Humility, the Friend of Prayer
(No. 1787)
A SERMON DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, JUNE 22, 1884,
BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.
"I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth
which You have showed unto Your servant, for with my staff I passed
over this Jordan; and now I am become two bands." Genesis 32:10.
JACOB'S character was far from faultless, but equally removed from
despicable. He possessed great strength of character and force of
judgment, but this became somewhat of a snare to him, so that he did
not always move through life with the childlike repose of Isaac, or the
royal serenity of Abraham, but was, at times, crafty and critical like
his relatives on his mother's side. Yet I object to that depreciation
of Jacob's character which is so common in certain quarters because he
used the means, as well as prayed. Our God is the God of Abraham, of
Isaac, and of Jacob–and, very frequently, He is called the God of
Israel–and even the God of Jacob. "He is not ashamed to be called
their God." And if He is not ashamed to be called Jacob's God, no
fellow Believer has any right to be ashamed of Jacob! With all his
imperfections– and he certainly had them–he was a noble man.
Some good people are built upon too small a scale to display either
good or bad qualities in any high degree–let not such quibble at a
great man like Jacob! He has impressed his character upon multitudinous
generations and a whole nation bears his lineaments. He was a man full
of energy, active, enduring, resolute and, therefore, his infirmities
became more conspicuous than they would have been in a quieter and more
restful nature. Say what you will of him, he was a master of the art
ofprayer–and he that can pray well is a princely man! He that can
prevail with God will certainly prevail with men! It seems to me that
when once a man is taught of the Lord to pray, he is equal to every
emergency that can possibly arise. Depend upon it, it will go hard with
any man who fights against a man of prayer! All other weapons may be
dashed aside, but the weapon of All-Prayer, invisible though it may be,
and despised of the worldling, has in it a might and majesty which will
secure the victory! The sword of prayer has such an edge that it will
cut through coats of mail. Jacob was a prevailing prince when he was on
his knees.
Dr. Ditto, in his admirable, Bible Illustrations, has a chapter upon
this chapter which is entitled, "The First Prayer." I take leave to
differ a little from that title. This can hardly be said to be the
first prayer that is recorded in Scripture. I admit that the excellent
writer excludes the prayer of Abraham for Sodom as rather an
intercession than a prayer, but there are other prayers of Abraham and
other instances of supplication. Yet it may be truly said that this is
the first prayer in the Bible of a man for himself which is given at
full length. And, being the first, it may be viewed in some degree as a
pattern for succeeding pleaders.
If you examine it carefully, you will find that it is a valuable model
which may be copied by any child of God in the day of his trouble.
Jacob begins by pleading the Covenant–"O God of my father Abraham, and
God of my father Isaac"–what better plea can we have than the Covenant
of a faithful God which He has already fulfilled to our fathers? He
next pleads a special promise which had been made to himself. That
promise was wrapped up in the folds of a precept which he was
obeying–"You said unto me, return unto your country, and to your
kindred, and I will deal well with you." While we plead the general
Covenant made with all believers in Christ, we may also particularly
and especially plead any promise which has been laid home to our own
soul by the Spirit of the blessed God.
Next, he proceeded to plead his own unworthiness. By faith he turned
even his faultiness into an argument, as I shall have to show you–"I
am not worthy of the least of all Your mercies." Furthermore, he went
on to plead with God, stating his special danger–"Deliver me, I pray
You, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau." He also set
the little children and their danger before God–a strong plea with
such a God of Love as we have–"Less he will come and
smite me and the mother with the children." Then he concluded with what
must always remain a potent plea with God– "You said." He urged God's
promise and virtually cried, "Do as You have said." It is wise to
spread the promise before Him who gave it and to beg for its
fulfillment! We may appeal to God's faithfulness, and cry, "Remember
the words unto Your servant, upon which You have caused me to hope."
The very first sentence of Jacob's prayer has this peculiarity about
it, that it is steeped in humility, for he does not address the Lord as
his own God at the first, but as the God of Abraham and Isaac. The
prayer itself, though it is very urgent, is never presumptuous. It is
as lowly as it is earnest! I take it that even when Jacob, in his
desperation, grasped the Angel and said, "I will not let You go, except
You bless me," there was no undue familiarity in his holy boldness.
There was an extraordinary courage and an invincible determination–but
it was of the kind which God approves–otherwise He would not have
blessed him there. No man wins a blessing through a sinful act towards
God!
Throughout this prayer I see, with all its intensity, a loving
remembrance of who Jacob is, and who Jehovah is–and the suppliant
speaks in terms fit to be used towards the thrice holy God by a man of
lowly heart. This is to be the subject of our discourse–humility is
the fit attitude of prayer. We will begin with that–"I am not worthy
of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth which You have
showed unto Your servant." Then we will advance, in the second place,
to remark that humility is promoted by the same considerations which
encourage prayer–that I shall show you from the text. And thirdly,
humility suggests and supplies many arguments which can be used in
prayer. A proud man has few reasons to bring before God–but the
humbler a man is, the more numerous are his prevailing pleas. Prayer is
a suitable employment for a sinner–and a sinner is the best person to
exercise prayer.
I. Our first observation is that HUMILITY IS THE FIT ATTITUDE OF
PRAYER. I do not think that Jacob could have prayed unless he had
stripped off the robes of self-justification which he wore in his
controversy with Laban–and had stood disrobed before the infinite
majesty of the Most High. Observe that he here speaks not as before
man, but as before God, as he cries, "I am not worthy of the least of
all Your mercies." He had been talking with Laban–Laban who had made a
slave of him, who had used him in the most mercenary manner–and who
had now pursued him in fierce anger because he had left his service
with his wives and children that he might go back to his native
country. To Laban he does not say, "I am not worthy of what I possess,"
for, as far as churlish Laban was concerned, he was worthy of a great
deal more than had ever been rendered to him in the form of wages.
To Laban he uses many truthful sentences of self-vindication and
justification. Laban's substance had greatly increased under Jacob's
unceasing care. He cared for Laban's flocks with constant diligence
and, he says, "In the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by
night; and my sleep departed from my eyes." He declares that he had
never taken a ram of the flock with which to feed his own family; that
he had, in fact, for many years worked with no wages except the
daughters who became his wives. And he goes the length of saying,
"Except the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the Fear of
Isaac, had been with me, surely you had sent me away now empty." The
same man who speaks in that fashion to Laban, turns round and confesses
to his God, "I am not worthy of the least of all Your mercies." This is
perfectly consistent and truthful. Humility is not telling falsehoods
against yourself–humility is forming a right estimate of yourself. As
towards Laban, it was a correct estimate for a man who had worked so
hard for so little, to claim that he had a right to what God had given
him. And yet as before God, it was perfectly honest and sincere of
Jacob to say, "I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of
all the truth which You have showed unto Your servant."
Now, whenever you go to prayer, if you have previously been compelled
to say some rather strong thing as to your own integrity and industry
or, if you have heard others speak in your praise, forget it all–for
you cannot pray if it has any effect upon you. A man cannot pray with a
good opinion of himself–all he can manage is just to mutter, "God, I
thank You that I am not as other men are," and that is no prayer at
all! A lofty view of your own excellence will tempt you to look down
with contempt upon your neighbor–and that is death to prayer. God
drives out of His Temple all proud prayers! He cannot endure such
provocations! You must take your shoes off when you stand on holy
ground– those same shoes which are quite light for you to wear when
you have to tread upon the lion and the dragon–those same shoes which
fit you well and which befit you to wear when traveling through this
great and terrible wilderness. Take off, before your God, even that
which you are forced to wear before churlish men!
When we see Jesus, we say of Him, "whose shoe latchet I am not worthy
to unloose." "Lord, I am not worthy," is our cry. Like Abraham, we
acknowledge that we are but dust and ashes–less than the least of all
saints–honored only
by being allowed to discharge any menial function in our Master's
house! See, then, that it was essential for Jacob to get into his right
attitude after having disputed with Laban. It was fit that in lifting
his eyes to Heaven, he should use the most humble language and by no
means pretend to any merit in the Presence of the thrice Holy One.
Brothers and Sisters, it would ill become any of as to use the language
of merit before God, for we have no merit! And if we had any, we would
not need to pray!
It has been well observed by an old Divine that the man who pleads his
own merit does not pray, but demands his due. If I ask a man to pay me
a debt, I am not a suppliant, but a plaintiff claiming my rights. The
prayer of a man who thinks he is meritorious is like serving the Lord
with a writ–it is not offering a request–it is issuing a demand.
Merit, in effect, says, "Pay me what You owe me." Little will such a
man get of God, for if the Lord only pays us what He owes us, yonder
place of torment will be our speedy heritage! If, while living here, we
receive no more than we deserve, we shall be offcasts and outcasts! The
meanest of mendicants obtain more than their deserts. Even life,
itself, is a gift from the Creator! "Why does a living man complain, a
man for the punishment of his sins?" Let us be brought low as we may,
we still must admit that "it is of the Lord's mercies that we are not
consumed, because His compassions fail not." Any other attitude but
that of humility would be most unbecoming and presumptuous in the
Presence of the Most High.
Let me add, also, that in times of great pressure upon the heart, there
is not much fear of self-righteousness intruding. Jacob was greatly
afraid and sorely distressed. And when a man is brought into such a
state, the most humble language suits him. They that are filled with
bread may boast, but the hungry beg. Let the proud take heed lest while
the bread is yet in their mouths, the wrath of God comes upon them. He
that is brought to penury; he that is distressed in spirit; he that
lies at death's door is not a man to show the peacock's feathers and
display his finery! Then he looks about him to the loving kindness of
the Lord and he pleads for mercy. This is his one cry–"Mercy, mercy!"
He finds that he cannot pray until he has come to his true standing as
an undeserving one. And, having reached that, he has a firm foothold,
for he pleads the absolute sovereignty of Divine Grace and the
boundless love of the Divine heart as substantial arguments for mercy!
I am persuaded that in our prayers we fail, at times, because we do not
get low enough. Only on your face before the Throne will you prevail.
If you have any righteousness of your own, you shall never have
Christ's righteousness. If you have no sin, you shall have no washing
in the precious blood! If you are strong, you shall be left to your own
weakness. If you are rich and increased in goods, you shall be sent
away empty. But when you can truly confess your nothingness and lie low
before God, He must hear you. "Out of the depths have I cried unto You,
O Lord." No prayers speed better in the heights than those which rise
from the depths! When you are naked, the Lord will clothe you. When you
are hungry, He will feed you. When you are nothing, He will be your All
in All, for then it is that He will win glory to Himself and His
mercies will not be perverted to feed your pride. When our mercies
magnify the Lord, we shall have many of them, but when we use them for
the magnifying of ourselves, they will depart from us. See, then, dear
Friend, how necessary it is that we should approach the Lord in the
attitude of humility.
I call your attention to the present tense as it is used in the
text–Jacob does not say, as we might have thought he would have said,
"I was not worthy of the least of all the mercies and of all the truth
which You have made to pass before Your servant," but he says "I am not
worthy." He does not merely allude to his unworthiness when he crossed
this Jordan with a staff in his hand–a poor solitary banished man–he
believes that he was unworthy then and, even now, looking upon his
flocks and his herds and his great family, and all that he had done and
suffered, he cries, "I am not worthy!" What? Has not all God's mercy
made you worthy, Jacob? Brothers and Sisters, Free Grace is neither the
child nor the father of human worthiness! If we get all the Grace we
can ever get, we shall never be worthy of that Grace, for Grace, as it
enters where there is no worthiness, so it imparts to us no worthiness
afterwards as we are judged before God! When we have done all, we are
unprofitable servants–we have only done what it was our duty to have
done!
I cannot stand the man who, in his foolish prattle about his own
perfection, talks as if he had become worthy of Grace. The Lord have
mercy upon such boasters and bring them to the true moorings, so that
they may admit that they are not worthy! When you and I shall get to
Heaven, though God may say, "They shall walk with Me in white, for they
are worthy," yet it will never be right for any one of us to say that
we are worthy of anything that God has bestowed upon us! Our song must
be, Non nobis Domine–"Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto Your
name give glory, for Your mercy, and for Your truth's sake."
To touch the praise which comes to us through the operations of Divine
Grace, even with our little finger, were treason against the Most High!
To assume, for a moment, that we deserve anything of the Lord God, is
so vain-glorious, so false, so unjust that we ought to loathe the very
thought of it, and cry like Jacob, "I am not worthy!" Job, who had
defended himself with vigor and possibly with bitterness, no sooner
heard God speaking to him in the whirlwind than he cried, "I have heard
of You by the hearing of the ear: but now my eyes see You. Why I abhor
myself and repent in dust and ashes." Prostrate before the Throne is
the proper attitude of prayer–in humility is our strength for
supplication.
II. Secondly, the same thought will be kept up, but put in a somewhat
differing light, while we note that THOSE CONSIDERATIONS WHICH MAKE
TOWARDS HUMILITY ARE THE STRENGTH OF PRAYER. Observe, first, that
Jacob, in this prayer, showed his humility by a confession of the
Lord's working in all his prosperity. He says with a full heart, "All
the mercies and all the truth which You have showed unto Your servant."
Well, but Jacob, you have immense flocks of sheep and you earned them.
And through your care they greatly increased–do you not consider that
those flocks are entirely your own procuring? Surely you must see that
you were highly industrious, prudent, careful and thus grew wealthy?
No! He takes a survey of his great estate and he speaks of it all as
mercies–mercies which the Lord had showed unto His servant! I do nor
object to books about self-made men, but I am afraid that self-made men
have a great tendency to worship him that made them. It is very natural
they should. But, Brothers and Sisters, if we are self-made, I am sure
we had a very bad maker and there must be a great many flaws in us! It
would be better to be ground back to dust and made over anew so as to
become God-made man! Listen, O proud self-made mortal! What if you have
earned everything–who gave you strength to earn it? What if your
success is due to your shrewd sense–who gave you skill and foresight?
What if you have been frugal and industrious, yet why were you not left
to be as prodigal as others and to waste in riot what God bestowed on
you? Oh, Sir, if you are lifted an inch above the dunghill, you should
bless God for it, for it is from the dunghill you have come!
God helps His servants while they are weak. But when they fancy
themselves strong, He frequently humbles them. When we cry, "Behold
this great Babylon that I have built," God may not cast us off, but He
will cast us down. He did not cast off Nebuchadnezzar, but He did allow
him to lose his reason and mingle with the beasts of the field. If we
act brutishly, the Lord may allow us to become like beasts in other
matters. The use of our reasoning powers is a gift of heavenly charity
which should lead us to deep gratitude–but never induce in us pride as
to our superior abilities! If we are out of Bedlam we ought to bless
the Lord in the humblest manner. Shall we dare to glory in our talents?
Shall the axe boast against him that hews with it? Shall the net exalt
itself against the fisherman who drags the sea with it? That were,
indeed, a folly–a God-provoking folly! Inasmuch as God does so much
for us, we ought to be humbled by the weight of obligation which love
heaps upon us.
This may also yield us a hold upon God in prayer, for now we can say,
"Lord, You have done all this for me! It is plain that Your hand has
been in all Your servant's happiness–let your hand be with me, still."
Oh, self-made man, when you have made yourself, can you keep yourself
and preserve yourself in being? And do you hope to get to Heaven and
throw up your cap and say, "Hosanna to myself"? Do you reckon upon such
vain-glory? If you seek your own glory, you shall find no place in that
city where God's Glory is the all-pervading bliss of the place. So,
then, that which tends to keep us humble, also becomes an assistance to
us in our prayers.
The next point is a consideration of Goads mercies. For my part,
nothing ever sinks me so low as the mercy of God. And, next to that, I
am readily subdued by the kindness of men. When the clarion rings out
for battle, I will stand foot to foot with him that dares encounter
me–and all the man within me is awakened to the conflict–but when all
is peace and quiet, and everyone wishes me well, I wonder at their
kindness, and I sink into my shoes with fear lest I should act
unworthily in any way. The man who has a due sense of his own character
will be laid low by words of commendation. When we remember the loving
kindness of the Lord to us, we cannot but contrast our littleness with
the greatness of His love, and feel a sense of self-debasement. It is
written, "They shall fear and tremble for all the goodness and for all
the prosperity that I procure unto it." The words are true to the
letter.
Take a case–Peter went fishing and if he had caught a few fish, his
boat would have floated high on the lake. But when the Master came into
the boat and told him where to throw the net so that he pulled up a
multitude of fish, then the little boat began to sink! Down, down, it
went and poor Peter went down with it till he fell at Jesus' feet and
cried, "De-
part from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord." He was confused and
overwhelmed, or he would never have asked the blessed Master to leave
him–Christ's goodness had fairly beaten him till he was afraid of his
Benefactor! Know you not what it is to be weighed down with infinite
goodness, oppressed with mercy, swept away by an avalanche of love? I,
at least, know what it means and I know of no experience which has made
me so little in my own eyes! I feel less than the least of all His
mercies! I shrink and tremble in the presence of His bounty! If ever
providential goodness does this, you may be sure that redeeming love
will be even more effectual!
Here is a proud sinner, boasting of his own righteousness. You cannot
get his self-glorying out of him, but, by-and-by, he learns that the
Son of God gave His life to redeem him, poured out His heart upon
Calvary's Cross, the Just for the unjust, to bring him to God–and now
he is of another mind! No man could ever think that he deserved that
the Son of God should die for him! If he does think so, he must be out
of his mind! Dying love touches the heart and the man cries, "Lord, I
am not worthy of a drop of Your precious blood! I am not worthy of a
sigh from Your sacred heart! I am not worthy that You should have lived
on earth for me, much less that You should have died for me." A sense
of that wondrous condescension which is the highest commendation of
God's love, that in due time Christ died for the ungodly, brings the
man down upon his knees, dissolved by the mercies of God!
Now, if there is any man here who has a good hope through Grace that
by-and-by he will be with God in Heaven–if he will meditate upon the
Beatific Vision, if he will picture to himself the crown upon His head
and the palm branch in His hand, and himself enjoying the everlasting
hallelujah–
"Far from a world of grief and sin, With God eternally shut in,"
why, the next thing he will do is sit down and weep that this can be
possible! Such a poor, useless, sinful soul as I am– can I be
glorified, and has Jesus gone to prepare a place for me? Does He give
me His own assurance that He will come again and receive me to Himself?
Am I a joint-heir with Christ and a favored child of God? This makes us
lose ourselves in adoring gratitude. Oh, Sirs, we can never open our
mouth again in the way of boasting! Our pride is drowned in this sea of
mercy!
If we had a little Savior, and a little Heaven, and little mercy, we
might still hang out our flags. But with a great Savior, and great
mercy, and a great Heaven, we can only go in, like David, and sit
before the Lord and say, "Why all of this for me?" I have a dear
Brother in Christ who is now sorely sick, the Rev. Mr. Curme, the vicar
of Sandford in Oxfordshire, who has been my dear friend for many years.
He is the mirror of humility and he divides his name into two words,
Cur me? which means, "Why me?" Often did he say, in my hearing, "Why
me, Lord? Why me?" Truly I can say the same, Cur me?–
"Why was I made to hear Your voice And enter where there's room,
While thousands make a wretched choice And rather starve than come?"
This exceeding kindness of the Lord all tends to promote humility and,
at the same time, to help us in prayer, for if the Lord is so greatly
good, we may adopt the language of the Phoenician woman when the Master
said to her, "It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast
it to dogs." She answered, "Truth, Lord. Yet the dogs eat of the crumbs
which fall from their masters' table."
So we will go and ask our Lord to give us crumbs of mercy–and they
will be enough for us poor dogs. God's crumbs are bigger than man's
loaves and if He gives us what to Him may be a crumb, it shall be a
meal to us. Oh, He is a great Giver! He is a glorious Giver! We are not
equal to His least gift! We cannot estimate His least mercy, nor
describe it fully, nor praise Him for it sufficiently! His shallows are
too deep for us! His mole-hill mercies overtop us! What shall we say of
His mountain mercies?
Again, a comparison of our past and our present will tend to humility
and, also, to helpfulness in prayer. Jacob, at first, is described
thus, "With my staff I passed over this Jordan." He is all alone, no
servant attends him. He has no goods, not even a change of linen in a
parcel–nothing but a staff to walk with. Now, after a few years, here
is Jacob coming back, crossing the river in the opposite direction. And
he has with him two bands. He is a large grazier, with great wealth in
all manner of cattle. What a change! I would have those men whom God
has prospered never to be ashamed of what they used to be–they ought
never to forget the staff with which they crossed this Jordan! I had a
good
friend who preserved the tree axle of the truck in which he wheeled
home his goods when he first came to London. It was placed over his
front door and he never blushed to tell how he came up from the
country, worked hard, and made his way in the world.
I like this a deal better than the affected gentility which forgets the
lone half-crown which pined in solitude in their pockets when they
entered this city. They are indignant if you remind them of their poor
old father in the country, for they have discovered that the family is
very ancient and honorable! In fact, one of their ancestors came over
with the Conqueror! I have never felt any wish to be related to that
set of vagabonds, but tastes differ, and there are some who think that
they must be superior beings because they are descended from Norman
freebooters. Nobodies suddenly swell as if they were everybody! Observe
that Jacob does not say, "Years ago I was at home with my father,
Isaac, a man of large estate." Nor does he talk of his grandfather,
Abraham, as a nobleman of an ancient family in Ur, of the Chaldees, who
was entertained by monarchs.
No, he was not so silly as to boast of aristocracy and wealth, but he
frankly admits his early poverty–"With my staff, a poor, lonely,
friendless man, I crossed this Jordan, and now I am become two bands."
It humbles him to think of what he was, but, at the same time, it
strengthens him in prayer, for, in effect he pleads, "Lord, have You
made two bands of me that Esau may have the more to destroy? Have You
given me these children that they may fall by the sword?" So again I
say–that which humbled also encouraged him–he found his strength in
prayer in those very things which furnished motives for lowliness!
III. And now, as time flies, we must dwell upon the third point, still
hammering the same nail on the head–TRUE HUMILITY SUPPLIES US WITH
ARGUMENTS IN PRAYER. Look at the first one, "I am not worthy of all
Your mercies." No, "I am not worthy of the least of all the many
mercies which You have showed unto Your servant. You have kept Your
Word and been true to me, but it was not because I was true to You. I
am not worthy of the truth which You have shown to Your servant." Is
there not power in such a prayer? Is not mercy secured by a confession
of unworthiness? The man whom Christ most of all commended, as far as I
remember, was he who used this very language. The centurion came to
Christ and said, "Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my
roof–yet this was he of whom the Lord said, "I have not found so great
faith, no, not in Israel."
Depend on it, if you want Christ's commendation, you must be lowly in
your own esteem, for He never praises the proud! But He does honor the
humble. Since the Lord was thus gracious to him when he was unworthy,
had not Jacob splendid ground to stand upon while he wrestled with God
and cried, "Deliver me from Esau, my brother, though because of the
wrong I did him I am not worthy of such deliverance"? We are always
afraid, in our time of trouble, that God will deal with us according to
our unworthiness–but He will not. We say to ourselves, "At last, the
sins of my youth have come home to me. Now I shall be dealt with
according to my iniquities!"
But Jacob virtually said, "Lord, I never was worthy of the least thing
that You have done for me. And all Your dealings with me are in pure
Grace. I stand still where I always must stand–a debtor to Your
sovereign undeserved favor! And I appeal to You–since You have done
all this for me, an undeserving one, I beseech You, do yet more! I have
not changed, for I am as undeserving as ever, and You have not changed,
for You are as good as ever. Therefore still deliver Your servant."
This is mighty pleading with the Most High!
Then please notice that while Jacob thus pleads his own unworthiness,
he is not slow to plead God's goodness. He speaks in most expressive
words, wide and full of meaning. "I am not worthy of the least of all
Your mercies. I cannot enumerate them, the list would be too long! It
seems to me as if You have given me all kinds of mercies, every sort of
blessing. Your mercy endures forever and You have given it all to me."
How he extols God as with a full mouth when he says, "All Your
mercies." He does not say, "all Your mercy"–the word is in the
plural–"the least of all Your mercies." God has many bands of
mercies–favors never come alone–they visit us in troops! All the
trees in God's vineyard are full of branches and each branch is loaded
with fruit! All the flowers in God's garden bloom double–and some of
them bloom sevenfold!
We have not only mercy, but mercies numerous as the sand! Mercy for the
past, the present, the future! Mercy to temper sorrows, mercy to purify
joys! Mercy for our sinful things, mercy for our holy things. "All Your
mercies"–the expression has a vast acreage of meaning! He does not
know how to express his sense of obligation except with plurals and
universals! The language is so full, I could never exhibit all its
meaning! He seems to say to the Lord, "Because of all this
great goodness, I pray You go on to deal well with Your servant. Save
me from Esau, or all Your mercies will be lost! Have You not, in Your
past love, given pledge to me to keep me even to the end?" Mercy and
truth all through the Bible are continually joined together–"All the
paths of the Lord are mercy and truth." "God shall send forth His mercy
and His truth." These two gracious ones grasp hands in Jacob's
prayer–"All Your mercies and all Your truth!" Oh, Brothers and
Sisters, if you would wrestle with God and prevail, use much these two
master arguments–mercies and truth! These are two keys which will open
all the treasures of God! These are two shields behind which you will
be out of reach of every fiery arrow! That which made Jacob humble also
made him strong in prayer. Gratitude for mercy made him bow before God,
but it also enabled him to grasp the Angel with the hand of believing
importunity!
Notice, next, how he says "Your servant." A plea is hidden away in that
word. Jacob might have called himself by some other name on this
occasion. He might have said, "I am not worthy of the least of all the
mercies and of all the truth which you have showed unto Your child." It
would have been true. It would not have been fitting. Suppose it had
run– "Unto Your chosen"? It would have been true, but not so lowly.
Or, "unto Your covenanted one"–that would have been correct, but not
so humble an expression as Jacob felt bound to use in this time of his
distress, when the sins of his youth were brought to his mind. He
seemed to say, "Lord, I am Your servant. You did bid me come here and
here I have come because of that bidding–therefore protect me." Surely
a king will not see his servant put upon when engaged in the royal
service!
Jacob was in the path of duty and God would make it the path of safety.
If we make God our Guide, He will be our Guard. If He is our Commander,
He will be our Defender. He will not permit any Esau to smite with the
sword one of His Jacobs! When we fully cast ourselves upon the Lord by
a believing obedience, we may depend upon it that He will bear us up
and bear us through! Masters are commanded to give unto their servants
that which is just and equal–and we may be sure that our Master in
Heaven will do the same to each of us who serve Him. Jacob was in
danger through His service and, therefore, the Lord's honor was pledged
to see him through. It may seem a small thing to be a servant, but it
is a great thing to plead in the hour of need! So David used it–"Make
Your face to shine upon Your servant." "Hide not Your face from Your
servant; for I am in trouble." "O my God, save Your servant who trusts
in You." These are but specimens of the ways in which men of God used
their position as servants as an argument for mercy.
Jacob had yet another plea which showed his humility and that was the
argument of facts. "With my staff," he says, "I passed over this
Jordan." "This Jordan," which flowed hard by and received the Jabbok.
It brings a thousand things to his mind, to be on the old spot again.
When he crossed it before, he was journeying into exile. But now he is
coming back as a son to take his place with loved Rebekah and father
Isaac–and he could not but feel it a great mercy that he was now going
in a happier direction than before. He looked at his staff and he
remembered how, in fear and trembling, he had leaned upon it as he
pursued his hasty, lonely march. "With this staff–that is all I had."
He looks upon it and contrasts his present condition and his two camps
with that day of poverty, that hour of hasty flight!
This retrospect humbled him, but it must have been a strength to him in
prayer. "O God, if You have helped me from abject need to all this
wealth, You can certainly preserve me in the present danger. He who has
done so much is still able to bless me and He will do so."–
"Can He have taught me to trust in His name And thus far have brought
me to bring me to shame?" Does God mock men? Does He encourage their
hope and then leave them? No, the God that begins to bless, perseveres
in blessing and, even to the end, continues to love His chosen!
In closing, I think I discover one powerful argument here in Jacob's
prayer. Did he not mean that although God had increased him so greatly,
there had come with it all the greater responsibility? He had more to
care for than when he owned less. Duty had increased with increased
possessions. He seems to say, "Lord, when I came this way, before, I
had nothing–only a staff–that was all I had to take care of. And if I
had lost that staff, I could have found another. Then I had Your dear
and kind protection, which was better to me than riches. Shall I not
have it now? When I was a single man with a staff, You did guard me.
And now that I am surrounded by this numerous family of little children
and servants, will You not spread Your wings over me? Lord, the gifts
of Your goodness increase my need–give me proportionately Your
blessing! I could, before, run away and escape from my angry
brother–but now the mothers and the children bind me and I must abide
with them and die with them unless You preserve me."
My Brothers and Sisters, at this hour I know how to use this same plea!
To me, every advance in position among men means more obligation to
serve my Lord and bless my generation! I need more Divine Grace or my
failure will be the more shameful! Unworthy as we are of all this
blessing, yet we dare not trifle with it and refuse to serve our God
with all our powers. The more oxen–the more plowing has to be done!
The broader the fields–the more laboriously must we sow. The larger
the harvest–the more industriously must we reap! And for all this we
need much more strength. If God blesses and increases us in talent, or
in substance, or in any way, ought we not to conclude that the larger
trust involves greater responsibility? Thus our life's task grows
sterner, more difficult and we are driven more than ever to our God!
This is our argument–"O Lord, You have imposed upon me a wider
service! Give me more Grace! In Your goodness You have committed more
talents to him that had 10 talents–will You not give more help to put
all out to interest for Your name's sake?" Yes, Brother, as God lifts
you up, take care that you bow lower and lower at His feet. Consecrate
even more entirely your whole being unto God! Be thankful if your pound
has gained one pound and, if He does more for you, be restless till His
five pounds have gained five more pounds. Let the goodness of God,
instead of becoming a cloak for your pride, or a couch for your sloth,
be an incentive to your industry, a stimulus to your zeal! May it help
your humility, but, at the same time, encourage your confidence when
you draw near to God in prayer, to feel how largely you are under
obligations to serve the Lord.
Come, dear Friends, the Lord has been mindful of us as a Church and He
will bless us! We have obtained, through our Lord Jesus and His Spirit,
blessings so large that I can say in your name we are not worthy of the
least of all these mercies! Shall we not use them to God's Glory? Yes,
more than ever–for we are determined to pray more, to believe more and
to work more–and to be more full of courage and dauntless resolve that
the name and the truth of Jesus shall be made known wherever our voice
can be heard! As long as tongues can speak and hearts can beat, God
helping us, we will live for Jesus our Lord! We are what Rutherford
would call, "drowned debtors"–let us be living lovers! Our ships have
gone down in a sea of love till mercy rolls over our topmasts. So be
it! So be it! We are swallowed up in an abyss of love! My figure
describes us as sinking, but in very truth it is thus we rise by being
filled with all the fullness of God! With a full heart I pray for you,
Beloved. God bless you, for Christ's sake. Amen.