What is poor sorry man, poor dust and ashes, that he should crowd it up, and go jostlingly into the presence of the great G.o.d--especially since it is apparent the disproportion that is betwixt G.o.d and him?
Esther, when she went to supplicate the king her husband for her people, made use neither of her beauty nor relation, nor the privileges of which she might have had temptation to make use of, especially at such a time, and in such exigencies, as then did compa.s.s her about; but, I say, she made not use of them to thrust herself into his presence, but knew, and kept her distance, standing in the inward court of his palace until he held out the golden sceptre to her; then Esther drew near, and touched the top thereof; Esth. v. 1, 2.
Men, also, when they come into the presence of G.o.d, should know their distance; yea, and shew that they know it too, by such gestures, and carriages, and behaviour, that are seemly. A remarkable saying is that of Solomon, "Keep thy foot," saith he, "when thou goest into the house of G.o.d, and be more ready to hear than to give the sacrifice of fools; for they consider not that they do evil." And as they should keep their foot, so also he adds, "Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before G.o.d; for G.o.d is in heaven, and thou upon earth, therefore let thy words be few;"
Eccles. v. 1, 2.
Three things the Holy Ghost exhorteth to in this text.
The one is, That we look to our feet, and not be forward to crowd into G.o.d"s presence.
Another is, That we should also look well to our tongues, that they be not rash in uttering any thing before G.o.d.
And the third is, Because of the infinite distance that is betwixt G.o.d and us, which is intimated by these words, "For G.o.d is in heaven, and thou upon earth."
The Publican therefore shewed great wisdom, holy shame, and humility, in this brave gesture of his, namely, in his standing afar off when he went up into the temple to pray. But this is not all.
Secondly, The Publican, in standing afar off, left room for an Advocate and high-priest, a Day"s-man, to come betwixt, to make peace between G.o.d and his poor creature. Moses, the great mediator of the Old Testament, was to go nigher to G.o.d than the rest of the elders, or those of the people; Exod. xx. 21. Yea, the rest of the people were expressly commanded to worship, "standing afar off." No man of the sons of Aaron that had a blemish was to come nigh. "No man that hath a blemish of the seed of Aaron the priest shall come nigh to offer the offerings of the Lord made by fire. He shall not come nigh to offer the bread of his G.o.d;" Lev. xxi. 21.
The Publican durst not be his own mediator; he knew he had a blemish, and was infirm, and therefore he stands back; for he knew that it was none of him that his G.o.d had chosen to come near unto him, to offer "the fat and the blood;" Ezek. xliv. 13-15. The Publican, therefore, was thus far right; he took not up the room himself, neither with his person nor his performances, but stood back, and gave place to the High-priest that was to be intercessor.
We read, that when Zacharias went into the temple to burn incense, as at the time his lot was, "The whole mult.i.tude of the people were praying without;" Luke i. 9, 10. They left him where he was, near to G.o.d, between G.o.d and them, mediating for them; for the offering of incense by the chief-priest was a figurative making of intercession for the people, and they maintained their distance.
It is a great matter in praying to G.o.d, not to go too far, nor come too short, in that duty, I mean in the duty of prayer; and a man is very apt to do one or the other. The Pharisee went so far; he was too bold; he came into the temple making such a ruffle with his own excellencies, that there was in his thoughts no need of a Mediator.
He also went up so nigh to G.o.d, that he took up the room and place of the Mediator himself; but this poor Publican, he knows his distance, and keeps it, and leaves room for the High-priest to come and intercede for him with G.o.d. He stood afar off: not too far off; for that is the room and place of unbelievers; and in that sense this saying is true, "For, lo, they that are far from thee shall perish;"
Psalm lxxiii. 27; that is, they whose unbelief hath set their hearts and affections more upon their idols, and that have been made to cast G.o.d behind their backs, to follow and go a-whoring after them.
Hitherto, therefore, it appears, that though the Pharisee had more righteousness than the Publican, yet the Publican had more spiritual righteousness than the Pharisee; and that though the Publican had a baser and more ugly outside than the Pharisee, yet the Publican knew how to prevail with G.o.d for mercy better than he.
As for the Publican"s posture of standing in prayer, it is excusable, and that by the very Father of the faithful himself: for Abraham stood praying when he made intercession for Sodom; Gen. xviii. 22, 23. Christ also alloweth it, where he saith, "And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any; that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespa.s.ses;" Mark xi. 25.
Indeed there is no stinted order prescribed for our thus behaving of ourselves in prayer, whether kneeling, or standing, or walking, or lying, or sitting; for all these postures have been used by the G.o.dly. Paul "kneeled down and prayed;" Acts xx. 36. Abraham and the Publican stood and prayed. David prayed as he walked; 2 Sam. xv. 30, 31. Abraham prayed lying upon his face; Gen. xvii. 17,18. Moses prayed sitting; Exod. xvii. 12. And indeed prayer, effectual fervent prayer, may be, and often is, made unto G.o.d under all these circ.u.mstances of behaviour: for G.o.d has not tied us up to any of them; and he that shall tie himself, or his people, to any of these, doth more than he hath warrant for from G.o.d: and let such take care of innovating; it is the next way to make men hypocrites and dissemblers in those duties in which they should be sincere.
True, which of those soever a man shall choose to himself for the present, to perform this solemn duty in, it is required of him, and G.o.d expects it, that he should pray to him in truth, and with desire, affection, and hunger, after those things that with his tongue he maketh mention of before the throne of G.o.d. And indeed without this, all is nothing. But alas! how few be there in the world whose heart and mouth in prayer shall go together? Dost thou, when thou askest for the Spirit, or faith, or love to G.o.d, to holiness, to saints, to the word, and the like, ask for them with love to them, desire of them, hungering after them? Oh! this is a mighty thing! and yet prayer is no more before G.o.d, than as it is seasoned with these blessed qualifications. Wherefore it is said, that while men are praying, G.o.d is searching of the heart, to see what is the meaning of the Spirit (or whether there be the Spirit and his meaning in all that the mouth hath uttered, either by words, sighs, or groans), because it is by him, and through his help only, that any make prayers according to the will of G.o.d; Rom. viii. 26, 27. Whatever thy posture therefore shall be, see that thy prayers be pertinent and fervent, not mocking of thine own soul with words, while thou wantest, and art an utter stranger to, the very vital and living spirit of prayer.
Now, our Publican had and did exercise the very spirit of prayer in prayer. He prayed sensibly, seriously, affectionately, hungering, thirsting, and with longing after that for which with his mouth he implored the G.o.d of heaven; his heart and soul was in his words, and it was that which made his prayer PRAYER; even because he prayed in PRAYER; he prayed inwardly as well as outwardly.
David tells us, that G.o.d heard the voice of his supplication, the voice of his cry, the voice of his tears, and the voice of his roaring. For indeed are all these acceptable. Affection and fervent desire make them sound well in the ears of G.o.d. Tears, supplications, prayers, cries, may be all of them done in formality, hypocrisy, and from other causes, and to other ends, than that which is honest and right in G.o.d"s sight: for G.o.d would search and look after the voice of his tears, supplications, roarings, prayers, and cries.
And if men had less care to please men, and more to please G.o.d, in the matter and manner of praying, the world would be at a better pa.s.s than it is. But this is not in man"s power to help and to amend.
When the Holy Ghost comes upon men with great conviction of their state and condition, and of the use and excellency of the grace of sincerity and humility in prayer, then, and not till then, will the grace of prayer be more prized, and the specious, flounting, complimentary lips of flatterers, be more laid aside. I have said it already, and will say it again, that there is now-a-days a great deal of wickedness committed in the very duty of prayer; by words of which men have no sense by reaching after such conclusion and clenshes therein, as make their persons be admired; by studying for, and labouring after, such enlargements as the spirit accompanieth not the heart in. O Lord G.o.d, make our hearts upright in us, as in all points and parts of our profession, so in this solemn appointment of G.o.d! "If I regard iniquity in my heart," said David, "the Lord will not hear my prayer." But if I be truly sincere, he will; and then it is no matter whether I kneel, or stand, or sit, or lie, or walk; for I shall do none of these, nor put up my prayers under any of these circ.u.mstances, lightly, foolishly, and idly, but to beautify this gesture with the inward working of my mind and spirit in prayer; that whether I stand or sit, walk or lie down, grace and gravity, humility and sincerity, shall make my prayer profitable, and my outward behaviour comely in his eyes, with whom (in prayer) I now have to do.
And had not our Publican been inwardly seasoned with these, Christ would have taken but little pleasure in his modes and outward behaviour: but being so honest inwardly, and in the matter of his prayer, his gestures by that were made beauteous also; and therefore it is that our Lord so delightfully delateth upon them, and draweth them out at length before the eyes of others.
I have often observed, that which is natural and so comely in one, looks odiously when imitated by another. I speak as to gestures and actions in preaching and prayer. Many, I doubt not, but will imitate the Publican, and that both in the prayer and gestures of the Publican, whose persons and actions will yet stink in the nostrils of him that is holy and just, and that searcheth the heart and the reins.
Well, the Publican stood and prayed; he stood afar off, and prayed, and his prayers came even to the ears of G.o.d.
"And the Publican standing afar off would not lift up so much as his eyes to heaven," &c.
We are now come to another of his postures. He would not, says the text, so much as lift up his eyes to heaven. Here, therefore, was another gesture added to that which went before; and a gesture that a great while before had been condemned by the Holy Ghost himself. "Is it such a fast that I have chosen, a day for a man to afflict his soul? Is it to bow down his head as a bulrush?" Isa. lviii. 5.
But why condemned then, and smiled upon now? Why? Because done in hypocrisy then, and in sincerity now. Hypocrisy, and a spirit of error, that he shall take no pleasure in them; but sincerity, and honesty in duties, will make even them comely in the sight of men-- may I not say before G.o.d? The Rechabites were not commanded of G.o.d, but of their father, to do as they did; but, because they were sincere in their obedience thereto, even G.o.d himself maketh use of what they did, to condemn the disobedience of the Jews; and, moreover, doth tell the Rechabites at last, that they should not want a man to stand before him for ever. "And Jeremiah said unto the house of the Rechabites, Thus saith the Lord of Hosts, the G.o.d of Israel, because ye have obeyed the commandment of Jonadab your father, and kept all his precepts, and done according unto all that he hath commanded you; therefore, thus saith the Lord of Hosts, the G.o.d of Israel, Jonadab, the son of Rechab, shall not want a man to stand before me for ever."
He would not lift up his eyes to heaven. Why? Surely because shame had covered his face. Shame will make a man blush and hang his head like a bulrush; shame for sin is a virtue, a comely thing; yea, a beauty-spot in the face of a sinner that cometh to G.o.d for mercy.
G.o.d complains of the house of Israel, that they could sin, and that without shame; yea, and threateneth them too with sore repeated judgments, because they were not ashamed; it is in Jer. viii. Their crimes in general were, they turned every one to his course, as the horse runneth into the battle. In particular, they were such as rejected G.o.d"s word; they loved this world, and set themselves against the prophets, crying, "Peace, peace," when they cried, "Judgment, judgment!" And were not ashamed when they had committed abomination; "Nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush; therefore shall they fall among them that fall: in the time of their visitation they shall be cast down, saith the Lord;" ver.
12. Oh! to stand, or sit, or lie, or kneel, or walk before G.o.d in prayer, with blushing cheeks for sin, is one of the most excellent sights that can be seen in the world.
Wherefore the church taketh some kind of heart to herself in that she could lie down in her shame; yea, and makes that a kind of an argument with G.o.d to prove that her prayers did come from her heart, and also that he would hear them; Jer. iii. 22-25.
Shame for sin argueth sense of sin, yea, a right sense of sin, a G.o.dly sense of sin. Ephraim pleads this when under the hand of G.o.d: I was (saith he) "ashamed, yea, even confounded, because I did bear the reproach of my youth." But what follows? "Is Ephraim my dear son? is he a pleasant child? for since I spake against him, I do earnestly remember him still: therefore my bowels are troubled for him: I will surely have mercy upon him, saith the Lord;" Jer. x.x.xi.
19, 20.
I know that there is a shame that is not the spirit of an honest heart, but that rather floweth from sudden surprisal, when the sinner is unawares taken in the act--in the very manner. And thus sometimes the house of Israel were taken: and then, when they blushed, their shame is compared to the shame of a thief. "As the thief is ashamed when he is found, so is the house of Israel ashamed; they, their kings, their princes, and their priests, and their prophets."
But where were they taken, or about what were they found? Why, they were found "saying to a stock, Thou art my father, and to a stone, thou hast brought me forth." G.o.d catched them thus doing; and this made them ashamed, even as the thief is ashamed when the owner doth catch him stealing his horse.
But this was not the Publican"s shame. This shame brings not a man into the temple to pray, to stand willingly, and to take shame before G.o.d in prayer. This shame makes one rather to fly from his face, and to count one"s self most at ease when farthest off from G.o.d; Jer. ii.
26, 27.
The Publican"s shame, therefore, which he demonstrated by hanging down his head, was G.o.dly and holy, and much like that of the prodigal, when he said, "Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son;" Luke xv. 21.
I suppose that his postures were much the same with the Publican"s, as were his prayers, for the substance of them. O however grace did work in both to the same end! they were both of them, after a G.o.dly manner, ashamed of their sins.
"He would not lift up so much as his eyes to heaven."
He could not, he would not: which yet more fully makes it appear, that it was shame, not guilt only, or chiefly, though it is manifest enough that he had guilt; by his crying, "G.o.d be merciful to me a sinner." I say, guilt was not the chief cause of hanging down his head, because it saith, he WOULD not; for when guilt is the cause of stooping, it lieth not in the will, or in the power thereof, to help one up.
David tells us, that when he was under guilt, his iniquities were gone over his head: as an heavy burden, they were too heavy for him; and that with them he was bowed down greatly. Or, as he says in another place, "Mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up;" Psalm x.x.xviii.; xl. I am not able to do it: guilt disableth the understanding, and conscience; shame makes all willingly fall at the feet of Christ.
He would not. He knew what he was, what he had been, and should be, if G.o.d had not mercy upon him; yea, he knew also that G.o.d knew what he was, had been, and would be, if mercy prevented not; wherefore, thought he, Wherefore should I lift up the head? I am no righteous man, no G.o.dly man, I have not served G.o.d, but Satan; this I know, this G.o.d knows, this angels know, wherefore I will not lift up the head. It is as much as to say, I will not be an hypocrite, like the Pharisee: for lifting up of the head signifies innocency and harmlessness of life, or good conscience, and the testimony thereof, under and in the midst of all accusations. Wherefore this was the counsel of Zophar to Job--"If," saith he, "thou prepare thine heart, and stretch out thine hand towards him; if iniquity be in thine hand, put it far away, and let not wickedness dwell in thy tabernacles.
For then shalt thou lift up thy face without spot; yea, thou shalt be steadfast, and shalt not fear;" Job xi. 13-15.
This was not the Publican"s state: he had lived in lewdness and villany all his days; nor had he prepared his heart to seek the Lord G.o.d of his fathers; he had not cleansed his heart nor hands from violence, nor done that which was lawful and right. He only had been convinced of his evil ways, and was come into the temple as he was, all foul, and in his filthy garments, and amidst his pollutions; how then could he be innocent, holy, or without spot? and, consequently, how could he lift up his face to G.o.d? I remember what Abner said to Asahel, "Turn thee aside (said he) from following me, wherefore should I smite thee to the ground? how then should I hold up my face to Joab, thy brother?" 2 Sam. ii. 22.
As if he had said, If I kill thee, I shall blush, be ashamed, and hang my head like a bulrush the next time I come into the company of thy brother.
This was the Publican"s case: he was guilty, he had sinned, he had committed a trespa.s.s; and now being come into the temple, into the presence of that G.o.d whose laws he had broken, and against whom he had sinned, how could he lift up his head? how could he do it? No, it better became him to take his shame, and to hang his head in token of guilt; and indeed he did, and did it to purpose too, for he would not lift up, no not so much as his eyes to heaven.
True, some would have done it; the Pharisee did it; though if he had considered that hypocrisy and the leaning to his own righteousness had been a sin, he would have found as little cause to have done it as did the Publican himself. But, I say he did it, and sped therein; he went down to his house, as he came up into the temple, a poor unjustified Pharisee, whose person and prayer were both rejected; because, like the wh.o.r.e of whom we read in the Proverbs, after he had practised all manner of hypocrisy, he comes into the temple and wipes his mouth, and saith, "I have done no wickedness;" Prov. x.x.x. 20. He lifts up his head, his face, his eyes, to heaven; he struts, he vaunts himself; he swaggers, he vapours, and cries up himself, saying, "G.o.d I thank thee that I am not as other men are."
True, had he come and stood before a stock or stone, he might have said thus, and not have been reprehended; for such are G.o.ds that see not, nor hear, neither do they understand. But to come before the true G.o.d, the living G.o.d, the G.o.d that fills heaven and earth by his presence, and that knows the things that come into the mind of man, even every one of them; I say, to come into his house, to stand before him, and thus to lift up his head and eyes in such hypocrisy before him, this was abominable, this was to tempt G.o.d, and to prove him, yea, to challenge him to know what was in man, if he could, even as those who said, "How doth G.o.d (see) know? can he judge through the dark cloud?" Job xxii. 13; Psalm lxxiii. 11.
But the Publican--no--he would not do this; he would not lift up so much as his eyes to heaven. As who should say, O Lord, I have been against thee a traitor and a rebel, and like a traitor and a rebel before thee will I stand. I will bear my shame before thee in the presence of the holy angels; yea, I will prevent thy judging of me by judging myself in thy sight, and will stand as condemned before thee before thou pa.s.sest sentence upon me.
This is now for a sinner to go to the end of things. For what is G.o.d"s design in the work of conviction for sin, and in his awakening of the conscience about it? What is his end, I say, but to make the sinner sensible of what he hath done, and that he might unfeignedly judge himself for the same. Now this our Publican doth; his will therefore is now subjected to the word of G.o.d, and he justifies him in all his ways and works towards him. Blessed be G.o.d for any experience of these things.
"He would not lift up so much as his eyes to heaven." He knew by his deeds and deservings that he had no portion there; nor would he divert his mind from the remembering, and from being affected with the evil of his ways.
Some men, when they are under the guilt and conviction of their evil life, will do what they can to look any way, and that on purpose to divert their minds, and to call them off from thinking on what they have done; and by their thus doing, they bring many evils more upon their souls; for this is a kind of striving with G.o.d, and a shewing a dislike to his ways. Would not you think, if when you are shewing your son or your servant his faults, if he should do what he could to divert and take off his mind from what you are saying, that he striveth against you, and sheweth dislike of your doings? What else mean the complaints of masters and of fathers in this matter? "I have a servant, I have a son, that doth contrary to my will." "O but why do you not chide them for it?" The answer is, "So I do; but they do not regard my words; they do what they can, even while I am speaking, to divert their minds from my words and counsels." Why, all men will cry out, "This is base; this is worthy of great rebuke; such a son, such a servant, deserveth to be shut out of doors, and so made to learn better breeding by want and hardship."