ng Hezekiah, "And in every work that
he began in the service of the house of God, and in the law, and in the
commandments to seek his God, he did it with all his heart, and
prospered." Universal sincerity is accompanied with universal
prosperity; in all he did, he was upright, and in all he did, he
prospered. Brethren, whatever you want, be sure you want not sincerity;
let God see you fully set in your hearts to take all from sin, and to
give all to Jesus Christ; me-thinks I hear God saying unto us,
"according to your uprightness, so be it unto you."

In the _Fourth_ place, if you would be accepted by God in this holy
service, labour to make God your end. It is your pattern in the text,
"they shall go and seek the Lord;" it was not now "howling upon their
beds for corn and wine," as formerly; of which God says, "they cried not
unto Me," _i.e._, they did not make God the end of their prayers; as
elsewhere God tells them: "When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and
seventh month, even those seventy years, did ye fast to Me, even unto
Me?" In seventy years, they kept sevenscore fasts in Babylon; and yet,
amongst them all, they kept not one day unto God; for though the duty
looked upon God, they that did the duty did not look upon God; that is,
they did not set up God, as their chief end, in fasting and praying:
they mourned not so much for their sin, as for their captivity; or, if
for their sin, they mourned for it not so much as God's dishonour, as
the cause of their captivity; they were not troubled so much, that they
had by their sins walked contrary to God, as that God, by His judgments,
had "walked contrary to them." They fasted and prayed, rather to get off
their chains than to get off their sins; to get rid of the bondage of
the Babylonians, than to get rid of the servitude of their own base
lusts. But now, blessed be God, it was otherwise: "the children of
Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together" to what end?
"They shall seek the Lord," _i.e._ they shall seek God for Himself, and
not only for themselves; "going and weeping;" why? Not so much that He
hath offended them, as that they have offended Him; for their sins, more
than for their punishments; so it is more distinctly reported, "A voice
was heard upon the high places, weeping and supplications of the
children of Israel; because they have perverted their way, and have
forsaken the Lord their God." They had forgotten God before, not only in
t