BUt now, The way of the soul in this walk with God: When the soul is thus brought to God, and by this means enabled to walk with him, Then what’s the way of the soul in walking thus with God?
Walking with God causes the soul to eye God
In the first place, Now the soul being come thus to God, in all the waies of God it ey’s God, and sets God before it. Enoch walked with God: that is, Enoch in the waies of his life set God before him, and did eye God in his waies; First beholding the infinite beauty there is in God. Secondly, God being the fountain of al good to the soul. Thirdly, the soul apprehending God infinitly worthy of all honor. These three things causes the eye to be upon God continually: The Lord hath infinit excellency and beauty in him. The Lord is the fountain of all good to me: The Lord is infinitly worthy of all honor and service; and a soul walking with God eyes God thus continually. In the 26. Psal. 3. For thy loving kindness is before mine eyes, and I have walked in thy truth: Oh Lord! I see thee aimable, lovely, and gracious, and the fountain of all good, and Lord, I have walked in thy truth, setting God before me; so in Psal. 16. 8. I have set the Lord alwaies before me that I might not fall. A soul that walks with God scarce ey’s any thing but God, when it enjoyes the creature yet the eye is upon God; as the little child walking with the father looks up to the father; every soul that walks with God hath his eye upon him, for there’s no such lovely drawing object to the soul as God himself is; whereas wicked men they do not find God to be such a lovely object, sees no such excellency in him, and therfore they rather turn their eyes away from him, they look another way, Psal. 86. 14. They do not set God before them; men that walk according to the lusts of their own hearts in their wicked sinful waies, the Lord is not in all their thoughts, as in the 10. Psalm. That’s the first thing in the way of the souls walking with God, he eyes God, and sees God before him.
Walking with God causeth a man to carry himself as in Gods Presence
Secondly, The soul behaves its self as in Gods Presence. I see my self in Gods presence, and my eye is upon God, Oh let me then look to my self, that the carriage of my soul be as beseems one who is in the presence of so holy, so great, so glorious and blessed a God as the Lord is, in the 2 Cor. 2. 17. As of God in the sight of God speak we in Christ, saith the Apostle; when we come to do any thing, we do it as of God, in the sight of God, knowing that we are allwayes before God. Augustine, speaking concerning Noah’s walking with God, he hath this expression, Noah walked with God, that is, he had God alwaies present before his eyes, walking so holily, and so reverenced God: This is to walk in the fear of God, when the soul upon the apprehention of Gods presence shall labor to compose its self as beseeming the presence before whom it is, and this indeed is the walk that you shall find the Saints of God in all day long, would you know where to find a Saint? you may know his walk, you shall all the day long find him walking in the fear of the Lord, Preverbs 23. 17. saith the text there, Let not thy heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long. He doth not say, do thou fear the Lord all the day long, but be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long, Oh the walk of a Christian should be so from morning to night, to walk in the fear of the Lord; and nothing in this world should put him out of this walk, no temptations should call him out of it, but in the fear of the Lord all the day long: This is the walk of a Christian, when he labors to behave himself as beseems the presence of God.
Walking with God is, when we make Gods Will the Rule of our will
Thirdly, The soul may be said to walk with God, When the way of it is the same way that God himself goes, the soul doth that that God doth: What’s the way of God, but the way of holiness and righteousness? when the soul makes the Will of God to be the rule of it, I will not be acted by my own will, I will not be acted by any thing but by the Will of God: what is it that God wills? I will the same thing, then the soul walks that way God walks, when it doth sute its self with God, sets the Lord as an example before it, as the Scripture saith, Be ye holy as your Heavenly Father is holy; I see the holy and the righteous waies of God, and I labor as a deer child to follow him, and to go in the very same steps that God doth, how doth God carry businesses? I will labor to carry things so as God doth, that my life shall hold forth a resemblance of God himself; this is to walk with God, to do as God doth, to imitate God; that’s a third thing in a souls walking with God.