own Requirement, that the _British-Islands_ should
make their present Mercies under the Gospel the Subject of fresh
Praises; _Isa_. 42. 9, 10. _Behold the former things are come to pass,
and new things do I declare; before they spring forth I tell you of
them; Sing unto the Lord a new Song, and his Praise from the End of
the Earth; Ye that go down to the Sea, and all that is therein; the
Isles and the Inhabitants thereof_. As for the new Songs in the
_Revelations_, the occasions of some of them are very particular, and
relate to the Fall of _Anti-Christ_; It can never be imagin'd that
there are a compleat Collection of Psalms to suit all the Cases of a
Christian Church: They are rather given to us as small Originals, by
Imitation whereof the Churches should be furnished with Matter {264}
for Psalmody, by those who are capable of composing spiritual Songs
according to the various or Special Occasions of Saints or Churches.
Now, shall we suppose the Duty of Singing to be so constantly provided
for when there was any fresh Occasion under the Old Testament, and just
in the very Beginning of the New, and yet that there is no manner of
Provision made ever since by ordinary or extraordinary Gifts for the
Expression of our particular joys and Thanksgivings? This would be to
sink the Gospel, which is a Dispensation of the Spirit, of Liberty, of
Joy, and of Glory, beneath the Level of Judaism, when the Saints were
kept in hard Bondage, and had not half so much Occasion for Praise.

The Fifth Argument may be borrow'd from the extraordinary Gift of the
Spirit to compose or sing spiritual Songs in the primitive Church,
express'd in 1_Cor_. 14. 15, 26. The several Parts of Divine Worship,
Praying, Preaching and Singing, were performed by immediate
Inspirations of the holy Spirit in that Day, for there two Reasons.
(1.) That there might be a Discovery of Divine Power in them, and the
Seal of a Miracle set to the several Parts of Christian Worship, to
convince the World, and to confirm the Church. (2.) Because there was
not time to acquire a Capacity of Preaching, Praying, and composing
Spiritual Songs by Diligence and Study, together with the ordinary
Assistance of Grace and Blessing of {265} Providence, which would have
taken up many Years before the Gospel could have been universally
preached. But even in those Times of Inspiration, as _Timothy_ himself
was _not to neglect the Gift that was in him given by Imposition of
Hands_, so h