Proverbs 1:32 For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them. The secret of a quiet life has been the great quest of man. The Confucian, the Buddhist, the Pythagorean have busied themselves with it, as well as Solomon. It was the motive of the mightiest movement of mediaeval Christendom. Simeon on his pillar, Bernard in his cell, Francis in his rags, were all occupied with it; and in these restless, stormy, anxious times it is the question of questions still. I. THE FEAR OF EVIL IS THE ELEMENT OF IT WITH WHICH MAN HAS MOST DIRECTLY TO DO. Man is a being "looking before and after." Apprehension and memory furnish together pretty well the whole of our bitter experience in life. The fear of evil is not an animal, it is strictly a human experience; part of the endowment of our race. II. IT IS PRECISELY THIS FEAR OF EVIL WHICH, BY GOD'S HELP, WE ARE TO CONQUER; THE EVIL ITSELF IS WHOLLY BEYOND OUR POWER. Calamity haunts the evil air of an evil world, and man catches the infection. He lives fearfully, and faces death fearfully, till he has learnt the Divine secret. III. HOW IS THE POWER TO BE WON? 1. By realising how purely independent of things is man's peace and happiness. 2. By taking a true measure of the range of our being and its resources. 3. By perfect filial trust in God. We want a heart, an arm to rest on. The only perfect rest is in God. This sense of the Divine love, the clasp of the everlasting arms, is exquisite and blessed rest. (Baldwin Brown, B.A.) Parallel Verses KJV: For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them.WEB: For the backsliding of the simple will kill them. The careless ease of fools will destroy them. |
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