Newton learned this lesson from Psalm 116:1–2. Trouble excites prayer, prayer brings deliverance, deliverance produces praise, and likewise teaches and encourages us where to go for help next time—yea, as long as we live. We do not come to the Lord upon a mere peradventure whether he will hear us or not, for he has heard us often; nor can we, nor need we say, that if he will help us but this one time, we will not trouble him again. We shall always need his assistance, and he is always ready to afford it. While we live in this poor world, trials of one kind or another will come in succession.17
