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I. SIN THE NATION'S SHAME.

1. A sinful nation in the sight of God. This is a nation of which the people have gone astray from him; do not approach him in worship; do not consult his will as revealed in his Word; have no ear to lend to those that speak in his Name; lose all sense of sacred duty in the pursuit of gain and pleasure.

2. The flagrant guilt to which such godlessness leads down.

(1) It is probable, in a high degree, that impiety will lead to iniquity, that the absence of all religious restraint will end in abandonment to evil in all its forms.

(2) History assures us that it does so. The denial, or the defiance, or the entire disregard of God and of his will, conducts to and ends in vice, in crime, in violence, in despotism, in the dissolution of old and honourable bonds, in the prevalence of despair and suicide, in utter demoralization.

3. This is the reproach to a people. A country may lose its population, or its wealth, or its pre-eminent influence, without being the object of reproach; but to fall into general impiety, and to live in the practice of wrong doing, - this is a disgrace; it brings a nation down in the estimate of all the wise; its name is clothed with shame; its fame has become infamy.

II. RIGHTEOUSNESS A NATION'S STRENGTH. National righteousness does not consist in any public professions of piety, nor in the existence of great religious organizations, nor in the presence of a multitude of ecclesiastical edifices and officers; nations have had all these before now, and they have been destitute of real righteousness. That consists in the possession of a reverent spirit and an estimable character, and the practice of purity, justice, and kindness on the part of the people themselves (see Isaiah 58.; Micah 6:6-8). In this is a nation's strength and exaltation, for it will surely issue in:

1. Physical well being. Virtue is the secret of health and strength, of the multiplication and continuance of life and power.

2. Material prosperity; for righteousness is the foundation of educated intelligence, of intellectual energy and vigour, of commercial and agricultural enterprise, of maritime intrepidity and success.

3. Moral and spiritual advancement.

4. Estimation and influence among surrounding nations.

5. The abiding favour of God (Psalm 81:13-16). We may learn from the text

(1) that no measure of brilliancy in statesmanship will compensate for debauching the minds of the people, for introducing ideas or sanctioning habits which are morally unsound and corrupting;

(2) that the humblest citizen whose life tends to establish righteousness amongst his neighbours is a true patriot, however narrow his sphere may be. - C.

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KJV: Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people.

WEB: Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people.