January 24

Uphold me, and I will be saved, that I may always regard Your statutes. — Ps 119:117 BSB

We are constantly surrounded by snares and temptations. These temptations are so well-suited to the lusts of our flesh that we would inevitably fall into them and be overcome by them if it were not for God’s restraining providence or His preserving grace. The Christian knows this and feels it. Perhaps they have bitter experiences from the past to draw upon. They know how, due to a lack of godly fear, a lack of watchfulness, and failing to stand guard, they have fallen into the snares of death before. They have suffered the consequences and felt the misery of slipping and falling. The pain of their sins has entered their soul. They have found themselves in the prison house, in bondage, darkness, and death. In their folly, as described in Psalm 107, they have been afflicted because of their iniquities.

Like a burnt child dreads the fire, the Christian dreads being left to themselves. The higher their assurance rises and the clearer their understanding of the grace of God that brings salvation, the more afraid they are of falling. The more they see of God’s purity, Christ’s blessedness, and the power of His atoning blood, the more aware they are of the evil of sin and their own weakness in standing against temptation by their own strength. All these feelings combine to raise up the earnest cry, “Hold me up, and I shall be safe.”