fully and punctually, and found time to pray, and give thanks before his God, thrice every day constantly. The same we may observe of king David; who, though frequently engaged in war, as well as the management of a kingdom, yet made and kept the very same resolution as to his devotions. "At evening, and at morning, and at noon day," says he, "will I pray, and that instantly, and he shall hear my voice." Nay, this did not content him in the matter of thanksgiving; for, "seven times a day," says he elsewhere, "do I praise thee, because of thy righteous judgments." And it was he who, amidst all the cares of state, composed and sung to the harp those divine hymns, which have been the delight of the faithful from that day to this, and shall be so to the end of the world. To these examples from the sacred history we may add that of a prince of our own, the great and good king Alfred, whose wisdom and diligence restored this kingdom from a state of the greatest confusion to one of the most perfect order, and preserved it in the same all the while he sat upon the throne. Yet no less than eight hours out of the four and twenty, did this monarch, so engaged, allot to reading, meditation and prayer. Now all these are matters of fact, and show us what may be done by persons who will set to work in good earnest, and make a prudent disposition of their time. For in one of these two respects it is most certain that man must be deficient, who pretends that he cannot find time to serve God; since Daniel, when prime minister in the court of Persia, " prayed and gave thanks before his God three times a day."

Babylon, as well as in Jerusalem, "Daniel | Yet all this business did Daniel discharge faithprayed three times a day." And there are two circumstances mentioned, which seem to have contributed towards keeping his faith and devotion alive and vigorous in those worst of times, namely, meditation in the Scriptures, and a severe temperance. For in the ninth chapter he tells us, that "he understood by books the number of the years whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolation of Jerusalem." And in the first chapter we have an account of his refusing the luxuries of the regal table, and choosing to live upon diet of the plainest kind. Through patience and comfort of the Scriptures, therefore, he had hope, and lived in expectation of seeing the divine promises ascomplished, in the restoration of Israel to their own land, and the rebuilding of the temple, for which he continually prayed: while, by a strict and holy abstinence, he kept his heart from being ensnared by the good things of Babylon, and suffered not his body to gain the ascendant over his soul. O great and glorious example to every Israelite in Babylon, that is, to every Christian in the world! Let him likewise understand, by the divine books, the writings of the prophets and apostles, that the time approaches, when the church universal shall be delivered from her captivity and the bondage of corruption, into the glorious liberty of the sons of God; and therefore, as a stranger and pilgrim here upon earth, let him abstain from fleshly lusts, and not be brought under the power of sense; praying always, and hastening unto the coming of the day of God. This if he shall neglect to do, let him know assuredly, that Daniel will rise up in judgment against him, and condemn him. And much more so, if living in a Christian country, where the true church and worship are established, he shall omit to do that which Daniel never omitted to do among his heathen enemies.

But perhaps we have too much business upon our hands to spare time for our devotions. Time is very precious with most people, when they are to perform their devotions; and if they have not enough for every body, they generally make free, in the first place, with their Creator. But let these men of business consider the case of Daniel. Have they more business than he had, who was the first of the three presidents appointed to receive and audit all the accounts of a hundred and twenty princes set over the vast empire of Persia, of which, at that time, almost all the kingdoms of the earth were provinces? It would puzzle one to conceive a man in a situation that would afford him less leisure.

And this he continued to do, even when the law was passed which made it certain death. "When Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went to his house, and, his windows being open in his chamber towards Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime." He did his duty exactly according to his usual custom, as if nothing had happened, and no law had been passed, or anything said at court about it. He would not go to any other place where his enemies might not have found him, but went to his own house, whither he might suppose they would follow him. He would not secrete himself in any private or remote corner of the house, but repaired forthwith to his own chamber, the place whereunto he always resorted. He thought it not enough to pray inwardly with his mind, which he might have done in any posture, without being perceived, but made his body bear its accustomed part in the service; "He kneeled

We have now taken a view of the situation of Daniel in Babylon. We have considered him as one in captivity in a strange and heathen land; as one encumbered with the concerns of a vast empire; and as one in danger of his life for what he did; and hence we have been convinced, it is to be hoped, that nothing ought to make us omit our daily devotions.

From the same great example we may learn how we ought to perform them, with regard to place, posture, time, and matter.

upon his knees." He contented not himself | to neglect our prayers, let us remember that with praying once, or twice only, dropping Daniel, though the den of lions was to be the the third time in the middle of the day, on consequence, "kneeled upon his knees three account of the imminent danger he was in, times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks but made up his full and usual complement: before his God, as he did aforetime." "He kneeled upon his knees three times a day." Nor did he pray only, and not give thanks, cutting off some part of the service, to make the time of danger shorter, but performed the whole, without curtailing or diminishing aught: "He prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime." And, in short, he would not so much as shut his windows, but did all this, " his windows in his chamber being open towards Jerusalem." In order to show the meaning of this last circumstance, we must have recourse to a noble passage in king Solomon's prayer at As to place, Daniel, we find, "went to the dedication of the temple, which Daniel his house, and shut himself up in his chamhad in his eye, and by which he directed his ber." And our blessed Lord has enjoined conduct. 1 Kings, viii. 46, &c. "If thy us all to do the same. "Thou when thou people sin against thee, for there is no man prayest, enter into thy chamber, and shut that sinneth not, and thou be angry with the door." And the reason is plain. He them, and deliver them to the enemy, so that who would pray, must first retire. The they carry them away captives to the land spirit of the world and the spirit of prayer of the enemy, far and near; yet if they shall are contrary the one to the other; and exbethink themselves in the land whither they perience will teach any one that he cannot were carried captives, and repent, and make well pray in a crowd. Business, or pleasure, supplication unto thee in the land of them or even common conversation, if it be about that carried them away captives, saying, We the things of this world, and continue for have sinned, and have done perversely, we any long time, will strangely indispose the have committed wickedness; and so return mind for devotion; and the soul, before she unto thee with all their heart, and with all their can take her flight to heaven, must plume soul, in the land of their enemies which led and balance her wings by holy meditation. them away captive, and pray unto thee toward She must rally her scattered and dissipated the land which thou gavest unto their fathers, thoughts, and fix them on the business she the city which thou hast chosen, and the house is going about. She must consider the which I have built for thy name; then hear nature of God, to whom she is to pray; of thou their prayer and supplication in heaven herself who is to pray to him; and of those thy dwelling place, and maintain their cause, things for which she is to pray to him. She and forgive thy people that have sinned must know the sins she has been guilty of, against thee, and all their transgressions to confess them; and the graces she stands wherein they have transgressed against thee, in need of, to petition for them. All this is and give them compassion before them that not to be done but by deep meditation; and carried them captive, that they may have meditation, which is the mother of devotion, compassion on them." The circumstance, is the daughter of retirement. They who therefore, of "praying towards Jerusalem" do not meditate, cannot pray; and they being thus enjoined, Daniel would by no who do not retire, can do neither. God means omit it. And now let us consider help and have mercy on all those who are with ourselves, how clear the conscience, in this most wretched and deplorable state; how holy the soul, how steadfast the faith, as all must be, who pass their days in a how lively the hope, how fervent the charity, senseless round of vain amusements and how invincible the courage of Daniel must diversions, in a continual hurry and dissipahave been, who, in such circumstances, could tion of thought, ignorant of the benefits and calmly and composedly go on in the regular comforts of the closet, and therefore ignoand exact performance of his stated devotions! rant of the true state of their minds, ignorant Let us consider of how great consequence the of their Saviour, ignorant of their duty, due performance of them is, if, with death in ignorant of every thing which they were his most horrible form before his eyes, he sent into the world to learn. Thus they thought he could not justify a single omission live, and thus they die! If, therefore, we of them. And whenever we are tempted 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.

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 Next to the place, we are to consider towards Jerusalem; the Christian praying the posture in which Daniel prayed. He in the world should look towards heaven, "kneeled upon his knees, with his face towards that new, spiritual, and celestial towards Jerusalem." The Christian war-city of the living God, whose foundations rior differs from all others in this particular, are upon the holy and everlasting hills, and that he is never so sure of conquest, as which cannot be removed, but standeth fast when he enters into the battle in this atti- for ever. Thither let him look, thither let tude. The adversary had rather find him him pray, in this land of his captivity. in any situation than this; which is, indeed, But when, and how often is he to pray? the best posture of defence against all tem- With regard to this point also, Daniel will tations whatsoever. Daniel was so entirely instruct him, who "kneeled upon his knees secure in it, that he valued not the roaring three time a day;" that is to say, in the of all the lions in the den of Babylon, just words of holy David before cited, "at mornopening their mouths to devour him. Nor ing, and at evening, and at noon day." need the devout soul regard a whit more What man is he that can help offering up the rage and fury of that "roaring lion," his morning sacrifice of devotion, when spoken of by the apostle "who goeth about awaking from sweet sleep, refreshed and continually up and down in the earth, seek- renewed, he beholds all things as it were ing whom he may devour." I say, the de- new created? The sun arices, and finds vout soul need not regard it; for we must the cattle upon a thousand hills waiting for not forget, that the posture of the body can his appearance, and all the birds of the air profit nothing, unless it be accompanied ready to pay their tribute of thanksgiving, with that disposition of mind, which it is for the return of his glorious and enlivening designed to represent. We are found hypo- beams. And shall man-man, for whose crites, if we are not inwardly what we use and benefit all these things were madeappear outwardly to be, when we fall upon shall man alone lie buried in sleep, or, when our knees. For the intention of so doing is arisen, forget to worship his God? Shall to testify an awful sense of the power and he not rather rouse all his affections at glory of God, and as deep an one of our once, with these and the like strains of the own infirmity and unworthiness, under sweet singer of Israel:-"Awake up my which we sink down to the earth from glory, awake lute and harp," every organ whence we were taken, and acknowledge of my body, and faculty of my soul; "I ourselves to be but sinful dust and ashes. myself will awake right early. O God, thou By this act, when rightly performed, the art my God; early will I seek thee. I will mind going along with it, we obey the sing of thy power, O Lord, and praise thy divine command, "Humble yourselves un- mercy betimes in the morning. I will magder the mighty hand of God;" where the nify thee, O God my king, and praise thy apostle addresses us as criminals under the name for ever and ever. Every day will I hand of justice, uplifted to strike the fatal give thanks unto the, and praise thy name stroke, which there is no way of avoiding for ever and ever." Now is the time for us but by falling to the earth. In a word, the to take a view beforehand of every thing duty of prayer is founded upon the suffi- that is to be done in the day, to offer it to ciency of God, as an almighty Creator and God with purity of intention, and pray for Redeemer, and our wants, as sinful crea- his grace to direct us in all things; but tures; both which great truths we confess more especially in those instances in which at once, by meekly kneeling upon our we are most likely to need it; as the conknees; and therefore this is the proper stitution, temper, situation, and circumposture for prayer. But what shall we say stances of every person in the world make of Daniel, "setting his face towards Jerusa- some particular temptations more dangerous lem," when he prayed? Are we to imitate to him than others. Again; who that was him in that likewise? Undoubtedly. Not in his senses, when the evening closes upon

him, and consigns him to the darkness of | cerning which we may observe that no situathe 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 on Jerusalem, with a fervor and affection never to be exceeded. Our devotions, then, according to this model, must consist of confession of sins; deprecation of the punishments and judgments acknowledged to be justly due to them; supplication for pardon, deliverance, and grace; and intercession for the church, and all included in her, our relations, friends, countrymen, and fellow Christians, and more especially for all the sons and daughters of affliction; the whole to be concluded with thanksgiving;* con

Let me be permitted to recommend to the reader, for his companion and directory in this way, The Devotions of Bishop ANDREWs, translated from the |

tion in this world can exclude the necessity, and take away the ground of it; since we find Daniel "giving thanks," when the city and temple of God were in ashes, 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 stupidity can hinder any man from seeing reason to thank God, so long as he grants him life and space, by repentance and faith, to secure to himself a part and portion in the glories of eternity. The poorest beggar, in rags upon a dunghill, ought to bless and praise the Lord without ceasing, that he has yet that privilege allowed him; a privilege denied to so many thousand miserable spirits; whose day of grace has long since expired in the night of everlasting death. Whatever, therefore, be our lot in this world, let us remember the apostolical injunction, "In all things give thanks ;" and in order to stir ourselves up to the obeying it, let us only recount the mercies we have received through our Lord Jesus Christ, at sundry times, and in divers manners, spiritual and temporal, from the day of our birth to this present moment; and the result will be, it must be, that we shall all, the poorest and most afflicted among us, make the Psalmist's resolution our own; "I will always give thanks unto the Lord, his praise shall ever be in my mouth" and whenever, like holy Daniel, we kneel " upon our knees to pray," we shall, at the same time, like him, "give thanks before our God."

Thus, therefore, does Daniel not only strip us of every excuse for neglecting our devotions, but gives us likewise full instructions how to perform them, with regard to place, posture, time, and matter. And let the blessed effect and reward of his devotion fire our souls to an imitation of so 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 wisdom and understanding in the counsels of the Almighty? Would we be high in the favor of Heaven? Nay, would we be saved from temporal calamities, and brought to honor, esteem, and reverence, in the sight of men? Constancy in prayer can open a way to all these blessings. For if we ask, why Daniel was preserved from the lions? Why he was endued with such innocency of life? Why he was admitted into the secrets of the divine economy? Why, he was styled, by

Greek by Dean STANHOPE; a new and beautiful edition of which has been lately printed for Messrs. RIVINGTON, in St. Paul's Church-yard.

way of eminence," the man greatly beloved?" | swer to all is-" He kneeled upon his knees And why the name of God was glorified by three times a day, and prayed, and gave his promotion in a heathen court? The an- thanks before his God."

DISCOURSE XXI.

THE REDEMPTION OF TIME.

EPHESIANS, v. 16.

Redeeming the Time.