§. Sect. 3 That God chiefly desi∣reth the heart aboue all other parts.
And hereof it is that the Lord chiefly requireth the heart, according to that of Salomon, My sonne, giue me thy heart. The which also Dauid chiefly * 1.1 required of him in the seruice of God; And thou Salomon my sonne, know thou the God of thy father, and serue him with a perfect heart and willing mind: for the Lord searcheth all hearts, and vnderstandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts. It is, aboue all other parts, the sacrifice which is most acceptable vnto God, according to that of the Psalmist, The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. An * 1.2 vpright heart is his chiefe delight, and though he requireth sincerity both in our words and workes, yet aboue all, he desireth truth in the inward parts. * 1.3 And if the heart be sincere, and desireth to offer vnto God perfect seruice, the Lord passeth by and pardoneth our imperfections, and accepteth as perfect, our weake and worthlesse indeuours; according to that of the Apostle, If there be first a willing minde, it is accepted according to that a man * 1.4 hath, and not according to that he hath not. An example whereof we haue in Iehosaphat and Asa, who though their inward corruptions did breake out into diuers open sinnes, yet because they prepared their hearts to seeke the * 1.5