Proverbs 14:34 - Homilies By W. Clarkson

The strength and the reproach of nations

I. SIN THE NATION 'S SHAME .

1 . A sinful nation in the sight of God. This is a nation of which the people have gone astray from him; do not approach him in worship; do not consult his will as revealed in his Word; have no ear to lend to those that speak in his Name; lose all sense of sacred duty in the pursuit of gain and pleasure.

2 . The flagrant guilt to which such godlessness leads down.

3 . This is the reproach to a people. A country may lose its population, or its wealth, or its pre-eminent influence, without being the object of reproach; but to fall into general impiety, and to live in the practice of wrong doing,—this is a disgrace; it brings a nation down in the estimate of all the wise; its name is clothed with shame; its fame has become infamy.

II. RIGHTEOUSNESS A NATION 'S STRENGTH . National righteousness does not consist in any public professions of piety, nor in the existence of great religious organizations, nor in the presence of a multitude of ecclesiastical edifices and officers; nations have had all these before now, and they have been destitute of real righteousness. That consists in the possession of a reverent spirit and an estimable character , and the practice of purity, justice, and kindness on the part of the people themselves (see Isaiah 58:1-14 .; Micah 6:6-8 ). In this is a nation's strength and exaltation, for it will surely issue in:

1 . Physical well being. Virtue is the secret of health and strength, of the multiplication and continuance of life and power.

2 . Material prosperity ; for righteousness is the foundation of educated intelligence, of intellectual energy and vigour, of commercial and agricultural enterprise, of maritime intrepidity and success.

3 . Moral and spiritual advancement.

4 . Estimation and influence among surrounding nations.

5. The abiding favour of God ( Psalms 81:13-16 ). We may learn from the text