Let us then contemplate, II. The evidences of this frame, wherever it exists —
Such a frame of mind must of necessity be attended with correspondent efforts to attain its object. There will be in us,
1. A diligent attendance on all the means of grace — [Where shall we look for God, but in his holy word,
where he reveals to us all his majesty and his glory ? That word then we shall read with care, and meditate upon it day and night, and listen to the voice of God speaking to us in it
We shall also pray over it, converting every command
into a petition, and every promise into an urgent plea
The public ordinances of religion we shall highly prize, because in them more especially we honour God, and have reason to expect more abundant manifestations of his love to our souls At the table of the Lord too we shall be found fre- quent guests, not only because we are required by gratitude to remember the love of Christ in dying for us, but because the Lord Jesus still, as formerly, delights to " make himself known to his disciples in the breaking of bread." If we do really pant after God, I say again, we cannot but seek after him in the way of his ordinances.]
2. An acquiescence in every thing that may bring him nearer to us —
[God is pleased oftentimes to afflict his people, in order to wean them from the love of this present world, and to quicken their souls to more diligent inquiries after him. Now " afflic- tion is not in itself joyous, but grievous:" nevertheless, when viewed in connexion with the end for which it is sent, it is welcomed even with joy and gratitude by all who are intent on the enjoyment of their God. In this view St. Paul " took pleasure in infirmities and distresses" of every kind, because they brought him to God, and God to him ; — him, in a way of fervent prayer ; and God, in a way of rich and abundant communication^. In this view, every saint that has ever ex- perienced tribulation in the ways of God is ready to say, that " it is good for him that he has been afflicted," and that, if only God's presence may be more abidingly manifested to his sold, he is ready to sufifer the loss of all things, and to comit them but dross and dung.]
3. A dread of every thing that may cause him to hide his face from us —
[We know that there is, in every generous heart, a dread of any thing that may wound the feelings of those we love :
^ 2 Cor. xii. 10.
572.] David's desire after god. 331
how much more then will this exist in those who love God, and are panting after the enjoyment of him ! Shall we, under such a frame of mind, go and do " the abominable thing which his soul hates ?" shall we by any wilful misconduct " grieve the Holy Spirit of promise, whereby we are sealed unto the day of redemption ?" No : when tempted to evil, we shall reject it with abhorrence, and say, " How shall I do this wickedness, and sin 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, however multiplied. We shall look back to seasons of peculiar access to God, as the happiest periods of our life ; and in the absence 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 Solomon, is that which every one who truly loves the heavenly Bridegroom will observe : he will inquire after him with all diligence, and, having found him, will labour with augmented care to retain and perpetuate the expressions of his love^.]