Exposition of Proverbs 11-12, Biblical commentary · Chapter 11 · Verse 31
Verſe 31. Behold, the righteous ſhall be recompenſed on earth: how much more the wicked and the ſinner?
THe matter which he is about to ſpeake of, is both certaine and weightie, and ſuch as concerneth eueryevery man to looke to in regard of his owne caſe; and therefore he prefixeth this word, Behold, to moue all to a ſerious conſideration of that which is to be ſaid. And that is firſt touching the godly, that they muſt bee corrected for their faults, when they offend, euen in ſuch manner and meaſure as holdeth ſome proportion with their offences, though not in equalitie, for then who ſhould be able to abide it? The word recompenſe therefore in this place is not taken for reuengement, or puniſhment proceeding from Gods indignation, but a louing chaſtiſement, though it be ſharper according to the threatning of parents to their children, whom they be farre from hating, or hurting: I will ſurely pay you for this. And that it ſhould appeare that nothing is intended againſt them for the perill of their euerlaſting ſtate, there is a limitation annexed, that it is to be only in the earth. Next he ſheweth the condition of the wicked, that if the righteous ſcape not ſcotfree, they muſt in no ſort be ſpared, but feele more heauie and featefull puniſhments, though not in the earth, yet in the world to come.
Doct. The beſt muſt looke for ſtripes, if they will take libertie to ſin againſt God. True it is that the Lord taketh not aduantage of infirmities, he paſſeth by them, he winketh at them, he ſmiteth not his children for them: but when they grow too bold, he wil nurture and awe them with correction. In this ſenſe he may be ſaid to be no reſpecter of perſons, that as he will not endure the ſinfulnes of the wicked, though they be neuer ſo great: ſo hee will not allow of the ſinnes of the godly, though they bee neuer ſo good. The vertues that men hauehave, doe not warrant them to fall into any vice: their religion and graces doe not priuiledge them to doe thoſe things which are vnſeemly for religious and gracious perſons to practiſe. Few points are more fully confirmed by manifeſt proofes than this. The Scriptures propoſe many examples, our eares hauehave heard many reports, our eyes doe daily behold many preſidents for this purpoſe, and they that will not be perſwaded by theſe, ſhall finde it true by experience in themſelues. What dolefull complaints doth the Church make eueryevery where in the Lamentations of Ieremy? Behold, O Lord, how I am troubled: my bowels ſwell: mine heart is turned within me, for I am Lam. 1. 18. 20.full of heauineſſe: the Lords ſword ſpoyleth abroad, as death doth at home. The Lord is righteous: for I hauehave rebelled againſt his commandement. How lamentably do the godly bemone themſelues, and the ſtate of the Church, in the prophecie of Eſaiah? Be not angrie, O Lord, aboue meaſure, neither remember iniquitie for euer: Iſai. 64. 9. 10.loe, we beſeech thee behold, we are all thy people. Thine holy cities lie waſte: Zion is a wildernes, and Ieruſalem a deſert. The houſe of our ſanctuarie, and of our glorie, where our fathers praiſed thee, is burnt vp with fire, and all our pleaſant things are waſted. In what patheticall manner doth the Prophet expreſſe the burden of his afflictions, in the booke of the Pſalmes? Thine arrowes hauehave light vponupon Pſal. 38. 2. 3.me, and thine hand lieth vponupon me. There is nothing ſound in my fleſh, becauſe of thine anger: neither is there reſt in my bones, becauſe of my ſinne.
Reaſons. 1 Firſt, God herein reſpecteth his owne glorie, who will hauehave his people to know, that he doth looke for ſeruice at their hands. If they performe it willingly they ſhall not faile to be rewarded for it: but if they grow careleſſe and negligent to obey him, they ſhall be driuen vntounto it by compulſion. This was that which made both Moſes and Ieremie beſtirre them, when God ſhewed his anger to the one, and threatned to deſtroy the other, for being ſo backward to vndertake their miniſterie: Exp. 4. 14. Ier. 1. 17. And the wicked ſhall ſee by this, that hee is neither remiſſe toward all, nor partiall to any, when his commandement is not regarded. This ſeemeth to be one cauſe, why the Prophet that came to Bethel, and failed to fulfill that which was giuen him in charge, was ſo ſeuerely handled. He told Ieroboam, that God had ſtraightlie forbidden him either to eate or to drinke in that citie, and yet Ieroboam might heare that he had both eaten and drunken in the houſe of an other Prophet there, for which cauſe the Lord ſent a Lion to kil him, that it might be knowne to Ieroboam and others, 1. Reg. 13.how dangerous it was for any to diſobey his word.
Secondly, he reſpecteth their good, though it might ſeeme to be better for them if they were wholy freed from all manner of troubles and croſſes. How wanton, how froward, how ſtubborne would children be? Into what perils would they caſt themſelues, if they ſhould be altogether exempted from the rod? They could neuer feele the comfort of their parents fauour, vnleſſe they ſometimes found the ſmart of their diſpleaſure. And ſo are the ſtripes and chaſtiſements of God as needfull eueryevery way to all his ſonnes and daughters. They make vsus the more carefull to beware of euill: they helpe vsus to repentance when wee hauehave fallen into euill: they confirme the louelove of our heauenly father towards vsus; they be occaſions of his holineſſe in vsus: They bring the quiet Heb. 12. 6. 10. 11.fruite of righteouſnes vntounto vsus. Finally, to knit vp all in few words: we are therefore recompenced with afflictions in the earth, that we ſhould not be puniſhed with deſtruction in hell, but rewarded with euerlaſting glorie in heauen. And this the Apoſtle ſheweth to be the cauſe why God ſcourgeth vsus. When wee are iudged, ſaith he, we are chaſtned of the Lord, that we ſhould not be condemned with 1. Cor. 11. 32.the world.
Vſe. 1 Admonition to eueryevery one that feareth God, to looke well to his heart and wayes, that he retaine the feare of God conſtantly, and not be venturous to doe any thing that may offend him. The Lord hateth ſinne as well in the godly as in the wicked, and will ſooner ſmite the godly for his ſinne, then the wicked, though not ſo grieuouſlie. An example hereof was alreadie ſhewne in the Prophet ſlaine as he was going from Bethel. Ieroboams tranſgreſſions were begun long before the fault that hee committed; and yet the ſtrooke came vponupon him for his fault long before the deſtruction of Ieroboam and his houſe. And let no man ſay, I am ſafe, becauſe I am ſure to be ſaued; he may fall into great miſerie in this life, though he be in ſtate of happines for the life to come. Freedome from perdition doth not free men from all manner of puniſhments. What plague beſides deſtruction can Chriſtians ſay, we ſhall certainly eſcape, vnleſſe they bee ſure to eſcape ſuch ſinnes as may prouoke God to plague them? The Magiſtrate hath many puniſhments for offenders beſides death, as the ſtocks, the goale, the whip, the pillarie, &c. and God hath more iudgements beſides damnation, as eueryevery man may heare by the threatnings, and ſee by the execution, and feele by the burden of them. Dauid was as ſafe from being condemned, as Satan is out of all hope to be redeemed; and yet his calamities made him to groane, and crie, and roare as he ſaith. His bloud was dried vp, his moiſture was like the drought of ſummer. His torment was as great Pſal. 32. 4. and 51. 8.as if his bones had been broken. And as no man ſhould take incouragement by ought that is in himſelfe to doe that which is diſpleaſing to the Lord; ſo is there a care to bee had that wee bee not led by the examples of other men to doe any thing which the word doth not allow. Some hereby take libertie for breach of the Sabbath, ſome for gaming, ſome for one thing, ſome for another. Good men, ſay they, vſe theſe things, and why then may not wee alſo? But it is no part of their goodnes, ſay wee, and then why ſhould you follow them therein at all? Their practiſe leadeth you to the like facts, but can it preſerue you or themſelues from the reward thereof? The queſtion is not therefore who they bee that do it, but with what warrant, and how well they are like to ſpeede for their doing.
Conſolation in afflictions, that they diſable vsus not from being righteous, though they be compenſations of ſinnes for which we are not yet ſufficiently humbled. We ſhall adde to our owne ſorrowes, and needleſlie increaſe the weight of our burdens, if wee condemne our ſtate, becauſe the Lord correcteth vsus for our faults: if we relinquiſh our hope of happines in heauen, becauſe we are recompenced with iudgements on earth: it is allotted by God to the beſt of his ſeruants ſo to be dealt with.
Doct. How much more, &c. EueryEvery wicked mans ſtate is worſe then any godly mans can be. Take the moſt proſperous of them all, euen ſuch as the Prophet ſpeaketh of, that hauehave not a knot to their death, but the web of their life from the wombe to the graue, hath runne with euen threed both in warpe and woofe without any breach, and let him be compared with a Chriſtian that neuer ſaw merrie day touching outward things, and he ſhall be found to be a miſerable forlorne caitiffe, in reſpect of this poore ſeruant of God. And indeede the tribulations and afflictions of good men do not bring them behind the wicked, but ſhew that the plagues and puniſhments of the wicked are yet behind. That reaſon our Sauiour vſed to the women that lamented him as an vnfortunate man, and one forſaken of God: Weepe not for me, ſaith hee, but weepe for your ſelues, and your children. For if theſe things be done to Luc. 23. 28. 31.a greene tree, what ſhall be done to the drie? This reaſon the Prophet Ieremie vſed to Gentiles bordering vponupon Iudah, which thought that plagues had only belonged to the Church. Loe, I begin to plague the citie, where my name is called vponupon, and ſhould you Ierem. 25. 29.goe free? yee ſhall not goe quite, for I will call for a ſword vponupon all the inhabitants of the earth, ſaith the Lord of hoſtes.
And this reaſon S. Peter vſeth againſt all impious and ſinfull perſons: The time is that iudgement muſt begin at the houſe of God. If it firſt begin at vsus, what ſhall the end bee of them that obey not the Goſpell of God? And if the righteous ſcarcely bee ſaued, where ſhall Pet. 4. 17.the vngodly and the ſinner appeare?
Reaſons. 1 Firſt, the fauour and goodneſſe of the Lord doth correct the one part, and that for their greateſt good and happines: and his wrath and vengeance doth purſue the other, and that for their greateſt hurt and miſerie.
Secondly, the death & ſuffrings of Ieſus Chriſt, hauehave drunke vp the vengeance and curſe of the afflictions of the one part, ſo that now there is nothing in them, but that which is medicinable and wholeſome. And Gods iudgements, with their owne ſinfulnes hauehave put a ſting into the troubles of the other, ſo that all that is in them is peſtiferous and deadly.
Thirdly, for the one part, the Lord knoweth what their ſtrength is, and therefore will lay no more vponupon them, then they are well able to beare: and for the other, he knoweth what their waies be, and will preſſe them with as much as they hauehave deſerued.
Fourthly, the one part vndergoe temporarie tribulations here in earth, and all their ſufferings will end with their life: and the other ſhall ſuffer eternall paines in hell, and all their torments ſhall begin at their death.
Vſe. Inſtruction not to be diſtempered, or diſcouraged at their inſultations ouer vsus in our troubles. They clap their hands and make a ſhout to ſee vsus beaten at our fathers hands, or in the ſchoole; let them mocke on, and take their courſe, the officer is at their backe to apprehend them, we ſhall ſee them ſit in the ſtocks: we ſhall ſee them geiued with bolts vponupon their heeles: we ſhall ſee them arraigned as malefactors: we ſhall ſee them condemned and executed as traytors againſt the Maieſtie of God. And as there is no cauſe why we ſhould be troubled at their inſolencie, ſo is there no reaſon why we ſhould be moued at their proſperitie. We ſhould make our ſelues more miſerable then we are, if we ſhould like our owne caſe the worſe, becauſe they deride vsus: and we ſhould iudge them more happie then they be, if wee ſhould thinke their ſtate the better, becauſe they applaud themſelues. Let vsus in compaſſion pitie the particulars, and pray for them, but neuer eſteeme their condition ſo comfortable, as to wiſh it for our ſelues, or to grudge it to them. And becauſe our eyes are much dazeled with externall ſhewes of things preſent, the holy Ghoſt doth giuegive vsus a caueat to take heede of the ſame: Fret not thy ſelfe becauſe of the malitious, neither bee enuious at the wicked. For Pro. 23. 19. 20.there ſhall be none end of plagues to the euill man: the light of the wicked ſhall be put out.