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1993-03-27
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EXPOSITION.
Under trial it is not easy to behave ourselves aright; a
candle is not easily kept alight when many envious mouths are
puffing at it. In evil times prayer is peculiarly needful, and
wise men resort to it at once. Plato said to one of his
disciples, "When men speak ill of thee, live so that no one will
believe them;" good enough advice, but he did not tell us how to
carry it out. We have a precept here incorporated in all example;
if we would be preserved, we must cry to the Preserver, and
enlist divine Support upon our side. "_Hold up my goings_"--as a
careful driver holds up his horse when going down hill. We have
all sorts of paces, both fast and slow, and the road is never
long of one sort, but with God to hold up our goings, nothing in
the pace or in the road can cast down. He who has been down once
and cut his knees sadly, even to the bone, had need redouble his
zeal when using this prayer; and all of us, since we are so weak
on our legs through Adam's fall, had need use it every hour of
the day. If a perfect father fell, how shall an imperfect son
dare to boast? "_In thy paths_." Forsaking Satan's paths, he
prayed to be upheld in God's paths. We cannot keep _from_ evil
without keeping _to_ good. If the bushel be not full of wheat, it
may soon be once more full of chaff. In all the appointed
ordinances and duties of our most holy faith, may the Lord enable
us to run through his upholding grace! "_That my footsteps slip
not_." What! slip in God's ways? Yes, the road is good, but our
feet are evil, and therefore slip, even on the King's highway.
Who wonders if carnal men slide and fall in ways of their own
choosing, which, like the vale of Siddim, are full of deadly
slime-pits? One may trip over an ordinance as well as over a
temptation. Jesus Christ himself is a stumbling-block to some,
and the doctrines of grace have been the occasion of offence to
many. Grace alone can hold up our goings in the paths of truth.
EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS.
Verse 5.--"_Hold up my goings in thy paths, that my
footsteps slip not_." Lord, whatsoever the wrath of Saul be
against me, yet let neither that, nor any other thing put me out
of thy way, but keep my heart close unto thee, and keep my paths
in thy way; let not my footsteps so much as slide from thee, for,
Lord, they watch for my halting; if they can find but the least
slip from me, they take advantage of it to the utmost; and I am a
poor and a weak creature, therefore Lord help me, that my
footsteps may not slide.--^Jeremiah Burroughs.
Verse 5.--"_Hold up my goings in thy paths, that my
footsteps slip not_." As a stone cast up into the air cannot go
any higher, neither yet there abide when the power of the hurler
ceaseth to drive it; even so, seeing our corrupt nature can go
downward only, and the devil, the world, and the flesh, driveth
to the same way; how can we proceed further in virtue, or stand
therein, when we are tempted, if our merciful and good God do not
by his Holy Spirit, from time to time, guide and govern
us?--^Robert Cawdray.
Verse 5.--"_Hold up my goings in thy paths, that my
footsteps slip not_." Lord, hold me up, that I may hold out. Thou
hast set the crown at the end of the race; let me run the race,
that I may wear the crown. It was Beza's prayer, and let it be
ours, "Lord, perfect what thou hast begun in me, that I may not
suffer shipwreck when I am almost at the haven."--^Thomas Watson.
Verse 5.--In fierce assaults and strong temptations, when
Satan layeth siege to the soul, shooting his fiery darts, and
using stratagems of policy, joining his endeavours with our
corruptions, as wind with tide, then we have cause to pray as
David, "_Hold up my goings in thy paths, that my footsteps slip
not_." The apostle also found he had need of help from heaven
when he was assaulted, and therefore he prayed "_thrice_," that
the thing that he feared might depart from him. #2Co 12|. Christ
hath taught us to pray daily, "Lead us not into temptation," for
it is dangerous; and then temptations are most dangerous, when,
1. _Most suitable_--when Satan joins with our disposition or
constitution; 2. _Continual_; 3. When _opportunity_ and power is
greatest.--^Joseph Symonds.
HINTS TO PREACHERS.
Verse 5.--"_Hold up_." I. Who? God. II. What? "_My
goings_." III. When? Present tense. IV. Where? "_In thy paths_."
V. Why? "_That my footsteps slip not_."
Verse 5.--Let me observe David and learn to pray as he
prayed, "Hold up my goings in thy paths, that my footsteps slip
not." I. See his _course_. He speaks of his "goings." Religion
does not allow a man to sit still. He speaks of his goings "in
God's paths." These are threefold. (1). The path of his
_commands_. (2). The path of his _ordinances_. (3). The path of
his _dispensations_. II. His _concern_ respecting this course. It
is the language of--(1) _conviction_; (2) of _apprehension_; (3)
of _weakness_; (4) of _confidence_.--^William Jay.