Righteousness Exalteth a Nation
Righteousness Exalteth a Nation RIGHTEOUSNESS EXALTETH A NATION
But sin is in a reproach to any people. (Proverbs 14:34)
By Chas. H. Roberson
God is no respecter of persons: but in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is ac-ceptable to him (Acts 10:34 f).
Introduction
In the word of God the motive for right conduct is mainly prudential; there is no sense of mystery or won-der, no tendency to speculation or doubt. The sum of the whole is, “Be good, and you will prosper; be wicked, and you will suffer.” Such a sentiment as the text well accords with the utterance of wisdom: “By me kings reign, and princes decree justice. By me princes rule, and nobles, even all the judges of the earth. I love them that love me, and those that seek me dili-gently shall find me.” (Proverbs 8:15 ff).
Most religious people are willing to admit that the “fear of the Jehovah is a fountain of life, that one may depart from the snares of death” (Proverbs 14:27). But it is not always observed that the same attitude is necessary in every phase of life. In both the religious and the intellectual life of a nation, it is well to realize what Coleridge said: “There is no chance of truth at the goal where there is not childlike humility at the starting point.” On the occasion of the two hundred and fiftieth an-niversary of Harvard University, James Russell Lowell said: “I am saddened when I see our success as a nation measured by the number of acres under tillage, or of bushels of wheat exported, for the real value of a country must be weighed in scales more delicate than the balance of trade. .. . The measure of a nation’s true success is the amount it has contributed to the thought, the moral energy, the intellectual happiness, the spiritual hope and consolation of mankind.” The Psalmist in his praise for Jerusalem’s restoration and prosperity exclaimed: “He (Jehovah) hath not dealt so with any nation” (Psalms 147:20).
It is impossible to read the story of Israel seriously and thoughtfully without running upon the religious motive everywhere. It is the purpose of Almighty God that his people shall bear witness to the worth of men, without respect of race, or color, or condition. It is to this principle of the inherent worth of men as men, entirely apart from the incidental adventitious circumstances of wealth, or station, or family, or race, that surely is found the innermost heart of a nation that is true to Jehovah. There can be no great nation that does not rest upon great manhood. And if the people of God are to demonstrate the worth of man, and the hope there is for him, it cannot be done theoretically, not by anniversary speeches, nor even by acts of Congress, but only by producing men that are worthy.
Under God I believe that righteous conduct can touch helpfully and healingly all the ends of the earth; act with consideration toward the abolition of war; raise men to higher national ideals; promote justice and brotherhood and good will among men. Let not righteousness be only a small candlestick to give light to those only within her own house, but a city set on a hill whose rays are to flash out through all this shadowed globe. Even so, let it be, for then men and nations will be lifted from the morass of friction and strife and conflict, from the dark valleys of race prejudice and hatred and animosity, from the social abysses of greed and lust and ambition, up, up to the sunlighted summits of concord and fraternity and justice.
Righteousness
The idea of righteousness is one of the most complex and difficult of the ruling ideas of the Old Covenant. There it is strictly a personal attribute, which may be described as forensic, ethical and religious. A. Campbell said: “The original word, of which righteousness is a translation, is one of the most compre-hensive in the Hebrew language, or indeed in universal language.... In the Bible sense, we consider this word as very important—wonderfully and peculiarly significant. . . . Righteousness combines, in an eminent degree, the lovable attributes of Jehovah.”
Out of some 520 instances where the Hebrew root, p. 7 y (tsedeq) occurs, about 400 are rendered in AV by “righteous,” “righteousness,” or “righteously”; more than 100 by “just,” “justice,” or “justify.” In the LXX a great majority are represented by the Greek, dikaios (dikaios). It belongs to the region of moral ideas. In the forensic sphere, righteousness means, primarily being in the right in a particular case; unimpeachable moral conduct. In another sense, it is that which depends on the public administration of justice. It is “the state of him who is such as he ought to be” (Thayer).
Nation
Usually men think of a nation as a huge organization, quite apart from themselves, which they are at liberty to step into or out of at will. A nation is simply a body of individuals bound together by the bonds of brotherhood. A nation is nothing apart from the individuals that compose it, and men are beginning to see that individuals have larger relationships than was once imagined and greater responsibilities than heretofore thought. The true conception of redeemed hu-manity is not that of an organism existing on its own account, but that of individuals knit very closely together in their social relationships and touching one another for good in these relationships (1 Corinthians 1:2; Revelation 7:9 f).
Prophetic Ideal
A well-governed State repressing all wrong and vio-lence and securing to the meanest his rights as a member of Jehovah’s kingdom is a dominant note in the prophetic ideal of righteousness. Civic righteousness is perhaps more a function of a sound and normal condition of the body politic, than a rule of individual conduct. The idea of righteousness is wider far than that of obedience to written law. There is appeal to moral sense, the intuitive perception of inherent rights of human personality. It includes a large-hearted construction of the claims of humanity; it is the humanitarian virtue par excellence, true in both private and national relations. It is more than merely a neutral, impartial attitude of mind which may arbitrate between rival interests; it is a positive energy on the side of right, a readiness to protect and to aid those who have no help in themselves. Righteousness has as its aim the upbuilding of individual lives. In this sense righteousness is rooted both in the moral intuitions of man and in a reflection of the character
of Jehovah. The demand for social righteousness is one of the must inflexible and impressive things in the word of God. The claims of righteousness are absolute, and the nation that will not yield to them must perish. It is the moral law of the universe, and the supreme law of Jehovah’s operations in history.
Cause of Failure: Remedy
The lack of righteousness was the cause of Israel’s destruction and even so the presence of it is a constant feature of the Messianic reign. It stands written, “A king shall reign in righteousness, and princes decree justice” (Isaiah 32:1). The Messiah’s kingdom shall be established in righteousness (Isaiah 9:7), and he shall judge the poor in righteousness (Isaiah 11:4 f). (See also Jeremiah 22:1 b; Jeremiah 23:5; Jeremiah 33:15; Hosea 2:19; Isaiah 1:26; Isaiah 32:16 f; Isaiah 33:5; etc.). Righteousness in men becomes a name for that disposition and method of life which accords with the will of God. Righteousness is Godlikeness. The Greek words in the New Covenant connote what is conformable to an ideal or standard, agreement with what ought to be. Righteousness is rightness according to the Divine standard.
Jesus said, “Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisee, ye shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:20). The Pharisees had reduced righteousness to a matter of externaks; the inner content was lost almost entirely. But the Master taught that the central element in righteousness is the intention to be right and to do right. The keeping of the commandments has, of course, an important place in the divine economy, but it must not be thought as being of some artificial or mechanical fashion. The righteous man is the man who is in right relations with God, who has been made right, who has been properly adjusted to the law and the plan of Divine government for his life. Men are to hunger and thirst after righteousness (Matthew 5:6).
Inasmuch as the Master said, “Seek ye first his kingdom and his righteousness” (Matthew 6:33), it is imperative to inquire, “What are the characteristics of true righteousness?” And the answer is: spiritual poverty, that is, a sense of one’s weakness and sin; mercifulness; meekness; purity; and peacemaking. They are qualities which stand opposed to pride, presumption, and selfishness. There is nothing that illuminates this world like the vision of righteousness, and therefore there is nothing which heals doubt like that vision.
True righteousness is heroic, constructive. It is con-cerned with motive and truthfulness. It calls upon men to suffer injustice rather than to resort to revenge, and to love all men. Truth or righteousness is not merely something to be known; it is something to be done (1 John 1:6; 1 John 2:29). The man is a righteous man who walks in the truth as his native element (2 John 1:1; 2 John 1:3); in whom the truth dwells, controlling: him and guiding him (John 8:44; 1 John 2:4); who belongs to the truth and draws from it the strength and inspiration of his life (John 18:37; 1 John 2:21; 1 John 3:19). Doctrine and life are inseparable.
Truisms
The book of Proverbs repeats with numerous varia-tions and shades of coloring that wickedness is an evil, and that righteousness is a blessing. These are placed in the form of maxims which may be fastened in mem ory, and so readily occur to the mind on occasions of trial. Some of these are brought to your attention with the hope that each of us shall receive some impulse towards transforming the conviction which none can dispute into a mode of conduct which none can decline.
These maxims are unflinching in asserting that wickedness is a mistake, a source of perpetual weakness and insecurity; while righteousness is in itself a perpetual blessing, ever yielding beautiful and unexpected fruits. The fact that they are repeated or reiterated impresses the mind of the student deeply.
“The hope of the righteous shall be gladness; but the expectation of the wicked shall perish” (Proverbs 10:28).
“The righteous shall never be removed; but the wick-ed shall not dwell in the land” (Proverbs 10:30).
“Overthrow the wicked, and they are not (i. e., thereis no rising again for them); but the house of the righteous shall stand” (Proverbs 12:7).
“The wicked earncth deceitful wages; but he that soweth righteousness hath a sure reward” (Proverbs 11:18).
“A man shall not be established by wickedness; but the root of the righteous shall not be moved” (Proverbs 12:3).
“The righteousness of the upright shall deliver them; but the treacherous shall be taken in their own iniquity” (Proverbs 11:6).
Iniquity, crooked ways, malignant thoughts, hatred against one’s neighbor, guile in the heart, evil things from the lips have one issue—destruction. Meanwhile, the light of the righteous man rejoices because he attains unto life. Righteousness guardeth him that is upright in the way; delivers him from trouble; brings mercy and truth to shine upon him; brings honor and kindles hope that, if actual blessedness does not occur in this life, the fruit will grow in another life. The Great Fact
It is a great fact that God is with the righteous and against the wicked, that he judges them according to their integrity or perverseness, and accepts them or rejects them simply upon that principle. This truth is lofty and all our conceptions on the subject are cleared by some citations:
“The perverse in heart are an abomination to Jehovah. Such as are perfect in their way are his delight” (Proverbs 11:20).
“He weighs the heart and keeps the soul and renders to every man according to his works” (Proverbs 24:12).
He does not regard prayer so much as righteousness. “He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination” (Proverbs 28:12).
Sacrifice goes for nothing in his sight if the life is not holy—“To do righteousness and justice is more ac-ceptable to Jehovah than sacrifice” (Proverbs 21:3).
It is this solemn truth, the truth of God’s own way of regarding righteousness and wickedness, that makes- earnestness* on the subject' imperative. • - When- each man begins to understand that the Supreme Ruler of all things loves righteousness and hates iniquity, visits the one with favor and the other with reprobation, a new sanction is introduced. Inspiration teaches simply and truly the alliance of God with righteousness and the abhorence in which he holds wickedness. It is a discovery which men are slow to make, and is a principle on which they seem unwilling to act. Our Lord set forth this truth in the forefront of his message to men. He made it the very keynote of the gospel that not every one who says, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of his Father in heaven. He painted with exquisite simplicity and clearness the right life, the conduct which God requires of us, and then likened every one who practices this life to a man who builds his. house on a rock. He declared that men are judged by their fruits, and made it plain that God loves righteous-ness and judges and destroys wickedness. May God grant us a clear vision in this matter! If we see righteousness, let us thank God, for there, be sure, his Spirit is. And where we see wickedness, let us recognize that it is evil, and let no profession or orthodoxy of belief restrain us from courageously contending against it. A Great Text
“He hath showed thee, 0 man, what is good; and what.doth Jehovah require of th.ee, but to do justly, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with thy God” (Micah 6:8). A visitor to the Congressional Library in Washington observes this passage as the motto of the alcove of books on religion. It contains the three major requirements of all true religion, namely, do justly, love mercy, walk humbly! It has ever been the function of the prophet to simplify religion. According to the Talmud David reduced the 613 requirements of the Pentateuch to eleven (Psalms 15). Micah sums them to total three. The Master reduced them to two: Love God; love thy neighbor (Matthew 22:35-40). Do justly: Justice is recognized as elementary morality. It is the basis of all moral character. No one renders to his Allows all his fellows have a right to expect. The justice set forth here is not the justice of Shylock, who persistently insisted upon his pound of flesh. Mere justice is not enough. The ideal justice portrayed by the prophet is the eternal justice of the Golden Rule: “All things therefore whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, even so do ye also to them; for this is the law and the prophets” (Matthew 7:12). The last clause is often overlooked.
Love kindness: This is above mere justice. Kindness postulates righteousness; for while justice implies a debt, kindness implies grace and favor. Indeed, kindness is the guaranty-of justice. If a-man does-not lqve a principle he will evade, if possible, its application. True, surely, to say: “The man who does good, but does not love, is not a good man. He pretends to be, but would be different if he could.” God wants not so much ours as us!
Walk humbly: This third essential is a condition of the other two. One cannot obey the first two without keeping the third. Amos asks, “Shall two walk together except they have agreed?” “To walk humbly” implies “bowing low” as little children. Humility is the great ornament of a righteous life.
Rights and Duties
“Render to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor” (Romans 13:7). It is a God-ordained duty to respect the families of others, the lives of others, the reputation of others, the property of others. As citizens of a nation, men obtain the same dues as they pay—namely, the right to be shielded from the adulterer, the murderer, the thief or covetous man, and the false witness. Among civilized nations, the laws of God set forth in the Decalog stand as the sure basis of civilization. In the passage under consideration the apostle speaks of duty to the nation of which each is a member. He does not regard it the duty of the church— Christians—to upset the existing order and frame another on a new model. No one today who prefers a Socialistic State to that under which he lives has the right to appeal to Christianity in support of his preference. This is not to say he has not the right to his preference, but rather he must not appeal to Christianity in support of it. The expression “Christian Socialism” is as meaningless as Christian individualism. Whatever one’s nation is, the apostle bids each member to render to all members their dues.
Brethren, it is hard to enjoy paying taxes; there is a decided preference that others should pay them. But this is not really harder than to pay with a glad heart and ready will the other duties each owes to his fellow- citizens. Let me venture to say that no one can pay his taxes in a Christian spirit whose active duty towards his nation is restricted to paying taxes. National duties, like family and social duties, require for their right performance that feeling of interest which looks not to one’s own satisfaction ond profit, but also to that of others. They require that touch of unselfish imagination which enables men to realize their kinship and common interests. Render therefore to all their dues. And in order to do this, put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make not provision for the flesh to fulfill its selfish lusts. The Blessings of Righteousness Not Limited to the Righteous Man Himself
The blessings of righteousness fall on the. children of the righteous man.
“A righteous man that walketh m his integrity, blessed are his children after him” (Proverbs 20:7).
“A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children’s children; and the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the righteous” (Proverbs 13:12). The righteous man is a guide to his neighbor also, (Proverbs 12:26). His character and his well-being are a matter of public, even of national concern, for there is something .winning in.him;Jae acts as. a saving influence upon those who are around him. ’Behold the righteous shall be recompensed in the earth (Proverbs 11:31). When the righteous mcrcase the people rejoice (Proverbs 29:2); when they triumph there is great glory (Proverbs 28:12); when it goeth well with the righteous the city rejoiceth (Proverbs 11:10); and by the blessing of the upright the city is exalted (Proverbs 11:12). Yes righteousness cxalteth a nation. Blessing to himself, blessing to his children, his neighbors, his country, is the beautiful reward of the righteous man.
Counsel
This address is to my younger fellowmen who will yield to none in point of respectability, prospective in-fluence, and importance. Suggestions have been made on the high import of righteous conduct, and a plea in your own behalf, and in behalf of a world which -needs your influence, and your highest, holiest efforts. Others may talk of philanthropy and benevolence, but who gave their hearts and their energies for the salvation of the world, except those whose minds have been enlightened, and whose hearts have been impressed by the truths of Christianity? Who built the first hospital known on earth? A Christian. Who cenceived the idea of free schools for the whole community? A Christian. Who are the men who have pushed civilization among the barbarous, who have broken fetters, both from body and mind, and created civil liberty, for man? Who ever made efforts, vigorous, systematic, untiring, to spread free inquiry, to instruct the ignorant, to invigorate the mind, and raise the intellectual and moral character of mankind? They are the enlightened men who act under the influence of the Bible. To the youth of our nation—to those whose minds are now in a process of cultivation and discipline, we now look for those elevated souls who will go abroad over the face of the earth for the good of all. If the mind of man shall ever be raised from its brutishness and debasement; if liberty is to wave her banner where tyranny now sits; if woman is ever to occupy the station for which she was created; if domestic happiness is to be known and enjoyed through the world—the youth in our schools, who have been born from above, have a great work to do.
Never did young men approach, the stage of action under circumstances more intensely interesting—circumstances which demand a regenerated, purified heart, a balanced, disciplined mind, a burning zeal and elo-quence, and a love for doing good which many waters cannot quench, nor floods drown. You live in a nation full of enterprise and increasing in daring experiments and hazardous venture. You will live and act among those who will give permanency to our institutions, or you will begin the work of undermining. You are coming forward at a time when mind seems to be exhausting itself, and genius to be leaving poetry, that he may aid in subduing matter, so that scores of miles may be reduced to nothing, and time and space so annihilated, that a journey across the continent is a matter of a few hours. You are to act in a time when public opinion is most compelling. A standing army retires before it, and marshals only in the shade of the thrones of tyrants. Every man has opportunity to do good or hurt. You are coming forward at a time, and in a nation, where a good education is a sure passport to re-spectability, to influence, to power.
You have friends to cheer you on in every worthy enterprise, who will uphold your hands when they fall, encourage you when you fail, share your burdens, and rejoice in your success. You come forward with the history, the experiences of all other nations in your grasp. You have the Bible, too—the mightiest of all weapons—, under whose broad and powerful aid, individual and national character ripens into greatness, and one which is the sole grand instrument of blessing mankind. Under the full, the purifying light of the gospel, you are called to live and to act. Live for God, fulfill the high destiny which is before you. There are thousands all around you to cheer you onward, to strike hands with you, and go forward as agents of a benevo- ' lence whose aim is to bring many sons and daughters to glory. Enlist your powers, your faculties, your energies, your heart in a crusade for righteousness. White and full are the fields that await you; girded and strong are the companions who will go with you; beautiful upon the mountains shall be your feet, wherever they carry the tidings of the beauty of the Lord. The state of the world is such, and so much depends on action, that every thing seems to say loudly to every man, “Do something"—“do it”—“do it.” The mother of all graces of conduct is the bowing of the will to divine authority. To obey self is sin, to obey God is righteousness. The issue of such obedience are “length of days . . . peace.” “The path of the just is as a shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day” (Proverbs 4:18). A Solemn Obligation
There is clearly an obligation to treat all men with a spirit of Christian love. But what is it for which love calls? The answer is: Love seeks for whatever is best, both for him who receives and him who gives. The aim of the largest life for all persons whom we can reach must always be kept in view. In a large measure social righteousness is concerned with the thought of the world which now is.
There is not the desire to speak in terms that might seem to be reproach and scolding. The question is far too serious, the ailment is far too widespread, to need or to warrant any exaggeration. But, brethren, far too often have men thought of righteousness as a kind of “fire-escape.” To many, it comes as a new thought that, in so far as practical living is concerned, each life ought to be that which steadily increases in the manifestation of righteousness. Teachers who have understood Christianity best have insisted that to the most complete degree the present world must be re-deemed by the life-giving forces which inhere therein. It must be in our thinking that earthly righteousness takes its start from heavenly righteousness. God is present, and manifests his holy love. This love manifests itself chiefly in the conscience and the love of the Christian. But the terms must not be used in the abstract. Abstract conscientiousness leads one’s life out of touch with things that are real. Abstract love exhausts itself in well-wishing. Both conscience and love must be kept close to the earth by emphasis upon the actual realities of the sphere of our existence. Righteousness is the best and the highest in the ordering of a life here and now, and if the life is right now in the present time, each of us may be assured that it will be right in the future life.
Conclusion
May God grant us a clear vision that we may' know that the principal thing is righteousness; it is for it that all religion exists. What a man believes in his heart we can never fully know, but whether he is righteous or not is a matter as plain as day. If we see the lovely graces which shine in our Lord Jesus Christ, gleaming, however fitfully, in our fellow-men, let us recognize the Master there. “If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one also that doeth righteousness is begotten of him” (1 John 2:29).
Let us know that a nation’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which it possesseth, nor in the extent of the empire which it rules, and that national sincerity and veracity are bred in a people in proportion as they recognize the judgments and the mercies of the God of truth. National loyalty depends at last on common faithfulness to our immortal and invisible King.
“Peace” is a word which includes all well-being. “God gives peace to men through righteousness. Peace is always the consequence of righteousness. Paul speaks of ‘the peaceable fruit of righteousness, which is freely accorded to just and righteous men and nations. There can be no real peace in the world except through righteousness—the grand source from which all happiness springs.”—A. Campbell.