The testimonies here adduced, declare, that the most lamentable depravity pervades,
1 . All ranks and orders of men —
" There is none righteous, no, not one1"' —
[Righteousness is a conformity of heart and life to the law of God. Where is the man on earth that possesses it by nature ? Where is the man whose deviations from this standard have not been innumerable ?]
" There is none that understandeth " —
[The natural man has no discernment of spiritual things0: his practical judgment is in favour of sin and the world.]
" There is none that seeketh after God " —
[The things of time and sense are diligently pursued ; but who ever cultivates divine knowledge, or seriously inquires after God d?]
" All are gone out of the way " —
[Men universally prefer the way of self-righteousness to that of faith in Christ, and that of sin and self-indulgence to holiness and self-denial. No one that sees them would imagine that they really intended to tread in the steps of Christ and his Apostles.]
" They are together become unprofitable " —
[God has formed us for his own glory, and each other's good : but unregenerate men never attempt to answer these ends of their creation e: hence they are justly compared to things worthless and vilef.]
" There is none that doeth good, no, not one" —
[Nothing is really good, which is not so in its principle, rule, and endg. But where is the action of any natural man that will stand this test ?]
2. All the faculties and powers of men —
b The Apostle has so arranged his quotations as to form a beauti- ful climax, every subsequent passage affirming more than that which precedes it.
c 1 Cor. ii. 14. d Job xxxv. 10.
e They may do good to the bodies of men ; but never shew any real solicitude about their souls. Indeed, how should they, when they care not for their own souls ?
f Luke xiv. 34, 35. and John xv. G.
s The fear and love of God are the principle, the Scriptures the rule, and God's glory the end of Christian obedience, 1 Cor. x. 31.