148 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SeR. XVII.
that 'he delightetli in the law of God, and in that law doth he exer- cise himself day and night.' God's people will delight in his law ; it it is one of the greatest enjoyments they have on this side heaven, in the time of their absence from God. It is the instrument of all the good that they receive — comfort, strength, quickening. But now, how do they delight in God's statutes ?
1. In reading the word. The eunuch, returning from public wor- ship, was reading a portion of scripture, Acts viii. 28. It is good to see with our eyes, and to drink of the fountain ourselves ; if it seem dark without the explication of men, God, that sent Philip to the eunuch, will send you an interpreter.
2. In hearing of the word. The command is, James i, 19, ' Where- fore be swift to hear.' The saints have had experiment of the power of it, and therefore delight in it. ' I was glad when they said. Come, let us go up unto the house of the Lord,' Ps. cxxii. 1. You should be glad of these occasions of hearing, not as, with the minstrel, to please the ear, but to warm the heart. Seeing is in heaven, hearing in the churches upon earth ; then vision, now hearing.
3. In conferring of it often. What a man delighteth in he will be talking of ; so should you at home and abroad : Deut. vi. 7, ' Thoii shalt'be talking of them when thou sittest in thy house, and as thou walkest by the way,' seasoning thy journey. He that would have God to be in his journey, as travelling and walking abroad, should be speak- ing of divine things.
4. In meditating and exercising his mind upon it: Ps. i. 2, 'He delighteth in the law of God, and in that law doth he meditate day and night.' Delight causeth a pause or consistency of mind : as the glutton rolleth the sweet morsel under his tongue, and is loath to let it go, so a godly man's thoughts will run along with his delight. Clean beasts chew the cud ; God's children will be ruminating, going over the word again and again.
5. In practice. This delight is not a bare speculation — so hypo- crites have their tastes and their flashes — but in believing, practising, obeying : Ps. cxix. 14, ' I have rejoiced in the Avay of thy testimonies.' Delight breedeth obedience, and is increased and doubled by it. It is not the delight which an ordinary beholder taketh in a rare piece of painting, merely to admire the art ; but the delight which an artist taketh in imitating it, and copying it out. Here in the text it is 'in thy statutes.' A gracious heart is alike affected with the rule as the pro- mise ; not only with discoveries of grace, but discoveries of duty.
Now thus it must be ordinarily.
1. The duties of every day must be carried on with delight. This must be our divertisement, and the refreshment of our other labours, that when tired out Avith the incumbrances of the world, we may look upon reading, meditating, hearing, as our recreation, and the salt and solace of our lives, that other things may go down the better. The labours of the mind do relieve those of the body, and those of the body those of the mind. Ainsworth saith, the word in the text siguifieth, ' I will solace and recreate myself ; ' and Ps. i. 2, ' His delight is in the law of the Lord, and in that law doth he exercise himself day and night/ as was before cited.
YeR. 16.] SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. 140
2. Especially upon the Lord's day: Isa. Iviii. 13, 'Thou shalt call the sabbath a delight;' call it so, that is, account it so. When our whole time is to be parted into meditation, and prayer, and hearing, and conference, then it is our advantage to lie in the bosom of God all the day long. A bell is kept up with less difficulty when it is once raised ; and when the heart is once got up, it is the better kept up in a holy delight in God.
The reasons of it are two —
1. The word of God deserveth it.
2. This delight will be of great use to them. First, The word of God deserveth it.
1. In regard to the author, they delight in it for the author s sake, be- cause it is the signification of his mind ; as a letter from a beloved friend is very welcome to us. Aristotle, mentioning the causes of delight, saitli (Hhet. i. cap. 11), 'Oc epwvre^, koI 8LaXey6fj.evoc, koI ypd(f)ovTe<;, Koi 7roiouvT€<; ael rl irepl tov ipwfievov ■^^aipovaiv — lovers are mightily pleased when they hear anything of the party beloved, or receive any- thing from them, a letter or a token. The word is God's epistle and love-letter to ourselves ; it is the more welcome for his sake. The con- trary God complaineth of : Hosea viii. 12, ' I have written to them the great things of my law, but they were counted as a strange thing.' God is the author, whosoever be the penman ; it is a writing from him to us. Now, to be strangers to it, or little conversant about it, argueth some contempt of God; as to slight the letter of a friend showeth little esteem of the writer. But now the saints put it into their bosoms, view it with delight, it is God's epistle.