Gentle and Lowly

If you are looking for a deep read and also enjoy learning from the puritans and theologians from long ago, may I suggest Gentle and Lowly ~ The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Suffers wrote by Dane Ortlund. Dane has put together a book pulling many references, sermons, and notes from many well-known theologians such as Calvin, Martin Luther, Tozer, and with a focus on many of the writings of Thomas Goodwin, and English puritan from the 1600s. This book is rich and deep read of the love the Lord has for us, His heart, and what we should do, which is simple, “Come to me.” He says. Dane did an amazing job of putting together the Love of God in a book, he also reminds us that is just one attribute of who He is, and we can’t forget the other attributes, that make God who He is, and how He can be all those things at the same time.
Sad to say, I lost so many of my highlights, as I read this on my kindle and somehow it deleted all my highlights and notes when I was down to the last two chapters, but this summarizes the depth of the words and what this book is all about, “Whatever is crumbling all around you in your life, wherever you feel stuck, this remains, undeflectable: His heart for you, the real you, is gentle and lowly. So go to Him. That place in your life where you feel most defeated, He is there; He lives there, right there, and His heart for you, not on the other side of it but in that darkness, is gentle and lowly. Your anguish is His home. Go to Him. “If you knew His heart, you would.””
This is a book I will be rereading, though in a hard-copy next time, as it is one of those books that for me I will make notes and highlight, so I can go back to. So many wonderful truths about God’s love in the pages, and it really did help me to see the Lord in a new way when it comes to times when I don’t understand or am struggling. So get this book, especially if you are struggling or just want to be reminded of the beautiful love the Lord has for us believers.

Gentle and Lowly by Dane Ortlund feels like being wrapped in a warm, Puritan weighted blanket for your soul. I didn’t know such a thing existed, but here it is. It’s theologically rich, and at the same time easy to understand and encouraging. I have a feeling it’s going to be one of my favorites of the year.

Ortlund uses Matthew 11:28-30 as his primary text. It’s a favorite of mine:

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

There’s so much hope and promise packed into that short passage. It has been popular lately for good reason. John Mark Comer focuses on the same passage in his book The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry. Ortlund’s approach is a little different. Gentle and Lowly focuses on the fact that this is one of the rare times that Jesus tells us about his heart—the very core of who he is.

We tend to think that God is just barely putting up with us, especially when we are struggling with sin. I remember my hyperactive cousin testing my uncle’s patience when we were kids. His dad would take off his belt, snap it, and say, “One more time and see what happens!” That’s kind of how we think God deals with us.
Ortlund writes that this book is for—

Those of us who find ourselves thinking: “How could I mess up that bad—again?” It is for that increasing suspicion that God’s patience with us is wearing thin. For those of us who know God loves us but suspect we have deeply disappointed him. Who have told others of the love of Christ yet wonder if—as for us—he harbors mild resentment. Who wonder if we have shipwrecked our lives beyond what can be repaired... It is written, in other words, for normal Christians.

Ortlund points out that when Jesus tells us about his heart and who He is at the deepest level, he doesn’t mention impatience. In fact, he doesn’t say he’s demanding or strict or tough. He doesn’t even say he’s generous or joyful, though he is. He says, “I am gentle and lowly in heart.”

Well, what does that mean? That’s what Ortlund spends the rest of the book examining. He uses a wealth of cross-references from both the Old and New Testaments, scripture speaking to scripture. Ortlund also uses the Puritans as guides. Gentle and Lowly draws from Thomas Goodwin, Sibbes, Bunyan, Owen, and Edwards. The Puritans have the reputation of being focused on the wrath of God. After all, Edwards wrote “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” but here Ortlund points us to how they treasured God’s mercy.

I greatly appreciated Ortlund’s ability to take dense passages from the Puritans and translate them into easily understandable language. For example, after quoting portions from Thomas Goodwin’s The Heart of Christ, Ortlund writes:

Translation: When you come to Christ for mercy and love and help in your anguish and perplexity and sinfulness, you are going with the flow of his own deepest wishes, not against them. We tend to think that when we approach Jesus for help in our need and mercy amid our sins, we somehow detract from him, lessen him, impoverish him. Goodwin argues otherwise.

Ortlund is aware that there could be a tendency to overlook other aspects of God while focusing on his affectionate heart. He addresses that concern early in the book. Gentle and Lowly doesn’t overlook or downplay the wrath of God in any way. He is careful to judge everything against what the Bible says. This is by no means a theologically weak book. Ortlund writes:

...the wrath of Christ and the mercy of Christ are not at odds with one another, like a see-saw, one diminishing to the degree that the other is held up. Rather, the two rise and fall together. The more robust one’s felt understanding of the just wrath of Christ against all that is evil both around us and within us, the more robust our felt understanding of his mercy...

He goes on:

Throughout the rest of our study we will return to the question of how to square the very heart of Christ with actions of his or biblical statements that may seem to sit awkwardly with it... In short: it is impossible for the affectionate heart of Christ to be over celebrated, made too much of, exaggerated. It cannot be plumbed. But it is easily neglected, forgotten. We draw too little strength from it. We are not leaving behind the harsher side to Jesus as we speak of his very heart. Our sole aim is to follow the Bible’s own testimony as we tunnel in to who Jesus most surprisingly is.

Everything in Gentle and Lowly is grounded in scripture. I used to wonder how pastors could take just a few verses and talk about them for forty-five minutes. Ortlund points out that the Puritans would take a single verse and “wring it dry” for an entire book. Many chapters of Gentle and Lowly begin with a single verse, but then dive into every word in the verse and what it means in relation to Jesus’ heart.

The book flows naturally from defining what gentle and lowly means, to Christ being able to sympathize with us, on through how Christ’s heart demonstrates his great love for us. Along the way, the book dismantles our human assumptions that God is somehow like us, which is a good thing. The truth is much more encouraging.

My favorite chapter is “His ‘Natural’ Work and His ‘Strange’ Work,“ which I felt especially reveals our common misconceptions about God and his feelings towards us. The chapter opens with Lamentations 3:33—He does not afflict from his heart. Ortlund illustrates how This verse tells us that yes, God does afflict, but the promise is that it is not His heart. He finds no joy in it. He argues that even the Old Testament is leading us to a savior whose heart is gentle and lowly.

The chapter uses Thomas Goodwin, Jonathan Edwards, Lamentations, Hosea, and Jeremiah to unpack what exactly is God’s natural work. None of those sources are exactly hesitant about God’s wrath; yet, they all point to God rejoicing in doing us good rather than afflicting us. Ortlund writes:

Edwards, Goodwin, and the theological river in which they stand were not mushy. They affirmed and preached and taught divine wrath and an eternal hell. They saw these doctrines in the Bible (2 Thess. 1:5–12, to cite just one text). But because they knew their Bibles inside and out and followed their Bibles scrupulously, they discerned also a strand of teaching in Scripture about who God most deeply is—about his heart....

Left to our own natural intuitions about God, we will conclude that mercy is his strange work and judgment his natural work. Rewiring our vision of God as we study the Scripture, we see, helped by the great teachers of the past, that judgment is his strange work and mercy his natural work.

Which leads me back to one of my favorite quotes from Gentle and Lowly:

This is why we need a Bible. Our natural intuition can only give us a God like us. The God revealed in the Scripture deconstructs our intuitive predilections and startles us with one whose infinitude of perfections is matched by his infinitude of gentleness. Indeed, his perfections include his perfect gentleness.

I found myself wanting to highlight quotes on just about every page of Gentle and Lowly. If you need an encouraging and Biblical book in these uncertain and difficult times, I highly recommend picking up a copy. It releases on April 7, 2020 from Crossway. I’ll leave you with anther favorite quote from the book:

Christ was sent not to mend wounded people or wake sleepy people or advise confused people or inspire bored people or spur on lazy people or educate ignorant people, but to raise dead people.

Gentle and lowly by Dane Ortlund Is a wonderful and thoughtful book about Christ.
The books description states:

Christians know that God loves them, but often think that he is perpetually disappointed and frustrated, maybe even close to giving up on them. As a result, they focus a lot on what Jesus has done to appease God's wrath for sin. But how does Jesus Christ actually feel about his people amid all their sins and failures? This book draws us to Matthew 11, where Jesus describes himself as "gentle and lowly in heart," longing for his people to find rest in him. The gospel is primarily about God's heart drawn to his people, a heart of tender love for the sinful and suffering. These chapters take readers into the depths of Christ's very heart for sinners, diving deep into Bible passages that speak of who Christ is and encouraging readers with the affections of Christ for his people. His longing heart for sinners will comfort and sustain readers in their up-and-down lives.
This book would make a great gift and a great resource for any church to have on hand.

I have been waiting for 18 months (since hearing in August of 2018 of its coming publication) for Dane Ortlund’s new book, Gentle and Lowly: The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers, to come out. And now that I have read it in its advance copy — I can honestly say it now shares top place, alongside one of Dr. Ortlund’s other writings (the 150 devotions he wrote for the ESV Devotional Psalter) as my all-time favorite book in the “feed my soul” book category of my library.

This book is filled with soul-nourishing insights on the heart of Jesus that literally caused my eyes to tear up—and my joy to abound—as I read its 23 brief chapters. I love the way that in this book the key insights in each chapter are built out of Incredible texts of Scripture and they are all expressed in a manner which fuels personal worship of the Lord Jesus.

The uniqueness of this book is how it immerses the reader into the inner life of Jesus — with the aim of igniting the experiences of peace and joy as a deepened understanding of the infinite love of Christ for His redeemed people is unfolded. It is clear that this is a book that has been simmering in the author’s mind for a long time (as he states himself in a brief video interview that Joe Thorn did with him in August, 2018 — which can be viewed here: http://www.doctrineanddevotion.com/video/ortlund).

I cannot recommend this book too highly! It is a literary feast of Christ-glorifying and believer-nourishing treasures that have been mined from texts throughout the Bible — as well as the foundational insights of the Puritan Thomas Goodwin in his book The Heart of Christ. Dr. Ortlund’s new book will, I believe, become a classic in the years to come. It truly is that good! As a result, I want to commend Crossway for publishing this book as a hardback — as it is of such great value that I intend on coming back to its pages regularly as fuel for my growth in Christ.

I received an e-book review copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.

Have you felt weary? Struggling with the weight of sin, the guilt of not measuring up, the pain of suffering circumstances. Do you wonder how to reconcile the sin and the suffering with who you know God to be?

In the midst of our lives, we may know that God is kind, compassionate and loving; that He is just, merciful and sovereign.

Yet, have you remembered that His heart is gentle toward you?

"I am gentle and lowly in heart" (Matt 11:29)

Dane Ortlund's book, Gentle and Lowly: The Heart of God for Sinners and Sufferers, addresses the character of God's heart towards believers. He writes to us as regular Christians, who walk through life carrying sin on our shoulders and weighty circumstances in life, reminding us that whatever we face His character does not change.

As you face being laid off - His burden is light.
As you wash your hands multiple times - His yoke is easy.
As stores are closed, online shipping delayed - He is readily accessible to us.
As loved ones pass away within hospital walls - He shows us mercy.

"Contrary to what we expect to be the case, therefore, the deeper into weakness and suffering and testing we go, the deeper Christ's solidarity with us. As we go down into pain and anguish, we are descending ever deeper into Christ's very heart, not away from it."

We look to Christ and He deals gently with us. He intercedes for us. He forgives us. He gathers us securely into his flock. What a joy we can find, as we delve deeper into who He is, and how He responds to us - in all the situations we face.

Be encouraged today, knowing more of His gentle heart toward you, and pick up the book to take the study further.

Thank you to Netgalley and Crossway for an advanced reader copy of this book and the opportunity to post an honest review.

#gentleandlowly #netgalley

Gentle and Lowly is one of the most beautiful books I’ve read on the heart of Christ toward the people He came to save. Time and time again, Ortlund takes the reader into a deeper understanding of Christ’s heart as seen in the Scripture. Layer by layer, bit by bit, we are left feeling more affection and awe for Jesus.

Each chapter is summarized to help remind the reader of what he/she just read. What’s more, there is practical application throughout of how to continue moving toward a deeper intimacy once the reading is complete. It overflows with theological and devotional riches.

Gentle and Lowly is the most impactful book I’ve read on this beautiful facet of Jesus Christ. My heart toward Christ is softer, more eager, and deeply grateful after having read this work.

This book has been a great source of encouragement for me. In it, the author shows us true Christ who is not aloof but condescends to us in the incarnation. It paints the true picture of the character of Christ. Must read.

Who is Jesus?

It’s a question that’s been wrestled around for thousands of years, hundreds of thousands of people across the world attempting to wrestle with the wild, unknown nature of God.

In these searches, the nature of Jesus is boiled down to His actions – what He did, what He said, who He surrounded himself with.

Dane C. Ortlund’s book Gentle and Lowly, the heart of Christ is shown not just in these actions, deeds, and words but in attempting to capture the essence of Christ through showing His heart towards people.

Thoughtful, gentle and thoroughly researched, Ortlund makes a point of supporting his interpretations of Biblical text through the use of allegory and comparing through prior works such as John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress. Though Ortlund holds nothing in back in exploring the heart of Christ and His passion for “sinners and saints” alike, the love that he describes that Christ has for people is so deeply and clearly felt.

Gentle and Lowly is a deep, meditative reflection on the all-consuming love of Christ, a recommendation for anyone who is in need of healing away from the “righteous religious” who distort the love of God in favor of their own interpretations of the law.

It's hard to know how best to write this review. This book is extraordinary in how Ortlund unpacks the heart of Jesus in his reflection on the wonderful verse Matthew 11:29: "Take my yoke upon you for I am gentle and lowly in heart ..."

Ortlund is clearly a disciple of the Puritans and builds this book upon the shoulders of these great writers: John Bunyan, Thomas Goodwin, John Flavel, Jonathan Edwards plus preachers like Spurgeon. Sometimes the way these writers of yesteryear write can be a bit difficult and so to have a tremendous translator like Dane Ortlund is invaluable.

The chapters are small based on a verse that outlines the heart of Jesus, the Father and the role of the Holy Spirit. The chapters need to be short as they are packed with such great content which leaves the reader lingering.

And so what do we do with this revelation of how much we are loved and the immeasurable riches of His grace that awaits us, Ortlund asks in conclusion. And his answer is a simple one: "Go to Jesus." Invite Jesus into every aspect of our lives and let Him love us.

I so look forward to Dane Ortlund's next book. This is one I will read often, share with others and I'd suggest now sits alongside such classics as Tozer's 'Pursuit of God', Lewis's "Mere Christianity', and Manning's 'The Furious Longing of God.'

Go grab a copy for yourself.

I received an early ebook version from Crossway via NetGalley with no expectation of a positive review. I'll certainly be purchasing a copy for myself and others.