1 Behold, a king will reign in righteousness,
and princes will rule in justice.
2 Each will be like a hiding place from the wind,
a shelter from the storm,
like streams of water in a dry place,
like the shade of a great rock in a weary land.
3 Then the eyes of those who see will not be closed,
and the ears of those who hear will give attention.
4 The heart of the hasty will understand and know,
and the tongue of the stammerers will hasten to speak distinctly. – The first four verses are very positive. Initially about the character of the coming leadership, but also for their subjects. The common people will have functioning eyes, ears, hearts and tongues! Good leadership is to be longed for, but it needs to be understood and obeyed! God is promising a fresh start! How long do you think before both leaders and the populous were lose the desire to walk in a godly way?
5 The fool will no more be called noble, Comment: – apart from when looking at an old film about King Arthur or some such period, how often do you hear the word ‘noble’ used? It is used for a rank of society in these old films, but its synonyms when the word is used to describe character are very challenging! – Wikipedia describes it like this -‘Being noble means possessing high moral principles, integrity, and admirable personal qualities such as courage, generosity, and unselfishness‘
nor the scoundrel said to be honourable.
6 For the fool speaks folly,
and his heart is busy with iniquity,
to practice ungodliness,
to utter error concerning the LORD,
to leave the craving of the hungry unsatisfied,
and to deprive the thirsty of drink. – the word ‘fool’ must be read in its context. Here it isn’t talking about one of the stages of lacking IQ, but rather in the sense often used in the Book of Proverbs. There usually it means one who refuses to make God’s way his or her way!
7 As for the scoundrel—his devices are evil;
he plans wicked schemes
to ruin the poor with lying words,
even when the plea of the needy is right.
8 But he who is noble plans noble things,
and on noble things he stands.
Isaiah 32: 5 – The fool will no more be called noble, nor the scoundrel said to be honourable.
Prayer: Please never let me slip back into a practice from which You have delivered me, either miraculously of by sheer hard work and effort.
As I read it! 