e and hereafter is one, and
death is but an event in it. Who lives to God lives long, be his years many
or few. It is reasonable to expect some relationship between godliness and
longevity. But we are nearer the truth when we see how that faith and
prayer discover and secure the eternal values of fleeting days.

_And show him My salvation._ That is the whole text summed up in one
phrase. That is the life of the godly man gathered into the compass of the
divine promise. For every one who goes the way of faith and obedience, life
in every phase of it, life here and hereafter, means but one thing and
holds but one thing, and that is _the salvation of the Lord_.

VIII.

PETITION AND COMMUNION

Hear me speedily, O Lord....
Cause me to hear ...
For I lift up my soul unto Thee.

Ps. cxliii. 7, 8.

You will notice that the first verse begins 'Hear me,' and the second
begins 'Cause me to hear'; and the second is greater than the first. Let us
look, then, at these two attitudes of a man in his hour of prayer.

_Hear me._ The Psalmist began, where all men must begin, with himself. He
had something to utter in the hearing of the Almighty. He had something to
lay before his God--a story, a confession, a plea. His heart was full, and
must outpour itself into the ear of Heaven. 'Hear me speedily, O Lord.' We
have all prayed thus. We have all faced some situation that struck a note
of urgency in our life, and all your soul has come to our lips in this one
cry that went up to the Father, 'Hear me.' A sudden pain, a surprise of
sorrow, a few moments of misty uncertainty in the face of decisions that
had to be made at once, times when life has tried to rush us from our
established position and to bear us we know not where--and our soul has
reached out after God as simply and naturally as a man grasps at some fixed
thing when he is falling.

There are times, too, when prayer is an indefinable relief. We all know
something about the relief of speech. We must speak to somebody. Our need
is not, first of all, either advice or practical help. We want a hearing.
We want some one to listen and sympathize. We want to share our pain. That
is what 'Hear me' sometimes means. Whatever Thou shalt see fit to do for
me, at least listen to my cry. Let me unburden my soul. Let me get this
weight of silence off my heart. This fashion of relief is part of the true
office of prayer. Herein lies the reasonableness of telling our story