Spurgeon's Morning and Evening Devotions
For the evening of March 16thby Charles H. Spurgeon
"Keep back Thy servant also from presumptuous sins."
--Psalm 19:13
Such was the prayer of the "man after God's own heart." Did
holy David need to pray thus? How needful, then, must such a
prayer be for us babes in grace! It is as if he said, "Keep me
back, or I shall rush headlong over the precipice of sin." Our
evil nature, like an ill-tempered horse, is apt to run away. May
the grace of God put the bridle upon it, and hold it in, that it
rush not into mischief. What might not the best of us do if it
were not for the checks which the Lord sets upon us both in
providence and in grace! The psalmist's prayer is directed
against the worst form of sin--that which is done with
deliberation and wilfulness. Even the holiest need to be "kept
back" from the vilest transgressions. It is a solemn thing to
find the apostle Paul warning saints against the most loathsome
sins. "Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth;
fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil
concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry." What! do
saints want warning against such sins as these? Yes, they do.
The whitest robes, unless their purity be preserved by divine
grace, will be defiled by the blackest spots. Experienced
Christian, boast not in your experience; you will trip yet if
you look away from Him who is able to keep you from falling. Ye
whose love is fervent, whose faith is constant, whose hopes are
bright, say not, "We shall never sin," but rather cry, "Lead us
not into temptation." There is enough tinder in the heart of the
best of men to light a fire that shall burn to the lowest hell,
unless God shall quench the sparks as they fall. Who would have
dreamed that righteous Lot could be found drunken, and
committing uncleanness? Hazael said, "Is Thy servant a dog, that
he should do this thing?" and we are very apt to use the same
self-righteous question. May infinite wisdom cure us of the
madness of self-confidence.
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