You have tried my heart; You have visited me in the night. You have tested me and found no evil; I have resolved not to sin with my mouth. Sermons
I. REFRESHMENT. The divisions of time have to do with man (Genesis 1:5; Psalm 104:20). "God has set labour and rest, II. PROTECTION. We associate the day with safety (John 11:9). On the other hand, night is the season when not only wild beasts, but lawless men, seek their prey (Psalm cir. 20, 21; Job 24:14-17; 1 Thessalonians 3:7). There may be dangers unseen and unknown (Psalm 91:5, 6). Besides, there are perils from evil thoughts and the wiles of the wicked one. But come what will, God is our sure Defence. He visits us in love and mercy. He watches over us with untiring vigilance (Psalm 121:3). The angel of judgment may be abroad, but under the shelter of the blood of the covenant we are safe. Even though God should say, "This night thy soul shall be required of thee," it will be in love, and not in wrath. Even should we be taken away in our sleep, it will be to light, and not to darkness. Hence we may say, "I will lay me down in peace, and sleep; for thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety" (Psalm 4:8). III. INSTRUCTION. God has access to us at all times. He speaks to us continually by day, when our ears are open; but he also speaks to us, as he sees cause, by night, in dreams and visions, and when he holds our souls waking. Of this we have many examples in the Bible, and who is there who has not had some knowledge of this in his own experience? Dreams and visions are, for the most part, vain things; but there are even dreams and visions that have been found to be visits of God and turning-points in life. But it is when we have hours of sleeplessness that precious opportunities occur of communing in our hearts with God. Then there is not only quietness, but solitude. We are alone with God, and if we recognize his presence and hearken to his Word, we shall have cause to say, with thankfulness, "Thou hast visited me in the night." Sleeplessness, if prolonged, if it becomes a habit, is a sore evil; but sleepless hours may be turned to great profit. We have then the opportunity for quiet thought, for self-examination, for converse with God. Perhaps the past, with its joys and sorrows, rises before us, or we are troubled about the present or the future; but God is ever near, to counsel and to comfort us. "He giveth songs in the night" (Job 35:10). "One practical lesson at least may be remembered as bearing on this subject - the duty of storing the mind, while we are yet comparatively young and strong, with that which, in the hours of sleeplessness and pain, will enable us to rise up to God. A mind well stored with Holy Scripture, with good prayers and hymns, need never feel that the waking hours of the night are lost. We may do more, for the soul's true sanctification and peace, than many others in their own brief earthly pilgrimage" (Canon Liddon). - W.F. I. HOW WELL IT IS THAT THE DAY SHOULD CLOSE WITH REFLECTION, that God should visit us thus. Rest alone would be a visitation from God, His gift. But sleep is the better when we pass to it from prayer. If a knock comes to the door at night when all is quiet how it startles us. In the day we should not notice it, but at night we needs must. And Christ may say, "I came in the day but was not heard; behold, I now stand at the door and knock." It is well to reflect at the close of each day on each day. In the bustle of business we do not understand the meaning of our life. Perhaps we never shall till the bustle of all life's days is done and we stand on "the safe and quiet shore of eternity." There are, too, our own ways that need to be understood. Conscience needs to be quickened, and one day it will be. Just as the manipulations of the photographer in the dark chamber bring forth a picture which has been burnt into the plate by rays o flight before, that when completed it may be brought to light again, and men may see what manner of men they were; so in the dark chambers of the dead, in the hidden spirit world, there shall be a quickening of conscience. And God has given to us the darkness of night in which, away from busy life, we may bring forth the pictures of the day that are imprinted on conscience. Cultivate this photography of life. II. AND THERE IS THE NIGHT OF TROUBLE. God visits those who trust Him then. Let there be also in this night reflection, review. Memory is given us that we may not depend for happiness on the present. And review in this night your conduct in your joys. Ah, who is worthy of their joy? Be willing then to bear the night. "God's blessings come in the night," so says a German proverb. There is no night in which God is not near us. No, not the last eventide, the darkest of all In Christ we need not foal (T. Gasquoine, B. A.) I. AS AN INTERRUPTION. It breaks in upon and suspends all human occupation. At the very least eight hours in the twenty-four, a quarter of a century in the life of a man of seventy-five, are withdrawn from the demands of labour, And as each day the shadow of night creeping around the world advances, millions of human workers hail the approaching pause in toil which is thus mercifully imposed upon them. Man might have been so fashioned as not to need this, but this enforced suspension of activity cannot but suggest a meaning. It suggests not merely the limited stock of strength at our disposal which needs thus often to be refreshed and replenished, but it also reminds us that we have a higher life than that of the activity of the day, and which shall last when all belonging to this shall have passed away. II. NIGHT SUGGESTS DANGER. The daylight is of itself protection. When it is withdrawn much becomes possible which it forbids. Night is the opportunity of wild beasts and of evil men. They ply their trade during its dark and silent hours. And thus St. Paul describes the workers of darkness as "unfruitful." Our Lord compares the unexpectedness of His second coming "as a thief in the night." If, indeed, St. Paul were to visit London on the afternoon of a bank holiday, it is to be feared that he would have to reconsider his remark that "they that be drunken are drunken in the night." Still, on the whole, the night is the season of peril and disaster. We yet need to pray God that He would "protect us from all perils and dangers of this night." For notwithstanding brilliantly lighted streets and well organised police there are yet special perils — such as those of fire in our large and lofty houses, from which the tenants of rude huts and shepherds cabins would find ready escape. It is with civilised as with savage man, God is, in the last resort, our only Protector. III. NIGHT IS A TIME DURING WHICH GOD OFTEN SPEAKS TO THE SOUL OF MAN. No believer in God's existence can reasonably deny that He can communicate with the mind of man. We think sleeplessness a great misfortune, but it may be a great blessing. For never does God speak more solemnly, more persuasively to the human soul, than in the waking hours of night. Then conscience has a chance; we listen and hear no other voice. Conscience revives the past, and the eye of sense rests upon no object which can compete with and efface the awful impression. Then religion asserts its empire, and we acknowledge to ourselves with sorrow how much we have forgotten or despised that had the first of all claims upon us. See the many references in the Psalms to these holy uses of the night. One practical lesson, at least, we may remember as bearing upon this subject — the duty of storing the mind while we are yet comparatively young and strong with that which in the hours of sleeplessness and pain will enable us to rise up to God. A mind thus well stored need never fear that the waking hours of night are lost. (Canon Liddon.) I am purposed that my mouth shall not transgress. Homilist. Such was the pious resolution of the Psalmist when the tongues of his enemies were transgressing both against him and his God. Silence would produce the better effect, both on his own mind and on his enemies.I. THE EVIL WHICH THE PSALMIST DREADED. Transgressing with his tongue. The tongue, indeed, is only the channel through which the depravity of the heart proceeds, but it is a channel of remarkable facility. It is liable to transgress — 1. Against God. By murmuring at the providence of God. 2. Against mankind. There are cruel expressions of malice and revenge sometimes uttered by one man against another to ruin his character. There are those who injure religion and their character by a propensity to speak with levity or bitterness. There are those who transgress by flattery-an evil more injurious than the keenest reproach sometimes. II. THE BEST MEANS OF AVOIDING THIS EVIL. "If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man." What does this purpose imply? 1. A serious regard to Divine inspection and authority. 2. Attention to the state of the heart. 3. We should aim to cultivate religious knowledge, and promote, at every proper opportunity, religious conversation. The most likely way to preserve the tongue from evil is to employ it in what is valuable and useful Prepared by the secret exercises of piety and devotion, we shall enjoy the full delights of domestic and social life without injury and without remorse. (Homilist.) A friend of Archbishop Leighton said that, in free and frequent intercourse with him for twenty-two years, "I never knew him say an idle word, or a word that had not a direct tendency to edification; and I never once saw him in any other temper but that I wished to be in at the last moment of my life."People David, Psalmist, SaulPlaces JerusalemTopics Beyond, Disobey, Evil, Examine, Findest, Hast, Heart, Inspected, Mouth, Nothing, Pass, Probe, Proved, Purpose, Purposed, Resolved, Searching, Sin, Test, Tested, Testest, Though, Thoughts, Transgress, Tried, Triest, Visited, Visitest, Wickedness, WiltOutline 1. David, in confidence of his integrity, craves defense of God against his enemies10. He shows their pride, craft, and eagerness 13. He prays against them in confidence of his hope Dictionary of Bible Themes Psalm 17:3 5549 speech, positive Library The Two Awakings'I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with Thy likeness.' --PSALM xvii. 15. 'As a dream when one awaketh; so, O Lord, when Thou awakest, Thou shalt despise their image.'--PSALM lxxiii. 20. Both of these Psalms are occupied with that standing puzzle to Old Testament worthies--the good fortune of bad men, and the bad fortune of good ones. The former recounts the personal calamities of David, its author. The latter gives us the picture of the perplexity of Asaph its writer, when he 'saw the prosperity … Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture The Hope of Future Bliss Mysterious visits. Out of the Deep of Fear and Anxiety. His Journey to South Russia. My God Will Hear Me How a Desolate Man Ought to Commit Himself into the Hands of God Twelfth Sunday after Trinity Gospel Transcends Law. Seasonable Counsel: Or, Advice to Sufferers. An Exhortation to Love God The Resemblance Between the Old Testament and the New. Second Sunday Before Lent The Blessed Privilege of Seeing God Explained Departure from Ireland. Death and Burial at Clairvaux. 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