find acceptance with him, and be restored to that communion with him from which " we have been separated by our sins^."]
But we should look still farther to,
II. A life of entire devotedness to his service —
David would offer on God's altar the sacrifices ap- pointed by the Law. But we have a richer offering than all the cattle upon a thousand hills : yes, we ourselves are the sacrifices which God calls for ; and, "as living sacrifices we must present ourselves to him," that every faculty and power we possess may be consecrated altogether to his serviced
[Truly, if God was to David " his exceeding joy," much more must he be so to us. To David, the wonders of Re- deeming Love were, comparatively, but little known. Even John the Ba|)tist himself had but a faint insight into them, in comparison of us. " The height and depth and length and breadth of the love of Christ," which not even an Archangel can fully comprehend, are revealed to us ; and in the contem- plation of them we should " rejoice in Him with joy unspeak- able and glorified^." Never should our harp lie still. We should be singing his praises every day, and aU the day long. Nor need our access to God be in the least restrained by the want of public ordinances. Doubtless they are of infinite value; for " God loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob : " but in every house, and in every heart, is an altar to the Lord, from whence the sacrifices of prayer and praise may ascend up before God continually, and be regarded by him as " offerings of a sweet-smelling savour." In a word, to be devoted to God in heart and life is the great end of ordinances ; which are no farther serviceable to us, or accept- able to God, than as they are productive of these effects. And, as it was for this end that Da\id so earnestly implored of God a restoration to his ordinances, so it is this which, in attending upon ordinances, we, my Brethren, must continually bear in mind, and make the great object of our pursuit.]
Apllication —
[As for those who are strangers to spiritual religion, I forbear to address this subject to them ; for to them it can appear, as the Apostle tells us, no better than " foolishness^:" and their very ignorance of the subject is itself a sufficient condemnation to them. But to those who have been endued with somewhat of a sjoiritual discernment, I may say, this sub- ject affords abundant matter for the deepest humiliation. For,
e Isai. lix. 2. f Rom. xii. 1. si Pet. i. 8. •' 1 Cor. ii. 14.