his precepts, must be linked together. It is but a pretended trust in God
370 charnock's works. [Ps. XXXVII. 4.
A DISCOURSE OF DELIGHT IN PRAYER.
Delight thyself also in the Lord ; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. —Ps. XXXVII. 4.
This psalm in the beginning is a heap of instructions. The great lesson intended in it is placed in verse 1 : ' Fret not thyself because of evil doers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity.' It is resumed, verses
7, 8, where many reasons are alleged to enforce it. Fret not.
1. Do not envy them. Be not troubled at their prosperity.
2. Do not imitate them. Be not provoked by their glow-worm happiness
to practise the same wickedness, to arrive to the same prosperity.
3. Be not sinfully impatient, and quarrel not with God, because he hath not by his providence allowed thee the same measures of prosperity in the world. Accuse him not of injustice and cruelty, because he afflicts the good, and is indulgent to the wicked. Leave him to dispense his blessings according to his own mind.
4. Condemn not the way of piety and religion wherein thou art. Think not the worse of thy profession because it is attended with affliction. The reason of this exhortation is rendered, ver. 2,
' For they shall soon be cut down as the grass, and wither as the green herb ;' amplified by a similitude or resemblance of their prosperity to grass. Their happiness has no
stability ; it hath, like grass, more of colour and show, than strength and substance. Grass nods this and that way with every wind. The mouth of a beast may pull it up, or the foot of a beast may tread it down. The scorching sun in summer, or the fainting sun in winter, will deface its com-
plexion.
The psalmist then proceeds to positive duties, ver. 3.
Faith. Trust in the Lord . This is a grace most fit to quell such impatien-
cies. The stronger the faith, the weaker the passion. Impatient motions
are signs of a flagging faith. Many times men are ready to cast ofi" their help in Jehovah, and address to the god of Ekron, multitudes of friends or
riches ; but trust thou in the Lord, in the promises of God, in the providence of God.
2. Obedience. Do good. Trust in God's promises, and observance of
his precepts, must be linked together. It is but a pretended trust in God where there is a real walking in the paths of wickedness. Let not the glister
of the world render thee faint and languid in a course of piety.
3. The keeping our station. Do good. Because wicked men flourish, hide not thyself therefore in a corner, but keep thy sphere, run thy race,
' and verily thou shalt be fed,' have eveijthing needful for thee. And now because men delight in that wherein they trust, the psalmist diverts us from
all other objects of delight to God as the true object : ' Delight thyself in the Lord ;' place all thy pleasure and joy in him. And because the motive expresseth the answer of prayer, the duty enjoined seems to respect the act
of prayer as well as the object of prayer ; prayer coming from a delight in God, and a delight in seeking him. Trust is both the spring of joy and the
spring of supplication. When we trust him for sustenance and preservation,