Ans. 2. Divine Wisdom accommodates its Inspirations, its Gifts, its Revelations, and its Writings, to the particular Cases and Seasons in which he finds a Saint or a Church. Now tho we cannot pretend to make a better Prayer than that of _Ezra_ or _Daniel_, or our Lord, for the Day and Design for which they were prepared; yet a Song, a Sermon, or a Prayer that expresses my Wants, my Duties or my Mercies, tho it be compos'd by a humane Gift, is much better for me than to tie myself to any inspired Words in any part of Worship which do not reach my Case; and consequently can never be proper to assist the Exercise of my Graces or raise my Devotion. Ans. 3. I believe that Phrases and Sentences used by inspired Writers are very proper to express our Thoughts in Prayer, Preaching or Praise; and God has frequently given Witness in the Hearts of Christians how much he approves the Language of Scripture; but 'tis always with a Proviso that those Phrases be clear, and expressive of our present Sense, and proper to our present Purpose: Yet we are not to dress up our Prayers, Sermons or Songs in the Language of _Judaism_ when we design to express the Doctrines of the Gospel: This would but _darken Divine Counsel by Words without Knowledge_; it would amuse and confound the more ignorant Worshipers, 'twould disgust the more Considerate, and give neither {270} the one nor the other Light or Comfort: And I think it may be as proper in our Churches to read a Sermon of _Moses_ or _Isaiah_ instead of preaching the Gospel, as to sing a Psalm of _David_ whose Expressions chiefly refer to _David_ the Shepherd, the King, the Fugitive, the Captain, the Musician and the _Jew_. In short the Prayers, Sermons and Songs in Scripture are rather Patterns by which we should frame our Worship and adjust it to our present Case, than Forms of Worship to which we should precisely and unchangeably confine our selves. And as Sermons which are conformable to the Holy Scripture in a large Sense may be called the _Word of God and the Word of Christ_, and are usally and justly so called if they are agreeable to the Scripture and drawn from thence; so Hymns of Humane Composure according to the Spirit and Doctrines of the Gospel may be as well termed the _Word of Christ_, which is the proper Matter for Christian Psalmody. _Col_. 3. 16. whereas in the strictest and most limited Sense of the Word nothing deserves that Title but the _Hebrew_ and _Greek_ Originals. Object. 4. In the New Testament there are Promises of Divine Assistance to Ministers and private Christians in preaching the Gospel and in Prayer; But we have no Promise of the Spirit of God to help us to compose Psalms or Hymns for our private Use or for the Use of the Churches; and how can we practise in the Worship of God what we have no Promise of the holy Spirit to encourage and assist us in?