Prayer from the cave

Image: Pixabay

TODAY’S SPECIAL: Job 29-31; Psalm 142

TO CHEW ON: “Bring my soul out of prison,
That I may praise Your name;
The righteous shall surround me,
For you shall deal bountifully with me.” Psalm 142:7


It’s interesting to know the circumstances that sparked a piece of writing. Under Psalm 142’s title is a note that gives us a clue about this psalm: “A Contemplation of David. A Prayer when he was in the cave.”

My Bible’s notes cite two instances this might have been: the Cave of Adullum (2 Samuel 22) or En Gedi (1 Samuel 24). In both cases he was on the run from King Saul, his father-in-law, former boss, and man to whom he had shown nothing but loyalty and respect. His physical life was in danger, the rift between them was deeply personal and hurtful, and he was forced to live in settings (like this cave) that were inconvenient, physically demanding, and challenging. Considering all that, we would not be surprised if he were angry, resentful, vengeful, full of self-pity, even shaking his fist at God.

But that was not his stance in this contemplation.

Instead he:
1] Consoled himself in God’s knowledge and awareness of him--God's omniscience:
“When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then you knew my path” - Psalm 142:3.

2] Begged God for His help:
“I cried out to You Lord;
Attend to my cry…
Deliver me from my persecutors…
Bring my soul out of prison…" - Psalm 142:5,6.

3]  Affirmed his faith in God’s goodness:
“For You shall deal bountifully with me” - Psalm 142:7.

Perhaps we could use Psalm 142 as a model next time we’re in a “cave”:
- Remind ourselves that God knows and sees us and everything about and around us (Psalm 139).
- Pour out our requests to God. Make a list, write a journal entry, enumerate these things on our prayer list…
- End with faith and affirmations of God’s goodness. Use David’s (“For you shall deal bountifully with me” - Psalm 142:7) or compile a list of your own.


PRAYER: Dear Father, thank You that You supervise my bad times as well as my good. Help me to develop a theology of suffering that is faith- and hope-filled. Amen.

PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 142

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Thanks for reading! This year we are using The Bible Project "Timeless Reading Plan" to read through the Bible in 2018. If you'd like to read along in your own Bible, you can download a pdf of the reading plan HERE.

My destiny: God's choice or mine?

Image: Pixabay

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Romans 9:1-18

TO CHEW ON: "As it is written, 'Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated'" - Romans 9:13

"Loved"? "Hated"? Paul is here quoting the strong words of the prophet Malachi (Malachi 1:2-3). They bring up a lot of questions.

"'Loved ... hated' are not to be understood in their normal sense. They are best understood 'chose...rejected' based on the fact that God knew Jacob would better further His will," Wayne Grudem, study notes to Romans in the  New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 1564).

In today's reading we bump head-on into one of the mysteries of the Bible and Christianity: If God makes everything, knows everything, is righteous and loving, how is He fair when He rejects some (like Esau), or when He creates some for destruction (like Pharaoh - Romans 9:17)?

Paul himself acknowledges the logical difficulty:

"So you see, God chooses to show mercy to some, and he chooses to harden the hearts of others so they refuse to listen.

Well then, you might say, “Why does God blame people for not responding? Haven’t they simply done what he makes them do?”

No, don’t say that. Who are you, a mere human being, to argue with God? Should the thing that was created say to the one who created it, “Why have you made me like this?”

When a potter makes jars out of clay, doesn’t he have a right to use the same lump of clay to make one jar for decoration and another to throw garbage into? - NLT - Romans 9:18-21.

Apparently you and I don't have any choice in the matter—or do we?

When we think it through, we realize that God's appointment of our final destiny is only the ultimate in a myriad of decisions God has made about us from the decision to give us life in the first place, to which family we belong to, country we're born in, what sex we are, whether our eyes are blue or brown, our IQ low or high, and on and on. It's impossible for us as creatures to comprehend the whys and wherefores of an all-knowing, all-powerful, all righteous, and all-loving Creator. From God's viewpoint, my life is entirely planned and set, as if it had already happened (Psalm 139:15-16).

However, from my viewpoint as a creature, I have choices and the Bible also bears that out: John 7:17; Hebrews 3:7-8; Hebrews 4:7.

H. C. Thiessen, in his Lectures in Systematic Theology, describes a way of reconciling God's sovereignty and man's choice in this bit:

"Man's part and God's part seem to be brought together in John 1:12,13: "But as many as received him, to them gave he the right to become children of God, even to them that believe in his name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." Man has the grace to accept Him or to reject Him. If he accepts Christ, God gives him the right to become a child of God by regenerating him; if he rejects Christ, he remains under the wrath of God. God's grace enables man to accept Christ, but it does not constrain him to do so.


"'As they went, they were cleansed' (Luke 17:14) is a principle that applies here also. As a man shows the least willingness to obey God, He gives him repentance and faith" - H. C. Thiessen, Lectures in Systematic Theology, p. 231.

I personally don't spend time worrying about whether I'm one of the chosen or rejected, from God's point of view. Rather I do what is in my seeming power and ability to do. I chose to accept His salvation when I was eight years old and daily try to make the choices that confirm Him as Lord of my life.

What about you?

PRAYER: Dear God, Your ways are beyond my comprehension. Help me to daily accept and live in the grace You extend, making choices that are in line with Your will as revealed in Your word. Amen.

MORE: Calvinism vs. Arminianism

Throughout church history Christians have tended to coalesce around two opposing viewpoints regarding the sovereignty of God and the free will of man in the matter of salvation. Calvinists emphasize God's sovereignty while Arminians focus on man's freedom of choice.

"Calvinism vs. Arminianism - which view is correct?" is a brief explanation of the position of each.

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

We're under some pretty special care

Rock hyrax mother and child from Wikipedia

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Psalm 104:1-18

TO CHEW ON: "…The stork has her home in the fir trees. The high hills are for the wild goats; The cliffs are a refuge for the rock badgers." Psalm 104:17-18.

The stork is a large bird that makes a huge nest (it can be over 6 ft. in diameter and 10 ft. in depth). It needs a sturdy tree like a cedar to hold that nest (info from  Stork on  Wikipedia).

Goats have a hoof structure that makes it possible for them to climb to places most animals would never go. Thus wild goats can roam the hills for their food (info from Goat-Antelope on Wikipedia)

The rock badger of this psalm is most likely what we call the rock hyrax. These guinea pig-like rodents live in habitats with rock crevices in groups of ten to eighty, forage as a group, and use sentries—one or more animals to take up positions on vantage points—to warn the group when danger is approaching (info from Rock hyrax on Wikipedia).

In drawing our attention to these creatures the psalm writer gives us examples of what we call God's providence. [The dictionary defines providence as "The care exercised by God over the universe.]

Though the word providence isn't found in the Bible, it is the word that is traditionally used to describe God's continuing relationship to His creation. Wayne Grudem defines providence in his Systematic Theology:

"God is continually involved in all created things in such a way that he 1] keeps them existing and maintaining the properties with which he created them; 2] cooperates with created things in every action, directing their distinctive properties to cause them to act as they do; and 3] directs them to fulfill his purposes" - p. 315"

God's providence doesn't include only to animals but extends to people too. Jesus said: "Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?" - Matthew 6:26.

In what ways do we experience God's providence? Consider these (condensed from Grudem, pp. 320-321):

• In our daily provision - Matthew 6:11; Philippians 4:19.

• In God's knowledge of and plan for our existence before we ever came into being - Psalm 139:16; Job 14:5; Galatians 1:15.

• Even our minutest actions are performed under His watchful eye and direction: - Acts 17:28; Jeremiah 10:23; Proverbs 10:24; 16:9.

• He sends success and failure - Psalm 75:6-7; Luke 1:52.

• He gives us our talents and abilities - 1 Corinthians 4:7; Psalm 18:34.

• He influences the decisions of our rulers - Proverbs 21:1; Ezra 6:22.

• He especially guides the desires and inclinations of believers - Philippians 2:13.

Most of the time I take all this for granted. Perhaps you do too? Today, let's pause, consider God's providence, give thanks, and worship.

PRAYER: Dear God, thank You for the extent and detail of Your care for the universe and that it covers every aspect of my life. You are beyond amazing! Amen.

MORE: Good to be Alive by Jason Gray

 

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The Holy Bible, New King James Version Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. - Used with permission.

A changed man

Apostles Baptized with the Holy Spirit (From Treasures of the Bible).

TODAY’S SPECIAL: Acts 2:22-39

TO CHEW ON: “Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, ‘Men and brethren, what shall we do?’” Acts 2:37

Yesterday we read the end of Mark, where Jesus commissions His disciples to  spread the good news of all that has happened (Mark 16:15-18). Bible scholars believe that the book of Mark is Peter’s account of events surrounding the life and death of Jesus as told to his close companion John Mark (calls him “my son” in 1 Peter 5:13).

It’s interesting to contrast the fearful and foundation-rocked Peter of just before the crucifixion (Luke 22:31-34; 54-62) to the Peter we see here. In just over 50 days, in the interim never attending an hour of Bible school or Theology college, he is a changed man. Now he is confident, bold, articulate, insightful, absolutely clear about what all the events and happenings regarding Jesus mean, and how they fit into God’s plan revealed in the Old Testament. How does that difference come about?

I’m sure this new Peter is the result of what has just happened—the giving of the Holy Spirit baptism - Acts 2:1-14. Jesus had told the disciples to wait with carrying out their assignment of telling the gospel until after they had received the Holy Spirit (Luke 24:48,49). They had done so and it wouldn’t surprise me if the outcome shocked even them.

So much was available to the disciples and is available to us through the Holy Spirit:

• Given by Christ - Matthew 3:11.

• We can ask for Him - Luke 11:13.

• He is called Helper - John 14:16; 16:7.

• He gives power for witness and ministry - Acts 1:8.

• He gives unique abilities to prophesy and speak in other tongues - Acts 19:6.

• His anointing comes with downloads of knowledge (1 John 2:20,27) including what to say in dangerous situations (Luke 12:12; Mark 13:11) and an ability to remember Christ’s relevant words and teachings (John 14:26).

• He reassures us we are God’s children - Romans 8:16.

• He teaches and enlightens us in spiritual truth - 1 Corinthians 2:13.

This is only a partial list but we get the idea. It is through the Holy Spirit that Peter becomes an eloquent and bold speaker in a day and it is that same Spirit that accompanies, changes, and empowers us!

PRAYER: Dear Father, I ask for courage and faith to make more of myself available to Your Holy Spirit. Amen.

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

How do you handle "evil tidings"?

"The Messengers tell Job of his Misfortunes"
by William Blake - 1805-6

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Psalm 112:1-10

TO CHEW ON: "He will not be afraid of evil tidings; His heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord." Psalm 112:7

 Ann Voskamp's heart seized up in fear the morning her son mangled his hand in a farm accident. Though she knew, in her head, that God was in control, the death of her baby sister when Ann herself was only four had coloured her heart-perception of God and His sometimes inscrutable ways.

 Jerry Bridges has written an entire book that grapples with this issue. In the introduction to Trusting God Even When It Hurts, he says:

"God's plan and His ways of working out His plan are frequently beyond our ability to fathom and understand. We must learn to trust when we don't understand. In order to trust God we must know Him in an intimate personal way. David said in Psalm 9:10, 'Those who know Your name will trust in You for You Lord have never forsaken those who seek you.' To know God's name is to know Him in an intimate personal way. It is more than just knowing facts about God. It is coming into a deep personal relationship with Him as a result of seeking Him in the midst of our personal pain and discovering Him to be trustworthy" - Jerry Bridges, Trusting God Even When It Hurts, Kindle location 142.

Seeking God in the midst of pain can take various forms. Ann Voskamp came to know and trust Him by practicing gratitude. For over a year she kept a list of God's good gifts to her and wrote about it in the book One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Life Fully Right Where You Are).

Another way might be to study what the Bible says about God's sovereignty and love. That's how Jerry Bridges came to write his book.

If we don't have the inclination to do that, we can always benefit from the insights of others. Bridges' book, or others, like J. I. Packer's Knowing God are excellent ways of familiarizing ourselves with God as He is portrayed in the Bible.

Still another way is to memorize, meditate on, and pray scripture passages that assure us of God's sovereignty and love.

Whatever way you and I choose, let's spend time getting to know God today, so that it can be said of us: "He/She will not be afraid of evil tidings."

PRAYER: Dear God, help me to know You so well, to trust You so completely that "evil tidings' will not rock my faith in You. Amen.

MORE: The urgency of sorting out your theology

Rebecca Stark writes:

"In what I believe was God’s providential preparation, in the years right before my husband’s cancer diagnosis, we came to a much fuller understanding of some things about God: that he is working his plan in every bit of the universe all the time; that he has righteous reasons for everything he does, even though we might not—and probably won’t—understand them; and that suffering and death, when they occur, are God’s chosen means to accomplish good things"

She goes on to make the case for sorting out one's view of God (one's theology) before trouble ever strikes by giving examples of how tragedy rocked the faith of some who didn't do that. She concludes:

"If you’ve already come to love a God who you understand to be purposefully working in all things—even the terribly tragic ones—for his good purposes, then you keep on loving and trusting him when real tragedy strikes you. And more than that: You cling to him as the only sort of God who could be a rock for you in difficult times. That you weren’t spared suffering doesn’t throw you for a loop, because you expected that somewhere, sometime, you would have your share of it as God conforms you to the likeness of his son.


You still suffer, of course, but you suffer knowing that there is meaning in your suffering, something that cannot be there if God is simply creation’s uninterested or unknowing overseer. You still suffer, but you suffer with God as a firm comfort and a source of steadfast hope, for you know that your tragedy, in his hands, is working good things."

Read the whole article (and follow the links).

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

When God feels far away

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Job 35:1-16

TO CHEW ON: "For you say, 'What advantage will it be to you? What profit shall I have, more than if I had sinned?' " Job 35:3

In this third speech of Elihu's, he answers two questions he has heard Job ask:
1] What is the value of virtue (Job 35:2-8)?
2] Why doesn't God answer the prayers of the afflicted (Job 35:9-16)?

I'm going to focus on Elihu's response to the first question.: "What is the value of virtue?" See Job's own phrasing of it in Job 21:15.

Elihu answers by establishing God's remoteness. He is distant, says Elihu, and thus untouched by human actions. But, Elihu has himself said earlier that God does interact with people (Job 33:10-11, 24-26).

The commentary writer elaborates on Elihu's mixed messages:

"By stressing God's transcendence, he has protected God from the actions of people. But the reasoning here contradicts his earlier claim that God reacts to the sins by punishment and discipline and to righteousness by reward. ... By suggesting that God is indifferent, Elihu comes close to Job's position of challenging his justice" - Asbury Bible Commentary - accessed via "Study This" on BibleGateway.

We too may sometimes side with Elihua here, feeling that what we do makes no difference to God; that He is above and beyond our puny existence. I love how Wayne Grudem tackles this issue in his Systematic Theology:

"The term often used to say that God is much greater than creation is the word transcendent. Very simply, this means that God is far "above" the creation in the sense that he is greater than the creation and he is independent of it. 

God is also very much involved in creation … The technical term used to speak of God's involvement in creation is the word immanent, meaning "remaining in" creation. The God of the Bible is no abstract deity removed from and uninterested in his creation. The Bible is the story of God's involvement with his creation and particularly the people in it" - Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, p. 267.

God sending Jesus is evidence of that involvement—His literal skin in the game (John 1:14). Through Jesus we are intimately connected to Him, despite what our feelings say:

• " 'Lo I am with you always…' " - Matthew 28:29.

• " 'Neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand' " - John  10:28.

• " 'Abide in Me and I in you' " - John 15:4.

• "For I am persuaded that neither death nor life (nor angels, principalities powers etc.) shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord" - Romans 8:38.

PRAYER: Dear God, I know the facts about Your presence. Help me to apply them to my life when my feelings say otherwise. Amen.

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Lessons for the comforter

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Job 34:16-37

TO CHEW ON: " ' If you have understanding, hear this;
Listen to the sound of my words: … ' " Job 34:16

Some wise person has said, "People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care." Elihu doesn't seem to be aware of the principle behind that saying. He continues speaking to suffering Job like a lawyer building up to a "guilty" verdict.

In his defense of God he makes many claims we would call true. In yesterday's reading we considered his defense of God's justice. Today he upholds God's omniscience (Job 34:21,22,25) and omnipotence (Job 34:24,25).

The writer of the Asbury Bible Commentary puts a finger on the disconnect  we feel between young Elihu's often accurate words and how they must sound to the ill patriarch:

"While Elihu has the luxury of being theoretical and general (which he is) in his comments, Job, by virtue of his sufferings, is personal and existential in his. At issue in the book is not the justice of God in general, but his justice as it pertains to Job's suffering" - Asbury Bible Commentary, accessed via "Study This" on BibleGateway.

Also, Elihu's arguments lead him to a wrong conclusion (Job 34:34-37):  "Elihu is forced to picture Job as a wicked person if his theological assumptions are to stand" - Asbury Bible Commentary. Elihu's conclusion isn't accurate, as we know from our glimpse behind the scenes - see Job 1:8; 2:3.

I see two lessons for myself and perhaps all of us in this installment:

1. When we talk to someone who is suffering, our knowledge and certainties need to be delivered with empathy. How much easier Elihu's speech would have been for Job to hear if Elihu had acknowledged Job's condition, spoken with less stridency, softened his tone even a little.

2. We need to be careful of being too either/or in our theology so we avoid being forced into a false-conclusion corner because of our incomplete human knowledge. Elihu knew nothing of the extraterrestrial dialogue that preceded Job's trouble. His tight system brought him to the same wrong conclusion (that Job had brought this trial on himself: "…for he adds rebellion to his sin…  Job. 34:37) that Job's other friends came to.  It's way better to hold our peace in matters of divine cause and effect—things about which we have limited knowledge.

PRAYER: Dear God, help me to learn the lessons of empathy and humility as I seek to understand life's difficulties and comfort my suffering friends. Amen.

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

If Jesus is really God...

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Colossians 2:1-15

TO CHEW ON: "For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily." Colossians 2:9

There is nothing subtle in the statement Paul makes about Jesus in Colossians 2:9. He says in plain words, He is God.

This probably doesn't sound controversial to us if we're from a Christian heritage, privy as we are to the New Testament as well as the Old, the writings of scholars, theologians and apologists spanning the centuries. But it was controversial to people in the first century who had only the evidence of three years of Jesus' ministry and the word of eye witnesses. And it is a controversial statement to many moderns who lump Jesus in with founders of other religions and think of him as merely one prophet among many.

But, as H.C. Thiessen says in his Lectures in Systematic Theology: 

"The Son is recognized as God. The importance of the doctrine of the deity of Christ can scarcely be overestimated. Jesus Christ does not sustain the same relation to Christianity that other founders of religion sustain to the faiths which they have originated. Buddha (B.C. 563-484), Confucius (551-478), and Mohammed (A.D. 570?-632) are significant primarily for their teaching; but Jesus Christ is significant primarily for His person." p. 138.

There isn't room in one short devotional to list the proofs (with supporting Bible references) that Jesus is God, as theologians like Thiessen have done so ably -- proving that He:
- has the attributes of deity (is eternal, omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent, immutable)
- fulfills the offices of deity (as creator and sustainer of the created world).
- exercises the prerogatives of deity (forgives sins, raises the dead, will execute judgement). etc.

If you're interested in studying this, there are many great internet resources. For a start, check out John Piper's category the "Deity of Christ" (on the Desiring God site) which contains numerous links.

I, for one, am convinced. But what difference does a belief in Christ's deity make? I can think of three responses:

1. I can have confidence that Jesus IS the way to God -- as He says in John 14:6. I can proclaim this without apology, even though such audacious certainty is not politically correct in our society, which encourages tolerance of any and all opinions on how we get to God.

2. The logical response is to give Him my life. This is exactly the plea Paul makes to the Romans. After exclaiming over the excellence of God's plan and way of working in Romans 11:33-36, he goes on in Romans 12:1 to say: "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service."

3. I can have peace, knowing that I have the best. As the verse following today's focus verse says "…you are complete in Him…" (Colossians 2:10).

PRAYER: Dear Jesus, I acknowledge You as God and Lord of my life. Help me to understand all this means in everyday living. Amen.

MORE: "Fairest Lord Jesus" - Ross Parsley



(From the archives)

Change your focus

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Psalm 13:1-6

TO CHEW ON: "But I have trusted in Your mercy; My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation." Psalm 13:5

"How long O Lord?" David wails at the beginning of this psalm — 'How long will You forget me, hide Your face from me. How long will I need to be preoccupied with my terrible situation? How long will my enemy win over me?'

No doubt we often feel such a "How long?" welling up inside of us too. "How long will I (or someone I love) be sick? How long will I be unemployed? How long till my loved one comes to you?" "How long _____?" Put your own 'how long' in the blank.

But by the end of this six-verse psalm, David is no longer singing the "how long" blues. It ends with,"I will sing to the Lord because He has dealt bountifully with me."

Why the change of heart?

The turn comes in verse 5: "But I have trusted in Your mercy; My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation."

David has turned his attention away from his bleak situation onto God. As he contemplates God and His qualities and attributes (here mercy and salvation) his circumstances shrink down to size.

Maybe we need to do what David did as we deal with our own 'how long' worries and complaints. He knew about God and knew God by experience. In the time of his trouble he could draw on that knowledge, shifting his focus from his problems to his God. Do we know enough about God to do this?

In his book Knowing God, J. I. Packer says:

"Knowing about God is crucially important for the living of our lives. As it would be cruel to an Amazonian tribesman to fly him to London, put him down without explanation in Trafalgar Square and leave him, as one who knew nothing of English or England, to fend for himself, so we are cruel to ourselves if we try to live in this world without knowing about the God whose world it is and who runs it. The world becomes a strange, mad, painful place, and life in it a disappointing and unpleasant business, for those who do not know about God. Disregard the study of God and you sentence yourself to stumble and blunder through life blindfold, as it were, with no sense of direction and no understanding of what surrounds you. This way you can waste your life and lose your soul" p. 15.

PRAYER: Dear God, as I face the challenges of everyday living, help me to study You, to know You and then follow David's example and trust You. Amen.

MORE: Thoughts of God: improving, humbling, consoling

"There is something exceedingly improving to the mind in a contemplation of the Divinity. It is a subject so vast that all our thoughts are lost in its immensity; so deep that our pride is drowned in its infinity...No subject of contemplation will tend more to humble the mind than thoughts of God....


But while the subject humbles the mind, it also expands it. He who often thinks of God, will have a larger mind than the man who simply plods around this narrow globe....


And whilst humbling and expanding, this subject is eminently consolatory. Oh, there is, in contemplating Christ, a balm for every wound; in musing on the Father there is a quietus for every grief; and in the influence of the Holy Ghost, there is a balsam for every sore. Would you lose your sorrow? Would you drown your cares? Then go, plunge yourself in the Godhead's deepest sea; be lost in His immensity; and you shall come forth as from a couch or rest, refreshed and invigorated" - C. H. Spurgeon (spoken at the age of a mere 20 years!), quoted in Knowing God by J. I. Packer, page 13-14.