Self distrust

Man must give his exertion , no doubt, but he must never lean upon it ; for that would be leaning on the the staff of a bruised reed . Now , prayer is or should be , the expression of human dependence upon God , the throwing ourselves upon His protecting wisdom and power and love . And therefore when our Saviour counsels us to unite prayer with watching , He counsels us to throw ourselves upon God , under a sense of our own weakness and insufficiency . And there is enough known respecting the difficulty of keeping the heart , to engender such a sense of weakness. The throng of thoughts which is continually passing in and out , how shall we dream of examining , trying , judgeing them all , except by a special divine interference in our behalf  ? Divine power can qualify a man for anything ; but nothing short of divine power can qualify him for a task so onerous as this . To God , then let us commit the keeping of our souls , in the most absolute self - distrust . And if this self - distrust is anything short of absolute , we may expect that constant will accompany our best endeavours , whose effect , if God bless them , shall be to beat us thoroughly out of this fault . It is a great attainment to be able honestly to say to the Lord , really and deeply meaning what we say  ; "Lord I am quite unable to keep my heart myself , and have myself by so many humbling falls , in which my adversary has made me bite the dust  ; Thou art able to keep me from falling , and to present me faultless before the presence of Thy glory with exceeding joy  ; and to Thee therefore I commit the keeping of my soul , simply watching , as Thou hast bidden me , and leaving all the rest to Thee ."

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