Page:An Exposition of the Old and New Testament (1828) vol 4.djvu/74

68 tender Branch should be so watered with the dews of heaven, as to become a strong Rod for a sceptre to rule, v. 2.

1. In general; the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him. The Holy Spirit, in all his gifts and graces, shall not only come, but rest and abide, upon him; he shall have the Spirit not by measure, but without measure, the fulness of the Godhead dwelling in him. Col. i. 19.—ii. 9. He began his preaching with this, (Luke iv. 18.) The Spirit of the Lord is upon me.

2. In particular; the spirit of government, by which he should be every way fitted for that judgment which the Father has committed to him, and given him authority to execute, John v. 22, 27. And not only so, but he should be made the Fountain and Treasury of all grace to believers, that from his fulness they might all receive the Spirit of grace, as all the members of the body derive animal spirits from the head. (1.) He shall have the spirit of wisdom and understanding, of counsel and knowledge; he shall thoroughly understand the business he is to be employed in. No man knows the Father but the Son, Matth. xi. 27. What he is to make known to the children of men concerning God, and his mind and will, he shall be himself acquainted with and apprised of, John i. 18. He shall know how to administer his spiritual kingdom in all the branches of it, so as effectually to answer the two great intentions of it, the glory of God, and the welfare of the children of men. The terms of the covenant shall be settled by him, and ordinances instituted, in wisdom: treasures of wisdom shall be in him; he shall be our Counsellor, and shall be made of God to us Wisdom. (2.) The spirit of courage, or might, or fortitude; the undertaking was very great, abundance of difficulty must be broken through, and therefore it was necessary that he should be so endowed that he might not fail, or be discouraged, ch. xiii. 1. He was famed for courage in his teaching the way of God in truth, and not caring for any man, Matth. xxii. 16. (3.) The Spirit of religion, or the fear of the Lord; not only he shall himself have a reverent affection for his Father, as his servant, (ch. xiii. 1.) and he was heard in that he feared, (Heb. v. 7.) but he shall have a zeal for religion, and shall design the advancement of it in his whole undertaking. Our faith in Christ was never designed to supersede and justle out, but to increase and support, our fear of the Lord.

III. That he should be accurate and critical, and very exact in the administration of his government, and the exercise of the power committed to him; (v. 3.) The Spirit wherewith he shall be clothed, shall make him of quick understanding, in the fear of the Lord; of an acute smell or scent, so the word is, for the apprehensions of the mind are often expressed by the sensations of the body. Note, 1. Those are most truly and valuably intelligent, that are so in the fear of the Lord, in the business of religion, for that is both the foundation and top-stone of wisdom. 2. By this it will appear that we have the Spirit of God, if we have spiritual senses exercised, and are of quick understanding, in the fear of the Lord; those have divine illumination, that know their duty, and know how to go about it. (3.) Therefore, Jesus Christ had the Spirit without measure, that he might perfectly understand his undertaking; and he did so, as appears not only in the admirable answers he gave to all that questioned with him, which proved him to be of quick understanding, in the fear of the Lord; but in the management of his whole undertaking. He has settled the great affair of religion so unexceptionably well, (so as effectually to secure both God's honour and man's happiness,) that it must be owned, he thoroughly understood it.

IV. That he should be just and righteous in all the acts of his govemment, and there should appear in it as much equity as wisdom. He shall judge, as he expresses it himself, and as he himself would be judged of, John vii. 24.

1. Not according to outward appearance; (v. 3.) He shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, with respect of persons, (Job xxxiv. 19.) and according to outward shows and appearances, nor reprove after the hearing of his ears, by common fame and report, and the representations of others, as men oft do; nor does he judge of men by the fair words they speak, calling him Lord, Lord, or their plausible actions before the eye of the world, which they do to be seen of men; but he will judge by the hidden man of the heart, and the inward principles men are governed by, of which he is an infallible Witness. Christ will judge the secrets of men; (Rom. ii. 16.) will determine concerning them, not according to their own pretensions and appearances, that were to judge after the sight of the eyes; not according to the opinion others have of them, that were to judge after the hearing of the ears; but we are sure that his judgment is according to truth.

2. He will judge righteous judgment; (v. 5.) Righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins; he shall be righteous in the administration of his government, and his righteousness shall be his girdle, it shall constantly compass him and cleave to him, it shall be his ornament and honour; he shall gird himself for every action, shall gird on his sword for war in righteousness; his righteousness shall be his strength, and shall make him expeditious in his undertakings, as a man with his loins girt. In conformity to Christ, his followers must have the girdle of truth, (Eph. vi. 14.) and it will be the stability of the times. Particularly,

(1.) He shall in righteousness plead for the people that are poor and oppressed; he will be their Protector; (v. 4.) with righteousness shall he judge the poor, shall judge in favour and defence of those that have right on their side, though they are poor in the world, and because they are poor in spirit. It is the duty of princes to defend and deliver the poor, (Ps. lxxxii. 3, 4.) and the honour of Christ, that he is the poor man's King, Ps. lxxii. 2, 4. He shall debate with evenness for the meek of the earth, or of the land; those that bear the injuries done them, with meekness and patience, are in a special manner entitled to the divine care and protection. I, as a deaf man, heard not, for thou wilt hear, Ps. xxxviii. 13, 14. Some read it, He shall reprove or correct the meek of the earth with equity. If his own people, the meek of the land, do amiss, he will visit their transgression with the rod.

(2.) He shall in righteousness plead against his enemies that are proud and oppressors; (v. 4.) But he shall smite the earth, the man of the earth, that oppresses; (see Ps. x. 18.) the men of the world, that mind earthly things only; (Ps. xvii. 14.) these he shall smite with the rod of his mouth, the word of his mouth, speaking terror and ruin to them; his threatenings shall take hold of them, and be executed upon them; with the breath of his lips, by the operation of his Spirit, according to his word, and working with and by it, he shall slay the wicked. He will do it easily, with a word's speaking, as he laid those flat who came to seize him, by saying, I am he, John xviii. 6. Killing terrors shall arrest their consciences, killing judgments shall ruin them, their power, and all their interests; and in the other world everlasting tribulation will be recompensed to those that trouble his poor people. The apostle applies this to the destruction of the man of sin, whom he calls that wicked one, (2 Thes. ii. 8.) whom the Lord will consume with the spirit of his mouth. And the Chaldee here reads it, He shall slay that