III. SERM. counsels, that I should make thee a defolation, and the inhabitants thereof a reproch. That is, the ordinances and practises of Omri and Ahab, two of the most wicked of their Kings, were still observed and followed. And it is plainly declared, that if they persisted therein, their ruin was inevitable. Such is the context. And in this way, I think, the coherence appears clear and eafie. I now proceed to explain the words of the text. After which I shall add a reflection or two by way of application, and conclude. I. I begin with a distinct explication of the several particulars in the text. He hath shewed thee, o man, what is good. This fome understand, as if the Prophet faid: 1 will fhew you, or God will now shew you by me, giving the following answer to your enquirie. Others understand the original expression exactly, as here rendered in our tranflation: He has shewed thee, o man. Whoever a mongst you make this enquirie, if you think and confider, may perceive, that God has already already taught you, what are the services he SERM. requires, and what things are the most ac ceptable to him. He teaches you by your own reason, if you will use it. He has also shewed you this in his word, in the law, and in all the revelations he has made unto you. III. 12. 13. ...XXX. 11.12. So in the law of Moses: And now, Ifrael, Deut. x. what does the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to ferve the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul: to keep the commandments of the Lord, and his ftatutes, which I command thee this day, for thy good. Again: For this commandment, which I command thee this day : it is not hiden from thee, neither is it afar off. It is not in heaven, that thou shouldst say : Who Shall go up to heaven for us, and bring it to us?... But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it. See I have fet before thee life and death, And the particulars, here insisted on, are but the sum and substance of the ten laws, or precepts, delivered with so much folemnity at mount Sinai. And SERM. 17. III. And many of the Prophets speak in perfect agreement the same with what is here faid If. i. 16. in Micah. So in Ifaiah: Wash ye, make you clean: Put away the evil of your doings from before my eyes. Cease to do evil, learn to do weil. Seek judgement, relieve the oppressed,... Come now, and let us reason together, faith the Lord. Though your fins be as scarlet, they Shall be white as snow: though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. And in Hof. vi. Hofea: I defired mercie, and not facrifice: and the knowledge of the Lord more than burntofferings. 6. Therefore what is here said had been before, and often taught, and shewn to this people by reason, and by other Prophets and messengers, But God now reminds them of it, and shews it them again by this Prophet. He hath shewed thee what is good, or right: what is in itself reasonable and excellent, useful and profitable. He hath shewed thee, o man, whosoever thou art, that makest this enquirie, and art defirous of fatisfaction, what is good. And what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, to love mercie, and to walk humbly with thy God? These III. These particulars need not to be much en- SERM. larged upon. You have often heard them discoursed of. A brief explication therefore of these words, reminding you of what you know already, will fuffice. The several branches of our duty are sometimes reduced in Scripture to the love of God, and our neighbour. At other times they are ranged under three general heads. St. Paul says: The grace of God has appeared Tit. ii. 12. to all men, teaching us, that we should live foberly, righteously, and godly in this present world. The order likewise, in which these general branches are mentioned, is varied. Our Lord says, that the love of God is the first and great commandment. And in the law of Mofes, writen on two tables, the duties immediatly respecting God are first placed. But in this text it is first said, we should do justly, and love mercie: then, walk humbly with God. And in the place just cited from Paul, living godly is mentioned last. But the order is of little moment. For the several branches of duty can never be separated. And our Saviour having faid, that to love Mat. xxii. the Lord our God with all the heart and with 37...39. all SERM. all the foul is the first and great commandment, presently adds: And the second is like III. 20, 21. unto it: Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thy1 John iv. felf. And St. John says: He that loveth not his brother, whom he hath feen; how can be love God, whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him: that he who loveth God, love his brother also. ! The duty of fobriety is not particularly mentioned in this text of Micah: as it is also omitted elsewhere, when our duty is summarily comprehended in the love of God and our neighbour. But it is always fupposed or implied, though not expressly mentioned. For without it we cannot perform any part of worship and service to God in a reasonable and acceptable manner. And divers instances of intemperance are social, and directly injurious to our neighbour : and others lead to unrighteousnesse. A prevailing love of this world, an inordinate affection for earthly things, covetousnesse and ambition, are inconsistent both with the love of God, and of our neighbour. What does the Lord require of thee, but to do justly? This comprehends every thing that |