Bible Heaven/Bible Heaven.iso/spurgeon/ps18.6

Text File | 1993-04-19 | 6KB | 108 lines

                           EXPOSITION.

        "_In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried unto
my God_." Prayer is that postern gate which is left open even
when the city is straitly besieged by the enemy; it is that way
upward from the pit of despair to which the spiritual miner flies
at once when the floods from beneath break forth upon him.
Observe that he _calls_, and then _cries_; prayer grows in
vehemence as it proceeds. Note also that he first invokes his God
under the name of Jehovah, and then advances to a more familiar
name, "_my God_;" thus faith increases by exercise, and he whom
we at first viewed as Lord is soon seen to be our God in
covenant. It is never an ill time to pray; no distress should
prevent us from using the divine remedy of supplication. Above
the noise of the raging billows of death, or the barking dogs of
hell, the feeblest cry of a true believer will be heard in
heaven. "_He heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came
before him, even into his ears_." Far up within the bejewelled
walls, and through the gates of pearl, the cry of the suffering
suppliant was heard. Music of angels and harmony of seraphs
availed not to drown or even to impair the voice of that humble
call. The king heard it in his palace of light unsufferable, and
lent a willing ear to the cry of his own beloved child. O
honoured prayer, to be able thus through Jesus' blood to
penetrate the very ears and heart of Deity. The voice and the cry
are themselves heard directly by the Lord, and not made to pass
through the medium of saints and intercessors; "My cry came
before Him;" the operation of prayer with God is immediate and
personal. We may cry with confident and familiar importunity,
while our Father himself listens.

              EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS.

        Verse 6.--"_In my distress_." If you listen even to
David's harp, you shall hear as many hearse-like airs as carols;
and the pencil of the Holy Spirit hath laboured more in
describing the afflictions of Job than the felicities of Solomon.
Prosperity is not without many fears and distastes; and adversity
is not without comforts and hopes. We see, in needleworks and
embroideries, it is more pleasing to have a lively work upon a
sad and solemn ground, than to have a dark and melancholy work
upon a lightsome ground; judge, therefore, of the pleasures of
the heart by the pleasures of the eye. Certainly virtue is like
precious odours--most fragrant when they are crushed; for
prosperity doth best discover vice, but adversity doth best
discover virtue.--^Francis Bacon, Baron of Verulam, etc.,
1561-1626.

        Verse 6.--"_I called upon the Lord and cried_." Prayer is
not eloquence but earnestness; not the definition of
helplessness, but the feeling of it; it is the cry of faith to
the ear of mercy.--^Hannah Moore, 1745--1833.

        Verse 6.--"_He heard my voice out of his temple_," etc.
The AEdiles or chamberlains among the Romans, had ever their
doors standing open for all who had occasion of request or
complaint to have free access to them. "God's mercy-doors are
wide open to the prayers of his faithful people." The Persian
kings held it a piece of their silly glory to deny an easy access
to their greatest subjects. It was death to solicit them
uncalled. Esther herself was afraid. But the king of heaven
manifesteth himself to his people, he calls to his spouse, with,
"Let me see thy face, let me hear thy voice," etc., and assigneth
her negligence herein as the cause of her soul-sickness. The door
of the tabernacle was not of any hard or debarring matter, but a
veil, which is easily penetrable. And whereas in the temple none
came near to worship, but only the high priest, others stood
without in the outer court. God's people are now a kingdom of
priests, and are said to worship in the temple, and at the altar.
#Re 11:1|. "Let us therefore draw near with a true heart in full
assurance of faith:" "let us come boldly to the throne of grace,
that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of
need." #Heb 10:22; 4:16|.--^Charles Bradbury's "Cabinet of
Jewels," 1785.

        Verse 6.--Oh! how true is that saying, that "Faith is
safe when in danger, and in danger when secure; and prayer is
fervent in straits, but in joyful and prosperous circumstances,
if not quite cold and dead, at least lukewarm." Oh, happy
straits, if they hinder the mind from flowing forth upon earthly
objects, and mingling itself with the mire; if they favour our
correspondence with heaven, and quicken our love to celestial
objects, without which, what we call life, may more properly
deserve the name of death!--_Robert Leighton_, D.D.

        Verses 6,7.--The prayer of a single saint is sometimes
followed with wonderful effects; "_In my distress I called upon
the Lord, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his
temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears. Then the
earth shook and trembled; the foundations also of the hills moved
and were shaken, because he was wroth_:" what then can a
thundering legion of such praying souls do? It was said of
Luther, _iste vir potuit cum Deo quicquid voluit_, That man could
have of God what he would; his enemies felt the weight of his
prayers; and the church of God reaped the benefits thereof. The
Queen of Scots professed she was more afraid of the prayers of
Mr. Knox, than of an army of ten thousand men. These were mighty
wrestlers with God, howsoever contemned and vilified among their
enemies. There will a time come when God will hear the prayers of
his people who are continually crying in his ears, "How long,
Lord, how long?"--^John Flavel.

                       HINTS TO PREACHERS.

        Verse 6.--The time, the manner, the hearing, and the
answering of prayer.