CRITICAL NOTES.—
Proverbs 29:8. Bring a city, etc., literally, “set a city on fire.”
Proverbs 29:9. The second clause should rather be “he rageth and laugheth (i.e., the fool), and there is no rest.”
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Proverbs 29:8
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 to 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 … Judgment 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 place,” etc. (Isaiah 28:14-22.)
II. A wise man is a social blessing. We have before seen (see on chap. Proverbs 14:16, 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.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
Surely it was wisdom in the king and people of Nineveh, instead of bringing their city into a snare by scornful rebellion, to avert by timely humiliation the impending destruction. (Jonah 3:5-10.) Let the people be gathered; let the ministers of the Lord gird themselves to their work of weeping and accepted pleaders for the land. (Joel 2:17.) Surely “except the Lord of Hosts had left us a very small remnant” of these powerful intercessors, “we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah.” (Isaiah 1:9.) Praised be God! The voice is yet heard—“Destroy it not, for a blessing is in it.” (Isaiah 65:8.) The salt of the earth preserves it from corruption. (Matthew 5:13.) Shall not we, then, honour these wise men with reverential gratitude—“My father—my father! the chariots of Israel, and the horsemen thereof?” … Moses— Exodus 32:10-14; Deuteronomy 9:8-20; Psalms 106:23; Aaron— Numbers 16:48; Phinehas Proverbs 25:11; Psalms 106:30. Elijah— 1 Kings 18:42-45; James 5:16; James 5:18; Jeremiah 18:20; Daniel 9:3-20; Amos 7:1-6. The righteous remnant— Isaiah 1:9; Isaiah 6:13. Comp. Genesis 18:32; Job 22:30; Jeremiah 5:1; Ezekiel 22:30-31. Contrast Proverbs 13:5.—Bridges.
For Homiletics on the subject of Proverbs 29:9, see on chaps. Proverbs 23:9, and Proverbs 26:3-11, pages 665 and 716.