Proverbs 13:4 Sermons: The soul of the sluggard desires, and has nothing, but the desire of the diligent shall be fully satisfied.

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The slacker craves yet has nothing, but the soul of the diligent is fully satisfied.

Sermons

Christian Diligence, with the Blessings that Attend It		Proverbs 13:4
Diligence		Proverbs 13:4
Idleness	Edwin Harwood, D.D.	Proverbs 13:4
Soul-Craving	Homilist	Proverbs 13:4
The Nature and Consequences of Idleness and of Industry	W. Richardson.	Proverbs 13:4
The Wisdom of Docility, Etc.: a Sermon to the Young	W. Clarkson	Proverbs 13:1, 13, 18
The Value and Use of Property	E. Johnson	Proverbs 13:4, 7, 8, 11

Pulpit Commentary Homiletics

The Value And Use Of Property

Proverbs 13:4, 7, 8, 11

E. Johnson

I. THE WORTH OF THIS WORLD'S GOODS IS ASSUMED. It is needless to show that property is a necessary institution of life under present conditions. All the strong things said in the gospel about riches do not dispute their value; it is in the relation of the spirit to them that evil arises. Their value as a means to the ends of the spirit is unquestioned, and everywhere assumed.

II. THE VANITY OF RICHES WITHOUT CORRESPONDING ACTION. Wishes are a great force in our nature (compare Mozley's sermon on the 'Power of Wishes'). Still, they have no practical effect unless they are transformed into will and into exertion of means to an end. It is the very characteristic of the fool that his mind evaporates in wishes; he is always desiring, but never at the pains to get anything. He is always idly expecting something to "turn up." This is a sheer superstition, a sort of clinging to the magical belief that the course of nature can be altered for one's private benefit. The lesson is, of course, equally applicable to higher things. "He would lain go to heaven if a morning dream would carry him there." He wishes to be good, to die the death of the righteous, but, at the same time, to continue in a way of life that can lead neither to the one nor to the other. Hell is paved with good intentions.

III. THE SECRET OF PROSPERITY IS DILIGENCE. Here desire is united with exertion, and it is an almost irresistible combination, as the careers of men who have risen constantly show. To conceive a good thing with such is to desire it; to desire it is to begin at once to work for it. This course must bring "rich satisfaction" - the satisfaction, by no means the least, of the pursuit, and the satisfaction in the end of entire or partial fruition. And so in moral and spiritual progress. We cannot overcome our weaknesses and sins by direct resistance, but we may react upon them by filling the mind with profitable matter of thought. The rich satisfaction depends in every case upon the same law; the personal energies must be aroused, and an object must be aimed at. Satisfaction is the complete joy of the mind in closing with and possessing a worthy and desirable object.

IV. THE CONCEIT OF RICHES IS NOT REAL RICHES. (Ver. 7; comp. Proverbs 12:9.) The saying may he directed against the foolish pride of birth and ostentation without anything real to back it up. It strikes a common vice of modern times - the aim to keep up appearances, and to pass for something greater in position than one really is. The contrasted example teaches the lesson of preferring the substance to the show, of being willing to appear much less than one is. And so in higher matters; take care to be what is sound and good in principle, and the seeming may be left for the most part to take care of itself. No appearances deceive God, and nothing that is real escapes him.

V. THE PRACTICAL SERVICE OF RICHES. (Ver. 8.) They may provide a ransom from captivity, from penal judgment, from the hand of robbers. Their power to procure deliverances from the evils of life is much wider in the present day. The poor man, on the contrary, "listens to no rebuke," i.e. no threats can extort from him what he has not got. He is helpless for want of means. A lesson not often taught from the pulpit, and perhaps not needed for the majority - prudent regard to the possible advantages of money, stimulating to industry in the quest for it. Still, some do need the lesson. And the Bible has no affectation of a false contempt for the means of living. Business men should be encouraged in their pursuit of wealth, and guided in their application of it.

VI. WEALTH ONLY PERMANENT WHEN WELL-GOTTEN. (Ver. 11.) Perhaps the, translation to be preferred is, "Swindled wealth becomes small." Hastily gotten generally means hastily spent. And dishonest gain burns the fingers. How often do we see a feverish passion for spending going hand in hand with unlawful or unhealthy getting! A healthy acquisition of wealth is gradual, and the result of steady industry. Rapid fortune making, or sudden "strokes of luck," are certainly not to be envied in view of the good of the soul.

LESSONS.

1. Wealth is a good in itself. When we speak of it as an evil, we are using a certain figure of speech; for the evil is in the false relation of the soul to this as to other earthly objects.

2. In the desires that relate to wealth, their proper control and direction, the moral discipline probably of the majority must ever lie.

3. Safety is to be found in the religious habit, which sees in earthly objects good only as they can be connected with that which is beyond themselves, and is Divine and eternal. - J.

Biblical Illustrator

The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing: but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat.

Proverbs 13:4

The nature and consequences of idleness and of industry

W. Richardson.

This text is true both in a temporal and spiritual sense.

I. THE NATURE AND EFFECTS OF SLOTH. The slothful man wants to attain the end without the use of the proper means. He would be rich without labour, learned without study, and respected without doing anything to deserve respect. This desire of the slothful killeth him; for his hands refuse to labour. Such persons waste their days in forming idle schemes and vain wishes. The consequences are often very terrible. They become a plague and a burden to all who are connected with them. They frequently injure their best friends, prey upon the property of others, and bring disgrace and ruin upon their dearest earthly connections. Our land, all our lands, abound with such drones. Slothfulness also gives birth to envy, discontent, fraud, lying, and almost every other evil work. In whatever situation of life a slothful person is fixed, he will, from this disposition, fall into some destructive vice, and become miserable in himself and mischievous to others. A sluggard, whatever he may profess, cannot be a truly religious person, or possessed of those graces which form the character of a member of Christ and a child of God. The sluggard may desire the good things of religion, but as he will not use the means for attaining them, he "desires, and has nothing." God will be found only of them who diligently seek Him. A slothful disposition is so pernicious in its nature and effects that wherever it reigns and has the dominion, it must debase a person's character and pervert the end for which he was sent into the world.

II. THE NATURE AND EFFECTS OF INDUSTRY. Plenty and comfort are, in general, the consequences of diligence, both in our temporal and spiritual calling. Whatever may be a person's rank or circumstances, the providence of God has given him something to do. The sober and industrious are the glory and strength of every nation. And the industrious disposition is a great preservative against vice. Those who are trained up to honest labour and habits of industry seldom fall into those criminal excesses to which the slothful are prone. The most salutary effects of diligence are seen in religion. The diligent use of all appointed means of grace is crowned with the Divine blessing. These are the persons who have always done the most good in the world, and whom God and men have delighted to honour. There may, of course, be exceptions to the general rule. Would you, then, provide things honest in the sight of all men, pursue your profession with success, maintain yourselves and your families, and become easy in your circumstances, you must be sober and industrious, diligent and laborious. And so you must be if you would enjoy the peace and blessing of God. Some may from this learn the true reason of their embarrassments. They have spent themselves in wishing, not in working.

(W. Richardson.)

Idleness

Edwin Harwood, D.D.

Work is the grand, all-pervading feature in the government of the world. God works. The universe, considered as an inert mass, moves. Stagnation is the sign of death. How early in life the human being should begin regular employment is a question in which both the moralist and the political economist are interested. The burden, the obligation, the duty of one man differs from that of another. In one sense, the duty of labour is laid upon all. Idleness is to be avoided by all, irrespective of the pressure, or the absence of the pressure, of poverty or any personal needs. It is curious to notice that, in the estimation of many, no persons are thought to be engaged in labour save those who are engaged in some handicraft for their livelihood. But idleness, like labour, is a relative term. Idleness is a sin against the ordinance of God. Man has manifold needs, desires, possibilities. Were there no hunger, there would be no crops, no bread. Were there no need of shelter, there would be no huts, houses, palaces. Were there no sense of ignorance, there would be no desire to learn anything. Were there no religious feeling, there would be no temples, nor desire to know anything of what the apostle calls "the invisible things of God." The refusal of work, whether demanded of us, or opened to us in the way of providential opportunity, this is idleness. By this refusal one places one's self outside the life of the community. It is a sin — a sin of omission; the sin of neglect, and of lost opportunity. The life is barren, sterile, nothing. "Only an idler," it may be said; "not as bad as if he gave way to stormy, passionate excesses." And yet there will be in the brain of that idler an indistinguishable brood of vipers, all possible evil and corruption. God requires the use of our gifts and faculties for our development, and that we may do our share in the State, fill the position and, in a word, accomplish the purposes of our existence. The proofs of the sinfulness of idleness are to be found in its effects. It destroys our power of usefulness in the world. All real devotion to a cause implies work. We cannot set ourselves in opposition to God's ordinances, and at the same time entertain any belief seriously that we shall succeed by circumventing Him. If any of you, who are in your years of work, when the duty of work is specially your duty, are refusing everything of the kind, and are bent upon trifles or mere amusement, it requires no large insight to perceive that your minds and characters are becoming weakened; the thews and sinews are soft; the gristle does not harden into bone. Let this state of things last, and it is certain that you will be left behind in the rear. Wholesome, not morbid, activity is what is needed for many whose hands hang idly, not through the fault of an idle disposition. Work will heal many a human woe when all else will seem to fail.

(Edwin Harwood, D.D.)

Christian diligence, with the blessings that attend it

The son of diligence, considered either as a man or a Christian, is in a fair way to obtain the good things he seeks. The slothful wretch shall be poor indeed.

I. WHAT ARE THE SEVERAL THINGS WHICH ARE IMPLIED IN TRUE DILIGENCE?

1. Diligence includes the employment of every part of our time in proper business. This is opposed to sauntering life away; to trifling, or doing what is to no purpose; and to mistiming the businesses which are to be done.

2. Diligence includes earliness — in opposition to delay. The early man shows that his heart is in his work. If we begin betimes the service of the day, we happily provide against hindrances, and we are not in danger of being thrown into a hurry by accidental avocations.

3. Diligence implies activity and vigour. Lazy wishes will neither perform work nor obtain a blessing. What poor work doth a Christian make who is cold, indifferent, slothful in the things which concern his soul and salvation!

4. Diligence implies watchfulness — in opposition to a drowsy, heedless temper, a thoughtless security of soul. We must be awake to seize all advantages for our work, as well as to guard against surprises and dangers.

5. Diligence implies a constancy in our work — in opposition to looking back, and perpetual avocation by diversions and pleasures.

6. Another thing implied in true diligence is, firmness and resolution in our labour — in opposition to all the difficulties which attend our work. If we are frighted at every shadow of difficulty, we shall never fulfil our service, nor perfect our design.

7. There is also implied perseverance — in opposition to fainting and weariness. It is the end that crowns all.

II. THE BLESSINGS WHICH ATTEND DILIGENCE IN A COURSE OF VIRTUE AND GOODNESS.

1. Diligence hath a natural tendency to success and to obtain the good things we seek.

2. Diligence hath the rich and special promises of a faithful God to encourage its hope.

3. Diligence and industry are a happy guard against snares and temptations of every kind. When the devil finds you idle, he hath a proper moment to assault you with some powerful temptation.

4. Diligence is always making a progress towards its designed end, but the slothful man is in great danger of going backward. The gardener who neglects his daily work will soon find the ground overrun with weeds.

5. The diligent Christian is a most useful person in the world. He does the most good himself, and becomes an excellent example to all that are round about him.

6. The diligent Christian finishes his work with peace, hope, and joy. He will review his conduct and his labours with an inward satisfaction and a sacred pleasure of soul. Let us dread the curse of the wicked and slothful servant.

( Isaac Watts, D.D.)

Soul-craving

Homilist.

I. SOUL-CRAVING IS COMMON TO ALL. Souls have a hunger as well as bodies, and the hunger of the soul is a much more serious thing. What is the ennui that makes miserable the rich but the unsatisfied hunger of the soul?

1. The hunger of the soul, as well as the hunger of the body, implies the existence of food somewhere.

2. The unsatisfied hunger of the soul as well as the body is painful and ruinous.

II. SOUL-CRAVING CAN BE ALLAYED ONLY BY LABOUR.

(Homilist.)

Diligence

A friend of mine, says Mr. Gurney, one day inquired of the then Lord Chancellor, how he managed to get through so much business? " Oh," said his lordship," I have three rules; the first is, I am a whole man to one thing at a time; the second is, I never lose a passing opportunity of doing anything that can be done; and the third is, I never entrust to other people what I ought to do myself."

People

Solomon

Places

Jerusalem

Topics

Abundantly, Craves, Desire, Desires, Desireth, Desiring, Diligent, Fat, Fully, Gets, Gratified, Hater, Nothing, Richly, Satisfied, Slothful, Sluggard, Sluggard's, Soul, Supplied, Workers

Outline

1. a scoffer does not listen to rebuke

Dictionary of Bible Themes

Proverbs 13:4

     5343   idleness
     5539   sluggard
     5634   work, and the fall
     5833   diligence
     5839   dissatisfaction

Library

The Tillage of the Poor
'Much food is in the tillage of the poor.'--PROVERBS xiii. 23. Palestine was a land of small peasant proprietors, and the institution of the Jubilee was intended to prevent the acquisition of large estates by any Israelite. The consequence, as intended, was a level of modest prosperity. It was 'the tillage of the poor,' the careful, diligent husbandry of the man who had only a little patch of land to look after, that filled the storehouses of the Holy Land. Hence the proverb of our text arose. It …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Poor Rich and the Rich Poor
'There is that maketh himself rich, yet hath nothing; there is that maketh himself poor, yet hath great riches.'--PROVERBS xiii. 7. Two singularly-contrasted characters are set in opposition here. One, that of a man who lives like a millionaire and is a pauper; another, that of a man who lives like a pauper and is rich. The latter character, that of a man who hides and hoards his wealth, was, perhaps, more common in the days when this collection of Proverbs was put together, because in all ill-governed …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Practical Methods of Studying the Old Testament
[Sidenote: The various methods of approach] The Old Testament may be studied as literature, as history, as the record of an important stage in the evolution of religion, as the revelation of God to the race, or as a practical aid to the individual in living the true life. Each angle of approach calls for different methods and yields its correspondingly rich results. Studied in accordance with the canons of modern literary investigation, a literature is disclosed of surpassing variety, beauty, and …
Charles Foster Kent—The Origin & Permanent Value of the Old Testament

The Song of the Redeemed
And they sung a new song, saying, Thou ... hast redeemed us to God by Thy blood, out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation ... T he extent, variety, and order of the creation, proclaim the glory of God. He is likewise, ^* Maximus in Minimis . The smallest of the works, that we are capable of examining, such for instance as the eye or the wing of a little insect, the creature of a day, are stamped with an inimitable impression of His wisdom and power. Thus in His written Word, there …
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 2

The Heavenly Footman; Or, a Description of the Man that Gets to Heaven:
TOGETHER WITH THE WAY HE RUNS IN, THE MARKS HE GOES BY; ALSO, SOME DIRECTIONS HOW TO RUN SO AS TO OBTAIN. 'And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain: escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed.'--Genesis 19:17. London: Printed for John Marshall, at the Bible in Gracechurch Street, 1698. ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. About forty years ago a gentleman, in whose company I had commenced my …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

"And this is his Commandment," &C.
1 John iii. 23.--"And this is his commandment," &c. There are different tempers of mind among men, some more smooth and pliable, others more refractory and froward. Some may be persuaded by love, who cannot be constrained by fear. With some a request will more prevail than a command. Others again are of a harsher disposition. Love and condescension doth rather embolden them, and therefore they must be restrained with the bridle of authority. It would seem that the Lord hath some regard to this in …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Second Sunday after Easter
Text: First Peter 2, 20-25. 20 For what glory is it, if, when ye sin, and are buffeted for it, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye shall take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. 21 For hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that ye should follow his steps: 22 who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: 23 who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, threatened not; but committed …
Martin Luther—Epistle Sermons, Vol. II

How is Christ, as the Life, to be Applied by a Soul that Misseth God's Favour and Countenance.
The sixth case, that we shall speak a little to, is a deadness, occasioned by the Lord's hiding of himself, who is their life, and "the fountain of life," Ps. xxxvi. 9, and "whose loving-kindness is better than life," Ps. lxiii. 3, and "in whose favour is their life," Ps. xxx. 5. A case, which the frequent complaints of the saints manifest to be rife enough, concerning which we shall, 1. Shew some of the consequences of the Lord's hiding his face, whereby the soul's case will appear. 2. Shew the …
John Brown (of Wamphray)—Christ The Way, The Truth, and The Life

Opposition to Messiah Ruinous
Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; Thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel T here is a species of the sublime in writing, which seems peculiar to the Scripture, and of which, properly, no subjects but those of divine revelation are capable, With us, things inconsiderable in themselves are elevated by splendid images, which give them an apparent importance beyond what they can justly claim. Thus the poet, when describing a battle among bees, by a judicious selection of epithets …
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 2

"But if Ye have Bitter Envying and Strife in Your Hearts, Glory Not," &C.
James iii. 14.--"But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not," &c. It is a common evil of those who hear the gospel, that they are not delivered up to the mould and frame of religion that is holden out in it, but rather bring religion into a mould of their own invention. It was the special commendation of the Romans, that they obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine into which they were delivered, (Rom. vi. 17) that they who were once servants, or slaves of sin, had now …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

"But Seek Ye First the Kingdom of God, and his Righteousness, and all These Things Shall be Added unto You. "
Matth. vi. 33.--"But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you." The perfection even of the most upright creature, speaks always some imperfection in comparison of God, who is most perfect. The heavens, the sun and moon, in respect of lower things here, how glorious do they appear, and without spot! But behold, they are not clean in God's sight! How far are the angels above us who dwell in clay! They appear to be a pure mass of light and …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Blessed are the Poor in Spirit
Having spoken of the general notion of blessedness, I come next to consider the subjects of this blessedness, and these our Saviour has deciphered to be the poor in spirit, the mourners, etc. But before I touch upon these, I shall attempt a little preface or paraphrase upon this sermon of the beatitudes. 1 Observe the divinity in this sermon, which goes beyond all philosophy. The philosophers use to say that one contrary expels another; but here one contrary begets another. Poverty is wont to expel …
Thomas Watson—The Beatitudes: An Exposition of Matthew 5:1-12

Proverbs
Many specimens of the so-called Wisdom Literature are preserved for us in the book of Proverbs, for its contents are by no means confined to what we call proverbs. The first nine chapters constitute a continuous discourse, almost in the manner of a sermon; and of the last two chapters, ch. xxx. is largely made up of enigmas, and xxxi. is in part a description of the good housewife. All, however, are rightly subsumed under the idea of wisdom, which to the Hebrew had always moral relations. The Hebrew …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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