“We have need again and again to hear the offer of Christ’s grace, and to be wakened up to observe Christ and his glory…”

“We have need again and again to hear the offer of Christ’s grace, and to be wakened up to observe Christ and his glory; need to be exhorted again and again to open our hearts wide to him…Christ is indeed glorious, and a glorious king, in all passages of redemption, and salvation of his people; albeit the ignorance and unbelief, and the crosses and troubles following his kingdom in this world, do obscure his glory to the carnal eye; and therefore no wonder, that men do often move the question about his kingdom and glory, asking, who is the king of glory?” David Dickson

“[The Psalter] gives us the completest view of God which we, in our present limitations, are capable of receiving. “Canst thou by searching find out God?” We can only know Him as He reveals Himself. Herein lies the weakness of an uninspired hymnology; it cannot give us a complete view of God.”

THE IDEA OF WORSHIP

By The Rev. John M. Ross, Riverside, Cal.

“I HAVE seen Thee,” says Lord Bacon, “in Thy works, I have sought Thee in Thy providences, but I have found Thee in Thy temples.” In His worship men come close to God. The offering- of spiritual service to God in the celebration of His praise is one of the highest, noblest employments in which man can engage, the supreme reach of the soul. It is the first thing that He asks of His Church. It is not to be forgotten that an aim of the Church is to seek the salvation of those outside the kingdom, and the comfort, instruction, and edification of believers ; that it is a school for the training of Christ’s disciples, a home for God’s family, an organization for aggressive work, a force for righteousness transforming whatsoever it touches, conserving the dearest interests of humanity. But likewise let it never be forgotten that primarily and distinctively and preeminently the Church is an organization for worship. If there were no reflex influence on ourselves, if there were no longer need of spiritual culture, if there were no longer need of Christianity as a redeeming agency, the obligations of Christian worship would still continue, and will forever continue. 

This follows from the very nature of God. A Being so exalted, “infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in His being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth,” calls out the homage and adoration of the renewed soul. When one gets the vision of Jehovah, with the French preacher at the bier of his king he exclaims: “God only is great!” He bows in worship. The divine character invites it. Man is predisposed to render it. God is pleased to receive it.  

Religion has its outlook on the human side. The practical James speaks of it as a visiting of the fatherless and widows in their affliction and keeping oneself unspotted from the world. It has its Godward aspect also, which manifests itself in adoration and homage. Indeed worship is the soul of religion, the pulsations of the inner life, the breathings of the spirit after God. The religious faculty must find expression. If it is repressed it withers, and man does not come to his best. One of the propositions laid down by modern psychology is that there must be an expression in some active way of every bodily and mental state. Nothing can come to its full significance without expression. Herein lies the philosophical basis of worship. 

The root idea appears in the etymology and use of the word — an ascribing of worth to God. In the Scriptural history of worship it is seen that the essential force of the term is maintained and the central idea indicated in the acknowledgment of God’s supremacy and rights and in man’s desire to honor Him. It showed itself in the faith of Abel, the obedience of Abraham, the homage of Isaiah, the adoration of David, the love of John, the consecration of Paul. From such heart-shrines the incense of devotion has risen during the ages, as men have ascribed worth to God in the manner that He has required and in the way that He has appointed, describing that worth in terms most fitting and honoring. The recognition of the renewed soul’s relation to God is religion. As one tells us, ” it is the re-binding [re-ligo] of the soul to its divine Creator; and the realization and manifestation of this relation are worship. In worship there are two parts or elements — adoration and manifestation, an essence and a form, a service of the heart and an appropriate external expression.” Reverently does man stand before God to render it. The proper attitude is that of a soul uncovered before Him. 

That which makes man’s worship so rich is the strain of redemption underlying it. In the worship of the angels there are praise and thanksgiving without petition or supplication. There are in it no redemptive features. But man’s worship reaches God only through the Redeemer. Even the adoration of redeemed souls in heaven has in it the strain of redemption: “Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by Thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; and hast made us unto our God kings and priests.” Around the throne throughout the ages to come there will be a richer and deeper tone and a sublimity in man’s worship that can never be reached by that of the angels. 

The worship of God has its uses. It is worth while. It has “an ultimate and a proximate end.” The ultimate end is the glory of God, the proximate is the good of man. But only as the ultimate end is kept in view is the proximate secured in the measure that is to be desired. Thus when He is truly worshiped God is glorified and man is helped. “We can add nothing to God’s happiness or greatness, but we can please Him with our adoration, and we can promote His glory and magnify His honor before the intelligences of earth and heaven. And by the contemplation of God’s perfections, and by communion with Him, we get nearer to Him, see more of Him, comprehend Him better, trust Him more implicitly, and love Him more fervently. And then we are made richer in our heart’s desires, for He has said to no one, ‘Seek ye My face,’ in vain. Worship is truly no empty form or mere routine performance. It is instinct with life, high and noble life.” Let God be exalted in our thoughts, this Being of infinite perfections worshiped, and the tendency is for us to become like Him. Men do become like that which they love, adore, worship. There is profound philosophy in the Apostle’s statement, “Beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, we are changed into the same image from glory to glory even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” Men are as their conception of God is, and according to the character of the worship they render Him. If a man does not worship there is wanting in his life the most potent factor in human development. What a tremendous influence the Church’s worship has had in the life of individuals and the history of the race! The place of nations in the scale of civilization has been determined by their worship. It has been the mightiest educative influence known among men, turning their attention to the higher values of life, bringing before their minds the highest of truths, bringing them into touch with the Infinite. It has emphasized the teachings of Christianity and conserved the faith of Christ far better than controversial statement or written creed. During the ages it has been “for a memorial before the Most High, for a testimony before the world, and for the nourishment and consolation of the body of Christ on earth.” It has been God’s agency for man’s higher interests and man’s way of honoring God. 

Such being the influence of the Church’s worship and its far reaching results, what an argument we have as to the reasonableness of insisting that the original divinely constituted and prescribed elements of it should all be carefully safeguarded, lest any one of them should be vitiated, atrophied, or impaired. The Psalter is a book of worship by means of which man may express in fitting terms his homage and adoration. It gives us the completest view of God which we, in our present limitations, are capable of receiving. “Canst thou by searching find out God?” We can only know Him as He reveals Himself. Herein lies the weakness of an uninspired hymnology; it cannot give us a complete view of God. Man cannot transcribe on canvas the glory of a summer sunset. Man cannot adequately describe God’s majestic works. He stands in awe before a Niagara, but can give no adequate description of it. How much less can man describe the unseen God in the greatness of His being and the glory of His perfections. Yet in His praise man is to recount God’s perfections and exalt Him in His attributes. God only can give man words by means of which in any adequate sense he can do this. To the end that he may do so God has prepared and given to His Church the Psalter. The astronomer comes back from the survey of the heavens and reverently exclaims : “I have been thinking God’s thoughts after Him.” Only as we think over God’s thoughts of Himself can we know that we are in the pathway of truth and are expressing that which is fitting and acceptable in His praise. 

It is a misconception of worship, especially the praise feature of it, to regard it as chiefly subjective. When it is so regarded the tendency is for the praise service to degenerate into a mere song service, with the idea uppermost of making the services bright and attractive and entertaining. Thus the true idea of worship is obscured ofttimes, not only by the subject matter offered, but by forgetfulness of the real end and purpose of the praise service. “In fact,” as one tells us, “in the great mass of modern hymnology there is little or nothing of the element of praise. There are tender appeals to human emotions and affections. There are songs which stir the sensibilities more quickly than the majestic and incomparable songs of the Word of God. But how little a grain of praise they offer to Him Whom they profess to worship. The tendency of all uninspired hymnology is subjective, manward, rather than Godward.” The true conception of praise is that it is objective. It is not meant to terminate on ourselves or others, but on God. It is to celebrate the greatness of His name as He is revealed in His Word and works. The fixing of our thoughts chiefly on ourselves, the recounting of our frames and states and feelings, though in never so beautiful sentiment and inspiring song, is not praise. It is lacking in the real idea of worship. In our praise our thoughts and emotions are to go out to God and reverently rest on Him. Herein lies the superiority of the Psalms as a manual of praise.

They draw our thoughts and emotions and feelings out to Him and mass them upon Him. When the Psalms do lay hold of our subjective states they do not leave us there, but lead us out to God and center our thought on Him as the One with Whom we have to do. 

It is a misconception of the praise service to regard it chiefly for impression rather than for expression. The praise service is not chiefly for the purpose of impressing truth upon ourselves or others, but its purpose is to express unto God the glory due to His name. The singing of the gospel, helpful though it may be in its place, is not of the nature of praise, for the gospel is addressed to man, not to God. In seeking to make an impression upon men the singing of the gospel may be usurping the place of that which is due unto God. That which terminates on ourselves or others may be a means of grace, but only that which terminates on God is praise. The praise service is not meant chiefly for instruction, though it instructs; is not meant chiefly to stir spiritual emotions, though it does so; is not meant merely to make the services more attractive, though it does so; is not meant to terminate on ourselves, but on the great God. It is to magnify Him. Sermon and sacrament may be for the impressing of truth, but praise is the expressing unto God that which is His due. Let Him not be robbed of it. Such a conception of praise will spiritualize our worship, give God that which is owing Him, and make for a strong, virile Christianity, where the thought is centered not on ourselves but upon the great God, infinite in His perfections, glorious in His attributes. “I will exalt Thee, O my God.” This is the essence of praise ; this is the idea of worship.

A Selection from THE PSALMS IN WORSHIP, edited by John McNaugher, D. D., LL. D., 1907

“Wherefore when we have sought all round, searching here and there, we shall find no songs better and more suitable for this end than the Psalms of David which the Holy Spirit dictated and gave to him. And therefore when we sing them, we are as certain that God has put words into our mouths as if He Himself sang within us to exalt His glory.”

Calvin’s preface to the The Genevan Psalter first appeared in the edition in 1543, and is found in all subsequent issues.

“To all Christians, lovers of the Word of God, greeting.

“As it is a thing enjoined in Christianity, and amongst the most necessary, that every believer, in his own place, should observe and maintain the communion of the church, frequenting the assemblies which are held on Sabbaths and other days, to honour and serve God; so it is right and reasonable, that all should know and understand what is said and done in the place of worship, so as to draw from it advantage and edification.”

“As for public prayers, there are two kinds of them—the one is expressed in words only, the other with song; and this is no recent invention, for from the first origin of the church, this has been the case, as appears in history. And even St. Paul does not speak of verbal prayer alone, but also of singing. And in truth, we know by experience that song has great force and power in moving and inflaming the heart of man to invoke and praise God with more vehement and ardent zeal.

“It should always be seen to that the song should not be light and frivolous, but that it have weight and majesty, as saith Saint Augustine; and also that there is a great difference between the music that is employed for the enjoyment of men at table, and in their houses, and the psalms which they sing in Church in the presence of God and his angels. But when the form here given is rightly judged of, we hope that it will be found holy and pure; seeing that it is simply constructed for the edification of which we have spoken, as well as that the use of singing may be greatly extended. So that even in the houses and in the fields, it may be to us an incitement and an instrument to praise God and raise our hearts to Him; and to console us in meditating on His power, goodness, wisdom, and justice, which is more necessary for us than we know how to express.

“For the first, it is not without cause that the Holy Spirit exhorts us so carefully, by the Holy Scripture, to rejoice ourselves in God, and that all our joy should rest there as its true end. For He knows how truly we are inclined to please ourselves in vanity. Thus while our nature draws and leads us to seek all manner of foolish and vicious enjoyment—on the contrary, our Lord, to separate and draw us from the allurements of the flesh and of the world, presents to us every possible means to fill us with that spiritual joy which he commends so much to us.

“But amongst other things which are suitable for the recreation of men, and for yielding them pleasure, music is either the first, or one of the chief, and we must esteem it a gift of God bestowed for that end. Therefore, by so much the more, we ought to see that it is not abused, for fear of soiling and contaminating it; turning that to our condemnation which was given for our profit and good. Even were there no other consideration than this alone, it ought to move us to regulate the use of music, so as to make it subservient to all good morals, and that it should not give occasion for loosing the bridle of dissoluteness, that it should not lead to voluptuousness, nor be the instrument of immodesty and impurity.

“But further, there is scarcely anything in this world which can more powerfully turn or bend hither ‘and thither the manners of men, as Plato has wisely remarked. And in fact we experimentally feel that it has a secret and incredible power over our hearts to move them one way or other. Therefore we ought to be so much the more careful to regulate it in such a manner, that it may be useful to us, and in no ways pernicious. For this reason, the ancient doctors of the church often complained that the people of their time were addicted to disgraceful and immodest songs, which, not without cause, they esteemed and called a deadly and satanic poison for corrupting the world.

“But in speaking of music I include two parts, to wit, the words, or subject and matter; secondly, the song or melody. It is true that all evil words, as saith St. Paul, corrupt good manners, but when melody is united to them, they much more powerfully pierce the heart, and enter in: just as when by a funnel wine is poured into a vessel, so poison and corruption is infused into the depth of the heart by the melody.

“What then is to be done? It is to have songs not only pure, but also holy, that they may be incitements to stir us up to pray to and praise God, and to meditate on His works, in order to love Him, fear Him, honour and glorify Him. But what Saint Augustine says is true, that none can sing things worthy of God but he who has received the power from Himself. Wherefore when we have sought all round, searching here and there, we shall find no songs better and more suitable for this end than the Psalms of David which the Holy Spirit dictated and gave to him. And therefore when we sing them, we are as certain that God has put words into our mouths as if He Himself sang within us to exalt His glory. Wherefore Chrysostom exhorts all men and women and little children to accustom themselves to sing them as a means of associating themselves with the company of angels; further, we must remember what St. Paul says, that spiritual songs cannot be sung well but with the heart; but the heart requires the understanding: and in that, saith St. Augustine, lies the difference between the song of man and that of birds, for a linnet, a nightingale, and a jay (papegay), may sing well, but it will be without understanding.

“But the peculiar gift of man is to sing knowing what he says. Further, the understanding ought to accompany the heart and affections, which cannot be unless we have the song imprinted in our memory, that we may be ever singing it.

“This present book, for this cause, besides what otherwise has been said, ought to be particularly acceptable to every one who desires, without reproach, and according to God, to rejoice in seeing his own salvation, and the good of his neighbours; and thus has no need to be much recommended by me, as it carries in itself its own value and praise. Only let the world be well advised, that instead of songs partly vain and frivolous, partly foolish and dull, partly filthy and vile, and consequently wicked and hurtful, which it has hitherto used, it should accustom itself hereafter to sing these heavenly and divine songs, with good King David.

“Touching the music, it appeared best that it should be simple in the way we have put it, to carry weight and majesty suitable to the subject, and even to be fit to be sung in church as has been said.

“Geneva, 10th June, 1543.”

Every true Christian…must speak the praises of his Lord. But he is there met by a difficulty. His words fail him. His words cannot put into expression all, or the half, of what is in his heart to say to God. His thoughts are too big for utterance. He is conscious of the need of divine aid to speak in sufficient and right terms the great themes of his worship.”

A Selection from THE PSALMS IN WORSHIP, edited by John McNaugher, D. D., LL. D., 1907

Chapter 1, THE IDEA OF WORSHIP
By The Rev. W. H. McMillan, D. D., LL. D., Allegheny, Pa.

WORSHIP is right conceptions of the character and works of God suitably expressed. It is seeing Him, and expressing our thoughts and feelings concerning Him. It is an act of the soul. There are forms of expression used in worship, but forms and words and attitudes are not in themselves worship! That is essentially an act of the soul. We are called upon to pour out our hearts to the Lord. God is a spirit, and they who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. The most reverent genuflections, the divinest strains of music, and the most devotional words are nothing and worse than nothing unless the soul of the worshiper is going out to God in them.

Worship is conditioned upon our acceptance with God. An enemy of God cannot be a true worshiper of Him. Worship is an act of devotion presented to God in His presence, and addressed to Him personally. That cannot be until the one who would worship has been accepted in the divine presence. He must know the way to the throne of grace. There is but one way, and Christ is that way. There is but one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. We must come by the way of the Cross when we approach God to worship Him. It is only the children of God who can offer true worship in the Father’s presence, for only they know the way thither. Worship is an individual approach to God. There can be no human intermediary in that great moment when a soul comes into the presence of God to present its worship. Then the worshiper  depopulates the globe. He is alone with God. Then we look into His face and speak to Him and hear Him speaking to us. ” The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him,” and it is about that secret that we speak to Him when we are alone in His presence.

Worship is an intelligent act. It is what we think about God that prompts it. Thought sweeps the whole field of knowledge concerning God, and from it all gathers material for worship. In Him are seen all power and majesty and dominion. Out into His infinite domain thought travels fast and far. Our solar system, with all its planets, and moons, and rings, we find, after all, to be but a mere speck in the immeasurable reaches of the kingdom of God. With souls awed and almost bewildered by the evidence of the infinite power and dominion of our King we bow and adore. We, in our conscious littleness, worship Him Who “hath measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance.”

In Him we see also the attribute of infinite wisdom. Our minds struggle even with little things. There are numberless questions confronting us of which we can only say, who by searching can find them out? Newton was right when he saw himself as one standing on the shore picking up a few pebbles for examination, while the vast ocean lay all unexplored and unexplorable before him. Our intellectual sight is dazed and blinded by the floods of light that fall on us from every quarter revealing the boundless domain of truth; but in it all and maker of it all we see God Who is The Truth. He knoweth all things. With Him there is no mystery. All is naked and open to His eyes. His mind holds in the grasp of His limitless intelligence all facts, all laws, and all relations. He dwelleth in the light, and in Him is no darkness at all. We, blind concerning many things, and short-sighted at best, come to the Infinite Light to worship. There is nothing that satisfies the heart that is hungering to know like coming to the All-Knowing One and pouring itself out to Him in worship.

And we who are guilty by nature and lost under sin find reasons for adoring, eager, and soulful worship in contemplating the mercy of God in Christ. ” God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Surely the Scriptures write the truth when they declare that the souls are dead which do not worship Him for that. ” His mercy flows an endless stream, to all eternity the same.” Like His love, which it expresses, it is without height, depth, length, or breadth. Sin abounds, but grace has much more abounded. The iniquities of men have risen up above them as a cloud, and a thick cloud, and a burden too heavy for them to bear, and yet the mercy of our God in Christ overtops that mountain pile of human guilt by an unmeasured reach.

When one has seen all his dark record canceled by the atoning blood of the Son of God, he is ready to sing with a bounding heart,

“Hallelujah I praise Jehovah.
O my soul, Jehovah praise.
While I live I’ll praise Jehovah,
To my God sing all my days.”

Another subject of the believer’s songs of praise is the goodness and love of God. Paul is the most logical writer of the New Testament. He gives us the profoundest reasoning of them all. Yet we find him often breaking off in the middle of a syllogism to shout his gladness in view of the goodness and love of God in His unspeakable gift of Christ. “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him,” is one of the gusts of gladness which burst from his great soul in contemplating the love of his Lord. While he mused on these things the fire burned; his soul was made to flame with aff’ection for his gracious and blessed Redeemer, and his lips opened in songs of devotion, while his life moved out, under the divine impulse, into the most heroic paths of service rendered to his Master All the recorded acts of worship of the people of God throb with intensest devotion to Him Who loved them and gave Himself for them. The reasons for worship are so boundless and so constant the people of God feel the fires of devotion ever burnmg m their heart unless the cold floods of worldly influence have drowned the sacred flame. In the temple of God of old the fires on the altar we never allowed to go out. So on the heart-altar of the child God the fire never goes out. and never burns low save when he has turned his face away from the Lord and forgotten for the time what the Lord is, and what He has done for him.

These being some of the reasons for worship which kindle the soul of a child of God, the question arises how can he can give suitable expression to Him of all that is in his heart? His soul is moved with the spirit of worship. How can he tell it out? It is evident that every act of a child of God which is intended to express to Him His child’s appreciation of His character and works is an act of worship, since every such act flows shows forth the praises of God and promotes His honor and glory. Preaching the gospel is an act of worship, because it proclaims what God is and what He is able and willing to do for lost men. Prayer is an act of worship, because it acknowledges the sin and helplessness of men, and the sovereign grace and goodness of God as the bountifu’l supply of all human need. Giving 0f our substance to God is an act of worship because it is making a grateful return for His gifts to us as the head of the kingdom of grace in the world. Reading the Word is an act of worship because it is receiving from God His revealed messages of truth to make us wise unto eternal life. But those acts done for God which are usually counted most distinctly acts of worship are rendering to Him our songs of praise. It is not always true that actions speak louder than words. There are some things in us so deep and vital that actions cannot express them at all. Intelligent speech is the glory of man, and this great power is to be used in celebrating the praises of Him Who has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light. The Old Testament prophets are frequently called seers, the men who saw. Every true Christian is a seer. He has seen the invisible, and heard things not written down in any of the philosophies of men. He has become acquainted in some measure with God, and there are great thoughts surging through his mind, and tidal waves of religious
emotion swelling within him. He must speak the praises of his Lord. But he is there met by a difficulty. His words fail him. His words cannot put into expression all, or the half, of what is in his heart to say to God. His thoughts are too big for utterance. He is conscious of the need of divine aid to speak in sufficient and right terms the great themes of his worship. It is then that he turns with deepest satisfaction to the songs which the Spirit of God has written for the people of God as the expression of their devotion to Him. There the great things of God are unfolded as only the divine penman can unfold them, and there the petitions which we need to ofTer, and are allowed to offer, to God with assurance of being heard are framed for us. We are told that the Spirit makes intercession for the saints with groanings which cannot be uttered. This is nowhere more true than when the believer attempts to tell God what is in his heart of love, adoration, and trust. We began with the thought that worship is right conceptions of the character and works of God suitably expressed. We find, do we not, that such conceptions are taught and adequately expressed in the Psalms of the Bible as they cannot be in any words which the pens of uninspired men have written.

“The daily regular solemn reading of God’s holy Word by a parent before his children is one of the most powerful agencies of a Christian life.”

“He who is prayed for will know and feel that he is prayed for. Paths of duty will be indicated (to children); dangers will be marked; sins will be arrayed before conscience; divine blessings will be set forth as infinitely desirable. By the same means, through God’s blessing, incentives to piety will be reiterated, convictions deepened, and the object of faith placed in open light. Where all this is done day by day, the heart of the child must experience some affection until it is steeled by habitual resistance. The daily regular solemn reading of God’s holy Word by a parent before his children is one of the most powerful agencies of a Christian life. A family thus trained cannot be ignorant of the Word.” James Alexander in Thoughts on Family Worship, p 35.

“One obvious effect of psalm-singing was that Reformed worshipers had the psalms well planted in their minds and hearts.”

“One obvious effect of psalm-singing was that Reformed worshipers had the psalms well planted in their minds and hearts. If we should hide God’s Word in our hearts that we might not sin against him (Ps. 119:11), singing the Word is one of the best ways to do that. Early Reformed leaders did not so much argue that we may sing only psalms as they argued that the psalms are the best songs to sing because they are divinely inspired….The principle argument used to promote hymn-singing from the eighteenth century on has been that hymns are more clearly centered on Christ than are the psalms. This argument was known before the eighteenth century, but was not very persuasive among early Reformed people. Calvin and Luther believed that the psalms were filled with Christ. They also believed that if our prayers and sermons and sacraments are filled with Christ, then we will see Christ in the Psalter. But as the Lord’s supper became infrequent and the sermons were too often moralistic, a great push developed to use hymns that preached the gospel. This impulse was strengthened by the increasingly revivalist spirit of much of American religion since the eighteenth century.”

Dr. Bob Godfrey of Westminster Seminary California from his autobiography An Unexpected Journey. Quoted on R. Scott Clark’s Heidelblog found here

“Jehovah has ordained His people the heirs of blessedness, and nothing shall rob them of their inheritance. With all the fulness of His power He will bless them, and all His attributes shall unite to satiate them with divine contentment.”

“Jehovah has ordained his people the heirs of blessedness, and nothing shall rob them of their inheritance. With all the fulness of his power he will bless them, and all his attributes shall unite to satiate them with divine contentment. Nor is this merely for the present, but the blessing reaches into the long and unknown future. “Thou, Lord, wilt bless the righteous.” This is a promise of infinite length, of unbounded breadth, and of unutterable preciousness. As for the defence which the believer needs in this land of battles, it is here promised to him in the fullest measure.” Charles Spurgeon commenting on Psalm 5 in A Treasury of David.

“Graveyards can be very tidy places.”

“When God blesses [with revival] we exchange problems of deadness for problems of liveliness. I have no interest as a pastor in spending my life tending to a graveyard. Graveyards can be very tidy places. Liveliness can be a very disorderly thing. Oh, God grant us the problems of liveliness in our day rather than bogging us down with the problems of deadness.” J. I. Packer

I am not a fan of “revivalism”, but I heard Packer’s comments in a series of lectures on revival today and I was glad to hear them. Surely we should be glad when God sends awakening to His people, even if we might prefer to emphasize how revival can come through the ordinary means of Word and Sacrament. Sure, Christians can get overly excited and veer off in the wrong direction and these misdirections create problems that we have to fix. Packer is saying that these are problems that are better to deal with than perhaps those that involve spiritual “deadness”. Any comments?

Puritan Seminary pictures

I was in Grand Rapids this past week for a course in the Th.M. program. Here are some pictures of the seminary.

“A man shall as soon force fruit out of a branch broken off from the tree and withered, as work righteousness without believing in, and uniting with Christ.”

“A man must first be righteous before he can work righteousness of life. ‘He that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.’ 1 John 3:7. The tree makes the fruit, not the fruit the tree; and therefore the tree must be good before the fruit can be good. Matthew 7:18. A righteous man may make a righteous work, but no work of an unrighteous man can make him righteous. Now we become righteous only by faith, through the righteousness of Christ imputed to us. Romans 5:1. . . . Wherefore let men work as they will, if they be not true believers in Christ, they are not workers of righteousness; and, consequently, they will not be dwellers in heaven. Ye must then close with Christ in the first place, and by faith receive the gift of imputed righteousness, or ye will never truly bear this character of a citizen of Zion. A man shall as soon force fruit out of a branch broken off from the tree and withered, as work righteousness without believing in, and uniting with Christ. These are two things by which those that hear the gospel are ruined.” Thomas Boston.

Daily M’Cheyne Bible Reading:

http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/devotions/one.year.tract/

Daily Confessional Reading:

http://dailyconfession.wordpress.com/

“But there are those who will trust Christ no further than they can see Him, and will not believe His promise, unless the means of the performance of it be visible; as if [God] were tied to our methods, and could not draw water without our buckets.”

“But there are those who will trust Christ no further than they can see Him, and will not believe His promise, unless the means of the performance of it be visible; as if [God] were tied to our methods, and could not draw water without our buckets.” Matthew Henry, Commentary on John ch 4.

Daily M’Cheyne Bible Reading:

http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/devotions/one.year.tract/

Daily Confessional Reading:

http://dailyconfession.wordpress.com/

“The great talkers of religion are often the least doers.”

“Heaven is not won with good words and a fair profession. The doing Christian is the man that shall stand, when the empty boaster of his faith shall fall. The great talkers of religion are often the least doers. His religion is in vain whose profession brings not letters testimonial from a holy life.” William Gurnall

Daily M’Cheyne Bible Reading:

http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/devotions/one.year.tract/

Daily Confessional Reading:

http://dailyconfession.wordpress.com/

“In the power of Christ they met something more frightening than they had ever met in nature.”

“What is significant about this story in Scripture is that the disciples’ fear increased after the threat of the storm was removed. The storm made them afraid. Jesus’ action to still the tempest made them more afraid. In the power of Christ they met something more frightening than they had ever met in nature. They were in the presence of the holy…It is one thing to fall victim to the flood or to cancer; it is another thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” R.C. Sproul commenting on Mark 4:41 in The Holiness of God.

Daily M’Cheyne Bible Reading:

http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/devotions/one.year.tract/

Daily Confessional Reading:

http://dailyconfession.wordpress.com/

“Grace is not obscured by God’s demand for holiness, but is highly exalted as we see it decking the saint with jewels, and clothing him in fair white linen; all this sumptuous array being a free gift of mercy.”

“It must not be supposed that the persons who are thus described by their inward and outward holiness are saved by the merits of their works; but their works are the evidences by which they are known. The present verse (Ps. 24:5) shows that in the saints grace reigns and grace alone. Such men wear the holy livery of the Great King because he has of his own free love clothed them therewith. The true saint wears the wedding garment, but he owns that the Lord of the feast provided it for him, without money and without price. “He shall receive the blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.” So that the saints need salvation; they receive righteousness, and “the blessing” is a boon from God their Saviour. They do not ascend the hill of the Lord as givers but as receivers, and they do not wear their own merits, but a righteousness which they have received. Holy living ensures a blessing as its reward from the thrice Holy God, but it is itself a blessing of the New Covenant and a delightful fruit of the Spirit. God first gives us good works, and then rewards us for them. Grace is not obscured by God’s demand for holiness, but is highly exalted as we see it decking the saint with jewels, and clothing him in fair white linen; all this sumptuous array being a free gift of mercy.” Charles Spurgeon on Psalm 24:5, The Treasury of David.

Daily M’Cheyne Bible Reading:

http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/devotions/one.year.tract/

Daily Confessional Reading:

http://dailyconfession.wordpress.com/

“Christianity has no new principle of praise worship to offer…It has nothing to add to the character of God, nothing to tell of His relation to men which had not already been uttered by the Holy Ghost through the men whom He had inspired of old.”

“There has been no change in the basic idea of praise. The eternal God remains the same. He is ‘the Father of lights, with Whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.’ Evangelical Christians agree in the belief that the Canon of revelation is closed. God has accomplished His purpose with men in revelation. There is no need for further revelation. The completion of the Canon has been definitely and finally declared. In completing the Canon God did not deem it necessary to add to the book of praise after the period of the Exile. Every feature of worship had been provided for in the Psalter. Christianity did not claim to be a new religion. It was the fruition of the religion of the Old Testament. The Jehovah of Israel’s prophets and the Father of our Lord are one and the same. Christianity has no new principle of praise worship to offer. It changed the form of the sacraments to meet new facts in the history of religion. It has given new vitality to prayer and clearer interpretation to praise. It has nothing to add to the character of God, nothing to tell of His relation to men which had not already been uttered by the Holy Ghost through the men whom He had inspired of old.” J. A. Thompson, The Suitableness and Sufficiency of the Psalter for Christian Worship, in a collection of essays entitled The Psalms in Worship, edited by John McNaugher, 1907.

Daily M’Cheyne Bible Reading:

http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/devotions/one.year.tract/

Daily Confessional Reading:

http://dailyconfession.wordpress.com/

Psalm 147:1-11

“Now morning being come, he looked back, not out of desire to return, but to see, by the light of the day, what hazards he had gone through in the dark. “

“When Christian had travelled in this disconsolate condition some considerable time, he thought he heard the voice of a man, as going before him, saying, “Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me.” [Ps. 23:4]

Then he was glad, and that for these reasons:

First, Because he gathered from thence, that some who feared God were in this valley as well as himself.

Secondly, For that he perceived God was with them, though in that dark and dismal state; and why not, thought he, with me? though, by reason of the impediment that attends this place, I cannot perceive it. [Job 9:11]

Thirdly, For that he hoped, could he overtake them, to have company by and by. So he went on, and called to him that was before; but he knew not what to answer; for that he also thought to be alone. And by and by the day broke; then said Christian, He hath turned “the shadow of death into the morning”. [Amos 5:8]

Now morning being come, he looked back, not out of desire to return, but to see, by the light of the day, what hazards he had gone through in the dark. So he saw more perfectly the ditch that was on the one hand, and the mire that was on the other; also how narrow the way was which led betwixt them both; also now he saw the hobgoblins, and satyrs, and dragons of the pit, but all afar off, (for after break of day, they came not nigh;) yet they were discovered to him, according to that which is written, “He discovereth deep things out of darkness, and bringeth out to light the shadow of death.” [Job 12:22] ” John Bunyan, Pilgrim’s Progress

Daily M’Cheyne Bible Reading:

http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/devotions/one.year.tract/

Daily Confessional Reading:

http://dailyconfession.wordpress.com/

“His forbearing at present to deliver them is on purpose to try their love, whether they will cleave to him to the end; and as for the ill end thou sayest they come to, that is most glorious in their account…”

“CHRISTIAN. I have given him my faith, and sworn my allegiance to him; how, then, can I go back from this, and not be hanged as a traitor?

APOLLYON. Thou didst the same to me, and yet I am willing to pass by all, if now thou wilt yet turn again and go back.

CHRISTIAN. What I promised thee was in my nonage; and, besides, I count the Prince under whose banner now I stand is able to absolve me; yea, and to pardon also what I did as to my compliance with thee; and besides, O thou destroying Apollyon! to speak truth, I like his service, his wages, his servants, his government, his company, and country, better than thine; and, therefore, leave off to persuade me further; I am his servant, and I will follow him.

APOLLYON. Consider, again, when thou art in cool blood, what thou art like to meet with in the way that thou goest. Thou knowest that, for the most part, his servants come to an ill end, because they are transgressors against me and my ways. How many of them have been put to shameful deaths! and, besides, thou countest his service better than mine, whereas he never came yet from the place where he is to deliver any that served him out of their hands; but as for me, how many times, as all the world very well knows, have I delivered, either by power, or fraud, those that have faithfully served me, from him and his, though taken by them; and so I will deliver thee.

CHRISTIAN. His forbearing at present to deliver them is on purpose to try their love, whether they will cleave to him to the end; and as for the ill end thou sayest they come to, that is most glorious in their account; for, for present deliverance, they do not much expect it, for they stay for their glory, and then they shall have it when their Prince comes in his and the glory of the angels.” John Bunyan, Pilgrim’s Progress

Daily M’Cheyne Bible Reading:

http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/devotions/one.year.tract/

Daily Confessional Reading:

http://dailyconfession.wordpress.com/

“Then he stood still awhile to look and wonder; for it was very surprising to him, that the sight of the cross should thus ease him of his burden. He looked therefore, and looked again, even till the springs that were in his head sent the waters down his cheeks. “

“Now I saw in my dream, that the highway up which Christian was to go, was fenced on either side with a wall, and that wall was called Salvation. [Isa. 26:1] Up this way, therefore, did burdened Christian run, but not without great difficulty, because of the load on his back.

He ran thus till he came at a place somewhat ascending, and upon that place stood a cross, and a little below, in the bottom, a sepulchre. So I saw in my dream, that just as Christian came up with the cross, his burden loosed from off his shoulders, and fell from off his back, and began to tumble, and so continued to do, till it came to the mouth of the sepulchre, where it fell in, and I saw it no more.

Then was Christian glad and lightsome, and said, with a merry heart, “He hath given me rest by his sorrow, and life by his death.” Then he stood still awhile to look and wonder; for it was very surprising to him, that the sight of the cross should thus ease him of his burden. He looked therefore, and looked again, even till the springs that were in his head sent the waters down his cheeks. [Zech. 12:10] Now, as he stood looking and weeping, behold three Shining Ones came to him and saluted him with “Peace be unto thee”. So the first said to him, “Thy sins be forgiven thee” [Mark 2:5]; the second stripped him of his rags, and clothed him with change of raiment [Zech. 3:4]; the third also set a mark on his forehead, and gave him a roll with a seal upon it, which he bade him look on as he ran, and that he should give it in at the Celestial Gate. [Eph. 1:13] So they went their way.” John Bunyan, Pilgrim’s Progress

Daily M’Cheyne Bible Reading:

http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/devotions/one.year.tract/

Daily Confessional Reading:

http://dailyconfession.wordpress.com/

“…when the gospel comes in the sweet and precious influences thereof to the heart, then, I say, even as thou sawest the damsel lay the dust by sprinkling the floor with water, so is sin vanquished and subdued, and the soul made clean through the faith of it, and consequently fit for the King of glory to inhabit.”

“Then he took him by the hand, and led him into a very large parlour that was full of dust, because never swept; the which after he had reviewed a little while, the Interpreter called for a man to sweep. Now, when he began to sweep, the dust began so abundantly to fly about, that Christian had almost therewith been choked. Then said the Interpreter to a damsel that stood by, Bring hither the water, and sprinkle the room; the which, when she had done, it was swept and cleansed with pleasure.

CHRISTIAN. Then said Christian, What means this?

INTERPRETER. The Interpreter answered, This parlour is the heart of a man that was never sanctified by the sweet grace of the gospel; the dust is his original sin and inward corruptions, that have defiled the whole man. He that began to sweep at first, is the Law; but she that brought water, and did sprinkle it, is the Gospel. Now, whereas thou sawest, that so soon as the first began to sweep, the dust did so fly about that the room by him could not be cleansed, but that thou wast almost choked therewith; this is to shew thee, that the law, instead of cleansing the heart (by its working) from sin, doth revive, put strength into, and increase it in the soul, even as it doth discover and forbid it, for it doth not give power to subdue. [Rom. 7:6; 1 Cor. 15:56; Rom. 5:20]

Again, as thou sawest the damsel sprinkle the room with water, upon which it was cleansed with pleasure; this is to show thee, that when the gospel comes in the sweet and precious influences thereof to the heart, then, I say, even as thou sawest the damsel lay the dust by sprinkling the floor with water, so is sin vanquished and subdued, and the soul made clean through the faith of it, and consequently fit for the King of glory to inhabit. [John 15:3; Eph. 5:26; Acts 15:9; Rom. 16:25,26; John 15:13]” John Bunyan, Pilgrim’s Progress

Daily M’Cheyne Bible Reading:

http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/devotions/one.year.tract/

Daily Confessional Reading:

http://dailyconfession.wordpress.com/