Jabez's Prayer

… I suppose we really rarely turn to the genealogies, do we? And when we do, we might have thought that there's very little in them that we can learn, and yet I would say that in all the places that we find the genealogies mentioned, there's something that's profitable to us. As I think of this chapter that we've read tonight, and read concerning Jesus, I think of the fact that there was the Chronicler writing down that he was led by God, writing and continuing to write all those names, and then he comes to the name of Jabez. But what would he say about him? In other instances we see that there are names mentioned, and nothing mentioned about them, and yet when the Chronicler comes to that one, and that word Jabez, it is that he pauses just a moment, and what would he write about? Well, he might have written about the things that would have told us how he was more honorable than his brethren, but he didn't. There was no mention otherwise, that he was more noble than his brethren, and his hierarchy bore him in sorrow. But there was one thing above another that God would have to bring before us, and he placed in the heart of the Chronicler, and it's now found in the Word of God, and that is his prayer, his prayer. And though Eliezer would write through his son at that time by his spirit, he felt how important that prayer was. Now, as we look at that prayer, it is a short prayer, isn't it, when we think of it? I think there's 33 words in this prayer, that's not very long, is it? And then as well, as we read it, we see it appears to be a selfish prayer in the fact that there are five mentions of himself, me and mine. And when we think of it and go on, we see that he begins to speak and begins to ask immediately. Now, when we think of ourselves, there are times when we come before the Lord in prayer, and it is that there are things to go into, there are things that have gone astray in our lives. And yet here, it appears that this one is able to inquire and ask immediately, and as we see him ask immediately, it is that God gives him that which he requests. He grants him that. It's an answer prayer. Now, we ought to think about that a little while, shouldn't we, because after all, as we look at it in that way, we might feel that this man firstly just came into the presence of the Lord and quoted a few words, and that prayer was answered. Was it as maybe today we think after ourselves at times that we haven't done when we come into the presence of the Lord? I know that there are things that we seem to do today and we have plenty of time for, but with regard to ourselves, it may be that we do not spend as much time in our prayer life as we should. But with regard to this man, I don't think that he was that at all. I don't think that his prayer was short because of the fact that he hastily came into the presence of the Lord, asked what he needed and was granted it, and hastily went out with that blessing. I don't think that it was that at all. And I don't think that God will answer prayers like that. I feel that as we come into the presence of God and ask prayer for Jesus Christ, it is that we wait in his presence. We have his life, we ask for the Spirit, and then in that way we receive. But I will say, when I think of this short prayer, it's shorter than most prayers in the Bible. And I will say with regard to our prayers, it need not be that our prayers are short when they're on their own. As we are found in our closet in the morning or at night time, or as we are found in our heart when during the day the shortest prayer can come before the Lord, and know now there are times when we need to be before him at length with regard to things that are happening not only in our lives, but in the life of others. And as we come here at this moment, I will say with regard to this man, he has come to a crisis in his life, and therefore as he comes into the presence of the Lord, he brings before him that which was on his heart at this time. Yes, I feel it is. But when we come together, it should not be just what's on our mind, but that which is on our heart. If you take, with regard to the prayer, well, as you've mentioned that there is that prayer just 33 words long, and I've mentioned of self, wouldn't it be called a selfish prayer, and does God answer selfish prayers? Well, he answered this prayer, did he not? And when I think of him speaking, he speaks those five times with regard to himself, then why was it that God answered the prayer if it had been in this way for self? I would say, as I look into the Word of God, that he is willing always to bless us, but as he's willing to bless us, it's not that he's going to bless us so that we can hold that blessing for ourselves and not be the means of blessing to others. I know, as we look into the teaching concerning the people of God of old, he brought them into the land so that they might inherit that blessing for himself, so that in turn, that he might have a portion in them. And I would say, with regard to this man, as he prays, it is that he desires a blessing because it isn't the impoverished soul that's the means of blessing to other people. And as I think of him here, his desire of being more noble than his brethren was that in turn, God would bless him and bless him indeed, so that in turn, he might be a means of blessing to those around. And I feel that's how brothers work. It's an answer prayer, and so often there are people that will come to you and say, well, I wonder why it is that my prayers are not answered. But I have heard the answer that God sometimes says no, and sometimes he says yes, and sometimes he says wait. I've heard those things, but if I look into the existence of John, I think it is, the Lord says there, if my word abiding in you and ye abiding in me, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. My word abiding in you and ye abiding in me. What would that mean? That if it is that we have in our heart that word, so that we know that which is convenient and suitable to the Lord, and we abide in him, we are found in that place of hearing, surely it will be that when we ask, we will not ask of him that we might in our own might use these things on our own desires, but it will be so that when we ask, that which we ask and receive will be the means of blessing to others. And I do favour that God is a man that came to this crisis in his life. No doubt it was that as he asked, and as God was willing to give, it was so that he might be a blessing to others. And I feel that we learn a little in that way with regard to this prayer that we read on tonight. And I want you to now look into this prayer because it's a wonderful prayer, although it's so short, I would say it's a wonderful prayer because there's so much in this prayer concerning that thing. I think that each part of this prayer is centred on a certain fashion that we can read of in God's Word. Now firstly, we read that he called upon the God of Israel. He called on the God of Israel. Well, when we think of that, we can think of the fact that there are two ways in which he might have called on the God of Israel. Now when we think of Israel, or that man Jacob, we think of him who was one that was left when he called upon God. He was connected with that community because when we see him there before God, although at the time when God changed his name, he had had so much of Israel with him, I don't think that he has in that singular form. He was the God of Israel. He had the name given to him when he received that name from the Lord. And I want you to think about it for a moment, and I want you to think of him previously with that. Remember that he comes back from his father and God and with him are those two roads that he has accrued to himself. It had been that he'd gone out to his staff, gone away from home, and gone into that far-off land, but now he has so much around him that he's told by God to go back, go back to his land. And in going back, when he gets to the rock Jacob, he's told again that he saw it coming to meet him with 400 men. Now what would he do with regard to this? Would he pray? Now, I think that we have a little question here. I've answered the question in this way. Would he pray? No, he won't personally pray. He will pray, but he won't personally pray that one thing that he feels is important and that he thinks he should act. That's sometimes how we think, isn't it? Instead of firstly getting down on our knees and praying to the Lord concerning a certain set of circumstances in which we find ourselves, we act. And then, as it were, as it were, since it was before the war, we get down on our knees and pray. And that's the wrong way to do it. When I think of it, it says concerning him that when he heard this, he sent over the rock Jacob those two drones. There were those cattle that were his, and there was also, with the cattle, there were his wives and his children, and he was going to be left there alone. Now, it was that he would be left behind because if you had read his prayer there, he was thinking of himself. He was thinking of the fact that if Esau came in his hatred toward him, he would firstly attack that which was before, and he prayed that he might not attack me and the children and my wives. See, it was him that would up the most in his own thought. It wasn't others that were before him here, and therefore he sent those two flocks, those two drones over the river, and it says concerning him that Jacob is left alone. I wonder how long it had been since he was alone because we find him there alone with God. And as we see him alone with God, it is a very, very important place to be found alone with God, and he found it to be important. I wonder how long it had been since he had prayed to the Lord. And when we think of the so much that was in his life at that time, he says concerning his life to Laban that he'd been out in the heat of the day and he'd been out in the cold of the night, and when he was in his rest, he felt in his bed he had no rest, it appears that he had very, very little time to pray. But now he's left alone with God, and it says concerning him that there's one that wrestles with him. Now I want you to think of that because I'm certain that you've heard of things and words where we wrestle with God, but we just can't wrestle with God. We are not in a position to wrestle anything from God, and neither was he. At this time, when the Lord would bring him into blessing, it is that the angel wrestles with him. It is in that moment that the angel wrestles with him. And don't think us, I say for a moment, don't think for a moment that we can wrestle anything from God. I know a poet who used to sing a hymn, in prayer let me wrestle and he will perform. If Christ's in the vessel, I'll smile at the storm. If Christ's in the vessel, I'll smile at the storm, but he won't perform because I wrestle. We must remember that here it was that with regard to Jacob, God wrestled him into a place of submission and then he was able to bless him. He began, no doubt, as there was one that wrestled with him, he began to do what he'd done at the beginning of his life. He'd been a steamer and to get out of various difficult sets of circumstances, no doubt he struggled and he kicked, he used his energies, and it was no doubt that he did that here, but there was no use in it because it says concerning him there was a man that broke over and wrestled with him. And when he saw that he prevailed, he touched the hole in his thigh and his thigh was out of joint. He was brought into a place of submission and weakness before he could receive a blessing from God. Yes, that's how the God of Jacob works. The God of Israel works. If we're brought into a place of submission, then he's able to work. Yes, as well, if we think of the same thought with regard to the God of Israel, we must remember that another thought may come in and that is that in the beginning of Jeremiah, I think it's the second chapter, God says, I remember thee, speaking of Israel, when thou wentest after me in the wilderness, Israel was holiness under the law. Now, there was a time when they would turn back in the wilderness, but at this particular time it says, I remember thee when thou wentest after me in the wilderness, Israel was holiness under the law. Then we see in another place that he named them Israel, her name was Israel. Well, when they went after him in the wilderness, it means to me that they were down in a place of separation. They went after him, separating themselves and going after him and at that time, as they went after him in that separation, they were holiness under the law. So, when we think of the thought of praying to the God of Israel, we see that there's something needed if we're going to receive the blessing and that is to be insufficient to be good and also to be a separate people that go after him. Meaning that the one desire in their heart at this moment was not to turn back to the leeks and the garlics, the cucumbers, such as they had in India, but to go after him, in separation from him. Then, this younger man, Joseph, uses the word O. And he prayed to the God of Israel and said O, that thou wouldst bless me indeed. Now, when we come to this word, we use it in so many ways, don't we? We use it in surprise, don't we? If we're surprised, we use the word O. If we're in pain, we use that same word. In so many ways we use it. But with regard to what this man gave us at this moment, as he mentioned that, as he used that word O, there was a deepness that he's feeling in that word. It was that as he was praying at this moment, his intense desire was that God would bless him indeed. There was all the meaning there. If we turn to Proverbs 14, at the beginning of that chapter, we see God use that word. O Israel, return unto the Lord thy God, for thou hast fallen by thy iniquity. O Israel, the depth of feeling of a loving and a gracious God. And here is what the depth of feeling of this one, it was hard work with regard to this phrase. Now, when we think of that, it challenges us whether we sometimes come into the presence of the Lord with not this deep and intense desire with regard to that which we are praying with him. It may be that as we come into his presence, we come, and it might be, in poor man's view for him, as day by day as we come into his presence, it may be that there are things that are coming to our minds and they might have feelings farther than our minds. I remember hearing a man speak one concerning prayer, and he said, well sometimes, he said, with regard to our prayer, if they were asked, that the most surprised people would be ourselves. Not so with this man. It was that he mentioned, he used that word, O, and that all that deep sense, all that deep feeling in that word, he speaks and says, O, that thou wouldst bless me indeed. Bless me indeed. He did not desire just a blessing from God, but a blessing indeed. And when thinking of this blessing indeed, I turned and looked into the sixth chapter of Numbers. And there, there is a blessing indeed, if we look at the last part of the chapter, if we look at the 24th verse. We'll go a little further forward, backwards to the 22nd verse, to the sixth chapter of Numbers. And the Lord's Prayer unto Moses says, unto Aaron and unto his son saying, And when I think of that, I would say, that's a blessing indeed, wouldn't you? If we look at those bits from the 24th to the 27th, we could spend the whole evening speaking of the way that the Lord has blessed the king, or how he has made his face to shine upon us, and become his countenance upon us. What would that mean? Well, if we look into the Genesis and read concerning Cain, we see that he was, it says concerning him that he was displeased that his countenance was fallen. But as we think of the prayer, a blessing that is found here, it says the Lord lift up his countenance upon thee and set thee in peace. What a wonderful blessing. But you know, that can't be consequent. It's only consequent on the people doing according to the will of the Lord. And if we turn to those six chapters of Numbers, we should find that the people that would have that blessing, or receive that blessing from the Lord, there are things that they must subscribe to. In the first chapter of that same book, I think it's about the 18th verse, they're told that they have to declare their pedigree. What does that mean? Now, if you look into the book of Nehemiah, it says concerning some that when they came out of the land where they'd been captive, they came back and they couldn't declare their pedigree, but they were put out because they couldn't. What's it mean? That they couldn't say that their pedigree took in the fact that they came through Abraham, Adam, Isaac and Jacob. When I think of that, it is important for ourselves to be able, if we're going to receive a blessing, to definitely know where we stand with regard to salvation. You'll say, Mr. Lund was speaking to people that were on the road and on Mars. Yes, and we should be definite with regard to where we stand so that when others will come and others will speak to us concerning ourselves, we ought to be able to show where we are standing, that we are standing on grace alone and that our relationship with God is not that we're religious persons, is not that we go to a certain mission, it is that we're the children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. I remember working for a man for many years and very often I had words with him with regard to salvation and sometimes it was that I felt he might be the Lord, and sometimes he wasn't clear with regard to himself. He couldn't declare his pedigree. No, with regard to him, there wasn't that fact that he could clearly say that the Lord Jesus Christ had died for his sins on the cross. I think it's very important, not only for ourselves, but for those around us so that they might know something of where we stand with regard to these things. But not only so, but if you looked into the second chapter, I think the beginning of the chapter, you'd see that those that were going to be blessed, they were to pitch by their own standard on the inside of their father's house. What does that mean? That doesn't mean, it's shown that they are Israelites, they are the people of God, but they're not just the people of God so that they can go through as they would have gone through the wilderness into the promised land. We are not the people of God so that we can say, oh yes, I belong to the Lord Jesus Christ, I'm looking for glory, and have no responsibility attached to it at all. With regard to them, they were to declare their pedigree and then to pitch by their own standard on the inside of their father's house. I wonder sometimes today whether we appreciate that when I hear of different things that happened to people that were believers that go here and go there and go somewhere else, it was with regard to the people of God in that day when they came into the land, they were shown where they should be as before the law. They had positions before him and that's the position they had to keep. They were not allowed to go here and there and other places. It was that they were to be found in the place where their tribe was. There they were to be found, and they were to pitch by their own standard on the inside of their father's house. Do you remember what happened to a little lad when he left the believing that God would use him? He looked around when things were not as great because it had concerned him and their own mind that they went out poor, but they came back empty. He looked around and because of circumstances, he said, so if you're coming on the land, you're going to suffer, we'll leave the house of bread and we'll go into a farmland and you're going to hurt those things. And that's what happened to them. God gave them the position to be found in and surely if he knew that that position happened aside, he would leave them there. But not only that, but the Israelites had a responsibility there. He was to pitch by his own standard on the inside of his father's house. He was to work there in that position. He was not just one that lived there, but he acted there and he acted for the Lord. Yes, if we go farther, we will see later on in the end of that chapter there's a certain thought there that they were to go forward by their families. That means to me that those that were going to receive the blessing of the Lord, there would be the unity among them. They would go forward. As they were going through the wilderness there, they would go by their families and there would be unity. If we go forward together, there's certainly much to be unity, much to share. And I would say that's a very, very important thing regardless of where we're left in that we have unity. We, in our families, we say there's unity in our families. Not uniformity, because nobody else, you could go with any number of companies of people and you won't find uniformity at all. No, there are so many that are different from one another, but there's one thing that we can be, we can be found in unity if we keep our eyes off one another and have our eyes centred on the Lord Jesus Christ. When I think about how important it is to know that our unity is centred only in Him, so that as we gather, we gather to His Name and we have Him in mind and in heart and in that unity we can go forward and in that way alone. And lastly, in the fifth chapter, and I think it's the first verse, it says there was one thing that they must do and that was that they were to pull out the leper from among them. There had to be that thought with regard to their cleanliness, the cleanliness of their tribes, how necessary it was in that day that the leper should be taken away, should be pulled out from among them, and how necessary it is that there be that cleanliness with regard to the people of God, that there might not be that that comes in verse 5, and that there was a blasphemy indeed. And then he says, concerning the next part of the verse, and enlarge my coach. He prays for enlargement and as I think of him praying for enlarging his coach, how important it is to pray for enlargement. Do you remember in the sixth chapter of the second book of Kings there were the young prophets that wanted to go to Gilgal and they wanted enlargement, they wanted to build there. And where they were, they said, it was too straight for them. It wasn't a large enough place. They wanted to enlarge because of their leader, because of Elisha. One thing that had happened, they had been found with Elisha there, and because of his presence among them, they felt that they would desire enlargement because it would bring blessing and bring glory to him, because of the fact that they desired a larger place for him. Enlargement. They went to Gilgal, and I would say that that is the place of enlargement. But as I think of enlargement, as I think of growth, because that's enlargement, isn't it? My thought went to Hosea 14. We've mentioned that already, haven't we? Oh, that there was blessing indeed, we read here. And there it is, O Israel, return unto the Lord thy God. Now, in that little chapter, you'll find how we can be enlarged. Firstly, the prayer that's put into their mouths is, take away all iniquity and receive us graciously. That's what God says. He shall pray and say, take away all iniquity and receive us graciously. Now, this is not speaking to people that I would worship, but it speaks to God's people. And I would say, as I mentioned many, many years ago, if there's anything that displaces the Lord Jesus Christ in our hearts and in our lives, if there's anything in that way, it's something that's iniquitous, isn't it? We see that Peter speaks concerning growing, doesn't he? But he says, first we take away all evil speaking, take away murdering and bitterness, that which comes into our lives, because if that's not taken away first, we can't grow. Laying these things aside, malice, malice and things like that must be laid aside, and then it is that there'll be the blessing. Then it is there'll be the growing. And here he begins the 14th chapter of Hosea by saying, take away all iniquity and receive us graciously, and then he shows how they will grow, because he says, I will be as the dew unto Israel. The growth will come alone through him. I will be as the dew to Israel, and then he says he shall grow as the lily. Now, when I think of the growth of the lily, I think of the fact that, well, the one line goes to the Lord Jesus Christ, firstly, and when I think of him, I think of the word that we read in Isaiah 53, he shall grow up before him. Now, in that same chapter we read that they saw no beauty in a weaned infant. We shall see no beauty in him that we shall desire him. But when he grew up before his God, he grew up in all perfection and fragrance. He shall grow up before him. And as I think of the Lord Jesus growing up before him, as I think of the lily growing here, firstly, the lily is found in all purity and in all fragrance, is it not? And aren't we told by Peter that we are to follow our Lord Jesus Christ, that he's left us an example that we should follow his steps? And if we think of him growing up before his God in all purity and fragrance, don't you think that that same should occupy us? It should characterize us? It's a growth of a seed, isn't it? And when we think of the growth of a seed, don't you remember that we read in the Acts of the Apostles when there were those that would look upon the Apostles as they'd come before them in judgment? They took knowledge of the living Jesus. As they looked upon them and as they thought of our Lord Jesus Christ in his pathway here, there was one thing that these disciples reminded them of at that moment, and that was the Lord Jesus. And if he could only be found in that way, in all purity and fragrance before him, as characterized in him, how wonderful it would be if men saw it in that way. Yes, there's a growth, there's an upward growth, and there's a growth that could almost be seen when we think of this eastern country where the lily would be planted. No doubt, as that began to grow overnight, you seem to be able by the moment to see the growth. It's a growth that is seen, isn't it? Yes, it's a wonderful growth, and as I think of it being found in all fragrance and purity, how wonderful it is. But you say, well, could that be true concerning ourselves? Well, I feel that David the Psalmist, when he wrote the psalm, would feel that it could be true. Let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us, that's what he says, and that's what he means, and it has been there indicted by the Spirit of God, and I feel that the beauty of the Lord our God should be upon us. But not only does he say there that he should grow the lily, but he should put forth his roots as lavender. Now, he changes this illustration to be secretory, that he should put forth his roots as lavender, because it may be that we see people and they appear to have a change in their lives. It might be that there is that beauty and fragrance in them that comes from Christ. It might be, on the other hand, that they're living uprightly as men. But when we think of the cedar tree, we think of establishment. Not only is there that upward growth that must be seen, and that God will look on with approval, but also there must be that downward growth that's not seen, that downward growth, so that we're established. What does the Scripture speak of? Of being rooted and grounded in him. That's the thought, isn't it, that if there is that growth, and that growth comes alone from the Lord our God, because the view of him is well, there should be that downward growth that means that we're established in him. Established in those things that are spiritual and not tossed about by those things that are around about us. And then he says, concerning their growth, we've seen firstly the upward growth, that's the downward growth, and his branches shall spread as the olive tree. What does that mean? That's another growth then, isn't it? And when we think of the olive with his fatness, as the Scripture tells us, it means to me that there's not only growth that speak of my being in that position of fragrance before the Lord, my being established, rooted and building in him, but there's also the fact that I'm the means of blessing to others around about. See, his branches go spread as the olive tree. The olive was known for its oil, was it not? For its freshness, for its fullness, for its blessing. That would remind me of the truth that we read concerning Joseph being a fruitful bell whose branch is spread over all. We might have that upward growth, we might have the downward growth, but we do need presently to know something about that outward growth that brings other people in and into blessing by the Spirit of God working in and through us. Yes, as we think of these growths now, we might have that upward growth, we might have the downward growth but we do need presently to know something about that outward growth that brings other people in and into blessing by the Spirit of God working in and through us. Yes, as we think of these growths, how wonderful they were. And here, as an aside before we read this, let's remember that with regard to the olive, I think we read in Deuteronomy that the olive did not receive its nourishment from the ground from which it was found in. It grew, I think the Scripture says there, from the flinty rock, and therefore it depended upon the atmosphere that it was found in. When we think of that, we must realise that our resources are not in this poor old world, but it's the atmosphere that we're found in. Now supposing I as a believer was to be always gathered with people that were not the Lord's, and therefore I couldn't speak to them concerned with these things. Supposing I go out into the world and mix with all those things that are in the world, I can't find any growth. I will not be growing, will I? But if the atmosphere is the atmosphere that I should be found in, if I find my happiness, my comfort, in the presence of the Lord's people who are thinking upon Him, then it will be in that atmosphere that I shall be able to grow and be the means of blessing to others. The next part of the verse says that thy hand might be with me, and as I think of the hand of the Lord being with him, how important this is, isn't it? The hand being with him. Now as I turn to Deuteronomy, another blessing, Deuteronomy 33, we find there that there is no blessing. And the hand is mentioned there, we see Moses at the end of his life there, now being 120 years old. We look at the beginning, the 33rd of Deuteronomy, and he's giving his last message to the people. And he says words like this, Yea, he loved the people, all his saints are in thy hand, they sat down at thy feet, and everyone shall receive of thy words. But what does he say about the hand? All his saints are in thy hand. As I think of that, it is here that Jacob says that thy hand might be with me. Yes, it's a wonderful thing for the hand of the Lord to be with us, because his hand will not be with us if we're doing that which is contrary to his will and mine. To be in his hand, how blessed it is, isn't it? When I think of all his saints being in thy hand, it means that they're now found in their oneness. Now, we don't see this in the world today, do we? As we think of the people of God, and sometimes we mention that they're scattered and appealed, sometimes we see one here and one there, sometimes we see that there's little unity at all, but it says concerning his saints, all his saints are in thy hand. And when we think of Jacob as being found, the hand of the Lord being with him, there's one wonderful thing about him, and that would be that he would be with others at that day in the hand of the Lord. And we are. I know that there are things that would hinder our full fellowship with the believers as we think of them, but I will say this with regard to us. The Scripture is quite clear in the fact that it says all his saints are in thy hand. And I like to think of that. I like to think of the fact that all his saints are in thy hand, and will not it be proved in a day to come when our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ comes for us from the glory that all his saints are in thy hand? They're going to be caught up, aren't they? And yet I like to think of it in this way. When we think of ourselves here tonight, perhaps we're here and we're enjoying a comparative measure of health and strength. But I can bring before you tonight several people that are not like this, several people that belong to the Lord. I can remember just the one just at this moment, and it will be a very short time, naturally speaking, before she's taken into the presence of the Lord and she's in pain. I heard the other day concerning one dear brother in America and we actually heard his name, Percy Pickering. He's in a very, very violent pain at this moment. And yet I like to think with regard to such cases, all his saints are in thy hand. He's near to them. All his saints are in thy hand. And yet I would say before I turn from this point, I know the time is going on, before I turn from this point, I will say that if we're in his hand, and if Jabez would be in his hand after this time, there would be one thing concerning Jabez, and that would be that he would be used of the Lord because we use the things that are in our hand. We use in our everyday life the things that are in our hand. We use those things. We use them in our hand. And if we're in the hand of the Lord, I feel that we should be there and allow him to use us just as he will. Now, that's perhaps a statement that's stupidly spoken. But I feel that it is so because the moment that Paul is spoken to when Saul tasks us, he's down on that Damascus road, he says, Lord, what will thou have me to do? He was in the hand of the Lord at that moment to be used and to be taken or to be led to the place where he would be used, and he would from that day forward, insufficient to the will of the Lord, he would go and do, and be what the Lord would have him to do because he was in his hand or his saints of the day hand. Yes, and perhaps if we closed our Bible now, it would be a very, very sad thing because when we think of this man, Japheth, although he was a man and guided no doubt by the Spirit with regard to his prayer, he was a wise man naturally and spiritually, and there was one thing that he knew would be the means of smarring his testimony, marring his life down here, and that was the evil, and therefore he says, And that thou wouldest keep me from the evil as it might not bring thee. Now, as we look through the lives of so many of the Old Testament worlds, they didn't pray those words, did they? We think perhaps of David in his later years. We think of Solomon in his later years. We think of Hesychard in his later years. We think of G. Q. in his later years. We think of so many of those that are spoken about in their later years, and they didn't pray that prayer, did they? They came into that which was evil. We see with regard to G. Q., it says concerning him that he, although he was able to work for the Lord, he walked not according to the will of the Lord. We see with regard to Solomon at the end of his pathway, he was not in the mind of the Lord and he was deceived and he was brought to turn aside by outlandish women. See, they didn't pray this prayer. But as we think of ourselves, and as we can think of ourselves in the same position as J. S., we desire that same blessing, but it is that we must ever have before us the fact that we are weak in the flesh and we need him to hold us and we need him to keep us. But apart from this, there will be no blessing in your lives. …