We detest, and deservedly, those misers that, in the midst of all their abundance, will not spend sixpence upon themselves. What a spirit of baseness is this, in the midst of spiritual contentments and refreshings, when God offers to feed our souls with the fat things of his house, to say, Oh no ! this belongs not to me ; and cherish a peevish froward spirit that puts all away. Why do we not labour to be in such a condition that we may be cherished ? and that we may have satisfaction ? to be truly hungry and poor in spirit, that we may be -filled and satisfied, and not to go on thus stubbornly ? There is a proud kind of modesty. Oh, this belongs not to me ; I am unworthy. If we will hearken to our own misgiving hearts in the time of temptation, we shall never answer God and say, ' Lord, thy face will I seek.' Therefore let us labour for a spirit of supplication, f I will not enforce that point further.
Now from this spirit of application, from this general ' Seek ye my face,' comes obedience ; for it is a speech of obedience.
' Thy face, Lord, will I seek.'
I will seek % tluj strength and grace ; for when God utters a general com- mand to his children, there goes with that command a secret virtue, whereby they are enabled to seek him. There came a hidden virtue with this ' Seek my face,' when David's spirit w^as raised by God to think of it. Together with the thought of this ' Seek my fiice,' there was a virtue enabling his soul to return back to God, to say, ' Lord, thy face will I seek.' So though David said, ' I will seek thy face,' yet there was a spiritual virtue that enabled him. God must find us before we can seek him. He must not only give the command to seek his face, but together with the command, there goes a work of the Spirit to the children of God, that enableth them to seek him.
In the covenant of grace, God doth his part and ours too. Our part is to seek God, to please him and walk before him. They are all one ; I need not be curious in particulars. Now this was not a speech of self-confidence, but a speech of the Spirit of God, that went with the command to him.
This is a great encouragement, by the way, to hear good things, and to come to the congregation. We hear many great things, high duties, but we are not able to perform them. It is true, but the gospel is the ministry of the Spirit ; and together with the duty there goes the Spirit to enable us to the duty. ' Stand up and walk,' saith Peter to the poor lame man, and there went an enabling virtue to raise him, Acts iii. 6. ' Arise,' saith Christ to Lazarus, and there went a divine virtulfe to make him rise, John xi. 43 ; and here, ' Seek my face,' there went a divine virtue to make him seek, which those that contemn the ordinances of God want, because they will not attend upon the ordinances. So much for that.
Now I come to his obedience.
* Thy face, Lord, will I seek.'
This obedience ariSeth from application, and his obedience hath these qualifications :
1. It teas present. As soon as he heard God's will, as soon as his heart did think of the word, he puts not off. The Spirit of God and the works * Qu. ' frowardness ' ?— Ed. t Qu. ' applicatiou ' ?— Ed.
120 THE SUCCESSFUL SEEKER.
of it, are not slow in the children of God ; but when they hear their duty, there is a spirit presently, ' Thy face will I seek,' before the heart grow cold again.
2. Again, This return and answer, as it was present, so likewise it vas a pliable obcdioice : ' Thy face will I seek.' It is a speech of a ready, cheer- ful, pliable heart. Where the Spirit of God works, it makes not only pre- sent and quick, but cheerful and pliable. For the Spirit of God is like fire, that softens the hardness of the heart, that naturally is like iron, and makes it pliable. God's people arc a voluntary people, as it is Ps. ex. 3 ; a people of devotion, of readiness of will, and cheerfulness ; a free-hearted people, a people set at large. They are led with a royal spirit, a spirit above their own ; and that makes that easy and pleasant to them, that otherwise is difficult and impossible to nature.
When Isaiah's lips were touched with a coal from the altar — that is, he had somewhat from the Spirit of God to encourngo nature — then ' Here I am, Lord ; send me,' Isa. vi. 8. He detracted* the business before, and put it off as much as he could. The Spirit of God makes pliable, as we see in the Acts. They cared not for suffering whips or anything, because they were made pliable to God's service ; they accounted it an honour to suffer anything for God's sake. Acts v. 41. The obedience that is good is pliable and cheerful.