A help to holy walking, or, A guide to glory containing directions how to worship God, and to walk with him in the whole course of our lives / by Edward Bury.

4. Direct. Wouldest thou Profit by Reading? Then Read the Word with Judgment, Under∣standing, and Discretion. This is necessary in every duty; nay, in every Action. A Wise Man, saith Solomon, Orders his affairs with discretion; but it is required, especially in a work of so High a Na∣ture, and of so deep concernment, as this is: ma∣ny Read much, and profit little, because they un∣derstand little; they are like the Eunuch, to whom Philip said, Ʋnderstandest thou what thou Readest? He said, how can I, except some man should guide me? Acts 8.30,31. Now, discretion should be used in regard of the Circumstances; of Time, and Place, and Order, and Method; for the want of discretion in these, a duty may be spoyled: Concerning Time, every thing, saith Solomon, is beautiful in it's season; all our Time must not be spent in this Duty, then others as necessary would be omitted: one duty must not justle out another,

yet sometime must, and as much as can well be spared should be reduced for it; yea, we should rather redeem Time out of our sleep, or recreati∣ons, than neglect it; and it should be the most sea∣sonable time, a work is most excellent in it's sea∣son. Morning, and Evening seem ordinarily the fittest Seasons for Reading the Scriptures in the Family, for private Reading as occasion serves; and for Place, that which is freest from distracti∣ons, and fittest for Edification, and Order; for private Reading, a private place, this doth most benefit a private Person, though that which is more publick Edifies more than one: A Method also is to be heeded in Reading the Scriptures, or any other Book; a disorderly Action, or Duty seldom profits; Order, and Method are good helps to the Memory: Read the Scriptures throughout, in or∣der, except some Chapters that are less to Edifi∣cation; and so for other good Books, Read them throughout; he that Reads a Chapter here or there, at adventure; or, a leaf here, and another there, in another Book, profits little: and 'tis also necessary that thou understandest what thou readest; 'tis not so much the words and phrases, as the sense thou shouldest look after. The Jews, as I told you, had great care of the Scriptures; they counted the Words, Syllables, and Letters contained in the Law, and yet were Ignorant of the sense, and mist of the meaning. When thou readest a dark passage in the Scripture, rest not till thou understand it: To this end Divines have given several Directions, such as these: If thou be able, compare the Original and Translation to∣gether, and, perhaps, this may resolve thy doubt; every Language hath a peculiar Elegancy: and

some words are of so hard a signification, that they cannot fully be exprest in a Translation. Now, knowing the Original will abundantly help, and the knowledge of Arts, and Sciences is also of great use; let the Enemies to Learning say what they will to the contrary. If this help thee not, look into the Context, observe the Circumstan∣ces, and scope of the Place, and receive no In∣terpretation which Crosses that. If this will not do, compare this place with others the like, and admit not such a sense as contradicts other Scrip∣tures; especially compare it with the analogy of Faith, those plain Doctrinal conclusions, gathered out of other plain Scriptures, of which no doubt is made, and if it agree not with this, reject it; for Truth it self cannot oppose it self. We must reduce dark places to those that are plain; and not force those that are plain to the dark ones. If this help not, read some Learned Exposition upon the place: If this fail, seek assistance from God; for, as the Sun cannot be seen but by it's own light; so the will of God cannot be known but by his own Spirit: he that Faithfully, and Carefully ob∣serves these Directions, may through Gods blessing come to know as much as is necessary.