A Golden Chain, Part 4 – Part 6
Which art in heauen]
1. The meaning.
Quest. HOw may God be said to be in heauen, seeing hee is infinite, and therefore must needes be eueryevery where. 1. King. 8.27. The heauens of heauens are not able to containe him. Ans. God is said to be in heauen: first, because his maiestie, that is, his power, wisdome, iustice, merciemercy, is made manifest from thence vntounto vsus. Psal. 115.3. Our God is in heauen and doth whatsoeuer he will. Psal. 2.4. He that dwelleth in heauen shall laugh them to scorne, and the Lord shall hauehave thē in derision. Esai saith, 66.2. Thus saith the Lord, Heauen is my throne, and the earth is my footstoole. Secondly, after this life he will manifest and exhibite the fulnes of his glorie to his Angels and Saints in the highest heauens, and that immediately and visibly.
2. The vse.
1. HEreby first we learne that Romish pilgrimages, whereby men went from place to place to worship God, are vaine, and foolish. The God to whome we must pray is in heauen. Now let men trauell to what place… or countrey they will, they shall not come the nearer to heauen, or nearer to God by trauelling, seeing the earth is in eueryevery part alike distant from heauen.
2. Secondly; this ouerthrowes popish idolatrie, as worshipping of crosses, cruci…ixes, roodes, &c. vsed to put men in minde of God and Christ. We are taught to lift vp our eyes to heauen; seeing God is there: and how can we doe this, as long as our minds and eyes are poaring vponupon an image made by mans arte?
3. Again, we are here admonished to vse the action of prayer with as great reuerence as possible may be, and not to think of God in any earthly manner. Well reasons Salomon, Eccles. 5.1. Be not rash with thy mouth to speake a word before God. Why? He is in heauen, thou art in earth: therefore let thy words be few. This reuerence must appeare in holinesse of all our thoughts and affections, and in all comelines of gesture. And for this cause all wandring by-thoughts, & all vaine babbling is to be auoided, but how goes the case with vsus, that on the times appointed come to the assemblies to pray? Many, by reason of their blindnes pray without vnderstanding. Many, when they are present at praier, yet hauehave their hearts occupied about other matters, about their goods and worldly busines: such men hauehave no ioy or gladnes in praying; it is a burthen to them. Many come to the assembly for custome onelyonly, or for feare of punishment, if they might be left free they could find in their hearts not to pray at all. But let all such men know, that this maner of praying is a very grieuous sinne, nay greater then mocking of father or mother, killing or stealing, for it is directly against God, the other against men. This sinne because it is against the first table, and therefore more hard to be discerned, it is lightly esteemed, and it lesse troubles the consciences of ignorant men: yea as it is in deede, so it is to be esteemed as a disgrace and plaine mockerie of Gods maiestie. Wherefore seeing God is in heauen, away with all drowsie and dead praying, let vsus come with reuerence in our hearts before the Lord.
4. Againe, we are here to consider that our hearts in praier must mount vp into heauen, and there be present with the Lord. Psal. 25.1.… VntoUnto thee O Lord, lift I vp my soule. The little childe is neuer well but when it is in the fathers lap, or vnderunder the mothers wing: and the children of God are neuer in better case, then when in affection and spirit they can come into the presence of their heauenly Father, and by praier, as it were to creepe into his bosome.
5. And here we must further learne, specially to seeke for heauenly things, and to aske earthly things, so farre forth as they serue to bring vsus to an euerlasting and immortall inheritance in heauen to which we are called. 1. Pet. 1.3.
6. Lastly, whereas our father is in heauen, we are to learne that our life on earth is but a pilgrimage, & that our desire must be to attaine to a better countrey, namely, heauen it selfe, and that we must vse all meanes continually to come vntounto it. In a word, to make an end of the preface: in it is contained a double stay or prop of all our prayers. The one is to beleeue that God can graunt our requests, because he is almightie, & thus much is signified when he is said to be in heauen. The second is to beleeue that God is ready and willing to grant the same, and this we are t…ught in the title Father, which serues to put vsus in …ind that God accepts our prayers, Ioh. 16.32. and hath a care of vsus in all our miseries and necessities, Matth. 6.32. and pitieth vsus as much as any earthly father can pitie his child. Psal. 103.13.
Yet must we not imagin that God will indeed giuegive vntounto vsus whatsoeuer we doe vponupon our owne heads, fancie, and desire: but we must in our praiers hauehave recourse to the promise of God, and according to the tenour thereof must we frame and square our petitions. Things promised absolutely, as all graces necessarie to saluation, may be asked absolutely: and things promised with condition, as graces lesse necessarie, and temporall blessings are to be asked with condition, namely, so farforth as they shal be for Gods glorie in vsus, and for our good: except it be so that God promise any temporall blessing absolutely, as he promised issue to Abraham in his old age. The kingdome to Dauid after Saul. A deliuerance from captiuitie in Babylon after 70. yeres to the Israelites.
Againe, the preface serues to stirre vp louelove and feare in the hearts of them that are about to pray. LoueLove, because they pray to a father: feare, because he is full of maiestie in heauen.
Hallowed be thy Name.]
1. The Coherence.
THus much of the preface: now follow the petitions. They be sixe in number, the three first concerne God, the three last our selues. The three former petitions are again deuided into two parts: the first concernes Gods glorie it selfe; the other two, the meanes whereby Gods glorie is manifested and inlarged among men. For Gods name is glorified among men when his kingdome doth come, and his will is done.
Quest. Why is this petition, Hallowed be thy name, set in the first place? Ans. Because Gods glorie must be preferred before all things, because it is the end of all creatures and of all the counsels of God. Prov. 16.4. The Lord hath made all things for his owne sake: yea euen the wicked for the day of euill. And from the order of the petitions here ariseth a worthie instruction, namely, that eueryevery one in all things they take in hand, are to propound to themselues and to intend the glorie of God. The reason is this: The ende which God hath appointed to all our doings, we are to propound to our selues: but God hath appointed that the highest ende of all his doings should be his glorie: therefore our hearts must be set to seeke it first of all. That God will hauehave his name glorified by vsus, appeareth in this; that he punisheth those which of obstinacie set themselues to dishonour him, or by negligence did not sanctifie him, when they should hauehave done so. Herod sitting in his royaltie, made such an oration, that the people cried, The voice of a god, and not of a man: and immediately the Angel of the Lord smote him, because he gaue not glorie to God, Act. 12. 12. And Moses because he did not sanctifie the Lord in the presence of the children of Israel, therefore he came not into the land of promise; yet he did not altogether faile in doing of it. Thus we may see by these punishments, and also by the order of the petitions, that it is our duties to preferre the glorie of God before all thing els.
Quest. Whether are we to preferre the glorie of God before the saluation of our soules? Ans. If the cause stand thus that Gods name must be dishono… red, or our soules condemned, we must account the glorie of God more pretious then the saluation of our soules. This is manifest in the order of the petitions. The petitions that concerne Gods glorie is first, and the petitions that concerne directly our saluation are the fift and sixt. Whereby we are taught, that before God should want any part of his glorie, we must let bodie and soule and all goe, that God may hauehave all his glorie. This affection had Moses, Exod. 32.32. when he said, Either forgiue them, or if thou wilt not, blot my name out of thy booke.
In this petition as also in the rest, we must obserue three things: the first is the meaning of the wordes: the second, the wants which men must learne to bewaile: the third, the graces of God which are to be desired.
2. The meaning.
VEry few among the people can giuegive the right meaning of the wordes of this prayer. They pretend, that seeing God knowes their good meaning, it is sufficient for them to say the wordes and to meane well. But faith beeing one of the grounds of praier, and there beeing no faith without knowledge, neither can there be praier without knowledge, and therefore ignorant men are to learne the right meaning of the words.
Name]
Name in this place signifieth,
1 God himselfe, 1. King. 5.5. He shall build an house to my Name.
2 His attributes, as his iustice, merciemercy, &c.
3 His workes, creatures, and iudgements.
4 His word.
5 His honour and praise arising from all these.
For God is knowne to vsus by all these, as men are knowne by their names; and as all a mans praise and glorie lies in his name, so all the glorie of God is in these.