Reformed Covenanter
Cancelled Commissioner
Who does not see, that this is a common case, among those on whom God has bestowed the riches of this world? The more they are indebted to their great benefactor, the more do they forget him. The more he causes their cup to run over, the more presumptuous, hardened, and ungrateful do they appear.
This is so plainly the fact, that if a man were to ask, where shall I find the best friends of my God? Where shall I find the heart that glows with the warmest sensibility for the common blessings of divine providence? We must for the most part direct him to the humble dwellings of the poor, and often to those who subsist upon the slender charity of their fellow men.
Read what the pious Asaph has said of the rich in the seventy-third Psalm. “Their eyes stand out with fatness; they have more than heart can wish. — They set their mouth against the heavens and their tongue walketh through the earth. They say, how doth God know? And, is there knowledge in the Most High? Behold these are the ungodly, who prosper in the world: they increase in riches.” We know that this is not true of all: we know that there are many who, like Abraham, abound in the good things of this life — and at the same time are rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom. Still it cannot be denied that men who increase in wealth, often increase in pride and self-sufficiency, and forget their dependence on God.
For the reference, see James Richards on the temptation of riches.
This is so plainly the fact, that if a man were to ask, where shall I find the best friends of my God? Where shall I find the heart that glows with the warmest sensibility for the common blessings of divine providence? We must for the most part direct him to the humble dwellings of the poor, and often to those who subsist upon the slender charity of their fellow men.
Read what the pious Asaph has said of the rich in the seventy-third Psalm. “Their eyes stand out with fatness; they have more than heart can wish. — They set their mouth against the heavens and their tongue walketh through the earth. They say, how doth God know? And, is there knowledge in the Most High? Behold these are the ungodly, who prosper in the world: they increase in riches.” We know that this is not true of all: we know that there are many who, like Abraham, abound in the good things of this life — and at the same time are rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom. Still it cannot be denied that men who increase in wealth, often increase in pride and self-sufficiency, and forget their dependence on God.
For the reference, see James Richards on the temptation of riches.
