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Three lines of thought are here laid down. We have -

I. A MARK OF GOOD GOVERNMENT. The displacement of the unworthy and the elevation of the good and wise. Under the reign of the righteous King (ver. 1) the "fool will no longer be called a nobleman," the man of mean character but lofty rank will be made to know his true place in the commonwealth; on the other hand, the man who has in him the qualities of nobility (ver. 8) shall have the opportunity of dealing graciously and bountifully. There is no surer sign of demoralization, no more certain indication of approaching ruin in any community, than the promotion of the unfit and the unworthy; and there is no healthier symptom than the advancement of the upright and the capable. Let nations, societies, Churches, look to it.

II. A HINT AS TO SIN'S LARGE DIMENSIONS.

1. Its tenacity of purpose. "The vile person will [continue to] speak villany, and his heart [to] work iniquity" (ver. 6). You may put him in a position in which you might hope that the commonest self-respect would ensure propriety of conduct, but you will be mistaken; the corrupt tree will bear evil fruit on any soil.

2. Its guilefulness. "To practice hypocrisy;" professing justice and purity, it enacts all that is unfair and evil.

3. Its falsity. "To utter error," etc. Sin, especially when found in high places, is most mischievous in that it scatters everywhere the fruitful seeds of error; it poisons the mind with misleading fancies, with shallow notions which may sound well but are essentially false and which conduct to wrong and ruin. Thus it leads men to act "against the Lord," for they pursue a path which he has forbidden, and they diffuse principles which are hostile to his reign.

4. Its heartlessness. (Ver. 6.) What though the issue of those evil actions be that men's hearts are hungry and their souls athirst; what though they bring about impoverishment, destitution - bodily or spiritual, or both together, - let the cup be drained, let the game be played out!

5. Its unscrupulousness. Its "instruments are evil" (ver. 7).

6. Its effrontery. (Ver. 7.) They whom it is wronging may be the poor, and therefore the appropriate objects of compassion; they may be the innocent, those who are in the right, and therefore the proper objects of regard; nothing but downright falsehood may suffice to prevail against them (Ahab and Naboth). No matter; let the case be established, let sentence be executed!

III. A COMMENDATION OF GENEROSITY. "The liberal deviseth liberal things," etc. (ver. 8).

1. A man of a noble nature will find opportunities for doing generous things. How well a man serves the Church or the world is not a question of circumstance half so much as a matter of character. Given a free, generous, open-hearted man, and you may confidently reckon on repeated and continuous acts of unselfish usefulness. 'Jesus "went about doing good, for God was with him," and because God was in him; because, in him, as in a perennial fountain, dwelt Divine love, pity, self-sacrifice. We need care comparatively little about arranging opportunities of service, though that is not a matter of indifference; what is of supreme consequence is that those we teach and train should have planted within them the sacred seeds of holy, Christian generosity.

2. Generous measures will give a noble heart stability: by them "he shall stand."

(1) They will commend him to the affection and the support of the direct recipients of his goodness (Job 29:11-13).

(2) They will result in general prosperity (Proverbs 11:24; Luke 6:38; 2 Corinthians 9:6).

(3) They will. command the blessing of God (Psalm 41:1; Psalm 112:9; Luke 6:35; Hebrews 13:16). - C.

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KJV: The vile person shall be no more called liberal, nor the churl said to be bountiful.

WEB: The fool will no longer be called noble, nor the scoundrel be highly respected.