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PREFACE.

TO THE MEMBERS OF THE NETHERLAND REFORMED CONGREGATION IN CAPE TOWN.

'THE GRACE OF GOD BE WITH YOU ALL.'

BELOVED in the Lord, receive in this prayer for blessing the greeting with which I offer you this book, with the assurance of my heartfelt longing and prayer for you all. It may at the same time serve as an intimation of the pregnant subject and the blessed aim in connection with which I have been stirred up to present this volume to you.

The grace of God: a more glorious topic could not possibly be named. In that one word Grace all that is wonderful and worthy of adoration in God, and all that is glorious and desirable for man, finds its highest expression. The grace of God: what does it not include? The everlasting com­passion with which the heart of the Father was filled for us, until it at last overflowed in the gift of His beloved Son; the unsearchable richness and fulness of the grace which is seen in the love and the redemption of His Son; and the blessed gifts and operations of the Spirit, of which everyone of the innumerable host of the redeemed is a witness and an example: all that is precious and blessed in the faith, the experience or the hope of believers, and all that is inexpressible in the ex­pectation of that eternal happiness which is beyond all understanding-all this is the glory of the grace of God. He that knows, possesses, and finds it, has life and salvation.

In this little work I have endeavoured to set before you something of the glory of the grace of God, alike in its first principles and its higher operations, according as this Psalm has given me opportunity. The misery from which grace redeems, the work that it does, the way in which it may be obtained, the blessing and the joy and the power which it gives, this and very much more is presented in it so simply, so intelligibly, and so strikingly, that I am assured the consideration of it cannot possibly be fruitless.

That it is also not unneedful, I know by experi­ence. From many a conversation in my pastoral intercourse, alike in other congregations and here in the city, it has become very plain to me that there are many, even well-meaning people, who have very defective, if not entirely wrong, ideas about the grace of God. By this means they suffer inestimable loss. Wrong views about grace exercise an unhappy influence upon the whole life. I do not desire that they should simply receive what I have to say to them about grace, but what I desire is that they should go with me to the Word of God and understand what God says about His grace, in order that our thoughts about that which grace is and does, may entirely agree with the thoughts of God. Beloved, would that we could indeed endeavour to lay aside all merely human conceptions, all inherited ideas about grace, und with childlike submission inquire what God Himself says of it. He who thus yields himself with humble prayer to be taught of God, and who holds himself prepared to receive simply and with­out contradiction what God says, shall truly learn to understand grace. Amidst all the various words of this Psalm, that one word 'grace' remains its overmastering thought. The grace of God: would that it may be also for our souls the one topic that takes possession of us.

And what of the object which I have in view in limiting you to this topic? The grace of God BE WITH YOU ALL. Yes: that the grace of God may be with you, and may be your portion and your joy, is, in truth, my desire.

I am afraid that there may be some among you who shall read this book that have not yet known the grace of God in truth, that have not, indeed, found grace, because they have not yet sought it from the heart. They have long since heard of the grace of God, and yet it still remains strange to them. To all such I would fain set forth the desirableness and the indispensableness of the grace of God. In the light of God's grace, I would fain turn their attention to their sins, if by any means they might learn to deplore them with the penitent of this Psalm. And with their eyes fixed upon their sins, I would fain turn their hearts to think of the grace of God, if by any means they might learn to desire it, so that their earnest prayer might thus be: 'Have mercy upon me, 0 God.' I would fain come to them with this prayer for blessing-The grace of God BE WITH YOU; it is seeking you, it is for you, it will bless you, and be with you. You have need of it, and there is no hope or salvation for you if you do not have it. Pray, suffer it to come to you and be with you. Yes: beloved friends who have not this grace of God, with all earnestness I will cry to God and ask it from Him for you-The grace of God BE WITH YOU. Pray, do not repel me when, as your minister and your friend, I ask you to listen to me, while I proceed to exhibit the grace of God to you, and in God's name endeavour to impress it upon your heart that there is grace also for you.

I am quite sure that there are others among you who lift up the prayer of this Psalm with all earnestness, and yet do not taste the joy and the blessing which ought to follow upon the prayer. These still retain wrong ideas concerning the work which grace is to do, the way in which it manifests itself, and the conditions on which it may be expected and received. To all such I would fain point out what a complete provision there is in the grace of God just for their needs as sinful and very wretched souls. I desire to make them see how suitable, how free, how simple, how certain, how mighty, and how completely within their reach, the grace of God is. I would also have them know that their desires are certain to bring them to faith, and their faith to a blessed experi­ence. I would, above all, direct them to this prayer for blessing: 'The grace of God be with you.' You are praying for it, you are seeking for it as if it were afar off. It is for you; it is very near you; simply receive it; only believe; suffer grace to be with you. And especially do I wish for all who may read this little volume to make this prayer with my eye fixed upon the God of all grace. ­'The grace of God be with you.'

I pray and believe that there may nevertheless be among you not a few who already from the outset in hearing the prayer, 'Have mercy upon me, O God,' have learned to know in their own experi­ence the blessed grace of God. For you not less than for others have I written these pages. This Psalm, which is ordinarily regarded as chiefly intended for those who are penitent, or who are seeking salvation, contains such glorious representations of all the rich blessing which the grace of God will implant in the soul, of the joy which it gives, the power it exercises, the confession it draws out, the God-glorifying thanksgiving which it enables the soul to yield, that it cannot be other than helpful for you also who believe, to understand what we may be by the grace of God. 0 brothers and sisters, come and see with me in this Psalm the height to which grace exalts the penitent, and hear what the new song is which it puts into their lips in place of the prayer of the publican. Come and understand what your God will do for you. 'Grace be with you': experience it in its full power and in all its blessed operations, in all, especially, that it is to be for you. Only give yourself unreservedly to it, and do not remain content with anything less than all the riches which it will bestow upon you.

'The grace of God be with you all.' With this prayer I commend both you and this little volume to the Lord. May He graciously use it for blessing in the congregation where He has set me to work. May He also grant that where I laboured in earlier days, or where the living voice can no longer be heard, it may not remain unblessed.

Your minister and servant in the Lord,

ANDREW MURRAY.