all the several instruments of music, which were, by his appointment, brought into the temple-worship: and with these assistances, these encouragements, he ventures now to undertake for himself, that he will maintain that lively erection of mind, with which he enters on the divine service, throughout the whole course of it; that he will rouse up every faculty, affection, and power of his soul, and keep them fixed to the holy work they are about, without distraction or wandering; I myself will will awake, says he. And when he adds to all this, that he will do it right early, he intimates to us the particular time, at which such resolutions as these are best executed; it is in the morning, the season of devotion, when the mind is fresh and vigorous, untired with the business of the day, and untainted with ill images and impressions.

This I take to be the full import of those words of the devout psalmist, which I have read to you; and which, I think, I may now not improperly discourse on under these propositions by shewing you,

I. First, that the great thing which recommends our public devotions to God, is, our performing them, with an awakened, fixed, aud lively attention of the mind. That therefore,

II. Secondly, all the pious helps and expedients, that conduce to this end, are to be laid hold of; particularly those which the text points out to us, the use of vocal and instrumental harmony.

III. Thirdly, that the way of performing divine service in the church of England, is better fitted to promote this good end [the fixing our attention, and inflaming our affections] than any other public form of devotions now practised in the christian world: that it enjoys this advantage, as in several other respects, so particularly in relation to a solemn and decent use of church music:

IV. Which three points being made out, I shall close with a fourth; wherein I shall briefly, but ear

nestly exhort you, to make your devotion exemplary in proportion to those advantages, which you above all others enjoy.

I. First, I am to shew you, that the great thing which recommends our public devotions to God, is, our performing them with an awakened, fixed, and lively attention of mind.

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Our worship is composed, as we ourselves are, of a body and a soul: the body is the outward ceremonious part; the devotion of the lips, of the hands and of the knees, all that lies open to the sense and observation of others; but the life and soul of the duty consists in those inward acts of adoration and love, intercession and thanksgiving, submission and trust, whereof God and we ourselves only are conscious. This unseen homage is that which animates and sanctifies what is visible; and without this all the outward shew, and form of devotion, is of no acceptance, no value; a lifeless and an useless performance.

Indeed under the Jewish dispensation a regard was had to the mere externals of religion: from a gross and carnal people tied down to earthly expectations and sensible objects, God was pleased in some measure, to accept a gross and carnal service, and to hinder them by that means, from falling into downright idolatry, a mighty propension to which they had contracted during their stay in Egypt. They were to be distinguished and kept separate from all other nations, by a peculiar body of rites and ceremonies; and these rites and ceremonies therefore being useful to this end, derived some value also from it; especially being all of them such as had a typical reference to more vital and substantial duties, and were shadows and emblems of good things to come : the virtue of which they, by the divine appointment, did not only represent, but impart also to such as performed them. But this typical state being at an end, a more pure and perfect institution succeeded; a more refined and spiritual worship was set up, in which the

mind is all, and does all; and in which outward observances have no otherwise a place, than as they serve either to testify the inward affections of our hearts to others, or to excite and improve them in ourselves. A worship every way proportioned to the nature of God, who is to receive it; and to the nature of man who is to pay it; and to the end and use also of such religious duties, which is, not merely to express our homage to God, or to procure a return from him; but also to work in our minds all those good dispositions and graces, which we are so earnest to obtain; and to be at once a necessary condition, and a proper and natural means also, of spiritual improvement. And this is remarkably the case of such prayers as are put up with application of mind, with zeal and fervency: our very asking in such a manner fits and qualifies us for receiving; makes us resigned, submissive, dependant; affects us with a deep sense of our own insufficiency and unworthiness, and of the divine bounty and goodness; suspends the evil motions and desires of our hearts for a time, and puts us every way into that holy and humble frame of mind, which God delights in, and delights to reward.

A great deal more might be said, to shew how requisite it is to approach God in his worship with an awakened, fixed, and lively attention of soul; if either this were a point, which any good and pious man doubted of, or were intended to be dwelt on in this discourse any further than as it leads the way to those which follow. The next of which is,

II. Secondly, that therefore all such pious helps and expedients as conduce to this great end, are to be laid hold of; particularly those which the text points out to us,-vocal and instrumental harmony. The use of these in divine service, I shall now recommend and justify, from this consideration, that they do, when wisely employed and managed, contribute extremely to

awaken the attention, and enliven the devotion, of all serious and sincere Christians.

And their usefulness to this end will appear on a double account, both as they remove the ordinary hinderances of devotion, and as they supply us further with special helps and advantages towards quickening and improving it.

By the melodious harmony of the church, the ordinary hinderances of devotion are removed, particularly these three: that engagement of thought which we often bring with us into the church from what we last conversed with; those accidental distractions that may happen to us during the course of divine service; and that weariness and flatness of mind, which some weak tempers may labour under, by reason even of the length of it.

When we come into the sanctuary immediately from any worldly affair, (as our very condition of life does, alas! force many of us to do), we come usually with divided and alienated minds. The business, the pleasure, or the amusement we left, sticks fast to us; and perhaps engrosses that heart for a time, which should then be taken up altogether in spiritual addresses. But as soon as the sound of the sacred hymns strike us, all that busy swarm of thoughts presently disperses: by a grateful violence we are forced into the duty that is going forward; and, as indevout and backward as we were before, find ourselves on the sudden seized with a sacred warmth, and ready to ery out with holy David; My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed! I will sing, and give praise. Our misapplication of mind, at such times, is often so great, and we so deeply immersed in it, that there needs some very strong and powerful charm to rouse us from it; and perhaps nothing is of greater force to this purpose, than the solemn and awakening airs of church music.

For the same reason, those accidental distractions that may happen to us, during the course of the service,

are also best cured by it. The strongest minds, and best practised in holy duties, may sometimes be surprised into a forgetfulness of what they are about, by some violent outward impressions; and every slight occasion will serve to call off the thoughts of no less willing, though much weaker worshippers. Those that come to see and to be seen here, will often gain their point, will draw and detain for a while the eyes of the curious, or the unwary. A passage in the sacred story read, an expression used in the common forms of devotion, shall raise a foreign reflection perhaps in musing and speculative minds, and lead them on from thought to thought, and point to point, till they are bewildered in their own imagination. These, and an hundred other avocations will arise and prevail; but when the instruments of praise begin to sound, our scattered thoughts presently take the alarm, return to their post, and to their duty, preparing and arming themselves against their spiritual assailants.

Lastly, Even the length of the service itself becomes an hinderance sometimes to the devotion, which it was meant to feed and raise: for, alas! we quickly tire in the performance of holy duties; and as eager and unwearied as we are in attending upon secular business, and trifling concerns, yet in divine offices, I fear, the expostulation of our Saviour is applicable to most of us: What! can ye not watch with me one hour? This infirmity is relieved, this hinderance prevented or removed, by the sweet harmony that accompanies several parts of the service, and returning upon us at fit intervals, keeps our attention up to the duty, when we begin to flag, and makes us insensible to the length of it. Happily, therefore, and wisely is it so ordered, that the morning devotions of the church, which are much the longest, should share also a greater portion of the harmony which is so useful to enliven them.

But its use stops not here, at a bare removal of some of the ordinary impediments to devotion; it supplies us also with special helps and advantages towards further