god's readiness to answer prayer.
Ps. cxlv. 18, 19. The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth. He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him : he also will hear their cry, and will save them.
ONE of the most endearing qualities of a monarch is, a readiness to listen to the petitions of his sub- jects, and to relieve, to the utmost of his power, their necessities. But no earthly potentate can be acces- sible to all ; nor, if he were, could he supply their wants. God alone is competent to this great task.
With him there is no weariness, nor any defect either of inclination or of power. To him all may go, at all times, and under all circumstances : and, if they go to him, they shall find, by sweet experience, that " he is able to do for them exceeding abundantly above all that they can ask or think." Hence the name given to Jehovah by the Psalmist, is this, " O thou that nearest prayer." In the passage before us we are particularly led to contemplate God in this view. It is here said,
I. That he will hear the supplications of his praying people — " The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon
him"—
[Never will he turn a deaf ear to a humble suppliant. We read not of so much as one whom the Lord Jesus turned away in the days of his flesh, provided only that he came under a deep sense of Ins own necessities, and a humble expectation of relief from him. So at this time there is no difference with respect to persons ; God is ready to hear "all " without excep- tion, whether those who have long approved themselves to him as faithful servants, or those who come to him for the first time
in their whole lives " He will be nigh unto them," the
very instant they call upon him. But who can declare all that is contained in this expression ? As to his actual presence, God is nigh unto all, whether they call upon him or not. It is of the manifestations of his presence that the Psalmist speaks: and those will God vouchsafe to the souls of his faithful worshippers in a variety of ways. He will " lift up the light of his counte- nance upon them :" he will shed abroad his love in their hearts by the Holy Ghost : he will give them the spirit of adoption, yea, and the witness of his Spirit, whereby they shall know that their prayers are both heard and answered. We do not now speak of such testimonies as were vouchsafed to Daniel, or Cornelius, but such as are promised in the prophecies of Isaiah to the Church at large : " Then thou shalt call, and the Lord shall answer ; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am a." To judge of these assurances of our acceptance, we must have experienced them in our own souls. To those who have not known them they must of necessity appear little better than the dreams of a heated imagination. But whatever the ignorant may say, "if we draw nigh to God, he will draw nigh tousb," and " will manifest himself unto us, as he does not unto the world c."]
a Isai. lviii. 9. b Jam. iv. 8. c John xiv. 21, 22.
743.1 god's readiness to answer prayer. 495
It is here however supposed, that we call upon him "in truth" —
[Prayer must be sincere, in order to find acceptance with God. We cannot hope that it shall prevail, if it proceed "from feigned lips." Of what value in the sight of God can a mere formal recital of words be ? " It is in vain that we draw nigh to him with our lips, if our hearts be far from him." Or, sup- posing that we be earnest in our petitions, how can we hope that God will hear them, if we are hypocritically indulging any secret' sins? David justly says, " If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me." By the prophet Isaiah, God speaks yet more strongly ; " When ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you ; yea, when ye make many prayers I will not hear : your hands are full of blood d." " God is a Spirit, and must be worshipped in spirit and in truth e :" and to those who so worship him, is his promise of acceptance confined : " Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all }rour heart f."]