The law of the Medes and Persians.
The unalterable character of" the law of the Medes and Persians" is evidently regarded with superstitious veneration, and considered to be a scrod principle of government. But in the present instance it leads to gross injustice, and, instead of honouring, it humiliates the royal authority from which the decree emanates.
I. OBLIGATIONS RASHLY CONTRACTED OFTEN LEAD TO DISASTROUS RESULTS. Darius had never contemplated the effect of his decree, or he would not have signed it.
1. It is wrong to decide on a course which will affect the future on the mere impulses of the present. If decision must be made, it should be after prayer for guidance from him who lives in the future. This applies more particularly when, as in the case of Darius, our decision affects the happiness of others.
2. It is foolish to contract any serious obligations for the future which are not necessary or plainly useful. There was no good to be gained by the king's decree; at best it was useless. Such decrees are best unsigned. It is well to turn our vows into prayers, and, instead of promising to do any hard thing, to seek grace to do it if it is God's will.
II. SO LONG AS LAW-MAKERS ARE WEAK, LAWS WILL BE DEFECTIVE. It was foolish for such a man as Darius to rashly decree unalterable laws. He was kindly disposed. But he was overcome:
1. By flattery. The king was to be the honoured exception, and prayer might still be offered to him.
2. By fear. The satraps crowded about the king until he was terrified into signing the decree.
3. Legal pedantry. The unalterable character of his law was more to Darius than right and justice. While such law-makers exist, it is not wise to enact changeless laws.
III. ALL HUMAN LAWS MUST GIVE PLACE TO HIGHER DIVINE LAWS. The law of the Medes and Persians presupposes that there is no power greater than the state. But God's laws are prior to ours. The most solemn decrees of state should only have force as by-laws coming under God's greater laws of right, and losing all obligation when they contradict these. The king should have broken his law, which violated the higher Divine law of justice.
IV. WITH FALLIBLE MEN CONSISTENCY OF CONDUCT IS NOT ALWAYS A DUTY. Some men worship consistency as a fetish. What they "have written, they have written," and they stand to it. This conduct often arises:
1. From weakness and the fear of men.
2. From pride and the conceit of infallibility.
3. From obstinacy and self-will. Whenever repentance is a duty, consistency is a sin.
V. THE ONLY LAW WHICH IS NECESSARILY AND RIGHTEOUSLY CHANGELESS IS THE LAW OF GOD. This is founded on:
The forgiveness of the gospel does not frustrate God's Law, but honours it in the atonement (1 Peter 3:18). The freedom of the new covenant does not abolish this Law, but substitutes the willing obedience of the spirit for the bondage of the letter (Romans 8:4).
HOMILIES BY H.T. ROBJOHNS