“The word of God is the direction whereby we may square all our thoughts, words, and deeds”

Here at Standardsacredtext, we make the case that the Scripture has always been read by the Church in “autographic terms,” that the extant Scriptures were considered to be the quod res, doctrina substantia of the Original. In the short excerpt that follows Samuel Trickett in 1656 writes of his English translation in terms of the “word of God” illustrating again what receiving the believing the extant Scripture in “autographic terms” means. Affirming the authority of Scripture in this manner, for Trickett and the covenant keepers throughout Church history, is how to “delight yourselves in the law of the Lord.” While the saint delights in the law of the Lord, he is suited to happily “square all his thoughts, words, and deeds” preventing a poorly lived life and the “wandering up and down, as blind men in the dark.”

It was not a small matter that Dr. White ignored Dr. Van Kleeck’s appeal to the historic reading of Scripture is autographic terms. What would White say to Trickett? And is not the way Trickett writes familiar to the ear? Trickett writes, to obey the Scripture he cites is to hear and obey the voice of the Shepherd in the heart. It would be interesting to hear what Dr. White would do with such an assertion.

“The word of God is the direction whereby we may square all our thoughts, words, and deeds, as David affirms. Psal. 119:105, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” It is a lamp, lanthorn, or a candle. Take this lamp not in your hand but in your heart, and it will light you heavenward, for without this we cannot live well, but shall wander up and down, as blind men in the dark….”

“The word of God is the bread of life. It is the effectual means and instrument which God uses to beget all saving graces within us. It is the heavenly manna whereby our faith is confirmed, and our souls comforted. It is a direction whereby we may square all our thought, words, and deeds. And it is the two-edged sword of God’s Spirit, whereby we may put to flight all the devil’s servants….”

“Let me humbly beseech you to labor – manifest your unfeigned love and liking of the word and law of God by your obedience thereunto, that you may desire to frame your live thereafter, and to obey the doctrine and word of God in the heart, and so be the ear-mark of his sheep. John 10: 4. 5. 27, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. “By this shall men know that ye are my disciples if ye have love one for another.”

1. Consider God’s faithful servant David taking delight in his law, Psal. 119: 24, 25.
2. Consider his commandments are amiable. Psal. 119:47, 48, “I will delight myself in thy commandments which I have loved.”
3. Consider that this law confers peace. Psal. 119:50. “This is my comfort in my affliction, for thy word hath quickened me.”
4. Consider it is a holy, just, and good law, and therefore to be delighted in, Rom. 11:12, 14, 16, 17.

O delight yourselves in the law of the Lord.”

Merry Christmas!

Samuel Trickett, Sermons Doctrinal and Practical (1656), edited by John Edward Blakeney (London: Printed by G. Norman, Maiden Lane, Covent Garden, 1863), 65, 67.