Micah 4:5 For all people will walk every one in the name of his god, and we will walk in the name of the LORD our God for ever and ever. For all people will walk every one in the name of his god, and we will walk in the Name of the Lord our God forever and ever. It is trite to say, what has been said a thousand times, that man has a religious nature. Albeit the practical recognition of the fact is of immense importance; without it, more than half the history of the world would be inexplicable, all methods for its true improvement would be futile, and man would pass through this world to another without a God or any hope for a future. This verse suggests the wrong and the right development of this nature. I. THE WRONG DEVELOPMENT. What is that? Idolatry. "All people will walk every one in the name of his god." Polytheism proper is, and generally has been, the most popular religion in the world. Men have gods which they have made, palpable objects which they fashioned after an ideal, and the ideal not unfrequently of the most base and loathsome kind. And they walk after these gods. The mariners in Jonah's vessel, when the storm came on, cried every man unto his god. Whence the cause of polytheism? The one great cause, which comprehends all others, is depravity. Depravity: 1. Involves moral corruption. What are heathen gods, as a rule, but the deification of the lower passions and vices of mankind? 2. Involves carnality. Depraved men are so carnal that they have no idea of real things which have not size and form and tangible properties. Hence they want a god they can see and handle and touch. 3. Involves thoughtlessnss. Polytheism cannot stand reasoning. It is supported by the thoughtless millions through the craft and sophistry of the priests. Every true thought will shatter a heathen deity. II. THE RIGHT DEVELOPMENT. What is that? Practical monotheism. "We will walk in the Name of the Lord our God forever and ever." 1. This is rational. The one God is the sum total of all moral properties, the Proprietor of all resources, and the Bestower of all the existences and all the blessings therewith. What can be more rational than to walk in his way? In truth, it is the only true rational way in life. 2. This is obligatory. No man is bound to walk in the name of an idol; nay, he is commanded not to do so. But every man is bound to walk in the Name of the Lord - bound on the ground of his supreme excellence, his relations to man, and the obligation springing therefrom. 3. This is blessed. To walk in his Name is to walk through sunny fields abounding with all beauty and fruitfulness. - D.T. Parallel Verses KJV: For all people will walk every one in the name of his god, and we will walk in the name of the LORD our God for ever and ever. |
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