2. They offer their prayers in his behalf —
\Personally, he needs them not. In this respect he is unlike the kings of the earth. But for the prosperity of his kingdom he enjoins us to pray. One of the first petitions which, in his short and comprehensive prayer, he has taught us to pour forth, is, " Thy kingdom come." In this sense, " prayer is made for him continually," by every subject of his kingdom. It is a grief to his people to see so great a part of the world still ignorant of him, and persisting in a rejection of his light and easy yoke ; and they long to behold both Jews and Gentiles prostrate at his feet. " They rest not day or night " in calling upon God to take to him his great power and reign among them ; yea, they give him no rest, till he shall arise and " subdue all nations to the obedience of faith "."]
3. They render unto him their devoutest acknow- ledgments—
[A grateful people cannot but acknowledge with gratitude the blessings which they enjoy under the paternal govern- ment of a wise and pious king. But, great as earthly benefits
m Isai. Ixii. G, 7.
are, they are not to be compared with those which we receive under the government of the Lord Jesus. What protec- tion from enemies, what peaceful quiet, what abundance of all spiritual blessings does the very least and meanest of his subjects enjoy ! enjoy, too, as the very result of his care over them, and of his bounty towards them. An earthly prince, however ardent his desires or laborious his efforts, could not drive away distress from his dominions ; nor, if it were possi- ble for his subjects, all of them without exception, to have access to him, could he administer to them the relief which they solicited. But Jesus is accessible at all times to every creature in his vast empire ; and can both listen to their requests without weariness, and fulfil them without delay. This, too, is a truth, of which every individual among them is sensible ; all of them having been deeply oppressed with want, and having carried to him their respective trials, and having received relief at his hands. Every one of them, therefore, " praises him daily," as the one author of all his blessings, and the one ground of all his hopes".]
Such, then, being the mutual regard subsisting be- tween the Lord Jesus Christ and his people, let me, in conclusion, call you to contemplate,
1. The folly of casting off his yoke —
[He has ascended up on high", and is set down on the right hand of God, until all his enemies shall become his foot- stool p. And do you suppose that any will be able successfully to hold out against him ? No : his arrows shall be very sharp in the hearts of all his enemies ; and the stoutest of them all shall lick the dust : yea, " all kings shall fall down before him, all nations shall serve himi." Let none of you, then, continue in your stoutness of heart ; but cast down the wea- pons of your rebellion, and implore mercy at his hands. Then shall you find, that in the mercy which he exercises, no less than in the justice he administers, " your blood shall be pre- cious in his sight."]
2. The happiness of his faithful subjects —
[This were great, if we considered only what is spoken respecting them in the text. But their happiness infinitely transcends any thing that earthly monarchs are able to bestow.
» See this done first in general terms, Ps. cxlv. 1 — 13 ; and then, for his more particular acts of grace, Ps. cxlv. 14 — 21, and Ps. cxlvi. 1, 2, 7—10.
'•> If this be a subject for the ascension day, or the Sunday after, this hint may be a little amplified.
P Ps. ex, 1. 1 ver. 11.