35. Seeking after God
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"O God, you are my God; early will I seek you." Psalm. 63:1
The real value of a thing is not to be estimated by the eagerness with which it is sought. If this were to be our rule of judging, we would be sadly deceived.
To amass wealth, men rise early, and late take rest. To obtain this object of their desire, they navigate oceans, traverse deserts, endure privations, and often risk life itself.
To gain worldly glory, the warrior braves the cannon's mouth, combats in the blood-stained field, snatches the laurel-wreath from the very hand of death, and expires amid the shouts of victory.
To immortalize his name, the man of science wastes the midnight oil, and wastes still more the oil of life. Health droops beneath the mental toil; he lights the torch of fame, and dies!
To tread the flowery paths of pleasure, multitudes devote their days. Each thought, each hour, is drawn into the circle of dissipation. Like summer-flies, they bask in the sun-beam of delight; and like these insects of a day, they quickly disappear, unregretted by the world.
In this anxious search for riches, glory, fame, and pleasure, so all-absorbing, so incessant, God is forgotten. That Being, who is the First Great Cause of all, man seeks not. How powerful are the calls of Infinite Love; "Seek my face." "Seek the Lord while he may be found." "Seek me, and you shall live." But the gracious sound falls unheeded on the ear.
Oh! Heavenly Father, give me grace to seek you with my whole soul, to seek you with the best affections of my heart, the best powers and faculties of my mind. May all my talents, my time, my tongue, my worldly substance, be employed in your service; for only of your own can I render unto You. To You be all the praise, O source and giver of every good.
As the wild uncivilized Indian barters the precious metals of his country for worthless beads and trinkets, so, many professing Christians, though baptized in the name of Christ, barter their precious souls for the empty baubles of the world. Did we know God through the teaching of his Spirit; did we know the value of our own souls, oh! how differently we would act. Then would our language be that of the Psalmist, proceeding from the fullness of our hearts, "O God, you are my God; early will I seek you."
Truly delightful is the contemplation of the love of God in Christ. Here all is light and life. Multitudes are enveloped in darkness, because they hate the light of truth. But, when the love of God is shed abroad in their hearts, when the light of life bursts upon their souls, when Jesus reveals himself to them, in all the fullness of his salvation; then the mists of unbelief fly before the beams of Truth, and their souls are filled with peace and joy.
"God is love." Precious revelation of his grace! Calculated to call forth every expression of thankfulness, and to awaken every grateful feeling. Oh! that my cold heart could resemble the seraphims above, who, burning with sacred fire, surround the throne of Jehovah. As God is love, so all his purposes towards his people are love. He wills their happiness. His tender mercies are over all his works. His law is love, forbidding nothing, but what, if indulged in, would harm us; and commanding nothing, but what, if obeyed, will make us happy. How hateful, then, is rebellion against infinite love! How justly deserving everlasting punishment.
All God's afflictive dispensations are the fruit of his love. They are correctives, for the spiritual health of his children. The Gospel of Christ affords the most sublime exhibition of divine love. All our thoughts are lost in this infinity of grace. Oh! that I may have these quickening views of the boundless love of God more vividly impressed on my soul. To every humble penitent, the Scriptures breathe nothing but peace. It is to the hardened infidel, and to the proud Pharisee, that they speak in language of severity. And yet, even to such characters, expostulations are made and pardon offered, if they will only turn to the stronghold, as prisoners of hope. Thus all our misery springs from ourselves. Oh! how supporting it is, under a conscious feeling of innate corruption, to know, that God desires not the death of a sinner; that he is waiting to be gracious; that he can, and will, subdue our iniquities, if, through grace, we apply to him for the balm in Gilead, if we go to him as the Physician there.
Unbelief, interwoven with pride, the love of the world, and the lust of the flesh, forms the barrier between our souls and God. What need, then, there is for humiliation and self-loathing before the slighted Majesty of heaven! Humility, love, and purity, were the holy features of the Redeemer's character while on earth; and if we ardently seek after his blessed image, we shall, even here, be like him in the beauties of holiness.
How gracious is the promise; "You shall seek me, and find me, when you search for me with all your heart." What words can more clearly express the entire affection of the heart. A divided heart will never obtain the blessing; we must seek with all our heart, if we would find God. There is something peculiarly forcible in the monosyllables of the Bible. "You shall find me when you search for me with all your heart " "You are my friends," said Jesus, "if you do whatever I command you." "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature." "If we love one another, God dwells in us." "If we ask any thing according to his will, he hears us." "God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
Most delightful also are the possessive pronouns, when we can make them our own. "O God, you are my God; early will I seek you." "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble." "I am poor and needy; yet the Lord thinks upon me; you are my help and my deliverer; make no tarrying, O my God." "Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid; for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song; he also has become my salvation." "All things are yours."
Precious truth! if believers in Jesus, heaven will be our eternal home. Both the negative and positive felicity of heaven afford matter for the sweetest meditation. "There shall be no more curse." "There shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain." "There shall be no night there." Such is the negative happiness of heaven.
How glorious is the positive felicity. "The tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes." "His servants shall serve him. They shall see his face, and his name shall be in their foreheads. The Lord God gives them light; and they shall reign forever and ever."
Oh! who would not seek after God with all the heart, to enjoy, through the Savior's grace, such blessedness as this! But, we must have a spiritual perception and a spiritual taste to know and relish heavenly pleasures. No man ever went to heaven whose heart did not go before him. "Where your treasure is," said our divine Redeemer, "there will your heart be also." We find it to be so in earthly things; and it is equally so in spiritual things.
O my soul, are your affections placed on things above? Is Jesus the supreme object of your love? Are all created treasures lost in the one eternal Treasure, the Savior of mankind? Can you truly say "Whom have I in heaven but You? and there is none upon earth that I desire besides You." What are the common actings of sincere attachment? They are these five-
1. We love to think upon the friend who is dear to our hearts.
2. We love to speak affectionately of him to others.
3. We love to converse with the person whom we esteem.
4. We love to dwell with the beloved object of our regard.
5. We love to do all acts of kindness, and to endure much self-denial, for his sake.
Can you, O my soul, transfer all this to the Savior, and feel, by holy experience, these actings of love towards him? Happy, indeed, are they who daily love to think of Jesus; to speak of him; to converse with him by prayer and reading his word; to dwell with him by faith; and to do and suffer with cheerfulness, all his righteous will. Such "disciples indeed," have heaven let down into their souls, and ascend by these steps to the courts above.
How different is the experience and conduct of mere nominal professors, who, though called Christians, are only heathens in disguise. They never truly seek after God, nor confess their sins with brokenness of heart. They endeavor to conceal their sins, not knowing, or not heeding, the inspired caution, "He that covers his sins shall not prosper." They cover their sins by forgetting them; but God has them in remembrance. They cover their sins by denying them; but God will declare their iniquity. They cover their transgressions by framing excuses for them; but God will stop their mouths in judgment. They cover their iniquities by hypocrisy; but God will make manifest the secrets of their hearts. Surely, then, such conduct cannot prosper. It must bring down the wrath of the Almighty; while he who confesses his sins with humble penitence at the foot of the Cross, and heartily forsakes them through the power of the Holy Spirit, shall have mercy.
O adorable Savior of sinners, manifest Yourself to My soul. Like David may I seek you early. With Daniel may I set my face unto You the Lord my God, to seek by prayer and supplication your pardoning and restoring grace. You have promised to be found by those who seek you with their whole heart. O may I have grace in my search for happiness, to find You the very source and center of felicity. Your presence is heaven below, while journeying to the heaven above. Fill me with your Spirit; and when my days on earth are ended, receive me to Yourself, where joys unspeakable will never cease.
Gracious is my heavenly King,
Sweet employ his praise to sing;
Ever loving, ever kind,
He has bid me, seek and find.
I would seek Him in his Son,
Who, by grace my heart has won;
Seek Him through his Spirit's power,
Every day, and every hour.
Lord, to me Yourself impart,
Cheer and bless my waiting heart;
Give me mercy, grace, and peace,
Foretaste of eternal bliss.
May I now your love possess,
Traveling through this wilderness;
Until I reach your dwelling-place
And behold you face to face.
There with glorious sons of light,
Clad in pure celestial white,
With my harp of gold I'll sing,
Endless praises to my King!
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