know the sins she has been guilty of, to confess them; and the graces she stands in need of, to petition for them. All this is not to be done but by deep meditation; and meditation, which is the mother of devotion, is the daughter of retirement. They who do not meditate, cannot pray; and they who do not retire, can do neither. God help and have mercy on all those who are in this most wretched and deplorable state; as all must be, who pass their days in a senseless round of vain amusements and diversions, in a continual hurry and dissipation of thought, ignorant of the benefits and comforts of the closet, and therefore ignorant of the true state of their minds, ignorant of their Saviour, ignorant of their duty, ignorant of every thing which they were sent into the world to learn. Thus they live, and-thus they die! If, therefore, we conceive a dread of such a life and such a death (and too great a dread we cannot conceive), let us learn of holy Daniel, to commune with our own heart, and with God, in our chamber. And then let us judge ourselves to have made some progress in the divine life, when the pleasures we find there are preferred, as every experienced Christian knows they ought to be preferred, to all the pleasures the world can offer.

Next to the place, we are to consider the posture in which Daniel prayed. He "kneeled upon his "knees, with his face towards Jerusalem." The Christian warrior differs from all others in this particular, that he is never so sure of conquest, as when he enters into the battle in this attitude. The adversary had rather find him in any situation than this;

which is, indeed, the best posture of defence against all temptations whatsoever. Daniel was so entirely secure in it, that he valued not the roaring of all the lions in the den of Babylon, just opening their mouths to devour him. Nor need the devout soul regard a whit more the rage and fury of that "roaring lion," spoken of by the apostle "who goeth about conti"nually up and down in the earth, seeking whom he

may devour." I say, the devout soul need not regard it; for we must not forget, that the posture of the body can profit nothing, unless it be accompanied with that disposition of mind, which it is designed to represent. We are found hypocrites, if we are not inwardly what we appear outwardly to be, when we fall upon our knees. For the intention of so doing is to testify an awful sense of the power and glory of God, and as deep an one of our own infirmity and unworthiness, under which we sink down to the earth from whence we were taken, and acknowledge ourselves to be but sinful dust and ashes. By this act, when rightly performed, the mind going along with it, we obey the divine command, "Hum"ble yourselves under the mighty hand of God;" where the apostle addresses us as criminals under the hand of justice, uplifted to strike the fatal stroke, which there is no way of avoiding but by falling to the earth. In a word, the duty of prayer is founded upon the sufficiency of God, as an almighty Creator and Redeemer, and our wants, as sinful creatures; both which great truths we confess at once, by meekly kneeling upon our knees; and therefore this is the

proper posture for prayer. But what shall we say of Daniel "setting his face towards Jerusalem," when he prayed? Are we to imitate him in that likewise? Undoubtedly. Not according to the letter, but the spirit. The old Jerusalem and temple are destroyed, to be rebuilt no more; in the room of which a new Jerusalem and a new temple have long since arisen. The new Jerusalem is the Christian church, and the Lord God and the Lamb are the temple. To Christ we must turn our eyes; in the union and communion of his church we must offer up our prayers. Daniel praying in Babylon looked towards Jerusalem; the Christian praying in the world should look towards heaven, towards that new, spiritual, and celestial city of the living God, whose foundations are upon the holy and everlasting hills, and which cannot be removed, but standeth fast for ever. Thither let him look, thither let him pray, in this land of his captivity.

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But when, and how often is he to pray? With regard to this point also, Daniel will instruct him, who "kneeled upon his knees three times a day;" that is to say, in the words of holy David before cited, "at morning, and at evening, and at noon day." What' man is he that can help offering up his morning sacrifice of devotion, when awaking from sweet sleep, refreshed and renewed, he beholds all things as it were new created? The sun arises, and finds the cattle upon a thousand hills waiting for his appearance, and all the birds of the air ready to pay their tribute of thanksgiving for the return of his glorious

and enlivening beams. And shall man-man, for whose use and benefit all these things were made -shall man alone lie buried in sleep, or, when arisen, forget to worship his God? Shall he not rather rouse all his affections at once, with these and the like strains of the sweet singer of Israel:-" Awake up my glory, awake lute and harp," every organ of my body, and faculty of my soul; "I myself "will awake right early. O God, thou art my God;

early will I seek thee. I will sing of thy power, "O Lord, and praise thy mercy betimes in the morning. I will magnify thee, O God my king, "and praise thy name for ever and ever. Every "day will I give thanks unto thee, and praise thy

name for ever and ever." Now is the time for us to take a view beforehand of every thing that is to be done in the day, to offer it to God with purity of intention, and pray for his grace to direct us in all things; but more especially in those instances in which we are most likely to need it; as the constitution, temper, situation, and circumstances of every person in the world make some particular temptations more dangerous to him than others. Again; who that was in his senses, when the evening closes upon him, and consigns him to the darkness of the night, would venture to go to sleep (when for aught he knows he may awake in another world) without having first examined himself concerning the thoughts, words, and actions of the day, and so confessed and repented him of the sins therein committed, as to have rendered himself a proper object of the divine

mercy through Christ, into whose hands he should now commend his spirit, as he would do with his dying breath? Blessed is he, who thus begins and ends. the day with God, and so passes a life of piety and peace. His sleep shall be sweet indeed. And sweetest of all shall be that last sleep, out of which he shall awake to glory in the morning of the resurrection. With regard to Daniel's third hour of prayer, namely, noon, if they who have it not in their power to retire for that purpose, would accustom themselves daily to think, at that hour, on Christ, who was then nailed to the cross for their sins, and lift up their souls to God in a short prayer for salvation by him, they would find themselves much strengthened and refreshed thereby. As to those whom God has blessed with more leisure, let them by all means follow Daniel's example, till they can find a better. Let them "kneel upon their knees THREE times a day ;" and let those who retire at that season to adorn their persons, take the opportunity of putting on the ornaments of grace, and renewing the spirit of their,

minds.

Lastly, this same great and fruitful example of holy Daniel affords us a direction likewise as to the matter of our devotions. He "prayed and gave "thanks before his God, as he did aforetime.". Prayer and thanksgiving, therefore, were the two parts of his daily service. What the nature of his prayer was, we may know from that recorded in the ninth chapter, where he sets himself to confess his sins, and those of his countrymen, and to entreat for mercy