Since I’m going to share another “Puritan prayer,” for those who might be interested in learning more about them, I recommend a book on Puritan history written by Dr. Martyn Lloyd Jones titled “The Puritans: Their Origins and Successors.” It’s still available on Amazon, though perhaps a bit pricey, unless you buy a used copy.

John Bunyan and John Milton, England’s great poet, are to Americans among the better known English Puritans, and Charles Haddon Spurgeon was considered by many to be the “last of the Puritans,” though he came on the scene some years after what is known as the main Puritan period.

The Puritans played a significant role during the early days of America. Over 20,000 emigrated here between 1620 and 1640 and had a major influence in the establishing of the Massachusetts Bay Company. In his book, “Democracy in America,” historian Alexis de Toqueville, credits the Puritans with providing the firm foundation of democracy upon which our nation was built, and he credits them with the early establishment of the strong “work ethic” America was once known for.

For us, Christians, it is important to know that Puritans, in general, sought both individual and corporate conformity to the teaching of the Bible, and they pursued these down to the smallest detail of their lives. They believed that man existed for the glory of God and that his first concern in life was to do God’s will and so to receive future happiness.

Well, I guess I got carried away, though I feel it is very important that we not forget the shoulders upon which we are standing today. Perhaps the reason for so many of the problems we are presently facing in our land is that we’ve forgotten; we’ve forgotten who we once were, and have lost our way.

Now to a Puritan prayer:
“O God, the Eternal ALL, help me to know that,
all things are shadows, but thou art substance;
all things are quicksands, but thou art mountain;
all things are shifting, but thou art anchor;
all things are ignorance, but thou art wisdom.
If my life is to be a crucible amid burning heat, so be it,
but do thou sit at the mouth of the furnace to watch the
ore that nothing be lost.
In grace, take away my mourning and give me music.
Remove my sackcloth and clothe me with beauty.
Still my sighs and fill my mouth with song,
then give me summer weather to enjoy as a Christian.”
AMEN!