As it must be truth, and a good truth, so it must be good for me, as the holy man saith here, ' It is good for me,' &c. A thing may be good for another man. The devil knows what is good ; and that makes him envy poor Christians so. Wicked men know that which is good when they sin against the Holy Ghost ; but for them it is better to keep in the contrary. So that we must know it is a truth, and a good truth, and good for us in particular, that it is best for us to do so.
The fourth is this : Though it be true, and good, and good for us ; yet before we can come to practice, it must be a good that is comparative, better than other things that are presented, or else no action will follow. A man must be able to say. This is better than that. A weak man that is led with passions and lusts, he ofttimes sees the truth of things, and sees they are good, and good for me, and wishes that he could take such a course ; but such is the strength of his passions at this time, that it is better to do thus, it is better to yield to his lusts, and he trusts that God will be merciful, and he shall recover it afterwards. These four things, therefore, must be in conviction before we can take the best course ; and these are all here in this holy man, for he saw it was a truth, a duty, and likewise that it was a good truth ; for to be near to God, the fountain of good, it must needs be good. And then it was good for him to be so, nay, it was good, all things considered ; for it is a conclusion, as it were, brought out of the fire, out of a conflict. Nay, say the flesh, and say all the world what it can to the contrary, * It is good for me to draw near to God.' He brings it in as a triumphant conclusion. Put drawing near to God in one balance, and lay in that balance all the inconveniences that may follow drawing near to God, — the displeasure of great ones, the loss of any earthly advantage, — and lay in the other balance all the advantages that keep men from draw- ing near to God, — as if a man do not keep a good conscience, he may please this or that man, he may get riches, and advance himself, and better his estate, — consider all that be, yet notwithstanding, it is better to di'aw near to God, with all the disadvantages that follow that course, than to take the contrary. Thus you see the truth clear, that conviction is the way and foundation of practice.
Use. Therefore we should labour by all means to be convinced of the best things. It is not sufficient to have a general notion, and slightly to hear of good things. No ; we must beg the Spirit of God that he would seal and set them upon our souls ; and so strongly set and seal them there, that when other things are presented to the contrary, with all the advan- tages and colours and glosses that flesh and blood can set upon them, yet out of the strength of spiritual judgment we may be able to judge of the best things out of a spiritual conviction, and to say it is best to cleave to God. So said the blessed man of God Moses. There was in the one end of the balance the pleasures of sin, the honours of a court, there was all that earth could aflbrd, — for if it be not to be had iu a prince's court,
90 David's conclusion ; or,
where is it to be had ? His place was more than or linary ; he was ac- counted the son of Pharaoh's daughter, — yet lay all that in the balance, and in the other part of the balance, to draw near to God's people, though the people of God were a base, forlorn, despised, afflicted^ people at that time, yet notwithstanding to draw near to the cause of religion, the disgraced cause of religion, ' to draw near to God ' when he is disgraced in the world, — it is easy to draw near to God when there is no opposition, — but to draw near to God's part and side when it is disgraced in the world, Moses saw it the best end of the balance, put in the afflictions, and dis- grace of God's people, or what you will. So it was with Abraham when he followed God as it were blindfold, and left all, his father's house and the contentments he had there. So it was with our Saviour's disciples. They left all to follow Christ ; they were convinced of this. Surely we shall get more good by the company of Christ than by those things that we leave for him.
Let us labour therefore to be convinced of the excellency of spiritual things, and then spiritual practice will follow. And undoubtedly the reason of the profane conversation of the world, it comes from hidden atheism ; that men make no better choice than they do, that they draw not near to God. Let them say what they will, it proceeds from hence. I prove it thus. When men are convinced of good things, they will do good, for conviction is the ground of practice ; and when men do not take good courses, it is because they are not convinced of the best things. There- fore men that swear, and blaspheme, that are carnal, brute persons, at that time atheism rules in their hearts, that they believe not these things in the book of God to be true. Can the sw^earer believe that ' God will not hold him guiltless that takes his name in vain ; that a curse shall follow the swearer,' Esod. xx. 7, and the whoremonger ; ' that whoremongers and adulterers God will judge ? Heb. xiii. 4, and so the covetous, and extortioners, they that raise themselves by ill means, ' shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.' Can men believe this, and live in the practice of these sins ? If they did believe these things indeed, as the word of God sets them down, if they did believe that sin were so bitter, and so foul a thing as the word of God makes it, certainly they would not ; therefore it comes from a hidden atheism. Indeed, there is a bundle of atheism and infidelity in the heart of man, and we cannot bewail it [too much. In the best there are some remainders of it : as this holy man, ' So foolish was I, and as a beast before thee,' Ps. Ixxiii. 22, when he thought of his doubting of God's providence. Therefore considering that the cause of all ill practice is that we are not spiritually con- vinced of the contrary, that sin is a naughty and bitter thing, nor are we sufficiently convinced of the best things, let us labour more and more to be soundly convinced of these things.