The Art of Divine Contentment, by Thomas Watson. Two Excerpts.
Channel: Take Up The Cross
Date: 2018-02-27

The Art of Divine Contentment, by Thomas Watson. Two Excerpts.

And he shall snatch on the right hand, and be hungry; and he shall eat on the left hand, and they shall not be satisfied: they shall eat every man the flesh of his own arm:
~ Isaiah 9:20

Lo, this is the man that made not God his strength; but trusted in the abundance of his riches, and strengthened himself in his wickedness.
~ Psalms 52:7

Now the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,
Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me.
But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.
But the Lord sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken.
Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said unto him. Why hast thou done this? For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them.
Then said they unto him, What shall we do unto thee, that the sea may be calm unto us? for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous.
~ Jonah 1:1-4, 10-11

"The third cause of discontent is covetousness. This is a foul sin. Whence are vexing lawsuits—but from discontent? and whence is discontent—but from covetousness? Covetousness and contentedness cannot dwell in the same heart. Avarice is never satisfied. The covetous man is like Behemoth, 'behold he drinks up a river.' (Job 40:23) 'There are four things (says Solomon) which never have enough.' I may add a fifth—the heart of a covetous man; he is continually craving. Covetousness is like a wolf in the breast, which is ever feeding. Because a man is never satisfied—he is never content.

"The fourth cause of discontent is unbelief, which is akin to Atheism. The discontented person is ever distrustful. The provisions grow scanty, and the distrustful person asks, 'I am in these great difficulties, can God help me? Can he prepare a table in the wilderness? Surely he cannot. My estate is exhausted, can God help me? My friends are gone, can God raise me up more? Surely the arm of his power is shrunk. I am like the dry fleece, can any water come upon this fleece? If the Lord would make windows in heaven, might this thing be?' (2 Ki. 7:2) Thus the anchor of hope, and the shield of faith, being cast away, the soul goes pining up and down. Discontent is nothing else but the echo of unbelief. Remember, distrust is worse than distress."

"2. By living in an evil family, we are liable to incur their punishment. 'Pour out Your wrath on the families that don’t call on Your name.' (Jer. 10:25) For lack of pouring out of prayer, the wrath of God was ready to be poured out! It is dangerous living in the tents of Kedar. When God sends his flying scroll, written within and without with curses, it enters into the house of the thief and the perjurer, 'and consumes the timber and the stones thereof.' (Ze. 5:4) Is it not of sad consequence to live in a profane family, when the sin of the master pulls his house about his ears? If the stones and timber be destroyed, how shall the servant escape? And suppose God does not send a temporal scroll of curses in the family, there is a spiritual scroll, and that is worse. 'The Lord’s curse is on the household of the wicked!' (Proverbs 3:33) Be not content to live where religion dies."

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