Bridges on Proverbs 18:17
 
 
Charles Bridges on Proverbs 18:17
 
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17.  He that is first in his own cause seemeth just; but his neighbour cometh and searcheth him.
 
We have lately had a rule against judging others. (Verse 13.) Here we are warned against justifying ourselves. Self-flattery is our cherished nature; highly valuing our fancied excellences; very blind to our real imperfections. So ready are we to place our own cause in a strong light; and sometimes, almost unconsciously, to cast a shade over, or even omit, what might seem to balance on the opposite side. It is so difficult to state facts and circumstances with perfect accuracy where our own name or credit is concerned. Hence, our cause, coming first, seemeth just. But, according to the proverb, ‘the first tale is good, till the second is heard.’ Our neighbour, acquainted with the real case, cometh and searcheth us, exposes our fallacy, and puts us to shame. Often has the tale of wrongs from a hard-hearted overseer, landlord, or creditor, roused our indignation, and perhaps provoked our remonstrance. But the searching process of the story on the other side has shewn us the wrongness of a hasty, one-sided judgment. Saul made himself appear just in his own cause. The necessity of the case seemed to warrant the deviation from the command. But Samuel searched him, and laid open his rebellion. (1 Samuel 15:17-23.) Ziba's cause seemed just in David's eyes, until Mephibosheth's explanation searched him to his confusion. Job's incautious self-defense was laid open by Elihu's probing application. (Job 33:8-12.) An eloquent advocate may easily make a bad cause coming first seem just. But the plaintiff is always right, till the defendant's case has been opened. Yet the true rule of justice would be to judge neither to be right, till both sides have been heard. Let the whole evidence be sifted; and often the plausible cover is swept away by a more searching investigation. (Acts 24:5, 12.) Judges are bound to “consider, take advice, and speak,” (Judges 19:30); carefully guarding against prejudging the cause till the whole has been fully before them; else he that is last in the cause comes with disadvantage, though it may be the cause of right. In our own cause, always be alive to conviction. Watch against a self-justifying spirit. Cultivate the spirit of self-distrust. Balance our enemy's statement against our own prejudices. Judge as under the eye of God, and with the sincere anxious prayer to lay ourselves open to his searching disclosure of hidden evil. Deceit in any form never answers its end. “A conscience void of offense both towards God and man” must be our great exercise. (Acts 24:16.)
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Proverbs 18:13
13 ¶ He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him. {answereth...: Heb. returneth a word}
 
 
1 Samuel 15:17-23
17 And Samuel said, When thou wast little in thine own sight, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel, and the LORD anointed thee king over Israel? 18 And the LORD sent thee on a journey, and said, Go and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they be consumed. {they...: Heb. they consume them} 19 Wherefore then didst thou not obey the voice of the LORD, but didst fly upon the spoil, and didst evil in the sight of the LORD? 20 And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the LORD, and have gone the way which the LORD sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. 21 But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God in Gilgal. 22 And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. 23 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king. {witchcraft: Heb. divination}
 
 
Footnote:
2 Samuel 16:1-4; 19:26. Compare chapter 28:11. See Bishop Sanderson's Sermons on Job, 29:14-17. Proverbs 24:10-12.
 

 
2 Samuel 26:1-4
1 ¶ And when David was a little past the top of the hill, behold, Ziba the servant of Mephibosheth met him, with a couple of asses saddled, and upon them two hundred loaves of bread, and an hundred bunches of raisins, and an hundred of summer fruits, and a bottle of wine. 2 And the king said unto Ziba, What meanest thou by these? And Ziba said, The asses be for the king's household to ride on; and the bread and summer fruit for the young men to eat; and the wine, that such as be faint in the wilderness may drink. 3 And the king said, And where is thy master's son? And Ziba said unto the king, Behold, he abideth at Jerusalem: for he said, To day shall the house of Israel restore me the kingdom of my father. 4 Then said the king to Ziba, Behold, thine are all that pertained unto Mephibosheth. And Ziba said, I humbly beseech thee that I may find grace in thy sight, my lord, O king. {I humbly...: Heb. I do obeisance}
 
2 Samuel 19:26
26 And he answered, My lord, O king, my servant deceived me: for thy servant said, I will saddle me an ass, that I may ride thereon, and go to the king; because thy servant is lame.
 
Compare
Proverbs 28:11
11 ¶ The rich man is wise in his own conceit; but the poor that hath understanding searcheth him out. {own...: Heb. eyes}
 
See Bishop Sanderson's Sermons on
Job 29:14-17
14 I put on righteousness, and it clothed me: my judgment was as a robe and a diadem. 15 I was eyes to the blind, and feet was I to the lame. 16 I was a father to the poor: and the cause which I knew not I searched out. 17 And I brake the jaws of the wicked, and plucked the spoil out of his teeth. {the jaws: Heb. the jawteeth, or, the grinders} {plucked: Heb. cast}
 
Proverbs 24:10-12
10 ¶ If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small. {small: Heb. narrow} 11 ¶ If thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death, and those that are ready to be slain; 12 If thou sayest, Behold, we knew it not; doth not he that pondereth the heart consider it? and he that keepeth thy soul, doth not he know it? and shall not he render to every man according to his works?
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Job 33:8-12
8 ¶ Surely thou hast spoken in mine hearing, and I have heard the voice of thy words, saying, {hearing: Heb. ears} 9 I am clean without transgression, I am innocent; neither is there iniquity in me. 10 Behold, he findeth occasions against me, he counteth me for his enemy, 11 He putteth my feet in the stocks, he marketh all my paths. 12 Behold, in this thou art not just: I will answer thee, that God is greater than man.
 
 
Acts 24:5, 12
5 For we have found this man a pestilent fellow, and a mover of sedition among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes: 12 And they neither found me in the temple disputing with any man, neither raising up the people, neither in the synagogues, nor in the city:
 
 
Judges 19:30
30 And it was so, that all that saw it said, There was no such deed done nor seen from the day that the children of Israel came up out of the land of Egypt unto this day: consider of it, take advice, and speak your minds.
 
 
Acts 24:16
16 And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offence toward God, and toward men.