Arise, contend thou before the mountains, and let the hills hear thy voice Micah 6:1-3 God's controversy with Israel J. Saurin. In this text we have God offering to plead before the sinner. The parties, who are they? On the one part, the Lord of universal nature. On the other part, man, Israel, the Church. The manner of pleading this cause. Who can coolly hear this language? At the sound of these words conscience takes fright. The matter of controversy is, the whole conduct of man to God, and the whole conduct of God to man. I. HEAR WHAT COMPLAINTS MAN HAS TO BRING AGAINST GOD, AND WHAT, GOD HAS TO ANSWER. That a creature should complain of his Creator should seem a paradox. We are apt to complain of God on three accounts: His law seems too severe, His temporal favours too small, and His judgments too rigorous. 1. Are not the laws of God just in themselves. What is the design of those laws? Is it not to make you as happy as possible? Are not those laws infinitely proper to make you happy in this world? And doth not God exemplify these laws Himself? What does God require of you, but to endeavour to please Him? 2. Complaints against God as the governor of the world. Man complains of providence; the economy of it is too narrow and confined, the temporal benefits bestowed are too few and partial. This complaint, we allow, has some colour. But from the mouth of a Christian it cannot come without extreme ignorance and ingratitude. If the morality of Jesus Christ he examined it will be found almost incompatible with worldly prosperity. Temporal prosperity is often hostile to our happiness. Had God given us a life full of charms we should have taken little thought about another. 3. Complaints against the rigour of His judgments. If we consider God as a Judge, what a number of reasons may be assigned to prove the equity of all the evils that He hath brought upon us. But if God be considered as a Father, all these chastisements, even the most rigorous of them, are perfectly consistent with His character. It was His love that engaged Him to employ such severe means for your benefit. II. HEAR WHAT COMPLAINTS GOD HAS TO BRING AGAINST MAN. Every one is acquainted with the irregularities of the Jews. They corrupted both natural and revealed religion. And their crimes were aggravated by the innumerable blessings which God bestowed on them. Apply to ourselves — 1. When God distinguishes a people by signal favours, the people ought to distinguish themselves by gratitude to Him. When were ever any people so favoured as we are? 2. When men are under the hand of an angry God they are called to mourning and contrition. We are under the correcting hand of God. What are the signs of our right feeling and mood? 3. To attend public worship is not to obtain the end of the ministry. Not to become wise by attending it is to increase our miseries by aggravating our sins. 4. Slander is a dangerous vice. It is tolerated in society only because every one has an invincible inclination to commit it. 5. If the dangers that threaten us, and the blows that providence strikes, ought to affect us all, they ought those most of all who are most exposed to them. 6. If gaming be innocent in any circumstances, they are uncommon and rare. Such is the controversy of God with you. It is your part to reply. What have you to say in your own behalf? ( J. Saurin. ) God's appeal to His people J. B. Smith, D. D. The prophet is directed to plead with Judah, and to expostulate with them for their rebellious backslidings. The prophet is directed to address himself to inanimate nature; to summons the very senseless earth itself, as it were, to be an auditor of his words, and an umpire between God and His people. There is something, indeed, very solemn and awful in this appeal. The prophet was directed to proclaim, in the face of all nature, the equity and justice of God's dealings; and to challenge, as it were, a scrutiny from His people. He condescends to put Himself (so to speak) on trial, to demand an investigation into His dealings, and to plead His cause as man with his fellow man. Having exhibited the claims which God had upon the grateful obedience of His people, and, by consequence, the inexcusableness of their revolt, the prophet next introduces, in His figurative description, the Israelites as being struck with alarm and consternation at the condition whereunto their transgression had brought them, and, in the excitement of their minds, as seeking to appease the anger of a justly offended God by the most costly and abundant sacrifices. May we not take up the words of the prophet, and, adapting them to our own times and circumstances, say, "The Lord hath a controversy with His people"? May we not, as Micah did, stand forth to challenge a hearing for the cause of the Lord, to show of His righteous dealings towards us, to plead for the equity and mercy of His government, and to leave the folly and ingratitude and rebellion of those whom He hath so signally favoured utterly and absolutely without excuse? We cannot plead ignorance, or that He is a rigid taskmaster whose service is hard and oppressive. Nor can a conscious sense of unfitness and depravity be pleaded as an excuse for not complying with the invitations of a gracious God to engage in His service. Why, then, is it that men refuse to listen to the gracious calls of God? There is but one plea that can be urged with any apparent reason; namely, the utter inability of fallen man, of himself, to turn unto God, or to make one movement toward that which is good. While it is acknowledged that the grace of God alone can change the carnal mind, and renew the corrupt heart, and incline the apostate will, yet we must ever bear in mind that God worketh not without means; He accomplisheth not without methods and instruments. In the work of grace it is precisely as in the works of nature, that God hath appointed certain steps to be followed, in the economy of His providence, on the part of man, which He doth cause to be successful to the production of their object. Then we must use the means of His special appointment; humbly come to Him in faith and prayer, to pray that we may have grace to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with our God. ( J. B. Smith, D. D. ) Man in the moral court of history Homilist. I. Here is a call on man to GIVE AUDIENCE TO ALMIGHTY GOD. "Hear ye now what the Lord saith." 1. Natural. What is more natural than for a child to hang on the lips and attend to the words of his parent? How much more natural for the finite intelligence to open its ears to the words of the Infinite! 2. Binding. The great command of God to all is, "Hearken diligently to Me; hear, and your souls shall live." 3. Indispensable. It is only as men hear, interpret, digest, appropriate, incarnate God's Word that they can rise to a true, noble, and happy life. II. Here is a SUMMONS TO INANIMATE NATURE TO HEAR THE CONTROVERSY BETWEEN GOD AND MAN. "Arise, contend thou before the mountains." The appeal to inanimate nature — 1. Indicates the earnestness of the prophet. Every minister should be earnest. "Passion is reason" here. 2. Suggests the stupidity of the people. Perhaps the prophet meant to compare them to the dead hills and mountains. As hard in heart as the rocks. 3. Hints the universality of his theme. His doctrine was no secret; it was as open and free as nature. III. A CHALLENGE TO MAN TO FIND FAULT WITH DIVINE DEALINGS. This implies — 1. That they could bring nothing against Him. 2. It declares that He had done everything for them. ( Homilist. ) Hear ye, O mountains, the Lord's controversy The influences of external nature E. Munro. The striking feature of Micah's prophecy is the mode in which he appeals to the objects of nature. While Isaiah borrows his imagery from the sublime realms of the imagination; Jeremiah, from the scenes of human life; Ezekiel, from the realms of the dead; and Daniel, from allegories connected with history; Micah paints from the mountain, the tree, and the flood. In the text, and many other passages, we see the tendency of this prophet to associate with the external forms of nature the presence and the judgments of God. It is very natural that the objects of God's creation should speak to the human mind of Himself. The sublime silence of nature raises our mind far above the thoughts of this world, and fixes its gaze on the Eternal. 1. The objects of nature in their different ways speak of Him, and show in singular fashion how He is ever present at the events of mankind. 2. The objects of nature indirectly speak of religion and of heaven to the thoughtful mind. They embody and call out from us each elementary principle of religion. Majesty and sublimity are suggested by the mountain; repose by the evening sky; joy and gladness by that of the morning, etc. 3. The objects of nature become the home of association. This power of association that connects us to the scenes of daily life is essentially religious; it appeals to all the higher and holier parts of our nature when severed from their earthly dross. 4. There is another way in which this appeal to nature becomes a very practical matter. Nature is monotonous; so is God. We find it where we left it. The scene of nature which witnessed our early devotion becomes in after years our accuser and condemnation. 5. And nature suggests the Divine cause, the intelligent mind, the adaptation of the physical world to the wants of His creatures. But while this observation of nature so elevates the mind to God, it has its faults and infirmities, which are its own. Without the Word of God the works of God may mislead us. There is a further infirmity; the tendency there is in the objects of nature to cast melancholy and despondency over the mind. There are two elements of our nature which produce conscious happiness — hope and practical energy. To make hope effective, there must be a certain amount of connection between our practical energy and itself. The essence and health of our being rests in overcoming difficulties. Where we find no opportunity of doing this we become conscious of feelings without their natural vent, and the result is melancholy and ennui. But when we come to gaze upon the sublime forms of nature, none of our practical energies being of necessity called out towards them, we turn away with impressions of disappointment and sadness: the objects are too much for us, because we are not necessarily practically concerned upon them. It is singular that few people are more negligent of the call to Divine worship, are more blunted in their appreciation of Christianity, than the farming and agricultural classes. Manufacturing populations are much more actively intelligent. ( E. Munro. ) O My people, what have I done irate thee? The Lord's controversy with us R. W. Evans, B. D. God offers Himself to be judged as to His dealings. 1. Is there nowhere a cry to provoke the Lord to ask, What have I done unto you? What should the heart reply? It concerns us to consider. When we fall short in putting to account the whole store of God's mercies we are sure to charge the deficiency upon God's niggardliness, and not upon our own unfaithfulness; for self-justification is always the immediate consequence of self-inflicted loss. It is the very extent of God's mercies which makes men murmurers and complainers; for by so much the more they have failed to take due advantage of them. What would one reasonably expect from those highly favoured of God? But what is the real state of things? Discontent, disobedience, unthankfulness, unwatchfulness, murmurings, rebellion, open violation of God's statutes, public profanation of His ordinances, common and declared neglect and contempt of His sacraments and means of grace, are the prevailing features of the picture. What a question to be put by a merciful God and a redeeming Saviour, to any one of us — "What have I done unto Thee?" Do we incur the rebuke? 2. The question goes further yet, — "Wherein have I wearied thee?" How cutting a question to the people that profess His name! ( R. W. Evans, B. D. ) The Lord's controversy J. H. Evans, M. A. The history of Israel is a most humbling and affecting picture of the depravity of the human heart. The Sinai covenant, though it had much of Gospel in it, yet was essentially a covenant of works. The turning point of its blessings was the nation's obedience. In the New Testament the legal dispensation is ever opposed to the Gospel covenant, in which the turning point is not our obedience, but the obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ; yet are its blessings dispensed in such a way as infallibly secures the highest obedience of the renewed soul. The first covenant excited to holiness, and in those that were real saints, and lived above their covenant, it promoted it, but did not secure it; but the Gospel not only excites on higher grounds, not only promotes to the highest point, but infallibly secures sanctification in all that really receive it. II. GOD'S AFFECTING COMPLAINT OF HIS ANCIENT PEOPLE. They were wearied of the Lord and His pleasant service. And as they sowed, they reaped. They reaped misery and destruction. But is this confined to them? How often even the true saints of God seem weary of their God! How soon we are weary of His services; of His rod; aye, even of God Himself, II. GOD'S MOST TENDER EXPOSTULATION. Such an expostulation from a grieved fellow creature would be wonderful, but consider the dignity of Him who speaketh. Let unwearied kindness, unbroken faithfulness, tender love, most unmerited and most sovereign grace all speak. Oh, that this view of the Divine character were laid on all our hearts and consciences! Oh, that our souls might be stirred up deeply to repent of past unwearinesses, to take them to the Fountain opened for sin and uncleanness, and there receiving fresh springs of life and love, consecrate ourselves unweariedly to His glory. ( J. H. Evans, M. A. ) What can man accuse, God of H. Blair, D. D. ? It is impossible to predict what impression the same truth will make upon the different minds of men. But surely, all the terrors of God could not more effectually overawe the heart of a sinner than the passage of Scripture which I have now read. It strikes my ear like the last sound of God's mercy. Instead of vindicating His authority, does He condescend to plead the reasonableness of His law? Then His forbearance is almost exhausted, and the day of grace is nearing its end. The supreme Lord of heaven and earth appeals to sinners themselves, for the mildness and equity of His government; and challenges them to produce one instance of undue severity towards them, or the least shadow of excuse for their undutiful behaviour towards Him. I. A DIRECT PROOF OF THE GOODNESS OF GOD, AND OF HIS TENDER CONCERN FOR THE WELFARE OF HIS CREATURES. This appears from — 1. The unwearied patience which He exercises towards transgressors. 2. The sufferings and death of our Lord Jesus Christ. 3. The various means which God employs for reclaiming men from their ways of folly and vice. He is not only the gracious Author of the plan of redemption, but He has likewise set before us the most powerful motives to persuade us to embrace His proffered favour, and to comply with His designs of mercy. 4. The fact that He has selected some of the most notorious offenders in the different ages of the world to be monuments of the riches of His grace. II. OBJECTIONS URGED AGAINST THE MILDNESS AND EQUITY OF THE DIVINE ADMINISTRATION. 1. Is it the holiness and perfection of His law that is complained of? This complaint is both foolish and ungrateful. The law of God requires nothing but what tends to make us happy, nor doth it forbid anything which would not be productive of our misery. 2. Is it the threatening with which the law is enforced that is complained of? But shall God be reckoned an enemy to your happiness because He useth the most effectual means to promote it? There is a friendly design in all God's threatenings. 3. Perhaps the objection is to the final execution of the threatenings. But would the threatenings be of any use at all if the sinner knew that they would never be executed? 4. Do you blame God for the temptations you meet with in the world, and those circumstances of danger with which you are surrounded? But temptations have no compulsive efficacy; all they can do is solicit and entice. 5. Do you object that you cannot reclaim or convert yourselves? But you can use the means appointed. He who does not employ these faithfully, complains very unreasonably if the grace is withheld which is only promised with the use of the means. The truth of the matter is, that the sinner has no right to complain of God; he destroys himself by his own wilful and obstinate folly, and then he accuses God, as if He were the cause of his misery. Consider that to be your own destroyers is to counteract the very strongest principle of your natures, the principle of self-preservation. ( H. Blair, D. D. ) For I brought thee up out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed thee out of the house of servants; and I sent before thee Moses, Aaron, and Miriam Micah 6:4 Reasons for gratitude Richard Mayo, M. A. Ingratitude often meets with, what it always deserves, the most grievous punishment. The highest aggravation of this ingratitude is, when the goodness of God is despised, when His loving kindness is disregarded, and the mercies the Supreme Being bestows on poor depending creatures are neglected, if not altogether forgotten, by those to whom they were graciously afforded. Then a grateful remembrance of any remarkable mercy, or signal deliverance, is a duty the most reasonable in itself, and well pleasing to God. This important duty is not confined to private persons; but if God bestows on a nation public mercies, all the members of the community should join together to express their gratitude and thankfulness. 1. Consider the great reason the children of Israel had thankfully to remember the mercy in the text mentioned. (1) The miserable condition they were delivered from with regard to their bodies and souls. (2) Their wonderful deliverance from this unhappy state. (3) The state they were brought into. 2. Show how applicable this is to our present circumstances. (Reference is to the reformation of the Church of England from popery, in the time of Queen Elizabeth.) ( Richard Mayo, M. A. ) O My people, remember now Micah 6:5 A Divine reading George Stradling, S. T. P. This chapter is a pathetical expostulation of God with His chosen people, the Jews, for their ungracious demeanour and miscarriage towards Him. This expostulation is carried in a gracious manner. God pleads the justice and equity of His cause by a threefold argument. 1. By an attestation of the dumb and senseless creatures (ver. 1). 2. An appeal and reference to themselves. 3. A commemoration of many blessings bestowed upon them.He insists upon three fundamental blessings, by all which He manifests His favour towards them, and aggravates their impiety and ingratitude against Him. 1. A redemption from a long and tedious bondage; from a grievous and miserable bondage, and from a vile and base bondage. 2. The placing of a gracious administration over them. 3. He watches over them, against all attempts of their malicious enemies. He defeated Balak and Balaam's conspiracy. And this makes up the full sum and measure of God's goodness to His people. I. THE COMMEMORATION ITSELF. Here is a gracious compellation. "O My people." It imports three things. It is a speech of claim and possession. It is a speech of love and affection. It is a speech of recall and invitation. Here is a forcible quickening of memory. "Remember now." God appeals to His ancient mercies. He kept them upon record; registered them up in His holy Book; framed them into songs of commemoration; put them into the form of an oath; founded the sacrament of the passover as a commemoration. These remembrances are provocations of thankfulness, and obligations to obedience, and encouragements to faith. II. THE BENEFIT OR BLESSING TO BE COMMEMORATED. 1. Of the danger that beset them. Notice the ground of it; the manner of it; the matter of the conspiracy. 2. The issue out of this danger. The answer to Balak contains God's gracious deliverance of His people from Balak's malicious and wicked intendment. In it there is a strict prohibition, a gracious inversion, a just retorsion. III. THE END AND PURPOSE OF THIS GRACIOUS DELIVERANCE. That ye may understand the righteousness of the Lord. ( George Stradling, S. T. P. ) That ye may know the righteousness of the Lord The importance of just ideas of God Ezra Ripley, D. D. If idolaters are zealous in the service of imaginary deities, we ought much more to be engaged in the service of the one living and true God forever. The ideas which people entertain of their God do actually exert great influence, and produce interesting effects upon their disposition and conduct. It has been observed by men of the best information, that idolatrous nations have cherished the dispositions and indulged the vices which they have attributed to their deities. Virtue and vice are measured by the supposed disposition and character of their idols. The descendants of Abraham imagined that God was partial to them and vindictive to other nations. Hence they despised and hated the nations around them, and looked upon them as dogs and outcasts from God. Then it is easy to see the high importance of entertaining just notions of the Lord our God. If we believe that God is partial, arbitrary, and vindictive we shall cherish a similar disposition and practice, as far as we make any sober pretensions to religion. And we ought to imitate the moral character of God. See what results if we think God arbitrary, hard and revengeful, or passionate and wrathful. Our relations with our fellows will match our thoughts of our God. The same applies to better thoughts of God. It would be difficult to set in a just light the moral purity, excellence, and happiness of a character formed by such a glorious and perfect model as that of the infinite God, who is emphatically love. But most persons arrive at mature years without acquiring just, enlarged, and honorary notions of God, especially on some important points and traits of character. How shall this evil be remedied? By a careful attention to the Bible, where the character of God is fully revealed. By excluding from the character of God everything that appears to be hard and unreasonable, partial and vindictive — everything that would be thought unreasenable and unworthy in a good man, a wise and affectionate parent, or an upright and compassionate judge. ( Ezra Ripley, D. D. ) Wherewith shall I come before the Lord Micah 6:6-8 Pleasing God J. J. S. Bird, B. A. This is a momentous question, which the world has ever been asking — "How shall we approach God?" For men feel that they are separated from Him, — that there is something which prevents access, and they have sought how to remove the obstacles which intervene. I. THREE METHODS LIKELY TO EFFECT THE DESIRED PURPOSE. They are — 1. Outward acts. What must I do? This is to a certain extent natural, for we cannot obtain any substantial good in the world without work, or its equivalent, money. Some attempt one particular deed, such as self-denial, others a notably moral life; others, again, obsequious religious observances. 2. Pious gifts. "With burnt offerings." This shows the innate idea of atonement or propitiation. There is a universal consciousness of innate guilt and sinfulness, and there is a universal feeling that it must be punished. There is also in the text the idea of purchase. "Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams?" It is not uncommon for men to think that they can bribe God by outward acts of philanthropy, by building churches or hospitals. 3. Personal suffering and self-denial. "Should I give my firstborn," etc. How terrible the consequences of such an act! Yet men have thought that mortifying the natural sentiments of humanity would gratify God. Many have voluntarily submitted to mutilation, to pilgrimages; they have even sacrificed their children in the hope of obtaining eternal life. II. THE TEXT POINTS OUT THE ONLY TRUE METHOD OF ACCEPTANCE WITH GOD. The prophet rebukes these popular ideas in a quiet manner. He says, — There is no excuse for your ignorance. Then why do men ask? It is because of their want of faith, for "seeing they see not." He hath showed this in His Word, in His precepts, in His examples of life. We have here as components of that way — 1. Holiness. God hath required of thee to do justly. We must not forget that justice is due to God as well as to man. Just dealing demands reverence, faith, trust towards God in Christ, as much as honesty towards our fellow creatures. 2. Mercy. This means tenderness of disposition, and an ability to receive God's message as well as to show our mercy to others. 3. Humility. Accepting God's method of salvation, leaving our hopes and destiny with Him, receiving the sacrifice wrought out for us at Calvary; not to think higher of himself than a man ought to think. To live justly is to live in Christ, for in Him all justice is fulfilled. To love mercy is to imbibe Christ's spirit, for He is the manifestation of Divine mercy. To walk humbly is to follow Christ's teaching, for He inculcates humility, self-denial, and trust. ( J. J. S. Bird, B. A. ) The world's cry concerning the method of being brought into fellowship with God Homilist. It is not that God has withdrawn from us; it is that we are alienated from Him by wicked works. Here is one of the world's cries. Where can we get a satisfying response? There are only three answers — 1. That which has reference to the presentation of sacrifices. This is the way in which the heathen have sought to bridge the gulf between themselves and their Maker. Yes, and the old Hebrew too. Millions of victims have been slain, and oceans of blood have been shed. But is this satisfactory? To say that we are to return to God through sacrifices, however costly and abundant, is not quite sufficient. In the first place, it is repugnant to our reason to suppose that such sacrifices can be acceptable to the God of love and mercy. In the second place, it is opposed to the declarations of the Bible. "For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it. Thou delightest not in burnt offering" (Psalm 2:16). "To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto Me? saith the Lord" ( Isaiah 1:11 ). "And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering" ( Isaiah 40:16 ). "None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him: for the redemption of their soul is precious, and it ceaseth forever" ( Psalm 49:7, 8 ). And in the third place, such sacrifices, as a fact, have never removed from man this feeling of distance from his Maker. The gulf remains as deep and broad though the cattle upon a thousand hills were offered. 2. There is that which has reference to a right moral conduct. "He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?" This is just what philosophy would say. Think the true, love the good, and do the right, and you will be accepted of your Maker — you will come back into a friendly state with Him. This is satisfactory so far as it goes; for to do the right thing is reconciliation with heaven. Those who live a holy life walk with God, and are happy in His fellowship. But the question is, How to come into this morally right state? And the philosophy which presents this method has no answer to this question. 3. There is that which has reference to the intervention of Christ. This is the answer of the Bible. It teaches that Christ is man's way back to fellowship with his Maker. "I am the way: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me." "Through Him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father" ( Ephesians 2:18 ). But, now, in order to see the satisfactoriness of this answer, it may be necessary to ask the question, In what way does Christ bring man into fellowship with God? Negatively — First: Not by repealing any of the laws of moral obligation binding on man. Christ's intervention did not render man in the slightest degree less bound to obey every precept in heaven's moral code. That code is as immutable as God Himself, Secondly: Not by dispensing with any of the settled conditions of spiritual culture and improvement. Christ does not make men good in any miraculous way. Observation, reflection, study, resolution, faith, practice, these are the means by which souls must ever advance. Thirdly: Not by effecting any change in the Divine mind. The mission of Christ was the effect — not the cause — of God's love. Christ was its messenger and minister, not its creator. Nor did He change God's purpose. It was according to His eternal purpose that Christ came, and to work that purpose out was Christ's mission. What, then, does He do? He is the Reconciler. He reconciles not God to man, but man to God. "God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself." In Christ, as the reconciler or remover of this felt distance between man and his Maker, we discover a twofold adaptation of the most perfect kind. I. IN HIM WE SEE A SPECIAL APPROACH OF GOD TO MAN. In Christ there is a change in the Divine manifestation. He in Christ comes to man in man's own nature. "God is manifest in the flesh." In man He reveals the image of His invisible self. In this manifestation two great obstructions to man's union to God are removed. 1. The obstruction of inappreciableness. God in nature is so vast as to be inappreciable by man, but in the Man Christ He comes within our horizon, and within the compass of our faculties. 2. The obstruction of guilty dread. Was there an obstruction to this union on God's part? If so, who shall describe its nature? Men, the world over, feel that they have sinned, and are liable to a terrible punishment. This sense of guilt hangs as a portentous cloud over the soul of the world. Men, by millions, often stagger with horror under its black shadow, and anxiously seek some shelter from the threatened storm. This guilty dread first drove man from his Maker. "I heard Thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid." The soul, from the laws of its nature, flees from the object of its dread. Fear is the centrifugal force of the spirit; it drives it from its Maker. This dread of God is as universal as sin, and as deep as the heart of humanity. It accounts for all the horrid views that men have of their Maker, and for all their hostility to Him in heart and life. Now, how does God in Christ remove this? He comes to man in just such a form as is adapted to expel fear, and inspire hope and trust. In what form could He come but in the form of a man to effect this? Would a revelation of Himself in all His absolute glory do it? No! this, if it could be borne by mortals, would only raise the terror to a more overwhelming degree. Would a revelation of Himself through angelic natures do it? The Eternal, to disarm man of this terrible fear, comes to him in man's own nature. Are you afraid of a Teacher, who, free from all assumption of superiority, scholastic stiffness, and pedantic utterance, mingles with the crowd, and utters truth the most lofty to the imagination, the most reasonable to the intellect, the most real to the conscience, the most inspiring and ennobling to the heart? Transport yourselves in thought to the mountains of Capernaum, and the shores of Galilee, and listen to Him who speaks as "never man spake." God is in that Teacher, and through Him He says, "It is I, be not afraid." Are you afraid of a Philanthropist, the most tender in heart, the most earnest in affection, the most race wide in sympathy? Follow Jesus of Nazareth during the three years of His public life, as He goes "about doing good." Count the diseased that He heals, the hungry that He feeds, and the disconsolate that He comforts. II. IN HIM WE SEE A SPECIAL ATTRACTION OF MAN TO GOD. This is another step. He not only comes to man, but He attracts man to Himself. He does this — 1. By awakening the highest gratitude. Gratitude attracts, draws the soul into loving sympathy with its benefactor. Kindness is a magnet that draws the object to its author. God in Christ displays such infinite mercy as is adapted to inspire the soul with the strongest gratitude. Where is there mercy like this? He loved us and gave Himself for us. 2. He does this by awakening the highes

Benson Commentary Micah 6:1 Hear ye now what the LORD saith; Arise, contend thou before the mountains, and let the hills hear thy voice. Micah 6:1-2 . Hear now what the Lord saith — Here begins a new discourse, respecting the causes of the evils which hung over the Jewish nation. Arise — This is God’s command to Micah; contend thou before the mountains — Argue the case between God and thy people; and speak as if thou wouldest make the mountains hear thee, to testify for me. Hear, O ye mountains — God often appeals to inanimate creatures for the justice of his proceedings, thereby to upbraid the stupidity of men; the Lord’s controversy — Or the Lord’s cause or matter of complaint. Here the prophet begins to execute what he had been commanded in the preceding verse. And ye strong foundations of the earth — He alludes to a fabric raised on immoveable foundations, but, strictly speaking, “The earth self-balanced on her centre hangs.” For the Lord hath a controversy with his people — He will enter into judgment with them, for their impieties, as being injurious to his honour, and for which his justice demands satisfaction. Micah 6:2 Hear ye, O mountains, the LORD'S controversy, and ye strong foundations of the earth: for the LORD hath a controversy with his people, and he will plead with Israel. Micah 6:3 O my people, what have I done unto thee? and wherein have I wearied thee? testify against me. Micah 6:3-4 . O my people, what have I done unto thee? — What injustice or unkindness? Wherein have I wearied thee? — What grievous, burdensome impositions have I laid upon thee? Or, what have I done, or said, or enjoined, to cause thee to be weary of me? The words allude to the forms of courts of justice, wherein actions are tried between man and man. God allows his people to offer any plea which they could in their own behalf. For I brought thee out of Egypt, &c. — Here, on the other hand, God puts them in mind of the great favours he had bestowed upon them in delivering them out of the Egyptian bondage, by the conduct of Moses and Aaron, and Miriam their sister, who is here mentioned as having been endued with the spirit of prophecy, and raised up to be an assistant to her brothers, and an example and counsellor to the women. Micah 6:4 For I brought thee up out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed thee out of the house of servants; and I sent before thee Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. Micah 6:5 O my people, remember now what Balak king of Moab consulted, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him from Shittim unto Gilgal; that ye may know the righteousness of the LORD. Micah 6:5 . O my people, remember, &c. — Call to remembrance what Balaam said in answer to Balak, when he consulted him, namely, that there was no enchantment against Jacob, &c., nothing that could be done against them, nothing that could overthrow them but their own sins; that they were blessed, and it could not be reversed by any thing but their own forsaking God and his service, under whose particular protection they were. From Shittim unto Gilgal — From the encampment at Shittim, Numbers 25:1 , on the way to that at Gilgal, Joshua 4:19 . Balaam gave different answers in the interval between those places. But some think this sentence should not be connected with what goes before, but that it begins a new sentence, the purport of which is, Remember, O my people, from Shittim unto Gilgal; that is, what things I did, what benefits I bestowed upon you, from the time you were at Shittim till you came to Gilgal. God had indeed before bestowed upon them great benefits, but at this particular time they received more than ordinary instances of his kindness toward them, particularly in causing the waters of Jordan to run back, to let them pass through; and in the fall of the walls of Jericho. That ye may know the righteousness of the Lord — His mercy, justice, truth, and faithfulness. Micah 6:6 Wherewith shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? Micah 6:6-7 . Wherewith shall I come before the Lord — After the preceding reproof of the people’s ingratitude, they are here introduced as anxiously inquiring how they may propitiate God’s displeasure, and avert his judgments. They intimate that they are ready to offer any expiatory sacrifices, though never so costly, for that purpose. Shall I come before him with burnt-offerings, &c. — Will God accept of the ordinary sacrifices, such as we have offered on other occasions, as an atonement for sin? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, &c. — With a prodigious number; or ten thousands of rivers of oil — Were it possible to give them? Doth he expect more costly sacrifices than ordinary? We are ready, if that will appease him, to offer up to him multitudes of rams, and to add meat-offerings, prepared with oil, in proportion, though it should cost us an immeasurable quantity of that article. Shall I give my firstborn, &c. — The dearest of my offspring, or any other of my children, to Jehovah, by way of atonement for my transgression? It is well known that the Phenicians, and their descendants the Carthaginians, sacrificed their children to Saturn or Molech, and in their great dangers they were wont to offer the dearest of them. And some of the idolatrous Jews and Israelites imitated this horrid practice: see note on Leviticus 18:21 , where God in a solemn manner prohibits it, as he frequently does elsewhere. These two verses give us an exact description of the character of hypocrites and habitual sinners, who hope to obtain God’s favour by performing certain external ceremonies; and are willing to purchase their own pardon upon any terms, except that of reforming their lives. Micah 6:7 Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? Micah 6:8 He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God? Micah 6:8 . He hath showed thee, O man, what is good — He hath showed thee that there is no forgiveness without repentance, and that repentance is but a name, unless there be a ceasing to do evil, and learning to do well: and that this implies the practice of every branch of piety and virtue; the performance of every duty that we owe to God, our neighbour, and ourselves; 1st, To do justly — To render to all their dues, to superiors, equals, inferiors; to be true and just to all, and to oppress none, in their persons, property, or reputation; in our dealings with others to carry a chancery in our own breasts, and to act according to equity. 2d, To love mercy — Not to use severity, or exercise malice, envy, revenge, enmity, or hatred toward any, but to be compassionate, merciful, forgiving, kind, and beneficent toward all, according to our ability. And, 3d, To walk humbly with thy God — To humble thyself before the holy and just God, under a deep sense of thy past guilt and present unworthiness, renouncing all high thoughts of thyself, and all dependance on thy own righteousness for justification before him, but relying solely on his mercy, through the Mediator. The words imply, too, that we should keep up constant communion with God, by the exercise of an humble, holy, loving, and obedient faith, serving the Lord, as the apostle says of himself, in all humility of mind, and with continual reverence and godly fear. “See here the true spirit of the divine law! See here what makes a true Israelite! a truth which the carnal Jews could never comprehend: in vain did their legislator and their prophets inculcate it upon every occasion. They always had recourse to their gross conceptions, their attachment to sacrifices, and merely external services: herein they imagined their perfection to consist; while they neglected the more essential duties of man, and the practice of the most solid virtues, justice, benevolence, and piety.” Micah 6:9 The LORD'S voice crieth unto the city, and the man of wisdom shall see thy name: hear ye the rod, and who hath appointed it. Micah 6:9 . The Lord’s voice crieth — Either by his judgments, each of which is his voice, or by his prophets; unto the city — To every city in Israel and Judah, but principally to Jerusalem and Samaria. The man of wisdom — Every wise man; shall see thy name — Will perceive God in that cry. Hear ye the rod, and who hath appointed it — Who hath chosen it out, and strikes with it; that is, Hear ye the voice of God in the punishments he is now sending. Or, Hear what severe judgments are threatened against you, and who it is that threatens them, and is able to put them in execution. Micah 6:10 Are there yet the treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked, and the scant measure that is abominable? Micah 6:10-12 . Are there yet the treasures of wickedness, &c. — Notwithstanding all the express laws, the exhortations and reproofs given you upon this subject, and so many examples of punishment set before you; still are there many that use unjust and fraudulent means to enrich themselves? who keep scant measures to sell their goods by, which the law of God often declares to be an abomination to him? The reproof is the same with that of Amos 8:5 , where see the note. Shall I count them pure with the wicked balances, &c. — Shall I approve or acquit them, as if they were righteous? For the rich men thereof — Namely, of the city, spoken of Micah 6:9 ; are full of violence — Not only of fraud and injustice, but oppression, tyranny, and cruelty. And the inhabitants have spoken lies — Have gone aside from truth, integrity, and fidelity, and have deceived each other by falsehood. Micah 6:11 Shall I count them pure with the wicked balances, and with the bag of deceitful weights? Micah 6:12 For the rich men thereof are full of violence, and the inhabitants thereof have spoken lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth. Micah 6:13 Therefore also will I make thee sick in smiting thee, in making thee desolate because of thy sins. Micah 6:13-15 . Therefore will I make thee sick in smiting thee — Therefore, upon account of these thy sins, I will, ere long, so smite thee, O Israel, that the strokes shall reach thy heart, and make thee sick unto death of thy wounds. Or, the punishment wherewith I will afflict thee shall waste thy strength like a consuming sickness which preys upon the vitals. Thou shalt eat, but not be satisfied — See note on Hosea 4:10 . And thy casting down shall be in the midst of thee — Thou shalt be depressed within thee, or have no courage, or spirits, left to support thee. Thou shalt take hold, but not deliver, &c. — Thou shalt lay hold on things to secure them to thee, but thou shalt not be able to save them from the enemy. All the advantages that thou hast made by any means shall become a prey to them. Archbishop Newcome translates it, Thou shalt take hold, but shalt not carry away; contrary to what is said of thy enemies, Isaiah 5:29 ; They shall lay hold of the prey, and carry it away safe, and none shall deliver it, or retake it. Thou shalt sow, but shalt not reap — Thou shalt not enjoy the fruit of thy labour: a curse often threatened for disobedience. Micah 6:14 Thou shalt eat, but not be satisfied; and thy casting down shall be in the midst of thee; and thou shalt take hold, but shalt not deliver; and that which thou deliverest will I give up to the sword. Micah 6:15 Thou shalt sow, but thou shalt not reap; thou shalt tread the olives, but thou shalt not anoint thee with oil; and sweet wine, but shalt not drink wine. Micah 6:16 For the statutes of Omri are kept, and all the works of the house of Ahab, and ye walk in their counsels; that I should make thee a desolation, and the inhabitants thereof an hissing: therefore ye shall bear the reproach of my people. Micah 6:16 . For the statutes of Omri are kept — An idolatrous king, of whom it is said, 1 Kings 16:25 , that he did worse than all that were before him, and therefore we may judge of the corruption of the people who imitated the example, and followed the institutions of such a one. By his statutes, seem to be intended some idolatrous rites, which he instituted while he was king of Israel. And all the works of the house of Ahab, &c. — Ahab was the son of Omri, and exceeded his father and all his predecessors in impiety. He did more (it is said, 1 Kings 16:33 ) to provoke the Lord God than all the kings of Israel that were before him. For he not only walked in the sins of Jeroboam, who instituted the worship of the golden calves, under which idolatrous representation Jehovah was worshipped, but he also went and served Baal, a false god, and built a house, or temple, and erected an altar for him in Samaria, &c., 1 Kings 16:30-33 . But, impious as Ahab was, he found imitators, not only in Israel, where he had power to command, but also in Judah. It is said, The works of the house of Ahab, because all his posterity followed his example in idolatry. And we learn, 2 Kings 21:3 , that even the king of Judah, Manasseh, reared up an altar for Baal, and made a grove, as did Ahab king of Israel. That I should make thee a desolation — The event will be, that the country and city shall be laid desolate; and the inhabitants thereof a hissing — That is, a subject of scorn and derision to their enemies. Therefore ye shall bear the reproach of my people — This is addressed to the rich men, spoken of Micah 6:12 , and the meaning is, that the people in general should reproach them with being the principal cause of their calamities and desolation. Benson Commentary on the Old and New Testaments Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.

Expositor's Bible Commentary Micah 6:1 Hear ye now what the LORD saith; Arise, contend thou before the mountains, and let the hills hear thy voice. THE REASONABLENESS OF TRUE RELIGION Micah 6:1-8 WE have now reached a passage from which all obscurities of date and authorship disappear before the transparence and splendor of its contents. "These few verses," says a great critic, "in which Micah sets forth the true essence of religion, may raise a well-founded title to be counted as the most important in the prophetic literature. Like almost no others, they afford us an insight into the innermost nature of the religion of Israel, as delivered by the prophets." Usually it is only the last of the verses upon which the admiration of the reader is bestowed: "What doth the Lord require of thee, O man, but to do justice and love mercy and walk humbly with thy God?" But in truth the rest of the passage differeth not in glory; the wonder of it lies no more in its peroration than in its argument as a whole. The passage is cast in the same form as the opening chapter of the book-that of the Argument or Debate between the God of Israel and His people, upon the great theatre of Nature. The heart must be dull that does not leap to the Presences before which the trial is enacted. The prophet speaks:- "Hear ye now that which Jehovah is saying; Arise, contend before the mountains, And let the hills hear thy voice! Hear, O mountains, the Lord’s Argument, And ye, the everlasting foundations of earth!" This is not mere scenery. In all the moral questions between God and man, the prophets feel that Nature is involved. Either she is called as a witness to the long history of their relations to each other, or as sharing God’s feeling off the intolerableness of the evil which men have heaped upon her, or by her droughts and floods and earthquakes as the executioner of their doom. It is in the first of these capacities that the prophet in this passage appeals to the mountains and eternal foundations of earth. They are called, not because they are the biggest of existences, but because they are the most full of memories and associations with both parties to the Trial. The main idea of the passage, however, is the trial itself. We have seen more than once that the forms of religion which the prophets had to combat were those which expressed it mechanically in the form of ritual and sacrifice, and those which expressed it in mere enthusiasm and ecstasy. Between such extremes the prophets insisted that religion was knowledge and that it was conduct rational intercourse and loving duty between God and man. This is what they figure in their favorite scene of a Debate which is now before us. "Jehovah hath a Quarrel with His People, And with Israel He cometh to argue." To us, accustomed to communion with the Godhead, as with a Father, this may seem formal and legal. But if we so regard it we do it an injustice. The form sprang by revolt against mechanical and sensational ideas of religion. It emphasized religion as rational and moral, and at once preserved the reasonableness of God and the freedom of man. God spoke with the people whom He had educated: He plead with them, listened to their statements and questions, and produced His own evidences and reasons. Religion-such a passage as this asserts-religion is not a thing of authority nor of ceremonial nor of mere feeling, but of argument, reasonable presentation and debate. Reason is not put out of court: man’s freedom is respected; and he is not taken by surprise through his fears or his feelings. This sublime and generous conception of religion, which we owe first of all to the prophets in their contest with superstitious and slothful theories off religion that unhappily survive among us, was carried to its climax in the Old Testament by another class of writers. We find it elaborated with great power and beauty in the Books of Wisdom. In these the Divine Reason has emerged from the legal forms now before us, and has become the Associate and Friend off Man. The Prologue to the Book of Proverbs tells how Wisdom, fellow of God from the foundation of the world, descends to dwell among men. She comes forth into their streets and markets, she argues and pleads there with an urgency which is equal to the urgency of temptation itself. But it ‘is not all the earthly ministry of the Son of God, His arguments with the doctors, His parables to the common people, His gentle and prolonged education of His disciples, that we see the reasonableness of religion in all its strength and beauty. In that free court of reason in which the prophets saw God and man plead together, the subjects were such as became them both. For God unfolds no mysteries, and pleads no power, but the debate proceeds upon the facts and evidences of life: the appearance of character in history; whether the past be not full of the efforts of love; whether God had not, as human willfulness permitted Him, achieved the liberation and progress of His people. God speaks:- "My people, what have I done unto thee? And how have I wearied thee-answer Me! For I brought thee up from the land of Misraim, And from the house of slavery I redeemed thee. I sent before thee Moses, Aharon and Miriam. My people, remember now what Balak king of Moab counseled, And how he was answered by Bala’am, Beors son-So that thou mayest know the righteous deeds of Jehovah." Always do the prophets go back to Egypt or the wilderness. There God made the people, there He redeemed them. In law book as in prophecy, it is the fact of redemption which forms the main ground of His appeal. Redeemed by Him, the people are not their own, but His. Treated with that wonderful love and patience, like patience and love they are called to bestow upon the weak and miserable beneath them. One of the greatest interpreters of the prophets to our own age, Frederick Denison Maurice, has said upon this passage: "We do not know God till we recognize Him as a Deliverer; we do not understand our own work in the world till we believe we are sent into it to carry out His designs for the deliverance of ourselves and the race. The bondage I groan under is a bondage of the will. God is emphatically the Redeemer of the Will. It is in Chat character He reveals Himself to us. We could not think of God at all as the God, the living God, if we did not regard Him as such a Redeemer. But if of my will, then of all wills: sooner or later I am convinced He Will be manifested as the Restorer, Regenerator-not of something else, but of this roof the fallen spirit that is within us." In most of the controversies which the prophets open between God and man, the subject on the side of the latter is his sin. But that is not so here. In the controversy which opens the Book of Micah the argument falls upon the transgressions of the people, but here upon their sincere though mistaken methods of approaching God. There God deals with dull consciences, but here with darkened and imploring hearts. In that case we had rebels forsaking the true God for idols, but here are earnest seekers after God, who have lost their way and are weary. Accordingly, as indignation prevailed there, here prevails pity; and though formally this be a controversy under the same legal form as before, the passage breathes tenderness and gentleness from first to last. By this as well as by the recollections of the ancient history of Israel we are reminded of the style of Hosea. But there is no expostulation, as in his book, with the people’s continued devotion to ritual. All that is past, and a new temper prevails. Israel have at last come to feel the vanity of the exaggerated zeal with which Amos pictures them exceeding the legal requirements of sacrifice; and with a despair, sufficiently evident in the superlatives which they use, they confess the futility and weariness of the whole system, even in the most lavish and impossible forms of sacrifice. What then remains for them to do? The prophet answers with the beautiful words that express an ideal of religion to which no subsequent century has ever been able to add either grandeur or tenderness. The people speak:- "Wherewithal shall I come before Jehovah, Shall I bow myself to God the Most High? Shall I come before Him with burnt-offerings, With calves of one year? Will Jehovah be pleased with thousands of rams, With myriads of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for a guilt-offering The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?" The prophet answers:- "He hath shown thee, O man, what is good; And what is the Lord seeking from thee, But to do justice and love mercy, And humbly to walk with thy God?" This is the greatest saying of the Old Testament; and there is only one other in the New which excels it:- "Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." "Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls." "For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light." Micah 6:9 The LORD'S voice crieth unto the city, and the man of wisdom shall see thy name: hear ye the rod, and who hath appointed it. THE SIN OF THE SCANT MEASURE Micah 6:9-16 ; Micah 7:1-6 THE state of the text of Micah 6:9-16 ; Micah 7:1-6 is as confused as the condition of society which it describes: it is difficult to get reason, and impossible to get rhyme, out of the separate clauses. We had best give it as it stands, and afterwards state the substance of its doctrine, which, in spite of the obscurity of details, is, as so often happens in similar cases, perfectly clear and forcible. The passage consists of two portions, which may not originally have belonged to each other, but which seem to reflect the same disorder of civic life, with the judgment that impends upon it. In the first of them, Micah 7:9-16 , the prophet calls for attention to the voice of God, which describes the fraudulent life of Jerusalem, and the evils He is bringing on her. In the second, Micah 7:1-6 , Jerusalem bemoans her corrupt society; but perhaps we hear her voice only in Micah 7:1 , and thereafter the prophet’s. The prophet speaks:- "Hark! Jehovah crieth to the city! (‘Tis salvation to fear Thy name!) Hear ye, O tribe and council of the city!" God speaks:- "… in the house of the wicked treasures of wickedness, And the scant measure accursed? Can she be pure with the evil balances, And with the bag of false weights, Whose rich men are full of violence, And her citizens speak falsehood, And their tongue is deceit in their mouth? But I on my part have begun to plague thee, To lay thee in ruin because of thy sins. Thou eatest and art not filled," "But thy famine is in the very midst of thee! And but try to remove, thou canst not bring off And what thou bringest off, I give to the sword. Thou sowest, but never reapest; Treadest olives, but never anointest with oil, And must, but not to drink wine! So thou keepest the statutes of Omri, And the habits of the house of Ahab, And walkest in their principles, Only that I may give thee to ruin, And her inhabitants for sport-Yea, the reproach of the Gentiles shall ye bear!" Jerusalem speaks:- "Woe, woe is me, for I am become like sweepings of harvest, Like gleanings of the vintage-Not a cluster to eat, not a fig that my soul lusteth after. Perished are the leal from the land, Of the upright among men there is none: All of them are lurking for blood; Every man takes his brother in a net. Their hands are on evil to do it thoroughly. The prince makes requisition, The judge judgeth for payment, And the great man he speaketh his lust; So together they weave it out. The best of them is but a thorn thicket, {cf. Proverbs 15:19 } The most upright worse than a prickly hedge. The day that thy sentinels saw, thy visitation, draweth on; Now is their havoc {cf. Isaiah 22:5 } come! Trust not any friend! Rely on no confidant! From her that lies in thy bosom guard the gates of thy mouth. For son insulteth father, daughter is risen against her mother, daughter-in- law against her mother-in-law; And the enemies of a man are the men of his house." Micah, though the prophet of the country and stern critic of its life, characterized Jerusalem herself as the center of the nation’s sins. He did not refer to idolatry alone, but also to the irreligion of the politicians, and the Cruel injustice of the rich in the capital. The poison which weakened the nation’s blood had found its entrance to their veins at the very heart. There had the evil gathered which was shaking the state to a rapid dissolution. This section of the Book of Micah, whether it be by that prophet or not, describes no features of Jerusalem’s life which were not present in the eighth century; and it may be considered as the more detailed picture of the evils he summarily denounced. It is one of the most poignant criticisms of a commercial community which have ever appeared in literature. In equal relief we see the meanest instruments and the most prominent agents of covetousness and cruelty the scant measure, the false weights, the unscrupulous prince, and the venal judge. And although there are some sins denounced which are impossible in our civilization, yet falsehood, squalid fraud, pitilessness of the everlasting struggle for life are exposed exactly as we see them about us today. Through the prophet’s ancient and often obscure eloquence we feel just those shocks and sharp edges which still break everywhere through our Christian civilization. Let us remember, too, that the community addressed by the prophet was, like our own, professedly religious. The most widespread sin with which the prophet charges Jerusalem in these days of her commercial activity is falsehood: "Her inhabitants speak lies, and their tongue is deceit in their mouth." In Mr. Lecky’s "History of European Morals" we find the opinion that "the one respect in which the growth of industrial life has exercised a favorable influence on morals has been in the promotion of truth." The tribute is just, but there is another side to it. The exigencies of commerce and industry are fatal to most of the conventional pretences, insincerities, and flatteries which tend to grow up in all kinds of society. In commercial life, more perhaps than in any other, a man is taken, and has to be taken, in his inherent worth. Business, the life which is called par excellence Busyness, wears off every mask, all false veneer and unction, and leaves no time for the cant and parade which are so prone to increase in all other professions. Moreover the soul of commerce is credit. Men have to show that they can be trusted before other men will traffic with them, at least upon that large and lavish scale on which alone the great undertakings of commerce can be conducted. When we look back upon the history of trade and industry, and see how they have created an atmosphere in which men must ultimately seem what they really are; how they have of their needs replaced the jealousies, subterfuges, intrigues which were once deemed indispensable to the relations of men of different peoples, by large international credit and trust; how they break through the false conventions that divide class from class, we must do homage to them, as among the greatest instruments of the truth which maketh free. But to all this there is another side. If commerce has exploded so much conventional insincerity, it has developed a species of the genus which is quite its own. In our days nothing can lie like an advertisement. The saying, "the tricks of the trade" has become proverbial. Everyone knows that the awful strain and harassing of commercial life are largely due to the very amount of falseness that exists. The haste to be rich, the pitiless rivalry and competition, have developed a carelessness of the rights of others to the truth from ourselves, with a capacity for subterfuge and intrigue, which reminds one of no, thing so much as that state of barbarian war out of which it was the ancient glory of commerce to have assisted mankind to rise. Are the prophet’s words about Jerusalem too strong for large portions of our own commercial communities? Men who know these best will not say that they are. But let us cherish rather the powers of commerce which make for truth. Let us tell men who engage in trade that there are none for whom it is more easy to be clean and straight; that lies, whether of action or of speech, only increase the mental expense and the moral strain of life; and that the health, the capacity, the foresight, the opportunities of a great merchant depend ultimately on his resolve to be true and on the courage with which he sticks to the truth. One habit of falseness on which the prophet dwells is the use of unjust scales and short measures. The "stores" or fortunes of his day are "scores of wickedness," because they have been accumulated by the use of the 'lean ephah,' the balances of wrong," and "the bag of false weights." These are evils more common in the East than with us: modern government makes them almost impossible. But, all the same, ours is the sin of the scant measure, and the more so in proportion to the greater speed and rivalry of our commercial life. The prophet’s name for it, "measure of leanness," of "consumption" or "shrinkage," is a proper symbol of all those duties and offices of man to man, the full and generous discharge of which is diminished by the haste and the grudge of a prevalent selfishness. The speed of modern life tends to shorten, the time expended on every piece of work, and to turn it out untempered and incomplete. The struggle for life in commerce, the organized rivalry between labor and capital, not only puts every man on his guard against giving any other more than his due, but tempts him to use every opportunity to scamp and curtail his own service and output. You will hear men defend this parsimony as if it were a law. They say that business is impossible without the temper which they call "sharpness" or the habit which they call "cutting it fine." But such character and conduct are the very decay of society. The shrinkage of the units must always and everywhere mean the disintegration of the mass. A society whose members strive to keep within their duties is a society which cannot continue to cohere. Selfishness may be firmness, but it is the firmness of frost, the rigor of death. Only the unselfish excess of duty, only the generous loyalty to others, give to society the compactness and indissolubleness of life. Who is responsible for the enmity of classes, and the distrust which exists between capital and labor? It is the workman whose one aim is to secure the largest amount of wages for the smallest amount of work, and who will, in his blind pursuit of that, wreck the whole trade of a town or a district; it is the employer who believes he has no duties to his men beyond paying them for their work the least that he can induce them to take; it is the customer who only and ever looks to the cheapness of an article-procurer in that prostitution of talent to the work of stamping which is fast killing art, and joy, and all pity for the bodies and souls of our brothers. These are the true anarchists and breakers-up of society. On their methods social coherence and harmony are impossible. Life itself is impossible. No organism can thrive whose various limbs are ever shrinking in upon themselves. There is no life except by living to others. But the prophet covers the whole evil when he says that the "pious are perished out of the land." "Pious" is a translation of despair. The original means the man distinguished by " hesedh ," that word which we have on several occasions translated "real love," because it implies not only an affection but loyalty to a relation. And, as the use of the word frequently reminds us, " hesedh " is love and loyalty both to God and to our fellowmen. We need not dissociate these: they are one. But here it is the human direction in which the word looks. It means a character which fulfills all the relations of society with the fidelity, generosity, and grace which are the proper affections of man to man. Such a character, says the prophet, is perished from the land. Every man now lives for himself, and as a consequence preys upon his brother. "They all lie in wait for blood; they hunt every man his brother with a net." This is not murder which the prophet describes: it is the reckless, pitiless competition of the new conditions of life developed in Judah by the long peace and commerce of the eighth century. And he carries this selfishness into a very striking figure in Micah 7:4 : "The best of them is as a thorn thicket, the most upright" worse "than a prickly hedge." He realizes exactly what we mean by sharpness and sharp-dealing: bristling self-interest, all points; splendid in its own defense, but barren of fruit, and without nest or covert for any life. The Expositor's Bible Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.