Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Isaiah 32:2

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Isaiah 32:2. As the shadow of a great rock — The shadow of a great projecting rock is the most refreshing that is possible in a hot country, not only as most perfectly excluding the rays of the sun, but also as having in itself a natural coolness, which it reflects and communicates to every thing about it.

Speluncaeque tegant, et saxea procubet umbra.

VIRG. Georg. iii. 145.

"Let the cool cave and shady rock protect them."

Επει κεφαλην και γουνατα Σειριος αζει,

Αυαλεος δε τε χρως απο καυματος· αλλα τοτ' ηδη

Ειη πετραιη τε σκιν, και Βιβλινος οινος.

HESIOD. ii. 206.

"When Sirius rages, and thine aching head,

Parched skin, and feeble knees refreshment need;

Then to the rock's projected shade retire,

With Biblin wine recruit thy wasted powers."

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

A kingdom of righteousness (32:1-20)

Looking beyond the victory over the Assyrians, Isaiah sees the day when the people of God are under the rule of an ideal government. At the head of this government is a king whose chief officials share his characteristics of integrity, justice and mercy. Together they give their people protection and contentment (32:1-2).
In such a kingdom the people as a whole reflect in their lives the qualities of their rulers. They have a desire to know more of God and his ways and to live lives of greater usefulness to others (3-4). If people speak foolishly, act selfishly, or plot cunningly how to exploit the disadvantaged, they will find that in such a society they are shown up to be what they really are (5-7). In the same way the upright will be recognized for what they are, and honoured accordingly (8).
Returning to the Jerusalem of his own time, Isaiah announces that the upper class women who live luxuriously will suddenly find themselves poor. The vineyards that provide them with a constant supply of wine will be destroyed, and the city where they find their pleasure will be smashed to ruins (9-14).
Only after the removal of all these evils does the ideal age begin. This age is characterized by justice and righteousness, because the people have God’s Spirit poured out upon them (15-16). The result is peace, safety, joy, freedom and prosperity such as people have never known before (17-20).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

"Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in justice. And a man shall be as a hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest, as streams of water in a dry place, as the shade of a great rock in a weary land. And the eyes of them that see shall not be dim, and the ears of them that hear shall hearken. And the heart of the rash shall understand knowledge, and the tongues of the stammerers shall be ready to speak plainly. The fool shall be no more called noble, nor the churl said to be bountiful. For the fool will speak folly, and his heart will work iniquity, to practice profaneness, and to utter terror against Jehovah, to make empty the soul of the hungry, and to cause the drink of the thirsty to fail. And the instruments of the churl are evil: he deviseth wicked devices to destroy the meek with lying words, even when the needy speaketh right. But the noble deviseth noble things; and in noble things shall he continue."

There is much difference of opinion about the identity of that "King who shall reign in righteousness," which is the prominent feature of this paragraph. Jewish commentators usually take the position that it is Hezekiah who is here spoken of; and some Christian scholars have accepted this. Barnes stated flatly that, "This king is Hezekiah."Albert Barnes' Commentary, p. 469. He defended this position by pointing out the superiority of Hezekiah's rule over that of the evil Manasseh who succeeded him, and also such scripture references as the following:

"He removed the high places and broke the images and cut down the grove. He trusted in the Lord God of Israel, so that after him there was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him, for he clave unto the Lord, and departed not from following him" (2 Kings 18:3-5).

Yes, indeed, in the context of a record of other kings of Israel, Hezekiah was indeed righteous; but in the absolute sense, no. The situation is the same as it was with other Old Testament heroes who bore the designation of "righteous men." For example, Lot, Noah, and others whose lives were indeed blemished with sin were called, "righteous in their generation" (Genesis 7:1); and that is the way we understand the "righteousness of Hezekiah." Certainly, Hezekiah was not righteous when he was going along with that plot to make an alliance with Egypt, contrary to God's will.

There are serious reasons why the theory of this "king's" being Hezekiah cannot be accepted. (1) Neither Hezekiah nor the conditions during his reign fulfill the conditions of justice, righteousness, and proper understanding and discernment by the people in all the land. "The evidence does not seem to warrant this interpretation."Broadman Bible Commentary (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1971), p. 282.

(2)    It is also impossible to receive this as a promise of Hezekiah's reign, because Hezekiah was already reigning, and the passage speaks of a "future situation.," not one that already existed. "The king here is not Hezekiah, who was already on the throne, whereas a future time is contemplated."Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's Commentary, p. 465.

(3)    Objections to the refusal to see this as a Messianic passage are weak and ineffective. Some, of course, say that in Christ's kingdom, there are no "princes" to reign with Him. While true enough in an ordinary sense, it is nevertheless true that "all Christians" are a "royal priesthood" (1 Peter 2:9); and does not the Bible say, "He hath made us (Christians) to be kings and priests unto God" (Revelation 1:6 KJV), and that Our Lord himself is "The prince of the kings of the earth" (Revelation 1:5), and that, "They (Christians) lived and reigned with Christ"? (Revelation 20:6). Furthermore, the fundamental Pauline teaching of the New Testament is that every Christian is "baptized `into Christ,'" is therefore a member of Christ's spiritual body; and that it is proper to say that Christians are in a sense "actually Christ." Whatever Christ does, Christians also do. Whatever he did, they "have therefore done"; and that is why the redeemed may lawfully say that they "have already died to sin" in the person of their Savior.

The germ of that very important Pauline conception is therefore right here in this chapter of Isaiah.

(4)    Another objection is that no clear picture of Christ appears in these verses; and that objection disappears completely when the passage is understood, not as a picture of the King, but as a prophecy of His Kingdom, of the Messianic Age; and a number of discerning scholars have properly understood this:

"Christ's kingdom will fulfill God's holy ideal of a holy commonwealth, administering perfect righteousness throughout the earth.Wycliffe Old Testament Commentary, p. 631. This is the fourth of Isaiah's promises of the Messiah: Isa. 7:14; 9:6f; 11:1ff; and 32:1.The New Bible Commentary, Revised, p. 608. The role of the coming Messiah fits the description in this verse. He is the King who shall role in righteousness.Homer Hailey, p. 268. Here are the characteristics of the future age."J. R. Dummelow's Commentary, p. 436.

As excellent a commentary on this passage as any we have seen is the following from Peake, who, although a critical scholar, offered the following:

"Here is a description of the Messianic time, though the figure of the Messiah does not appear in the passage. King and princes will reign in righteousness, each of them a source of shelter and refreshment. The present failure in moral insight and responsiveness will be removed; the inconsiderate will gain judgment, the faulty speaker the faculty of lucid expression. Men will be designated in harmony with their true character. The fool shall no longer be called noble, nor the swindler an aristocrat; for fool and swindler will act in accordance with their nature, but the noble will resolve on noble schemes and persist in their execution."Peake's Commentary Series, p. 457.

Before leaving these first eight verses we should notice a little further the satanic habit of giving sins and sinful men names that tend to ameliorate their shame and unworthiness. The drunkard is called an "alcoholic"; the vicious murderer is judged to be "sick"; the grossly immoral is labeled as a "schizophrenic"; the shoplifter, the gambler, and other sinners are also dignified with special names and descriptions. In the kingdom of Christ, however, things will be called what they are! "God's standard of judgment will at last become man's standard."Wycliffe Old Testament Commentary, p. 631.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

And a man - That is, evidently, the man referred to in the previous verse, to wit, Hezekiah.

Shall be as an hiding-place from the wind - A place where one may take refuge from a violent wind and tempest (see the note at Isaiah 25:4).

A covert - A place of shelter and security. Wind and tempest are emblematic of calamity and oppression; and the sense is, that Hezekiah would be the protector of his people, and would save them from the calamities to which they had been subjected in former reigns.

As rivers of water - This figure is often used in Isaiah (see Isaiah 35:6-7; and the notes at Isaiah 41:18). It means that the blessings of such a reign would be as grateful and refreshing as gushing fountains and running streams were to a thirsty traveler. Here it refers to the benefits that would be conferred by the reign of Hezekiah - a reign which, compared with that of his father, would be like a refreshing fountain to a weary pilgrim in a pathless desert.

As the shadow of a great rock - In a burning desert of sand nothing is more grateful than the cooling shade of a far-projecting rock. It not only excludes the rays of the sun, but it has itself a refreshing coolness that is most grateful to a weary traveler. The same figure is often used by the classic writers (see Virgil, “Georg.” iii, 145; Hesiod, ii. 106).

In a weary land - A land where there is fatigue and weariness. Probably here it is used to denote a land destitute of trees, and groves, and pleasant abodes; a land where one expects weariness and fatigue without any refreshment and shelter. The following description from Campbell’s “Travels in Africa” will explain this: ‘Well does the traveler remember a day in the wilds of Africa, where the country was chiefly covered with burning sand; when, scorched with the powerful rays of an almost vertical sun, the thermometer in the shade standing at 100 degrees (Fahrenheit). He remembers long looking hither and thither for something that would afford protection from the almost insupportable heat, and where the least motion of air felt like a flame coming against the face. At length he espied a huge loose rock leaning against the front of a small cliff which faced the sun. At once he fled for refuge underneath its inviting shade. The coolness emitted from this rocky canopy he found exquisitely exhilarating. The wild beasts of the deserts were all fled to their dens, and the feathered songsters were all roosting among the thickest foliage they could find of the evergreen trees. The whole creation around seemed to groan, as if their vigor had been entirely exhausted. A small river was providentially at hand, to the side of which, after a while, he ventured, and sipped a little of its cooling water, which tasted better than the best Burgundy, or the finest old hock in the world. During all this enjoyment, the above apropos text was the interesting subject of the traveler’s meditation; though the allusion as a figure, must fall infinitely short of that which is meant to be prefigured by it.’

(The whole of this passage is capable of beautiful application to the Messiah and his times; while the language of the second verse cannot be supposed descriptive of any “creature;” it is so associated in our minds with the character and functions of the Divine Redeemer, that we cannot easily acquiesce in any meaner application. ‘To interpret the sublime imagery of this verse Isaiah 32:2 in application to a mere human being, would be quite repugnant to the spirit of the sacred writers, by whom Yahweh alone is represented as the source of protection and refreshment to his people, and all trust in creatures solemnly interdicted’ (Henderson). Doubtless, if Hezekiah be at all intended, it is in a typical or inferior sense only. A greater than Hezekiah is here; the language and figures used are precisely such as are elsewhere by the prophet applied to Yahweh Isaiah 4:6; Isaiah 25:4; while the particulars characteristic of the times predicted, are just such as elsewhere he connects with gospel times (compare Isaiah 29:18; Isaiah 35:5). The things predicted, according to this view, are a righteous administration under Messiah the prince Isaiah 32:1; protection and refreshment to his subjects; protection from the wrath of God and the temptations of Satan, and the rage of the world; refreshment by the consolutions and graces of his Spirit, which are as rivers of water in this dry land’ Isaiah 32:2; a desire for knowledge and such facility in the acquisition of it, that even persons ordinarily supposed disqualified should both clearly understand, and easily and accurately express the truth Isaiah 32:3-4; a just appreciation of character and estimation of people in accordance therewith Isaiah 32:5; and, finally, the prevalence of a loving, liberal spirit, setting itself to devise and execute plans of benevolence on a scale hitherto unprecedented Isaiah 32:8; Psalms 110:3; Acts 2:44-45; 2 Corinthians 8:1, 2 Corinthians 8:4; 2 Corinthians 9:2)

Calvin's Commentary on the Bible

2.And that man shall be. How great is the importance of well-regulated government the Prophet shews plainly by these words, when he calls that king a hiding-place from the wind, and a covert from the rain; for mankind can never be so happy as when every one voluntarily abstains from every kind of violence and injustice, and when they conduct themselves peaceably and without restraint. Since, therefore, most men are urged and driven by their furious passions to acts of injustice, men would be embroiled in incessant quarreling if a remedy were not provided in the laws and courts of justice; but as many rulers, by a tyrannical exercise of power, raise more troubles than they allay, it is not without good reason that the good king is honored by this peculiar commendation. If this was said with truth concerning Hezekiah, much more may it be said concerning Christ, in whom we have our best, or rather, our only refuge in those storms by which we must be tossed about as long as we dwell in this world. Whenever, therefore, we are scorched by oppressive heat, let us learn to retire under his shadow; whenever we are tossed about by tempests, and think that we are overwhelmed by the violence of the waves, let us learn to betake ourselves to him as our safest harbour; he will speedily bring every storm to a calm, and will completely restore what was ruined and decayed.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Chapter 32

Now as we get into chapter 32 Isaiah jumps over a couple of millennia at least, as he looks forward. As God is going to come down and as a crouching lion roaring and so forth, over her prey, in verse Isaiah 32:4 going back to chapter 31. As the Lord of hosts shall come down to fight for mount Zion, and for the hill thereof, He is likened unto a lion, a young lion that is roaring on his prey.

When you turn to the book of Revelation and you read there of the return of Jesus Christ, it declares in Revelation 10:3 ,"And He cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roars: and when he has cried, the seven thunders uttered their voices." So Christ in His returning is going to let forth a great cry like a lion that is roaring. Now here, of course, it declares it in Isaiah 31:4 . Also in Jeremiah 25:30 . Also in Joel, and in many places of the Old Testament is referring to the day that the Lord has come roaring as the lion.

And so He has come.

Behold, a King shall reign in righteousness, and princes will rule in judgment. And a man shall be as a hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land. And the eyes of them that see shall not be dim, and the ears of them that hear shall hearken. The heart also of the rash shall understand knowledge, and the tongue of the stammerers shall be ready to speak plainly ( Isaiah 32:1-4 ).

There's going to be a restoration when the King comes and reigns. No more will people be stuttering, stammer. Will speak plainly. And at this time,

The vile person shall be no more called liberal ( Isaiah 32:5 ),

I think that that's a very interesting verse, because we hear of liberals today, and for the most part, especially a theological liberal is an extremely vile person. But yet, they sort of hide behind the term of, "Well, I'm a liberal." And they use that as a covering for their vileness. And in that day, "the vile person will no more be called liberal."

nor the churl said to be bountiful ( Isaiah 32:5 ).

A rude kind of a bullish person.

For the vile person will speak villany, and his heart will work iniquity, to practice hypocrisy, and to utter error against the LORD ( Isaiah 32:6 ),

Now what an apt description this is of the liberals. Their hearts are seeking to work iniquity and to practice hypocrisy. And what tremendous hypocrisy there is. As in theology, the liberals are always redefining terms so that you don't know what they're talking about. And you have to ask them, "But what do you mean by born again?" Because they've even picked up the term born again. They use the terms charisma, and they use all kinds of terms and you listen to them talk and you say, "My, he's right on! He was talking about Christ." Yes, but what does he mean when he says Christ? Does he mean an anointing that, you know, the Christ in me and the Christ in you? What does he mean when he says born again? And they've redefined these terms so that they can use the terms and you listen to them talk and you think, "My, he's talking about being born again! Isn't that wonderful?" But if you get a definition of their terminology, you'll find what they mean by being born again is entirely different from what we understand what it is to be born again by the Spirit of God into a new spiritual life.

So the hypocrisy by changing the definition of words so that they can give forth their villainy, really, but you don't understand what they're saying because you don't have the glossary that they are using. But, "they seek to utter error against the Lord."

to make empty the soul of the hungry; and will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail ( Isaiah 32:6 ).

The thing about the liberal church and the liberal theologians is that they do not satisfy a person's real hunger for God. And people can go to church all their lives in these liberal churches and never really be satisfied. Their hunger for God's Word and God's truth never satisfied; their thirst for God never filled. Because the liberal theologians have absolutely nothing to offer of a true experience and relationship with God. Now they're extremely clever in their argumentation. In the presenting of their point. But their purpose is to become involved more politically and the presentation of the social gospel and the emphasis upon the social gospel. And to listen to them it sounds so good. It sounds so right. And here Isaiah is speaking of the day when the King comes and these liberals will be called what they really are.

The instruments also of the churl are evil: he devises wicked devices to destroy the poor with lying words, even when the needy speaketh right. But the liberal deviseth liberal things; and by liberal things shall he stand. Rise up ( Isaiah 32:7-9 ),

Now beginning with verse Isaiah 32:9 he turns now the attention and the thought to the women at this particular time in Jerusalem. And let me say that women are usually the true barometer of the moral state of a nation. Women are the ones who usually set the moral standards. And when the women become corrupted in their moral standards, there's nothing left. And so the prophet speaks out again as he did in an earlier chapter against the women in Jerusalem.

Rise up, ye women that are at ease; hear my voice, ye careless daughters; give ear unto my speech. Many days and years shall ye be troubled, ye careless women: for the vintage shall fail, the gathering shall not come. Tremble, ye women that are at ease; be troubled, ye careless ones: strip yourselves, make bare, and put on sackcloth on your loins ( Isaiah 32:9-11 ).

In other words, the time has come really not to just be looking for pleasure and ease but to really be seeking God and turning to God. Sackcloth was a garment of mourning and begin to mourn over the condition of the nation, the condition of the country. I think that the message of Isaiah to the women of that day is extremely important to the women of our day. For defiled womanhood means a defiled nation.

They shall lament ( Isaiah 32:12 )

And he speaks of the lamentation, and it brings to mind what Jesus said will take place during the Great Tribulation period when the time has come for those to flee from Jerusalem to the wilderness place. "Woe unto them," He said, "who in those days are nursing a child or who are pregnant." Woe unto them because it will be hard to flee from Jerusalem in a hurry to get away from the man of sin, the son of perdition who will be coming to defile the temple and to blaspheme God. So the women lamenting.

The land of my people shall come up thorns and briers; yea, upon all the houses of joy in the joyous city: because the palaces shall be forsaken; the multitude of the city shall be left; the forts and towers shall be for dens for ever, a joy of wild asses, a pasture of flocks; Until the Spirit be poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be counted for a forest ( Isaiah 32:13-15 ).

Until God begins His work of restoration. Now it is interesting how that the land of Israel did remain for centuries wasted, desolate, wild. And how that under this modern Zionist movement and the establishing of the nation Israel the wilderness is being turned into a fruitful garden. The valleys of Sharon which were marshlands, the valley of Megiddo which was marshland has been drained and now cultivated and tremendous agricultural development there. And so he speaks of the desolation of the land which did take place, "until the Spirit be poured upon us from on high."

"In the last days," the Lord said, "I'm going to pour out my Spirit upon all flesh" ( Joel 2:28 ). Joel prophesied that. And God is getting ready for this final outpouring. "The wilderness will be a fruitful field, a fruitful field be counted for a forest."

Then judgment shall dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness remain in the fruitful field. And the work of righteousness ( Isaiah 32:16-17 )

I love this verse.

The work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance for ever ( Isaiah 32:17 ).

What a beautiful verse. "The work of righteousness is peace; the effect of right living is just quietness and assurance for ever." I've done the right thing. I just rest in it. The quietness and the assurance. I've done the right thing. How beautiful it is.

And my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places; When it shall hail, coming down on the forest; and the city shall be low in a low place. Blessed are ye that sow beside all waters, that send forth thither the feet of the ox and the ass ( Isaiah 32:18-20 ). "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Coming deliverance in the future 32:1-8

Having introduced the eschatological day of the Lord (Isaiah 31:7) and the interim day of the Lord (Isaiah 31:8-9), Isaiah proceeded to reveal more about these times. He also contrasted the king of the Assyrians (Isaiah 31:9) with the messianic King to come.

"The destruction of the Assyrian army points prophetically to the final world conflict, which will usher in the rule of Christ, the perfect King of Israel. Christ’s kingdom will fulfill God’s ideal of a holy commonwealth, administering a perfect righteousness throughout the earth. God’s King will provide complete shelter to all who seek refuge in him, and he will satisfy their thirsty souls with living water." [Note: Archer, p. 631.]

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Each of these rulers will be a person of integrity and will be a source of provision and refreshment for the people of God, providing every beneficial care (cf. Isaiah 29:20-21; Matthew 20:28; John 10:11).

Gann's Commentary on the Bible

the glory of Yahweh --The coming of the glory of God causes this transformation of the wilderness (compare 40:3–5).

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest,.... Or, "that man"; the King Messiah before mentioned; who had agreed to become man, was promised and prophesied of as such, had often appeared in a human form, was to be incarnate, and now is; though he is not a mere man; were he, he could not be what is here said of him, "as a hiding place, and covert from the wind and tempest", of his Father's wrath, raised by sin; and which all men are deserving of, and on whom it must fall, unless secured from it by Christ; who has bore it in the room and stead of his people, has turned it away, and delivered them from it, and all the effects of it, so that nothing of it comes upon them; he has endured the whole force of the storm himself; and his righteousness, blood, sacrifice, and intercession, screen his people from it: he also hides and covers them from Satan's temptations, the blast of the terrible ones, which is as a storm against the wall, so as they shall not be destroyed by them; by praying for them, succouring of them, supplying them with his grace, and delivering from them in his own time: likewise he protects them from the rage and fury of their persecuting enemies, when they come like a "whirlwind" to "scatter" them; they have rest in him, when troubled by men; and security by him, when these winds and waves beat upon them; and when they are tossed with the tempests of afflictions of various kinds, he bears them up under them, and carries them through them, and delivers out of them, and brings them at last safe to glory:

as rivers of water in a dry place; which are very delightful, refreshing, and fructifying. This denotes the abundance of grace in Christ, and the freeness of it, which flows from the boundless ocean of divine love, and which greatly comforts and refreshes the souls of the Lord's people in this dry and barren land, and makes them cheerful and fruitful, revives their spirits, makes glad their hearts, and causes them to go on their way rejoicing:

as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land: to travellers in it, who passing through a desert in hot countries and sultry climates, are glad when they find a rock which casts a shade, under which their can sit a while, sheltered from the scorching sun. Such a weary land is this world to the saints, who are wearied with sins, their own and others, with Satan's temptations, with afflictions and troubles of various sorts; Christ is the "Rock" that is higher than they, to whom they are directed and led when their hearts are overwhelmed within them; on whom not only their souls are built, and their feet are set, and he is a shelter to them; but he casts a shadow, which is very reviving and refreshing, and that is the shadow of his word and ordinances, under which they sit with delight and pleasure, and which makes their travelling through this wilderness comfortable.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      1 Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment.   2 And a man shall be as a hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.   3 And the eyes of them that see shall not be dim, and the ears of them that hear shall hearken.   4 The heart also of the rash shall understand knowledge, and the tongue of the stammerers shall be ready to speak plainly.   5 The vile person shall be no more called liberal, nor the churl said to be bountiful.   6 For the vile person will speak villany, and his heart will work iniquity, to practise hypocrisy, and to utter error against the LORD, to make empty the soul of the hungry, and he will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail.   7 The instruments also of the churl are evil: he deviseth wicked devices to destroy the poor with lying words, even when the needy speaketh right.   8 But the liberal deviseth liberal things; and by liberal things shall he stand.

      We have here the description of a flourishing kingdom. "Blessed art thou, O land! when it is thus with thee, when kings, princes, and people, are in their places such as they should be." It may be taken as a directory both to magistrates and subjects, what both ought to do, or as a panegyric to Hezekiah, who ruled well and saw something of the happy effects of his good government, and it was designed to make the people sensible how happy they were under his administration and how careful they should be to improve the advantages of it, and withal to direct them to look for the kingdom of Christ, and the times of reformation which that kingdom should introduce. It is here promised and prescribed, for the comfort of the church,

      I. That magistrates should do their duty in their places, and the powers answer the great ends for which they were ordained of God, Isaiah 32:1; Isaiah 32:2. 1. There shall be a king and princes that shall reign and rule; for it cannot go well when there is no king in Israel. The princes must have a king, a monarch over them as supreme, in whom they may unite; and the king must have princes under him as officers, by whom he may act, 1 Peter 2:13; 1 Peter 2:14. They both shall know their place and fill it up. The king shall reign, and yet, without any diminution to his just prerogative, the princes shall rule in a lower sphere, and all for the public good. 2. They shall use their power according to law, and not against it. They shall reign in righteousness and in judgment, with wisdom and equity, protecting the good and punishing the bad; and those kings and princes Christ owns as reigning by him who decree justice, Proverbs 8:15. Such a King, such a Prince, Christ himself is; he reigns by rule, and in righteousness will he judge the world,Isaiah 9:7; Isaiah 11:4. 3. Thus they shall be great blessings to the people (Isaiah 32:2; Isaiah 32:2): A man, that man, that king that reigns in righteousness, shall be as a hiding-place. When princes are as they should be people are as they would be. (1.) They are sheltered and protected from many mischiefs. This good magistrate is a covert to the subject from the tempest of injury and violence; he defends the poor and fatherless, that they be not made a prey of by the mighty. Whither should oppressed innocency flee, when blasted by reproach or borne down by violence, but to the magistrate as its hiding-place? To him it appeals, and by him it is righted. (2.) They are refreshed and comforted with many blessings. This good magistrate gives such countenance to those that are poor and in distress, and such encouragement to every thing that is praiseworthy, that he is as rivers of water in a dry place, cooling and cherishing the earth and making it fruitful, and as the shadow of a great rock, under which a poor traveller may shelter himself from the scorching heat of the sun in a weary land. It is a great reviving to a good man, who makes conscience of doing his duty, in the midst of contempt and contradiction, at length to be backed, and favoured, and smiled upon in it by a good magistrate. All this, and much more, the man Christ Jesus is to all the willing faithful subjects of his kingdom. When the greatest evils befal us, not only the wind, but the tempest, when storms of guilt and wrath beset us and beat upon us, they drive us to Christ, and in him we are not only safe, but satisfied that we are so; in him we find rivers of water for those that hunger and thirst after righteousness, all the refreshment and comfort that a needy soul can desire, and the shadow, not of a tree, which sun or rain may beat through, but of a rock, of a great rock, which reaches a great way for the shelter of the traveller. Some observe here that as the covert, and the hiding-place, and the rock, do themselves receive the battering of the wind and storm, to save those from it that take shelter in them, so Christ bore the storm himself to keep it off from us.

      II. That subjects should do their duty in their places.

      1. They shall be willing to be taught, and to understand things aright. They shall lay aside their prejudices against their rulers and teachers, and submit to the light and power of truth, Isaiah 32:3; Isaiah 32:3. When this blessed work of reformation is set on foot, and men do their parts towards it, God will not be wanting to do his: Then the eyes of those that see, of the prophets, the seers, shall not be dim; but God will bless them with visions, to be by them communicated to the people; and those that read the word written shall no longer have a veil upon their hearts, but shall see things clearly. Then the ears of those that hear the word preached shall hearken diligently and readily receive what they hear, and not be so dull of hearing as they have been. This shall be done by the grace of God, especially gospel-grace; for the hearing ear, and the seeing eyes, the Lord has made, has new-made, even both of them.

      2. There shall be a wonderful change wrought in them by that which is taught them, Isaiah 32:4; Isaiah 32:4. (1.) They shall have a clear head, and be able to discern things that differ, and distinguish concerning them. The heart of those that were hasty and rash, and could not take time to digest and consider things, shall now be cured of their precipitation, and shall understand knowledge; for the Spirit of God will open their understanding. This blessed work Christ wrought in his disciples after his resurrection (Luke 24:45), as a specimen of what he would do for all his people, in giving them an understanding, 1 John 5:20. The pious designs of good princes are likely to take effect when their subjects allow themselves liberty to consider, and to think, so freely as to take things right. (2.) They shall have a ready utterance: The tongue of the stammerers, that used to blunder whenever they spoke of the things of God, shall now be ready to speak plainly, as those that understand what they speak of, that believe, and therefore speak. There shall be a great increase of such clear, distinct, and methodical knowledge in the things of God, that those from whom one would not have expected it shall speak intelligently of these things, very much to the honour of God and the edification of others. Their hearts being full of this good matter, their tongues shall be as the pen of a ready writer,Psalms 45:1.

      3. The differences between good and evil, virtue and vice, shall be kept up, and no more confounded by those who put darkness for light and light for darkness (Isaiah 32:5; Isaiah 32:5): The vile shall no more be called liberal.

      (1.) Bad men shall no more be preferred by the prince. When a king reigns in justice he will not put those in places of honour and power that are ill-natured, and of base and sordid spirits, and care not what injury or mischief they do so they may but compass their own ends. Such as vile persons (as Antiochus is called, Daniel 11:21); when they are advanced they are called liberal and bountiful; they are called benefactors (Luke 22:25): but it shall not always be thus; when the world grows wiser men shall be preferred according to their merit, and honour (which was never thought seemly for a fool, Proverbs 26:1) shall no longer be thrown away upon such.

      (2.) Bad men shall be no more had in reputation among the people, nor vice disguised with the colours of virtue. It shall no more be said to Nabal, Thou art Nadib (so the words are); such a covetous muck-worm as Nabal was, a fool but for his money, shall not be complimented with the title of a gentleman or a prince; nor shall they call a churl, that minds none but himself, does no good with what he has, but is an unprofitable burden of the earth, My lord; or, rather, they shall not say of him, He is rich; for so the word signifies. Those only are to be reckoned rich that are rich in good works; not those that have abundance, but those that use it well. In short, it is well with a people when men are generally valued by their virtue, and usefulness, and beneficence to mankind, and not by their wealth or titles of honour. Whether this was fulfilled in the reign of Hezekiah, and how far it refers to the kingdom of Christ (in which we are sure men are judged of by what they are, not by what they have, nor is any man's character mistaken), we will not say; but it prescribes an excellent rule both to prince and people, to respect men according to their personal merit. To enforce this rule, here is a description both of the vile person and of the liberal; and by it we shall see such a vast difference between them that we must quite forget ourselves if we pay that respect to the vile person and the churl which is due only to the liberal.

      [1.] A vile person and a churl will do mischief, and the more if he be preferred and have power in his hand; his honours will make him worse and not better, Isaiah 32:6; Isaiah 32:7. See the character of these base ill-conditioned men. First, They are always plotting some unjust thing or other, designing ill either to particular persons or to the public, and contriving how to bring it about; and so many silly piques they have to gratify, and mean revenges, that there appears not in them the least spark of generosity. Their hearts will be still working some iniquity or other. Observe, There is the work of the heart, as well as the work of the hands. As thoughts are words to God, so designs are works in his account. See what pains sinners take in sin. They labour at it; their hearts are intent upon it, and with a great deal of art and application they work iniquity. They devise wicked devices with all the subtlety of the old serpent and a great deal of deliberation, which makes the sin exceedingly sinful; and the more there is of plot and management in a sin the more there is of Satan in it. Secondly, They carry on their plots by trick and dissimulation. When they are meditating iniquity, they practise hypocrisy, feign themselves just men, Luke 20:20. The most abominable mischiefs shall be disguised with the most plausible pretences of devotion to God, regard to man, and concern for some common good. Those are the vilest of men that intend the worst mischiefs when they speak fair. Thirdly, They speak villainy. When they are in a passion you will see what they are by the base ill language they give to those about them, which no way becomes men of rank and honour; or, in giving verdict or judgment, they villainously put false colours upon things, to pervert justice. Fourthly, They affront God, who is a righteous God and loves righteousness: They utter error against the Lord, and therein they practise profaneness; for so the word which we translate hypocrisy signifies. They give an unjust sentence, and then profanely make use of the name of God for the ratification of it; as if, because the judgment is God's (Deuteronomy 1:17), therefore their false and unjust judgment was his. This is uttering error against the Lord, under pretence of uttering truth and justice for him; and nothing can be more impudently done against God than to use his name to patronise wickedness. Fifthly, They abuse mankind, those particularly whom they are bound to protect and relieve. 1. Instead of supplying the wants of the poor, they impoverish them, they make empty the souls of the hungry; either taking away the food they have, or, which is almost equivalent, denying the supply which they want and which they have to give. And they cause the drink of the thirsty to fail; they cut off the relief they used to have, though they need it as much as ever. Those are vile persons indeed that rob the spital. 2. Instead of righting the poor, when they appeal to their judgment, they contrive to destroy the poor, to ruin them in their courts of judicature with lying words in favour of the rich, to whom they are plainly partial; yea, though the needy speak right, though the evidence be ever so full for them to make out the equity of their cause, it is the bribe that governs them, not the right. Sixthly, These churls and vile persons have always had instruments about them, that are ready to serve their villainous purposes: All their servants are wicked. There is no design so palpably unjust but there may be found those that would be employed as tools to put it in execution. The instruments of the churl are evil, and one cannot expect otherwise; but this is our comfort, that they can do no more mischief than God permits them.

      [2.] One that is truly liberal, and deserves the honour of being called so, makes it his business to do good to every body according as his sphere is, Isaiah 32:8; Isaiah 32:8. Observe, First, The care he takes, and the contrivances he has, to do good. He devises liberal things. As much as the churl or niggard projects how to save and lay up what he has for himself only, so much the good charitable man projects how to use and lay out what he has in the best manner for the good of others. Charity must be directed by wisdom, and liberal things done prudently and with device, that the good intention of them may be answered, that it may not be charity misplaced. The liberal man, when he has done all the liberal things that are in his own power, devises liberal things for others to do according to their power, and puts them upon doing them. Secondly, the comfort he takes, and the advantage he has, in doing good: By liberal things he shall stand, or be established. The providence of God will reward him for his liberality with a settled prosperity and an established reputation. The grace of God will give him abundance of satisfaction and confirmed peace in his own bosom. What disquiets others shall not disturb him; his heart is fixed. This is the recompence of charity, Psalms 112:5; Psalms 112:6. Some read it, The prince, or honourable man, will take honourable courses; and by such honourable or ingenuous courses he shall stand or be established. It is well with a land when the honourable of it are indeed men of honour and scorn to do a base thing, when its king is thus the son of nobles.