Jeremiah 9:23-24 Thus said the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might… What does a man glory in? At what point does his life leave the plane of indifference and rise into a boast? What is it that provides for him the river of his most exquisite delights? The answer to these questions is fruitfully significant. If we catch a man in his gloryings we take him at his height. Some men's gloryings are to be found on a purely carnal level; they are sought and proclaimed on the plane of the brute. Other men's gloryings are found in spiritual realities, among the things of the Eternal. Unworthy glorying is the minister of stagnancy, paralysis, and death. Worthy glorying is the minister of progress, liberty, and life. Let us look at the unworthy gloryings. "Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom." That is a very surprising negative. I did not expect that "wisdom" would be banned from the circle of a legitimate boast. Is there not an apparent contradiction between the counsel of the prophet and other counsellors of the Old Testament Scriptures? "Get wisdom." "Fools despise wisdom." "A wise son maketh a glad father." We know, too, how our poets have spoken of the beautiful thing called wisdom. "Knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers"; blossom comes, but the fruitage lingers! The wisdom here admired is a ripe and matured product, the ultimate issue of a prolonged process. It is not in this sense that the prophet uses the word; he employs it with quite another content. It is the wisdom of the mere philosopher; the product of speculation and theory; a wisdom devoid of reverence, and detached from practical life. Life can be divided into watertight compartments, having no relationship one with the other. We can separate our opinions from our principles, our theories from our practice. Love of the fine arts can be divorced from the practice of a pure life. Our artistic wisdom can be imprisoned as it were in an iron-bound division, and separated from our moral activities. The musically wise can be the morally discordant. The possession of musical technique does not necessarily make an agreeable man. The wisdom of music can be divorced from the other parts of a man's life just as the music room in a hydropathic establishment is shut off from the kitchen. A man can be skilled in the decrees of counsel and in traditional lore, and yet he may be morally and spiritually corrupt. The wisdom of a theologian can be a wisdom without influence upon morals. A man may preach like a seraph and live like a brute. "Let not the mighty man glory in his might." This is a reference to mere animal strength. It includes a bald athleticism in the individual, and a bald materialism in the State. But surely strength is good? Athletic strength and skill are very admirable. But here, again, the prophet is referring to strength which is devoid of reverence, and therefore strength which is detached from service. All right use of strength begins with a deep reverence for it. So it is also with the material might of the State. A sword may be good if it be reverently regarded. "The sword of Gideon"; that is always a curse! "The sword of the Lord and Gideon"; that is an instrument of benediction! "Let not the rich man glory in his riches." Do not let us relegate this warning to a few millionaires. A man with a small income may regard his money as irreverently as the man with an overflowing abundance. The prophet refers to the spirit in which possessions are esteemed. He refers to riches held without reverence, and therefore not exercised in wise philanthropy. Possessions used irreverently are used blindly, and therefore without a true humanity. But how people do glory in bare and graceless wealth! It is a false confidence. "But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth Me, that I am the Lord." How far are we away from the brutal, the material, and the merely opinionative! Here is glorying which centres itself in the unseen, and fixes itself upon the Lord. "Understandeth." The relationship is reasonable and intelligent. God wants no blind discipleship. We are to be all alert in our fellowship with the Almighty. We are to worship Him with all our "mind." "In malice be ye children, but in understanding be men." "Understandeth and knoweth Me." That is a profound term, suggestive of certainty and assurance. It has about it the flavour of the familiar friend. We are to intelligently use our minds to discover the thought and will of God, then we are to act upon the will, and in our obedience a deep communion will be established. This, then, is the line of individual progress. We begin in exploration; we use our understanding in discerning the mind of God. Then we pass to experiment, and we put to the proof the findings of the mind. From experiment we shall attain unto experience; our findings will be revealed as truth; our knowledge will mature unto wisdom. "Then shall we know if we follow on to know the Lord." What does God want us to know about Him? "That I am the Lord which exercise loving kindness." We sometimes say concerning a distinguished man whose presence we have met, "I rather feared him, but his first words made me feel at home." And here is the first word of the Almighty, and the word is not "law" or "statute," but "loving kindness"! Not only kindness, for kindness may be mechanical and devoid of feeling, but "loving kindness"! A dainty dish is served by affection. What else does He want me to be sure about? "That I am the Lord that exercise loving kindness and judgment." Do not let us interpret judgment as doom. Judgment is vindication; it is suggestive of sure sequence. When I plant mignonette, and mignonette comes in its season, the sequence is indicative of judgment. Judgment is the opposite of caprice and chance. The Lord is a God of judgment, and all my sowings will be vindicated. All these deeper issues are in the hands of God. The Lord is a God of judgment, and of righteousness. This word is only confirmatory of the preceding word. Judgment is proceeding and the Vindicator is righteous. He cannot be bribed, He is not of uncertain temper. "He changeth not." (J. H. Jowett, M. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: |
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