Caryl - Houston-Packer Collection BS1415 .C37 v8

Chap.27. An Fxpofstion upon the Book of J o B. Verf.9. 95 loud, he wi cry and cry aloud ; fo farreas prayer is a bodily ex- ercife he ill goc; yea, fo farre as prayer is an exercife of the foule with refpe& to bodily or fcififh ends,he will goe too, &that with carnefinefs. Gant of outward good,and (care of evill, will make the worftof men bcftirre themfelves. The Prophet brings in the Lord at once difcovering and difowning filch importunate fuiters for their bellies ( Hof. 7, 14. ) They cryed and they howled, but ( faith the Lord) They havelot cryedunto mewith their heart when they howled upon their beds ; with that then did they cry and horde, if not with their hearts ? the fame verfe refolves us, that they cryed with their Mlles, for is follower, they afembled them- felvesfor corneandfor wine, and they rebel againft me. Here's the true Charai ter of a hypocrite ; firtl,He Peeks God for the loaves; fecondly, he prayed), and Cnneth, he feeketh the favour of God, but rebelsagainft the will of God ; thus he runs his round of pray- ing and Peeking, of finning and rebelling ; he may be very earneft in the two former, but is molt earnc1 in the latter. FourthlyNote; It it trouble chiefly, ifnot only, which moves 4hypocrite topray. Aday of trouble is not only the fpeciall time when an hypo- crite prayeth, but it is, upon thematter, the only time. Trouble is that fpeciall time wherein. ,-godly man prayeth ; is any one af- fliïted ?let him pray ( James 5. i 3.)yet he prayer at all times;he prays not onlybecaufe he hath need to pray, but becaufe he loves topray, and finds fweetnefs in the a& as well as in the anfwer or iffue. But a carnali heart hath no mind to the duty, but when he is goaded on by trouble, or driven by necefíity; and then hismind is more upcn the fupply of his neceffity than upon the right and holy performance of the duty. Agood heart prayetb in trouble, but when trouble only makes us pray, that is an argumentofan evils heart ( Pfal. 32.6. ) For this (hall everyone that isgodly pray onto thee, in a time when thou mayejt be found, or, in a finding time.' But what meanes the Pfalmift when hefaith, For thisfhall every one that is godly pray unto thee ? 'What isthis, For this ? I anfwer, It may referre either to the mercy already (hewed him in the for- givenefs of his fin, mentioned in the former verfe, or to his pro- tetekion in,and deliverance fromdanger,promifed in the latter end of this ; For this, (hall every one that is godly pray ante thee, in a acne

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