1 And he spake also a simile to them, that it behoveth `us' always to pray, and not to faint,
I -- to God I call, and Jehovah saveth me. Evening, and morning, and noon, I meditate, and make a noise, and He heareth my voice,
And he said unto them, `Who of you shall have a friend, and shall go on unto him at midnight, and may say to him, Friend, lend me three loaves, seeing a friend of mine came out of the way unto me, and I have not what I shall set before him, and he from within answering may say, Do not give me trouble, already the door hath been shut, and my children with me are in the bed, I am not able, having risen, to give to thee. `I say to you, even if he will not give to him, having risen, because of his being his friend, yet because of his importunity, having risen, he will give him as many as he doth need; and I say to you, Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you;
And Jacob is left alone, and one wrestleth with him till the ascending of the dawn; and he seeth that he is not able for him, and he cometh against the hollow of his thigh, and the hollow of Jacob's thigh is disjointed in his wrestling with him; and he saith, `Send me away, for the dawn hath ascended:' and he saith, `I send thee not away, except thou hast blessed me.'
For what `is' the hope of the profane, When He doth cut off? When God doth cast off his soul? His cry doth God hear, When distress cometh on him? On the Mighty doth he delight himself? Call God at all times?
I have cried unto thee, O Jehovah, I have said, `Thou `art' my refuge, My portion in the land of the living.' Attend Thou unto my loud cry, For I have become very low, Deliver Thou me from my pursuers, For they have been stronger than I. Bring forth from prison my soul to confess Thy name, The righteous do compass me about, When Thou conferrest benefits upon me!
for consider again him who endured such gainsaying from the sinners to himself, that ye may not be wearied in your souls -- being faint. Not yet unto blood did ye resist -- with the sin striving; and ye have forgotten the exhortation that doth speak fully with you as with sons, `My son, be not despising chastening of the Lord, nor be faint, being reproved by Him,
And Jacob saith, `God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, Jehovah who saith unto me, Turn back to thy land, and to thy kindred, and I do good with thee: I have been unworthy of all the kind acts, and of all the truth which Thou hast done with thy servant -- for, with my staff I passed over this Jordan, and now I have become two camps. `Deliver me, I pray Thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau: for I am fearing him, less he come and have smitten me -- mother beside sons; and Thou -- Thou hast said, I certainly do good with thee, and have set thy seed as the sand of the sea, which is not numbered because of the multitude.'
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Luke 18
Commentary on Luke 18 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 18
In this chapter we have,
And these four passages we had before in Matthew and Mark.
Luk 18:1-8
This parable has its key hanging at the door; the drift and design of it are prefixed. Christ spoke it with this intent, to teach us that men ought always to pray and not to faint, v. 1. It supposes that all God's people are praying people; all God's children keep up both a constant and an occasional correspondence with him, send to him statedly, and upon every emergency. It is our privilege and honour that we may pray. It is our duty; we ought to pray, we sin if we neglect it. It is to be our constant work; we ought always to pray, it is that which the duty of every day requires. We must pray, and never grow weary of praying, nor think of leaving it off till it comes to be swallowed up in everlasting praise. But that which seems particularly designed here is to teach us constancy and perseverance in our requests for some spiritual mercies that we are in pursuit of, relating either to ourselves or to the church of God. When we are praying for strength against our spiritual enemies, our lusts and corruptions, which are our worst enemies, we must continue instant in prayer, must pray and not faint, for we shall not seek God's face in vain. So we must likewise in our prayers for the deliverance of the people of God out of the hands of their persecutors and oppressors.
Luk 18:9-14
The scope of this parable likewise is prefixed to it, and we are told (v. 9) who they were whom it was levelled at, and for whom it was calculated. He designed it for the conviction of some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others. They were such as had,
Luk 18:15-17
This passage of story we had both in Matthew and Mark; it very fitly follows here after the story of the publican, as a confirmation of the truth which was to be illustrated by that parable, that those shall be accepted with God, and honoured, who humble themselves, and for them Christ has blessings in store, the choicest and best of blessings. Observe here,
Luk 18:18-30
In these verses we have,
Luk 18:31-34
Here is,
Luk 18:35-43
Christ came not only to bring light to a dark world, and so to set before us the objects we are to have in view, but also to give sight to blind souls, and by healing the organ to enable them to view those objects. As a token of this, he cured many of their bodily blindness: we have now an account of one to whom he gave sight near Jericho. Mark gives us an account of one, and names him, whom he cured as he went out of Jericho, Mk. 10:46. Matthew speaks of two whom he cured as they departed from Jericho, Mt. 20:30. Luke says it was en toµ engizein auton-when he was near to Jericho, which might be when he was going out of it as well as when he was coming into it. Observe,