And Isaiah (in the person of all the faithful) saith, With my soul have I desired thee in the night, yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early, Isa. xxvi. 9.

CHAPTER II. OF BEGINNING THE DAY WITH GOD.

SECT. 1. HOW TO AWAKE WITH GOD.

In the instant of awaking let your heart be lifted up to God with a thankful acknowledgment of his mercy to you. For it is he that giveth his beloved sleep, Psa. cxxvii. 2; who keepeth you both in soul and body while you sleep, Prov. vi. 22; who reneweth his mercies every morning, Lam. iii. 22, 23. For, while you sleep, you are as it were out of actual possession of yourself, and all things else. Now, it was God that kept you, and all that you had, and restored them again, with many new mercies, when you awaked.

2. Arise early in the morning (if you be not necessarily hindered) following the example of our Saviour Christ, John viii. 2, and of the good matron in the Proverbs, Prov. xxxi. 15. For this will usually much conduce to the health of your body, and the prosperity, both of your temporal and spiritual state; for hereby you will have the day before you, and will gain the best, and the fittest times for the exercises of religion, and for the works of your calling.

3. In the time between your awaking and arising (if other suitable thoughts offer not themselves) it will be useful to think upon some of these: I must awake from the sleep of sin, to righteousness, Eph. v. 14. 1 Cor. xv. 34; as well as out of bodily sleep, unto labour in my calling. The night is far spent, the day