Devotionals from Christians of the 18th and 19th Centuries

I thought to start this thread for encouragement. I selected 18th and 19th century for two reasons. 1. That prior to those centuries, might make for difficult reading. 2. Because our modern 'star' preachers for the most part lack the depth, richness, and wisdom of prior centuries.

Please add devotionals of your own--or go and discover some of these gems and post here.

Note this isn't a theological forum, so unless there is something egregious that needs to be addressed---otherwise please no theological debating here--thanks! I'd like to think of this as a spiritual oasis.

I discovered Hannah Whitall Smith recently on Librivox. I did some research on her discovered an article that said she was a Universalist--I have been unable to find this in any of her writings. I've learned to exercise caution on what the internet says and instead investigate these things for myself.

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Trusting God


Oh, that I had wings like a dove! for then would I fly away, and be at rest — Psalm 55:6.

Those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles —Isaiah 40:31.

Is there no way of escape for us when in trouble or distress? Must we just plod wearily through it all, and look for no relief?

I rejoice to answer that there is a glorious way of escape for every one of us if we will but mount up on wings, and fly away from it all to God. All creatures that have wings can escape from every snare that is set for them if only they will fly high enough; and the soul that uses its wings can always find a sure “way to escape” from all that can hurt or trouble it. What then are these wings? Their secret is contained in the words “They that wait upon the Lord.” The soul that waits upon the Lord is the soul that is entirely surrendered to Him, and that trusts Him perfectly. Therefore we might name our wings the wings of Surrender and of Trust. If we will only surrender ourselves utterly to the Lord, and will trust Him perfectly, we shall find our souls “mounting up with wings as eagles” to the “heavenly places” in Christ Jesus, where earthly annoyances or sorrows have no power to disturb us.




About the author and the source
Hannah Whitall Smith (1832–1911) the daughter of American Quakers, was deeply involved in the holiness movement in the United States and Great Britain, and the author of The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life (1875).

There is one called Daily Light from the 19th century by Samuel Bagster

It was a commonly read one.

I'd like to tag on to the Pascal quote--this is not a devotional, but in a sense it is--I love the way he articulates betwixt reason and the heart--God has made them to work in tandem. We see in our world today people responding with emotionalism and often a fanaticism-but again we need both to obtain balance. Man has tried to disprove God with science, though it continues to reveal God's awesome power and an intelligence beyond our understanding--and yet He has given man the ability to discover so many of the mysteries of His universe.

"Who needs God? Man can make it on his own." So claimed Reason, the philosophy that captured the imagination of seventeenth-century France. Its champions, Voltaire and Descartes, among others, tried to fashion a worldview ruled completely by reason.
French mathematician and physicist Blaise Pascal, though raised in the heyday of Enlightenment thought, found reason inadequate: "Reason's last step is the recognition that there are an infinite number of things which are beyond it." He concluded, "The heart has its reasons, which reason does not know at all"—a statement that soon became the chief critique of rationalism and the starting point for a defense of the Christian faith that still influences people today."

"Pascal denounced the idea that reason and science alone can lead a person to God. Only by experiencing Christ can people know God."

Blaise Pascal , Science and Spiritual Prodigy of the 17th Century

You are correct, my Pascal quote is not a devotional. I thought about that when I posted it. However, his description of man being, "...an chaos suspended over an abyss" causes me to pause and ponder. I think we both appreciate the rare genius of Pascal.

Please add devotionals of your own--or go and discover some of these gems and post here.

A chaos suspended over an abyss.

Hi @Seeker47 …. I wonder if this would have been Jonathan Edwards’ answer to Pascal:

“That the reason why they are not fallen already and do not fall now is only that God's appointed time is not come. For it is said, that when that due time, or appointed time comes, their foot shall slide. Then they shall be left to fall, as they are inclined by their own weight. God will not hold them up in these slippery places any longer, but will let them go; and then, at that very instant, they shall fall into destruction; as he that stands on such slippery declining ground, on the edge of a pit, he cannot stand alone, when he is let go he immediately falls and is lost.”
― Jonathan Edwards, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God

Jonathan Edwards writes beautifully and preached many great truths, unfortunately I think he believed in a place of fiery torment....

“The heart of Christ became like a reservoir in the midst of the mountains. All the tributary streams of iniquity, and every drop of the sins of his people, ran down and gathered into one vast lake, deep as hell and shoreless as eternity. All these met, as it were, in Christ’s heart, and he endured them all.“ (C.H. Spurgeon)

Hi @Seeker47 …. I wonder if this would have been Jonathan Edwards’ answer to Pascal:

“That the reason why they are not fallen already and do not fall now is only that God's appointed time is not come. For it is said, that when that due time, or appointed time comes, their foot shall slide. Then they shall be left to fall, as they are inclined by their own weight. God will not hold them up in these slippery places any longer, but will let them go; and then, at that very instant, they shall fall into destruction; as he that stands on such slippery declining ground, on the edge of a pit, he cannot stand alone, when he is let go he immediately falls and is lost.”
― Jonathan Edwards, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God

it does require the supernatural grace of God to live twenty-four hours in every day as a saint, to go through drudgery as a disciple, to live an ordinary, unobserved, ignored existence as a disciple of Jesus. It is inbred in us that we have to do exceptional things for God;