THE KING’S BUSINESS
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E X P O S I T I O N A N D P R A C T IC A L A P P L IC A T IO N S
thee as incense; the lifting up of my hands as. the evening sacrifice." A s D av id w as aw ay fro m th e H o ly C ity an d ^th e ta b e r nacle, a n d th e re fo re co u ld n o t tak e p a rt in th e D iv in ely ap p o in ted service, a d o ubt m ig h t arise as to h is p ra y e r bein g re ceived, th e re fo re , he ask e d th a t h is p ray er be set" fo rth ( o r “d irected ,” o r “m ade re ad y ” ) b efo re G od’s face as incense. T ru e p ra y e r re q u ire s, p re p a ra tio n (b e “m ad e read y ,” see a b o v e). S u ch p ray er, p ra y e r w ith p re p a ra tio n is to G od as incense, v ery fra g ra n t, th e s w e e te s t; p e rfu m e th a t ev er com es to H im (R ev . 5 :8 ; 8 :3 , 4 ; cf. E x . 30: 7-9, 34, 3 8 ). P ra y e r is lik e in cen se in th a t (1 ) in cen se w as p re p are d w ith g re a t care, b eaten an d p o u n d ed b efo re it w as used, b eaten v ery sm all (E x . 3 0 :3 6 ). T h e p ray er th a t com es fro m a b ro k e n a n d c o n trite h e a rt .is especially fra g ra n t a n d acceptable to G od (P s . 5 1 :1 7 ), an d th e p ra y e r th a t does n o t d eal in b eau tifu l, g litte rin g g en e ralities b u t is b eaten v ery sm all w ith th e definite d etails of w h a t w e d esire o f H im is also especially acceptable to H im . , (2 ) F ire m u st be p u t u n d e r in cen se to b rin g o u t its frag ra n c e, a n d o n ly th e fire o f th e H o ly G h o st m ak es p ra y e r fra g ra n t an d ac ceptable to G od (R o m . 8 :2 6 , 2 7 ; E ph. 6 :1 8 ; J u d e 2 9 ). A s in th e case o f th e incense, th e fire th a t is p u t in p ra y e r m u s t be tak en fro m off th e b lo o d -sp rin k led a lta r (L ev . 10:1, 2 ) : th e re is n o -a c c e p ta b le ap p ro ach to G od ex cep t on th e g ro u n d o f th e a to n in g b lood (H e b . 10:19, 2 0 ; Jo h n 1 4 :6 ). T h e fire o n th e a lta r h a d itself been k in d led fro m above, an d th e fire u p o n w hich, th e incense o f p ra y e r goes up is fire k in d led from above by th e p o w er o f th e H o ly S p irit. (3 ) In cen se goes u p w a rd to h eav en an d so does a ll tru e p ra y er (P s . 5 :3 ). (4 ) W h e n p laced o n th e fire, in cen se gives fo rth a d elig h tfu l frag ra n c e, a n d n o th in g is m o re fra g ra n t to G od th a n th e p ra y e r o f H is be liev in g c h ild ren (P ro v . 1 5 :8 ). V e rse s 1 an d 2 tak e n to g e th e r teach us to w h om to p ray , Je h o v a h ; through w h om to p ray , th e sacrificed S o n ; in w h om to p ray , th e S p irit.
v. 1. “Lord, I have called upon thee: make haste unto me; give ear unto my voice, when I call unto thee." T h is P salm is a g re a t deep. W e can n o t ex p ect to e x h a u st it o r g e t to th e b o ttom o f it, b u t w e m ay g a th e r a n d a p p ro p riate to o u rselv es som e o f its rich trea su re s. I t is on e o f a g ro u p o f fo u r P s a lm s-th a t b e a r strik in g re sem blance to one a n o th e r (P s a lm s 140 to ^ 143). B ey o n d a d o u b t, D av id w as th e au th o r. M an y th in k , w ith reaso n , th a t it w as w ritte n ab o u t th e tim e o f th e ‘in cid en t in D av id ’s life reco rd ed in 1 S am u el 24. T h is m uch is su re, a t th e tim e o f w ritin g D av id w as in d ire n ecessity a n d g re a t n eed of helpers. In his ex trem ity , he looked vto J e h ovah as his sole a n d all-sufficient 'h e lp e r. T h e w o rd s tra n s la te d in th e A u th o rize d V ersio n , “I c ry u n to th ee ” an d in th e R e vised , V e rsio n “I h av e called u p o n th e e ” sh o u ld be tra n sla te d , “I h av e called th ee “u n to ” o ccu rs in th e last clau se o f th e v erse b u t n o t in th e first, D av id w as n o t m erely callin g u p o n G od, he w as calling G od H im se lf to com e to h is help, n ow th a t all h u m an h elp ers failed. E v ery o th e r re so rt a n d re so u rce h ad failed D av id b u t p ra y e r n e v er fails. P ra y e r is th e w eapon w hich th e b eliev er m ay alw ays c a rry w ith h im W herever h e goes a n d w h ich is alw ays effective in ev ery em erg en cy th a t can arise. D av id ’s n eed Was so u rg e n t th a t it w as n ecessary th a t G od “m ak e h a ste ” (cf, Ps. 4 0 :1 3 ; 69:17, 18; 7 0 :5 ; 7 1 :1 2 ; 143 7 ) . G od is alw ays re ad y to h u rry H is fo o tstep s in. resp o n se to h o ly im p o rtu n ity (L u k e 18:1- 8 ). S om e tell u s w e sh o u ld “ab id e G od’s tim e ” ; w ell, it is w ell en o u g h to b id e G od’s tim e, b u t G od’s tim e d ep en d s u p o n o u r earn e stn ess in p ray er. H e lp w o u ld com e so o n er if w e w ere m o re in sisten t. U n fa ith seeks d eliv eran ce in m an y w a y s ; b u t faith h a s -b u t one w ay, p ra y e r to G od fo r w h a t so ev er is n e ed fu l (P h il. 4 :6 , 7 ). W h o so e v er calls in fa ith w ill g et d eliv eran ce (R om . 10:13) ; th e re is n o e x cep tio n to th is law . v. 2. "Let my prayer he set forth before
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