The Christian's Daily Walk: Sinful Anger

Henry Scudder, The Christian’s Daily Walk in holy Security and Peace. Phila, Presbyterian Board, nd. [edited, abridged, and modernized by SML] 137-140.

Remedies against sinful anger, to help you, so that passion and heat of anger do not kindle, or at least do not break out beyond appropriate bounds.

1. Convince your judgment thoroughly that passion and rash anger is forbidden and hated by God, Matt 5:22; Eccl 7:9.

• It is a fruit of the flesh, Gal. 5:20
• A work of the Devil, James 3:14-15.
• Bred and nourished by pride, Prov 21:24, folly, Prov 24:29, and self-love, Jonah 4:1-3.
• It makes a man unfit to pray, I Tim 2:8
• to hear the Word, I Peter 2:1; James 1:19,
• to perform any worship to God; and unfit to hear reason, or give or receive good counsel.
• God forbids his children the company of the froward, Prov 22:24,
• who abound in transgressions, Prov 29:22;
• and there is more hope of a fool than of him, Prov 29:20.
• For these reasons, fix in your mind such an abhorrence of this vice that you may beware and shun it with all caution.
  

2. Watch carefully for when anger begins to stir in you, and before it breaks out into speech or behavior, set your reason at work to prevent or restrain it. Set faith at work, having pertinent scriptures ready in your mind, such as:

• Be angry, but sin not. Eph 4:26
• Anger rests in the bosom of fools, Eccl 7:9
• Should I sin against God? Should I play the fool?

3. If you can't keep anger from rising in you, still, be sure that you bind your tongue and hand to good behavior. Make a covenant with them, not to show it or partake with it any further than considerate reason and good conscience advise you, Ps 39:1. Set a law to yourself, Ps 149:3, that you will not chide or strike while you are in the heat of anger. If there be cause of either, defer it until you have more government over yourself. Conscience of duty should lead you to chiding and correcting when there is cause, not passion: in passion you serve and revenge yourself upon the party, but not God.

4. Both before and when you are angry, see God, by the eye of your faith, as present with you, in hearing and looking upon you, Ps 11:4-5. This will make you peaceable and quiet, causing you not only to hold your hands and tongue, but this also will calm and abate the inward heat and passion of your mind.

5. If you feel your corruption and weakness to be such, and the provocation to anger so great, that you fear you cannot contain yourself, then, if it be possible, avoid all occasions of anger, and remove yourself, in a peaceable and quiet manner, from the person, object, or occasion thereof. And at all times shun the company of an angry man, as much as your calling will give you leave, lest you learn his ways, Prov 22:24-25.

6. However it may happen that anger kindles in you and breaks you; be sure that you subdue it before it grow into hatred of him with whom you are angry. For this cause let not the sun go down upon your wrath, Eph 4:26; you know not what hatred it may grow into before morning. And the best means that I know to subdue it is if you find your heart to rise against any, pray heartily to God for him in particular, for his good, Matt 5:44; to this you are commanded. Be so far from seeking revenge, that you force yourself to be loving and kind, showing all good offices of love with wisdom, as you shall have occasion; overcoming evil with good, Rom 13:17-21. Pray also to God for yourself, that he would please to subdue this passion in you. This act of love to him with whom you are angry, performed before God, in whose sight you dare not dissemble, will excellently quench wrath, and prevent hatred against him, and will give proof between God and your conscience that you love him.

Do not say, "I am so crossed and provoked, never 'any the like';" for Christ was more injured and more provoked than you, and yet never was in a passion, 1 Peter 2:23, Heb 12:2,3. And you provoke God a thousand times more every day, yet he is patient with you.

Do not say, "it is such a headstrong passion, that it is impossible to bridle and subdue it;" for, I can assure you, that by using means, these prescribed, if you also do often and much abase yourself before God for your passion and folly, and daily repent of it, and watch over yourself, you may, even if most hasty and passionate, become most meek and patient before you die.

Rules to know when anger is sinful.

You sin in your anger,

1. When it is without cause;

• when neither God is dishonored, nor your neighbor or yourself is injured;
• when it is for little things, and only because you are crossed in your will and desire, and such;
• but chiefly when you are angry with any for well doing, 1 Kings 22:24-26.
  

2. Even though you have cause for anger, if it extinguish your love to the person with whom you are angry; so that you neglect the common and needful offices of that love.

3. When it goes beyond due measure, when it is too much and too long.

4. It is sinful when it results in evil and unseemly effects, such as neglect, or ill performance of any duty to God or man; also when it breaks out into loud, clamorous, or reviling speeches, or into churlish, sullen, or indecent behavior, or when it is accompanied by any injurious act.

The Christian's Daily Walk: Reading

Of Reading.

Besides your set times of reading the holy Scriptures, you will do well to take some of your free time to read God’s book and the good books of men.

How to read profitably.

When you read any part of the word of God, you must differentiate between it and the best writings of men, preferring it far before them.

Consider it in its properties and excellencies. No word is of like absolute authority, holiness, truth, wisdom, power, and eternity. Ps 19:7-11

Consider this word in its ends and good effects. No book aims at God’s glory, John 5:39, 2 Cor 3:18, and the salvation of man’s soul, Romans 15:4, James 1:21, like this; none concerns you like God’s book does.

• It discovers your misery by sin, together with the perfect remedy, Rom 3:23-24.
  
• It proposes perfect happiness to you, Isa 55:1-3, affording means to work it out in you, and for you, Rom 1:16, I Thess 2:13.
• It is mighty, through God to prepare you for grace, 2 Cor 10:4-5.
  
• It is the immortal seed to beget you unto Christ, 1 Peter 1:23.
  
• It is the milk and stronger meat to nourish you up in Christ, 1 Peter 2:2, Heb 5:13-14.
  
• It is the only soul-physic (through Christ) to recover you, 2 Tim 1:13, and to free you of all spiritual evils.
• By it Christ gives spiritual sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, speech to the dumb, strength to the weak, health to the sick: yes, by it he does cast out devils, and raise men from the death of sin (through faith) as certainly as he did all those things for the bodies of men by the word of his power, while he lived on the earth, John 5:25.
  
• This book of God does contain those many rich legacies bequeathed to you in that last will and testament of God, sealed with the blood of Jesus Christ our Lord, Heb 9:15-18.
  
• It is the magna charta, and statute-book of the kingdom of heaven, Isa 8:20.
  
• It is the book of privileges and immunities of God’s children, Rom 6:14-22, 1 John 5:13.
  
• It is the word of grace, which is able to build you up, and give you an inheritance amongst all them that are sanctified, Acts 20:32.
• It will make you wise to salvation, through faith in Christ Jesus, making you perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works, 2 Tim 3:15-17.

Whenever therefore you hear this word preached, and when at any time you read it, you must receive it not as the word of man, but (as it is in truth) the word of God, then it will work effectually in you that believe, I Thess 2:13.

When you read this word, lift up the heart in prayer to God for the spirit of understanding and wisdom, Ps 119:18, that your mind may be more and more enlightened, and your heart more and more strengthened with grace by it. For this word is spiritual, containing the great counsels of God for man’s salvation, and which is as a book sealed up, Isa 29:11-12, in respect of discovery of the things of God in it, I Cor 2:10-11, to all that have not the help of God’s Spirit; so that none can know the inward and spiritual meaning thereof, powerfully, and savingly, but by the Spirit of God.

Read the word with a hunger and thirst after knowledge and growth in grace by it, 1 Peter 2:2, with a reverent, humble teachable, and honest heart, Luke 8:15; believing all that you read; trembling at the threatenings and judgments against sinners; rejoicing in the promises made unto, and the favor bestowed upon the penitent, and the godly; willing and resolving to obey all the commandments.

Thus if you read, blessed shall you be in your reading, Rev 1:3; and blessed shall you be in your deed, James 1:25.

Henry Scudder, The Christian’s Daily Walk in holy Security and Peace. Phila, Presbyterian Board, nd. pp98-99. [edited, abridged, and possibly linguistically modernized by SML]

Brooks: Why Christians must be mute and silent under afflictions in this world. (Part 6)

Thomas Brooks, The Mute Christian under the Smarting Rod, with Sovereign Antidotes... Seventh Edition. London, 1699.
[Abridged, edited, and extracted by SML.]

Reason 5. A fifth reason why gracious souls should be mute and silent under the greatest afflictions and sharpest trials that do befall them is this, because a holy, a prudent silence, under afflictions, under miseries, does best capacitate and fit the afflicted for the receipt of miseries. When the rolling bottle lies still you may pour into it your sweetest, or your strongest waters; when the rolling, tumbling soul lies still, then God can best pour into it the sweet waters of mercy, and the strong waters of divine consolation. You read of the peaceable fruits of righteousness, Heb 12:11, James 3:18.

Reason 6. A Sixth Reason why gracious souls should be silent under the smarting Rod, is this, viz. because it is fruitless, it is bootless to strive, to contest or contend with God; no man has ever got anything by muttering or murmuring under the hand of God, except it has been more frowns, blows, and wounds.

Reason 7. A seventh reason why Christians should be mute and silent under their afflictions, is because hereby they shall cross, and frustrate Satan’s great design and expectation. In all the afflictions he brought upon Job, his design was not so much to make Job a Beggar, as it was to make him a Blasphemer: it was not so much to make Job outwardly miserable, as it was to make Job inwardly miserable, by occasioning him to mutter and murmur against the righteous hand of God: that so he might have some matter of accusation against him to the Lord. His is the unwearied accuser of the brethren, Rev 12:10.

Reason 8. The eighth reason why Christians should be silent and mute under their sorest trials, is this, that they may be conformable to those noble patterns that are set before them by other saints, who have been patient and silent under the smarting Rod. As Aaron, Ex. 10:3, Ely, 1 Sam 3:18, David, 2 Sam 16:7-13, Job, chap 1:21-22, Eliakim, Shebnah and Joab, Isa 36:11-12. So those, saints in that, Acts 21:12-15, and that could of witnesses, pointed at in Hebrews 12:1. Gracious examples are more awakening, more convincing, more quickening, more provoking, and more encouraging than Precepts, because in them we see that the exercise of grace and godliness is possible, though it be difficult.

Perseverance

from J. R. Macduff, Palms of Elim; or Rest and Refreshment in the Valleys. New York: Carter, 1879.

"And they came to Elim ['Valleys'], where were ... threescore and ten palm trees: and they encamped there." -- Exodus 15:27

"This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest, and this is the refreshing"--

"He which hath begun a good work in you, will perform it unto the day of Jesus Christ." -- Phil 1:6

"We shall not die." -- Hab 1:12.

Perseverance.

In looking from underneath the shade of the palm-trees, on the long untrodden journey ere the true Canaan can be reached, the thought cannot fail to obtrude itself, Can we trust to be safeguarded through this great and terrible wilderness? Can we rely on the God of the Pillar-cloud conducting us to the brink of Jordan and thence to "the shining fields" beyond? Rather, is there no danger to be apprehended of spiritual drought and famine, or spiritual death, overtaking us? May it not be sadly fulfilled, with us, in a spiritual sense, as it was with the Pilgrim Hebrews in a literal, that through apostasy, unbelief, and backsliding, "we shall never enter into His rest"?

No. We have the sure word of promise of "a God who cannot lie," "Ye shall go over and possess that good land" (Deut. 4:22). "But now thus says the Lord that created you, O Jacob, and He that formed you, O Israel, Fear not; for I have redeemed you, I have called you by your name; you are Mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and through the rivers, they will not overflow you: when you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle on you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Saviour" (Isa 43:1-3). All is guaranteed to us in what the old writers call "the charter-deed of the Everlasting Covenant." The immutability of the Divine counsel has been confirmed to us by oath. In the first of our motto-verses the great Apostle speaks with unhesitating assurance; --"being confident of this very thing, that He which has begun a good work in you, will perform it unto the day of Jesus Christ." He does not, indeed, aver that "good work" is never to be impeded. God has never given promise in Scripture, with regard to spiritual experience, of an unclouded day--uninterrupted sunshine. "The morning without clouds" is a heavenly emblem. The earthly one is "a day in which the light shall neither be clear nor dark" (Zech 14:6). The analogy of the outer world of nature, at least under these our checkered and ever-varying skies, teaches us this. Spring comes smiling, and pours her blossoms into the lap of summer. But the skies lower, the rain and battering hail descend, the virgin blossoms droop their heads and almost die. Summer again smiles, and the meadows look gay; the flowers ring merry chimes with their leaves and petals and swing their fragrant censers. But all at once the drought comes with her fiery, merciless footsteps. Every blade and floweret, gasping for breath, lift their blanched eyelids to the brazen sky; or the night winds rock the laden branches and strew the ground. Thus, we see, it is not one unvarying, unchecked progression, from the opening bud to the matured fruit. But every succeeding month is more or less scarred by drought and moisture, wind and rain and storm. Yet, never once has Autumn failed to gather up her golden sheaves; aye, and if you ask her testimony, she will tell that the very storm, the blackened skies, and descending torrents you dreaded as foes, were the best auxiliaries in filling her garners. Do not be despondent now, because of present passing shadows, but "thank God, and take courage." "Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the Lord upholds him with His hand" (Ps 37:24). It is written, that "at evening time it shall be light" (Zech 14:7). The sun may wade all day through murky clouds, but he will pillow his head at night on a couch of vermilion and amber. "Though you have lien among the pots, yet shall you be as the wings of a dove covered with silver, and her feathers with yellow gold" (Ps 68:13).

The second of our motto-verses forms part of an impassioned appeal of the Prophet Habakkuk in the prospect of impending national calamity. The great military power of that era of the world was menacing the cities and homes of Palestine. "Terrible and dreadful"--their horses "swifter than the leopards, and more fierce than the evening wolves" (1:7-8). Overwhelmed at the thought of imminent judgment and desolation; the seer can discern no silver lining in the cloud. He turns from man to God. He takes refuge in that sublime truth--the Immutability of a covenant Jehovah; and breaks out in these beautiful words of calm confidence, "Art Thou not from everlasting, O Lord, my God, mine Holy One? we shall not die!" No: though the hosts of the Chaldeans should sweep the battle-plains; though they should leave behind them a track of blood and ashes and smoke; though the cry of suffering thousands should ascend apparently succoured to heaven, "We shall not die." The God of our Fathers will not be untrue to His oath, or unmindful of His covenant. He will not cast off forever, or root out our name and remembrance from the earth.

"I give unto them," is His own blessed word and guarantee to His true Israel still, "eternal life, and they shall never perish." "What God hath spoken, He is able also to perform." The good work begun, He will also finish. Let this ever be our rallying call when wounded in the fight, "This is mine infirmity: but I will remember the years of the right hand of the Most High!"

"He will never fail us,
He will not forsake;
His eternal covenant,
He will never break.
.......................
Onward, then, and fear not,
Children of the Day!
For His Word shall never,
Never pass away!"

"It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of God."

Brooks: Why Christians must be mute and silent under afflictions in this world. (Part 5)

Thomas Brooks, The Mute Christian under the Smarting Rod, with Sovereign Antidotes... Seventh Edition.London, 1699. [Abridged, edited, and extracted by SML.]

Why must Christians be mute and silent under the greatest afflictions, the saddest providences, and sharpest trials that they meet with in this world?

Reason 1. That they may better hear and understand the voice of the Rod. As the word has a voice, the Spirit a voice, and Conscience a voice, so the Rod has a voice. Afflictions are the Rod of God's anger, the Rod of his displeasure, and the Rod of his revenge; he gives a commission to his Rod to awaken his people, to reform his people, or else to revenge the quarrel of his Covenant upon them, if they will not bear the Rod, and kiss the Rod, and sit mute and silent under the rod, Micah 6:9. The Lord's voice cries unto the City, and the man of wisdom shall see thy name: hear ye the Rod and who hath appointed it. God's rods are not mutes, they are all vocal, they are speaking as well as fruiting; every twig has a voice: .... ah soul! says a twig, was it not best with you, when you were high in your communion with God, and when you were humble and close in your walking with God? Ah Christian, says another twig, will you search your heart, and try your ways, and turn to the Lord thy God? Ah soul, says another twig, will you die to sin more than ever, and to the world more than ever, and to relations more than ever, and to thyself more than ever? Ah soul! says another twig, will you live more to Christ than ever, and cleave closer to Christ than ever, and prize Christ more than ever, and venture further for Christ than ever? Ah soul, says another twig, will you love Christ with a more inflamed love, and hope in Christ with a more raised hope, and depend upon Christ with a greater confidence, and wait upon Christ with more invisible patience, &tc. Now if the soul is not mute and silent under the Rod, how is it possible that it should ever hear the voice of the Rod, or that it should ever hearken to the voice of every twig of the rod?

Reason 2. Gracious souls should be mute and silent under their greatest afflictions, and sharpest trials, that they may difference and distinguish themselves from the men of the world, who usually fret and fling, mutter or murmur, curse and swagger, when they are under the afflicting hand of God, Isa 8:21-22.

Reason 3. A third reason why gracious souls should be silent and mute under their sharpest trials, is that they may be conformable to Christ their head, who was dumb and silent under his sorest trials. Isa 53:7, I Pet. 2:21-23 Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow his steps. Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth. Who when he was reviled, reviled not again? When he suffered, he threatened not, but committed himself to him that judges righteously. Christ upon the cross did not only read us a lecture of patience and silence, but also set us a copy or pattern of both, to be transcribed and imitated by us, when we are under the smarting rod.

Reason 4. A fourth reason why the people of God should be mute and silent under their afflictions, is this, because it is ten thousand times a greater judgment and affliction, to be given up to a fretful spirit, a froward spirit, a muttering or murmuring spirit, under an affliction, than it is to be afflicted.

Next: Why Christians must be mute and silent under afflictions in this world. (Part 6)

Physical Benefit of Sunday

The Presbyterian Magazine, October 1855.

Physical Benefit of Sunday.

The Sabbath is God's special present to the working man, and one of its chief objects is to prolong his life, and preserve efficient his working tone. In the vital system it acts like a compensation pool; it replenishes the spirits, the elasticity, and vigour, which the six have drained away, and supplies the force which is to fill the six days succeeding; and in the economy of existence, it answers the same purpose as, in the economy of income, is answered by a savings bank.

The prudent man who puts aside a pound today, and another pound next month, and who, in a quiet way, is always putting by his stated pound, from time to time, when he grows old and frail, gets not only the same pounds back again, but a good many more beside. And the conscientious man who husbands one day of existence every week, who, instead of allowing the Sabbath to be trampled on, and torn, in the hurry and scramble of life, treasures it devoutly up--the Lord of the Sabbath keeps it for him, and length of days and a hale old age give it back with usury. The Savings Bank of human existence is the weekly Sabbath.--- North British Review.

Seasons of Life

a 'Brevity' from
The Presbyterian Magazine
February, 1858.
edited by Rev. C. Van Rensselaer, D.D.
Published in Philadelphia by Joseph M. Wilson.

"Trials"

It is not in the light and sunny places of the wilderness that the traveler most sweetly reposes. It is under the shadow of a great rock, or in the depth of a sequestered valley; and so it is with a Christian. The sun of prosperity withers our joys, and changes the green leaves into the sickly colors of autumn. Adversity is like the winter, which prepares the ground for the reception of the seed, and for the rich and glowing luxuriance of spring-time.

Brooks - What does a holy patience not exclude? (Part 4)

Thomas Brooks, The Mute Christian under the Smarting Rod, with Sovereign Antidotes... Seventh Edition. London, 1699. [Abridged, edited, and extracted by SML.]

What does holy patience not exclude? (continued)

Fifthly, a holy, a prudent silence does not exclude moderate mourning or weeping under the afflicting hand of God.

Sixthly, a gracious, a prudent silence does not exclude sighing, groaning, or roaring under affliction. A man may sigh, and groan, and roar under the hand of God, and yet be silent; it is not sighing, but muttering; it is not groaning, but grumbling, it is not roaring, but murmuring, that is opposite to a holy Silence, Exod. 2.23 And the Children of Israel sighed by reason of their bondage. (You may see much of this by comparing the following Scriptures, Lam 1:4,11,21,22. Ps 31:10, Jer. 45:3, Ex 2:24, Job 23:3, Ps 66.) Sometimes the sighs and groans of a Saint, do in some sort tell that which his tongue can in no sort utter.

Seventhly, a holy, a prudent silence, does not exclude or shut out the use of any just or lawful means, whereby persons may be delivered out of their afflictions. God would not have his people so in love with their afflictions as not to use such righteous means as may deliver them out of their afflictions, Mat 10:23. But when they persecute you in this City, flee you into another, Acts 12. Afflictions are evil in themselves, and we may desire and endeavour to be delivered from them, James 5:14-15. Isa 38:18-21, both inward and outward means are to be used for our own preservation.

Eighthly, a holy, a prudent silence does not exclude a just and sober complaining against the authors, contrivers, abettors, or instruments of our afflictions, 2 Tim 4:14. Alexander the Coppersmith did me much evil, the Lord reward him according to his works.

Christ himself (who was the most perfect pattern for dumbness and silence under sore trials) complains against Judas, Pilate, and the rest of his persecutors, Ps 69: 20,30,&tc.

Next: Why Christians must be mute and silent under afflictions in this world. (Part 5)

Brooks - What does a holy patience not exclude? (Part 3)

Thomas Brooks, The Mute Christian under the Smarting Rod, with Sovereign Antidotes... Seventh Edition. London, 1699. [Abridged, edited, and extracted by SML.]

What does holy patience not exclude?

First, a holy, prudent silence under affliction does not exclude and shut out a sense and feeling of our afflictions, Ps. 39, though he was dumb, and laid his hand upon his mouth, verse 9, yet he was very sensible of his affliction, verse 10 and 11. He is sensible of his pain, as well as of his sin; and having prayed off his sin in the former verses, he labors here to pray off his pain...

Secondly, a holy, prudent silence, does not shut out prayer for deliverance out of our afflictions. Ps. 62 verse 10-12, James 5:13, Ps 50:15.

Thirdly, a holy, a prudent silence does not exclude men being kindly affected and afflicted with their sins, as the meritorious cause of all their sorrows and sufferings, James 3:32,40. Wherefore does a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sin? Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the Lord, Job 40:4,5. Behold, I am vile, what shall I answer thee? I will lay my hand upon my mouth. Once have I spoken, but I will not answer: yea, twice, but I proceed no further, Mich 7.9. I will bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned. In all our sorrows we should read our sins, and when God's hand is on our backs, our hands should be upon our sins.

Fourthly, a holy, a prudent silence, does not exclude the teaching and instructing of others when we are afflicted; the words of the afflicted stick close; they many times work strongly, powerfully, strangely, savingly on the souls and consciences of others. Many of Paul’s epistles were written to the churches when he was in bonds. ... The words of a wise man's mouth are never more gracious then when he is most afflicted and distressed.

Next: What does a holy patience not exclude? (Part 4)

Brooks - What does a prudent, gracious, holy silence include? (Part 2)

Thomas Brooks, The Mute Christian under the Smarting Rod, with Sovereign Antidotes... Seventh Edition. London, 1699. [Abridged, edited, and extracted by SML.]

What does a prudent, a gracious, a holy silence include? (continued)

Fifthly, a holy silence takes in gracious, blessed, soul-quieting conclusions about the issue and event of the afflictions that are on us, Lam 3.27-34. In this you may observe five soul-stilling conclusions.

• First, they work for their good.
• Second, they shall keep them humble and low.
• Thirdly, For the Lord will not cast off forever; the Rod shall not always lie on the back of the righteous.
• Fourth, In wrath God remembers Mercy, Hab 3.2, Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.
• Fifthly, For he does not afflict willingly (or from his heart, as in the Hebrew) nor grieve the Children of men. God’s heart was not in their afflictions, though his hand was; he takes no delight to afflict his children...

Sixthly, a holy, a prudent silence includes and takes in a strict charge; a solemn command that conscience lays upon the soul to be quiet and still, Ps 37:7 Rest in the Lord (of as the Hebrew has it, be silent to the Lord) and wait patiently for him. I charge thee, oh my soul, not to mutter, nor to murmur, I command thee, oh my soul, to be dumb and silent under the afflicting hand of God.

Seventhly, a holy, a prudent silence, includes a surrendering, a resigning up of yourselves to God, while we are under his afflicting hand: the silent soul gives himself up to God: the secret language of the soul is this, Lord, here am I, do with me what you please, write upon me as you please, I give up myself to be at your disposal. There was a good woman, who when she was sick, being asked whether she were willing to live or die? Answered, Whatever God pleases, but said one that stood by, if God should refer it to you, which would you choose? Truly, said she, if God should refer it to me, I would even refer it to him again; this was a soul worth gold.

Eighthly, a holy, a prudent silence, takes in a patient waiting upon the Lord under our afflictions, until deliverance comes. Ps. 40:1-3, Ps 62:5, My soul wait thou only upon God, for my expectation is from him, Lam 3.26 It is good that a man should both hope and quietly (or silently) wait for the salvation of the Lord.

Next: What does holy patience not exclude? (Part 3)

Thomas Brooks - The Mute Christian - Introduction

My most recent find in wandering around the house is Thomas Brook's The Mute Christian under the Smarting Rod, not a title which makes me think of a nice relaxing evening by the fire. It's not a nice, relaxing book, either, but it's definitely worth reading. It's easy to skim over verses like Psalm 39:9 (I was dumb, I opened not my mouth, because You did it), on which this book is based. It's easy not to think about what being silent before God means. This book has just opened my mind to the topic. It is based on the inevitability of trials in Christian life, with Psalm 39:9 as a biblical response to them. My intention is to post at least a portion of his biblically based description of what godly silence is and is not.

From the introduction:

The choicest saints are born to troubles as the sparks fly upwards. Many are the troubles of the righteous, if they were many, and not troubles, (then as it is in the Proverb,) the more the merrier, or if they were troubles, and not many, then the fewer the better cheer? But God, who is infinite in wisdom and matchless in goodness has ordered troubles, yes, many troubles to come trooping in upon us on every side. As our mercies, so our crosses seldom come in singles, they usually come treading one upon the heels of another; they are like April showers, no sooner is one over, but another comes: and yet, Christians, it is mercy, it is rich mercy, that every affliction is not an execution, that every correction is not a damnation. The higher the waters rise, the nearer Noah’s Ark was lifted up to Heaven; the more they afflictions are increased, the more your heart shall be raised heavenward...

Psalm 39:9 I was dumb, I opened not my mouth, because You did it.

...There is prudent silence, a holy, a gracious silence, a silence that springs from prudent principles, from holy principles and from gracious causes and considerations, and this is the silence meant here.

What does a prudent, a gracious, a holy silence include?
Part 1
Part 2

What does holy patience not exclude?
Part 3
Part 4

Why must Christians be mute and silent under the greatest afflictions, the saddest providences, and sharpest trials that they meet with in this world?
Part 5
Part 6

Thomas Brooks, The Mute Christian under the Smarting Rod, with Sovereign Antidotes... Seventh Edition. London, 1699. [Abridged, edited, and extracted by SML.]

Brooks - What does a prudent, gracious, holy silence include? (Part 1)

Thomas Brooks, The Mute Christian under the Smarting Rod, with Sovereign Antidotes... Seventh Edition. London, 1699. [Abridged, edited, and extracted by SML.]

Psalm 39:9 I was dumb, I opened not my mouth, because You did it.

...There is prudent silence, a holy, a gracious silence, a silence that springs from prudent principles, from holy principles and from gracious causes and considerations, and this is the silence meant here.

What does a prudent, a gracious, a holy silence include?

First, it includes a sight of God, and an acknowledgment of God as the Author of all the affliction that comes upon us: this is plain in the text, I was dumb, I opened not my mouth, because You did it. The Psalmist looks through secondary causes to the first Cause, and so sits mute before the Lord. There is no sickness so little, but God has a finger in it. (In secondary causes many times a Christian may see much envy, hatred, malice, pride, &tc. But in the first cause he can see nothing but grace and mercy, sweetness and goodness.) ... If God’s hand is not seen in the affliction, the heart will do nothing but fret and rage under affliction.

Secondly, it includes and takes in some holy gracious apprehensions of the majesty, sovereignty, dignity, authority, and presence of that God, under whose afflicting hand we are, Hab 2.20, But the Lord is in his holy Temple, let all the Earth be silent, or as Hebrews reads, Be silent all the Earth before his face. ... Aaron had an eye to the sovereignty of God, and that silences him. Job had an eye upon the Majesty of God, and that stills him. Eli had an eye upon the authority and presence of God, and that quiets him. A man never comes to humble himself, nor to be silent under the hand of God, till he comes to see the Hand of God to be a mighty hand, 1 Pet. 5.6. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty Hand of God. ... As a sight of his grace cheers the soul, so a sight of his greatness and glory silences the soul.

Third, a gracious, prudent silence, takes in a holy quietness and calmness of mind and spirit, under the afflicting hand of God: A gracious silence shuts out all inward heats, murmurings, frettings, quarrellings, wranglings, and boilings of the heart, Ps 62.1 Truly my soul keeps silence unto God, or is silent or still, that is, my soul is quiet and submissive: God, all murmurings and repinings, passions and turbulent affections being allayed, tamed, and subdued. This is clear in the text and in the former instances of Aaron, Eli, and Job, they saw that it was a Father that put those bitter cups in their hands, and love that laid those heavy crosses upon their shoulders, and grace that put those yokes about their necks, and this caused much quietness and calmness in their spirits.

Fourthly, a prudent, a holy Silence, takes in an humble, justifying, clearing and acquitting of God of all blame, rigor, and injustice, in all the afflictions he brings upon us, Ps. 51:4. That you may be justified when you speak, and be clear when you judge, that is, when you correct. [I Cor 11.32 When we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord., Ps 119:75, 137: I know, O Lord, that thy judgments are right, and that you in faithfulness have afflicted me. Righteous are you, O Lord, and righteous are your Judgments.] God's judgments are always just: he never afflicts except in faithfulness.

Next: What does a prudent, gracious, holy silence include? (Part 2)

How to profit from reading a good book, by Thomas Brooks

Thomas Brooks, The Mute Christian under the Smarting Rod, with Sovereign Antidotes... Seventh Edition. London, 1699. [Abridged, edited, and extracted by SML.]

The Epistle Dedicatory:

[To give a little good counsel as you read,] as that it may turn much to your soul's advantages; for, as many fish and catch nothing, so many read good books and get nothing, because they read them over cursorily, slightly, superficially; but he that would read to profit, must then,

1. Read, and look up for a blessing, Paul may plant, and Apollo may water, but all will be to no purpose except the Lord give the increase. [1 Cor 3:6-7] God must do the deed, when all is done, or else all that is done will do you no good; if you would have this work successful and effectual, you must look off from man, and look up to God, who alone can make it a blessing to you. [Mic 6.14]
2. To profit, read and meditate; mediation is the way by which spiritual truths are digested. A man shall as soon live without his heart, as he shall be able to get good by what he reads without meditation. Prayer (says Bernard) without meditation, is dry and formal, & reading without meditation is useless and unprofitable. Austin says, the more I meditate on thee, the sweeter thou art to me: so the more you shall meditate on what you read the sweeter it will be to you; they usually thrive best, who mediate most; meditation is a soul satisfying duty, it is a grace-strengthening duty, it is a duty-crowning duty.
3. Read, and try what you read, take nothing upon trust; but all upon trial. [As in Acts 17:10-11]
4. Read and do, read and practice what you read, or else all your reading will do you no good... Profession without practice will but make a man twice told a child of darkness, to speak well is to sound like a cymbal, but to do well is to act like an Angel...
5. Read and apply; reading is but the drawing of the bow, application is the hitting of the while; the choicest truths will no further profit you, then they are applied by you; you were as good not to read, as not to apply what you read.
6. Read and pray, he that makes not conscience of praying over what he reads, will find little sweetness or profit in his Reading; no man makes such earnings of his reading, as he that prays over what he reads. Luther professes that he profited more in the knowledge of the Scriptures, by prayer in a short space, than by study in a longer... Ah Christians! Pray before you read, and pray after you read, that all may be blessed and sanctified to you.

Sleeping in Church

the
Presbyterian Magazine
February, 1854.
edited by Rev. C. Van Rensselaer, D.D.
Philadelphia, C. Sherman, printer.

“On Sleeping in Church,” p62.

1. Do not sleep too long and late Sabbath mornings. Nothing is gained by it but additional drowsiness. The Scripture holds good emphatically here, as it respects extra sleep, “to him that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance,” even in church.
2. Spend a few moments, before going to church, in serious meditation on the case of Eutychus, mentioned in Acts 20.9, and remember if any accident should occur to you, you have not Paul for your minister to remedy it.
3. Bear in mind that if you fall asleep, the preacher may treat you merely as the furniture of the pew, much as an old minister in Norwich, Conn., did his sleeping hearers, many years ago. “I come now,” said he, “to the third head of my discourse, to which I ask the serious and candid attention of all who are not asleep,” giving a marked and peculiar emphasis to the last word.
4. Remember, if the sermon is peculiarly dull, that you meet with a double loss.
   “If all want sense,
   God takes a text and preaches patience.”
5. Bethink yourself that it may be the last time in this world that you will have the opportunity of struggling against drowsiness under a sermon.
6. Last of all, resolve that when you make your pew your lodgings, you will pay for the privilege of the nap, and put into the plate or into the Lord’s treasury its cash value at the best hotels.—N.Y. Evangelist.

**I can't say which of them I appreciate the most, but it's probably either comparing myself to Eutycus or paying to the church a rate set by an 1854 NY hotel!

Samuel Clifford's directions to Those who have suffered from Depression in the Past - Part 2

An edited and (quite) abridged excerpt from The Signs and Causes of Melancholy, with directions suited to the case of those who are afflicted with it. Collected out of the works of Mr. Richard Baxter, for the sake of those, who are wounded in Spirit. By Samuel Clifford, minister of the Gospel London, Bible and Three Crowns, 1716. Extracted from Pages xi-xlvi.

To the Reader, by Samuel Clifford

II. Look upon the Devil as your implacable Enemy and resist his Temptations. Because by his sin he forfeited and forever lost the happiness he once enjoyed, the Devil envies your happiness, and if he can find a way to make it happen, you will be as miserable as he is. Don’t be ignorant of his devices. Keep far enough out of harms way: while you pray to God not to lead you into temptations, don’t throw yourselves onto temptations. The devil will show you the Bait, and conceal the hook. If he can get you first to look at and then to play with the bait, before you know it, you may be taken with the hook. This was the method he used with Eve, first to question the truth of God, next to look upon the forbidden object, and then to take and eat of the fruit of the forbidden tree. You have felt by sad experience the Devil’s attitude toward you, when you were continually assaulted with his horrid temptations, and it should make you know he is an enemy of your body and soul. As you fear God, or love yourselves, put on the whole armor of God. Stand to your spiritual arms, and stand your ground against this enemy of your salvation. Reflect on the malice and enmity shown towards you, when he throws his fiery darts with such hellish rage and fury into you; and let this teach you to proclaim and carry on, a perpetual war against him.

You say, "and You, who were dead and are alive and lives for evermore, the great Captain of my Salvation, who has led captivity captive, I make my application to You; in myself I have no might against this strongman, but I come to you for Help. I am Yours, save me. I have renounced the Devil in my profession of faith and stand by my covenant engagements: I hate the Devil and all his Works. Preserve me by your Grace from his Temptations, or if I must be tempted, let it not be above my strength. After you have rescued me out of the Paws of this devouring Lion, do not let me be swallowed up by him."

Chalmers on what Life is

the
Presbyterian Magazine
February, 1858.
edited by Rev. C. Van Rensselaer, D.D.
Published in Philadelphia by Joseph M. Wilson.

Brevities.

“Life,” p94-95.

The mere lapse of years is not life. To eat, drink, and sleep; to be exposed to darkness and light; to pace around in the mill of habits, and turn the mill of wealth; to make reason our bookkeeper, and thought an implement of trade—this is not life. In all this but a poor fraction of the unconsciousness of humanity is awakened; and the sanctities still slumber which make it worth while to be. Knowledge, truth, love, beauty, goodness, faith, alone can give vitality to the mechanism of existence; the laugh of mirth which vibrates through the heart, the tear which freshens the dry wastes within, the music that brings childhood back, the prayer that calls the future near, the death which startles us with mystery, the hardship which forces us to struggle, the anxiety that ends in being.—Chalmers.

Samuel Clifford's directions to Those who have suffered from Depression in the Past - Part 1

An edited and (quite) abridged excerpt from The Signs and Causes of Melancholy, with directions suited to the case of those who are afflicted with it. Collected out of the works of Mr. Richard Baxter, for the sake of those, who are wounded in Spirit. By Samuel Clifford, minister of the Gospel London, Bible and Three Crowns, 1716. Extracted from Pages xi-xlvi.

from To the Reader, by Samuel Clifford

... [Those who have been afflicted by depression or have seen it in others] will readily acknowledge the case of persons under such circumstances to be sad and very affecting: theirs especially, who have no Friend at hand to give them suitable advice, by speaking a Word in Season to them. In compassion to such distressed Souls, who are weary and heavy laden, and ready to sink under their burden, I have drawn up the following collection...

...[Baxter] having no where in his works, (as I have observed) given any directions to those who were once oppressed with melancholy, but are now delivered from it, I shall take the liberty to add a few things by way of advice to such.

I. Keep your distance from sin. Sin is evil in itself, is contempt of the authority of God; and is so evil in its effects, that except for the merits of Christ, and the pardoning mercy of God, eternal death would be the unavoidable consequence of every sin. In your depression, when you thought of sin and death and hell, how evil did it seem? Even though time has changed your state of mind, it has made no change at all in the nature of sin: it is a transgression of the law of God, and therefore is evil in his sight, and should be as hateful to you as it ever was. You have the Word of God, to be a Lamp unto your Feet, and a light unto your paths; acquaint yourselves with it, so that you may know your duty towards God and Man. Although you will daily sin against God, do not allow yourselves to purposefully omit any duty which God requires, or to practice any known sin, which he forbids. To do that is inconsistent with the nature and sincerity of repentance, and altogether unbecoming those who have professed such sorrow for sin, as you have done.

Beware of being guilty of any thing that looks like rebellion against Him. Rightly fear the evil of sin by considering the majesty of God against whom it is committed and the nature of its punishment. Be aware where you have suffered most, and where your greatest danger lies from sin, and carefully guard against it in yourselves. Call upon heaven for help: double your watch and stand on your guard, as those who have an enemy always at hand. It is necessary to avoid the occasion of sin if you desire to be kept from sin itself. When you are familiar with the one, you cannot be safe from the other. The Apostle’s advice, I Thess. 5.22. Abstain from all appearance of Evil, is necessary for all times and for all persons; especially those who have had dreadful fear of the wrath of God for sin on their spirits, as you have had.

You say, may what I have felt of that nature be a warning to me for ever, to beware of Sin. I have been, as it were, within sight of the bottomless pit, and I have had a Hell of horror in my own conscience, sensing of the horrid evil of sin and God’s displeasure against me for it. Didn’t I confessed my sin to God with a broken heart and earnestly pray for mercy for myself and ask others to do likewise? I will not forget His mercy in answering my prayers. You who have been merciful to me beyond my expectations, do not leave me to the power of my corruptions. You who knows all things, know that sin is a burden to me, and if I must not be free from it, while I live in this world, help me daily to repent of my sins, and the Lord in Mercy forgive them; and let Your grace be sufficient for me, to enable me to carry on the conflict with my corruptions so effectually, that although sin has a being in me, it may not have dominion over me.

Baxter on Melancholy (or Depression)

What is “Melancholy”? I hesitate to answer that and soon Baxter will speak for himself, but since that may be the question in your mind, I want to address it now. If you disagree, please feel free to reasonably (and briefly) let me know why or how I should change this post. Do read on in Baxter as I post him for a better understanding. Until then, basically Melancholy is an old term for some of what we generally call depression now. The word melancholy has some advantages, even though most people aren’t familiar with it, simply because it doesn’t have the baggage that the term depression has.

At any rate, my dad has a bunch of piles of books sitting on the dining room table at the moment, and recommended to me that I should look there for fodder for this site. What I found is something I’ve wanted for a while: a puritan view, help, and analysis of, loosely speaking, depression. This small book is a compilation of various other works, put together after his death and never reprinted. I hope that the extracts I post here are as encouraging and helpful to you as I have found the book to be already. Melancholy (“depression”) is not just a modern phenomenon – it was a problem 400 years ago as well as now – and there is both hope and help.

The book is made up of six sections, the first by Samuel Clifford & the rest by Richard Baxter.

1. To the Reader: Advice directed to those who have suffered from Melancholy in the past but no longer suffer from it, by Samuel Clifford. Excerpt 1, Excerpt 2.
2. Chap. I: The Nature of Melancholy.
3. Chap II: The Signs of Melancholy.
4. Chap III: The Causes of Melancholy.
5. Chap IV: Directions to the Melancholy.
1. Direction 1: Take notice of worldly sorrows and discontents: don’t put so much value in earthly things to that they can disquiet you: but learn to cast your cares upon God. Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4.
   
6. Chap V: Directions to those who are concerned in the care of Melancholy Persons.

I am including the compilers’ and editors’ recommendation as the intent with which it was written.

*****

The Signs and Causes of Melancholy, with directions suited to the case of those who are afflicted with it. Collected out of the works of Mr. Richard Baxter, for the sake of those, who are wounded in Spirit. By Samuel Clifford, minister of the Gospel London, Bible and Three Crowns, 1716.

The Epistle Recommendatory.

The subject of this treatise, and the manner in which things are laid together in it, is such as will render it of standing service to many in the world. There are few as become real Christians, but, at one time or other are exercised with something of that melancholy which is here described: and we believe there are none that have chosen to be the companions of them that fear God, who do not meet it in the cases of others, however free from it they are in themselves. Where it prevails to a high degree, ‘tis one of the most deplorable cases in the world; and even the least degree of it requires good help, and some pains to get rid of it.

Such a book as this, must be greatly valuable to those, who are either afflicted with melancholy themselves; or desirous to relieve and assist others under such a disorder. There is not anywhere yet published, that we know of, so full, and distinct, and orderly a consideration of this case, as in the following collection.

We need not say anything of the Author from whose Writings this collection is made; since we have it already as the concurrent sentiment of 34 ministers, (who have all subscribed a Recommendation of Mr. Baxters Practical Works) That the things treated on, “are most accurately handled, and at the same time with greatest plainness, suited to the capacities, and pressed home upon the consciences of readers with inimitable life and fervor.” [...]

Now may that God, who comforts those that are cast down, make this Book useful to such an End...

Samuel Wright

W. Tong, T. Reynolds, Simon Brown, John Evans,
W. Harris, T. Bradbury, B. Grosvenor.

Hannah More on Prayer

an excerpt from The Spirit of Prayer, by Hannah More. New York: Swords, Stanford, and Co., 1883, pages 22-25.

From chapter XI, of Perseverance in Prayer and Praise, pages 154-158.

We think, perhaps, that had [God] commanded us "to do some great thing," to raise some monument of splendor, some memorial of notoriety and ostentation, something that would perpetuate our own name with his goodness, we should gladly have done it. How much more when he only requires

"Our thanks how due!"

when he only asks the homage of the heart, the expression of our dependence, the recognition of his right!

But he to whom the duty of prayer is unknown, and by whom the privilege of prayer is unfelt, or he by whom it is neglected, or he who uses it for form and not from feeling, may probably say, Will this work, wearisome even if necessary, never know an end? Will there be no period of God will dispense with its regular exercise? Will there never be such an attainment of the end proposed, as that we may be allowed to discontinue the means?

To these interrogatories there is but one answer, an answer which shall be also made, by an appeal to the inquirer himself.

If there is any day in which we are quite certain that we shall meet with no trial from Providence, no temptation from the world, any day in which we shall be sure to have no wrong tempers excited in ourselves, no call to bear with those of others, no misfortune to encounter, and no need of Divine assistance to endure it, on that morning we may safely omit prayer.

If there is any evening in which we have received no protection from God, and experienced no mercy at his hands; if we have not lost a single opportunity of doing or receiving good, if we are quite certain that we have not once spoken unadvisedly with our lips, nor entertained one vain or idle thought in our heart, on that night we may safely omit to praise God, and to confess our own sinfulness; on that night we may safely omit humiliation and thanksgiving. To repeat the converse would be superfluous.

When we can conscientiously say, that religion has given a tone to our conduct, a law to our actions, a rule to our thoughts, a bridle to our tongue, a restraint to every wrong passion, a check to every evil temper, then some will say, We may safely be dismissed from the drudgery of prayer, it will then have answered all the ends which you so tiresomely recommend. So far from it, we really figure to ourselves, that if we could hope to hear of a human being brought to such perfection of discipline, it would unquestionably be found that this would be the very being who would continue most perseveringly in the practice of that devotion, which had so materially contributed to bring his heart and mind into so desirable a state, who would most tremble to discontinue prayer, who would be most appalled at the thought of the condition into which such discontinuance would be likely to reduce him. Whatever others do, he will continue for ever to "sing praises unto Thee, O Thou most Highest; he will continue to tell of they loving kindness early in the morning, and of thy truth in the night season."

It is true that while he considered religion as something nominal and ceremonial, rather than as a principle of spirit and life, he felt nothing encouraging, nothing refreshing, nothing delightful in prayer. But since he began to feel it as the means of procuring the most substantial blessings to his heart, since he began to experience something of the realization of the promises to his soul, in the performance of this exercise, he finds there is no employment so satisfactory; none that his mind can so little do without; none that so effectually raises him above the world; none that so opens his eyes to its empty shadows; none which can make him look with so much indifference on its lying vanities; none that can so powerfully defend him against the assaults of temptation, and the allurements of pleasure; none that can so sustain him under labour, so carry him through difficulties; none that can so quicken him in the practice of every virtue, and animate him in the discharge of every duty.

An additional reason why we should live in the perpetual use of prayer, seem to be, that our blessed Redeemer, after having given both the example and the command, while on earth, condescends still to be our unceasing intercessor in heaven. Can we ever cease petitioning for ourselves, when we believe that he never ceases interceding for us?

Hannah More on Prayer

An Excerpt from The Spirit of Prayer, by Hannah More. New York: Swords, Stanford, and Co., 1883.

from Chapter XI, Of Perseverance in Prayer and Praise, page 153.

"Prayer draws all the Christian graces into its focus. It draws Charity, followed by her lovely train, her forbearance with faults, her forgiveness of injuries, her pity for errors, her compassion for want. It draws Repentance, with her holy sorrows, her pious resolutions, her self-distrust. It attracts Faith, with her elevated eye,-- Hope, with her grasped anchor,-- Beneficence, with her open hand,-- Zeal, looking far and wide to serve,-- Humility, with introverted eye, looking at home. Prayer, by quickening these graces in the heart, warms them into life, fits them for service, and dismisses each to its appropriate practice. Prayer is mental virtue; virtue is spiritual action. The mould into which genuine prayer casts the soul is not effaced by the suspension of the act, but retains some touches of the impression till the act is repeated. "