Psalm 81:10 I am the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt: open your mouth wide, and I will fill it. There is no one that we like less than a man who is always begging. Our way is to tell people who ask of us, that they are not to come again, or that we can do but very little for them. And those who ask know how we feel, and hence they plead, perhaps, that they have never asked before, or that they never will again, or that they only ask for a very little. Now, it is not difficult to defend this our common conduct with suppliants; but what a contrast it offers to our God's dealing with us! He does not send us away when we come to him, nor complain that we come so often, or that we ask so much; but, as here, he encourages our greatest expectations, and bids us "open our mouth wide," etc. Such immense encouragement does he give to us to all boldness in prayer. "Thou art coming to a King, Large petitions with thee bring; For his grace and power are such, None can ever ask too much." The psalmist had probably often noticed how the young birds open their mouths wide for the food which they know the parent bird will give them, and for which, therefore, they wait with such eager expectancy. And he points to this familiar fact, and bids his countrymen in like manner expect blessing from God, for God will not disappoint them. Now, on this subject, note - I. THAT THERE ARE SOME WHO NEVER OPEN THEIR MOUTHS AT ALL. They do not believe in prayer, they count it so much waste breath, and affirm that it avails no more than the piteous cry of the hare when she knows that the hounds are upon her. They urge that all things are governed by fixed law, and no desire of ours, however fervent, can make the slightest alteration. Or else, they say that if what we ask for be right for God to give, he will give it without our prayer; that if it be not right, then, as certainly, he will not give it: he knows our need without our telling him. But we have one short reply to all this, and we say to all such disbelievers in prayer - Have you ever really prayed? Myriads of believing souls there are who with one voice will affirm, "I sought the Lord, and he heard me;" and we prefer to believe these who know that God heareth prayer, rather than you who have never really prayed. II. THERE ARE OTHERS WHO OPEN THEIR MOUTHS, BUT NOT "WIDE," as we are here bidden to do. They pray, but they do not expect much to come from it. In words they ask for great things, but they do not really believe they will have them. Our Lord's command to us is, "When ye pray, believe that ye receive" (Mark 11:24). Now, in regard to temporal blessings, it may be that we cannot have confident expectation that we shall have the precise favour we ask for; but we ought to have such expectation that that which is really best for us God will certainly give. But in regard to spiritual blessings, such as deliverance from sin, for which, in words, we so constantly pray, we ought to expect the very blessing itself. "The blood of Jesus Christ... cleanseth from all sin;" there is, therefore, absolute warrant for expecting such cleansing; and we need not think, though practically we do, that the blunder of a little lad known to the writer, is really the truth. In repeating the General Confession, when he came to the words, "and there is no health in us," he substituted for them, "and there is no help for it." And that is what so many practically think. They remember their own grievous past, they know the force of long evil habit, and their own wretched weakness, and they see the persistence of evil and sin everywhere, even in the good; and they come to the sorrowful conclusion that "there is no help for it" this side the grave. They have no real expectation of deliverance, and, therefore, they do not get it. And yet people go on perpetually asking for it. The reason of their not having is that they will not open their mouths wide, and so God cannot fill them with his blessing. But - III. NONE EVER WILL, UNLESS THE CONDITIONS OF SUCH EXPECTATION BE FULFILLED. There must be: 1. A mouth to open; that is, power to believe. Now, we all have that, and use it every day about other things. 2. Need of God's blessing. Unquestionably there is that. 3. Sense of this need. Consciousness of it, and distress because of it. Hunger after God's blessing. 4. Will to believe. Trust is more a matter of the will than of the reason. "I will trust, and not be afraid." Refuse to doubt, resolve to believe. - S.C. Parallel Verses KJV: I am the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt: open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it. |
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