Bridges on Proverbs 19:3
 
 
Charles Bridges on Proverbs 19:3
 
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3.  The foolishness of man perverteth his way: and his heart fretteth against the LORD.
 
Such was the foolishness of Adam! First he perverted his way; then he charged upon God its bitter fruit. “God, making him upright,” made him happy. Had he been ruled by His will, he would have continued so. But, “seeking out his own inventions” (Ecclesiastes 7:29), he made himself miserable. As the author of his own misery, it was reasonable, that he should fret against himself. But such was his pride and baseness, that his heart fretted against the LORD, as if he, not himself, was responsible. (Genesis 3:6-12.) Thus his first-born, when his own sin had brought “punishment” on him, fretted, as if “it were greater than he could bear.” (Ib. 4:8-13.) This has been the foolishness of Adam's children ever since. God has linked together moral and penal evil, sin and sorrow. The fool rushes into sin, and most unreasonably frets for the sorrow; as if he could “gather grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles.” (Matthew 7:16.) He charges his crosses, not on his own perverseness, but on the injustice of God. (Ezekiel 18:25.) But God is clear from all the blame (James 1:13, 14): He had shewn the better; man chooses the worse. He had warned by his word and by conscience. Man, deaf to the warning, plunges into the misery; and, while “eating the fruit of his own ways,” his heart frets against the LORD. ‘It is hard to have passions and to be punished for indulging them. I could not help it. Why did he not give me grace to avoid it?’ (See Jeremiah 7:10.) Such is the pride and blasphemy of an unhumbled spirit. The malefactor blames the judge for his righteous sentence. (Isaiah 8:21, 22. Revelation 16:9-11, 21.)
But let us look a little into this bold impeachment of God's righteousness. ‘Why did he not give me grace?’ Is then God bound to give his grace? Have we any claim upon God? Is not God's grace his own? (Matthew 20:15. Romans 9:19-21.) Is not the fool following his own will, and therefore responsible for his doing? Why cannot he turn to God? He will not listen or obey. The means are free before him. No force of natural impossibility hinders. His stubbornness alone is his impotency. He cannot, because he will not; and therefore, if he perish, it is not in his weakness, but in his willfulness. (Matthew 23:37. John 5:40.) The worst part of his wickedness is his wicked will. It is not only that his nature is wicked, but that he is willing that it should be so. Did he but feel his moral inability, would he but look to him who is “eyes to the blind,” “ears to the deaf,” “feet to the lame,” his healing would be sure.
This perverseness shews itself in every rising of corruption. The Pharisee mocks God by his hypocritical service, and then frets, because no good comes out of it. (Isaiah 58:3. Malachi 3:14.) The proud worm cherishes a discontented humour with Providence. Either the desired comfort is withheld, or the will has been crossed. If his tongue is quiet, his heart frets. Had he been placed differently, he would have succeeded better. God therefore has the blame of his failure. Whereas it is obvious that if he is not ready now to serve God, he needs a change of heart, not a change of place. The disease is within, and therefore would follow him through altered circumstances with the same result; leaving him as far as ever from happiness. The constant struggle of the will is to be anywhere but where God has placed us for our best welfare.
Humbling it is to see this foolishness in the Lord's people. Our carelessness or waywardness provokes the rod; yet the heart fretteth under the rebuke. (2 Samuel 6:8.) While we shun what is positively sinful, too often we allow occasions of sin. We are found in circumstances or society, which, as experience has taught us, hinder prayer, damp the spiritual taste, and wound the conscience. If therefore we allow this willful indulgence, at least let us charge on ourselves, not on God, the bitter consequence. Often also we quarrel with what we cannot alter; thus doubling the burden by adding guilt to our trouble. If “a fool's contention” with his brother “calleth for strokes” (Chapter 18:6), much more does the “murmurer and complainer” of God (Jude 16); “the man striving with his Maker” (Isaiah 45:9); or rather the child kicking against his Father's rod, instead of “humbling himself under his mighty hand.” (1 Peter 5:6.) Did he but know himself, could he but trust his God, he would look, not at the rod, but at the hand that holds it. Could the heart fret to see it in his father's hands? Should he not kiss it, even while it smites him; peacefully, yea thankfully, “accepting the punishment of his iniquity”? (Leviticus 26:41.)
This turbulent insurrection against Divine Sovereignty brings its own torment. It sets all the powers of the soul out of course. There is no peace or tranquillity but in complacency with the will of God, being fully reconciled to his disposals and dispensations. While “Ephraim was as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke,” it was only the more fretting. After that he “was turned, and instructed,” and “quieted himself as a weaned child,” he found ease. (Jeremiah 31:18, 19.)
Always, therefore, let us be ready with the cry — “Shew me wherefore thou contendest with me. That which I see not, teach thou me. If I have done iniquity, I will do so no more.” (Job 10:2; 34:32.) Instead of “complaining for the punishment of our sins; let us search and try our ways, and turn again unto the LORD.” “I will bear the indignation of the LORD, because I have sinned against him.” (Micah 7:9.) The extent of the evil is little known till we are brought under the hands of God. It requires no less than his Almightiness to break the stubborn will into ready obedience. “Thy will be done” — is easily repeated, but hardly learned. If things are not “according to our mind,” too often is there a struggle to break loose from the affliction; professing indeed to live by faith, yet repining at our hard condition.
So far as we regard our own happiness, our great desire should be ‘that our own will may be annihilated, and the will of God placed in its room.’ The discipline, therefore, that schools the will into subjection, brings with it nothing to excite one murmuring thought. So much does it lay open to us of the secrets of God's heart towards us, and of our hidden corruptions; that, both as coming from his hand, and operating upon us, it is an invaluable blessing. Well satisfied are we that all that God does, will appear to be right and best when the mystery is finished; that every leaf of his Providence will be expounded with the full manifestation of his glory. It will then be seen that the cross of disappointed wishes was the gracious means of saving us from ruining ourselves, and of exercising us for endurance, and ultimately for enjoyment. Joy and delight indeed will it be to look back upon every step of “the right way, by which our Father has led us to the city of habitation” (Psalm 107:7), and to mark, how needful was the discipline at every point, how suited to every exigency; and what abundant matter of praise does it furnish for that unwearied patience with which our loving Father “suffered our manners in the wilderness.” (Acts 13:18.) Meanwhile let us study God more closely in all his gracious dispensations. ‘O Lord, remove our ignorance, that we may know thee; our idleness, that we may seek thee; our unbelief, that we may find and enjoy thee.’
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Ecclesiastes 7:29
29 Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions.
 
 
Genesis 3:6-12
6 ¶ And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. {pleasant: Heb. a desire} 7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. {aprons: or, things to gird about} 8 And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. {cool: Heb. wind} 9 ¶ And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? 10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. 11 ¶ And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? 12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
 
 
Genesis 4:8-13
8 ¶ And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him. 9 ¶ And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother's keeper? 10 And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground. {blood: Heb. bloods} 11 And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand; 12 When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth. 13 ¶ And Cain said unto the LORD, My punishment is greater than I can bear. {My...: or, Mine iniquity is greater than that it may be forgiven}
 
 
Matthew 7:16
16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
 
 
Ezekiel 18:25
25 Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal. Hear now, O house of Israel; Is not my way equal? are not your ways unequal?
 
 
James 1:13, 14
13 ¶ Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: {evil: or, evils} 14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
 
 
Jeremiah 7:10
10 And come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations? {which...: Heb. whereupon my name is called}
 
 
Isaiah 8:21, 22
21 And they shall pass through it, hardly bestead and hungry: and it shall come to pass, that when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themselves, and curse their king and their God, and look upward. 22 And they shall look unto the earth; and behold trouble and darkness, dimness of anguish; and they shall be driven to darkness.
 
Revelation 16:9-11, 21
9 And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory. {scorched: or, burned} 10 And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain, 11 And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds. 21 And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.
 
 
Matthew 20:15
15 Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good?
 
Romans 9:19-21
19 Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will? 20 Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? {repliest...: or, answerest again, or, disputest with God?} 21 Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?
 
 
Matthew 23:37
37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!
 
John 5:40
40 And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.
 
 
Isaiah 58:3
3 ¶ Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not? wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labours. {labours: or, things wherewith ye grieve others: Heb. griefs}
 
Malachi 3:14
14 Ye have said, It is vain to serve God: and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before the LORD of hosts? {ordinance: Heb. observation} {mournfully: Heb. in black}
 
 
2 Samuel 6:8
8 And David was displeased, because the LORD had made a breach upon Uzzah: and he called the name of the place Perezuzzah to this day. {made: Heb. broken} {Perezuzzah: that is, the breach of Uzzah}
 
 
Proverbs 18:6
6 ¶ A fool's lips enter into contention, and his mouth calleth for strokes.
 
 
Jude 16.
16 These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men's persons in admiration because of advantage.
 
 
Isaiah 45:9
9 Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou? or thy work, He hath no hands?
 
 
1 Peter 5:6
6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:
 
 
Footnote:
1 Samuel 3:18. 2 Samuel 16:11. Psalm 39:9.
 

 
1 Samuel 3:18
18 And Samuel told him every whit, and hid nothing from him. And he said, It is the LORD: let him do what seemeth him good. {every...: Heb. all the things, or, words}
 
2 Samuel 16:11
11 And David said to Abishai, and to all his servants, Behold, my son, which came forth of my bowels, seeketh my life: how much more now may this Benjamite do it? let him alone, and let him curse; for the LORD hath bidden him.
 
Psalm 39:9
9 I was dumb, I opened not my mouth; because thou didst it.
 
 
Leviticus 26:41
41 And that I also have walked contrary unto them, and have brought them into the land of their enemies; if then their uncircumcised hearts be humbled, and they then accept of the punishment of their iniquity:
 
 
Jeremiah 31:18, 19
18 ¶ I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus; Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke: turn thou me, and I shall be turned; for thou art the LORD my God. 19 Surely after that I was turned, I repented; and after that I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh: I was ashamed, yea, even confounded, because I did bear the reproach of my youth.
 
 
Job 10:2
2 I will say unto God, Do not condemn me; shew me wherefore thou contendest with me.
 
Job 34:32
32 That which I see not teach thou me: if I have done iniquity, I will do no more.
 
 
Micah 7:9
9 I will bear the indignation of the LORD, because I have sinned against him, until he plead my cause, and execute judgment for me: he will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold his righteousness.
 
 
Footnote:
Leighton on the Lord’s Prayer.
 
 
Footnote:
‘Quos Deus amat, indurat et exercet.’ — Seneca De Providentiâ, c. 4.
 
 
Psalm 107:7
7 And he led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a city of habitation.
 
 
Acts 13:18
18 And about the time of forty years suffered he their manners in the wilderness. {suffered...: or bore, or fed them as a nurse beareth, or feedeth, her child}
 
 
Footnote:
Bishop Hall.