Bridges on Proverbs 18:3
 
 
Charles Bridges on Proverbs 18:3
 
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3.  When the wicked cometh, then cometh also contempt, and with ignominy reproach.
 
Selfishness is the character of the wicked. ‘Wheresoever he cometh, he is apt to cast contempt and reproach upon every man's face.’† His neighbour's circumstances or infirmities furnish materials to hold him up to scorn. The word of God has no favor in his eyes. His people are the objects of his reproach. Their seriousness he calls gloom, their cheerfulness levity. (Matthew 11:18, 19.) If “none occasion or fault can be found” (Daniel 6:4), invention forges it with unwearied ingenuity. “As saith the proverb of the ancients, wickedness proceedeth from the wicked.” (1 Samuel 24:13.) We must calculate upon this furnace, though the fires of martyrdom are extinguished. Our blessed Lord bore all the evils of the world without flinching. But contempt and reproach pierced his soul more keenly than the “nails did his hands and his feet.” “Reproach,” saith he — “hath broken my heart.”† And must not the servant expect to be as his Master?† Often however does retributive justice overwhelm the wicked themselves with ignominy and reproach.† A scornful spirit against the godly is never forgotten. Every bitter word is registered against the great day.† And what a sight will it then be, when the reviled shall stand forth, clothed with all the glory of “the King of saints,” and the faces of their persecutors shall be covered with “everlasting shame and contempt”! (Daniel 12:2.) The sight of that day will never be blotted out! The rebuke of his people shall be taken away from off all the earth, “for the LORD hath spoken it.” (Isaiah 25:8.)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Footnote:
Bishop Hall. Compare chapter 29:16.
 
 
Proverbs 29:16
16 ¶ When the wicked are multiplied, transgression increaseth: but the righteous shall see their fall.
 
 
Matthew 11:18, 19
18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He hath a devil. 19 The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners. But wisdom is justified of her children.
 
 
Daniel 6:4
4 Then the presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find none occasion nor fault; forasmuch as he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him.
 
 
1 Samuel 24:13
13 As saith the proverb of the ancients, Wickedness proceedeth from the wicked: but mine hand shall not be upon thee.
 
 
Footnote:
Psalm 69:20. Matthew 27:39-44.
 
 
Psalm 69:20
20 Reproach hath broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness: and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none. {to take...: Heb. to lament with me}
 
Matthew 27:39-44
39 And they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads, 40 And saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross. 41 Likewise also the chief priests mocking him, with the scribes and elders, said, 42 He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him. 43 He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God. 44 The thieves also, which were crucified with him, cast the same in his teeth.
 
 
Footnote:
Matthew 10:25. John 15:20.
 
 
Matthew 10:25
25 It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household? {Beelzebub: Gr. Beelzebul}
 
John 15:20
20 Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.
 
 
Footnote:
2 Samuel 6:20-23. Esther 7:9, 10.
 
 
2 Samuel 6:20-23
20 ¶ Then David returned to bless his household. And Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David, and said, How glorious was the king of Israel to day, who uncovered himself to day in the eyes of the handmaids of his servants, as one of the vain fellows shamelessly uncovereth himself! {shamelessly: or, openly} 21 And David said unto Michal, It was before the LORD, which chose me before thy father, and before all his house, to appoint me ruler over the people of the LORD, over Israel: therefore will I play before the LORD. 22 And I will yet be more vile than thus, and will be base in mine own sight: and of the maidservants which thou hast spoken of, of them shall I be had in honour. {of the...: or, of the handmaids of my servants} 23 Therefore Michal the daughter of Saul had no child unto the day of her death.
 
Esther 7:9, 10
9 And Harbonah, one of the chamberlains, said before the king, Behold also, the gallows fifty cubits high, which Haman had made for Mordecai, who had spoken good for the king, standeth in the house of Haman. Then the king said, Hang him thereon. {gallows: Heb. tree} 10 So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then was the king's wrath pacified.
 
 
Footnote:
1 Peter 4:4, 5. Jude 14, 15.
 
 
1 Peter 4:4, 5
4 ¶ Wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you: 5 Who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead.
 
Jude 14, 15
14 And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, 15 ¶ To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.
 
 
Daniel 12:2
2 And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.
 
 
Isaiah 25:8
8 He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it.