The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Chronicles — Section 81

them to retnrn from H in his own time and way; and (3) forgiveness of their sins, sinco without this all other blessings are in vain. Loarn: 1. '!.'hat good prayers, while never prolix, vague, or ramblin"', are always full, specific, and well arranged. 2. That the loftiest prayer a human lip can utter is that of intercession for the welfare of others. 3. That, though the heart of man stands in no need of arguments to make it pray, it is not forbidden to employ arguments in the act of prayer. 4-. 'l'hat prayer, conceived as the converse of a finite soul with the infinite Deity, is the highest exercise of which a creature is capable. 6. That long prayers do not weary God, though meaningless repetitions do,-W, Vera, 40-42.-.A prayer for the Church of God. I. Fo& ITS CONGREGATIONS. 1. That God would make them his resting-place. "Arise, 0 Lord God, into thy resting- place" (ver. 41). 'faken from the battle-cry of the nation when the ark set forward to search out a resting-place for them (Numb. x. 33-36), the words imply a request that Jehovah Elohim, the covenant God of Israel, would make of the temple, and therefore of that which it symbolized, the Church of God, collectively and severally, as a whole and in its individual assemblies: (1) A place of permanent indwelling, an abode of rest, a home or habitation of repose, a mansion or fixed residence, out of which he should no more depart. Such had Jehovah promised of Mount Zion (P~. cxxxii. 13, 14), and such has Christ promised concerning the smallest and humblest gatherings of his people (Matt. xiii. 20). (2) A scene of gracious manifestation. It cannot be imagined that Solomon merely wished to have Jehovah's symbolic presence behind the veil in the inner shrine of the temple, in the form of a cloud of smoke and fire. What he craved was Jebovah's real, personal presence; and that he would not have desired (or at least could hardly have been much concerned about) had he understood that the only way in which God could dwell among them was in silence and in solitude, wrapped up in contemplation of his own measureless perfections and shut off from all intercourse with his creatures, and even with his chosen and covenanted people. But Solomon knew that if Jehovah condescended to pitch his residence among them, it would be for the purpose of making gracious revelations of himself as a God of love and mercy, and ~racious communications of himself as the Life and Light of bis believing people; and Christians know that this is the specific object God in Christ has in view in establishing his real, though unseen, presence in the assemblies and hearts of his followers (John xiv. 21-23). (3) A spring of Divine satisfaction. Unless it should be this it could not prove a resting-place for Jehovah. Jehovah must obtain in it, in its services and celebrations, and much more in the dispositions and actions, hearts and lives, of its worshippers, that satisfaction which his holy and loving nature demands ; otherwise he will be constrained to withdraw from their midst, from their hearts and from tbeir convocations, from their temples and from their altars. So can God in Christ only rest in those Churches and individuals where he smells a sweet savour of faith, hope, love, penitence, humility, obedience, rising from such spiritual sacrifices as they offer to his Name. 2. That God would establish in them the tokens of his power. "Arise, 0 Lord . . . thou, and the ark of thy strength." The outwardly mean and insignifi- cant wooden box called the ark was a symbol of God's physical almightiness, which commonly worked through feeble instruments; of his commanding omnipotence, which was ever based on essential holiness; and of his grace-bestowing power, which revealed itself upon and in and through a mercy-seat. Hence, in seeking that the ark might find in the temple a resting-place, Solomon practically asked that Jehovah would, through it as a medium, manifest to Israel his power (1) in protecting and defending them against their adversaries, (2) in ruling and governing them by statutes and ordinances, and (3) in forgiving them and enriching them with grace. The same three forms of strength Jehovah still puts forth within the Christian Churc~. He dwells within her, as he did in ancient Israel, as Defender and Deliverer (Ps. lxx..x1v. 11; xci. 1-7; Isa. xxxi. 6; Zech. ii. 5; Matt. xvi. 18; 2 Thess. iii. 3; Rev. iii. 10); as Sovereign and Ruler (Ps. xxiv. 1; xliv. 4; lxxiv. 12; xcv. 3; Isa. xxxiii. 22; xliii. 15; Mal, i. 14; Matt. vi. 13; Heb. i. 3; Jas. iv. 12; Rev. xix. 6); and as Redeemer and Friend (Isa. xii. 2; xii. 14; xlvii. 4; Luke i. 68; John iii. 1G; Rom. viii. 32; 1 Tim. ii. 3). 3. That God would listen to the prayers that in them ascended from the hearta of his people. "Let ... thine eyes be open, and thine ears be attent unto the prayer that II. CHRONlOl<l!lS, G  82 THE SECOND BOOK OF THE CHRONICLES. [err. VI, 1-12,