Proverbs 3:17 Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. If we consider wisdom only as an object of speculation, the mind hath satisfaction in meditating upon it. The greatest delight ariseth from serious devout meditation on God. Pleasure springeth from different occasions. We ought to use our reason in order to choose those pleasures which, all things considered, are the best and fittest for us. In order to choose we should consider — 1. The testimony of those who have made trial of wisdom's ways, and agree in assuring us that they are. ways of pleasantness and peace. 2. The experience of those who have but the lowest measure of this wisdom; these can show the painfulness of the ways of sin and folly. 3. The fact that wisdom's ways lead to the enjoyment of the Divine favour, and our walking in them is the only foundation upon which we can have confidence toward God. 4. The pleasures which accompany sincere religion; that is, which arise from the testimony of an approving conscience. Compare the pleasures of religion with the pleasures of sense. (1) The gratifications of sense are common with us to the brutal kinds. (2) The pleasures of this world are but precarious; we can have no sure hold on them. (3) Those only can be accounted the greatest, the noblest, and in all respects the most valuable comforts, which support and relieve the mind in its greatest need. (J. Abernethy, M. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.WEB: Her ways are ways of pleasantness. All her paths are peace. |
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