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finger of Ifrael;—" Awake up my glory, awake lute and harp," every organ of my body, and faculty of my foul; "I myself will awake right early.. O God, thou art my God; early will I feek thee. I will fing 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 of fer it to God with purity of intention, and pray for his grace to direct us in all things; but more especially in those inftances, in which we are most likely to need it; as the conftitution, temper, fituation, and circumstances of every person in the world make fome particular temptations more dangerous to him than others. Again: who, that was in his fenfes, when the evening clofes upon him, and configns him to the darkness of the night, would venture to go to fleep (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 fo confeffed and repented him of the fins therein committed, as to have rendered himself a proper object of the divine mercy through Christ, into whofe hands he should now commend his fpirit, as he would do with his dying breath. Bleffed is he, who thus begins and ends the day with God, and fo paffes a life of piety and peace. His fleep fhall be fweet indeed. And fweetest of all shall be that last sleep, out of which he shall awake to glory, in the morning of the refurrection. With regard to Daniel's third hour of prayer, namely, noon, if they who have it not in their power to retire for that purpofe, would accustom

custom themfelvés daily to think, at that hour, on Chrift, who was then nailed to the cross for their fins, and lift up their fouls to God in a fhort prayer for falvation by him, they would find themfelves much strengthened and refreshed thereby. As to those whom God has bleffed with more leifure, 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 thofe who retire at that feason to adorn their perfons, take the opportunity of putting on the ornaments of grace, and renewing the fpirit of their minds..

Laftly, this fame great and fruitful example of holy Daniel affords us a direction likewife 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 fervice. What the nature of his prayer was, we inay know from that recorded in the ix. chapter, where he fets himself to confefs his fins, and those of his countrymen, and to intreat for mercy on Jerufalem, with a fervour and affection never to be exceeded. Our devotions then, according to this model, must confist of confeffion of fins; deprecation of the punishments acknowledged to be justly due to them; fupplication for pardon, deliverance, and grace; and interceffion for the church, and all included in her, our relations, friends, countrymen, and fellow Chriftians, and more especially for all the fons and daughters of affliction; the whole to be concluded with thankf giving;* concerning which we may obferve, that

Let me be permitted to recommend to the reader, for Kis companion and directory in this way, The Devotions of Bishop ANDREWS, tranflated from the Greek by Dean STANHOPE; a new and beautiful edition of which has been lately printed for Mt RIVINGTON, in St Paul's Church-Yard,

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no fituation in this world can exclude the neceffity,. and take away the ground of it; fince we find Daniel "giving thanks," when the city and temple of God were in afhes, and himself a captive in Babylon. Even then he not only "prayed," but also

gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime.” And indeed, nothing but a brutish ftupidity can hinder any man from feeing reafon to thank God,. fo long as he grants him life, and space, by repentance and faith, to fecure to himself a part and portion in the glories of eternity. The pooreft beg-gar, in rags upon a dunghill, ought to blefs and praife the Lord without ceafing, that he has yet this priviledge allowed him; a priviledge denied: to fo many thousand miferable fpirits; whofe day of grace has long fince expired in the night of everlasting death. Whatever therefore be our lot in this world, let us remember the apoftolical injunction, "In all things give thanks :" and in order to ftir ourselves up to the obeying it, let us only. recount the mercies we have received through our Lord Jefus Chrift, at fundry times, and in divers manners, fpiritual and temporal, from the day of our birth to this prefent moment; and the refult will be, it must be, that we fhall all, the pooreft: and most afflicted among us, make the pfalmift's refolution our own; "I will always give thanks unto the Lord, his praife: fhall ever be in my mouth: and whenever, like holy Daniel, we "kneel upon our knees to pray," we fhall, at the fame time, like him, give thanks before our God."

Thus therefore does: Daniel not only strip, us of every excufe for neglecting our devotions, but give us likewife full inftructions how to perform them,. with regard to place, pofture, time, and matter. And let the bleffed effect and reward of his devo

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tion fire our fouls to an imitation of fo great and glorious an example. Would we be delivered from the power of the devil, and the bitter pains of eternal death? Would we be holy, and just, and good? Would we be filled with wifdom and understanding in the counfels of the Almighty? Would we be high in the favour of heaven? Nay, would we be faved from temporal calamities, and brought to honour, esteem, and reverence, in the fight of men? Conftancy in prayer can open a way to all these bleffings. For if we afk, why Daniel was preferved from the lions? Why he was endued with fuch innocency of life? Why he was admitted into the fecrets of the divine economy? Why he was ftiled, by way of eminence," the man greatly beloved ? And why the name of God was glorified by his promotion in a heathen court? The answer to all is- -"He kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God."

MAN is often in Scripture compared to a mer chant; and there are three things more efpecially, which, confidered in that capacity, he is enjoined to purchase at any rate. The firft is the Kingdom of Heaven, likened by our Saviour, in one of his parables, to " a pearl of great price, which a merchant having met with, went and fold all that he had, and bought it." The fecond is Truth. «Buy the truth, (faith Solomon) and fell it not." The third purchase we are to make is that mentioned in the text: "Redeeming the Time." And this indeed opens the way to the other two; fince it is by a right employment of our Time, that we come to a knowledge and love of the Truth, which leads us to the Kingdom of heaven, through him, who is "the way, the truth, and the life."

The phrafe, "redeeming the time," fuppofes us. to have been formerly negligent in this fort of fpiritual traffic, and fo to have fuffered lofs; which therefore we are to make up, by taking every op-. portunity of trading to advantage for the future.

The inestimable value and right improvement of time are therefore the subjects suggested to our meditations by these words of the apoftle; in the profecution