Quotations for December, 2015
Tuesday, December 1, 2015
Commemoration of Charles de Foucauld, Hermit, Servant of the Poor, 1916
We have a necessary and constant dependence upon God; all our natural actions depend upon his providence, all our spiritual actions upon his grace.
... Matthew Henry (1662-1714), An Exposition of the Old and New Testaments [1828], Pr. 20, in loc. v. 24 
(see the book; see also Rom. 3:22-24; Gen. 15:6; John 6:44-45; Rom. 5:8; 1 Cor. 10:13; 15:10; Eph. 1:11-12; 2:8-9; Phil. 2:12-13; 1 Pet. 5:10; more at Action, Dependence, God, Grace, Providence)
Wednesday, December 2, 2015
Prayerful waiting on God is indispensable to effective service. Here we learn the truth about God, ourselves, and the tasks he wants us to undertake. Christians who are too busy to stop, take spiritual inventory, and receive their assignments from God may be productuive. We may work day and night to achieve much that seems significant to ourselves and to others. But we don’t complete the work God has for us to do...God has given each of us a unique combination of ability, strength, and opportunity. Will he not also give us the insight and power to use our time effectively for his glory?
... Charles E. Hummel (1923-2004), Freedom from Tyranny of the Urgent, InterVarsity Press, 2009, p. 65
(see the book; see also Jas. 1:5; Isa. 40:7-8; Luke 12:15-21; 1 Cor. 7:29-31; Jas. 4:14; 1 Pet. 4:7; 1 John 2:17; more at Achievement, Glory, God, Insight, Power, Service, Time, Work)
Thursday, December 3, 2015
Commemoration of Francis Xavier, Apostle of the Indies, Missionary, 1552
Art thou not life of them that live?Yea, in glad twinkling advent, thou dost dwellWithin our body as a tabernacle!
... Francis Thompson (1859-1907), Poems of Francis Thompson, A&C Black, 2002, p. 113
(see the book; see also Eph. 2:19-21; Ps. 118:22; John 14:20; Rom. 8:10; 1 Cor. 3:16-17; 6:19-20; Eph. 2:22; Col. 1:27; 1 Pet. 2:7-9; Rev. 3:20; more at Christmas, Gladness, Incarnation, Life)
Friday, December 4, 2015
Commemoration of Nicholas Ferrar, Deacon, Founder of the Little Gidding Community, 1637
We are not to put our trust in this man or that man—not to lean upon an arm of flesh. All the ministers in the world and all the potentates in the church put together cannot save one soul. It is thoroughly impossible. It is the Lord that can save, and the Lord alone; therefore we want to get our eyes away from man, from the church, and right straight up to the man Christ Jesus.
... Dwight Lyman Moody (1837-1899), Moody and Sankey, the new evangelists, their lives and labours, London: Ward, Lock, and Tyler, 1876, p. 119
(see the book; see also Acts 4:12; John 3:36; 14:5; Acts 10:42-43; 1 Cor. 3:11; 1 John 5:11-12; more at Christ, Church, Jesus, Man, Minister, Salvation, Trust, World)
Saturday, December 5, 2015
So [the Magi] stand as representatives of the great truth that, outside the limits of the people of revelation, God moved on hearts and led seeking souls to the light in divers manners. These silent strangers at the cradle carry on the line of recipients of Divine messages outside of Israel which is headed by the mysterious Melchizedek, and includes that seer who saw a Star arise out of Jacob, and which, in a wider sense, includes many a patient seeker after truth. Human wisdom, as it is called, is God’s gift. In itself, it is incomplete. It raises more questions than it solves. Its highest function is to lead to Jesus.
... Alexander Maclaren (1826-1910), The Gospel of St. Matthew, v. 1, London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1892, p. 3
(see the book; see also Matt. 2:9-12; Gen. 14:18-20; Num. 24:15-19; Heb. 7:1-3; more at Gifts, God, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Leader, Patience, Revelation, Soul, Truth, Wisdom)
Sunday, December 6, 2015
Advent II
Feast of Nicholas, Bishop of Myra, c.326
Advent is a time when we await God’s intervention in the need of the present day, as he intervened then in Jesus’ birth. We long for the highest power to rescue this unhappy, torn humanity that knows so little community. Now is the time to ask God for a radical change in all things, even if this means we must go through judgment.
... Eberhard Arnold (1883-1935), When the Time was Fulfilled, Farmington, PA: Plough, 1965, p. 3
(see the book; see also Luke 2:6-7; Mark 1:15; Rom. 8:22; more at Christmas, Community, God, Jesus, Judgment, Longing)
Monday, December 7, 2015
Feast of Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, Teacher, 397
Be unwilling then, if thou wouldest not offend Caesar, to possess worldly goods. And thou rightly teachest, first to render the things which be Caesar’s. For no one can be the Lord’s unless he has first renounced the world. Oh most galling chain! To promise to God, and pay not. Far greater is the contract of faith than that of money.
... St. Ambrose of Milan (Aurelius Ambrosius) (339-397), Catena aurea, v. III, part 2, Thomas Aquinas, p. 663
(see the book; see also Luke 20:19-26; John 15:19; Acts 4:34-35; 5:1-11; Rom. 12:2; Col. 3:1-2; 1 Tim. 6:10; 1 John 2:15; more at Faith, God, Possession, Renunciation, World, Worldly)
Tuesday, December 8, 2015
When compassion for the common man was born on Christmas Day, with it was born new hope among the multitudes. They feel a great, ever-rising determination to lift themselves and their children out of hunger and disease and misery, up to a higher level. Jesus started a fire upon the earth, and it is burning hot today. The fire of a new hope is in the hearts of the hungry multitudes.
... Frank C. Laubach (1884-1970), The World is Learning Compassion, NJ: Revell, 1958, p. 30
(see the book; see also Ps. 119:81-83; Matt. 25:34-36; Luke 1:46-55; Rom. 15:4; more at Christmas, Compassion, Fire, Heart, Hope, Jesus)
Wednesday, December 9, 2015
What keeps the wild hope of Christmas alive year after year in a world notorious for dashing all hopes is the haunting dream that the child who was born that day may yet be born again even in us and our own snowbound, snowblind longing for him.
... Frederick Buechner (1926-2022), Secrets in the Dark: A Life in Sermons, Zondervan, 2007, p. 96
(see the book; see also Heb. 2:11; Ps. 119:81; Pr. 13:12; Luke 2:8-14; 2 Cor. 5:1-4; Heb. 11:13-16; more at Child, Christmas, Dream, Hope, Longing, World)
Thursday, December 10, 2015
Commemoration of Thomas Merton, Monk, Spiritual Writer, 1968
Do not be too quick to assume that your enemy is an enemy of God just because he is your enemy. Perhaps he is your enemy precisely because he can find nothing in you that gives glory to God. Perhaps he fears you because he can find nothing in you of God’s love and God’s kindness and God’s patience and mercy and understanding of the weaknesses of men.
... Thomas Merton (1915-1968), New Seeds of Contemplation [1961], New Directions Publishing, 1972, p. 177
(see the book; see also 1 Pet. 2:12; Matt. 5:14-16,43-45; Luke 6:27-28,35; Rom. 12:14,20-21; 2 Cor. 9:13; 1 Pet. 3:9; more at Enemy, Glory, God, Kindness, Love, Mercy, Patience, Understanding)
Friday, December 11, 2015
We are faced with the shocking reality: Jesus stands at the door and knocks, in complete reality. He asks you for help in the form of a beggar, in the form of a ruined human being in torn clothing. He confronts you in every person that you meet. Christ walks on the earth as your neighbor as long as there are people. He walks on the earth as the one through whom God calls you, speaks to you and makes his demands. That is the greatest seriousness and the greatest blessedness of the Advent message. Christ stands at the door. He lives in the form of the person in our midst. Will you keep the door locked or open it to him?
... Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945), A Testament to Freedom: the essential writings of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Geffrey B. Kelly, F. Burton Nelson, eds., HarperCollins, 1995, p. 196
(see the book; see also Rev. 3:20; Matt. 10:40-42; 25:35-40; Luke 14:12-14; 2 Cor. 9:7; Heb. 6:10; more at Call, Christ, Christmas, Door, God, Jesus, Neighbor, People)
Saturday, December 12, 2015
O come, O come, Emmanuel,And ransom captive Israel,That mourns in lonely exile hereUntil the Son of God appear. Rejoice! Rejoice!Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.
... Anonymous & John Mason Neale (1818-1866), Mediaeval Hymns and Sequences, London: Joseph Masters, 1863, p. 171
(see the book; see also Matt. 1:23; Ps. 46:7; Isa. 7:14; 53:5; Matt. 20:28; Mark 10:45; John 1:14; 10:14-15; Rom. 3:24-26; Eph. 1:7; 5:1-2; 1 Tim. 2:5-6; Heb. 9:15; Rev. 5:9; more at Atonement, Christmas, Exile, Israel, Jesus, Mourning, Redemption)
Sunday, December 13, 2015
Advent III
Feast of Lucy, Martyr at Syracuse, 304
Commemoration of Samuel Johnson, Writer, Moralist, 1784
Almighty and most merciful Father, who hast created and preserved me, have pity on my weakness and corruption. Deliver me from habitual wickedness and idleness; enable me to purify my thoughts, to use the faculties which Thou hast given me with honest diligence, and to regulate my life by thy holy word.Grant me, O Lord, good purposes and steady resolution, that I may repent my sins, and amend my life. Deliver me from the distresses of vain terror, and enable me, by thy grace, to will and to do what may please Thee; that when I shall be called away from this present state, I may obtain everlasting happiness, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
... Samuel Johnson (1709-1784), Prayers and Meditations, London: Vernor, Hood, and Sharpe, 1806, April 22, 1764, p. 43-44
(see the book; see also 1 Thess. 4:7; Ps. 31:1-2; 69:14; 109:21; Rom. 7:24-25; Phil. 3:10-11; 2 Tim. 1:8-9; more at Corruption, Deliverance, Diligence, Grace, Prayers, Repentance, Resolve, Weakness)
Monday, December 14, 2015
Feast of John of the Cross, Mystic, Poet, Teacher, 1591
Faith is the sole proximate and proportionate means of the soul’s union with God, seeing that there is no other alternative, but that God is either seen, or believed in.
... St. John of the Cross (1542-1591), The Ascent of Mount Carmel, London: Thomas Baker, 1906, p. 99
(see the book; see also Heb. 11:1; Luke 1:45; John 20:29; 2 Cor. 5:7; Heb. 11:6; 1 Pet. 1:8-9; more at Belief, Communion, Faith, God, Sight)
Tuesday, December 15, 2015
Christ himself, in his own person, with all his glory, shall be continually with us, before us, proposed unto us. We shall no longer have an image, a representation of him, such as is the delineation of his glory in the Gospel . We “shall see him,” saith the apostle, “face to face...” “We shall see him as he is,” not as now, in an imperfect description of him...There will be use herein of our bodily eyes... That corporeal sense shall not be restored unto us, and that glorified above what we can conceive, but for this great use of the eternal beholding of Christ and his glory... It is not, therefore, the mere human nature of Christ that is the object of it, but his divine person, as that nature subsisteth therein... In the immediate beholding of the person of Christ, we shall see a glory in it a thousand times above what here we can conceive.
... John Owen (1616-1683), The Glory of Christ [1684, 1691], in Works of John Owen, v. I, London: Johnson & Hunter, 1850, p. 378-379
(see the book; see also 1 Cor. 13:12; Job 19:25; Matt. 17:1-9; Mark 9:2-8; Luke 9:28-36; John 1:14; 7:39; 12:23; 13:31-32; 1 John 3:2; more at Christ, Everlasting, Glory, Renewal, Sight)
Wednesday, December 16, 2015
When came in flesh the Incarnate Word,The heedless world slept on,And only simple shepherds heardThat God had sent His Son.
When comes the Saviour at the last,From west to east shall shineThe awful pomp, and earth aghastShall tremble at the sign.
Then shall the pure in heart be blest;As mild He comes to them,As when upon the Virgin’s breastHe lay at Bethlehem:
As mild to meek-eyed love and faith;Only more strong to save;Strengthened, by having bowed to death,By having burst the grave.
Lord, who could dare see Thee descendIn state, unless he knewThou art the sorrowing sinner’s Friend,The gracious, and the true?
Dwell in our hearts, O Saviour blest,So shall Thine advent-dawnTwixt us and Thee, our bosom-Guest,Be but the veil withdrawn.
... Joseph Anstice (1808-1836), [1836], A Library of Religious Poetry: a collection of the best poems of all ages, Philip Schaff, New York: Dodd, Mead, 1880, p. 606-607
(see the book; see also Luke 2:8-12; Ps. 99:1; Matt. 5:8; John 1:14; more at Friend, Heart, Incarnation, Purity, Resurrection, Salvation, Simplicity, Sleep)
Thursday, December 17, 2015
Commemoration of Dorothy Sayers, Teacher and Spiritual Writer, 1957
Commemoration of Eglantyne Jebb, Social Reformer, Founder of ‘Save the Children’, 1928
To be in silent humility before the Presence of God is really to serve Him “in spirit and in truth.” He does not need our glowing lights and moving imaginations, which may be feeding self-complacency more than the soul’s true health; but that silent, lowly prayer which is joined in intention to the Child Jesus praying in His Manger, will bring us very near to God.
... Jean Nicolas Grou (1731-1803), The Hidden Life of the Soul, London: Rivingtons, 1870, p. 95-96
(see the book; see also Luke 2:6-7; Ps. 46:10; Luke 9:46-48; Luke 22:27; John 4:23; Eph. 4:2; Phil. 2:5-7; more at Complacency, Humility, Jesus, Prayer, Presence of God, Service, Silence, Spirit, Truth)
Friday, December 18, 2015
Mary is more blessed in receiving the faith of Christ, than in conceiving the flesh of Christ. For to a certain one who said, “Blessed is the womb, which bare Thee,” He Himself made answer, “Yea, rather, blessed are they who hear the Word of God, and keep it.” Lastly, to His brethren, that is, His kindred after the flesh, who believed not in Him, what profit was there in that being of kin? Thus also her nearness as a Mother would have been of no profit to Mary, had she not borne Christ in her heart after a more blessed manner than in her flesh.
... St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430), De Virginitate [ca. 401], III
(see the book; see also Luke 11:27-28; Matt. 7:20-21; 12:46-50; Mark 3:31-35; Luke 1:41-42; 2:19; 8:19-21; John 6:29; more at Belief, Blessing, Christ, Faith, God, Heart)
Saturday, December 19, 2015
In my judgment, the description which Christ gave of the days that were to come before his return is more accurately reproduced in this fear-ridden age than ever before in human history. Of course we do not know the times and the seasons, but at least we can refuse to be deceived by the current obsession for physical security in the here-and-now. [Continued tomorrow]
... J. B. Phillips (1906-1982), Good News: Thoughts on God and Man, New York: Macmillan, 1963, p. 159-160
(see the book; see also Matt. 24:36,3-31; 25:13; Mark 13:7-8,32; Luke 21:9-28; Acts 1:7; 1 Thess. 5:1-2; 2 Pet. 3:10; Rev. 3:3; more at Christ, Day, Fear, Historical, Judgment, Knowledge, Security)
Sunday, December 20, 2015
Advent IV
[Continued from yesterday]While we continue to pray and work for the spread of the kingdom in this transitory world, we know that its center of gravity is not here at all. When God decides that the human experiment has gone on long enough, yes, even in the midst of what appears to us confusion and incompleteness, Christ will come again. This is what the New Testament teaches. This is the message of Advent. It is for us to be alert, vigilant and industrious, so that his coming will not be a terror but an overwhelming joy.
... J. B. Phillips (1906-1982), Good News: Thoughts on God and Man, New York: Macmillan, 1963, p. 160
(see the book; see also Gal. 4:3-5; Gen. 49:10; Dan. 2:44; Matt. 24:42; Mark 13:33; Luke 12:35-36; 21:36; Eph. 1:9-10; 1 Thess. 5:6; more at Bible, Christ, Christmas, Confusion, God, Joy, Kingdom, Prayer, Work)
Monday, December 21, 2015
A scientist said, making a plea for exchange scholarships between nations, “The very best way to send an idea is to wrap it up in a person.” That was what happened at Christmas. The idea of divine love was wrapped up in a Person.
... Halford E. Luccock (1885-1960), “Whoops! It’s Christmas”, in Halford Luccock Treasury, New York: Abingdon, 1963, p. 380
(see the book; see also 1 John 4:9-10; Luke 4:18; John 5:22-23; 6:29; 8:29-42; more at Christmas, Incarnation, Love, People)
Tuesday, December 22, 2015
The world grows terrible and white,And blinding white the breaking day;We walk bewildered in the light,For something is too large for sight,And something much too plain to say.
The Child that was ere worlds begun(...We need but walk a little way,We need but see a latch undone...)The Child that played with moon and sunIs playing with a little hay.
... Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874-1936), The Collected Works of G. K. Chesterton, v. X, Ignatius Press, 1994, p. 187
(see the book; see also John 17:5; Isa. 66:4; Mic. 5:2; John 1:1-3; 8:58; 1 Cor. 8:5-6; Col. 1:15-18; Heb. 13:8; more at Child, Christmas, Eternity, Incarnation, Light, Sight, World)
Wednesday, December 23, 2015
Yea, Truth and Justice thenWill down return to men,Orb’d in a Rain-bow, and like glories wearing;Mercy will sit between,Throned in celestial sheen,With radiant feet the tissued clouds down steering;And Heav’n, as at some festival,Will open wide the Gates of her high Palace Hall.
... John Milton (1608-1674), [1629] from On the morning of Chist’s Nativity, The Complete Poems of John Milton, New York: P. F. Collier, 1909, p. 12
(see the book; see also Ps. 85:10-11; 33:5; 40:11; 89:14; Pr. 8:20; Zech. 7:9; 2 John 1:3; Rev. 15:2-3; 19:11; 21:2,25; more at Blessing, Christmas, Harmony, Heaven, Justice, Mercy, Truth)
Thursday, December 24, 2015
Christmas Eve
Immensity cloistered in thy dear womb, Now leaves his well beloved imprisonment, There he hath made himself to his intent Weak enough, now into our world to come; But Oh, for thee, for him, hath the inn no room? Yet lay him in this stall, and from the Orient, Stars, and wise men will travel to prevent The effects of Herod’s jealous general doom; Seest thou, my soul, with thy faith’s eyes, how he Which fills all place, yet none holds him, doth lie? Was not his pity towards thee wondrous high, That would have need to be pitied by thee? Kiss him, and with him into Egypt go, With his kind mother, who partakes thy woe.
... John Donne (1573-1631), Works of John Donne, vol. VI, London: John W. Parker, 1839, Holy Sonnets, III, p. 444
(see the book; see also Matt. 2:13-15; Luke 2:5-7; 2 Cor. 13:4; more at Christmas, Faith, Mother, Pity, Star, Weakness, Wisdom)
Friday, December 25, 2015
CHRISTMAS DAY
Rejoice; for, this day is born for us a Mediator, that man may be reconciled with God, and that this peace may be spread over the earth. Rejoice; for, to us is born a Physician, to make sinners pure from sin, to deliver them from the power of Satan, to redeem them from eternal damnation, to impart to all a heavenly joy, that glory may be to God on high, and on earth peace, good-will toward men. Rejoice; for, to us is born a King, to fill us with joy; a High Priest, to pour on believers the Divine blessing; a Father, to adopt us as his children for all eternity. To us is born a well-beloved Brother, a Master in every kind of knowledge, a veritable Chief, a Judge of most perfect equity, that glory may be to God on high, and on earth peace, good-will toward men. Rejoice, sinners, for He who is born is the Son of God, the High Priest who absolves all that repent, in order that glory may be to God on high, and on earth peace, good-will toward men.
... John Huss (1369-1415), Letters of John Huss, written during his exile and imprisonment, Edinburgh: W. Whyte, 1846, p. 52
(see the book; see also Matt. 1:20-21; Ps. 130:8; Isa. 9:6-7; Eze. 36:25-29; Luke 2:14; John 1:29; Acts 4:12; 5:31; 1 John 3:5; more at Christmas, Eternity, God, Judgment, King, Peace, Physician, Reconciliation, Sinner)
Saturday, December 26, 2015
Feast of Stephen, Deacon, First Martyr
What Satan put into the heads of our remote ancestors was the idea that they could ‘be like gods’—could set up on their own as if they had created themselves—be their own masters—invent some sort of happiness for themselves outside God, apart from God. And out of that hopeless attempt has come nearly all that we call human history—money, poverty, ambition, war, prostitution, classes, empires, slavery—the long terrible story of man trying to find something other than God which will make him happy.
... C. S. Lewis (1898-1963), Mere Christianity, New York: MacMillan, 1952, reprint, HarperCollins, 2001, p. 49
(see the book; see also Gen. 3:4-7; Ps. 12:3-4; Acts 12:21-23; 2 Cor. 4:4; more at Ambition, God, Happiness, Historical, Longing, Man, Money, Poverty, Satan, War)
Sunday, December 27, 2015
Feast of John, Apostle & Evangelist
If there is nothing in my life and conversation that shows me to be different from ... Heathens; if I use the world, and worldly enjoyments, as the generality of people now do, and in all ages have done; why should I think that I am amongst those few who are walking in the narrow way to heaven?
... William Law (1686-1761), A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life [1728], London: Methuen, 1899, p. 32
(see the book; see also Matt. 7:13-14; 5:16,46-47; John 12:36; Eph. 2:1-5; more at Heathen, Heaven, People, Way, Worldly)
Monday, December 28, 2015
Feast of the Holy Innocents
To check therefore all suggestions to spiritual pride, let us consider, that we did not apprehend Christ, but were apprehended of him. That we have nothing but what we have received. That the free grace of God has alone made the difference between us and others; and, was God to leave us to the deceitfulness of our own hearts but one moment, we should become weak and wicked, like other men. We should farther consider, that being proud of grace, is the most ready way to lose it.
... George Whitefield (1714-1770), The Works of the Reverend George Whitefield, M.A., v. VI, London: Edward and Charles Dilly, 1772, p. 247
(see the book; see also John 15:15-16; Acts 10:41; Rom. 9:15-16; 2 Cor. 2:11; Jas. 4:6; 1 John 4:10,19; more at Christ, Evil, God, Grace, Pride, Weakness)
Tuesday, December 29, 2015
Feast of Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, Martyr, 1170
Love of our neighbour is the only door out of the dungeon of self, where we mope and mow, striking sparks, and rubbing phosphorescences out of the walls, and blowing our own breath in our own nostrils, instead of issuing to the fair sunlight of God, the sweet winds of the universe. The man thinks his consciousness is himself; whereas his life consisteth in the inbreathing of God, and the consciousness of the universe of truth. To have himself, to know himself, to enjoy himself, he calls life; whereas, if he would forget himself, tenfold would be his life in God and his neighbours. The region of man’s life is a spiritual region. God, his friends, his neighbours, his brothers all, is the wide world in which alone his spirit can find room. Himself is his dungeon.
... George MacDonald (1824-1905), “Love thy neighbour”, in Unspoken Sermons [First Series], London: A. Strahan, 1867, p. 214
(see the book; see also Mark 12:31; Lev. 19:18; Matt. 22:39; Rom. 13:9-10; Gal. 5:14; Jas. 2:8; more at Friend, God, Holy Spirit, Life, Love, Self, Spirit, Truth, Universe)
Wednesday, December 30, 2015
Of all persons the Christian should be best prepared for whatever the New Year brings. He has dealt with life at its source. In Christ he has disposed of a thousand enemies that other men must face alone and unprepared. He can face his tomorrow cheerful and unafraid because yesterday he turned his feet into the ways of peace and today he lives in God. The man who has made God his dwelling place will always have a safe habitation.
... A. W. Tozer (1897-1963), The Warfare of the Spirit, Camp Hill, PA: Christian Publications, 1993, p. 148
(see the book; see also Ps. 91:1-7; 23:4-6; 27:4; 37:7; 84:4; more at Christ, Enemy, God, Life, Man, Peace, Year)
Thursday, December 31, 2015
Commemoration of John Wycliffe, Reformer, 1384
The Psalter comprehendeth all the Old and New Testament, and teacheth plainly the mysteries of the Trinity, and of Christ’s incarnation, passion, rising again, [ascending] in to heaven, and sending down of the Holy Ghost, and preaching of the Gospel, and the coming of Antichrist, and the [leadership] of Christ, and the glory of chosen men to bliss, and the pains of him who should be damned in hell; and oft rehearseth the stories of the Old Testament, and bringeth in the keeping of God’s [commands], and love of enemies... Well were him that could well understand the Psalter, and keep it in his living, and say it devoutly...; for many men that say it undevoutly and live out of charity, lie foully of himself to God, and blaspheme him, when they cry it full loud to men’s ears in the church. Therefore God gave grace to us to live well in charity, and say it devoutly, and understand it truly, and to teach it openly.
... John Wycliffe (1320?-1384), The Holy Bible Containing the Old and New Testaments, v. 1, Prologue, Oxford University Press, 1850, p. 37
(see the book; see also Ps. 110:1; 2; 22; 23; 51:11; 110:4; 118:25-26; Matt. 21:9; Luke 20:42-43; John 6:31; 10:11; Heb. 2:6-8; 7:21; more at Bible, Charity, Christ, Grace, Incarnation, Preach, Teach, Trinity)
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