[The man of sound wisdom takes heed to his ways : he desires to see his path clear before him : if he be in doubt, he will take " the word of God as a light to his feet, and a lantern to his paths." If his path be slippery, he will cry unto his God, " Hold thou up my goings in thy paths, that my footsteps slip not !" And in answer to his prayer, " God will give his angels charge over him, to keep him in all his ways, that he dash not his foot against a stone." Of these advantages the unconverted man has no experience. He ventures into scenes of temptation, without being aware of his danger : nor has he any guidance or strength but his own. What wonder, then, i( he fall? But the man who, with wisdom in his heart, and discretion in his life, " suifers not these" guardian angels, as it were, " to depart from his eyes," will be kept amidst all the most trying scenes in which he can be engaged, and " will be preserved blameless imto the kingdom of his God." " The Law of God is in his heart, and therefore his footsteps do not slide ^."]
4. Peace in the heart —
[" What man is he that feareth the liOrd ? His soul," says the Psalmist, " shall dwell at ease." A man without religion may pass through the day with some degree of comfort, because of the variety of occupations that engage his thoughts. But when he comes to lie down at night, and he has time for reflec- tion, some painful occurrence will dwell upon his mind, and agitate his spirits, and disturb his rest : and when he wakes in the morning, the same unpleasant feelings will haunt him, and destroy that serenity which sleep was calculated to convey. Or, if nothing particular have occurred to distress him, he lies down and rises up without any other feeling than that which he possesses in common with the beasts. But not so the truly religious man. He, when retiring to rest, calls to remembrance the mercies with which he has been encompassed during the day, and renders thanks for them to his heavenly Benefactor ; to whom also he commends himself for protection during the defenceless hours of the night. Shall I speak too strongly if I say, that he lies down, as it were, in the bosom of his God, saying, "I will lay me down in peace, and sleep; for thou, Lord, only makest me to dwell in safety ? " In the morning, too, when he awakes, he finds that " his sleep has been sweet unto him ;" not to his body merely, but to his soul ; for his soul, at the first resuming of its powers, finds God present with it, in a way which the merely natural man has no conception of: so true is that expression of the Psalmist, " When I awake, I am still with thee." So true, also, is that encouraging pro- mise of Solomom, " Bind the commandment upon thine heart, and tie it about thy neck : when thou goest, it shall lead thee ;
a See Ps. xxxvii. 31. and Prov. iv. 11 — 13.