A.W. Pink on the cross

"Christ was pure; absolutely pure. He was the Holy One. He had an infinite abhorrence of sin. He loathed it. His holy soul shrank from it. But on the cross our iniquities were all laid upon him, and sin - that vile thing - enwrapped itself around him like a horrible serpent’s coils. And yet, he willingly suffered for us! Why? Because he loved us: "Having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end" A.W. Pink

John Calvin on the glory of God and contentment

"The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places, surely I have a delightful inheritance. (Psalm 16:6-7) The Psalmist so glories in God as nobly to despise all that the world imagines to be excellent and desirable without him. By magnifying God in such honorable and exhaulted strains, he gives us to understand that he does not desire anything more as his portion and felicity. This doctrine may be profitable to us in many ways. It ought to draw us away not only from all the perverse inventions of superstition, but also from all the allurements of the flesh and of the world. Whenever, therefore, those things present themselves to us which would lead us away from resting in God alone, let us make use of this sentiment as an antidote against them, that we have sufficient cause for being contented, since he who has in himself an absolute fullness of all good, has given himself to be enjoyed by us. In this way we will experience our condition to be always pleasant and comfortable; for he who has God as his portion is destitute of nothing which is requisite to constitute a happy life." John Calvin

Thomas Watson on the beauty of Christ

"Believers have an honorable esteem of Christ. The psalmist speaks like one capitaved with Christ's amazing beauty: 'there is none upon earth I desire beside thee (psalm 73:25).' He did not say he had nothing; he had many comforts on earth, but he desired none but God; as if a wife should say that there is no-one's company she prizes like her husband's. How did david prize Christ? 'Thou art fairer than the children of men (psalm 45:2).' The spouse in the song of solomon looked upon Christ as the Coriphaeus, the most incomparable one, 'the chiefest among then thousand (song 5:10).' Christ outvies all others: 'As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons (song 2:3).' Christ infinitely more excels all the beauties and glories of this visible world than the apple tree surpasses the trees of the wild forest. Paul so prized Christ that he made him his chief study: 'I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 2:2). He judged nothing else of value." Thomas Watson

Matthew Henry on Psalm 85:10

“the great affair of our salvation is so well contrived, so well concerted, that God may have mercy upon poor sinners, and be at peace with them, without any wrong to his truth and righteousness. He is true to the threatening, and just in his government, and yet pardons sinners and takes them into covenant with himself.” Matthew Henry

F.F. Bruce on the love of God

"The love of God is limitless; it embraces all mankind. No sacrifice was too great to bring its unmeasured intensity home to men and women: the best that God had to give, He gave - His only Son, His well-beloved. Nor was it for one nation or group that He was given: He was given so that all, without distinction or exception, who repose their faith on Him, might be rescued from destruction and blessed with the life that is life indeed. The gospel of salvation and life has its source in the love of God. The essence of the saving message is made unmistakeably plain, in language which people of all races, cultures and times can grasp, and so effectively is it set forth in these words that many more, probably, have found the way of life through them than through any other Biblical text."

Bridges on the wisdom of God

God's wisdom is fathomless; His decisions are unsearchable; His methods are mysterious and untraceable. No one has even understood His mind, let alone advised Him on the proper course of action. How futile and even arrogant for us to seek to determine what God is doing in a particular event or circumstance. We simple cannot search out the reasons behind His decisions or trace out the ways by which He brings those decisions to pass.

If we are to experience peace in our souls in times of adversity, we must come to the place where we truly believe that God's ways are simply beyond us and stop asking Him "why" or even trying to determine it ourselves. This may seem like an intellectual "cop out," a refusal to deal with the really tough issues of life. In fact, it is just the opposite. It is a surrender to the truth about God and our circumstances as it is revealed to us by God Himself in His inspired Word.

Barnhouse on the Love of God

“The pursuing love of God is the greatest wonder of the spiritual universe. We leave God in the heat of our own self-desire and run from His will because we want so much to have our own way. We get to a crossroads and look back in pride, thinking that we have outdistanced Him. Just as we are about to congratulate ourselves on our achievement of self-enthronement, we feel a touch on our own arm and turn in that direction to find Him there. ‘My child,’ He says in great tenderness, ‘I love you; and when I saw you running away from all that is good, I pursued you through a shortcut that love knows well, and awaited you here at the crossroads.’ We have torn ourselves free from His grasp and rushed off again, through deepest woods and farthest swamp, and as we look back again, we are sure, this time, that we have succeeded in escaping from Him. But, once more, the touch of love is on our other sleeve and when we run quickly we find that He is there, pleading with the eye of love, and showing Himself once more to be the tender and faithful One, loving to the end. He will always say, ‘My child, my name and nature are Love, to tell you that when you are tired of running and your wandering, I will be there to draw you myself once more.’

When we see this love at work through the heart of Hosea we may wonder if God is really like that. But everything in the Word and in experience shows us that He is. He will give man the trees of the forest and the iron in the ground. Then He will give to man the brains to make an axe from the iron to cut down a tree and fashion it into a cross. He will gave man the ability to make a hammer and nails, and when man has the cross and the hammer and the nails, the Lord will allow man to take hold of Him and bring Him to that cross; He will stretch out His hands upon it and allow man to nail Him to that cross, and in so doing will take the sins of man upon Himself and make it possible for those who have despised and rejected Him to come unto Him and know the joy of sins removed and forgiven, to know the assurance of pardon and eternal life, and to enter into the prospect of the hope of glory with Him forever. This is even our God, and there is none like unto Him.” Donald Barnhouse