Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1898-10-13
WnAI is REQUIRED OF IHEEp

Justly, and to love mercy, and to walk
humbly with thy God. MICAH, 6, 8.
In the course Of the sermon the min
lister said that the word Just" had u
wide Significance. 1t meant not only
what is fair and equitable, but also
that which is upright, pure, blameless.
The purpose to do right lies at the
foundation OF tho religious life. 1t is
the first round of the ladder by which
we climb from earth to heaven. The
conscience is the voice of God In the
soul, and who ever obeys it is oheying
God Therefore. If the heart be pure
and the life upright. the pathway of
obedience will prove the straight road
with the narrow gate which,, rs Jesus
has said, "leadeth unto life. ~ More
over, every one knows how to begin
here, and can begin at once. A pur-
pose to do right, to be honest and clean
and fair, is within the power of
child; and none Of us, however wise
and strong, are more than equal to such
demand. The moment we begin to
follow the voice of duty in the soul, we
enter into the world of spiritual things,
and begin to- reach after ideal ATTAIN
ments. If we try to be fair in our
dealings with others, We soon discover
side honesty. To be fair in our out
ward actions we must be, clean within,
We must be pure in heart, think no
evil, allow no unlsind thought to enter
the mind. If we would tell the truth,
always and everywhere, we must think
truly, and seek to know what the truth
is in every case. Thus every effort on
our part "to do JUSTLY lifts us to a
higher plane of life, gives us larger
view Of what justice really Is, and
teaches us something about the Infinite
Being who requires this quality in our
And right away, as we try ''to do
JUSTIFY we see that to be Just we must
also "1ove mercy" To be merciful is
not simply to show pity, or to be will
ing to forgive an injury the idea of
kindness and compassion is also inn
| piled. Mere justice, cold and hard, Is
not Christian grace. Justice must be
| tempered with mercy; we must inter
| fuse it with sympathy and goodwill
and affection. When we try to do right
we find the way hard and narrow; we
see how full of faults and failings we
are ourselves, and thus feel the need Of
goodwill and compassion from others.
| In this way we learn to give sympathy
and kindness to others. 1t is this
| thoughtjof our own weakness and need
and goodwill that enforces Portals
words to Shylocls in shakespeare in
| imitablei description Of justice and
mercy in The Merchant Of Venice.
| You remember how she says that JUS
\ tice is an attribute to God himself, :"
and that when mercy seasons justice
we have manifestation Of the divine
nature. Then she begsithe Jew to con-
slider this:
"That, in the course Of justice, none
of us.should see salvation: we do pray
for mercy; and that same prayer doth
teach us all to render the deeds Of
Mercy" ~
The expression ito love mercy is
very strong, and worthy Of special atten-
tion. We are commanded to do justly,
but we are to love mercy. And here
the words of the play throw further
light upon our text, showing how mercy
| is too divine thing to be measured by
any standard other than the ideal life
"The quality of mercy is not
strained, it droppeth as the gentle rain
| from heaven upon the place beneath !:
| it is twice b,est; it blesseth Him that
| gives and Him that takes.'' n
l L
stitute an action an act of mercy.
Mercy is Of spiritual origin: 1t must
4 spring from out the heart. 1t does not
weigh or measure its out-pourings, but
overflows all the boundaries of justice,
as defined and limited by legal phrase
and custom. 1t goes forth in generous
Esympathy and boundless compassion to
forgive and comfort and bless the I'm
deserving and those who have no other
claim on us, save only their exceeding
need. To do justly lis the law of hui
man duty; but to love mercy Is TO pass
from the realrc of duty to the world OF
beauty 1t is to make q fine art OF
human life--the good Samaritan turn
ing back, as you will remember, after
having already done all that duty
could possibly demand, to say to the
host Of the inn Take care of him till
he can care for himself, and charge il
all to me- In the order of spiritual
development, however, the law of duty
leads naturally to the law of self-sac-
rifice, justice shows the need of COM
passion, purity OF heart is blessed with
the vision of divine love.
But, alas, how slow our progress in
this heaven ward journey! How prone
we are. to keep aloof from evil-doers,
to Withdraw our sympathy from such
as have fallen into sin and evil. There
fore we see the necessity of the third
step in our ancient compendium OF
religious duty: "To walk humbly with
God. y When we measure our charac-
ter and attainment by the gospel stand
ard we find how far short we come OF
the stature of manhood eSemplifiep by
Jesus, and we see how little reason
there is for thinking ourselves better
than others, or for feeling contempt for
any one because of his sin. Who made
US to differ? II our circumstances and
environment had been the same, we
might also have fallen to equal depths
of folly and wickedness. How careful,
then we should be to obey this third
4 injunction of the text, and walk hum
bly, with God. For he who walks from
day to day with his hand in tho hand
of God, trusting in tho divine strength,
looking for divine inspiration, follow
ing divine guidance, acquires the
Christ spirit Of lovo and self-sacri
flee, and learns that in the ideal life
mercy and truth moot together, right
eousness and peace kiss each other.
To walk thus with God bridges the
dark gulf which too often separates
justice from love and parts mercy from
truth in human affairs. 1t also teaches
lovo all His other children too; that
4 deep in sin, as to be beyond tho com.
passion Of the Infinite Love; that
There's Wilderness in Gods s, mercy
Like the Wilderness of the sea;
There's blindness in His justice
| Which Is more than liberty.