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gists: they peer in the windows and poke around with their feeble, measuring sticks; and then report that they see no spirit or mind, forgetting ah the while that they are using the very thing they deny to investigate the house. In other words, only a being with a mind could possibly frame an argument against the existence of mind. Assuming that God has a sense of humor, He must laugh at the seriousness with which these men re gard their “findings.” - 2. “My thought . . . my ways . . . my tongue” (vs. 2-4). In these three words, we have a complete summary of the en tire field of divine investigation. Human life is composed of thoughts, actions, and words; and the God of heaven has searched and known them all. Only such a God would be fitted to sit in judgment upon men and make the awards of final destiny. 3. “Whither shall I flee from thy pres ence?” (v. 7). Here the writer turns from the divine Omniscience to the divine Omnipresence. He does not make the mistake of the prophet Jonah who thought to flee “from the presence of the Lord” by taking voyage to another city. But Jonah found out, and later acknowledged, that God was on the sea as well as on the dry land (Jonah 1:9). 4. “If I make my bed in hell“ (v. 8). The word here is “ Sheol,” which in the Old Testament before the resurrection of Christ was the underworld of spirits to which both righteous and unrighteous went at death, the former to a place of comfort and the latter to a place of tor ment within the realm of Sheol. Let Us not go wrong in following the popular theology of the hour. It is God, not the devil, who is the King of hell, just as truly as He is the King of heaven. There is not a corner in the universe where God is not, or where He does not have the last word. Golden Text Illustration J ohn 14:23 A little poem was once written about a man who was riding along through the woods in the South. Quite unexpect edly, he came across a bit of clearing in the side of the woods, and in the clearing an old cabin. In the doorway an old negress was standing. Her hair was as white as it ever gets with her people, and her face was deeply furrowed with winkles. Her back was bent nearly double with slavery and drudgery, but her eyes were as bright as two stars out of the blue on a clear moonless night. As the man rode by, he called out, “Good morning, Auntie; living here all alone, I suppose?” In her shrill, keyed-up voice, but with no touch of irreverence in her ignorant speech, she called back, “Jest me and Jesus, Massa.” There was a hush in the whole air around the old, broken-down cabin, and he said he could see Some One standing
without! But even here the Lord pro vides exactly what is needed, whether it is desired or not. The need, all the need, will be supplied, even to a messen ger from Satan (cf. 2 Cor. 12: 7-12). V. H e K nows T heir P erils (7-12) Perils constantly lurk in the path of the believer, but the Lord is aware of them all. The believer can truthfully de clare: “Wherever I am, or shall be, or Can be, He is there. T fill small space; He fills all space.'T move In Him.” Hence there is perfect protection from every peri) that may threaten the be liever on earth. The psalm ends (vs. 23, 24) with a solemn prayer. The believer is to be searched, to be tried, and to be led by One who never can make a mistake. The language indicates a search such as an official makes when seeking for contra band goods. In the realm of the inner life, only the Lord' can make such a search; only He can seek out the hidden secrets in the heart and try the reins of man (cf. Jer. 17:9, 10). Points and Problems 1. “O Lord, thou hast searched me, and known me” (Psa. 139:1). We have today in college and university a branch of learning which calls itself “psychol ogy,” and which raises a great clamor for admittance to a place among the “sciences.” By workers in other fields where more exact results can be ob tained, psychology is regarded with more or less suspicion. And the psychol ogists, straining after the objective re sults without which they can secure no recognition, have been having a hard time trying to get such results without becoming mere physiologists. They are to be pitied in a certain sense, for they are trying to investigate the deep mys tery of human personality and soul, something which God alone is able to search out and know. Some of these investigators, finding the mystery too deep and baffling, tried to simplify the problem by denying the existence of personality, mind, and soul. They were like the man, suggested by Professor Royce, who went outside his house and declared that no one lived there because, when he looked into the window, he saw no one inside! So it is with some of these so-called psycholo- BLACKBOARD LESSON
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Patented In U.S.A. and other countries Famous the World Over ior Fifty Sweet Tone—Astonishing Volume—Inexpensive— Easily Carried—Suitable for 'Missions, Camps, Sunday Schools, Homes, etc. y Write for Descriptive Folder and Prices BILIIORN BROS. OitGAN CO., Inc. Dept. K. 1414 McLean Ave., Chicago, 1H. , dared: “He calleth his own sheep by name” (John 10:3, 14). It is ever true that “the Lord knoweth them that are his” (2 Tim. 2:19). However insignifi cant he may be in the great scheme of the universe, each heliever may take comfort from this truth. n . H e K nows T heir D aily P ath (2, 3) Sometimes the path of the believer is smooth and sometimes it is rough; but He compasses (or winnows) it, taking out what would hinder, so that there may be only that which would advance the interests of His own. All that is en countered by the child of God is his either by God’s permissive or by His directive will, and hence it must issue in good for His own. The great anchor for faith in times of stress is: “He knoweth the way that I take” (Job 23:10). III. H e K nows T heir W ords (4) The Lord knows the thought that lies behind the words, whether the words be spoken or unuttered. Knowing this, He never misjudges nor misunderstands. And He, who “knoweth the secrets of the heart,” will one day “make manifest the counsels of the hearts” (Psa. 44:21; 1 Cor. 4:5). When the hidden thoughts are made manifest, it will be seen that many a poor believer, being without fame on earth, has had many "counsels” of the heart that the hands could not perform, and for these unperformed “counsels”—which have had for their objective the glory of God—there will be a rich reward at the judgment seat of Christ. What the hands perform, men can see; the counsels of the heart are what the Lord sees. TV. H e K nows A ll T heir N eed (5, 6) We read: “Thou hast . . . laid thy hand upon me,” or, literally, “thou hast . . . folded thine arms about me.’’ The picture is one of a parent protecting a child. The “Father knoweth” beiore the asking begins. Of his children, He has declared. “Before they call, I will an swer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear” (Isa. 65:24; cf. Matt. 6:8). Sometimes the need includes things which 'ihe believer would prefer to be
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