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Ps. 119:17-22

"...That I may live and keep Your word Open my eyes, that I may see wondrous things from Your law....Do not hide Your commandments from me....Remove from me reproach and contempt."

2 Thessalonians 1:11-12: "...we... pray always for you that our God would count you worthy of [His] calling and ffulfill all the good pleasure of His goodness and the work of faith with power, that the name of our LORD Jesus Christ may be glorified...."

Ps. 27:4: "One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple."

St. Augustine as quoted in Piper, Desiring God: "Thou madest us for Thyself,/ and our heart is restless,/ Until it rest in Thee" (291).

George Herbert, "The Pulley," as quoted in Piper, Desiring God:

When God at first made man,
Having a glass of blessings standing by,
Let us (said he) pour on him all we can:
Let the world's riches, which dispersed lie,
Contract into a span.

So strength first made a way;
Then beauty flowed, then wisdom, honour, pleasure:
When almost all was out, God made a stay,
Perceiving that alone of all his treasure,
Rest in the bottom lay.

For if I should (said he)
Bestow this jewel also on my creature,
He would adore my gifts instead of me,
And rest in Nature, not the God of Nature:
So both should losers be.

Yet let him keep the rest,
But keep them with repining restlessness;
Let him be rich and weary, that at least
If goodness lead him not, yet weariness
May toss him to my breast.

Piper, Desiring God: Compare "...boasting with self-pity. Both are manifestations of pride. Boasting is the response of pride to success. Self-pity is the response of pride to suffering. Boasting says, 'I deserve admiration because I have achieved so much.' Self-pity says, 'I deserve admiration because I have sacrificed so much.' Boasting is the voice of pride in the heart of the strong. Self-pity is the voice of pride in the heart of the weak. Boasting sounds self-sufficient. Self-pity sounds self-sacrificing. The reason self-pity does not look like pride is that it appears to be needy. But the need arises from a wounded ego, and the desire of the self-pitying is not really for others to see them as helpless, but as heroes. The need self-pity feels does not come from a sense of unworthiness, but from a sense of unrecognized owrthiness. It is the response of unapplauded pride" (302).