Proverbs 13:1-18 - Homilies By W. Clarkson

The wisdom of docility, etc.: a sermon to the young

We have the positive and negative, the happy and the sorrowful aspects of the subject brought into view.

I. THE WISDOM OF DOCILITY . The excellency of docility is seen in its results:

1 . In character. It is a "wise son" who heareth his father's instruction.

2 . In circumstance. The docile son will "be rewarded," will "be honored." The path he treads is one which leads to competence, to comfort, to health, to honour, to "a green old age." But there are three things which must be included in this readiness to learn. No one will be "wise," and no one can expect to reap these desirable results, unless he

II. THE FOLLY AND THE DOOM OF THE UNTEACHABLE . What should we think of the young captain who insisted on setting sail without any chart, trusting to his native cleverness to shun the shoals and rocks, and to make his way to port? We know what to judge concerning him, and what to prophesy concerning his vessel; we are sure that the one is a fool, and that the other will be a wreck. And what shall we think of youth when it resolves to sail forth on the great sea of life, disregarding the experiences of the wise, and trusting to its own sagacity? To take this course is:

1 . To be unwise. Apart from all consequences which are in the future, it is the indication of a foolish spirit which is in itself deplorable. It shows a very ill-balanced judgment, a very exaggerated conception of one's own ability, a lack of the modesty the presence of which is so great a recommendation, and the absence of which is so serious a drawback. It calls for and it calls forth the pity of the wise; it is well if it does not elicit their contempt.

2 . To move in the direction of disaster. It is to be in the way which conducts