their welfare. And as they know it is the only way of success, so they know it is the sure way of success. They know His character is a God hearing and answering prayer; that He has never said to the seed of Jacob, "Seek ye me in vain ;" but they know also that He has said "Their heart shall live that seek God." "Seek, and ye shall find." Then you observe, secondly, the Object. "For this shall every one that is godly pray unto Thee." For what? They have numberless wants. They want wisdom, they want strength, they want peace and joy. But the reference seems here to forgiveness. Forgiveness is an inestimable blessing. Reflecting upon this, David is constrained to exclaim in the preceding verses, "Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile." Such a man "is truly blessed; he is blessed because his happiness is ensured." Forgiveness is a blessing that takes away the sting of death; it removes the curse of affliction. Without this blessing a man would be miserable in a palace; and in the possession of it he would be happy in the confines of a prison. This forgiveness ensures for him assistance in all duties, sweetens his temporal comforts, and brightens all his future prospects. This is the blessing which they implore. Observe, thirdly, the Universality of the prayer. "For this shall every one that is godly pray unto Thee." This shows us that they all need it, every one. "For this shall every one pray unto Thee "-whatever be his advancement or progress in religion, he needs to pray, and feels that he needs it. What advances had Paul made in the divine life! and yet he says, "I have not yet attained, neither am already perfect." Solomon says, "There is not a just man on earth who liveth and sinneth not ;" and says James, "In many things we offend all." And our Saviour admonishes us to pray for daily pardon as well as for daily food. The people of God while here are sanctified only in part this humbles them before God. Then there is a law in their members warring against the law of their minds, so that when they would do good evil is present with them, and induces them to exclaim, "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death ?" and this makes them long for heaven, where "Sin their worst enemy before, Shall vex their eyes and ears no more." Observe, lastly, When they pray. "For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee in a time when Thou mayest be found," for there is a time when He is not to be found; and therefore says Isaiah, "Seek ye the Lord while He may be found; call ye upon Him while He is near." Now, what is this time in which He is to be found? In one sense it takes in the whole length of the dispensation of the Gospel. The Apostle says, "Now is the accepted time; now is the day of salvation." In another view it takes in the whole length of life. Beyond this there is no work, nor knowledge, or device, or wisdom; that is, so as to affect their state or character after death. It has been questioned by some whether this time of audience—the day of life and the day of graceare equal. Some very rash things have been said of persons surviving the day of grace, in the case of Francis Spiro and others who were driven out of their senses. In a general way we may say, "While there's life there's hope; and as Watts expresses it "While the lamp holds out to burn, But we would not make the awful trial whether the day of grace is as long as the day of life. Remember God has said, "My Spirit shall not always strive with man." Remember He has said," He that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy." "Because I have called and ye have refused; I have stretched out my hand and no man regarded; but ye have set at naught all my counsel, and would none of my reproofs: I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh." When Felix was reproved by Paul, he turned and felt as he never felt before or after; but instead of cherishing the impression, he attempted to drive it off, therefore he said to Paul, "Go thy way for this time; when I have a more convenient season I will call for thee." That convenient season came, for he had several interviews with Paul afterwards, and heard him speak of faith in Christ, but the feeling was gone, the conviction was gone for ever! Beware, therefore, how you trifle with conviction. Whenever you feel an inclination to pray, be sure it is a time in which you may be heard; for it is God that produces in you this excitement. It is God that urges you to pray, and He would not trifle with you; He would not mock you; He would not excite in you these desires that you may return to Him, saying, "Take away all iniquity, and receive me graciously," unless He intended to hear and answer you. III. THE PRIVILEGE. "Surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come nigh unto him." The language is figurative. "Floods of great waters" mean great sufferings and afflictions. We often find the representation combined with fire. "We went," says the Church, "through fire and through water, but Thou broughtest us out into a wealthy place." But do these great waters never come near the people of God? Did they not come near Joseph when he was in the pit, and in the prison? Did they not come near Job when he was stript of all he had? Did they not come near Jeremiah when he was cast into the dungeon? Did they not come near David when he said, "All Thy waves and Thy billows are gone over me"? What becomes, then, of the assurance, Surely in the great waters they shall not come nigh him"? The language of Scripture is bold, and often requires considerable qualifications. 66 What is the assurance here? We know that no trial or affliction can come near the people of God without the knowledge, the arrangement, and permission of God. Sometimes He guards them naturally in cases of public calamity from evil; sometimes the interposition is remarkable, and so that a man shall say, "Verily there is a reward for the righteous: verily there is a God that judgeth in the earth." He is always able to screen His people; and He punishes His enemies at the same time and under the same dispensation. Thus it was in the deluge when Noah was preserved. Thus it was with Lot, when Sodom and Gomorrah was destroyed; and with the Israelites in the land of Egypt, who were free from all the plagues inflicted upon the Egyptians. So Peter says, "The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptation, and to reserve the wicked unto the day of punishment." But then further you will observe that if He does not keep them from the suffering, He keeps them from injury in the suffering; so that it does not really come like a calamity, and with the Apostle they can say, "We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed "—like a man in a ship in the midst of deep waters; but they do not come near him so as to destroy, though they are not far off. Thus they find as their sufferings abound, their consolations abound also. Then all will go into a state of destruction. "The heavens and the earth shall pass away, and all the works that are in them shall be burnt up; " yet the Christian shall stand erect and secure amidst the destroying elements: "When desolation like a flood, And even in the universal catastrophe will find a new heaven and new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. Two conclusions therefore arise from all this. One is, the ungodly and the prayerless shall tremble. They have no security in life or in death. "The wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked." The other is, that the godly and the prayerful shall be courageous and cheerful. You may, Christians, be opposed, but you can say with David, "The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? You know not what a day may bring forth, but you know that all times are in His hand. You know not what you may lose or suffer, but you know that all the ways of the Lord are mercy and truth to them that fear Him, and that all things work together for good to them that love Him. 199 VI. THE FAVOUR OF GOD. (Delivered on Thursday Evening, February 25th, 1847.) upholdest me in mine integrity, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel Amen, and Amen."-PSALM "By this I know that Thou favourest me, because mine enemy doth not triumph over me. And as for me, Thou and settest me before Thy face for ever. from everlasting, and to everlasting. xli. 11-13. So then David had an enemy. Yes, however amiable, however wise, however pious, he had an enemy. And who has not? "Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you," said the Saviour. The righteous have no reason to fear, for they are always taught in the Scriptures to reckon upon being evil-spoken of and persecuted. Some are ready to suppose that this is owing to the falls and miscarriages of professors themselves. There are those through whom "the way of truth is evil-spoken of," and who "cause the worthy name by which they are called to be blasphemed." "What glory is it, if when ye be buffetted for your faults, ye take it patiently?" "Let no man," says Peter," suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evil-doer, or as a busybody in other men's matters." my brethren, could we remove everything that is improper and disagreeable from the character of Christians, religion would not be beloved by the world. No, look at the Saviour Himself. Was He chargeable with any impropriety? Yet, was He admired? Was He approved of? "Marvel not," says the Saviour, "if the world hate you. It hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own, but because ye are not of the world, even as I am not of the world, therefore the world hateth you." David's enemy here was Ahitophel. You see this in the preceding words, "Yea, mine own familiar friend in whom I trusted, who did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me." David had been sadly distressed by him, and how he |