Who Was Charles Bridges? The Pastor Behind Psalm 119 and Proverbs

Biography Bible Study Commentary

Charles Bridges was an English pastor who lived from 1794 to 1869. He was a leader among the evangelicals in the Church of England, but he spent his whole life in country and small-town parishes, and he's remembered for his books more than anything else. He wrote The Christian Ministry, one of the most-loved books ever written for pastors, and warm, practical commentaries on Psalm 119, Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. Charles Spurgeon called his Psalm 119 "worth its weight in gold" and his Proverbs the best work on that book.

Here is a short account of his life, what he taught, and which of his books to read first.

Early life and calling

Bridges was born on March 24, 1794. He studied at Queens' College, Cambridge, in the years when evangelical faith was spreading through the university and the Church of England. He was ordained in 1817.

His life was not crowded with public events. He didn't hold high office in the church or travel widely. He was a parish minister who studied his Bible, preached, visited his people and wrote. That ordinary faithfulness is the setting of everything he wrote.

Old Newton

In 1823 Bridges became vicar of Old Newton, a farming village in Suffolk, and he stayed for twenty-six years. It was a small parish of a few hundred people, and he gave himself to it completely. He visited from house to house, taught the children, and preached Christ plainly. His care for that one village became well known. The Scottish preacher Thomas Chalmers, who was building his own parish work in Glasgow, praised what Bridges did among his people.

The books that made his name were written in these years. His Exposition of Psalm CXIX came out in 1827 and went through many editions in his lifetime. The Christian Ministry followed a couple of years later. His Exposition of the Book of Proverbs came in the 1840s. He also wrote a memoir of Mary Jane Graham, a gifted young woman whose letters and papers came into his hands after her death.

He married Harriet Torlesse, and they raised a family in the Old Newton vicarage.

Weymouth and Dorset

In 1849 Bridges moved to Weymouth, on the south coast, as vicar. Later he moved to Hinton Martell, a small parish in Dorset, where he spent his last years. His Exposition of the Book of Ecclesiastes appeared in 1860. He kept up his place among the evangelical clergy, taking part in conferences with men like J. C. Ryle. He died on April 2, 1869.

What he taught

The minister must first be a Christian

The full title of The Christian Ministry adds that it is an inquiry into the causes of its inefficiency. Bridges wanted to know why so much preaching bears so little fruit. He looked first at God, who alone gives success. Then he looked hard at the minister himself: worldliness, fear of man, covetousness, pride, neglect of prayer, and above all a lack of personal religion. He asks the question every pastor needs to hear:

Are we never satisfied with being the instruments of grace, without being habitually the subjects of it?
The Christian Ministry, Absence or Defect of Personal Religion

Preach the gospel plainly

Bridges had no interest in clever preaching. He wanted the gospel set out fully and pressed on the conscience. His goal was not to please but to save:

Our work is not to make or to improve the Gospel; but simply and fully to preach it.
The Christian Ministry, The Spirit of Scriptural Preaching

Love the Word of God

His commentary on Psalm 119 walks through all 176 verses, and he reads the psalm as a picture of the believer's own heart: delight in God's Word, struggle with sin, comfort in trouble, and God Himself as our portion. He writes like a pastor sitting beside you:

The exchange of the world for God, and of the service of sin for the ways of heaven, leaves no room for regret in life, in death, or in eternity.
Exposition of Psalm CXIX, Verses 57–64

Wisdom for everyday life

In Proverbs, Bridges found God's guidance for the home, speech, work and money. He believed the Bible is meant for Monday as much as Sunday:

So graciously has our God made his book, not only our guide to heaven, but the directory of our common life.
An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs, Proverbs 6

But he never let wisdom become mere good advice. Real wisdom comes from God, and you get it on your knees:

Earthly wisdom is gained by study; heavenly wisdom by prayer.
An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs, Proverbs 2

Religion begins at home

Bridges also wrote a short essay urging every Christian household to pray together daily. He argued that a family can't be truly Christian without it:

For as personal religion cannot exist or be sustained without personal prayer; so neither can we identify family religion without family prayer…
An Essay on Family Prayer, An Essay on Family Prayer

Why he's still read

Bridges is still read for two reasons. Pastors keep The Christian Ministry close because it searches the heart and still describes the temptations of ministry with uncomfortable accuracy. Ordinary Christians keep his commentaries because they are devotional and practical. He explains the verse, connects it with the rest of Scripture, and then applies it to your life, always pointing you to Christ. He's warm without being soft, and serious without being gloomy. As he put it in his Ecclesiastes:

He is gloomy, not because he has too much religion, but too little.
An Exposition of the Book of Ecclesiastes, Ecclesiastes 9

Where to start

TheWay Library has six of his books, all free to read. If you're a pastor or preparing for ministry, start with The Christian Ministry. For devotional Bible reading, start with his Exposition of Psalm CXIX, a stanza at a time. For study of a whole book, turn to his Exposition of the Book of Proverbs. If you lead a home, read the short Essay on Family Prayer in one sitting.

Our guide to Charles Bridges' books describes all six, and our collection of Charles Bridges quotes gathers his best lines. You'll find all his books on the Charles Bridges author page.