expressions as these: "My soul _thirsteth_ for thee; my flesh _longeth_
for thee:" "As the hart panteth for the water-brooks, so _panteth_ my
soul after thee, O God: My soul _thirsteth_ for God, for the living
God:" "My soul _longeth_, yea, even _fainteth_, for the courts of the
Lord; my _heart and my flesh crieth out_ for the living God:" "My soul
_breaketh_ for the longing it hath unto thy judgments _at all times_."
Surely there is no dulness, no coldness, in such feelings as these. They
accord with the spirit of the command, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God
with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with _all thy might_."
And this was not, with the Psalmist, an _occasional lively frame_. This
soul-breaking longing was the habitual feeling of his heart; for he
exercised it "_at all times_" And what was it that called forth these
ardent longings? Was it the personal benefits which he had received or
expected to receive from God? By no means. After expressing an earnest
desire to dwell in the house of the Lord, _all the days of his life_, he
tells us why he wished to be there: "_to behold the beauty of the Lord,
and to inquire in his temple_." The object of his love was "_the beauty
of the Lord_;" doubtless meaning his moral perfections. Intimately
connected with this was his desire to know the will of the Lord. For
this he wished to "_inquire in his temple_." And whenever the love of
God is genuine, it will call forth the same desire. The apostle John,
whose very breath is love, says, "This is the love of God, that we _keep
his commandments_." The child that loves his parents will delight in
doing everything he can to please them. But the child that cares for his
parents only as he expects to be benefited by them, will always do as
little as possible for them, and that little unwillingly. So, in our
relations with God. The hypocrite may have a kind of love to him,
because he thinks himself a peculiar object of divine favor, and because
he still expects greater blessings. But this does not lead him to
delight in the commands of God. He rather esteems them as a _task_. His