And now I commend this prayer to all of you--the prayer which this
youth offered when he went out carrying his unhonoured name and empty
hand into the rough places of the world. It is a beautiful prayer. It
is on the whole a wise prayer. There are better and more Christian
prayers in the gospels and epistles; but in the Old Testament there are
few prayers more worthy of imitation than this.
He asked that "_God might bless him indeed_," that is, above every
human blessing and favour, that he might, by his life and conduct,
deserve it He asked what we may all safely and humbly ask of God,
provided that we give a large and not a low meaning. He asked that
"_God would enlarge his coast_." If that meant broad estates, you had
better drop it out of your prayer. But if it means to have your life
enlarged, your sympathies and interests widened out, your influence and
your power of service increased, it is such a prayer as Christ might
have taught you. Never forget to offer it. He asked that "_the hand
of God might be with him_"; that every day he might feel the leadings
and take no step which was not a step approved by God. And he asked
that the watchful and restraining power of the Almighty would "_keep
him from evil_."
You will do well to offer that prayer at the beginning. You will do
well to offer it every day to the end. It is a prayer that will keep;
you will find it fresh each morning. And every day will be a better
day which is thus commenced, and every life will grow honourable in the
sight of men, and beautiful in the sight of God, which develops in the
spirit of it.