The Rulers Must Be Just

At a Council held at the Council Chamber in Boston, upon Friday, May 29th. 1724.

J. Willard, Secr.

p. 1RULERS must be Just, Ruling in the Fear of GOD.

The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me, He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God:

And he shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds; as the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain.

THE last Words of great & good Men, are accounted Worthy of an attentive observation, and affectionate Remembrance. The Words now read are call'd the last Words of David, i. e. say Expositors, Some of the last which he spake by the Spirit of God, assisting and directing him in an Extraordinary Manner; or such as he often repeated to his last breath, [Mr. Pool, Mr. Henry] But indeed a greater than p. 2David is here: He was a Royal Prophet, and spake as inspir'd by the Holy Ghost. v.2. The Spirit of the Lord spake by me, and his Word was in my Tongue. The Spirit of God suggested these words to him, and govern'd him in the delivery of them: 2 Pet. 1.21. For the Prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. They were under the unerring guidance of this Divine Person as to the Matter and Words of the holy Scriptures; so that what they thus spake must be receiv'd not as the Word of Man, but as it is in truth, the Word of GOD.

AND here I may observe by the way, That inasmuch as it follows in the Words of my Text, The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me—Some suppose here's an intimation of the Three glorious Persons in the Trinity; The Father, the GOD of Israel, the Son, the Rock of Israel, and the Holy Spirit, proceeding from the Father and the Son, who spake by the Prophets, and particularly by the Mouth of his servant David. Whether this be the Truth of this Place or no, It is certainly a fundamental Article of our holy Religion, to be firmly believ'd because GOD hath reveal'd it. 1 Joh 5.7. For there are Three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, and these Three are One.

p. 2IN the Words of my Text, We may observe, 1. The Persons speaking: The GOD of Israel said. GOD is in a peculiar Manner the GOD of his Israel, their Covenant GOD. The Rock of Israel; &c. by whom, as we have already hinted, some understand the Son of GOD, who is One with his p. 3Eternal Father in the Divine Essence, and is the Rock on whom the Church is built, the Strength and Support, Defence and Safety of his People. 2. We may observe, to, or of whom —. To me, i. e. To David, by way of Precept; or of me, i. e. of him, or his House, by way of Prediction and Promise. 3. What is said. He that ruleth over Men —. Some understand these Words as a Prophecy, and read them after this manner, There shall be a Ruler over Men, or among Men, viz. The Messiah,

who tho' he be the invisible GOD, yet shall visibly appear & Rule among Men.

Thus the words contain a Prophecy of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of David, and of his Kingdom, who is in an appropriate Sense, the Just One, and being filled with the Spirit, deserved this Character in Perfection, both respecting his Personal Qualifications, and the Blessed Fruits of his Reign; which are truly more Pleasant and of greater and more extensive Usefulness than the Light or Rain of Heaven. And thus it may be suppos'd that David reflecting on the Calamities already brought on his House, and foreseeing by the Spirit, that the Glory of it would still further decay and fade as a Leaf; refresheth himself with the Consideration of the Coming of the Messiah, his Son and Successor, and his Lord, in whose most righteous & happy Government, not his Family and People only; but even the whole World were to be Blessed. And this Sense may seem to be favoured by what immediately follows, Ver. 5. Altho' my house be not so with God; yet he hath made with me an Everlasting Covenant, ordered in all things and sure: for this is all my salvation, and all p. 4my desire, altho' he make it not to grow. But then, others understand these Words as spoken to David by way of Precept, p. 4and so they are a Declaration of the Duty of Kings, particularly of Solomon his Son and of his Successors the Kings of Israel, for whose Instruction he gives this Rule.

Our Translation favours this Interpretation. And indeed these Words contain an Excellent Description of the Duty of Civil Magistrates, of the King as Supream, and of such as are under him in place of Power. They must be Just towards Men, which in the large Sense of the Word, comprehends the whole of our Duty towards our Neighbour, according to the Place and Relation we sustain, and so includes Clemency, Mercy, and the like, which in some Cases are Justice. And then this Justice to Men must flow from an inward Principle of holy Fear towards GOD, who is the Fountain of all Power, and be regulated by it. And then, the 4th Ver. He shall be as the light of the Morning —. May be a Description of the Prosperity & Glory of such Rulers, and of the happy Fruits and Effects of their Administrations with respect to the People under their Government. God will be Present with such to uphold and succeed them, so that they shall come in, and go out before God's People in the Strength of the Lord, as the Sun when he goeth forth in his might; and come down upon them as the Rain, as the showers that water the Earth, Psal. 72.6. They shall be to the Moral World, what the Sun and Rain are to the Natural, Great and Extensive Blessings; and their Wise and Just Government will, by the Blessing of GOD produce Fruits no less grateful and beneficial to their p. 5People. Now, it is with an especial regard to this Reading that I have chosen these Words; however the other, which may well enough consist with it, taking Solomon as a Type of Christ, is so noble and excellent in it self; and so profitable for us all, and particularly for Civil Rulers to M◊ditate upon, that I shall not wholly omit it. In the words then we may observe these Four Doctrines.