The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Samuel — Section 204

emboldened (Authorized Version," found in bis heart") "to pray this prayer" (ver. 27). "Thy words are truth" (ver. 28). "When thou 81\idst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, 0 Lord, will I seek" (Ps. xxvii. 8; oxix. 49 ; Gou, xxxii. 12). IV. PROMISE TEAOBEB THE MATTER OF PRAYEll.. "We know not wha~ we should pray for as we ought," and are apt, in this respect, to "ask amiss." But the pr_omises constitute an invaluable "directory of prayer," teaching us: 1. The things for which we ought to ask, both temporal and spiritual. 2. Their relative importance. 3. Their application to others as well as to ourselves (vers. 25, 29), 4. Their chief design (ver. 26). "If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you," etc. (John xv. 7; Rev. xiii. 20). "Pause over each promise, and let your faith in it blossom into a prayer for it. This will be the true, responsive reading of the sacred Scriptures, wherein there shall be not simply the answering of voice to voice as among men, but the responding of your heart to God. Happy are they in whose souls there is thus a continual recurring 'Amen' to the benedictions of the Lord" (W. M. Taylor). V. PROMISE INCITES THE SPIRIT OF PRAYER. 1. A reverent regard for God. 2. A lowly estimate of ourselves. 3. Fervent desire for the blessing of God. 4. Childlike confidence in bis Word. 5. Unreserved submission to his will. 6. Patience and perse- verance. " Wait on the Lord," etc. (Ps. xxvii. 14; Luke xi. 1-13; xviii.1). "Prayer is nothing else but the language of faith, love, and hope: of faith, a believing of God's being and bounty, that he is willing and able to succour us; of love, which directeth us to the prime Fountain of all the good we have and would have, and to the end and glory of God, and regulateth all our choices by it, and to those means which conduce to the enjoying of God ; and of hope, which is a desirous expectation of the promised blessing" (T. Manton,' Works,' xviii. 72). VI. PRomsE ENSURES THE ANSWER OF PBAYBB; not always in the immediate and conscious experience of the petitioner, but always at the proper time (Dan. x. 12), the delay being needful and beneficial ; not always in the literal terms of the promise, but often in a more spiritual and gloriollS manner; and never wholly withheld (1 John v. 14, 15). "He is faithful that promised" (Heb. L 23). " The promises of God are the free expressions of his goodness and beneficence ; but then their meaning has in it something of that Divine attribute. Nothing that be says can be in the mere narrow proportions of man. The words are necessarily those used by man, but the meaning is that of God; and we may be coofdent that what will be given in fulfilment of them will be according to the magnitude of the Divine goodness; as far, at least, as the faculties of the recipients will admit, and these can be enlarged. The Divine goodness being transcendently above all other goodness, the gifts of it will be according to its own manner, and not limited to the human import of the words, as if merely preserving the bare truth of the words. So that he will surprise his servants, as they find the earthly terms of his promises tr.i.nslated as it were into celestial language, when they arrive in his presence and have those promises acknowledged" (John lfoster, 'Literary Remains ').-D. Ver. 27.-(ZrnN.) .A prayer found in the he.art. When a prayer such ae David's is found in the heart, it is: 1. Found in the right place. If only on the tongue it is not really fonnd at all Its proper abode is the heart; yet it is not always found there, even when renewed, as the heart must be for its dwelling. 2. Possessed of price'less worth; in contrast with other things that are often found in the heart (Matt. xv. 19). A rare flower among weeds, a fountain in the desert, a treasure in poverty, a friend in need! "I have no earthly friend,'' said one; "but I have a praying heart." 3. Derived from a Divine source, It is not indigenous. Its origin ie in "the Father of lights," from whom comes "every good gift and every perfect boon;" its production is due to the teaching of his Word and the operation of his Spirit (Zech. xii 10). 4. Designed for a yrope,r ~e. Not to be neglected, repressed, or restrained (Job xv. 4); but apprec1&ted, guarded, cherished, freely and fully "poured out" at the feet of the Giver, tLat he may be glori.6.ed.-D. Vere. 1, 2.-David's desire to build a tempk. After the conquest of Jebus by David and his appointment of the spot to be the capital of the united kingdom of which he err. vn. 1--29.] TilE SECOND BOOK OF SAMUEL. 20!)