A Sermon

(Second Sermon of Series on Psalm cxxx.)

(Continued from page 64.)

“Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O Lord; Lord, hear my voice: let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications.”—PSALMS
CXXX. 1, 2.

BEING so long detained in the morning in breaking in upon this purpose, I shall now the more briefly come to that where I left.

Ye have heard that in these two first verses, the distress psalmist was wrestling with the difficulties and sinking perplexities in his condition, wherein we have an account of what he had to wrestle with, the depths; the way of his wrestling with these depths, to wit, by prayer; his reflecting on that exercise, and telling God, that he cried unto Him out of the depths; and his prosecution of it, or insisting and pleading with God in a new doubled suit (verse 2).

For the first of these, the depths wherewith he wrestled, somewhat was spoken both for explication, and to a more general application of that purpose, which I shall not now repeat.

That which lies before me in the second place, is, the way of his wrestling with these depths, or difficulties. Others, had they been in the like exercise, might fret and repine, or they might labour to rant them out, or drink them down, so far as they were able to rid themselves of them, or they might crush under them; but he drives another trade; his being in the depths puts him to prayer, and to fervency in prayer. He not only intimates that out of the depths he prayed, but out of the depths he cried to God in prayer, with that earnestness, and fervour, that a drowning man, presently going to sink, cries for relief, if any relief may be had. The general observation which I take from this is, that the kindly² result of sinking and surcharging exercise in the saints, is when it puts them to prayer, and to fervency in prayer, when being in the depths, out of the depths they cry unto God. This is the general doctrine of trouble, Psalms 1, “Call upon me in the day of trouble, I will deliver thee, etc.”

And that I may so far, as is necessary, lay the point in broad-band³ before you, before I come to a word of use, I shall deduce the importance of it in a few particulars.

And 1. The psalmist’s practice, who is content to be at exercise, doth import, that sleeping and idleness is a very

¹ This able divine flourished in the 17th century. See June Magazine (1917), pp. 55-64.—ED.

² Proper.

³ Fully.

unsuitable posture, when the people of God are in the depths. To be at any time without exercise is very dangerous; for as the animal life is still in motion, so the spiritual life of a Christian must still be in exercise. So in particular, to be without exercise in a distress, and particularly to be without prayer, is yet more dreadful. An idle man in a difficult lot, I can compare him to nothing but to that drunken man, Proverbs xxiii. 33, “That is as one that lieth down in the midst of the sea, or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast;” he is a desperate man, drunk with some distemper, that is not at exercise in the depths. May I add, the idle man in the depths, is readily the guilty man that draws on the storm and the tempest. Hence we have a sad narration (Jonah i. 5), where Jonah, a godly man, fleeing from the presence of the Lord, in the storm, is down in the sides of the ship sleeping. And one might think in the case he was in, he might have an unsound sleep there, but the text tells he was fast asleep; and shall I add, that’s a sad posture (verse 6) when a pagan shipmaster reproves a prophet: “Jonah, what meanest thou, O sleeper?” saith he, “arise, and call upon thy God.” That then is the first thing imported, that it is a dangerous thing to be sleeping and idle in the depths.

1. That the psalmist when he is in the depths cries out unto God, it imports, that kindly¹ saints, whenever they come in any distress, have no refuge but God. It’s with God and His saints as it’s with a parent and a child, in a crowd. As long as nothing ails the child, he will go beside any body, but when he comes in a difficulty he will leave the rest and single out his parent to protect him. So I say it’s with the saints when anything ails them, they have no refuge, no shift, no gate to go, but God. Would ye know the character of a child of God in distress, ye have it in that fore-cited place, 2 Chron. xx. 12, “We have no might against this great company that cometh against us, neither know we what to do, but our eyes are upon thee.” This is the scope of the most part of all the Psalms. A saint is no sooner put to it, but he puts at God: a cross is no sooner laid at his door, but he tells, it’s the wrong door, and he goes and lays it at God’s door. The reason of this is double; partly the difficulties of the children of God may be so great, that they are left allenarly² upon God. It is with them as it was with that hypocritical king, when he said to the harlot, “If the Lord do not help thee, whence shall I help thee?” out of the barnfloor, or out of the wine-press. What will become of the saints in many difficulties and hard cases, if God step not in? David looked to all airts, and could find no relief, Psalms cxlii. 4, 5, “I looked on my right hand, and beheld, but there was no man that would know me, refuge failed me, no man cared for my soul.” What follows? “I cried unto thee, O Lord, I said, thou art my refuge.” Kindly³ saints must therefore

¹ Like their kind, proper, true.² Solely.³ True.

look unto God in every distress, partly because whatever right means they have to make use of, they must either begin at God, or they will find they have followed a wrong method. Saul pretended to this (1 Samuel xiii. 12), “The Philistines will come down upon me, and I have not made supplication unto the Lord;” and I must begin at God, saith he. And as Saul pretended to it, David really practised it (1 Samuel xxx. 7). Whatever mind he had to pursue the Amalekites that had burnt Ziklag, and taken his wives captive, he will do nothing till he consult with God. That then is the second thing imported, that as the saints are not asleep, are not idle in the depths of trouble, so they have no refuge but God.

1. A third thing imported in this, that the psalmist out of the depths cried unto God, is this, that there is no case of the saints so desperate, wherein prayer is useless. Ye know what was that wicked king’s determination, 2 Kings vi. 33, “This evil is of the Lord; what should I wait for the Lord any longer?” And how many in heart and practice, in difficult cases say so. “It is to little purpose to wait on God, to look to God.” The psalmist here was of another temper, “Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, Lord,” saith he; he finds it to good purpose to cry unto God. So Jonah ii. 4, “I said, I am cast out of thy sight;” and he had as much to say for his being so as any other; the waters compassed him about, and went into his soul. The weeds were wrapped about his head, he went down to the bottom of the mountains. The earth with her bars were about him, yet even then he sees not prayer to be an useless trade, wherefore he adds, “yet will I look again to thy holy temple.” Prayer is to good purpose for all that, and no wonder, for there is no condition of the saints so low, no pit so deep, wherein they can be caught, but an humble suppliant will from thence reach the throne. A David buried quick¹ in a cave, a Daniel in the lion’s den, find that prayer can win up to God, and find audience; for the high and lofty One, who hath the heaven for His throne, and the earth for His footstool, hath an eye also to them who are of a poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at His word (Isaiah lxvi. 1, 2). And He who humbleth Himself to behold the things that are in heaven and in the earth, He raiseth the poor out of the dust, and the needy out of the dung-hill, and therefore no desperate case of the people of God renders prayer useless.

But 4. That the psalmist out of the depths cries unto God, it imports, that as there is no case so desperate as it renders prayer useless, so it imports, that it is the property of the saints, when they are right, that be prayer hopeless, or not hopeless, they will not quit it; they will not give it over, put them in the depths. It’s a great encouragement to them that they know it is to good purpose to pray; but be it to purpose, or no purpose, they must

¹ Alive.

be about it, they will not quit it. That place cited in Jonah proves it; let God cast him out of his sight, yet will he look to his holy temple and pray; shut him out at the door, he will be in at the door by prayer. Tell him his difficulty is so great (as temptation will be ready to say) that crying to God will do him no good, it’s all a matter, to prayer he must, he’ll rather sink praying, than be saved without it. Psalms lxi. 2, “From the ends of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed.” That’s a notable word from a man in a deep distress. What could a man imagine to be discouraging that he wanted? For his case, he is as far from God as the ends of the earth; for his heart, he is under perplexity, his heart is overwhelmed; and yet in that condition he will cry unto God, if so be He will lead him to the rock that is higher than he; come of it what will, he will pray. And Heman is another notable instance, Psalms lxxxviii. 13, and verse 14. He says, “Lord, why castest thou off my soul? why hidest thou thy face from me?” and verse 15, “I am afflicted, and ready to die from my youth up; while I suffer thy terrors, I am distracted.” I am put out of my wits, my wit gets a rack with thy terrors; and yet verse 13, “Unto thee have I cried, O Lord.” No hopelessness of my undertaking, no hardship I meet with could put me from crying to thee, and in the morning shall my prayer prevent thee; I will continue praying, and (to speak after the manner of men) Thou shalt be soon up, but my prayer shall be at thy door to prevent thee. That then is the fourth thing imported here, not to be put from prayer were our case never so desperate, nay, not by the apprehension of drowning in the depths, though at the next bout we should sink to the bottom.

But 5. That he says, “Out of the depths have I cried unto thee,” it imports, that not only a saint will not be put from prayer, through the greatness of his distress, but his distress will put an edge upon prayer, when he is most fervent, and made to cry out when he is in the depths. And this word, “crying,” expressing prayer in the text, suffer me to explicate more particularly what it imports. I intend not to speak of it as it is generally used in Scripture, but as it expresseth prayer. And I shall here offer four or five things to be looked to by them that would continue praying in the depths, or out of the depths.

1. It imports, a man’s being affected with that which is his case. The crying man knows what ails him; when a man scricks or cries out, it is an evidence that he feels somewhat that affects him much. Thus crying is used upon the account of grief (Ezek. v. 4). The marked persons are such as sigh and cry for all the abominations done in the midst of the city. They cry out of sad oppression from grief. And I find crying in prayer made use of, to signify the fears of the supplicant (Hebrews v. 7). Our blessed Lord is said to offer up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears, and He was heard in that He feared. Grief and

fear import the sense of our case, the source and fountain of our cries. A stupid man that wots not how it’s with himself, or the people of God (who is like Pharaoh that knew not that Egypt was destroyed) will not be a crying man.

1. This crying imports, not only a sense of one’s case, but an earnest affection after that, which our cries are employed about. It’s not for trifles that a man cries either to obtain or avoid them (at least they are not trifles in his opinion). It’s given as an estimation of wisdom, Proverbs ii. 3, when a man cries and lifts up his voice for it. And David cries about that which he is affected with, Psalms lxxiv. 2, “My soul longeth, yea even fainteth for the courts of the Lord, my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God.” It’s a token of raised affections either to be rid of some imminent ill or hazard, or to attain some excellent good, that puts folk to crying. A slighting of trouble (when a man is like Ephraim, Hosea vii. 9, “Gray hairs are here and there upon him, and he knows it not”), and a slighting of desirable mercies, will not produce crying for the one, or to avoid the other.

But 3. This crying imports, with sense of need and earnestness of affection to be at the thing cried for, a sense of a distance. We use to cry to folk that are far off, and not within ordinary speaking or rounding; and this follows well upon the former. When folks are put to pray from the depths, they will discern God at a distance from them, and themselves at a distance from God; it is another thing when a man is in the depths to be within speaking terms with God, as when he is at ease. The children of God while they are at ease are like Samson, who thinks he hath no more ado, but go out and shake himself, and have God at his command; but the man in the depths will not find such an easy matter to come near God. He will not only be sensible of his natural distance, but of that distance he is under upon the account of his provocations, and so this crying will take in sense of guilt to be confessed and mourned for before God. But this I shall leave, because it will fall in upon the third and fourth verses following.

A 4th thing imported in this crying is, that, notwithstanding of all that hath been said, a saint should cry out of the depths, with confidence in God, and of relief from Him, hence the spirit of adoption (Rom. viii. 15; Gal. iv. 6). It doth not prompt a man to mutter, or peep, or whisper his prayer to God; but to cry out with confidence, Abba, Father. And whatever sense we have of our need, or of our distance from God, or of the guilt that hath drawn it on, confidence is needful to usher in prayer, Hebrews iv. 16, “Having such an high priest, let us come boldly.” The word in the Greek signifies, let us come with an all-saying, with an open mouth, unto the throne of grace, with confidence, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace, to help in time of need.

5th and last.—This crying out of the depths it imports, as the result of all that I have been speaking to from it, a fervency of

affection; when folks are not only sensible of that they need, have an estimation of it, see their distance, come with some measure of confidence, but an edge is put on their affection, and they are fervent, and raised in prayer for it. I do not mean that prayer with the loudest voice is aye the most fervent prayer. When I think upon these tones and voices used by some in prayer, I often mind that word, Eccles. ix. 17, “The words of wise men are heard in quiet, more than the cry of him that ruleth among fools.” It’s not the tone (though we owe the voice to God) that makes fervent prayer to Him. Moses (Exod. xiv. 15) prayed fervently, he cried to God when he spoke not a word; and Lam. ii. 18, “Their heart cried unto the Lord, O wall of the daughter of Zion.” But my meaning is, that frequency, fervency, and instance in prayer from the heart is required in them that talk and cry out of the depths. Ye talk of your saying of your prayers, and among the prayers in the world many of them are but said prayers, but when it comes to crying out of the depths, your said prayers will not do the turn. Our blessed Lord was never superficial in prayer, yet (Luke xxii. 44) it’s said, “being in an agony he prayed more earnestly.” There is a pattern of prayer out of the depths, and I wish I saw a practical commentary of that among you, which ye find in Psalms cvii. 12, 13, “He brought down their heart with labour, they fell down, and there was none to help (that’s a posture that would put many to pray, and how far ye are from it, if ye were awake ye would discern), then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them out of their distresses.”

So ye have heard the import of this crying out of the depths unto God. As for the uses of this, whereof it affords various, though all along the point is practical and applies itself; I know not if I dare break in farther upon it. I suppose to ordinary hearers, all is poison that is spoken after the glass¹; but ye shall take a few words from it. If this be the kindly result of blessed trouble, to be put to crying to God out of the depths, then ye may see what a dreadful plague it is, that when people are cast in the depths, the spirit of prayer is away, and there is no crying out of them to God. Shall I hold up to you a glass to let you see your own soul face in this matter? Read Ezek. xxiv. 23, And I pray you forget Judah and Israel, and call this Scotland, and yourselves professors in Scotland that are spoken to, “Ye shall not mourn, nor weep, but ye shall pine away for your iniquities.” O that is the copestone of a people’s calamity, when it is said to them, “Ye shall pine away in your iniquities, and mourn, and roar one towards another.” And will ye not get many such up and down the land, folks that are like wild beasts in a net, struggling with their calamity, tatlers and talkers of their troubles, he blaming him, and he him, roaring for the sad case themselves and the land are in, but where is their

¹After the glass is run out. A sand glass was used in those days to mark the time of Sermons.

crying out of the depths to God? Who have added to the weight and measure of their prayers for all that is come over them? Where will ye get a Daniel in all Scotland, that for three full weeks gave himself to fasting and prayer? Will ye have another glass to see your foul spots in? Read Daniel ix. 13, “As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us, yet made we not our prayer to the Lord our God, that we should turn from our iniquities and understand thy truth.” We feel well enough all the evil that is on us, and that it is come as it is written in the law, yet there is no prayer to purpose. Will ye yet take another glass? Then read Amos iv. 6, etc., where the Lord tells what strokes He had inflicted upon His people, everyone of them heavier than another. I have done this, and this to you, saith the Lord, and still the over-word is, “yet ye have not returned unto me.” Many folks are blyth when things rise to an height, and then they think God will be seen on the mount, but they forget that continuing them in the depths, is to set them to prayer. It is the sin of the generation, that they look more to their privileges than their provocations; and lean so much weight on the righteousness of their cause, as they forget that for which God hath put them in difficulties. I may say on this account, that even fearers of God are self-destroyers, “O tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Ashkelon, that God hath taken such pains to put us to pray and repent,” and yet we will do anything, but pray and repent we will not. I see no issue in this, but to put off our ornaments, and see what the Lord will do with us. And will ye yet take another word that may give folk a sight of their foul face? Even that charge unjustly laid by Eliphaz against Job, chap. xv. verse 4, which, I doubt, if we can lay so well from our door as he might, “Thou castest off fear (saith he) and restrainest prayer before God.” There is a threefold restraint of prayer before God in difficulties. And I wish that one or all of them take not in the generality of the generation we live in. First, When folk that were wont to pray, give it over. And what thousands are there of this stamp in Scotland? and not a few in the west country. How many are there among us, that sometimes have worshipped God in secret, and now do not bow a knee to God? How many have worshipped God in their families, who now have left it off? And among you there are not a few such, as we find by your shifting answers, when you are asked thereanent, a thing that rather might be expected in the barbarous parts of the land than among you, and is not religion and religious duties much clipped where it had much place? A prognostic of little good, when so few families will be found having their posts sprinkled with the blood of sprinkling. Now what shall I say of them that never prayed, when so many have quit prayer that once used it? O! I say it again, “Publish it not in Gath, etc.” That apostacy hath so far prevailed, that it hath driven many from the very form of godliness.

A second restraint of prayer is in them who have kept up a form, but, alas! they put me in mind of that word spoken of Pharaoh’s chariot wheels, “they drive heavily.” There was a time when religion was in request, and then folks got borrowed wings that they flew with, or stilts in religious duties; but when a man comes in the depths, he must have divine approbation, or these will not do his turn, or if he hold him by his prayers, he will be looked down upon and lightly esteemed, and then he that was wont to soar in prayer, will do much if he can creep on the ground: but that clipping of prayer, is a restraint of prayer before God.

I shall add thirdly, that many restrain prayer, that neither quit nor clip prayer, of whom if ye judge by their frequent continuance, and the edge they have in prayer, ye will find no difference betwixt what they are now, and what they were formerly. And ye will not easily know their restraining prayer, and yet they restrain it: for, instead of humble supplications, their prayers are made up of murmuring and quarrelling. Ye will get little of the poor man’s supplications in their prayers.

Look to these things as glasses, wherein ye may see your shortcomings and guilt, and I entreat the Lord to bless them to you for that end, and for your exciting to more fervency to prayer. And remember when I press upon you crying out of the depths, that I press a peremptory duty on you, and that every neglect of prayer while ye are in the depths, disposes you to apostacy, and is a step to your ruin.

(To be continued.)