A Godly and Learned Treatise of Prayer, Chapter 19
CHAP. XIX. Of Humility required in prayer.
HItherto we have spoken of the mind: Now we are to enquire what is required in the heart. In the heart three things are requisite; humilitie, reverence, and heartinesse: The first respecting our selves; the second, God; the third, the things for which we do invocate. For the first, That properly is said to be humile which is even with the ground. Where therefore it is required that we should humble our selves before the Lord when we call upon him, it is meant that we should abase our selves as it were to the ground, (to which purpose the faithfull were wont in the Eastern Churches to cast themselves down to the ground when they called upon God) laying aside all manner of conceit of our own worthinesse whereby we might be lifted up in our selves, and acknowledging our own nullitie and unworthinesse in our selves to appear in the presence of God. For compared unto God we are as nothing, or as lesse then nothing, Isa. 40. 17. And therefore when our Saviour took upon him our nature, he is said as it were to have annihilated himself, Phil. 2. 7. For this cause prayer in Hebrew is called foreign: which hath affinitie with the verb foreign, which fignifieth to fall or cast down our selves: To teach us to humble our selves before God when we call upon him. And to the same purpose AugustineTom 3. 632. defineth prayer thus, Oratio est mentis devotio, i. conversio in Deum per pium & humilem affectum: Prayer is the devotion of the mind, that is, a conversion unto God by an holy and humble affection.
How necessary and profitable this is, to be induedThe necessitie and profit of humility proved by testimonies and …xamples. with humility when we call upon God, may appear both by the testimonies of Gods word and examples of the godly. Psal. 10. 17. Lord, thou hearest the prayer of the humble: thou wilt prepare their heart; thou wil… cause thine eare to heare. Psal. 7. 12. He forgetteth not the cry of the humble. Luke 18. 9. our Saviour telleth us a parable of a Pharisee and a Publicane which went to pray: The Pharisee cometh in a conceit of his own worthinesse; the Publicane, in conscience of his sinfulnesse: The Pharisee in a brave manner thanketh God that he was not a sinner like other men; the Publicane in most humble manner acknowledgeth himself to be a sinner, and craveth pardon for his sin. But what was the issue of their prayer? Which speedeth better? the humble sinner, or the proud justitiarie? The Publicane goeth home justified; the Pharisee remaineth in his sin: according to that John 9. 41. And the reason is, because, as our Saviour saith, every one that exalteth himself shall be brought low, and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. To this accordeth Psal. 138. 6. The Lord is high, yet he beholdeth the lowly: but the proud he knoweth a farre off. Psal. 51. 17. The sacrifices of the Lord (that is, that which he esteemeth above all sacrifices) are a contrite spirit: a broken and contrite heart he will not despise; meaning, that he doth in speciall manner regard it. Esa. 66. 2. To him will I look, even to him that is poore and of a contrite spirit. Psal. 34. 18. The Lord is near to them that are of a broken heart, and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit. For thus saith the high and lofty one that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is holy, I dwell in the high and holy places, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of them that be contrite, Esa. 57. 15. Ecclus 35. 17. The prayer of the humble pierceth the clouds, and will not depart till the most High shall behold to execute judgement, &c. But to speak more particularly: Humility hath the promise both of temporall benefits, Prov. 22. 4. The reward of humility is riches, glory, and life: and spirituall, Prov. 3. 34. grace; Prov. 11. 4. wisdome; Prov. 22. 4. the fear of God; and finally, blessednesse, Matth. 5. 3. And therefore let us follow the counsel of James, chap. 4. 10. to cast down our selves before the Lord, and he will lift us up; and of Peter, 1. epist. 5. 6. to deck our selves inwardly with lowlinesse of mind: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.
In the examples also of the godly we may observeExamples of the humility of the godly. that the most holy men have most abased themselves when they have come into Gods presence. Abraham the father of the faithfull making request to God in behalf of the Sodomites acknowledgeth himself to be but dust and ashes, Gen. 18. 27. Jacob, who was called Israel because by his wresting in prayer he prevailed with God, confesseth himself lesse then the least of Gods mercies, Gen. 32. 10. David a man according to Gods own heart in the humility of his soul desireth the Lord not to enter into judgement with him, &c. Psal. 143. 2. And 2. Sam. 6. 22. he professeth that he would be vile before the Lord. Isaiah the prophet, at whose prayer the sunne went back, being admitted into the presence of God, crieth out that he was a man of polluted lips. Daniel, a man greatly beloved, humbly acknowledgeth his sinnes, and refuseth to come in his own worthinesse, Dan. 9. 18. and likewise Ezra, chap. 9. 6. The Centurion, of whom our Saviour testifieth that he had not found the like faith in Israel, Matth. 8. 8. professeth himself to be unworthy that Christ should come under his roof. The woman of Syrophenicia, to whom our Saviour gave testimonie that great was her faith, confesseth her self to be but as a dog in comparison of the Israelites, Mat. 15. 27. The repenting prodigall received to favour confesseth himself unworthy to be called a son, Luke 15. 21. The Publicane who went home justified, shewedLuke 18. 13. great signes of humilitie. Let us therefore, avoiding the proud conceit of all Pharisaical & Popish justitiaries, who are not afraid to present themselves before God trusting in their own merits, follow the advice of Paul, Rom. 12. 16. foreign, that is, as some expound it, to go the same way with the humble: & so we shall come to the same end of the way, which is the salvation of our souls: the which unlesse we be humble even as children, we cannot attein; But he that is humble as a child shall be the greatest in the kingdome of heaven, Matth. 14. 3, 4.
Now these two graces whereof I have last spoken,Faith and humility must be joyned together. faith and humilitie, must necessarily go together. For we must not be so humbled in regard of our unworthinesse in our selves, but that notwithstanding we are to trust in Gods mercy accepting of us in Christ; & we are so to have affiance in the mercies of God & merits of Christ, that we disclaim all worthines in our selves. Here therefore they offend
1. Who come to God in a Pharisaicall conceit of their own worthinesse, for which they presume to be heard. If it be obiected, that the faithfull sometimesObject. alledge their own pietie in their prayers as an argument to obtein their desires: as David, Psal. 86. 2. Hezekiah, Isa. 58. 3. I answer; 1. They alledgeAnsw. their own pietie as a gift of God, and testimonie of his favour, to confirm their faith, not ascribing it to their own desert, but to the favour & grace of God, by which they do confesse that they are what they are, 1. Cor. 15. 10. For it is the nature of true faith to strip him where it is of all praise, that all glory may be given unto God, Psal. 115. 1. Non dignitatem suam sed dignationem Divinam allegant: They alledge not their own dignitie but Gods acceptance. 2. Because the promises of hearing our prayers are restrained to the godly, they alledge their piety as a testimonie to their own souls that the promise belongeth to them; 1. John 3. 22. Non hoc dico quin accepta Bernard. De triplici mod… orationis, serm. 5. fol. 22. D.gratia fiduciam donet orandi: Sed non oportet ut in ea constituat quisquam fiduciam impetrandi. Hoc solum conferunt haec promissa dona, ut ab eadem misericordia quae tribuit haec sperentur etiam ampliora: that is, I do not say this because grace received doth give confidence in praying: For none ought in it to place their trust of obteining. But these gifts promised do onelyonly conferre this, that of that mercy which giveth these things we may also hope for greater. More particularly for Davids p…ayer, Preserve my soul, for I am foreign, one on whom thou hast shewed great merciemercy: save thy servant that trusteth in thee: For Gods promise is, not to fail them that put their trust in him. For Hezekiah; The Lord had promised David, That his sonnes, if they walked before him in uprightnesse, should not want a sonne to succeed them in the crown. Whereas therefore the prophet Isaiah brought this message to Hezekiah being sick, that he should die; having yet no issue, he desireth the Lord to remember that he had walked uprightly before him, and therefore intreateth the Lord, that according to his promise he might not die without a sonne to succeed him: and so obteined the lengthening of his dayes for fifteen yeares; in which time God granted him a sonne to succeed him.
2. Those that pray ambitiously to be seen and praised of men: for such hypocrites have their reward, Matth. 6. 5. Nisi humilitas omnia quaecunque August. Epist. 56.bene fecimus praecesserit & comitetur & consecuta fuerit, & praeposita quam intueamur, & apposita cui adhaereamus, & imposita quâ reprimamur, j am nobis de aliquo bono facto gaudentibus totum extor quet è manu superbia. Vitia quippe caetera in peccatis, superbia verò etiam in rectè factis timenda est, nè illa quae laudabiliter facta sunt ipsius laudis cupiditate amittantur: Unlesse humilitie do precede, accompanie and follow all whatsoever we have well done, and be preposed that we may behold it, and apposed that we may adhere unto it, and imposed that thereby we may be repressed, pride will wring out of our hand all we have done, whilest we rejoyce of our doing any good deed. For other vi…es are to be feared in our sinfull actions; but pride onelyonly is to be feared in our good deeds, lest those things which are laudably done be lost by our greedie coveting of praise.
3. Those that pray with spirituall pride and ostentation, as the Brownists, being proud that they are able to conceive as it were ex tempore a prayer unto God, and with such varietie as to use no set form, nor twice to use the same words.
4. Those that by their prayer look to satisfie for their sinnes and to merit at the hands of God, as the Papists. For prayer made with such a proud conceit is abominable unto God.