(H. Gurnall.).

1. The main condition of resting in the Lord is found in looking outside of one's self. There is a habit of morbid self-examination which needs to be shunned. Some experiences there are which are too delicate to bear this rude analysis. A woman's love for her husband, a child's confidence in his father, could be disturbed fatally and for ever, if only half as much violence were brought to bear upon it as some Christians are accustomed to exert upon their religious feelings. One can tear himself all to pieces, to no sort of profit, and to every sort of harm. The Lord is the one to look at, not ourselves.

2. The next condition of spiritual repose is found in the avoiding of unwise counsellors. We must learn to trust our trust, and not keep rooting it up. No plant grows which is continually being rooted up.

3. Another condition of rest in God is found in drawing a clear distinction between historic faith and saving faith. What secures to us a perfect salvation is spiritual trust in the Saviour, and this is the gift of the Holy Ghost. It is easy to receive facts, perhaps, but not so easy to understand experiences which lie deeper than any mere outward acts. Historic faith is not necessarily saving faith.

4. We are to cultivate confidence in the slowly reached answers to our prayers for Divine grace.

5. We must distinguish between emotions and religious states. The one may vary, the other is fixed. Faith is a very different thing from the result of faith; and confidence of faith is even a different thing from faith itself; and yet the safety of the soul depends on faith, and on nothing else. We are justified by faith; not by joy or peace or love or hope or zeal. These last are the results of faith, generally, and will depend largely upon temperament and education.

6. This unbroken courage is a condition of rest. David said that he came near to fainting, and should have done it, only be kept on believing to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. We must not think everything is lost when we happen to have become beclouded.

(C. S. Robinson, D. D.)

I. THE OCCASION OF THIS CONFIDENCE. In David's case we find this confidence —

1. In times of peril. The true children of God are oft in peril, and at such times nothing can stand them in such stead as this assured confidence. Luther felt it at Worms. Armed with it, the Christian may ever look even death calmly in the face. Man without it is in time of peril like a ship without anchor in the fury of the storm.

2. In times of privation. Apparently David was (ver. 4) in exile, and deprived of the privileges of worship in the house of God. But he found his great support in his confidence in God.

3. In times of desertion. When he needed friends most, the ranks were thinnest, his standard most deserted. But he had a Friend who would never forsake him. Happy the man who, amidst general unfaithfulness, has found the great treasure of a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.

4. In times of calumny. A bitter element in David's cup were false witnesses and slanderers.

II. SOME OF THE GROUNDS ON WHICH THIS CONFIDENCE RESTS.

1. The nature of God Himself in His personal relation to us: "My Light, my Salvation... the Strength of my life." It is not what we are, but what God is, that affords a solid ground of confidence in time of trouble. There is an emphasis on that pronoun my which speaks of an eternal covenant, an appropriating faith, a mystical union.

2. Previous interpositions of God for our help. Ver. 2 evidently refers to a period in the psalmist's past history when he was delivered from great danger. As the child of God looks back on the way by which the Lord has led him, and sees how Divine strength has been made manifest in his weakness, confident is he that the grace which has brought him thus far will lead him safely home.

3. The religious experiences he has enjoyed (ver. 8).

4. The promises of God received and rested on by faith.

III. THE FRUITS OF THIS CONFIDENCE.

1. Complete deliverance from all fear (ver. 1). Fear is unworthy one to whom Jehovah stands in such relations.

2. A positive sense of security from all harm. Jehovah, the Captain of our salvation, takes the timid soul into His own royal tent.

3. A well-spring of happiness. The Christian life has its hosannahs as well as its misereres — its notes of joyous triumph as well as its plaintive "songs in the night."

(T. H. Witherspoon, D. D.)

1. This courage is founded on confidence in God. When the soul feels God with it, it becomes invincible.

2. It is heightened by memories of past deliverance. Recollection of past mercies strengthens our faith in future supplies.

3. It defies all future enemies, and faces the mysterious future with a jubilant soul.

II. SHELTER IN LIFE'S STORMS.

1. The scene where the shelter is sought. The house of the Lord: the place where He specially manifests Himself to His people.

2. The means by which the shelter is to be secured. Dwelling with God; delighting in God; inquiring after God.

3. The source from which it is to be derived. God Himself.

4. The spirit in which it is accepted. Confidence and praise.

III. PRAYER IN LIFE'S STORMS. The prayer is —

1. An earnest appeal to mercy for relief.

2. It expresses ready compliance with the Divine request. God requires us to seek His favour, not because we can induce Him to be more merciful; nor because our prayer can merit His favours; but because earnest prayer qualifies the suppliant to rightly receive, appreciate, and use the blessing sought.

3. It deprecates the disfavour of God as a terrible evil.

4. It recognizes the transcendent character of Divine friendship. Though all forsake, He remains faithful.

4. It indicates the true method of safety. Obedience to Divine law; interposition for Divine help.

IV. SELF-EXHORTATION IN LIFE'S STORMS. "I had fainted unless," etc. An admonishment to himself to be strong.

1. Faith in Divine goodness. The vision of Divine goodness is the only moral tonic for the soul.

2. Consecration to the Divine service. To wait upon the Lord is to serve Him lovingly, thoroughly, faithfully, practically; and such service is moral strength.

(Homilist.)

I. A PROFOUND SENSE OF NEED AND DANGER This psalm is the cry of a soul in distress. David's throne, honour, wealth, did not exempt him from suffering; rather they became occasions of distress. To all, the sky of life is often overcast, its path lies along a toilsome way, with burdens too heavy to be borne. Where find rest and safety?

II. THE SECURITY OF TRUSTING IN GOD. God was his Light, and in the consciousness of that light he could see that all things worked together for good to them that love God. The Lord was his Salvation: his safety was assured. Cast into a fiery furnace, One appears with the Christian whose form is like the Son of God. God was the Strength of his life, awakening holy impulses, irradiating his whole spiritual being.

III. THE NECESSITY OF APPOINTED MEANS IN COMMUNING WITH GOD. In the sanctuary, in the place and in the way of Divine appointment, the psalmist was filled with a sense of the Divine presence. There God's light, salvation, strength, appeared in a reality and beauty nowhere else displayed. There God appeared not in nature, but in grace; not as a power, but as a Person; not as Creator, but as Redeemer. The psalmist therefore longed for the sanctuary.

IV. OBEDIENCE TO GOD IS INDISPENSABLE TO CONFIDING INTERCOURSE WITH HIM. At once he would seek, and actively seek, the Lord's face. There is no real confidence in God without loyalty: obedience is the only atmosphere on which the wing of faith can rise.

(Monday Club Sermons.)

I. THE "ONE THING" OF WHICH DAVID HERE SPEAKS. The abiding sense of the Divine presence. The temple, or "house of the Lord," was the place of God's special manifestations. Abiding in this presence will give —

1. Light — the light of His countenance. It is one thing to abide in our own or in other light — as "the Pharisee" and Zaccheus; a different thing to be in the light of God's face or presence. This light does two things: it reveals to us God, and shows us what sin is; it reveals God to us, and shows us what salvation is — making the Lord to be our salvation.

2. Satan may accuse, but, if God acquits, whom shall we fear? If the Law has been satisfied, the debt paid, we need fear neither penalties nor imprisonment. There is a second sense in which the Lord is light and salvation. No longer "afraid" of the condemning power of sin, we are warranted in standing in fear of its ruling power in our hearts. Therefore we are exhorted to "work out our salvation." To do this we need the light to guide us into all truth, the salvation to deliver us from all evil.

3. Strength. "If God be for us" strength is on our side.

4. "The beauty of the Lord." The beauty of His attributes, as they meet and harmonize for our blessing. The beauty, too, reflected in us; for in His light and salvation and strength we are "changed into the same image."

5. Joy and singing. When our joy is dependent on the consciousness of what we are or ought to be to God, it is a very uncertain joy, and will rarely produce singing, but rather sighing. But when it is dependent on the sense of what God is to us, then we can say, "I will offer in His tabernacle sacrifices of joy." To have this joy we must be taken out of self.

II. THE CONDITION OF ATTAINING THIS "ONE THING." We must "seek after it." We must "wait on the Lord." To navigate the sea of life we must keep the eye fixed on this one thing, on the one magnet — Christ. Paul did this, which made his bark "press toward" the haven with such grace and nobility.

(The Study.)

I. THE AFFIRMATION.

1. The Lord is light in nature. "All things were made by Him." All light in nature comes from God's Son, who is emphatically the Light of the world.

2. In the sphere of reason. God made man with a mind to know, a will to obey, a heart to love — elevated far above the rest of creation. By sin the mind is darkened, the will perverse, the heart depraved. Hence —

3. God is light in the sphere of grace. Man, by the Fall, deprived himself and the race of "those divine gifts"; hence the need of a Redeemer. This we have: "the Lord is salvation." Light shows us where and what we are — lost, ruined, dead. Christ, our salvation, brings us from the depths of the Fall, recreates us, imparts to us His Spirit, righteousness and life.

II. A MOST IMPORTANT POSSESSION. "My light," "my salvation." The beauty of the Psalms is in the pronouns. Light must be in us, or we walk in darkness; bread be eaten, or we starve; so an unapplied Saviour is no Saviour to man. This possession is ours only as we stand in living union with Christ Jesus our Lord.

III. THE GLORIOUS TRIUMPH. "Whom shall I fear?" etc. In possession of Christ's light and life, the Christian need fear neither sickness, death, grave, nor hell. Over all these lie has complete victory (Romans 8:34-39).

(J. Hassler, D. D.)

1. The fountain of gladness to his heart.

2. The author of safety to his person.

3. The giver of strength and might, for the preservation of his life.Uses —

1. For instruction.

(1)God's all-sufficiency in Himself, for all His children.

(2)The happy estate of those who are in covenant with God.

2. For admonition.

(1)Search and try whether God be that to us which He was to David.

(2)If we find defect we must give all diligence thereunto (2 Peter 1:5).

(3)In the fruition of any of these blessings, see whither to return the honour and praise, viz. to God.

3. For comfort.

II. WHAT BENEFIT DAVID REAPED THEREBY. Having the Lord for his God, he is armed against all fear of men or other creatures (Psalm 118:6; Psalm 23:1-4; Psalm 3:3-6). Uses —

1. For instruction.(1) There is great gain in true godliness, and much fruit in religion, to those who attain to true righteousness (1 Timothy 6:6; Psalm 58:11).(2) See here the true ground of the difference between the wicked and the godly, about slavish fear and godly boldness (Proverbs 28:1). The godly have the Lord with them and for them, and that makes them bold; but the wicked have the Lord against them, and that strikes their hearts with fear and dread.

2. For admonition.(1) Unless God be for us, the heart will fail when evils come. And none have the Lord for them but those that stand rightly in covenant with God; 'repenting of their sins, believing in the Lord Jesus, and walking in new obedience.(2) Those who have true courage and comfort in evil times must learn hence to give God all the glory (Psalm 18:29).

(T. Pierson.)

I. THE LORD IS MY LIGHT.

1. In the natural world God gives us a night between every two days, and in the life beyond we hear of a bow of emerald that breaks the dazzle of the great white throne. Light means truth, and, as it advances in precision and purity, the steps of discovered truth become the songs of degrees with which the tribes go up to the great temple of God.

2. In the spiritual life, both as regards salvation and service, much depends on clearness of vision, and knowledge of how and where to look and what to look for.

II. THE LORD IS MY SALVATION. The words "Christ for us" have now a clear and exact meaning, setting forth the condition and character of Salvation. And before Christ was crucified for sinners, the main feature of salvation was the same; it was from the Lord, a gift from His hand. "Blessed is the man whose sin is covered." Sin was then also a transgression, a taint, and a tyranny, and from all the Lord delivered. It was His to deliver the soul from death, the eyes from tears, and the feet from falling. This fact at once humbled and upheld him; it was the Lord's gift, and yet it was his own possession. And so he could say — "Whom shall I fear? The Lord is my salvation."

III. THE LORD IS MY STRENGTH. Light for the understanding and its judgment; salvation for the heart, its hardness and anxiety; and strength for action and usefulness. How often we come to the Lord, like James and John, and say "we are able"; but the Lord makes a thorough work of the first and second, the light and salvation, before lie entrusts us with the third, the strength on which He puts His own almighty name. We often bring misery upon ourselves, and darkness upon others, by trying to come into the Lord's service before coming to the Lord Himself. Let us seek the power in the pathway of power: — light, salvation, strength.

(G. M. Mackie, M. A.)

II. Apply the words TO OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST. In their deepest sense they can apply to none else. He whom Jesus said was greatest of woman-born — John the Baptist — was yet "not that light, but came to bear witness of that light." Christ alone could say, "I am the light of the world." Some of us may remember that great work of Christian genius, called the "Notre": it is by Correggio, and is reckoned amongst the chief of the art treasures of the Dresden Gallery. In it the Divine infant is represented as with a body almost transparent with light, and from Him all around are illuminated, and in proportion to their nearness to Him. It is a representation on canvas of a great moral and spiritual truth. For Christ is the one light of men.

III. To THE CHURCH. Was it not so in the days of persecution? Road the history of the martyrdom of Stephen.

IV. To CHRISTIAN EDUCATION. Our text is the motto of the University of Oxford, and expresses the truth that education apart from Him is vain.

V. To THE INDIVIDUAL CONSCIENCE. Then refer to Him all teaching, all content. "Lead, kindly Light... lead Thou me on."

(Canon Liddon.)

1. "The Lord is my light and my salvation." The soul is assured of it, and therefore declares it boldly. Into the soul at the new birth Divine light is poured as the precursor of salvation. Where there is not enough light to reveal our own darkness, and to make us long for the Lord Jesus, there is no evidence of salvation. After conversion our God is our Joy, Comfort, Guide, Teacher, and, in every sense, our Light: He is light within, light around, light reflected from us, and light to be revealed to us. Not merely does He give light or salvation; He is light, He is salvation; he, then, who has laid hold upon God has all covenant blessings in his possession.

2. "The Lord is the strength of my life." Here is a third epithet to show the writer's hope was fastened with a threefold cord which could not be broken. We may well accumulate terms of praise where the Lord lavishes deeds of grace.

II. THE ARGUMENTS. 1 "Whom shall I fear?" A question which is its own answer. The powers of darkness are not to be feared; for the Lord, our light, destroys them. The damnation of hell is not to be dreaded; for the Lord is our salvation. This is a very different challenge from that of boastful Goliath: that rested on the conceited vigour of an arm of flesh; this on the real power of the omnipotent I AM.

2. "Of whom shall I be afraid?" Our life derives all its strength from God: we cannot be weakened by all the machinations of the enemy. This bold question looks into the future as well as the present. "If God be for us, who can be against us," either now or in time to come?

( C. H. Spurgeon.)

(Canon Liddon.)

(H. Macmillan, D. D.)

(Henry Drummond.)

I. SHALL WE BE AFRAID OF GOD?

1. Is He not revealed as a sin-hating God? And are not all men sinners? How comes it, then, that the Christian man, though sensible of many infirmities, shortcomings, and aggravated sins — sins of thought, of word, and of deed — can say that he has no cause to be afraid of God? It is because of the new relation into which he is brought to God by virtue of his union to Christ, and of what Christ has done for him. The work of Christ was to satisfy Divine justice and reconcile us to God. Nor is this all. Every believer in Christ becomes a partaker of the Divine nature, sustaining a relation to him near and dear as that which His own Son sustained.

2. Is not the Christian exposed to temptation? May he not be stripped of the safeguard which Divine grace has thrown around him, and be exposed again to the dread vengeance of an insulted God? No; though he may fall, yet shall he rise again. So long as he is Christ's he has nothing to fear from God, but everything to hope. The love of God dwelling in him, there is no place for fear, for "perfect love casteth out fear."

II. SHALL WE FEAR THE LAW? "Cursed is every one that continueth not," etc. "He that offendeth in one point," etc. If a man's life is to be brought to the test of the law, if he is to stand on the footing of his own merits in the eye of the law, then, indeed, is his condition hopeless, for "there is not a just man upon the earth that doeth good and sinneth not." "By the deeds of the law shall no flesh living be justified." Now though all this be true, it is no less true that even of the law the Christian has no need to be afraid. To him it is invested with no terrors, on him it never flashes its lightning, against him it never peals its thunders, and why? Why, just because "the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made him free from the law of sin and of death." Why? Because "there is no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit."

III. SHALL WE FEAR SATAN? When we think of the life he has led us, the misery in which he has involved us, the grinding nature of that servitude be exacts from every one who is led captive by him at his will, we may well tremble at the thought of such an enemy, for unless we are ransomed from his hands by a mightier power than our own, well may we say that he is indeed a power to be feared. But it is only when under his power that this can truly be said of him. It cannot be so said of the believer, for his position is altered to Satan, and Satan's is altered to him. Christ "has taken the prey from the mighty, and spoiled the captive of the terrible one."

IV. SHALL WE FEAR AFFLICTION? To fear it would be to mistrust the promises, and to doubt the faithfulness of Him by whom these promises are made. "Fear not, for I am with thee; be not dismayed, for I am thy God." "When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee," etc.

V. SHALL WE FEAR DEATH? Death, which the world calls "the king of terrors," and which wicked men feel to be such! Death, which for six thousand years has lorded it over the human race, and to whose sceptre countless myriads are yet destined to bowl Shall we not be afraid of death? No! To the Christian there is nothing in death to make him afraid. To the Christian all his power is over the material, not over the spiritual; over the body, not over the soul; and even ever the body not long. To the Christian he comes as an angel of mercy, as a messenger of peace.

(H. Hyslop.)

1. Intelligent.

2. Appropriating.

3. Soul-saving.

II. STRENGTHENED BY THE REMEMBRANCE OF PAST DELIVERANCES. Confidence comes of experience. The remedy we have proved we readily try again. The friend we have found faithful we trust to death. The commander under whom we have conquered we follow bravely to other fields. So should we act as to God.

III. SUFFICIENT FOR THE GREATEST EMERGENCIES. What terror had Ahab for Micaiah, the man who had seen God? (1 Kings 22:19). What cared Elisha for "the horses and chariots" at Dothan, whose eyes beheld the angels of God ranged in his defence? (2 Kings 6:15). "If God be for us, who can be against us?" (Romans 8:31).

(W. Forsyth, M. A.)

I. THE LORD WAS THE PSALMIST'S LIGHT. Few things man recoils more from than darkness, whether physical, or of ignorance or of sin. This fear was no longer possible to David. He even anticipates John's grand utterance, "In Him was life, and the life was the light of men." What light was and ever had been to the world, the Lord was to David.

II. THE LORD WAS HIS SALVATION. As man dreads darkness, so he dreads captivity and oppression. David rejoices in God as his salvation. This conception of God first found expression in the song of Moses (Exodus 15:4), when God led the children of Israel through the Red Sea into the light and calm of day. The word "salvation" is Jeshua — Joshua — Jesus. So near does David come to the parallel Gospel phrase: "He shall be called Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins." Thus the psalmist gripped in advance two of the central truths of the Gospel — God as light and as salvation. In face of these assurances he asks, "Whom shall I fear?" This is the question of every reformer, who, in the strength of a mighty conviction, in the inspiration of high aims, goes to the help of the Lord against the mighty.

III. THE LORD WAS THE STRENGTH — THE STRONGHOLD — OF HIS LIFE. The word has a more subtle meaning still. David looks upon God as the Life of his life, the Father of his spirit. He thus falls back upon a third Gospel truth: "God is a Spirit." David's life was in possession of a power which needed not to fear any foe. By a mighty faith he drew upon God's omnipotence: be had not only enough obedience to be active, he had enough to be restful; and that power is greater than all other. Many a man, like John the Baptist, has courage and enthusiasm enough for the rush and battle of life, but falters when withdrawn into the hush of it, to await the oncoming of the foe. The strength of the psalmist enabled him to pass from "Whom shall I fear?" to "Of whom, then, shall I be afraid?" Therefore the second verse followed naturally: "When the wicked... they stumbled and fell."

(D. Davies.)

(H. Macmillan, D. D.)

(C. Kingsley, M. A.)

     1315   God, as redeemer
     8306   mercifulness

Hezekiah, the Praying King
One can form a habit of study until the will seems to be at rest and only the intellect is engaged, the will having retired altogether from exercise. This is not true of real praying. If the affections are laggard, cold, indifferent, if the intellect is furnishing no material to clothe the petition with imagery and fervor, the prayer is a mere vaporing ofintellectual exercise, nothing being accomplished worth while.--Rev. Homer W. Hodge The great religious reformation under King Hezekiah and the …
Edward M. Bounds—Prayer and Praying Men

The Courts of God
"Lord, I have loved the habitation of Thy house, and the place where Thine honour dwelleth."--Ps. xxvi. 8. R. Rolle, 1349. tr., Emma Frances Bevan, 1899 O Lord, I have loved the fair beauty Of the house Thou hast chosen for Thee, The courts where Thy gladness rejoiceth, And where Thou delightest to be. For I love to be made the fair dwelling Where God in His grace may abide; I would cast forth whatever may grieve Thee, And welcome none other beside. Oh blessed the grace that has made me The home …
Frances Bevan—Hymns of Ter Steegen and Others (Second Series)

Epistle v. To Theoctista, Sister of the Emperor.
To Theoctista, Sister of the Emperor. Gregory to Theoctista, &c. With how great devotion my mind prostrates itself before your Venerableness I cannot fully express in words; nor yet do I labour to give utterance to it, since, even though I were silent, you read in your heart your own sense of my devotion. I wonder, however, that you withdrew your countenance, till of late bestowed on me, from this my recent engagement in the pastoral office; wherein, under colour of episcopacy, I have been brought …
Saint Gregory the Great—the Epistles of Saint Gregory the Great

A Discourse of the Building, Nature, Excellency, and Government of the House of God; with Counsels and Directions to the Inhabitants Thereof.
BY JOHN BUNYAN, OF BEDFORD. 'Lord, I have loved the habitation of thy house, and the place where thine honour dwelleth.'--Psalm 26:8 ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. Beautiful in its simplicity is this treatise on the Church of Christ, by John Bunyan. He opens, with profound knowledge and eminent skill, all those portions of sacred writ which illustrate the nature, excellency, and government of the house of God, with the personal and relative duties of its inhabitants. It was originally published in …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

Letter xxxix (A. D. 1137) to the Same.
To the Same. He expresses his regret at his very long absence from his beloved Clairvaux, and his desire to return to his dear sons. He tells them of the consolations that he feels nevertheless in his great labours for the Church. 1. My soul is sorrowful until I return, and it refuses to be comforted till it see you. For what is my consolation in the hour of evil, and in the place of my pilgrimage? Are not you in the Lord? Wherever I go, the sweet memory of you never leaves me; but the sweeter the …
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux—Some Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux

Assurance
Q-xxxvi: WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS WHICH FLOW FROM SANCTIFICATION? A: Assurance of God's love, peace of conscience, joy in the Holy Ghost, increase of grace, and perseverance therein to the end. The first benefit flowing from sanctification is assurance of God's love. 'Give diligence to make your calling and election sure.' 2 Pet 1:10. Sanctification is the seed, assurance is the flower which grows out of it: assurance is a consequent of sanctification. The saints of old had it. We know that we know …
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

St. Augustine (Ad 354-430)
PART I The church in the north of Africa has hardly been mentioned since the time of St. Cyprian (Chapter VIII). But we must now look towards it again, since in the days of St. Chrysostom it produced a man who was perhaps the greatest of all the old Christian fathers--St. Augustine. Augustine was born at Thagaste, a city of Numidia, in the year 354. His mother, Monica, was a pious Christian, but his father, Patricius, was a heathen, and a man of no very good character. Monica was resolved to bring …
J. C. Roberston—Sketches of Church History, from AD 33 to the Reformation

Question Lxxxiii of Prayer
I. Is Prayer an Act of the Appetitive Powers? Cardinal Cajetan, On Prayer based on Friendship II. Is it Fitting to Pray? Cardinal Cajetan, On Prayer as a True Cause S. Augustine, On the Sermon on the Mount, II. iii. 14 " On the Gift of Perseverance, vii. 15 III. Is Prayer an Act of the Virtue of Religion? Cardinal Cajetan, On the Humility of Prayer S. Augustine, On Psalm cii. 10 " Of the Gift of Perseverance, xvi. 39 IV. Ought We to Pray to God Alone? S. Augustine, Sermon, cxxvii. 2 V. …
St. Thomas Aquinas—On Prayer and The Contemplative Life

A Treatise on Good Works
I. We ought first to know that there are no good works except those which God has commanded, even as there is no sin except that which God has forbidden. Therefore whoever wishes to know and to do good works needs nothing else than to know God's commandments. Thus Christ says, Matthew xix, "If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments." And when the young man asks Him, Matthew xix, what he shall do that he may inherit eternal life, Christ sets before him naught else but the Ten Commandments. …
Dr. Martin Luther—A Treatise on Good Works

The Morning of Good Friday.
The pale grey light had passed into that of early morning, when the Sanhedrists once more assembled in the Palace of Caiaphas. [5969] A comparison with the terms in which they who had formed the gathering of the previous night are described will convey the impression, that the number of those present was now increased, and that they who now came belonged to the wisest and most influential of the Council. It is not unreasonable to suppose, that some who would not take part in deliberations which were …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

The Greatness of the Soul,
AND UNSPEAKABLENESS 0F THE LOSS THEREOF; WITH THE CAUSES OF THE LOSING IT. FIRST PREACHED AT PINNER'S HALL and now ENLARGED AND PUBLISHED FOR GOOD. By JOHN BUNYAN, London: Printed for Benjamin Alsop, at the Angel and Bible in the Poultry, 1682 Faithfully reprinted from the Author's First Edition. ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. Our curiosity is naturally excited to discover what a poor, unlettered mechanic, whose book-learning had been limited to the contents of one volume, could by possibility know …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

Question of the Contemplative Life
I. Is the Contemplative Life wholly confined to the Intellect, or does the Will enter into it? S. Thomas, On the Beatific Vision, I., xii. 7 ad 3m II. Do the Moral Virtues pertain to the Contemplative Life? S. Augustine, Of the City of God, xix. 19 III. Does the Contemplative Life comprise many Acts? S. Augustine, Of the Perfection of Human Righteousness, viii. 18 " Ep., cxxx. ad probam IV. Does the Contemplative Life consist solely in the Contemplation of God, or in the Consideration …
St. Thomas Aquinas—On Prayer and The Contemplative Life

Psalms
The piety of the Old Testament Church is reflected with more clearness and variety in the Psalter than in any other book of the Old Testament. It constitutes the response of the Church to the divine demands of prophecy, and, in a less degree, of law; or, rather, it expresses those emotions and aspirations of the universal heart which lie deeper than any formal demand. It is the speech of the soul face to face with God. Its words are as simple and unaffected as human words can be, for it is the genius …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament