any;" and the supply is general, "He giveth to all men." God never told thee, that this was never intended to thee, and that thy name was left out of the Lamb's book; and it is a base jealousy to mistrust God without a cause. X. From that [Liberally,] God's gifts are free and liberal. Many times he giveth more than we ask; and our prayers come far short of what grace doth for us. There is an imperfect modesty in our thoughts and requests. We are not able to rise up to the just excess and infiniteness of the Divine goodness. The apostle saith, "God will do above what we can ask or think" (Eph. iii. 20). As it is good to observe how the answers of prayer have far exceeded the desires of the creature, which usually are vast and capacious, let me give you some instances. Solomon asked wisdom, and God gave liberally; he gave him wisdom, and riches, and honour, in great abundance (1 Kings iii. 13). Jacob asked but food and raiment for his journey, and God multiplieth him from his staff into two bands (Gen. xxviii. 20, with Gen. xxxii. 10). Abraham asked but one son, and God gave him issue as the stars in the heavens, and the sand on the sea-shore (Gen. xv. with xxii.). Saul came to Samuel for the asses, and he heareth news of a kingdom. The prodigal thought it much to be received as a hired servant, and the father is devising all the honour and entertainment that possibly he can for him, the calf, the ring, the robe, &c. (Luke xv.). In Mat. xviii. 26, the debtor desired but forbearance for a little time; "Have a little patience, and I will pay thee all :" and in the next verse, his master forgave the debt. Certainly God's bounty is too large for our thoughts. The spouse would be drawn after Christ; but the king brought her into his chambers (Cant. i. 4). David desired to be delivered out of the present danger, "Pull me out of the net” (Psal. xxxi. 4); and God advanced him to honour and dignity: "Thou hast put my feet in a large room" (Verse 8). Well then, 1st, Do not straiten God in your thoughts. Open your mouths, and I will fill them" (Psal. lxxxi. 10). God's hand is open, but our hearts are not open. The divine grace, like the olive trees in Zechary, is always dropping; but we want a vessel. That expression of the V irgin is notable, "My heart doth magnify the Lord" (Luke i. 46), Mɛyaλúvɛ, that is, make more room for God in my thoughts. When God's bounty is not only ever-flowing but overflowing, we should make our thoughts and hopes as large and comprehensive as possibly they can be. When the King of glory is drawing nigh, they are bidden to set open the doors. No thoughts of ours can 66 "search out God to perfection" (Psal. xxiv. 7); that is, exhaust and draw out all the excellency and glory of the Godhead; but certainly we should rise and ascend more in our apprehensions. 2dly, Let us imitate our heavenly Father, give liberally, anλg, that is the word of the text, with a free and a native bounty: give simply, not with a double mind. Some men have a backward and a close heart, liberal only in promises. Consider, God doth not feed you with empty promises. Others eye self in all their kindness, make a market of their charity:* this is not simply, and according to the divine pattern. Some men give grudgingly, with a divided mind, half inclining, half forbearing: this is not like God either. Others give in guile, and to deceive men: it is kindness to their hurt, d~pa ädwpa, * Εμπορίαν μᾶλλον ἢ χάριν ποιουσιν. Isocrates. Non est sportula quæ negotia tur. Martial. giftless gifts: their courtesy is most dangerous.* Give like your heavenly Father, liberally, simply. 66 II. From that [And upbraideth not;] Men are apt to do so, but God giveth in another manner. Observe from hence, First, in the general, that God giveth quite in another manner than man doth. It is our fault to measure infiniteness by our last, and to muse of God according as we use ourselves. The soul in all her conclusions is directed by principles and premises of sense and experience; and because we converse with limited natures and dispositions, therefore we do not form proper and worthy thoughts of God. It was the gross idolatry of the heathens, to "turn the glory of the incorruptible God into the image of a man (Rom. i. 23); that is, to fancy God according to the shape and figure of our bodies; and so it is the spiritual idolatry of Christians, to fancy God according to the model and size of their own minds and dispositions. I am persuaded there doth nothing disadvantage us so much in believing as this conceit, that "God is altogether like ourselves" (Psa. 1. 21). We, being of eager and revengeful spirits, cannot believe his patience and pardoning mercy; and that, I suppose, was the reason why the apostles (when Christ talked of forgiving our brother seven times in one day) cried out, "Lord, increase our faith' (Luke xvii. 5), as not being able to believe so great a pardoning mercy, either in themselves or God. And therefore also, I suppose, it is that God doth with such vehemency show everywhere, that his heart hath other manner of dispositions than man's hath. My thoughts are not as your thoughts, nor my ways as your ways; as far as the heavens are above the earth, so are my thoughts above your thoughts" (Isa. lv. 8, 9). I am not straitened in bowels, nor hardened, nor implacable, as men are; as there is a vast space and distance between the earth and the firmament, so between your drop and my ocean. So, "I am God, and not man, and therefore Ephraim shall not be destroyed" (Hosea ii. 9); that is, I have not such a narrow heart, such wrathful, implacable dispositions, as men have. Well then, consider, when God giveth, he will give like himself; do not measure him by the wretched straitness of your own hearts, and confine God within the circle of the creatures. It is said of Araunah, that he gave as a king to David (2 Sam. xxiv. 23). Whatever God doth, he will do as a God; above the rate and measure of the creatures; something befitting the infiniteness and eternity of his own essence. XII. From the same clause [Upbraideth not;] You may more particularly observe, that God doth not reproach his people with the frequency of their addresses to him for mercy, and is never weary of doing them good. It is man's use to excuse himself by what he hath done already: they will recount their former favours to deny the present requests. Men's stock is soon spent; they waste by giving, and therefore they soon grow weary; yea, we are afraid to press a friend too much, lest, by frequent use, kindness be worn You know it is Solomon's advice, "Let thy foot be seldom in thy neighbour's house, lest he be weary of thee, and so hate thee” (Prov. xxv. Thus it is with men; either out of penury or satiety, they are soon full of their friends. But Oh what a difference there is between our earthly and our heavenly friend! The oftener we come to God, the welcomer; and the more we acquaint ourselves with him, the more good cometh to us (Job xxii. out. *Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes. 17). We 21). His gates are always open, and he is still ready to receive us. need not be afraid to urge God to the next act of love and kindness. “Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver; in whom we trust, that he will yet deliver us" (2 Cor. i. 10). One mercy is but a step to another, and if God hath, we may again trust that he will. With men, renewed addresses and often visitings are but impudence; but with God, they are confidence. God is so far from upbraiding us with what he hath done already, that his people make it their usual argument: "He hath delivered me from the lion and the bear, therefore he shall from the uncircumcised Philistine" (1 Sam. xvii. 37). Well then, 1st, Whenever you receive mercy upon mercy, give the Lord the praise of his unwearied love: when God promised to keep up honour upon honour, and privilege upon privilege, on David and his line, David saith, " And is this the manner of man, O Lord God?" (2 Sam. vii. 19.) Would man do thus ? Is this according to his use and custom, to grant request after request, and to let his grace run in the same eternal tenour of love and sweetness? Should we go to man as often as we go to God, we should soon have a repulse; but we cannot weary infiniteness. 2dly, If God be not weary of blessing you; be not you weary of serving him. Duty is the proper correlate of mercy: God is not weary of blessing, so be not you weary of well-doing (Gal. vi. 9). Let not your zeal and heat be spent, as his bounty is not. 66 XIII. From that [And it shall be given him.] Due asking will prevail with God. God always satisfieth prayer, though he doth not always satisfy carnal desires. "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you" (Matt. vii. 7). If we do not receive at asking, let us go to seeking; if not at seeking, let us go on to knocking. It is good to continue fervency, till we have an answer. But you will say, "Are these promises true? The sons of Zebedee, they asked, and could not find (Matt. xx. 22). The foolish virgins, they knocked, and it was not opened to them (Matt. xxv. 8). So the church seeketh Christ, 'By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, and found him not' (Cant. iii. 1). How, then, can these words of Christ be made good?" I shall answer, by stating the general case. Prayers rightly qualified, want not success; that is, if they come from a holy heart, in a holy manner, to a holy purpose. I remember one prettily summeth up all the requisites of prayer thus, Si bonum petant boni bene ad bonum.* These are the limitations: 1st; Concerning the person. God looketh after, not only the property of the prayer, but the propriety and interest of the person. Our apostle saith, "The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much" (v. 16); dénois ¿vepyovμévn, a prayer driven with much force and vehemency; but it must be of a righteous person. The Jews propound it as a known rule, "God heareth not sinners" (John ix. 31). It is so frequently inculcated in Scripture, that they urge it as a proverb, an unclean person polluteth his own prayers. But of this hereafter. 2dly, That which they ask must be good. "Whatever we ask according to his will, he heareth us" (1 John v. 14). It must be according to his revealed will, that is obedience; and with submission to his secret will, that is patience: neither according to our own lusts, nor our own fancies. To ask *Grotius in Annot. in Mat. xviii. 19. according to our lusts, is an implicit blasphemy, like Balaam's sacrifices performed out of a hope to draw Heaven into the confederacy of his cursed designs; and to make our fancy the highest rule, is a presumptuous folly. God knoweth what is best for us: like children, we desire a knife; like a wise father, he giveth us bread. God always heareth his people, when the request is good. But we must remember God must judge what is good, not we ourselves.* There cannot be a greater judgment, than always to have our own will granted. 3dly, We must ask in a right manner, with faith, as in the next verse, with fervency (see v. 16); with patience and constancy, waiting for God's time and leisure: God's discoveries of himself are not by and by to the creature. A sack stretched out containeth the more; and when the desires are extended and drawn out to God, the mercy is usually the greater: "I waited patiently for the Lord, and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry" (Psa. xl. 1); God loveth to dispense mercies, after our waiting. 4thly, It must be ad bonum, you must pray to a good end, with an aim and reference to the Lord's glory. There is a difference between a carnal desire and a gracious supplication.. "You ask and have not, because you ask amiss, to spend it on your lusts" (Jam. iv. 3). Never let your requests terminate in self. That was but a brutish request, "Give us water that we may drink" (Exod. xvii. 2). A beast can aim at self-preservation. Prayer, as every act of the Christian life, must have an ordination to God. Well then pray thus, and you shall be sure to speed. Carnal requests are often disappointed, and therefore we suspect gracious prayers; and faith is much shaken by the disappointment of a rash confidence. Consider that, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, whatsoever you ask the Father in my name, he shall give it you" (John xvi. 23). Mark, Christ speaketh universally, "whatsoever," to raise our hopes; earnestly, "Verily, verily," to encourage our faith. We are apt to disbelieve such promises. XIV. From that [It shall be given.] He bringeth an encouragement not only from the nature of God, but the promise of God. It is an encouragement in prayer, when we consider there is not only bounty in God, but bounty engaged by promise. What good will the general report do without a particular invitation? There is a rich king giveth freely; ay, but he giveth at pleasure; no, he hath promised to give to thee. The Psalmist argueth from God's nature, "Thou art good, and dost good" (Psal. cxix. 68). But from the promise we may reason thus, Thou art good and shalt do good. God at large, and discovered to you in loose attributes, doth not yield a sufficient foundation for trust; but God in covenant, God as ours. Well then, let the world think what it will of prayer, it is not a fruitless labour. You have promises for prayer, and promises to prayer; and therefore when you pray for a blessing promised, God doth, as it were, come under another engagement. "Ask, and it shall be given." VERSE 6.-But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering; for he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea, driven with the wind and tossed. Here he proposeth a caution to prevent mistakes about what he had de * Sancti ad salutem per omnia exaudiuntur, sed non ad voluntatem: ad voluntatem etiam dæmones exauditi sunt, et ad porcos quos petiverant ire missi sunt. Aug. in Epist. Johan. tract. 6. So also serm. 53, de verbis Domini, Quid prosit medicus novit, non ægrotus. livered. Every asking will not serve the turn: it must be an asking in faith. But let him ask in faith,] Faith may be taken, 1st, For confidence in God, or an act of particular trust, as "We have boldness and access with confidence through the faith of him" (Eph. iii. 12). 2dly, It may import persuasion of the lawfulness of the things that we ask for; that is one acceptation of faith in scripture, "Whatever is not of faith is sin" (Rom. xiv. 23): that is, if we practise it before we are persuaded of the lawfulness of it. Or, 3dly, In faith; that is, in a state of believing; for God will hear none but his own, those that have interest in Jesus Christ, in whom "the promises are yea and amen” (2 Cor. i. 20). All these senses are considerable; but I think the first is most direct and formal: for faith is here opposed to doubting and wavering, and so noteth a particular act of trust. The word is often Nothing wavering, μndèv diaкpivóμevos;] What is this wavering? The word signifieth, not disputing or traversing the matter as doubtful in the thoughts. The same phrase is used, "Arise, go with them, undèv diakρivóμevos, nothing doubting" (Acts x. 20): that is, do not stand disputing in thy thoughts about thy calling and the good success of it. used in the matter of believing; as, "He staggered not through unbelief" (Rom. iv. 20); in the original & diкpion, he disputed not, did not debate the matter, but settled his heart upon God's power and promises. "If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall say to this mountain, Be thou removed into the depths of the sea," &c. (Matt. xxi. 21). If they could but remove the anxiousness and uncertainty of their thoughts, and settle their hearts upon the warrant, they should do miracles. For he that doubteth is like a wave of the sea that is tossed to and fro.] An elegant similitude to set out their estate, used by common authors* in the same matter, and by the prophet Isaiah, lvii. 20. James saith here, the doubter, čoɩke kλúdovɩ, is like a wave of the sea; and the prophet saith of all wicked men, kλvdovio&ýoovtai, (as the Septuagint render it,) "These shall be like troubled waves, whose waters cannot rest." The notes are these: all the success lieth on that. Cursory requests are I. That the trial of a true prayer is the faith of it. made out of fashion, not in faith. Men pray, but do not consider the bounty of him to whom they pray. Prayer is a means, not a task; therefore in prayer there should be distinct reflections upon the success of it. Well then, look to your prayers, see you put them up with a particular hope and trust: "O woman, great is thy faith; be it to thee as thou wilt" (Mat. xv. 28). God can deny faith nothing, be it to you as you will. So, "Whatsoever things ye desire when ye pray, believe that ye shall receive them, and ye shall have them" (Mark xi. 24). Mark that, Believe, and ye shall have. God's attributes when they are glorified, they are exercised; and by our trust his truth and power are engaged. But you will say, "How shall we do to pray in faith?" I answer, there is something presupposed, and that is an interest in Christ. But that which is required in every prayer, is, 1st, An actual reliance upon the grace and merits of Jesus Christ. “Through him we have access with confidence unto the Father" (Eph. ii. 18): we cannot lift up a thought of hope and trust, but by him. If you Turbo quidam animos nostros rotat et involuit fugientes petentesque; eadem, et nunc in sublime allevatos, nunc in intima allisos rapit. Senec. de vita beata. |