This fact is very instructive : it shews us,
1. That God is observant of our frame and con- duct—
[" The eye of God is in every place, beholding the evil and the good." But more especially does he look upon the humble suppliant: he himself declares, "To this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and that trembleth at my wordd." Behold, when a holy purpose was formed in the heart of Ephraim, how attentive God was to it ; "Ephraim saith, What have I to do any more with idols?" Surely, saith God, " I have heard him, and observed hime." And when the same penitent laid his transgressions more deeply to heart, God quite exulted over him, if we may so speak : " Surely I have heard Ephraim bemoaning himself
thus" And then, with a complacent regard to him,
God appealed, as it were, to the whole universe ; " Is not Ephraim my dear son ? is he not a pleasant childf ?" ]
2. That mere formal services are not accounted prayer in God's sight —
[All the petitions which Saul had offered in former times were a mere lip-service which God did not accept. " God is a
c Matt. vii. 7, 8. d Isai. lxvi. 2. e IIos. xiv. 8.
f Jer. xxxi. 18—20.
Spirit ; and those who worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth :" the heart must accompany the lips, or else the worship is hypocritical and vain*. This is strongly marked by the Prophet Jeremiah, who tells us that then, and then only, shall God be found, when we seek for him with our whole heart1'.]
3. That humble and believing prayer shall never go forth in vain —
[God may see fit to suspend his answer for a time : even in the case before us, he did not answer till Saul had continued in prayer three whole days and nights. But " though he tarry, he will come at last:" he has assured us, in the parable of the Importunate Widow, that the prayer of faith shall never be in vain1 : and in very many instances he fulfils to men that promise which he has given us by the Prophet Isaiah, " It shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer ; and while they are yet speaking, I will hearV]
Address —
1. To those who never pray at all —
[Alas! how many are there of whom the All-seeing God must say, ' Behold he rises from his bed without prayer : he goes through the day, and retires to rest again, without prayer : this is his constant habit : the sins he commits, excite in him no compunction : and the mercies he receives, call forth no gratitude : he lives without God in the world : ungrateful wretch that he is, he never calls upon my name : never once in all his life could I truly say of him, " Behold, he prayeth."' Brethren, do you know that all this neglect is recorded in the book of God's remembrance, and that it must be accounted for at last ? Do not deceive yourselves with an idea that your formal heartless services are accepted of him ; for, if he that wavereth in his mind through unbelieving fears shall receive nothing of the Lord, much less shall he receive any thing who never asks with any real desire to obtain the blessings he asks for1.]
2. To those who do pray —
[It is a great mercy if our minds have been so far awak- ened to a sense of our guilt and danger, that we have been constrained to cry to God for deliverance. But we are ever prone to relapse into coldness and formality : indeed there is nothing more difficult than to keep up a spirit of prayer, and to live nigh to God, in a state of habitual fellowship with him.
B Matt. xv. S, 9. h Jer. wix. IS, 1 I. ' I.ukc xviii. 7.