Bible Commentaries

DISCOURSE: 595

VOWS TO BE PERFORMED

Psalms 56:12. Thy vows are upon me, O God; I will render praises unto thee.

VOWS were encouraged under the Mosaic Law [Note: Numbers 6:2; Numbers 6:5; Numbers 6:21.]; and many particular rules were given in relation to them [Note: Numbers 30:2-15.]. Nor are they altogether discouraged under the Christian dispensation. On the contrary, they are spoken of by the prophets as no less adapted to our state, than they were to the state of the Jews under the Mosaic economy [Note: Isaiah 19:21 and Nahum 1:15.]. Where they relate to any particular act which is not otherwise required of us, I confess I think them not very advisable. They are for the most part calculated rather to ensnare than to edify the soul [Note: Proverbs 20:25.]. But, where they are only a more solemn way of binding ourselves to the performance of acknowledged duties, they are as useful to ourselves, and as pleasing to God, as ever.

The particular ordinance which has recently been administered amongst us will lead me to shew you,

I. What vows are upon you—

There are vows of a more particular nature, which may have been secretly made by different individuals; which are more fit for our own personal consideration before God than for any notice on a public occasion like this; and the rather because the points that would be interesting to one or two might excite no interest in the minds of the generality amongst us. But there are vows common to us all; for instance, those made by us,

1. At our baptism—

[When presented at the sacred font, we were, as the Scripture expresses it, “baptized into Christ [Note: Galatians 3:27.].” As the Israelites, in their passage through the sea, were “baptized unto Moses,” whilst, with a wall of water on their right hand and on their left, they were sprinkled with the surge, and consecrated, as it were, unto the Lord, to embrace the revelation which was then made known to them, and to obey the laws which were then delivered them [Note: 1 Corinthians 10:1-2.]; so we, in our baptism, profess to regard the Lord Jesus Christ as our mighty deliverer, and to obey him as our only Lord. As it was not uncommon in the Apostolic age to baptize also by immersion, St. Paul represents it as being “buried with Christ in baptism into his death; that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life [Note: Romans 6:3-4.].” In both these views, we see clearly what our vows have been; to believe in Christ, to follow Christ, dying unto sin as he died for it, and rising to a new and heavenly life, as he on the third day after his crucifixion rose to a life of blessedness and glory at the right hand of God. This was renewed,]

2. At our confirmation—

[As at twelve years of age the Jewish children were presented at the temple, that they might come more fully under the yoke of their Law; so amongst us, at a somewhat later age, are young people called upon to present themselves unto the Lord, and to take upon themselves those engagements which were made for them at their baptism by their sponsors. You well know what the things are which were then promised in your name: first, “that you should renounce the devil and all his works, the pomps and vanities of this wicked world, and all the sinful lusts of the flesh; next, that you should believe all the articles of the Christian faith; and, lastly, that you should keep God’s holy will and commandments, and walk in the same all the days of your life.” Now, in reference to these very engagements, it was distinctly asked of you by the Bishop, “Do ye here, in the presence of God and of this congregation, renew the solemn promise and vow that was made in your name at your baptism, ratifying and confirming the same in your own persons, and acknowledging yourselves bound to believe and to do all those things which your godfathers and godmothers then undertook for you?” And then “every one of you audibly and distinctly answered, I do.” Remember, then, that all these vows are upon you. They are not to be regarded as empty words, which might, at the close of the ceremony, be forgotten. No, indeed; by them your souls are bound: and every one who does not labour to carry them into effect, contracts the heaviest guilt; his whole life being one continued act of lying unto God.]

3. At the table of the Lord—

[Those of us who have attained to fuller age have, for the most part, been frequent communicants at the Lord’s supper; as it is to be hoped that many of you, my young friends, will ere long be: for I must say to you, that your confirmation is intended to be a preparation for that holy ordinance; and is of no real utility to you, if it be not followed up by a total surrender of yourselves to God at the table of your Lord. Now, at the Lord’s table we give up ourselves wholly to the Lord. The word “sacrament,” by which that ordinance is often designated, refers to the oath which the Roman soldiers took to be faithful to their General: such an oath we all take, as it were, when we eat the body, and drink the blood, of our Lord and Saviour at his table. We engage to be “good soldiers of Jesus Christ,” and never to forsake his standard, but to be faithful unto him even unto death. The difference between our engagements at the three different periods is this: at our baptism the promises were made for us by our sponsors; at our confirmation we took upon ourselves all that had been engaged in our behalf; and at the Lord’s table we carry it all, as it were, into effect; and, by an open recognition of the Lord Jesus Christ as our Saviour and our Lord, we declare before all, that we are determined, through grace, to live and die in his sacred cause; having no hope but in his atoning blood; no strength but in his grace; no rule but his revealed will; no end of life but the glory of his name.]

Such being the vows of God that are upon us, let us consider,

II. The obligations thereby entailed upon us—

These vows are to be performed: for “it were better never to vow at all, than to vow and not pay [Note: Ecclesiastes 5:4-5.].”

The least that we can do is, “to render praises to the Lord:” and this we should do,

1. In a way of devout acknowledgment—

[This was the way in which David performed his vows: “I will go into thy house with burnt-offerings: I will pay thee my vows, which my lips hare uttered and my mouth hath spoken when I was in trouble. I will offer unto thee burnt-sacrifices of fatlings, with the incense of rams; I will offer bullocks with goats [Note: Psalms 66:13-15.].” This was fitted to the dispensation under which he lived: but under the Christian dispensation nothing of this kind is required: the sacrifice of a grateful heart is that which alone will prove acceptable to our God. For so it is said; “Will I eat the flesh or bulls, or drink the blood of goats? Offer unto God thanksgiving, and pay thy vows unto the Most High [Note: Psalms 50:13-14.].” And say, whether there be not abundant ground for praise and thanksgiving? That you were ever dedicated to the Lord in baptism, have you not reason to be thankful for that? Think of the heathen world, who in their infancy are devoted only to some base idol, which, so far from being able to confer a benefit on them, is not capable of even protecting itself from being broken to pieces and cast into the fire: how much better is it to be consecrated to the Lord Jesus Christ, who is “able to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by him!” Again, to have taken upon yourselves now all your baptismal vows, in order to the being confirmed and strengthened by Almighty God for the performance of them; what is this but to have set off already in your Christian course, and to be proceeding, as it were, in the high road to heaven? As for those who have been fed from time to time with the body and blood of Christ, and have been thereby established, strengthened, settled in the ways of God, methinks “the very stones would cry out against them,” if they did not sing and shout aloud for joy. To all of you, then, I recommend the adoption of David’s purpose, and of Davids words: “What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits toward me? I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord. I will pay my vows now in the presence of all his people. I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the Lord. I will pay my vows now in the presence of all his people, in the courts of the Lord’s house, in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem. Praise ye the Lord [Note: Psalms 116:12-14; Psalms 116:17-19.]!”]

2. In away of total surrender of yourselves to God—

[This, beyond a doubt, is the true object of all our vows; and without this no transient purposes or emotions will be or any value. And this is what St. Paul most earnestly recommends: “I beseech you, Brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service [Note: Romans 12:1.].” In presenting voluntary oblations to the Lord, there were some peculiar encouragements afforded, to which I will call your more especial attention. First, of the offerings so presented, the offerers themselves partook: so that Almighty God, who was represented by the altar that consumed the memorial; and the priests, to whose support a good measure of the offering was assigned; and the offerer himself; all, if I may so speak, feasted together. Next, the vow or voluntary offering might be presented “with leavened bread:” yes, notwithstanding leaven was prohibited, most strictly prohibited, in all other offerings, it might be presented in this, because God would shew his special approbation of this, and his willingness to condescend to the infirmities of those who desired to honour him, though they could not honour him to the extent they desired. And, lastly, whereas in an offering of thanksgiving the offerer could only partake on the day that he presented his offering, in that which he presented as a vow, he might partake the second day, as well as the first; that so he might have a full, a rich, an abiding enjoyment of the sacrifice, which, of his own free will, and without any necessity imposed upon him, he had vowed unto the Lord [Note: See Leviticus 7:11-16. Mark the distinction between ver. 12 and ver. 16.]. And now, after this, shall I need to multiply words in order to induce you, Brethren, to surrender up yourselves unto the Lord? No: I need only shew you in what way God has prescribed it to be clone under the very dispensation under which we live: “In those days, and at that time, saith the Lord, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together, going and weeping: they shall go, and seek the Lord their God. They shall ask the way to Zion with their faces thitherward, saying, Come, and let us join ourselves to the Lord in a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten [Note: Jeremiah 50:4-5.].” Do this, my Beloved, and it will be the best possible completion of your vows. Go to God, as not your own, but His: go to him as bought with a price, even with the precious blood of his only dear Son; and from this moment live wholly unto him, that ye may “glorify him in your body, and in your spirit, which are his [Note: 1 Corinthians 6:19-20.].”]