Renewal after the divine image —
[Nothing on earth does a believer desire so much as this ; yet this shall be attained in the same way. An humble and believing view of Christ shall effect it<=.]
* A peaceful death —
[Stephen died by the hands of cruel and blood-thirsty enemies '^ ; but he offered an humble and believing prayer to Christy and his death was to him as a serene and peaceful sleep ^]
A glorious immortality —
[He who died justly by the hands of the public execu- tioner must have merited in an high degree the wrath of God S; nevertheless in his last hour he directed his eyes to Christ^; and that very day was he admitted with Christ to Paradise*.]
Application —
[Let none despair on account of the greatness of their sins, or of the judgments of God which are already inflicted on them. God will suffer none to " seek his face in vain." Let every one then bewail " the plague of his own heart," and offer up believing prayers " towards God's holy oracle^."]
<= 2 Cor. iii. 18. ^ Acts vii. 54. ^ Acts vii. 59.
^ Acts vii. 60. g Luke xxxiii. 41, ^ Luke xxxiii. 42.
' Luke xxxiii. 43.
^ Tliis "ftill suffice for two Sermons ; the first head being the sub- ject of one, and the second head of the other. If it form the ground of one Sermon only, tliose particulars which are marked with an asterisk * under the second head may be omitted.
cccxxxv.
Solomon's thanksgiving prayer.
1 Kings viii. 54 — 61. Aiid it urns so, that lohen Solomon had made an end of praying all this prayer and supplication unto the Lord, he arose from before the altar of the Lord, from kneeling on his knees zvith his hands sjn-ead up to heaven. And he stood, and blessed all the congregation of Israel with a loud voice, saying. Blessed be the Lord, that hath given rest unto his p)eople Israel, according to all that he promised: there hath not failed one tvord of oil his good proniise, lohich he promised by the hand of Moses his servant. The Lord our God be with us, as he was with our fathers : let him not leave us, nor forsake us : that he may incline our hearts %bnto him, to tvalk in all his zoays, and to keep his commandme7its, and his statutes, and his judgments, which he commanded our
335.] Solomon's thanksgiving prayer. 355
fathers. And let these my words, ichereivith I have made si(pplicatio7i before the Lord, he nigh unto the Lord our God day and night, that he maintain the cause of his servant, and the cause of his people Israel at all times, as the matter shall require : that all the people of the earth may know that the Lord is God, and that there is none else. Let your heart therefore he perfect with the Lord our God, to walk in his statutes, and to keep his commandmejits, as at this day.
TO men Solomon might appear most glorious when seated on his throne, and surromided by all his courtiers : but in the eyes of God he never was so glorious, as when he was leading the devotions of all his people, and imploring blessings on them from above. Neither actuated by ostentation, nor re- strained by shame, he erected a stage or pulpit in the court of the temple near the altar, and there in the midst of all the congregation kneeled down upon his knees, and with his hands stretched out to heaven poured forth his soul in the devoutest supplications. The prayer he uttered was of considerable length, and, as it should seem, the extemporaneous effusion of his own heart. How happy would it be, if all our kings were so disposed, or even if all the mi- nisters of the sanctuary were alike earnest in their acknowledgment of God, and qualified to conduct, from the abundance of their own hearts, the service of his sanctuary !