3. Suffering enlarges the heart by creating the power to sympathize. If we
pray eagerly for ourselves, we shall not long be able to forget our
fellow-sufferers. We ought to be grateful for occasional griefs if they
preserve us from chronic hardheartedness; for of all afflictions, an unkind
heart is the worst. Prayer when it is of the Holy Spirit’s teaching is never
selfish; the believer would have everyone in a similar state to partake of
divine mercy with him. The prayer may be viewed as a promise; our Heavenly
Father will never let his trustful children find him untrue or unkind. Letthem be ashamed which transgress without cause. David had given his enemies
no provocation. Sinners have no valid excuse for transgressing; they benefit no
one, not even themselves, by their sins; the law against which they transgress
is not harsh or unjust; God is not a tyrannical ruler, providence is not a
bondage; men sin because they will sin, not because it is either profitable or
reasonable to do so. May they blush with penitential shame now, or else they
will not be able to escape the everlasting contempt and the bitter shame of
fools in the world to come.
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