CRITICAL NOTES.—
Proverbs 14:30. A sound heart, “a quiet heart.” Envy, “passion,” “perturbation.”
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Proverbs 14:30
A SOUND HEART
The blessed effects of a contented spirit. The “sound heart” being here placed in contrast to “envy,” shows that it means a spirit that is content with its lot in life—that is not ever reaching after the unattainable—that is not jealous of others who are in more favourable circumstances. Such a quietness of spirit is—
Proverbs 14:1. Favourable to bodily health. The mind of a passionate man wears out the bodily frame, and no passion that can possess the soul is more imperious and agitating, and consequently more injurious to health than envy. Jealousy is said to be as “cruel as the grave” (Song of Solomon 8:6), and it is cruel not only to the objects of it, but also to him who allows it a dwelling-place in his spirit. Its withering effects are felt even in the body, it is “rottenness of the bones” in this sense. But a contented spirit goes a long way to promote and to preserve bodily health. A quiet spirit is a stranger to all those restless feelings which give sleepless nights and anxious days to the envious man.
II. It is indispensable to the attainment of a noble character. Calmness of spirit gives room for the development of all the graces and virtues which go to make up the “perfect man” (Ephesians 4:13). Growth in nature demands some degree of quietness and calmness to develop itself. The mighty forest oak of a hundred years has attained its present noble dimensions by processes which have gone on for the most part in days and nights of stillness. So a character of moral strength and beauty can be formed only in the atmosphere of a calm and well-governed spirit.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
“Envy” excitement of any kind; perturbation; a wise saw, perhaps, of the old hygiene, but true spiritually. Religion rejoices in peace. Mad passion may be overruled; but so can our lusts be. As much as lieth in us, we should have peace. The soul is a temple (1 Corinthians 3:17), and “holiness becometh Thy house, O Lord, for ever” (Psalms 93:5).—Miller.
The word sound signifies healthful, free from moral distempers—the distempers of “the inner man,” such as discontent, malice, and envy. Strictly speaking a “sound heart”—a heart entirely free from the evil passions that belong to fallen nature—is not to be found. But in Scripture a sound heart, and even a perfect heart, are phrases used to signify the real sincerity and predominant rule of right principles and actions. Envy, perhaps the most odious in itself, and the most corroding and torturing to the spirit, is here called “rottenness of the bones”—not a mere surface sore, but a deep-seated disease; like caries, or inflammation in the substance of the bone itself.—Wardlaw.
I. The nature of envy. It is a pain, or uneasiness, arising from an apprehension of the prosperity and good fortune of others; not because we suffer from their welfare, nor that our condition may be bettered by our uneasiness, but merely because their condition is bettered. There is a strong jealousy of pre-eminence and superiority implanted in our nature by Almighty God, for wise and noble purposes, to excite to the pursuit of laudable attainments, and the imitation of good and great actions. This principle is emulation. It is also an uneasiness occasioned by the good fortunes of others; but not because we repine at their prosperity, but because we ourselves have not attained the same good success. Its effect is to excite us to great designs, but when it meets with a corrupt disposition it degenerates into envy, the most malignant passion in human nature, the worst weed of the worst soil. So far from stirring up to imitation, envy labours to taint and depreciate what it does not so much as attempt to equal.
II. The cure for envy.
1. That we endeavour to take a right estimate of things. The laws of God are the eternal standards of good and evil; what they declare valuable, or enjoin as wise, are truly so, and what they disclaim as hurtful or worthless are, in fact, to be so regarded.
2. That we try to make a right judgment of our own worth and abilities. If we do this, we shall find that there are others in the world at least as wise and as good as we are, and perhaps we shall also find, that if merit were the standard of honour and affluence, we should not abound altogether as much as we do.
3. Reflect seriously upon the vanity of all worldly advantage. Shall we envy him whose breath is in his nostrils? whose glory fadeth as the flower of grass?—Delany.
Envy is called a passion, and passion means suffering. The patient who is ill of envy is a sinner and a sufferer too. He is an object of pity. It is a mysterious and terrible disease. The nerves of sensation within the man are attached by some unseen hand to his neighbours all around him, so that every step of advancement which they make tears the fibres that lie next his heart. The wretch enjoys a moment’s relief when the mystic cord is temporarily slackened by his neighbour’s fall; but his agony immediately begins again, for he anticipates another twitch as soon as the fallen is restored to prosperity.… The cure of envy, as wrought by the love of Christ, is not only a deliverance from pain, it is, even in the present world, an unspeakable gain. That man will speedily grow rich who gets and puts into his bag not only all his own winnings, but also all the winnings of his neighbours.… The Nile, contrary to the analogy of other great streams, flows more than a thousand miles without receiving the waters of a single tributary; the consequence is, that it grows no greater as it courses over that vast line. Other rivers are every now and then receiving converging streams from the right and left, and thereby their volume continually increases until it reaches the sea. The happiness of man is like the flow of water in a river. If you enjoy nothing but what is your own, your tiny rivulet of contentment, so far from increasing, grows smaller by degrees, until it sinks unseen into the sand, and leaves you in a desert of despair; but when all the acquisitions of your neighbours go to swell its bulk, your enjoyment will flow like a river enriched by many affluents, growing ever greater as life approaches its close. It is some such river that makes glad the city of God.—Arnot.
Socrates called envy the soul’s saw; and wished that envious men had more eyes and ears than others, that they might have the more torment by beholding and hearing other men’s happiness.—Trapp.
Envy at last crawls forth from hell’s dire throng,
Of all the direfull’st! Her black locks hung long,
Attired with curling serpents; her pale skin
Was almost dropped from her sharp bones within;
And at her breasts stuck vipers, which did prey
Upon her panting heart both night and day,
Sucking black blood from thence, which to repair,
Both day and night they left fresh poisons there.
Her garments were deep-stained in human gore,
And torn by her own hands, in which she bore
A knotted whip and bowl, which to the brim
Did with green gall and juice of wormwood swim;
With which, when she was drunk, she furious grew,
And lashed herself; thus from the accursed crew
Envy, the worst of fiends, herself presents,
Envy, good only when she herself torments.
Cowley.