The Godly Man’s Picture by Thomas Watson 

The book is The Godly Man’s Picture by Thomas Watson. It was originally published in 1666. I read the reprinted retypeset 2021 edition by The Banner of Truth Trust. I read it in June of 2023.  

The title is the theme of the book. Watson draws a portrait of what the godly man looks like, how he behaves, and the nature of his heart.  

I’m slowly working my way through the Puritan Paperbacks. It’s a lifelong dream to finish them all.  

Watson, like many of the puritans, doesn’t pull any punches. These old timey theologians are so straightforward. At times it sounds cliché but that’s only because we’ve had a lifetime of preachy preachers.  

There are so many preachers that try to be like the fire and brimstone pastors of old but it just comes off as cheesy. Thomas Watson is OG the real deal.  

Watson talks a lot about sin and hell and he sounds like he doesn’t want you to go there. There is no pussyfooting around it. Hell is real and unless Christ is Lord of your heart and life, then you will go there.  

In this book, Watson shows what it looks like to have Christ over your life and heart.  

Here is one particularly convicting passage; 

An unsound Christian will confess sin wholesale, he will acknowledge he is a sinner in general, whereas David does, as it were, point with his finger to the sore: I have done this evil’ (Psa. 51:4). He does not say, I have done evil,’ but ‘this evil.’ He points at his blood-guiltiness. (p103) 

First, I like how he refers to “an unsound Christian.” He’s not saying you’re not a Christian if you confess in this half-assed way, but you definitely need to change this.  

Second, it’s true, that it’s really easy to just vaguely confess your sin “wholesale” without getting specific. It’s when you describe it in detail that the real heart conviction comes. That sucks, especially when you have to do it over and over again. 

Part of my lifelong Christian sanctification is striving to be a godly man in every way I can. Having passages and quotes from Thomas Watson will be handy for conviction and guidance. There are many things he writes that I can specifically apply to my own life for the rest of my life.   

The old English wasn’t bad. Not too many thees and thous. It was clear to understand. Watson is an impactful writer and I believe this edition has been updated from its original version.  

I’d recommend this to all Christian men. Watson is so quotable. His writing is so memorable. It sticks with you like a catchy song. I look forward to reading more from Thomas Watson in the future.  

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Notable Quotables 

The man who is a pretender to saintship, but whose heart tells him he has nothing but the name, carries Christ in his Bible but not in his heart. (p12) 

Many take Christ as Jesus, but refuse him as Lord. Do you join Prince and Saviour’ (Acts 5:31)? Would you as well be ruled by Christ’s laws as saved by his blood? (p20) 

Knowledge which is not applied will only light a man to hell. (p23) 

He who esteems Christ will pull out that lust which is his right eye. A wise man will throw away a poison for a stimulant…What scorn and contempt they put on the Lord Jesus who prefer a damning pleasure before a saving Christ! (p52-53) 

A godly man’s heart is the library to hold the word of God; it dwells richly in him (Col. 3:16)…he always carried the Bible with him and read it greedily. (p63) 

The lodestone loses its virtue when it is spread with garlic; so does prayer when it is polluted with sin. If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me (Psa. 66:18). It is foolish to pray against sin and then to sin against prayer. (p95) 

An unsound Christian will confess sin wholesale, he will acknowledge he is a sinner in general, whereas David does, as it were, point with his finger to the sore: I have done this evil’ (Psa. 51:4). He does not say, I have done evil,’ but ‘this evil.’ He points at his blood-guiltiness. (p103) 

The more others deride holiness, the more we love it. What is religion the worse for others disgracing it? Does a diamond sparkle the less because a blind man disparages it? (p121) 

It may be your friend had more of your love than God and therefore God took away such a relation, so that the stream of your love might run back to him again. A gracious woman had been deprived, first of, her children, then of her husband. She said, ‘Lord, thou hast a plot against me; thou intendest to have all my love.’ God does not like to have any creature set upon the throne of our affections; he will take away that comfort, and then he shall lie nearest our heart. (p130) 

We repay God’s blessings with service. The Lord gives us health, and we spend and are spent for Christ (2 Cor. 12:15). He gives us an estate, and we honour the Lord with our substance (Prov. 3:9). He gives us children, and we dedicate them to God and educate them for God. We do not bury our talents but trade them. (p142) 

One sin may shut you out of heaven. And as Jerome says, what difference is there between being shut out for more sins and for one? Therefore, beware of cherishing one sin. One millstone will sink a man into the sea as well as a hundred. (p164) 

A fear joined with faith: By faith Noah, moved with fear’ (Heb. 11:7). Faith and fear go hand in hand. When the soul looks at God’s holiness, he fears. When he looks at God’s promises, he believes. A godly man trembles, yet trusts. (p193)