AuthorJohn "Rabbi" Duncan (1796-1870)

John "Rabbi" Duncan (1796-1870) was a Scottish theologian, minister, and educator. Born in Gilcomston, Aberdeenshire, Duncan initially trained as a physician before pursuing theology. Ordained as a minister in the Church of Scotland, he became known for his fervent evangelical preaching and deep theological insights.

His nickname "Rabbi" stemmed from his profound knowledge of Hebrew and his engaging teaching style. Duncan served as a professor of Hebrew and Oriental languages at New College, Edinburgh, where he influenced generations of students with his passionate commitment to biblical scholarship. His legacy endures through his writings, lectures, and impact on theological education in Scotland.

Forsaking Our Own Mercies

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“Forsaking our own mercies.” How are they our own? Not ours in possession, for we are forsaking them, but they are our own mercies that we have a right to—mercies freely offered to us of God in Christ Jesus, in his blessed gospel. It is thus your own Christ that you neglect. He is in this sense your own in the free offer of God; your own Saviour, the Christ whom God is holding forth and giving in his gospel to you.

O How Love I Thy Law — Psalm 119:97

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This is the expression, you observe, not only of sincere love to the law, but of ardent love to the law. It is an appeal to God about an ardent love to the law: “O how love I thy law.” I would, entreating the presence and guidance of the Holy Spirit, think for a little with you on the grounds why the psalmist and why the saints do love God’s law, do love God’s law so ardently. Why do they love? Now, all that is rightly moral is founded on the fitness of things; therefore this love, as moral—as indeed it is the sum of all morality—is founded on the amiableness of the law. Love to the law is proper, and right, and fitting, just because the law is amiable. But let us inquire a little deeper into those circumstances about the law on which the amiableness of the law is grounded.

Apples of Gold

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Words contain power – life and death power (Prov. 18:21). But only God’s Word delivers invincible power. Words, fitly spoken, serve the ministry of the Word. When godly pastors employ words, clothed in biblical wisdom and imbued with the Spirit, they penetrate hearts and minds, well beyond the reach of the ordinary.

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