not; for " I will make of thee a great nation'." But Moses would not " let him alone," but pleaded for them with all imaginable earnestness and importunity : and the consecpaence was, " the Lord repented oi' the evil which he thought to do unto his people5."
My next instance shall be that of Joshua, who, desiring to prosecute the advantage which he had gained over the Anionics, and destroy them utterly, prayed that neither the sun nor moon might advance in their course, but continue to aid him with their light, till he had accomplished his desire. To effect this, the whole universe must be arrested in its career; and such a shock be given to it, as to endanger its utter dissolution. But whatever stood in the way, it must yield to his prayer. Accordingly, no sooner did this righteous man issue the command, " Sun, stand thou still upon Gribeon, and thou moon in the valley of Ajalon," than all the laws of nature were suspended, " and the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, till the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies. So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day. And there was no day like that before it, or after it, that the Lord so hearkened to the voice of a manh."
Here we have seen all the material creation stopped by the voice of prayer. — Now we will refer to another instance, wherein heaven itself is moved, and an angel sent from thence to fulfil the petitions of two chosen servants. Jerusalem was besieged, and utterly incapable of holding out against the enemy who was come against it. But Hezekiah and Isajah betook themselves to prayer. And what was the result? An angel was sent from heaven to destroy, in one single night, one hundred and eighty-five thousand of the besieging army: and the blaspheming monarch, who had boasted that nothing could withstand him, was forced to return immediately to his own country, where he was slain by his own sons, whilst in the very act of worshipping the senseless idol in which he had trusted for success. For this cause, says the historian, " Heze- kiah the king, and the Prophet Isaiah the son of Amos, prayed and cried to heaven. And the Lord sent an angel, which cut off all the mighty men of valour, and the leaders and captains in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned with shame of face to his own land. And when he was come into the house of his god, they that came forth of his own bowels sli w him there with the sword'."
One more instance 1 will mention, in order to shew how immediately the prayer of a righteous man succeeds. Daniel
1 Exod. xxxii. 10. e Exod. xxxii. 14.
i' Josh. x. 12—1 1. j 2 Chron. xxxii. 20, 21.