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."

Westminster Conference Papers 2025 Now in print

 

Westminster Conference 2025

So I have spent the last two days at the annual Westminster Conference and thoroughly enjoyed it. We are now well settled inSt Giles Christian Mission, strange as it seemd to be there away from centrl London the first time we did it. We tried something new this year. Normally most of the papers are followed by discussion time but this year on day one we had most of the diiscussion at the end of the day after the three papers had been given. This was only a partial success, among the problems being that speakers tended to produce over long papers, despite their best efforts. We kicked off with Mark Thomas on the Puritans and original sin - a solid and useful paper, quite demanding to listen to. Then Paul Levy took us through Machen's magisterial Virgin Birth of Christ. The third paper was from Donald J MacLean on the temptation of Christ from Thomas Manton but ending with Hodge and Shedd. Jeremy Walker led the discussion but it was hard to focus anywhere.

Day 2 was more traditional with Andy Young on the active obedience of Christ, covering pretty uncharted territory regarding Karh, Piscator et al. We then had a marathon from Sinclair Ferguson on Samuel Rutherford. We closed, in contrast, with a fresh, very lively and brief life of Athansius given by Gavin Kinnaird. Great numbers resnet. We meet again next year, God willing, around the same time.

Westminster Conference Papers 2019 Now in print

Last year's papers have now been published

1. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF WILLIAM PERKINS/JOSEPH PIPA 
2. THE PRINCIPLES OF PURITAN WORSHIP/JEREMY WALKER
3. THE PRACTICE OF PURITAN WORSHIP/ROBERT STRIVENS
4. THE EMERGENCE OF INDEPENDENCY/MATTHEW BINGHAM
5. THOMAS MANTON - NEGLECTED PURITAN/DOUGLAS MCCALLUM 
6. THE PILGRIM FATHERS/PAUL SMITH

Westminster Conference Day 2

Last Wednesday seems ages ago. I have been busy, however, and need to catch up. This post is simply to say that the Westminster Conference 2019 went off very well all told. On day 2 I chaired the opening session (as is clear from the photo). American Matthew Bingham of Oak Hill spoke very helpfully on the difficult topic of the origins of independency and we had a good, well natured discussion to follow. In the afternoon Douglas MacCallum spoke on Thomas Manton. This was a good introduction and it was interesting to learn that Banner will be publishing all 22 volumes of his works next May. Douglas chose to focus on the sermons on Isaiah 53 but then raised but did not resolve the subject of Manton's understanding of Christ's righteousness. This rather sidetracked us. The final paper is always without discussion and this time it was Paul Smith from Broadstairs on The Pilgrim Fathers, a good theological treatment. We meet again next year, God willing, December 1, 2. I will be giving the closing paper. Lots of other good things too.

10 Biographical pieces by J C Ryle

1. Wyclif
2. Rowland Taylor
3. Ward
4. Baxter
5. Manton
6. Gurnall
7. Toplady
8. Berridge
9. Venn
10. Wesley
(Each name links to the article in pdf [except the last one in another format])

10 Biographies of Puritans

1. Henry Smith: England's Silver-tongued Preacher by Ronald B. Jenkins
2. Richard Sibbes by Mark E Dever
3. The life and times of Arthur Hildersham by Leslie A Rowe
4. A life of Gospel Peace: A Biography of Jeremiah Burroughs by Philip Simson
5. John Owen: Prince of Puritans by Andrew Thomson
6. Glimpses of glory: John Bunyan and English Dissent by Richard Greaves
7. Thomas Manton A Guided Tour of the Life and Thought of a Puritan Pastor by Derek Cooper
8. The life and times of the Rev Philip Henry by Matthew Henry
9. Life and death of the Rev Joseph Alleine by Alexander Duff
10. Samuel Rutherford by Andrew Thomson