Certain sermons, first preached, and after published at several times, by M. Thomas Gataker…Certaine sermons, first preached, and after published at severall times, by M. Thomas Gataker…

§. 75. And yet neither also is this sufficient indeed, that we frequent the public means: private helps must be added and adjoined thereunto, of meditation, of conference, of supplication, of examination, of confession, and the like: that though much of most of the week be taken up with our worldly affairs; yet we reserve some time amidst them constantly every day for some spiritual employment. For as it is with our clocks and our watches, that unless they be wound up at certain times, they will slacken their motion, yea by means of the heavy weights and plummets of lead that hang on them, they will at length come down to the ground, and so stand stone still: So is it with our souls; we have our earthy affections and our worldly thoughts, as heavy weights, hanging so at the heels of them, that unless they be at some certain times wound up, as it were, by the use of some holy exercises, they will grow slack and sluggish in their mounting up to Heaven-ward, yea at length, it may be, come to an utter cessation of all endeavour in that kind. For this cause David, as^q he maketh this one property of a Blessed man, that he maketh Gods Law his daily, yea and his nightly meditation: So he professeth of himself, that it was^r one of his daily exercises to meditate on Gods Word; and^s it was his nightly employment to be singing of Gods praises. He had certain set times every day for meditation and invocation,^t at morning, at noon-tide, and at even: And besides those ordinary set times, he took occasion oft extraordinarily, as opportunity was offered, even^u seven times a day, that is, many times, to be lauding of the Lord, either for his judgements, or for his mercies. And the like should we do every one of us, if we desire to keep this spiritual Watch fresh in our souls, ⟨p. 116⟩and^x would not have them wholly dulled with or drowned in the world: we should set some time apart every day from our worldly affairs, to be spent in reading, in meditation, in conference (with God, at least) in prayer and invocation of his name, in search of our souls, in acknowledgement of our sins, &c. And so intermingle the one with the other, that by over-eager attending the one we do not wholly neglect the other. It is that that would fit us for the public ministry, and make it the more effectual with us: