Defending. Contending.

A man may be sorry, yet not repent, as a thief is sorry when he is taken; not because he stole, but because he has to pay the penalty. Godly sorrow, however, is chiefly for the trespass against God, so that even if there were no conscience to smite, no devil to accuse, no hell to punish, yet…the soul would still be grieved because of the prejudice done to God. Spiritual sorrow will sink the heart if the pulley of faith does not raise it. As much as we feel our sting, let us look upward to Christ for strength and healing. We must grieve more for offending God than for the loss of dear relations. Sorrow for sin must exceed sorrow at the grave, and with good reason; for in the burial of the dead it is only a friend who departs, but in sin…God departs.

O Christian! the disease of your soul is chronic and frequently returns upon you; therefore you must continually cry out and repent. Christ counts as great beauties those who are tender-eyed; and well may sin make us weep. There are special times when we must renew our repentance in an extraordinary manner: before receiving the Lord’s supper, and at the hour of death. When the soul is going out of the body, it should swim to heaven in a sea of tears.

Thomas Watson

1620-1686