The Matthew Henry Commentary—

Our adorning under the gospel is not to be of gold and costly array, but the garments of salvation, the robe of righteousness.

Exodus 28:1-2 (ESV)

Then bring near to you Aaron your brother, and his sons with him, from among the people of Israel, to serve me as priests - Aaron and Aaron's sons, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. And you shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty.

Aaron, High Priest of the Israelites
Anton Kern (German, 1709-1747)

James 3:5-6 (ESV)

So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness.

Gossip In the Monastery, 1887
Eduard von Grützner (German, 1846-1925)

John 18:15-16 (ESV)

Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple. Since that disciple was known to the high priest, he entered with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest, but Peter stood outside at the door.

The Denial of Peter. 2014
Andrey Mironov (Russian, 1975-present)

Resurrected and reconciled…

When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”
John 21:15 (NIV)

Exodus 24:16-17 (ESV)

And the glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai... For six days the cloud covered it, and on the seventh day the Lord called to Moses from within the cloud. And the sight of the glory of the Lord was like a consuming fire on the mountaintop in the eyes of the Israelites.

Moses on Mount Sinai, 1866
Gustav Doré (French, 1832-1883)

Luke 23:28-29 (BSB)

“But Jesus turned to them and said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. Look, the days are coming when people will say, ‘Blessed are the barren women, the wombs that never bore, and breasts that never nursed!’”

Bearing the Cross, 2015,
First in the 'Passion of Christ' triptych
Anatoly Shumkin (Russian, 1984-present)

Te Deum Laudamus, Book of Common Prayer

O Lord, save thy people, and bless thine heritage;
Govern them, and lift them up for ever.
Day by day we magnify thee;
And we worship thy Name, ever world without end.

Morning Prayer, 1866
William Holman Hunt (English, 1827-1910)

Proverbs 3:3 (ESV)

Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you;
bind them around your neck;
write them on the tablet of your heart.

Low Church Devotion, 1848
Adolph Tidemand (Norwegian, 1814-1876)

1 Peter 5:6-9 (ESV)

Cast all your anxieties on Him.
Be sober-minded; be watchful.
Your adversary the devil prowls around seeking someone to devour.
Resist him, knowing that your same suffering is being experienced by others throughout the world.

The Lord’s Prayer. Pilgrim, 1908
Piotr Stachiewicz (Polish, 1858-1938)

Psalm 25:6-7 (ESV)

Remember your mercy, O Lord, and your steadfast love, for they have been from of old. Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love remember me, for the sake of your goodness, O Lord!

The Prodigal Son, 1888
John Macallan Swann (English, 1846-1910)

Philippians 4:12-13 (ESV)

I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound.
In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.

The Ascent of the Matterhorn, on July 14, 1865, Arrival at the Summit
Gustave Doré (French, Engraver, 1832-1883)
Eugène Cicéri (French, Lithographer, 1813-1890)

Psalm 126:6 (ESV)

He who goes out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.

The Harvest Festival
Armand Leleux (French, 1818-1885)

Mark 12:43-44 (ESV)

“Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”

The Widows Mite, 1890
William Teulon Blandford Fletcher (English, 1858-1936)

Ecclesiastes 1:18 (NIV)

For with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief.

Luke 12:48 (NIV)

Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.

The Bookworm (Second Version, c.1851)
Carl Spitzweg (German, 1808-1885)

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (ESV)

Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

Infant Prayer
Henry Lejeune (English, 1819-1904)

Revelation 21:1-2 (ESV)

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.
And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

Hebrews 12:1-2

Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

The Resurrection, 1965
Robert Clark (American)

Genesis 11:1-2 (ESV)

Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there.

The Tower of Babel
Hendrick van Cleve III (Flemish, 1525-1589)

Deuteronomy 5:11 (DARBY)

Thou shalt not idly utter the name of Jehovah thy God for Jehovah will not hold him guiltless that idly uttereth his name.

Defeat of Sennacherib, 1614
Peter Paul Rubens (Flemish, 1577-1640)

This is what the Lord says: Do not be disturbed by this blasphemous speech against me from the Assyrian king’s messengers. Listen! I myself will move against him, and the king will receive a message that he is needed at home. So he will return to his land, where I will have him killed with a sword.
2 Kings 19:6-7 (NLT)

Genesis 5:3 (ESV)

When Adam had lived 130 years, he fathered a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth.

Seth Greets Adam on His Return from the Field, 1586
Johann Sadeler, engraving after drawing by Maerten de Vos

Genesis 6:3 (ESV)

Then the Lord said,
"My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years."

Valley of Mount Ararat, 1885
Ivan Aivazovsky (Russian, 1817-1900)

Deuteronomy 18:21-22 (NIV)

If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the Lord does not take place or come true, that is a message the Lord has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously, so do not be alarmed.

Doña Juana la Loca (Queen Joanna the Mad), 1877,
oil on canvas painting by Spanish painter Francisco Pradilla.

Joanna of Castile is shown watching over the casket of her dead husband, Philip I of Castile. Philip died suddenly of typhoid fever, and it was said she carried his casket around with her everywhere, believing one day he would wake from sleep. This was a common ritual for her.

Job 9:5-13 (NIV)

He alone stretches out the heavens and treads on the waves of the sea.
He is the Maker of the Bear and Orion, the Pleiades and the constellations of the south.
He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted.

The Pleiades at Night
Unknown artist.

Luke 2:8-9 (KJV)

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

The Angel Appearing to the Shepherds, 1834
Thomas Cole (English-American, 1801-1848)

Psalm 23:4 (KJV)

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil: for thou art with me;
Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

The Valley of the Shadow of Death, 1829
John Martin (English, 1789-1854)

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Psalm 46:4-5 (ESV)

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy habitation of the Most High.
God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved;
God will help her when morning dawns.

The City of God, 1850
John Martin (English, 1789-1854)