October 18

Surely He shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler. — Ps 91:3

He shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler. That is, from the little things, the hidden traps and nets that are set for us. Great sins frighten where little snares entangle. It is easier to escape the huntsman’s arrow than the crafty lure.

And where are they not set? Riches and poverty, sickness and strength, prosperity and adversity, friendship and loneliness, the work and the want of it each has its snare, wherein not only are the unwary caught, but the wise and the watchful sometimes fall a prey. Little things, mere threads, hardly worth guarding against yet they are strong enough to hold us and hinder us, and may be the beginning of our destruction. — Mark Guy Pearse.