Every Tuesday I hope to post a delicious morsel from my favorite Puritan, Thomas Manton (c.1620–1677). Emphasis is my own.

“To convince us of sin, to humble the heart, to reduce and bring us back to God, there is no rule for this but the law of God. Men make laws as tailors do garments, to fit the crooked bodies they serve for, to suit the humours of the people to be governed by these laws; surely they are not a sufficient rule to convince us of sin, and to guide us to true happiness. A civil, orderly man is one thing, and a godly, renewed man, another. It is God’s prerogative to give a law to the conscience, and the renewed motions of the heart. Human laws are good to establish converse with men, but too short to establish communion with God; and therefore we must consult with the rule, which is “the law of the Lord,” that we many not come short of true blessedness.”

— Sermon on Psalm 119:1
(Page 6, Volume 1 of 3, Psalm 119, Banner of Truth Trust, 1990)