li. 9, 10. He desires water to purity his heart, as well as blood to pacify his conscience. Now, in thy requests, observe these particulars : First, 15e sui-e thou come witji a deep abhorrence of tliyself for that sin which cleaves to thee. This is called knowing the plague of a man's own heart, 1 Kings viii. 38, when a creature is affected and afHicted with the sense of his corruptions, as if he had so manj- plague-sores upon him, and loathes himself for them, as much as Job did for the boils and sores with which his body was covered. The leper was com- manded in order to his cure, to put himself into a mourner's habit; Levit. xiii. 45, ' His clothes shall be rent, and his head bare, and he shall put a covering upon his upper lip, and shall cry. Unclean, unclean !' Why all this, but to express the deep sense of his sin and misery ? Look upon the saints in Scrip- ture, and you shall tind this was their way to abase themselves in their prayers, with the greatest self-abhorrence possible. Penitent David takes the fool, yea, the beast unto him, — ' So foolish was I, and ignorant ; I was as a beast before thee,' Psa. Ixxiii. 22. Holy Job cries out, ' I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes,' chap. xlii. 6. Others blush, and ai-e as much ashamed to be seen in the presence of God, as one that had fallen into some puddle would be to come before his prince. Secondlj', In praying against thy lusts, see that thy heart goes with thy tongue. In nothing do our hearts more cheat us than in our prayers, and in no requests more than in those which are levelled against our lusts. That is oftentimes least intended, which is most pretended. And truly we had need be well acquainted with ourselves, before we can find the bottom of our designs. Thus the hypocritical Jews first set up their idols in their hearts, and then inquired of the Lord, Ezek. xiv. 3 : this is a great wickedness ; and it were a just, though a heavy plague, for God to answer such according to the secret wish of their hearts, by giving them up to those lusts which they inwardly love. AVhen Paul begs prayers for himself, to embolden the saints in their re^juests for him, he assures them of his sincerity, — ' Pray for us : for we trust that we have a good conscience, in all things willing to live honestly;' as if he had said, I durst not make you my spokesmen to God, if my heart told me that I secretly complied Avith any sin. How then canst thou have the face to go thyself to God on an errand, to desire that of him vvhcih thou wouldstbe loth to have ?
But how may we come to know that our hearts are sincere or hypocritical, in praying against the defiling power of sin ? First, Obsei've whether thy prayer be uniform against all sin. The sincere Christian is not hot against one and cold against another; he 'hates every false way,' Psa. cxix. 104 : in his prayers he has no wish to entertain any one sin ; — ' Let not any iniqiuty have dominion over me,' ver. 132 : he knows, if all his chains were knocked off, and only one left upon him, he should be as true a slave to Satan, as if all the others were still on. He prays not against one sin, because a great one, and pleads for another, because it is a little one. Little sins contribute as well as great, to keep up the partition-wall between God and the creature, defile the soul, and swell the sinner's account ; therefore he prays against them as well as the others. David, who desired to be kept back from presumptuous sins, did also beg to be cleansed from his secret sins, Psa. xix. 12. Secondly, Observe whether thy heart stands firmly resolved to renounce that sin thou prayest God to subdue. The sincere Christian binds himself, as well as engages God against his sin. Indeed, that prayer is a blank which hath not a vow in it, — ' Thou, O God, hast heard my vows,' Psa. Ixi. 5 ; that is, his prayers, which are always to be put up with vows. Is it a mercy thou prayest him to give ? If sincere, thou wilt vow to praise him for it, and serve him with it. Is it a sin thou prayest against? Except thou jugglest with God, thou wilt vow as well as pray against it. 'Re- move from me the way of lying,' Psa. cxix. 29; this is David's deprecation; now mark his vow, — ' I have chosen the way of truth, thy judgments I have laid before me,' ver. 30. While he prays against the way of lying, he chooseth the way of truth. Thirdly, Art thou vigorous in the use of all appointed means to mortify the lust thou pi'aye&t against? Resolutions in time of prayer are good, when backed with strenuous endeavours ; otherwise they are but a l)lind for a false heart to cover itself Samson did not only pray he might be avenged on his enemies, but set his hands to the pillars of tlie house. He that hath bid thee
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-^24 WITH ALL PRAYER AND SUPPLICATION.