Bridges on Proverbs 10:5
 
 
Charles Bridges on Proverbs 10:5
 
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5.  ¶ He that gathereth in summer is a wise son: but he that sleepeth in harvest is a son that causeth shame.
 
Indolence has just been contrasted with diligence. Forethought is here opposed to improvidence. (Chapter 6:6-8.) The importance of opportunity is practically admitted in temporal matters. (Ecclesiastes 3:1; 8:5.) Joseph wisely gathered in summer and harvest for the coming need. (Genesis 41:46-56.) The woman of Canaan (Matthew 15:22-28) — the blind men (Ib. 20:30) — improved their present opportunities. The wise son will thus gather his blessing at the fittest time. The freshness of youth is a summer harvest. It is as much the will of God that the young should gather knowledge, as that the farmer should gather his harvest. The wise gathering in this summer gives substance, vigour, high tone and power of usefulness in after-life! How often may we trace poverty of mind, enervation of character, unprofitable habits, to sleeping in this fruitful harvest! ‘He who idles away the time of his youth will bear the shame of it when he is old.’† Specially looking at this, as the season of Christian instruction, anxious promise, our Father's pleading time with the wayward heart (Jeremiah 3:4), ere yet it be hardened in habits of sin — is not the sleeper in such an harvest a son that causeth shame? Look again at the large harvest of opportunity in labouring for God — the great and diversified machinery of religious societies, needing direction and energy; the mass of fellow-sinners around us, claiming our sympathy and helpfulness — “While we have time, let us do good.” (Galatians 6:10.) How high is the privilege of gathering with Christ in such an harvest! (Matthew 12:30.) How great the shame of doing nothing, where there is so much to be done! What a harvest also is the present “accepted time”! (2 Corinthians 6:2.) Mark the abundance of the means of grace, the living verdure of the gospel. The Bible opens the way. The Savior invites. The Holy Spirit strives with the conscience. The Sabbath also is a golden gathering time for the week. It draws us aside from the world, and beams with the peace, joy and hope of heaven. Now, am I diligently improving this harvest? or am I sleeping — perhaps in the very house of God — instead of listening to the voice from heaven — a shame to my minister, to my church, to my Lord?
The Lord preserve me from the ruin of sleeping (Matthew 25:5. Compare Isaiah 55:6. Luke 13:28, 29. Chapter 1:24-28) away the invaluable hours of “the day of salvation”! Can I bear the thought of that desponding cry of eternal remorse — “The harvest is passed; the summer is ended — and I am not saved”? (Jeremiah 8:20. Compare chapter 5:11-13.)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Proverbs 6:6-8
6 ¶ Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise: 7 Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, 8 Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest.
 
 
Ecclesiastes 3:1
1 ¶ To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
 
Ecclesiastes 8:5
5 Whoso keepeth the commandment shall feel no evil thing: and a wise man's heart discerneth both time and judgment. {shall...: Heb. shall know}
 
 
Genesis 41:46-56
46 ¶ And Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went throughout all the land of Egypt. 47 And in the seven plenteous years the earth brought forth by handfuls. 48 And he gathered up all the food of the seven years, which were in the land of Egypt, and laid up the food in the cities: the food of the field, which was round about every city, laid he up in the same. 49 And Joseph gathered corn as the sand of the sea, very much, until he left numbering; for it was without number. 50 And unto Joseph were born two sons before the years of famine came, which Asenath the daughter of Potipherah priest of On bare unto him. {priest: or, prince} 51 And Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh: For God, said he, hath made me forget all my toil, and all my father's house. {Manasseh: that is, Forgetting} 52 And the name of the second called he Ephraim: For God hath caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction. {Ephraim: that is, Fruitful} 53 And the seven years of plenteousness, that was in the land of Egypt, were ended. 54 And the seven years of dearth began to come, according as Joseph had said: and the dearth was in all lands; but in all the land of Egypt there was bread. 55 And when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread: and Pharaoh said unto all the Egyptians, Go unto Joseph; what he saith to you, do. 56 And the famine was over all the face of the earth: And Joseph opened all the storehouses, and sold unto the Egyptians; and the famine waxed sore in the land of Egypt. {all the storehouses: Heb. all wherein was}
 
 
Matthew 15:22-28
22 And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil. 23 But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us. 24 But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 25 Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. 26 But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs. 27 And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table. 28 Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.
 
 
Matthew 20:30
30 And, behold, two blind men sitting by the way side, when they heard that Jesus passed by, cried out, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou Son of David.
 
 
Footnote:
Henry in loco. See Bp. Horne's Sermon on the Redemption of Time. Sir Walter Scott's testimony in his Auto-Biography is most instructive — ‘If it should ever fall to the lot of youth to peruse these pages, let such a reader remember, that it is with the deepest regret that I recollect in my manhood the opportunities of learning which I neglected in my youth; that through every part of my literary career I have felt pinched and hampered by my own ignorance: and that I would at this moment give half the reputation I have had the good fortune to acquire, if, by doing so, I could rest the remaining part upon a sound foundation of learning and science.’
 
 
Jeremiah 3:4
4 Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me, My father, thou art the guide of my youth?
 
 
Galatians 6:10
10 As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.
 
 
Matthew 12:30
30 He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.
 
 
2 Corinthians 6:2
2 (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)
 
 
Jeremiah 8:20
20 The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.
 
Compare
Proverbs 5:11-13
11 And thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed, 12 And say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof;
 
 
Matthew 25:5
5 While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.
 
Compare
Isaiah 55:6
6 ¶ Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:
 
Luke 13:28, 29
28 There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out. 29 And they shall come from the east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God.
 
Proverbs 1:24-28
24 Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; 25 But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof: 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. 28 Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me: