"KEEP BACK THY SERVANT FROM PRESUMPTUOUS SINS." No one but a Christian will heartily use this prayer. It intimates such an acquaintance with the human heart, and such a desire for true holiness, as none can aspire or experience except taught of God. And here is one who supposes that there are faults which he has not detected, follies which have escaped his notice, and prays to be cleansed from them. He would not only have them pardoned but the stain of them erased; he desires to be kept from them in the future. Our secret faults are many; they often spring from laxity and worldiness, from giving way to our natural inclination, from the unspiritual state of our souls. But the fountain of the Saviour's blood will cleanse from them all; and the power of the Holy Spirit can preserve us from similar offences in the future. We need to be filled with the Spirit if we are to keep our hearts with all diligence, if we are to preserve a watch over our souls in private as well as in public; let us seek the Spirit's blessing. God wills that Christians should be always Spirit-filled, as the Apostle exhorts us, "Be not drunk with wine wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit." He will keep us from sinning.

For Meditation:
Lord, who can all his failings know?
Or sense where guilt begins?
On me, dear Lord, Thy grace bestow,
And cleanse from secret sins.