This is a wonderful thought from Edmund Clowney. In a nutshell: Before Christ, God revealed His will directly, in the form of specific directions. Through Christ, he reveals the guiding principles of His will, so that we can know make decisions based on our knowledge of His nature.

I was reminded, reading this, of 1 Corinthians 2:15-16.

1 Corinthians 2:15-16

15 The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. 16 “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. (ESV)

And now, from Clowney (emphasis added):

There are times when we may wish that one of the old “divers manners” of revelation were still in effect. The Urim and Thummin, for example, were consulted by the priest to secure “yes” or “no” answers from God (Ex. 28:30; I Sam. 28:6). Would you be tempted to trade in the New Testament for the priest’s ephod and to find your “yes” and “no” in miraculous stones rather than in Christ? In the agony of a harsh decision you might wish that this could be done. The Urim and Thummin gave infallible answers from God. One knew that success or ruin would follow a given course of action.

Could any guidance be better than that? Certainly. The guidance of Urim-Thummin was like a father’s guidance of a small child. “Yes, Tim, you may go.” “No, you must not do that.”

The will of the father is perfectly clear, yet it may not be at all understood. It is good for a child to obey even when he does not understand. It is better for him to obey because he does understand. He must do the first to be ready for the second. The mature son understands what his father desires of him; he understands the mind of his father and his obedience is shaped by that understanding…

Knowing the will of the Lord in the fellowship of Jesus Christ is not a technique to provide a substitute for the Urim-Thummin in securing infallible on-the-spot decisions from God. The Lord has not promised to give this, and what he does give you is far better. In his Word he reveals the principles of his will—indeed, he reveals himself. Through his Spirit he quickens your understanding of his will and your living fellowship with himself.

Edmund P. Clowney, Called to the Ministry, pp. 70-71.

Men-of-War: Life in Nelson’s Navy
by Patrick O’Brian.
W. W. Norton, 95 pages.
ISBN 0393326608 (paperback – reviewed – perhaps out of print),
0393038580 (hardcover)

Patrick O’Brian brings to us a short (only 95 pages) account of the British Navy c1800, the time of the great Lord Nelson.

It was a hard time to be a sailor. O’Brian points out that the food was “usually so bad that when they could catch them, the men often ate rats, or millers as they were called in the service, because of their dusty coats as they got into the flour and dried peas.” And trust me, that’s not the grossest part he mentions…

Still, the brutal, primitive reality of the time is easily overshadowed by the romance and the heroism. And it is to this sensibility that O’Brian appeals. He gives a brief overview of the types of ships used in Nelson’s navy, and a description of the crucial armaments they would carry. He walks us through the various members of the ships’ crews, and follows the career progress of a hypothetical young midshipman as he climbs the ranks all the way to Admiral.

Finally, he concludes with a look at life at sea, including combat. As an added bonus, there is a short chapter included of various sea-songs of the era.

O’Brian’s work is a wonderful companion to the abundant literature romanticizing the era. Ever since Frederick Marryat, arguably the first novelist of the Age of Sail, countless authors have set their heroes on the wooden planks of the great “rated” ships of the line. From C. S. Forester’s Horatio Hornblower (you may have seen the A&E series of films) to O’Brian’s own Aubrey-Maturin series of novels (filmed as Russell Crowe’s Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World), naval fiction has been and remains immensely popular. Supplementary books like this one give good background to the reader, and extend the adventure into history.

When You Pray: Making the Lord’s Prayer Your Own
by Philip Graham Ryken.
P&R Publishing, 206 pages.
ISBN 1596380527

Prayer is one of the most basic elements of the Christian life, and one of the most neglected. One of the difficulties we face is that we do not feel as though we know how to pray.

The Lord himself, however taught us just how to pray. In Matthew 6 and in Luke 11, Jesus taught his apostles (and us) a model for prayer that is remarkable for its combination of both simplicity and depth.

Phil Ryken, senior pastor of Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, walks through each part of the Lord’s Prayer in great detail.

He begins by examining the first part of the Matthew passage, before the Lord’s Prayer even begins, to show us how not to pray like hypocrites. Observes Ryken,

The problem with these hypocrites was not what they did, but why they did it… Are you a hypocrite? One way to tell is to compare the amount of time you spend in private prayer to the amount of time you spend in public prayer.

He then illustrates Christ’s next example of bad prayer in a chapter wonderfully titled “How to Pray Like an Orphan.” Ryken’s premise is that pagans, both ancient and modern, pray like orphans – not knowing the love of the Father, or the confidence that He will hear them or provide for them.

Knowing God as Father has two tremendous implications for the life of prayer. First, it means that you can keep it simple; second, it means that God will give you what you need almost before you ask… In the whole history of the world, God has never once been surprised during a prayer meeting.

After this introduction, Ryken spends the bulk of the book walking through each phrase of the Lord’s Prayer, meditating on the full meaning and implications of each one. It is easy to see that he has spent much time not only praying the Lord’s Prayer, but also praying about the Lord’s Prayer.

This is not an instruction manual for prayer. Instead, it is a reflection on the wonderful glorious prayer that Christ himself has given us. The purpose of the book is not primarily to teach us how to pray like the Lord did, but to use His prayer more effectively. Read this book, and you will never pray the Lord’s Prayer casually again.