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If SO be that a person of gi-cat place should say, Observe me, and I will pi'cfer j'ou, I hope men would be ready enough, they need no more words. Here is the atheism of our hearts. God saith, I will do all good for you. The greatest preferment is to be the child of God here, and the heir of heaven after, "What preferment is there to that of Christianity ! And he saith, Seek my face, observe me, respect me, let the eye of your souls be to me, as it is in the Psalm, * As the eyes of a maid are toward the hand of her mistress,' Ps. cxxiii. 2. The obedience of a servant is toward the eye of the commander, so the obedience of a Christian is toward the eye of God, to see what God commands. We should bo more serviceable to God. It is an argument of the atheism of our hearts, to take more encouragement from a mortal man that can raise us and do us a pleasure, than from God himself. But to let that go, that is the first branch, * Seek my face,' that is, observe me.
[2.] Then seek my face ; that is, depend upon me. To seek God's face, is to depend upon him for all. It argues dependence. For him that we observe, we observe him for something. We depend upon him to be our raiser and maker. So seek my face, seek my countenance and favour ; depend upon me, and it shall be sufficient for you.
[3.] Then, in the third place, ' Seek my liice ;' that is, seek inij favour and grace. Favour appears and shines in the face. * Seek my face,' observe me, depend on me ; for what ? For my favour. What is that ? It is all. If we have the grace of God, we have all. For the grace of God is in every thing that is good to us. If we have the graces to salvation, they come of free grace : every good gift is the grace of God. Children are the grace of God. So, if we have the grace of God, we have all for our good. We have all in the spring of good, which is the grace and fixvour of God. As men, if they be graced from a great person, they study not this and that particular thing. They think, I have his favour, and that favour of his is ready for all exigences. And therefore, in way of compliment, they say, I seek not this or that, but your favour.
The favour of God, it is a storehouse, and spring, and fountain, better than life itself; as the psalmist saith, ' The loving-kindness of the Lord is better than life,' Ps. Ixiii. 3. W^hen Hfe fails, the favour of God never fails. Life will fail, and all earthly comforts ; but the favour of God is better than life itself; it is everlasting and eternal. In Psalm iv. 7, you see how worldly, atheistical men rejoice when their corn and wine and oil increase. And ' who will shew us any good ? ' who ? It is no matter who ; any good, any hope of preferment, it is no matter what way ; and it is no matter what, any good ; and let them but shew it and we will work it out, we have wit enough. Oh, saith he, but your wit I stand not upon, nor your courses ; but, ' Lord, let thy face shine upon me, lift up the light of thy counte- nance,' and that shall be instead of all honours and preferments. So in seeking we must observe God, and depend upon him ; and for what ? For his favour especially ; for the face and favour of God. Let me have a good look from thee, 0 Lord ; let me have thy favour and love. For other things I leave them to thy wisdom, thou art wise enough ; only let thy face shine on me.
Oh this favour and face of God, it is a sweet thing, this presence of God! What is heaven but the presence of God there ? Let God be present in a dungeon, it will be a paradise ; let God be absent, paradise it is as a hell or dungeon, as it was to Adam ; after he had sinned, he ran to hide himself. What is hell but the want of God's presence ? God's face and
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favour is not there. What makes hell in the heart of a man ? God is not there, but leaves the heart to its own darkness and confusion. Oh therefore, the face and favour of God, seek that especially !
[4.] Again, To seek the face of God is to pray to him, to put this in exe- cution in prayer. Everywhere in Scripture it is all one to pray and to seek God's face. It is called the spirit of prayer ; which because I have spoken of at large out of another scripture, I will now say nothing of it.*
[5.] Likewise, in the next place, to seek the face of God is to attend upon the presence of God, u'heresoever he reveals himself : to attend upon the word and ordinances is to ' seek the face of God.' It is said that Cain went from the face of God when he went from the worship of God in his father's house ; he went out from God, Gen. iv. 16. AVhere God is worshipped, there God is present ; and when we leave the place where God is worshipped, we leave God's presence. God is more especially present there, therefore seeking the face of God is to attend upon God's ordinance : ' I will seek thy face ;' that is, wheresoever there is any presence of thee I will seek thee. Christ when he was lost, he was found in the temple. That hath a literal sense, but it is true in a spiritual sense. If we lose Christ, and have not comfort from Christ, we shall find him in the temple. The sweetest presence of his Spirit is there. His body is in heaven, and his Spirit is his vicar in the world. If we want comfort and direction from Christ, we shall meet him in the temple. There he gives us sweet meet- ings by his Spirit ; thei'e we have the comfort, and direction, and spiritual strength that we wanted before we came. There is the best meeting. As in the Canticles, Christ goes into the ' garden of spices.'. He goes among his children, that are as a watered garden, and as so many plants of right- eousness and beds of spices. He delights to be there. Christ is in the communion of saints in the ordinances, therefore ' thy face will I seek,' especially in the tabernacle, and temple after ; especially in the church and communion of saints, there thy face will I seek. Thus we see the unfolding of this promise of a gracious, obedient, respective heart : ' Thy face will I seek.' I will add no more, but come to the use of it.