The Desire of the Righteous
“The desire of the righteous is only good.” — xi. 23.
the preceding chapter we learned that “the desire of the righteous shall be granted:” here we are told that it is good. The fruit we gathered on a former page; and now the tree that bore it is displayed. A good tree bringeth forth good fruit: holy desires implanted in the heart will issue in glad enjoyments. “Delight thyself also in the Lord, and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart” (Ps. xxxvii. 4).
The new nature has new affections: every creature after its kind. The desires of this new man which has been “put on” in conversion are “only good;” but the desires of the old nature are not yet destroyed, and a life-long conflict is maintained between them. In every Christian while he lives there is a warfare between two opposite principles. Paul stands forth as the type of the truly converted, but not perfectly sanctified disciple — “When I would do good, evil is present with me” (Rom. vii. 21). There is a great tumult in a human breast where these two contrary currents contend. It is like the meeting-place of the rising tide and the descending torrent. One stream, pure and transparent, is rising mysteriously up; another, yellow and turbid, is rushing, according to its constant nature, down. The contention is sharp, but it is soon over. The pure overcomes the impure. That which rises up, apparently contrary to law, overcomes that which flows down obviously according to law: the ocean, entering that channel, overpowers and beats back the mountain stream. It is thus that the tide which issues from the Infinite, and acts against the law of the carnal mind, arrests and throws back the carnal mind, notwithstanding its long possession and its impetuous flow. The tide that rises is under law, as well as the stream that descends; but the law lies deeper among the things of God. That rising tide is not only pure in itself, it has Omnipotence behind to urge it on. There will be a mixture at the point of contact, and while the conflict rages; but soon the unclean will be driven back, and the channel will be filled from brim to brim by a pure ascending stream.
Pure in character, and upward in direction, is the current of a righteous man’s desire. This description is a standing rebuke of our poor attainments. How faintly is the attraction from heaven felt, how feebly flow the heart’s emotions thitherward, how deeply tinged, even in their upward course, by the mingling remnants of the downward current! And yet there is encouragement here, as well as rebuke; this purity of desire is attainable in some measure, on the earth. The design of discipline is to increase it; and it will be perfect when the discipline is done. The hope of final and complete success is a powerful motive to present exertion. When the new man is perfect, his desires will be only good, with no admixture of evil; and when the desires are only good, they will all be gratified. When the last lust of the flesh is crucified, disappointments will cease. If my heart’s desires were all and only good, they would be like God’s; and when my will is God’s will,- it shall be accomplished, for he will do all his pleasure.
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