order to attain : " My soul foUoweth hard after thee." But was he discouraged as one that had failed in his endeavours ? No : he regarded the desires which he felt, and the endeavours which he put forth, as evi- dences that God was with him of a truth ; and as grounds of hope that he should ultimately attain all that his heart could wish.
We see, then, here,
I. The experience of a heaven-born soul.
Two things are found in every child of God :
1. He has desires which nothing but God himself
can satisfy —
[The language of every enlightened soul is, " Whom have I in heaven but thee, O God? and there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee^." He pants after peace and holi- ness ; but how shall he obtain either the one or the other but from God himself ? The world around him can contribute nothing, either to remove guilt from his conscience, or pollu- tion from his soul. Nor can he liimself do any thing for the effecting of these most desirable ends. If he look at his past or present life, he can find nothing whereon to found his hopes of acceptance with God: his very best duties are so defective, that they fill him only with shame and sorrow. Not one action of his life can he present to God as perfect, or as de- serving a recompence in the eternal world : much less can he present any thing that shall, by its superabundant merit, pur- chase the forgiveness of former sins. Then, as it respects future obedience, he finds how frail his firmest resolutions are, and how weak his strongest efforts. It is in his Redeemer alone that he can find either righteousness or strength : and hence to him he looks, in order that he may obtain from him those blessings which his soul so greatly needs ]
2. He seeks after God for a supply of them —
[" He follows hard after God." He follows after God in every way that God himself has appointed. He waits upon God in secret prayer, and implores help from him in sighs and groans and tears. He " wrestles with God," even as Jacob of old did; and will not let him go till he has conferred the desired blessing. In public ordinances, too, he waits, as at Betliesda's pool, for the stirring of the waters, and for the communication of the benefits he so greatly needs. Nor does he yield to discouragement because he does not presently
a Ps. Ixxiii. 25.