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{Since the Heavenly Trade Is the Best Trade…
Exhortation and Counsel to Professors of Christianity
Use Everything for Heavenly Advantages
Get Good from Real Solitude}
Get good from your times of real solitude1133 as well as when in company. Be never less alone than when alone.1134 Sometimes duty demands one be alone; when you pray, go into private space (Matthew 6:6).1135 Mr. Trap said:
We must sometimes retire into solitude, and into fit places to meet with God; getting solace and praying at length to Him, as did Isaac in the field, Jacob on the road, Ezekiel by the river Chebar, Peter on the roof, Christ on the mountains, and Abraham in the grove in Beersheba (Genesis 21:33).1136 It does not matter how lowly the place is, so long as it is private. Where there is a Jeremiah, Daniel, or Jonah, a dungeon, a lion’s den, or a fish’s belly, are good places to pray.
“If you will not listen to me,” said Peter Moice, “send me to my prison again among my toads and frogs, which will not interrupt me while I talk with my Lord God.” Oh, how desirable is solitude with God to a soul that is acquainted with Him! Antisthenes was asked what good he got from philosophy. He answered that he could converse with himself. How much more is it to your benefit to converse with God. It is said of that pious man Mr. William Sedgwick that, when he was young, while the rest of the family was at their games and dances, he would be in a corner mourning for sin. Mr. Greenham, at any time when he was sick, would not allow anyone to sit up with him, so that he might more freely converse with God. David would rise at midnight to enjoy communion with God (Psalm 119.62).1137 Oh, the blessed times that gracious souls have had with Christ in their corners! How sweet has their “stolen” water and bread eaten in secret been to their hungry souls (Proverbs 9:17)!1138 “If the walls of this house could speak,” said Mr. Hew Kennedy, “they could tell how many sweet days I have had in secret fellowship with God, and how familiar He has been to my soul.” The Lord usually speaks most freely to His friends when he has them alone. “Therefore, behold, I will allure her, Will bring her into the wilderness, And speak comfort to her” (Hosea 2:14 NKJV). The Hebrew literally has: “speak to her heart.” Stella has this note on these words: “God needs no witnesses in order to speak to our souls; when God finds our heart alone, He comes in and sups1139 with it.” And, when He observes our soul withdrawn from the cares and anxious thoughts of this world, then it is His time to open His great wonders and secrets to it. Jacob prevailed the most with God when he was alone; it was then that he got the blessing (Genesis 32:24, 29).1140 Peter was alone in prayer with God when he fell into a trance (Acts 10:10).1141 “His soul was, as it were, removed from the body for a time,” said Beza, “that he might converse with God.” Elijah was alone in secret prayer when the angel brought him that refreshing feast, in the strength of which he traveled in the wilderness forty days (1 Kings 19:4–9).1142 Mr. Patrick Simpson, after he had been many hours in his garden alone, wrestling with God for his wife, said, “Oh, what am I, being dust and ashes, that holy ministering spirits should be sent by the Lord to deliver a message to me!” He told someone who had overheard him saying this that he had had a vision of angels that spoke aloud to him with an answer from the Lord concerning His wife’s condition. He also told his wife, who importuned him as she was approaching the place where he lay on the ground. She heard a frightening noise of a great rushing of multitudes together, and with it a melodious sound. The Lord sometimes gives His children such a welcome when He gets them alone into His chambers and wine cellar. Oh, the sweetness people may find in their time alone with Christ! Samson turned aside when he saw a swarm of bees and honey in the carcass of the lion (Judges 14:8).1143 It is said of Jerome, who lived in the wilderness, that he seemed to converse with angels. Gregory said, “Contemplation is the clearest day of internal light. When in a holy silence with God alone people make the most discoveries.” Christian, time alone is an opportunity put into your hand for indoor work; it is God’s call up to the mountain. “Be ready by the morning, and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and present yourself there to me on the top of the mountain. No one shall come up with you, and let no one be seen throughout all the mountain. Let no flocks or herds graze opposite that mountain” (Exodus 34:2–3 ESV). It is His command to a holy silence and rest from other work so that you may attend the most secret concerns of your soul. Use this time wholly in conversation with God and attending to the affairs of your soul. This is a time to assess the state of your soul, test the reasons you have hope for eternity, search into the secrets of your heart, and fully review your past life and former way of life (Psalm 4:4).1144 Then is the time to weigh your mercies and duties and call to mind God’s dealings with you and your conduct toward Him. It is a time to be studying the wiles of Satan, the paths of your duty, the worth of godliness, the danger of falling away, the blessedness of overcoming, and similar meditations. When you are riding, walking, or sitting alone, invite the Lord Jesus to keep you company and to walk and converse with you. Fill up your vacant hours with secret prayer and meditation. Take heed of being idle while alone, and not engaged in some duty either in your general or particular calling or lawful employment. Being too much alone is an invitation to the devil to be your company. No greater temptation can Satan find than times of solitude that are not put to good use.1145
1133The editor has inserted real these three times to draw attention to the problem of intrusive electronic devices such as smartphones. These things hinder genuine solitude in two ways. First, one cannot be truly alone with God while willfully interacting with the outside world, except perhaps to access Scripture or Scripture-related content. Second, some people are continually receiving interrupting messages; these must be suppressed, except perhaps emergency calls. A final problem is that easy access to entertainment may be an occasion of sin for some, taking them away from time with God. There are other situations of fake solitude; some “fulfill” their daily prayer times while commuting, for example.
1134Be never less alone than when alone, because the company of our Heavenly Father, Redeemer, and indwelling Holy Spirit is infinitely better company than that of any mortals. Therefore consciously seek to enter His presence.
1135“But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you” (Matthew 6:6 NASB). In many ancient cultures, including the Romans and Hebrews, reading or praying was always aloud, though perhaps softly. In a pinch therefore, much of Christ’s commandment may be followed even if sitting or walking in a crowd. But see the footnote above regarding prayer closets; there is value in being in the presence of God while otherwise both physically and electronically alone.
1136“Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba and called there on the name of the Lord, the Everlasting God” (Genesis 21:33 ESV).
1137“At midnight I will rise to give thanks to You, Because of Your righteous judgments” (Psalm 119:62 NKJV).
1138“Stolen water is sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant” (Proverbs 9:17 ESV).
1139sup: share a meal with.
114024“And Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. 29Then Jacob asked him, ‘Please tell me your name.’ But he said, ‘Why is it that you ask my name?’ And there he blessed him” (Genesis 32:24, 29 ESV).
1141“And he became hungry and wanted something to eat, but while they were preparing it, he fell into a trance” (Acts 10:10 ESV).
1142“But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he prayed that he might die, and said, ‘It is enough! Now, Lord, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers!’ Then as he lay and slept under a broom tree, suddenly an angel touched him, and said to him, ‘Arise and eat.’ Then he looked, and there by his head was a cake baked on coals, and a jar of water. So he ate and drank, and lay down again. And the angel of the Lord came back the second time, and touched him, and said, ‘Arise and eat, because the journey is too great for you.’ So he arose, and ate and drank; and he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights as far as Horeb, the mountain of God. And there he went into a cave, and spent the night in that place; and behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and He said to him, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’” (1 Kings 19:4–9 NKJV).
1143“When he returned later to take her, he turned aside to look at the carcass of the lion; and behold, a swarm of bees and honey were in the body of the lion” (Judges 14:8 NASB). Later in Ashwood’s work, there is a similar reference. Ashwood seems to be using the way Samson thought of the riddle after viewing the bees in the lion as an object lesson of the value of meditation, that is, thinking about divine things and applying lessons from everyday events to the service of the Christian life.
1144“Tremble, and do not sin; Meditate in your heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah” (Psalm 4:4 NASB). The Hebrew רִגְזוּ [raw-gaz´] means to shake or tremble with any violent emotion; thus translators render it differently, as Stand in awe (KJV), Be angry (NKJV, ESV).
1145This is overstated; bad company is worse for many people, for example. Still, the common proverbs are generally true: “Idle hands are the devil’s workshop,” and “Nature abhors a vacuum.” Also, for some people, the presence of others, for shame, will deter sinful behavior; but while this may remove certain occasions of sin, it does not resolve the deep heart-issues.
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