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16. Hast thou found honey? eat so much as is sufficient for thee, lest thou be filled therewith, and vomit it.
Solomon lately had invited us warmly to eat honey. (Chapter 24:13.) Here, however, he imposes a restraint. The old proverb applies: ‘Too much of a good thing.’ Eat so much as is sufficient. So far it is sweet. Beyond this it is nauseating. Cultivate in all things the wisdom of sobriety, directing to a thankful, but temperate enjoyment of our earthly blessings. “Every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving.” (1 Timothy 4:4.) But as a needful balance to this universal privilege — “Let your moderation be known unto all men.”† Satisfy the wants, but mortify the lusts, of the flesh.† Then the gifts of God become blessings to us, and we glorify him in them, and by them. But the most elevated pleasures of earth become in the excess, distasteful and injurious; fraught with disappointment, when separated from the great end. (Ecclesiastes 2:10, 11.) Our affections can never safely flow out to any object, unless they are primarily fixed on God. ‘Then we may be sure not to offend, either in the object or measure. No man can in God love whom he should not; nor immediately love whom he would. This holy respect doth both direct and limit him, and shuts up his delights in the conscience of a lawful fruition.’† In earthly pleasure, however, we can never forget, how slight the boundary line is between the lawful and the forbidden path. Sin and danger begin on the extremity of virtue. For does not the legitimate indulgence of appetite to its utmost point bring us to the brink, and often hurry us to the allowance, of gluttony? Does not the undisciplined flow of earthly affections endanger idolatry? Nay, even spiritual luxury may need self-control; lest it be excitement without deep principle, which must eventually prove unsubstantial and delusive.
But in eating the real honey of the Gospel there is no danger of excess. Never shall we know satiety in this delight. The increasing desire will be fully satisfied only in eternity. ‘O God, let me but taste and see how sweet the Lord Jesus is in all his gracious promises; in all his merciful and real performances. I shall want no more to make me happy. This is not the honey whereof I am bidden not to eat too much. No, Lord, I can never eat enough of this celestial honey. Here I cannot surfeit: or if I could, this surfeit would be my health.’†
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