Nor can we please God more than by pleading with him after David's example —
[There is nothing so great, but we may freely ask it at the hands of God. Nor is there any thing so peculiar to the
c Deut. xxxiii. 29. d Ps. xvii. 14. and lxxiii. 7.
e Isai. lv. 2. f Prov. viii. 18. e 1 Pet. i. 6.
h 1 Pet. i. 8. I Rom. v. 3. k Ps. xciv. 19.
I Isai. xxxv. 10. and lx. 19, 20.
m Luke xviii. 1. Ps. lxxxi. 10. Isai. xlv. 11.
II Ps. xxxiv. 6. and cxxxviii. 3. ° Ps. lxv. 2. p Prov. xv. 8.
saints, but we may ask it as sinners, and be certain of obtaining it, provided we ask in humility and faith. Salvation especially, with all its attendant joys and blessings, he is ready to give unto all that call upon him. Let us then beg of him to impart it to us. And let us particularly bear in mind, that we must first be " visited with his salvation," before we can " see the good of his chosen, and glory with his inheritance." It is through the knowledge of Him, as our Saviour and Redeemer, that we are to be made partakers of all other blessings. In vain do we hope to have fellowship with his people in their felicity, unless we first have fellowship with him in his salvation q.]
Address —
1. To those who are grasping after this world —
[All persons are apt to think that this world can make them happy : but David and Solomon, who enjoyed all that the world could give them, found all to be vanity and vexation of spirit. Let not us then follow the beaten track, but rather aspire after a good that never cloys, an inheritance that never fades r.]
2. To those who are sincerely, though faintly, pur- suing the path assigned them —
[We need not fear a disappointment on account of any unworthiness in ourselves. Let us beg of God to " remember us," and he will remember us. Let us seek " his favour" in Christ Jesus, and he will be ever ready to grant it. Only let us prosecute this end steadily, and without wavering : so shall we attain the object of our desires, and glory with God's in- heritance" for ever and ever.]
q 1 John i. 3. r 1 Pet. i. 4.