CRITICAL NOTES.—
Proverbs 16:10. A Divine sentence, literally “divination,” i.e., “an oracle” or “a decision.” “His mouth transgresseth not.” Stuart and Delitzsch read, “In judgment his mouth should not prevaricate, or err.”
Proverbs 16:11. A just weight, literally “the scale” “the upright iron in scales which the weigher holds in his hand” (Fausset). Weights, literally “stones” which were anciently used as weights.
Proverbs 16:13. “They love him,” etc., rather “he who speaketh right, or uprightly, is loved,”
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.— Proverbs 16:10-15
KINGS
It is obvious that some of these proverbs as they stand in our authorised version, do not admit of universal application in relation to human monarchs. History and experience both contradict the assertion that a “Divine sentence” is always, or has been generally, in the lips of a human king, but if we understand the verse, as Miller does (see his comment) as an application of the truth set forth in the preceding verse and in Proverbs 16:1, that God is behind and above all the decrees of earthly potentates, we can at once admit the fact and rejoice in it. Again, it cannot, alas! be said that as a rule “righteous lips are the delight of kings,” or that “in the light of the king’s countenance is life.” Many kings have been themselves incarnations of iniquity, and have bestowed all their favour upon men like themselves, and persecuted often to the death those who have dared to tell them the truth. If this proverb admitted of universal application, Ahab would not have sought to slay Elijah, Jeremiah would not have been imprisoned by Zedekiah, and Herod would not have put to death John the Baptist. And the favour of most of the men who have sat upon the thrones of the world would have had no life in it for some of their subjects. There has been a faithful few in all ages of the world to whom the favour of their wicked rulers would have been very unlike “a cloud of the latter rain.” But the truths taught here are:—
I. That a king ought to be God’s prophet and vicegerent upon the earth. All painters have an ideal in their minds to which they desire to attain in their handiwork. They must place before them the highest model, if they would rise to anything like excellence. And Solomon, as a great theoretic moralist, is here setting before himself, and before all rulers, an ideal king. Kingship among men ought to be a type and symbol of Divine kingship. The loyal obedience which the majority of men have always been ready to yield to those whom they have regarded as their appointed rulers, has its root deep down in the constitution of human nature—it is a prophecy of a need which is only fully met in the rule of the true and perfect King of men—that King whose right it is to reign, and who can do no wrong to any of His subjects. “That was not an inconsiderable moment,” says Carlyle, “when wild armed men first raised their strongest aloft on the buckler-throne, and, with clanging armour and hearts said solemnly, Be thou our acknowledged strongest (well named King, Kön-ning, Canning, or Man that was Able), what a symbol shone now for them—significant with the destinies of the world! A symbol of true guidance in return for loving obedience; properly, if he knew it, the prime want of man. A symbol which might be called sacred, for is there not, in reverence for what is better than we, an indestructible sacredness?” And when a king realises what idea he embodies, and strives to fulfil worthily the duties of his high calling, and in proportion as he does so, he is a representative of God to men. Then he will have a Divine sentence in his mouth because he will be a truth-speaker. His lips will be a reflection of his character. Being a man of truth, he cannot do other than speak the truth. He will be able in a limited sense to use the words of His Divine Ideal, and say, “To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness of the truth” (John 18:37). And as all truth and justice is from God (Proverbs 16:11), he who is a truth-speaker—he from whose lips come only just decisions, utters a “Divine sentence”—is a representative of Him whose “is a just weight and balance,” whose “work are all the weights of the bag.” To such an one it will be “an abomination to commit wickedness”—any kind of iniquity will be detested by him. He will not—he cannot—be a sinless man; the desires and intentions of every good man are always beyond his deeds—he can always say, “To will is present with me, but how to perform that which is good I find not” (Romans 7:18), but he will not commit sin because he loves it. Such a king will be a real benefactor to his nation by exalting the true and the good, and so blessing all. It is a blessing for all men—whether they be good or bad—when the best men in the nation are in the fore-front—when the righteous fill the highest positions in the State. And a true king will gladly avail himself of the service of men of “righteous lips,” and so will be a source of blessing to all his people. The “latter rain” which refreshes the thirsty earth after a long season of drought lets its life-giving drops fall upon the parched leaves of the humblest weed as well as upon the stately oak. And the influence of a wise and godly monarch is beneficial to all classes of his subjects from the highest to the lowest. All such are types—dim fore shadowings—of that “king who reigns in righteousness and who is as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land” (Isaiah 32:1-2).
II. That the stability of a throne is in proportion to the moral excellence of him who sits upon it. The power that men have over other men is lasting in proportion as it has its origin in character. The father’s kingship over his children is immutable in proportion to his goodness. If his rule has its foundation only in his position, his children will not be slow to shake it off as they reach manhood; but if it is founded upon his godliness, they will be compelled to acknowledge it to the day of his death and even beyond it. His throne in his family is “established by righteousness,” the consciences of his children consent to his right to reign among them and over them. The throne of the universe is established by righteousness. “Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: the sceptre of Thy kingdom is a right sceptre. Thou lovest righteousness and hatest wickedness; therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows” (Psalms 45:6-7). This King of Righteousness is now enthroned in the affections and consciences of myriads of His subjects, and He who rules men’s hearts has set his throne upon a firm foundation. And there will come a day when every creature will be compelled by his conscience to yield to “Him that sitteth upon the throne,” the right to reign over them for ever (Revelation 5:13), because they will feel that all his ways are and ever have been “just and true” (Revelation 15:3). If we read the history of the past or look around us now, we find this truth abundantly illustrated. Thrones which have been backed up by mighty armies, and whose occupants have for a few short years been the arbiters of the destinies of millions, have been overturned in a few weeks. And we have but to look at the steps by which such men came to power to find a reason for their fall. None can doubt from the experience of past ages, and from the very constitution of men, that the thrones of the present are founded upon a rock or upon sand, in proportion as those who sit upon them take as their model the king who “judges His people with righteousness and the poor with judgment” (Psalms 72:2).
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
Proverbs 16:10. “A Divine sentence” may be understood either as to its character, or as to its authoritative effect. If taken in the former sense, it means a sentence according to perfect equity; if in the latter, the idea is, that as every judgment or “sentence” of God is decisive and effectual, so that the execution of it cannot be evaded or resisted, such, in measure, is the case with the sentence of kings among men, and in the general idea of a Divine sentence may fairly be included both character and efficiency—both equity and power. When understood of equity, the latter part of the verse, according to the principle of Hebrew parallelisms, will be a kind of counterpart or echo to the former, and when understood of power, the verse might be rendered—“A Divine sentence is in the lips of the king; let not his mouth transgress in judgment.” In proportion to the authoritative and efficacious nature of his sentence, ought he to see to it that the sentence be right. He should weigh well his decision ere he pronounces it, seeing it involves consequences so certain, immediate, and important. And the principle of this lesson applies to all in situations of authority and influence, whether more private or more public.—Wardlaw.
The glaring fact of what Solomon avows in Proverbs 16:9 can be seen in the instance of “a king.” The word of a king can ruin France, and change the whole system of the world. How, possibly, could God govern, unless He could a king? Eternal ages will not get over the edict of a prince, and the banded universe will feel its differences. Must not God control that word? Our passage answers that He does. He may be George III. of the low forehead; his speech is shaped omnisciently. He may be as treacherous as Charles; he does not betray by a hair the counsel of the Almighty. This is a grand thought. A poor princeling may be governed by a girl, and yet, though his utterance might move the globe, we need have no fear. There is “a divination,” i.e., “an oracle,” behind “his lips.” He says what God pleases. And though “his mouth” may have the very treachery of the cup, it has no treachery—even to a grain—to the plans of the All Wise.—Miller.
It cannot be denied but that there is a nearer reference between God and His immediate deputies, the kings of the earth, than any other persons. He that maketh them kings maketh Himself to be their counsel. But then they must make Him the president of their council.—Jermin.
For Homiletics on Proverbs 16:11, considered by itself, see on chap. Proverbs 11:1, page 190.
Proverbs 16:11. The proposition expresses an ownership in Jehovah as the first cause, for, like agriculture (Ecclesiastes 7:15), God instituted weights and measures, as an indispensable ordinance and instrument in just business intercourse.—Zöckler.
Weight and measure, as the invisible and spiritual means by which material possessions are estimated and determined for men, according to their value, are holy unto the Lord, a copy of His law in the outer world, taken up by Himself into His sanctuary; and, therefore, as His work, to be regarded as holy also by men.—Von Gerlach.
The heathen poet Hesiod says, “God gave justice to men.”—Fausset.
He is not only just, but justice belongs to Him. He is not only partly just, but “His work” (and we see at a glance that God’s work is the total universe) is in its very self considered, “all the stones of the bag.” Stones, better weights than iron, because not altering by rust. Bag, in which the stone weights were carried, in the peripatetic barter of the old trades-people. No difficulty should be had in understanding all of which the sentence is capable. God’s work is justice, and justice is His work. The very ideas of equity sprang out of the Eternal Mind. If all this were not so how could God govern the creation, for “It is an abomination to kings to commit wickedness, etc. (Proverbs 16:12).—Miller.
The Jews are said to have kept their standard weights and measures in the sanctuary. The fact might arise from the particularity of the law, and might operate as a remembrancer of the righteousness of Him by whom the law was given, and the weights and measures fixed.… All adulteration of them was therefore a sacrilege. It was not cheating men merely, but defrauding Jehovah, changing what He had fixed.… And from the connection in which the words are here introduced they lead us to observe that while kings are called up to “do justly” themselves in their whole administration and in every department of it, it is, at the same time, a most important part of their official duty to promote among their subjects, to the utmost of their power, the principles and the practice of equity between man and man.—Wardlaw.
Proverbs 16:12. This is true of earthly monarchies. “A throne,” without some equity in it, could not last an instant. If it were unmitigatedly bad, it would be swept out of existence. A king must be just to his people, or else to his soldiers, who support him against his people. His strength is justice, somewhere. The strength of a bad throne is precisely that part of it that is just. But if this be true of a world’s throne, where it has been seen that God governs as well as the king, how not of a Divine throne, that rests solely on its Maker? It is impossible to conceive of a universe without justice, or of anything so complicated being eternally possible without every sort of harmony, and especially that sort which is highest and best. Hence many of the expressions in the eighth chapter (Proverbs 16:22; Proverbs 16:30, etc.), the personage being personified Wisdom, which is holiness or moral light, and which includes all the attributes of justice.—Miller.
The greater men be, the more grievous their faults are when they fall into sin. For—
1. The more bountiful God hath been to them, the more grateful they ought to be to Him, and as He hath increased their wages, so they ought to mend their work; large pay doth duly challenge large pains, and therefore, contrariwise, their great offences must needs deserve the greater punishment.
2. Their sins are very pernicious and pestilent, they bring evil into request, and men by their example will practise it for credit’s sake. When Jeroboam is mentioned, he is usually described by this, that he made Israel to sin.
3. They draw down the plagues and judgments upon the places and people that are under them, as David did. And the strokes which the fearful sins of Manasseh, Jehoiakim, and others brought upon the city and inhabitants of Jerusalem were very lamentable in those days, and very memorable still in these times.… The goodness and justice of men in authority doth better uphold their estate than greatness and riches. “The throne is established by righteousness,” for—
(1) There, and nowhere else, is stability and assurance, where God is a refuge and defence; they stand all firm whom He protecteth, and down they must whom He neglecteth. And whom doth He prefer but the righteous? And what righteous man was ever forsaken?
(2) Equal and upright administration of justice doth knit the hearts of a people to their governors, and the love of the subjects is a strong foot and a mighty munition for the safety of the ruler.
(3) When the magistrate doth right to all and wrong to none, every good and indifferent man will reverence him, and stand in the greater awe of his laws, so that none but such as are desperately rebellious will dare to attempt anything against him.—Dod.
Proverbs 16:13. There never was a kingdom so corrupt that its courts of justice were not used, in the main, against wickedness. There never was a Nero, or a Borgia, who, on the very account of his own crimes, did not find crime sore, and a trouble to him, in those about him. It is one of the strangest miracles of Omnipotence that a universe can take in transgression and yet last. And, while God has made even the wicked “for his decree” (Proverbs 16:4), yet “a pleasure to kings are lips of righteousness, and he who speaks right is loved.”—Miller.
We have here in this passage Solomon’s king, and in these words the delight of his king. For, whereas, many are, and well may be, the delights of kings, this one it is, the delight of righteousness, which sweetens all the rest unto them. This is a royal delight indeed, which makes the king of righteousness to delight in them. And surely needful it is that a king’s lips should delight in righteousness. For fear may compel others, but delight must carry him unto it. Needful is it that righteous lips should be a king’s delight, because it is in kings’ courts that there is too much lying. We read of one who said that he would be a lying prophet in the mouths of all Ahab’s prophets (1 Kings 22:22), to which the answer of God is, Thou shalt go and prevail. Upon which the note of Cajetan is, “God manifested the efficacy of this means—namely, of lying in the Court.” It is needful, therefore, that the king should delight in lips of righteousness, for he that doth himself delight in them will also love others that speak right; yea, will therefore love them that they also may delight in it. For then is righteousness best spoken when delight openeth the door of the lips.—Jermin.
Proverbs 16:14. The report of one may be a mistake, but the relation of many carrieth more force with it. The wrath, therefore, of a king is as messengers of death, enough to pull down the stoutest heart; and if his moved spirit send down this message to any, it is sufficient to tell them and to assure them, that they had need to look unto themselves. But well it is that the wrath of a king is as the messengers of death, and not the executioners of it. For so it ought to be, that himself may have time either to alter or recall his message, and they may have time to whom it is sent to answer for themselves. St. Peter was hasty in wrath when he cut off the ear of Malchus, whereupon Tertullian saith, “The patience of God was wounded in Malchus.” And surely the mercy of God is often wounded in the hasty wrath of a king. Plutarch saith well, that as bodies through a cloud, so through anger things seem greater than they are. To put therefore wrath to a journey, is a good way to moderate, if by nothing else, by wearying the hasty fierceness of it. And let a wise man have respite to meet with it, he will with gentle blasts of cool air easily mitigate the violent force of it. Let him be told of a king’s wrath against him, he need not be told that he take care to prevent it. But, though great be the wrath of heaven against careless sinners, and though many be the messengers that He sendeth to them, yet they all cry, “Who hath believed our report?” Did they hear one word of an earthly king’s anger against them, it would more move them than the whole word of God doth, wherein the message of His anger is so often repeated. The answer which they send back to the message of God’s wrath, is obstinate rebellion in their sinful courses.—Jermin.
ILLUSTRATION
Executions in the East are often very prompt and arbitrary. In many cases the suspicion is no sooner entertained, or the cause of offence given, than the fatal order is issued. The messenger of death hurries to the unsuspecting victim, shows his warrant, and executes his orders that instant, in silence and solitude. Instances of this kind are continually occurring in the Turkish and Persian histories. Such executions were not uncommon among the Jews under the government of their kings. Solomon sent Benaiah as his capidgi, or executioner, to put to death Adonijah, a prince of his own family, and Joab, the commander-in-chief of the forces during the reign of his father. A capidgi likewise beheaded John the Baptist, and carried his head to the court of Herod. To such silent and hasty executioners the royal Preacher seems to refer in the proverb. From the dreadful promptitude with which Benaiah executed the commands of Solomon on Adonijah and Joab, it may be concluded that the executioner of the court was as little ceremonious, and the ancient Jews nearly as passive, as the Turks or Persians. The prophet Elisha is the only person on the inspired record who ventured to resist the bloody mandate of the sovereign (2 Kings 6:32). But if such mandates had not been too common among the Jews, and in general submitted to without resistance, Jehoram had scarcely ventured to despatch a single messenger to take away the life of so eminent a person as Elisha.—Paxton’s Illustrations.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
Proverbs 16:15. As the wise man before teacheth subjects to fear the king’s wrath, and to seek his favour, so here he teacheth kings to join the light of mercy, the softness of clemency, unto the hardness and severity of wrath. Or else we may thus meditate upon the words—the true favour of a king is not only to shine with a cheerful countenance upon them whom he affecteth, but sometimes to look through a thick cloud upon them. For as the light of the sun giveth life to the fruits of the earth, but the cloud of latter rain giveth bigness and fulness unto them, so the light of the king’s countenance giveth life to the fruits of earthly honour, but it is the dewy cloud of his wise displeasure, when things are amiss, that giveth fulness of worth unto them whom his favour honoureth. The latter rain many times does them more good and sheweth in the king greater favour to them than his former sunshining countenance. But to apply the verse unto a fuller profit. The light of the countenance of the King of heaven is Jesus Christ our Lord, who is the brightness of His glory; and in this light there is life indeed. For as He is light and in Him is no darkness, so He is life, and in Him is no death. It was in the latter time that He was clouded with the veil of our flesh, and that He became a heavenly cloud of the latter rain unto us, pouring out the glorious dew of His precious blood for us, that so, we being watered therewith might even swell in grace, and grow to a fulness of glory in heaven.… In Judea usually about harvest time there are evening clouds which, yielding a sweet rain, do much increase the largeness of the fruits; and in the evening of the world, when the harvest was great, this heavenly cloud was sent unto us, whereby the fruit of God’s Church, confined before to Judea, was enlarged throughout the world.—Jermin.
For Homiletics on Proverbs 16:16, see chap. Proverbs 8:10-11, page 107.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
Not wisdom, but “to get wisdom.” Wisdom itself is glorious. Wisdom in God is above all praise. It will be the gem of Paradise. It will be the grand opulence of the family of the skies. But what the great Preacher would confine us to in the language of the text is, our getting wisdom as the evangelical condition; our getting it, moreover, in time, like “the latter rain,” so as to be in season for the crop; for, as a former sentence urges (chap. Proverbs 4:7), “As the chiefest thing in wisdom, get wisdom.” Because, “what shall it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, if God is his “King,” and “the wrath of the King” makes all His providences but as messengers of gloom (Proverbs 16:14).—Miller.
Let us call to mind in word-outline the scene on a spring morning in the city of David, when David’s son was “king in Jerusalem.” Before the portico of the fragrant cedar-house of Solomon, the royal guards, Cherithites and Pelethites, executioners and messengers of the king’s behests, waited their master’s coming. Impatient steeds from Arabia, or the far-off banks of the Nile, pawed the highway, and shook with pride their plumes and costly accoutrements. Soldiers, with silken standards blazoned with the sacred Name, and throwing back the sunlight from their targets and shields of beaten gold, kept their ranks firm and close, as if the foe were at hand, and the silver trumpets waited but to sound the battle charge. Veterans, grown grey in David’s service, and wearing the laurels of many a hard-fought field, were driven all along the line in their chariots of State, and the grim faces of these old warriors gleamed with satisfaction as they looked about them on the evidences of their nation’s military strength.… But now the trumpets sound, and the echoing shout of welcome rises on the morning air. Solomon, arrayed in all his glory, appears, and the cry, “God save the king!” is heard on every side. Children chanting their sweet hosannahs to David’s son and David’s heir strew the path with the lilies of the field, or the roses of Sharon, and the boughs of palms. Others throw their garments upon the dusty highway as the long procession moves to the soft music of Eastern minstrelsy along the narrow streets, and out upon the broader pathway leading to the royal gardens, or the cool retreats of Olivet, each beaming face by the wayside, or peering from latticed balcony, each welcome shout and song from the daughters of Jerusalem, or the trained singers of the temple choirs, attest the affection of a grateful people, and make of the monarch’s morning progress a triumphal ovation. Such was Solomon in all his glory; such the popular acclaim, and we might go on to tell until the tale were tiresome to tell how “Solomon surpassed all the kings of the earth,” in riches, splendour, fame. But was this the principal thing? Had Solomon in getting all this glory, and in winning all this praise, gained that with which his soul was satisfied, and the cravings of his nobler self appeased. Years before.… “Give me wisdom and knowledge,” was his prayer … Even in the wishes of one so lately invested with royal power, wisdom in its relation to his Maker, knowledge so far as it concerned his fellow-men, seemed the principal thing. And that prayer was heard in heaven … He to whom God gave such gifts may well direct us to the possession of this principal thing. We need not ask for an earthly teacher with higher qualifications.—Bishop Perry.
Gold is the crown of metals, wisdom is the crown of knowledge. Silver beareth the image of an earthly king, understanding beareth the image of the King of heaven. Gold is the treasure of the purse, wisdom the treasure of the soul. Silver is the price of outward commodities, understanding is the price of inward virtues; by that sought, by that bought. Wherefore by how much knowledge is better than metal, virtue than worldly commodities, the image of God than the image of man; by so much wisdom and knowledge are better than silver and gold. But they are not wisdom and understanding that are here compared with them, there being no comparison between them. But the very getting of wisdom and understanding, the very pains taken in procuring of them, the very honour of being a possessor of them, is better than all the gold and silver in the world.—Jermin.
The question only is written in the book; the learner is expected to work out the answer. We, of this mercantile community, are expert in the arithmetic of time. Here is an example to test our skill in casting up the accounts of eternity. Deeper interests are at stake; greater care should be taken to avoid an error, more labour willingly expended in making the balance true.… The question is strictly one of degree. It is not, whether wisdom or gold is the more precious portion for a soul. That question was settled long ago by common consent. All who in any sense make a profession of faith in God, confess that wisdom is better than gold; and this teacher plies them with another problem, How much better? Two classes of persons have experience in this matter—those who have chosen the meaner portion, and those who have chosen the nobler; but only the latter class are capable of calculating the difference suggested by the text. Those who give their heart to money understand only the value of their own portion; those who possess treasures in heaven have tasted both kinds, and can appreciate the difference between them.… As the man born blind cannot tell how much better light is than his native darkness—as the slave born under the yoke of his master cannot tell how much better liberty is than his life-long bondage—so he who has despised treasures at God’s right hand cannot conceive how much more precious they are to a man in his extremity than the riches that perish in the use.… But even these cannot compute the difference. Eye hath not seen it, ear hath not heard it. Wisdom from above, like the love of God, passeth knowledge.… How much better is wisdom than gold? Better by all the worth of a soul—by all the blessedness of heaven—by all the length of eternity. But all these expressions are only tiny lines that children fling into the ocean to measure its depth withal.… In a time of war between two great maritime nations, a ship belonging to one of them is captured upon the high seas by a ship belonging to the other. The captain, with a few attendants, goes on board his prize, and directs the native crew to steer for the nearest point of his country’s shore. The prize is very rich. The victors occupy themselves wholly in collecting and counting the treasure, and arranging their several shares, abandoning the care of the ship to her original owners. These, content with being permitted to handle the helm, allow their rivals to handle the treasure unmolested. After a long night, with a steady breeze, the captured mariners quietly, at dawn, run the ship into a harbour on their own shores. The conquerers are in turn made captives. They lose all the gold which they grasped too eagerly, and their liberty besides. In that case it was much better to have hold of the helm which directed the ship, than of the money which the ship contained. Those who seized the money, and neglected the helm, lost even the money which was in their hands. Those who neglected the money and held the helm, obtained the money which they neglected and liberty too. They arrived at home, and all their wealth with them. Thus they who make money their aim suffer a double loss, and they who seek the wisdom from above secure a double gain. The gold with which men are occupied will profit little, if the voyage of life be not pointed home. If themselves are lost, their possessions are worthless.—Arnot.