Proverbs 19:2

Pro 19:2 Also, [that] the soul [be] without knowledge, [it is] not good; and he that hasteth with [his] feet sinneth.

Ver. 2. Also, that the soul be without knowledge, it is not good.] An ignorant man is a naughty man. Ignorat sane improbus omnis, saith Aristotle, {a} Every bad minded man is in the dark; neither can any good come into the heart, but it must pass through the understanding; and the difference of stature in Christianity grows from different degrees of knowledge. The Romans were "full of knowledge," and therefore "full of goodness." {Rom 15:14}

And he that hasteth with his feet sinneth.] Or, Wandereth out of the way. As he that is out of his way, the faster he rides or runs, the farther he is out; so is blind zeal. It is like mettle in a blind horse, that, running upon the rocks and precipices, first breaks his hoofs, and then his neck; or like the devil in the possessed, that cast him sometimes into the fire and sometimes into the water.

{a} Eth., lib. iii.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Pro_19:2

Also that the soul be without knowledge, it is not good.

The advantages of knowledge to the lower classes

I. The utility of knowledge in general. The extent to which we have the faculty of acquiring knowledge forms the most obvious distinction of our species. As the power of acquiring knowledge is to be ascribed to reason, so the attainment of it mightily strengthens and improves it, and thereby enables it to enrich itself with further acquisitions. Knowledge, in general, expands the mind, exalts the faculties, refines the taste of pleasure, and opens numerous sources of intellectual enjoyment. The moral good of the acquisition of knowledge is chiefly this, that by multiplying the mental resources it has a tendency to exalt the character, and, in some measure, to correct and subdue the taste for gross sensuality. Some think that the instruction of the lower classes will make them dissatisfied with their station in life; and by impairing the habits of subordination, endanger the tranquillity of the state. But, in truth, nothing renders legitimate governments so insecure as extreme ignorance in the people. The true prop of good government is the opinion, the perception, on the part of the subject, of benefits resulting from it. Nothing can produce or maintain that opinion but knowledge. Of tyrannical and unlawful governments, indeed, the support is fear, to which ignorance is as congenial as it is abhorrent from the genius of a free people. Ignorance gives a sort of eternity to prejudice, and perpetuity to error.

II. The utility of religious knowledge in particular. Religion, on account of its intimate relation to a future state, is every mans proper business, and should be his chief care. The primary truths of religion are of such daily use and necessity, that they form, not the materials of mental luxury, so properly as the food of the mind. Two considerations may suffice to evince the indispensable necessity of Scriptural knowledge.

1. The Scriptures contain an authentic discovery of the way of salvation.

2. Scriptural knowledge is of inestimable value on account of its supplying an infallible rule of life. Of an accountable creature, duty is the concern of every moment, since he is every moment pleasing or displeasing God. Hence the indispensable necessity, to every description of persons, of sound religious instruction, and of an intimate acquaintance with the Scriptures as its genuine source. (R. Hall, M. A.)

Evils of popular ignorance

I. The evils of ignorance. The faculties of reason, and judgment, and moral determination, must ever distinguish man from the beast that perisheth, must for ever constitute the true dignity of human nature; but then faculties and powers are of little value in themselves, and if they be not cultivated and developed, and directed to some specific end. Instruction is to man what culture is to plants. When he is deprived of its aid, his powers will either lie wholly dormant, or that which they bring forth, like the productions of the uncultivated plant, will be wild and worthless. Ignorance is not good for man, in regard of his social advancement. To the improvement of the mind all nations owe whatever of social blessing they enjoy. The comforts and conveniences of life, the useful and productive arts, the blessings of law and order and good government, are all derived to us from an elevated condition of the national intelligence. Ignorance may be considered as negative of everything that is good and useful: it is the night of a nations life, during which it can neither work for itself nor for others. Of all despotisms, the despotism of ignorance is the most tyrannical; its will is the only law it recognises, and it hates the light of reason as the night-bird dreads the sun. Ignorance is not good for the cause of national morality and virtue. Virtue can no more exist without a certain amount of knowledge than an animal can exist without life. In proportion as ignorance prevails morality will be destroyed. Ignorance is not good for a mans individual happiness. Ignorance is a state in which all the finer feelings of the human soul are locked up, and the subject of it is deprived of some of the purest forms of moral happiness and enjoyment. Right knowledge tends to promote a mans happiness, even with regard to the present state. Such knowledge will be found to have an ulterior effect upon a mans character; it will awaken within him many pure and elevating emotions.

II. The nature and objects of true knowledge. It may be questioned whether the term education is understood in the plain, broad, comprehensive sense in which Hooker defined it, by whom it was made to comprehend the cultivation of all the moral, spiritual, immortal powers of man. The knowledge that it is not good for the soul to be without, includes a knowledge of Holy Scripture. Through this knowledge we get knowledge of other things--ourselves, redemption, sanctification. Without this knowledge a man cannot be moral, cannot be happy, cannot have peace in this life, cannot have hope for the life to come. It is not good that a man should be without knowing what are those remedial agencies which have been provided of God for lifting up his soul from its condition of degradation, and preparing it for endless happiness in the presence of his God. (Daniel Moore, M. A.)

The importance of knowledge

Man alone of all the creatures in this lower world is possessed of a rational, intelligent, and immortal soul. Whilst other creatures are made to look down upon the ground, man stands erect, with his lofty countenance looking up to the heavens. He can look abroad on the face of the earth, and understand, in some degree, and admire the wisdom and power and goodness manifested in the works of the great Creator. He has analysed the elements of air and water, and can even make them of their component gases. He can explore the trackless ocean, ride in safety on its swelling billows, and cut his liquid way to the most distant regions of the world. Man can acquire a knowledge of foreign languages, and thus converse with men of other climes and kindreds and tongues. Moreover, by means of written or printed characters, he can spread his thoughts around him yet wider and wider, and even after he has sunk into the grave he can thus mould the minds of generations to come. If, then, the mind of man be capable of such great things, and can exert such a mighty influence, we should take good care that, by affording it Christian knowledge and a religious training, it be rightly informed and properly directed. Thus science and devotion would walk hand in hand together, and lead on our youthful progeny to the knowledge of the true God, and of the duties which they owe to Him and to one another. That the soul be without knowledge, it is not good, is manifest from the consideration that without the knowledge of some useful art or science or business, man, ordinarily speaking, cannot procure the means of support, or fulfil the duties of his station in life. Moreover, that it is not good for the soul to be without knowledge may be inferred from the consideration that the faculties of the mind, on the one hand, are suited to the reception and pursuit of knowledge, and are strengthened and improved when they are so employed; whilst, on the other hand, the whole economy of nature is such as to invite us to examine and admire it. But doubtless the knowledge spoken of in the text relates principally to Divine things. What is the light of science apart from the light of Christ? Now, that the soul be without this knowledge, it is not good--

I. With regard to the individual himself.

1. It is not good, because such a state is unhappy and unprofitable. He that is wise may be profitable unto himself. But how unprofitable is the state of a child growing up without the knowledge of what is necessary to his welfare both in time and through eternity!

2. Such a state is not good, because it is not a safe one. In what an awfully insecure state is the soul that is without the knowledge of God! Any moment the thread of life may be cut asunder, and then shall his desire and expectation perish!

II. In regard to others.

1. In regard to God and His work. It is true that our goodness extendeth not to Him. Our knowledge cannot augment His infinite stores of knowledge. Neither does He need our services. They cannot profit Him, nor add to His perfection and blessedness. But still, in a lower sense, God may be said to need the instruments or agents which He is pleased to make use of in accomplishing His designs. It is manifest that without the knowledge of which I am speaking we cannot be fit instruments in the hands of God for performing His work, for establishing and extending His kingdom through the world.

2. It is not good in regard to our fellow-men. How should he who is without knowledge fulfil the relative and social duties of life, giving to each his due, and benefiting all within his sphere of action? (T. H. Terry, B. A.)

Ignorance is not good

I. Man is possessed of an immortal principle which, once called into existence, is by its very constitution coeval with its maker. Man has a soul. God has provided for the supply of the soul as well as of the body. The mental aliment is knowledge.

II. Prove in what respect it is not good that the soul be without knowledge. The knowledge meant is--

1. The knowledge of God as revealed in His Word.

2. A knowledge of Christ crucified.

3. The knowledge of ourselves as fallen moral beings.

4. The knowledge of our threefold duty to God, to our neighbour, and to ourselves.

(1) It is not good for a mans self, whether we consider him as a solitary or a social being.

(2) It is not good for others. Man, as even heathen moralists maintain, was made for his fellow-creatures as well as for himself. As causes produce effects, so ignorance produces rudeness, incivility, insubordination, and, too frequently, cunning, dishonesty, cruelty, sensuality, and every evil work. It cannot be good for others that they should be left without knowledge. (J. W. Niblock, D. D.)

The benefit of religious knowledge

There are things which we can and things which we cannot know. God hath set a limit to mans capacity of knowing, as to his faculty of hearing and seeing. There are things hid altogether from mortal ken. Still are there unhallowed longings after the fruit of the tree of knowledge. All that we may know let us set ourselves with energy to acquire. The benefits of knowledge may be traced in the progress of civilisation. It is knowledge which makes the difference between the refined Chinaman and the brutalised Kaffir.

1. If the soul be left without knowledge, it will be unable to detect the false maxims of the world, and of course to avoid the consequences to which they lead.

2. It is not good that the soul be without knowledge, lest we should be contaminated with the noxious errors on religious subjects which prevail so extensively amongst us in the present day.

3. Let the Christian remember that he must not be content with his present attainments. (Albert Bibby, M. A.)

The soul without knowledge

Other translations of this verse are, It is not good for the soul to be without caution, for he that hasteth with his feet sinneth; or Quickness of action, without prudence of spirit, is not good, for he that hasteth with his feet sinneth; or Fervent zeal without prudence is not good, etc.; or Ignorance of ones self is not good, etc. There does not appear the least necessity for any alteration of the received version.

I. That ignorance is not good for the soul. The soul without knowledge is not good. This will appear if we consider three things.

1. That an ignorant soul is exceedingly confined. The mind cannot range beyond what it knows. The more limited its information, the narrower is the scene of its activities. The man of enlarged scientific information has a range over vast continents, whereas the ignorant man is confined within the cell of his senses. Our souls get scope by exploring the unknown. Knowledge, says Shakespeare, is the wing on which we fly to heaven.

2. That an ignorant soul is exceedingly benighted. The contracted sphere in which it lives is only lighted with the rushlight of a few crude thoughts. Knowledge is light. The accession of every true idea is a planting of a new star in the mental heavens. The more knowledge, the brighter will sparkle the sky of your being.

3. That an ignorant soul is exceedingly feeble. Exercise and food are as essential to the power of the mind as they are to the power of the body. Knowledge is at once the incentive to exercise it and the aliment to strengthen. Ignorance, says Johnson, is mere privation by which nothing can be produced; it is a vacuity in which the soul sits motionless and torpid for want of attraction. And, without knowing why, we always rejoice when we learn, and grieve when we forget. Truly the soul without knowledge is not good. Of what good are limbs without the power of exercise; what good are eyes without light?

II. Ignorance is perilous to the soul. Ignorance is more than a negative evil, it is a positive curse. The text teaches that ignorance--

1. Exposes to sinful haste. He that hasteth with his feet sinneth. Men without knowledge are ever in danger of acting incautiously, acting with a reckless haste. As a rule the more ignorant a man is the more hasty he is in his conclusions and steps of conduct. The less informed the mind is the more rapid and reckless in its generalisation. Impulse, not intelligence, is the helmsman of the ignorant soul.

2. It exposes to a perversity of conduct. The foolishness of man perverteth his way. What is foolishness but ignorance? Ignorant men are terribly liable to perversity of conduct in every relation of life, and especially in relation to the great God. The murderers of Christ were ignorant. Paul says, had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

3. It exposes to impiety of feeling. Ignorant men are ever disposed to find fault with God. Ignorance is peevish. It is always fretting. Learn that a nation of ignorant souls is not only a nation of worthless men, but a nation liable to the commission of terrible mistakes and crimes. Men should get knowledge for the sake of becoming useful. (D. Thomas, D. D.)

The evil of ignorance

I. A case supposed. A soul without knowledge. This is not to be understood absolutely. All knowledge is not blessing, nor all ignorance misfortune. The knowledge specified in the text may imply--

1. A knowledge of the works of God in creation. God is known by His works. Their vast magnitude serves to display His power. Their amazing extent shadows forth His immensity. The admirable harmony that prevails among them evidences His wisdom. And the ample provision made for all creatures exhibits His goodness.

2. A knowledge of our particular calling, trade, or profession. No man is obliged to know everything, but every man ought to know what he professes to know.

3. A knowledge of the will of God, as revealed in the Bible. This revelation is so plain that he may run that readeth it; so ample as to embrace the whole of our duty; so repeated that we have precept upon precept; so circumstantial as to mark every description of character, and identify every variety of situation; so impartial as to know no distinction between the monarch and the beggar; and so full and perfect that nothing can be added to it. Our knowledge of the will of God should be Scriptural, spiritual, experimental, and practical.

II. An affirmation made concerning it. It is not good.

1. It is not good, as it does not harmonise with the original purpose of God in the formation of man.

2. It is not good, as it is not commendable.

3. As it is not beneficial.

4. As it is not comfortable.

5. As it is not safe. From this subject let us learn{l) What gratitude is due to God, who hath afforded us such facilities for the acquisition of knowledge.

(2) How diligently we should use the means with which God hath favoured us for augmenting our stock of knowledge.

(3) Let us commiserate the circumstances of those who are destitute of the means of information. (Sketches of Four Hundred Sermons.)

The evil tendency of education not based on religion

What is meant by knowledge? An acquaintance with those truths the perception and practice of which will duly qualify us both for our present and future state of existence. To this end we should know ourselves, our capacities, our duties, our particular business or vocation in life; the state of things in which we are placed, the character of mankind in general, and the nature of our social and civil relations. We should know also the revealed character of God; the position in which we stand to Him, the nature of His transactions with the human race, our present condition and future destiny. The matter and extent of knowledge is almost infinite. Exhibiting, as the mind does, a most varied scale of intellectual strength, a corresponding variety in the measure of knowledge is the necessary consequence. Considerations for confirming and illustrating the truth that for the soul to be without knowledge is not good:

1. The human mind is evidently framed for the acquisition of knowledge.

2. A certain degree of knowledge is absolutely necessary to enable men duly to perform their parts in life.

3. Knowledge tends to increase the influence and usefulness of its possessor.

4. It tends to increase the pleasures of life, by opening new sources of innocent enjoyment. If we would give men an education suitable to their character and destinies, we must attend to the cultivation of the heart as well as that of the head. We must make religion a prominent feature in our systems of instruction. Without religion, worldly knowledge, by stimulating the pride and pravity of a corrupt heart, may do much injury. When the foundation of morality and religion is firmly laid, we may proceed with safety to erect the superstructure of human science and general knowledge. But while education may teach men their duty, it cannot enable them to perform it. Religion alone can do that. He who would establish a system of education without making religion the basis of it, is like a man who builds his house upon the sand. He will find the corruptions of human nature too strong for his intellectual barrier. There is no more effectual method of checking the progress of socialism and infidelity than a system of sound, solid, and religious education. Then educate the rising generation, but do so in a sound and Scriptural manner. (E. B. Were, M. A.)

Knowledge essential to mans welfare

In what senses does the writer affirm the text?

1. In the personal sense. To man as an individual. Knowledge gives him mental occupation.

2. In a domestic sense. The family circle, or household, is the first and simplest form of society. It is necessary to its well-being that a legitimate authority and a due subordination should exist in it. The duties of a parent cannot be performed without the advantages of knowledge.

3. In a social sense. In reference to the proper discharge of our duties towards friends and neighbours, superiors and inferiors.

4. In a political sense. If we desire to make a man a good member of the state, we must instruct him in the principles on which political society is formed, and by which alone can exist. We must teach him the grounds of moral obligation. And what are those grounds but the truths of religion? (Geo. Gibbon, M. A.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

CRITICAL NOTES.—

Pro_19:2. Sinneth, literally “goeth astray.” Delitzsch reads the last clause, “He who hasteneth with the legs after it goeth astray.”

Pro_19:3. Perverteth, rather “overtures,” “ruins.”

MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro_19:2-3

IGNORANCE LEADING TO SIN

I. The soul of man cannot be absolutely without knowledge. There is some knowledge which comes to the soul without any effort on the part of the man, which he has but to live to acquire, just as he has but to open his eyes to see. He is conscious of his own existence—of his personal identity as apart from all the beings and things by which he is surrounded, and of his capability of suffering and enjoyment, of hope and despair. And because of the light within him he cannot be altogether ignorant of the difference between right and wrong, between truth and falsehood. But his necessary knowledge extends to beings and things outside of himself. He knows without any effort much about the men and things which surround him, and the visible things of creation make it impossible that he should be altogether ignorant of the existence of the invisible God and Creator. So the apostle argues in Rom_1:20.

II. There is a knowledge which it is good to be without. There is a knowledge which human nature in its original dignity and sinlessness did not possess, the absence of this experimental knowledge was an essential element of its blessedness. The ignorance of evil was a blessed ignorance in which man’s Creator would have kept him but for his own wilfulness, and the knowledge of which brought him misery. It is the blessedness of the unfallen spirits who have kept their first estate, that although they are conscious of the existence of evil in the universe, they have no experimental knowledge of it, and this ignorance constitutes the blessedness of the ever-blessed God Himself. Those sons of men who, because they are, and ever have been, in perfect health, know nothing experimentally of bodily pain or weakness, find it very good to be without this knowledge, and how much more good is it to be without a knowledge of soul disease and spiritual suffering.

III. But there is an acquired knowledge which is indispensable to a man’s well-being. Intellectual knowledge of some kind is necessary to prevent a man from being a shame to himself and a cumberer of the land. The well-being of the community depends upon one man’s knowing some one thing that another man does not know; no man can know all things or even many things; no man, however great his knowledge, has enough of it to make him independent of the knowledge of others, but every man ought to have such a thorough knowledge of some facts and truths as to enable him to minister first to some of his own daily needs and to contribute something to the well-being of his fellow creatures. Some men must have theoretical knowledge, and others must know how to reduce theories to practice—the knowledge of the one is useless without the knowledge of the other. It behoves some men to investigate the history of the past, and to use the knowledge they so acquire for the good of the present generation, but while they are doing this it is indispensable that others should acquire a knowledge of things as they are at present, and should utilise their knowledge for the attainment of other ends which are quite as good. But intellectual knowledge of some kind is also necessary for the well-being of the mind itself. Man’s mind can no more feed upon itself and be healthy than his body can feed upon itself and live. As the body needs to receive matter into itself to nourish and sustain it, so the mind needs to receive ideas upon which to feed and by which to grow. Without such a reception the intellectual part of a man remains undeveloped, and he is very far from the creature, intellectually considered, that God intended him to be. But there is a kind of knowledge even more needful for man to possess than that which will merely enlarge his mind or promote his temporal well-being. If his existence is to be really blest he must know things which relate to his spiritual well-being—he must be acquainted with the will of God concerning him, both in relation to the life that now is and to that which is to come. It is a calamity to be ignorant of things which fit a man to make the best of the present life, but it is a far greater calamity to be without that knowledge which fits a man for a blessed life beyond death. No man who possesses the revealed Word of God in the Scriptures need be without this most blessed and indispensable knowledge—everyone who thirsts for it may drink of this living water, and every hungry soul may eat of this bread and learn what are the thoughts of God concerning him, and what are the Divine purposes concerning his present and his future (Isa_55:1-7). And to be without this knowledge is indeed “not good,” for it prevents the soul from recovering its lost and original dignity. A knowledge of the glorious God in the face of Jesus Christ is the means by which we are delivered from the penalty and power of sin, and more than recover the position lost by man’s fall. Ignorance here is indeed a fatal ignorance in those who have the knowledge within their reach; it is not good for any human soul to be without this knowledge, and it is most soul-destroying to those who have only to seek it in order to find it.

IV. Some of the evil consequences which flow from ignorance in general and from ignorance of God in particular.

1. Ignorance leads to hasty action, and consequently often to wrong action. For “he that hasteth with his feet sinneth,” and “the foolishness of man perverteth his way.” In common and every-day life we find that the most ignorant people are the least cautious, and act with the least reflection. Knowledge teaches men to think before they act, for it makes men more alive to the importance of their actions. A child will play with gunpowder with as little hesitation as he would with common dust, but a man would not do so, because he knows what would be the consequence if it ignited. A man who had never been in a coalmine, and who was ignorant of the dangers of fire-damp, would be very likely to descend the shaft and enter hastily into the gloomy passages without first testing the state of the air, but a miner would not do so, because he knows more about the matter. He would advance cautiously, and ascertain what was before him before he ventured far. So people who are ignorant of the mind and will of God as revealed in His word act without much thought as to the consequences of their actions—they enter upon a road at the impulse of a passing fancy, without asking themselves whither it leads—they decide upon a certain course of action without thought of the consequences. And such hasting with the feet is always a perversion of a man’s way, a wandering from the right path, for a fallen man does not forsake the evil and choose the good by instinct but by effort founded upon reflection.

2. Spiritual ignorance leads to rebellion against God. It is only a man who does not know God, who “frets against the Lord.” A child because he is ignorant of his father’s motives will fret against the wise and kind restrictions which that father places around him. So men wilfully ignorant that whenever God says “Thou shalt not” He is only saying “Do thyself no harm,” chafe and fret against His moral laws. They will not set themselves to obtain that knowledge of God which the gospel reveals and consequently they look at all His commands through a cloud of ignorance which makes them grievous and heavy instead of easy and light. And there are many mysteries connected with God’s government that will tend to make men’s hearts fretful and discontented if they remain in ignorance of His character. There are many problems in connection with man’s present life which he cannot solve—many apparent contradictions, and much which looks like injustice on the part of Him who rules the world, and every soul who does not know God as He is revealed in His Son will, when he thinks on these things, is likely to be led to harbour rebellious thoughts against Him. When we consider the evil which flows from ignorance of God we can better understand how it is that “the knowledge of the Lord” is so often used in Scripture as synonymous with all that can bless and elevate mankind (see Isa_11:9, etc.)

OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS

We should desire first the enlightening of the eyes and then the strengthening of the feet. Hence “Make me to understand the way of Thy precepts,” and then, “I will run the way of Thy commandments” (Psa_119:27; Psa_119:32). He that would sail safely must get a good pilot before good rowers. Swift horses, without a skilful waggoner, endangers more. He that labours for feet before he has eyes, takes a preposterous course; for, of the two the lame is more likely to come to his journey’s end than the blind.… Hence we see that there is more hope of a vicious person that hath a good understanding, than of an utterly dark and blind soul, though he walks upon zealous feet.… Learn to know God. “How shall we believe on Him we have not known?” (Rom_10:14). Knowledge is not so much slighted here, as it will be wished hereafter. The rich man in hell desires to have his brethren taught (Luk_16:28). Sure if he were alive again, he would hire them a preacher. “The people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” (Hos_4:6). If we see a proper man cast away at the sessions for a non legit, with pity we conclude he might have been saved, if he could have read. At that general and last assizes, when Christ shall “come in flaming fire,” woe be to them that “know not God” (2Th_1:8). For “He will pour out His fury upon the heathen, that know Him not, and upon the families that call not on His name” (Jer_10:25).… In Pro_9:18, the new guest at the fatal banquet is described by his ignorance. “He knoweth not” what company is in the house, “that the dead are there.” It is the devil’s policy, when he would rob and ransack the house of our conscience, like a thief to put out the candle of our knowledge; that we might neither discern his purposes, nor decline his mischiefs.… Indeed ignorance may make a sin a less sin, but not no sin. “I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly, in unbelief,” says the apostle (1Ti_1:13). The sins of them that know are more henious than the sins of them that know not. But if thou hadst no other sin, thy ignorance is enough to condemn thee, for thou art bound to know. They that will not know the Lord, the Lord will not know them.—T. Adams.

The most innocent of all faults might seem ignorance. The only sin (when philosophically stated) is ignorance. The “chains” that confine the lost (2Pe_2:4) are “darkness.” The change that overtakes the saved is light (2Co_4:6). The graces that adorn the Christian all flow from a new intelligence. Our text is literally exact. If the man “has no knowledge,” and that of a deep spiritual sort, his “life is no good;” that is, it possesses none, and is itself a horrid evil. And yet the concluding clause largely relieves the difficulty. The man, knowing there was something wrong, ought to pause, and grope about for the light, just as all would in a dark cavern. Instead of that he rushes darkly on. Here, the inspired finger is put upon the precise mistake. We are warned that we are in blindness. Why not hesitate, then, and cast about us? We push on, knowing we are in the dark. This is the photograph of the impenitent … And yet, the wise man says, he ignores this point of wilfulness, and in his heart is angry with the Almighty. He “perverteth,” or subverteth “his way,” that is, totally upsets and ruins, so that it is no way at all. Nothing could describe more truly the sinner’s path, because it does not reach even the ends that he himself relied on. Death arrives, too, to wreck it totally. And though he has resisted the most winning arts to draw him unto Christ, yet, at each sad defeat, “his heart is angry against Jehovah.”—Miller.

Pro_19:2. Haste, as opposed to sloth, is the energy of Divine grace (Psa_119:60; Luk_19:6). Here, as opposed to consideration, acting hastily is sin. This impatience is the genuine exercise of self-will, not taking time to inquire; not “waiting for the counsel of the Lord.” Godly Joshua offended here (Jos_9:14-15). Saul’s impatience cost him his kingdom (1Sa_13:12). David’s haste was the occasion of gross injustice (2Sa_16:3-4).—Bridges.

Religion a sentiment and a science. I know of no attack on Christianity more artfully made than that which is attempted when a distinction is attempted to be drawn between religion and theology.… Let us see what the value of religion is, when it is separated from theology. We are told that religion is a sentiment, a temper, a state of mind. Theology is a science, a pursuit, a study.… and it is asserted or insinuated that it may be well with the soul, although it be destitute of spiritual knowledge.… But we, who are called Christians, by the very name we bear, imply that more than devotional sentiment is necessary to make a religious man … You must accept Jesus as the only Saviour if you would escape perdition, and how can you accept Him unless you know Him? Nay, further, how can you accept Him unless you know yourself?… There are many other things which we ought to know and believe, to our soul’s health and comfort; but … the soul that is without knowledge of this, the great Christian scheme, the Divine plan of salvation, is only nominally and by courtesy a Christian soul … Except as bearing upon these truths, the religious sentiment is a luxury and nothing more … It is not the theoretical distinction between the sentiment and the science that we censure, but their separation and divorce.—Dean Hook.

Pro_19:3. Such was the foolishness of Adam! First he perverted his way; then he charged upon God its bitter fruit. “God, making him upright,” made him happy. Had he been ruled by his will, he would have continued so. But, “seeking out his own inventions” (Ecc_7:29), he made himself miserable. As the author of his own misery, it was reasonable that he should fret against himself, but such was his pride and baseness, that his heart fretted against the Lord, as if he, not himself, was responsible (Gen_3:6-12). Thus his first-born, when his own sin had brought “punishment” on him, fretted, as if “it were greater than he could bear.” (Ib. Pro_4:8-13). This has been the foolishness of Adam’s children ever since. God has linked together moral and penal evil, sin and sorrow. The fool rushes into the sin, and most unreasonably frets for the sorrow; as if he could “gather grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles.” (Mat_7:16). He charges his crosses, not on his own perverseness, but on the injustice of God. (Eze_18:25). But God is clear from all the blame (Jas_1:13-14): He had shown the better; man chooses the worse. He had warned by his word and by conscience. Man, deaf to the warning, plunges into the misery; and, while “eating the fruit of his own ways,” his heart frets against the Lord. “It is hard to have passions, and to be punished for indulging them. I could not help it. Why did he not give me grace to avoid it?” (See Jer_7:10). Such is the pride and blasphemy of an unhumbled spirit. The malefactor blames the judge for his righteous sentence. (Isa_8:21-22; Rev_16:9-11; Rev_16:21).—Bridges.

This was the case in Greece as well as in Judea; for Homer observed that “men lay those evils upon the gods, which they have incurred through their own folly and perverseness.” … This is often the case with regard—

1. To men’s health. By intemperance … indolence … or too close application to business … or unruly passions, they injure their frame … and then censure the providence of God.

2. To their circumstances in life.… Men complain that providence frowns on them … when they have chosen a wrong profession, despising the advice of others … or when they have brought themselves into straits by their own negligence.

3. To their relations in life. They complain of being unequally yoked … when they chose by the sight of the eye, or the vanity and lusts of the heart.… They complain that their children are undutiful … when they have neglected their government.

4. To their religious concerns. They complain that they want inward peace when … they neglect the appointed means of grace … and that God giveth Satan power over them when by neglect they tempt the tempter.—Job Orton.

For Homiletics on the main thought of Pro_19:4 see on chapter Pro_14:20, page 370.

SUGGESTIVE COMMENT

They are friends to the wealth, not the wealthy. They regard not qualis sis, but quantus—not how good thou art, but how great.… These flatter a rich man, as we feed beasts, till he be fat, and then fall on him.… These friends love not thy soul’s good, but thy body’s goods.—T. Adams.

The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.

2 The not-knowing of the soul is also not good,

And he who hasteneth with the legs after it goeth astray.

Fleischer renders נפשׁ as the subj. and לא־טוב as neut. pred.: in and of itself sensual desire is not good, but yet more so if it is without foresight and reflection. With this explanation the words must be otherwise accentuated. Hitzig, in conformity with the accentuation, before us: if desire is without reflection, it is also without success. But where נפשׁ denotes desire or sensuality, it is always shown by the connection, as e.g., Pro 23:2; here דּעת, referring to the soul as knowing (cf. Psa 139:14), excludes this meaning. But נפשׁ is certainly gen. subjecti; Luzzatto's "self-knowledge" is untenable, for this would require דעת נפשׁו; Meri rightly glosses נפשׁ דעת by שׂכל. After this Zckler puts Hitzig's translation right in the following manner: where there is no consideration of the soul, there is no prosperity. But that also is incorrect, for it would require אין־טוב; לא־טוב is always pred., not a substantival clause. Thus the proverb states that בלא־דעת נפשׁ is not good, and that is equivalent to היות בלא־דעת נפשׁ (for the subject to לא־טוב is frequently, as e.g., Pro 17:26; Pro 18:5, an infinitive); or also: בלא־דעת נפשׁ is a virtual noun in the sense of the not-knowing of the soul; for to say לא־דעת was syntactically inadmissible, but the expression is בלא־דעת, not בּלי דעת (בּבלי), because this is used in the sense unintentionally or unexpectedly. The גּם which begins the proverb is difficult. If we lay the principal accent in the translation given above on "not good," then the placing of גם first is a hyperbaton similar to that in Pro 17:26; Pro 20:11; cf. אך, Pro 17:11; רק, Pro 13:10, as if the words were: if the soul is without knowledge, then also (eo ipso) it is destitute of anything good. But if we lay the principal accent on the "also," then the meaning of the poet is, that ignorance of the soul is, like many other things, not good; or (which we prefer without on that account maintaining

(Note: The old interpreters and also the best Jewish interpreters mar the understanding and interpretation of the text, on the one side, by distinguishing between a nearest and a deeper meaning of Scripture (דרך נגלה and דרך נסתר); on the other by this, that they suppose an inward connection of all the proverbs, and expend useless ingenuity in searching after the connection. The former is the method especially adopted by Immanuel and Meri, the latter has most of all been used by Arama.)

the original connection of Pro 19:1 and Pro 19:2), that as on the one side the pride of wisdom, so on the other ignorance is not good. In this case גם belongs more to the subject than to the predicate, but in reality to the whole sentence at the beginning of which it stands. To hasten with the legs (אץ, as Pro 28:20) means now in this connection to set the body in violent agitation, without direction and guidance proceeding from the knowledge possessed by the soul. He who thus hastens after it without being intellectually or morally clear as to the goal and the way, makes a false step, goes astray, fails (vid., Pro 8:36, where חטאי is the contrast to מצאי).

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

2 Also, that the soul be without knowledge, it is not good; and he that hasteth with his feet sinneth.†a

Also — seems to trace the fools perverse ways to their source. His soul is without knowledge. Ignorance gives perpetuity to folly. Knowledge is valuable even to the mind. It expands and sharpens its reasoning powers, and, when rightly directed, preserves from many besetting temptations. ’Be assured’ — says a late eloquent Preacher — ’it is not because the people know much, that they ever become the willing subjects of any factious or unprincipled demagogue. It is just because they know too little. It is just because ignorance is the field, on which the quackery of a political impostor ever reaps its most abundant harvest.’†1 Knowledge also opens much wholesome enjoyment. The intelligent poor are preserved in their home-comforts from the temptations of the ale-house. The most educated are raised above the frivolities of dissipation. Thus both classes are restrained from the sensualities of ungodliness.

But much more that the soul made for God, should be without knowledge, is not good. The blessing is not merely expansion of mind, or restraint of evil, but light and life eternal. (Joh 17:3 .) Without it, all is thick darkness — the darkness of death. Man has no directory for his ways. He knows not "how to walk and to please God." He knows nothing of spiritual duties, heavenly affections, the life of faith, the entire surrender of heart, or the living to the glory of God. Hence he substitutes services of his own, carnal and unprofitable. He "walks in darkness, and knows not whither he goeth." (Joh 12:35 .) He has no remedy for his sins. Hence he devises penance, or at least repentance or reformation. Not knowing the mystery of the gospel, he cannot come to God by Christ, and wash in "the fountain opened," and therefore can obtain no peace with God, or in his own conscience. (Rom 9:31-32 .) He has no support in his trouble, nothing better than vain philosophy, or natural hardness. He knows not whence it comes, the love of God in it, its true intent, its humbling, quickening, and sanctifying operation. He cannot "glory in tribulation" from a sense of its beneficial effects (Rom 5:3-5 . Heb 12:11, with Heb 12:5 ); and therefore he either despises it, or hardens himself against it, or faints under it. He has no strength for his duties — none but his own, which is perfect weakness. He knows not how to be "strong in the Lord," to be "strengthened by the Spirit," to use the Christian armour, to mortify sin, to resist Satan, or to overcome the world. He might be endued with unconquerable strength, and be able to "do all things through Christ strengthening him." (Php 4:13 .) But he knows not Christ. He has therefore no interest in him; and, "separate from him, he can do nothing." (Joh 15:5 .) He has no hope in his end. All is fearful uncertainty. He has no knowledge of the free grace of the gospel, no reliance on its promises, no confidence in the Savior, no title which he can bring to God for acceptance, and no view of God’s faithfulness. And thus "fools die for want of wisdom." (Pro 10:21 .) They "perish for lack of knowledge." (Hos 4:6 .) "It is a people of no understanding; therefore he that made them will not have mercy on them, and he that formed them will shew them no favor." (Isa 27:11 .) The terror of the great day will be, that "the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God." (2Th 1:7-8 .)

What then must we think of the thoughtless trifler, immersed in pleasure, playing with trifles, and despising this inestimable knowledge? What is he, but a man "without understanding," justly compared to "the beasts that perish"? (Psa 49:20 .) Is ignorance then the mother of devotion? Is it not the worst of evils, the center of all evil (Isa 1:3-4 . Act 3:17 ), the parent of irreligion, and the precursor of ruin? (Luk 19:42 .) Awful indeed are its aggravations — to be ignorant in a time of knowledge, blind in a land of light, unenlightened in "the valley of vision"!

But let us mark the evil of the want of soundly-disciplined knowledge in temporal matters. The uninstructed child or savage acts rashly. The man of impulse is impatient to finish his work before the time, and therefore crowds into the day far more than belongs to it, forgetting that ’things are not done by the effort of the moment, but by the preparation of past moments.’†2 Our wise moralist has well remarked — ’He that is in a hurry proves, that the work in which he is engaged is too much for him.’†3 Certainly this hasting with the feet may be considered to be sin, inasmuch as it proceeds from a want of simple trust in God, and submission to his orderly arrangements and claims of regular duty.

The true method is to do "the thing of the day in the day." (1Ki 8:59, margin={1) Heb the thing of a day in its day}) This is all that God requires to be done. The affair of one day at a time is as much as can be quietly committed to God in the daily exercise of faith. This principle should be carried into all important responsibilities. Bp. Burnet’s account of Sir M. Hale is most valuable in this view. ’Festina lentè’ was his beloved motto, which he ordered to be engraven on the head of his staff. He was often heard say, that he had observed many witty men run into great errors, because they did not give themselves time to think; but, the heat of imagination making some notions appear in good colors to them, they, without staying till that cooled, were violently led by the impulses it made upon them; whereas calm and slow men, who pass for dull in common estimation, could search after truth, and find it, as with more deliberation, so with greater certainty.’†4

But far more serious is this evil in spiritual matters. ’Where no discretion is, there the soul is not well.’†5 The man therefore without knowledge, instead of "pondering his path" (Pro 4:26 ), hasteth with his feet, and sinneth. Haste, as opposed to sloth, is the energy of Divine grace. (Psa 119:60 . Luk 19:6 .) Here, as opposed to consideration, acting hastily in sin. This impatience is the genuine exercise of self-will, not taking time to enquire; "not waiting for the counsel of the LORD." Godly Joshua offended here. (Jos 9:14-15 .) Saul’s impatience cost him his kingdom. (1Sa 13:12 .) David’s haste was the occasion of gross injustice. (2Sa 16:3-4 .) The prophet, not taking time to ponder the evidence contradicting his own message, was without a right knowledge. He hastened with his feet, and sinned. (1Ki 13:18-19 .) Jehoshaphat’s precipitancy asking counsel after, instead of before, was sharply rebuked. (2Ch 18:1-4 ; 2Ch 19:2 .) Rash experiments, the result of haste, often threaten serious evils in the state. The same spirit rends the Church with schism. The heady professor wanders from Church to Church, and from sect to sect, without pondering. In common life how much sin has been the fruit of a few rash words or hasty lines! A sudden impulse has taken the place of considerate principles. Let us ever remember, that without self-discipline there can be no Christian consistency or stability. In a thousand cases haste may plunge our feet into sin (Pro 28:20-22 ), if not into ruin. The best-intentioned purposes, unwarranted by the will and word of God, are only blind impulses, to be checked, not followed. The real peace of faith, is to stand or sit still, and see how God will appear on our side, to make a way for us through many a deep water of perplexity. (Exo 14:13 . Isa 30:7 .) "He that believeth shall not make haste." (Isa 28:16 .)

Footnotes:

†a This and the previous verse are omitted in LXX.

†1 Chalmers’ Commercial Discourses, p. 375.

†2 Cecil’s Remains.

†3 Dr. Johnson.

†4 Life of Sir M. Hale.

†5 Bishop Coverdale’s Translation.

Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs (1846) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

19:2 Rushing into things without understanding is dangerous.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Two things are here declared to be of bad consequence: - 1. Ignorance: To be without the knowledge of the soul is not good, so some read it. Know we not our own selves, our own hearts? A soul without knowledge is not good; it is a great privilege that we have souls, but, if these souls have not knowledge, what the better are we? If man has not understanding, he is as the beasts, Psa 49:20. An ignorant soul cannot be a good soul. That the soul be without knowledge is not safe, nor pleasant; what good can the soul do, of what is it good for, if it be without knowledge? 2. Rashness. He that hastes with his feet (that does things inconsiderately and with precipitation, and will not take time to ponder the path of his feet) sins; he cannot but often miss the mark and take many a false step, which those prevent that consider their ways. As good not know as not consider.

Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

The last illustrates the first clause. Rashness, the result of ignorance, brings trouble.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 2. Also, that the soul be without knowledge, it is not good] Would it not be plainer, as it is more literal, to say, "Also, to be without knowledge, is not good for the soul?" The soul was made for God; and to be without his knowledge, to be unacquainted with him, is not only not good, but the greatest evil the soul can suffer, for it involves all other evils. The Chaldee and Syriac have: "He who knows not his own soul, it is not good to him." "Where no discretion is, there the soul is not well." - Coverdale.

And he that hasteth with his feet sinneth.] And this will be the case with him who is not Divinely instructed. A child does nothing cautiously, because it is uninstructed; a savage is also rash and precipitate, till experience instructs him. A man who has not the knowledge of God is incautious, rash, headstrong, and precipitate: and hence he sinneth-he is continually missing the mark, and wounding his own soul.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(2) Also, that the soul be without knowledge is not good.—Ignorance is bad, as well as folly.

He that hasteth with his feet sinneth.—Haste without knowledge misses the mark aimed at. (See above on Pro_8:36.)

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2. that the soul be without knowledge] If with R.V. text we retain this rendering, we may well recognise in the rendering of R.V. marg. a true explanation of the proverb:

“Desire without knowledge is not good;

And he that hasteth with his feet misseth his way.”

“The soul,” however fervently and however rightly it desires, needs knowledge to bring its desires to good effect. “Holy desires” must be directed by “good counsels,” if they are to issue in “just works.” And to start hastily on our path, whether material or moral, without such knowledge and counsel, is to miss our way; to wander, or to sin.

sinneth] Lit. misseth the mark. Comp. Jdg_20:16.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Also, that the soul be without knowledge, it is not good,.... Without knowledge of things natural and civil, especially without the knowledge of God and Christ, and divine and spiritual things; to be without this is not good, yea, very bad; for men without such knowledge and understanding are, like the beasts that perish, and for lack of it do. Jarchi interprets it, without the law. Or, "to be without the knowledge of the soul is not good" (e); so the Targum, Vulgate Latin, and Syriac versions,

"he that knoweth not his soul, it is not good for him;''

that does not know he has a soul, or however takes no more care of it than if he had none; who knows not the worth and value of it, its state and condition, and the danger it is in, and the only way of attaining the salvation of it;

and he that hasteth with his feet sinneth; who engages in anything ignorantly and rashly, he misses the mark, and fails in the performance of it, for want of due consideration and care. The Targum is,

"he that is swift with his feet to evil is a sinner;''

whose feet run to evil, to commit robbery, as Aben Ezra; or to shed blood; see Pro 1:16.

(e) So Vatablus; or "without care of it", Schultcns.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Soul. Wholesome and spiritual. Hebrew, "the soul or life is not good." --- Stumble. "The more I make haste, the less I advance," said Plato; (Republic 7.) and Augustus often repeated; Sat cito, si sat bene. (Suetonius)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

The soul; which is the principal cause and director of all men’s actions.

Without knowledge; without wisdom or prudence to discern his way, and what and how he ought to act in his several cases and concernments.

It is not good; it is very evil and pernicious.

That hasteth with his feet; that rashly and headily rusheth into actions without serious consideration. So two vices are here censured, the want of knowledge, and the neglect or disuse of knowledge in a man’s actions.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

2. Without knowledge… not good — Both ignorance and want of consideration, which are closely allied, are the sources of error and sinful conduct.

Hasteth… sinneth — The figure in this latter clause is that of a person heedlessly running without looking whither he is going, and then missing the way, or the point of destination. “He that is hasty with his feet missteps.” — Conant.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Also, that the soul be without knowledge, it is not good. "Also" (gam), Wordsworth would render "even," "even the soul, i.e. life itself, without knowledge is not a blessing;" it is bipv ou biwtov . At first sight it looks as if some verse, to which this one was appended, had fallen out; but there is no trace in the versions of any such loss. We have had a verse beginning in the same manner, (Pro_17:26) and here it seems to emphasize what follows folly is bad, so is ignorance, when the soul lacks knowledge, i.e. when a man does not know what to do, how to act in the circumstances of his life, has in fact no practical wisdom. Other things "not good" are named in Pro_18:5 Pro_20:23 Pro_24:23. And he that hasteth with his feet sinneth; misseth his way. Delitzsch confines the meaning of this hemistich to the undisciplined pursuit of knowledge: "He who hasteneth with the legs after it goeth astray," because he is neither intellectually nor morally clear as to his path or object. But the gnome is better taken in a more general sense. The ignorant man, who acts hastily without due deliberation, is sure to make grave mistakes, and to come to misfortune. Haste is opposed to knowledge, because the latter involves prudence and circumspection, while the former blunders on hurriedly, not seeing whither actions lead. We all have occasion to note the proverbs, Festina lente; "More haste, less speed." The history of Fabius, who, as Ennius said, "Unus homo nobis cunctando restituit rem,

shows the value of deliberation and caution. The Greeks recognized this Propeteia polloiv estia kakwn . "Rash haste is cause of evil unto many.

Erasmus, in his "Adagia," has a long article commenting on Festinatio praepropera. The Arabs say," Patience is the key of joy, but haste is the key of sorrow." God is patient because he is eternal.

HOMILIES BY W. CLARKSON Ver. 2. The evil of ignorance.

Manifold are the evils of ignorance. All evil of all kinds has been resolved into error; but, if we do not go so far as this, we may truly say

I THAT IGNORANCE OF GOD IS FATAL. "This is life eternal, to know God;" and if the knowledge of God is life, what must the ignorance of him be? History and observation only too fully assure us what it is: it is spiritual and moral death; the departure of the soul from all that enlightens and elevates, and its sinking down into grovelling and debasing superstitions. To be without the knowledge of God is simply fatal to the soul of man.

II THAT IGNORANCE OF OUR HUMAN NATURE IS PERILOUS.

1. Not to know its nobler possibilities is to be without the needful incentive to lofty aspiration and strenuous endeavour.

2. Not to know its weaknesses and its possibilities of evil is to go forward into the midst of bristling dangers, unarmed and undefended.

III THAT IGNORANCE OF THE WORLD (OF MEN AND THINGS) IS HIGHLY UNDESIRABLE.

1. To study, and thus to be acquainted with nature as God has fashioned it, to be familiar with the ways and with the arts and sciences of man, is to be braced and strengthened in mind, is to be far better able to understand and to apply the truth of God as revealed in his Word.

2. To be ignorant of all this is to be correspondingly weak and incapable. Knowledge is power, and ignorance is weakness, in every direction. To go on our way through the world, failing to acquire the grasp of fact and truth which intelligent observation and patient study would secure, this is to leave untouched one large part of the heritage which our heavenly Father is offering to us. There is one particular consequence of ignorance which the wise man specifies; for he reminds us

IV THAT PRECIPITANCY IN WORD AND DEED IS POSITIVELY GUILTY. "He that hasteth with his feet sinneth." An unwise and hurtful precipitancy is the natural accompaniment of ignorance. The man who knows only a very little, does not know when he has heard only one-half of all that can be learnt; hence he decides and speaks and acts off hand, without waiting for additional, complementary, or qualifying particulars. And hence he judges falsely and unjustly; hence he acts unrighteously and foolishly, and often cruelly; he takes steps which he has laboriously and ignominiously to retrace; he does harm to the very cause which he is most anxious to help. It is the man of wide knowledge and expanded view, it is the large-minded and well informed soul, that bears the best testimony, that does the worthiest and most enduring work, that lives the largest and most enviable life. C.

Disquietude and complaint.

We have

I GOD"S RIGHTEOUS WAY. The way in which God intended man to walk was that way of wisdom, all of whose paths are peace. This divinely appointed way is that of holy service. Man, like every other being above him, and every other creature below him in the universe, was created to serve. We were created to serve our God and out kind; and in this double service we should find our rest and our heritage. This, which is God"s way, should have been our way also.

II MAN"S PERVERTED WAY. Man, in his sin and his folly, has "perverted his way;" he has attempted another path, a short cut to happiness and success. He has turned out of the high road of holy service into the by-path of selfishness; he has sought his satisfaction and his portion in following his own will, in giving himself up to worldly ambitions, in indulging in unholy pleasure, in living for mere enjoyment, in making himself the master, and his own good the end and aim of his life.

III HIS CONSEQUENT DISQUIETUDE. When anything is in its wrong place, there is certain to be unrest. If in the mechanism of the human body, or in the machinery of an engine, or in the working of some organization, anything (or anyone) is misplaced, disorder and disquietude invariably ensue. And when man puts his will above or against that of his Divine Creator, that of his heavenly Father, there is a displacement and reversal such as may well bring about disturbance. And it does. It is hardly saying too much to say that all the violence, disease, strife, misery, poverty, death, we see around us arise from this disastrous perversion from man trying to turn God"s way of blessedness into his own way. Man"s method has been utterly wrong and mistaken, and the penalty of his folly is heartache, wretchedness, ruin.

IV HIS VAIN AND GUILTY COMPLAINT. He "fretteth against the Lord." Instead of smiting himself, he complains of God. He falls to see that the source of his unrest is in his own heart; he ascribes it to his circumstances, and he imputes these to his Creator. So, either secretly or openly, he complains of God; he thinks, and perhaps says, that God has dealt hardly with him, has denied to him what he has given to others; in the dark depths of his soul is a guilty rebelliousness.

V THE ONE WAY OF REST. This is to return unto the Lord in free and full submission.

1. To recognize God"s righteous claim upon us, as our Creator, Preserver, Redeemer.

2. To acknowledge to ourselves and to confess to him that we have guiltily withheld ourselves from him, and sinfully complained of his holy will.

3. To ask his mercy in Jesus Christ our Saviour, and offer our hearts to himself and our lives to his service. This is the one way of rest and joy; it is "the path of life. C.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Hasteth - That rashly and headily rushes into actions.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

v. 2. Also, that the soul be without knowledge, where the soul lacks knowledge and insight, it is not good, for that fact keeps it from all energy and progress; and he that hasteth with his feet, going ahead without proper consideration, in foolish rashness, to obtain some outward blessing, sinneth, since his zeal is not according to knowledge.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

It is also not good that a soul be without knowledge It is not good for a person to be without Torah.

and he who hastens with his feet sins The sinner treads and tramples the sins with his heels and says, “This is of minor import; I will transgress it.” And our Sages explained: It is also...without knowledge, as referring to one who compels his wife to copulate with him against her will.

and he who hastens with his feet sins This refers to one who performs the sex act and repeats it. Another explanation: One who walks on grass on the Sabbath.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.