4. Another let and hindrance is unwieldiness of spirit to spiritual and heavenly duties. The heart is many times burdened and oppressed, and sunk down with its own burden and weight, that it cannot be lifted up to any holy duties, and so is unfit for any exercise of religion. This our Saviour bids his disciples have a care of : Luke xxi. 34, ' Take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with sur- feiting and drunkenness and cares of this life.' Pleasures and cares do as it were hang a weight upon the soul that it cannot mount up to God in heavenly exercises. This is expressed by a fat heart : Isa. vi. 10.
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' Make the heart of this people fat ; ' that is, spiritually dull, as it \fi- observed of the ass, which is the simplest of all creatures, it hath the fattest heart. There is a spiritual dulness and listlessaess that is apt to seize upon us.
What shall we do to help this ?
[1.] Learn a holy moderation and sobriety in outward businesses and pleasures. As the apostle says of prayer, Eph. vi. 18, ' Watching^ thereunto ; ' the same rule holds good in meditation. Watch that you may always keep the soul in a fitness for the duty ; order your affairs with great wisdom, that you may not jostle out so necessary a duty. When a man is encumbered with business, there is no room left for such an exercise ; if he let loose his heart disorderly all the day, he will find this spiritual dulness to seize on him.
[2.] Keep the body in a fit frame, that it may not be a clog to the soul, but a dexterous instrument. There is a sanctification of the body : 1 Thes. V. 23, ' And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly, and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.' And the apostle commands, 1 Thes. iv. 4, ' That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour.' Men emasculate and weaken their strength and spirits, and so the body ioseth its fitness.
Secondly^ There are hindrances that are peculiar to the duty of meditation. I shall name but two — barrenness of thoughts and incon- stancy.
1. Leanness and barrenness of thoughts. When we go about to meditate, we have no matter whereupon to bestow our time and thoughts, and so christians are much discouraged. This is opposite to that which the scripture calls the abundance of the heart : Mat. xii. 34, ' Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh ; ' that is, when there is a holy treasure in the soul.
Now to remedy this —
[1.] You must not give way to it, but try and use constant exercise. When we give way to such indispositions, they prove an utter bondage. Voluntary neglects are punished with penal hardness, and evils grow upon us ; as to lie in the dirt will make us more filthy, and by little and little men are hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. The apostle speaks of them that have alaBrjT^pia yeyv/xvaa/jLcva : Heb. v. 14, ' Who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.' All habits are increased by frequent acts, long disuse makes the duty uncouth. Wells which are at first a puddle are the sweeter for draining. If we are under indisposition, should we not strive to come out of it ? The more we work, the more vigorous and free is the soul for the work of God.
[2.] Get a good stock of sanctified knowledge. Let there be a treasure in your hearts : Mat. xiii. 52, ' Every scribe which is instructed in the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old.' Those that buy by the penny will be sometimes in want: Pro v. vi. 21, 22, ' Bind them continually upon thine heart, and tie them about thy neck. When thou goest it shall lead thee, when thou sleepest it shall keep thee^ and when thou awakest it shall talk with thee.' This is the way to make
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truths present and ready in the thoughts ; when we have laid them up, we can the better lay them out.
[3.] AYhen the heart is barren, think of your own sins and corrup- tions, and the experiences of God to your own souls. If we did not want an heart we could never want matter, did we but consult with our own experiences : Ps. xl. 12, ' Innumerable evils have compassed me about ; mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up ; they are more than the hairs of mine head, therefore mine heart faileth me.' And if nothing else will come to hand, medi- tate upon your present unfitness for any holy duty.
[4.] You may season and affect your mind before meditation with some part. of God's word. Reading is a good preparative, and when we have taken in food, we may exercise our depastion and digestion upon it.