Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
Ver. 17. Sanctify them by thy truth] Affect their hearts therewith, that they may the better affect others; speaking a corde ad cor, from the heart to the heart, which is the life of preaching. Quod iussit et gessit, What he orders and does, saith Bernard of one; και εδειξε, και εδιδαξε, saith Basil of another. A minister had need to pray, as Elisha did, for a doubled and trebled spirit, that he may out of the good treasure of his heart bring forth good things, new and old, for the people's use.