VI. EXPOSTULATION.
MY God, my God, I find in thy book that fear is a stifling spirit, a spirit of suffocation; that Lshbosheth could not speck, nor reply in his oun defence to Abner, because he was afraid[1]. It was thy servant Job's case too, who, before he could say any thing to thee, says of thee, Let him take his rod away from me, and let not his fear terrify me, then would I spealk with him, and not fear him; but it's not so with me[2]. Shall afear of thee takeaway my devotion to thee 7 Dost thou command me to speak to thee, and command me to fear thee; and do these destroy one another? There is no perplexity in thee, my God; no inextricableness in thee, my light and my clearness, my sun and my moon, that directest me as well in the night of adversity and fear, as in my day of prosperity and confidence. I must then speak to thce at all times, but when must I fear thee? At all times too. When didst thou rebuke any petitioner with the name of importunate? Thou hast proposed to us a parable of a judge[3] that did justice at last, because the client was importunate, and troubled him; but thou hast told us plainly, that thy use in that parable was not that thou wast troubled with our importunities, but (as thou sayest there) that we should always pray. And to the same purpose thou proposest another[4], that if I press my friend, when he is in bed at midnight, to lend me bread, though he will not rise because I am his friend, yet because of mine importunity he will. God will do this whensoever thou askest, and never call it importunity. Pray in thy bed at midnight, and God will not say, I will hear thee to-
