1 00:00:02,760 --> 00:00:07,400 The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, a sermon delivered on 2 00:00:07,400 --> 00:00:12,560 Sunday morning, June 15th, 1862, by the Reverend 3 00:00:12,560 --> 00:00:12,800 C. 4 00:00:12,820 --> 00:00:12,980 H. 5 00:00:13,040 --> 00:00:16,780 Spurgeon, at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington. 6 00:00:18,260 --> 00:00:20,400 Psalm 37, verse 4. 7 00:00:22,360 --> 00:00:25,760 Delight thyself also in the Lord, and he 8 00:00:25,760 --> 00:00:28,840 shall give thee the desires of thine heart. 9 00:00:30,860 --> 00:00:33,340 There are two teachings in our text which 10 00:00:33,340 --> 00:00:35,800 must be very surprising to those who are 11 00:00:35,800 --> 00:00:38,280 strangers to vital godliness. 12 00:00:39,480 --> 00:00:42,860 To sincere believers these marvels are recognized facts, 13 00:00:43,360 --> 00:00:45,760 but to the outside world they will appear 14 00:00:45,760 --> 00:00:47,360 passing strange. 15 00:00:48,700 --> 00:00:50,360 We have here, first of all, the life 16 00:00:50,360 --> 00:00:53,520 of a believer described as a delight in 17 00:00:53,520 --> 00:00:56,820 God, and thus we are certified of the 18 00:00:56,820 --> 00:01:01,740 great truth that true religion overflows with happiness 19 00:01:01,740 --> 00:01:03,140 and joy. 20 00:01:04,720 --> 00:01:08,560 Ungodly persons and mere professors never look upon 21 00:01:08,560 --> 00:01:10,620 religion as a joyful thing. 22 00:01:11,940 --> 00:01:13,800 To them it is a service, a duty, 23 00:01:14,240 --> 00:01:18,940 or necessity, but never pleasure or delight. 24 00:01:20,700 --> 00:01:22,760 Wherefore go they up to the house of 25 00:01:22,760 --> 00:01:23,220 God? 26 00:01:23,920 --> 00:01:26,820 Is it not because of custom, a custom 27 00:01:26,820 --> 00:01:29,080 which they would fain avoid if they dare? 28 00:01:30,400 --> 00:01:33,240 Wherefore do they attend to the ordinances of 29 00:01:33,240 --> 00:01:33,980 the church? 30 00:01:35,080 --> 00:01:37,420 Is it not either out of Pharisaic hope 31 00:01:37,420 --> 00:01:41,240 of merit, or from a superstitious dread? 32 00:01:42,720 --> 00:01:45,080 How many view the forms of religion as 33 00:01:45,080 --> 00:01:48,980 charms to avert ill, or as lesser evils 34 00:01:48,980 --> 00:01:51,820 by which they escape from dreaded judgment? 35 00:01:53,120 --> 00:01:56,740 What is their service but drudgery, and their 36 00:01:56,740 --> 00:01:58,960 worship but weariness? 37 00:02:00,540 --> 00:02:04,000 Ask ye the worldlings what they think of 38 00:02:04,000 --> 00:02:07,780 religion, and even when they practice its outward 39 00:02:07,780 --> 00:02:10,960 rites they snuff at it as a dull 40 00:02:10,960 --> 00:02:12,180 and dreary thing. 41 00:02:13,320 --> 00:02:15,280 What a weariness it is! 42 00:02:15,720 --> 00:02:17,160 They love it as much as the ass 43 00:02:17,160 --> 00:02:19,560 loves labor, or the horse the whip, or 44 00:02:19,560 --> 00:02:20,760 the prisoner the treadmill. 45 00:02:21,160 --> 00:02:22,960 They cry for short sermons. 46 00:02:23,200 --> 00:02:26,060 Indeed, none at all would suit them better. 47 00:02:26,840 --> 00:02:29,140 How cheerfully would they clip the hours of 48 00:02:29,140 --> 00:02:29,600 Sunday! 49 00:02:29,740 --> 00:02:32,440 Indeed, if Sabbath only came but once in 50 00:02:32,440 --> 00:02:33,800 the month, they would prefer it. 51 00:02:34,820 --> 00:02:37,980 The heavy necessity of pious customs weighs upon 52 00:02:37,980 --> 00:02:40,840 them as tribute upon a conquered province. 53 00:02:41,600 --> 00:02:43,880 They pay to religion an observance of the 54 00:02:43,880 --> 00:02:46,820 character of a tax or toll which custom 55 00:02:46,820 --> 00:02:47,320 demands. 56 00:02:48,520 --> 00:02:52,360 But freewill offerings they know not, and loving 57 00:02:52,360 --> 00:02:55,320 enjoyment of hallowed fellowship they cannot understand. 58 00:02:56,200 --> 00:02:58,840 They serve God as Cain did, who brought 59 00:02:58,840 --> 00:03:01,620 his offering, it is true, but brought it 60 00:03:01,620 --> 00:03:04,540 late, brought it because it was the family 61 00:03:04,540 --> 00:03:07,280 custom, and he would not be outdone by 62 00:03:07,280 --> 00:03:09,900 his brother, brought it of the common fruit 63 00:03:09,900 --> 00:03:13,080 of the ground, and with a sullen, loveless 64 00:03:13,080 --> 00:03:13,580 heart. 65 00:03:14,880 --> 00:03:17,960 The Cainites bring such as they are forced 66 00:03:17,960 --> 00:03:20,920 to bring, and mingle no faith in Jesus' 67 00:03:21,140 --> 00:03:22,080 blood with their offerings. 68 00:03:22,900 --> 00:03:25,240 They come with leaden heels to the house 69 00:03:25,240 --> 00:03:27,660 of God, and they go away as if 70 00:03:27,660 --> 00:03:29,620 they had feathers to their feet. 71 00:03:30,700 --> 00:03:33,560 They serve God, but it is either that 72 00:03:33,560 --> 00:03:36,720 they may gain thereby, or else because they 73 00:03:36,720 --> 00:03:38,520 dare not do otherwise. 74 00:03:40,140 --> 00:03:43,060 The thought of delight in religion is so 75 00:03:43,060 --> 00:03:46,500 strange to most men that no two words 76 00:03:46,500 --> 00:03:49,340 in their language stand farther apart than holiness 77 00:03:49,340 --> 00:03:50,860 and delight. 78 00:03:52,100 --> 00:03:55,640 Ah, but believers who know Christ understand that 79 00:03:55,640 --> 00:03:59,220 delight and faith are so blessedly married the 80 00:03:59,220 --> 00:04:01,980 gates of hell cannot prevail to divorce them. 81 00:04:02,740 --> 00:04:04,700 They who love God with all their hearts 82 00:04:04,700 --> 00:04:08,160 find that His ways are ways of pleasantness, 83 00:04:08,340 --> 00:04:09,980 and all His paths are peace. 84 00:04:11,120 --> 00:04:15,380 Such joy, such brimful delight, such overflowing bliss 85 00:04:15,380 --> 00:04:17,880 do the saints discover in their Lord that 86 00:04:17,880 --> 00:04:20,579 so far from serving Him from custom they 87 00:04:20,579 --> 00:04:22,540 would follow Him should all the world cast 88 00:04:22,540 --> 00:04:23,880 out His name as evil. 89 00:04:25,040 --> 00:04:27,520 We fear not God because of any compulsion. 90 00:04:28,720 --> 00:04:31,940 Our faith is no fetter, our profession is 91 00:04:31,940 --> 00:04:32,480 no prison. 92 00:04:33,740 --> 00:04:35,940 We are not dragged to holiness nor driven 93 00:04:35,940 --> 00:04:36,540 to duty. 94 00:04:37,220 --> 00:04:40,640 No, sirs, our religion is our recreation, our 95 00:04:40,640 --> 00:04:43,160 hope is our happiness, our duty is our 96 00:04:43,160 --> 00:04:43,520 delight. 97 00:04:44,520 --> 00:04:46,400 I know it always will be a calumny 98 00:04:46,400 --> 00:04:50,360 against Christ's religion that it makes men miserable, 99 00:04:50,860 --> 00:04:55,100 but a greater misapprehension or a baser falsehood 100 00:04:55,100 --> 00:04:58,940 never cursed the world because we cannot trifle 101 00:04:58,940 --> 00:05:03,000 so foolishly nor sin so boldly nor brag 102 00:05:03,000 --> 00:05:05,200 so lustily as the servants of sin. 103 00:05:05,680 --> 00:05:07,760 Therefore you think us miserable. 104 00:05:08,960 --> 00:05:12,780 Ah, sirs, it is well written, a stranger 105 00:05:12,780 --> 00:05:15,260 intermedleth not with our joy. 106 00:05:15,760 --> 00:05:17,780 The secret of the Lord is with them 107 00:05:17,780 --> 00:05:20,380 that fear Him, and their joy no man 108 00:05:20,380 --> 00:05:21,300 taketh from them. 109 00:05:22,280 --> 00:05:25,700 Let us remind you, however, that still waters 110 00:05:25,700 --> 00:05:28,060 run the deepest. 111 00:05:29,180 --> 00:05:32,440 The rill which rattles o'er the stones 112 00:05:32,440 --> 00:05:34,580 dries up in the summer, but the deep 113 00:05:34,580 --> 00:05:37,940 -flowing river speeds on come drought or heat, 114 00:05:38,660 --> 00:05:41,420 and yet glideth silently along the meads. 115 00:05:42,560 --> 00:05:44,520 We do not talk so loudly of our 116 00:05:44,520 --> 00:05:46,920 joys as you of your merriments, because we 117 00:05:46,920 --> 00:05:48,100 have no need to do so. 118 00:05:49,320 --> 00:05:53,260 Ours are known as well in silence as 119 00:05:53,260 --> 00:05:54,880 in exciting company. 120 00:05:56,080 --> 00:05:58,740 We need not your society to make us 121 00:05:58,740 --> 00:06:01,880 glad, much less the varied accompaniments which prop 122 00:06:01,880 --> 00:06:02,580 your bliss. 123 00:06:03,480 --> 00:06:06,500 We need neither bowl nor feast nor vial 124 00:06:06,500 --> 00:06:09,560 nor dance to make us glad, nor even 125 00:06:09,560 --> 00:06:11,920 the stalled ox and the bursting wine-fat 126 00:06:11,920 --> 00:06:12,860 to make us rich. 127 00:06:13,660 --> 00:06:17,580 Our happiness lies not on passing creatures, but 128 00:06:17,580 --> 00:06:20,480 in the eternal, immutable Creator. 129 00:06:21,560 --> 00:06:24,220 I know, despite all we shall say, this 130 00:06:24,220 --> 00:06:29,660 slander will survive from generation to generation, that 131 00:06:29,660 --> 00:06:32,500 God's people are a wretched people. 132 00:06:33,440 --> 00:06:36,480 But at least let us clear our conscience 133 00:06:36,480 --> 00:06:40,160 of you, and let us make you without 134 00:06:40,160 --> 00:06:42,940 excuse if you believe it again. 135 00:06:43,880 --> 00:06:45,800 We do have joy. 136 00:06:46,860 --> 00:06:51,120 We do have delights such that we would 137 00:06:51,120 --> 00:06:53,780 not part with one dram of ours for 138 00:06:53,780 --> 00:06:56,680 a ton of yours, not drops of our 139 00:06:56,680 --> 00:06:59,800 joy for rivers, of your delights. 140 00:07:00,960 --> 00:07:05,200 Ours are no tinsel or painted joys, but 141 00:07:05,200 --> 00:07:10,180 solid realities, and are joys that we can 142 00:07:10,180 --> 00:07:12,200 take with us to our bed in the 143 00:07:12,200 --> 00:07:14,980 silent dust, joys that shall sleep with us 144 00:07:14,980 --> 00:07:17,160 in the tomb and that shall awake with 145 00:07:17,160 --> 00:07:20,140 us in eternity, joys that we can look 146 00:07:20,140 --> 00:07:21,960 back upon and so live them o'er 147 00:07:21,960 --> 00:07:25,360 again in retrospect, joys that we can anticipate 148 00:07:25,360 --> 00:07:27,860 and so know both here and hereafter. 149 00:07:28,880 --> 00:07:32,000 Ours are not bubbles which only glitter to 150 00:07:32,000 --> 00:07:32,540 burst. 151 00:07:33,120 --> 00:07:35,360 Ours are not apples of Sodom turning to 152 00:07:35,360 --> 00:07:36,440 ashes in our hand. 153 00:07:36,860 --> 00:07:43,700 Our delights are substantial, real, true, solid, lasting, 154 00:07:44,360 --> 00:07:45,020 and everlasting. 155 00:07:46,320 --> 00:07:47,400 What more shall I say? 156 00:07:48,380 --> 00:07:51,140 Dismiss from your minds this mistake. 157 00:07:52,440 --> 00:07:56,400 Delight and true religion are as allied as 158 00:07:56,400 --> 00:07:59,680 root and flower, as indivisible as truth and 159 00:07:59,680 --> 00:08:00,240 certainty. 160 00:08:00,900 --> 00:08:03,200 They are in fact two precious jewels set 161 00:08:03,200 --> 00:08:06,000 side by side in the same socket of 162 00:08:06,000 --> 00:08:06,360 gold. 163 00:08:07,660 --> 00:08:09,620 But there is another wonder in our text 164 00:08:09,620 --> 00:08:13,080 to worldly men, though it is a wonder 165 00:08:13,080 --> 00:08:14,780 well understood by Christians. 166 00:08:15,780 --> 00:08:19,700 The text says, He shall give thee the 167 00:08:19,700 --> 00:08:22,320 desires of thine heart. 168 00:08:23,980 --> 00:08:28,180 Why, the worldly man says, I thought religion 169 00:08:28,180 --> 00:08:29,520 was all self-denial. 170 00:08:30,820 --> 00:08:33,100 I never imagined that in loving God we 171 00:08:33,100 --> 00:08:34,159 could have our desires. 172 00:08:35,360 --> 00:08:38,140 I thought that godliness consisted in killing, destroying, 173 00:08:38,340 --> 00:08:40,039 and keeping back our desires. 174 00:08:41,320 --> 00:08:43,380 Does not the religion of most men consist 175 00:08:43,380 --> 00:08:47,220 in an open abstinence from sins which they 176 00:08:47,220 --> 00:08:48,240 secretly love? 177 00:08:49,500 --> 00:08:53,200 Negative godliness is very common in this age. 178 00:08:54,520 --> 00:08:56,620 It is supposed by most men that our 179 00:08:56,620 --> 00:08:59,860 religion consists in things which we must not 180 00:08:59,860 --> 00:09:03,300 do, rather than in pleasures which we may 181 00:09:03,300 --> 00:09:03,760 enjoy. 182 00:09:04,840 --> 00:09:07,040 We must not go to a theatre. 183 00:09:08,280 --> 00:09:11,980 We must not sing songs, trade on Sundays, 184 00:09:12,180 --> 00:09:13,960 use ill words, and so on. 185 00:09:14,680 --> 00:09:16,560 We must not do this, and we must 186 00:09:16,560 --> 00:09:17,720 not do that. 187 00:09:19,160 --> 00:09:22,460 And they suppose us to be a crabbed, 188 00:09:23,060 --> 00:09:26,240 miserable race of persons who no doubt make 189 00:09:26,240 --> 00:09:28,920 up by some private allowance for denying ourselves 190 00:09:28,920 --> 00:09:29,740 in public. 191 00:09:31,440 --> 00:09:34,840 Now it is true that religion, true religion, 192 00:09:35,580 --> 00:09:36,740 is self-denial. 193 00:09:37,860 --> 00:09:41,000 It is equally true that it is not 194 00:09:41,640 --> 00:09:42,540 self-denial. 195 00:09:43,780 --> 00:09:47,260 Christian men have two selves. 196 00:09:48,380 --> 00:09:51,600 There is the old self, and therein they 197 00:09:51,600 --> 00:09:53,780 do deny the flesh with its affections and 198 00:09:53,780 --> 00:09:54,580 lusts. 199 00:09:55,660 --> 00:09:56,960 But there is a new self. 200 00:09:57,700 --> 00:10:00,140 There is a newborn spirit, the new man 201 00:10:00,140 --> 00:10:03,180 in Christ Jesus, and brethren, our religion does 202 00:10:03,180 --> 00:10:06,520 not consist in any self-denial of that. 203 00:10:08,000 --> 00:10:10,380 Now let it have the full swing of 204 00:10:10,380 --> 00:10:13,000 its wishes and desires, for all that it 205 00:10:13,000 --> 00:10:15,080 can wish for, all that it can pant 206 00:10:15,080 --> 00:10:17,520 after, all that it can long to enjoy, 207 00:10:17,780 --> 00:10:19,560 it may most safely obtain. 208 00:10:20,600 --> 00:10:24,180 When I hear persons say, well, you know 209 00:10:24,180 --> 00:10:27,300 my religion consists in some things that I 210 00:10:27,300 --> 00:10:31,180 must do, and in some things that I 211 00:10:31,180 --> 00:10:36,520 must not do, I reply, mine consists in 212 00:10:36,520 --> 00:10:39,180 things that I love to do, and in 213 00:10:39,180 --> 00:10:41,820 avoiding things that I hate and would scorn 214 00:10:41,820 --> 00:10:42,260 to do. 215 00:10:42,900 --> 00:10:45,500 I feel no chain in my religion, for 216 00:10:45,500 --> 00:10:49,340 I am free, and never man more free. 217 00:10:50,460 --> 00:10:52,640 He who fears God and his holy God's 218 00:10:52,640 --> 00:10:54,700 servant has no chains about him. 219 00:10:55,800 --> 00:10:57,880 He may live as he lists, for he 220 00:10:57,880 --> 00:10:59,360 lists to live as he ought. 221 00:11:00,380 --> 00:11:03,060 He may have his full desires, for his 222 00:11:03,060 --> 00:11:06,340 desires are holy, heavenly, divine. 223 00:11:07,080 --> 00:11:08,880 He may take the full range of the 224 00:11:08,880 --> 00:11:11,520 utmost capacity of his wishes and desires, and 225 00:11:11,520 --> 00:11:13,500 of all he wants and all he wishes, 226 00:11:13,760 --> 00:11:16,540 for God has given him the promise, and 227 00:11:16,540 --> 00:11:19,060 God will give him the fulfillment of it. 228 00:11:20,340 --> 00:11:22,580 But do not go away with the idea 229 00:11:22,580 --> 00:11:25,040 that we are always afraid to put one 230 00:11:25,040 --> 00:11:27,840 foot before the other, because there is some 231 00:11:27,840 --> 00:11:31,040 must not in our way, and that we 232 00:11:31,040 --> 00:11:33,140 do not go that way to the right 233 00:11:33,140 --> 00:11:35,000 or that way to the left, because we 234 00:11:35,000 --> 00:11:35,720 dare not. 235 00:11:36,820 --> 00:11:40,520 O sirs, we would not if we might. 236 00:11:40,960 --> 00:11:43,340 We would not if the law were altered. 237 00:11:43,740 --> 00:11:45,960 We would not have your pleasures if we 238 00:11:45,960 --> 00:11:46,400 might. 239 00:11:46,920 --> 00:11:48,720 If we could go to heaven and live 240 00:11:48,720 --> 00:11:51,260 as sinners live, we would not choose their 241 00:11:51,260 --> 00:11:52,440 way in conversation. 242 00:11:53,600 --> 00:11:54,780 It would be a hell to us to 243 00:11:54,780 --> 00:11:57,280 be compelled to sin, even if sin could 244 00:11:57,280 --> 00:11:58,120 go unpunished. 245 00:11:58,660 --> 00:12:01,200 If we could have your drunkenness, if we 246 00:12:01,200 --> 00:12:03,600 could have your lusts, O ye ungodly ones, 247 00:12:03,840 --> 00:12:05,560 if we could have your mirth and your 248 00:12:05,560 --> 00:12:07,540 joy, we would not have them. 249 00:12:08,520 --> 00:12:11,200 We do not deny ourselves when we give 250 00:12:11,200 --> 00:12:11,760 these up. 251 00:12:12,420 --> 00:12:13,980 We despise your mirth. 252 00:12:14,260 --> 00:12:16,640 We abominate it and tread it beneath our 253 00:12:16,640 --> 00:12:17,140 feet. 254 00:12:18,420 --> 00:12:21,620 I can't understand, once said a bird to 255 00:12:21,620 --> 00:12:23,860 a fish, how it is that you always 256 00:12:23,860 --> 00:12:25,340 live in the cold element. 257 00:12:25,920 --> 00:12:27,140 I could not live there. 258 00:12:28,380 --> 00:12:30,700 It must be a great self-denial to 259 00:12:30,700 --> 00:12:33,280 you not to fly up to the trees. 260 00:12:34,520 --> 00:12:36,880 See how I can mount a loft. 261 00:12:38,320 --> 00:12:41,140 Ah, said the fish, it is no self 262 00:12:41,140 --> 00:12:42,640 -denial to me to live here. 263 00:12:43,280 --> 00:12:44,220 It is my element. 264 00:12:45,040 --> 00:12:47,480 I never aspire to fly, for it would 265 00:12:47,480 --> 00:12:48,220 not suit me. 266 00:12:49,080 --> 00:12:50,620 If I were taken out of my element, 267 00:12:50,720 --> 00:12:53,520 I should die, unless I was restored to 268 00:12:53,520 --> 00:12:54,160 it very soon. 269 00:12:54,900 --> 00:12:55,860 And the sooner the better. 270 00:12:57,420 --> 00:13:00,900 So the believer feels that God is his 271 00:13:00,900 --> 00:13:02,140 native element. 272 00:13:03,360 --> 00:13:05,520 He does not escape from his God or 273 00:13:05,520 --> 00:13:07,260 from his master's will and service. 274 00:13:08,480 --> 00:13:10,120 And if for a time he were taken 275 00:13:10,120 --> 00:13:11,560 out of it, the sooner he could get 276 00:13:11,560 --> 00:13:13,120 back to it, the better. 277 00:13:14,660 --> 00:13:16,660 If he is thrown into bad company, he 278 00:13:16,660 --> 00:13:18,720 is miserable and wretched until he gets out 279 00:13:18,720 --> 00:13:19,200 of it again. 280 00:13:20,480 --> 00:13:23,160 Does the dove deny itself when it does 281 00:13:23,160 --> 00:13:24,200 not eat carrion? 282 00:13:25,400 --> 00:13:28,120 No, verily, the dove could not delight in 283 00:13:28,120 --> 00:13:28,920 blood. 284 00:13:29,460 --> 00:13:31,360 It would not feed thereon if it could. 285 00:13:32,760 --> 00:13:35,020 When a man sees a company of swine 286 00:13:35,020 --> 00:13:37,720 under the oak delighting themselves in their acorns 287 00:13:37,720 --> 00:13:40,860 and grunting out their satisfaction, does he deny 288 00:13:40,860 --> 00:13:43,980 himself when passes them by without sharing their 289 00:13:43,980 --> 00:13:44,620 feast? 290 00:13:45,960 --> 00:13:49,320 No, verily, he is better bred at home, 291 00:13:49,400 --> 00:13:51,840 whereof he can eat, and swine's meat is 292 00:13:51,840 --> 00:13:53,200 no dainty to him. 293 00:13:54,020 --> 00:13:55,300 So it is with the believer. 294 00:13:56,380 --> 00:14:00,640 His religion is a matter of delight, a 295 00:14:00,640 --> 00:14:01,880 matter of satisfaction. 296 00:14:02,880 --> 00:14:04,820 And that which he avoids and turns from 297 00:14:04,820 --> 00:14:07,340 is very little self-denial to him. 298 00:14:08,180 --> 00:14:12,040 His tastes are changed, his wishes are altered. 299 00:14:12,740 --> 00:14:16,180 He delights himself in his God and joyously 300 00:14:16,180 --> 00:14:19,460 receives the desire of his heart. 301 00:14:20,720 --> 00:14:23,780 This, by way of preface, now to come 302 00:14:23,780 --> 00:14:25,620 to our text itself. 303 00:14:26,660 --> 00:14:28,820 There are two things in the text, very 304 00:14:28,820 --> 00:14:29,440 plainly. 305 00:14:30,400 --> 00:14:34,040 The first is a precept written upon sparkling 306 00:14:34,040 --> 00:14:34,860 jewels. 307 00:14:34,860 --> 00:14:38,280 Delight thyself in the Lord. 308 00:14:39,220 --> 00:14:42,760 The second is a promise priceless beyond rubies. 309 00:14:44,020 --> 00:14:48,620 He shall give thee the desires of thine 310 00:14:48,620 --> 00:14:49,160 heart. 311 00:14:50,930 --> 00:14:53,310 The first is a precept written upon sparkling 312 00:14:53,310 --> 00:14:53,910 jewels. 313 00:14:54,330 --> 00:14:56,950 I have added these last words because the 314 00:14:56,950 --> 00:14:58,770 law of the ten commands was written upon 315 00:14:58,770 --> 00:15:02,190 stone, perhaps hard granite, in which men could 316 00:15:02,190 --> 00:15:03,290 take but little delight. 317 00:15:03,410 --> 00:15:07,430 But this law of one command, delight thyself 318 00:15:07,430 --> 00:15:10,010 in the Lord, is no stony law to 319 00:15:10,010 --> 00:15:11,910 be written upon tables of granite. 320 00:15:12,830 --> 00:15:16,530 But it contains a precept for sparkling brightness, 321 00:15:16,690 --> 00:15:19,330 worthy to be written on amethysts and pearls. 322 00:15:19,730 --> 00:15:21,570 Delight thyself in the Lord. 323 00:15:22,610 --> 00:15:27,030 My brethren, when delight becomes a duty, then 324 00:15:27,030 --> 00:15:29,790 certainly duty is a delight. 325 00:15:30,770 --> 00:15:32,870 When it becomes my duty to be happy, 326 00:15:33,190 --> 00:15:35,610 when I have an express command to be 327 00:15:35,610 --> 00:15:38,330 glad, then indeed I must be a sinner 328 00:15:38,330 --> 00:15:41,070 if I refuse my own joys and turn 329 00:15:41,070 --> 00:15:42,490 aside for my own bliss. 330 00:15:43,190 --> 00:15:46,230 Oh, what a God we have who has 331 00:15:46,230 --> 00:15:48,310 made it our duty to be happy! 332 00:15:49,510 --> 00:15:53,490 What a gracious God, who accounts no obedience 333 00:15:53,490 --> 00:15:56,530 to be so worthy of his acceptance as 334 00:15:56,530 --> 00:16:00,550 a gladsome obedience rendered by a joyous heart! 335 00:16:02,230 --> 00:16:04,470 Delight thyself in the Lord. 336 00:16:05,670 --> 00:16:08,130 Now first, what is this delight? 337 00:16:09,310 --> 00:16:11,930 I have been thinking the word delight over, 338 00:16:12,750 --> 00:16:14,670 and I cannot explain it. 339 00:16:16,070 --> 00:16:18,650 You know it is a word by itself, 340 00:16:19,390 --> 00:16:21,170 a delightful word. 341 00:16:22,090 --> 00:16:24,070 I cannot use anything but its own self 342 00:16:24,070 --> 00:16:25,190 to describe it. 343 00:16:26,490 --> 00:16:29,290 If you look at it, it is flashing 344 00:16:29,290 --> 00:16:30,150 with light. 345 00:16:31,230 --> 00:16:33,730 It sparkles like a star, nay, like a 346 00:16:33,730 --> 00:16:38,370 bright constellation, radiant with sweet influences like cladies. 347 00:16:39,070 --> 00:16:40,630 It is joy, yet it is more. 348 00:16:40,750 --> 00:16:42,270 It is joy running over. 349 00:16:43,230 --> 00:16:45,870 It is rest, but such a rest as 350 00:16:45,870 --> 00:16:48,550 allows of the utmost activity, of every passion 351 00:16:48,550 --> 00:16:49,290 of the soul. 352 00:16:50,290 --> 00:16:53,830 Delight, it is mirth without its froth. 353 00:16:54,670 --> 00:16:56,810 Delight, it is peace, yet it is more 354 00:16:56,810 --> 00:16:57,150 than that. 355 00:16:57,230 --> 00:17:00,510 It is peace celebrated with festivity, with all 356 00:17:00,510 --> 00:17:02,290 the streamers hanging in the streets and all 357 00:17:02,290 --> 00:17:03,589 the music playing in the soul. 358 00:17:04,750 --> 00:17:06,849 Delight, whereunto shall I compare it? 359 00:17:07,869 --> 00:17:10,109 It is a stray word that belongs to 360 00:17:10,109 --> 00:17:13,369 the language of paradise, and when the holy 361 00:17:13,369 --> 00:17:15,710 words of Eden flew away to heaven at 362 00:17:15,710 --> 00:17:18,490 the fall, this one, being entangled in the 363 00:17:18,490 --> 00:17:20,290 silken meshes of the net of the first 364 00:17:20,290 --> 00:17:22,890 promise, was retained on earth to sing in 365 00:17:22,890 --> 00:17:23,770 believers' ears. 366 00:17:25,410 --> 00:17:28,150 Where shall I find metaphors to set it 367 00:17:28,150 --> 00:17:28,550 out? 368 00:17:29,910 --> 00:17:32,830 Man, fails me, let me turn then to 369 00:17:32,830 --> 00:17:34,690 the unsinning creatures of God. 370 00:17:35,690 --> 00:17:38,150 Go to the seaside when the sea is 371 00:17:38,150 --> 00:17:40,010 going down, and in some parts of the 372 00:17:40,010 --> 00:17:41,990 coast you will see a little fringe just 373 00:17:41,990 --> 00:17:42,930 at the edge of the wave. 374 00:17:43,350 --> 00:17:46,010 It looks like a mist, but on closer 375 00:17:46,010 --> 00:17:48,990 examination you will find there are millions of 376 00:17:48,990 --> 00:17:51,790 very small shrimps leaping up in all manner 377 00:17:51,790 --> 00:17:53,990 of postures and forms out of the receding 378 00:17:53,990 --> 00:17:56,990 wave in exuberance of glee and merriment. 379 00:17:57,790 --> 00:18:00,130 Oh, look on a summer eve at the 380 00:18:00,130 --> 00:18:03,330 gnats as they dance untiringly, scarcely knowing how 381 00:18:03,330 --> 00:18:07,570 to enjoy themselves enough, or see the lambs 382 00:18:07,570 --> 00:18:09,710 in the field how they skip and leap. 383 00:18:10,830 --> 00:18:14,030 Hark to the morning song of the birds 384 00:18:14,030 --> 00:18:15,530 of the air, and listen again to their 385 00:18:15,530 --> 00:18:17,410 delicious notes at eventide. 386 00:18:18,910 --> 00:18:20,930 See the fish as they leap from the 387 00:18:20,930 --> 00:18:23,010 stream, and hear the insects as they hum 388 00:18:23,010 --> 00:18:23,730 in the air. 389 00:18:24,310 --> 00:18:26,970 These may give faint glimmerings of the light 390 00:18:26,970 --> 00:18:28,030 of delight. 391 00:18:29,270 --> 00:18:31,730 Wing your flight to heaven if you would 392 00:18:31,730 --> 00:18:33,010 know what delight means. 393 00:18:33,410 --> 00:18:36,550 See the spirits there as their fingers sweep 394 00:18:36,550 --> 00:18:38,130 the golden strings. 395 00:18:38,530 --> 00:18:40,830 Hark to their voices as with peals of 396 00:18:40,830 --> 00:18:42,630 joy are known to human ears. 397 00:18:42,990 --> 00:18:45,990 They sing unto him that hath loved them 398 00:18:45,990 --> 00:18:49,530 and washed them from their sins in his 399 00:18:49,530 --> 00:18:50,030 blood. 400 00:18:51,290 --> 00:18:54,910 Mark them as they keep eternal Sabbath in 401 00:18:54,910 --> 00:18:57,770 the great temple of the living God, and 402 00:18:57,770 --> 00:19:01,610 gaze upon his throne, and gaze, and gaze, 403 00:19:01,870 --> 00:19:06,010 and gaze again, absorbed in glory, beatified in 404 00:19:06,010 --> 00:19:10,190 Jesus, full of heaven, overflowing with exceeding joy. 405 00:19:11,010 --> 00:19:12,490 This is delight. 406 00:19:13,670 --> 00:19:16,330 I fail in the description, I know. 407 00:19:16,990 --> 00:19:19,530 You must take the word and spell it 408 00:19:19,530 --> 00:19:22,030 over letter by letter, and then you must 409 00:19:22,030 --> 00:19:25,050 pray God to put your heart into a 410 00:19:25,050 --> 00:19:28,430 sweet frame of mind, made up of the 411 00:19:28,430 --> 00:19:29,850 following ingredients. 412 00:19:30,250 --> 00:19:34,110 A perfect rest from all earthly care, a 413 00:19:34,110 --> 00:19:37,590 perfect resignation of yourself in God's hands, an 414 00:19:37,590 --> 00:19:40,670 intense confidence in his love to you, a 415 00:19:40,670 --> 00:19:43,530 divine love to him, so that you feel 416 00:19:43,530 --> 00:19:45,750 you would be anything or do anything for 417 00:19:45,750 --> 00:19:46,010 him. 418 00:19:46,510 --> 00:19:48,290 And then there must be added to all 419 00:19:48,290 --> 00:19:52,110 this a joy in him, and when you 420 00:19:52,110 --> 00:19:55,350 have these, they must be all set a 421 00:19:55,350 --> 00:19:58,930 -boiling, and then you have delight in the 422 00:19:58,930 --> 00:20:00,090 Lord your God. 423 00:20:01,450 --> 00:20:06,390 Matthew Henry says, desire is love in action. 424 00:20:07,110 --> 00:20:10,530 Like a bird on the wing, delight is 425 00:20:10,530 --> 00:20:13,330 love in rest, like a bird on its 426 00:20:13,330 --> 00:20:14,050 nest. 427 00:20:15,230 --> 00:20:17,890 Such is the meaning of the word, and 428 00:20:17,890 --> 00:20:20,130 such the duty prescribed. 429 00:20:20,650 --> 00:20:23,770 Delight thyself also in the Lord. 430 00:20:25,170 --> 00:20:28,890 Secondly, whence comes this delight? 431 00:20:29,850 --> 00:20:34,730 The text tells us, delight thyself in the 432 00:20:34,730 --> 00:20:35,330 Lord. 433 00:20:36,090 --> 00:20:41,610 Delight thyself in Jehovah, in his very existence. 434 00:20:42,990 --> 00:20:44,610 That there is a God is enough to 435 00:20:44,610 --> 00:20:46,850 make the most wretched man happy, if he 436 00:20:46,850 --> 00:20:47,370 believeth. 437 00:20:48,190 --> 00:20:54,310 The nations crash, dynasties fall, kingdoms reel, what 438 00:20:54,310 --> 00:20:57,030 mattereth it, for there is a God. 439 00:20:57,900 --> 00:21:00,950 The father has gone to the tomb, the 440 00:21:00,950 --> 00:21:04,450 mother sleeps in the dust, the wife has 441 00:21:04,450 --> 00:21:08,430 fallen from our side, the children are removed, 442 00:21:08,690 --> 00:21:10,190 but there is a God. 443 00:21:11,450 --> 00:21:15,670 This alone is enough to be a wellspring 444 00:21:15,670 --> 00:21:21,210 of joy forever and ever to all true 445 00:21:21,210 --> 00:21:22,550 believers. 446 00:21:24,550 --> 00:21:27,590 Delight also in his dominion. 447 00:21:29,210 --> 00:21:35,110 The Lord reigneth, let the earth rejoice, Jehovah 448 00:21:35,110 --> 00:21:39,150 is king, come what may of it, he 449 00:21:39,150 --> 00:21:42,890 sits upon the throne and ruleth all things 450 00:21:42,890 --> 00:21:43,370 well. 451 00:21:45,030 --> 00:21:48,650 The Lord hath prepared his throne in the 452 00:21:48,650 --> 00:21:52,490 heavens and his kingdom ruleth over all. 453 00:21:53,250 --> 00:21:55,970 Standing in the chariot of providence he holds 454 00:21:55,970 --> 00:22:00,150 the reins and guides the dashing courses according 455 00:22:00,150 --> 00:22:01,450 to his own will. 456 00:22:02,690 --> 00:22:05,170 God is exalted above the mountains and above 457 00:22:05,170 --> 00:22:07,770 the hills he hath sway in all things 458 00:22:07,770 --> 00:22:10,650 both the magnificent and the minute. 459 00:22:11,690 --> 00:22:15,130 Be glad, O daughter of Zion, for the 460 00:22:15,130 --> 00:22:18,090 Lord is king forever and ever. 461 00:22:18,850 --> 00:22:19,510 Hallelujah! 462 00:22:20,350 --> 00:22:20,830 Hallelujah! 463 00:22:21,890 --> 00:22:24,810 Every attribute of God should become a fresh 464 00:22:24,810 --> 00:22:26,710 ray in this sunlight of delight. 465 00:22:27,410 --> 00:22:29,750 That he is wise would make us glad 466 00:22:29,750 --> 00:22:31,330 who know our folly. 467 00:22:31,810 --> 00:22:33,750 That he is mighty should cause us to 468 00:22:33,750 --> 00:22:36,370 rejoice who tremble at our own weakness. 469 00:22:37,270 --> 00:22:39,770 That he is everlasting should always be a 470 00:22:39,770 --> 00:22:42,650 theme for our music when we know that 471 00:22:42,650 --> 00:22:45,950 we are grass and wither as the green 472 00:22:45,950 --> 00:22:46,410 herb. 473 00:22:47,750 --> 00:22:50,590 That he is unchanging should always give us 474 00:22:50,590 --> 00:22:55,250 a song since we change every hour and 475 00:22:55,250 --> 00:22:56,930 are never long the same. 476 00:22:58,350 --> 00:23:02,410 That he is full of grace, that he 477 00:23:02,410 --> 00:23:06,130 is overflowing with it, and that this grace 478 00:23:06,130 --> 00:23:08,710 in the covenant he has given to us, 479 00:23:08,990 --> 00:23:11,490 that it is ours, ours to cleanse us, 480 00:23:11,590 --> 00:23:14,370 ours to keep us, ours to sanctify us, 481 00:23:14,450 --> 00:23:17,510 ours to perfect us, ours to bring us 482 00:23:17,510 --> 00:23:18,090 to glory. 483 00:23:18,210 --> 00:23:21,930 All this should tend to make us delight 484 00:23:21,930 --> 00:23:23,890 ourselves in him. 485 00:23:25,230 --> 00:23:30,890 O believers, ye stand today by a deep 486 00:23:30,890 --> 00:23:31,510 river. 487 00:23:32,750 --> 00:23:35,110 Ye perhaps have waded into it up to 488 00:23:35,110 --> 00:23:38,410 your ankles, and you know something of its 489 00:23:38,410 --> 00:23:43,230 clear, sweet heavenly streams, but onward the depth 490 00:23:43,230 --> 00:23:46,250 is greater and the current more delightful still. 491 00:23:46,890 --> 00:23:48,730 Take a plunge therein. 492 00:23:49,950 --> 00:23:52,810 Now plunge into the Godhead's deepest sea. 493 00:23:53,290 --> 00:23:55,170 Lose yourself in his immensity. 494 00:23:56,310 --> 00:23:58,830 Let his attributes cover up all your weakness 495 00:23:58,830 --> 00:24:02,030 and all your folly and everything else that 496 00:24:02,030 --> 00:24:04,970 can make you groaning and desponding. 497 00:24:05,610 --> 00:24:09,410 Rejoice in him, though you cannot rejoice in 498 00:24:09,410 --> 00:24:09,870 yourselves. 499 00:24:10,970 --> 00:24:14,030 Triumph in the God of Israel, though in 500 00:24:14,030 --> 00:24:16,970 yourselves you have caused enough for despair. 501 00:24:18,270 --> 00:24:20,770 The Christian also feels that he may delight 502 00:24:20,770 --> 00:24:23,810 himself in all that God has done in 503 00:24:23,810 --> 00:24:24,610 the past. 504 00:24:26,190 --> 00:24:30,250 Those psalms which end with, His mercy endureth 505 00:24:30,250 --> 00:24:30,610 forever. 506 00:24:32,050 --> 00:24:34,350 Will we find such divisions as these? 507 00:24:34,430 --> 00:24:38,070 O Og, King of Bashan, for his mercy 508 00:24:38,070 --> 00:24:39,190 endureth forever. 509 00:24:40,450 --> 00:24:44,450 Sihon, King of the Amorites, for his mercy 510 00:24:44,450 --> 00:24:46,010 endureth forever. 511 00:24:47,430 --> 00:24:50,130 All these show us that God's people in 512 00:24:50,130 --> 00:24:53,830 olden times were wont to think much of 513 00:24:53,830 --> 00:24:57,350 God's actions, so that they did not throw 514 00:24:57,350 --> 00:24:59,730 them in the lump into one verse, but 515 00:24:59,730 --> 00:25:02,370 divided them to have a song about each 516 00:25:02,370 --> 00:25:02,790 of them. 517 00:25:04,230 --> 00:25:07,370 So let God's people rehearse the deeds of 518 00:25:07,370 --> 00:25:07,830 the Lord. 519 00:25:08,910 --> 00:25:11,390 Let them tell of his mighty acts. 520 00:25:11,770 --> 00:25:12,930 Let them sing. 521 00:25:13,570 --> 00:25:16,510 Thy right hand, O Lord, hath dashed in 522 00:25:16,510 --> 00:25:17,670 pieces thine enemy. 523 00:25:18,650 --> 00:25:20,550 The Lord is a man of war, the 524 00:25:20,550 --> 00:25:21,890 Lord is his name. 525 00:25:23,010 --> 00:25:25,170 Sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed 526 00:25:25,170 --> 00:25:25,970 gloriously. 527 00:25:28,290 --> 00:25:31,430 Let them continue to rehearse his deeds, till 528 00:25:31,430 --> 00:25:33,890 they come to the deeds of grace in 529 00:25:33,890 --> 00:25:34,930 their own hearts. 530 00:25:34,970 --> 00:25:38,270 And here, let them sing more sweetly than 531 00:25:38,270 --> 00:25:38,570 ever. 532 00:25:40,170 --> 00:25:43,430 Nor let them cease to sing, for his 533 00:25:43,430 --> 00:25:45,990 new mercies flow unto them each day. 534 00:25:46,170 --> 00:25:49,430 Let day unto day utter his praise, and 535 00:25:49,430 --> 00:25:51,690 night unto night testify of his grace. 536 00:25:51,690 --> 00:25:54,710 Delight thyself in the Lord. 537 00:25:55,930 --> 00:25:58,190 If these that I have already mentioned were 538 00:25:58,190 --> 00:26:02,010 not enough, we might delight ourselves in all 539 00:26:02,010 --> 00:26:05,530 that God is to do, in all the 540 00:26:05,530 --> 00:26:08,870 splendid triumphs he has yet to achieve, in 541 00:26:08,870 --> 00:26:11,350 all the glories of the latter days, in 542 00:26:11,350 --> 00:26:14,030 all the splendors of his throne, when all 543 00:26:14,030 --> 00:26:16,450 the hosts of God shall meet at last, 544 00:26:16,690 --> 00:26:19,730 in his triumph over death and hell, and 545 00:26:19,730 --> 00:26:23,130 in his ultimate victory over sin, when he 546 00:26:23,130 --> 00:26:25,330 shall make the whole earth to become filled 547 00:26:25,330 --> 00:26:26,630 with his praise. 548 00:26:27,490 --> 00:26:30,850 O brethren, time would fail us, eternity might 549 00:26:30,850 --> 00:26:33,570 fail us, indeed, to catalogue all the different 550 00:26:33,570 --> 00:26:37,450 points of holy delight which believers, when they 551 00:26:37,450 --> 00:26:39,510 are in a spiritual frame of mind, may 552 00:26:39,510 --> 00:26:41,430 find in the Lord their God. 553 00:26:42,550 --> 00:26:45,430 Ye should delight yourselves in God the Father, 554 00:26:46,110 --> 00:26:48,390 in his eternal love to you, when there 555 00:26:48,390 --> 00:26:51,290 was nothing in you to love, in his 556 00:26:51,290 --> 00:26:54,650 election of your souls, in his justification of 557 00:26:54,650 --> 00:26:56,730 you in Christ, in the giving up of 558 00:26:56,730 --> 00:26:59,270 his only begotten Son to redeem you from 559 00:26:59,270 --> 00:26:59,630 hell. 560 00:27:01,010 --> 00:27:03,390 You should delight yourselves in Jesus. 561 00:27:03,850 --> 00:27:06,970 You should tell what his arm hath done, 562 00:27:07,050 --> 00:27:10,090 what spoils from death he won, sing his 563 00:27:10,090 --> 00:27:12,210 dear name alone, worthy the Lamb. 564 00:27:13,290 --> 00:27:16,010 Ye should delight yourselves in God the Holy 565 00:27:16,010 --> 00:27:19,830 Ghost, in his quickening operations, in his illuminations, 566 00:27:20,010 --> 00:27:22,610 in his consolations, in the strength which he 567 00:27:22,610 --> 00:27:25,410 gives you, in the wisdom which he imparts 568 00:27:25,410 --> 00:27:28,470 to you, in the faithfulness with which he 569 00:27:28,470 --> 00:27:30,610 attends you, and in the certainty that he 570 00:27:30,610 --> 00:27:34,230 will ultimately perfect you, that you may be 571 00:27:34,230 --> 00:27:37,650 meet to be a partaker of the inheritance 572 00:27:37,650 --> 00:27:39,250 of the saints in light. 573 00:27:40,920 --> 00:27:43,760 And here we might branch out into a 574 00:27:43,760 --> 00:27:45,160 thousand themes. 575 00:27:45,520 --> 00:27:48,480 Delight yourselves in God as your Father, as 576 00:27:48,480 --> 00:27:50,280 your Friend, as your Helper. 577 00:27:51,840 --> 00:27:54,500 Delight yourselves in Jesus Christ as your Brother, 578 00:27:54,960 --> 00:27:57,440 as your Bridegroom, as your Shepherd, as your 579 00:27:57,440 --> 00:27:58,140 All in All. 580 00:27:59,020 --> 00:28:01,800 Delight yourselves in Christ in all his offices 581 00:28:01,800 --> 00:28:03,760 as Prophet, Priest, and King. 582 00:28:04,720 --> 00:28:07,940 Triumph in him, in all his garments, for 583 00:28:07,940 --> 00:28:10,600 they all smell of myrrh, and aloes, and 584 00:28:10,600 --> 00:28:11,100 cassia. 585 00:28:11,900 --> 00:28:14,360 Delight yourselves in Christ, in his glory, and 586 00:28:14,360 --> 00:28:16,860 in his humiliation, in his cross, and in 587 00:28:16,860 --> 00:28:21,140 his crown, in his manger, and in his 588 00:28:21,140 --> 00:28:24,100 eternal triumph wherein he led captivity captive. 589 00:28:25,160 --> 00:28:28,400 Delight yourselves in eternal triumph wherein he led 590 00:28:28,400 --> 00:28:30,160 captivity captive. 591 00:28:30,160 --> 00:28:32,420 Delight yourselves in the Holy Spirit, in all 592 00:28:32,420 --> 00:28:34,160 his various dealings with men's minds. 593 00:28:36,120 --> 00:28:40,240 Delight in Pentecost, and in Pentecost that are 594 00:28:40,240 --> 00:28:40,980 yet to come. 595 00:28:42,480 --> 00:28:45,740 And but we close, what more should we 596 00:28:45,740 --> 00:28:46,120 say? 597 00:28:47,020 --> 00:28:48,860 Surely we might talk on forever. 598 00:28:49,480 --> 00:28:53,620 Delight thyself in Jehovah, that great, that boundless, 599 00:28:53,740 --> 00:28:55,200 that joyful theme. 600 00:28:56,000 --> 00:28:59,480 And delight thyself in him forevermore. 601 00:29:01,400 --> 00:29:06,260 Now another question suggests itself, when is this 602 00:29:06,260 --> 00:29:08,500 delight to be practiced? 603 00:29:10,650 --> 00:29:12,510 Delight thyself in the Lord. 604 00:29:13,870 --> 00:29:17,590 Precepts without limiters to time are for perpetual 605 00:29:17,590 --> 00:29:18,470 observance. 606 00:29:20,540 --> 00:29:23,560 My text does not say, delight thyself in 607 00:29:23,560 --> 00:29:26,180 the Lord occasionally, and now and then. 608 00:29:27,140 --> 00:29:30,880 But at all times, there are two occasions 609 00:29:30,880 --> 00:29:33,900 when it is hard to delight in God, 610 00:29:34,000 --> 00:29:35,840 and therefore I will mention these. 611 00:29:37,120 --> 00:29:41,560 It is hard to delight in God when 612 00:29:41,560 --> 00:29:45,020 everything goes well with us. 613 00:29:47,070 --> 00:29:50,850 Oh, I hear you say, I cannot understand 614 00:29:50,850 --> 00:29:51,250 that. 615 00:29:51,410 --> 00:29:54,850 That is the time when I do delight 616 00:29:54,850 --> 00:29:55,950 in God most. 617 00:29:57,330 --> 00:30:00,470 Brother, I am afraid it is the time 618 00:30:00,470 --> 00:30:04,310 when you delight in God least. 619 00:30:05,890 --> 00:30:09,550 Well, but when my comforts around about me, 620 00:30:09,650 --> 00:30:12,910 when providence smiles upon me, then I can 621 00:30:12,910 --> 00:30:13,890 delight in God. 622 00:30:16,110 --> 00:30:16,750 Stop. 623 00:30:18,290 --> 00:30:19,350 Are you sure of that? 624 00:30:21,030 --> 00:30:23,150 Is it not likely that often you are 625 00:30:23,150 --> 00:30:26,950 delighting in his mercies rather than in him? 626 00:30:28,690 --> 00:30:32,910 Delighting in the creature rather than the creator? 627 00:30:35,080 --> 00:30:39,140 I fear, brethren, it is our sunshiny days 628 00:30:39,140 --> 00:30:42,160 that are the greatest times of temptation. 629 00:30:44,680 --> 00:30:48,640 Well, may we pray, in all time of 630 00:30:48,640 --> 00:30:50,760 our wealth, deliver us. 631 00:30:52,750 --> 00:30:56,450 We are somewhat like a foolish wife, who 632 00:30:56,450 --> 00:31:00,570 when her husband giveth her jewels and rings, 633 00:31:01,370 --> 00:31:05,950 groweth apt to love the jewels rather than 634 00:31:05,950 --> 00:31:06,570 her husband. 635 00:31:07,910 --> 00:31:10,230 Many believers we have known who have had 636 00:31:10,230 --> 00:31:14,450 graces and mercies, and have had great privileges, 637 00:31:15,650 --> 00:31:18,210 and they have come to pride themselves more 638 00:31:18,210 --> 00:31:22,210 in the mercies and in the privileges than 639 00:31:22,210 --> 00:31:23,010 in their God. 640 00:31:23,930 --> 00:31:27,750 It is hard when the wine vat is 641 00:31:27,750 --> 00:31:32,750 full to love God more than the vineyard. 642 00:31:33,770 --> 00:31:36,650 It is hard when there is a fine 643 00:31:36,650 --> 00:31:40,110 harvest to think more of God than of 644 00:31:40,110 --> 00:31:40,720 the sheaves. 645 00:31:41,590 --> 00:31:44,290 It is hard when you are growing rich 646 00:31:44,290 --> 00:31:49,890 still to say, this is not my treasure. 647 00:31:50,930 --> 00:31:55,670 The treasures of earth will besmear our garments 648 00:31:55,670 --> 00:32:00,790 unless we see well to our hearts. 649 00:32:01,730 --> 00:32:04,750 Our soul cleaveth to the dust, and dust 650 00:32:04,750 --> 00:32:07,450 is no aid to devotion. 651 00:32:09,030 --> 00:32:13,090 Oh, take heed, rich believer, that thou delight 652 00:32:13,090 --> 00:32:17,230 thyself in God, not in thy parks and 653 00:32:17,230 --> 00:32:21,150 thy lawns and thy gardens and thy houses, 654 00:32:21,410 --> 00:32:23,750 thy lands and thy estates, for if thou 655 00:32:23,750 --> 00:32:28,230 delight in these, thy gold and thy silver 656 00:32:28,230 --> 00:32:31,950 are cankered, and the moth is in thy 657 00:32:31,950 --> 00:32:36,290 garment, and the blight will soon be on 658 00:32:36,290 --> 00:32:37,970 thy heritage. 659 00:32:39,790 --> 00:32:44,790 Say, these are not my portion. 660 00:32:46,360 --> 00:32:50,660 God is my portion, saith my soul. 661 00:32:53,110 --> 00:32:56,990 Another time when it is hard to delight 662 00:32:56,990 --> 00:33:00,270 in God, not so hard as in the 663 00:33:00,270 --> 00:33:04,850 first one, is when everything goes ill with 664 00:33:04,850 --> 00:33:05,230 us. 665 00:33:07,160 --> 00:33:09,200 Then we are apt to say with old 666 00:33:09,200 --> 00:33:12,760 Jacob, all these things are against me. 667 00:33:14,910 --> 00:33:21,670 What a noble opportunity Job lost when servant 668 00:33:21,670 --> 00:33:26,070 after servant came to tell him that everything 669 00:33:26,070 --> 00:33:30,840 was gone, when he sat on the dunghill 670 00:33:30,840 --> 00:33:34,600 and did scrape himself with a potsherd. 671 00:33:35,200 --> 00:33:40,260 If he could have stood upright and have 672 00:33:40,260 --> 00:33:45,160 said, now will I rejoice in the Lord 673 00:33:45,160 --> 00:33:48,780 and triumph in the God of my salvation, 674 00:33:49,560 --> 00:33:52,340 what a triumph of faith would he have 675 00:33:52,340 --> 00:33:53,120 achieved. 676 00:33:54,200 --> 00:33:56,760 If he could have thus played the man 677 00:33:56,760 --> 00:33:59,620 for God, Job would have been the most 678 00:33:59,620 --> 00:34:04,060 splendid character that we have in Holy Scripture. 679 00:34:06,160 --> 00:34:10,960 He did go far when he said, though 680 00:34:10,960 --> 00:34:14,460 he slay me, yet will I trust him. 681 00:34:15,420 --> 00:34:18,300 There spoke a man whom God had made 682 00:34:18,300 --> 00:34:18,940 mighty. 683 00:34:20,340 --> 00:34:23,219 But if he could have delighted still more 684 00:34:23,219 --> 00:34:26,620 in God when the sores were on him 685 00:34:26,620 --> 00:34:30,080 and the blames were bursting, that would have 686 00:34:30,080 --> 00:34:31,980 been all but superhuman. 687 00:34:33,280 --> 00:34:35,639 I think I may say it would have 688 00:34:35,639 --> 00:34:38,900 been as much as even grace itself could 689 00:34:38,900 --> 00:34:40,639 work in a man. 690 00:34:41,820 --> 00:34:45,699 Yet how often have I noticed that believers 691 00:34:45,699 --> 00:34:49,659 do rejoice in God much more readily in 692 00:34:49,659 --> 00:34:53,920 their afflictions than they do in their prosperity. 693 00:34:55,260 --> 00:34:58,340 I have seen the hyssop growing upon Lebanon, 694 00:34:59,580 --> 00:35:01,940 and I have seen the cedar growing on 695 00:35:01,940 --> 00:35:05,780 the wall, and I have seen great saints 696 00:35:05,780 --> 00:35:09,240 where there was little mercy, and I have 697 00:35:09,240 --> 00:35:13,840 seen driveling saints where there were great providential 698 00:35:13,840 --> 00:35:14,540 blessings. 699 00:35:16,670 --> 00:35:21,530 God's birds sing best in cages, and the 700 00:35:21,530 --> 00:35:23,770 praise of God comes better out of the 701 00:35:23,770 --> 00:35:25,970 mouth of the furnace of affliction than even 702 00:35:25,970 --> 00:35:28,270 from the top of the mountain of communion. 703 00:35:29,410 --> 00:35:32,070 We are so constituted, it seems to me, 704 00:35:32,890 --> 00:35:36,110 that unless God screws the strings of our 705 00:35:36,110 --> 00:35:39,390 heart up by pain and affliction, we never 706 00:35:39,390 --> 00:35:41,910 give forth much sweet music to him. 707 00:35:43,330 --> 00:35:45,770 And yet is it hard, very hard, for 708 00:35:45,770 --> 00:35:49,250 a man when every earthly prop gives way 709 00:35:49,250 --> 00:35:52,350 to say the fig tree does not blossom, 710 00:35:52,570 --> 00:35:55,890 the calves perish from the stall, the harvest 711 00:35:55,890 --> 00:35:59,070 has been mildewed, the cacoworm eateth up all 712 00:35:59,070 --> 00:36:02,750 the produce, but still my delight is in 713 00:36:02,750 --> 00:36:05,890 God, and my triumph is in the God 714 00:36:05,890 --> 00:36:06,850 of my salvation. 715 00:36:08,210 --> 00:36:12,070 Yet by grace at all times we are 716 00:36:12,070 --> 00:36:14,430 to delight in God. 717 00:36:15,650 --> 00:36:18,370 But I hear a voice say, but when 718 00:36:18,370 --> 00:36:21,130 is the Christian to be miserable? 719 00:36:23,670 --> 00:36:26,710 Never, brother, never. 720 00:36:28,650 --> 00:36:30,230 But not at times? 721 00:36:31,710 --> 00:36:34,630 No, not if he does his duty. 722 00:36:36,030 --> 00:36:38,410 But ought not a saint sometimes to be 723 00:36:38,410 --> 00:36:39,130 cast down? 724 00:36:40,670 --> 00:36:42,630 Saints are cast down, but they ought not 725 00:36:42,630 --> 00:36:43,090 to be. 726 00:36:44,250 --> 00:36:46,650 Well, but many of God's saints are full 727 00:36:46,650 --> 00:36:47,830 of doubts and fears. 728 00:36:48,410 --> 00:36:49,930 I know they are, and the more is 729 00:36:49,930 --> 00:36:50,390 the pity. 730 00:36:51,250 --> 00:36:53,050 But some of the Lord's children go mourning 731 00:36:53,050 --> 00:36:54,190 all their days. 732 00:36:55,050 --> 00:36:56,170 It is their own fault. 733 00:36:56,750 --> 00:36:58,250 Their Lord has not bidden them to do 734 00:36:58,250 --> 00:36:58,550 so. 735 00:36:59,250 --> 00:37:02,050 The scriptures teach us thus, rejoice in the 736 00:37:02,050 --> 00:37:02,910 Lord always. 737 00:37:03,570 --> 00:37:05,990 And again, saith the apostle, I say rejoice. 738 00:37:08,280 --> 00:37:10,040 But are there not times when we may 739 00:37:10,040 --> 00:37:13,980 indulge the melancholy vein and cultivate sorrow? 740 00:37:13,980 --> 00:37:19,480 Well, if you do, you will soon find 741 00:37:19,480 --> 00:37:20,120 it grow. 742 00:37:21,160 --> 00:37:23,740 God often serves his children as I have 743 00:37:23,740 --> 00:37:25,200 known parents do theirs. 744 00:37:25,680 --> 00:37:28,340 If his children pray for afflictions, they shall 745 00:37:28,340 --> 00:37:30,660 have them, until they shall begin to pray 746 00:37:30,660 --> 00:37:33,060 ten times more earnestly to have them taken 747 00:37:33,060 --> 00:37:33,480 away. 748 00:37:34,660 --> 00:37:37,300 If God's people cry for nothing, they shall 749 00:37:37,300 --> 00:37:39,200 soon have something to cry for. 750 00:37:40,000 --> 00:37:42,480 If they will make themselves miserable, they will 751 00:37:42,480 --> 00:37:44,960 soon have miseries added to their miseries. 752 00:37:45,780 --> 00:37:48,180 But so far as the promise is concerned 753 00:37:48,180 --> 00:37:51,320 and the precept is concerned, it is the 754 00:37:51,320 --> 00:37:55,340 daily, constant, hourly duty and business of the 755 00:37:55,340 --> 00:37:58,820 true believer to delight himself in the Lord 756 00:37:58,820 --> 00:37:59,740 his God. 757 00:38:01,540 --> 00:38:03,400 Before I leave this point, I answer one 758 00:38:03,400 --> 00:38:04,060 more question. 759 00:38:05,780 --> 00:38:10,180 Why is this delighting in God so rare? 760 00:38:12,370 --> 00:38:15,610 Why do we see so many desponding Christians, 761 00:38:16,090 --> 00:38:18,510 so many doubting Christians? 762 00:38:19,450 --> 00:38:22,170 Why do you see so many whose religion 763 00:38:22,170 --> 00:38:24,470 seems to them to be a yoke, a 764 00:38:24,470 --> 00:38:25,870 very heavy yoke, too? 765 00:38:27,530 --> 00:38:30,690 It is, I fear, because there is so 766 00:38:30,690 --> 00:38:34,390 little on the one hand of genuine religion, 767 00:38:34,390 --> 00:38:37,430 and so little, on the other hand, of 768 00:38:37,430 --> 00:38:41,430 deep-toned religion, where the little that there 769 00:38:41,430 --> 00:38:43,470 is is genuine. 770 00:38:45,050 --> 00:38:46,970 Why, the man who has a religion that 771 00:38:46,970 --> 00:38:48,730 is not of his heart, I do not 772 00:38:48,730 --> 00:38:50,470 wonder that he is wretched. 773 00:38:51,830 --> 00:38:54,810 You have seen sometimes a man with a 774 00:38:54,810 --> 00:38:56,950 dog of a breed that does not like 775 00:38:56,950 --> 00:38:59,710 the water, and he throws it in. 776 00:39:00,290 --> 00:39:01,990 How quickly it gets out again! 777 00:39:03,270 --> 00:39:04,950 But there are some of a different breed 778 00:39:04,950 --> 00:39:07,130 that will swim by the hour and delight 779 00:39:07,130 --> 00:39:07,690 in it. 780 00:39:08,670 --> 00:39:11,930 So now, there are some professors who are 781 00:39:11,930 --> 00:39:14,070 known to be hypocrites by the fact that 782 00:39:14,070 --> 00:39:16,610 their religion is against their will. 783 00:39:17,810 --> 00:39:20,450 You have put them into it, and they 784 00:39:20,450 --> 00:39:21,750 soon get out again. 785 00:39:22,810 --> 00:39:25,550 But the true Christian takes to his religion 786 00:39:25,550 --> 00:39:28,970 by grace with ardor and with delight. 787 00:39:29,790 --> 00:39:30,830 He loves it. 788 00:39:31,830 --> 00:39:33,150 He delights therein. 789 00:39:33,850 --> 00:39:35,270 This is one of the best tests to 790 00:39:35,270 --> 00:39:37,550 discern between a hypocrite and a true Christian. 791 00:39:39,230 --> 00:39:42,890 Job says of the hypocrite, Will he delight 792 00:39:42,890 --> 00:39:44,450 himself in good? 793 00:39:45,650 --> 00:39:46,150 No. 794 00:39:47,070 --> 00:39:50,810 The hypocrite will pull a long face. 795 00:39:51,710 --> 00:39:54,250 The hypocrite will look wretched. 796 00:39:54,790 --> 00:39:57,430 The hypocrite will make himself as miserable as 797 00:39:57,430 --> 00:39:59,450 ever man can be when the time has 798 00:39:59,450 --> 00:40:00,130 come for it. 799 00:40:00,430 --> 00:40:03,110 But he never did, and he never can, 800 00:40:03,310 --> 00:40:06,130 and he never will delight himself in God 801 00:40:06,130 --> 00:40:06,850 as a rule. 802 00:40:08,510 --> 00:40:11,250 He may have some joy in the outward 803 00:40:11,250 --> 00:40:15,410 means, for even Herod heard John gladly, but 804 00:40:15,410 --> 00:40:16,950 that is only a spasm. 805 00:40:18,350 --> 00:40:21,250 Only the true believer can have a constant 806 00:40:21,250 --> 00:40:25,250 and abiding satisfaction and delight in the service 807 00:40:25,250 --> 00:40:26,750 and love of God. 808 00:40:28,190 --> 00:40:31,910 This is an evidence so sure and infallible 809 00:40:32,470 --> 00:40:34,770 that if any among you delight in God, 810 00:40:34,890 --> 00:40:37,870 I conclude without hesitation that you are a 811 00:40:37,870 --> 00:40:39,150 saved soul. 812 00:40:41,300 --> 00:40:42,340 But if any of you, on the other 813 00:40:42,340 --> 00:40:44,600 hand, never have any delight in God of 814 00:40:44,600 --> 00:40:47,940 any kind, I question whether you ever knew 815 00:40:47,940 --> 00:40:48,760 God at all. 816 00:40:49,420 --> 00:40:52,120 For if you have known Him, you must 817 00:40:52,120 --> 00:40:55,320 in your degree have found delight in Him. 818 00:40:56,780 --> 00:41:00,760 But what is the good of this delight, 819 00:41:02,140 --> 00:41:02,720 saith one? 820 00:41:04,260 --> 00:41:08,840 Why should Christians be such a happy people? 821 00:41:10,020 --> 00:41:13,480 Why, it is good in all ways. 822 00:41:14,340 --> 00:41:16,140 It is good for our God. 823 00:41:16,440 --> 00:41:18,600 It gives Him honor among the sons of 824 00:41:18,600 --> 00:41:19,660 men when we are glad. 825 00:41:19,940 --> 00:41:20,980 It is good for us. 826 00:41:21,180 --> 00:41:22,320 It makes us strong. 827 00:41:22,880 --> 00:41:24,820 The joy of the Lord is your strength. 828 00:41:25,560 --> 00:41:27,780 It is good for the ungodly, for when 829 00:41:27,780 --> 00:41:29,860 they see Christians glad, they long to be 830 00:41:29,860 --> 00:41:30,820 believers themselves. 831 00:41:31,380 --> 00:41:33,320 It is good for our fellow Christians. 832 00:41:33,620 --> 00:41:35,860 It comforts them and tends to cheer them. 833 00:41:36,540 --> 00:41:39,860 Whereas if we look gloomy, we shall spread 834 00:41:39,860 --> 00:41:44,300 the disease, and others will be wretched and 835 00:41:44,300 --> 00:41:45,260 gloomy too. 836 00:41:46,700 --> 00:41:48,720 For all these reasons and for many more 837 00:41:48,720 --> 00:41:52,080 that can be given, it is a good 838 00:41:52,080 --> 00:41:55,120 and pleasant thing that a believer should delight 839 00:41:55,120 --> 00:41:57,380 himself in God. 840 00:41:59,230 --> 00:42:00,730 I now turn to the second point of 841 00:42:00,730 --> 00:42:01,810 the subject briefly. 842 00:42:03,410 --> 00:42:06,870 He shall give thee the desires of thine 843 00:42:06,870 --> 00:42:07,450 heart. 844 00:42:08,590 --> 00:42:12,010 Here is a promise priceless beyond rubies. 845 00:42:13,130 --> 00:42:15,910 What connection is there between the first part 846 00:42:15,910 --> 00:42:17,590 of the text and the second? 847 00:42:18,010 --> 00:42:20,190 Delight thyself in the Lord, and He shall 848 00:42:20,190 --> 00:42:22,370 give thee the desires of thine heart. 849 00:42:23,870 --> 00:42:25,470 There is this connection. 850 00:42:27,190 --> 00:42:32,190 They who delight in God are qualified to 851 00:42:32,190 --> 00:42:33,450 have the promise fulfilled. 852 00:42:34,550 --> 00:42:37,730 They are qualified in the first place as 853 00:42:37,730 --> 00:42:38,510 to the desires. 854 00:42:39,890 --> 00:42:41,430 It would not be a safe thing for 855 00:42:41,430 --> 00:42:43,270 God to give to every one of you 856 00:42:43,270 --> 00:42:45,650 here the desire of your heart. 857 00:42:45,810 --> 00:42:46,690 It would be your ruin. 858 00:42:48,090 --> 00:42:49,550 One of the best things that the Lord 859 00:42:49,550 --> 00:42:52,670 does for some men is to chuck them 860 00:42:52,670 --> 00:42:54,210 and force them. 861 00:42:55,550 --> 00:42:56,970 There is many a man that has gone 862 00:42:56,970 --> 00:42:59,810 to heaven through not having had his desires 863 00:42:59,810 --> 00:43:01,250 who would have gone to hell if he 864 00:43:01,250 --> 00:43:01,930 had had them. 865 00:43:03,210 --> 00:43:07,750 Ungodly men have desires that would lead them 866 00:43:07,750 --> 00:43:09,310 to the pit. 867 00:43:10,430 --> 00:43:12,650 And when God refuses to give them their 868 00:43:12,650 --> 00:43:15,850 desires, it is as though He had put 869 00:43:15,850 --> 00:43:19,030 chains and posts and barriers in the road 870 00:43:19,030 --> 00:43:21,310 to keep them from going post haste to 871 00:43:21,310 --> 00:43:22,250 their own destruction. 872 00:43:23,710 --> 00:43:27,730 The ungodly man is not qualified to have 873 00:43:27,730 --> 00:43:30,770 the promise because he would desire something that 874 00:43:30,770 --> 00:43:33,930 would neither glorify God nor profit himself. 875 00:43:35,510 --> 00:43:38,510 But when a man's delight is in God, 876 00:43:38,610 --> 00:43:40,730 then his desires are of such a sort 877 00:43:40,730 --> 00:43:43,330 that God may be glorified in the granting 878 00:43:43,330 --> 00:43:45,690 of them and the man himself profited by 879 00:43:45,690 --> 00:43:46,790 the receiving of them. 880 00:43:47,690 --> 00:43:51,050 Again, delighting in God qualifies the believer not 881 00:43:51,050 --> 00:43:54,070 only for desiring a right but for spending 882 00:43:54,070 --> 00:43:54,750 a right. 883 00:43:55,270 --> 00:43:58,130 For some men, if they had their heart's 884 00:43:58,130 --> 00:44:01,650 desire and it were a good desire, would 885 00:44:01,650 --> 00:44:03,510 nevertheless make a wrong use of it. 886 00:44:04,390 --> 00:44:05,990 And so it would happen to them as 887 00:44:05,990 --> 00:44:07,590 it did to Israel of old. 888 00:44:08,090 --> 00:44:10,350 While the meat was yet in their mouths, 889 00:44:10,470 --> 00:44:12,370 the curse of God would come upon them. 890 00:44:13,290 --> 00:44:15,850 But he that delights in God, whatever he 891 00:44:15,850 --> 00:44:19,810 gets, knows how to use it well. 892 00:44:21,370 --> 00:44:25,590 People say use is a second nature. 893 00:44:27,950 --> 00:44:30,830 Brethren, abuse is the first nature. 894 00:44:31,830 --> 00:44:35,410 To abuse mercies is much more the nature 895 00:44:35,410 --> 00:44:37,370 of man than to properly use them. 896 00:44:38,270 --> 00:44:41,070 But when the believer delights in God, whatever 897 00:44:41,070 --> 00:44:43,350 he has from God he spends a right. 898 00:44:43,350 --> 00:44:46,050 He makes it not a sacrifice to himself, 899 00:44:46,190 --> 00:44:48,910 much less a God before whom he will 900 00:44:48,910 --> 00:44:51,650 bow down and worship, but he makes it 901 00:44:51,650 --> 00:44:55,010 a means of serving God better and delighting 902 00:44:55,010 --> 00:44:56,690 himself in the master the more. 903 00:44:57,970 --> 00:45:01,370 The rivers of worldly men run away from 904 00:45:01,370 --> 00:45:04,950 the sea, but the rivers that Christian men 905 00:45:04,950 --> 00:45:07,230 have run into the sea. 906 00:45:08,190 --> 00:45:11,230 If a worldly man sails along the stream 907 00:45:11,230 --> 00:45:13,890 of his mercies, he gets further and further 908 00:45:13,890 --> 00:45:16,930 from God and becomes more and more an 909 00:45:16,930 --> 00:45:17,470 idolater. 910 00:45:17,770 --> 00:45:20,370 But when the Christian gets mercies, he sails 911 00:45:20,370 --> 00:45:22,770 near and nearer to his God. 912 00:45:23,130 --> 00:45:26,010 And so his mercies become highways to the 913 00:45:26,010 --> 00:45:27,870 throne of God himself. 914 00:45:30,140 --> 00:45:34,760 Still, says one, what are those desires which 915 00:45:34,760 --> 00:45:36,360 we are sure to receive? 916 00:45:38,080 --> 00:45:43,640 Now, brethren, we must single out those who 917 00:45:43,640 --> 00:45:45,640 delight themselves in God. 918 00:45:46,760 --> 00:45:49,040 And I believe the range of their desires 919 00:45:49,040 --> 00:45:51,940 will be found in a very short compass. 920 00:45:54,100 --> 00:45:56,160 If I had my desire of my God 921 00:45:56,160 --> 00:45:59,340 this morning, it is not much for me 922 00:45:59,340 --> 00:46:02,740 to say I have no earthly thing that 923 00:46:02,740 --> 00:46:06,380 I would desire, for I have all things 924 00:46:06,380 --> 00:46:07,200 and abound. 925 00:46:08,580 --> 00:46:12,280 But if the apostle Paul were here, who 926 00:46:12,280 --> 00:46:17,280 had nothing, who was often naked and poor 927 00:46:17,730 --> 00:46:20,660 and miserable, I am persuaded if he had 928 00:46:20,660 --> 00:46:25,340 his wish, he would say, I have nothing 929 00:46:25,340 --> 00:46:29,500 to wish for, nothing upon earth, for I 930 00:46:29,500 --> 00:46:31,580 have learned in whatsoever state I am therewith 931 00:46:31,580 --> 00:46:33,540 to be content. 932 00:46:34,100 --> 00:46:37,240 But if I must have a wish, brethren, 933 00:46:37,880 --> 00:46:39,980 I know what I would wish for. 934 00:46:40,620 --> 00:46:44,040 I would wish to be perfect, to be 935 00:46:44,040 --> 00:46:47,580 free from every sin, from every imperfection, from 936 00:46:47,580 --> 00:46:51,080 all self, from all temptation, from all love 937 00:46:51,080 --> 00:46:53,160 of the world, from all care for everything 938 00:46:53,160 --> 00:46:56,240 or anything that is contrary to God's word. 939 00:46:56,900 --> 00:47:00,700 Is not that your wish, you that delight 940 00:47:00,700 --> 00:47:01,420 in God? 941 00:47:03,100 --> 00:47:04,940 Would you not now, if an angel were 942 00:47:04,940 --> 00:47:07,900 to stand before you at the pew door, 943 00:47:08,260 --> 00:47:11,700 would you not say, if I may, let 944 00:47:11,700 --> 00:47:14,000 me be perfectly set free from the very 945 00:47:14,000 --> 00:47:17,280 name and nature and guilt and power of 946 00:47:17,280 --> 00:47:17,600 sin? 947 00:47:19,830 --> 00:47:21,510 You shall have your desire. 948 00:47:22,710 --> 00:47:27,210 The Lord shall give unto you the desire 949 00:47:27,210 --> 00:47:28,650 of your heart. 950 00:47:30,580 --> 00:47:33,800 But I hear another say, if I might 951 00:47:33,800 --> 00:47:37,320 have my desire, it would be that I 952 00:47:37,320 --> 00:47:40,420 might live nearer to Christ, that I might 953 00:47:40,420 --> 00:47:44,760 have constant communion with him till I knew 954 00:47:44,760 --> 00:47:48,040 him and the power of his resurrection being 955 00:47:48,040 --> 00:47:50,000 made conformable unto his death. 956 00:47:51,220 --> 00:47:54,840 Brother, I join you in that desire. 957 00:47:54,840 --> 00:47:57,960 I am sure if you had ten kingdoms 958 00:47:57,960 --> 00:48:00,960 offered in the one hand and this fellowship 959 00:48:00,960 --> 00:48:03,480 with Christ in the other, do not I 960 00:48:03,480 --> 00:48:06,000 speak the desire of your heart when I 961 00:48:06,000 --> 00:48:08,640 say you would choose to have communion with 962 00:48:08,640 --> 00:48:10,900 Christ rather than these kingdoms? 963 00:48:13,280 --> 00:48:15,360 For the Lord shall give you the desire 964 00:48:15,360 --> 00:48:16,140 of your heart. 965 00:48:17,160 --> 00:48:20,920 Only delight thyself in the Lord. 966 00:48:22,160 --> 00:48:26,360 Well, says another, if I might have my 967 00:48:26,360 --> 00:48:31,180 desire, I would have all these things, but 968 00:48:31,180 --> 00:48:34,960 I would desire to be useful always. 969 00:48:36,600 --> 00:48:39,060 Ah, to be useful! 970 00:48:40,300 --> 00:48:44,160 How many men live like Belzoni's toad in 971 00:48:44,160 --> 00:48:47,160 the pyramids of Egypt, which had been there 972 00:48:47,160 --> 00:48:49,980 two thousand years, and what had it been 973 00:48:49,980 --> 00:48:53,200 but sometimes sleep and sometimes wake the whole 974 00:48:53,200 --> 00:48:53,840 time through? 975 00:48:54,920 --> 00:48:58,640 And so some men live and do nothing. 976 00:49:00,600 --> 00:49:03,920 But if I had my desire, I think 977 00:49:03,920 --> 00:49:06,700 here I hear many of you say, I 978 00:49:06,700 --> 00:49:10,000 should like to be useful, to win crowns 979 00:49:10,000 --> 00:49:13,120 for Christ, to save souls for him, to 980 00:49:13,120 --> 00:49:14,560 bring in his lost sheep. 981 00:49:16,200 --> 00:49:19,740 Brother, delight thyself in the Lord. 982 00:49:20,980 --> 00:49:22,320 Thou shall have thy desire. 983 00:49:24,120 --> 00:49:26,320 Perhaps not exactly as you would like to 984 00:49:26,320 --> 00:49:26,880 word it. 985 00:49:28,080 --> 00:49:29,800 You may not be useful in the sphere 986 00:49:29,800 --> 00:49:33,420 you aspire to, but you shall be useful 987 00:49:33,420 --> 00:49:35,220 as God would have you useful in his 988 00:49:35,220 --> 00:49:36,520 own way and in his own measure. 989 00:49:38,920 --> 00:49:40,340 I must say one thing, though. 990 00:49:42,470 --> 00:49:44,430 I have a desire which, if now I 991 00:49:44,430 --> 00:49:46,370 might offer it, knowing that it should be 992 00:49:46,370 --> 00:49:51,840 granted me, it would be this, a desire 993 00:49:51,840 --> 00:49:53,040 to see you all converted. 994 00:49:54,720 --> 00:49:57,340 Mothers and fathers, can you not say, my 995 00:49:57,340 --> 00:50:01,840 heart's desire is that my children might be 996 00:50:01,840 --> 00:50:02,420 saved? 997 00:50:03,780 --> 00:50:06,420 For I have no greater joy than this, 998 00:50:06,540 --> 00:50:09,080 that my children walk in the truth. 999 00:50:11,860 --> 00:50:13,680 And I as a minister say my earnest 1000 00:50:13,680 --> 00:50:18,640 desire, the highest desire I know, that which 1001 00:50:18,640 --> 00:50:21,120 my soul feels most when it pants the 1002 00:50:21,120 --> 00:50:24,440 most and aspires the most after some big 1003 00:50:24,440 --> 00:50:28,420 and great thing, that I may present every 1004 00:50:28,420 --> 00:50:32,040 man of you perfect before God at the 1005 00:50:32,040 --> 00:50:32,560 last. 1006 00:50:35,540 --> 00:50:38,340 That I may not only be clear of 1007 00:50:38,340 --> 00:50:42,400 your blood, which is a great thing, but 1008 00:50:42,400 --> 00:50:44,760 that I may have you with me when 1009 00:50:44,760 --> 00:50:47,140 I shall say, here am I, Lord, and 1010 00:50:47,140 --> 00:50:50,620 the children thou hast given me for Christ. 1011 00:50:54,320 --> 00:50:56,300 O you who are members of this church, 1012 00:50:58,880 --> 00:51:04,280 will you pray that your minister may delight 1013 00:51:04,280 --> 00:51:08,340 himself in God, that he may have this 1014 00:51:08,340 --> 00:51:10,240 desire of his heart? 1015 00:51:11,360 --> 00:51:15,680 And will you yourselves also delight in God, 1016 00:51:15,960 --> 00:51:18,240 so that when you come to God in 1017 00:51:18,240 --> 00:51:21,940 prayer and pray for this congregation, you may 1018 00:51:21,940 --> 00:51:25,980 be sure he will give you the desire 1019 00:51:25,980 --> 00:51:28,680 of your heart, because you have delighted yourselves 1020 00:51:28,680 --> 00:51:29,360 in him? 1021 00:51:31,430 --> 00:51:34,790 They said of Martin Luther, as he walked 1022 00:51:34,790 --> 00:51:39,560 the streets, there comes a man that can 1023 00:51:39,560 --> 00:51:41,800 have anything of God he likes. 1024 00:51:44,020 --> 00:51:45,560 You ask the reason of it? 1025 00:51:47,100 --> 00:51:52,600 Because Luther delighted himself in his God. 1026 00:51:55,330 --> 00:51:58,990 Give us some such men in this congregation 1027 00:51:58,990 --> 00:52:02,150 and in this church who love the Lord 1028 00:52:02,150 --> 00:52:05,890 and rejoice in him, what an effect their 1029 00:52:05,890 --> 00:52:06,770 prayers will have. 1030 00:52:09,160 --> 00:52:11,400 These are the men who have the keys 1031 00:52:11,400 --> 00:52:13,120 of heaven and of death and of hell. 1032 00:52:13,760 --> 00:52:16,240 These are the men that can open heaven 1033 00:52:16,240 --> 00:52:19,020 or shut it up, that it rain or 1034 00:52:19,020 --> 00:52:19,780 rain not. 1035 00:52:21,320 --> 00:52:24,300 The church of Rome pretends that she has 1036 00:52:24,300 --> 00:52:28,780 the keys, but the church of Christ has 1037 00:52:28,780 --> 00:52:32,100 the keys without pretending to have them. 1038 00:52:32,840 --> 00:52:36,720 And these keys swing at the girdles of 1039 00:52:36,720 --> 00:52:39,680 the men who delight in God. 1040 00:52:42,590 --> 00:52:46,110 You can by your prayers bring down such 1041 00:52:46,110 --> 00:52:50,990 showers of the Spirit upon the Christian church 1042 00:52:50,990 --> 00:52:55,010 that the desert shall rejoice. 1043 00:52:56,670 --> 00:52:58,510 It will blossom as a rose. 1044 00:53:00,210 --> 00:53:02,650 And if you cease to delight in God, 1045 00:53:03,150 --> 00:53:06,730 you can shut up heaven itself so that 1046 00:53:06,730 --> 00:53:12,630 no rain descends and the whole church becomes 1047 00:53:12,630 --> 00:53:15,730 barren and unfruitful once again. 1048 00:53:16,470 --> 00:53:19,370 Now to wind up, mark this. 1049 00:53:20,270 --> 00:53:24,530 This is the only thing that a man 1050 00:53:24,530 --> 00:53:28,690 can delight in and get his desires. 1051 00:53:30,170 --> 00:53:32,170 There is a man that delights in money, 1052 00:53:32,550 --> 00:53:34,350 but he does not get his desire. 1053 00:53:35,230 --> 00:53:38,510 He gets his money, but he never gets 1054 00:53:38,510 --> 00:53:40,170 the satisfaction he expected. 1055 00:53:41,350 --> 00:53:43,230 We read in the papers the other day 1056 00:53:43,230 --> 00:53:45,250 of one who had a singular success in 1057 00:53:45,250 --> 00:53:49,130 his profession, but who lately attempted suicide under 1058 00:53:49,130 --> 00:53:51,930 the notion that he should lose his all 1059 00:53:51,930 --> 00:53:53,250 through the American war. 1060 00:53:54,850 --> 00:53:56,910 We remember in this great city one of 1061 00:53:56,910 --> 00:53:59,710 the largest merchants who died worth more than 1062 00:53:59,710 --> 00:54:02,170 three millions of money. 1063 00:54:03,850 --> 00:54:05,690 At that moment I think that his property 1064 00:54:05,690 --> 00:54:09,230 was sworn, who during the latter part of 1065 00:54:09,230 --> 00:54:11,150 his life was accustomed to be paid the 1066 00:54:11,150 --> 00:54:15,290 same wages as his gardener and believed that 1067 00:54:15,290 --> 00:54:17,310 he should certainly die in a workhouse. 1068 00:54:19,810 --> 00:54:22,550 He had got his broad and wide estates 1069 00:54:22,550 --> 00:54:25,750 and money that could not be told, but 1070 00:54:25,750 --> 00:54:27,330 he did not get the desire of his 1071 00:54:27,330 --> 00:54:27,730 heart. 1072 00:54:28,110 --> 00:54:31,690 He had delighted in his gold and he 1073 00:54:31,690 --> 00:54:34,690 had not the desire of his heart. 1074 00:54:36,700 --> 00:54:38,520 So we have known men that have delighted 1075 00:54:38,520 --> 00:54:39,860 themselves in fame. 1076 00:54:40,960 --> 00:54:42,740 When they have got it, they would have 1077 00:54:42,740 --> 00:54:44,840 been only too glad to get rid of 1078 00:54:44,840 --> 00:54:45,060 it. 1079 00:54:46,540 --> 00:54:49,040 They have been great statesmen or mighty warriors 1080 00:54:49,040 --> 00:54:51,080 and they have been greatly renowned. 1081 00:54:51,980 --> 00:54:53,600 When they have gained all the fame and 1082 00:54:53,600 --> 00:54:55,160 stood on the very top of the pinnacle, 1083 00:54:56,020 --> 00:54:58,200 there was not that in it that they 1084 00:54:58,200 --> 00:54:58,800 expected. 1085 00:54:59,600 --> 00:55:02,560 And they have said, would that I had 1086 00:55:02,560 --> 00:55:05,820 lived in obscurity, for then I might have 1087 00:55:05,820 --> 00:55:07,520 known some satisfaction. 1088 00:55:08,720 --> 00:55:11,200 And look at many of you, when you 1089 00:55:11,200 --> 00:55:14,260 were apprentices, the desire of your heart was 1090 00:55:14,260 --> 00:55:15,060 to be a journeyman. 1091 00:55:16,240 --> 00:55:18,900 Well, when you became a journeyman, what then? 1092 00:55:20,000 --> 00:55:22,600 You wanted to be masters and set up 1093 00:55:22,600 --> 00:55:23,760 in trade for yourselves. 1094 00:55:25,040 --> 00:55:27,480 Well, you have set up in trade, got 1095 00:55:27,480 --> 00:55:28,380 on pretty well. 1096 00:55:30,300 --> 00:55:33,400 Have you the desire of your heart? 1097 00:55:34,480 --> 00:55:37,360 Oh no, that has gone on a little 1098 00:55:37,360 --> 00:55:37,800 further. 1099 00:55:39,680 --> 00:55:42,600 Now you are waiting till you have brought 1100 00:55:42,600 --> 00:55:44,380 up this large family of yours. 1101 00:55:46,690 --> 00:55:49,250 Then you will have your children started in 1102 00:55:49,250 --> 00:55:49,730 life. 1103 00:55:51,730 --> 00:55:53,450 You are looking out for a villa in 1104 00:55:53,450 --> 00:55:58,630 the suburbs, where you can retire and spend 1105 00:55:58,630 --> 00:55:59,970 the rest of your days. 1106 00:56:02,780 --> 00:56:03,940 And some of you have the villa in 1107 00:56:03,940 --> 00:56:06,240 the country and have wound up your business 1108 00:56:06,240 --> 00:56:06,780 affairs. 1109 00:56:09,340 --> 00:56:13,120 Have you the desire of your heart yet? 1110 00:56:15,450 --> 00:56:16,550 Well, not quite yet. 1111 00:56:19,040 --> 00:56:21,160 There is still something else that you want. 1112 00:56:24,970 --> 00:56:29,780 Ah yes, getting the desire of a man's 1113 00:56:29,780 --> 00:56:33,020 heart is like chasing a phantom. 1114 00:56:35,850 --> 00:56:38,570 It is here, there and everywhere. 1115 00:56:40,230 --> 00:56:43,250 Now on the hill, now down in the 1116 00:56:43,250 --> 00:56:45,970 valley, you leap down on it and it 1117 00:56:45,970 --> 00:56:48,270 is away again on the next hill, and 1118 00:56:48,270 --> 00:56:51,070 then on the next, and you find your 1119 00:56:51,070 --> 00:56:52,730 chase is fruitless. 1120 00:56:56,470 --> 00:57:02,410 Satisfaction in this world is like the diamond 1121 00:57:03,230 --> 00:57:06,010 which the fool sees lying at the foot 1122 00:57:06,010 --> 00:57:06,790 of the rainbow. 1123 00:57:08,350 --> 00:57:10,630 So he runs after it, and as he 1124 00:57:10,630 --> 00:57:12,790 runs, the rainbow is ever in the distance, 1125 00:57:12,930 --> 00:57:16,350 and he can never find what he expected. 1126 00:57:20,100 --> 00:57:25,620 But if you would have the desire of 1127 00:57:25,620 --> 00:57:31,320 your heart, delight in your God. 1128 00:57:33,640 --> 00:57:34,620 Give Him your love. 1129 00:57:35,980 --> 00:57:37,080 Give Him your heart. 1130 00:57:38,840 --> 00:57:44,710 Plunge deep into this stream, and you shall 1131 00:57:44,710 --> 00:57:46,410 have all that you can wish for. 1132 00:57:47,010 --> 00:57:49,990 The desire of your heart to the full 1133 00:57:49,990 --> 00:57:51,550 extent shall be granted. 1134 00:57:55,030 --> 00:57:57,810 Are there not in this house today those 1135 00:57:57,810 --> 00:58:00,450 who cannot delight in God? 1136 00:58:02,620 --> 00:58:06,490 Cannot, cannot. 1137 00:58:09,110 --> 00:58:11,430 You are right, you cannot. 1138 00:58:15,450 --> 00:58:17,850 How can he delight in God whose sins 1139 00:58:17,850 --> 00:58:21,990 are unforgiven, upon whom the wrath of God 1140 00:58:21,990 --> 00:58:22,970 abideth always? 1141 00:58:23,350 --> 00:58:25,810 Can a man delight in a roaring lion, 1142 00:58:27,590 --> 00:58:29,650 when a bear robbed of her welts? 1143 00:58:29,690 --> 00:58:31,950 Can a man delight in a consuming fire? 1144 00:58:34,370 --> 00:58:36,250 Can a man delight in a naked sword 1145 00:58:36,250 --> 00:58:38,410 that seeks to reach to his very heart? 1146 00:58:41,190 --> 00:58:43,530 Yet God is such to you so long 1147 00:58:43,530 --> 00:58:44,710 as you are out of grace. 1148 00:58:46,790 --> 00:58:49,960 How then can you delight in God? 1149 00:58:52,490 --> 00:58:56,210 There is one step that is necessary. 1150 00:59:00,330 --> 00:59:05,670 Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and then 1151 00:59:05,670 --> 00:59:09,150 you shall delight in the Lord. 1152 00:59:11,890 --> 00:59:14,490 That is, trust yourself to be saved by 1153 00:59:14,490 --> 00:59:14,990 Christ. 1154 00:59:15,990 --> 00:59:19,550 Go and put yourself into Christ's hands to 1155 00:59:19,550 --> 00:59:21,230 have all your sins put away. 1156 00:59:22,170 --> 00:59:24,790 And when you have trusted Christ, you shall 1157 00:59:24,790 --> 00:59:28,290 know that your sin is forgiven, that you 1158 00:59:28,290 --> 00:59:31,850 are reconciled to God by the death of 1159 00:59:31,850 --> 00:59:32,350 His Son. 1160 00:59:34,540 --> 00:59:36,600 And you may go your way and delight 1161 00:59:36,600 --> 00:59:38,000 yourself in God. 1162 00:59:39,140 --> 00:59:45,120 For the promise is this, your desire shall 1163 00:59:45,120 --> 00:59:46,180 be granted you.