Proverbs 13:12 - Homilies By E. Johnson

The sickness of disappointment and the joy of fruition

I. HOPE DELAYED . Who has not known that sickness of the heart, that slow-consuming misery of which the text speaks? It is a sorrow of every age. Life itself is by some spent in this still lingering delay. The stern experience of the course of the world teaches us that the sentimental and romantic view of the future, so natural to youth, must give way to realities.

II. HOPE DELAYED IS THE TRAIL OF FAITH . The duration of the trial rather than the intensity is painful. So with Abraham in reference to Isaac ( Genesis 15:2 , Genesis 15:3 ).

III. THERE IS A LOVING PROVIDENTIAL MEANING AT THE HEART OF THESE TRIALS , They are essentially time trials; they have an end—the "end of the Lord." So the boy named "Laughter" came to Abraham; so the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion, and the delivered Were like unto them that dream! So Simeon could sing his Nunc dimittis on the appearance of the long expected Saviour; and on his resurrection the disciples "believed not for joy, and wondered."

IV. A CERTAIN FRUITION IS PROMISED TO THE DESIRE OF THE RIGHTEOUS . "Yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry" (comp. Romans 8:23 ; 2 Corinthians 5:2-4 ).—J.