The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1913-09-05

Il er. Here we
y hear the burst of
his tenderness.
the moan OF his penitence, the pathos
OF his sorrow. the triumph OF his vic
iirmness of his confidence. and the
rapture of his assured hope" In these
psalms many travellers OF every age
and cline have found rivers of re.
freshment and wells OF consolation.
Here God opens the door. shows us
his secret dwelling place and tells us
how we may get close 10 him in fell
lowship, Here he speaks to us; but
more, here we speak. telling our own
experiences and anon crying to God
we have written many of the psalms
out of the experiences of our own
lives
This first psalm is regarded as a
sort of preface TO the entire collection,
specially IL is a picture of the pros
porous life, and by sharp contrast a
picture of the life without God In IL.
There is really only one life worth
considering or cutivating; that is the
life hid with Christ i'm God. and II
should be our utmost concern to make
that life blessed. Consider the ele-
ments of such a life as set forth in
the entire psalm.
Refusal.
The prosperous life is sheltered be-
hind "A wall. Verses l-3 set forth the
great character, and 1t is marked by
great refusal. |. Evil practice
walketh not in the counsel of the un-
godly; =. Evil habit-nor standetb in
the way of sinners; 3. EVIL charac-
ter-nor stitch in the seat of the
sccrnful. The prosperous life must
not think wrongly nor speak wrongly.
II God Is not in all your thoughts.
loose thinking soon will lead TO loose
living, and things that would eat away
the fiber OF will and conscience and
feeling. oh! the blessedness-the
happiness-of the man who can say, |
will not defile myself; who will not
take these three downward steps i'm
the evolution Of sin. and God pity
the man who has taken the third de-
gree in sin.
But refusal OF evil thought practice,
and habit is not enough. one does
not acquire physical health, vigor and
power simply by refusal TO eat poi
sonous foods or drink damaging liq.
uors. The physical life requires food
The soul grows beautiful and strong,
and the life prosperous and useful not
only by It's great refusal, but by the
reception OF all things that are full OF
nourishment-the pure, the honest,
the lovely, the things OF good report
God not only brings us away from
Egypt; he leads us into Canaan-a
land flowing With milk and honey.
The life that refuses the evil and
received the good will be crowned
with glorious blessings They are
stated 50 plainly In this psalm n am
indebted 10 a friend for those brief sug-
gestionsD Noble growth-"like a
tree, (and that figure meant much in
PALESTINE; proptious placing
planted" sustenance-"by the rivers
Of water" fruitfu'ness-"th bring.
eth forth its fruit in its season."
beauty OF character-"his leaf also
shall not withes;' real prosperity
whatsoever he doeth shall prosper"
This result is measured by Gods
standard-"all things work together
for good 10 them that love God" Yes.
above all conditions apparently unfa- /
forable and all results temporarily dis. /
tressing, this is Gods way OF reward /
ing the man who trusts him. who I
waits upon God for sustenance, who |
delights himself in Cod and who
makes Gods will not only the law OF
his life, or the JOY Of his life. but real.
~ his life
Contrast.
Look AZ this Blessed is the
man. whatsoever he doeth shall pros
per. then on thls-"Not 80 the ungod.
ly. not so" And by this sharp con-
frast and sudden change the psalmlst
increases the emphasis on the ele-
ments that constitute prosperous
life, and the blessings that attend Il.
Notice the character-the ungodly,
simply the man who does not live In
he way God demands; notice his
,haracter-like the chan. notice his
iOom-which the wind driyeth away
call you BY the persuasion Of this
palm 20 choose the prosperous lfe
Nothing else is worth while. nothing
.lse abides For The Lord knoweth |
he way Of the righteous but the way
u the ungody shall perish" what
iod knows. lasts what hs does not
,now, perishes. Choose now your
lace. and decide your character. your
isefuIBess. pnd. your destiny. WhicF
han IL be--tree, or chan?