Evening, January 20
Go To Morning Reading
“Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity; and quicken thou me in
thy way.”
Psalm 119:37
There are divers kinds of vanity. The cap and bells of the fool, the
mirth of the world, the dance, the lyre, and the cup of the dissolute,
all these men know to be vanities; they wear upon their forefront
their proper name and title. Far more treacherous are those equally
vain things, the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches.
A man may follow vanity as truly in the counting-house as in the theatre.
If he be spending his life in amassing wealth, he passes his days
in a vain show. Unless we follow Christ, and make our God the great
object of life, we only differ in appearance from the most frivolous.
It is clear that there is much need of the first prayer of our text.
“Quicken thou me in thy way.” The Psalmist confesses that he is dull, heavy, lumpy, all but dead.
Perhaps, dear reader, you feel the same. We are so sluggish that the
best motives cannot quicken us, apart from the Lord himself. What!
will not hell quicken me? Shall I think of sinners perishing, and
yet not be awakened? Will not heaven quicken me? Can I think of the
reward that awaiteth the righteous, and yet be cold? Will not death
quicken me? Can I think of dying, and standing before my God, and
yet be slothful in my Master’s service? Will not Christ’s love constrain me? Can I think of his dear wounds, can I sit at
the foot of his cross, and not be stirred with fervency and zeal?
It seems so! No mere consideration can quicken us to zeal, but God
Himself must do it, hence the cry, “Quicken thou me.” The Psalmist breathes out his whole soul in vehement pleadings: his
body and his soul unite in prayer. “Turn away mine eyes,” says the body: “Quicken thou me,” cries the soul. This is a fit prayer for every day. O Lord, hear
it in my case this night.