WEDNESDAY

MEDITATIONS.

Covetoufnefs. Fafting. Difficulties.
Self-Denial.

Matth. iv. 9. 10. All these things will I give Get the hence, Satan, for it is written, thou fhalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only fhalt thou ferve.

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REAT and glorious God, who alone art worthy of our love and fervice, cure me of, and preserve me from the fin and vanity of admiring this world.

Give me grace to renounce all covetous defires, all love of riches and pleasures; to defire only what is neceffary, and to be content with what Thou, O Lord, thinkeft fo; not to be troubled at the lofs or want of any thing befide thy favor; that no bufinefs, no pleasures, may divert me from thoughts of the world to come; that I may cheerfully part with all these things, when Thou requireft it of me; and, that I may ever be prepared to do so, dispose me to temperance in all things, and to lay up my treasure in Heaven, for Jefus Chrift's fake. Amen.

Luke vi. 24. Wo unto you, that are rich, for ye have received your confolation.

Á man must have but little faith, who can read these words, and yet love riches, and the pleasures, they afford. Lord, grant that I may refift every temptation to the love of creatures; left they steal my heart from Thee, my God, whom I defire to love with all my foul.

I know that I muft in a great measure renounce all other objects of my affection, in order to love Thee with all my heart. Lord, give me grace and strength to put this in prac

tice.

1 John ii. 15. Love not the world, nor the things, that are in the world; if any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

Grant, O God, that I may never hope to reconcile two things fo inconfiftent, as love of Thee and the world.

Matth. v. 3. Blessed are the poor in Spirit; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

To be poor in fpirit is to be difengaged from wealth; to look upon it, as a burthen, or as a trust.

1 Tim. vi. 8. Having food and raiment, let us be therewith content.

Yet even the Chriftian world is not content without fuperfluities and excefs. These disorders are not lefs criminal, because fo common.

Give me, O God, the eye of faith, that I may fee the world, as it is; the vanity of its promifes, the folly of its pleafures, the unprofitablenefs of its rewards, the multitude of its fnares, and the dangers of its temptations.

Fafting.

Jefus Chrift fpared not his innocent flesh, but fafted; the finner cherifheth his continually, refufing it nothing. Fafting is in fome fenfe a punishment for paft fins, a remedy for prefent temptations, and a prefervative against fu

ture.

Pía. cii. 4. My heart is fmitten, and withered like grafs; fo that I forget to eat my bread. The humble and afflicted foul is not much concerned to please appetite.

Luke vi. 25. Wo unto you, that are full, for ye fhall hunger; that is, ye, whose daily meals are feasts, who make profeffion of a life of fenfuality, who know not what it is to faft; wo to fuch Chriftians!

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If we judge ourselves with feverity, we shall be judged with mercy.

In time of Trouble.

-Pfa. xxxix. 11. When thou with rebukes doft correct man for iniquity, thou makeft his beauty to confume away, like a moth.

O merciful God, who in thy wife providence doft fo- order even natural events, that they serve both for the good of the universe and for the conviction of particular finners, fo that men have reafon to acknowledge thy glorious <attributes; I do with great forrow of heart, but with all fubmiffion to thy good pleafure, confefs thy mercy as well as juftice to me in the judgments, afflictions, and forrows of this day.

I acknowledge thy voice, O merciful God; I acknowledge my own tranfgreffions, which have provoked Thee to fpeak to me after this manner, and at this very time.

O Lord, give me true repentance for all the errors of my life, and particularly for that which was in all probability the occafion of this affliction.

Bleffed be God, that my punishment is not

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as great, as my crime. Bleffed be God, that he has given me time to repent of the fin, that provoked him to deal with me after this manner. Bleffed be God, that, when he spake to me once yea twice, I regarded it at last.

Good God of mercy, give me grace, that I inay not provoke Thee any more to repeat this word to me, but that I may faithfully perform thofe vows, which are upon me. This I can

not do without thy gracious affistance, which I most humbly befeech Thee to vouchsafe me for Jefus Chrift's fake, who by his merits has purchafed this grace for all, that faithfully ask it of Thee. For his fake, O merciful God, grant me this grace. Amen.

I do with all humility accept the punishment of my iniquities. I will hold my peace, and not open my mouth; because it is thy doing and my deferving. I know, O Lord, that it is good for me to be in trouble, or, Thou wouldeft not fuffer it fo to be.

Let thy merciful kindness be my comfort, according to thy promife to all, that love and ferve Thee.

Difficulties.

We are to pray for the particular direction of God's Holy Spirit upon all great occafions; we are humbly to depend upon, and cheerfully. to expect it.

In a Lawsuit.

Convince me, O God, if I be under any miftake in this affair. Direct, affift, and support me under all the difficulties, I fhall meet. Put a happy end, in thy good time, to this trouble

fome controversy. Difpofe the hearts of thofe with whom we have to do, to peace and juftice.

Give me grace to reft fatisfied with whatev er fhall be the iffue, believing affuredly that GOD can make good any lofs, I may sustain, or fanctify it to my eternal welfare.

Lord, in this, and in all other things, I undertake, thy will be done, and not mine. O manifeft thy will to me, preferve me from evil counfels, and from rash enterprises.

Faith.

Grant, O God, that I may with humility receive, and with perfeverance hold faft, all thofe truths, which Thou haft revealed.

I thank Thee O God, for thy holy word, and that Thou haft not left us, in the affair of eternity, to the uncertainty of our own reafon and judgment.

Defend me against all delufions of error, the fnares of wit and learning, the raileries of profane men, and from deferting the truth.

Grant, O God, that neither education, intereft; prejudice, nor paflion, may ever hinder me. from difcerning the truth.

Open the eyes of all that are in error; heal the wounds of our divided church; that we may be one fold under one thepherd. Amen. John xvi. 13. The Holy Spirit shall guide

O Holy Spirit, make me to understand, embrace, and love the truths of the gospel.:

Give, O God, thy blefling unto thy word, that it may become effectual to my converfion