Well, when the heart knows that once, the heart hath enough from heavenward, it hath enough from heaven. God hath said and promised it. Then the heart, by a work it hath of itself, speaks to itself, and to the whole man, to seek God. The heart will not stoop without reason, the heart of an understanding man ; but when it sees the command first, ' Seek my face,' then it answers, ' Thy face. Lord, will I seek.' So that this command of God, and this encouragement and warrant from God, * Seek ye my face,' it was in David's heart, it was written, and set, and grafted in his heart ; and then his heart being awed with the command of God, God hath said thus, the heart goes again to God ; thou hast said thus. Lord, ' thy face will I seek,'
See the depth of David's speech, when he saith, * Lord, thy face will I seek.' It came from his heart root, not only from the heart, but from the heart, grounded upon the command and encouragement of God. ' Seek my face.' There is the ground ; the heart digesting this thoroughly, this is God's command ; I understand it, and understand it from God ; I see the authority from whence it comes. Therefore I will stir up myself, ' Thy face. Lord, will I seek.' I shall have occasion to speak somewhat of it afterwards, in the next thing, his obedience. Therefore I go on.
* Thy face, Jehovah, will I seek.'
Here is his return again to God, that he will seek the face of God. I will seek thy face in all my necessities. Then will I seek to thee ; and in all thine ordinances I will seek to thee, whereinsoever thy presence is dis- covered. Thy presence is in all places, especially in thine ordinances ; thy presence is in all times, especially in the time of trouble and need. In all times of need I will seek to thee ; in all exigences I wall seek unto thee ; and in all thine ordinances wherein I may find thee. I know I may meet with thee there ; thou givest thy people meetings in thine ordinances. It is thy walk ; therefore thy face. Lord, will I seek, where I may be sure to meet thee, in thine own way and ordinances. So much for the meaning.
' Thy face. Lord, will I seek.'
Here is, first of all, an application, and obedience from application. They be words of particular application. ' Thy face will I seek.' God had given him a ground, ' Seek ye my face.' His heart makes the application, ' Thy face I will seek,' applying the general encouragement to himself in particular. So that you may observe hence that,
Obs. The ground of all obedience, of all holij intercourse with God, is a spirit of application.
Applying the truths of God, though generally spoken, to ourselves in par- ticular. It is spoken here in the plural number, ' Seek ye my face ;' but the general implies the particular, as London is in England. ' Seek ye my face,' all ye that are the people of God. But I am one of them : what though I be not named ? That tenet in popery is against sense. When a man is condemned by the law, is his name in the law ? It is agiiinst
116 THE SUCCESSFUL SEEKER.
such a fact ; lie is a malefactor : and so the particular is included in the general, ' Seek yc my face.' Dtxvid knew that ; reason taught him that, and not religion.
1. Now the ground of application of divine truths to ourselves in parti- ticular is this, that the irul/i of God (setting aside some circumstantial things that arise sometimes to particular persons, that sometimes limit the command to one person, or the promise to one person, cut oil' those dis- tinctions), oil eomfortahle truths atjree to God's peojilc in oil ages, ichile there is a church in the uorld. All truths are eternal truths, die not as men do. David is dead, and Moses is dead ; but this truth is not dead, ' Seek ye my face.' Paul is gone, and Peter is gone. We are the Davids and the Moseses, and the Peters, and the Pauls now. Those truths that were good to them are good to us. Whatsoever was written before was written for our comfort, llom, xv. 4. There is an eternal truth, that runs through all ages of the church, that hath an everlasting comfort. God hath framed the Scriptures not to be limited to the times wherein they were written, as the papists idly speak, Bellarmine and others [b) ; as if they were occa- sional things ; that the Scriptures were written by such and such men, and concerning only those times. But the Scriptures were written for all times, and it concerns all times to apply all truths to themselves, setting aside those circumstances that are applied to particular men, which are easy to discern. In Heb. xiii. 5 that that was said to Joshua, Josh. i. 5, the apostle applies it to the church in his time, and to all : ' Be not afraid ; I will not fail thee nor forsake thee.' It is a general truth. * And Abraham believed God, and it was imputed to him for righteousness,' that whosoever believes as Abraham is a son of Abraham, Piom. iv. 5. These truths are universal, and concern every one, as well as any. And so''many other places of Scripture. ' The promise of the blessed seed,' the believing of it runs from the beginning of the world, in all ages to the coming of Christ. All other promises were but an enlargement of that, that was the mother promise. That is the ground of application, that the general truths agree to all the churches. The truth of God is the portion of every child of God. He may claim every promise, and ought to follow the direction of every command.