October 3

They do not return unto the Lord their God, nor seek him. - Hosea 7:10.

THE history of the Jews is very peculiar. It abounds with miracles and wonders and signs, and, in perusing it, nothing strikes us more than the frequency and severity of God’s reprimands concerning them. The general resemblance between them and us, and the non-improvement of means and mercies, is the ground of our present meditation. How far does this neglect of seeking the Lord extend? Are there no exceptions?

Yes, blessed be God, there are; for “except the Lord of Hosts had left us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah.” We should have had no “chariots of Israel, or horsemen thereof.” We should have had no “repairers of the breach,” no “restorers of paths to dwell in.” But the language of Scripture is very awful upon this subject. Isaiah said in his days, “There is none that calleth upon God, that stireth up himself to take hold of God.” David says, “There is none that seeketh after God.” And John says, “The whole world lieth in wickedness.” Now, this language, if it does not imply universality, unquestionably expresses generality. Let us see, therefore, how far this testimony is true and is confirmed by experience and observation. For this purpose we will glance at five classes of delinquents.

In the first class we place infidels, who, if they do not deny the being of a God, deny his moral providence and government, and a future state, and even deem the revelation God has given us nothing better than a cunningly-devised fable. These do not seek the Lord.

In the second class we place the profligate. These hide not their sin as Sodom, but publish it like unto Gomorrah. Liars, swearers, blasphemers, the unclean, drunkards, these do not seek the Lord.

In the third class we place the careless. Though not vicious, yet they seem indifferent to every thing of a religious nature. Gallios, “who care for none of these things,” who “cast off fear, and restrain prayer before God,” who never read the Scriptures, never hear the word preached, never attend the house of God unless from the influence of reputation or connections, nor observe the Sabbath-day to keep it holy. Heaven is hid from their view; earth contains all they desire. To get money and spend it, to dress and adorn the body, to nurse it in sickness and pamper it in health, and to endeavour to answer the question, “What shall we eat, and what shall we drink, and wherewithal shall we be clothed?”-this engrosses the whole of their attention. These do not seek the Lord their God.

In the fourth class we place formalists. God requires truth in the inward parts, and “in the hidden parts.” He makes his people “to know wisdom.” “God is a Spirit; and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth,” or they do not, in his estimation, worship him at all. “We read of some in the days of Isaiah, of whom he says, “Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways, as a nation that did righteousness and forsook not the ordinance of their God.” But how was it really? Isaiah tells them, “They draw near to him with their mouth, and honour him with their lips, while their heart is far from him.” They sing, but not “with melody in their hearts unto the Lord.” They hear his word, but they are not “doers of it.” “They have a name to live, but are dead.” They have the form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof. What numbers of these are members of the Christian church and yet are not partakers of Jesus Christ! “These do not seek the Lord their God.”

In the last class we place partial seekers. There are very few but have some fits and starts in religion, who have not recourse to some religious exercises at different times and places and conditions; and they are not always insincere at the time. But, alas! their “goodness is like the morning cloud and early dew.” They begin in the Spirit, but end in the flesh. They run well for a time, but are hindered. Their religion depends upon external excitements, not upon internal principles, and, therefore, fails with the cessation of these excitements. Their religion is like a tree without a root,-it soon withers away; or like a land-flood, which soon flows off, because it has no living stream to supply it. “They do not seek him with their whole hearts.”