THE idea of this little book first suggested itself to

my mind some years since on reading in Bishop Jeremy Taylor's "Holy Living" the chapter on "The Care of our Time," and observing the frequent mention throughout the Psalms of the different hours of the day, and knowing it to have been the practice of the Ancient Church to observe certain divisions of the twenty-four hours, as times of prayer and praise, I was led to select portions of the Psalms as suitable to each hour of the day and night.

S. Chrysostom says, "But as to David's Psalms, the Grace of the HOLY SPIRIT has so ordered it, that they are repeated night and day; in the Vigils of the Church, the first, the midst, and the last, are David's Psalms. In the

morning David's Psalms are sought for; and the first, the midst, and the last, is David. At funeral solemnities the first, the midst, and the last is David. In private houses, the first, the midst, and the last is David. Many that know not a letter can say David's Psalms by heart."

Bishop Horne says of the Psalms, "They are an epitome of the Bible, adapted to the purposes of devotion. This little volume like the Paradise of Eden, affords us in perfection, though in miniature, every thing that groweth elsewhere, every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food, and above all that which was there lost, and is here restored the tree of Life, in the midst of the garden. That which we read as a matter of speculation in the other Scriptures, is reduced to practice when we recite it in the Psalms. In those, faith and repentance are described-in these, they are acted; by a perusal of the former we learn how others served GOD-but by using the latter we serve GOD ourselves. In the language of this Divine Book, therefore, the prayers of the Church have been offered up to the Throne of Grace from age to age. And it appears to have been the manual of the SON of GOD in the days of His flesh; Who at the conclusion of His Supper, is generally supposed, and that upon good grounds, to have sung a hymn taken from it; Who pronounced upon the Cross the beginning of the twenty-second Psalm, My God,

My GOD, why hast Thou forsaken Me?' and expired with a part of the thirty-first in His mouth, Into Thy hands I commend My Spirit.' Thus He Who spoke as never man spoke' chose to conclude His life, to solace Himself in His greatest agony, and at last to breath out His soul, in the Psalmist's form of words, rather than in His own."

The good Dr. Hammond justly observes, "No tongue of man or angel can convey a higher idea of any book, and of their felicity who use it right. Indited under the influence of Him' unto Whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from Whom no secrets are hid' they suit mankind in all situations; the fairest productions of human wit, after a few perusals, like gathered flowers, wither in our hands, and lose their fragrancy; but these unfading plants of Paradise, become, as we are accustomed to consider them, still more and more beautiful; their bloom appears to be daily heightened, fresh odours are emitted, and new sweets are extracted from them. He who hath once tasted their excellencies will desire to taste them again; and he who tastes them oftenest will relish them best."

It remains only for me now to beg the blessing of Almighty GOD on this little book, to the praise and glory of Whose Holy Name it is specially dedicated.

July 21st, 1852.

C. M. B.

O GOD, Thou art my GOD: early will I seek Thee.

My soul thirsteth for Thee, my flesh also longeth after Thee: in a barren and dry land, where no water is.

Thus have I looked for Thee in holiness : that I might behold Thy power and glory. For Thy loving-kindness is better than the life itself: my lips shall praise Thee.

As long as I live will I magnify Thee on this manner and lift up my hands in Thy Name.

Psalm lxiii. 1-9.

B