We are cautioned to take heed whom we converse with. And directed to have in view, in
conversation, to make one another wiser and better.
Verse 18
Though a calling be laborious and despised, yet those who keep to it, will find there is something
to be got by it. God is a Master who has engaged to honour those who serve him faithfully.
Verse 19
One corrupt heart is like another; so are sanctified hearts: the former bear the same image of
the earthly, the latter the same image of the heavenly. Let us carefully watch our own hearts,
comparing them with the word of God.
Verse 20
Two things are here said to be never satisfied, death and sin. The appetites of the carnal mind
for profit or pleasure are always desiring more. Those whose eyes are ever toward the Lord, are
satisfied in him, and shall for ever be so.
Verse 21
Silver and gold are tried by putting them into the furnace and fining-pot; so is a man tried by
praising him.
Verse 22
Some are so bad, that even severe methods do not answer the end; what remains but that they
should be rejected? The new-creating power of God's grace alone is able to make a change.
Verses 23–27
We ought to have some business to do in this world, and not to live in idleness, and not to
meddle with what we do not understand. We must be diligent and take pains. Let us do what we
can, still the world cannot be secured to us, therefore we must choose a more lasting portion; but
by the blessing of God upon our honest labours, we may expect to enjoy as much of earthly blessings
as is good for us.
Chapter 28