alfo I thought upon thee while I was waking. So did David and every act of complaint or thanksgiving, every act of rejoycing or of mourning, every petition and every return of the heart in thefe intercourfes, is a going to God, and appearing in his Prefence, and a reprefenting him prefent to thy fpirit and to thy neceffity. And this was long fince by a spiritual Perfon called, A building to God a Chappel in our heart. It reconciles Martha's Employment with Mary's Devotion, Charity and Religion, the neceffities of our calling, and the employments of Devotion. For thus in the midst of the works of your Trade, you may retire into your Chappel [your heart] and converse with God by frequent addreffes and returns.

5. Reprefent and offer to God acts of love and fear, which are the proper effects of this apprehension, and the proper exercise of this confideration. For as God is every where present by his power, he calls for reverence and godly fear: as he is prefent to thee in all thy needs, and relieves them, he deferves thy love: and fince in every accident of our lives we find one or other of these apparent, and in most things we see both, it is a proper and proportionate return, that to every fuch demonftration of God, we exprefs our felves fenfible of it by admiring the divine goodness, or trembling at his Prefence, ever obeying him, because we love him; and ever obeying him, because we fear to offend him. This is that which Enoch did who thus walked with God.

6. Let us remember that God is in us, and that we are in him: we are his workmanship, let us not deface it; we are in his prefence, let us not pollute it by unholy and impure Actions. God hath alfo Ifa. 26. 12. wrought all our works in us: and becaufe he rejoices in his own works, if we defile them, and make them unpleasant to him, we walk perversely with God, and he will walk crookedly towards us.

7. God is in the bowels of thy brother; refresh them when he needs it, and then you give your alms in the prefence of God and to God, and he feels the relief which thou provideft for thy brother.

8. God is in every place; fuppofe it therefore to be a Church; and that decency of deportment, and piety of carriage, which you are taught by Religion, or by Cuftom, or by Civility and publick manners to use in Churches, the fame ufe in all places; with this difference only, that in Churches let your deportment be religious in external Forms and Circumftances alfo; but there and every where let it be religious in abstaining from fpiritual undecencies, and in readiness to do good actions: that it may not be Jer. 11. 15. faid of us as God once complained of his People, fecund. vulg Why hath my Beloved done wickedness in my Houfe?

9. God is in every Creature: be cruel towards none, neither abuse any by intemperance. Remember that the Creatures, and every Member of thy own Body is one of the leffer Cabinets and Receptacles of God. They are fuch which God hath bleffed with his prefence, hallowed by his touch, and separated from unholy use by making them to belong to his dwelling.

10. He walks as in the prefence of God, that converses with him in frequent Prayer, and frequent Communion, that runs to him in all his Neceffities, that asks Counsel of him in all his Doubtings, that opens all his wants to him, that weeps before him for his Sins, that asks remedy and fupport for his Weakneis, that fears him as a Judge, reverences him as a Lord, obeys him as a Father, and loves him as a Patron.

The Benefits of this Exercife.

The Benefits of this Confideration and Exercife being univerfal upon all the parts of Piety, I fhall lefs need to specifie any particulars; but yet moft properly this Exercise of confidering the divine Prefence is,

1. An Excellent Help to Prayer, producing in us Reverence and Awfulness to the divine Majefty of God; and actual devotion in our Offices.

2. It produces a confidence in God, and fearlefness of our Enemies, patience in trouble, and hope of remedy, fince God is fo nigh in all our fad Accidents, he is a difpofer of the hearts of Men, and the events of

Things,

Edit.

Things, he proportions out our Trials, and fupplies us with the Remedy, and where his Rod ftrikes us, his Staff fupports us. To which we may add this, That God, who is always with us, is especially by Promise with us in Tribulation, to turn the Mifery into a Mercy, and that our greatest Trouble may become our Advantage, by entitling us to a new manner of the Divine Prefence.

in

3. It is apt to produce joy and rejoicing in God, we being more apt to delight in the Partners and Witneffes of our Converfation; every degree of mutual abiding and converfing being a relation and an endearment: we are of the fame Houfhould with God; he is with us in our natural Actions to preferve us, in our Recreations to restrain us, in our publick Actions to applaud or reprove us, in our private to observe us, our Sleeps to watch by us, in our watchings to refresh us; and if we walk with God in all his ways, as he walks with us in all ours, we fhall find perpetual reafons to enable us to keep that Rule of God, Rejoyce in the Lord always, and again I fay rejoyce. And this puts me in mind of a Saying of an old religious PerIn vita S. fon, [There is one way of overcoming our ghoftly Enemies! fpiritual Mirth, and a perpetual bearing of God in our Minds.] This effectually refifts the Devil, and fuffers us to receive no hurt from him.

Anthon.

4. This Exercife is apt alfo to enkindle holy defires of the enjoyment of God, becaufe it produces joy when we do enjoy him, the fame defires that a weak man hath for a Defender, the fick man for a Phyfician, the Poor for a Patron, the Child for his Father, the efpoufed Lover for her betrothed.

5. From the fame fountain are apt to iffue humility of Spirit, apprehenfions of our great distance and our great needs, or daily wants and hourly fupplies, admi⚫ration of God's unfpeakable Mercies: It is the cause of great Modefty and Decency in our actions; it helps to recollection of Mind, and restrains the scatterings and loofenefs of wandring thoughts; it establishes the heart in good purposes, and leadeth on to perseverance; it gains purity and perfection, (according to the faying of

God

Pfal. 10. 11.

God to Abraham, Walk before me, and be perfect) holy
fear, and holy love, and indeed every thing that per-
tains to Holy Living: when we fee our felves placed
in the eye of God, who fets us on work, and will re-
ward us plenteoufly, to ferve him with an eye-service
is very unpleafing; for he alfo fees the heart: and
the want of this confideration was declared to be the
caufe why Ifrael finned fo grievously, [For they say, Ez:k. 9, 9.
The Lord hath forfaken the earth, and the Lord feeth
not: therefore the Land is full of blood, and the City
full of perverfnefs.] What a Child would do in the
eye of his Father, and a Pupil before his Tutor, and
a Wife in the prefence of her Husband, and a Servant
in the fight of his Mafter, let us always do the fame:
for we are made a spectacle to God, to Angels, and to
Men; we are always in the fight and prefence of the
All-feeing and Almighty God, who alfo is to us a
Father and a Guardian, a Husband and a Lord.

Prayers and Devotions according to the Religion and
Purposes of the foregoing Confiderations.

For Grace to spend our Time well.

Eternal God, who from all Eternity doft behold and love thy own glories and perfections infinite, and haft created me to do the work of God after the manner of men, and to ferve Thee in this generation, and according to my capacities; give me thy grace that I may be a curious and prudent spender of my time, fo as I may beft prevent or refift all temptation, and be profitable to the Chriftian Commonwealth, and by discharging all my duty may glorifie thy Name. Take from me all floathfulness, and give me a diligent and an active spirit, and wisdom to chufe my employment, that I may do works proportionable to my perfon, and to the dignity of a Christian, and may . fill up all the spaces of my time with actions of Religion and Charity; that when the Devil affaults me, he may not find me idle, and my dearest Lord at his fud

den

Rev. 11. 17.

& 4. 10.

den coming may find me bufie in lawful, neceffary and pious actions, improving my talent intrusted to me by thee, my Lord, that I may enter into the joy of my Lord, to partake of his eternal felicities, even for thy mercies fake, and for my deareft Saviour's fake. Amen.

Here follows the Devotion of ordinary days; for the
right employment of those portions of time which
every day must allow for Religion.

The first Prayers in the Morning as foon as
we are dreffed.

Humbly, and reverently compose your felf, with heart lift up to God, and your head bowed, and meekly. kneeling upon your knees, Jay the Lord's Prayer: after which use the following Collects, or as many of them as you shall chufe.

Our Father which art in Heaven, &c.

I.

"An Act of Adoration, being the Song that the Angels fing in Heaven.

Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come: Heaven and Earth, Angels and Men, the Air and the Sea give glory, and & s. 10, 13. honour, and thanks to him that fitteth on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever. All the bleffed Spirits and Souls of the righteous caft their crowns before the throne, and worthip him that liveth for ever and ever. Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory, and honour, and power; for thou haft created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created. Great and marvellous are thy works, O Lord God Almighty: Juft and true are thy ways, thou King of Saints. Thy wisdom is infinite, thy mercies are glorious: and I am not worthy, O Lord, to appear in thy prefence, before whom the Angels hide their faces. O Holy and Eternal Jefus, Lamb of God, who wert

& 15, 3.