Letters of Samuel Rutherford: A Selection
A curated selection from the correspondence of the Scottish Covenanter and pastor Samuel Rutherford, written largely during his exile and confinement in Aberdeen. The letters blend tender pastoral counsel with an intense, almost lyrical devotion to Christ, addressed to grieving families and persecuted believers. They remain a classic of Puritan spiritual writing, prized for turning affliction into an occasion for nearer communion with God.
Based on Joshua Redivivus, or Mr Rutherford's Letters (collected 1664)
Puritan quotes
Quotes by Samuel Rutherford
“It is the Lord; let Him do whatsoever seemeth good in His eyes.”
“Yet for all my complaints, He was never sweeter and kinder than He is now.”
“I would rather a cloud went over my comforts than that my faith should be hurt.”
“Believe God's love and power more than you believe your own feelings and experiences. Your rock is Christ, and it is not the rock that ebbs and flows but the sea.”
“Our little time of suffering is not worthy of our first night's welcome home to Heaven.”
“When I am in the cellar of affliction, I look for the Lord's choicest wines.”
“In our fluctuations of feelings, it is well to remember that Jesus admits no change in His affections; your heart is not the compass Jesus saileth by.”
“I pray God that I may never find my will again. Oh, that Christ would subject my will to His, and trample it under His feet.”
“There is no sweeter fellowship with Christ than to bring our wounds and our sores to him.”
“O my Lord Jesus Christ, if I could be in heaven without Thee, it would be hell; and if I could be in hell, and have Thee still, it would be heaven to me, for Thou are all the heaven I want.”