shall see fito. Yet it is proper that we make it a part of our daily supplications; "Give us this day our daily bread."] 3. The final possession of the promised land [Canaan was desired by Jacob not merely as an earthly inheritance, but chiefly as an earnest of that better land which it shadowed forth. None of the patriarchs regarded it as their home: "they dwelt in it as sojourners, and looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God P." There is for us also "a rest" which that land typified, and to which we should look as the end of all our labours', and the consummation of all our hopes". It is "the inheritance to which we are begotten," and "the grace which shall surely be brought unto us at the revelation of Jesus Christ"." To be waiting for it with an assured confidence, and an eager desire3, is the attainment to which we should continually aspire; yea, we should be "looking for it and hasting to it" with a kind of holy impatience", "groaning within ourselves for it, and travailing as it were in pain," till the period for our complete possession of it shall arrive".] All these things God had previously promised to Jacob: and he could not err, whilst making God's promises the rule and measure of his desires. The engagement which he entered into, and to which he bound himself in this vow, shews us further, II. Our bounden duties Though the particular engagement then made by Jacob is not binding upon us, yet the spirit of it is of universal obligation 1. We must acknowledge God as our God ["Other lords have had dominion over us:" but they are all to be cast down as usurpers; and God alone is to be seated on the throne of our hearts". No rival is to be suffered to remain within us: idols, of whatever kind they be, are to be "cast to the moles and to the bats." We must avouch the Lord to be our only, our rightful, Sovereign, whom we are to love and serve with all our heart, and all our mind, and all our soul, and all our strength. Nor is it sufficient to submit to him merely as a Being whom we are unable to oppose: we must claim him with holy triumph as our God and portion, • Matt. vi. 25, 26. r Heb. xi. 26. u 1 Pet. i. 13. z Rom. viii. 22, 23. P Heb. xi. 9, 10, 13-16. * 1 Cor. i. 8. Phil. i. 23. q Heb. iv. 8, 9. 1 Pet. i. 3, 4. y 2 Pet. iii. 12. b Isai. xxvi. 13. saying with David, "O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee." It is remarkable that this very state of mind, which was yet more conspicuous in Jacob in his dying hour, is represented as characterizing the people of God under the Christian dispensation: "It shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for him; we will rejoice and be glad in his salvation."] 2. To glorify him as God [The two particulars which Jacob mentions, namely, the building of an altar to the Lord on that very spot where God had visited him, and the consecrating to his especial service a tenth of all that God in his providence should give unto him, were optional, till he by this vow had made them his bounden duty. With those particulars we have nothing to do: but there are duties of a similar nature incumbent on us all. We must maintain in our families, and promote to the utmost in the world, the worship of God; and must regard our property as his, and, after we have "laboured with all our might" to serve him with it, must say, "All things come of Thee, and of Thine own have we given thee." There must be one question ever uppermost in the mind; What can I do for God; and "what can I render to him for all the benefits that he hath done unto me?" Can I call the attention of others to him, so as to make him better known in the world? If I can, it shall be no obstacle to me that I am surrounded with heathens; nor will I be intimidated because I stand almost alone in the world: I will confess him openly before men: I will "follow my Lord and Saviour without the camp, bearing his reproach:" I will "esteem the reproach of Christ greater riches than all the treasures of Egypt:" whether called to forsake all for him, or to give all to him, I will do it with alacrity, assured, that his presence in time, and his glory in eternity, will be an ample recompence for all that I can ever do or suffer for his sake. He has bought me with the inestimable price of his own blood; and therefore, God helping me, I will henceforth "glorify him with my body and my spirit, which are his'."] ADDRESS 1. To those who are just entering upon the world[Be moderate in your desires after earthly things. You can at present have no conception how little they will contribute to your real happiness. Beyond food and raiment you can have nothing that is worth a thought. Solomon, who c Ps. lxiii. 1. e 1 Chron. xxix. 2, 14. d Isai. xxv. 9. with Gen. xlix. 18. f 1 Cor. vi. 19, 20. possessed more than any other man ever did, has pronounced it all to be vanity; and not vanity only, but vexation of spirit also. And, whilst it is so incapable of adding any thing to your happiness, it subjects you to innumerable temptations, impedes in a very great degree your progress heaven-ward", and greatly endangers your everlasting welfare. "Love not the world then, nor any thing that is in it:" but "set your affections altogether on things above." In your attachment to them there can be no excess. In your desire after God you cannot be too ardent: for "in his presence is life, and his loving-kindness is better than life itself." Set before you the prize of your high calling, and keep it ever in view: and be assured that, when you have attained it, you will never regret any trials you sustained, or any efforts you put forth, in the pursuit of it. One hour spent in "your Father's house" will richly repay them all.] 2. To those who have been delivered from trouble [It is common with persons in the season of deep affliction to make vows unto the Lord, and especially when drawing nigh to the borders of the grave. Now you perhaps in the hour of worldly trouble or of spiritual distress regretted that you had wasted so many precious hours in the pursuit of earthly cares and pleasures, and determined, if God should accomplish for you the wished-for deliverance, you would devote yourselves henceforth entirely to his service. But, when delivered from your sorrows, you have, like metal taken from the furnace, returned to your wonted hardness, and forgotten all the vows which were upon you. Even "Hezekiah rendered not to God according to the benefits conferred upon him," and by his ingratitude brought on his whole kingdom the heaviest judgments, which would have fallen upon himself also, had he not deeply "humbled himself for the pride of his heart." Do ye then, Brethren, beware of trifling with Almighty God in matters of such infinite concern: "it were better never to vow, than to vow and not paym God forgets not your vows, whether you remember them or not. At the distance of twenty years he reminded Jacob of his vows; and then accepted him in the performance of them". O beg of him to bring yours also to your remembrance! and then "defer not to pay them," in a total surrender of yourselves to him, and a willing consecration of all that you possess to his service.] 3. To those whom God has prospered [In how many is that saying verified, "Jeshurun waxed i Matt. xix. 23, 24. m Eccl. v. 4, 5. g 1 Tim. vi. 9. k 1 John ii. 15, 16. h Hab. ii. 6. 1 2 Chron. xxxii. 25. n Gen. xxxv. 1, 3, 6, 7, 9-12. o Rom. xii. 1. 1 Cor. viii. 3—5. fat and kicked." But, Beloved, let it not be so with you. It were better far that you were spoiled of every thing that you possess, and driven an exile into a foreign land, than that you should "forget God who has done so great things for you," and rest in any portion short of that which God has prepared for them that love him. Who can tell? your prosperity may be only fattening you as sheep for the slaughter: and at the very moment you are saying," Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; eat, drink, and be merry;" God may be saying, "Thou fool, this night shall thy soul be required of thee." Know that every thing which thou hast is a talent to be improved for thy God. Hast thou wealth, or power, or influence of any kind, employ it for the honour of thy God, and for the enlargement and establishment of the Redeemer's kingdom. Then shalt thou be honoured with the approbation of thy God; even with the sweetest manifestations of his love in this world, and the everlasting enjoyment of his glory in the world to come.] XLVII. JACOB PLEADING WITH GOD. Gen. xxxii. 26. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me. SOME have thought that the circumstances here recorded were a mere vision; and others a reality: but they seem to have been neither the one nor the other; but a real transaction under a figurative representation. The "wrestling" was not a corporeal trial of strength between two men, but a spiritual exercise of Jacob with his God under the form of an angel or a man. That it was not a mere man who withstood Jacob, is clear, from his being expressly called "God," and from his taking upon him offices which none but God could perform. And that it was a spiritual, and not a corporeal, exercise on the part of Jacob, is evident, from what the prophet Hosea says respecting it; "By his strength Jacob had power with God; yea, he had power over the Angel, and prevailed: he wept, and made supplication unto him." Such manifestations of God under the a ver. 29, 30. b Hos. xii. 3, 4. angelic or human form were not uncommon in the earlier parts of the Jewish history: and it is generally thought, that the Lord Jesus Christ was the person who assumed these appearances; and that he did so in order to prepare his people for his actual assumption of our nature at the time appointed of the Father. His appearance to Jacob at this time was for the purpose of comforting him under the distressing apprehensions which he felt on account of his brother Esau, who was "coming with four hundred men" to destroy him. Jacob used the best means he could devise to pacify his brother, and to preserve as many as he could of his family, in case a part of them should be slain. But he was not satisfied with any expedients which he could use. He well knew, that none but God could afford him any effectual succour: he therefore "remained alone" all the night, that he might spread his wants and fears before God, and implore help from him. On this occasion God appeared to him in the shape and form of a man, and apparently withstood him till the break of day. Then the person would have departed from him: but Jacob would not suffer him; but held him fast, as it were, saying, "I will not let thee go, except thou bless me." From these words I shall take occasion to shew, I. The constituents of acceptable prayer These are beautifully displayed in the prayer of Jacob: 1. A renunciation of all dependence on ourselves— [With this acknowledgment Jacob began his prayer: "O God of my father Abraham, I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies and of all the truth which thou hast shewed unto thy servant." And such is the feeling that must influence our hearts whensoever we attempt to draw nigh to God. think ourselves deserving of the divine favour, not one word can we utter with becoming humility; nor have we the smallest prospect of acceptance with God: "The hungry he will fill with good things; but the rich he will send empty away." It is "he who humbleth himself, and he alone, that shall ever be exalted." In this respect the returning prodigal is a pattern c ver. 6, 7. d ver. 10. e Luke i. 53. |