xxviii. 5, 6. _In that day shall the_ LORD _of Hosts be for
you a crown, &c._
This sustaining assurance stands in striking antithesis to the solemn
threatenings and humbling charges which precede and follow it. It
rises like some stately palace amid the ruins of man's humbled pride
and broken hopes. This voice comes from heaven in the very hour of
earth's desolation and decay. The prominent figure on the prophet's
canvas is very unlike the objects grouped around it. On the one side
you look into a lovely valley, in the centre of which, on a
commanding height, stands Samaria, the capital of the "Ten Tribes,"
"the crown of pride," "the glorious beauty." But that proud crown is
soon to be cast to the ground; that "glorious beauty" is but a
garland of fading flowers; that luxuriant valley, whose very
"fatness" was made the minister of sensual indulgence, will soon be
overswept by the desolating march of the Assyrian invader; that gaudy
splendour, the boast of Ephraim's drunkards, is as short-lived as the
wreaths which the revellers bind around their brows. The worm of
intemperance is gnawing at the root of "the fading flower," and
overhead the storm is gathering that will blight its beauty. Turn now
to the other side of the central figure, where the kingdom of Judah
is introduced (ver. 7). Jerusalem as well as Samaria has her troops
of reckless inebriates and her scenes of disgusting intoxication;
though her punishment is not so near as that of the northern kingdom,
here, too, are seen the marks of sure decline. On both sides, then,
the prophet's picture is gloomy and portentous--the earth a scene of
drunken revelry, and the black sky streaked with the lightnings of
Divine wrath. But out of this sombre background of sottish
intemperance and overhanging judgment, of falling crowns and fading
wreaths, rises the luminous figure of our text. "In that day" of
vanishing glory "shall the Lord of Hosts," &c. In the fulness of its
wealth this promise belongs to us; the Lord of Hosts has become to us
"a crown of glory."
I. THE BELIEVER'S DIGNITY. Let us not tone down the grandeur of the
promise. Christ is the crown with which the believer is invested. He
is an heir of God, a partaker of the Divine nature. Let us see what
is implied in this representation, bearing in mind the crown to which
it stands in contrast. 1. It is a crown of _honour without
insecurity._ Man is like a discrowned and exiled king (Lam. v. 16).
But God has taken means to restore him his lost dignity (1 Cor.
i. 30). The crown of original righteousness which sin has torn from
our brows and trampled in the dust has been replaced by the
righteousness of Christ. How complete and glorious is His work in our
behalf, to what dignity does He raise us! This crown cannot be placed
on our head without inspiring us with a sense of honour, a feeling of
recovered power, of joy and hope and security. There may be a crowned
head without a kingly heart. A young prince may mount the throne
incapable of discharging its duties, or, perhaps, trembling lest his
new dignity should make him a mark for the bullet of the assassin;
but the Christian's honour cometh from God, and, along with the
restored kingship, kingly qualities are imparted, so that no man can
take his crown. 2. This is a crown in which we may _boast without
pride._ Samaria was a crown of pride to the Ephraimites, and because
they gloried in it, it was soon to be overturned. But while this
crown of carnal confidence was thus to be swept away, God becomes to
His people a more glorious crown in which they might boast without
pride. When anything short of God is made our confidence it fosters
vainglory, but with God as our crown all self-sufficiency is
excluded. 3. It is a crown of _joy without degradation._ As it does
not foster pride, so neither does it allow its wearer to descend to
low indulgence. Reference is probably made to the wreath of flowers
worn by drunken revellers on festive occasions. Under the plea of
festive mirth they wallowed in the mire of sensuality. How soon their
garlands would fall in disorder _from_ their heads, or fall _with_
their heads as they lay in senseless intoxication. The believer's
"diadem of beauty" points to purity and self-control (Ps. iv. 7).
4. It is an _unfading_ crown. This point in the contrast is equally
obvious. And is not "the fading flower" an emblem of all our earthly
joys?
"All that sweet was made, but to be lost
when sweetest."
This world's fairest chaplets will soon wither on our brows; its
honours, possessions, and hopes are evanescent; but the Lord will be
our everlasting crown, our God will be our eternal glory (H. E. I.,
4975-4989).