When the righteous flourish, the people rejoice, but when the wicked rule, the people groan. Sermons
I. TRUTHS OF PERSONAL CONDUCT. 1. The obstinate offender and his doom. (Ver. 1.) The repeated complaint against Israel was that they were a "stiff-necked people." Self-willed, haughty, persistent, defying rebuke and chastisement, is the habit described. It invites judgment. "When lesser warnings will not serve, God looks into his quiver for deadly arrows." They who will not bend before the gentle persuasions of God's Holy Spirit must feel the rod. Men may make themselves outlaws from the kingdom of God. 2. Wisdom and virtue inseparable in conduct. (Ver. 3.) So much so that the same word may occasionally do duty for either notion. Thus the French mean by one who is "sage" one who is chaste and virtuous. The effects are alike. Joy is given to parents by the sage conduct of children; and vice is seen to be folly by the waste and want it brings in its train (comp. Proverbs 6:26; Proverbs 10:1; Proverbs 28:7). 3. The dishonesty of flattery. (Ver. 5.) It may be designed to deceive, and is then coloured with the darkest hue of treachery. Or it may be undesigned in its effects. But in either case, the web of flattering lies becomes a snare in which the neighbour stumbles to his fall (comp. Proverbs 26:24, 25, 28). The kiss of the flatterer is more deadly than the hate of a foe. "When we are most praised for our discernment, we are apt to act most foolishly; for praise tends to cloud the understanding and pervert the judgment." 4. Delusive and genuine joy. (Ver. 6.) The serpent is concealed amidst the roses of illicit pleasures; a canker is at the core of the forbidden fruit. A "shadow darkens the ruby of the cup, and dims the splendour of the scene." But ever there is a song in the ways of God. See the example of Patti and Silas even in prison (Acts 16:25). "Always there are evil days in the world; always good days in the Lord" (Augustine, on Psalm 33). II. THE INFLUENCE OF PERSONAL GOODNESS ON SOCIAL AND PUBLIC WEAL. 1. The general happiness is dependent on the conduct of individuals. (Ver. 2; comp. Proverbs 28:12, 28.) For society is a collection of individuals. "It is no peculiar conceit, but a matter of sound consequence, that all duties are by so much the better performed, by how much the men are more religious from whose abilities the same proceed. For if the course of political affairs cannot in any good sort go forward without fit instruments, and that which fitteth them be their virtues, let polity acknowledge itself indebted to religion, godliness being the chiefest, top, and well-spring of all true virtue, even as God is of all good things." "Religion, unfeignedly lived, perfecteth man's abilities unto all kinds of virtuous services in the commonwealth" (Hooker, 'Eccl. Pol.,' 5:1). 2. The effect of just administration and of bribery. (Ver. 4.) The best laws are of no avail if badly administered. God's throne is founded on justice (Psalm 89:14). And this only can be the foundation of national stable polity and of the common weal "We will sell justice to none," says the Magna Charta. The theocracy was overthrown in the time of Samuel by the corruption of his sons. The just administration of David "bore up the pillars" of the land (2 Samuel 8:15). The greed of Jehoiakim again shook the kingdom to its foundations (Jeremiah 22:18-19). Righteousness alone exalteth a nation. 3. Justice to the poor. (Ver. 7.) The good man enters into the feelings of others, and makes the lot of the oppressed, in sympathy and imagination, his own. The evil and hard-hearted man, looking at life only from the outside, treats the poor as dumb driven cattle, and easily becomes the tyrant and the oppressor. Peculiarly, sympathy, consideration, compassion for the lowly and the poor, have been infused into the conscience of the world, and made "current coin" by the example and spirit of the Redeemer. - J.
When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice. Man is, for the most part, equally unhappy when subjected, without redress, to the passions of another, or left, without control, to the dominion of his own. Government is necessary to the safety of particular men and the happiness of society. The people cannot rejoice except the righteous are in authority.I. THE DUTY OF THOSE IN AUTHORITY TO PROMOTE THE HAPPINESS OF THE PEOPLE. No man is born merely for his own sake, to consult his own advantage or pleasure, and unconnected with the good of others. This is more evidently true of those who are exalted into high rank, dignified with honours, and vested with authority. He who wears the honours and receives the revenues of an exalted station, without attending to the duties of his post, is, in a very high degree, criminal, both in the eye of God and man. II. BY WHAT MEANS THE HAPPINESS OF THE PEOPLE MAY BE MOST EFFECTUALLY PROMOTED. The only uniform and perpetual cause of public happiness is public virtue. Without virtue nothing can be securely possessed or properly enjoyed. In a country like ours the great demand is for the security of property, the confirmation of liberty, and the extension of commerce. If riches and liberty could make us happy, it would remain to be considered how riches and liberty can be secured. Human laws must be limited in their effects. The deficiencies in civil life can be supplied only by religion. The first duty of a governor is therefore to diffuse through the community a spirit of religion. To this end it is necessary that the external order of religion be diligently maintained, that the solemnities of worship be duly observed, and a proper reverence preserved for the times and places appropriated to piety. And governors must co-operate with their laws by their own examples. III. HOW THE PEOPLE ARE TO ASSIST AND FURTHER THE ENDEAVOURS OF THEIR GOVERNORS. Nations cannot be governed but by their own consent. The first duty of subjects is obedience to the laws. No man thinks laws unnecessary for others; and no man, if he considers his own inherent frailty, can justly think them unnecessary for himself. Even the errors and deficiencies of authority must be treated with respect. All institutions are defective by their nature, and all rulers have their imperfections, like other men. As government is difficult to be administered, so it is difficult to be understood; and where very few have capacity to judge, very few have a right to censure. The laws will be easily obeyed by him who adds to human sanctions the obligations of conscience; and he will not easily be disposed to censure his superiors whom religion has made acquainted with his own failings. (John Taylor.) 1. The laws are duly executed. This keeps all the springs of the body politic in their right tone, and gives life and vigour to their motion. 2. True merit finds protection and encouragement under it. This enlivens people's spirits and makes them study to be serviceable upon a right principle. 3. Such a government appears abroad with weight and authority. Righteousness exalteth a nation and spreads its fame and reputation in countries far remote. 4. Such a government is attended with the blessing of God. II. HOW OUGHT PEOPLE TO EXPRESS THEIR JOY WHEN THE RIGHTEOUS ARE IN AUTHORITY? 1. By a ready and cheerful obedience to authority. 2. By grateful acknowledgments to God for so great a blessing. 3. The people should express their joy by their gratitude to such rulers. (Bp. John Hough.) People SolomonPlaces JerusalemTopics Authority, Beareth, Evil, Glad, Grief, Groan, Increase, Increased, Mourn, Multiplying, Power, Rejoice, Righteous, Rule, Ruler, Rules, Ruling, Sigh, Thrive, Upright, WickedOutline 1. observations of public government15. and of private 22. Of anger, pride, thievery, cowardice and corruption Dictionary of Bible Themes Proverbs 29:2-3Library An Obscured vision(Preached at the opening of the Winona Lake Bible Conference.) TEXT: "Where there is no vision, the people perish."--Proverbs 29:18. It is not altogether an easy matter to secure a text for such an occasion as this; not because the texts are so few in number but rather because they are so many, for one has only to turn over the pages of the Bible in the most casual way to find them facing him at every reading. Feeling the need of advice for such a time as this, I asked a number of my friends who … J. Wilbur Chapman—And Judas Iscariot Two Ancient Proverbs The Baptismal Covenant Can be Kept Unbroken. Aim and Responsibility of Parents. But Sometimes a Peril to Eternal Salvation Itself is Put Forth against Us... Little Sarah Howley. For, Concerning False Witness, which is Set Down in the Ten Commands of The... Palm Sunday It Remains Then that we Understand as Concerning those Women... What are Evidences of Backsliding in Heart. God's Glory the Chief End of Man's Being How the Impatient and the Patient are to be Admonished. Humility is the Root of Charity, and Meekness the Fruit of Both. ... How to Make Use of Christ as the Truth, when Error Prevaileth, and the Spirit of Error Carrieth Many Away. Characters and Names of Messiah Proverbs Links Proverbs 29:2 NIVProverbs 29:2 NLT Proverbs 29:2 ESV Proverbs 29:2 NASB Proverbs 29:2 KJV Proverbs 29:2 Bible Apps Proverbs 29:2 Parallel Proverbs 29:2 Biblia Paralela Proverbs 29:2 Chinese Bible Proverbs 29:2 French Bible Proverbs 29:2 German Bible Proverbs 29:2 Commentaries Bible Hub |
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