Roll Upon the Lord

Jonathan Edwards, "Miscellaneous Remarks Concerning Faith," in The Works of Jonathan Edwards, Vol. 2, p. 587:

Sec. 63. Rolling oneself, or burden, on the Lord, is an expression used as equivalent to trusting. Psal. xxii. 8. "he trusted in the Lord, that he would deliver him:" in the original, "He rolled himself on the Lord." Psal. xxxvii.5. "Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him, and he shall bring it to pass." In the Hebrew, Roll thy way upon the Lord. Prov. xvi.3. "Commit thy works unto the Lord, and thy thoughts shall be established." In the Hebrew, Roll thy works.

John Winthrop, March 18, 1627 Letter to His Son, in Robert C. Winthrop, Life and Letters of John Winthrop, p. 250:

But such as will roll their ways upon the Lord, do find him always as good as his word.

John Cotton, An Exposition of First John, p. 536:

How then can this be called believing on Christ, when the heart is not grounded in him nor rests in him? I answer, there is a faith in Christ when the heart does not rest on Christ but is only grounded on him, or rolls itself on him, which may be done while the heart is yet in motion. Sometimes it rolls one way, sometimes another; yet such a man believes on Christ, for he is rolling toward him so that he may lie on him. "Commit your ways to the Lord" (Ps. 37:5); in the original, "roll your ways upon the Lord"; lean your soul that way; roll toward him so that you might rest upon him. "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not to your own understanding" (Prov. 3:6); a man may be said to lean upon the Lord, when he is not yet settled upon him.

Ps. 22.8, Bay Psalm Book:

Vpon the Lord he rold himselfe,
let him now rid him quite:
let him deliver him, because
in him he doth delight.

Anne Bradstreet, "In my Solitary houres in my dear husband his Absence," Robert Hutchinson, ed., The Poems of Anne Bradstreet, p. 74:

O stay my heart on thee, my God,
Uphold my fainting Soul!
And, when I know not what to doe,
I'll on thy mercyes roll.

Edward Taylor, "God's Determinations," in Thomas H. Johnson, ed., The Poetical Works of Edward Taylor, p. 91 (Lines 1625-1627):

And thus he doth involve the doubting Soule
In dismall doubts and makes it fear to rowle
Himselfe on Christ for fear it should presume.

Time is Precious

John Flavel, "An Exhortation to Redeem the Time with the Utmost Diligence" in Pneumatologia: A Treatise of the Soul of Man, in Works, Vol. 3, p. 483:

Time is deservedly reckoned among the most precious mercies of this life; and that which makes it so valuable are the commodious seasons and opportunities for salvation which are vouchsafed to us therein: opportunity is the golden spot of time, the sweet and beautiful flower, growing upon the stalk of time. If time be a ring of gold, opportunity is the rich diamond that gives it both its value and glory.

Willem Teellinck, Redeeming the Time (Preface):

Men say there is nothing more valuable than time, and they speak the truth; for their life, which is their most valuable possession, is none other than a bundle of hours, days, weeks and so on; but many have scarcely spoken thus before they dispose of their time as if it were useless rubbish by the basketful: what folly! Look -- in time there is a certain fatness and marrow which is excellently valuable and delicious: and the vigour of our life is therefore lengthened out to us by God, that we may fetch good out of it and our souls thrive in fatness. We sadly deceive ourselves, if think that one hour of our life is lengthened out to us by God other than for the furtherance of His glory and the salvation of our souls.

So it is well for us to consider each hour of life permitted to us as a special gift, bestowed upon us in mercy by the great God for our profit; and just as certainly we merit eternal misery for each hour of our life ill-spent or lived unprofitably, were the Lord to deal with us as we deserve. And, the deep consideration of what we owe to God and Christ in His service, and how shamefully neglectful we have been hitherto, should cause us in justice to redeem our time with all diligence. The more so, seeing that our life is not only very short but also very uncertain; wherefore we should rightly view each day which dawns upon us as that which could be the last day of our lives, and on that account never dare to put off for one hour the discharging of our conscience before God. (Heb. 3.7; Psa. 119.60).

Jonathan Edwards, The Preciousness of Time, and the Importance of Redeeming It:

Time is precious for the following reasons:

First, because a happy or miserable eternity depends on the good or ill improvement of it. Things are precious in proportion to their importance, or to the degree wherein they concern our welfare. Men are wont to set the highest value on those things upon which they are sensible their interest chiefly depends. And this renders time so exceedingly precious, because our eternal welfare depends on the improvement of it. — Indeed our welfare in this world depends upon its improvement. If we improve it not, we shall be in danger of coming to poverty and disgrace; but by a good improvement of it, we may obtain those things which will be useful and comfortable. But it is above all things precious, as our state through eternity depends upon it. The importance of the improvement of time upon other accounts, is in subordination to this.

Gold and silver are esteemed precious by men; but they are of no worth to any man, only as thereby he has an opportunity of avoiding or removing some evil, or of possessing himself of some good. And the greater the evil is which any man hath advantage to escape, or the good which he hath advantage to obtain, by anything that he possesses, by so much the greater is the value of that thing to him, whatever it be. Thus if a man, by anything which he hath, may save his life, which he must lose without it, he will look upon that by which he hath the opportunity of escaping so great an evil as death, to be very precious. — Hence it is that time is so exceedingly precious, because by it we have opportunity of escaping everlasting misery, and of obtaining everlasting blessedness and glory. On this depends our escape from an infinite evil, and our attainment of an infinite good.

Second, time is very short, which is another thing that renders it very precious. The scarcity of any commodity occasions men to set a higher value upon it, especially if it be necessary and they cannot do without it. Thus when Samaria was besieged by the Syrians, and provisions were exceedingly scarce, “an ass’s head was sold for fourscore pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a cab of dove’s dung for five pieces of silver.” 2 Kin. 6:25. — So time is the more to be prized by men, because a whole eternity depends upon it; and yet we have but a little of time. “When a few years are come, then I shall go the way whence I shall not return.” Job 16:22. “My days are swifter than a post. They are passed away as the swift ships; as the eagle that hasteth to the prey.” Job 9:25, 26. “Our life; what is it? It is but a vapour which appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.” Jam. 4:14. It is but as a moment to eternity. Time is so short, and the work which we have to do in it is so great, that we have none of it to spare. The work which we have to do to prepare for eternity, must be done in time, or it never can be done; and it is found to be a work of great difficulty and labor, and therefore that for which time is the more requisite.

Third, time ought to be esteemed by us very precious, because we are uncertain of its continuance. We know that it is very short, but we know not how short. We know not how little of it remains, whether a year, or several years, or only a month, a week, or a day. We are every day uncertain whether that day will not be the last, or whether we are to have the whole day. There is nothing that experience doth more verify than this. — If a man had but little provision laid up for a journey or a voyage, and at the same time knew that if his provision should fail, he must perish by the way, he would be the more choice of it. — How much more would many men prize their time, if they knew that they had but a few months, or a few days, more to live! And certainly a wise man will prize his time the more, as he knows not but that it will be so as to himself. This is the case with multitudes now in the world, who at present enjoy health, and see no signs of approaching death. Many such, no doubt, are to die the next month, many the next week, yea, many probably tomorrow, and some this night. Yet these same persons know nothing of it, and perhaps think nothing of it, and neither they nor their neighbors can say that they are more likely soon to be taken out of the world than others. This teaches us how we ought to prize our time, and how careful we ought to be, that we lose none of it.

Fourth, time is very precious, because when it is past, it cannot be recovered. There are many things which men possess, which if they part with, they can obtain them again. If a man have parted with something which he had, not knowing the worth of it, or the need he should have of it; he often can regain it, at least with pains and cost. If a man have been overseen in a bargain, and have bartered away or sold something, and afterwards repents of it, he may often obtain a release, and recover what he had parted with. — But it is not so with respect to time. When once that is gone, it is gone forever; no pains, no cost will recover it. Though we repent ever so much that we let it pass, and did not improve it while we had it, it will be to no purpose. Every part of it is successively offered to us, that we may choose whether we will make it our own, or not. But there is no delay. It will not wait upon us to see whether or no we will comply with the offer. But if we refuse, it is immediately taken away, and never offered more. As to that part of time which is gone, however we have neglected to improve it, it is out of our possession and out of our reach.

If we have lived fifty, or sixty, or seventy years, and have not improved our time, now it cannot be helped. It is eternally gone from us. All that we can do, is to improve the little that remains. Yea, if a man have spent all his life but a few moments unimproved, all that is gone is lost, and only those few remaining moments can possibly be made his own. And if the whole of a man’s time be gone, and it be all lost, it is irrecoverable. — Eternity depends on the improvement of time. But when once the time of life is gone, when once death is come, we have no more to do with time; there is no possibility of obtaining the restoration of it, or another space in which to prepare for eternity. If a man should lose the whole of his worldly substance, and become a bankrupt, it is possible that his loss may be made up. He may have another estate as good. But when the time of life is gone, it is impossible that we should ever obtain another such time. All opportunity of obtaining eternal welfare is utterly and everlastingly gone.

Archibald Alexander, Thoughts on Religious Experience, pp. 367-369:

XVII. My next counsel is, that you set a high value upon your time. Time is short; and its flight is rapid. The swiftness of the lapse of time is proverbial in all languages. In Scripture, the life of man is compared to a multitude of things which quickly pass away, after making their appearance; as to a post, a weaver's shuttle, a vapour, a shadow, &c. All the works of man must be performed in time; and whatever acquisition is made of any good, it must be obtained in time. Time, therefore, is not only short, but precious. Every thing is suspended on its improvement, and it can only be improved when present; and it is no sooner present, than it is gone: so that whatever we do must be done quickly. The precious gift is sparingly parcelled out, by moments, but the succession of these is rapid and uninterrupted. Nothing can impede or retard the current of this stream. Whether we are awake or asleep, whether occupied or idle, whether we attend to the fact or not, we are borne along by a silent, but irresistible force. Our progressive motion in time, may be compared to the motion of the planet on which we dwell, of which we are entirely insensible; or, to that of a swift-sailing ship, which produces the illusion that all other objects are in motion, while we seem to be stationary. So in the journey of life, we pass from stage to stage, from infancy to childhood, from childhood to youth, from youth to mature age, and finally, ere we are aware of it, we find ourselves declining towards the last stage of earthly existence. The freshness and buoyancy of youth soon pass away: the autumn of life, with its "sere leaf," soon arrives; and next, and last, if disease or accident do not cut short our days, old age with its gray hairs, its wrinkles, its debility and pains, comes on apace. This period is described by the wise man, as one in which men are commonly disposed to be querulous, and to acknowledge that the days draw nigh in which they have no pleasure. "The keepers of the house tremble, and the strong men bow themselves, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those that look out of the windows are darkened. When men rise up at the noise of the bird -- when all the daughters of music are brought low, and there shall be fears. And the almond tree shall flourish, and the grasshopper be a burden."

Time wasted can never be recovered. No man ever possessed the same moment twice. We are, indeed, exhorted "to redeem our time," but this relates to a right improvement of that which is to come; for this is the only possible way by which we can redeem what is irrevocably past. The counsels which I would offer to the young on this subject are: Think frequently and seriously on the inestimable value of time. Never forget that all that is dear and worthy of pursuit must be accomplished in the short span of time allotted to us here. Meditate also profoundly, and often, on the celerity of the flight of time. Now you are in the midst of youthful bloom, but soon this season will only exist in the dim shades of recollection, and unless it has been well improved, of bitter regret.

If you will make a wise improvement of your time, you must be prompt. Seize the fugitive moments as they fly; for, otherwise, they will pass away before you have commenced the work which is appropriated to them.

Diligence and constancy are essential to the right improvement of time. "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might." "Work while it is called to-day." Walk while you have the light; for the dark night rapidly approaches, when no work can be done.

Let every thing be done in its season. There is a time for all things; and let all things be done in order. The true order of things may be determined by their relative importance, and by the urgency of the case, or the loss which would probably be sustained by neglect.

If you would make the most of your time, learn to do one thing at once, and endeavour so to perform every work, as to accomplish it in the best possible manner. As you receive but one moment at once, it is a vain thing to think of doing more than one thing at one time; and if any work deserves your attention at all, it deserves to be well done. Confusion, hurry, and heedlessness, often so mar a business, that it would have been better to omit it altogether.

Beware of devolving the duty of to-day on to-morrow. This is called procrastination, which is said, justly, to be "the thief of time." Remember, that every day, and every hour, has its own appropriate work; but if that which should be done this day, is deferred until a future time, to say the least, there must be an inconvenient accumulation of duties in future. But as to-morrow is to every body uncertain, to suspend the acquisition of an important object on such a contingency, may be the occasion of losing forever the opportunity of receiving it. The rule of sound discretion is, never to put off till to-morrow, what ought to be done to-day.

John Winthrop's Resolutions

In the Reformed world, the Resolutions of young Jonathan Edwards are well-known. Less well-known are the resolutions of John Winthrop a century before, scattered throughout his spiritual journal, which he faithfully recorded, along with his failings in the flesh and testimonies to the grace of God working in him.

John Winthrop, Experiencia:

The 20 of April, 1606, I made a new Covenant with the Lord which was this:
Of my part, that I would reform these sins by his grace: pride, covetousness, love of this world, vanity of mind, unthankfulness, sloth, both in his service and in my calling, not preparing myself with reverence and uprightness to come to his word. Of the Lords part that he would give me a new heart, joy in his spirit, that he would dwell with me, that he would strengthen me against the world, the flesh, and the Devil, that he would forgive my sins and increase my faith. God give me grace to perform my promise and I doubt not but he will. God make it fruitful. Amen.

December 12, 1606...In these following Experiences there be diverse vows, promises to God, or Resolutions and purposes of my heart, occasioned through the oft experience of my weaknesses in such things, and my great desire of keeping peace and holding communion with God, many of which I have in time observed that I have great need to repent (in some of them) my unadvisedness in making them, considering that they have proved snares to my Conscience, and (in others of them) my wretchedness and sin in not carefully observing them. Mr. [Thomas] Cartwright in his Answer to the Rheims Testament: Acts 5. 4. giveth some directions on this point.

1611. The 22 of August it pleased God to send me a sore sickness wherein besides the work of God's Spirit upon my conscience, I did most evidently perceive his great mercy and care in supporting me, easing the pain, giving me patience, and much cheerfulness, and willingness to abide his good will, and before the sickness was come to the height, God in mercy cut it off by sending me without any means a great relief.

One thing which I observed in this sickness was that God visited upon me many of my bold runnings out against conscience, which I then when I committed them passed over with slight repentance, and now had surely smarted well for them if I had not now stopped them by serious and speedy turning to God, whereupon I resolved not to be so bold to sin against my conscience in time to come.

Feb. [1612]...I saw my great folly in that I placed so much felicity in present outward things and in the hope of things to come, when as I am sure that I shall have them but for a short time, if at all. The danger and hurt of these earthly joys I find to be greater in that they diminish the joy of my salvation: wherefore I have resolved by the grace of God, to hold my affections in a narrower compass and not to suffer my heart to delight more in any thing than in the comfort of my salvation.

September 8. 1612. Finding that the variety of meats draws me on to eat more than standeth with my health, I have resolved not to eat of more then 2 dishes at any one meal, Whether fish, flesh, fowl or fruit or white meats etc: whether at home or abroad; the lord give me care and ability to perform it. I found that the pride of my heart, viz: these great thoughts of mine own gifts, credit, greatness, goodness etc. were like a canker in my profession, eating out the comfort of all duties, depriving God of a principal part of his right in my heart, which I daily perceived, when it pleased God to let me see my meanness in his exceeding greatness: whereupon I resolved to make it one of my chief petitions to have that grace to be poor in spirit: I will ever walk humbly before my God, and meekly, mildly, and gently towards all men, so shall I have peace.

May 23, 1613. When my condition was much straightened, partly through my long sickness, partly through want of freedom, partly through lack of outward things, I prayed often to the Lord for deliverance, referring the means to himself, and with all I often promised to put forth myself to much fruit when the Lord should enlarge me. Now that he hath set me at great liberty, giving me a good end to my tedious quartan, freedom from a superior will and liberal maintenance by the death of my wife's father (who finished his days in peace the 15 of May, 1613). I do resolve first to give myself, my life, my wit, my health, my wealth to the service of my God and Savior, who by giving himself for me, and to me, deserves whatsoever I am or can be, to be at his Commandment, and for his glory:
2. I will live where he appoints me.
3. I will faithfully endeavor to discharge that calling which he shall appoint me unto.
4. I will carefully avoid vain and needles expenses that I may be the more liberal to good uses.
5. My property, and bounty, must go forth abroad, yet I must ever be careful that it begin at home.
6. I will so dispose of my family affairs as my morning prayers and evening exercises be not omitted.
7. I will have a special care of the good education of my children.
8. I will banish profanes from my family.
9. I will diligently observe the Lords Sabbath both for the avoiding and preventing worldly business, and also for the religious spending of such times as are free from public exercises, viz. the morning, noon, and evening.
10. I will endeavor to have the morning free for private prayer, meditation and reading.
11. I will flee Idleness, and much worldly business.
12. I will often pray and confer privately with my wife.
I must remember to perform my father's Will faithfully, for I promised him so to do; and particularly to pay Mr. Meges 40 a year till he should otherwise be provided for.

[Feb. 3, 1617]...After this, settling myself to walk uprightly with my God, and diligently in my calling, and having an heart willing to deny myself, I found the Godly life to be the only sweet life, and my peace with my God to be a true heaven upon earth. I found God ever present with me, in prayer and meditation, in the duties of my calling, etc: I could truly loath my former folly in preferring the love of earthly pleasures before the love of my heavenly father. I did wonder what madness was in me, that I should leave the fellowship of my Savior, to keep fellowship with unfruitful works of darkness; I was not then troubled with the common cares and desires that I was wont to be taken up with, as of food, apparel, credit, pleasure, etc: but was well contented with what God sent: what can I say? I find a change in my heart and whole man, as apparent as from darkness to light. God of his mercy continue and increase it. I find withal that I was ready upon every object or occasion, to embrace the delight in earthly things again, which I see plainly will soon get within me again, if I slack my watchfulness never so little, so as I resolve by God's grace to keep my heart with all diligence, and to set a watch over my mouth, eyes, ears, etc, when I am alone, in company, at home, abroad, in every business, service of God, etc. O Lord my God, for Jesus Christ his sake enable me hereunto, and strengthen the poor weak faith of thy unworthy servant.

November: 1617...Still I find by continual experience that the most usual thing that turns me out of my course and breaks off my peace with my God is the embracing the love of earthly things, and seeking a kind of secure and commodious settling in these things; which as it greatly delights the wanton flesh, so it as fast quenches all delight and appetite to heavenly things; it blinds the Judgement, takes away all affection, and dulls all gifts both of body and mind, making all unserviceable, etc: I still pray, O Lord, crucify this world unto me, for surely the love of thee and the love of the world cannot stand together.

I have found this infallibly true by oft experience since, and I am fully resolved, that if I will keep the love of God, I must cast quite off the love of the world.

January 10, 161[8]. Afterwards finding myself snared by the world, I could not be at rest until by reading Mr. [Robert] Bolton's discourse of true happiness, I was brought to a more thorough discovery of my sinful heart and ways, and thereupon to more sound repentance and resolution of reformation; when again upon sound deliberation being free from all passion, or oppression of melancholy, I did quietly, cheerfully and absolutely resign up myself again unto my God, covenanting to walk faithfully with him, and praying fervently yet without any distemper of affection, etc, that he would rather take me out of the world or cast me into any affliction, sickness, poverty, disgrace, or whatsoever, so himself would not fail me in them, then to give me up to the slavery of the world, to mine old profane, idle, voluptuous, and foolish heart; and so I beg still of him for the Lord Jesus' sake.

Aug. 22, 1619. I had been drawn from my steadfastness, and walked in an unsettled course, for the space of a year and more, before this time: I had made divers attempts to return again, but they still vanished, my zeal was cooled, my comfort in heavenly things was gone, I had no joy in prayer, nor in the Sabbath, nor in God's word, nor in the Communion of Saints, or if I had any, it was so soon gone, as it was not to be regarded; and now it pleased God to open mine eyes again upon a Sabbath day, and I found the cause of all to be, that I had again embraced this present world, eagerly pursuing the delights and pleasures of it, and I might easily observe that as the love of the world prevailed, so the love of God and all goodness decayed. Hereupon (by God's grace) I have again resolved to renounce this world, and to hold in my affections to the love and estimation of heavenly things; the Lord in mercy enable me hereunto.

December: 1628....The Lord give me grace, never to forget this kindness but to cleave fast unto him, and to hold that resolution of obedience etc, which he wrought in me.

Sea of Providence

Jonathan Edwards, A History of the Work of Redemption, pp. 429-431:

4. Hence we may see what a consistent thing divine providence is. The consideration of what has been said, may greatly serve to show us the consistency, order, and beauty, of God’s works of providence. If we behold events in any other view, all will look like confusion, like the tossing of waves; things will look as though one confused revolution came to pass after another, merely by blind chance, without any regular or certain end.

But if we consider the events of providence in the light in which they have been set before us, and in which the Scriptures set them before us, they appear an orderly series of events, all wisely directed in excellent harmony and consistence, tending all to one end. The wheels of providence are not turned round by blind chance, but are full of eyes round about, as Ezekiel represents, and are guided by the Spirit of God: where the Spirit goes, they go. All God’s works of providence, through all ages, meet at last, as so many lines meeting in one centre.

It is with God's work of providence as it is with his work of creation: it is but one work. The events of providence are not so many distinct, independent works; but rather so many different parts of one work, one regular scheme. They are all united, just as the several parts of one building: there are many stones, many pieces of timber, but all are so joined, and fitly formed together, that they make but one building; they have all but one foundation, and are united at last in one top-stone.

God’s providence may not unfitly be compared to a large and long river, having innumerable branches, beginning in different regions, and at a great distance one from another, and all conspiring to one common issue. After their very diverse and apparent contrary courses, they all collect together, the nearer they come to their common end, and at length discharge themselves at one mouth into the same ocean. The different streams of this river are apt to appear like mere confusion to us, because of the limitedness of our sight, whereby we cannot see from one branch to another, and cannot see the whole at once, so as to see how all are united in one.

A man who sees but one or two streams at a time, cannot tell what their course tends to. Their course seems very crooked, and different streams seem to run for a while different and contrary ways: and if we view things at a distance, there seem to be innumerable obstacles and impediments in the way, as rocks and mountains, and the like; to hinder their ever uniting, and coming to the ocean; but yet if we trace them, they all unite at last, all come to the same issue, disgorging themselves in one into the same great ocean. Not one of all the streams fail of coming hither at last.

A Holy Friendship

Jesus said to his disciples, "Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you" (John 15.15). Jonathan Edwards, in a sermon entitled "The Lord's Supper is a Solemn Representation," makes the point that in our communion with Christ, we are his friends, and friends with one another. How sweet it is to when brethren dwell together in such unity (Ps. 133)!

Jonathan Edwards, Sermons on the Lord's Supper, p. 77:

The very design of the ordinance is a feast of Christian love and friendship. And what friendship is it? 'Tis not a civil friendship. There are other covenants and other friendships; but 'tis a Christian friendship, a spiritual friendship, a holy Friendship. 'Tis friendship with Christ and one with another. But how can they come and seal such friendship who are no friends? How can they seal peace who have never made their peace?

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.

Jonathan Edwards and the Spider

Many are acquainted with this vivid passage from perhaps Jonathan Edwards' most famous sermon, "Sinners in the Hands of An Angry God":

The God that holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider, or some detestable insect, over the fire, detests you, and is dreadfully provoked: His wrath towards you burns like fire; He looks upon you as worthy of nothing else, but to be thrown into the fire; He eyes are too pure than to bear to have you in His sight; you are ten thousand times more abominable in His eyes, than the most hateful venomous snake is in ours.

This imagery (also captured profoundly and poetically in the Puritan style of meditations upon the work of the Creator by Edward Taylor in "Upon a Spider Catching a Fly" and darkly satirized by 20th-century poet Robert Lowell in "Mr. Edwards and the Spider") evidences a fascination that Edwards carried from his youth for the wonders of nature around him, particularly, the spider. In younger days (it was long thought by scholars that he wrote it in 1714-1715, when he was about 11 or 12 years old, but it is now believed, on the basis of research done by Wallace E. Anderson, that he wrote it in 1719-1721, that is, in his late teens) he wrote an essay entitled "Of Insects," which explored his natural observation and spiritual insights into the "flying spider." In 1723, he "polished" (George Marsden, Jonathan Edwards: A Life, p. 66) his essay, including handwritten figures of his observations, and sent it to Judge Paul Dudley, evidently desiring that it should be published in the journal of the Royal Society of London. This document is known as the "Spider Letter," and although it was not published (another work on spiders by Martin Lister had been recently published by the Society), his interest in spiders and other aspects of nature was certainly a life-long fascination. In these writings, we see the mind of a scientist and the heart of a theologian "thinking God's thoughts after him" (in the words of Johann Kepler).

"Of Insects" (c. 1719-1721)

OF all insects, no one is more wonderful than the spider, especially with respect to their sagacity admirable way of working.
...
And there often appears at the end of these webs a spider floating and sailing in the air with them, which I have plainly discerned in those webs that were nearer to my eye. And once [I] saw a very large spider, to my surprise, swimming in the air in this manner, and others have assured me that they often have seen spiders fly. The appearance is truly very pretty and pleasing, and it was so pleasing, as well as surprising, to me, that I resolved to endeavor to satisfy my curiosity about it, by finding out the way and of their doing it, being also persuaded that, if I could find out how they flew, I could easily find out how they made webs from tree to tree.
...
But whether that be their way or no I can’t say — but without scruple, that or a better, for we always find things done by nature as well or better than [we] can imagine beforehand.
...
Corollary. We hence see the exuberant goodness of the Creator, who hath not only provided for all the necessities, but also for the pleasure and recreation of all sorts of creatures, and even the insects and those that are most despicable.
...
One thing more I shall take notice of, before I dismiss this subject, concerning the end of nature in giving spiders this way of flying, which though we have found in the corollary to be their pleasure and recreation, yet we think a greater end is at last their destruction.
...
Corollary 1. Hence also we may behold and admire at the wisdom of the Creator, and be convinced that is exercised about such little things, in this wonderful contrivance of annually carrying off and burying the corrupting nauseousness of our air, of which flying insects are little collections, in the bottom of the ocean where it will do no harm, and especially the strange way of bringing this about in spiders (which are collections of these collections, their food being flying insects) which want wings whereby it might be done.
...
Corol. 2. Admire also the Creator in so nicely and mathematically adjusting their multiplying nature, that notwithstanding their destruction by this means and the multitudes that are eaten by birds, that they do not decrease and so, little by little, come to nothing; and in so adjusting their destruction to their multiplication that they do neither increase, but taking one year with another, there is always just an equal number of them.

"Spider Letter" (October 31, 1723)

Sir:

In the postscript of your letter to my father you manifest a willingness to receive anything else that he has observed in nature worthy of remark; that which is the subject of the following lines by him was thought to be such: he has laid it upon me to write the account, I having had advantage to make more full observations. If you think, Sir, that they are not worthy the taking notice of, with greatness and goodness overlook and conceal. They are some things that I have happily seen of the wondrous and curious works of the spider. Although everything pertaining to this insect is admirable, yet there are some phenomena relating to them more particularly wonderful.

Everybody that is used to the country knows of their marching in the air from one tree to another, sometimes at the distance of five or six rods, though they are wholly destitute of wings: nor can one go out in a dewy morning at the latter end of August and beginning of September but he shall see multitudes of webs reaching from one tree and shrub to another; which webs are commonly thought to be made in the night because they appear only in the morning by reason of the dew that hangs on them, whereas they never work in the night, they love to lie still when the air is dark and moist; but these webs may be seen well enough in the daytime by an observing eye, by their reflection of the sunbeams; especially late in the afternoon may those webs that are between the eye, and that part of the horizon that is under the sun, be seen very plainly, being advantageously posited to reflect the rays, and the spiders themselves may be very often seen traveling in the air from one stage to another amongst the trees in a very unaccountable manner. But, Sir, I have often seen that which is yet more astonishing. In a very calm serene day in the forementioned time of year, standing at some distance between the end of an house or some other opaque body, so as just to hide the disk of the sun and keep off his dazzling rays, and looking along close by the side of it, I have seen vast multitudes of little shining webs and glistening strings, brightly reflecting the sunbeams, and some of them of a great length, and at such a height that one would think that they were tacked to the vault of the heavens, and would be burnt like tow in the sun, making a very pleasing as well as surprising appearance.

...

But that which is most astonishing is that very often there appears at the end of these webs, spiders sailing in the air with them, doubtless with abundance of pleasure, though not with so much as I have beheld them and shewed them to others. And since I have seen these things I have been very conversant with spiders. Resolving if possible to find out the mysteries of these their amazing works, and pursuing my observations, I discovered one wonder after another till I have been so happy as very frequently to see their whole manner of working; which is thus:

When a spider would go from one tree or branch to another, or would recreate himself by sailing or floating in the air, he first lets himself down a little way from the twig he stands on by a web, as [in] Fig. 1; and then taking hold of it by his forefeet as in Fig. 2, and then separates or loosens the part of the web cd from the part bc by which he hangs; which part of the web cd, being thus loosened, will by the motion of the air be carried out towards e, which will by the sufferance of the spider be drawn [out] of his tail with infinite ease by the moving air, to what length the spider pleases, as [in] Fig. 3: And if the further end of the web de, as it is running out and moving to and fro, happens to catch by a shrub or the branch of a tree, the spider immediately feels it and fixes the hither end of it, d, to the web bc, and goes over as by a bridge by the web de. Every particular of this, Sir, my eyes have innumerable times made me sure of, saving that I never could distinctly see how they separated the part of the web cd (Fig. 2) from the part bc, whether it be done by biting of it off or how, because so small a piece of so fine a web is altogether imperceptible amongst the spider's legs, and because the spider is so very quick and dexterous in doing of it all. But I have seen that it is done, though I have not seen how they do it. For this, Sir, I can see: that the web bc (Fig. 3) is separated, and not joined to the spider's tail, while the web de is drawing out.

...

Corol. 1. Hence the wisdom of the Creator in providing of the spider with that wonderful liquor with which their bottle tail is filled, that may so easily be drawn out so exceeding fine, and being in this way exposed to the air will so immediately convert to a dry substance that shall be so very rare as to be lighter than the air, and will so excellently serve to all their purposes.

Corol. 2. Hence the exuberant goodness of the Creator, who hath not only provided for all the necessities, but also for the pleasure and recreation of all sorts of creatures, even the insects.

But yet, Sir, I am assured that the chief end of this faculty that is given them is not their recreation but their destruction, because their destruction is unavoidably the constant effect of it; and we find nothing that is the continual effect of nature but what is the end of the means by which it is brought to pass: but it is impossible but that the greatest part of the spiders upon the land should every year be swept into the ocean.
...

Corol. 1. Hence [there] is reason to admire at the wisdom of the Creator, and to be convinced that it is exercised about such little things in this wonderful contrivance of annually carrying off and burying the corruption and nauseousness of the air, of which flying insects are little collections, in the bottom of the ocean where it will do no harm; and especially the strange way of bringing this about in spiders, which are collections of these collections, their food being flying insects, flies being the poison of the air, and spiders are the poison of flies collected together. And what great inconveniences should we labor under if it were not so, for spiders and flies are such exceedingly multiplying creatures, that if they only slept or lay benumbed in winter, and were raised again in the spring, which is commonly thought, it would not be many years before we should be plagued with as vast numbers as Egypt was. And if they died ultimately in winter, they by the renewed heat of the sun would presently again be dissipated into the nauseous vapors of which they are made up, and so would be of no use or benefit in that in which now they are so very serviceable and which is the chief end of their creation.

Corol. 2. The wisdom of the Creator is also admirable in so nicely and mathematically adjusting their plastic nature, that notwithstanding their destruction by this means and the multitudes that are eaten by birds, that they do not decrease and so by little and little come to nothing; and in so adjusting their destruction to their multiplication they do neither increase, but taking one year with another, there is always an equal number of them.

These, Sir, are the observations I have had opportunity to make on the wonders that are to be seen in the most despicable of animals. Although these things appear for the main very certain to me, yet, Sir, I submit it all to your better judgment, and deeper insight. I humbly beg to be pardoned for running the venture, though an utter stranger, of troubling you with so prolix an account of that which I am altogether uncertain whether you will esteem worthy of the time and pains of reading. Pardon me if I thought it might at least give you occasion to make better observations on these wondrous animals, that should be worthy of communicating to the learned world, from whose glistening webs so much of the wisdom of the Creator shines.

Biblia Americana

Though little-known today, in part because until now it has never been published, Cotton Mather wrote a commentary on the Bible which he thought of as his "masterwork" -- he called it the Biblia Americana (1693-1728).

Thanks to the efforts of Dr. Reiner Smolinski and his team of scholars, the first volume (out of a planned ten volumes) of this massive commentary -- Genesis -- is finally due to be published by June 2010. It can be pre-ordered on Amazon here.

The format of this commentary is different than standard commentaries of his era. While Mather drew heavily on Matthew Poole's Synopsis Criticorum and corresponded with Matthew Henry directly, as noted on the Biblia Americana website:

In fact, even a cursory comparison between Mather's commentary and those of his peers reveals major differences in conceptualization, approach, and presentation of material. While both Henry and Poole follow the time-honored precedent of (1) Summary of chapter, (2) Reprint of each verse, (3) Analysis, commentary, and cross-references to related biblical passages, Mather's methodology abandons the traditional chapter summaries and reprinting of each verse. Instead, he devises (1) rhetorical questions for each annotation; (2) assumes a skeptical reader who would pounce on apparent contradictions in textual transmission, translation, and interpretation; (3) provides analyses and citations from opposing camps of the hermeneutical debate; (4) aims at reconciling new critical methods and scientific discoveries with conservative receptions of the bible.

It's importance in the field of Puritan exegesis should not be underestimated. The publisher writes:

Cotton Mather, one of the leading intellectuals of colonial America, has often been overshadowed by his younger Puritan contemporary, Jonathan Edwards. Now, however, the publication of this first edition of Mather's magnum opus in the area of biblical knowledge focuses fresh attention on early New England's second most prodigious intellect. Mather's commentary takes the form of questions and answers on the whole biblical canon. The edition, prepared by an international team of experts in early American studies, will consist of ten volumes published over the course of a decade. This first volume introduces the project and offers Mather's comments on Genesis. This work will be treasured by students of American church history, colonial-era Puritanism, Christian responses to the Enlightenment, American intellectual development, and the history of biblical interpretation. It is a must-have acquisition for research libraries covering these disciplines.

Kindred Spirits

Two faithful saints of old, who made brief but profound impressions upon the sands of time, are the Marquis Olivier de la Musse (Muce) and his sister Marguerite. Theirs was a family known as one of the first of French nobility to embrace the Protestant religion. Their grandfather, Marquis David de la Musse, presided over the 1621 political assembly of Huguenots at La Rochelle.

In 1681, young Marguerite died of illness. She must have been young in the body but wise in the ways of the Lord. Her death-bed sayings were recorded and later published and translated: More edifiante, ou Recits des dernieres heures de Mademoiselle (1684); translated as The Triumphs of Grace, or The Last Words and Edifying Death of the Lady Margaret de la Musse, a noble French lady aged but sixteen years in May 1681 (1687). Her final words comprised the Nunc Dimittis (Luke 2.29): "Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy Word."

Jonathan Edwards had a "Catalogue of Reading," or "a notebook he kept of books of interest, especially titles he hoped to acquire, and entries from his “Account Book,” a ledger in which he noted books loaned to family, parishioners, and fellow clergy," both of which together have been published by Yale University as the final volume (#26) of The Works of Jonathan Edwards. In it, Marguerite's book of death-bed sayings is listed as item #36 in Edwards' "Catalogue of Reading." It was a popular devotional work in its day, though harder to come by today.

Marguerite's mother, however, renounced Protestantism at the 1685 Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, though some Catholics complained that her "conversion" was questionable. There was no questioning her son Olivier's convictions; he would not renounce his faith, though his lost his estate and title. An elder in the Reformed Church of Nantes, Olivier attempted to flee France, but was arrested on the Île de Ré before he could cross over to England. He was imprisoned for two years, first in La Rochelle, then at the Castle of Nantes, where every unsuccessful effort was made to force him to recant. Finally, the order was given to expel him from France as an "obstinate heretic," but in a further act of cruelty, when he was put aboard the ship that would take him to England, he was not told of his destination until the last moment, leaving him in suspense as to whether he faced slavery in the West Indies or some other terrible end.

He made friends in London during the receptive reign of King William III, whose army in Ireland had included many Huguenots. John Quick (1636-1706), the famous nonconformist historian, would write: "Here [in London] is a Marquis de La Musse, a faithful confessor for Christ, having forsaken his estate and embraced the cross, rather than part with his religion." One of those friends was Daniel Coxe, who had a plan to facilitate the settlement of a Huguenot colony in America. After initially proposing a site on the Gulf of Mexico, it was finally decided that a group of Huguenot refugees would be settled near Norfolk, Virginia. With his partner Charles de Sailly, and pastor Claude Philippe de Richebourg, Olivier led the Huguenot party of over 200 souls (a large number of these were Waldensians, including Pastor Benjamin De Joux) to Hampton, Virginia in 1700, by way of the British vessel Mary Ann, where the ship docked in Hampton, Virginia. There, William Byrd directed them, not to Norfolk, but up the James River, to the frontier, where he owned lands adjacent to an abandoned Monacan Indian settlement, where the Huguenots established their own colony called Manakin-towne (west of present-day Richmond, where the French Huguenot church still exists in Episcopal form, and so does the French Huguenot Society of Virginia, which tells the story of the colony's founding much better here). Three additional shiploads of Huguenot and Waldensian settlers followed, comprising over 700 Manakin colonists in the aggregate.

Charles Baird says of this Huguenot colonial expedition that "[i]t may be safely said that no more interesting body of colonists than that conducted by Oliver de la Muce, had crossed the ocean within the last half of the century then coming to a close" (History of the Huguenot Emigration to America, Vol. 2, p. 178).

Olivier helped the colonists through a difficult first winter but he must have returned to England and his footsteps, though faintly evident to us, were lost in the sands of time. It is not known (to me, at any rate) what became of Olivier after this expedition. But to him, and other brave kindred spirits, we are indebted to the witness of the French Huguenot faithful on both shores of the Atlantic.

A Tale of Two Families

In 1874, Richard Dugdale, on behalf of the New York Prison Commission began to visit state prison facilities and, in doing so, discovered a particular family connection between some of the incarcerated guests in Ulster County. Interestingly, a descendant of Jonathan Edwards was president of this commission, but we will get to the Edwards connection soon enough. This lead to further research and, in 1877, the publication of a study entitled The Jukes: A Study in Crime, Pauperism, Disease and Heredity. "Jukes" is a last name made up to represent people living and deceased whose identity he did not wish to disclose. He traced the lineage of this family tree to a man of Dutch ancestory named "Max," born in 1720 in the Hudson Valley. Dugdale estimated that there were 1,200 members of this family tree and was able to report on the details of 540 of these descendants, plus another 169 who married into the family line. One member of the family tree was said by Dugdale to be "Ada Juke," who married one of Max's sons, and was nicknamed "Margaret, Mother of Criminals." Of the total group of related individuals, Dugdale found that:

• 310 were paupers who spent a combined 2,300 years in poorhouses;

• 130 were convicted criminals;

• 50 women were prostitutes;

• 7 were were murders; and

• these paupers and criminals cost the state of New York $1.5 million to pay for their incarcerations and $1.25 million in public welfare and other costs to society apart from incarceration.

The lack of documentation supporting Dugdale's research, specifically the identities of the subjects concerned and the incompleteness of the family study, and the research methology (for example, the financial calculations), has given rise to criticism of this study, notably by Dr. Robert Frick, but it has gained enough credence in popular lore that the name "Jukes" is a by-word for "bad seed." His study provided ammunition in his day for the Eugenics movement, although Dugdale ascribed this remarkable family connection to both genetics and environment.

Scott Christianson, "Bad Seed or Bad Science? The Story of the Notorious Jukes Family," New York Times (February 8, 2003):

In 1911, some eugenicists discovered Dugdale's original charts and notes, including the actual names of the Jukeses. They rushed the records to the Eugenics Record Office in Cold Spring Harbor, the leading eugenics research facility operated by the Carnegie Institution, where a field worker, Arthur H. Estabrook, was assigned the task of reviewing the records and updating the study.

The family's real names were kept hidden, but Estabrook said he had confirmed Dugdale's study and used the records to trace 2,111 Jukeses in addition to the 709 that Dugdale had described, bringing the total number of people studied to 2,820. His book, "The Jukes in 1915," reported that 1,258 Jukeses were still alive and reproducing — at a cost to the public of at least $2 million (about $35.2 million today).

In 1900, Albert Edward Winship published another supplemental study, Jukes-Edwards: A Study in Education and Heredity, this time tracing the descendants of America's leading theologian, Jonathan Edwards to compare them with the Jukes family. The results are generally non-controversial but fascinating. He reported that out of approximately 1,400 known descendants:

• "practically no lawbreakers";

• more than 100 lawyers and 30 judges;

• 13 college presidents, 100+ professors;

• 100 clergymen, missionaries and theological professors;

• 62 physicians;

• 80 elected public officials, including 3 mayors, 3 governors, several congressmen, 3 senators and 1 vice-president (Aaron Burr);

• 60 authors or editors with 135 books to their credit; and

• 75 army or navy officers.

In more recent times, this godly lineage was marred by one descendant of Jonathan Edwards, Janet Edwards, a, uh, minister, in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) who officiated at a 2005 lesbian "wedding" ceremony, and was later acquitted at her church trial.

Moreover, the two churches that Edwards pastored in Northampton and Stockbridge are both now liberal.

Meanwhile, back to Max Juke, researchers discovered a poorhouse graveyard in 2001 located in New Paltz, New York, and additional records led them to conclude that one particular graveyard is that of the real Max in question -- whose true name is, apparently, Max Keyser.

There is a great deal of misinformation about the comparison of these two families that Christians and others would do well to keep in mind when considering these facts. Statistics can be used and they can be misused, and facts can be blurred, intentionally or unintentionally. It does not help the cause of Christ to misuse statistics or blur facts. It is always good to verify one's sources as much as possible. The two studies, it seems to me, serve best as a talking point for discussion, but I would not press the reported facts too far to make a point that Scripture makes on a more solid foundation.

God has promised blessings to godly families (Ex. 20.3-6, 12; Deut. 6; Ps. 112.1-2; Ps. 115.14; Ps. 128; Mal. 2.15; Eph. 6.1-3; etc.) and wrath to families who break his covenant and rebel against him (Ex. 20.5; 34.7; Num. 14.18; Deut. 5.9; Ps. 79.6; Jer. 10.25; etc.). But these promises and threatenings are general and not directed to particular generations within particular family lines. Godly families are known to have ungodly children and the Lord has been pleased to save many out of ungodly families so that the children no longer walk in the sins of their fathers. Trust not in (Matt. 3.9) nor blame (Deut. 24.16; Ezekiel 18) your parentage, but rather to each of us the word is: "Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:" (Isa. 55.6). The meek shall indeed inherit the earth (Ps. 25.13; Matt. 5.5), but not by virtue of their physical lineage. God builds his church not only through families but also by breaking generational curses and delivering those whom the world despises. Each of us is responsible to God for our own life and shall have to give account for himself or herself, and not plead or blame his or her physical lineage in support of his or her case. This is a truth that many of us already know, but since it is human nature to tend this way, we must be on guard against this tendency when we speak of multi-generational blessings and curses.

Certain points to bear in mind:

• The sources and methodology of Richard Dugdale are not known for certain, so his study, while it has stood up to some follow up research and scrutiny, may not be completely sound. What about the 500 or so descendants of Max who Dugdale could not report on?

• The name of the anti-hero was ascribed by Dugdale as "Max Juke," though it has been reported by others as "Max Dukes" or "Max Jukes". Max Juke is a pseudonym, not a real name. More recently, researchers have come to believe that his real name is Max Keyser. Much has been said about his notorious life, but little is actually known.

• Some have reported that the Max Jukes study was performed by Princeton professor Benjamin B. Warfield, which is incorrect; it was performed by Richard Dugdale.

• Facts, figures and inferences about these two have been reported by many, and much has been written about the multigenerational consequences of righteousness and sin. The Bible does teach that covenant-faithfulness and covenant-breaking does have consequences from one generation to the next. But we must be on guard not to give people the impression that godliness is a purely genetic quality. And there are certainly exceptions to the honorable Edwards legacy, such as Janet Edwards and the two churches that Edwards pastored in Northampton and Stockbridge are both liberal. Moreover, statistics do not tell the complete story. The fact that certain Edwards descendants were elected officials or professionals does not necessarily speak to their virtue or godliness. Statistics give us a snapshot but how does one really quantify godliness?
  

• Who knows about the descendants of Max Juke/Keyser today? Perhaps the Lord would be pleased to "bind the strong man" in that family and save some of those descendants. It is a dangerous thing to put trust in one's ancestry or to dismiss others because of their own reputed ancestry. While the comparison of the Edwards/Juke-Keyser family trees makes for a good story and there is a Scriptural principle about covenant fidelity that can be legitimately spoken of in connection with this story, Christians would do well to bear in mind the caveats, the exceptions, the uncertainties, about these studies and stand first and foremost upon the word of God over and above the potentially flawed scientific studies to make their point.

Apostrophe to Sarah Pierpont

In 1723, Jonathan Edwards was a 20 year-old Yale University student when he met 13 year-old Sarah Pierpont, great-granddaughter of Thomas Hooker, and daughter of James Pierpont, a founder of Yale. He was smitten, and so pleasantly distracted that he wrote the following prose poem in the front of his Greek grammar book of the girl who four years later became his wife:

They say there is a young lady in [New Haven] who is beloved of that almighty Being, who made and rules the world, and that there are certain seasons in which this great Being, in some way or other invisible, comes to her and fills her mind with exceeding sweet delight, and that she hardly cares for anything, except to meditate on him — that she expects after a while to be received up where he is, to be raised up out of the world and caught up into heaven; being assured that he loves her too well to let her remain at a distance from him always. There she is to dwell with him, and to be ravished with his love and delight forever. Therefore, if you present all the world before her, with the richest of its treasures, she disregards it and cares not for it, and is unmindful of any pain or affliction. She has a strange sweetness in her mind, and singular purity in her affections; is most just and conscientious in all her actions; and you could not persuade her to do anything wrong or sinful, if you would give her all the world, lest she should offend this great Being. She is of a wonderful sweetness, calmness and universal benevolence of mind; especially after those seasons in which this great God has manifested himself to her mind. She will sometimes go about from place to place, singing sweetly; and seems to be always of joy and pleasure; and no one knows for what. She loves to be alone, and to wander in the fields and on the mountains, and seems to have someone invisible always conversing with her.

Seasons of Solitude

Superman had his Fortress of Solitude; Henry David Thoreau had his Walden Pond; Alexander Selkirk had his solitary island for a kingdom (cf., William Cowper, The Solitude of Alexander Selkirk). Sometimes solitude is to be sought after, sometimes it is thrust upon us. To every thing there is a season. And while man is a social creature, and is not meant to be alone always, and there are times when company is needful, seasons of solitude, rightly employed, are desirable, and may be improved upon. Solitude is scary to some who are never alone -- we get antsy when there is silence, when all background noises have ceased -- yet we ought not to fear it, but embrace it, seasonably.

Jonathan Edwards, Religious Affections in Works, Vol. 1, 311-312:

Some are greatly affected when in company; but have nothing that bears any manner of proportion to it in secret, in close meditation, prayer and conversing with God when alone, and separated from the world. A true Christian doubtless delights in religious fellowship and Christian conversation, and finds much to affect his heart in it; but he also delights at times to retire from all mankind, to converse with God in solitude. And this also has peculiar advantages for fixing his heart, and engaging his affections. True religion disposes persons to be much alone in solitary places for holy meditation and prayer...It is the nature of true grace, however it loves Christian society in its place, in a peculiar manner to delight in retirement, and secret converse with God.

Solitude helps us to discover our weakness, our need. Our human heart is most open and vulnerable, in all its darkness and desire, when we are alone. Blaise Pascal said, "J’ai découvert que tout le malheur des hommes vient d’une seule chose, qui est de ne savoir pas demeurer en repos dans une chambre." ("I have discovered that all the unhappiness of men arises from one single fact, that they cannot stay quietly in their own chamber") (Pensées, 139) And this is why Charles Spurgeon commends occasional solitude (Solitude, Silence, Submission, preached June 13, 1886):

I commend solitude to any of you who are seeking salvation, first, that you may study well your case as in the sight of God. Few men truly know themselves as they really are. Most people have seen themselves in a looking-glass, but there is another looking-glass, which gives true reflections, into which few men look. To study one's own self in the light of God's Word, and carefully to go over one's condition, examining both the inward and the outward sins, and using all the tests which are given us in the Scriptures, would be a very healthy exercise; but how very few care to go through it! Yet, beloved friends, if it be a wise thing to look well to your business, how much more ought you to look to the business which concerns your immortal souls! If a true shepherd will not neglect his flocks and his herds, should not a wise man care about his thoughts, his feelings, and his actions? Must it not be a wretched condition not to know whether one is saved or not? I sometimes hear people express surprise if they are asked whether they are saved; yet in what ignorance of your own soul's state must you be if you have never put that question to yourself, or if, when it is put, you feel inclined to give no answer to it! I press this matter home upon you, and if you would be saved, you must know first that you are lost. If you would seek to be healed, you must first learn that you are sick. It is not possible that you will repent unless you are aware of your sin; it is not likely that you will look to Christ unless you first know what it is for which you are to look to him. Therefore, I pray you, set apart some season every day, or at least some season as often as you can get it, in which the business of your mind shall be to take your longitude and latitude, that you may know exactly where you are. You may be drifting towards the rocks, and you may be wrecked before you know your danger. I implore you, do not let your ship go at full steam through a fog; but slacken speed a bit, and heave the lead, to see whether you are in deep waters or shallow. I am not asking you to do more than any kind and wise man would advise you to do; do I even ask you more than your own conscience tells you is right? Sit alone a while, that you may carefully consider your case.

The fruits and benefits of time alone with God can be tremendous. To better know yourself, your condition, the state of your soul, to commune with God without distraction, to lift your affections and find that, as you empty your soul to him, laying all before him with whom we have to do, the Spirit fills your broken and contrite heart.

The heart knoweth his own bitterness; and a stranger doth not intermeddle with his joy. (Proverbs 14.10)

James Morgan wrote a beautiful meditation on Psalm 51 called The Penitent. In the preface (pp. 8-9) he states:

I felt altogether unworthy of the goodness which the Lord had made to pass before me. I could only abase myself before Him. My heart reproached me with many, many shortcomings, which caused it to know its own bitterness. I turned to the 51st Psalm, and felt as if it were written for me. The more I read it the more I enjoyed it. I began to write upon it, and this deepened its impression on my soul. Its confessions, and supplications, and hopes, and joys, were sweeter to me than my necessary food. By the kindness of my congregation, I was at that time removed from them for the space of a month, that I might relax from my accustomed labors. I spent it in entire solitude, apart from my family and friends. I occupied myself exclusively in committing my meditations on this portion of the Divine Word to paper. I returned with these carefully written out....While memory endures, I will remember with thankfulness the solitary hours spent in their composition....In this, as in all things, Jesus Christ is the perfect pattern of His servants. His public labours were excessive, and were equalled only by His secret devotions. Daily he toiled, and taught, and healed, and fed the people; yet it is told of Him, "Early in the morning, He rose up a great while before day, and went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed." He who was clothed in a perfect humanity found it necessary to do so. How much more, then, must it be so to the poor earthern vessels into which He has put the treasure of the Word?

Those who have experienced the fruits of solitude, who have climbed to the mountaintop, can relate to the young lawyer in Anton Chekhov's The Bet, who, having agreed in a wager to spend 15 years in solitary confinement to prove a point, at the end of his tenure, wrote:

For fifteen years I have been intently studying earthly life. It is true I have not seen the earth nor men, but in your books I have drunk fragrant wine, I have sung songs, I have hunted stags and wild boars in the forests, have loved women.... Beauties as ethereal as clouds, created by the magic of your poets and geniuses, have visited me at night, and have whispered in my ears wonderful tales that have set my brain in a whirl. In your books I have climbed to the peaks of Elburz and Mont Blanc, and from there I have seen the sun rise and have watched it at evening flood the sky, the ocean, and the mountain-tops with gold and crimson. I have watched from there the lightning flashing over my head and cleaving the storm-clouds. I have seen green forests, fields, rivers, lakes, towns. I have heard the singing of the sirens, and the strains of the shepherds' pipes; .... In your books I have flung myself into the bottomless pit, performed miracles, slain, burned towns, ... conquered whole kingdoms....

It is good to be alone and then to return to society, as Moses did, his face aglow from communion with his God.

William Cowper, Retirement:

I praise the Frenchman [Bruyère], his remark was shrewd,
How sweet, how passing sweet is solitude!
But grant me still a friend in my retreat,
Whom I may whisper—Solitude is sweet.

But it is wise to remember what Matthew Henry said on John 16.32: "Those that converse with God in solitude are never less alone than when alone."

For seasons of solitude which are desired or imposed, are to be improved, and that by seeking communion with God. For some, solitary confinement is a prison, a cage, where the worst of man's heart overwhelms the soul and drives to despair; for others, it is a privilege, a passport, a journey which leads to a mountaintop and back again. For further reading on the benefits of secret communion with God in solitude, see Richard Baxter, Converse With God in Solitude; Nathanael Ranew, Solitude Improved by Divine Meditation; and Wilhelmus à Brakel, The Christian's Reasonable Service, Vol. 4, Chap. 77, pp. 19-24, who includes a poetic meditation on p. 24:

Take heed that you keep your secret place holy,
Or else it will not be safe there.
When do you keep your secret place holy?
When you have intimate fellowship with God.

O Longed For, and Lovely Day, Dawn!

Apostle Paul, Romans 10.1:

Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.

Jonathan Edwards, A History of the Work of Redemption in Works, Vol. 1, p. 487:

Nothing is more certainly foretold than this national conversion of the Jews is in the 11th chapter of Romans.

One theme that is prevalent throughout the sayings and writings of Samuel Rutherford is the ardent desire and certain but prayerful expectation that the Jews will one day be converted en masse.

"The Spouse's Longing for Christ" (Song of Sol. 5.3-6) in Quaint Sermons, p. 86:

O! for to see that great stumbling-block that stands into the way of Christian religion tane [taken] out of the way, and then to see the people of the Jews brought in again to Christ, their old Husband, and married upon Him, and the fulness of the Gentiles! O! to see our Redeemer Christ have one fair day of it in the world; to see Jew and Gentile married on Christ, and to see His dominions going from the East to the West and from sea to sea, and to see the whole earth in one sheepfold, obeying the voice of one Shepherd! That is the blessedest day that ever we saw if it were come, and we should pray to the Lord to hasten it that so that may be fulfilled which the Lord promises.

Letters, XII, p. 49:

I have been, this time by-passed, thinking much of the incoming of the Kirk of the Jews. Pray for them. When they were in their Lord's house, at their Father's elbow, they were longing for the coming of their Little Sister, the Kirk of the Gentiles. They said to their Lord, (Cant. viii. ver. 8,) "We have a little Sister, and she hath no breasts; what shall we do for our Sister in the day when she shall be spoken for?" Let us give them a mettering. What shall we do for our elder Sister, the Jews? Lord Jesus give them breasts! That were a glad day, to see us and them both set down at one table, and Christ at the head of the table. Then would our Lord come shortly with his fair guard, to hold his great court.

Letters, XXVI, p. 72:

I am confident, madam, that our Lord will yet build a new house to himself of our rejected and scattered stones; for our Bridegroom cannot want a wife. Can he live a widower? Nay he will embrace both us, the Little young Sister, and the Elder Sister, the Church of the Jews; and there will yet be a day of it: and, therefore, we have cause to rejoice, yea, to sing and shout for joy.

Letters, XXXIX, p. 89:

Oh, to see the sight next to Christ's coming in the clouds, the most joyful! our elder brethren, the Jews, and Christ fall upon one another's necks, and kiss each other! They have been long asunder, they will be kind to one another when they meet: O day! O longed for, and lovely day, dawn! O sweet Jesus, let me see that sight that will be as life from the dead, thee and thy ancient people in mutual embraces!

Letters, CXCIV, p. 303:

Oh, what could my soul desire more, next to my Lord Jesus, while I am in this flesh, but that Christ and his kingdom might be great among Jews and Gentiles; and that the isles, (and amongst them overclouded and darkened Britain,) might have the glory of a noon-day's sun!

Letters, CCLXXXVIII, p. 460:

We do welcome Ireland and England to our Well-beloved. We invite you, O Daughters of Jerusalem, to come down to our Lord's garden, and seek our Well-beloved with us; for his love will suffice both you and us. We do send you love-letters over the sea, to request you to come and to marry our King, and to take part of our bed; and we trust our Lord is fetching a blow upon the Beast, and the scarlet-colored Whore, to the end that he may bring in his ancient Widow-wife, our dear sister, the Church of the Jews. Oh, what a heavenly heaven were it to see them come in by this mean, and suck the breasts of their little sister, and renew their old love with their first Husband, Christ our Lord! They are booked in God's word, as a bride contracted upon Jesus! Oh, for a sight, in this flesh of mine, of the prophesied marriage between Christ and them! The kings of Tarshish, and of the Isles must bring presents to our Lord Jesus, (Psal. lxxii. 10.) And Britain is one of the chiefest isles; why then but we may believe, that our kings of this Island shall comin, and bring their glory to the New Jerusalem, wherein Christ shall dwell in the latter days? It is our part to pray, "That the kingdoms of the earth may become Christ's."

Letters, CCXCIV, p. 479:

Oh, what joy and what glory would I judge it, if my heaven should be suspended, till I might have leave to run on foot to be a witness of that marriage-glory, and see Christ put on the glory of his last married bride, and his last marriage-love on earth; when he shall enlarge his love-bed, and set it upon the top of the mountains, and take in the Elder Sister, the Jews, and the fulness of the Gentiles!

Letters, CCXCV, p. 482:

I shall be glad to be a witness to behold the kingdoms of the world become Christ's. I could stay out of Heaven many years, to see that victorious, triumphing Lord act that prophesied part of his soul-conquering love, in taking into his kingdom the Greater Sister, that Kirk of the Jews, who sometimes, courted our Well-beloved for her Little Sister, (Cant. viii. 8;) to behold him set up as an ensign and banner of love, to the ends of the world.

Testimony to the Covenanted Work of Reformation from 1638 to 1649 in Britain and Ireland:

The royal prerogative of Christ is pulled from his head, and after all the days of sorrow we have seen, we have just cause to fear we shall be made to read and eat that book, wherein is written Mouring, and Lamentation, and Woe. Yet we are to believe, Christ will not so depart from the land, but a remnant shall be saved; and he shall reign a victorious conquering King, to the ends of the earth. O that there were nations, kindreds, tongues, and all the people of Christ's habitable world, encompassing his throne with cries and tears from the spirit of supplication, to be poured down upon the inhabitants of Judah for that effect.

Friday Funny

For some 21st century readers, there may be confusion about names referred to in Puritan and Reformed literature. So this is intended as a helpful (read: humorous) guide to select prominent Reformed individuals in church history.

William Ames was an English Puritan; Willie Aames is the actor who starred in Eight is Enough and Charles in Charge.

Thomas Manton was an English Puritan; Thomas Manton IV is a modern-day self-proclaimed "prophet."

John Owen was an English Puritan; Johnny Owen was a Welsh boxer.

Thomas Watson was an English Puritan; Thomas A. Watson is the man whose name Alexander Graham Bell first called on the telephone.

David Clarkson was an English Puritan; David Clarkson is a Canadian ice hockey star.

Robert Shaw was a 19th century Scottish Presbyterian who authored a commentary on the Westminster Confession; Robert Shaw was the English actor who starred in Jaws, The Sting, From Russia With Love and A Man For All Seasons.

John Kennedy (of Dingwall) was a 19th century Scottish Presbyterian; John F. Kennedy was an American president.

William Cunningham was a 19th century Scottish Presbyterian; Billy Cunningham was an American college and professional basketball star.

Jonathan Edwards was an American Puritan; John Edwards is an American Democratic politician.

Who can think of other names shared by Puritans or Reformed figures and notables from popular culture or modern history?