petition that his people â—enders but with a smiling countenance If it be a faithfull petition he accepts it of them and receives it graciously It is an expression of Luther speaking of the prayer of a contrite heart The least sigh of a contrite heart so fills heaven with noise that there is no noyse of any thing in heaven or earth heard at that time but onely the noyse of prayer Certainly a faithfull prayer taketh the heart of God very much yea every faithfull prayer is recorded in heaven You keep your letters upon the file that you may readily find them when you have occasion to look on such a letter sent from such a countrey so God hath his file in heaven where all faithfull prayers are kept upon record As Princes have their paper offices where transactions between one State another are kept so the Lord hath his prayer-office where he keeps all the prayers of his Saints that ever were put up to him Revel 8.3 Another Angel came and stood at the Altar having a golden censer and there was given him much incense that he should offer it with the prayers of all Saints Where were those prayers of all the Saints that he must take a censer and offer incense with God had them recorded with him and now they were to be offered to him And see what great things follow upon the offering of the prayers of the Saints vers 4. The smoak of the incense which came with the prayers of the Saints ascended up before God out of the Angels hand And the Angel took the censer c. and there were voyces and thunderings and lightnings and an earthquake These followed upon the prayers of the Saints It signified the time wherein all should come in remembrance before the Lord as if an Angel were offering yea Christ the Angel of the Covenant hath a time to take the prayers presented long ago and to offer them to God with his own incense They are all recorded in heaven therefore they are not in vain When a petition is taken and put upon record the petitioner petitioneth not in vain his petitionis not thrown out If a petition be presented to the Parliament and they take it and tell you it shall be kept on record and charge the Clerk to keep it there and say they will take due time to consider of it you will not say such a petition is in vain God doth so to all his people he takes their petitions and recordeth them they are all filed in heaven Yet further there is no faithfull petition but God puts his fiat to the bottome of it at the instant that it is put up to him There is a decree in heaven issued out for mercy at the very instant that the petition is put up God dealeth not with us in this kind as men do who are counted very gratious if they please to tell us they will consider of our petition no but your petition is presently gtanted A petitioner when there is time taken to consider of his petition trembles and shakes for fear it should not be granted but the petitions of the seed of Jacob are granted presently When Daniel had been seeking God at the evening sacrifice an Angel comes to him tells him that at the beginning of his prayer there was a decree to grant it and that he was sent to him at the beginning of his prayer Dan. 9.23 Psa 56.9 When I cry unto thee then shall mine enemies turn back this I know for God is for me Did not David cry oft and yet his enemies did not turn their backs when he cryed He cryed oft when his enemies prevailed yet he saith When I cried then mine enemies turned back and This I know why for God is for me The meaning must be this that at that instant that he cryed there was a decree in heaven the thing was done He looked on it as done even as certainly as if he had seen it with his eyes This is the reason that the Saints after they have prayed though the thing be not actually done fall to praising and blessing of God We have a notable example in Jehoshaphat of whom we reade 2. Chron. 20.3 that being in a great fear had set himself to seek the Lord and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah He did not seek God slightly but set himself to seek the Lord. And what his prayer was ye may see from vers 6. to 12. And Jehoshaphat said O Lord God of our fathers art not thou God in heaven and rulest over all Kingdomes Mark how he pleadeth with God for the Covenant he had made vers 8. Speaking of the Sanctuary they had built for his names sake If when evil commeth upon us as the sword judgement or pestilence or famine we stand before this house and in thy presence for thy name is in this house and cry unto thee in our affliction then thou wilt hear and help He urgeth the promise made to Solomon at the dedication of the Temple For that prayer of Faith which Solomon made and God accepted hath the strength of a promise in it O our God saith he wilt thou not judge them for we have no might against this great company that commeth against us neither know we what to do but our eyes are upon thee Though he profest that his enemies were so many that he knew not what to do and that they had no might to resist them yet after his prayer was done and before the battell began when he had consulted with the people he appointed singers unto the Lord and that should praise for the beauty of holinesse as they went out before the Army and to say Praise the Lord for his mercie indureth for ever vers 21. Mark he had not yet gotten the victory the battell was not fought yet as soon as he had ended his prayer he praised the Lord for his mercie indureth for ever He made account that the thing was done It was decreed in heaven Therefore surely the people of God do not seek him in vain Nay it is not onely decreed but ere long God will satisfie his people and fill their longing souls with goodnesse Psal 107.9 A time shall come when they shall say their prayers are heard and that they have enough Yea the Lord giveth more sometimes then his people mention in their prayer they ask temporall blessings and he bestoweth spirituall yea he giveth them himself and that is all in all Surely then the prayers of the Saints are not in vain But wherein lyeth the efficacy of prayer What makes prayer so powerfull and present with God One thing is because God delighteth in mercy and in communicating himself to the children of men He taketh more pleasure in doing good then any can in seeking it yea then any can in enjoying it from him Our hearts cannot be so strongly set to seek for any mercy from God as he is to communicate mercy to
Psalm 105.3 not onely let the heart of them rejoyce that find the Lord that obtain that they seek but those that seek the Lord while they are seeking should rejoyce in seeking him Well because I would sain get to the application of the point I passe by other things and will onely take away that great objection and reasoning that is in the hearts of men against this point You tell us that the prayers of Gods people are not in vain and by Gods mercy now and then we have found some comfortable hearing from heaven but ordinarily we find it otherwise How many prayers have we put up to God and find not the issue we pray and pray and the enemies prevail though now and then God give us help Now for the taking away of all unbelieving reasonings against the point I will not go from the text at this time Therefore the first answer is this You say you have sought God and have not what you would have and therefore it is in vain though perhaps this that you now say is vain yet it makes not the text void Remember what hath been before heretofore you have sought God and that was not in vain remember the times of old let that for the present a little stay you It was that that stayed the Psalmist he began to reason as you do that he had sought God in vain Will the Lord cast off for ever and will he be favourable no more is his mercy clean gone for ever doth his promise fail for evermore c. Psalm 7 8. here seems to be as much unbelief as is in your reasoning but mark what follows v. 10. And I said this is my death but I will remember the years of the right hand of the most high O it is my sinne and weaknesse that I should reason thus I consider not what I do when I reason thus but I will remember the years of the right hand of the most high vers 11. I will remember the works of the Lord surely I will remember the wonders of old v. 12. I will meditate also of all thy works and talk of thy doings Thy way O God is in the sanctuary who is so great a God as our God Thou art the God that doest wonders thou hast declared thy strength among the people v. 14. Thou hast with thine arm redeemed thy people the sons of Jacob Joseph v. 15. Mark at length he recovers himself with this though present things seem to go hard yet he remembred what God had done so do thou in this case In Isaiah you have a complaint of unbelieving hearts as if God had been sought in vain Isa 40.27 Why sayest thou O Jacob and speakest O Israel my way is hid from the Lord my judgement is passed over from my God Art thou one of the seed of Jacob hast sought God and sayest it is in vain God reasons the case and will confute their unbelief Hast thou not known hast thou not heard that the everlasting God the Lord the creator of the ends of the earth fainteth not neither is weary there is no searching of his understanding He giveth power to the faint and to them that have no might he increaseth strength Even the youths shall faint be weary the young men shall utterly fall v. 28 29 30 31. But they that wait upon the Lord shal renew their strength they shall mount up with wings as Eagles they shall run and not be weary and they shall walk and not faint Hath not God done great things heretofore in 88. and in the powder plot and at other times and though we be in some streights remember what God did before This should appease your hearts what though thou have not present audience for the thing thou seekest yet think I deal with a God that hath an understanding that I cannot search God it may be lets the adversary prevail sometimes I cannot tell what glory God may get by it I cannot conceive how God can bring his own glory about when Israel flees before the Philistines But why sayest thou so O Jacob there is no searching of Gods understanding God sees further then thou canst see that thing that thou thinkest will make against his name may make for it therefore lay thine hand upon thine heart He giveth power to the faint and to them that have no might God stayes till men have no might till they faint and are ready to sail and then he comes and helpes them That is the meaning of that Scripture in Luke where Christ saith God will avenge his elect that cry night and day to him though he tarry he will avenge them he will hear their prayers it is not in vain But it follows upon it notwithstanding when the Sonne of man comes shall he find faith on earrh I verily think that that want of faith hath reference to that very promise specially that God will hear his elect that cry but God may stay so long as that the very time when God shall come to perform it shall intend to do it it may be a time when their faith is overcome and fails in the promise that they begin to give over and think they have sought in vain And usually the time when God comes to fulfill his promise and to answer the prayers of his people it is that very time when they fail and are ready to sink Therefore that may be another argument it may be thou hast not believed this promise Thou sayest thou hast prayed and thou thinkest it is in vain hast thou believed this promise in the text hast thou relyed on it God hath not said to the seed of Jacob Seek ye me in vain The word of God shall be made good but how upon our faith it shall be made good to us upon our believing though we be never so godly and pray never so well yet if we will have the promises made good it must be upon believing If thou hast not laid the weight of thy soul on the promise thou hast no cause to say that God hath not made his word good it may be thou hast not faith learn to believe the word and then thou shalt have it fulfilled Thou wouldest have it made good and then thou wouldest believe it no thou must first believe the word and then expect that God should fulfill his promise Again God is a great God that we seek to and it is fit for us to wait and to wait long He is great we seek great things and we are poor mean vile wretches God hath his prerogative sometimes to answer presently sometimes not so Elias was a great praying man he is set for an example of prayer he prayes at one time for fire to come on the sacrifice and fire came down presently another time he prayed for rain and then he prayed 7. times and bowed his head between his knees and sent his servant and sent him again and again
we provoke not God now but attend upon the word more then ever we did Lastly doth God say to us we shall not seek him in vain Let not God call to us in vain If when we seek God our seeking is not in vain then when God seeks us let it not be in vain There is all the reason for it in the world If God be so gracious to poor base worms sinfull creatures that if we do but chatter our prayers are not in vain is it not reason when God calls that he should not call in vain When God calls out of his word to perform such and such duties God seeks thee then make use of this text I have called upon God and I never called in vain and now I go to heare the word and out of the word he calls me and seeks me let him not seek in vain but say Lord what sayest thou to thy servant The Lord is ready to heare your cry be you ready to heare his and go on go on with incouragement the Lord hath incouraged us this day And let all your prayers and indeavours break through all difficulties and the Lords mercy shall break through all oppositions for he hath not said to the seed of Jacob Seek ye me in vain Psalme 16.3 But to the Saints that are in the earth and to the excellent in whom is all my delight IN the beginning of this Psalme David prayes to God for preservation and for deliverancc out of some great evil that it seems was upon him or that he was in danger of The argument that he useth is First his trust in God In thee do I put my trust And it was not an ungrounded and unwarranted trust but that which proceeded from his interest he had in God O my soul thou hast said unto the Lord thou art my Lord thou art mine But what if David should now perish in his distresse should God be any looser by it David seems to acknowledge this that though he should not be preserved yet God was bound to preserve his own name and his own cause my goodnesse extendeth not to thee Though I should live yet it is little that I could do for thee But to the saints that are in the earth Though my goodnesse extend not to thee yet I may be usefull to thy people unto thy Saints while I live it extends to them and they are they that my soul closeth with O I desire to live and to be preserved that I may be of use to them It is a great argument to prevail with God when any of you are in danger and seek for preservation if your hearts work thus to God that the desire you have to be preserved is that whatever you are and what ever you can do may extend to the Saints that you may live to be of use and service in the world to Gods people Many of you when you apprehend your selves to be in danger you cry to God to be preserved but to what end wherefore would you be preserved wherefore would you live If we may judge of your ends according to your practise you would live that you may have more time to satisfie your lusts that you may have more time to dishonour God that you may have more time to do mischief in the places where you live There is this in the heart and God sees it God sees whatsoever will be after in your lives God sees before what was in your hearts when you cryed to be preserved But now one that is gracious he desires therefore to be preserved O that I might live to be of use in the place where God hath set me If God should take me away now my conscience tells me that it is little service that I have done for him I have been of little use in the place where God hath set me O that I might be preserved for this end that what I am or have might extend to the Saints in earth even the excellent in whom is all my delight Thus you have the scope of the words and the dependance of them And in them there are these two things First the high esteem of the Saints they are the excellent of the earth And secondly the sweet delight that Davids heart had in them in whom is all my delight For the first the high esteem that David had of the Saints and that Saints that were on earth the excellent The point is this that The Saints of God those that are godly are the excellent in the earth Then secondly from this that he saith in whom is all my delight Observe this that A gracious heart takes the most contentment in the Saints of God he is much delighted in them The first is but a preparation to the second therefore I shall passe it over briefly They are the excellent in the earth therefore my delight is in them They are the excellent in the earth Let them be what they will in regard of their outward meanness yet there is an excellency in them Job scraping upon the dunghill and Jeremy sticking in the mire in the dungeon yet they had more glory and beauty upon them then the great ones of the earth when they sate upon their thrones Though they lie among the pots as the Psalmist saith yet are they as Doves their wings are the wings of Doves whose feathers are of gold and silver Psal 77.13 beautifull and glorious You know the judgement that the holy Ghost passeth upon the Saints in old time that were outwardly mean enough there was as much meanness on them as the malice of the world could put the text saith they had tryalls of mockings of scourgings of bonds and imprisonments they were sawen assunder they were tempted they wandred in sheepskin and goats skins destitute aflicted tormented What kind of creatures were these surely they were some wretched men and women that were thus hunted up and down to wander in sheeps-skins and goats-skins destitute afflicted and tormented No such matter they were sâ—ch of whom the world was not worthy v. 38. that is the judgement of the holy Ghost upon such the world was not worthy of them The men of the world would have thought did think that they were such as were not worthy to live in the world but the judgement of the holy Ghost was such that the world was not worthy of them I remember Chrysostome hath this interpretation of the phrase they are such as are worth more then all the world more then many thousands of the world one of them is worth more then all the men of the world besides It is a truth so one Saint of God though never so mean one poor youth one servant that is truly gracious is worth more then all the men of the world besides that are not so All the Monarchs and Princes on earth have not that excellency in them that one poor child or servant hath that is gracious But the ordinary interpretation
but though God have such a house in heaven yet he is not as it were contented with that house but he desires another house he hath a desire to Zion to be his habitation and the house where his honour dwelleth You know a Prince may have some houses of meaner regard when he goes to his sport he may have a mean house to lodge in for a while but his pallace where he shews his Majestie and honour that is more glorious So the people of God and the Church is called the house of Gods honour it is not a mean house but a house of honour Further it is that house that he means to dwell in for ever he loves it so well This is my house I will dwell in it for ever I am so well pleased with it I will rest in it for ever Surely we have cause to rest our hearts in Gods people when God finds rest there and for ever It may be some of you are sometimes acquainted with the people of God and at the first delight in them but your hearts being carnall you soon grow weary of them It is not so with God he delights in his people and rests there and rests there for ever But you will say how is God present with his saints more then in other places why is God said to dwell among his people his Saints I answer in two regards God is said to dwell among his people in a speciall manner First because he makes himself known to his people more then to all the world besides There are none that know the counsell and mind of God so as his saints do God is known in Judah Psalm 29.9 There God opens himself In his Temple every man speaks of his glory Secondly because God communicates himself most among his people God is said to be in heaven Why but because there he manifests his glory more then in other places therefore heaven is his habitation If that be his habitation where he manifests himself more then his people are his habitation because he manifests himself most there Secondly heaven is the place of Gods residence because he communicates himself most there then also Gods people are his residence he communicates himself there And he communicates himself to them in a speciall manner in foure regards 1. He communicates more choise mercies 2. He communicates mercies more fully 3 He communicates mercies more powerfully 4. More universally then to others 1. He communicates goodnesse among his people and saints more choisely more choise mercies of God There is a remarkable place in the Psalmes The Lord that made heaven and earth blesse thee out of Zion Psal 143. ult He saith not the Lord that made heaven and earth blesse thee either out of heaven or earth but out of Zion as noting that the choyse mercies that God hath to communicate are out of Zion among his people joyned together in the way of worship Would you desire that God should blesse you with the chief mercies that he hath look upon God as blessing out of Zion out of Zion God communicates his choisest mercies therefore it concerns all to be in Zion that they may have God to blesse them out of Zion there runs the sweetest of Gods mercies indeed in Zion Again God communicates his mercies more fully among his people then any other way Psalm 36.7 8. How excellent is thy loving kindnesse O God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatnesse of thy house and thou shalt make them drink of the rivers of thy pleasures They shall be abundantly satisfied how not with the creatures but with the fatnesse of thy house Neither with thy communication to them alone God hath abundance of mercies for his saints alone but when they are among the saints joyntly together then they shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatnesse of his house and he shall make them drink of his rivers of pleasures While they are alone in corners they may have many sweet drops of pleasure from God but when they are joyned with the saints there are rivers of pleasure and delight that come to their hearts therefore there is great delight to be had in the saints of God when they are joyned together Thirdly he communicates them more powerfully mark in Psalm 13â— 3 As the dew that descended upon the mountain of Zion for there the Lord commanded a blessing even life for evermore There was blessing and the Lord commanded it there went a powerfull work of Gods grace upon the hearts of people there when they were joyned together in Zion there God commanded the blessing If you would have God speaking powerfully to command a blessing on your souls you must be among his people you must joyn in a holy fellowship with his people there God commands it In the last place more universally all the goodnesse of God is communicated among his people therefore the Church is called the perfection of beauty Psalm 50. that some translate the universality of excellency and beauty There is a universality of all among the Church and people of God And in another place All my springs are in thee Psa 87. speaking of joyning with the people of God that is all my springs of truth that are revealed to me all the springs of comfort that I have communicated to my soul all the springs of grace that I have to quicken me they are all in thee in the joynt society and communion with Gods people I find all Thus we see the presence of God among his people in regard of the communication of himself to them and therefore what a great deal of cause there is to joy and delight in the saints joyntly together Again further there is abundance of cause to delight in them joyned together in regard of their admirable priviledges as they are joyned together They have priviledges as they are alone but as they are joyned they have committed to them the oracles of God Rom. 3.2 all the ordinances by which God conveyes himself To them are committed the seal of the covenant you cannot singly have the seal of the covenant but joyned with the people of God closing with them To them is committed the very power of Jesus Christ saith the Apostle When ye are together with the power of Jesus Christ 1 Cor. 5.4 a glorious priviledge Yea further take this one thing they are inheritours to all the promises that ever God made to the Church from the beginning of the world There is no society of saints that joyn in Christian fellowship but they are so See a remarkable place for that in Isa 54.17 No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgement thou shalt condemn this is the inheritance of the servants of the Lord. That promise that God made to the Churches before this is their heritage And conceive of this
us Who is a God like unto thee that pardoneth iniquity and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage he retaineth not his anger for ever because he delighteth in mercy Mic. 7.18 Another thing that rendreth prayer so effectuall is Gods Covenant and promise to his people It was the speech of Archimedes Give me a place te set my Engine in and I will shake the whole earth Let prayer have a sure foundation to set foot on and it will do mighty things Now the promises are the foundation of prayer whereof we have great abundance Numb 23. you shall find abundance of promises to the seed of Jacob under the name of Jacob when Balaam was brought to curse the people But in Deut. 33.26 c. there are admirable promises to Jacob. There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun who rideth upon the heaven in thy help and on the skie in his excellency The eternall God is his refuge and underneath are the everlasting armes and he shall thrust out the enemy from before thee and shall say Destroy them Israel then shall dwell in safety alone the fountain of Jacob shall be upon a land of Corn and Wine also his heavens shal drop down dew Happy art thou O Israel who is like unto thee O people saved by the Lord the shield of thy help and who is that sword of thy excellency and thine enemies shall be found lyars unto thee and thou shalt tread upon their high places Here is the promise to the seed of Jacob the fountain of Israel so he is called he shall have all things that are good and God will manifest himself especially against his enemies Let any of the seed of Jacob go and plead this with God and it cannot be in vain there must be a mighty efficacy in such a plea when there are such large promises So in Isaiah 14.1 there are diverse promises to the seed of Jacob. For the Lord will have mercy on Jacob and will yet choose Israel and set them in their own land and the stranger shall be joyned with them and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob And the people shall take them and bring them to their place and the house of Israel shall possesse them in the Land of the Lord for servants and handmaids and they shall take them captives whose captives they were and they shall rule over their oppressours And it shall come to passe that in the day that the Lord shall give thee rest from thy sorrow and from thy fear and from the hard bondage wherein thou wast made to serve c. I make no question but some of the seed of Jacob have been pleading this promise in prayer where the Lord hath promised to have mercy on Israel and to give him rescue from his sorrows and fears and hard bondage It was hard bondage that we were made to serve in not long ago here is a promise that God will give us rest from it upon the pleading of this promise God hath made it good to the seed of Jacob. And in Isa 41.8 there are large promises in that Chapter to the seed of Jacob. But thou Israel my servant Jacob whom I have chosen the seed of Abraham my friend Thou whom I have taken from the ends of the earth It is no matter though they be a poor despicable people of themselves it is but a few of the poor people do thus the Gentry and Nobility go another way Vers 10. I have called thee from the chief men of the earth I left them and called thee and said unto thee thou art my servant I have chosen thee and not cast thee away Vers 10. Fear thou not for I am with thee be not dismaied for I am thy God I will strengthen thee yea I will help thee yea I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousnesse Here are five things five times I I will strengthen thee I will uphold thee I I I I I look up to those five l's together and there are severall expressions of help and strength and upholding How with my hand with my right hand that is with my right hand I am ingaged I have given thee my hand to help thee and that shall be the hand of my righteousnesse Some men give their hand to their friends when they make promises but the hand that they give it doth not alway prove a hand of righteousnesse but many times a hand of deceit but when God gives his hand to his people it is a hand of righteousnesse I will uphold thee with the hand of my righteousnesse And what follows Vers 11. Behold all they that were incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded O God make this good this day our enemies are incensed they are mad and rage and swear and blaspheme and stamp and fret and would have their will and they would do such things All that are incensed against thee shall be confounded Some of the seed of Jacob have been with God and have pleaded this promise and that is the efficacy of their prayer that the enemy is confounded They shall be as nothing and they that strive with thee shall perish Thou thinkest they are a great army and have great strength they shall be as nothing v. 12 Thou shalt seek them shalt not find them Where is the army now it is so scattered that you cannot tell if you seek it you cannot find it even them that contend with thee they that war against thee shall be as nothing and as a thing of nothing Enquire where the Army is now you shall not find them For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand saying unto thee Fear not I will help thee v. 13. O but we are weak and poor Fear not thou worm Jacob and ye men of Israel I will help thee saith the Lord v. 14. thy redeemer the holy one of Israel v. 15. Behold I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth thou shalt thresh the mountains and beat them small and shalt make the hills as chaff v. 16. Thou shalt fan them and the wind shall carry them away and the wherlwind shall scatter them and this we should labour to make good Thou shalt rejoyce in the Lord and glory in the holy one of Israel when I have done all this here is the fruit not to rejoyce in our Armies or in outward strength but to rejoyce in the Lord and to glory in the holy one of Israel Here are promises for prayer to set foot upon no marvell it hath so much power and efficacy There are divers others and many things behind of the efficacy of prayer as it depends upon the promise and covenant that God hath made with his people for every promise is but a severall branch and expression of the covenant of God therefore we are to referre them all to the Covenant I will give you but one Scripture Jer.
polititians work never so craftily though Gods hand be on us and we have conscience accusing us and say I this is for your sins that God leaves you thus in the hands of your enemies that God gives them such power that they find such favour with the Prince as they do though this be for our sinnes yet let us seek to God to turn the counsell of Achitophel to folly It shall not be nor hath not been in vain we have found it so that in our affliction and affliction for sin yet crying to God to turn the counsell of Achitophel to folly God hath done so graciously and hath incouraged us more and more to cry unto him for that end But what need I seek to God God hath decreed and determined what he will do what God intends to do he hath decreed from eternity therefore whether we pray or not it shall come to passe if we do not pray it shall come to passe If God have intended to deliver me out of a sicknesse it shall be done whether I pray or no and when any ones time is come they shall die and so when the time of a Kingdome is come it shall be destroyed and not till then therefore what good can prayer do Though I suppose you cannot but be satisfied and think that this objection hath little weight yet for answer I will give you a Scripture or two Psalm 2. I will declare the decree The decree of God concerning the advancement of Christ in his resurrection and so of the successe of the work of Christs mediation I will declare the decree the Lord hath said thou art my son this day have I begotten thee Ask of me and I will give thee the heathen for thine inheritance and the utmost parts of the earth for thy possession Gods giving of Christ the heathen for his inheritance and the utmost parts of the earth for his possession it was decreed of God yet Christ must ask it of his Father notwithstanding Gods decree And another text remarkable is in the prophesie of Daniel where the text saith Dan. 9.2 In the first yeare of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the Prophet that he would accomplish 70. years in the desolation of Jerusalem And I set my face unto the Lord God to seek by prayer and supplications Mark Daniel understood by books what God had determined concerning Jerusalem what need Daniel go further he knew Gods mind what he would do whether he did pray or no but mark vers 3. I set my face to seek the Lord. After he knew what God had decreed and what he would do and what he had promised Now we know not Gods decree but if we did certainly know the decree of God in shewing mercy to the Land yet it could no way hinder us but encourage us to set our faces to seek the Lord and to seek him more earnestly therefore that is a vain objection Again it is not in vain to seek the Lord if we examine all we have had already though we have not all we would have yet if we consider the supporting mercies the preventing mercies and the guiding mercies that God hath granted us we shall find that it is not in vain that we have sought him There are abundance of mercies that thou hast had already It is an evil thing to complain of Gods grace when God hath bestowed such mercies thou thinkest thou hast nothing because thou hast not all thou wouldest have as a froward child because it hath not every thing to its mind casts away all God hath been exceeding gracious to us other souls would have adored God and have blessed him with their faces to the ground if they had had but the hundreth part of those mercies that we have yet because we have not all we desire we are ready to think it is in vain O let us take heed of dishonouring the grace of God Again further thou thinkest it is in vain because God sometimes denies in granting and grants in denying Many times God grants that we pray for in denying it and denies that we pray for in granting it our denyals are grants to us Wo to us if all were granted to us that we pray for Much good may be gotten out of Gods denyalls and God denyes us to do us good and to prepare us for mercies therefore it is not in vain that thou hast sought God because it is not in vain that thou art denyed But further it may be God delights more in thy praying then in thy praising voice therefore though thou have not that thou hast sought for give leave to God to delight in thee which way he pleaseth There is the praying and the praising voice of Gods people thou delightest that God should hear thy praising voice it may be God delights to hear thy praying voice and is may he should not if thou haddest what thou wouldest have Saith God to the Church Let me hear thy voice for it is sweet There is no man that will think the King denies his petition as long as thâ— King loves to reade it If one present a petition to the King he doth not say he will presently do it but if he reade it and when he hath read it calls for it again and again will any man think it in vain that he hath put up that petition as long as the King hears it and delights to reade it it is not in vain So as long as God loves to heare thy voice and to reade thy petition it is not in vain As for thy praising voice God shall have enough of that in heaven but he shall have none of thy praying voice therefore why shouldest thou not be willing that God should have more of thy praying voice here All that ever God shall have of thy praying voice it is in this world and after a little time God shall never heare us pray more Therefore let us be willing to go on and continue in prayer and not to wonder why God keeps us on in a way of praying because all the time that ever God shall have to delight himself in the praying voice of his people it is in this world and for our praising voice we would fain spend all our dayes in praising God for his mercies but that is reserved for another world Further it may be Gods way to stay till he bring a great deal of mercy together and not by bitts and drops As when men deal with great merchants they expect not to have payments by six pences or shillings or Crowns at once but though there be two or three or ten pounds due they stand not on that but stay for a greater summe Now little traders that deal by retail they take it in by pence and little summes Christians that are to deal with God they deal for great things and there are great transactions between God and
wonders yet many carnall atheisticall spirits say this was an accidentall thing and the policie of such men brought it to passe they attribute all to naturall causes it is a sign of a wretched profane heart For if God ever magnified prayer he hath done it in these dayes There are 2 or 3 Scriptures that since the world began were never more magnified then by Gods working at this day One is in Exodus 13. In the thing wherein they dealt proudly God was above them Never since the world began was that more fulfilled A second is that in the 10. Psalme The wicked are snared in the work of their own hands If ever there were a fulfilling of that Scripture since the beginning of the world it is at this day A third is this in the text I said not to the seed of Jacob seek ye my face in vain God as I said hath raised a spirit of prayer among the seed of Jacob more then ever any in the world knew there was never the like spirit of prayer raised nor never the like things done for prayer And the Lord the rather honoured the ordinance of prayer now because men so dishonoured it before and persecuted it that the people of God could not meet and assemble to fast and pray but presently it was a conventicle and they were persecuted as factious people Because God saw this way despised he hath honoured it and the former and the latter mercies that we have received we are to attribute to the goodnesse of God by prayer they were obtained by prayer Let us still be incouraged to seek God for what we would have for God hath said it is not in vain to seek his face There are many of us now that can do little else if God have delivered you from sicknesse and other evils know that God hath delivered you to pray the lesse you can do otherwise the more you should do in prayer I have read of a heathen Numa Pompylius that he would never go about any thing but he would go to the temple and pray you that are instruments intrusted with our lives and liberties you had need to pray much go into your closets and sanctifie all your thoughts and resolutions by prayer that your help and assistance may not be in vain to us And all others had neeâ— to assist you in seeking God in prayer This incouragement we have that there is not any of us that seek God alone but we joyn with thousands why should our place be found empty why should not our prayers joyn with the rest We shall meet many prayers in heaven the prayers of our forefathers the prayers of those that are dead and gone that did not live to enjoy the fruit of their prayers yet when we pray for mercies our prayers meet with theirs in heaven therefore let us be incouraged to seek the Lord. And if mercies should come what a daunting would this be to our hearts that mercies are come but we have not sought them and if mercies come not conscience wil flie in our face that we have been sensuall carnall creatures it is for our neglect of seeking God that God hath denyed us the mercies that we expected And then it should be a use of rebuke to those that begin to seek God and continue not O wretch why hast thou left whether wilt thou go Is it in vain to seeve the Lord certainly thou wert never acquainted with God and his wayes thou wilt find it a dreadfull change when it shall appear that thou hast left God the fountain of living water and hast sought after vanity forsaken thine own mercy But the main of all should have been for the applying of it to the present occasion The Lord hath made good his word this day that he hath not said seek ye me in vain This day testifies it to be true that they are great things that prayer hath done I have heard many years ago by credible testimony that on this fifth of November when we had such a great mercy so many years ago that very day it was known that a great many godly people in the city kept it in fasting and prayer so as it was eminently known and delivered from hand to hand of them in the city at that time and you know what God did But what hath he done of late If our fathers should rise out of their graves and we should tell them that now the high commission that they were so troubled with is down that there shall be no more star-chamber that cutting off of ears is gone they would wonder how this should come to passe And whereas Parliaments were wont to be snapped in sunder that this Parliament is to continue by as firm an Act as any thing in the land is made by And for oppressours all the Courts and Bishops Chanceries they are down and gone God hath extirpated them they were first cast out of the house and now out of the kingdome And though an army did rise and seek to bring us into slavery yet God hath given us victory though some have suffered hardly and brought the adversaries very low to surrender their towns and castles and arms And here we are to rejoyce in God and to blesse him for all If many of our ancestours should rise and heare what we speak how we hold up our hands and blesse God with what hearts would they joyn in the praising of God and wonder that ever such things should be done Let not the grace of God be in vain as God hath not said to us seek my face in vain What use shall we make of it Let us give him reall praise and not onely come to repeat it and tell God of it but make his praise glorious put a glory on it and then we do it when we make a right use of his mercies when we receive not his mercies in vain What is it to make use of the memoriall we celebrate First the remembrance of these mercies must humble us that is a sweet humbling it is better to be melted by the beams of the Sunne then by the scorching of the fire You will say humbled for what There are three things that we have cause to be humbled for upon the consideration of the mercy of God towards us First the sinne of unbelief consider when we were straitned at any time when we heard ill news that our armies fled and came to danger how our spirits were down as if all were gone Let us check our hearts God rebuked us in a kindly manner we might have had a furious rebuke Secondly be humbled for all our murmuring and repining and discontent O we did not think that the warres would have held so long and O what taxations are upon us and all our estates are rent away And how many are there that had rather that all the good that God hath done for his people since these times should never have been done then