10 People and Psalm 119

Manton/Wilberforce

1. Thomas Manton, a prolific 17th-century Puritan, wrote a massive, three-volume commentary exclusively on Psalm 119, spanning 190 separate chapters and over 1,600 pages.
2. George Wishart, Bishop of Edinburgh, in the 17th century (not to be confused with another Scot by the same name who was martyred a century earlier) was condemned to death for his faith. But when he was on the scaffold, he made use of a custom that allowed the condemned person to choose one psalm to be sung, and he chose Psalm 119. Before two-thirds of the psalm had been sung, his pardon arrived and his life was spared.
3. William Grimshaw of Haworth was accustomed to round-up the unwilling with a whip, prowling the village mid-service whilst the congregation was singing a psalm — a favourite one being Psalm 119, because it was the longest.
4. Matthew Henry the famous Bible commentator was raised on the Psalm. His father, Philip Henry, made the children meditate on one verse every single morning, cycling through the entire Psalm twice a year to foster a lifelong love for scripture.
5. William Wilberforce the 19th-century British politician who led the movement to abolish the slave trade frequently recited Psalm 119 from memory during his daily walks back from Parliament to calm his mind and maintain political courage.
6. David Livingstone the famous 19th-century Scottish pioneer missionary and explorer of Africa famously won a New Testament at his local church Sunday school when he was only 9 years old by flawlessly reciting the entire Psalm.
7. John Ruskin the art critic was made to emmorise the Psalm. He reflected heavily on it in his later years, famously noting how his mother's strict childhood enforcement of the chapter transitioned from feeling "repulsive" to becoming his most "precious" biblical text, representing an "overflowing and glorious passion of love for the Law of God".
8. Henry Martyn, the pioneer Anglican missionary to India in the early 19th century, famously memorised the entirety of Psalm 119 in 1804. During his arduous life of translating scriptures into local languages and facing exhaustion, he confessed that it was the Word of God alone that gave him strength.
9. Martin Luther held Psalm 119 in the highest regard, famously stating that he would not exchange a single leaf of it for the entire world. He viewed the psalm not just as a prayer, but as a core textbook for spiritual formation, using it to define his famous "three rules for studying theology" (prayer, meditation, temptation).
10. Charles Spurgeon, the "Prince of Preachers" deeply loved Psalm 119 and highly recommended the Exposition of Psalm 119 by Charles Bridges, calling it "worth its weight in gold."

John Ruskin

The recent interest I have had in the artist Turner led me to think about John Ruskin again, who I knew little about. I decided to read a little biography I have on my shelves by Robert Hewison, which I think is just actually the current ODNB entry. It was just what I wanted. I was aware of Ruskin's evangelical background and that he had heard and met Spurgeon. What I had missed was the fact that an Irish banker, the father of one of the great and tragic loves of his life, Rose La Touche, was baptised by Spurgeon and was a member at the Tabernacle.

10 well known people who heard Spurgeon preach

1. Lord John Russell, Prime minister 1846-1852, 1865/66

2. William Gladstone, Prime minister 1868-1874, 1880-1885, 1886, 1892-1894

In January 1882 Gladstone requested a reserved seat in the Tabernacle to hear his friend Spurgeon preach. He arrived early with his son and sat in the vestry with Spurgeon until the service. Following the visit, the PM’s enemies criticised him as an Anglican for visiting a Dissenting Chapel. This did not deter Gladstone from inviting Spurgeon, on several occasions, to Downing Street for breakfast or lunch. The two split politically in 1886 over giving Home Rule to Ireland.

3. John Ruskin the art critic

Ruskin and Spurgeon shared social concerns and were firm friends. Ruskin regularly attended Spurgeon’s Surrey Gardens Music Hall services, and when Spurgeon was ill he visited him with gifts of pictures. Ruskin gave Spurgeon a complete set of his Modern Painters which the preacher annotated and frequently quoted. Letters and visits were exchanged over the years, and when The Metropolitan Tabernacle was being built, Ruskin contributed 100 guineas, a considerable sum in those days.

4. George Eliot the female novelist

5. Matthew Arnold the poet and cultural commentator (who mentions Spurgeon several times in his Culture and Anarchy)

6. Queen Victoria (in disguise, allegedly)

7. Lord Shaftesbury the political reformer

8. David Livingstone the missionary and explorer 

9. H H Asquith MP (Later Prime minister)

10. David Lloyd-George (later Prime-minister) in 1884 and 1888