usest his name to procui'e thy admission, (because conscious of thine own un- worthiness to receive what thou askest :) but when thou praisest God, thy errand being to give, thou expectest to be made welcome ; for he that brings a present, shall surely find the door open. Yes, if thy gift were suitable to the great God : but who art thou, that the great God should take a present at thy hand? If thou be not worthy of the least mercy thou beggest, then surely thou art unworthy of this honour to have thy thank-offering accepted. Thou needest Christ's mediation for the one as much as the other. Thirdlj', Descend to the parti- cular instances of God's mercy toward thee in thy thanksgiving. It betrays a negligent spirit, if not a false, when in confession of siii we content ourselves with a general indictment, — I am a sinner, a great sinner, and there to stop without a particular sense of the several breaches made in the law of God. Neither is it a better symptom, when a man puts God off with a compliment for his goodness and mercy in general, but takes no notice of the particular items which make up the total sum. To do this, it will be necessary that thou takest special notice of God's daily providences, lay up these in thy heart formatter of thanksgiving against the time of prayer. You do not expect to find that money in your chest which you never laid there ; neither will you find in your heart to praise God for those mercies which you never committed to your memor}'. When the Psalmist had exhorted men to be thankful for the mercies of God in creation and providence, his conclusion is worthy of remark, — ' Whoso is wise, and will observe thfese things, even they shall understand the loving- kindness of the Lord :' as if he had said, The reason why so little praise is given for such great mercies is, because men see not the loving-kindness of God in them ; and they see not his loving-kindness, nor obsei've his mercies, because they have not wisdom. It is not a library that makes a scholar, but wisdom to observe and gather the choice notions out of its books. None want mercies to bless God for. Divine Providence is a large volume, written thick and close with mercies from one end of our life to the other ; but, few, alas ! have a heart to read in it, and fewer have wisdom to collect the choice passages of it for such a holy purpose as this.
Section II. ^ — -Fourthly, Excite thy praising graces. David stirs up all that is within him to praise God, Psa. ciii.; that is, all the powers and graces of his soul. First, Humility : a proud man cannot well tell how to beg, yet neces- sity may make him stoop to it ; but in thankfulness he must needs be a bungler, for this is a high piece of self-denial. ' Not unto us, not unto us, but unto thy name be the praise.' The proud man's gift will cleave to his hand. He is unfit to set the crown on God's head that hath a mind to wear it himself. We find, indeed, the tool in the Pharisee's hand, but he cuts his work into chips ; he seems to honour God with his mouth, but eats his woi-ds as he speaks them, and dis- covers plainly that he intends to exalt himself rather than God ; — ' I thank God I am not as this publican.' This, ' I thank God,' comes in pro forma ; it is the publican that he disdains, and himself that he applauds. You may easily think what a look ambitious Haman gave Mordecai, when he held his stirrup, who desired himself to have been in the saddle. How, alas ! can a proud heart give God that which he covets himself? Labour, therefore, to vilify thyself; then, and not till then, thou wilt magnify thy God. As there is no one so zealous in begging as he that is most pinched for want, so there is no one so hearty in his thanks as he that hath most sense of his unworthiness : and who can think much of himself that is thoroughly acquainted with himself? If God had not set thee u^d, what stock couldst thou have found of thy own ? Naked camest thou into the world, and ever since thou hast been cast upon thy God, even as a poor child upon the parish. What hast thou earned by all the service thou hast done him? Not the bread of thy poorest meal. And art thou yet proud? Bernard compares Joseph's carriage with his master, and the grateful souls with God, thus together: Joseph, saith the father, knew that his master put all he had into his hands, except his wife, and therefore accounted it too base an ingratitude to take her from his master's bed, who had been so kind to him. Thus, saith he, God freely gives his mercies into the saints' hands, but excepts his glory ; therefore the gracious soul takes what God gives thankfully, but humbly leaves the praise of them, which God reserves for himself. Secondly, Love and joy. First, Love ; this is an affection that cannot keep within doors,
WITH ALL PRAYKR AND SUPPLICATION. 735