574 TiuE HOLINESS- OP PLACES OP WORSHIP, places as his own habitation or place ; Psal. cxxxii. 1. Arise, O Lord, into thy rest ; thou and the arkof thy strength. Psal. xxiv. 7. Lift ap your heads, Oye gates, andbe ye lift up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory shall come in. . It may be noted here, mankind is ever prone to superstition, and wheresover the great God for wise purposes affixes any holi- ness to places or things, by peculiarising them to his ownworship and service, men are very fond of adding some other forms and appearances of holiness toGod's own appointments; Their syna- gogues, their schools of instruction, and their prayer-houses, which were built only by the prudence of men, as we shall show afterwards, had distinct degrees of holiness imputed to them, by the superstitiousJews, which God never appointed. IV. "When it pleased God to appoint particular places for his worship, it was always for positive revealed worship, to be paid him by special forms and ceremonies, such as incense, sacri- fices, &c. and he excluded other places from,that honour ; yet be never appointed a certain place, for any part of natural wor- ship, with the exclusion of other places." If you turn to all the textsbefore cited, where Godordained any certain spot of ground, or any building, either for single acts of worship, or for the stated repetitions and returns of it, it was still for sacrifice, for incense, or for musical instruments, &c. that is, for some positive or ceremoniouspart of religion ; but the natural worship of prayers andpraises offered to God, or attend- ing to the ministry of his word whereby we might learn his will and our duty, was never confined to any certain place. Though there were no sacrifices offered in the captivity of Babylon, be- cause they had not the holy ark, or temple, or tabernacle there ; yet Daniel prayed continually, and Ezekiel preached or prophe- sied to the captives, afar off from Judea and Jerusalem, and all the holy places, which had been there appointed and sanctified. And though we do not read of their singing there, that was not from any danger of singing upon unconsecrated ground, but from the desolation of their circumstances, which required tears rather than music, and because they would not give occasion for new insults and scoffs from their barbarous enemies. The cxxxviii. Psalm itself was a divine song, which was written on that occasion, and probably might be sung there in private though notwhen the Babylonians were in'company. It is granted indeed, that all the parts of natural worship, such as hearing the word of God, offering prayers and devout songs of praise to him, were also required, or rather implied and supposed, often if not always, to attend these positive institutions and revealed ceremonies at the temple or tabernacle. The house of God is always a house of prayer; Mat. xxi. 13. And God who dwells in Zion is said to inhabit the praises of Israel: Ps.
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