LECTURE LXXV.

PROV. XXIV. 23-34.

"These things also belong to the wise. It is not good to have respect to persons in judgment. He that saith unto the wicked, Thou art righteous; him shall the people curse, nations shall abhor him: but to them that rebuke him shall be delight, and a good blessing shall come upon them. Every man shall kiss his lips that giveth a right answer. Prepare thy work without, and make it fit for thyself in the field; and afterwards build thine house. Be not a witness against thy neighbour without cause; and deceive not with thy lips. Say not, I will do so to him as he hath done to me; I will render to the man according to his work. I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding; and, lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down. Then I saw, and considered it well; I looked upon it, and received instruction. Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep so shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man."

THE principle laid down in the first of these verses, while it immediately relates to the public exercise of judicial power, and (as we have had occasion more than once to notice, and to show from many express citations from the Old Testament,) is by divine authority strongly and repeatedly urged on judges under the ancient economy, has obviously, at the same time, a direct and forcible application to other two cases: to the case of private arbitration, and to the discipline of the church of God. Every arbiter or referee, in any cause, is by such reference constituted a judge, and bound to the honourable and faithful exercise of the judicial function. Departure from this in one iota would involve the twofold guilt of a violation of integrity

and a breach of trust,-of a sin against God and a crime against man. And as to the discipline of the church, the very same law is actually laid down for it, as for the dispensation of justice by civil functionaries.*

Verse 24. "He that saith unto the wicked, Thou art righteous; him shall the people curse, nations shall abhor him." Integrity, honesty, justice, are virtues of society, which the men of the world, though themselves without godliness, and regardless of the dishonour done by the violation of them to the divine Lawgiver, are fully competent to appreciate, in regard to their influence on the condition and well-being of civil communities. They will bear with much that is dissolute and vile in the conduct of their rulers. They think little of it. They regard it as if it affected only their private characters,-nay, in this respect they are not at all ill-pleased to have the countenance of such high example in what they are inclined to practise themselves; and as to religion, they never give a thought to the question whether they know anything about it or not:-but they are very sensitive as to the violation of the principles of equity in the administration of the laws. When a public man acts a flagrantly unrighteous and dishonest part,-whether he does it under the influence of fear, or self-interest, or avarice, or indolence, or favouritism, or any other misleading principle and motive, he becomes the object of general detestation. His people, instead of looking up to him with affectionate gratitude and confidence, become alienated from him, andtimidly and secretly perhaps at first, but more and more openly and loudly as they find a responsive feeling in the bosoms of others, they load himself and his government with bitter execrations:-so that if the man has any feeling, he will read his sin in his punishment, as, amidst spreading and thickening murmurs and imprecations, coming, even though partially on his ear, he trembles on his throne:-for though he may have found that "the king's

*Comp. Lev. xix. 15 as a specimen of such passages in the Old Testament, and Jam. ii. 1-9 for the same principle in the New,

wrath is as the roaring of a lion," and that his subjects for a time quailed before it, yet the wrath of a once awakened and vengeful people, roused and united by a sense of common and deep-felt wrongs, is incomparably more fearful.

How pleasing the contrast, verse 25:-"But to them that rebuke him shall be delight, and a good blessing shall come upon them." Whence this delight? From various and obvious sources:―as 1. From the consciousness of having done rightly. He who acts unjustly, treating the wicked as righteous, and the righteous as wicked, cannot have this;-the sweetest and richest of inward delights,-infinitely surpassing, in real value and happy influence, all the charms of adulation and flattery. Of all conceivable things, indeed, to a man who has any conscience at all remaining, or any sensibility, praise must be the most cutting and distressing when there is the inward consciousness of its being undeserved, and that it comes out of either ignorant or feigned lips :2. From the possession of public approbation, affection, and confidence. The attachment of others to him should not be either a man's or a magistrate's supreme end. But still, the enjoyment of it is sweet. Few things, indeed, to a mind of sensibility, can be more so. For a monarch not only to be greeted with the assurance by the lip of fulsome flattery, but to see and know by indubitable proofs, that he reigns in the hearts of a devoted and grateful people, must be a spring, to that monarch's bosom, of a "delight" inexpressible:-3. From a sense of divine approbation. Human commendation and attachment little avail any one, unless they are in harmony with this. God's blessing, and that is indeed "a good blessing," the best of all,-comes upon the head of the man who, in the firm exercise of right principle, in opposition to all intimidation and to all allurement, to the frown of one and the favour of another, keeps, with unshaken steadfastness, to the dictates of straight-forward truth, and unbending rectitude.-4. From the affection and complacency of all good men, and the grateful acknowledgments of those whose causes have been carefully, disinterestedly and righteously investigated and de

termined :-even those who fail having, notwithstanding, a testimony in their consciences to the soundness of principle and the sincerity of the desire to do right, with which all has been conducted.

This kind of general approbation is strongly expressed in the following verse:-" Every man shall kiss his lips that giveth a right answer."-It is a truth, established by the history of the world, that a truly conscientious and good ruler, who acts upon principle, and in all things shows that he is seeking his people's good, will be the object of a warmly loyal attachment, such as would rally that people round him at the risk of life for his protection and that of his throne,— ready to shed their blood, if need be, in his cause. It has been at times, of course, the fate even of such, to be mistaken and misrepresented; and to become for a season the victims of prejudice and alienation most unmerited. But the misapprehensions having been cleared away and the suspicions proved unfounded, the wrong felt to have been done him has but endeared him the more.

Similar will be the attachment of the people to such ministers and counsellors of the crown as "give a right answer"—an answer dictated, not by flattery, not by a desire to secure the royal favour to themselves by conforming to the royal likings, but by a sincere regard to right principle and to the national welfare;—that is, public favour will be the lot of the man who, having the royal ear, avails himself of the privilege and the confidence, to give faithful and disinterested counsel. And although royal fools (for such there have been) may cast off such men, because they refuse to give counsel against their own convictions, merely to please their masters and keep their places,yet monarchs even of ordinary principle will respect the conscientious principle that sacrifices interest to fidelity and truth; and on experiencing the happy results, will "kiss the lips that gave a right answer" instead of one time-serving, selfish, and flattering.

And the words certainly involve a pointed condemnation of all the venial and unworthy adulation too often lavished

on wicked men when in power, by sycophant courtiers; by orators, and poets, and party authors; by ministers of state, and alas! by ministers too of the altar of the God of truth! -palliating and excusing vice and injustice, extolling unreal or questionable virtues,-investing wickedness and licentiousness with a halo of false and illusive splendour,—bestowing on the tyrant or the debauchee the honour and the praise that belong only to the upright prince and to the good man. O how sadly and criminally have human talents and human influence been thus prostrated and prostituted at the shrine of power, in the spirit of selfish venality!"This proverb," says a judicious expositor, "contains a useful rule for private persons, as well as for rulers. When we are asked an important question, or consulted on an affair of importance, every man will esteem and love us, if we 'give a right answer.' And, that our answer may be right, it is necessary that it should be sincere, prudent, and meek. We must not give an answer calculated merely to please the person that advises with us; for that would not be consistent with integrity. We must consider all the circumstances of the case, that we may give a proper and pertinent answer; and we must speak with that meekness which renders wisdom lovely. If our answers to those who advise with us have these qualifications, although they may sometimes be distasteful, because truth compels us to speak things disagreeable, yet they will tend, on the whole, to the advancement of our character:-and our character is no contemptible object, because the goodness of it is necessary for us in accomplishing the great business of life, glorifying God, and doing good to men.'

There is one question, my hearers, to which, above all others, “a right answer" is desirable. The question is that of the jailor at Philippi:—and assuredly he would have kissed those lips that gave him the answer,—the faith of which inspired his own heart and those of his family with "joy unspeakable." It was the right-the only right an

* Lawson.