Chapter 159

For these are formed for that very end, that they might hope in the Lord; yea, the word and testament are given to them for this purpose (Psa 78:5-7). These are prisoners of hope all the time they are in the state of nature, even as the whole creation is subjected under hope, all the time of its bondage, by the sin and villainy of man; and unto them it shall be said, in the dispensation of the fullness of time, ‘Turn you to the strong hold, ye prisoners of hope’ (Zech 9:12); as certainly as that which is called the creature itself shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption, into the glorious liberty of the children of God (Rom 8:18-21). Only here, as I said before, let all men have a care in this thing: this is the pinnacle, the point; he that is right here, is right in all that is necessary to salvation; but he that misses here, can by no means be right anywhere to his soul’s advantage in the other world.

[Improvement.] If I should a little improve the text where this title is first given to man, and show the posture he was in when it was said to him, ‘Thy name shall be called Israel’; and should also debate upon the cause or ground of that, ‘An Israelite indeed,’ thou mightest not repent it who shall read it; and therefore a few words to each.

1. When Jacob received the name of Israel, he was found wrestling with the angel; yea, and so resolved a wrestler was he, that he purposed, now he had begun, not to give out without a blessing, ‘I will not let thee go,’ said he, ‘except thou bless me’ (Gen 32:26). Discouragements he had while he wrestled with him, to have left off, before he obtained his desire; for the angel bid him leave off; ‘let me go,’ said he. He had wrestled all night, and had not prevailed; and now the day brake upon him, and consequently his discouragement was like to be the greater, for that now the majesty and terribleness of him with whom he wrestled would be seen more apparently; but this did not discourage him: besides, he lost the use of a limb as he wrestled with him; yet all would not put this Israel out. Pray he did, and pray he would, and nothing should make him leave off prayer, until he had obtained, and therefore he was called ‘Israel.’ ‘For as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed’ (Gen 32:28,30). A wrestling spirit of prayer is a demonstration of an Israel of God; this Jacob had, this he made use of, and by this he obtained the name of ‘Israel.’ A wrestling spirit of prayer in straits, difficulties, and distresses; a wrestling spirit of prayer when alone in private, in the night, when none eye seeth but God’s then to be at it, then to lay hold of God, then to wrestle, to hold fast, and not to give over until the blessing is obtained, is a sign of one that is an Israel of God.

2. ‘Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile’ (John 1:47). This was the testimony of the Lord Jesus concerning Nathaniel (v 46). Nathaniel was persuaded by Philip to come to Jesus, and as he was coming, Jesus saith to the rest of the disciples concerning him, ‘Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile.’ Then said Nathaniel to Jesus, ‘Whence knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said unto him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig-tree I saw thee’ (v 15). Nathaniel, as Jacob, was at prayer, at prayer alone under the fig-tree, wrestling in prayer, for what no man can certainly tell, but probably for the Messias, or for the revelation of him: for the seeing Jews were convinced that the time of the promise was out; and all men were in expectation concerning John, whether he might not be he (Luke 3:15). But Nathaniel was under the fig-tree, alone with God, to inquire of him, and that with great earnestness and sincerity; else the Lord Jesus would not thus have excused him of hypocrisy, and justified his action as he did, concluding from what he did there that he was a true son of Jacob; and ought, as he, to have his name changed from what his parents gave him, to this given him of Christ, ‘An Israelite indeed.’ Wherefore, from both these places, it is apparent, that a wrestling spirit of prayer, in private, is one of the best signs that this or that man or woman is of Israel; and, consequently, such who are within the compass of the exhortation here, saying, ‘Let Israel hope in the Lord.’ I say, it is this wrestling spirit of prayer with God alone; for as for that of public prayer, though I will not condemn it, it gives not ground for this character, notwithstanding all the flourishes and excellencies that may therein appear. I am not insensible what pride, what hypocrisy, what pretences, what self-seekings of commendations and applause, may be countenanced by those concerned in, or that make public prayers; and how little thought or savour of God may be in all so said; but this closet, night, or alone prayer, is of another stamp, and attended, at least so I judge, with that sense, those desires, that simplicity, and those strugglings, wherewith that in public is not.[16] Nay, I think verily a man cannot addict himself to these most solemn retirements, without some of Jacob’s and Nathaniel’s sense and sincerity, wrestlings and restlessness for mercy; wherefore, laying aside all other, I shall abide by this, That the man that is as I have here described, is not an Israelite of the flesh, nor one so only in his fancy or imagination, but one made so of God; one that is called a child of promise, and one to whom this exhortation doth belong: ‘Let Israel hope in the Lord’; to wit, they that serve God by prayer day and night (Luke 2:37; Acts 26:5-7). These, I say, are Israel, the Israel of God, and let these hope in the Lord, from now, ‘henceforth, and for ever’ (Psa 131:3).

[SECOND. The manner by which the exhortation is expressed.]

Having thus briefly touched upon those three things that are contained in the matter of the exhortation, I now come to speak a word to the manner of praises by which the exhortation is presented to us, ‘Let Israel hope’; he doth not say, Israel hath hoped; Israel did hope; or Israel can hope, but ‘let Israel hope in the Lord.’ ‘Let’ is a word very copious, and sometimes signifies this, and sometimes that, even according as the nature or reason of the thing under debate, or to be expressed, will with truth and advantage bear. Let him hope,

First. Sometimes ‘let’ is equivalent to a command; ‘Let every soul be subject to the higher powers,’ this is a command. ‘Let all things be done decently and in order,’ this also is a command. So here, ‘Let Israel hope,’ this also is a command; and so enjoins a duty upon Israel; for why, since they seek for mercy, should they not have it; now a command lays a very strong obligation upon a man to do this or another duty. ‘He commandeth all men every where to repent’; but Israel only to hope in his mercy. Now take the exhortation and convert it into a commandment, and it showeth us, (1.) in what good earnest God offers his mercy to his Israel; he commands them to hope in him, as he is and will be so to them. (2.) It supposes an impediment in Israel, as to the faculty of receiving or hoping in God for mercy; we that would have God be merciful, we that cry and pray to him to show us mercy, have yet that weakness and impediment in our faith, which greatly hindereth us from a steadfast hoping in the Lord for mercy. (3.) It suggesteth also, that Israel SINS, if he hopeth not in God, God would not that all should attempt to hope, because they have no faith; for he is for having of them first believe, knowing that it is in vain to think of hoping, until they have believed; but Israel has believed, and therefore God has commanded them to hope, and they sin if they obey him not in this, as in all other duties. He commands thee, I say, since thou hast believed in his Son, to hope, that is, to expect to see his face in the next world with joy and comfort; this is hoping, this is thy duty, this God commands thee.

Second. As this word ‘let’ is sometimes equivalent to a command, so it is expressed sometimes also to show a grant, leave, or license, to do a thing: such are these that follow, ‘Let us come boldly to the throne of grace’ (Heb 4:6). ‘Let us draw near with a true heart’ (ch 10). ‘Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering’ (vv 22,23). Here also this manner of expressing the thing may be taken in the same sense, to wit, to show that Israel has a grant, a leave, a license, to trust in the Lord. And O! what a privilege is this, but who believes it? And yet as truly as God has granted to Jacob, to Israel, repentance unto life, and by that means has made him fly for refuge, to lay hold of Christ set before him as a justifier; so has he granted him leave and license to trust in him for ever, and to hope for his favour in the next world.

And if you take the word in this sense, to wit, for a grant, leave, or license, to hope in God; then (1.) This shows how liberal God is of himself, and things, to Israel. Let Israel hope in me, trust to me, expect good things at my hand; I give him leave and license to do it. Let him live in a full expectation of being with me, and with my Son in glory; I give him leave to do so; he has license from me to do so. (2.) Understand the word thus, and it shows us with what boldness and confidence God would have us hope in him. They that have leave and license to do a thing, may do it with confidence and boldness, without misgivings and reluctance of mind; this is our privilege; we may live in a full assurance of hope unto the end, we may hope perfectly to the end, we have leave, license, and a grant to do it. (3.) Understand the word thus, and it also shows you how muddy, how dark those of Israel are, and how little they are acquainted with the goodness of their God, who stand shrinking at his door like beggars, and dare not in a godly sort be bold, with his mercy. Wherefore standest thou thus with thy Ifs and thy O-buts, O thou poor benighted Israelite. Wherefore puttest thou thy hand in thy bosom, as being afraid to touch the hem of the garment of the Lord? Thou hast a leave, a grant, a license, to hope for good to come, thy Lord himself has given it to thee, saying, ‘LET Israel hope in the Lord.’

Third. This word ‘let’ is also sometimes used by way of rebuke and snub; ‘Let her alone, for her soul is vexed’ (2 Kings 4:27). ‘Let her alone, why trouble ye her?’ (Mark 14:6). ‘Refrain from these men, and let them alone’ (Acts 5:38). And it may also so be taken here. But if so, then it implies, that God in this exhortation rebuketh those evil instruments, those fallen angels, with all others that attempt to hinder us in the exercise of this duty. As Boaz said to his servants, when Ruth was to glean in his field, ‘let her glean even among the sheaves, and reproach her not’ (Ruth 2:15,16). We have indeed those that continually endeavour to hinder us of living in the full assurance of hope, as to being with God and with Christ in glory: but here is a rebuke for such, ‘Let Israel hope in the Lord.’ And it shows us, 1. That what suggestions come from Satan to make us that are Israelites to doubt, come not for that end, by virtue of any commission that he hath from God. God has rebuked him in the text, and you may see it also elsewhere. These temptations, therefore, are rather forged of malice, and of despite to our faith and hope; and so should be accounted by us (Zech 1:1-3). 2. This shows us also that we should take heed of crediting of that which comes unto us to hinder our hope in the Lord; lest we take part with Satan, while God rebuketh him, and countenanceth that which fights against the grace of God in us. 3. It shows us also that as faith, so hope, cannot be maintained with great difficulty, and that we should endeavour to maintain it, and hope through every difficulty.

Fourth. This word ‘LET’ is sometimes used by way of request or intreaty. ‘I pray thee, LET Tamar my sister come’ (2 Sam 13:6). ‘LET it be granted to the Jews to do,’ &c. (Esth 9:13). And if it be so to be taken here, or if in the best sense this interpretation of it may here be admitted, the consideration thereof is amazing; for then it is all one as if God by the mouth of his servant, the penman of this psalm, did intreat us to hope in him. And why this may not be implied here, as well as expressed elsewhere, I know not. ‘God did beseech you by us; we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God’ (2 Cor 5:20). Why should God beseech us to reconcile to him, but that we might hope in him? and if it be thus taken here, it shows, 1. The great condescension of God, in that he doth not only hold out to us the advantages of hoping in God, but desires that we should hope, that we might indeed be partakers of those advantages. 2. It teaches us also humility, and that always in the acts of faith and hope we should mix blushing, and shame, with our joy and rejoicing. Kiss the ground, sinner; put ‘thy mouth in the dust, if so be there may be hope’ (Lam 3:29).

Fifth. And lastly, This word is used sometimes by way of caution. ‘Let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall’ (1 Cor 10:12). ‘Let us therefore fear lest a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it’ (Heb 4:1), and if it should be so taken here, then, 1. This shows us the evil of despair, and that we at times are incident to it; our daily weaknesses, our fresh guilt, our often decays, our aptness to forget the goodness of God, are direct tendencies unto this evil, of which we should be aware; for it robs God of his glory, and us of our comfort, and gratifies none but the devil and unbelief. 2. It showeth us that despair is a fall, a falling down from our liberty; our liberty is to hope; it is our portion from God; for he hath said that himself will be the hope of his people. To do the contrary, is therefore a falling from God, a departing from God through an evil heart of unbelief. It is the greatest folly in the world for an Israelite to despair; ‘Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel. My way is hid from the Lord, and my judgment is passed over from my God? Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not? There is no searching of his understanding. He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might, he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall. But they that wait upon,’ that is, hope in, ‘the Lord, shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, and they shall walk and not faint’ (Isa 40:27-31).

[THIRD. Inferences from the exhortation.]

Now we come to those inferences that do naturally flow from this exhortation, and they are in number four.

First. That hope and the exercise of it, is as necessary in its place, as faith, and the exercise of it. All will grant that there is need of a daily exercise of faith; and we are bid to hope unto the end, because hope is the grace that relieveth the soul when dark and weary. Hope is as the bottle to the faint and sinking spirit. Hope calls upon the soul not to forget how far it is arrived in its progress towards heaven. Hope will point and show it the gate afar off; and therefore it is called the hope of salvation. Hope exerciseth itself upon God.

1. By those mistakes that the soul hath formerly been guilty of, with reference to the judgment that it hath made of God, and of his dealings with it. And this is an excellent virtue. ‘I said,’ once says the church, that ‘my hope is perished from the Lord,’ but I was deceived; ‘this I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope’; that is, why, if I give way to such distrusting thoughts, may I not be wrong again? (Lam 3:18-21). Therefore will I hope! This virtue is that which belongs to this grace only; for this and this only is it that can turn unbelief and doubts to advantage. ‘I said in my haste,’ said David, ‘I am cut off from before thine eyes’; nevertheless I was mistaken; ‘thou heardest the voice of my supplications when I cried unto thee’ (Psa 31:22). And what use doth he make of this? Why, an exhortation to all good men to hope, and to take advantage to hope from the same mistakes. I think I am cast off from God, says the soul; so thou thoughtest afore, says memory, but thou wast mistaken then, and why not the like again? and therefore will I hope. When I had concluded that God would never come near me more, yet after that he came to me again, and as I was then, so I am now; therefore will I hope.

2. True hope, in the right exercise of it upon God, makes no stick at weakness or darkness; but rather worketh up the soul to some stay, by these. Thus Abraham’s hope wrought by his weakness (Rom 4). And so Paul, when I am weak, then I am strong; I will most gladly therefore rejoice in mine infirmities (2 Cor 12). But this cannot be done where there is no hope, nor but by hope: for it is hope, and the exercise of it, that can say, Now I expect that God should bring good out of all this. And as for the dark, it is its element to act in that: ‘But hope that is seen is not hope’ (Rom 8:24). But we must hope for that we see not. So David, ‘Why art thou cast down, O my soul? hope thou in God.’ Christians have no reason to mistrust the goodness of God, because of their weakness, &c. ‘I had fainted unless I had believed to see’ (Psa 27:13). By believing there, he means hoping to see, as the exhortation drawn from thence doth import.

3. Hope will make use of our calling, to support the soul, and to help it, by that, to exercise itself in a way of expectation of good from God. Hence the apostle prays for the Ephesians, that they may be made to see what is ‘the hope of their calling’; that is, what good that is which by their calling they have ground to hope is laid up in heaven, and to be brought unto them at the appearance of Jesus Christ (Eph 1:17,18). For thus the soul by this grace of hope will reason about this matter: God has called me; surely it is to a feast. God has called me to the fellowship of his Son, surely it is that I may be with him in the next world. God has given me the spirit of faith and prayer; surely it is that I might hope for what I believe is, and wait for what I pray for. God his given me some tastes already; surely it is to encourage me to hope that he purposeth to bring me into the rich fruition of the whole.

4. Hope will exercise itself upon God by those breakings wherewith he breaketh his people for their sins. ‘The valley of Achor’ must be given ‘for a door of hope’ (Hosea 2:15). The valley of Achor; what is that? Why, the place where Achan was stoned for his wickedness, and the place where all Israel was afflicted for the same (Josh 7). I say, hope can gather by this, that God has a love to the soul; for when God hateth a man he chastiseth him not for his trespasses.[17] ‘If ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons’ (Heb 12:8). Hence Moses tells Israel, that when the hand of God was upon them for their sins, they should consider in their heart, ‘that as a man chasteneth his son, so the Lord thy God chasteneth thee’ (Deut 8:5). And why thus consider, but that a door might be opened for hope to exercise itself upon God by this? This is that also that is intended in Paul to the Corinthians, ‘When we are judged we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world’ (1 Cor 11:32). Is not here a door of hope? And why a door of hope, but that by it, God’s people, when afflicted, should go out by it from despair by hope?

[Second.] But it is to be inferred, secondly, That the exercise of hope upon God is very delightful to him: else he would not have commanded and granted us a liberty to hope, and have snibbed those that would hinder. ‘Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear him; upon them that hope in his mercy; to deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine’ (Psa 33:18,19). That God is much delighted in the exercise of this grace, is evident, because of the preparation that he has made for this grace, wherewith to exercise itself. ‘For whatsoever things were writ aforetime, were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope’ (Rom 15:4). Mark, the whole history of the Bible, with the relation of the wonderful works of God with his people from the beginning of the world, are written for this very purpose, that we, by considering and comparing, by patience and comfort of them, might have hope. The Bible is the scaffold or stage that God has builded for hope to play his part upon in this world. It is therefore a thing very delightful to God to see hope rightly given its colour before him; hence he is said, ‘to laugh at the trial of the innocent’ (Job 9:23). Why at his trial? Because his trial puts him upon the exercise of hope: for then indeed there is work for hope, when trials are sharp upon us. But why is God so delighted in the exercise of this grace of hope?

1. Because hope is a head-grace and governing. There are several lusts in the soul that cannot be mastered, if hope be not in exercise; especially if the soul be in great and sore trials. There is peevishness and impatience, there is fear and despair, there is doubting and misconstruing of God’s present hand; and all these become masters, if hope be not stirring; nor can any grace besides put a stop to their tumultuous raging in the soul. But now hope in God makes them all hush, takes away the occasion of their working, and lays the soul at the foot of God. ‘Surely,’ saith the Psalmist, ‘I have behaved and quieted myself as a child that is weaned of his mother, my soul is even as a weaned child.’ But how came he to bring his soul into so good a temper? Why, that is gathered by the exhortation following, ‘Let Israel hope in the Lord from henceforth and for ever’ (Psa 131:2,3). It was by hoping in the Lord that he quieted his soul, and all its unruly sinful passions.

2. As hope quasheth and quieteth sinful passions, so it putteth into order some graces that cannot be put into order without it: as patience, meekness, silence, and long-suffering, and the like. These are all in a day of trial out of place, order, and exercise, where hope forbeareth to work. I never saw a distrusting man, a patient man, a quiet man, a silent man, and a meek man, under the hand of God, except he was ‘dead in sin’ at the time. But we are not now talking of such. But now let a man hope in the Lord, and he presently concludes this affliction is for my good, a sign God loves me, and that which will work out for me a far more and exceeding and eternal weight of glory; and so it puts the graces of the soul into order (Luke 21:19). Wherefore patience, by which a man is bid to possess or keep his soul under the cross, is called ‘the patience of hope’ (1 Thess 1:3). So in another place, when he would have the church patient in tribulation, and continue instant in prayer, he bids them ‘rejoice in hope,’ knowing that the other could not be done without it (Rom 12:12).

3. God takes much delight in the exercise of hope, because it construeth all God’s dispensations, at present, towards it, for the best: ‘When he hath tried me I shall come forth like gold’ (Job 23:10). This is the language of hope. God, saith the soul, is doing of me good, making of me better, refining of my inward man. Take a professor that is without hope, and either he suffereth affliction of pride and ostentation, or else he picks a quarrel with God and throws up all. For he thinks that God is about to undo him; but hope construeth all to the best, and admits no such unruly passions to carry the man away.