Ps. lxxxi. 10. / am the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt : open thy mouth wide, and I will Jill it.
ACCESS to God, and a certainty of acceptance with him, have been amongst the most distinguished privileges of the Lord's people in all ages. To his
ancient people the Jews, God said, " What nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them as the Lord our God is in all things that we call upon him for?" To us, under the Christian dispensation, it is promised, that " wherever two or three are gathered together in the name of Jesus, there will that blessed Saviour be in the midst of them." None shall " draw nigh to him in prayer, but he will also draw nigh to them," to answer their prayers. In the psalm before us, God most affectionately encourages his people to come to him, and to enlarge their re- quests to the utmost extent of their necessities : " Hear, O my people ! and I will testify unto thee, O Israel, if thou wilt hearken unto me." " I am the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt ; open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it."
Here, Brethren, let me call your attention to,
I. The invitation given us —
How comprehensive the words in which it is
contained !
[Here is no limit to our petitions. On the contrary, we are encouraged to extend them to every thing that our souls can desire. Nor is there any limit assigned, beyond which we are not to expect an answer. Whatever we want for body or for soul, for time or for eternity, it shall all be given us, if only we will "approach unto God," and "make our requests known unto him."]
And how marvellous the invitation, as sent by God to sinful man !
[God can receive nothing from us : " our goodness can never extend to him." He is altogether independent of us: and if the whole human race were annihilated this very moment, God would suffer no loss. Neither his honour nor his happi- ness were in the least diminished, when the fallen angels were cast out of heaven into the bottomless abyss of hell : nor if we were all plunged into the same abyss of misery, would God be in the least affected by it. Yet, behold, He deigns to send us the gracious invitation which we have just heard, and permits even the vilest amongst us to regard it as addressed personally to himself. To every soul amongst us he says, " Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it."]
Listen then with wonder to,