t)2 A cntbE To PRAYER. tare and ofgrace are full of wonder, and sought out by all those that havepleasirre in them. 4. The mention of his relation to us as a Creator, as a Fa- ther, as á Redeemer, as a King, as an almighty Friend, and our everlasting Portion. And here it will not be improper to make mention of the name of Christ, in and through whom alone we are brought nigh to God, and made his children ; by whose incarnation and atonement he becomes a God and Fa- ther to sinful men, and appears their reconciled Friend. And by this means we draw still nearer to God, in every part of this work of adoration. When we consider his nature, we stand afar offfrom him as creatures from aGod; for he is infinitely su- perior to us : when we speak of his attributes there seems to grow a greater acquaintance between God and us, while we tell him that we have learned something of his power, his wisdom, his justice and his mercy. But when we proceed to make men- tion of the several works of his hand, wherein he hath sensibly discovered himself to our understandings, we seem yet to ap- proach nigher to God, and when at last we can arise to call him our God, from a sense of his special relation to us in Christ, then we gain the nearest access ; and are better prepared for the fol- lowing parts of this worship. SECT. III.-Of Confession. The third part of prayer consists in confession, which may also be divided into These four heads : 1. An humble confession of the meanness of our nature in its original : our distance from God, as we are creatures : our subjection to him, and our constant dependence on him. Thou, O Lord, art in heaven, but we on earth ; our being is but of yes- terday, and our foundation is in the dust. What is man that thou art mind ùl of him, and the son of man that thou shouldest visit him? Man, that is a worn, and the son of man that is but a worm ! It is in thee that we live, move and haveour being: thou withholdest thy breath andwe die. 2. A confession of our sins, both original, which belong to our nature; and actual, that have been found in the course of our lives. We should confess our sins under the sense of the guilt of them, as well asunder the deep and mournful impressions of the power of sin in our hearts. We should confess the sins that we have been guilty of in thought, as well as the iniquities of our lips and of our lives. Our sins of omission and sins of commission ; the sins of our childhood and of our riper years ; sins against the law of God, and sins more particularly committed against the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Sometimes it is convenient and necessary to enter into a moreparticular detailof our various faults and follies. We should
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