Psalms 119:110

The wicked have laid a snare for me: yet I erred not from Thy precepts.

The snares laid for a good man

I. Here is a particular proof of the world’s hatred to the godly--they have laid snares for me.

1. The instigation to this injurious practice. Unquestionably it originates in the enmity of the heart against God. For it is this, in the persons and character of the pious, which the impious dislike. They are also instigated by Satan, the common enemy of the people of God. Besides these excitements, there are others of a somewhat subordinate character. Not unfrequently the wicked are actuated with envy, when they see the righteous exalted to stations of honour and influence; this is illustrated by the case of Haman. It sometimes happens, too, that the righteous have offended the profligate in reproving them for their sins, and this has roused their enmity, as was the case with Herodias.

2. The various forms in which this practice appears. Sometimes it is by specious temptations to sin. Thus, the Scribes and Sadducees endeavoured to entangle Christ in His talk. There have been instances, too, where wicked rulers have laid a snare for the righteous (Daniel 6:7). The wicked have aimed at corrupting the principles of the pious by offering to bribe them with the honours and riches of the world. They have thus resembled their father the devil, who took our Saviour up into the mountain, etc.

3. The agents in these temptations--they are called, “the wicked.” And are not these acts flagrantly wicked? For they are contrary to the law of our creation. They are chargeable with double guilt--not that of their own sin only, but that of those who by the snares they have laid for their feet have been entangled and brought into bondage.

4. The effects of their ensnaring machinations. In many cases, alas, they are successful, for they have caught the righteous in their net, and tormented them by their persecutions even unto death. But their moral success has to be far more deplored. Many a youth, ere his understanding has been established in the first principles of truth, has been led away by their errors, the “cunning craftiness whereby they lie in wait to deceive.” But, happily, there are many instances in which their artifices are altogether unsuccessful. “Yet,” said David, “I erred not from Thy precepts.”

II. The means of his preservation. Instead of being seduced by the smiling enticement of some, or terrified by the frowns and oppressions of others, he had not departed from the path of duty laid down for him in that Word which was the rule of his life.

1. A pious man cannot but be conscious of his determination to adhere to the path of duty, and of the degree of that adherence.

2. A subject of genuine godliness may sometimes hold up his own example to imitation (Philippians 3:12; Philippians 3:17).

3. A possessor of piety may and ought to acknowledge his obligations to preserving grace. Can you say, “I know whom I have believed”? Then how much you are indebted to your Lord. Raise your memorial pillar on this spot and write upon it, “ Hitherto the Lord hath helped me.”

4. One principal means of this preservation was the Word of God. (Evangelical Preacher.)