the glory
of God; for the leaving out some chapters here and there, is practically
saying, that certain portions are better than others; or, that there are
certain parts of revealed truth unprofitable or unnecessary. 4, It may
keep us, by the blessing of God, from erroneous views, as in reading thus
regularly through the Scriptures, we are led to see the meaning of the
whole, and also kept from laying too much stress upon certain favourite
views. 5, The Scriptures contain the whole revealed will of God, and
therefore we ought to seek to read from time to time through the whole of
that revealed will. There are many believers, I fear, in our day, who have
not read even once through the whole of the Scriptures; and yet in a few
months, by reading only a few chapters every day, they might accomplish it.

IV. It is also of the greatest importance to meditate on what we read, so
that perhaps a small portion of that which we have read, or, if we have
time, the whole may be meditated upon in the course of the day. Or a small
portion of a book, or an epistle, or a gospel, through which we go
regularly for meditation, may be considered every day, without, however,
suffering oneself to be brought into bondage by this plan.

Learned commentaries I have found to store the head with many notions,
and often also with the truth of God; but when the Spirit teaches, through
the instrumentality of prayer and meditation, the heart is affected. The
former kind of knowledge generally puffs up, and is often renounced, when
another commentary gives a different opinion, and often also is found good
for nothing, when it is to be carried out into practice. The latter kind
of knowledge generally humbles, gives joy, leads us nearer to God, and is
not easily reasoned away; and having been obtained from God, and thus
having entered into the heart, and become our own, is also generally
carried out. If the inquirer after truth does not understand the Hebrew
and Greek languages, so as to be able to compare the common translation
with the original, he may, concerning several passages, get light by an
improved rendering, provided he can be sure that the translator was a
truly spiritual person.

The last and most important means of, grace, namely, prayer, was
comparatively but little improved by me. I prayed, and I prayed often. I
also prayed, in general, by the grace of God, with sincerity; but had I
been more earnestly praying, or even only as much, as