i. 15. _And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide
mine eyes from you; yea, when ye make many prayers, I will
not hear._
The Jews had been likened unto the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah
(ver. 10). As such, they are summoned to listen to a series of
declarations of which this is the sum, that worship without holiness
is a solemn mockery. Confining ourselves to our text only, we may see
that it teaches us--+I. The worthlessness of ritualism without
spirituality.+ "When ye spread forth your hands," &c. 1. _Ritualism
is an essential element of public worship._ There must be some form
by which thought can be expressed, and the devotions of others
guided. There may be too little, or too much, but _some_ is
indispensable.[1] 2. _Ritualism may be the expression of earnest
spiritual life, and a help thereto._ It may be the outcome of a
sincere feeling and deep piety--such was the ritual which David and
his devout companions devised and elaborated for the service of the
Temple. It was costly and magnificent beyond even that which is
observed in St. Peter's at Rome; but as practised by them it was as
spiritual as the baldest service that has ever been conducted in the
barest conventicle. A splendid ritual may be acceptable to the Most
High, and the followers of George Fox must not imagine that they are
the only persons who worship God "in spirit and in truth." 3. But
_ritualism may be, and often is, only a form._ It may mean only an
exhibition of millinery, a scrupulous observance of a prescribed
series of postures and genuflexions. It may be, according to a too
suggestive phrase, merely a service "performed." In this case God
passes it by with contempt. To all engaged in such histrionic
performances He says, "When ye spread forth your hands," &c.
Supplication without desire will never draw down the Divine
benediction. +II. The worthlessness of prayer without purity of
heart.+ "When ye make many prayers, I will not hear." 1. _Prayer is a
necessity of the Christian life._ A consciousness of weakness and
want, and a profound conviction of God's power and willingness to
succour him, prompts the Christian to make "many prayers." And each
supplication so inspired finds its way to the throne and heart of
God. To hear and answer the prayers of His children is one of our
Heavenly Father's joys (ch. lxv. 24). 2. _But prayer, like ritualism,
instead of being the expression of a realised need, may be only an
empty form._ The supplications that are offered may be uttered merely
by rote, with as little feeling as a child recites the
multiplication-table; or they may be devices by which deluded men
seek to propitiate that God whom they are offending by their conduct
every day,--mere lip-homage, which they imagine He will accept in
condonation of their habitual disregard of His will. In either case,
their "many prayers" are worthless husks which He rejects with
disdain.
If we would have our worship accepted of God, there must
be--1. _Spiritual conceptions of His character._ These will prevent
us from mocking Him by merely formal prayers or praises. 2. _A solemn
realisation of His presence._ How often this is lacking in those who
take part in the service of the sanctuary, and even in those who
conduct them! But God is not throned in some distant heaven, to which
our prayers struggle up we know not how: He is HERE! We shall never
be nearer to Him than we are to-day! 3. _An earnest endeavour after
holiness in daily life_ (Ps. lxvi. 18). See why God would not regard
the uplifted hands of the Jewish supplicants--"Your hands are full of
blood." See also ch. lix. 1-3. To no rebel is access to the
presence-chamber of the King of kings granted: this is the high
privilege of those only who can lift up "holy hands" (1 Tim.
ii. 8).[2]--_A. F. Barfield._