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12. A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself; but the simple pass on, and are punished. (Chapter 22:3.)
Even animal instinct is the exercise of prudence. (Jeremiah 8:7.) Every intelligent man acts upon it. It is natural to see the evil when it is come, or close to our door. But the prudent man foreseeth the coming evil. God is the same unchangeable God of holiness and justice. Sin is the same abomination to him as ever. There must therefore be evil to the sinner. The prudent man sees the effect in the cause, the consequent in the antecedent. He must therefore provide himself with a shelter. We often see the Christian's patience, security, and hope. Here is his prudence, securing a refuge. The evil is imminent. But “God in Christ” is to him “the munition of rocks;” not a cold and barren refuge, safe from enemies but exposed to hunger; but a storehouse of food, as well as a citadel of defense. “Bread shall be given him, and his water shall be sure.”† The man, who has never realized the evil, is without an hiding place. The man outside the gate perishes, as if there were no refuge. Only he, who “runneth into the strong tower, is safe.” (Chapter 18:10.) A mighty blessing is any dispensation that awakens from slumber, and brings care, prudence, confidence!
The Israelites, warned of the destruction of the firstborn,† and many ages after, of the ruin of their city, hid themselves.† This prudence combined with faith, rouses us as the man-slayer to flee from impending danger, and to “lay hold of the hope set before us.”† For him there were six cities.† For us there is but one.† Nothing short of vital faith brings us into it.
But the simple — the willfully foolish — let things take their course. God is so merciful. All will be well at the last. They will not be warned. The fooleries of the world engage their heart. All besides is forgotten; they pass on, and are punished. The prudent hide themselves in God. The simple rush blindfold into hell. Oh! sinner, does not thy ruin lie at thine own door? What will it be to take the mad pleasures here, and to “lie down in everlasting sorrow”? (Isaiah 50:11.) The tears of the penitent are but for a moment, and end in everlasting joy. (Psalm 126:5, 6.) Thine will be for eternity, “the weeping” of utter despondency. (Matthew 8:12.) Wilt thou scorn this warning? The ox is driven to destruction. The sinner plunges into it, in despite of every effort to restrain him.
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