Bible Commentaries

DISCOURSE: 537

DAVID’S LOVE TO GOD’S ORDINANCES

Psalms 27:4. One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple.

MOST of the saints recorded in the Holy Scriptures were eminent for some particular grace. In Abraham, faith was chiefly conspicuous; in Job, patience: in Moses, meekness; in Elijah, faithfulness and intrepidity. In respect of devotion, David seems to have surpassed all others. Of none have we such ample and minute accounts, in relation to this matter, as we have of him. His public addresses to the Deity, his private communion with him, the inmost recesses of his heart when in his closet or upon his bed, are all laid open to us. On this account the Psalms are pre-eminently useful to all who wish to cultivate a devout spirit, and to maintain a close walk with God. The expression before us may serve as a specimen of the whole.

In discoursing upon it, I will,

I. Set before you the example of David—

The one object of his desire was to enjoy the ordinances of his God—

[David was not of the tribe to which the priesthood exclusively belonged: yet would he gladly have possessed the privilege of the priests, in having his stated residence as near as possible to the tabernacle of his God. But though this could not be, he determined, by the constancy of his attendance there, to make it, as it were, his residence and habitation. This indeed was “the one object of his desire:” and in comparison of it there was nothing in the world that he wished for. To this he made every thing subservient: even the affairs of state were not suffered so to occupy his mind as to divert his attention from the service of the sanctuary. This one object he sought, and “determined to seek it” “to the latest hour of his life.” He “sought it of the Lord” too, entreating him so to order and overrule every thing, that he might not be forced away from Jerusalem, or, whilst there, be kept away from the ordinances of his God. If at any time he was, by the efforts of his enemies, prevented from waiting upon God, he mourned over it, and “panted after the return of those blessed seasons, even as the hunted deer panteth after the water-brooks [Note: Psalms 42:1-2.].” On some occasions, his enemies, knowing how painful to him his absence from the tabernacle was, exulted over him, and said, “Where is now thy God?” And so distressing to him were these impious taunts, that “tears were his meat night and day on account of them [Note: Psalms 42:3.],” and they were even “as a sword in his bones [Note: Psalms 42:10.].” At those seasons he envied the swallows, that were able to build their nests in the courts of God’s house: he envied them, I say, their proximity to the altar of his God [Note: Psalms 84:1-4.]. Every day that was spent at a distance from that, seemed, as it were, to be lost to his life; so entirely was his soul wrapped up in the enjoyment of divine ordinances, and in cultivating communion with his God.]

And this desire was founded on the benefit he had derived from them—

[There “he beheld the beauty of the Lord;” and there “he inquired of the Lord,” spreading before him, from day to day, his every want, his every wish. He looked through the various sacrifices that were offered there from day to day, and beheld in them the perfections of his God. In the death of all the victims he saw the desert of sin, and the justice of God, which had denounced death as the punishment of sin. In the acceptance of those sacrifices he saw the goodness and mercy of God, who had appointed such offerings as means of leading the people to that Great Sacrifice, which should in due time be offered for the sins of the whole world. In the sprinklings and ablutions that were practised, he beheld the holiness of God, who would accept no sinner who should not be purged from his iniquities, and be made holy after the divine image. In the whole of the services altogether he saw “mercy and truth met together, and righteousness and peace kissing each other [Note: Psalms 85:10.].”

Here he felt encouragement to pour out his soul before God, and to ask whatsoever his returning necessities might require. This, to him whose trials were so great and manifold, was an unspeakable privilege. The extreme arduousness of his affairs also rendered it most desirable to him to spread all his difficulties before the Lord, and to ask counsel of him for his direction. True it was that in private he could carry his affairs to the Lord, and implore help from him: but, as the public ordinances were of God’s special appointment, and as the high-priest was the established medium of access to him, and of communications from him, he delighted more particularly to wait upon God there; that so, whilst he received blessings in a more abundant measure from God, he might glorify God in the sight of all Israel.]

Admiring, as I do, this bright example, I beg leave to,

II. Commend it to your imitation—

We have far greater reason to love the house of God than ever David had—

[If the beauty of the Lord was visible in the Jewish worship, how much more so must it be in the ordinances of the Gospel! David beheld the perfections of his God only under types and shadows: but we behold them reflected as in a glass or mirror, with transcendent brightness, and all shining with united splendour in the face of Jesus Christ. We see, not bulls and goats, but the very Son of God himself, “Jehovah’s fellow,” offered in sacrifice for the sins of men. What then must the justice be that required such a sacrifice! What the love, that gave him from the Father’s bosom to be a sacrifice! What the mercy, that spared not him, in order that we, enemies and rebels, might be spared! So imperfectly was this mystery known under the Jewish dispensation, that all, even the most exalted prophets, were in a state of comparative darkness: but now, “the things which from the beginning of the world eye had not seen, nor ear heard, nor had it entered into the heart of man to conceive, are revealed unto us by the Spirit [Note: 1 Corinthians 2:9-10.];” so that we can truly and emphatically say, “The darkness is past, and the true light now shineth [Note: 1 John 2:8.].” John the Baptist was greater in this respect than all the prophets; because he personally saw and bare witness to Him, whom all the other prophets spoke of obscurely, and at the distance of many hundred years: but, great as John was, “the least and lowest in the Gospel kingdom is greater than he [Note: Matthew 11:11.].” In our ordinances, Jesus Christ is so fully revealed, that he may be said to be “evidently set forth crucified before our eyes [Note: Galatians 3:1.]:” and at his holy table we “eat his flesh, and drink his blood,” as truly in a spiritual sense, as we do really and substantially eat the bread and drink the wine by which they are represented. We see that through the virtue of this sacrifice God is so reconciled to us, as to “behold no iniquity in us [Note: Numbers 23:21.]:” for, viewing us as clothed in the righteousness of his dear Son, he beholds us “without spot or blemish [Note: Ephesians 5:27.].” Moreover as by faith we see the Lord Jesus carrying his own blood within the veil, so we also hear him making intercession for us at the right hand of God: yea, and “out of the fulness that is treasured up in him we receive” all the blessings that he has purchased for us. How often are we, in the experience of these things, constrained to cry out with the prophet, “How great is his goodness! how great is his beauty [Note: Zechariah 9:17.]!” And how often, in rapturous admiration of him, do we pray with the Psalmist, “Let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us!” In truth, it is by thus “beholding as with unveiled face the glory of the Lord, we are changed into the same image from glory to glory even as by the Spirit of the Lord [Note: 2 Corinthians 3:18.].”

Nor have we less the advantage of David in relation to the things which we would ask of God: for we are able to inquire more explicitly and distinctly of our God than he could. He indeed might say with Moses, “Lord, shew me thy glory:” and God would, as in the case of Moses, “make all his goodness to pass before him [Note: Exodus 33:18-19.].” But audible sounds conveyed nothing to them in comparison of what shall be disclosed to us by the still small voice of God’s Holy Spirit, speaking in us through the written word. To us all the blessings of the Covenant are laid open: and, as God, when he revealed them, said, “I will be inquired of concerning these things to do them [Note: Ezekiel 36:37.],” we are at liberty to take that covenant, and spread it before the Lord, and to ask of him every distinct blessing that is contained in it. We may lay hold on every promise that we can find in the Inspired Volume, and plead it with God, and have it fulfilled to our souls — — — Besides, we can ask in the name of Jesus Christ; which none of the prophets ever could. And with what confidence can we do that, when we reflect on the relation which subsists between the Father and the Son, and the express engagement which the Father has made to answer every petition which is offered in his Son’s name [Note: John 16:23-24.]! — — — Moreover, the particular promise of the Lord Jesus to be more immediately with his people in the public ordinances, and to grant whatever any number of his congregated people shall agree to ask [Note: Matthew 18:19-20.], is a still further encouragement to us to frequent the house of God: for experience proves, that still, as formerly, “God loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob [Note: Psalms 87:2.].”]

We should therefore desire it no less than David did—

[We should make a point of attending on all stated occasions the ordinances of our God. We should not suffer any trifling matter to detain us from them: and, if we are kept from them by any means, it should fill us with grief rather than complacency: and we should determine as soon as possible to remove the obstacle that deprives us of so great a blessing.

More particularly, we should keep in mind what it is that we should go thither to obtain; nor ever consider the true object of the ordinances as attained, unless we be enriched with brighter views of his beauty, and more enlarged discoveries of his excellency — — — We should consider too, what our more immediate necessities require; so that we may be ready to spread them all before him, and to inquire of him respecting them — — — Then the more enlarged our expectations of benefit from the ordinances are, the more abundant will be God’s communications of blessings to us by them. If we “open our mouths ever so wide, he will fill them [Note: Psalms 81:10.].”]

To this I would URGE you, from the consideration, that such love to God’s ordinances is,

1. Most conducive to your present happiness—

[Hear the testimony of David himself: “Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and causest to approach unto thee, that he may dwell in thy courts: he shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, even of thy holy temple [Note: Psalms 65:4.].” And with this agrees the experience of every living saint. Hence every true Believer can say, “Lord, I have loved the habitation of thy house, and the place where thine honour dwelleth [Note: Psalms 26:8.]:” or rather, the more appropriate language of his heart is, “O God, thou art my God: early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee; my flesh longeth for thee, in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; to see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary [Note: Psalms 63:1-2.].” I will leave you to judge, whether a person, with such desires, and such enjoyments, be not happy. And if you are persuaded that he must be so, then seek your own happiness in this way, in which you cannot possibly be disappointed: for “he never said to any, Seek ye my face in vain.”]

2. The best preparative for heaven—

[Heaven is a place of continued occupation; of exercises, for which we are now to be trained. We must now obtain a taste for heavenly employments; and in that taste real piety consists. We quite mistake if we imagine that religion consists in notions or in forms: it is a taste; a taste not formed by nature or education; but wrought in us by the Spirit of God: and the acquisition of this constitutes our meetness for heaven. What happiness could a soul that feels the exercises of devotion irksome, and in heaven; where the singing praises to God and to the Lamb forms the one employment of all around the throne, and will to all eternity? If this be not the pleasure which you chiefly affect in this world, be assured that you are not prepared to unite with saints and angels in the world to come. If this be not your state, whatever knowledge you may possess, you are yet carnal: for God himself has said, that “they who are after the flesh do mind (savour) the things of the flesh; and they who are after the Spirit, the things of the Spirit [Note: Romans 8:5. φρονοῡσιν.].” I pray you then to seek your happiness in God; and never to rest, till you can say, “Whom have I in heaven but Thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire besides Thee [Note: If this be a subject at the Opening of a Church or Chapel, the great need that there was of a place of worship may be stated, and a hope expressed, that it may be the means of preparing many for the Church above.].”]

DISCOURSE: 538

THE DUTY OF PRAYER

Psalms 27:8. When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, Lord, will I seek.

PERHAPS there are few things which more strongly characterize a child of God, than a spirit of prayer. The Lord’s faithful servants are particularly designated as “a people near unto him [Note: Psalms 148:14.]:” whilst of the hypocrite it is pointedly asked, “Will he always call upon God? Will he delight himself in the Almighty [Note: Job 27:10.]?” The invitations of God are common to all: but the way in which they are received constitutes the difference between the child of this world and the child of God.

The words before us, whilst they describe the experience of David, will lead me to shew,

I. In what light the invitations of God are, for the most part, regarded—

God is incessantly calling men to seek his face—

[He does this by his word; in which he bids us to look to him, and call upon him, and turn to him, and lay hold upon him; and sends his ministers to invite and beseech us in me name. He does it, also, by his providence: all that he does for us in a way of mercy, is to stimulate us to love him; and his chastisements are to awaken us to our duty, saying, “Hear the rod, and him that hath appointed it.” He does it, also, by his Spirit; for conscience is his voice within us, “his still small voice,” whereby he whispers to us, and moves us, and “strives with us,” and “draws us to himself.” The whole creation, the heavenly bodies moving in their orbits, “the elements that fulfil his will,” the “birds which know their season,” and the beasts which acknowledge their Benefactor; the occurrences of every day, even the most common and casual, as the going to a well for water [Note: John 4:7; John 4:10.], or climbing up into a tree for the gratifying of curiosity [Note: Luke 19:4-5.]; all subserve the same blessed end, to introduce us to the knowledge of his love, and to the enjoyment of his favour.]

But his invitations are almost universally “made light of”—

[Some treat them with contempt, “mocking his messengers, and despising his words [Note: 2 Chronicles 36:16.]” — — — Others justify their refusal of them by a variety of excuses, like those in the parable, who “had bought a field, and must go and see it; and a yoke of oxen, which they must go to try; or had married a wife, and therefore could not come.” Every one has his plea: one is too old to change his ways; another too young to engage in such serious concerns; and another too much occupied to be at liberty for such pursuits. Others profess a willingness to obey the call, but never realize their intentions. They say, “I go, Sir; but they never execute their Father’s will [Note: Matthew 21:30.]:” they will, like Ezekiel’s auditors, approve what they hear, but will never give themselves truly and unreservedly to God [Note: Ezekiel 33:31-32.].]

Let us now proceed to shew, on the contrary,

II. The light in which they ought to be regarded—

David’s example is precisely that which we should follow. There was in his bosom a chord in perfect unison with that which the finger of God had touched, and that vibrated to the touch. Thus, when God says to all the sinners of mankind, “Seek ye my face,” there should be in every one of us a responding chord, in perfect harmony with the divine command: and we should, every one of us, reply, “Thy face, Lord, will I seek.” This duty we should execute,

1. With a grateful sense of his condescension and grace—

[How amazing is it that such a proposal should originate with God; and that Jehovah should “stand at the door of our hearts, and knock” there for admittance! If a permission only had been granted to us to seek his favour, methinks it should have been embraced with all imaginable earnestness: for sure enough, if such an imitation were sent to those who are now in hell, it would not be treated with indifference there. But it is not a mere permission that we receive; it is a call, an invitation, an entreaty: and should we “make light of that?” No: we should turn unto our God with our whole hearts, and avail ourselves, without delay, of the opportunity that is thus afforded us.]

2. With a ready acquiescence in his appointed way—

[God tells us, that it is in Christ alone that he can accept us; and that we must come to him through Christ, pleading the merit of his blood, and relying altogether on his atoning sacrifice. And shall this appear to us a hard saying? Shall this be deemed too humiliating for our proud hearts to submit to? Shall we not bless God, that he has given us a Saviour, who shall mediate between him and us, and, like “a days-man [Note: Job 9:33.],” lay his hand on both, in order to our reconciliation? Surely we should not hesitate a moment to humble ourselves before him, to acknowledge our desert of his wrathful indignation, and to implore his mercy in the name of his dear Son.]

3. With a determination of heart, that nothing shall ever keep us from him—

[Things there are, without number, which would keep us in bondage, and detain us from our God. But we should be on our guard against them all; and determine to break through every obstacle that the world, the flesh, and the devil, can place in our way. For, what can the world do, either by its allurements or its terrors, to counterbalance the loss of the divine favour? As for the flesh, neither its weakness nor its corruptions should discourage us in our way to God. Nor should the devil, with all his wiles and all his devices, be suffered to divert us from our purpose, or to retard us in our way. We should have our hearts bent upon executing the commands of God. Every object under heaven should be subordinated to that. Other duties, doubtless, should be performed in their place: but to obtain God’s favour should be our first concern; and life itself, in comparison of that, should be of no value in our eyes.]

Address—

[God calls you now, my Brethren, by my voice; and says to every one of you, “Seek ye my face.” O that ye knew the day of your visitation! O that ye now viewed this mercy as ye will most unquestionably view it ere long! For, whether ye be in heaven or in hell, be assured that the divine favour will appear to you no light concern. I would that now the Psalmist’s determination were adopted by every one of you. Tell me, I pray you, whether the resolution be not wise: tell me whether it be not necessary: tell me whether, if ye continue to decline God’s invitation till the door of heaven is finally closed against you, you will not curse your folly with an anguish that will exceed your utmost conceptions, and bewail to all eternity the conduct you now pursue. I say, then, to every one of you, “Seek ye after God: seek him instantly, without delay: seek him whilst he may be found, and call upon him whilst he is near:” for the time is quickly coming when your day of grace shall be closed, and “God will swear in his wrath that ye shall never enter into his rest.” On the other hand, assure yourselves, that, “if you seek him, he will be found of you,” and “your hearts shall live for ever.” Let every one of you, therefore, now go home, and put the matter to a trial. See whether God will not be gracious unto you: see whether he will not answer your prayers, and fulfil your desires, and “do exceeding abundantly for you above all that ye can ask or think. I speak with confidence; for, from the beginning of the world to this hour. “He never said to any, Seek ye my face in vain!”]