Sunday Sampler

Psalm 111: "Praise the LORD! I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart, in the company of the upright, in the congregation. Great are the works of the LORD, studied by all who delight in them. Full of splendor and majesty is his work, and his righteousness endures forever. He has caused his wondrous works to be remembered; the LORD is gracious and merciful. He provides food for those who fear him; he remembers his covenant forever. He has shown his people the power of his works, in giving them the inheritance of the nations. The works of his hands are faithful and just; all his precepts are trustworthy; they are established forever and ever, to be performed with faithfulness and uprightness. He sent redemption to his people;he has commanded his covenant forever. Holy and awesome is his name! The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever!"

Selections from All Things for Good, by Thomas Watson:

"What a blessed condition is a true believer in! When he dies, he goes to God: and while he lives, everything shall do him good. Affliction is for his good. What hurt does the fire to the gold? It only purifies it. What hurt does the fan to the corn? It only separates the chaff from it."

"God never uses His staff, but to beat out the dust."

"Poverty shall starve our sins; sickness shall make grace more helpful. Reproach shall cause 'the Spirit of God and of glory to rest upon us.' Death shall stop the bottle of tears, and open the gate of Paradise. A believer's dying day is his ascension day to glory. Hence it is, the saints have put their afflictions in the inventory of their riches."

"God sweetens suffering with joy…"

"To them that are godly, evil things work for good; to them that are evil, good things work for hurt."

"The common mercies wicked men have, are not loadstones to draw them nearer to God, but millstones to sink them deeper to hell."

"God enriches by impoverishing; He causes the augmentation of grace by the diminution of an estate."

"Through indiscreet passion, we are apt to find fault with things that happen: which is as if an illiterate man should censure philosophy, or a blind man find fault with the work in a landscape."

"Discontent is an ungrateful sin, because we have more mercies than afflictions; and it is an irrational sin, because afflictions work for good."