A. 2. God may delay prayer, when he will not deny, that he may humble us ; perhaps God hath spoken to us a long time in his word to leave such sins, but we would not hear him ; therefore he lets us speak to him in prayer and seems not to hear us.
A. 3. God may delay pra}er when he will not deny, because he sees we are not yet fit for the mercy ; perhaps we pray for de- liverance, we are not fit for it; our scum is not yet boiled away, we would have God swift to deliver, and we .ire slow to repent.
A. 4. God may delay prayer, when he will not deny, that the mercy we pray ft)r may be the more prized, and may be sweeter when it comes. The longer the merchant's ships stay abroad, the more he rejoiceth
OF THE PREFACE TO THE LORD'S PRAYER.
3bl
when tljey come home laden with spices and jewels ; therefore be not discourajjed, but follow God with prayer: thou<xh (iod may delay, he will not deny. Prayer vincit iii- vi/icihi/rm, — it overcomes the Omnipotent, Hos. xii. 4. The Tyrians tied fast their god Hercules with a golden chain, that he should not remove : the Lord was held by
Moses' prayer, as with a golden chain, Exod. xxxii. 10., "Let me alone;" why; what di<l Moses? he only prayed. Prayer ushers in mercy. Be thy case ever so sad,- if thou canst but ])r:iy, thou ncedest not lear, Ps. x. 17. Therefore give thyself to l)rayer.
OF THE PREFACE TO THE LORD'S PRAYER.
Our FATHER which art in Heaven.
HAVING (throuj;^h the good providence of (lod) gone over the chief grounds and fundamentals of religion, and enlarged nj)- on the decalogue or ten commandments, I shall now, at the close, speak somethiisg upon the Lord's prayer.
Mat. vi. 9., " After this manner there- fore pray ye. Our Father which art in hea- ven, hiillowed," Si.c.
In this scri|)ture are two things observa- ble,
1st. The intr(!di!ction to the prayer.
2d. The prayer itself, which consists of tiivee parts. 1. A preface; 2. Petitions; 3. The conclusion.
I. The introduction to the Lord's prayer, '* After this manner therefore pray ye." Our Lord Jesus, in these words ])rescribed to his disciples and us a directory for prayer. The ten commandments are the rule of our life, — the creed is the sum of our faith, — and the Lord's prayer is the pattern of our prayer. As God did prescribe Moses a pattern of the tabernacle, Exixl. x\v. 9., so Christ hath here prescribed us a j)attern of prayer, "After this manner therefore p/ay ye," &c. The meaning is, let this be the rule and model according to which ye frame your prayers. Ad hauc regulam prr- cfs nodrns cxigere necesse esf^ Calvin. Not tliat we are tied to the words of the Lord's jM-ayer ; Christ saith not, " After these words, pray ye ;" but " After this manner ;" that is, let all your petitions agree and sym- bolize with the things contained in the Lord's prayer ; and indeed, well may we make all our prayers consonant and agree- able to this prayer, it being a most exact
prayer. TertuUian calls it, Breviarivm to- fius cvatige/ii, — a breviary and compendium of the gospel ; it is like an heap of massy gold. The exactness of this prayer appears, 1st. In the dignity of the Author; a j)iece of work hath commendation from the arti- ficer, «nd tliis prayer hath commendaticm from the Author; it is the Lord's j)rayer. As the moral law was written with the fin- ger of God, so this prayer was droj)t from the lips of the Son of (iod. Non vox houii- ncm sonat, est Deus. 2d. The exactness of this prayer appears in the excellency of the matter. I may say of this prayer, it " is as silver tried in the furnace, purified seven times," Ps. xii. 6. Never was there ])rayer so admirably and curiously composed jis tXis. As Solomon's Song, for its excellen- cy, is called, ' the song of songs ;' so may this well be called, ' the prayer of prayers.' The matter of it is admirable, 1. For its succinctness, 'tis short and pithy, nudtum in jiarvo, — a great deal said in a icw words. It recpiires most art to draw the two globes curiously in a little maj). This short j)rayer is a system or body of divinity. 2. Its clearness. Tliis ])rayer is plain and intelli- gible to every capacity. Clearness is the grace of s])eech. 3. Its completeness. Tliis prayer contains in it the chief things that we have to Jisk, or God hath to bestow.
Use. Let us have a great esteem of the Lord's ]>i-ayer ; let it be the model and |»at- tern of all our j)rayers. There is a double benefit ariseth from framing our petitions suitably to the Lord's prayer. 1st. Hereby error in prayer is prevented : it is not easy to write wrong after this copy ; we cannot
382
OF THE PREFACE TO THE LORD'S PRAYER.