iii. 12. _O my people, they which lead thee[1] cause thee
to err, and destroy the way of thy paths._
This is at once a lament and a condemnation--a lament over the
misfortunes of those who are misguided, a condemnation of their folly
and wickedness in permitting themselves to be led astray. +I. Men
need to be led.+ 1. _This is our need as individuals._ Every day we
need an answer to the questions, What ought I to do? Which way should
I go? In the journey of life, we continually come to crossings at
which we are conscious of our need of guidance. 2. _Guidance is still
more necessary for men collectively._ What shall be the belief of a
community? What its action? Like the apostolic band (John xxi. 2, 3)
communities remain idle, undecided, until the born leader says, "I go
a-fishing," and instantly they say to him, "We also go with thee."
Men are naturally gregarious; like a flock of sheep they crowd and
inconvenience each other, not knowing which way to turn, until one
bolder than the rest breaks away from the flock, and then instantly
the flock begins to follow him. +II. As a rule men are misled.+
Boldness and wisdom do not always go together. Not seldom the courage
which prompts men to become the leaders of others, and which goes so
far to command the assent of others, is a compound of self-conceit
and ignorance. Men are always prone to trust in the self-confident:
they will believe the boastful quack rather than the diffident
philosopher. Hence in all ages men have been caused to err--the blind
have been led by the blind. How true this is to-day in political
matters, in social, in commercial, in religious! [Give instances.] On
every hand, in all these realms of thought and action, there are
those who can only rightly be described as leaders who cause the
people to err. Yes, all men carry within them two leaders, in whom
they are disposed implicitly to trust, but by whom in the majority of
instances they are misled--reason and conscience. How absolute is the
confidence placed in these guides, and how seldom it is justified!
+III. To be misled is one of the most terrible of evils.+ 1. It
involves the loss of all the good to which right leadership would
have conducted men. 2. It involves disappointment, shame, sorrow, and
often irretrievable ruin. 3. It plunges men into painful
perplexities, so that even when they have begun to suspect that the
path they are pursuing is erroneous, they know not how to discover
the true one; it seems to them to be "destroyed;" they search for it
in vain. They are like travellers who, in the darkness following
_Will-of-the-Wisp,_ have strayed from the highway into a morass: to
stand still is impossible, and yet to step in any direction, may
plunge them into worse perils (Matt. xv. 14). How criminal is the
conduct of those who betray their fellow-men into misery such as this!
In view of these facts, 1. _We should not entrust ourselves to the
first guide who offers himself to us._ Let us examine the credentials
of those who ask us to trust ourselves to their care (Matt. xxiv. 24;
1 John iv. 1-3; Isa. viii. 20). 2. _In weighing the claims of men to
be our leaders, we should have regard supremely to their moral
qualifications._ Their intellectual competency is, of course, not to
be disregarded, but moral character is infinitely more important. Not
all good men are fitted to be leaders; but no bad man can be safely
followed by others. He is continually apt to be guided by policy,
rather than principle, and policy leads to perdition.[2] Policy is at
the best but guess-work--steering by the current; the man who is
governed by principle steers by the stars, and neither can be long
misled, nor will he wilfully mislead others. _Practical
Application._--Never vote for any candidate for a public office,
however clever he may be, if his integrity is doubtful. 3. _Every man
needs guidance more close and intimate than any of his fellow-men can
afford him:_ he needs to be led even in choosing his leaders. Whither
shall he look for this guidance? To his reason, his conscience? These
guides themselves need instruction:[3] in the absence of it, they
have led millions to perdition. We need supernatural and sure
guidance, and we have it (1) in God's Word, and (2) in God's Spirit
(Prov. iii. 5, 6). The man who follows these guides will be led
always in the paths of righteousness and peace.