The citizen. [volume] (Berea, Ky.) 1899-1958, 1913-09-25

X, hear the burst OF
his tenderness.
the moan Of his penitence. the pathos
Of his sorrow. the triumph OF his vic
tory, the des pair OF his defeat. the
frmness 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
freshmest and wells of consolation.
Here God opens the door. shows US
his secret dwelling place. and tells US
how We may get close to him In fell
lowship Here he speaks to us: but
more. here We speak. telling OR own
experiences and anon crying TO God.
We have written many OF the psalms
out OF the experiences OF our own
lives
This nrst psalm 10 regarded - .
sort Of preface TO this entire collection.
specially IL is . picture OF the pros
porous life. and by sharp contrast .
picture OF the life without God In L.
There Ia really only one life worth
considering or cultivatinE; that is the
life hid with Christ In God. and Il
should be our utmost concern to make
that life blessed Consider the ele-
ments OF such a life a. set forth In
the entire psalm.
Refusal
The prosperous life 10 sheltered b.
hind a wall yerses IL set forth the
great character. and Il 10 marked By
Q great refusal 1 Evil practice
walketh not In the counsel OF the un-
godly. 2 Evil hAbit-nor standeth In
the way OF sinner: 3. Evil charac-
ter-nor stitch In the seat OF the
scornful The prosperous life must
not think wrongly. nor speak wrongly.
II God 10 not In all your thoughts.
loose thinking soon will lead to loose
living. and things that would eat away
the nber OF will and conscience and
feeling Oh, the blessedness-ths
happiness the man who can say. I
will not defle myself: who will not
take these three downward steps In
the evolution OF sin: and God pity
the man who has taken the third do
gree In sin.
Hut refusal OF evil thought. practice.
and habit IL 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
nj hs al h.f hZ hA
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 so plainly In this psalm u am
indebted to a friend for those brief sug-
gestionsD Noble growth-''like
tree, land that figure meant much In
Palestinel propitious placing
planted" sustenance-"by the rivers
OF water" fruitfulness- bring
eth forth It's fruit In its season."
beauty OF character-"his leaf also
shall not wther." real prosperity
whatsoever he doeth shall prosper"
This result Is measured by Gods
standard ali things work together
for good to them that love God Yes,
above all conditions apparently unfa-
forable and all results temporarily dis
tressing. this IL Gods way OF reward
ing the man who trusts him, who
waits upon God for sustenance, who
delights himself in God. and who
makes Gods will not only the law OF
his life, or the JOY OF his life. but real
ly his life
Contrast
! Look at this pictuTe-lilessed Is the
man, whatsoever he doeth shall pros
per; then on this-"NOt so the ungod-
ly. not SO" And by this sharp con-
trast and sudden change the psalmist
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
the way God demands; notice his
character-like the chan notice his
doom which the wind driveth away,
! call you by the persuasion OF this
psalm to choose the prosperous life.
Nothing else is worth while. nothing
else abldes. For the Lord knoweth
the way OF the righteous. but the way
OF the ungodly shall perish" What
God knows. lasts; what he does not
know. perishes. Choose now your
4 place and decide your character your