If you are redirecting here from 95.9 Christian radio—so that you can access the footnotes and sources and can mouseover a Scriptural verse to be taken to its text—simply click to begin and then slide to “25” minutes on the timestamp.
TWELVE SABBATHS IN THE PURITAN PULPIT, Part 3[1]
Fret Not Thyself for Those Who Look Upon the Nakedness of Thy Wife[2]
delivered as a prayer offered to consecrate the healing ministry of the church.
Given on Michaelmas Sabbath, 11 October 2026 by the
REVEREND DR. THOMAS SOVIK
To the Conventicle of The First Puritan Assembly of Columbus OH
[CALL]
Let us now offer a second Prayer of Consecration,
(as . I don’t suppose . that—at The Judgment—any of us will lament that we prayed . too much,
asking on this morning that The Creator that our Assembly could provide hope, comfort, and sound guidance to those who have damaged, or . have been damaged in, their Covenant relationship,
and let us offer our petition to Almighty God under such the curious title
as we take from the writing of the Puritan Divine,[3] Thomas Baxter.
[ADVERT]
Because we’ve come this morning to consecrate this . healing ministry of First Puritan—
offering hope and comfort to those in the pain of dissatisfaction, abandonment, an emotionally destructive marriage, or of an extramarital affair and sexual betrayal,
I believe it would be convenient for us to leap somewhat ahead . in our preaching schedule to appropriate the prayers of the Reverend Thomas Baxter—
Puritan Divine[4] in 17th-century New England,
who found himself in the very same situation that many of us find ourselves this morning,
a situation we encounter throughout the New Testament,
throughout the Old Testament,
and which, in fact, we can trace back to the marital abandonment and conflict we find between Adam and Eve as early as in the third chapter in the Book of Beginnings (Genesis 3).[5]
Solomon of the Old Testament,
said to have been the wisest man on earth, observed
The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is . no . new thing under the sun.
Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been already of old time, which was . before us (Ecclesiastes 1:9-10)
And the Deceiver certainly has run his course, hasn’t he?
Our earthly parents dealt with it in the Garden of Eden,
and we’re . still dealing with it today, in Columbus Ohio.
[LEAD]
I’ve already mentioned I don’t believe there are “coincidences” with God
and so I suppose that it is no coincidence that I was led—“outside” of time (which I will explain later)
to a small bookshelf in Freeport, Maine,
a bookshelf at the Victorian home of Leon and Bertha Bean (of the iconic L.L. Bean company)
where I was vacationing with my wife, now . a . great many years ago.
And as a Calvinist-Puritan,
in hindsight it comes as no great surprise—
(having been directed by the Holy Spirit in this “outside of time”
that I would chance upon a reference to one Thomas Baxter[6]
and to his wife, “Will-o’-Wisp.”[7]
My initial introduction to Thomas Baxter was by . but a single sentence in a long-forgotten typewritten manuscript on a bookshelf titled
The Everyday Life to the Maine Colonists in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries,
(a master’s thesis written in 1940[8]
(and probably placed on the bookshelf as a house-prop in the manner of Cracker Barrel rather than as actual reading material for the guests.
Initially, this Thomas Baxter held no particular interest for me beyond the mild curiosity that he should call his wife by such a name
but . not so wonderfully strange, I suppose, because a fascinating aspect of the Puritans is their wonderfully odd . taste in names.
With the publication of the (Puritan) Geneva bible in 1560 and its widespread distribution, we see the rise of children being given Old Testament “Hebrew” names
with some Puritans, believing that common English names were too “worldly,” opting to name their children after virtues or vices, gifts from God, etc.,
ranging from the relatively tame:
such as “Faith,” “Hope,” “Charity,” and “Prudence”
to the truly bizarre:
“Oceanus,” given to the only child to be born aboard the Mayflower while crossing the Atlantic,
“Joy-in-Sorrow,” perhaps given to a child after a difficult birth,
“Sorry for Sin,” perhaps given to a child born of adultery,
“Humiliation,” perhaps again given to a child born out of wedlock,
and “Job-Raked-Out-of-the-Ashes” and “Fly-Fornication” … … and I can’t even guess where these might have originated.
“Will-o’-Wisp” was so called by her husband, Thomas, because it the name represented the exotic “little . light” . in his life.
*
Quite akin to my doctoral paper in church history—
which began in the same manner of stumbling upon an obscure reference to a church father with no easy trail of breadcrumbs for the histologist and analytical theorist to follow,
I have lately sought, in my later years by the Brook of Kerith,
to pursue the inconsequential history of this inconsequential husband and wife living in early 17th century New England
and I’ve have found the effort to be deeply worthwhile
and it is something I hope to share with you, for your own aid and comfort.
And so, to consecrate our healing ministry with not “more of the same” as we had earlier, it might be convenient to begin by giving meat to the dry bones of these creatures, of Thomas and Will-o’-Wisp
and to do so before pursuing the intricate threads of their fall, suffering, and redemption as recorded in the diaries of Thomas Baxter.
And in doing so, we will see that he, and she, and they as a couple, were “just like us”—
fallen creatures trying to get by while seeking a better understanding of God and His message of hope after adultery, the murder of a child, and a divorce.
*
The particulars of their lives,
(while not so important to the day’s consecration,
are likewise not so important as the theology that grows out of this marriage and divorce.
And yet, being human—
nosey and noisome creatures,
our attention immediately turns to know how many men were served by Will-o’-Wisp . in her adultery.
And I suppose this is because “misery loves company,”
or because “sinners enjoy the company of other sinners” in the mistaken belief that they will not be punished because, “everyone is doing it.”
And the more sanctimonious among us will want her punishment.
We love it when God floods the world only to save eight lousy human creatures—and an estimated 67,000 clean and unclean house pets—on a big raft (Genesis 6:11–9:19),
we love it when God commands the Red Sea to swallow up Pharoh and his army (Exodus 14:27-28),
we love it when the Miriam, the sister of Moses, is inflicted with leprosy for her incessant whining (Numbers 12:10),
we love it when God calls the Israelites to destroy Canaanites (Exodus 23:27-30),
we love it when Uzzah is struck down
(even it if was . because he simply didn’t want to be crushed by the Ark of the Covenant (Samuel 6:1-7 and 1 Chronicles 13:9-12),
And we love it when Nebuchadnezzar is forced to crawl around on his all fours to eat grass (Daniel 4:25-35).
*
We love it when God gets angry.
We love it when God gets angry as long as He’s angry with “those other people” and doesn’t notice “us”—hiding in the corner.
*
As for “how many” had the fortune to lay upon the wife of Thomas Baxter—
the first of which he had physical evidence thereof and for which he thanked God for keeping the rest from his knowing—
this is a matter for Thomas Baxter and his biographer.
(In other words, the number of her transgressions is on a need-to-know basis and, you . don’t . need . to . know.
What you do need to consider, however, is that the Angels of God have stood at your bedside to weep, every time that you have lain on your own mattress of adultery.
God does indeed know that number, and waits, for the reckoning.
*
In the matter of Thomas and Will-o’-Wisp,
I’ve struggled—
(in spite of the prurient interest of today’s pew-sitter,
whether to submit the diary for a full publication or to withhold it from view.
In the end, I’ve decided that the airing of their personal details would be too transgressive.
Mr. Baxter writes openly and passionately and in detail about his wife in the diary but it is not for us, in good taste, to proceed further.
[pause]
*
Later—in the seventh of our seven volumes—you and I will enter deeply into the lives of this Thomas Baxter and his wife—
lives public, personal, and intimate and extending far beyond their everyday trials, frustrations, and arguments,
and into the life they . hoped, might have been.
But, for this morning, it is enough to say in background that Mr. Baxter enters into his marriage Covenant already well-fitted in education, employment, and finance and is—and would remain so until the very end—deeply in love with his Beloved.
She, however—
much younger than her husband and having been able to rise much more quickly to her to adult station because of his support and his experience,
had not the maturing experience of youthful hurts and struggles that would have brought her into a world of an adulthood appreciated,
and she soon finds herself trapped in a life of perpetual dissatisfaction.
Despite all the good and of having two children together,
her third child, conceived in adultery, was deadborn by abortion.
Thomas, although having evidence of her adultery, keeps silent—
being drawn—over her objection—to God.
But his . is a silence that would lead his young wife
(so that she would not be called to take responsibility for her transgression,
to move ever-further away from God
until the morning when she damns the Creator and damns his belief that God would answer prayer for a child, fallen ill.
After filing with the local magistrate for divorce—she, now little more than the town whore—exposes her nakedness to many and makes her rebellion clear to God and to both husband and children with no regard for the Judgment.
*
And . so . what . happens? What is, “the rest of the story”?—
which we would find from radio commentator Paul Harvey,[9]
famous for giving a long set up
after which the station would break away
(leaving the listener to sit paralyzed in the driveway, unable to unload the groceries and wondering “what does happen next?”
(sitting paralyzed because you knew that Paul Harvey would—after the commercial break—return with his trademark … … “the rest of the story.”
Did God answer the Reverend Baxter’s prayer that his Beloved would be called to conviction and repentance?
And did they—
(as Thomas begs God that they would,
kneel together in prayer, hand-in-hand, never mentioning what things had passed in the days they were apart from one other?
Or did our Mr. Baxter die alone, with no one to hold his hand at his last moment?
and believing that—
with no one in her circle left to pray for his Beloved,
that her soul would be lost for eternity?
[pause]
That . answer is not found in the diary . but in court records.
And should the impatient wish to know the outcome prior to my preaching the last of On the Mischance of a Careless Husband,
I’ll ask that you write to me privately so that I may respond privately,
explaining,
but without transgressing.
[APPLICATION]
What concerns us this morning, however, is neither the failings of a wife nor the carelessness of a husband but the matter of Mr. Baxter’s rewriting a large number of the Old Testament Psalms as personal prayers—
as his . “personal conversations” with God
(as he would call them),
to which he attaches detailed footnotes—
which we shan’t address this morning but, only to say,
in which he wrestles with such theological matters as:
Is God as good as we want Him to be,
as good as we somehow need Him to be?—
while—in Scripture and in our reality—we so often see that God is a cruel and uncaring Father
and that we live in a time when God no longer hears and answers the prayer of his children.
Does God merely allow sin or does He lead us into temptation and sin for His own purpose—
either so we may be the one who is ultimately saved through our fall or as one who will be left to damnation for God’s own purpose?
Why then, ultimately, has God created sin?—
does it exist merely as a necessary evil for our own good?
(which, I’ll argue, later, that this is exactly why sin exists.[10]
Can prayer change the predetermined will of God?
Can our prayers save a child on his deathbed or a spouse having willing conceived a child out of her marriage covenant and brought forth that child deadborn and who now lives in the arms of another?—
and, even if prayer does not bring about the change, our pulpiteers often tell us that our prayers are for the one who offers them,
bringing us understanding and comfort.
Many have found that not . to be true.
Will an unsaved parent or spouse or child suffer eternal punishment simply because he or she was not called to salvation before the foundation of the world? (Ephesians 1:4)—
something which makes damnation seem all the more unfair,
as it is now beyond the simple fact of that parent or spouse or child choosing, on his own, to deny God.
Can one be saved through the faith of another?
Can an unbeliever or one turned from God attain salvation through a “household redemption”?
And if God can be influenced by our prayer, can God—
in His chosen foreknowledge of who will be saved and who will perish,
choose “more” than were chosen before the foundation of the world?
Can our prayer “outside of time” bring this about?
And can our prayers for the dead miraculously influence “what happens” to the dead, after they’re dead?
(“Yes” was the prevailing view of the Catholic church, but this was long before the Reformation and before paying for “masses for the dead” became a commercial enterprise.
And if not—in any of these—why else should we pray?
Can the Psalms, in particular, help us to understand our relation to a God who works backward and forward “outside” of time while we remain locked, “inside” of linear time?
What is this thing of faith that I’m called to have?—
How much of it is needed and how it is to be distinguished from wishful thinking?
And what if what we pray is in direct opposition to the Will of God?
And—in the personal matter of his own life—does Mr. Baxter’s concern for the soul of his wife, carried to excess, have in . itself . the nature of sin,
in the transgression of doubt in God’s mercy and in the covertness of a Beloved with whom he is already “of one flesh.”
*
You see, Loved Ones, there is much beyond the hot pockets and church and Bible study that we need consider as Christians.
These matters were of deep, personal significance to Thomas Baxter—
as should they be to all of us,
in praying for a Beloved whom he believed was lost to God,
a Beloved believed lost, through his own carelessness.
Mr. Baxter’s meditations should be deeply considered by any who call himself a Christian and who would go beyond the “words of the page” to understand what is hidden . in the words of the page.
*
And to those purists who would argue the sacrilege of Mr. Baxter rewriting the Psalms to make them “personal” I say that—otherwise—the Psalms are relatively useless to us.
Although . they may remind us of the troubles . our fellow Christians experienced in the past and of how “nothing is new under the sun,”
very few of us care more about Jedediah[11] and of “those other people back then” than we care about ourselves,
and the Calvinist never believed that the Lord’s Prayer was to be mindlessly repeated over and over
(as would the Catholic repeat the 53 Hail Marys of the Rosary—
(meditating on “something else”[12] as he mumbles through the words on autopilot
(as if reciting a Buddhist mantra of nonsense syllables to transcend his distraction and the busyness of his mind,
but that Christ taught that His words were to be a model for prayer … … and not to be the prayer itself,
and that we, when praying, should pray … … “the prayer,”
and not do some meditation upon something “in the mind,”
distracting us from the prayer.
And this is why so many of the Catholic and Catholic-light Anglican services and rituals are repeated, week-after-week, word-for-word,
whilst the Protestant service is, not so much the same.
*
In any case, on this morning of the Michaelmas Sabbath we shall have three psalms,
two of Mr. Baxter crying out to God,
and the third psalm . in which God answers,
*
As we will see in our future study,
many of the Psalms are,
(although they may not appear to be so at first read,
“conversations” between God and man,
(or even . between the individual members of the Trinity, as we find in Psalm 2,
God, in essence, having a conversation with God.
And we shall so find it here, in the third of our Psalms.
[CLOSE]
As we have Brothers and Sisters in this Assembly—and perhaps have we ourselves—in need of healing,
I ask for your indulgence as I read these . three Psalms as our collective prayer to consecrate our healing ministry
so that these Old Testament conversations may give hope and comfort . to any who are facing the disappointment and strife in their marriage Covenant,
and so that these conversations with God—
(coming down to us from nearly five centuries in the past
might help all of us on . our individual journey toward Mr. Baxter’s unshakable faith in God,
a faith in a God who has made His promise not only to hear the prayers of His children
but to answer the prayers of His children.
And to answer, without condition, or caveat.
[WORD]
Let us turn in our Bibles to Psalm 88, and then to Psalm 38 to be followed by 37.
88 … … 38 … … 37,
with the title
for the prayers we’ll use to consecrate this ministry
coming from the last:
“Fret Not Thyself for Those Who Would Look Upon the Nakedness of Thy Wife.”
Psalm 88
We begin with Psalm 88.
┌Psalm 88 is the lament of one on the edge of death, and it is the darkest psalm in the Psalter. Unlike most laments, it offers no expressions of hopeful expectation; the last word speaks of darkness as “my closest friend.”
The psalmist believes God is responsible for his suffering, yet he continues to pray. Still, the lament begins, “LORD, you are the God who saves me,” recalling that although godly persons sometimes live lives of unremitting trouble, they can still grasp the hope that God is Savior.
Theologically, the psalm shows that a believer can feel depressed and even have nothing good to say to God at the moment. It also shows us that God can handle our words of despair as well as our words of praise; he doesn’t expect us to pretend life isn’t difficult or painful.
For application, sometimes it is enough simply to wait on God; we don’t need to mouth platitudes we don’t mean in the moment, and words of praise will come in due time.┘[13]
*
88 O lord God of my salvation, I have cried day and night before thee:
2 Let my prayer come before thee: incline thine ear unto my cry; ↓
3 For my soul is full of troubles: and my life draweth nigh unto the grave.
4 I am counted with them that go down into the pit: I am as a man that hath no strength:
____________
(5 Free among the dead, like the slain that lie in the grave, whom thou rememberest no more: and they are cut off from thy hand. ↓
6 Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit, in darkness, in the deeps.
7 Thy wrath lieth hard upon me, and thou hast afflicted me with all thy waves. Selah.[14]
____________
8 Thou hast put away [my Beloved] far from me; thou hast made me an abomination unto [her]: I am shut up, and I cannot come forth.
9 Mine eye mourneth by reason of affliction:
Lord, I have called daily upon thee, I have stretched out my hands unto thee.
10 Wilt thou shew wonders to the dead? shall the dead arise and praise thee? Selah.[15]
11 Shall thy lovingkindness be declared in the grave? or thy faithfulness in destruction?
12 Shall thy wonders be known in the dark? and thy righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?
13 But unto thee have I cried, O Lord; and in the morning shall my prayer prevent thee.
____________
14 Lord, why castest thou off my soul? why hidest thou thy face from me?
15 I am afflicted and ready to die [at the brook of Kereth:[16]] while I suffer thy terrors I am distracted.
____________
16 Thy fierce wrath goeth over me; thy terrors have cut me off.
17 They came round about [us] daily like water; they compassed [us] about together.
18 Lover and friend hast thou put far from me, and [my Beloved] into darkness.
Psalm 38
38 O Lord, rebuke me not in thy wrath: neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure.
2 For thine arrows stick fast in me, and thy hand press.eth me sore.
____________
3 There is no soundness in my flesh because of thine anger; neither is there any rest in my bones because of my sin.
4 For mine iniquities are gone over mine head: as . an heavy burden they are too heavy for me.
5 My wounds stink and are corrupt because of my foolishness.[17]
6 I am troubled; I am bowed down greatly; I go mourning all the day long.
7 For my loins are filled with a loathsome disease:[18] and there is no soundness in my flesh.
8 I am feeble and sore broken: I have roared by reason of the dis.qui.et.ness of my heart.
____________
9 Lord, all my desire is before thee; and my groaning is not hid from thee.
10 My heart panteth, my strength faileth me: as for the light of mine eyes, [she] also is gone from me.
11 My [lover] and my [friend] [stands] [far] from my sore; and my kinsmen stand afar off.
12 [She]also that [seeks] after my life [lays] snares for me: and
[she] that [seeks] my hurt [speaks] mischievous things, and [imagines] deceits[,] all the day long.
____________
13 But I, as a deaf man, heard not; and I was as a dumb man that openeth not his mouth.
14 Thus I was as a man that heareth not, and in whose mouth [were] no reproofs.[19]
____________
15 For in thee, O Lord, do I hope: thou wilt hear, O Lord my God.
16 For I said, Hear me, lest otherwise they should rejoice over me: when my foot slippeth, they magnify themselves against me.
17 For I am ready to [surrender to the Will of God,[20]] and my sorrow is continually before me.
18 [I] will declare mine iniquity; I will be sorry for my sin.
19 But [those who lie upon her are many]: and they are strong: and they that hate me wrongfully[,] are multiplied.[21]
20 They also that render evil for good are mine adversaries; because I follow the thing that good is.
21 Forsake me not, O Lord: O my God, be not far from me.
22 Make haste to help me, O Lord my salvation.
Psalm 37
(God speaks His promise)
37 Fret not thyself [for those who look upon the nakedness of thy wife], neither be thou envious against those who lie in her arms.
2 For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb.
3 Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.
4 Delight thyself also in the Lord: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.
5 Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.
6 And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment[,]as the noonday.
____________
7 Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the [many] who [enter her in the night].
8 Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil.
9 For [those who look upon the nakedness of thy wife] shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth.
10 For yet a little while, and [her lovers] shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be.
11 But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves[,] in the abundance of peace.
____________
12 [Her lovers] plotteth against the just, and gnasheth upon him with his teeth.
13 The Lord shall laugh at him: for he seeth that his day is coming.
14 [Her lovers] have drawn out the sword, and have bent their bow, to cast down the poor and needy, and to slay such as be of upright conversation.
15 Their sword shall enter into their own heart, and their bows shall be broken.
16 A little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of [her lovers].
17 For the arms of [her lovers] shall be broken: but the Lord upholdeth the righteous.
____________
18 The Lord knoweth the days of the upright: and their inheritance shall be for ever.
19 They shall not be ashamed in the evil time: and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied.
20 But [her lovers] shall perish, and the enemies of the Lord shall be as the fat of lambs: they shall consume; into smoke shall they consume away.
____________
21 [Her lovers] borroweth, and payeth not again:[22] but the righteous sheweth mercy, and giveth.
22 For such as be blessed of him shall inherit the earth; and they that be cursed of him shall be cut off.
____________
23 The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and he delighteth in his way.
24 Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand.
__________
(To which Baxter replies)
25 I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.[23]
26 He is ever merciful, and lendeth; and his seed is blessed.[24]
____________
(God continues)
27 Depart from evil, and do good; and dwell for evermore.
28 For the Lord loveth judgment, and forsaketh not his saints; they are preserved for ever: but the seed of [her lovers] shall be cut off.[25]
____________
29 The righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell therein for ever.
30 The mouth of the righteous speaketh wisdom, and his tongue talketh of judgment.
31 The law of his God is in his heart; none of his steps shall slide.
32 [Her lovers] watcheth the righteous, and seeketh to slay him.
33 The Lord will not leave him in his hand, nor condemn him when he is judged.
____________
34 Wait on the Lord, and keep his way, and he shall exalt thee to inherit the land: when [her lovers] are cut off, thou shalt see it.
____________
(Baxter replies, in faith)
35 I have seen [her lovers] in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay tree, [leaving trace of his visit.[26]]
36 Yet he passed away, and, lo, he was not: yea, I sought him, but he could not be found.
____________
(God concludes)
37 Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace.
38 But the transgressors shall be destroyed together: the end of [her lovers] shall be cut off.
39 But the salvation of the righteous is of the Lord: he is their strength in the time of trouble.
40 And the Lord shall help them, and deliver them: he shall deliver them from the wicked, and save them, because they trust in him.
[POSTSCRIPT]
Oh, what foolishness the lukewarm Christian would cry out,
he who knows not the power of being a child of God.
And yet the faith and reward of Mr. Baxter will be laid bare in our lessons
(should . God keep me in alive until that end.
All will be made known in our last lesson of these seven volumes:
“How it pleased and sorrowed God to end the life of Adrienne Chouette,”
wife unto death,
wife … … of the Reverend . Thomas . Baxter.
[END]
[1] Taken from the Preface to Twelve Sabbaths in the Puritan Pulpit: Although written from a Calvinist (Particular Baptist, Presbyterian) perspective, the ordinary minister is free—for the glory of God—to copy, modify, and re-publish whatever portions of these prayers, stories, anecdotes, sermons, and footnotes for his own preaching without awarding credit to the author, and furthermore is free to conform the text to accommodate his own denomination’s perspective on my words. I have no interest in argument and I suspect that, when we’re dead, we will both learn that we had some parts of our theological understanding correct and some parts of its parts in error. In any case, my sermons are poor examples of what “could” have been preached, and it is a poor minister indeed who would not cry over the less-than-perfect preaching that came from his pulpit and who would not hope that the next minister would do better.
As these lessons are delivered on a particular day, it may be that particular examples may not be relevant. Yet the church will always be beset with troubles and trouble-makers, and it is understood that the ordinary minister would use the skeleton whilst adding the flesh of the moment.
[2] Taken from the Preface to Twelve Sabbaths in the Puritan Pulpit: This transcription is presented in PreacherPunkt, which does not follow “grammatical rule” but is rather a visual representation of the speed, continuity, pace, and nuance of the speaker; it is an amalgamation of symbols used by the Puritan Divines to better prepare the delivery of their sermons and which, as here presented, enables the reader to better “hear” the printed text—as it was preached—now being “in the hand.” A full explanation of PreacherPunkt, with a list of its symbols and oddities, is given in the Preface to this volume.
As these lessons are delivered “live,” it may be that certain texts are misspoken or even absent from the prepared notes.
[3] The Puritans referred to their ministers and academic theologians as “Divines.” For a history of the English Puritans, see “Shopping for a Religion that Will Accommodate My Sin,” and “Our Place in the Protestant Canoe,” both in Twelve Sabbaths in the Puritan Pulpit.
[4] The Puritans referred to their ministers and academic theologians as “Divines.” For a history of the English Puritans, see “Shopping for a Religion that Will Accommodate My Sin,” and “Our Place in the Protestant Canoe,” both in Twelve Sabbaths in the Puritan Pulpit.
[5] See “The Ordinances, Called Sacraments By Some,” in Here Am I; Guardian of the Word of God.
[6] Unrelated to the much more known Puritan Divine “Richard” Baxter, a Non-Separatist Anglican an living in England.
[7] An elemental spirit—appearing as a light or a flame—who comes to lead someone on a path.
[8] Linnea Beatrice Westin, The Everyday Life to the Maine Colonists in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries, Masters Thesis at the University of Maine (Orono MA), 1940.
[9] Paul Harvey Aurandt (1918-2009), American radio broadcaster for ABC News Radio.
[10] See “The Particulars of the Calvinist and the Particular Baptist,” in Setting Sail Under the Banner of Sola scriptura.
[11] “Jedediah” is given here as play on spelling. Despite the popularity of the names, neither “Jedediah” nor “Jebediah” appear in the KJV.
“Jedediah,” of Hebrew origin, is a common name given to male offspring; the variant spelling “Jedidiah,” translated as “beloved of the Lord,” was given to Solomon by the prophet Nathan (2 Samuel 12:25).
[12] Meditating on the 20 Mysteries of the Rosary—five each of the Joyful, Sorrowful, Glorious, and Luminous Mysteries—in praying, unbiblically, to the Mother of God (one of the Marian idolatries).
[13] The Bible Gateway, KJV.
[14] The meaning of “Selah” is unknown. Baxter considers it to be a point of meditation. In this case, “A punishment deserved by my sins of carelessness and neglect.”
[15] Baxter: “In my promise to God.”
[16] Baxter: “In which God had placed the prophet Elijah to prepare him for his work (1 Kings 17:1-7).”
[17] Baxter: “For not better caring for this Child of God.”
[18] Baxter: “As I covet my Beloved.”
[19] Baxter: “Which I regret to my death. Proverbs 10:19, Proverbs 12:18, Proverbs 15:1.”
[20] Baxter: “And to leave such things in the Hand of God.”
[21] Baxter: “It is those that hate me wrongfully or who wrongfully are multiplied”?
[22] Baxter: “As Scripture requires, he who takest the wife of another man in adultery must pay restitution (Exodus 22:16-17), but the Lord also requireth that I forgive the debt and that I not seek his vengeance for the loan of my wife into his hand (also verse 26).”
[23] Baxter: “Spoken in faith. Likewise verses 35-36.”
[24] Baxter: “His children?”
[25] Baxter: “That she would not have a child out of wedlock”?
[26] Baxter: “As I have found the evidence of her adultery.’