The Reign of Righteousness

Isaiah 32:1-8

1 Behold, a king will reign in righteousness,
And princes will rule with justice.

2 A man will be as a hiding place from the wind,
And a cover from the tempest,
As rivers of water in a dry place,
As the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.

3 The eyes of those who see will not be dim,
And the ears of those who hear will listen.

4 Also the heart of the rash will understand knowledge,
And the tongue of the stammerers will be ready to speak plainly.

5 The foolish person will no longer be called generous,
Nor the miser said to be bountiful;
6 For the foolish person will speak foolishness,
And his heart will work iniquity:
To practice ungodliness,
To utter error against the LORD,
To keep the hungry unsatisfied,
And he will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail.

7 Also the schemes of the schemer are evil;
He devises wicked plans
To destroy the poor with lying words,
Even when the needy speaks justice.

8 But a generous man devises generous things,
And by generosity he shall stand.

Righteousness will rule over foolishness and those who scheme against others.  The rule in righteousness can only ever occur under the Messiah, for no earthly king or other ruler can rule with true justice.  There will be protection from the storms and strength in prosperity.  Also eyes will be seeing as they are opened and ears will listen and not just hear because they are ruled by the peace of God’s righteous reign in that day.  Those who used to rashly say things without knowledge will finally understand in God given wisdom and the ones struggling to find words to speak will be able to be clearly heard and understood.  The foolish, however, will be revealed as not being so generous as their veiled actions used to indicate and the moser who keeps all to himself will not be admired for his wealth anymore because it was at the expense of meeting other’s needs with generosity.  Yes, foolish people will be revealed as foolish and the sinful ungodliness will no longer be acceptable or cheered on anymore.  The sins against God will be revealed from heaven (Romans 1:18-19) as those keep food from the hungry and will themselves be left thirsty and starving as they had done to others.  The evil schemes of wicked intent to harm others, the plans to mistreat the needy and lie to the poor who cry out for justice will be thwarted at last.  In contrast, the generous stands in his care expressed genuinely to help his neighbor as he plans for their good as our Lord does in His righteous ruler who is our Messiah, the Christ we know as Jesus.  His reign of righteousness knows no end Luke 1:33)!