1 Y.i:ini!"s Yiii. 35, 36, '' If they pray towards this place, and confess thy Name, and turn f,·c,m tl,,,fr sin . . . then hear thou," etc. In the Dook of Proverbs the same truth ie rcpeat,•clly taught (xi. 20; xv. 8, 29; xxi. 13, 27). True penitence and integrity of will nre necessary condit.ions of 11ppropriate prayer. JV. lsAIAH IS BIDDEN TO l'ROCl,A IM IT. In i. 18, there are words of pricelese worth, which may well be II comfort to <',·cry penitent; but they nre often quoted without snfilcient prominence b,·ini; given to the words which precede: "Wash you, make you cle~n; put. away the eYil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; learn to do well," etc. ; then follow the word~, "Come now, and let us reason together," etc. Pa~t sin is forgh·en when it is forsaken, and only then. Y. EZEKIEL DECLARES TRE SAME. There came to him certain of the elders of Israel, and stood before him to inquire of the Lord (see xiv. 1-11). Ezekiel is bidden to tell them that it is useless to inquire of God if they were cherishing any hidden sin; it ,,-ould be a stumbling-block of iniquity, that would prevent any answer coming from God. How grievously the disheartened Saul found this out I (1 Sam. xxviii. 6.) YI. MALA CR I DECLARF.S THE LIKE LA w. He tells the people that they have with- holdcn the tithes from God, and that consequently God is withholding the blessina from them (iii. 1-12). Thus in the varied ages of the Jewish Church this truth i~ uniformly taught, that cherished sin will block up the way of an answer to prayer. YII. NOR IS TIDS PRINCIPLE REPEALED UNDER THE NEW ECONOMY. Our Lord 1ani;ht it. See Matt. v. 23, 24, in which we are forbidden to present any offering to God while anger to\\·ards a brother is cherished in the heart. In Matt. vi. 15, we are assured that he who forgives not is not forgi,en. In John xv. 7, 16, our Lord shows his disciples that the condition of their freedom and success in prayer is fruitful obedience. The Apostle James also warns those to whom he is writing that the non- success of their prayer is owing to impurity in the will, and if they would that God should draw nigh to them, they must return nnto him (Jas. iv. 3-8). Possibly at this stage, or earlier, a difficulty may have suggested itselr. It may be said (cf. l,nke XYiii. 11, 12) in that pas~age the Pharisee, who had been most punc- tilious in bis discharge of sundry obligations, and most austerely proper in his outward conduct, is yet rejected. How is this? The reply is threefold. 1. He did not pray at all Not one petition did he offer. 2. He thanked God he was so good! As if there were any merit in simply doing one's duty, or any cause for self-gratulation. 3. He looked down with scorn on others. He" exalted himself." His spirit was wrong, though bis obser'l"ances might be right. Conscious rectitude of purpose, and self-com- placmcy over performancts, need never be co11fou11ded, and only where they are so can this difficulty arise. In conclusion- 1. While we thanli: God for permission to pray, let us ever guard the dignity of prayer. 2. The mournful thought ·is suggested, How many there are who seem to be doing what they can to make it useless for them to pray I A man who tells lies over the counter cannot pray. A man who bribes or who accepts a bribe cannot pray. A man who forgives not, a8ks uselessly for forgiveness. The only advice to be given to such is to repeat the apostolic dema:id, " Repent, therefore, o'f this thy wickedness, and pray." 3. How diligently should we, at times, search into our own hearts, to see iC we are zealously putting away "the leaven ~f malice and wickedness" I The possibility that any secret sin may be shutting off any answer to our prayers should make us cry fervently, "Search me, 0 God, and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts; aucl see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." 4. Let none rush to the opposite extreme. Let none be disheartened at the stringency of the demands of God's grace; rather Jet tho heart be unreservedly opened to God in gratitude for hie holiness, and for bis desire for the absolute purity of his people; rather let us be aupremely solicitous to be "upright in heart." It is not where there is a clistressing consciousness of falling in execution below our desires and yearnings that prayer is blocked out. Far from this. But the desire to cherish sin, or the refusal to do the whole will of God, makes prayer itself w;ele~s and sinful, because the heart does not submit entirely to God-
Vers. 16-19.-The gc,lden chain. The end of the career of Moses was drawing nigh. Nothlng could be more natural than that be should gather up all hie powers to remind ,;It, JtltVI. 1-JD.J 'l'HE BOOK OF' DEUTERONOMY. 111