[3.] It is not in the study or contemplation of the justice and equity of these commandments, but in the obedience and practice of them. There is a })leasure in the study and contemplation, for every truth breedeth a delectation in the mind : Ps. xix. 8, ' The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the soul.' It is a blessed and pleasant thing to have a sure rule commending itself with great evidence to our consciences, and manifesting itself to be of God. Therefore the sight of the purity and certainty of the word of God is a great pleasure to any considering mind ; no other study to be compared with it. But the joy of speculation or contemplation is nothing to that of practice. Nothing maketh the heart more cheerful than a good conscience, or a constant walking in the way of God's commandments : 2 Cor. i. 12, '■ ' Our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that, with sim- 13licity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, I have had my conversation in the world.' Let me give you this gradation : The pleasures of contemplation exceed those of sense, and the delights of tlie mind are more sincere and real than those of the body ; for the more noble the faculty is, the more capable of delight. A man in his study about natural things hath a truer pleasure than the greatest epicure in the most exquisite enjoyment of sense : Prov. xxiv. 13, 14, ' My son, eat thou honey because it is good, and the honeycomb, which is sweet to thy taste ; so shall the knowledge of wisdom be unto thy soul when thou hast found it ; then there shall be a reward, and thy expectation shall not be cut off.' But especially the contemplation of divine things is pleasant ; the objects are more sublime, certain, necessary, profitable ; and here we are more deeply concerned than in the study of nature. Surely this is sweeter than honey and honeycomb, to understand and contemplate the way of salvation by Christ. This is a heaven upon earth to know these things : John xvii. 3, ' This is life eternal, to know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.' As much as the plea- sures of the natural mind do exceed these bodily pleasures, so much do these pleasures of faith and spiritual knowledge exceed those of the natural mind ; these things the angels desire to pry into. Now the de- lights of practical obedience do far exceed those which are the mere re- sult of speculation and contemplation. Why ? Because they give us a more intimate feeling of the truth and worth of these things, and our right in them thereby is more secured, and our delight in them is heightened by the supeniatural operation of the Holy Ghost. The joy of the Spirit is said to be ' unspeakable and full of glory,' 1 Peter i. 8. In short, it is exercised about noble objects, the favour of God, re- conciliation with him, and the hope of eternal life — all these as belong- ing to us ; and it is excited by a higher cause, the Spirit of God ; and lastly, it givetli us a sense of what we had but a guess before : we ' know the grace of God in truth,' Col. i. 6 ; we know it so as to taste of it.
3. The fundamental or bottom cause of this delight is expressed, 'Which I have loved.' There is a precedent love of the object before there can be any delight in it. Love is the complacency and propen- sion of the soul toward that which is good, absolutely considered, ab- stracting both from presence and absence. Desire regardeth the
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absence and futurition of a good ; deliglit the presence and fruition of it. It is impossible anything can be delighted in, but it must be first loved and desired. None can truly delight in obedience but such as desire it. By nature we were otherwise affected, counted his commands burdensome, because contrary to the desires of the flesh : Rom. viii. 7, ' The carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.' But when the heart is renewed by grace, then we have another love and another bias upon our affec- tions : 1 John V. 3, ' This is love, to keep his commandments ; and his commandments are not grievous.' To others they are against the bent and the hair, and too tedious, and love maketh way for delight.
Secondly, Reasons why a gracious heart doth love and delight in the commandments of God.
1. The matter of these commandments showeth how much they deserve our love and delight. The matter respects either law or gospel. (1.) That which is strictly called the moral law is the decalogue; a fit rule for a wise God to give, or a rational creature to receive, a just and due admeasurement of our duty to God and man : the world cannot be without it. To God, that we should love him, serve him, depend upon him, delight in him, that we may be at length happy in his love. ' The law is holy, just, and good ;' not burdensome to the reasonable nature, but perfective. Surely to know God, to love him, and fear him, and trust and repose our souls on him, and to worship him at the time, in the way, and manner appointed, is a delightful thing, and should be more delightful to us than our necessary and appointed food. To man, justice, charity: Micah vi. 8, 'He hath showed thee, 0 man, what is good ; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy ;' Hosea xii. 6, ' Keep mercy and judgment.' Now all kinds of justice should not be grievous. Political justice, between the magistrates and people. How should we live else ? This maintaineth the order of the world. Private justice, between man and man : Mat. vii. 12; ' Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them.' Family justice, between husband and wife, parents and children, masters and servants. How else can a man have any tolerable degree of safety and comfort ? 1 Peter iii. 7. ' Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge.' Then for mercy, there is not a pleasanter work in the world than to do good ; it is God-like. A man is as an earthly god, to comfort and supply others : Acts xx. 35, ' It is a more blessed thing to give than to receive.' And blessedness is not tedious ; the work rewards itself. The satisfaction is so great of doing good, and being helpful to others, that certainly this is not tedious. (2.) The gospel offereth such a suitable remedy to mankind that the duties of it should be as pleasant and welcome to us as the counsel of a friend for our recovery out of a great misery into which we had plunged ourselves. In the law, God acteth more as a commander and governor ; in the gospel, as a friend and counsellor. Surely to those that have any feeling of their sins, or fears of the wrath of God, what can be more welcome than the way of a pardon and reconciliation with God, whom his word and providence, and the fears of a guilty conscience, represent as an enemy to us ? Surely this should be more