Righteousness Many-Sided
E. H. Chaplin. Matthew 5:6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. It is not merely the single virtue of justice or rectitude — in fact, no virtue is absolutely single, if we look at it closely. A man cannot really have one virtue, and but one, genuine and complete. He cannot have one without having all virtues and all graces, for no one virtue or grace is complete without the intermingling of the life and reciprocal action of all the rest. We make a great mistake if we suppose otherwise. There have been men who could play delightful music on one string of the violin, but there never was a man who could produce the harmonies of heaven in his soul by one-stringed virtue. Can a man be thoroughly and strictly honest, and at the same time be a selfish man? Can he be temperate. Suppose a man, for instance, pursuing a course of virtue, a course of temperance, or of rectitude, has the promise that he shall be wealthy, and that he shall have long life — shall make a fortune, and shall be respected. This is all very good; but what is the essence of all this'? It is in being righteous; that is the great blessing. So that if you have a long life, it is a righteous life; and if you have wealth, it is righteous wealth, as you make a righteous use and disposition of it. With this, any condition is blessed; without it, no condition is blessed. So the essence of all promises is in the possession of this intrinsic righteousness. (E. H. Chaplin.) Parallel Verses KJV: Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. WEB: Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.