Let us turn once again to the
Word of God in the psalm that we read, Psalm 109, and directing
your attention this morning to the words that we have in verse
4. Psalm 109, verse 4, For my love
they are my adversaries, but I give myself onto prayer more
particularly I want to send to your attention upon that second
clause in the verse David says but I give myself onto prayer
and you will observe immediately the three of these words are
in italics. You know the significance of
that. It's indicative of the fact that
those words are not a translation of anything that was there in
the Hebrew but have been introduced in the translation in order to
bring out the right sense in our English version. David is
in spite of the ill-treatment that he is receiving from those
who were his adversaries he had sought to show kindness and love
to them and yet they were still his enemies and in response David
will give himself onto prayer but we see if we omit those three
italicized words we see then something of the pointedness,
the force and the pregnancy of the words as we find them in
the original. He literally says but I prayer
but I prayer I am a man of prayer, he says. I am prayer. It is part and parcel
of me, no matter what my enemies might do against me, however
much they set themselves against me. This is my True self, this
is my spiritual self. I and prayer are one. I will
simply turn from them and I will call upon the name of the Lord. Prayer then, he says here, is
his true self. It reminds us, thinking about
the text earlier today, my thought went to the language that we
find the Apostle Paul using at the end of Romans chapter 7,
that familiar chapter, where he speaks of the conflict between
the old man of sin, the new man of grace, that that he's experiencing
in his own soul, of the conflict between the two natures. And
when we come to the end of the chapter he says, but I thank
God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then, I myself will
serve the law of God, with the mind serve the law of God, but
with the flesh the law of sin. The true self, you see, is that
that will serve the law of God. That's his real self. He's not
really a split personality as Paul, but he feels that it is
that new man of grace that must truly have the preeminence. And
it's interesting to observe the emphasis there in that closing
verse of Romans chapter 7. He doesn't say, I with the mind
will serve the Lord of God, but he says, I myself. With the mind,
I myself. That's the real me. the man of
grace, that new nature that he had received when he was born
again by the Spirit of God. And so here also, when we observe
the language of David in the Psalm, he is simply saying that
his true self is that praying man, I will give myself unto
prayer. I must give myself unto prayer
because this is really my real nature. I am by the grace of
God a praying man. And yet, what is that man previous
to being such a praying man? We turn to another of the Psalms,
in Psalm 73 and verse 22, we find this statement, "...so foolish
was I and ignorant I was as a beast before the The psalmist there
in Psalm 73 confesses what he was in his fallen nature, I was
as a beast, and yet it's not really a simile that we have
at the end of that particular verse because you will again
observe that the word as appears in italics. The psalmist literally
says not I was as a beast, not like a beast, he says I was a
beast. I was a beast before them. That's
his fallen nature, that's his sinful nature. And yet by the
grace of God. for there is that new nature
given. And how is that new nature evident? It's evident in the language
of prayer. And so, as we turn for a while
this morning to consider more carefully the words that I've
announced as our text here at the end of this particular verse
in Psalm 109 verse 4, for my love they are my adversaries
but I give myself unto prayer, but I pray." And we observe,
as we come to look at the text, we observe some three things
that this statement is true. First of all, of course, in the
life and the experience of the man who is the human author of
the psalm. And we are told quite specifically
in the title who it was that wrote the psalm. It is to the
chief musician a psalm of David. Now, not all the psalms were
written by David, but many of them were, and oftentimes this
book of psalms is referred to as a manual of David's prayers. The psalms are certainly praises
to God, but not only praises to God, they're also prayers
to God. And this must be the point at
which we disagree with our brethren who would contend for exclusive
psalmody in the service of worship, saying that it is improper for
us to sing in our praises human compositions. They say we have
a book of praises, that God himself has given us here in the Psalms,
and we are to use this book of praises exclusively. Well, if
that be the case, can we not say that we must also only use
the book of Psalms as our prayers? Because the Psalms are more than
praises, it's the book of prayers, it's Emmanuel of David's prayers. Is it right then, if we follow
their reasoning, is it right for us to pray in any extemporary
fashion. Shouldn't we simply make use
of the Psalms as our prayers? We contend, in that sense, that
they go too far. We can worship God in our Psalms,
in our hymns, and in our spiritual songs, and when we come before
Him, whilst we would make use of the Psalms, yet we also seek
to pray in an extemporary fashion in His presence. The Book of
Psalms is sometimes referred to as a manual of David's prayers. Now, we see that right at the
beginning of the Psalms. There in the 4th Psalm, for example,
look at the language In the opening part of that psalm here, me when
I call, O God of my righteousness, thou hast enlarged me when I
was in distress. Have mercy upon me and hear my
prayer, says David. And then again in Psalm 5 he
says, Give ear to my words, O Lord, consider my meditation, hearken
unto the voice of my cry, my King and my God, for unto Thee
will I pray. My voice shalt thou hear in the
morning, O Lord, in the morning will I direct my prayer unto
Thee, and will look after. Here is one then who is constantly
in the Psalms calling upon God. Here we have David's prayers. And so he says here in the words
of the text this morning, I give myself unto prayer. Now what is it that brings a
man to this, that he prays? Now John Rosk observes that a
man needs at least three things if he is going to pray right
when he comes before God. Firstly, there must be that deep
sense of his needs. Secondly, there is the failure
of all human help. And then thirdly, there must
be that gracious aid that comes by the ministry of the Holy Spirit. The sense of needs, the failure
of all human help, and that gracious enabling of the Holy Spirit. And we see it, do we not? When
we consider something of David and David's experiences, David
certainly knew many troubles throughout his life. He was led
in trying paths, was this man. He passed through deep waters. He felt much painful exercise
in his own soul. His troubles were not only external,
not only those things that befell him in the sovereign providence
of God, but those things that he was made to feel in himself,
in the depths of his own being. And it was in all of these circumstances
and situations that prayer flourished in the life of the man David. Now he certainly knew what it
was to have to endure many outward foes. Oh, there were those who
set themselves against David, were they not? Look at what he
says here in the psalm, verse 2, the mouth of the wicked and
the mouth of the deceitful are opened against me, they have
spoken against me with a lying tongue, they compass me about
also with words of hatred and fought against me without a cause."
He knew what he was to endure at the hands of wicked men who
set themselves against him. Now, you may have observed as
we we're reading through the psalm, that it is very much what
is termed an imprecatory psalm. How David pleads against his
enemies, and the language is strong language. For example,
see what he says here at verse 8, following, as he prays against
these wicked enemies, let his days be few, let another take
his office, let his children be fatherless and his wife a
widow, let his children be continually vagabonds and beg, let them seek
their bread also out of their desolate places, let the extortioner
cut all that he hath, and let the strangers spoil his labor,
and so on and so on. He is praying these things against
his enemies. The psalm is what is termed an
imprecatory psalm. verses 20 and 21 really mark
the turning point. Verse 20 it says, Let this be
the reward of mine adversaries from the Lord, and of them that
speak evil against my soul. But do thou for me, O God the
Lord, for thy name's sake, because thy mercy is good, deliver thou
me, for I am poor and needy, my heart is wounded within me,
and so on. He wants God to deal in the way
of mercy with himself, and yet he wants God to turn the edge
of his sword against those who are David's enemies. It's not an easy psalm then.
We might question, is it right to pray in such a fashion as
this? Well, this is the Old Testament. And I think it's interesting
when we come to consider the book of Psalms. Do you remember
how Isaac Watts sought to paraphrase the book of Psalms? The whole
book of Psalms was paraphrased by Isaac Watts. He didn't simply
write hymns on particular Christian themes and Christian doctrines,
but he is spiritualized into a Christian verse, the whole
of the book of Psalms. And sometimes, of course, we
sing some of those paraphrases in our worship of God. And in
the preface to his paraphrase of the psalms, when he comes
to these sort of psalms, these imprecatory psalms, where the
psalmist is praying against his enemies, what makes the observation
that his concern as he will put a Christian dress on these particular
psalms, his concern is that he will turn the edge of those psalms
against the Christian's inward foes. to turn the edge of these strange
requests really against himself, against his all nature, against
all that is in the all nature, all that pride and envy and hatred
that is within a man. How we are to pray that God would
come and destroy our sins within us and deliver us from all these
things. This is how Watts then in a sense,
I would say, makes a right interpretation of the imprecatory Psalms in
terms of what we have in the New Testament. They are to be
turned against our sins. We're not to pray against individuals
in this fashion. But here we see David, you see,
was very much aware of those who were his outward foes. How
he was persecuted. We know after he was anointed
by Samuel he was to be the king after Saul. And yet how Saul
would fly into his rages. Many times in the Psalms we find
David in certain situations where he's
caused to cry out. Psalm 57 for example. We're told
in the title of the psalm that it is a mektam of David when
he fled from Saul in the cave. He fled from Saul in the cave. He has to hide himself. And see
how he speaks there in that psalm of the situation he found himself
in? Verse 4 of Psalm 57, My Saul
is among lions. and I lie even among them that
are set on fire, even the sons of men whose teeth are spears
and arrows and their tongue a sharp sword." He's been persecuted. He feels so vulnerable. His life is under terrible threat. He says again in the 119th Psalm,
my soul is continually in my hand. He's having to flee from
pillar to post to escape the rages of King Saul. And he says
to his great friend Jonathan Saul's son, I shall now perish
one day at the hand of my father. He felt it, he was persecuted.
Persecuted by King Saul and then, eventually of course, as God
had decreed, he becomes the king. He rules over Judah initially,
but then he rules over all Israel. He is proclaimed the king. But even when we see him established
in his kingdom, there are troubles, are there not? There's the awful
rebellion of his beloved son Absalom. And there's his great
friend and counselor Ahithophel involved in the conspiracy. And
David having to flee from Jerusalem again, fleeing for his very life,
just as he had done in the days of King Saul. And now it's his
own flesh and blood, it's his own son Absalom who was turned
against him. And remember how we see him,
for example, in Psalm 55, making mention of those awful days. In Psalm 55, verse 9, he says,
Destroy, O Lord, and divide their tongues, for I have seen violence
and strife in the city. Day and night they go about it,
upon the walls thereof. Mischief also and sorrow are
in the midst of it. Wickedness is in the midst thereof. Deceit and guile depart not from
her streets. For it was not an enemy that
reproached me, then I could have borne it. Neither was it he that
hated me that did magnify himself against me. Then I would have
hid myself from him, but it was there. A man mine equal, my guide
and mine acquaintance, we took sweet counsel together and walked
unto the house of God in comfort." Oh, it was absolute. It was a
hit or foul. These were his very bosom friends
and yet how they rebelled against him. David knew what it was,
you see. He knew what it was to pass through deep waters. He had that real sense of his
need because of those outward trials and troubles that were
so much part and parcel of his life. The man after God's own
heart. But not only outward folks. There
were also those inward folks. All that sin that was clinging
and cleaving to his own fallen nature. Remember how he speaks?
in Psalm 38, that Psalm to bring to remembrance, he will remember
these things, is ever mindful of what he is, as a sinner before
the Holy God. There is no soundness in my flesh,
he says, because of thine anger, neither is there any rest in
my bones because of my sin, for mine iniquities are gone over
mine head. as an heavy burden they are too
heavy for me my wounds stink and are corrupt because of my
foolishness the strength of his language my loins are filled
with a loathsome disease there is no sourness in my flesh I
am feeble he says and sore broken I have roared by reason to the
disquietness of my heart he felt it He was a sinner, we have the
record, do we not? In the second book of Samuel,
in chapters 11 and 12, the sad record of David the adulterer,
David the murderer, in the matter of Bathsheba and her husband
Uriah, all the wickedness of David. I know we felt it. These
inward foes, the fallen nature that was within, against thee,
thee only have I sinned, ye sinners. and on this evening in thy sight
as he comes to make his confession before God the faithfulness of
the prophet Nathan when he comes and confronts David with his
sin and as he were fingers his very conscience thou art the
man David he feels it you see he's a sinful man iniquitous
Prevail against me, he says. He just sang it in that part
of Psalm 65 that we sang in the medical version. Iniquities prevail
against me. As for thy transgressions, thou
will purge them away. Poor David. David knew what it
was, you see, he had a sense of need, a real sense, a deep
sense of his need as a sinner before God. And he knew, you
see, that he could find human help in no one. His friends failed
him. His great friend and counselor
Ahithophel turns against him and falls in with Absalom's rebellion. And so he cries out, refuge failed
me. No man cared for my soul. Remember what we said referring
to those words of John Ross concerning the things that make a man cry.
A deep sense of need, the failure of all human health. But then,
and so vital this, that gracious aid that comes by the Holy Spirit. What are all these external things
or internal things? Except we know the ministry of
the Holy Spirit. We're so dependent. If we go
into utter spiritual prayers we must know the Holy Ghost.
David needed the Spirit of God. And so he cries out there in
Psalm 51 where he comes to repent of his sins. Take not thy Holy
Spirit from me. What is David without the Spirit
of God? Who is the one who is inspiring
him to write these Psalms? He is writing under that gracious
influence, the inspiration of God, the Holy Ghost. And friends,
when it comes to prayer, we need the Spirit of God. Paul says,
likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities. We know not
what to pray for as we are. The Spirit itself maketh intercession
for us with groanings that cannot be uttered. He that searcheth
the hearts Knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because He,
or the Spirit, maketh intercession for the saints according to the
will of God. We need the Holy Ghost. We need faith to pray. We need
praying faith. And where do we obtain that faith? We know without faith it is impossible. Impossible. to please God. No man can come to God without
that gracious ministry of the Holy Spirit. We need Him to work
faith in our hearts. We need that faith that is of
the operation of God. Or we need the Holy Ghost, if
we're going to be those who can say In any sense, with David,
I give myself unto prayer. I am prayer. It's not in our
old nature. It is that that comes in the
new nature. It's that that comes by the Holy
Ghost Himself. You can only pray, you see, as
with us in the Bible. The words of Psalm 27 and verse
8 He says, when thou seest seek in my face, my heart said thy
face, O Lord, will I sleep. The Puritan Thomas Goodwin says
there, it is God who must bespeak in thy prayers, when thou seest
seek in my face. My heart said, Thy face, O Lord,
will I seek, only when God says it. Can we say it? None can be beforehand with it.
Remember what we see in the very work of creation at the beginning
of Scripture. God said, and it was so. And is it not also true with
regard to the work of grace in the soul of a sinner? It's when
God says it. When Thou sayest, Seek ye my
face, Or that God would come, you see, and speak that word,
where the word of a king is. There is power, is there not? We need God to come and bespeak
our prayers. Again, look at what David says
in that 57th Psalm that we've already referred to when he fled
from Saul in the cave. He says in verse 2, I will cry
unto God, most high unto God that performeth all things for
me it is God who performs all things and here we see it, you
see God is able He is God most high He is able to do all things
and He is willing He will perform all things for me says David
here is Immanuel saying who knew prayer, and from whence did this
man's prayers proceed? Well, they came from God. It
was the work of God. It was the life of God in the
soul of this man, David. He says in verse 26, Help me,
O Lord my God, O save me according to thy mercy. What a prayer is
this! How, he says, does it not remind
us of that Syrophoenician woman in the Gospel whom the disciples
would have sent away and the Lord seems to ignore her. She's
a Canaanitish woman, the Canaanite was cut out of the congregation
of the Lord, that wicked people. But she comes to Christ and she
comes with her sick daughter and she will not be refused.
Oh, we're told, are we not, she worshipped him. She worshipped
him, saying, Lord, help me. And this is David also. She is
a daughter of David. Here in verse 26, help me, O
Lord my God. O save me according to thy mercy. First of all, then, we observe
here in the text this is the language of David, the man after
God's own heart, the man who knew the grace of God in his
soul, the man who was anointed with the Spirit of the Lord. This is why he can say as he
does, I pray. Oh, he is a man of prayer. But
in the second place, we must observe the fact that the psalm
really speaks of one greater than David. The Lord Jesus Christ
is here. This psalm is messianic. It is
Christ that we are to observe in the language which is really
the language of prophecy. Look at verse 25 for an example.
He says, I became also a reproach unto them when they looked upon
me they shaked their heads. Wasn't that very verse fulfilled
in the sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ upon the cross? Matthew 27, 39, they that pass
by reviled him, shaking their heads. David is speaking of one
so much greater than himself. It is Christ, I say, that we
see in this psalm. And Christ is this man, you see,
who is really the man of prayer. Christ is the man of prayer,
the great pattern of prayer. And we see it both in his humiliation
and also in his exaltation. When we consider the life that
the Lord Jesus Christ lives here upon the earth, It is a life
of faith that Christ lives. It is that life of dependence,
dependence upon the Lord his God. We're told, are we not,
in Hebrews 5 verse 7, who in the days of his flesh, mark what
it says, the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayer
and supplication with strong crying and tears unto him that
was able to save him from death, was heard in that he feared. Though he were a son yet learned
the obedience by the things that he suffered. He is the eternal
son of God and he is never less than that. He is God manifest
in the flesh and yet he is a man, a real man. And he suffers, and
in the midst of all those sufferings, nor do we not see him as one
who will give himself constantly to prayer. We read of him continuing
all night in prayer unto God. I don't know, maybe you sleep
better than I do, but often times I cannot sleep. I suppose as
one grows older, sleep seems to depart. Many a time one's
awake in the small hours and I try to pray. I do try to pray
sometimes, lying there and I find it so hard to pray. I begin and
then all of a sudden my thoughts are all scattered. I can't say
that I spend a whole night in prayer. I would desire to pray,
but I don't find it easy. My thoughts begin to wander,
then I drift into sleep, then I wake, and I don't really pray.
Look at what we're told concerning the Lord Jesus. It came to pass
in those days that He went out into a mountain to pray and continued
all night in prayer to God. He continued all night in prayer
to God. How He prayed. And how it was
in the midst of His sufferings that we see Him agonizing in
prayers who view him there in the garden of Gethsemane. Well aware of that that was before
him, he must make that great sacrifice for sin. And what are
we told? Being in an agony. He pried more earnestly and his
sweat was as drops of blood falling to the ground. the agony of his
soul we see him there sweating drops of blood pleading with
God concerning that that he must yet accomplish, he must drink
that bitter cup and he must drink the whole of it, he must drink
the dregs of it And in a sense, and I trust we say with all reverence,
there is that in His Holy Soul that must shrink from this, to
be made a curse. If it be possible, He says, let
this cup pass from you, nevertheless. Not as I will, but as thou wilt.
Or how He is a wonderful pattern. When He teaches us what to say
in our prayers, He instructs us, we are to pray, Thy kingdom
come, Thy will be done. in earth as it is in heaven.
We pray in submission to the sovereign will of God if we follow
the instruction of Christ, but he doesn't just teach it, he
practices it. Nevertheless, he says, not as
I will, but as they will. He will take the cup and he will
drink the cup, and he will drink the dregs of the cup, and he
will make an end of sin. This is the great work that he
has come to do. All in his humiliation, how we see Christ again and again
in prayers unto God. This is a life of prayer. It's
the life of faith. It's the life of dependence.
And then, when we see him upon the cross, do we not see him
praying? Look at the text. For my love
they are my adversaries, but I give myself unto prayer. Remember
what we have recorded concerning Christ. Then said Jesus, Father
forgive them for they know not what they do. For my love they are my adversaries. And they were the adversaries
of Christ. But what does he do? He gives himself to prayer. Father
forgive them. He cries, they know not what
to do. All throughout, all of His humiliation,
even there as He comes to suffer and bleed and die as the substitute
of the sinner. Even there, He prays and He prays
for others, even those at the cross. He pleads with God for
sinners. in the state of his humiliation
and of course when we come to the state of his exaltation.
Now he is that one who is risen again from the dead as we come
together every Lord's Day, every Christian Sabbath, do we not
remember this glorious thing that Christ is risen? That he
is risen indeed, the third day he rose again from the dead He's
declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the
Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead. He has showed
himself to his disciples by many infallible proofs, we're told,
through 40 days. And then he has ascended on high.
Now why is he risen? Why is he ascended? Why is he
there in glory? The glorified man He's the great
High Priest, is He not? Who was entered into that within
the vial. And He's entered there in order
to plead for His people. His very presence in heaven,
His session there at the Father's right hand. It is a continual
prayer on behalf of His people, Him being there. And so Paul,
speaking of him in Hebrews 7.25 says, Wherefore he is able also
to say then to the uttermost, that come unto God by him, seeing
he ever liveth, to maketh intercession for them. All that would come
unto God by him, nor will you not come unto God by him, to
come and to plead his name, And all that that name declares,
it speaks of Him as the Savior, does it not? They shall call
His name Jesus, for He shall save His people. And all that
come unto God by Him, why He lives to make intercession for
them. There, in heaven, He has entered now into that aspect
of His priestly office. Here upon the earth, of course,
we see Him as a sacrificing priest. He makes the sacrifice. He has
authority from heaven to make that sacrifice. No man can take
his life from him. He has power to lay it down. He has power to take it again. But having fulfilled that part
of his priestly office, he has now entered so fully into the
other part. He is an interceding priest.
He prays for his people. He ever lives to make intercession.
I say, friends, that the psalmist is speaking of Christ. I will
give myself unto prayer. All Christ is there and in heaven. His very presence is a ploy.
And yet, friends, how slow we are to pray. How
slow to pray. Christ stands, or we're to come
by Him, we're to plead His name. The Psalmist, David, is not so
much speaking of himself, he speaks of himself, he's speaking
out of the fullness of his own experience, the dealings of God
with him. But he speaks of another greater
than David, even the Lord Jesus Christ. But then also surely,
This psalm belongs to the believer, does it not? Whatsoever things were written
aforetime were written for our learning, says Paul, Romans 15,
that we, through patience and comfort of the Scriptures, might
have hope. These things were written for
our learning. Isn't this to be a description
of those who are the disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ? But
I pray. Time and again when we read in
Paul's epistles and we know the construction of those epistles,
how that he deals first of all with the great doctrines of the
faith, the great truth of the gospel, of the grace of God,
and then the practical implication, the outworking of those as he
comes to the oratory parts of his epistle, the closing chapters,
time and again he exhorts and he exhorts. And what does he
exhort? Colossians 4.2, continue in prayer
and watch in the same with thanksgiving. 1 Thessalonians 5.17, pray without
ceasing. Philippians 4. Six, he says,
be careful for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication,
with thanksgivings, let your requests be made known unto God. And we could repeat the verses,
could we not? Many exhortations to prayer.
He is, of course, speaking by the words of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Remember what Christ said, men ought always to pray, and not
to faint. shall not God avenge his own
elect which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long
with them? You say to me this morning, how
can I have any assurance in my heart that I belong to that blessed
company who are the election of grace? Here is the mark, is
it not, or one of the marks of the Christian, those who have
been elected to eternal life, they pray. Shall not God avenge
his own elect? Here's the mark. They cry unto
him day and night. They pray. And when Ananias is
instructed there in Acts 9 to seek out this man Saul, who has
been an arch persecutor of the Christians, and yet now, in the
sovereign grace of God, has been converted, and he's been led
as a blind man into the city, and Ananias is instructed to
go and to put his hands upon him that he might receive his
sight. How is Ananias assured that there's a change in this
man? On Acts 9.11, Behold, he prieth. Oh, there's the mark,
you see. Behold, he prieth. Doubtless
saw the Pharisee send many prayers, He would have said his prayers
as a Pharisee, no doubt about that. But is it not a truth,
as we've sung sometimes in that children's hymn, I often say
my prayers, but do I ever pray? Do the feelings in my heart go
with the words I say? Certainly there in Damascus we
see the man praying. And so Ananias is assured, beholds
He prayeth. It's a mark. It's a mark of the
life of God in the soul of a man. The top lady says the Christian
is all over prayer. The Christian is all over prayer. And he is but echoing the words
of our text. But I give myself unto prayer. And yet often, if we're honest,
we feel to be so prayerless. We don't have prayers. I can't
find words to cry. Always another truth, friends,
that sometimes all we can do is sigh. All we can do is groan
in our prayers. The Christian life, you see,
it's such an enigma, such a strange course that the Christian has
to steer in this world. And yet, here is the best of
all his weapons, when Paul writes there in Ephesians 6 of the Christian
armor and the various parts of that provision that God in His
goodness has made for the Christian in his conflicts. Having spoken
of those various parts of the armor, the breastplate, the shield,
the helmet, the sword of the Spirit, Then he comes to this,
praying always, with all prayer and supplication in the spirit
and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication
for all saints and for me that utterance may be given unto me
that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of
the gospel for which I am an ambassador in bonds that therein
I may speak boldly as I ought to speak. Praying always. or to pray you see without ceasing. Sometimes we feel ourselves,
as I say, unable to find words. We feel our souls to be so prayerless. But how apt are those words of
Joseph Harms. Though to speak they'll be not
able, always pray. They never rest. Prayer is a
weapon for the feeble, weakest souls. can wield it best. We don't feel ourselves to be
what we ought to be if we're honest before God. And yet, we
do recognize the significance of this that God has granted
to us, the best of all weapons. The weapons of our warfare are
not carnal, but they're mighty through God. To the pulling down
of the strongholds of Satan are they not. That's prayer. Is it
not said of Mary, Queen of Scots, that she feared the prayers of
the reformer John Knox more than all the armies of Europe? The
prayers of that godly man filled the Queen with fear. Satan trembles
when he sees the weakest saint upon his knees. Lord David says, give myself unto prayer but I
prayer the Lord bless his word to us I see Henry number 394 what various hindrances we meet
in coming to the mercy seat. Yet who that knows the worth
of prayer but wishes to be often there? 39.4. In coming to the mercy seat,
Yet he that knows no mercy, The ultimate.