This verse, being the last of this portion, is the result of
his meditation concerning the utility and necessity of keeping the law of God.
Here take notice -
1. Of his resolution, I will keep thy statutes.
2. His prayer , 0 forsake me not utterly.
It is his purpose to keep the law; yet because he is conscious to himself of
many infirmities, he prays against desertion. In the prayer there is a
litotes, more is intended than is expressed. 0 forsake me not. He
means, strengthen me in this work. And if thou shouldest desert me, yet but for
a while, Lord, not for ever; if in part, not in whole.
Four points we may observe from hence -
1. That it is a great advantage to come to a resolution in a course of
godliness.
2. Those that resolve upon a course of obedience had need to fly to God's help.
3. Though we fly to God's help, yet sometimes God may withdraw, and seem to
forsake us.
4. Though God seem to forsake us, and really doth so in part, yet we should
pray that it may not be a total and utter desertion.
The notion of statutes I have opened, and also what it is to keep them in mind, heart, and life. That which we are now to take notice of is David's resolution. Hence observe -
Doct.1. That it is a great advantage to come to a resolution in a
course of godliness.
Negatively, let me speak to this point.
1. This is not to be understood as if our resolutions had any strength in
themselves to bear us out. Peter is a sad instance how little our confidence
and purposes will come to: and therefore David here, when he was most upright
in his own resolution, is most diffident of his own strength ; '0 forsake me
not :' implying, if God should forsake him, all would come to nothing. God must
enable us to do what we resolve.
2. Nor is it to be understood that it is in a man's power to resolve; this
would put grace under the dominion of our will; it is by preventing grace that
we are brought to a serious purpose: Phil. ii. 13, 'He giveth to will and to
do.' Man's will is the toughest sinew in the whole creation. The very purpose
and bent of the heart is the fruit of regeneration. Free-will hath its pangs,
its velleities, which are like a little morning-dew, that is soon dried up:
Hosea vi. 4, 'Our righteousness is as the morning cloud, and as the early dew
it goeth away.' But the will and resolution that we are to understand here is
the fruit of grace.
3. Not as if the obligation to obedience did arise from our own purpose and
promise, rather than from God's command; this were to set man's authority above
God's, and to lay aside the precept, which is the surer bond and obligation,
and to bind the soul with the slender thread of our own resolutions. When we
purpose and promise obedience, we do but make the old bond and engagement of
duty the more active and sensible upon the soul, so that it is not to jostle
out God's authority, but to yield our consent. However, the obligation is the
greater; for to disobey after we have acknowledged an authority, among men it
is counted a more heinous crime than standing out against the authority itself.
A thing that is not due before, yet when we have promised or dedicated it to
God, then it is not in our power; as in the case of Ananias, Acts v. But now we
are not free before the contract, we have bonds upon us; and the business of
our promise and resolution is only to make our obligation more powerful upon
the conscience.
4. Not as if it were an arbitrary thing thus to do, and practised by the saints
only for the more convenience of the spiritual life. No; but it is a thing
required: Acts xi. 23, He 'exhorteth them that, with full purpose of heart,
they would cleave to the Lord.'
Positively: 1. It is a course which God will bless; he hath appointed
ordinances for this end and purpose that we might come to this resolution. The
promise is first implicitly made in baptism; therefore is it called, 1 Peter
iii. 21, 'the answer of a good conscience towards God.' How so? Why, the
covenant binds mutually on God's part and on ours, and so do the seals which
belong to the covenant. It doth not only seal pardon and sanctification on
God's part, but there is a promise and answer on our part. An answer to what?
To the demands of the covenant. In the covenant of grace God saith, I will be
your God; baptism seals that, and we promise to be his people. Now our answer
to this demand of God, and to this interrogatory he puts to us in the covenant,
it is sealed by us in baptism, and it is renewed in the Lord's Supper. Look, as
in the old sacrifices, they were all a renewing of the oath of allegiance to
God, or confirming their purposes and resolutions, you have the same notion to
the sacrifice that is given to the Lord's Supper, for it is called 'the blood
of the covenant,' Exod. xxiv. 7, 8. In the ordinance of the Lord's Supper there
we come to take an obligation upon us; half of the blood is sprinkled upon us.
And this purpose and resolution to it is still continued and kept afoot in our
daily exercise, invocation, and prayer, wherein either we explicitly or
implicitly renew our obedience; for every prayer is an implicit vow, wherewith
we bind ourselves to seek those things we ask, or else we do not engage God to
bestow them. Thus it is a course that God will bless.
2. It is of great necessity to prevent uncertainty of spirit. Until we come to
resolution we shalt be liable to temptation; until we fully set our faces
towards God, and have a bent and serious purpose of heart, we shall never be
free from temptation from the devil, and from evil men, or from ourselves. From
the devil: James i. 8, 'A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways.' As
long as we are wavering, and suspensive, we can never carry on uniformity of
obedience. While we halt between God and Baal, Satan hath an advantage against
us. So from evil men: David doth express himself as coming to a resolution in
this psalm, ver. 11.5, 'Depart from me, ye evil-doers, for I will keep the
conimandments of my God.' There is no way to shake off those evil companions
and associates till there be a bent seriously towards heaven. So from
ourselves: we have changeable hearts, that 'love to wander,' Jer. xiv. 10. We
have many revoltings and reluctancies; therefore, until a sanctified judgment
and will concur to make up a resolution and holy purpose, we shall still be up
and down. The saints, being sensible of their weakness, often bind this upon
themselves: Ps. cxix. 57, 'I have said that I would keep thy words;' there was
a practical decree past upon the conscience. And ver. 106, 'I have sworn, and I
will perform it, that I will keep thy righteous judgments.' An oath is the
highest assurance among men, and most solemn engagement, and all little enough
to hold a backsliding heart under a sense and care of our duty. As long as the
Israelites had a will to Canaan, so long they digested the inconveniences of
the wilderness. Every difficulty and trouble will put us out of the way, and we
cannot be secured against an unsteady heart, but by taking up such a course, a
serious resolve of maintaining communion with God. And as it is useful to
prevent temptation, so to excite and quicken our dulness: we forget our vow and
purpose, and therefore we relapse into sin. The apostle saith, 2 Peter i. 9,
'He hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins;' that he did renounce
these things in baptism. And Paul puts us in mind of our engagement: Rom. viii.
12, 'We are not debtors to the flesh, to live after the flesh.' You make vows
and promises to God, to renounce the flesh and vanities of the world, and to
give up yourselves to God's service; and these things are forgotten, and
therefore we grow slight, cold, careless in the profession of godliness.
Use. The first use is to press us to come to a declared resolution to
serve and please God, and to direct us in what manner.
First, Make it with a full bent of heart. Rest not upon a Shall I? shall
I? but 'I will keep thy statutes.' As Agrippa was almost persuaded
to be a Christian, but not altogether, so men stand hovering and debating. You
should resolve, Ps. cxix. 112, 'I have inclined my heart to perform thy
statutes alway to the end.' It is God's work to incline the heart; but when the
work of grace is passed upon us, then the believer doth voluntarily incline
himself; his will is bent to serve God, not by fits and starts, but alway to
the end: 1 Chron. xxii. 19, 'Now set your hearts to seek the Lord;' that is,
resolve, be not off and on.
But, secondly, In what manner shall we make it?
1. Seriously and advisedly, not in a rash humour. The people, when they heard
the law, and were startled with the majesty of God, Deut. v. 28, 29, answered,
'All that the Lord hath spoken we will do.' It was well done to come to a
purpose and resolution; but 'Oh, that there were such a heart within them,
saith God, 'that they would fear me,' etc.: Josh. xxiv. 19, 'We will serve the
Lord,' say the people; 'You cannot serve the Lord,' saith Joshua. Do you know
what it is? Rash undertakings will necessarily be accompanied with a feeble
prosecution ; and therefore count the charges, lest you repent of the bargain,
Luke xiv. 23.
2. Make Christ a liberal allowance, if you would come to a resolution: Mat.
xvi. 24, 'He that will come after me,' he that hath a heart set upon this
business, let him know what he must do; 'let him deny himself,' etc. When we
engage for God, he would have us reckon for the worst, to be provided for all
difficulties. A man that builds, when he hath set apart such a sum of money to
compass it, while he keeps within allowance, all is well; but when that is
exceeded, every penny is disbursed with grudging. So if you do anything in this
holy business, make Christ a liberal allowance at first, lest we think of
returning into Egypt afterward, when we meet with fiery flying serpents, and
difficulties and hardships in our passage to heaven. Let it be a thorough
resolution, that, come what will come, we will be the Lord's. There should be a
holy wilfulness. Paul was resolved to go to Jerusalem, because he was bound in
spirit; and though they did even break his heart, yet they could not break his
purpose.
3. Resolve as trusting upon the Lord's grace. You are poor weak creatures; how
changeable in an hour! not a feather so tossed to and fro in the air; therefore
we shall fail, falter, and break promise every day, if we go forth in the
strength of our own resolutions. Resolve as trusting in the direction and
assistance of God's Holy Spirit: if God undertake for us, then, under God, we
may undertake. To resolve is more easy than to perform, as articles are sooner
consented to than made good; a castle is more easily built in time of peace
than maintained and kept in a time of war; and therefore still wait, and depend
upon God for his grace.
4. You cannot promise absolute and thorough obedience, though you should strive
after it, for this you will never be able to perform; and your own promises,
purposes, and resolutions will but increase your trouble, though you are still
to be aiming after it.
Doct. 2. Those that will keep God's statutes must fly to God's help.
As David doth here, 'Oh, forsake me not utterly ;' that is, Oh, strengthen me
in this work. Three reasons for this -
1. We are weak and mutable creatures.
2. Our strength lies in God's hands.
3. God gives out his strength according to his own pleasure.
1. We are weak and mutable creatures. When we were at our best we were so.
Adam in innocency was not able to stand without confirming grace, but gave out
at the first assault. And still we are mutable, though we have a strong
inclination for the present. When the precepts of God are propounded with
evidence, and backed with promises and threatenings, and a resolution follows
thereupon, the fruit of rational conviction and moral suasion, which is not for
the present false and hypocritical, yet it will not hold without the bottom of
grace. It hath not supernatural, yet it may have moral sincerity. Such a
resolution was that of the Israelites after the terrible delivery of God's law.
They promised universal obedience, and did not lie in it; for God saitb, They
have done well in their promise; there was a moral sincerity, but there wanted
a renewed sanctified heart. And those captains which came to Jeremiah, chap.
xlii. 5, intended not to deceive for the present, when they called God to
witness that they 'would do according to all things for the which the Lord thy
God shall send thee to us.' And Hazael, 'Is thy servant a dog that he should do
this thing?' Certainly he had abomination of it, when the prophet mentioned
that cruelty of ripping up women with child. But suppose the resolution to be a
fruit of grace and regeneration, yet we have not full power to stand of
ourselves: still we are very changeable creatures in matters that do not
absolutely and immediately concern life and death. Lot, that was chaste in
Sodom, in the midst of so many temptations, you will find him committing incest
in the mountains, where were none but his two daughters. What a change was
here! David, that was so tender, that his heart smote him for cutting off the
lap of Saul's garment, one would wonder that he should plot lust, be guilty of
murder, and lie in that stupid condition for a long time. Peter, which had such
courage to venture upon a band of men, and to cut off Malchus's ear, should be
so faint-hearted at a damsel's question! So, while the strength of the present
impulse and the grace of God is warm upon the heart, we may keep close to our
work while the influence continues; but afterward, how cold and dead do men
grow! as vapours drawn up by the sun, at night fall down again in a dew. The
people were upon a high point of willingness, mighty forward, and ready to
offer whole cart-loads of gold and silver, 1 Chron.xxix. 18. What saith David?
'0 Lord God, keep this for ever in the imagination of the thoughts of the heart
of thy people, and stablish their heart unto thee.' We are not always in a like
frame.
2. Our strength lies in God, and not in ourselves. When the apostle had
exhorted his Ephesians to all Christian duties, he concludes it thus: Eph. vi.
10, 'Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.' This might is in
God, he is our strength. And 2 Tim. ii. 1, 'Be strong in the grace that is in
Jesus Christ.' God would not trust us with the stock in our own hands, now we
have spent our portion, and played the prodigals, but would have us wait upon
him from morning to morning: Ps. XXV. 4, 'Show me thy ways, 0 Lord, teach me
thy paths; lead me in thy truth, and teach me.' We are apt to embezzle it, or
forget God, both which are very mischievous. When the prodigal got his stock in
his own hands, he went into a far country, out of his father's house. God would
not hear from us, there would not be such a constant communion and
correspondence between him and us, if our daily necessities did not force us to
him. Therefore, that the throne of grace might not lie unfrequented, God keeps
the strength in his own hands. We need to consult with him on all occasions.
3. God gives out his strength according to his own pleasure. God many times
gives the will, when he suspendeth the strength that is necessary for the
performance. Sometimes God gives scire, a sense and conscience of duty;
at other times he gives velle, to will, to have a purpose; and when he
gives to will, he doth not always give posse, to be able - not such a
lively performance. It is possible he may give the will where he doth not give
the deed; for it is said, Phil. ii. 13, 'He worketh both to will and to do of
his good pleasure.' And Paul certainly doth not speak as a convinced, but as a
renewed man, when he saith, 'To will is present with me, but how to perform
that which is good, I find not.' He had received the will, and not the deed -
finding presupposeth searching. When we have done all we can, yet how to bring
our purposes into actions, we cannot tell. Peter had his resolutions (and no
doubt they were hearty and real), yet when he comes to make them good, what a
poor weakling was Peter! Putabat se posse, quod se velle sentiebat - he
thought he could do that which he could will, saith Austin: John xiii. 37,
'Lord, why cannot I follow thee now? I will lay down my life for thee.' We look
upon the willing spirit, and not upon the weak flesh. It is possible we may
lean upon recent dispositions and affections, as if they would carry us out,
without dependence upon God. Therefore,for all the parts of spiritual strength
he must besought to.
The use is -
Use. To press you to beware of presumption and self-confidence, when
your resolutions are at the highest for God, and your hearts in the best frame.
Resolution is needful, as was said before; but all our confidences must arise
from God's promises, not our own, if we mean not to be left in the dirt. This
self-confidence in spiritual things I shall show -
1. How it discovereth itself.
2. How to cure it.
1. It discovereth itself -
[1.] Partly thus, by venturing upon temptations without a call and warrant.
When men will lay their heads in the lap of a temptation, and run into the
mouth of danger, they tempt God, but trust to themselves. Peter would be
venturing into the devil's quarters; but what is the issue? He denies his
master. Dependence upon God is ever accompanied with a holy solicitude and
cautelous fear, Phil. ii. 12, 13. When we go out of God's way it is a presuming
upon our own strength ; for he will keep us in viis, in his ways; not
in praecipitiis, when we run headlong into danger.
[2.] When men neglect those means whereby their graces or comforts may be fed
and supplied. A man,that is kept humble and depending will be always waiting
for his dole at wisdom's gates, Prov. viii. 34. We cannot regularly expect
anything from God but in God's way. They who depend upon God will be much in
prayer, hearing, and taking all opportunities. But when men begin to think they
need not pray so much, need not make such conscience of hearing; when we are
more arbitrary and negligent in the use of means, then we begin to live upon
ourselves and our own stock, and do not depend upon the free grace of God to
carry us out in our work.
[3.] When you go forth to any work or conflict, without an actual renewing of
your dependence upon God. It is a sign you lean upon the strength of your own
resolutions, or present frame of your heart. The Ephraimites took it ill that
Gideon would go to war, and not call them into the field when they went out
against the enemy, Judges viii. 1. Oh, may not God much more take it ill that
we will go forth to grapple with the devil and temptations, and go about any
business in our own strength? Therefore, still a sense of our weakness must be
upon us, that we may 'do all in the name of the Lord Jesus;' that is, by help
and assistance from him, Col. iii. 17.
[4.] When we boast of our courage before we are called to a trial. They that
crack in their quarters do not always do most valiantly in the field. Peter's
boast, 'Though all men should leave thee, yet will not I,' came to very little;
and you know the story of Mr Saunders in the Book of Martyrs. 'Let not
him that puts on his harness boast as he that puts it off.' A temptation will
show us how little service that grace will do us which we are proud of; and
boast of.
2. To cure carnal confidence, remember your work and your impediments. (1.)
Consider your work. A full view of duty will check our rash presumptions. Can
you deny yourselves, take up your cross, maintain and carry on a holy course to
your life's end? And (2.) Remember your impediments. Partly from a naughty
heart. You are to row against the stream of flesh and blood. Satan will be sure
to trouble you, and will assault you again and again. Though he be never so
fully foiled, he will not give over the combat: Luke iv. 13, he departed from
Christ 'for a season.' He had a mind to try the other bout. And the world will
be your let - many discouragements and snares from the love and fear of it: 1
John v. 3, 4, 'He that loves God keeps his commandments, and his commandments
are not grievous ;' and presently he saith, 'And this is the victory that
overcometh the world, even our faith;' implying there is no keeping the
commandments without victory over the world. Now, can you do all these things
in your own strength? The young man was forward in resolving to keep the
commandments, but he went away sad, for he had great possessions, Mat. xix. 22.
Therefore consider these things, that you may fly to the Lord Jesus.
Doct. 3. Though we fly to God's help, yet sometimes God may withdraw
and forsake us.
Here I shall speak of the kinds of desertion, and then of the reasons.
First, For the kinds, take these distinctions:-
1. There is a real desertion and a seeming. Christ may be out of sight, and yet
you not out of mind. When the dam is abroad for meat, the young brood in the
nest are not forgotten nor forsaken. The child cries as if the mother was gone,
but she is but hidden, or about other business: Isa. xlix. 14, 15, 'Sion said,
The Lord hath forsaken me, and my God hath forgotten me.' In the misgivings of
our hearts, we think God hath cast off all care and all thought of us. But
God's affectionate answer showeth that all this was but a fond surmise: 'Can a
woman forget her sucking-child?' etc. So Ps. xxxi. 22, 'I said in my haste, I
am cut off before thine eyes: nevertheless thou heardest the voice of my
supplications when I cried unto thee.' We are never more in God's heart many
times than when we think be hath quite cast us off. Surely when the heart is
drawn after him he is not wholly gone. We often mistake God's dispensations.
When he is preparing for us more ample relief, and emptying us of all carnal
dependence, we judge that that is a forsaking ; as Ps. xciv. 18, 'When I said,
My foot slippeth, thy mercy, 0 Lord, held me up.' Sometimes in point of comfort
we are at a loss, and filled with distractions and troubles, and all is that
God may come in for our relief. So in point of grace: 2 Cor. xii. 10, 'When I
am weak, then I am strong.' There is also a real desertion; for God grants his
people are forsaken sometimes: 'Though I have forsaken you for a little
moment,' Isa. liv. 7, 8, And Christ, that could not be mistaken, complaineth of
it; and the saints feel it to their bitter cost.
2. There is internal and external desertion. Internal is with respect to the
withdrawings of the Spirit: Ps; ii. 11, 'Take not thy Holy Spirit from me.' Now
external desertion is in point of affliction, when God leaves us under sharp
crosses in his wise providence. These must be distinguished; sometimes they are
asunder, sometimes together. And when they are together, God may return as to
our inward comfort and support, yet not for our deliverance: Ps. cxxxviii. 3,
'In the day when I cried thou answeredst me, and strengthenedst me with
strength in my soul.' David was in great straits, and God afforded him
soul-relief; that was all the answer he could get then; support and strength to
bear the troubles, but not deliverance from the affliction. Sometimes the ebb
of outward comfort doth make way for a greater tide and influx of inward
comfort: 2 Cor. i. 5, 'As the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our
consolation also aboundeth by Christ.' Cordials are for a fainting time. When
children are sick and weakly, we treat them with the more indulgence. God may
return, and may never less forsake us inwardly than when he doth forsake us
outwardly: 2 Cor. iv. 16, 'Though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is
renewed day by day.' God makes sickly bodies make way for the health of the
soul, and an aching head for a better heart. When he seems to cast us off in
point of our external condition, it is to draw us into a more inward communion
with himself, that we might receive greater supplies of his grace.
3. There is a desertion as to comfort, and a desertion as to grace. The
children of God may sometimes lose the feelings of God's love: Ps. lxxvii. 1 -
3, 'My soul refused to be comforted; I remembered God, and was troubled; my
spirit was overwhelmed.' Oh, what a word was that! Remembering of God revives
the heart; but to think of God, and to think of his loss, that was his great
trouble. Yet all this while God may hold communion in point of grace: Ps.
lxxiii. 23, 'Nevertheless, I am continually with thee: thou hast holden me by
my right hand.' He had been under a conflict, lost his comfort, yet he
acknowledgeth support; God held him in his right hand. Trouble and discomfort
hath its use; want of comfort makes way many times for increase of grace; and
therefore, though a man may be deserted as to comfort, yet he may have a
greater influence of grace from God. How often doth it fall out thus with God's
children, that their right is more confirmed to spiritual blessings when their
sense is lost! Then they are more industrious and diligent to get a sense of
God's love again. A summer's sun that is clouded yields more comfort and warmth
to the earth than a winter's sun that shines brightest. These cloudy times have
their use and their fruit; and Christians have the less of a happy part of
communion with God, that they may have more holiness; and less of sweetness and
sensible consolation, that they may have more grace.
4. There is desertio correctiva et eruditiva - a desertion for
correction, and a desertion for instruction. Sometimes the aim of it is merely
for correction for former sin; it is a penal overclouding for our unkind and
ungracious dealing with him. God may do it for sins; nay, many times for old
sins long ago committed; he may charge them anew upon the conscience: Job xiii.
24, compared with ver. 26, ' Wherefore hidest thou thy face, and holdest me for
thine enemy?' 'Thou makest me to possess the iniquities of my youth.' An old
bruise may trouble us long after, upon every change of weather. Many that have
grieved God's Spirit in their youth, after they have been converted, God will
reckon with them about it in their age. A man will smart for his ungracious
courses first or last. Sometimes it is merely for instruction ; it instructs us
chiefly to show us God's sovereignty, with the changeableness of the best
comfort on this side heaven; to show us his sovereignty, that he will be free
to go and come at his own pleasure. He will have his people know he is lord,
and may do with his own as pleaseth him. The heavenly eradiations and
outshinings of his love are not at our beck; God will dispense them according
to his pleasure. A mariner hath no cause to murmur and quarrel with God because
the wind bloweth out of the east when he desireth a westerly gale. Why? Because
it is his wind, and he will dispose these things according to his pleasure. So
the comfort and outshinings of his love are his, and he will take them and give
them as he thinks good. Again, to show us the changeableness of the best
comforts on this side heaven. When Christ hath been in the soul with a full and
high influx of comfort, this doth not remain long with us ; God may withdraw.
Observe it, often after the highest enlargements there may be some forsaking.
Cant. v. 1, there we read of a feast between Christ and his beloved: 'Come eat,
0 friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, 0 beloved.' Here they are feasted with
love; presently we read of desertion, the spouse waxeth lazy and drowsy, and
Christ is gone; then she is forced to go up and down to find him. Paul had his
raptures; then a messenger of Satan to buffet him. The same disciples that were
conscious to Christ's transfiguration - Peter, James, and John, Mat. xvii. -
the same disciples are chosen also to be conscious to his agonies: Mat. xxvi.
37, 'He took with him Peter, James, and John.' First they had a glimpse of his
glory, then a sight of his bitter agonies and sufferings. Jeremiah in one line
singing of praise, and in the next cursing the day of his birth, Jer. xx. 13,
14. After the most ravishing comforts may be a sad suspension. Jacob saw the
face of God, and wrestled with him, but his thigh halted. There needs something
to humble the creature after these experiences.
5. Desertion is either felt or not felt. Not felt, and then it is more
dangerous, and usually ends in some notable fall; as Hezekiah, 2 Chron. xxxii.
31. God left him, and he was not sensible, and then he runs into pride and
vainglory, and draweth wrath upon him and his people. God's children, when they
do not observe his comings and goings, they fall into mischief, it begins their
woe. We do not observe what experiences we have of God, then we faint: we do
not observe his goings, then that makes way for some scandal and imprudent and
unseemly action, and that makes way for some bitter and sharp affliction. But
if it be felt, it is the better provided against. If we do not murmur, but seek
to God in Christ to get the loss made up, then it is better. Meek
acknowledgments are better than complaining expostulations. It is a sign it
works kindly.
6. There is a total and a partial desertion. Those who are bent to obey God may
for a while and in some degree be left to themselves. We cannot promise
ourselves an utter immunity from desertion, but it is not total. We shall find,
for his great name's sake 'The Lord will not forsake his people,' 1 Sam. xii.
22; and Heb. xiii. 5, 'I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.' Not utterly,
yet in part they may be forsaken. Elijah was forsaken, but not as Ahab; Peter
was forsaken in part, but not as Judas, that was utterly forsaken, until he was
made a prey to the devil. So carnal professors are forsaken utterly until they
are made a prey fit for the devil's tooth. David was forsaken to be humbled and
bettered; but Saul was forsaken utterly to be destroyed. Saith Theophylact, God
may forsake his people so as to shut out their prayers, Ps. lxxx. 4, so as to
interrupt the peace and joy of their heart, to abate their strength; the
spiritual life may be much at a stand, and so as sin may break out, and they
fall foully; but not utterly forsaken. But one way or other God is present;
present in light sometimes when he is not present in strength, when he
manifests the evil of their present condition, so as to mourn under it; and
present in awakening desires, thouoh not in giving enjoyment. As long as there
is any esteem of God, he is not yet gone; there is some light and love yet
left, manifested by our desires of communion with him.
7. There is a temporary desertion and an eternal desertion. One is spoken of,
Isa. liv. 7, 8, 'For a small moment have I forsaken thee, but with everlasting
kindness will I have mercy on thee.' God may forsake his servants for a little
while: indeed they may have a long winter of it sometimes; as David lay for
many months under his sin, until Nathan roused him; but this is but a moment to
the eternity wherein God loves them. But the eternal forsaking is of the final
impenitent, when God saith, Never see my face more, 'go ye cursed,' etc. Thus
for the kinds.
Secondly, The reasons of desertion.
1. To correct us for our wantonness, and our unkind dealing with Christ. If we
neglect him upon frivolous pretences, certainly he will be gone: Cant. v. 3, 'I
have put off my coat, how shall I put it on?' See ver. 6, 'My beloved had
withdrawn himself, and was gone.' When we are not at God's call, he will not be
at our beck. She that would not open to Christ, when she opened, Christ was
gone.
2. To acquaint us with our weakness. What feathers are we when the blast of a
temptation is let loose upon us! God will show what we are by his withdrawing.
God left Hezekiah, 'That he might try him, that he might know all that was in
his heart,' 2 Chron. xxxii. 31. When Christ was asleep, the storm arose, and
the ship was in danger. If God be gone but a little, or suspend his influence,
we cannot stand our ground.
3. To subdue our carnal confidence: Ps. xxx. 6, 7, 'In my prosperity I said, I
shall never be moved.' We fall asleep upon a carnal pillow, then God draws it
away: 'Thou didst hide thy face and I was troubled.' The nurse lets the child
get a knock, to make it more cautious. God withdraws, that we may learn more to
depend upon him.
4. To heighten our esteem of Christ, that love may be sharpened by absence.
When once we feel the loss of it to our bitter cost, we will not part with him
again upon easy terms. The spouse when she caught him would not let him go,
Cant. iii. 2, 3, 4; then are we more tender to observe him in his motions.
5. That by our own bitter experience we may learn how to value the sufferings
of Christ, when we taste of the bitter cup of which he drank for us.
Christians, you do not know what it was for Christ to cry out, 'My God, why
hast thou forsaken me?' Mat. xxvii. 46, until we are sensible in our measure
and degree of the like. He tasted of the hell of being forsaken, and we must
pledge him in that cup first or last, that we may know what our Saviour endured
for us; and what it is for a holy man to want the light of God's countenance,
and those sensible consolations that he formerly had.
6. To prevent evil to come, especially pride, that we might not be lifted up;
and to entender our hearts to others: 2 Cor. i. 4, 'That we might comfort
others with the comforts wherewith we were comforted of God.
Use 1. This informs us that we are not therefore cast out of the love of
God because there may be some forsaking. Desertion is incident to the most
heavenly spirits. Christ hath legitimated this condition, and made it
consistent with grace. It is a disease this which follows the royal seed;
David, Heman, Hezekiah, these were forsaken, yet were children of God. It is
more incident to the godly than the wicked and carnal. The carnal may be under
bondage; sometimes their peace may be troubled and disturbed; but this
desertion properly is a disease incident to the godly, and none are so affected
with it as they: they have a tender heart; when God is gone how are they
troubled! They are very observant, and therefore we cannot say they are not
godly because they are forsaken. But those that never felt the love of Christ,
never knew what communion with God means, were never troubled with sin, have
none of this affliction; but this is incident to the richest and most heavenly
spirit whom God hath taken into communion with himself.
Use 2. For direction to the children of God.
1. Observe God's comings and goings; see whether you be forsaken. When God
hides himself from your prayers, when means have not such a lively influence,
when you have a strong affection to obey, but not such help to bring it into
act, and you begin to stumble, observe it; God is withdrawn, and many times
seems to withdraw, to observe whether you will take notice of it. Christ made
as if he would go further, but they constrained him to stay; so he makes as if
he would be gone, to see if you will constrain him to tarry.
2. Inquire after the reason: Ps. lxxvii. 6, 'I communed with mine own heart.'
What then? 'My spirit made diligent search.' Ay! this is the time to make
diligent search what it is divides between God and you. Though God doth it out
of sovereignty and instruction sometimes, yet there is ever cause for creatures
to humble themselves, and make diligent search what is the matter.
3. Submit to the dispensation: murmuring doth but entangle you more; God will
have us stoop to his sovereignty and wisdom before he hath done. A husband must
be absent for necessary occasions; a frown is as necessary for a child as a
smile. David refuseth not to be tried, only he prays, 'Lord, forsake me not
utterly.' It is a fond child that will not let its parent go out of sight.
4. Learn to trust in a withdrawing God, and depend upon him; to stay ourselves
upon his name when we see no light, Isa. 1. 10. Never leave until you find him.
Look, as Esther would go into the king's presence when there was no golden
sceptre held forth, so venture into God's presence when you have no smile and
countenance from heaven; trust in a withdrawing God; nay, when wrath breaks
out, when God killeth you: Job xiii. 15, 'Though he kill me, yet will I trust
in him.' With such a holy obstinacy of faith should we follow God in this case.
Doct. 4. When God seemeth to forsake us, and really doth so in part,
yet we should pray that it be not an utter and total desertion.
Isa. lxiv. 9, 'Be not wroth very sore, 0 Lord, neither remember iniquity for
ever. Behold, see, we beseech thee, we are all thy people.'
(1.) Do not despond; we are very apt to do so: Ps. lxxvii. 7 - 9, 'Will the
Lord cast off for ever? will he be favourable no inane? Is his mercy clean gone
for ever? doth his promise fail for evermore? Hath God forgotten to be
gracious? hath he in anger shut up his tender mercies? Selah.' The worst kind
of despondency is to lie in sin. To lie in the dirt, because we are fallen, is
foolish obstinacy.
(2.) Pray to God - (lst.) Acknowledging that we have deserved it; (2d.) By
supplication. There is nothing which God hath promised to perform but we may
ask it in prayer: Heb. xiii. 5, 'He hath said, I will never leave thee nor
forsake thee.' If thou provest me, let me not miscarry; if thou exercisest me,
let me not be cut off. Beg his returns.
(3.) Give thanks that God is not wholly gone, as certainly he is not, as long
as you are sensible of your loss, and have a tender heart left. Though he hath
withdrawn the light of his countenance, yet he hath left the esteem of it, a
thirst after God, and a desire of communion with himself. As long as there is
any attraction left, you may find him by the smell of his ointments.