Philip Doddridge Quotes on Christ, Prayer, Grief and Heaven
Philip Doddridge (1702–1751) was a pastor and teacher of young ministers in Northampton, England. Most people know him today through a few hymns, like "O God of Bethel" and "Hark, the Glad Sound." But he also left a private diary of what he felt and said at the Lord's table, the lectures he gave his students on preaching, a sermon he preached after his little daughter died, and the life of a soldier friend. His words in all of them are warm, honest and full of Christ.
Every quotation below is copied exactly from his books in TheWay Library, with the book and chapter it comes from. The spelling and capitals are his eighteenth-century ones. Some of his books quote other writers; those lines are left out, so everything here is Doddridge's own. For his life story, see who was Philip Doddridge. For a guide to the books themselves, see Philip Doddridge books.
On Christ and His love
Doddridge kept notes after the Lord's Supper for more than twenty years. They show a man who never got over the wonder of the cross.
We must have low thoughts of Christ, or we cannot have low thoughts of sin.
Thoughts on Sacramental Occasions, Meditation XII
So miserable were we as to need it; — so merciful was our God as to contrive it; — so gracious was our blessed Redeemer as to submit to it.
Thoughts on Sacramental Occasions, Meditation XLVI
Enough for all; enough for more than are here; and if any perish, it is not for want of a sufficiency of grace, but for want of hearts to use it.
Thoughts on Sacramental Occasions, Meditation VI
Why have we the power of remembrance, if not to remember Christ?
Thoughts on Sacramental Occasions, Meditation VI
Why should we love Christ less than we did when he first formed an acquaintance with our souls?
Thoughts on Sacramental Occasions, Meditation LI
On the love of God
He knew that God's love is enough, even when people turn against us.
Although some may slight me; although others may censure me; although others hate me; even though all the rage of earth and hell unite against me, yet if God loves me, it is enough!
Thoughts on Sacramental Occasions, Meditation XXI
Lord, if thou wilt dwell with us, it signifies little with whom we dwell; thy friendship, thy love, can make up the want of human friendship in its sweetest endearments.
Thoughts on Sacramental Occasions, Meditation XXIX
How little does it signify what we lose, if we retain God, and his favour.
Thoughts on Sacramental Occasions, Meditation XXVIII
On prayer
These come from the lectures he gave to students training for the ministry. His advice is plain and practical, and it fits anyone who prays, in public or alone.
Remember it is the peculiar office of the Spirit of God to help in prayer.
Lectures on Preaching, Lecture XIII
Desire not to pray as nobody ever prayed before, or will probably ever pray again.
Lectures on Preaching, Lecture XIII
Let the blessed work of praise have a large share in your prayers.
Lectures on Preaching, Lecture XIII
After you have composed your discourse, pray over it in private.
Lectures on Preaching, Lecture XI
On preaching and the ministry
Doddridge trained some two hundred students. He wanted them humble, prayerful and plain.
The honour of God, the glory of the gospel, and good of souls are no small trust.
Lectures on Preaching, Lecture I
I am to preach the gospel, that gospel which Christ brought down from heaven, and died to confirm.
Lectures on Preaching, Lecture X
Speak as a good man, bringing out of the full treasure of his heart good things.
Lectures on Preaching, Lecture XI
Yet God sometimes honours those Sermons with success from which we have had the least expectations.
Lectures on Preaching, Lecture XI
The presence of God and success in your labours are the main things to be attended to.
Lectures on Preaching, Lecture XXIII
Who are we that we should slight those whom God honours?
Lectures on Preaching, Lecture XXIV
On grief and the death of a child
In 1736 Doddridge's oldest child, Betsey, died a little before her fifth birthday. He preached on the Shunammite mother who said "It is well" (2 Kings 4:26), and he wrote in his diary the day she died. These are some of the most tender lines he ever wrote.
I hope God knows that I am not angry; but sorrowful he surely allows me to be.
Thoughts on Sacramental Occasions, Meditation XXIII
Let us sorrow like Men, and like Parents; but let us not, in the mean time, forget that we are Christians.
Submission to Divine Providence in the Death of Children
Whatever we lose, if we be the Children of God, we shall never lose our Heavenly Father, He will still be our Support, and our Joy.
Submission to Divine Providence in the Death of Children
Did he think the Life of this Child too great a Good to grant, when he thought not Christ and Glory too precious?
Submission to Divine Providence in the Death of Children
Diseases and Accidents are but second Causes, which owe all their Operations to the continued Energy of the great original Cause.
Submission to Divine Providence in the Death of Children
Opposition is vain; a forced Submission gives but little Rest to the Mind; a cordial Acquiescence in the Divine Will is the only thing in the whole World that can ease the labouring Heart, and restore true Serenity.
Submission to Divine Providence in the Death of Children
Blessed be his Name, we hold not the Mercies of that Covenant by so precarious a Tenure as the Life of any Creature.
Submission to Divine Providence in the Death of Children
On death and heaven
Doddridge was never strong, and he died at forty-nine. He wrote about death as a believer who expected to see Christ.
The grave has lost its darkest gloom since Christ was laid in it.
Thoughts on Sacramental Occasions, Meditation XXV
To be with Christ in any circumstances must appear delightful; how much more so in heaven!
Thoughts on Sacramental Occasions, Meditation XXII
I verily believe that I shall meet her there, and enjoy much more of her in heaven than I should have done had she survived me on earth.
Thoughts on Sacramental Occasions, Meditation XXIII
On a soldier's faith
In The Life of Col. James Gardiner, Doddridge told the story of a cavalry officer, a close friend, who was changed in one night and stayed faithful until he died in battle in 1745.
In a word, he went on, as every resolute Christian by divine grace may do, till he turned ridicule and opposition into respect and veneration.
The Life of Col. James Gardiner, chapter V
Strange that the name of Christ should be so odious, that the brightest virtues of his followers should be despised for his sake!
The Life of Col. James Gardiner, chapter XV
Read them in context
The best place to meet Doddridge's heart is his diary of the Lord's table, Thoughts on Sacramental Occasions. If you're grieving, read his short sermon Submission to Divine Providence in the Death of Children, and see our list of the best Christian books on death and grief. If you preach or lead prayer, his Lectures on Preaching are full of short, useful rules. All four of his books are on the Philip Doddridge author page.