A Closer Look At The Book Of Proverbs

[airIam2worship]

MHC

Solomon, having warned us not to do evil, here teaches us how to do well. It is not enough for us to shun the occasions of sin, but we must study the methods of duty.
 
   I. We must have a continual regard to the word of God and endeavour that it may be always ready to us.
 
1. The sayings of wisdom must be our principles by which we must govern ourselves, our monitors to warn us of duty and danger; and therefore,
 
(1.) We must receive them readily:
 
  "Incline thy ear to them (Pr 4:20); humbly bow to them; diligently listen to them."
 
The attentive hearing of the word of God is a good sign of a work of grace begun in the heart and a good means of carrying it on. It is to be hoped that those are resolved to do their duty who are inclined to know it.
 
(2.) We must retain them carefully (Pr 4:21); we must lay them before us as our rule:
 
  "Let them not depart from thy eyes; view them, review them, and in every thing aim to conform to them."
 
We must lodge them within us, as a commanding principle, the influences of which are diffused throughout the whole man:
 
  "Keep them in the midst of thy heart, as things dear to thee, and which thou art afraid of losing."
 
Let the word of God be written in the heart, and that which is written there will remain.
 
2. The reason why we must thus make much of the words of wisdom is because they will be both food and physic to us, like the tree of life, Re 22:2; Eze 47:12. Those that seek and find them, find and keep them, shall find in them,
 
(1.) Food: For they are life unto those that find them, Pr 4:22. As the spiritual life was begun by the word as the instrument of it, so by the same word it is still nourished and maintained. We could not live without it; we may by faith live upon it.

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(2.) Physic.  They are health to all their flesh, to the whole man, both body and soul; they help to keep both in good plight. They are health to all flesh, so the LXX.  There is enough to cure all the diseases of this distempered world.  They are a medicine to all their flesh (so the word is), to all their corruptions, for they are called flesh, to all their grievances, which are as thorns in the flesh. There is in the word of God a proper remedy for all our spiritual maladies.
 
  II. We must keep a watchful eye and a strict hand upon all the motions of our inward man, Pr 4:23. Here is,
 
1. A great duty required by the laws of wisdom, and in order to our getting and preserving wisdom: Keep thy heart with all diligence. God, who gave us these souls, gave us a strict charge with them: Man, woman, keep thy heart; take heed to thy spirit, De 4:9. We must maintain a holy jealousy of ourselves, and set a strict guard, accordingly, upon all the avenues of the soul; keep our hearts from doing hurt and getting hurt, from being defiled by sin and disturbed by trouble; keep them as our jewel, as our vineyard; keep a conscience void of offence; keep out bad thoughts; keep up good thoughts; keep the affections upon right objects and in due bounds.  Keep them with all keepings (so the word is); there are many ways of keeping things--by care, by strength, by calling in help, and we must use them all in keeping our hearts; and all little enough, so deceitful are they, Jer 17:9. Or above all keepings; we must keep our hearts with more care and diligence than we keep any thing else. We must keep our eyes (Job 31:1), keep our tongues (Ps 34:13), keep our feet (Ec 5:1), but, above all, keep our hearts.
 
2. A good reason given for this care, because out of it are the issues of life. Out of a heart well kept will flow living issues, good products, to the glory of God and the edification of others.  Or, in general, all the actions of the life flow from the heart, and therefore keeping that is making the tree good and healing the springs.  Our lives will be regular or irregular, comfortable or uncomfortable, according as our hearts are kept or neglected.
 
  III. We must set a watch before the door of our lips, that we offend not with our tongue (Pr 4:24): Put away from thee a froward mouth and perverse lips. Our hearts being naturally corrupt, out of them a great deal of corrupt communication is apt to come, and therefore we must conceive a great dread and detestation of all manner of evil words, cursing, swearing, lying, slandering, brawling, filthiness, and foolish talking, all which come from a froward mouth and perverse lips, that will not be governed either by reason or religion, but contradict both, and which are as unsightly and ill- favoured before God as a crooked distorted mouth drawn awry is before men. All manner of tongue sins, we must, by constant watchfulness and stedfast resolution, put from us, put far from us, abstaining from all words that have an appearance of evil and fearing to learn any such words.
 
  IV. We must make a covenant with our eyes:
 
"Let them look right on and straight before thee, Pr 4:25. Let the eye be fixed and not wandering; let it not rove after every thing that presents itself, for then it will be diverted form good and ensnared in evil. Turn it from beholding vanity; let thy eye be single and not divided; let thy intentions be sincere and uniform, and look not asquint at any by-end."
 
We must keep our eye upon our Master, and be careful to approve ourselves to him; keep our eye upon our rule, and conform to that; keep our eye upon our mark, the prize of the high calling, and direct all towards that. Oculum in metam--The eye upon the goal.
 
  V. We must act considerately in all we do (Pr 4:26): Ponder the path of thy feet, weigh it (so the word is);
 
"put the word of God in one scale, and what thou hast done, or art about to do, in the other, and see how they agree; be nice and critical in examining whether thy way be good before the Lord and whether it will end well."
 
We must consider our past ways and examine what we have done, and our present ways, what we are doing, whither we are going, and see that we walk circumspectly. It concerns us to consider what are the duties and what the difficulties, what are the advantages and what the dangers, of our way, that we may act accordingly.
 
"Do nothing rashly."
 
  VI. We must act with steadiness, caution, and consistency:
 
  "Let all thy ways be established (Pr 4:26) and be not unstable in them, as the double-minded man is; halt not between two, but go on in an even uniform course of obedience; turn not to the right hand nor to the left, for there are errors on both hands, and Satan gains his point if he prevails to draw us aside either way. Be very careful to remove thy foot from evil; take heed of extremes, for in them there is evil, and let thy eyes look right on, that thou mayest keep the golden mean."
 
Those that would approve themselves wise must always be watchful.

[airIam2worship]

MHC

 INTRODUCTION TO PROVERBS CHAPTER 5
 
The scope of this chapter is much the same with that of Proverbs 2. To write the same things, in other words, ought not to be grievous, for it is safe, Php 3:1. Here is,
 
  I. An exhortation to get acquaintance with and submit to the laws of wisdom in general, Pr 5:2.
 
  II. A particular caution against the sin of whoredom, Pr 5:3-14.
 
  III. Remedies prescribed against that sin.
 
1. Conjugal love, Pr 5:15-20.
 
2. A regard to God's omniscience, Pr 5:21.
 
3. A dread of the miserable end of wicked people, Pr 5:22-23. And all little enough to arm young people against those fleshly lusts which war against the soul.
 
Ver. 1. thru Ver. 14.
 
Here we have,
 
  I. A solemn preface, to introduce the caution which follows, Pr 5:1-2.  Solomon here addresses himself to his son, that is, to all young men, as unto his children, whom he has an affection for and some influence upon. In God's name, he demands attention; for he writes by divine inspiration, and is a prophet, though he begins not with, Thus saith the Lord.
 
  "Attend, and bow thy ear; not only hear what is said, and read what is written, but apply thy mind to it and consider it diligently."
 
To gain attention he urges,
 
1. The excellency of his discourse:
 
"It is my wisdom, my understanding; if I undertake to teach thee wisdom I cannot prescribe any thing to be more properly called so; moral philosophy is my philosophy, and that which is to be learned in my school."
 
2. The usefulness of it:
 
"Attend to what I say,"
 
(1.)  "That thou mayest act wisely--that thou mayest regard discretion."
 
Solomon's lectures are not designed to fill our heads with notions, with matters of nice speculation, or doubtful disputation, but to guide us in the government of ourselves, that we may act prudently, so as becomes us and so as will be for our true interest.
 
(2.)  "That thou mayest speak wisely--that thy lips may keep knowledge, and thou mayest have it ready at thy tongue's end" (as we say), "for the benefit of those with whom thou dost converse."
 
The priest's lips are said to keep knowledge (Mal 2:7); but those that are ready and mighty in the scriptures may not only in their devotions, but in their discourses, be spiritual priests.
 
  II. The caution itself, and that is to abstain from fleshly lusts, from adultery, fornication, and all uncleanness. Some apply this figuratively, and by the adulterous woman here understand idolatry, or false doctrine, which tends to debauch men's minds and manners, or the sensual appetite, to which it may as fitly as any thing be applied; but the primary scope of it is plainly to warn us against seventh commandment sins, which youth is so prone to, the temptations to which are so violent, the examples of which are so many, and which, where admitted, are so destructive to all the seeds of virtue in the soul that it is not strange that Solomon's cautions against it are so very pressing and so often repeated.  Solomon here, as a faithful watchman, gives fair warning to all, as they regard their lives and comforts, to dread this sin, for it will certainly be their ruin. Two things we are here warned to take heed of:--
 
1. That we do not listen to the charms of this sin. It is true the lips of a strange woman drop as a honeycomb (Pr 5:3); the pleasures of fleshly lust are very tempting (like the wine that gives its colour in the cup and moves itself aright); its mouth, the kisses of its mouth, the words of its mouth, are smoother than oil, that the poisonous pill may go down glibly and there may be no suspicion of harm in it. But consider,
 
(1.) How fatal the consequences will be. What fruit will the sinner have of his honey and oil when the end will be,
 
[1.] The terrors of conscience: It is bitter as wormwood, Pr 5:4. What was luscious in the mouth rises in the stomach and turns sour there; it cuts, in the reflection, like a two-edged sword; take it which way you will, it wounds. Solomon could speak by experience, Ec 7:26.
 
[2.] The torments of hell.  If some that have been guilty of this sin have repented and been saved, yet the direct tendency of the sin is to destruction of body and soul; the feet of it go down to death, nay, they take hold on hell, to pull it to the sinner, as if the damnation slumbered too long, Pr 5:5. Those that are entangled in this sin should be reminded that there is but a step between them and hell, and that they are ready to drop into it.
 
(2.) Consider how false the charms are. The adulteress flatters and speaks fair, her words are honey and oil, but she will deceive those that hearken to her: Her ways are movable, that thou canst not know them; she often changes her disguise, and puts on a great variety of false colours, because, if she be rightly known, she is certainly hated. Proteus-like, she puts on many shapes, that she may keep in with those whom she has a design upon. And what does she aim at with all this art and management?  Nothing but to keep them from pondering the path of life, for she knows that, if they once come to do that, she shall certainly lose them. Those are ignorant of Satan's devices who do not understand that the great thing he drives at in all his temptations is,

cont.

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[1.] To keep them from choosing the path of life, to prevent them from being religious and from going to heaven, that, being himself shut out from happiness, he may keep them out from it.
 
[2.] In order hereunto, to keep them from pondering the path of life, from considering how reasonable it is that they should walk in that path, and how much it will be for their advantage. Be it observed, to the honour of religion, that it certainly gains its point with all those that will but allow themselves the liberty of a serious thought and will weigh things impartially in an even balance, and that the devil has no way of securing men in his interests but by diverting them with continual amusements of one kind or another from the calm and sober consideration of the things that belong to their peace.  And uncleanness is a sin that does as much as any thing blind the understanding, sear the conscience, and keep people from pondering the path of life. Whoredom takes away the heart, Ho 4:11.
 
2. That we do not approach the borders of this sin, Pr 5:7-8.
 
(1.) This caution is introduced with a solemn preface:
 
  "Hear me now therefore, O you children! whoever you are that read or hear these lines, take notice of what I say, and mix faith with it, treasure it up, and depart not from the words of my mouth, as those will do that hearken to the words of the strange woman. Do not only receive what I say, for the present merely, but cleave to it, and let it be ready to thee, and of force with thee, when thou art most violently assaulted by the temptation."
 
(2.) The caution itself is very pressing:
 
  "Remove thy way far from her; if thy way should happen to lie near her, and thou shouldest have a fair pretence of being led by business within the reach of her charms, yet change thy way, and alter the course of it, rather than expose thyself to danger; come not nigh the door of her house; go on the other side of the street, nay, go through some other street, though it be about."
 
This intimates,
 
[1.] That we ought to have a very great dread and detestation of the sin. We must fear it as we would a place infected with the plague; we must loathe it as the odour of carrion, that we will not come near. Then we are likely to preserve our purity when we conceive a rooted antipathy to all fleshly lusts.
 
[2.] That we ought industriously to avoid every thing that may be an occasion of this sin or a step towards it. Those that would be kept from harm must keep out of harm's way. Such tinder there is in the corrupt nature that it is madness, upon any pretence whatsoever, to come near the sparks.  If we thrust ourselves into temptation, we mocked God when we prayed, Lead us not into temptation.
 
[3.] That we ought to be jealous over ourselves with a godly jealousy, and not to be so confident of the strength of our own resolutions as to venture upon the brink of sin, with a promise to ourselves that hitherto we will come and no further.
 
[4.] That whatever has become a snare to us and an occasion of sin, though it be as a right eye and a right hand, we must pluck it out, cut it off, and cast it from us, must part with that which is dearest to us rather than hazard our own souls; this is our Saviour's command, Mt 5:28-30.
 
(3.) The arguments which Solomon here uses to enforce this caution are taken from the same topic with those before, the many mischiefs which attend this sin.

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[1.] It blasts the reputation.
 
"Thou wilt give thy honour unto others (Pr 5:9); thou wilt lose it thyself; thou wilt put into the hand of each of thy neighbours a stone to throw at thee, for they will all, with good reason, cry shame on thee, will despise thee, and trample on thee, as a foolish man."
 
Whoredom is a sin that makes men contemptible and base, and no man of sense or virtue will care to keep company with one that keeps company with harlots.
 
[2.] It wastes the time, gives the years, the years of youth, the flower of men's time, unto the cruel,
 
"that base lust of thine, which with the utmost cruelty wars against the soul, that base harlot which pretends an affection for thee, but really hunts for the precious life."
 
Those years that should be given to the honour of a gracious God are spent in the service of a cruel sin.
 
[3.] It ruins the estate (Pr 5:10):
 
  "Strangers will be filled with thy wealth, which thou art but entrusted with as a steward for thy family; and the fruit of thy labours, which should be provision for thy own house, will be in the house of a stranger, that neither has right to it nor will ever thank thee for it."
 
[4.] It is destructive to the health, and shortens men's days: Thy flesh and thy body will be consumed by it, Pr 5:11. The lusts of uncleanness not only war against the soul, which the sinner neglects and is in no care about, but they war against the body too, which he is so indulgent of and is in such care to please and pamper, such deceitful, such foolish, such hurtful lusts are they.  Those that give themselves to work uncleanness with greediness waste their strength, throw themselves into weakness, and often have their bodies filled with loathsome distempers, by which the number of their months is cut off in the midst and they fall unpitied sacrifices to a cruel lust.
 
[5.] It will fill the mind with horror, if ever conscience be awakened.
 
"Though thou art merry now, sporting thyself in thy own deceivings, yet thou wilt certainly mourn at the last, Pr 5:11. Thou art all this while making work for repentance, and laying up matter for vexation and torment in the reflection, when the sin is set before thee in its own colours."
 
Sooner or later it will bring sorrow, either when the soul is humbled and brought to repentance or when the flesh and body are consumed, either by sickness, when conscience flies in the sinner's face, or by the grave; when the body is rotting there, the soul is racking in the torments of hell, where the worm dies not, and
 
  "Son, remember,"
 
is the constant peal. Solomon here brings in the convinced sinner reproaching himself, and aggravating his own folly. He will then most bitterly lament it. First, That because he hated to be reformed he therefore hated to be informed, and could not endure either to be taught his duty (How have I hated not only the discipline of being instructed, but the instruction itself, though all true and good!) or to be told of his faults--My heart despised reproof, Pr 5:12. He cannot but own that those who had the charge of him, parents, ministers, had done their part; they had been his teachers; they had instructed him, had given him good counsel and fair warning (Pr 5:13); but to his own shame and confusion does he speak it, and therein justifies God in all the miseries that were brought upon him, he had not taken their council, had not obeyed their voice, for indeed he never inclined his ear to those that instructed him, never

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minded what they said nor admitted the impressions of it.  Note, Those who have had a good education and do not live up to it will have a great deal to answer for another day; and those who will not now remember what they were taught, to conform themselves to it, will be made to remember it as an aggravation of their sin, and consequently of their ruin. Secondly, That by the frequent acts of sin the habits of it were so rooted and confirmed that his heart was fully set in him to commit it (Pr 5:14): I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly. When he came into the synagogue, or into the courts of the temple, to worship God with other Israelites, his unclean heart was full of wanton thoughts and desires and his eyes of adultery. Reverence of the place and company, and of the work that was doing, could not restrain him, but he was almost as wicked and vile there as any where. No sin will appear more frightful to an awakened conscience than the profanation of holy things; nor will any aggravation of sin render it more exceedingly sinful than the place we are honoured with in the congregation and assembly, and the advantages we enjoy thereby. Zimri and Cozbi avowed their villany in the sight of Moses and all the congregation (Nu 25:6), and heart-adultery is as open to God, and must needs be most offensive to him, when we draw nigh to him in religious exercises. I was in all evil in defiance of the magistrates and judges, and their assemblies; so some understand it. Others refer it to the evil of punishment, not to the evil of sin:
 
"I was made an example, a spectacle to the world. I was under almost all God's sore judgments in the midst of the congregation of Israel, set up for a mark. I stood up and cried in the congregation,"
 
  Job 30:28. Let that be avoided which will be thus rued at last.

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Pr 5:1 ¶ My son, attend unto my wisdom, and bow thine ear to my understanding:

Pr 5:2 That thou mayest regard discretion, and that thy lips may keep knowledge.

Pr 5:3 For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil:

Pr 5:4 But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a twoedged sword.

Pr 5:5 Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell.

Pr 5:6 Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life, her ways are moveable, that thou canst not know them.

Pr 5:7 Hear me now therefore, O ye children, and depart not from the words of my mouth.

Pr 5:8 Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house:

Pr 5:9 Lest thou give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel:

Pr 5:10 Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth; and thy labours be in the house of a stranger;

Pr 5:11 And thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed,

Pr 5:12 And say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof;

Pr 5:13 And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me!

Pr 5:14 I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly.

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MHCC

Exhortations to wisdom. The evils of licentiousness. (1-14)

 1-14 Solomon cautions all young men, as his children, to abstain from fleshly lusts. Some, by the adulterous woman, here understand idolatry, false doctrine, which tends to lead astray men's minds and manners; but the direct view is to warn against seventh-commandment sins. Often these have been, and still are, Satan's method of drawing men from the worship of God into false religion. Consider how fatal the consequences; how bitter the fruit! Take it any way, it wounds. It leads to the torments of hell. The direct tendency of this sin is to the destruction of body and soul. We must carefully avoid every thing which may be a step towards it. Those who would be kept from harm, must keep out of harm's way. If we thrust ourselves into temptation we mock God when we pray, Lead us not into temptation. How many mischiefs attend this sin! It blasts the reputation; it wastes time; it ruins the estate; it is destructive to health; it will fill the mind with horror. Though thou art merry now, yet sooner or later it will bring sorrow. The convinced sinner reproaches himself, and makes no excuse for his folly. By the frequent acts of sin, the habits of it become rooted and confirmed. By a miracle of mercy true repentance may prevent the dreadful consequences of such sins; but this is not often; far more die as they have lived. What can express the case of the self-ruined sinner in the eternal world, enduring the remorse of his conscience!

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Pr 5:15 ¶ Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well.

Pr 5:16 Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad, and rivers of waters in the streets.

Pr 5:17 Let them be only thine own, and not strangers' with thee.

Pr 5:18 Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth.

Pr 5:19 Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love.

Pr 5:20 And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger?

Pr 5:21 For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, and he pondereth all his goings.

Pr 5:22 His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins.

Pr 5:23 He shall die without instruction; and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.

[airIam2worship]

MHCC

Remedies against licentiousness, The miserable end of the wicked. (15-23)

15-23 Lawful marriage is a means God has appointed to keep from these destructive vices. But we are not properly united, except as we attend to God's word, seeking his direction and blessing, and acting with affection. Ever remember, that though secret sins may escape the eyes of our fellow-creatures, yet a man's ways are before the eyes of the Lord, who not only sees, but ponders all his goings. Those who are so foolish as to choose the way of sin, are justly left of God to themselves, to go on in the way to destruction.

[airIam2worship]

MHC


 INTRODUCTION TO PROVERBS CHAPTER 6
 
In this chapter we have,
 
  I. A caution against rash suretiship, Pr 6:1-5.
 
  II. A rebuke to slothfulness, Pr 6:6-11.
 
  III. The character and fate of a malicious mischievous man, Pr 6:12-15.
 
  IV. An account of seven things which God hates, Pr 6:16-19.
 
  V. An exhortation to make the word of God familiar to us, Pr 6:20-23.
 
  VI. A repeated warning of the pernicious consequences of the sin of whoredom, Pr 6:24-35.  We are here dissuaded from sin very much by arguments borrowed from our secular interests, for it is not only represented as damning in the other world, but as impoverishing in this.
 
Ver. 1. thru Ver. 5.
 
It is the excellency of the word of God that it teaches us not only divine wisdom for another world, but human prudence for this world, that we may order our affairs with discretion; and this is one good rule, To avoid suretiship, because by it poverty and ruin are often brought into families, which take away that comfort in relations which he had recommended in the foregoing chapter.

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1. We must look upon suretiship as a snare and decline it accordingly, Pr 6:1-2.
 
"It is dangerous enough for a man to be bound for his friend, though it be one whose circumstances he is well acquainted with, and well assured of his sufficiency, but much more to strike the hands with a stranger, to become surety for one whom thou dost not know to be either able or honest."
 
Or the stranger here with whom the hand is stricken is the creditor,
 
"the usurer to whom thou art become bound, and yet as to thee he is a stranger, that is, thou owest him nothing, nor hast had any dealings with him. If thou hast rashly entered into such engagements, either wheedled into them or in hopes to have the same kindness done for thee another time, know that thou art snared with the words of thy mouth; it was easily done, with a word's speaking; it was but setting thy hand to a paper, a bond is soon sealed and delivered, and a recognizance entered into. But it will not be so easily got clear of; thou art in a snare more than thou art aware of."
 
See how little reason we have to make light of tongue-sins; if by a word of our mouth we may become indebted to men, and lie open to their actions, by the words of our mouth we may become obnoxious to God's justice, and even so may be snared. It is false that words are but wind: they are often snares.
 
2. If we have been drawn into this snare, it will be our wisdom by all means, with all speed, to get out of it, Pr 6:3-5.  It sleeps for the present; we hear nothing of it. The debt is not demanded; the principal says,
 
"Never fear, we will take care of it."
 
But still the bond is in force, interest is running on, the creditor may come upon thee when he will and perhaps may be hasty and severe, the principal may prove either knavish or insolvent, and then thou must rob thy wife and children, and ruin thy family, to pay that which thou didst neither eat nor drink for. And therefore deliver thyself; rest not till either the creditor give up the bond or the principal give thee counter-security; when thou art come into the hand of thy friend, and he has advantage against thee, it is no time to threaten or give ill language (that will provoke and make ill worse), but humble thyself, beg and pray to be discharged, go down on thy knees to him, and give him all the fair words thou canst; engage thy friends to speak for thee; leave no stone unturned till thou hast agreed with thy adversary and compromised the matter, so that thy bond may not come against thee or thine. This is a care which may well break thy sleep, and let it do so till thou hast got through it.
 
  "Give not sleep to thy eyes till thou hast delivered thyself. Strive and struggle to the utmost, and hasten with all speed, as a roe or a bird delivers herself out of this snare of the fowler or hunter. Delays are dangerous, and feeble efforts will not serve."

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See what care God, in his word, has taken to make men good husbands of their estates, and to teach them prudence in the management of them. Godliness has precepts, as well as promises, relating to the life that now is.
 
But how are we to understand this? We are not to think it is unlawful in any case to become surety, or bail, for another; it may be a piece of justice or charity; he that has friends may see cause in this instance to show himself friendly, and it may be no piece of imprudence. Paul became bound for Onesimus, Phm 1:19. We may help a young man into business that we know to be honest and diligent, and gain him credit by passing our word for him, and so do him a great kindness without any detriment to ourselves.  But,
 
1. It is every man's wisdom to keep out of debt as much as may be, for it is an incumbrance upon him, entangles him in the world, puts him in danger of doing wrong or suffering wrong. The borrower is servant to the lender, and makes himself very much a slave to this world. Christians therefore, who are bought with a price, should not thus, without need, make themselves the servants of men, 1Co 7:23.
 
2. It is great folly to entangle ourselves with necessitous people, and to become bound for their debts, that are ever and anon taking up money, and lading, as we say, out of one hole into another, for it is ten to one but, some time or other, it will come upon us. A man ought never to be bound as surety for more than he is both able and willing to pay, and can afford to pay without wronging his family, in case the principal fail, for he ought to look upon it as his own debt. Ec 8:13, Be not surety above thy power, for, if thou be surety, thou must take care to pay it.
 
3. It is a necessary piece of after-wit, if we have foolishly entangled ourselves, to get out of the snare as fast as we can, to lose no time, spare no pains, and stick at no submission to make ourselves safe and easy, and get our affairs into a good posture. It is better to humble ourselves for an accommodation than to ruin ourselves by our stiffness and haughtiness.  Make sure thy friend by getting clear from thy engagements from him; for rash suretiship is as much the bane of friendship as that which is prudent is sometimes the bond of it. Let us take heed lest we any way make ourselves guilty of other men's sins against God (1Ti 5:22), for that is worse, and much more dangerous, than being bound for other men's debts; and, if we must be in all this care to get our debts to men forgiven, much more to get our peace made with God.
 
  "Humble thyself to him; make sure of Christ thy friend, to intercede for thee; pray earnestly that thy sins may be pardoned, and thou mayest be delivered from going down to the pit, and it shall not be in vain. Give not sleep to thy eyes nor slumber to thy eye-lids, till this be done."

[airIam2worship]

Pr 6:1 ¶ My son, if thou be surety for thy friend, if thou hast stricken thy hand with a stranger,

Pr 6:2 Thou art snared with the words of thy mouth, thou art taken with the words of thy mouth.

Pr 6:3 Do this now, my son, and deliver thyself, when thou art come into the hand of thy friend; go, humble thyself, and make sure thy friend.

Pr 6:4 Give not sleep to thine eyes, nor slumber to thine eyelids.

Pr 6:5 Deliver thyself as a roe from the hand of the hunter, and as a bird from the hand of the fowler.

[airIam2worship]

MHCC

Cautions against rash suretiship. (1-5)


  1-5 If we live as directed by the word of God, we shall find it profitable even in this present world. We are stewards of our worldly substance, and have to answer to the Lord for our disposal of it; to waste it in rash schemes, or such plans as may entangle us in difficulties and temptations, is wrong. A man ought never to be surety for more than he is able and willing to pay, and can afford to pay, without wronging his family; he ought to look upon every sum he is engaged for, as his own debt. If we must take all this care to get our debts to men forgiven, much more to obtain forgiveness with God. Humble thyself to him, make sure of Christ as thy Friend, to plead for thee; pray earnestly that thy sins may be pardoned, and that thou mayest be kept from going down to the pit.