An Appeal to Children of Godly Parents

An Appeal to Children of Godly Parents

(No. 2406)

INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S DAY, MARCH 31, 1895.

DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON LORD'S-DAY EVENING, MARCH
27, 1887.

"My son, keep your father's commandment, and forsake not the law of
your mother: bind them continually upon your heart, and tie them about
your neck. When you go, it shall lead you; when you sleep, it shall
keep you; and when you awake, it shall talk with you. For the
commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of
instruction are the way of life." Proverbs 6:20-23.

You have here, before you, the advice of King Solomon, rightly reckoned
to be one of the wisest of men, and verily he must be wise, indeed, who
could excel in wisdom the son of David, the King of Israel. It is worth
while to listen to what Solomon has to say–it must be good for the
most intelligent young person to listen–and to listen carefully, to
what so experienced a man as Solomon has to say to young men. But I
must remind you that a greater than Solomon is here, for the Spirit of
God inspired the Proverbs! They are not merely jewels from earthly
mines, but they are also precious treasures from the heavenly hills, so
that the advice we have, here, is not only the counsel of a wise man,
but the advice of that Incarnate Wisdom who speaks to us out of the
Word of God! Would you become the sons of wisdom? Come and sit at the
feet of Solomon! Would you become spiritually wise? Come and hear what
the Spirit of God has to say by the mouth of this wise man!

In considering this subject, I am going, first of all, to show you that
true godliness, of which the wise man, here, speaks, comes to many of
us recommended by parental example–"My son, keep your father's
commandment, and forsake not the law of your mother: bind them
continually upon your heart, and tie them about your neck." But, in
addition to that, true religion comes to us commended by practical
uses, by its beneficial effect upon our lives–"When you go, it shall
lead you; when you sleep, it shall keep you; and when you awake, it
shall talk with you. For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is
light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life."

I. Now, in the first place, I want to show you that TRUE RELIGION COMES
TO MANY OF US RECOMMENDED BY PARENTAL EXAMPLE.

Unhappily, it is not so with all of you. There are some who had an evil
example in their childhood and who never learned anything that was good
from their parents. I adore the sovereignty of Divine Grace that there
are among us, tonight, many who are the first in their families that
ever made a profession of faith in Christ. They were born and brought
up in the midst of everything that was opposed to godliness, yet here
they are–they can, themselves, hardly tell you how–brought out from
the world as Abraham was brought from Ur of the Chaldees. The Lord in
His Grace has taken one of a city and two of a family, and brought them
to Zion. You, dear Friends, have special cause for thankfulness, but it
should be a note to be entered in your diary that your children shall
not be subjected to the same disadvantages as you, yourselves,
suffered. Since the Lord has looked in love upon you, let your
households be holiness to the Lord and so bring up your children that
they shall have every advantage that religious training can give–and
every opportunity to serve the living God.

But there are many among us, I believe the larger proportion of those
gathered here, who have had the immense privilege of godly training.
Now, to my mind, it seems that a father's experience is the best
evidence that a young man can have of the truth of anything. My father
would not say that which was false anywhere to anyone, but I am sure
that he would not say it to his son and if, after serving God for 50
years, he has found religion to be a failure, even if he had not the
courage to communicate it to the whole world, I feel persuaded that he
would have whispered in my ear, "My son, I have misled you. I was
mistaken and I have found it out." But when I saw the old man, the
other day, he had no such information to convey to me. Our conversation
was concerning the faithfulness of God and he delights to tell of the
faithfulness of God to him and to his father, my dear grandfather, who
has now gone up above. How often have they told me that, in a long
lifetime of testing and proving the promises, they have found them all
true and they could say, in the language of the hymn–

"'Tis religion that can give Sweetest pleasures while we live. 'Tis
religion must supply Solid comfort when we die."

As for myself, if I had found out that I was mistaken, I would not have
been so foolish as to rejoice that my sons should follow the same way
of life, and should addict themselves with all their might to preaching
the same Truths of God that I delight to proclaim! Dear son, if you
have a godly father, believe that the religion upon which he has fixed
his faith is true. He tells you that it is so–he is, at any rate, a
sincere and honest witness to you. I beseech you, therefore, forsake
not your father's God.

Then I think that one of the most tender bonds that can ever bind man
or woman is the affection of a mother. Many would, perhaps, break away
from the law of the father–but the love of the mother–who among us
can break away from that? So, next, a mother's affection is the best of
arguments. You remember how she prayed for you? Among your earliest
recollections is that of her taking you between her knees and teaching
you to say–

"Gentle Jesus, meek and mild, Look upon a little child."

Perhaps you have tried to disbelieve, but your mother's firm faith
prevents it. I have heard of one who said that he could easily have
been an infidel if it had not been for his mother's life and his
mother's death. Yes, these are hard arguments to get over and I trust
that you will not get over them! You remember well her quiet patience
in the house when there was much that might have ruffled her. You
remember her gentleness with you when you were going a little wild. You
hardly know, perhaps, how you cut her to the heart, how her nights were
sleepless because her boy did not love his mother's God. I charge you,
by the love you bear her, if you have received any impressions that are
good, cherish them, and cast them not aside! Or if you have received no
such impressions, yet at least let the sincerity of your mother, for
whom it was impossible to have been untrue–let the deep affection of
your mother, who could not, and would not, betray you into a
lie–persuade you that there is Truth in this religion which now,
perhaps, some of your companions are trying to teach you to deride. "My
son, keep your father's commandment, and forsake not the law of your
mother."

I think that to any young man, or any young woman, also, who has had a
godly father and mother, the best way of life that they can mark out
for themselves is to follow the road in which their father's and
mother's principles would conduct them. Of course, we make great
advances on the old folks, do we not? The young men are wonderfully
bright and intelligent, and the old people are a good deal behind them!
Yes, yes–that is the way we talk before our beards have grown.
Possibly, when we have more sense, we shall not be quite so conceited.
At any rate, I, who am not very old, but who dares not, any longer,
call myself young, venture to say that, for myself, I desire nothing so
much as to continue the traditions of my household. I wish to find no
course but that which shall run parallel with that of those who have
gone before me.

And I think, dear Friends, that you who have seen the holy and happy
lives of Christian ancestors will be wise to pause a good deal before
you begin to make a deviation, either to the right or to the left, from
the course of those godly ones. I do not believe that he begins life in
a way which God is likely to bless and which he, himself, will, in the
long run, judge to be wise, who begins with the notion that he shall
upset everything–that all that belonged to his godly family shall be
cast to the winds! I do not seek to have heirlooms of gold or silver
but, though I die a thousand deaths, I can never give up my father's
God, my grandfather's God, and his father's God, and his father's God!
I must hold this to be the chief possession that I have, and I pray
young men and women to think the same. Do not stain the glorious
traditions of noble lives that have been handed down to you! Do not
disgrace your father's shield! Bespatter not the escutcheons of your
honored predecessors by any sins and transgressions on your part! God
help you to feel that the best way of leading a noble life will be to
do as they did who trained you in God's fear!

Solomon tells us to do two things with the teachings which we have
learned of our parents. First he says, "Bind them continually upon your
heart," for they are worthy of loving adherence. Show that you love
these things by binding them upon your heart. The heart is the vital
point–let godliness lie there–love the things of God. If we could
take young men and women and make them professedly religious without
their truly loving godliness, that would be simply to make them
hypocrites, which is not what we desire. We do not want you to say that
you believe what you do not believe, or that you rejoice in what you do
not rejoice in. But our prayer–and oh, that it might be your prayer,
too!–is that you may be helped to bind these things about your heart.
They are worth living for! They are worth dying for! They are worth
more than all the world besides–the immortal principles of the Divine
Life which comes from the death of Christ! "Bind them continually upon
your heart."

And then Solomon, because he would not have us keep these things secret
as if we were ashamed of them, adds, "and tie them about your neck,"
for they are worthy of boldest display. Did you ever see my Lord Mayor
wearing his chain of office? He is not at all ashamed to wear it. And
the sheriffs with their badges–I have a lively recollection of the
enormous size to which those ornaments attain–and they take care to
wear them, too. Now then, you who have any love to God, tie your
religion about your neck! Do not be ashamed of it, put it on as an
ornament, wear it as the mayor does his chain! When you go into
company, never be ashamed to say that you are a Christian, and if there
is any company where you cannot go as a Christian, well, do not go
there at all. Say to yourself, "I will not be where I could not
introduce my Master. I will not go where He could not go with me." You
will find that resolve to be a great help to you in the choice of where
you will go and where you will not go–therefore bind it upon your
heart, tie it about your neck! God help you to do this and so to follow
those godly ones who have gone before you!

I hope that I am not weak in wishing that some here may be touched by
affection to their parents. I have had very sorrowful sights,
sometimes, in the course of my ministry. A dear father, an honest,
upright, godly man, is perhaps present, but he will not mind my saying
what lines of grief I saw upon his face when he came to say to me, "Oh,
Sir, my boy is in prison!" I am sure that if his boy could have seen
his father's face as I saw it, it would have been worse than prison to
him! I have known young men who have come to this Tabernacle with their
parents–nice boys, too, they were. And they have gone into employment
in the city where they have been tempted to steal–and they have
yielded to the tempter and have lost their character. Sometimes, the
deficiency has been met and they have been rescued from a criminal's
career, but, alas, sometimes they have fallen into the hands of a
wicked woman and then woe betide them!

Occasionally, it has seemed to be sheer wantonness and wickedness that
has made them act unrighteously. I wish I could fetch those young
men–I do not suppose that they are here, tonight–and let them see not
merely the misery they will bring upon themselves, but show them their
mother at home when news came that John had lost his job because he had
been acting dishonestly, or give them a glimpse of their father's face
when the evil tidings reached him. The poor man stood aghast! He said,
"There was never a stain upon the character of any of my family,
before." If the earth had opened under the godly man's feet, or if the
good mother could have gone down straight into the grave, they would
have preferred it to the lifelong tribulation which has come upon them!

Therefore, I charge you, young man, or young woman, do not kill the
parents who gave you life! Do not disgrace those who brought you up.
But I pray you, instead thereof, seek the God of your father, and the
God of your mother, and give yourselves to the Lord Jesus Christ, and
live wholly to Him.

II. Now I must turn to my second point, which is that TRUE RELIGION
COMES TO US COMMENDED BY

PRACTICAL USES. This is a less sentimental argument than the one I have
been pleading, but, to many, vital godliness appeals because of its
immense utility in the actual everyday life of men.

Solomon tells us, first, that true godliness serves us for
instruction–"For the commandment is a lamp." If you would know all
that you ought to know, read this Book. If you would know in your heart
that which shall be for you present and eternal good, love this Book,
believe the Truths of God it teaches and obey it, "for the commandment
is a lamp."

Next, true religion serves us for direction–"and the law is light." If
we want to know what we should do, we cannot do better than yield
ourselves up to the guidance of the Divine Spirit and take this Word as
our map, for–

"'Tis like the sun, a heavenly light, That guides us all the day And
through the dangers of the night, A lamp to lead our way."

Solomon also tells us that true religion guides us under all
circumstances. He says, in the 22nd verse, that when we are active,
there is nothing like true godliness to help us–"When you go, it shall
lead you." He tells us that when we are resting, there is nothing
better than this for our preservation–"When you sleep, it shall keep
you." And when we are just waking, there is nothing better than this
with which to delight the mind–"When you awake, it shall talk with
you." I do not intend to expand those three thoughts except to say
this–when you are busiest, you religion shall be your best help. When
your hands are full of toil and your head is full of thought, nothing
can do you more service than to have a God to go to, a Savior to trust
in, a Heaven to look forward to! And when you go to your bed to sleep,
or to be sick, you can have nothing better to smooth your pillow and to
give you rest than to know that you are forgiven through the precious
blood of Christ, and saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation.
Often, before I fall asleep, I say to myself those words of Watts–

"Sprinkled afresh with pardoning blood, I lay me down to rest, As in
the embraces of my God, Or on my Sa vior's breast" and there is no more
delicious sleep in the world than that sleep which, even in dreams,
keeps near to Christ! Some of us know what it is, even in those
wanderings of our mind in sleep, not to quit the holy ground of
communion with our Lord. It is not always so, but it is sometimes so,
and even then, when the mind has lost power to control its thoughts,
even the thoughts seem to dance, like Miriam, to the praise of God! Oh,
happy men, whose religion is their protection even in their sleep!

And then Solomon says, "when you awake, it shall talk with you." This
Bible is a wonderful talking book–there is a great mass of blessed
talk in this precious volume! It has told me a great many of my faults.
It would tell you yours if you would let it. It has told me much to
comfort me and it has much to tell you if you will but incline your
ears to it. It is a book that is wonderfully communicative. It knows
all about you, all the ins and outs of where you are, and where you
ought to be. It can tell you everything. The best communion that a man
can have is when he commences with God in prayer and the reading of the
Word–"When you awake, it shall talk with you."

I have hurried over that point because I want to say something else to
you. Dear Friends, those of you who are unconverted, our great anxiety
is that you should know the Lord at once. And our reason is this–that
it will prepare you for the world to come. Whatever that world may be,
full of vast mysteries, yet no man is so prepared to launch upon the
unknown sea as the one who is reconciled to God–who believes in the
Lord Jesus Christ, who trusts Him and rejoices in the pardon of his sin
through the great Atoning Sacrifice–and experiences in his own heart
the marvelous change which has made him a new creature in Christ Jesus!
The great reason, I say again, why we wish to have our dear friends
converted is that they may be ready for the world to come. You will
soon die, all of you. I think it was last Sunday evening that there
sat, in that pew just over there, a friend who was generally here in
the morning and evening, but on Wednesday he died quite suddenly. He
appeared to be in good health, but he died at the railway station, away
from home. That seat where he used to sit ought to have a warning voice
to all of us, crying aloud, "Prepare to meet your God!" It might have
been me–it might have been any of these friends around me on the
platform–it might have been any of you in the congregation. Who can
tell who will go this week? Probably some one or other of us (our
number is so large) will be taken away before another Sabbath bell
shall be heard!

I think that is a very good reason for seeking the Lord, that you may
be prepared for eternity. One day this week I saw an aged friend who
cannot live much longer. She is 86 and her faculties are failing her,
but she said to me, "I have no fear, I have no fear of death. I am on
the Rock, I am on the Rock, Christ Jesus. I know whom I have believed
and I know where I am going." It was delightful to hear the aged saint
speak like that. And we are always hearing such talk from our dear
friends when they are going Home–they never seem to have any doubts. I
have known some who, while they were well, had many doubts, but when
they came to die, they seemed to have none at all, but were joyously
confident in Christ.

But there is another reason why we want our friends converted and that
is that they may be prepared for this life. I do not know what kind of
life you have set before yourself. Perhaps I may be addressing some
young men who are going to the University and they hope to have lives
consecrated to learning and crowned with honor. Possibly, some here
have no prospect but that of working hard to earn their bread with the
sweat of their brow. Some have begun to lay bricks, or to drive the
plane, or to wield the pen. There are all sorts of ways of mortal life,
but there is no better provision and preparation for any kind of life
on earth than to know the Lord and to have a new heart and a right
spirit! He that rules millions of men will do it better with the Grace
of God in his heart. And he that had to be a slave would be the happier
in his lot for having the Grace of God in his heart. You that are old
and you that are young, you that are masters and you that are
servants–true religion cannot disqualify you for playing your part
here in the great drama of life–but the best preparation for that
part, if it is a part that ought to be played, is to know the Lord and
feel the power of Divine Grace upon your soul!

Let me just show you how this is the case. The man who lives before
God, who calls God his Father and feels the Spirit of God working
within him a hatred of sin and a love of righteousness, he is the man
who will be conscientious in the discharge of his duties and, you know,
that is the kind of man, and the kind of woman, too, that we need
nowadays. We have so many people who need looking after–if you give
them anything to do, they will do it quickly enough if you stand and
look on–but the moment you turn your back, they will do it as
slovenly, or as slowly and as badly as can be. They are eye-servants
only. If you were to advertise for an eye-servant, I do not suppose
anybody would come to you, yet they might come in shoals, for there are
plenty of them about! Well now, a truly Christian, a man who is really
converted, sees that he serves God in doing his duty to his fellow men.
"You, God, see me," is the power that always influences him, and he
desires to be conscientious in the discharge of his duties whatever
those duties may be.

I once told you the story of the servant girl who said that she hoped
she was converted. Her minister asked her this question, "What evidence
can you give of your conversion?" She gave this among a great many
other proofs, but it was not a bad one. She said, "Now, Sir, I always
sweep under the mats." It was a small matter, but if you carry out in
daily life that principle of sweeping under the mats, that is the kind
of thing we need. Many people have a little corner where they stow away
all the fluff and the dust–and the room looks as if it was nicely
swept, but it is not. There is a way of doing everything so that
nothing is really done, but that is not the case where there is Grace
in the heart. Grace in the heart makes a man feel that he would wish to
live wholly to God–and serve God in serving man. If you get that
Grace, you will have a grand preparation for life as well as for death!

The next thing is that a man who has a new heart has imparted to him a
purity which preserves him in the midst of temptation. Oh, this
dreadful city of London! I wonder why God endures the filth of it? I
frequently converse with good young men who come up from the country to
their first job in London. And the first week they live in London is a
revelation to them which makes their hair almost stand on end! They see
what they never dreamed of. Well now, you young fellows who have just
come to London–perhaps this is your first Sunday–give yourselves to
the Lord at once, I pray you! Yield yourselves to Jesus Christ,
tonight, for another week in London may be your damnation! Only a week
in London may have led you into acts of impurity that shall ruin you
forever! Before you have gone into those things, devote yourselves to
God and to His Christ, so that with pure hearts and with right spirits
you may be preserved from "the pestilence that walks in darkness, and
the destruction that wastes at noonday," in this terribly wicked city.

There is no hope for you young men and young women in this great world
of wickedness unless your hearts are right towards God. If you go in
thoroughly to follow the Lamb wherever He goes, He will keep and
preserve you even to the end. But if you do not give yourselves to the
Lord, whatever good resolutions you may have formed, you are doomed–I
am sure you are–to be carried away with the torrents of iniquity that
run down our streets today! Purity of heart, then, which comes from
faith in Christ is a splendid preparation for life!

So also is truthfulness of speech. Oh, what a wretched thing it is when
people tell lies! Now, the heart that is purified by the Grace of God
hates the thought of a lie. The man speaks the truth, the whole truth
and nothing but the truth– and he is the man who shall pass through
life unscathed–and shall be honored and, in the long run, successful.
He may have to suffer for a time through his truthfulness, but, in the
end, nothing shall clear a way for him so well as being true in thought
and word and deed. If you love the Lord with all your heart, you will
also learn honesty in dealing–and that is a grand help in life. I know
that the trickster does, sometimes, seem to succeed for a time, but
what is his success? It is a success which is only another name for
ruin. Oh, dear Sirs, if all men could be made honest, how much more of
happiness there would be in the world! And the way to be upright among
men is to be sincere towards God–and to have the Spirit of God
dwelling within you.

Again, true religion is of this value, that it comforts a man under
great troubles. You do not expect many troubles, my young Friend, but
you will have them! You expect that you will be married and then your
troubles will be over–but some say that then they begin! I do not
endorse that statement, but I am sure that they are not over, for there
is another set of trials that then begin. But you are going to get out
of your apprenticeship and then it will be all right–will it?

Journeymen do not always find it so. But you do not mean, always, to be
a journeyman–you are going to be a little master. Ask the masters
whether everything is pleasant with them in these times. If you want to
escape trouble altogether, you had better go up in a balloon–but then
I am sure that you would be in trouble for fear of going up too high or
coming down too fast! But troubles will come and what is there that can
preserve a man in the midst of trouble like feeling that things are
safe in his Father's hands? If you can say, "I am His child and all
things are working together for my good. I have committed myself
entirely into the hands of Him who cannot err and will never do me an
unkindness," why, Sir, you have on a breastplate which the darts of
care cannot pierce! You are shod with the preparation of the Gospel of
peace and you may tread on the briars of the wilderness with unwounded
feet.

True religion will also build up in you firmness of character, and that
is another quality that I want to see in our young people, nowadays. We
have some splendid men in this place, and some splendid women, too. I
should not be afraid, if the devil, himself, were to preach here, that
he would pervert them from the faith. And if all the new heresies that
can rise were to be proclaimed in their presence, they know too well
what the Truth of God is ever to be led astray. But, on the other hand,
we have a number of people who are led by their ears. If I pull their
ears one way, they come after me. If they happen to go somewhere else
and somebody pulls their ears the other way, they go after him. There
are lots of people who never do their own thinking, but put it out, as
they put out their washing–they do not think of doing it at home!

Well now, these people are just like the chaff on the threshing floor,
and when the wind begins to blow, away they go! Do not be like that!
Dear young sons and daughters of the Church members, here, know the
Lord! May He reveal Himself to you at once and when you do know Him,
and get a grip of the Gospel, bind it to your heart and tie it about
your neck, and say, "Yes, I am going to follow in the footsteps of
those I love, and especially in the footsteps of the Lord Jesus
Christ"–

"'Through floods and flames, if Jesus leads, I'll follow where He
goes.'"

God help you to do it! But first believe in the Lord Jesus
Christ–trust yourselves wholly to Him–and He will give you Grace to
stand fast even to the end!

EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: PSALM119:1-16.

The first eight verses of this Psalm, in the Hebrew, begin with the
letter A, and the second eight begin with the letter B. The whole Psalm
is the good man's alphabet. The Holy Spirit condescended to use these
expedients to help the memory of the readers of Holy Scripture. We
should be thankful for this. I have sometimes heard preachers blamed
for dividing their discourses in such a way as to help the memory of
their hearers. The preacher may well bear that blame without any
regret, since the Spirit of God, here, condescends to alliteration and
to alphabetical arrangement in order to help the memories of readers.
Thus the Psalm begins

Verse 1. Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the Law of
the LORD. If there are any people in the world who are blessed, surely
it must be those who are in God's way and who take care to keep their
garments unspotted from the world. Oh, if one can feel, at the end of
every day, "I am undefiled in God's way, and I have walked in His Law,"
how sweet it is in such a case to fall asleep, not self-righteous and
boastful, but yet thankful to have been kept from the iniquity that
abounds in the world! Truly, "blessed are the undefiled in the way."
Perhaps some of you cannot claim this particular blessing–then
remember that there is another Psalm (the 32nd ) which begins, "Blessed
is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered," and that
blessing is of the same force and of the same sweetness as this one.

2, 3. Blessed are they that keep His testimonies, and that seek Him
with the whole heart. They also do no iniquity: they walk in His ways.
And if we walk in God's ways, He will never require us to do anything
which is inequitable or unrighteous. No, that life which is made up of
walking in God's ways will be full of equity and free from iniquity.

4. You have commanded us to keep Your precepts diligently. We are to be
as industrious in holiness as grasping men are in business. "You have
commanded us to keep Your precepts diligently," watchfully, carefully,
industriously–with all our might.

5. O that my ways were directed to keep Your statutes! The Psalmist is
driven to prayer. His admiration of the godly man makes him aspire to
be like he and then he feels that he cannot attain to that height
without Divine help. So he cries, "O that my ways were directed to keep
Your statutes!"

6. Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all Your
Commandments. That is a wide expression, "respect unto all Your
Commandments." There are many men who are willing to keep a part of
God's Commandments, but they must pick and choose for themselves which
these shall be. Such are total traitors–there lurks in their heart a
distinct rebellion against the Lord, for they really presume to be the
judge of God–by taking exception to this or that command in His Law.
In their great condescension, they are willing to be obedient in
certain points, but not in all. Such men have need to be ashamed! But
the Psalmist could say, "Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have
respect unto all Your Commandments."

7. I will praise You with uprightness of heart, when I shall have
learned Your righteous judgments. "I will not praise myself. If I am
enabled to be holy, that holiness is Your work, and I will praise You
for it."

8. I will keep Your statutes: O forsake me not utterly. Whenever you
make a resolve, accompany it with a prayer. Let this be your
declaration, "I will keep Your statutes." But pray, "O forsake me not
utterly," for, otherwise, your resolution will come to nothing. Now
begins the second octave of the Psalm

9. How shall a young man cleanse his way? The Psalmist has spoken about
the holy way. Now he would speak about young men running in it. One of
the most intense desires of every godly man is that there may be a
succession of godly men. Oh, that our young men might be good men, so
that when the old men pass away, the generation following them may be
as good as their fathers. No, more–that they may be far better! "How
shall a young man cleanse his way?" Within him are strong passions.
Around him are fierce temptations–how shall he cleanse his way? There
are plenty who would defile him! The youth is compassed about with the
temptations of gaiety and the allurements of folly–"How shall a young
man cleanse his way?" Here is the answer

9. By taking heed, thereto, according to Your Word. There is no keeping
a clean way if you walk with your eyes shut! You must pick your path in
such a foul road as this–"By taking heed, thereto, according to Your
Word." Yes, the greatest heed we can take will not keep us out of the
mire unless God's Word is a continual lamp unto our feet and a constant
light unto our path. Oh, that every young man here might cleanse his
way by taking heed, thereto, according to God's Word!

10. With my whole heart have I sought You. Can you, each one, say,
"With my whole heart have I sought You"?

10. O let me not wander from Your Commandments. "For though I have
sought You with my whole heart, yet my heart may in the future go
astray. Do not permit it, Lord–do not permit it!" It is a very
sorrowful thought to me that there are many who once sat in these seats
and resolved to maintain a holy life, who, nevertheless, are, at this
moment, in the seat of the scornful–some perhaps in prison, and many
of them where they ought not to be. They determined to be right, but,
destitute of Divine Grace, they have gone astray. Therefore, let each
of us pray, "O let me not wander from Your Commandments." You know what
John Bradford used to say when he saw a man taken out to be
hanged–"There goes John Bradford, but for the Grace of God." And when
you see others wander, you may say the same about yourself, and then
breathe the prayer, "O let me not wander from Your Commandments."

11. Your Word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against You.
An old preacher, in a sermon on this text, divided it thus–"The best
thing–'Your Word.' In the best place–'have I hid in my heart.' For
the best of purposes– 'that I might not sin against You.'" He thus
gave, in a few words, the very gist of the text.

12. Blessed are You, O LORD: teach me Your statutes. There is a
mixture, you see, of prayer and praise. That is the best devotion,
which contains a happy combination of these two things, prayer and
praise!

13. With my lips have I declared all the judgments of Your mouth. I
must take leave to claim a special property in this text and there are
some among us, here, following that same holy craft of preaching the
Divine Word, who can, each one, lay his hand upon his heart and say to
God, "With my lips have I declared all the judgments of Your mouth."
This is a happy occupation. If you cannot spend all your lives in it,
because of other duties, yet, at least in your own family, and as often
as you have opportunities, use your lips in God's service!

14. I have rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies, as much as in all
riches. Not only as much as in riches, but as in all riches. David had
gathered together a vast sum of money for the building of the House of
the Lord, but whatever joy he had in those accumulations (and I daresay
he had great gladness when he thought of the purpose to which all would
be used) yet, nevertheless, he says, "I have rejoiced in the way of
Your testimonies, as much as in all riches."

15. I will meditate in Your precepts, and have respect unto Your ways.
Blessed meditation! The lack of meditation is one of the faults of the
days in which we live–we are so very busy that we have not time to
study God's Word–but the Psalmist said, "I will meditate in Your
precepts." That is the secret strength–"and have respect unto Your
ways"– that is the public result. If we meditated more, we would live
better. God help us so to do!

16. I will delight myself in Your statutes: I will not forget Your
Word. So may each one of us resolve. Amen.