"O Lord, command what you will and give what you command" — St. Augustine

"O Lord, command what you will and give what you command" St. Augustine

“The Bible teaches two things: Many of the blessings of God are conditional upon our response of faith, and God Himself ultimately enables that response of faith and obedience.

Therefore, we pray to God for the enablement of what He calls us to do and what He calls others to do. In fact this is exactly why prayer is necessary. Only God can do what needs to be done. We are so sinful and so rebellious and so hard and resistant that if we are left to ourselves, we will carry on exactly as the people did in 2 Chronicles 30:10, with 'scorn and mockery.'…

It is knowing that we must work out our salvation in such efforts, and that this effort is a gift of God's grace, that keeps us constant in our praying for enabling grace, & vigorous in our working (Philippians 2:12-13). How else could we say with the apostle Paul, “By the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me”? (1 Corinthians 15:10). I worked hard, but it was not I. That is what 2 Chronicles (30:6-9 & 30:10-12) and Augustine want us to learn.

Prayer: Lord, I pray that You would fill us with hope and joy and expectation that You have the power to put Your hand on us, and grant us the will to do what You command. You have made it plain: We are responsible to do what You tell us to do. But we know that in ourselves we do not have the will to do it. And so we cry with Augustine, 'Lord, command what You will, and give what You command.' Leave us not to ourselves. Have mercy. In Jesus' name, Amen.”

— John Piper, Life as a vapor

what the law says to you — Martyn Lloyd-Jones

“Do you know what the law says to you? Shut up! (Galatians 3:23; Romans 3:19). Shut up about your self-righteousness & all your goodness & your great sacrifice. Shut up! Not only do not try to go on doing things like that to put yourself right with God, but stop talking, put your hand over your mouth, get down into the dust and ashes. The most respectable person in the world, the most moral, ethical individual, you, too, get down and put on your sackcloth and ashes. Shut up!”

— Martyn Lloyd-Jones, The Law, Our Schoolmaster

"A Cure for Distrust" - Milton Vincent

“Every time I deliberately disobey a command of God, it is because I’m in that moment doubtful as to God’s true intentions in giving me that command. Does He really have my best interests at heart? Or is He withholding something from me that I would be better off having? Such questions, whether consciously asked or not, lie underneath every act of disobedience.

However, the gospel changes my view of God’s commandments, in that it helps me to see the heart of the Person from whom those commandments come. When I begin my train of thought with the gospel, I realize that if God loved me enough to sacrifice His Son’s life for me, then He must be guided by that same love when He speaks His commandments to me. Viewing God’s commands and prohibitions in this light, I can see them for what they really are: friendly signposts from a heavenly Father who is seeking to love me through each directive, so that I might experience His very fullness forever.

When controlling my thoughts as described above, the gospel cures me of my suspicion of God, thereby disposing me to walk more trustingly on the path of obedience to His commands.”

- Milton Vincent, A Gospel Primer. Learning to See the Glories of God’s Love.