Isaac Ambrose Entered Glory 350 Years Ago

"Oh! how should all hearts be taken with this Christ? Christians! turn your eyes upon the Lord: 'Look, and look again unto Jesus.' Why stand ye gazing on the toys of this world, when such a Christ is offered to you in the gospel? Can the world die for you? Can the world reconcile you to the Father? Can the world advance you to the kingdom of heaven? As Christ is all in all, so let him be the full and complete subject of our desire, and hope, and faith, and love, and joy; let him be in your thoughts the first in the morning, and the last at night." -- Isaac Ambrose (Looking Unto Jesus, p. 715)

It was 350 years ago today that English Puritan (Presbyterian) Isaac Ambrose entered glory (1604 - January 20, 1664). He was a minister of the gospel, a writer, and, by the grace of God and by means of much spiritual meditation and contemplation, showed himself to be, in the words of Thomas Watson, "a true citizen of heaven; it is known what place he belongs to by his speech, habit, gesture. There is a kind of angelical brightness on him; he shines in holiness, as Moses' face shone when he had with God in the mount. He is still doing angels' work; his life is a very heaven upon earth." 

After a faithful ministry, he was ejected from his pulpit for nonconformity in 1662. "He spent his later years in meditation and quietude among his friends in Preston. A lover of nature as well as of God, like his namesake the patriarch, 'Isaac went out to meditate in the field at eventide.' [Gen. 24.63] He spent a great part of his time every summer in Widicre wood, where, seldom seen by any, except on the Sabbath, he communed with his own heart and his God. The last time he was seen alive was by some friends from Garstang, of whom he is said to have taken leave with unusual affection and solemnity. Immediately after they left him he retired to his place of meditation, where he was found by an attendant in the moment of death. He departed in 1664 at the age of sixty-one." (Robert Halley, Lancashire: Its Puritanism and Nonconformity, Vol. 2, p. 202) 

Of Ambrose, Dr. Edmund Calamy the Historian wrote, "He was holy in his life, happy in his death, and honoured by GOD,and all good men." 

"The writings of Isaac Ambrose breathe with the inspired pulse of a person who has experienced the love and joy of God. He urges his readers, '[l]abour so to know Christ, as to have a practical and experimental knowledge of Christ in his influences, and not meerly a notional [one]'" (Tom Schwanda, Soul-Recreation: The Contemplative-Mystical Piety of Puritanism, p. 81).

I write of him today because Ambrose taught me personally much of the nature of true Christian warfare; the beauty of the covenant of redemption; the value of meditation; the benefit of writing a spiritual diary (which he included extracts from in his devotional manual, Media, as an encouragement to others to take up this useful practice); the importance of all the means of grace, public and private; and the blessing of solitude when it is improved upon as a opportunity to communion with God, as well as the blessing of serving the Lord within the family and other spheres to which we are called. It is good to remember the godly man who points us to Christ, and Ambrose was indeed such a man. For those who are interested, I commend the following links as an introduction to his life and legacy.

Meet the Puritan Biography of Issac Ambrose by Joel Beeke and Randall J. Pederson

The Spiritual Discipline of Meditation: Reading the Scripture with Isaac Ambrose by Tom Schwanda

Puritan Isaac Ambrose

The Book That Could Not Be Killed

In 1660, Puritan Richard Alleine sought a license to publish a treatise on experimental piety called Vindiciae Pietatis: or, A Vindication of Godliness, in the Greatest Strictness and Spirituality of It, From the Imputations of Folly and Fancy. Together with Several Directions for the Attaining and Maintaining of a Godly Life. The license was refused by Gilbert Sheldon (who later went on to convene the 1661 Savoy Conference and, in 1663, became the Archbishop of Canterbury) but Alleine went ahead and had the work published anyway under the name "R.A." The king's printer, Roger Norton, apprehended a significant quantity of books from the press and aimed to destroy them by fire in the royal kitchen. However, after perusing the work, he was struck by its piety, and decided to pay for the copies, "for a trifle," and resold them at his own shop. This act got him in trouble with the king's council, and he was forced to confess his fault and send the books back to the kitchen to be bisked, or inked over for the purpose of lighting fires. Sometimes bisked copies of the work are found, but most of the original press run was destroyed. However, that is not the end of the story.

The book was re-issued with subsequent additions, including part two, The Godly Man's Portion and Sanctuary, in 1663; part three, Heaven Opened, The Riches of God's Covenant, in 1666 (published as a separate work in 1665); and part four, The World Conquered by the Faithful Christian, in 1668. Part two was republished by EEBO in 2010. Part three includes two chapters written by Joseph Alleine (Richard's nephew and son-in-law), and was republished by Soli Deo Gloria Publications in 2000, and also by EEBO in 2010. Part four was republished by SDG in 1995. It became an instant Puritan devotional classic that has profoundly affected many.

It is said that Vindiciae Pietatis "did much to mend this bad world." Edmund Calamy the Historian gives an account of the book's history and its impact on one reader.

Edmund Calamy, The Nonconformist' Memorial (Samuel Palmer, ed.), Vol. 3, p. 168:

His books entitled Vindiciae Pietatis, tho' manifestly tending to promote true piety, could not be licensed, but they were greedily bought up and read by sober people and have been very instrumental to reform the world. They were so saleable, that the King's bookseller caused a great part of the impression to be seized, because unlicensed, and sent to the King's kitchen, from whence he bought them for a trifle, bound them up, and sold them in his own shop. This was at length complained of: and he was forced to beg pardon upon his knees at the council-table, and send them back again to the King's kitchen to be bisk'd, i.e. to be rubbed over with an inky brush. § The following remarkable anecdote concerning this work was related by Mr. John Thomas, the late aged and worthy minister at the Pithay meeting in Bristol. He knew a man in Yorkshire who stole this book from a sale near Colne in Lancashire, and was converted by reading it. After which he brought it back to the owner, Mr. T. Sawley, with penitence, and with thankfulness to God, who had over-ruled his theft to the salvation of his soul. Communicated by Dr. Ryland, who received it from Mr. Thomas.

John Wesley, who published extracts from Vindiciae Pietatis in his Christian Library, borrowed from it to institute in 1755 the Methodist practice of Covenant Renewal services. In 1780, he published a pamphlet with directions on how to renew the covenant which included Alleine's words exactly. The covenant renewal liturgy, as it has come to be known, became associated with an annual New Year's Day service rather than the modern weekly covenant renewal liturgy that occurs in some Reformed circles today.

One day, perhaps, the entire work will be republished. It is a treasure that is worth uncovering, and has much to teach us today. Though royal censors tried to destroy Vindiciae Pietatis and the experimental religion it represented, they could kill neither. You can't keep a good man, or a good book, down.

Twenty-Two Pearls on One String

Is Psalm 119, the longest chapter in the longest book of the Bible, comprised of twenty-two parts and 176 verses, as Matthew Henry said, "like Solomon's proverbs, ... a chest of gold rings, not a chain of gold links," or is it, as Charles Bridges said, "pearls upon one string"?

It is not always easy to trace the connexion between the several verses; at least not beyond the several divisions of the Psalm. Probably nothing more was intended, than the record of the exercises of his own heart at different periods, and under different circumstances. If, however, they are not links on the same chain, in continuous and unbroken dependence; they may at least be considered as pearls upon one string, of equal, though independent, value.

In praise of Psalm 119:

Jonathan Edwards, A Treatise Concerning Religious Affections, pp. 201-202:

I know of no part of the holy scriptures, where the nature and evidences of true and sincere godliness are so much of set purpose and so fully and largely insisted on and delineated, as the 119th Psalm; the psalmist declares his design in the first verses of the Psalm, and he keeps his eye on this design all along, and pursues it to the end. But in this Psalm the excellency of holiness is represented as the immediate object of a spiritual taste, relish, appetite, and delight of God's law, that grand expression and emanation of the holiness of God's nature, and prescription of holiness to the creature, is all along represented as the food and entertainment, and as the great object of the love, the appetite, the complacence and rejoicing of the gracious nature, which prizes God's commandments above gold, yea, the finest gold, and to which they are sweeter than the honey and honey comb; and that upon account of their holiness, as I observed before.

David Dickson, A Commentary on the Psalms, p. 342:

...in this psalm, as in a bundle, [David] hath collected the sum of his holy meditations, and of the profitable uses which he made of the revealed will of God in Scripture, in all the conditions wherein he was, to teach all the faithful after him, to have the word of God in special regard, and to have respect to it, as the only rule whereby they might find direction, consolation, and salvation, however matters went. To this end, for memory's sake, he hath filled the Hebrew alphabet with twenty-two meditations, every one of them beginning with a several letter of the alphabet, and every section having eight verses, beginning with the same letter, and every verse almost of every section under some expression, making mention of the Scripture.

William Binnie, The Psalms: Their History, Teachings and Use, p. 145:

Its two-and-twenty clusters yield the wine of the kingdom as copiously as any to be found in the Bible.

Bishop William Cowper, A holy alphabet for Sion's scholars: ... delivered by way of commentary upon the whole 119 Psalme (1613):

[Psalm 119 is a] holy alphabet, so plain that children may understand it -- so rich and instructive that the wisest and most experienced may learn something from it.

Edmund Calamy the Elder, The Godly Man's Ark, pp. 1-2:

This psalm, out of which my text is taken, exceeds all the other psalms, not only in length, but in excellency, so far, in the judgment of Ambrose, as the light of the sun excels the light of the moon. As the Book of Psalms is styled by Luther an epitome of the Bible, or, a little Bible; so may this psalm fitly be called an epitome of the Book of Psalms. It was written, as is thought, by David in the days of his banishment under Saul; but so penned, that the words thereof suit the condition of all saints. It is a public storehouse of heavenly doctrines, distributing fit and convenient instructions to all the people of God; and therefore should be in no less account with those who are spiritually alive, than is the use of the sun, air, and fire with those who are naturally alive. It is divided into two-and-twenty sections, according to the Hebrew alphabet, and therefore fitly called a holy alphabet for Zion's scholars, the ABC of godliness. Sextus Senensis calls it an alphabetical poem. The Jews are said to teach it their little children the first thing they learn, and therein they take a very right course, both in regard of the heavenly matter, and plain style fitted for all capacities. The chief scope of it is to set out the glorious excellences and perfections of the law of God.

Matthew Henry, The Life of Philip Henry, p. 133:

Once, pressing the study of the scriptures, he advised to take a verse of Psalm cxix. every morning to meditate upon, and so go over the psalm twice in the year; and that, saith he, will bring you to be in love with all the rest of the scripture; and he often said; -- all grace grows, as love to the word of God grows.

John Ker, The Psalms in History and Biography, p. 145:

[This Psalm] drew the special admiration of [Blaise] Pascal, who, as his sister Madame Perier says, often spoke with such feeling about it, 'that he seemed transported,' 'qu'il paraissait hors de lui même.' He used to say that, 'with the deep study of life, it contained the sum of all the Christian virtues.' He singled out ver. 59, as giving the turning-point of man's character and destiny: 'I thought on my ways, and turned my feet unto thy testimonies.'

Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Psalms, Vol. 3, p. 243:

In our German version it has the appropriate inscription, "The Christian's golden A B C of the praise, love, power, and use of the word of God;" for here we have set forth in inexhaustible fulness what the word of God is to a man, and how a man is to behave himself in relation to it.

Johannes Paulus Palanterius, Illustris Psalmorum Davidicorum (1600):

This psalm is called the Alphabet of Divine Love, the Paradise of all the Doctrines, the Storehouse of the Holy Spirit, the School of Truth, also the deep mystery of the Scriptures, where the whole moral discipline of all the virtues shines brightly. And as all moral instruction is delightsome, therefore this psalm, because excelling in this kind of instruction, should be called delightsome, inasmuch as it surpasses the rest. The other psalms, truly, as lesser stars shine somewhat ; but this burns with the meridian heat of its full brightness, and is wholly, resplendent with moral loveliness.

Charles H. Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 6, pp. v-vi:

This marvellous poem seemed to me a great sea of holy teaching, moving, in its many verses, wave upon wave; altogether without an island of special and remarkable statement to break it up....Other psalms have been mere lakes, but this is the main ocean....This great Psalm is a book in itself: instead of being one among many psalms, it is worthy to be set forth by itself as a poem of surpassing excellence.

Martin Luther, Preface to the 1539 Wittenberg edition of Dr. Martin Luther's Works:

Moreover, I want to point out to you a correct way of studying theology, for I have had practice in this. If you keep to it, you will become so learned that you yourself could (if it were necessary) write books just as good as those of the fathers and councils, even as I (in God) dare to presume and boast, without arrogance and lying, that in the matter of writing books I do not stand much behind some of the fathers. Of my life I can by no means make the same boast. This is the way taught by holy King David (and doubtlessly used also by all the patriarchs and prophets) in the one hundred [nineteenth] Psalm. There you will find three rules, amply presented throughout the whole Psalm. They are Oratio, Meditatio, Tentatio.

Brethren in Tribulation

"A friend in need is a friend indeed."

It was in April 1665, that the first recorded death relating to the Great Plague of London occurred. One month earlier, on March 24, 1665, Parliament had promulgated the Five Mile Act, which came on the heels of the 1664 Conventicle Act, and the 1662 Act of Uniformity, which led to the ejection and continued persecution of 2,000 non-conformist ministers in England. It is believed that this bubonic plague arrived in England from the Netherlands, which suffered the Plague in 1663-1664. The docks of London were hit first, and then the disease spread throughout that summer, through in fact September 1666, ending the lives of an estimated 100,000 citizens, about 20% of the population of London. It was in September 1666, that the Great Fire of London struck, heaping disaster upon disaster. The Fire destroyed St. Paul's Cathedral (later rebuilt by Sir Christopher Wren) and thousands of other structures, along with an unknown number of deaths, but helped bring an end to London's last major plague.

During this period of affliction, certain ministers who had previously been ejected from their pulpits, bearing in mind what the Apostle John taught -- "My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth" (1 John 3.18) -- made the courageous decision to stay in London and minister to her suffering citizens, despite the risks to their own personal well-being.

Gerald Robertson Cragg, Puritanism in the Period of the Great Persecution, 1660-1688, pp. 13-14:

The Great Plague, which had compelled parliament to meet in Oxford, persuaded many of the conformist clergy to fly from London. The churches stood empty amid a population haunted by the fear of disease and death. This was a challenge which the ejected ministers felt they could not ignore. They took possession of the vacant pulpits, and the people listened meekly to their message of judgment and mercy. In the wake of the Plague came the Fire of London. The nonconformists it was apparent that they were living in exceptional times. When God had 'a controversy with his people' those who had heard his call could not be silent. It was therefore right that they should meet more publicly than heretofore. The increased congregations they attracted seemed to justify a bolder policy. With remarkable industry they began to erect new meeting houses in which to worship, but sometimes when the building was finished it was seized for the benefit of a parish which had lost its church but had shown no comparable zeal in replacing it.

The increased activity of the nonconformists inevitably attracted attention, but their devoted service during the recent troubles had temporarily checked the persecuting spirit.

Among the non-conformist clergy who made the decision to stay were, according to Richard Baxter and Edmund Calamy the Historian, James Janeway, Edward Chester, Edward Turner, John Grimes, and Robert Franklin. These men are all true heroes. I would take special note of one other minister, Thomas Vincent, who is known for his services to the afflicted, and who wrote a first-hand account of his ministry during both the Great Plague and the Great Fire, entitled, God's Terrible Voice in the City, in which he records how the Plague struck even inside his own household. Vincent and those who stayed with him and "looked death in the face," in order to bear witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ in midst of such suffering, are rightly remembered among the honor roll of noble Christian heroes of the faith.

Edmund Calamy the Historian, Continuation, pp. 31-33:

Upon the Progress of the Distemper in the City, he acquainted his good Friend with his Design to quit that Employment [as a teacher at Doolittle's Academy], and apply himself peculiarly to the Visitation of the Sick, and the instructing of the Sound, in that Time of pressing Necessity. Mr. D. endeavour'd to dissuade him, by representing the Danger he must run; that he thought he had no Call to it, being then otherwise employ'd; and that it was rather advisable he should reserve himself for farther Service to the rising Age, in that Station wherein he then was so usefully fix'd. Mr. Vincent not being satisfy'd to desist from his intended Service, they agreed to desire the Advice of their Brethren, in and about the City upon the Case. When Mr. D. had represented his reasons at large, Mr. Vincent acquainted his Brethren, that he had very seriously consider'd the Matter before he had come to a Resolution: He had carefully examin'd the State of his own Soul, and could look Death in the Face with Comfort: He found to Timerousness and Dread in his own Temper: He thought it was absolutely necessary that such vast Numbers of dying People should have some Spiritual Assistance: He could have no Prospect of Service in the Exercise of his Ministry through his whole Life like that which now offer'd itself: He had often committed the Case and himself to God in Prayer; and upon the whole had solemnly devoted himself to the Service of God and Souls upon this Occasion: And therefore hoped none of them would endeavour to weaken his Hands in this Work. When the Ministers present had heard him out, they unanimously declar'd their Satisfaction and Joy, that they apprehended the Matter was of God, and concurr'd in their Prayers for his Protection and Success.

He went out hereupon to his Work with the greatest Firmness and Assiduity. He constantly preach'd every Lord's Day through the whole Visitation, either at Aldgate-Church, or Great St. Hellen's in Bishopsgate-Street, or Allhallows in Thames-street, or some other Church. His Subjects were the most moving and important; and his Management of them most pathetick and searching. It was a general Inquiry through the preceding Week where he was to preach: Multitudes follow'd him wherever he went: And he preach'd not a Sermon by which there were not several awaken'd, and as far as Men could judge brought home to God. Besides this, he without the least Terror visited every one that sent for him, doing the best Offices he could for them in their last Extremities: Being instant in Season and out of Season to save Souls from death.

David Bogue & James Bennett, wrote of Thomas Vicent, specifically, in The History of the Dissenters, From the Revolution in 1688 to the Year 1808, Vol. 1, pp. 233:

The world has its heroes, whom it holds up to universal admiration in the page of history. Here the church of Christ presents to us one of hers. The world calls us particularly to admire them as they advance to some arduous enterprize, where perils and death stare them in the face, but advancing with tranquillity of mind, with firmness of step, and determined either to conquer or to die. But which of them can be compared to this man ! He sees the inhabitants of a city, from which he had been cast out as unworthy of the name of a minister of Christ, dying by the pestilence which was augmenting its destructive fury from day to day; and he cannot be restrained from rushing into the midst of them to rescue their immortal souls from miseries infinitely greater. He hastens into churches from which he was driven out, and proclaims to listening thousands the glad tidings of salvation, in pulpits, for entering which the law of the land dooms him to a dungeon; but a stronger law, the law of love to God and man, constrains him to publish the mercy of the Gospel to souls on the very brink of eternity. He goes into the house of pestilence, and the chambers of mortal disease, wherever the voice of misery invites him. His exhortations, his counsels, and his prayers, are ever at their call; and they ever flow from a compassionate heart, tenderly sympathising in their distress, and burning with zeal for their salvation. Great was the success of his labours; and during the plague a harvest of souls was reaped, exceeding what results from the painful exertions of many a faithful minister during the course of a long life of zeal....As long as Christ has on earth a Church, animated with zeal for the glory of his name, Thomas Vincent will live. His writings breathe with the most affectionate ardour for the salvation of immortal souls; they savour of the minister who, for months, preached to congregations infected with the plague.17

17 His example was followed by his non-conforming brethren, Messrs. Chester, Janeway, Turner, Grimes, Franklin, and some others. Drs. [Anthony] Walker, [Thomas] Horton, and Meriton, and a few others of the conforming clergy, remained at their posts, but the generality fled.

For more information on this calamity of calamities, and the characters who played out the drama of this tragedy, I recommend reading eyewitness accounts such as Thomas Vincent, God's Terrible Voice in the City, and Nathaniel Hodges' Loimologia, or, an historical Account of the Plague in London in 1665; as well as well-researched works of historical fiction such as Daniel Defoe's A Journal of the Plague-Year, and Mrs. Margaret Oliphant, Caleb Field: A Tale of the Puritans.

Fanning the Flames of Ardor

Edmund Calamy the Elder, The Art of Divine Meditation, pp. 189-196 :

2. Now I come to that which is the easiest part of Meditation, I mean easie to understand, but not easie to practice; I come to that which is the best part of Meditation, the very life and soul of Meditation, and that is to help you to get your affections warmed and heated by the things you meditate upon; for the work of the understanding is nothing else but to be as a Divine pair of bellows, to kindle and inflame the heart and affections; the work of the understanding is to chew and prepare matter, to help the affections. Now then I am to give you some directions and helps for the affectionative part, to get your affections warmed and heated, so as to stir up piety and devotion in your souls: Now for the working upon your affections, learned men that write upon this subject, propound six common-place-heads, as so many ways to raise the affections, and to get them so excited as to increase grace and holiness in the soul.

1. You must labour to get a relish and a savour of the things you meditate upon.

2. You must complain before God for the want of that relish.

3. You must wish you had a supply of what you want of this relish and taste of the things you meditate on.

4. You must confess your inability, as of your selves to do this.

5. You must petition to God for help.

6. You must confidently believe God will help you.

Here are six helps for the affectionative part of Meditation; now that you may know the use of these helps, I shall crave leave to go over them all by way of instance; I have given you an instance concerning the sinfulness of sin, I went over nine common-place heads, and shewed you how you should enlarge in every particular about the sinfulness of sin; now I will proceed further in this instance, and shew you how you should make use of these Particulars, to get your affections raised and warmed, and stirred up to more holiness. After that I have traversed all the heads of reason, and have considered the description, the distribution, cause and effects of sin, now I come to the work of the affections. And here,

1. I will labour to get my heart affected with the bitterness of sin, I will labour to taste the bitterness of it, and to get my heart in a mourning frame; and I will thus say to my self, Oh my soul, is sin so odious to God, that no sacrifice but the sacrifice of the blood of God can appease Gods wrath? and shall it not be odious to me? was sin so displeasing unto God, and so defiling to the soul, that no bath but a bath of Christs blood can wash away the stain of it? and shall I make a mock of that sin that cost the blood of Christ? was sin a burden to Christ? and shall it not be a burden to me? Thus I would reason with my self, Did sin make Christ shed drops of blood, and shall it not make me shed a few tears? Did Christ cry out, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me, for our sins, I mean for our sins he took upon him? and shall I make a sport of sin? shall I make a mock of sin? Doth David complain, That his sins was a burden too heavy for him to bear. And doth Paul cry out, Oh wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from this body of sin? And shall not sin be bitter to me? shall not I mourn that I have sinned against so gracious a God, so merciful a Redeemer, so holy a Sanctifier?

2. I would proceed to the second, and begin to complain of the hardness of my heart, and of my unaffectedness with the sins I am guilty of; and I would thus say to my soul, Oh my soul! how is it that thou canst mourn for any outward loss, if thou losest but a child, though it may be thou hast half a score? if thou losest but one of them, thou canst mourn immoderately; if thou losest thy wife, thy husband, any part of thy estate, thou canst mourn too much; but thou hast not one tear for thy sins? how is it, Oh my soul, that thou shouldest be thus hard-hearted, and unaffected with thy sins? Is not sin Deicidium? is not sin a murdering of God in as much as in us lies; is not sin animaecidium, that which slays the soul? is not sin a dethroning of God, a robbing of God, an injuring of God? how is it then that I am no more affected with my sin? how is it that after so many Sermons, so many Sacraments, so many years being in the School of Christ, after so many mercies received from God, so many afflictions the Lord hath inflicted upon me, yet my heart should be so hard, and so flinty, and so stony? I can easily hate my enemy too too soon, which I should not do, but Sin that is my greatest enemy I cannot hate that, which I should hate most of all! I must love my outward enemy, but God bids me hate my Sin; God doth not bid me love the Devil, or the works of the Devil; I can hate that which I should love, but I cannot hate that which I should hate, I cannot hate my Sin.

3. I would proceed to stir up my affections to a passionate wish; and I would say to my soul thus, Oh that my heart were more soft; Oh that I could mourn with a godly mourning, not with a legal mourning, but with a mourning that is out of love to God. Oh that I could mourn with repentance unto life, with a Gospel-sorrow for all my sins of omission, commission, my Sacrament-sins, my family-sins, my Closet-sins, the sins of my youth, the sins of my riper age, for all my unkindness against my God: Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I could mourn day and night for my sins, and the sins of the times, and the sins of the place wherein I live: Oh that rivers of tears would run down my eyes, because I have sinned against my God! Thus would I wish, and passionately express my self, that so I might get my heart raised up: Oh that the Lord would pour down the spirit of mourning upon me.

4. I would make an humble confession of my own inability, to mourn; and I would say thus, O Lord! thou knowest it is not in man to direct his own ways, it is not in man to guide his own steps; I know, Oh Lord, that I am not able of my self to think a good thought; it is easier for me to cleave a rock in pieces, than to cleave my rocky heart by my own strength; there must be an Almighty power to get my heart to be soft; for my heart, Oh Lord, is harder than the nether milstone, and I cannot soften it; I would mourn that I cannot mourn, that I have not power; I can do nothing without power derived from Jesus Christ.

5. I would go to supplication after confession, and I would petition to God for strength; and I would say, Oh Lord! thou that hast promised to take away my heart of stone, and give me a heart of flesh; hast thou not promised to work all my works in me, and for me? hast thou not promised to subdue my iniquities? Micah 7. 19. hast thou not promised that Sin shall not have dominion over me? this is the promise, Rom. 6. now Lord, thou hast promised these things, I beseech thee perform these Promises; thou God of Truth, make good thy word, take away my heart of stone, and give me to mourn for my great abominations; and work this work in me and for me; and subdue my iniquities, and let not Sin have dominion over me; rather give me over to the dominion of men: though I would not be a slave to men, yet I had rather be a slave to all the men in the world, yea a slave to the Turk, than a slave to the Devil; rather be a Galley-slave than a Devils-slave; of all slavery, Lord, deliver me from soul-slavery. And thus I would supplicate and petition; and when I have done all this,

6. I would encourage my self by faith in a confident hope and trust in God, that the Lord will hear my prayer, and give me strength against my corruptions, and supply me with help in all my necessities; and I would say thus, Oh Lord, thou hast promised that whatsoever I ask in the name of Christ, shall be granted unto me; blessed God! I ask this day in the name of Christ pardon of Sin, and power against Sin, and a broken heart for Sin, and from Sin; I ask repentance unto Salvation; thou hast promised to give it, I believe thou wilt give it; I believe, Lord, help my unbelief. And then I would say to my soul, why art thou disquieted, Oh my soul? why art thou cast down? why art thou troubled? still trust in God, depend upon God, he is my help, he is my joy, in him will I put my trust.

Life and Soul of Christianity

Meditation is very much a lost or neglected art among Christians today. Few even consider its importance, if they consider it at all. But according to one Westminster Divine, meditiation is the very "life and soul of all Christianity."

Edmund Calamy the Elder, The Art of Divine Meditation, pp. 82-84, 144, 205:

1. It is the duty of all those that are not hindred by necessary business, if it be possible to set apart some time every day for meditation, whether it be morning, afternoon, or night: For Meditation is the life and soul of all Christianity; it is that which makes you improve all the Truths of Christian Religion, (you are but the Skeletons of Christians without Meditation) it is as necessary as your daily bread; and as you feed your bodies every day, so you ought to feed your souls every day with meditating on your sins, or your Evidences for Heaven, or the everlasting burnings of Hell, or of the day of Judgment, the great account you are to give at that day, or of the joys of Heaven, or of the Promises, &c. We are every day assaulted with the Devil, therefore we should every day put on the armour of Divine Meditation, to consider how to resist the wiles of the Devil; we are every day subject to death, we are every day subject to sin, therefore we should every day consider how to prepare our selves for death, and every day consider how to resist sin. Meditation is nothing else but a conversing with God, the souls colloquie with God; and it is fit we should every day walk with God. Divine Meditation is nothing else but the souls transmigration into heaven; the souls ascending up into Heaven; now it is fit every day that we should have our conversation in Heaven. David when he describes the blessed man, Psal. 1. 2. saith he, His delight is in the Law of the Lord, and in his law will he meditate day and night. And he saith of himself, though he was a King, and had many worldly businesses, the affairs of his Kingdom to hinder him, yet he saith, Psal. 119. 97. Oh how do I love thy law! it is my meditation all the day. v. 148. Mine eyes prevent the night-watches, that I might meditate on thy word. There is the morning-time for Meditation, I prevent the dawning of the morning that I might meditate in thy word. v. 15. I will delight my self in thy statutes, and I will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto all thy ways. And Ioshua, that great General of the Army, though he was a man surely of great imployments, yet God doth lay an injunction upon him, Iosh. 1. 7, 8. The book of the Law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate therein day & night. [pp. 82-84]
...
1. Convince thy soul of the absolute necessity of Divine Meditation; I have shewed it is a duty expresly commanded by God, a duty required of all sorts of persons, of Kings, of Generals of Armies, of young Gentlemen, of Women, of Ministers; David, Ioshua, young Isaac in my Text practised this duty; and many Women, and many holy men. Let me add, that this very duty is the life and soul of all Christianity; you are but carcasses of Christians if you be not acquainted with it; it is as impossible to live without a soul, as it is to be a good Christian without Divine Meditation. As it is impossible for a man to be nourished by meat if he want digestion and concoction; so it is impossible for a man to be nourished in grace, if he neglect the duty of Divine Meditation; for Divine Meditation is the spiritual concoction and digestion of all holy things, and all holy duties. As a man without concoction, I mean without a faculty of digestion and concoction, so is a Christian without the practise of Divine Meditation. [p. 144]
...
3. I would perswade you to study the necessity, the excellency, the usefulness, and profitableness of Divine Meditation; let me tell you for the conclusion, this duty is not only a duty, but the quintessence and marrow of all other duties; there is no duty will take impression upon your souls without the practise of this duty; it is the very life and soul of Christianity, without which a Christian is but the carcass of a Christian. I have shewed, that the want of Divine Meditation is the cause of all sin, and all punishment; I have shewed you, that the practise of Meditation will help to beget Grace, and increase Grace, and resist the Devil and all his temptations. [p. 205]

Hidden in the Heart

Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee. (Ps. 119.11)

The Puritans were "people of the Book," to whom the Word of God was central in their life. They took to heart the teaching that "Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word which proceedeth out of the mouth of God" (Deut. 8.3; Matt. 4.4). A striking example of this comes in the person of Thomas Vincent (1634-1678), of whom it is said that he 'had the whole New Testament and Psalms by Heart. He took this Pains, (as he has often said), "not knowing but they who took from him his Pulpit and his Cushion, might in time demand his Bible also"' (Edmund Calamy the Historian, The Nonconformists' Memorial (abridged by Samuel Palmer), Vol. 1, p. 155).

We Flew As If With Wings

There is an eloquent statement about how the Camisards loved the psalms and how they inspired and refreshed their souls under the most severe persecutions. I have read it before in Robert Louis Stevenson's travelogue of the Cévennes, and two historical guides to the Psalter. But none of those writings cited the actual source of this quote, although they gave me clues to follow. Those interested in the Camisards or the psalms may find the path of my research to be of interest.

John Ker (1819-1886), The Psalms in History and Biography (1886, 2006 ed.), p. 96:

An old Camisard, as the hunted Protestants of the Cevennes were called, says, 'We flew when we heard the sound of the psalms, we flew as if with wings. We felt within us an animating ardour, a transporting desire. The feeling cannot be expressed in words. It is a thing that must have been felt to be known. However weary we might be, we thought no more of our fatigue, and grew light as soon as the psalms reached our ear.'

Rowland Prothero (1851-1937), The Psalms in Human Life (1903, 2008 ed.), pp. 165-166:

Upon [the] excited minds [of the Camisards] the Psalms exercised an almost supernatural power. "As soon," says Durand Fage, "as we began to sing the chant of the Divine Canticles, we felt within us a consuming fire, an ecstatic desire which no words can express. However great our fatigue, we thought of it no more. The moment the chant of the Psalms struck our ears, we grew light as air."

Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894), Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes (1879, 1897 ed.), p. 181:

'We flew,' says one old Camisard,' when we heard the sound of psalm-singing, we flew as if with wings. We felt within us an animating ardour, a transporting desire. The feeling cannot be expressed in words. It is a thing that must have been experienced to be understood. However weary we might be, we thought no more of our weariness and grew light, so soon as the psalms fell upon our ears.'

The Wikisource annotated edition of this work attributes the quote to "Les Pasteurs du Désert. N. Peyrat."

Napoléon Peyrat (1809-1881), Histoire des pasteurs du Désert: depuis la révocation de l'édit de Nantes jusqu'à la Révolution française, 1685 - 1789 (1842), Vol. 1, p. 271:

Nous volions, continue Durand Fage, nous volions, quand nous entendions le chant de ces divins cantiques; nous sentions audedans de nous une ardeur qui nous animait, un désir qui nous transportait : cela ne se peut exprimer. Quelque grande que fût quelquefois notre lassitude, nous n'y pensions plus, dès que le chant des psaumes frappait nos oreilles: nous devenions légers. C'est une de ces choses qu'il fautavoir éprouvées, pour les connaître.

A brief footnote by Peyrat lead me to François Maximilien Misson (c. 1650-1722), Le Théâtre sacré des Cévennes (1707), which was translated almost immediately into English by John Lacy (1664-?), an enthusiast who was also a wealthy member of the congregation pastored by Dr. Edmund Calamy the Historian, as A Cry from the Desert; or, Testimonials of the Miraculous Things Lately Come to Pass in the Cevennes, Verified Upon Oath, and By Other Proofs (1707). I found an 1847 French edition entitled Les prophètes protestants. Réimpression de l'ouvrage intitulé Le théatre sacré des Cévennes; ou, Récit des diverses merveilles nouvellement opérées dans cette partie de la province du Languedoc. Avec une préf. et des notes de A. Bost. The deposition of M. Durand Fage, given in London in January 1707, begins on p. 109. The particular quote in question is found on p. 113:

A cinq cents pas plus loin, la mélodie des psaumes nous attira. Nous volions quand nous entendions le chant de ces divins cantiques. Nous sentions au dedans de nous une ardeur qui nous animait, un désir qui uous trans-portait: cela ne se peut exprimer. Quelque grande que fût quelquefois notre lassitude, nous n'y pensions plus, dés le moment que le chant des psaumes frappait nos oreilles: nous devenions légers. C'est une de ces choses merveilleuses qu'il faut avoir éprouvées pour les connaître.

Of Durand Fage, a Camisard known to have been fighting Dragoons in 1702, submitted to French authorities in 1705, was escorted to the German frontier, traveled to Geneva and Holland before arriving in London in 1706, we know little. He was born in 1681 at Aubais, in Languedoc, but the date of his death, presumably in the mid-18th century, is unknown. His deposition is a vivid first-hand account of life among the Camisards, and we are thankful to have his testimony. Although he may have been an enthusiast, the quote that led me down this path bears witness to his piety and eloquence as well.

Utile Dulci

Edmund Calamy the Historian, A Continuation, Vol. 1., pp. 15-16:

As to Mr. [Matthew] Poole, I have been inform'd, that it was his usual Way while he was drawing up his Synopsis, and Annotations, to rise very early in the Morning, about three or four a Clock, and take a raw Egg about eight or nine, and another about twelve, and then to continue his Studies till the Afternoon was pretty far advanc'd; at which Time he laid Study aside, went abroad, and spent the Evening at the House of some Friend, and at no place more frequently than at Alderman Ashurst's. At such Times he would be exceedingly but innocently merry, very much diverting both himself and his Company. After Supper, when it grew towards Time to go home, he would say, Now let us call for a Reckoning, and then would begin some very grave and serious Discourse, and when he found the Company was compos'd and serious, he would bid them good Night, and go home. This Course was doubtless very serviceable to his Health, and tended to enable him to go through the great Fatigue of his Studies, and it seems a noble Example of mixing utile, dulci.

Bowles' Catechism

Edward Bowles, English Puritan (1613-1662), was the son of Oliver Bowles, Westminster Divine, and is the one who published Oliver's famous treatise on the evangelical pastor. He was a zealous supporter of Parliament during the English Civil War, and likewise supported the Restoration of the Monarchy, but refused to conform to the Church of England due to his Presbyterian principles. A fellow minister from York, Matthew Poole, gave him the highest possible praise.

Edmund Calamy the Historian wrote of him (A Continuation of the Account, Vol. 2, p. 933)

The ingenious Mr. Matthew Pool once told a Friend (from whom I have it) that he never undertook any Enterprize of publick Concernment, without confulting Mr. [Edward] Bowles: And that he more relied upon his Judgment, than upon any one Man's in England.

Calamy's Continuation is also the source of the Catechism reproduced below, which was a famous and highly regarded Catechism of its day. Since it is rare, I have provided the text in full (for more information about Bowles and another edition of the Catechism itself see here).

Edward Bowles, A Plain and Short Catechism:

Q. Who made you?
A. God the Creator of Heaven and Earth. [Acts 17.24-26; Gen. 1.1]
Q. To what End did he make you?
A. He made me and all Things for his Glory. [Prov. 16.4]
Q. In what Condition did he make Man?
A. Righteous and happy. [Eccl. 7.29; Gen. 1.27]
Q. Did Man continue in that Estate?
A. No, He fell from it by Sin. [Gen. 3]
Q. What is Sin?
A. A Transgression of the Law of God. [1 John 3.4]
Q. What was the Sin of our first Parents?
A. Eating the forbidden Fruit. [Gen. 3.6]
Q. What was the Fruit of that Eating?
A. It filled the World with Sin and Sorrow. [Gen. 3.14, 16-17; Rom. 6.12]
Q. In what Condition is the Posterity of our first Parents born?
A. In a sinful and miserable Condition. [Rom. 5.17-19 and Rom. 3.13]
Q. Wast thou born in that Condition?
A. Yes, I was conceived in Sin, and am by Nature a Child of Wrath, as well as others. [ Ps. 51.5; Eph. 2.3]
Q. Hath thy Life been better than thy Birth?
A. No; I have added to Sin to Sin, and made myself above Measure sinful. [Rom. 3.30; Col. 1.21]
Q. What if thou shouldst die in the Condition thou wast born and bred in?
A. I should perish everlastingly. [John 3.2; 2 Thess. 1.8]
Q. Is there no Way to get out of this sinful and miserable Estate?
A. Yes. [1 Tim. 1.9-10]
Q. Is it to be done by any Power or Righteousness of thy own?
A. No; but God in his rich Mercy hath appointed a Way. [Tit. 3.4-5]
Q. What Way hath God appointed?
A. Only by Jesus Christ. [John 14.5; Acts 4.11]
Q. What is Jesus Christ?
A. The Son of God, manifest in the Flesh. [Gal. 4.4; 1 Tim. 3.16]
Q. What hath Jesus Christ done for Man?
A. He hath laid down his Life for our Redemption. [Matt. 20.28; Col. 1.14]
Q. What farther Benefit have we by him?
A. Life and Salvation. [John vi.27, 48; Heb. 5.9]
Q. Shall all Men partake of this Redemption and Salvation?
A. No; there are many who perish notwithstanding. [Matt. 7.13-14; Phil. 3.18]
Q. By what Means may a Sinner obtain a Part in this Redemption?
A. By Faith in Christ. [Eph. 2.8; John 3.16]
Q. What is to believe?
A. To rely on Jesus Christ, and him alone, for Pardon and Salvation, according to the Gospel. [John 3.31; Acts 16.36; Isa. 50.10; John 5.44]
Q. How doth the Gospel teach us to rely on Christ?
A. So to cast our Burthen upon him, as to take his Yoke upon us. [Matt. 11.28-29]
Q. Why hath God appointed Faith to this excellent use?
A. Because Faith gives him what he looks for, the whole Glory of our Salvation. [Eph. 2.8-9]
Q. How is Faith wrought in the Soul?
A. By the Word and Spirit of God. [Rom. 10.14, 17; 2 Cor. 3.6; John 16.9-10]
Q. What call you the Word of God?
A. The Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testament. [Eph. 2.20]
Q. Doth God work Faith by the Word read, or preached?
A. Ordinarily by the Word preached. [Rom. 10.14; Eph. 1.14; 1 Cor. 1.11]
Q. In what Order doth God work Faith by the Word?
A. First he shows Men their Sins, and then their Savior. [Acts 2.37; John 16.9]
Q. Why doth he observe this Order?
A. That Christ may be the more precious to the Soul. [1 Pet. 2.7; Luke 7.47]
Q. Doth not Repentance go along with Faith?
A. Yes. [Mark 1.15; Heb. 6.1; Acts 10.21]
Q. What is Repentence?
A. It is a sorrowful Sense of Sin, with a turning from it unto God. [Acts 26.20; 2 Cor. 7.10; 1 Thess. 1.6]
Q. How is true Faith farther discerned?
A. By its Fruits. [Gal. 5.6; Rom. 6.1; Acts 1.9; 2 Cor. 1.7]
Q. What are the Fruits of Faith?
A. Love in the Heart, Peace in the Conscience, Holiness in the Life. [Gal. 5.6; Rom. 5.1; Acts 15.9; 2 Cor. 1.7]
Q. How doth Faith work Love?
A. It lays hold upon the infinite Love of Christ, and works a mutual Love in us. [1 John 4.19; Luke 7.47]
Q. How must we express our Love to Christ?
A. By our Love to Christians, and keeping his Commandments. [John 14.15; 1 John 5.12]
Q. Are not the Ten Commandments, the Commandments of Christ?
A. Yes, they are a special Part of God's Word, which is a Rule of Life. [Ps. 19.7; Matt. 5.17]
Q. What doth God look for from his redeemed People?
A. That they should walk before him in Holiness and Righteousness. [Luke 1.74-75; Tit. 2.12, 14]
Q. Have we Strength of ourselves so to walk?
A. No; without Christ we can do nothing. [John 15.5]
Q. How shall we obtain Strength from Christ?
A. By a diligent and right use of his Ordinances. [Isa. 40.31; Ps. 38.3]
Q. What are the Ordinances of Christ to this Purpose?
A. The Word preached, the Administration of the Sacraments and Prayer. [Rom. 10.14-15; 1 Cor. 11.23; Matt. 28.19-20; 1 Thess. 5.17]
Q. When do we use the Ordinances aright?
A. When we mingle them with Faith. [Heb. 4.2; James 1.6]
Q. How may it appear that Christ hath left such an Ordinance as Preaching?
A. The Scripture tells me so. [Eph. 4.11-12; 2 Tim. 4.2]
Q. What are the Sacraments which Christ hath left to his Church?
A. Two: Baptism, and the Supper of the Lord.
Q. What is Baptism?
A. It is dipping or sprinkling with Water, in the Name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. [Matt. 28.19; Acts 10.47]
Q. What is the Nature of this Sacrament?
A. It represents and (through Faith seals), the sprinkling of the Blood of Christ, and the Washing of the Holy Ghost. [Acts 22.16; Tit. 3.5; Acts 8.37; 1 Pet. 3.1]
Q. What is done in Baptism on our Part?
A. By it our Names are given up to the Profession of the Gospel, and we are bound to walk according to it. [Gal. 2.27; Col. 3.1; 1 Cor. 6.11]
Q. What is the Supper of the Lord?
A. It is a solemn Eating of Bread, and Drinking of Wine, in Remembrance of the Death and Blood of Jesus Christ. [Luke 22.19-20]
Q. What is the End of this Sacrament?
A. One main End is to show forth the Lord's Death till he come. [1 Cor. 11.26]
Q. What is the Benefit of this Sacrament to a worthy Receiver?
A. It strengthens his Faith, and confirms his Love to Christ, and all his Members. [1 Cor. 10.16-17]
Q. Who is the worthy Receiver?
A. He who discerneth the Body and Blood of Christ, partaking thereof with Faith and Love. [1 Cor. 11.28-29; John 6.56]
Q. What is the Danger of unworthy receiving?
A. The unworthy Receiver becomes guilty of the Body and Blood of Christ; eating and drinking Judgment to himself. [1 Cor. 11.27, 29]
Q. What is Prayer?
A. It is a making our Request unto God, according to his Will, in the Name of Christ. [Phil. 4.6; 1 John 5.14; John 16.23]
Q. Wherein lies the Strength of Prayer?
A. In Faith and Fervency. [Matt. 21.22; James 1.6 and 5.26]
Q. What other Duties are especially required in an holy Life?
A. Watchfulness, and Christian Communion. [Mark 13.37; 1 Cor. 16.13; Heb. 10.24; Col. 3.16]
Q. Why must we watch?
A. For two Reasons.
First, because we walk in the Midst of our Enemies, the World, the Flesh, and the Devil.
Secondly, lest the Day of Death or Judgment come upon us unawares. [Luke 24.42[?]; 1 Pet. 4.7]
Q. Shall Death come upon all Men?
A. It is appointed for me and all Men once to die, and it is good to remember it oft. [Heb. 9.27; Eccl. 12.1; Ps. 90.12]
Q. What is Death?
A. A Separation of the Soul from the Body. [Acts 5.5; Eccl. 12.7]
Q. What remaineth after Death?
A. The general Resurrection, and the Day of Judgment. [1 Cor. 15; John 5.29; Acts 17.21]
Q. What is the Work of that Day?
A. To render to every man according to his Works. [Matt. 16.2; Rom. 2.6]
Q. What shall be the condition of the Godly after this Life?
A. They shall be ever with the Lord. [1 Thess. 4.17; John 17.17, 24]
Q. What shall be the Condition of the Unbelievers, and wicked men?
A. They shall perish with everlasting Destruction from the Presence of the Lord. [2 Thess. 1.8-9; Matt. 25.41, 46]

Westminster Huguenots

Prior to the Synod of Dort, the Synod of the Reformed Churches of France meeting at Cevennes had delegated Pierre Du Moulin (Paris), André Rivet (Thouars), Jean Chauve (Sommieres) and Daniel Chamier (Montauban) to attend. However, after notice was received from King Louis XIII that the government of France refused permission for these men to leave the country, a set of empty chairs was set up in the assembly in honor of the absent French Huguenots. Chamier was later killed in 1621 by the forces of King Louis XIII.

However, several decades later, the situation at the Westminster Assembly was different. The Assembly was intended as an Assembly of British and Scottish divines; however, as England was a place of refuge for French Huguenots who still experienced persecution in France at the time, at least Westminster Divines were in fact French Huguenots: 1) Philip Delmé or Delmy, pastor of the French Reformed (Walloon) Church of Canterbury, a supperadded divine who participated in the committee responsible for producing the Shorter Catechism; 2) John (Jean) de la Marche of Guernsey, pastor of the French Reformed Church of London (which is still in existence); and 3) Samuel de la Place of Jersey, also pastor of the French Reformed Church of London. All of these men favored Presbyterian polity. It may be added that Edmund Calamy's father was a French Huguenot. Herbert Palmer also was able to preach in French as well as English. The Westminster Assembly was very conscious of its sister churches on the Continent, including the French Reformed Churches, and the participation in the Assembly of at least three French Huguenots, and at least one son of a French Huguenot, is an indication of the Assembly's desire, like that of the Synod of Dort, to express its affinity with its French Reformed brethren. The place of Jersey and Guernsey within the British empire, as well as the hospitable welcome given to French refugees on the British isle itself, also ensured French Huguenot participation in the Assembly.

The Times In Which We Live

Matthew Poole, Edmund Calamy the Elder, Jeremiah Whitaker, Simeon Ashe & William Taylor, publishers of the works of Christopher Love, writing in the 1650's, Preface to Love's Heaven's Glory:

These times wherein we live are famous for "a form of godliness", and no less infamous for the want of the power of it. Nothing is more common than for man to hear, pray, and perform the outside duties of religion. Nothing more rare than for men to do these things as becomes the gospel. Men have so inured themselves to dispute about the circumstantials of worship that substantials are lost in the scuffle.