What is your your burthen?

exception? Why not come too? case, what is your sorrow, what is Ah! perhaps you can disclose it to no earthly ear. You can tell it to God only. Then, take it to him. Let me tell thee for thine encouragement, God has his secret audience chamber, where he will meet thee alone, and where no eye shall see thee, and no ear shall hear thee but his, where thou mayst open all thy heart, and disclose thy real case, and pour all thy secrets into his ear. Precious encouragement! It comes from those lips into which grace was poured: "Thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and, when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly." Then, upon this promise, go to the throne of grace. Whatever be the want, temporal or spiritual, take it there. God loves your secrets. He delights in your confidence, and will honour the soul that thus honours him.

Remember, the throne of grace is nigh at hand, You have not to travel far to reach it. No lengthy and painful journey. No wearisome and mortifying pilgrimage. It is nigh at hand. Lying down, or rising up,-going out, or coming in,-in the streets, or in the house,-in public, or in private, -in the chamber, or in the sanctuary, God is

éverywhere, and where he is, there is a prayerhearing and a prayer-answering God, In a moment, in the greatest emergency, you may lift up your heart to the Lord, and in a moment, your cry shall be heard, and your request shall be granted. "And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer: and while they are yet speaking, I will hear," Isa. lxv. 24. "The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry. The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles. The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit," Ps. xxxiv. 15, 17, 18. Remember, the throne of grace is everywhere. On the land and on the sea,-at home or abroad,-in the publicity of business, or in the privacy of retirement, "the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry." Wherever a believer goes, he bears about with him the intercession of the Spirit below, and he has the consolation of knowing that, he has the intercession of Jesus above.

Stay not from the throne of grace because of an unfavourable frame of mind. If God is ready

to receive you just as you are, if no questions are asked, and no examination is instituted, and no exceptions are made on account of the badness of

the state, then, count it your mercy to go to God with your worst frames. To linger from the throne of grace because of unfitness and unpreparedness to approach it, is to alter its character from a throne of grace, to a throne of merit. If the Lord's ears are only open to the cry of the righteous when they seek him in certain good and acceptable frames, then, he hears them for their frames, and not because he is a God of grace. But he can never alter his character, nor change the foundation of his throne. It is the mercy-seat -the throne of grace, and not for any frame, either good or bad in the suppliant, does he bow his ear, but for his own mercy's sake. Yield not, then, to this devise of your adversary, to keep you from prayer. It is the privilege of a poor soul to go to Jesus in his worst frame. To go in darkness, to go in weak faith, to go when everything says 'stay away,' to go in the face of opposition, to hope against hope, to go in the consciousness of having walked at a distance, to press through the crowd to the throne of grace. To take the hard, the cold, the reluctant heart, and lay it before the Lord. O what a triumph is this, of the power and the grace of the blessed Spirit in a poor believer. Dear reader, what is thy state? Art thou feeble in prayer? Art thou tried in prayer? And yet, is there ought of real want, of

real desire in thy heart? Is it so? Then, draw near to God. Thy frame will not be more favourable to-morrow, than it is to-day. Thou wilt not be more acceptable, nor more welcome at any future period, than at this moment. Give yourself unto prayer. I will suppose your state to be the worst that can be, your frame of mind the most unfavourable, your cross the heaviest, your corruption the strongest, your heart the hardest, yet, betaking yourself to the throne of grace, and with groanings that cannot be uttered, opening your case to the Lord, you shall adopt the song of David, who could say, in the worst of frames, and in most pressing times, "But I give myself unto prayer"-"O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together. I sought the Lord, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears. They looked unto him and were lightened; and their faces were not ashamed. This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles," Ps. xxxiv. 3—6.

The throne of grace is for the needy. It is always a time of need with a child of God. "Without me," says Jesus, "ye can do nothing." There is not a moment, but, if he knows his real state, he is in need of something. What a blessing, then, is the throne of grace!

It is for the

needy. It is for those who are in want. Upon

Take your

Brood not

whom all other doors are closed, with whom all other resources have failed, who have nowhere else to look, nowhere else to fly. To such is the throne of grace always open. Is it a time of trial with thee? then, it is a time of need. trial, whatever it be, simply to God. over it. Cherish it not. This will not make it sweeter, nor more easy to be borne. But, taking it to Jesus, will. The very act of taking it will lighten it, and casting it upon his tenderness and sympathy will make it sweet. Is it a time of spiritual darkness with thee? then, it is a time of need. Take darkness to the throne of grace, and "in his light" who sitteth upon it, you "shall see light." Is it a time of adverse providences? then it is a time of need. And where can you go for guidance, for direction, for counsel, for light upon the intricacies of the way, but to the God of grace? Is it a time of temporal distress with thee? then, it is a time of need. Take your temporal cares and necessities to the Lord, for he who is

your

the God of grace, is also the God of providence. "Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need."

Thank the Lord for every errand that takes you to the throne of grace. Whatever that be that sends you to prayer, count it one of your choice