230 AUXILIARIES OF [Chap. 14. daily when a divine blessing is earnestly sought to accom- pany such application. 1. By soliloquy, or a pleading the case with thyself, thou must in thy meditation quicken thy own heart. Enter into a serious debate with it. Plead with it in the most moving and affecting language, and urge it with the most powerful and weighty arguments. It is what holy men of God have prac- tised in all ages. Thus David : " Why art thou cast down, Omy,soul ? and why art thou disquieted within me ? Hope thou in God ; for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God." And again : " Bless the Lord, O my soul ! and all that is within me, bless his holy name ! Bless the Lord, O my soul ! and forget not all his benefits !" This soliloquy is to be made use of according to the several affections of the soul, and according to its several necessities. It is a preaching to one's self; for as every good master or father of a family is a good preacher to his own family, so every good Christian is a good preacher to his own soul. Therefore the very same method which a minister should use in his preaching to others, every Chris- tian should endeavor after in speaking to himself. Observe the matter and manner of the most heart- affecting minister; let him be as a pattern for your imitation ; and the same way that he takes with the hearts of his people, do thou also take with thy own heart. Do this in thy heavenly contem- plation; explain to thyself the things on which thou dost meditate; confirm thy faith in them by Scripture; and then apply them to thyself, according to their nature, and thy own necessity. There is no need to object against this, from a sense of thy own inability. Doth not God command thee to " teach the Scriptures diligently unto thy children, and talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up ?" And if thou must have some ability to teach thy children, much more to teach thyself ; and it' thou canst talk of divine things to others, why not also to thy own heart ? 2. Heavenly contemplation is also promoted by speaking to God in prayer, as well as by speaking to ourselves in soliloquy. Ejaculatory prayer may very properly be inter- mixed with meditation, as a part of the duty. How often do we find David, in the same psalm, sometimes pleading with
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