Jacob's vow.
Gen. xxviii. 20 — 22. And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep vie in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, so that I come again to my fathers house in peace ; then shall the Lord be my God: and this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God's house : and of all that thou shall give me, I will surely give the tenth unto thee.
IT is thought by many, that it is wrong to make any kind of vows. But the propriety of making them depends on the manner in which they are made. If,
for instance, we make them in our own strength ; or hope that by them we can induce God to do for us what he is otherwise unwilling to perform ; or imagine that the services which we stipulate to render unto God will be any compensation to him for the mercies he vouchsafes to us ; we are guilty of very great pre- sumption and folly. Vows are not intended to have the force of a bargain or compact, so as to involve the Deity in obligations of any kind ; but merely to bind ourselves to the performance of something which was before indifferent, or to impress our minds more strongly with the necessity of executing some acknow- ledged duty. Of the former kind was Hannah's vow, that if God would graciously give unto her a man- child, she would dedicate him entirely, and for ever, to his immediate serviced Independently of her vow, there was no necessity that she should consecrate him to the service of the tabernacle : but she greatly desired to bear a son ; and determined, that if God heard her prayer, she would testify her gratitude to him in that way. Of the latter kind was the vow which Israel made to destroy both the Canaanites and their cities, if God would but deliver them into their hands b. God had before enjoined them to do this ; and therefore it was their bounden duty to do it : and their vow was only a solemn engagement to execute that command ; which however they could not execute, unless he should be pleased to prosper their endeavours. That such vows were not dis- pleasing to God, we are sure ; because God himself gave special directions relative to the making of them, and the rites to be observed in carrying them into execution0. Even under the New-Testament dispen- sation we find Aquila vowing a vow in Cenchread; and St. Paul himself uniting with others in the ser- vices, which the law prescribed to those who had the vows of Nazariteship upon them6.
The first vow of which we read, is that contained in our text : and extremely instructive it is. It shews us,
a 1 Sam. i. 11. b Numb. xxi. 2. c Numb. vi. 2, 21.
d Acts xviii. 18. e Acts xxi. 23, 24.
46.1 Jacob's vow. 241
I. Our legitimate desires —
Man, as compounded of soul and body, has wants and necessities that are proper to both : and whatso- ever is necessary for them both, he may reasonably and lawfully desire. We may desire,
1. The presence and protection of God —
[The Israelites in their journeys from Egypt to the pro- mised land passed through a " great and terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents, and scorpions, and drought, where there was no water f : " and such is this world wherein we sojourn. Dangers encompass us all around: and, if left to ourselves, we never can reach in safety the land to which we go. Well therefore may we adopt the language of Moses, when Jehovah threatened to withdraw from Israel his own immediate guardianship, and to commit them to the superin- tendence of an angel; " If thou go not up with us, carry us not up hence g." " It is not in man that walketh to direct his own stepsh:" nor will any created aid suffice for him: " his help is, and must he, in God alone." If God guide us not, we must err ; if He uphold us not, we must fall ; if He keep us not, we must perish. We may therefore desire God's pre- sence with us, and so desire it, as never to rest satisfied one moment without it. " As the hart panteth after the water- brooks," says David, " so panteth my soul after Thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God 1." And, when he had reason to doubt whether God was with him or not, his anguish was extreme: " I will say unto God my rock, Why hast thou forgotten me ? As with a sword in my bones, mine enemies reproach me, while they daily say unto me, Where is thy God k ? " This was the language of the man after God's own heart ; and it should be the language also of our souls.]