[St. Paul, in both his Epistles to Timothy, prays, that " grace, and mercy, and peace" might be multiplied upon him. These three terms comprehend the substance of the Psalmist's petitions. He desired " grace," to " preserve and save his soul." He desired "mercy;" *' Be merciful unto me, O Lord !" And he desired " peace ;" " Rejoice the soul of thy servant, O Lord!" Now these are such petitions as every sinner in the universe should offer. There are no other that can be compared with them, in point of importance to the souls of men. As for all the objects of time and sense, they sink into perfect insignifi- cance before the things which appertain to our everlasting salva- tion. To all therefore I would say. Seek what David sought. Cry mightily to God to have mercy upon you, and to preserve and save your soul : and when you have done that, you may fitly pray also for that consolation and joy, which a sense of his pardoning love will produce in the soul.]
2. His pleas—
[These are taken, partly, Jrom what he experiejiced in his own soul ; and, partly,y;"07n tlie character of God hiynself.
Observe how he urges, what he experienced in his own soul. The things which God himself requires from us, in order to the acceptance of our prayers, are, a deep sense of our necessities, an entire surrender of our souls to him, a reliance on him for all needfd llessings, and a continual application to him in a way of fervent and believing prayer. Behold, these are the very things whicli David at this time experienced, and which there- fore he pleaded before God as evidences of the sincerity of his prayers : " Bow down thine ear, O Lord, and hear me : for I am poor and needy /" And who is there that must not adopt the same acknowledgment ? Who that considers, how destitute his soul is of all that is truly good, will not find these words exactly descriptive of his state? Again, the Psalmist prays, *' Preserve my soul ; for I ajn holy" We must not imagine that David here meant to boast of his high attainments in holi- ness : the term *'holy" is applied in Scripture to every thing that is dedicated to God, though from its very nature it cannot possess any inherent sanctity : the temple of God, the vessels of the sanctuary, and all the offerings, were holy, because they were set apart for God. So David here speaks of himself as " set apart for God^:" and his expression is exactly equivalent to that which he uses in another place; "I am thine; save me''." This then is another plea which it becomes us all to use. As the Israelites were " a holy nation "," so are we ^ : and if we have given up ourselves unreservedly to God, we may well hope, that he will hear and answer our petitions. Once more David says, " Save
me;
' See Ps. iv. 3, '' Ps. cxix. Qi.
• Exod. xiK. Q. "1 Pet. ii. 9.