Directions for Daily Communion with God

Directions for Daily Communion with God is Matthew Henry’s practical teaching on living an entire day in conscious fellowship with God. Built from three sustained expositions of the Psalms, the book asks how a believer can begin, spend, and close each day with God rather than confining devotion to an isolated religious moment. Henry’s answer joins stated prayer, meditation on Scripture, patient waiting, ordinary obedience, self-examination, and peaceful dependence into a daily rhythm of communion.

The first discourse develops Psalm 5:3: “My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD.” Henry argues for beginning the day with God in prayer. Morning prayer is not treated as a bare habit or a meritorious exercise, but as an appropriate response to renewed mercies, fresh needs, and dependence upon God for the day ahead. The believer directs prayer to God, seeks help through Christ the Mediator, gives thanks for preservation, entrusts coming duties and dangers to divine care, and allows Scripture to order the mind before daily business begins. Quiet prayer and meditation thus become the spiritual orientation of the day.

The second discourse centers on Psalm 25:5: “On thee do I wait all the day.” Here Henry extends communion beyond the morning devotional period. Waiting on God means looking to him continually for direction, provision, strength, protection, and the fulfillment of his will while carrying out ordinary responsibilities. This is a form of active dependence rather than inactivity. The reader is taught to maintain a Godward posture in thought, word, duty, difficulty, and decision, continuing throughout the day in the same spirit of faith that morning prayer expressed. The book therefore speaks directly to the question of how someone can walk with God amid work and ordinary life rather than only during formal prayer.

The final discourse expounds Psalm 4:8: “I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, LORD, only makest me dwell in safety.” Closing the day with God includes prayerful reflection on what has happened, acknowledgment of failures and mercies, renewed dependence on grace, and the entrusting of body and soul to God’s keeping. Henry connects peaceful rest with confidence in God’s power and providence rather than with confidence in circumstances. Evening prayer becomes an act of faith: the believer relinquishes control, seeks peace with God and others, and lies down under God’s care.

Together the three discourses address a broader spiritual need than scheduling devotional exercises. Henry is describing daily communion with God as a pattern of Christian living. Prayer begins the day, waiting on God carries faith into its changing circumstances, and evening prayer returns the day to God. Scripture meditation supports this pattern by keeping divine truth before the mind, while self-examination keeps communion from becoming mechanical.

Because the governing texts are Psalms 5:3, 25:5, and 4:8, Psalms is the biblical book most substantially studied. Other biblical references support Henry’s applications, but the three psalms supply the architecture of the work. Readers looking for help establishing consistent morning and evening prayer, remaining spiritually attentive through a busy day, trusting God in uncertainty, or joining devotional practice with ordinary Christian conduct will find those concerns directly addressed. The book’s distinctive emphasis is continuity: communion with God is not only something to enter at prayer time, but a relationship of prayerful dependence meant to encompass the whole day.