4. It argues some disesteem of God's favour and acceptance, they care not whether he hath any respect for them, yea or no ; for they do not so much as inquire of it. Oh ! how contrary is this to the temper of God's people ! If God hide his face they are troubled, Ps. xxx. 7 ; he is the life of their lives : ' Lord, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us/ Ps. iv. 7. The seasoning of their com- forts is God's accepting their works, Eccles. ix. 7. How passionately do they beg for a glimpse, for a token for good, Ps. lxxxvi. 17. Nothing goeth so near their hearts as when the Lord hideth himself from their prayers : Ps. xxii. 2, 'I cry in the daytime, and thou nearest not; in the night season, and am not silent;' Job xxx. 20, 'I cry unto thee, and thou dost not hear me ; I stand up, and thou regardest me not.' A dumb oracle is a great trouble. They make a business of prayer, therefore it is very grievous to have no answer, not to see
48 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SeR. CLXIII.
their signs, to have no token for good. The church taketh it bitterly to heart: Lam. iii. 14, ' Thou hast covered thyself with a cloud, that our prayers should not pass through.' That cloud is his wrath, by reason of sin. Now, to have no affection this way argucth a stupid, sottish spirit. These are two reasons of the point.
Reason 3. If we do not look after God's answer, our loss is exceeding great.
1. We lose our labour in prayer, yea, return worse than we came, with more hardness of heart and neglect of God. Yea, that is not all, the loss of a prayer with a degree of spiritual judgment ; but we lose confirmation of faith, for answers of prayer are notable props to the soul to support our faith in the truth of God's being : Ps. lxv. 2, ' O thou that nearest prayer, unto thee shall all flesh come.' Every one shall own thee for God. So many answers of prayer, so many argu- ments against natural atheism. We have challenged him upon his word, and find there is a God. So of the truth of the promises, Ps. xviii. 30. Thy word is a tried word ; I will build upon it another time. You have put them in suit, and ever found them good. Now all these experiences are lost if we do not look for an answer of our prayers.
2. You lose excitements to love and obedience. Nothing so much increaseth our love to God, as when we see that he is mindful of us upon all occasions, especially in our deep necessities, Ps. cxvi. 1, ' I will love the Lord because he hath heard the voice of my supplication.' Every experience in this kind is a new fuel laid on to increase the fire.
3. We lose encouragements to pray again : Ps. cxvi. 2, ' Because he hath inclined his ear to me, I will call upon him so long as I live.' The throne of grace shall not be neglected and unfrequented by me : I see there is mercy to be had, help to be had. One adventure suc- ceeding encourageth another : Ps. xxxii. 6, ' For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee ; ' because David found such ready audi- ence and despatch.
4. You lose the benefit of sensible communion with God. Taking communion for familiarity, it lieth in donatives and duties, prayers and blessings ; and there is a commerce between the heavens and the earth, by vapours and showers: prayers go up, and blessings come down ; as it was told Cornelius, Acts x. 4, ' Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God ; ' and down come the blessings upon us.
5. God loseth honour and praise and thanksgiving if we do not look for an answer. For the answer, as it is matter of comfort to us, so it should be matter of praise to God : Ps. 1. 15, ' Call upon me in the day of trouble, and I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me ; ' so Col. iv. 2, ' Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanks- giving.' We are to gather up matter of praise to God. We should not be so barren in gratulation if we did observe more of these experi- ences. You would not only be glorifying God by way of invocation, but commemoration : you may commend him to others from your own experience : Ps. xxxiv. 8, ' 0 taste and see that the Lord is good/
Use 1. To reprove them that throw away their prayers, and never look after them ; that play with such a duty as this, as children that shoot away their arrows, and never look where they light. Surely this
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argueth great contempt and low thoughts of God, formality in prayer, and stupidness of heart. It bespeaks low thoughts of God and of his providence ; for if they did believe such a particular providence reacheth to all persons and things, they would study to produce some of these experiences, to be able to say, I was in such a strait, and God delivered me: Ps. xxxiv, 6, 'This poor man cried unto the Lord, and he heard him.' Great formality in prayer ; for if we pray not out of course, but in good earnest, we cannot but hearken after the speeding of our requests. Great stupidity of spirit ; hearts that have any sense of life in them are observing God's dealings, and suit their carriage accordingly. Lively Christians are putting cases.