sinner,"
e 3 Chrou, xviii. 30, 31. '' Ps. Ixv. 24.
488 PSALMS, cxLV. 18, 19. [438.
sinner," they would, if they could, expatiate upon all their wants, and pour out their souls before him in the most enlarged peti- tions. Henee, in his answers, he regards, not so much their words, as their wants; and enlarges the measure of his gifts in proportion to the largeness of their desires. Whatever can tend to the peace of their minds or the perfection of their souls, that he imparts in rich abundance, communicating infinitely " more than they can ask or think'."]
But, as in the former case it was supposed that the person calling upon him was sincere, so here it is supposed that the person^ whose unpremeditated cries he hears, and whose unex- pressed desires he fulfils, does really " fear him ;" for it is that principle alone that can render their desires proper to be fulfilled, or their cries to be answered. Where the fear of God really is, there God's will, and God's glory, will alone be desired'; and where they are the objects of our desire, however " wide our mouth be opened, God will fill it''.'']
See from hence —
1 . How wonderful is the condescension of God to his believing people !
[What would a person, who feels his own incapacity to spread his wants before God, wish for ? If God should say to him. Tell me what I shall say for your encouragement, what could the drooping sinner dictate more consoling to himself
than what is spoken in our text? Examine well in this
view what God has spoken in another place ; how strongly he- depicts the hopeless state of the suppliant, and what effectual
aid he promises to impart' and you will be prepared to
estimate aright the promise in our text. Let none then give way to unbelieving fears, or be dejected because thev find not in themselves all the liberty and fluency they could wish : but let the habitual desire of the soul be after God, and the bent of it be towards him on every emergency : then shall not one jot or tittle of this word fail of its full accomplishment"^.]
2. What bitter self-reproach will they feel, who live and die without prayer !
[One of the most bitter ingredients in that cup of God's wrath which will be put into the hands of those who perish, will be the reflection, that they might have had all the glory of heaven, if only they would have sought it in earnest prayer. Wlien they once experience the torments of hell, they may cry ever so long for a drop of water to cool their tongue, but they will not be able to obtain it. How will they then curse their folly, that they neglected to cry, when they might have obtained ^1 that they could possibly desire ! The recollection of that
word,
' Prov. XV. 8. & Eph. iii. 20. •" Prov. xi. 23.
'' Ps. Ixxxi. 10. ' Isai. xli. -["J, 18, ■" Ps. xxxiv. 18,