114 A 6c)1N To PRAYER: are very few turns of the head in the worship of prayer, that can he accounted decent. And many persons have exposed them- selves to ridicule, by tossings and shakings of the head, and nodding while they have been offering the solemn sacrifice'of prayer to God. Though it must he allowed that in cases of great humiliation, the hanging down ofthe head'is no improper method to express that temper of mind. So the praying publican in the text aforecited : So the Jews in the time of Ezra, in a full con- gregation, bowed their heads, andworshipped the Lord, with their faces toward the ground ; Neh. viii. 6. But in our expres sions of hope and joy, it is natural to lift up the head, while we believe that our redemption draws nigh ; às' in Luke xxi. 28, I might also mention the apostle's advice, that he that prays ought' to have his head uncovered, lest he dishonour his head ; I Cor. xi. 4. In the face, the God of nature bath written various indica- tions of the temper of the mind and especially when it is moved by any warm affection. In divine worship, the whole visage should be compased to gravity and solemnity, to express a holy awe and reverence of the Majesty of God, and the high import- ance of the work wherein we are engaged. In confession of sin, while we express the, sorrows ofour souls, melancholy will appear in our countenances ; the ;dejection of the mind may be read there, and according to the language ofscripture, shame andcon- fusion will cover our faces. The humble sinner blushes before God at the rememberance of his guilt, Jer. li. 51. Ezra ix. 6. Fervency of spirit in our petitions, and holy joy when wegive thanks to our God for his mercies, and rejoice in our highest hope, will be discovered by very agreeable and pleasing traces in the features andcountenance. But here let ns take heed, that we donot expose ourselves to thecensure of our Saviour, who reproved the phariseesfor dis- figuring their faces all that day which they set apart for secret fasting and prayer ; Mat. vi. 16. While we are engaged in the very duty, some decent appearances of the devotion of the mind in the countenance are very natural and proper, and are not here forbidden by our Lord ; but at the same time it is best that those discoveries ,or characters of the countenance should fall below, and stay behind the inward affections of the mind, rather than rise too high, or than go before. 'Ile devotion of our hearts should be warmer and stronger than that of our faces : and we should have a care of all irregular and disagreeable distor- tions of the face ; all those affected grimaces, and wringing of the countenance, as it were to squeeze out our words, or our tears, which sometimes may tempt our fellow-worshippers to dis- gust, when they behold us ; as well as on the other hand avoid awning, and au air of listlessness and drowsy gestures; which
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