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A Breathing After God
This sermon by puritan Richard Sibbes, sheds light on Psalm 27:4, “One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in his temple.” Breathing signifies “a passionate longing for” (Psalm 42:1), or “a desperate cry to the Lord” (Lam. 3:56). The message is broken down into the object (why one thing), the desire itself, the house of the Lord, and the beauty of the Lord. Full A Breathing After God; or, a Christian Desire of God’s Presence.
- GenresTheology
114 pages, Paperback
First published July 28, 2012
About the author
Richard Sibbes
247 books106 followersRichard Sibbes was born at Tostock, Suffolk, in 1577 and went to school in Bury St Edmunds. His father, 'a good sound-hearted Christian', at first intended that Richard should follow his own trade as a wheelwright, but the boy s 'strong inclination to his books, and well-profiting therein' led to his going up to St John's College, Cambridge in 1595. He was converted around 1602-3 through the powerful ministry of Paul Bayne, the successor of William Perkins in the pulpit of Great St Andrew's Church.
After earning his B.D. in 1610, Sibbes was appointed a lecturer at Holy Trinity Church, Cambridge. Later, through the influence of friends, he was chosen to be the preacher at Gray's Inn, London, and he remained there until 1626. In that year he returned to Cambridge as Master of St Catherine's Hall, and later returned to Holy Trinity, this time as its vicar. He was granted a Doctorate in Divinity in 1627, and was thereafter frequently referred to as 'the heavenly Doctor Sibbes'. He continued to exercise his ministry at Gray's Inn, London, and Holy Trinity, Cambridge, until his death on 6 July 1635 at the age of 58.
After earning his B.D. in 1610, Sibbes was appointed a lecturer at Holy Trinity Church, Cambridge. Later, through the influence of friends, he was chosen to be the preacher at Gray's Inn, London, and he remained there until 1626. In that year he returned to Cambridge as Master of St Catherine's Hall, and later returned to Holy Trinity, this time as its vicar. He was granted a Doctorate in Divinity in 1627, and was thereafter frequently referred to as 'the heavenly Doctor Sibbes'. He continued to exercise his ministry at Gray's Inn, London, and Holy Trinity, Cambridge, until his death on 6 July 1635 at the age of 58.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
November 23, 2022
I read it in Banner’s editions of his Works, volume 2. 209-248.
Really good. A plea from Psalm 27.4 to desire God’s presence through the ordinances of our local church.
As most of his puritan contemporaries, Sibbes argued that “God lays up all the treasures of grace and comfort in the visible church”, meaning that much of Christian’s graces are given by God through the ministries of the local church. That’s particularly refreshing in our individual evangelicalism nowadays. We tends to think that private experiences with God is superior to a corporate experience with Him, but is it ?
This is a short and sweet read.
Really good. A plea from Psalm 27.4 to desire God’s presence through the ordinances of our local church.
As most of his puritan contemporaries, Sibbes argued that “God lays up all the treasures of grace and comfort in the visible church”, meaning that much of Christian’s graces are given by God through the ministries of the local church. That’s particularly refreshing in our individual evangelicalism nowadays. We tends to think that private experiences with God is superior to a corporate experience with Him, but is it ?
This is a short and sweet read.
December 31, 2019
This is a wonderful sermon that Sibbes preached on Psalm 27:4 Highly recommended (this is a short reading and you can find this book almost for free on Kindle).
September 22, 2014
I don't think this is really representative of Sibbs. In this book (or sermon or whatever it originally was) he took the text of Psalm 27:4 and then proceeded to expound on anything that came to his mind. It felt more like a stream-of-consciousness dump of things that were important to him and wonderful to a Christian than really a treatment of the text. He had much good to say, unfortunately (in my mind) one statement to the next was so disconnected that it was difficult to follow with full attention.
So while individual sentences (or even paragraphs) might have been good, the work as a whole was not, at least in the format I read it in (which was admittedly poor, being an ebook with archaic spelling, printer's marks, page numbers, and no paragraphs).
So while individual sentences (or even paragraphs) might have been good, the work as a whole was not, at least in the format I read it in (which was admittedly poor, being an ebook with archaic spelling, printer's marks, page numbers, and no paragraphs).
January 9, 2020
Expounding the text, Psalm 27:4 “One thing have I decide off the Lord , that would I seek after, the time mate wedding the House of the Lord all the days of my life to behold the beauty of the Lord and to enquire in his temple. ” Sibbes expands on what is Christian desire after God.
“There is nothing that characteriseth and sets a stamp upon a Christian so much as desires. All other things may be counterfeit. Words and actions may be counterfeit, but the desires and affections cannot, because they are the immediate issues and productions of the soul; they are that that comes immediately from the soul, as fire cannot be counterfeit. ”
“Therefore, let us examine what our desires are, what our bent is. Desires issue from the will and affections, and they show the frame of the soul more than anything in the world. ”
“For desire springs from the will, the will being the appetite of the whole man, for Voluntas appetitus, etc. The understanding carries not, but the will. When the will will have a thing, it carries all the parts. Hereupon, when the desire is true, it stirs up all the powers and faculties to do their duty, to seek to attain the accomplishment and possession of that that is desired.”
Where re we to desire to be, to grow in our desire for God as the church of Christ?
His answer: at the means of grace. “Wheresoever the word, the catholic truth of God, is, there is the church, a branch of the catholic church .”
“There is some presence of God in everything. There is a presence of God in meat, in drink, in friends, that a man may say, Oh, here is a good God, here is some presence of God.”
But word, sacrament, praise and discipline are the ways God uses to fee our desire for him.
___
Richard Sibbes (1575-1635)
“There is nothing that characteriseth and sets a stamp upon a Christian so much as desires. All other things may be counterfeit. Words and actions may be counterfeit, but the desires and affections cannot, because they are the immediate issues and productions of the soul; they are that that comes immediately from the soul, as fire cannot be counterfeit. ”
“Therefore, let us examine what our desires are, what our bent is. Desires issue from the will and affections, and they show the frame of the soul more than anything in the world. ”
“For desire springs from the will, the will being the appetite of the whole man, for Voluntas appetitus, etc. The understanding carries not, but the will. When the will will have a thing, it carries all the parts. Hereupon, when the desire is true, it stirs up all the powers and faculties to do their duty, to seek to attain the accomplishment and possession of that that is desired.”
Where re we to desire to be, to grow in our desire for God as the church of Christ?
His answer: at the means of grace. “Wheresoever the word, the catholic truth of God, is, there is the church, a branch of the catholic church .”
“There is some presence of God in everything. There is a presence of God in meat, in drink, in friends, that a man may say, Oh, here is a good God, here is some presence of God.”
But word, sacrament, praise and discipline are the ways God uses to fee our desire for him.
___
Richard Sibbes (1575-1635)
January 20, 2021
Great verse, but not Sibbes’s best writing. Good in parts. Great comments in places but overall long and dry.
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January 29, 2023What is the “bent of your soul?” An excellent exposition of Psalm 27:4.
April 28, 2011
Read over last 3 days.
November 22, 2016
The version of this book I read is not real great, pretty hard to follow, but all in all the book was pretty good!
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews