Micah iii. 8. Truly I am full of power by the Spirit of the Lord, and of judgment, and of might, to declare unto Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his sin.
TO all God's servants this command is given : " He that hath my word, let him speak my word faith- fully3 ;" and " deliver it they must, whether men will hear, or whether they will forbearV The prophets have set us a noble example in this respect : and the Prophet Micah in particular.
Let us mark,
I. What the sins were which he was commissioned to reprove —
Most grievous was the state of the Jewish people in his day —
[All ranks and orders of men, from the highest to the lowest, were addicted to covetousness, and were ready to commit every species of iniquity for gain ; princes, priests, judges, prophets, all were guilty of the grossest injustice, and made use of their respective offices only for the purpose of accumulating wealth. At the same time they professed a firm reliance upon God, and anticipated nothing but good at his hands c ]
And there is but too much ground for similar com- plaints amongst us —
[True, the conduct of our governors and judges is the very reverse of that which the prophet here imputes to the Jews. I suppose that greater integrity is not to be found on earth, than in those who hold the government, and dispense justice, and minister in holy things, amongst us ; and we have abundant reason to bless God for the high tone of morals which prevails amongst them. But, if we descend to common life, we find all the same iniquities abounding in our land as were complained of by the prophet in his day. Covetousness and injustice prevail to a fearful extent amongst us, as do in- deed the whole catalogue of sins forbidden in the Decalogue And precisely the same self-delusion is cherished in
a Jer. xxiii. 28. b Ezek. ii. 7.
c ver. 9 — 11. Cite the whole of this.