There are no people under heaven, who take any real
pleasure, delight, contentment and satisfaction
in God—but those who are genuinely holy.
"How is your Beloved better than others, most beautiful
of women? How is your Beloved better than others, that
you charge us so?" Song of Songs 5:9
The covetous man takes pleasure and delight in his money-bags.
The ambitious man takes pleasure and delight in his honors.
The voluptuous man takes pleasure and delight in his lusts.
The malicious man takes pleasure and delight in his revenge.
The envious man takes pleasure in the harms which befall others.
The drunkard takes pleasure and delight in his cups.
The adulterer takes pleasure and delight in his harlots.
The gamester takes pleasure and delight in his shifts and tricks.
The worldling takes pleasure in his fopperies and fooleries.
It is only the holy man who takes pleasure and delight in God.
To delight and take pleasure in God, is a work too high, too
hard, too spiritual, and too noble—for any but holy people!
"My Beloved is dark and dazzling, better than ten thousand
others! Yes, He is altogether lovely! This is my Beloved, and
this is my Friend!" Song of Songs 5:10, 16
"I delight greatly in the Lord! My soul rejoices in my God!"
Isaiah 61:10
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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.