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There can be no doubt that the first, and historical, reference of this prophecy is to the reign of Hezekiah. Cheyne says, "It describes the happy condition of Judah when idols have been cast away, and the rod of Assyrian tyranny has been removed. A more just and merciful government shall then be enjoyed, the result of a large outpouring of the Divine Spirit. As the consequence of this, moral distinctions shall no longer be confounded - men shall be estimated at their true value. When Isaiah wrote he may have had grounds for the charitable belief that his sovereign would really be equal to the demands providentially made upon him." But the prophecy is Messianic. Its anticipations are only fully realized in the kingdom of Christ. Weber says, "The picture which the prophet paints here of the Church of the last time is the picture of every true congregation of Christ. In it the will of the Lord must be the only law according to which men judge, and not any fleshly consideration of any sort. In it there must be open eyes and ears for God's work and word; and if in some things precedence is really allowed to the children of this world, still in spiritual things the understanding must be right and the speech clear. Finally, in it persons must be valued according to their true Christian, moral worth, not according to advantages that before God are rather a reproach than an honor." It is almost impossible for us to realize the idea of a theocracy, or direct rule of God over a people, as the pious Jew did. Exactly what Isaiah pictures is the theocracy fully established in a spiritual sense; and of this Hezekiah's reformed kingdom gave good suggestions. To bring the subject home to modern congregations, the leading features of a spiritual theocracy, a real and practical reign of God, in lives and in society, should be shown thus -

I. GOD'S WILL SHOULD BE THE ONE SUPREME LAW.

II. GOD'S WORD SHOULD BE THE PRACTICAL RULE OF CONDUCT.

III. GOD'S SON SHOULD BE THE GREAT MODEL OF CHARACTER.

IV. GOD-LIKENESS SHOULD BE THE ONE OBJECT OF PURSUIT. Be it heart, be it life, be it Church, or be it society, wherever this is an honest and truthful description, there is the "ideal reign;" there the words of the text are fulfilled, and a "king reigns in righteousness." It is to establish individually and universally just this kingdom, that the Lord Jesus Christ has come. He begins his work by subduing to his obedience single souls. - R.T.

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KJV: Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment.

WEB: Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in justice.