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BERM.
VT.,
.SINS
AND SORROWS
SPREAD BEFORE GOD.
109
is passed into the
heavens,
.is
very
near
to God, and
bath
shewn
us
the
way.
thither
;
Heb.
x.
19,
20,
21.
Having
therefore
boldness
to
enter
into the holiest
by
the
blood
of
Jesus, let us draw
near
with a
true
heart,
in
full
as-
surance
offaith.
O howshoùld
we
valué
our acquaintance
with Christ,
and
pray earnestly for
his
Spirit
!
one makes a
way
for
our
coming
near
to God,
and
the
other
actually
brings
us
near. How glorious would churches
be,
if
there
.were
more
of
this
Spirit poured
down
upon
us
!
When
an assembly
of
saints, all
joining
together
in one
act
of
worship, shall
at
once rise
by
the same Spirit,
and ap-
proach
to the mercy -seat, and
order their
cause
before
God
what
might
not
such
a
worshipping
assembly
ob-
tain
at
the hands
of
God
?
What
beauty would
appear
in the worship
of
christians then
?
What
glory
would
be found
in
a
society
of
saints,
if
this
Spirit were
but.
there
?
Christianity
has
had these ornaments,
and
these
honours
:
let
us
pray
that
God
would
restore them
again.
REFLECTION
III.
This doctrine
will
not
suffer
us
to confine
ourselves
or
others, merely
to
a set prescribed
form
Of
words in
prayer.
For
as
the
cases
and concerns
of
soul
or
body,
which
we
spread
before
God, are almost
infinitely
vari-
ous,
so
must
we
express those
cases
and concerns before
God
in
proper
words,
and plead for
relief
with
a variety
of
arguments,
as
the
Spirit
of
God
shall assist
us
:
I
would
order
my own
cause
before
him, says
Job, and
my
mouth should
be
filled
with arguments.
It
is
not
possi-
ble
that
a
Prayer
Book should
be
drawn up with
forms
particularly
suited to every complaint, and every sor-
row,
that
a
holy
soul
wants
to
pour
out,
and
spread
be-
fore the mercy
-seat. And the
christian,
that
knows
the
pleasure
of
getting
near
to
God
in
prayer,
cannot
con
-
tent
himself
to
wrap up
all
his
special
and dearest
con
-
cernments
in
a
few
general sentences.
"
What
!
when
I
am
brought
so
nigh
to
my
God,
my,
Almighty
and compassionate
friend;
when
I
am taken,
as
it
were, by
the hand, and
led
into
his
secret
place;
when
I
have the
ear of God
so
near
me,
shall
I not
tell,
him
my
secret and
particular
grievances? When
I
feel
such a
sweet freedom
of
soul
in his
presence, shall
I