thus the Lord Jesus Christ still frequently for a season suspends the manifestations of his love, and leaves in darkness the soul that seeks him. This he does,
1. To correct our lukewarmness —
[Imkewarmness in his people is most offensive to him''; and, when indulged, " grieves his Spirit," and provokes him to hide his face from us. He has told us in the Prophets, that we must not expect to " find him, unless we seek him with our whole hearts''." How solemn is that warning which he has given in his Gospel ; " Strive to enter in at the strait gate : for many shall seek to enter in, and shall not be able*^." What wonder is it therefore if he punish our sloth by a long suspen- sion of his visits, and make us to eat of the bitter fruit of our own ways ? By such a dispensation he plainly says to us, " Hast thou not procured this unto thyself, in that thou hast forsaken me, when I led thee by the way ? Thine own wicked- ness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee : know therefore and see that it is an evil and bitter thing that thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God®."]
2. To stimulate our desires after him —
[Our souls ought to " pant after him, as the hart after the water-brooks;" yea, they should "break for the very fervent desire which we have towards him^." But if a listless and inoperative wish would suffice, we should never exert ourselves as we ought. Had the Bride succeeded by seeking her Be- loved on her bed, she would never have risen to seek him in the streets of the city : and, if we could attain in a way of self- indulgence the rewards of self-denying exertion, we should be too ready to say to our souls, " Soul, take thine ease." But our Lord has told us, that his favour is not to be sought in such a way as that : he has said, that " the kingdom of heaven suf- fereth violence; and that the violent must take it by force :" and he withholds from us the manifestations of his love, on purpose that he may quicken us in our pursuit of him, and stimulate us to put forth into activity the devoutest energies of our souls ^.]
3. To endear his presence to us —
[To the temporary loss which the Bride had sustained must be ascribed the zeal with which she afterwards held fast her Beloved : and we well know how the Courts of the Lord were endeared to David by his long banishment from them, under the persecutions of Saul, and during the rebellion of Absalom. And, no doubt, in proportion as we are led into
b Rev. iii. 16. <= Jer. xxix. 12, 13. ^ Luke xiii. 24.
e Jer. ii. 17, 19. ^ Ps. cxix. 20. fc' llos. v. 1.).