BOOK 3. THE PROMISE.
CHAPTER 2.
3.2.7. Of Joying Jesus in that Respect.
Of Joying Jesus in that Respect.
We must joy in Jesus, as carrying on the great work of our salvation in a way of covenant. I know our joy here is but in part; such is the excellency of spiritual joy, that it is reserved for heaven; God will not permit it to be pure and perfect here below; and yet such as it is (though mingled with cares and pains) it is a blessed duty; it is the light of our souls; and were it quite taken away, our lives would be nothing but horror and confusion. O my soul, if thou didst not hope to encounter joy in all thy acts, thou wouldst remain languishing and immoveable, thou wouldst be without action and vigour, thou wouldst speak no more of Jesus, or of a covenant of grace, or of God, or Christ, or life, or grace, or glory. Well, then go on, O my soul, and joy in Jesus; if thou invest him, what should hinder thy rejoicing in him? It is a maxim. That as love proceeds, so if there be nothing which retains the appetite, it always goes from love to joy. One motion of the appetite towards good is to be united to it; and the next appetite towards good is to enjoy it: Now, love consists in union, and joy in fruition; for what is fruition but a joy that we find in the possession of a thing we love? Much ado there is amongst philosophers concerning the differences of love and joy. Some gives it thus; as is the motion of fluid bodies which run towards their centre, and think to find their rest there; they being there, they stop not; and therefore they return, and scatter themselves on themselves, they swell and overflow: so, in the passion of love, the appetite runs to the beloved object, and unites itself to it, and yet its motions ends not there; for by this passion of joy it returns the same way: again it scatters itself on itself, and overflows those powers which are nearest to it: by this effusion the soul doubles on the image of the good it hath received, and so it thinks to possess it the more; it distils itself into that faculty, which first acquainted it with the knowledge of the object, and by that means it makes all the parts of the soul concur to the possession of it. Hence they say, That joy is an effusion of the appetite, whereby the soul spreads itself on what is good, to possess it the more perfectly.
But not to stay in the inquiry of its nature, O my soul be thou in the exercise of this joy. Is there not cause; Come, see and own thy blessedness; take notice of the great things the Lord hath done for thee. As;
1. He hath made a covenant with thee of temporal mercies, thou hast all thou hast by free-holding of covenant-grace; thy bread is by covenant, thy sleep is by covenant, thy safety from sword is by the covenant, the very tilling of thy land is by a covenant of grace, Ezek. xxxvi. 34. O how sweet is this? every crumb is from Christ, and by virtue of a covenant of grace.
2. He hath made a covenant with thee of spiritual mercies: even a covenant of peace, and grace, and blessing, and life forever more. God is become thy God, he is all things to thee; he hath forgiven thy sins, he hath given thee his Spirit, to lead thee, to sanctify thee, to uphold thee in that state wherein thou standest, and at last he will bring thee to a full enjoyment of himself in glory, where thou shalt bless him, and rejoice before him, with joy unspeakable and full of glory. O pluck up thy heart, lift up thy head, strengthen the weak hands and the feeble knees; serve the Lord with gladness, and joyfulness of spirit, considering the day of thy salvation draweth nigh : write it in letters of gold, that thy God is in covenant with thee, to love thee, to bless thee, and to save thee. Yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and receive thee to himself, and then thou shalt fully know what it is to have God to be thy God, or to be in covenant with God. I know these objects rejoice not every heart; a man out of covenant, if he look on God, he is a consuming fire; if on the law, it is a sentence of condemnation; if on the earth, it brings forth thorns by reason of sins; if on heaven, the gate is shut; if on the signs of heaven, fire, meteors, thunder strike in him a terror. But, O my soul, this is not thy case; a man in covenant with God looks on all these things with another eye; if he looks on God, he saith this is my Father; if on Christ, this is my elder brother; if on angels, these are my keepers, if on heaven, this is my house; if on the signs in heaven, fire, meteors, thunder, these are but the effects of my Father's power; if on the law, the Son of God hath fulfilled it for me; if on prosperity, God hath yet better things for me instore; if on adversity, Jesus Christ hath suffered much more for me than this; if on the devil, death and hell, he saith with the apostle, "O death, where is thy sting? O grave, or hell, where is thy victory?" 1 Cor. xv. 55. Come, poor soul, is it not thus with thee? What! art thou in covenant with God? Or art thou not? If yet thou doubtest, review thy grounds of hope, and leave not there, till thou comest up to some measure of assurance: but if thou art persuaded of thy interest, O then rejoice therein, is it not a gospel-duty "to rejoice in the Lord, and again to rejoice?" Phil. iv. 4. The Lord is delighted in thy delights, he would fain have it thy constant frame and daily business to live in joy, and to be always delighting thyself in him.
This one promise, "I am the Lord thy God," is enough to cause thy appetite to run to it, and to unite itself to it by love, and to scatter itself on it, and to overflow those powers of the soul that are nearest to it, that every part of the soul may concur to the possession of it. "Bless the Lord, O my soul, (saith David) and all that is within me, bless his holy name" Psalm ciii. 1. So rejoice in the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me rejoice in the name of God: this is true joy, when the soul unites itself to the good possessed in all its parts: and was there ever such an object of true joy as this? Hark, as if heaven opened, and the voice came from God in heaven, "I will be a God to thee, and to thy seed after thee, I am the Lord thy God, and I will be thy God." What doth not thy heart leap in thy bosom at this sound? John the Baptist leaped in his mother's womb for joy at the sound of Mary's voice, and doth not thy soul spring within thee, at this voice of God? O wonder! some can delight themselves in sin, and is not God better than sin? Others more refined, and indeed sanctified, can delight themselves in remission of sin; grace, pardon, holiness, fore-thoughts of heaven; how exceedingly have some gracious hearts been ravished with such thoughts! But is not God the objective happiness, the fountain of blessedness, more rejoicing than all these? Why, dear soul, if there be in thee any rejoicing faculty, now awake and stir it up: it is the Lord thy God, whom thou art to rejoice in : it is he whom the glorious spirits joy in : it is he who is the top of heavens joy, their exceeding joy: and it is he who is thy God as well as their God: enough! enough! or if this be not enough, hear thy duty as the Lord commands thee, "Rejoice in the Lord, Phil. iii. 1. Be glad, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God, Joel ii. 23. Rejoice in the Lord, all ye righteous, for praise is comely for the upright. Psalm xxxiii. 1. Rejoice in the Lord, ye righteous, and give thanks at the remembrance of bis holiness. Psalm xcvii. 12. Let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice, let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them; let them also that love thy name, be joyful in thee, Psal. v. 11. Let the righteous be glad, let them rejoice before God; yea, let them exceedingly rejoice, Psal. lxviii 3. Glory ye in his holy name, let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord, Psal. cv. 3. Let Israel rejoice in him that made him, let the children of Zion be joyful in their King, Psal. cxlix. 3. Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, O ye righteous, and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart" Psal. xxxii. 11. O what pressing commands are these!