This duty of praying always is inculcated to us several times in the Epistles, as may appear from those texts quoted in the margin, which we must not interpret as an obligation upon us to be always upon our knees praying; for thus our obedience to it would be inconsistent with our obedience to other precepts of God, relating both to religious duties and civil actions, neither was Christ himself always praying: but it either, first, lets us know, that there is no time in which we may not pray; as we may pray in all places, every where lifting up holy hands without doubting, ( as the apostle saith, 1 1 Timothy 2:8), so we must pray at any time. Or, secondly, it is as much as, pray frequently and ordinarily; as Solomon’s servants are said by the queen of Sheba to stand always, that is, ordinarily and frequently, before him, 1 Kings 10:8; and the Jews are said always to have resisted the Spirit of God, Acts 7:51; that is, very often, for they did it not in every individual act of their lives. Or else, in every part of time; knitting the morning and evening (the general parts of our time) together by prayer. Thus the morning and evening sacrifice is called the continual burnt offering, Exodus 29:42; Nehemiah 10:33. Or, as it is in Ephesians 6:18, εν παντι χαιρω, in every season, whenever the providence of God offers us a fair season and opportunity for prayer. Or mentally praying always, intermixing good and pious ejaculations with our most earthly and sublunary occasions. Or, having our hearts at all times ready for prayer, having the fire always on the altar, (as was required under the old law), though the sacrifice be not always offering.
And not to faint, which is the same with that, Ephesians 6:18, watching thereunto with all perseverance; and Colossians 4:2, Continue in prayer, and watch in the same. Not fainting either by reason of God’s delay to give us the things we ask of him, or through laziness, and remission of our duty, before our life doth determine. This is now what our Saviour designs to teach us in this parable which followeth.

By the term certain, or some, he unquestionably understandeth the Pharisees and their disciples, who (as we have all along in the history of the Gospel observed) were a generation of men who were eminently guilty both of a boasting of themselves, and a scorning and despising all others.

Who these Pharisees, and who the Publicans, were we have had frequent occasions before to tell. The temple stood upon a hill, therefore they are said to ascend, or go up. They had in the temple set hours for prayer, as may be learned from Acts 3:1, at which some of all sorts went up to pay that homage unto God. Our Saviour mentions but two, having in it no further design than by this parable to inform His disciples, how much more acceptable to God the prayers of broken, humble, contrite hearts are, though the persons possessed of them be such as have been, or at least have been reputed, great sinners, than the prayers of those who are hypocrites, and proud, and come unto God pleading their own righteousness, in order to the obtaining of his favour.

From hence we may observe that thanksgiving is a part of prayer. It is said he prayed, yet we read not of any one petition he put up. His standing while he prayed is not to be found fault with, (that was a usual posture used by persons praying), unless the Pharisee made choice of it for ostentation, that he might be the better taken notice of; which was too much their fault, Matthew 6:5. Whether the term προς εαυτον, with himself, in this place, signifieth that he only prayed in his heart, or with a voice that could not be heard, or only that he prayed by himself, I doubt; for though our Saviour, who knew men’s thoughts, could easily repeat his prayer, supposing it only mental, or at least with a voice not audible, yet this seemeth not to suit the humour of a Pharisee, whose whole design was to be taken notice of, seen, and heard by others. He saith,
God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men, extortioners, adulterers, &c. But was this blameworthy? May we not bless God for his restraining grace, not suffering us to run into, the same excesses of riot with other men? Doubtless it is both lawful, and our duty, provided:
1. That we speak truth when we say it.
2. That we do not come to plead this as our righteousness before God.
But this Pharisee:
1. Speaks this in the pride of his heart, in the justification of himself.
2. In the scorn and contempt of his neighbour.
3. Though he were guilty of as great sins as these, though of another kind.
In the mean time we observe, that he did not attribute this negative goodness, of which he had boasted, or that positive goodness, which he will tell us of by and by, to the power of his own will. He gives thanks to God for them.

Twice in the sabbath, saith the Greek, but that is ordinary, to denominate the days of the week from the sabbath; the meaning is, twice between sabbath and sabbath. Those learned in the Jewish Rabbins tell us, that the Jews were wont to fast twice in a week, that is, the Pharisees and the more devout sort of them; once on the second, another time on the fifth day (which are those days which we call Monday and Thursday). From whence some tell us that Wednesday and Friday come to be with us fasting days or fish days. The Christians in former times, thinking it beneath them to be less in these exercises than the Jews, would have also two fasting days each week; and those not the same with the Jews, that they might not be thought to Judaize. If that custom had any true antiquity, I doubt not but they fasted after another rate than the papists or others now do, who pretend a religion to those days. But neither was the Pharisees practice, nor the practice of Christians, in this thing to be much admired or applauded. For fasting was always used in extraordinary cases; and the bringing extraordinary duties into ordinary practice usually ends in a mere formality. It is a good rule, neither to make ordinary duties extraordinary or rare, nor yet extraordinary duties ordinary: the doing of the first ordinarily issues in the loss of them, and quite leaving them off; the latter, in a formal lifeless performance of them.
I give tithes of all that I possess. The emphasis lieth in the word all. Others paid tithe of apples, and some fruits of the earth (of which alone tithe was due); but the Pharisees would pay tithes of those things, as to which it was generally held that the law did not strictly require them, such as pot herbs, eggs milk, cheese. Our Saviour bare them this testimony, that they paid tithe of mint, anise, and cummin, Matthew 23:23; rue, and all manner of herbs, Luke 11:42. This Pharisee boasteth of his exactness in two things, neither of which were required particularly by the law of God. Nor did he amiss in them, if he had not omitted the weightier things of the law, as our Saviour charges them to have done in both the texts before mentioned. But how came these things to make him a plea for his justification before God? Will he plead his righteousness, because he did things which God did not command him, while in the mean time he omitted those things which God had commanded? Or, what did these things signify; if they were not done out of a root of love? The law is, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart; and how could they be performed out of love, when love was one of the things which our Saviour charges them to have omitted? Of the same nature are other works, such as building of churches, and hospitals, and alms houses: the fruit is good, if the root be good; but if they be done out of ostentation, or opinion of meriting at God’s hands, men’s money (notwithstanding these things) will perish with them, for heaven is not to be purchased by our money.

Those who fancy the publican stood afar off from the Pharisee, because the Pharisees would suffer none but those of their sect, at least none that were under such a notoriety of disrepute as the publicans generally were, to come near them, suppose him to have been a Jew (which is not impossible): if he were a Gentile, he must stand so far off as the court of the Gentiles was from the court of Israel. This publican’s humility in his address to God is described,
1. By his posture; he looked upon the earth, as one that thought himself not worthy to look toward heaven.
2. By his action; he smote upon his breast, as one full of sorrow and trouble.
3. By the matter and form of his prayer; he confesseth himself a sinner; he fleeth unto the free grace of God.
Here is not a word of boasting, that he was not such or such, nor yet that he did thus or thus. He confesseth himself a sinner, a miserable sinner, and fleeth to the free grace of God; thereby instructing us how to make our applications to God, disclaiming any goodness or righteousness in ourselves, and fleeing to the alone merits of Christ, and the free grace of God in and through him.

Justified η εχεινος, we translate, rather than the other; not that the other was at all justified by God; the other was justified by himself only, and those of his party. The publican was justified by God. It followeth, for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased, & c. It is another of our Saviour’s sentences, often made use of by him, Matthew 23:12, and in this Gospel, Luke 14:11. It is applied to the ordinary practice of men, but here to God in the ways of his providence; he resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. The blessed Virgin magnifies God on this account, Luke 1:51,Luke 1:52.

This blind man was Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, as Mark tells us, Mark 10:46. Matthew mentions two, the other two evangelists but one, as being more famous, either upon his own or his father’s account.