100 THE SPIRITUAIi FAVOURITE
5. True desires are likewise to the means of salvation, and to the means of salvation as they convey grace, as sincere milk ; as you have it, 1 Pet. ii. 2, * As new-born babes, desire the sincere milk of the word.' Where a man hath holj' desires of any grace, and hath them in truth, he will desire those means whereb}' those graces may most eflectually be wrought in his heart. Therefore he will hear the word as the word of God. He comes not to hear the word because of the eloquence of the man that delivers it, that mingles it with his own parts. He comes not to hear it as the tongue of man ; but he sees God in it. It is the powerful word of God, because there goes the efficacy of the Spirit with it to work the graces he desires.
Therefore a man may know by his taste of divine truth whether he desire grace. He that desires grace desires the means that may convey grace, and especialh' so far as they convey grace, ' As new-born babes, desire the sincere milk of the Avord.' You cannot still a child with anything but milk. He desires no blending or mixing, but only milk. So a true Chris- tian desires divine truths most, because the Spirit of God is effectual by them to work grace and comfort in him. I will not enlarge myself in the point.
Use. The comfortable observation hence is this, that iveak Christians that find adchilitij, and fai)itness, and fcehle)iess in their jierformances, hence they may comfort themselves by their desire to fear God, and to worship God, and to serve him, if their desires be true. Therefore, in Isaiah xxvi. 8, the chui'ch allcgeth it to God, ' In the way of thy judgments have we sought thee,' &c, ' The desire of our souls is towards thy name.' They bring it as a prevailing argument to God. So when we come to God, ' The desire of our souls is toward thy name.' Lord, our endeavours are weak and feeble, but ' the desire of our souls is to thy name,' and ' thou wilt not quench the smoking flax,' Mat. xii. 20. Therefore we come to thee with these weak and poor desires that we have. ' The Lord will fulfil the desires of them that fear him,' Ps. cxlv. 19, if they be but desires, if they be true, and growing, and constant desires, and desires of grace as well as of happi- ness, as I shewed before.
The reason why God accepts them is partly because they spring from his own Spirit. These desires they are the breathings of the Spirit. For even as it is in places where fountains and springs are digged up, they are known and discovered by vapours ; the vapours shew that there is some water there, some spring, if it were digged up. So these desires, these breath- ings to God for grace and comfort, these spiritual breathings, they shew that there is a spring within and Spirit within, whence these vapours and desires come. Therefore they are accepted of God, because they spring from his own Spirit.
And because thoj are pointed to hcavcmvard, to shew that a man is turned ; for it is put here iustead of turning, ' Turn ye to me, saith the Lord,' ver. 9 ; and he answercth here instead of turning, ' My desire is to fear thy name,' because, when the desire is altered, then the frame of the soul is altered, a man is turned another way. The desire is the weight of the soul. What carries the soul but desire ? Now, when the soul is carried another way than before, it argues an alteration of the frame ; therefore it plcaseth God to accept of them.
I beseech you, let us often enter into our own souls, and examine what our desires are, which way the bent of our souls is ; w'hat cause we would have to flourish and prevail in the world, Christ's or antichrist's ; for God esteems us by the frame of our desires. * Who desire to fear thy name.',
AT THE THRONE OF GRACE.
101
, • And prosper, I pray thee, thy servant this clay.'
Now he comes to his petition, ' Prosper, I pray thee, thy servant this day.' He doth not capitulate* with God for particular matters much — for ho knew he had to deal with an all-wise God, — but he commends his petition in general, ' Prosper, I pray thee, thy servant,' &c. He was to attend the king, and he was in his attendance to mind the state of the church, for the re-edifying the walls and gates of Jerusalem. Now saith he in general, ' Prosper thy servant.' He leaves it to God how and in what manner, being to deal, as I said, with an infinite wise God ; only ho prays in general, ' Prosper thy servant this day.'
He comes again with his relation of ' servant,' to teach us alway when we come to God to look in what relation we stand to him, whether we be true servants or no, what work we do for him, in what reference we do what we do ; whether we do it to please him as servants or no. I said something of the relation of servant before. I will add a Httle here, because he repeats it four or five times in this short prayer.