In the eleventh Psalm we have a description of a faithful heart in time of trial declaring itself resolved to trust on God alone, when some would advise it to fly or to draw back.
I. If our lot is cast in times and places when and where the truth as such is slighted and set aside, it is easy to see that, so far as such opinions prevail, the foundations are destroyed. When men use the sacred Scriptures familiarly and irreverently, forgetful of their Author, and endeavouring to subject them to the puny rules of human reason, then surely in their hearts the foundations of true faith are loosened, if not destroyed.
"They grope at noonday, as the blind gropeth in darkness."
II. The great danger which besets us is the danger of mistaking or slighting the great Christian doctrine of Divine grace. Whatever concerns the foundations of belief or practice concerns all Christian people as Christians. This consideration should make people cautious of two things: first, not to pass over religious questions in a careless, slighting way, as if it were no matter of interest to them; and secondly, not to enter on arguments and disputes about such matters in a hasty, disrespectful manner, without considering either the solemn nature of the subjects they are discussing, or their own very great ignorance. Remembering these two cautions, we may and ought to consider it a duty, so far as we can, to ascertain where the truth lies in the great questions which from time to time agitate the Christian world. And one object in making such inquiries should not be a vain curiosity and the fondness for the worst of all gossip religious gossip but simply the desire to know and to follow sacred truth, to the glory of God and the benefit of our own souls.
Plain Sermons by Contributors to "Tracts for the Times,"vol. x., p. 163.
References: Psalms 11:5. G. Brooks, Outlines of Sermons,p. 395; Spurgeon, Evening by Evening,p. 249. Psalms 12:1. Ibid., Morning by Morning,p. 169; W. M. Statham, Christian World Pulpit,vol. xx., p. 196; J. Martineau, Hours of Thought,vol. i., p. 243.Psalms 12:6. J. Aldis, Christian World Pulpit,vol. xi., p. 120. Psalms 12 I. Williams, The Psalms Interpreted of Christ,p. 245.Psalms 13:1. H. W. Beecher, Christian World Pulpit,vol. ii., p. 202.Psalms 13 I. Williams, The Psalms Interpreted of Christ,p. 253.Psalms 14:1. G. Brooks, Outlines of Sermons,p. 35; J. H. Hitchens, Christian World Pulpit,vol. xxvi., p. 424.Psalms 14 I. Williams, The Psalms Interpreted of Christ,p. 261.Psalms 15:1. E. C. Wickham, Wellington College Sermons,p. 116. Psalms 15:1-3. M. Dix, Sermons Doctrinal and Practical,p. 182.