Evening journal. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1907-1913, 1907-11-25

Let the words of my mouth and
the meditation of my heart be always
acceptable in thy sight, 0 Lord, my
strength and my redeemer." Psalm
10: verse IA.
Looking upon man as a being en-
dowed with higher intelligence than
the other creatures of the animal king
dom, we observe three forms in which
This energies express themselves:
There is first, the energy of thought
The mind Of man is a Marvellous fac
lulty with unbounded and unlimited
powers. A great mind has the power
of swaying other minds and of con-
tributing through this medium towards
the development of character and the
general uplift Of all who are in any
way touched by it. The books we
1 read whether they be history or po-
etry, or biography or philosophy are
but the expression of the thoughts of
man, and these things have moulded
the character in great degree, of all
our social and political life.
Even the Bible, which in a sense
is the thought Of God, is nevertheless
in a very real sense, the thought Of
man. for in every book of the Bible
we can easily detect the personal char
acteristics of the one who wrote it.
Who can estimate the marvellous pow
er that the Bible has exerted; not
merely upon those who have accepted
it's teachings, but indirectly upon every
living creature who lives in a land
where the Bible has ever come. Then
II is through the mind Of man that
he speaks to God. The truest OF all
prayer is meditation and communion.
Our Lord said when thou prayest en-
ter into thy closet and shut thy door
and pray to thy Father in secret
Men spoke to God in audible voice
when he was on earth in the person
Of his Son, but the Son has gone In
to him by the uplift of the mind and
the heart If God can understand the
mere desire of man, and knoweth our
very secrets, we can we'll see the nee
essity of prayer of the text that the
thoughts of our heart and mind
should be acceptable. What we have
said argues not against the public SER
vice Of the church for there the audible
voice is not that God shall hear, but
for other ends, such as agreement
and common consent, Where two of
you shall agree upon earth as touching
any matter it shall be done for them
of my Father which is in heaven"
The second is the energy of words.
Words are the expression of mans
thoughts. They are the medium through
which he communicates his ideas to
his fellowmen, but while this is true,
the medium may be so abused that
they become, as some one has said,
the means of hiding our thoughts:
they become ambiguous, evasive and
false counters in the act of social
intercourse. This being the case the
Psalmist recognizes the necessity of
honesty in speech; that his words may
ring true, and never be used in dupli-
city or for double dealing, and there
fore he prays that the words of his
mouth may be acceptable to God.
The third is the energy of action. I'll
is by action that we judge our fellow
men. Words may, and do often de-
ceive, and while actions may deceive
at times, the rule is that they reveal
the character OF the actor st. James
tells of the necessity of works as a
proof of faith and the Master himself
said that by their fruits-works-
shall We know them" There was no
that the Psalmists should
pray that his works should be ac-
ceptable for that implied in the pray
err for acceptable thought and ac-
ceptable words.