Proverbs 24:30-34

“I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding; and, lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down. Then I saw, and considered it well; I looked upon it, and received instruction. Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep; so shall your poverty come as one that travels, and your want as an armed man!”

If we have an observant eye, and a mind open to receive instruction, there is nothing in the creation which may not afford us some useful lessons. We may learn as much from what we see, as what we hear; and as much from what is evil, as from what is good. Indeed it is a mark of true wisdom to exact a tribute, as it were, from everything which comes within our reach, and to allow nothing to pass without contributing its quota to our stock of useful knowledge.

Solomon has set us a good example in this respect; he saw a vineyard that had been shamefully neglected; and instead of turning away from it, as incapable of affording either pleasure or profit to his mind—he set himself to “consider it well, and to derive instruction from it.” Surely then we cannot be unprofitably employed while we consider,

I. The sight which Solomon observed.

It is not uncommon to see ground poorly cultivated, or business neglected; but as people reprehensible for inattention to their worldly concerns are comparatively few—we apprehend that the remedying of the evils arising from it comes rather within the province of private admonition than of public discussion. We shall therefore take occasion from the text to speak of a vineyard which all ought to cultivate, but which all are too prone to neglect. This vineyard is the soul.

1. Generally speaking, the soul lies uncultivated.

A man possessed of a common vineyard, ought to procure good plants for it, and to water it regularly, and to weed it carefully, in order that it may yield him its fruits of increase, Matthew 21:33. In the same way, we have the same labor to perform for our souls. We ought to get it filled with the choicest graces from Heaven. We should water it with prayers and tears, and seek to have it nourished with the influences of the Holy Spirit, which when duly sought, will descend on it as the dew, and distill upon it as rain upon the newly-mown grass. We should be daily occupied in pulling up the thorns and nettles that spontaneously rise, and which, if allowed to remain, will materially impede the growth of every good plant.

But is there not reason to fear that the greater part of us have shown ourselves “slothful and void of understanding?” Have we not been shamefully remiss in our attention to these great concerns? Have not the fruits produced by us, been “grapes of Sodom, and clusters of Gomorrah?” Have not unbelief and impenitence, pride and anger, envy and malice, covetousness and impurity, with ten thousand other noxious weeds—been allowed to spring up and grow within us, until they have even “covered the face of the ground!” Alas! the proofs of spiritual sloth are but too evident in us all!

2. Generally speaking, the soul lies unprotected.

Whatever care a man should take of his vineyard, he would lose his labor, if he should forget to fence it in, “the wild beast of the field would soon root it up and devour it.”

In the same way, what then can be expected to spring up in our souls, when they are left at the mercy of every enemy that chooses to tread them down? We would long since have fortified them with mere purposes and resolutions. These purposes and resolutions, it is true, can avail nothing, if made in our own strength. But, if made in reliance upon God, they will be no slight barrier against the invading foe!

Joshua, in Joshua 24:15,
David, in Psalm 119:106,
Nehemiah, in Nehemiah 6:11,
Paul, in Acts 21:13,
—all of these found them useful and effectual for their preservation. We should also have had our souls strengthened by the grace of Christ. That would have proved “sufficient for us;” it would have been even as a wall, yes, “as a wall of fire, round about us.” Above all, we should have taken care to have them encompassed by God’s holy covenant, “which is ordered in all things and sure.” Enclosed by that, we might defy all the assaults of earth and Hell.

But have we been careful thus to protect our souls? Have we not rather left them open to the incursion of our enemies, the sport of every temptation and the prey of every lust?

Such a melancholy sight should make us doubly attentive to,

II. Solomon’s reflections upon the sluggard’s field.

Solomon was more desirous to benefit himself, than to incriminate others, even though their conduct was justly reprehensible. His reflections therefore on the sight which he beheld, were of a general nature respecting the evil and danger of sloth.

In the same way, the state of our souls may well lead us to similar reflections, and:

1. Convince us that sloth is Deceitful.

The slothful man does not intend to involve himself in ruin; he only pleads for a little more indulgence of his indolent habits. But, alas! His “little slumber” insensibly becomes a great deal; his time passes away, and his work is left undone. The rest which he takes, instead of refreshing him, enfeebles all his powers, and indisposes him for action; so that, though he never intends to plunge himself into difficulties, he does it most effectually.

In the same way, how lamentably does an indisposition to spiritual labor deceive us! No man intends to destroy his own soul; he only pleads for a little more delay, a little more slumber; he thinks he shall awake in time enough to do all that is necessary. Thus, while he sleeps, the thorns and nettles grow, and seed, and multiply, and take such deep root, that they can scarcely ever be eradicated! In the mean time, every good desire that may at any time have sprung up within him, is choked; and the decaying wall that should protect him falls to the ground.

Ah! how many thousands have perished, like Felix, while they were waiting for “a more convenient season!” There has always been some “lion in the way, Proverbs 26:13-15,” whenever the time came for labor and exertion; and thus they have lost the only season which the great Gardener had allotted for the performance of their work.

2. Convince us that sloth is Ruinous.

The ruin of a man who neglects his farm or merchandise is gradual and irresistible; his finances become more and more embarrassed; and at last he is apprehended for debt, immured in a prison, and reduced to utter “poverty and want.” What a picture does this exhibit of a man who neglects his soul! He does not feel the consequences all at once; but “his poverty comes as one that travels”—it proceeds gradually step by step; it is not one hour, or day, that makes a very great difference to a man that is traveling many hundred miles on foot; but every step in reality brings him nearer to his journey’s end; and so it is with the man that indulges spiritual sloth; his ruin approaches, though imperceptibly, every day and hour; but though it comes insensibly—yet it will seize upon him irresistibly, even “as an armed man.”

How glad would many be in their dying hours, if a portion of the time which they have wasted, could be restored to them! How glad would they be if they could recover the seasons they have lost! But death waits not their leisure; when sent, death executes his office, and transmits them, however reluctant, to the tribunal of their Judge! O that we would endeavor to realize these reflections in our minds, that we may not learn the truth and awfulness of them by bitter experience!

By way of improving this subject:

1. We entreat you all to inquire into the state of your spiritual vineyard.

Look well, and compare your ground with that of others; not of sluggards like yourselves—but of the Apostles and primitive Christians. And do not mistake, as, alas! too many do, weeds for plants, such as:

worldliness, for prudence,
levity, for cheerfulness,
formality, for devotion,
pride and hypocrisy, for zeal and piety.

But consult those who are able to instruct you, and be willing to have:
your vineyard weeded,
your plants pruned,
your wall raised, and
your habits of indolence subdued.

2. We entreat you all to cultivate your spiritual vineyard with speed and diligence.

Had we improved our past time with diligence—then how different would have been the state of our souls! O think of the time that is irretrievably lost; and the probable shortness of that which remains! Do not let sloth deceive you any more. There is not one among us who may not see in his own soul what advances sloth has made, and what an increase of work it has occasioned. Let us be thankful that the period for cultivation is not yet ended; and let us henceforth “walk, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil!”

Charles Simeon