he did not call, but cry. Crying noteth vehemency and earnestness, and is opposite to careless formality and deadness. The note from thence is —
Doct. That there is a holy vehemency and fervour required in prayer.
Here I shall show — ■
1 . That we may cry.
2. That we must cry.
3. Wherein it consisteth.
First, We may cry in our afflictions. David doth so for help and relief, and it is not inconsistent with patience for us to do so ; for our Lord Jesus had his cries, Heb. v. 7, in the extremity of his sufferings, without any impeachment of his courage and patience. So did Job, chap. xxx. 28, ' I went mourning without the sun ; I stood up and I cried in the congregation.' It argues we have a sense of our condition, and are under a pinching necessity ; and therefore may complain to God, though not of God. They are sullen and obstinate and senseless that have no feeling, and so no complaint to make, when God lasheth them.
Secondly, We must cry. For —
1. The spirit of grace was given for this end : Rom. viii. 15, 'Ye have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba Father ; ' not to say, but cry. He assisteth us by groans : Rom. viii. 26, ' The Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered/ And such a spirit of prayer should we all labour for, to come to God with affection and humble and sensible groans, if we cannot come with the pomp of gifts. There is good sense in broken- ness of heart, though it be accompanied with brokenness of speech ; for God knoweth what a groan meaneth, and will not refuse the work of his Spirit.
2. Because the saints have all done so. Their way of praying is crying : Ps. xviii. 6, ' In my distress I cried unto the Lord ; ' Ps. xxxiv. 6, ' This poor man cried unto the Lord ; ' Ps. cxxx. 1, ' Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, 0 Lord ; ' and Ps. lv. 17, ' At noon will I pray, and cry aloud ; ' and in many other places. Others can say a prayer, but they cry it out.
3. These cries are heard and answered ; as in all the former places, so Ps. xxii. 5, ' Our fathers cried unto thee, and were delivered ; ' Ps. xxxiv. 17, ' The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth ; ' fiorjdeay, the word ' to help ' is et? fiorjv Qelv to run to the cry. An arrow drawn with full strength will pierce deep.
4. Other prayers are not comely. It doth not become God to whom we pray ; dead service doth not become the living God : Mai. i. 14, ' Cursed be the deceiver which hath in his flock a male, and voweth and sacrificeth unto the Lord a corrupt thing : for 1 am a great king, saith the Lord of hosts, and my name is dreadful among the heathen.' Slight dealing in God's service argueth mean thoughts of God. It doth not become the Spirit by whom we pray, as in the first reason ; nor doth it become the blessings for which we pray : God will not give a mercy till it be valued. If we be indifferent, and pray for things of course, without any esteem of them, we bespeak our
38 SERMONS UPON PSALM CX1X. [SeR. CLXII.
own denial. Then we undervalue the grace we seek if we seek it so as if we cared not whether we obtained our request or no, for form's sake we must say something. When things are prized we are earnest, and God will have us earnest, to ask, seek, and knock, Mat. vii. 7. If you have good things, you must do so, and will do so, before you have them. Nor doth it become the state of want wherein you pray. Where there is real indigence and felt necessity, it will sharpen your affections and put an accent upon your prayers. You will not tell a tale or a cold story of your own wants, but cry aloud for help : Jonah ii. 2, ' I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the Lord.' And the saints cry day and night, Luke xviii. 18. A true sense of want will sharpen our sluggish desires ; the hunger-bitten beggar will not easily be put off.
Thirdly, Wherein this crying consisteth.
1. In the earnestness of the affection, not in the loudness of the voice: Gal. iv. 6, ' He hath sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, Abba Father.' It is a cry, not of the mouth, but of the heart; it lieth not in the lifting up of the external voice, or the agitation of the bodily spirits, but the serious bent and frame of the spirit, Rom. viii. 26, arevajfj.ol<; d\a\7]TOL<;, inward groans, and holy meltings and breathings of soul after God. Moses cried after God, Exod. xiv. 18 ; but we hear of no words which Moses spake. We hear of Israel's crying, and have an account of their words, hot and full of impatience, ver. 10 ; but not a word that Moses said, yet he cried unto the Lord. Israel was in straits, the Red Sea before, the Egyptians behind. Clamabat popidus, et non audiebatur : tacebat Moses, et audiebatur, saith Ambrose. Moses' silence was sooner heard than their cry. Our groans and tears have a language which God understands. It is said, 1 Sam. i. 13, that ' Hannah spake in her heart, only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard/ That is the better crying, in sighs and groans, rather than words ; as the child that cannot speak will cry and make moan for the breast. God hath heard the cry of the heart without that of the tongue, but never the cry of the tongue without that of the heart. Quibus arteriis opus est, si pro sonitu audiamur I — what lungs and sides must we have, if the loudness of the voice did it ! A dumb beggar gets an alms at Christ's gate if he can but make signs, when his tongue cannot plead for him.