I. The nature of this evil. To be weary of God is to desire to break the connection that exists between us and God. It is to be impatient of continued connection with Him; to be tired of calling upon Him; tired of thinking of Him; tired of trusting Him; tired of waiting for Him; tired of serving Him.
II. The nature of this weariness will appear further if you look for a moment at the forms in which it is shown. (1) This weariness is first shown by formality in Divine worship, (2) in the outward neglect of Divine requirements, (3) in not looking to God for aid and succour, (4) in the setting up of false gods.
III. What is the occasion of the manifestation of this weariness? You will generally find one of the following things disappointed hope, the endurance of affliction, or the prosperity of the wicked.
IV. God's dealings, God's dispensations, may be the occasion of the springing up of this weariness, but we cannot charge it upon God. Its cause is to be found either in the absence of love or in the feebleness of love.
V. Look at the bitter fruits of this weariness. God sees it, and He cannot see it without feeling it, that would be impossible. What feeling, therefore, must spring up in the Divine nature? It cannot be joy and it cannot be complacency. What can it be but anger, what but displeasure? And displeasure does arise. God is angry and He corrects, and He corrects so as to make the chastisement answer to the sin. The man has, to a cer tain extent, withdrawn from God God withdraws from the man. He deprives the man of whatever influences are tending to promote his peace and joy and rest. And if the heart be alive, if it be a quickened heart, this state is one/of great misery until the soul is restored to God.
VI. What is the prevention, or rather, the means of prevention? Ejecting the first hard thoughts of God, not yielding for a moment to indolence in the service of God; following Christ implicitly in the conduct of the spirit towards God; cherishing most sacredly the influences of the Holy Spirit.
VII. And when you have fallen into this evil state, what is its cure? (1) The full confession of the weariness. (2) Admission of the Divine goodness in the correction by which you are made sensible of your weariness. (3) Return to the careful observances of God's ordinances and precepts, the obtaining of pardon, and the assurance of forgiveness.
S. Martin, Westminster Chapel Pulpit,1st series, No. 19.
References: Isaiah 43:22-24. Spurgeon, Sermons,vol. xxxii., No. 1895.Isaiah 43:24. Ibid., Evening by Evening,p. 144.