My Hourly Prayer

DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 26, 1882,

BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

"Hold You me up, and I shall be safe: and I will have respect unto Your
statutes continually." Psalm 119:117.

"HOLD You me up." This is no novelty as a prayer. We have met with it
many a time. Another form of it lies hard by. Look at the verse
immediately before the text and see it, there, in another shape.
"Uphold me." I know of no difference in the two prayers, "Uphold me"
and, "Hold me up." They are two notes from the same bell and they teach
us that the Psalmist's mind was full of the petition, for he was
conscious of his need of this upholding–this holding up. We use not
vain repetitions as the heathen do and, therefore, when we have to
express the same idea, it is natural to the living child of God to
couch it in as fresh words as he can–and though it is the same note,
yet he changes it, somewhat, and first cries, "Uphold me"–and then,
"Hold me up."

Of course I am now preaching only from the English text when I note
these changes of expression, and I am rather giving illustrations than
teaching by authority. Yet this is of authority–that we have need,
continually, to cry for upholding Grace. You notice that in the first
prayer, "Uphold me," it is for very life that he entreats for this
upholding. "Uphold me according unto Your Word, that I may live: and
let me not be ashamed of my hope." He feels that unless fresh Grace
shall flow into his soul, his spiritual life must utterly fail. Do not
forget this–let it give weight to your pleading. But in the second of
the two verses–the one which makes our text–he looks for more than
life as the result of upholding. He looks for safety, a life of
unsullied holiness and consequent restfulness and security. "Hold You
me up, and I shall be safe, and I will have respect unto Your statutes
continually."

Both verses show you the importance of the prayer and both together,
will, I hope, enlist your earnest attention to what I may have to say
upon it. It is a very sweet remark that every prayer is an inverted
promise. That is to say, God promises us such a blessing and,
therefore, we pray for it. Or, if you please, if God teaches us to pray
for any good thing, we may gather, by implication, the assurance that
He means to give it! If you feel in your heart a God-inspired desire to
ask a certain favor, it is because God intends to bestow it upon you! A
prayer is the shadow of a coming blessing. Therefore we pray because
the blessing is coming!

It is said that prayer cannot alter the purpose of God. Of course it
cannot! It does not alter it, but indicates it, and since people are
moved to pray this way or that way by the Spirit of God, it is because
the Spirit knows the mind of God and His movement to pray is a
Revelation of the mind of God to the praying one! Believing
supplication is God writing His desires upon the hearts of His own
children with the intent to fulfill them. Is it not written, Delight
yourself, also, in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your
heart? It is not that God will give the desires of His heart to every
man. No–but to that man whose heart is in such sympathy with God that
he delights in God and, consequently, desires what God desires! Then,
when our heart runs side by side with the mind of God, our prayer is
parallel with His purpose and, consequently, it is done unto us
according to our desire.

Now, I conceive that it is always according to God's mind to hold His
servants up. He delights not in their slips or falls–to suppose such a
thing were blasphemous! "The steps of a good man are ordered of the
Lord." God is pleased with the steadfastness of His chosen. He smiles
upon the firmness of their standing. God would not have one of His
people even dash his foot against a stone and, therefore, He sets the
angels to guard them. If they do trip in their walk, He is quick to
restore them, for He cannot endure that they should lie in the mire.
His joy is that we walk with Him in constant holiness and He is ready
to grant us this gift.

This prayer shows in David a great sense of the need of being upheld–a
strong conviction that God could uphold Him–and an expectation and
hope that He would surely do so in answer to his prayer. May we
appropriate this prayer with somewhat of David's feeling–deeply
conscious of utter helplessness, fully believing that the Omnipotent
Grace of God can meet that helplessness–and confident that He will
hear our cry and answer us and uphold us to the end. Let us

believe that our heavenly Father will keep us from falling, but let us
be well assured that apart from His keeping, our soul will fall–and
great will be the fall!

First, I shall speak of God's holding us up and then of the two
blessings that come out of it, namely, safety and watchfulness. "I
shall be safe," and, "I shall have respect unto Your statutes
continually."

I. First, then, UPHOLDING–God's holding us up. It implies a danger and
that danger takes many forms. The true description of a believing man's
life is that he walks in his uprightness. The figure is not hard to
understand. "God made man upright, though he has sought out many
inventions." The very form and figure of man's body teach us that we
are not made to go on "all fours," gazing at the earth from where we
sprang, but erect upon our feet, looking upward to the Heaven towards
which we tend by God's rich Grace.

You know what is meant by an upright man, a man who does not lean this
way or that, and who is not biased or inclined to that which is wrong.
The upright column is the only one which can stand alone and he who is
upright is independent, taking his stand, maintaining his place without
a buttress to keep him in it. A very pillar of the earth is such a man.
He may say, like David, "The earth is dissolved: I bear up the pillars
thereof." So have I seen amid vast masses of surrounding ruin a goodly
pillar lift its capital aloft as if it laughed at destruction. There is
something bright and cheering about the thought of the Believer being
an upright man–but the danger is that he may not continue upright.

Columns, slowly undermined, lean to this side or that, and their fall
is near. Unseen earthworms sink the hidden bases of pillars and cast
them down. And secret vices have thus brought down many a noble
character. A Christian man is a pilgrim and he makes progress in his
march to Glory so long as he walks uprightly. But will he keep his
uprightness? No! He is certain not to keep upright unless he is upheld,
for the way is slippery. Ah, how slippery do some find it! It is as a
hill of ice and at some points it is more treacherous than usual. Those
who have ever gone over the Grimsel Pass will remember that on one side
of it, in descending, there is a place they call, "Hell Place," because
the road is narrow and shelving–and the precipice on that side is
exceedingly deep–while the path is singularly smooth.

Rain water drips and sometimes flows considerably over the red rock and
keeps it polished as the floor of a royal sa-lon–and though they chip
out grips across the road that there may be a foothold, yet most
travelers find it best to leave their mules and tread with timid
footsteps over the slippery way. I have a lively recollection of that
marble floor! I think they called it porphyry, but it had no charms for
me. Most of us have had a, "Hell Place" in our journey to Heaven. You
remember Joseph's slippery way and how God upheld him, otherwise he had
fallen, never to rise. David had the same and his fall was grievous. I
say that there is scarcely a man who has not had some glassy bit of
road where, at the best, his feet had almost gone; his steps had
well-nigh slipped and he had been down on his face if almighty Grace
had not interposed.

Nor is the best part of the road without its dangers. Believe me, no
foot of the way is safe to the careless. I have noticed that more men
sin without temptation than with it and that the heaviest falls occur
upon perfectly level road where there does not seem to be a stone to
catch the foot. Oh, take heed! Take heed! For there is not one point in
the journey– from the setting out at the wicket gate even till you
reach the river's brink–which has not dangers in it! The prayer is
always in season, "Hold You me up!" But that is not all. It is our feet
that made the danger, as well as the way. A strong, well-footed man can
traverse the precipitous mountain side and never think of a slip. Have
you not seen the mountaineer go tripping up the rocks, with a heavy
load upon him, as firmly-footed as if he had been climbing the steps of
the Royal Exchange?

Have you not seen him come leaping down, again, with his alpenstock,
where you could not have trod for a minute? It seemed as if scarcely a
rabbit or a chamois could have found a pathway, and yet the strong,
sure-footed man has almost danced down beneath his burden. How often
have I envied the Alpine peasant those legs and feet! It is much the
same in spiritual things. Strong men stand on their high places and
leap from crag to crag–but as for us, we are not strong or
sure-footed. Alas! We have feeble knees and hands that hang down! And
often we are as weak as water. We are children whose tottering
footsteps are not as yet familiar with running or climbing. It is as
much as we can do to stand when leaning on the Beloved–but to stand
upright upon a rough road has not yet come to such feebleness as ours!

I speak not of you all, but of far too many. The most of us are poor
puny things. Ah, if you know yourself, you will not think that you can
stand. It will rather be a wonder to you that you have not already
fallen! And when you see others slip, your heart will be in your mouth,
for you will say, "I am next–I next, unless the Grace of God
prevents." So, what with the way and our feet, we have need to pray,
"Hold You me up!" But that is not all, for there are cunning foes that
seek to trip us up. They lay snares for us–they dig pits and cast
their nets across the way. Perhaps some of you are hap-

pily free from tempters in your own households and possibly some are
free from distinct temptation from the world. I congratulate you! But
very few of us are in that condition.

Our foes compass us about like bees. Some threaten; others flatter. A
few would bribe us; more would bully us. The bad would deceive, for
they put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. And the best of men, if
you follow them too closely, may mislead you. Trust not in any
brother–neither lay hands upon any human guide. There is One that can
conduct you safely, but if you do not follow Him, you will soon slip
with your feet. Many watch for our slipping and if they could find us
tripping they would report it with glee to all the sons of Belial!
Therefore have we good need to say, "Hold You me up." Specially is
there such need to those of you who work in shops where ungodliness is
in the ascendant so that religion is held in ridicule. Great need is
there in the cases of children of ungodly parents with a father who
will, if he can find you doing a little amiss, make a great deal of it.
Equal necessity is there to you young men who meet with conceited ones
who talk philosophy and rail at our old-fashioned faith. You should
pray, "Lord, hold You me up, and I shall be safe."

Nor is this all, though it is quite enough, for sometimes, dear
Friends, the difficulty of keeping our balance is not caused by the
way, itself, but by the height to which God may elevate us. There are
Brothers whose position is high whose brain might, long ago, have
reeled had not infinite Mercy held them up. I know those who have not a
tenth of their popularity or a hundredth part of their influence who,
nevertheless, give themselves mighty airs. These lofty-minded gentlemen
are in the greatest danger! Let me speak of these grandees–with all
due reverence let me take them at their own value for once–though I
should be sorry to be forced to complete the purchase.

My dear Friend, when you are getting on in the world and prospering,
something whispers, "You are a clever fellow." And when you have won
respect by your talent, then, again, a voice sweetly sings, "You are a
highly superior person." At such times you are in serious peril! It
happens to most of us, at times, to have done so well as to have won
the approbation of our little circle. And then the temptation is quite
great enough–though it comes not from thousands, or even from
hundreds, but from half-dozens–for us to feel that we are somebody,
too. Then the brain grows dizzy and the danger is great! Anything which
leads to self-esteem leads to the utmost jeopardy. If you have a lowly
opinion of yourself, I congratulate you–for this is a main element of
safety.

The prayer is all the more necessary for one other reason, namely, that
the most of people do not keep upright. Go forth into the world
tomorrow and see how men are acting! Borrow the lantern of Diogenes and
try, if you can, to find an honest man! You will succeed, but when you
have done so, take security for his keeping so. On the exchange, in the
market, almost everywhere–the bulk of men are not upright–they are
down on all fours. There is a great gold scramble and they are
clutching at it with all their might! Get money! Get money! Is not that
the world's own favorite teaching–get it honestly if you can–but, if
you cannot, get it in that way, get it how you can! Puff! Lie! Cheat!
Do anything, only make a fortune! He is the most clever fellow who can
grab the most gold!

That is the picture of the business world–a nursery floor of grown-up
children scrambling on all fours. But you say they do not lie. No,
no–only white lies. No, they do not cheat–it is only, "the custom of
the trade," you know. "Now, do not talk," they say to me, "what do you
know about it?" More than you think, perhaps, for lookers-on see more
than players. "But, Sir, business is business." I know it is, and
business has no business to be such business as it often is! Woe to the
man whose business will destroy his soul! Woe, double woe, to the man
whose business destroys the bodies and souls of drunks! Woe three times
over to the wretch who fattens on the iniquities of his fellow men and
gets rich by their damnation–and yet pretends to religion!

But I am wandering–it is because so many people lean this way, or that
way, or go altogether on all fours, that it is not the easiest thing in
this world for a man to stand upright. He ought to say, "If the world's
fate hung on a lie and I, by speaking the lie, could save it, I would
speak the truth." If our life depended upon doing what God would not
approve, we ought rather to die than sin! Such should be the resolve of
the Believer and he should ask for Grace to carry it out. Lord, hold
You me up: keep me upright. Whatever happens, do not let me be any
other than an upright, downright, perpendicular man, knowing the right
thing, speaking the right thing, doing the right thing, by Your Grace,
even to the end.

But you see the danger–the text suggests it to me. To my ear there is
a sharp sound in it. It is almost a cry of sudden alarm. It is as if
one felt himself falling and cried aloud, "Hold me up!" The deep
descent yawns before him; the earth glides from under him; he cannot
regain his footing and piteously he implores, "Hold You me up." It has
come to this– there is an end of the man unless a Power beyond his own
shall uphold him. O Lord, see You to it! Now, how does God

keep His people upright? He has many ways of doing it and, therefore,
you may pray very hopefully. He can preserve you by angels–"They shall
bear you up in their hands, lest at any time you dash your foot against
a stone."

How many stones you and I might have dashed our feet against if it had
not been that we have received mysterious intimations which have put us
on our guard. Often and often have I been inwardly admonished and so
preserved from evil. We never knew where it came from, but perhaps the
Lord sent the singular intimation by an angel whose noiseless wings
came and went, and we knew not of the messenger, though we felt the
message. God works mightily this way with many who are obedient to His
will. At other times God holds up His people by the ministry of the
Word of God. I have often been told that when you have come in here, I,
not knowing anything of your case, have, nevertheless, spoken to it
exactly–and you have had the admonition, or the encouragement and
direction which you needed at this point and that.

To many of you my voice has been as the Oracle of God and that in the
verse of a hymn, or in the chapter chosen, or in a pointed remark in
the sermon. Is it not so? Could not many of you bear testimony to it?
God's Word, wherever it is faithfully spoken, is a wall of fire round
about God's people. It protects them from lurking foes of whose
existence they were not aware. A gracious promise supplies them with
just that stimulus which they need in the hour of fainting or a stern
rebuke acts as the restraint which they require in the moment of
temptation.

And have you not found it so, too, by the reading of the Word in your
own homes? The promise or the precept has come in exactly to fit your
case and you have heard from the Scriptures a voice that said, "This is
the way: walk you in it." And you have also been gently made willing to
walk in it and so you have been kept in your integrity. Were professors
more familiar with their Bibles, they would be less in danger from the
common evils of the times. Oh that the Holy Spirit may give us all a
deeper love for the Word of God so that we may be upheld that no
iniquity may have dominion over us!

Often God keeps His people upright, and holds them firmly, by
chastisement. When roughly smitten you feel as though you were a child
falling over a precipice, half dazed by terror. And then your father
has taken hold of you and, by severely shaking you, has awakened you
and saved you. I have seen a driver give a horse a flip because he was
getting sleepy and had stumbled–that cut woke up the creature and he
went with a sure foot afterwards. The Lord has often saved us from a
sad fall by a sharp chastisement. "Before I was afflicted I went
astray, but now have I kept Your Word." At times, the chastisement has
been rather of the spirit than of anything outward. All things have
gone well externally, but you have been depressed and despondent–and
that drooping has been ordained by God that you might endure your
prosperity and truly prosper in it. Lest your high places of success
should cause you to slip, you have been kept low in spirit that you
might be kept up in holy living to God's Glory! You have been laid down
that you might not fall down!

God sometimes humbles His people that they may not need to be humbled,
for to be humbled is terrible, but to be made humble by His Grace is
exceedingly sweet. It is clear that our gracious Lord can hold us up by
many methods. We are very far from having hinted at a tenth of them. I
have known Him preserve His people by giving them great aspirations,
high ideals, noble desires. With his eyes on the stars, the sailor boy
is steady at the masthead. I have known Him hold up His servants by
giving them plenty to do–by putting them into the Sunday school and
interesting them with the children or drafting them into the Loan Tract
Society and keeping them there. It is a grand way of keeping us
right–never to let us have an idle 10 minutes, nor a spare napkin to
wrap a talent in.

The supreme Power which upholds us is the Holy Spirit, who, dwelling in
us, warns us against evil; sets us on our watchtower against
temptation; incites us to all manner of good things and so helps us to
stand in the evil day. How much we owe to the love of the Spirit! He
keeps the feet of the saints. When they are tried, He quickens them,
and by gaining more life they surmount temptation! When they are likely
to be deceived, He enlightens them, and so the Evil One touches them
not. By sanctification, by helping our infirmities, by teaching us the
Divine will and by His Divine comfort, He holds us up–and to Him be
Glory forevermore!

Thus have I shown you the danger and how it can be prevented. Oh, how
sweetly can the Lord prevent it, and how He has prevented it in many of
His dear people! In order to prove this, I could point you to
biographies of godly men. Perhaps that might be better than giving you
even a hint about those who are yet alive, though there are many such,
and such among ourselves. As to the departed ones upon whom my mind is
now resting, their Lord did not allow them to slip at any time, but
their garments were always white. They had many dangers and perils, but
they walked uprightly all their

days. So far from their having slipped, there seemed to be nothing in
them but what we could hold up for admiration, giving to God's Grace
all the praise!

Blessed are those men of faith who are never allowed to fall, in whom
you see no groveling, whose noble lives are free from selfishness and
far above the aims of carnal men! In them was no bending, no stooping
from uprightness, but a rising, a growing elevation, till even here,
among the sons of men, they had a dignity and presence as of another
world. Thus have I set before you the upholding.

II. Briefly, I desire to show the TWO BLESSED THINGS THAT COME OUT OF
THIS HOLDING UP. If God uphold us, then, according to the text, we
shall be safe. "Hold You me up, and I shall be safe." It is a great
point to be safe, though there are some who prefer to be sharp. Some
men are always trying little dodges by which they would take advantage
of their neighbors. "A sharp fellow, that," cries one. "A desperately
clever man," says another. "Hardly know where to find him," hints a
third. "Rather sharper than honest," mutters a fourth. Just so.

Now, if God holds you up, I do not say that you will be clever, but you
will be what is a deal better–you will be safe. "Hold You me up, and I
shall be safe." That is, you will be safe from all real harm. Suppose
that you should meet with great troubles in business? You will still be
safe if God upholds you so that you do not lose your integrity. So long
as we do not lose a good conscience, we have not lost much if we have
lost all. He that damages his character has sustained the worst damage
a mortal man can know! But he that is held up–kept upright–has been
kept safely! It may be that he shall be slandered, but if he knows that
before God he has walked uprightly, he shall be "safe." God will light
his candle in due time and his light shall shine as the sun at noonday!
Only if you hold fast your integrity and will not let it go–and God's
Grace can help you to do that–you shall be safe in calamity, peaceful
in panic, happy in poverty, brave under slander–in fact, "safe" in all
senses of the term!

Like the lighthouse on the lone rock, buffeted by the storm, you shall
stand out above all tempests SAFE. You shall be safe, too, from
descending into grievous sin. The man who is held upright shall not
insensibly sink lower and lower, as some do. Alas, I have seen the
godly man put forth his hand unto iniquity. At first he seemed excused.
No one could blame him. It was an hour of dire necessity and that he
was overcome and did a questionable thing was not much to be marveled
at, though it was enough to make an angel weep that such a man as he
should stoop to it. After once doing the questionable thing, he had
spoiled the chastity of his conscience, and he was open to a grosser
sin–and he fell into that grosser sin–yet, still, it was not such a
fault as the world would much condemn. A little farther and but a
little farther, and he committed a crime that made the godly cast him
off and the wicked exult over him. "Howl, fir tree, for the cedar is

fallen!"

For you and for me there is no safety in any degree of bending. We must
stand upright or we cannot stand at all! "Hold You me up"–up, up–"and
I shall be safe." But if I begin to incline downward in any way I am
not safe. He that leans will fall! But the upright will stand, for God
is able to make him stand even unto the end. I believe that when David
said that by being held up he should be safe, he meant, also, that he
should know that he was safe and should enjoy great restfulness of
heart. Dear Brothers and Sisters, I know that you are very much tried
in this world and often tempted to do that which is not right. But, if
God keeps you from evil, how happy you are, because you are "safe"! You
have a light pocket, but a light heart, too! Some have a heavy purse
and a heavy heart to go with it. It is better for you to be in poverty
and to be holy, than it would be to be unholy and to roll in wealth.

May God give you things convenient for you–so would I pray–but I
would not ask Him to give you even a necessary meal as the result of an
evil deed, much less to succeed you in a dishonest transaction, for
nothing can be worse than to do wrong and prosper in it! If you are a
child of God, there is no prosperity for you except by doing that which
is right. Others may hoard the wages of unrighteousness. They would
melt like hoarfrost in your hands. May you be prospered in all your
works and may your substance increase. If God ordains it, so will it
be. And if it is not so, what a mercy it is to carry in your heart that
little bird which sings, "All is well! All is well!" He that can pick a
bit of heartsease from within his bosom and wear it in his buttonhole,
need not envy my lord his stars and garters–for that herb called
heartsease is more precious than all else that grows beneath the
moon–and God makes it bloom in the garden of the man who walks
uprightly!

The man that walks uprightly and is kept in God's way, is "safe," and I
venture to give another meaning to that word, "safe"–namely, that he
becomes a safe man in his dealings with others. If you catch a man
playing the double shuffle at any time, let him play it for himself,
but not for you! Never link yourself in business with a person who is
capa-

ble of doing an unrighteous action. Sink or swim for yourself, but
never set foot on board such a coffin ship! Sooner or later it will go
to the bottom. May God make you to be upright, that you may be a safe
man, true and trustworthy, for men delight to trust in men when once
they find them "safe."

If you would possess the best of human friends, you will be happy
should you meet with the man who in youth was an ardent Christian and
has continued so throughout a generation. In times of stress and trial
when others fell, he stood upright and incorruptible. Under slander he
has smarted, but he has outlived the reproach and disproved every false
report. Today his name is the guarantee of truth, the watchword of
honor! Where he leads, others feel it safe to follow! They wait till he
speaks; his judgment rules the board. Because the Lord kept him
upright, he grew to be safe in the esteem of his neighbors and now he
is as a hiding place from the wind and a cover from the storm. A truly
good man is a haven in trouble, a harbor for those who are tossed with
tempest–the sons of Adam in distress fly to him, in his degree, as
they do to his Master. If he swears to his own hurt, he changes not,
but stands to the truth at all hazards. Men admire this and they trust
him, if not with untold gold, yet with secrets which, to all other
hearts, remain untold. May God make you such a man! The way to such
honor lies by that prayer, "Hold You me up, and I shall be safe."

But, lastly, when a man knows that he is "safe," by God's Grace, does
he then become idle and careless, and think he may do as he likes? No,
listen–"I shall be safe, and I will have respect unto Your statutes
continually." Watchfulness attends such sacred safety and is, at once,
its fruit and its sign! A holy man–a man made holy by God's Grace–has
great respect to every command of God! Before he moves, he looks round
him to see whether he shall transgress by his proposed movement. You
have heard of the child whose mother said, "John, you have broken one
of the Commandments," and he answered, "Mother, those Commandments are
awfully easy to break." With such natures as ours, sin is a very easy
thing. You break the Law before you know it–and unless a man has
respect unto all the Commandments, he will soon be trespassing and
getting into mischief.

We ought, in our daily life, to walk as one that has to tread among
eggs or delicate china. Heedless and Too-Bold soon rush into sin, but
the genuine Believer always fears. "You are very jealous of how you
act," said one to a saint of God. "Yes," he replied, "I serve a jealous
God." "You are too precise," said another. "That is a crime," he said,
"that God will never charge any of His children with." A conscience
tender as the apple of an eye is what we want. To be alarmed, even at
the distant approach of sin, is the safeguard of a child of God! Those
who dally with vice will rue such dalliance when it cannot be undone!
If somebody told me that there was a cobra at the far end of my room, I
should look round for the door–I think such venomous creatures are
near enough if they remain in their native jungles–I do not desire
their interesting society.

So should it be with sin. We should flee from it at once, avoiding its
first appearance, hating it in thought and word before it hatches into
act, abhorring even the garment spotted by the flesh! This holy
jealousy to do the Lord's will must last continually. "I will have
respect unto Your statutes continually." I will always try to obey. I
will always endeavor to avoid any transgression of the Light of God.
Now, dear Friends, you see this safety comes, and this special
tenderness towards God's Law comes of God's holding us up, for He holds
us up so that we never go down. Under His incessant upholding we shall
be "safe"–and we shall be conscientious–but not otherwise. A few
minutes' folly may ruin years of character. The man that is not held up
goes down and rolls in the mire. He is never a conscientious man or a
"safe" man, perhaps, for the rest of his life.

I know some that I hope are God's people, but they have not been upheld
so as to be always complete in their integrity and, consequently, they
are not "safe." They are people that we have to watch over with great
care, for we are afraid of them. We could not trust them to lead, for
their example is a lame one. Moreover, they are not keenly, sensitively
conscientious. They can go to much greater lengths than the Lord Jesus
would approve and yet they are members of the Church–pretty talkative
members, too. May God improve them and mend them! They need it and God,
alone, can do it, for they do not take their minister's plain hints.
These people have no clear and sharp discrimination of what is right
and wrong according to God's way, but they go as far as they can
towards the world–to enjoy the pleasures of the un-godly–and yet they
would keep in with Christians.

They are Jacks-of-Both-Sides. They run with the hare and yet hold with
the hounds, and they will be glad to have a mouth full when the hounds
catch the hare. This is poor work! This produces a sorry sort of
Christian! Under such double influences we shall be unsafe and rather a
curse to others than a blessing to them. If our integrity is always
maintained by God, we shall become safe men–the pillars of the
Church–we shall have a tender conscience that will warn us of the

approach of evil and we shall be such as God can honor and make useful
to the Brethren. So I close by commending to you, my dearly Beloved in
Christ, the prayer of the text, "Hold You me up." Every morning before
you see the face of men, register this prayer in Heaven–"Hold You me
up, and I shall be safe, and I shall have respect unto Your statutes
continually."

Are you going downstairs without that prayer? Then you may fall into
sin at the breakfast table! You may lose your temper and a trifle not
worth noticing may put you off the tram lines for the day. Therefore
pray before the car moves. You have taken your hat and your gloves and
you are going off to the City. Does it happen that there you meet
careless, godless men? Are you tempted there? Then as you get into your
train, or as you trudge along the pavement, breathe the prayer, "Hold
You me up, and I shall be safe." You can meet the worst of men without
fear. You have your shield on your arm, and the two-edged sword of God
at your side! You are prepared for all hazards now that the upholding
prayer has been breathed before the Most High!

Did you say that you are not going to the City today? It is a day's
excursion, is it? You are going into the country to see friends, or you
are to make holiday with a few companions? All well and good. You may
have such recreations very properly–but now is a special time for the
prayer–"Hold You me up." Your friends will not be all saints,
probably, and when they go a little way in mirth, perhaps they will run
a little too far. Therefore, entreat the Keeper of Israel, now, "Hold
then me up, and I shall be safe"–safe at my play as well as at my
work. The child of God in his recreation should prove that he has
undergone a re-creation which has made him a new creature in Christ
Jesus. Grace should enter into all our enjoyments as well as into all
our employments.

No, but that does not happen to be your lot. You are not indulged with
a day's pleasure–you are going to perform a service surrounded with
difficulty. It tries your brain and frets your heart. It is more than
you feel at all able to carry through and yet you must do it. Now is
your peculiar time of need! Now is the hour to pray, "Hold You me up."
I have known young Brothers who, when first they have gone to a bank,
have been so anxious to have their balances right and when they have
gone round collecting have been so careful to be correct that they have
made great errors–not through any dishonesty, but simply through their
blundering because they were so excited! In their consuming anxiety to
be exact, they have confused themselves into errors! Let the gracious
young man do right and leave himself with God. Do not be nervous, but
be prayerful.

Ask the Lord to help you. Ask Him to help you about everything–about
casting up a column of figures. My Lord Jesus counts the very hairs of
His children's heads and He will help them in their little things as
well as in their great things! You may ask that you may have favor in
the sight of those that employ you and God will give it to you if it is
good for you. Only cry, "Lord, help me to do right! And if I make a
mistake let it be a mistake–but You hold me up and upright to the
end." Perhaps, dear Friends, you have to travel this week over a very
unwelcome road, for you have been over it before and wished that you
had never seen it. And yet you have that journey in prospect and there
is no avoiding it! You have to visit those dangerous friends who led
you into sore temptation two years ago. You have to undergo, the second
time, an experience which before led you into sin. Then, pray eagerly,
"Hold You me up." Ask for double Grace! You know the danger of the road
and your own feebleness, but you will get over it well enough by God's
upholding Grace.

But it may be, dear Friends, that you are prospering. God is giving you
success and the desire of your heart has come to you. Be sure to pray
earnestly, "Hold You me up, and I shall be safe" for it is a dangerous
thing for a child of God to prosper in this world! And yet it is a
danger which many unwisely covet. If you are growing rich and great,
pray God to hold you up. Or it may be that you are now going down into
adversity. Things have gone wrong with you, as you think. You have to
give up that fine house and lovely garden. You are moving into small
rooms. You still have expenses, but your income has shrunk terribly.
You hardly know how you shall support your wife and children. Now pray,
"Hold You me up." Use the prayer of Agur–"Give me neither poverty nor
riches." He that kept you when you were rich will not shun you, now
that you are poor! Ask Him to uphold you still. He is able to do it and
as willing as He is able.

Ah, some of you are getting old–I respectfully commend to you this
prayer as suitable for the close of life. Young people, you must pray,
for your passions are strong and your wisdom is little. O young men and
maidens, pray, each one of you, "Hold You me up." But, oh, dear aged
Brothers and Sisters, excuse me who am so much younger, when I solemnly
add–to you is this word of warning sent! Cease not to plead for
upholding Grace! Horses sometimes fall at the

bottom of the hill–the drivers grew careless and thought there was no
further need for caution–and down went the horse.

The worst falls I have ever seen in the Church of God have happened to
elderly men, men of experience and years. All through Scripture we meet
with cases of the aged falling into sin. Mind that. They boast their
experience and wisdom– and then the devil laughs in his sleeve and
makes fools of them! If we were as old as Methuselah and as holy as
Enoch, we ought still to cry, "Hold You me up!" And when we get to
Jordan's brink and the chill stream begins to rise to our ankles, what
a blessing it is that the Lord will hold us up! "Courage, Brother!"
said Hopeful to Christian, when he was up to his neck in the
stream–"Courage, my Brother! I feel the bottom and it is good." And so
they joyfully crossed over and climbed the hill whereon the Celestial
City was built!

And there, I think, among the songs that we shall sing unto our
Well-Beloved, this will be a peculiarly sweet one–

"When I said,

My foot slips!

Your mercy, O Lord,

Held me up."

"Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you
faultless before the presence of His Glory with exceeding joy, to the
only wise God our Savior, be Glory and majesty, dominion and power,
both now and forever. Amen."
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Healed or Deluded? Which?