Quest. But to resolve one question. How shall I know whether my desire be strong enough and ripe enough or no to give me comfort ?
Ans. I answer, if the desire of grace be above the desire of any earthly thinrj, that a man may say with David, ' One thing have I desired,' I desire to be free from sin, as a greater blessing to my soul, than to be free from any calamity. Oh ! it is a good sign. And surely a man can never have comfort of his desire till his desires be raised to that pitch. For none ever shall come to heaven that do not desire the things that tend to heaven, above all earthly things ; nor none shall ever escape hell that do not think it worse and more terrible than all earthly miseries. God brings no fools to heaven that cannot discern the difi'erence of things. Therefore, let us know, that our desires are to little purpose if we have some desire to be good, &c. ; but we have a greater desire to be rich and gi'cat in the world, to have such and such place. If the desire of that be gi-cater than to be gracious with God, if we hate poverty, and disgrace, and want, and this and that more than sin and hell, to which sin leads, it is a sign that our judg- ments are rotten and corrupt, and that our desire is no pure spiritual desire. For it is not answerable to the thing desired ; there is no proportion. David saith here, ' One thing have I desired.' His desire can-ied him amain to ' one thing necessary,' above all other things whatsoever. Thus you see out of the text, what are the distinguishing notes of true desires from those
222 A BREATHING AFTER GOD.
that are false. I need name no more, if we consider what hath heen spoken.
Now for our comfort, if we find these holy desires: Oh ! let us take com- fort in ourselves : for ' God will fulfil the desires of them that fear him,' Ps. xxxvii. 4. Holy desires, they are the birth of God's Spirit, and there is not one of them that shall be lost ; for God regards those desires, ' My groanings are not hid from thee,' Ps. xxxviii. 9 ; my groanings in trouble, and desires of grace. There is not the least thing stirred up in the soul by the Spirit of God, but it prevails with God in some degree, answerable to the degree of worth in it. Therefore, if we have holy desires stirred up by God, God promotes those desires. God will regard his own work, and to ' him that hath shall be given,' Mat. xiii. 12. ' Lord, be merciful to thy servants, that desire to fear thy name,' saith Nehemiah, i. 11.* It is a plea that we may bring to God, ' Lord, I desire to please thee,' as it is, ' The desire of our souls is to thy name, 0 Lord,' Isa. xxvi. 8. We fail sometimes, that we cannot perform actions with that zeal and earnestness as we should ; but the desu-e and bent of our soul is to thy name. A Christian may make it his plea to God, — truly our desires are towards thy name, and we have some suitable endeavours ; and our desires are more that way than to anything in the world. It is a good plea, though we be much hindered and pulled back by our corruptions. So much for that, the act upon this object, ' One thing have I desired.'
Of whom doth he desire it ? Of the Lord.
' One thing have I desired of the Lord.'
It was not a blind desire of the thing, but a desire directed to the right object, to God, to fulfil it. Holy desu-es are such as we are not ashamed of, but dare open them to God himself in prayer, and desires to God. A Christian, what he desires as a Christian, he prays for, and what he prays for he desires ; he is a hypocrite else. If a man pray, as St Austin, in his confessions,! that God would free him from temptations, and yet is unwilling to have those loving baits from him, he prays, but he doth not desire. There are many that pray ; they say in their prayers, ' Lead ns not into temptation,' Mat. vi. 13, and yet they run into temptation ; they feed their eyes, and ears, and senses with vain things. You know what they are well enough, their lives are nothing but a satisfying of their lusts, and yet they pray, ' Lead us not in temptation.' And there are many persons that desii'e that, that they dare not pray for, they desire to be sa bad. But a Christian what he desires, he prays for. I desire in earnest to be in the house of the Lord, I desire it of the Lord, I put up my request to him ; and what I pray to him for, I earnestly desire indeed. Learn this in a word, hence, that, ^
When we have holy desires stirred up by God, turn them to prayers.
A prayer is more than a desire. It is a desire put up to God. Let us turn our desires into prayers. That is the way to have them speed.