U In the eighth century B.C., in the heart of a world of idola- trous polytheists, the Hebrew prophets put forth a conception of religion which appears to me to be as wonderful an inspiration of genius as the art of Pheidias or the science of Aristotle. " And what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?" If any so-called religion takes away from this great saying of Micah, I think it wantonly mutilates, while, if it adds thereto, I think it obscures the perfect ideal of religion.1
TI The Congressional Library in "Washington is one of the most beautiful buildings in the world. Each alcove of the reading-room is decorated with a distinct and separate design, the decorations 1 Huxley, in The Nineteenth Century, Dec. 1885.
362 LIFE FOR GOD
in one alcove being in honour of art, in another of history, science, music, philosophy, etc. Before the motto was chosen for the alcove of religion, the Committee entrusted with the matter sent out a request to prominent clergymen and leading religious teachers asking them to send in such for competition. The motto finally selected was the text from Micah — " And what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God." l
Tf If, indeed, there be a nobler life in us than in these strangely moving atoms, — if, indeed, there is an eternal difference between the fire which inhabits them, and that which animates us, — it must be shown, by each of us in his appointed place, not merely in the patience, but in the activity of our hope ; not merely by our desire, but our labour, for the time when the Dust of the generations of men shall be confirmed for foundations of the gates of the city of God. The human clay, now trampled and despised, will not be — cannot be — knit into strength and light by accidents or ordinances of unassisted fate. By human cruelty and iniquity it has been afflicted; — by human mercy and justice it must be raised ; and, in all fear or questioning of what is or is not, the real message of creation, or of revelation, you may assuredly find perfect peace, if you are resolved to do that which your Lord has plainly required, — and content that He should indeed require no more of you, — than to do Justice, to love Mercy, and to walk humbly with Him.2
I.
" Do justly."
1. Justice, righteousness — that is the basis of all moral char- acter, the essential quality of a good man. It is a great word this " righteousness," and covers all our relations to each other and to God, forbidding wrong of every kind and under any plea, placing all men, high and low, rich and poor, wise and foolish, on the same moral level, and calling us to do justly to them all alike, for that is the due of the meanest and the weakest as much as of the greatest.
Justice is one of God's own glorious attributes. He is a just God ; there is no unrighteousness in Him. He would have His
1 A. Lewis, Sermons Preached in England, 221.
2 Ruskiu, Ethics of the Dust, Lect. x. § 121 ( Works, xviii. 360).
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children to be like Him, and thus reflect His image. The child of God should be just to his servants, his customers, his employees, to all with whom he has any dealings. Masters should be just to their servants, giving them a fair equivalent for their work. Servants ought to deal justly with their employers in filling their working hours with honest labour instead of trying to escape with doing as little as possible.
Justice had been taught Israel by institutions like the jubilee year, which rectified the wrongs that periodically recur in complicated society — giving liberty to helpless slaves, and restora- tion of land to those from whom it had been alienated. Merciful provision for the poor was made through institutions from which the twentieth century has still much to learn, even while we thankfully acknowledge the labours of good men who have abrogated the cruel acts of olden time in England. Consideration for others was taught by ordinances like those which forbade the second going over of the vines and the gleaning of the fields. Even capitalists and owners were to be taught that they had no right to secure to themselves all they could get. The claim of the labourer for a day's wage for the day's work was not to be neglected, was not even to be delayed in settlement, and the vicious principles of long credit and consequent usury were hit hard by Mosaic laws. On the other hand, man's relations to God were indicated by the Sabbath days, which were God's claim on time ; by the tithes, which were God's claim on income ; by the first-fruits, which were God's claim on increase ; by thank-offerings, which were God's claim on thankfulness ; and by burnt-offerings, which symbolized God's claim on a man's whole self. The more we study the institutions of the old dispensation, the more clearly we see the truth of Micah's declaration so far as every son of Israel was concerned : " He hath shewed thee, 0 man, what is good."