' There is none that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee.' He represents God to us as a great person, that would bestow some benefits, and is ready to turn away himself ; yet none lays hold of him or desires him to stay. So, saith he, there is none that lays hold on God, to keep him that he should not go away. Therefore, when he saith, ' None calls upon thy name, or stirs up himself to take hold of thee,' he means there are none that pray earnestly. Incense was to be burnt, or else it cast no sweet smell. Our prayers must have fire and zeal in them. Our prayers must be cries that must pierce heaven. ' Out of the deep have I cried unto thee. Lord,' Ps. cxxx. 1. W^e must stir up ourselves ; we must waken ourselves to waken God. Indeed, before we can waken God we must waken ourselves.
' There is none stirreth up himself to take hold of thee.' Insinuating that if we would lay hold of God he will be stayed. To speak a little more particularly of this. God is so gracious that he will be stayed even by prayer. The way to stay God in his judgments, and to lay hold of him and keep him among us, it is prayer. Let us take notice now of the hand of God upon us ; what is the means to stop his hand, that he come not among us with his public judgments ? It is prayer. The way to stop God, and the angel that hath his sword now di'awn over our heads, it is prayer. God so condescends that he will be stopped by prayer ; as we see in Exod. xxxii. 10. He saith to Moses, * Let me alone.' Moses prayed, and alleged arguments to God that he should not confound his people. ' Let me alone,' saith he, insinuating that prayer binds God's hands. So powerful is prayer, that it binds the Almighty. It makes the Omnipotent in some sort impotent. He cannot do that he would, he can- not execute his wrath ; prayer binds him. When a company of Christians lay hold on him by prayer, he cannot do that he threateneth. The only way to lay hold of God is by prayer. In Ezck. xiii. 5, there is a complaint that ' none stood in the gap,' insinuating that if any had stood in the gap when the vengeance of God was coming abroad, they might have prevented the wrath. The way to stand in the gap and to keep God is to pray, and to pray heartily.
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Now that God may bo held by our prayers, they must be strong prayers.' Every prayer will not hold God. They must be strong prayers that must bind such a Sampson that hath his strength. Therefore there must be a stirring up of ourselves. He saith here, * There is none that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee.' So it is the duty of Christians to stir up themselves in these times.
Quest. How shall we stir up ourselves ?
Ans. 1. First, By considerinrj the danger ue are in. Danger felt or feared, it will make a man lay hold. When a child feels the smart of the rod, he lays hold upon his father or his mother's hand. Strike no more I When the children of God feel the smart of his judgments, then they cry, ' Oh no more !' The cry of the child prevails with the mother, though it cannot speak ofttimes. So when in the sense of sin and misery we ciy to God, we move his bowels with crying. There is no question but the serious apprehension of danger felt doth awaken the soul and stir it up. It is so also in danger feared. A danger feared, with belief, will work as if it were present ; for a man that hath a spirit of faith to see that unless God be appeased with good courses, he will punish, as surely as if the judgment were upon him. Faith makes things present, both good and ill ;. and it makes a man sensible of things that ai-e not yet upon him. This is the difference between a Christian and another man. Another man ' puts the evil day far off from him ;' but a believing Christian, by a spirit of faith, sees God, except he be turned away by hearty and humble repentance, ready to seize upon him ; and so he walks humbly in all his courses. So that danger felt or feared by a spirit of faith awakens and stirs up the soul to lay hold on God.
Therefore in spiritual dangers we should especially waken our souls to see in what need we stand of Christ and the pardoning mercy of God in Christ, that we may waken him and give him no rest till we find peace in our consciences.
2. Then again, that that we may stir up ourselves withal, is meditation of the necessity and excellency of grace, and of the good things we heg. The serious consideration of that will make us stir up ourselves to lay hold on God, and give him no rest till we have it. When a man thinks the ' loving- kindness of God is better than life,' Ps. Ixiii. 3, and if I have not that, my life is nothing to me. It is not only better than corn and wine and oil, but than life itself. Pardon of sin, and a heart to do good, is better than life itself, than anything in the world. If one should offer such a man this, a heart patiently to bear ill, and large to do good, and strength against tempta- tions, he would rather have this gracious disposition than anything in the world ; he had rather have the pardon of sin with the sense of God's favour than anything in the world. This will stir up a man, as we see in David, Ps. H. 1, seg., ' Mercy, mercy;' it binds God and lays hold on him, together with pardoning mercy, to have a heart enlarged with spiritual joy. There is nothing spiritual, but it is so excellent, that if we had the eyes of our spirits awakened to see them, we would bind God and lay hold of him. He should not go further till he had shined on us.