Online Bible 1995 March/ROM-1025.iso/olb/gill/4_400.lzh/4_473.TXT

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suit with the vain opinion he has of himself, whereby
he promises himself eternal life and happiness. The
Septuagint and Arabic versions render it to this sense,
"every man seems righteous to himself." But the
Lord pondereth the hearts: weighs them in the balance
of righteousness and truth; considers them, having a
perfect knowledge of them, and all the springs of
action in them; and knows that every way of man is
not right, though they may seem so to him.
Ver. 3. To do justice and judgment, &c.] The moral
duties of religion, what is holy, just, and good, which
the law requires; what is agreeably to both tables,
piety towards God, and justice to men; that which is
just and right between man and man; which, especially
if done from right principles and with right views, is
more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice; not than any
sacrifice; than the sacrifice of a broken heart, or the
sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving, or of acts of
goodness and beneficence, or of a man's whole self to
the Lord; but than ceremonial sacrifices; which,
though of divine institution, and typical of Christ,
and when offered up in the faith of him, were ac-
ceptable to God, whilst in force; yet not when done
without faith and in hypocrisy, and espedally when
done to cover and countenance itnmoral actions; and,
even when compared with moral duties, the latter
were preferable to them; see 1 Sam. xv. 22. Mark
xii. 33.
Ver. 4. An high look, and a proud heart, &c.] The
former is a sign of the latter, and commonly go to-
gether, and are both abominable to the Lord; see
Psal. ci. 5. Prov. vi. 16, 17. A man that looks above
others, and with disdain upon them, shews that pr!de
reigns in him, and swells his mind with a vain o
of himself; this may be observed in every
ous man; the parable of the Pharisee and publican is a
comment upon it; sometimes there may be a proud
heart under a disguise of humility; but the pride of
the heart is often discovered by the look of the eyes.
It may be rendered, the elevation of the eyes, and the
enlargement of the heart {p}; but not to be understood
in a good sense, of the lifting up of the eyes in prayer
to God, with faith and fear; nor of the enlargement of
the heart with solid knowledge and wisdom, such as
Solomon had; but in a bad sense, of the lofty looks
and haughtiness of man towards his fellow-creatures,
and of his unbounded desires after filthy lucre or sin-
ful lusts: the Targum renders it, "the swelling of the
"heart," with pride and vanity. And the ploughing'
of the wicked is sin; taken literally; not that it is so
in itself; for it is a most useful invention, and exceed-
ing beneficial to mankind, and is to be ascribed to God
himself; and of this the Heathens are so sensible, that
they have a deity to whom they attribute it, and whom
they call Ceres{q}, from \^vrx\^, to plough; it only denotes
that all the civil actions of a wicked man, one being
put for all, are attended with sin; he sins in all he does.
Or, metaphorically, for his schemes, contrivances, and
projects, which are the ploughing of his mind; these
are all sinful, or tend to that which is so. Some
understand this particularly of his high look and
proud heart, which are his ploughing and his sin;
Ben Melech; and others of his ploughing, or perse-
cuting and oppressing, the poor. The word is some-
times used for a lamp or light, and is so rendered here
by some, the light of the wicked is sin {r}; their outward
happiness and prosperity leads them into sin, involves
them in guilt, and so brings them to ruin and destruc-
tion: and this way go the Targum: Septuagint, Vul.,.
gate Latin, Syriac, and Arabic versions.
Vet. 5. The thoughts of the diligent tend only to plen-
teoushess, &c.] A man that is thoughtful and studious,
and wisely forms schemes in his mind, and diligently
pursues them; the issue of it is, generally speaking,
prosperity and plenty: such a man is usually thriving
and flourishing; and this holds good in things spiri-
tual, as well as in things temporal, Matt. xxv.
But of every one that is hasty only to want; that is in
haste to be rich, and is resolved to be so, right or
wrong, he comes at last to poverty and want: or he Who
is rash and precipitate in acting., who never thinks
before he acts, but rashly engages m annflair; or, how-
ever, does not give himsell' time enough to think it
over, but, as soon as ever it has entered his thoughts,
he immediately attempts to put it in execution; a
man so thoughtless and inconsiderate, so rash and
hasty, brings himself and family to poverty; see ch.
xx. 21.
Ver. 6. The getting of treasures by a lying tongue,
&c.] By telling lies in trade; by bearing false wit-
ness in a court of judicature; or by preaching false
doctrines in the church of God: is a vanity tossed to
andrio of them that seek death: such treasures, though
ever so great, are like any light thing, smoke or ya-
pour, straw, stubble, chaff, or a feather, tossed about
the wind; which is expressive of the instability
uncertainty of riches ill-gotten; they do not last
long, but are taken away and carried off by one pro-
vidence or another; and they are likewise hurtful and
pernicious; they issue in death: and those that seek.
after them, and obtain them in a bad way, are said to
seek death: not intentionally, but eventually; this they
certainly find, if grace prevent not; see ch. viii.
Jarchi reads it, they are the snares of death to him; and
so the Septuagint version.
Ver. 7. The robbery of the wicked shall destroy them,
&c.] Or eta them, so Ben Melech: dissect or saw
them; cut them to the heart; that is, when the sins
they have been guilty of, in robbing God of his due,
or doing injury to men in their properties, cheating
them or stealing from them, are set home on their con-
sciences, they are in the utmost agonies and distress;
it is as ifa saw was drawn to and fro over them, and
will be their case for ever without true repentance:
this is the worm that never dies, and the fire that is
never quenched; this is everlasting destruction from
the presence of the Lord, and is very just and righte-
otis. Because they refuse to do judgment; to do that

{p} \^bl bxrw Mynye Mwr\^ elatio oculorum & latitudo cordis, Pis-
cator, Michaelis, Cocceius, Schultens.
{q} Prima Ceres ferro mortales vertere terram instituit, Virgil.
Georgic. l. 1.
{r} \^Myevr rn\^ lucerna impiorum, V. L. Mercerus, Gejerus, Cocceius,
Michaelis, Schultens.
{s} \^Mrwgy\^ dissecabit eos, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; serrabit
eos, Aben Ezra & Kimchi in Mercer. Michaelis; gravem ipsis uterum
trahit, Schultens.