Elizabeth

“A fool always veers to one or the other extreme.”
― Martin Luther, Luther's Works, Vol. 15: Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, and the Last Words of David (Luther's Works

“You will be subject when you know that you never suffer undeserved punishment but deserve much greater punishment. The proud are smug in their opinion that they deserve only blessing. Like Job, they are not afraid, because they rely on their works (Job 9:28). Therefore they do not stand in the time of trial; but, as Matt, 7:24 ff. said about the house of the foolish man that was built on sand, they collapse in a great fall and become worse. Accordingly, this fear is a great part of the cross in the whole of life and in all our works; in fact, it is almost the whole of the cross.”
― Martin Luther, Luther's Works, Vol. 14: Selected Psalms III

“You must die if you would live under this King. You must bear the cross and the hatred of the whole world. You must not flee from ignominy, poverty, hunger, and thirst, in other words, all the evil that floods the earth.”
― Martin Luther, Luther's Works, Vol. 14: Selected Psalms III

“But he also arranges the words in this manner that we may learn for our consolation and exhortation that we never suffer injustice without God suffering it first and more than we and that God the Father’s solicitude for us is so great that He feels our suffering before we do and bears it with greater resentment than we ourselves. Therefore we should refrain from a feeling of revenge but should rather have compassion on those whom we see dashing themselves to their destruction against a majesty so great; for not only are they unable to do any harm, but they destroy themselves horribly.”
― Martin Luther, Luther's Works, Vol. 14: Selected Psalms III