David succeeded by ' ' worshipping towards God's holy Temple e : " and shall not you, if you direct your prayer to Him ivhom the Temple typified, even the Lord Jesus Christ ? Shall it be in vain to supplicate your incarnate God, or to go to the Father in the name of his dear Son ? Try it ; and you shall soon have to say with David, " I will praise thee with my whole heart : before the gods will I sing praise unto thee : for in the day when I cried, thou answeredst mef." Yes, you shall under- stand, by sweet experience, the truth of that promise, " It shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer ; and while they are yet speaking, I will hearg." Nay, more, your God will do for you not only what you ask, but " exceeding abun- dantly above all that you can ask or think."]
2. The use and intent of trials —
[We are apt to regard them as enemies that are greatly to be dreaded; (and, no doubt, " they are not for the present joyous, but grievous:") but they are indeed blessings in dis- guise. They are often sent to quicken us to prayer ; to make us feel our dependence on God; and to discover to us the abundance of his condescension and grace. What would David have known of God comparatively, if he had not been placed in circumstances of great difficulty, where none but God could help him, and where God, in answer to his prayers, appeared for his support? No man ever more abounded in praises than he ; but they all had their foundation in the deliverances vouch- safed in answer to his prayers. When, therefore, any trial comes, say with yourselves, Now God is preparing me for richer discoveries of his own glory ; and if he make me to feel my own weakness, it is only that he may " perfect his own strength in and by that weakness." Fear not, then, to go into any depths ; since from them shall your prayer come up, even as Jonah's did, into the ears of the Most High ; and God will take you from them, to set your feet upon a rock, and to fill you with praises and thanksgivings to him for the manifesta- tions of his loveh.]
Address —
1. Those who restrain prayer before God — [The generality know not what prayer is, but content themselves with reading or reciting a form in which they feel
no interest And of those who have on some particular
occasions called upon his name, how many relapse into a cold and formal state, as though they had ceased to need the bless- ings which they once solicited ! Alas ! what enemies are both of these characters to the real welfare of their own souls ! They are enemies even to their present happiness, and much more
e ver. 2. f ver. 1. s Isai. lxv. 24. h Ps. xl. 1—3.