ADORATION OF GOD
OF THE FIRST PART OF PRAYER, WHICH IS ADDRESS TO GOD, ADORATION OF HIM, WITH SUITABLE ACKNOWLEDGMENTS, PROFESSIONS,AND
PREPARATORY REQUESTS
Our spirits being composed into a very reverent serious frame, our thoughts gathered in, and all that is within us charged in the name of the great God carefully to attend the solemn and awful service that lies before us, and to keep close to it, we must with a fixed intention and application of mind, and an active lively faith, set the Lord before us, see His eye upon us, and set ourselves in His special presence, presenting ourselves to Him, as living sacrifices, which we desire may be holy and acceptable, and a reasonable service; and then bind these sacrifices with cords to the horns of the altar, in such thoughts as these: Romans 12:1. Psalm 118:27. ET us now lift up our hearts with our eyes and our hands unto God in the heavens. Lamentations 3:41. John 17:1.
Let us stir up ourselves to take hold on God, to seek his face, and to give him the glory due unto his name. Isaiah 64:7. Psalm 27:8. Psalm 29:2. Unto thee, 0 Lord, do we lift up our souls. Psalm 25:1.
Let us now, with humble boldness, enter into the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, in the new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us through the vail. Hebrews 10:19, 20.
Let us now attend upon the Lord without distraction, and let not our hearts be far from him when we draw nigh to him with our mouths, and honour him with our lips. 1 Corinthians 7:35. Matthew 15:8.
Let us now worship God who is a Spirit, in the spirit and in truth; for such the Father seeks to worship him. John 4:24, 23. Having thus engaged our hearts to approach unto God, Jeremiah 30:21.
WE MUST SOLEMNLY ADDRESS OURSELVES TO THAT INFINITELY GREAT AND GLORIOUS BEING WITH WHOM WE HAVE TO DO, AS THOSE THAT ARE POSSESSED WITH A FULL BELIEF OF HIS PRESENCE, AND A HOLY AWE AND REVERENCE OF HIS MAJESTY, WHICH WE MAY DO IN SUCH EXPRESSIONS AS THESE
HOLY, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which art and wast, and art to come. Revelation 4:8.O thou whose name alone is JEHOVAH, and who art the most high over all the earth. Psalm 83:18.
O God, thou art our God, early will we seek thee; Our God, and we will praise thee; our fathers God, and we will exalt thee. Psalm 63:1. Exodus 15:2.
O thou who art the true God, the living God, the one only living and true God, and the everlasting king. THE LORD OUR GOD WHO IS ONE LORD. Jeremiah 10:10. 1 Thessalonians 1:9. Deuteronomy 6:4.
― And we may thus distinguish ourselves from the worshippers of false gods.
The idols of the heathen are silver and gold, they are vanity and a lie, the work of mens hands; they that make them are like unto them, and so is every one that trusteth in them. But the portion of Jacob is not like them, for he is the former of all things, and Israel is the rod of his inheritance, the Lord of hosts is his name; God over all, blessed for evermore. Psalm 115:4, 8. Jeremiah 10:15, 16. Romans 9:5.
Their rock is not our Rock, even the enemies themselves being judges, for he is the Rock of ages, THE LORD JEHOVAH, with whom is everlasting strength. Whose name shall endure for ever, and his memorial unto all generations, when the gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, shall perish from off the earth, and from under those heavens. Deuteronomy 32:31. Isaiah 26:4. Psalm 135:13. Jeremiah 10:11.
WE MUST REVERENTLY ADORE GOD AS A BEING TRANSCENDENTLY BRIGHT AND BLESSED, SELF- EXISTENT AND SELF-SUFFICIENT, AN INFINITE AND ETERNAL SPIRIT, THAT HAS ALL PERFECTIONS IN HIMSELF, AND GIVE HIM THE GLORY OF HIS TITLES AND ATTRIBUTES
LORD our God, thou art very great, thou art clothed with honour and majesty, thou coverest thyself with light as with a garment, and yet as to us makest darkness thy pavilion, for we cannot order our speech by reason of darkness. Psalm 104:1, 2. Psalm 18:11. Job 37:19.
This is the message which we have heard of thee, and we set to our seal that it is true, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all: And that God is love, and they that dwell in love, dwell in God, and God in them. 1 John 1:5. John 3:33. 1 John 4:16.
Thou art the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness or shadow of turning, and from whom proceedeth every good and perfect gift. James 1:17.
Thou art the blessed and only Potentate; the King of kings, and Lord of lords, who only hast immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto, whom no man hath seen nor can see. 1 Timothy 6:15, 16.
― We must acknowledge His being to be unquestionable and past dispute.
The heavens declare thy glory, O God, and the firmament sheweth thy handy work, and by the things that are made is clearly seen and understood thine eternal power and GODHEAD. So that they are fools without excuse, who say there is no God; for verily there is a reward for the righteous, verily there is a God that judgeth in the earth, and in heaven too. Psalm 19:1. Romans 1:20. Psalm 14:1. Psalm 58:11.
We therefore come to thee, believing that thou art, and that thou art the powerful and bountiful rewarder of them that diligently seek thee. Hebrews 11:6.
― Yet we must own His nature to be incomprehensible. We cannot by searching find out God, we cannot find out the Almighty unto perfection. Job 11:7.
Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable. Psalm 145:3.
Who can utter the mighty acts of the Lord, who can shew forth all his praise? Psalm 106:2.
― And His perfections to be matchless and without compare.
Who is a God like unto thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders? Exodus 15:11.
Who in the heaven can be compared unto the Lord? Who among the sons of the mighty can be likened unto the Lord? 0 Lord God of hosts, who is a strong Lord like unto thee, or to thy faithfulness round about thee? Psalm 89:6, 8.
Among the gods there is none like unto thee, 0 Lord, neither are there any works like unto thy works: For thou art great, and dost wondrous things; thou art God alone. Psalm 86:8, 10.
There is not any creature that has an arm like God, or can thunder with a voice like him. Job 40:9.
― And that He is infinitely above us and all other beings.
Thou art God and not man; hast not eyes of flesh, nor seest thou as man seeth: Thy days are not as the days of man, nor thy years as man's days. Hosea 11:9. Job 10:4, 5.
As heaven is high above the earth, so are thy thoughts above our thoughts, and thy ways above our ways. Isaiah 55:9.
All nations before thee are as a drop of the bucket, or the small dust of the balance, and thou takest up the isles as a very little thing: They are as nothing, and are counted to thee less than nothing, and vanity. Isaiah 40:15, 17.
― Particularly in our adorations we must acknowledge, 1. That He is an eternal immutable God, without beginning of days, or end of life, or change of time.
Thou art the King eternal, immortal, invisible. 1 Timothy 1:17. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting thou art God; the same yesterday, to day, and for ever. Psalm 90:2. Hebrews 13:8.
Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of thy hands: They shall perish, but thou shalt endure; yea all of them shall wax old like a garment, as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed; but thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end. Psalm 102:25, 26, 27.
Thou art God, and changest not; therefore is it that we are not consumed. Malachi 3:6.
Art thou not from everlasting, O Lord our God, our Holy One? The everlasting God, even the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, who faintest not, neither art weary; there is no searching out of thine understanding. Habakkuk 1:12. Isaiah 40:28.
2. That He is present in all places, and there is no place in which He is included, or out of which He is excluded.
Thou art a God at hand, and a God afar off; None can hide himself in secret places that thou canst not see him, for thou fillest heaven and earth. Jeremiah 23:23, 24.
Thou art not far from every one of us. Acts 17:27.
We cannot go any whither from thy presence, or flee from thy spirit: If we ascend into heaven, thou art there; if we make our bed in hell, in the depths of the earth, behold thou art there; if we take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there shall thy hand lead us, and thy right hand shall hold us, that we cannot out-run thee. Psalm 139:7-10.
3. That He hath a perfect knowledge of all persons and things, and sees them all, even that which is most secret, at one clear, certain, and unerring view.
All things are naked and open before the eyes of him with whom we have to do; even the thoughts and intents of the heart. Hebrews 4:13, 12.
Thine eyes are in every place beholding the evil and the good; they run to and fro through the earth, that thou mayest shew thyself strong on the behalf of those whose hearts are upright with thee. Proverbs 15:3. 2 Chronicles 16:9.
Thou searchest the heart, and triest the reins, that thou mayest give to every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings. Jeremiah 17:10.
O God, thou hast searched us and known us, thou knowest our down-sitting and our up-rising, and understandest our thoughts afar off: Thou compassest our path and our lying down, and art acquainted with all our ways: There is not a word in our tongue, but lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether. Such knowledge is too wonderful for us, it is high, we cannot attain unto it. Psalm 139:1-4, 6.
Darkness and light are both alike to thee. Psalm 139:12.
4. That His wisdom is unsearchable, and the counsels and designs of it cannot be fathomed.
Thine understanding, O Lord, is infinite, for thou tellest the number of the stars, and callest them all by their names. Psalm 147:5, 4.
Thou art wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working. Wise in heart, and mighty in strength. Isaiah 28:29. Job 9:4.
O Lord, how manifold are thy works, in wisdom hast thou made them all; all according to the counsel of thine own will. Psalm 104:24. Ephesians 1:11.
O the depth of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out. Romans 11:33.
5. That His sovereignty is uncontestable, and He is the owner and absolute Lord of all.
The heavens, even the heavens are thine, and all the hosts of them: The earth is thine, and the fulness thereof, the world and they that dwell therein. In thy hand are the deep places of the earth, and the strength of the hills is thine also: The sea is thine, for thou madest it, and thy hands formed the dry land: All the beasts of the forest are thine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills: Thou art therefore a great God, and a great King above all gods. Psalm 115:16. Psalm 24:1. Psalm 95:4, 5. Psalm 50:10, 11. Psalm 95:3.
In thy hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind. Job 12:10.
Thy dominion is an everlasting dominion, and thy kingdom is from generation to generation: Thou dost according to thy will in the armies of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay thy hand, or say unto thee, What doest thou, or Why doest thou so? Daniel 4:34, 35.