"Lord! all my desire is before You; and my groaning
is not hidden from You." Psalm 38:9
We cannot get into any blind hole, or dark corner, or
secret place—but the Lord has an eye there, the Lord
will keep us company there. There is not the darkest,
dirtiest hole in the world into which a saint creeps—but
God has a favorable eye there. God never lacks . . .
an eye to see our secret tears,
nor an ear to hear our secret cries and groans,
nor a heart to grant our secret requests.
We cannot sigh out a prayer in secret—but He sees us;
we cannot lift up our eyes to Him at midnight—but He
observes us. The eye which God has upon His people
when they are in secret, is such a special tender eye of
love—as opens His ear, His heart, and His hand, for their
good. "For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and
His ears are attentive to their prayer." 1 Peter 3:12
God's eye is upon . . .
every secret sigh, and
every secret groan, and
every secret tear, and
every secret desire, and
every secret pant of love,
and every secret breathing of soul,
and every secret melting and working of heart.
As a Christian is never out of the reach of God's
hand, so he is never out of the view of God's eye.
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Thomas Brooks (1608 - 1680)
Much of what is known about Thomas Brooks has been ascertained from his writings. Born, likely to well-to-do parents, in 1608, Brooks entered Emmanuel College, Cambridge in 1625, where he was preceded by such men as Thomas Hooker, John Cotton, and Thomas Shepard. He was licensed as a preacher of the Gospel by 1640. Before that date, he appears to have spent a number of years at sea, probably as a chaplain with the fleet.After the conclusion of the First English Civil War, Thomas Brooks became minister at Thomas Apostle's, London, and was sufficiently renowned to be chosen as preacher before the House of Commons on December 26, 1648. His sermon was afterwards published under the title, 'God's Delight in the Progress of the Upright', the text being Psalm 44:18: 'Our heart is not turned back, neither have our steps declined from Thy way'. Three or four years afterwards, he transferred to St. Margaret's, Fish-street Hill, London. In 1662, he fell victim to the notorious Act of Uniformity, but he appears to have remained in his parish and to have preached as opportunity arose. Treatises continued to flow from his pen.[3]
Thomas Brooks was a nonconformist preacher. Born into a Puritan family, he was sent to Emmanuel College, Cambridge. He soon became an advocate of the Congregational way and served as a chaplain in the Civil War. In 1648 he accepted the rectory of St. Margaret's, New Fish Street, London, but only after making his Congregational principles clear to the vestry.
On several occasions he preached before Parliament. He was ejected in 1660 and remained in London as a Nonconformist preacher. Government spies reported that he preached at Tower Wharf and in Moorfields. During the Great Plague and Great Fire he worked in London, and in 1672 was granted a license to preach in Lime Street. He wrote over a dozen books, most of which are devotional in character. He was buried in Bunhill Fields.