a post by a bridle-rein: it could snap the rein in an instant, but it does not attempt to do so because it has no suspicion of the weakness of the rein. Look at some of the “cords of vanity” by which men are bound to their iniquities; the exposure of their essential weakness may excite some who are not fettered and bound to make an effort to attain to moral freedom.
I. One prevalent “cord of vanity” is unbelief in God’s threatenings against iniquity. That God has threatened to do certain terrible things to impenitent sinners is admitted, but there lurks in the sinner’s heart the idea that God is like certain foolish parents who threaten their children with punishments which they are much too good-natured ever to inflict. But whence did you derive this idea of God? Certainly not from His Word. He there distinctly forewarns us, that, though He is merciful and gracious, He will “by no means clear the guilty” (Ex. xxxiv. 7). Not from any intelligent examination of His dealings in providence. There neglect or infraction of law is invariably followed by punishment. If a whole nation were to neglect to sow its fields, would God be too good-natured to permit it to starve? But if God invariably punishes men for their infractions of His material laws, what reason can we have for hoping that He will not fulfil His threatenings against those who despise His spiritual ordinances? And why should we hope this? What reverence could we have for, what trust could we repose in, a God who did not fulfil His threatenings? How could we then trust in His promises? Surely this is a “cord of vanity!” and yet how many are bound by it as if it were “a cart-rope”!
II. Another cord is the reflection, “We are no worse than others.” Men compare themselves with others, perhaps even more iniquitous than themselves, and so arrive at the conclusion that they are not in any great danger. They do this even in temporal things,—e.g., in the matter of drainage. The authorities of a country village or town will listen with the most complete indifference to the warnings of a Government inspector, that they are inviting an outbreak of fever or cholera; and the ground of their indifference is that they know of other villages or towns as badly drained as their own. But does that afford them any protection against the dangers of which they are warned? Men act as foolishly in spiritual matters. Because there are so many sinners they close their eyes to their own dangers or sins. Will God be either unable or afraid to punish transgressors because they are so numerous? Surely this also is a “cord of vanity;” and yet thousands are bound by it to their eternal destruction!
III. “We shall be able to shake ourselves loose from our evil habits by and by.” They imagine that they can repent and reform at any time, and they are firmly resolved to do so before death. Perhaps there could not be found a single sinner who does not secretly cherish in his breast wicked Balaam’s desire, “Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his!” But this idea that men can repent and reform at any time is a delusion. As men continue in sin (1) The power to reform decays. (2) The desire to reform dies out. The love of sin takes entire possession of the man. It enwraps him as ivy unchecked will enwrap a tree; at first with no more strength than a child’s finger, in the end with the strength of a thousand giants. It is the oldest sinners who cling to their vices most desperately, who are bound by them as by cart-ropes. (3) The opportunities for reform rapidly diminish and often end unexpectedly (Prov. xxix. 1; 1 Thess. v. 3).
Inquire by what cords of vanity you are bound. Break them! (Dan. iv. 27.) Look to Jesus, who came into the world for the very purpose of setting at liberty them that are bound.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] See Notes on [Cords of Vanity,] pp. 121, 122.