Thirdly, God delays many times when he doth not deny, for our exercise.
1. To exercise our faith, to see if we can believe in him when we see nothing, have no sensible proof of his good-will to us. The woman of Canaan she comes to Christ, and first gets not a word from him — Christ ' answered her nothing ; ' afterwards Christ breaks off his silence, and begins to speak, and his speech was more discouraging than his silence. She meets with a rough answer : ' It is not meet to give the children's bread unto dogs.' Then the woman turns this rebuke into an encouragement, ' Lord, the dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their master's table.' Then Christ could hold no longer:
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* 0 woman ! great is tliy faith ; be it unto thee even as tliou wilt,' Mat. XV. So many times we come to God and meet with a silent oracle, cannot get an answer ; but if we get an answer, it may be we begin to think God puts us off, as none of the sheep he is to look after. Oh !. but when we wrestle through all these discouragements and temptations, then 'great is thy faitli.' In short, we pray for a blessing; and sometimes, though God love the suppliant, yet he doth not seem to take notice of his desires, that he may humble him to the dust, and may have a sense of his unworthiness, and pick an answer out of God's silence, and grant out of his denial, and faith out of these discouragements.
2. To exercise our patience : Heb. vi. 12, ' Be followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.' Our times are always present with us, but God's time is not yet come. A hungry stomach would have meat before it is roasted or sod. Impatient longings must have green fruit, and will not stay till it be matured and ripened. Now God will work us out of tliis impatience. The troubles of the world are necessary for patience as well as faith.
3. To try our love. Though we be not feasted with felt comforts and present benefits, yet God will try the deportment of his children, if indeed he be the delight of their hearts : Isa. xxvi. 8, ' Yea, in tlie way of thy judgments, 0 Lord, have we waited for thee.' When we love God, not only when our atiections are bribed by some sensible experience or comfort, but when we can love God in the way of his judgments. A child of God is a strange creature ; he can love God for his judgments, and fear him for his mercies. When our heart is like lime, the more water you sprinkle upon it, the more it burns ; our desires glov/ the more, the more disappointments we seem to meet with. We love his benefits more than we love God, when we delight in him only Avhen he doth us good. But when we can delight in him even when our desires are delayed, and nothing appears but tokens of God's displeasure, this is delight indeed.
4. To enlarge our desires, that we may have a greater income of his mercy, as a sack that is stretched out holds the more. God will have the soul more stretched out when he means to fill it up with grace. Delays increase importunities : ' Ask, seek, knock,' Mat. vii. If God will not come at the first asking, we must seek ; if seeking will not bring him, we must knock, be importunate, have no Nay : Luke xi. 8, ' For his importunity sake he will arise.' The man is impudent ; he stands knocking, and will not be gone.
Fourthly, God may seem sometimes to deny a request, yet the end of the request is accomplished. For instance, God's children they have an end in their requests ; we pray for the means with respect to an end. Now many times God gives the end when he will deny the means. Paul had grace sufficient, though the thorn in his flesh were notremoved, 2 Cor. xii. 9. A Christian prays for the light of God's countenance, for sensible feeling of God's love. AVhy ? To strengthen him in his way. Now God denies him comfort, because he will do it by the word of promise, it shall not be by sensible comfort. We pray for victory over such a lust, the mortification of such a sin. Why ? That we may serve God more cheerfully. God denies such
252 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SeR. XXVII.
a degree of grace, because he will mortify a greater sin, wliicli is pride in the heart. And thus we miss the particular that we desire, yet still we have the end of the request. We pray for giving success to such an enterprise. Why? That we may serve God safely. God will bring it about another way.
Fifthly, If God do not give us the blessings themselves we ask, yet he gives us many experiences by the by in the manner of asking ; one Avay or other something comes into the soul by praying to God ; as those in Ps. Ixxxiv., their end was to go to Jerusalem, but in passing through the valley of Baca, they met with a well by the way. So we meet with something by the way, some light, or some sweet refresh- ing, some new consideration to set us a-work in the spiritual life. By praying to God, unawares, unthought of by you, there are many principles of faith drawn forth in the view of conscience not noted before, some truth or other presented to the heart, or some spiritual benefit that comes in with fresh light and power, that was never aimed at by us.