in the heart. A man in prayer may have a cheerful countenance and a drowsy
Ps. XXXVII. 4.] DELIGHT IN PRAYEB. 373
some converse ; as there is a love which is called the love of the espousals. As it is in sorrow for sin, so in this delight ; a young convert hath a greater
torrent, a grown Christian a more constant stream. As at the first conver-
sion of a sinner there is an overflowing joy among the angels, which we read
not of after, though without question there is a settled joy in them at the growth of a Christian. An elder son may have a delight in his father's pre-
sence more rooted, firm, and rational, than a younger child that chngs more
about him with affectionate expressions. As sincerity is the soul of all graces and duties, so this delight is the lustre and embroidery of them.
Now, this delight in prayer,
1. It is an inward and hearty delight. As to the subject of it, it is seated
in the heart. A man in prayer may have a cheerful countenance and a drowsy
spirit. The Spirit of God dwells in the heart, and love and joy are the first-
fruits of it, Gal. V. 22. Love to duty, and joy in it ; joy as a grace, not as a mere comfort. As God is hearty in offering mercy, so is the soul in petition-
ing for it. There is a harmony between God and the heart. Where there
is delight, there is great pains taken with the heart ; a gracious heart strilies
itself again and again, as Moses did the rock twice. Those ends which God
hath in giving are a Christian's ends in asking. Now, the more of our hearts
in the requests, the more of God's heart in the grants. The emphasis of mercy is God's whole heart and whole soul in it, Jer. xxii. 41. So the em-
phasis of duty is our whole heart and whole soul. As without God's cheerful
answering a gracious soul would not relish a mercy, so without our hearty
asking God doth not relish our prayer.
2. It is a delight in God, who is the object of prayer. The glory of God, communion with him, enjoyment of him, is the great end of a believer in his
supplications. That delight which is in prayer is chiefly in it as a means conducing to such an end, and is but a spark of that delight which the soul
hath in the object of prayer. God is the centre wherein the soul rests, and
the end which the soul aims at. According to our apprehensions of God are
our desires for him ; when we apprehend him as the chiefest good, we shall
desire him, and delight in him as the chiefest good. There must first be a
delight in God before there can be a spiritual delight or a permanency in duty
Job xxvii. 10, ' Will he delight himself in the Almighty ? will he always call upon God ?
' Delight is a grace ; and as faith, desire, and love have God
for their object, so hath this ; and according to the strength of our delight
in the object or end, is the strength of our delight in the means of attainment. When we delight in God as glorious, we shall delight to honour him
when we regard him as good, we shall dehght to pursue and enjoy him, and
delight in that which brings us to an intercourse with him. He that rejoices
in God, will rejoice in every approach to him : ' The joy of the Lord is our
strength,' Neh. viii. 10. The more joy in God, the more strength to come
to him. The want of this is the reason of our snail-like motion to him. Men have no sweet thoughts of God, and therefore no mind to converse with
him. We cannot judge our delight in prayer to be right if we have not a
delight in God, for natural men may have a delight in prayer when they have
corrupt and selfish ends. They may have a delight in a duty as it is a means,
according to their apprehensions, to gain such an end ; as Balaam and Balak
offered their sacrifices cheerfully, hoping to ingratiate themselves with God, and to have liberty to curse his people.
3. A delight in the precepts and promises of God, which are the ground and rules of prayer. First, David delights in God's testimonies, and then
calls upon him with his whole heart. A gracious heart must first delight in
precepts and promises before it can turn them into prayers ; for prayer is