compared with religion in point of efficacy. That may silence murmurs, and produce a reluctant submission ; but this will turn trials into an occasion of joy and glorying**.]
3. That a comfortable sense of it is the privilege of all the Lord's people —
[God promises " his Holy Spirit unto all them that ask him." That Spirit shall be in them " a spirit of adoption," a witness, an earnest, a seal, a Comforter. From the days of Abel to the present hour, God has delighted to rejoice the souls of his servants by the testimonies of his love.] _ -r. *
But, if the loving-kindness of God be thus mani- fested to his people, it may be asked, II. Why David prayed that it might be for his comfort — He did so, ^
1 . Because, without a sense of it, his trials would have been insupportable —
[David was exposed to many and severe trials : and, if he had not been favoured with pecuHar supports, he would have sunk under them. This he often mentions'^: and St. Paul also acknowledges his obligation to God for similar supports'^. When such manifestations were withdrawn, even Jesus himself almost fainted^: but when they were vouchsafed, the weakest females were made triumphant over all the malice of their persecutors ^]
1. Because, though all are partakers of it, all do not find it to their comfort —
[How many have the blessings of health and wealth, who taste nothing of God's loving- kindness in them, but make them the occasions of more flagrant opposition to his will ! How many have been restored to health, who by their subsequent mis- conduct have turned that mercy into a real curse ! Above all, how many have made Christ himself a stumbling-block instead of a Saviour, and " the Gospel a savour of death," when it might have been to them " a savour of life 1" Thus would all men do, if they were left to themselves : even Hezekiah's mira- culous recovery, and St. Paul's visit to the third heavens, would have issued only in their deeper condemnation, if God had not given grace to the one, and " a thorn in the flesh " to the other, to counteract the propensities of their fallen nature. Well then might David make this a matter of prayer to God, when none but God could impart to him this benefit.]
3. Because,
'• Rom. v. 1 — 3. Acts v. 41. & xvi. 25. «= 1 Sam. XXX. 6. & Ps. cxvi. 3—5. ^ 2 Cor. i. 3—5.
■ * Matt, xxvii. AQ. ' Heb. xi. 35.