7<\/strong>. The first clause of this verse in the rendering of the LXX., , is quoted by St Paul, Rom 12:16<\/span>.<\/p>\n The great hindrance to all true wisdom is the thought that we have already attained it.<\/P> <\/p>\n Pro 3:7<\/span><\/p>\n Be not wise in thine own eyes.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/em><\/p>\n Self-conceit<\/strong><\/p>\n (see Isa 5:21<\/span>):–<\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>His knowledge in comparison with what is to be known.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>His knowledge in comparison with what he ought to have known.<\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>That mental improvement requires an earnest seeking for knowledge.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>Earnest seeking for knowledge requires a deep sense of the necessity of knowledge. A self-conceited man feels no such necessity; he thinks he knows everything.<\/p>\n The folly and danger of self-conceit<\/strong><\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>In a general inattention to the means of instruction and improvement.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>A spirit of contradiction strongly marks this failing. It is a strong symptom of self-conceit when young people are hasty in their judgments, and confident in their own opinions.<\/p>\n 3. <\/strong>When, even in matters of importance, they are above asking or taking advice of others.<\/p>\n 4. <\/strong>By rashly condemning the opinions and maxims which have received the stamp of time and experience. Youth should guard against the fascinations of novelty.<\/p>\n 5. <\/strong>The worst sign is neglecting to ask counsel of God (Jam 1:5<\/span>).<\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>They commonly know but little of themselves.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>They can have but little acquaintance with the world.<\/p>\n 3. <\/strong>They are much exposed to the imprudent and sinful flattery of others.<\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>Consider what little foundation there is for this vain conceit.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>Nothing obstructs progress in true wisdom more effectually than the opinion that you are wise already.<\/p>\n 3. <\/strong>If you are wise in your own eyes, you will not be so in the sight of God and man.<\/p>\n 4. <\/strong>Nothing more surely betrays young people into certain ruin. Guard, then, against self-conceit. Watch and pray constantly against the spirit that works in character and life such fatal mischief. (John Humphrys, LL<\/em>.D<\/em>.)<\/p>\n Be not wise in thine own eyes; <\/B>be not puffed up with vain conceit of thine own wisdom, as if that were sufficient for the conduct of all thine affairs without direction or assistance from God, or without the advice of others. <\/P> Fear the Lord:<\/B> this he adds, because the reverence and dread of the Divine Majesty will make a man, when he compareth himself with God, little and vile in his own eyes. Reverence Gods wisdom, and thou wilt despise thine own. <\/P> <\/p>\n 7.<\/B> (Compare Pro 27:2<\/span>;Rom 12:16<\/span>). <\/P> fear . . . evil<\/B>reverentiallyregarding His law.<\/P><\/p>\n Be not wise in thine own eyes<\/strong>,…. So as to act independently of God; not to trust in him, nor acknowledge him, nor seek to him for help and direction; nor ask nor take the advice of others; but, being conceited and self-sufficient, lean to thine own understanding, as being wise enough to conduct all affairs in life by thy own discretion; and in matters of religion wiser than thy teachers, and even than the Scriptures, being wise above that which is written; pleasing thyself with thine own wisdom, as exceeding others; glorying in it as thine own acquisition, and not ascribing it to God, so far as it any ways deserves the name of wisdom; though for the most part that which men glory in, and are conceited of, is not wisdom, but folly; and at least it is their folly to boast of it and be elated with it; see Isa 5:21<\/span><\/p>\n Ro 12:16<\/span>;<\/p>\n fear the Lord<\/strong>; which is true wisdom; and, where this is not, there is none, let men be ever so conceited; and where this is there is humility; these two go together, and make a man wise, rich, and honourable, Pr 22:4<\/span>. The fear of the Lord is opposed to pride, high-mindedness, and vain conceit, Ro 11:20<\/span>; this includes reverence of God, faith in him, dependence on him, acknowledgment of him, seeking to him for direction, and carefulness not to offend him;<\/p>\n and depart from evil<\/strong>; from the evil of self-confidence and self-conceit, and from all other evil; the fear of God influences men to avoid sin, and abstain from all appearance of it; by means and through the exercise of it men forsake it, and keep at a distance from it, Pr 16:6<\/span>. Nehemiah could not do as others did, because of the fear of the Lord; and Job was a man that feared God, and therefore he avoided that which was evil, Ne 5:15<\/span>.<\/p>\n Consecration to God.<\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/I><\/span><\/P> <\/TD> 7 Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD<\/B>, and depart from evil. 8 It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones. 9 Honour the LORD<\/B> with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase: 10 So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine. 11 My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD<\/B>; neither be weary of his correction: 12 For whom the LORD<\/B> loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom<\/I> he delighteth.<\/P> We have here before us three exhortations, each of them enforced with a good reason:–<\/P> I. We must live in a humble and dutiful subjection to God and his government (v.<\/I><\/span> 7<\/span>): “Fear the Lord,<\/I> as your sovereign Lord and Master; be ruled in every thing by your religion and subject to the divine will.” This must be, 1. A humble subjection: Be not wise in thy own eyes.<\/I> Note, There is not a greater enemy to the power of religion, and the fear of God in the heart, than conceitedness of our own wisdom. Those that have an opinion of their own sufficiency think it below them, and a disparagement to them, to take their measures from, much more to hamper themselves with, religion’s rules. 2. A dutiful subjection: Fear the Lord, and depart from evil;<\/I> take heed of doing any thing to offend him and to forfeit his care. To fear the Lord,<\/I> so as to depart from evil,<\/I> is true wisdom<\/I> and understanding<\/I> (Job xxviii. 28<\/span>); those that have it are truly wise, but self-denyingly so, and not wise in their own eyes.<\/I> For our encouragement thus to live in the fear of God it is here promised (v.<\/I><\/span> 8<\/span>) that it shall be as serviceable even to the outward man as our necessary food. It will be nourishing: It shall be health to thy navel.<\/I> It will be strengthening: It shall be marrow to thy bones.<\/I> The prudence, temperance, and sobriety, the calmness and composure of mind, and the good government of the appetites and passions, which religion teaches, tend very much not only to the health of the soul, but to a good habit of body, which is very desirable, and without which our other enjoyments in this world are insipid. Envy is the rottenness of the bones;<\/I> the sorrow of the world dries them; but hope and joy in God are marrow to them.<\/P> II. We must make a good use of our estates, and that is the way to increase them, Pro 3:9<\/span>; Pro 3:10<\/span>. Here is,<\/P> 1. A precept which makes it our duty to serve God with our estates: Honour the Lord with thy substance.<\/I> It is the end of our creation and redemption to honour God, to be to him for a name and a praise; we are no other way capable of serving him than in his honour. His honour we must show forth and the honour we have for him. We must honour him, not only with our bodies and spirits which are his,<\/I> but with our estates too, for they also are his: we and all our appurtenances must be devoted to his glory. Worldly wealth is but poor substance, yet, such as it is, we must honour God with it, and then, if ever, it becomes substantial. We must honour God, (1.) With our increase.<\/I> Where riches increase we are tempted to honour ourselves (Deut. viii. 17<\/span>) and to set our hearts upon the world (Ps. lxii. 10<\/span>); but the more God gives us the more we should study to honour him. It is meant of the increase of the earth, for we live upon annual products, to keep us in constant dependence on God. (2.) With all our increase.<\/I> As God has prospered us in every thing, we must honour him. Our law will allow a prescription for a modus decimandi–a mode of tithing,<\/I> but none de non decimando–for exemption from paying tithes.<\/I> (3.) With the first-fruits of all,<\/I> as Abel, Gen. iv. 4<\/span>. This was the law (Exod. xxiii. 19<\/span>), and the prophets, Mal. iii. 10<\/span>. God, who is the first and best, must have the first and best of every thing; his right is prior to all other, and therefore he must be served first. Note, It is our duty to make our worldly estates serviceable to our religion, to use them and the interest we have by them for the promoting of religion, to do good to the poor with what we have and abound in all works of piety and charity, devising liberal things.<\/I><\/P> 2. A promise, which makes it our interest to serve God with our estates. It is the way to make a little much, and much more; it is the surest and safest method of thriving: So shall thy barns be filled with plenty.<\/I> He does not say thy bags, but thy barns, not thy wardrobe replenished, but thy presses: “God shall bless thee with an increase of that which is for use, not for show or ornament–for spending and laying out, not for hoarding and laying up.” Those that do good with what they have shall have more to do more good with. Note, If we make our worldly estates serviceable to our religion we shall find our religion very serviceable to the prosperity of our worldly affairs. Godliness has the promise of the life that now is<\/I> and most of the comfort of it. We mistake if we think that giving will undo us and make us poor. No, giving for God’s honour will make us rich, Hag. ii. 19<\/span>. What we gave we have.<\/P> III. We must conduct ourselves aright under our afflictions, Pro 3:11<\/span>; Pro 3:12<\/span>. This the apostle quotes (Heb. xii. 5<\/span>), and calls it an exhortation which speaks unto us as unto children,<\/I> with the authority and affection of a father. We are here in a world of troubles. Now observe,<\/P> 1. What must be our care when we are in affliction. We must neither despise it nor be weary of it. His exhortation, before, was to those that are rich and in prosperity, here to those that are poor and in adversity. (1.) We must not despise an affliction, be it ever so light and short, as if it were not worth taking notice of, or as if it were not sent on an errand and therefore required no answer. We must not be stocks, and stones, and stoics, under our afflictions, insensible of them, hardening ourselves under them, and concluding we can easily get through them without God. (2.) We must not be weary of an affliction, be it ever so heavy and long, not faint<\/I> under it, so the apostle renders it, not be dispirited, dispossessed of our own souls, or driven to despair, or to use any indirect means for our relief and the redress of our grievances. We must not think that the affliction either presses harder or continues longer than is meet, not conclude that deliverance will never come because it does not come so soon as we expect it.<\/P> 2. What will be our comfort when we are in affliction. (1.) That it is a divine correction; it is the chastening of the Lord,<\/I> which, as it is a reason why we should submit to it (for it is folly to contend with a God of incontestable sovereignty and irresistible power), so it is a reason why we should be satisfied in it; for we may be sure that a God of unspotted purity does us no wrong and that a God of infinite goodness means us no hurt. It is from God, and therefore must not be despised; for a slight put upon the messenger is an affront to him that sends him. It is from God, and therefore we must not be weary of it, for he knows our frame, both what we need and what we can bear. (2.) That it is a fatherly correction; it comes not from his vindictive justice as a Judge, but his wise affection as a Father. The father corrects the son whom he<\/I> loves, nay, and because he loves him and desires he may be wise and good. He delights in that in his son which is amiable and agreeable, and therefore corrects him for the prevention and cure of that which would be a deformity to him, and an alloy to his delight in him. Thus God hath said, As many as I love I rebuke and chasten,<\/I> Rev. iii. 19<\/I><\/span>. This is a great comfort to God’s children, under their afflictions, [1.] That they not only consist with, but flow from, covenant-love. [2.] That they are so far from doing them any real hurt that, by the grace of God working with them, they do a great deal of good, and are happy means of their satisfaction.<\/P> <\/p>\n Guidelines to Remember<\/strong><\/p>\n (Pro 3:7-12<\/span>)<\/strong><\/p>\n Vs. 7-12 <\/strong>explain some things involved in yielding to the LORD’s direction in all one’s ways.<\/p>\n Vs. 7 admonishes to not think you are wise, Rom 12:16<\/span>; but reverence the LORD, Pro 16:6<\/span>; and refuse every form of evil, 1Th 5:22<\/span>. <\/p>\n Vs. 8- <\/strong>Compliance contributes to physical health.<\/strong><\/p>\n Vs. 9<\/strong> commands that the LORD be honored with the cheerful giving of the “first” of all increase in material substance, Exo 22:29-30<\/span>; Exo 23:19<\/span>; Exo 35:5<\/span>. <\/p>\n Vs. 10<\/strong>-Material prosperity is promised to the obedient, Deu 28:8<\/span>; 2Co 9:7<\/span>.<\/p>\n Vs. 11-12<\/strong> counsel do not reject or resent the chastening of the LORD, but understand that it is administered in love, even as a father corrects a son in whom he delights. Deu 8:5<\/span>; Heb 12:6<\/span>; Rev 3:19<\/span>. Chastisement has a beneficial purpose, Psa 94:12<\/span>; Psa 119:67<\/span>; Psa 119:71<\/span>; Heb 12:10-11<\/span>; 1Pe 5:6<\/span>. Correction is a part of the instruction mentioned in Pro 1:2-3<\/span>.<\/p>\n CRITICAL NOTES.<\/p>\n Pro. 3:8<\/span><\/strong>. Navel<\/strong>, body or muscles. Marrow<\/strong>, literally refreshing, moistening, in contrast to the condition described in Psa. 32:3-4<\/span>. <\/p>\n Pro. 3:11<\/span><\/strong>. Despite not,<\/strong> or loathe not, shrink not. The word, according to Miller, means to melt. Chastening,<\/strong> discipline, correction. <\/p>\n Pro. 3:12<\/span>. The latter clause of this verse should be read, and holds him dear, or does him a favour, as a father does his son. <\/p>\n MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.<\/em>Pro. 3:7-12<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n THE WAY (1) TO HEALTH, (2) TO WEALTH, (3) TO ENDURANCE<\/p>\n Three exhortations are here given, to each of which is attached a promise or reason to induce the young man to obey. <\/p>\n I. An exhortation to humility<\/strong>. (Pro. 3:7-8<\/span>.) Its peculiar appropriateness and importance will be seen if we consider<\/p>\n 1. The person to whom the exhortation is addressed<\/em>. My son (Pro. 3:1<\/span>). Lack of experience has a great tendency to breed self-conceit. As a rule, those who have lived the longest and have most acquaintance with men and things are the least disposed to be wise in their own eyes. Ignorance is the mother of self-conceit. These words are addressed to a young man, because his youth would render him very liable to this fault. <\/p>\n 2. That self-conceit does not end with oneself but is dangerous to others<\/em>. The man who insists upon the correctness of his knowledge of a dangerous way, and will not listen to the experience of those who are better acquainted with it, is sure to find some who believe in him and follow his guidance. Thus he may not only lose his own life, but be the murderer of others. <\/p>\n 3. It shuts a man up to his ignorance<\/em>. The only way to become wise is to feel we are ignorant. As a lunatic must be shut up with others in a like condition while his madness is upon him, so a self-conceited man must be imprisoned with the fools of the universe while he remains in that condition. <\/p>\n 4. The Divine woes which are levelled against such an one<\/em>. All the woes pronounced by our Lord against the Scribes and Pharisees were against sins born of this sin. The charge against them was that they were wise in their own eyes. For judgment am I come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind. And some of the Pharisees which were with him said, Are we blind also? Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see<\/em>; therefore your sin remaineth (Joh. 9:41<\/span>). Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight (Isa. 5:21<\/span>). <\/p>\n II. The remedy against self-conceit<\/strong>. Fear the Lord<\/em>, etc. When those who are wise in their own eyes begin to reverence those who are much wiser than they are, they will begin to depart from this evil which is the root of many evils. Esteem for those who deserve esteem will lessen their esteem for themselves. A knowledge of the character and wisdom of God will produce reverence. When a man renders to God the reverence which is due unto Him, and which is born of a right appreciation of what God is, the scales of self-conceit will fall from his own eyes. As the sun melts the hoar-frost from the windows and leaves a clear medium for the rays of the sun to enter the chamber, so the contact of God with the human soul will melt away the self-esteem which shut Him out. How entrenched was Saul of Tarsus in his own opinions before he met the Lord on the road to Damascus. How high an estimate he had of himself, but how great was the change which acquaintance with Christ wrought. When Job got an insight into Gods greatness, he said, I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes (Job. 42:6<\/span>). Self-conceit cannot live where there are right views of God. <\/p>\n III. The promise here given to those who walk reverently before God<\/strong>. Certain it is that such a mode of life leads to bodily health. Those who walk in the fear of the Lord live lives of purity, of temperance, of freedom from the consuming passions and corroding cares of the ungodly. Other things being equal, or anything like equal, godliness has the promise of the life that now is in this respect as in others. But if we understand the words in this narrow sense only, they seem to express only a small part, and the inferior part, of the blessing that comes to a man from the fear of the Lord. The bones here, as in Psa. 32:3<\/span>; Psa. 35:10<\/span>, are put for the whole man. And as the Psalmist, in the first-mentioned psalm, expresses his sad condition of soul as well as body when he says, My moisture is turned to the drought of summer, so the marrow, or moisture, of the bones here expresses a vigour of the entire man. Sin breaks the bones of a mans spirit; the consciousness of the Divine favour which will flow from a reverential walk with God makes them to rejoice (Psa. 51:8<\/span>).<\/p>\n Pro. 3:9-10<\/span> contain<\/strong><\/p>\n I. An exhortation to a right use of temporal riches<\/strong>. <\/p>\n 1. Those who honour God with their gifts honour Him who has first honoured them with their stewardship<\/em>. The man who is entrusted with the property of others has an honour put upon him by the trust. Potiphar put a great honour upon Joseph when he committed all that he had into his hand, and Joseph felt that it was so. This of itself should be a motive to a strict integrity and to devotion to the interests of One who has thus honoured us with confidence. All temporal, material blessings are given to men as stewards of Gods property (Luk. 16:1-12<\/span>), and in this light they ought to regard themselves. <\/p>\n 2. If men honour God with their substance, they turn what would otherwise be a snare into a blessing<\/em>. The tendency of wealth is doubtless to make men God-forgetting, self-confident, selfish (Mar. 10:23<\/span>; Luk. 12:16<\/span>; Jas. 5:1<\/span>). But those who use it for the advancement of Gods kingdomfor the alleviation of human sufferingmake a friend<\/em> of this mammon of unrighteousness (Luk. 16:9<\/span>). <\/p>\n 3. God cannot be honoured with our substance unless we first give ourselves to Him<\/em>. The great desire of a true father in relation to his children is to secure their love. Having that, everything else that is theirs will be his. Without that, no offering, no service, can be acceptable. God must have the man before He will accept his wealth.<\/p>\n II. The promise annexed to this exhortation<\/strong>. This cannot be the motive<\/em>, but it is the consequence<\/em>. Any man who gave his wealth because he believed it was a good investment in this sense, would not be honouring God with it. We must give<\/em>, as we are commanded to lend<\/em>, hoping for nothing again (Luk. 6:35<\/span>). And, although the material rewards which are appended to a certain line of conduct under the old dispensation do not invariably follow it in the new and more spiritual one, there is probably no Old Testament promise of earthly reward which is, and ever has been, fulfilled with so few exceptions.<\/p>\n Pro. 3:11-12<\/span>. <\/p>\n I. An exhortation to patient endurance of affliction<\/strong>. <\/p>\n 1. From the constitution of our nature we can but dislike or loathe<\/em> (despise<\/em>, see Critical Notes) affliction itself<\/em>. There has never been one of human kind who has welcomed affliction for its own sake; nay, more, there has never been one who has not shrunk from it, considered by itself. No man can do other than grieve for the death of his friend when he considers his own loss merely. No child of God can love pain or loss. The man who is under the knife of the surgeon must groan in the unnatural condition in which he is placed. Even Christ Himself, though He delighted to do the will of His Father (Psa. 40:8<\/span>), shrank from the bitter cup of suffering. If, then, painprobably mental painwas felt to be bitter by the Sinless Man, how much more will a sinful man find it hard to bear. <\/p>\n 2. The pain itself is that which renders us unable to see the connection between it and the benefit it is to work out<\/em>. While a man is suffering pain of body or mind, his feelings, more or less, overpower his reason. Although we know that it is to work good in the future, we fail often to realise the factfeeling holds us down to the present.<\/p>\n II. Four considerations to help us in times of affliction<\/strong>. <\/p>\n 1. Its individuality<\/em>. My<\/em> son, despise not thou<\/em>, which implies that God chastises men as individualsthat he distinguishes between them. There may be many sons and daughters in a human home; no two are exactly alike, therefore a wise discrimination must be exercised with regard to the chastisement or the discipline administered. So God discerns the needs of His children. No son or daughter need think that another cross would suit them better; they may be assured that the one they bear is the one that has been especially prepared for them, and is therefore peculiarly adapted for them. <\/p>\n 2. Its end<\/em>. It is educational. It is correction, not destruction. Even if it is rebuke, or punishment for a particular sin, it is designed to eradicate that sin, and thus add to the character; and we are assured, on the highest authority, that tribulation worketh patience, experience, and hopeall of which graces go to form a higher type of man (Rom. 5:2-3<\/span>). <\/p>\n 3. Its signification<\/em>. It means son-ship, adoption. It means that God has taken us in hand; that He is Himself presiding over our education; that He loves us and desires our spiritual growth. <\/p>\n 4. Its Author<\/em>. The Lord. We accept that from one whom we know, which we would not from a stranger. If we can be sure that a mans motives are pure, we judge of his conduct accordingly. The consideration that affliction comes from the righteous Father, the King who cannot wrong any of His subjects, ought to help us to take the rebuke with meekness,to bear the pain, although we cannot now see the profit.<\/p>\nFuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
I. <\/strong>It involves self-ignorance. No one who knows himself could be conceited. Let the wisest man think of two things–<\/p>\n
II. <\/strong>It obstructs mental improvement. This is clear from two things–<\/p>\n
II. <\/strong>It destroys social influence. A self-conceited man disgusts rather than pleases, repels rather than draws. He is despised rather than respected. Intelligence, generosity, truthfulness, humility, these are the elements of social power. (D<\/em>. Thomas, D<\/em>.D<\/em>.)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
I. <\/strong>What are the usual signs, in young people, of their setting too high a value upon their own understanding?<\/p>\n
II. <\/strong>Whence is it that young people are peculiarly exposed to this evil?<\/p>\n
III. <\/strong>Some considerations to put youth seriously upon their guard against being wise in their own eyes.<\/p>\nFuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible <\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
<\/P> <\/TD> <\/TR> <\/TABLE> Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n