Sudden fears are attended with a stupifying influence upon those that want faith, but far different is the fact with regard to the righteous. The righteous man is bold as a lion, for he knows, like the three children in Babylon, that the God whom he serves is able to deliver him, or to render him happy, though the desolation of others should involve the destruction, not only of all his outward comforts, but of his mortal life *.

The Lord is a sure ground of confidence in the worst of times. Our proper exercise in such seasons, is to trust in the Lord, and to pour out our hearts before him, knowing that he will be a refuge for us. This comfortable doctrine is illustrated and enforced in almost every Psalm.

May not one, then, exclaim with the royal philosopher, "Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding!" The way in which wisdom leads us, is attended with every blessing, and free from every evil; or if there be any evil in it, so wonderful is the providence of God, that it is turned into good. Thus is Sampson's riddle verified to every afflicted saint. May our lives be those of the righteous, and our last end their's!

The wise man next directs us, to make no unnecessary delay in the performance of any good work.

Ver. 27. Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it.

To do justly, is one great point of religion; and we ought not unnecessarily to delay giving every man his due, for the delay of justice is temporary injustice. When we owe money to our neighbours, which they require from us at present, and we, though able, defer payment till afterwards, we are plainly guilty of injustice; for a man has the same right to his property now,

*Hab. iii. 17, 18. Psal. xlvi.

that he will have a year hence. We find men reproved and threatened for keeping in their own hands the hire of the labourer. The same censure may be applied to those who refuse to pay just debts, or to restore to its rightful owner any piece of lost property which they have found; for we are not to do what we will with that which is not ours, nor are we to owe to another any thing but love.

We owe love and the proper fruits of it to our fellow-creatures, according to their necessities and characters, and our connection with them; and we transgress the rule of righteousness, if we withhold even from our enemies that which is due to them by the law of Christ; for many things are to be reckoned just debts from us on his account, which they have no title to claim for their own sakes. It may be difficult for us to render to others what is due to them by the laws of justice or charity; but the question is not, whether it is easy, but whether it is in the power of our hands, to render unto others that good which is due to them. The fruits of love are often labours, but they are not such labours of love as those which our Redeemer cheerfully performed for us, nor is any man a loser by them *.

What is in the power of our hands to-day, may not be in our power to-morrow, and therefore we ought not to delay the performance of any good work †.

Ver. 28. Say not unto thy neighbour, Go, and come again, and to-morrow I will give thee; when thou hast it by thee.

Delays in any part of duty, furnish a strong presumption that we do not perform it cheerfully. We are commanded, not only to do good works, but to be ready to every good work; not only to shew mercy,

*Heb. vi, 10.

Gal. vi. 10. Eccl. xi. 2.

He that gives

but to shew it with cheerfulness. speedily, gives twice; but he that gives with slow reluctance, gives in part a denial. Much of the benefit is often lost to the receiver, and much of the gratitude to the giver, by telling our neighbour to go and come again.

There is a manner of giving that but ill accords with that humanity and mercy which should dispose us to give. Airs of superiority assumed even to the meanest of our fellow-creatures, are unbecoming; for however inferior to us in point of station, they are still our neighbours, and God commands us to love them as ourselves. God often delays answering our prayers, but he is infinitely and essentially superior to us; yet his delays are all in wisdom and love. When it is fit that his petitioners should receive what they ask, he gives before they ask, or whilst they are yet speaking he hears.

In one case, the wise man allows us to defer giving. When we have it not by us, and when we cannot give at all in a consistency with more urgent duties, we may refuse to give; but still we must have hearts to give, were it in our power. And if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to what a man hath, and not according to what he hath not.

The next direction is against doing evil to our neighbours.

Ver. 29. Devise not evil against thy neighbour, seeing he dwelleth securely by thee.

Our fellow-men are our neighbours, and we are destitute of the love of God if we feel no love to them. If the practice be an index of what passes within, we must conclude that man to be wholly destitute of love, who can wilfully hurt those whom he is required to love as himself. Such a man cannot surely pretend to religion; or if he does, he is at best like a tinkling

brass, or a sounding cymbal, for his professions are emptiness and hypocrisy.

At the day of judgment, they shall be doomed to hell, who did not serve their neighbour in love; where, then, must those appear whose practice was quite the reverse?

All injurious persons are wicked, and the more contrivance there is in any evil that we do, it has so much the greater malignity in it *. It is criminal to devise evil against any person; but it is double iniquity to hurt those that dwell securely by us, for this in effect is a breach of trust, and an indication of a heart base and depraved beyond the common pitch of human wickedness. The meek and the quiet of the land are the persons who dread no injury from us, as they plot none against others; and the Lord Jesus, to whom all judgment is committed, is the Redeemer of all such persons. He hath pronounced a blessing on them, and will avenge them of their enemies; for with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth †.

We must not even contend with our neighbours by hard words, when they have done nothing to provoke us; otherwise we are volunteers in the devil's service, sinning without putting him to the trouble of tempting us.

Ver. 30. Strive not with a man without cause, if he have done thee no harm.

If a man has injured us, we ought to forgive him. Do we believe that God for Christ's sake hath forgiven us ten thousand talents, and shall we reckon it a hard matter, at Christ's command, to forgive our brother a few pence?

If the unforgiving shall never enter into heaven, what curses shall for ever lie upon those who are

Mic. ii. 1.

Isa. xi. 4. Mic. ii. 9, Psal, lxxii. 12, 14.

guilty of unprovoked injuries? Railers and revilers stand excluded from the kingdom of God, and the admission of injurious persons, like Saul the Pharisee, into the kingdom of God, is to be regarded as a miracle of mercy.

It may possibly be alleged, that injurious persons are often prosperous in the world. It may be so in some circumstances, yet,

Ver. 31. Envy thou not the oppressor, and chuse none of his ways.

Imagine not that a man can be happy in the enjoyment of that which he has gained by dishonest means. Envy or admiration of his success, might lead us to imitate his unrighteous behaviour. Though his wine sparkle, let us remember that there is poison in the cup. Ver. 32. For the froward is abomination to the Lord; but his secret is with the righteous.

That man who is detested by the Lord, is so far from being happy, that he is miserable and accursed. Can he know true happiness, who is looked upon with an angry countenance by him whose smiles are heaven, and whose frowns are hell? Such is the situation of oppressors of every rank, from the mighty Nimrods of the world, who employ themselves in general massacres and desolations, down to the petty parish oppressors, who grind the faces of their poor neighbours, and by adding field to field, to the ruin of many families, endeavour to plant themselves alone in the countryside *.

"But his secret is with the righteous." They enjoy a fellowship with God unknown to the world. He discovers to them the secret mysteries of grace, refreshes their souls with the manifestations of his special love, and blesses their substance by the unper

*Isa. v. 8,-10. Hab. ii.