A guide to godliness or a Treatise of a Christian life showing the dutiesA guide to godlynesse or a Treatise of a Christian life shewing the duties

Now if we would perform this in an acceptable manner, our care must be that it be done with our souls as well as our tongue and lips. And first with our minds, both understanding what we sing, so as we may say with the Apostle; I will sing with the Spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also; and applying our minds unto it with due attention, & not suffering them to be carried with wandering thoughts. Secondly, we must sing with our hearts also, according to that of the Apostle; Speak to your selves in Psalms, singing ¹and making melody in your heart unto the Lord; which elsewhere he calleth, singing with grace in our hearts to the Lord; the which David practised; ⟨p. 242⟩²I will praise thee (saith he) with my whole heart. And this we shall do, if we ³do apply and fit them to the matter of the Psalm, and put on the same affection which David had in penning them; as humility in the confession of sin, fervency of desire in petitions and suites; alacrity and cheerfulness in praises and thanksgivings; assent and belief in prophecies and predictions; teachableness and willingness to learn in doctrines and instructions; readiness to obey in commandments and exhortations, &c. and at all times and in all things, reverence of Gods majesty, in whose presence we perform this duty. In the mean time we must take heed, that we do not apply his imprecations, which were uttered by a prophetical spirit against those who were desperate enemies to God as well as David, against our private enemies, with a revengeful desire, that those evils may befall them, seeing our Saviour hath taught us to pray for them. But we must either make use of them for doctrine and instruction, or if we apply them, it must not be against particular persons, but against all those whatsoever whom the Lord in his wisdom knoweth to be desperate enemies unto him and his Church. Secondly, our care must be that we do not make it a bodily exercise, singing Psalms for recreation only, and as we do other songs, for mere pleasure and sensual delight, but we must perform it as a religious duty of Gods service, and strive in it to please him rather then our selves. We must not seek to delight the ear, and affect the heart with the air, music and sweetness of the tune, but that there being an harmony between it and the voice, we make sweet melody in Gods ears;