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Expositor's Bible Commentary Proverbs 6:1 My son, if thou be surety for thy friend, if thou hast stricken thy hand with a stranger, CHAPTER 7 CERTAIN EXAMPLES OF THE BINDING CHARACTER OF OUR OWN ACTIONS "The surety the sluggard and the worthless person." Proverbs 6:1 ; Proverbs 6:6 ; Proverbs 6:12 FROM the solemn principle announced at the close of the last chapter the teacher passes, almost unconscious of the thought which determines his selection of subjects, to illustrate the truth by three examples, -that of the Surety, that of the Sluggard, that of the Worthless Man. And then, because the horrors of impurity are the most striking and terrible instance of all, this subject, coming up again at Proverbs 5:20 , like the dark ground tone of the picture, finally runs into the long and detailed description of chapter 7. These three examples are full of interest, partly because of the light they throw on the habits and moral sentiments of the time in which this Introduction was written, but chiefly because of the permanent teaching which is luminous in them all, and especially in the third. We may spend a few minutes upon the first. The young man, finding his neighbor in monetary difficulties, consents in an easy-going way to become his surety; he enters into a solemn pledge with the creditor, probably a Phoenician money-lender, that he will himself be responsible if the debtor is not prepared to pay at the appointed time. He now stands committed; he is like a roe that is caught by the hunter, or a bird that is held by the fowler, in the hand of his neighbor. His peace of mind, and his welfare, depend no longer upon himself, but upon the character, the weakness, the caprice of another. This is a good illustration of the way in which a thoughtless action may weave cruel bands to bind the unwary. Looking at the matter from this point of view, our book strongly and frequently denounces the practice of suretiship. To become surety for another shows that you are void of understanding. So foolish is the action that it is compared to the surrender of one’s own garments, and even to the loss of personal freedom. A proverb declares: "He that is surety for a stranger shall smart for it, but he that hateth suretiship is sure." If then the young man has enmeshed himself in obligations of this kind, he is recommended to spare no pains, not to stand upon a false pride, but to go with all urgency, with frank abasement, to the man for whom he has pledged his credit, and at all costs to get released from the obligation. "Be thou not," says Wisdom, "one of them that strike hands, or of them that are sureties for debts: if thou hast not wherewith to pay, why should, he take away thy bed from under thee?" { Proverbs 22:26-27 } We feel at once that there is another side to the question. There may be cases in which true brotherliness will require us to be surety for our friend. "An honest man is surety for his neighbor, but he that is impudent will forsake him," says Ecclesiasticus. And from another point of view an injunction has to be given to one who has persuaded his friend to stand as his surety, -"Forget not the friendship of thy surety, for he hath given his life for thee. A sinner will overthrow the good estate of his surety, and he that is of an unthankful mind will leave him in danger that delivered him." But confining ourselves to the standpoint of the text, we may well raise a note of warning against the whole practice. As Ecclesiasticus himself says, "Suretiship hath undone many of good estate, and shaken them as a wave of the sea: mighty men hath it driven from their houses, so that they wandered among strange nations. A wicked man transgressing the commandments of the Lord shall fall into suretiship." { Sir 29:14 ; Sir 29:16-19 } We may say perhaps that the truly moral course in these relations with our fellows lies here: if we can afford to be a surety for our neighbor, we can clearly afford to lend him the money ourselves. If we cannot afford to lend it to him, then it is weak and foolish, and may easily become wicked and criminal, to make our peace of mind dependent on the action of a third person, while in all probability it is hurtful to our friend himself, because by consenting to divide the risks with the actual creditor we tend to lessen in the debtor’s mind the full realization of his indebtedness, and thus encourage him in shifty courses and unnerve his manly sense of responsibility. The cases in which it is wise as well as kind to become bail for another are so rare that they may practically be ignored in this connection; and when these rare occasions occur they may safely be left to the arbitrament of other principles of conduct which in the present instance are out of view. Here it is enough to emphasize what a miserable chain thoughtlessness in the matter of suretiship may forge for the thoughtless. We may now pass to our second illustration, the poverty and ruin which must eventually overtake the Sluggard. "I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding; and, lo, it was all grown over with thorns. The face thereof was covered with nettles, and the stone wall thereof was broken down. Then I beheld, and considered well: I saw, and received instruction." And there is the lazy owner of this neglected farm murmurring, "Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep." There seem to be in every community a certain number of people who can only be described as constitutionally incapable: as children they are heavy and phlegmatic; at school they are always playing truant, and exerting themselves, if at all, to escape the irksome necessity of learning anything; when they enter into life for themselves they have no notion of honest effort and steady persistency, but directly their employment becomes distasteful they quit it; and at length, when they end their days in the workhouse, or in those shameful haunts of sin and vice to which sloth so easily leads, they have the melancholy reflection to take with them to the grave that they have proved themselves an encumbrance of the earth, and can be welcomed in no conceivable world. Now the question must force itself upon our attention, Might not these incapables be rescued if they were taken young enough, and taught by wholesome discipline and a wise education what will be the inevitable issue of their lethargic tendencies? Might not the farm of the sluggard be impressed on their very eyeballs as a perpetual and effective warning? Leaving this important question to social reformers, we may note how beautifully this book employs the examples of insect life to teach and stimulate human beings. "The ants are a people not strong. Yet they provide their meat in summer. The locusts have no king. Yet go they forth all of them by bands." { Proverbs 30:25-27 } "Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise: which having no chief, overseer, or ruler, provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest." { Proverbs 6:6 ; Proverbs 6:8 } By this little touch the book of Proverbs has turned the magnificent fields of modern scientific observation, and all the astonishing revelations of the microscope, into a school of moral and spiritual discipline for human life. Thus the ants swarm in the woods and the fields as if to rebuke the laziness and thriftlessness of man. They work night and day; they store their galleries with food; they capture and nourish aphides, which they use as a kind of domestic cattle. The vast and symmetrical mounds, which they rear as habitations and barns, are, relatively to the size of the builders, three or four times larger than the pyramids. By what mysterious instinct those long lines of laborers march and work in unison; by what half-human impulses they form in serried hosts and engage in deadly battles prolonged through several days; by what ludicrous freaks they are led to imitate men, spending their lives in pampered luxury, dependent upon slaves, until at last in their helplessness they are mastered by their bondservants in revolt; by what heavenly motive they are stirred to feed and nourish and nurse one another in sickness and trouble, -we need not here enquire, for we are only told to go to the ant in order to learn her ways of ceaseless activity. But in this brief precept we seem to receive a hint of the boundless instruction and warning to be derived from the humbler inhabitants of this earth which man claims as his own. Let us pass to the third illustration of the theme. The surety is the victim of easygoing thoughtlessness, the sluggard is the victim of laziness and incapacity; but now there appears on the scene the thoroughly worthless character, the man of Belial, and after his portrait is drawn in a few touches, his sudden and hopeless ruin is announced in a way which is all the more striking because the connection between the sin and its punishment is left to be guessed rather than explained. { Proverbs 6:12-15 } The description of this person is wonderfully graphic and instructive, and we must dwell for a moment on the details. We see him, not in repose, but busy going from place to place, and talking a great deal. His lips are shaped continually to lie, -"he walketh with a froward mouth." There is no straightforwardness about him; he is full of hint, suggestion, innuendo; he gives you always the idea that he has an accomplice in the background; he turns to you and winks in a knowing way; he has a habit of shuffling with his feet, as if some evil spirit forbade him to stand still; you constantly catch his gesticulating; he points with his thumb over his shoulder, and nods significantly; he is never better pleased than when he can give the impression of knowing a great deal more than he cares to say. He delights to wrap himself in mystery-to smile blandly and then relapse into a look of inscrutability-to frown severely and then assume an air of gentle innocence. He is in the habit of beckoning one into a corner, and making a whispered communication as if he were your particular friend, as if he had taken a fancy to you directly he saw you, and was therefore eager to give you some information which nothing would induce him to divulge to anyone else; if you are foolish enough to share his confidences, he gives you very soon, when others are standing by, a cunning leer, as if to intimate that you and he are old acquaintances, and are in the secret, which the rest do not know. The fact is that his heart is as deceitful as his lips; he cannot be true on any terms. If some simple and open course occurred to his mind he would shun it instinctively, because it is in devising evil that he lives and moves and has his being. His friendliest approaches fill an honest man with misgiving, his words of affection or admiration send a cold shudder through one’s frame. His face is a mask; when it looks fair you suspect villainy; when it looks villainous, and then only, you recognize that it is true. Wherever he goes he makes mischief, he causes divisions; he is the Iago of every play in which he takes a part, the Judas of every society of which, he is a member. He manages to sow suspicion m the mind of the least suspicious, and to cast a slur on the character of the most innocent. When he has created discord between friends he is delighted. If he sees them disposed to a reconciliation, he comes forward as a mediator and takes care to exasperate the differences, and to make the breach irreparable. Like Edmund in "King Lear," he has a genius for setting men at variance, and for so arranging his plots that each party thinks he hears with his own ears and sees with his own eyes the proof of the other’s perfidy. But, unlike Edmund, he does the mischief, not for any special good to himself, but for the mere delight of being an agent of evil. It is this kind of man that is the pest of commerce. He introduces dishonest practices into every business that he touches. He makes it a principle that in selling you are to impose on the customer, avail yourself of his ignorance or prejudice or weakness, and hide everything which might incline him to draw back; while in buying you are to use any fraud or panic or misrepresentation which might induce the seller to lower the price. When he has been in a business for a little while the whole concern becomes tainted, there is a slime over everything; the very atmosphere is fetid. It is this kind of man that is the bane of every social circle. In his presence, all simplicity and innocence, all charity and forbearance and compassion, seem to wither away. If you are true and straightforward he manages to make you ridiculous; under his evil spell you seem a simpleton. All genial laughter he turns into sardonic smiles and sneers; all kindly expressions he transforms into empty compliments which are not devoid of a hidden venom. He is often very witty, lint his wit clings like an eating acid to everything that is good and pure; his tongue will lodge a germ of putrescence in everything which it touches. It is this kind of man that is the leaven of hypocrisy and malice in the Christian Church; he intrigues and cabals. He sets the people against the minister and stirs up the minister to suspect his people. He undertakes religious work, because it is in that capacity he can do most mischief. He is never better pleased than when he can pose as the champion of orthodoxy, because then he seems to be sheltered and approved by the banner which he is defending. "Therefore shall his calamity come suddenly." It is because the character is so incurably base, so saturated with lies and insincerities, that there can be no gradations or temperings in his punishment. One who is less evil may be proved and tested with slight troubles, if possibly he may be stirred to amendment. But this utterly worthless person is quite unaffected by the smaller trials, the tentative disciplines of life. He cannot be chastised as a son; he can only be broken as a vessel in which there is an intrinsic flaw; or as a building, which has got the plague in its very mortar and plaster. We are told that in Sierra Leone the white ants will sometimes occupy a house, and eat their way into all the woodwork, until every article in the house is hollow, so that it will collapse into dust directly it is touched. It is so with this deceitful character, so honeycombed, and eaten through, that though for years it may maintain its plausible appearance in the world, few people even suspecting the extent of the inward decay on a sudden the end will come; there will be one touch of the finger of God, and the whole ill-compacted, worm-devoured thing will crumble into matchwood: "He shall be broken, and that without remedy." But while we are thus watching this worthless soul overtaken with an inevitable calamity, we are reminded that not only are our eyes upon him, but the Lord also sees him. And to that calm and holy watcher of the poor sinful creature there are six things which appear specially hateful-seven which are an abomination of His soul. { Proverbs 6:16-19 } Is there not a kind of comfort in the thought that the Lord watches and knows the whole story of that miserable life, not leaving it to us to condemn, but taking upon Himself the whole responsibility? He knows whether there is a reason in nature for these bad hearts; He knows too what power outside of nature can change and redeem them. But at present we want only to mark and consider these seven things which are abominable to God-the seven prominent traits of the character which has just been depicted. We seem to need some spiritual quickening, that we may observe these hateful things not only with our own natural repugnance, but with something of the holy hatred and the inward loathing which they produce in the Divine mind. 1. Haughty eyes. "There is a generation, Oh how lofty are their eyes! And their eyelids are lifted up." And to that generation how many of us belong, and what secret admiration do we cherish for it, even when we can honestly disclaim any blood relationship! That haughty air of the great noble; that sense of intrinsic superiority; that graciousness of manner which comes from a feeling that no comparison can possibly be instituted between the great man and his inferiors; that way of surveying the whole earth as if it were one’s private estate; or that supreme satisfaction with one’s private estate as if it were the whole earth! This lofty pride, when its teeth are drawn so that it cannot materially hurt the rest of mankind, is a subject of mirth to us; but to the Lord it is not, it is hateful and abominable; it ranks with the gross vices and the worst sins; it is the chief crime of Satan. 2. A lying tongue, though it "is but for a moment." { Proverbs 12:19 } It is the sure sign of God’s intense hatred against lies that they recoil on the head of the liar, and are the harbingers of certain destruction. We dislike lies because of their social inconvenience, and where some social convenience is served by them we connive at them and approve. But God hates the lying tongue, whatever apparent advantage comes from it. If we lie for personal gain He hates it. If we lie from mere weakness, He hates it. If we lie in the name of religion, and in the fashion of the Jesuit, for the welfare of men and the salvation of souls, He hates it none the less. The abomination does not consist in the motive of the lie, but in the lie itself. 3. Hands that shed innocent blood. So hateful are they to Him that He could not let David His chosen servant build Him a house because this charge could be laid against the great king. The soldier in the battle-field hewing down the man who is innocent, and the man who in carelessness or greed is wearing the poor, who are dependent on him, down to death, and the man who in a passion rises up and murders his fellow, -these are very hateful to the Lord. There at the beginning of the world’s history, in the blood of righteous Abel crying to the Lord, and in the mark set on the guilty brow of Cain, the heart of God was clearly and finally shown. He has not changed. He does not shed innocent blood Himself; He cannot away with them that shed it. 4. Hateful too to Him is the devising heart, even where courage or opportunity fails of realizing the device. There are so many more murders in the world than we see, so many cruel and wicked deeds restrained by the police or by a dominant public sentiment, which yet lie deep in the wicked imagination of our hearts, and are abominable to God, that we may be thankful if we do not see as He sees, and may wonder at the forbearance of His compassion. 5. Feet that be swift in running to mischief. Feet listless in the ways of brotherly service or holy worship, but swift, twinkling with eager baste, when any mischief is toward, are marked by God-and hated. 6. And a false witness is abominable to Him, the poisoner of all social life, the destroyer of all justice between man and man. Again and again in this book is censure passed upon this unpardonable crime. 7. Finally, as the blessing of Heaven descends on the peacemaker, so the hatred of God assails the man who sows discord among brethren. Such is the character which God abominates, the character which binds itself with cords of penalty and falls into irretrievable ruin. And then, after this disquisition on some of the vices which destroy the individual life and disturb society, our author turns again to that snaring vice which is so much the more destructive because it comes under the guise, not of hate, but of love. Those other vices after all bear their evil on their faces, but this is veiled and enchanted with a thousand possible sophistries; it pleads the instincts of nature, the fascinations of beauty, the faults of the present social state, and even advances the august precepts of science. Surely in a way where such a danger lurks we need a commandment which will shine as a lamp, a law which will be itself a light ( Proverbs 6:23 ). The Expositor's Bible Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.

If thou be surety for thy friend. Proverbs 6:1-5 Social suretyships D. Thomas, D.D. The principles of domestic, social, and political economy in the Bible are far more wise, as well as righteous, than can be found in human book or periodical. I. SURETYSHIP AS AN EVIL TO BE DEPLORED. "If thou be surety"; as if he had said, "It is a sad thing if thou hast." It is not, however, always an evil. There are two things necessary to render it justifiable. 1. The case should be deserving. 2. You should be fully competent to discharge the obligation. But the most deserving men will seldom ask for suretyships, and the most competent men will seldom undertake the responsibility. II. SURETYSHIP AS AN EVIL VERY EASILY CONTRACTED. Merely "striking the hand," and uttering the "words." One word, the word "Yes," will do it, written or uttered in the presence of a witness. Plausibility will soon extract it from a pliant and generous nature. III. SURETYSHIP AS AN EVIL TO BE STRENUOUSLY REMOVED. "Deliver thyself." 1. Do it promptly. Try by every honest means to get the bond back again. 2. Do it beseechingly. "Humble thyself." It is no use to carry a high hand; thou art in his power. 3. Do it effectively. Thou art encaged in iron law; break loose honourably somehow, and be free. ( D. Thomas, D.D. ) If thou hast stricken thy hand with a stranger Striking the hand R. Wardlaw. A surety is one who becomes security for a debt due by another. The customary or legal forms which render suretyship valid differ in different countries. Allusion here is to the practice of the surety confirming his engagement by giving his hand to the creditor, in presence of witnesses. The prohibition must not be taken as unqualified. There are cases in which suretyship is unavoidable. The law sometimes requires it. But the less of it the better. I. IT IS WRONG FOR A MAN TO COME UNDER ENGAGEMENTS THAT ARE BEYOND HIS ACTUALLY EXISTING MEANS. Such a course is not merely imprudent; there is in it a threefold injustice. 1. To the creditor for whom he becomes surety, inasmuch as the security is fallacious, not covering the extent of the risk. 2. To his family, to whom the payment may bring distress and ruin. 3. To those who give him credit in his own transactions; for, in undertaking suretyships, he involves himself in the risks of other trades besides his own. II. IT IS WRONG TO MAKE ENGAGEMENTS WITH INCONSIDERATION AND RASHNESS. The case here treated is that of suretyship for a friend to a stranger; and the rashness and haste may be viewed in relation either to the person or to the ease. Men, when they feel the generous impulse of friendly emotion, are apt to think at the moment only of themselves, as if the risk were all their own, and to forget that they are making creditors and family securities, without asking their consent, or making them aware of their risks. Suretyships for strangers are specially condemned. ( R. Wardlaw. ) Debtors and creditors Francis Taylor, B.D. The friend of the surety here is the debtor, the stranger is the creditor. I. THE SCRIPTURE AFFORDS DIRECTION FOR TRADING AND CIVIL CONVERSE. 1. For wariness in suretyship here. 2. For faithfulness in dealing elsewhere. But why does the wise man concern himself with such matters.Because — 1. Religion guides best in civil matters. 2. The eighth commandment requires care of our estates. 3. The Church consists of families and traders which cannot be upheld without care. 4. Religion is ill spoken of for the careless ruin of professors' estates. Then follow Scripture precedents in trading rather than corrupt men's examples. II. YOUNG MEN SHOULD BE ADVISED BY THEIR ELDERS IN WORLDLY AFFAIRS. They have more knowledge and more experience than younger men. III. RASH SURETYSHIP IS TO BE AVOIDED. "Go to the pleading-place (forum), and among frequent contenders nothing is more frequently heard, than the dangers of suretyship, and the sighings of the surety." 1. Be not bound for more than thou canst spare from thy trade and charge. 2. Be not bound for idle persons, that are likely to leave thee in the lurch, and can show no likelihood of ever paying. There be honest poor men enough that will need thy help in this kind. Thou needest not to bestow thy means on prodigals. ( Francis Taylor, B.D. ) Lending money on interest Ellicott's Commentary. When the Mosaic law was instituted, commerce had not been taken up by the Israelites, and the lending of money on interest for its employment in trade was a thing unknown. The only occasion for loans would be to supply the immediate necessities of the borrower, and the exaction of interest under such circumstances would be productive of great hardship, involving the loss of land, and even of personal freedom, as the insolvent debtor and his family became the slaves of the creditor ( Nehemiah 5:1-5 ). To prevent these evils, the lending of money on interest to any poor Israelite was strictly forbidden ( Leviticus 25 .); the people were enjoined to be liberal, and to lend for nothing in such cases. But at the time of Solomon, when the commerce of the Israelites was enormously developed, and communications were opened with Spain and Egypt, and possibly with India and Ceylon, while caravans penetrated beyond the Euphrates, then the lending of money on interest for employment in trade most probably became frequent, and suretyship also — the pledging of a man's own credit to enable his friend to procure a loan. ( Ellicott's Commentary. ) Certain examples of the binding character of our own actions R. F. Horton, D.D. The surety. The sluggard. The worthless person. I. THE SURETY. The young man, finding his neighbour in monetary difficulties, consents in an easy-going way to become his surety; enters into a solemn pledge with the creditor, probably a Phoenician money-lender. He now stands committed. His peace of mind and his welfare depend no longer upon himself, but upon the character, the weakness, the caprice, of another. A young man who has so entangled himself is advised to spare no pains, and to let no false pride prevent his securing release from his obligation. There may, however, be cases in which a true brotherliness will require us to be surety for our friend. Ecclesiasticus says: "An honest man is surety for his neighbour, but he that is impudent will forsake him." If we can afford to be a surety for our neighbour, we can clearly afford to lend him the money ourselves. A miserable chain thoughtlessness in the matter of suretyship may forge for the thoughtless. II. THE SLUGGARD. Poverty and ruin must eventually overtake him. In every community there is a certain number of people who are constitutionally incapable. Examples of insect life are brought to teach and stimulate human beings. III. THE WORTHLESS CHARACTER. His heart is as deceitful as his lips: he cannot be true on any terms. This kind of man is the pest of commerce; the bane of every social circle; the leaven of hypocrisy and malice in the Christian Church. ( R. F. Horton, D.D. ) Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise. Proverbs 6:6 Little preachers and great sermons Homilist. There is a twofold revelation of God — in the Bible and in nature. In relation to this revelation, men divide into three classes — 1. Those who study neither. Their intellects are submerged in animalism and worldliness. 2. Those who study one and disparage the other. Some devout Christians regard nature as not sufficiently sacred and religious for their investigation. Some scientific men try to turn the results of their researches against the Bible. 3. Those who reverentially study the teachings of both. They treat them as volumes from the same Author.The allusion in the text shows that the Bible encourages the study of nature. 1. It sends us to nature in order to attest its first principles. 2. It refers us to nature for illustrations of its great truths. 3. It refers us to nature in order to reprove the sins it denounces. To reprove us for our spiritual indolence it directs us to the ants. The sluggard we now deal with is the spiritual sluggard, not the secularly indolent man, but the man who is neglecting the culture of his own spiritual nature and the salvation of his own soul. The ants teach these important lessons. I. THAT THE FEEBLENESS OF YOUR POWER IS NO JUST REASON FOR YOUR INDOLENCE. The ants are feeble, but see how they work. Naturalists have shown their ingenuity as architects, their industry as miners and builders. Remember three things — 1. All power, however feeble, is given for work. 2. You are not required to do more than you have power to accomplish. 3. All power increases by use. II. THAT THE ACTIVITY OF OTHERS IS NO JUST EXCUSE FOR YOUR INDOLENCE. In the ant-world you will see millions of inhabitants, but not one idler; all are in action. One does not depend upon another, or expect another to do his work. The Christian world is a scene of action, but not one of the million actors can do your work. III. THAT THE WANT OF A HELPER IS NO JUST EXCUSE FOR YOUR INDOLENCE. Each ant is thrown upon his own resources and powers. Self-reliantly each labours on, not waiting for the instruction or guidance of another. Trust your own instincts; act out your own powers; use the light you have; look to God for help. IV. THAT THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD IS NO JUST REASON FOR YOUR INDOLENCE. God provides for His creatures through the use of their own powers. He does not do for any creature what He has given that creature power to do for himself. 1. Like these little ants, you have a future. 2. Like these little creatures, you have to prepare for the future. 3. Like these little creatures, you have a specific time in which to make preparation.Then do not talk of Providence as an excuse for your indolence. He has provided for you richly, but He only grants the provision on condition of the right employment of your powers. There is an inheritance for the good, but only on condition of their working. There is a heaven of knowledge, but only for the student. There is a harvest of blessedness, but only to the diligent husbandman. And your harvest-time will soon be over. ( Homilist. ) The foresight and diligence of the ant John Johnston. The wisdom of providence is eminently conspicuous in the limits it has set to the faculties of the human mind. As experience of the past is of far more importance in the conduct of life than the most accurate and intimate acquaintance with the future, the power of memory is more extensive and efficient than the faculty of foresight. It was wise and merciful to afford us but an indistinct perception of the future. But here man acts in opposition to the will of his Maker. He has withheld from us distinct knowledge of the future, yet how often do we act as if we were familiarly acquainted with it. Our confident expectation of the continuance of life encourages that indolence about their immortal interests in which so many of the children of men waste the season allotted for their preparation for eternity. The admitted history of the ant does more than corroborate and confirm the statement of Solomon in this text. But it is not as a curious fact in natural history, or even as furnishing a theme of praise to the wise and munificent Author of Nature, that the wise man introduces the history and habits of the ant. It is as a rebuke to the sloth and indolence of rational and accountable beings. I. WE ARE ADMONISHED AND REPROVED BY THE SAGACITY AND CARE WITH WHICH THE ANTS MAKE PREPARATION FOR THE WINTER. Nature has given them an instinctive anticipation of the necessities and severity of winter. Grain after grain is borne along, and having been carefully prepared against revegetation, is added to their little store. The winter of our year is fast approaching; are we making all needful preparations? II. WE ARE ADMONISHED BY THE SAGACITY WITH WHICH THE ANT SELECTS AND SEIZES THE PROPER SEASON OF PREPARATION FOR WINTER. The food proper for storage can only be obtained at particular seasons; and if these are neglected, want and wretchedness reign throughout the cells. The present life is the season in which you are called to make provision for the days that are to come. III. THE INCESSANT AND UNINTERMITTED ACTIVITY AND DILIGENCE WITH WHICH THE ANT PLIES HER SUMMER TASK PRESENT ANOTHER IMPORTANT LESSON OF WISDOM TO THE RATIONAL AND ACCOUNTABLE FAMILY OF GOD. It is not an occasional exercise in which this curious creature is engaged. Day after day do these industrious tribes issue forth to the work of gathering. And here, again, they teach us wisdom. The great work to which religion calls us is not one that can be taken up and laid aside at pleasure. IV. THE HARMONY, UNION, AND CONCORD WHICH PREVAIL AMONG THE ANTS SUGGEST A LESSON FOR US. The instinct which prompts them to assist each other in their busy labours has been celebrated as one of the most interesting manifestations of Creating Wisdom. How beautifully does it accord with some of the most frequently repeated precepts of the gospel! And also with such counsel of the apostle as this, "Bear ye one another's burdens." ( John Johnston. ) Sluggishness Francis Taylor, B. D. I. SLUGGISHNESS OR IDLENESS IS A GREAT SIN. 1. It is a sin against nature, for all living things put out that strength God hath given them. 2. It is against God's commandment. It is stealing for a man to live on other men's labours, and do nothing himself. 3. Idleness produces many other sins: such as disobedience to parents, drunkenness, adultery (as in David's ease), stealing, lying, and cheating. 4. Idleness brings many miseries upon man: such as diseases, poverty, unmercifulness in others, loss of heaven and pains of hell. If the idler object that he hurts none but himself, we reply, "So much the worse. Remember, thou must give account of thy time; of thy talents; of thy thoughts; of thy idle words; of thy deeds; of neglecting thy family; of doing no good in the commonwealth." II. LITTLE CREATURES MAY TEACH GREAT MEN MUCH WIT. From the ant they may learn — 1. Providence. 2. Labour. 3. Order. ( Francis Taylor, B. D. ) A secular sermon an foresight J. Parker, D.D. The busy ant is to be our minister. The great lesson it teaches is foresight, the duty of rightly improving the passing hour, the wisdom of making the best of our opportunities. The faculty of foresight, the power of doing something for the future, is a faculty most divine. Rightly educated and developed, it gives man peculiar elevation, and invests him with commanding influence. He who sees farthest will rule best. Foresight is not to be confounded with distrust. The wise exercise of foresight makes life pleasant — 1. By economising time. The man who has least to do takes most time to do it in. Our greatest men have been the most severe economists of time. 2. By systematising duties. Some persons have no power of systematising. Such men fret themselves to death, and do not perish alone. The men in the Church who do the least are generally the men of leisure. 3. By diminishing difficulties. To be forewarned is to be forearmed. Foresight numbers and weighs contingencies. The person who is destitute of foresight multiplies the difficulties of other people. The ant makes the best of her opportunities. Every life has a summer, and every life a winter. In recommending preparation for life's winter I am not advocating penuriousness. Covetousness is an affront to God. "The liberal soul shall be made fat." ( J. Parker, D.D. ) A lazy man G. B. Foster. Our text points to the sluggard — the lazy man. "How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? "There are many lazy people in the world. They are generally not worth much, not much wanted, nor of much use, except as beacons. They are not often prosperous. "An idle man," says Mr. Spurgeon , "makes himself a target for the devil; and the devil is an uncommonly good shot." An idle man's heart is the devil's nest; his hands the devil's tools; while the devil lays in wait for active, busy men, the idle man is actually waiting for the devil to set him a job. A race of idle men would create a famine. There are men who are absolutely too indolent to seek for salvation, 'tis too much trouble! And there are lazy Christians too; idlers in the Master's vineyard. "A little sleep," etc. 1. Here is a self-indulgent man. This little speech means, "I am comfortable; don't disturb me; let me alone to enjoy myself." This is the wish of many a sinful man. "Woe to them that are at ease in Zion," living purely selfish lives; for self-indulgence may, and generally does, mean selfishness. Self-indulgence is easy. 'Tis easier to give the reins to our appetites than to curb them; to slide than to climb; to please ourselves than to deny ourselves. If we would be men of mark for holiness, usefulness, of eminence either in things temporal or spiritual, we must know something of self-denial. Men who "take it easy" rarely make much headway. Look round amongst Christian workers, business men, great philanthropists, successful inventors, men illustrious or famous in any walk of life; read the biographies of men who have been renowned for any good thing — you will find that they were men of self-denial, not self-indulgent. Moses was a self-denying man; "he esteemed the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt"; and Moses prospered; he became very great; he was appointed leader and commander of the people of Israel. The apostles were self-denying men; hear them: "We have left all, and have followed Thee." "A little sleep," etc. 2. Here is a procrastinating man. He does not mean to sleep always, not even for long — only for a little while. He only wants a "little sleep," and then he will be stirring. Think of hours, days, lives, wasted in little delays; of souls lost by little delays! No man deliberately intends to be always a slave to sin, the devil, his own lusts. Not always — no; but just now it is pleasant, convenient. Courage to take now the decisive step — now! To-morrow may never come. ( G. B. Foster. ) The ant and its nest The truth of Solomon's reference to the ant, which has been questioned before now, is fully vindicated. Dr. Macmillan has found the food stored up in the nests of the ants, and he adds this interesting information: "Examining the seeds collected in the nests of the ants on the top of the hill at Nice more particularly with my magnifying glass, I found to my astonishment that each seed had its end carefully bitten off. And the reason of this was perfectly plain. You know each seed contains two parts—the young plant or germ lying in its cradle, as it were, and the supply of food for its nourishment, when it begins to grow, wrapped round it. Now the ants had bitten off the young plant germ, and they left only the part which was full of nourishment. And they did this to prevent the seeds from growing and exhausting all the nourishment contained in them. If they did not do this the seed stored under the ground, when the rains came, would shoot, and so they would lose all their trouble and be left to starve. I could not find in the heap a single seed that had not been treated in this way. Of course, none of the seeds that had their ends bitten off would grow; and you might as well sow grains of sand as the seed found in ants' nests." The necessity of providing for the spiritual experiences of the future J. Coe. I. THE IMPORTANT AND INTERESTING TRUTH WHICH THESE WORDS SUGGEST. That provision ought to be made for the future. 1. We should make provision for the soul. 2. What is the kind of provision needed for the soul? 3. The period against which we are to make this provision. The winter of death and eternity. II. THE SEASON IN WHICH THIS PROVISION IS TO BE MADE. The ants secure their winter requirements during the summer. Our life may be compared to summer for two reasons — 1. Because during the summer we have every needful opportunity of getting ready for the winter. 2. Because summer is the only time in which this provision for the winter can be made. III. THE REPROOF WHICH IS HERE GIVEN TO THOSE WHO NEGLECT TO MAKE THE PROVISION. 1. The force of this rebuke arises from the insignificance of the being by whose conduct we are reproved. 2. The disadvantageous circumstances in which they are said to be placed. 3. From that which they make their provision. 4. From the season against which they provide. 5. From the epithet applied to those who are negligent. IV. THE ADVICE WHICH THE WISE MAN GIVES. 1. A lesson of wisdom. 2. A lesson of industry. 3. A lesson of perseverance. If not making this preparation, what will by and by be our moral destitution! ( J. Coe. ) Industry R. Wardlaw. The indolent and improvident are here addressed. They are sent to the inferior creation for a lesson; and not to the greatest and noblest of the animals, but to one of the least and most insignificant of the insects. The providence of the ant has, by some naturalists, been questioned. It has been alleged that during winter they are, like some other insects, in a state of torpidity, and therefore need not the precaution ascribed to them in ver. 8. On this we observe — 1. If the fact of their laying up provisions be ascertained, all analogy more than warrants the conclusion that it is for some end. 2. It is said the stock laid up is not for winter, but for the sustenance of the young, when they need the almost undivided attention of the whole. But as a proof of providence, this comes to the same thing. 3. The assertion that the laying up of provisions by the ant is a mistake may not apply to the ants of every country. In tropical climates they do lay up provisions. The main lesson the sluggard has to learn from the ant is industry.Three grounds of this duty are indicated in Scripture — 1. That persons may not be a burden on society or on the Church. 2. That they may be out of the way of temptation; for there are many temptations in idle habits. 3. That they may have wherewith to assist others, whose needs, from unavoidable causes, may be greater than their own. One perilous characteristic of sloth is, that it is ever growing. ( R. Wardlaw. ) The teaching of the ant R. Walker. Man was created with more understanding than the beasts of the earth. But our minds are so debased by our apostasy from God that the meanest creatures may become our teachers. I. THE CHARACTER OF THE PERSON WHOM THE WISE MAN HERE ADDRESSES. The sluggard! Sloth casteth into a deep sleep, and in the verses following the text the sluggard is represented as in this state. He spends his time in fruitless wishes. He is discouraged by the least opposition. He creates imaginary dangers for himself. We know well who they are whose hands refuse to labour, who are clothed with rags, and make poverty not only their complaint, but their argument. But sloth is not confined to the common affairs of life, nor the character of a sluggard to men in any particular station. There is sloth in religion; neglecting the one thing needful, the care of our immortal souls. II. THE COUNSEL OR ADVICE WHICH THE WISE MAN HATH GIVEN us. The ant instructeth us not by speech, but by actions. Therefore we are called to "consider her ways"; how she is employed, and for what ends she is active. The wisdom we learn from the ant is the wisdom of acting suitably to our superior nature and our glorious hopes. We learn from the ant three things — 1. A foresight and sagacity in making provision for the time to come. How dreary must the winter of life be, when the previous seasons have been passed in sloth, in idleness, or in folly! 2. Activity and diligence. The ant never intermits her labours as long as the season lasts. Happy were it for man that he as faithfully employed his precious time to render himself useful in this world, or to prepare for eternity. 3. Sagacity in making use of the proper season for activity. Opportunity is the flower of time; or it is the most precious part of it, which, if once lost, may never return. Foresight, diligence, and sagacity the ant employs by an instinct of nature. She has no guide, but we have many guides. She "hath no overseer," but man acts under the immediate inspection of Him "whose eyes are as a flame of fire." And the voice of conscience in us is the voice of God. The ant "hath no ruler," or judge to call her to account for her conduct; but every one of us must give account of himself to God. III. IMPROVEMENT OF THE SUBJECT. 1. The sluggard sins against the very nature which God hath given him. 2. The sluggard sins against the manifest design of providence. 3. The sluggard sins against the great design of the gospel. Let us then be no longer "slothful in business," but "fervent in spirit, serving the Lord." ( R. Walker. ) Lessons for children from the ant R. Newton, D. D. An ant could tell us strange things. She could tell about the houses they live in, some of which are forty stories high, twenty stories being dug out, one beneath another, under the earth, and twenty stories being built up over them, above ground; she could tell about the different kinds of trades they follow, how some are miners, and dig down into the ground; some are masons, and build very curious houses, with long walls, supported by pillars, and covered over with arched ceilings. She could tell how some are carpenters, who build houses out of wood, having many chambers which communicate with each other by entries and galleries; how some are nurses, and spend their whole time taking care of the young ones; some are labourers, and are made, like slaves, to work for their masters; while some are soldiers, whose only business it is to mount guard, and stand ready to defend their friends and fellow-citizens. The ants teach: I. A LESSON OF INDUSTRY. The ant is a better example of industry than even the bee. II. A LESSON OF PERSEVERENCE. They never get discouraged by any difficulties they may meet with. Perseverance conquers all things. III. A LESSON OF UNION. The benefits of being united, and working together. The union of the ants both preserves them safely and enables them to do great good. IV. A LESSON OF KINDNESS. Ants are a very happy set of creatures. There seems to be nothing like selfishness among them. V. A LESSON OF PRUDENCE, or looking ahead. The power to think about the future, and to prepare for it. ( R. Newton, D. D. ) Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler. Proverbs 6:7 Overseers needed W. Thomson. When I began to employ workmen in this country (Palestine), nothing annoyed me more than the necessity to hire also an overseer, or to fulfil this office myself. But I soon found that this was universal and strictly necessary. Without an overseer very little work would be done, and nothing as it should be. The workmen, every way unlike the ant, will not work at all unless kept to it, and directed in it by an overseer, who is himself a perfect specimen of laziness. He does absolutely nothing but smoke his pipe, order this, scold that one, and discuss the how and the why with the men themselves, or with idle passers by. The ants manage far better. Every one attends to his own business and does it well. ( W. Thomson. ) How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep? Proverbs 6:9 The sleeper aroused James Parson. The various authors of Scripture are accurately acquainted with the human character. Among numerous defective habits and characteristics of our nature, which Solomon points out and condemns, is that of indolence; excessive fondness for ease and personal indulgence. The language of the text may be used in connection with the affairs of religion and of the soul. I. THE STATE WHICH IS DEPRECATED. It is a state of "sleep"—a moral condition of which corporeal sleep furnishes the most apt representation. 1. Notice its moral characteristics. The state of sleep is a state of forgetfulness, a state of ignorance, and a state of insensibility. What man is to the material world in a state of corporeal sleep, that he is to the spiritual world when he is influenced by his original and his natural passions. The spiritual characteristics of man's condition, illustrated by the metaphor of the text, will be found to be borne out by the entire and uniform testimony of the Word of God. That testimony is, from the commencement to the close, a record of human depravity, operating in connection with forgetfulness, with ignorance, and with insensibility, and hence deriving, and hence preserving over the species its empire of corruption and of abominable foulness. 2. Notice its penal evils. Sleep is a state of privation and insecurity. The characteristics we have noticed are not involuntary, they are wilful. They are not unfortunate, they are guilty. They are heinous and flagrant transgressions against the law, and against the authority, of God. And hence it is, they expose the persons indulging them to a dispensation of displeasure and of wrath. II. THE CHANGE WHICH IS DESIRED. There should be an awaking and "arising out of sleep." 1. In what does this change consist? The spiritual awakening which is desired constitutes a condition precisely the reverse of that which already has been defined. It consists in s state in which man exchanges forgetfulness for remembrances, ignorance for illumination, and insensibility for sensitiveness and tenderness. Spiritual truth is now discerned, contemplated, believed, and felt; and it produces in the mind all the affections, and in the life all the habits, for which it was designed: repentance, prayerfulness, love to God, zeal for God, obedience to God, diligence in working out the salvation of the soul, and intense and constant aspirings after a state of salvation in the glory of another world. The penal evils, which formerly dwelt over the horizon of the spirit as with the darkness of midnight, are dispelled, and are made to disappear. 2. How is this change produced? There is one Agent, by whose power it must exclusively and efficaciously be performed—the agency of the Holy Spirit of God. The Divine Spirit is the one efficacious source of all that is holy and redeeming in the character and circumstances of man. But there are certain means, appointed by the authority of God, to be addressed by those who have been changed to those who have not, and in connection with them it is that the Spirit produces the desired and happy result. Illustration of the use of means is found in the parable of the valley of dry bones. The system of means exists with remarkable plenitude and sufficiency in the dispensation of the gospel. III. THE APPEAL WHICH IS ENFORCED. The challenge implies that there ought to be no procrastination or delay in the change which is desired and pleaded for. Pleading with sinners, I would say — 1. Consider the protracted period of time during which you have indulged in slumber already. 2. Consider the increased difficulty of awakening the longer the slumber is indulged. 3. Consider the rapidly approaching termination of life, and arrival of judgment and eternity. ( James Parson. ) Too much sleep Francis Taylor, B. D. As waking idleness was condemned before, so sleepy idleness is condemned here. Sloth begets sleep. I. GOD WILL CALL MEN TO A RECKONING FOR THEIR TIME. 1. God gives us time as a talent in trust. 2. God looks for some good from men in their time. II. TOO MUCH SLEEP IS AS BAD AS WAKING IDLENESS. 1. Overmuch sleep is the fruit of idleness. Men that have much to do have little mind or time for sleep. 2. As little good is done in sleep as in waking idleness. Moderate your sleep. Too much sleep makes a man heavy and dull-witted. ( Francis Taylor, B. D. ) The danger of delaying repentance T. Boston, D. D. We have the sluggard's picture drawn in reference to his eternal concerns. He is one that puts off his great work from time to time. Here is something supposed. The sleeper convinced that he has slept and neglected his work. The sleeper convinced that he must awake and set to his work. The sleeper resolved to awake and mind his business. Something expressed. A delay craved. The quantity of this delay: it is but a little in the sluggard's conceit. The mighty concern he is in for this delay. We have the fatal issue of the course. Delays are dangerous. Consider what ruin comes upon him; how this ruin comes upon him — swiftly, silently and surprisingly, irresistibly. This is all owing to the cursed love of ease. The delay and putting off repentance or salvation-work is a soul-ruining course among gospel-hearers. I. WHY IS IT THAT GOSPEL-HEARERS DELAY AND PUT OFF REPENTANCE? 1. Satan has a great hand in this. He is always urging either that it is too soon or else that it is too long a doing. 2. The cares and business of t

6:1-5 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. 6:6-11 Diligence in business is every man's wisdom and duty; not so much that he may attain worldly wealth, as that he may not be a burden to others, or a scandal to the church. The ants are more diligent than slothful men. We may learn wisdom from the meanest insects, and be shamed by them. Habits of indolence and indulgence grow upon people. Thus life runs to waste; and poverty, though at first at a distance, gradually draws near, like a traveller; and when it arrives, is like an armed man, too strong to be resisted. All this may be applied to the concerns of our souls. How many love their sleep of sin, and their dreams of worldly happiness! Shall we not seek to awaken such? Shall we not give diligence to secure our own salvation? 6:12-19 If the slothful are to be condemned, who do nothing, much more those that do all the ill they can. Observe how such a man is described. He says and does every thing artfully, and with design. His ruin shall come without warning, and without relief. Here is a list of things hateful to God. Those sins are in a special manner provoking to God, which are hurtful to the comfort of human life. These things which God hates, we must hate in ourselves; it is nothing to hate them in others. Let us shun all such practices, and watch and pray against them; and avoid, with marked disapproval, all who are guilty of them, whatever may be their rank. 6:20-35 The word of God has something to say to us upon all occasions. Let not faithful reproofs ever make us uneasy. When we consider how much this sin abounds, how heinous adultery is in its own nature, of what evil consequence it is, and how certainly it destroys the spiritual life in the soul, we shall not wonder that the cautions against it are so often repeated. Let us notice the subjects of this chapter. Let us remember Him who willingly became our Surety, when we were strangers and enemies. And shall Christians, who have such prospects, motives, and examples, be slothful and careless? Shall we neglect what is pleasing to God, and what he will graciously reward? May we closely watch every sense by which poison can enter our minds or affections.