47.]
shall ask of him, believing, he will do :" yea, " we may ask what we will, and it shall be done unto us."]
2. The yet richer blessings of his grace —
[The new name which God gave to Jacob was a standing memorial of God's loveq, and a pledge of all that should be necessary for his spiritual welfare. And what will he withhold from us, if we seek him with our whole hearts ? Recount all the necessities of your soul : express in words all your wants : and when you have exhausted all the powers of language, stretch out your thoughts to grasp in all the ineffable blessings of his grace ; all that the promises of God have engaged ; all that the covenant itself contains ; and all that an almighty and all-gracious God is able to bestow : and, when you have done this, we will not only assure it all to you, but declare that " he will do for you, not this only, but exceeding abundantly above all that ye can ask or think r." However "wide you open your mouth, he will fill it." Make what attainments ye will, ye shall still find, that " he giveth more grace." And, whatever difficulties ye may have to encounter, you shall find " that grace sufficient for you." Only " continue instant in prayer," and God will give you, not a new name only (for that also will he give, even a name better than of sons and of daughters5,) but a new nature also, like unto his own1, that shall progressively transform you into his perfect image " in righteousness and true holiness.11"]
3. The full possession of his glory —
[The answer which God gave to Jacob's prayer is more fully recorded in a subsequent chapter. There, after declaring plainly who he was, " I am God Almighty," he promises, " The land which I gave Abraham and Isaac, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed after theex." This was typical of that better inheritance, to which all the Lord's Israel are begotten, and for which they are reserved y. And thither shall the prayer of faith carry us : for " God will never leave us, till he has done all for us that he has spoken to us of z," and brought us to " his presence, where there is fulness of joy, and to his right hand, where there are pleasures for evermore'"1." Hear the dying thief preferring his petitions ; " Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom !" And now hear the Saviour's answer ; " To-day shalt thou be with me in Para- dise15." Thus he speaks also to all who seek him in humility
i ver. 28. with Hos. xii. 5. r Eph. iii. 20.
R Isai. lxii. 2, 12. and lvi. 5. l 2 Pet. i. 4.
u Eph. iv. 24. 2 Cor. iii. 18. x Gen. xxxv. 11, 12.
y Heb. xi. 16. 1 Pet. i. 3 — 5. z Gen. xxviii. 15.
a Ps. xvi. 11. h Luke xxiii. 42, 43.