THE DIARY. A GENERAL MODEL FOR DEVOTION, ILLUSTRATED UNDER THE FOLLOWING NUMBERS: 1, 2, 3. In the morning, after I have endeavoured to possess my soul with a sense of the divine presence, and to work it up into a frame suitable for communion with God, I will apply myself to devotion. And here (1.) I will in general invoke the aid of the Divine Spirit, under a sense of my own insufficiency. (2.) I will begin with praise to God for what he is, and for what he hath been to me; acknowledging the mercies of my former life, and particularly those of the preceeding night; but above all for Jesus Christ; for any hope of pardon by him, and for any influence of his grace upon my heart. I will then solemnly renew my dedication of myself to his service as under a sense of his many favours. (3.) I will particularly pray that I may be in the fear of the Lord all the day long, and that, as I have begun the day with him, I may fulfill every action of it, as under his presence; and regard him, in devotion, business, recreation, providential occurrences, in watchfulness against temptation, and as depending upon his influence in the government of my thoughts in solitude, and of my discourse in company. (4.) Concluding with a desire of ending the day well, I will particularly pray for success in my studies, scriptural, theological, philological, and entertaining; particularly for a blessing on the three great designs of Commentary, Academy, and Sermons. At noon I will begin with an acknowledgment of the mercies and sins of the morning, and renew self-dedication. (2.) I will pray over the four great subjects, and endeavour to impress them on my soul. (3.) I will intercede for others, public and private, this family, my relatives, sister, and cousin. And here I will mention any particular case that lies upon my mind. (4.) I will commemorate sacramental engagements. In the evening as a review. (1.) I will repeat an act of humiliation and gratitude like that of the morning. (2.) I will more particularly confess and bewail the sins of my past life, and renew my applications for an interest in redeeming blood. (3.) I will acknowledge the uncertainty of life, and ́solemnly warn myself to prepare for my great dissolution, which must be very near. On the Lord's day I will set apart some peculiar time for begging a blessing on my ministerial labours, and for prayer for the general success of the gospel. (2.) I will have a prayer for the revival of a spirit of piety, when it begins to decay. (3.) One of solemn penitence when I have fallen into any aggravated sin. God grant I may never have occasion to use it! (4.) Of solemn dedication to God, when I have gone through any work for the public. I verily believe, that an exactness in these particulars will be attended with very good consequences. Yet I would not absolutely confine myself to this method. Nor when I do attend to it would I consider it as the whole of my duty; but rather would remember that practical religion is to be the end of this solemnity, and the means of promoting it in my soul. God grant that it may ! August 10, 1728. No. 1.-A MODEL OF DEVOTION FOR THE MORNING. A general invocation of the aids of divine grace for my assistance in this, and the other duties of the day. O GOD, I am now going to perform an exercise of great importance and of great difficulty. The external form may be easily dispatched; but it is exceedingly hard for a creature so inconsistent to fix its thoughts on so spiritual an object, and to attend upon thee without distraction. In vain do I attempt the preparation of my own heart, if thy Divine Spirit does not add efficacy to my endeavour. I own, that the numberless errors of my life would abundantly justify the equity of his proceeding should he abandon me with disdain, and leave me entirely cold and unaffected, or sealed up under such obstinate hardness, as even the very externals of devotion should be wholly omitted. But I entreat his gracious return, and continual and more lively influences. Quicken me, O Lord, to call upon thy name! Enlarge my heart, that I may run in this sacred course with delight. And may the present service be advantageous, as well as pleasant, through Jesus Christ. Amen. 0 A general act of praise, and of self-dedication. HOLY, holy, holy Lord God! Thou art great, and thou art greatly to be praised. Who can utter the mighty acts of the Lord? Who can show forth all his praise. I own myself utterly incapable of doing it, and admire thy boundless condescension, that thou wilt incline thy gracious ear to so mean and so sinful a creature, when surrounded with the humblest adorations and rapturous services of all the shining inhabitants of heaven. Worthy art thou, O God, to receive all the homage and adoration they pay thee, and more excellent homage and adoration than that;-for thou art the greatest and the best of beings. From everlasting to everlasting thou art God, and thy years fail not; thou art the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever. I praise thee as the source and Lord of universal nature; by whom were all things created, and by whom they are supported and governed. And that as the whole creation displays an irresistible power, it contains equally apparent marks of consummate wisdom, and inexhaustible goodness. I acknowledge the unspotted holiness of thy nature, the invariable truth of thy declarations and engagements, and the unequalled equity of all thine administrations. Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty, just and true are thy ways, O thou king of saints. But while I celebrate thy justice, I must humbly acknowledge that, with regard to me, thou hast not exercised it with a strict severity; I should then have been sunk far from the footstool of a throne of grace into the lowest regions of misery and despair. But thou art the Lord, the Lord God, merciful and slow to anger. Under these characters, O God, do I praise thee, and rejoice in thee with all my soul. I thank thee, that thou hast spared my guilty life through so many months and years of provocation and rebellion. I thank thee, that thou hast preserved me in my going out and my coming in: that thou hast graciously provided for my returning necessities, and hast not only given me my food and my raiment, but surrounded me with so many bounties of thy providence, which make life pleasant and delightful. I thank thee for all my days of health, cheerfulness, and plenty; and for all my nights of security and repose. I particularly praise thee for the rest of the last night: that I had a quiet and a comfortable habitation to repose myself in; that I laid me down in peace and slept; that I have been preserved from danger, and preserved from sin, and behold the light of the morning with redoubled pleasure. I thank thee, that I now find myself in health, and fit for the services of life that are before me. But above all, would I praise thee, for that great Redeemer, without whom |