He is a fool who puts his happiness in the power of the wicked. There is nothing more dangerous than to despise parental tenderness, unless it be to despise the God of our fathers. It is only fools who throw away a father s estate, but it is only madmen who renounce a father s God. The memory of the wicked shall rot. From his death to this time no one has discovered any sweet-smelling savor from the sepulchre or history of Absalom.
Good counselors are no security against fatal errors.
Unless the Lord is on our side, we shall, like Absalom, reject the wisest counsel. The Lord taketh the wise in their own craftiness. He knoweth the thoughts of the wise that they are vain. Left to himself, man is a stark fool. As in old time, so now, the race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong.