Proverbs 3:17 Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. I. PREMISE A FEW THINGS FOR EXPLAINING THE TEXT. 1. What is said of the pleasures of religion supposes that persons are inured to the practice of it, and have a virtuous disposition and turn of mind. Every pleasure must have its faculty of perceiving, suited and adapted to it. 2. In interpreting the text we must except extraordinary cases, such as that of violent persecution. 3. The text does not speak of what is always the fact, but of the direct and natural tendency of the thing. The pleasures of religion may be destroyed by dark and gloomy notions of it, or by the influence of a melancholy habit. II. THE PECULIAR EXCELLENCY OF THE PLEASURES OF RELIGION AND VIRTUE. They are the highest mankind are capable of; have everything in them that can recommend any pleasures to the pursuit of rational beings, and infinitely the advantage, in many respects, over all other enjoyments whatsoever. Let us show the difference between the several pleasures to which mankind are addicted, and prove that their particular sentiments, prejudices, affections, and habits do not destroy, or in reality at all lessen, this necessary difference; and that the superiority on all accounts, whether it be in respect of purity, solidity, duration, and every other circumstance that can help to furnish out the most complete satisfaction, is on the side of the pleasures of the virtuous man. 1. The pleasures of virtue suppose all those unruly passions to be subdued, or at least controlled and moderated, which are the cause of the greatest disorders and miseries in human life. 2. The pleasures of virtue will bear the strictest review, and improve upon reflection. 3. The pleasures of religion depend entirely on ourselves, and not on those numberless accidents which may either prevent, or blast, or entirely destroy all outward pleasures. 4. The pleasures of religion can never be pursued to an excess: never beyond the most deliberate dictates of reason; to bring a just reproach on ourselves, or to the injury of others. 5. Religious pleasures are our best, our only support, under the disappointments and calamities of life. 6. The pleasures of religion are of all others the most durable. (James Foster.) 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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