The Pulpit Commentary — Isaiah — Volume 1 — Section 529

Vm. 5--8.-.A mark of good government, e~ Three lines of thought are here laid down. We have- I. A MARK OF GOOD GOVERNMENT. The displacement of the unworthy and the elevation of the good and wise. Under the reign of the righteous King (vor, 1) the "fool will no longer be called a nobleman," tbo man of moan character but lofty rank will be made to know bis true place in the commonwealth; on the other band, the man who bas in him the qualities of nobility (ver. 8) shall :have the opportunity of dealing graciously and bountifully. There is no surer sign of demoralization, no more certain indication of approaching ruin in any community, than the promotion of the unfit and the unworthy; and there is no healthier symptom than the advancement of the upright and the capable. Let nations, societies, Churches, look to it. II. A HTh"T AS TO sn:-'s LARGE DIMENSIONS. 1. Its tenacity of purpose. "The vile person ~-ill [continue to] speak villany, and his heart [to] work iniquity"(ver. 6). You may put him in a position in which you might hope that the commonest self-respect would ensure propriety of conduct, but you will be mistaken; the corrupt tree will bear evil fruit on any soil. 2. Its guilefulnus. "To practise hypocrisy;" professing justice and purity, it enacts all that is unfair and evil. 3. Its falsity. "'l'o utter error,' etc. Sin, especially when found in high places, is most mischievous in that it scatters everywhere the fruitful seeds of error; it poisons the mind with misleading fancies, with shallow notions which may sound well but are essentially false and which conduct to wrong and ruin. Thus it leads men to act "against the Lord," for they pursue a path which he has forbidden, and they diffuse principles which are hostile to his reign. 4. Its heartl,l!$sneJiS. (Ver. 6.) What though the issue of those evil actions be that men's hearts are hungry and their souls athirst; what though they bring about impoverish~ ment, destitution-bodily or spiritual, or both together,-let the cup be drained, let the game be played out I 5. Its unscrupulousneJis. Its "instruments are evil" (ver, 7). 6. Iu effrontery. (Ver. 7.) They whom it is wronging may be the poor, and therefore the appropriate objects of compassion; they may be the innocent, those who are in the right, and therefore the proper objects of regard ; nothing but downright falsehood may 61lffice to prevail against them (Ahab and Naboth). No matter; let the case be estal);. lished, let sentence be executed! III. A COMMENDATION OF GENEROSITY. "The liberal deviseth liberal things," etc. (ver. 8). 1. A man of a noble nature will find opportunities for doing generous things. How well a man serves the Church or the world is not a question of circumstance half so much as a matter of character. Given a free, generous, open-hearted man, and ·you may confidently reckon on repeated and continuous acts of unselfish usefulness. Jesus "went about doing good, for God was with him," and because God was in him; because, in him, as in a perennial fountain, dwelt Divine love, pity,self-sacrifice. We need care comparatively little about arranging opportunities of service, though that is not a matter of indifference; what is of supreme consequence is that those we teach and train should have planted within them the sacred seeds of holy, Christian generosity. 2. Generous measures will give a noble heart stability: by them" he shall stand." (1) They will commend him to the affection and the snpport of the direct recipients of his goodness (Job. xxix. 11-13). (2) They will result in general prosperity (Prov. xi. 24; Luke vi. 38; 2 Car. iL 6). (3) '!'hey will_ command the blessing of God (Ps. xii. 1; cxii. 9; Luke vi 35 ; Heb. xiii. 16).-C. Vers.17, 18.-" Thepeaaabl,efruit of righteoumes,." Righteousness and peace may be supposed to be entirely separate things ; by those who look only on the surface they may even be imagined to be opposed to one another. In fact, they are closely and even vitally related to each other. I. TBOBE WBO A.11.E INCAPABLE OF BlGBTEOUSNESB A.BE UNBEOEl'TIVE OF PEA.OE. To them peace is simply incommunicable; it does not come within the range of their faculties. The horse, the swallow, the salmon, the unintelligent and irresponsible animal, may have quietude and comfort, but it cannot enjoy peace, in the fullest and truest selll!e in which we use that word. It is only capable of that sense of satisfaction which attends a perfect adjustment of its circumstances to its bodily nature; but that ill not peaa. Peace is that spiritual contentment which results from inward as well Ill outward harmony-from~ llOil&e Qf rectitudo, a conscioU1Jneas th4t everything ia rigl.4 c,tt. x:txn. 1-20.] '11BE :BOOK OF 'i'IIE PROPHET ISAIAtr. 683