our folly is desperate and stubborn, and admits of no

excuse.

But we have used these means, you will say, and have acquired but very little wisdom from them. But a little wisdom is a very great attainment, and if you think that you have got none at all, yet you must still continue to use the means, and so you shall be wise at your latter end. A man will spend several years in learning a business that will enable him to live comfortably through the remainder of life, and we have no reason to grudge a whole lifetime employed in receiving instruction, if it make us wise at our latter end.

At our latter end it will be seen whether we have been fools or wise men. If our days are spent in the pursuit of perishing things, to the neglect of our eternal interests, we shall be forced to leave these vanities to which we sacrificed our souls, and at our end we shall be fools*. When the men that choose the world for their portion come to the close of life, and their former conduct presents itself to their eyes, how will they curse and tear themselves in their rage, at their own blindness and madness! Even whilst they are eager in the pursuit of vanity, and flattering themselves with the delusive hopes of many days of pleasure before them, they cannot forbear from wishing, like the covetous soothsayer, that they may die the death of the righteous, and that their last end may be like his.

But mark the follower of wisdom, and behold him that hearkens to the counsels of the Almighty. His latter end is peace and happiness. Those who hated his holiness, and despised his condition, are now obliged to acknowledge that his life was spent in wisdom, and that his last hour is blessed.

Do you think that you have already gained enough

of wisdom? You are quite mistaken. You are yet a child, and speak as a child, that thinks himself a scholar if he can repeat the letters of the alphabet. A Christian must live and die learning*.

Ver. 21. There are many devices in a man's heart; nevertheless, the counsel of the Lord that shall stand.

Men's hearts are perpetually filled with projects, and they seldom consider whether these projects are agreeable to the mind of God or not. But the counsel of the Lord revealed in his word, shall stand good after all the plans they can form. It is the way of happiness to hear his counsel and receive his instruction; for the world passeth away, and the lusts thereof, but he that doth the will of God abideth for ever, and must prosper whilst he acts by the direction of these unerring counsellors, the testimonies of the Lordt.

But the counsel of God is generally used in Scripture to signify the purpose of God concerning the events that shall come to pass; and this counsel comprehends every thing that has come or shall come to pass in the world, either by the immediate agency of God, or by means of any creature; for the worst of men, and devils themselves, are employed by the providence of God in executing his decrees. Men and devils act in an agreeableness to their own wills as far as their power reaches, but they are still under the absolute dominion of the Lord; and whether they are able or not able to execute their own devices, they are executing his decrees. How strange is the wisdom of divine Providence! Millions of creatures know nothing of the true God, millions of them are his constant enemies, and are incessantly employed in devising and executing those purposes which have for their objects the gratification of selfish and corrupt affections, that are filled with enmity against God, Verse 20. Psalm i. 4.

Phil. iii. 14.

and yet they all concur in fulfilling his secret will. His counsels leave them to their own free will; and their free will, however corrupt, is managed by his holy providence to serve his own glorious designs, and where it would lead men beyond the line of his decrees, he powerfully and invisibly controuls it.

It is vain for men to form any purpose, and to think of carrying it into execution, without acknowledging the providence of God. The Apostle James warns us in strong language against this piece of practical atheism*.

When we meet with hardships from the cruelty of men, let us consider this truth, and behave meekly and humbly. They do nothing without the observation and permission of God. Christ submitted quietly to those sufferings which he underwent from the hands of barbarous men, because it was necessary that the Scriptures should be fulfilled, and the determinations of God's hand and counsel performed. What David did pleased all the people, and shall not we be pleased with what the King of Heaven does?

Let the people of God rejoice. The counsels of God concerning them are glorious in wisdom and grace, and though hand join in hand, they shall not be unaccomplished. The counsels of their enemies are dangerous, but no weapon formed against Zion shall prosper. All the counsels of the wicked shall be executed or frus trated according to the good pleasure of God, whose eyes run to and fro through the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect towards him t.

Let sinners tremble, for their counsels and works are in the hand of God. He may suffer them to prosper for a time in mischief, and to bring some of their wick

* James iv. 13-17.

+ Mic. iv. 10-13.

ed devices to pass, but their mischiefs shall rebound upon themselves, and their nets shall entangle their own feet. God may use them for a time to accomplish his gracious though awful designs upon his people, but he will in a short time call them to account, and punish them for all the evils they have done, and for the greater evils they have imagined*.

Ver. 22. The desire of a man is his kindness, and a poor man is better than a liar.

A man's benevolence is not in proportion to the good deeds he performs, but to the real desires he has to do good, if it were in his power.

A man may perform many acts of kindness, and yet not perform all that he ought. When a rich man bestows a few of his superfluities, they may amount to a considerable sum, and yet in the balance of the sanctuary they will not equal in weight the little pittance that a poor man gives, when he stretches himself to the utmost of his ability, or even beyond itt. A rich man may even give more than a man could reasonably desire him to give, for the purposes of charity or public service, and yet be entirely destitute of charity and public spirit, seeking only the praise of men, whilst he professes, like the old Pharisees, much better things.

On the other side, a man may give only two mites, or nothing at all, and yet possess a generous soul, like that of Job, who never ate his morsel without sharing it with the poor. As God only knows the heart, the day of judgment will be the grand discoverer of the real characters of men. In the meantime, we must not love those only who bestow much kindness on us, nor confine our esteem to those who signalise themselves by their extensive liberalities; for the virtues, as well as the vices of men, are often concealed under rags, and

* Ps. xxi. 11. Is. x. 12.

+ 2 Cor. vi. 3,

pinched by poverty, so that they cannot display their blossoms, or produce their proper fruits.

The pcor man that cannot give, and is obliged to receive, is a much better man than the liar who professes kindness, and yet does nothing to verify his professions by works. Good words are good things in their proper place, and do well become the mouth of the Christian, but good words instead of good deeds are mere hyporisy; of so gross a kind, that even men often discern it, nd despise the pitiful wretch who endeavours to sheler the baseness and selfishness of his spirit under empty professions. Do you say to your poor brother, be thou warmed and clothed, whilst thou givest him nothing to shelter him from the pinching cold, or to fill his craving appetite, although thou art well able to do it? Thou joinest hypocrisy and lies to the want of charity, and a poor man that lives upon the bounty of the parish is a more respectable man than thou.

Let us learn to value men by their hearts, as far as they lie open to the judgment of candour and charity, rather than their professions and appearances, which are so frequently delusive. Thus shall we be enabled to choose our friends, and to put a proper value on their kindness; and by this means we shall be preserved from that injustice so frequently condemned by the wise man, of despising the poor, and paying an undue respect to the rich.

This proverb also teaches us to examine our own hearts, that we may know how far we are under the influence of a kind and charitable spirit. God will not accept of all the substance of our houses, instead of the charity of the heart. At the same time, desires are not real, nor are they genuine marks of goodness, if they are not followed by suitable performances, when the providence of God puts it in our power*.

*Philemon 6.