Contentment, though it be not properly a grace (it is rather a disposition of mind,) yet in it there is a happy mixture of all the graces: it is a most precious compound, which is made up of faith, patience, meekness, humility, etc. which are the ingredients put into it.
~Thomas Watson~
The Art of Divine Contentment (Portland, Oregon; MonergismBooks.com; 2010) eBook: The Works of Thomas Watson. Section: Divine MOTIVES to Contentment. I. Consider the EXCELLENCY of contentment.
The revelation that Scripture discloses to us does not just consist in a number of disconnected words and isolated facts but is one single historical and organic whole, a mighty world-controlling and world-renewing system of testimonies and acts of God.
~Herman Bavinck~
Reformed Dogmatics Vol. 1: Prolegomena (Grand Rapids, Michigan; Baker Academic; 2003) p. 340.
I have known some that, at first conversion, have not been very clear in the gospel, who have been made evangelical by their discoveries of their own need of mercy. They could not spell the word ‘grace.’ They began with a G, but they very soon went on with an F, till it spelt very like ‘freewill’ before they had done with it.
But after they have learned their weakness, after they have fallen into serious fault, and God has restored them, or after they have passed through deep depression of mind, they have sung a new song. In the school of repentance they have learned to spell. They began to write the word ‘free,’ but they went on from free, not to ‘will’ but to ‘grace.’ And there it stood in capitals, ‘FREE GRACE’. . . . They became clearer in their divinity, and truer in their faith than ever they were before.
~Charles Spurgeon~
The Forgotten Spurgeon (Edinburgh, Scotland; Banner of Truth Trust; 1966) p. 69-70. (HT: Dane Ortlund)
QUESTION: What may we do to walk with God?
ANSWER 5: If you desire to walk with God, take hold of His arm. Those who walk in their own strength will soon grow weary and tire. ‘I will go in the strength of the Lord God’ (Psa. 71:16). We cannot walk with God without God. Let us press Him with His promise: ‘I will cause you to walk in my statutes’ (Ezek. 36:27). If God takes us by the hand, then we shall ‘walk, and not faint’ (Isa. 40:31).
~Thomas Watson~
The Godly Man’s Picture (Edinburgh, Scotland; The Banner of Truth Trust; 1992) p. 183.
QUESTION: What may we do to walk with God?
ANSWER 4: If you desire to walk with God, get a liking for the ways of God. They are adorned with beauty (Prov. 4:18); they are sweetened with pleasure (Prov. 3:17); they are fenced with truth (Rev. 15:3); they are accompanied with life (Acts 2:28); they are lengthened with eternity (Hab. 3:6). Be enamored with the way of religion and you will soon walk in it.
~Thomas Watson~
The Godly Man’s Picture (Edinburgh, Scotland; The Banner of Truth Trust; 1992) p. 183.
QUESTION: What may we do to walk with God?
ANSWER 3: Get all differences removed. ‘Can two walk together, except they are agreed?’ (Amos 3:3). This agreement and reconciliation is made by faith: ‘Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood’ (Rom. 3:25). When once we are friends, then we shall be called up the mount like Moses, and have this dignity conferred on us, to be the favorites of heaven and to walk with God.
~Thomas Watson~
The Godly Man’s Picture (Edinburgh, Scotland; The Banner of Truth Trust; 1992) p. 183.
QUESTION: What may we do to walk with God?
ANSWER 2: If you wish to walk with God, get acquainted with Him: ‘Acquaint now thyself with him’ (Job 22:21). Know God in His attributes and promises. Strangers do not walk together.
~Thomas Watson~
The Godly Man’s Picture (Edinburgh, Scotland; The Banner of Truth Trust; 1992) p. 183.
Charles Spurgeon’s: The Treasury of David
An incredible resource on the Psalms that can be used for sermon prep as well as a devotional help.
From the Publisher:
Spurgeon’s own commentary on every verse of the Psalms is extremely insightful, and by itself it would have been rich enough for posterity. But there’s much more in The Treasury of David. You’ll find a wealth of illuminating extracts and quotes from hundreds of commentators and contemporaries of Spurgeon as well as the great Puritan expositors of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Preachers and teachers will appreciate the homiletical hints on almost every verse, concise sermon outlines, and provocative seed thoughts. Useful bibliographies and an index of authors offer more practical help. Whether you’re teaching on the Psalms, studying them for personal devotions, or simply intrigued by the writings of Spurgeon, you’ll enjoy this splendid classic”
From Spurgeon.org:
“This work was first published in weekly installments over a twenty-year span in the London Metropolitan Tabernacle’s periodical, The Sword and the Trowel. Completed sections were released volume by volume, until the seventh and final volume was released in 1885. Within a decade more than 120,000 sets had been sold. The Treasury of David is a superb literary achievement. Eric Hayden, pastor of the Metropolitan Tabernacle a century after Spurgeon’s ministry began there, calls this work ‘Spurgeon’s magnum opus.’ Spurgeon’s wife said that if Spurgeon had never written any other work, this would have been a permanent literary memorial.”
Get the three volume set at WTSBooks here.
View it on the web here.
Download a PDF Copy here.
QUESTION: What may we do to walk with God?
ANSWER 1: Get off the old road of sin. He that would walk in a pleasant meadow must turn off the road. The way of sin is full of travelers. There are so many travelers on this road that hell, though it is of a great circumference, would gladly enlarge itself and make room for them (Isa. 5:14). This way of sin seems pleasant but the end is damnable. ‘I have’, says the harlots, ‘perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes and cinnamon’ (Prov. 7:17). See how with one sweet (the cinnamon) there were two bitters (myrrh and aloes). For that little sweet in sin at present there will be a far greater proportion of bitterness afterwards. Therefore get out of these briars. You cannot walk with God and sin: ‘what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness?’ (2 Cor. 6:14).
~Thomas Watson~
The Godly Man’s Picture (Edinburgh, Scotland; The Banner of Truth Trust; 1992) p. 182.
E. THERE ARE ONLY A FEW GODLY
They are like the gleanings after vintage. Most receive the mark of the beast (Rev. 13:17). The devil keeps open house for all comers, and he is never without guests. This may prevail with us to be godly. If the number of the saints is so small, how we should strive to be found among these pearls! ‘But a remnant shall be saved’ (Rom. 9:27). It is better to go to heaven with a few than to hell in the crowd.
~Thomas Watson~
The Godly Man’s Picture (Edinburgh, Scotland; The Banner of Truth Trust; 1992) p. 204.
The Old Guys 