me ; for I trust in Thee." This also was a most acceptable plea. If we ask with a wavering and doubtful mind, we can never succeed": but the prayer of faith must of necessity prevail. The suppliant who truly and habitually trusts in God, can never be disappointed. Lastly, David says, " / cry unto thee daily .*" " Unto thee, 0 Lord, do I lift up my soul." God " will be inquired of, to do for us the things that he has promised." " If we ask, we shall have ; if we seek, we shall find 5 if we knock, it shall be opened unto us^:" but, if we ask not, we shall not, we cannot, have''.
But David's chief plea is taken from the character of God himself: and this is, in reality, the most satisfactory to the human mind, and most acceptable to the Divine Majesty, who " will work for his own great Name's sake," when all other grounds of hope are subverted and lost. Towards his creatures generally, whether rational or irrational, God is " good ;" but towards the children of men he is " ready to forgive, and plen- teous in mercy unto all that call upon him." No mother is so tender towards her new-born child, as God is towards his peni- tent and believing people. He is far more " ready to forgive,'* than they are to ask forgiveness ; and will multiply his pardons beyond all the multitude of their offences'. " Where sin has abounded, his grace shall much more abound''." The freeness and fulness of God's grace should be clearly seen, and confidently relied upon : but then we must never forget, that this glorious perfection shines only in the face of Jesus Christ. It is in Christ only that God can pardon sinners in consistency with his justice : but in Christ, " he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness ^" In Christ therefore, and in God as reconciled to us through the blood of his Son, must be all our hope. If we rest solely on Christ's obedience unto death, all will be well ; for " in him all the promises of God are Yea, and Amen™." But, if we look at God in any way but as in the person of Christ, we shall surely find him " a con- suming fire °. "J
The prayer itself not calling for any further eluci- dation, we proceed to notice,
II. The spirit manifested in it —
Here the subject is peculiarly important, because it exhibits in so striking a view the dispositions of mind which we should invariably exercise in our approaches to the Divine Majesty. In this example of David, then observe,
] . His
"Jam. i. 6, 7. ^ Matt, xxi.22. Mark xi. 24. ^ Matt, vii.7, 8.
*• Jam. iv. 2. ' Isai. Iv. 7— Q. '' Rom. v. 20.
' Rom. ill. 24,25. ■» 2 Cor. i. 20. " Heb. xii. 29.