Downame - BV209_D69_G6_1640_v1

Is 7o that we ',tuft pray infight and MI of our want's. How can we defire him mifireri, to have mercy on us , when we do not efleem our felves miferi , to whom mercy belongetht (for thence hath mifericor- dia the name.) Yea,if we be rich and full in our own conceits, the Lord will fend us away empty, Luke 1.5 5. remaining in our finne, Luke 18. 14. expofed to his curfe, Luke 6.24,2 5. Whereas on the other fide, if we be humbled with the fenfe of our want, the Lord will have fpeciall regard unto us, Ifai. 66. 2. and 57.15. and be near unto us in all our defires, Pfal. 34. 18. Yea, fuch he calleth to him, Matth. I r. 28. filch he promifeth to heare, Pfal. Io. 17. John 7. 37. fuch he pronounceth blel%d, Matth. 5 . 3,4,5 Secondly, that we may attein to this fight and fenfe of our mifery and wants, we are to look into the glalfe of the law; which will reveal unto us our mifery, both in refpet of our fins, and alfo of the punifhment due for the fame, &c. Thirdly, for as much as the fight and fenfe of our mifery is the gift of God and work of his fpirit, we are to pray unto God that he will anoint the eyes of our minds with the eye -falve of his fpirit, Revel. 3. 18. that we may fee our fins; and that he would touch our hearts with the finger ofhis fpirit, as he ftruck the rock in the wildernes, that they may melt within us,as the heart ofJofias did at the reading of the law, 2. Kings 22.19. and be refolved into a foun- tain of tears, by which we may bewail our finnes whereby we have difpleafed and difhonoured God. From this fenfe of our wants arifeth the fecond thing, that is, an earneft defire to have our wants fupplyed How we may come to a fight & fenfe of our wants. That we mutt in prayer have