Bible Commentaries

DISCOURSE: 582

THE FOLLY OF WORLDLY MEN

Psalms 49:13. This their way is their folly: yet their posterity approve their sayings.

IT is generally supposed that wisdom pertains chiefly, if not exclusively, to those who are proficients in arts and science: but learning and wisdom are by no means necessarily connected with each other: they may exist separately, each in a high degree: and, in fact, there is nothing more common than to behold persons of the most extensive erudition acting the part of fools in God’s sight, whilst persons destitute of all human acquirements are “walking wisely before him in a perfect way.” Wisdom, properly viewed, is a conformity of the mind and will to the mind and will of God; and it exists precisely in proportion as this conformity exists: the resemblance is wisdom, the deviation folly. Hence we see why David, at the commencement of this psalm, calls, in so solemn a manner, persons of every age and quality to attend to his instructions; and professes to teach them lessons of the profoundest wisdom, when there is not any thing recondite, or any thing uncommon, in the whole psalm. The truths contained in this divine ode are level with every capacity, and therefore might seem to be improperly ushered in with so pompous an introduction: but they are at the root of all practical religion; and they draw a broad line of distinction between those who are wise, and those who are unwise, in the estimation of their God.

The whole subject of the psalm will come properly before us, whilst we consider,

I. The way of worldly men—

It may naturally be expected, that “they who are of the world, should speak of the world,” and seek it as their most desired portion: and they are described as doing so in the psalm before us.

They are altogether engrossed with earthly things—

[Worldly distinction is the one object of their ambition. For this end chiefly both wealth and honour are pursued [Note: ver. 18.]. Having attained these things in a considerable degree, they bless themselves, as possessing somewhat wherein they may trust [Note: ver. 6.], somewhat that will make them happy for a long time to come, and somewhat that shall transmit their names to posterity as worthy of admiration [Note: ver. 11.] — — —]

But “this their way is their folly”—

[Wealth and honour are far from affording the satisfaction that is expected from them: they will not ward off sickness and death, either from ourselves or others [Note: ver. 7–10.]: nor can they follow us into the eternal world [Note: ver. 17.]. The moment we die, as very speedily we all must [Note: ver. 12, 14.], nothing of them remains to us but the fearful responsibility attached to the possession of them. Instead of “profiting us in the day of wrath,” they will rather augment our final condemnation, if they have not been improved for God as talents committed to us. In the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus we behold the bitter consequences of living only to the flesh: the man who has his good things in this life, will want in the eternal world a drop of water to cool his tongue: “he will never see light,” but be consigned over to the everlasting regions of darkness and despair [Note: ver. 19.]. We wonder not therefore, that the man, who, because he had gotten much, thought of nothing but his temporal enjoyments, “Soul, take thine ease,” is by God himself derided as a fool: “Thou fool, this night shall thy soul be required of thee.”]

Yet, such is the influence of example, that, notwithstanding the folly of such conduct is visible to all, the same is pursued by every succeeding generation—

[No one who considers for a moment the issue of such conduct to those who have gone before them, can doubt the folly of it: for, whatever rank or station men held in this life, or whatever may be said of them now they are gone, what remains to them of their wealth or honour, or what enjoyment have they of their posthumous fame? If we extol them ever so high, they feel no satisfaction; and if we condemn them ever so harsly, they are unconscious of either shame or pain: they are interested in nothing but in the quality of their actions as approved or condemned by their Judge. This we all know; yet no sooner have we a prospect of wealth and honour ourselves, than our desires are as ardent, our expectations as sanguine, and our dependence as unqualified, as that of any who have gone before us. The conviction of their folly only floats in our imagination, but never descends as a, principle into our hearts. We see and blame their folly; yet approve in practice what in theory we condemn.]

As contrasted with this, let us consider,

II. The way which true wisdom prescribes—

In verse 15, the Psalmist gives us that precise view of the subject which he had before characterized as replete with wisdom: “God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave; for he shall receive me;” that is, Whilst worldly men have no prospects beyond the grave, I look forward to a happy eternity, which shall be the portion of all who truly serve God. Hence then we see what way true wisdom prescribes: it teaches us,

1. To regard this world in its connexion with eternity—

[View this world as the whole state of man’s existence; and they speak well, who say, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” But this world is a mere passage to a better; it is an inn, at which we sojourn for a night, in our way to a better country. A person tarrying only for a few hours is not greatly elated, if his accommodations be good; nor greatly depressed, if they be bad. He considers, in either case, that it is not his home; that his comfort or discomfort is very transient; and that it will be time enough to look for unmixed enjoyments, when he shall have reached his Father’s house. Moreover, this world must be considered as a state of preparation for a better; every thing that is done here being an occasion of increased happiness or augmented misery to all eternity. In this view of the world, every pain and every pleasure acquires a new aspect. The things that are so highly prized by ungodly men lose their value; and every thing is esteemed good or bad, according as it quickens or retards us in our Christian course. Hence true wisdom says, “Love not the world [Note: John 2:15-16.],” “neither be of it [Note: John 17:14; John 17:16.];” but “be crucified to it, and let it be as one crucified to you [Note: Galatians 6:14.].”]

2. To follow the footsteps of the saints of old—

[There are those who have gone before us, whose ways were not folly, though they might be esteemed foolish by those who were themselves blinded by Satan. “Abraham went out from his kindred and his country, not knowing whither he went [Note: Hebrews 11:8.]:” Moses refused all the wealth and honour that Egypt could afford, that he might participate in the lot of God’s persecuted and despised people [Note: Hebrews 11:24-26.]: many saints “took joyfully the spoiling of their goods, knowing that they had in heaven a better and an enduring substance [Note: Hebrews 10:34.]:” Matthew left his lucrative employment to follow Christ [Note: Matthew 9:9.]: Paul suffered the loss of all things for Christ [Note: Philippians 3:8.]; and after having engaged in the Christian course, attended to nothing but his progress in it, straining every nerve to win and secure the prize [Note: Philippians 3:13-14.]. All of these would be thought by the world to carry religion to a very culpable excess: but they acted with consummate wisdom, each in the part he took: they all “chose the good part, which could not be taken away from them.” Let any one who reflects on the present state of these eminent saints, say, whether “their way was folly?” If it was not; if, on the contrary, it accorded with the dictates of true wisdom, then let all not only “approve their sayings,” but imitate their doings also, and “be followers of them, as they were of Christ.”]

Advice—

1. Guard against the influence of bad example—

[There is nothing urged with greater confidence to deter young persons from a religious course, or to draw them back again to the world, than example. They are told from time to time what such and such persons do; and can this be wrong? But whoever they are who are proposed to us for examples, we have only one question to ask; Did they regulate their conduct according to the revealed will of God? and was it the one labour of their lives to walk as Christ walked? If this was not the case, it signifies not who they were, or what they did: “their way was their folly;” and instead of taking them as examples to follow, we should rather regard them as monuments to warn us against impending ruin. If the number and respectability of the persons be urged, let us remember that to “walk according to the course of this world, is to walk according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience.” “Christ died to deliver us from this present evil world:” we must therefore leave the broad road that leadeth to destruction, and walk in “the narrow way that leadeth unto life.” True it is, that “if we do well unto ourselves (in advancing our own temporal interests), men will speak good of us [Note: ver. 18.]:” but it is of little consequence what men speak or think: nothing will be of any lasting benefit to us, but the approbation of our God [Note: 1 Corinthians 4:3-4.].]

2. Cleave to Him who alone is able to redeem our souls—

[If man cannot redeem his brother from temporal death, much less can he the soul from spiritual and eternal death: the price required for that is more than all the creatures in earth or heaven are able to pay [Note: ver. 7–9.]. But Christ has paid the mighty ransom: with his own “precious blood,” he has redeemed us from sin and Satan, from death and hell. Seek him then, and you are richer than ten thousand worlds could make you. In him you have “durable riches, and righteousness.” Go to him, and he will give you “gold tried in the fire, that you may be rich.” After him your desires cannot be too ardent; your expectations from him cannot be too enlarged; your dependence on him cannot be too entire and confident. On that side you need not fear excess. And if the world deride your way as folly, regard it not: they will soon alter their sentiments: the moment they enter into the eternal world, they will know infallibly who were wise and who were fools: and when they meet you at the judgment-seat of Christ, they will say, “We fools counted their life madness:” their reproaches then will be turned upon themselves, and their one subject of lamentation will be, that they “approved the sayings” of a blind ungodly world, instead of the infallible sayings of their God. This is the way to “walk not as fools, but as wise:” and, so walking, you shall surely ere long have the plaudit of your Judge, “Well done, good and faithful servants! enter ye into the joy of your Lord.”]

DISCOURSE: 583

THE DEGRADED STATE OF MAN

Psalms 49:20. Man that is in honour, and understandeth not, is like the beasts that perish.

MAN, when first he came out of the hands of his Creator, was perfect; and fit to be God’s vicegerent, if I may so speak, in this lower world. God put all the rest of the creation under him, and gave him dominion over all the work of his hands. But, from the time that man fell, he became degraded in all his faculties, and in many respects like unto the beasts that perish. True, possessing reason, he still held a superiority over them in those things which belong exclusively to the province of reason: but, in every thing which depends on grace, he was reduced to a level with them. To man converted by the grace of God this superiority is restored: but to man in his natural and unregenerate state, even though he be exalted to the highest pinnacle of honour amongst his fellows, this humiliating declaration is fully applicable: “Man that is in honour, and understandeth not, is like the beasts that perish.”

He is like them,

I. In his understanding—

In things pertaining to the body, man is far inferior to the brute creation, being excelled by one or other of them in every faculty and power. In agility and strength he is not to be compared with myriads of beasts, both tame and savage: and in all the senses he falls exceedingly below them. His sight, his smell, his taste, his hearing, his feeling, are in no respect equal to that which exists among the different orders of beasts and birds and insects; so that, in all that is corporeal, they are superior to him. In what is intellectual, doubtless he retains his superiority; though, after all, in ten thousand instances, instinct in them leaves him far behind, and enables them to discern and execute things without number which man with all his attainments can never reach. But it is in things relating to the soul that I am to speak of him: and in these he will be really found as stupid and brutish as the very beasts.

[The beasts do discern, for the most part, what is conducive to their welfare, and distinguish it from that which would prove injurious. But, waving this, I will admit that the beasts discern not the comparative value and excellency of the things around them. And what, I would ask, are the views which men have of sin and holiness, of heaven and earth, of time and eternity? I ask not what their speculative notions may be, but what their practical views? Who, in his unregenerate state, regards all earthly things as vain, empty, worthless? Who looks upon sin as hateful and abominable? Who affects holiness as the perfection of his nature, and as a source of the sublimest bliss? Who accounts every thing as dung and dross in comparison of the favour of God, and the enjoyment of the divine presence? Theoretically, it is true, men know better than the beasts; but practically not a whit more than they; yea, they sink below the beasts in proportion as they act directly contrary to the plainest dictates of their judgment. Unconverted men, notwithstanding they acknowledge a supreme Being, act as much without a reference to his approbation as the very beasts: and hence David describes and addresses them in these humiliating, but most appropriate, terms: “They say, The Lord shall not see; neither shall the God of Jacob regard it. Understand, ye brutish among the people: and ye fools, when will ye be wise? He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? He that formed the eye, shall he not see [Note: Psalms 94:7-9.]?” Nay, more, the pious Agur, cast down on account of the remains of these infirmities within him, exclaimed, “Surely I am more brutish than any man, and have not the understanding of a man [Note: Proverbs 30:2.].” I think, then, that the assertion in my text is thus far made good; and that not only are the lowest of the people in the state described by him, but the highest and most exalted upon earth. In this respect there is no difference between men; for all, without exception, are practically, and by nature, as the beasts that perish.]

But man resembles the beasts also,

II. In his habits—

[See what are the habits of the brute creation! All are intent on that only which will gratify their sensual appetites; and all look to present gratifications, without any regard to the future. And what is the state of man, of every man, by nature, whether he be old or young, rich or poor, learned or unlearned? Is not every one living for himself, and seeking the things of time and sense, rather than those which are apprehended only by faith, and relate altogether to eternity? I grant that some are prosecuting chiefly intellectual pursuits: but still it is for themselves, and not for God, that they do it: and if I admit that they soar with the eagle, instead of wallowing in the mire as swine, I still recur to my text, and say, that, whilst living for themselves, and not for God, they are only as the beasts that perish. A man that is taught of God affects higher things than these. He soars far beyond the sun and all created systems, how many or remote soever they may be: he rises to God himself. Contemplating all His glorious perfections, searching into all His eternal purposes, admiring all the wonders of redeeming love, and anticipating the fruition of God himself; this is the constant habit of his mind, and the most eager pursuit of his life, from day to day. “Eye has never seen, nor ear heard, nor heart conceived, the things which fill his soul.” None can appreciate the engagements of his soul, till they themselves are born from above, and taught by the Holy Ghost: for “he searcheth the deep things of God,” which none but those who are taught, of God can know, or conceive, or estimate [Note: 1 Corinthians 2:9-10.] But to such habits, I say again, the unenlightened man is as great a stranger as the beasts. “He is of the earth earthy,” even as the beasts themselves are. And this I say of the wise and learned. What, then, are the generality of men? St. Jude says of them, that, instead of seeking heavenly things, “they speak evil of the things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves [Note: Jude, ver. 10.].” And he knows but little of the world, who does not know, that “this witness is true.”]

The same resemblance holds good,

III. In his end—

[This perhaps is the point more immediately referred to in my text. “Men’s inward thought,” he observes, “is, that their houses shall continue for ever, and their dwelling-places to all generations: they call their lands after their own names. Nevertheless, man being in honour abideth not; he is like the beasts that perish ….. For, when he dieth, he shall carry nothing away with him: this glory shall not descend after him [Note: ver. 11, 12, 17.].” To the same effect Solomon also speaks: “I said in my heart, concerning the estate of the sons of men, that they, if God manifested it to them, might see that they themselves are beasts. For that which befalleth the sons of men, befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they all have one breath: so that a man hath no pre-eminence above a beast: for all is vanity. All go unto one place; all are of dust, and all turn to dust again [Note: Ecclesiastes 3:18-20.].”

But we must not confine our attention to the mere circumstance of the mortality of each. The Psalmist had in his mind the thoughtlessness of men respecting any thing beyond this life; agreeably to what he says, in another psalm; “A brutish man knoweth not, neither doth a fool understand this; that when the wicked do spring as the grass, and when all the workers of iniquity do flourish, it is that they shall be destroyed for ever [Note: Psalms 92:6-7.].” Here is their folly, their stupidity, their brutishness: an eternal world is revealed to them; and they will not consider it: heaven and hell are opened to their view; and they will do nothing to avoid the one or obtain the other. Could they indeed die like the beasts, without any future state of retribution, it were happy for them: and such is the state of mankind at large, that there are very few, comparatively, who would not welcome annihilation as a rich and acceptable boon. But to the bar of judgment every soul will be summoned ere long: and “all must receive, at the hands of their Judge, according to what they have done in the body, whether it be good or evil.” If in other things, then, they are reduced to a level with the beasts, in this they fall far below them; inasmuch as, with an intellect capable of appreciating eternity, they act as if they had no more interest in it than the beasts themselves.]

See, then,

1. What a difference there is between an intelligent Christian and all others!

[I will take the one from the lowest, and the other from the highest, walks in life; and say that the intelligent Christian, however mean, resembles God; whilst the worldling, however elevated, is Like the beasts that perish. In his understanding, the regenerate man sees things as they really are, and knows that the things which are visible and temporal are not worthy of a thought in comparison of those which are unseen and eternal. In his habits, too, he seeks not the things which are on earth, but those which are in heaven, where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God. And in his end, he goes to a world of blessedness and glory, where he shall abide for ever in the bosom of his God. His unenlightened neighbour accounts all this as folly: but the time is coming, and very shortly too, when it will be made to appear which of the two was really wise — — —]

2. Of what immense importance is the Gospel!

[It is the Gospel only that changes the hearts of men. Doubtless God may use any means, or accomplish the conversion of a soul without means: but his appointed means are the Gospel, with which, in all ages, he has “turned men from darkness unto light, and from the power of Satan unto God.” My dear Brethren, I do hope that some at least of you can bear testimony to the truth of what I say. Once you were as blind as others: but now you see. Once you had no more concern about your souls than others; and lived, like others, for this world only: but now, through the grace of God, you are brought to tread in the steps of Christ and his holy Apostles, and to value nothing in comparison of the favour of your God. And what is it that has made this difference between your present and your former selves? It is the Spirit of Christ that has quickened you, and the love of Christ that yet daily constrains you: and by this change you are assimilated to the glorified saints and angels, yea, and to the image of God himself. Bear testimony, then, to the truth and efficacy of the Gospel; and commend that to others which you have found so effectual for your own souls.]