and guidance, the simple are led in a plain and sure path.-In vain would the giddy and profane throw Providence out of their thoughts, and affect to think and act as if all depended on themselves. This boldness of self-sufficiency is affectation, and no more. For moments there are, when the man of stoutest heart feels the strong subjection under which he is held, and would gladly grasp at the aid of Heaven.' As long as human affairs proceeds in a smooth train, without any alarming presages of change or danger, the man of the world may remain pleased with himself, and be fully confident in his own powers. But whose life continues long so undisturbed? Let any uncommon violence shake the elements around him, and threaten him with destruction; let the aspect of public affairs be so lowering as to forbode some great calamity; or in his private concerns let some sudden change arive to shatter his fortune, or let sickness, and the harbingers of approaching death, show him his frailty; and how ready will he then be to send up prayers from the heart, that Providence would befriend and relieve him? Religion, my friends, is not a matter of theory and doubt. Its foundations are laid deep in the nature and condition of man. It lays hold of every man's feelings. In every man's heart and conscience it has many witnesses to its importance and reality.

Let us then neglect no means which may be of avail for procuring the grace and favour of that Divine Providence on which so much depends. Let no duties be overlooked which belongs to us as subjects of God: devout worship, and grateful praises for all his blessings, humble trust in his goodness, and implicit submission to his will; and constant and cheerful obedience to his laws. Let us be thankful that God hath clearly made known all that he requires of us in order to be accepted in his sight; and that not only he has revealed the rule of duty, but also hath pointed out to us in the gospel, the direct method of reconciliation with him, through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Providence hath condescended to become our instructor in this great article; hath taught us in what way our sins may be forgiven, our imperfect services be accepted, and an interest in the Divine grace be attained by means of our Redeemer. Inexcusable we must be, if all this offered grace we shall wantonly throw at our feet. In a world so full of vicissitudes and uncertainty, let us take pains to secure to ourselves one resting place; one habitation that cannot be moved. By piety and prayer, by faith, repentance, and a good life, let us seek the friendship of the Most High; so shall he who directeth the steps of man now, conduct our path in such a course as shall bring us in the end to himself.

SERMON XC.

ON PRAYER.

Thou that hearest prayer, unto Thee shall all flesh come!. PSALM 1XV. 2.

THE Supreme Being is represented under many amiable characters in the sacred writings; as the Father of mercies, the God of Love, the Author of every good and perfect gift. But there is no character which carries more comfort, or which renders God so properly the object of confidence and trust, as this, of his being the Hearer of Prayer. This view of the Almighty accommodates his perfections to our necessities and wants, and in our present frail and distressed state affords a constant refuge to which we can fly. Unto Thee shall all flesh come. To thee, shall an indigent world look up for the supply of their wants; to Thee, shall the proudest sinner, at some time or other, be compelled to bow; to Thee, shall the distressed and afflicted have recourse, as to their last relief and hope.

Prayer is a duty essential to natural religion. Wherever the light of nature taught men to acknowledge the being of a God, to that God also it directed them to pray. In the Christian revelation great stress is laid upon this duty, and great encouragement given to it. Our blessed Saviour not only set the example himself, and enjoined the practice to his followers, but thought it worthy his express instruction to teach them in what manner to pray, and even to put words in their mouth. We are assured that prayers are not in vain; but that as the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, so his ears are open to their cry: that if we ask aright, we shall receive; if we seek, we shall find; if we knock, it shall be opened to us. It is, indeed, hard to say, whether prayer is to be most properly considered as a duty incum

bent on all, or as a priviledge allowed to them. But a blessed circumstance it is, that our duty and our priviledge thus concur in one; that we are commanded to do what our wants naturally dictate to be done; even to ask what is good from God, who giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not.-In treating of this subject, it will be proper to consider first, the nature and the subjects of prayer; next its proper qualifications; and lastly, the advantages and blessings which attend it.

I. THE Nature of Prayer supposes, in the first place, that we have a just sense of our own wants and miseries, and of our dependence on God for relief. To be suitably impressed with this sense, we need only think what our present situation is.— We live in a world, where every thing around us is dark and uncertain. When we look back on the past, we must remember that there we have met with much disappointment and vanity. When we look forward to the future, all is unknown. We are liable there to many dangers which we cannot foresee; and to many which we foresee approaching, yet know not how to defend ourselves against them. We are often ignorant what course we can steer with safety; nay, so imperfect is our wisdom, and so great the darkness which covers futurity, that while we imagine that we are in the road to prosperity, we are often rushing blindly into the most fatal evils. Besides these contingencies of life, which make us feel so deeply the necessity of looking up to some more powerful Guide and Protector, there are other circumstances in our state which lead to reflections still more alarming. We know that we are the subjects of a supreme righteous Governor, to whom we are accountable for our conduct.We were sent into this world by his appointment, and we are removed from it at his decree. How soon the call for our removal may be given, none of us know; but this we profess to believe, that upon our going hence we are brought into new and unknown habitations, suitable to our behaviour here. Who. amongst us can say that he is perfectly ready to appear before his Creator and Judge, and to give an account to him for all the actions of his life? How much do the best of us stand in need of mercy and forgiveness for our offences past, and of direction and assistance from Heaven to guide us in our future way!— What reason to dread that if we be left entirely to ourselves, we will be in the utmost danger of departing from virtue and from happiness, and of leaving life under the displeasure of Him who is to judge us!-While with this sense of our imperfections, our dangers, and our guilt, we come to the Hearer of Prayer, we must in the next place,

Pray to God, in the belief that with him there is power which can give us relief, and goodness which will incline him to give it.

i

Prayer supposes a full persuasion that his Providence rules and governs all; that through all futurity his eye penetrates; that there are no events of our life in which he interposes not; that he knows the most secret motions of our hearts; and that to the hearts of all men he has access, by avenues unknown to us, and can turn them according to his pleasure. It supposes at the same time, a firm confidence in the declarations he has made in his word, that a plan is established for dispensing grace to fallen and guilty mankind, through a great Redeemer. It supposes a humble hope that as he knows our frame and remembers we are dust, he will not reject the supplications of the penitent returning sinner; that he is one who hath no pleasure in our sorrows and distress, but desires the happiness of his creatures, and beholds with complacency the humble and sincere worshipper.

Now these things being supposed, this just sense of our own imperfections and guilt, and this proper impression of the Divine nature, when the soul is in this posture of devotion, breathing forth its sorrows and its wants before its Creator, and imploring from him protection and aid, it cannot but give vent to the high conceptions with which it will then be affected, of God's supreme perfection. This of course becomes the foundation of that part of devotion which is styled adoration or praise.-As it is the experience of past goodness which warms the heart of the worshipper, and encourages his present supplication, he will naturally be led to a grateful celebration of the mercies of Heaven; whence thanksgiving becomes an essential part of his devotion. -As he cannot put up petitions without acknowledging his wants and as his wants are closely connected with his frailty and ill-deserving, hence the most humble confession of guilt must necessarily enter into Prayer.-If there be any terms on which we may expect the Deity to be most propitious; if there be any meritorious Intercessor through whom we may prefer our request to him, this assuredly will be the method which the pious worshipper will choose for addressing the Almighty; and this will be the ground of his praying in the name of Christ, sending up his petitions to God through his beloved Son, whom he heareth always.

Thus it appears that there is a just foundation for Prayer, in all its parts, naturally laid in the present circumstances of man, and in the relation in which he stands to God. But as petition is the chief and most distinguishing part of prayer, it will be requisite that we consider particularly what those requests are, which are proper to be offered up to God. These may all be classed under three heads: first, requests for temporal blessings; next, for spiritual mercies; and lastly, intercessions for the welfare of others.

WITH regard to temporal blessings, though men may lay a restraint upon themselves in the expressions which they utter in Prayer, yet it is much to be suspected, that the inward wishes of their hearts for such blessings are often the most fervent of any. To wish and pray for the advantages of life is not forbidden. Our Saviour hath so far countenanced it, as to command us to pray that God would give us our daily bread; that is, as his words have been always understood, that he would bestow what is necessary for the sustenance and comfort of life. Yet the very sound of the words retrenches every superfluous and extravagant wish. Not for riches and honours, for great advancement or long life, or for numerous and flourishing families, has he given us any encouragement to pray. Foreign are such things to the real improvement, foreign very often to the true happiness of man. Foolishly they may be wished for, when the wish accomplished would prove our ruin. Let health and peace, contentment and tranquillity, bound the humble prayer which we send up to Heaven; that God may feed us with food convenient for us; that whatever our outward circumstances are, they may be blessed to us by him, and accompanied with a quiet mind. Even health and peace themselves may not always prove blessings. Sweet and desirable as they seem, God may, at certain times, foresee their tendency to corrupt our hearts, and may, inmercy, reject a prayer for them, which, on our part, may be allowably put up. For the nature of all temporal things is such, that they have not one fixed and stable character, but may be convertible on different occasions either into good or ill; and therefore, some reserve in our wish must always be maintained; and to the wiser judgment of God, it must be left to determine what is fit to be bestowed, and what to be withheld.-But this we may lawfully pray, that, as far as to God seems meet, he would make our state comfortable, and our days easy and tranquil; that he would save us from falling into any severe and extreme distress; that he would preserve to us the enjoyment of those friends and comforts that we most love; or if he bereave us of any of them, that he would in mercy assist and support us under the loss; in fine, that he would so order our lot that we may be kept as free from pain, trouble, and anguish, as shall be consistent with the higher improvements of our souls in piety, virtue, and wisdom.

In the next place, with regard to spiritual mercies, we are unquestionably allowed to be more fervent and explicit in our requests at the throne of grace. God can never be displeased in hearing us implore from him those graces and endowments of the soul, that beautify us in his sight, that are good for all men, good at all times, indeed the only certain and immutable goods;