They were, therefore, guilty of unmeaning prolixity, and insincere repetition, in their address to God. The heathens, who had the lowest opinion of their divinities, continued their frantic cry to arouse their attention, and to weary them by their persevering importunity, that they might obtain their wishes. This conduct the Scribes and Pharisees adopted likewise: "For a pretence they made long prayers;" and the people considered them as the fruits of eminent devotion. The meaning, therefore, is, that we are not to pray long for the sake of appearing to be imbued with extraordinary piety; or from any apprehension that it is necessary, in order to interest the Divine Parent of the human family in our welfare; or from the absurd imagination, that so many words will be meritorious with the Almighty in our behalf. Nor do I know any thing more ridiculous in the practice of the heathen, or the ostentatious professions of the Jews, than the unscriptural and profane conduct of attempting to please God, by the repetition of so many Ave Marias and Paternosters, the counting of beads, and the adoration of images.

"Be ye not, therefore, like unto them." The spirit of this injunction is in perfect agreement with the admonitions of the Old Testament. "Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thy heart be hasty to utter any thing before God; for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few."* By the fewness of words, we understand, that they should be well weighed, and well ordered, in opposition to their being uttered with undigested thoughtlessness. The consideration by which the admonition is enforced, is strikingly expressive of the vast distance there is between God and his creatures; it, therefore, becomes them to cherish the most profound veneration, and sacred awe, in all their intercourse with him;

* Eccles. v. 2.

not addressing him with a profusion of unpondered words, but with the cordial and unobtrusive devotion of the whole soul. There cannot be more obvious deceit than to come before Him in acts of solemn worship, with the heart still at enmity, or wandering after foolish and sinful vanities. And as there is danger of this, we should be always vigilant of our affections, lest, instead of offering Him that which He will condescend to accept, we perform only a ceremonial and odious service. Thus it was with the ancient Israelites to a very alarming degree, both as to numbers and offensiveness. Regardless of the spiritual meaning and intention of the acts enjoined in their ritual, provided victims were immolated on the altar of sacrifice, the appointed ablutions made, the tithes duly paid, and their devotions regularly performed—they vainly imagined that all was well. This was the cause of the indignant expostulation which Jehovah makes with them: "Hear, O my people, and I will speak; O Israel, and I will testify against thee: I am God, even thy God. I will not reprove thee for thy sacrifices or thy burnt-offerings, to have been continually before me. Will I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats? Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the Most High: and call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me. But unto the wicked God saith, What hast thou to do to declare my statutes, or that thou shouldest take my covenant in thy mouth? Seeing thou hatest instruction, and castest my words behind thee." Thus there appears a perfect and instructive harmony between the directions of the Old Testament and those of the New, as to the spirit we are to cherish in every description of religious service.

* Psalm 1. 7, 8, 13—17.

BB

II. THE REASON ON WHICH THE ADMONITION IS

FOUNDED.

"Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of before ye ask him.” The argument is this: "Follow not the heathen nations in their superstitious orgies and multiplied incantations; who imagine, by such means, to make their deities understand their wishes and relieve their wants;-but remember, that your Father who is in heaven is unlike the miserable idols of the Gentiles: for he knows all your necessities, and is thoroughly acquainted with all your desires, even before ye express them at his feet." Thus our Lord lays down the omniscience of the blessed God, as a conclusive reason why we should avoid the errors and follies of idolaters in our approaches to the divine footstool. In the consideration of this sufficient motive, let us notice four things.

All

First. The condition supposed-a needy one. prayer is founded on the necessity and weakness of the creature; for where there is no want there is no relief needed. This fact is assumed in the passage before us, when our Lord assures us, 66 your Father knoweth what things ye have need of before ye ask him." And does it not accord with the universal experience of men? Some may not, indeed, feel their necessities so keenly as others, but every man is a needy and dependent creature. The king is maintained by the labour of his subjects, and could not subsist without it. "The head cannot say to the foot, I have no need of thee; nor the foot to the hand, I have no need of thee." With respect to the disciples of Christ, in a very large proportion of instances, the case is literally true. Thus speaketh prophecy: "I will leave in the midst of thee a poor and an afflicted people; and they shall trust in the name of the

Lord." Many of these are to be found in the humblest walks of life-the hospital and the poor-house. The disciples were poor, and our Lord himself "had no where," oftentimes, "to lay his head." "Not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called." There are, indeed, remarkable exceptions, not a few. But the suppostion is true of all men morally. Sin has reduced us to a state of wretchedness and destitution -robbed us of our original righteousness-and left us without the least wealth by which we may replenish our spiritual condition. And the misery is, that amidst all this poverty, thousands, like the Laodiceans, are saying, “I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and know not that they are wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked."+ It is, however, otherwise with the subjects of divine grace: they are all acquainted with their destitute situation-they feel their spiritual darkness-their need of patience, prayer, purity, and heavenly-mindedness. They have a deep conviction of their impoverished circumstances,—and hence they prize the treasury; they submit to the remedy, they enquire for a refuge, they are humble suppliants at the door of mercy -they pray.

Secondly. Observe the privilege afforded-we may ask for supplies. This is the strong hold of the poor and needy-the source of their consolation in the hour of distress. Dark as their prospect is, it is not desperateand gloomy as is their condition, it is not hopeless,—they are prisoners of hope. For observe, to whom they may apply: it is to a Father. The term is full of endearment and delight. It intimates affection, solicitude, tenderness, compassion, with every thing that can afford us encouragement to address him. This very character is the pledge

"Ask, and it shall be given

of relief to all who seek it. you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If ye then being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?"*

Thirdly. Observe, the omniscience declared," Your Father knoweth what things ye have need of before ye ask him." This assurance seems to be put in opposition to the vain imaginations of the heathen, who thought either that God did not know all things, or that he was too great to attend to little matters. Hence they supposed that prayer was necessary not only to engage his attention, but to inform Him of their wants and desires. In opposition, therefore, to this opinion, the Saviour assures us, that his knowledge is unlimited,—that it applies to all things, all circumstances, and to all periods. How little we know ; but God knows all! How frequently our friends and children may be pining with sickness, smitten with disease, and standing on the very brink of danger, while we are perfectly ignorant of their sorrows, and suppose them to be in safety; but He knows it. How often we are called to part from those we esteem; and although the acquaintance had been intimate, and the friendship reciprocal, yet, from various causes, we know one another no more. Distance separates us; prospects and pursuits are changed; new connections are formed and old ones are dissolved and forgotten: but He knows the end from the

* Matt. vii. Luke xi.