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Noble resolution! O Jacob! may I imitate thee in thus wrestling with the Angel of the covenant by prayer, saying unto God, I will not through grace cease to implore thy mercy and forgiveness for all my sins, not because of any worthiness in me; no, for I am utterly unworthy of any thing but thy infinite wrath; but only for the sake of thy Son, my dear Saviour, who drank fully of that brook which ran in the way of my salvation; even bare all that infinite wrath which my sins justly deserved, in my stead.

What Jacob once resolved, through grace, so do I, even not to let thee go except thou bless me; for my Lord hath merited salvation for me, and hath encouraged me to wrestle with thee in prayer, by the example of the unjust judge, Luke xviii. 2.---8., and hath also promised, saying, "Ask, and it "shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; "knock, and it shall be opened unto you," Matth. vii. 7.

With such wrestlings God is well pleased: Cause me to hear thy voice, saith Christ to the spouse, Cant. viii. 13. They that make mention of the Lord are commanded, say

ing,

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Keep not silence, and give him no

rest, till he establish, and till he make Je"rusalem a praise in the earth." Isa. lxii. 6, 7. And our Lord hath said, "Strive to enter "in at the strait gate." Luke xiii. 24.; and told us likewise, that "the kingdom of hea"ven suffereth violence, and the violent take "it by force." Matt. xi. 12.

But as Jacob neither wrestled nor prevailed by his own strength, but through the grace and strength of Him with whom he wrestled; so let us beware of ever wrestling with God by prayer in our own strength, or depending upon any thing in or about ourselves for acceptance, knowing well, that it is only through the agency of the Holy Ghost, and the all-prevailing merits and intercession of Christ Jesus, our prayers can find acceptance with a just and holy God.

With what propriety prayer may be termed a wrestling with God, is best known in the true Christian's own experience: for although at some times he may pray with joy, and, like a ship in a calm, cast the anchor of faith with ease, yet at others he is so dreadfully tossed with Satan's temptations, under

the heavy clouds of desertion, when God withdraweth from him the light of his countenance, that he is ready to sink in these deep waters; then it is, in the language of a certain godly minister, the soul, as it were, maketh desperate efforts to believe, saying with Jacob, “I "will not let thee go except thou bless me :" and with Job, "Though he slay me, I will "trust in him." Gen. xxxii. 26. Job xiii. 15.

But were Jacob and Job the only persons who thus wrestled? No, such also were Moses, Samuel, David, Heman, Elias, Hezekiah, Nehemiah, and Daniel, with many more on sacred record, who all prevailed; and so shall we, if, like them, instant in prayer, we wrestle with God through faith in Christ; for he said not unto the seed of Jacob," Seek

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ye me in vain." Isa. xlv. 19. And our Lord hath told us, that God will avenge his own elect, who cry unto him day and night. Luke xviii. 7, 8. And the royal Psalmist, for our encouragement, hath left his own sweet experience on record, saying, " I "waited patiently for the Lord, and he "inclined unto me, and heard my cry; he

brought me up also out of an horrible pit, "out of the miry clay, and set my feet up

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" on a rock, and established my goings: and " he hath put a new song in my mouth, even "praise unto our God." Psalm xl. 1.---3.

Methinks now this question highly necessary for us to put to ourselves: Do we deserve the character of wrestlers with God? what are the marks or evidences there

if so,

of?

First, If we are such wrestlers, such wrestlings will make us humble; for as the Lord, no doubt to keep Jacob so, touched the hollow of his thigh, and put it out of joint, Gen. xxxii. 25---31., so that he halted ever after : so he, as it were, toucheth the hollow of every believer's thigh, putting him out of conceit with himself, shewing him that he was dislocated by the fall of Adam; and so grievously put out of joint to the divine law, that it is impossible to walk uprightly before God in his own strength.

Secondly, We will not only lodge our petitions before the throne of grace, but anxiously look and seek after them as a condemned rebel who petitioneth his sovereign for life: Will such a one only lodge his petition

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for the royal clemency, and mind no more about it? No: will he not ardently wish for a favourable answer, thinking every hour a day, and day an age, till the messenger arrive with the all-important answer, which if delayed, will he not again and again, with a degree of ardour known to himself only, repeat the momentous petition! Thus did David: "One thing," saith he, "have I de"sired of the Lord, that will I seek after," Psalm xxvii. 4.

We do not pray for our daily bread only, but also strive by every means in our power to obtain it; so all true wrestlers with God, not only pray for spiritual blessings, but also strive through the means of divine appointment to obtain the same through grace. But alas! too many of us endeavour to quiet our consciences, by presenting a few lukewarm desires in a formal manner before the Almighty, without looking any more after them, as indifferent whether they be granted, as Pilate was, who after he had asked our blessed Lord, What is truth? went out without staying for an answer, John xviii. 38. : or, if we do in reality desire spiritual blessings, and delivery from the love and power of sin, it is

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