Luke 11:9-10 And I say to you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you.… It was want that caused Abraham to go down into Egypt (Genesis 12:10), Isaac into Gerar (Genesis 26:1), Jacob to send his sons into Egypt (Genesis 42:2). For first, nature is proud, and loath to be beholding to any till needs must: every man naturally loves in the first place to be beholding to himself in any extremity; and if his own wit, or his own purse, or his own projects, or endeavours will help him, he will seek no further; he had rather pay than pray. Then again; life is dear, and nature is forcible to seek out for the preservation of itself, when it is necessitated and put to it, it will seek out before it suffer too much, and break through stone walls rather then famish. From hence we may conclude that there is some good comes unto us by want, some profit we may have by it. It teacheth us the worth of things most truly, and maketh us value the mercy as we should (at least far better than otherwise we would). It is the sharp winter that makes the spring to be sweet and pleasant; and the night s darkness that makes the light of the sun to be desirable: so sickness makes health more grateful; pain, pleasure more delightful; want, plenty more comfortable; and it makes exceedingly for the preservation of love and unity amongst neighbours, and towards the maintenance of civil society and commerce amongst Christians. And this is one reason why it hath pleased the manifold wisdom of God to enrich several countries with several commodities; divers gifts to several persons, not all to any one, that our wants may be supplied by their fulness, and one be beholding to another for a supply of his necessity, which otherwise would not be. Laish was a secure and careless people, and the reason is rendered to be this, "they had no want" (Judges 18:10). A fulness causeth us to contemn and scorn those whom in our wants we are glad to make use of. So we read (Judges 11:6). (N. Rogers.) Parallel Verses KJV: And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. |
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