His mother was Mrs. Magdalen Rochdale, of the parish of St. Martin’s-in-the-Fields, in Westminster. She was a virtuous pious gentlewoman, and one that feared God above many. She was altogether dead to the vanities and pleasures of the court, though she lived in the midst of them. She looked well to the ways of her household – prayed with them daily, catechized her children, and taught them the good knowledge of the Lord betimes. I have heard him speak of his learning Mr. Perkins’s “Six Principles” when he was very young, and he often mentioned, with thankfulness to God, his great happiness in having such a mother, who was, to him, as Lois and Eunice were to Timothy, acquainting him with the Scriptures from his childhood. And, there appearing, in him, early inclinations both to learning and piety, she devoted him, in his tender years, to the service of God in the work of the ministry. She died of a consumption, March 6, 1645, leaving behind her only this son and five daughters. A little before she died, she had this saying: “My head is in heaven and my heart is in heaven. It is but one step more, and I shall be there, too.” – from Matthew Henry’s (1662-1714) biography of his father, Philip Henry (1631-1696) (An Account of the Life and Death of Philip Henry [1698]).
Category Archives: Matthew Henry
On Prayer
Prayer is the lisping of the believing infant, the shout of the fighting believer, the requiem of the dying saint falling asleep in Jesus. It is the breath, the watchword, the comfort, the strength, the honor of a Christian. – Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892)
God’s Word must be our guide and plea in every prayer. – Matthew Henry (1662-1714)
In the Morning
The true Christian devotes to God the morning hour. He opens the eyes of his understanding with those of his body and awakes, each morning, to righteousness. He arises with a thirst after those comforts which the world cannot give and has immediate recourse, by prayer, to the Fountain of the water of life. – Matthew Henry (1662-1714), comment on Psalm 63.1-2
Time vs. Eternity
Gold is only for the body and the concerns of time, but grace is for the soul and the concerns of eternity. – Matthew Henry (1662-1714), on Psalm 19:7-10.
The Sixth Day
We have, here, the first part of the sixth day’s work. The sea was, the day before, replenished with its fish and the air with its fowl; and, this day, were made the beasts of the earth, the cattle, and the creeping things that pertain to the earth. Here, as before: 1. The Lord gave the Word; He said, “Let the earth bring forth,” not as if the earth had any such prolific virtue as to produce these animals, or as if God resigned His creating powers to it, but [as if He had said] “Let these creatures now come into being upon the earth, and out of it, in their respective kinds, conformable to the ideas of them in the divine counsels concerning their creation.” 2. He also did the work; He made them all after their kind, not only of divers shapes, but of divers natures, manners, food, and fashions – some to be tame about the house, others to be wild in the fields – some living upon grass and herbs, others upon flesh – some harmless and others ravenous – some bold, and others timorous – some for man’s service and not his sustenance, as the horse – others for his sustenance and not his service, as the sheep – and some for neither, as the wild beasts. In all this, appears the manifold wisdom of the Creator. – Matthew Henry (1662-1714), from his Commentary on the Whole Bible. Comment on Genesis 1:24-25.
Matthew Henry on Creation
The height of the heavens should remind us of God’s supremacy and the infinite distance there is between us and Him. The brightness of the heavens and their purity should remind us of His glory, majesty, and perfect holiness. The vastness of the heavens, their encompassing of the earth and the influence they have upon it, should remind us of His immensity and universal providence.
From: Commentary on the Whole Bible by Matthew Henry (1662-1714). Comment on Genesis 1:6-8.
Introducing the Book of Psalms
We have, now, before us one of the choicest and most excellent parts of all the Old Testament – nay, so much is there in it of Christ and His gospel, as well as of God and His law, that it had been called the abstract or summary of both Testaments. The history of Israel, which we were long upon, led us to camps and council-boards and, there, entertained and instructed us in the knowledge of God. The Book of Job brought us into the schools and treated us with profitable disputations concerning God and His providence. But, this book brings us into the sanctuary, draws us off from converse with men – with the politicians, philosophers, or disputers of this world – and directs us into communion with God by solacing and reposing our souls in Him, lifting up and letting out our hearts towards Him. Thus, may we be in the mount with God, and we understand not our interests if we say not, “It is good to be here.”
From: An Exposition, with Practical Observations, on the Book of Psalms by Matthew Henry, part of Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible; reprint; 6 volumes (Peabody: Hendrickson Publishers, 1991), 3:192. Originally published in 1710. Henry’s entire commentary on the Psalms is found in 3:192-646.
The Scriptures
This epistle was to be read to all the brethren. Not only are the common people allowed to read the Scriptures, but it is their duty, and what they should be persuaded to do. The Word of God should not be kept in an unknown tongue, but transplanted that, as all men are concerned to know the Scriptures, so they may all be able to read them. The Scriptures should be read in all public congregations, for the benefit of the unlearned, especially. We need no more to make us happy than to know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.
From: Matthew Henry: Daily Readings edited by Randall J. Pederson (Fearn: Christian Heritage, 2009), entry for November 26. Comment by Matthew Henry on 1 Thessalonians 5:23-28.
Meditating on God’s Law
Here is: 1. David’s inexpressible love to the word of God: O how I love thy law! He protests his affection to the word of God with a holy vehemency; he found love to it in his heart which, considering the corruption of his nature and the temptations of the world, he could not but wonder at, and at that grace which had wrought it in him. He not only loved the promises, but loved the law, and delighted in it after the inner man. 2. An unexceptionable evidence of this. What we love, we love to think of; by this, it appeared that David loved the word of God that it was his meditation. He not only read the book of the law, but digested what he read in his thoughts, and was delivered into it as into a mould: it was his meditation not only in the night, when he was silent and solitary, and had nothing else to do, but in the day, when he was full of business and company; nay, and all the day; some good thoughts were interwoven with his common thoughts, so full was he of the word of God.
From: Commentary on the Whole Bible by Matthew Henry. Comment on Psalm 119:97.
Our Best Plea
“Hear me for your mercy-sake,” is our best plea. He who will not ask such blessings as pardon, and justifying righteousness, and eternal life, must perish for the want of them. Alas! that so many should make so fearful a choice. The psalmist warns against sin. Keep up holy reverence of the glory and majesty of God. You have a great deal to say to your hearts, they may be spoken with, let it not be unsaid. Examine them by serious self-reflection; let your thoughts fasten upon that which is good, and keep close to it. Consider your ways and, before you turn to sleep at night, examine your consciences with respect to what you have done in the day; particularly, what you have done amiss, that you may repent of it. When you are awake in the night, meditate upon God, and the things that belong to your peace. Upon a sick-bed, particularly, we should consider our ways. Be still. When you have asked conscience a question, be serious, be silent, and wait for an answer. Open not the mouth to excuse sin. All confidence only: therefore, after commanding the sacrifices of righteousness, the psalmist says, “Put your trust in the Lord.” In singing these verses, we must preach to ourselves the doctrine of the provoking nature of sin, the lying vanity of the world, and the unspeakable happiness of God’s people; and we must press upon ourselves the duties of fearing God, conversing with our own hearts, and offering spiritual sacrifices; and, in praying over these verses, we must beg of God grace thus to think and thus to do.
From: Matthew Henry: Daily Readings, edited by Randall J. Pederson (Fearn: Christian Heritage, 2009). This is the meditation for November 6, which is an adaptation of Henry’s comments on Psalm 4:1-5.
