2. He " giveth grace unto the humble" — [What will he not do for those who are of an humble and contrite spirit? If there were but one such object in the whole universe, God would look through all the shining ranks of angels that surround his throne, and fix his eyes on him^: he would even come down to him, and dwell with him;^ yea, and dwell with him for the express purpose of comforting and reviving his drooping soul*. If he offered up a prayer, God would hear and answer it'': if, on any sudden emergency, he only poured forth a cry, God would attend to it, and not forget it'': and if there were only a desire in his heart, even that should be noted, in order to satisfy and fulfil if*. See this exemplified in king Josiah. God had determined to destroy Jerusalem: but because Josiah was of an humble spirit, he would first take him to himself, and not suffer him to witness the calamities which were coming upon his nation: " Because thine heart was tender, and thou didst humble thyself before God, when thou heardest his words against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, and humbledst </(i/5e//' before me, and didst rend thy clothes, and weep before me, I have even heard thee also, saith the Lord ^" See it yet more strongly illustrated in the case of the most wicked man that perhaps ever existed upon the face of the earth, the man that made the very streets of Jerusalem to run down with the blood of innocents, and set up his idols in the very
House
" Isai. ii. 1 1, 12. * Prov. xvi. 18. » 1 Tim. iii. 6.
• Isai.lxvi. 2. * Isai. Ivii. 15. '' Job xxxiii. 27, 28.
<■ Ps. ix. 12. * Ps. X. 1 7, <: 2 Chron. xxxiv. 27.