THE SACRED DIARY.' SECTION I. THE INTRODUCTION. Ir is good for man to draw near to God, as the psalmist says concerning himself, Psa. lxxiii. 28. And this truth is plainly seen; for ever since the fall there is so much left in man, that he has an inclination to that which is good; but when he comes to particulars, then is the mistake, he seeks light in the way of darkness, and happiness in the way of misery, and life in the way of death, being hurried the contrary way by the violence of his impetuous lusts. But yet there is a natural tendency in all men to that which is good, (as some of the heathen have observed,) from the principles of nature, there remaining this general foundation of religion in all men. Good hath a magnetic force, and is of a drawing nature; and answerably to the discovery of good or evil in the understanding, there is an embracing or aversion in the will of man, which is that opera tion of the soul of man by which it cleaves unto B good discovered. It is good to draw near to God, who is the chief Good. The goodness of a thing is the reason why we desire it. It is the philosopher's definition of good, "That is good which all things desire." Now then, what is more desirable, is more excelling in goodness, and what is chiefly desirable, is the chiefest good. All creatures do naturally desire their chief good, their happiness, their perfection. And it is the happiness of man to draw near to God, his Creator. "I The mind of a Christian may sometimes slip from God, and for a time be taken up with other things; but it cannot long be kept from him, because God is its centre and it is as natural for a spiritual mind to move towards God, as for a needle, touched with the loadstone, to point towards the North Pole. have set the Lord always before me," says David, Psa. xvi. 8. Where God hath no place in our minds, we have no interest in him. A pious and devout man must be continually with God. If the hungry man cannot forget to eat, nor the thirsty man to drink, then cannot a good man forget God. He who lives under a continual sense of the want of God, his soul is still breathing and panting after God. Love causeth an emission of the thoughts; it will not suffer him to dwell at home, but to be where it is best of all to be. There is a necessity that a man should mind what he most affecteth; and a man that loves God cannot live in a course of forgetfulness of God; either (as a pious man observes) want brings him, or love constrains him, or Christ draws him. And Christ will not be long from his people; if their hearts come not up to him, he will come into them; and if he be there, all is taken up with attending upon him. : SECTION II. A SOLILOQUY AT WAKING. "How precious are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them! When I awake, I am still with thee," Psa. cxxxix. 17, 18. God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; to see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary. Because thy loving-kindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee. Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name. My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips when I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches. Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice. My soul followeth hard after thee thy right hand upholdeth me," Psa. lxiii. 1-8. "O God, my heart is fixed; I will sing and give praise, even with my glory. Awake, psaltery and harp I myself will awake early," Psa. cviii. 1, 2; or, In the morning, I will be up first, and raise the morning out of its bed, that I may come to the celebration of thy praises. My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning: I say, more than they that watch for the morning," Psa. cxxx. 6; meaning, either, more than those who in the sanctuary of the Lord heedfully observed the morning watch, that they might offer the morning sacrifice in due season; or, more than those who are appointed to keep watch all night, wait and long for the morning. 66 SECTION III. DIRECTIONS HOW TO BEGIN THE DAY. 1. GIVE God your first waking thoughts; suffer no worldly thought to enter, till God first come in. The first-fruits of the mouth and of the heart are to be offered unto God, says St. Ambrose. So evil and vain thoughts either will not dare to intrude, or shall more easily be kept out. The mind of man is never idle; it will be always active, either about God or the world, Christ or vanity, good or evil. It is always busied in thinking, devising, pondering, on something or other. Therefore it is necessary, that first of all in the morning we set our minds to the meditation of divine and heavenly objects. How will the devil busy himself in injecting multitudes of other thoughts into your minds, to divert your minds from the sweet meditation of God, if you give not God your waking thoughts! Multitudes of thoughts will run into your minds; but you must watch against them, and drive them away, as Abraham did the fowls from his sacrifice, Gen. xv. 11. 2. Lift up your hearts to God in a reverential manner, and give him thanks for the repose of the night, and that his compassions have not failed you, but are renewed every morning; that even in the night you have received an apparent evidence of his love; and whereas for your sins committed the day before, God might even in the dead of sleep have taken your souls from you, and so have suddenly brought you to your account, bless him that it hath been his good pleasure yet to spare you. 3. If God's glory be dear unto you, you will begin every day by offering to God's glory what you |