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One of the best tests of a man's character will be found in his deepest and heartiest longings. You cannot always judge a man by what he is doing at any one time, for he may be under constraint which compel him to act contrary to his true self, or he may be under a transient impulse from which he will soon be free. He may for a while be held back from that which is evil, and yet he may be radically bad; or he may be constrained by force of temptation to that which is wrong, and yet his real self may rejoice in righteousness. A man may not certainly be pronounced to be good because for the moment he is doing good, nor may he be condemned as evil because under certain constraints he may be committing sin. A man's longings are more inward, and more near to his real self than his outward acts; they are more natural, in that they are entirely free, and beyond compulsion or restraint. As a man longeth in his heart, so is he.

I. THE SAINT'S ABSORBING OBJECT. They long after God's judgments, His revealed will.

1. The psalmist greatly reverenced the Word. All other books are at the best but as gold leaf, whereof it takes acres to make an ounce of the precious metal; but this book is solid gold; it contains ingots, masses, mines, yea, whole worlds of priceless treasure, nor could its contents be exchanged for pearls, rubies, or the "terrible crystal" itself. Even in the mental wealth of the wisest men there are no jewels like the truths of revelation.

2. He intensely desired to know its contents. He was not so well able to get at the truth as we are, since he had not the life of Christ to explain the types, nor apostolic explanations to open up the symbols of the law; therefore he sighed inwardly, and felt a killing heartbreak of desire to reach that which he knew was laid up in store for him. He saw the casket, but could not find the key.

3. He wished to feed upon God's Word. The Word received into the heart changes us into its own nature, and by rejoicing in the decisions of the Lord we learn to judge after His judgment and to delight ourselves in that which pleases Him.

4. Doubtless, David longed be obey God's Word — he wished in everything to do the will of God without fault either of omission or of commission. He prays in another place, "Teach me Thy law perfectly."

II. THE SAINT'S ARDENT LONGINGS.

1. They constitute a living experience, for dead things have no aspirations or cravings. You shall visit the graveyard, and exhume all the bodies you please, but you shall find neither desire nor craving. Where the heart is breaking with desire there is life.

2. The expression represents a humble sense of imperfection. The apostle of the Gentiles said, "Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect"; and the man after God's own heart, even David, when he was at his best, and I think he was so when he was writing this blessed psalm, says not so much that he had obtained anything as that he longed after it, not so much that he had yet grasped it, but sighed for it: "my soul breaketh for the longing that it hath."

3. Furthermore, the expression of the text indicates an advanced experience. dwells upon this idea, for he rightly says, at first there is an aversion in the heart to God's Word, and desire after it is a matter of growth. The more full a man is of grace the more he hungers for grace. Strange it is to say so, but the paradox is true, the more he drinks, and the more he is satisfied and ceases to thirst in one sense, the more is he devoured with thirst after the living God. It is an advanced experience, then.

4. It is an experience which I cannot quite describe to you, except by saying that it is a bitter sweet; or, rather, a sweet bitter, if the adjective is to be stronger than the noun. There is a bitterness about being crushed with desire; it is inevitable that there should be, but the aroma of this bitter herb is inexpressibly sweet, no perfume can excel it. After all, a bruised heart knows more peace and rest than a heart filled with the world's delights. How safe such a soul is.

III. A FEW CHEERING REFLECTIONS. Methinks this morning some heart has been saying, "There are comforting thoughts for me in all this. I am a poor thing, I have not grown much, I have not done much, I wish I had; but I have strong longings, I am very dissatisfied, and I am almost ready to die with desire after Christ." My dear soul, listen — let this encourage you.

1. God is at work in your soul. Never did a longing after God's judgments grow up in the soul of itself. Weeds come up of themselves, but the rarer kind of plants I warrant you will never be found where there has been no sowing: and this flower, called love-lies-bleeding, this plant of intense eagerness after God, never sprang up in the human breast of itself. God alone has placed it there.

2. The result of God's work is very precious. Thank Him for it. Though thou caner get no further than holy longing, be grateful for that longing.

3. Not only is the desire precious, but it is leading on to something more precious. "The desire of the righteous shall be granted." Rest you sure of that, and cry mightily to Him with strong faith in His goodness.

4. Meanwhile, the desire itself is doing you good. It is driving you out of yourself, it is making you feel what a poor creature you are, for you can dig no well in your own nature, and find no supplies within your own spirit. It is compelling you to look alone to God.

( C. H. Spurgeon.)

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KJV: My soul breaketh for the longing that it hath unto thy judgments at all times.

WEB: My soul is consumed with longing for your ordinances at all times.