882 A Difcourfe of Divine Meditation, ~~~General:---Meditation~veheme~~the u;;;;:a;.ndin-fu; ~ that is the leading faculty in this Duty•. And that I may the more fully expl~in it to you, I Will confider Its Kmds ' It IS either Speculative, or Praaical. r. Spect1lative Meditation is this: When there is a ferious Inquiry made after feme hidden Truth, when the Soul purpofeth to enrich it felf with the Treafures of Knowledge; And this is praClifed by many Rational Men; I mean thofe whofe Un· derfiandings arc more refined and raifed than ordinary peoples. Bm if our Meditation be meerly Speculative, it is but .like a Winter Sun, which lhines but doth not warm. This therefore I /hall not fpeak of. 2 . Pr.rlical Meditation. The end whereof is to bring the Soul to a ferious detellati6n of Sm, to a Clofing with, and Imbracing of the Will of God: This is that I in- ' tend to treat of, and it is like blowing of the Coals to warm the Soul. This I /hall Dcfcribe to you in this manner. Meditation, is the feri~us Exerci_(e of the Vnderffanding, rvherebJ 011r Thot~ghts are jix'd on the Obforvat:on ofSpirztHal things in order to PrAc1i&e. To open the feveral parts of.,~·Defcription .. Firfi then here's the ACt, 'tis the feriote exercife of the Vnderffanding . And in this refpea, Med itation is an inward fecret Duty ; the Soul retires it felf into its Clofet, and bids farewel to the World. It is an Invifible Duty to the Eye of men ; ~md therefore Carnal perfons do not Relifh it : It is an Exercife of the Underfiandmg; it is that Duty wherein we do not converfe with drolfy outward things. And this is another Reafon that renders it fo difficult to the men of the World. You may obferve this as a Rule, That ev~ry Duty the more Spiritual it is, the more Carnal men difreliifh it; and therefore they will rather hear the Word than pray in their Families ; and rather Pray than Meditate ; and what's the reafon ? Becaufe .Meditation is a more Spiritual Duty. Nay further, becaufe 'tis an excrcife of the Underftanding, therefore it is one of the moll: Noble Works that a Chrifiian can perform; ~~a~~d'rt~~f~!!~as~x;~~ar;h~~ is~~e~o~~e,;~~\:t':~om~~~a;tero:t~:h~~d~o•:~ Eternity in Contemplating his own Elfence and Attributes. That's the AEf. Secondly, The Quality of this ACt, whereby the Tho•ghts are jix'J. There is a great inconfifiency in the Thoughts of Men ; but Meditation cloth Chain and fallen them to a Spiritual ObjeCt. The Soul then lays a Command upon it felf, that the Thoughts (which otherwife are very fleeting and feathery) fhould be fixed upon its ObjeCt. This Duty upon this very account is very Advantageous : You know a Garden that is watered by fudden Showers, is more uncertain in its Fruit, than when 'tis ~~f~~~e~:~ :h~~~~~n~ff~tr!~~,j t[~y d:~~t0~:k~h:~l~~c:'(a{0i~~ie~:) "J;,~~ q,"o~~ ObjeCts, and then run away ; there is not fuch Fruit brought into the Soul as when our Minds by Meditation do dwell upon them. The Rayes of the Sun may warm -ns, but they do not Inflame unlefs they a>e contraB:ed in a burning Glafs; fo fome /light thoughts of Heavenly things may warm us a little, but will never inflame the Soul, till they be fixed by clofe Meditation. Therefore David (who was an excel· Pfal. 112. 7. .lent man at this Duty) telJs us, his Heart was fixed, and faith the fame concerning the frame of a good man. Thirdly, Confider the ObjeCt of this Meditation ; our thoughts are fix'd on the obfervation of Spirit .a/ Things : All Spiritual Truths are Symbolical to a gracious Heart, and will yeild fome advantage_ to the Soul; but there are fome particular Truths which may be of more ufcfulncls. To Infiance in two or three. Meditation fixetl1 it felf upon the 'Joy and Glory of Heaven, that fo the Soul mar afpire and ·breath after it ; It fixeth it felf upon the defiling nature of Sin, that fo the Soul may for ever Renounce and Abhor it; It fixeth it felf upon the never dying Worm and Fire of Hell, that a Chrillian may alwayes labour to efchew it, and run from it. Such objeCts as thefe the Meditation of a Chrifiian is fixed upon. Fourthly, Confider the End of Meditation. It is in ord<r to PraEiice. . There are many perlons that fly over a Garden of Flowers, (I mean over_ many Spmtual ObJeCts) their thoughts run and they gather. no Honey, th~y bnng no fruit. to their ~ouli ; but this is not th( way of a Chnfi~an; And therefore Spmtual Medltatiotll~~
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