from their sin, when thou afflictest them: 36 then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy servants, and of thy people Israel, that thou teach them the good way wherein they should walk, and give rain upon thy land, which thou hast given to thy people for an inheritance.

37 If there be in the land famine, if there be pestilence, blasting, mildew, locust, or if there be caterpillar; if their enemy besiege them in the land of their cities; whatsoever plague, whatsoever sickness there be; 38 what prayer and supplication soever be made by any man, or by all thy people Israel, which shall know every man the plague of his own heart, and spread forth his hands toward this house 39 then hear thou in heaven thy dwellingplace, and forgive, and do, and give to every man according to his ways, whose heart thou knowest; (for thou, even thou only, knowest the hearts of all the children of men ;) 40 that they may fear thee all the days that they live in the land which thou gavest unto our fathers.

41 Moreover, concerning a stranger, that is not of thy people Israel, but cometh out of a far country for thy name's sake; 42 (For they shall hear of thy great name, and of thy strong hand, and of thy stretchedout arm;) when he shall come and pray toward this house 43 hear thou in heaven thy dwelling-place, and do according to all that the stranger calleth to thee for; that all people of the earth may know thy name, to fear thee, as do thy people Israel; and that they may know that this house, which I have builded, is called by thy name.

44 If thy people go out to battle against their

enemy, whitherscever thou shalt send them, and shall pray unto the Lord toward the city which thou hast chosen, and toward the house that I have built for thy name: 45 then hear thou in heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause. 46 If they sin against thee, (for there is no man that sinneth not,) and thou be angry with them, and deliver them to the enemy, so that they carry them away captives into the land of the enemy, far or near; 47 yet if they shall bethink themselves in the land whither they were carried captives, and repent, and make supplication unto thee in the land of them that carried them captives, saying, We have sinned, and have done perversely, we have committed wickedness; 48 and so return unto thee with all their heart, and with all their soul, in the land of their enemies which led them away captive, and pray unto thee toward their land which thou gavest unto their fathers, the city which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for thy name: 49 then hear thou their prayer and their supplication in heaven thy dwelling-place, and maintain their cause, 50 and forgive thy people that have sinned against thee, and all their transgressions wherein they have transgressed against thee, and give them compassion before them who carried them captive, that they may have compassion on them: 51 for they be thy people, and thine inheritance, which thou broughtest forth out of Egypt, from the midst of the furnace of iron : 52 That thine eyes may be open unto the supplication of thy servant, and unto the supplication of thy people Israel, to hearken unto them in all that they call for unto thee. 53 For thou didst separate them

from among all the people of the earth, to be thine inheritance, as thou spakest by the hand of Moses thy servant, when thou broughtest our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord God.

Note. This is a long prayer: but prayers are not accepted nor rejected on account of their length or shortness. Let the prayer, be it long or short, come out of the fulness of a believing heart.

Solomon with the people.

1 Kings viii.—54 And it was so, that when Solomon had made an end of praying all this prayer and supplication unto the Lord, he arose from before. the altar of the Lord, from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread up to heaven. 55 And he stood, and blessed all the congregation of Israel with a loud voice, saying, 56 Blessed be the Lord, that hath given rest unto his people Israel, according to all that he promised there hath not failed one word of all his good promise, which he promised by the hand of Moses his servant. 57 The Lord our God be with us, as he was with our fathers; let him not leave us nor forsake us; 58 that we may incline our hearts unto him, to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and his statutes, and his judgments, which he commanded our fathers. 59 And let these my words, wherewith I have made supplication before the Lord, be nigh unto the Lord our God day and night, that he maintain the cause of his servant, and the cause of his people Israel at all times, as the matter shall require: 60 That all the people of the earth may know that the Lord is God, and that there

is none else. 61 Let your heart therefore be perfect with the Lord our God, to walk in his statutes, and to keep his commandments, as at this day.

Note.-A dismissal prayer. When great assemblies of people separate, there should be a solemn commending of each other to God, under the solemnizing impression that they will never all meet again till the judgment day.

The Lord's answer to Solomon's prayer.

1 Kings ix.—1 And it came to pass, when Solomon had finished the building of the house of the Lord, and the king's house, and all Solomon's desire which he was pleased to do, 2 that the Lord appeared to Solomon the second time, as he had appeared unto him at Gibeon. 3 And the Lord said unto him, I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication, that thou hast made before me: I have hallowed this house, which thou hast built, to put my name there for ever; and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually. 4 And if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked, in integrity of heart, and in uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded thee, and will keep my statutes and my judgments: 5 then I will establish the throne of thy kingdom upon Israel for ever, as I promised to David thy father, saying, There shall not fail thee a man upon the throne of Israel. 6 But if ye shall at all turn from following me, ye or your children, and will not keep my commandments and my statutes which I have set before you, but go and serve other gods, and worship them 7 then will I cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them; and this house, which I

have hallowed for my name, will I cast out of my sight and Israel shall be a proverb and a byword among all people: 8 and at this house, which is high, everyone that passeth by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss; and they shall say, Why hath the Lord done thus unto this land, and to this house? 9 and they shall answer, Because they forsook the Lord their God, who brought forth their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and have taken hold upon other gods, and have worshipped them, and served them: therefore hath the Lord brought upon them all this evil.

Note. Here we have the answer that the Lord gave meanwhile to the foregoing prayers of Solomon and his people, bringing out one of the mysteries of prayer, how the answer from the unchanging God is conditioned on the conduct of those who pray. Even so, Father, for so it seemeth good in thy sight.

The prophet for Jeroboam. Answered immediately. 1 Kings xiii.-6 And the king answered and said unto the man of God, Entreat now the face of the Lord thy God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored me again. And the man of God besought the Lord, and the king's hand was restored him again, and became as it was before.

Note.-We should pray for the removal of temporal calamities from sinners, even when we have little hope or prospect of their conversion.

Elijah for the widow of Zarephath's son. Answered immediately.

1 Kings xvii.-17 And it came to pass, after these