office, the honourable man, the gravity of whose aspect commands reverence, and whose age and experience make him fit to be a counsellor. Trade is one great support to a nation, even manufactures and handicraft trades; and therefore when the old stay is to be broken, the cunning artificer too shall be taken away; and the last is the eloquent orator, the man skilful of speech, who in some cases may do good service, though he be none of the prudent or the ancient, by putting the sense of others in good language; Moses cannot speak well, but Aaron can. God threatens to take these away, 1. To disable them for the service of their country; making the judges fools, taking away the speech of the trusty, and the understanding of the aged, Job xii. 17, &c. Every creature is that to us, that God makes it to be; and we cannot be sure that those who have been serviceable to us, shall always be so. 2. To put an end to their days; for princes are therefore not to be trusted in, because their breath goeth forth, Ps. cxlvi. 3, 4. Note, The removal of useful men by death, in the midst of their usefulness, is a very threatening symptom to any people.
IV. Was their government a support to them? It ought to be so, it is the business of the sovereign to bear up the pillars of the land, Ps. lxxv. 3. But it is here threatened that this stay should fail them. When the mighty men and the prudent are removed, Children shall be their princes; children in age, who must be under tutors and governors, who will be clashing with one another, and making a prey of the young king and his kingdom; children in understanding and disposition, childish men, such as are babes in knowledge, no more fit to rule than a child in the cradle, these shall rule over them, with all the folly, fickleness, and frowardness, of a child. And, wo unto thee, O land, when thy king is such a one! Eccl. x. 16.
V. Was the union of the subjects among themselves, their good order, and the good understanding and correspondence that they kept with one another, a stay to them? Where this is, a people may do better, though their princes be not such as they should be; but it is here threatened that God would send an evil spirit among them too, (as Judg. ix. 23.) which would make them, 1. Injurious and unneighbourly one towards another; (v. 5.) The people shall be oppressed every one by his neighbour; and their princes being children, take no care to restrain the oppressors, or relieve the oppressed; nor is it to any purpose to appeal to them, (which is a temptation to every man to be his own avenger;) and then they bite and devour one another, and will soon be consumed one of another. Then Homo homini lupus—Man becomes a wolf to man. Jusque datum sceleri—Wickedness receives the stamp of law. Nec hospes ab hospite tutus—The guest and the host are in danger from each other. 2. Insolent and disorderly towards their superiors. It is as ill an omen to a people as can be, when the rising generation among them are generally untractable, rude, and ungovernable, when the child behaves himself proudly against the ancient; whereas he should rise up before the hoary head, and honour the face of the old man, Lev. xix. 32. When young people are conceited and pert, and carry it scornfully to ward their superiors, it is not only a reproach to themselves, but of ill consequence to the public; it slackens the reins of government, and weakens the hands that hold them. It is likewise ill with a people when persons of honour cannot support their authority, but are affronted by the base and beggarly; when judges are insulted by the mob, and their powers set at defiance. Those have a great deal to answer for, who do this.
VI. Is it some stay, some support, to hope that, though matters may be now ill managed, yet others may be raised up, who may manage better? Yet this expectation also shall be frustrated, for the case shall be so desperate, that no man of sense or substance will meddle with it.
1. The government shall go a begging, v. 6. Here, (1.) It is taken for granted that there is no way of redressing all these grievances, and bringing things into order again, but by good magistrates, who shall be invested with power by common consent, and shall exert that power for the good of the community. And it is probable that this was, in many places, the true origin of government; men found it necessary to unite in a subjection to one who was thought fit for such a trust, in order to the welfare and safety of them all; being aware that they must either be ruled or ruined. Here there fore is the original contract; "Be thou our ruler, and we will be subject to thee, and let this ruin be under thy hand, to be repaired and restored, and then to be preserved and established, and the interests of it advanced, ch. lviii. 12. Take care to protect us by the sword of war from being injured from abroad, and by the sword of justice from being injurious one to another, and we will bear faith and true allegiance to thee." (2.) The case is represented as very deplorable, and things were come to a sad pass; for, [1.] Children being their princes, every man will think himself fit to prescribe who shall be a magistrate, and will be for preferring his own relations; whereas, if the princes were as they should be, it would be left entirely to them to nominate the rulers, as it ought to be. [2.] Men will find themselves under a necessity even of forcing power into the hands of those that are thought to be fit for it; a man shall take hold by violence of one to make him a ruler, perceiving him ready to resist the motion; nay, he shall urge it upon his brother; whereas commonly, men are not willing that their equals should be their superiors; witness the envy of Joseph's brethren. [3.] It will be looked upon as ground sufficient for the preferring of a man to be a ruler, that he has clothing better than his neighbours; a very poor qualification to recommend a man to a place of trust in the government: it was a sign that the country was much impoverished, when it was a rare thing to find a man that had good clothes, or that could afford to buy himself an alderman's gown, or a judge's robe; and that the people were very unthinking, when they had so much respect to a man in gay clothing, with a gold ring, (Jam. ii. 2, 3.) that, for the sake thereof, they would make him their ruler. It had been some sense to have said, "Thou hast wisdom, integrity, experience; be thou our ruler;" but it was a jest to say, Thou hast clothing; be thou our ruler. A poor wise man, though in vile raiment, delivered a city, Eccl. ix. 15. We may allude to this, to show how desperate the case of fallen man was, when our Lord Jesus was pleased to become our Brother, and, though he was not courted, offered himself to be our Ruler and Saviour and to take this ruin under his hand.
2. Those who are thus pressed to come into office, will swear themselves off, because, though they are taken to be men of some substance, yet they know themselves unable to bear the charges of the office, and to answer the expectations of those that choose them, v. 7. He shall swear, (shall lift up the hand, the ancient ceremony used in taking an oath,) I will not be a healer, make not me a ruler. Note Rulers must be healers, and good rulers will be so; they must study to unite their subjects, and not widen the differences that are among them; those only are fit for government, that are of a meek, quiet, healing spirit: they must also heal the wounds that are given to any of the interests of their people, by suitable applications. But why will he not be a ruler? Because in my house is neither bread nor clothing.
