Trustworthiness nurtures trust. Trust develops over time as our relationship matures. You trust each other more and more as you learn to feel comfortable and confident with each other. . . . Over time you should be drawn together in a deeper sense of troth, which binds you in friendship. You will feel comfortable when you see each other. That is what happens in a good marriage.

JOEL R. BEEKE, NURTURING INTIMATE COMMUNICATION WITH YOUR SPOUSE (PRJ 9, 1 [2017]), 273.

If you are a Christian who is single, do not enter a romantic relationship with a person who does not love the Lord Jesus Christ and is not walking with God. Don’t settle for someone who goes to church but has a questionable profession of faith. The minimum standard for dating or courtship should be a faith that is producing good works through love.

Joel R. Beeke, Nurturing Intimate Communication with Your Spouse (PRJ 9, 1 [2017]), 271.

It is a sign, an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace; for such sacraments are designed to be. It is a parable to the eye; and in it God uses similitudes, as he did of old by his servants and prophets. In it Christ tells us earthly things, that thereby we may come to be more familiarly acquainted, and more warmly affected , with spiritual and heavenly things. In it Christ speaks to us in our own language, and accommodates himself to the capacitates of our present state.

The Communicant’s Companion by Rev. Matthew Henry, 37.

Life may exist in the infant as well as the robust man. Remember that all graces are not always developed in the same degree. Be not misled by the experience of others; there is infinite diversity in the operations of the Spirit.

James W. Alexander, Plain Words to a Young Communicant, 37.

Have I counted the cost of following Christ, or of being truly religious? Am I ready to be cut off from van amusements, from the indulgence of my lusts, and from a sinful conformity to the world? Can I face ridicule, contempt, and serious opposition? In the view of these things, am I willing to take up the cross, and to follow Christ withersoever he shall lead me? Is it my solemn purpose, in reliance on his gracious aid, to cleave to him and to his cause and people, to the end of life?

Do I love holiness? Do I earnestly desire to be more and more conformed to God and to his holy law, to bear more and more the likeness of my Redeemer? Am I resolved, in God’s strength, to endeavour conscientiously to perform my whole duty, to God, to my neighbour, and to myself?

James W. Alexander, Plain Words to a Young Communicant, 32.

That man bears God’s image means much more than that he is spirit and possesses understanding, will, etc. It means above all that he is disposed for communion with God, that all the capacities of his soul can act in a way that corresponds to their destiny only if they rest in God. This is the nature of man. That is to say, there is no sphere of life that lies outside his relationship to God and in which religion would not be the ruling principle.

Geerhardus Vos, Reformed Dogmatics, 269.

Many people today have been taught and are convinced that the theory of evolution is a fact, and if they also happen to believe in God, they believe that he created the world by means of evolution. Therefore, they believe the creation story in Genesis is a “myth.” If you are one of those people, there is nothing I can say at this point to convince you otherwise, so I won’t try. I merely ask you to put that issue aside for the time being. Get to know who Jesus is through reading this book. That’s the first important step. Then, if you become convinced he is who the Bible says he is, and choose to enter into an experiential faith relationship with him as your Master and Savior, he will lead you to the understanding he wants you to have about creation and evolution. Try not to worry about it now. But having an understanding about the fall of mankind into sin as taught in Genesis is essential to understanding the message of the New Testament.

Daniel M. Berger, The Interpreted New Testament: An Expanded Paraphrase with In-line Commentary, Loc. 352.

Together, the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament tell us the story of God’s plan for humanity. Don’t complain that it’s too complicated. Life is complicated, and if you want to understand life well enough to get ahead, you need to be willing to spend some time learning the “ins and outs” of things. God’s plan isn’t overly complicated, but it is true that it can’t all be absorbed in a day.

Daniel M. Berger, The Interpreted New Testament: An Expanded Paraphrase with In-line Commentary, Loc. 222.

Schoolteachers commonly sow the first seed into the hearts of children. They first season them. As the seed is, such will the crop be; as the first seasoning is, so will the flavor continue to be. If they sow no good seed at all, what harvest can be expected? If they sow a corrupt seed of rudeness, lack of self-control, irreverence, superstition, and any wickedness, the crop must correspond to that. But if they sow the good seed of education, civility, and piety, there is great hope of a good crop. From this it follows that they are of great use and may bring much good, not only to the children themselves and their parents, but also to the church and nation.

William Gouge, Building a Godly Home: A Holy Vision for Raising Children, 179.

Thanksgiving of the congregation (22:28–32). In the concluding words of thanksgiving, there is a move away from the individual perspective of the earlier portion of the liturgy to a more cosmic perspective. Although at first the change seems abrupt, it is entirely appropriate; it sets the particular event of deliverance into a broader and more balanced perspective, and yet it is still related intimately to the earlier liturgy. Hence, it is unnecessary to suppose that the last section is not an integral part of the original psalm, as proposed, for example, by Martin-Achard (VCaro 65 [1963] 78–87). Ultimately God is king and controls the affairs of all mankind and all nations (v 29); all persons need to remember that and to worship—the psalmist who forgot it in his sense of desolation (v 2), the enemies who implied that God was not in control (vv 8–9). The particular incidents of desolation and deliverance need to be set in the larger perspective—“dominion belongs to the Lord” (v 29). But the concluding praise also ties in with another theme of the liturgy, namely the nearness of death. Though the psalmist had been delivered from death, its nearness was no excuse to cease from worshiping God; those about to die should also bow down in worship before the God of the universe (v 30). Survival is not so much important for its own sake as it is important for providing a further opportunity for participation in the worship of God . . .

PETER C. CRAIGIE AND MARVIN TATE, PSALMS 1-50, VOLUME 19: SECOND EDITION (WORD BIBLICAL COMMENTARY), 198.