against God ?" We shall "put away every accursed thing that may trouble our camp :" we shall not only turn from open and flagrant iniquity, but shall " abstain from the very appearance of evil/' We shall search for sin in the heart, as the Jews searched for leaven in their houses, in order that we may be " a new lump, altogether unleavened." We shall strive to have our every action, every word, and " every thought, brought into captivity to the obedience of Christ."]
4. A dissatisfaction of mind whenever we have not an actual sense of his presence —
[We cannot rest in a mere routine of duties : it is God that we seek, even the living God ; and therefore we can never be satisfied with a dead form, nor with any number of forms, how- ever multiplied. We shall look back to seasons of peculiar access to God, as the happiest periods of our life ; and in the ab- sence of God shall say, " O that it were with me as in months past, when the candle of the Lord shone upon my head !" We shall deprecate the hidings of his face as the severest affliction that we can endure ; and shall never feel comfort in our minds till we have regained the light of his countenance and the joy of his salvation. The conduct of the Church, in the Song of So- lomon, is that which every one who truly loves the heavenly Bridegroom will observe : he will inquire after him with all dili- gence, and, having found him, will labour with augmented care to retain and perpetuate the expressions of his love''.]
Let us LEARN then, from this example of David,
1. The proper object of our ambition —
[Crowns and kingdoms should not satisfy the Christian's ambition. He should seek to enjoy " God himself, even the living God," who has life in himself, and is the one source of life to the whole creation. David, when driven from his house and family, did not pant after his lost possessions, his ruined honours, his deserted relatives : it was God alone whose presence he so ardently desired. O that every desire of our souls may thus be swallowed up in God, whose loveliness and loving-kindness exceed all the powers of language to describe, or of any created imagination to conceive !]
2. The proper measure of our zeal —
[In reference to earthly attainments, men in general contend^ that it is scarcely possible to have our desires too ardent : but in reference to the knowledge and the enjoyment of God, they think even the smallest ardour is misplaced. But " it is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing :" and, if the mea- sure of David's desire was right, then should not ours stop short
of "^ Ch. iii. 1— 4.