Bridges on Proverbs 21:13
 
 
Charles Bridges on Proverbs 21:13
 
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13.  Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry himself, but shall not be heard.
 
If there were no poor, much of the word of God, applying to their comfort, and directing our obligations, would have been written in vain. The obligation implies not only an helping hand, but a feeling heart; hearing the cry of the poor with sympathy,† cheerfulness,† self-sacrifice.† The stopping the ears implies cruelty or insensibility;† turning away from real and known distress;† any kind of oppression; beating down “the hire of the laborer” (James 5:4.) beyond the power of earning the necessaries of life; and neglecting, so far as is in our power, to defend them against oppression. (Luke 18:2-4.)
Sometimes indeed it might be our duty to stop our ears. The law of God discountenances the trade of begging, with all its pathetic cries and appeals. (2 Thessalonians 3:10.) To retain therefore the poor in idleness, however compassionate or self-pleasing the motive, is to encourage, if not to participate in, sin. Considerate discretion, not feeling, should direct our charity. (Chapter 29:7.) Honest distress taxes most of us to the utmost of our power, considering our responsibility to put out all that we have, whether it be little or much, to the most profitable use. Yet ever let the withholding of charity be a constraint upon our feeling, not the indulgence of our selfishness. Count it a privilege, no less than an obligation, to minister to the poor. Ponder it as conformity to our Divine Master's spirit and work. (Matthew 14:14-21.) Consider niggardliness in giving; the useless expenses that abridge our power of helping; luxuries, while our brethren are starving around us; restraining the full extent of what we ought and might give — all this as virtually stopping our ears against their cry. Covetousness and sensuality harden the heart; and when the heart is hard, the ear is deaf.† This sin was wrongfully charged upon Job.† But wherever it be found, the stamp of divine displeasure is fearfully marked;† and even the sin of omission the great day will openly mark as the ground of condemnation.†
And now, as the selfish hardness shews the man has no love to God,† he will find no love from God. “With the same measure that he meted withal, it shall be measured to him again.”† Did he stop his ears at the cry of the poor? God will stop his ears against his cry.† He that would not give a crumb on earth, was denied a drop of water in hell.† “He shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy.” (James 2:13.) Christian professor! study the character of thy God — “pitiful and of tender mercy” (James 5:11); and be like him. Remember — “bowels of mercies, kindness” are the ornament of “the elect of God.” (Colossians 3:12.)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Footnote:
Deuteronomy 15:7-11. Isaiah 58:6-9.
 
 
Deuteronomy 15:7-11
7 If there be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren within any of thy gates in thy land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thine heart, nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother: 8 But thou shalt open thine hand wide unto him, and shalt surely lend him sufficient for his need, in that which he wanteth. 9 Beware that there be not a thought in thy wicked heart, saying, The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand; and thine eye be evil against thy poor brother, and thou givest him nought; and he cry unto the LORD against thee, and it be sin unto thee. {thought: Heb. word} {wicked: Heb. Belial} 10 Thou shalt surely give him, and thine heart shall not be grieved when thou givest unto him: because that for this thing the LORD thy God shall bless thee in all thy works, and in all that thou puttest thine hand unto. 11 For the poor shall never cease out of the land: therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land.
 
Isaiah 58:6-9
6 Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? {the heavy...: Heb. the bundles of the yoke} {oppressed: Heb. broken} 7 Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh? {cast...: or, afflicted} 8 ¶ Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the LORD shall be thy rereward. {be...: Heb. gather thee up} 9 Then shalt thou call, and the LORD shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity;
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Footnote:
Romans 12:8. 2 Corinthians 9:7.
 
 
Romans 12:8
8 Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness. {giveth: or, imparteth} {with simplicity: or, liberally}
 
2 Corinthians 9:7
7 Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.
 
 
Footnote:
2 Corinthians 8:1-4. Howard's rule, so nobly expounded by his own self-denying devotedness — is a fine comment on this example. ‘That our superfluities give way to other men's convenience; that our conveniences give way to other men's necessaries; and that even our necessaries sometimes give way to other men's extremities.’ See his Life.
 
 
2 Corinthians 8:1-4
1 ¶ Moreover, brethren, we do you to wit of the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia; 2 How that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality. {liberality: Gr. simplicity} 3 For to their power, I bear record, yea, and beyond their power they were willing of themselves; 4 Praying us with much intreaty that we would receive the gift, and take upon us the fellowship of the ministering to the saints.
 
 
Footnote:
Chapter 29:7. Nehemiah 5:1-8.
 
 
Proverbs 29:7
7 ¶ The righteous considereth the cause of the poor: but the wicked regardeth not to know it.
 
Nehemiah 5:1-8
1 ¶ And there was a great cry of the people and of their wives against their brethren the Jews. 2 For there were that said, We, our sons, and our daughters, are many: therefore we take up corn for them, that we may eat, and live. 3 Some also there were that said, We have mortgaged our lands, vineyards, and houses, that we might buy corn, because of the dearth. 4 There were also that said, We have borrowed money for the king's tribute, and that upon our lands and vineyards. 5 Yet now our flesh is as the flesh of our brethren, our children as their children: and, lo, we bring into bondage our sons and our daughters to be servants, and some of our daughters are brought unto bondage already: neither is it in our power to redeem them; for other men have our lands and vineyards. 6 ¶ And I was very angry when I heard their cry and these words. 7 Then I consulted with myself, and I rebuked the nobles, and the rulers, and said unto them, Ye exact usury, every one of his brother. And I set a great assembly against them. {I consulted...: Heb. my heart consulted in me} 8 And I said unto them, We after our ability have redeemed our brethren the Jews, which were sold unto the heathen; and will ye even sell your brethren? or shall they be sold unto us? Then held they their peace, and found nothing to answer.
 
 
Footnote:
Luke 10:30-32.
 
 
Luke 10:30-32
30 And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side.
 
 
James 5:4
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}
 
 
Luke 18:2-4
2 Saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man: {in a city: Gr. in a certain city} 3 And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary. 4 And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man;
 
 
2 Thessalonians 3:10
10 For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.
 
 
Proverbs 29:7
7 ¶ The righteous considereth the cause of the poor: but the wicked regardeth not to know it.
 
 
Matthew 14:14-21
14 And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick. 15 And when it was evening, his disciples came to him, saying, This is a desert place, and the time is now past; send the multitude away, that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves victuals. 16 But Jesus said unto them, They need not depart; give ye them to eat. 17 And they say unto him, We have here but five loaves, and two fishes. 18 He said, Bring them hither to me. 19 And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude. 20 And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full. 21 And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, beside women and children.
 
 
Footnote:
1 Samuel 25:10, 11.
 
 
1 Samuel 25:10, 11
10 And Nabal answered David's servants, and said, Who is David? and who is the son of Jesse? there be many servants now a days that break away every man from his master. 11 Shall I then take my bread, and my water, and my flesh that I have killed for my shearers, and give it unto men, whom I know not whence they be? {flesh: Heb. slaughter}
 
 
Footnote:
Job 22:5-7, with 29:16; 31:16, 17, 20.
 
 
Job 22:5-7
5 ¶ Is not thy wickedness great? and thine iniquities infinite? 6 For thou hast taken a pledge from thy brother for nought, and stripped the naked of their clothing. {the naked...: Heb. the clothes of the naked} 7 Thou hast not given water to the weary to drink, and thou hast withholden bread from the hungry.
 
with
Job 29:16
16 I was a father to the poor: and the cause which I knew not I searched out.
 
Job 31:16, 17, 20
16 ¶ If I have withheld the poor from their desire, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail; 17 Or have eaten my morsel myself alone, and the fatherless hath not eaten thereof; 20 If his loins have not blessed me, and if he were not warmed with the fleece of my sheep;
 
 
Footnote:
Chapter 11:24, 26; 28:27. Jeremiah 34:10-22. Matthew 18:30-34.
 
 
Proverbs 11:24, 26
24 ¶ There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty. 26 ¶ He that withholdeth corn, the people shall curse him: but blessing shall be upon the head of him that selleth it.
 
Proverbs 28:27
27 ¶ He that giveth unto the poor shall not lack: but he that hideth his eyes shall have many a curse.
 
Jeremiah 34:10-22
10 Now when all the princes, and all the people, which had entered into the covenant, heard that every one should let his manservant, and every one his maidservant, go free, that none should serve themselves of them any more, then they obeyed, and let them go. 11 But afterward they turned, and caused the servants and the handmaids, whom they had let go free, to return, and brought them into subjection for servants and for handmaids. 12 Therefore the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, 13 Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondmen, saying, 14 At the end of seven years let ye go every man his brother an Hebrew, which hath been sold unto thee; and when he hath served thee six years, thou shalt let him go free from thee: but your fathers hearkened not unto me, neither inclined their ear. {hath been...: or, hath sold himself} 15 And ye were now turned, and had done right in my sight, in proclaiming liberty every man to his neighbour; and ye had made a covenant before me in the house which is called by my name: {now: Heb. to day} {which...: Heb. whereupon my name is called} 16 But ye turned and polluted my name, and caused every man his servant, and every man his handmaid, whom ye had set at liberty at their pleasure, to return, and brought them into subjection, to be unto you for servants and for handmaids. 17 Therefore thus saith the LORD; Ye have not hearkened unto me, in proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother, and every man to his neighbour: behold, I proclaim a liberty for you, saith the LORD, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine; and I will make you to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth. {to be...: Heb. for a removing} 18 And I will give the men that have transgressed my covenant, which have not performed the words of the covenant which they had made before me, when they cut the calf in twain, and passed between the parts thereof, 19 The princes of Judah, and the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, and the priests, and all the people of the land, which passed between the parts of the calf; 20 I will even give them into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life: and their dead bodies shall be for meat unto the fowls of the heaven, and to the beasts of the earth. 21 And Zedekiah king of Judah and his princes will I give into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life, and into the hand of the king of Babylon's army, which are gone up from you. 22 Behold, I will command, saith the LORD, and cause them to return to this city; and they shall fight against it, and take it, and burn it with fire: and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation without an inhabitant.
 
Matthew 18:30-34
30 And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt. 31 So when his fellowservants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done. 32 Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me: 33 Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee? 34 And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Footnote:
Matthew 25:41-45.
 
 
Matthew 25:41-45
41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: 42 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: 43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. 44 Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? 45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
 
 
Footnote:
1 John 3:17.
 
 
1 John 3:17
17 But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?
 
 
Footnote:
Luke 6:38. Judges 1:6, 7. 1 Samuel 15:33.
 
 
Luke 6:38
38 Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.
 
Judges 1:6, 7
6 But Adonibezek fled; and they pursued after him, and caught him, and cut off his thumbs and his great toes. 7 And Adonibezek said, Threescore and ten kings, having their thumbs and their great toes cut off, gathered their meat under my table: as I have done, so God hath requited me. And they brought him to Jerusalem, and there he died. {their thumbs...: Heb. the thumbs of their hands and of their feet} {gathered: or, gleaned}
 
1 Samuel 15:33
33 And Samuel said, As thy sword hath made women childless, so shall thy mother be childless among women. And Samuel hewed Agag in pieces before the LORD in Gilgal.
 
 
Footnote:
Job 34:24-28. Zechariah 7:9-13. See Ecclesiasticus 4:4-6.
 
 
Job 34:24-28
24 He shall break in pieces mighty men without number, and set others in their stead. {number: Heb. searching out} 25 Therefore he knoweth their works, and he overturneth them in the night, so that they are destroyed. {destroyed: Heb. crushed} 26 He striketh them as wicked men in the open sight of others; {open...: Heb. place of beholders} 27 Because they turned back from him, and would not consider any of his ways: {him: Heb. after him} 28 So that they cause the cry of the poor to come unto him, and he heareth the cry of the afflicted.
 
Zechariah 7:9-13
9 Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Execute true judgment, and shew mercy and compassions every man to his brother: {Execute...: Heb. Judge judgment of truth} 10 And oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor; and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart. 11 But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear. {pulled...: Heb. they gave a backsliding shoulder} {stopped: Heb. made heavy} 12 Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, and the words which the LORD of hosts hath sent in his spirit by the former prophets: therefore came a great wrath from the LORD of hosts. {by: Heb. by the hand of} 13 Therefore it is come to pass, that as he cried, and they would not hear; so they cried, and I would not hear, saith the LORD of hosts:
 
See
Ecclesiasticus 4:4-6
4 Reject not the supplication of the afflicted; neither turn away thy face from a poor man. 5 Turn not away thine eye from the needy, and give him none occasion to curse thee: 6 For if he curse thee in the bitterness of his soul, his prayer shall be heard of him that made him.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Footnote:
Luke 16:21, 24, 25.
 
 
Luke 16:21, 24, 25
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. 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. 25 But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.
 
 
James 2:13
13 For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment. {rejoiceth: or, glorieth}
 
 
James 5:11
11 Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.
 
 
Colossians 3:12
12 ¶ Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;