The Old Paths Magazine, Issue 16, Sermon Index
The Godly Person Weeps by Thomas Watson
CHRIST CALLS HIS SPOUSE His “dove” (Song 2:14). The dove is a weeping creature. Grace dissolves and liquefies the soul, causing a spiritual thaw. The sorrow of the heart runs out at the eye. A godly heart grieves that it is not more holy. It troubles him that he falls short of the rule and standard which God has set. “I should”, he says, “love the Lord with all my heart. But how defective my love is! How far short I come of what I should be, no, of what I might have been!”
A godly man sometimes weeps out of the sense of God’s love. Gold is the finest and most solid of all the metals, yet it is soonest melted in the fire. Gracious hearts, which are golden hearts, are the soonest melted into tears by the fire of God’s love.
A godly person weeps because the sins he commits are in some sense worse than the sins of other men. The sin of a justified person is very odious, because it is a sin of unkindness. Peter’s denying of Christ was a sin against love. Christ had enrolled him among the apostles. He had taken him up into the Mount and shown him the glory of heaven in a vision. Yet after all this mercy, it was base ingratitude that he should deny Christ. This made him go out and “weep bitterly.” He baptized himself, as it were, in his own tears. The sins of the godly go nearest to God’s heart.
The sins of the wicked anger the Lord. The godly man’s sins grieve Him. The sins of the wicked pierce Christ’s side. The sins of the godly wound his heart. The unkindness of a spouse goes nearest to the heart of her husband. How far from being godly are those who scarcely ever shed a tear for sin! If they lose a near relation, they weep, but though they are in danger of losing God and their souls, they do not weep.
Thomas Watson (1620-1686) - Non-conformist preacher in England. Wrote many influential books in his day and is read widely by many evangelicals in our day.
Hail Him the King of GLory {Lyrics and Composer: Henry de Fluiter, 1916}
Hail Him the king of glory,
Once the Lamb for sinners slain;
Tell, tell the wondrous story,
"Jesus comes to reign."
Tell it to every kindred and nation,
Tell it far and near;
Earth's darkest night will fade with the dawning,
Jesus will soon appear.
Hail Him the king of glory,
Once the Lamb for sinners slain;
Tell, tell the wondrous story,
"Jesus comes to reign."
Nations again in strife and commotion,
Warnings by the way;
Signs in the heavens, unerring omens,
Herald the glorious day.
Hail Him the king of glory,
Once the Lamb for sinners slain;
Tell, tell the wondrous story,
"Jesus comes to reign."
Children of God look up with rejoicing;
Shout and sing His praise;
Blessed are they who, waiting and watching,
Look for the dawning rays.
Hail Him the king of glory,
Once the Lamb for sinners slain;
Tell, tell the wondrous story,
"Jesus comes to reign."
I will Extol Thee, my God and King;
And I will Bless Thy Name Forever and Ever. (Ps.145:1)