Hear now my reasoning, and hearken to the pleadings of my lips.
Ver. 6. Hear now my reasoning, &c.] Or, hear, I pray you. Be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; suffer the word of exhortation and of reprehension; sharp though it be, and to the flesh irksome, yet suffer it, since it is for your good. Quintilian testifieth of Vespasian, that he was patientissimus veri, one that could well endure to be told the truth; but there are few Vespasians. Many people are like the nettle: touch it never so gently, it will sting you.
And hearken to the pleadings of my lips] Heb. The contention of my lips. See that you not only hear, but hearken to it with attention of body, intention of mind, and retention of memory: neither God nor man can bear it, to speak, and not be heard. "See that ye refuse not him that speaketh," &c., Hebrews 12:25. See that ye slight not, shift not off Christ speaking to you in his ministers and messengers; for if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven.