Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when longing is fulfilled, it is a tree of life.
Parallel Translations
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Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when longing is fulfilled, it is a tree of life.
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Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.
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Hope deferred maketh the heart sick; but desire fulfilled is a tree of life.
Cross-references (15)
Passages linked to Proverbs 13:12 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- John 16:22 Therefore you now have sorrow, but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you.
- Proverbs 13:19 Longing fulfilled is sweet to the soul, but fools detest turning from evil.
- Psalms 119:81-83 My soul faints for your salvation. I hope in your word. My eyes fail for your word. I say, “When will you comfort me?” For I have become like a wineskin in the smoke. I don’t forget your statutes.
- Psalms 17:15 As for me, I shall see your face in righteousness. I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with seeing your form.
- Proverbs 3:18 She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her. Happy is everyone who retains her.
- Proverbs 11:30 The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life. He who is wise wins souls.
- Psalms 69:3 I am weary with my crying. My throat is dry. My eyes fail looking for my God.
- Psalms 143:7 Hurry to answer me, Yahweh. My spirit fails. Don’t hide your face from me, so that I don’t become like those who go down into the pit.
- Genesis 21:6-7 Sarah said, “God has made me laugh. Everyone who hears will laugh with me.” She said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? For I have borne him a son in his old age.”
- Psalms 40:2-3 He brought me up also out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay. He set my feet on a rock, and gave me a firm place to stand. He has put a new song in my mouth, even praise to our God. Many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in Yahweh.
- Song of Solomon 5:8 I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem, If you find my beloved, that you tell him that I am faint with love.
- Genesis 46:30 Israel said to Joseph, “Now let me die, since I have seen your face, that you are still alive.”
- 1 Samuel 1:26-28 She said, “Oh, my lord, as your soul lives, my lord, I am the woman who stood by you here, praying to Yahweh. I prayed for this child, and Yahweh has given me my petition which I asked of him. Therefore I have also given him to Yahweh. As long as he lives he is given to Yahweh.” He worshiped Yahweh there.
- Luke 2:29-30 “Now you are releasing your servant, Master, according to your word, in peace; for my eyes have seen your salvation,
- Revelation 22:2 in the middle of its street. On this side of the river and on that was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruits, yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Pro 13:12 Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but…
Pro 13:12 Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but [when] the desire cometh, [it is] a tree of life.
Ver. 12. Hope deferred maketh the heart sick.] Hope’s hours are full of eternity; and how many see we lie languishing at hope’s hospital, as he at the pool of Bethesda! Spes interrenis incerti nomen boni spes in divinis nomen est certissimi {Heb 11:1} Hope unfailable {Rom 5:5} is founded upon faith unfeigned. {1Ti 1:5}
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But when the desire cometh.] As come it will to those that wait patiently upon God; for waiting is but hope and trust lengthened. Deo confisi, nunquam confusi. "The vision is but for an appointed time; therefore wait," {Hab 2:3} you shall be well paid for your patience. We are apt to antedate the promises, and to set God a time, as they {Jer 8:20} looked for salvation at summer at furthest. We are short breathed, short spirited. But as God seldom comes at our time, so he never fails at his own; and then he is most sweet, because most seasonable.
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.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Hope deferred; delays in obtaining that good which a…
Hope deferred; delays in obtaining that good which a man passionately desireth and hopeth for.
The desire; the good desired and expected; acts being oft put for the objects,
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It is a tree of life; it is most sweet, and satisfactory, and reviving.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain Note, 1. Nothing is more grievous than the disappointment…
Note, 1. Nothing is more grievous than the disappointment of a raised expectation, though not in the thing itself by a denial, yet in the time of it by a delay: Hope deferred makes the heart sick and languishing, fretful and peevish; but hope quite dashed kills the heart, and the more high the expectation was raised the more cutting is the frustration of it. It is therefore our wisdom not to promise ourselves any great matters from the creature, not to feed ourselves with any vain hopes from this world, lest we lay up matter for our own vexation; and what we do hope for let us prepare to be disappointed in, that, if it should prove so, it may prove the easier; and let us not be hasty. 2. Nothing is more grateful than to enjoy that, at last, which we have long wished and waited for: When the desire does come it puts men into a sort of paradise, a garden of pleasure, for it is a tree of life. It will aggravate the eternal misery of the wicked that their hopes will be frustrated; and it will make the happiness of heaven the more welcome to the saints that it is what they have earnestly longed for as the crown of their hopes.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Hope deferred maketh the heart sick,.... That is, the…
Hope deferred maketh the heart sick,.... That is, the object hoped for; if it is not enjoyed so soon as expected, at least if it is delayed any length of time, the mind becomes uneasy, the heart sinks and fails, and the man is dispirited and ready to despond, and give up all hope of enjoying the desired blessing; whether it be deliverance from any evil, or the possession of any good;
but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life; when that which is hoped and wished for, and has been long expected and desired, comes; when there is an accomplishment of men's wishes, it is as grateful to him as the tree of life was in Eden's garden; it gives him an unspeakable pleasure and delight. This may be applied to many things in a spiritual way, as to the first coming of Christ; and some have thought this is greatly regarded and chiefly intended; this was the object of the hope of Old Testament saints; and it was hoped for on a good foundation, on the promise of God, which was frequently repeated, enlarged, and confirmed; yet this promised and hoped for blessing was deferred a long time; from the first promise of it to its accomplishment were four thousand years; though not deferred longer than the appointed time, yet longer than the saints expected, and which sometimes made their hearts sick; they became weak and feeble, fearful and dispirited, lest it should never come to pass, which occasioned fresh promises and assurances to them; see Isa 35:3, Mal 3:1; but when "the desire" came, Christ the desired object; and who is desirable for the excellencies of his person, his mediatorial qualifications, the work of redemption and salvation he came about, and the blessings he brought with him; and who is the "desire of all nations" that was to come, Hag 2:7; it was exceeding joyful and delightful to all that expected him, and were looking for redemption in Israel, or Christ; "the coming desire" (i), as it may be rendered, is "a tree of life", or "lives", the author of life, natural, spiritual, and eternal; see Pro 3:18. It may be applied also to the spiritual presence of Christ, and communion with him; this is what believers, being sometimes without, hope and wait for; and sometimes it is deferred a long time, at least they think it so, which makes them very uneasy, and even sick of love, as the church was, Sol 5:8; but when what they so earnestly desire is granted them, it is as if they were in Eden's garden, or rather in the paradise above, plucking the fruit of the tree of life: likewise it may be applied to eternal glory and happiness; this is the object of hope in the present state; it is sometimes impatiently expected and desired, and the language of the soul is, "Why is his chariot so long in coming?", "come, Lord Jesus, come quickly", Jdg 5:28; and when this desired happiness is enjoyed, how sweet will it be! and the sweeter for having been so much longed and wished for; and when the saints will be in the paradise of God, and eat of the tree of life in the midst of it, and never hunger more.
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(i) "desiderium venieus", V. L. Pagninus, Mercerus, Cocceius, Michaelis, Schultens.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Hope deferred - Delays in obtaining what a man…
Hope deferred - Delays in obtaining what a man passionately desires. The desire - The good desired. A tree of life - It is satisfactory, and reviving.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 12. Hope deferred maketh the heart sick] When…
Verse 12. Hope deferred maketh the heart sick] When once a good is discovered, want of it felt, strong desire for the possession excited, and the promise of attainment made on grounds unsuspected, so that the reality of the thing and the certainty of the promise are manifest, hope posts forward to realize the blessing. Delay in the gratification pains the mind; the increase of the delay prostrates and sickens the heart; and if delay sickens the heart, ultimate disappointment kills it. But when the thing desired, hoped for, and expected comes, it is a tree of life, עץ חיים ets chaiyim, "the tree of lives;" it comforts and invigorates both body and soul. To the tree of lives, in the midst of the gardens of paradise, how frequent are the allusions in the writings of Solomon, and in other parts of the Holy Scriptures! What deep, and perhaps yet unknown, mysteries were in this tree!
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Pro 13:12. Hope deferred maketh the heart sick —…
Pro 13:12. Hope deferred maketh the heart sick — The delay of that which a man eagerly desires and expects is such an affliction, that it differs little from a lingering disease; but when the desire cometh — When the good desired and expected is obtained. It is a tree of life — That is, most sweet, satisfactory, and reviving to the soul.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain When the desire cometh - The desire comes, it…
When the desire cometh - The desire comes, it is a tree of life: i. e., the object of our desires is attained. Compare Pro 3:18.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Charles Bridges 1846 · Public Domain The first springing of hope is a pleasurable sensation,…
The first springing of hope is a pleasurable sensation, yet not unmixed with pain. It is the hunger, that makes our food acceptable. But hope deferred, like hunger prolonged, brings a kind of torture. It maketh the heart sick. (Psa 119:82, Psa 119:123 ; Psa 143:7 .) Yet when the desire — the fulfillment of the hope — cometh, what a tree of life it is — so invigorating! (Pro 13:19 .)
We must however limit this application to the spiritual world. Elsewhere the fulfillment of the desire, instead of a tree of life, is vanity. (Ecc 2:11 .) Here however the child of God is often tried in his faith, but never disappointed of his hope. Long we may have to wait. But never let us despair. "The patience of hope" issues in "the full assurance of hope." What was it to Abraham, when, after long deferred hope, the desire came, and he called the child of promise — Laughter! (Gen 15:3 ; Gen 21:3-6 .) What was it "when the LORD turned again the captivity of Zion, and they were like unto them that dream!" (Psa 137:1-9 . with Psa 126:1-6 .) What was it to old Simeon and the waiting remnant, when "the desire of all nations" came! (Luk 2:25-30, with Hag 2:7 . Compare Mat 13:16-17 .) What to the disciples, when at the manifestation of their risen Lord, their sickening hearts "believed not for joy, and wondered!" (Luk 24:41 .) What to the little flock met together in the faintness of deferred hope to plead for Peter’s deliverance, when the desire came — the answer to prayer, so marvelously vouchsafed! (Act 12:12-16 .)
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To come to more personal experience. Such was the trial of faith appointed for our Beloved Lord. Such was the joyful issue. (Psa 22:1-3, with Psa 22:22-25 ; Psa 69:1-3, with Psa 69:30-35 .) Many a waiting, sickening heart has been thus refreshed from a tree of life. But what will be the joy of the grand consummation of hope! (Rom 8:23-25 . 2Co 5:1-4 .) "The earnest expectation of the creation waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God." (Rom 8:19 .) Time seems long, trials heavy, hearts failing. But "yet a little while, and he that shall come, will come , and will not tarry." (Heb 10:37-38 . Hab 2:3 . Rev 22:7, Rev 22:12, Rev 22:20 .) The first moment of the glorious manifestation will blot out the remembrance of all toils, weariness, and trial. Yes — the desire cometh — come it will in God’s best time — "quickly." One moment sick; the next — "the inhabitant of that land," where sickness is no more. (Isa 33:24 . Rev 21:4 .) One moment clad in the rags of the flesh; "in the twinkling of an eye" arrayed in the glory of the Savior’s image. (1Co 15:51-54 .) "Come, Lord Jesus! Come quickly." (Rev 22:20 .)
Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs (1846) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Hope. Septuagint, "(the just shews mercy and lends) better…
Hope. Septuagint, "(the just shews mercy and lends) better is he who begins heartily to assist, than he who promises and leads to hope. For a bad (Grabe substitutes good) desire is a tree of life." --- Soul. Protestants, "maketh the heart sick." (Haydock) --- The pain increases in proportion to our eager desire. Calvin maintains, that the souls of the blessed are not yet in heaven, but hope: and of course he would establish a sort of purgatory for them. (Haydock)
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).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain desire cometh--is realized.
desire cometh--is realized.
a tree of life--or, "cause of happiness."
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 12. Hope deferred — That is, the object of…
12. Hope deferred — That is, the object of the hope.
Maketh the heart sick — Or, maketh a sick heart, because of the disappointments.
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But when the desire cometh, etc. — That is, when the object of desire is gained. Then there is an exhilaration of spirit, of which the tree of life is a vivid emblem. Compare Pro_3:18; Pro_10:28; Pro_11:30.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 12. a tree of life] See Pro_3:18, note.
12. a tree of life] See Pro_3:18, note.
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.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (12) A tree of life.—See above, on Pro_11:30.
(12) A tree of life.—See above, on Pro_11:30.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Hope deferred maketh the heart sick. Delay in the…
Hope deferred maketh the heart sick. Delay in the accomplishment of some much-desired good occasions sinking of the spirits, languor, and despondence. Many refer this sentence to the impatient longing for heaven which holy men feel, such as we may read in "De Imitatione," 3:48, 49, and in the hymns, "For thee, O dear, dear country;" and "We"ve no abiding city," etc. And St. Paul can exclaim, (Rom_7:24) "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" (comp. Rom_8:23 Php_1:23) Septuagint, "Better is he who taketh in hand to aid with all his heart, than he who promises and raises hopes". (comp. Jam_2:15, Jam_2:16) When the desire cometh when the object of the longing is obtainedit is a tree of life; (Pro_11:30) there are then no longer languor and despondence, but strength and refreshment and vigorous action. Septuagint, "A good desire is a tree of life.
Hope deferred.
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I THE HOPE THAT IS DEFERRED. Most men who live to any purpose live by hope. It is scarcely possible to press forward with energy to a future that is wholly dark. The prospect of some future good is a present inspiration. Thus hope takes a large place in the heart of man. Note some of its forms.
1. The hope of youth. It is natural for youth to believe in the future, to treat its possibilities as certainties, and to colour its grey outline with the gorgeous hues of a fresh imagination.
2. The hope of this world. Pursuits of business or pleasure allure those who enter them with good promises.
3. The hope of heaven. They who have been disappointed in all earthly anticipations may cherish this glorious dream.
4. The hope that is unselfish. Hope need not be centred in personal pleasure. We may hope for a great cause, and hope to see some good effected, though by the sacrifice of ourselves.
5. The hope that is in God. A sorrowful soul may hope in God with no distinct visions of any possible future advantage, making God himself the Hope. "Christ our Hope.
II HOW THE HOPE IS DEFERRED.
1. By disillusion. From the first the hope may be too sanguine. The mirage is mistaken for the oasis. Or perhaps distance is misjudged. We think that we are near to the future that still lies in the remote distance with leagues of desert between us and it. Experience must dispel such an illusion.
2. By direct disappointment. The well founded hope may be deferred by a change of circumstances, or failure of ability to accomplish it, unfaithfulness to a promise, etc. Thus in life the expected "good time coming" is continually receding as men approach it. Hope may be deferred by trying changes of circumstances, or by a man"s own mistakes and failures.
III WAY THE HEART IS MADE BITTER. To be lifted up and dropped down gives a shock which is not felt if we remain on the low ground. Disappointment is a source of keen pain in any case; but when it is repeated after vague anticipations and uncertainties, it is far more distressing. The hope deferred is not denied. We cannot banish it as a mistake. Such an act would be easier to bear; there would be first a great shock of disappointment, and then the dead hope would be buried out of sight, and the grief of the loss of it would grow lighter with time. But when the hope is deferred, it is continually present, yet as a disappointment. The mind is first on the rack of wondering expectation, and then there follows a sense of unutterable weariness true heart-sickness. It is said that seasickness is produced by the sinking from beneath a person of the support on which he rests. The heart-sickness of a hope long deferred arises from a similar cause in the experience of souls.
IV HOW THIS BITTERNESS MAY BE CURED.
1. By the satisfaction of the hope. Long deferred, it may yet come. When we are most despairing the tide may turn. The heart-sick mother is startled with a sudden joy in the return of her long lost sailor lad when she is relinquishing the weary hope of ever seeing him again.
2. By the rising of a new hope. If this may not be found in earthly experience, and the very mention of it sounds like treason to the faithful soul, it may indeed appear in higher regions of life. In the bitterness of earthly disappointment Christ"s great hope may be received.
3. By trusting in God. "Oh rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him." The earthly hope may be deferred, disappointed, shattered; yet some soul-satisfying answer will be given to the prayer of faith.
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. (Gen_15:2, Gen_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". J. (comp. Rom_8:23 2Co_5:2-4)
Ver. 12, with ver. 9 (first part) and ver. 19 (first part). Hope and disappointment.
We learn that
I HOPE IS PLANTED AS AN INSTINCT IN THE HUMAN HEART, "Thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother"s breasts," says the psalmist. (Psa_22:9) We start on our course with a precious store of hopefulness in our soul; and it takes much to kill or to exhaust it. It lasts most men through life, though the troublous experiences we pass through weaken it, if they do not wound it unto death.
II IT IS A SOURCE OF GREAT STRENGTH AND JOY TO US.
1. It is a source of strength to us. It leads us to entertain and to enter upon new ventures. It carries us on during many toils and through many difficulties. It sustains us to the end, when we are weary, and when we are opposed and baffled. "We are saved by hope.
2. It is also a perennial source of joy. Rob life of its anticipations, and you deprive it of a very large proportion of its sweetness and satisfaction.
III SIN HAS INTRODUCED DISAPPOINTMENT. We must regard this as one part, and one very serious part, of the penalty of sin. Not, of course, that each case of disappointment is the consequence of some particular antecedent wrong doing; but that it forms a part of that whole burden and trial of life which is the mark and the penalty of human sin. There are lighter disappointments which may not count for much, though these put together would make up no small aggregate of evil. But there are heavier disappointments which constitute a very large and serious part of our life sorrow. "Hope deferred" does indeed make the heart sick. The long and weary waiting for the return of the absent; for the manifestation of love ungratefully, and perhaps cruelly, withheld; for the health and strength which no treatment will restore; for the opening which would prove a great opportunity; for the signs of reformation in a beloved relative or friend; for the relenting and reconciliation of one who has been long estranged; this does fill the soul with an aching such as no other trouble brings. It is one of life"s very heaviest burdens. It is sometimes the burden and even the blight of a human life.
IV IT IS THE PART OF CHRISTIAN WISDOM TO AVERT IT. Not that it can be wholly averted that is quite beyond our power. Not that there is any real blessing in the absence or the littleness of expectation. But that:
1. We should discourage and renounce the perilous and injurious habit of idle day dreams.
2. We should moderate our hopes according to our circumstances, and be contented only to look for that which, in the providence of God, we may reasonably and rightly expect to partake of.
V IT IS THE PART OF CHRISTIAN SUBMISSION TO ACCEPT IT. We must suffer when our hopes are unfulfilled; but we may find great relief in the though; that it is the will of God that we are submitting to. The feeling that it is our Divine Friend who is letting us pass through the dark shadow of disappointment, and that it is the holy Lord seeking our highest good who is sending us through the refining fires, this will give balm to our wounded spirit; this will lighten the heavy load we bear.
VI GOD WILL GIVE HIS PEOPLE SOME GOOD MEASURE OF FULFILMENT. We shall prove by our experience in many ways and in many spheres particularly in those of
(1) our inner life and
(2) our work for our Lord that "the light of the righteous rejoiceth," that "when desire cometh, it is a tree of life," that "desire accomplished is sweet to the soul." If we rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him, he will give us our heart"s desires. (Psa_37:4, Psa_37:7)
VII THERE IS ONE SUPREME HOPE which may well sustain us in the darkest trials. C. (1Pe_1:3, 1Pe_1:4)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the…
Pro_13:12
Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.
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Hope deferred
Hope deferred maketh the heart sick, whether the person hoping, or the thing hoped for, be good or evil. The second member of the text is a dividing word. Tree of life belongs only to the hope of the holy. Many, after waiting long, and expecting eagerly, discover, when at last they reach their object, that it is a withered branch and not a living tree. There is no peace to the wicked. They are always either desiring or possessing; but to desire and to possess a perishable portion are only two different kinds of misery to men. If the desire is pure, the attainment of it is a tree of life; it is living, satisfying, enduring. It has a living root in the ground and satisfying fruit upon the branches. Where a hungering for righteousness secretly rises in a human heart the blessing is already sure, but it is not enjoyed yet. The hungerer shall be filled, but in the meantime his only experience is an uneasy sensation of want. In Gods good time that desire will be satisfied. That longing soul will taste and see that the Lord is gracious. (W. Arnot, D. D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain Pro_13:12. Latter clause, “a desire accomplished is a tree…
CRITICAL NOTES.—
Pro_13:12. Latter clause, “a desire accomplished is a tree of life.”
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MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro_13:12
DEFERRED AND ACCOMPLISHED HOPE
I. Two things are necessary to constitute hope.
1. There is the desire for the real or supposed good. The man conceives there is in the distance that which he esteems a good, and he desires to possess it. No man desires what he deems is an evil. The fact that he desires it shows that he regards it as a good.
2. There is expectation. A man may desire a good thing without hoping for it because he may feel that it is impossible to have his desire fulfilled. He has no expectation of its accomplishment, consequently he has no hope. Hope includes some amount of expectation, some foundation for the hope. A man who knows that his disease is incurable may desire to recover his health, but as he has no reason to expect recovery he does not hope for it. Sometimes, also, hope is founded on the promise of some person who is presumed to be both able and willing to perform it.
II. The constant postponement of the attainment of the desired and expected good produces mental sickness. Sickness of body enfeebles its powers, so does sickness of soul. A man derives strength to work when he possesses hope of enjoying some good thing in the future. Hope is a kind of spiritual food, by feeding upon which a man renews his energy. But the constant postponement of its realisation renders the hope less and less strong, and has the same effect upon the mind as insufficient food has upon the body, it enfeebles its resolution and lessens its courage. If a hungry man finds each day that his portion of food grows less, he will soon be conscious of loss of flesh and strength, and if the process goes on for many months he will lose all power of action and probably his very life. The same thing takes place in a man’s spirit when hope is indefinitely “deferred.”
III. The accomplishment of the desire and expectation renews mental health and strength. “It is a tree of life.” The fruit of the tree of life in Paradise was designed to lengthen man’s life, to perpetuate his youth by constantly renewing his bodily vigour. It is said of the tree of life in the Paradise yet to come that “its leaves are for the healing of the nations” (Rev_22:2). So the realisation of hope renews the life of the spirit, quickens all its powers, perpetuates its youth. And if the hope has been so long deferred as to induce “heart sickness,” its “coming” brings healing with it. Bodily health is restored by the operation of something from without. It is not usually brought about by that which is within us, but by the coming to us of that which is without. A man desires something which he has not—something outside of himself—either a material or a spiritual good; and if he comes to possess it, it is to the soul what healing medicine is to the body. And as those who eat of the tree of life in the heavenly world are “children of the resurrection,” and sons of undying youth, so realised hope makes the spirit conscious of new life, because it brings joy, and when a man is filled with joy he feels young, however many years he has lived. And renewed youth brings renewed activity. It lifts up the hands which hang down, and restores the feeble knees, and gives a man a new start in the race of life. Applying the words to the revelation of the New Testament, to the “hope of the Gospel” (Col_1:23), we remark—
1. That the Christian must be the subject of deferred hope. He must wait for the realisation of his desires and expectations. The “adoption of the body” (Rom_8:23) must be waited for. A glorified body would be out of place in an unglorified world. This hope must be deferred until his Lord’s expectations with regard to this world are fulfilled. The Son of God is waiting until the Father shall give the word that “time shall be no longer”—until the times of restitution of all things (Act_3:21). He is “at the right hand of God; from henceforth expecting till His enemies be made His footstool” (Heb_10:13). When that expectation is fulfilled, the desire of the Christian with regard to his resurrection body will be fulfilled also. He must also wait until after death for perfect victory over sin and its consequence, for the full revelation of what it is to be one of the sons of God. “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be.” “When this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, ‘Death is swallowed up in victory’ ” (1Jn_3:2; 1Co_15:54).
2. That even the deferred hope of the Christian is a tree of life. It is an eater that yields meat. It bears fruit
(1) It gives birth to patience, and there is no grace that the human spirit needs more. According to apostolic teaching it is needful to “let patience have her perfect work,” if the Christian is to be perfect and entire, wanting nothing (Jas_1:4). It is the evidence of a great mind to be able to wait. The Eternal is a “God of patience” (Rom_15:5). He can wait, because He is infinitely great.
(2) It brings forth joy. Paul says, “We rejoice in hope of the glory of God” (Rom_5:2).
(3) It sanctifies the soul. “Every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself (1Jn_3:3).
(4) It gives sympathy with God in relation to unregenerate humanity. God defers the realisation of the Christian’s hope, because He is not willing that any should perish (2Pe_3:9). While we wait the Divine desire grows in us also, that “all should come to repentance.”
ILLUSTRATION
Perhaps in all history there is not a more salient instance of hoping against hope deferred than that of Columbus. Years and years were wasted in irksome solicitation; years spent, not indeed in the drowsy and monotonous attendance of ante-chambers, but, as his foremost biographer narrates, amid scenes of peril and adventure, from the pursuit of which he was several times summoned to attend royal conferences and anon dismissed abruptly. “Whenever the court had an interval of leisure and repose (from the exigencies of the Moorish war), there would again be manifested a disposition to consider his proposal, but the hurry and tempest would again return, and the question be again swept away.” … He came to look upon these indefinite postponements as a mere courtly mode of evading his importunity, and after the rebuff in the summer of 1490, he is said to have renounced all further confidence in vague promises, which had so often led to chagrin; and, giving up all hopes of countenance from the throne, he turned his back upon Seville, indignant at the thought of having been beguiled out of so many years of waning existence. But it is impossible not to admire the great constancy of purpose and loftiness of spirit displayed by Columbus ever since he had conceived the sublime idea of the discovery. When he applied again to the court after the surrender of Grenada, in 1492, more than eighteen years had elapsed since the announcement of the design, the greatest part of which had been consumed in applications to various sovereigns, poverty, neglect, ridicule, contumely, and the heart-sickness of hope deferred, all that hitherto had come of it. Five years later, when preparations were afoot for his third voyage, we read that, “so wearied and disheartened did he become by the impediments thrown in his way,” that he thought of abandoning his discoveries altogether.—Jacox.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
In his analysis of “the immediate emotions,” Dr. Thomas Brown adverts to that weariness of mind which one would so gladly exchange for weariness of body, and which he takes to be more difficult to bear with good humour than many profound griefs, because it involves the uneasiness of hope that is renewed every moment, to be every moment disappointed. He supposes a day’s journey along one continuous avenue, where the uniformity of similar trees at similar distances is of itself most wearisome; but what we should feel with far more fretfulness would be the constant disappointment of our expectation, that the last tree that we beheld in the distance would be the last that should rise upon us; when “tree after tree, as if in mockery of our very patience itself, would still continue to present the same dismal continuity of line.” Lord Bolingbroke, a professed expert in its power to weary and wear out, called suspense the only insupportable misfortune of life.—Jacox.
The rule, as expressed in the first clause, is universal, but in the second clause it is applied to a particular case.… The second member is a dividing word. The accomplishment of the desire is “a tree of life.” This belongs only to the hope of the holy. Many, after waiting long and expecting eagerly, discover, when at last they reach their object, that it is a withered branch and not a living tree. When a human heart has been set on perishable things, after the sickness of deferred expectation comes the sorer sickness of satiated possession. If the world be made the portion of the immortal Spirit, to want it is one sickness, to have it is another. The one is a hungry mouth empty, the other is a hungry mouth filled with chaff. The clog of disappointed possession is a more nauseous sickness than the aching of disappointed desire. There is no peace to the wicked. They are always either desiring or possessing; but to desire and to possess a perishable portion are only two different kinds of misery to men. They are like the troubled sea when it cannot rest. You stand on the shore, and gaze on the restless waters. A wave is hastening on, struggling and panting, and making with all its might for the shore. It seems as if all it wanted was to reach the land. It reaches the land, and disappears in a hiss of discontent. Gathering its strength at a distance, it tries again, and again, with the same result. It is never satisfied, it never rests. In the constitution of the world, under the government of the Most Holy, when a soul’s desire is set on unworthy objects, the accomplishment of the desire does not satisfy the soul. Arnot.
Aquinas noteth that hope in itself causeth joy, it is by accident that it causeth sorrow. Inasmuch as it is a present apprehension of good to come, it breedeth delight, but as it wanteth the presence of that good, it bringeth trouble. It is therefore the delay of hope that afflicteth. And indeed a lingering hope breedeth in the heart as it were a lingering consumption. It is a long child-bearing travail of a weak mind, for hope having conceived comfort is still in labour, until it be brought forth. So it is with the servants of God with respect to heaven. They having begun in hope their journey thitherward, it makes them even sick at heart to think how long it is until they can get there. Wherefore, St. Gregory saith, the punishments of the innocent are the desires of the righteous. For all having lost heaven by sin, even the just are punished with the deferred hope of recovering it.—Jermin.
Here is instruction—
I. To hope for nothing but that which is haveable, and may well be had, and whereof we are capable, and that doth belong unto us. For if protraction cause the heart to languish, what will frustration and disappointment? It is one of the threatenings against the wicked in Deuteronomy, that “their sons and their daughters shall be given unto another people, and their eyes should look for them until they fail, and there shall be no might in their hand” (Deu_28:32). Now what is meant by this is that their expectation deceived should turn them to as much woe as if their eyes had lost their sight. And that was because that they, incurring the curse by their sinful behaviour, did yet presume of a restitution to happiness as though nothing had appertained to them but blessings.
II. Not to limit God or prescribe to Him in what space He shall fulfil His promise. It was a heathenish speech of the King of Israel’s messenger, when he said, in blasphemous manner, that he neither would nor ought to attend on the Lord any longer (2Ki_6:33). But we need not draw admonitions against this from the infidelity of the wicked, but from the infirmities of the godly, as Abraham and Sarah had much ado to believe that a child should be gotten and conceived of their body after their natural vigour was consumed, and therefore, Hagar was brought in to help the matter.
III. Not to depend on man, nor to repose our hope in flesh and blood. For thereby we shall not only be delayed of our help too long, but defeated of it altogether. For it is a righteous thing with God, that they who will deify creatures with confidence, should be deceived by creatures with confusion. The poor Israelites found and felt this (Lam_4:17).
IV. Where we undertake to minister succour, not to grieve the hearts of them that are in affliction by lingering too long before we relieve them. God doth teach us to show beneficence timely and in due season (chap. Pro_3:28). This was one testimony of a good conscience that comforted Job in his extremities, that “he had not held the poor from their desire nor caused the eyes of the widow to fail (Job_31:16).—Dod.
Hope’s hours are full of eternity; and how many see we languishing at hope’s hospital, as he at the pool of Bethesda! Hope unfailable (Rom_5:5) is founded upon faith unfeigned. The desire will come to those who patiently wait on God; for waiting is but hope and trust lengthened. We are apt to antedate the promises and set God at a time as they (Jer_8:20) who looked for salvation in summer at furthest. We are short-breathed, short-spirited. But as God seldom comes at our time, so he never fails at His own, and then He is most sweet, because most seasonable.—Trapp.
The fourth verse has said that “the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing.” This verse declares that longing, accompanied by procrastination, enfeebles the heart; but that a bold plunging after the good, and attaining it, is a “tree of life.” This, dimly, is true in worldly affairs. A man who desires some worldly good and wavers, enfeebles his heart, but he who will dash boldly in strengthens it.… The least taste of arrived-at desire in the spiritual world, like the apples of Eden, breeds “life.” The soul will go on after that eternally. Miller.
If Jacob serve the churl Laban seven years longer, if he think he shall have Rachel at the end of it, it will be but as seven days. Thus it is that the hope of better days sweeteneth the present sadness of any outward condition. There is no grief so heavy, but if a man tie heaven at the end of it, it will become light, but put them together, and the one will be swallowed up in the other.—Spencer.
The world dares say no more of its devices than Dum spiro spero (while I breathe, I hope); but the children of God can add by virtue of their living hope, Dum expiro spero (while I expire, I hope).—Leighton.
Hope is the hunger that makes our food acceptable; but hope deferred, like hunger prolonged, brings a kind of torture.… With the child of God “the patience of hope” issues in “the full assurance of hope.” What was it to Abraham, when, after long deferred hope, the answer came? Laughter. What was it when the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion, and they were like unto them that dream? What was it to old Simeon and the waiting remnant when “the desire of all nations” came? What to the disciples, when, at the manifestation of their risen Lord, their sickening hearts believed not for joy, and wondered?… But what will be the joy at the grand consummation of tope? (Rom_8:23-25).—Bridges.
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.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain v. 12. Hope deferred maketh the heart sick, since…
v. 12. Hope deferred maketh the heart sick, since the unfulfilled longing is too great a strain for a person; but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life, giving new vigor and strength, renewing a person’s youth.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.