Bridges on Proverbs 1:32-33

Charles Bridges on Proverbs 1:32-33


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32. For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them. {turning...: or, ease of the simple} 33. But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil.

Again is the sinner's ruin laid at his own door. He turns away from Wisdom's beseeching voice. He despises the only remedy. He dies a suicide. It matters nothing to what we turn. If we turn away from God, we turn from our true, our eternal interests. And, oh! be it remembered, that every inattention, every willful neglect, is a step towards this fearful apostasy. The word gradually becomes a burden, then a scorn. The fool may seem to be spared from judgment. But his prosperity is his destruction.† To desire ease, therefore, is to embrace a deadly enemy. Who that knows his own heart will not feel it a matter, not of congratulation, but of deep and anxious prayer — ‘In all time of our wealth — Good Lord, deliver us’? †

But to close with the sunshine of promise — Art thou, Reader, like God's own child, hearkening unto him? Then art thou under his cover, where no evil can reach thee; dwelling not only safely, but assured of safety; quiet even from fear of evil (Chapter 3:21-26. Job 5:21. Psalm 91:5-7; 112:6, 7. Isaiah 32:17-19); as Noah in the ark, in conscious security, while the world were perishing around him (Genesis 7:11-16); as David, fearless in imminent danger, because realizing a refuge in God. (Psalm 3. Compare 1 Samuel 30:6.) Yes — even the coming day of distress and anguish brings with it no fear of evil. (Contrasting verses 26, 27. Luke 21:26. Revelation 6:15-17.) “The day will burn like an oven.” Thou shalt behold the world on fire, and feel thou hast lost, thou canst lose, nothing. The “Day of darkness and gloominess” will be to thee a day of unclouded sunshine, the entrance into everlasting joy. (Malachi 4:1, 2. Luke 21:28. 2 Peter 3:10-13.)

Footnote:

Job 21:11-13. Psalm 55:19; Psalm 73:3-20. Jeremiah 12:1-3; Luke 6:24, 25; Luke 12:16-21; Luke 16:19-24; James 5:1-5; Examples of Israel — Deuteronomy 32:15-25; Jeremiah 22:20-22. Hosea 13:6-9; Amos 6:1-6; Babylon. — Isaiah 47:7-9. Moab. — Jeremiah 48:11-15. Sodom. — Ezekiel 16:49. Tyre. — Ezekiel 27:2, 25-27.

Job 21:11-13

11 They send forth their little ones like a flock, and their children dance. 12 They take the timbrel and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the organ. 13 They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment go down to the grave. {in wealth: or, in mirth}

Psalm 55:19

19 God shall hear, and afflict them, even he that abideth of old. Selah. Because they have no changes, therefore they fear not God. {Because...: or, With whom also there be no changes, yet they}

Psalm 73:3-20

3 For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. 4 For there are no bands in their death: but their strength is firm. {firm: Heb. fat} 5 They are not in trouble as other men; neither are they plagued like other men. {in...: Heb. in the trouble of other men} {like: Heb. with} 6 Therefore pride compasseth them about as a chain; violence covereth them as a garment. 7 Their eyes stand out with fatness: they have more than heart could wish. {have...: Heb. pass the thoughts of the heart} 8 They are corrupt, and speak wickedly concerning oppression: they speak loftily. 9 They set their mouth against the heavens, and their tongue walketh through the earth. 10 Therefore his people return hither: and waters of a full cup are wrung out to them. 11 And they say, How doth God know? and is there knowledge in the most High? 12 Behold, these are the ungodly, who prosper in the world; they increase in riches. 13 Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocency. 14 For all the day long have I been plagued, and chastened every morning. {chastened: Heb. my chastisement was} 15 ¶ If I say, I will speak thus; behold, I should offend against the generation of thy children. 16 When I thought to know this, it was too painful for me; {too...: Heb. labour in mine eyes} 17 Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end. 18 Surely thou didst set them in slippery places: thou castedst them down into destruction. 19 How are they brought into desolation, as in a moment! they are utterly consumed with terrors. 20 As a dream when one awaketh; so, O Lord, when thou awakest, thou shalt despise their image.

Jeremiah 12:1-3

1 ¶ Righteous art thou, O LORD, when I plead with thee: yet let me talk with thee of thy judgments: Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper? wherefore are all they happy that deal very treacherously? {talk...: or, reason the case with thee} 2 Thou hast planted them, yea, they have taken root: they grow, yea, they bring forth fruit: thou art near in their mouth, and far from their reins. {they grow: Heb. they go on} 3 But thou, O LORD, knowest me: thou hast seen me, and tried mine heart toward thee: pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, and prepare them for the day of slaughter. {toward...: Heb. with thee}

Luke 6:24, 25

24 But woe unto you that are rich! for ye have received your consolation. 25 Woe unto you that are full! for ye shall hunger. Woe unto you that laugh now! for ye shall mourn and weep.

Luke 12:16-21

16 And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: 17 And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? 18 And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. 20 But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? {thy...: Gr. do they require thy soul} 21 So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.

Luke 16:19-24

19 ¶ There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: 20 And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, 21 And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; 23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. 24 And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.

James 5:1-5

1 ¶ Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. 2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten. 3 Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days. 4 Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth. {sabaoth: Heb. hosts} 5 Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter.

Examples of Israel —

Deuteronomy 32:15-25

15 ¶ But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness; then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation. 16 They provoked him to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations provoked they him to anger. 17 They sacrificed unto devils, not to God; to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not. {not to...: or, which were not God} 18 Of the Rock that begat thee thou art unmindful, and hast forgotten God that formed thee. 19 ¶ And when the LORD saw it, he abhorred them, because of the provoking of his sons, and of his daughters. {abhorred: or, despised} 20 And he said, I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end shall be: for they are a very froward generation, children in whom is no faith. 21 They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God; they have provoked me to anger with their vanities: and I will move them to jealousy with those which are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation. 22 For a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell, and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains. {shall burn: or, hath burned} {shall consume: or, hath consumed} 23 I will heap mischiefs upon them; I will spend mine arrows upon them. 24 They shall be burnt with hunger, and devoured with burning heat, and with bitter destruction: I will also send the teeth of beasts upon them, with the poison of serpents of the dust. {heat: Heb. coals} 25 The sword without, and terror within, shall destroy both the young man and the virgin, the suckling also with the man of gray hairs. {within: Heb. from the chambers} {destroy: Heb. bereave}

Jeremiah 22:20-22

20 ¶ Go up to Lebanon, and cry; and lift up thy voice in Bashan, and cry from the passages: for all thy lovers are destroyed. 21 I spake unto thee in thy prosperity; but thou saidst, I will not hear. This hath been thy manner from thy youth, that thou obeyedst not my voice. {prosperity: Heb. prosperities} 22 The wind shall eat up all thy pastors, and thy lovers shall go into captivity: surely then shalt thou be ashamed and confounded for all thy wickedness.

Hosea 13:6-9

6 According to their pasture, so were they filled; they were filled, and their heart was exalted; therefore have they forgotten me. 7 Therefore I will be unto them as a lion: as a leopard by the way will I observe them: 8 I will meet them as a bear that is bereaved of her whelps, and will rend the caul of their heart, and there will I devour them like a lion: the wild beast shall tear them. {wild...: Heb. beast of the field} 9 ¶ O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; but in me is thine help. {is...: Heb. in thy help}

Amos 6:1-6

1 ¶ Woe to them that are at ease in Zion, and trust in the mountain of Samaria, which are named chief of the nations, to whom the house of Israel came! {are at...: or, are secure} {chief: or, firstfruits} 2 Pass ye unto Calneh, and see; and from thence go ye to Hamath the great: then go down to Gath of the Philistines: be they better than these kingdoms? or their border greater than your border? 3 Ye that put far away the evil day, and cause the seat of violence to come near; {seat: or, habitation} 4 That lie upon beds of ivory, and stretch themselves upon their couches, and eat the lambs out of the flock, and the calves out of the midst of the stall; {stretch...: or, abound with superfluities} 5 That chant to the sound of the viol, and invent to themselves instruments of musick, like David; {chant: or, quaver} 6 That drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the chief ointments: but they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph. {wine...: or, in bowls of wine} {affliction: Heb. breach}

Babylon. —

Isaiah 47:7-9

7 ¶ And thou saidst, I shall be a lady for ever: so that thou didst not lay these things to thy heart, neither didst remember the latter end of it. 8 Therefore hear now this, thou that art given to pleasures, that dwellest carelessly, that sayest in thine heart, I am, and none else beside me; I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall I know the loss of children: 9 But these two things shall come to thee in a moment in one day, the loss of children, and widowhood: they shall come upon thee in their perfection for the multitude of thy sorceries, and for the great abundance of thine enchantments.

Jeremiah 48:11-15

11 Moab hath been at ease from his youth, and he hath settled on his lees, and hath not been emptied from vessel to vessel, neither hath he gone into captivity: therefore his taste remained in him, and his scent is not changed. {remained: Heb. stood} 12 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will send unto him wanderers, that shall cause him to wander, and shall empty his vessels, and break their bottles. 13 And Moab shall be ashamed of Chemosh, as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel their confidence. 14 ¶ How say ye, We are mighty and strong men for the war? 15 Moab is spoiled, and gone up out of her cities, and his chosen young men are gone down to the slaughter, saith the King, whose name is the LORD of hosts. {his...: Heb. the choice of}

Sodom. —

Ezekiel 16:49

49 Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.

Tyre. —

Ezekiel 27:2, 25-27

2 Now, thou son of man, take up a lamentation for Tyrus; 25 The ships of Tarshish did sing of thee in thy market: and thou wast replenished, and made very glorious in the midst of the seas. 26 ¶ Thy rowers have brought thee into great waters: the east wind hath broken thee in the midst of the seas. {midst: Heb. heart} 27 Thy riches, and thy fairs, thy merchandise, thy mariners, and thy pilots, thy calkers, and the occupiers of thy merchandise, and all thy men of war, that are in thee, and in all thy company which is in the midst of thee, shall fall into the midst of the seas in the day of thy ruin. {and in...: or, even with all} {midst of the seas: Heb. heart, etc}

Footnote:

Litany.

Proverbs 3:21-26

21 ¶ My son, let not them depart from thine eyes: keep sound wisdom and discretion: 22 So shall they be life unto thy soul, and grace to thy neck. 23 Then shalt thou walk in thy way safely, and thy foot shall not stumble. 24 When thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid: yea, thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be sweet. 25 Be not afraid of sudden fear, neither of the desolation of the wicked, when it cometh. 26 For the LORD shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being taken.

Job 5:21

21 Thou shalt be hid from the scourge of the tongue: neither shalt thou be afraid of destruction when it cometh. {from...: or, when the tongue scourgeth}

Psalm 91:5-7

5 Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; 6 Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. 7 A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.

Psalm 112:6, 7

6 ¶ Surely he shall not be moved for ever: the righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance. 7 He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the LORD.

Isaiah 32:17

17 And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever.

Genesis 7:11-16

11 ¶ In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. {windows: or, floodgates} 12 And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights. 13 ¶ In the selfsame day entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah's wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, into the ark; 14 They, and every beast after his kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind, and every fowl after his kind, every bird of every sort. {sort: Heb. wing} 15 And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh, wherein is the breath of life. 16 And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the LORD shut him in.

Psalm 3

1 ¶ {A Psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom his son.} LORD, how are they increased that trouble me! many are they that rise up against me. 2 Many there be which say of my soul, There is no help for him in God. Selah. 3 But thou, O LORD, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head. {for: or, about} 4 ¶ I cried unto the LORD with my voice, and he heard me out of his holy hill. Selah. 5 I laid me down and slept; I awaked; for the LORD sustained me. 6 I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people, that have set themselves against me round about. 7 Arise, O LORD; save me, O my God: for thou hast smitten all mine enemies upon the cheek bone; thou hast broken the teeth of the ungodly. 8 Salvation belongeth unto the LORD: thy blessing is upon thy people. Selah.

Compare

1 Samuel 30:6

6 And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God. {grieved: Heb. bitter}

Proverbs 1:26, 27

26 I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh; 27 When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you.

Luke 21:26

26 Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.

Revelation 6:15-17

15 And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; 16 And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: 17 For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?

Malachi 4:1, 2

1 ¶ For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. 2 But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.

Luke 21:28

28 And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.

2 Peter 3:10-13

10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. 11 ¶ Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, 12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? {hasting...: or, hasting the coming} 13 Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.