pitfalls that may be put in our way. "Not defiled their garments•" "Unspotted from the world." ~ppeal. thus : In view of life, do you think you can' safely go all alone? Can you certarnly tnumph over all the subtlety and all the strength of evil in your own sufficiency? "Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall."-R. 'I'. Ver. 9.-The perils of youth. Because the psalmist refers to the "youncr man" we need not imagine that, at the tim? of composing the psal"'!, he was hims~lf a young man. The stanzas represent a variety of moods; and for this one the psalmist was in a mood of retrospecUou; he was looking back over the past, and seeing what a help God's Word had been to him amid the perils and temptations of his youthful years. He had "ruled himself after God's Word," and rejoices in having come through his youth-time clean-souled and unspotted from the world. The Prayer-book Version suggests that no external defences will ever suffice to keep the young man from " city snares and town traps." He will be kept if he keeps himself; he will only keep him- self if he asks God to keep him; and God will only keep him as he diligently seeks direction and counsel from God's book of instructions and warnings. "Even by ruling himself after thy Word." It is implied in the expression, "cleanse his way," that there are things surrounding the young man that may easily defile him. But that is true for old men as well as young men. What is of special importance to young men is that (1) by bodily constitution, (2) by disposition, (3) and by inexperience, they are unusually exposed to defiling influences. I. THE YOUNG MAN WANTS A STANDARD AND A GUIDE. The ship of a young life has to sail over unknown seas, and there must be culture for managing the vessel, and a chart for directing its course. This the young are not ready to admit. "Why not wait and gain pol\"er out of experience? " Experience is a dear school, and its lessons are only learned aright when the life is in the ordering of God's infallible guide. Experience is to a man according to what the man is. II. THE YOUNG MAN CANNOT SAFELY BE A LAW UNTO HIMSELF. Can any man? "It is not in man that walketh to direct his steps." If any man oan, it is the experi- enced and sanctified Christian. But he is the very man who is sure that he cannot. If he cannot, bow can the youth? What always happens when youth takes the ordering of life into its own hands? III. THE YOUNG MAN OAN 00 RIGHT WITII THE HELP OF Goo's WORD, Which is no mere set of rules, but the Father-God finding counsel and warning and help for every emergency. It is a strengthening of the soul to resist, ns well as I\ clearing of the eyes to avoid all that would befoul.-R. T. Ver. 11.-Scriptui·e-store.,. "Thy Wore! have I laid up in mine heart." Another psalmist describes the righteous man in this way, "The Law of his God is in his heart; none of his steps shall slide" (Ps. xxxvii. 31). The point of the text lies in the nssertion that the Word of God is in the man's heart because he had put it in, and put it in carefully. J. STORINO THE MIND WITH SoRIPTUBE AS THE DUTY 011' TEACHERS. It is a primary duty of all who have to do with children. Storing the memory with the material of after-thought comes before the cultivation of the mind for using its material. And if we would have the after-thougbt of life inclusive of the highe~t things, we must take care that the mind is early stored with Scripture truth and fact and counsel. It is not suggested that the child-mind should be crammed even with that which is good, nor should Scripture ever be made a ta.sk. But that child is in 11n especially effective manner equipped for life who has God's Word stored as a treasure in his memory. II& modern times this biding of Scripture in the heart is sadly under-estimated. II. STORINO THE MIND WITH SoRil'TURE AS A MAN'S OWN DUTY, It will not, in bis case, be a merely formal memorizing, as it must largely be in the case of the child. A man will store what the Scripture says to him, and not merely what the Scripture says. This involves: 1. A personal interest in the revealed Word of God. 2. Well-formed habits in relation to its study. 3, Careful attention to the relationR of the Word to personal life and needs. 4. Such persistent habits of meditation as press the Word in, and lay it up on the secret places of the soul, It is not necessary to say any strong things concerning the " criticism" of the Bible, bec11use of that the psalmist knew PSALMS-ill, lo 14G THE IlOOK OF PSALMS. [re. CXIX. 1-176.
nothing. To him the Word of God was a book of practical directions for godly living, And we need to have its actual relation to life and conduct so deeply impressed on ue, tbnt we should feel impelled to store its truths and counsels. III. TIIB AVAILABLENESS OF SCRIPTURE-STORES FOB THE EMERGENCIES OF LIFE. F_'rom those stores our Lord readily fetched effective weapons in the time of his tempta- tions. We have often fetched our best comfortings in time of trouble; our best warnings in times of danger; our best answers when the enemies of faith and righteousness assailed. "He who hides can find;" and if the laying up has been carefully done, the recovery for use is sure to be prompt and easy.-R. T .