and again, ver. 5, ' My month shall praise thee with joyful lips.' See how he goes over and over the same note. Joy can no more be hid than ointment; as tliat betrayeth itself by its sweet perfumes, so doth holy joy make its own report in the praises it sounds forth to God. It behoves thee, therefore, to be as choice of thy joy, as thou wouldst be of the blood in thy veins, for in this runs the spirit of praise and thanksgiving. Now, would you nourish your joy ? Doit by sucking the promises, those breasts of consolation. These are food of pure juice, and strong novirishment ; they soon turn into joy and peace, and with this a spirit of praise must grow also.
Secondly, Possess thy heart with strong apprehensions of God's overruling ■ providence in all thy enterprises ; that he doth what pleaseth him in lieaven and earth, so that all thy labour and toil in any business is in vain, till this main wheel begins to stir; his providence gives countenance to the action. O, how would this raise thy heart up to God, and send thee with many an errand into his presence ! Suppose a man was going about some important business, and had him in his company that alone could help or hinder the despatch of it; were it not strange that he should travel all day with him, and not apply himself to this person to make him his friend ? This is thy case : thou and all thy affairs are at the absolute disposal of the great God, to bless or blast thee in every enterprise. Now, God is always in thy company, at home and abroad. Surely, didst thou believe this firmly, thou wouldst often in a day turn thyself to liim, and beg his good-will to favour thy undertaking.
Thii-dly, Look thou attend the motions of the Holy Spirit. The Christian shall find him, as his remembrancer, to remind him of the more solemn jJer- formance of this dvity of prayer, so his monitor to suggest many occasional meditations to his thoughts, as a hint, that now it is a fit time to give God a visit in some holy ejaculation (by thus setting the door, as it were, open for him in God's presence;) sometimes he will be recalling a truth thou hast heard or read, a mercy thou hast received, or a sin thou hast committed; and what means he by all these, but to do thee a friendly office, thy affections being stirred, so that thou mayest be invited to dart thy soul up to God in some ejaculation. Now, take the hint he gives, and thou shalt have more of his company and help in this kind : for as the evil spirit, whei-e he finds welcome to liis wicked suggestions, grows bold to knock oftener at that door, because it is so soon opened to him ; so the Holy Spirit is invited, where his motions are kindly entertained, to be more frequent in his kind approaches ; whereas thy neglect of them may cause him to withdraw, and leave thee to thy own slothfid spirit. When Christ had thrice made an attempt to awake his drowsy disciples, by calling them up to watch and pra)^ and they fell to nodding again, truly then he bids them sleep on.
CHAPTER XXXHI.
SECRET PRAYER IS A DUTY INCUMBENT ON US, AND WHY'.
The second kind of prayer is that which we called composed, because the Christian composeth himself more solemnly to the work, by setting some considerable time apart from his other occasions, for his more free and full communion with God in prayer. Now this is either secret, or performed jointly with others. We begin with secret prayer; when the Christian retireth into some secret place, free from all company, and there pours out his soul into the bosom of God, none being witness to this trade which he carries on with heaven but God and liimself.
Section I. — That it is the Christian's duty, secretly and solitarily to hold intercourse with God in prayer, I believe will be granted by more than practise it; even those that are strangers to the performance thereof, carry in their own bosom that which will accuse them of their neglect, except, by long looking on the light, and rebelling against the same, their foolish minds be darkened, and have lost all sight and sense of a Deity. If any prayer be a duty, then secret prayer must needs be one. This is to all the other, as the keel is to the ship, it bears up all the rest. If we look into the pi-actice of Scripture saints, we shall find them all to have been great dealers with God in this trade of secret prayer : Abraham had his grove whither he retired ' to call upon the name of the Lord, the everlasting God,' Gen. xxt 33. We meet Isaac walking; out into the field.
PRAYING ALWAYS, ETC. ggl