Bible Commentaries

Chapter74

Prayer

Almighty God, how wonderful is thy word, and how dull is our understanding! We come that we may be inspired to read thy word, which is itself inspired, that so we may know its meaning and feel its gentle power. Thy word is truth; but what is truth? Behold, it is higher than the firmament, and brighter than all the stars. Help us to yearn after it in its own spirit, to cry mightily for it in earnest and believing desire; and satisfy us with daily revelation as thou dost feed us with daily bread.

We have come into thine house to find here what we cannot find other where. This is the house of our Father, the place of the shining of his countenance, and in this holy sanctuary is there rest for those that are ill at ease. Here thou dost cause the weary to sit down awhile that they may recover their breath, and here thou dost bind that which was broken down and heal it with heaven's own health. Here thou dost speak to the heart in tenderest music, and here thou withholdest nothing of the gospel that can redeem and liberate from its burden and its torment, and turn every affliction of life into a new and hopeful sacrament. This thou dost in Jesus Christ, in whom, indeed, thou doest all things. Centre of all, Sum and Total of all, Alpha, Omega, Beginning, Ending, Root and Branch, behold it is in him alone that we may find every answer to every question. On his shoulder is the key of the house of David, and in him is all authority and light. We have reconciliation by him, he speaks of forgiveness, from his lips we hear most tenderly and fully of all thy love, and to him we come for every answer to our sorrow, and for deliverance, complete and final, from the pressure of our sin.

How wonderful is thy way! Behold thy Son is God and Man—Emmanuel, God with us. We cannot understand thee nor follow thee, and the poor line of our reason cannot sound the infinite fathoms of thy great wisdom. Thou hast made the dust into man; the crumbled bread into a sacrificial body; the wine left in the cup thou hast reddened into atoning blood; of the Virgin thou hast made the Mother; of Three thou hast made One, and of One Three. So dost thou contradict our reason and abase it with painful humiliation; and yet above all dost thou reign in indivisible unity, Sovereign of the universe and Father of all. Lift up our thought to thyself; give it enlargement and ennoblement; save us from all mean conceptions and unworthy views of thyself and thy universe; give us that bold and quiet and noble view and hold of all things which thou alone canst give, for thou only hast the keys of all power.

We have come to bless thee: one, sweetly, with subdued voice and pensive tone, and others with trumpets and instruments of brass, loud and ringing, because thou hast done great things for them; but for one purpose we have all come: the bruised reed to bless thee for healing, the smoking flax to thank thee that thou hast not extinguished its dying spark; and all of us who have received much at thine hand have a song with which we would fain equal the gift if we could. Hear, then, we humbly ask thee, the. utterance of every heart, the sighing of every spirit, the cry of the weak and the desire of the strong; and according to our varied necessity let thy blessing come from the sanctuary and rest upon every one of us. Give the feeblest strength, give the meanest a standing before thee which we could have no other where, and let the wanderer feel that the great house door is still open, and the great Fatherly heart still yearning, and that even now the prodigal may return and sit down in his Father's house.

Hear all special praises for household mercies, for business prosperity, for deliverance from entanglements and embarrassments, and for such hopes as make the heart young and strong amid life's burden and storms. Sanctify our afflictions, bring us the nearer together for our momentary separations, and may there be in all our hearts glowing love to him who for us bore the Cross.

Thou knowest what we are, how thou hast made us; for we are the work of thine hands, and we are not of our own fashioning. Thou knowest our characteristics; thou knowest our special temptations, peculiar difficulties; and thou wilt deal gently with the creatures of thine hand, for it is not in all thine heart to judge us with destruction. Lord, have mercy upon us; Christ, have mercy upon us; Spirit of the living God, dwell with us; Father, Matthew 19:7.—The sphere of Law is not the same with that of Duty. Many things are right, which are not to be sought by force; and many things are wrong, which are not to be thus prevented. Law may permit a wrong, lest by prohibiting it a greater wrong should be produced. The text of the law was interpreted differently by the Jewish lawyers. To the question proposed, the school of Hillel said, Yes! and the school of Schammai, No! Deuteronomy 24:1.

Matthew 19:10.—This section is peculiar to St. Matthew. The same term is used both literally and figuratively. There were some who might serve men and God better in the unmarried state; but only some.

Matthew 19:13.—Christ did not baptize the children, and he never baptized grown persons. He declared that children shared with adults the holy instruction and influence, the safety and blessedness, of the kingdom of Heaven. He taught that they were to be received and recognised by his disciples, as those to whom the kingdom of Heaven belonged. And he showed that symbolical services and prayers were proper and profitable for them.

From the arrangement of the three Evangelists it appears that this conversation took place in the last journey to Jerusalem.

Matthew 19:16.—The contents of this division are closely connected, and the first three sections are common to the three Evangelists, the last being peculiar to St. Matthew. In reply to the question proposed, our Lord first exposes a fundamental error: all good is to be received from God, who only is independently good. He then refers to the rule, which rightly applied would lead to the right cause. And finally he points to his own example, which all disciples were to follow in principle, and some in voluntary poverty.

Matthew 19:23.—The disciples supposed that riches would be aids to, and rewards in, the kingdom of Christ, as in earthly kingdoms; and they were surprised to learn that they were hindrances, to be surrendered, not sought for.

Matthew 19:28.—There would be great rewards; but not of the kind expected, nor according to the supposed rule. The new creation is in the future. Acts 3:21; Romans 8:19; 2 Peter 3:13; Revelation 21:1. A similar promise to the Apostles is found, Luke 22:30.