eousnessq," yet will he " give us the tongue of the learned1," and the arm of the mighty6 : he will fight in us, as well as for us*;" and will give us reason to adopt the grateful acknowledgments of that re- nowned warrior, " Blessed be the Lord, my strength, who teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight V Still, however, must this be sought of him in prayer. His promise is suspended on this con- dition, that we pray to him for the performance of it : on our fulfilling this duty, he will interpose ; " he will be very gracious unto us at the voice of our cry ; when he shall hear it, he will answer us :" and then it is that " our ears shall hear a voice behind us, saying, This is the way, walk ye in itx." We must first " acknowledge him, and then he will direct our paths y."
Once more — It is by 'prayer that we must bring down the Divine blessing on our endeavours. Many noble purposes are formed in the minds of unre- generate men, which yet are " as the grass that groweth on the house-tops, wherewith the mower filleth not his arms, neither he that bindeth up the sheaves, his bosom." Nor is it any wonder that those efforts should be blasted, which are undertaken without a reference to God, and which, if they suc- ceeded, would confirm men in a conceit of their own sufficiency. God is a jealous God : and " his glory will he not give to another." Hence he is interested, as it were, in disconcerting the plans of those who disregard him, and in prospering the concerns of those who humbly implore his aid. Agreeably to this, we find in the sacred records that the most powerful armaments, and best concerted projects, have been defeated, when God was not acknow- ledged2; and that the weaker have triumphed glori- ously, when they sought the Divine favour and protection a. In one instance more particularly we
i Heb. v. 13. r Isai. 1. 4. s 2 Sam. xxii. 33—35.
* Isai. xlix. 25. " Ps. cxliv. 1. x Isai. xxx. 19, 21.
y Prov. iii. 5, 6. z Isai. xxxvii. 36. 2 Sam. xvii. 11 — 13.
a 2 Chron. xx. 12, 25.