1.
Whoso loveth instruction loveth knowledge: but he that hateth reproof is brutish.
2.
A good man obtaineth favour of the LORD: but a man of wicked devices will he condemn.
3.
A man shall not be established by wickedness: but the root of the righteous shall not be moved.
4.
A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband: but she that maketh ashamed is as rottenness in his bones.
5.
The thoughts of the righteous are right: but the counsels of the wicked are deceit.
6.
The words of the wicked are to lie in wait for blood: but the mouth of the upright shall deliver them.
7.
The wicked are overthrown, and are not: but the house of the righteous shall stand.
8.
A man shall be commended according to his wisdom: but he that is of a perverse heart shall be despised.
9.
He that is despised, and hath a servant, is better than he that honoureth himself, and lacketh bread.
10.
A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast: but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.
11.
He that tilleth his land shall be satisfied with bread: but he that followeth vain persons is void of understanding.
12.
The wicked desireth the net of evil men: but the root of the righteous yieldeth fruit.
13.
The wicked is snared by the transgression of his lips: but the just shall come out of trouble.
14.
A man shall be satisfied with good by the fruit of his mouth: and the recompence of a man's hands shall be rendered unto him.
15.
The way of a fool is right in his own eyes: but he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise.
16.
A fool's wrath is presently known: but a prudent man covereth shame.
17.
He that speaketh truth sheweth forth righteousness: but a false witness deceit.
18.
There is that speaketh like the piercings of a sword: but the tongue of the wise is health.
19.
The lip of truth shall be established for ever: but a lying tongue is but for a moment.
20.
Deceit is in the heart of them that imagine evil: but to the counsellers of peace is joy.
21.
There shall no evil happen to the just: but the wicked shall be filled with mischief.
22.
Lying lips are abomination to the LORD: but they that deal truly are his delight.
23.
A prudent man concealeth knowledge: but the heart of fools proclaimeth foolishness.
24.
The hand of the diligent shall bear rule: but the slothful shall be under tribute.
25.
Heaviness in the heart of man maketh it stoop: but a good word maketh it glad.
26.
The righteous is more excellent than his neighbour: but the way of the wicked seduceth them.
27.
The slothful man roasteth not that which he took in hunting: but the substance of a diligent man is precious.
DEFECTIVE ENERGY
‘The slothful man roasteth not that which he took in hunting.’
Proverbs 12:27
I. The lazy man goes hunting.—Some are full of the most bustling activity. An old mathematical professor was wont to define work as ‘steadily overcoming resistance occurring along a fixed line.’ An intermittent, changing activity manifestly fails to answer the requirements of this definition.
II. The slothful man catches game when he does go hunting.—Not only does he act, but he does things. But his slothfulness i made manifest in this: though he be effective, he is not efficient for
III. He is too lazy to cook what he does catch.—The excitement of the chase is over, he is weary with dragging home his game, so the gun goes into one corner and the game into another, while the man proceeds—with a celerity which would be praiseworthy were it rightly applied—to forget all about it. He waits for the next excitement. His activity has procured no benefits to himself or any one else. There be many people who lose their labour through a disinclination to put the finishing touch to their work. Under excitement they secure certain results, which, if gathered up and made permanent, would be of immense value. But then they get weary, indifferent. They let things slide—to use an expression of the populace. All they have done gradually undoes itself. For lack of but one stone—the keystone—the arch falls. This is the application. When you commence a thing, cease not until you have gathered up the results of your labour in some form of practical and present benefit to your fellow-men.
Illustration
‘Sloth is one of the worst evils of life. Those two lines of Watts’s, “Satan finds some mischief still For idle hands to do,” are applicable to those of older growth.
‘Sloth, by bringing on disease, shortens life. Like rust, it consumes faster than wear or tear. What a hard task it would be thought if the Church insisted upon its members giving one-tenth of their time to work!’
‘The sluggard desires to be very religious, looks for reward, hopes for heaven, but only desires. Is this rational? Apply the same to your worldly affairs in the race for wealth, chase for honours, etc. You laugh with scorn.’
‘Alas! that the religion of so many should consist of desires. They would fain see God’s kingdom extended, they would like to hear of children being converted, brought into the Church; but never do they put out their hand to help.’
28.
In the way of righteousness is life; and in the pathway thereof there is no death.